Digital Commons Network^™

Evaluating Count Outcomes In Synthesized Single-Case Designs With Multilevel Modeling: A Simulation Study, Kirstie L. Bash

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Complex statistical techniques such as multilevel modeling (MLM) ideally require substantial sample sizes in order to avoid assumption violations. Unfortunately, large between-subjects sample sizes can be impractical and, in some cases, impossible in real-world applications. The use of single-case designs (SCD) allow researchers to overcome this issue. The ability to handle non-normal outcomes appropriately in such single-case designs, however, remains unclear, especially when the outcome reflects recurrent event (count) data.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the utility of MLM for evaluating recurrent event outcomes in synthesized single-case designs. More specifically, this study seeks to determine the effects …

Discomfort Glare From Small, High Luminance Light Sources In Outdoor Nighttime Environments, Yulia I. Tyukhova

Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The overarching goal of this research was to examine humans’ subjective and physiological responses to small, high luminance light sources in outdoor nighttime environments. Currently, discomfort glare is rarely calculated in lighting practice (Remaking Cities Institute (RCI) 2011), partly, because it is not known which metric predicts glare most accurately in the given application.

This dissertation describes a parametric experiment evaluating the effects of three glare source luminances (20,000; 205,000; 750,000 cd/m²), two source positions (0°, 10°), two source sizes (10^-5, 10^-4 sr), and three background luminances (0.03; 0.3; 1 cd/m²) on the …

Making Marital Rape Visible: A History Of American Legal And Social Movements Criminalizing Rape In Marriage, Joann M. Ross

Department of History: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This study examines the history of marital rape and related topics in the United States within the broader context of women’s legal and political rights. The project demonstrates the interplay between women’s activists, legislators, the criminal justice system, and an involved public necessary to change both societal and legal views on spousal rape, and eventually its criminalization in all fifty states.

Concentrating on approaches to criminalizing marital rape in three of the fifty states, this dissertation provides a reasonable representation of the existence of the marital rape exemption in America, arguments used to maintain the exemption, and various methods used …

Effects Of Wind Turbine Noise On Male Greater Prairie-Chicken Vocalizations And Chorus, Cara E. Whalen

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Wind energy facilities are constructed without full knowledge of their effects on birds, and the noise generated by wind turbines is a particular concern. I investigated the effects of wind turbine noise on male Greater Prairie-Chicken (Tympanuchus cupido pinnatus) vocalizations and chorus near Ainsworth, NE, USA in 2013 and 2014. I studied 14 leks located in the area surrounding a 36-turbine wind energy facility. I used two main approaches in this study. First, I recorded Greater Prairie-Chicken boom, cackle, whine, and whoop vocalizations at each of the study leks and measured the duration, sound pressure level, peak frequency, …

Occupancy Analysis And Density Estimation Of Kori Bustards (Ardeotis Kori) And Helmeted Guineafowl (Numida Meleagris) For Use In Landscape Conservation Planning In The Northern Tuli Game Reserve, Botswana, Kathryn R. Mccollum

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

For understudied species, more informed conservation planning and decision-making on both the local and landscape levels may be attained through the use of occupancy and abundance estimations. Here, we focus on two iconic bird species in eastern Botswana, kori bustards (Ardeotis kori) and helmeted guineafowl (Numida meleagris). The overall goal of this project was to better understand the hierarchy of factors that influence occupancy (ψ) and density of kori bustard and helmeted guineafowl populations within the Northern Tuli Game Reserve and how these factors may interact to affect landscape conservation and usage. We performed distance sampling …

Network Support Variation For Black Women In The United States: A Mobility Study Of Immigrant And Non-Immigrant Black Women, Lesa Annette Johnson

Department of Sociology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Connections between socioeconomic status, social capital, and social support have been quite prominent in sociological research. However, such research still largely ignores the experiences of recently arrived African immigrants, particularly those who arrive as refugees. Black immigrants who arrived in the United States since 1965 have included an increasing number of refugees from war-torn, sub-Saharan African countries, such as the recently independent South Sudan. The numbers of women in these refugee roles has steadily increased since 1990. Black refugee women, many with children, bring diverse forms of social capital that influence their social networks and economic mobility, distinguishing them from …

Assessing The Sociocultural Impact Of Special Events In The Context Of Germanfest In Nebraska, Usa, Yanli Wang

Department of Nutrition and Health Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The present study examined the sociocultural impact of special events based on the cultural festival of GermanFest in Syracuse, Nebraska. A total of 143 (71.5%) local residents responded to the self-administered survey. The dimensions of the sociocultural impact, the important reasons for celebrating the festival, the relationship among festival stakeholders, the levels of community involvement, and the improvement of the quality of life in the community as impacts of the festival and demographic information were investigated separately.

