Digital Commons Network^™

Observational Analyses Of Aerosol Radiative Impacts On Weather And Climate Scales, Blake Thomas Sorenson

Theses and Dissertations

With the enhanced Arctic warming and sea ice melting in recent decades, this study seeks to expand our understanding of how atmospheric aerosols affect the Arctic radiative budget, on both weather and climate scales. On climate scales, the study of the impact of atmospheric aerosols on Arctic radiative budget, through observation-based methods, remains challenging due to the complicated surface conditions including sea ice, open oceans, and land surfaces. Using satellite observations from the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI), the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), the Cloud and the Earth Radiant Energy System (CERES), and the Special Sensor Microwave Imager / Sounder …

Nature-Based Solutions For Flood Risk Mitigation: Mapping And Hydrological Modeling In An Under-Resourced Urban Area On The Mississippi Gulf Coast, Jennifer Makenzie Holifield

Master's Theses

Flooding is the most frequent and costly disaster in the United States, affecting people disproportionately based on environmental, societal, and economic limitations. Through stakeholder engagement, open-access research, and nature-based solutions (NBS), ecology and hydrology can be bridged with local-scale politics to raise awareness of local issues and form strong interdisciplinary bonds. I approached nature-based equity from a ground front, in which I engaged with local stakeholders and city officials to gain insight and calibration on flooding experiences and flooding presence within Moss Point, MS. This engagement helped calibrate GIS models, from which, I found that the flooding hazards of Moss …

Modeling Hourly Storm Surges Using Deep Learning Techniques, Md Abu Zafor

Master's Theses

Storm surges cause coastal flooding, one of the most devastating coastal hazards. Accurate modeling of storm surges is essential for predicting and mitigating these impacts. Traditional approaches model surges at individual tide gauges and often focus on daily time scales, leading to data redundancy and limiting their ability to capture sub-daily variability. This study addresses these limitations using deep learning (DL) algorithms to model hourly surges simultaneously at multiple tide gauges along the U.S. East Coast and Gulf of Mexico. Three algorithms, Convolutional Neural Network (CNN), Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM), and a hybrid ConvLSTM are employed to model surges using …

Reflecting On Diagnosis: The Metacognitive Diagnostic Reasoning Model©, Sarah L. Beebe, Angela M. Mcnelis, Majeda El-Banna, Kristina Thomas Dreifuerst

College of Nursing Faculty Research and Publications

Background:

Diagnostic reasoning is a complex cognitive process that requires intuitive, heuristic processing from knowledge and experience, as well as deliberate and reflective thinking. Evidence on interventions to improve diagnostic reasoning is inconsistent, in part because different terms and models are used to guide research.

Purpose:

To present a model of the factors of diagnostic reasoning in Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (APRNs), based on a review of the literature supporting the Metacognitive Diagnostic Reasoning (MDR) Model^©.

Methodology:

A review of the literature through systematic database search, historical articles, texts, and documents was conducted from inception through August 2023 …

The Nursing Human Capital Value Model, Olga Yakusheva, Kathryn A. Lee, Marianne Weiss

College of Nursing Faculty Research and Publications

Nursing's economic value is presently framed within the dominant “outcomes-over-cost” value framework. Within this context, organizations employing nurses often use nursing budget reductions as a cost-minimization strategy, with the intent of retaining high quality outcomes. However, persistent issues such as nurse understaffing, burnout, and turnover threaten healthcare systems' capacity to deliver the quality, equitable, affordable patient care that the public requires. In this paper, we propose a new conceptual model and definition of nursing's economic value. The model development is guided by the convergence of three classic economic frameworks: human capital theory, production theory, and value theory. Grounded in these …

Book Review: Transformative Negotiation: Strategies For Everyday Change And Equitable Futures, Peter R. Reilly

Faculty Scholarship

This volume makes an immense contribution to the field of negotiation and to dispute resolution more generally. The book covers a vast amount of ground, effectively connecting theory to practice and harnessing large amounts of research to support its arguments and advice. Perhaps most importantly, this reviewer found reading the book to be—as the title suggests—a transformative experience.

