Digital Commons Network^™

Life In The Time Of Covid-19: The Everyday Impacts Of The Pandemic In Amman, Jordan, Patrick Mckenzie

Theses and Dissertations

The COVID-19 pandemic and the responses taken to combat it caused enormous changes to the everyday lives of people around the world. Jordan, in its early success against the virus and with its large refugee population, represents a unique country in which to study these everyday impacts. From May to August of 2021, I conducted ethnographic fieldwork in the Jordanian capital city of Amman while working with the refugee nongovernmental organization the Collateral Repair Project. In this thesis, I explore the COVID-19 Spectacle, examining the ways in which policies and discourses at the national and international scales bled into the …

The Role Of Force Dynamic Schemas In The Comprehension Of Causal Language, Dawson Petersen

Theses and Dissertations

The current study is an attempt to empirically test the predictions of Talmy’s (1988) force dynamics. Specifically, Talmy argues that causal sentences are understood by reference to basic image schemas, such as Starting and Stopping. While many of the predictions of other cognitive linguistic models, such as Lakoff and Johnson’s (1980) conceptual metaphor theory, have been tested empirically by psycholinguists (Fischer & Zwaan, 2008; Gibbs, 2006; Boroditsky & Ramscar, 2002), force dynamics has received very little empirical attention (I am only aware of Wolff & Song, 2003), in spite of its productivity in formal linguistics.

The current study aims to …

Graph Neural Network And Phylogenetic Tree Construction, Gaofeng Pan

Theses and Dissertations

Deep Learning had been widely used in computational biology research in past few years. A great amount of deep learning methods were proposed to solve bioinformatics problems, such as gene function prediction, protein interaction classification, drug effects analysis, and so on; most of these methods yield better solutions than traditional computing methods. However, few methods were proposed to solve problems encountered in evolutionary biology research. In this dissertation, two neural network learning methods are proposed to solve the problems of genome location prediction and median genome generation encountered in phylogenetic tree construction; the ability of neural network learning models on …

Sexual Health Education For Children With Neurodevelopmental Disorders: Genetic Counselor And Pediatrician Perspectives, Mary Catherine Smith

Theses and Dissertations

Many barriers prevent individuals with disabilities from receiving appropriate sexual health education (SHE), including deficits in socialcommunication skills and lack of resources and trained educators. There are few guidelines specifically addressing how to accommodate for providing SHE to individuals with disabilities. Healthcare professionals who are trained in working with adolescents with disabilities, such as pediatric genetic counselors, developmental-behavioral pediatricians (DBP), and neurodevelopmental disabilities (NDD) subspecialty pediatricians, could fill this gap. The purpose of the current study was to assess what informational items pediatric genetic counselors, DBP, and NDD subspecialty pediatricians felt were most essential to include in SHE for children …

The Effects Of Ionizing Radiation On Domestic Dogs: Ancestry And Genetic Structure Of Free-Roaming Dog Populations In Chernobyl, Ukraine, Gabriella Jean Spatola

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is concerned with the effects of ionizing radiation on domestic dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) which were commonly used as laboratory subjects during the era of atomic bomb testing (1950s - 1980s). Early laboratory studies on radiation effects in dogs provided important foundations of knowledge for research that has more recently shifted to natural populations exposed to ionizing radiation from nuclear accidents. A unique group of free-roaming dogs reside in an environment polluted by radioactive contamination deposited during the Chernobyl nuclear disaster of 1986, providing one such opportunity to study the effects of ionizing radiation on dogs …

Infertility Education For Men With Cystic Fibrosis And Its Effects: Outlooks On Fertility And Birth Control, Allison Elizabeth Perez Szczepanski

Theses and Dissertations

Many men with Cystic Fibrosis (CF) are infertile; however, few studies have evaluated fertility outlook of men with CF since the advent of modulator therapy. As predicted survival and quality of life improve, family planning is an area of increased interest for the CF community. The current study surveyed men with CF to explore their outlook on fertility, family planning, and birth control use with the option to receive a home fertility test and follow-up interview with study staff.

