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Xanthine Oxidase-Induced Vascular Dysfunction In Nano-Tio2 Inhalation, Xena Marie Williams

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Inhalation of nano-TiO₂ is linked to adverse clinical outcomes that affect people worldwide, particularly those who work in manufacturing. For example, cardiovascular consequences and changes in microvascular responses are, in part, associated with exposure to engineered nanomaterials such as nano-TiO₂; however, the mechanism(s) driving this process is unknown. Nano-TiO₂ is an engineered nanomaterial (ENM) that is reported to, upon inhalation, impair endothelium-dependent vasodilation in several vascular beds via enhanced local oxidant generation and diminished nitric oxide bioavailability. This dissertation aims to address the health concerns generated by occupational exposure to nano-TiO₂ and identify a link …

Quantifying The Impacts Of Genetically Engineered Crops And Deep Soil C Cycling On The Sustainability Of Bioenergy Crop Production, Zoe Pagliaro

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Bioenergy can help mitigate climate change by providing a carbon-neutral fuel source. However, multiple challenges exist to achieving carbon neutrality including converting lignocellulosic materials to fuel and enhancing soil C sequestration during the growth of the feedstocks. To address these challenges, there have been recent efforts to genetically modify feedstocks to produce more energy dense oils that increase fuel conversion efficiency and to cultivate deep-rooted perennial feedstocks that can enhance soil C storage. However, the C consequences and efficacy of these solutions remain largely uncertain.

To examine the C consequences of enhancing oil content of bioenergy feedstocks, I examined the …

Evaluation Of Cross-Laminated Timber Panels Produced With Yellow-Poplar (Liriodendron Tulipifera), Rafael Da Rosa Azambuja

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT) panels are engineered wood products breaking into the building sector. Currently, the range of raw materials used in CLT is still limited to softwoods, while some hardwood species such as yellow-poplar could potentially be used to produce this wood product. Therefore, the main goal of this research was to assess the feasibility of using Appalachian Hardwoods in the production of Cross-Laminated Timber panels. Specifically, the objectives of the research were to 1) Determine the amount of yellow-poplar structural lumber that can be obtained from a representative population of low-grade, yellow-poplar lumber graded for appearance; 2) Evaluate whether …

Similitude, Scaling, And Prediction Of Stream Dissolved Oxygen Across The Contiguous U.S., Aron Gebreslase

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Dissolved oxygen (DO) is a general indicator of stream water quality and ecosystem health. However, the concentration of in-stream DO is controlled by various climatic, land use/cover, hydrologic, biochemical, and ecological drivers. Observational data for stream DO are often unavailable at the desired temporal and spatial scales. Accurate and reliable prediction of stream DO concentration based on a small set of environmental drivers is important to guide the water managers and policymakers to achieve and maintain healthy streams. This dissertation focused on identifying the dominant controls of stream DO and understanding the mechanisms and environmental regimes by employing machine learning, …

A Study On Supereulerian Digraphs And Spanning Trails In Digraphs, Omaema A. Lasfar

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

A strong digraph D is eulerian if for any v ∈ V (D), d+D (v) = d−D (v). A digraph D is supereulerian if D contains a spanning eulerian subdigraph, or equivalently, a spanning closed directed trail. A digraph D is trailable if D has a spanning directed trail. This dissertation focuses on a study of trailable digraphs and supereulerian digraphs from the following aspects.

1. Strong Trail-Connected, Supereulerian and Trailable Digraphs. For a digraph D, D is trailable digraph if D has a spanning trail. A digraph D is strongly trail- connected if for any two vertices u and …

Appalachian Adolescents In An Out-Of-School-Time Program: Examining The Role Of Social Support From Family And Friends For Coping Skills And Intellectual Risk-Taking Outcomes, Summer Kuhn

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Research on young adults has emphasized the importance of social support for generating positive physical, mental, and academic outcomes. This study aims to understand the impact of social support from family and friends on coping skills and intellectual risk-taking among high school seniors participating in an Out-of-School-Time (OST) program in Appalachia. Data from the program’s annual evaluation (2014-2018) was analyzed to measure associations between perceived social support from family and friends and students’ coping skills and intellectual risk-taking. Moreover, potential differences in these associations across genders were considered. Analyses found a significant association between family-based social support and coping skills, …

