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A Real-Time Animation Toolkit With Blending, Root Motion Control, Interruption, Events, And Layering, Lechen Gong May 2025

A Real-Time Animation Toolkit With Blending, Root Motion Control, Interruption, Events, And Layering, Lechen Gong

Programming Theses and Dissertations

This thesis presents a real-time animation toolkit designed for interactive 3D applications, with a focus on games. The toolkit integrates advanced features including animation blending, root motion control, interruption handling, event systems, and layering to achieve fluid and responsive character movement. Built around a quaternion-based math library, the system ensures smooth transitions between animations, eliminates joint snapping, and avoids gimbal lock. Root motion extraction and application enable physics-accurate movement driven by animations. The artifact—a third-person action game—demonstrates the toolkit's efficacy, showcasing seamless animation transitions, efficient GPU-based vertex updates, and good performance (0.56–1.25ms per frame). Results confirm the system's ability to …

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Procedural Terrain Generation With Biome Ecosystem And Dynamic Weather, Yanyan Zhou May 2025

Procedural Terrain Generation With Biome Ecosystem And Dynamic Weather, Yanyan Zhou

Programming Theses and Dissertations

This thesis introduces a procedural terrain generation tool, inspired by immersive game environments such as The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and Ghost of Tsushima. It combines procedural terrain and biome generation algorithms with dynamic weather transitions, allowing user customization through editing and importing heightmaps and biome maps. The system employs procedural functions like Perlin and fractal noise to generate realistic, varied landscapes and ecosystems, with vegetation distributed according to biome-specific parameters. Terrain mesh creation leverages detailed heightmap information, enhanced by advanced rendering techniques including normal mapping via central difference calculations, mip-mapping, and anisotropic filtering. Additionally, the tool features GPU-based …

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Mexico's Gender Violence Alerts: Ambiguous, Under-Resourced, And Uneven Impacts On Women’S Human Rights, Molly Ewing May 2025

Mexico's Gender Violence Alerts: Ambiguous, Under-Resourced, And Uneven Impacts On Women’S Human Rights, Molly Ewing

Senior Theses

Mexico has some of the highest rates of violence against women and femicide in the world and these numbers continue to rise. Over the past few decades, Mexico has attempted to address this issue through a series of penal code reforms, social campaigns, and comprehensive legislation, but the impacts of such measures are undercut and unevenly felt due to a series of under looked contributing factors. Mexico is the first in the world to implement the Gender Violence Alert Mechanism (AVGM), which was established under the General Law on Women’s Access to a Life Free from Violence (LGAMVLV) of 200. …

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Maybe It Really Is Those Damn Phones, Sarah F. Garvin May 2025

Maybe It Really Is Those Damn Phones, Sarah F. Garvin

Honors Projects

Technology is an integral part of modern life and has extended into elementary classrooms where one-to-one device programs have become the norm. While technology can increase accessibility to education, its widespread integration in learning environments raises concerns about its long-term impact on students and teachers. This research critically examines gamified learning applications and technology use in elementary education, questioning whether they enhance learning, curiosity, and problem-solving skills. A qualitative methods approach was employed, using surveys and interviews conducted with educators in Seattle Public Schools to assess the effects of technology-driven instruction. The resulting data were analyzed through thematic analysis to …

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Electric Power Regulation For A Novel Riverine Hydrokinetic Energy Conversion System, Kawsar Ahammed May 2025

Electric Power Regulation For A Novel Riverine Hydrokinetic Energy Conversion System, Kawsar Ahammed

Engineering

Transportation of diesel fuel used to produce electricity for Alaska remote communities is highly expensive. Thus, people living in those remote areas pay a high rate for electric energy compared to the national average cost. The availability of renewable energy resources may help to minimize these high expenses. As many rural Alaskans live near rivers, hydrokinetic energy could be used as a renewable source of electric power. This renewable resource, if successfully harvested, has immense potential to help power Alaska remote communities and significantly reduce electric energy costs. This project aims to investigate the implementation of an energy conversion system …

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Teaching Spanish As A World Language In Waldorf Schools For Grades One To Eight, Ryan Thomas Edwards May 2025

