Digital Commons Network^™

Development Of An Autonomous Aerial Toolset For Agricultural Applications, Terrance Life

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

According to the United Nations, the world population is expected to grow from its current 7 billion to 9.7 billion by the year 2050. During this time, global food demand is also expected to increase by between 59% and 98% due to the population increase, accompanied by an increasing demand for protein due to a rising standard of living throughout developing countries. [1] Meeting this increase in required food production using present agricultural practices would necessitate a similar increase in farmland; a resource which does not exist in abundance. Therefore, in order to meet growing food demands, new methods will …

Evaluation Of Reasons That May Affect Whether Academically Capable Females Choose To Major In Stem, Kerri Alexander Adkins

Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to study the reasons why academically capable females choose to pursue majors in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) fields. A mixed-methods approach using focus groups and a survey were used. Data were gathered from the focus group sessions and used to develop the survey that was then validated and checked for reliability. After some edits, the survey was administered to female freshmen attending Western Kentucky University. Unfortunately, all female students who completed the survey except one indicated they were pursuing STEM majors.

The results from this study suggest that the reasons surrounding the …

Influence Of Spring Flow Reversals On Cave Dissolution In A Telogenetic Karst Aquifer, Mammoth Cave, Ky, Chelsey Kipper

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

An often overlooked connection between karst groundwater systems and surface water is spring flow reversal, the flow of river water into karst springs caused by changes in hydraulic gradient. Karst aquifers are subject to the intrusion of river water when the hydraulic head of a base level river is higher than the hydraulic head of a base level spring. When this occurs, the flow out of the spring reverses, allowing river water to enter base level conduits. River water thus becomes a source of recharge into karst basins, transporting both valuable nutrients and harmful contaminants into karst aquifers. The rapid …

Leaving Ligand Effects On Reactivity And Solubility Of Monofunctional Platinum(Ii) Anticancer Complexes, Heidi Linn Hruska Millay

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Monofunctional platinum(II) complexes, such as phenanthriplatin and pyriplatin, have notably different characteristics from the bifunctional anticancer complexes, such as cisplatin and oxaliplatin, which have detrimental toxicities and resistance associated with them. The unique properties of the monofunctional complexes may be exploited to target cancer cells without producing the toxic side effects associated with the current FDA-approved platinum-based anticancer drugs. To advance the understanding of these monofunctional platinum(II) complexes, this study replaced the chloride leaving ligand with an acetate group, which should increase solubility and alter the rate of reactivity with key amino acid and nucleotide targets. Phenanthriplatin and pyriplatin compounds …

Interaction Of A Platinum Triamine Complex Having A Seven-Membered Chelate Ring With N-Acetyl-Lmethionine And Guanosine 5'-Monophosphate, Jae Ko

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

In the 1960s, Rosenberg and his colleagues confirmed the anti-cancer activity of cisplatin. Although cisplatin was capable of killing testicular cancer cells there were also serious side effects. It was necessary to find alternate ways of overcoming side effects, and soon many researchers have discovered novel platinum compounds that show similar reactivity. Recently, replacing one chloride group to a heterocyclic amine group showed significant cytotoxicity with a different binding activity than cisplatin. Previously in our lab, [Pt(Me5dien)(NO3)]+ and [Pt(Et2dien)Cl]+ have been synthesized and reacted with NAcetyl- L-methionine (N-AcMet) and Guanosine 5’-monophosphate (5’-GMP) showed unusual reactivity. Unlike most previously studied platinum …

A Comparative Study Of Recommendation Systems, Ashwini Lokesh

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Recommendation Systems or Recommender Systems have become widely popular due to surge of information at present time and consumer centric environment. Researchers have looked into a wide range of recommendation systems leveraging a wide range of algorithms. This study investigates three popular recommendation systems in existence, Collaborative Filtering, Content-Based Filtering, and Hybrid recommendation system. The famous MovieLens dataset was utilized for the purpose of this study. The evaluation looked into both quantitative and qualitative aspects of the recommendation systems. We found that from both the perspectives, the hybrid recommendation system performs comparatively better than standalone Collaborative Filtering or Content-Based Filtering …

