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The Conservation Of Brain Folding Mechanics, Amber Cook Aug 2024

The Conservation Of Brain Folding Mechanics, Amber Cook

Theses and Dissertations

The pattern and complexity of cerebellar folding varies across vertebrates. However, little is known about how the tissue-level mechanics are adjusted to create species-specific folding patterns. Here, we utilize a variety of species with differences in cerebellar folding amount to investigate two tissue-level mechanics known to affect folding—differential expansion and outer layer thickness. We found that the level of differential expansion between the outer and inner layers of the cerebellum broadly correlates with folding amount and that the thickness of the outer layer is important as thicker outer layers require more differential expansion to fold. Additionally, we find that both …

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Sexual Attitudes And Knowledge Of Southern United States College Students On Risky Sexual Behavior: Moderation By Conservative Religiosity, Sex, And Sexual Double Standards, Andreana Durham Aug 2024

Sexual Attitudes And Knowledge Of Southern United States College Students On Risky Sexual Behavior: Moderation By Conservative Religiosity, Sex, And Sexual Double Standards, Andreana Durham

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the current study was to examine the relation of sexual attitudes and knowledge on risky sexual behavior (RSB), while including sex, sexual double standards (SDS), and conservative religiosity as moderators. Findings suggested that sexual knowledge, sexual attitudes, and conservative religiosity associated negatively with RSB for female participants. SDS positively associated with RSB for male participants. The interaction of sexual knowledge and SDS on RSB was significant in male participants and indicated that higher sexual knowledge is associated with higher RSB when SDS is higher. The interaction of sexual knowledge and conservative religiosity on RSB was significant in …

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Efficacy Of Recycled Glass Cullet As A Soil Substrate For U.S. Gulf Coast Salt Marsh Restoration, Ansley Levine Aug 2024

Efficacy Of Recycled Glass Cullet As A Soil Substrate For U.S. Gulf Coast Salt Marsh Restoration, Ansley Levine

Theses and Dissertations

Recycled glass cullet is a potential alternative to fill substrate in salt marsh restoration projects, given its similarity to natural silica sands. However, the ability for common salt marsh plants to grow in glass cullet has not yet been tested. An outdoor mesocosm experiment assessed the ability of the dominant mid-marsh plant Juncus roemerianus and the upland marsh plant Spartina patens to grow in various mixtures of glass cullet versus fill soil. Results showed that J. roemerianus can survive in glass cullet, but growth declined as the proportion of cullet increased. However, S. patens grew comparably, if not better, in …

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Examination Of The Impact Of Discriminatory Legislation On Gender Minority Stress And Suicide Desire And Intent In Gender Minority Adults, Ashley R. Pate Aug 2024

Examination Of The Impact Of Discriminatory Legislation On Gender Minority Stress And Suicide Desire And Intent In Gender Minority Adults, Ashley R. Pate

Theses and Dissertations

Suicidal ideation and suicide attempt rates are far higher among gender minority individuals than in the general population. In the wake of an unprecedented number of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation being proposed and passed in 2023 in the United States, this study sought to examine the impact of this legislation on gender minority stress and suicidal desire and intent among gender minority adults. Results indicated that anxiety about the legislation was associated with the desire to die, perceived burdensomeness, thwarted belongingness, and the likelihood of attempting suicide in the future. The perceived impact of the legislation was associated with intent to die …

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A Multivariate Analysis Of Coliform Microbial Dynamics And Intervention Efficacy In A Complex Ready-To-Eat (Rte) Beef Value Stream, Benjamin Adam Miles Aug 2024

A Multivariate Analysis Of Coliform Microbial Dynamics And Intervention Efficacy In A Complex Ready-To-Eat (Rte) Beef Value Stream, Benjamin Adam Miles

Theses and Dissertations

A complex multi-vector processed beef value stream was biomapped and work-in-process (WIP) was sampled at various processing points that affected the product microbiome. Coliform Petrifilm™ was used to analyze samples qualitatively and quantitatively across the meat and glaze vectors. There was an impact (p≤0.05) of the glaze distribution system on coliforms. The pumps of the glaze system were fully disassembled and additional microbial data were obtained through swabbing. WIP and sponge samples were subjected to 16S V1/V2 gene amplification with primers designed for taxonomic identification. Sequencing was conducted on the Illumina MiSeq platform and bioinformatics were developed in QIIME 2 …

