Digital Commons Network^™

The Impact Of Marine Protected Areas In Coastal Communities In Liberia : A Case Study On The Lake Piso Multiple Sustainable Use Reserve, Doris Wrehyonoh Yahn

World Maritime University Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Navigating The Just Transition : Ensuring Safety Of Seafarers In Adoption Of Alternative Fuels In Maritime Sector, Simranjeet Singh

World Maritime University Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Assessment Of The Impact Of Marine Pollution In Maputo Port, Mozambique, Lina Maria Elias Vasco

World Maritime University Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Using Semi-Automated Classification Algorithms In The Context Of An Ecosystem Service Assessment Applied To A Temperate Atlantic Estuary, F. Afonso, C. Ponte Lira, M. C. Austen, S. Broszeit, R. Melo, R. Nogueira Mendes, R. Salgado, A. C. Brito

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

The growing anthropogenic pressure near estuarine areas is evidence of the relevance of these systems to human well-being, especially because of their delivery of essential ecosystem services and benefits. Estuaries are composed of a rich large selection of habitats frequently organised in complex patterns. Mapping and further understanding of these habitats can contribute significantly to environmental management and conservation. The main goal of this study was to integrate different data sources to perform a supervised image classification, using remote-sensing products with different spatial resolutions and features. It was focused on the Sado Estuary, located on the Portuguese Atlantic coast. Considering …

Chanticleer | November 2024, Jacksonville State University

Chanticleer

No abstract provided.

Sounds Good: How The Inflation Reduction Act And New Epa Regulations Mitigate The Music Streaming Industry’S Carbon Footprint, Thomas C. Hammons

North Carolina Journal of Law & Technology

No abstract provided.

Designing A Decision-Support Tool For Fertilizer Recommendations In Oil Palm Smallholders, Rana Farrasati

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.), originally from West Africa, now accounts for 42% of global vegetable oil production and mainly includes key regions cultivated in tropical regions of Southeast Asia, West Africa, South America, and Central America. Despite its economic significance, the oil palm industry faces challenges of stagnant yields and large yield gaps, particularly among independent smallholders. These issues often stem from inadequate nutrient management practices and limited agronomic knowledge. Our objective was to quantify nutrient requirements for mature oil palm plantations as a basis to design a decision support tool (DST) for fertilizer recommendations. To do so, …

Bio-Based Sprayable Mulch For Weed Control In Row Crop Systems, Camila Chiaranda Rodrigues

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Improving current crop productivity levels requires transformative advancements in management, engineering, and science. One of the main challenges is the increasing difficulty of weed management due to herbicide-resistant weeds. There is a growing need for alternative weed management methods to reduce pesticide use and improve environmental safety. An emerging technology that is being developed is spray-on films which could help address these challenges. Spray-on films are liquid solutions that after spraying on the soil will dry and form a physical barrier. The overall objective of this research was to evaluate the effectiveness of a chicken feather bio-based sprayable mulch film …

Assessing The Above- And Belowground Productivity Of Fall-Planted Cover Crop Cultivars In Nebraska's Diverse Ecoregions, Bridget Mckinley

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Cover crops (CC) provide essential ecosystem services including soil conservation, nutrient cycling, and weed suppression, through the accumulation of aboveground (AGB) and belowground (BGB) biomass. While AGB has been widely studied, BGB contributions, particularly root development and distribution, remain less understood. This study evaluated fall-planted CC across three Nebraska ecoregions, assessing AGB productivity, BGB biomass, and correlations between ground cover, plant height, and AGB.

