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Title: LATE-GESTATION METABOLIC STRESS IN DAIRY CATTLE : ASSOCIATION WITH COLOSTRUM YIELD AND IMMUNOGLOBULIN CONTENT
Creator: May Rossi, Renato
Date: 2021
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Description: Despite improvements made in the dairy industry and advances on heifer management, calf morbidity and mortality are still high. Calves rely on colostrum ingestion for acquisition of passive immunity, and provision of insufficient quantity of colostrum may lead these animals to failure of transfer passive immunity, hence leading to higher risks of morbidity and mortality. Many farms do not have sufficient colostrum available at times to feed their calves. Synthesis of colostrum starts few...
Show moreDespite improvements made in the dairy industry and advances on heifer management, calf morbidity and mortality are still high. Calves rely on colostrum ingestion for acquisition of passive immunity, and provision of insufficient quantity of colostrum may lead these animals to failure of transfer passive immunity, hence leading to higher risks of morbidity and mortality. Many farms do not have sufficient colostrum available at times to feed their calves. Synthesis of colostrum starts few weeks before calving and it is at the time when cows are experiencing augmented metabolic adaptations due to increasing nutrient demands for fetal growth, colostrogenesis, and preparation for the onset of lactogenesis. The study described in Chapter 2 aimed to compare the metabolic status of dairy cows during the last 6 wk of gestation based on colostrum volume and Ig content across seasons during a year. The results in the latter study suggest that greater availability of antioxidants might support the production of higher volumes of colostrum. Therefore, the study reported in Chapter 3, aimed to evaluate whether administering a dietary antioxidant supplement during the last 3 weeks of gestation improves colostrum volume and immunoglobulin content. Our results showed that DATS increased colostrum volume. However, despite finding higher volume of colostrum in treatment group with statistical differences compared to control, the distribution of colostrum volume between groups are relatively the same, as well for IgG, IgM, and IgA.
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Title: FUSARIUM SPP. ASSOCIATED WITH PERENNIAL SPECIALTY CROPS
Creator: Getson, Sara
Date: 2021
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Description: The genus Fusarium comprises an array of soilborne plant pathogens capable of causing crop significant loss of quality and yield. For perennial crops with significant start-up costs, infection by pathogenic Fusarium spp. can also reduce plant longevity which can be especially costly. Our objective was to determine the incidence and pathogenicity of Fusarium spp. associated with asparagus crowns and ginseng seed and roots. Fusarium causes root rot on asparagus decreasing the crop yield and...
Show moreThe genus Fusarium comprises an array of soilborne plant pathogens capable of causing crop significant loss of quality and yield. For perennial crops with significant start-up costs, infection by pathogenic Fusarium spp. can also reduce plant longevity which can be especially costly. Our objective was to determine the incidence and pathogenicity of Fusarium spp. associated with asparagus crowns and ginseng seed and roots. Fusarium causes root rot on asparagus decreasing the crop yield and plant longevity. Root lesions on ginseng root from Fusarium decreases the crop’s quality and value. Species identification was achieved via DNA extraction, PCR using EF-1 and EF-2 primers, and Sanger sequencing. Asparagus crown (491) samples were collected from commercially popular cultivars and included ‘Jersey Supreme’ (100), ‘Guelph Millennium’ (258), and ‘Guelph Eclipse’ (133). ‘Guelph Millennium’ crowns included those grown in soils fumigated pre-plant with metam sodium (131) or not fumigated (127). Seven Fusarium species were identified from asparagus crowns; F. oxysporum (92%) was most abundant. Fusarium spp. were isolated from ‘Jersey Supreme’ (39%), ‘Guelph Eclipse’ (47%), and ‘Guelph Millennium’ (30%). Fusarium spp. were isolated from 36% and 25% of the crowns grown in non-fumigated or fumigated soils, respectively. Pathogenicity of Fusarium oxysporum isolates (51) differed signficantly. Ginseng seed (1,216) and roots (222) were obtained from 11 growers. Fusarium spp. were rarely recovered from seed (5%) or roots (2%). Eight Fusarium species were isolated including F. avenaceum (62%), F. solani (11%), and F. oxysporum (10%). Pathogenicity of select isolates was tested on seedlings and fresh roots and significant differences were noted. Results will be used to develop strategies to limit Fusarium spp. affecting these perennial crops.
