19468 research outputs found
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GIS Data: 2025 York County, Virginia. Shoreline Inventory, Coastal Natural Buffers, & Marsh Migration Corridors
No full textDisclaimer: The Center for Coastal Resources Management (CCRM) provides these data with the understanding that they are not guaranteed to be correct or complete, and conclusions drawn from the data set are the sole responsibility of the user. Every attempt has been made to ensure that these data and the documentation are reliable and accurate. CCRM, the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS), and the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, Virginia Coastal Zone Management Program assume no liability for any damages caused by inaccuracies in the data or documentation; and make no warranty, express or implied, as to the accuracy, completeness, or utility of this information, nor does the fact of distribution constitute a warranty.The 2025 Shoreline Inventory, Coastal Natural Buffers, and Migration Corridors layers for the City of York were generated using on-screen, digitizing techniques in ArcGIS® Pro v. 3.x while viewing conditions observed in Bing high-resolution oblique imagery, Google Earth, and 2021 imagery from the Virginia Base Mapping Program (VBMP). A geodatabase was developed named York_ShlInventory_NatBuffers_MarshCorridors_2025 containing the following eight features classes displaying bank conditions, shoreline features, natural buffers, and marsh migration corridors:
York_BankHeightSlope_2025, York_RecreationalStructures_2025,
York_ErosionControlStructures_2025_Line,
York_ErosionControlStructures_2025_Polygon,
York_BeachesAndDunes_2025, York_TMI_2025,
York_MarshMigrationCorridors_2ft_2025 and
York_MarshMigrationCorridors_4ft_2025.This project was funded in part by the Virginia Coastal Zone Management Program at the Department of Environmental Quality through Grant # NA24NOSX419C0026 of the U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administratio
Religions Collide: Investigating Identity Expression on Tombs in Rome Between the Second and Fourth Centuries CE
No full textThis thesis considers identity expression of burials in the city of Rome in the second through fourth centuries CE. The identities in question are pagan, Jewish, and Christian, as well as the overarching civic Roman identity. Such a comparison is not often done, as the three different religions are usually studied separately and with different purposes. The thesis looks at the archaeological remains of the three categories of burial and applies a theory of Emile Durkheim to the burial decorations. The symbols on graves and burial “tendencies”, or customs, I argue, project an identity of the deceased with a particular society. All four identities are projected on graves, and the sub-societies (Jewish and Christian) demonstrate influence of the larger one (Romans and paganism). Throughout the period, there seems to be an intensification of individual identity projection among the three groups, suggesting they are consciously reacting to the other’s presence. This all fits within the larger cosmopolitan nature of the Roman empire during this time.Religious StudiesBachelors of Arts (BA
Catlett Islands Reserve Component Resource Management Plan
Get PDFThe Catlett Islands is one of four components of the Chesapeake Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve in Virginia. This management plan describes the current state, infrastructure and uses of the Reserve Component, threats to the ecological and cultural resources, and management actions to help sustain the Reserve as high quality conservation land with a mission to support informed management of coastal resources through estuarine research, education, stewardship, and advisory service.Research completed with funding by NOA
"The Ground Moved:" Reconstructing the Holocaust in Zhytomyr, Ukraine
No full textDuring the Holocaust, the Zhytomyr region of Ukraine was best known for being a strategic headquarters for Adolf Hitler and Heinrich Himmler. It was the center of the Nazis' imperialist ambitions in Ukraine, exemplified by the brief existence of the "Hegewald" Volkdeutsche colony. However, while existing scholarship has predominantly focused on how the Nazis implemented genocide in this region and their colonialist endeavors, this research seeks to amplify the voices, experiences, and stories of Jews and witnesses, whose experiences have often been overlooked. It aims to provide a social history of the Holocaust in the Zhytomyr region of Ukraine, highlighting issues such as everyday life, gender, survival, and memory. It argues that testimonies from the Holocaust in Zhytomyr provide important social and affective dimensions to understandings of Nazi imperialism and the Holocaust in this region. Ultimately, this project advocates for more extensive research on the Holocaust in Eastern Europe, underscores the importance of integrating this history into Holocaust education, illustrates the significance of affective and social dimensions of the Holocaust, and emphasizes the value of testimony in Holocaust research.HistoryBachelors of Arts (BA
Promoting Social Emotional Learning Through A Professional Development Series In A Virginia High School: An Action Research Study
