Higher Education and Teaching Commons^™

A Follow Up Metal Detecting Survey At The Blue Licks Battlefield Resort State Park, Adrian Mandzy

Faculty Research at Morehead State University

In March and April 2008, faculty and students from students from Morehead State University’s History program, along with members of the Battlefield Restoration and Archeological Volunteer Organization (BRAVO) conducted a survey of the Blue Licks Battlefield. Previous studies of the battlefield suggested that the area had been adversely impacted by modern development and that little or no resources connected with the events of 1782 remain. As a result of the 2008 survey, we were able to establish the precents of artifacts related to the events of 1782.

At the end of the 2008 field work, additional testing was called for, …

Sharing Your Science: Special 2025 Edition, Wilson Gonzalez-Espada

Faculty Research at Morehead State University

The Sharing your Science stories were completed as part of a 2025 Science Communication Summer Internship (COMM 647), a collaboration between the Kentucky Academy of Science and the Departments of Engineering Sciences and Communication, Media, Art & Design, Morehead State University, KY. This work was made available as an Open Educational Resource thanks to the Faculty Center for Teaching & Learning, the Camden-Carroll Library, and the Office of Research & Sponsored Programs, Morehead State University.

First Record Of Fungal Diversity In The Tropical And Warm-Temperate Middle Miocene Climate Optimum Forests Of Eurasia, Jennifer M.K. O'Keefe

Faculty Research at Morehead State University

The middle Miocene Climate Optimum (MMCO) was the warmest interval of the last 23 million years and is one of the best analogs for proposed future climate change scenarios. Fungi play a key role in the terrestrial carbon cycle as dominant decomposers of plant debris, and through their interactions with plants and other organisms as symbionts, parasites, and endobionts. Thus, their study in the fossil record, especially during the MMCO, is essential to better understand biodiversity changes and terrestrial carbon cycle dynamics in past analogous environments, as well as to model future ecological and climatic scenarios. The fossil record also …

Settlement Patterns And Urbanization In The Yautepec Valley Of Central Mexico, Timothy S. Hare

Faculty Research at Morehead State University

We carried out a full-coverage survey of the Yautepec Valley in the 1990s to reconstruct demography and settlements and their changes through time. We investigated the extent to which well-documented developments in the adjacent Basin of Mexico were paralleled in Yautepec, as well as the impact of regional empires and economies on local society. Our analyses focused on Teotihuacan relations in the Classic period and relations with the Aztec empire and the Mesoamerican world system in the Middle and Late Postclassic periods. In addition to locating, mapping, and describing sites and taking grab-bag artifact collections, we also made a series …

Factors Associated With The Underrepresentation Of Female Head Coaches In Intercollegiate Athletics, Steve Chen, Lauren Smith, Chloe Whitlock

Faculty Research at Morehead State University

The purpose of this study was to examine the perceived barriers, stereotypes, and workplace challenges that contributed to the underrepresentation of female head coaches in intercollegiate athletics. One-hundred-twenty-four current collegiate coaches affiliated with three NCAA conferences completed their responses through an online survey. A 26-item self-created survey was implemented to identify perceived attributes and barriers which impact the females’ involvement in the coaching profession. The results yielded four constructs of attributes and three types of barriers that affected female coaches’ success for job obtainment and career advancement. Unlike the older experienced coaches, young and less experienced coaches tended to value …

The Eddington Ratio-Dependent ‘Changing Look’ Events In Ngc2992, Dirk Grupe

Faculty Research at Morehead State University

We present an analysis of historical multi-wavelength emission of the Changing Look (CL) Active Galactic Nucleus (AGN) in NGC 2992, covering epochs ranging from 1978 to 2021, as well as new X-ray and optical spectra. The galaxy presents multiple Seyfert type transitions from type 2 to intermediate-type, losing and regaining its H𝛼 BEL recurrently. In X-rays, the source shows intrinsic variability with the absorption corrected luminosity varying by a factor of 40. We rule-out tidal disruption events or variable obscuration as causes of the type transitions, and show that the presence and the flux of the broad H𝛼 emission line …

