Digital Commons Network^™

A Critical Examination Of An In Class Tabata Based Physical Fitness Protocol On Student Engagement Levels In A Sixth Grade Math Class, Justin R. Kulik

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a Tabata Based Physical Fitness Intervention (TBPFI) on measures of student engagement in a middle school mathematics class. Student engagement was measured with the Student Engagement in Mathematics Scale (SEMS) which a Likert style scale. The results of this survey supplied a numerical rating for the social, emotional, and cognitive engagement of each studentparticipant in the study on days when a TBPFI was implemented and on days when it was not implemented. Additionally, pre- and post-interviews were conducted with the student-participants and the teacher-participant. Finally, researcher observations and rating …

Genetic Testing For Autism: The Autistic Adult Perspective, Thomas Scott Dent

Theses and Dissertations

Many professional medical organizations recommend some level of genetic testing as standard of care for those diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. However, genetic testing related to the diagnosis of autism is seen as controversial by many in the autistic community. While opinions about genetic testing have been well-documented from the perspective of the parents of autistic children, our understanding of the autistic adult perspective remains limited. We implemented a descriptive, web-based survey of autistic adults to assess their awareness of, attitudes towards, and interests in genetic testing for autism (n = 145). Our data demonstrated that half of our participants …

Examining The Relationship Between Multicultural Training And Cultural Humility Development In Cacrep-Accredited Counselor Education Programs, Sabrina Monique Johnson

Theses and Dissertations

To account for and adjust to the diversifying communities in the United States, CACREP, the ACA, and AMCD are making strides to increase counselor competence. Their efforts have involved incorporating standards that govern counselor training and practice to ensure counselors’ development of multicultural competence. In recent literature, researchers have proposed cultural humility development to further enhance the development of counselor cultural awareness and sensitivity, however there are minimal studies exploring the relationship between current multicultural training practices and the development of cultural humility characteristics of counselor trainees’ in CACREP-accredited counselor education programs. The current study has two primary aims: (1) …

Risk Propensity In Journalists: An Analysis Of Journalists’ Personality Traits And How They Direct Behavior In The Field, Ellen Katherine Dunn

Theses and Dissertations

Much like first responders, journalists run toward dangerous scenes instead of away from them, often putting themselves at risk. Unlike first responders, there is no research on a how a person’s risk propensity ties to their career. For this project, reporters of various ages and tenures were surveyed on their sensation-seeking levels and propensity to engage in risky behaviors while working as journalists. Journalism risk propensity correlated positively with sensation seeking. Risk motivations increase with age and tenure, meaning that older and more experienced journalists are more likely to engage in risky behavior. Males are more risk-prone than females. The …

Exploration Into The Relationship Between Colitis And Depression: A Potential Role For The Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor, Kasie Lynn Roark

Theses and Dissertations

Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) is a group of chronic gastrointestinal disorders with unclear etiology comprised of two defined disorders – Crohn’s Disease (CD) and Ulcerative Colitis (UC). IBD leads to chronic pain, socially isolating symptoms, and an overall reduction in patient quality of life. There is currently no cure for IBD. Due to decreased mucous production and weakening of the colonic epithelial lining, gut-microbiota and their metabolites can invade the intestinal lamina propria and circulate systemically, a term known as “leaky gut”. Recent studies show a relationship exists between peripheral inflammation, such as IBD, and depression. The gut-brain axis (GBA) …

An Artificial Intelligence Approach To Fatigue Crack Length Estimation From Acoustic Emission Signals, Shane T. Ennis

Theses and Dissertations

As in service aircraft begin to age and fatigue, a method for evaluating the operational life they are currently operating under and have remaining comes into question. Structural health monitoring is (SHM) is a popular method of structural analysis with growing interest in the aerospace industry. SHM is capable of damage assessment and structural life estimations.

The ultimate goal of the research presented in this thesis is to develop a methodology of classifying the length of a fatigue crack though the use of machine learning. The thesis has three major chapters as described below.

