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Articles 202021 - 202050 of 2917739

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Effectiveness Of Omeka Virtual Collections For Engaging Dunn-Seiler Museum’S Middle School Audiences, Amanda Mayo May 2024

Effectiveness Of Omeka Virtual Collections For Engaging Dunn-Seiler Museum’S Middle School Audiences, Amanda Mayo

Theses and Dissertations

This study assessed effectiveness of the Dunn-Seiler Museum's Omeka Virtual Platform by comparing student learning after virtual and hands-on informal outreach activities. The research, conducted in two Mississippi middle schools, focused on students’ (N=99) content gains and affective responses when engaging with fossil specimens that illustrate shifts in sea levels in Mississippi’s geological past. Data were categorized into three sections: content, affective response, and drawing portion. This mixed-methods research encompassed scoring student tests, coding student drawings, and identifying stable themes through teacher interviews. Analysis of pre-and post-tests for Control (hands-on) and Experimental (virtual specimens) groups revealed no significant differences in …

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The Impact Of Financial Aid Awards On Alabama Community College Student Success, Theresa V. Mays May 2024

The Impact Of Financial Aid Awards On Alabama Community College Student Success, Theresa V. Mays

Theses and Dissertations

Financial pressures, encompassing factors such as tuition, fees, books, and work-life balance, consistently substantially influence student success in higher education. Existing research highlights finances' significant role in a student's withdrawal decision. This study aimed to assess the impact of financial aid awards on the retention, persistence, and completion of students enrolled in two community colleges in Alabama, primarily those residing in rural or urban areas. The research focused on the retention and completion outcomes of first-time, full-time students who began their enrollment at two community colleges, UCC and RCC, in the fall of 2017 and received financial aid. Utilizing a …

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Exploring Homeschool Parents’ Willingness To Incorporate Agriculture Into Curriculum: Parental Perceptions Of Teaching Agricultural Education., Allyson Moore May 2024

Exploring Homeschool Parents’ Willingness To Incorporate Agriculture Into Curriculum: Parental Perceptions Of Teaching Agricultural Education., Allyson Moore

Theses and Dissertations

Students in public and private schools have a greater opportunity to receive access to agriculture education, yet there is a group of students who are being left behind in the opportunity to receive agriculture literacy. Many students do not have access to agriculture education, yet there is a strong urge for graduates with agricultural degrees. There is a lack of research in homeschooled students receiving agriculture curriculum in their studies. As the population continues to steadily grow, the need for agriculturally literate consumers has increased. Promoting students' ability to receive agriculture curriculum will build agriculture literacy within the education system. …

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Uncertainty-Aware Path Planning On Aerial Imagery And Unknown Environments, Charles Alan Moore May 2024

Uncertainty-Aware Path Planning On Aerial Imagery And Unknown Environments, Charles Alan Moore

Theses and Dissertations

Off-road autonomous navigation faces a significant challenge due to the lack of maps or road markings for planning paths. Classical path planning methods assume a perfectly known envi- ronment, neglecting the inherent perception and sensing uncertainty from detecting terrain and obstacles in off-road environments. This research proposes an uncertainty-aware path planning method, URA*, using aerial images for autonomous navigation in off-road environments. An ensemble convolutional neural network model is used to perform pixel-level traversability estima- tion from aerial images of the region of interest. Traversability predictions are represented as a grid of traversal probability values. An uncertainty-aware planner is applied …

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Submissive Natures, Subversive Acts: Power, Prescriptive Literature, And The Female Voice In Shakespeare’S Comedies, Joseph N. Newell May 2024

Submissive Natures, Subversive Acts: Power, Prescriptive Literature, And The Female Voice In Shakespeare’S Comedies, Joseph N. Newell

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores prescriptive literature and conduct books, specifically The Book of Homilies, and how these prescriptions manifest in Shakespeare’s work. This text examines the depictions of marital relationships and argues that the actions of husbands in two of Shakespeare’s comedies, The Taming of the Shrew and The Merchant of Venice, deviate from prescriptive ideals that homilies deem proper for the husband-and-wife relationship. Through the combination of new historicism and gender criticism, this thesis suggests that Katherine and Portia use submission to gain agency in moments when they seem to have none while showing that the men do not fulfill …

