Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

2025 October 2 - Tennessee Weekly Drought Summary, Tennessee Climate Office, East Tennessee State University

Tennessee Climate Office Weekly Drought Summaries

No abstract provided.

Growth Mindset In The Mathematics Classroom: Studying The Effects Of A Growth Mindset Intervention On High School Students In A Geometry Classroom, Katelyn Strauss

Mathematics Graduate Theses

Having a growth mindset is crucial to being successful in a mathematics classroom. However, many students believe themselves to be either “mathematics people” or “not mathematics people”. When students believe they are not a mathematics person, they are far less likely to engage in material where they face struggles, and thus they miss out on valuable learning. A review of the literature has show that students have been able to shift their mindset from fixed to growth through a series of interventions. I used a unit in Geometry to see how a growth mindset intervention would affect the mindset of …

Characterizing Meteorological Patterns For Oregon's Winter Elevated Pm2.5 Concentrations From 2000-2023, Arielle Golda Sherbak

Dissertations and Theses

Valleys and basins are uniquely susceptible to the buildup of air pollution during the wintertime due to cool, dense air pooling under favorable meteorological conditions, a common occurrence in the Intermountain West. In Oregon, wintertime anthropogenic air pollution is primarily from woodburning stoves and heaters and although efforts have been made to reduce wintertime pollution, stagnation events continue to result in decreased air quality. This analysis aims to understand the relationship between air pollution in six Oregon counties and the associated meteorology in the cool season (November-March) using a 2000-2023 climatology.

This is completed through a composite analysis using key …

Revisiting The Spin–Lattice Relaxation Of Homonuclear In-Phase And Antiphase Nmr Magnetization, Lauren M. Kehoe, Zachary G. Mayes, Kelsey E. Brakensiek, Emma L. Ellis, Adam J. Alderfer, Lingyu Chi, Klaus Woelk

Chemistry Faculty Research & Creative Works

Hyperpolarization techniques such as dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP), chemically induced dynamic nuclear polarization (CIDNP), and parahydrogen-induced polarization (PHIP) enhance the sensitivity of NMR spectroscopy and MRI, but the associated antiphase magnetization patterns often relax faster than those of conventional in-phase signals. This study analyzes the spin–lattice relaxation matrix for single-quantum transitions in an isolated, weakly coupled two-spin AX system to identify eigenvectors and eigenvalues that govern the time evolution of in-phase and antiphase longitudinal magnetization. The analysis predicts that AX antiphase magnetization, such as that generated by PHIP hydrogenations in high magnetic field, can relax up to twice as fast …

A Multidecadal Analysis Of Groundwater Level And Streamflow Decline In Southern Forest Catchments, Western Australia, Richard J. George, Rose-Anne Bell, W. Lachlan Mccaw, Gregory Paul Raper

Natural Resources Research Articles

Previous analysis of hydrological data in the eucalypt dominated forests of Western Australia’s Darling Ranges show that reduced winter rainfall over the last 50 years has lowered groundwater levels and diminished streamflow by up to 70%. Consequently, climate-independent reverse osmosis seawater desalination and groundwater resources now supply Perth and nearby regional areas, as runoff from forested catchments is no longer sufficient or reliable. In the high rainfall (~1200 mm/yr) mixed forest areas dominated by Eucalyptus diversicolor (karri) and Eucalyptus marginata (jarrah) 200 km to the south of Perth (the ‘Southern Forest’), similar analysis of climate impacts on watertables has not …

Phosphate Removal And Recovery From Aqueous Solutions Using Iron-Coated Steel Slag, Siavash Ebrahimzadeh, Guanghui Hua, Christopher Schmit

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty and Student Publications

Phosphate pollution from human activities significantly contributes to the eutrophication of aquatic ecosystems. Additionally, phosphorus is a finite, irreplaceable resource, making its management and recovery critical. This study explores the use of iron-coated steel slag (ICS) as a cost-effective material for phosphate removal and recovery from water. Ferric chloride was used to coat electric arc furnace slag via oven drying under various conditions. Batch adsorption tests evaluated phosphate adsorption, and the optimum coating conditions were identified as 0.5–1 mm slag, 0.5 M FeCl₃, and coating pH 1. The effect of solution pH and coexisting ions on phosphate removal were also …