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Title: ANALYSIS OF SEQUENTIAL MEDIATORS IN THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MISTT INTERVENTIONS AND PHYSICAL AND MENTAL HEALTH OF STROKE PATIENTS
Creator: Bridges, Michael
Date: 2021
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Description: The Michigan Stroke Transitions Trial (MISTT) is a pragmatic, un-blinded, 3-group randomized controlled trial conducted in 3 Michigan hospitals and designed to compare patient recovery under one of two interventions, (1) social worker case management (SWCM) and (2) social worker case management in addition to an online stroke recovery resource (VSSP), relative to usual care (UC). Using a difference-in-differences approach, and comparing outcome measures at 90-days post-discharge to outcomes...
Show moreThe Michigan Stroke Transitions Trial (MISTT) is a pragmatic, un-blinded, 3-group randomized controlled trial conducted in 3 Michigan hospitals and designed to compare patient recovery under one of two interventions, (1) social worker case management (SWCM) and (2) social worker case management in addition to an online stroke recovery resource (VSSP), relative to usual care (UC). Using a difference-in-differences approach, and comparing outcome measures at 90-days post-discharge to outcomes at 7-days post-discharge, MISTT found significant positive outcomes in PROMIS physical health (p = 0.002) and Patient Activation (p = 0.06) in the VSSP treatment arm relative to UC. We hypothesized that emotional support and patient activation acted as sequential mediators in the pathway between randomly assigned treatment and physical and mental health. We estimated the direct and indirect effects of the interventions using an adapted version of the weighted approach. Multiple imputation was used to account for missing observations and bootstrapping was used to construct standard errors. We found no statistically significant (p < 0.05) mediation effects. That said, we observed a sizable positive natural direct effect of the VSSP treatment relative to usual care on patient physical health (+1.40, 95% CI: –0.56, 3.35). In addition, there appeared to be a negative partial natural indirect effect of the SWCM treatment on both mental and physical health which acted through patient activation, not emotional support. We report no mediated effects of statistical significance; however, some sizable effects bear further study. In particular, neither of our hypothesized mediators appeared to fully explain the positive effect of VSSP treatment on physical health shown in the MISTT primary results; and the lack of change in mental health found in MISTT might be explained by a decrease in patient activation found in the SWCM treatment arm.
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Title: EFFECTS OF PRESENTATIONS OF ASSESSMENT ROUNDS ON PREFERENCE STABILITY
Creator: Thomas, Alexandria
Date: 2021
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Description: Behavior interventions have been found to be the most effective treatments for behaviors associated with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Children diagnosed with ASD tend to experience barriers in terms of communication, thus communicating wants and needs during treatment may be difficult. As a result, clinicians have used preference assessments to identify potentially reinforcing stimuli to use during behavior interventions to increase the likelihood of desired behaviors occurring again in...
Show moreBehavior interventions have been found to be the most effective treatments for behaviors associated with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Children diagnosed with ASD tend to experience barriers in terms of communication, thus communicating wants and needs during treatment may be difficult. As a result, clinicians have used preference assessments to identify potentially reinforcing stimuli to use during behavior interventions to increase the likelihood of desired behaviors occurring again in the future. Previous research on preference assessments has looked at evaluating brief preference assessments and stability of responding across time and assessments. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the extent to which responding is stable across rounds within a single MSWO for children aged 3-5 with a diagnosis of ASD. Results showed that overall; stability in responding across rounds of a single MSWO varied across participants regardless the type of stimuli used during the assessment (all edible or all tangible stimuli).Keywords: autism, preference assessments, stability
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Title: Toward Stress-Aligned Lattice Design
Creator: Gao, Qiren
Date: 2021
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Description: A novel approach to designing lattice structures is presented in which lattice members are aligned with the principal stress directions, and the lattice spacing and member sizing are optimized simultaneously to obtain an optimized design. By allowing both the lattice layout and the member sizes to vary during a multi-level design optimization process, this approach allows a greater flexibility in searching the design space and finding potentially higher performing designs than standard...
Show moreA novel approach to designing lattice structures is presented in which lattice members are aligned with the principal stress directions, and the lattice spacing and member sizing are optimized simultaneously to obtain an optimized design. By allowing both the lattice layout and the member sizes to vary during a multi-level design optimization process, this approach allows a greater flexibility in searching the design space and finding potentially higher performing designs than standard topology or triangularization methods. Example applications amply illustrate the capability of this approach to produce high quality designs.
