Digital Commons Network^™

A Scalable Approach To Minimize Charging Costs For Electric Bus Fleets, Daniel Mortensen, Jacob Gunther

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

Incorporating battery electric buses into bus fleets faces three primary challenges: a BEB’s extended refuel time, the cost of charging, both by the consumer and the power provider, and large compute demands for planning methods. When BEBs charge, the additional demands on the grid may exceed hardware limitations, so power providers divide a consumer’s energy needs into separate meters even though doing so is expensive for both power providers and consumers. Prior work has developed a number of strategies for computing charge schedules for bus fleets; however, prior work has not worked to reduce costs by aggregating meters. Additionally, because …

Notice Of Availability Of A Draft Environmental Impact Report For The University Of California College Of The Law, San Francisco Long Range Campus Plan Update And 201 Golden Gate Avenue Mixed-Use Project, Uc Law Sf

Long Range Campus Planning Archive

No abstract provided.

Senate Meeting, April 10, 2024, Academic Senate

Academic Senate Minutes

No abstract provided.

Volunteers And Technology: An Innovative Partnership To Enhance Patient Experience, Mandy Walter, Stephanie Zidek

Nursing

Promoting the adoption and use of a patient portal during the inpatient stay increased communication between patients and caregivers. Through a collaborative partnership between nursing professional development and volunteer services, four inpatient pilot sites demonstrated improved patient experience scores and outcomes.

April 10, 2024 Greenmail, University Of Alabama At Birmingham

GreenMail (student newsletter through 2024)

No abstract provided.

Glacial Resource Analysis – Castner Glacier, Alaska, Logan Erichsen

SACAD: Scholarly Activities

Glaciers cover much of the 49th U.S. state of Alaska. While many of these are deep blues, just as many are “rock” glaciers which means the glacier is covered in sediment. This sediment can be transported many miles through the mountain ranges. With the current climate melting these glaciers they are receding. Sediment and rock samples can now be safely collected from different locations where glaciers have released sediment that was locked in the ice for an untold number of years. Much of the USGS data comes from the 1940’s through 1960’s due to the size and remoteness of Alaska. …

Volcanic Ash In Lincoln County, Kansas, Logan Erichsen

SACAD: Scholarly Activities

This report outlines the analysis of Pearlette volcanic ash in Lincoln County Kansas. Both field and lab methods were used to compile this report. Fort Hays State University alumni Dr. Ron Whitmer allowed use of his property on which the ash is found. Auguring was utilized as the main form of field work which allowed mapping of the subsurface ash layer. The ash was analyzed by UMKC using their scanning electron microscope (SEM). At Fort Hays, the SEM reports were compared to thin sections of the ash using plane and cross polarized light in petrographic microscopes. The ash is comprised …

Structure Of A Class Of Ordinary Differential Equations, Letao Chang

SACAD: Scholarly Activities

In the realm of mathematics, an ordinary differential equation (ODE) denotes a particular type of differential equation contingent solely upon a single independent variable. Similar to other differential equations, an ODE involves one or more functions as its unknowns and encompasses derivatives of these functions. The designation "ordinary" serves to distinguish these equations from partial differential equations, which may pertain to multiple independent variables.

High Powered Rocket Modification, Joshua Gage

SACAD: Scholarly Activities

Rocketry has always been a fun challenge for me. Since not only was I able to learn something new every time I did it, but I was able to do something with my hands as well. One area that has been very challenging for me is how to put a tracker onto a rocket that has no electronics bay. And studying for the L2 Certification tests. And this poster shows my thoughts and process I did to pass my L2 Certification Flight.

Frontier Lab For Ai Readiness (Flair) Project, Cj Gibson, Magdalene Moy

SACAD: Scholarly Activities

The Department of Teaching Innovation and Learning Technologies (TILT) at Fort Hays State University aims to establish the “Frontier Lab for AI Readiness” (FLAIR) to harness innovative artificial intelligence methods for the growth and development of Northwest Kansas. This initiative would position FHSU as the epicenter for AI training, education, and advancement on the Great Plains. FLAIR's objectives are threefold: First, it will offer educational opportunities to FHSU students and the Northwest Kansas community, including certificates, badges, and apprenticeships, through genuine interdisciplinary collaborations. This lab will equip learners for an AI-focused workforce. Second, FLAIR would connect with the community to …

Cognitive Fusion, Self- And Other-Blame, And College Adjustment Outcomes, Olivia Tipton, Stephanie Weigel

