Digital Commons Network^™

Examining The Experience Of Race-Related Stress For Black K-12 Educators, Tiffany A. Thompson

Theses and Dissertations

This study presents an action research investigation into the lived experience of race-related stress among Black K-12 educators. The study was motivated by the recognition that Black educators working in White settings are suffering from racerelated stress. A qualitative phenomenological case study design was employed to investigate the race-related stress of five female Black K-12 educators working in White school settings across several states. I used open coding to collect data from interviews, community of practice transcripts, participant reflections, and observational field notes were analyzed. The findings of the study reveal that Black educators experience racerelated stress while working in …

Hot Wire Chemical Vapor Deposition Of Tungsten Oxides For Photocatalytic Hydrogen Production From Water, Marvin Bonney

Theses and Dissertations

Anthropogenic climate change has generated an ever-increasing global ecological, economic, and political disaster for the world. In order to contain the damage and bring atmospheric carbon under control, human use of non-renewable hydrocarbons as the primary source of fuels for transportation and electrical generation needs to be phased out at the earliest possible date. Renewable, clean energy generation is currently technologically feasible and could provide the means for decarbonization of the global energy economy, but has to overcome challenges related to the intermittency of production. Hydrogen gas is a clean burning, renewable, and highly flexible method of storing such energy …

Evaluating Audio-Compression Techniques, Thien Tuong Duong

Theses and Dissertations

Perceptual quality of audio is the aural accuracy and fidelity perceived by the listener. It is how humans respond to the accuracy, intelligibility, or fidelity of aural media. High-fidelity audio represents high accuracy and minimal distortion and is the standard against which compression algorithms are assessed. We argue that maintaining high-fidelity audio is not just a technical requirement but is also about respecting the artistry of music production. The primary goal of this thesis is to compare the performance of popular audio codecs including file size and conversion speed of each codec when encoding the same file. A secondary goal …

Unleashing Hegemonic Horizons In Kavita Kane’S Cultural Literary Landscape, Durga R

Theses and Dissertations

Mythology cannot be defined as a set of stories but these stories culturally bind, and make people understand their tradition. It also serves as a conduit of worldview and makes people realise their position in the cosmos. Mythopoeia is the art of myth-making that either a new myth is created or some alterations are made in the point of view or identity of the characters after adapting the framework from the original. The present research aims to explore the presence of cultural hegemony in the select works of the Indian mythopoeic writer Kavita Kane.

Kavita Kane (1966) is a former …

Metal Organic Frameworks Modified Textiles For The Detoxification Of Chemical Warfare Agent / Simulant, Selva Balasubramanian S

Theses and Dissertations

Chemical Warfare Agents (CWAs) have been listed as lethal weapons of mass destruction due to their extreme toxicity and devastating effects. Malfeasant usage of CWAs involved in the current world praxis poses threat to humankind. Owing to their acute lethal toxicity, the pursuit of favorable approaches for the detoxification/degradation are in continuous progress. In current trends, an imminent development of self-detoxification filters is highly desirable against the CWAs exposure. Exploiting protective materials that can be applicable in day – today life for an instantaneous detoxification will be of prodigious importance.

With this background, a series of Zirconium based UiO-66 and …

Mild Hydrothermal Crystal Growth Strategies For Complex Inorganic Metal Fluorides, Navindra Keerthisinghe

Theses and Dissertations

Inorganic metal fluorides have been investigated for their interesting magnetic and optical properties, their electrochemical behavior, and their ionic conductivity. Fluoride materials can accommodate metals in very low oxidation states, which can be advantageous for designing new magnetic materials. Specifically, mixed metal fluorides incorporating transition metal cations often exhibit interesting magnetic behavior, such as frustrated magnetism. However, many challenges are encountered during the synthesis of such fluoride materials, including the inability to perform reactions under ambient conditions and the involvement of toxic gases for fluorination during solid-state reactions. Therefore, solution growth techniques such as mild hydrothermal synthesis are currently utilized …

Beyond #Blacklivesmatter Through An Understanding Of Intersectionality And Ethical Leadership: A Critical Autoethnography Of A Black Female Graduate Student Living With Multiple Hidden Dis/Abilities, Shariese Katrell