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Title: EFFECTS OF AMINO ACID AND FATTY ACID SUPPLEMENTATION ON PRODUCTION RESPONSES OF LACTATING COWS
Creator: Negreiro, Ariana Nicole
Date: 2021
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Description: Addition of fatty acids (FA) and amino acid (AA) supplements to dairy cow diets is becoming common practice due to the growing demand to increase milk fat and milk protein yields. This thesis contains two studies that evaluate the effects of supplemental palmitic (C16:0) and oleic (cis-9 C18:1) acids, and methionine (Met) and lysine (Lys), on lactating dairy cows. The first experiment used a product containing 80% C16:0 + 10% cis-9 C18:1 supplied at 1.5% diet dry matter (DM) and supplemental...
Show moreAddition of fatty acids (FA) and amino acid (AA) supplements to dairy cow diets is becoming common practice due to the growing demand to increase milk fat and milk protein yields. This thesis contains two studies that evaluate the effects of supplemental palmitic (C16:0) and oleic (cis-9 C18:1) acids, and methionine (Met) and lysine (Lys), on lactating dairy cows. The first experiment used a product containing 80% C16:0 + 10% cis-9 C18:1 supplied at 1.5% diet dry matter (DM) and supplemental Met and Lys in low forage diets (LF) and a control diet with no added FA or AA at typical midwestern forage content (CON). Compared with CON, LF increased dry matter intake (DMI), milk fat yield, milk protein yield, energy-corrected milk (ECM) yield, and body condition score (BCS). In the second experiment, different ratios of palmitic (C16:0) and oleic (cis-9 C18:1) acid were supplemented in basal diets containing high CP without supplemental AA (HP) or low CP with supplemental AA (LP). FA treatments were products consisting of 80% C16:0 + 10% cis-9 C18:1 (PA) and 60% C16:0 + 30% cis-9 C18:1 (OA) supplemented at 1.5% diet DM and a non-FA supplemented control diet (CON). No interactions were observed between basal diet and FA treatment for the yields of milk or milk components. Compared with HP, LP decreased milk urea nitrogen and blood urea nitrogen concentrations, and did not impact milk, milk fat, or milk protein yields. FA treatments decreased DMI and increased milk yield, fat yield, ECM yield, and feed efficiency. Results from this work can provide information that can be used as a foundation for future studies and to guide feeding decision to maximize performance and farm income.
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Title: CHARACTERIZATION AND IDENTIFICATION OF CRYSTALLINE STRUCTURES IN CANNABIS SOLVENT EXTRACTS
Creator: Abraham, Otyllia Ruth
Date: 2021
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Description: Cannabis solvent extracts comprise of a variety of products formed through the isolation and concentration of cannabinoids from either marijuana or hemp using organic solvents. Marijuana and hemp represent two broad classes of Cannabis sativa plants and are distinguished based on the concentration of the psychoactive cannabinoid delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ9-THC). A common marijuana solvent extract is butane hash oil, which uses butane to extract and concentrate Δ9-THC and its naturally...
Show moreCannabis solvent extracts comprise of a variety of products formed through the isolation and concentration of cannabinoids from either marijuana or hemp using organic solvents. Marijuana and hemp represent two broad classes of Cannabis sativa plants and are distinguished based on the concentration of the psychoactive cannabinoid delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ9-THC). A common marijuana solvent extract is butane hash oil, which uses butane to extract and concentrate Δ9-THC and its naturally occurring acidic form, delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinolic acid (Δ9-THCA). Hemp solvent extracts, however, typically isolate cannabidiol (CBD). This work aimed to comprehensively characterize marijuana and hemp-derived solvent extracts using optical and chemical techniques. Optical analysis via polarized light microscopy (PLM) was performed to characterize crystalline materials present in both subsets of extracts and indicated the possibility to differentiate marijuana and hemp extracts based on optical differences. Chemical characterization through infrared spectroscopy and single crystal X-ray diffraction provided the identification of the crystalline component (THCA for marijuana extracts and CBD for hemp extracts) and supported the PLM findings. Additionally, the derivatization procedure (focusing on reaction temperature, reaction time, and solvent ratio) for THCA using a common silylation reagent was optimized using full factorial experimental design to allow for the analysis of the solvent extracts by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.
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Title: A proposal to investigate the roles of maternal inflammation and diet in associations of maternal paraben concentrations with gestational length
Creator: Pacyga, Diana C.
Date: 2021
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Description: The proposed research will fill a public health need by providing information about the roles inflammation and dietary interventions play in associations of maternal paraben concentrations with shorter gestation. Specifically, this study proposes to investigate the maternal inflammatory pathways linking parabens with shorter gestation, as well as the potential intervening effect of a maternal anti-inflammatory diet on shorter gestation in response to parabens. The central hypothesis is that...
