Digital Commons Network^™

Spatiotemporal Habitat Use, Sex-Specific Movement, And Site Fidelity Of Walleye In Lake Sharpe, Sd, Carter S. Dollen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Walleye Sander vitreus are a popular sportfish among anglers in South Dakota with large economic impacts to local communities. A popular destination for Walleye anglers is Lake Sharpe, a 25,000-ha reservoir on the Missouri River, in central South Dakota. Gill net catches in Lake Sharpe show high annual variation, prompting concern that gill net catch rates may be poorly related to population abundance. A better understanding of Walleye movement and distribution could lead to increased precision in annual abundance estimates and improved active management that increases angler success. The goals of this study were: 1) determine spatiotemporal movement patterns of …

Mid-Scale Rover Gravity Offloader (Mrgo): Design, Implementation, And Experimental Validation, Alexander Schaar

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis presents the design, implementation, and validation of the Mid Scale Rover Gravity Offloader (MRGO), a terrestrial testbed developed to simulate partial-gravity conditions for planetary rover testing within a three-dimensional environment. The MRGO enables consistent, user-defined offloading force as a rover drives freely within a 20 by 18 ft test area, while a stepper motor rail gantry autonomously tracks the rover’s motion and maintains overhead alignment. Mounted to the moving gantry is a vertical carriage column that houses the offloading mechanism, which accommodates up to 5 ft of vertical displacement without loss of force accuracy. This configuration allows realistic …

Quantifying Avian And Vegetation Communities On Agricultural Conservation Easement Wetlands In Eastern South Dakota, Katherine Millman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Prairie Pothole Region of eastern South Dakota contains numerous small depressional wetlands, colloquially known as potholes, that provide important ecosystem services, including water storage, water quality improvement, and wildlife habitat. The Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP) was established by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to protect and restore wetlands and grasslands on private land through easements such as Wetland Reserve Easements. Although ACEP requires management practices intended to maintain or improve habitat quality, few studies have evaluated their effectiveness at supporting wildlife communities and vegetation integrity. To address this gap, we evaluated wetlands at 30 ACEP sites and 20 …

Enhancing Alfalfa Persistence In Rangelands: Evaluating Morphological Traits Of Medicago Sativa Subsp. Falcata Germplasm, Abdulallah Mohammed Alomair

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Rangelands cover nearly half of the Earth’s surface, representing about 54% (79 million km2), and occur in different types and climates worldwide. Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) is a major component in rangelands and covers about (320 thousand km2), representing about 0.4% of total global rangeland area. As a critical perennial legume crop, alfalfa can improve soil health by fixing approximately 336 kg/ha/year of nitrogen and sequestering up to 614 kg/ha/year of carbon, while enhancing livestock production due to its high content level of vitamins, magnesium, minerals, fiber, and protein. However, environmental stresses such as drought, freezing, and grazing limit alfalfa …

Epidemiological And Diagnostic Approaches For Soybean Cyst Nematode In South Dakota, Nabina Karki

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Soybean cyst nematode (SCN), Heterodera glycines (HG) Ichinohe, is an endoparasitic nematode and one of the major yield-limiting pathogens of soybean (Glycine max L.) in the United States. Soybean cyst nematode alone accounts for more than $1.5 billion economic loss annually in North America. First reported in the U.S.A. in 1954 in New Hanover County, North Carolina and later in 1995 in Union County, South Dakota. Prior to this study, SCN has spread in 34 counties in the state. As a soil pathogen, which can adapt to most soil conditions under soybean production and beside soybean, it is hosted on …

Formulation And Immunogenicity Of L1 Orf1 Mrna Vaccine In Mice, Raj Nandani

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation presents the design, formulation, and immunogenicity evaluation of a novel mRNA vaccine targeting the L1 ORF1p protein, a tumor-associated antigen. The vaccine was synthesized using in vitro transcription and encapsulated in lipid nanoparticles (LNPs), with both unmodified uridine and N1-methylpseudouridine variants tested. Physicochemical characterization confirmed optimal particle size (160–220 nm), acceptable zeta potential, and encapsulation efficiency ranging from 74% to 92%, with preserved RNA integrity post-formulation. These results validate the robustness of the formulation workflow and its suitability for antigen delivery. Immunogenicity studies in C57BL/6 mice revealed modest but promising immune responses. While early activation markers (CD69) and …

