Digital Commons Network^™

Cfd Analysis And Design Optimization Of Flapping Wing Flows, Martin Alexander Jones

Dissertations

The main objectives of this research work are to perform the CFD analysis of the 3-D flow around a flapping wing in a gusty environment and to optimize its kinematics and shape to maximize the performance. The effects of frontal, side, and downward wind gusts on the aerodynamic characteristics of a rigid wing undergoing insect-based flapping motion are analyzed numerically. The turbulent, low-Reynolds-number flow near a flapping wing is governed by the 3-D unsteady Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (URANS) equations with the Spalart-Allmaras turbulence model. The governing equations are solved using a second-order node-centered finite volume method on a hexahedral mesh that …

Effect Of Doping On Β-Tricalcium Phosphate Bioresorbable Bulk Material And Thin Film Coatings, Suhaila Abdalla

Dissertations

Magnesium has emerged as a revolutionary biodegradable metal for use as an orthopedic material, it has several advantages over the permanent metallic materials currently in use, including eliminating the effects of stress shielding, improving biocompatibility and degradation properties, thus removing the requirement of a second surgery for implant removal. Due to the rapid degradation of magnesium, it is necessary to control the corrosion rates of the materials to match the rates of bone healing. This dissertation reports on the effect of doping on the properties of β-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP). It also reports on its application as a thin film coating …

Use Of Sweet Potato To Develop A Medium For Cultivation Of Lactic Acid Bacteria, Saeed A. Hayek

Dissertations

This study investigated the use of sweet potatoes (Ipomoea batatas) as a basic component to develop a medium for cultivation of lactic acid bacteria (LAB). Extract from baked sweet potatoes was used to form a sweet potato medium (SPM). SPM was supplemented with 4 g/L of each nitrogen source (beef extract, yeast extract, and proteose peptone #3). Lactobacilli MRS was used as a control medium. Ten LAB strains were used to determine the suitability of SPM serving the growth of LAB. Our results showed no significant (p < 0.05) differences in the optical density, maximum specific growth rates, and bacterial populations between MRS and SPM. SPM also maintained higher pH values throughout the incubation period compared to that in MRS. The cost of SPM was 47% less than the cost of MRS. Further step was taken to determine the suitability of SPM serving LAB enzymatic activity. LAB strains growing in SPM showed relatively higher β-glucosidases, acid phosphatase, and phytase activities and lower a-glucosidase compared to that in MRS. Strains of L. reuteri showed the …

Part A: Antimalarial Agents Modified At The C-16 Position Of Artemisinin; Part B: Lead Optimization Of Falcipain-2 And Falcipain-3 Inhibitors, Yunshan Wu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Part A: Antimalarial Agents modified at the C-16 position of Artemisinin. Malaria is a widespread tropical and subtropical parasitic disease which is caused by malarial parasites and transmitted by the infected anopheles mosquitoe. The natural product artemisinin and its derivatives are currently considered the most effective drugs against drug resistant plasmodium falciparum. However, its undesired physicochemical proprieties have limited its usage. In order to improve its effectiveness, scientists around the world have developed novel methodology to synthesize artemisinin derivatives on different positions of the artemisinin skeleton. Previous work in our group has shown that many analogues modified at the C-16 …

Role Of The Endocannabinoid System In Cardiac Remodeling, Monica Gole

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The endocannabinoid system and CB1 and CB2 cannabinoid receptors have been implicated in cardiac remodeling with CB1 inhibition and CB2 activation reported to be beneficial. However, the role of these receptors in cardiac remodeling secondary to hypertension is not known. Moreover, the functions of the CB1 and CB2 cannabinoid receptors in cardiac ventricular fibroblasts and their downstream fibrotic pathways has not yet been elucidated. This study was designed to determine the temporal myocardial expression pattern of CB1 and CB2 receptors in cardiac remodeling secondary to pressure overload (PO) induced hypertension at 3, 5, 14 and 28 days. The expression of …

Sustainability Of Water And Wastewater Infrastructure: Using A Public-Private Partnership Model For Project Financial Assessment, Rebecca Werner Trotter

