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Articles 1 - 30 of 112
Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Creating Interpretable Deep Learning Models To Identify Species Using Environmental Dna Sequences, Samuel Waggoner
Creating Interpretable Deep Learning Models To Identify Species Using Environmental Dna Sequences, Samuel Waggoner
Honors College
This research aims to develop an interpretable and fast machine learning (ML) model for identifying species using environmental DNA (eDNA). eDNA is a technique used to detect the presence or absence of species in an ecosystem by analyzing the DNA that animals naturally leave behind in water or soil. However, there can be millions of sequences to classify and the reference databases are sizeable, so traditional methods such as BLAST are slow. Convolutional neural networks (CNNs) have been shown to be 150 times faster at classifying sequences. In this work, we create a CNN that achieves 92.5% accuracy, surpassing the …
Effects Of Ecologically Relevant Concentrations Of Nitrate On Behavior In Betta Splendens, Sarah Janson
Effects Of Ecologically Relevant Concentrations Of Nitrate On Behavior In Betta Splendens, Sarah Janson
Honors College
Nitrate is a ubiquitous pollutant that is becoming more prevalent in both fresh and saltwater environments. Short term effects are often studied, but an organism’s response to stress can change due to whatever the stressor is. In order to research this, a study was run using environmentally relevant nitrate treatments (0 mg/L, 10 mg/L NO3-N, and 100 mg/L NO3-N) to see the effect of nitrate on scototaxis behaviors, a measure of anxiety. This study used Betta splendens because they are easy to rear and have very well documented behaviors. In addition to the scototaxis, the effect of temperature on mortality …
Ghost Connect-Net: A Connectivity-Based Companion Network To Enhance Pruning Methods, Mary Isabelle Wisell
Ghost Connect-Net: A Connectivity-Based Companion Network To Enhance Pruning Methods, Mary Isabelle Wisell
Honors College
Deep neural network (DNN) approaches excel in various real-world applications like robotics and computer vision, yet their computational demands and memory requirements hinder usability on advanced devices. Also, larger models heighten overparameterization risks, making networks more vulnerable to input disturbances. Recent studies aim to boost DNN efficiency by trimming redundant neurons or filters based on task relevance. Instead of introducing a new pruning method, this project aims to enhance existing techniques by introducing a companion network, Ghost Connect-Net (GC-Net), to monitor the connections in the original network. The initial weights of GC- Net are equal to the connectivity measurements of …
Determining The Viability Of Marine Sensor Construction, Roman Sequeira
Determining The Viability Of Marine Sensor Construction, Roman Sequeira
Honors College
I intend to determine the viability of building a sensor that can be deployed in marine environments. Viability is defined as a summary of economic affordability, practicality of construction and deployment, knowledge required, and effectiveness. In order to get the best results, our sensor must be able to be modified to suit individual circumstances, constructed out of easy to obtain materials, be robust enough to withstand less than lab grade environments, and most importantly function well enough to be worth the effort of building it. I have built a sensor using the cheapest and most widely available options available. It …
The Conservation Project: An Exploration Of Multimedia In Ocean Conservation, Ilaria Bardini
The Conservation Project: An Exploration Of Multimedia In Ocean Conservation, Ilaria Bardini
Honors College
The Conservation Project ties in many elements of multimedia and its possible applications in marine conservation. The purpose of this thesis was to develop new skills in videography, photography, podcast production, and website development through which to deepen my understanding of the multimedia as a tool in science, through the development of a website.
