Digital Commons Network^™

Changes In The Microbiome Of The Sea Anemone Exaiptasia Diaphana During Bleaching From Short-Term Thermal Elevation, Jamison R. Sydnor, Jamie Lopez, Gordon V. Wolfe, Lisa Ott, Cawa Tran

Biology: Faculty Scholarship

We examined the response of microbial communities in the model sea anemone Exaiptasia diaphana (Aiptasia) to short-term thermal elevation. Through 16S rRNA gene sequencing, we characterized the microbiomes of symbiotic (with algal symbionts) and aposymbiotic (bleached) anemones under ambient (27°C) and heat-stressed (34°C) conditions for 8-10 days, using both replicated endpoint and non-replicated time-course approaches. Consistent with prior studies, we observed a stable abundance of bacteria from the families Alteromonadaceae and Rhodobacteraceae, though with wide variation among individual anemones. We observed that symbiotic state conferred a larger impact on the microbiome than heat stress, implying the microbiome may play a …

Artificial Intelligence Incorporated Into Audio Analysis Of Electronic Music, Ned Fellenor

School of Law, Humanities and Social Sciences Theses

In recent decades the live music performance and DJ industry has undergone a transition from analog to digital music being the norm. Audio analysis and mixing software is now a necessity for modern DJs and their preferred equipment. However, it still stands that DJs must thoroughly learn their tracks and decide which transition well together in order to produce a smooth mix. This project looks at how machine learning-based systems can aid DJs in this process; it raises questions about the use of artificial intelligence within a heavily subjective form of live performance, and its potential effectiveness in this field. …

Financial Crises As A Phenomenon Of Multiple Equilibria And How To Select Among Them, Nicolas Mäder

School of Business: Faculty Scholarship

When equilibrium is indeterminate (i.e., not unique), applied theory often obtains uniqueness either via ad hoc sunspots or via global games. This paper highlights the relative merits of a third selection mechanism—best-response dynamics (BRD)—in the context of various financial crisis frameworks. For example, in the context of a bank run, selection via BRD is preferred (to ad hoc sunspots) because it provides an explicit coordination narrative and (to global games) because it accounts for the fact that depositors realistically may decide to join or leave a bank's queue upon observing its length.

Privatization And Cost Inefficiency At Us Public Research Universities, Kevin Mcclure, Adriana Vamosiu, Marvin A. Titus, Steffon M. Gray

School of Business: Faculty Scholarship

This study examines the relationship between cost efficiency and privatization at 163 public research institutions in the United States between 2005 and 2015. We employ a spatial autoregressive (SAR) random-effects model and stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) to estimate the relationship between costs and four privatization variables: auxiliary enterprises as a percentage of total revenue, tuition and fees as a percentage of total revenue, private grants/contracts as a percentage of total revenue, and out-of-state first year enrollment. Results showed cost inefficiency at public research universities increased between 2005 and 2015, even as reliance on private sources of revenue increased. Public research …

A Smart Decade: Outcomes Of An Integrated, Inclusive, First-Year College-Level Stem Curricular Innovation, Shannon Jones, Alexis Blake, Lesly Corado-Santiago, Jasmine Crenshaw, Emma Goldman, Fernando Gomez, Chelsea Hall, Harry Hoke, Stephen Holmes, Benjamin Kornegay, Priscilla Kwarteng, Barry Lawson, Meghan Leber, Georges Leconte, Erica Modeste, Kristine Nolin, Michael Norris, Jose Santinni Roma, Addison Swackhammer, Marcella Torres, Joanna Wares, Dominique Ebony Williams, April Hill, Kathy Hoke, Carol Parish, B. Daniel Pierce

All Faculty Scholarship

In the early 2000s, our primarily undergraduate, white institution (PUI/PWI), began recruiting and enrolling higher numbers of students of color and first-generation college students. However, like many of our peer institutions, our established pedagogies and mindsets did not provide these students an educational experience to enable them to persist and thrive in STEM. Realizing the need to systematically address our lack of inclusivity in science majors, in 2012 faculty from multiple disciplines developed the Science, Math, and Research Training (SMART) program. Here, we describe an educational innovation, originally funded by a grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, designed to …