Radio Continuum Sources Behind The Large Magellanic Cloud, Thomas G. Pannuti

Faculty Research at Morehead State University

We present a comprehensive multi-frequency catalogue of radio sources behind the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) between 0.2 and 20 GHz, gathered from a combination of new and legacy radio continuum surveys. This catalogue covers an area of 144 deg2 at angular resolutions from 45 arcsec to 3 arcmin. We find 6 434 discrete radio sources in total, of which 3 789 are detected at two or more radio frequencies. We estimate the median spectral index (; where 𝑆𝑣 𝜈) of 𝛼 = 09 and mean of 088 0.48 for 3 636 sources detected exclusively at two frequencies (0.843 and 1.384 …

A Systematic Study Of Photoionized Emission And Warm Absorption Signatures Of The Nls1 Mrk 335, Dirk Grupe

Faculty Research at Morehead State University

We present an analysis of all the archival high resolution spectra of the Narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxy Mrk 335 obtained with Reflection Grating Spectrometer (RGS) on board XMM-Newton. The spectra show rich emission and absorption features in low and intermediate flux intervals. We model the emission lines with the pion_xs grid and try to find any possible correlation between the properties of the emitting gas and the source flux. Current data does not allow detailed trace of the response of the line emitting gas to the X-ray flux of Mrk 335, but the flux of the X-ray lines is significantly …

Graves County, Kentucky Militia Rolls For The 1863 Draft, Dieter C. Ullrich

Faculty Research at Morehead State University

On March 3, 1863, the United States Congress passed the Enrollment Act of 1863 to allow for the conscription men into the Union Army. It became the first instance of compulsory military service in American history. The law was initially devised to encourage men to volunteer rather than to be drafted outright. Each congressional district was given a quota of volunteers and if not met a draft would be ordered. The first draft for 100,000 men to serve six months was held nationally on June 15, 1863 but fell well short of the expected mark. A second was to be …

Modeling The Multiwavelength Variability Of Mrk 335 Using Gaussian Processes, Dirk Grupe

Faculty Research at Morehead State University

The optical and UV variability of the majority of active galactic nuclei may be related to the reprocessing of rapidly changing X-ray emission from a more compact region near the central black hole. Such a reprocessing model would be characterized by lags between X-ray and optical/UV emission due to differences in light travel time. Observationally, however, such lag features have been difficult to detect due to gaps in the lightcurves introduced through factors such as source visibility or limited telescope time. In this work, Gaussian process regression is employed to interpolate the gaps in the Swift X-ray and UV lightcurves …

Information Technology Creativity And Economic Growth: A Case Of Korea, Hiawook Choi, Hae-Yeon Choi

Faculty Research at Morehead State University

This paper examines the contributing factors of information technology (IT) creativity and whether IT creativity can explain the economic growth in Korea. We empirically test college students’ perception and attitudes on educational quality, work environment, social preparedness on tolerance, and government-initiated IT policy. We also test whether creative capital theory, which states creativity as the major driver ofregional and national economic development– is working in Korea. We apply structural equation modeling (SEM) to analyze the survey data collected from college students in five different regions in Korea. SEM analysis indicates that all endogenous constructs, except education quality, provide a statistically …

Identification Of Phosphorus Index Improvements Through Model Comparisons Across Topographic Regions In A Small Agricultural Watershed In Vermont, Amy S. Collick

Faculty Research at Morehead State University

Many U.S. states require farmers to evaluate the risk of P loss from farm fields using P site assessment tools, such as the Phosphorus Index (P-Index). The simplicity of the P-Index allows for users with various backgrounds to utilize the tool; however, the P-Index may be limited in its ability to reliably predict P losses across variable farm terrain, for instance where saturation-excess runoff generation dominates. The objective of this study was to identify potential improvements that could be made to the Vermont P-Index (VT P-Index) by comparing VT P-Index predictions of P loss with those of a model that …

