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DEVELOPMENT OF SYNTHETIC TEST CIRCUIT FOR EVALUATING THE PERFORMANCE OF A SUPERCRITICAL CO2 CIRCUIT BREAKER
No full textThis research focuses on evaluating the performance of an environmentally friendly supercritical CO2 (scCO2)-based circuit breaker using a synthetic test circuit. Currently, sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) is the industry standard for high-voltage circuit breakers due to its exceptional dielectric strength and effective arc-quenching capabilities. However, SF6 poses significant environmental risks if released into the atmosphere, primarily due to its high global warming potential. Transitioning from SF6 to scCO2 as the arc-quenching medium offers a promising solution to mitigate these environmental concerns while maintaining the reliability and efficiency of power systems. The synthetic test circuit employed in this study is specifically designed to replicate realistic fault conditions, enabling a thorough evaluation of the circuit breaker’s performance. The term ”synthetic” refers to the circuit’s capability to independently generate high current and high voltage conditions. On the high-current side, a series resonant circuit generates kiloampere-range currents at a specific frequency, simulating fault scenarios within the arcing chamber of the breaker. The facility is designed so that after the arc is extinguished, a separate high-voltage circuit can be engaged to assess the breaker’s vulnerability to restrikes. This dissertation details the design, construction,and validation of this complete synthetic test facility and, in doing so, investigates the potential of scCO2 as a viable replacement for SF6 by documenting its arc-quenching characteristics, providing valuable insights into its application in high-voltage power systems
Evaluation of baiting strategies and calcified structures for Grass Carp management in the Laurentian Great Lakes and Mississippi River
No full textBigheaded Carp Hypophthalmichthys spp and Grass Carp Ctenopharyngodon idella pose
threats to ecosystems. Removal efforts could be improved by leveraging formulated baits.
Baits have yet to be tested in the field therefore, Grass Carp were tagged in the Sandusky
River to evaluate responses to baits. Grass Carp favored the rapeseed bait and responses
were dependent on the distance prior to feeding, backwater habitats, and early fall.
Methodology was implemented into the Upper Mississippi River (UMR) to evaluate
Bighead, Silver, and Grass Carp responses to the rapeseed bait. Bigheaded Carp activity
was greatest among rapeseed in fall when spawning and flooding ceased. Like the
Sandusky River, distance prior to feeding was critical for a response from an individual.
This management strategy could be viable within certain timeframes but may be spatially
confined. Managers use standardized calcified structures to evaluate dynamic rates of
stocks. Understanding dynamic rates of Grass Carp is critical for evaluating removal
efforts, but a standardized structure is absent. Independent readers evaluated five
structures, and annuli counts suggested that sectioned vertebrae were the most precise
followed by pectoral fin rays, dorsal fin rays, and lapilli otoliths. These results may
provide insight into possible age biases among Grass Carp structures
Refining the Autism Spectrum Disorder Attention Profile (ASDAP) : Attention Assessment in ASD
No full textColor poster with text, charts, and graphs.The Autism Spectrum Disorder Attention Profile (ASDAP) is an unpublished protocol designed to measure 15 attention-related factors identified in research. Attention is a key behavioral phenotype affecting 50–70% of individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), yet it is not formally recognized as a defining trait of ASD (Hours et al., 2022). The original study aimed to develop a protocol for assessing attention and to determine which ASDAP factors consistently reflected attention across five participants. With IRB approval, participants with existing or probable ASD diagnoses were recruited and assessed through informal clinical observations at the UWEC CCD clinic and caregiver interviews. Observations took place during informal therapy sessions, and caregiver-reported data were integrated into the ASDAP for a more comprehensive assessment across different environments. Data analysis, completed in spring 2024, revealed key areas for improvement, leading to a full redesign of the protocol. These refinements aim to enhance the ASDAP’s validity and increase its practicality. We are optimistic that our changes will result in more effective attention assessments in individuals with ASD. Future research will focus on testing the revised protocol in a larger sample to establish its clinical utility.University of Wisconsin--Eau Claire Office of Research and Sponsored Program
Student Perceptions of Cultural Variability Presented in Academic Coursework