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Special Educators’ Attrition And Retention In The Post-Covid-19 Era: A Systematic Literature Review, Brandi J. Young Sumrall Aug 2024

Special Educators’ Attrition And Retention In The Post-Covid-19 Era: A Systematic Literature Review, Brandi J. Young Sumrall

Theses and Dissertations

Special education faces persistent challenges with teacher attrition and retention in the ever-changing landscape of education post COVID-19. Using empirical research and scholarly insights, this systematic review investigates the factors that influence whether special educators choose to continue or leave their jobs following the pandemic. Central to this investigation are the aspects that influence educators' career decisions pre pandemic, such as job satisfaction, working conditions, support systems and opportunities for professional growth. Through this exploration, we gain insights into the reasons why special education teachers choose to stay or leave their roles. The study emphasizes the pressing need to address …

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Durability Of 34-Year-Old Preservative Treated Test Structures In Mississippi, Brianna A. Duquette Aug 2024

Durability Of 34-Year-Old Preservative Treated Test Structures In Mississippi, Brianna A. Duquette

Theses and Dissertations

Boron treated test houses at Mississippi State University’s Dorman Lake test site in Starkville, MS were built in 1989 to investigate the effectiveness of boron treatments with exposure to natural weathering. After being undisturbed for more than 20 years, samples were taken to evaluate the remaining levels of original treatments in the test houses. Visual evaluation of the test structures, curcumin test, and ICP-MS analysis of the borate content shows borates are a capable and effective long-term treatment for wood used in construction. No appreciable damage due to termite feeding was observed. Boron was still detectable by curcumin staining and …

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The Loggerhead Sea Turtle Nesting Habitat Suitability Index Validation And Workflow Modernization For Habitat Monitoring And Coastal Management Best Practices, Brooke Marlo Walker Aug 2024

The Loggerhead Sea Turtle Nesting Habitat Suitability Index Validation And Workflow Modernization For Habitat Monitoring And Coastal Management Best Practices, Brooke Marlo Walker

Theses and Dissertations

The Caretta caretta, or Loggerhead sea turtle, is a protected species found across all temperate and subtropical oceans. Previous research has identified that the Caretta caretta has preferences for nesting sites based on beach width, beach slope, and vegetation coverage, which facilitated the development of a nesting site suitability index. In this thesis, these indices were integrated with standard coastal geomorphology metrics in the ESRI Suitability Modeler to pinpoint potential nesting locations for the C. caretta on various beach reaches. The results were then validated against observed nesting site data. The results of this study can inform critical decisions regarding …

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Ultrasonographic Appearance Of The Spleen Of Growing Kittens Using A High Frequency Linear Transducer, Catana M. Capps Aug 2024

Ultrasonographic Appearance Of The Spleen Of Growing Kittens Using A High Frequency Linear Transducer, Catana M. Capps

Theses and Dissertations

A reticulonodular splenic pattern is commonly associated with neoplastic or infectious etiologies. However, this has been described as an age-related variant in both humans and dogs, likely representing lymphoid follicles. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the ultrasonographic appearance of the spleens of growing kittens mimics the canine presentation. This was a prospective, descriptive study design. Healthy kittens up to 18 months old were scanned using a high frequency linear transducer. A reticulonodular pattern was present in (89%) of spleens. After 4 months of age, there was an overall negative correlation with age and the grade of …

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Factors Associated With Undergraduate Students Pursuing Health And Dietetic Careers, Claire Bolen Hardin Aug 2024

Factors Associated With Undergraduate Students Pursuing Health And Dietetic Careers, Claire Bolen Hardin

Theses and Dissertations

This descriptive cross-sectional study investigated factors that influenced undergraduate students’ career paths within health care and the dietetics field. A 34-item Qualtrics survey was emailed to undergraduate students. Most of the participants (N=355) were females (72.2%), 72.9% were white students and 21.6% were black or African Americans. Results indicated the main reason students chose their major was personal interest. Other reasons included lifestyle, family, potential financial success, and friends. More than 50% of students indicated they personally knew someone who has the job they desire after college. Diversity within majors and health-related professions could be influenced by gender and ethnicity. …

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Three Rival Versions Of Physical Education: A Macintyrean Analysis Of The Field, Clayton Michael Whalen Aug 2024

Three Rival Versions Of Physical Education: A Macintyrean Analysis Of The Field, Clayton Michael Whalen