SACAD: Scholarly Activities

A significant portion of college enrollees drop out of college before their degree is awarded, and college persistence is lower in students from challenging backgrounds. The college environment can bring increased academic workload, financial stress, and social stress for first-time enrollees. Several factors may contribute to difficulties in emotion regulation during this time, making it more difficult for college students to respond adaptively to novel stressors. Cognitive fusion is a concept proposed by acceptance and commitment therapy to describe a state in which one believes the literal content of their thoughts, even when those thoughts may be irrational or emotionally …

Climatology Of Tornadoes In Kansas, John P. Wasinger, Todd Moore

SACAD: Scholarly Activities

Recent studies report changes to the climatology of tornadoes in the United States (US). Changes with the most supporting evidence include an increase in the intra- and inter-annual variability, increased concentration of tornadoes in bigger outbreaks, and a geographic shift of the densest tornado activity away from Tornado Alley in the Great Plains and toward the Great Lakes and Southeast regions of the US. Broad, national-level changes are valuable, but they can mask changes occurring at the state and sub-state levels where mitigation efforts are most effective. Kansas is of interest due to its reputation as a hotbed of tornado …

Resource Allocation Of Ecosystem Services Of Cross Timbers Forests, Iryna Mcdonald

SACAD: Scholarly Activities

Abstract

Forested ecosystems offer numerous goods and services, many of which are challenging to quantify directly. The productive potential of the Cross-Timber Forest region requires significant policy attention resulting from the economic contributions these services offer the locality – extending from southern Kansas to central Oklahoma and into Texas, including the metropolitan areas like Tulsa (Oklahoma), Oklahoma City (Oklahoma), and Dallas (Texas), providing ecosystem services to millions of residents along the Midwest-South continuum. Stand variety, in this transitional ecoregion, is largely comprised of post oak (Quercus stellata) and blackjack oak (Quercus marilandica) woodlands with varying tree densities interspersed with patches …

Analysis Of Body Material For Electric Car, Alan L. Parker Jr.

SACAD: Scholarly Activities

The FHSU electric vehicle design team is nearing the completion of a new car

build to be raced in upcoming electro rally races. One of the final tasks associated

with the new car build is determining the best material to use for the body of the

car. The aim of this research was to determine the most suitable material for use in

an electric race car among six commonly used materials: ABS, PVC, carbon fiber,

fiberglass, 2024 aluminum, and 304 stainless steel. The team chose to perform an

analysis of the characteristics of these materials to determine the best material …

Boeing Bats Baseline Survey In Wichita, Ks, Samantha Zimmerman, Lorelei E. Patrick

SACAD: Scholarly Activities

Collecting baseline data on species or taxa of interest is crucial prior to conducting targeted restoration or management activities to determine if such actions had the desired outcomes. The purpose of this project was to acoustically identify the species of bats present at the former Emery Landfill site in Wichita Kansas. Data collected will serve as a baseline for future monitoring and restoration activities at the site. Three SM4Bat acoustic detectors were deployed at the site from June-October, 2023. The recorded bat calls were analyzed using Kaleidoscope Pro software and will be compared to the acoustic data collected in 2021-2022 …

Ordinal-Level Biomass Of Insects Collected On And Off Prairie Dog Colonies, Colby Cook, Chad Zerr, Lorelei E. Patrick

SACAD: Scholarly Activities

Ordinal-level Biomass of Insects Collected On and Off Prairie Dog Colonies

Colby Cook, Chad Zerr, and Lorelei Patrick

Recent work has shown that bats in Colorado and Kansas are more active over prairie dog colonies. It is hypothesized that the reason for this is increased abundance and richness of insects found on colonies versus off colonies. Sampling from 2022 indicated that insect biomass was not different between location types, but suggested that the relative abundance of insect orders may differ. Additional insect sampling was conducted in 2023. Light traps were deployed on the same nights, one on a prairie dog …

2023-2024 Online Student Survey Of Priority Issues, Heather D. Flick

SACAD: Scholarly Activities

The purpose of the 2023-2024 Online Student Survey is to provide research backed priorities for the incoming elected senate for the 2024-2025 academic year. Each year the survey is revised based on newly obtained knowledge from coursework as an FHSU Online student as well as past years survey results.

The survey intended to gain insight on what issues are priorities to Fort Hays State University (FHSU) Online students to allow the Online Student Government Association (OSGA) to focus on the most important issues FHSU Online students experience. This is an annual survey which has been evolving each year to best …

Computational Modeling Of Retinal Damage Thresholds, Payton Hoffman, Eos Shapland, Alan Enriquez

SACAD: Scholarly Activities

The Scalable Effects Simulation Environment(SESE), is the computational Biophysics software contracted by Nanohmics we used for our research. The goal was to find the minimum energy necessary to damage the retina from 2 laser sources, a 532 nm He-Ne source, and Supercontinuum Laser(SCL) source at 400-1400nm. We needed a 10 times damage ratio for significance. Our data did not show this trend.