X-Ray Spectral Components Of The Blazar And Binary Black Hole Candidate Oj 287 (2005–2020), Dirk Grupe

Faculty Research at Morehead State University

We present a comprehensive analysis of all XMM-Newton spectra of OJ 287 spanning 15 years of X-ray spectroscopy of this bright blazar. We also report the latest results from our dedicated Swift UVOT and XRT monitoring of OJ 287 which started in 2015, along with all earlier public Swift data since 2005. During this time interval, OJ 287 was caught in extreme minima and outburst states. Its X-ray spectrum is highly variable and encompasses all states seen in blazars from very flat to exceptionally steep. The spectrum can be decomposed into three spectral components: Inverse Compton (IC) emission dominant at …

On The Financial Superiority Of Medicaid Specialist Insurers: A Novel Transactions Cost/Supply Chain Approach, Bo Shi

Faculty Research at Morehead State University

From 2002 to 2016, U.S. health insurers specialising in Medicaid financially outperformed health insurers specialising in other populations (i.e. groups, individuals, Medicare and federal employees). For this robust finding we developed a novel methodology incorporating transactions cost economics theory with supply chain performance models. The novel approach regards the insured populations as products supplied to health insurers (‘buyers’) in a supply chain. The populations are the ‘indigent’, ‘elderly’, ‘employed’ etc. Each has different care utilisation frequencies of encounters, admissions to hospitals and days in hospital, as well as severities of expenses, contractual arrangements and transaction costs advantages. The population attributes …

A Recreation Department’S Response To The Covid-19 Pandemic, Steve Chen, Michael Simmons

Faculty Research at Morehead State University

The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has severely impacted the operation and financial vitality of recreation, fitness, and sports industries (Byrne, 2020; Dolesh & Colman, 2020). This case study addressed how recreation and fitness sectors were impacted by the outbreak of virus and described how the Recreation, Parks and Cultural Activities (RPCA) department of a satellite city near the National Capital, Washington D.C., operated its facility with proper emergency responses and best practices under the guidelines of Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the State Health Department. In addition, challenges (i.e., staffing and financial compensation) faced during different phases …

Perceptions On Implementing A Comprehensive Athletic Website And Online Streaming Service For Kentucky High Schools, Steve Chen, Adrienne Hall

Faculty Research at Morehead State University

Student participation in interscholastic athletics reached record levels in 2019-20 for the third consecutive year in Kentucky (KHSAA, 2020). Sport marketers have strongly advocated social media as a powerful and effective tool to promote sporting events at all levels. However, existing studies rarely focus on the trend for promoting interscholastic sports through social media platforms. This study examined the potential of an interactive website and online streaming service focusing on interscholastic sports may provide to high schools in Kentucky. After evaluating more than 102 high school athletic websites, the authors found schools were in need to improve the current website …

Cleaning Up China's Air: The Effectiveness Of The Eep Plan In Beijing, James R. Masterson

Faculty Research at Morehead State University

China’s economy has developed rapidly in the past 40 years since the reform and opening up. However, China’s irrational economic structure, low efficiency of resource utilization and serious environmental pollution have become important factors restricting the long-term healthy development of China’s economy. More importantly, pollution issues in China seriously affect the development of the regime due to public concerns in terms of health issues. In 2014, senior government officials said publicly that China would “declare war on pollution.” Since then, air pollution has improved to a certain extent, with PM 2.5 levels falling 23.6 percent from 2013 to 2015, but …

“Let’S Fall In Love…After I Vet You”: Romance And Vetting, Elizabeth B. Perkins

Faculty Research at Morehead State University

With news media coverage of free dating app horror stories of serial rapists and undergraduates reporting having been lied to in previous relationships, 157 undergraduate students at Morehead State University and East Carolina University completed an anonymous, voluntary 31 item online survey to assesses vetting/background checks on potential/current romantic partners. Over three-fourths (75.5%) of the respondents reported that they had Facebook/social media stalked a potential romantic partner with about a quarter reporting having conducted a background check on someone they were considering meeting or were already dating. Focus groups were also conducted with 23 undergraduate students who provided further insight …

