Digital Commons Network^™

Animal Production From Brazilian Tropical Pastures, G L. Rocha, V.B G. Alcantara, P B. Alcantara

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

This review deals with the potential for beef production from nitrogen- and legume-based pastures in tropical Brazil. Possibilities for impr􀀞ving the beef industry supported by grass-legume pastures are very promising. According to the literature examined, legume-based pastures produced an annual average of 329 kg gain/ha, and nitrogen (N) fertilization resulted in 4.56 kg gain/ha. Phosphorus (P) was the main fertilizer utilized in addition to N, followed by potassium (K), lime, and micronutrients. An­nual rainfall averaged 1430 mm. Grasses used were of the genera Melinis, Hyparrhenia, Panicum, Cenchrus, Digitaria, Cynodon, Brachiaria, and Pennisetum, and the legumes were of the genera Macroptilium, …

Verano Stylo In Semiarid Northeastern Thailand, A Topark-Ngarm

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Srylosanthes hamata cv. Verano was first introduced to Thailand in 197 5. In the northeastern part of the country where the climate is marginal and the soils are low in fertility, Verano appears to be one of the most suitable forage legumes used in pasture-improvement programs. Verano can be grown satisfactorily on most soils in the northeast. Oversowing the seed at 3.1 kg/ha on unploughed areas resulted in a density of 5-30 plants/m2, while in cultivated land the same amount of seed gave 20-45 plant/m2 • In a 3-year ex­periment under different seeding rates and cutting intervals Verano outyielded three …

Hemarthria Altissima: A Pasture Grass For The Tropics, K H. Quesenberry, W R. Ocumpaugh, O C. Ruelke

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Limpograss (Hemarthria altissima [Poir] Stapf. et C.E. Hubb), introduced into the U.S. in 1964, has been evaluated for use as a pasture grass. Under Florida conditions it has shown yield potential equal to or greater than other tropical pasture grasses. The cultivar Bigalta has higher in-vitro organic-matter digestion (IVOMD) than other tropical grasses at comparable growth stages. Early evaluations of limpograss involved only three clones, but additional genotypes were collected and introduced during the late 1960s and early 1970s, and an evaluation scheme for this germ plasm was undertaken. Our objectives were to evaluate rapidly the available germ plasm of …

Engineering Nanoelectrocatalytic Systems For Co2 And Nitrate Conversion Into Value-Added Chemicals, Abdelrahman Mohamed Abdelmohsen

Theses and Dissertations

The thesis addresses two major related environmental crises: nitrate pollution of water systems and the ever-increasing levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide. Both challenges are closely linked to anthropogenic disturbance of nitrogen and carbon cycles and require sustainable, energy efficient mitigation techniques. In this study, we investigate electrochemical conversion routes as a unified approach to convert these pollutants into value-added compounds: ammonia (NH3) via nitrate reduction (NO3-RR) and ethylene (C2H4) via carbon dioxide reduction (CO2RR). The first half of this work deals with the design and engineering of Cu-Zn alloy electrocatalysts for efficient NO3-RR. Tuning the alloy composition and surface nanostructure …

Ontology-Based Decision Support System For Improving Aquaculture Management, Thuy Thi Thu Pham, Phuong Thi Can, Nga Thi Thanh Ha

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

Early detection of shrimp diseases is vital for reducing losses and ensuring sustainable aquaculture. In this study, a novel ontology-driven framework for shrimp disease diagnosis that integrates environmental knowledge with machine learning-based image analysis is proposed. An ontology was constructed from a structured dataset of environmental parameters and farm conditions related to shrimp diseases, which formally represents concepts such as farm characteristics, environmental factors, symptoms, and disease types. Two public shrimp image datasets were subsequently used to train convolutional neural networks (ResNet50 and MobileNetV2) for automated disease classification. The predicted disease labels and confidence scores were mapped onto the ontology. …

Case Study On Operational Performance Improvement By Turbocharger Nozzle-Ring Modification In Shipboard Generators, Jong-Hun Im, Mukyeong Kang, Sang-Deuk Lee

