Digital Commons Network^™

Exploring The Robustness Of A Surrogate-Based Ice Flow Model Calibration, Kyle Blum

Physics

When simulating ice sheets using numerical models, model parameters have a great impact on the ice flow, velocity, and response to external forces, making them key factors in accurately predicting ice sheet behavior. In order to have confidence in modeled predictions of ice sheets, we must first have confidence in the physical models we use to simulate them. In order to have confidence in these physical models, we must first have confidence in our calibrations of these ice dynamics parameters. Researchers have been training neural networks to emulate expensive ice sheet models. These surrogate ice sheet models are designed to …

Environmental And Biotic Habitat Attributes Affect Rocky Intertidal Community Variability In Glacially Influenced Estuaries, Madeleine G. Mcarthur

Marine Biology

Climate change is increasing the rate of glacial recession in high latitude coastal environments. The associated increase in cold, sediment-laden freshwater into the nearshore may alter a wide array of water attributes, which will likely have ecosystem-wide impacts. One of these potential impacts is a change in typical levels of ecological community variability, which can be an indicator of stress in response to an environmental impact. Fluctuation in community composition over time is natural and can be affected by environmental conditions, as well as by the presence of habitat forming, spatially dominant organisms. The goal of this study was to …

Tiny Machine Learning For Underwater Image Enhancement: Pruning And Quantizaition Approach, Dr Khaled Nagaty, The British University In Egypt, Andreas Pester Dr

Computer Science

Many people have expressed an interest in underwater image processing in a variety of fields, including underwater vehicle control, archaeology, marine biological studies, etc. Underwater exploration is becoming an increasingly important element of our lives, with applications ranging from underwater marine and creature research to pipeline and communication logistics, military use, touristic and entertainment use. Underwater images suffer from poor visibility, distortion, and poor quality for a variety of causes, including light propagation. The major issue arises when these images must be captured at depths greater than 500 feet and artificial lighting needs to be provided. Efficient algorithms and models …

Avian Divergence And Speciation Across Beringia Examined Using Comparative Mitogenomics, K. A. Collier

Biological Sciences

Accurate knowledge of divergence and speciation processes is critical for understanding key aspects of biodiversity. As a well-known, speciose group of vertebrates, an increased understanding of how birds diverge and speciate allows us to better manage extant avian diversity and understand how it develops over time. Additionally, birds often exhibit complex and variable patterns of divergence, resulting in complexes of taxonomic uncertainty. Filling gaps in our knowledge of divergence across time and space increases our ability to correctly identify and understand not just avian diversity but clade-level patterns in speciation processes. These higher-order findings give us tools to compare and …

Avian Divergence And Speciation Across Beringia Examined Using Comparative Mitogenomics, K. A. Collier

Biological Sciences

Accurate knowledge of divergence and speciation processes is critical for understanding key aspects of biodiversity. As a well-known, speciose group of vertebrates, an increased understanding of how birds diverge and speciate allows us to better manage extant avian diversity and understand how it develops over time. Additionally, birds often exhibit complex and variable patterns of divergence, resulting in complexes of taxonomic uncertainty. Filling gaps in our knowledge of divergence across time and space increases our ability to correctly identify and understand not just avian diversity but clade-level patterns in speciation processes. These higher-order findings give us tools to compare and …

Relative Abundance And Movement Ecology Of Tiger Sharks Galeocerdo Cuvier In The Waters Surrounding Bimini, The Bahamas, Matthew J. Smukall

Fisheries

Shark populations are under increased anthropogenic pressures around the world. Large-bodied shark species are upper trophic level predators, and therefore there is concern that declining numbers of sharks may have significant implications for ecosystems. In response to these conservation concerns there has been increased focus on the implementation of regulations, fishery management plans, national plans of action, and marine management zones in some nations. However, large sharks are often highly mobile and can move readily across jurisdictional boundaries. Therefore, there is a need to monitor long-term relative abundances within regions and simultaneously examine the duration to which species remain in …

When Beavers Get Burned, Do Fish Get Fried? The Role Of Beavers To Mediate Wildfire Effects On Arctic Grayling In Boreal Alaska, William T. Samuel