Stormwater Sensitivities To The Climatic And Land Cover Drivers In A Heavily Urbanized Coastal Basin Along The Northern Gulf Of Mexico, Usa., Md Faisal Razy

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Stormwater runoff response in a complex coastal-urban basin varies with the changes in climatic and land cover drivers. This thesis aims to assess the runoff responses to variation in climatic and land cover variables and perform a sensitivity analysis in complex coastal-urban basins. The Buffalo San Jacinto Basin (BUSJ) of southeast Texas, USA was considered a pilot study area for this research. BUSJ is a heavily urbanized coastal basin, draining an area of 3132 km² through the City of Houston, Texas into the northern Gulf of Mexico, USA. A process-based hydrological model was developed with fine spatio-temporal resolutions for …

Development Of An Innovative Co-Treatment Technology For Produced Water And Blowdown Water: A Regional Approach Of Water Management For Energy Production, Golnoosh Khajouei

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Freshwater use for power generation represents the second-largest water use globally. In the United States, freshwater withdrawals for thermoelectric power accounted for 38% of the total freshwater withdrawals for all uses in 2010. Cooling systems are the most water-intensive part of the thermoelectric generation process. For instance, one 300 MW power generator required about 20,000 m³/h circulating cooling water. The cooling operation discharges a large volume of wastewater in the form of blowdown water (10-20% of the consumed water) that requires treatment for reuse or surface discharge. Produced water (PW), the fluid which returns to the surface from …

Mechanical Response Of Vartm Infused Frp Composites, Andrew Kenney

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Mechanical Response of VARTM based FRP composites

Andrew Kenney

The United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) recently created two new design specification for rail tank cars. These new types of classification, DOT-117 and DOT-117R, are designed with additional safety precautions to prevent hazardous chemicals from leaking out in case of a derailment. Features such as a thicker outer steel wall, head shield, and top and bottom valve protections provide additional protection compared to the current DOT-113 tank cars at the cost of additional weight. The WVU-CFC proposes a multifunctional, composite jacket that could be used in place of current tank …

High Precision Pipeline Leak Detection And Localization Using Negative Pressure Wave Technique: An Application In A Real Field Case Study, Nathaniel C. Moryan

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

One of the most important aspects of oil and gas production is the safe and efficient fluid transportation using pipelines. Pipelines transporting various fluids are the most efficient but are susceptible to failure and leaks. These leaks can come about through natural disaster, as well as from general wear from the pipes that could result in major environmental and economic problems. The ability to detect leaks with speed and accuracy, as well as locating these leaks within a narrow range, will aid with the maintenance response. Hasty responses will minimize the revenue loss and reduce potential environmental impact but bring …

Evaluating Potential Soil Amendments And Geomorphic Methods For Mine Land Reclamation, Amanda Rodrigues Silva

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The United States has approximately 22% of the world’s coal reserves. Since 1961, the electric power sector has been the major user of coal in the U.S., accounting for 91.9% of the coal consumed in the country in 2021. Sixty-two percent of total U.S. coal production in 2021 was sourced from surface mining, and Wyoming, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Illinois, and Montana were responsible for 74% of this total production.

Coal-mining activities expose sulfide minerals in rocks that, when in contact with oxidizing conditions, produce sulfate-rich drainage known as acid mine drainage (AMD). AMD treatment typically involves chemical treatments to raise …

The Relationship Between Oral Health And Health-Related Quality Of Life Among Hemodialysis Patients In Rural West Virginia, Kimberly A. Wallace

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Introduction: Approximately 786,000 Americans are currently diagnosed with end-stage renal disease, 71% of whom are undergoing hemodialysis (HD) treatment. There is a bidirectional relationship between chronic kidney disease and periodontal disease. Among HD patients, poor oral health is prominent and can negatively impact general health and health-related quality of life. Appalachian residents experience extreme health and poverty inequities and limited access to healthcare and dental providers.

