Digital Commons Network^™

Case Studies In Financial Accounting, Jessica Krukar

Honors Theses

Over the course of two semesters in ACCY 420, under the instruction of Dr. Victoria Dickinson, I completed a series of case studies that analyzed different economic and financial accounting issues. These case studies required us to research the topic and to also reflect on what we have learned in previous accounting classes. Two of the case studies were presentation-based competitions: the KPMG Ideation Challenge and the Mississippi Economic Development Project. In both cases, my team and I researched the topic, proposed a solution, developed a presentation, and then argued our solution to a panel of accounting and business professionals. …

Effects Of Structure Of Mepegn Polymers On Hydroxide Conductivity In Anhydrous Anionic Exchange Membranes, Athan M. Gregory

Honors Theses

Anhydrous hydroxide ion (OH-) conducting polymer electrolytes composed of a 1-methyl-pyrrolidinium (1mp) head group linked to various MePEGn (n = 3, 7, 12) backbones were prepared. We have examined the structure of these anion exchange membranes to observe how the structure of the electrolyte affects the observed ionic conductivity. The structural parameters investigated were polymer length, viscosity, fractional free volume (FFV), and volume fraction of PEG (Vf,PEG), and each polymer varied in these properties. Through a comparison of the conductivity and structural parameters in the MePEGn-based anion electrolytes, we have shown that each of these structural properties weakly affects the …

Storytelling: A Natural Mnemonic, Hailey Stephens

Honors Theses

The present study explored the effectiveness of storytelling as a teaching method in enhancing memory performance for educational material compared to traditional lecture-based instruction. Memory plays a crucial role in learning, and effective teaching strategies should facilitate information encoding, retention, and retrieval. Storytelling, an ancient yet often overlooked pedagogical tool, has been shown to engage students emotionally and cognitively, making presented content more memorable. In the present study, participants were randomly assigned to either a storytelling-based instruction group or a traditional lecture group. Both groups received instruction on the ASSURE Model and were tested immediately after the lesson and again …

Phishy Pages - The Design Of A User-Interactive Website For Phishing Attack Evaluation, Evan C. Gregory

Honors Theses

Phishing attacks are a widespread, malicious phenomenon. These attacks steal people’s personal information, causing them ruin and lining the pockets of criminals. What makes them so dangerous is that they come in a variety of forms, including emails, websites, phone calls, and social media can be vectors for attackers. Fortunately, these attacks can be stopped by informing potential victims of common signs to look out for. Training is one of the best methods people use to teach web-users how to protect themselves. To train them, however, users must be taken through many examples of phishing attacks to learn the characteristics …

Effects Of Acute Exercise On Cognition: Consideration Of Potential Moderators, Mary G. Jackson, Lucy Wilson, Mara Liston, Elizabeth Gaines, Mckenzie Cotten, Reese Carwile

Honors Theses

The present thesis aims to determine the effects, if any, of six potential moderators on the effects of acute moderate-intensity exercise on cognitive functioning. The modes of exercise undertaken by the participants included treadmill (Experiment 1) and stationary bike (Experiment 2) exercise. Participants in each experiment either exercised or rested for twenty minutes and then participated in either a memory recall task or cognitive functioning (“Stroop”) task. The bouts of either exercise or rest on the stationary bike were followed by a rest period during which the participant would be exposed to either standard air oxygen levels (normoxia) or hypoxic …

Evolving Enemy Behavior In Video Games, Hermie H. Adams Iii

Honors Theses

The video game I developed for my senior project lacked complex and engaging enemy artificial intelligence. The standard implementations of AI systems such as finite state machines and behavior trees felt like side-steps rather than innovative solutions. Upon seeing the 'magic' of machine learning in perfecting games such as Snake, Super Mario, and Flappy Bird, I was inspired to seek my answer in the field of evolutionary computation. However, my challenge differed in that the problem space would be defined by dynamic player strategies, making it not well-defined or static. As such, my evaluations are based on enemies exhibiting emergent …

An Adaptation Of Nonlinear Aerodynamic Models For Non-Traditional Control Effectors, Christian R. Bolander, Douglas F. Hunsaker

Engineering Education Faculty Publications

This paper presents the development of a novel aerodynamic model tailored for the Bio-Inspired Rotating Empennage (BIRE), a non-traditional fixed-wing aircraft empennage inspired by avian flight. The BIRE replaces the conventional vertical stabilizer with an extra degree of freedom for the horizontal stabilizer, which is allowed to rotate about the body-fixed x axis. This empennage is similar to the tail of a bird, and allows control of both longitudinal and lateral moments. However, such a design introduces complex nonlinear longitudinal and lateral aerodynamic interactions, not typically accounted for in most fixed-wing aircraft aerodynamic models below stall. This work presents a …

