Digital Commons Network^™

Wbd-Yolo-Am: Yolov8 With Attention Module And Iot-Based Wild Boar Detection And Deterrence System For Safeguarding Small Millets, Aditya Joshi, Neha Pandey, Manoj Diwakar, Prabhishek Singh, Achyut Shankar, Fayez Alqahtani

Turkish Journal of Agriculture and Forestry

Small millets are traditional and climate-resilient food crops that can grow in adverse weather conditions. Animal intrusion, specifically from wild boars, is a main threat to the production of small millets, which reduces interest in the cultivation of small millets and affects farmers’ incomes. To address the problem of wild boar attack on agriculture land, an improved YOLOv8 is proposed, with an attention module based on WBD-YOLO-AM and that works from the collection of data, its preprocessing, attention mechanism to improve the feature maps, training then building the model, after that the models hyperparameter are tuned to boost the performance …

State Of Hawaii Cannabis Testing, University Of Mississippi – National Center For Cannabis Research And Education, Yasha Kahn, Mcr Labs

Hawaii

No abstract provided.

State Of New York Cannabis Testing, University Of Mississippi – National Center For Cannabis Research And Education, Yasha Kahn, Mcr Labs

New York

No abstract provided.

State Of Connecticut Cannabis Testing, University Of Mississippi – National Center For Cannabis Research And Education, Yasha Kahn, Mcr Labs

Connecticut

No abstract provided.

Marine Heatwaves Detected By A Network Of Buoys Along The Entire Us West Coast Shelf, Gavin Plume, Ryan K. Walter, Piero L.F. Mazzini, Michael Dalsin

Physics

Marine heatwaves (MHWs), prolonged periods of anomalously warm waters, pose an increasing threat to marine ecosystems globally. While satellite-based data offer insights into MHW patterns, coastal upwelling regions are prone to satellite biases and require long-term in-situ datasets for accurate characterization. Using two decades of temperature data from 22 surface buoys distributed along the US West Coast continental shelf (10–50 km offshore) spanning nearly 2000 km of coastline, we investigated, for the first time, coast-wide patterns of MHWs in this valuable region. The spatial extent of MHWs varied from 100% of buoys during the 2014–2016 North Pacific MHW, to less …

California Utility-Scale Solar Energy Land Use Impacts On Species And Ecosystems, Ingrid Salazar

Master's Theses

Utility-scale solar energy (USSE), defined as projects of at least 1 megawatt, is rapidly expanding in California, which generated 37.5% of its electricity from renewables in 2023, with 24% coming from solar. While USSE supports decarbonization, it can also cause environmental harm, including biodiversity loss, habitat fragmentation, and land conversion. This study uses ArcGIS Pro 3.4.0 and public environmental data to analyze the spatial distribution of USSE projects, land use changes from 2013 to 2023, and occurrences of at-risk species across California’s bioregions. USSE development is heavily concentrated in the Mojave Desert, San Joaquin Valley, and Colorado Desert, which are …

Fort Hays State University Tiger Weekly, August 22, 2025, University Relations

Tiger Weekly Newsletters

No abstract provided.

The Hydro-Geomorphic Response Of The Ephemeral Lower Nahal Tzalmon Stream To Experimental Flow Releases Towards Replenishment Of The Sea Of Galilee, Ne Israel, Nathaniel Bergman, Noam Greenbaum, Eyal Weinberg, Iyad Swaed

Geology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Study region:

The Sea of Galilee’s western watershed includes the Lower and Upper Galilee subregions in northern Israel. Nahal Tzalmon stream (110 km2) is one of the major gravel-bed channels draining those subregions into the lake. Study focus: The study focus was to monitor the immediate effects of introducing “hungry water” from the newly mega-project of the “Reverse National Water Carrier” (RNWC). The project was designed to convey desalinated water from the Mediterranean coastal desalination plants through a 5 km open channel into the lower Nahal Tzalmon stream in order to replenish the Sea of Galilee. During a 2-day experimental …

Prediction Of Drug-Induced Cardiotoxicity Using Machine Learning Analysis Of Hipsc-Cm Contractile Profiles, Anthony Allan Watt