Thirty treatments, including grasses, legumes, brassicas, and mixtures, were evaluated over two fall growing seasons (2022–2023 and 2023–2024) at three UNL research centers in northeast, west central, and west Nebraska. AGB was highest at west site …

Oceanic Breakthroughs: Marine-Derived Innovations In Vaccination, Therapy, And Immune Health, Chiara Gamberi, Chad L. Leverette, Alexis C. Davis, Moayad Ismail, Ilaria Piccialli, Nicola Borbone, Giorgia Oliviero, Caterina Vicidomini, Rosanna Palumbo, Giovanni N. Roviello

Biology

The vast, untapped potential of the world’s oceans is revealing groundbreaking advancements in human health and vaccination. Microalgae such as Nannochloropsis spp. and Dunaliella salina are emerging as resources for recombinant vaccine development with specific and heterologous genetic tools used to boost production of functional recombinant antigens in Dunaliella salina and Nannochloropsis spp. to induce immunoprotection. In humans, several antigens produced in microalgae have shown potential in combating diseases caused by the human papillomavirus, human immunodeficiency virus, hepatitis B virus, influenza virus, Zika virus, Zaire Ebola virus, Plasmodium falciparum, and Staphylococcus aureus. For animals, microalgae-derived vaccine prototypes have been developed …

Development Of Fortified Blended Food Using Great Northern Bean, Aemiro Tadesse Zula

Department of Food Science and Technology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Undernutrition is a global health challenge affecting people across all stages of life. While everyone is susceptible, certain groups face a significant burden. These include those living in poverty, young children, adolescents, older people, and lactating and pregnant women. Food insecurity is another primary global concern affecting billions of individuals worldwide and is closely associated with undernutrition. Implementing interventions to address these two significant global burdens is critical, and international organizations are playing a crucial role through food aid programs using Fortified Blended Foods such as corn-soy blend (CSB), corn-soy blend plus (CSB+), and corn-soy blend plus plus (CSB++). CSB+ …

Effects Of Heat Moisture Treatment On Dietary Fiber Utilization By The Gut Microbiota, Yichen Bai

Department of Food Science and Technology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The present study investigates the impact of heat moisture treatment (HMT) on the utilization of dietary fibers from red lentil hulls and wheat bran and its subsequent effect on gut microbiota and short-chain fatty acid production. HMT significantly decreased the water absorption index in red lentil hulls but increased it in wheat bran. For resistant starch (RS), HMT elevated its content in red lentil hulls but diminished it in wheat bran. In terms of dietary fiber content, HMT increased soluble dietary fiber in red lentil hulls. However, carbohydrate utilization and SCFA production by gut microbiota did not significantly change after …

Understanding Limitations In Photosynthesis And Cold Tolerance In Panicoid Grasses: Maize And Sorghum, Fangyi Li

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

Sorghum and maize, both key crops within the Poaceae family (commonly known as the grass family), are staple foods in various regions and play a vital role in global food systems and economic development. These crops thrive in similar climates, particularly in warm, arid, and semi-arid regions. As subjects of extensive agricultural research, both maize and sorghum are being studied to enhance stress resistance and improve yield. Due to their botanical similarities, advances in one crop often inform practices in the other. The goal of this dissertation is to deepen our understanding of the photosynthesis process and cold tolerance in …

Perspectives Through The Lens Of Educators And Students: Teaching Flood Mitigation And Other Controversial Food, Energy, Water Nexus Issues In The Classroom, Sumaiya Tabassum

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

Science and society are inseparably linked, shaping each other in ways that define our world, emphasizing the need to teach science for empowering students capable of taking meaningful action toward building a sustainable and just society. Developing sustainability competencies in students is an important step toward this goal, with controversial socio-scientific issues (SSIs) providing a valuable teaching context, that encourage students in analyzing interdisciplinary evidence while considering the social, economic impacts of potential solutions. However, recognizing the unique perspectives individuals bring to the classroom is prerequisite for tailoring effective, inclusive instruction, as perspectives often shape learning and classroom-engagement. This study …

Nevada Problem Gambling Treatment System, Annual Report - Fiscal Year 2024, Andrea Dassopoulos, Jared Weissman, Bo J. Bernhard

International Gaming Institute Faculty Research

In FY2024, Nevada Problem Gambling Services offered outpatient, residential treatment, and crisis intervention across five Problem Gambling Specialty Clinics statewide. Collectively, these clinics served 427 Nevada residents. Northern Nevada’s Bristlecone Family Resources and New Frontier Treatment Center provided both outpatient and residential services, while Southern Nevada’s Dr. Robert Hunter International Problem Gambling Center, Mental Health Counseling and Consulting (MHCC), and Hope Medical Center offered outpatient services to individuals affected by gambling and their concerned others.