Method: The study was designed based on the Andersen Behavioral Model of Health Services Use. 120 participants from 6 outpatient HD centers were enrolled. Data were collected using a 34-item questionnaire including oral health …

Stormwater Runoff Response Under Changing Climate And Land Uses Across Gradients Of Inland And Coastal Urban-Natural Basin, Mahmood Khan

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Climatic variability has caused significant shifts in the magnitude, frequency and spatiotemporal distribution of precipitation, generating excessive runoff that leads to frequent occurrences of extreme hydrologic events such as the pluvial (rainfall accumulation) and fluvial (riverine) floods. The conversion of natural areas into urban lands is further exacerbating the rainfall accumulation by increasing surface imperviousness that hinders infiltration of water into the soil. This dissertation predicts and characterizes potential shifts in the future annual stormwater runoff
volumes and runoff extremes under the standalone and coupled changes in climate and land use across inland and coastal urban-natural settings. The research was …

Synthesizing Realistic Substitute Data For A Law Enforcement Database Using A Python Library, Anthony Carrola

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

In many databases, there is private or sensitive data that should not be accessible to any but a few individuals, such as HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) protected or LE (law enforcement) data. However, there is often a need to work with the data or change it for proper and thorough testing, especially for the developers . In some cases, the developers may be authorized to access and view the data, but it is rarely allowable for that data to be changed. Further, it is unlikely, especially on a large project, that all of the developers will have …

Climatic And Land Cover Sensitivities Of Stormwater Runoff In A Coastal Natural-Urban Basin Of Texas, Usa., Nusrat Nasrin Khan

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Changes in climatic and land use drivers typically drive stormwater runoff quantity and quality. This study focuses on determining the stormwater runoff sensitivities to variation in climatic and land cover changes in a coastal natural-urban basin. A mechanistic hydrologic model was developed for the Spring San Jacinto Basin (SSJB) of Texas, USA considering the basin as a pilot study area by using the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s Storm Water Management Model 5.2. The SSJB drains an area of 1949 km² ultimately into the northern Gulf of Mexico, USA through peripheral neighborhoods of the Greater Houston area. The model …

Geotextile Design And Performance For Dewatering Of Rare Earth Element Sludge Produced From Acid Mine Drainage, Cory J. Nasiadka

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) is an environmental legacy of mining operations that forms when sulfide minerals within the earth are exposed to water and oxygen and has significant harmful effects on the environment when left untreated. Researchers at West Virginia University found large concentrations of REE/CMs (Rare Earth Elements and Critical Minerals) in AMD treatment sludge. REE/CM consist of a group of 17 elements that are crucial to the production of advanced technologies. Due to an extremely low domestic supply of REE/CM in the United States, domestic sources and production of REE/CM are being investigated. This research investigates geotextile design …

Implementation Of A Nonverbal Scrub Cap Identification System To Improve Communication And Perception Of Patient Safety Among Unfamiliar, De-Identified Staff Members In The Operating Room., Keri Ann Roskowinski

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Background: Operating room (OR), professionals deliver patient care with brief introductions, and roles were not always identified, and although team members wear identification (ID) badges, they were usually covered by sterile gowns and other routine personal protective equipment (PPE). Purpose: The aim of this Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) project was to determine if a simple intervention to apply the individual’s name and role to a scrub cap could improve identification, OR team communication, and consequently, patient safety. The participants in this project consisted of nurses, physicians, anesthesia providers, scrub technicians, students, medical sales representatives, and those that identified as …

Machine Learning Approaches To Improve Prediction In Health Care, Sadaf Kabir

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The availability of data and advanced data analysis tools in the health care domain provide great opportunities for the discovery of unknown or hidden patterns in clinical data. However, medical data is often incomplete and has poor quality, e.g., it contains missing values or too many unnecessary features. Majority of these issues are induced by uncertainty in clinical trials and examinations, such as human error, patients’ withdrawal during studies, malfunctioning of data collection equipment, and are generally inevitable. Properly addressing these issues can lead to the development of precise predictive models and consequently more reliable clinical decision making. Accurate predictive …

