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Implementing Unmanned Aerial Vehicles To Collect Human Gait Data At Distance And Altitude For Identification And Re-Identification, Donn E. Bartram

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Gait patterns are a class of biometric information pertaining to the way a person moves and poses. Gait information is unique to each person and can be used to identify and reidentify people. Historically, this task has been achieved through the use of multiple ground-based imaging sensors. However, as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) advance, they present the opportunity to evolve the process of persons identification and re-identification. Collecting human gait data using UAVs at distances ranging from 20m to 500m and altitudes ranging from 0m to 120m is a challenging task. The current biometric data collection methods, primarily designed for …

Epr Study Of Irradiated Starch: Induced Radicals And Dose Assessment, Elsayed Salama, Ahmed M. Maghraby, Samy A. Anwer, M. El-Sayed

Basic Science Engineering

Irradiation of starch is of much importance to get rid of microbes and for disinfection. EPR study of the ionizing radiation-induced radicals can lead to the assessment of radiation doses delivered during irradiation. The EPR spectra properties, microwave power saturation behavior, short- and long-term temporal dependencies, and other significant factors are studied. Response of EPR spectra of irradiated starch over the range (0.5–10 kGy) was investigated. The time dependence study of the radiation-induced signal radicals of starch showed that variation of the EPR signal can be noticed within ±7.7% relative to the average value over 38 days following irradiation. Results …

Density Functional Studies Of Molecular Separation And Charge Transport, Timothy Quainoo

Wayne State University Dissertations

This thesis presents a series of studies which can be grouped majorly into two sections both focusing on the utilization of density functional theory techniques; Molecular electronics and Molecular separation. Molecular electronics has been anticipated to hold a great future as it seeks to apply molecular building blocks in the creation of electronic components. On the other hand, the utilization of mild conditions in chemical processes is geared toward the major goals of green chemistry as it produces less waste and is cost-effective. Thus, this dissertation tackles and answers some of the unanswered questions in literature by using theoretical methods …

Design And Synthesis Of Aminoglycoside-Based Heparan Sulfate Mimetics For Structure-Activity Relationship Studies Of Heparan-Binding Proteins, Joseph Wakpal

Wayne State University Dissertations

Cancer remains a formidable challenge in modern medicine, demanding innovative approaches and treatments. Among the emerging strategies, inhibiting heparanase and fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF2) has garnered considerable attention in recent years. This dissertation presents a novel approach to designing and synthesizing a diverse library of heparan sulfate (HS) mimetics derived from aminoglycosides to study their binding to two heparin-binding proteins involved in cancer development and metastasis. Heparanase cleaves HS polysaccharide chains in the extracellular matrix (ECM) and is a regulator of aggressive tumor behavior. Clinical studies have illustrated that aberrant heparanase expression correlates with increased tumor size, amplified tumor …

Living Datasets: Towards Data-Centric Ai Explainability And Bias Mitigation, Akib Zaman

Computer Science and Engineering Dissertations - Archive

Benchmark datasets are critical to the evolution of AI efforts yet often embed unintended biases that influence the models that drive human-AI interactions. A deeper inspection and awareness of data is needed to understand the biases datasets may contain. In this dissertation, I introduce the Tag-and-Release method, inspired from wildlife research, that treats data as an organism and examines how different environments (i.e., CNNs) select for unique traits or characteristics that ultimately impact data's survival. Using the canonical MNIST handwritten digit dataset as a case study, I describe how the Tag-and-Release method can be used to analyze how dataset imbalance …

Multimodel Approach To A Support Stock Assessment Of Standardized Catch And Effort Data: A Case Study Of Blue Shark (Prionace Glauca) In The Indian Ocean By The Taiwanese Large-Scale Longline Fishery, Chun-Yi Hung, Hoang Huy Huynh, Xing-Han Wu, Wen-Pei Tsai

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

In the context of stock assessment and fishery conservation, determining catch per unit effort (CPUE) accurately and reliably is essential. This study estimated trends in the relative abundance of blue sharks (Prionace glauca) in the Indian Ocean from 2005 to 2022. Blue sharks constitute a resilient bycatch species in pelagic tuna and swordfish longline fisheries. We employed a multimodel approach that included delta-lognormal, zero-inflated negative binomial, and vector autoregressive spatiotemporal (VAST) models to standardize catch rates recorded by observers in the Taiwanese large-scale longline fishery. Our analysis concentrated on the CPUE of blue sharks, including standardizing the number of fish …