Theses and Dissertations

There can be numerous questions to be asked concerning the perspective of a Black female graduate student at a predominately White institution who lives with multiple hidden dis/Abilities (Gillborn, 2015). This critical autoethnography can help discover and uncover new issues and establish transformational changes that could expand knowledge and research surrounding the critical analysis of intersectionality and Disability Studies and Critical Race Theory from an/abled feminist approach. Transformative politics can be identified in this study, which examines socialism and the systematic structures and power within academia at the graduate level (Trevino et al., 2008). The issues of Black disability feminism, …

Predictive Filtering-Based Image Inpainting, Xiaoguang Li

Theses and Dissertations

Image inpainting is an important challenge in the computer vision field. The primary goal of image inpainting is to fill in the missing parts of an image. This technique has many real-life uses including fixing old photographs and restoring ancient artworks, e.g., the degraded Dunhuang frescoes. Moreover, image inpainting is also helpful in image editing. It has the capability to eliminate unwanted objects from images while maintaining a natural and realistic appearance, e.g., removing watermarks and subtitles. Disregarding the fact that image inpainting expects the restored result to be identical to the original clean one, existing deep generative inpainting methods …

A Survey Of Improvisation Activities In Average-Age Beginning Piano Method Series And A Sample Two-Year Improvisation Curriculum, Qiwen Wan

Theses and Dissertations

Throughout music history, improvisation has always been part of piano learning and is a mode of expression for the creation of new music. Current research in music education, such as Dr. Edwin Gordon and others indicates that immersion in music improvisation is crucial in beginning students’ acquisition of music skills. However, recent studies demonstrate a continued lack of improvisation activities in their students’ piano studies that complement current research in music education, and fewer studies reviewed improvisation curricula in average-age piano methods. Therefore, there is a need for a study that examines the current state of the improvisation curriculum in …

Synergetic And Orthogonal Switching In Dual Photochromic Metal-Organic Frameworks, Gina Rene Wilson

Theses and Dissertations

Cooperative behavior and orthogonal responses of two classes of coordinatively integrated photochromic molecules towards distinct external stimuli were demonstrated on the first example of a photo-thermo-responsive hierarchical platform. Synergetic and orthogonal responses to temperature and excitation wavelength are achieved by confining the stimuli-responsive moieties within a metal-organic framework (MOF), leading to the preparation of a novel photo-thermo-responsive spiropyran-diarylethene based material. Synergistic behavior of two photoswitches enables the study of stimuli-responsive resonance energy transfer as well as control of the photoinduced charge transfer processes, milestones required to advance optoelectronics development. Spectroscopic studies in combination with theoretical modeling revealed a nonlinear effect …

Informatics-Based Discovery Of New Natural Products, Their Biosynthesis, And Their Biological Roles, Ethan Older

Theses and Dissertations

In this work, genome mining and biosynthetic knowledge are applied for the discovery of new natural products, their biosynthetic pathways, and their promising biological activities and roles through the development of two unique new informatics-based approaches.

In chapter one, an overview of microbial natural product biological functions and biosynthesis is provided. The use of bioinformatics leveraging microbial natural product biosynthetic knowledge is also introduced. This chapter highlights the importance and need for developing innovative approaches to accessing microbial natural products, a vastly untapped source of new molecules with promising biological activities.

In chapter two, a correlational network linking the gene-encoded …

Approximate Computing And In-Memory Computing: The Best Of The Two Worlds!, Mohammed Essa Fawzy Essa

Theses and Dissertations

Machine learning (ML) has become ubiquitous, integrating into numerous real-life applications. However, meeting the computational demands of ML systems is challenging, as existing computing platforms are constrained by memory bandwidth, and technology scaling no longer yields substantial improvements in system performance. This work introduces novel hardware architectures to accelerate ML workloads, addressing both compute and memory challenges. In the compute domain, we explore various approximate computing techniques to assess their efficacy in accelerating ML computations. Subsequently, we propose the Approximate Tensor Processing Unit (APTPU), a hardware accelerator that utilizes approximate processing elements to replace direct quantization of inputs and weights …

Representation Dimensions Of Algebraic Tori And Symmetric Ranks Of G-Lattices, Jason Bailey Heath