Modeling, Simulation, And Hardware-In-The-Loop Implementation Of Distributed Voltage Control In Power Systems With Renewable Energy Sources, Ali Dehghan Banadaki

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This dissertation develops and analyzes distributed controllers for power systems with renewable energy sources. A comprehensive state space modeling of voltage source inverters (VSIs) is developed specifically to address the secondary voltage control. This model can be used for simulation and control design. Unlike frequency, voltage is a local phenomenon, meaning that it cannot be controlled from a far distance. Therefore, a voltage zoning matrix that relates the sensitivity of the loads to the sources is proposed. The secondary voltage control is designed by applying the eigenvalue decomposition of the voltage zoning matrix to obtain the reference generators voltages. The …

Vacant To Vibrant: Transforming Vacant Lots In North Philadelphia, Olivia Anne Sinclair

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The City of Philadelphia has addressed the need to utilize vacant lots in the city’s comprehensive planning document, Philadelphia2035 (PCPC, 2010). The document encourages designers to use sustainable practices to reincorporate these abandoned lots back into the fabric of the city. Through partnerships with local organizations in Philadelphia, guidelines and suggestions were created to guide Philadelphians while they revive abandoned lot spaces. In the neighborhood of Nicetown-Tioga, Philadelphia, there is a large amount of vacant lots leaving the area blighted and without resilience. This study accepts Philadelphia’s invitation to use design strategies to be applied to vacant lots within the …

Mechanisms Of Nourishment, Raymond Lloyd Brown Iii

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This written thesis is a description and analysis of the ceramic work of Ray Brown. Included in this thesis is an explanation and defense of my work in my exhibition Mechanisms of Nourishment. It also unpacks the conceptual, technical, and formal aspects of the work.

The research explored in this written thesis discusses the relationship between the aesthetic and utilitarian components of pottery. From an analytical, iterative approach to form, I strive to isolate proportions that evoke a sense of volume and repetition. My references to Mid Century Modern and Streamlining Era design guide my efforts into dynamic mechanisms of …

Detecting Adverse Drug Events Using A Deep Neural Network Model, Saminur Islam

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Adverse drug events represent a key challenge in public health, especially with respect to drug safety profiling and drug surveillance. Drug-drug interactions represent one of the most popular types of adverse drug events. Most computational approaches to this problem have used different types of drug-related information utilizing different types of machine learning algorithms to predict potential interactions between drugs. In this work, our focus is on the use of genetic information about the drugs, in particular, the protein sequence and protein structure of drug protein targets to predict potential interactions between drugs. We collected information on drug-drug interactions (DDIs) from …

Simulated Annealing Heuristics For The Dynamic Generalized Quadratic Assignment Problem, Yugesh Dhungel

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The Dynamic Generalized Quadratic Assignment Problem (DGQAP) is the task of assigning a set of facilities to a set of locations in a multi-period planning horizon such that the sum of the transportation and assignment/reassignment costs is minimized. The facilities may have different space requirements, and the capacities of locations may vary during the multiple-period planning horizon. Also, multiple facilities may be assigned to each location without violating the space capacity of the location. This research presents a formulation and applications of DGQAP in various layout and assignment problems encountered in the literature. Two Simulated Annealing (SA) metaheuristics named SA …

Detection Of Fecal Bacteria In Watersheds Impacted By Acid Mine Drainage, Claire Addison Mcdonald

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Escherichia coli, a fecal coliform, is an essential component of water quality monitoring, entering waterways through sewage deposits, agricultural land and livestock, and wildlife. Various fast and user-friendly methods for quantifying E. coli make it the principal indicator bacteria for fecal contamination. The most common methods for E. coli quantification are culture-based and involve cultivating samples onto nutrient agar and counting the visible colonies. However, E. coli can enter a viable but non-culturable (VBNC) state in stressful environments. Bacteria in a VBNC state are still alive but reduce key metabolic activities that typically encourage growth and division, allowing them …