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

Owing to increasingly stringent emission regulations imposed by the International Maritime Organization and rising fuel prices, the demand for enhanced energy efficiency and emission control in marine power systems is increasing. This study presents a case study in which the performance of an aging auxiliary generator is restored by modifying the turbocharger nozzle ring. The vessel, a 12-year-old crude-oil tanker, experienced repeated operational issues with its No. 3 generator. This included elevated exhaust gas temperatures, reduced intake air pressure, and frequent turbocharger surges. To address these challenges, the nozzle-ring blade angle was reduced by approximately 2° using spare components, while …

Towards Sustainable Marine Education: Assessing High School Students’ Understanding Of Conservation Concepts, Cheng-Chieh Chang, Tsuyoshi Sasaki, Ya-Yin Liao, Ling-Ya Hung, Liang-Ting Tsai

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

This study assesses the concepts of marine resource conservation and sustainability among Taiwanese high school students by developing a Chinese version of the Marine Resources Conservation and Sustainability Scale. Grounded in the cognitive, socio-emotional, and behavioral learning objectives outlined in UNESCO’s Education for Sustainable Development Goals (ESDGs), the scale targets students aged 16 to 18 to examine gender differences in marine knowledge and conservation concepts. The scale comprises 31 items across four dimensions: the first section evaluates marine knowledge, while the remaining dimensions utilize a four-point Likert scale to assess cognitive, socio-emotional, and behavioral learning objectives, respectively. The results indicate …

Dynamic Governance Of Transboundary Fisheries Through Deep Learning And High-Frequency Vessel Tracking Data For Climate-Resilient Management: An Application To The East China Sea, Qin Lin, Yaqing Shu, Manel Grifoll, Hongxiang Feng

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

Transboundary fisheries governance is increasingly challenged by jurisdictional conflicts, regulatory asymmetries, and climate-induced stock shifts in fish stocks, especially in contested regions like the East China Sea (ECS). This study capitalizes on China’s high-frequency BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) data (June 2021–May 2022) to pioneer a CNN-BiLSTM deep learning model to dynamically identify fishing hotspots and evaluate policy effectiveness. By integrating vessel trajectories, environmental variables, and regulatory events, we examine spatiotemporal patterns of fishing effort relative to seasonal bans, extreme weather, and quota systems. Key findings reveal: (1) post-moratorium (September–December) concentration of fishing intensity, peaking in November; (2) significant weather-driven …

Lock Scheduling Decisions And Strategy Optimization Under Operation Interruption Scenarios, Junhe Li, Qiang Zhang, Junpeng Jiang, Jiangchao Bao

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

Locks are critical nodes in inland waterway transportation systems that concentrate vessel traffic between upstream and downstream reaches, making their operations highly sensitive to hydrological conditions. Therefore, disruptions caused by droughts, floods, or routine maintenance can easily trigger congestion. To address this issue, this study systematically examines the interrelationships among the number of ships awaiting passage, scheduling strategies, the trade-off between lock chamber utilization and ship waiting time, the influence of ship entry sequences on user satisfaction, and the combined effects of these factors on overall lock scheduling performance. Based on these analyses, an integrated decision-making model for two-stage ship …

Corrosion Protection Assessment Of Offshore Wind Turbine Substructures Using Beasy Cp Simulation Analysis, Chuan-Yang Wan, Hung-Hua Sheu, Sheng-Yu Wang, Yao-Ming Wang, Wei-De Chen, Ming-Yuan Lin, Hung-Bin Lee

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

This study investigates the corrosion protection assessment of offshore wind turbine substructures established in the waters off Keelung, Taiwan. First, a cathodic protection system for the monopile foundation is designed and established. The Boundary Element Method (BEM) is applied using the BEASY simulation software to develop a 3D geometric model for cathodic protection. In the steel monopile simulation analysis, the exposed marine environment is set based on the sea conditions of the Keelung small boat marina, including parameters such as salinity, resistance, and polarization curves, to establish an effective cathodic protection system for underwater structures. By simulating these parameters, a …

Face-To-Face Versus Distance Education In Competence-Based Maritime Education And Training, Clara Borén, Marcella Castells-Sanabra, Manel Grifoll

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

The COVID-19 pandemic created significant challenges for higher education, with universities being shut down and face-to-face teaching and assessment shifting to an online format. This presented an opportunity to focus on the continuity of learning through distance education, especially in the maritime context, due to the on-board training requirements, and even though five years have passed, this shift has reshaped the education landscape, proving that remote learning has come to stay.