Controllability And Observability Of Linear Nabla Discrete Fractional Systems, Tilekbek Zhoroev

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The main purpose of this thesis to examine the controllability and observability of the linear discrete fractional systems. First we introduce the problem and continue with the review of some basic definitions and concepts of fractional calculus which are widely used to develop the theory of this subject. In Chapter 3, we give the unique solution of the fractional difference equation involving the Riemann-Liouville operator of real order between zero and one. Additionally we study the sequential fractional difference equations and describe the way to obtain the state-space repre- sentation of the sequential fractional difference equations. In Chapter 4, we …

Application Of 3d Salt Modeling: An Example From The Northeastern Gulf Of Mexico, Adam Mattson

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Salt tectonics has important implications for hydrocarbon exploration in saltbearing basins since salt deformation can directly or indirectly form hydrocarbon traps, influence hydrocarbon migration, and can control deepwater depositional systems. In various basins around the globe, extensive research has been conducted on initiation of salt mobilization, subsequent deformation, and eventual cessation, mostly from subsurface two-dimensional (2D) sections. However, 3D seismic data has dominated the petroleum industry for the last 30 years. Despite the plethora of 3D seismic data acquired in salt-bearing basins, there has been hardly any published work on the 3D geometries of complex salt bodies. 3D salt mapping …

Synthesis Of Bis(Imino)Pyridine Iron(Ii) Complexes And Development Of Bis(Imino)Pyridine Iron(Ii) Catalyzed Carbene Transfer Reactions, Ban Wang

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Metal catalysis of symmetric and asymmetric carbene transfer reactions has been widely applied in natural product synthesis and material science over years. Metal carbene can be easily generated from the extrusion of nitrogen under the catalysis of metal complexes to further undergo various organic reactions, O/N/C-H insertions, cycloadditions, and ylide formations. Currently, the dominant effective catalysts for carbene reactions are built with expensive precious metal, for example, rhodium, ruthenium, palladium, gold. Notably, the effective reactivity and enantioselectivity of the dirhodium(II) catalysts are researched and established over the decades. However, the use of precious metal catalysts is the major source of …

Properties Of Functionally Alexandroff Topologies And Their Lattice, Jacob Scott Menix

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This thesis explores functionally Alexandroff topologies and the order theory asso- ciated when considering the collection of such topologies on some set X. We present several theorems about the properties of these topologies as well as their partially ordered set.

The first chapter introduces functionally Alexandroff topologies and motivates why this work is of interest to topologists. This chapter explains the historical context of this relatively new type of topology and how this work relates to previous work in topology. Chapter 2 presents several theorems describing properties of functionally Alexandroff topologies ad presents a characterization for the functionally Alexandroff topologies …

An Urban Karst Aquifer Resource Evaluation And Monitoring Toolbox, Rachel Anne Kaiser

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

In urban karst areas, such as the City of Bowling Green, Kentucky and the Tampa Bay Metropolitan Area, groundwater quality faces a variety of threats. The development of residential, commercial, and industrial landuse types allows for a wide variety of groundwater pollutants to enter the karst groundwater systems. Various different models and indices have attempted evaluative approaches to identify issues in urban karst areas, but the methods vary by location and lack a focus on urban karst groundwater quality. There also exists a lack of a data-driven approach that is able to capture short- and long-term changes in threats to …

The Effectiveness Of Mobile Eye-Tracking To Enhance Guided Show Cave Experiences, Jenna Michele Hammond