Development And Investigation Of Children's Manuscripts On Sustainable Agriculture And Place Based Interactions With The Land, Isabella Oliveira
Development And Investigation Of Children's Manuscripts On Sustainable Agriculture And Place Based Interactions With The Land, Isabella Oliveira
Honors College
The goal of this project was to develop an illustrated educational manuscript for children, on the topic of environmentally sustainable practices and developing an interactive relationship with the environment around them. The decision-making of the contents of the manuscript was based in research on environmental pedagogy, the history of land use, place-based identity and environmentalism, and sustainable land practices. All of the illustrations and photography in the manuscript were taken in Maine over my time spent here in college. This manuscript is meant to engage children with the environment around them by introducing them to simplified scientific concepts using references …
Understanding The Connection Between Water, Fish, And Pfas Concentrations: Implications Of Fish Diet And Species-Specific Variability, Ece Yeldan
Honors College
Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, commonly known as PFAS or “forever chemicals,” have emerged as a significant concern for both human health and the environment. These persistent compounds permeate various aspects of commerce, leading to widespread exposure and the cycling of these compounds through environmental feedback routes. Among the sources of exposure to humans, fish consumption stands out prominently. Recreational and sustenance fishing, cherished by Maine residents and indigenous communities alike, underscores the need to comprehend PFAS dynamics in fish and water. To explore the variability of PFAS accumulation in fish, water, and sediment, I conducted a comprehensive literature review. The …
Assessing The Influence Of Interseeded Cover Crops On Beneficial Arthropod Abundance In A Northeastern Agroecosystem, Charles Cooper
Assessing The Influence Of Interseeded Cover Crops On Beneficial Arthropod Abundance In A Northeastern Agroecosystem, Charles Cooper
Honors College
Conservation agriculture approaches are gaining traction as the planet’s food system grapples with climate change, oil depletion, and rampant environmental degradation (Palm et al., 2014). Cover cropping is an integral practice of conservation agriculture. Ground dwelling arthropods play an important role in agroecosystems, providing ecosystem services including seed predation and nutrient cycling. Because the relationship between cover crops and arthropod abundance are likely influenced by management conditions, I investigated arthropod abundance in a field interseeded with cover crops on a research farm in Maine, United States. Interseeding is an emerging practice in the northeastern United States, with potential to address …
Using Cdom Optical Properties To Estimate Its Source, Distribution, And Doc Conentration In Maine Estuaries, Camille Michaud
Using Cdom Optical Properties To Estimate Its Source, Distribution, And Doc Conentration In Maine Estuaries, Camille Michaud
Honors College
Colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM) contributes largely to ocean color, and therefore, influences processes and applications that interact with light in the ocean such as remote sensing and biogeochemistry. It is a component part of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and there is a strong relationship in coastal waters between CDOM absorption and DOC concentration. CDOM optical properties also vary with salinity and source. These important aspects of CDOM absorption led us to collect CDOM samples across the salinity gradients of 3 estuaries in Maine: the Penobscot, Damariscotta, and Sheepscot. We sampled stations along the salinity gradient in each estuary from …
A Survey Of Current Perceptions And Actual Use By Students And Faculty Of Generative Artificial Intelligence In Higher Education, Cameron Hasselbaum
A Survey Of Current Perceptions And Actual Use By Students And Faculty Of Generative Artificial Intelligence In Higher Education, Cameron Hasselbaum
Honors College
Generative AI as an emerging new technology may have large-scale impacts on how business is conducted and how schools teach students. OpenAI released ChatGPT to the public in November of 2022. Two similar surveys were conducted one year after ChatGPT was released in December 2023 to measure the perceptions of generative AI and changes in behavior in the academic space among students and faculty at the University of Maine. The survey findings were that student respondents have been quicker to adopt and find utility in the new technology. Still, it has yet to be readily adopted for use as widely …
Ecological Effects And Ethics Of A Species Range Shift To High Elevation Ponds, Ava Ardito
Ecological Effects And Ethics Of A Species Range Shift To High Elevation Ponds, Ava Ardito
Honors College
As temperatures warm, the climate crisis is having a significant influence on species across the world and altering their distributions. Colorado's high elevation ponds have recently observed a species range shift, traveling to higher altitudes than they have previously inhabited. The Mexican Cut Nature Preserve near the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory (RMBL) in Gothic, CO, is home to a prominent caddisfly Limnephilus externus, but recently a new range-shifting species, Nemotaulius hostilis, has appeared. Caddisflies play an essential role in nutrient cycling and putting energy back into the food web. The range-shifting species is known to excrete high rates of phosphorus …
