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Sedimentary Conditions At A Tidal Creek That Exhibits Seasonal Pelagic-Benthic Variations, Jack B. Corbin

Honors Theses

Tidal creeks in the Grand Strand of South Carolina are small but numerous connectors between land and ocean. One of these creeks, White Point Swash, exhibits a seasonal switch between planktonic and benthic photosynthesizers. As plankton become less abundant in fall, benthic macroalgae bloom, aided by lower water levels due to fall-winter dredging of the main channel, until late Spring. This study builds on previous findings and examines sedimentary conditions at this site further. Sedimentary chlorophyll a (in microphytobenthos) and pore water nutrient concentrations are confirmed to be higher than water-column concentrations. Sedimentary nutrient fluxes to the sediment-water interface, calculated …

Prioritizing Belonging For Pk-12 Families On Financial Assistance In Private Schools, Deana Clapp

Doctorate in Education

This dissertation examined the experiences of 10 families of students in PK-12 private schools leveraging financial assistance (FA) to afford tuition and seven school FA staff who worked with families. Current literature is prominent in higher education but scant in the PK-12 milieu. Moreover, qualitative studies examining student experience in higher education have only recently begun unfolding. Drawing from a qualitative phenomenological study with an interpretivist, critical approach, this study discloses school belonging and marginalization sentiments vis a vis the power of school practices and policies to shape student and family experience. This study shares the vulnerability of private PK-12 …

The Relationship Between Amygdala And Orbitofrontal Cortex Volume In The Context Of Oppositional Defiant Disorder, Rahul Alla

Honors Scholar Theses

Disobedient and rebellious attitude in children is on the rise and this type of behavior is categorized as Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD). ODD in children can be identified as a persistent pattern of angry or irritable mood, argumentative or defiant behavior or vindictiveness toward others according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-5, Fifth Edition) of Mental Disorders.1 Children with ODD typically have difficulty regulating and processing their emotions. Issues with regulating emotions is defined as the process by which individuals “influence which emotions they have, when they have them, and how they experience and express them”.2 Dysregulation of emotions …

Crowdfunding And Intellectual Property, Mirit Eyal-Cohen

Colorado Technology Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Investigating The Impact Of Secondary Activation Time On The Adsorption Properties Of Activated Biochar For Arsenic Removal From Wastewater, Achyuth Bharadwaj Rayarao

Graduate Theses and Dissertations (2019 - present)

Biochar, a naturally occurring and renewable carbon material, becomes porous through activation. Activated biochar is an ideal candidate for use as an adsorbent. The objective of this study is to investigate whether activated biochar derived from Colorado soft pine serves as a better adsorbent and demonstrates enhanced adsorption capabilities after undergoing secondary physical activation at various activation times. The effect of secondary action time on physical adsorption properties drawn from the analysis of isotherm plots, surface areas and pore size patterns were examined by using a physisorption analyzer. Chemical structures were identified using both ultimate and proximate analyses, while porosity …

Heavy Metals In Afforested Mangrove Sediment From The World's Largest Delta: Distributional Mapping, Contamination Status, Risk Assessment And Source Tracing, Md Saifur Rahman, Moshiur Rahman, Yeasmin N Jolly, Md Kamal Hossain, Sanjida Afrin Semme, Bilal Ahamad Paray, Takaomi Arai, Jimmy Yu, M Belal Hossain

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

This study aims to assess seasonal and spatial variations, contamination status, ecological risks, and metal sources (Ni, Pb, Cr, Cu, Mn, and Zn) in human-afforested mangrove sediments in a deltaic region. Five sampling locations were sampled during dry and wet seasons. Heavy metal concentrations followed the order: Mn > Zn > Ni > Cr > Cu > Pb. Metal loads, except Cu and Pb, were higher during the dry season, aligning with national and international recommendations. Sediment quality guidelines, contamination factor, geoaccumulation index, enrichment factors, and pollution load index indicated uncontaminated sediment in both seasons. Potential ecological risk assessment showed low risk conditions in all …

Investigating The Drought Sensitivity Of Intermontane-Basin Groundwater Systems In Western Montana Using Standardized Drought Indices, Daniel Buckley

