Digital Commons Network^™

Stocks And Fluxes Of Carbon And Nitrogen In Northeastern Brazil Coastal Seascapes, Antoniwal A. Jatobá-Junior, Pere Masque, Carlos Eduardo De Rezende, Vanessa Hatje

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Quantifying carbon and nitrogen dynamics is essential for understanding the role of coastal ecosystems in climate change mitigation and habitat connectivity. We assessed organic carbon (OC) and total nitrogen (TN) stocks, accumulation rates, and isotopic composition (δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N) in sediment across diverse seascapes in northeastern Brazil, including high- and low-salinity mangroves, a tidal flat, a freshwater marsh, and an inundated forest. OC stocks in the upper meter of sediment were highest in the freshwater marsh (283 ± 64 Mg OC ha⁻¹) and tidal flat (266 ± 27 Mg OC ha⁻¹), and …

Application Of The Paediatric Medical Traumatic Stress Model To The Mental Health Experience Of Young People Living With Type 1 Diabetes: A Qualitative Study, Rigel Paciente, Sara Coombs, Karen Lombardi, Helen Milroy, Keely Bebbington, Heather Roby, Craig E. Taplin, Nicole Wickens, Stella Rose, Alix Woolard

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Despite the various traumatic events that a young person living with type 1 diabetes (T1D) may experience, little is known about the burden and manifestation of traumatic stress in this population. Though mental health outcomes have been explored generally, medical trauma-sensitive approaches to understanding these experiences remain limited. We utilised a qualitative descriptive approach to explore the impact of T1D on young people’s mental health through the paediatric medical traumatic stress model (PMTS). Young people aged 13–30 living with T1D were interviewed. These interviews were recorded, transcribed, and analysed using Reflexive Thematic Analysis. Three main themes were generated: (1) perceived …

Over A Century Of Global Decline In The Growth Performance Of Marine Fishes, Helen F. Yan, Hannah V. Watkins, Alexandre C. Siqueira, David R. Bellwood

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Human-driven pressures are causing large-scale changes in the ecologies and life histories of fishes. Growth performance is a composite life-history trait that captures the trade-off between two fundamental traits: growth and body size. Here, we assess the impacts of fishing and temperature on the growth performance of marine teleost fishes globally over the last century. Using 7683 growth curves encompassing 1479 species, we find a global pattern of decline in growth performance from 1908 onwards, with the greatest declines in commercially valuable fishes. Indeed, managed fisheries experienced a 9% decline in growth performance over the last century, which can equate …

Efficient Charging Scheduling Through Coordination Of Electric Vehicle Platoons And Charging Stations, Liwan Qi, Bochun Wu, Shoubo Li, Yi Gong, Wei Ni

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

This paper focuses on charging allocation in a vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communications-enabled electric vehicle (EV) network with heterogeneous traffic flows, where manned EVs and EV platoons coexist, and each EV platoon may have a different size and travel speed. In such a network, hybrid traffic flows pose significant challenges since platoons with multiple EVs can easily cause severe station overloading and increase the total time cost for charging service, particularly when large platoons occur. To tackle this issue, a centralized approach is proposed to plan charging allocation and optimize the velocities of manned EVs and EV platoons with the assistance of …

Natural Gas Hydrate Production And Co2 Storage Via Clathrate Hydrates: Challenges And Opportunities, Abdirahman Hassan Mohamed, Aliyu Adebayo Sulaimon, Haylay Tsegab, Bhajan Lal, Stefan Iglauer, Muhammad Ali

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

One of the most demanding environmental and economic challenges of this era is that of supplying the increasing global energy demand while reducing and neutralizing the CO2 footprint. In this regard, the provision of a secure and diversified energy supply and the sequestration of CO2 into geological formations are currently of great significance. However, the buoyant nature of CO2 under the temperature and pressure conditions of typical geological sites leads to the risk of CO2 leakage, and thus necessitates long-term monitoring. Therefore, the hydrate-based sequestration of CO2 beneath oceanic sediments has become a desirable alternative to conventional geologic sequestration in …