Theses and Dissertations

Algebraic tori over a field k are special examples of affine group schemes over k, such as the multiplicative group of the field or the unit circle. Any algebraic torus can be embedded into the group of invertible n x n matrices with entries in k for some n, and the smallest such n is called the representation dimension of that torus. Representation dimensions of algebraic tori can be studied via symmetric ranks of G-lattices. A G-lattice L is a group isomorphic to the additive group Zⁿ for some n, along with an action …

Diversification And Evolution Of Hawaiian Megalagrion Damselflies (Pinapinao, Odonata: Coenagrionidae), Robert K. Hadfield

Theses and Dissertations

The Megalagrion damselflies of HawaiÊ»i present a valuable study system for understanding the impacts of geology on evolutionary processes. Despite their significance, our understanding of the temporal, geographic, and phylogenetic origins of these damselflies remains incomplete. Prior phylogenetic studies have proposed adaptive ecological and morphological progressions, but evaluating these hypotheses relies on a sound understanding of phylogenetic relationships within the genus. Previous phylogenetic analyses have produced conflicting topologies. To resolve these uncertainties, we performed phylogenetic analyses including divergence time estimation with 90 nuclear loci (>50 kbp) and 2 mitochondrial loci (>1000 bp), sampling representatives from each genus within …

Evaluation Of A Statewide Suicide Awareness And Prevention Program, Darien Collins

Theses and Dissertations

Mental health challenges are prevalent among young people in South Carolina, with suicide being a leading cause of death for individuals aged 10 to 24. Ending the Silence (ETS) serves as a gatekeeper training to engage students, school staff, families, and community members in conversations surrounding mental health challenges and suicide awareness. The University of South Carolina School Behavioral Health Team (SBHT), led by Dr. Mark Weist, with funding from the South Carolina (SC) Blue Cross Blue Shield Foundation (BCBS), worked with the South Carolina National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) on a three-year evaluation of their ETS program. Results …

The Effect Of Chromium Coatings On Hydrogen Uptake In Zirconium Alloy Nuclear Fuel Cladding, Jorie Lyn Walters

Theses and Dissertations

The amount of hydrogen in a nuclear reactor can have a profound impact on its performance and safety when it is absorbed into or released from fuel rods. Hydrogen pickup in modern fuel cladding materials has been minimized by alloying additions and microstructural texture engineering, but these materials are still susceptible to hydrogen release during high temperature oxidation. The nuclear accident at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant in 2011 resulted in hydrogen gas production and subsequent explosions which led the United States Department of Energy to initiate a program to develop enhanced nuclear fuel cladding materials. New cladding materials include …

Electron Rich Cobaltocenium Derivatives As Tunable Mechanophores For Mechanochemistry, Luis Daniel Ramos

Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation, metallocene-containing polymers are investigated and probed for tunability in mechanochemistry. These metallocene moieties are experimentally and computationally characterized.

In chapter 1, relevant background and recent developments of metallocene-containing polymers are discussed. Additionally, the field of mechanochemistry is briefly introduced including applications and future directions within the field.

In chapter 2, design and synthesis of these metallocene-containing polyelectrolytes via ring opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) are outlined. These polymers then undergo mechanophore activation via ultrasonication and relevant analysis and characterization of polymers both before and after ultrasonication are detailed. These polymers are comprised of differing electron donating substituents on …

End-To-End Full-Width Induction Welding Of Unidirectional Tape-Based Thermoplastic Composites, Jaspreet Singh Pandher

Theses and Dissertations

The current large scale application of thermoset composite materials in large, twin aisle, civil transport aircraft have resulted in significant performance enhancements, such as aerodynamic efficiency, weight reduction, and durability. These large aircraft are, however, produced in relatively low numbers. For the next generation smaller single aisle aircraft, large scale applications of composites are of interest in the airframe. Application of composites in single aisle aircraft will require not only proof of similar and/or significant performance improvements, but also proof of adequate manufacturing rates. One option to achieve both is large scale application of thermoplastic instead of thermoset composites.

