Digital Commons Network^™

There Fly The Crows, Daniel R. Adler

Theses and Dissertations

Where there is a corpse, there fly the crows. —Netherlandish Proverb

Role Of Ahr Ligands In Immune Modulation To Suppress Inflammation Through The Regulation Of Microrna And Gut Microbiome, Osama Azeldeen Abdulla

Theses and Dissertations

The aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) is a ligand-activated transcription factor and an environmental sensor that is highly conserved evolutionarily. It was first discovered in the early 1970s for its ability to bind with high affinity to 2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD), an environmental pollutant and induce a xenobiotic-metabolizing enzyme known as aryl hydrocarbon hydroxylase (AHH). AhR was shown to regulate TCDD-mediated toxicity against a variety of tissues including the immune system. More recently, AhR has been characterized as key regulator of the immune system, specifically the differentiation of T cells. Also, several AhR ligands have been characterized in addition to TCDD such as …

Seven Phases Of The Moon, Muhammed Can Yasar

Theses and Dissertations

While studying for my MFA in Theatre, with a concentration in acting at the University of South Carolina, I was asked to write a solo show. I wanted to write about all the lives inside of me. As a Turkish Muslim man who lives in the United States, I lived so many lives, I met many people and seen many places. It made me who I am today, and writing became part of me forever. Creating a solo show was the most eye-opening learning experience. It changed my perspective towards my art, theatre. It helped me spotlight people, philosophy and …

Mathematical Realism From Reflectance Physicalism, Nicholas Matthew Danne

Theses and Dissertations

Do mirrors remain “reflective” objects in the dark, or does light shining onto a mirror instead give the mirror its reflective ability in the moment? More than an idle barstool question (like whether a tree falling in an abandoned forest makes a sound) the intrinsicality or light-independence of reflectance carries considerable philosophical import, since some philosophers reduce the human-visible colors to intrinsic surface reflectance. My dissertation, while remaining neutral on the best definition of color, argues that the received view of reflectance leaves it conceptually regressive and thus non-ascribable to surfaces. Rendering reflectance intrinsic to surfaces, I argue, requires a …

Religion, Senses, And Remembrance: Brooklyn’S Sumter Club In Postbellum Charleston, S.C., Michael Edward Scott Emett

Theses and Dissertations

Civil War historians are slowly coming to realize the need to explicitly analyze the senses of those who lived in, and survived, the Civil War era. Although vision has reigned as the “supreme” sense, the nonvisual senses, with the help of historians of the senses, are becoming just as important to Civil War research. However, scholars are still unraveling the lived experiences of Civil War Era Americans and the perceptions and meanings these Americans gave to those experiences, with Northerners receiving comparatively little attention. To understand the world of antebellum and Civil War Americans, we should take them at their …

Praying Soldiers: Experiencing Religion As A Revolutionary War Soldier Fighting For Independence, Roberto Oscar Flores De Apodaca

Theses and Dissertations

While enduring the hardships of battle, many Revolutionary War soldiers recorded more about their personal religious lives than perhaps any other single topic. They especially enjoyed cataloging events they ascribed to divine intervention, listing their daily religious routines, and commenting on first time encounters with religious others. New and extreme circumstances tested the religious preconceptions of those who enlisted in ways that they had rarely encountered in civilian life. Their religion took on new importance for them as soldiers relied on it both as an interpretive lens and as a source of stability amid a chaotic war. My dissertation examines …

Effect Of Oxidative Stress On Lifespan And Cellular Survival, Benedicth Onyeka Ukhueduan

Theses and Dissertations

When cells experience oxidative stress, the integrated stress response (ISR) signaling pathway is activated. One of the first outcomes of such ISR-activated response is to temporarily halt protein synthesis, which aids in cellular recovery. However, if cells cannot recover from the stress, they activate the cell death pathways which kills the affected cells, usually by apoptosis, which can then lead to either acquisition or prevention of diseases depending on the situation. In physiological aging, a compromised stress response is observed as an organism ages, which leads to disrupted homeostasis and elevated risk of disease. Thus, longevity of an organism is …