Fisheries

Wildfire is a dominant natural disturbance process throughout boreal North America and fires are increasing in size, frequency, and severity. However, little is known about how wildfire affects boreal fish populations and aquatic habitat despite the substantial impacts of fire on ecosystem processes, and even less is known about how fire effects are mediated by species interactions. For example, North American Beavers (Castor canadensis) are affected by and can influence wildfire dynamics, and their engineering has complex effects on aquatic habitats. North American Beavers therefore have the potential to mediate wildfire effects on aquatic ecosystems and fish populations. Here I …

Movement Ecology, Survival, And Territorial Dynamics In Canada Lynx (Lynx Canadensis) Over A Cyclic Population Decline, Derek Arnold

Biological Sciences

As the quintessential predator-prey cycle, research into Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis) and snowshoe hares (Lepus americanus) have led to many discoveries in population biology; however, much remains unknown about the nuances of their populations. In this dissertation, I examined the ways in which population cycles influence survival, reproduction, territoriality, and connectivity. First, I examined ways in which climate change induced shifts in fire regimes have affected lynx persistence in their current refugia. Lynx mainly sought out areas of higher hare density and lower cover, such as intermediately aged coniferous and deciduous forests. This type of forest was predicted to persist …

Exploring Competing Gold System Models In The Valdez Creek Region, Clearwater Mountains, Alaska, Jane Marguerite Suhey

Geosciences

Gold deposits located within the accretionary and subduction-related tectonic environment of south-central Alaska are interpreted to have formed via devolatilization of hydrous assemblages through regional metamorphism (orogenic model) or by intrusion-related hydrothermal processes (intrusion-related gold system model). The Valdez Creek mining district is located in the southern Clearwater Mountains of south-central Alaska along the intermontane-insular belt suture of the North American Cordillera. The 67-56 Ma south-vergent Valdez Creek shear zone resulted in the thrusting of North American-derived Maclaren schist (intermontane) structurally above lower greenschist-facies rocks of the Clearwater metasediments (Insular). The ~ 5km thick ductile shear zone preserves a complete …

Can The Faculty Reform Intercollegiate Athletics? A Past, Present, And Future Perspective, Bradley David Ridpath

Journal of Issues in Intercollegiate Athletics

The subject of academic corruption in intercollegiate athletics has been of significant concern and empirical inquiry for over 100 years. There are many character and ethical issues that pervade intercollegiate athletics such as academic fraud, cheating in recruiting, sense of entitlements, illegal inducements from boosters, and academic fraud. The author makes an argument that many of the problems relating to the culture of college sports and character development cannot be repaired without changing the culture with regard to academics and academic integrity. The faculty driven movement toward academic integrity in college sports is explored, along with the efforts of outside …

Intercollegiate Athletics: A Preliminary Study Examining The Opinions On The Impact Of The Academic Performance Rate (Apr), Keith Christy, Chad Seifried, Donna L. Pastore

Journal of Issues in Intercollegiate Athletics

The purpose of this preliminary study was to examine the opinions of athletic directors, faculty athletic representatives, senior women administrators, and head coaches regarding the impact of the academic performance rate (APR) in intercollegiate athletics. The participants of the study returned a total of 127 questionnaires, but only 75 were used due to non-responsive or incomplete answers to questions. The participants were asked one open-ended question about the impact of the APR in intercollegiate athletics. The data was analyzed for common themes and results found that overall, 64% of the participants felt the APR will have a positive impact on …

The Constitutional Public Trust In A Warming World, Sean Lyness

Pace Environmental Law Review

The public trust doctrine—a state-specific doctrine that entrusts certain natural resources to the state to hold for the public—most often exists as a common law doctrine. But a handful of states have constitutionalized their version of the public trust. A growing body of jurisprudential evidence shows the constitutional public trust in action—or not—against climate change. This Article examines these cases brought by governmental plaintiffs—states and local governments—investigating whether constitutionalizing the public trust has made a difference. Although the results are nascent, early signs suggest that a constitutional public trust can result in more comprehensive and aggressive law- suits when wielded …