Theses and Dissertations

At both the theoretical and applied levels of analysis, the field of physical education is all too often completely incoherent. There appears to be little agreement as to how school-based programs ought to be implemented or what the goals of such programs really are. No two physical educators run their programs exactly the same and, chances are, those physical educators likely have wildly different understandings of their field and its proper place within the education of our youth. Borrowing from the title of moral philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre’s (1990) book, Three Rival Versions of Moral Enquiry, I’ve chosen to describe the …

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Expanding The Emotional Cascade Model Of Borderline Personality Disorder With Negative Thoughts, Thought Control Strategies, Suicide Attempts, And Non-Suicidal Self-Injury, Courtney K. Mason Aug 2024

Expanding The Emotional Cascade Model Of Borderline Personality Disorder With Negative Thoughts, Thought Control Strategies, Suicide Attempts, And Non-Suicidal Self-Injury, Courtney K. Mason

Theses and Dissertations

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is an impairing mental illness and has a core component of emotional dysregulation. Evidence suggests the emotional cascade model describes how this emotional dysregulation leads to engaging in risky and life-threatening behaviors, such as non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI). Specifically, this model describes rumination as a cognitive component that links the emotional and behavioral dysregulation. The current study aimed to expand the model by investigating how individuals with heightened BPD traits engage in NSSI and in cognitive strategies to cope with their negative affect. Specifically, it was investigated whether behaviors like suicide attempts and cognitions differentiated between those …

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Examining The Impact Of De-Escalation Training For Rural Mississippi Leos: Using Simulation To Assess Behavioral Outcomes, Deepali Manoj Dhruve Aug 2024

Examining The Impact Of De-Escalation Training For Rural Mississippi Leos: Using Simulation To Assess Behavioral Outcomes, Deepali Manoj Dhruve

Theses and Dissertations

People with mental illness (PMI) are at a 67% greater risk of arrest and 16 times greater risk of being killed during a police incident than other civilians. Indeed, law enforcement officers (LEOs) report lacking expertise when addressing mental health calls, and existing trainings aimed at reducing violence in LEO encounters with PMI do not account for challenges specific to rural LEOs. Additionally, many trainings are severely lacking in assessing outcome changes pre- and post-training with more than half of trainings relying on survey-based knowledge subject to social desirability bias and inaccurate self-assessment. This study aimed to address limitations in …

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Time After Time: Deciphering Structural Violence And Vulnerability Using Postmortem Recovery Time Data And Demographics Throughout The Southeast Region Of The United States, Elise J. Adams Aug 2024

Time After Time: Deciphering Structural Violence And Vulnerability Using Postmortem Recovery Time Data And Demographics Throughout The Southeast Region Of The United States, Elise J. Adams

Theses and Dissertations

Over the last few decades, forensic anthropological research has made significant strides in developing better methods for decedent identification and increasing the accuracy of time since death/postmortem interval (PMI) estimations within medicolegal contexts. Until recently however, there has been little emphasis placed on how socioeconomic considerations might be connected, especially regarding recovery times for individuals from various demographic backgrounds. Using intersectional and biocultural frameworks and data collected from forensic anthropologists and medicolegal labs throughout the Southeastern US, this research aims to decipher the role that inequality, through instances of social vulnerability and structural violence, plays in recovery time data throughout …

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Diffusion Of Water Conserving Irrigation Practices In The Mississippi Delta, Eugene Oku Aug 2024

Diffusion Of Water Conserving Irrigation Practices In The Mississippi Delta, Eugene Oku

Theses and Dissertations

The expanding irrigated acreage in the Mississippi Delta has resulted in increased withdrawals that exceed the recharge rate of the Mississippi River Valley Alluvial Aquifer (MRVAA), leading to a decline in water levels. This trend poses a threat of rapid depletion, potentially resulting in deteriorating water quality and increased pumping costs in the region. Water-conserving irrigation practices are a key component to any potential solution, promising enhanced water use efficiency and sustainable agricultural practices. Nonetheless, farmers adopt these practices at different times. This study used a duration model to identify the factors that influence the timing of adoption of computerized …

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Silvicultural Strategies For Converting Longleaf Pine Plantations To Multi-Aged Stands With Groundcover Species Restoration In Georgia, Usa, Gabriel F. Nyen Aug 2024

