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A Software Framework for Translating Onnx Models Onto the LACE-C3A Hardware
No full textModern computers are powerful, but they are not always efficient enough for small, low power systems like those used on satellites and scientific instruments. To solve this problem, engineers often turn to FPGAs—reconfigurable computer chips that can be customized to run specific tasks much faster and with far less energy than ordinary processors. However, finding the best possible design for an FPGA program is extremely difficult because there are millions of ways a design could be built, and only a small fraction of them actually perform well. This thesis presents SNOW, a new framework that helps automate the search for better FPGA designs. Instead of relying on guesswork or trial-and-error, SNOW uses an organized, multi-phase exploration process that tests many design possibilities, learns which ideas work best, and gradually focuses on the most promising areas. The framework breaks the search into manageable regions, deploys many “agents” to explore these regions in parallel, and uses statistical methods to guide the search toward better solutions over time. By making this process faster and more efficient, SNOW reduces the time and expertise needed to produce high-quality FPGA implementations. This helps enable advanced computing on small, power-limited systems—such as CubeSats and other space missions—where every watt of power and every gram of hardware matters. The research demonstrates that structured exploration can significantly improve performance while lowering the cost and effort of developing FPGA-based computing systems
The Effects of Lactoferrin and Iron-Enriched Whey on Iron Status of Collegiate Females
No full textIron deficiency has remained a global issue even in developed countries despite food fortification and increased nutritional literacy, biological women of child baring age are at particular risk due to menstruation and reduced dietary intake of iron containing foods compared to men. This issue is of particular concern in athletics due to the critical role of iron in oxygen transport and energy metabolism. With nearly half of female athletes presenting low iron status iron supplementation is often necessary. With iron supplementation often resulting in gastrointestinal symptoms that could negatively impact sport performance itself there is a need to explore other options of iron supplementation. Bovine lactoferrin an iron transport protein found in milk, has gained recent attention due to its potential to both increase iron absorption as well as reduce inflammation resulting from iron supplementation when co-supplemented with iron.
The aim of this thesis was to explore these effects in female athletes as well as determine if any potential effects may be enhanced or diminished by delivery of the supplements within different protein mediums (whey and rice proteins). It did so by way of a 16-week randomized clinical trial. This study analyzed the effects of twice daily supplementation of lactoferrin, ferrous sulfate, and vitamin B12 in whey protein concentrate, rice protein concentrate, or in no protein, on markers or iron status and markers of inflammation. This work suggests modest effects of the supplementation on red blood cell count in all groups and saw no changes in markers of inflammation. While the effects on red blood cell count were significant (p=0.034) these changes were small, and no other markers of iron status including the primary end point of the study serum ferritin showed change, based on these findings it was concluded that 400mg of lactoferrin, 12mg ferrous sulfate, was not sufficient to change serum ferritin, hemoglobin, or hematocrit, over 16 weeks of supplementation regardless of delivery method. More research is needed to further explore effects that may present different dosing strategies
Intrusion Detection for Wireless Sensor Network Using Particle Swarm Optimization Based Explainable Ensemble Machine Learning Approach
No full textWireless Sensor Networks (WSN) play a pivotal role in various domains, including monitoring, security, and data transmission. However, their susceptibility to intrusions poses a significant challenge. This paper proposes a novel Intrusion Detection System (IDS) leveraging Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) and an ensemble machine learning approach combining Random Forest (RF), Decision Tree (DT), and K-Nearest Neighbors (KNN) models to enhance the accuracy and reliability of intrusion detection in WSNs. The system addresses key challenges such as the imbalanced nature of datasets and the evolving complexity of network attacks. By incorporating Synthetic Minority Oversampling Technique Tomek (SMOTE-Tomek) techniques to balance the dataset and employing explainable AI methods such as Local Interpretable Model-agnostic Explanations (LIME) and SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP), the proposed model achieves significant improvements in detection accuracy, precision, recall, and F1 score while providing clear, interpretable results. Extensive experimentation on WSN-DS dataset demonstrates the system’s efficacy, achieving an accuracy of 99.73%, with precision, recall, and F1 score values of 99.72% each, outperforming existing approaches. This work offers a robust, scalable solution for securing WSNs, contributing to both academic research and practical applications
Forb Diversity Globally is Harmed by Nutrient Enrichment but can be Rescued by Large Mammalian Herbivory
No full textForbs (“wildflowers”) are important contributors to grassland biodiversity but are vulnerable to environmental changes. In a factorial experiment at 94 sites on 6 continents, we test the global generality of several broad predictions: (1) Forb cover and richness decline under nutrient enrichment, particularly nitrogen enrichment. (2) Forb cover and richness increase under herbivory by large mammals. (3) Forb richness and cover are less affected by nutrient enrichment and herbivory in more arid climates, because water limitation reduces the impacts of competition with grasses. (4) Forb families will respond differently to nutrient enrichment and mammalian herbivory due to differences in nutrient requirements. We find strong evidence for the first, partial support for the second, no support for the third, and support for the fourth prediction. Our results underscore that anthropogenic nitrogen addition is a major threat to grassland forbs, but grazing under high herbivore intensity can offset these nutrient effects
Enantioconvergent Benzylic C(sp\u3csup\u3e3\u3c/sup\u3e)‒N Coupling With a Copper-Substituted Nonheme Enzyme