Analysis Of Nonsmooth Neural Mass Models, Cadi Howell
Analysis Of Nonsmooth Neural Mass Models, Cadi Howell
Honors College
Neural activity in the brain involves a series of action potentials that represent “all or nothing” impulses. This implies the action potential will only “fire” if the mem- brane potential is at or above a specific threshold. The Wilson-Cowan neural mass model [6, 28] is a popular mathematical model in neuroscience that groups excita- tory and inhibitory neural populations and models their communication. Within the model, the on/off behavior of the firing rate is typically modeled by a smooth sigmoid curve. However, a piecewise-linear (PWL) firing rate function has been considered in the Wilson-Cowan model in the literature (e.g., see …
Evaluating The Accuracy Of Different Remote Sensing Methods Used To Derive Absorption From Chromophoric Dissolved Organic Matter In Maine Estuaries, Andrea Rudai
Honors College
Current knowledge of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in Maine estuaries is based on limited field research. By using chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM) as a proxy, it is possible to use satellite images to estimate the concentration of DOC in an entire body of water. This study aims to evaluate different methods that calculate absorption by CDOM from ocean color remote sensing using images taken by Landsat 9 of the Sheepscot, Penobscot, and Damariscotta rivers. The study revealed that although there were some similarities in along-estuary trends between the remotely- sensed absorption and absorption measured in situ, the algorithms that …
Kinematic Vorticity And Porphyroclast Rotation In Mylonites Of The Norumbega Fault System: Implications For Paleoviscometry, Hendrik Lenferink
Kinematic Vorticity And Porphyroclast Rotation In Mylonites Of The Norumbega Fault System: Implications For Paleoviscometry, Hendrik Lenferink
Honors College
Crystallographic and shape preferred orientation (SPO) fabrics that develop in mylonitic shear zones can preserve the mean kinematic vorticity number (Wm) of bulk flow. Microstructural methods exploiting dynamically recrystallized quartz and porphyroclast SPO fabrics typically yield conflicting values of Wm. The Sandhill Corner Mylonite Zone of the Norumbega Fault System, Maine, USA, serves as a case study for investigating this discrepancy; Wm estimates range from 0.90 to 1.00 employing the former method (Method 1) and from 0.3 to 0.6 employing the latter method (Method 2). Using a numerical model, I show how a low-viscosity layer (LVL) surrounding clasts affects their …
Coral Restoration: Comparisons In Space, Time, Impacts, And Costs, Allison Fargo
Coral Restoration: Comparisons In Space, Time, Impacts, And Costs, Allison Fargo
Honors College
Seventy-five percent of coral reefs globally face crisis due to anthropogenic disturbances, prompting heightened global coral restoration initiatives to preserve these vital ecosystems. Various regions employ diverse active coral restoration methodologies, including coral gardening, transplantation, micro-fragmentation, artificial reefs, and sexual propagation. Of these methods, coral gardening stands out as one of the most common and highly successful methods, alongside widespread transplantation practices. Restoration efforts predominantly focus on acroporids due to their relatively rapid growth and asexual fragmentation; however, a diverse range of coral species, including large, slow-growing varieties, is also employed in these endeavors. Costs vary significantly, ranging from $10,000 …
One Theme, Infinite Interpretations. Exploring Perspective Through Photo Sharing., Avery Gosselin
One Theme, Infinite Interpretations. Exploring Perspective Through Photo Sharing., Avery Gosselin
Honors College
In this creative Honors Thesis project, I have developed an initial, beta version, of an application that celebrates diverse perspectives through photo sharing within an interactive mobile interface. This application, titled NüLens and developed using the React Native framework, takes the form of a participatory digital art project, where members of the public have captured and submitted photos that (in their eyes) represent a predefined theme (in this initial release, the theme of nature). These photos were then aggregated into a mosaic of all other user-submitted photos relating to that theme, along with options to filter and sort the images …
Stratigraphic Architecture Of Pozuelo Mounds As Revealed By Earth Resistivity Tomography, Caeli Connolly
Stratigraphic Architecture Of Pozuelo Mounds As Revealed By Earth Resistivity Tomography, Caeli Connolly
Honors College
This study is a geoarchaeological analysis using earth resistance tomography (ERT) surveys of two of four mounds at Pozuelo (Formative Period, cal yr 3000 BP) in the Chincha Valley of coastal, southern Peru. Layers identified in the subsurface were to determine the presence or absence of regional continuity between the mounds. This effort is part of a larger investigation examining the paleoenvironmental setting of the site, and its influence on site location and use. Ten earth resistance tomography profiles were collected using an ABEM Terrameter LS2 and 81 pin array. These profiles were then topographically corrected using topographic survey data …
Everyone's A Waiter: A Data-Driven Queuing Simulation Model Of Mike's Clam Shack, Natalie Robinson
Everyone's A Waiter: A Data-Driven Queuing Simulation Model Of Mike's Clam Shack, Natalie Robinson