Thermoplastic …

Kim Kook Jin’S The Pieces Of Korean Melody For Piano: An Analysis Of Pedagogical Elements And Korean Folk Traditions, Seoyeon Carroll

Theses and Dissertations

In this era of increased globalization, our education system is actively embracing multiculturalism, with educators incorporating diverse perspectives into their classrooms. A noticeable trend among music educators is the introduction of compositions by non-white male composers at conferences and in educational publications. In fact, we can now find more pedagogical pieces featuring distinctive musical languages and cultural influences, marking a shift from the predominantly European tradition seen in the past.

However, there remains a limited number of pedagogical pieces that display the musical cultures of Asian countries. Particularly in Korea, it is extremely difficult to find compositions with Korean musical …

Guiding 3d Chiral Self-Assembly At Nano/Micro Length Scales Via 3d Printing, Mohsen Esmaeili

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis delves into the intricate realm of 3D printing bio-inspired materials with tailored nano/microscale architectures. The first chapter investigates the flow-induced alignment of cellulose nanocrystals (CNC) during 3D printing, employing a microfluidic strategy integrated with polarized optical microscopy (POM). Birefringence measurements under varying conditions reveal the influence of initial CNC suspension structures on flow-induced patterns, particularly in the chiral nematic phase. Hydrodynamic simulations complement experimental findings, elucidating the impact on CNC particle alignment, providing insights for designing 3D printed architectures with internal chirality for advanced applications.

The second chapter explores the 3D printing of complex geometries inspired by Bouligand …

Deconvolving Provenance Signatures Of Pliocene-Pleistocene Coastal Loess Deposits Along The Atlantic Margin Of Argentina, Will Robert Quanrud

Theses and Dissertations

Dust derived from southern South America provides critical nutrients for autotropic marine biota in the South Atlantic Ocean, such that fluxes of wind-blown sediment may ultimately affect the concentration of atmospheric CO2. Expansive sand, silt, and loess deposits are exposed in Central Argentina, recording millions of years of eolian processes; however, the provenance and transport pathways of this dust remains unclear. Coastal loess deposits ranging in age from Pliocene to upper Pleistocene are present along the Atlantic margin of Argentina and provide information on sediment transport pathways for the last 4 million years. Nine samples of loess were collected and …

Selected Commissioned Works For Solo Piano By National Artists For Music In The Philippines' National Competitions For Young Artists (Namcya) In The Philippines, Almond See Ponge

Theses and Dissertations

This document examines the importance of the role of the National Competitions for Young Artists (NAMCYA) in the Philippines and its commissioned competition pieces for solo piano by Philippine National Artists for Music. It underscores the significance of NAMCYA’s contribution to nurturing young talents and enriching Philippine piano literature that helps strengthen its national identity. An analysis of selected commissioned works by Col. Antonino Buenaventura, Lucrecia Kasilag, and Ramon Santos, shows the integration of Western and Filipino musical idioms with neo-classical, neo-romantic, and contemporary composition techniques. Performance notes are also provided to assist future pedagogues and performers of these works.

Plotting For Change: Utilizing Computer-Based Scaffolding Through Desmos To Influence High School Students’ Performance And Attitudes Toward Mathematics, Jennifer Underwood Farmer

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this action research was to understand the impact of computer-based instructional scaffolding in Desmos on Math 3 high school students’ performance and attitudes toward mathematics. The demand for societal mathematics literacy has increased significantly over the last decade and continues to grow. To achieve this literacy, students must reason, augment, communicate, model, and problem-solve with technology applications; development of these skills requires engagement and support through technology-rich learning opportunities.

Currently, Math 3 students are not performing at the proficient level on state exams and are displaying negative attitudes towards mathematics. Student attitudes and performance in technology enhanced …

Generalizations Of The Graham-Pollak Tree Theorem, Gabrielle Anne Tauscheck

Theses and Dissertations

Graham and Pollak showed in 1971 that the determinant of a tree’s distance matrix depends only on its number of vertices, and, in particular, it is always nonzero. This dissertation will generalize their result via two different directions: Steiner distance k-matrices and distance critical graphs. The Steiner distance of a collection of k vertices in a graph is the fewest number of edges in any connected subgraph containing those vertices; for k = 2, this reduces to the ordinary definition of graphical distance. Here, we show that the hyperdeterminant of the Steiner distance k-matrix is always zero if …