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Waste Separation And Perceptions Of Environmental Health In A College Student Population, Anna Foster Nickels May 2024

Waste Separation And Perceptions Of Environmental Health In A College Student Population, Anna Foster Nickels

Theses and Dissertations

Florists must analyze business practices to become environmentally savvy. This study investigated whether the introduction of sustainable waste practices into a college floral design course influenced the student’s perception of environmental health. Two groups of students enrolled in the basic floral design course at Mississippi State University completed a survey on environmental health at the start and end of the semester. One group sorted their lab wastes into compostable and landfill material. Results indicated students who separated their floral waste maintained the same level of environmental concern throughout the testing period while the environmental health scores of those who did …

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Deep Learning Based Soil Moisture Retrieval Using Gnss-R Observations From Cygnss, M M Nabi May 2024

Deep Learning Based Soil Moisture Retrieval Using Gnss-R Observations From Cygnss, M M Nabi

Theses and Dissertations

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System (CYGNSS) mission has grown substantial attention within the land remote sensing community for estimating soil moisture (SM), wind speed, flood extent, and precipitation by using the Global Navigation Satellite System-Reflectometry (GNSS-R) technique. CYGNSS constellation generates important earth surface information called Delay-Doppler Maps (DDMs) from GNSS reflection measurements. Many previous findings considered only designed features from CYGNSS DDMs, such as the peak value of DDMs, whereas the whole DDMs are affected by SM, topography, inundation, and overlying vegetation. This dissertation explores a deep learning approach for estimating SM by …

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Tummysafe: The Influence Of Student Engagement And Demographic Variables On Certification Exam Performance In An Online Food Safety Course, Lauren Colby Nickels May 2024

Tummysafe: The Influence Of Student Engagement And Demographic Variables On Certification Exam Performance In An Online Food Safety Course, Lauren Colby Nickels

Theses and Dissertations

This study was conducted to see if the engagement variables from the TummySafe 2022 online course as well as the participants’ demographic variables were positively correlated with the TummySafe certification exam score. The study examined factors that explained participants’ exam performance. The results indicated that there was little to no correlation between demographics or engagement variables and the certification exam score. Findings indicated that 22.8% of the overall variance in certification exam performance was explained by number of prior certifications (10%), race (6.5%), gender (3.5%), ethnicity (.2%), days between last course activity and exam (1.7%), in-course assessment (1%), total activity …

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Collectors Versus Non-Collectors With Hoarding Symptoms, Caitlyn A. Nix May 2024

Collectors Versus Non-Collectors With Hoarding Symptoms, Caitlyn A. Nix

Theses and Dissertations

Research assessing the diagnostic criteria for hoarding disorder has firmly differentiated hoarding disorder from normative collecting. However, there has been no examination of non-normative collecting – that is, collectors that experience elevated hoarding symptoms. The current study utilized an online survey to explore differences between self-identified collectors (n = 140) and non-collectors (n = 169) in externalized hoarding symptoms, saving cognitions, and psychosocial functioning. Collectors reported higher general self-efficacy and higher need for control of items than non-collectors. Hoarding symptoms were not significantly different between collectors and non-collectors. These results suggest that identifying as a collector does not significantly change …

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Development Of A Framework To Completely Quantify Airfield Pavement Serviceability, Timothy Allen Parsons May 2024

Development Of A Framework To Completely Quantify Airfield Pavement Serviceability, Timothy Allen Parsons

Theses and Dissertations

The Federal Aviation Administration proposed a new concept for measuring airport pavement condition that consolidates measures of Foreign Object Damage (FOD), skid resistance, and smoothness into a single number. This research verified that FOD, skid resistance, and smoothness are necessary and sufficient to completely describe airport pavement serviceability and proposed a mathematical framework to reduce these properties to a single number describing the serviceability of the pavement. Serviceability was defined as “meeting the expectations of the user.” An extensive review of standards, regulations, and research indicated these components are each an expectation of the various types of airport pavement user. …

