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Artificial Intelligence And The Rediscovery Of The Human: An Islamic Reflection On Magnifica Humanitas, Mazhar Ali Bari, Biliana Popova

The Journal of Social Encounters

No abstract provided.

Is Hanpp A Stressor Of Bird Species Richness?, Kaeli Mueller, Gustavo Ovando-Montejo, Christopher Lant

Environment and Society Student Research

One of the leading drivers of biodiversity loss is land use change due to the ever-increasing demand for food, livestock feed, biofiber, and biofuel. The concept of human appropriation of net primary production (HANPP) was developed to measure the impact that humans have on the environment by accounting for biomass removed from the environment in the form of crops, timber, and grazing. The species–energy hypothesis is an established ecological hypothesis postulating that greater species diversity is correlated with higher levels of energy from plant productivity; this can be measured as net primary production minus harvested HANPP or NPP_ecological. …

Land-Use Transitions And Carbon Emissions Of Aquaculture Expansion In The Brazilian Amazon, Felipe S. Pacheco, Sebastian A. Heilpern, Rafael M. Almeida, Suresh A. Sethi, Marcela Miranda, Nicholas Ray, Laura Greenstreet, Joshua Fan, Brendan H. Rappazzo, Marcelo Gomes Da Silva

School of Earth, Environmental, & Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

Accounting for land-use change underlying food sector expansion is critical for conserving ecosystem integrity. This challenge is particularly acute in the Amazon, where the conversion of forests for food production is pronounced and has broad implications for global biodiversity and the cycling of water and carbon. Here, we analyze land-use transitions associated with aquaculture development in the Brazilian Amazon. We found that a 450-fold increase in aquaculture pond area from 1985 to 2022 occurred primarily on pasturelands (87%) but also included wetland conversion (4%) and deforestation (5%). Notably, continued growth can be sustained within already altered landscapes: In Rondônia, the …

Synthesis, Utilization And Biological Evaluation Of Β-Hairpin Peptides As Inhibitors Of Immune Checkpoints, Sarah Naylon

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Peptide therapeutics have emerged as promising alternatives to monoclonal antibodies because of their smaller size, improved tissue penetration, and synthetic versatility. Yet their broader application is often limited by poor structural stability, rapid clearance, and reduced target residence times. This dissertation describes the design, synthesis, structural characterization, and biological evaluation of β-hairpin peptides as inhibitors of immune checkpoints and as peptide vaccine scaffolds while developing strategies to overcome these limitations. At first a series of antibody-derived β-hairpin peptides (mimics of complementary determining region heavy-chain 3: CDR-H3s) as covalent inhibitors of the PD-1/PD-L1 immune checkpoint were investigated. Electrophilic warheads were incorporated …

The Effectiveness Of Bacillus-Coated Npk Fertilizer On Broccoli Growth, Nutrient Status, Rhizosphere Bacillus Population, Yield, And Flower Quality, Betty Natalie Fitriatin, Rara Rahmatika Risanti, Reginawanti Hindersah, Fasa Aditya Hanindipto, Gita Bina Nugraha

Jurnal Kultivasi

Efforts to increase the availability of macronutrients in soil have relied on inorganic fertilization, particularly NPK fertilizers. However, global challenges in the fertilizer raw material supply chain, including price fluctuations and availability, are driving the need for more efficient and sustainable fertilizer alternatives. The field experiment was conducted in Baruajak, Lembang District, West Java, Indonesia, to evaluate the effectiveness of Bacillus-coated NPK fertilizer on broccoli (Brassica oleracea var. italica) growth, nutrient status, rhizosphere Bacillus population, yield, and flower quality. The experiment used a randomized complete block design with 15 fertilizer treatments and three replications. Treatments consisted of two coated NPK …

The Effect Of Silica-Enriched Rice Husk Biochar And Npk Fertilizer On Soil Total Nitrogen, Nitrogen Uptake, And Yield Of Lowland Rice, Emma Trinurani Sofyan, Oviyanti Mulyani, Ania Citraresmini, Meddy Rachmadi, Kharmelia Sandra Livia

Jurnal Kultivasi

Rice production in Indonesia increasingly relies on agricultural intensification, which can accelerate soil degradation and reduce fertilizer-use efficiency. Therefore, sustainable soil management is needed to maintain soil fertility. Silica-enriched rice husk biochar (biochar-silica) is a promising soil amendment because it improves soil properties and nutrient retention. This study evaluated the effects of biochar-silica and NPK fertilization on soil total nitrogen, nitrogen uptake, and yield of lowland rice (Oryza sativa L.). The experiment was conducted from September 2025 to January 2026 using a two-factor randomized block design with nine treatment combinations and three replications. The treatment consisted of three levels of …

