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Effects Of Beach Morphology On Nesting Behavior And Success Of Loggerhead Sea Turtles (Caretta Caretta) In South Carolina, Reagan Rutkowski

Honors Theses

Loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta) rely on sandy beach habitats for successful reproduction, yet nesting success is strongly influenced by physical beach features. This study examines the impact of beach morphology on nest survivorship across six nesting beaches in Horry and Georgetown counties, South Carolina. Three key hypotheses were tested: (1) nests placed at higher elevations exhibit greater survivorship, (2) nests located further from the recent high tide line experience higher survivorship, and (3) overall beach morphology influences nesting behavior and outcomes. Beach morphology variables—including elevation, slope, and nest-to-water distances—were measured at individual nest sites, while survivorship data …

Analysing The Impact Of Bi-Directional Application Of Iliceto Shield Wire Scheme For Rural Electrification In Tanzania: A Chalinze-Hale Transmission Line Case Study, Santos Kihwele, Prisca Paul

Tanzania Journal of Engineering and Technology (TJET)

Clean energy accessibility including electricity remains a major challenge in Tanzanian villages despite the many efforts made by its government.  The primary obstacle is that these villages are located more than 100 kilometres away from high-voltage to medium-voltage (HV/MV) transformer stations. Therefore, electrifying these villages by conventional method is financially not feasible. One of the low-cost rural electrification techniques that can be used to solve the issue is the "Iliceto Shield Wire Scheme" (ISWS) technology, In Tanzania, the application of ISWS technology seems to be very promising.  However, the technology can be integrated with locally available renewable energy sources ( …

Stakeholder Criteria For Trust In Artificial Intelligence-Based Computer Perception Tools In Health Care: Qualitative Interview Study, Ansh Rai, Meghan E Hurley, John Herrington, Eric A Storch, Casey J Zampella, Julia Parrish-Morris, Anika Sonig, Gabriel Lázaro-Muñoz, Kristin Kostick-Quenet

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Background: Computer perception (CP) technologies hold significant promise for advancing precision mental health care systems, given their ability to leverage algorithmic analysis of continuous, passive sensing data from wearables and smartphones (eg, behavioral activity, geolocation, vocal features, and ambient environmental data) to infer clinically meaningful behavioral and physiological states. However, successful implementation critically depends on cultivating well-founded stakeholder trust.

Objective: This study aims to investigate, across adolescents, caregivers, clinicians, and developers, the contingencies under which CP technologies are deemed trustworthy in health care.

Methods: We conducted 80 semistructured interviews with a purposive sample of adolescents (n=20) diagnosed with autism, Tourette …

Anxiety, Stress, And Depression As A Predictor Of Established Vaping Among High School Students, Autumn Schneider

Theses and Dissertations

Previous research has linked initiation of e-cigarette use with mental health but has not identified how mental health factors impact patterns of use of these products in adolescents. I tested the hypothesis that adolescents who report vaping to cope with stress, depression, and anxiety have more established patterns of use with data from the National Youth Tobacco Survey. Crosstabulations and logistic regression outcome measures included current use, intensity of use, and cumulative lifetime use. Reasons for initial and current use related to mental health were associated with current e-cigarette use, more intense use, and higher cumulative use. Mental health plays …

Considerations For Cottonseed Oil As A Feedstock For Renewable Fuels, John Elmore

Theses and Dissertations

As the world population grows and the standard of living improves in developing countries, global energy demand will continue to rise, with energy use in the developing world expected to increase dramatically more than the per capita reductions in developed countries from efficiency improvements. Nearly a third of the total global energy demand is used for transportation, resulting in a substantial contribution to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. While the demand for energy rises, initiatives and regulations are underway to mitigate the amount of GHG emissions to Earth’s atmosphere. As efforts progress in industry, governments, and society to reduce the total …

Impacts Of Upgrading Gcc On The Srtuner Compiler Autotuning Algorithm, Jonathan D. Butterfield

Theses and Dissertations

An often-overlooked research gap is the applicability of research over time. The impact of updating the GNU Compiler Collection version was investigated for the SRTuner compiler optimization research. Versions 7 through 14 were tested using documented flags and recommended flag dependencies. Quality controls measured and enforced consistency across test runs and benchmarks. The performance of SRTuner was compared to a random control while the impact of enforcing flag dependencies was evaluated. The most influential flags were investigated by turning them off in isolation, but results were mixed. It was determined that enforcing flag dependencies resulted in improved performance, but the …