Theses - ALL

Drug-induced cardiotoxicity remains a critical concern in pharmaceutical development as failed drug candidates result in lost time and resources that could be better spent on viable candidates. We believe that a robust in vitro model that accurately captures human cardiac physiology is an applicable model for examining drug candidates. In addition to those models, there is a need for quick and effective predictive models to analyze data obtained from the model to classify drugs based on their potential for cardiotoxicity. In this study, we conduct a functional analysis of human-induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (hiPSC-CMs) and pass the data collected …

An Anesthesia Informed Consent Checklist And Ahrq Share Decision-Making Model For Labor And Delivery Patients: A Quality Improvement Project, Katherine C. Burnett

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Manuscripts

Abstract

Background and Significance: Informed consent is the disclosure of all benefits, risks, and alternatives to patients for a given intervention. Recalling all important details during the consenting process can prove difficult for providers. The process is further complicated for obstetric patients since healthcare decisions also have consequences for the fetus. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists’ Committee (ACOGC) (2021) recommends shared decision-making models (SDMs) for the obstetric patient population. SDMs engage patients in healthcare decisions by reaching a decision through provider expertise, best evidence, and patient values. In addition, surgical informed consent checklists have emerged as useful …

A Hieratical Control Framework For Assessing Ev’S Impact On Residential Energy Flexibility, Yuewei Li

Dissertations - ALL

With the development of the power grid, the world's industries and economies have experienced a significant boost over the past centuries. However, as the demand for electricity from the grid continues to grow, utility markets face increasingly challenging tasks in balancing supply and demand. Additionally, integrating renewable energy sources such as solar, hydroelectric, and wind power into the grid adds further complexities to maintaining grid stability. In the United States, buildings account for about 76% of electricity consumption and 40% of greenhouse gas emissions, making them a major contributor to peak demand, which is nearly 80%. Therefore, buildings play a …

In Defense Of Metaphysics: A Defense Of The Value And Methodological Soundness Of Metaphysics Understood As Structural Modeling, Sean Nalty

Dissertations - ALL

The aim of this dissertation is to provide a defense of the value and methodological soundness of contemporary analytic metaphysics against a variety of recent anti-metaphysical and scientistic critiques. In Chapter 1, I attempt to answer (at least provisionally) a surprisingly difficult question: what is metaphysics, anyway? I suggest seven adequacy constraints on an answer to this question, and then test five historically and contemporarily influential candidate characterizations of metaphysics against these constraints. Finding each candidate lacking, I close by proposing an ecumenical conception of metaphysics — what I call the structural modeling conception — according to which metaphysics aims …

Fertile, Social, Dangerous, Sacred, Gift, And System: Religion, Salt City Harvest Farm, And The Future Of Human Shit, Sarah Elizabeth Nahar

Dissertations - ALL

Shit, the taboo term for the human excreta that exits the anus, can be understood as sacred. Shitting, the vulgar verb to describe the act of discarding solid excreta, can likewise be understood as religious ritual activity. This counters the Dominant Social Paradigm (DSP) in the United States (US) of the placement of shit as profane, and shitting as unceremonial. An aim of this dissertation is to reclaim the word shit from the realm of what the DSP has rendered invisible and unspeakable, and spark rigorous academic discussion about it in the context of Religion and Environmental Studies. The DSP …

Re: Comment Letter For Butte Priority Soils Operable Unit (Bpsou) Notice Of Intent To Abandon Bps07-05a And Bps07-05b (Dated July 14, 2025), Emma Rott

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

Re: Approval Letter For Butte Priority Soils Operable Unit (Bpsou) Superfund Operation And Maintenance (O&M) Request For Maintenance – Kelley Stormwater Channels (Revised On July 23, 2025), Emma Rott

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

Impact Of Retrieval Augmented Generation And Large Language Model Complexity On Undergraduate Exams Created And Taken By Ai Agents, Erick S. Tyndall, Colleen Gayheart, Alexandre Some, Joseph Genz, Torrey J. Wagner, Brent T. Langhals

