Open Research Oklahoma (Oklahoma State Univ.)
Not a member yet
42035 research outputs found
Sort by
Land, laws, and identity: State restrictions and foreign ownership of U.S. agriculture
No full textThis thesis examines the impact of state laws restricting foreign ownership of agricultural land in the United States, exploring the causal relationship between these legislative measures and the percentage of agricultural land owned by foreign entities. Using the two-way fixed effects (2WFE) model with varying lag structures, the analysis focuses on states that have enacted restrictions and compares them to states with no such restrictions by using USDA data from 2010-2021. Drawing on theories of political economy, the thesis delves into the political motivations behind these laws and evaluates their effect. By examining the motivations behind these legislative measures, this research sheds light on the complex dynamics between state-level policy, economic interests, and national security concerns. It also evaluates the effectiveness of these policies in reducing foreign-held agricultural land, while considering broader political and economic pressures shaping the outcomes. Ultimately, this thesis offers a critical analysis of how state laws on foreign ownership may impact the future of U.S. agricultural land and the ongoing debates surrounding foreign investment in agriculture
Enhancing the guest experience at Our Daily Bread
No full textThis report evaluates the issue of long guest wait times at Our Daily Bread Food and Resource Center (ODB) and proposes solutions by analyzing both the operational processes of the shopping sessions and the physical layout of the facility. Addressing this problem is critical to ensuring that Our Daily Bread can continue to serve its guests with dignity and respect.
Our Daily Bread is a grocery store-style food pantry that allows guests to choose groceries for their households. They offer three shopping sessions per week and one on the third Saturday of each month, each of which is two and a half hours long. Originally established in 2017 with the goal of serving 200 to 300 households per month, Our Daily Bread now serves approximately 1,400 households per month. As the number of guests per session has increased, so have wait times. This has led to scenarios where guests are waiting upwards of two hours to enter the shopping floor. The goal of this project is to reduce the total time a guest spends at Our Daily Bread to under one hour—divided into a maximum of 30 minutes waiting and 30 minutes shopping.
To achieve this goal, we focused on two main areas: process and layout. For the process, we developed a system to collect guest wait time data, conducted data collection, analyzed the results using Excel and Python, and built a simulation model in Simio to test the effects of various parameters. For the layout, we created an as-is diagram of the facility, collaborated with the client to develop a relationship diagram, and applied systematic layout planning to produce three potential configurations.
For the process, we recommend adding one session per week, reducing session duration to two hours, and increasing the number of shopping carts to 25. Using our simulation, we found that implementing these changes reduce wait time by 38%.
For the layout, we recommend implementing a cost-effective design that effectively utilizes ODB’s newly-acquired space, that further separates the guest and volunteer entrances, and that brings administrative spaces closer together. Using systematic layout planning, we developed three potential layout alternatives
African American women in education leadership: A phenomenological case study
No full textThis qualitative phenomenological case study examined the leadership experiences of five African American women in education leadership through the lens of standpoint theory and the glass ceiling boundary farmwork. Despite evidence suggesting positive correlations between student success and leadership representation, African American women remain significantly underrepresented in education leadership. Using purposeful criterion sampling within an urban school district, this research explored barriers, intersectional challenges, and theoretical explanations for these phenomena. Data collected included semi-structured interviews and district documentation. Four prominent themes emerged: importance of mentorship and networks, navigation of identity and authenticity, family support systems, and faith as a foundational support. Participants developed sophisticated strategies for maintaining authentic leadership while navigating environments with conflicting race and gender expectations. Findings revealed participants leveraged their unique standpoint to develop heightened situational awareness while encountering barriers across societal, organization, and individual levels. Faith emerged as a critical resource providing both personal strength and a framework for authentic leadership development. Recommendations include implementing structured mentorship programs specifically for African American women, creating transparent leadership pathways, and recognizing the emotional tax these leaders experience. This study contributes to educational leadership literature by illuminating how African American women leaders construct support networks and utilize cultural resources to overcome systemic barriers
Effect of resultant force direction in single point diamond turning of brittle single crystal materials
No full textSingle crystal calcium fluoride (CaF₂) and single crystal germanium (Ge) are brittle materials that are well-suited for manufacturing lenses and optical components because of their excellent transmissivity in the ultraviolet and infrared range. The manufacturing of functional optical elements requires precise machining, which can introduce imperfections and lattice disorder that affect their optical performance. Single point diamond turning is one of the methods that can generate the final shape often without requiring further processing. Because of the brittle nature of single crystals, machining parameters are chosen conservatively by limiting the material removal rate, thus increasing the manufacturing time. When diamond turning is performed with more aggressive parameters, the crystallinity of the immediate subsurface degrades and fracture appears on the surface. To date, the mechanism governing the material removal and the anisotropy of these materials has been empirically studied, but not well understood. The objective of this study is to systematically investigate how damage is generated during controlled single point diamond turning, starting from the deformation mechanism in brittle single crystals. The relationship between slip and fracture of the single crystals was investigated with a quantitative approach. Single point diamond turning experiments of (111)CaF₂ and (100)Ge were performed with a range of cutting parameters. The topography of the surfaces was measured by atomic force microscopy. The forces were measured to quantify the resultant force direction, which was then used to verify that the developed approach can predict the topography of the turned specimen and the cutting directions that produce fracture on the surface. The parameter [Sf/Ff]* was introduced and used to predict the topography of the specimens after diamond turning. [Sf/Ff]* was also used to analyze the behavior of the CaF₂ and Ge lattices
