Digital Commons Network^™

An Argument Against Positivist Separability, Nichalus Zoltan Vali

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

One of the most influential views associated with legal positivism is that of the separability thesis. Primarily associated with H.L.A Hart, this thesis is widely understood to be the view that there is no necessary connection between law and morality. However, John Gardner takes this to be a naïve interpretation of separability that fails to adequately characterize legal positivism and which Hart himself did not endorse. Instead, Hart and other legal positivists were committed to the view that whether a norm is legally valid depends on its sources (i.e., social facts such as official engagement with the norm) and not …

Tanzanian Cyberscape: Exploring Language Preference Patterns Among Instagram Users, Carolyne Saria Ulomy

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Virtual platforms such as Instagram are not only characterized by massive collaboration, sharing, and access to information but also by multilingual exchanges. For example, Tanzanian social media users choose to disseminate or publish information online using different languages present in their linguistic repertoires. This study explores multilingualism in social media (Instagram) within the Tanzanian context, as well as address the statuses of Swahili, English, Swanglish/Kiswanglish, Community Languages (CLs) and Foreign Languages (FLs) on social media. Specifically, the research investigated two overarching questions: What are the factors influencing language choices among Tanzanian Instagram users? and is there an association between content …

Single Versus Dual Response Demands In An Event-Based Prospective Memory Task With Context, Anne Elizabeth Vogel

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Prospective memory (PM) refers to memory for future-based intentions. Previous research has explored how contextual information can support PM performance by lowering the cost to the ongoing task. For example, a study by Smith et al. (2017) demonstrated that knowing the contextual information of proximity to PM targets can affect attentional resource allocation. This was seen empirically as faster reaction times (RTs) when participants knew they were far from the target location, but longer RTs as participants knew they were approaching a target location. However, Vogel and Smith (in prep) found discrepancies in this pattern. This current study investigated these …

Atomistic Simulation Of Pfas And Graphene: Interactions For Water Applications, Bashar Moufeed Awawdeh

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The contamination of drinking water by per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS) is a global issue. PFAS have been widely utilized in a variety of applications, including water and stain-resistant coatings, fire suppression foams, cosmetics, paints, and adhesives. They have been detected in soils and rivers globally due to their widespread use and resistance to degradation. The strong C–F bonds of PFAS make them exceedingly stable and hard to remove. In order to remediate PFAS contamination in the environment, it is essential to develop selective adsorbent materials that can effectively capture a wide range of PFAS structures. On April 10, …

Ecological And Evolutionary Ramifications Of Host-Parasite Interaction In Aquatic And Model Ecosystems, Akacia Halliday-Isaac

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Host-parasite interactions are ubiquitous and have negative risks and consequences on individual, population, and evolutionary scales. These risks and consequences include altered population densities, changes in interspecies interactions, and rapid changes in host phenotypes. In this thesis, I seek to understand the ecological and evolutionary ramifications of host-parasite interactions within ecosystems. To do this, I investigated the presence and environmental correlates of potential host-parasite interactions in a freshwater ecosystem and used a model ecosystem to explore how past host-parasite coevolution affects community assembly dynamics and future adaptation in the presence of new stressors. To examine the presence of potentially parasitic …

Mindfulness And Mathematics: The Relationship Between A Mindful Teacher And Mathematics Intervention, Ave Mayeux

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Adolescents in American classrooms are currently required to fulfill multiple roles, making them particularly vulnerable to stress due to intense academic demands and social pressures. This stress can be particularly challenging for adolescents who struggle with stress, anxiety, depression, and/or self-regulation. Previous research indicates a positive correlation between mindfulness practices and reduced anxiety, improved social skills and interactions, enhanced academic performance, and better self-perception. This self-study explored the implementation of mindfulness exercises in a mathematics intervention classroom by adapting and creating appropriate resources, and facilitating mindfulness exercises suitable for adolescent students. Data in this self-inquiry study was generated through meticulous …

