Digital Commons Network^™

Predation Of A Sperm Whale (Physeter Macrocephalus) By Killer Whales (Orcinus Orca) In Guanaja, Honduras, Gaby M. Ochoa, Eric Angel Ramos, Daniel Gonzalez-Socoloske

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

“Were The Creation Days Twenty-Four-Hour Days Or Indefinite Periods Of Time?”, Jiri Moskala

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Is There A Future For The Missiological Study Of Worldview?, Paulo Oliveira

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Developing An Artificial Intelligence Framework For Identifying Fusion Blood-Based Biomarkers In Alzheimer's Disease, Ali H. Al-Nuaimi, Mohammed Kamal Nsaif, Shaymaa Al-Juboori

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is an irreversible neurological disorder, a major cause of disability among the elderly, with no effective therapeutic options currently available. It is an asymp-tomatic disease in the prodromal stages and begins many years before clinical appearances. Early diagnosis of AD allows patients to obtain appropriate healthcare assistance, accelerating the development of new medications. A biomarker that evaluates the alterations in the brain cells produced by AD in its preliminary periods might be significant for its early identification. Blood-based biomarkers (BBBMs) facilitate the early detection of AD. The BBBMs detection procedure is cost-efficient and minimally invasive. The aim …

Speech-Aided Facial Video Super Resolution With Accurate Lip Motion And Enhanced Frequency Details, Shailza Sharma, Vivek Singh, Abhinav Dhall, Vinay Kumar

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

Despite recent breakthroughs in face hallucination, video face hallucination remains a challenging task due to the issue of consistency across video frames. The temporal dimension in videos makes it difficult to learn facial motion and maintain color uniformity throughout the sequence. To address these challenges, we propose a novel audio-visual cross-modality support based video face hallucination network. The framework excels in learning fine spatiotemporal motion patterns by leveraging the correlation between movement of the facial structure and associated speech signal. Another significant challenge generic to face hallucination is blurriness around the key facial regions, such as mouth and lips. These …

Interventions For Promoting Physical Activity In People With Newly Diagnosed Parkinson’S Disease: Scoping Review, Jonathan Gilby, Bridie Kent, Rachel Knight Lozano, Jonathan Marsden

School of Health Professions

Background: There is increasing evidence to suggest that physical activity can slow Parkinson’s progression. There is also increasing interest in non-pharmacological interventions to alleviate Parkinson’s symptoms. This scoping review aimed to map and describe the evidence for interventions that promote physical activity in people with newly diagnosed Parkinson’s. Methods: Studies conducted since 2011, on adults with Parkinson’s (≥ 18 years), investigating the effects of non-pharmacological interventions to promote physical activity and/or exercise were considered. Interventions needed to be conducted in healthcare or healthcare-related settings for people within 5 years of Parkinson’s diagnosis. Published or unpublished full-text articles since 2011 were …

Temperature-Driven Plasticity In Boldness, Its Predictability And Learning In The Beadlet Anemone, Actinia Equina, Samantha Simpson, Dunia Gonzales, Mark Briffa

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

Variation in ambient temperature is for poikilothermic animals a key driver of behavioural variation because of its multiplicative effects on metabolic rate. Apart from the fundamental environmental source of behavioural variation, understanding the effects of temperature is also important in the context of predicted climate change scenarios. In particular, behavioural responses to extreme temperature fluctuation could represent maladaptive responses to rapidly changing environments. However, behavioural responses to moderate temperature fluctuations, within ranges that are routinely experienced, likely represent adaptive plasticity. Recent studies have addressed this question within an animal personality framework, which can quantify the effects of temperature regime across …

Categorical Perception Of The Index Finger As An American Sign Language Phonological Construct, Lareina Hingson, Jeffrey Jack Green, Brooklyn Lorenc

