Digital Commons Network^™

Seeding Science: Exploring Impacts From Interdisciplinary Project-Based Learning Experiences On Preservice Teachers Science Teaching Self-Efficacy, Kathryn Ruth Madden

Theses and Dissertations

Early childhood and elementary education preservice teachers often report having limited firsthand experiences in constructivist, inquiry-based science instruction. This can be a factor in contributing to nervous or anxious feelings about teaching science to young learners. To address this critical problem, this study explored the impact of interdisciplinary project-based learning (PBL) experiences on preservice teachers' selfefficacy. The study extended over six weeks of the preservice teachers' science methods courses. The early childhood participants engaged in interdisciplinary PBL by designing and exploring schoolyard gardens. The elementary participants investigated the local saltmarsh ecosystem focusing on the plants and animals. The PBL experiences …

Clusters In The Storm: Regional Economic Specialization Before And After Hurricane Harvey, Gwyneth King Waddington

Theses and Dissertations

In recent years, large-scale disaster events have dominated headlines. As the world faces an increasing number of such disasters, it is crucial to understand their impacts beyond immediate monetary losses. Disasters not only directly impact individuals and businesses but may also reshape the spatial patterns of the regional economy. Through a case study of Hurricane Harvey in Texas and Louisiana, this study examines how disaster events influence regional economic specialization patterns and contribute to uneven impacts across economic supersectors and geographies. Expanding on previous methodologies, this study incorporates temporal analysis tools to identify and investigate case studies of economic change. …

Electrocatalytic Degradation Of Methylene Blue Using Graphene Oxide, Antimony Oxide, And Graphene Oxide-Supported Antimony Oxide Ink-Based Electrodes, Maria Irene Myers Armas

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigates the electrocatalytic degradation of methylene blue (MB) using copper mesh electrodes coated with graphene oxide (GO), antimony oxide (Sb₂O₃), and their composite (GO/Sb₂O₃). These materials were evaluated across a pH range of 2 to 8 using sodium sulfate as the supporting electrolyte. UV-Vis spectroscopy at 665 nm confirmed dye degradation, with removal efficiencies reaching up to 95% at pH 2. However, degradation decreased at higher pH, with 40 – 60% removal at pH 8, depending on the electrode. Kinetic analyses revealed optimum performance under acidic conditions. GO/Sb₂O₃ electrodes demonstrated the most consistent and effective performance across all …

Sequential Data Modeling Of Influenza A Via Traditional, Dwt-Gpr Hybrid, And Deep Learning Architectures, Edmund Fosu Agyemang

Theses and Dissertations

Influenza A is responsible for 290,000 to 650,000 respiratory deaths a year, though this estimate is an improvement from years past due to improved sanitation, healthcare practices, and vaccination programs. In this study, we perform a comparative analysis of traditional, deep-learning and discrete wavelet (DWT)-Gaussian Process (GP) hybrid models to predict Influenza A outbreaks. Using historical data from January 2009 to December 2023, we compared the performance of traditional ARIMA and ETS models, four variants of DWT-GPR models and six distinct deep learning architectures: Simple RNN, LSTM, GRU, BiLSTM, BiGRU and Transformer. The results reveal a clear superiority of all …

Contributions Of Citizen Science Data To Butterflies Of The Lower Rio Grande Valley, Akane Jazmyn Benitez

Theses and Dissertations

Citizen science-provided insect data inherently exhibits variability in accuracy. In the Lower Rio Grande Valley (LRGV), butterfly occurrence reporting is predominantly reliant on citizen science contributions. My research compared fieldwork conducted monthly over a year to occurrence records submitted by visitors at the National Butterfly Center and in Mission, Hidalgo County, Texas. I hypothesized that butterfly occurrences at the Center would be maximized during the fall and minimized during winter and summer months. My research findings revealed that butterfly taxa richness is contingent upon the following factors: 1) the impact of citizen science submitting reports, and 2) monthly butterfly activity …

Oxytocin As A Possible Vegf Inhibitor For Treatment Of Diabetic Retinopathy, Daira Yepez

Theses and Dissertations

Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is a major complication of diabetes and a leading cause of vision loss largely driven by the overexpression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), which promotes neovascularization and vascular permeability in the retina. Current treatments, primarily anti-VEGF injections, inhibit the effects of VEGF once it has been secreted but can be ineffective in a certain subset of patients. Recent studies suggest that oxytocin (OXT), a neuropeptide mainly known for its roles in reproduction and social bonding, may downregulate VEGF expression. This study aimed to investigate whether OXT influences VEGF secretion in the human retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) …

