Digital Commons Network^™

The Changing Urban Forest In Gallup, New Mexico: Contextualizing Urban Tree Programs And Planning Processes, Joseph A. Scala

Geography ETDs

Tree plantings are often proposed as a solution to a variety of urban problems. The purpose of this project is to investigate the historical formation of urban tree cover in Gallup, New Mexico, and the extent to which urban tree plantings can benefit areas with inequitable urban tree distribution. To do this, I employ a mixed methods approach that includes correlation analysis, historical analysis, and analysis of urban tree canopy change from 1972-2005. The findings from this study indicate that Gallup’s history of tree plantings is heavily influenced by its history of economic development. Additionally, the findings demonstrate that if …

Changes In Nonlinearity And Stability Of Streamflow Recession Characteristics Under Climate Warming In A Large Glaciated Basin Of The Tibetan Plateau, Jiarong Wang, Xi Chen, Man Gao, Qi Hu, Jintao Liu

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

The accelerated climate warming in the Tibetan Plateau after 1997 has profound consequences in hydrology, geography, and social wellbeing. In hydrology, the change in streamflow as a result of changes in dynamic water storage that originated from glacier melt and permafrost thawing in the warming climate directly affects the available water resources for societies of the most populated nations in the world. In this study, annual streamflow recession characteristics are analyzed using daily climate and hydrological data during 1980–2015 in the Yarlung Zangbo River basin (YRB) of the southern Tibetan Plateau. The recession characteristics are examined in terms of dQ=dt …

Application In Medicine: Has Artificial Intelligence Stood The Test Of Time, Mir Ibrahim Sajid, Shaheer Ahmed, Usama Waqar, Javeria Tariq, Mohsin Chundrigar, Samira Shabbir Balouch, Sajid Abaidullah

Medical College Documents

Artificial intelligence (AI) has proven time and time again to be a game-changer innovation in every walk of life, including medicine. Introduced by Dr. Gunn in 1976 to accurately diagnose acute abdominal pain and list potential differentials, AI has since come a long way. In particular, AI has been aiding in radiological diagnoses with good sensitivity and specificity by using machine learning algorithms. With the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, AI has proven to be more than just a tool to facilitate healthcare workers in decision making and limiting physician-patient contact during the pandemic. It has guided governments and key policymakers …

Landscape Planning Model Design And Layout Of Loess Hills In Coal Mining Area Of Northern Shaanxi：A Study Of The Subsidence Area Of Ningtiaota Coal Mine, Shang Jianxuan, Gao Yakun, Yang Fan, Bi Yinli, Quan Wenzhi, Ma Shaopeng, Zhang Yanxu

Coal Geology & Exploration

The coal mining area of northern Shaanxi is an important coal base of China, and the large amount of coal mining will cause surface subsidence and landscape disturbance. Taking the subsidence area of Ningtiaota Mine in northern Shaanxi as an example, this paper comprehensively analyzes the landscape problems in loess hilly landform through the combination of indoor statistical analysis, field investigation, qualitative-quantitative methods. The landscape pattern planning, design and layout are carried out, which provides reference for the landscape planning of underground mine area in this landform types. It is found that there are four problems in the above ground …

Evaluation Of Resources And Environment Carrying Capacity Of Xilinhot Mining Area Based On Multi-Source Data, Sun Jundong, Song Renzhong, Li Feiyue, She Changchao, Guo Tianyu, Li Jun, Zhang Chengye

Coal Geology & Exploration

The mining and depletion of coal resources have a certain degree of impact on the environment and population of the coal mining area. Confronted with the resources and environment problems, China strongly advocates the construction of green mines, requiring that mine exploitation must be within resources and environment carrying capacity. With the support of multi-source data (Landsat 8, GF-2, etc.) and socio-economic statistics data, Analytic Hierarchy Process was used to construct an index system for evaluating resources and environment carrying capacity of the mining area in Xilinhot, Inner Mongolia from two aspects of the carrying background and the carrying statu. …

Analysis Of Urbanization And Climate Change Effects On Community Resilience In The Rio Grande Valley, South Texas, George Atisa, Alexis Racelis

School of Earth, Environmental, & Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

Disruptive development events have tested and will continue to test community resilience as people work to balance healthy living, economic growth, and environmental quality. Aspects of urbanization, if not designed and guided by healthy living strategies, convert natural areas into built environments, thus reducing the diversity of plant and animal species that are the foundation of resilience in communities. In this study, we attempted to answer the following question: What are the most effective ways to ensure that ongoing urbanization and climate change do not negatively affect ecological services and community resilience in the Rio Grande Valley (RGV)? The region …

