Digital Commons Network^™

Ground Level: Poems, Margaret Graber

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

“Ground Level” is a full-length poetry collection situated at the intersection of ecopoetics and psychology, where the theme of “grounding” one’s self continually emerges in the midst of personal geographical changes and experiences of collective social trauma during a period of prolonged immersion in the natural world. By exploring through an array of poetic forms, structures, and experimentations including golden shovels, contrapuntals, haikus, an abecedarian, a sestina, grounding exercises, poems featuring 20th century children’s television host Fred Rogers, and a sonnet crown which also explores queerness in the 21st century Southeast, the speaker engages with a number of different methods …

"Dug Way To Liberty": Newspapers, Prison, And Jim Crow In Georgia In The Early 1900s, Avery Elise Gross

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

On April 15, 1907, twelve Black and white convicts escaped from the Durham Mines prison camp located on Lookout Mountain, Georgia. Over the next month, newspapers throughout Georgia and in neighboring states reported the escape and discussed the recapture events. Within five days of the prison break, the local white community recaptured all nine Black convicts. None of the white convicts were caught. As this thesis investigates the lives, crimes, and recapture of all twelve prisoners, it connects the convict lease prison system with the newspaper media to understand the impact of white supremacy ideology and the repressive systems that …

“Mississippi’S Greatest Minister”: A Historical Study Of Cornelius W. Grafton’S 61-Year Pastorate, 1873-1934, David Thomas Irving

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Cornelius W. Grafton (b.1846, d.1934) pastored two Presbyterian churches in Southwest Mississippi for 61 consecutive years (1873-1934). He moderated the Presbyterian Church, U.S. General Assembly in 1916 and wrote a 658-page unpublished History of Presbyterianism in Mississippi. This dissertation studies Grafton’s ministry—his student years at the University of Mississippi and Columbia Theological Seminary, his sermons, his public opposition to lynching, and his periodical and historical writings—to understand how white Christians in the South thought of and responded to their context from Reconstruction through the Progressive Era and into the 1930’s. Many of the priorities of Grafton’s ministry corresponded to those …

Effects And Mechanisms Of Cognitive Impairment During Vigorous-Intensity Exercise, Myungjin Jung

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Recent research indicates that vigorous-intensity exercise concurrent with a prefrontal cortex (PFC)-dependent cognitive task can temporarily deactivate the PFC, leading to impaired cognition. Shifting attentional focus from a cognitive task to exercise or vice versa during exercise may also affect cognitive performance. However, the underlying mechanisms of this effect remain unclear. Therefore, this dissertation aimed to evaluate whether changes in attention and PFC oxygenation mediate cognitive impairment during vigorous-intensity exercise. Seventy-five young healthy adults (37 males, 38 females; 20.3 ± 1.6 years) completed three visits. The initial visit consisted of a max cycle test to measure VO2max via indirect calorimetry. …

Mathematics And Special Education Co-Teaching In The Middle School: How Teachers Make Sense Of Their Partnership, Bethany Lavalley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Co-teaching is the practice of general educators and special educators sharing instruction in a general education setting to deliberately meet the needs of students with and without disabilities. Co-teacher research tends to focus on the processes of co-teaching, and little is known about how teachers go about creating a system of interconnected professional expertise that flexibly meets the diverse learning needs of students. This comparative case study examines the interpersonal and professional relationships of two co-teaching teams who were supported by their respective administration, who shared common planning time, co-instructed together in the mathematics classroom, and were engaged in a …

Fte2: An Exploration Of Full-Time Employed, Full-Time Enrolled Undergraduate Student Perceptions Regarding The Impact Of Support Systems On Their Ability To Persist, Victoria Lauren Mccord

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Full-time enrolled students participating in full-time employment is a growing trend on college campuses. This dissertation serves to explore the perceptions of full-time employed, full-time enrolled graduate students’ perceptions on the impact of their support systems on their ability to persist. The proposed study utilizes Laura Perna’s Conceptual Model for College Access and Choice (2006), along with Cabrera, Nora, and Castenada’s Integrated Model for Student Retention (1993) to the following research questions: (1) What factors, support systems or resources do students utilize? (2) What formal or informal support systems and/or resources aid in student persistence, if any? This dissertation addresses …

Galvanizing Parental Involvement In Early Childhood Education To Promote Student Attendance, Marquita Robertson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This applied research study aimed to increase parental involvement to improve kindergarten attendance. The need to increase parental participation arose from low academic achievement ratings and high chronic absenteeism rates among young students. This applied research study used three elements to increase kindergarten attendance. The researcher used surveys, interviews, and kindergarten attendance data to complete the study. Using the abovementioned instruments and the school leadership team's collaborative involvement, findings support that improving parental involvement can lead to improved kindergarten attendance and shared organizational learning.