The first chapter deals with the …

Nurse Perceptions Of Caring And Professional Governance, Lan Angela Nguyen

Theses and Dissertations

Background: Caring, a characteristic of an effective work environment, and clinical nurse control over the professional governance of nursing practice results in higher nursing retention and better patient outcomes. Although the concepts of caring and professional governance of nursing practice, and their discrete associations with patient outcomes, are widely studied, little to no research is published on the nature of the relationship between caring and professional governance of nursing practice. Without understanding this relationship, it is challenging to explore the impact of this relationship on nursing practice and patient outcomes.

Aims: The purpose of this study was to describe nurse …

The Effects Of Hip-Hop And Rap Music Intervention To Improve The Wellbeing Of Black And African American Men, Lanita Michelle Jefferson

Theses and Dissertations

Wellbeing affects an individual’s functioning regarding personal, interpersonal, social, and overall wellbeing (Tennant et al., 2007). This study investigated the wellbeing of mental health among African American college-aged men by reading hip-hop and rap lyrics (Gonzalez & Hayes, 2009). The study explored the effects of reading hip-hop and rap lyrics on Black and African American college-aged men's wellbeing. Through peer review articles, this study investigated the effects of reading hip-hop and rap lyrics on the wellbeing of Black and African American college-aged men. The researcher identified the lack of research on wellbeing and marginalized communities, specifically Black and African American …

Multisensory Phonics Instruction In Struggling Readers, Amanda M. Dixon

Theses and Dissertations

This paper describes a problem of practice that arose from a lack of consistent, systematic phonics instruction within a small rural school with a large percentage of students not mastering skills in a way that builds the needed foundation for reading. To address this problem, action research was conducted through a mixed methods approach to determine the impact of multisensory Orton-Gillingham based reading instruction on a small population of students’ phonetic development and how this specific type of instruction affected their attitudes about reading. In an attempt to collect quantitative data, this study was guided by two research questions: How …

Academic Success And Student Development In The Health Professions: An Action Research Study, Molly Ellen Higbie

Theses and Dissertations

The first year of college is a time of challenging transition for many. Students are adapting to a new way of learning as well as developing as adults. Using a mixed methods design, this action research study aimed to provide insight into the student experience for academically at-risk first-year students in a health professions program at a mid-size university in New England. Quantitative data showed that most students’ academic performance met or exceeded the minimum requirement for their major with support from their advisor through this intervention. Further, quantitative data showed that student development did occur for participants. Qualitative data …

Exercise And Mental Health Over The Course Of A Semester, Jamie Alexis Whitney

Theses and Dissertations

Introduction and purpose: Anxiety and depression are two of the most common mental health struggles in the United States each year. There has been promising research noting the positive effects of exercise on lowering symptoms of both anxiety and depression. Anxiety and depression are highly prevalent on college campuses, especially during high stress portions of the semester. The purpose of this study was to observe the changes in mental health over the course of the semester and if exercise level mediated any of these changes in the university population. Methods: Participants scanned a QR code or followed a link to …

Complex Stereotypes: Stereotypes Across The Intersections Of Gender, Sexuality, Age, Race/Ethnicity, And Social Class, Nicholas Heiserman

Theses and Dissertations

Research on stereotypes and their consequences often focuses on discrete categorical stereotypes in isolation from each other (e.g. gender or race categories), and rarely centers the fact that people belong to many social categories at once (e.g. gender and race categories). I address this issue using two large factorial experiment (N=1,762 and N=1,481) designed to measure two core aspects of stereotypes, warmth and competence, across the intersections of multiple social categories: Gender, Sexuality, Age, Race/Ethnicity (Chapter 3), and Social Class (Chapter 2). In Chapter 2, I develop a framework for analyzing intersectional complexity in these data, beginning with overall measures …

A Holistic View Of Integrated Care Within Counselor Education: A Multi-Manuscript Dissertation, Alexander Mcclain Fields