Mathematics Textbook: Motivation, Experiences, And Didactical Aspect From Authors’ Perspectives, Deepak Basyal, Bhesh Raj Mainali

Mathematics and Statistics

Textbooks play a vital role in the Nepali education system since they are one of the main resources for teaching and learning mathematics. Because of poor physical infrastructure and inadequate educational resources, both teachers and students heavily rely on textbooks. In this regard, this study investigated the mathematics textbook authors' experiences and motivation, and what types of didactical knowledge were utilised while writing textbooks. A convenient yet purposeful sampling method was utilised to select four participants. The data analysis unveiled that each textbook author had different types of motivation and experiences, and only one participant was aware of the ideas …

Hybrid Conferences: Opportunities, Challenges And Ways Forward, Eleonora Puccinelli, Daniela Zeppilli, Paris V. Stefanoudis, Annaig Wittische-Helou, Marjorie Kermorgant, Sandra Fuchs, Lenaick Menot, Erin E. Easton, Alexandra A-T. Weber

School of Earth, Environmental, & Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

Hybrid conferences are in-person events that have an online component. This type of meeting format was rare before the COVID-19 pandemic, but started to become more common recently given the asynchronous global progression of the pandemic, the uneven access to vaccines and different travel regulations among countries that led to a large proportion of participants being unable to attend conferences in person. Here we report the organization of a middle-sized (581 participants: 159 onsite, 422 online) international hybrid conference that took place in France in September 2021. We highlight particular organizational challenges inherent to this relatively new type of meeting …

Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi Colonization Response To Dike Removal In The Salmon River Estuary, Elinore Webb

Dissertations and Theses

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) form symbiotic relationships with wetland plants and are important to the restoration of coastal estuaries. The purpose of this study was to assess the presence and colonization of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in Distichlis spicata from three formerly diked areas of the Salmon River Estuary to determine an initial understanding of the mycorrhizal community in tidal wetlands post-restoration. AMF were present in all four sample areas and total colonization ranged on average 39-72%. The reference site had the lowest levels of total colonization, which is contrary to the findings of studies of younger wetland restorations. Most importantly, …

Spatio-Temporal Models Of Infectious Disease With High Rates Of Asymptomatic Transmission, Aminur Rahman, Angela Peace, Ramesh Kesawan, Souparno Ghosh

Department of Statistics: Faculty Publications

The surprisingly mercurial Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the need to not only accelerate research on infectious disease, but to also study them using novel techniques and perspectives. A major contributor to the dificulty of containing the current pandemic is due to the highly asymptomatic nature of the disease. In this investigation, we develop a modeling framework to study the spatio-temporal evolution of diseases with high rates of asymptomatic transmission, and we apply this framework to a hypothetical country with mathematically tractable geography; namely, square counties uniformly organized into a rectangle. We first derive a model for the temporal dynamics of …

Nashville-Basin Tornadoes: Using Storm Types To Elucidate The Local Climatology And Forecasting Challenges, Morgan Steckler, Kelsey Ellis

Pursuit - The Journal of Undergraduate Research at The University of Tennessee

Early 3 March 2020 was a devastating night for many middle Tennessee residents. A strong EF-3 tornado tore through Nashville at 65 mph, and another EF-4 killed 18 in Baxter and Cookeville alone. Residents of the Southeastern United States are particularly vulnerable to tornadoes. This study aims to better understand local forecasting challenges by looking at the types of storms that produce tornadoes. Storm types, also known as convective modes, divide tornado-producing storms into categories by length, shape, multiplicity, and intensity. Distinguishing storms by these modes allows for a broader understanding of their occurrences and impacts. This study specifically evaluates …

Functional Morphology And Taphonomy Of Ordovician–Silurian Diploporan Echinoderms, Stephen Ashley Hill

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Diploporan echinoderms were one of the most speciose groups of stemmed echinoderms during the Ordovician. Despite this widespread abundance, the fossil record of diploporan fauna consists primarily of incomplete specimens, with complete specimens being rare. While the theca, or body, is more commonly preserved, the feeding appendages and the attachment structures (i.e. stems or holdfasts) are seldomly preserved. Insight into these features is highly valuable to the understanding the paleoecology, like the feeding and respiratory strategies, of these enigmatic creatures.

