Digital Commons Network^™

Evaluating Planting Methods For Native Seed Production And Exploring Granivory In The Northern Great Plains, Allison Dollen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Temperate grasslands have faced immense losses due to land use change in the last 150 years and less than half of the overall grasslands that once covered North America remain today. A portion of historic and remaining U.S. grasslands are located within the northern Great Plains (NGP) region which is home to over 1,600 species of native plants and provides many ecosystem services and economic benefits. Initiatives to restore grasslands and their ecosystem services are currently underway, but barriers such as limited native seed supply and granivory hinder restoration efforts. My first chapter addresses knowledge gaps in planting methods for …

The Impact Of Synchronous And Asynchronous Preference On The Performance Of Distance Learning Students, Christopher A. Wilson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Distance learning is a growing part of education. The transition to distance learning was underway at higher education institutions, but the COVID-19 pandemic forced institutions of all types to rapidly transition to distance learning. The technology that was adapted during this emergency distance learning remained in the classroom once normal instruction resumed. This quantitative study examined two aspects of distance learning technology in education. The study examined student preference for either synchronous or asynchronous instruction through the framework of expectancy theory. Students who were more familiar with the course material were hypothesized to have a higher expectation of success and …

The Price Of Alfalfa: Estimating The Cost To Desalinate Irrigation Water In Arizona 2013 To 2023, Clifford Hall Iv

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Effect Of Corn Processing Methods On Growth Performance, Carcass Characteristics, And Gastrointestinal Health In Ruminants Fed Finishing Diets, Reanna Rae Byrnes-Schoen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The objective of this work was to evaluate different feed processing techniques and their impacts on growth performance, carcass traits, and gastrointestinal health in ruminant animals fed in confinement during the finishing phase. Two studies were conducted. The first study evaluated the effect of kernel processing high moisture ear corn (HMEC) on growth performance and carcass characteristics of finishing beef steers. The second study used feeder lambs to evaluate the effect of steam-flaking corn in a finishing diet on growth performance, carcass characteristics, and gastrointestinal tract (GIT) health. The results from the first study using steers demonstrated that feeding kernel …

Computational Fluid Dynamics Simulation Of In-Situ Plasma- Assisted Cold Spray, Lucas Degen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Cold spray is a solid-state form of additive manufacturing with high versatility and widespread applicability, especially in relation to metal coatings. Many applications exist within the fields of aerospace, defense and energy systems to obtain sustainable, temperature and corrosion resistant, robust coatings. High-strength alloys and refractory metals generally encounter challenges with regards to cold spray coating adhesion and overall deposition efficiency. Heat induced methods of post-processing or in-situ treatment have been explored to encourage particle softening in the cold spray plume, as well as coating recrystallization to enhance material properties. These approaches have primarily been limited to an experimental approach, …

Fast And Sustainable Video Anomaly Detection With Continual Learning, Preethi Amasa

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Real-time video anomaly detection systems deployed in surveillance, healthcare, and industrial environments face continuous distribution shifts in lighting, viewpoint, and activity patterns. Existing models often experience performance degradation under these conditions and may suffer catastrophic forgetting when adapting to new environments. This thesis proposes RegiGrow, a parameter-efficient continual adaptation framework built on the Flashback retrieval pipeline. RegiGrow integrates Mixture-of-Experts Low-Rank Adaptation into a frozen ImageBind encoder, enabling sequential domain adaptation without modifying the pretrained backbone. A lightweight router maps visual regime features to a distribution over LoRA experts, each specializing in a distinct normal operating regime. The central contribution is …

The Spacetime Finite Element Method For Investigations Into Physics Ghost Systems And Time Parallel Preconditioning, Jax Wysong

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This work operates on two fronts, focusing on interesting physical phenomena before turning our attention to an interesting numerical math problem. First, using the spacetime finite element method (FEM), we investigate a PDE system consisting of two Klein Gordon equations, which are coupled nonlinearly through the potential energy. The system contains a ghost (negative kinetic energy term). Systems such as these are generally deemed physically unstable, resulting in infinite energy in finite time. However, recent work has shown that this is not always the case. We investigate multiple scenarios arising from different initial conditions to characterize if/when a ghost system …