Teaching An Undergraduate Elective On The Great Recession (And The Covid-19 Recession Too), Emily C. Marshall, Paul Shea

All Faculty Scholarship

The authors describe an undergraduate economics elective focused on the Great Recession and the recession resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. They have taught the course with great success at both liberal arts colleges and research universities and at all levels of the curriculum ranging from a first-year seminar to an upper-level elective. They present a roadmap for instructors interested in offering the class. Although intermediate macroeconomics is assumed as a prerequisite, the authors discuss how they have adapted the class for students with different backgrounds. The course is divided into seven units: the housing bubble and asset pricing, housing policy …

Individual-Based Models Of Avian Migration For Estimating Behavioural Traits And Predicting Ecological Interactions, Benjamin A. Tonelli, Alan E. Zelin, Donald Dearborn, Morgan W. Tingley

All Faculty Scholarship

Rapid advances in the field of movement ecology have led to increasing insight into both the population-level abundance patterns and individual-level behaviour of migratory species. Despite this progress, research questions that require scaling individual-level understanding of the behaviour of migrating organisms to the population level remain difficult to investigate. To bridge this gap, we introduce a generalizable framework for training full-annual cycle individual-based models of migratory movements by combining information from tracking studies and species occurrence records. Focusing on migratory birds, we call this method: Models of Individual Movement of Avian Species (MIMAS). We implement MIMAS to design individual-based models …

Examining Teachers’ Perceptions Of School Working Conditions: Analysis Of Fall 2022 School Operations Survey, Kiel Mcqueen, Grand Valley State University

Charter School Research Reports

In November 2022, the Grand Valley State University (GVSU) Charter School Office (CSO) partnered with Basis Policy Research (Basis) to administer the annual School Operations Survey. The survey solicits teachers’ perceptions on school culture and climate, school leadership, faculty commitment and responsibility, school resources and time use, and parent/guardian engagement. This research brief examines results from select GVSU schools meeting reporting requirements.

2023 Portfolio Performance Report: Innovation In Learning, Grand Valley State University

Charter School Portfolio Performance Reports

No abstract provided.

A Self-Charging Concentration Cell: Theory, D. P. Sheehan

Physics and Biophysics: Faculty Scholarship

Batteries are a key resource in the quest for sustainable energy. Here, the theoretical basis is presented for a new type of electrochemical concentration cell that might contribute to this enterprise. The cell, which has been successfully demonstrated in the laboratory, incorporates a chemically asymmetric membrane to drive anisotropic diffusion between two solution chambers; the resulting concentration difference powers the cell. In this study, the membrane’s operation is validated via three theoretical approaches: (i) traditional equilibrium thermodynamics; (ii) balancing drift and diffusion current densities; and (iii) the time-independent diffusion equation. The physical criteria for its operation are developed and its …

Polymer Threadings And Rigidity Dictate The Viscoelasticity Of Entangled Ring-Linear Blends And Their Composites With Rigid Rod Microtubules, Karthik R. Peddireddy, Ryan Clairmont, Rae M. Robertson-Anderson

Physics and Biophysics: Faculty Scholarship

Mixtures of polymers of varying topologies and stiffnesses display complex emergent rheological properties that often cannot be predicted from their single-component counterparts. For example, entangled blends of ring and linear polymers have been shown to exhibit enhanced shear thinning and viscosity, as well as prolonged relaxation timescales, compared to pure solutions of rings or linear chains. These emergent properties arise in part from the synergistic threading of rings by linear polymers. Topology has also been shown to play an important role in composites of flexible (e.g., DNA) and stiff (e.g., microtubules) polymers, whereby rings promote mixing while linear polymers induce …

Interplay Of Self-Organization Of Microtubule Asters And Crosslinking Protein Condensates, Sumon Sahu, Prashali Chauhan, Ellie Lumen, Kelsey Moody, Karthik R. Peddireddy, Nandini Manu, Radhika Subramanian, Rae M. Robertson-Anderson Phd, Aaron J. Wolfe, Jennifer L. Ross

