Digital Commons Network^™

Bridging The Gap: Exploring The Impact Of Graduate Preparation Programs On Undergraduate Stem Students, Faika Tahir Jan, Thomas Nelson, Travis Chan, Tremayne O. Waller, Cynthia Hampton, Sherif Abdelhamid

Journal of Access, Retention, and Inclusion in Higher Education

This study explores the impact of the "A Step to the Doctorate" (S2D) program on the academic trajectories of undergraduate STEM students, focusing on how it fosters academic success and prepares participants for graduate education. Drawing on data from pre and post surveys and semi structured interviews of 60 participants, the research addresses two primary questions: (1) Which program components do participants find most impactful? Moreover, (2) How has the program influenced their academic aspirations and preparedness for graduate school? The findings highlight that mentorship, peer networking, and targeted workshops are key in boosting academic self-efficacy and enhancing participants’ confidence …

Development Of An Artificial Intelligence Web Based System For Classification Of Tomatoes Disease, Joshua Sokowonci Mommoh, Etinosa Noma-Osaghe, Vera Nimo Timai, Odike Arnold Uchechi, Solomon Obhenbhen Ibharunujele, Blessing Godday

Mansoura Engineering Journal

The development of this platform addresses the challenges associated with traditional tomato disease detection methods as well as the challenges of current machine learning and deep learning models in accurately detecting tomato diseases. Conventional methods of tomato disease diagnosis typically rely on expert evaluation but are time-consuming and susceptible to human mistakes. Incorrect diagnoses of certain diseases could lead to poor control measures, resulting in decreased agricultural productivity. In this research, the PlantVillage dataset, comprising 18,160 tomato leaf images distributed across 10 classes, was used to train two machine learning models, namely, Inception-ResNetV2 and Inception V3. The models were configured, …

2025 Fall Commencement Program: Winona State University, Winona State University

WSU Commencement Programs

This is the Winona State University Fall 2025 commencement program. Commencement was on Friday, December 12, 2025. There were 2 ceremonies at 9:00am and 11:30am.

During the Commencement event, a complete list of graduates was provided online. This program was not published during the Commencement event. This digital copy is maintained in the repository for archival purposes.

Adapting Master’S-Level Chemistry Education In The United States: Insights From Industry, Academia, And The Literature, Brian Johnson, Amanda Lindell, Nina M. Goodey

Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

As the chemical industry evolves in response to technological and global challenges, Master’s-level chemistry programs must adapt to prepare graduates for workforce success. This article explores how such programs can better integrate professional skills such as communication, collaboration, and research. Drawing on literature and stakeholder interviews from a review of the Chemistry M.S. and Pharmaceutical Biochemistry M.S. programs at Montclair State University, a Hispanic Serving Institution in New Jersey’s pharmaceutical hub, we identified four key themes: the importance of hands-on research experiences, the integration of professional skills development, the need for flexible course and credit requirements, and the challenges of …

Decarbonizing California Wine: Navigating Scope 3 Emissions Challenges And Opportunities, Olivia Regalia

Master's Projects and Capstones

Climate change is already impacting the California wine industry through increases in extreme weather, such as prolonged heatwaves and atmospheric rivers. For the industry to survive, it is important for California wineries to mitigate the effects of climate change and adapt to current and future impacts. Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions (i.e., emissions generated throughout the supply chain) from glass packaging make up 29% of a typical California winery's carbon footprint, representing both the largest Scope 3 climate impact and greatest opportunity for reductions. This research examined key factors shaping California wineries’ Scope 3 emissions reductions efforts. A mixed-methods approach …

Microbial Metabolism Amplified Warming In Three Phanerozoic Hyperthermal Events, Yuyang Wu, Haijun Song, Daoliang Chu, Ying Cui, Jacopo Dal Corso, Genming Luo, Huyue Song, Li Tian, Hanchen Song, Enhao Jia, Jinnan Tong

Department of Earth and Environmental Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

