Digital Commons Network^™

National-Scale Open Cattle Feedlot Detection Using Deep Learning And High-Resolution Aerial Images: Spatial Distribution And Animal Welfare Analysis, Uilson Ricardo Venancio Aires, Vitor Souza Martins, Dakota Hester, Thainara Lima, Lucas Borges Ferreira

Research Data

Open cattle feedlots are a major form of beef production infrastructure in the United States, characterized by outdoor confinement, high animal densities, and regulated feeding practices. Despite their economic importance, a comprehensive and spatially consistent national database of these facilities remains limited. This dataset provides labeled training data, trained deep learning models, and geospatial detection outputs developed to support automated identification of open cattle feedlots from aerial imagery. The dataset includes a manually curated shapefile of 11,746 open cattle feedlot facilities identified through visual interpretation of high-resolution aerial imagery in highly productive counties of Nebraska, Kansas, and Texas. These labels …

Revised Draft Final 2022 Unreclaimed Sites Sampling: Ur-22 Site Evaluation Summary Report, Pioneer Technical Services, Inc.

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

Final Quarterly Operations And Maintenance Report Butte Treatment Lagoon System – Second Quarter 2024, Pioneer Technical Services, Inc.

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

Re: Approval Letter For The Final Butte Priority Soils Operable Unit (Bpsou) Butte Treatment Lagoons (Btl) Groundwater Treatment System Quarterly Operation And Maintenance Report – Quarter 1 2024 (Dated August 14, 2025), Emma Rott

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

Re: Comment Letter For The Butte Priority Soils Operable Unit (Bpsou) Butte Treatment Lagoons (Btl) Groundwater Treatment System Quarterly Operation And Maintenance Report – Quarter 2 2025 (Dated September 30, 2025), Emma Rott

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

Revised Draft Final 2022 Unreclaimed Sites Sampling: Ur-12 Site Evaluation Summary Report, Pioneer Technical Services, Inc.

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

Light & Faith: December 2025, Taylor University

Light & Faith

No abstract provided.

The Supreme Court Of India's Use Of Inherent Power Under Article 142 Of The Constitution: An Empirical Study, M. P. Ram Mohan, Sriram Prasad, Vijay V. Venkitesh, Sai Muralidhar, Jacob P Alex

National Law School of India Review

The Constitution of India under Article 142 grants the Supreme Court of India broad inherent powers to do complete justice. The contours of these inherent powers and what it means to achieve complete justice were left to the Supreme Court to determine on its own. In this paper, we empirically examine all the Supreme Court cases from its inception in 1950 till 2023 which use the term “Article 142” or “complete justice.” We found 1579 cases, which were then hand-coded for many variables such as the nature of the case, where the case was appealed from, the temporal distribution, the …

Nonlinear Phase Space Analysis For Anomaly Detection In Ros 2 Communications: Detecting Man-In-The-Middle Attacks In Simulated Environments, William L. Locklier

Graduate Theses and Dissertations (2019 - present)

Robot Operating System 2 (ROS 2) marks a significant advancement over its predecessor through the transition from a centralized to a decentralized architecture, integrating the Data Distribution Service (DDS) to support real-time, scalable communications. Despite these improvements, inherent vulnerabilities in the ROS 2 communication stack continue to leave these systems exposed to sophisticated network-based attacks. This study leveraged nonlinear phase space analysis (NLPSA) as an intrusion detection system (IDS) to detect man-in-the-middle (MitM) attack anomalies in ROS 2 traffic. Grounded in Takens’ embedding theorem, NLPSA reconstructs the phase space of communication features and compares the resulting structure against a baseline …

A Qualitative Study On Black Women Leaders And Their Career Paths In Higher Education, Beatrice Porter

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Black women remain significantly underrepresented in senior leadership roles within higher education, especially in the presidency at historically Black colleges and universities. This qualitative phenomenological study explored the career paths and challenges Black women faced through their lived experiences in leadership roles across higher education institutions within predominantly White institutions and HBCUs. Guided by Black Feminist Thought as the theoretical lens, the study examined the intersecting barriers of race and gender that shaped the participants’ leadership trajectories in higher education. Data were collected through open-ended questionnaires, allowing participants to reflect on systemic inequities, mentorship experiences, and leadership development. Findings revealed …

Robert Kuhn Mautz [Inducted 1978], American Accounting Association

Accounting Hall of Fame Brochures

No abstract provided.