Teaching Spanish As A World Language In Waldorf Schools For Grades One To Eight, Ryan Thomas Edwards

Education

Waldorf education provides a unique opportunity for students to fully experience their lessons in an integrative, artistic, and purposeful way, and this is certainly true for world language classes. Throughout a typical curriculum, various art forms are utilized along with physical movements and actions, allowing students to live through the lessons in an interesting and enjoyable way. At times, it becomes difficult to separate between songs, poems, skits, gestures, plays, or games, when all of these methods can be interwoven simultaneously. By integrating rhyme, repetition, gestures, music, movement, and visuals, classes become quite lively and interactive. It takes a lot …

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Movement Matters: Incorporating Physical Activity Into The Classroom, Sunnie M. Fredricks May 2025

Movement Matters: Incorporating Physical Activity Into The Classroom, Sunnie M. Fredricks

Education

We live in a world that is becoming increasingly driven by convenience, which lends itself to a sedentary lifestyle. Due to the fact that adolescents spend the majority of their time in the classroom, it is imperative that educators recognize the need for physical activity and implement it into their daily lessons in order to help students reach their full potential. To assist educators in this task, this handbook aims to integrate exercise into the classroom in an easily accessible manner that can be adapted to meet the needs of students. It has been proven that physical activity has several …

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Analysis Of A Persistant Early Winter Open Water Zone Within The Ice-Covered Tanana River Near Fairbanks, Alaska Using Field Studies, Remote Sensing, And Hydraulic Modeling, Matthew C. Scragg May 2025

Analysis Of A Persistant Early Winter Open Water Zone Within The Ice-Covered Tanana River Near Fairbanks, Alaska Using Field Studies, Remote Sensing, And Hydraulic Modeling, Matthew C. Scragg

Engineering

Frozen rivers serve as important transportation corridors for Alaskans during winter. Open water zones (OWZs, i.e., open leads) in otherwise ice-covered rivers present a hazard because their location and causes are poorly understood. I studied one persistent OWZ on the Tanana River near Fairbanks using field studies, remote sensing, and hydraulic modeling. Interannual occurrence and duration of the OWZ was identified from 2014 to 2023 using optical satellite images and synthetic aperture radar. In eight out of ten years, an OWZ zone formed when an ice jam occurred at an upstream channel constriction during freeze-up. In the other two years, …

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Icanfeel: A Digital Art Activity To Support Distress Detection In Adult Oncological Patients, Marie J. Deschamps May 2025

Icanfeel: A Digital Art Activity To Support Distress Detection In Adult Oncological Patients, Marie J. Deschamps

Expressive Therapies Dissertations

Considered the 6th vital sign, distress, a combination of hopelessness, anxiety, fear, and depression, can impact patients’ quality of life, treatment adherence, and mortality. While screening is required in oncological centers, distress remains under-detected. This study examined the use of Icanfeel, a novel digital art-based tool, to complement traditional psychometric assessments such as Edmonton Symptom Assessment System (ESAS), to support patients’ expressions of symptoms and distress detection. Hospitalized adult oncological patients (N = 22) engaged twice with Icanfeel and with an active control condition. At various time points during the protocol, patients self-reported symptom burden using ESAS, self-disclosure …

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Heartscape Resonance: A Psychophysiological Coherence-Based Expressive Arts Therapy Intervention For Quantum Healing Of Emotional Dysregulation, Pragati Jaiswal May 2025

Heartscape Resonance: A Psychophysiological Coherence-Based Expressive Arts Therapy Intervention For Quantum Healing Of Emotional Dysregulation, Pragati Jaiswal

Expressive Therapies Theses

This feasibility study examines the concept of Psychophysiological Coherence-Based Expressive Arts Therapy as a method for improving emotional regulation and aiding trauma recovery in psychiatric inpatient groups. The intervention developed for this study, termed Heartscape Resonance, integrates quantum healing, somatic heart coherence practices, and expressive arts therapy into a model that combines heart-centered breathing, bilateral stimulation, and artistic expression. The intervention was implemented four times across three units at an inpatient hospital in Massachusetts, USA. Self-report data collection methods that utilize embodied awareness, coherence ratings, and Heart Rate Variability (HRV) testing were employed, with the facilitator’s data forming the basis …