Performance Of A Selective Amplify-And-Forward Scheme For Two-Users With Two-Relays In Rayleigh Fading And Log-Normal Shadowing Channels, Mahdia Tahsin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Relays serve as virtual antennas in wireless networks, fostering spatial diversity between the source and destination to enhance coverage, signal quality, and network reliability. Among the various relay-assisted communication approaches, amplify-and-forward (AF) is widely favored for its reduced computational complexity. The selection of an optimal relay is crucial for maximizing network performance, constituting a significant challenge in wireless communication. Hence, optimal relay selection has emerged as a pivotal area of research. In this thesis, we investigate the potential benefits of implementing relay selection schemes in AF relay networks featuring two source-destination pairs and two relays. Our analysis focuses on two …

"'This May Not Be War, But Rather Statesmanship': Sherman's March Through Griswoldville, Milledgeville, And Greater Savannah", Matthew Ryan Lempke

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation argues that four communities in Confederate Georgia visited by Union soldiers during Sherman’s March to the Sea reorients our understanding about the state’s continued ability to resist the United States military, the level and variations of destruction, the rationales and motivations behind targeted actions, the multiplicity of experiences among diverse participants, willing and unwilling alike, and of the campaign’s broader effectiveness. The first two communities, Griswoldville and Milledgeville, were indispensable locations that set in motion a coalescence of military and political setbacks from which Confederate Georgia did not recover. As the march progressed and entered coastal communities, the …

Effects Of Off-Season Fall-Winter Farm Field Flooding On Nitrogen Gas Production, Andrew Rosson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Increased nitrogen (N) fertilizer use and cultivation of N-fixing crops have dramatically increased agricultural N inputs to the global N cycle. Excess N on agricultural lands is highly susceptible to loss through runoff or atmospheric emissions, potentially as a greenhouse gas (GHG). Nitrous oxide (N2O), a GHG with a warming potential ~300 times that of carbon dioxide (CO2), primarily enters the atmosphere through denitrification, which converts bioavailable nitrate (NO3-) to inert nitrogen gas (N2), with N2O as an intermediate. Wetlands are crucial for de-nitrification and N regulation due to their wet, anoxic soils, but have declined worldwide, including substantial losses …

Punishing Poverty: An Examination Of Financial Disadvantage And Out-Of-School Suspension, Joshua Rosenbaum

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

School suspension is often a response by officials to address deviant behavior within the school setting. While studies have examined various causes and consequences of school suspension, there is a dearth of literature focusing on the effects of financial disadvantage on school discipline (i.e., school suspension). Given that out-of-school suspension is a reliable predictor of juvenile justice involvement later in life, it serves as an important outcome variable in preventative criminology. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health), the purpose of the current study is to analyze the relationship between financial disadvantage and …

Ftir Microspectroscopy For The Investigation Of Microplastic Pollution, Automotive Paint Layers, And Prehistoric Rock Paint With An Emphasis On Analytical Method Development, Kendall Wontor

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The research detailed in this dissertation centers on the development of new analytical methods using chemical imaging microspectroscopy, primarily μ[micro]-FTIR, for applications in environmental, forensic, and archeological chemistry. The state-of-the-art instrument (LUMOS II) used in this research combines optical microscopy with IR spectroscopy, allowing sample visualization during FTIR imaging and micro-analysis.

Chapter 1 serves as an introduction and provides background detail on the instrumentation and technique. Chapter 2 describes the use of fluorescent microscopy to quantify microplastics (MPs) in oysters from the Mississippi Sound. High concentrations of putative MPs were found, with sites inside bays near population centers displaying higher …

Breaking Old: Trends And Adverse Events Of Prescription Stimulant Use In Older Adults, Saumil Jadhav

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examined prescription stimulant medication (PSM) use among older adults in the United States from 2012-2020 by (1) assessing annual prevalence and describing clinical characteristics and treatment patterns among new PSM users, (2) evaluating the association between PSM initiation and risk of adverse events such as stroke, myocardial infarction, and all-cause mortality, and (3) analyzing trends in the concomitant use of PSMs and antidepressants. The study utilized 5% national sample of Medicare administrative claims from 2012-2020.

