Digital Commons Network^™

Branching Fraction Measurements Of Ξc + → Σ+H+H− And Λc + → P+H+H− Using Belle Ii Monte Carlo, Azwad Adnan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Charmed baryon decays are a great place to probe and search for physics beyond the Standard Model. The Belle II experiment is equipped to explore this area with high statistics datasets to shed light on any potential anomalies. In addition to searches for new physics, the Belle II data samples can be used to make SM measurements that are either missing, statistics limited, or require confirmation.

Creating A Caring, Accountable, Respectable, And Engaging Environment (2care2): An Applied Research Study To Address Chronic Absenteeism, Eula Anderson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this study, I will explore some of the root causes behind middle school students' failure to attend class. Data shows that students are labeled chronically absent when they miss more than 10% of a school year, regardless of the absences- expelled, unexcused, or suspended. According to the U.S. Department of Education, about seven million students were labeled chronically absent in the 2015-16 school year, equating to roughly one out of every six students across the United States being absent for 15 or more days. The problem exists nationwide; however, it is more prominent in urban areas with low socioeconomic …

A Case For Digital Coaches, Elise Brown

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In response to COVID-19, the Mississippi Department of Education (MDE) invested approximately $295 million to support digital learning efforts. This investment, referred to as the Mississippi Connects Initiative, funded state level infrastructure improvement, bulk device purchasing, digital subscription purchasing, telehealth and teletherapy resources, and professional learning for educators. Focusing on professional learning, this study aimed to determine if differences existed between schools that did and did not receive professional learning via the digital learning coaching program.

The data used in this study was collected in the spring of the 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 school years, using the BrightBytes® Technology and Learning …

A Quantitative Study Of The Effectiveness Of The University Of Mississippi's Biology Bootcamp, Nicole Lewis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

There is a growing demand for a Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) trained workforce in the United States. In order to remain globally competitive, the US needs to increase the STEM workforce not only in numbers but also diversity. Colleges and universities throughout the US need to not only gain STEM majors but retain them through graduation. Research has shown that the majority of STEM students struggle their first year in college for a variety of reasons. Many academics agree that incoming freshman need to integrate both socially and academically to prevent attrition. This has led to the creation …

A Machine Learning Approach To Managing 5g Network Slicing In The O-Ran Environment, Mohammad Omari

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The objective of this thesis is to assess the performance of a data-drivennetwork scheduler in optimizing network performance in a three-slice 5G wireless cellular network. Each slice represents a distinct 5G traffic category or use case. These slices operate on the same underlying physical core and radio network; how- ever, they appear as independent networks from the end-user perspective. This work models the resource scheduling problem as a Markov decision process. A dataset of key performance measurements of a 5G network is constructed using MATLAB to train a deep Q-network reinforcement learning agent. Simulation results show that the agent can …

Analytical Performance Evaluation Of Denm Loss In V2v Sidechannel Communications, Avijit Sarker

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The objective of this dissertation is to quantify the loss of Decentralized Environmental Notification Messages (DENMs) in a vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) scenario in which DENMs are transmitted over subchannels of the sidelink (SL) specifically allocated for DENM transmission, with vehicular user equipments (VUE) autonomously selecting and managing the radio resources for transmitting DENMs. A slot-based discrete parameter, discrete-valued Markov Chain (DVMC) model that reflects DENM generation requirements for an ensemble of VUEs is developed. This model simultaneously acknowledges the potentially bursty nature and correlations within the DENM generation process and is used to assess DENM loss. DENM loss is determined according …

The Effects Of High School Scheduling Models On Student Achievement In Mississippi, Dustin Ryan Payne

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study investigates the effects of different high school scheduling practices on student achievement in Mississippi, considering school economic status as a covariate. Using a robust factorial ANOVA design, the research analyzes reading proficiency, math proficiency, and Mississippi Statewide Accountability System school performance scores across 149 public high schools, excluding those with grades other than 9 through 12, private schools, and charter schools. The primary goal was to determine whether schedule type significantly influences academic performance, independent of economic status. Results indicate that while economic status consistently affects student and school performance, schedule type alone does not show a statistically …

Applied Research For Improving The Behavior Intervention Process With The Help Of School Counselors, Teachers, And Administrators, Amberly T. Chapman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study explored how improvements to a district’s multi-tiered system of supports can improve the behavior interventions implemented for students needing behavioral support. Districts with poorly functioning intervention systems fail to provide students with the proper academic and behavioral support they need. School counselors are integral to the success of schools and districts and their participation in the MTSS process. This study examined the creation and implementation of behavior intervention and the additional support school counselors provide to students receiving the interventions. Qualitative and quantitative methods were used in this study and the program was evaluated at the conclusion.