Physics and Biophysics: Faculty Scholarship

The cytoskeleton is a major focus of physical studies to understand organization inside cells given its primary role in cell motility, cell division, and cell mechanics. Recently, protein condensation has been shown to be another major intracellular organizational strategy. Here, we report that the microtubule crosslinking proteins, MAP65-1 and PRC1, can form phase separated condensates at physiological salt and temperature without additional crowding agents in vitro. The size of the droplets depends on the concentration of protein. MAP65 condensates are liquid at first and can gelate over time. We show that these condensates can nucleate and grow microtubule bundles that …

Annual Report 2022-2023, Office Of Sponsored Programs

Annual Reports

No abstract provided.

Understanding The Green Workforce, Gladys Torres Olivarria, Darbi Berry, Leaders 20/20, University Of San Diego

San Diego Regional Quality of Life Dashboard

One initiative to improve environmental conditions is prioritizing the Green Workforce. The Green workforce is an economic approach to combating climate change. The Green Workforce refers to jobs that help us advance towards a more sustainable society and help us transition from the over-dependence on oil towards reducing greenhouse gas emissions. A Green workforce can bring in millions of new jobs and opportunities.

Evaluation Of Left Shoulder As Part-Time Travel Lane Design Alternatives And Transportation Management Center Staff Training Module Development, Zhuohang Deng, Zhiliang Luo, Neil Hockaday, Ahmed Farid, Anurag Pande

Mineta Transportation Institute

Permanent capacity expansion, such as adding new lanes, is no longer a viable strategy to address traffic congestion in California; hence, ITS (Intelligent Transportation System) strategies, such as part-time use of the shoulder as a travel lane, need to be explored. The use of the shoulder as a travel lane during peak traffic hours has limited applications in the US, and most use the right shoulder as a part-time travel lane even though either the right or left shoulder (but not both) may be used. Caltrans District 5 is exploring the use of Left Shoulder as a Part-time Travel Lane …

Length Of Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experiences (Cure) Impacts Student Learning And Attitudinal Outcomes: A Study Of The Malate Dehydrogenase Cures Community (Mcc), Sue Ellen Dechenne-Peters, John F. Rakus, Amy D. Parente, Tamara L. Mans, Rebecca Eddy, Nicole Galport, Courtney Joletar, Joeseph J. Provost, J. Ellis Bell, Jessica K. Bell

Chemistry and Biochemistry: Faculty Scholarship

Course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) are laboratory courses that integrate broadly relevant problems, discovery, use of the scientific process, collaboration, and iteration to provide more students with research experiences than is possible in individually mentored faculty laboratories. Members of the national Malate dehydrogenase CUREs Community (MCC) investigated the differences in student impacts between traditional laboratory courses (control), a short module CURE within traditional laboratory courses (mCURE), and CUREs lasting the entire course (cCURE). The sample included approximately 1,500 students taught by 22 faculty at 19 institutions. We investigated course structures for elements of a CURE and student outcomes including student …

Peptide Conjugates With Polyaromatic Hydrocarbons Can Benefit The Activity Of Catalytic Rnas, Kevin J. Sweeney, Tommy Le, Micaella Z. Jorge, Joan G. Schellinger, Luke J. Leman, Ulrich F. Müller

Chemistry and Biochemistry: Faculty Scholarship

Early stages of life likely employed catalytic RNAs (ribozymes) in many functions that are today filled by proteins. However, the earliest life forms must have emerged from heterogenous chemical mixtures, which included amino acids, short peptides, and many other compounds. Here we explored whether the presence of short peptides can help the emergence of catalytic RNAs. To do this, we conducted an in vitro selection for catalytic RNAs from randomized sequence in the presence of ten different peptides with a prebiotically plausible length of eight amino acids. This in vitro selection generated dozens of ribozymes, one of them with ∼900-fold …

Facile Synthesis And Characterization Of Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes Decorated With Hydroxyapatite From Cattle Horns For Adsorptive Removal Of Fluoride, Walter Ojok, James P. Bolender, John Wasswa, Emmanuel Ntambi, William Wanasolo, Brenda Moodley

