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Conducting Structure-From-Motion (Sfm) Modeling Of Freshwater Environments Using Unpiloted Aerial Systems (Uas): Challenges And Lessons Learned, Benjamin T. Fraser, Christine L. Bunyon, Russell G. Congalton

Faculty Publications

The pairing of Unpiloted Aerial Systems (UAS) and Structure from Motion (SfM) has provided new capabilities for modeling freshwater environments. Applications of UAS-SfM range from water quality monitoring to the mapping of aquatic vegetation. The models produced provide users with the ability to analyze features at ultra-high-resolutions and across scales not easily achieved through in situ sampling. Despite the demonstrated benefits of UAS-SfM in freshwater and other natural resource disciplines, there remain fundamental technical challenges in the modeling of environments with homogenous surfaces (e.g., water). In this research, the effectiveness of several image collection and processing approaches for the modelling …

University Of New Hampshire 2024-2025 Faculty Senate Xxix - September 16, 2024 Minutes Summary, Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Agendas & Minutes

No abstract provided.

Faculty Senate Xxix 2024-2025 - September 16, 2024 Agenda, Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Agendas & Minutes

No abstract provided.

Symposium Transcript: Clarett V. Nfl: 20 Years Later And The Future Of Age Limits In Pro Sports, Michael Dube, Alan Milstein, Michelle Clarett, Maurice Clarett, Benjamin Block, Michael Mccann, The Honorable Schira Scheindlin

UNH Sports Law Review

No abstract provided.

Sideline Interference: The Vulnerability Of College Athlete-Whistleblowers In The Impending "Student-Employment-Athlete" Era & Co-Worker Retaliation, Hunter Seidler

UNH Sports Law Review

No abstract provided.

Liquefaction Mitigation Of Sands With Plastic Fines Via Microbial Induced Partial Saturation, Maya Norris

Master's Theses and Capstones

Microbial Induced Partial Saturation (MIPS) is a sustainable and cost-effective approach to mitigate liquefaction; however, more research needs to be done to apply MIPS to a variety of different soil types and conditions. The investigation consisted of running a series of undrained strain-controlled cyclic Direct Simple Shear (DSS) tests on fully saturated samples with varying non-plastic fine and plastic fine content. Some tests have been conducted on MIPS-treated samples; however, more tests are needed to verify the results. Previous investigations have been conducted to evaluate the pore water pressure response of sands with added non-plastic fines with and without MIPS …

Neural Retrieval Through Entities And Text Understanding, Pooja Himanshu Oza

Doctoral Dissertations

For various artificial intelligence systems, automatic text understanding algorithms that go beyond mere pattern recognition are helpful. For instance, understanding web pages is beneficial for Information Retrieval (IR) systems to retrieve relevant information. In the most common form, IR systems retrieve relevant information as entities or documents in response to keywords-based queries. Traditional IR models use lexical matching between the query terms and document terms to identify relevant documents. With the emergence of neural networks, Neural IR approaches utilize deep learning techniques to learn high-dimensional representations of documents and queries that go beyond term matching.

On the other hand, with …

Flexibility And Accountability: Lessons On Accessibility From Pandemic Learning, Ashley Barry

Doctoral Dissertations

While the COVID-19 pandemic, starting in 2020, disrupted the writing education of many students, students with disabilities were particularly impacted. During this same period, college writing instructors worked to adapt and make their pedagogies more accessible in new educational contexts. This IRB-approved qualitative study utilizes principles of Universal Design for Learning to cultivate a methodology that is flexible enough to meet a wide variety of participant needs. The datasets consist of a pilot survey and focus groups of college instructors along with classroom artifacts and a series of interviews with short journal entries from four undergraduate students with disabilities. In …

Environmental Change And Population Dynamics Of Small Mammals In Northern Alaska, Jess K. Steketee

Doctoral Dissertations

Rodent populations at northern latitudes undergo cyclic dynamics characterized by high amplitude interannual fluctuations every 3-5 years. Population cycles have puzzled mammalogists for over a century and disentangling their drivers remains a central goal. Understanding which factors drive rodent populations and how these dynamics might change with warming is essential for predicting the impacts of climate change on arctic ecosystems as herbivore pressure shapes plant community composition, soil nutrient availability and carbon concentrations. My research focused on potential drivers of brown lemming (Lemmus trimucronatus) and tundra vole (Microtus oeconomus) population fluctuations in Arctic Alaska. I combined field techniques with laboratory …