Dear God The Light, Suado Abdirahman Sheikhhassan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This creative thesis contains original poetry by Suado Sheikhassan.

A Care Ethical Defense Of Intergenerational Obligations, Owen Spalding

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This paper argues that an ethic of care can justify an obligation or set of obligations to future generations. To do this, I analyze a comparable project by Thomas Randall and while ultimately agreeing with his basic conclusion, I show that he needlessly rejects arguments that would help to establish this obligation. Specifically, I defend against his critiques of Nel Noddings and Anca Gheaus. From here, I move on to show that an ethic of care centered on needs is more effective for making policy decisions than the sufficientarian model established by Randall.

Quitting: A Phenomenological Study On The Factors Contributing To Mississippi Teacher Exits During And After The Covid-19 Pandemic, Krystal R. Cormack

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This transcendental phenomenological study focused on determining the factors contributing to teacher exits from Mississippi schools during and since the global COVID-19 pandemic. Developing a more robust understanding of the teacher labor market and teacher exits is vital to ensuring that students can access a high-quality education. Participants identified the COVID-19–related factors that influenced their decision to exit the classroom and factors unrelated to the COVID-19 pandemic. The participants felt the COVID-19 pandemic worsened their teaching experience and created additional work. One educator exited due to complications from long COVID disease. Three major findings unrelated to the COVID-19 pandemic emerged …

Prevalence Of Meeting 24-Hour Movement Guidelines And Sociodemographic Correlates Among U.S. Adults, Samantha Cohen-Winans

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Much evidence exists for the health benefits associated with individual movement behaviors, which include light-intensity physical activity (LPA), moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, sedentary behavior, and sleep. However, individual movement behaviors are codependent in nature and exist within a finite period of 24-hours, further underlying the importance of examining the integration of movement behaviors. Despite the absence of 24-hour movement guidelines in the U.S., the benefits of adhering to such guidelines outweigh the potential harms, such as with various levels of physical activity intensity. Moreover, many intervention studies focus on one individual movement behavior underscoring the need for studies to examine intervention …

Assessing The Relationship Between School Disengagement And Violence Involvement, Senneca Evans

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Social control theory suggests that having strong social bonds to a society prevents individuals from engaging in delinquent acts. Consistent with the main assumption of this theoretical framework, the current study assesses whether having a weak bond to school, specifically, school disengagement, impacts violent behavior among adolescents. The current study also assesses whether gender and race/ethnicity moderate the relationship between school disengagement and violence involvement. Data used in this study were obtained from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescents to Adult Health public-use data (N = 6,045). Results show that school disengagement is a significant predictor of violent behavior among …

International Forum Shopping: An Instrument Of Domestic Signaling, Giorgi Khatiashvili

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The dissertation explores the relationship between domestic politics and the choice of international venue for economic sanctions and trade disputes, utilizing the concept of forum shopping. The research argues that forum shopping is not only an outward, but also an inward looking endeavor, shaped by the government’s need to communicate with its domestic audience. The research identifies two main domestic constituencies – the public and economic groups – that influence the government’s behavior with regard to forum shopping. Empirical analysis reveals that when facing pressure from the domestic public, governments tend to choose larger and more legitimate international organizations for …

Impact Of Flow Conditions On Graphene-Coated Soil And Geotextile Materials, Brennan Power

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Levees are fundamental infrastructures for reducing and mitigating flood risk during extreme weather events. Unfortunately, levees do not eliminate flood risk entirely due to floods potentially exceeding a levee’s capacity. Graphene has become a significant material for enhancing the mechanical properties of materials such as concrete and soil. The focus of this study was to determine methods to coat two materials commonly used in levee sites, sand and geotextile, with graphene to determine the stability of the coating on the materials under different flow conditions simulating real-life scenarios such as wet and dry periods. These graphene-coated materials could then be …

Earthscibert: Pre-Trained Language Model For Information Retrieval In Earth Science, Rishabh Shrestha

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Large Language Models (LLMs), such as Generative Pre-trained Transformers (GPT) and Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers (BERT), have significantly advanced Natural Language Processing (NLP), achieving state-of-the-art results in various tasks. Notably used in systems like Google Search, these models can be domain-tuned through domain-specific pre-training. In Earth Science, where massive data is generated and made publicly available by institutions such as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), understanding the usage of such datasets in scientific literature is critical to assessing their scientific impact.