The Festival Social Impact Attitude Scale (FSIAS) was utilized to identify the dimensions of the sociocultural impact of GermanFest. Three dimensions were identified …

Needs Assessment For A Patient Centered Medical Home Model Of Care At The Providence Alaska Cancer Center, Jeremy Rosiecki

Student Projects for Graduate Degrees

In order to better understand the needs of cancer patients and allocate resources, the Providence Alaska Cancer Center requested a needs assessment for an oncology focused patient centered medical home (PCMH). A PCMH allows for coordinated and comprehensive care through the use of a teamwork model that centers on the primary care physician. The Providence Alaska Cancer Center staff randomly selected the records of 200 cancer patients between 2010 and 2011, using the cancer tumor registry. Data were analyzed to answer four specific questions that addressed the 1) presence of a Primary Care Physician (PCP), 2) number and type of …

Exploring Parental Approval And Disapproval For Black And White Interracial Couples, Gina Castle Bell, Sally O. Hastings

Communication and Media Faculty Publications

Black and White interracial couples encounter societal and familial assessments that create additional tensions and conflict for their romantic relationship. This study examines parental approval and disapproval messages and their impact on interracial couples. Interdependence Theory and Facework provide the theoretical frameworks guiding this qualitative, interpretive examination. Thirty-eight individuals who represent 19 Black and White romantic pairs were each separately interviewed about their experiences as an interracial couple. Of particular interest is the communication of parental support or disapproval. Data were analyzed using Owen’s (1984) thematic analysis procedures. Results reveal that interracial dyads both experience public disapproval and illustrate that …

Terahertz Radiation From High-Temperature Superconducting Bscco Mesas Of Various Geometries, Daniel P. Cerkoney

HIM 1990-2015

The purpose of this thesis is to examine the radiation from high-temperature superconducting mesas of Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+ (BSCCO). This is motivated by the need for coherent sources of continuous wave terahertz (THz) emission capable of radiating practically in the THz frequency band. As BSCCO has been shown to be tunable from 0.5–2.4 THz (i.e., through the entire socalled terahertz gap centered about 1 THz), and has a higher peak operating temperature near 1 THz than most alternative sources, it is a good candidate for imaging and spectroscopy device applications [1]. When a static DC voltage is applied to a BSCCO mesa, …

Drama Has Issues: A Brief Retrospective On The American Theatre Critic In New York From 1925 To Present, Teresa M. Kilzi

HIM 1990-2015

Theatre criticism has evolved with the advancement of technology and the decline of print journalism. As consumers are given increasing agency by which they can filter the news and reporting they read and occasionally replace it with their own, the idea that a sole voice on a certain topic brandishes more dominance over it than the masses of people involved in its creation and sustainment becomes progressively absurd. Conversely, however, readers rely on theatre critics to make theatergoing decisions for them explicitly because critics are supposed experts on the subject and their opinions are to be respected and observed accordingly. …

Psychological Factors That Impact The Drop-Out Rate In Adolescent Sports, Nicole S. Mcclone

HIM 1990-2015

Children are dropping out of sport at alarming rates. With the highest numbers of dropout occurring between the ages of ten and seventeen, the focus of this research is on the drop-out rates of adolescents from sport. Athletic participation has been linked to positive academic performance, key development of leadership skills, and increased engagement in the community. The research that has been conducted related to sport persistence has had a greater focus on examining factors related to the physical domain. Attention is now beginning to shift however, and researchers are looking outside the physical domain and analyzing sport attrition more …

Exploring The Differences Between Pre-Service Teachers' Analyses Of Various Informal Reading Inventory Results In The Elementary Grades, Tara A. Miller

HIM 1990-2015

Reading is a fundamental skill in our modern society; being able to read with comprehension and fluency is an important skill in all core academic subjects. Reading teachers are charged with the task to analyze student data in order to drive their instructional decisions. Informal Reading Inventories (IRIs) are one type of an informal reading assessment that teachers can use in the classroom to learn about student reading behaviors and drive instruction. Informal Reading Inventories assess fluency and comprehension. Research suggests that fluency and comprehension have a reciprocal relationship; meaning, if you improve one skill, you improve the other skill …

An Examination Of The Factors That Impact Elementary School Principal's Perceptions Of Their Leadership Role, Kathryn M. Kish

HIM 1990-2015

A growing body of research supports the idea that large-scale school reform efforts often fail to create sustained change within the public school sector. When implementing deep organizational change, both novice and veteran educators are challenged to learn new skills, reexamine their instructional practice and content knowledge, and re-shape their underlying beliefs and values about schools. This qualitative study explored principals’ perceptions of their leadership roles in the school system. Data collection was done through a series of three interviews with three elementary school principals in Central Florida. In addition to their perceptions, it also studied factors that may influence …