One group of diploporan echinoderms which does have an extensive fossil record, is the Holocystites Fauna, primarily known from the …

Inland Tropical Cyclone Intensity Decay In The Continental United States, Yijie Zhu

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Tropical cyclone (TC) hazard preparation is mostly focused on coastal cities with less attention typically paid to inland regions. The impact of TCs that propagate far inland is often underestimated and can cause unexpected loss of life and economic loss. This dissertation aims to understand the decay process of TCs during the post-landfall stage by answering three main research questions: (1) What are the general patterns of inland tropical cyclones, including spatial variations, decay rates, and translation speeds? (2) Are there temporal changes in the intensity decay from inland moving hurricanes? (3) How is the hurricane post-landfall dissipation related to …

Human-Centered Avalanche Susceptibility Mapping, Lindsey L. Rotche

Geography ETDs

With backcountry winter travel increasing in popularity, the importance of accessible avalanche safety information is crucial. Widely accessible avalanche backcountry maps use slope shading to show where avalanches are likely to start. Instead of focusing on the hazard of an avalanche starting in a specific location, this project shifted the cartographic emphasis of avalanche susceptibility maps to show risk to a human traveling in the terrain. I developed a methodology to incorporate possible avalanche runouts, terrain traps, and connected slopes while reducing false certainty of the visualization. To provide a more comprehensive representation of susceptible terrain, I integrated aspect, distance …

Consequences Of Gulf Of Mexico Estuarine Tropical Cyclone Disturbance Regimes For Fish Assemblage Dynamics Conditionally Depend On Life-History Traits And Niche Characteristics, Stephen Edward Potts

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Tropical cyclones (TC) are intense, localized disturbances that can potentially cause extensive damage to ecosystems. This dissertation is motivated by a need for interdisciplinary study of TC-ecosystem dynamics with applications to ecology, geography, and analytical methodology. I explore concept linkages between TC dynamics and ecosystems to characterize TC-ecosystem relationships as ecological disturbance regimes. This dissertation tests hypotheses and relationships of TC effects on estuarine fish assemblages in the north-western Gulf of Mexico. I explore concepts in TC-ecosystem relationships to link biotic dynamics with physical disturbance.

In Chapter 2, I compared spatial performance of generalized linear models (GLMs) and generalized additive …

Sulfuric Acid Speleogenesis And Surface Landform Evolution Along The Vienna Basin Transfer Fault: Plavecký Karst, Slovakia, Pavel Bella, Helena Hercman, Šimon Kdýr, Petr Mikysek, Petr Pruner, Juraj Littva, Jozef Minár, Michal Gradzinski, Wojciech Wróblewski, Marek Velšmid, Pavel Bosak

International Journal of Speleology

Hypogene caves in the Plavecký hradný vrch Hill (Western Slovakia, Central Europe) were formed by waters ascending along faults in fractured Triassic carbonates related to the horst-graben structure at the contact of the Malé Karpaty Mountains and the NE part of the Vienna Basin. The Plavecká jaskyňa and Pec caves mostly contain horizontal passages and chambers with flat corrosion bedrock floors, fissure discharge feeders, wall water-table notches, replacement pockets, as well as a few other speleogens associated with sulfuric acid speleogenesis. The low-temperature sulfuric acid development phases of the Plavecká Jaskyňa are also indicated by the presence of sulfate minerals …

Local And State Climate Initiatives In Louisiana Since 2005: Content And Thematic Analyses, Jessie F. Parrott

LSU Master's Theses

Louisiana is uniquely exposed to severe weather because of its geography and climate. Louisiana’s extreme weather is exacerbated by anthropogenic climate change, which will worsen in the future. The risks its population and environment are exposed to has generated several policies and planning documents, nine of which are analyzed in this thesis. Three plans are from the state level, three are from the parish level, and three are from the urban (New Orleans) level. These planning documents pose various adaptation and mitigation actions to ameliorate and address multiple climate issues. These actions utilize specific mitigation strategies. The content and thematic …

Reference Database Of Teeth Images From The Family Bovidae, Juliet K. Brophy, Gregory J. Matthews

Mathematics and Statistics: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Researchers typically rely on fossils from the Family Bovidae to generate African paleoenvironmental reconstructions due to their strict ecological tendencies. Bovids have dominated the southern African fauna for the past four million years and, therefore, dominate the fossil faunal assemblages, especially isolated teeth. Traditionally, researchers reference modern and fossil comparative collections to identify teeth. However, researchers are limited by the specific type and number of bovids at each institution. B.O.V.I.D. (Bovidae Occlusal Visual IDentification) is a repository of images of the occlusal surface of bovid teeth. The dataset currently includes extant bovids from 7 tribes and 20 species (~3900). B.O.V.I.D. …