This thesis develops and introduces EarthSciBERT, a domain-specific BERT developed for Earth Science by pre-training BERT …

It’S Just A Way Of Life: A Symbolic-Interactionist Approach To Inequalities In The Contemporary American South, Angela Rankin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The contemporary American South is characterized by significant inequalities that are deeply- embedded into the social fabric of the region. These inequalities are dictated by cultural and social dynamics that have shaped the Southern region over time; however, they are reinforced daily through the individual agency of Southern social actors. This thesis aims to analyze Southern inequalities through a symbolic-interactionist focused lens and data collected from semi-structured, qualitative interviews conducted with over 70 White Southerners in two places within the American South- Oxford, MS, and Memphis, TN. In this thesis, I argue that White Southern actors actively use their individual …

Development Of Narrow-Spectrum Agents And Mray Inhibitors Targeting Multidrug-Resistant Mycobacterium Tuberculosis, Tomayo Ireti Berida

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Tuberculosis (TB) is a major global health burden. This airborne infectious disease is caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) and resulted in 1.6 million deaths globally in 2021. The emergence and spread of multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) and extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR-TB) underscores the urgent need to discover and develop new agents, particularly those with narrow spectrum activity and those acting by novel mechanisms. Although broad-spectrum antibacterials have been successful in treating drug-resistant bacterial infections, including TB, there is a push toward the discovery and development of anti-TB agents with narrow-spectrum activity. This approach aims to limit the spread of resistance across …

Exploring Clinical Judgment In An Accelerated Undergraduate Nursing Curriculum, Marlie Lawrence Farrar

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Nurses play a pivotal role in the healthcare world. They play a role in many settings, caring for patients with chronic issues to patients in life threatening situations. These settings call for nurses to be able to analyze patient situations and correctly intervene. This skill is clinical judgment. However, Kavanagh and Swzeda (2018) have shown that new graduate nurses do not demonstrate this skill, potentially causing patient harm. Findings such as this one have led to a reformation of the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN). The revamped exam called the Next Generation NCLEX (NGN) will focus on …

Ceremony On The Frontier: An Analysis Of A Thirteenth And Fourteenth Century Multi-Phase Mississippian Structure At The Carter Robinson Site, Lee County, Virginia, Taylor Greene

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Carter Robinson (44LE10, occupied from ca. A.D. 1200-1400) is a Mississippian mound site located on the frontier between the edge of the Mississippian world and the beginning of the Radford culture area in southwestern Virginia. Although several structures have been identified and studied in the past, only one structure has been featured intentional burning and reconstruction throughout the occupation of the site, and is designated as Structure 2. This structure is also unique due to its location at the site, on a small rise about 80-meters east of the mound, a construction area typically reserved for the homes of minor …

Negotiating Intersectional Identities In The Music Culture Of The Deeper Christian Life Ministries In Nigeria, If-Not-God Moses

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Christianity is the largest religion in the world with a population of over two billion. More than ever before, the rapid growth of this religion is getting more diverse due to a great variety of doctrines and practices that it accommodates. From the inception of Christianity, music has been prominent and a powerful bedrock of its religious worship. This thesis, underpinned by the paradigm of sound as a social structure as espoused by Steven Feld, examines the intersectional identities in the music culture of the Deeper Christian Life Ministries (DCLM) in Nigeria. This research aims to fathom the musical functions …

The Efficacy Of Interventions Aimed At Reducing Early Childhood Toxic Stress: A Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis, Sheerah Neal Keith

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The foundations of mental health and well-being are built in the first five years of life. Early childhood toxic stress (i.e., repeated, excessive, or prolonged activation of the body’s stress response systems) can undermine children’s sense of safety, sense of stability, and ability to form healthy relationships. The damaging effects of toxic stress can disrupt the normal course of brain, immune, and metabolic development, placing children at increased risk for mental and physical health problems that can last into adulthood. Counselors are uniquely qualified to help prevent and treat early childhood toxic stress. Yet, gaps between counseling theory, research, and …

Gym Theory: A Guide To Maximize Your Gains & Minimize Your Trauma By The End Of The World, Joshua Nguyen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A collection of poems with a critical introduction.