Algebraically Doubly Stochastic Matrices Over Principal Ideal Domains, Eric Davis

Doctoral Dissertations

A doubly stochastic matrix over the real numbers is a matrix $A=[a_{ij}]$ such that $0\leq a_{ij}\leq1$ for all $i,j$ and all rows and columns sum to 1. The classical Birkhoff-von Neumann theorem states that every doubly stochastic matrix over $\R$ can be expressed as an affine combination of permutation matrices, matrices with a single 1 in each row and column and 0's elsewhere. Over a general commutative ring with identity $R$ we drop the condition that $0\leq a_{ij}\leq1$ and consider matrices with only the row and column sum condition; we refer to such matrices as \textit{algebraically doubly stochastic} and denote …

Development Of A Layered Unsupervised Classifier Of Plasma Regions And A Bootstrap-Ensemble Neural Network Bow Shock Mode, James Andrew Edmond

Doctoral Dissertations

The use of supervised methods in space science have demonstrated powerful capability in classification tasks, but purely unsupervised methods have been less utilized for the classification of spacecraft observations. We use a combination of unsupervised methods, being principal component analysis, self-organizing maps, and hierarchical agglomerative clustering, to classify THEMIS and MMS observations as having occurred in the magnetosphere, magnetosheath, or the solar wind. The resulting classification are validated visually by analyzing the distribution of classifications and studying individual time series as well as by comparison to the labeled dataset of a previous model, against which ours has an accuracy of …

Evaluation Of Rockfall Trajectories Using Smart Rocks And Measurement While Drilling, Bruma Morganna Mendonca De Souza

Doctoral Dissertations

This doctoral research investigates rockfall movement under laboratory and field-controlled conditions as well as in situ natural field environments in an effort to better understand the movement described by falling blocks. Although previously published research identified several factors that affect rockfall movement (block characteristics, ground characteristics, and impact kinematics), the lack of a standardized methodology to evaluate rockfall behavior upon impact on different ground materials increases the difficulty of establishing realistic parameters in modeling approaches and ultimately in selecting representative model input parameters. In order to measure rockfall movement under different test conditions, concrete fabricated test blocks ranging in mass …

Sustainable Energy Transition In Grid Connected And Off-Grid Communities, Roozbeh Ghasemi

Doctoral Dissertations

Decentralized energy systems, such as solar PV and wind, are often seen as key to improving the sustainability and resilience of energy systems in both urban and remote communities. This research aims to enhance the sustainability of adopting these systems in both grid-connected and off-grid contexts. In urban communities, a choice experiment model was developed for Boston, MA, and Atlanta, GA, and the results were analyzed using latent class analysis to understand household preferences for two decentralized renewable energy systems. For islanded communities, a process-based dynamic model was developed to simulate the operation of the decentralized energy system on Appledore …

Oscillatory Boundary Layer And Sediment Dynamics Over And Within Mobile Rippled Beds, Savannah Devoe

Doctoral Dissertations

In nearshore environments, small-scale bedforms, or ripples, are important contributors to net morphologic change by means of bedload and suspended load sediment transport. In this dissertation, new characterizations of boundary layer and sediment dynamics are made using high-resolution observations of mobile, rippled beds subjected to oscillatory flow for the purpose of evaluating existing parameterizations of bedload transport. The spatiotemporal distribution of shear stress at and within a mobile, rippled bed is obtained via the derivation and application of a new Momentum Integral Method (“MIM”) expression for bed shear stress to data from a two-phase Large Eddy Simulation and Discrete Particle …

Stronger Practical Game-Playing Ai For Duelyst Ii, Bryan Mckenney

Master's Theses and Capstones

Duelyst II is an online collectible card game (CCG) that features a 9 × 5 grid board,making it a cross between the popular CCG Hearthstone and chess. It is a partially- observable stochastic game (POSG) with a large branching factor and the ability to take several actions in a time-limited turn, making it a challenging domain for game-playing AI. On top of that, successor generation is very slow, limiting the effectiveness of traditional planning approaches such as Monte Carlo tree search (MCTS).