Faculty Publications

In American Sign Language, specific handshapes found in the manual alphabet and/or numbering system (such as the pointed index finger—the number “1”—and its bent counterpart—the letter “x”) are assumed to be phonologically distinct under the rationale that bentness of the finger(s) constitutes a phonemic distinctive feature. This study investigates this notion, building on previous behavioral studies of American Sign Language categorical perception of bentness of the index finger. We examined varying levels of bentness between 180◦ and 90◦ using a scale ranging from the signs BLACK and SUMMER in the standard dialect. Experiment 1 found that when presented with all …

High-Resolution Single-Cell Rna Sequencing Using Canfam4 Reveals Novel Immune Subsets And Checkpoint Programs In Healthy Dogs, Myung-Chul Kim, Taeeun Gu, Hyeewon Seo, Yewon Moon, Nicholas Borcherding, Ryan Kolb, Yubin Kim, Youngmin Yun, Woo-Jin Song, Chung-Young Lee, Hyun Je Kim, Weizhou Zhang

2020-Current year OA Pubs

INTRODUCTION: Single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) enables high-resolution profiling of immune heterogeneity. Although previous studies have mapped the single-cell transcriptomic atlases of peripheral leukocytes in healthy dogs, the identification and functional characterization of distinct immune subsets remain incomplete.

METHODS: We constructed a single-cell atlas of peripheral leukocytes from six healthy small-breed dogs using the 10x Genomics platform and the updated canFam4 genome.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: Analysis of 30,040 high-quality transcriptomes revealed 51 distinct immune subsets, including

CONCLUSION: To our knowledge, this study represents the first comprehensive, gene-resolved single-cell analysis to reveal immunoregulatory checkpoint mechanisms underlying immune homeostasis in healthy dogs. Our …

Genetic Epidemiology Of Chronic Wasting Disease And Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease In North Dakota Deer, Ethan S. Baker

Theses and Dissertations

Wildlife diseases have become a critical factor in the management of animal populations across the globe. Such diseases can compromise individual health, reduce population sizes, and disrupt ecosystem biodiversity. As a result, there can be a loss in recreational opportunities which, in turn, can cause economic losses for communities relying on these populations. Effective wildlife disease management not only requires the ability to respond to outbreaks but also the capacity to predict how diseases interact with populations and ecosystems. Due to the complexity of disease dynamics, a multidisciplinary approach is essential for gaining a comprehensive understanding of these systems. In …

Hillslope Degradation: Coarse Sands May Move Faster But Fines Dominate Flux, Robert Chance

Theses and Dissertations

Hillslopes are one of the most pervasive landforms on Earth yet the details of the processes that drive their evolution are not completely understood. Excluding boulders, the majority of mass and volume in soil-mantled hillslopes is composed of sand-sized and finer grains. Understanding the transport rates and governing transport mechanisms of these grains is therefore key to advancing our knowledge of hillslope evolution.This research investigates sand-sized sediment transport through field experiments at 20 sites tracking surface sediment motion and 11 sites measuring depth-dependent transport. These empirical results are compared against outputs from a novel grain-based hillslope diffusion simulation (GBHDS), which …

An Exploratory Investigation Of The Impact Of Psychological Intimate Partner Violence On College Women: A Qualitative Study, Dana Juel Conzemius-Schindler

Theses and Dissertations

Researchers have found psychological intimate partner violence (P-IPV; defined as emotional and verbal abuse utilized to degrade, demean, create fear, control, or isolate; Tolman, 1989; Sullivan et al., 2012) is detrimental to mental health functioning, including increased sexual risk behaviors, depressive and anxious symptomology, and relationship dissatisfaction (Hellemans et al., 2015; Overstreet et al., 2015). Despite this, little is known regarding the academic and psychological lived experiences of survivors of P-IPV. Therefore, the current study sought to qualitatively explore the lived experiences of female-identified students exposed to psychological intimate partner violence while in college. Through a Consensual Qualitative Research (CQR; …

Advancing Human-Computer Interaction Systems Through Explainable And Secure Ai Integration, Ifiok Udoidiok

Theses and Dissertations

As artificial intelligence (AI) systems increasingly shape how humans interact with digital environments, the need for transparency, security, and robustness in intelligent decision making has become critical. This thesis explores how explainable and secure AI techniques can be integrated into modern human-computer interaction (HCI) systems to enhance trust, resilience, and alignment with human operators.