Economically Affordable And Ecologically Sustainable Oil Spill Treatments: Review Of Recent Literature, Yue Fan, Jeanne Sumrall

SACAD: Scholarly Activities

Devastating impacts on organisms and the environment are brought by marine oil spills.

Superhydrophobic foams, sponges, aerogels, and biomass materials have been used as absorbents for oil spill treatment.  Among all, Polydimethylsiloxane multi-walled carbon nanotubes Polyaniline Polypropylene felt (Referred to as p-CNT/PANI@PP felt in the following parts) exhibits high absorption selectivity and capability, along with the ability to conduct in harsh environments and the ability to make use of solar/Joule-heating in absorbing a wide span of oil types with high viscosity.

Thus, p-CNT/PANI@PP should be considered as a potentially effective way to address the problem of marine oil spills.

Games To Grades: Evaluation Of Psychological Capital, Emotional Intelligence, And Virtual Team Performance Among Project Teams, Ryan Will, Brent J. Goertzen, Magdalene Moy

SACAD: Scholarly Activities

Group projects are frequently used in higher education courses to facilitate collaboration; however, group effectiveness can vary greatly, resulting in individual stress and poor academic performance. To alleviate this, some instructors utilize peer evaluation. While instructors are well intentioned these rubrics rarely, if ever, are grounded in the constructs of collaboration that they wish to foster. This research poster reports on an ongoing project to develop a self and peer evaluation grounded in psychological capital and emotional intelligence, the EQ-PSY Evaluation. These constructs were selected based on their dimensions for individual and social capacities to capture effective teamwork.

This poster …

Acoustic Measures In Parkinson’S Disease Before And After Transcutaneous Vagus Nerve Stimulation: A Case Study, Morgan Hampleton, Jersey Garoutte, Jaspreet Kaur, Bailey Ross

SACAD: Scholarly Activities

Transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation (tVNS) has been reported to be effective in reorganizing the neural network in the central nervous system and improving the flexibility and movement of the laryngeal muscles.This case study aimed to investigate the effect of tVNS on the speech of one participant diagnosed with hypokinetic dysarthria secondary to Parkinson’s disease.The preliminary results observed increased fundamental frequency and vocal loudness and decreased perturbations manifested in jitter and shimmer. Clinical application of tVNS was implied as an adjuvant treatment in speech and voice disorders.

An Exploratory Study On The Use Of Artificial Intelligence For Tourism Marketing In The Midwest, Callyn Anderson, Marisol Banda, Katie Hale

SACAD: Scholarly Activities

Rural tourism plays a significant role in fostering economic development, preserving cultural heritage and promoting sustainable practices. It creates employment opportunities for local residents, both directly in the tourism sector and indirectly in supporting industries. Marketing tourism in rural communities requires a strategic approach that highlights the unique aspects of the area, promotes sustainable practices, and engages potential visitors. A strong understanding of marketing tools and techniques are critical in the usage of marketing ("); border-bottom: 1px solid transparent; background-size: 5px; font-size: 18pt; font-family: "Book Antiqua", "Book Antiqua_EmbeddedFont", "Book Antiqua_MSFontService", "Book Antiqua_MSFontService", Calibri, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0px; font-kerning: normal; line-height: 6px; …

Revolutionizing Ecosystems: Innovative Planting Machines Combating Desertification, Sunghun Park, Jeanne Sumrall

SACAD: Scholarly Activities

An important environmental issue that has a profound effect on human welfare, socioeconomic stability, and global ecosystems is desertification. A little over 12 million hectares of land perish year due to the damaging impacts of desertification, which is made worse by overgrazing, deforestation, and inadequate water management. This not only results in a significant loss of arable land, capable of producing 20 million tons of grain, but also in substantial economic repercussions, with estimated annual losses reaching USD 42 billion (UNCCD, 2020). The enormity of the problem emphasizes how urgently we need practical, long-term solutions to stop and reverse the …

Assessing Unstable Fossils For Long-Term Storage, Carson Cope, Alex Landwehr, Kale Link, Israel Rivera-Molina, Laura E. Wilson

