Digital Commons Network^™

Quantifying Terrain Controls On Satellite-Based Snow Water Equivalent Estimation: A Spatially Explicit Machine Learning Approach, Brant Giovannetti

Geography and the Environment: Graduate Student Capstones

Terrain variables are widely incorporated into machine learning Snow Water Equivalent (SWE) models but are rarely evaluated for their independent contribution relative to spectral predictors. Using a four-tier stepwise Random Forest framework with Harmonized Landsat Sentinel-2 imagery and Airborne Snow Observatory LiDAR ground truth, this study isolates the contribution of elevation, slope, northness, and eastness across Peak and Ablation snowpack regimes in the East Taylor River Watershed, Colorado. During peak snowpack, adding terrain improved R² by 0.214, with elevation alone accounting for 42.8% of model importance. During ablation, full-dataset terrain gains were modest, increasing R² by only 0.036. However, when …

Some Results In Maximal Pattern Complexity, Casey Schlortt

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

For a finite alphabet 𝒜 and a sequence 𝑥 ∈ 𝒜^ℕ_⊬ , Kamae and Zamboni combined the ideas of block complexity and topological sequence entropy to define the maximal pattern complexity, 𝑝^∗_𝑛 (𝑥). They defined an aperiodic sequence 𝑥 over two letters as pattern Sturmian if it had the lowest possible maximal pattern complexity, 2𝑛. Later, Kamae and Rao extended their definition of pattern Sturmian sequences to be sequences over ℓ ≥ 2 letters which are not periodic by projection and have maximal pattern complexity ℓ𝑛.

This dissertation answers a question posed by Kamae and Zamboni …

Evaluation And Distillation Of Source Code Generation Tasks By Large Language Models, Danny Brahman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Large Language Models (LLMs) are predominantly assessed based on their common sense reasoning, language comprehension, and logical reasoning abilities. While models trained in specialized domains like mathematics or coding have demonstrated remarkable advancements in logical reasoning, there remains a significant gap in evaluating their code generation capabilities. Existing benchmark datasets fall short in pinpointing specific strengths and weaknesses, impeding targeted enhancements in models’ reasoning abilities to synthesize code.

To bridge this gap, this thesis introduces two novel contributions: CodeEval and CodeQual. CodeEval is an innovative, pedagogical benchmarking method that mirrors the evaluation processes encountered in academic programming courses. It comprises …

Re: Comment Letter For The Revised Draft Final Butte Priority Soils Operable Unit (Bpsou) Butte Treatment Lagoon (Btl) System Annual Report – 2025 (Dated May 11, 2026), Emma Rott

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

Medical Image Integrity Protection Through U-Net Based Roi Segmentation And Hybrid Integer Wavelet–Quadtree Embedding, Muna M. Jawad, Rasha F. Nadhim, Noor A. Yousif, Ashwaq T. Hashim

Journal of Intelligent Informatics, Networking, and Cybersecurity

For decades, secure techniques in medical images have focused on securing the sensitive information through limiting direct access to the images themselves. Nonetheless, these methods tend to cause distortion on the images that can affect the diagnostic value and cause loss of crucial information. There arises the fundamental problem of secure embedding of medical data in such a way that does not affect the diagnostic integrity of the image. To overcome this limitation, a secure yet hidden data-hiding mechanism is introduced that is exploited U-Net-based deep learning for accurate Region of Interest (ROI) segmentation. Therefore U-Net architecture is used for …

Structure Functions For The Inclusive Semileptonic B-Quark Decay At Nnlo: A Semi-Analytic Calculation, A. Broggio, B. Capdevila, A. Ferroglia, P. Gambino

Publications and Research

We present a study of the inclusive charmless semileptonic b decay, b → X_uℓv at next-to-next-to-leading order (NNLO) in perturbative QCD, with the primary aim of extracting the hadronic structure functions Wi at NNLO. The analysis is based on a numerical calculation of the relevant kinematic distributions using a phase-space slicing method to handle infrared-sensitive contributions from real gluon emissions. We use known results from Heavy Quark Effective Theory and Soft-Collinear Effective Theory to extract the singular terms and construct a model for the regular contributions to the structure functions at NNLO, then perform a fit to the …

Re: Conditional Approval Letter For The Draft Final Butte Priority Soils Operable Unit (Bpsou) Insufficiently Reclaimed Sites Sister Dump (Bres No. 38) Remedial Action Work Plan (Rawp), Molly Roby