Chasing The Dream And Buying The Promise In A Conceptual Framework For Consumer Decision-Making, Casey H. Prentice

Communication & Theatre Arts Theses

The American dream is a concept that is echoed across our society, and while the data show Americans do not overwhelmingly believe in the dream, marketers continue to pair it and the issue of economic prosperity in their agendas. Through a novel framework that overlaps a deeply studied mass communication theory with a decision-making framework used in marketing, this paper demonstrates a new lens to understand how marketers identify strategies and tactics, build agendas, and make sales by touting the American dream. As separate entities, decision-making models and agenda setting theory are powerful, but together can create an environment that …

Two Essays On Customer Loyalty, Arjang Attar Shoushtari

Theses and Dissertations in Business Administration

Customer loyalty is vital for business success, yet most research treats loyal customers as a uniform group. This essay challenges that assumption by proposing that attitudinally loyal customers are psychologically heterogeneous. Drawing on Construal Level Theory (CLT), I introduce the construct of Consumer-Brand Construal Level (CBCL) to distinguish loyal customers based on how abstractly or concretely they construe their brand relationships. I conceptualize two loyalty mindsets, macro-loyalty (abstract, big-picture) and micro-loyalty (concrete, detail-focused), and argue that even highly loyal consumers differ meaningfully in their CBCL. I develop and validate a new CBCL scale (Studies 1–2) and then test how these …

Staff Education To Implement Phq-9 Depression Screening Among Adults, Sharon C. Nwanne-Temple

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Abstract Depression remains one of the most prevalent and underdiagnosed mental health conditions globally, resulting in substantial morbidity, diminished quality of life, and increased healthcare costs. The purpose of this Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) project was to improve early detection of depression among adults in a primary care setting through a structured staff education program on the use of the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) screening tool. A mixed-methods quality improvement design guided implementation over a six-week period with nine clinical staff participants, including nurses, medical assistants, and providers. The educational intervention comprised a PowerPoint presentation, interactive discussion, and post-training …

The Lived Experiences Of Clinicians Who Treat Black Males Who Have Experienced Intimate Partner Violence, Gifty A. Acheampong

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a global issue that negatively affects humanity. The harmful effects of IPV often result in lifelong consequences for victims. Researchers have consistently identified women and children as the primary victims of IPV, although men can also be affected. The social stigma around men seeking formal help as victims is that they must endure physical, emotional, financial, sexual, and psychological abuse in intimate relationships. Because psychological abuse is the most common form experienced by male IPV victims, there is a higher prevalence of IPV within the Black community. However, research on help-seeking behaviors among Black men …

Effective Change Management Strategies For Minimizing Financial Impact And Operational Disruption, Nhung K. Tran

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Ineffective organizational change strategies represent a persistent challenge for organizations undergoing transitions. Business leaders who must maintain operational stability and safeguard financial performance during periods of change need effective strategies to support successful implementation. Grounded in an 8-step change model, organizational information processing, and stakeholder theories, the purpose of this qualitative pragmatic inquiry research project was to identify effective change management strategies used by business leaders to minimize financial loss and operational disruptions during transitions. The participants were eleven leaders from nonprofit, higher education, corporate, faith-based, agriculture, and military sectors who had effective change management strategies. Data were collected through …

Coaching Hero: An Investigation Of Psychological Capital In Black Women Entrepreneurs, Deana Diana Kennedy

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The disparity of psychological capital (PsyCap) among diverse cultures and genders in the entrepreneurial area weakens access to the economic and social resources required to develop and sustain entrepreneurial ventures. Black women entrepreneurs continue to lag behind their counterparts in other ethnicities in generating revenue from entrepreneurial efforts, hindering U.S. business maturity. The purpose of this qualitative, constructivist grounded theory study was to explore how coaching facilitates the development of PsyCap among Black women entrepreneurs and the perceived socioeconomic barriers that influence this development. The social cognitive theory and a positive psychology conceptual framework grounded this study. The participants comprised …

Improving Patient Access To Providers By Optimizing Message Center Workflow, Serena Valino