Faculty Publications

The capabilities of large language models (LLMs) have advanced to the point where entire textbooks can be queried using retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), enabling AI to integrate external, up-to-date information into its responses. This study evaluates the ability of two OpenAI models, GPT-3.5 Turbo and GPT-4 Turbo, to create and answer exam questions based on an undergraduate textbook. 14 exams were created with four true-false, four multiple-choice, and two short-answer questions derived from an open-source Pacific Studies textbook. Model performance was evaluated with and without access to the source material using text-similarity metrics such as ROUGE-1, cosine similarity, and word embeddings. …

Satellite-Based Identification Of Mesoscale And Submesoscale Eddies And Fronts In The Gulf Of Mexico, Ethan Cruz

Theses and Dissertations

Mesoscale and submesoscale processes in the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) are fundamental in shaping the region’s physical and biogeochemical ocean dynamics. Advances in high-resolution satellite observations now allow detailed detection of submesoscale (< 25 km radius) and mesoscale eddies and ocean fronts, which drive heat, nutrient, and carbon fluxes. This dissertation integrates two complementary investigations: (1) a comparison of eddy-tracking algorithms: Contour Tracing (CT) and Temperature Thresholding (TT), applied to Optimum Interpolation Sea Surface Temperature (OISST, 1/4°) and Operational Sea Surface Temperature and Ice Analysis (OSTIA, 1/20°) products; and (2) a comparative evaluation of three ocean front detection algorithms: Canny Edge Detection (Canny), the Cayula–Cornillon Algorithm (CCA), and the Belkin–O’Reilly Algorithm (BOA), across multiple satellite-derived parameters, including sea surface temperature (SST), sea surface salinity (SSS), chlorophyll-a (Chl-a), and altimetry-derived absolute dynamic topography (ADT). The eddy-tracking analysis shows that the higher-resolution OSTIA consistently detected more eddies than OISST, with TT performing best during winter when SST gradients were strongest. The front detection analysis, incorporating datasets from the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) and Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, Ocean Ecosystem (PACE) missions, was evaluated under diverse conditions, including flood and drought periods, Loop Current phase changes, and extreme weather events. A machine learning–based Gaussian Mixture Modeling (GMM) approach was also developed, providing a novel framework for dynamic front detection. By benchmarking traditional and machine learning methods, this integrated study identifies optimal algorithm–dataset combinations for resolving submesoscale and mesoscale features in the GoM, with applicability to other regions.

Efficacy Of Submuscular Transposition For Revision Cubital Tunnel Release: Comparative Outcomes Analysis, Joshua Riklan, Alexzandra Mattia, Markos Mardourian, Harvey Chim

School of Medicine Faculty Publications

Purpose: To assess outcomes after revision cubital tunnel release and submuscular transposition and compare these to a cohort of patients undergoing primary release with in situ decompression. Methods: Patients who underwent revision cubital tunnel release and submuscular transposition (n = 16) were enrolled. Mean follow-up was 21.4 months (range 12.8–55.6). Patients were evaluated in person using the Michigan Hand Outcomes Questionnaire (MHQ) and Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand (DASH). Dellon stage, McGowan grade, visual analog scale for pain, and improvement of symptoms using the Messina's criteria and Modified Bishop score were assessed. Comparative analysis was performed with a …

Oxidation Resistance And Osmotic Energy Harvesting Applications Of Reduced Graphene Oxide Forward Osmosis Membranes, Michael Appiah-Kubi

Theses and Dissertations

Reduced graphene oxide (RGO) forward osmosis (FO) membranes have emerged as promising candidates for efficient wastewater management and osmotic energy harvesting, due to their enhanced chemical stability and superior FO performance for low-energy waste brine treatments, such as volume reduction of oxidative chromium brine for cost-effective disposal. This dissertation first examines the oxidation resistance of RGO forward osmosis membranes against chromate Cr (VI). Our findings reveal that both the water flux and the reverse salt flux of RGO membranes are suppressed, accompanying an enhanced reverse flux selectivity after exposure to an acidic medium of Cr (VI) (pH 2.0-7.0). Meanwhile, the …

Assessment Of Bat Species (Mammalia: Chiroptera) In Canubas Cave, Kibawe, Bukidnon, Philippines, Jurriel Mari D. Alce, Jasmine Rouida M. Abenes, Leo Gabriel Cervantes, Matthew Eli K. Llacer, Von Zhyrus P. Oche, Ian Jay P. Saldo, Jhovel Roy D. Calo

