Digital Commons Network^™

Lunar Payload Logistics: Advancing Autonomous Control For Lunar Surface Transporter Vehicles, Liam Murray

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Uso Da Modelagem Baseada Em Agentes No Estudo De Sistemas Complexos, Eric Araújo

University Faculty Publications and Creative Works

A modelagem baseada em agentes (MBA) é uma metodologia poderosa e acessível para explorar sistemas complexos, onde interações simples entre indivíduos podem gerar comportamentos coletivos emergentes. Este artigo apresenta a MBA de maneira didática e fluida, utilizando a interface NetLogo para exemplificar como a metodologia pode ser aplicada em diversas áreas, como ecologia, saúde pública, economia e sociologia. Com uma abordagem prática, mostramos que não é necessário um conhecimento avançado em computação para começar a usar a MBA, mas que sua versatilidade permite investigar questões complexas do mundo real. Ao final, o leitor será capaz de entender os fundamentos da …

Theories Of Child Development & Theories Of Religious And Spiritual Development (Rsd) In Children, Marjorie Lindner Gunnoe

University Faculty Publications and Creative Works

This essay introduces readers to the foundational theories of child development and the ways in which these theories have been applied or extended to children’s religious and spiritual development (RSD). By “foundational theories,” I mean the theories introduced in the opening chapters of developmental textbooks. This essay is not a theological critique of psychological theories (for this, see Gunnoe, 2022), nor a “state of the field” review of RSD (for this, see Boyatzis, 2023). Rather, it is a primer on the broad theoretical approaches that scaffold contemporary research on RSD.

Optimization Of Serum And Salivary Cortisol Interpolation For Time-Dependent Modeling Frameworks In Healthy Adult Males, Nathaniel T. Berry, Travis Anderson, Christopher K. Rhea, Laurie Wideman

Rehabilitation Sciences Faculty Publications

Cortisol is an important marker of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal function and follows robust circadian and diurnal rhythms. However, biomarker sampling protocols can be labor-intensive and cost-prohibitive. Objectives: Explore analytical approaches that can handle differing biological sampling frequencies to maximize these data in more detailed and time-dependent analyses. Methods: Healthy adult males [N = 8; 26.1 (±3.1) years; 176.4 (±8.6) cm; 73.1 (±12.0) kg)] completed two 24 h admissions: one at rest and one including a high-intensity exercise session on the cycle ergometer. Serum and salivary cortisol were sampled every 60 and 120 min, respectively. Six alternative sampling profiles were defined by downsampling …

Anatomical Literacy And Body Mapping In Flute Performance: Strategies For Addressing And Preventing Upper Extremity Injuries, Lauren E. Wiedemer

Theses and Dissertations--Music

This document investigates the benefits of incorporating the study of anatomy and Body Mapping into flute performance, specifically focusing on addressing and preventing injuries related to the upper extremities. As the physical demands on musicians continue to grow, this research advocates for recognizing flutists as "musical athletes.” It highlights the importance of anatomical literacy and somatic awareness in sustaining performance longevity. The practical applications of Body Mapping are explored in detail and presents strategies for alleviating strain and fostering ease of movement, supported by research and experiential insights. Pedagogical recommendations are offered to integrate these principles into flute instruction, helping …

Hazard Impact Assessment Of Brine Spills On Groundwater Pollution In Western North Dakota, Grace Dzifa Agbozo

Theses and Dissertations

The rapid expansion of oil and gas production in North Dakota’s Bakken Formation has heightened environmental concerns, particularly groundwater contamination from brine spills. Brine, a highly saline byproduct of oil extraction, poses a serious threat to water quality due to its chemical composition. This study examines brine spill impacts from 2013 to 2024 across Williams, Mountrail, McKenzie, and Dunn counties using GIS and the DRASTIC model, enhanced with Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Fuzzy Overlay techniques. Essential hydrogeological factors were analyzed to produce vulnerability index maps. Furthermore, spatial autocorrelation (Moran’s I), Optimized Hot Spot Analysis, and Emerging Hot Spot Analysis …

Great Expectations: How Gender Assigned At Birth Shapes Viewpoint Based Perceptual Disparities In Gender-Diverse People, Adelyn Emter

