Digital Commons Network^™

Fire And Mammal Herbivory On Arthropods In The Protected Savannas: A Systematic Review, Ludzula Mukwevho, Mduduzi Ndlovu, Frank Chidawanyika

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

Protected areas in the savannas are key global reserves for biological diversity, including arthropods. Fire and mammal herbivory disrupts the diversity of biological organisms that alternately affects the functioning of the ecosystem. The study presents a global synthesis review of arthropod responses to varying intensities of fires and mammal herbivory in the protected savannas. We hypothesise that the intensity of predetermined fires and mammal herbivory has cascading impacts on abundance, species richness and diversity of terrestrial arthropods in the protected savannas. A minimum selection criteria was used to collate relevant literature from electronic databases of previous studies performed in the …

Morphometric Characterization Of Invasive Diaphorina Citri Infesting Citrus And Orange Jasmine In Ghana, Kodwo Dadzie Ninsin, Maxwell Kelvin Billah, Bernard Agyeman Boateng, Jonathan Osei-Owusu, Fred Kormla Ablormeti, Samuel Opuni-Basoa, Aboagye Kwarteng Dofuor, George Edusei, Steve B.S. Baleba, Owusu Fordjour Aidoo

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

Morphometric analysis plays a crucial role in the accurate identification and classification of insect pests, which is essential for implementing effective management strategies. The Asian citrus psyllid (Diaphorina citri Kuwayama; Hemiptera: Liviidae), an invasive species and a known vector of ‘Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus’ and ‘Ca. Liberibacter americanus,’ the bacterial pathogens associated with Huanglongbing (HLB), has recently emerged as a pest of concern in Ghana. Despite its significance, little is known about the biological traits of field populations in the region. In this study, we examined morphometric variation in D. citri populations infesting citrus and orange jasmine (Murraya paniculata) across different …

An Analysis Of Coal Ash Pollution In The State Of Georgia, Mick W. Etchison

Theses and Dissertations

This social science paper will explore the factors contributing to the prevalence of coal ash in specific regions of Georgia and its impact on local ecosystems and human health. It provides an analysis of the current environmental and political issues surrounding the containment and spread of coal ash throughout the State. Coal ash is primarily found in the central, southwestern, and northeastern regions where coal-fired power plants and coal ash storage sites are located. The paper will then discuss the political, economic, and legal reasons behind the lack of effective regulation and mitigation of coal ash spread. Coal ash illustrates …

An Understanding Of The Feeding Ecology Of Teleoceras Fossiger And Teleoceras Aepysoma Using Dental Microwear And Mesowear Analysis, Gabriel S. Goncalves

Master's Theses or Doctor of Nursing Practice

Teleoceras is a genus of rhinocerotids that belongs to the Tribe Teleoceratines and was widespread across North America from the late Early Miocene into the Early Pliocene. This genus was very successful, spreading across the continental United States from Florida and Tennessee to California and Washington state down to central Mexico and Honduras. Teleoceras is characterized by having a large, rounded chest cavity and short limbs with relatively high crowned teeth and lower incisors modified into tusk-like teeth. Initial ecological comparisons were made to the modern hippopotamus based on proportions of the chest cavity and its hypsodont dentition. Stable carbon …

Quantifying Landscape Variability Of Dynamic Soil Properties In The James River Valley, Eastern South Dakota, Sage Reuter-Schmitt

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Dynamic soil properties (DSP) are a great tool for monitoring land-use change, and they are frequently used as soil health metrics. The NRCS and other soil researchers often use repeating, single-point or nested-point DSP studies to monitor and better understand the effects of land management decisions. While these studies capture the temporal variability of DSPs, they overlook the field-scale spatial variability of DSPs. Soil organic carbon (SOC) provides critical services to the ecosystem and other environments. These traits, as well as its susceptibility to management decisions, make SOC an important soil health indicator and DSP. Measuring SOC is often time …

Unwritten Rules And Oral Transmission In Architectural Proportion Systems: Case Study Of Bubungan Tinggi House, Huzairin. Muhammad Deddy, Dila Nadya Andini, Rudi Hartono, Anna Oktaviana, Dahliani Dahliani

ASEAN Journal on Science and Technology for Development

The proportional systems in vernacular architecture often exist without formal written codification, raising questions about their transmission across generations. Bubungan Tinggi House which is a replica of the Banjar Kingdom palace was built by Banjarese merchants and aristocrats from the 16th to the 19th centuries, showing a uniform aesthetic quality, which indicates a regularity in the proportions of its form. However, no historical written manuals detailing these proportions are known to exist. To prove the existence of regularity in the Bubungan Tinggi House proportion system, research was conducted by taking 7 Bubungan Tinggi House samples spread across South Kalimantan province, …

Artificial Intelligence To Transform Lifelong Learning And Workforce Development In Southeast Asia: A Call To Action, Shyh Poh Teo, Khadizah H. Abdul-Mumin

ASEAN Journal on Science and Technology for Development

No abstract for this article type.