Getting Poked (Lovingly) With A Stick: A Study Of Parental Involvement During First-Year Students’ College Transitions, Mary Ellis Glymph

Theses and Dissertations

In recent years, some higher education professionals have observed an increase in parental involvement in the lives of their students during their transition to college. While involved parents are sometimes referred to as “helicopter parents,” this new generation of parents often fits more into the label of “snowplow parents” or “lawnmower parents.” This sort of over-involvement impacts students’ personal and academic development far beyond high school graduation; during college, students can struggle to adjust to new levels of academic rigor, but they can also struggle with self-confidence and internal motivation due to their lack of experience with addressing their own …

Spatio-Temporal Modeling & Goodness Of Fit Testing For Ecological Fire Data, Jedidiah Olof Lindborg

Theses and Dissertations

An analysis of fire data sets resulting from controlled burns was performed. Spatio-temporal models were applied to the data sets to determine which covariates are significant in predicting fire temperature. The data sets were censored and only contain temperatures above 300C, due to a limitation in the measuring device. To handle the censoring, an extrapolation was used to reconstruct the temperatures below 300C. Models were created and run for a data set with the extrapolated temperatures and a data set with all censored temperatures removed. Several aspects of the model were evaluated, such as the chosen hyperparameters, the spatial covariance …

A Neuro-Symbolic Ai Approach To Scene Understanding In Autonomous Systems, Ruwan Tharanga Wickramarachchige Don

Theses and Dissertations

Effectively understanding scenes requires a unified representation of scene data and background knowledge. A neuro-symbolic AI approach to scene understanding leverages such a unified representation to enable advanced expression, inference, and labeling of scenes, improving the perception of autonomous systems.

Scene understanding remains a central challenge in the machine perception of autonomous systems. It requires the integration of multiple sources of information, background knowledge, and heterogeneous sensor data to perceive, interpret, and reason about both physical and semantic aspects of dynamic environments. Current approaches to scene understanding primarily rely on computer vision and deep learning models that operate directly on …

An Efficient Detection And Deep Clustering Based Pipeline For Reliable Rodent Ultrasonic Vocalization Analysis, Sabah S. Anis

Theses and Dissertations

Ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) are critical for understanding rodents' emotional states and social behaviors. However, manual analysis of USVs is time-consuming, subjective, and prone to errors. This thesis presents an automated pipeline that addresses these challenges by performing efficient USV detection and clustering. The proposed approach significantly reduces the time and effort needed to analyze USV data while improving accuracy and reproducibility.

To address this gap, we introduce ContourUSV, a five-step pipeline for USV detection. First, it begins with generating spectrograms from audio recordings, which are then pre-processed to enhance the contrast between USVs and background noise. Key steps include median …

Professional Learning Communities And Digital Literacy: A Framework For Elementary Education, Lauren Hunt

Theses and Dissertations

As digital technologies redefine the definition of literacy, elementary teachers face the challenge of effectively integrating digital literacies into their classroom spaces. This dissertation examines how professional development can enhance teachers’ understanding and implementation of high-quality digital literacy practices. Grounded in the New Literacies framework, the study identifies key characteristics of effective digital literacy instruction and explores how professional development that is contextualized, meaningful, and sustained can foster these practices. Using data from classroom observations, professional learning communities, and teacher interviews, the research highlights how individualized coaching and collaboration empower teachers to create authentic, engaging, and critical digital literacy experiences. …

Action Research Integrating Heggerty’S Phonemic Awareness Instruction For Transfer Into Third-Grade Writing, Jennifer Elizabeth Jones

Theses and Dissertations

Writing requires the ability to encode phonemes to separate sounds to spell. Students who are mystified by print often find writing a laborious task. This action research investigated the impact of Heggerty's Bridge the Gap phonological instruction on third grade writing development, specifically focusing on elaboration. Recognizing that strong phonological foundations are crucial for both reading and writing success, this study addressed the gap in phonological instruction found in upper elementary grades. The research questions guided the research: What is the impact of phonological awareness instruction on third-grade students’ elaboration domain in writing? 2.) What are the third-grade students' perceptions …

The Potential Importance Of Microenvironment On Polymer Bound Chemical Reagents, Nathan Joseph Halsteter

Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis will provide a brief history of polymer bound reagents, their uses, and advancements. The importance of polymer microenvironments will be explored using a model kinetic resolution reaction utilizing polymer bound reagents to observe how changes in a polymer’s microenvironment effects the yield and selectivity of a reaction. It was found that there are copious factors that affect polymer bound reagents, and no direct conclusion could be drawn from the study.