Graduate Theses & Non-Theses

Drought is a worldwide phenomenon, and many metrics have been developed to help monitor and understand drought. In this study, the drought sensitivity of two different western Montana intermontane-basin groundwater systems were analyzed: the Bitterroot Valley and the Gallatin Valley. Different standardized meteorological drought indices, namely, the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) and the Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI), were compared against the Standardized Groundwater level Index (SGI) to better understand groundwater sensitivity to meteorological forcing. The SPI and SPEI were computed using precipitation and reference evapotranspiration data from the gridMET dataset. Groundwater level data from the Montana Bureau of Mines …

Characterizing The Engineering Properties Of Three Lithologies From Montana And Idaho Using Acoustic Emissions And Stress-Strain Measurements, Mary Humphreys

Graduate Theses & Non-Theses

In this study, stress and strain measurements from unconfined compression tests were used to determine the peak stress, yield stress, Young’s modulus, and Poisson’s ratio of 20 specimens representing three lithologies (sandstone, norite, and argillite-quartzite mix) from Idaho and Montana. Along with traditional strength and deformation parameters, crack initiation (CI) and crack damage (CD) values were also interpreted, corresponding to the stress levels associated with the formation and coalescence of microcracks as a specimen is exposed to increasing stress levels. Acoustic emissions (AE) data were collected along with traditional stress-strain data as this has become a popular method for interpreting …

2024 Spring Commencement, Harding University

Commencement Programs

Program for the Harding University Commencement on May 4.

Commencement Speakers:
9a.m.: Ross Cochran
noon: Tim Baird
3p.m.: J.D. Yingling

Maps And Navigation In Spatial Cognition, Jayne Brandt, Rachel Conley, Olivia Fox, Kanan Levy

Creative Collaborations: Annual Showcase of Undergraduate Research

The purpose of our study is to compare the cognitive processes used to solve spatial problems on a large scale (moving through space) and on a small scale (on a sheet of paper). We are using a problem called the Traveling Salesperson Problem (TSP), in which the participant is asked to find the shortest path that travels to multiple destinations before returning home. Previous research has indicated that humans do surprisingly well on this mathematically complex task, producing nearly optimal solutions quickly and easily. Most previous research on this problem has used computerized or paper versions of the TSP, in …

Ceremonial Sexual Sacrifice To Commercial Prostitution: The History Of Prostitution And The Social, Economic, And Religious Progress That Revolved Around The Profession, Katelyn E. Crowell

Young Historians Conference

From its believed origin in Ancient Mesopotamia, prostitution has not only survived but is a profession that has continued to play a culturally defining role through the centuries. While its initial emergence was through an act of religious ritual and sacrifice, it transformed into a commercial profession. Prostitution, despite it becoming a representation of sexual deviance, not only persevered but thrived across vast regions, cultures, and time periods. The profession's social ‘taboo’ and the forbiddenness of being associated with the institution has carried forward through time and across varying societal constructs, the attempts to hide or extinguish prostitution has never …

Income Differences Among Nations: Measuring The Effects Of Human Capital On Total Factor Productivity (Tfp), Ashley Tarrolly

CSB and SJU Distinguished Thesis

In the past two centuries, long-term economic growth has been defined by The Great Divergence, where the gap of income distribution has widened as a result of some nations experiencing modern economic growth while others have remained stagnant in their economic well-being. This panel data research examines differences in income across countries by applying development accounting to analyze differences in per capita gross domestic product (GDP) and predict each country’s total factor productivity (TFP). Data from the Penn World Tables were collected and categorized into groups based on GDP per capita to create a sample of 144 countries in 10-year …

Identifying Phytoremediation Performing Plant Species That Can Be Utilized In The Improvement Of Heavy Metal Contaminated Soils, Ashley Clark*, Samuel Mutiti

Graduate Research Showcase

Heavy metal pollution is a problem associated with industrialization and development. Two major metals that are commonly mined and can enter the environment, which can jeopardize communities’ health, are copper (Cu) and lead (Pb). There are different options for reducing heavy metal pollution in the environment via remediation efforts, including physical, chemical, and biological methods. However, physical and chemical remediation can be costly and labor-intensive, making them unsuitable for regions that do not have the funds to utilize these practices. Biological remediation is a more cost-conservative practice that has been shown in many studies to be effective in the gradual …

Board Of Trustees Meeting Minutes 2024-05-03, Bowling Green State University

Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes

The official meeting minutes of Bowling Green State University's Board of Trustees.