From Data To Insight: A Machine Learning Approach In Classifying Dairy Cow Productivity Level And Identifying Important Influencing Variables, Fatkhurokhman Fauzi, Achmad Fauzan, Rhendy K P Widiyanto, Khairil Anwar Notodiputro, Bagus Sartono

Knowledge Engineering and Data Science

Identifying influential predictor variables is crucial for enhancing model interpretability in supervised classification. This study applies Permutation Variable Importance (PVI), a model-agnostic approach, to evaluate variable relevance after model fitting. Using data from the 2024 Indonesia Dairy Cow Productivity Survey, this research investigates five classification techniques: (1) Support Vector Machine (SVM), (2) Neural Network (NN), (3) k-Nearest Neighbors (kNN), (4) Naïve Bayes Classifier (NB), and (5) Logistic Regression (LR), to identify which method(s) yield the best performance based on evaluation metrics such as accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity. PVI is employed to identify the most influential predictor variables within the best-performing …

Recontextualizing Engagement With Data Visualizations In The Context Of The Socio-Ecological, Eva Thanheiser, Laurie Rubel, Beth Herbel-Eisenmann, Courtney Koestler

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Publications and Presentations

We explore how data visualizations (DVs) are representational tools that can be used to narrate certain aspects of a context but silence others. Using multiple DVs allows for contrasting the DVs and likely provides opportunities for critical reading and exploring the entanglement of political and ecological dimensions of an issue. We start by integrating two sets of practices, Notice, Wonder, Feel, Act and Reimagine (NW-FAR) (Kahn, et al., 2022) and critical graph reading, Framing, Formatting, Narrating (FFN) (Rubel, et al., 2021) towards taking a socio-political stance and supporting students to read data visualizations and develop critical data literacy. We look …

Physicists As Environmental Experts, Rachel Rothschild

Articles

The question of which scientists are qualified to provide expert guidance in legal controversies is a perennial debate among scholars, judges, and lawyers. Scientists who participate in legal disputes can achieve enormous power and influence, not only over the case at hand but over long-term developments in legal doctrine. While these issues arise in many areas of the law, environmental litigation has been a particularly active site of contestations over epistemic authority. Courts have frequently relied on scientists to understand whether the government is justified in regulating pollution and who may be liable for environmental and public health harms.

This …

Leaf Classification Using Convolutional Neural Networks And Vision Transformers, Louis Wilkie

ICT

This study investigates deep learning techniques for plant image classification using four publicly available datasets: Folio, Flavia, Swedish, and Sugarcane. Three modelling approaches—Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN), Vision Transformers (ViT), and hybrid CNN-ViT ensembles—are evaluated. Models leverage PyTorch implementations and pretrained weights from the Hugging Face hub, with hyperparameter tuning applied to optimize accuracy. Transfer learning with pretrained ViT models achieved the highest performance, attaining 100% accuracy on Folio, Flavia, and Swedish datasets, and 94.07% on Sugarcane. CNN and CNN-ViT models showed comparable results, but pretrained CNN-ViTs were more resource-efficient. The findings highlight the importance of evaluating multiple pretrained architectures to …

Implementation Of Time Series And Neural Networks For Forecasting Agricultural Prices In The Irish Market: A Comparative Analysis Of Milk, Beef, And Potatoes., César Augusto Núñez

ICT

Agricultural price volatility represents a central challenge for the Irish agri-food sector, affecting the stability of producers, cooperatives, and policymakers. This study aimed to compare three predictive approaches applied to strategic commodities such as milk, beef, and potatoes: a traditional statistical time series model (SARIMA) and two deep learning architectures (RNN and LSTM). Using historical price series collected over a decade, the models were developed and evaluated following a rigorous methodological process that included data preparation, algorithm training, and validation of results using performance metrics widely used in time series research. The findings show that the SARIMA model was most …

World As Other, World As Self: Beyond Dualism In Environmental Narratives, Tamara Wallace Ramirez

CGU Theses & Dissertations

Stories of place matter to the way we live with the Earth. A dualistic perspective that pits "culture" against "nature" enables environmental degradation on small and large scales. Conversely, understanding humans and nonhumans as entwined allows us to think and act differently with our planetary community. This view entails integrating the "self" and the "other." Instead of being antithetical to the other, the self arises through engagement with others, human and nonhuman. Understanding our mutuality with others while respecting their alterity and agency fosters caring and dedication. Our sense of connection with the more-than-human world inspires our compassion. However, such …

Communiqué: College Of Humanities, Arts & Sciences Alumni Magazine, Volume 11, 2025, University Of Northern Iowa. College Of Humanities, Arts, And Sciences.