Evaluating Avian And Aquatic Macroinvertebrate Communities In Wetland Reserve Easements In The Mississippi Alluvial Valley, Kara Michelle Hall

Theses and Dissertations

During the 19th and 20th centuries, nearly 80% of historic bottomland hardwood forests (BLHFs) in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley (MAV) was converted to cropland. Efforts to enhance and restore wetlands on marginal farmland have occurred since the early 1990s through the Wetland Reserve Easement (WRE) and other programs, yet few studies have evaluated ecological impacts of WREs. I conducted avian and aquatic macroinvertebrate surveys across WREs, croplands, and historic minimally disturbed wetlands to index abundance, richness, and diversity. I found WREs had less overall avian abundance, richness, and diversity than reference wetlands, whereas WREs exceeded crop sites in total richness …

Small Area Estimation Methods For County-Level Forest Biomass Estimation, Pratyush Dhungana

Theses and Dissertations

We evaluated small area estimation (SAE) methods for county-level forest biomass across four Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) regions in the contiguous United States using the coefficient of variation and relative root mean squared error. The Standard Fay–Herriot (FH) model was compared with multivariate, spatial, and measurement-error extensions, while the unit-level Battese–Harter–Fuller (BHF) model was compared with mixed-effects random forests (MERF) with auxiliary data from remote sensing. Spatial FH improved precision when spatial dependence was strong; otherwise, Standard FH was more reliable. All FH models were effective with fewer than 100 plots. Measurement-Error FH produced more accurate estimates than FIA …

Leveraging Google Earth Engine For Computationally Efficient Pixel-Level Analysis And Vector Delineation From Satellite Data., Rishita Garg

Theses and Dissertations

Analyzing large-scale, high-resolution satellite imagery is a computationally intensive task requiring time and computing resources. This can be accelerated using cloud computing platforms such as Google Earth Engine (GEE) where computational and storage requirements can be scaled based on demand. However, cloud-based platforms for processing high-resolution imagery remain underutilized in environmental applications such as agriculture, and forest health. This thesis explored the application of GEE to two geospatial problems in agricultural conservation and disease mapping in forestry: 1) Extraction of agricultural field boundaries from Sentinel-2 satellite imagery, for use in conservation, precision agriculture, land management, and organization, etc., and 2) …

Study On Vehicle-Pedestrian Interaction Autonomy By Risk Potential Theory, Riku Kikuta

Theses and Dissertations

Vehicle–pedestrian interaction is a critical aspect of autonomous vehicle (AV) development, as socially acceptable AVs must account for pedestrian intention and behavior. Risk Potential (RP) theory provides a framework to build human-like AVs by modeling expert driver risk perception, but conventional RP models treat pedestrians as static obstacles and neglect their dynamics. This dissertation extends RP theory by incorporating pedestrian velocity and orientation into three new models: the RP velocity model, the RP related-velocity model, and the RP Pedestrian Potential Position (PPP) model. These models were implemented in the Navigating All Terrains Using Robotic Exploration (NATURE) autonomy stack and tested …

Complex-Valued Structured Parameterized Learnable Filter Banks For Time-Frequency Domain Based Classification, Sabyasachi Biswas

Theses and Dissertations

Most conventional radar-based classification methods, including human activity recognition (HAR) and modulation recognition, rely on computationally intensive two-stage processes involving time-frequency (TF) transformations, such as the short-time Fourier transform (STFT), to generate micro-Doppler signature (��-Ds). These ��-Ds are then classified using deep neural network (DNN), a method introducing significant temporal latency and limiting real-time applicability. To overcome these limitations, this dissertation proposes a novel complex-valued Deep learning (DL) framework employing structured parameterized learnable filter (PLF) banks, enabling direct classification from raw radar data. The research first introduces high-resolution spectrogram network (HRSpecNet), a deep learning model designed to reconstruct high-resolution ��-Ds …

Space Utilization Optimization, Troy D. Rockwood

Theses and Dissertations

Outer space is a crucial and increasingly leveraged resource for advancing human quality of life; however, its utility is constrained by inherent physical and spectral limitations. This thesis examines two distinct resource optimization problems critical to the sustainable development of space. The first part of this work addresses the optimization of physical orbital space. Unlike a terrestrial resource, mismanagement of this orbital space can lead to a runaway cascade of collisions, destroying the utility of entire orbital regimes. This thesis proposes a conjunction metric to quantify orbital capacity based on Keplerian parameters. We develop a computational tool to measure and …