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Touch Me, A Literature Review: Examining The Integration Of The Kestenberg Movement Profile And Attachment Theory In Couples' Relational Movement, Tory R. Eichler May 2025

Touch Me, A Literature Review: Examining The Integration Of The Kestenberg Movement Profile And Attachment Theory In Couples' Relational Movement, Tory R. Eichler

Expressive Therapies Theses

This Master’s thesis explores the intersection of the Kestenberg Movement Profile (the KMP) and Attachment Theory to analyze and interpret relational movement within romantic partnerships through an in-depth literature review of existing qualitative, quantitative, and arts-based studies. The author subsequently executes an arts-based autoethnographic inquiry recreating various relational postures from the existing literature. The author assesses, describes, and subjectively reflects on these postures using bipolar and unipolar shape flow language from the KMP to identify various attachment behaviors and styles. Findings suggest that bipolar and unipolar shape flow can correlate with specific attachment behaviors, demonstrating that relational movement offers insight …

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Reimagining “Embodiment” In Dance/Movement Therapy: Unraveling The Roots Of Oppression In Our Bodies And Our Practice—A Literature Review, Holly A. Herzfeld May 2025

Reimagining “Embodiment” In Dance/Movement Therapy: Unraveling The Roots Of Oppression In Our Bodies And Our Practice—A Literature Review, Holly A. Herzfeld

Expressive Therapies Theses

This thesis explores the intertwined roots of power, privilege, and oppression embedded in the term “embodiment” within Dance/Movement Therapy (DMT) and how it is applied in the profession via a review of the literature. By locating the body as the vessel of experience, including trauma and oppression, this work challenges the dominant understanding of embodiment as solely about connectedness and groundedness, questioning why connection to the body is so often equated with psychological health. While the mind has been historically privileged over the body, DMT’s emphasis on bodily experience presents a unique opportunity to decolonize our dominant understanding of embodiment. …

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How Does An Art Therapist Build Rapport With Socially Isolated Older Adults?, Elizabeth L. Levering May 2025

How Does An Art Therapist Build Rapport With Socially Isolated Older Adults?, Elizabeth L. Levering

Expressive Therapies Theses

This study was done to explore the fundamental aspects that are woven into the report-building process and the therapeutic alliance with socially isolated older adults. Research has been done on the effects that social isolation and loneliness have on this underserved population, however report building is less researched and can be translated into the mental health field. Person-centered therapy, developmental stages of older adults, and the growing field of art therapy and its benefits are also well documented. This qualitative arts-based study takes the intersectionality of these topics by observing three sessions with two separate residents and analyzing the results. …

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The Authentic Self In Mental Health Practitioners Through The Use Of Internal Family Systems And Character Card Creation In Art-Based Therapy, Tracy J. Evans May 2025

The Authentic Self In Mental Health Practitioners Through The Use Of Internal Family Systems And Character Card Creation In Art-Based Therapy, Tracy J. Evans

Expressive Therapies Theses

Mental health practitioners, or therapists, are complex beings who carry not only the trauma from their life experiences but are also presented with the undertaking of trauma stewardship for clients. This study explores how participating with clients fosters self-expression and promotes emotional regulation, while enhancing social interactions within myself. Combining the terminology from the Internal Family Systems (IFS) Model and the concept of collaged card creation from SoulCollage to create character cards, made with clients, that represent the various parts of the personality. This qualitative study on the intervention found that it provided a safe space for both clients and …

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“It’S… Complicated:” A Literature Review On The Possibilities Of Using Drama Therapy To Improve Relational Functioning Of Emerging Adults With Complex Trauma, Sarah M. Drapeau May 2025

“It’S… Complicated:” A Literature Review On The Possibilities Of Using Drama Therapy To Improve Relational Functioning Of Emerging Adults With Complex Trauma, Sarah M. Drapeau