Seventy-five men with CF completed the survey and 53 (71%) believed they were likely infertile. Most recalled learning about infertility between …

Adsorption Of Microcystins To Sediment Affects Their Bioavailability And Remediation, Ashley Womer

Theses and Dissertations

The freshwater harmful algae Microcystis spp produces a family of toxins called microcystins1. These species of algae are known to release microcystins from their cells directly into the surrounding water2. This creates an array of human health risks depending on the fate and transport of the toxins in the water column3,4. Risk modelling and previous literature has shown that sediment is a sink for free microcystin, microcystin can be stably adsorbed to sediment for hundreds of years, and its adsorption to sediment is determined by the sediment adsorption partitioning coefficient (Kd)5,6,7. In this work it is hypothesized that the sediment …

Associations Between Child Characteristics And Maternal Mental Health In Families Of Children With Autism, Fragile X Syndrome, And Autism Associated With Fragile X Syndrome, Tiffany Nicole Worley

Theses and Dissertations

The present study examined the association between various child characteristics and maternal mental health concerns in three high-risk groups of mothers ± those of children with non-syndromic autism spectrum disorder (NSASD), mothers of children with fragile X syndrome (FXS), and mothers of children with fragile X syndrome and autism (FXS+ASD). Research has shown that mothers of children with NSASD and FXS are thought to share a degree of genetic vulnerability to mental health concerns it is key to examine the various other factors that may contribute to difficulties within the family system and maternal stress, depression, and anxiety.

Participants for …

Functional Facets Of Intergenic Hairpin Structures In Genus Caulobacter, Geetha Saarunya Clarke

Theses and Dissertations

DNA replication, recombination and repairs maintain bacterial genome stability. But these processes may also induce genome rearrangements leading to inter andintra chromosomal structural variations. Genus Caulobacter undergoes extensive genome rearrangements. Genomic studies in bacteria usually focus on the codingregions, but there is important information present in the intergenic DNA spaces inaddition to the regulatory elements involved in transcription. Recently, Ely published a new model for recombination in genus Caulobacter with simultaneousloss and gain of genes resulting from preferential recombination at non- homologous regions flanked by regions of homology. In my dissertation, I observedand catalogued hairpin structures at known sites of …

Flying Saucer Of The Smokies: The Debate Over National Park Architecture And Wilderness Values In Clingmans Dome Observation Tower, Michelle Fieser

Theses and Dissertations

Clingmans Dome Observation Tower sits on the highest point in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It was constructed in 1959 as part of a ten-year project called Mission 66. Although Mission 66 is a critical component of National Park history, most people are unaware it happened. This thesis will use criticism of Clingmans Dome Observation Tower to demonstrate that critiques of Modern architectural style within the National Parks was a proxy for conflict about interpretations of wilderness and how National Parks should be used. The architectural style from this era is called Park Service Modern, and it was widespread and …

Describing The Impact Of The Sales Of Antibiotics On The Environment And In Population Health, Andrés Gaviria-Figueroa

Theses and Dissertations

The role of antibiotics in human health is of significant importance in the advancement of the medical field. It has contributed to an improvement of the quality of life and the age expectancy of the population. Antibiotic resistance is an expected consequence of the use of antibiotics. Bacteria have developed biological mechanisms that would help them become resistant to antibiotics. The uncontrolled use of antibiotics is significantly contributing to the ability of bacteria to become resistant to those antibiotics. This study, using the model of the Socio-Ecological Coupling of Antibiotic Resistance, explains how social and environmental factors interact and impact …

Testing Models Of Context-Dependent Outcome Encoding In Reinforcement Learning, William M. Hayes Iv

Theses and Dissertations

Previous studies of reinforcement learning (RL) have established that choice outcomes are encoded in a context-dependent fashion. Several computational models have been proposed to explain context-dependent encoding, including reference point centering and range adaptation models. The former assumes that outcomes are centered around a running estimate of the average reward in each choice context, while the latter assumes that outcomes are compared to the minimum reward and then scaled by an estimate of the range of outcomes in each choice context. However, there are other computational mechanisms that can explain context dependence in RL. In the present study, a frequency …

“Whoz Ya People?”: Defining Lumbee Citizenship And Belonging In The 21St Century, Timothy Blake Hite