At the Barcelona School of Nautical Studies, we have developed a weather routing software in the framework of distance education and teaching innovation. We conducted a teaching trial alternatively …

A Bibliometric And Visualization Analysis Of Global Giant Clam Research, Chia-Hsiang Chen, Chih-Hsien Chang

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

In this study, bibliometric analysis and visualization tools were used to investigate the academic network and knowledge structure surrounding global giant clam research. A total of 551 relevant publications from the Web of Science database, published from 1900 to 2024, were analyzed. The findings indicate that research on giant clams has experienced considerable growth since 2012, peaking in publication output in 2021. Sixty-six countries were represented in the study sample, with the United States, Australia, China, Singapore, and Japan being the most represented ones. Notably, the rate of international collaboration was only 29%, highlighting a need for additional integrated cross-border …

(Re)Claiming Homeplace: Dance As Embodied Resistance & Healing For Health & Spatial Justice, Preeya G. Kannan

University Honors Theses

This thesis argues that dance functions as both an upstream public health intervention and a form of radical spatial resistance; creating healing, agency, and belonging among historically marginalized communities. Drawing on bell hooks' concept of homeplace, Jasbir Puar's assemblage theory, Nancy Krieger's eco-social theory, and Katherine McKittrick's Black geographies, I position the body as both an ecological and political landscape shaped by histories of colonialism, racial capitalism, displacement, and resilience.

Through this community-based participatory research study, Homeplace, I explore dance as a form of social prescription that centers liberation rather than pathology. Movement is often reduced in public health discourse …

Beyond The Best Prompt: A Coverage View Of Multilingual Reasoning, Harshiv Mistry

University Honors Theses

Multilingual LLMs reason more accurately in English than in other languages, and recent work links part of this gap to reasoning behavior: native-language traces contain fewer cognitive behaviors (verification, backtracking, subgoal setting, backward chaining) that support effective problem solving. We test whether prompting for these behaviors at inference time narrows the gap, across seven conditions varying chain-of-thought, instruction and reasoning language, and cognitive-behavior descriptions, on two models, three languages. We find that English-scaffolded reasoning is the strongest single strategy on both models, closing the Hindi gap on Qwen, though the explicit scaffold's value over plain chain-of-thought is model-dependent. Beyond aggregate …

Effects Of Fine Sediment On The Productivity Of Stream Ecosystems In The Pacific Northwest, Veena I. Davis

University Honors Theses

Salmon are important to the culture, ecosystem and economy of the Pacific Northwest. However, populations have declined significantly since European colonization. Salmon require specific conditions for each life stage and are highly sensitive to environmental stressors. Excess fine sediment is a leading form of pollution as it degrades salmon spawning habitat and the benthos upon which their main food source, stream insects, live. To evaluate the effect of sediment pollution on food availability for salmon smolt, we conducted an experiment  estimating the amount of stream insect biomass and calories lost due to sediment pollution. We counted insects on substrate samples …

Mycelial Modeling: Teaching Biology Students Statistical Modeling With Mushrooms, Colette Wolf

University Honors Theses

This paper summarizes and describes the development of a set of learning materials that were created to educate students and professionals from other fields in statistical modeling techniques. These materials are primarily aimed at biology students, but are still intended to be useful for anyone who is interested in incorporating decision trees and random forest models into their personal research in the future. By directing the reader towards the JMP software, these materials navigate around the statistical knowledge base and coding implementation practices that otherwise would serve as a barrier to learning statistical modeling techniques, and instead focus on the …

Bias, Structure, And Inference In Applied Network Analysis, Anna Vasenina

Dartmouth College Ph.D Dissertations

This dissertation develops mathematical and statistical methods for extracting reliable information from network data across biological applications, with an emphasis on understanding what observed network structure can and cannot resolve. The first study leverages protein–protein interaction network topology in the c-di-GMP signaling system of Pseudomonas fluorescens, showing that node centrality measures accurately classify protein domain types and that physical interaction structure contributes statistically significant predictive power for biofilm formation phenotypes across nearly 200 environments, while gene expression does not. The second study examines sampling bias in lemur-plant trophic interaction networks in Madagascar, demonstrating that differential detection of diurnal versus …