Cellcounter: An Automated Cell Counting Tool For Faster Research Analysis, Marion Office, Avi Patel, Christopher Carlile, Beau Miller, Rizwan Khan

Expo Student Presentations

2025 Fall Expo Poster Presentation

• Physical & Applied Sciences

Fisheries Research Report No. 354: Recreational Fishing For Abalone In Western Australia In 2024/2025 - Estimates Of Participation, Effort And Catch, Claire B. Smallwood, Karina L. Ryan, Lachlan W. Strain

Fisheries Research Reports

The Western Australian Recreational Abalone Fishery (RAF) operates in shallow coastal waters as a hand collection fishery while wading or diving. Three species of abalone are allowed to be caught. Roe’s abalone (Haliotis roei) are generally collected while wading from the shore in accessible nearshore reef complexes along the West and South Coast Bioregions. Greenlip abalone (H. laevigata) and Brownlip abalone (H. conicopora) are collected while wading (including snorkelling and freediving) and diving (using compressed air) predominantly along the South Coast Bioregion.

Recreational fishing for the three abalone species is licensed and highly regulated, especially in the Western Zone (which …

Review Of How To Win Environmental Victories, By Richard S. Groover, Phd, Shalini Upadhyaya

Virginia Journal of Science

Book Review:

Groover, Richard S. 2025. How to Win Environmental Victories. Nighthawk Publication, 116 pp.

Engr 597: Special Projects In Engineering Science - Data Analytics, Ali Behnood Ph.D., P.E., M., Asce

GMAS Course Syllabi

No abstract provided.

Frameworks And Life Cycle Assessment For Reinforced Concrete Bridges For Sustainability In Transportation, Yu-Fu Ko, Jessica Gonzalez

Mineta Transportation Institute

Bridge structures are critical components of California’s transportation network, with reinforced concrete (RC) bridges being among the most widely used. Extending the lifespan of these structures can lead to significant reductions in environmental impacts. However, California’s frequent seismic activity has repeatedly exposed the vulnerability of existing RC bridges, highlighting the urgent need for seismic retrofitting and maintenance to improve infrastructure resilience against earthquakes and to increase sustainability. This research used detailed computer simulations known as nonlinear finite element models, which are highly detailed computer models, incorporating section damage indices to predict damage and assess structural deficiencies in RC bridges during …

Revised Draft Final 2022 Unreclaimed Sites Sampling: Ur-20 Site Evaluation Summary Report, Pioneer Technical Services, Inc.

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

Longitudinal Monitoring Of Particle Counts In The Pfotzer Maximum (2017-2025), Scott Anderson, Jason Benyousky, Walae Dahmany, Tri Duong

Annual Student Research Poster Session

The Balloon Assisted Stratospheric Experiments (BASE) measures atmospheric muons using an array of instruments carried by weather balloons. We seek to spend extended time in the region of highest intensity, the Regener-Pfotzer Maximum (Pfotzer Maximum). The effects of the cosmic ray- induced ionization that comprises the Pfotzer Maximum are relatively unknown and may include cloud formation, precipitation, cyclogenesis, aerosol formation, atmospheric transparency, and more. With Geiger counters, we can measure the secondary particles produced by atmospheric cascades in order to better understand the Pfotzer Maximum and how it changes over time.

Building An Inclusive Ai Chatbot For Diverse Student Communities At Cal Poly: Uplift Ai, Gideon Telahun

College of Engineering Summer Undergraduate Research Program

This research project will investigate the ability of advanced Large Language Models (LLMs) to identify and assess misinformation across diverse forms of media, including text, images, and video. In an age where misleading content spreads rapidly across digital platforms, evaluating the reliability and integrity of AI systems tasked with fact-checking is critical. We will develop a comprehensive dataset composed of factual and misleading examples drawn from various well-known and reliable fact-checking organizations. Each item will be independently reviewed and transparently labeled to ensure reproducibility. We will then prompt a curated group of state-of-the-art LLMs—including GPT-4, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, Grok, and …

How Eppley Airfield Could Be Reducing Your Power Bill (But They’Re Not), Cherry Pham

Op-Eds from ENSC230 Energy and the Environment: Economics and Policies

Eppley Airfield in Nebraska is spending $950 million on their renovation and services are still running, even during construction. Part of the airport’s renovation budget could be allotted to installing solar canopies. In the long run, airports with solar canopies reduces their own electricity expenses.