Pełczyński’S Properties (V) And (V∗) On Positive Tensor Products Of Banach Lattices, Apoorva Mate

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Let E be an atomic reflexive Banach lattice and X be any Banach lattice.

In chapter 3, we study the inheritance of Pełczyński’s property (V) from E and X to their positive projective tensor product Eˆ⊗|π|X and positive injective tensor project Eˇ⊗|ε|X. In section 3.2, we show that Eˆ⊗|π|X has Pełczyński’s property (V) if and only if X has Pełczyński’s property (V) and every positive linear operator from E to X∗ is compact. In section 3.3, we show that Eˇ⊗|ε|X has Pełczyński’s property (V) if and only if X has Pełczyński’s property (V). In section 3.4, as an application, we …

The Road To Recovery: An Applied Research Study On Promoting Effective Mathematics Instruction By Increasing Teachers’ Knowledge Of And Supporting The Implementation Of Effective Mathematics Teaching Practices To Address Pandemic Learning Loss, Kimberly D. Price

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this applied research study with a program evaluation was to answer fundamental questions about the effectiveness of an extended professional development program. The program sought to promote quality mathematics instruction by increasing teachers’ knowledge of and supporting the implementation of effective mathematics teaching practices in classroom instruction to address pandemic learning loss. To support the efforts of the Mississippi Department of Education to address pandemic learning loss and increase the capacity of the state’s educator workforce, the professional development team in the Office of Professional Development created an action plan. A program evaluation was used to measure …

Perceptions Of First-Year Bipoc Students About The Impact Of Institutional Recruitment Practices On Their Decision To Enroll In The University Of Mississippi’S Integrated Marketing Communications, Jennifer A. Simmons

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The University of Mississippi has a history and continued stigma of not being a welcoming place for people of color. While the university has made strides to distance itself from its past, negative stereotypes and perceptions still exist among some students and parents. These stereotypes and perceptions can make recruiting students more difficult. This study explores the perceptions of first-year students who identify as Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) about the impact of institutional recruitment practices on their decision to enroll in the University of Mississippi’s Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) program. This study will help provide perspectives from …

Fostering Inclusive Excellence For Black Women In Undergraduate Computing Sciences At A Predominantly White Institution, Toni Avant

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Employment projections indicate that the computing sciences field is expected to increase by more than 600,000 jobs from 2020-2030. As society becomes increasingly reliant on technological innovations, the demand continues to rise for qualified graduates in this field. It is essential that employers build a diverse and inclusive workforce in order to accommodate the markets they serve. Yet, the lack of representation of Black women in the computing sciences field is of great concern.

From Pixels To Strings: Efficient String Art Creation Leveraging Greedy Algorithm, Ashraya Joshi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis optimizes String Art generation using advanced algorithms. String art is a technique that creates visual artworks composed of straight lines of strings tensioned between pins distributed on a canvas. Initially employing the Hough Transform, issues such as computational complexity and edge detection inaccuracies led to adopting a Greedy Algorithm. This algorithm iteratively enhances visual similarity between the string art and the original image by reducing the difference between pixel intensities between them, significantly improving quality and efficiency. Integrating non-photorealistic rendering techniques, the study ensures smoother and more coherent lines. The study demonstrates the improvements with different quantitative metrics. …

Advancing College Access: A Correlational Inquiry On College Credit Attainment Among Low-Income High School Students, John Dixon

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A college degree is vital for individuals to access lucrative, fulfilling careers. College access opportunities have existed for decades in K-12 education. In 2024, millions of high school students have access to advanced coursework, exposing them to college-level rigor with the potential to earn college credits (Jagesic et al., 2022). Students from historically marginalized communities do not participate in college courses in high schools at rates similar to White, affluent students. Furthermore, participation in these college opportunities does not always give students college credits. My quantitative, nonexperimental research study aimed to determine the extent of the relationship between the types …

A Longitudinal Study Of Mississippi’S Achievement Scores And School Ratings Based On Principal Preparation, Brittaney Boyd

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The role of the principal is complex, and there are many ways principals might potentially influence classroom instruction and student learning (Allensworth & Hart, 2018). Over the last decade, the principal’s effectiveness has been evaluated based on student achievement.