Integrated Experimental, Numerical, And Machine-Learning Framework For The Analysis Of Spray Dynamics In Diesel And Gasoline Direct-Injection (Gdi) Engines, Yassine El Marnissi

Theses and Dissertations

The regulation of diesel and gasoline direct injection (GDI) during cold starts has become subject to stricter numerical limits by both the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the US and the European Commission (EC). For diesel engines, the EPA’s Clean Trucks Plan (Model Year 2027+) sets a certification NOₓ limit of 0.035 g/bhp-hr and an in-use fleet average limit of 0.050 g/bhp-hr, along with a PM limit of 0.005 g/bhp-hr, representing an 82.5% reduction in NOₓ compared to the former 0.2 g/bhp-hr standard. For gasoline engines, US standards regulate cold-start pollutants such as hydrocarbons (HC) ranging from 0.03 to 0.08 …

Mechanical Properties Of Oak Timbers And Mats And Toughness Of Loblolly Pine After 0 To 6 Months On The Ground., Zachary Thomas Kyzer

Theses and Dissertations

Testing wood in various ways is important to be able to understand the strength and recovery values. The first part of this study aims to assess the design values of mixed oak in-grade, 8 in. thick timbers and mats under various design and loading scenarios. Graded timbers were drilled, assembled into mats, and tested. Results indicated that the mat with a line load across all timbers, was nearly equivalent to the mat with a load applied to the middle timber only. Drilling did not negatively impact strength as compared to solid non-drilled timbers. The second part of this study investigates …

Imagery Intelligence And Presidential Crisis Decision-Making: The Case Of The Cuban Missile Crisis, Codie Mcdonald

Honors Theses

Although the Cuban Missile Crisis was a short period of time relative to our nation’s history, this research has illuminated how much information, tension, and impactful moments lie within each minute; and the fact is, intelligence collection absolutely is a main factor in the de-escalation of the nuclear threat. Without the intelligence collection and production that was completed and given to Kennedy, policy would not be able to be made nearly as easy. Throughout each moment of the crisis, generally speaking, IMINT was able to provide and support the most aid to President Kennedy and his advisers. While the degree …

A Generalized Framework For Singular Spectrum Analysis: Data-Adaptive And Regularized Extensions, Ishmael Jesse Narh Adikorley

Dissertations (1934 -)

Singular Spectrum Analysis (SSA) has emerged as a powerful nonparametric tool for time series analysis, enabling decomposition, reconstruction, and forecasting of structured signals without reliance on strong model assumptions. However, traditional SSA frameworks face notable limitations when applied to high-dimensional, noisy, and functional time series data commonly encountered in modern applications. This dissertation presents a comprehensive generalization of SSA through the development of a unified Hilbert space-based framework that systematically integrates both data-adaptive and regularized extensions. The proposed framework, termed Hilbert Space SSA (HSSA), extends classical SSA by embedding time series in Hilbert spaces, thus encompassing scalar, multivariate, and functional …

Bicultural Identity, Work-Life Balance And Mental Health Outcomes In Swana Students, Julie M. Salama

Master's Theses

Southwest Asian and North African (SWANA) college students navigate academic demands alongside immigration-salient stressors that may shape their mental health and academic performance. This study examined generational status (Gen 1 vs. Gen 2+), identity conflict, ethnic identity, and work–life balance (WLB) in overall GPA and major GPA, and mental health outcomes of depression (PHQ-9), and anxiety (GAD-7) among SWANA students (N = 35). Two one-way MANOVAs found no generational differences for academics (overall/major GPA) or mental health (PHQ-9/GAD-7). Identity conflict was unrelated to GPA or symptoms but was positively associated with ethnic identity, while WLB was negatively correlated with depression …

A Trigger For The Autonomous Decommissioning Of Smart Devices, Ravindra Mangar, Jared Chandler, Jingyu Qian, Carl A. Gunter, Timothy J. Pierson, David Kotz

Dartmouth Scholarship

Smart devices are ubiquitous in modern environments, yet their decommissioning phase remains poorly studied and often overlooked in system design. We define secure decommissioning as the process by which a smart device securely disconnects from its environment and makes sensitive data inaccessible. If not decommissioned, devices may retain sensitive information – such as security credentials or user-behavior data that could be recovered by an adversary. Unfortunately, some users may forget to decommission a device when they dispose or sell it, and cannot decommission a device that is lost or stolen. This paper investigates a trigger mechanism for individual wireless smart …

The Ham, December 12, 2025, Beacon Staff

The Beacon, 2025-2026

The 500th annual retelling of our survival story; There is water damage EVERYWHERE; Breaking news from the year 3000; Controversial legalization of underwater kelp; NW gets progressive: hires first fish professor; NW water polo team in search of seahorses; But like really, are we fish now?

