Digital Commons Network^™

Development Of Non-Destructive Methods For The Detection And Quantification Of Gluten Sources In Foods, Adewale Abiola Oloyede

Theses and Dissertations--Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering

Cross-contamination of food with gluten-rich grains such as wheat, barley, and rye remains a significant challenge in gluten-free food production, posing health risks to individuals with gluten-related disorders. Traditional detection methods are often time-consuming and labor-intensive, highlighting the need for rapid and reliable alternatives. This study investigates the use of hyperspectral imaging (HSI) combined with machine learning (ML) and deep learning (DL) techniques for the detection and quantification of gluten contamination in grain-based foods through three main approaches: (i) classification of gluten source contaminants in gluten-free flour, (ii) quantification of gluten content from wheat, rye, and barley flours, and …

Impact Of Bourbon Continuous Column Operations On Ethyl Carbamate Levels, Brad J. Berron, Jon Brown, Jason Gambrell, Travis Cantrell, Meghan Mcintosh, Sarah A. Wilson, Jarrad Gollihue, Harmonie M. Bettenhausen

James B. Beam Institute for Kentucky Spirits Faculty Publications

European and Canadian regulators enforce strict limits on the ethyl carbamate content of alcoholic beverages. North American distillers’ malt have high glycosidic nitrile levels which amplify the ethyl carbamate level of whiskey. Guidelines are required to produce low ethyl carbamate whiskey from North American distillers’ malts. This work challenges several strategies for reducing ethyl carbamate levels in bourbon and American whiskey products. New make spirit was produced using a bourbon mash bill on a continuous beer still with doubler. The low wines alcohol content and beer feed tray were systematically varied while the caustic cleaning schedules were monitored to generate …

Diagnosing Statistical Education Needs Of Health Science Learners, Amy S. Nowacki, Ann M. Brearley, Robert A. Oster, Emily Slade, Katrina L. Devick, Matthew J. Hayat, Sally W. Thurston

Biostatistics Faculty Publications

Many types of health science learners, including clinical and translational scientists, students, researchers, and clinicians, seek to increase their knowledge of biostatistics. These learners are heterogeneous in their field, career stage and career focus. Based on the collective experience of an expert panel with over 115 years teaching statistics to health science learners, we propose a framework for considering the needs of health science learners motivated by their career goals. This framework defines four types of health science learners seeking statistical training: (a) consumers, (b) “milestone makers”, (c) biomedical researchers with statistical support, and (d) biomedical researchers without statistical support. …

From Campus To Career: Enhancing Career Support Services For Graduate International Students At The University Of Kentucky, Aku Fiagbeto, Ratwah Alhazmi

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

During the 2023–2024 academic year, the University of Kentucky enrolled a total of 1,285 international students, with 784 (61%) being graduate students. International students play a crucial role in enriching the university’s cultural and academic landscape. While UK has achieved record enrollment and improved student success rates, including a 66% graduation rate that places it among the top 100 public institutions in the U.S., it is important to consider whether these trends apply to international students as well. Retention and graduation rates for this demographic may differ from those of domestic students, highlighting potential challenges such as visa restrictions, financial …

Managing Kentucky's Coal Severance Tax Decline: Lessons From Other States, Ryan Reed

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

Governments levy severance taxes on the extraction of natural resources such as coal, oil, and natural gas. This can be a substantial source of revenue for these entities, but overreliance on this has led to what is now known through extensive research as the so-called ‘resource curse’. This has been observed to create political instability, corruption, and repression within resource-rich areas. Additionally, it cripples the ability of the area to pursue future non-resource related economic development after the resource is depleted. A Sovereign Wealth Fund has been touted as one such solution to bridge this gap as an intergenerational wealth …

Beyond The Gas Tax: Evaluating Oregon’S Road Usage Charge (Orego) As A Model For Sustainable Infrastructure Funding, Gilles David Kwekam

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

Fuel tax revenues are declining nationwide due to electric vehicle adoption, improved fuel efficiency, and long periods without rate adjustments. This erosion has created long-term instability in transportation funding, including in Oregon, where revenue no longer aligns with road use. Road usage charges (RUCs) offer a potential replacement by charging drivers per mile traveled rather than per gallon consumed. However, their success depends less on technology and more on how programs are designed and governed.