No full textColor poster with text, images, charts, and graphs.The primary purpose of this research is to gain insight into undergraduate CSD student perspectives on representation of a range of populations in their course materials and content at UW-Eau Claire. We are aiming to understand undergraduate CSD students' familiarity with individual variability in communication and how diverse human experiences are presented in academic coursework. CSD students were surveyed about academic experiences across content areas of the field, rating their familiarity with how cultural differences can affect communication, cognition, and swallowing for the individuals we serve. Preliminary results indicate a relative lack of familiarity with swallowing disorders (i.e., dysphagia) vs other content areas, as well as greater familiarity with individual variability and cultural differences across content areas for students who were near the end of their academic career (e.g., seniors). Quantitative and qualitative data about student perspectives will be discussed.University of Wisconsin--Eau Claire Office of Research and Sponsored Program
See, Hear, and Understand: Benchmarking Audiovisual Human Speech Understanding in Multimodal Large Language Models
No full textSenior Honors Thesis, Department of Computer Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Madison"Multimodal large language models (MLLMs) are expected to jointly interpret vision, audio, and language, yet existing video benchmarks rarely assess fine-grained reasoning about human speech. Many tasks remain visually solvable or only coarsely evaluate speech, offering limited insight into whether models can align who speaks, what is said, and when it occurs. We introduce AV-SpeakerBench, a curated benchmark of 3,212 multiple-choice questions focused on speaker-centric audiovisual reasoning in real-world videos. It features: (1) a speaker-centered formulation that treats speakers—not scenes—as the core reasoning unit; (2) fusion-grounded question design embedding audiovisual dependencies into question semantics; and (3) expert-curated annotations ensuring temporal precision and cross-modal validity. Comprehensive evaluations show that the Gemini family consistently outperforms open-source systems, with Gemini 2.5 Pro achieving the best results. Among open models, Qwen3-Omni-30B approaches Gemini 2.0 Flash but remains far behind Gemini 2.5 Pro, primarily due to weaker audio-visual fusion rather than visual perception. We believe AV-SpeakerBench establishes a rigorous foundation for advancing fine-grained audiovisual reasoning in future multimodal systems.
Quantifying Nitrate Leaching from Agricultural Soils
No full textThis article was written by the UW-Madison Division of Extension Ag Water Quality Program and is posted online at agwater.extension.wisc.eduMinimizing nitrogen (N) loss to groundwater is important for human health, the environment, and long-term farm profitability. Quantifying nitrate leaching – a primary pathway of nitrogen loss from agricultural fields – can help you understand the influence of different management practices on water quality, and identify options for reducing nitrate leaching.
Here we outline several common ways to quantify nitrate leaching (Figure 1). We focus on the nitrate form of nitrogen (and not nitrite or ammonium) because nitrate is typically present in higher concentrations. Most of the methods described can be used to measure other forms of N leaching as well. Each method has different benefits and tradeoffs in terms of data accuracy, equipment needed, and time and labor requirements, which are discussed below.
When choosing a method, start with the specific question you want to answer and work backwards to determine the most appropriate and feasible approach. Table 2 at the end of this article highlights some common research questions around nitrate leaching and agricultural practices.
No matter which method you use, it’s important to keep detailed records of the amount of N applied (e.g., in fertilizer, manure, or through irrigation) and the crop yields. These values will help put your results in context
Mitigation of Spatial Bias in Social Media Data for Disaster Relief
No full textA thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science Cartography & Geographic Information Systems at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2025.Social media platforms generate large volumes of geotagged data that are becoming more valuable for disaster response and situational awareness. However, the opportunistic and skewed nature of Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) makes it spatially biased, making such data less representative and distorting disaster relief efforts. This study proposes a new method to mitigate the effects of this spatial bias in geotagged social media data, specifically tweets made during Hurricane Sandy in New York City. The study uses environmental covariates like building density, elevation, distance to shoreline, and Modified Normalized Difference Water Index (MNDWI) to measure the representativeness of tweet samples in each covariate space. Two optimization techniques, Genetic Algorithm (GA) and Stochastic Gradient Descent (SGD)-based optimization, were used to determine an optimal weight for individual tweets to adjust their spatial representation by improving their distribution in the covariate space. This study found that the mitigation process is effective and that the SGD-based approach significantly outperformed GA, with overall similarity scores increasing from 0.679 (initial) to 0.895. The improvement was particularly notable in flood-sensitive areas, as evidenced by the MNDWI similarity score rising from 0.605 to 0.948. The weighted tweet maps generated using the optimized weights identified the disaster-affected areas more effectively and were in close agreement with the official inundation data published by FEMA.