Reframing A Data Sharing Mechanism For The Riparian Nations Of Helmand River Basin: Theory Of Planned Behavior Is Revisited, Najibullah Loodin, Gabriel Eckstein, Vijay P. Singh, Rosario Sanchez

Faculty Scholarship

Data and information exchange plays a crucial role in fostering water cooperation between the riparian nations of a shared watercourse. Taking an integrated approach combining Discourse Analysis and Document Analysis, this research aims at elucidating the challenges and the potential opportunities of data and information exchange on the Helmand River, a drought-stricken river basin shared between upstream Afghanistan and downstream Iran. Drawing on the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), we offer nuanced perspectives on the data exchange model developed by Wehn. We argue that there are other underlying and essential elements that hinder the meaningful engagement of the riparian nations …

Array Of Graphene Solar Cells On 100 Mm Silicon Wafers For Power Systems, Syed M. Rahman, Md R. Kabir, Tamzeed B. Amin, James M. Mangum, Ashaduzzaman, Paul M. Thibado

Physics Faculty Publications and Presentations

High electrical conductivity and optical transparency make graphene a suitable candidate for photovoltaic-based power systems. In this study, we present the design and fabrication of an array of graphene-based Schottky junction solar cells. Using mainstream semiconductor manufacturing methods, we produced 96 solar cells from a single 100 mm diameter silicon wafer that was precoated with an oxide layer. The fabrication process involves removing the oxide layer over a select region, depositing metal contacts on both the oxide and bare silicon regions, and transferring large-area graphene onto the exposed silicon to create the photovoltaic interface. A single solar cell can provide …

Strolling Down Memory Lane, Touring An Historical Restoration, And The Constitution Of December 11, 1865, Mark A. Graber

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

The following pages [compare] a stroll down the Reconstruction section of memory lane with a tour of a historical restoration dedicated to reproducing the Constitution of December 11, 1865. Part I strolls down the Reconstruction section of memory lane by elaborating the conventional legal account of what Republicans were thinking when they sought to improve the Thirteenth Amendment’s Constitution immediately after the ratification of the constitutional ban on slavery was assured. Their most vital and often sole concern, legal opinions from the Slaughter-House Cases to Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard agree, was to alleviate doubts among anti-slavery advocates about …

Tc-Ptp-Mediated Regulation Of P38 Mapk Pathway Promotes Uvb-Induced Apoptosis In Skin, Lindsey Susie Shim

Theses and Dissertations

T-cell protein tyrosine phosphatase (TC-PTP) is a non-receptor PTP that has been shown to have various roles in signaling pathways. Our previous studies have demonstrated that the TC-PTP deficiency in the epidermis can exacerbate hyperplastic response by inducing epidermal cell proliferation in response to tumor promoter TPA or UVB exposure. This implies that TC-PTP plays a tumor-suppressive role in the epidermis and provides protection against UVB radiation, which is well known to contribute to skin cancer development. The p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) is one of serine/threonine kinases that are activated through environmental stress including UVB. It has been demonstrated …

3d Bioprinted Coaxial Tubule Optimization For Human Aortic Endothelial Cell Growth, Ilse Gabriela Perez Garcia

Theses and Dissertations

This paper introduces a research study of printing parameter optimization of extruded, cell-laden, 3D bioprinted coaxial tubules, as well as cell interaction observations. Optimization of printing parameters seeks to reduce variability of the tubules’ inner and outer diameters. The tubules were manufactured from a 0.4% Collagen I - 1.6% NaC6H7O6 (Sodium Alginate) bioink, that reaches gelation through interaction with a 3.2% CaCl2 (Calcium Chloride) solution. The bioinks were extruded through a dual syringe pump mechanism connected to a coaxial nozzle, which is mounted on an adapted 3D FDM (Fused Deposition …

Teachers’ Perceptions On The Impact And Effectiveness Of Certification Programs In Preparing And Retaining Educators, Teresa De Jesus Padilla

Theses and Dissertations

Mathematics is integral to STEM fields, making math critically important for the stability and development of the nation. As a result, mathematics teachers have a crucial role in our society. A role whose importance needs the necessary support to accomplish its numerous responsibilities. However, research indicates that certification routes—traditional and alternative—often fail to adequately prepare math teachers for the challenges they face, leading to high turnover rates. This study explores the impact of these certification routes on teachers’ abilities to support student achievement, address diverse learning needs, and manage additional duties. Surveying secondary math teachers in the Rio Grande Valley, …

A Phenomenographic Analysis Of Undergraduate Student Perceptions Of The Geosciences And Geoscience Careers, Leah M. Wiitablake