Theses and Dissertations

The Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina is a state-recognized tribe with an estimated 60,000 citizens. From 2018-2020, the tribe closed their enrollment office so that the tribe could reexamine enrollment policies, particularly the criterion for appropriate contact with the tribal homeland. During this closure, the tribe was continuing its long journey for federal recognition, with a bill passing the U.S. House of Representatives and receiving support from then President Donald Trump and current President Joseph Biden. During the summer of 2021, I conducted ethnographic fieldwork with the tribe’s enrollment department, located in Pembroke, NC, to answer the question of how …

Catalytic Cracking Of Oxygenated Polymer Waste Via Zeolite Catalysts, Andrew Jaeschke

Theses and Dissertations

Plastic recycling has been a prevalent issue since the commercialization of plastics due to lack of adoption and insufficient technology. There are many different types of plastics used in modern day society; however, majority of recycling efforts are focused solely on polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and polyethylene plastics. Some of these overlooked plastics include polyols and polyurethanes, which can be found in a variety of applications including furniture stuffing, adhesives, and insulation foams. Recently, plastic research has turned to catalytic cracking units as a means of plastic recyclability. Catalytic cracking of hydrocarbons is a field dominated by zeolites catalysts, especially ZSM-5. …

Redefining Ornamentation As Formal Functions In 21St-Century Popular Music, Matthew Kolar

Theses and Dissertations

Ornaments are embellishments and decorations of pre-established music; therefore, their existence relies on comparison to that original basis . Because pop music’s text is the recorded track rather than a written score, the determination of what is the main melody is strongly influenced by its first iteration, and ornaments can be found by comparisons of further iterations to the primary source. The goal of this thesis is to categorize the types of ornaments that exist in this repertory as well as define their overall functions. In this sense, ornamentation is being redefined; ornaments are not just decorations to a melody, …

Describing The Experiences Of Canadian Genetic Counseling Students Studying In The United States, Madeline Emma Ladouceur

Theses and Dissertations

There are fewer and smaller genetic counseling master’s programs in Canada compared to the United States, which makes it challenging for prospective Canadian students to train in their home country. We investigated which factors influenced Canadian students to apply or not to apply to American genetic counseling training programs, as well as the experiences of those Canadians who attended a program in the United States. We predicted that Canadian students applied to American genetic counseling training programs primarily because of limited training opportunities in Canada and a competitive application process across North America. We used a mixed method, online survey …

The Effects Of Game-Based Learning On The Motivation And Engagement Of Career Technical Education Students In The High School Chemistry Classroom, Samuel Lackey

Theses and Dissertations

The problem of practice in this dissertation in practice focuses on the lack of motivation and engagement exhibited by career technical education (CTE) students within the traditional high school chemistry classroom as a response to textbook and teacher-centered pedagogy. This qualitative action research study utilizes a game-based learning intervention that is ultimately based upon the personal interests and sociocultural discourses of the six case study participants and analyzes its impact on both the motivation and engagement of this particular sample of rural, socioeconomically disadvantaged, CTE secondary students. During the intervention, a total of five chemistry video games were played by …

Assessing Identification Of Newly Diagnosed Breast Cancer Patients For Referral To Genetic Counseling, Corinne Marie Locke

Theses and Dissertations

Since 1998, the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) guidelines have specified clinical indications for genetic testing for breast cancer susceptibility genes, but retrospective studies have shown that, despite meeting the NCCN criteria, patients are not always advised of the option of genetic testing. Further compounding this issue, studies have shown that cancer family history intake and documented family history can be incomplete even when taken by oncology providers. At this study site and other cancer centers in the country, patients with a new diagnosis of breast cancer are referred for genetic counseling by their cancer care team if they are …

“Power, Poison, Pain & Joy”: Applying A Critical Race Conceptual Model Of Implicit Racial Bias To Narratives Framing Blackness In Black Sports Columns, Black Music, And Black Journalism, Christina Lauren Myers

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation presents a Critical Race Conceptual Model of Implicit Racial Bias to representations of African Americans in mass media to illustrate how stereotypical depictions and racist ideologies arise in media content, including by Black content creators. By bridging the concepts of implicit bias, framing theory and concepts from critical race theory through the conceptual model, I contend that content creators implicitly share racially biased beliefs. Moreover, Black content creators in expressing the authentic experiences of the Black community also do the same. Thus, Black content creators further stereotypes, majoritarian narratives as well as deficit perspectives about the Black community …