Outpatient enrollments increased by 19% this fiscal year, while residential enrollments remained steady at the state-funded clinics. Additionally, 809 Nevadans were screened for gambling-related issues …

Book Review - Rebecca Boyle, Our Moon: How Earth's Celestial Companion Transformed The Planet, Guided Evolution, And Made Us Who We Are, Jamie Kern

Bridgewater Review

No abstract provided.

Summary Of The Second Symposium: Japan's Response To The War, Shigeyuki Mori

New England Journal of Public Policy

Summary of the Second Symposium: Japan's Response to the War. Volume 36, Issue 2 of the New England Journal of Public Policy.

Prediction Of Individual Weight Loss Using Supervised Learning: Findings From The CalerieTm 2 Study, Christina Glasbrenner, Christoph Höchsmann, Carl F. Pieper, Paulina Wasserfurth, James L. Dorling, Corby K. Martin, Leanne M. Redman, Karsten Koehler

Clinical Research Faculty Publications

Background: Predicting individual weight loss (WL) responses to lifestyle interventions is challenging but might help practitioners and clinicians select the most promising approach for each individual. Objective: The primary aim of this study was to develop machine learning (ML) models to predict individual WL responses using only variables known before starting the intervention. In addition, we used ML to identify pre-intervention variables influencing the individual WL response. Methods: We used 12-mo data from the comprehensive assessment of long-term effects of reducing intake of energy (CALERIETM) phase 2 study, which aimed to analyze the long-term effects of caloric restriction on human …

Assessing The Relationship Between Residential Segregation And Access To Mental Health Services In Omaha, Ne, Solomon Twum Ampofo

Geography and Geology Theses, Dissertations, and Student Creative Activity

Assessing the Relationship Between Residential Segregation and Access to Mental Health Services in Omaha, Ne

Equitable healthcare access is a key determinant of a population’s overall health. Despite numerous U.S. policies aimed at improving accessibility, the legacy of racial segregation has skewed these efforts, perpetuating disparities in healthcare access and health outcomes in many cities, including Omaha, Nebraska. These inequities are particularly evident in mental health, where racial minorities, especially Black Americans, face disproportionately high rates of mental illness. Since mental health problems exacerbate chronic disease risks, enhancing mental healthcare access in underserved minority neighborhoods is essential for improving both …

Quantitative Label-Free Digital Holographic Imaging Of Cardiomyocyte Optical Volume, Nucleation, And Cell Division, Herman Huang, Sangsoon Park, Ines Ross, Joseph Moreno, Sheamin Khyeam, Jacquelyn Simmons, Guo N. Huang, Alexander Y. Payumo

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Cardiac regeneration in newborn rodents depends on the ability of pre-existing cardiomyocytes to proliferate and divide. This capacity is lost within the first week of postnatal development when these cells rapidly switch from hyperplasia to hypertrophy, withdraw from the cell cycle, become binucleated, and increase in size. How these dynamic changes in cell size and nucleation impact cardiomyocyte proliferative potential is not well understood. In this study, we innovate the application of a commercially available digital holographic imaging microscope, the Holomonitor M4, to evaluate the proliferative responses of mononucleated and binucleated cardiomyocytes after CHIR99021 treatment, a model proliferative stimulus. This …

Novel Multi-Omics Deconfounding Variational Autoencoders Can Obtain Meaningful Disease Subtyping, Zuqi Li, Sonja Katz, Edoardo Saccenti, David W. Fardo, Peter Claes, Vitor A.P. Martins Dos Santos, Kristel Van Steen, Gennady V. Roshchupkin