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine disparities between personal beliefs and perceived societal ideologies about earning gendered traits and maintaining masculinity and femininity, with a focus on gender-diverse perspectives and the influence of gender identity on responses to social research. The current study recruited 334 gender-diverse participants to compare Viewpoint and Gendered Trait based on participant Gender Assigned at Birth, using twelve statements about earning and maintaining masculinity and femininity. The Traditional Egalitarian Sex Role (TESR) Inventory and Social Dominance Orientation (SDO) Scale were used as covariates which significantly contributed to the model. As expected, societal belief scores …

Belongingness And Science Identity Of Underrepresented Students In Aerospace Sciences, Bella Hettich

Theses and Dissertations

Despite efforts to support underrepresented individuals—specifically those from racial, ethnic, and gender minority groups—they continue to face unique challenges that affect their belongingness in aerospace sciences, leading to issues with retention in educational programs and subsequent professional pathways. Such hindrances to personal achievement can also impede broader organizational goals. Addressing these challenges is critical, as supporting the success of underrepresented individuals fosters diverse perspectives, which are essential for driving innovation and maximizing organizational productivity. Just as importantly, ensuring that every individual, regardless of background, has access to opportunities and the support needed to succeed fulfills an ethical obligation. Upholding the …

White Paper For Faculty Professional Development In Establishing, Addressing, And Informing, To Promote Mental Wellness For Health Careers Students, Betty J. Mcvay

Theses and Dissertations

This research utilized a qualitative case study to explore the need for faculty professional development in the health careers division at a public non-profit California community college, specifically Porterville College. Literature suggests that mental health is a crucial topic to address in contemporary higher education. College students, in general, are facing a notable deterioration in their overall mental well-being, accompanied by an increase in mental disorders. Furthermore, students in health careers programs frequently encounter even more intense stress and psychological challenges, stemming from their constant exposure to high-pressure, emotionally charged situations, and vicarious trauma. Although literature emphasizes the critical need …

Forceful Functors: A Categorical Approach To Constraint Monitoring In Machine Learning Models, Jonathan Wirkkala

Theses and Dissertations

Often times in machine learning there are several heuristic choices that one makes during model selection, training, and validation. These choices include the type of training used, the width and depth of the model, type activation function and many more. These choices are general rules of thumb and best practices when creating a machine learning algorithm to achieve acceptable results. For example, in the case of image processing, this may mean determining whether or not a given image contains a tumor. Decisions made during the design process create several variations of machine learning algorithms, all with various properties with pros …

When Emotions Flare: Solar Rhythms, Emotions And Cycles Of Political Revolution, Andreas Hernandez, Carolina Zilli Vieira, Alexandra Smith, Rebecca Olson

Geography and Environmental Studies Faculty Publications

Revolutions are among the most transformative events in human history. Analyzing 395 revolutionary episodes from 1900 to 2014, we find that major waves cluster around solar maxima - periods of intensified geomagnetic activity. Drawing on biomedical research linking geomagnetic disturbances to cardiovascular and stress regulation, and thus to emotional states, we propose that solar cycles modulate the affective ecologies within which revolutions arise. Solar activity may accelerate, shape, and amplify revolutionary cycles by heightening emotional climates and tipping fragile systems toward mass mobilization. This reframes revolutions as planetary events - entanglements of political conflict, embodied emotion, and cosmic …

The Nightmare Loophole: Circumventing Section 365(N) And Erasing A Non-Debtor Licensee’S Intellectual Property Rights, Grant Marshall

Emory Bankruptcy Developments Journal

In today’s knowledge-driven economy, the significance of intellectual property licenses cannot be overstated. Nevertheless, a loophole within the Bankruptcy Code allows a non-debtor’s license agreement to be erased, stripping them of their right to utilize the intellectual property without any avenue for recourse. Selling intellectual property “free and clear” of encumbrances before the debtor rejects the license agreement could deprive the non-debtor licensee of the opportunity to continue using the intellectual property. This loophole not only undermines the policy goals of both intellectual property and bankruptcy, but also subverts the clear intentions of Congress and the Supreme Court to protect …