Calculations From On The Existence Of Periodic Traveling-Wave Solutions To Certain Systems Of Nonlinear, Dispersive Wave Equations, Jacob Daniels

Mathematics and Statistics Student Research and Class Projects

In the field of nonlinear waves, particular interest is given to periodic traveling-wave solutions of nonlinear, dispersive wave equations. This thesis aims to determine the existence of periodic traveling-wave solutions for several systems of water wave equations. These systems are the Schr¨odinger KdV-KdV, Schr¨odinger BBM-BBM, Schr¨odinger KdV-BBM, and Schr¨odinger BBM-KdV systems, and the abcd-system. In particular, it is shown that periodic traveling-wave solutions exist and are explicitly given in terms of cnoidal, the Jacobi elliptic function. Certain solitary-wave solutions are also established as a limiting case of the periodic traveling-wave solutions, that is, as the elliptic modulus approaches one.

Boolean Group Structure In Class Groups Of Positive Definite Quadratic Forms Of Primitive Discriminant, Christopher Albert Hudert Jr.

Departmental Honors & Graduate Capstone Projects

It is possible to completely describe the representation of any integer by binary quadratic forms of a given discriminant when the discriminant’s class group is a Boolean group (also known as an elementary abelian 2-group). For other discriminants, we can partially describe the representation using the structure of the class group. The goal of the present project is to find whether any class group with 32 elements and a primitive positive definite discriminant is a Boolean group. We find that no such class group is Boolean.

Analysis Of Bayesian Transfer Function Fitting Method - A Potential Tool For Estimating Interferometer Uncertainty, Caden Swain

Honors Thesis

The Response Function of the LIGO Interferometer is central to reconstructing the strain produced by incoming gravitational waves. As a function of the interferometer's response to external stimuli, the Response Function is both analytically modeled and experimentally measured using excitations from the photon calibrator system at discrete frequencies. The uncertainty in each data point is propagated to the residual between the model and measurements, with both the uncertainty and residual being interpolated over a broadband frequency range. This project explores an alternative method to estimating the uncertainty and systematic error present in the Response function model through the utilization of …

Identifying High-Value Tactical Livestock Decisions On A Mixed Enterprise Farm In A Variable Environment, Michael Young, John Young, Ross S. Kingwell, Philip E. Vercoe

Animal production and livestock research articles

Context

Australia is renowned for its climate variation, featuring years with drought and years with floods, which result in significant production and profit variability. Accordingly, to maximise profitability, dryland farming systems need to be dynamically managed in response to unfolding weather conditions.

Aims

The aim of this study is to identify and quantify optimal tactical livestock management for different weather-years.

Methods

This study employed a whole-farm optimisation model to analyse a representative mixed enterprise farm located in the Great Southern region of Western Australia. Using this model, we investigated the economic significance of five key livestock management tactics. These included …

Towards Scalable Autonomous Underwater Construction With Free-Floating Robots, Samuel Eric Lensgraf

Dartmouth College Ph.D Dissertations

This thesis presents the first free-floating autonomous underwater construction system. Our system built structures weighing up to 100Kg (75Kg in water). Our robot builds structures made of standard cinder blocks and custom designed interlocking cement blocks. It is the first construction robot that uses active buoyancy compensation to efficiently transport building materials. It is also the first construction robot that can reconfigure visual fiducial markers on a foundation during the construction process to expand its working area.

Underwater construction is a challenging problem for free-floating robots. Currents can buffet the robot, and visibility conditions can change. We focus on achieving …

Using Student Interests To Explore Inclusion In Undergraduate Chemistry, Sonja Hoversten

CSB and SJU Distinguished Thesis

For students who are not chemistry majors, but who are on a career track requiring four chemistry courses, taking the final reactivity chemistry course (CHEM 251) for pre-health students can be daunting. For this reason, this research is focused on the CHEM 251 course at The College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University (CSBSJU) which is one of the four required chemistry courses for pre-medicine and some pre-physician assistant students, and all chemistry and biochemistry majors. Student perception of inclusion in the course increased through the implementation of group assignments including prompts for individual application of the material. The …

A Mceliece Cryptosystem, Using Permutation Error-Correcting Codes, Fiona Smith

CSB and SJU Distinguished Thesis

Using existing methods of cryptography, we can encrypt messages through the internet. However, these methods are vulnerable to attacks done by a quantum computer, which are a rising threat to security. In this thesis I discuss a possible method of encryption, secure against quantum attacks, using permutation groups and coding theory.