Palmnet: Confidence-Calibrated Edge-Cloud Ai For Field Diagnosis Of Date Palm Diseases, Muntadher Kareem, Raed Majeed

Karbala International Journal of Modern Science

Date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) is a cornerstone crop for Iraq and the wider MENA region, yet reliable in-field diagnosis of leaf disorders remains slow, labour-intensive, and constrained by a limited pool of agronomists. This paper presents PalmNet, a full-stack diagnostic system that classifies nine leaf conditions through a calibrated edge-cloud framework. The system is developed and evaluated on a public dataset of 3,089 field images spanning the nine classes, using a 70/15/15 stratified split. A ShuffleNetV2 student network, distilled from a ConvNeXt-Tiny teacher, is deployed on two complementary edge endpoints: a Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W field station …

Modeling The Clonal Rosette Composition Of A Bromeliaceae Genet: A Combinatorial Approach, Layla K. Lammers, Erin N. Bodine

Spora: A Journal of Biomathematics

Bromeliaceae, a neo-tropical plant family encompassing over 3,000 species, exhibit two modes of reproduction: sexual reproduction via flowers and seeds, and asexual reproduction via genetically identical clonal rosettes. The vegetative bodies of bromeliads form rosettes with new leaves emerging from the center and clonal rosettes emerging above a single leaf in the rosette, resulting in a genetic individual consisting of a seed-grown rosette and multiple iterations of clonal rosettes. This research develops a combinatorial model of probability that a single genetic individual will include at least n clonal rosettes when a single rosette can produce at most 1 or 2 …

Long-Term Effects Of Harvesting Disturbance And Site Preparation On Soil Properties And Tree Growth In A Loblolly Pine (Pinus Taeda) Forest, Kyle M. Caccamesi

LSU Master's Theses

Productivity decline between rotations has long been a concern in intensively managed forest plantations. Research done over the last century has provided greater clarity on why this phenomenon occurs. The objective of this research was to observe long-term soil and tree growth characteristics that are likely to be influenced by operational harvesting activities. The experiment was conducted in Washington Parish, Louisiana on a site dominated by Ruston soil series, a well-drained, fine loamy, siliceous and thermic typic Paleudult. A randomized complete block design with 2 x 2 x 2 factorial treatments was used. The treatment factors were harvesting method, fertilization, …

Analyzing Fungal Growth Dynamics Under Different Environmental Conditions Using A Lotka–Volterra Competition System, Maria Ordonez, Fabrio Araujo

Discovery Day - Daytona Beach

Fungi play a critical role in ecosystems as decomposers that recycle nutrients and maintain environmental balance. Their populations are influenced by multiple environmental factors such as temperature, humidity, nutrient availability, and interactions with other organisms. In this project, the Lotka–Volterra model is used to analyze how competing fungal species interact and how these interactions influence population dynamics over time. By modeling two fungal populations competing for the same limited resources, the equations illustrate how environmental conditions and competition coefficients determine whether one species dominates; both species coexist, or one species becomes extinct. The model provides insight into how changes in …

Developing An Object Level Understanding Of Sine And Cosine As Ratios And A Coherent Trigonometry, Jeffrey Peter Nair

Theses and Dissertations

Solving right-triangle problems as well as integrating right-triangle and circular trigonometry into a coherent understanding are documented challenges for students. Prior research has deeply investigated students constructing ratio meanings for sine and cosine using a circle-first approach, which then can be extended to right triangles. Also, past work has separately documented distinct meanings that are useful for sine and cosine, in addition to the ratio meaning, including as lengths in a unit circle and coordinate points. This study took these existing ideas and put them together into one possible developmental progression, based on APOS theory, where students can learn length, …

Synthetic Strategies For Bioactive Peptides: From Aggregation Inhibitors To The Total Synthesis Of Tunicyclin C, Stephanie Graciela Garcia Morin

Theses and Dissertations

In Alzheimer's disease (AD), a brain protein called "tau" abnormally clumps and forms neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs), causing damage to brain cells. Ac-PHF6-NH2 is a hexapeptide segment of tau protein that plays a dominant role in tau aggregation and is used as a model to design tau protein aggregation inhibitors. In this research we synthesized four dehydroamino acid (□AA) containing PHF6 analogues with △Abu (derived from L-threonine) and △Val (derived from □-OH-Valine) at position 2 or 3 via dehydrations or azlactone ring-openings as key reactions. We evaluated their proteolytic resistance, ability to inhibit aggregation of PHF6, and impact on the morphology …