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Karst terrains are landscapes with a distinctive hydrology and set of landforms that arise from a combination of high bedrock solubility and well-developed secondary (fracture) porosity. Karst areas are easily polluted due to the rapid transport of unfiltered percolating water through the systems. While many individuals are able to identify karst landforms such as sinkholes and caves, an understanding of the interconnectedness of the surface and subsurface in karst landscapes, as well as the vulnerability of karst areas to degradation, is often limited. Show caves, which are caves made accessible to visitation by humans through built infrastructure, can serve as …

Lithological Character And Sequence Stratigraphy Of The Ste. Genevieve Limestone In Western Kentucky, Zachary Dalton Creech

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The Ste. Genevieve Limestone is a Mississippian-aged, carbonate-dominated stratigraphic unit that is a prominent hydrocarbon producer in the Illinois Basin, and is widely distributed in states such as Missouri, Kentucky, Indiana, and Illinois. There has been relatively limited study focused on characterizing the Ste. Genevieve Limestone in terms of lithofacies, stacking patterns, and sequence stratigraphic context via analysis of roadcut exposures of the unit in western Kentucky.

The focus of this study is to use lithologic data collected from roadcuts and draft these data into cross sections for presentation of detailed stratigraphic columns that are locally correlative. Seven roadcuts were …

A Tourism Impact Index For Water-Based Natural Attractions Field-Tested In Subarctic And Maritime Climates, Jason Fox

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Tourism in cold and cool-climate regions is largely characterized by recreational and sightseeing activities at water-based natural attractions such as beaches, coastal cliffs, and waterfalls. While the economic benefits of the tourism industry can contribute to a sustainable future for these regions, the environmental implications of a hastilydeveloped industry cannot be ignored given that cold-climate and cool-climate landscapes are at risk of rapid environmental change from a warming climate and other environmental concerns. This study consisted of the development of the Tourism Impact Index for Water-Based Natural Sites, the first of its kind, and its application and refinement in the …

Development Of A Karst Tourism Management Index To Assess Tourism-Driven Degradation Of Protected Karst Sites, Keith R. Semler

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The intent of this research was to create and evaluate a karst tourism management index (KTMI). This index is intended to be a new management tool designed to quantify environmental disturbances caused specifically by tourism activities in karst regions, particularly show caves and springs. In an effort to assess the effectiveness of the index as a management tool in karst terrains, after development, the index was applied to six case study sites. A review of the management policies at each study site was conducted with the use of standard policy critique methods and semistructured interviews with managers at the study …

Maquiladoras In Central America: An Analysis Of Workforce Schedule, Productivity And Fatigue., Jose L. Barahona

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Textile factories or Maquiladoras are very abundant and predominant in Central American economies. However, they all do not have the same standardized work schedule or routines. Most of the Maquiladoras only follow schedules and regulations established by the current labor laws without taking into consideration many variables within their organization that could affect their overall performance. As a result, the purpose of the study is to analyze the current working structure of a textile Maquiladora and determine the most suitable schedule that will abide with the current working structure but also increase production levels, employee morale and decrease employee fatigue. …

The Development Of An Integrated Simulation Model On Understandings On The Interaction Between Electromagnetic Waves And Nanoparticles, Xiaojin Wang

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

To investigate the interaction between nanoparticles and electromagnetic waves, a numerical simulation model based on FEM was built in this thesis. Numerical simulation is an important auxiliary research method besides experiments. The optical properties of nanoparticles consist of scattering, absorption, and extinction, and in the case of nanoparticle suspension, the transmission is also involved. This thesis addressed two typical applications based on the established model, one was regarding the nanofluids for solar energy harvesting, and the other was regarding the optical properties of atmospheric soot. In the case of the nanofluids solar energy harvesting, the established model provided a convenient …

Analysis Of Permaculture’S Water Conservation And Crop Supporting Abilities, Hannah Chaney