No full textCopper-catalyzed radical C(sp3)‒N coupling has become a major focus in synthetic catalysis over the past decade. However, achieving this reaction manifold by using enzymes has remained elusive. In this study, we introduce a photobiocatalytic approach for radical benzylic C(sp3)‒N coupling using a copper-substituted nonheme enzyme. Using rhodamine B as a photoredox catalyst, we identified a copper-substituted phenylalanine hydroxylase that facilitates enantioconvergent decarboxylative amination between N-hydroxyphthalimide esters and anilines. Directed evolution remodeled the active site, resulting in high enantioselectivities for most substrates. On the basis of molecular modeling and mechanistic studies, we propose that the enzyme accommodates a copper-anilide complex that reacts with a benzylic radical. This study expands the scope of non-natural biocatalytic transition metal catalysis to copper-catalyzed radical coupling
Microbiome Metabolic Capacity is Buffered Against Phylotype Losses by Functional Redundancy
No full textMany animals contain a species-rich and diverse gut microbiota that likely contributes to several host-supportive services that include diet processing and nutrient provisioning. Loss of microbiome taxa and their associated metabolic functions as result of perturbations may result in loss of microbiome-level services and reduction of metabolic capacity. If metabolic functions are shared by multiple taxa (i.e., functional redundancy), including deeply divergent lineages, then the impact of taxon/function losses may be dampened. We examined to what degree alterations in phylotype diversity impact microbiome-level metabolic capacity. Feeding two nutritionally imbalanced diets to omnivorous Periplaneta americana over 8 weeks reduced the diversity of their phylotype-rich gut microbiomes by ~25% based on 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing, yet PICRUSt2-inferred metabolic pathway richness was largely unaffected due to their being polyphyletic. We concluded that the nonlinearity between taxon and metabolic functional losses is due to microbiome members sharing many well-characterized metabolic functions, with lineages remaining after perturbation potentially being capable of preventing microbiome “service outages” due to functional redundancy
Tax Strategy Disclosure: A Greenwashing Mandate?
No full textWe investigate the effects of a qualitative tax disclosure mandate aimed at improving tax transparency and compliance by imposing reputational costs for firms. We use, as an exogenous shock, the 2016 UK reform that required large businesses to disclose their tax strategy. We find that treated firms—those that must publish a tax strategy report—also significantly increase the volume of tax strategy disclosure in their annual reports, but this disclosure contains more boilerplate. The standalone tax strategy reports contain narratives similar to those in the annual reports, are sticky, and their quality is correlated with those of disclosures on gender and human rights. Turning to real behavioral changes, we document no significant effect on tax planning across several proxies and firm characteristics. While we find that the mandate increased media attention on treated firms, our results suggest that this enforcement channel might not work in the context of qualitative disclosure, which may be hard to verify for outside stakeholders. Even in subsamples of firms for which we would expect higher reputational costs, we document similar responses. Taken together, our findings indicate that mandating qualitative tax disclosure has incentivized firms to portray themselves as good tax citizens without changing their practices
Virtual Teaching During COVID-19: Attitudes, Abilities, and Educational Needs of Cooperative Extension Staff
No full textAccess the online Pressbooks version of this introduction here.
This study aimed to 1) identify the attitudes and abilities of Cooperative Extension staff regarding the delivery of virtual educational programming based on their characteristics and 2) identify professional development priorities to effectively deliver programming virtually. We disseminated an adapted Faculty Readiness to Teach Online questionnaire to Cooperative Extension staff via Qualtrics. Mean and standard deviation were calculated from complete surveys (n = 67) for each virtual programming competency in the self-reported attitude and ability sections, categorized by position type, years of teaching, and program area. We conducted a MANCOVA to identify group differences in self-reported attitudes and abilities of the virtual programming competencies. No significant differences existed between groups when comparing individual attitudes or ability competencies. Significant differences existed between program area and total abilities but not attitudoesm cpared to those in home and family. The preferred method of professional development included workshops and webinars. Over half of the respondents identified several professional development topics as priority areaisn, cluding Kaltura, Google Workspace, Adobe Creative Cloud, and iMovie. This study confirmed the need for additional professional development regardless of program area or years of experience. Creating an organizational, professional development plan that incorporates accessibility training, utilizes self-assessment for new hires, and provides a virtual resource bank can support staff members in effectively navigating virtual teaching tools and platforms
Bonding SS316L and IN625 Through Laser Powder Bed Fusion and Directed Energy Deposition: A Comparative Tensile Analysis
No full textDirected Energy Deposition (DED) was used to deposit Inconel 625 (IN625) onto 316L stainless steel (SS316L) substrates fabricated by Laser Powder Bed Fusion. Tensile properties of the resulting multi-material specimens were compared to those of the individual alloys. Two bonding approaches were evaluated: a direct transition and a 50/50 intermediate layer formed by blending equal parts of each alloy during deposition. The multi-material specimens demonstrated higher yield strength than the single alloys. However, samples with the 50/50 transition exhibited brittle failure at the joint, whereas the direct transition behaved more ductile. Scanning Electron Microscopy revealed microcracks at the interface of the 50/50 transition, and Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy detected aluminum oxide particles in the DED-IN625 samples. These results underscore the importance of transition design in multi-material components and provide guidance for optimizing mechanical performance in demanding applications such as in extreme conditions, particularly where structural integrity and high-performance bonding are critical
Academic Standards Subcommittee Minutes December 18, 2025
No full textWelcome and approval of November 20, 2025 minutes Topic 1: Proposed Academic Grievance Policy rewrite Topic 2: Proposal to add Bachelor of Applied Sciences (BAS) academic degree requirements Topic 3: Information Ite