Smallmouth Bass (Micropterus Dolomieu) Population Characteristics And An Evaluation Of Management Responses In Two West Virginia Watersheds, Jacob D. Harrell

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Smallmouth Bass (Micropterus dolomieu) population characteristics were examined within the Tygart and Cheat River watersheds of north-central West Virginia. Growth, mortality and recruitment were examined for each individual population prior to modeling potential effects of various management schemes. Smallmouth Bass were sampled for total length and weight, aged using sagittal otoliths and sexed through observations of gonadal or ovarian development. Growth for each population was examined using von Bertalanffy growth models and assessed for variation among populations. Population demographic characteristics differed between and among populations, most noticeably between riverine and lacustrine habitat, whereby growth, mortality and recruitment were higher …

Assessment Of The Geographic Distribution And Tools To Assist With Conservation Of Spotted Turtles (Clemmys Guttata) In West Virginia, Joel Leal Mota

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Turtles are one of the most globally threatened vertebrate groups, largely due to habitat loss, commercial exploitation, climate change, disease, and invasive species. In the United States, the spotted turtle (Clemmys guttata) is among over 50 amphibian and reptile species recently petitioned to be listed under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA). The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service subsequently determined the spotted turtle to be a candidate species for listing. Historically, spotted turtles were known to occur at a few locations in the eastern panhandle region of West Virginia. However, previous attempts to determine the distributional extent …

From Evaluating The Performance Of Approximations In Density Functional Theory To A Machine Learning Design, Pedram Tavazohi

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Density-functional theory (DFT) has gained popularity because of its ability to predict the properties of a large group of materials a priori. Even though DFT is exact, there are inaccuracies introduced into the theory due to the approximations in the exchange-correlation (XC) functionals. Over the 50 years of its existence, scientists have tried to improve the design of the XC functionals. The errors introduced by these functionals are not consistent across all types of solid-state materials. In this project, a high throughput framework was utilized to compare the theoretical DFT predictions with the experimental results available in the Inorganic Crystal …

Summer Habitat Use, Home Range, And Effect Of Catch And Release Mortality On The Trophy Potential Of Muskellunge, (Esox Masquinongy, Mitchill, 1824), In A Southern Reservoir Population, Peter Isaac Jenkins

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Research on Muskellunge (Esox masquinongy, Mitchill, 1824) catch-and-release mortality has been historically focused on the Midwest, Great Lakes, and Ontario. In the southern portion of their range, which we consider to be the portion of the species distribution south of the Mason-Dixon Line (~40°N), Muskellunge, may experience significantly warmer temperatures than those in previous studies and anglers have expressed concern about summer catch-and-release mortality. As part of a broader study to quantify catch-and-release summer mortality in the southern range of Muskellunge, we utilized radio telemetry and active tracking to verify individual movement and survival of Muskellunge in Stonewall …

Global Engagement Model For Land-Grant Universities, A Grounded Theory., Lorena Ivonne Ballester

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The purpose of this study is to examine how land-grant universities engage with the public in the era of globalization; to explain the institutionalization of engagement processes accounting for the global context; and, to integrate this analysis into a Global Engagement Model for Land-Grant Universities (GEM) implementing a grounded theory research methodology.

GEM’s foundation is both theoretical and empirical. Applying the intensity sampling method, the universities selected for the empirical base were: The University of California, Davis, Michigan State University, and The Pennsylvania State University. Rather than an exact representation of individual universities’ engagement models, the model is the researcher’s …

Inferential Statistics And Information Theoretical Measures: An Approach To Interference Detection In Radio Astronomy, Morgan R. Dameron

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

In a time when technology is rapidly growing, radio observatories are now able to expand their computational power to achieve higher receiver sensitivity power and a more flexible realtime computing approach to probe the universe for its composition and study new astronomical phenomena. This allows searches to go deeper into the universe, and results in the recording of massive quantities of observed data. At the same time, this increases the amount of radio frequency interference (RFI) found in the obtained observatory data. The high power of RFI easily masks the low power of extraterrestrial signals, making them hard to detect …