The Impact Of Emma: Destroying Stereotypes Through Nuanced Characters In Text And Film, Julia Mccool

English MA Theses

This paper explores Jane Austen’s Emma as a response to stereotypes in 18th century novels and moral tales, and Autumn De Wildes’s Emma. from a feminist lens. Examining both of these works reveals that Emma was originally, and still is over 200 years later, transforming stereotypes in literature and film adaptations. The novel seems to be responding to a common stereotypical female villain found in many 18th century novels. In viewing Emma as a subversion of this stereotype, it is clear that Austen was responding to the sexist notions behind the character type, and writing a heroine more in line …

Stable Complexity: Verbal Inflection In Prominent And Frequent Environments, Lukas Denk

Linguistics ETDs

Despite presenting challenges for speakers, complex linguistic features such as lexically conditioned inflection (LCI) persist across different languages. LCI forms part of not entirely predictable paradigms which require lexeme-specific knowledge to master. Moreover, LCI remains one of the oldest morphological phenomena in certain languages. Previous research has linked the persistence of such complexity to language-external factors like geographic and social circumstances of speech communities.

This dissertation delves into the question whether language-internal properties are associated with the distribution of inflectional complexity. LCI is compared with other inflectional paradigms across 41 genetically and geographically distant languages. The study shows that LCI …

Strategies To Reduce Chronic Disease: Adding Role To Community Health Workers, Ingrid J. Renwanz Dnp, Pmhfnp-Bc/Aprn, Msn, Rnc

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Projects

Background: Underserved, rural, immigrant, low-income Latinx communities need to strengthen healthcare access to improve their quality of life (Capitman et al., 2009; McCartney et al., 2019; Save the Children [STC] Organization, 2021). Non-communicable chronic disease of physical and behavioral origin is the leading cause of morbidity for adults and children in Latinx communities (Campbell et al., 2020). Estimates of greater than 30% of the Latinx populations within the United States have these health needs, with projections to reach 28% of the U.S. population by 2060 (Eghaneyan & Murphy, 2019; Ortega et al., 2018).

Local Problem: If poor access to preventive …

The Relationship Between Student Engagement And Act Aspire Reading Scores Among Ninth-Grade Students In One Northwest Arkansas Junior High School, Dwight Vincent Jr.

ATU Theses and Dissertations 2021 - Present

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between academic achievement and attendance. Reading proficiency is foundational to overall academic success. In this study, reading proficiency served as the operational definition for the level of student academic success. Out-of-school suspension is a disciplinary consequence as a result of student behavior and correlates to student attendance. This quantitative, correlational study examined the relationship between student engagement, as defined by student attendance and discipline, and reading proficiency, as measured by the 2021-22 ACT Aspire Reading scores for ninth-grade students in one northwest Arkansas junior high school.

Descriptive data analysis was …

Disaster Preparedness Levels Among Firefighters, Shelby G. Coonts

ATU Theses and Dissertations 2021 - Present

There are numerous studies that focus on household preparedness however, there are few studies that focus on the preparedness levels of first responders. The purpose of this quantitative comparative study was to (a) establish, analyze, and compare the current level of disaster preparedness among Hinesville City Fire Department and Liberty County Fire Services located within the same region of Southeastern, Georgia and (b) analyze any correlation between demographics of the Firefighters and their level of disaster preparedness. This research sought to benchmark the organizational level of disaster preparedness of two critical departments (city and county fire services) by measuring three …

Self-Transcendence: Servant-Leadership And The Doorway Of Life, Ryan Schmidt

International Journal of Servant-Leadership

Robert Greenleaf speaks of his relationship to Robert Frost’s poem Directive as a symbol in understanding servant-leadership, offering meaning for others in their reconciliation of who and where they are on life’s inward journey. Reflecting on my personal journey, in searching for a higher purpose and identifying what needs changing, a closer examination into the learnings inspired by my family is exposing the limitations in my predisposed self-orientation approach to leadership and challenging my relationship to a life of meaning. My inward desire to become a better person is opening my heart towards an other-orientation approach to serving, and towards …

Would Jesus Build A Pyramid? Servant-Leadership And Corporate Social Responsibility, Jiying Song

International Journal of Servant-Leadership

The purpose of this article is to examine corporate social responsibility (CSR) from a Christian perspective and to study Jesus’ leadership and speculate whether Jesus would have built a CSR pyramid. First, literature is reviewed in the areas of servant-leadership, how Jesus leads, and corporate social responsibility. Following is a discussion of faith integration perspectives and models, biblical and theological approaches, and whether Jesus would build a pyramid. This article ends with a conclusion.