“That Desolate Section Of Dixiecrats And Hookworms”: The Rise And Fall Of The Cio In Sumter, South Carolina, 1927-1950, Stephen Malenowski

Theses and Dissertations

In March of 1942, the Williams Furniture Company of Sumter, South Carolina signed the first union contract in Sumter County history, the Congress of Industrial Organization’s (CIO) United Furniture Workers of America Local 273. This contract provided the CIO with one of their largest victories in all of South Carolina and helped create a sense of hope that the CIO could win organizing battles in South Carolina. Despite the optimism, unionization failed to spread across Sumter County during the postwar Operation Dixie organizing campaign. This thesis looks to answer why the Southern drive failed in Sumter. Local 273 did not …

Metal-Organic Frameworks For Global Environmental Challenges, Kyoungchul Park

Theses and Dissertations

Over the past few decades, there has been a demand for improving nuclear waste administration due to a significant increase in the utilization of nuclear energy. The driving force for proper nuclear waste disposal is evident when considering past nuclear catastrophes—such as Chernobyl and Fukushima—where radionuclide contamination of large bodies of water sparked public concern. In order to manage such radioactive species, the emerging areas of radionuclide sequestration, storage, separation, and sensing must be addressed in the upcoming years. This dissertation presents a potential candidate for addressing these challenges, called metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). Due to their porosity, high surface area, …

Modeling, Analysis, Approximation, And Application Of Viscoelastic Structures And Anomalous Transport, Yiqun Li

Theses and Dissertations

(Variable-order) fractional partial differential equations are emerging as a competitive means to integer-order PDEs in characterizing the memory and hereditary properties of physical processes, e.g., anomalously diffusive transport, viscoelastic mechanics and financial mathematics, and thus have attracted widespread attention. In particular, optimal control problems governed by fractional partial differential equations are attracting increasing attentions since they are shown to provide competitive descriptions of challenging physical phenomena. Nevertheless, variable-order fractional models exhibit salient features compared with their constant-order analogues and introduce mathematical difficulties that are not typical encountered in the context of integer-order and constant-order fractional partial differential equations.

This dissertation …

Macro–Micro-Coupled Simulations Of Bead–Spring Breaking-Reforming Networks, Andrei Medved

Theses and Dissertations

In this work we investigate the dynamic behavior of bead-spring polymer solutions in viscoelastic fluids, which are essential in industries like materials science, biotechnology, and pharmaceuticals. The study leverages GPU-accelerated simulations and detailed modeling of polymer chain dynamics at the mesoscale, which enables efficient analysis of intricate fluid behaviors and the microscale dynamics of polymer chains. Additionally, the research examines the breaking-reforming dynamics of polymer chains, crucial for understanding phenomena such as shear thinning and thickening. The findings have broad applications, from improving inkjet printing and 3D printing technologies to developing new drug delivery systems and biocompatible materials. This work …

Businesses Or Beneficiaries: The Submerged Consequences Of Workfare Policy Design, Morgan Alexander Lowder

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation critically analyzes the policy association between the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC), and in doing so, sheds light on the employer-uplifting design of the U.S. welfare state. I examine this association in three stand-alone Chapters with the intent of answering the following questions: 1) Is the SNAP-WOTC association mutually beneficial to SNAP recipients and the employers that access the WOTC; 2) Is the SNAP-WOTC association truly intended to be mutually beneficial; and 3) What are the perceptive consequences of revealing how SNAP benefits employers through the WOTC. Using both quantitative and …

Bayesian Methods In Analyzing The Diagnostic Accuracy\\ For Ordinal Ratings, Yun Yang

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation focuses on ordinal classification ratings, which are commonly used in medical practice to assess the severity of a disease or condition. For example, a group of radiologists rate a set of mammograms and assign BI-RADS (Breast Imaging Reporting Data System) score for each mammogram. A Bayesian probit hierarchical model is first proposed to analyze this type of data. It links the ordinal ratings with both rater diagnostic skills and patient latent disease severity. Each rater diagnostic skills are quantified with two parameters, diagnostic bias and diagnostic magnifier. Patient latent disease severity is assumed to follow a different normal …