Biostatistics Faculty Publications

Unsupervised learning, particularly clustering, plays a pivotal role in disease subtyping and patient stratification, especially with the abundance of large-scale multi-omics data. Deep learning models, such as variational autoencoders (VAEs), can enhance clustering algorithms by leveraging inter-individual heterogeneity. However, the impact of confounders—external factors unrelated to the condition, e.g. batch effect or age—on clustering is often overlooked, introducing bias and spurious biological conclusions. In this work, we introduce four novel VAE-based deconfounding frameworks tailored for clustering multi-omics data. These frameworks effectively mitigate confounding effects while preserving genuine biological patterns. The deconfounding strategies employed include (i) removal of latent features correlated …

Seasonal Variation In Atp-Induced Retinal Damage In The Cone-Dominant 13-Lined Ground Squirrel, Owen R. Bowie, Hannahm Follett, Ching Tzu Yu, Chloe Guillaume, Phyllis M. Summerfelt, Nicole Manfredonia, Jenna Grieshop, Dana K. Merriman, Sergey Tarima, Joseph Carroll

Biostatistics Faculty Publications

Purpose: To examine whether time of year (relative to hibernation emergence) influences the retinal degenerative effects of intravitreal injection of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) in the 13-lined ground squirrel (13-LGS). Methods: Eighteen (9 male, 9 female) 13-LGS in three experimental cohorts (early season, mid-season, late season) (n = 6 each) underwent baseline imaging using scanning light ophthalmoscopy (SLO) and optical coherence tomography (OCT). Animals then received a 10-μL intravitreal injection of 0.723 M ATP, followed by OCT and SLO imaging at 3, 10, and 21 days. Adaptive optics SLO (AOSLO) was performed in animals without retinal damage after the 21-day follow-up. …

A Method For Teaching Biostatisticians To Write And Critique Specific Aims, Jesse D. Troy, Gregory P. Samsa, Megan L. Neely, Steven C. Grambow, Sarah Peskoe, Emily Slade, Gina Maria Pomann

Biostatistics Faculty Publications

This article describes the design of a single instructional module on writing and critiquing the Specific Aims (SA) section of a grant proposal for a biomedical research study. It begins by discussing the goals and learning objectives for the module. Then, it discusses the typical structure of a SA section to orient readers to the core content. This method is rooted in using an established framework for scientific writing, which is presented in brief, along with examples of how it applies to writing the SA section. Then, the structure of the instructional module is described, including the exercises for participants. …

La Ciudad Como Ecosistema Marino. Investigando Sistemas Metabólicos Urbanos Marinos Para Definir El Marco Conceptual De Un Urbanismo Hidráulico Post- Antropocéntrico., En Edumeet Ecotopías Iv International Conference Of Architecture And Transdisciplinarity 2024 27-28 Nov 2024, Elisa Fernández Ramos, Andrés Jaque Ovejero, Eva Hurtado Torán, Joerg Baumeister

Capítulos de libros

La línea de costa es ficticia. El mar se extiende desde las fosas abisales hasta la cima de las montañas, englobando todo lo que ocurre entre medias, y posiblemente este concepto de borde erróneamente preconcebido es la base de muchos retos a los que nos enfrentamos. La línea que delimita de manera figurada el fin de las ciudades y suele coincidir con esta línea de costa, también es ficticia; la ciudad no solo forma parte del ecosistema marino, sino que se extiende sobre él. La urbanización de los océanos está creando un urbanismo marino cada vez más "viscoso", con un …

Geosciences Affiliated Publications: Snapshot Of The Research Publications 2018-2023, Danna Jaimes-Fajardo, Jeremy J. Smith, Lutishoor Salisbury

University Libraries Faculty Publications and Presentations

This report provides a snapshot of the research publications for authors affiliated with the Geosciences department at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, for the period 2018-2023. It includes publications by material type; co-author characteristics; ranking of journals according to journal citation reports.

The Second Amendment’S Second Sex, Michael Ulrich

Faculty Scholarship

This Essay explores how the Supreme Court’s Second Amendment doctrine perpetuates gender hierarchies and a male monopoly on lethal self-defense. It critiques the narrow “true man” framing that ignores women’s experiences and advocates for a justice-centered framework that incorporates power and privilege into the gun-rights discourse.