We present three related studies, each addressing a distinct challenge in the design of human-centered AI. First, we apply XAI methods, specifically Local Interpretable Model-Agnostic Explanations (LIME), to deep learning (DL) based CAPTCHA solvers. By interpreting model attention patterns, we uncover exploitable weaknesses in text CAPTCHA …

Public Perceptions Of Fracking And Anti-Fracking Activism: A Theory Of Planned Behavior Approach And Its Implications For Environmental Policy, Okhumode Hector Yakubu

Theses and Dissertations

Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, has become one of the most contentious energy technologies of the 21st century, drawing support for its economic and energy security benefits and opposition due to its perceived environmental and health risks. This study applies the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) to examine the psychological, social, and informational factors that shape public perceptions of fracking and motivate anti-fracking activism. Using a nationally representative sample of U.S. adults (N = 522), this research investigates how attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, and domain-specific knowledge predict support or opposition to fracking, as well as intentions to engage in …

The Ever-Present Nature Of Christ In The Title Of Jehovah, Dan Belnap

Faculty Publications

In January 2000 the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints bore testimony to the world of the reality, humanity, and divinity of Jesus Christ in a document titled “The Living Christ: The Testimony of the Apostles.” Among its many truths was the following: “He [Christ] was the Great Jehovah of the Old Testament.”1 Though this was not the first time Church leadership had declared Christ to be Jehovah, the pronouncement does reemphasize this teaching. It also emphasizes the centrality of Christ in the Old Testament. In fact, the …

The Weapon Focus Effect On Memory For Male And Female Perpetrators, Faith Christel Aasen

Theses and Dissertations

Previous research on the weapon focus effect suggests that weapon presence causes reduced memory accuracy for perpetrator details due to weapons being surprising and unexpected. The unusualness hypothesis suggests that a stronger weapon focus effect should occur when the perpetrator defies typical gender stereotypes, such as a woman holding a gun. The current study sought to examine how the weapon focus effect impacts eyewitness memory for male and female perpetrators, specifically exploring the magnitude of the effect on female perpetrators. The current study further investigated whether the own gender bias attenuates the weapon focus effect on memory for female perpetrators. …

Hazard Impact Assessment Of Brine Spills On Groundwater Pollution In Western North Dakota, Grace Dzifa Agbozo

Theses and Dissertations

The rapid expansion of oil and gas production in North Dakota’s Bakken Formation has heightened environmental concerns, particularly groundwater contamination from brine spills. Brine, a highly saline byproduct of oil extraction, poses a serious threat to water quality due to its chemical composition. This study examines brine spill impacts from 2013 to 2024 across Williams, Mountrail, McKenzie, and Dunn counties using GIS and the DRASTIC model, enhanced with Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Fuzzy Overlay techniques. Essential hydrogeological factors were analyzed to produce vulnerability index maps. Furthermore, spatial autocorrelation (Moran’s I), Optimized Hot Spot Analysis, and Emerging Hot Spot Analysis …

Virulence Of Emerging Tick-Borne Pathogens, Borrelia Miyamotoi And Borrelia Mayonii, Dawn Cleveland

Theses and Dissertations

As climate change leads to global expansion of tick habitats, tick borne diseases are becoming more prevalent and widespread, and emerging tickborne pathogens Borrelia miyamotoi and Borrelia mayonii warrant increased study. Both B. miyamotoi and B. mayonii are vectored by the same tick species as B. burgdorferi, the causative agent of Lyme disease, with B. miyamotoi causing a relapsing fever-like disease known as Borrelia miyamotoi disease (BMD), and B. mayonii causing a Lyme disease-like illness with atypical clinical presentations. This dissertation has two aims. The first aim encompasses B. miyamotoi infection and growth, isolation of clonal populations, and characterization of …

Get In The Zone: Utilizing A Food Skills Survey To Assess The Education Needs Of A Blue Zones Project Community, Sophia Kathryn Dunlap