Communiqué: College of Humanities, Arts & Sciences Alumni Magazine

Contents:

EVERY ISSUE
Message from the Dean --- 4
Donor Feature --- 5
CHAS Briefs --- 36
Class Notes --- 38

FEATURES
Engineering Advances --- 6
Japan Water Quality Trip --- 10
Theatre Outreach --- 14
A Future in Physics --- 18
International Teaching --- 24

STORIES
SLP Community Partnership --- 22
Professional Readiness --- 28
Syndaver Lab --- 30
Art Teaching Sisters --- 32
Math Alum Now NBA Coach --- 34

Wildful (2024) By Kengo Kurimoto, Maughn Gregory

Middle Grades Books

Kengo Kurimoto’s graphic novel Wildful explores the transformative power of nature and deep attention. Poppy is struggling with her mother’s depression after her grandmother’s passing. Initially absorbed in digital distractions, Poppy is drawn into the wilderness when her dog, Pepper, chases a fox. She meets Rob, a boy who teaches her to observe nature with curiosity and respect—tracking animals, noticing patterns, and sitting in silence. Poppy learns that being in nature can assuage generational grief through a renewed sense of wonder and connection.

The Chemical Nature Of Colors, Bryant Corbin, Bryant Corbin

Longwood Senior Thesis Proposal

No abstract provided.

Ai-Based Steganography Method To Enhance The Information Security Of Hidden Messages In Digital Images, Nhi Do Ngoc Huynh, Jiajun Jiang, Chung-Hao Chen, Wen-Chao Yang

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

With the increasing sophistication of Artificial Intelligence (AI), traditional digital steganography methods face a growing risk of being detected and compromised. Adversarial attacks, in particular, pose a significant threat to the security and robustness of hidden information. To address these challenges, this paper proposes a novel AI-based steganography framework designed to enhance the security of concealed messages within digital images. Our approach introduces a multi-stage embedding process that utilizes a sequence of encoder models, including a base encoder, a residual encoder, and a dense encoder, to create a more complex and secure hiding environment. To further improve robustness, we integrate …

Advances In Bacterial Cellulose-Based Scaffolds For Tissue Engineering: Review, Rewati Raman Ujjwal, Gymama Slaughter

Center for Bioelectronics Publications

Bacterial cellulose (BC) has emerged as a highly versatile and promising biomaterial in tissue engineering, with potential applications across skin, bone, cartilage, and vascular regeneration. Its exceptional properties like high mechanical strength, superior biocompatibility, excellent moisture retention, and inherent ability to support cell adhesion and proliferation, make BC particularly effective for wound healing and skin regeneration. These attributes accelerate tissue repair and foster new tissue formation, highlighting its value in skin-related applications. Additionally, BC's capacity to support osteogenic differentiation, combined with its mechanical robustness, positions it as a strong candidate for bone tissue engineering, facilitating regeneration and repair. Recent advancements …

Pave Outer Space And Put Up A Parking Lot: Lagrange Points Should Be The Common Heritage Of Mankind, David A. Koplow

Michigan Journal of International Law

Outer space offers a vast array of opportunities, with different locations or regions available for exploitation by diverse users for a growing variety of satellite functions. But not all sectors of space are equally valuable for all applications, and the most desirable venues can become crowded, affording a premium for those who gain access first and impeding the development of a fair and efficient all-inclusive international legal regime.