Characteristics Of Individuals Who Desired A Mentor But Did Not Have One: A Nationally Representative Study, Kenzie Delposen

Theses and Dissertations

Youth are experiencing increased mental health challenges due to the parallel increase in loneliness and social isolation. Mentorship has emerged as a potential solution to reduce social isolation and provide support, guidance, and encouragement to young people. The context of the mentoring relationship positively impacts adolescent lives by promoting a safe, stable, nurturing relationship (SSNR) to reinforce the intrinsic motivation to connect with others. However, many young people lack these relationships despite indicating that there were times when they wanted one (Garringer & Banning, 2023). Access to mentorship is influenced by factors such as racial or ethnic background, socioeconomic status …

Characterizing Dissolved Organic Matter Composition In A Southeastern United States Watershed, Gwendolyn Marcelette Hopper

Theses and Dissertations

Dissolved organic matter (DOM) has important roles in many biogeochemical cycles. DOM is primarily composed of dissolved organic carbon (DOC), nitrogen, and phosphorus, and the processing of DOM is important for nutrient regulation and carbon cycling. In the coastal plains of the southeastern United States, there are many rivers and streams known as “blackwaters” with exceptionally high concentrations of chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM) leached from terrestrial soils, coinciding with a region experiencing some of the nation’s highest rates of development. As changes in land use and climate continue to occur, DOM composition from natural to anthropogenically impacted systems can …

The Dialogic Self: Persius Satires 4 And Oikeiosis In Stoic Philosophy, William Michael Dodd

Theses and Dissertations

Though acknowledging that Persius alludes to Horace so frequently that he creates a dialogue with his elder, many commentators fail to see that Persius would challenge his predecessor. Especially evident in Satire 4, Persius' challenge to Horace stems from the younger poet's Stoicism, which philosophy he sees Horace as lampooning throughout the elder poet's Satires. Persius not only defends his Stoicism in Satires 4 but also engages with perceived weaknesses in the Epicureanism he finds in Horace. For instance, instead of the Epicurean version of natural law Persius finds in Horace, which conceives of human ties as contractual, the younger …

Deprivation And Threat As Predictors Of Executive Functioning And Emotion Regulation In Early Adolescence: The Protective Role Of School Support, Abigail Best De Arellano

Theses and Dissertations

Childhood adversity (CA) impacts a large proportion of US youth with far reaching consequences for development and subsequent health outcomes (McLaughlin et al., 2012). Given the widespread impact of CA, it is imperative to understand how these exposures impact development, as well as identify opportunities for intervention. McLaughlin and Sheridan (2016) proposed the Dimensional Model of Adversity of Psychopathology (DMAP), providing a framework for understanding the heterogeneity of outcomes related to exposure to CA. DMAP emphasizes that deprivation (i.e., lack of expected cognitive or social stimulation) and environmental threat (i.e., exposure to harm or the threat of harm) impacts youth …

What Is Standard? Defining The Orchestral Percussion Excerpt Canon Through Comparison To Annual Symphonic Programming, Julia Kathleen Ross

Theses and Dissertations

The present study seeks to compare requirements for orchestral auditions with season programming for 15 American orchestras to gauge the perception that the most frequently requested percussion excerpts are from works that are rarely, if ever, performed. Examination of required repertoire lists for 35 auditions held by the surveyed orchestras from 2000-2025 shows the relative frequency of each excerpt among eight instrument categories and demonstrates that certain selections are more firmly entrenched in the audition canon than others. This analysis complements a comprehensive review of each orchestra’s Masterworks programming from September 2014-June 2025, wherein the appearance of the larger work …

Investigating The Immunomodulatory Effects Of Cdk8/19 Inhibitor Senexin631 In A Her2-Positive Breast Cancer Model, Stephen O'Rourke