Measuring Proteostasis Changes In Apolipoprotein E Mouse Models Using Quantitative And Kinetic Proteomic Methods, Ariel E.A. Denos

Theses and Dissertations

Alzheimer's Disease (AD) is a neurological disorder associated with brain mass loss and cognitive decline. It affects millions of elderly people and is currently uncurable. Since 1906, when the disease was first described, researchers have uncovered many components of AD pathology. However, it is now evident that curing Alzheimer's Disease will require intervention before the pathological onset of amyloid beta plaque deposition, tau neurofibrillary tangles, and associated neuronal loss. Studying AD from the perspective of early intervention requires special attention to small changes that may disrupt the normal processing of cells. Cells undergo a natural cycle of creation and destruction …

Temperature And Hydrologic Context Influence Methane Variability In A Low-Salinity Marsh, Zoie Brauser

Dissertations and Theses

Coastal wetlands are biogeochemical hotspots that capture and transform carbon and nutrients. Wetland restoration is increasingly used as a climate mitigation strategy because of wetlands' capacity to sequester large amounts of carbon. However, low-salinity tidal marshes exhibit high variability in methane (CH₄) emissions, which could partially offset carbon sequestration under certain conditions. Understanding the drivers of CH₄ variability is crucial for restoration and conservation work. This project uses an observational research approach to assess the relationships between environmental factors and carbon dioxide (CO₂) and CH₄ soil gas fluxes in a restored low-salinity tidal marsh …

The Use Of Chitosan-G-Poly (Acrylic Acid-Co-Acrylamide) In The Delivery Of Imatinib In The Small Intestine, Dawson Ohrt, Clint Everard

Nebraska Academy of Sciences: Programs and Proceedings

The use of hydrogels as drug delivery systems is the future of biotechnology, hydrogels can offer a new way of controlled delivery to specific areas of the body. Hydrogel also create new possibilities for treatments of gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs). There are many different types of hydrogels that can be used in drug delivery. Hydrogels offer customizability in regard to the release of drugs in specific environments. The chemical properties of hydrogels allow for them to be manipulated for specific functions such as release at a specific pH . The hydrogel being used in the study is Chitosan-G-Poly (Acrylic Acid …

Chemical Profiling Of Star Anise (Illicium Verum) Via Gc–Ms: Identifying Compounds With Pharmaceutical Potential, Legacy Wilson, Yegor Bushnev

Discovery Day - Daytona Beach

Title: Chemical Profiling of Star Anise (Illicium verum) via GC–MS: Identifying Compounds with Pharmaceutical Potential   Abstract: Star anise (Illicium verum) has been used for both medicinal and culinary applications due to its diverse bioactive compounds. It is a primary natural source of shikimic acid (𝐶7𝐻10𝑂5), a key precursor in the synthesis of the antiviral drug oseltamivir (Tamiflu), used to treat influenza. Additionally, star anise has been used to treat respiratory and digestive conditions and is widely used for flavoring due to its licorice-like aroma, mainly from trans-anethole (𝐶10𝐻12𝑂) , its major component. Previous studies have also demonstrated mild central nervous …

Oregon State Rank Assessment For Deer-Cabbage (Nephrophyllidium Crista-Galli), Lindsey K. Wise

Institute for Natural Resources Publications

Oregon state conservation status assessment for Deer-cabbage (Nephrophyllidium crista-galli) using NatureServe methodology, 2026.

Modifying Lta Zeolites For Reversible Hydrogen Sulfide Capture And Elucidating The Structure Of The Incorporated Metal And Sulfur Ions, Adeyemi D. Ojaide

Theses and Dissertations

Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) is a highly toxic and corrosive gas that poses significant environmental and industrial challenges, particularly within the wastewater treatment and oil and gas sectors. H2S leakage is among the deadliest industrial hazards, highlighting the urgent need for the development of highly efficient, non-corrosive adsorbents. This dissertation provides an in-depth examination of the use of metal-zeolites for H2S capture. We carefully investigate the impact of multiple divalent and one monovalent transition metals on LTA zeolites to optimize H2S removal. While Linde Type A (LTA) zeolites offer a robust structural framework for gas separation, a comprehensive understanding of how …