The ocean’s biological carbon pump (BCP) plays a crucial role in climate regulation by facilitating long-term removal of atmospheric CO2. However, BCP changes during past hyperthermals remain poorly understood. Here we use the vertical carbon isotope (δ13C) gradients between surface and mid-waters to trace the BCP changes during the Permian−Triassic, early Toarcian, and Palaeocene−Eocene hyperthermals, detecting a two- to three-fold increase in the vertical δ13C gradients. We found that enhanced organic matter remineralization, driven by increased microbial respiration under warming, are the primary trigger for increased vertical δ13C gradients. Warming-induced enhancements in microbial metabolism caused a two- to six-fold reduction …

Developing An Ai-Assisted Grading System Using Large Language Models, Andrei Modiga

MS in Computer Science Project Reports

We present a grading system that accelerates evaluation of open-ended student work across scanned and digital workflows. The system crops answer regions from PDFs, assigns submissions via OCR on identity regions only, and groups answers by visual semantics using a vision LLM. Instructors review and edit groups, apply rubric items once per group, and export grades from an on-screen table. The solution integrates Ghostscript rasterization, PdfPig page orchestration, SkiaSharp region extraction, Tesseract identity OCR, and GPT-4o Vision for grouping. We detail the architecture, token-budgeted batching strategy, and persistence design, then describe testing results for grouping quality, time-on-task, and usability. The …

Archivist, Subject Librarian, And Education Faculty Collaboration: Co-Instruction In History Of Education Classes, Laura Cameron, Kara Flynn

Collaborative Librarianship

In many academic libraries, primary source instruction happens in a vacuum, and students don’t always make connections between the skills they learn in a primary source instruction session and skills they may have already learned in information literacy-focused library instruction that they have participated in previous courses. This case study describes the design and objectives of an instructional partnership formed between an Education & Engagement Archivist, Education Librarian, and History of Education professor at a public, four-year university. The Education & Engagement Archivist and Education Librarian worked in tandem to develop interconnected lesson plans, allowing the Education & Engagement Archivist …

Enhancing Academic Efficiency Through Ability Grouping And Remedial Classes: The Cases Of India And Vietnam, Samwel Lwiza

Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences

Improving the performance of academically weak students remains a major challenge in developing countries, particularly in the context of the ‘leave no one behind’ agenda. This study examines the roles of ability grouping and remedial classes in enhancing academic efficiency among students in India and Vietnam. Drawing data from 17,866 students in the 2016/17 Young Lives School Survey, this study estimated efficiency scores by using the order-alpha partial frontier approach, and their determinants were assessed through a bootstrap truncated regression model. The findings indicate that ability grouping increases students’ efficiency by 3%, whereas remedial classes decrease it by the same …

Constructing Genotype And Phenotype Network Helps Reveal Disease Heritability And Phenome-Wide Association Studies, Xuewei Cao, Lirong Zhu, Xiaoyu Liang, Shuanglin Zhang, Qiuying Sha

Michigan Tech Publications

Background

Analyses of a bipartite Genotype and Phenotype Network (GPN), linking the genetic variants and phenotypes based on statistical associations, provide an integrative approach to elucidate the complexities of genetic relationships across diseases and identify pleiotropic loci. In this study, we assess contributions to constructing a well-defined GPN with a clear representation of genetic associations by comparing the network properties with a random network, including connectivity, centrality, and community structure. Then, we extend our discussion to include two applications of bipartite GPN in disease heritability enrichment analysis and phenome-wide association studies (PheWAS).