“Power And The Orientations Of Resistance In Twentieth-Century American Literature”, Victoria Eleanor Chandler

Theses and Dissertations

"Power and the Orientations of Resistance in Twentieth-Century American Literature” analyzes the intersections of space, power, and the possibility for alternatives to power structures. I argue that social power circumscribes the spatial possibilities of normative and non-normative subjectivities. In particular, power curtails the ability of marginalized subjects (such as women, queer people, and people of color) to forge alternatives to the current social order. In dialogue with recent scholars of race studies, feminism, and queer theory, this project reveals how dominated subjects employ their quotidian spaces as sites of resistance and survival. The literature I examine in this dissertation identifies …

Ten Years Of Japanese Piano Pedagogy (2009-2018) Through A Survey Of Educational Resources, Natsumi Takai

Theses and Dissertations

Educational resources are a reflection of the field. The content of articles and presentations articulate the recent landscape of the field. The investigation of such resources often appear in the field of piano pedagogy in the United States, to observe the trends and developments of the field. With a similar purpose, the current study explores the tendency of content of ten piano-related resources in Japan including journals, seminars and conferences and the background of authors and presenters for 2009-2018. By categorizing topics into five tiers and their subcategories, the research investigates an overview of Japanese piano pedagogy .

This study …

The Current State Of Health Care Facility Preparedness, Health Care Utilization, And Covid-19 Knowledge Amidst The Covid-19 Pandemic In The Malaria-Endemic Setting Of Manicaland Province, Zimbabwe, Julia Grace Scott

Theses and Dissertations

The impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has been felt worldwide, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). With fractured health systems, disrupted supply chains, limited resources, and continued fighting of endemic diseases such as malaria, SSA is at risk for greater impact. Manicaland Province has the highest incidence rate of malaria in Zimbabwe, and a higher malaria mortality rate than the national average. Manicaland also has the third highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in Zimbabwe. In this study, health care facilities and households throughout Makoni, Mutare, and Buhera districts in Manicaland Province were administered cross-sectional surveys. We …

A Multilevel And Spatial Analysis Of Oral And Pharyngeal Cancer In South Carolina, Deborah M. Hurley

Theses and Dissertations

Objective: Disparities in the distribution of oral and pharyngeal cancer exist worldwide. This is also true in the United States and in South Carolina. Differences exist in oral and pharyngeal cancer stage and survival by race and sex, with higher incidence rates for Whites but higher proportions of late-stage cancer and lower survival for Blacks. This study was conducted to evaluate whether any differences exist in the spatial distribution of oral and pharyngeal cancer stage at diagnosis and survival, and to evaluate the association of income inequality, material deprivation and other measures of social determinants of health (contextual risk factors) …

Plasmids Bring Novel Functions To Caulobacter Genomes, Taylor Howell Carter

Theses and Dissertations

Caulobacter is a well-studied bacterial genus, but little is known about the plasmids that are found in some wild Caulobacter isolates. I identified nine plasmids from seven different Caulobacter strains and grouped them based on their size and the similarity of their repABC, parAB, and mobAB genes. Protein pathway analysis of the genes on the K31p1, and K31p2 plasmids showed many metabolic pathways that would enhance the metabolic versatility of the host strain. In contrast, the CB4 plasmid contained 21 heavy metal resistance genes organized into 9 operons. The majority of the CB4 heavy metal resistance genes code for …

Physical Modeling Of Backward Erosion Piping Phenomenon In A Geotechnical Centrifuge, William Fernando Ovalle Villamil

Theses and Dissertations

Backward erosion piping is a mechanism of internal erosion that has been widely recognized as a potential hazard for water-retaining structures, such as dams and levees, that are founded on granular materials. Backward erosion piping initiates toward the downstream zone of the structure by the concentration of flow at an exit point acting as drainage, which leads to a localized loosening of the soil and eventually to a continuous migration of grains from the foundation following a piping path pattern. Such piping path extends backward toward the impoundment once a certain critical hydraulic condition is met, resulting in the loss …