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

Re: Comment Letter For The Butte Priority Soils Operable Unit (Bpsou) 2025 Butte Reclamation Evaluation System (Bres) Site Specific Corrective Action Plans For Quadrant 2, Molly Roby

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

The Case For Ice Rises At Ross Bank Since The Middle Miocene, William Weber

LSU Master's Theses

Many tens of ice rises exist at the marine margins of the Antarctic Ice Sheet. Isle-type ice rises in particular are those where an ice shelf is pinned to an underlying submarine bank. Recent and ongoing studies show that Ross Bank, on the middle continental shelf of central Ross Sea, was the former site of an important Ross Ice Shelf ice rise during the advance and retreat of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) in the last glacial cycle. Ross Bank is a broad and anomalously shallow water platform whose crest rises to 170 m water depth. Despite their importance …

Level Of Nitrogen Fertilizer In Annual Winter Pasture (Oats-Ryegrass) And Summer Pasture (Millet): Effects On Milk Production, C J. Olivo, I L. Barreto, D A. Stiles

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Two experiments were conducted with lactating Holstein cows to study the effects of different levels of nitrogen fertilizer (urea) on annual pasture: experiment 1, oats (Avena byzantina K. Koch) and ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum Lam.); experiment 2, millet (Pennisetum americanum (L.] Leche). Base fertilizer (8-28-18) was applied, and at the five-leaf stage three levels of nitrogen (N) (75, 150, and 225 kg/ha) were applied. The millet pasture followed the oat + ryegrass pasture, with the N treatments being maintained in the same areas. Two ha were planted for each treatment (total, 6 ha). In experiment 1, twelve lactating cows were randomly …

Intake Of Grass Silage By Dairy Cows And Its Potential To Meet Requirements Of Maintenance And Milk Production, J P. Dulphy, C Demarquilly, J P. Andrieu

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The main objective of our research was to measure the :intake and digestibility of grass silages in order to estimate their poten­tial for meeting requirements for maintenance and milk production. Twelve silages were prepared by the following three techniques, which considerably improve the intake compared with those used 10-20 years ago: (1) fine chopping (1-3 cm), (2) add­ing formic acid as an efficient preservative (3.5 I/ton), and (3) covering the roughages with plastic to prevent oxygen from enter­ing the silo. Three other silages were made simultaneously with 3 of the same forages, but without formic acid. All forages were directly …

Effect Of Herbage Mass And Allowance Upon Herbage Intake By Grazing Dairy Cows, J.A C. Meijs

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

An adequate supply of nutrients for grazing animals depends on the intake and nutritive value of herbage. Little information is available on factors affecting herbage intake of grazing cows, particularly for grazing systems that do not involve daily change of animals to a new pasture. Our objectives were to determine the effects of variation in herbage mass ( due to variation in stage of maturity) and of herbage allowance on herbage intake by grazing dairy cows and on efficiency of consumption (herbage con­sumed as a proportion of herbage accumulated). From 1976 to 1979 the herbage intake oflactating cows was determined …

Employing Ac And Dc Electrolysis To Modulate Electroenzymatic Pathways For Efficient And Stereoselective H-D Exchange, Wassim El Housseini, Rokas Gerulskis, Nibedita Behera, Huaijun Guan, Rohit G. Jadhav, Zachary A. Nguyen, Egor Baiarashov, Michael A. Pence, Vamshi Krishna Kamaja, Trevor Larkin, Long Luo, Shelley D. Minteer

Chemistry Faculty Research & Creative Works

Stereoselective hydrogen isotope exchange (HIE) at chiral centers is an increasingly important strategy for preparing labeled molecules, yet its practical implementation depends on reliable control of nicotinamide cofactor regeneration. Here we introduce a redox-programmable electroenzymatic platform for stereoselective HIE based on electrode-controlled manipulation of the nicotinamide cofactor state. A wired ferredoxin–NADP⁺ reductase (FNR) electrode enables reversible electrochemical interconversion of NADP⁺ and its deuterated reduced form (NADPD) directly from D2O. Coupling this cofactor cycling with enantioselective alcohol dehydrogenases (ADHs) establishes a reversible alcohol–ketone redox manifold that drives efficient and stereoselective H-D exchange at chiral alcohols. Stereochemical outcomes are programmed …