Theses and Dissertations

Under-resourced communities often demonstrate little to basic knowledge and skills regarding food and nutrition-related practices, such as cooking and meal planning, nutrition label reading, and gardening. This can be attributed to various factors such as education level, socioeconomic status, available education programs, and overall interest in these topics. Limited research is available discussing the current knowledge, skills, and interests of nutrition topics and healthy eating patterns within Blue Zones Project (BZP) communities. To explore this gap in the literature, a cross-sectional design was implemented via a food skills survey completed by the residents of a modest-sized college town and site …

An Explainable Ai Framework For Detecting Harmful Algal Blooms (Habs) In Freshwater Lakes, Meera Gopinath Sujatha

Theses and Dissertations

The increase in economic impacts due to the rapid growth of harmful algal blooms (HABs) in freshwater lakes has prompted the development of monitoring and prediction systems. However, limited target data hinders reliable predictions on HAB formations. To address this limitation, this dissertation focuses on providing solutions through data-driven,interpretable, and explainable machine learning models. In Chapter 3, an interpretable multivariate regression model such as Vector Autoregressive (VAR) was used to analyze the important factors that contribute to the formation of cyanobacteria in lakes. The causality tests performed on multiple water quality data helped to determine Alkalinity, Chlorophyll-a (Chl-a), andWater Temperature …

Characterization Of Methylated Histone Modifications During Simian Virus 40 Early Transcription, Jacob Otto Haugen

Theses and Dissertations

Modifications of histone proteins play an important role in transcription. These modifications regulate how chromatin is compacted by the histone proteins and either made available for transcription or prevents transcription machinery from proceeding. The modifications can be added or removed by histone acetyltransferases and histone methyltransferases for the former, and histone deacetylates and demethylases for the latter. To explore the dynamicity of these modifications we used the simple but effective Simian Virus 40 (SV40) model. SV40 continues to be an important tool in understanding eukaryotic transcription. It experiences similar processes as cellular chromatin, utilizing host proteins to propagate its own …

The Wicked Problem Of Moral Distress: Exploring The Experiences Of Rural Clinic Nurses, Sydney Rae Johnson

Theses and Dissertations

Background: Moral distress is an occupational hazard for nurses that can negatively impact nurses, patients, and the healthcare system. Moral distress has been well documented in high-risk care environments. Each nursing care environment has its own unique triggers for moral distress, but these triggers are unknown in rural clinic nurses. Design and Purpose: This convergent mixed methods study sought to gain a broader understanding of moral distress in nurses working in rural clinic settings.

Methods: Convergent mixed methodology was used to gain a broader understanding of moral distress in nurses working in rural clinic settings. Following ethical approvals, informed by …

A Qualitative Study Exploring Best Practices And Applications Of Green, Eco, And Environmental Social Work In Canadian Social Work Practice, Ryley Kristanne Kowalski

Theses and Dissertations

Humanity and society are deeply connected to nature and the environment at their core. Through processes of colonization, the Industrial Revolution, urbanization, consumerism, and capitalism, people and societies have become increasingly disconnected from the natural environment. Introduced as a helping profession through the Industrial Revolution, social work began rooted in environment but quickly changed to understand human and societal wellbeing through the narrow scope of the social environment through the person-in-environment approach. Modern day issues of climate change, environmental degradation, environmental racism, and environmental justice movements have necessitated social work’s increased understanding of the natural environment. The purpose of this …

Why Can't We Just Be: Native American College Student Sense Of Belonging At The University Of North Dakota, Gavin Michael Nadeau

Theses and Dissertations

Sense of belonging is a primary indicator of retention and persistence to graduation forNative American college students. Though more than doubling in the past 30 years, Native American college student enrollment has decreased since 2010 (197,000 in 2010 to 107,000 in 2021) (PNPI, 2021; NCES, n.d.). In 2020, Native American students’ 2nd year retention rate was more than 20% lower than their white peers at the University of North Dakota (UND, 2020). When college students of color feel like they belong, they are more likely to retain, persist, and graduate (Mowreader, 2024; Hurtado & Carter, 1997; Hurtado et al., 1999). …