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

To supplement current and future budget shortfalls for improvements to water and wastewater infrastructure, Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs or P3) are being advocated by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and others as a practical mechanism to ensure financial sustainability. A PPP involves a partnership between a government entity and a concessionaire--consisting of one or more private companies acting as a single, private incorporation--who make an agreement on funding, building, and operating a usually government-provided service, such as drinking water and wastewater infrastructure. This is different from a traditional contract between a government entity and a contractor because the concessionaire …

The Effects Of Whole Body Vibration On Muscle Recovery And Performance, Nicole Dabbs

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Facilitating muscle recovery in trained individuals is essential, as it allows for a quicker return to activity without reduction in performance. Many proposed modalities have been studied but have not shown consistent effectiveness. A relatively new modality, whole-body vibration (WBV) has been shown to increase strength and power outcomes and recently has been shown to decrease perceived pain associated with muscle soreness. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to examine the effects of WBV following exercise induced muscle damage over a period of 72 hours in recreationally trained females. Participants were randomly selected into either the control group or …

“Culling The Herd”: Eugenics And The Conservation Movement In The United States, 1900–1940, Garland E. Allen

Biology Faculty Research

While from a late twentieth- and early twenty-first century perspective, the ideologies of eugenics (controlled reproduction to eliminate the genetically unfit and promote the reproduction of the genetically fit) and environmental conservation and preservation, may seem incompatible, they were promoted simultaneously by a number of figures in the progressive era in the decades between 1900 and 1950. Common to the two movements were the desire to preserve the ‘‘best’’ in both the germ plasm of the human population and natural environments (including not only natural resources, but also undisturbed nature preserves such as state and national parks and forests). In …

A Bacterial Symbiont Is Converted From An Inedible Producer Of Beneficial Molecules Into Food By A Single Mutation In The Gaca Gene, Pierre Stallforth, Debra A. Brock, Alexandra M. Cantley, Xiangjun Tian, David C. Queller, Joan E. Strassmann, Jon Clardy

Biology Faculty Research

Stable multipartite mutualistic associations require that all partners benefit. We show that a single mutational step is sufficient to turn a symbiotic bacterium from an inedible but host-beneficial secondary metabolite producer into a host food source. The bacteria's host is a "farmer" clone of the social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum that carries and disperses bacteria during its spore stage. Associated with the farmer are two strains of Pseudomonas fluorescens, only one of which serves as a food source. The other strain produces diffusible small molecules: pyrrolnitrin, a known antifungal agent, and a chromene that potently enhances the farmer's spore production and …

Greater Sexual Reproduction Contributes To Differences In Demography Of Invasive Plants And Their Noninvasive Relatives, Jean H. Burns, Eleanor A. Pardini, Michele R. Schutzenhofer, Y Anny Chung, Katie J. Seidler, Tiffany M. Knight

Biology Faculty Research

An understanding of the demographic processes contributing to invasions would improve our mechanistic understanding of the invasion process and improve the efficiency of prevention and control efforts. However, field comparisons of the demography of invasive and noninvasive species have not previously been conducted. We compared the in situ demography of 17 introduced plant species in St. Louis, Missouri, USA, to contrast the demographic patterns of invasive species with their less invasive relatives across a broad sample of angiosperms. Using herbarium records to estimate spread rates, we found higher maximum spread rates in the landscape for species classified a priori as …

A Critical Review Of Endometriosis Pathology, Brittany Lauren Cureton

Theses and Dissertations

Endometriosis is a complex, multifactorial, reproductive disorder present in approximately 10-15% of adult women between the ages of 25-35. This disorder occurs when endometrial glands and stroma grow ectopically on the surface of the ovaries, pelvic peritoneum, fallopian tubes, and the uterus. Endometriosis causes varying degrees of painful symptoms and infertility in infected individuals. Three main theories of endometrial accumulation attempt to explain the etiology of this elusive disease. There have been various staging of endometriosis symptoms that attempt to standardize classification as well as predict pain and infertility. Angiogenesis, necessary to the survival of endometrial tissue, along with immune …

Enantioselective Hydrogenation Of Α-Methylcinnamic Acid Over Pd/Al2o3: A Spectroscopic And Kinetic Study, Xiaojing Sun