Hot Jupiter Atmospheres Through Time, Annabelle E. Niblett

Physics and Astronomy Undergraduate Senior Theses

Transmission spectroscopy of hot Jupiters enables mass and atmospheric composition measurements, providing insight into population dynamics and evolution when other methods are hindered by stellar activity. To effectively plan observations and interpret transmission spectra, we must have a robust understanding of how atmospheres evolve over time. To that end, we present a suite of hot Jupiter transmission spectra models with ages ranging from 3 Myr to 11 Gyr. We incorporate the cooling and contraction of the planet, which impacts the atmospheric profile, and the evolution of the stellar UV spectrum, which moderates photodissociation and photoionization. Using PICASO,  VULCAN, and FastChem …

Tectonics: Supporting Information For Deformation Rates And Patterns Of The Emerging Banda Ranges Revealed By Uplifted Coral Terraces In Timor-Leste, Ron Harris, Nicole Cox, Megan Flexhaug, Dorothy Merritts, Chua-Chou Shen, Frederico Santos

ScholarsArchive Data

The supplementary information provided consist primarily of figures detailing coral terrace profiles and terrace inner margin elevation to MIS highstand correlations.

• a general overview of the kind of data files;
• a general description of processing steps used;
• any known imperfections or anomalies in the data.

Unraveling The Nanoscopic Characteristics Of The Heterogeneous Deep Eutectic Solvent Formed By Lauric Acid And N-Methylacetamide: An Experimental And Computational Approach, Laura X. Sepulveda

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Deep eutectic solvents (DESs) are attractive systems for extraction and separation of compounds. One example of this is the DES formed by the combination of lauric acid (LA) and N-methylacetamide (NMA), system that has been shown to efficiently separate oil/water mixtures through gel formation between LA and oil molecules. Structural characterization of this system using small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and vibrational spectroscopy revealed the existence of nanometer-scale LA domains embedded in a continuous polar NMA phase, where LA and NMA interact through hydrogen bonding. These LA domains are responsible for the separation efficiency of linear organic molecules. However, this DES …

Context-Sensitive Control-Flow Analysis For Non-Standard Language Semantics, Tim Whiting

Theses and Dissertations

Control-Flow Analysis (CFA) is a static technique for understanding the execution of higher-order programs without running the code. CFA aids in identifying bugs, assisting program comprehension, and exposing optimization opportunities. Constructing a CFA typically begins with an idealized evaluator--such as an abstract machine or interpreter--and proceeds by approximating components of evaluation to ensure that: (a) the analysis is sound (representing all possible behaviors), and (b) the analysis is guaranteed to terminate (finitely representable). These constraints necessitate a loss of precision, providing an approximation of the values that flow to program locations rather than exact execution traces. This imprecision causes the …

Uranyl Complex Of 1,3-Bis(Ditertbutylphosphinoxidomethyl)Benzene, Maha M. Alotaibi, Md Abdul Goni, Eric Reinheimer, Tasneem A. Siddiquee

Chemistry Faculty Research

This short note presents a new molecule isolated and characterized from the reaction of uranyl nitrate with the PCP-type pincer ligand 1,3-bis(ditertbutylphosphinomethyl)benzene in the presence of UV light under ambient conditions. The new dinuclear uranyl-PCP complex was characterized by using FT-IR spectroscopy and single-crystal X-ray crystallography. As revealed by the crystal structure, the new complex had oxygen atoms coordinating from the phosphinoxides that were oxidized under ambient conditions. Each uranium atom of this dinuclear complex was found to exhibit pentagonal bipyramidal coordination geometry.

Measurement Discipline For Sustainable Industrial Transition: Frontier Productivity Evidence From Shandong And Jiangsu Manufacturing, 2013-2023, Shaopu Wu, Jianguang Hou, Danlin Yu

Department of Earth and Environmental Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Sustainable industrial transition requires productivity evidence that separates real efficiency improvement from scale expansion, capital deepening, and reporting change. This study develops a reproducible frontier-productivity diagnostic for provincial leading industry policy, using official 2013-2023 sector panels for 23 two-digit manufacturing sectors in Shandong Province and a matched 2019-2023 benchmark against Jiangsu. The framework combines input-oriented Banker-Charnes-Cooper (BCC) data envelopment analysis (DEA), Simar-Wilson bootstrap bias correction, Malmquist total factor productivity change (TFPCH) decomposition, producer price index (PPI) deflation diagnostics, scale-productivity classification, and targeted sensitivity tests. Bootstrap correction lowers mean BCC efficiency from 0.77 to 0.69 in Shandong and from 0.79 to …