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

In the Middle East, virtually all agriculturally viable land is under high threat of desertification due to poor land and resource management and climate change. Mulching using straw flakes (straw mulch permaculture) is a method commonly used in successful dry land permaculture projects in the Middle East. We proposed that straw mulch permaculture would increase the amount of soil moisture during dry periods and that this method would not impact the growth and survival of the crop. In order to test this hypothesis, we took soil samples from plots with and without straw mulch permaculture in Bowling Green, KY and …

The Effects Of Organic And Inorganic Nanoparticles On Bacterial Deactivation, Lauren Cooper

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Antibacterial resistance is one of the greatest problems in modern medicine, as healthcare professionals are experiencing more and more difficulty in providing effective care. As such, alternative methods of treatment are needed in order to overcome this issue. One recently proposed method of alternative treatment is photodynamic therapy. Photodynamic therapy is a light-based method of treatment that utilizes (1) a photosensitizing agent, (2) light, (3) produced oxygen species. When the photosensitizing agent is injected into an infected region of interest and then irradiated with a certain wavelength of light, the agent is photoactivated and begins to produce harmful forms of …

Scalable Containerized Security Training Environment, Robert Sauer

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

The purpose of this project is to develop a portable application which is hosted on a server that provides an environment to safely conduct security training procedures and protocols. The project will be scalable to handle from a few to a multitude of users concurrently using a single server. For many users to perform security training simultaneously, each user must be directed to a sandbox environment, a container, where one user’s actions do not affect the website or database of other users. Furthermore, such an application should be readily deployable into any environment to provide the widest range of compatibility. …

Communication Goals Of American Universities: A Social Media Content Analysis, Travis Ryan

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Social media is a key communication tool for American universities. This research project is an exploratory look at how universities communicate with stakeholders via social media. In particular, the primary purpose is to explore potential emphasis on academic programs relative to the promotion of athletics as a marketing tool to bolster identity and recruit students. 3000 tweets were collected from 130 NCAA Division 1 American universities. In total, roughly 500,000 tweets have been scraped and classified using an automated script to assess tweet content. Particular emphasis was given to the concept of university rebranding as a broader marketing strategy for …

Dice Mythbusters, C. Warren Campbell, William P. Dolan

Student Research Conference Select Presentations

All dice are unfair because they cannot be manufactured with absolute precision. However, some dice are more unfair than others. Each year hundreds of millions of dice are sold worldwide. Dice commonly used in role playing games are 4-sided (D4), 6-sided (D6), 8-sided (D8), 10-sided (D10), 12-sided (D12), and 20-sided (D20). Most of these are manufactured using plastic mold injection and rock tumbler methods. This method can result in dimensional inaccuracies in the dice and sometimes density inhomogeneities. In 3000-roll tests of eleven D20 dice only three tested fair. In a running chi square test it was shown that for …

Developing Tale Proteins As A Biosensor For Detecting Pathogen Specific Double-Stranded Dna, Kathrine Gaiko

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Transcription activator-like effector (TALE) proteins are important for DNA binding. They bind to specific nucleotide sequences by the use of two residues in each repeat allowing them to target specific DNA sequences. Their modular structure makes TALEs advantageous over other DNA binding proteins such as zinc finger proteins. Zinc finger proteins (ZFP) use a finger like projection to bind 3-4 subsequence base pairs while TALE proteins use two amino acid residues in each repeat to bind one nucleotide. ZFP can use SEER-Lac system for colorimetric detection, while TALE proteins can use fluorescence labeling with Alexa for detection of binding to …

The Hottest Color For The Fastest Ride: A Problem-Based Unit Of Instruction For The Elementary And Middle School Science Classroom, Madison Wells

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

There is a major gap in the availability of Next Generation Science Standard focused curriculum that effectively utilizes technology to solve real-world problems in an authentic way. “The Hottest Color for the Fastest Ride” will allow students to participate in the real-world application of reflection absorption of light and heat due to color through designing, building, and testing two dual-tone corvettes. This three-day unit of physics instruction designed for fourth- and fifth- grade science classrooms will be tied to a grand challenge that tasks the students with designing a dual-tone car that will stay cool during Kentucky’s hot summer weather …