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Where’S The Food? Food Insecurity And Black Food Geographies In The Mississippi Delta, Taylor Patterson May 2024

Where’S The Food? Food Insecurity And Black Food Geographies In The Mississippi Delta, Taylor Patterson

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the historical and contemporary roots of food apartheid in the Yazoo-Mississippi Delta, while employing a Black Food Geographies approach to highlight and interpret the lived experiences of people in the Delta. This work draws on interviews and participant observation in Clarksdale, Mississippi, to decenter popular narratives around food insecurity and region and instead center the ideas and opinions of people directly impacted. The thesis highlights Black Deltans’ experiences and understandings of food and foodways to provide a nuanced picture of how residents interpret, negotiate, and challenge the region’s unequal food geographies in light of a longer history …

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Evaluating The Effects Of Key Virulence-Associated Genes In Estimating The Virulence Of Escherichia Coli, Using Embryo Lethality Assay And Experimental Infection Studies, Fozol Korim Ovi May 2024

Evaluating The Effects Of Key Virulence-Associated Genes In Estimating The Virulence Of Escherichia Coli, Using Embryo Lethality Assay And Experimental Infection Studies, Fozol Korim Ovi

Theses and Dissertations

Avian pathogenic Escherichia coli (APEC) causes a wide range of diseases in chickens called colibacillosis, resulting a substantial economic loss to the poultry industry. This dissertation aims at addressing this disease by exploring key virulence-associated genes (VAGs), swarming motility (SM), and multi-locus sequence types (MLST) of E. coli isolates obtained from colibacillosis-infected or asymptomatic commercial hens. Secondly, by classifying the E. coli isolates into different virulence categories based on the presence of five key VAGs [iroN, ompT, hlyF, iutA, and iss]. Finally, by performing embryo lethality assays and experimental infection studies to establish the effect of these VAGs. Our findings …

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Dynamic Evolution Patterns Of Legislative Efforts On Forestry-Prescribed Fires, Welgamage Kalani Gayathri Perera May 2024

Dynamic Evolution Patterns Of Legislative Efforts On Forestry-Prescribed Fires, Welgamage Kalani Gayathri Perera

Theses and Dissertations

Forestry-prescribed fires have been essential for managing forestland and reducing the risk of catastrophic wildfires. However, the use of prescribed fires has also raised concerns about their potential environmental and social impacts, leading to the development of various statutes and regulations that govern their implementation. This study explores the evolving legislative efforts related to forestry prescribed fire in managing forests and reducing wildfire risks to assess their dynamic nature. Determinants behind these legislative patterns are examined using qualitative content analysis and a binary logit model. A total of 199 legislative bills related to forestry prescribed fire were identified from 1995 …

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Evaluating Simulated Tarnished Plant Bug Damage During Late Bloom On Cotton Yield, Seth Thomas Permenter May 2024

Evaluating Simulated Tarnished Plant Bug Damage During Late Bloom On Cotton Yield, Seth Thomas Permenter

Theses and Dissertations

The tarnished plant bug, Lygus lineolaris (Palisot de Beauvois), is an important economic pest of cotton, Gossypium hirsutum (L.), in the Midsouth region of the United States. Continuous season long infestations may result in four or more insecticide applications per growing season. However, late season applications may only be preventing minor losses when compared to overall yield. Results from this study suggest an opportunity to increase thresholds and potentially eliminate one to two insecticide applications in late bloom. Results from this experiment show no significant differences in yield when all square removal levels were simulated in the fourth and fifth …

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Campylobacter Jejuni Survival Under Environmental Stressors, Diksha Pokhrel May 2024

Campylobacter Jejuni Survival Under Environmental Stressors, Diksha Pokhrel

Theses and Dissertations

Campylobacter jejuni is microaerophilic pathogen and is one of the leading causes of acute diarrhea in the United States. Despite being a microaerophilic pathogen, C. jejuni continues to endure within the domain of food production, especially in poultry processing. In this study, we evaluated the aerotolerance, biofilm forming abilities, and genetic diversity of C. jejuni isolates previously obtained from commercial broiler processing plants. Out of 40 isolates, 25 (62.5%) were aero–sensitive (AS), 10 (25%) were intermediately aerotolerant (IAT), and 5 (12.5%) were hyper aerotolerant (HAT). The isolates belonged to four clonal complexes (CCs) and six sequence types, with the majority …