Soybean Meal And Soybean Hulls Inclusion In Swine Diets And The Effects On Performance, Carcass Characteristics, Nutrient Digestibility, Manure Nutrient Output, And Economic Impact, Joseph G. Halbur

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The increasing demand for soybean production in the Midwest, driven by new soybean crushing plants, may reduce the cost of soybean meal (SBM), making it a more accessible and economically viable feed ingredient in swine diets. Replacing dried distillers grains with solubles (DDGS) with SBM and soy hulls at different inclusion rates may influence growth performance, carcass traits, nutrient digestibility, manure nutrient output, pelleting energy use, and economic returns in wean-to-finish pigs. Two experiments were conducted to evaluate these effects. In the first, 566 pigs (PIC × Terminal Duroc, 8.45 and 7.25 kg, 6 weeks of age) were housed in …

Incarcerated Youth Returning To Society As Adults: An Examination Of Their Lived Experiences And Challenges, Kimberly R. Lawrance

Theses and Dissertations

When children have been incarcerated, they face collateral consequences that make it nearly impossible to recover from when they return home. Collateral consequences are the adverse effects experienced by incarcerated people and their families often causing restrictions or missed opportunities after interaction with the criminal justice system (Moise, Simonsen, & Kearl, 2023). Collateral consequences can be related to housing, employment, and education, to name a few. These lost opportunities are concerning for youth because most have never held a job or finished high school. Collateral consequences often set them up for failure leading to the revolving doors of jails and …

Trumpian Impoundments In Historical Perspective, Zachary S. Price

Faculty Scholarship

During the election campaign and the first 100 days of his second term, President Donald Trump and key figures in his administration took actions and made statements suggesting that they believe the President holds a constitutional power to "impound," or decline to spend, appropriated funds. They also suggested that they believe the executive branch is better suited than Congress to represent the common good in federal spending. Although both these arguments have historical antecedents, both are deeply flawed, and courts should reject them in an appropriate case. Rather than continue its trajectory toward executive governance, the United States should adhere …

Personal Jurisdiction And Federalism, Scott Dodson

Faculty Scholarship

Personal jurisdiction has long professed to safeguard interstate federalism through the principle that good fences make good neighbors. Although this goal sits uncomfortably with the idea of personal jurisdiction as an individual right under the Due Process Clause, recent decisions from the Supreme Court have reinvigorated the federalism aspect of personal jurisdiction, offering a new opportunity to appraise its value and efficacy. This Article does so and concludes that personal jurisdiction fails to protect interstate federalism. States and private parties, it turns out, have too much authorization to expand state-court personal jurisdiction beyond state borders using the doctrine of consent …

Cover Cropping Strategies For Improving Weed Suppression, Yashar Askarzadeh

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Cover crops (CCs) play an essential role in sustainable agriculture by providing multiple ecosystem services. However, adoption remains low due to concerns about economic returns, management complexity, and potential yield reductions in cash crops. Applying CCs uniformly across fields without accounting for spatial variability can result in inconsistent outcomes. A precision cover cropping system (PCCS), which incorporates site-specific management zones (MZs), offers a more targeted approach to improving performance while minimizing costs and uncertainties. This study explores the interaction between CCs and field variability through complementary field and greenhouse experiments. The field experiment demonstrates that field heterogeneity significantly influences CC …

A New Deepfake Detection Method With No-Reference Image Quality Assessment To Resist Image Degradation, Jiajun Jiang, Wen-Chao Yang, Chung-Hao Chen, Timothy Young

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

Deepfake technology, which utilizes advanced AI models such as Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs), has led to the proliferation of highly convincing manipulated media, posing significant challenges for detection. Existing detection methods often struggle with the low-quality or compressed press, which is prevalent on social media platforms. This paper proposes a novel Deepfake detection framework that leverages No-Reference Image Quality Assessment (NRIQA) techniques, specifically, BRISQUE, NIQE, and PIQUE, to extract quality-related features from facial images. These features are then classified using a Support Vector Machine (SVM) with various kernel functions. We evaluate our method under both intra-dataset and cross-dataset settings. For …