Feasibility Study For Lithium Mining In South Dakota, Neha Karna

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The increasing demand for lithium in the battery manufacturing industry, boosted by the growth of electric vehicles and smartphones, has led to concern over its sustainable supply chain in the United States. Historically, South Dakota has played a significant role in U.S. lithium production. The recent surge of interest in lithium exploration in South Dakota, specifically Black Hills, underscores the importance of evaluating the feasibility of lithium mining in Black Hills. This research aims to study the economic feasibility of a lithium mining operation in Black Hills, South Dakota. Our specific objective is to estimate cut-off grade using Lane’s model …

Bridging Language And Game Worlds: Semantic Representations And Text-Driven Terrain Generation For Procedural Content, Zhongyu Xie

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Procedural Content Generation (PCG) systems produce vast quantities of game levels, terrain, and environments, but lack semantic interfaces: no shared vocabulary exists between natural language, designer intent, and the structured representations generators operate on. This thesis addresses the language-content grounding gap in PCG through two complementary studies spanning semantic analysis and semantic synthesis. The first study introduces a group-supervised contrastive learning framework for semantic representation of symbolic PCG maps under many-to-one semantics, where visually distinct maps may share the same design intent. The framework combines parameter-guided semantic grouping, LLM-based caption augmentation, and a multi-positive contrastive objective that aligns language with …

Towards Energy Access For All: Developing The Lived Energy Experience Index (Leei), Kentina Annie Ishimwe

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Energy is the fuel that powers the engine of civilization. Energy access metrics ensure that nations continuously work towards providing access for all. However, the prevalent binary indicator fails to consider that energy needs to be usable, accessible, affordable, and reliable. As a result, numerous tiered and multidimensional metrics, such as the Multi-Tier Framework, came about to bridge the gap but proved to be complex and complicated to implement. This study presents the existing literature review, assesses the limitations of current energy access measurement frameworks, and compares household energy needs with reported access statistics. Based on the findings, the Lived …

Sustainable State: A Location-Based Analysis Of Recycling Habits On A University Campus, Valentyna Labrie

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Universities are mini communities for the younger generation. Their role in advancing sustainable waste management practices is very valuable. That is why it is crucial to promote pro-environmental behavior, monitor consistent sorting accuracy, and maintain positive recycling indicators such as contamination and diversion rates. The research aim was to explore the impact of spatial context and visual communication strategies on recycling accuracy, contamination, and diversion rates at South Dakota State University (SDSU). The research analysed the impact of proximity to food service areas on waste composition. Another research interest was the impact of educational signage and stickers on recycling behavior …

A Multiscale Computational Framework Bridging Molecular Dyanmics, Phase-Field, And Elasto–Viscoplstic Fast Fourier Transform: Applications To Process–Structure–Property Relationships In Metallic Materials, Chaimae Jouhari

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Metallic materials exhibit process–structure–property relationships that arise from physical mechanisms operating across multiple length and time scales. Atomistic processes control diffusion, thermal response, and interfacial behavior; mesoscale mechanisms govern grain morphology, interface migration, and microstructure evolution; full-field crystal-plasticity calculations resolve heterogeneous mechanical fields; and continuum-scale finite-element (FE) models connect material response to component-level deformation, damage, and performance. Because no single simulation method can resolve all of these mechanisms, predictive modeling requires a framework in which information obtained at one scale can be transferred to the next. This dissertation develops a multiscale computational framework that bridges molecular dynamics (MD), phase-field (PF) …