Tracing The Seam: Machine Learning Models Of The Open–Closed Boundary From Upstream Solar Wind Drivers, Arnav Singh

Physics and Astronomy Undergraduate Senior Theses

The open–closed magnetic field line boundary (OCB) demarcates closed terrestrial field lines from those threaded into the interplanetary medium, and its latitude encodes the instantaneous balance between dayside and nightside reconnection that governs much of the high-latitude space-weather hazard. No single instrument resolves it globally in real time. In this thesis I close that gap empirically. Pairing nearly three decades (1983–2012) of Defense Meteorological Satellite Program particle-precipitation boundaries with the 5-minute OMNI solar-wind and geomagnetic-index record yields ∼9.1×10⁵ causally matched crossings, partitioned into six hemispheric/MLT sectors after a |MLat| ≥ 40° physics cut.

On this corpus I train three …

Assessing Indoor Heat Vulnerability And Cooling Strategies In Three Mobile Home Communities In Boulder, Colorado, Usa, Mehdi P. Heris, Skye Niles, Alana Wilson, Megan Mccurdy, Amy Lacourse, Nick Lankau

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Extreme heat is an increasing public health and environmental threat shaped by both physical and social factors. This study assesses the vulnerability of mobile homes and their residents at three mobile home parks in Boulder, Colorado. We examined indoor temperature, housing conditions, and social and personal risk factors of the households. We monitored indoor and outdoor temperatures using 27 indoor and 5 outdoor temperature data loggers, comparing mobile homes with air conditioning, swamp coolers, and passive cooling designs. This work provides a detailed analysis of indoor temperature patterns and demonstrates how evaluating trends yields insights into the performance and effectiveness …

Late Pleistocene-Holocene Environmental Change From May Pond Sediment Cores And Upland 10be Ages, Adrianna Drindak

Earth Sciences Undergraduate Senior Theses

The goal of this project is to reconstruct the deglaciation and post-glacial environmental conditions of northern Vermont that occurred during the transition from the Pleistocene to the Holocene, ~15,000 to 11,000 years ago. This transition marks a major climatic shift, from a glacial period to an interglacial period, and regionally involved the retreat of the Laurentide Ice Sheet (LIS). The retreat of the LIS influenced the surficial geology of North America, exposing the Earth’s surface, leaving glacial deposits, and carving out proglacial lakes. The timing of ice retreat in the region provides information about past climate conditions, which may inform …

Constraints On Crystallization Conditions From Pseudosection Thermobarometry Of The New World Mining District Porphyries Near Cooke City, Montana, Jacob Jared Gordon

Earth Sciences Undergraduate Senior Theses

The New World Mining District (NWMD), located two miles northeast of Cooke City, Montana, is host to a series of epithermal sills, dikes, and plutons, the intrusion of which is responsible for significant Au-Ag-Cu mineralization. These intrusive bodies were emplaced in the Eocene, potentially contemporaneously with the Heart Mountain Detachment - Earth’s largest subaerial landslide, and have been proposed as a potential trigger for the event. The pre-emplacement crys- tallization conditions for the porphyritic dikes in the region, however, remain unknown and have previously been limited to surface observations. Constraining the magmatic conditions of the in- trusives in the region …

Structure And Spectroscopy Of Free Base, Copper, And Zinc Tetrapentylporphyrin, Christopher J. Ziegler, Nneka Damola Ajayi, Victor N. Nemkyin, G Richard Geier Iii

University Research

Synthetic porphyrins have been crucial as models for heme units and other biological porphyrins, as well as components of advanced materials and catalysts. Much of the work on synthetic porphyrins has focused on the meso-substituted 5,10,15,20-tetraphenylporphyrin (TPP) or the pyrrole-substituted 2,3,7,8,12,13,17,18-octaethylporphyrin (OEP). In this report, we present a comprehensive spectroscopic, electrochemical, and computational study of free-base, zinc(II), and copper(II) 5,10,15,20-tetrapentylporphyrin (TPeP). TPeP can be prepared via a two-step, one-flask reaction of pyrrole and hexanal mediated by Montmorillonite K10, followed by oxidation with 2,3-dichloro-5,6-dicyano-1,4-benzoquinone (DDQ) in yields of around 40%. Similar to TPP, the TPeP systems have the highest occupied molecular …