Thermophysical Characteristics Evaluation Of Carbon And Metal Oxide-Based Hybrid Phase Change Materials For Thermal Energy Storage Applications, Utpol K. Paul, Md Shahriar Mohtasim, Md Golam Kibria, Barun K. Das

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Phase change materials (PCM) have limited practical applications due to their low heat conductivity. The main goal of this work is to improve the thermophysical properties of PCM by adding different compositions of hybrid carbon and metal oxide-based nanoparticles for incorporation into hybrid photovoltaic/thermal solar systems to accommodate the built environment and thermal energy storage as a building envelope for thermal comfort. Three types of nanoparticles have been selected including Graphene, Al2O3, and ZnO and synthesized samples with the combinations of 0.5 wt% Al2O3 + 2 wt% ZnO, 0.75 wt% Al2O3 + 2 wt% ZnO, 1 wt% Al2O3 + 2 …

Robust Hybrid Tree-Based Machine Learning-Assisted Optimization Of Well Parameters To Reduce Asphaltene Precipitation Risk In Oil Fields, Malek Jalilian, Madani, Alireza Keshavarz, Stefan Iglauer, Abbas Khaksar Manshad, Amir H. Mohammadi

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Asphaltene precipitation is a persistent flow-assurance issue in carbonate oil wells, leading to increased intervention frequency and production losses. This study utilizes multi-decade surveillance and operational data from a mature carbonate field (1983–2023) to train and optimize five tree-based models: Decision Tree, Random Forest, Extra Trees, Gradient-Boosting Decision Tree, and CatBoost, employing a Tree-Structured Parzen Estimator. These models, constrained by operational parameters, were integrated to identify optimal settings that can minimize the frequency of asphaltene precipitation and the subsequent cleanups. The novelty of this research lies in the direct integration of interpretable tree ensembles with an optimizer that adheres to …

A Consolidated Mössbauer Spectrum For Undisturbed Soils From Gusev Crater, Mars, Paulo De Souza

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Mossbauer analyses from MIMOS II data collected on Mars provided breakthrough insights into iron mineralogy of the planet’s surface. Resulting from limited measurement time, science operations were divided among multiple instruments, restricting the detection of minor Fe-bearing mineral phases (below 5% WSA). MIMOS II records Mössbauer spectra at 10 K intervals, and to enhance signal to noise ratios, spectra from different intervals were combined, when applicable. For instance, temperature variations between 190 K and 270 K in basaltic samples do not significantly impact the spectra, allowing data from all intervals to be integrated. By combining MIMOS II data from various …

Autonomous Smart Vertical Farming: A Systems-Level Synthesis Of Iot And Solar Energy Integration For Sustainable Agriculture, Mahmuda Khatun Mishu, Md Rokonuzzaman, Boon Kar Yap, Tofan Agung Eka Prasetya, Md Arif Hossain, Asif Islam, Kazi Sajedur Rahman, Mohammad Nur-E-Alam

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Rapid urbanization, land degradation, and climate variability are increasingly constraining food production, especially in densely populated urban regions. Vertical farming (VF), which grows crops in stacked layers under controlled conditions, is gaining recognition as a potential solution for sustainable urban agriculture. However, high energy requirements and questions surrounding long-term resource efficiency continue to challenge its scalability and environmental viability. This review explores the potential of smart vertical farming (SVF) systems, enhanced by the Internet of Things (IoT), wireless sensor networks (WSNs), and hybrid green energy-harvesting systems such as photovoltaic (PV) and thermoelectric (TE) technologies. This research analyzes how real-time data-driven …

Long-Term Analysis Of Pm2.5 Elemental Composition And Source Contributions In Coastal Urban Environments Of Corpus Christi And Houston In Texas, Sai Deepak Pinakana, Jeremy A. Sarnat, Amit U. Raysoni

School of Earth, Environmental, & Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