The purpose of this quantitative study, A Longitudinal Study of Mississippi’s Achievement Scores and School Ratings Based on Principal Preparation is to determine whether a significant difference exists between Mississippi’s alternate and traditional route principal preparation graduates based on academic successes for the 2017-2018, 2018-2019, 2021-2022, and 2022-2023 school terms, whether a significant difference exists among the different Institutions of Higher …

Applying Dynamics And Geophysical Methods To Hawaiian Volcanic Terrains And Lava Flows, Brody K. Conner

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Presented here is the culmination of research spurred by a month-long field expedition to the windward side of the Big Island of Hawai’i during July and August 2023. During this expedition, two ground-penetrating radar units, a Mala GX 160 MHz antenna and a Crossover 1760 dual frequency antenna, were used to survey the basaltic, volcanic landscapes of Mauna Loa and Kīlauea. Post-eruptive digital elevation models of the Ahu’ailā’au (2018 Lower Puna) Eruption and Quantum Geographic Information Systems were used in tandem with GPR Insights software to provide a thorough picture of the surface and subsurface lava flows from Ahu’ailā’au. Using …

Evaluating Deterministic Approaches To Forecast Population By Educational Attainment In The United States, Wei Gu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Forecasting population by educational attainment not only benefit government planning on allocating educational resources, labor market demand, and long-term human capital and overall well-being of society (Lutz et al. 2008), but also help predicting size and structure of future population (Lutz and KC 2011). To seek effective method to produce precise results with limited resources, this dissertation compared the Cohort Component Method (CCM) and Hamilton Perry (HP) method to forecast population that are 25 years and older with Associate’s degree and above, and evaluated how factors may impact the accuracy, and how factors interact with each other to influence the …

The Effect Of Social Determinants Of Health On End-Stage Kidney Disease Mortality Across Diverse Adult Populations: Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis, Prince Agyapong

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Background: This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to examine the influence of social determinants of health (SDOH) on End-Stage Kidney Disease (ESKD) mortality among diverse racial populations. Given the high morbidity and mortality associated with ESKD, understanding the impact of various SDOH factors across different racial groups is crucial for improving patient outcomes.
Methods: A comprehensive literature search was conducted to identify studies reporting on the relationship between SDOH and ESKD mortality using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) format. Citations were collated in EndNote 21 and screened in Covidence by two independent reviewers, with inter-rater …

Refining The Inverse Lipschitz Constant For Injective Relu Networks, Cole Rausch

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis, we study the Inverse Lipschitz Constant (ILC) of injective ReLU layers. We study the tightness of the ILC lower bound established in Puthawala et al. Our approach has three components. First, we find that the conditions for injectivity on lines yield a weaker condition than the general condition given in Puthawala et al. Second, we perform numerical experiments to judge the tightness of the existing ILC lower bound and find that bound is overly conservative. Third, we identify the source of the potential slack in the proof of the existing ILC bound, and perform further numerical experiments …

Monarch Butterfly (Danaus Plexippus) Oviposition Preferences And A Survey Of Fungal Pathogens On Native Milkweeds (Asclepias) Of The Northern Great Plains, Grace Damiano

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

North American monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) populations are experiencing significant declines due to habitat loss caused by land use changes. Much of the American Midwest where milkweed, the only host plant of the monarch butterfly, was once much more abundant has been converted to a predominantly agricultural landscape. There are nineteen species of milkweed native to the northern Great Plains region occupied by South Dakota, North Dakota, and Minnesota. Some of these milkweed species may be preferable to monarch butterflies for different reasons, including morphological factors such as stem length, species-level chemical factors, and temporal factors. As monarch …

Simulation Of Reacting Supersonic Flow In A Cavity Flameholder, Mohamed Benjelloun Touimi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Scramjet engines, or Supersonic Combustion Ramjets, are pivotal for achieving and maintaining hypersonic flight speeds. These engines leverage the high-speed airflow to compress and mix air and fuel for combustion. A significant challenge in Scramjet engine design is ensuring stable and efficient combustion within this high-speed environment. Cavity flameholders are crucial components that stabilize the combustion process by creating a subsonic region where the fuel-air mixture can ignite and sustain combustion. This research simulates this supersonic flow within the combustion chamber to accurately model and analyze the combustion dynamics. Various turbulence models, including RANS, and DES, are evaluated for their …

Abelson (Abl) Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors Reduce Porcine Reproductive And Respiratory Syndrome Virus (Prrsv) Replication In Vitro, Jenna Parliament

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) is an enveloped, positive-sense, single-stranded RNA virus from the Arteriviridae family. PRRSV causes respiratory illness and reproductive failure in infected pigs. Outbreaks occurring in the United States and worldwide cause significant economic losses annually. Abelson (Abl) tyrosine kinase is a non-receptor tyrosine kinase, which plays a central role in regulating many cellular processes such as actin reorganization, cell proliferation and differentiation by transducing extracellular and intracellular signals. Abl inhibitors have been shown to restrict the entry of membrane fusion of enveloped viruses, such as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus, Middle Eastern respiratory syndrome …

Nitrogen Fertilizer Placement And Rate Impacts Sunflower Seed Yield, Oil And Protein Content, Rojina Kafle