Investigating The Role Of Keratin 6 And Sox2 In Regulating Growth, Stemness, Basal/Squamous Expression, And Chemotherapy Response In Muscle-Invasive Urothelial Carcinoma, Nelofar Nargis

Theses and Dissertations

Urothelial carcinoma (UC) is a prevalent and aggressive malignancy arising in urothelial cells, with arsenic exposure recognized as a significant environmental risk factor. It is categorized into two primary subtypes based on the extent of cancer progression beyond the bladder’s muscle wall: non-muscle-invasive urothelial carcinoma (NMIUC) and muscle-invasive urothelial carcinoma (MIUC). While NMIUC is associated with a relatively favorable prognosis, progression to MIUC is more aggressive and leads to significantly worse outcomes, including poor treatment response and increased metastasis. Squamous differentiation (SD) in UC is an emerging hallmark of aggressive UC, with patients often having poor prognoses and developing chemoresistance, …

Investigation Of Surfactant-Enhanced Oil Recovery In High Salinity And High Temperature (Hsht) Reservoir Conditions: A Case Study In The Bakken Formation, Tomiwa Isaac Oguntade

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigates improved strategies for enhancing oil recovery (EOR) in challenging reservoir conditions by combining chemical surfactant flooding and data-driven optimization techniques. Given rising global energy demand and the depletion of conventional oil reserves, chemical EOR methods, particularly surfactant flooding, are gaining popularity for their ability to mobilize residual oil via mechanisms such as reducing interfacial tension, altering wettability, and inhibiting asphaltene formation. The research begins by examining the effectiveness of surfactant applications across various reservoir conditions, emphasizing the need for surfactants capable of withstanding challenging environments characterized by high temperatures, high salinity, and low permeability. Laboratory experiments demonstrated …

Evaluating The Engineering Properties Of Waste-Modified Asphalt Binders And Mixtures As Inputs For The Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design, Duncan Rioba Oteki

Theses and Dissertations

Pavements are essential for economic development and mobility, with asphalt dominating the US road network due to its cost-effectiveness, ease of maintenance, and recyclability. However, the environmental impacts of asphalt production and the depletion of virgin materials have driven the integration of waste products into asphalt mixtures to improve sustainability. This study evaluated the engineering properties of waste-modified asphalt binders and mixtures as performance-based inputs for the Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide (MEPDG). The rutting performance of ten asphalt mixtures commonly used in North Dakota was assessed using mechanistic and empirical tests. Mechanistic tests included the dynamic modulus (|E*|), Flow Number …

Nutrition Implications In Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (Heds)/Hypermobility Spectrum Disorder (Hsd), Lauren Steiner

Theses and Dissertations

Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (hEDS) and hypermobility spectrum disorders (HSD) are a poorly recognized and under researched group of genetic connective tissue disorders that have widespread impacts on the human body, including gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms. The role of dietary and supplemental interventions in GI symptom control in this patient population has not been researched. This study used an exploratory survey to collect data on diets and supplements that the patient population has used to combat GI symptoms. The low histamine, gluten free, dairy free, anti-inflammatory, and intermittent fasting diets, as well as magnesium, probiotic, coenzyme Q10, vitamin C, vitamin B12, and …

Eco-Friendly Synthesis Of Anemonin From 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural, A Biomass-Derived Starting Material, Diane Zefack Tangmi

Theses and Dissertations

Anemonin, a valuable cyclobutane containing dilactone is a bioactive natural product from Ranunculaceae plants. It holds great potential for applications in pharmaceuticals and materials science. However, traditional synthesis methods are hampered by low yields, toxic reagents, and environmental concerns, limiting its practical use. This study highlights the development of green and scalable synthetic strategies designed to achieve high yields while minimizing environmental impact. Our approach focuses on sustainable methodologies, including optimized steam and fractional distillation performed under mild conditions to reduce waste and energy demands. Protoanemonin’s natural ability to dimerize under mild heating offers a green approach to anemonin synthesis, …