All Dissertations

The climate crisis is upon us, whether we like it or not, and its undeniable effects are evident. Take, for example, Hurricane Helene, which caused unimaginable devastation to what was once considered a “climate haven,” Asheville, NC (Andreoni, 2024; Medina & Fausset, 2024). Hurricane Helene made landfall as a Category 4, jumping from a Category 1 in less than 24 hours (Andreoni, 2024), and is noted by the National Hurricane Center as a major hurricane (National Hurricane Center & Central Pacific Hurricane Center, 2024). With the Earth now unlikely to remain below 1.5°C of warming (IPCC, 2023b), perhaps we can …

Real-Time Motion Augmentation And Synthesis For Animating The Hands And Eyes Of Virtual Humans And Avatars, Ryan Canales

All Dissertations

Virtual Reality (VR) enables users to interact within virtual worlds via an embodied virtual representation of themselves called an “avatar”. Because avatars are essential for immersive experiences, it is important to consider how altering or augmenting avatar motion affects virtual experiences. This dissertation aims to improve virtual experiences by addressing some of the many challenges in animating avatars and virtual humans.

In our first study, we addressed the lack of tactile feedback during virtual grasping by using visual feedback techniques. We augmented the avatar’s hand motion to remain outside virtual objects (“outer hand”) even when the user’s hand penetrated them. …

A Mixed-Methods Outcome Evaluation Of A National Science Foundation Advance Project Examining The Effect Of Gender On Organizational Climate And Faculty Experience With Inclusion, Alena Hofrova

All Dissertations

Despite increased efforts through the NSF ADVANCE program to enhance the representation and inclusion of female faculty in academia over the past two decades, challenges related to gender equity persist. This raises concerns regarding the effectiveness of these initiatives, with research indicating gaps in the evaluation of institutional transformation efforts. This mixed-methods dissertation utilized secondary data analysis from the NSF TIGERS ADVANCE Organizational Climate Survey conducted in 2017 (N = 446) and 2024 (N = 429) at Clemson University. A unique identifier was used to track participants' responses over time (N = 76), facilitating the evaluation of …

A Multiple Mixed-Method Analysis On Empathy In First Year Engineering Education, Libby Flanagan

All Dissertations

This multiple mixed method analysis focuses on exploring how teaching empathy to first year engineering students interacts with their engineering identity and their personal definition of the role of an engineer. The participants received a four-lesson series on empathy and engineering in the Fall of 2023. They completed a pre- and post-survey as well as wrote five written reflections over the course of this semester. Analysis of the survey results found that composite empathy and engineering identity scores increased significantly over the course of this semester and that the increase in female composite engineering identity scores was significantly larger than …

Disability, Sense Of Belonging, And Inclusive Classroom Climates In Undergraduate Engineering, Candice W. Bolding

All Dissertations

In higher education, there has been a growing interest in identifying and addressing the systemic factors that impact the educational experiences and outcomes of underrepresented students pursuing degrees in engineering. Students who identify as having one or more disabilities are an underrepresented population in postsecondary engineering, and although this population of students possess numerous strengths that make them well suited for the field, they often face barriers and challenges that hinder their success within engineering programs. There exists a robust collection of literature examining the experiences and factors that impact other underrepresented groups within postsecondary engineering (e.g., students of color …

Neural Operator And Physics-Informed Deep Learning Approaches For Inverse Design Of Composites And Manufacturing Processes, Minglei Lu

All Dissertations

In this dissertation, artificial intelligence (AI) models are designed and used to accelerate inverse design of composites and manufacturing processes. The critical bottlenecks in machine learning (ML) including data availability, data quality, model generalization and adaptation, interpretability, physical consistency, and the ’black box’ nature of models for the inverse design are addressed. And the proposed AI models are tested under different engineering scenarios. Firstly, a fast deep neural operator (DNO) structure was developed to significantly reduce training time. This model was tested in the context of additive manufacturing, a transformative industrial technology that allows for the creation of materials with …

Optimization Of Polymeric Micelles As A Delivery System For Crispr/Cas9 Ribonucleoprotein, Lucian Williams

All Dissertations

Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) is an adaptive immune system in bacteria that has been harnessed to perform precise genetic modifications in mammalian cells. Among CRISPR-associated (Cas) proteins, Cas9 has emerged as a transformative tool in gene editing due to its simplicity, high specificity, and versatility compared to the other Cas proteins and gene-editing technologies. Despite its potential to cure genetic disorders, the clinical application of Cas9 has been hindered by challenges such as immunogenicity, off-target effects, and low delivery efficiency. To address these issues, this dissertation explores using polymeric nanoparticle systems to encapsulate and protect Cas9 and …