No full textThe implementation of Social Emotional Learning (SEL) allows educational personnel to collaboratively assume responsibility for each student’s development. Unsatisfactory with increased absenteeism, tardiness, and behavioral issues, as well as the lack of surrounding knowledge and skill for SEL implementation, warranted the implementation of this pilot professional development program. The intervention used resources from the Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction’s online SEL modules and CASEL’s 3 Signature Practices Playbook. Mixed methods were used to identify participants' perceptions of SEL, changes in students’ attitudes and behaviors post-intervention, factors contributing to or inhibiting effective implementation, and the modality of the intervention as an effective form of professional development. Data analysis, which included descriptive statistics and manual coding, revealed participants were more knowledgeable and confident when implementing SEL strategies, observed increased student engagement and participation in both the strategies and during lesson activities and noted an increase in positive relationships and a decrease in behavioral issues. Participants also reported that the resources' availability and age-appropriateness contributed to implementation. Participants noted that allotting class time and perceptions of their colleagues were inhibiting factors to implementation. Based on the findings, recommendations include a district-wide approach for best practices, including sustained duration of professional development for all employees, use of the professional development bichronous modality, also known as hybrid virtual learning, and core components of effective professional development.EducationDoctor of Education (Ed.D.
A Reframing off Tilman Riemenschneider's Materiality: A Carver Across Media
No full textArt historical memory extols the South German carver Tilman Riemenschneider (1460-1531) as the quintessential figure and authority within the art form during the Late Gothic period. Particularly, scholarship categorizes him as a sculptor, or at least fixate on his works of lindenwood due to his associations with monochrome sculpture’s beginnings in the region. This thesis calls scholarly writing into question, particularly noting the effect of an art historian’s own context on Riemenschneider’s portrayal in the present. The artist’s use of stone suggests that his place in the art historical record needs to be reexamined to showcase his skill in working across diverse materials. These materials are often highly regional and include alabaster, sandstone limestone, and marble, in addition to the widely discussed limewood. In the geologic and geographic discussion of these materials, the efficiency of Riemenschneider and his workshop is highlighted, as well as his resourcefulness and stylistic influences of the period and region. Mystery surrounds the life of the artist, leading to a skewed view of his contributions to the sculpture. I argue that material mimesis, that is Riemenschneider’s ability to adapt his technique across media while retaining a highly constant style, is a key theme in understanding his balance of high level artistry and attention to art market demands. I contend that he had no preference for specific materials, but rather was able to adapt his technique in his execution of each specific material. Tilman Riemenschneider’s business skills, the efficient organization of his workshop, and awareness of surrounding art enabled him to make his mark on art history, which must be taken into account as well as originality, which is often insisted.Art and Art HistoryBachelors of Arts (BA
A Study on Quantum Compiler for Reconfigurable Neutral Atom Arrays
No full textReconfigurable Neutral Atom Arrays (RAAs) are a new form of realization of quantum circuits which store and arrange the movement of entire rows and columns of neutral atoms. The arrangement of RAAs comes with strict constraints that make routing a challenging optimization problem. Building on the Atomique compiler, this thesis introduces a router utilizing integer linear programming tailored to ICM circuits. The new algorithm produces more efficient schedules with slightly higher fidelity than the original greedy approach. Together, the results confirm that a globally optimized routing framework can meaningfully lower circuit depth without sacrificing fidelity, thus advancing the practical deployment of mobile neutral-atom arrays and paving the way for native support of larger, structurally diverse quantum circuits.Computer ScienceBachelors of Science (BS
Assessing the Carrying Capacity and Sustainability of Bivalve Aquaculture in a Shallow Estuarine Embayment using Mass-Balance Modeling
