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Proportionate mass of animal heart, lung, and liver in response to body mass
No full textOrgan weights have been included in many published studies to determine treatment effects, however, limited research has been completed to observe organ growth as the animal is maturing and gaining body mass. Annually, cattle have continued to increase in size, gaining 2.5 kg of additional carcass weight per year. Concurrent with increased cattle weights, the frequency of late-term mortality has also increased. This raises concern of cardiovascular system stress, namely the stress placed on the organs that affect the overall function as well as the animal’s ability to thrive. A meta-analysis was conducted to quantify change and weight differences of the heart, lungs, and liver amongst livestock species over time. Animals (n = 6,948) from seventy-nine published peer-reviewed manuscripts were included in the meta-analysis. Proportionate mass of the heart from the compiled studies represented 0.582% of bovine body mass, 0.617% for swine, 0.643% for ovine, and 1.234% for equine. Additionally, the proportionate mass of lungs from the compiled studies represented 1.378% of bovine body mass, 1.577% for equine, 1.752% for porcine, and 2.158% for ovine. Moreover, the proportionate mass of liver represented 1.853% of bovine body mass, 1.577% for equine, 2.017% for ovine, and 3.047% for porcine. These percentages indicate proportional differences among species, predominantly in lungs based on body size. Furthermore, percentage of heart, lungs, and liver change as an animals body size increases, even though the absolute weight of the organ remains relatively constant throughout the final stages of life. Body weight can impact organ function and as the animal becomes larger in size, the proportion of the organs are going to grow steadily with the body. Additionally, the growth of the organ may be due to accumulated fat, which would illustrate that the organ is decreasing as the body mass increases. Our objective was to quantify the association of body mass and organ mass in cattle. Cattle (n = 2,030) of multiple breeds and breed combinations were harvested in Canyon, TX, Amarillo, TX, Lubbock, TX, and Kuna, ID. Cattle included finished steers and heifers (n = 654), cull cows and bulls (n = 1,015), young steer calves (n = 157), and fetuses (n = 204). Body mass (kg) was recorded immediately before or after immobilization. Fetuses were obtained during dam evisceration; fetal weights were recorded after removal from the amniotic sac. Following fetal evisceration, the heart, lungs, and liver were separated and weighed. Data were subjected to regression analysis and used to identify the association between body mass and mass of the heart, lungs, and liver expressed as a percentage of body mass. Due to the wide variation of life stages, absolute body mass varied notably (0.11kg – 1,080kg). Percentage of organ mass for heart (R2 = 0.42) and liver (R2 = 0.55) was moderately associated with body mass, conversely, lung (R2 = 0.86) mass was more strongly associated. As body mass increased, percentage of organ mass decreased at an exponential (heart = HP) or logarithmic (lungs = LuP; liver = LiP) decreasing rate. Heart rate of change was estimated using the equation HP = 0.6585e-0.0008x. The rate of change for lungs and liver were estimated as LuP = -0.4819ln (body mass, kg) + 3.711, and LiP = -0.3766ln (body mass, kg) + 4.014, respectively. In general organ mass decreased notably as cattle reached maturity. Proportional lung mass declined at a rate 3-fold faster than the heart. Finished cattle had lower proportions of heart (cull µ = 0.55%; fed µ = 0.43%; P < 0.01), lung (cull µ = 0.88%; fed µ = 0.57%; P < 0.01), and liver (cull µ = 2.15%; fed µ = 1.43%; P < 0.01) compared to cull cattle. Additionally, late term mortality will likely continue to be an issue within beef finishing systems if the industry does not find a way to select for larger organs. Lastly, stress placed on organs as the animal reaches mature weights is a concern and this information may provide valuable insights to help us understand the stress placed on organs as cattle near maturity
The Perceived Impact of Name, Image, and Likeness on Student-Athletes
No full textThis study investigated the perceived impacts of name, image, and likeness (NIL) on student athletes’ well-being, specifically their physical, mental, financial, and academic status. The study used responses from collegiate athletic leaders and their firsthand experiences of NIL. This qualitative study explored collegiate athletic leaders’ perspectives on NIL on student-athletes. Using a case-study design, the study allowed for semi-structured interviews from leaders with open-ended responses. The findings of this study showed that student-athletes often experience stress related to NIL, which they can recognize and evaluate, leading to different ways of coping that affect their resilience. The finding identified (a) pressures athletes may be facing, (b) uncertainties as an athletic leader, (c) concern for the overall well-being of the athlete, and (d) athletic performance and resources available. The study concluded that academics often lose out to financial gain. Education was formally at the forefront of a student’s choice of a university for their athletic career. Now, the focus has shifted to transactions between universities and student athletes, with programs offering the most attractive NIL deals gaining popularity
Gender Bias In Higher Education Leadership