Refining A Flow Injection Analysis Method For Trace Concentrations Of Iron In Seawater, Brooke I. Stafford, Liam W. Hodgson, Noah S. Schuhmann, Elijah J. Vestal, Claire P. Till

IdeaFest: Interdisciplinary Journal of Creative Works and Research from Cal Poly Humboldt

Iron is an essential micronutrient required for the growth of phytoplankton, the base of the oceanic food chain. Iron exists in the ocean in extremely low concentrations, limiting primary productivity in ~⅓ of the surface ocean, and can be affected by physical processes such as upwelling of water masses, and by biological and chemical processes within the water. In order to further our understanding of iron availability in the ocean, here we refine and improve our understanding of an analytical method to measure nanomolar iron in seawater. The method used is an adaptation of Lohan et al. (2006), a flow …

Exploring The Relationship Between Tree Dbh And Lichen Cover On Coast Redwood, Grace M. Personeus, Sierra Gittleman, Alisa A. Zarattini

IdeaFest: Interdisciplinary Journal of Creative Works and Research from Cal Poly Humboldt

We investigated the relationship between Diameter at Breast Height (DBH) and lichen cover on coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) to see if larger trees had higher percentages of cover. We measured cover using 10 cover classes on the southeastern and southwestern sides of trees in a secondary growth forest. We found a significant relationship between DBH and cover, yet no significant difference between the two sides measured. We suggest that further research with a larger sample size and more varied age classes will provide further insight into the relationship.

Allosteric And Uncompetitive Inhibition Of Yeast Alcohol Dehydrogenase Identified By Enzyme Kinetics, Dylan Jeremy Harrison, Jenny A. Cappuccio

IdeaFest: Interdisciplinary Journal of Creative Works and Research from Cal Poly Humboldt

Enzyme kinetics is a powerful technique used to quantify the rate at which an enzyme converts a substrate into a product and to identify potential inhibitors. In this study, kinetic analysis was employed to assess the activity of yeast alcohol dehydrogenase (YADH) in the presence and absence of sweeteners commonly found in alcoholic beverages. YADH catalyzes the oxidation of ethanol to acetaldehyde using NAD⁺ as a cofactor; the reduction to NADH can be monitored spectrophotometrically at 340 nm. Based on structural similarities to the ribose moiety of NAD⁺, it was hypothesized that sucrose and sucralose could directly interact with the …

Ka Here Tāngata:1 Mātauranga And Te Ao Māori In Biocultural Kākāpō (Strigops Habroptilus) Conservation Approaches, Sophie Perfetto

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This master's thesis examines conservation as a form of living cultural heritage practice through the co-management of kākāpō (Strigops habroptilus), a critically endangered parrot and taonga species in Aotearoa New Zealand. Situated within ongoing histories of colonial dispossession and Western frameworks of land and species management, contemporary kākāpō conservation is shaped through the partnership between the Department of Conservation’s Kākāpō Recovery Programme and Ngāi Tahu. Drawing on semi-structured interviews collected during fieldwork from July to August 2025, this study examines how institutional partnerships structure decision-making, authority, and responsibility in contemporary conservation governance. Findings demonstrate that Māori knowledge systems …

Beyond The Best Fit: Fitting Sir-Style Models To Data While Prioritizing Biological Meaning, Meredith L. Greer

CODEE Journal

Many students find comfort in mathematics because math classes have been a place where they can find the “right answer” to exercises. Modeling courses typically emphasize more nuance, teaching students to try modeling approaches, compare back with real-world mechanisms and data, and then refine their models, in an ongoing cycle. One topic, however, can cause students to quickly revert into “right answer” mode: fitting a model to data. Phrases such as best fit and minimize the distance suggest there is one optimal solution that can be determined by an algorithm, and these algorithms typically have no relationship to the biology …

Design Principle For Staple-Mediated Stabilization Of Peptides And Proteins, Samantha C. Hatfield

Theses and Dissertations

Macrocyclization, or stapling, has emerged as a powerful strategy to enhance the stability and function of peptides and proteins by constraining their conformational ensembles. Stapling can improve thermodynamic stability, increase resistance to proteolytic degradation, and enhance biomolecular recognition, making it particularly valuable for the development of peptide-based therapeutics. Despite these advantages, staple design remains largely empirical, relying on iterative screening of linker chemistries, lengths, and attachment sites. This trial-and-error approach limits scalability and hinders the rational design of stabilized peptide systems. In this work, we address this challenge by integrating large-scale experimental datasets with molecular dynamic simulations to develop predictive …