Deephive: A Reinforcement Learning Approach For Automated Discovery Of Swarm-Based Optimization Policies, Eloghosa Ikponmwoba, Opeoluwa Owoyele

Faculty Publications

We present an approach for designing swarm-based optimizers for the global optimization of expensive black-box functions. In the proposed approach, the problem of finding efficient optimizers is framed as a reinforcement learning problem, where the goal is to find optimization policies that require a few function evaluations to converge to the global optimum. The state of each particle within the swarm is defined as its current position and function value within a design space, and the particles learn to take favorable actions that maximize the reward, which is based on the final value of the objective function. The proposed approach …

Research Gaps And Priorities For Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessment (Qmra), Kerry A. Hamilton, Joanna Ciol Harrison, Jade Mitchell, Mark Weir, Marc Verhougstraete, Charles N. Haas, A. Pouyan Nejadhashemi, Julie Libarkin, Tiong Gim Aw, Kyle Bibby, Aaron Bivins, Joe Brown, Kara Dean, Gwyneth Dunbar, Joseph N.S. Eisenberg, Monica Emelko, Daniel Gerrity, Patrick L. Gurian, Emma Hartnett, Michael Jahne, Rachael M. Jones, Timothy R. Julian, Hongwan Li, Yanbin Li, Jacqueline Mac Donald Gibson, Gertjan Medema, J. Scott Meschke, Alexis Mraz, Heather Murphy, David Oryang, Emmanuel De Graft Johnson Owusu-Ansah, Emily Pasek, Abani K. Pradhan

Faculty Publications

The coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic highlighted the need for more rapid and routine application of modeling approaches such as quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA) for protecting public health. QMRA is a transdisciplinary science dedicated to understanding, predicting, and mitigating infectious disease risks. To better equip QMRA researchers to inform policy and public health management, an Advances in Research for QMRA workshop was held to synthesize a path forward for QMRA research. We summarize insights from 41 QMRA researchers and experts to clarify the role of QMRA in risk analysis by (1) identifying key research needs, (2) highlighting emerging applications of …

Digital Agriculture Approaches: Uav-Based N Monitoring And Machine Learning For Maize Yield Prediction, And N Response Assessment Across Rice Varieties, Rejina Adhikari

LSU Master's Theses

Sustainable agriculture is essential for addressing global challenges such as food security, environmental degradation, and climate change while ensuring high productivity and resource conservation. Precision agriculture technologies, like UAV-based remote sensing and advanced sensors, offer tools to monitor real-time crop health, soil conditions, and nutrient levels, aiding in informed decision-making and resource optimization. In this research, field trials were conducted in maize and rice to assess the effectiveness of NDRE (Normalized Difference Red Edge) obtained from UAV-based remote sensing for nitrogen management. For maize, the study demonstrated that NDRE accurately assessed nitrogen levels during critical growth stages, with yields ranging …

Lithicone-Protected Lithium Metal Anodes For Lithium Metal Batteries With Nickel-Rich Cathode Materials, Ridwan A. Ahmed, Kevin V. Carballo, Krishna P. Koirala, Qian Zhao, Peiyuan Gao, Ju-Myung Kim, Cassidy S. Anderson, Xiangbo Meng, Chongmin Wang, Ji-Guang Zhang, Wu Xu

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

The high energy density advantage of lithium (Li) metal batteries (LMBs) makes them increasingly desirable; however, problems such as strong reactivity and dendrite growth of Li metal anode limit their practical uses. In this work, a novel Li-containing glycerol (LiGL) or lithicone protection layer on a 50 μm thick Li metal anode is employed for improving the performance of LMBs. This LiGL layer was accurately deposited via a molecular layer deposition (MLD) process at 150°C, using lithium tert-butoxide and glycerol as precursors. The as-formed LiGL coating layer is highly tunable in its thickness by simply adjusting MLD cycles and shows …