In this thesis, I build on my previous work on Duelyst II AI, creating a stronger game-playing agent …

Mercury Distribution And Microbially Mediated Mercury Methylation Potential Above And Below The Head-Of-Tide Mill Pond Dam, Durham, Nh, Sophia Carson

Master's Theses and Capstones

Mercury (Hg), and its subsequent transformation to the highly toxic compound methylmercury (MeHg) by microorganisms possessing the recently discovered hgcAB gene complex is of great concern on a global scale. In the Oyster River (OR) system in Durham, New Hampshire, where the historic head-of-tide Mill Pond Dam (MPD) is set to be removed in the near future, this issue is especially pertinent, as Hg is commonly found at alarmingly high concentrations in waterways and dams and will be released downstream upon the extraction of the impoundment. Aquatic sediment samples were collected across a time series throughout the OR system and …

Judicial Integrity Under Scrutiny: Analyzing Misconduct Allegations During Times Of Turmoil, Nicholas Gigliotti

Master's Theses and Capstones

Judicial ethics, grounded in principles of impartiality and integrity, face threats when public perceptions are compromised by instances of misconduct and the actions of those who fail to adhere to these core standards. Since 1980, the Judicial Conduct and Disability Act has provided a mechanism for reporting and addressing allegations of misconduct that do not reach the level of impeachment. This process offers complainants a means to hold judges accountable for their actions and often serves as a forum for addressing grievances that might otherwise go unheard. While the federal judiciary is typically insulated from external pressures due to lifetime …

Spatial And Temporal Drivers Of Paternity In Saltmarsh Sparrow, Talia Marie Kuras

Master's Theses and Capstones

The Saltmarsh Sparrow (Ammospiza caudacuta) is a non-territorial, multiply mating passerine with an uncommon polygynandrous mating system in which females are reproductively available with primarily synchronous timing during 3 breeding cycles within the breeding season. In similarly multiply mating species with synchronously available females, home range size and time within breeding season have been identified as drivers of male reproductive success; however, these are atypical characteristics of success in avian mating systems. We investigated the relationship between male Saltmarsh Sparrow home range size, location, age, time within breeding season, and male reproductive success. We performed nest monitoring, mist netting, and …

Understanding Key Habitat Features For The Vulnerable Saltmarsh Sparrow (Ammospiza Caudacuta) To Inform Tidal Marsh Restoration Priorities, Grace Elizabeth Mcculloch

Master's Theses and Capstones

As climate change accelerates the rate of sea-level rise, salt marshes and the critical habitat they provide are increasingly threatened. The Saltmarsh Sparrow (Ammospiza caudacuta) is particularly vulnerable to such changes. Habitat loss and increased nest failure due to flooding put the species at a high risk of extinction within the next several decades. Restoration plans across New England aim to build salt marsh resiliency. To effectively prioritize Saltmarsh Sparrow conservation in these plans, it is essential to identify the features that predict Saltmarsh Sparrow breeding season habitat, so these features can be maintained and enhanced during a restoration project.In …

Dependance On The Atr-Chk1-Wee1 Axis Due To R-Loop Accumulation In Merkel Cell Carcinoma, Evelyn Victoria Proctor

Master's Theses and Capstones

Merkel Cell Carcinoma (MCC) is a rare neuroendocrine skin cancer. In the United States about 80% of MCC cases are caused by MCPyV, which is the only human polyomavirus that has been directly correlated to human cancer. However, there is not a significant amount of information about pathways that are important in MCC. Here we show that MCC cells are reliant on the ATR-CHK1-WEE1 axis for proliferation and to maintain their oncogenic phenotype. We have found several inhibitors that work to reduce cell viability in MCC cells. Synergistic combinations of these inhibitors and chemotherapeutic agents have also been found. Additionally, …

Hardware And Software Optimization For Of Smart Insole Systems For Gait Analysis, Femi John Olugbon

Master's Theses and Capstones

Gait analysis is vital in human biomechanicals, clinical diagnostics, and rehabilitation, providing essential insights into human locomotion. Ground reaction forces play a significant role in understanding gait dynamics, detecting abnormalities, and assessing treatment outcomes. Accurate measurement and analysis of ground reaction forces and other gait parameters are crucial for developing effective interventions and improving patient outcomes.