First, the study identified an increase in the annual prevalence of PSM use from 0.44% in 2012 to 0.63% in 2020 among older …

Formulation And Characterization Of Quetiapine Fumarate Floating Bioadhesive Tablets, Ajay Reddy Kolipaka

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Quetiapine fumarate (QF) is an antipsychotic drug, and it has a plasma half-life of 6 hours. The chemical structure of QF has nitrogen groups making it highly soluble in acidic pH and slightly soluble in alkaline pH. This study aimed to develop the QF gastroretentive tablets by TSMG technology comprising floating and mucoadhesive approach by using different viscosity grades of HPMC to improve absorption by prolonging its gastric residence time. The floating tablets were prepared using the Twin screw melt granulation (TSMG) technology, and the impact of polymer concentration and viscosity grades of HPMC on the floating ability and drug …

Exploring African American Female Students' Choice Of Stem Major At Rust College, Shatara Hall

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In comparison to the rest of the United States population, African American women are undeniably inadequately represented in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). As one of the oldest historically black colleges in Mississippi, Rust College has the social responsibility to increase the presence and contributions of minorities in STEM. Since the enrollment of African American females is greater than that of African American males at Rust College, the college has the fortuity to assist in increasing the diversity in STEM for both race and gender. This DIP utilizes Intersectionality Theory as the conceptual foundation to explore …

Combined In Silico And Experimental Approaches Of Pharmacognosy To Resolve Complex Natural Product Issues, William Michael Neal

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Since the identification of useful bioactive natural products can often involve tedious dereplication measures to decipher complex mixtures, much emphasis is placed on methods that can effectively characterize natural products. Several in silico methods, such as quantitative structure-activity relationships (QSARs), molecular docking, and quantum calculations, provide researchers with valuable tools to overcome the challenge of complex natural product mixtures. To exemplify the abilities of computational methodologies to further the field of pharmacognosy, this dissertation elaborates on several research projects involving computational approaches in pharmacognosy, including: (1) global assessment of pregnane X receptor (PXR) agonism via multiple QSAR models, (2) differentiation …

The Effects Of Multimodal Communication With Discourse In People With Chronic Aphasia, Elizabeth Grace Peeler

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Purpose

Individuals with aphasia often experience communication breakdowns. One strategy that has been shown to be useful is switching communication modalities when a breakdown occurs. While many researchers have incorporated and shown positive effects of multimodality in aphasia treatment, few studies have utilized a discourse task to generalize the methods trained during the structured tasks to everyday life. The purpose of Multimodal Communication Treatment + Discourse and Group (MCT+DG) is to train various communication modalities in both structured and unstructured settings, which include a discourse and group therapy to help generalizing the skills in daily communication.

Method

Two participants with …

Il-17a Inhibitors For The Treatment Of Psoriasis, Mangesh Bankhele

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Psoriasis is a long-lasting skin condition caused by the immune system, which is characterized by red, scaly areas. It mainly affects the scalp, elbows, knees, and lower back. Psoriasis, which affects around 2-3% of the world's population, has a substantial influence on the quality of life of people who suffer from it. The disorder arises due to an atypical immunological response in which the immune system mistakenly attacks skin cells, causing fast cell reproduction, inflammation, and excessive growth. Psoriasis can be treated with topical therapies, systemic drugs, and biologics. Topical therapies, including corticosteroids, vitamin D analogs, and retinoids, are commonly …

The Trading Dynamics Of Corporate Bonds And Bond Etfs, Cindy Pan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

We find trading dynamics in bond ETFs and equity ETFs to be different. Although lit trading activity in equity ETFs is greater than bond ETFs, hidden liquidity in bond ETFs is significantly higher than in equity ETFs. Dark trading volume in bond ETFs is also greater than dark trading volume in equity ETFs. Results are robust to an out-of-sample test and is not driven by a specific exchange or specific types of bond ETFs. The extensive use of hidden and dark liquidity for bond ETFs relative to equity ETFs indicates that demand for opaquely trading bond ETFs has value to …