Sinaya: A Philippine Journal for Senior High School Teachers and Students

Bats, flying mammals, are essential to ecosystems, playing vital roles in pollination, seed dispersal, and insect control. Despite their ecological importance, no prior bat research exists for Canubas Cave, Kibawe, Bukidnon. This study aimed to assess the bat species at the site, documenting their morphometric data, diversity and richness indices, and conservation statuses. A purposive sampling design was implemented by setting up mist nets inside and outside the cave. A total of 13 individuals were identified, comprising three species from two families: Rousettus amplexicaudatus and Eonycteris spelaea (family Pteropodidae, fruit bats), and Miniopterus schreibersii (family Miniopteridae, bent-winged bats). Based on …

Milkfish (Chanos Chanos) Bones As A Biosorbent For Mercury (Ii) Contamination In Water, Seth Uriel K. Neri, Ethan Kyle Mangao, Christian Kevin F. Redoblado, Anthony Cesar Y. Ponce, Roby Boy P. Riego, Jupiter O. Yap

Sinaya: A Philippine Journal for Senior High School Teachers and Students

Heavy metals, such as mercury contamination in water sources are a major environmental and public health issue in many countries. Traditional methods for removing heavy metals from water are effective but often costly and unsustainable and may produce secondary waste. Recent trends favor more sustainable alternatives, such as biosorbents in treating water with heavy metals. Milkfish (Chanos chanos), a common fish in the Philippines, contains hydroxyapatite in the bones that can bind with heavy metals through physical and chemical adsorption mechanisms. This study aims to evaluate the mercury (II) reduction capacity of biosorbent derived from milkfish bones in water, specifically …

Biophysical Effects Of Altered Myosin Binding Protein Stoichiometry In Atrial Myofilaments, Kelly N. Araujo

Dissertations

Cardiomyopathies, such as hypertrophic and dilated subtypes, are leading causes of heart failure and are often driven by genetic mutations that disrupt the structure and function of the cardiac sarcomere. While much of the research has focused on ventricular involvement, the role of atrial sarcomere dysfunction remains unexplored. The regulation of contractile function by sarcomeric proteins in the atria remains poorly understood, especially the impact of protein stoichiometry among myosin binding proteins. Cardiac myosin binding protein-C (cMyBP-C) and its atrial paralog, myosin binding protein H-like (MyBP-HL), have been shown to have a stoichiometric relationship within the atrial sarcomere. These two …

Black Mothers' Adhd Experiences, Attitudes, And Support-Seeking Decisions, Catherine L. Montgomery

Dissertations - ALL

Background: ADHD, particularly when left untreated, is associated with significant impairment in several domains. Black youth may still be under-diagnosed with ADHD, resulting in symptoms going untreated. Black mothers may determine non-professional delivered supports to be more appropriate and acceptable than medication for their children with ADHD. As they tend to be the primary healthcare decision makers, it is important to develop a greater understanding of Black mothers’ ADHD support-seeking decision making for their youth. Method: The present study used semi-structured interviews guided by Kleinman’s Explanatory Models of Illness to discuss Black mothers’ decision making for their youth with ADHD. …

Pain Intensity And Alcohol Use Behavior Among Veterans With Chronic Pain: The Moderating Role Of Chronic Pain Acceptance, Kyle White

Dissertations - ALL

The co-occurrence of chronic pain and unhealthy alcohol use is common among veterans and associated with worse treatment outcomes and greater functional impairment relative to either condition alone. Accordingly, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has underscored the importance of addressing co-occurring medical conditions in their clinical practice guidelines for substance-related disorders. Recent legislation has also oriented the VA towards complementary and integrative health therapies to minimize opioid prescriptions for chronic pain. Thus, identifying malleable psychological factors linking pain to alcohol use is a vital step in the development of tailored interventions for veterans. The goal of the current …

A Systematic Review Of Participant Adherence To Writing Self-Monitoring Interventions, Alec Ryan Goldstein