Advancing Visual Geometric Perception: Camera-Based Depth, Reconstruction, And Active Vision, Ziyue Feng

All Dissertations

The advancement of autonomous driving technology and intelligent robotic applications has emerged as a focal point in the realm of autonomy. One of the driving forces behind this trend is the profound understanding of the environment, and at the core of this endeavor lies the three-dimensional geometric perception. This dissertation embarks on a comprehensive exploration of this domain, emphasizing the advances of depth prediction, 3D scene reconstruction, and active vision to enhance geometric perception and scene understanding capabilities in autonomous driving, embodied AI, and robotics. In the domain of depth prediction, this research addresses the challenges of accurately inferring three-dimensional …

Polymersomes As Chemotherapeutic Agents Towards Non-Invasive Treatment Of Glioblastoma, Molli Garifo

All Dissertations

Glioblastoma (GBM) accounts for over 66% of all malignant central nervous system and brain tumors with a 5-year survival rate below 5%, which has remained relatively unchanged over the last four decades. To bypass the most challenging barrier to treatment, the blood-brain barrier (BBB), one intracranial implant is clinically available for GBM treatment. However, this treatment produces severe adverse effects with no significant improvements in patient outcomes. Developing an improved delivery system with a more effective chemotherapy drug will provide more controlled and specific treatment through local delivery. In this dissertation, I evaluate a hyaluronic acid-b-polylactic acid (HA-PLA) polymersome system …

Cross-Interactions Of Amyloid Proteins: Implications For Aggregation Dynamics And Disease Pathology, Zhiyuan Song

All Dissertations

Amyloid aggregation is a pervasive form of protein misfolding implicated in the pathology of several prominent human diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease (AD), Parkinson’s disease (PD), and type 2 diabetes (T2D). These diseases are marked by the accumulation of amyloid fibrils and toxic oligomers, which are highly dynamic and heterogeneous, posing challenges for understanding their roles in disease progression. Despite significant advances in the diagnosis and management of these conditions, no definitive cure is available. We investigate amyloid aggregation and cross-seeding, with a focus on amyloid-beta (Aβ), tau, alpha-synuclein (αS), and human islet amyloid polypeptide (IAPP) through discrete molecular dynamics (DMD) …

Space Operations Education Research: Studying Undergraduate Experiences As Predictors Of Early Career Performance For Military Space Operations Officers, Keith Balts

All Dissertations

Undergraduate students who go on to operate space systems, e.g., satellites, launch systems, and ground-based systems, come from a diverse set of demographics and undergraduate experiences. The United States Space Force (USSF), and United States Air Force (USAF) before them, like many professions, have a demonstrated interest in who enters their ranks, but have had limited research available to them to inform their recruiting, selection, training, and early career development policies and processes.

This Profession-Based Education Research study, a term introduced here in contrast to Discipline-Based Education Research, focused on the military space operations profession. This study analyzed newly commissioned …

An Efficient Computational Frameworks For Design And Analysis Of Metamaterials, Raj Pradip Khawale

All Dissertations

Advancement in additive manufacturing helps in building artificial lattice structures with unique properties that are not available in naturally occurring materials or in continuum structures. Specifically, beam-based lattices are well known for producing lightweight structures with very high strength, auxetic behavior, and energy absorption capabilities. In recent years, numerous research studies have been conducted on generating algorithms and frameworks to obtain unusual properties based on the variation in the cell geometry and material properties. However, the exploration of the full design space is hampered in practice primarily due to restrictions on cell tiling variation. Additionally, the lattices are very intricate, …

Low Carbon, High Cooling Potential Alcohol Fuels In A High Compression Ratio Spark Ignition Engine, John Gandolfo

All Dissertations

Even though most of the effort towards implementing low-carbon alternative fuels has been directed towards heavy-duty vehicles that are difficult to electrify, the high-autoignition resistance of these fuels make them challenging to combust in compression ignition engines. However, several fuel candidates, such as ethanol and methanol, are ideal fuels for spark ignition engines. With the demand for electric vehicles slowing down and increasing recognition of the merits of hybrid powertrains, there is a need to maximize the performance of these fuels for spark ignition engines, which are likely to remain the combustion strategy of choice for hybrids due to their …

Agricultural Water Use In South Carolina - A Series Of Investigations To Support Long-Term Planning, Charles Pellett

All Dissertations

Agricultural water use in South Carolina has been the subject of some public debate. While there are several sources of information available, the accuracy of the relevant data has been called into doubt. Self-reported estimates may be biased; survey sampling and extrapolation methods yield wide ranges of uncertainty; and reporting compliance or response rate can change over time.