Application And Development Of Continuum Treatments In Photodetachment Of Anions, Pratichhya Adhikari

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation aims to provide deeper insight into understanding the dynamics of the photodetached electrons and the nature of the parent species. The dissertation provides examples of quasi-bound states of the anion embedded in the continuum of states associated with the neutral species, and shows how they manifest in experimental data, deviating from expectations of direct detachment. This dissertation is primarily computational and applies and develops electronic-structure and continuum models, respectively, and a newly implemented physical dipole treatment of the photoelectron to account for these resonances and to interpret experimental photoelectron imaging data. The content of the dissertation is divided …

Steam Distillation Star Anise, Makayla Maso, Kiara Maso

Discovery Day - Daytona Beach

Star anise (Illicium verum) contains several volatile organic compounds responsible for its characteristic aroma, including trans-anethole, estragole, limonene, and linalool. These compounds differ in structure and chemical properties, which influence their behavior during isolation and analysis. Trans-anethole and estragole are classified as aromatic phenylpropene derivatives that contain benzene rings and ether functionalities. In contrast, limonene and linalool are non-aromatic terpenes, with linalool additionally possessing an alcohol functional group. These compounds are widely utilized as flavoring agents and fragrance components, while terpenes such as limonene and linalool are also commonly employed as solvents and in formulation chemistry due to their volatility …

Modeling Population Growth With Logistic And Modified Logistic Equations, Mihil Dimpal Patel

Discovery Day - Daytona Beach

Population growth models are essential tools for understanding how biological populations change over time under environmental constraints. This study examines population dynamics by comparing the classical exponential growth model with the logistic growth model. While exponential growth assumes unlimited resources and results in unbounded population increase, the logistic model incorporates a carrying capacity that limits growth as resources become scarce. To better represent real-world conditions, the logistic model is extended by introducing modifications such as harvesting terms and time-varying carrying capacities, which account for external removal of individuals and changing environmental limits. The equilibria of these models are determined, and …

Polymer Degradation And Their Environmental Impact, Addison Orr, Vanessa Gilbert

Discovery Day - Daytona Beach

Synthetic polymer material usage has increased significantly within the last several decades due to their durability, resistance to mechanical wear, low density, and inexpensiveness. Despite these advantages, most synthetic polymers are not biodegradable and instead undergo slow degradation processes. The processes are multifaceted, involving physical, chemical, and biological mechanisms influenced by material properties and environmental conditions, such as soil, light, temperature, and moisture levels. As a result, the polymers break into microplastics and contaminate air, water, and soil, posing risks to human health and surrounding ecosystems. Additionally, polymer degradation can release harmful substances that disrupt food chains and can lead …

Production And Analysis Of Lavender Essential Oil: Extraction, Composition, And Applications, Mary Zoeller

Discovery Day - Daytona Beach

Steam distillation was performed to extract essential oil from lavender and analyze its chemical composition. Lavender is known to contain several compounds such as linalool, terpinen-4-ol, and linalyl acetate, which contribute to its characteristic aroma and biological activity. The purpose of this experiment was to isolate these compounds without decomposition and identify them using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Approximately 14.851 g of lavender was heated with water to generate steam, which carried the volatile compounds into a condenser where the vapor was cooled and collected. The distillate was transferred to a separatory funnel to isolate the organic layer from the …

Bridging Discrete And Continuous Systems: Fibonacci Sequences And Exponential Growth From Odes, Martyna Wojcik

Discovery Day - Daytona Beach

Bridging Discrete and Continuous Systems: Fibonacci Sequences and Exponential Growth from Ordinary Differential Equations       It has been observed that nature often exhibits specific patterns of growth and structure in biological systems and spiral formations. The Fibonacci sequence, defined as a discrete recursive sequence where each term is generated as the sum of the two preceding terms, “has been applied extensively to understand some natural phenomena” (Pakdemirli, 2023). In contrast, exponential growth describes a continuous process in which the rate of change of a quantity is proportional to its current value. Such behavior is modeled using differential equations that “produce solutions …

Steam Distillation Of Jasmine, Mikayla Hulvey, Meliah Martin

Discovery Day - Daytona Beach

This experiment aimed to isolate various components, including benzyl acetate, linalool, indole, and farnesene, from jasmine buds. The functional groups include an ester in benzyl acetate, an alcohol in linalool, an amine in indole, and alkenes in farnesene. Jasmine buds were combined with distilled water and steam distilled using a standard distillation apparatus. The distillate, containing hydrosol and trace amounts of essential oil, was then collected for extraction using methyl tert-butyl (MTBE) for a liquid-liquid extraction. The organic layer was then separated, washed using brine, dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate, and then transferred for later analysis. The essential oil obtained …

Understanding The Long-Term Patterns Of Change Of A Tidal Marsh In Mission Bay, San Diego, California, Carrie A. Shuster, Theresa Sinicrope Talley Ph.D., Drew Talley Ph.D., Zhi-Yong Yin Ph.D., Kellie Uyeda Ph.D.