Evaluating The Impacts Of Microplastics On The Soil Biochemical Environment And Cherry Tomato (Solanum Lycopersicum) Productivity, Kenny Famakinwa

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Microplastics are a global contaminant with serious consequences for ecosystems and human health, yet their effects on terrestrial soil and plants are poorly understood. We conducted the systematic research to reveal the impact of polyethylene microplastics (PE MPs), polypropylene (PP) MPs and Mixture of PE + PP, size (0.1 – 1 vs 2 – 3.5 mm), concentration (1% vs 5%) on soil biochemical and physiochemical of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L) health. The results showed that the addition of MPs resulted in elevated soil pH, particularly at 5% concentration and size 2 – 3.5mm. There was a remarkable 30.6 – 47% …

Probable Extirpation Of The Jackrabbit (Lepus Californicus) From Arkansas, D.B. Sasse

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

The black-tailed jackrabbit (Lepus californicus) was first documented in Arkansas during the modern era in Franklin County in 1927. Over the next few decades records were reported from multiple counties in northwest Arkansas and the species was locally common in Benton, Crawford, and Washington counties in the 1950s. The last Arkansas record documented in the scientific literature was from 1968 and since then there have only been three credible reports, with the last being from the late 1980s. The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission solicited reports of jackrabbits from the public and failed to find evidence of them from a …

History And Distribution Of The Wood Stork (Mycteria Americana) In Arkansas, R. Tumlison, L. Serviss

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

Wood Storks (Mycteria americana) were thought to be common visitors to Arkansas in the early 1900s, but observations declined mid-century. Surveys of citizen science data and other online sources indicate that numbers of unique observations and total counts of birds have increased since 2000. Storks do not breed here, but have been reported in 34 of 75 counties, and appear mostly in August and September. Birds apparently originate from Mexico. Number of observations have increased since 2016, but many of those observations include only a few birds rather than larger flocks.

An Annotated Checklist Of The Camel Crickets (Insecta: Orthoptera: Rhaphidophoridae) Of Arkansas, H.W. Robison, C.T. Mcallister

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

A total of 14 native species of camel crickets and one introduced taxon representing three genera (Ceuthophilus, Phrixocnemis, and Diestrammena) of the orthopteran family Rhaphidophoridae, are herein reported from Arkansas. The most diverse genus was Ceuthophilus, with 13 native species, while Phrixocnemis had one native species, and Diestrammena, formerly Tachycines, was represented by one introduced species. This updated checklist is intended to be of use to entomologists, naturalists, professional biologists, and resource managers in evaluating the biodiversity of Arkansas. State distributional maps are provided for each species listed by county, and habitats are discussed in which each species was taken …

Fish Leeches Of Arkansas, D.J. Richardson, W.E. Moser, C.T. Mcallister, S.P. Lawson, H.W. Robison

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

Recent collection within Arkansas greatly enlarges the knowledge concerning hosts and distributions of fish leeches within the state. The natural history of the 6 species of fish leeches known from Arkansas (Placobdella montifera, Placobdella pediculata, Cystobranchus klemmi, Cystobranchus verrilli, Myzobdella lugubris, and Myzobdella reducta) is reviewed and updated and molecular data are provided.

Perennializing Marginal Croplands: Going Back To The Future To Mitigate Climate Change With Resilient Biobased Feedstocks, Salvador Ramirez Ii, Marty R. Schmer, Virginia L. Jin, Robert B. Mitchell, Catherine E. Stewart, Jay Parsons, Daren D. Redfearn, John J. Quinn, Gary E. Varvel, Kenneth P. Vogel, Ronald F. Follett

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

Managing annual row crops on marginally productive croplands can be environmentally unsustainable and result in variable economic returns. Incorporating perennial bioenergy feedstocks into marginally productive cropland can engender ecosystem services and enhance climate resiliency while also diversifying farm incomes. We use one of the oldest bioenergy-specific field experiments in North America to evaluate economically and environmentally sustainable management practices for growing perennial grasses on marginal cropland. This long-term field trial called 9804 was established in 1998 in eastern Nebraska and compared the productivity and sustainability of corn (Zea mays L.)—both corn grain and corn stover—and switchgrass (Panicum virgatum …