This capstone examines which design features make RUC programs effective, using Oregon’s OReGO program as the central case. A Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) comparing Oregon, …

Supercapacitors With Cotton Shell-Derived Activated Carbons And Porous Polymer Electrolyte Films, Saurabh Singh, Yulin Zhang, S. A. Hashmi, Fuqian Yang

Chemical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications

Some of the well-known challenges in the field of supercapacitors (SCs), or more specifically, electrical double-layer capacitors (EDLCs), such as low energy density and high cost, have proven to be major barriers to their widespread market success despite having some excellent electrochemical merits such as high-power density and good cyclic stability. In this work, efforts have been made to overcome these gaps and eventually enhance the performance of EDLCs via a cost-effective and eco-friendly approach. To fabricate these EDLCs, a bio-waste, namely, cotton-shell-derived activated carbons (ZnACs) (activated with ZnCl2), was used in a mass ratio of 1 : 2 for …

Improvement Of Cellular Pattern Organization And Clarity Through Centrifugal Force, Lauren E. Mehanna, James D. Boyd, Shelley Remus-Williams, Nicole M. Racca, Dawson P. Spraggins, Martha E. Grady, Brad J. Berron

Chemical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications

Rapid and strategic cell placement is necessary for high throughput tissue fabrication. Current adhesive cell patterning systems rely on fluidic shear flow to remove cells outside of the patterned regions, but limitations in washing complexity and uniformity prevent adhesive patterns from being widely applied. Centrifugation is commonly used to study the adhesive strength of cells to various substrates; however, the approach has not been applied to selective cell adhesion systems to create highly organized cell patterns. This study shows centrifugation as a promising method to wash cellular patterns after selective binding of cells to the surface has taken place. After …

Integrating Protein Language Model And Molecular Dynamics Simulations To Discover Antibiofouling Peptides, Ibrahim A. Imam, Shea Bailey, Duolin Wang, Shuai Zeng, Dong Xu, Qing Shao

Chemical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications

Antibiofouling peptide materials prevent the nonspecific adsorption of proteins on devices, enabling them to perform their designed functions as desired in complex biological environments. Due to their importance, research on antibiofouling peptide materials has been one of the central subjects of interfacial engineering. However, only a few antibiofouling peptide sequences have been developed. This narrow scope of antibiofouling peptide materials limits their capacity to adapt to the broad spectrum of application scenarios. To address this issue, we searched for antibiofouling peptides in the vast sequence pool of the microbiome library using a combination of deep learning-based high-throughput search and molecular …

Clarifying The Role Of Η-Phase With Varying Chemistry On Localised Corrosion Of A Cu-Containing 7xxx Al-Alloy By Quasi-In-Situ Tem, S. K. Kairy, Y. Wu, S. Turk, A. Shekhter, Rudolph Buchheit, N. Birbilis

Chemical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications

Quasi-in-situ transmission electron microscopy was employed to study dissolution associated with η-phase (Mg(Zn,Al,Cu)₂) precipitates in a Cu-containing 7xxx Al-alloy. Two distinct η-phase chemistries, with Cu to (Zn+Mg+Al) ratios ∼0.12 and ∼0.2, were studied in 0.01 M NaCl at pH 6 and 2. In near-neutral NaCl, both η-phase precipitates exhibited ‘duplex’ behaviour, i.e., they were primarily more noble with respect to the surrounding Al-matrix, causing matrix dissolution, and simultaneously established nanoscopic active sites within the noble precipitate itself by generating nanoscale pits. Conversely, η-phase precipitates rapidly dealloyed in acidic NaCl, forming nocrystalline Cu remnants containing twins, which subsequently caused …

Enhancing Intrinsic Ductility In Vnbmotaw High Entropy Alloy: A Combinatorial Investigation With Experimental Evaluation Of Theoretical Predictions, Taohid Bin Nur Tuhser, Ian Stewart Winter, Daryl Chrzan, Thomas John Balk

Chemical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications

The application of refractory high entropy alloys (RHEAs) as engineering materials has been hindered by their poor inherent ductility. In this study, a novel approach combining thin film combinatorial screening with fragmentation testing was employed to identify intrinsically ductile alloy compositions. Inspired by the physics-based intrinsic ductility parameter, the ‘χ-parameter,’ we investigated the replacement of group VI elements (W/Mo) with group V elements (V, Nb, Ta) in the VNbMoTaW system. Conventional combinatorial analyses, including composition, phase, and hardness assessments, were conducted across a wide range of non-equiatomic configurations. The results revealed a broad compositional space favoring a single-phase body-centered cubic …

Treating Social Media Addiction In Adolescents: A Scoping Review With Implications For Music Therapy Practice, Roman D. Swain