Defining Molecular And Morphological Phenotypes In Ash1l-Deficient Human Neurons, Foster D. Ritchie

Theses and Dissertations

Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) are highly heritable neurodevelopmental disorders characterized by social and verbal impairments as well as repetitive behaviors. Large human genetic studies showed that genes encoding chromatin and transcriptional regulatory proteins are among the most commonly mutated genes in ASD. Absent, Small, or Homeotic 1-like (ASH1L) is a histone methyltransferase that has previously been identified as a major genetic risk factor for ASD. ASH1L di-methylates Histone H3 on Lysine 36 (H3K36me2) and tri-methylates Histone H3 on Lysine 4 (H3K4me3), which mainly coincides with transcriptional activation. ASH1L is a Trithorax protein that is proposed to counteract the activity of …

“That Was Denied Thee On Earth”: An Intersectional Bioarchaeology Of Institutionalized Euro-American Women Throughout 19Th And 20Th-Century America, Madeline Maria Atwell

Theses and Dissertations

In the mid 19th-century, American state-supported insane asylums, later renamed state mental hospitals in the 20th-century, were constructed to house and humanely treat individuals perceived to be socially deviant or mentally and physically ill. Women were particularly vulnerable to undue institutionalization because of the prevailing patriarchal gender ideology within medical and colloquial spheres that contributed to the perception that they were biologically pathological. This dissertation interprets the findings of combined archival, historical, and osteological analysis from two U.S. skeletal collections: The Colorado State Insane Asylum (CSIA) Collection and the Hamann-Todd Human Osteological Collection (HT), to examine the embodied, physiological impact …

Engineering And Optimization Of An Aav Based Viral Vector To Limit The In-Vitro Expression Of Sars-Cov-2 Spike-Protein, Ronald Anderson Smithwick

Theses and Dissertations

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Corona Virus-2, also known as SARS-CoV-2, is a newly emerged respiratory viral pathogen. The outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 started in Wuhan, China, in late 2019 and rapidly transformed into a pandemic. Several vaccines have been developed and are available to the public on an unprecedented timeline, protecting individuals from a severe infection and saving precious lives. However, none of the vaccines can provide a sterile immunity, and the SARS-CoV-2 transmission cycle continues. Additionally, because of the mutation-prone RNA genome and immunological selection pressure, SARS-CoV-2 is rapidly mutating, especially the Spike(S) protein, and new viral strains are arising …

Female Reproductive Toxicity Of Harmful Algal Blooms-Produced Toxin Microcystin, Yingzheng Wang

Theses and Dissertations

Harmful algal blooms (HABs) have become a global emerging environmental concern; however, its impact on women’s reproductive health is poorly understood. Microcystin-LR (MC-LR) is the most common and hazardous type of HAB toxin. Using both a chronic oral exposure mouse model and an acute exposure mouse model, I found that human-relevant exposure to MC-LR could compromise follicle ovulation via affecting follicle maturation. Both in vivo mouse exposure model and encapsulated in vitro follicle growth (eIVFG) model revealed that exposure to MC-LR did not affect follicle development, but significantly reduced the expression of some follicle maturation-related genes, such as Lhcgr and …

Molecular Architecture Of Cardiometabolic Responses To Regular Exercise, Jacob L. Barber

Theses and Dissertations

Background: To investigate the molecular mechanisms, determinants, and predictors of cardiometabolic responses to regular exercise, this dissertation had two primary aims: 1) Examine the molecular architecture of cardiometabolic responses to exercise training (unsupervised approach) and 2) Identify molecular signatures of responsiveness to regular exercise within clinically relevant lipoprotein traits (supervised approach).