The Effects Of Environmental, Biological, And Social Factors On Telomere Length In Chestnut-Crowned Babblers, Carson L. Langston

Honors Thesis

Telomeres, repetitive nucleotide sequences at the ends of chromosomes, are vital in maintaining genomic integrity. Because degradation of these structures has been linked to oxidative stress, inflammation, and metabolic demands, they are also recognized as biomarkers for biological aging, lifespan, and physiological stress. This study investigates the ecological and physiological factors influencing telomere length changes in adult chestnut-crowned babblers (Pomatostomus ruficeps), a cooperatively breeding bird native to the arid and semi-arid zones of southeastern Australia. This species offers a valuable system for exploring how ecological pressures shape life history strategies due to the harsh environmental factors and social …

Direct Computations Of Spatially Resolved Viscoelastic Moduli Of Biomolecular Condensates, Liwen Gu

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Biomolecular condensates are viscoelastic materials formed by liquid-liquid phase separations (LLPS) of biopolymers. In this study, we develop a modified graph Laplacian-based collective model to characterize viscoelastic heterogeneity within condensates based on results of lattice-based Metropolis Monte Carlo (MMC) simulations. By integrating random graph models and simulations of A1-LCD, a type of intrinsically disordered protein, we examine how network topology influences storage modulus, loss modulus, crossover frequency, and relaxation time spectra. Our results reveal a strong correlation between topological features and mechanical response, with the condensate interior exhibiting higher stiffness and faster relaxation than the interface. The relaxation spectra provide …

Prevalence Of Well Water Contaminants In Georgia From 2010-2022, Angelique B. Willis, Suhasini Ramisetty-Mikler, Christine E. Stauber, Uttam Kumar Saha

Journal of the Georgia Public Health Association

Background: Safe, reliable, and clean drinking water sources are a basic necessity. More than 1.7 million individuals rely on private wells for drinking water in Georgia and are confronted with water quality challenges stemming from chemical contamination as private wells are not under mandated regulations as public water supplies. In Georgia, previous studies suggested that the variation of soil and rock in a physiographic province (region) plays an essential role in the quality of private well water. There is a need to understand the distribution of these chemical contaminants above the federal Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) and how different geologies …

El Podcast Como Herramienta Pedagógica Entre Docentes Del Nivel Superior En Una Escuela Privada Del Este De Puerto Rico, Lorell Marie Varela Morales

Theses and Dissertations

El objeto del estudio se centró en comprender la disposición de los docentes de nivel

superior hacia el uso de podcasts como recurso pedagógico en una escuela del este de Puerto Rico. Este análisis abordó las percepciones, actitudes y factores que influyen en la

aceptación de esta innovadora herramienta educativa. Se identificaron los beneficios

percibidos de los podcasts como herramienta pedagógica, así como los desafíos y

preocupaciones asociados con su integración en el proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje.

Los modelos teóricos que sustentan este estudio se basaron en la revisión de especialistas

en innovación y aceptación tecnológica por parte de los docentes …

Tax Trends, Nicholas J. Fiore

Tax Adviser

No abstract provided.

The Rural Development Politics Under Prime Minister K.A. Busia Of Ghana, 1969-1972, Kwame Adum-Kyeremeh

Journal of African Policy Studies

This article discusses rural development under the Second Republican government of Ghana. While not directly engaging with the claims of Busia’s unrivalled rural development agenda, this article provides some perspectives as to why the assertions of unqualified success remain popular. Drawing on newspapers and published sources, it discusses the Busia government’s rural development programme and accomplishments, and finds that plans to develop rural Ghana date to several years before the Busia government. By adopting rural development as its flagship programme, Busia directed the government and citizens’ attention towards rapid rural development in the early 1970s. Widespread media publicity has helped …

The Effects Of Internet Service Criteria On Institutional Performance, Mohammed Naji, Sivadass Thiruchelvam, Mohammed Khudari

Iraqi Journal for Computer Science and Mathematics

Internet service today greatly affects individuals, companies, and organizations around the world, as the Internet contributes to many things such as facilitating procedures, reducing effort, and saving time. The instability of the Internet system is a major obstacle to the successful implementation of institutional plans, leading to many workflow problems, including delays in providing services to citizens and insufficient communication between the components of the institution. It also leads to a lack of information needed for decision-making, which negatively affects customer satisfaction and operational efficiency. There is a gap in the literature regarding the evaluation of the relationships between Internet …

Advancing Lymphoma Diagnosis In Histopathology Image Classification Using Multi Deep Learning Models, Ahmed Elaraby, Andrey Nechaevskiy, Aymen Saad