Grace Satellite Spatial Resolution Downscaling Using Machine Learning: Methods And Applications, Abdel Rahman M. Awawdeh

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellite mission has been instrumental in advancing our understanding of global water dynamics, providing unprecedented insights into terrestrial water storage (TWS). Despite its revolutionary contributions, the coarse spatial resolution of GRACE data (~300 km² grids) limits its utility for local-scale water resource management, particularly in regions requiring detailed hydrological analysis such as the Mississippi Delta. This dissertation addresses this limitation by developing and validating machine learning models to enhance the spatial resolution of GRACE data, thereby facilitating more precise and effective local water management strategies.

This research first establishes a comprehensive background in …

Godspeed: American Evangelicals And The Space Race, Kari Edwards

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

When the Space Race between the United States and the Soviet Union erupted in 1957 with the launch of the Sputnik 1 satellite by the Soviets, Americans were forced to face a disturbing new reality: the world had changed, humanity had reached into space, and the United States had not been the first nation to accomplish such a feat. In a Cold War climate dominated by religious concepts of good versus evil, American evangelicals approached the birth of space exploration with some reluctance, unsure whether such magnificent feats were truly blessed by God and struggling to come to terms with …

The Effects Of Technology-Enhanced Learning On Radiologic Sciences Student Engagement, Zack Gray

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation investigates the multifaceted connection between technology-enhanced learning (TEL) and student engagement, with a specific emphasis on student perceptions, attitudes, and distractions associated with technology usage in the classroom. Recognizing the increasing prevalence of technology in educational settings, this study seeks to understand how students perceive technology in the learning environment and how these perceptions influence their attitudes toward its use. The research framework is anchored in the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), providing a theoretical lens to assess the cognitive factors influencing student behavior.The study employs a mixed-methods approach, combining surveys and observations to gather comprehensive insights into …

Trait Forgiveness And Trait Anger: Links With 24-Hour Ambulatory Blood Pressure, Bianca Kirsch

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Hypertension is a leading risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Higher levels of trait anger and unforgiveness are linked with elevations in blood pressure, which increases one’s risk for hypertension. Most of the research examining the association between trait anger, trait forgiveness, and blood pressure (BP) uses single-time point assessment of BP and thus, is not able to capture day-to-day BP variability. Further, existing research has primarily focused on the forgiveness of others. The purpose of this study is to address these gaps in the literature. This is a preliminary analysis using about one-fourth of the target sample. Sixteen community-dwelling adults …

Team Origins: Leveraging Network Utilization And Leadership To Explain Team Assembly, Pol Solanelles

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Drawing from social networks and leadership perspectives, I advance our understanding of team assembly – which I define as the goal-motivated, multi-step, and iterative process by which two or more potential team members interact to organize into nascent teams via formal and/or informal influence. Across three essays, I aim to redirect the conversation from who will become part of a team to how individuals assemble teams, placing leaders assembling teams and potential team members at the forefront of this research.

In Essay 1, my interdisciplinary integrative conceptual review revealed four opportunities to clarify how people assemble teams. First, I use …

Indirect And Direct Pathways Of Migratory Shorebird Effects On Nitrogen Cycling Within Temporarily Flooded Agricultural Fields, Victoria Blocker

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The global human population continues to grow exponentially, and agriculture will need to become more productive to meet growing food demands. Humans also need clean water and other services that ecosystems provide. This requires future agriculture production to reduce environmental and wildlife impacts through improved efficiencies and best management practices. Migratory shorebirds rely on wetlands throughout North and South America as stopover habitat for rest and refueling during migration. Temporarily flooded farmlands in the Mississippi Delta have proven to be beneficial locations for shorebirds during migrations along the central flyway. This conservation practice also enhances wetland properties that promote excess …

Understanding Angler Responses To Fish Stocking Programs Across South Dakota, Riley L. Mounsdon