Examining Sources And Pathways Of Phosphorus Transfer In A Ditch-Drained Field, Amy Collick

Faculty Research at Morehead State University

Understanding the processes that mobilize and transport dissolved phosphorus (P) during storms is critical to managing P in flat landscapes with open ditch drainage and legacy soil P. In this study, we used routine baseflow monitoring and intensive storm sampling at a ditch-drained site on Maryland’s Lower Eastern Shore (July 2017–September 2018) to assess whether concentration–discharge (C-Q) relationships and chemical and isotopic hydrograph separation could provide insight into the processes that mobilize and transport dissolved P in ditch drainage. Using a segmented regression model, we determined that long-term C-Q relationships for dissolved P differed above and below a discharge threshold …

Johnny Depp’S Secret Cave, Gary A. O'Dell

Faculty Research at Morehead State University

No abstract provided.

Asassn-18am/Sn 2018gk: An Overluminous Type Iib Supernova From A Massive Progenitor, Dirk Grupe

Faculty Research at Morehead State University

ASASSN-18am/SN 2018gk is a newly discovered member of the rare group of luminous, hydrogen-rich supernovae (SNe) with a peak absolute magnitude of 𝑀𝑉 20 mag that is in between normal core-collapse SNe and superluminous SNe. These SNe show no prominent spectroscopic signatures of ejecta interacting with circumstellar material (CSM), and their powering mechanism is debated. ASASSN-18am declines extremely rapidly for a Type II SN, with a photospheric-phase decline rate of 60 mag (100 d)1. Owing to the weakening of Hi and the appearance of He i in its later phases, ASASSN-18am is spectroscopically a Type IIb SN with a partially …

Marco: Solar Powered Autonomous Robotic Unmanned Surface Vehicle, Thomas G. Pannuti

Faculty Research at Morehead State University

Autonomous sailboats have demonstrated that a robot could potentially perform long-term ocean monitoring and traveling. However, self-operating sailboats in the past had sails, which could lead to issues caused by tipping and heeling too much, and were not fully solar powered, which leads to short power endurance issues. Energy efficient and low cost autonomous robotic unmanned surface vehicle, named MARCo (Marine Autonomous Robotic Communicator), was programmed, developed and tested throughout the year 2018 in a public, co-educational university in Morehead, Kentucky. An off-grid solar system, comprised of 3x 20-Watt 12-Volt panels and a 12-Volt charge controller, was designed, constructed, and …

Project Momo: Multiwavelength Observations And Modeling Of Oj 287, Dirk Grupe

Faculty Research at Morehead State University

Our project MOMO (Multiwavelength observations and modeling of OJ 287) consists of dedicated, dense, long-term flux and spectroscopic monitoring, and deep follow-up observations of the blazar OJ 287 at >13 frequencies from the radio to the X-ray band since late 2015. In particular, we are using Swift to obtain optical-UV-X-ray spectral energy distributions (SEDs) and the Effelsberg telescope to obtain radio measurements between 2 and 40 GHz. MOMO is the densest long-term monitoring of OJ 287 involving X-rays and broad-band SEDs. The theoretical part of the project aims at understanding jet and accretion physics of the blazar central engine in …

Insights Into Past Land-Use And Vegetation Change In The Llanos De Moxos (Bolivia) Using Fungal Non-Pollen Palynomorphs, Jennifer M.K. O'Keefe