Show moreThe proposed research will fill a public health need by providing information about the roles inflammation and dietary interventions play in associations of maternal paraben concentrations with shorter gestation. Specifically, this study proposes to investigate the maternal inflammatory pathways linking parabens with shorter gestation, as well as the potential intervening effect of a maternal anti-inflammatory diet on shorter gestation in response to parabens. The central hypothesis is that higher paraben concentrations are associated with shorter gestation due to elevated maternal inflammation and that an anti-inflammatory maternal diet mitigates these relationships. The proposed study will test this central hypothesis in 482 pregnant women enrolled in the Illinois Kids Development Study (I-KIDS), which is an ongoing prospective pregnancy and birth cohort with the primary goal of evaluating the impacts of prenatal chemical exposures on infant neurodevelopment. The feasibility of testing these hypotheses has been determined by conducting several preliminary studies in a sub-sample of 294 I-KIDS women. Overall, findings from this study will inform future research and clinical practice about the biological targets of parabens during pregnancy and guide prenatal healthcare professionals to make effective dietary recommendations to their pregnant patients.
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Title: Scaling Up Production of Local Salad Mix for Retail Grocery Markets : A Feasibility Study in Southeast Michigan
Creator: Gerhart, Jennifer A.
Date: 2021
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Description: Changes to the supermarket supply chain over the last few decades have “squeezed out” local and small farmers in place of more consolidated and global suppliers. As a result, local farmers have turned to more direct to consumer markets for farm sales, which capture a higher price point but also bear higher marketing costs. Previous research has revealed saturation and lack of profitability in this market type. As a result, researchers have explored strategies for “scaling up” local farmers...
Show moreChanges to the supermarket supply chain over the last few decades have “squeezed out” local and small farmers in place of more consolidated and global suppliers. As a result, local farmers have turned to more direct to consumer markets for farm sales, which capture a higher price point but also bear higher marketing costs. Previous research has revealed saturation and lack of profitability in this market type. As a result, researchers have explored strategies for “scaling up” local farmers into intermediary supply chains, such as grocery retail, and have tested the profitability of hybrid marketing strategies with positive results. However, none of this research has used production costs to test market feasibility and this component is critical for a small farmer’s willingness to “scale up” into intermediary markets. Using salad mix as a test crop and Southeast Michigan as a sample region, this research uses farmer-generated production costs for four production methods to examine the feasibility of previously identified strategies for scaling up into intermediary supply chains. The data reveal that central processing has the greatest impact on lowering both the farmgate cost of production and the output price for the buyer. In addition, the minimal costs of organic certification for small farmers justifies the price premium received in grocery retail markets. Lastly, hydroponic production was found to be infeasible at a small scale but could potentially meet retailers price preferences at larger scales. Based on these findings, further research on the realistic costs for centralized processing, distribution, and marketing for this crop type to be sold to grocers is recommended.
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Title: IMPROVING GAS BARRIER PROPERTIES OF SUGARCANE-BASED LLDPE WITH CELLULOSE NANOCRYSTALS
Creator: Natarajan, Madhumitha
Date: 2021
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Description: This study was aimed at improving the gas barrier property of sugarcane-based LLDPE using cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs). Specifically, this study evaluated the effect of testing methods (isostatic versus gravimetric) on CO2 permeability coefficient (PCO2) and/or O2 permeability coefficient (PO2) of various bio-PE grades with different densities (LLDPE, LDPE, and HDPE) as well as the effect of CNC content on crystallinity, tortuosity factor, and gas barrier properties of bio-LLDPE sheets and...
Show moreThis study was aimed at improving the gas barrier property of sugarcane-based LLDPE using cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs). Specifically, this study evaluated the effect of testing methods (isostatic versus gravimetric) on CO2 permeability coefficient (PCO2) and/or O2 permeability coefficient (PO2) of various bio-PE grades with different densities (LLDPE, LDPE, and HDPE) as well as the effect of CNC content on crystallinity, tortuosity factor, and gas barrier properties of bio-LLDPE sheets and films. The isostatic and gravimetric methods yielded similar PCO2, irrespective of PE grade. However, the PCO2 negatively correlated with PE density. All nanocomposites showed considerable improvement in gas barrier irrespective of the CNC content. The PCO2 of LLDPE sheets decreased by 36% by adding 10 wt.% of CNCs into the sheet. Similarly, a significant decline in both PO2 (about 50%) and PCO2 (about 33%) of LLDPE films was obtained by adding 2.5 wt.% of CNCs into the films. Nevertheless, no correlation was established between gas permeability and percent crystallinity of LLDPE sheet since the PCO2 decreased almost linearly with increasing CNC content whereas the percent crystallinity of LLDPE increased only up to 2.5% CNC content and remained constant thereafter. In contrast, the tortuosity factors calculated from the diffusion coefficients increased almost linearly with CNC contents and correlated well with the gas permeability improvement in the bio-LLDPE-based nanocomposites. Consequently, the enhanced gas barrier in the nanocomposite was assigned to the tortuosity effect created by the impermeable cellulose nanocrystals rather than the changes in percent crystallinity.