The first part of this thesis explores methods to optimize and standardize the number of pressure sensors and their optimum placements within the insole for accurate and reliable estimation of temporal gait parameters. Standardization of sensor position for temporal gait analysis is crucial for …

Say Bananas: A Pilot Study On An App-Based Intervention As A Modality Of Home Practice, Kate Margaret Sjostedt

Master's Theses and Capstones

This single subject design study provides an initial exploration of using Say Bananas toprovide motor learning-based intervention for children with childhood apraxia of speech. By implementing an app-based home practice intervention tool to support traditional speech sound disorder treatment, specifically the Treatment for Establishing Motor Program Organization (TEMPO), it was designed to treat speech sound disorders by implementing exercises using a more engaging platform. We tested the performance of three different children diagnosed with childhood apraxia of speech. Each child used the app as a modality of home practice five days a week for four weeks in addition to their …

Characterizing The Diets Of Tidal Marsh Sparrows Using Fecal Dna Metabarcoding, William Thomas Rumfelt

Master's Theses and Capstones

Animal diet studies provide valuable insights into evolution and ecology, including about niches filled by species and how they are shaped by interspecific competition. Fecal DNA metabarcoding is an efficient, non-invasive approach to assess animal diets by sequencing DNA recovered from fecal samples. This study used fecal DNA metabarcoding to characterize the breeding season diets of six Atlantic coast tidal marsh sparrow species with varying levels of adaptation to tidal salt marsh habitat. We identified the major prey taxa present in each species’ diet, compared dietary diversity as a measure of niche width across species of varying salt marsh specialization, …

Investigating Late Pleistocene To Recent Bimodal Sedimentation In The Terrebonne Basin, Gulf Of Mexico, Kayla Tozier

Master's Theses and Capstones

The UT-GOM2-2 Deepwater Hydrate Coring Expedition collected continuous conventional and pressure cores in the Terrebonne Basin, Gulf of Mexico (GOM) to 155 mbsf to investigate the physical, chemical, and biological properties of sediments within, bounding, and overlying methane hydrates. Calcareous nannofossil biostratigraphy constrains the age of the upper 145 mbsf to the Pleistocene (<0.66 Ma) to recent. Description of UT-GOM2-2 Hole H003 revealed a lithologic unit from 4.5 to 152 mbsf, defined by bimodal sedimentation of carbonate oozes and interbedded muds. In this thesis, we examine the shallowest mud-to-carbonate ooze transition to investigate the processes driving this bimodal sedimentation through measurements of biogenic silica (BSi), total carbon (TC), total nitrogen (TN), total sulfur (TS), total organic carbon (TOC), and δ13C of total organic carbon (δ13C-TOC) from 4.62 to 37.83 mbsf. Mixed planktonic foraminifers were picked for radiocarbon dates through 14.39 mbsf, constraining the last ~42,000 years. Our results are integrated with additional existing shipboard and post-cruise data sets, including XRF core scanning data, calcareous nannofossil biostratigraphy, reworked calcareous nannofossil abundance, smear slide analyses, and magnetic susceptibility data. Our integrated results suggest that the BSi record represents reworked (RW) Cretaceous radiolarians delivered fluvially to the site, rather than Pleistocene to recent radiolarians produced via in situ productivity. Evidence of greater terrigenous flux by RW Cretaceous microfossils (both calcareous nannofossils and radiolarians) during Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 2 is consistent with a closer distance of the site to the shoreline during a sea-level low stand. Increased grain size and sand delivery during the last deglacial (16 to 8.9 ka) are consistent with meltwater pulse-driven sedimentation documented elsewhere in the Gulf of Mexico (e.g. Emiliani et al., 1975; Aharon, 2003). Below the radiocarbon constrained interval, two biostratigraphic age datums from 70 to 290 ka nearly constrain a full glacial-interglacial cycle (most of MIS 4-8), where coarse turbidite delivery is greatly increased during a glacial period, consistent with sea level low stands, and reworked sediment delivery greatly increases towards the interglacial period, consistent with meltwater pulses and higher sea level. Though stadial/interstadial processes are evident in our datasets, it appears that the bimodal sedimentation represents a systematic shift in the proximity of the site to the Mississippi River mouth. Low and relatively consistent CaCO3 content, depleted δ13C values, and high TOC:TN values within the carbonate ooze interval suggest that in situ productivity does not increase, but rather dilution by terrigenous sediment decreases. These findings have implications for the deposition of coarse- and fine-grained lithologies on the northern Gulf of Mexico, which may ultimately influence gas hydrate distribution along continental margins. Additionally, these findings suggest that BSi can be measured in GOM sediments as a proxy for the Mississippi River flux.