Theses and Dissertations

Hydrogenation of C=C in α-methylcinnamic acid (MCA) is studied by both kinetic and spectroscopic method. Kinetic study was in a semi-batch reactor. The reaction activity is strongly solvent dependent, while selectivity remains almost unaffected. The reaction is zero order in hydrogen pressure and first order in MCA. The presence of cinchonidine does not affect the reaction order with respect to either acid or H2 pressure, but has a significant inhibiting effect on the reaction rate. The catalyst exhibits stable activity during the reaction with no sign of deactivation. The adsorption and hydrogenation in dichloromethane, isopropanol and 1, 4-Dioxane over the …

Using Singular Value Decomposition In Classics: Seeking Correlations In Horace, Juvenal And Persius Against The Fragments Of Lucilius, Thomas Whidden

Theses and Dissertations

For the purpose of this dissertation, the hypothesis is posited that a programmatic correlation of the poems of Lucilius and the other Satirists reveals a detailed and dense level of intertextuality, especially in those poems which scholars already understand to allude to the genre's inventor. In addition to those poems which are discussed in secondary literature, we have discovered other poems which correlate highly with the corpus of Lucilius, but have been largely ignored. To demonstrate this fact I have devised a method using Singular Value Decomposition. That method is able to discern this subtle intertextuality in both the texts …

A Constructivist Examination Of Counselors' Conceptualization Of "Sexuality": Implications For Counselor Education, Wenndy Dupkoski Mallicoat

Theses and Dissertations

Due to the dialectical dilemma between meeting the demands of the managed health care industry through the adherence to the medical model while promoting an emphasis on wellness, the counseling profession does not promote a consistent definition of sexuality. Using a qualitative, phenomenological approach from a constructivist lens, this study was conducted to examine the construct "sexuality" and "sexuality counseling" from counselors' perspectives. One synchronous online focus group and two online individual interviews were conducted with counselors predominantly in the Southeastern United States. Themes from the data include: Sexuality is multi-dimensional; sexuality is developmental; sexuality counseling is dialectical; and sexuality …

Decision-Support Tool For Residential Pesticides In The South Carolina Coastal Zone, Lisa Claire Wickliffe

Theses and Dissertations

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is charged with ensuring pesticides do not pose unreasonable adverse risks to the public and to the environment. This is a daunting task with over one billion pounds of pesticides used across the nation each year. The U.S. EPA estimates approximately 75% of all pesticide usage in the U.S. are agricultural while 25% is for home, garden, industrial, commercial, and government applications. One area of application of concern to public health and the environment regarding misuse of pesticides is in residential settings. In these instances, individuals may not have any knowledge of identifying whether they …

Geographical Proximity To Health Facilities And Breast Cancer Morbidity And Mortality Among Women In South Carolina's Best Chance Network, Leepao Khang

Theses and Dissertations

Death rates for breast cancer have steadily decreased in women due to early detection, such as mammography, and improved treatments. Despite the benefit of mammography, many women are not up-to-date on screening and do not receive timely follow-up after abnormal mammogram finding. Breast cancer is a major contributor to morbidity and mortality among women in South Carolina. To reduce the disproportionate burden of breast cancer and cervical cancer among women in South Carolina, the South Carolina Best Chance Network (BCN) was established to provide service delivery and ensures timely and complete diagnostic follow-up and treatment initiation for underserved women.

The …

Public Education In A 'Religious State': South Carolina Responds To Engel V. Vitale (1962), Abington V. Schempp (1963), And Murray V. Curlett (1963), Jessica Kathleen Sweeney

Theses and Dissertations

Since its inception in the mid-1800s, public education has been one of the most contested arenas in American life. Among the battles fought in this domain, none have been more heated than the appropriate role of religion in the public schools. From the 1844 Philadelphia Bible Riots, to the 1925 debate over Darwinism and Creationism, to recent skirmishes regarding the Pledge of Allegiance, these and other disputes have been the subject of considerable scholarship. In South Carolina, however, one controversy regarding the intersection of religion and public education has received little attention, namely the trio of harshly criticized Supreme Court …

Perceptions Of Breast Cancer-Related Stigma And Genetic Knowledge Among Latina Women: El Mejor Entendimiento Del Miedo., Jade Cognetti