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This project was an evaluation of a quality improvement initiative that addressed the practice problem of having large volumes of unanswered messages within the patient portal. To increase patient access to the healthcare provider, a literature search was conducted using the practice-focused question: Can standardization of patient portals improve the message turnaround time? In January 2024, a scoping review of nursing message center pools determined 79 pools lacked standardized names and established workflows for 37 ambulatory clinics. Pool names were identified for each clinic and listed using an Excel spreadsheet. Clinic pool members were isolated, and it was determined by …

Depth-Averaged Two-Dimensional Hydrodynamic Modeling In Headwater Channel And Floodplain Design., Jesse Dylan Robinson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In the channels and floodplains of inland waterways the hydrodynamic forces of floods destroy property and infrastructure, threaten lives, and damage aquatic habitat. Flood simulations using robust and efficient depth-averaged two-dimensional hydrodynamic models (2D models) can be interpreted to design effective solutions for areas vulnerable to damage. The reliable interpretation of 2D models for use in design is improved here through direct comparison of 2D model output to observed flood events at 6 headwater research sites. Instrumentation was used for model calibration and to define the surface hydrodynamics at sites with confined flows, wide and shallow flows, at vertical steps, …

Explainable A.I. For Analysis And Interpretation Of Heterogeneous Crime Data., Sadaf Ahmed

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines the problem of fragmented data in the context of crime and cybercrime analysis. While both domains generate substantial public data, these sources vary widely in format, structure, and coverage, making it difficult to perform consistent inference or develop reliable predictive models. To address these limitations, this work proposes a layered integration framework grounded in ontology-driven modeling and data fusion. The approach is applied to two distinct but related case studies, each focused on constructing a coherent representation of criminal activity from heterogeneous sources. The first case study explores the integration of drug and human trafficking data from …

Molecular Dynamics Simulations Of Biologically Relevant Interfaces: From Tear Film Lipid Layers To Rna Adsorption On Silica Surfaces., Mahbuba Khanom

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Molecular dynamics (MD) simulation is an important tool in biochemical sciences for studying complex molecular processes and interfacial interactions at the molecular level. Biological interfaces play key roles in processes such as ocular lubrication and biomolecular adsorption. This dissertation studies interfacial phenomena involving two distinct yet conceptually related systems: the tear film lipid layer (TFLL) at the air–water interface at the surface of the human eye, and RNA adsorption on silica surfaces. These studies provide insight into how interfacial composition, structure, and environmental conditions affect larger-scale behavior. Atomistic MD simulations were used to model the TFLL. The TFLL is essential …

“The Moment You Are Disabled; You Are Cut Off From Society.” Assessing The Experiences Of Disabled Ghanaians And The Rights Enshrined In The United Nations Convention On The Rights Of Persons With Disabilities (Crpd)., Solomon Sackey Amoatey

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As Ghana continues to pursue inclusion and equality for disabled citizens, considerable tension remains between international human rights frameworks and local social, legal, and cultural practices. Guided by social constructionism and Critical Disability Theory (CDT), this qualitative, chapter-based study examined how disability is constructed through law, policy, and culture in Ghana. It also explored how these constructions influence the interpretation and implementation of disability rights. To achieve this, the study employed semi-structured interviews and document analysis to examine how law, policy, and cultural beliefs intersect to influence the implementation of the CRPD and lived experience of disabled Ghanaians.

Findings show …

Experiences Of Research Administrators With Faculty Researchers In Sponsored Project Compliance., Adrienne M. Lindsay

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine how central office research administrators perceive and describe their professional interactions with faculty researchers, and how those relationships may impact compliance with sponsored project requirements in United States higher education institutions. Cohen et al.’s (1972) organized anarchy theory and Schein’s (2010) organizational culture theory provided a foundational context for understanding research systems within higher education institutions and the social environment in which research administrators navigate potentially contentious roles, both facilitating research and stewarding compliance for the institution and the sponsor. Findings emerged around specific challenges faced by research administrators, which included role …

Impacts Of Biology Modeling Pedagogy On Student Cogitive And Non-Cognitive Elements Of Learning., Jessie K. Newhouse

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation employed a quasi-experimental design used to investigate the use of a modeling pedagogy in high school biology. Modeling is a key element of the Science and Engineering Practices of the Next Generation Science Standards. While research of Model Based Pedagogy (MBP) in physics and chemistry is well established, the influence on biology instruction remains less understood. This research examined how MBP affected both cognitive and non-cognitive components of student learning compared to traditional biology instruction. Existing data collected by Dr. Kathy Malone in collaboration with Ohio State University (2016) were analyzed to study the effectiveness of the MBP. …