Faculty Research at Morehead State University

Here we document a 1000-year fungal record from the raised-field region of the Llanos de Moxos, a seasonally inundated forest-savanna mosaic in the Bolivian Amazon. Fungi are extremely sensitive to changes in vegetation due to their close relationship with the local environment, providing a useful proxy for past local vegetation and land-use change. Here the remains of fungal non-pollen palynomorphs (NPPs) are identified from a sediment core taken from Laguna El Cerrito. A multivariate constrained ordination is used to extract relationships between the fungal NPP types and environmental gradients, specifically, tree cover, near-shore vegetation, crop cultivation, burning and local sediment …

Evolutionary Clustering And Community Detection Algorithms For Social Media Health Surveillance, Heba Elgazzar

Faculty Research at Morehead State University

The prominent rise of social networks within the past decade have become a gold mine for data mining operations seeking to model the real world through these virtual worlds. One of the most important applications that has been proposed is utilizing information generated from social networks as a supplemental health surveillance system to monitor disease epidemics. At the time this research was conducted in 2020, the COVID- 19 virus had evolved into a global pandemic, forcing many countries to implement preventative measures to halt its expanse. Health surveillance has been a powerful tool in placing further preventative measures, however it …

Diameter-Separation Of Chessboard Graphs, Doug Chatham

Faculty Research at Morehead State University

We define the queens (resp., rooks) diameter-separation number to be the minimum number of pawns for which some placement of those pawns on an n×n board produces a board with a queens graph (resp., rooks graph) with a desired diameter d. We determine these numbers for some small values of d.

Predicting The Behavior Of Reinforced Concrete Columns Confined By Fiber Reinforced Polymers Using Data Mining Techniques, Heba Elgazzar

Faculty Research at Morehead State University

Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP) usage to wrap reinforced concrete (RC) structures has become a popular technology. Most studies about RC columns wrapped with FRP in literature ignored the internal steel reinforcement. This paper aims to develop a model for the axial compressive strength and axial strain for FRP confined concrete columns with internal steel reinforcement. The impact of FRP, Transverse, and longitudinal reinforcement is studied. Two non-destructive analysis methods are explored: Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) and Regression Analysis (RA). The database used in the analysis contains the experimental results of sixty-four concrete columns under the compressive concentric load available in …

Strategies For Implementing Mindfulness And Mindful Eating Into Health And Fitness Professionals’ Practice, Gina B. Gonzalez

Faculty Research at Morehead State University

Obesity is one of the most pressing public health issues in the United States (U.S.) today as it increases the risk of morbidity and mortality through chronic diseases, including cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, certain cancers, and mental health conditions (1). Defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as a body mass index greater than 30 kg·m−2, obesity is the second leading cause of preventable deaths (2). Projected estimates indicate that nearly one in two adults will have obesity and almost one in four adults will have severe obesity by 2030 (3). Further, existing disparities in obesity prevalence …

Glow Sticks: Spectra And Color Mixing Revisited, Jennifer Birriel

Faculty Research at Morehead State University

A previous TPT article discussed using glow sticks to demonstrate color mixing by comparing the spectra of red, green, and blue glow sticks to those of yellow and magenta glow sticks.1 More recently, a paper in the Journal of Chemical Education describes a method to separate glow stick dyes using chromatography with chalk and a solvent of acetone or alcohol.2 This method, while a valuable experience in a chemistry class, requires the glow stick to be opened. Care must be taken by preparers to remove glass shards, and participants are exposed to possible skin irritants. Here we propose a non-destructive, …

Asassn-14ko Is A Periodic Nuclear Transient In Eso 253-G003, Dirk Grupe

Faculty Research at Morehead State University

We present the discovery that ASASSN-14ko is a periodically flaring active galactic nucleus at the center of the galaxy ESO 253-G003. At the time of its discovery by the All-Sky Automated Survey for Supernovae (ASAS-SN), it was classified as a supernova close to the nucleus. The subsequent 6 yr of V- and g-band ASAS-SN observations revealed that ASASSN-14ko has nuclear flares occurring at regular intervals. The 17 observed outbursts show evidence of a decreasing period over time, with a mean period of P0 = 114.2 ± 0.4 days and a period derivative of P = -0.0017  0.0003. The most …