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The Buzz about Mosquitoes and their Management
No full textThe Buzz about Mosquitoes and their Managemen
Recommendations for best practices and ways forward for exit-based intervention strategies for children and adolescents who are victims of sex trafficking in the United States.
No full textA seminar paper presented to the graduate faculty at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville.
In partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Master of Science - Criminal JusticeThis paper summarizes the research that has been conducted in the U.S. on the three main types of exit-base intervention, screening processes, hotlines, and task force, in order to identify established best practices, any significant gaps in the literature, and common roadblocks to these initiatives in a practical setting as it relates to minor sex trafficking. Several different models of minor sex trafficking victimization are discussed to give grounding along with some ecological models to usefully frame risk factors. Screening processes were found to have a number of validated and proven examples, but with validation studies limited to certain fields, with juvenile justice systems being wholly unrepresented until recently despite their importance. Additionally, concerns are discussed relating to any of these screeners being applicable to especially young victims. Limited research on direct effectiveness is found for hotlines as exit-based intervention, but they are found to be useful for information dissemination and as tools for task forces. Best practices in this regard are found to be consistent with rapport building and interview strategies for the sexual abuse of children. Tasks forces are found to be useful in nearly every capacity but with significant roadblocks to their proper implementations. Mainly in terms of funding and interdepartmental conflict and lack of general structure which is remedied in many governmental task forces through their more rigid command structure and clear leadership
Covalent Organic Framework Based Membranes for Desalination and Ion Separation
No full textAccess to clean water remains one of the most critical global challenges, with only a small fraction of Earth’s freshwater readily accessible. Membrane-based separation technologies such as nanofiltration (NF) and reverse osmosis (RO) play a vital role in addressing water scarcity through contaminant removal and desalination. However, conventional polyamide (PA)-based thin-film composite (TFC) NF membranes, typically fabricated via interfacial polymerization (IP), are constrained by an intrinsic trade-off between water permeance and ion selectivity. To overcome these limitations, this research explores the integration of covalent organic frameworks (COFs)—crystalline, porous materials—as functional layers within NF membrane architectures.This thesis presents the fabrication and performance evaluation of COF membranes, such as PA membranes constructed on COF interlayers (crystalline and amorphous). These membranes exhibited improved nanofiltration performance compared to conventional PA membranes, owing to more uniform morphology, narrower pore size distribution, and enhanced surface charge. A dual-layer PA/crystalline COF membrane demonstrated excellent rejection of divalent salts (e.g., 99.6% for Na₂SO₄) and superior monovalent/divalent selectivity (NaCl/Na₂SO₄ ≈ 137), along with high water flux. Further, as we know, a serious threat to the environment and human health is dye contamination of wastewater, especially in sectors like textiles that generate significant amounts of effluent. Numerous industrial dyes pose serious threats to human health and aquatic life since they are not only poisonous but also have the potential to cause cancer. In order to tackle this, a freestanding ionic TpBD-(SO₃)₂ COF thin film membrane with a pore size of 2.8 nm and dense sulfonic acid functionality was successfully synthesized and transferred onto a PAN substrate. This membrane exhibited exceptional salt/dye selectivity up to 537.8 at varying pH conditions—and high-water flux (173.52 L·m⁻²·h⁻¹), making it ideal for industrial wastewater treatment. With the focus on desalination, we developed single-layer, dual-layer, and triple-layer COF membranes synthesized via a counter-diffusion method. COFs, including TpPa-1, TpPa-2, and sulfonated TpPa-SO₃H were employed with tailored pore sizes and functional groups to enhance separation performance. In a triple-layer configuration, a TpPa-SO₃H top layer over TpPa-1/TpPa-2 bases achieved 95% Na₂SO₄ rejection, highlighting the tunability of COF structure for precise separations. Additionally, the chemical stability of TpPa-1 and TpPa-SO₃H COF membranes under free chlorine exposure (1 ppm – 1000 ppm) was systematically evaluated for the first time, confirming their robustness for practical use. Collectively, this work demonstrates the potential of COF-based membrane systems to surpass the conventional performance boundaries of NF membranes by enabling high permeance, superior ion and dye selectivity, and chemical durability. These findings contribute to the advancement of sustainable and efficient membrane technologies for water purification and environmental remediation.2026-06-0
Scaffolding vocational college student English learning in China via online platforms
No full textA seminar paper presented to the graduate faculty at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville.
In partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Master of science in education - English educationAlong with the accelerating pace of education reform around the world, online learning is becoming a worldwide approach in the education field. With more and more English-learning materials being provided through the internet systems, mobile applications, and multimedia devices, the teaching resources have actually become significantly digitized, which enables learners to get access to those learning materials easily anytime and anywhere. At the same time, teaching approaches have been stimulated to be innovated with those online tools, such as blended learning and flipped classrooms. In those teaching contexts, teachers can conduct customized instructions with online platforms, and learners can pick the learning content and schedule according to their own demands simultaneously. Meanwhile, students of the 21st century are a generation who spend more time engaging in the internet platforms than viewing television. Students’ fundamental English skills differ from one person to another, some students are at lower proficiency levels and struggling to adapt to the fast-paced teaching with various digitized materials. From a teacher’s perspective, some of them lack the skills to utilize the technical benefits to facilitate their teaching process. Therefore, this paper focuses on three research questions: (1) The definition or the explanation of scaffolding through network or online scaffolds. (2) What challenges will be faced with the implementation of online scaffolds? (3) What are the solutions to the challenges?
By adopting a literature research method, this paper categorizes the theory of scaffolding instruction, Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) theory, the application of online platforms in education, the existing status and obstacles of higher vocational English education, and the practical instances of information technology in higher vocational education. Through thorough analysis of the literature, this paper will synthesize existing study findings and identify cutting-edge factors to recommend an online platform-based scaffolding English teaching approach which could be customized to the characteristics of vocational English education in China This paper will also lay out certain contexts based on workplace scenarios
Building the Future of Water: MMSD’s Pathway from Education to Career
No full textBuilding the Future of Water: MMSD’s Pathway from Education to Caree
Cultivating Equity in Elementary Art Curriculum Using Content Analysis
No full textThe unequal representation of artwork created by Artists of Color in educational resources and the lack of teacher training contribute to the lack of culturally responsive practices in today’s schools. When the majority of the artwork displayed in art rooms represents male, white Europeans, it sends a silent message to the students that one group's artwork is more worthy of inclusion and valued more than another. In order to work towards transforming our current educational programs, we need to understand the degree of disparities in art resources and remove obstacles that prevent teachers from creating inclusive curricula. This study was born out of the need to understand where teachers go for resources and how do they inform their choices. As well as, how and to what degree Artists of Color are represented in the resources they use? Two theoretical frameworks guide the study: Critical Social Pedagogy and Critical Multicultural Art Education. This qualitative-transformative study focuses on the lack of representation in art resources of groups and individuals historically marginalized. There were three primary data sources: a meta-synthesis of literature, a survey of visual art teachers, and a content analysis of popular visual art resources. The key findings were• Regardless of background, elementary art teachers primarily choose resources that involve human interaction (other educators, social media, conferences). • School districts limit where elementary art teachers can go for resources by placing barriers such as funding restrictions and content-specific training. • Elementary art teachers chose the least inclusive resources (other educators, social media, conferences) the most and the most inclusive resources (textbooks, purchased curricula) the least. The findings from this study may lead schools to acknowledge that art teachers often work alone and have limited time to collaborate. Schools must support art teachers by allowing them to purchase inclusive resources and providing content-specific training to equip art teachers with the skills needed to cultivate inclusive curricula
Investigation of fuel property impacts on ignition and combustion characteristics in MCCI engines and CN measuring devices
No full textAs efforts to decarbonize the transportation sector continue, the use of alternative fuels in compression ignition (CI) engines has received increased attention. These fuels often diverge from petroleum-derived fuels in physical and chemical properties, raising questions about the abilities of traditional fuel characterization methods, particularly the derived cetane number (DCN), for predicting combustion behavior. This work investigates the combustion behavior of two DCN-matched fuel blends,
methanol-dibutyl ether and toluene-dibutyl ether, in both a single-cylinder optical CI engine and a constant-volume combustion chamber known as the Ignition Quality Tester (IQT). Despite matching derived cetane numbers (DCN), significant differences in ignition behavior were observed between the fuels under engine conditions. Further experiments in the IQT suggested that the standard definition of start of combustion used by the IQT may not accurately reflect the onset of sustained combustion. A revised start of combustion metric was developed to consistently identify the start of main ignition and a new correlation between DCN and ignition delay was developed using D613 reference fuels to improve fidelity and correlate the ignition delay with cetane number tests. Variations of temperature and equivalence ratio were conducted to isolate the effect of thermodynamic properties, termed enthalpy demand, on ignition delay. Results demonstrated that increased fuel mass led to chamber temperature depression and extended ignition delays were primarily attributed to enthalpy demand differences that varied across fuels. By applying a first-law-based enthalpy correction, ignition delays were shown to follow Arrhenius temperature dependence, as observed in simulation work. This work concludes that thermodynamic effects, especially enthalpy demand, may influence ignition delay in both the IQT and engine environments and the magnitude of impact in each platform may be different. The magnitude and significance of these effects need to be considered when using IQT data to predict engine-relevant behavior. A framework for identifying and correcting these discrepancies is proposed, with implications for the future design of fuel characterization protocols and CN testing platforms.Army Research Laboratory and was accomplished under Cooperative Agreement Number W911NF-16-2-0157