Theses and Dissertations--Music

With the rapid expansion of online connectivity, concerns have emerged regarding the influence of digital interactions on adolescents’ real-world relationships and mental health. Social media use can expose adolescents to harmful content and disrupt the brain’s pleasure centers, increasing the risk of developing addictive patterns of use. Such disruptions may interfere with daily functioning and contribute to negative mental health outcomes. Given the impact of music on the brain’s reward system, music therapy may offer a beneficial approach for helping adolescents develop mindfulness of social media use and strengthen offline social connections. This thesis presents a scoping review of current …

Programmable Scanning Diffuse Speckle Contrast Imaging Of Cerebral Blood Flow, Faezeh Akbari, Xuhui Liu, Fatemeh Hamedi, Mehrana Mohtasebi, Li Chen, Lei Chen, Guoqiang Yu

Physiology Faculty Publications

Significance: Cerebral blood flow (CBF) imaging is crucial for diagnosing cerebrovascular diseases. However, existing large neuroimaging techniques with high cost, low sampling rate, and poor mobility make them unsuitable for continuous and longitudinal CBF monitoring at the bedside. Aim: We aimed to develop a low-cost, portable, programmable scanning diffuse speckle contrast imaging (PS-DSCI) technology for fast, high-density, and depth-sensitive imaging of CBF in rodents. Approach: The PS-DSCI employed a programmable digital micromirror device (DMD) for remote line-shaped laser (785 nm) scanning on tissue surface and synchronized a 2D camera for capturing boundary diffuse laser speckle contrasts. New algorithms were developed …

Alternate Quantification Approaches For Cold-Induced Vasodilation In Human Glabrous Skin, J. A. Stout, D. E. Gerow, P. C. Clegg, K. Metzler-Wilson, T. E. Wilson

Physiology Faculty Publications

Introduction: Cold-induced vasodilation (CIVD) is a counterintuitive focal increase in glabrous skin blood flow during cold exposure with unclear local and neural mechanisms. Methods: We tested 12 (8 men, 4 women) healthy subjects’ laser-Doppler flux (LDF; just proximal to the nailbed) and arterial blood pressure (ABP) on a beat-by-beat basis. The experimental hand was exposed to warm (10 min 35°C) and then cold (30 min 8°C) water immersion and the contralateral control hand experienced 22°C–23°C air throughout. We analyzed beat-by-beat oscillations in LDF and ABP via a fast-Fourier transform (FFT) and transfer function analysis (TFA) of LDF to ABP. Results: …

Characterization Of Municipal Solid Waste Using Machine Learning Based Imaging And Chemical Analysis, Enyonam Ahadzi

Theses and Dissertations--Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering

According to the U.S. Department of Energy’s 2023-billion-ton report, the United States generates nearly 300 million tons of municipal solid waste every year. More than 50% of that waste is underutilized and ends up in landfills. This poses serious public health and environmental risks. But beyond the environmental and health implications, this is also a wasted opportunity. The U.S. Energy Information Administration estimates that, for every 100 lbs of waste we throw away, about 85% can be used as fuel or for electricity generation. However, its complex and heterogeneous nature poses challenges for efficient sorting and valorization in waste to …

Valorizing Municipal Solid Waste For Sustainable Aviation Fuel And Polyhydroxyalkanoate Bioplastics: Pyrolysis And Microbial Pathways, Emon Das

Theses and Dissertations--Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering

The escalating global burden of municipal solid waste (MSW), projected to reach 3.88 billion tons annually by 2050, calls for innovative valorization strategies to mitigate environmental impacts and promote a circular bioeconomy. This thesis investigates the conversion of MSW into two high-value products: sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) bioplastics. Chapter one presents comprehensive physicochemical characterization and pyrolysis-GC/MS analysis of MSW feedstocks. The physicochemical results reveal that densification enhances handling and storage properties, while pyrolysis-GC/MS analysis indicates that plastic-rich MSW streams produce bio-oils with favorable hydrocarbon profiles suitable for SAF production, potentially contributing to decarbonization efforts in the aviation …

Empowering Future Educators: Exploring Preservice Elementary Teachers’ Self-Efficacy Within Integrated Stem Experiences In A Science Methods Course, Shane C. Campbell

Theses and Dissertations--Education Sciences

There is an ongoing need for preparing high-quality preservice elementary teachers who are confident and capable in the design and delivery of integrated STEM instruction. This qualitative study examines the experiences of a small cohort of preservice elementary teachers enrolled in a science teaching methods course and further examines how preservice teachers' perceptions of self-efficacy change as a result of their participation in integrated STEM experiences in science methods coursework. Data were collected using pre and post surveys to capture self-reported efficacy levels related to STEM teaching, along with semi-structured interviews conducted before and after the course to further contextualize …