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Title: AN EVALUATION OF THE FEDERAL HIGHWAY ADMINISTRATION’S TOOL FOR OPERATIONS BENEFIT/COST ANALYSIS
Creator: Herin, Gabrielle Christine
Date: 2021
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Description: Traffic congestion is increasing as more people travel for work-related and other reasons. Through transportation projects called active traffic management (ATM) strategies, transportation agencies work to alleviate the pressures of congestion on the roads. Transportation agencies analyze these project’s effectiveness through a cost-benefit analysis spreadsheet tool called the Tool for Operations Benefit-Cost Analysis (TOPS-BC). In this study, the TOPS-BC tool is compared to cost-benefit...
Show moreTraffic congestion is increasing as more people travel for work-related and other reasons. Through transportation projects called active traffic management (ATM) strategies, transportation agencies work to alleviate the pressures of congestion on the roads. Transportation agencies analyze these project’s effectiveness through a cost-benefit analysis spreadsheet tool called the Tool for Operations Benefit-Cost Analysis (TOPS-BC). In this study, the TOPS-BC tool is compared to cost-benefit analysis best practices. The US-23 Flex route, an 8.5 mile stretch of Michigan’s US-23 from Ann Arbor to Whitmore Lake, will be used as an example project. The missing categories found in the literature were impacts on road ecology and nearby housing values. These missing categories will help lead to a more accurate benefit-cost ratio of projects like the Michigan US-23 Flex route.
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Title: EVOLUTION OF AEC PROJECT NETWORKS : AN AGENT-BASED MODELING APPROACH
Creator: Pidiha, Nishchay
Date: 2021
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Description: In Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) industry, projects call for collaboration between different expertise areas. To improve collaboration and knowledge transfer between different stakeholders, an in-depth understanding of the communication network structure is crucial. While Social Network Analysis (SNA) shows promise in analyzing communication network structures, the AEC literature to date shows its use mainly in a cross-sectional manner. A recent longitudinal case study...
Show moreIn Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) industry, projects call for collaboration between different expertise areas. To improve collaboration and knowledge transfer between different stakeholders, an in-depth understanding of the communication network structure is crucial. While Social Network Analysis (SNA) shows promise in analyzing communication network structures, the AEC literature to date shows its use mainly in a cross-sectional manner. A recent longitudinal case study shows that these networks are not static and can evolve overtime. However, due to fast-paced delivery of any AEC project, researchers often arrive at missing data, sometimes depriving them from concluding statistically significant results in a longitudinal study. Hence, there is a need for further investigating the evolution of AEC project teams network structures through a simulation that emulate certain aspects of a social network structure evolution over time.In response to this need, the study aims to explicate, how real-world size AEC project networks evolve over project delivery based on similarity of node characteristics (e.g., homophily) and node behaviors in networks (e.g., node’s popularity). To do so, the study adopted selection model, and simulated multiple agent-based models basing its initial condition on an empirical case study. The evolutions of the network structures were analyzed overtime. Finally, the study compared the results with recent similar works. Deliverables include an improved understanding of AEC project network structures and characteristics, and practical implications relating to team collaboration and coordination considering project characteristics such as team size, and complexity.
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Title: Learning to Exploit : The Socialization of Animal Science Undergraduates
Creator: Poirier, Nathan
Date: 2021
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Description: Animal scientists work closely with the animal agriculture industry and often perform research, influence policy, and create information that is eventually disseminated to the public. While the public generally seems concerned about animal welfare, animal scientists also have internal motivations to care about animal welfare. Welfare measures may impact the tradition and profits of animal agriculture, creating contradictory pressures on animal scientists. This paper, based on observations of...