Carbon Markets: A New Opportunity For Farmers, Emma Wrede

Op-Eds from ENSC230 Energy and the Environment: Economics and Policies

Farmers have always known that healthy soil is their greatest asset to their success. Carbon markets are simply finding a new way to identify, measure, and compensate that value in a new way. In a time where every dollar counts, carbon credit markets can strengthen farmers’ margins and enhance their land health which they depend on. With continued research, improved regulation, and clearer guidelines, this system will work for both farmers and the environment.

Nebraska's Hidden Goldmine: Wind Power On Farms, Adelaide Witte

Op-Eds from ENSC230 Energy and the Environment: Economics and Policies

Nebraska’s been hesitant to go all in on wind energy. People often worry about things like noise, how turbines look, or even potential impacts on human health. Community concerns are valid and should always be acknowledged. However, addressing them doesn’t require putting all development on hold.

“The Good Life” Of Ai, Lauren Smith

Op-Eds from ENSC230 Energy and the Environment: Economics and Policies

Artificial Intelligence, or AI, is powered by data centers, sprawling warehouses of servers that require massive amounts of electricity and water to operate. The United Statesalready has more than 1,000 data centers, with nearly 400 more on the way.

Nebraska is next. Google is building a major new data center in North Lincoln, adding to the 18 operating across the state.

Our collective use of tools like ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini and Microsoft’s Copilot has fueled a boom in generative AI, and with it a surge in energy and water consumption.

The need for AI regulation isn’t a future concern. It’s …

The Land Competition Between Crops And Solar: Why Nebraska Farmers May Not Have To Choose, Jada Vogel

Op-Eds from ENSC230 Energy and the Environment: Economics and Policies

There are significant benefits that can come from implementing agrivoltaics on farms in Nebraska. The economic gains from the use of agrivoltaics alone may be sufficient to get individuals to pursue their use.

The Myth Of Clean Manufacturing, Andrea Phan

Op-Eds from ENSC230 Energy and the Environment: Economics and Policies

We must act now and reform renewable energy credits to reflect real progress. This means tightening Scope 2 rules so that renewable claims are tied to additional, time and location matched, clean power. It means rewarding measurable integration, so that real emissions are avoided, not waived by retroactive certificates. RECs can still play a role, but only in a system that demands we use the tools we already have.

Nebraska’S Best Option: Carbon Capture, Leah Bates

Op-Eds from ENSC230 Energy and the Environment: Economics and Policies

Some may argue that carbon capture technologies are not optimal due to their high costs or how they take focus away from implementing renewable energy sources. However, carbon capture and storage technologies are currently the best options in reducing carbon emission and Nebraska is leading the way.

Creativity In Large Language Models, Robert Kenneth Morain

Theses and Dissertations

As artificial intelligence systems approach human-level performance across a wide variety of domains, creative domains remain a critical yet underexplored area of research. Unlike traditional AI tasks with well-defined objectives, creative tasks rely on inherently subjective measures, making them particularly challenging for machines that lack human experiential context. This dissertation establishes the fundamental importance of creativity in AI systems and presents methods for improving and evaluating the creative capabilities of LLMs on the pathway toward AGI. This work addresses and examines key limitations in current LLM creativity through model innovations, development frameworks, and comparative studies. The dissertation develops novel architectural …

Carbon Footprint Of Carrots In Western Australia, Christophe D'Abbadie, Saloomeh Akbari, Sang Ravindran

Horticulture research reports

This report presents the findings of a comprehensive carbon accounting study conducted on carrot production in the Myalup area of Western Australia.

The study reveals that carrot emissions are approximately 81 kg CO2e per tonne of carrot sold from the April harvest and 76 kg CO2e per tonne from the October harvest, when using rejected carrots for other economic uses. These figures represent competitive emissions intensities compared to international benchmarks.

Key findings include:

• Yield improvement is the primary driver for emissions reduction: Increasing productivity, without proportional input increases, offers the most effective pathway to lower emissions’ intensity while improving economic …

Genai Literacy Framework For Library Instruction, Adwoa Boateng, Jennifer Freer, Greyson Pasiak, Erich Short, Ryan Tolnay, Rit Libraries

Presentations and other scholarship

A generative artificial intelligence (genai) framework for library instruction. This short framework is designed to incorporate into existing library instruction across many subject areas. The basic elements of the framework are: know & understand genai, use & evaluate genai, and library research & discovery with genai.