Silvicultural Strategies For Converting Longleaf Pine Plantations To Multi-Aged Stands With Groundcover Species Restoration In Georgia, Usa, Gabriel F. Nyen

Theses and Dissertations

For some forest landowners in the southern USA, multiple ecological and economic objectives are met through the conversion of longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) plantations to uneven-aged stands. This study was conducted in eight similarly-aged longleaf pine plantations at The Jones Center at Ichauway in southwestern Georgia. The stands were disturbed by commercial thinning in 2014 and partially disturbed by Hurricane Michael in 2018 and half of the stands were seeded with native grasses and a forb in 2015. I developed explanatory models of groundcover biomass and longleaf pine seedling occurrence and density. I detected a community composition difference in groundcover …

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Synthesis Of Hexafluoroisopropylidene (6f) Polyarylenes Via Interfacial Polymerization Of Aromatic Monomers With Hexafluoroacetone Trihydrate, Gustavo Adolfo Muñoz Ruiz Aug 2024

Synthesis Of Hexafluoroisopropylidene (6f) Polyarylenes Via Interfacial Polymerization Of Aromatic Monomers With Hexafluoroacetone Trihydrate, Gustavo Adolfo Muñoz Ruiz

Theses and Dissertations

Fluoropolymers are well-known for their exceptional thermo-oxidative stability, chemical resistance, UV-light resistance, and low surface energy properties, making them essential for high-performance applications across clean energy, medical device, automotive, aerospace, electronics, and telecommunication industries. Since the discovery of poly(tetrafluoroethylene) (PTFE), numerous fluorinated thermoplastics and fluoroelastomers have entered the market. The global fluoropolymer industry is projected to reach $18 billion by 2033. Recent advancements have focused on integrating mainchain fluorocarbon moieties, such as perfluorocyclobutyl (PFCB), perfluorocycloalkenyl (PFCA), fluoroarylene vinylene ether (FAVE), and the hexafluoroisopropylidene (6F) group, into semi-fluorinated polymers. These modifications enhance properties like thermal stability, processability, and optical transparency, while …

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Forest Management In Changing Landscapes: Evaluating Hurricane Damage And Salvage Market Dynamics, Ian Pereira Sartorio Aug 2024

Forest Management In Changing Landscapes: Evaluating Hurricane Damage And Salvage Market Dynamics, Ian Pereira Sartorio

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation comprises three interrelated studies exploring the effects of hurricanes on forestlands and the optimization of salvage logging practices. The first study examines land cover changes and salvage logging patterns following Hurricane Michael. It utilizes predictive models to identify key drivers of these changes, exploring the relative influence of storm intensity, forest vulnerability, and economic/operational factors. The second study builds upon these findings, focusing on the agent attribution for land cover change observations leveraging advanced remote sensing tools and relevant spatial data. By distinguishing between wind damage and salvage logging activities, it advances the understanding of post-hurricane land cover …

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A Random Forest Model For Predicting Soil Properties Using Landsat 9 Bare Soil Images, Ivo Tokeshi Muller Aug 2024

A Random Forest Model For Predicting Soil Properties Using Landsat 9 Bare Soil Images, Ivo Tokeshi Muller

Theses and Dissertations

Digital soil mapping (DSM) provides a cost-effective approach for characterizing the spatial variation in soil properties which contributes to inconsistent productivity. This study utilized Random Forest (RF) models to facilitate DSM of apparent soil electrical conductivity (ECa), estimated cation exchange capacity (CEC), and soil organic matter (SOM) in agricultural fields across the Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley. The RF models were trained and tested using in situ collected ECa, CEC, and SOM data, paired with a bare soil composite of Landsat 9 imagery. Field data and imagery were collected during the study period of 2019 through 2023. Models ranged from fair …

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Alight, The Dead Of Night: Ascertaining The Collection And Use Of Nighttime Site Inventory In Landscape Architecture Professional Practice, Jacob Zachary Felkins Aug 2024

Alight, The Dead Of Night: Ascertaining The Collection And Use Of Nighttime Site Inventory In Landscape Architecture Professional Practice, Jacob Zachary Felkins

Theses and Dissertations

In landscape architecture, site inventory is a common precursor and perpetual informant of site design, toolkit development, and best management practices. Within inventory-specific texts, inventory is primarily geared, collected, and applied toward the daytime, and thusly, one might consider the bulk of inventory to be “daytime inventory” which pays greater heed to a diurnal humanity and lesser heed to the nocturnal world. With a greater attention to nighttime site conditions, we explored “nighttime inventory” through a series of primary considerations - nighttime lighting, light pollution, site ecology, and the night sky – along with several secondary considerations. We then surveyed …