This article focuses on Lagrange points, a finite series of special locations in space where the gravitational forces from a pair of large celestial bodies interact in unusual ways. These points afford …

Using Post-Supercritical Co2-Assisted Method To Deposit Niep Alloy Coating On The Micro-Arc Oxidation Layer Of Az31 Magnesium Alloy And Its Corrosion Behavior Analysis, Kang-Yu Liao, Hung-Hua Sheu, Ming-Yuan Lin, Ming-Chih Kuo, Po-Hsun Wu, Hung-Bin Lee

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

In this study, a Ni-P alloy coating was deposited on the micro arc oxidation (MAO) layer of AZ31 magnesium alloy to improve its corrosion resistance. The MAO layers were prepared under different operated voltages from 300 to 400 V. The results indicated that the optimize operated parameters for MAO layer is at 350 V, the MAO coatings had the most compact microstructure and superior corrosion resistance. In order to improve the corrosion resistance of MAO coating, this study chose to deposit Ni-P alloy coating on the surface of MAO coating via the post supercritical CO₂-assisted electroless plating (PSC-CO …

Evaluation Of Carbon Sequestration In Seagrass Meadows Of Kenting: A Comparative Study With Penghu And Dongsha Island, Zih-Wei Tang, Huei-Fen Chen, Jordi Mahardika Puntu, Ping-Yu Chang, Li Lo, Jian-Jhih Chen, Wen-Chen Chou, Lan-Feng Fan, Ying-Ju Chang

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

This study investigates the controlling factors of carbon sequestration (CS) in seagrass bed sediments across three distinct environments in Taiwan: the Kenting (KT) coastal area, the Penghu (PH) open inner bay, and the Dongsha (DS) Atoll lagoon. Actual measurements of the substrate depth beneath the sediment and ground-penetrating radar (GPR) scans of the beach reveal that the coral reef bedrock in KT slopes landward. A field survey of the seagrass area in KT was conducted, and three cross-sectional profiles were analyzed to determine their topography, yielding a median sediment thickness of 88.2cm. Based on these measurements, the sediment volume was …

Calculation Of Aquifer Transmissivity From Borehole Resistance Measurements And Pumping Test Results, Fen-Rong Yang, Chien-Wei Huang, Tien-Kuen Huang

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

Transmissivity is a crucial hydrogeological parameter for evaluating groundwater resources. This parameter is conventionally evaluated using pumping tests; however, these tests are costly and can be conducted at few sites. Many researchers have used ground resistance and pumping test data to estimate various hydrogeological parameters. In this study, borehole resistance survey and pumping test data collected by the Taiwan Groundwater Monitoring Network were used to establish the relationship between transmissivity and formation factor for aquifers in the Zhuoshui River alluvial fan. This relationship was then used to estimate the water output of the aforementioned aquifers in a cost-effective manner from …

A Neural Network-Based Sliding Mode Adaptive Control System For Unmanned Surface Vehicles, Sun Qiaomei, An Liang, Jiang Linglin

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

Over the past decades, numerous studies have explored the use of autonomous unmanned surface vehicles (USVs). Successful USV operation requires a robust tracking control system to perform a range of tasks. However, USV dynamics are uncertain, time-varying, and nonlinear. This paper presents a neural network-based sliding mode adaptive control (NNSMAC) system to enhance USV tracking performance. Trajectories were generated using spline and polynomial interpolation based on a set of N predefined waypoints. Simulation results show that the proposed method outperforms traditional sliding mode control in error reduction, enabling more effective tracking.

Scaling Laws For Diffusion In Crystallized Plasma From Molecular Dynamics, Dany Yaacoub

Theses and Dissertations

Diffusion coefficients for crystallized Coulomb plasmas are essential microphysics input for modeling white dwarf cores and neutron star crusts. Solving for diffusion coefficients require running large molecular dynamics simulations with thousands of particles over millions of timesteps. The diffusion in a crystallized plasma has been largely ignored and is often taken to be zero in stellar evolution codes. We find that not only is this incorrect, but we find that the diffusion in a crystallized plasma can be modeled completely using a universal scaling law independent of screening. Our simulations also show that the dominant mode of diffusion in a …

Asymmetric Synthesis Of The Hiv Protease Inhibitor Tmc-126 And An Anti-Malarial Agent Via A Titanium Tetrachloride Mediated Asymmetric Glycolate Aldol Addition Reaction. Redefining The Curtius Rearrangement Reaction Via Dehomologation Of Carboxylic Acids Bearing Alpha-Leaving Groups, Kweku Amaning Affram

Theses and Dissertations

Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) and malaria are two devastating infectious diseases caused by HIV and Plasmodium parasites. AIDS is caused by HIV-1 and HIV-2, transmitted through sexual contact, blood transfusions, needle sharing, and perinatal routes. Malaria, caused by plasmodium parasites through mosquito bites. Today, millions of people around the world have been infected with HIV and malaria and much research has been done to treat it. However, despite advancements in therapeutic options, these diseases remain a significant global health threat, particularly in developing countries due to the emergence of drug-resistant strains for both HIV and malaria complicating eradication efforts. …