Chemistry and Biochemistry: Faculty Scholarship

Developing a new adsorbent for fluoride removal from cattle horn waste materials by a facile chemical method has shown great potential for fluoride removal. This paper reports the synthesis of multi-walled carbon nanotubes decorated with hydroxyapatite from cattle horns (MWCNT-CH) using a facile chemical method. Characterization studies using standard techniques showed that the composite is mesoporous with a rough morphology and contained MWCNTs uniformly encapsulated by the hydroxyapatite forming a crystalline MWCNT-CH composite. Optimization of fluoride adsorption by the as-synthesized composite using Response Surface Methodology (RSM) showed that a maximum fluoride removal efficiency of 80.21% can be attained at initial …

Do Women And Men Compete Equally On A Level Playing Field? An Empirical Investigation Into The 2021 Olympic Shooting Competitions, Nadav Goldschmied, Abraham García-Aliaga, Diego Muriarte Solana, Daniel Mon-López

Psychological Sciences: Faculty Scholarship

Due to physical differences between the genders, it is hard to study whether women also vary from men in their competitive drive in sports. The Olympic committee instituted major rule changes in the sport of shooting in the Tokyo Olympic Games (2021), leveling the playing field. We explored performance in a myriad of competitions including newly established mixed-gender doubles events in this unique sport of very limited physical input. Men performed better than women in events which required “dynamic” qualities (following moving targets) but when the competitions were held most constant (rifle shooting with stationary targets indoors) and regardless of …

Reform Challenges In School Education, Geoff N. Masters

School and system improvement

The central thesis of this paper has been that the challenges now confronting schools globally will require fundamental reforms of the external frameworks within which schools work. Today’s challenges to better prepare young people for the future and to ensure that every student learns successfully will not be met by simply expecting teachers to change what they do or by making minor adjustments to current curricula, assessment, examination, reporting and credentialling arrangements. Today’s challenges require deep reforms and a willingness to reimagine—in other words, to ‘transform’ existing learning systems. This is essential because the external frameworks within which teachers and …

School Improvement Tool: Literature Review, Fabienne Van Der Kleij, Pauline Taylor-Guy, Christina Rogers

School and system improvement

The School Improvement Tool (SIT) identifies practices of highly effective schools and schools which have undergone substantial improvement, based on evidence from the international literature. It is made up of nine inter-related domains, or areas of practice. This literature review presents a thematic synthesis of the research evidence across the nine domains of the School Improvement Tool. This review underpinned the development of the School Improvement Tool, as the Second iteration of the National School Improvement Tool.

Dynamics Of Non-Autonomous Discrete Systems With Applications To Evolutionary Dynamics, Susan Trolle

Open Access Dissertations

This dissertation focuses on difference equations that are of a certain type, non-autonomous competitive and cooperative systems. Previously, systems of this nature were investigated for the single species model. Here, this investigation extends to the case of two species or more, corresponding to a two dimensional system all the way to an n dimensional system. The purpose is to establish global attractivity results for these systems through a method using difference inequalities along with Northeast and Southeast partial ordering for competitive and cooperative systems, respectively. The non-autonomous case of some systems, established and well-known, are discussed for purpose of comparing …

Navigating The Higher Education Landscape: Arts-Based Perspectives By Community College Students, Bobby G. Gondola Jr.

Open Access Dissertations

Open-access community colleges in the United States are serving more students from historically marginalized communities than 4-year colleges while also educating half of college students in the United States today. However, educational systems of higher education are structured in a way that individual students may not effectively navigate higher education and the career opportunities that come with it. Better understanding how community college students experience, and how they navigate institutions of higher education, can/could enable colleges to adjust their organizational structures, processes, or practices to support easier navigation. Drawing on the Bioecological Model of Human Development (Bronfenbrenner & Morris, 2006) …

What's In A Number? Basic Statistical Literacy For Lawyers, Cody James

Law Librarian Scholarship

There is a running joke within the legal profession that lawyers choose to go to law school because they are bad at math. Facially, this proposition makes sense. The bread and butter of the legal profession is written and oral advocacy, not numbers and arithmetic.