Expressive Therapies Theses

Interpersonal relationships play a crucial and complicated role in the mental well-being and development of emerging adults. Complex trauma has a significant negative effect on relational functioning, which plays an important role in post-traumatic growth, especially for emerging adults. This thesis reviewed current literature to outline the interaction between complex trauma and interpersonal relationships through the developmental lens of emerging adulthood. Empirical studies highlighted emotional (dys)regulation, attachment processes, and self-concept as mediating factors of this interaction. The literature reviewed offered current treatment approaches for this population, with connections that were relevant to drama therapy approaches. The literature showed that drama …

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How Can Art Therapy Be Utilized To Support Emotional Communication For Autistic Individuals With An Alexithymic Profile?, Kathryn L. Cohen May 2025

How Can Art Therapy Be Utilized To Support Emotional Communication For Autistic Individuals With An Alexithymic Profile?, Kathryn L. Cohen

Expressive Therapies Theses

The expressive nature of art therapy can aid those with communication and sensory processing differences. Art making allows for the individual to access and emote in a way that spoken language cannot. This literature review will investigate and explore the features of the processing differences related to autism, interoception and alexithymia. The findings from the research explore the effectiveness of utilizing art therapy as a method to expand emotional communication. There are many challenges pertaining to emotional regulation and communication for autistic individuals. Accessing mental health resources and service providers familiar with communication differences is another challenge for this population. …

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Why Disability Justice Matters In Mental Health Care And How Drama Therapists Can Help Get It Right, Anish Nakahara May 2025

Why Disability Justice Matters In Mental Health Care And How Drama Therapists Can Help Get It Right, Anish Nakahara

Expressive Therapies Theses

Disability Justice (DJ) is an important, ever-growing aspect of mental health work that must be further explored and implemented if mental health professionals are committed to harm reduction and health equity. Drama therapy (DT) provides a unique accessibility that traditional psychotherapy does not always afford. The emphasis on encounters, relationality, and creative expression provides more avenues through which people can approach DT. Through analysis of current literature, this thesis explored the present relationship between DT and DJ, the relationship between the broader mental health care system and DJ, and how progress can continue toward competent, dignified care for disabled people. …

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Respectability, Code-Switching, And Expression: Examining The Experience Of Black Expressive Arts Therapists Through A Sociolinguistic Lens, Darrien Bush May 2025

Respectability, Code-Switching, And Expression: Examining The Experience Of Black Expressive Arts Therapists Through A Sociolinguistic Lens, Darrien Bush

Expressive Therapies Theses

This literature review explores how the linguistic phenomenon of code-switching can be applied to expressive arts and expressive arts therapy to describe the experience of Black expressive therapists. The review outlines the evolution of the term, reasons why individuals switch codes, and how this affects their experience. The understanding of code-switching is then examined in expressive arts and the expressive arts therapy field. A history and understanding of code-switching in Black communities is also explored, connecting Black experiences of code-switching and expressive arts therapy programs. A discussion suggests that culturally relevant practices are implicitly discouraged due to dominant expectations. Future …

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Emotional Pathways: A Literature Review Of Emotion Process In Emotionally Focused Therapy And Drama Therapy, Chiao-Ting Yuan May 2025

Emotional Pathways: A Literature Review Of Emotion Process In Emotionally Focused Therapy And Drama Therapy, Chiao-Ting Yuan

Expressive Therapies Theses

This capstone thesis explored how emotionally focused therapy (EFT), and drama therapy (DT) could be integrated to improve emotional regulation, self-awareness, and mental healing. Based on attachment theory and emotional process framework, how these two different but complementary interventions could increase emotional participation and transformation was explored. This literature review indicated that although EFT’s structured and verbal approach is different from DT’s creative and embodied skills, the two approaches share common goals and target the same emotional process. In DT, several techniques can be found that are closely related to EFT’s emotional process. These techniques can provide a unique and …

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Complementary Design Of Optical And Photochemical Systems, Joshua Plank May 2025