Theses and Dissertations

HER2-positive (HER2⁺) breast cancer is aggressive and often develops resistance to anti-HER2 therapies. CDK8 and CDK19, transcription-associated cyclin-dependent kinases (tCDKs) in the Mediator complex, are dysregulated in HER2⁺ breast cancer, correlate with poor survival, and support transcriptional escape driving therapeutic resistance. Previous studies Previous studies in immune-deficient models demonstrated that CDK8/19 inhibition (CDK8/19i) reduces pro-tumor macrophages (M2Φs), but its role in immune-competent tumors and innate immune–mediated tumor control remains unclear. Since HER2⁺ tumors are often immunogenic and anti-HER2 therapies rely on innate immune activation, reprogramming immunosuppressive M2Φ toward an M1Φ-like phenotype could enhance antitumor immunity. We hypothesized that CDK8/19i modulates …

Saw Biosensor For The Detection Of Cyanobacteria And Cyanotoxin, Tally Bovender

Theses and Dissertations

The growing prevalence of cyanobacterial blooms and associated cyanotoxins, such as microcystin-LR (MC-LR), presents a significant threat to water quality and public health. Conventional detection methods, including ELISA and PCR, are often time-consuming, expensive, and require trained personnel, limiting their application in field settings. Hence, a miniaturized, quick testing sensor is proposed to circumvent the current sensing challenges for real time, in-situ diagnostics of MC-LR. The proposed high-frequency ultrasonic sensor employs surface acoustic waves (SAW). The sensor was designed using a multi-physics simulation tool to understand wave propagation in the piezoelectric substrate (lithium tantalate) and optimize the design of the …

Design Of Supercritical Reactors To Understand Supercritical Water Oxidation Process And Hydrothermal Flames, Victor Dubceac

Theses and Dissertations

Supercritical water oxidation (SCWO) has been a topic of immense interest as an effective technique/tool for hazardous aqueous waste disposal. SCWO can be achieved by introducing an oxidizer (e.g., H2O2), or a hydrothermal flame as an internal source of both heat and oxidizer species in an aqueous environment at conditions above the critical point of water (P > 218 atm and T > 647 K). SCWO poses important environmental advantages for the treatment of harmful organic materials contained in waste streams. An SCWO reactor has the potential to be compact in design and therefore can be an ideal alternative to existing technology …

Stimulation Of The Rostromedial Tegmental Nucleus Induces Long-Lasting Avoidance Behavior, Jacob Ryan Watson

Theses and Dissertations

The role of midbrain dopamine (DA) activity in reward seeking and reinforcement learning is well-documented, contrasting the lesser-understood impact of inhibitory signaling on DAergic activity, especially in the context of aversive learning and avoidance. The rostromedial tegmental nucleus (RMTg) is a GABAergic midbrain structure activated by aversive stimuli and exerts inhibitory influence over ventral tegmental area (VTA) DAergic activity in response to aversive consequences. Stimulation of the RMTg decreases the firing rate of VTA DA neurons and direct inhibition of the RMTg – VTA circuit enhances persistent reward seeking despite aversive consequences, a major criterion of substance use disorder (SUD). …

Conjuring Realities: Southern Supernaturalism And Race From The Antebellum Era To The Early Twentieth Century, Dylan T. Kobus

Theses and Dissertations

Conjure practices in the nineteenth-century American South, such as “Hoodoo” or “Voodoo,” are commonly portrayed as primarily “black” beliefs or entrenched in “Africanistic” cultures. For the enslaved, their black spiritual systems, including conjure, were a powerful tool of resistance against the white enslaver. Black conjure practitioners established themselves as an affordable and pervasive medical alternative to often ineffective or harmful professional medicines for black and white Southerners, regardless of class. In this way, conjure challenged the authority of racial capitalism and destabilized the perceived moral and intellectual superiority of whiteness. Moreover, by examining legal documents, newspapers, fictional literature, and oral …

Aggressive, Adaptive, And Underestimated: From Allergy To Arboviruses, The Rise Of The Lone Star Tick, Emily Ellen Owens Pickle

Theses and Dissertations

Once considered a nuisance with little medical importance, the lone star tick (Amblyomma americanum, Acari:Ixodidae) has emerged as a formidable vector driving a new era of public health threats across the United States of America. This dissertation traces the rise of the lone star tick from obscurity to infamy, exploring its expanding geographic range, unique immunologic impacts on humans, and role in the transmission of emerging tickborne viruses. Through a series of integrated studies, this work characterizes the epidemiology, immunology, and ecological context of tick-borne diseases in the southeastern U.S., with a particular focus on α-Gal syndrome (AGS), …