Agricultural water users self-report that their estimates of water use volumes are less accurate than the other major sectors of water use. Center pivot irrigation is the largest and fastest growing kind of agricultural water use in SC. Since the year 2000, …

Investigating The Role Of Cd44 In Her2+ Breast Cancer Cells During Cancer Cell Redirection, Holly Caroline Jordan Campbell

All Dissertations

Despite a rise in survival rates of breast cancer patients due to advances in modern medicine, breast cancer is the most common type of cancer in women and is the second leading cause of cancer death in the United States. Early detection and a more personalized treatment of breast cancer has slowly improved patient outcomes. Nevertheless, there are impediments to better patient outcomes due to the complexity of the disease physiology. Therefore, there is a demand for a comprehensive understanding of cancer development as well as a need to understand tumor progression for enhanced therapies for patients.

Previous in vivo …

Ras-Mutant Leukaemia Stem Cells Drive Clinical Resistance To Venetoclax, Junya Sango, Saul Carcamo, Maria Sirenko, Abhishek Maiti, Hager Mansour, Lewis E Tomalin, Tiansu Wang, Malgorzata Olszewska, Emmanuel Olivier, Manon Jaud, Bettina Nadorp, Benjamin Kroger, Feng Hu, Lewis Silverman, Stephen S Chung, Elvin Wagenblast, Ronan Chaligne, Ann-Kathrin Eisfeld, Deniz Demircioglu, Dan A Landau, Piro Lito, Elli Papaemmanuil, Courtney D Dinardo, Dan Hasson, Marina Konopleva, Eirini P Papapetrou

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Cancer driver mutations often show distinct temporal acquisition patterns, but the biological basis for this, if any, remains unknown. RAS mutations occur invariably late in the course of acute myeloid leukaemia, upon progression or relapsed/refractory disease1-6. Here, by using human leukaemogenesis models, we first show that RAS mutations are obligatory late events that need to succeed earlier cooperating mutations. We provide the mechanistic explanation for this in a requirement for mutant RAS to specifically transform committed progenitors of the myelomonocytic lineage (granulocyte-monocyte progenitors) harbouring previously acquired driver mutations, showing that advanced leukaemic clones can originate from a different cell type …

Artificial Intelligence And Machine Learning In Cancer Pain: A Systematic Review, Vivian Salama, Brandon Godinich, Yimin Geng, Laia Humbert-Vidan, Laura Maule, Mohamed A Naser, Abdallah S R Mohamed, Clifton D Fuller, Amy C Moreno

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background/objectives: Pain is a challenging multifaceted symptom reported by most cancer patients. This systematic review aims to explore applications of artificial intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML) in predicting pain-related outcomes and pain management in cancer.

Methods: A comprehensive search of Ovid MEDLINE, EMBASE and Web of Science databases was conducted using terms: "Cancer," "Pain," "Pain Management," "Analgesics," "Artificial Intelligence," "Machine Learning," and "Neural Networks" published up to September 7, 2023. AI/ML models, their validation and performance were summarized. Quality assessment was conducted using PROBAST risk-of-bias andadherence to TRIPOD guidelines.

Results: Forty four studies from 2006 to 2023 were included. Nineteen studies used …

3d Gamma Analysis Between Treatment Plans For Nominally Beam-Matched Medical Linear Accelerators Using Pymedphys, Fada Guan, William Donahue, Simon Biggs, Matthew Jennings, Emily Draeger, Yuenan Wang, David J Carlson, Zhe Chen, Dae Yup Han

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Beam-matched linear accelerators (linacs) enable flexible patient scheduling and efficient treatment delivery in the event of unexpected machine downtime. The purpose of this study was to test the feasibility of 3D gamma index as an additional metric beyond standard measurement-based comparisons for more efficient evaluation of treatment plans between linacs with nominally matched beam models to ensure safe patient transfer. Seventeen 3D conformal radiotherapy (3DCRT) plans and thirty-six volumetric-modulated radiation therapy (VMAT) plans for different disease sites were selected from the original linac. An in-house script was used to automatically create new plans for the target linac and calculate dose …