The Pre-Polarization And Concentration Of Cells Near Micro-Electrodes Using Ac Electric Fields Enhances The Electrical Cell Lysis In A Sessile Drop, Kishor Kaphle, Dharmakeerthi Nawarathna

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

Cell lysis is the starting step of many biomedical assays. Electric field-based cell lysis is widely used in many applications, including point-of-care (POC) applications, because it provides an easy one-step solution. Many electric field-based lysis methods utilize micro-electrodes to apply short electric pulses across cells. Unfortunately, these cell lysis devices produce relatively low cell lysis efficiency as electric fields do not reach a significant portion of cells in the sample. Additionally, the utility of syringe pumps for flow cells in and out of the microfluidics channel causes cell loss and low throughput cell lysis. To address these critical issues, we …

Search Strategies For "Malondialdehyde-Acetaldehyde Modified Macromolecules And Resulting Autoantibodies In Rheumatoid Arthritis Pathogenesis: A Systematic Literature Review", Wenxian Zhou, Nozima Aripova, Hannah J. Johnson, Bryant England, Cynthia M. Schmidt, Daniel R. Anderson, Jill A. Poole, Tate Johnson, Michael J. Duryee, Geoffrey M. Thiele, Ted R. Mikuls

Search Strategies: Leon S. McGoogan Health Sciences Library

No abstract provided.

Molecular Insights Into The Impact Of Bone Marrow Stroma, Cb-6644 Inhibition Of The Ruvbl1/2 Complex, And Cebpβ On Regulating Drug Sensitivity In Multiple Myeloma, Sebastian Adam Dziadowicz

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Multiple myeloma (MM), is a hematological cancer originating in plasma cells. Currently multiple myeloma represents a significant clinical challenge due its incurable nature mainly due to inevitable drug resistance. MM is characterized by abnormal plasma cell proliferation within the bone marrow and production of abnormal immunoglobulin resulting in a plethora of physiological abnormalities. Although a rare malignancy, MM accounts for 1% of all cancers and currently has five-year survival rate of around 50%. Utilizing a combination of laboratory experiments and bioinformatics techniques, this dissertation examines multiple layers of MM physiology in the context of regulating drug resistance or sensitivity. First, …

Effects Of Pubertal Stress On Later Pup-Directed Behavior In Pregnant And Non-Pregnant Adult Female Mice, Marissa Marylin Nicodemus

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Beginning in adolescence and throughout adulthood, women are at an increased risk for anxiety and mood disorders compared to men. Several risk factors for these disorders have been identified, but it is not clear how they interact. One such factor is pregnancy. The normative changes to the brain and behavior that occur during and after pregnancy are associated with an increased risk for anxiety and mood disorders. Exposure to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) has also been associated with an increased risk of mood disorders, and compared to men, women appear to be particularly vulnerable to the lasting effects of stress …

Exploration Of Occupational Therapy's Consultative Role For Social Emotional Development In The Rural Childcare Setting, Katherine M. Conley

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Little research has been conducted investigating the consultative role of occupational therapy (OT) in childcare, especially their role in supporting the social and emotional development of children aged 1 – 5 years. This project takes place in a rural childcare setting where a needs assessment found gaps in classroom routines' functionality, the accessibility of center-wide age-appropriate resources, and the use of social and emotional supports in the classroom. The occupational therapy doctoral student utilized the coaching model, evidence-based research, and the foundations of occupational therapy with the intention to improve teachers’ confidence in implementing social and emotional content in the …

Abundance Estimates And Habitat Use Of The Candy Darter In The Critical Habitat Designation Of The Gauley River National Recreation Area, David Cole Hoffman

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This thesis includes (1) a literature review chapter and (2) a research chapter that examines the abundance and habitat use of Candy Darters (Etheostoma osburni) in the Gauley River National Recreation Area (GARI). The Candy Darter, a small-bodied fish in the family Percidae, is an endemic and a federally endangered species in the New River drainage of West Virginia and Virginia. One of the critical habitat designations for this species is located within GARI, a reach of the river impacted by didymo (Didymosphenia geminata), where snorkeling and underwater observations were conducted to assess species abundance and …