Creating Sustainable School And Home Gardens: Managing Rainwater, Lawrence Krissek, Kathy Cabe Trundle

All Current Publications

Rainscaping can help solve drainage problems, reduce erosion, improve water quality, and conserve soil by effectively managing rainwater movement across the landscape. It can also provide environments with increased biodiversity while reducing the need for supplemental watering.  The details of rainscaping your garden are very site-specific, affected by the amount of space and money available, your garden’s physical and weather/climate characteristics, and your garden goals. This resource sheet addresses the use of natural methods to ensure efficient rainwater management.

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 …

Effect Of Sheep And Cattle Grazing On A Mixed Pasture Of Perennial Ryegrass, Kikuyu, And White Clover, G J. Goold

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Mixed pastlkes of perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L. ), kikuyugrass (Pennisetum clandestinum Hochst. ), and white clover (Trifolium repens L.) are commonly found within warm-zone areas of New Zealand but are frequently disliked because of prob­lems associated with kikuyugrass dominance. A grazing experiment was conducted to provide basic information on the response of such swards to grazing by cattle and sheep. The pastures were rotationally grazed with young sheep or cattle at two stocking levels each year from 1970 to 1975, with stocking rates adjusted twice yearly according to seasonal pasture growth. The pastures grazed by cattle …

A Comparative Evaluation Of Six Ryegrass Cultivars Under Grazing And Conservation Managements, M Ryan

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Meat and dairy products command overriding importance in the Irish agricultural economy. They are derived primarily from Irish grasslands, which occupy 89% of the arable land area. Use of improved grass cultivars is probably the best means of increasing grassland output once the basics, optimal fertilizer use, and high stocking rates have been met. Objective identification of superior cultivars is the responsibility of state agencies. A recommended list, published annually in Ireland, presently contains 47 ryegrass (Lolium perenne) cultivars. There is some doubt, however, that results from small-plot cutting trials can be extrapolated to equivalent performance by grazing …

Dynamics Of Herbage Growth And Senescence In A Mixed-Species Temperate Sward Continuously Grazed By Sheep, J S. Bircham, J Hodgson

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Four perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.)-Poa annua L.-white clover (Trifolium repens L.) swards with herbage mass rang­ing from 500 to 1,700 kg organic matter (OM)/ha were established and maintained in as near a steady state as possible by con­tinuous but variahle stocking with sheep in order to study the influence of herbage mass on rates of herbage growth (G), senescence (S), and net production (NP), and on species balance. Estimates ofG, S, and NP were derived from measurements on individual grass tillers and clover stolon growth sites. The mean contributions to total G were 54, 20, and 4 ( ± …

Chinas Grassland Types: Their Locality And Improvement, Chia Shen-Siu

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

China's natural grassland is mainly distributed over the temperate zone to the west and north of the isohyet of 400 mm annual rainfall and over the hilly subtropical areas in the southern part of the country, amounting to 3 7 % of the country's total land area. Since 1949, comprehensive surveys have been conducted on several occasions in Tibet, Neimenggu Autonomous Region (Inner Mongolia), Xinjiang, and other regions. The resource of forage plants and grassland productivity has been studied. There are about 20 types and eight regions of grassland in China. On the natural steppe of the northern part of …

Production Response Of Russian Wildrye (Elymus Junceus Fisch.) To Fertilizer And Clipping, L Hofmann, J F. Karn

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Experiments were conducted on nitrogen (N) fertilization of long-term Russian wildrye (RWR) (E?Jimus junceus Fisch.) pasture and the effect of simulated spring grazing on quantity of forage available for fall use. A stand of RWR that had been fer­tilized with 45 kg N/ha and grazed annually for 10 years at Mandan, North Dakota, was divided into two experiments in 1978. The first evaluated effects from all combinations of 0, 45, 90, 135, 180, and 225 kg N/ha; 0, 45, and 90 kg phosphorus (P)/ha; and 0 and 135 kg potassium (K)/ha on dry-matter (DM) yields, whereas the second compared ten …