Dissertations - ALL

Writing is a highly versatile tool that can be used to achieve various goals and serves as an effective means for learning (Bangert-Drowns et al., 2004; Graham, 2007). One widely adopted intervention to enhance student writing is self-graphing, which enables students to compare their current performance with previous efforts, thereby potentially increasing their motivation to improve subsequent performances (Harris et al., 1994; Hirsch et al., 2013; Sheehey et al., 2016; Wells et al., 2017). Self-graphing interventions require students to engage in self-directed self-assessments, which presents opportunities for noncompliance or errors. This necessitates the examination of participant adherence, or the likelihood …

The Impact Of Adhd On Entrepreneurship Through A Gender Lens Three Essays, Mi Hoang Tran

Dissertations - ALL

This dissertation investigates how neurodiversity, specifically attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), relates to entrepreneurial behaviors and outcomes, with a specific attention to gender as a moderating factor. The first essay provides a comprehensive meta-analytic review of 44 empirical studies, synthesizing 261 effect sizes to assess the relationship between ADHD and different stages of the entrepreneurial process: attitudes, behaviors, and post-launch outcomes. Results reveal that hyperactivity/impulsivity symptoms are positively associated with entrepreneurial attitudes and behaviors but unrelated to post-launch outcomes, while inattention symptoms are negatively associated with outcomes. These findings offer evidence that ADHD’s impact is phase-specific and contingent. The second essay draws …

Betti Numbers For Modules Over Artinian Local Rings, Kaiyue He

Dissertations - ALL

We study the behavior of Betti growth of modules over Artinian rings under some $\Tor$ vanishing conditions. Let $(R,\fm)$ be a local Artinian ring with a fixed ideal $I$, and $M$ a finite module. We extend the framework developed in \cite{huneke2014vanishing} by introducing and analyzing a new invariant, $\gamma_I(M)$ (see Definition \ref{definition}), associated with the ideal $I$ of the ring $R$ and a finitely generated $R$-module $M$. It turns out that this invariant $\gamma_I(M)$ provides an upper bound for the ratio of certain consecutive Betti numbers of the finitely generated modules $N$ such that $\Tor_i(M,N) = 0$ for some $i …

Mental Health, Physical Activity, And Cardiovascular Disease Risk In International Migrant Populations, Andrew Rodriguez Heckel

Dissertations - ALL

International migrant populations, including immigrants, refugees, and international students, are a growing population worldwide that may be vulnerable to a heightened cardiovascular disease risk. Lifestyle factors, such as poor mental health and physical inactivity, may worsen cardiovascular disease risk factors that, in turn, increase cardiovascular disease risk. We sought to examine measures of cardiovascular disease risk and the lifestyle factors that may be affecting these measures in international migrant populations. In study 1, we compared hypertension prevalence between adult immigrants and non-immigrants in the United States. We found a lower hypertension prevalence in immigrants, which was mediated by their lower …

Geochemical And Thermobarometric Constraints On Granite Crystallization, Glenn Tristan Thompson

Dissertations - ALL

Granite is ubiquitously recognized by many people due to its common use as a building material and its abundance in the Earth's continental crust. From countertops to library steps, and as a source of economically important elements, granitic rocks are deeply intertwined with human development. Defining the pressure and temperature (P– T) conditions under which granitic composition magmas crystallize is critical for understanding their petrogenesis. This dissertation explores granite petrogenesis across three chapters, utilizing detailed analysis of rock-forming minerals, associated fluids, and geochemical variations to understand how compositional variability influences the lowest possible crystallization conditions. Chapter 1 investigates the physical …

Quantify The Impact Of Occupant Behavior On Building Retrofits To Achieve Net-Zero Target Under Future Climates, Pratik Raj Pandey

Dissertations - ALL

It is estimated that about 40% of all the electricity generated in the United States is consumed by the building sector. This scale of energy use by buildings can be understood by the fact that the U.S. alone consumes approximately 20% of all the energy produced globally, despite having only about 4.23% of the world's population. Given the threats posed by climate change, it is necessary to curtail the energy demand of this sector. Additionally, global climate change has increased the frequency, intensity, and duration of extreme climate events like heat waves, cold waves, hurricanes, floods, and droughts. Given the …