The Complex Development Of Psoralen-Interstrand Crosslink Resistance In Escherichia Coli Requires Acrr Inactivation, Retention Of A MarboxSequence, And One 3 Of Three Mara, Soxs, Or Rob Global Regulators, Travis K. Worley, Ayah H. Asal, Lo Cooper, Charmain T. Courcelle, Justin C. Courcelle

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Crosslinking agents, such as psoralen and UVA radiation, can be effectively used as antimicrobials and for treating several dysplastic conditions in humans, including some cancers. Yet, both cancer cells and bacteria can become resistant to these compounds, making it important to understand how resistance develops. Recently, several mutants were isolated that developed high-levels of resistance to these compounds through upregulation of components of the AcrAB-TolC-efflux pump. Here, we characterized these mutants and found that resistance specifically requires inactivating mutations of the acrR transcriptional repressor which also retain the marbox sequence found within this coding region. In addition, the …

Heterospecific Coprophagy In The White-Tailed Deer Odocoileus Virginianus (Zimmermann, 1780) In Costa Rica, Mora Manuel Jose, Juan De Dios Astorga-Acuña

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Animals may engage in coprophagy, including heterospecific coprophagy, where they consume the feces of other species. The white-tailed deer, Odocoileus virginianus, primarily feeds on plant material, such as tender forbs and shrub shoots. This report documents a case of heterospecific coprophagy by the white-tailed deer in Costa Rica, where two individuals were observed consuming domestic horse feces. The reasons for heterospecific coprophagy in ruminants like the white-tailed deer are unclear. Nutritional supplementation, microbial transfer, or other ecological factors may play a role in this behavior. However, such a behavior also poses risks, including the transmission of diseases and parasites from …

Hemp Pests In New Hampshire, Amber Vinchesi-Vahl, William Hastings

UNH Cooperative Extension

No abstract provided.

Good Forestry In The Granite State: Introduction - Setting The Stage, Cooperative Extension

UNH Cooperative Extension

*Message from the State Forester
Using this Manual
*Introduction to New Hampshire’s Forests

Good Forestry In The Granite State: Silviculture, Cooperative Extension

UNH Cooperative Extension

No abstract provided.

Good Forestry In The Granite State: Timber Harvesting, Cooperative Extension

UNH Cooperative Extension

No abstract provided.

Good Forestry In The Granite State: Water Resources, Cooperative Extension

UNH Cooperative Extension

No abstract provided.

Good Forestry In The Granite State: Sensitive Areas, Cooperative Extension

UNH Cooperative Extension

No abstract provided.

Good Forestry In The Granite State: Climate And Forests, Cooperative Extension

UNH Cooperative Extension

No abstract provided.

Good Forestry In The Granite State: Glossary, Cooperative Extension

UNH Cooperative Extension

No abstract provided.

Good Forestry In The Granite State: Appendices & References, Cooperative Extension

UNH Cooperative Extension

No abstract provided.

A Systematic Review Of Artificial Intelligence's Function In The Diagnosis Of Lung Cancer (2018–2024), Rokan Hazim Hamad

Mesopotamian Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare

Lung cancer is a leading cause of cancer-related mortality, often diagnosed at advanced stages. This systematic review explores AI applications in lung cancer diagnosis, focusing on medical imaging, pathology, and genetic analysis. A systematic literature review methodology was employed, analyzing studies from databases such as PubMed, IEEE Xplore, and Scopus (2018–2024). Findings indicate that AI-powered diagnostic models, particularly deep learning techniques, outperform conventional methods in accuracy, sensitivity, and early detection capabilities. However, integration into clinical practice presents challenges, including data privacy concerns, model biases, and regulatory limitations. This review highlights the potential of AI in lung cancer screening and provides …

Deepseek: Is It The End Of Generative Ai Monopoly Or The Mark Of The Impending Doomsday?, Malik Sallam, Kholoud Al-Mahzoum, Mohammed Sallam, Maad M. Mijwil