Iraqi Journal for Computer Science and Mathematics

Deep learning's rapid development is generating significant interest in its potential to improve medical imaging. It has shown promising results in detecting malignant lymphoma in histopathology medical images. Image classification methods are widely used to aid in making diagnoses from medical images. In recent years, deep learning methods have achieved high performance in detecting malignant lymphoma in histopathology images. This study proposes a novel approach to improving lymphoma diagnosis in histopathology images called the Lightweight Convolutional Neural Network (LWCNN). The proposed LWCNN model comprises multiple deep learning architectures, including a convolutional neural network (CNN) that has been trained to classify …

Improved Harmony Search Algorithm For Sdn Controller Placement, Yousra Abdul Alsahib S. Aldeen, Ahmed T. Sadiq, Abeer E. Abed, Omar F. Hussain, Syed Hamid Hussain Madni

Iraqi Journal for Computer Science and Mathematics

The Software-Defined Networking (SDN) paradigm decouples the control and the data plane. One of the most significant challenges in this paradigm is SDN controller placement optimization, since improper placement may dramatically influence latency, load balancing, and network resilience. The paper proposes the Improved Harmony Search Algorithm (IHSA) as a new approach for the placement of SDN controllers. To overcome the disadvantages of conventional optimization methods like HSA, GA, and PSO, adaptive parameter tuning, dynamic harmony memory management, and updating rules for enhanced memory are incorporated into the IHSA. The complete simulations of IHSA over small, medium, and large-scale SDN topologies …

Wifi Access Point Placement And Configuration Using Reinforcement Learning Agents, N/A

Defensive Publications Series

Reliable WiFi coverage hinges on the strategic placement and accurate configuration of access points (APs). Traditional, manual AP placements are time consuming, costly, and suboptimal. This disclosure describes techniques that leverage Q-learning to determine optimal access point (AP) placements and configurations in an indoor environment. A reinforcement learning (RL) agent is trained using a digital representation of the indoor environment and a reward function that maximizes network coverage while minimizing the number of APs. The digital representation of the indoor environment includes floorplans and coverage maps. The trained RL agent can be deployed to optimize the placement and configuration of …

F-Test And One-Way Anova For Medical Images Diagnosis, Jamal Kamil K. Abbas, Ali Abdulkadhum Ruhaima

Al-Nisour Journal for Medical Sciences

A new technique for impulse noise discrimination of medical MRI images is presented. Statistical F-distribution supported by Monte Carlo simulation for prediction of impulse noise location on distorted images is used. The selective noisy pixels are detected as noisy using the One-Way ANOVA hypothesis method. The statistical prediction method is applied to the test images to predict the noise location. The distorted portions in the images predicted by this structure are improved by using a proper nonlinear filter. The nonlinear median filter is showing a suitable way the replacement of degraded pixels. The filter is not applied to the not-detected …

Automated Retinal Vessel Analysis: A Novel Model For Blood Vessel Detection, Segmentation, And Clinical Characteristic Quantification, Aws A. Abdulsahib, Moamin A. Mahmoud, Sally A. Al-Hasnawi, Ahmed Zeyad Almhanna, Jamal Kamil K. Abbas

Al-Nisour Journal for Medical Sciences

This research enlightens into a fully automated model for segmenting blood vessels and extracting clinical features from retinal fundus images, which is vital for diagnosing ophthalmologic and cardiovascular diseases. The model utilises contrast enhancement, noise reduction, edge detection, and a method for reconnecting blood vessel branches. It extracts properties like tortuosity, girth, and length of blood vessels. The model's performance surpasses existing approaches, achieving high accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative prediction values on DRIVE and HRF datasets. This innovation offers the potential to reduce specialists' workload, enhance diagnostic accuracy, and streamline the analysis of complex fundus images, ultimately …

Tidal Heating In Gas Giant Ice Moons, Sage Benz-Narveson

Senior Seminars and Capstones

This presentation is on the icy moons of Jupiter and Saturn, Europa and Enceladus. They are both known for being relatively large moons of gas giants made of a lot of water ice with silicate cores. Both are also suspected to harbor liquid oceans underneath their icy surfaces, sustained by salinity and tidal heating. Liquid water is of extreme interest to astrobiologists, which this paper will address, but it is primarily about tidal heating and its implications for the size of the subsurface oceans.

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

WSU Commencement Programs

This is the Winona State University Spring 2025 commencement program. Commencement was on Friday, May 9, 2025.