INJURY SEVERITY ASSESSMENT OF BICYCLE CRASHES ON RURAL ROADWAYS IN WISCONSIN
No full textThe purpose of this research is to determine the crash types involving cyclists on two-lane rural roads in Wisconsin and their attributes. Table 33 summarizes the findings based on manner of collisions. The summary shows that “front to side” and “no collision with vehicle in transport” are the main collisions to focus on. The collisions make up 25% and 22% of all collisions, respectively. These collisions show that no matter whether there is a denser population area or not, that there is a miscommunication between drivers and cyclists. This lack of communication can be helped with the insertion of rumble strips, specifically on shoulders. The rumble strips can help both cyclists and drivers become aware when they are swerving into other lanes. This awareness can help prevent “front to side” and “no collision with vehicle in transport” crashes. “Front to side” collisions may happen if a driver is distracted or trying to avoid opposite traffic. There can be several reasons for “no collision with vehicle in transport”, but this most likely happens when a cyclist sees a vehicle reducing lateral clearance and maneuvers to avoid contact. Another major collision type is “sideswipe in the same direction.” “Sideswipe in the same direction” makes up 17% of all manner of collisions. This collision type happens when the distance between the driver and cyclist is reduced suddenly. It may be due to a driver moving closer to the shoulder to avoid oncoming traffic. This manner of collision may also be reduced by installing rumble strips
Effective components of a jail-based competency program (JBCR) and outpatient competency Program (OCRP)
No full textThe intersection between mental health and the criminal justice system has caused a public health crisis in the United States, leading to increasing competency evaluation and restoration referrals. This has resulted in jails being overcrowded and defendants with significant mental illness decompensating and awaiting competency restoration. Despite the increased demand for competency restoration services and over half of the United States allowing for jail-based (JBCR) and outpatient competency restoration programs (OCRP), only 14 states actively have these programs. Various JBCR and OCRP were examined to provide effective components for states without JBCR and OCRP models. JBCR and OCRP models have successfully placed defendants in the least restrictive environment to address competency restoration. Two evidence-based theoretical frameworks advocate that utilizing a Risk, Need, Responsivity (RNR) and Good Lives Model (GLM) reduces recidivism for justice-involved individuals. If criminal justice agencies, policymakers, current state Department of Health Services, and contracted human service agencies implement the effective components of a JBCR and OCRP, coupled with the RNR and GLM, they will have the ability to streamline competency restoration services along with reducing recidivism rates for justice-involved individuals who live with significant mental illness
Validating Habitat Conservation Models: UAS-Based Density Estimation of Breeding Ducks and Sensitivity Analysis of the Wisconsin Waterfowl Habitat Conservation Strategy
No full textIn the early 20th century, waterfowl populations in North America faced sharp declines primarily due to overharvesting and habitat loss. In response, the North American Waterfowl Management Plan (NAWMP) was established in 1986, emphasizing habitat management as a key strategy for waterfowl recovery. Through NAWMP, Joint Venture committees were formed to implement conservation strategies across ecologically distinct regions. In the Midwestern United States, the Upper Mississippi River and Great Lakes Region Joint Venture developed a regional waterfowl conservation strategy, which the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources later adapted into the Wisconsin Waterfowl Habitat Conservation Strategy (WWHCS) in 2020. This strategy outlines a decision support tool that prioritizes Wisconsin’s HUC-12 watersheds for habitat restoration and retention based on several biological and social conservation objectives. The model assigns priority levels to watersheds ranging from level 1 (low priority) to level 9 (high priority), guiding conservation efforts to areas with the highest priority. Priority levels are determined by a committee of experts and stakeholders, who assign weights to each objective based on its relative importance to conservation. To ensure the WWHCS effectively guides conservation, we validated the model’s breeding distribution objective, as the reproductive success and survival of breeding ducks are key drivers of population growth. Using uncrewed aerial systems (UAS) with thermal cameras, we surveyed breeding pairs and broods in Wisconsin during the 2022 and 2023 breeding seasons. We applied line-transect distance sampling to estimate waterfowl densities and assess UAS as a tool for monitoring breeding waterfowl (Chapter II). The data we collected during UAS surveys was then used to validate the WWHCS’s breeding distribution objective. We used pair and brood presence and densities to verify breeding distributions and assess habitat quality across different priority watersheds (Chapter III). Lastly, we conducted a sensitivity analysis to examine how varying weights for model objectives impact priority level designations (Chapter IV). The findings from each chapter in this study can guide more targeted management decisions to optimize habitat restoration and retention across Wisconsin