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Diet Quality, Food Insecurity, And Periodontal Disease In Hispanic Men In The United States, Bennett R. Pope May 2024

Diet Quality, Food Insecurity, And Periodontal Disease In Hispanic Men In The United States, Bennett R. Pope

Theses and Dissertations

Food insecurity, poor diet quality, and periodontal disease are critical problems in the United States, yet limited studies examine how these three conditions are related. Men and the Hispanic population suffer a disproportionate burden of periodontal disease and are understudied groups. Using NHANES data from 2015 to 2018 and the HEI-2015, this study describes the prevalence of men’s periodontitis and its association with food insecurity and diet quality. The final sample was 4,582 men, aged 30 years or older, of whom 1,130 were Hispanic. Odds ratios were calculated via multivariable logistic regression models. Very low food security significantly increased the …

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Exploring The Relationship Between Network Topology And Braess Paradox, Samuel Giftson Prabhakar May 2024

Exploring The Relationship Between Network Topology And Braess Paradox, Samuel Giftson Prabhakar

Theses and Dissertations

The Braess Paradox is a rare phenomenon that only occurs under specific scenarios. This project aims to study the probability of the Braess Paradox occurring in a Directed Weighted Graph while the number of edges increases. The graphs in the experiment are focused on studying the occurrence of the Braess Paradox in a directed weighted scale-free network while transforming it into a directed weighted complete graph. A simulation model is used to simulate the bots traveling through a network to detect the occurrence of the Braess Paradox, considering the increase of directed weighted edges. A Graph Neural Network (GNN) is …

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Inclusion: Survey Of Mississippi General And Special Education Teachers View And Experiences In An Inclusion Classroom, Patricia Ratliff May 2024

Inclusion: Survey Of Mississippi General And Special Education Teachers View And Experiences In An Inclusion Classroom, Patricia Ratliff

Theses and Dissertations

Considering the significance of integrating students with disabilities into general education classes in Mississippi, it is critical to identify the methods by which co-teachers report working together, whether they have obtained the needed professional development, and which teaching model they employ in the inclusion classroom. This data can facilitate the assessment and efficacy of inclusive practices and offer valuable insights into potential areas requiring enhancement. Furthermore, by gaining insight into the experiences of co-teachers, future training initiatives and assistance for educators in advocating for the effective integration of students with disabilities can be enhanced. The purpose of this research was …

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Generation Z’S Perceptions Of Public Sector Culture Moderate Their Aspirations Towards Public Service, Andrew S. Rendon May 2024

Generation Z’S Perceptions Of Public Sector Culture Moderate Their Aspirations Towards Public Service, Andrew S. Rendon

Theses and Dissertations

Within the next 15 years, a significantly large percentage of adults will exit the U.S. public sector workforce, taking their experience and knowledge with them. This considerable number of departures from the public sector workforce is expected to create a crisis of sorts for society as it grapples with how to ensure the public sector is not without its most important feature – public servants. The immediate crisis relates to how we, in record time, recruit and retain a new and highly qualified workforce that can quickly fill the gaps left by the exodus. Recently coming into their adult age, …

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The Transnational Beat: Paramilitary Policing And America’S Associational Defense State, Ryan Reynolds May 2024

The Transnational Beat: Paramilitary Policing And America’S Associational Defense State, Ryan Reynolds

Theses and Dissertations

This study addresses the role of Cold War-era American law enforcement and intelligence institutions in shaping U.S. grand strategy and carrying out paramilitary operations. It examines American civil-military relations through the formal and informal relationships between the U.S. military, private organizations, and American law enforcement personnel within a framework I call “associational defense.” The concept provides a framework for observing and comprehending the existence of an American garrison state. While police institutions are civil institutions and not military organizations, law enforcement possessed a paramilitary mission throughout the Cold War and into the War on Drugs and the Global War on …

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“Freakish Man”: Sexual Blues, Sacred Beliefs, And The Transformation Of Black Queer Identity, 1870-1957., Xavier E. Sivels May 2024