Long-term assessments of fine particulate matter play a key role in identifying persistent and emerging emission contributors. Coastal urban areas are highly susceptible to transboundary dust and wildfire events in addition to local pollution sources. Multi-decadal assessments in these regions using chemical speciation data could offer insights into major pollutant sources and their trends. This study utilizes nearly two decades of PM2.5 elemental composition data at two major coastal cities in Texas: Houston and Corpus Christi. Fourteen trace elements were analyzed to characterize the seasonal variability and long-term source evolution using a combination of Spearman’s correlation analysis, principal component analysis, …

The Willing And The Compelled: How Power And Place Shape Human-Bison Coexistence In Poland And The United States, Patrick Orville Kelly

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Wildlife recovery programs depend not just on animals, but on how people feel about living with them. The degree to which people accept the disruptions wildlife brings to their lives, known as social tolerance, can determine whether a recovery program succeeds or fails, yet it remains understudied and underapplied in management plans. This dissertation studies how people in Poland and the western United States feel about living with the two living species of bison, the largest land animals in Europe and North America. In Poland, we surveyed 242 residents living at different distances from European bison habitat. Surprisingly, the most …

Scalable Quality Assessment Of Ground Motion Records Via Interpretable Deep Learning Architectures, Ali Montazeri Namin

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Earthquake engineers rely on accurate recordings of ground shaking to design safe and resilient buildings. However, sorting through thousands of these recordings to find the reliable ones and throwing out those ruined by sensor errors or background noise is traditionally done by hand. Because modern seismic networks collect massive amounts of earthquake data every day, this manual checking process is much too slow. To fix this, researchers are turning to artificial intelligence to automatically check the quality of these recordings.

While artificial intelligence offers a fast solution, there are limitations. These computer models can become massive and expensive to run, …

Balancing Root-Zone Oxygenation And Rhizosphere Stability: The Impact Of Aeration And Hypoxia On Hydroponic Plant Growth, Christian D. Baker

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

As the global population and food demand continue to increase, growers must look to innovative and sustainable methods for plant cultivation. Hydroponics is a popular method of sustainable plant cultivation where plant roots are suspended over a liquid nutrient solution. Hydroponics uses less water compared to traditional agriculture because there is no evaporation or solution runoff. It also maximizes land use, requires fewer pesticides and herbicides, and enables year-round cultivation in controlled environments. However, indoor hydroponic systems rely on artificial lighting, which has higher energy costs than traditional farming methods. Optimizing growing conditions is therefore critical to ensure long-term economic …

Providing Effective Student Feedback: Effects Of Sociotropy, Student-Teacher Connectedness, And Expressed Disappointment And Praise On Students' Self-Esteem And Motivation, Emily Davied

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

This study examined how different types of teacher feedback (i.e., expressed pride, expressed disappointment, and near-neutral feedback) impact students’ motivation to learn and self-esteem. It also explored whether such effects vary depending on students' personality and how connected they feel to their teacher. Undergraduate students (N = 221) imagined receiving feedback from a teacher and completed surveys assessing their motivation, self-esteem, sociotropy, and connectedness with the teacher. The results showed that feedback expressing disappointment lowered students' self esteem compared to expressing pride and lowered students' motivation compared to near neutral feedback. Although sociotropy (i.e., dependence on others' approval) and teacher …

Toward Optimizing Fruit Production In Utah Soils: Apple Salt Tolerance Screening And Tart Cherry Fertility Management, Kaitlin Dabbs

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Fruit production in Utah can be challenging due to local climate and soil conditions. Tart cherries and apples are major fruit crops in Utah, and improvements to these cropping systems would be beneficial for farmers and local consumers. Two experiments were conducted to evaluate desired improvements for these crops. The first study looked for salt tolerance in ten new apple rootstocks. Salty soils can be found throughout the state limiting the land suitable for apple production. When grown in salty soils apple trees often have reduced growth and production potential. A specialized drip irrigation system was constructed in a greenhouse …

Wildfire And Fuel Treatments In Utah: A Practical Guide And Outcomes From An Oak-Maple Ecosystem, Annie E. Prescott

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Wildfire is a natural part of Utah’s landscapes, but as wildfires become more extreme and communities continue to expand into wildland areas, it is increasingly important to understand how wildfires behave and how their negative effects can be mitigated. One way to reduce wildfire risks and protect life, property, and ecosystem services is through fuel treatments — actions that reduce the amount and arrangement of flammable vegetation through mechanical removal, wildland fire, or other methods.