Taking Action: A Case Study Analyzing The Deficiencies And Potential Opportunities For Improvement In The Severe Weather Warning System, Carson Meredith

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

The United States is one of the most prone areas in the world to experience severe weather. A warning system operated by the National Weather Service alerts the public of the dangers of severe weather. The purpose of this project is to analyze the effectiveness of the National Weather Service warning system across Kentucky and Tennessee. A case study is presented analyzing six severe weather events in areas warned by the National Weather Service offices in Louisville, Kentucky and Nashville, Tennessee in 2018. Factors reviewed include effectiveness in issuing timely warnings, verification (i.e., whether or not severe weather actually occurred), …

Synthesis And Characterization Of Degradable Polymers, Christopher Collins

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

A degradable polymer with proposed applications in drug delivery was synthesized and characterized. This polymer was grown from a difunctional initiator, a "core" that is able to grow two polymer chains and able to degrade in the presence of oxidizing agents such as peroxides. During the first part of this project, poly(methyl methacrylate) was synthesized via atom transfer radical polymerization using commercially-available reagents in order to develop an optimal synthesis technique. This technique was then used to synthesize the degradable polymer. After introducing hydrogen peroxide, the molecular weight of the degradable polymer decreased in two different experiments, confirming its hypothesized …

Optimal Control Theory And Estimation Of Parameters In A Differential Equation Model For Patients With Lupus, Peter Agaba

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

System Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic inflammatory autoimmune disorder that affects many parts of the body including skin, joints, kidneys, brains and other organs. Lupus Nephritis (LN) is a disease caused by SLE. Given the complexity of LN, we establish an optimal treatment strategy based on a previously developed mathematical model.For our thesis work, the model variables are: Immune Complexes (I), Pro-inflammatory mediators (P), Damaged tissue (D), and Anti-inflammatory mediators (A). The analysis in this research project focuses on analyzing therapeutic strategies to control damage using both parameter estimation techniques (integration of data to quantify any uncertainties associated with …

Parameter Estimation And Optimal Design Techniques To Analyze A Mathematical Model In Wound Healing, Nigar Karimli

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

For this project, we use a modified version of a previously developed mathematical model, which describes the relationships among matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), their tissue inhibitors (TIMPs), and extracellular matrix (ECM). Our ultimate goal is to quantify and understand differences in parameter estimates between patients in order to predict future responses and individualize treatment for each patient. By analyzing parameter confidence intervals and confidence and prediction intervals for the state variables, we develop a parameter space reduction algorithm that results in better future response predictions for each individual patient. Moreover, use of another subset selection method, namely Structured Covariance Analysis, that …

Quantification Of Tylosin Antibiotics In Cattle Waste, Appala Keerthi

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Antibiotics are used as prophylactic agents to promote growth and for treating infections in animals. However, the irrational use of antibiotics in livestock management is a significant cause of the development of antibioticresistant genes in the environment. Each year 2 million people suffer from the infections caused by bacteria which are resistant to antibiotics and 23,000 of these people are estimated to die because of antibiotic resistance. New drugs are continually coming into the market but are at the risk of developing resistance. Thus, there is a need for the development of analytical methods which can be used to monitor …

Analysis Of 2017 Multi-Agency Field Campaign Data For Wintertime Surface Pollution In The Cache Valley Of Utah, Gerardo Diaz Jr.

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Atmospheric motions resulting from rising airborne parcels help to scatter emissions, including PM, away from their sources, decreasing local pollution levels. However this pattern shifts during the wintertime, as cold air damming and inversion layers create stable conditions that limit the vertical transport of air masses. Both point and area sources of emissions currently dot the western United States and are responsible for the production of the vast majority of agricultural pollution in the region. At the same time, population-growth has resulted in an ever-increasing amount of urbansource emissions. The entrapment of PM, which are produced when a wide array …