Methodology: Multi-omics data (17,945 muscle transcripts, 4,979 proteins, 411 metabolites) from participants (n=647) who completed 20 weeks of endurance training as part of the HERITAGE Family Study was collected before and after training. We employed an unsupervised machine learning approach (Aim 1) to identify patterns of molecular responses to …

The Comparative Neuroethology Of Distributed Visual Systems: Visual Neuroanatomy And Visually-Mediated Behaviors Of The Chiton Acanthopleura Granulata And The Bay Scallop Argopecten Irradians, Daniel Ritter Chappell

Theses and Dissertations

Vision is usually thought to be inextricably linked to cephalization; however, certain species of invertebrates deviate from this canonical association by having noncephalized visual systems that are composed of numerous photoreceptive organs distributed across their body paired with centralized, decentralized, or distributed neural architectures. In contrast to cephalized visual systems, we know comparatively little about the visual processing and visually-mediated behaviors of animals with distributed visual systems which are crucial towards understanding how and why these animals see with so many eyes. In this dissertation, we investigate the visual neuroanatomy and visually-mediated behaviors of two different marine molluscs with distributed …

The Effects Of Exercise Training On Cholesterol Efflux Capacity In The Heritage Family Study, Joshua Adam Hawkins

Theses and Dissertations

Cholesterol efflux capacity (CEC) has been associated with cardiovascular disease risk independent of HDL-C levels. However, the effect of regular exercise on CEC is not yet fully understood. Therefore, we examined the effects of exercise training on CEC in the HERITAGE Family Study. In HERITAGE, subjects participated in an endurance training program that consisted of exercise on a cycle ergometer three times per week for 20 weeks. Global and non-ABCA1 CEC were measured at baseline and post-training in 542 subjects via a cell- based radiolabeled CEC assay. Neither global nor non-ABCA1 CEC significantly changed with training in the whole cohort. …

Higher Calling: A Qualitative Study Of The Lived Experiences Of Black Women Presidents Of 4-Year Colleges And Universities, Rushondra Janeé James

Theses and Dissertations

According to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), women are out earning men in the numbers of associate’s, bachelor’s, and master’s degrees awarded. When separated by race, Black women are the largest proportionally, representing 64 percent of bachelor’s degrees among Black women and men. Moreover, Black women account for 15 percent of all master’s degrees and 10 percent of earned doctoral degrees among all women. Given the most recent NCES statistics, the student body of degree granting institutions includes a significant number of Black women students. Conversely, about 9 percent of all college presidents and 3 percent of full-time …

Classification Of Acoustic Emission Data Into Load Steps Using An Artificial Neural Network, Allen Ross

Theses and Dissertations

The average age of bridges in South Carolina is approaching 40 years, very close to the 50-year service life. Almost 11% of the bridges in South Carolina are rated as structurally deficient, greater than the national average of 7.5% (South 2021). Health monitoring is the concept that in-situ sensors can continuously monitor civil structures and send real time signals of damage. This process allows for automation and could save time and money on the inspection and load rating of bridges. Health monitoring requires sensors that provide uninterrupted data without sacrificing the functionality of the bridge. A prime candidate for this …

In Vitro And In Vivo Studies Of Mediator Kinase, Lili Wang

Theses and Dissertations

This project addresses the molecular and in vivo activities of transcriptionregulating module CKM, comprised of CDK8 (or CDK19) kinases, Cyclin C, MED12 and MED13. Our lab has found that CDK8/19 potentiates NFkB-induced transcription. In this study, we confirmed that both CDK8 and CDK19 regulate gene expression in kinasedependent manner. CDK8 and CDK19 are not required for NFkB-induced transcription, which also occurs in HEK293-dKO (CDK8 and CDK19 double knockout) cells, but such transcription becomes CDK8/19-dependent upon re-expression of CDK8 or CDK19 in dKO. Surprisingly. pre-treatment with a CDK8/19 inhibitor decreases the effect of CDK8/19 on NFkB-induced transcription.

In another set of …

Interrogating The Role Of Ing4 In Hematopoietic Stem Cells And Cancer, Zanshé Thompson

Theses and Dissertations

We recently identified the tumor suppressor, Ing4, as a critical regulator of hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) homeostasis. The mis-regulation of Ing4 in human cancers has also been shown to lend malignant cells specific advantages that support carcinogenesis and tumor progression. This activity is, in part, due to Ing4 mediated regulation of overlapping signaling pathways that regulate stem cell activity and cancer cells, including NF-B and c-Myc. In a two-part study, we have investigated the role of Ing4 in murine hematopoiesis and human malignancies. While the specific mechanisms of stem cell self-renewal, maintenance, and differentiation are poorly characterized, we have determined …