Results

We construct network topology annotations of genetic …

Free Probability Theory Over The Scaled Hyperbolic Numbers, Daniel Alpay, Ilwoo Choo

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

In this paper, we introduce a notion of free probability over the scaled hyperbolic numbers. Scaled hypercomplex numbers {D_t} _t∈R are constructed as sub-structures of scaled hypercomplex numbers {H_t} _t∈R under the scales (or, the moments) of the set R of real numbers.We show that if t < 0, then the classical free probability theory covers our free probability on {D_t} _{t< 0}; if t > 0, then our free probability on {D_t} _t>0 is represented by the free probability over the classical hyperbolic numbers D = D₁; and if t = 0, then the free probability on D₀ is actually over the …

Flooding Behavior Near The Us/Canada Border: Complications And Approaches, Maria T. Dodson

Honors College Theses

Flood forecasting remains a major challenge due to the nonlinear nature of hydrological systems and uncertainties in environmental data. This study aimed to address the prevalent challenges that arise from forecasting flooding behavior. To address the inherent complexity of hydrological forecasting, a machine learning framework was developed and trained on major contributing factors. To achieve an optimal balance between computational efficiency and predictive performance, a Gated Recurrent Unit (GRU) was selected as the optimal machine learning model. As the chosen dataset, North American Land Data Assimilation System Phase 2 (NLDAS2), is known to have inaccuracies in the important feature Relative …

Mississippi River Pre-Loess Terrace Deposits: Distribution Of Aggregate Resources, Jonathan Leard

Theses and Dissertations

Pre-loess Terrace Deposits are a Pleistocene, high-quality aggregate resource of gravel, sand, and clay subjacent to loess of varying thickness along the eastern valley wall of the Yazoo Basin in Mississippi. This project delineated 1,230 mi2 of this resource with a volume greater than 33 billion yd3 from the misinterpreted Citronelle Formation in Desoto, Tate, Marshall, Panola, Tallahatchie, Yalobusha, Grenada, Carroll, Holmes, Yazoo, Madison, Hinds, Warren, Jefferson, Claiborne, Adams, Franklin, and Wilkinson Counties with nine terrace base levels at 40, 180, 220, 250, 270, 300, 330, 340, and 370 feet msl indicated by test holes, gravel mine data, outcrop studies, …

Space Utilization Optimization, Troy D. Rockwood

Theses and Dissertations

Outer space is a crucial and increasingly leveraged resource for advancing human quality of life; however, its utility is constrained by inherent physical and spectral limitations. This thesis examines two distinct resource optimization problems critical to the sustainable development of space. The first part of this work addresses the optimization of physical orbital space. Unlike a terrestrial resource, mismanagement of this orbital space can lead to a runaway cascade of collisions, destroying the utility of entire orbital regimes. This thesis proposes a conjunction metric to quantify orbital capacity based on Keplerian parameters. We develop a computational tool to measure and …

A Generalized Framework For Singular Spectrum Analysis: Data-Adaptive And Regularized Extensions, Ishmael Jesse Narh Adikorley

Dissertations (1934 -)

Singular Spectrum Analysis (SSA) has emerged as a powerful nonparametric tool for time series analysis, enabling decomposition, reconstruction, and forecasting of structured signals without reliance on strong model assumptions. However, traditional SSA frameworks face notable limitations when applied to high-dimensional, noisy, and functional time series data commonly encountered in modern applications. This dissertation presents a comprehensive generalization of SSA through the development of a unified Hilbert space-based framework that systematically integrates both data-adaptive and regularized extensions. The proposed framework, termed Hilbert Space SSA (HSSA), extends classical SSA by embedding time series in Hilbert spaces, thus encompassing scalar, multivariate, and functional …

Heat Increment Of Feeding In The Common Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops Truncatus) Contributes Moderately To Field Metabolic Rate Estimates, Ioulia Koliopoulou, Stacy L. De Ruiter, Jordi Altimiras, Josefin Larsson, Julietta Arenarez, David Rosen, Andreas Fahlman

University Faculty Publications and Creative Works

Digestion elevates metabolism through the heat increment of feeding (HIF) – the energy expended on mechanical and biochemical processes after eating. Quantifying this cost is essential for bioenergetic models that predict energy flow and prey requirements in populations. Using breath-by-breath respirometry, we measured oxygen consumption (V̇ O2 ) in eight common bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) before and after feeding standardized meals (1659–2658 kcal of capelin and herring). Metabolic rate rose by ∼37% above resting levels, peaking 60 min after feeding before returning to baseline within 2 h. When scaled across the day, digestion increased daily metabolic needs by ∼8.2% of …