Show moreAnimal scientists work closely with the animal agriculture industry and often perform research, influence policy, and create information that is eventually disseminated to the public. While the public generally seems concerned about animal welfare, animal scientists also have internal motivations to care about animal welfare. Welfare measures may impact the tradition and profits of animal agriculture, creating contradictory pressures on animal scientists. This paper, based on observations of an introductory animal science course on-site at a land-grant university’s farming facilities, examines how animal welfare is constructed in order to socialize students into a discipline and eventual occupation. Attention is paid as to how animal scientists construct animal welfare through various forms of pedagogy that juxtapose welfare with captivity, confinement, research interests, profit, and social acceptability. Observations suggest that animal welfare is constructed as control over animals and the assurance that this control is humane. The dual mechanisms of control and comfort socializes students to raise animals for slaughter and not see this process as violent.
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Title: OIL- AND WATER-RESISTANT PAPER COATINGS USING LOW-COST BIODEGRADABLE POLYMER BLENDS FOR PACKAGING APPLICATIONS
Creator: Nair, Aditya
Date: 2021
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Description: The growing environmental and health concerns over fluorochemicals coated paper and single use plastics/plastic coated paper, have led to a great interest in biodegradable and repulpable alternatives to obtain water- and oil-repellent paper substrates. The work reported herein aims at addressing these concerns by developing a fluorine-free, thermoplastic-free, and cost-effective water- and grease-resistant paper coating, using biodegradable polymers like polyvinyl-alcohol (PVOH) and starch...
Show moreThe growing environmental and health concerns over fluorochemicals coated paper and single use plastics/plastic coated paper, have led to a great interest in biodegradable and repulpable alternatives to obtain water- and oil-repellent paper substrates. The work reported herein aims at addressing these concerns by developing a fluorine-free, thermoplastic-free, and cost-effective water- and grease-resistant paper coating, using biodegradable polymers like polyvinyl-alcohol (PVOH) and starch blended with chitosan-graft-polydimethylsiloxane (chitosan-g-PDMS) copolymer. The hydrophobic and oleophobic performance of the coated paper with PVOH and chitosan-g-PDMS blend yielded good water-resistance (Cobb60 value: 20±2.4 g/m2) and a moderate oil resistance (7/12 kit rating). Superior water and grease resistance were achieved with starch and chitosan-g-PDMS blend as the coating material where the Cobb60 values and kit ratings were 13±0.9 g/m2 and 12/12, respectively. The repulpability of the coated papers is also demonstrated in this study by washing the coating materials from the paper and repulping the pulp. This novel, inexpensive, water- and grease-resistant, environmentally friendly coating offers promising candidacy for commercial use in a myriad of applications in the packaging sector.
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Title: THE IMPACT OF DATA GRANULARITY AND STREAM CLASSIFICATION ON TEMPERATURE GRADIENT MODELING IN MICHIGAN’S STREAMS
Creator: Dertli, Halil Ibrahim
Date: 2021
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Description: Stream temperature is an important parameter of water quality and developing models capable of reliable predictions are critically important in stream management. In addition to the structure of these models (e.g., predictive variables), there are other factors that may influence model performance such as the selection of data granularity (i.e., level of temporal aggregation) and seasonal coverage of data collection. Data granularity and seasonal extent of data collection vary widely in the...
Show moreStream temperature is an important parameter of water quality and developing models capable of reliable predictions are critically important in stream management. In addition to the structure of these models (e.g., predictive variables), there are other factors that may influence model performance such as the selection of data granularity (i.e., level of temporal aggregation) and seasonal coverage of data collection. Data granularity and seasonal extent of data collection vary widely in the literature and have often been arbitrarily selected in stream temperature modeling studies in the past, but the consequences of these choices have not been explored. I applied different data granularity and time period selections to regression models, which were developed by Andrews (2019) to predict temperature gradient (i.e., stream temperature change) in Michigan’s streams. Applying higher data granularity increased overall model performances and changed model selection results, however applying different time periods did not have a substantial effect on model performances. Using higher data granularity also changed model parameter estimates by increasing the multicollinearity in best-fitting models. In addition to temporal data granularity, data may be pooled spatially across streams within a thermal class to reduce the costs of data collection. I examined the impact of stream classification on model performance by applying data pooling within stream classes. Stream-Specific Models had better performance compared to Class-Based Models. Additional analyses suggested that classifying streams based on temperature gradient instead of stream temperature may result in better Class-Based Model performance.
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Title: THE EFFECT OF A PARTNER’S WORK SUCCESS ON EMOTIONS AND MOTIVATION : A SOCIAL COMPARISON PROCESS
Creator: Van Fossen, Jenna A.