Identity As A Sexual Minority In The Workplace: A Look At Personality And Contextual Factors, Samuel Resende

HIM 1990-2015

Sexual identity in the workplace is an exploratory topic in an age when sexuality is becoming a topic of discussion. However, protection of sexual minorities (Lesbians, Gays, and Bisexuals) is not universal despite evidence that heterosexist climates are disadvantageous for employers. In this study, I examined if sexual minorities who perceive their place of employment to be relatively free of heterosexism would be more satisfied with their jobs, perceive more organizational fit, and report less work stress. In addition, I sought to determine if selected personality variables would mediate the relations among critical study variables. The personality variables were internalized …

Attitudes Toward Diversity And Life In The U.S. Held By Children Of Hispanic Immigrants: Do Their Parents Play A Role?, Vanessa Ruiz

HIM 1990-2015

The present study explores how children of Hispanic immigrants (CHIs) perceive life in the U.S., and how they view cultural diversity. Questionnaires were given to 92 non-U.S. born CHIs and one of their non-U.S. born Hispanic immigrant parents (HIPs) who have lived in the U.S. between 1 and 17 years (M yrs = 8.43); their views of the U.S. were assessed along with their acceptance of diversity, acculturative stress, and levels of acculturation. In this study, I found that CHIs generally hold positive views of the lives in the U.S. and also hold favorable views toward cultural diversity. Furthermore, this …

A Comparative Analysis Of The Usa Patriot Act Of 2001 To The Usa Freedom Act Of 2015: Balancing Security With Liberty, Richard L. Russo

HIM 1990-2015

Freedom and safety are two ideals that American citizens value greatly; however, the balance between privacy and security determines whether or not both can be achieved in a reasonable manner. Security and privacy are not mutually exclusive; however, they tend to exhibit an inverse correlation with regards to maintaining individual liberties. Security and privacy are highly beneficial, but when one is given too much weight, the other most often suffers. When the United States citizens are given too much privacy through regulations, the citizens risk their well-being by not allowing the government the ability to prevent dangerous activities being done …

Direction Of Reflection: The Means By Which One Establishes Directorial And Choreographic Proficiency, Nicholas J. Wood Jr.

HIM 1990-2015

I examined how one may establish directorial and choreographic proficiency in the contemporary society of American musical theatre. I did so by completing an examination of five personal observations in my craft. These observations included: (1) Directorship and choreography of Welcome to Vegas, an original jukebox musical; (2) Mentorship on Theatre UCF’s Nine as Assistant Director and Co-Choreographer; (3) Research on the methodologies of various directors and choreographers; (4) Directorship and choreography of Welcome to Broadway, an original jukebox musical; and (5) Assistant to the Program Director of Broadway Theatre Project. I evaluated parallels of my directing and choreography methodologies …

Student Perception Of Barriers To Study Abroad, Jessica Walker

HIM 1990-2015

Studying abroad during the collegiate experience is an idea sought by the many high school seniors and college freshmen alike. The social, intellectual, and cultural benefits received from participating makes it a seemingly easy decision. Yet, lack of action plagues the nation as there exists a miniscule number of students who follow through with their desire to study abroad. Prior research exemplifies that students rely on the perceptions of their peers and family when approaching an unfamiliar subject. These perceptions result in concocted barriers that dissuade the student from participating in study abroad before they seek concrete information. There are …

Labor And Employment Law, W. Melvin Haas Iii, William M. Clifton Iii, W. Jonathan Martin Ii, Alyssa K. Peters

Mercer Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Daily Gamecock, Tuesday, December 1, 2015, The University Of South Carolina, Office Of Student Media

December

No abstract provided.

An Epigenetic Toolkit Allows For Diverse Genome Architectures In Eukaryotes, Xyrus X. Maurer-Alcalá, Laura A. Katz

Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Genome architecture varies considerably among eukaryotes in terms of both size and structure (e.g. distribution of sequences within the genome, elimination of DNA during formation of somatic nuclei). The diversity in eukaryotic genome architectures and the dynamic processes are only possible due to the well-developed epigenetic toolkit, which probably existed in the Last Eukaryotic Common Ancestor (LECA). This toolkit may have arisen as a means of navigating the genomic conflict that arose from the expansion of transposable elements within the ancestral eukaryotic genome. This toolkit has been coopted to support the dynamic nature of genomes in lineages across the eukaryotic …

Early Archaic Settlement Along The Central Savannah River, Re-Visited, J. Christopher Gillam

Faculty & Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

Effects Of Ultrasound As Visual Feedback Of The Tongue On Generalization, Retention, And Acquisition In Speech Therapy For Rhotics, Greta Sjolie

Dissertations - ALL

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to provide an initial comparison of exposure to ultrasound visual feedback of the tongue and no exposure to ultrasound in speech therapy for postvocalic rhotics (the /r/ family of sounds). Effects of the two treatments on acquisition, retention, and generalization were explored in participants ages 7-9.