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Architecture Selection And Propulsion Supervisory Control Strategies For All-Wheel Drive Electric Vehicles (Evs), Jagdeo S. Singh Aug 2024

Architecture Selection And Propulsion Supervisory Control Strategies For All-Wheel Drive Electric Vehicles (Evs), Jagdeo S. Singh

Theses and Dissertations

The automotive industry is shifting towards the development of electric vehicles (EVs) at a rapid pace with most manufacturers intending to be producing solely electric vehicles by 2050. This is due in large part to government regulations aiming to reduce emissions from the transportation sector. As a result, significant research is being conducted to advance the development of EV propulsion technology. This research explores two aspects of EV design: the analysis and selection of an efficient EV propulsion architecture, and the implementation and testing of an efficiency-based energy management strategy (EMS) for implementation on Mississippi State’s EcoCAR team vehicle for …

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Understanding The Relationship Between Neonatal Dairy Calves’ Gut Microbiota And Incidence Of Diarrhea Using Full-Length 16s Rrna Gene Amplicon Sequencing And Machine Learning, Jalyn Grace Hawkins Aug 2024

Understanding The Relationship Between Neonatal Dairy Calves’ Gut Microbiota And Incidence Of Diarrhea Using Full-Length 16s Rrna Gene Amplicon Sequencing And Machine Learning, Jalyn Grace Hawkins

Theses and Dissertations

A healthy gut microbiome is crucial for the development, growth, and health of dairy calves; however, diarrhea in pre-weaned calves is highly prevalent, difficult to treat, and causes detrimental effects to the dairy industry. This study characterized early gut microbiota using longread-based 16S rRNA gene sequencing and investigated its associations with calf diarrhea and colostrum microbiota. The full-length 16S rRNA gene was amplified and sequenced on a Nanopore sequencer. We identified shared bacterial species in colostrum and calf feces, whose abundance in calf feces reduced with age. Diarrheic calves exhibited differing gut diversity before, during, and after diarrhea, and harbored …

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An Examination Of Depressive Symptoms Of African Americans As A Part Of A Complex System, Jenna Kilgore Aug 2024

An Examination Of Depressive Symptoms Of African Americans As A Part Of A Complex System, Jenna Kilgore

Theses and Dissertations

Symptoms associated with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) have become a source of distress and disability throughout the world, and MDD is among the most common disorders diagnosed annually in the United States. Despite this growing epidemic, scientists and practitioners continue to conceptualize MDD using a common-cause model, which suggests MDD is a result of a latent depression entity that gives rise to symptoms. This is particularly problematic in African American populations where some symptoms associated with depression (i.e., irritability and pain or numbness in the body) are different than those listed in the DSM. The current study examined depressive symptoms …

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Examining The Role Of Hypertension-Induced Mechanotransduction On Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells And Vascular Calcification, Jessica Moon Aug 2024

Examining The Role Of Hypertension-Induced Mechanotransduction On Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells And Vascular Calcification, Jessica Moon

Theses and Dissertations

Cardiovascular disease is the world’s number 1 killer. The cardiovascular system helps to pump blood throughout the human body and maintain a systemic balance. However, medial vascular calcification results when this system becomes off balance, such as in cases of high blood pressure leading to hypertension. Many factors are involved in this process, but the most important is the vascular smooth muscle cell phenotypic switch to osteoblast-like cells. When vascular smooth muscle cells are subject to mechanical stimuli, mechanotransduction occurs, causing an intracellular signaling cascade leading to a phenotypic switch associated with the Wnt signaling pathway and osteogenic markers. There …

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Unraveling The Evolution Of Moral Panic: A Comparative Analysis Of School Shootings, Jiavonna Devine Webb Aug 2024

Unraveling The Evolution Of Moral Panic: A Comparative Analysis Of School Shootings, Jiavonna Devine Webb

Theses and Dissertations

School shootings in the United States have garnered significant attention. Since 1999, several high-profile school shootings have taken place across the U.S. in Connecticut, Virginia, Florida, etc. The phenomenon of school shootings and the resultant moral panic is explored by examining media coverage to understand how the media contributes to public responses to these tragic incidents. Although school shootings tend to receive attention, we do not know how this attention can differ across school shootings. This study uses the moral panic framework to assess how national newspaper coverage portrays the Sandy Hook Elementary and Robb Elementary school shootings. I find …