Complementary Design Of Optical And Photochemical Systems, Joshua Plank

Chemistry Theses and Dissertations

The ability to manipulate chemical systems has been prized through history as the bridge between the macroscopic and microscopic worlds. As an example, the camera obscura has arguably existed since the earliest days of humanity; however, it was the discovery of early silver halide chemistry that lead to the ability to fix these images into the earliest photographs. In modern photolithography employed in electronics manufacturing, the primary resolution limits arise not from the chemistry of the molecules involved, but from the limits of the systems used to project light. Thus, as much as photochemistry advances, optical imaging and projection techniques …

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Quantum Chemical Methods And Multiscale Modeling In Computer-Aided Drug Design, Hunter W. La Force May 2025

Quantum Chemical Methods And Multiscale Modeling In Computer-Aided Drug Design, Hunter W. La Force

Chemistry Theses and Dissertations

Computer-Aided Drug Design (CADD) leverages a diverse toolkit of computational methods to accelerate the discovery and development of novel therapeutics. Among these, quantum chemical calculations provide unparalleled accuracy in understanding molecular interactions, albeit at a higher computational cost. This accuracy is crucial for identifying and quantifying fundamental interactions that dictate drug efficacy and selectivity, as exemplified by our investigation of ruthenium polypyridyl complexes. These metal-based compounds are model systems for studying covalent coordination bonds between ruthenium and its ligands and noncovalent interactions with DNA and protein targets. Local Mode Vibrational Theory emerges as a powerful lens within this framework, enabling …

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The Lre Provision Of Idea's Impact On Deaf Students' Socio-Emotional Satisfaction In K-12th Grade Education, Shealyn Junge May 2025

The Lre Provision Of Idea's Impact On Deaf Students' Socio-Emotional Satisfaction In K-12th Grade Education, Shealyn Junge

Undergraduate University Honors Capstones

The education of Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHH) students represents a unique challenge in implementing inclusive practices that balance physical integration with meaningful language and communication access. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act’s Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) provision reflects a federal commitment to educating students with disabilities alongside their non-disabled peers whenever possible. This mixed-methods study examined how mainstream, co-enrollment settings, and Deaf schools shape the socio-emotional development of DHH students, including those transitioning between settings. While participants across placements reported increasing DHH identity pride, their social experiences diverged markedly: mainstream-educated participants universally reported loneliness by high school. Deaf …

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Data Encoding, Compilation, And Algorithms For Quantum Machine Learning, Aviraj Sinha May 2025

Data Encoding, Compilation, And Algorithms For Quantum Machine Learning, Aviraj Sinha

Computer Science and Engineering Theses and Dissertations

Quantum computing enables new approaches to data processing, especially in quantum machine learning. Unlike classical systems, quantum data must be synthesized through operations and can exist in superposition. Encoding choices affect efficiency, noise resilience, and trainability—key factors in quantum machine learning models. This dissertation enhances quantum data encodings by extending quantum read-only memory (QROM) beyond binary representations, improving efficiency and parallelism. It introduces new compilation methods for quantum random number generators (QRNGs), supporting non-parametric distributions for post-quantum cryptography. Additionally, it explores Cayley graph-based encodings to extract spectral features for quantum machine learning.

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How Does A Neural Network's Topology Affect Its Accuracy And Resource Utilization For Semantic Segmentation Of An Image?, Samuel Gallagher May 2025

How Does A Neural Network's Topology Affect Its Accuracy And Resource Utilization For Semantic Segmentation Of An Image?, Samuel Gallagher

Computer Science

No abstract provided.

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In Their Own Words: Exploring The Political Lives Of Women Legislators In Guam, Sarah G. Elmore-Hernandez May 2025

In Their Own Words: Exploring The Political Lives Of Women Legislators In Guam, Sarah G. Elmore-Hernandez

Anthropology

In 2018, Guam experienced a historic political transformation with the election of its first woman governor and a supermajority of women senators. This electoral outcome was widely framed as a feminist milestone, reinforcing dominant narratives that equate increased female representation with progressive policy advancements. This study critically examines these assumptions by shifting the focus from quantitative representation to the political strategies and lived experiences of Guam’s women lawmakers. Employing oral history interviews, this research investigates how lawmakers conceptualize their political roles, navigate institutional structures, and shape legislative agendas. The findings reveal that while many advocate for policy priorities traditionally associated …