Investigating The Role Of Metallothioneins In Fungal Iron Homeostasis, David Eap

Theses and Dissertations

The pathogenic fungi Aspergillus fumigatus requires metals to survive and infect humans, but metal overload can be detrimental. Metallothioneins (MTs) are small, cysteine-rich proteins that alleviate metal toxicity by binding excess metals (typically Zn or Cu) for storage or delivery. A recent report indicates that the Fe-S cluster binding glutaredoxin GrxD and the putative Cu-MT CmtA were interacting under high iron conditions in A. fumigatus. We hypothesize that this MT may have a role in binding iron or Fe-S clusters under iron overload conditions to prevent iron toxicity. We also aim to characterize this new MT by determining its …

Circannual And Kinship Cues Shape Reproduction And Epigenetic Aging In Peromyscus, Kim Tuyen Huynh Dam

Theses and Dissertations

Evolutionary success is defined by the ability of a species to adapt and survive across many generations. This success is not determined by any single attribute but rather includes the entrenched, complex system that could be associated with biological rhythms, reproductive strategies, and regulations of epigenetic and genetic components. By using closed Peromyscus colonies as a model and by coupling mathematical modeling, analyses of breeding records, epigenetic studies, and in vitro and in vivo experiments, this dissertation aims to discover how Peromyscus adjusts to the internal and external pressures to ensure their survival and preserve evolutionary fitness in controlled environments. …

Action Research To Explore The Use Of Augmented Reality To Support High School Students In Understanding And Creating Art Work In A Drawing Course, Alicia Joanne Cobler

Theses and Dissertations

High school students in Drawing 1 at a high school in South Carolina struggle to understand meaning or make personal connections to their own artwork. The purpose of this action research was to evaluate the implementation of immersive reality technology, specifically augmented reality (AR), in art for high school Drawing 1 students to help them understand meaning in art and create their own meaningful artwork. Creating personally meaningful symbolic works of art is one of the first Visual Art National Core Standards (National Core Visual Art Standards, 2014). Creating meaning in artwork allows students to understand society, provide an opportunity …

The Mystery Of Narrative Structure: How Scooby-Doo Challenges Episodic Conventions, Evrie Joy Pruitt

Theses and Dissertations

This study examines how the Scooby-Doo franchise employs narrative complexity within an episodic formula, balancing accessibility with layered storytelling. Analyzing two pivotal iterations, Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! (1969) and Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated (2010), the research challenges the perception that episodic animation is inherently simplistic.

While the original series established a consistent mystery-of-the-week format, characterized by predictable structures and comedic relief, it also demonstrated narrative ingenuity through character dynamics and tonal balance. Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! navigated the industrial constraints of Saturday morning cartoons, designed for syndication and commercial viability, by embedding recurring character dynamics, atmospheric tension, and iterative mystery tropes …

Sensing Others, Alissa Reed

Theses and Dissertations

In this project, I notice how we listen and respond to animals, both through marine bioacoustics studies and rhetorical theory, and consider how we might develop new ways of noticing and interacting with animals. I hold together rhetorical theory, marine bioacoustics studies, and my observations nest sitting sea turtles to see what kind of multispecies ethic emerges from messy encounters with nonhuman others – specifically, with sea turtles nesting on the beaches of the Outer Banks in the Summer of 2020. By confronting the unavoidable moments of indecision, and even possible violence, inherent to encounters with nonhumans others, even and …

Regression With Atypical Data: Measurement Error, Periodicity, And Non-Normality, Nicholas W. Woolsey

Theses and Dissertations

Regression is a ubiquitous and fundamental method that can be found in any ele- mentary statistics course. The simplicity and self evidently useful nature of linear regression beguiles a non-negligible portion of researchers into disrespecting assump- tions required by these models, namely in terms of accuracy of covariates and the underlying nature of the data. This disregard can at best lead to meaningless results and at worse cause significant misunderstandings in scientific pursuit.

In this dissertation we strive propose remedies to violations of specific assump- tions. Namely the assumptions that covariates are either observed without measure- ment error or they …