Smart Qos-Aware Resource Management For Edge Intelligence Systems, Minoo Hosseinzadeh

Theses and Dissertations--Computer Science

There are several definitions for Smart Cities. One common key point of these definitions is that smart cities are technologically advanced cities which connect everything in a complex urban environment including infrastructure, information, and even people to cope with the crucial problems linked with the urban life such as traffic, pollution, city crowding, health, and poverty. Central to this vision are the Internet of Things (IoT) and Big Data, where interconnected devices with sensors collect vast amounts of data for informed decision-making. However, the rapid expansion of IoT devices challenges efficient data processing while meeting diverse Quality-of-Service (QoS) requirements; for …

Tiered Coalition Formation Game Variants, Stability, And Simulation, Nathan Arnold

Theses and Dissertations--Computer Science

Tiered coalition formation games (TCFGs) have been proposed for modeling the ordering of power in intransitive structures. Furthering our understanding of the usefulness of this concept requires a close examination of this game and its variants, as well as the delineation between stability concepts and methods of finding stable outcomes. Derived from a simulation of the performance of characters in the games Pokémon Red and Blue Versions, we present an approximation of its power structure found via machine learning. We compare our findings to the community consensus ranking presented on a fan-run website, and further comment on the stability of …

Temporal Team Formation Games With Dynamic Preferences, Cameron Egbert

Theses and Dissertations--Computer Science

In the professional world, it is imperative for management entities to allocate their human resources to a work schedule, and such models of coalition formation games are well-studied. However, most existing literature only considers coalition formation in the context of a single moment in time, without accounting for changing preferences among individuals as they work together. The primary contribution of this thesis is a new team formation game that incorporates skill-based team formation and a dynamic variant of Additively Separable Hedonic Games. These Temporal Team Formation Games with Dynamic Preferences (TTFG-DPs) allow for two psychologically common preference dynamics: a preference …

Optimization, Machine Learning, And Networking Solutions For Cyber-Physical Systems, Xu Tao

Theses and Dissertations--Computer Science

Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) represent a transformative paradigm that integrates sensing, computation, and actuation through networked systems to enable intelligent, context-aware applications across various domains. Despite their growing potential, CPS still face critical challenges, particularly in maintaining reliable, low-latency communication and efficient data processing in resource-constrained and dynamic environments. These challenges are further magnified in rural or remote deployments, where traditional network infrastructure is often unavailable or unreliable. This dissertation addresses these challenges through the development of optimization and inference algorithms that enhance network performance in Software-Defined Networks (SDN), using techniques such as reinforcement learning and network tomography for efficient routing. …

Development Of Software For Genetic Distances, Genotyping, And Phylogenetics Using Rna-Seq Data, Andrew C. Tapia

Theses and Dissertations--Computer Science

This dissertation concerns a new application of RNA-seq data—computation of pairwise genetic distance matrices. RNA-seq captures sequences of RNA molecules in some cells or tissues of interest. RNA-seq provides data are well-suited to studies examining gene expression, and its use for this purpose is currently widespread. A pairwise genetic distance matrix, the main topic of this dissertation, quantifies differences in the genomes of every pair of samples (e.g., individuals) in a given set. Genetic distance matrices are versatile; they can be used for various kinds of downstream analyses, including genotyping, phylogenetics, and genetic diversity measurement. Although DNA sequence data are …

Information-Theoretic Methods For Efficient Training And Robust Evaluations In Self-Supervised Learning, Oscar Skean

Theses and Dissertations--Computer Science

Self-supervised learning (SSL) has become a cornerstone of modern machine learning, offering a scalable alternative to costly human annotation by constructing pretext tasks directly from raw data. While SSL has delivered strong results across vision, language, and multimodal domains, two major limitations persist: (1) SSL methods are often significantly slower to train than supervised counterparts, and (2) evaluation protocols remain narrow, with most studies relying on linear probing accuracy on the pretraining dataset. . These challenges are particularly acute for large language models (LLMs), where training costs and interpretability of intermediate representations are critical concerns.