Pi Gain Scheduling And Stall Margin Protection For A Jt9d Turbofan Engine Using T-Mats, Ian Torres

Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science Independent Study

The objective of this study was to understand the theory behind turbofan electronic engine controllers (EECs) and to develop a Simulink based controller with stall margin limits, which was then used to build a simple 1-D cruise controller for a Boeing 747. The turbofan model used was the JT9D Pratt & Whitney engine in T-MATS with an attached ”ambient” block to input altitude, Mach, and 𝐹𝐴𝑅. Holding altitude at 35000 ft, the 𝐹𝐴𝑅 controller stall lower and higher limit maps were obtained from the 6% LPC and 15% HPC stall margins at steady state for 0.83-0.85 Mach and 2000-4000 𝑁1 …

Application Of Augmented Reality Technology As A Dietary Monitoring And Control Measure Among Adults: A Systematic Review, Gabrielle Victoria Gonzalez, Bingjing Mao, Ruxin Wang, Wen Liu, Chen Wang, Tung Sung Tseng

School of Public Health Faculty Publications

Background/Objectives: Traditional dietary monitoring methods such as 24 h recalls rely on self-report, leading to recall bias and underreporting. Similarly, dietary control approaches, including portion control and calorie restriction, depend on user accuracy and consistency. Augmented reality (AR) offers a promising alternative for improving dietary monitoring and control by enhancing engagement, feedback accuracy, and user learning. This systematic review aimed to examine how AR technologies are implemented to support dietary monitoring and control and to evaluate their usability and effectiveness among adults. Methods: A systematic search of PubMed, CINAHL, and Embase identified studies published between 2000 and 2025 that evaluated …

Evaluating Three Lightweight Airfield Matting Systems Under F-35b Aircraft Loading, Brett D. Cobb

Theses and Dissertations

Aircraft matting has been in service since WWII. It has provided a maneuverable substrate to allow aircraft forward operations to take place in austere environments. AM2 is the main matting system that has been used for generations. In recent years, the need for a lightweight matting system has come to the forefront of the matting community. This is not only to improve the maneuverability, but also the shipping restrictions. This research is on three different light weight matting systems above subgrade with two CBR values (i.e., 6 and 25). A specially designed load cart was adopted to simulate F-35B loading. …

Use Of Mid-Infrared Spectroscopy For Estimating Soil Chemical, Physical, And Hydrological Properties In Mississippi And Texas, Kanthake Yasas Bandara Gamagedara

Theses and Dissertations

Accurate and efficient estimation of soil properties is essential for advancing sustainable agriculture, water management, and soil survey applications. Traditional laboratory methods and pedotransfer functions (PTFs) are widely used but are often constrained by high costs, time requirements, and limited scalability. As an alternative, mid-infrared (MIR) and visible–near-infrared (vis–NIR) spectroscopy provide cost-effective, rapid, and non-destructive approaches for soil analysis. However, variability among spectrometer types, geographic regions, and soil scanning conditions poses challenges to model transferability and generalizability. This dissertation evaluated strategies to overcome these challenges and enhance the prediction of soil chemical, physical, and hydrological properties in Mississippi and Texas. …

Electrospun Nanofiber Creation With Varying Polymer-Solvent Combinations For Air Filtration, Lancaster Jace Hill

Theses and Dissertations

This study aims to analyze various polymer-solvent combinations for electrospun creation of nanofiber media and to determine the best-suited solution for lab-grade electrospinning. Suitable solutions allow for controlled morphology of fiber diameters and for efficiency of media creation. The principal variables are solvent, concentration, and voltage. Humidity and temperature play a secondary variable role. The solution must withstand an electric field of ≤30 kV and be insoluble in water to maintain desired morphology and structure. Manipulation of the solutions and variables allow for fiber diameter optimization and beading minimization. High temperature filter applications require efficiency in intense heat and preservation …

Toward A Unified Network Flow Framework: From Conservation Principles To Fluid Dynamics Models, Zonghan Zhang