Program And Proceedings: Nebraska Academy Of Sciences 1880–2024, 144th Anniversary Year, One Hundred-Thirty-Fourth Annual Meeting

Nebraska Academy of Sciences: Programs and Proceedings

Program

Aeronautics and Space Science

Aeronautics and Space Science Poster Session

Anthropology: Humans Past and Present

Maiben Lecture: "Platte Basin Timelapse: A Watershed in Motion," Grant Reiner

Applied Science and Technology

Biological Sciences

Biomedical Sciences

Chemistry

Earh Sciences

Environmental Sciences

Physics

Science Education

A Prototype Of A Conversational Virtual University Support Agent Powered By A Large Language Model That Addresses Inquiries About Policies In The Student Handbook, Joseph Benjamin R. Ilagan, Jose Ramon Ilagan

Quantitative Methods and Information Technology Faculty Publications

Universities gain a competitive advantage by deliberately improving overall service, student, faculty, and staff experience, leading to attractiveness, retention, and improved outcomes. Quality services are achieved partly by addressing employee satisfaction, specifically in the work environment. This paper presents a prototype study of a virtual university support agent, a system grounded in a Large Language Model (LLM) engineered to address inquiries from university students, faculty and staff related to the student handbook. The study investigates the integration of generative artificial intelligence and natural conversation properties inherent in LLMs to overcome customer service shortcomings identified in previous chatbot applications. The LLMs' …

Testing Informativeness Of Covariate-Induced Group Sizes In Clustered Data, Hasika K. Wickrama Senevirathne, Sandipan Duttta

Mathematics & Statistics Faculty Publications

Clustered data are a special type of correlated data where units within a cluster are correlated while units between different clusters are independent. The number of units in a cluster can be associated with that cluster’s outcome. This is called the informative cluster size (ICS), which is known to impact clustered data inference. However, when comparing the outcomes from multiple groups of units in clustered data, investigating ICS may not be enough. This is because the number of units belonging to a particular group in a cluster can be associated with the outcome from that group in that cluster, leading …

Assessing Interatomic Potentials For Molecular Dynamics Simulation Of Soybean Oil Pyrolysis, Tanner Garrett Rust

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

The world today relies on hydrocarbon combustion for many reasons, including its high energy density that provides ease of transportation. However, hydrocarbons sourced from fossil fuels are not expected to last forever. Biodiesel, a renewable alternative, has many attractive benefits but comes with other downsides. Biodiesel can gel in cold environments and may leave residue in an engine. Pyrolysis of biodiesel has shown promise in addressing these common detriments. Inducing pyrolysis on biodiesel feedstock (commonly soybean oil in the USA) would be an attractive option presuming it continues to produce fossil fuel analogs similar to biodiesel pyrolysis. Herein, Langevin molecular …

Water Quality Of A Karstic Shallow Aquifer In Greene And Lawrence Counties, Missouri, Claudia Patricia Colmenero Chacon

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

A water quality investigation in the Springfield Plateau aquifer of Greene and Lawrence counties, Missouri, was conducted. Water samples from eleven springs were collected at regular intervals during 2023 to determine major water quality parameters: total dissolved solids (TDS), alkalinity, calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), sodium (Na), sulfate (SO₄), chloride (Cl) and nitrate-nitrogen (NO₃-N), along with per- and poly-fluorinated alkali substances (PFAS) from spring sediments. Nitrate-nitrogen was analyzed because of the importance for environmental health (e.g. to avoid eutrophication). Springs samples were separated by land use into urban and rural samples. In addition, Springfield Plateau water quality …

33. Chatgpt Assistance In Creating Chemistry Practice Problems: Pitfalls, Positives, And Possibilities, Michael A. Christiansen

Teaching and Generative AI: Pedagogical Possibilities and Productive Tensions

ChatGPT, a relatively new Large Language Model (LLM) artificial intelligence (Al) chatbot, has gained significant attention as the most downloaded software app, accruing over 100 million users within two months of its release. This software can generate quick, articulate responses to virtually any textual query. Many educators are concerned about its potential for enabling student cheating. However, it currently suffers significant limitations in solving chemistry problems-documented through peer-reviewed articles and from the author's experience suggesting that chemistry students will perform far better, on average, by studying than by relying on ChatGPT. This is particularly true of math-centric problems, which the …