Detecting Poisoning Attacks In The Rag Systems Using Multi-Tier Anomaly Detection, Somtochukwu Orizu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) systems aim to enhance the capabilities of language models by retrieving external knowledge during inference. However, the process of retrieving knowledge introduces new security vulnerabilities to these models, specifically through the possibility of retrieval poisoning attacks in which adversarial documents are added to the system knowledge base to poison the language model’s responses. Although there have been a variety of defenses proposed for retrieval poisoning attacks, limited work has been done in the area of anomaly detection in embedding spaces as a general defense against multiple retrieval poisoning attack strategies. This thesis investigates two embedding-space anomaly detection …

Securing Smart Agriculture With Communication-Efficient Federated Unlearning, Ujjwal Pudasaini

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis addresses the data poisoning attack in smart agricultural systems using federated unlearning, where the contribution of compromised field devices must be removed from the global model under communication constraints. We propose FedSCAN, a three-phase framework that identifies critical layers based on parameter sensitivity, classifies active neurons within these layers through relative weight change analysis, and performs unlearning via sparse low-rank adaptation to active neurons while freezing base model parameters. FedSCAN limits computational overhead to a compact parameter subset, enabling devices to participate in a communication-efficient manner. Experimental results on four datasets demonstrate that FedSCAN achieves up to 426.3× …

Data-Driven Decision-Making Frameworks For Energy Procurement And Dynamic Pricing In Electric Vehicle Charging Networks, Pallavi Khanal

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The continued growth of electric vehicles (EVs) is increasing the demand for charging infrastructure and creating new operational challenges for charging network operators (CNOs). Uncertainty in charging demand, electricity market prices, and user charging behavior can significantly impact both the economic performance and reliability of charging network operations. To address these challenges, this thesis develops an integrated data-driven framework that combines charging demand modeling, risk-aware energy procurement, machine learning, and reinforcement learning for intelligent EV charging network operation. The research begins by developing queueing-based models to characterize EV charging demand under time-varying and stochastic arrival conditions. Time-varying Mt/M/1 and Mt/M/c …

Spatio-Temporal Demand Forecasting For Optimizing Electric Vehicle Charging Network Operations, Subhamyu Mani Nepal

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The primary objective of this thesis is to create a framework for modeling, forecasting Electric Vehicle load demand and optimizing the EV charging network operation for Charging network operators. As EV’s popularity grows accurate forecasting of EV charging demand and its effect on the distribution network is critical for the efficient planning and operation of charging infrastructure, as well as for enabling Charging Network Operators to participate effectively in wholesale electricity markets. The first part of the work develops Mt /M/1 & Mt /M/c queuing models calibrated using real-world EV charging data to characterize station-level operations under time-varying arrival rates. …

Semantic Discovery Of Genomic Datasets With Ai, Lawrence Allibah

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Traditional keyword-based search in genomic databases often fails to capture the latent semantic context of biological studies, leading to a ``Lexical Gap" in research discovery. This thesis presents a high-performance dual-engine discovery system built upon 10,000 studies. By utilizing 1,536-dimensional vector embeddings, with large language models (LLMs) we implement a search engine coupled with a novel Hybrid Boosting layer that integrates semantic intent with factual metadata. Furthermore, we apply a high-dimensional K-Means clustering algorithm for unsupervised topic discovery. Empirical benchmarking demonstrates that the Hybrid Boosting engine achieves a 38.1% gain in precision and a 41.2% increase in Mean Reciprocal Rank …

Integration Of Ders Volt-Var Dynamic Constraint Into Time-Coupled Optimal Power Flow For System Stability, Shadrack T. Asiedu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The transition toward power systems with higher levels of inverter-based generation requires operating models that account for the dynamic support available from distribution-connected resources. Although inverter-based DERs can provide fast reactive-power support through functions such as Volt–VAR control, conventional optimal power flow models generally represent these resources as static power injections. In addition, transmission-level dispatch commonly represents the downstream distribution system as an aggregated load and does not explicitly consider the voltage at the point of common coupling. Consequently, an OPF solution may satisfy the transmission-bus voltage constraints while producing an operating point at which the downstream DERs do not …

A Framework For Reliable Domain Ai: Knowledge-Grounded Data And Logic-Graph Reasoning, Yangxiao Bai