Theses and Dissertations

The integration of behavioral health into primary care settings, otherwise known as integrated care (IC), is a movement growing in momentum and continues to challenge traditional healthcare occurring in silos. Through an IC modality, healthcare consumers receive all their care through a “one stop shop” approach and previous outcomes have suggested an overall benefit for an individual’s holistic health, as well as savings for healthcare settings. Counselors are in a prime position to join IC teams and contribute to consumer healthcare outcomes through a unique professional identity. The aim of this dissertation study, which consisted of three completed manuscripts, was …

Language Ideologies In Transgender Communities In The U.S. South, Archie Crowley

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines how metalinguistic discussions within transgender communities in South Carolina are shaped by experiences, identities, and ideologies related to intersecting social dimensions, specifically, gender, age, race, and regional identity. Based primarily on 20 ethnographic group and individual interviews with 41 transgender individuals living in South Carolina, as well as over 24 months of participant-observation in two trans organizations, the analysis illustrates how trans South Carolinians simultaneously navigated changing norms of community language use, expectations of regional linguistic practices, and mainstream discussions of trans linguistic affirmation. I draw on these sociolinguistic and linguistic anthropological methods to examine how discourses …

Physics-Based And Behavioral Models For Fuel Cells, Charles Chima Anyim

Theses and Dissertations

In recent times there has been renewed interest in fuel cells for electricity production, especially for transportation applications. Fuel cells are attractive because the electricity production process from chemical energy does not cause pollution, and no carbon emissions occur. In this work, we will focus on Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) fuel cells that use hydrogen and oxygen to generate electricity, producing only electricity, heat and water. If hydrogen can be produced in a green, non-polluting way, fuel cells can truly be an environmentally benign energy source.

In this work, we will look at the modeling of a fuel cell system. …

Utilizing Deep Learning Methods In The Identification And Synthesis Of Gene Regulations, Jiandong Wang

Theses and Dissertations

Gene expression is the fundamental differentiation and development process of life. Although all cells in an organism have essentially the same DNA, cell types and activities vary due to changes in gene expression. Gene expression can be influenced by many gene regulations. RNA editing contributes to the variety of RNA and proteins by allowing single nucleotide substitution. Reverse transcription can alter the expression status of genes by inducing genetic diversity and polymorphism via novel insertions, deletions, and recombination events. Gene regulation is critical to normal development because it enables cells to respond rapidly to environmental changes. However, identifying gene regulations …

Teacher Observations As Professional Development Opportunities, Ashton Carrie Padgett

Theses and Dissertations

This research project sought to understand how the complexities and challenges of offering high-quality professional development district-wide impacted teachers’ ability to implement their new learning. The literature posits that to be considered effective, professional development must include six distinct design elements: (1) Data driven, (2) Incorporates active learning utilizing adult learning theory, (3) Supports collaboration, (4) Context-Specific, (5) Feedback-centered, and (6) Supported by principal leadership (Darling Hammond et al., 2017, p. 4). While each of these design elements seems appropriate and rooted in best practices, when planning professional development, the scheduling and unique circumstances of secondary schools makes incorporating these …

Speckle Development And Application In Uav-Based Digital Image Correlation For Transportation Infrastructure Monitoring And Assessment, Taylor Wyatt

Theses and Dissertations

A critical aspect of civil infrastructure is structural health monitoring, of which digital image correlation (DIC) has been proven to be an effective and appropriate method. There is sufficient literature on the use of stationary DIC, but an unexplored aspect is DIC-equipped unmanned aircraft systems. It has been verified in University of South Carolina labs but has not been proved in a field environment. One of the challenges of field implementation is large scale speckle application. This work focusses on identifying and addressing challenges in bringing UAV-DIC technology from the lab to the field. This includes the development of optimized …

Parent Perspectives On Barriers And Facilitators To Optimal Healthcare And Medical Screenings For Children With Down Syndrome In South Carolina, Vinita Oberoi Leedom

Theses and Dissertations

Children with Down syndrome (DS) often have co-occurring conditions affecting vision, hearing, sleeping, and more. Screenings, as recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), can help prevent secondary disability, and allow children to thrive. Studies have evaluated the receipt of recommended screenings, but barriers and facilitators surrounding access to screenings and care have not been described.