“Freakish Man”: Sexual Blues, Sacred Beliefs, And The Transformation Of Black Queer Identity, 1870-1957., Xavier E. Sivels

Theses and Dissertations

“‘Freakish Man’: sexual blues, sacred beliefs, and the transformation of Black queer identity, 1870-1959” investigates how queer Black men expressed their gender and sexual identities. It follows how, from the days of Reconstruction to the modern civil rights movement, queer Black men used various aspects of Black culture—particularly the blues, working-class social culture, and charismatic religion—to form identities that departed from dominant Black and white norms. The “freakish man” emerged as queer Black men cultivated legible, subversive gender and sexual identities in sacred and secular spaces of working-class Black culture that prioritized masculine heterosexuality. Though queer Black men were briefly …

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The Performance Of Participation In The Medicare Quality Payment Program, Mary Atkinson-Smith May 2024

The Performance Of Participation In The Medicare Quality Payment Program, Mary Atkinson-Smith

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation aims to explore the performance of health provider participation inthe Medicare Quality Payment Program by investigating the relationship among the performance metrics of value and quality and the capacities of geography, technology, finance, and administration. There is a theory-practice gap in the research that examines the impact of these capacities on the value and quality of clinical services delivered by healthcare providers participating in the Medicare Quality Payment Program. The study will address this theory-practice gap by applying the capacity-performance paradigm to better understand the influences of geographical, technological, financial, and administrative capacity have on the performance of …

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The Role Of Subsurface Dynamics In Cometary Outbursts, Ahmad Sohani May 2024

The Role Of Subsurface Dynamics In Cometary Outbursts, Ahmad Sohani

Theses and Dissertations

Comets, often referred to as cosmic time capsules, serve as invaluable repositories of information from the nascent phases of our solar system. Varying significantly in size, with nuclei ranging from a few kilometers to tens of kilometers in diameter, these celestial bodies are complex, porous aggregates of organic molecules, silicate particles, and entrapped volatile gases. Their orbits, which can be categorized into the Main Belt, the Kuiper Belt, and the Oort Cloud, offer distinct insights into their origins and the early conditions of the solar system. Understanding the physical processes occurring within these nuclei is critical, particularly in the context …

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Evaluating Efficacy Of Modified Barrier Operations To Limit Silver Carp Movements In The Mississippi Alluvial Valley, Joshua Stafford May 2024

Evaluating Efficacy Of Modified Barrier Operations To Limit Silver Carp Movements In The Mississippi Alluvial Valley, Joshua Stafford

Theses and Dissertations

Invasive Silver Carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix) have spread throughout the Mississippi River basin and threaten native species. The Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley has numerous water-control structures. These structures could potentially be operated to limit expansions of invasive fishes. My goal was to examine the effects of two water-control structures on movements of Silver Carp within a floodplain network of waterbodies, including an oxbow lake (Eagle Lake; LA, MS). I monitored Silver Carp movements with an acoustic array and bi-monthly active tracking. No movements occurred through the structure managed to deter carp while nine carp passed through the structure that is not …

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Photocatalytic Disinfection Of Microbes In Water By Using Titanium Dioxide (Tio2) – Decorated Biochar, Aleria Story May 2024

Photocatalytic Disinfection Of Microbes In Water By Using Titanium Dioxide (Tio2) – Decorated Biochar, Aleria Story

Theses and Dissertations

Waterborne diseases, particularly those caused by microbial contamination such as Esche?richia coli (E. coli), present a global health challenge. This study centers on developing TiO2- decorated biochar nanocomposites, serving as a high-performance photocatalyst to combat E. coli contamination in water sources. TiO2 nanoparticles were synthesized using Flame Spray Pyrolysis (FSP) and deposited onto biochar. Structural and chemical properties were assessed using Scan?ning Electron Microscopy (SEM), X-ray Diffraction (XRD), and Fourier-Transform Infrared (FT?IR) spectroscopy. The nanocomposites were tested for photocatalytic disinfection efficiency under UV–Vis irradiation and petrifilm imaging data indicate significant E. coli inactivation, highlight?ing the potential of these nanocomposites for …