Information on wildfire behavior and fuel treatments is abundant but often scattered, ecosystem-specific and difficult to access. In addition, most research in the Western U.S. …

Pieces Solving A Puzzle: Emerging Roles And Cross-Field Analogies During A Distributed Epistemic Game, Jenna Matthews

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

In an effort to describe why some problems can’t be solved, a character compared them to a cubic meter of platinum - a block so dense that all the people who could squeeze around it still couldn’t lift it off the ground. In the same way, these problems simply can’t have enough people gathered around and communicating about them - and so they remain unsolved.

This research looks at the first Polymath Project (2009) as an example of a distributed epistemic game to examine how groups engage with complex problems. and without a locally omniscient individual. In this setting of …

Do Flywheel Exercises Provide Eccentric-Overload Training?, Darjan Spudić, Kazunori Nosaka

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Interests in eccentric resistance exercises have been increasing in both research and practice. However, implementing eccentric resistance exercise training is often challenging due to the mechanical limitations of traditional training equipment. To address this, flywheel (FW) devices emerged as a practical alternative. FW devices are commonly considered to provide eccentric-overload training, in which the load is greater in eccentric than concentric phase. However, this is not always the case. In this article, we summarize the mechanical and physiological factors influencing the effectiveness of FW devices in achieving eccentric overload. Then, we discuss a significant limitation of FW resistance exercise in …

Efficient Removal Of Methyl Orange Dye Via A Mnfe₂O₄/Go Nanocomposite With A Ctab Dual-Layer Surfactant Coating, Taher Karami, Soleiman Bahar, Reza Mostafazadeh

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

This study investigated the adsorption of methyl orange (MO) from aqueous solutions using a novel MnFe₂O₄/GO nanocomposite coated with cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB). The dual-layer surfactant modification facilitates both electrostatic and lipophilic interactions. This enhancement significantly improves dye removal efficiency. The adsorption process was monitored using spectrophotometry at 464 nm, with various characterization techniques confirming the structural and magnetic properties of the nanocomposite. The optimized parameters for maximum adsorption include a 2-minute ultrasonic dispersion, pH 6.8, and a surfactant-to-adsorbent ratio of 1, achieving a maximum adsorption capacity of 285.7 mg/g. The kinetic data followed a pseudo-second-order model, whereas the adsorption isotherm …

Enhancing Independence And Social Connection: The Impact Of A Tailored Exercise Program On New Residents Transitioning Into Australian Residential Care Facilities, Stacey Scott, Annette Raynor, Julie Dare, Jennifer Grieve, Leesa Costello

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Background: Transitioning from independent living to a residential care facility often results in a significant loss of independence, autonomy, and connectedness, leaving new residents with profound feelings of loss and grief. In light of these challenges, this study explored the potential benefits of a tailored in-house exercise program for new residents. Methods: The study took place in an Australian residential care facility and included four new residents (aged 72 to 88, 75% female), who participated in a 12-week tailored exercise program led by an exercise physiologist. A focused ethnographic approach was used to obtain a comprehensive data set, drawing on …

Helixcross – Design And Development Of An Ai-Powered Cross-Examination Simulation For Forensic Expert Testimony Training, Mark Barash, Bruce Budowle

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Forensic testimony is where science meets the courtroom, and it is one of the critical forensic skills taught largely by apprenticeship. An examiner who overstates a match, mishandles a probability, or cannot support a method under direct or cross-examination can weaken the evidence in precisely the cases that rely on it. Yet in most forensic laboratories, testimony preparation remains largely informal, mentor-dependent, and unscalable. Consequently, many practitioners first face rigorous cross-examination at trial. To address this gap, HelixCross, an alpha-stage, publicly accessible, prompt-engineered large language model (LLM) agent, was developed. It uses retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) to simulate defense counsel cross-examination …