Mesopotamian Journal of Big Data

The rise of superintelligent open-source generative AI (genAI) heralds both extraordinary potential and unprecedented risk, exemplified by the rapid emergence of DeepSeek as a global AI innovator. This perspective article examines the dual-edged nature of open source genAI technologies, highlighting their capacity to democratize innovation while exposing critical vulnerabilities. By providing affordable, high-performing, and openly available models like DeepSeek-R1 and DeepSeek-V3, this Chinese AI company has disrupted the proprietary dominance of Western AI giants. These advancements are expected to empower researchers in resource-limited settings, foster global collaboration, and enable breakthroughs across numerous fields. Open-source AI, as illustrated by DeepSeek, has …

Intelligent Techniques For Autism Spectrum Disorder Diagnosis: A Review, Ekraam Jabier, Ali Fadhil Marhoon, Ammar A. Aldair

Mesopotamian Journal of Big Data

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder whose prevalence has increased drastically around the world due to the shortcomings of the traditional method of diagnosis, which has been shown to be unsustainable since it is usually time-consuming, expensive, and subjective to clinical interpretation. These difficulties make finding more scalable, efficient, and objective methods of diagnosis incredibly expedient. This review explores the impacts of intelligent technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), deep learning (DL), and Internet of Things (IoT) sensor-supported systems and the revolution they are bringing into the diagnosis of ASD. This work reviews the recent …

Advances And Insights In Image Texture Analysis : A Review, Ghaith H. Alashour, Nidhal K. El Abbadi

Mesopotamian Journal of Big Data

Texture analysis is an essential step in image analysis, and subsequent applications such as medical imaging, remote sensing, and scene understanding are highly important in image processing. Although it is vital, the field presents its own set of research challenges, especially when manipulating variations in texture patterns and requirements for properties that remain unaffected by related transformations, such as rotation, scaling, and translation. This review provides an in-depth description of key activities in the field of texture analysis, including classification, segmentation, synthesis, and image retrieval, along with their strengths and limitations. The approaches are classified as structural, statistical, and model-based …

Transformer-Based Genomic Classification And Simulation Of Heat-Responsive Genes In Citrus Limon, Ali Fahem Neamah, Zahraa A. Abdalkareem, Mostafa A. Mohammed, Jasim Ibrahim Ahmed, Phaklen Ehkan

Mesopotamian Journal of Big Data

Iraqi lemon trees (Citrus limon), vital for regional agriculture and food security, face intensifying threats from extreme heat caused by ongoing climate change in Iraq. Native cultivars often lack thermotolerance due to low expression of protective heat-response genes. This study addresses this critical challenge by developing an AI-assisted framework that integrates real RNA-Seq data, Transformer-based deep learning, and explainable AI to classify and simulate the function of genes associated with heat stress adaptation. The primary objective is to identify key thermotolerance genes and model their biological impact, with a specific focus on indigenous citrus varieties. Using a customized transformer architecture …

Improved Blockchain Technique Based On Modified Slim Algorithm For Cyber Security, Sarah Mohammed Shareef, Rehab Flaih Hassan

Mesopotamian Journal of CyberSecurity

The number of cybersecurity incidents is increasing, and the cost of a security breach has a catastrophic financial effect. The existing real estate information systems require more robust and resilient cybersecurity solutions to secure hardware, software, and databases. Cybersecurity often relies on user behavior. Phishing attacks and social engineering can bypass blockchain security, highlighting the need for robust user education and awareness. Many blockchain networks face challenges in handling a high volume of transactions. Solutions that work well on a small scale may not perform efficiently as the network grows, leading to delays and increased costs. A secure system is …

Geometric Modeling, Reconstruction And Evaluation Of Maize Leaf Morphology In 3d, Zhaocheng Xiang

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

Maize is a vital crop for global food security, yet quantitative characterization of its three-dimensional (3D) morphology remains a major challenge due to the geometric complexity of curved leaf structures and occlusions during data collection. This work presents an integrated framework for the digital reconstruction, parametric modeling, and functional analysis of maize leaf morphology and canopy architecture, advancing the precision and interpretability of phenotyping and modeling in smart agriculture.

First, we propose a descriptive and parametric model that represents maize leaves through three fundamental components: midrib, cross-section, and blade contour. Each is described by geometric curves and controlled by biologically …