No full textExtensive aquaculture of both the hard clam (Mercenaria mercenaria) and the Eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica) has been rapidly expanding over the past several decades on the east coast of the United States. Within the Chesapeake Bay, the industry has grown to a scale where many ecosystems in the bay containing large-scale aquaculture operations are now considered agro-ecosystems. High densities of cultured bivalves and the corresponding gear such as protective mesh netting and oyster cages are associated with a variety of ecosystem impacts, including changes to food availability, water quality, nutrient dynamics, and bottom habitat structure. These characteristics of agro-ecosystems are commonly associated with changes to the structure of the resident planktonic, benthic and nektonic communities. Cherrystone Inlet, a shallow tidal inlet on the western coast of Virginia’s Eastern Shore, supports an extensive hard clam aquaculture industry and a growing oyster aquaculture industry. As cultured bivalve populations in the system have grown, questions have emerged about their carrying capacity and potential impacts on the estuarine food web. To assess the ecological impacts and carrying capacity of cultured bivalves in Cherrystone Inlet, an ecosystem mass-balance model was adapted to the system parameterized with data from the literature and a series of field surveys. Model outputs suggest that increased cultured bivalve biomass negatively impacts phytoplankton, crustacean and gelatinous zooplankton, filter-feeding fishes, and certain piscivores through both indirect competitive and bottom-up trophic interactions. Results indicate that cultured bivalve biomass could be increased between 1.24 and 2.97 times current values until their ecological carrying capacity is reached, which first occurs when microzooplankton are grazed out of the system. Similarly, cultured bivalve biomass could be increased between 6.04 and 7.75 times current values until their production carrying capacity is reached, which occurs when phytoplankton have been grazed out of the system and cultured bivalves become food limited. Use of ecological carrying capacities quantified here would maintain the ecological integrity and sustainability of the aquaculture industry in this system and ensure the food web and other human uses remain undisturbed.BiologyBachelors of Science (BS
Investigating Unsupervised Learning Techniques on Cell-Image Data
No full textLarge-scale image datasets have become increasingly valuable in biomedical research, particularly for identifying patterns that are difficult to detect with traditional methods. This thesis investigates the application of dimensionality reduction techniques to high-dimensional cell image data, aiming to uncover hidden patterns relevant to drug discovery. By extracting features from cell images and applying unsupervised learning techniques like principal component analysis (PCA) and t-distributed stochastic neighbor embedding (t-SNE), we identify distinct clusters associated with different mechanisms of action (MoA) of various drug compounds. This clustering suggests that dimensionality reduction can effectively capture complex phenotypic relationships in cellular perturbations, potentially linking specific MOAs to observable changes in cellular data. Such clustering is valuable in drug discovery, as it can enable researchers to predict the effects of new compounds based on the similarity to known MOAs, accelerating the identification of promising drug candidates. This research demonstrates that nonlinear dimensionality reduction methods tend to be superior to linear approaches in capturing complex phenotypic relationships for mechanism of action clustering. However, the findings also highlight the critical need to manage batch effects, as they can obscure true biological signals and lead to misleading conclusions. Addressing batch effects rigorously will enhance the accuracy of phenotype-based drug discovery, allowing dimensionality reduction techniques to more reliably identify biologically meaningful patterns and accelerate therapeutic innovation.MathematicsBachelors of Science (BS
Electrophysiological and behavioral responses of elongated solifuge sensilla to mechanical stimuli
No full textA fundamental understanding of animal sensory systems is crucial for comprehending their interactions with the environment and with other conspecifics. However, knowledge gaps persist, particularly in arachnids like the order Solifugae. While certain solifuge setae and palpal papillae have been studied structurally and electrophysiologically, providing evidence of chemoreception and mechanoreception, the sensilla on their walking legs remain unexplored. Notably, elongated sensilla on the femur and tibia of the 4th walking legs resemble trichobothria in other arachnid orders yet their function remains unknown. Thus, this study investigates whether these sensilla serve a mechanosensory function. Using electrophysiological and behavioral assays on Eremobates pallipes (Eremobatidae), we assessed the response of the elongated 4th leg sensilla to– (i) air particle movement and– (ii) air pressure changes. Air particle movement stimuli were generated using a speaker placed in the near field of the elongated sensilla that emitted low-frequency pure tones (10–1000 Hz). Air pressure stimuli involved forceful blowing on the sensilla. No response to air particle movement was observed, but a mechanosensory response to air pressure stimuli was detected. Electrophysiological data identified a fast-adapting and fast-recovering cell, and behavioral observations revealed a startle response. Our electrophysiology results suggest a mechanosensory role of elongated sensilla on the 4th walking legs of solifuge, indicating that although they are not sensitive enough to detect air particle movement stimuli, they can receive and respond to air pressure stimuli. Our behavioral experiments similarly show that these sensilla are not sensitive enough to detect air particle movement but respond to more forceful mechanosensory stimuli