A Method Of Measuring Hot Charge Carrier Drift Mobility In Germanium Detectors, Kyler Kooi

Dissertations and Theses

High purity germanium is a popular radiation detecting medium due to the excellent energy resolution that is achieved. The unique semiconducting properties of germanium allow a small amount of energy to create free charges in the germanium, which are then collected as a signal. Germanium detectors also have good spatial resolution. The shape of the signal can be used to identify the location of energy deposition in the crystal. Both of these properties make germanium detectors a popular choice in many felds, including security, medical, astrophysics, and particle physics. The properties of a germanium crystal should be well understood and …

Regional And Landscape Scale Examination And Attribution Of Vegetation Changes To Social-Environmental System Drivers In Kazakhstan, Venkatesh Kolluru

Dissertations and Theses

Kazakhstan (KZ) experienced widespread changes in ecosystem structure and function. The country is a climate and land cover/use change “hotspot” owing to political reforms, intensified grazing, and extreme climatic events. Despite their importance, there is a lack of consensus about vegetation changes, trends, and drivers in KZ. Addressing this knowledge gap is crucial for effectively managing and restoring grassland ecosystems. However, a pressing challenge is discerning anthropogenic-driven vegetation changes from climate variability and decomposing the responses to the complex human-environmental forcings. Motivated by these challenges, I employed statistical and machine learning algorithms to detect and attribute vegetation changes to social-environmental …

Development Of A Modular Lab Automation System With Applications To Animal And Bacteria Cell Culture, Timothy William Hartman

Dissertations and Theses

The challenges faced while executing wet lab protocols encourage the development of automation systems to come alongside human scientists. Today’s cutting-edge experiments involve complex protocols with precise measurements usually performed manually. Even simpler biological protocols can be tedious and prone to error, as was seen during the COVID-19 pandemic and society’s demand for high-volume, rapid sample analysis. Moreover, reproducibility suffers when there is excessive variability and insufficient data. Here, we leveraged the Stanford Biodesign process to develop a modular lab automation system and image analysis workflow to address challenges like these. This flagship automation platform at The University of South …

Crowdsourcing Geospatial Data For Earth And Human Observations: A Review, Xiao Huang, Siqin Wang, Di Yang, Tao Hu, Meixu Chen, Mengxi Zhang, Guiming Zhang, Filip Biljecki, Tianjun Lu, Lei Zou, Connor Y. H. Wu, Yoo Min Park, Xiao Li, Yunzhe Liu, Hongchao Fan, Jessica Mitchell, Zhenlong Li, Alexander Hohl

Earth and Environmental Sciences Faculty Publications

The transformation from authoritative to user-generated data landscapes has garnered considerable attention, notably with the proliferation of crowdsourced geospatial data. Facilitated by advancements in digital technology and high-speed communication, this paradigm shift has democratized data collection, obliterating traditional barriers between data producers and users. While previous literature has compartmentalized this subject into distinct platforms and application domains, this review offers a holistic examination of crowdsourced geospatial data. Employing a narrative review approach due to the interdisciplinary nature of the topic, we investigate both human and Earth observations through crowdsourced initiatives. This review categorizes the diverse applications of these data and …

Landscape-Scale Epidemiological Dynamics Of Sars-Cov-2 In White-Tailed Deer, Joshua Hewitt, Grete Wilson-Henjum, Derek T. Collins, Timothy J. Linder, Julianna B. Lenoch, Jonathan D. Heale, Christopher A. Quintanal, Robert Pleszewski, Dillon S. Mcbride, Andrew S. Bowman, Jeffrey C. Chandler, Susan A. Shriner, Sarah N. Bevins, Dennis J. Kohler, Richard B. Chipman, Allen L. Gosser, David L. Bergman, Thomas J. Deliberto, Kim M. Pepin

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Understanding pathogen emergence in new host species is fundamental for developing prevention and response plans for human and animal health. We leveraged a large-scale surveillance dataset coordinated by United States Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service and State Natural Resources Agencies to quantify the outbreak dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 in North American white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus; WTD) throughout its range in the United States. Local epidemics in WTD were well approximated by a single-outbreak peak followed by fade out. Outbreaks peaked early in the northeast and mid- Atlantic. Local effective reproduction ratios of SARS-CoV-2 were between …