Full text linkThis final composite explores the barriers women leaders face when aspiring to become senior-level leaders in higher education. The first scholarly deliverable is a case study article titled “A Study of Gender Stereotypes and Barriers for Women in Higher Education,” which could be used to help women leaders mitigate some of the challenges they could face when striving for a promotion in academia. Through the experiences of an accomplished education, the reader experiences some K-12 education barriers and some higher education barriers that could represent some of the reasons women are underrepresented in higher education leadership. The second scholarly deliverable is an empirical article titled “Gender Bias in Higher Education Leadership: A Survey Experiment of Senior-Level Administrator Ratings of Leadership Qualities,” in which through a survey experiment, senior-level leaders in higher education were asked to rate two vignettes that were identical in experience, education, skill, strengths, and weaknesses, and differed only in the gender specific name that was assigned to the vignette. The purpose was to determine if there is implicit bias in hiring process in higher education that could attribute to the underrepresentation of women in senior-level leadership positions in higher education
PROGNOSTICS AND HEALTH MANAGEMENT OF WIND TURBINE GEARBOXES: DETECTION AND DIAGNOSTICS USING MACHINE LEARNING
Full text linkThe reliability of wind turbines is critical for enhancing the contribution of wind energy as a dependable source of renewable energy. However, wind turbine gearboxes (WTGs) often fail within the first half of a wind turbine’s expected lifespan, typically 20–25 years. The repair or replacement of WTGs is highly expensive, and the downtime is extremely long, which brings high loss of income. These failures of WTGs significantly diminish the reliability of these devices and in turn deteriorate the confidence of investing in renewable energy systems. The wind energy industry is approaching this issue in two ways: enhancing the reliability of WTGs or abandoning the use of gearboxes by using direct drive systems with multi-pole permanent-magnet generators. This current research is focused on enhancing the reliability of WTGs via the implementation of Prognostics and Health Management (PHM) to avoid unexpected early failures of WTGs. A 40/60kW wind turbine drivetrain test-rig is built from a decommissioned small-scale wind turbine to conduct the study. The system is driven by a Variable Frequency Drive (VFD) controlled, 60 HP motor (to simulate the input torque from the rotor) and has an integrated 5 Degree of Freedom (DoF) Load Application Device (LAD) to simulate the non-torsional loading that a real-world wind turbine drivetrain would experience due to wind shear, directional shear, and weight of the rotor. The system, with non-faulty (healthy or baseline) as well as damaged (faulty) planet gear bearings, has been tested under different loading conditions and the state of the system was recorded via sensors: accelerometers, strain gauges and acoustic sensors placed in different locations. The data sampling frequency for all sensors was determined using the Shannon-Nyquist Sampling Theory, and the collected signal data were analyzed through Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) spectral analysis. Five machine learning (ML) models: Decision Tree (DT), Gaussian Naïve Bayes (GNB), K-Nearest Neighbor (KNN), Neural Network (NN), and Support Vector Machine (SVM), were applied under two feature selection approaches, termed as 2/2 feature classification and 7/7 feature classification. These models were employed to distinguish between healthy
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(baseline) and two levels of faulty (damaged) system conditions and to assess whether broader feature selection (using more sensor data) improves condition monitoring accuracy. The study draws conclusions for the future implementation of PHM in predicting the remaining useful life (RUL) of WTGs, contributing to the broader goal of enhancing their reliability and reducing unexpected failure and prolong downtime
Isolation of DNA From Spent Bovine Embryo Culture Medium
Full text linkA total of 25 in vitro produced embryos will be used. Fertilized embryos will be incubated and grown for 3 days. On day 3 the embryos will be extensively washed, and culture medium changed. Incubation will resume and spent culture medium will be collected 48 hours later. Of the 25 samples, 15 will go through whole genome amplification (WGA), while the remaining 10 will be used to measure the baseline amount of DNA present in the medium. The PicoPLEX® Single Cell WGA Kit (Takara Bio, USA) will be used to amplify the DNA within the spent medium. For the samples not going through WGA, DNA will be isolated utilizing the NucleoSpin cfDNA XS kit (Takara Bio, USA). After isolation and amplification, samples will be prepped with the Qubit 1X dsDNA HS Assay Kit for quantification with the Qubit 4 Fluorometer (Thermo Fisher Scientific, USA).This study investigated the feasibility of obtaining DNA from bovine embryo culture media for non-invasive genetic testing. Individual and group embryo cultures were examined. DNA was successfully detected in some media samples, but concentrations were low and inconsistent across sample types. No DNA was detected in embryo biopsy samples. Results highlight challenges in DNA extraction and amplification from embryo culture media, emphasizing the need for improved techniques in non-invasive genetic testing of bovine embryos
GENERATIVE FLOW NETWORKS FOR CREATING SPARSE PRECONDITIONERS
Full text linkThis thesis explores the use of Generative Flow Networks (GFlowNets) combined with Graph Attention Networks (GATs) to develop sparse ILU preconditioners for solving large-scale linear systems of equations. The study aims to address the challenge of creating preconditioners that optimize the trade-off between sparsity and computational efficiency while maintaining convergence performance.
The proposed approach utilizes GFlowNets to sample entries for removal in ILU preconditioners, guided by a reward function designed to balance sparsity and matrix fitness. The forward policy employs GAT layers to predict actions based on the graph representation of the matrix, while the backward policy uses trajectory balance loss to align forward and backward flows with the reward distribution.