Application Of Augmented Reality Technology As A Dietary Monitoring And Control Measure Among Adults: A Systematic Review, Gabrielle Victoria Gonzalez, Bingjing Mao, Ruxin Wang, Wen Liu, Chen Wang, Tung Sung Tseng

School of Public Health Faculty Publications

Background/Objectives: Traditional dietary monitoring methods such as 24 h recalls rely on self-report, leading to recall bias and underreporting. Similarly, dietary control approaches, including portion control and calorie restriction, depend on user accuracy and consistency. Augmented reality (AR) offers a promising alternative for improving dietary monitoring and control by enhancing engagement, feedback accuracy, and user learning. This systematic review aimed to examine how AR technologies are implemented to support dietary monitoring and control and to evaluate their usability and effectiveness among adults. Methods: A systematic search of PubMed, CINAHL, and Embase identified studies published between 2000 and 2025 that evaluated …

Building From The Ground Up: Informing Inclusive Curriculum Design Through Qualitative Inquiry: Development Of An Early Childhood Curriculum For Children In Mississippi, Alicia Deaver

Theses and Dissertations

Curriculum is a vital component of high-quality early care and education programs. Barriers such as cost, limited education and training, and restricted access to materials often make it difficult for many programs to adopt or implement developmentally appropriate curricula. Effective curriculum implementation relies on individualization and cultural responsiveness to be fully inclusive of children of all abilities. This study addressed the formative and summative processes of the My Mississippi Adventures project, a curriculum developed for use by early childhood educators throughout the state. The curriculum was designed with direct input from early childhood educators to address the unique challenges faced …

Use Of Mid-Infrared Spectroscopy For Estimating Soil Chemical, Physical, And Hydrological Properties In Mississippi And Texas, Kanthake Yasas Bandara Gamagedara

Theses and Dissertations

Accurate and efficient estimation of soil properties is essential for advancing sustainable agriculture, water management, and soil survey applications. Traditional laboratory methods and pedotransfer functions (PTFs) are widely used but are often constrained by high costs, time requirements, and limited scalability. As an alternative, mid-infrared (MIR) and visible–near-infrared (vis–NIR) spectroscopy provide cost-effective, rapid, and non-destructive approaches for soil analysis. However, variability among spectrometer types, geographic regions, and soil scanning conditions poses challenges to model transferability and generalizability. This dissertation evaluated strategies to overcome these challenges and enhance the prediction of soil chemical, physical, and hydrological properties in Mississippi and Texas. …

Electrospun Nanofiber Creation With Varying Polymer-Solvent Combinations For Air Filtration, Lancaster Jace Hill

Theses and Dissertations

This study aims to analyze various polymer-solvent combinations for electrospun creation of nanofiber media and to determine the best-suited solution for lab-grade electrospinning. Suitable solutions allow for controlled morphology of fiber diameters and for efficiency of media creation. The principal variables are solvent, concentration, and voltage. Humidity and temperature play a secondary variable role. The solution must withstand an electric field of ≤30 kV and be insoluble in water to maintain desired morphology and structure. Manipulation of the solutions and variables allow for fiber diameter optimization and beading minimization. High temperature filter applications require efficiency in intense heat and preservation …

Improving Artificial Intelligence Literacy Among Middle School Students Using Tangible Objects, Sayantani Dutta

Theses and Dissertations

Given the rapid advancement of Computer Science (CS) and Artificial Intelligence (AI), introducing these disciplines early and effectively in education is essential. Many middle school students, however, struggle to understand these subjects when taught with traditional, abstract, and screen-based methods, which often fail to engage students or build deep conceptual understanding. This study argues that tangible, hands-on learning tools and interactive activities make AI and CS concepts more accessible, concrete, and engaging for students. The findings show that, compared to traditional lectures, hands-on activities lead to substantially improved comprehension, retention, and enjoyment. While the sample size poses limitations, the evidence …