Cxcr3 Is Associated With T-Cell-Induced Heart Damage In Acute Rheumatic Fever, Francis M. Middleton, Reuben Mcgregor, Natalie Lorenz, Sarah Kilian, Anna E.S. Brooks, Saem Mul Park, Ciara Ramiah, Judith Tresidder, Timothy C. Barnett, Michael Serralha, William J. Martin, Florina Chan Mow, Glenn Pearson, Mark Mayo, David I. Broadhurst, Julie Bennett, Johann Brink, Nigel J. Wilson, Anna P. Ralph, Rachel H. Webb, P. Rod Dunbar, Jonathan Carapetis, Nicole J. Moreland

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

The pathogenesis of acute rheumatic fever (ARF) is poorly understood, limiting the development of immune-modulating therapies to treat disease and prevent progressive heart damage. Here, participants with definite ARF were compared to other severe acute paediatric conditions and matched healthy controls by profiling circulating immune molecules and cells to inform disease mechanisms and potential druggable pathways. ARF shared immunological similarities with other inflammatory conditions, including elevated serum IL-6 and an increased frequency of circulating CD4⁺ T cells. However, elevation of the chemokine CCL5 and immunoglobulin IgG3, along with reduced expression of the chemokine receptor CXCR3 in the T cell …

Effects Of Resisted Movement Training On Change-Of-Direction Speed In Recreationally Active And Trained Individuals: A Systematic Review With Network Meta-Analysis And Meta-Regression, Mingyang Zhang, Urs Granacher, Ruixiang Yan, Hallvard Nygaard Falch, Rodrigo Ramirez-Campillo, Kai Xu, Xing Zhang, Jinming Li, Shubo Xu, Yulin Luo, Duanying Li, Jian Sun

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Background: The ability to change directions quickly is critical for performance and injury prevention in multidirectional sports, yet the influence of resisted movement training (R-MT) on change-of-direction (COD) speed remains uncertain. Therefore, we aimed to examine the effectiveness of various R-MT methods on COD speed in individuals ranging from recreational to international level and to determine the relationship between test angle and COD adaptations. Methods: We systematically searched PubMed/MEDLINE, Embase, Web of Science, SPORTDiscus, CINAHL, Scopus, and Google Scholar from inception to August 2025. Random-effects pairwise meta-analyses and a Bayesian network meta-analysis (NMA) synthesized effects of vertically resisted plyometric and …

Genetic Drivers Of Progression In Alzheimer’S Disease Are Distinct From Disease Risk, Celeste E. Cohen, Shane Fernandez, Umran Yaman, Ahmad R. Ehyaei, Eleftheria Kodosaki, Aydan Askarova, Tenielle Porter, Eleanor O’Brien, Paul Maruff, Alexi Nott, John A. Hardy, Simon M. Laws, Dervis A. Salih, Maryam Shoai

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Background: Recent trials in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) demonstrate encouraging outcomes. These trials target risk mechanisms identified through genetic analysis whilst directly aiming to reduce progression rates. Evidence from other neurodegenerative diseases suggests the genetics of progression is distinct from risk of disease. To expand these initial successes and improve clinical outcomes further we need to understand genetics of progression of disease. These can be deduced through rigorous analysis of meticulously phenotyped longitudinal cohorts. In this study we first looked at known genetic drivers of risk, namely polygenic risk scores for AD and APOE‑ε4, to assess their role in progression. This …

Local Government Policies Restricting Unhealthy Outdoor Food Advertising In Australia: Stakeholder Perspectives Identify Political Willingness Is Key To Overcoming Barriers, Alexia Bivoltsis, Frith Klug, Jacinta Francis, Clare Whitton, Gina S.A. Trapp, Claire E. Pulker