In this work, we propose …

Communities Of Stone Toolmakers Along The Lower Cumberland And Tennessee Rivers, Vanessa N. Hanvey

Theses and Dissertations--Anthropology

Concurrently occupied between circa 8,600-8,200 cal B.P., the Canton (15Tr1), Lawrence (15Tr33), Morrisroe (15Lv156), and Whalen (15Ly48) sites have similar stone tool assemblages. Though the sites are situated close to one another within the lower Tennessee and Cumberland River watersheds, the connection between the people who occupied each site remains unclear. Extensive lithic deposits representing all stages of tool manufacture were identified at both the Canton and Lawrence sites, and previous lithic analyses show that similar raw materials were being accessed by stone toolmakers at all four sites. To investigate the relationship between the people who occupied these sites, this …

Rad Reduction Reveals Therapeutic Potential Of Targeting Cardiomyocyte L-Type Calcium Channel Regulation For Heart Failure, Garrett Elmore

Theses and Dissertations--Physiology

Heart failure (HF) is prevalent and is predicted to increase with the aging population. Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) is a common cause of systolic HF. Current therapies fail to address principal issues: compromised systolic function and dysfunctional Ca²⁺ handling. No therapeutic approach exists for direct, positive modulation of cardiomyocyte L-type calcium channels (LTCC). RAD (Ras associated with diabetes) is a key regulator of the cardiac LTCC. RAD is a downstream phosphorylated target of the ß-adrenergic receptor (ß-AR)/cAMP/protein kinase A pathway; phosphorylation augments LTCC activity, contributing to chronotropy, inotropy, and lusitropy. RAD overexpression results in LTCC inhibition, whereas knockout positively modulates …

An Evaluation Of Kentucky’S Policy Landscape And Its Impacts On High-Growth Firms In The Commonwealth, Ivanna Patrick, Jordan Arnold, Devin Dunigan

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

There is significant research on high-growth firms (HGFs), though there is little research focusing on such businesses in Kentucky. By comparing Kentucky to two similar states that are economic competitors and in the context of the Kentucky Innovation Act of 2000, we find that Kentucky has a relatively fewer number of HGFs, even compared to itself at the time of the bill’s passage. Ultimately, we determined that there was a focus on high-tech firms in Kentucky that may be detrimental to the growth and success of HGFs in other industries; furthermore, it would serve the state to focus enhanced efforts …

Addressing Municipal Road Aid Funding In Kentucky During The Era Of Electric Vehicles, Jacob Bruce, Tyler Chapman, Blake Girdler

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

The rapid rise of electric vehicles (EVs) poses a growing threat to Kentucky’s Municipal Road Aid Fund, which relies heavily on fuel tax revenues. As EV adoption increases and fuel consumption declines, the existing funding model becomes increasingly unsustainable, jeopardizing road maintenance, infrastructure development, and municipal services across the state. Commissioned by the Kentucky League of Cities, this study investigates viable policy solutions to ensure long-term fiscal stability for municipal road funding in an electrifying transportation landscape. Drawing from comparative analyses of peer and neighboring states, the report evaluates alternative funding mechanisms such as road usage charges, EV-specific registration fees, …

Strategic Alignment Of Lexington Public Library And Art Community, Jonnisa Ferguson, Samantha Metzger-Elder

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

Amidst the evolving economic, political, religious, social, and technological landscape of the United States, one enduring element across communities has been the presence and importance of public libraries. Despite the decreasing number of genuinely public spaces in America, public libraries remain accessible and welcoming to all (Howard, 2019). Modern public libraries unite people and are "rewriting common assumptions of what people think a library does" (Carlson, 2024). Going far beyond books, libraries are serving as a "trusted public common for social innovation and civic engagement," partnering with community organizations to address daily living issues (i.e., food insecurities and professional development), …

Ensuring A Future For The Past: Balancing Heritage Tourism And Historic Preservation, Kyra Frew Sexauer

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

Savannah’s historic city plan, Charleston’s colonial architecture, and New Orleans’ Creole and Cajun culture and cuisine all have a commonality: they tangibly and intangibly connect the past to the present. Each city has a distinct and recognizable landscape, shaped by its built environment, history, and culture, which is listed as a National Historic Landmark District (NHLD) – the most prestigious recognition a historic district can receive in the United States. Heritage tourists are drawn to these places by their history, culture, and authenticity. In 2022, a combined 42,320,000 million tourists poured into the streets of Savannah, Charleston, and New Orleans. …

A Comparative Study Of State-Level Fast Programs To Identify Best Practices For Kentucky, Alana Morgan

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

This capstone project examines best practices among state-level innovation programs participating in the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Federal and State Technology (FAST) Partnership Program, with a specific focus on the Kentucky Science and Engineering Foundation (KSEF). As a key player in Kentucky’s innovation ecosystem, KSEF supports small businesses and entrepreneurs in pursuing federal Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) funding. This study evaluates KSEF’s current program effectiveness and identifies strategies from similar states that could strengthen Kentucky’s outcomes in securing federal innovation funding.

Using a qualitative comparative research design, this study analyzes interviews with program …