Toward A Unified Network Flow Framework: From Conservation Principles To Fluid Dynamics Models, Zonghan Zhang

Theses and Dissertations

Network flows govern a wide range of critical systems, from tangible infrastructures like transportation and power grids to replicable processes such as information spread and epidemics. While tangible flows obey conservation laws and physical constraints, replicable flows, like rumors or viruses, can grow, decay, or vanish unpredictably. Despite their increasing interaction in real-world settings, these flow types are typically modeled in isolation, using disconnected mathematical frameworks. This dissertation presents a unified modeling approach that bridges the gap between conserved and replicable flows by embedding principles from fluid dynamics into graph-based propagation models. I introduce physically informed extensions to classical models, …

Technological Disruption And Regulatory Response: The Case Of Decentralised Finance, Jakub Wisła, Jolanta Bartoszewska

Journal of Banking and Financial Economics

This article examines responses to the regulatory challenges posed by decentralised finance (DeFi), a fast-evolving domain of blockchain-based financial innovation. It investigates the factors shaping divergent regulatory strategies, with a focus on the European Union’s comprehensive cryptoasset framework and selected comparative insights. Adopting a qualitative legal methodology – combining doctrinal-functional analysis, multivocal literature review, and two case studies – the authors explore how regulatory responses are influenced by three key variables: legal tradition, the financial function performed by blockchain-based solutions, and the level of technological and institutional autonomy. The case studies – Bitcoin as a payment instrument and cryptoassets as …

Sex Disparities In Prescription Opioids Associated Cardiovascular Adverse Events, Li Ma

Theses and Dissertations

The opioid crisis in the United States has evolved from a medical response to pain into a nationwide public health emergency. The prescription opioids (POs) – associated cardiovascular adverse events (CVAEs) remain insufficiently studied, especially in relation to sex disparities. This dissertation investigates sex disparities in PO-associated cardiovascular adverse events (CVAEs) through an analytic framework integrating artificial-intelligence-assisted literature mining and real-world pharmacovigilance analytics. In the analytic framework, first, AI powered topic modeling was employed to uncover POs-associated CVAEs risks with a focus on sex differences. A total of 1,837 PubMed abstracts were analyzed using two methods, Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) …

Measurable Imaging-Based Changes In Enhancement Of Intrahepatic Cholangiocarcinoma After Radiotherapy Reflect Physical Mechanisms Of Response, Brian De, Prashant Dogra, Mohamed Zaid, Dalia Elganainy, Kevin Sun, Ahmed M Amer, Charles Wang, Michael K Rooney, Enoch Chang, Hyunseon C Kang, Zhihui Wang, Priya Bhosale, Bruno C Odisio, Timothy E Newhook, Ching-Wei D Tzeng, Hop S Tran Cao, Yun S Chun, Jean-Nicholas Vauthey, Sunyoung S Lee, Ahmed Kaseb, Kanwal Raghav, Milind Javle, Bruce D Minsky, Sonal S Noticewala, Emma B Holliday, Grace L Smith, Albert C Koong, Prajnan Das, Vittorio Cristini, Ethan B Ludmir, Eugene J Koay

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Escalated doses of radiotherapy associate with improved local control and overall survival (OS) in intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (iCCA), but personalization remains limited because conventional size-based CT criteria correlate poorly with outcomes. We hypothesized that quantitative enhancement measurements would better predict clinical outcomes and guide individualized RT optimization. In a retrospective cohort of 154 patients, we analyzed pre- and post-RT CT scans using quantitative European Association for Study of Liver (qEASL) to derive viable tumor volumes, comparing enhancement-based metrics with size-based RECIST and linking them to outcomes via survival and mathematical modeling. Change in enhancement volume was strongly associated with OS after …