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

South Dakota accounts for about 36% of the total US commercial sunflower production and nitrogen is a major input. Costs related to N fertilizer demand economically optimum N rates. This study investigated the impact of the N fertilizer placement method (broadcast vs band) and rate (0, 28, 56, 84, 112, 140 kg N ha-1) on leaf chlorophyll content, head diameter, seed yield, seed oil, and protein concentration of three sunflower hybrids in 2022 and 2023. The experiment was conducted at Brookings (eastern SD- conventional till, 66 cm rainfall) using an oil-type hybrid and at central SD sites (no-till, 57 cm …

Evaluating The Impact Of Perceptual Loss In Generative Adversarial Models And Diffusion Models For Document Image Enhancement, Farzaneh Karimpour

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Documents often suffer from various types of degradation which make them difficult to read and restrict OCR performance. This study investigates the effectiveness of perceptual loss in enhancing document image cleanup by comparing a GAN-based model and a diffusion model. In our experiments, we utilized the DE-GAN model as a GAN-based model and the NAF-DPM model as a diffusion model, both enhanced by incorporating perceptual loss. We then compared the results of both models and evaluated them by using the DIBCO 2013, DIBCO 2017, and H-DIBCO 2018 datasets revealed that our approach consistently outperforms existing state-of-the-art methods. Results showed that …

Reimagining Hunting Through Women's Decision Space, H. Nash Jackson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Approximately 14.4 million people hunt in the United States, yet only 3.1 million (22%) of these hunters are women. To enhance women’s participation, many state natural resource agencies aim to reduce barriers and create pathways for women to hunt. Previously, researchers surveyed women to understand and describe barriers to their full participation in hunting. However, this methodology often just quantifies the different barriers without describing the interconnectedness and how the complexity of barriers can impact women’s participation in hunting. This thesis instead took an inductive research approach with the goal of better understanding women’s perspectives when faced with complex barriers. …

Computational Characterization Of Extracellular Electro-Osmotic Flow During Tissue Repair, Ashley Jorgensen-Blocker

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Electrical stimulation (ES) therapy promotes the healing of chronic epidermal wounds and suppresses the degeneration of articular cartilage. Despite the success of ES therapy, the underlying mechanisms by which ES promotes tissue repair are largely unknown, preventing the standardization and optimization of treatments. One proposed mechanism involves electro-osmotic flow (EOF), electrically driven water flow generated within close proximity to the cell surface. EOF induces the transport of macromolecules and removes metabolic wastes and inflammatory molecules from these dense tissues through interstitial flow. This dissertation investigates the application of weak electric fields (EFs) to non-excitable cells and the generation of EOF …

Improving Stream Connectivity In South Dakota, Colton Rainier Curtis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Stream connectivity is crucial for fish movement and genetic diversity in fragmented landscapes. Road-crossings often act as barriers, disrupting hydrology and isolating fish populations. The Southeast Aquatic Resources Partnership (SARP) has developed rapid road-crossing assessment protocols and tools to prioritize restoration projects. However, managers lack tools for planning, directing, and initiating roadcrossing assessments. Managers also require modeling approaches to effectively identify and monitor road-crossings across dynamic stream networks. Presented here is a case study offering a roadmap for effective implementation of collaborative road-crossing assessments and prioritization of remediation projects, alongside an exploration of predictive modeling approaches to identify problematic crossings …

An Integrated Hybrid P2p-Dr Networks For A Transactive Energy Market Platform Considering Electricity Network Constraints, Sheroze Liaquat

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Computational And Experimental Modeling Of Particle Transport Inside Respiratory Pathways And Indoor Environments, Abir Malakar

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis aims to explore efficient drug delivery to clinical target sites along the human upper airway that strongly depends on variables associated with the delivery device and the drug formulation, e.g., the device plume angle, particle sizes of drug solution, drug delivery speed of the device, viscosity of the drug solution, delivery axis orientation, and the formulation density. In our investigation, we prioritize the nasopharynx, the primary site of initial viral infection, as the ideal target zone for drug delivery. We have used Large Eddy Simulation and Lagrangian techniques to replicate breathing at 15 L/min and quantify regional drug …

Portable X-Ray Fluorescence Spectrometry For Sensing Salinity And Sodicity In Glacial Northern Great Plains Soils With Machine Learning Models, Adam Devlin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Saline and sodic soils are an increasing concern across the Northern Great Plains (NGP) due to factors of climate change and land management that are drawing geologically derived salts to the land surface. Traditional laboratory assessments, such as electrical conductivity (EC) and sodium adsorption ratio (SAR), are time and resource consumptive. Portable X-ray fluorescence (PXRF) may be a viable proximal sensing alternative, as it is able to provide elemental data in minutes, in situ or ex situ, and can directly quantify salinity-associated elements like Ca, Mg, and S. PXRF paired with predictive models has proven useful for a range of …