Structure And Spectroscopy Of Free Base, Copper, And Zinc Tetrapentylporphyrin, Christopher J. Ziegler, Nneka Damola Ajayi, Victor N. Nemkyin, G Richard Geier Iii

University Research

Synthetic porphyrins have been crucial as models for heme units and other biological porphyrins, as well as components of advanced materials and catalysts. Much of the work on synthetic porphyrins has focused on the meso-substituted 5,10,15,20-tetraphenylporphyrin (TPP) or the pyrrole-substituted 2,3,7,8,12,13,17,18-octaethylporphyrin (OEP). In this report, we present a comprehensive spectroscopic, electrochemical, and computational study of free-base, zinc(II), and copper(II) 5,10,15,20-tetrapentylporphyrin (TPeP). TPeP can be prepared via a two-step, one-flask reaction of pyrrole and hexanal mediated by Montmorillonite K10, followed by oxidation with 2,3-dichloro-5,6-dicyano-1,4-benzoquinone (DDQ) in yields of around 40%. Similar to TPP, the TPeP systems have the highest occupied molecular …

New Results On Three-Sided Skyline Range Counting And Reporting, Suruchi Kushwaha, Yakov Nekrich

Michigan Tech Publications

In the orthogonal skyline range counting (resp. reporting) problem we store the set of points P in a data structure so that for any query range Q the number of points (resp. the list of all points) on the skyline of Q∩P can be found efficiently. In this paper we study two-dimensional range counting and reporting problems in the case when the query range is bounded on three sides. We describe a linear-space data structure that answers top-open three-sided skyline counting queries in O(log log N) time, where N is the number of points stored in the data structure. We …

Describing Hidden Curriculum In An Undergraduate Computing Context, Joseph R. Teahen, Briana C. Bettin, Leo Ureel

Michigan Tech Publications

Hidden Curriculum (HC) is the set of essential knowledge, skills, and norms students are expected to know, but never explicitly taught. HC is disproportionately experienced across identities and communities. In computing education, most research addresses immediately identifiable HC within the researcher's context. While such work is important, without proper HC descriptive studies, we could miss more subtle HC that affects student success. This work presents results from interviews with undergraduate computing faculty, students, and peer mentors on their HC experiences. The results demonstrate several categories of HC including development tools, professional skills, institutional navigation, social well-being, and physical well-being. These …

Interview With Orca Winner Xiao Cheng Zeng; Unl Chemistry; Computational/Theoretical; Nebraska Ice & Gold Nanocages, Mark Griep, Xiao Cheng Zeng

UNL ORCA Interview Series

Xiao Cheng Zeng became a chemistry professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1993, quickly rose through the ranks, and was in the department for 29 years. In 2022, he left to become head of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the City University of Hong Kong. Xiao was born in Beijing and earned a bachelor’s in physics at the University of Beijing in 1984. Next, he traveled 6800 miles east to Ohio State University in Columbus where he earned his doctorate in condensed matter physics. He followed that up with two postdoctoral experiences, first at the University …

Quantitatively Hyper-Positive Real Rational Functions Iii, Daniel Alpay, Izchak Lewkowicz

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

Hyper-Positive Real, matrix-valued, rational functions are associated with absolute stability (the Lurie problem). Here, quantitative subsets of Hyper-positive functions, related through nested inclusions, are introduced. Structurally, this family of functions turns out to be matrix-convex and closed under inversion. A state-space characterization of these functions through a corresponding Kalman-Yakubovich-Popov Lemma, is given. Technically, the classical Linear Matrix Inclusions, associated with passive systems, are here substituted by Quadratic Matrix Inclusions.

A Protestant Response To The Pope’S Magnifica Humanitas On Ai, Derek Schuurman

University Faculty Publications and Creative Works

Pope Leo XIV released his first papal encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, on May 25, a roughly 42,000-word document outlining a Catholic response to recent developments in AI. I had been eagerly anticipating this encyclical and spent much of the release day poring over the text. While there have been other Christian efforts to release statements about AI, this is the first comprehensive statement from the Catholic Church. What follows is a summary of the document, followed by my own response.