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Does Attendance In Head Start And Early Head Start Programs Influence Social And Emotional Development In Young Children?, Mary Elizabeth Thorne May 2024

Does Attendance In Head Start And Early Head Start Programs Influence Social And Emotional Development In Young Children?, Mary Elizabeth Thorne

Theses and Dissertations

Social and emotional development is a crucial domain of development that influences child outcomes. Apart from a child’s family, early care and education (ECE) programs offer opportunities to develop critical skills that promote academic achievement, emotion regulation, cognition, and literacy. There are achievement gaps in these areas when comparing children from low and high socioeconomic backgrounds, lending to the federal legislation to form Head Start and Early Head Start programs nationwide. While these programs have attendance mandates, the national attendance average is below the requirements, which may hinder the full benefits of Head Start and Early Head Start programs. Using …

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Setting The Table: A Study Of Grassroots Organization Political Training Program And Black Women Interests To Run For Local Government., Adrian Shonna Tillman May 2024

Setting The Table: A Study Of Grassroots Organization Political Training Program And Black Women Interests To Run For Local Government., Adrian Shonna Tillman

Theses and Dissertations

The comparative study aims to assess the efficacy of grassroots organizations that provide political training programs for Black women to equip them for local office candidacy. An online survey was performed among alums to assess the influence of enrolling in these programs on participants' aspirations to pursue and actively run for local office. The alum survey comprised thirty-four questions to evaluate if Black women had obtained the essential abilities for political candidacy. The poll aims to determine the perceived strengths, problems, and opportunities for Black women participating in political leadership training programs. The surveys aimed to collect important information about …

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Optimizing Water, Nitrogen, And Row Patterns For Irrigated Corn And Soybean In The Mississippi Delta, Amilcar Jose Vargas Loyo May 2024

Optimizing Water, Nitrogen, And Row Patterns For Irrigated Corn And Soybean In The Mississippi Delta, Amilcar Jose Vargas Loyo

Theses and Dissertations

Integrating water-saving technologies with optimized nutrient management strategies provides opportunities for sustainable agriculture in the Mississippi Delta. Three studies were conducted to determine the effects of irrigation systems, row patterns, and nutrient management strategies on corn and soybeans. The first study determined the effects of irrigation, row pattern, and nitrogen (N) placement methods on corn (Zea mays L.) productivity and N use efficiency. The effects of N placement methods were only evident in 2021 when the rainfall events were more pronounced than in 2020. Regardless of the row pattern, placing N with one knife increased corn grain yield and the …

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Integrating Building Information Modeling (Bim) And Blockchain Technology In The Pre-Construction Planning Processes, Abdul Wahab May 2024

Integrating Building Information Modeling (Bim) And Blockchain Technology In The Pre-Construction Planning Processes, Abdul Wahab

Theses and Dissertations

Adopting new technologies is a relatively slow process in the construction industry due to the nature of activities involved in construction projects. However, with the current evolution in Information Technology (IT) and other computing technologies it is essential to incorporate them into the construction world to enhance and upgrade some critical activities to yield higher accuracy and productivity. The current literature provides a good overview of the construction industry's modern technology. Still, it lacks specific details about the factors that contribute the most in the two pre-construction processes, i.e., cost estimation and contracts. Therefore, this dissertation expands the current literature …

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A Day In The Life Of A Farm-Fluencer: Can Agriculturalists Change Public Perceptions Towards Agriculture By Using Social Media, Josey M. Webb May 2024

A Day In The Life Of A Farm-Fluencer: Can Agriculturalists Change Public Perceptions Towards Agriculture By Using Social Media, Josey M. Webb

Theses and Dissertations

As generations have moved away from the farm, the population has become less aware of the practices behind the agriculture industry. However, people are becoming interested in how their food is produced. Since most of the population has not received an agriculture education, they look towards social media as their source of information. Social media has become a platform for sharing opinions and knowledge on certain topics. It has also been studied the perceptions of others can be influenced by emotionalizing and repeating stories related to the topic. Farmers and ranchers are now sharing their knowledge and experiences regarding agriculture …

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