Mindfulness And Meditation: Activation Likelihood Estimates (Ale) And Meta-Analytic Connectivity Modelling (Macm), Ariana Christine White

Master's Theses and Capstones

Introduction: Mindfulness, a popular practice that originated as a Buddhist custom, encompasses a myriad of techniques such as meditation, yoga, and journaling. Such practice is often suggested for individuals with mental health disorders (MHD). Recently, mindfulness-based interventions, including forms of psychotherapy like Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, have gained prominence. Investigations into brain activity associated with mindfulness-based interventions have identified positive modulation of a Triple Network Model (TNM), a confluence of three brain networks that are commonly associated with MHD. Targeting these networks and understanding mindfulness-specific connectivity may provide evidence for regions to target during intervention in order to induce neural …

Mechanical Properties Of Composite Fiberglass Rods Used For Ocean Structure Tethers To Mitigate North Atlantic Right Whale Entanglement, Louis Gitelman

Master's Theses and Capstones

Entanglements in rope fishing gear significantly threaten the critically endangered North Atlantic Right Whale’s health and population (Knowlton, 2022; Brooker & Matthias, 2020). This thesis investigates the potential to mitigate the risk of whale entanglements in ocean structure tether components by using stiff fiberglass composite rods instead of rope. This potential was investigated through five main avenues:1. A survey was conducted of the availability, cost, and material properties of available composite rods and their operability in marine structures. 2. Four-point flexure testing was conducted to measure the degradation of the material properties of fiberglass composite rod samples as a function …

From Seed To Sourdough And Barley To Beer: Values-Based Grain Supply Chain Models To Support Mid-Scale Farm Viability In The Upper Northeast, Elise Neidecker

Master's Theses and Capstones

The industrialization and commodification of grains has had major environmental, health, and economic implications. Pushing back against this commodity system, alternative grain networks are emerging in the form of collaborations between farmers, millers, bakers, maltsters, and brewers creating localized grain supply chains. These grain chains are part of a broader movement toward the development of values-based supply chains in the food system, in which business partners form long-term, strategic partnerships based on shared extra-economic values like sustainability and equity and deliver value-added and differentiated products that allow farmers to capture a price premium. Despite the presence of localized grain chains …

Just Maps? Exploring The Development And Use Of Environmental Justice Mapping Tools In The United States, Claire Emrick

Master's Theses and Capstones

The disparate distribution of environmental risks and benefits is well documented in the United States. In response, interactive mapping tools that attempt to represent and address environmental justice (EJ) issues have proliferated in recent years. By synthesizing socioeconomic and environmental data into a user-friendly interface, EJ mapping tools can inform advocacy and policy decisions that benefit disadvantaged communities. Numerous studies have contributed to the development and assessment of the indices and datasets found in these mapping tools, while other articles have highlighted approaches to and lessons learned from single cases of EJ mapping tool development. However, only a few studies …

Design Of An Axial-Flow Tidal Turbine Test Bed And Initial Validation And Performance Testing With 1:5 Scale Mhkf1 Rotor, Megan Nicole Andersen

Master's Theses and Capstones

The University of New Hampshire (UNH) and XFlow Energy jointly designed and built a scale axial-flow turbine (AFT) test bed under the Atlantic Marine Energy Center (AMEC) work scope. The test bed was fabricated to fill an infrastructure gap in tidal energy testing equipment at UNH. The combination of rotor size and achievable towing speeds allowed for testing in a regime where turbine performance became independent of Reynolds number effects, while also maintaining reasonable blockage. As a result, data collected from the test bed can be used to predict the performance of full-scale tidal turbines. Results and uncertainty analysis were …

Determining Asphalt Pavement Milling Best Practices Through Enhanced Understanding Of Milling Operations, Kaleigh Miech

Master's Theses and Capstones

Milling of asphalt pavements is a commonly used technique in many cases of maintaining and rehabilitating roadways. That said, implementing these milling operations has potential to cause harm to the layers below the mill line due to it being a relatively high-stress and energy activity. In this study, the impact of milling to the pavement layer directly below the mill line was evaluated for five parameters: the pavement temperature at the time of milling, the amount of time between milling and post-mill overlay construction, the depth of milling relative to the asphalt lift interfaces, the structure of the existing pavement, …