The Development Of A One Pot, Two Reaction Synthetic Preparation Of 1,2,4-Oxadiazole, And Synthesis Of Ataluren, A Novel Drug In The Fight Against Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. Efforts Towards The Synthesis Of A Potential Protease Inhibitor Against The Main Protease (3clpro) Of Covid-19, Austin J. Carter

Theses and Dissertations

1,2,4-Oxadiazoles are five-membered heterocyclic structures first synthesized by Tiemann and Krüger in 1884. Recent discoveries suggest an array of useful biological properties.In preparation of 1,2,4-oxadiazoles, the most prevalent precursors are amidoximes, which can be created via the reaction of nitriles with hydroxylamine hydrochloride and a base. The amidoximes are reacted with an activated carboxylic acid to yield an acylated intermediate. This intermediate can be exposed to a base to cyclize into the 1,2,4-oxadiazole. This thesis describes the efforts in combining these three steps into a unified one-pot synthesis.

Currently, there are a significant number of commercially available FDA approved and …

Generational Exposures To Cerium Oxide Nanoparticles And Perfluorooctanesulfonic Acid Affect The Performance Of Daughter Plants, Preston Clubb

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

The effects of parental stress on the performance of next generation exposed to another contaminant were investigated. Wheat was exposed to cerium oxide nanoparticles (CeO2-NPs) in first and second generations and exposed to perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) in the third generation. Phenotypic or metabolic responses were assessed at 21-day (short-term exposure) or 90-day (long-term exposure) exposure periods. Biomass production, chlorophyll content, enzyme activity, and membrane damage were measured at short-term exposure, while elemental and PFOS concentrations, and grain metabolites were analyzed in long-term exposure. Results showed that continued exposures to CeO2-NPs and PFOS enhanced chlorophyll content but reduced concentrations of important …

The First Iucn Red List Of Cold-Water Corals Highlights Global Declines, Julia D. Sigwart, A. Louise Allcock, Renata Carolina Mikosz Arantes, Kelsey Archer Barnhill, Narissa Bax, Julia S. Beneti, Saskia Brix, Gudmundur Gudmundsson, Catherine S. Mcfadden, Severin A. Korfhage, Christi Linardich, Declan Morrissey, Pedro De Oliveira Nascimento, Bárbara De Moura Neves, Steinunn H. Ólafsdóttir, Stefán Ragnarsson, Kaveh Samimi-Namin, Íris Sampaio, Mark E. De Wilt

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

The most well-known species-based conservation tool is the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species. The current coverage of species in the Red List is known to under-represent benthic marine species. Cold-water corals (CWCs) are increasingly recognised as key to deep-water biodiversity and integral to protected vulnerable marine ecosystems (VMEs), but no deep-sea coral species were previously included in the Red List. We selected 22 cold-water coral species in the Northeast Atlantic, including 4 reef-forming stony corals and 18 octocorals including sea pens and gorgonians, and completed the first IUCN Red List global assessments …

A Framework For Mixed Reality Within Healthcare Education, Benyamin Ebadinia

Theses

Understanding complex three-dimensional systems and spatial relationships is a recurring difficulty in healthcare education, where students are often expected to reason about internal structures and multi-system processes from 2D diagrams, textbook figures, and static mannequins. This thesis presents the design, implementation, and mixed-methods evaluation of Systems Simulation, a reusable mixed reality (MR) application intended to help undergraduate nursing students explore human anatomy and pathophysiology using immersive 3D visualization.

Built in C# with the StereoKit framework for Microsoft HoloLens 2, Systems Simulation organizes nine anatomical body systems within a shared application. Learners can select a system, anchor the model in their …

Campesino World-Building: Stories Of Migration, Memory, And Care In The Tension Of The Colonial Frame, Chelsea Ríos Gómez

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Campesinos, often reduced to the label of “farmworkers”, are too often seen only through the lens of their labor within profit-driven systems. This thesis disrupts that limited narrative by illuminating the rich, expansive nature of vivencias campesinas, ways of being that transcend capitalist measures of value. These vivencias are lived, embodied experiences rooted in campesino lifeways, encompassing cultural, spiritual, and relational practices that nurture and sustain life.

My research is guided by four central questions: (1) In what ways have campesinos in pixley resisted exploitative labor systems, and how can this resistance be understood as a form of care labor? …