Date: 2021
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Description: Crossover refers to how one romantic partner’s experiences and feeling states at work transfer over to the other in the home domain. However, the processes through which crossover occurs are not well understood, particularly concerning the impact of the cognitive evaluation of a partner’s work events on the focal employee’s emotions, as well as how these emotions influence work behaviors. This research draws upon social comparison theory to predict reactions to a romantic partner’s work...
Show moreCrossover refers to how one romantic partner’s experiences and feeling states at work transfer over to the other in the home domain. However, the processes through which crossover occurs are not well understood, particularly concerning the impact of the cognitive evaluation of a partner’s work events on the focal employee’s emotions, as well as how these emotions influence work behaviors. This research draws upon social comparison theory to predict reactions to a romantic partner’s work achievement. Specifically, a partner’s work success was postulated to result in increased (assimilation) or decreased (contrast) self-esteem and self-evaluations in work performance. To predict who will be more likely to experience an increase or decrease in self-evaluations, the individual and relational self-concept levels, work and family centrality, and work and relationship contingent self-esteem were proposed as moderators. This research also considers the impact of social comparison outcomes on emotions (specifically, envy and pride), and the effect of these emotions on performance in an effort-driven task. This study was a survey experiment with full-time employees in romantic partnerships testing a moderated mediation model. Although predictions about emotions and task motivation were not supported, results suggest that the individual self-concept level predisposes individuals to feel lower self-esteem in response to their partner’s work failure. Moreover, individual self-concept level moderated the mediated effect of a partner’s work success/failure on pride, through self-esteem. Findings help further understanding within the work-family literature of how one partner’s work experiences affect the other.
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Title: NETWORK OF UNMANNED SURFACE VEHICLES : DESIGN AND APPLICATION TO TARGET TRACKING
Creator: Panetta, Chandler J.
Date: 2021
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Description: Unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) have gained increased attention in environmental monitoring, navigation assistance, search-and-rescue, and other fields over the past three decades. USVs provide an effective platform for mobile sensing applications and offer flexibility in specific capabilities. This work presents a network of compact USVs that are capable of deploying underwater sensors using an automated winch. The small, maneuverable nature of each USV is ideal for inland bodies of water,...
Show moreUnmanned surface vehicles (USVs) have gained increased attention in environmental monitoring, navigation assistance, search-and-rescue, and other fields over the past three decades. USVs provide an effective platform for mobile sensing applications and offer flexibility in specific capabilities. This work presents a network of compact USVs that are capable of deploying underwater sensors using an automated winch. The small, maneuverable nature of each USV is ideal for inland bodies of water, and the relatively large payload capacity allows for surveys that last multiple hours. Motivated by the application of acoustic telemetry-based fish movement tracking, this work focuses on using a network of USVs to localize an underwater acoustic tag by exploiting the time-difference-of-arrival (TDOA) of the emitted signal. A distributed TDOA-based particle filter (PF) algorithm is proposed for localizing a moving target modeled by a discrete-time correlated random walk (DCRW). Furthermore, an online model learning method is explored, where target position estimates are used to update the unknown probability distributions of the target’s movement model. Through numerical simulations, the distributed PF is shown to result in effective estimation of the target position when a node is connected to a network that collectively has an adequate number of TDOA measurements. Additionally, the efficacy of online model learning in handling model uncertainties is demonstrated in simulation studies.TDOA-based localization algorithms are further validated in field experiments using a network of four USVs carrying acoustic telemetry equipment. In particular, TDOA and GPS data are collected and used to assess the target estimation performance for the distributed TDOA-based PF and a distributed TDOA-based extended Kalman filter (EKF) under different settings for the network topology.
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Title: YOUTH PERSPECTIVES ON FULL-SERVICE COMMUNITY SCHOOLING
Creator: Castro, Kristofer Malulani
Date: 2021
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Description: Despite the national standards for the implementation of full-service community schooling require the inclusion of youth participation in the decision-making and communication of these initiatives, few studies have solicited these key perspectives. The current study used focus groups to solicit youth perspectives on full-service community schooling initiatives being implemented in the schools they attended. Students were recruited from schools participating in the early years of a full...
Show moreDespite the national standards for the implementation of full-service community schooling require the inclusion of youth participation in the decision-making and communication of these initiatives, few studies have solicited these key perspectives. The current study used focus groups to solicit youth perspectives on full-service community schooling initiatives being implemented in the schools they attended. Students were recruited from schools participating in the early years of a full-service community schooling initiative. Students were separated into focus groups based on the school they were recruited from. The questions I sought to answer through this study were: 1.) what does full-service community schooling mean to students; 2.) what characteristics of full-service community schooling do youth enjoy (and not enjoy); 3.) how, if at all, has full-service community schooling changed the lives of youth; and 4.) what factors salient to youth does full-service community schooling fail to address? Analyzing the transcripts from the focus group using Marshall and Rossman’s (1995) interrater qualitative approach produced 35 themes grouped into ten analytical categories that were then further reduced into four higher order content groupings. I discuss the manner in which these findings elucidate how youth understand the scope, benefits, and issues with full-service community schooling. Furthermore, I discuss, the implications of these findings for the future practice of and research on youth voice in the planning and design of full-service community schooling.