Methods: A single-subject randomized block design replicated across four participants was used. Each week for seven weeks, one session containing high frequency ultrasound use and one session containing no ultrasound use were randomly ordered. A Training Probe List and Generalization Probe List consisting of monosyllabic words, multisyllabic …

Coordination Chemistry In Biology And Medicine, Christopher Chu

Dissertations - ALL

PART I. Synthesis and Characterization of Novel Metal-Citrate Complexes and the Investigation of Metal-Citrate Transporters in Gram-Positive Bacteria

Abstract.

Syntheses of new barium, cadmium, calcium, cobalt, iron, lead, magnesium, manganese, nickel, and strontium citrate complexes have been attempted using different methods such as room temperature slow evaporation and hydrothermal reactions to create new metal-citrate complexes. Crystallizations were conducted under conditions varying metal and ligand concentrations, solution pH, temperature, solvents, and the presence of coligands. All structures of crystals obtained were characterized by X-ray crystallography. A novel lead-citrate complex was synthesized with a formula of (Na)[Pb5(C6H5O7)3(C6H6O7)(H2O)] 8H2O. The structure is two-dimensional …

Controlling Biofilm And Persister Cells By Targeting Cell Membranes, Ali Adem Bahar

Dissertations - ALL

The rapid increase in antibiotic resistant infections and the slowing pace of antibiotic development emphasize the need for alternative therapeutic agents to cure infectious diseases especially those caused by multidrug-resistant (MDR) strains. Bacteria obtain resistance to antibiotics through multiple mechanisms. One of intrinsic mechanisms of drug resistance is persister formation, by which bacterial cells enter a metabolically inactive stage and become highly tolerant to essentially all antibiotics, even at the concentrations that are hundreds of times higher than the lethal dose required to kill normal planktonic cells of the same strain. Persister cells in biofilms are even more difficult to …

Composite Minimization: Proximity Algorithms And Their Applications, Feishe Chen

Dissertations - ALL

ABSTRACT

Image and signal processing problems of practical importance, such as incomplete

data recovery and compressed sensing, are often modeled as nonsmooth optimization

problems whose objective functions are the sum of two terms, each of which is the

composition of a prox-friendly function with a matrix. Therefore, there is a practical

need to solve such optimization problems. Besides the nondifferentiability of the

objective functions of the associated optimization problems and the larger dimension

of the underlying images and signals, the sum of the objective functions is not,

in general, prox-friendly, which makes solving the problems challenging. Many algorithms have been …

Postemancipation Landscapes And Material Culture: The Bethel Community And The Benjamin W. Jackson Plantation, Sarah Elizabeth Loftus

Dissertations - ALL

This dissertation explores the history and archaeology of a postemancipation community that developed around the Benjamin W. Jackson Plantation in Bethel, Texas, particularly concentrating on the transformation of the landscape through the rise of black land ownership and material culture collected at two households occupied by generations of the Davis family. The Davises were tenant farmers whose ancestors were previously enslaved on the plantation and members of the family continued to occupy the lands through the 1950s. In the decades following emancipation the antebellum landscape of the Benjamin Jackson plantation and the Bethel community in East Texas were slowly transformed …

Reconfiguring French Secularism: The Mosque As The New Multicultural Space Of Young Muslims, Ayse Ozcan

Dissertations - ALL

This dissertation explores the ways in which secularism communicates with Islam both as a socio-political concept and as daily practice in the context of France. Most studies examine this process through the uses of the headscarf or within the framework of terrorism. This study suggests a fresh perspective by using an experimental spatial analysis with a focus on the major mosques and the practices of mosque congregants. It poses the question how French Muslims reconcile French secularism (laïcité) with Islam through the use of the mosque space. In this respect, mosques are transformed into alternative multicultural spaces where the secular …

Indoor Environmental Quality (Ieq) And Building Energy Optimization Through Model Predictive Control (Mpc), Korbaga Fantu Woldekidan

Dissertations - ALL

This dissertation aims at developing a novel and systematic approach to apply Model Predictive Control (MPC) to improve energy efficiency and indoor environmental quality in office buildings. Model predictive control is one of the advanced optimal control approaches that use models to predict the behavior of the process beyond the current time to optimize the system operation at the present time. In building system, MPC helps to exploit buildings’ thermal storage capacity and to use the information on future disturbances like weather and internal heat gains to estimate optimal control inputs ahead of time.

In this research the major challenges …