But the legal profession has never existed outside of the realm of numbers. And in today’s world of big data where judges’ decisions and opposing counsel’s actions can be quantified and packaged into orderly statistics, basic statistical literacy is a critical part of legal research and practice.

A Partial Discharge Inception Voltage Modeling Approach, Shilpi Mukherjee, Tristan Mark Evans, David Huitink, H. Alan Mantooth

Electrical Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

A partial discharge inception voltage modeling approach promoting design-for-reliability considerations in advanced power modules is presented. As power modules are being operated at higher voltages and become more compact to meet power density demands, there is an increased risk of partial discharge, the silent precursor to electrical breakdown that degrades insulation material. The trade-off between voltage class and module compaction must be quantified. This work presents a methodology to model the tradeoff for any substrate and encapsulant material. A surface charge density-based partial discharge inception voltage (PDIV) model was developed to overcome the challenges in electric field-based models. The model …

Introduction To Computer Engineering: Evidence-Based Inclusive Teaching Practices, Zhaoxian Zhou

Open Textbooks

Open textbook created for CE 101 (Introduction to Computer Engineering) at The University of Southern Mississippi.

Attending To The Cultures Of Data Science Work, Lindsay Poirier

Statistical and Data Sciences: Faculty Publications

This essay reflects on the shifting attention to the “social” and the “cultural” in data science communities. While recently the “social” and the “cultural” have been prioritized in data science discourse, social and cultural concerns that get raised in data science are almost always outwardly focused – applying to the communities that data scientists seek to support more so than more computationally-focused data science communities. I argue that data science communities have a responsibility to attend not only to the cultures that orient the work of domain communities, but also to the cultures that orient their own work. I describe …

Rad Rivers In Rad Places: Characterizing The Historical And Future Whitewater Resources In Select Regions Of The United States, Melissa D. Shafer

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Outdoor recreation is a highly profitable industry in the United States. In 2021, outdoor recreation accounted for $454.0 billion, or 1.9% of the current-dollar gross domestic product for the nation. Many states have benefited financially from focusing on promoting their outdoor recreation and natural resources. Whitewater (WW) paddling has been a recreational activity since the 1950s. In 2007 there were an estimated 1.2 million participants in whitewater kayaking. As of 2020, that number increased to 2.6 million, doubling the number of participants. WW resources can be leveraged to reshape local and regional economies. The framework developed in this study provides …

Workflow For Integrating Geomechanics, Hydraulic Fracturing, And Reservoir Simulation To Determine Marcellus Shale Horizontal Well Production Potential, Awadh Aljassasi

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The main goal of the study was to accurately predict the production potential of Marcellus shale horizontal well with multistage of hydraulic fractures by incorporating geomechanical factors, gas adsorption, hydraulic fracturing treatment data in the reservoir simulation model. To achieve this goal, core plug measurements, well logs, image logs, hydraulic fracture treatment data, and production data were analyzed, combined, and used to develop a reservoir simulation model. Rocks mechanical properties were estimated from the well logs and then correlated with the core measurement to accurately predict the minimum horizontal stress in the reservoir. Adsorption characteristics, porosity, and permeability were estimated …

Comparative Analysis Of Artificial Intelligence And Numerical Reservoir Simulation In Marcellus Shale Wells, Arya Maher Sattari

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This dissertation addresses the limitations of conventional numerical reservoir simulation techniques in the context of unconventional shale plays and proposes the use of data-driven artificial intelligence (AI) models as a promising alternative. Traditional methods, while providing valuable insights, often rely on simplifying assumptions and are constrained by time, resources, and data quality. The research leverages AI models to handle the complexities of shale behavior more effectively, facilitating accurate predictions and optimizations with less resource expenditure.

Two specific methodologies are investigated for this purpose: traditional numerical reservoir simulations using Computer Modelling Group's GEM reservoir simulation software, and an AI-based Shale Analytics …