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Title: SOIL SURFACE CHARACTERISTICS AND CULTIVAR CHOICE AFFECT MECHANICAL WEED CONTROL EFFICACY IN ORGANIC VEGETABLES
Creator: Priddy, Daniel Muphey
Date: 2021
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Description: Seed bed preparation and soil management history are thought to have a large impact on the efficacy of mechanical cultivation, but limited information is available on the mechanisms of these effects. In field trials, we tested how pre-plant bed preparation, historic compost use, and molasses applications affected soil surface characteristics and the efficacy of flextine cultivation. Contrary to expectations, historic compost and molasses application had little or no effect on the efficacy of...
Show moreSeed bed preparation and soil management history are thought to have a large impact on the efficacy of mechanical cultivation, but limited information is available on the mechanisms of these effects. In field trials, we tested how pre-plant bed preparation, historic compost use, and molasses applications affected soil surface characteristics and the efficacy of flextine cultivation. Contrary to expectations, historic compost and molasses application had little or no effect on the efficacy of flextine cultivation, and rolling beds prior to planting reduced flextine efficacy. Rolling beds resulted in lower soil surface roughness, but also increased soil penetrometer resistance, which was associated with reduced efficacy of cultivation. These surprising results highlight the importance of characterization of soil conditions in cultivation research. Table beets (Beta vulgaris) are among the most challenging crops to mechanically cultivate. Four beet cultivars were evaluated for their tolerance to deep planting and mechanical cultivation as well as their competitiveness with escaped weeds. Results suggest that 1) deep planting to delay emergence may improve success with stale seedbedding for some cultivars, but that results are inconsistent under field conditions; 2) adoption of cultivars with greater tolerance to mechanical cultivation and greater competitiveness with weeds can improve weed management success in table beets.
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Title: UTILIZING UVR PROTECTANTS TO OPTIMIZE BACTERIOPHAGE FOR FIRE BLIGHT MANAGEMENT
Creator: Dobbins, Madison
Date: 2021
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Description: UTILIZING UVR PROTECTANTS TO OPTIMIZE BACTERIOPHAGE FOR FIRE BLIGHT MANAGEMENT By Madison Dobbins Erwinia amylovora is a devastating bacterial pathogen that is the causal agent of the pome fruit disease fire blight. For plant diseases, alternate biological controls, such as bacteriophage, are now the subject of many research studies as a potential substitute for the use of antibiotics. In several in vitro studies, bacteriophage have been shown to reduce the survival of E. amylovora; however,...
Show moreUTILIZING UVR PROTECTANTS TO OPTIMIZE BACTERIOPHAGE FOR FIRE BLIGHT MANAGEMENT By Madison Dobbins Erwinia amylovora is a devastating bacterial pathogen that is the causal agent of the pome fruit disease fire blight. For plant diseases, alternate biological controls, such as bacteriophage, are now the subject of many research studies as a potential substitute for the use of antibiotics. In several in vitro studies, bacteriophage have been shown to reduce the survival of E. amylovora; however, for field application, protection from degradation by ultraviolet radiation (UVR) is required. We examined if the addition of peptone or carrot juice, both highly pigmented liquids, and kaolinite clay could protect individual E. amylovora bacteriophage from inactivation by UVR. We studied the effects of these potential protectants to bacteriophage survival following dosing with UVR wavelengths in the UVA, UVB, and UVC range. We found that additives of either peptone or kaolinite clay acted as UV-protectants. Greater concentrations of both the peptone and kaolinite clay demonstrated greater protective qualities against UVR. In a field study, commercial bacteriophage cocktails such as Agriphage, Firequencher A and B, cocktails of E. Amylovora specific bacteriophage, were also used to demonstrate the protective qualities of additives, as well as the potential for bacteriophage to be used more regularly as a biological control agent against E. amylovora. These field studies identified three separate bacteriophage - the Agriphage cocktail (Certis and Omnylytics), Φ31 -3 and Φ21-4 - as potential protectants against the occurrence of E. amylovora.
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