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Large language models (LLMs) perform well on general tasks, yet their deployment in specialized, high-stakes domains such as public health remains unreliable. Models hallucinate facts, combine multi-step evidence incorrectly, and retrieve context that corrupts downstream reasoning. Three root causes underlie these failures: training data that underrepresents rare but critical domain themes, reasoning that is opaque and unverifiable, and evidence use that cannot be re-checked when the evidence changes. This dissertation addresses all three. First, we introduce HDBSCAN_SSA, a coarse-to-fine topic-modeling pipeline that couples density-based clustering with a novel Semantic Seed Aggregation algorithm. Using samples drawn from a larger corpus of …

Finite Mixture Modeling Towards Applications In Material Science And Biomedical Data, Jason Hasse

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation contains three chapters on different applications of mixture regression models, broadly in materials science and public health. We begin with a basic application of finite mixture models and regression mixture models. The materials science analysis was performed entirely using data from finite element simulations of the additive manufacturing process via powder bed fusion. Visualization of the clustering solution as applied to the additive manufacturing designs highlighted the intuitive patterns that could be found. These patterns simultaneously yield the regression coefficients and subgroups of the geometric regions, providing a way to predict stresses and strains in a new geometry …

Page Evidence Promotion For Open-Domain Multimodal Document Question Answering, Abdolhossein Erfanshekooh

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Open-domain multimodal document question answering requires retrieving a small set of answer-bearing pages from a large document collection before a vision-language model can generate an answer. Although modern retrieval systems may return hundreds or thousands of candidate pages, the answer model typically receives only the highest-ranked few. Consequently, relevant evidence may already be present in the candidate pool yet remain unavailable to the answer model because it is ranked below the reader cutoff. This thesis identifies this retrieval-to-reader gap as a page evidence promotion problem and proposes a framework for diagnosing and addressing it. First, page-level pseudo-supervision is derived from …

Evaluating Supplementation Strategies Using Precision Livestock Technologies And Energy Based Models In Developing Beef Heifers Grazing Dormant Rangeland, Kali-Jo Bentz

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Replacement beef heifer development in extensive grazing systems is challenged by variation in forage quality, supplement intake, and animal behavior, all of which influence the ability to achieve targeted growth prior to breeding. Precision livestock technologies (PLT) enable continuous monitoring of individual animal performance, while energy-based nutritional models support individualized supplementation. However, their application under extensive grazing conditions remains poorly understood. Therefore, the objectives of this thesis were to (1) evaluate heifer utilization of multiple precision livestock technologies and their relationship with animal performance and (2) evaluate the accuracy of an individualized energy-based supplementation model by comparing predicted supplement allotments …

Likes For Love: Examining The Relationship Of Sociocultural Factors On Social Media Influences Of Instagram Use For Young Black Women, Cheria S. Jackson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In recent years there has been a push toward studying ethnic minority women related to the psychological implications of image and beauty, as historically the focus has been on the experiences of European women (Awad et al., 2015). Black women must process sexual development, attitudes, and behaviors through the lens of the sexual scripts and stereotypes of their ethnic group and must negotiate between mainstream and culture specific norms of sexuality (Daniels and Zurbriggen, 2016; Jerald et al., 2017). The presence of these scripts signifies a difference between Black women and other races about how they may internalize and react …

Charter School Counselor's Perceived Barriers To Implementing A Recognized Asca Model Program, Nadene P. Pomerico

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In 2003, the American School Counselor Association published its first edition of the ASCA National Model—a framework for school counselors to develop and implement comprehensive school counseling programming. This streamlined guidance supports school counselors in developing and implementing comprehensive school counseling programming that prioritizes services to students with systematic intentionality. In addition, the American School Counselor Association released the Recognized ASCA Model Program (RAMP) award. This distinction is awarded to school counseling programs that demonstrate the implementation of the ASCA National Model with fidelity, which includes using data to evaluate the impact of school counseling programming. Through the years, a …