Servant-Leadership In The Military: An Investigation Of Servant-Leadership Among Technical Sergeants In The United States Air Force, Tracey M. Richardson, Matthew P. Earnhardt, Tori Morris, Steven M. Walker

International Journal of Servant-Leadership

Servant-Leadership, developed by Greenleaf (1970), is a leadership theory which prioritizes the follower. Greenleaf contended that putting others first as leaders could lead to a change in society. Patterson (2003) developed a model from Greenleaf’s theory which identified several attributes of the Servant-Leadership model including agapao love, humility, altruism, vision, trust, empowerment, and service. In the military, researchers have used Patterson’s construct to conclude that Servant-Leadership does exist in the military. Though some research involving Servant-Leadership and the military has been conducted, there is a dearth in the literature. In the United States Air Force, leadership development for Non-Commissioned Officers …

Dryland Vegetation Mapping Using High Spatial-Temporal Resolution Satellite Imagery In New Mexico: A Comparison Of Phenological Time-Series Transformation Methods, Pratistha Sharma

Geography ETDs

New Mexico's drylands are undergoing notable vegetation changes due to rising aridity, higher temperatures, and shifts in precipitation with changing climate. Mapping drylands through remote sensing is challenging compared to mesic systems due to the irregular patterns of rainfall-driven phenology and weaker vegetation absorption signals. This study aims to enhance vegetation mapping in New Mexico, utilizing a high-resolution, frequently revisited PlanetScope dataset with multispectral capabilities, specifically chosen for its suitability for time-series analysis. The challenge with high spatial and temporal data lies in the overwhelming volume, leading to issues like the curse of dimensionality, overfitting, data redundancy, collinearity, and visualization …

Improvement Of Medication Compliance By Adding A Weekly Medication Planner, Jeramie Muya Laurio

Master's Projects and Capstones

Abstract

This quality improvement project aimed to use a weekly medication planner to enhance medication adherence in a home health setting to help improve patient healthcare outcomes. A weekly medication planner helps patients manage their medications. Systematic reviews and meta-analyses show medication planners increase adherence. Morisky 4-item survey assessed patient opinions pre and post intervention.

Problem:. Medication adherence is an important part of home health patient care that affects health outcomes and safety. The problem is patients received an abundance of discharge medications and do not have enough time with a Registered Nurse discharge planner to go over their …

A Bio-Inspired Alternative Positioning, Navigation, And Timing Approach Based On A Potential Game-Theoretic Model, Md Sadman Siraj

Electrical and Computer Engineering ETDs

This thesis addresses the challenge of designing of alternative Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) solutions. Inspired by the evolution of biological ecosystems, we introduce a novel symbiotic PNT solution, based on the principles of Game Theory and the exploitation of Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces (RISs). A set of actors, consisting of anchor nodes and RISs with known coordinates, collaborator nodes having a rough estimate of their positions, and targets of unknown positions, are cooperating to accurately determine the targets’ positioning and timing. The key objective is to minimize the estimation error of each target and collaborator node, as well as of …

Absolving Conflict Through Principles Of Servant-Leadership, Brandon Stoddard

International Journal of Servant-Leadership

This article explores the inevitable and unchecked conflicts that arise between people and how it can turn into unmanageable rage and harmed relationships. Both instigators and recipients of conflict are ultimately wounded by its accompanying outcomes. By sharing several examples from my life, including the threat of harm from a deadly weapon towards my three-year-old son by his uncle, I demonstrate the hurt caused by conflict and how principles of servant-leaders can help individuals restore positive associations. When faith is stronger than the bitterness and hostility that often plagues humanity, love offers a longer-term perspective thereby opening a way towards …