Foxy Ladies And Badass Super Agents: Legacies Of 1970s Blaxploitation Spy And Detective Heroines, Carlie Nicole Todd

Theses and Dissertations

The presentation of Black femininity in Blaxploitation spy and detective films like Cleopatra Jones (1973), Foxy Brown (1974), and Get Christie Love! (1974) – depicting powerful, independent, and multidimensional characters – was a sharp departure from the derogatory images of African American women in film prior. These films also included some of the first Black spy and detective film heroines – Foxy Brown, Cleo Jones, and Christie Love – that portrayed a “serious” female detective or government agent as the main protagonist and center of the film’s action. These Blaxploitation heroines were unique in how their characters departed from prior …

Joshua Gordon’S Witchcraft Book And The Transformation Of The Upcountry Of South Carolina, E. Zoie Horecny

Theses and Dissertations

The life of Joshua Gordon and his intellectual product, Witchcraft Book (1784) gives access to the backcountry of South Carolina. Witchcraft Book is exemplary of syncretism in the Atlantic world, influenced by multiple European traditions, understandings of science in the early modern world, indigenous knowledge, and life in North America. After serving in the American Revolution, Gordon transitioned from a small farmer to a slaveholder. He was a part of political and economic processes that unified the backcountry with low country elites in defense of slavery. As a prominent figure in his community and church, he solidified his legacy for …

Mechanism Of Therapeutic Efficacy Of New Drugs In Glioblastoma, Firas Hameed Khathayer

Theses and Dissertations

Glioblastoma is the most malignant and prevalent brain tumor in adults. It can grow and spread quickly causing harm to brain health. The deregulation of epigenetic mechanisms is considered the main agent in the developing of GBM. One of the enzymes involved in epigenetic alternation and cancer development are histone deacetylases enzyme (HDAC) by removal acetyl group from histone and create condensed chromatin that suppresses transcription gene to histone and non-histone proteins involved in tumorigenesis. Histone deacetylase inhibitors (HADCi) are the most common therapeutic methods for many types of cancer treatments. In the present study, we used relative HDAC inhibitor …

Health Communication Blindspot: A Case Study Of Harmful Algal Blooms In The South (Habits), Jaron Hoani King

Theses and Dissertations

A Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB) is a complex natural event that occurs when algae is in its growth stage and creates a harmful toxin as waste. HABs create both ecologic and public health challenges. The hypothesis of this thesis is that state and federal governments have different readability scores when compared side-by-side as measured by Simple Measures of Gobbledygook (SMOG). Because governments are the entity that most often claims responsibility for shared resources, this case study represents a snapshot of current governmental messaging about HABs in the South Atlantic states. These states have a long history of HAB events in …

The Shape Of The Bilingual Mental Lexicon: Testing The Cognate Continuum, Danielle Kristine Fahey

Theses and Dissertations

Items in the mental lexicon have three storage and processing strata, the concept, lemma, and lexeme, which equate to semantic, syntactic and phonological information. Lexical items relate to each other at each stratum. Bilingual lexicons, which contain items from all languages, may contain cognates, items sharing concepts and with overlapping lexemes. Because cognates likely relate at the lemma level also, this research proposed the Cognate Continuum, a categorization of cognates and noncognates in the bilingual mental lexicon. The Cognate Continuum includes three sets of cognates:

(i) true cognates have the closest phonology and syntax.