Parents of 24 children with DS in SC were recruited through schools and family support groups. One-hour long interviews were conducted in English and Spanish. Information was collected on health, healthcare quality, respiratory concerns, pandemic effects, access to care, and knowledge about AAP …

Food Insecurity In Youth And Young Adults With Diabetes: Prevalence And Association With Health Behaviors, Lauren Helene Martini

Theses and Dissertations

Given the life-long impact of diabetes(1-5), it is important to engage in behaviors that promote health and wellness to delay or prevent negative health outcomes(3, 6-10). Despite this, youth and young adults with diabetes generally do not adhere to nutritional(11-17) or physical activity(18, 19) recommendations. In households experiencing financial difficulties, especially those who are having difficulty providing sufficient food to all of its members, adhering to recommendations may be even more difficult.

The purpose of this dissertation is to better understand and contextualize food insecurity among youth and young adults (YYA) with youth-onset T1DM and T2DM. The first aim addresses …

An Examination Of The Prevalence And Predictors Of Drugging Victimization And Drugging Perpetration In A National Sample, Amber Nicole Wallace

Theses and Dissertations

Objective: The current study sought to expand the understanding of the nascent phenomenon of drugging, the administering of a drug or alcohol substance to an individual without their knowledge or consent (Swan et al., 2017). Specifically, in this paper, the lifestyle-routine activities theory (L-RAT) is used as a framework to examine what factors may contribute to the occurrence of drugging. Prevalence rates of drugging victimization and drugging perpetration are examined by participant characteristics including gender, sexual orientation, and race/ethnicity, and by risk behaviors including illicit drug use, marijuana use, and binge drinking. Trait sensation seeking, which has been shown to …

The Risk Of Protection: Examining The Contextual Effects Of Child Protective Services On Child Maltreatment Fatalities In The U.S., Cosette Morgan Mccullough

Theses and Dissertations

Much research has been done in the field of child homicide. While child homicide is a statistically rare event, it is especially pervasive in the United States. A subsection of research in the child homicide literature is the topic of child maltreatment fatalities, defined as when a child is killed through the means of maltreatment, such as physical abuse or neglect. What has been less so researched, however, is the combination of factors that can affect a child’s fatality risk. The current study seeks to expand on the previous research using the 2019 Child File of the National Child Abuse …

Racial Equity Analysis: Access To Permanent Housing And The Vulnerability Index – Service Prioritization Decision Assessment Tool (Vi-Spdat), Mary Ann Priester

Theses and Dissertations

Purpose: This study aimed to replicate and extend national research within the local context of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Continuum of Care by using propensity score methods to examine the relationships between race, program outcome, and housing prioritization among subpopulations of individuals experiencing homelessness.

Methods: This study used secondary data analysis and propensity score methods to examine deidentified client-level Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) data collected from January 1, 2016 – December 31, 2021 by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Continuum of Care (CoC).

Results: Findings indicate that Whites are more likely to exit homeless services programs to temporary or institutional destinations vs. permanent housing …

Multidimensional Transport-Coupled Numerical Investigation Of Non-Premixed Low-Temperature Flame In Atmospheric And High-Pressure Systems, Sudipta Saha

Theses and Dissertations

Gas-phase chemical reactions coupled with multidimensional fluid flow and heat and mass transport are found in various applications, i.e., from conventional engine applications to novel combustion techniques. With the goal of understanding such complex coupling in reacting flow systems, this dissertation work focuses on developing multi-physics simulation frameworks to investigate the effect of multidimensional transport on flame dynamics. This study primarily focuses on the modeling and simulation of low temperature flame formation in i) a canonical experimental setting with counterflow burners and ii) a supercritical water medium (i.e., hydrothermal flame).