“The War Will Be Over Sometime”: Female Authorship, Time, Trauma, And Healing In H.D.’S Wartime Works, Loren Samons

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As a tripartite collection of poems, at first glance H.D.'s Trilogy appears vastly different from her semi-autobiographical novel, Bid Me to Live, but the two are not as removed from each other as their formats and publication timelines might indicate. In fact, their connectedness is much less discreet than many scholars have suggested. In addition to being thematically similar in terms of their considerations of time and gender, Bid Me to Live and Trilogy could be viewed as works in conversation with each other, reflecting the development of the female authorial voice along a timeline of war-related trauma progression and …

Support Experiences Of Beginning Teachers In An Alternate Route Graduate Program In Mississippi, Elizabeth Young Sweeney

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Beginning teachers are the group of teachers most at risk of leaving the profession, while research has shown that novice teachers who receive support, such as mentorship or cohort programs, are more likely to continue to teach than those who do not. This study explored supports that beginning teachers in an alternate route graduate program in Mississippi experience and perceive as beneficial. A qualitative research design utilizing a phenomenological approach was used to explore the lived experiences of participants and supports they experience as beginning teachers. Thirteen beginning teachers, each teaching for less than three years, were interviewed using a …

Oh Men Of Justice! Petitioning In Protectorate Bahrain 1919-1939, Ashleen Williams

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In 1934, Bahraini petitioners wrote to the Ruler of Bahrain to demand protection for the rights of individuals. The petition was not the first, nor was it the last, to demand rights in Bahrain during the interwar period. This study examines petitioning and claim-making in protectorate Bahrain. A close reading of petitions submitted by different Bahrain communities from 1919 to 1939 demonstrates Bahrain was shaped by multiple competing and cooperating priorities. This study identifies three stages of petitioning in the interwar period: petitioning for protection, petition for rights, and nationalist petitioning. Using a framework of jurisdictional ambiguity, the dissertation shows …

Unsung Heroes: The Jones County Drug Court, Elise Joelle Denoulet

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In Ellisville, Mississippi, some heroes do not wear capes. The Jones County Drug Court, located in rural Mississippi, fights drug and alcohol addiction daily. This drug court program, led by the tough but compassionate Consuelo Walley, supervises about 70 to 90 participants in their recovery journey. In recent years, this program has grown to be known as one of the most efficient in its region, and I made it my mission to uncover why that is. It turns out staff members are themselves recovering addicts, who utilize their own experience as a way to connect and relate to their participants. …

Slavery, Antislavery, And Masculinity In Kansas And Kentucky, Spencer King

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Gender roles and conceptions of gender have varied cultures throughout the world and have transformed over time. Times of significant change, such as times of intense conflict and warfare, have often aided these transformations in gender as people adapted to their circumstances. The opening of Kansas Territory and the eventual start of the Civil War mark one of these moments, as white abolitionists moved from the eastern United States to the West in order to prevent the spread of slavery and encountered violence from proslavery actors who sought to preserve the institution. Bleeding Kansas, the violent conflict between proslavery and …

Milk And Water Kefir: Microbial Diversity And Sensory Properties, Xia Li

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Kefir is a fermented beverage that has become increasingly popular because of its proposed probiotic functions. It can be classified into two types: milk kefir and water kefir depending on the medium and inoculated starter culture. This dissertation summarizes work exploring the similarities and differences between milk and water kefir with respect to sensory properties and microbial composition. For the kefir sensory test, six milk and six water kefirs were evaluated on the sensory attributes (color, aroma, taste, and mouthfeel). Milk kefirs were assessed as sour and cheesy, followed by a creamy and thick mouthfeel. In contrast, water kefirs were …

An Assessment Plan To Analyze Nudges And Their Effectiveness In A Learning Management System At Educational Institutions, Nishanth J. Rodrigues

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Procrastination is a significant problem in academia with some estimates suggesting that this occurs in as high as 70-90% of college students (Abdi Zarrin & Gracia, 2020) that manifests in numerous harmful ways including postponement of weekly reading assignments, delay in writing term papers, and inadequate preparation and beginning too late when studying for exams. The effects of procrastination vary from the immediate, such as a failed grade on an assignment, to the long-term, including delayed graduation or even failure to graduate, all of which have the “knock-on” effect of harming the students’ self-esteem and future success following their studies. …

Design And Application Of Single And Multi-Gate Transistor-Based Analog Chaotic Maps, Maisha Sadia

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Rapid advancement in technology has led to an increase in security threats, such as side-channel attacks and reverse engineering, which can potentially leak sensitive data or code to malicious parties. To address these challenges, researchers harness the inherent complexity of chaos-based computing. Leveraging chaos offers several advantages, including logic obfuscation, mitigation of power analysis attacks, and encryption of images and data.

The motivation has been to design hardware-efficient circuits that meet modern systems’ power, area, and performance requirements and provide enhanced security. We have introduced our novel one-dimensional discrete chaotic map circuits, designed using a 45nm CMOS process, although the …