Climate Change And Weather Extremes In The Eastern Mediterranean And Middle East, G. Zittis, M. Almazroui, P. Alpert, P. Ciais, W. Cramer, Y. Dahdal, M. Fnais, D. Francis, P. Hadjinicolaou, F. Howari, A. Jrrar, D. G. Kaskaoutis, M. Kulmala, G. Lazoglou, N. Mihalopoulos, X. Lin, Y. Rudich, J. Sciare, G. Stenchikov, E. Xoplaki, J. Lelieveld

All Works

Observation‐based and modeling studies have identified the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East (EMME) region as a prominent climate change hotspot. While several initiatives have addressed the impacts of climate change in parts of the EMME, here we present an updated assessment, covering a wide range of timescales, phenomena and future pathways. Our assessment is based on a revised analysis of recent observations and projections and an extensive overview of the recent scientific literature on the causes and effects of regional climate change. Greenhouse gas emissions in the EMME are growing rapidly, surpassing those of the European Union, hence contributing significantly …

The Message Design Of Raiders Of The Lost Ark On The Atari 2600 & A Fan’S Map, Quick Start, And Strategy Guide, Miguel Ramlatchan, William I. Ramlatchan

Distance Learning Faculty & Staff Books

The message design and human performance technology in video games, especially early video games have always been fascinating to me. From an instructional design perspective, the capabilities of the technology of the classic game consoles required a careful balance of achievable objectives, cognitive task analysis, guided problem solving, and message design. Raiders on the Atari is an excellent example of this balance. It is an epic adventure game, spanning 13+ distinct areas, with an inventory of items, where those hard to find items had to be used by the player to solve problems during their quest (and who would have …

Seasonal Climatic Niche And Migration Movements Of Double-Crested Cormorants, D. Tommy King, Guiming Wang, Fred L. Cunningham

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Avian migrants are challenged by seasonal adverse climatic conditions and energetic costs of long-distance flying. Migratory birds may track or switch seasonal climatic niche between the breeding and non-breeding grounds. Satellite tracking enables avian ecologists to investigate seasonal climatic niche and circannual movement patterns of migratory birds. The Double-crested Cormorant (Nannopterum auritum, hereafter cormorant) wintering in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) migrates to the Northern Great Plains and Great Lakes and is of economic importance because of its impacts on aquaculture. We tested the climatic niche switching hypothesis that cormorants would switch climatic niche between summer and winter …

Titaniferous-Vanadiferous, Magnetite-Ilmenite Mineralization In A Mafic Suite Within The Chhotanagpur Gneissic Complex, Bihar, India, Ashmeer Mohammad, Anup K. Prasad, Kehe-U Wetsah, Mohammad Azad, Vivek Aryan, Hesham El-Askary

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

Titanium or vanadium metals or their alloys are important industrial metals/alloys. Because these resources are in short supply, the investigation of potential titaniferous-vanadiferous deposits needs special attention to bridge the supply-demand gap. The study integrates geological, geochemical, remote sensing, and geophysical data for assessing the potentiality of titaniferous-vanadiferous, magnetite-ilmenite mineralization in and around the Sudamakund and Paharpur areas, Gaya and Jehanabad districts, Bihar, India, and delineation of specific targets for detailed exploration. Field visits for large scale mapping on (1:12,500 scale) were used to conduct a reconnaissance survey for magnetite-ilmenite mineralization in parts of toposheet number 72G/04 in the Gaya …

Response Of Surface And Atmospheric Parameters Associated With The Iran M 7.3 Earthquake, Feng Jing, Ramesh P. Singh

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Multiparameter observed from satellite, including microwave brightness temperature, skin temperature, air temperature, and carbon monoxide, have been analyzed to identify the anomalous signals associated with the M 7.3 Iran earthquake of November 12, 2017. Besides removing the multiyear variability of parameters as background, the effect of surface and atmosphere of a dust storm event in Middle East region during October 29–November 1 is considered to distinguish the possible anomalies associated with the earthquake. The characteristic behaviors of surface and atmospheric parameters clearly show the signals associated with the M 7.3 earthquake and the dust storm event. The multiple parameters at …

Breeding Ecology Of Mottled Ducks In Southwestern Louisiana, Elizabeth Sophia Bonczek

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Mottled ducks are a resident species found in the southern United States that rely on coastal marsh and associated habitat to fulfill the needs of the entirety of their annual cycle. Population monitoring has revealed declines in western Gulf Coast (WGC) mottled ducks since 2008. Mottled duck populations are influenced by survival and recruitment, and changes in these factors may contribute to population declines. The overarching goal of this project was to identify the mechanisms potentially limiting WGC mottled ducks.