Theses

Coastal marshes are among California’s most productive ecosystems and the most impacted, having been extensively modified by dredging, filling, and urban development. This thesis investigates over a century of change for a marsh in Northern Mission Bay, San Diego, California using ecological and spatial analyses.

Chapter 1 provides an overview of the environmental history and current land use of the Northern Mission Bay marsh, tracing changes from pre-contact Indigenous stewardship through colonial and modern urban development. It also introduces a restoration plant palette derived from historical and contemporary species occurrences, ecological functions, and documented cultural uses. By integrating ethnobotanical knowledge …

Enhancing A Mid-Wave Infrared Fourier Transform Hyperspectral Imager For Explosions, James T. Stofel, Kody A. Wilson, Martin Larivière-Bastien, Anthony L. Franz, Michael L. Dexter

Faculty Publications

Capturing reliable hyperspectral imager data at a meaningful frame rate for explosions and other fast-changing scenes is not possible in the mid-wave infrared region under traditional sensor operating configurations and processing techniques, which typically have frame rates on the order of 0.5–2.0 Hz. To combat these shortcomings, the scene acquisition parameters were tailored for explosions and a new method for processing optical signatures of fast transient scenes with Fourier-transform infrared hyperspectral imagers was developed. For this technique, the instrument was first configured to collect asymmetric interferograms while optimizing the number of measurement points on the short side of the interferogram. …

Adaptive Phishing Url Detection Using Hybrid Fuzzy C-Means Clustering And Xgboost, Muntadher Mohammed Kareem, Rawaa I. Farhan

Karbala International Journal of Modern Science

Phishing attacks continue to evolve in sophistication, rendering static detection methods increasingly ineffective. Existing URL-based approaches suffer from limited adaptability to emerging phishing patterns, mislabeled training data, and insufficient validation protocols. This paper proposes a hybrid phishing URL detection system that integrates Fuzzy C-Means (FCM) clustering with XGBoost classification, enhanced by a novel Micro Adaptive Feature Extractor (MAFE). The system employs a multi-stage pipeline: feature engineering generating 36 statistical and interaction features, MAFE producing 15 adaptive features through class-aware dynamic weighting, micro-pattern detection, and entropy analysis, and FCM with K=2 clusters providing soft membership features to XGBoost. A two-pass confidence-based …

Development Of Minimalist Trifunctional Building Blocks For Chemical Biology Probe Synthesis, Luke E. Bohrer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The completion of the Human Genome Project in 2003 generated expectations that genomic information would accelerate the discovery of new protein drug targets and FDA-approved therapies. However, many small-molecule drug candidates continue to fail in clinical trials, and much of the human proteome remains undercharacterized in terms of structure, function, and disease relevance. Chemical tools are therefore essential for defining protein function, mapping protein interactions, and identifying disease-associated molecular mechanisms. Among these tools, small-molecule chemical probes provide a powerful strategy for connecting biological activity with target identification, functional analysis, and the development of effective therapies.

This dissertation describes the development …

Fragberta: A Fragment-Aware Molecular Representation Model With Sequential Attachment-Based Fragment Embeddings, Neerav Kaushal, Ajay M.N.V. Penmatsa

Michigan Tech Publications

Automated exploration of chemical space through machine learning has become a central strategy in modern drug discovery, where the ability to learn transferable molecular representations directly impacts predictive modeling performance. Recent advances in chemical language models have primarily relied on atom-level string encodings such as SMILES or SELFIES, treating molecules as sequences of individual atoms or characters. However, medicinal chemistry reasoning is often fragment-centric, emphasizing scaffolds, functional groups, and modular substructures rather than isolated atoms. In this study, we introduce FragBERTa, a molecular fragment-aware transformer-based representation language model pretrained using masked language modeling on Sequential Attachment-based Fragment Embedding (SAFE) representations. …