Research On Identification And Evaluation Method Of Medical Experts' Expertise Domains In Online Health Community Based On Knowledge Graph, Yunjiang Xi, Qian Zhang, Man Li, Juan Yu

Journal of Scientific Information Research

[Purpose/significance] This study aims to identify the expertise domains of medical experts, and evaluates their domain levels to provide a basis for community expert recommendation.

[Method/process] This study utilized the improved OneRel model to structure community historical Q&A into entity relation triples. Then used the knowledge graph triples to test the consistency between the medical knowledge in the community Q&A and the domain knowledge, and finally obtained the doctor's domain levels by aggregating in each expertise domain.

[Result/conclusion] Using the data example from xywy.com website, 214 doctors in the community were ranked in terms of their average level of expertise …

Closing The Loop On Textile Waste: Policy, Technology, And Consumer Behavior In Sustainable Fashion, Anthony Amotoe-Bondzie

Collected Student Papers

Textile waste has become one of the most visible consequences of the fashion industry’s linear production and consumption model, where materials are rapidly extracted, transformed, consumed, and discarded. This paper critically examines how sustainable fashion can move beyond isolated recycling efforts toward a more integrated circular economy framework. Rather than treating textile waste as only an end-of-life problem, the study analyzes it as a systems issue shaped by overproduction, weak product design, limited recovery infrastructure, fragmented regulation, and consumer habits that normalize short garment lifespans. The paper argues that closing the loop on textile waste requires coordinated interventions across policy, …

The Gender Pay Gap: An Occupational Analysis (2012-2023), Curtis Long

Harriet L Wilkes Honors College Theses 2020 - Present

This thesis examines the gender wage gap across thirty major U.S. occupations from 2014 to 2023 using data from the Current Population Survey (CPS), more specifically, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The analysis measures the difference in median weekly earnings between women and men in each occupation and applies two statistical tests: a yearly z-test to evaluate whether the average wage gap is significant, and a ten-year t-test to identify persistent occupational gaps. Results show significant wage differences in every year, with the largest disparities in finance, management, and law, and smaller gaps in education and healthcare. Consistent …

Numerical Simulations Of Highly Eccentric Systems Of Binary Neutron Stars With Spin, Victoria White

Harriet L Wilkes Honors College Theses 2020 - Present

Binary Neutron Star (BNS) mergers are among the most energetic events in the universe, producing gravitational waves, electromagnetic radiation, and heavy elements. While previous research has utilized simulations for collisions, few studies have accounted for how the spin of the stars affects mergers. This thesis contains a general overview of the topic and a research component conducted in the field of numerical relativity. High-performance computing was used to simulate BNS collisions, examining how spin affects the inspiral, merger, and post-merger phases. Computations used the Einstein Toolkit, Cactus framework, and the numerical tool developed by the FAU Relativity Group, Sgrid. The …

2025 October - Tennessee Monthly Climate Report, Tennessee Climate Office, East Tennessee State University

Tennessee Climate Office Monthly Reports

Hi All,

October 2025 was a quiet month for weather across Tennessee. The major stories included improving drought conditions across the western half of the state and relatively large temperature fluctuations. There were some days with heavy rainfall in West Tennessee but flooding was minimal due to the dry conditions in September. Tennessee experienced some pronounced temperature swings during the month with many areas reaching into the 80’s or even 90’s in the first week of October as well as in the middle of October, and then down into the 20’s or 30’s by the end of the month. This …

(Si15-022) Five Efficient Cryptography Authentication Schemes With Functional Relation On General Spaces, L. Sreenivasulu Reddy, S. Lakshmisri

Applications and Applied Mathematics: An International Journal (AAM)

This work addresses the growing demand for diversification in cryptographic schemes to secure communication. This work proposes a novel suite of algorithms, including two block ciphers (TPBlock and TAP-Block), two stream ciphers (TP-Stream and TAP-Stream), and a zero-knowledge proof scheme (F-zero knowledge proof). All schemes leverage functional relations defined over the real number space with a dimension greater than one for encryption, decryption, and key generation, offering an alternative to the number-theoretical aspects and algebraic structures commonly used in existing schemes. The main goal of this work is to introduce and propose these five novel cryptographic schemes to provide authentication …