Impact Of Unconventional Gas Extraction On Tributaries Of Tenmile Creek, Greene County, Pennsylvania: A 12-Year Perspective, Christian L. Beall

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Much of southwestern Pennsylvania has been central to a rapid increase in development for unconventional natural gas extraction in the past two decades. The continued monitoring of streams over their lifetime as extraction sites is pivotal to understanding the effects of fracking on local waterways and their ability to provide for wildlife and human use. Here, using multiple indices of biotic integrity (IBI), I perform analyses of fish and macroinvertebrate communities as well as water chemistry on two streams, Bates Fork (with shale wells) and Fonner Run (without), as part of a follow-up to work performed there from 2010-2012. Fish …

Snowmelt Runoff Driven Hydropower Modelling Based On Spaceborne Remotely Sensed And Ground Weather Network Data, Ninad Bhagwat

Graduate Theses & Non-Theses

Identification of new optimal hydropower locations provides an opportunity to improve mankind's green energy portfolio by developing new hydroelectric plants, thereby decreasing the carbon footprint. Preliminary analysis of locating the optimal hydropower sites is generally the first step towards construction of a new hydropower plant. In this dissertation, I developed a parsimonious, yet robust tool to perform the preliminary analysis to locate optimal hydropower locations in any watershed using the remotely sensed Digital Elevation Model (DEM). Simulating the snowmelt-derived streamflow is crucial for water resources management in snow-dominated watersheds. The Snowmelt Runoff Model (SRM) is a lumped-parameter, temperature-index model that …

Experiments And Modeling Of Pmu Under Gps Spoofing Attacks, Joshua Afosa-Baffoe

Graduate Theses & Non-Theses

Phasor Measurement Units (PMUs) require an accurate timing signal, which is generally broadcast once per second and communicated to the PMU. While other timing protocols exist, internal clock actively synchronized to GPS time. This GPS dependence creates a potential cybersecurity vulnerability that requires attention. In this thesis, two critical aspects of GPS Spoofing Attacks (GSAs) were investigated. First, laboratory experiments on how a commercial PMU, compliant with the IEEE C37.118 standard, responds to a variety of GSAs. This work examines the ability of PMUs to detect certain spoofing attacks, highlighting cases where detection fails. The characteristic signature of the PMU …

Student Honors And Awards Program 2025, Communications And Marketing

UMM Honors and Awards Ceremony

Recognizing students who demonstrate academic excellence and enrich campus life

Eric Daimler V. Chris Moehle

2025 Decisions

USDC for the Western District of Pennsylvania

Student Perceptions Of Supports And Barriers For Transferring Quantitative Reasoning In Introductory Biology Lab Courses, Joelle Prate, Jeremy L. Hsu

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Quantitative reasoning is a critical skill in biology and has been highlighted as a core competency by Vision and Change. Despite its importance, students often struggle to apply mathematical skills in new contexts in biology, a process called transfer of knowledge. However, the supports and barriers that students perceive for this process remain unclear. To explore this further, we interviewed undergraduate students in an introductory biology lab course about how they understand and report the transfer of quantitative skills in these courses. We then applied these themes to the Step Back, Translate, and Extend (SBTE) framework to examine student …

Sustainable Process Valorization For Bioactives From Invasive Plants Environmental Burden And Their Efficacy As Antimicrobial Agents, Shamprasad Br

Theses and Dissertations

Agri-food industries produce large quantities of fruit waste which are usually discarded and one such major beverage juice waste is Citrus waste. Likewise, invasive plants like Prosopis juliflora, which is richly distributed across Tamil Nadu, are underutilized for secondary metabolites/bioactives isolation. Halophytes are another rich source of bioactives present around mangrove forests and distributed in the salt rich marshy land.

1. Separation of phenylpropanoids from the Citrus waste through solvent extraction and pH-assisted precipitation was developed. The PPCM precipitated (phenylpropanoids form Citrus medica) were analysed by HPTLC and were found to contain Rutin, Naringin, Quercetin-3-beta-glycoside, Chlorogenic acid, Ferulic acid and optimization …

Bridging Cattle Farming And Technology: The Development Of Moomanager, Matthew Hayes

Honors College Theses

Small-scale cattle producers face persistent challenges in adopting digital tools for herd management, often due to barriers such as limited digital literacy, software complexity, and poor alignment with practical workflows. Existing literature highlights the potential benefits of mobile applications in agricultural contexts, yet adoption rates remain low among smaller operations. This thesis investigates how a streamlined, mobile-first application can address these adoption barriers while supporting essential farm management tasks. The study details the design and development of MooManager, a mobile application built with React Native and Supabase and structured around core features such as cattle tracking, beef sales logging, and …

Structure Determination Of Mg2tihn And Mg3tihn (N=1-25) Clusters, Meagan Dobbs

Honors College Theses

Fossil fuels are a resource that is used in everyday life. A major problem with the reliance on fossil fuels lies in their major contributor to global warming. When fossil fuels are burned, they release greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and warm the Earth. In order to decrease the amount of greenhouse gases being emitted new fuel sources are being considered, and a leading candidate is hydrogen. This project looks at magnesium hydride clusters doped with a titanium atom. Specifically, the Mg₂TiH_n (n =1-25) and Mg₃TiH_n (n =1-25) clusters are considered. The …