SACAD: Scholarly Activities

In 2022, Fort Hays State University’s Sternberg Museum of Natural History (FHSM) began a project to address the long-term preservation of a Late Miocene mammal collection. Many of the fossils from the collection were poorly consolidated, uncurated, and improperly stored, leaving them unstable and prone to significant degradation. To organize our stabilization efforts, we developed a new assessment workflow consisting of two evaluation tools. These tools have helped us categorize the risk factors for specimens, the priority in which they should be addressed, and how to store the fossils long-term. With these newly developed workflows, we are in a better …

Art Mindfulness Initiative, Margaret Dunn

SACAD: Scholarly Activities

The Art Mindfulness Initiative was a student-led 4 week workshop focusing on providing other students with affordable ways to use art to destress, center oneself, and take a break from the hecticness of life. Each week, students gathered to learn about psychology and mental health from the NAMI and Psych Club then learned a new craft from art students. At the end of the workshop, everyone’s work was put together to make a conjoined piece to be displayed in the April Art Walk.

The Art Of Motion, Audrey Caleb, Selina Shang

SACAD: Scholarly Activities

Animation is an integral part of our daily lives. From entertainment, to advertisements, to medical visualizations and everything in between, it permeates our world. But what makes animation so compelling? Why do we connect with it so well? And what makes it visually appealing?

Humans are story driven creatures, and so we gravitate towards time-based media—it’s the perfect vehicle for telling stories. Our goal was to explore the variety of styles and tools used in animation, research the 12 principles, understand the process of creating a work from start to finish, and successfully demonstrate the science and art of animation.

A Smart Resume Builder Tool Using Generative Ai, Ivan A. Velo Castaneda, Anas Hourani, Magdalene Moy

SACAD: Scholarly Activities

Crafting a standout resume is crucial in today’s competitive job market. Not only does it create a strong first impression on employers but it also it opens the doors for endless job opportunities. Despite existing resume assistance for FHSU students on the Career Services page, there's a lack of tools for generating or streamlining the resume writing process. To address this issue, an efficient resume builder utilizing OpenAI’s GPT-3.5 model was developed specifically for FHSU students. Its key features include intuitive template selection, dynamic AI-generated content for tailored resumes, multi-format output supporting PDF and Word formats, and a user-friendly experience …

Killing Cancer: Manipulating Hydrophobic Vanadium Complexes To Improve Anti-Cancer Activity, Levi Ausherman, Debbie C. Crans, Peter A. Lay, Maggi Braasch-Turi

SACAD: Scholarly Activities

Hydrophobic vanadium complexes have recently shown improved anti-cancer activities compared to cisplatin. The hydrophobicity and anti-proliferative activity of [VO(Hshed)(dtb)] ([Hshed= N-(salicylideneaminato)-N’-(2-hydroxyethyl)-1,2-ethanediamine and dtb= 3,5-di(tert-butyl)catechol)]) have inspired the development of a library of hydrophobic vanadium complexes. Increasing the steric bulk of the catechol ligand has been shown to have a direct impact on hydrophobicity and anti-proliferative activities. Currently at Fort Hays State University, the Braasch-Turi group is synthesizing VO(HSHED)(dtb) to build up material to support the chemical analysis and biological assay performed by our collaborators at Colorado State University and the University of Sydney, Australia, respectively. In the future, we plan …

Kinetic Controlled-Growth Synthesis Of Cadmium Selenide Nanocrystal Quantum Dots, Aiden Gideon, Maverick Flax

SACAD: Scholarly Activities

A kinetic controlled growth method has been used to synthesize cadmium selenide (CdSe) nanocrystals. Nanocrystal structures are consistent with that of a quantum dot. Ligand passivation on the surface of the micelle is best carried out using trioctylphosphine (TOP). This allows one to tune the particle surface chemistry. Quantum dots intersperse as colloids within the 1-octadecene solvent matrix. The color gradient observed among the samples is indicative of its dependence on particle size which is consistent with the “particle-in-a-box” model theory. Results also indicate that the particle size of these nanocrystals is dependent on reaction time and maybe dependent on …

Illicit Drug Usage And Juvenile Justice System Involvement, Selene Chavez Saucedo, April Terry

SACAD: Scholarly Activities

Drug usage is strongly associated with significant social and psychological problems for youth, including juvenile justice system involvement. Research shows that approximately 4.5 million youth, ages 12-17, have used an illicit drug in the past year. Youth drug usage is related to juvenile justice system involvement. In fact, substance abuse is a top eight risk factor for juvenile offending and reoffending. Once youth are involved within the judicial system, the correctional system must then assume the responsibility of intervening in the youth cycle of drugs and delinquent behavior. Unfortunately, research shows that substance use treatment is available only sporadically for …