The Effects Of Nanobubble Fertigation And Soil Conditioners To Improve Nutrient Dynamics, Soil Microbial Activity, And Chili Productivity, Betty Natalie Fitriatin, Euis Ahah Rokayah, Elsa Naila Elmyra, Tualar Simarmata, Nicky Oktav Fauziah, Hanif Fakhrurroja

Jurnal Kultivasi

Drip fertigation is a fertilization method that integrates nutrient delivery with an irrigation system, which is capable of optimizing the direct delivery of nutrients to the root zone. This experiment aims to investigate the effect of drip fertigation with nanobubble technology, and soil conditioners on the population of Phosphate-Solubilizing Bacteria (PSB) and Azotobacter spp., available phosphorus, total nitrogen, growth, and yield of red chili. The study used a Strip Plot Design with two factors and three replications. The first factor was nutrient application (solid NPK fertilizing as control; drip fertigation; and drip fertigation with nanobubble technology), and the second factor …

Production Analysis Of Seed-Derived Tea Plants (Camellia Sinensis (L.) O. Kuntze) Across Two Different Seasons, Nurlita Rahmawati, Yudithia Maxiselly, Intan Ratna Dewi Anjarsari, Heri Syahrian Khomaeni, Gerry Renaldi, Agung Karuniawan

Jurnal Kultivasi

Tea (Camellia sinensis (L.) O. Kuntze) is a major economic crop in Indonesia, yet its productivity is strongly influenced by environmental variability, particularly rainfall seasonality. Fluctuating yields under dry and wet conditions pose challenges for sustainable tea production. This study aimed to assess the effects of contrasting seasonal rainfall on seed-derived tea plants' yield and yield components. The research was conducted at a seed-derived tea plantation block in IRITC, West Java, across dry and wet seasons using field observations on tea yield, shoot proliferation, plucking quality, and environmental parameters. Statistical analyses included independent t-tests to compare seasonal differences and Pearson …

Effect Of Nano Edible Coating, Storage Temperature, And Packaging On Water Content, Weight Loss, And Color On Oyster Mushrooms (Pleurotus Ostreatus), Inneke Amalia, Warid Ali Qosim, Kusumiyati

Jurnal Kultivasi

Oyster mushrooms are one of the most commonly consumed mushrooms due to their high nutritional content, including protein, fiber, vitamins, and minerals, as well as their antioxidant properties. However, these mushrooms are easily damaged by microbes and poor post-harvest handling, which affects their quality. The combination of nano-edible coating, packaging, and storage temperature offers a solution to these issues. This study aims to evaluate the effects of nano-edible coating, packaging, and storage temperature on water content, weight loss, and the color (L*, a*, and b*) of oyster mushrooms. The study was conducted at the Horticulture Laboratory, Faculty of Agriculture, Universitas …

Lifetime Prediction Of Electrolytic Capacitors Under Variable Loadings In Electric Vehicles For Prognostics And Health Management Applications, Jaewon Lee

Electronic Dissertations and Theses, 2010-current

Aluminum electrolytic capacitors (AECs) are widely used in electric vehicles (EVs) power electronics but are also a primary source of wear-out failures. Most previously proposed lifetime models were derived under constant loading conditions and therefore cannot capture variable loading arising from seasonal or diurnal temperature swings and user-dependent driving profiles in EVs. This study develops a variable-loading lifetime prediction framework for AECs, which can be further extended to prognostics and health management (PHM). Collectively, the results of the study demonstrate a framework suitable for PHM application, in which SoD-based lifetime prediction yields reliable predictions under variable loadings. An appropriate lifetime …

Fayetteville State University Winter Commencement December 12, 2025, Fayetteville State University

Graduation Exhibit

Program for Fayetteville State University Winter Commencement December 12, 2025

Keynote Speaker: Dr. Monica Terrell Leach, Provost and Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, Fayetteville State University