The Professional Backgrounds And Experiences Of Higher Education Trustees And Its Influence On Decision Making, Jade J. Irving

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

There are many complex decisions that must be made among the board of governors within institutions of higher education. Recent headlines on the decisions of trustees regarding campus closures and consolidations, program cuts, and presidential appointments have put a spotlight on the individuals responsible for making such decisions. This study examined how trustees of public 4-year institutions in the state of West Virginia perceive the value of their professional backgrounds and experiences in fulfilling their governance responsibilities. Using an explanatory sequential design, this study investigated how trustees’ professional experiences shape their decision-making processes through the theoretical lenses of sensemaking theory …

Supporting The Social Emotional Needs Of Preschoolers, Giorgi Morrone

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Social-emotional competence is a prerequisite to school performance and participation in daily tasks. Children in West Virginia face social and emotional barriers including the effects of the opioid epidemic leading to children placed in foster care, born with neonatal abstinence syndrome, and being exposed to toxic stress in the home environment. Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted children's social-emotional functioning due to isolation periods. Social-emotional programming can improve children's well-being, school performance, relationships, and outcomes later in life. Occupational therapy practitioners can use data-driven decision-making and relationship-centered practice to develop group-based, health-promotion social-emotional programming in the preschool setting. The purpose …

Romantic Materialities And The Politics Of Care: Negotiating Movement In A More-Than-Human World, April J. Mcginnis

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This dissertation explores the ecological politics of movement in Romantic literature. It contributes to a growing body of scholarship that investigates the important role that walking played in nineteenth-century literary culture. Many authors from this period cast walking as a practice that frees up not only the body but the mind as well, as the steady rhythm of the feet lulls the walker into a state of self-absorbed introspection and heightened creativity. Because of this, walking was a celebrated part of the creative process for many writers. The freedom they celebrate is possible, however, only in spaces that are level, …

Inactivation Kinetics Of Escherichia Coli And Listeria Monocytogenes In Edible Insects, Precious Aduloju

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Edible insects are emerging as sustainable and nutritious alternatives to conventional protein sources. However, concerns about food safety, particularly the presence of pathogenic bacteria such as Escherichia coli and Listeria monocytogenes, remain a barrier to consumer acceptance and industrial use. This study evaluated the effectiveness of thermal processing in inactivating E. coli, L. monocytogenes, and their non-pathogenic surrogates (E. coli JM109 and Listeria innocua) in both fresh and dehydrated forms of Tenebrio molitor (mealworm) and Acheta domesticus (cricket). It also evaluated the influence of insect species, moisture content, and temperature on microbial inactivation. A microbial challenge …

Mourning And Haunting In Irish Gothic Fiction From The Victorian Era To Modernism, Wenyu Kong

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This dissertation explores how three Irish modernist writers, Elizabeth Bowen, Dorothy Macardle, and James Joyce, incorporate and reimagine tropes from the Victorian Gothic Revival to address Ireland’s uneven modernity in the first half of the twentieth century. I argue that the Irish Gothic tradition is essential for these writers to express their reflection and reaction to ongoing cultural and social turmoil in Ireland’s process of modernization during the foundation of the postcolonial Irish state. Extending Sheridan Le Fanu’s Big House Gothic legacy, Elizabeth Bowen creates haunted spaces in The Last September (1929) to describe Anglo-Ireland’s precarious situation during the War …

Rifles And Riflemen: Material Culture, Violence, And Early American Identity, 1720 -- 1820, John Bradstreet Weaver

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The rifle was one of many material objects which colonists of British North America brought with them from Europe. Starting in the early eighteenth century, German-speaking settlers in Pennsylvania began to manufacture rifles from locally made and imported parts. These rifles became associated with other material objects – namely a system of dress, which included wearing a whitetail deer’s tail in the hat, the hunting shirt, and forms of Native American dress – which became emblematic of some British colonists who used rifles in hunting and war. Rifles became militarily important in the Seven Years’ War, where Native American warriors, …

Three Essays On Sustainability Economics, Hélène Flore Nguemgaing

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

As global economies face increasing resource dependencies and supply chain challenges, it becomes essential to understand the vulnerabilities that threaten economic stability. This dissertation investigates three empirical issues in agribusiness and critical minerals using econometric models to estimate the following: 1) the impact of supply chain disruptions on stock market returns during COVID-19; 2) the extraction of rare earth elements from acid mine drainage treatment by investigating the impacts of ownership and legislation in West Virginia and Pennsylvania; 3) China-to�FOBb (Free-on-Board) price transmission in rare earth elements markets: a copula-based dynamic tail dependence analysis.