Honors College
This thesis seeks to understand the mathematical foundation of several prominent concepts in queuing theory and apply them to gain a better understanding of nightly business levels and dining room queue behavior during the summer tourist season at Mike’s Clam Shack, which is a restaurant located in Wells, Maine. To do so, a variety of queue and server section data has been collected from Mike’s and analyzed to determine probability distributions for interarrival and service times. In addition, a queuing simulation model has been constructed in the R Programming Language, which uses this data to generate dining room and queue …
Incel Bonding: Masculinity And Storytelling In Online Misogynist Spaces, Gunnar Eastman
Incel Bonding: Masculinity And Storytelling In Online Misogynist Spaces, Gunnar Eastman
Honors College
The incel subculture, short for “involuntary celibate,” is one that exists mostly online, but boasts a relatively large number of dedicated members. The goal of this research is to determine how the incel subculture shares their ideology and develops a sense of group identity. The study reviewed 76 threads of posts across two incel forum websites, and was able to conduct three interviews of members from one of those sites. That content was analyzed iteratively for cohesive themes. Several themes emerged, chief among them was the activity of storytelling, which appeared to be done in three different major ways, with …
Understanding Community Abundance And Anthropogenic Impact On Acadia National Park's Rocky Intertidal Ecosystem Through Photoplot Analysis, Kayla Mclagan
Honors College
Acadia National Park’s rocky intertidal ecosystem is one that supports a variety of different species and is highly susceptible to changes from human activity. This study aims to assess the pros and cons of using photo plots and community abundance analysis, compared to point-intersect transects, in rapid assessment protocols monitoring Acadia’s rocky intertidal ecosystem. I piloted the photoplot method, a photograph taken of the area contained within a foot-byfoot quadrat, to assess community abundance of the rocky intertidal ecosystem. Histograms and a nonmetric multidimensional scaling ordination were used to analyze the community structure of various testing sites. This method of …
Lethal And Sublethal Effects Of Beauveria Bassiana On Maine Ticks Across Soil Ph, Alexander Mahar
Lethal And Sublethal Effects Of Beauveria Bassiana On Maine Ticks Across Soil Ph, Alexander Mahar
Honors College
Ticks are obligate parasite arthropods that are becoming increasingly common in northern regions of the United States. Ticks such as the black-legged tick (Ixodes scapularis) and the American dog tick (Dermacentor variabilis) are vectors for pathogens that cause a wide range of diseases, and as these ticks increase their exposure to humans, the diseases they transmit become more prevalent. This upward trend in cases of tick-borne illnesses has necessitated the pursuit of tick control methods that can be used across the diverse environments that are present in tick habitat ranges. One such control method is the fungal biological control, Beauveria …
Assessing College Students' Understanding Of Geologic Timescales, Ethan Couture
Assessing College Students' Understanding Of Geologic Timescales, Ethan Couture
Honors College
Geologic timescales are central to many concepts in the natural sciences, including evolution, climate change and plate tectonics. However, geologic time scales can be challenging to appreciate, especially for those who have not had exposure to such topics previously. During primary and secondary education (K-12) students are provided with foundational information about geology that is then further developed in specialized classes in college. Yet most students are not getting this foundation, which could arguably lead to deficits in their post-secondary education. Despite the importance of these concepts, especially for those interested in careers associated with geologic timescales, there have been …
Directional Tensile Strength Of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polylactic Acid In Extrusion Based Additive Manufacturing For Custom Failure Parts, Lucinda Slattery
Directional Tensile Strength Of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polylactic Acid In Extrusion Based Additive Manufacturing For Custom Failure Parts, Lucinda Slattery
Honors College
Inherently, additive manufacturing printed parts have faults between layers perpendicular to the direction of printing, both in the plane parallel to the build plate and in the z direction (out of the build plate). For most parts, these “built-in” faults from the manufacturing process act as limiting conditions for the part's mechanical strength. While perpendicular to printing is typically the weakest due to layer adhesion faults, parallel to printing is typically the strongest due to cohesive material and fiber orientation. Fiber orientation can be measured through various methods, with the two explored being X-Ray Microscopy (XRM) for 3D analysis, and …
Modeling Franconia Ridge, New Hampshire Using Structure From Motion And Developing New Techniques For Fracture Detection, Dane Johnson
Modeling Franconia Ridge, New Hampshire Using Structure From Motion And Developing New Techniques For Fracture Detection, Dane Johnson
Honors College