Despite theoretical promise, experimental results revealed challenges. Preconditioners generated by the GFlowNet approach required many more iterations to converge and exhibited markedly lower accuracy compared to traditional ILU methods. hese findings indicate fundamental limitations in the current implementation of GFlowNets for preconditioner optimization, particularly in the design of the reward function and its alignment with the ultimate goal of reducing solution time for linear systems. This research underscores the complexity of integrating reinforcement learning and graph-based deep learning into numerical linear algebra and highlights areas for improvement. Future work will focus on refining the reward function, improving sampling strategies, and exploring alternative architectures to enhance the practical utility of this approach
P-TECH TO BACHELORS: CREATING COLLABORATIONS TO BRING THE UNIVERSITY TO RURAL COMMUNITIES
No full textThis scholarly delivery contains two artifacts that focused on the collaboration between a high school, community college, and university to bring a bachelor’s degree to the community. The first scholarly deliverable is a case study written for graduate students in the field of educational leadership. The title of this article is “Paving the Way to a Degree Through Collaboration.” This case explores a student’s experience through a new collaborative initiative to bring the university to a rural community. The second
deliverable is an empirical study titled “P-TECH to Bachelor’s: Creating Collaborations to Bring the University to Rural Communities.” This study identified how the collaboration was created and what factors aided in the creation, overcoming challenges, and the continuation of the collaboration
Efficient Dye-sensitizers for Dye-sensitizer Solar Cells Using DFT
Full text linkDensity functional theory (DFT) and Time-dependent DFT (TDDFT) were employed to model and predict the optoelectronic properties of the modeled dyes: ~~B3LYP/6-311g(d,p) for ground geometry optimization ~~To simulate UV-VIS spectra for 50 low-lying states TD-DFT/PBE1/6-311g(d,p) level of theory implemented ~~CPCM Solvent model (Acetonitrile) ~~BJ-dispersion correction included in DFT and TDDFT calculations. ~~Gaussian 09 PackageFossil fuels contribute to climate change by emitting greenhouse gases, and their reserves are being depleted and will not be replenished soon. Photovoltaics such as dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) are one of the top-notch technologies to convert abundant sunlight into electricity. However, designing efficient dye-sensitizers for DSC is very important to access higher wavelength sunlight. We modeled 40 dye-sensitizers and predicted their optoelectronic properties leveraging state-of-the-art first principles approach. Our results revealed that the use of benzo[1,2-c:4,5-c′]-bis-[1,2,5]-thiadiazole as a π- conjugation fragment reduces the energy gap, which is crucial to harvest lower wavelength photons to increase the efficiency of DSCs
ARTISTIC REPRESENTAIONS OF THE SODOMITES OF DANTE’S CIRCLE SEVEN: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS
Full text linkThough there have been countless studies on Dante’s various circles of his Inferno (1321), one of the circles that justifies further scholarship is that of the Sodomites circle. For Dante, these “sinners” dwelt in circle seven, ring three, and are placed there for being “violent against nature.” Interestingly, Dante’s descriptions of this circle offer one of the most complicated and ambiguous statements about sin, sexuality, and human relationships—as aspect my thesis will explore. Moreover, given the contemporary interest in LGBTQ identity and politics, it seems the perfect moment to revisit this circle and its meaning, not only for Dante, but also for visual artists responding to his work. This thesis focuses especially on the images of printmaker Michael Mazur, who explored the Sodomite circle with fascinating sensitivity. My work will put Mazur’s designs in dialogue with several other artists who have responded to Dante and his Sodomites: Sandro Botticelli, Gustave Doré, and Robert Rauschenberg. Through such comparisons, we are able to appreciate not only the enduring legacy of Dante’s writing, but the way that artists have struggled to express the ambiguities that Dante communicates. Mazur’s body of work and his life are lesser known than the other artists, and my work seeks to shed more light on him as an artist worthy of our attention, while putting him into a lineage of other artists inspired by Dante
SOUTHWEST VETERINARY UNIVERSITY: STUDENT PERCEPTIONS OF THEIR PREPARATION FOR THE NAVLE
Full text linkThis final composite explores how veterinary students perceive and utilize institutional resources in preparation for the North American Veterinary Licensing Examination. The first scholarly deliverable investigates the role of a new assessment team member at a veterinary school. The title of this article is “Southwest Veterinary University: A Case Study.” This case explores how outcomes assessment can support veterinary students by utilizing the “Strengths and Opportunities” report and collaborating with faculty to identify areas for improvement, develop remediation strategies, and enhance self-directed learning and mentorship. The final scholarly deliverable is an empirical article titled “Southwest Veterinary University: Student Perceptions of Their Preparation for the NAVLE.” This article utilizes the Expectancy-Value Framework, semi-structured interviews, and focus groups with 29 students to reveal their motivations, efforts, and resource engagement, specifically focusing on the “Strengths and Opportunities” report and faculty mentorship. Findings show that students highly value these resources but face challenges in time management, inconsistent feedback, and resource efficacy. Although career-driven intrinsic motivation is strong, the time and effort required present significant barriers. The study concludes that tailored support, including personalized faculty mentorship and constructive feedback, can enhance students' preparedness and confidence, aligning resources with both academic and career goals