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Fisheries management is a complex process that often requires consideration of many factors to be implemented effectively. Stocking is one of the most often used fisheries management techniques for addressing a myriad of issues in the fisheries field. Stocking is also one of the largest expenses for many fisheries management agencies. Due to license sale declines, management actions including stocking, are being evaluated by many agencies to determine if there are ways to improve efficiency and effectiveness to reduce costs and enhance angler participation. For my second chapter, I evaluated the current fish stocking decision-making process within South Dakota Game, …

Influence Of Reduced Salt In Fully Cooked Ham And Sausage Cured With Natural Celery Powder On The Growth Of Listeria Monocytogenes At 4⁰C, Anne Sherod

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research evaluated the influence of reducing salt on outgrowth of L. monocytogenes on ready to eat (RTE) deli-style sliced ham cured with natural celery powder, fully cooked sausage links cured with traditional sodium nitrite and sausage links cured with natural celery powder, vacuum packaged and stored at 4⁰C on the outgrowth of L. monocytogenes. Experiment 1 evaluated L. monocytogenes outgrowth on ham over 153 days on the following treatments, current retail ham (HC) 2.0% salt; reduced salt 1 (HRS1) 1.5% salt; reduced salt 2 (HSR2) 1.35% salt; and reduced salt 2 without antimicrobials (HRS2WA) 1.35% salt without potassium lactate …

Impact Of Varying Molecular Weights Of Hyaluronic Acid On The Functional Properties Of Process Cheese Product, Rutvi Joshi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Hyaluronic acid (HA) is being accepted for use as a food ingredient and/or food supplement. It is available in a wide range of molecular weights (MW) and represents unique moisture retention properties depending on the MW. The moisture retention property of HA would be of great economic potential for the dairy industry. HA is a natural polysaccharide and holds the potential as a functional ingredient in dairy and food applications to modify viscosity and textural properties. The first research objective of the study was to determine the impact of very low to high MW of HA - 8kDa, 320kDa, 980kDa, …

Optimizing Large Language Models And Multimodal Approaches For Biomedical Publication And Satellite Imagery, Youngsun Jang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation comprises two main sections: the first focuses on natural language processing (NLP) for extracting key information from scientific literature using large language models (LLMs), and the second addresses remote sensing for detecting natural disasters, such as floods, from satellite imagery using a multimodal approach. The first section investigates methods to enhance Transformer-based models in classifying and extracting information from biomedical scientific publications. Key contributions include the development of a custom dataset for classification and Question and Answering (Q&A) tasks, fine-tuning Transformer models like the Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers (BERT) and addressing multi-span answer issues with the TAg-based …

Impacts Of Starter Fertilizer On Corn Development, Nutrient Uptake And Grain Yield In Eastern South Dakota, Larousse Dorissant

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Cold and wet spring conditions during planting in the Northern Corn Belt can limit nutrient mobility, especially phosphorus (P) due to reduced mineralization. This often triggers the use of starter fertilizers to enhance nutrient availability within the root zone, and as a result improve nutrient uptake and the overall plant growth. Albeit research has shown that starter fertilizer applications can significantly boost corn grain yield potential, the most substantial yield responses from starter fertilization are typically observed in fields where soil test P levels fall below the critical soil test P threshold. This dissertation explores i) the effects of starter …

Application Of Hot-Melt Extrusion Technology For The Preparation Of Carbamazepine Extended-Release Tablets, Chamundeswara Srinivasa Akash Kalla

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Carbamazepine (CBZ) is an anti-convulsant and specific analgesic for trigeminal neuralgia that reduces polysynaptic responses and blocks post titanic potentiation. Moreover, CBZ is effective in partial and generalized convulsions and mixed types. It is not effective in petit mal seizures. Carbamazepine extended-release tablets are used to treat episodes of mania (or) mixed episodes i.e., symptoms of mania and depression that happen at the same time, in patients with bipolar disorder. The present study was designed to develop CBZ extended-release tablets with acrylic acid-based polymer (Eudragit® RL PO) using a melt granulation and to match the USP dissolution test specification. Thermal …