(ii) lemma cognates have close syntax …

How Hbo's A Black Lady Sketch Show Utilizes Humor To Cope And Resist Against Racism And Sexism, Regina Lynnette Sanders

Theses and Dissertations

HBO’s A Black Lady Sketch Show is a sketch comedy series with a cast and crew of Black women. I draw on rhetorical scholarship from various traditions and Black Feminist Standpoint to analyze how the writers and performers use humor imbued with African American rhetoric to cope with and resist systematic racism and sexism in the United States of America. I begin by analyzing interviews with the creator Robin Thede. Then I analyze sketches and the intentional use of African American rhetoric, such as rhythm, stylin’, indirection, call and response, signification, and double word choice, which leads me to three …

Perceptions, Learner Characteristics, And Preferences Of Limited Literacy Moroccan Women: The Feasibility Of Acquiring Darija Literacy Skills Through M-Learning, Nada El Maliki

Theses and Dissertations

This study explored the perceptions, learner characteristics and preferences of Moroccan women with limited literacy skills towards the use of their smartphones to improve reading literacy skills in Latin script Moroccan Darija (LSD). The goal was to generate a range of recommendations for instructional designers, curriculum developers and education policymakers designing literacy programs for the target population. Specific focus was given to the fundamental reading sub-skill of matching letters to sounds (also known as phonemic awareness or decoding) for the Darija language. This study employed target population analysis (TPA) as a phenomenological approach that consisted of interviews with a sample …

"I Thought That We Could Nurture The Nature Out Of Our Son": Making Meaning Of Parenting In The Narratives Of Parents Of Children In Residential Treatment, Jared V. Worwood

Theses and Dissertations

This study implements relational dialectics theory to explore the meaning of parenting from the perspective of parents who had enrolled a child in a residential treatment program. Contrapuntal analysis of six interviews revealed two discourses competing to make meaning of parenting. The Discourse of Demanding Parenting Ideals (DDPI) consisted of two themes: relentless sacrifice and complete responsibility, whereas themes of boundary-setting and acceptance compose the Discourse of Realistic Best Effort (DRBE). Discursive interplay between these discourses occurred in the forms of diachronic separation, synchronic interplay, and discursive transformation to make meaning of parenting and hold theoretical and practical implications.

Effects Of The Antidepressant Drug Vortioxetine On Ventral Pallidal Neuronal Activity, Respiration, And Heart Rate In The Rat, Piper Rogers

Theses and Dissertations

Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is a mental illness that affects millions of people worldwide. People diagnosed with MDD are often prescribed antidepressant drugs. Most antidepressants increase levels of serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT) in the synapses between neurons. Selective-serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), one class of antidepressants, do this by inhibiting the reuptake of serotonin released into the synapse. Serotonin neurons from the brainstem raphe nuclei affect a wide range of areas throughout the brain. Among these areas is the ventral pallidum (VP), located in the basal forebrain. Citalopram, an SSRI, has been found to increase the firing rate of action potentials of …

The Effects Of Dynamic Written Corrective Feedback Frequency On Esl Writing Accuracy, Fluency, And Complexity, Suzanne H. Rice

Theses and Dissertations

Dynamic written corrective feedback is a strategy that raises student awareness of the patterned errors they make in their writing. Teacher feedback provides the location and type of error made in the form of error codes. Multiple studies have shown it to significantly improve the grammatical accuracy of student writing. This research examines the effects of the frequency of teacher feedback, on student written accuracy, fluency, and complexity whether daily or every-other-day. The total number of minutes students write for is also questioned since it is directly related to the amount of feedback students receive. This is done to make …

Thucydides' Plague, A Narrative Aggressor, Masen J. Williamson

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis expands upon the notion that Thucydides’ plague narrative in his History of the Peloponnesian War punctuates his argument for the unique greatness of the Peloponnesian War. Through the plague, Thucydides displays the collapse of Greek society’s standards and practices. He does this by describing a plague which does not conform to 5th century BCE Greek medical ideas. Balance, human art, and divine intervention all fail in their attempts to restore the health of the individual and society. Thucydides portrays the plague as a narrative aggressor whose intent is to topple Athens and its ideals. Lucretius’ plague narrative, because …

Improving Perennial Bunchgrass Seeding Success In Annual Grass Invaded Areas Using Pre-Emergent Herbicide And Furrowing Techniques, Spencer Chad Camp