In the first part of the dissertation, simulations of the …

Cashing The Check Of Democracy The American Revolution And Citizenship In The Black Freedom Struggle 1960-1970, Zachary Earle Clary

Theses and Dissertations

Separated into three interconnected parts, this thesis first proposes a reconfiguration of the vocabulary that historians use when classifying the memory and legacy of the American Revolution in the twentieth century. From there, I offer a comparative analysis of the Black Freedom Struggle’s relationship to the Declaration of Independence and other components of the American Revolution to demonstrate that the Revolution, while useful as a rhetorical tool or a conceptual model, functioned primarily as a counterpoint to the twentieth-century quest for Black citizenship. In other words, the American Revolution was a formidable example of radical protest in the American past, …

Detecting Spatially Varying Coefficient Effects With Conditional Autoregressive Models: A Simulation Study Using Social Determinants Of Health Screening Data, Reid J. Demass

Theses and Dissertations

Generalized linear models which include spatially varying coefficient terms allow researchers to determine if the association between predictor and outcome variables vary across geographic space. Such models are particularly applicable to research with public health data where interventions and limited health care resources must be allocated carefully. The integrated nested Laplace approximation (INLA) methodology available in the R INLA package is a popular tool to estimate spatially varying coefficients. To assess the performance of the estimation procedure, patient emergency department (ED) visits were simulated from data sourced from a pilot study at Prisma Health. The INLA technique was used to …

Sex Differentials In Frailty In Medieval Ireland, Allison Claire Ham

Theses and Dissertations

Population sex differentials in morbidity and mortality are influenced by genetic, hormonal, behavioral, and environmental mechanisms, and in the majority of living human populations, females experience longer lifespans and lower mortality risks, but paradoxically, greater morbidities compared to males. This dissertation project explored sex differentials in frailty (i.e., relative risk of death compared to others in the population) in medieval Ireland to address the existing temporal and contextual limitations for interpreting how far back the modern female health-mortality paradox extends. The project had three main objectives: examine sex differentials in mortality risks between the early (500-1100 CE) and late medieval …

Is There A Relationship Between Direct Patient Care Registered Nurses Emotional Intelligence And Patient Satisfaction?, James J. Leach

Theses and Dissertations

Many studies have examined Emotional Intelligence (EI) ’s role in various groups of people. However, to date, there have not been any studies examining the role of EI in direct patient care given by ICU nurses and the relationship between the nurses’ EI and patient satisfaction. With the importance of patient satisfaction tied to hospital reimbursement and the many approaches that have been made to improve patient satisfaction, studying the people (nurses) who spend the most time with the patient seems right. The data used for this study was obtained from an EI inventory for the nurses and an ICU-specific …

Aortopathies: Mechanism Of Pathogenesis And Therapy, Mengistu G. Gebere

Theses and Dissertations

The aorta is the largest artery in the body which is directly connected to the left ventricle of the heart and functions as an elastic conduit that transports the ejected blood from the left ventricle to peripheral vessels. There are three layers to the aortic wall, tunica intima, tunica media, and tunica adventitia. The tunica media, the thickest middle layer, is composed of vascular smooth muscle cells (SMC) and the extracellular matrix (ECM) as its essential components. SMCs are circumferentially arranged and embedded in elastic lamellae. They are responsible for producing and maintaining/remodeling the extracellular matrix of the aortic media. …

Targeting Macrophages In Cancer Models Using Natural Compounds, Sierra Jordan Mcdonald

Theses and Dissertations

Cancer remains a leading cause of death worldwide. More specifically, breast cancer (BrCa) and colorectal cancer (CRC) continue to be the most diagnosed cancers and leading causes of cancer-related death worldwide. Given that surgery followed by adjuvant chemotherapy is only effective in 20% of CRC patients, and that there are no preventive agents for BrCa metastasis for hormone receptor negative patients, more effective agents and strategies are needed in both the prevention and treatment of these cancers. As one of the most abundant immune cells in the tumor microenvironment, macrophages help regulate primary tumor growth, angiogenesis, and metastasis in many …