Representations Of Gender In Math-Related Films, Jacob Gathje

CSB and SJU Distinguished Thesis

This project analyzes how four popular math-related films - Hidden Figures, Mean Girls, Good Will Hunting, and A Beautiful Mind - either follow, resist, or reconfigure gender stereotypes in mathematics. It includes close readings of specific scenes in each of the films, along with broader analysis of the effects of how women and men are represented differently. It concludes forward-looking focus, providing suggestions for how future math-related movies can depict a more realistic and inclusive version of the field of mathematics. Ideally, this will help improve one part of the larger issue of gender disparities in math.

Beer, Bourbon, And Bertrand: An Experimental Economics Analysis, Noah Cameron Dixon

Honors Thesis

The purpose of this paper is to determine the effect that binge drinking has on economic performance in a standard Bertrand-style game. Results indicate that binge drinking, when paired with poor protective behavioral strategies, increases cooperative pricing in a Bertrand-style game, with this result persisting across various contextual frameworks. In the aggregate, this study contributes to the literature by being the first of its kind to evaluate the effect of observational binge-drinking meta scores on performance in a Bertrand-style game. To measure economic performance in the market, participants play the 2/3 average game and a standard Bertrand game with zero …

Analysis And Evaluation Of Different Transformer Architectures For The Protein Sequence Representation And The Corresponding Hypothetical Applications, Mary Mao

Theses and Dissertations

This project is to investigate and assess several Transformer topologies for the modeling of protein sequences and their corresponding uses. Each major model for the protein sequence representations is inspected with its mathematical theory and analyzed for the different performance of the models with various validation repositories.

A Spatial Decision Support System For Rent Estimation Of Retail Spaces In Manhattan Using Geographically Weighted Regression And Spatial Regression, Andie M. Migden Miller

Theses and Dissertations

This report outlines an automated, three-phase Spatial Decision Support System that creates models to estimate rent of retail spaces across Manhattan. First, enrich data with predictors. Second, optimize spatially aware neighborhood-level models by combining GWR, spatial regression, and non-spatial regression. Finally, visualize results in an Esri-based WebApp.

Land Surface Temperature Change In New York City, 1985-2023: A Historical Analysis, Andrew Kittredge

Theses and Dissertations

Intra-urban land surface temperature change is not well studied outside of a land use land cover change perspective. To address this research gap, this thesis studied the effect of biophysical change and recent development on land surface temperature (LST) change in New York City from 1985 to 2023. Mean summer values of land surface temperature, transformed difference vegetation index (TDVI), and albedo were computed for New York City census tracts during 1985 – 1994 and 2015 – 2023, along with measures of development activity since 2015. A spatial Durbin error model (R²: 0.939, RMSE: 0.538°C) significantly related TDVI …

Oblique, Edward Kijowski

Theses and Dissertations

Oblique is a multi-sensory art installation that provides a story of fragmentation in sound and light rendered by an obtuse hexagon arrangement of speakers and associated lighting prompts. The oblique direction of the soundwaves creates sonic sculpturing that propels listeners into an active state.

Reflections Of Little Red Dot: An Interactive Mixed Reality Archival Experience, Chloé Lee

Theses and Dissertations

It has been nearly a decade since I last visited Singapore, a place I am connected to yet an outsider. Reflections of Little Red Dot is a mixed-reality experience that animates my archive of drawings, videos, and 3D imagery from everyday Singaporeans in 2015, the year their country celebrated its 50th birthday.

Walking through this liminal mixed reality space, we hear how citizens are personally affected by the rapidly developing landscape and erasure of personal and historical sites of significance while reflecting on our collective agency to shape the future of our environments. We are invited into homes where loved …

Conceptual Representation And Schemas: Perceived Gender Differences Among Kinds And Shared Properties, Kathryn G. Johnson

Theses and Dissertations

Schemas are modes of categorization containing associations between kinds and their related properties. Research suggests sex-linked properties possess principled differences between the sexes. The present study’s results suggest that non-sex-linked properties also possess principled differences, which were more prevalent among properties with principled rather than causal connections to a kind.

2024 Spring Commencement Program: Winona State University, Winona State University

WSU Commencement Programs

This is the Winona State University Spring 2024 commencement program. Commencement was on Friday, May 3, 2024.