Theses and Dissertations

Exotic annual weeds have transformed western North America, particularly in sagebrush-steppe systems. Restoration of these invaded sites has been met with low levels of success. Pre-emergent herbicide provides a means to control annual weeds, but typically, this treatment does not allow for the concurrent seeding of desired species. Seeding within a deep, U-shaped furrow following herbicide application may be a method to reduce pre-emergent herbicide effects by transferring the herbicide away from the seed at the time of planting. We tested this potential planting technique by spraying plots with or without the pre-emergent herbicide imazapic, and planting bunchgrass seeds either …

Co -Localization Of D 1 And Darpp-32 In Methamphetamine-Treated Rat Nucleus Accumbens, Perirhinal Cortex, And Hippocampus, Yonca Cam

Theses and Dissertations

Methamphetamine abuse is a major health concern that has been associated with adverseeffects such as behavioral disturbances, impaired memory, and cognitive deficits. Chronic use of methamphetamine has been found to cause persistent changes in dopamine receptors and DARPP-32 expression in the rat striatum. Because methamphetamine use has been associated with memory and cognitive impairments, chronic effects in memory-related regions should be thoroughly examined as well. The current study investigated the long-term effects of methamphetamine self-administration on D1 receptor and DARPP-32 expression on the subregions of nucleus accumbens, hippocampus, and perirhinal cortex via immunostaining. I expected to find decreased levels of …

A Computational Investigation Of The Biophysical Mechanisms Underlying Thermotaxis In The Afd Neurons Of Caenorhabditis Elegans, Zachary Mobille

Theses and Dissertations

Thermotaxis in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) is studied at the cellular scale of the amphid finger-like ciliated (AFD) neurons, which have previously been shown to be essential for thermoreception. The voltage and calcium signals of AFD during temperature stimuli are described with ordinary differential equations. The primary calcium model is a modified version of that published by Kuramochi and Doi in 2017 to explain the calcium responses of the chemosensitive amphid single-ciliated right (ASER) neuron to fluctuations in extracellular salt concentration. To account for the effects of temperature, changes to the stimuli conditions under which inactivation takes place …

Effects Of Exercise Intensity And Type On Executive Function In Elementary-Aged Children, Patrick Pommier

Theses and Dissertations

The interactions of exercise on executive functioning (EF) have been studied thoroughly in previous literature, focusing mostly on the interactions of aerobic exercise (AE) intensity and its effects on inhibition and working memory. Although multiple categories of EF have been shown to improve based on aerobic exercise, the foundation of brain development relies within its ability to utilize all three areas of EF simultaneously. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the effects of exercise intensity and type of exercise (cognitive activation) on EF in elementary-aged children. Design: Eighteen children (mean age=10.4, SD=0.5, 61.1% girls) participated in a …

Understanding Teacher-Child And Peer Interactions During A 12-Week Preschool Art Program, Rebecca Bove

Theses and Dissertations

Children’s social and emotional development is essential for well being (Garner & Estep, 2001). Prior research has examined the impact of teacher-child interactions on children’s school adjustment, but little research has been done to explore how certain behaviors children demonstrate with teachers influence peer interactions (Graves Jr. & Howes, 2011; Rudasill et al., 2013). The goal of the study was to examine whether the proportion of interactions and the positive or negative connotation of the interactions that a child had with teachers had an impact on social-emotional relations with peers. Using archival observational data collected while children participated in a …

Reducing Seed Coat Fiber Content And Pod Shatter, And Engineering Medium Chain Fatty Acids-Containing Oil, In The Oilseed Crop Pennycress ( Thlaspi Arvense L. ), Maliheh Esfahanian

Theses and Dissertations

The overall goal of this thesis was to genetically improve agronomic traits of pennycress (Thlaspi arvense L.; Field Pennycress) and demonstrate the production of value-added designer seed oils to domesticate pennycress and enable its establishment as a new winter annual oilseed/meal/cover crop to be grown in temperate regions of the world. In the U.S. Midwest, pennycress can be double cropped on existing farmland during the time between corn harvest and subsequent planting of soybeans the following spring. Pennycress has the potential to produce 2,000 lbs/acre seeds, which at 33% by weight oil content and 20% protein, would yield 85 gallons/acre …