Theses and Dissertations

Purpose: Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer death among Latina women, with BRCA1/2 gene mutations accounting for a commensurate proportion of breast/ovarian cancer in Latina women as compared to non-Latina women. Despite this statistic, it has been shown that Latino populations exhibit low awareness and use of genetic services and that they hold culturally-related beliefs which stigmatize cancer. We hypothesized that a simple, culturally-tailored educational flier would improve genetics knowledge as well as decrease breast cancer-related stigma among Latina women in our sample. Method: Two groups of Latina women (N = 19) were provided with a pre-survey, educational …

A Phenomenological Approach To The Use Of Praise In The Upper Elementary Classroom, Kristen Mcguire

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This qualitative study uses a hermeneutic phenomenological approach and data analysis to explore how teachers use praise in multiple sixth grade classrooms. Both novice and veteran teachers are involved in the study. The study examines the differences between these novice and veteran teachers' use of praise. The study also examines how teachers use praise differently for effort versus achievement and the pros and cons of praise in the classroom. In addition, the study provides reasoning for why teachers use praise in the upper elementary classroom. The study utilizes various data collection techniques to focus on how and why teachers use …

Women In Science 2013, Clark Science Center's Summer Research Fellows Program

SURF Abstracts (Women in Science)

“Women in Science” summarizes research done by Smith College’s Summer Research Fellowship (SURF) Program participants. Ever since its 1967 start, SURF has been a cornerstone of Smith’s science education. In 2013, 167 students participated in SURF, supervised by 57 faculty mentor-advisors drawn from the Clark Science Center’s fourteen science, mathematics, and engineering departments and programs, and associated centers and units. At summer’s end, SURF participants were asked to summarize their research experiences for this publication.

Rethinking Discipleship In The Area Of High School Ministry: Key Strategies For Transforming Urban Youth, Michael Rackley

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

According to a Barna Research Group study titled "Third Millennium Teens" 60% of young people will leave the church permanently or for an extended period. Decreasing the number of urban youth ages 14-18 from defecting from the church and to increase retention of church dropouts using Twenty-First Century transformational strategies is the goal of this project. Having served as a youth pastor the writer will analyze key strategies that will benefit high school ministry by raising the bar on expectations and by building future leaders in the church.

This project will include an anonymous survey of 125 participants aged 18-24 …

Childish Figuring: The Child As Symbol And Actor In Lillian Smith's Killers Of The Dream And James Agee's Let Us Now Praise Famous Men, Katherine Eveline Upton

Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis, I examine the presentation of the child in James Agee's Let Us Now Praise Famous Men and Lillian Smith's Killers of the Dream as part of a rhetoric of growth. Both Agee and Smith present southerners as psychologically immature due to their traumatic childhood experiences of sexism, racism and poverty. Childhood is a recurring theme in both texts. Agee and Smith present childhood as a biological, developmental stage and a metaphor for growth in their texts. The child is a real, contextually-specific figure, drawn from Agee's and Smith's observations of children in Depression-era society. Images of children's …

(Mis)Classification And Creole Identity In Alice Dunbar-Nelson's The Goodness Of St. Rocque, Jillian Weber

Theses and Dissertations

particular, it examines The Goodness of St. Rocqueand New Orleans as a site of racial and ethnic confluence. Dunbar-Nelson deals closely with racial and ethnic identities of Creoles in New Orleans during the late nineteenth-century and attempts to show the ways in which markers of ethnicity and connections to other countries upset the black-white racial binary being forced upon residents of New Orleans by outside forces. Dunbar- Nelson uses spatial and sociocultural characteristics of space to comment on the ways in which classification is imposed upon her characters, but shows the disruptive and often dangerous consequences of this imposition. Through …

The Scope Of The Bis-Urea Macrocycle Assembly Motif, Michael F. Geer

Theses and Dissertations

From the formation of rock candy crystals, to the functionality of DNA in the cell, to the cosmic dust throughout the universe, supramolecular chemistry has a great impact and importance in the world around us. In this thesis, we explore the supramolecular interactions and self-assembly of bis¬-urea macrocyclic systems and investigate how their structure and assembly influences bulk properties and functionality. Specifically, in chapter one, we review the factors that guide, limit, and define supramolecular structures from the atomic to the centimeter scale.