Thermal And Non-Thermal Mass Transport Effects In Plasmon-Assisted Electrochemistry., Md Al Amin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Plasmon-assisted electrochemistry has received attention due to its effects of hot charge carriers, photothermal heating, and enhanced electromagnetic field impact on electrochemical transformation. These effects have contributed to lowering the onset potential and increasing the reaction kinetics. Numerous studies have been employed to differentiate the effect of photothermal heating from hot charge carriers on the electrochemical reaction. Most of these studies have been employed to measure and quantify the photothermal heating effects at equilibrium temperature; however, localized heating from the incident light does not result in homogeneous heating across the electrochemical cell. Many studies investigating the photothermal heating effect in …

A Persistent Homology Framework For Scrna-Seq: Assessing Clustering Robustness And Quantifying Preprocessing And Integration Effects On Topological Features., Jonah Daneshmand

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) data expands, robust methods for integrating diverse datasets are critical. This dissertation applies Persistent Homology (PH), a technique from Topological Data Analysis (TDA), to a collection of scRNA-seq datasets spanning eight tissue types to quantify how data integration affects topological features and biological interpretability. We assessed global topological structure using Betti curves, Euler characteristics, and persistence landscapes across raw, normalized, and integrated data representations. Our analysis revealed a performance inversion: while conventional methods excelled on unintegrated data, high-granularity topological methods, particularly those sensitive to global data structure, became superior after integration. This suggests a synergy …

Controlling Selectivity In Electrocatalytic Co2 Reduction With An External Magnetic Field., Nawaraj Karki

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

My dissertation describes how to alter the speciation and concentration of molecules at the electrode-electrolyte interface, and how those alterations affect reactivity and selectivity. This dissertation presents two distinct approaches to control the mass transport of neutral molecules such as carbon dioxide (CO₂) at the electrode-electrolyte interface by using an external magnetic field. The first finding demonstrates that magnetic fields indirectly affect the mass transport of target analytes such as CO₂ molecules by selectively interacting with charged species, such as hydroxide ions (OH^-). Such interaction induces magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) effects, which generate localized hydrodynamic flow and …

Integration And Modulation Of Visual Signals In Dorsal Thalamus., James Whitley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The visual thalamus is influenced by a diverse array of cortical and subcortical inputs that shape how information is transmitted to cortex. Using a variety of anatomical, optogenetic, and in vitro physiological techniques I investigated the differential impacts of modulation and integration of first and higher-order thalamic nuclei, while relying on influential concepts on the general organization of thalamic nuclei. In the first data chapter, I determined how GABAergic pretectum (PT) projections to the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus (dLGN) and visual thalamic reticular nucleus (vTRN) can influence retinogeniculate signal transfer. We found that the PT provides over 75% of the …

Risk And Protective Factors For Suicidal Thoughts And Behaviors For Black Adolescent Males With Exposure To Adverse Experiences Post-Covid 19 Pandemic: Findings From The 2023 National Youth Risk Behavior Survey., Amanda Minogue

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Suicide is the second leading cause of death among adolescents aged 10-24 in the United States. In 2022, 784 Black adolescent males died by suicide. Recent studies have found that traditionally common associations of risk factors of suicidal thoughts and behaviors are not experienced by Black adolescents, challenging how to determine and detect risk. This dissertation reviewed the variables in the national Youth Risk Behavior Survey that closely align with risk and protective factors of suicidal thoughts and behaviors, and the interaction between these and adverse experiences in Black adolescent males. Results of this study found that among the 9 …

The Role Of Fast-Food Consumption, Residential Fast-Food Exposures, And Urinary Essential Trace Heavy Metals In Colorectal Cancer (Crc) Outcomes., Jeevan Adhikari

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a public health concern. Within the United States (US), fast-food consumption and environmental exposure to heavy metals have increased. The impact of fast-food consumption frequency from fast-food restaurants, residential fast-food exposures, and urinary essential trace heavy metals in relation to CRC outcomes have not yet been rigorously evaluated in the US. Methods: Within the LEAPS-CRC study, we used geographic information systems (GIS) and logistic regression to study the association of fast-food consumption, residential proximity to a fast-food outlet, and urinary essential trace metals with CRC incidence. Additionally, within Kentucky Cancer Registry (KCR) CRC cases, the …