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Optimizing Power Fluid In Jet Pump Oil Wells, Kaelin Ellis May 2025

Optimizing Power Fluid In Jet Pump Oil Wells, Kaelin Ellis

Engineering

A method for optimizing power fluid to a network of jet pump wells is established. Jet pump performance is modeled by numerically solving a system of equations for specific throat and nozzle geometries. An upper boundary is established of the most efficient geometries for each well which creates a continuous function relating power fluid to oil production. Jet pump oil wells are segregated into networks which share a common power fluid surface pump. These boundaries are added together to create a non-linear objective function. To solve power fluid distribution in a network, a reduced Newton method is applied that incorporates …

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Control Of Invasive Plants At High Latitudes With Persistent Herbicides: Understanding Persistence, To Manage Pesticide Residues And Achieve Effective Control, Gino Graziano May 2025

Control Of Invasive Plants At High Latitudes With Persistent Herbicides: Understanding Persistence, To Manage Pesticide Residues And Achieve Effective Control, Gino Graziano

Natural Resources

Invasive plants are considered a problem in management of natural resources and maintenance of ecosystem services in Alaska. Persistent herbicides are often used to control invasive plants because of increased duration and efficacy of control; however, applicators must understand that persistence impacts rotations to sensitive crops or restoration to sensitive desirable species. The purpose of this study was to define and document the impacts of aminopyralid and clopyralid degradation and movement in boreal ecosystems when used in agricultural settings or applied to Prunus padus, a problematic invasive tree in the boreal ecosystem. In laboratory microcosms clopyralid did not adsorb to …

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Sea-Ice Bloom Dynamics, Putative Parasitoids, And Crude-Oil Impacts To Microbiota Modified By Irradiance, Kyle Dilliplaine May 2025

Sea-Ice Bloom Dynamics, Putative Parasitoids, And Crude-Oil Impacts To Microbiota Modified By Irradiance, Kyle Dilliplaine

Oceanography

Arctic sea ice serves as a critical habitat for microbial communities, supporting, in part, the Arctic food web and influencing global biogeochemical cycles. However, climate change is rapidly altering this environment leading to a shorter ice-covered period and increased light transmittance. Greater accessibility due to less ice coverage is increasing industrial and commercial activities which raises the risk of crude oil spills that threaten sea-ice microbial communities. This dissertation explores the seasonal dynamics of prokaryotes and unicellular eukaryotes during the spring algal bloom, and the impacts of potential light stress in combination with crude oil exposure on Arctic sea-ice diatoms …

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Sea Ice Strain, Stress, And Fracture Activity At Kilometer Scales, Emily R. Fedders May 2025

Sea Ice Strain, Stress, And Fracture Activity At Kilometer Scales, Emily R. Fedders

Oceanography

Through-thickness fractures including cracks, leads, and pressure ridges divide sea ice into individual plates and plate assemblies. While they remain intact, plates deform via continuous strain as they interact. Radar interferometry can identify active fractures at plate assembly boundaries and measure the continuous strains between them at high spatial resolution and spatial scales from meters to kilometers. However, interferograms are only sensitive to the one­ dimensional component of surface strain parallel to a radar’s lines of sight. Working with coauthors, I develop a novel analytical inverse model to estimate two-dimensional, horizontal surface motion from the one-dimensional information provided by interferograms …

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Comparison Of Student Success Between Asynchronous Online And In-Person Sections Of Calculus 1 Using Multiple Statistical Methods, Everett Masterman May 2025

Comparison Of Student Success Between Asynchronous Online And In-Person Sections Of Calculus 1 Using Multiple Statistical Methods, Everett Masterman

Mathematics and Statistics

This observational study compares outcomes for students taking the in-person and asynchronous online sections of Calculus 1 at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Propensity score covariate models, propensity score stratification, propensity score matching, and multiple logistic regression were used to predict student pass rates in the course and on the final exam after accounting for demographic variables, student engagement, and student preparation. Propensity score methods showed no difference between asynchronous and in-person students. Multiple logistic regression showed that students in the in-person modality performed better after accounting for covariates.

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