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Background: Unhealthy outdoor food advertising is strongly linked to poor diet, highlighting the need for policies. Western Australian (WA) local governments (LGs) can restrict advertising on their owned infrastructure through their Public Health Plans, but limited policy action has occurred. This study aimed to explore the perspectives of WA LGs and public health organizations (PHOs) on current and potential policies restricting unhealthy outdoor food advertising on LG owned infrastructure to (1) identify barriers and enablers to the policy making process, (2) assess the current level of political willingness (i.e. political want, political can and political must) and (3) inform development …

Evaluating The Transformation Of Land Cover, Land Surface Temperature, And Urban Heat Island In Sylhet Division Through Geospatial Analysis, Md Fazle Rabbi Joy, Md Abdur Rahim, Md Mahfuzar Rahman, Sumiaya Amin Preota

School of Earth, Environmental, & Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

Rapid and unplanned urbanization has significantly transformed land use/land cover (LULC), contributing to increased land surface temperature (LST) and the emergence of urban heat islands (UHIs), especially in ecologically fragile regions. This study focuses on the Sylhet Division of Bangladesh, assessing LULC changes, LST dynamics, and UHI expansion from 1994 to 2024 using Landsat satellite imagery, normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), normalized difference water index (NDWI) indices, and field-based LST validation. Unsupervised classification reveals a 191.75% increase in settlement areas and a 25.65% loss in forest cover. Correspondingly, the highest LST zones (> 30 °C) were absent in 1994 but …

Developing Imitation Learning Policies By Exploring Diffusion Framework For Quadcopters, Likith Swamireddy

Theses and Dissertations

Imitation learning offers a promising approach in developing near-optimal onboard policies for nonlinear systems, by learning from computationally expensive trajectory planners during offline training. Existing State-of-the-art methods commonly learn deterministic mappings from observations to actions by training fast neural networks to mimic the expert demonstrations, which can limit their ability to capture the action distribution, when the policy is trained on multiple possible expert commands to reach the same target, and this may lead to unsafe scenarios in the obstacle environments. To address these challenges, this study explores Diffusion Models (DMs) as a feedback controller for quadcopters that learns the …

Quasi-Poisson Analogs Of Regular Poisson Varieties, Casen Thompson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Let G be a complex semisimple linear algebraic group with 𝐶 a conjugacy class of parabolic subgroups of G. In previous work, Dr. Crooks defines 𝑢_𝐶→ B_𝐶 , a universal flat family of a fine Hamiltonian Lagrangian G-bundles over 𝐶, and shows that 𝑢_𝐶 is a family of regular Poisson varieties. This manuscript introduces a natural candidate for a quasi-Poisson analog of Dr. Crooks’s construction, 𝑢_𝐶, using the framework of quasi-Poisson geometry established by Alekseev, Kosmann-Scwarzbach, and Meinrenken. It will be shown that this proposed quasi-Poisson analog indeed has a valid quasi-Poisson structure and …

Cascaded Pid Control Of A Passive Bio-Inspired Rotating Empennage Aircraft, Zachary T. Jenkins

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

This thesis presents an autopilot for a Bio-Inspired Rotating Empennage (BIRE) aircraft. Most airplanes control yaw using a vertical stabilizer and a moving rudder, a design that has stayed essentially unchanged for nearly a century but adds weight, drag, and surface area to the aircraft. The BIRE removes the vertical tail entirely and instead allows the horizontal tail to rotate about the body x-axis of the airplane; tilting the horizontal tail produces a yaw force, doing the job of a rudder. This thesis first develops a controller for the BIRE where the empennage angle is commanded directly, then extends …

Physics-Data-Hybrid Modeling And Control For Vtol Aircraft, Samantha Dawn Burton

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft are hybrid aircraft having both a helicopter flight mode and a fixed-wing plane flight mode. The objective of this dissertation is to examine and evaluate a new approach, physics-data-hybrid (PDH), for VTOL aircraft modeling and control. The PDH approach combines traditional, physics-based methods (Newtonian mechanics) with data driven methods (a machine learning technique called a Koopman operator model) to create an efficient and accurate modeling and control framework—mitigating the disadvantages of the purely physics-based and purely data-driven methods. The PDH approach is used to model scenarios when the VTOL aircraft transitions between helicopter mode …