The first essay evaluates how events …

Machine Learning And Uass For Managing Autumn Olive (Elaeagnus Umbellata) On Reclaimed Surface Mines, Sean Michael Keane

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This research introduces an innovative approach for managing autumn olive (Elaeagnus umbellata) on reclaimed surface mines through the integration of machine learning algorithms and unmanned aerial systems. The proliferation of autumn olive presents significant ecological challenges on disturbed landscapes, necessitating more efficient detection and control methods. This study evaluated Random Forest classification and deep learning approaches using the U-Net architecture for identifying autumn olive across four phenological stages using high-resolution imagery. The RGB U-Net model achieved F1-scores of 0.927, 0.912, and 0.871 for autumn olive detection during peak, late, and senescence stages respectively, outperforming both multispectral and vegetation …

Comparison Of Compositional Characteristics Of Protein Extracted From Spent Hemp Seed Cakes By One-Step Defatting With Organic Solvents Followed By Isoelectric Solubilization Precipitation Using Strong And Weak Acids, Miah Nicole Gathman

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Hemp seed cakes (HSC) are the byproduct of pressing hemp seeds for oil and are a significant agricultural waste product, with hundreds of tons produced annually. These nutrient-rich cakes have potential for sustainable applications in animal feed and food products. However, they could offer even greater value to the food industry through further extraction of the lipids and separation of the proteins they contain. Protein is a key nutritional component and companies are seeking cost-effective, time-efficient processes to concentrate protein from underutilized resources like HSC. Hexane (HEX) is a common solvent used in one-step defatting processes but may cause issue …

Evaluating The Adaptation Of Taro (Colocasia Esculenta) To West Virginia Climatic Conditions, Kayode Joseph Ajayi

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Climate change impacts agriculture and food security across the globe, therefore higher temperatures could increase in the length of the growing period and new crops would take advantages of. Research was conducted in Morgantown, WV in 2022 and 2023 to understand the growth pattern of Taro in West Virginia, and to analyzing the chemical composition of the Taro plant. The experiment was a completely randomized design in direct planting-low tunnel technology (2 replications, and 10- plants/plot), and two fertilization treatments (fertilized and non-fertilized). Spacing was 1 m within and between rows. Data were subjected to ANOVA using SAS. Dependent variables …

The Characterization Of Il-27 Production And Its Impact On T Cell Antigen-Specificity And Diversity In A Neonatal Bcg Vaccination Model, Ashley M. Divens

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Tuberculosis (TB) is caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), and it has plagued humans for most of recorded history. Despite strong efforts to prevent and treat TB, it remains the leading cause of death due to a pathogen and is most prevalent in certain regions of Asia and Africa. Currently, the only approved vaccine to prevent TB is the live-attenuated Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine. Most countries have a universal BCG vaccination policy, but the vaccine ultimately fails to be protective. The BCG vaccine is most effective in children and protects against disseminated TB, but protection wanes 10-15 years after vaccination causing …

Five-Year Analysis Of Kiko Buck Growth Rate, Carcass Muscling And Parasite Resistance In A Feedlot Setting, Garrett Thomas Vaughan

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Five-year analysis of Kiko buck growth rate, carcass muscling and parasite resistance in a feedlot environment

Garrett T. Vaughan

From 2018 to 2023, Kiko bucks born from January 1^st to March 15^th were performance tested at West Virginia University to evaluate growth rate, ultrasound carcass characteristics and parasite resistance under an artificial infection. Kiko bucks were submitted by producers from 17 different states and over 5 performance tests, 830 Kiko bucks were evaluated. Bucks were group housed and fed ad libitum with a 16% CP pellet containing soyhulls, serving as the dietary fiber component. Upon arrival, bucks were …