I captured adult female mottled ducks during molt on Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge and adjacent lands in southwestern Louisiana from 2017–2019. …

Watershed Prioritization To Reduce Nutrient Export: A Framework For The State Of Arkansas Based On Ambient Water Quality Monitoring Data, Erin Grantz, Brian E. Haggard

Arkansas Water Resources Center Technical Reports

The annual formation of the Northern Gulf of Mexico hypoxic zone is driven by nutrient loading from the Mississippi-Atchafalaya River Basin (MARB). Member States of The Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Hypoxia Task have developed statewide strategies to identify priorities and opportunities for nutrient export reduction in the MARB. In 2014, the State of Arkansas joined the Task Force and initiated an Arkansas Nutrient Reduction Strategy (ANRS), which currently prioritizes ten Hydrologic Unit Code 8 (HUC-8) watersheds (ANRD, 2014). These priority watersheds were not selected based on measured in-stream nutrient concentrations or trends, which impedes quantitative assessment, goal setting, and linking …

Reply To Response By Fbi Laboratory Filed In Illinois V. Winfield And Affidavit By Biederman Et Al. (2022) Filed In Us V. Kaevon Sutton (2018 Cf1 009709), Susan Vanderplas, Kori Khan, Heike Hofmann, Alicia Carriquiry

Department of Statistics: Faculty Publications

1 Preliminaries

1.1 Scope

The aim of this document is to respond to issues raised in Federal Bureau of Investigation¹ and Alex Biedermann, Bruce Budowle & Christophe Champod.²

1.2 Conflict of Interest

We are statisticians employed at public institutions of higher education (Iowa State University and University of Nebraska, Lincoln) and have not been paid for our time or expertise when preparing either this response or the original affidavit.³ We provide this information as a public service and as scientists and researchers in this area.

1.3 Organization

The rest of the document precedes as follows: we begin …

A Gis Suitability Model Evaluating Habitat Characteristics Influencing Beaver (Castor Canadensis) Lodge Site Selection And Lodge Occupancy In Central Adirondacks, New York, Amanda K. Jacobs

Theses - ALL

The North American beaver (Castor canadensis) represents a quintessential example of an "ecosystem engineer." Yet the species' landscape-scale impacts on hydrology, geomorphology, and ecosystem ecology are not uniformly distributed through landscapes or time. Understanding beaver lodge site selection and lodge fidelity through time can help to predict where the greatest effects of beaver activity may occur. In this research project, I seek to understand the relationships between beaver habitat suitability, the habitat variables that currently define suitable areas, and lodge occupancy over time. Using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to model habitat suitability, I use hydrologic, vegetative, and physiographic variables to …

From Soils To Streams: Connecting Terrestrial Carbon Transformation, Chemical Weathering, And Solute Export Across Hydrological Regimes, Alejandro Flores, Katie Murenbeeld

Geosciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Soil biota generates carbon that exports vertically to the atmosphere (CO₂) and transports laterally to streams and rivers (dissolved organic and inorganic carbon, DOC and DIC). These processes, together with chemical weathering, vary with flow paths across hydrological regimes; yet an integrated understanding of these interactive processes is still lacking. Here we ask: How and to what extent do subsurface carbon transformation, chemical weathering, and solute export differ across hydrological and subsurface structure regimes? We address this question using a hillslope reactive transport model calibrated using soil CO₂ and water chemistry data from Fitch, a temperate forest …

Efficiency In The Upper Deschutes Basin: Understanding The Hydrosocial Implications Of Irrigation Canal Piping, Rebecca Anderson

Dissertations and Theses

In response to water scarcity, irrigation efficiency projects aim to conserve water for in-stream flow and agricultural use. Piping irrigation canals is a common irrigation efficiency method which reduces the loss of incidental recharge, resulting in trade-offs within a hydrosocial system. Few studies have focused on the consequences of canal piping and none have integrated a critical analysis of the social factors involved in deciding what constitutes 'efficient' water use. This study seeks to fill this gap by combining natural and social science to give attention to the scales and perspectives involved in irrigation efficiency canal piping and the material …

The Multisided Complexity Of Fairness In Recommender Systems, Nasim Sonboli, Robin Burke, Michael Ekstrand, Rishabh Mehrotra

Computer Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Recommender systems are poised at the interface between stakeholders: for example, job applicants and employers in the case of recommendations of employment listings, or artists and listeners in the case of music recommendation. In such multisided platforms, recommender systems play a key role in enabling discovery of products and information at large scales. However, as they have become more and more pervasive in society, the equitable distribution of their benefits and harms have been increasingly under scrutiny, as is the case with machine learning generally. While recommender systems can exhibit many of the biases encountered in other machine learning settings, …