Bedrock fracture density is an important characteristic of bedrock that determines its structural formation, the potential for groundwater or fluid flow, and the capacity of erosion for exposed features. In the case of the Franconia Range, there are two primary bedrock lithologies that we wish to analyze. In this research, we conduct the first structural analysis and quantification of the bedrock fracture density of this region using Structure from Motion modeling and machine learning algorithms. Additionally, the algorithms were supplemented to be useful in determining fracture density in the subsurface geology of Ground-Penetrating-Radar (GPR) radargrams. The products of this work …
Thermal Stability Of Platinum-Silicon Alloy Films Grown On Langasite Substrates For Use In Microwave Acoustic Sensor Technology, Kell Fremouw
Honors College
Wireless sensors that can operate in temperatures up to 1000°C are widely needed for real time monitoring of large-scale industrial processes. Such sensors will improve efficiency and prevent component failure. Under previous work at UMaine, Surface Acoustic Wave Resonator (SAWR) sensors fabricated on piezoelectric langasite (La3Ga5SiO14) wafers have shown promise for wireless strain measurements at high temperatures. However, there is a major technical challenge in attaching SAWR langasite based sensors to metal parts because the large differences in the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) between langasite and metals leads to large thermal stresses and …
From Points To Potlucks: An Exploration Of Fixed Point Theorems With Applications To Game Theory Models Of Successful Integration Practices, Llewellyn Searing
From Points To Potlucks: An Exploration Of Fixed Point Theorems With Applications To Game Theory Models Of Successful Integration Practices, Llewellyn Searing
Honors College
Potlucks have many names: shared community dinners, faith suppers, “bring-a-dish” dinners, etc. They represent the desire to share food with other people and make new friends, sometimes learning about other cultures in the process. Not only does one have to decide what dish to bring, but one must also decide how large of a dish, if there will be a theme, and what course it will fit. For instance, if everyone brings side dishes, there will not be enough food for everyone, and if someone brings food that most of the group cannot eat, then feelings will be hurt on …
Utilizing Post-Newtonian Expansion To Determine Parameters Of Compact Binary Black Hole Mergers, Jarrod E. Rudis
Utilizing Post-Newtonian Expansion To Determine Parameters Of Compact Binary Black Hole Mergers, Jarrod E. Rudis
Honors College
The process of determining parameters of black hole mergers requires complicated formulae like the Einstein Field Equations (EFEs) that can only be solved numerically with the help of supercomputers. This paper sought to explore an alternative method to prediction of parameters through the use of 1st order Post-Newtonian Expansion (PNE), which is a way of approximating solutions to the EFEs. Two binary- black hole mergers, GW170814 and GW170809 were analyzed with the use of 1st order PNE to obtain the chirp mass and radiated energy parameters. These parameters were then compared with the parameters obtained using numerical solutions to the …
Riders On The Storm: Using Satellite Transmitters To Quantify American Woodcock Movement Behavior Following Extreme Weather Events, Katherine Trebilcock
Riders On The Storm: Using Satellite Transmitters To Quantify American Woodcock Movement Behavior Following Extreme Weather Events, Katherine Trebilcock
Honors College
The American Woodcock (Scolopax minor) has experienced steady declines in abundance over the past fifty years, which has raised questions as to why (Sauer et al. 1991). Migration for many birds, woodcock included, is energetically intensive, and may be the cause for greater mortality compared to other times of the year (Newton 2007). Despite this, there remains uncertainty in how conditions encountered during migration affect their movements and survival. One obstacle that birds must face is extreme weather, which has been increasing in intensity and occurrence due to climate change. How these events impact a migrating woodcock has been speculated …
Design, Construction, And Investigation Of A Small Polarimeter, Kelvy Zucca
Design, Construction, And Investigation Of A Small Polarimeter, Kelvy Zucca
Honors College
This project uses a custom polarimeter to measure the polarization of light we receive from stars. Most bright stars emit unpolarized radiation, so measuring non-zero polarization is significant. Even highly polarized stars only have degrees of polarization around five percent. Polarized light from a star may mean 1) the star is actually a binary system, 2) the star has a significant magnetic field, or 3) the star has some other feature or variability that is atypical of the majority of bright stars. A polarimeter is used to measure polarization. As the Jordan Observatory did not have a polarimeter, the project …
For The Women Who Wear Pi Day Shirts, Jacqui Weaver
For The Women Who Wear Pi Day Shirts, Jacqui Weaver
Honors College
This project, entitled To The Women Who Wear Pi Day Shirts, is a poetry manuscript that explores a journey of a women in STEM. While taking college English courses, I read about characters such as the creature in Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, who had intelligence, yet was physically hideous, an outsider from the human population. The creature was an outsider to the normal human, much like how I feel as a woman in STEM, which gave me the idea to write about my own journey. The poetry in this manuscript is a reflection from being in elementary school learning mathematics …