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Estimation Of Cyanobacterial Concentrations From Uncrewed Aircraft Systems Imagery Over The Western Mississippi Sound, Gulf Of Mexico, John Preston Liles Aug 2024

Estimation Of Cyanobacterial Concentrations From Uncrewed Aircraft Systems Imagery Over The Western Mississippi Sound, Gulf Of Mexico, John Preston Liles

Theses and Dissertations

The Western Mississippi Sound (WMS) is home to the largest natural oyster reef in the Gulf of Mexico and contributes substantially to Mississippi's economy. In 2019, the WMS experienced an unprecedented cyanobacterial bloom that killed fish and birds and led to shut down of beaches and oyster fishery. This thesis aims to quantify cyanobacteria from uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS) imagery and investigate the relative influence of river discharge into the WMS on cyanobacterial concentrations. Several field campaigns were undertaken to collect field data and UAS imagery from WMS. A remote sensing algorithm was developed to quantify the unique cyanobacterial pigment …

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Corporate Malfeasance, Culture, And Executive Integrity, Junnatun Naym Aug 2024

Corporate Malfeasance, Culture, And Executive Integrity, Junnatun Naym

Theses and Dissertations

I study how the decisions of corporate individuals, firm culture, corporate behavior, and the broader financial markets are interconnected. In the first chapter, I examine insider trade reporting violations by corporate insiders, such as executives, officers, and directors, who have access to nonpublic information. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) mandates prompt insider trade reporting within two business days to reduce information asymmetry. However, frequent violations of this deadline breach securities law and may indicate a broader culture of noncompliance. I investigate whether insiders’ adherence to or disregard for filing deadlines reflects the firm’s stance on unethical behavior and its …

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Mississippi Mud: Race, Agriculture, And Disharmony In The Era Of Civil Rights, Kymara D. Sneed Aug 2024

Mississippi Mud: Race, Agriculture, And Disharmony In The Era Of Civil Rights, Kymara D. Sneed

Theses and Dissertations

Federal interference in the battle for states’ rights in Mississippi during the 1950s and 60s birthed a civil rights movement that made the Department of Agriculture its main opposition. Alongside state-sanctioned organizations like the Citizens’ Council and the Sovereignty Commission, the USDA used their resources to deter civil rights groups, black farmers, and black agents alike from protesting against segregationist policies. Mississippi Mud uses agriculture as a lens to illustrate how the USDA’s refusal to denounce Jim Crow, especially after the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, led to black farmers and extension agents pursuing legal action against the …

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Effects Of A Nontraditional Beef Cattle Finishing System On Performance, Carcass Quality, And Economics, Lakan D. Guelker Aug 2024

Effects Of A Nontraditional Beef Cattle Finishing System On Performance, Carcass Quality, And Economics, Lakan D. Guelker

Theses and Dissertations

Crossbred beef heifers [Year 1, n = 12 initial body weight (BW) = 400.5 kg] and beef steers (Year 2, n = 24, initial body weight (BW) = 401.9 kg] were used to compare the effect of non-traditional, low-input finishing diets (CORN and SBH) to a traditional finishing diet (DIET) in a small-scale finishing system on animal performance, carcass characteristics, and economic impact. In Year 1, cattle were finished for 132d (n = 6) or 174d (n = 6) and in Year 2, cattle were finished for 154d (n = 8), 162d (n = 8), and 196d (n = 7) …

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Tree Recruitment Dynamics In An Urban Forested Natural Area, Lee Eric Bridges Aug 2024

Tree Recruitment Dynamics In An Urban Forested Natural Area, Lee Eric Bridges

Theses and Dissertations

Urban forested natural areas (UFNAs) are the remnants of larger forested ecosystems that have become surrounded by urban land development. Due to their proximity to dense population centers, UFNAs provide levels of ecosystem services disproportionate with their small size. However, stressors on UFNAs, such as fragmentation, invasive species, urban heat islands, soil compaction, altered seed predator populations, and disrupted disturbance regimes, can alter species composition and forest structure such that the continued flow of these ecosystem services is unlikely. Further, management of these systems is confounded by their size and location. While most urban forests are managed using individual tree …

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