Navigating The Digital Divide: A Quantitative Analysis Of The Digital Literacy Skills Of College Students Through The Lens Of Technological Self-Efficacy, Robert M. Spisak Jr

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This quantitative dissertation addresses the digital literacy skills gap among college students and their ability to effectively use digital technologies in higher education. While many students arrive with technical skills, gaps exist in their ability to critically assess information, ethically engage with digital content, and apply these competencies across academic and professional contexts. Grounded in the framework of technological self-efficacy, which emphasizes the belief in one’s ability to perform digital tasks, this study examines both the digital literacy skills student bring from high school and their self-perceptions of those skills during college. This study was guided by the following research …

Discovery Of The Multi-Ion Bridge Intermediate: A Computational Exploration Of The Mechanism For Azomethine Ylide Formation From N-Oxides, Martin J. Neal

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Density functional theory (DFT) provides a method for calculating the ground-state energies of complex molecular systems through evaluating the electron density instead of the full wave function. When results match either experimental outcomes, calculations with DFT offer a computationally efficient method to help explain chemical phenomena. The transformation of tertiary amine N-oxides to azomethine ylides, a simple route to the precursor for 1,3-dipolar cycloadditions that result in the pyrrolidine scaffolds found in natural products, has received only minimal attention due to concerns that its mechanism includes a highly electrophilic intermediate. Utilizing DFT to model the mechanism of the conversion …

Limiting A Liberal Education: Exploring Technology Access And Equity Through Universal Design And Critical Disability Studies, Marisa R. Carlson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This quantitative improvement study investigates how classroom technology policies impact equity, access, and alignment with liberal arts values at a small Catholic liberal arts college. The study arose from concerns regarding academic accommodations, where students needed to formally request access to digital tools that were widely available. The focus is on inconsistent and sometimes restrictive technology policies that create barriers for students relying on these resources.

Interpreted through the conceptual frameworks of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and Critical Disability Studies (CDS), this study was guided by the following research questions:

1. What expectations do students have regarding access to technology …

Patterns Of Historical And Contemporary Distribution And Occurrence Of Imperiled Fish Populations In East Texas Streams, Maggie F. Moses

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

East Texas supports a very diverse freshwater fish fauna, yet many of these species are listed as Species of Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN). In this study, I investigated historical and contemporary distribution trends of ten fish species listed as SGCN within the Neches, Sabine, and Cypress River basins in East Texas. Specifically, I examined regional and local environmental variables influencing their distributions and occurrences at both time periods. At the regional scale, I developed ecological niche models (Maxent) using occurrence data from 1940–1999 (historical) and 2000–present (contemporary, including surveys from 2023–2025) to evaluate changes in habitat and identify key regional …

Depth-Averaged Two-Dimensional Hydrodynamic Modeling In Headwater Channel And Floodplain Design., Jesse Dylan Robinson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In the channels and floodplains of inland waterways the hydrodynamic forces of floods destroy property and infrastructure, threaten lives, and damage aquatic habitat. Flood simulations using robust and efficient depth-averaged two-dimensional hydrodynamic models (2D models) can be interpreted to design effective solutions for areas vulnerable to damage. The reliable interpretation of 2D models for use in design is improved here through direct comparison of 2D model output to observed flood events at 6 headwater research sites. Instrumentation was used for model calibration and to define the surface hydrodynamics at sites with confined flows, wide and shallow flows, at vertical steps, …

Explainable A.I. For Analysis And Interpretation Of Heterogeneous Crime Data., Sadaf Ahmed

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines the problem of fragmented data in the context of crime and cybercrime analysis. While both domains generate substantial public data, these sources vary widely in format, structure, and coverage, making it difficult to perform consistent inference or develop reliable predictive models. To address these limitations, this work proposes a layered integration framework grounded in ontology-driven modeling and data fusion. The approach is applied to two distinct but related case studies, each focused on constructing a coherent representation of criminal activity from heterogeneous sources. The first case study explores the integration of drug and human trafficking data from …