This research contributes a scalable and data-driven framework for spatial bias mitigation in social media data and helps enhance the reliability of such data in post-disaster mapping and response planning
EFFECTS OF A NOVEL ERβ AGONIST ON MEMORY, HOT FLASHES, ANXIETY, AND UTERINE AND BODY WEIGHT IN AN EFAD MOUSE MODEL OF AZLHEIMER’S DISEASE
No full textAlzheimer’s disease (AD) disproportionately affects women, a disparity partly attributed to the loss of estrogens at menopause and the presence of the APOE4 allele—the strongest genetic risk factor for late-onset AD. Estrogen replacement therapy (ERT) can alleviate menopausal symptoms and support cognitive function, yet its use is limited by adverse peripheral effects and variable efficacy across APOE genotypes. Selective activation of estrogen receptor β (ERβ), which is associated with neuroprotection and minimal uterotrophic effects, may represent a safer and more targeted therapeutic strategy. The present thesis investigated whether the novel ERβ agonist EGX358 could enhance memory and reduce vasomotor symptoms in aged female EFAD mice carrying human APOE3, APOE3/4, or APOE4 alleles. Specifically, we examined the extent to which APOE genotype influences the cognitive and physiological outcomes of EGX358. Mice received daily oral gavage treatments of either vehicle (10% DMSO in 0.9% saline), β-cyclodextrin-encapsulated estradiol (E2; Sigma-Aldrich, 0.2 mg/kg), or the highly selective ERβ agonist EGX358 (0.5 mg/kg). Because ERα and ERβ can differ in expression levels depending on brain region and disease state, differences in receptor abundance could influence behavioral or molecular outcomes. In our study, we did not calibrate or measure receptor concentrations directly, so our conclusions are based on the pharmacological selectivity of the compounds rather than quantified receptor levels. Behavioral testing revealed genotype-dependent effects of estrogenic treatments on object recognition (OR) and object placement (OP) memory. In E3FAD females, EGX358 improved OR but not OP memory, while no enhancement was observed in E3/4FAD or E4FAD mice. Estradiol (E2) improved OR performance in E3FADs but impaired it in E4FADs, suggesting a detrimental effect of E2 within the APOE4 background. Neither treatment influenced anxiety-like behavior. Furthermore, E2—but not EGX358—increased uterine weight, confirming that EGX358 exerts central benefits without peripheral estrogenic stimulation. Collectively, these findings demonstrate that the cognitive efficacy of estrogenic therapies is modulated by APOE genotype and support the therapeutic potential of ERβ-selective activation as a strategy to mitigate cognitive and menopausal symptoms while minimizing adverse effects.2027-12-2
A Study in Purple: An Investigation into the Genetics of Anthocyanin Accumulation in Cannabis sativa
No full textCannabis sativa L. is an emerging crop with a variety of uses for its nutritious grains, long bast fibers, and significant public interest in its secondary metabolites. Anthocyanins are a class of secondary metabolites which provide visible purple and pink pigments in plants, driving consumer preferences in the floral cannabis market and enhancing abiotic stress tolerance. Identifying and characterizing the candidate gene(s) responsible for anthocyanin accumulation in C. sativa will create new opportunities for developing cultivars with heightened levels of these compounds. Prior mapping studies implicated a region on chromosome 6 putatively influencing leaf and flower pigmentation traits in two independent populations (S. Kim, Unpublished). To help identify potential candidate genes responsible for anthocyanin biosynthesis in leaf, flower, and stem tissues, and validate previous marker associations in C. sativa, an F1 population replicated from prior studies was used to identify significant SNP marker clusters associated with each trait using a genome wide association study (GWAS). This analysis validated the presence of a significant marker cluster on chromosome 6 from 66.75Mb-75.77Mb associated with flower anthocyanin, and containing the putative subgroup 6 R2R3-MYB transcription factor CsMYB78. A new significant marker cluster on chromosome 1associated with stem and leaf anthocyanin was also revealed from 85.08Mb-87.92Mb. Following this, CsMYB78 and CsMYB33, previously reported candidate genes from Kundan et al. (2022) were transformed into C. sativa plants at the Wisconsin Crop Innovation Center (WCIC). Initial results of generated T0 plants show a counterintuitive pattern of pigmentation with CsMYB78 failing to induce strong anthocyanin accumulation and CsMYB33 inducing strong accumulation across tissues. The results of these experiments will be invaluable in future breeding efforts focused on creating and maintaining purple cannabis cultivars, as well as in advancing our understanding of transcriptional regulation mechanisms of cannabis
One more drink: The impacts of college student binge drinking and the effectiveness of alcohol education and enforcement
No full textBinge drinking is defined as “a pattern of drinking alcohol that brings blood alcohol concentration (BAC) to 0.08% … or more” (National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism [NIAAA], 2023, p. 1). To address a research gap related to the effectiveness of efforts to combat binge drinking among college students, this mixed-methods study obtained statistics and current enforcement and educational initiative information from university student affairs and police leaders at 13 four-year institutions in a large State University System in the Midwest, as well as any unique circumstances and major influences on their respective institutions’ alcohol culture. The findings of this study did not show a statistically significant impact of alcohol enforcement or educational intervention efforts on the measured college students’ binge drinking-related consequences—citations, hospitalizations/detoxifications, and deaths—or a statistically significant impact of medical amnesty policies on hospitalizations/detoxifications and deaths. To assist with consistently measuring future data, it is recommended that higher education leaders standardize data collection practices in these areas with peer institutions. Future researchers should also attempt to obtain student perspectives of these initiatives to assist with determining what level(s) of tolerance, amnesty, education, and enforcement are meeting the evolving needs of today’s students