What Is Known, Unknown, And Needed To Be Known About Damage Caused By Wild Pigs, Kurt C. Vercauteren, Kim M. Pepin, Seth M. Cook, Sophie Mckee, Abigail Pagels, Keely J. Kohen, Ingrid A. Messner, Michael P. Glow, Nathan P. Snow

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Damage assessments provide evidence for initiating and evaluating management programs that protect natural resources and human livelihoods against invasive species. Wild pigs (Sus scrofa) cause extensive damage in their native and non-native ranges, but the extent of current damage and efficacy of management of the damage (i.e., population control of wild pigs, exclusion fencing, etc.) remains poorly described. We conducted a systematic review of physical damage caused by wild pigs to summarize what is known and identify knowledge gaps for damage assessment. Wild pig damage assessments have been overwhelmingly qualitative (84% of studies) and measured differently across studies, …

Tracking Sero-Molecular Trends Of Swine Brucellosis In Hawai'i And The Central Pacific, Thi Hai Au La, Ian A. Mcmillan, Prashant Dahal, Andrew H. Burger, Mahdi Belcaid, Darrin M. Phelps, Samuel M. Goldstein, Vienna R. Brown, Michael H. Norris

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Introduction

Brucellosis is a zoonotic disease of mammals caused by bacterial species of the Brucella genus. The reservoir for disease is typically mammals, with species of Brucella found infecting amphibians, bats, and marine mammals. Brucella spp. can pass directly to humans through contact with infected animals or their products. Brucella spp. can cause chronic debilitating infections in mammals, including humans, and is associated with spontaneous abortions in infected animals, causing reduced fecundity. In Hawai‘i, terrestrial species that could harbor Brucella spp. include swine, cattle, horses, and axis deer among others. The numerous feral swine in Hawai‘i are known to carry …

Impossibility Of Artificial Inventors, Matt Blaszczyk

Fellow, Adjunct, Lecturer, and Research Scholar Works

Recently, the United Kingdom Supreme Court decided that only natural persons can be considered inventors. A year before, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued a similar decision. In fact, so have many the courts all over the world. This Article analyses these decisions, argues that the courts got it right, and finds that artificial inventorship is at odds with patent law doctrine, theory, and philosophy. The Article challenges the intellectual property (IP) post-humanists, exposing the analytical and normative perils of their argumentation, and recommends against getting rid of the nominally central place of humans in …

Fr1: Comics, Cyborgs, And “In Between” Identities, Ella Lehavi

Scripps Senior Theses

As a queer Jew who grew up surrounded by immigrant cultures and communities, I find myself in a liminal space between my identities and the dominant culture of my country– one where my perspective on gender and my cultural experiences aren’t fully understood by the world I exist in. Comics and cartoons are an explorational platform for concepts of reality and identity; they are one of very few spaces where I see my identities explored with so much depth and care.

Cartoons and comics exist in between realistic depictions and abstraction. This makes them a great place to express all …

Adaptive Multi-Label Classification On Drifting Data Streams, Martha Roseberry

Theses and Dissertations

Drifting data streams and multi-label data are both challenging problems. When multi-label data arrives as a stream, the challenges of both problems must be addressed along with additional challenges unique to the combined problem. Algorithms must be fast and flexible, able to match both the speed and evolving nature of the stream. We propose four methods for learning from multi-label drifting data streams. First, a multi-label k Nearest Neighbors with Self Adjusting Memory (ML-SAM-kNN) exploits short- and long-term memories to predict the current and evolving states of the data stream. Second, a punitive k nearest neighbors algorithm with a self-adjusting …

The North American Trumpeter Swan Survey: Retain Or Find Something New?, Mark P. Vrtiska, J. A. Dubovsky, M. G. Anderson

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Exploring Recruitment, Retention, And License Purchase Probability Of Waterfowl Hunters Using A Mark-Recapture Approach, K. A. Graham, Mark P. Vrtiska, D. H. Humburg, Larkin A. Powell, A. H. Raedeke, P. K. Devers, Christopher J. Chizinski

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.