Theses and Dissertations

Network flows govern a wide range of critical systems, from tangible infrastructures like transportation and power grids to replicable processes such as information spread and epidemics. While tangible flows obey conservation laws and physical constraints, replicable flows, like rumors or viruses, can grow, decay, or vanish unpredictably. Despite their increasing interaction in real-world settings, these flow types are typically modeled in isolation, using disconnected mathematical frameworks. This dissertation presents a unified modeling approach that bridges the gap between conserved and replicable flows by embedding principles from fluid dynamics into graph-based propagation models. I introduce physically informed extensions to classical models, …

Electrochemical Detection Of No And Ca2+ During Cold Atmospheric Plasma Treatment Of Acute Wounds: Sensor Selectivity And Stability In The Plasma-Bio-System, Jonathan E. Thomas, Kristina Pattison, Suneel Kumar, Gagana Karkada, Duncan Trosan, Aunic Goodin, Jason Rainone, Dnyaneshwari Rananavare, Vandana Miller, Francois Berthiaume, Katharina Stapelmann

Kimmel Cancer Center Faculty Papers

Cold atmospheric plasmas (CAP) are a versatile tool in medical applications like wound healing. Its therapeutic benefits are partially attributed to the generation of biologically active reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (RONS). Characterization of RONS, however, typically only occurs after treatment. Here we report the first real-time in situ detection of CAP-generated nitric oxide (NO), and the simultaneous detection of cellular calcium ions (Ca²⁺) release using electrochemical sensors during CAP treatment of murine wounds. In vivo, NO rose rapidly within the first minute of CAP treatment but accumulated less overall than in PBS, reflecting reactions with wound-bed targets. In situ …

Technological Disruption And Regulatory Response: The Case Of Decentralised Finance, Jakub Wisła, Jolanta Bartoszewska

Journal of Banking and Financial Economics

This article examines responses to the regulatory challenges posed by decentralised finance (DeFi), a fast-evolving domain of blockchain-based financial innovation. It investigates the factors shaping divergent regulatory strategies, with a focus on the European Union’s comprehensive cryptoasset framework and selected comparative insights. Adopting a qualitative legal methodology – combining doctrinal-functional analysis, multivocal literature review, and two case studies – the authors explore how regulatory responses are influenced by three key variables: legal tradition, the financial function performed by blockchain-based solutions, and the level of technological and institutional autonomy. The case studies – Bitcoin as a payment instrument and cryptoassets as …

Sex Disparities In Prescription Opioids Associated Cardiovascular Adverse Events, Li Ma

Theses and Dissertations

The opioid crisis in the United States has evolved from a medical response to pain into a nationwide public health emergency. The prescription opioids (POs) – associated cardiovascular adverse events (CVAEs) remain insufficiently studied, especially in relation to sex disparities. This dissertation investigates sex disparities in PO-associated cardiovascular adverse events (CVAEs) through an analytic framework integrating artificial-intelligence-assisted literature mining and real-world pharmacovigilance analytics. In the analytic framework, first, AI powered topic modeling was employed to uncover POs-associated CVAEs risks with a focus on sex differences. A total of 1,837 PubMed abstracts were analyzed using two methods, Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) …

Musculoskeletal Disorders In Dentistry: An Insight Into Dental Techniques And Practices, Mehwash Kashif, Aman Ashar, Amna Rehman, Abdul Aleem, Sidra-Tul-Muntaha Hashmi, Muhammad Yousuf Ali

Journal of Dentistry Indonesia

Objective: Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are common workplace hazards in dentistry resulting from poor ergonomics and static postures, which lead to back, neck, and upper limb (shoulder, elbow, wrist, and hand) problems among dentists, resulting in harm to their health, productivity, and career. This study aimed to assess the frequency of MSDs, risk factors related to MSDs, and awareness of ergonomics among clinicians. Methods: Data were collected from 400 dental professionals, including house officers, postgraduate trainees, general dentists, and teachers/consultants, each with at least 12 months of practice. Data were collected using a structured, closed-ended questionnaire. Before data collection, ethical approval …

Pavements And The Urban Heat Island Effect: A Network Analysis Of Research Trends And Knowledge Structure, Fouzieh Rouzmehr, Saman Jamshidi

Architecture Faculty Research

The urban heat island (UHI) effect is one of the most pressing challenges associated with rapid urbanization. It arises primarily from the replacement of natural vegetation with impervious surfaces, alterations in surface energy balance, and heat emissions from human activity. Mitigating these drivers has become a global priority, particularly in fast-growing cities. Pavements play a central role in UHI intensification due to their large surface coverage, low albedo, and capacity to retain heat. This study adopts a bibliometric approach to systematically map the knowledge structure and research trends in pavement-related UHI studies. A dataset of 834 publications from Web of …