In chapter two, we investigate the incorporation of benzophenone, a well known triplet sensitizer, within a bis-urea …

Decoding Prmt1: Studies On The Catalytic Mechanism, Regulation, Inhibition, And Crosstalk Of Prmt1-Dependent Methylation, Heather L. Rust

Theses and Dissertations

Arginine methylation is catalyzed by the protein arginine methyltransferase (PRMT) family of enzymes, which transfer a methyl group from S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) to the guanidinium group of an arginine residue. This reaction first produces monomethylated arginine (MMA) that can then be further methylated to produce either asymmetrically dimethylated arginine (ADMA) or symmetrically dimethylated arginine (SDMA). There are nine PRMT family members described to date, with PRMT1 as the predominant member, suggested to be responsible for ~85% of asymmetric dimethylation. In addition, PRMT1-dependent methylation likely plays a significant role in a plethora of diseases (e.g., cancer, heart disease, and ALS). These observations …

Single Crystal To Single Crystal Polymerization Of A Columnar Assembled Diacetylene Macrocycle, Weiwei Xu

Theses and Dissertations

Organic tubular materials have attracted lots of attentions for their potential applications as nanoscale fluidic transport systems, specific ion sensors, molecular sieves and confined molecular reaction containers. While conjugated polymers, due to delocalized Pi electrons, exhibit interesting solar cells and sensors applications. In this thesis, we developed a conjugated polymer which combines the attributes of conjugated polymers with tubular materials, which should have great potential to work as a sensing material.

We reproduced and scaled-up the synthesis of a polymerizable macrocycle 1 that contains two rigidly separated diacetylene units. We found that, through hydrogen bonding, 1 can assemble into columnar …

Instrument And Method Development For Single-Cell Classification Using Fluorescence Imaging Multivariate Optical Computing, Joseph Swanstrom

Theses and Dissertations

Multivariate optical computing (MOC) is an all-optical approach of predictive spectroscopy that utilizes multivariate calibration and spectral pattern recognition techniques while operating in a simple filter photometer instrument, removing the need for expensive instrumentation and post-processing of spectral data. This is accomplished with specially designed interference filters called multivariate optical elements (MOEs). MOC can provide analytical solutions for applications requiring low cost, rugged, and simple to operate instrumentation for use in remote and hazardous environments such as open ocean waters. These instrument specifications are central for developing a method for classifying phytoplankton in their natural environment. Phytoplankton are photosynthetic single …

Hiding In Plain Sight: The Rhetorical Workings Of Simone De Beauvoir's Feminist Language, Emily Crawford

Theses and Dissertations

Simone de Beauvoir's 1952 English rendering of The Second Sex translated into instant U.S. feminist acceptance, but by 1981 Julia Kristeva's call for "Women's Time" coupled with the rise of poststructuralism in the academy essentially sounded the death knell for Beauvoir in the world of feminist language theories. Where the new French feminists explored experimental ecriture feminine, Beauvoir's language appeared unsophisticated and outdated. In the past twenty years a handful of feminists have slowly and intermittently begun to reconsider Beauvoir's language from a variety of post-poststructuralist perspectives. My dissertation adds to this growing scholarship by exploring the rhetorical workings of …

High Quality Silicon Carbide Epitaxial Growth By Novel Fluorosilane Gas Chemistry For Next Generation High Power Electronics, Tawhid Rana

Theses and Dissertations

High quality, thick (~100µm), low doped and low defect density SiC epitaxial films are essential for high voltage (blocking voltage >10kV), light, compact and reliable next generation power devices. One of the significant challenges in obtaining high quality thick SiC epitaxial films is to restrict/eliminate the Si gas-phase nucleation or aerosol formation during growth. The generated aerosol particles adversely influence growth by reducing the growth rate due to precursor losses, and also affect crystal quality, since the Si droplets are carried to the crystal growth surface. Moreover, liquid aerosol particles adhere to the various reactor parts (parasitic deposition), and contribute …

An Assessment Of Injury Presentation To Determine Elder Abuse Prevalence In South Carolina, Brittani L. Harmon

Theses and Dissertations

As the number of individuals age 60 years of age and older continues to rise in the United States, the care and safety of this population will be a growing issue. There are many contributing factors and reasons why elder abuse occurs. Elder abuse is an emerging issue; however there is limited research and understanding in the area. There are barriers to the detection and prevention of the issue. Emergency department staff is essential to the identification and detection of possible abuse, and it is important that these providers understand the risk factors and physical manifestations of abuse and neglect …