Radio Insights Into Gamma-Ray Mysteries, Seth M. Bruzewski

Physics & Astronomy ETDs

In the time since its launch, the \textit{Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope} has provided new and unparalleled views of the $\gamma$-ray sky, dramatically increasing our understanding of sources of high-energy radiation. During that same time, however, its ``unassociated'' sources have provided a consistent mystery: approximately one third of the modern gamma-ray sky remains completely unaccounted for in other electromagnetic regimes. While some of the fainter sources simply pose challenges in achieving the necessary signal-to-noise ratio, others are well constrained and have resisted traditional investigations for years, and in some cases, for over a decade. Radio astronomy has traditionally been the best …

"I Know The Dream Mine Is True": Mormons, Mining, And The Making Of "Bad Religion" In Early Twentieth-Century Utah, Christine V. Shell

American Studies ETDs

In 1894, folksy Mormon farmer-turned-prophet John H. Koyle, Jr, dreamed that an angel from the Book of Mormon showed him where and how to mine for golden ore and Book of Mormon treasures. Shortly afterwards, Koyle and a handful of friends established the “Dream Mine” at the revealed location, and as word spread additional workers joined the cause—for this was a mine destined to save the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its members from financial and spiritual ruin during the long-foretold apocalyptic “Last Days.”

Koyle’s followers took delight and solace from their participation in the Dream Mine’s …

Bitcoin Price Modeling Using Machine Learning Algorithms, Azadeh Golduzian

Mathematics & Statistics ETDs

Forecasting in financial markets with various technologies is critical nowadays. The Bitcoin cryptocurrency has grown in popularity in recent years, and as a result, many people all around the world have attempted to forecast its price. To improve forecast accuracy, we must employ multiple types of data and diverse approaches. This thesis combines textual and financial data and employs statistical methods and machine learning to forecast Bitcoin's price as precisely as possible. We show the performance of each strategy using Bitcoin data at the end of each chapter.

Deep Learning For Microbiome-Based Integrative Modeling And Microbial Biomarkers Identification, Sen Yang

Statistical Science Theses and Dissertations

The human microbiome, comprising trillions of microorganisms, plays a pivotal role in modulating host physiology via molecular and metabolite exchanges. One of the major challenges in this field lies in the effective integration of microbiome and metabolomics data, an achievement that holds the promise of substantially enhancing the precision of disease prediction. However, many datasets prioritize microbiome data while neglecting paired metabolome information. Additionally, the prevalent analytical tools face challenges in effectively merging these intricate datasets, leading to possible misinterpretations and reduced prediction accuracies.

To address these challenges, the first part of this research introduces the Microbiome-based Supervised Contrastive Learning …

757transfamily: Empowering Parents To Raise Their Transgender Child Through Knowledge, Connection, And Joy, Jessica Gurley

Institute for the Humanities Master's Papers, Projects, and Capstones

Parents of transgender and non-binary children often want to support their children, but are not sure how. Giving these parents the support and resources they need will increase their ability to support their children, further increasing the chance that their children will live a long, healthy, authentic life.

I built a website, and organized a workshop that parents can attend in order to access information and resources about the transgender community. These parents will receive the support they need to be better equipped to support their gender-diverse children. I will be collecting information about the parents' feelings and experience towards …

Investigation Of The Effectiveness Of Intraoperative Radiotherapy In Treatment Of Unifocal Invasive Breast Cancer, Julie Schultz, Annie M. Oslund

Physician Assistant Capstones, 2020-current

Objective: Assess the 5 year local recurrence rate of intraoperative radiotherapy (IORT) in relation to the conventional treatment of external breast radiotherapy (EBRT) in eligible females diagnosed with breast cancer over age 40.

Design: Systematic literature review.

Methods: PubMed was searched using the following limits and terms: breast neoplasms, intraoperative radiotherapy, randomized control trial, clinical trial, females, English, and published in the last 10 years.

Results: Three studies were found to directly compare IORT and EBRT regarding 5 year local recurrence rates.

Conclusion: IORT was shown to be non-inferior to EBRT in two of the three studies that were examined; …