Interpersonal theory of suicide and the moderating effects of Africultural coping among Black women
No full textThere is a need for greater emphasis to be placed on the lived experiences of Black women in psychological research, and more specifically Black women’s experiences with suicide ideation. Despite having the lowest suicide rates, prior research indicates an increase in suicide ideation among Black women and girls. The current study aims to evaluate the moderating effects of Black women’s implementation of culturally specific ways of coping (i.e., Africultural coping skills) to pinpoint protective strategies against the interpersonal suicide risk factors, thwarted belongingness and perceived burdensomeness. 99 (Mage = 23) cisgender African American/Black women were surveyed, and results indicated that spiritual centered coping both significantly and negatively moderated the relationship between perceived burdensomeness and suicide ideation (B = -0.00, t = -2.29, p = .02, 95% CI [-.0085, -.0006]) Additionally, ritual centered coping significantly and negatively moderated the relationship between perceived burdensomeness and suicide ideation (B = -.009, t = -2.05, p = .04, 95% CI [-.0179, -.0003]). Findings suggest that spiritual and ritual centered coping can be protective strategies for Black women by weakening the relationship between suicide ideation and the interpersonal suicide risk factor perceived burdensomeness
Do institutional investors impact firms’ ESG performance? Evidence from the United States over the last decade
No full textI investigate whether institutional ownership influences firms’ ESG performance in the United States from 2015-2022. I conjecture that institutional owners’ or investors’ effect on a firm’s ESG performance depends on an ESG outcome’s profitability. If only an outcome is value-enhancing to the firm, the investors will invest in it. I hypothesize that overall ESG, environmental and social outcomes decrease firm profitability while governance increases firm profitability. Therefore, institutional owners may decrease overall ESG, environmental, and social outcomes and increase the governance of a firm to ensure their return potential. Based on Bloomberg’s ESG ratings, Thomson Reuters Institutional ownership data, and CRSP/ Compustat earnings, I applied ordinary least squares regression to see the impact. Firm earnings are examined in line with an increase in ESG outcomes. I find that institutional owners decrease overall ESG, environmental, and social and increase governance to ensure firm profitability. Firms with higher institutional ownership also do this. Additional layers are added to see if this role of institutional ownership on ESG holds in Democratic state-based firms and Republican state-based firms. In firms in Democratic states, institutional ownership reduces environmental and social and increases governance while there is no such significance for firms in Republican states. I also investigate the relationship in the case of firms with male and female CEOs. In both firms, institutional ownership increases governance, while in female-led firms, the effect is greater. The interplay between institutional ownership and ESG shows the significance of institutional ownership. The significance lies in keeping the manager agency problems in check by optimizing the sustainability efforts and increasing the firms’ corporate governance
Effects of pinto bean and resistant starch supplementation on memory and cognition in estrogen-deficient mice
No full textIn the U.S., ~70% of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) cases are women. AD pathology progression and memory impairment are more severe in women, which could be triggered by estrogen loss during menopause. Three-month-old C57BL/6 female mice were injected daily with vinyl cyclohexene diepoxide (VCD), an estrogen depletion drug, or vehicle (VH) for 30 days. Mice were then randomly assigned to one of three dietary groups (n=10/group): control, 10% pinto bean (PB), and resistant starch (RS3) for 12 weeks. Behavioral tasks were then conducted, including open-field (OF) maze (a measure of anxiety/stress and exploration), Y-maze (a measure of short-term memory and exploration), and the Morris water maze (MWM) (a measure of learning ability, short/long-term memory, and cognitive function). At harvest, fecal short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) and β-glucuronidase were quantified. The OF trials showed no differences between the VCD and VH mice. MWM 24-hour probe trials showed no differences between estrogen status nor diet. However, in the MWM 72-hour probe trials, VH mice traveled further in the annular zone than VCD mice, but differences between dietary groups are unclear. In the Y-Maze, PB-VH mice spent more time mobile than PB-VCD and Control-VH mice and traveled further in the novel arm than PB-VCD mice. Fecal SCFAs and β-glucuronidase were measured at harvest, with RS3 dietary group demonstrating significant elevation of both parameters. The PB dietary group demonstrated higher fecal SCFAs, but not β-glucuronidase. In conclusion, behavior data indicate that VCD mice overall may tend to have lower performance in long-term memory trials than VH mice, but the overall effect of diet on cognition remains unclear. Fecal data indicate that PB and/or RS3 supplementation can significantly increase SCFA and/or β-glucuronidase, which may have benefits to neuronal health. Additional work will examine differences in progressive learning ability/strategy and differences in estrogen expression in the hippocampus to better analyze the neuronal effects of estrogen status and dietary treatment
Role of steam cracking in the generation of benzene in crude oil tank fires extinguished with foam: A potentially unrecognized source of firefighter exposure
No full textBenzene exposure and firefighting are both classified as Group 1-known human carcinogens. Industrial firefighters and HazMat workers respond to chemical emergencies involving hydrocarbon storage tank fires. The experimental phenomenon of benzene persistence in Chapter II heightened interest in further investigation of the role of steam-cracking and benzene in storage tank fires regarding a potential heightened exposure for hazardous material responders and firefighters. Chapter III findings exhibited a recreation of benzene persistence in a smaller scale tank at the OSU Fire Training Facility. Previous research involving crude oil storage tank fires have suggested benzene persistence in post-fire crude oil samples, thus, questioning a relationship to steam cracking from foam and water extinguishment techniques. Benzene concentration changes were noted using a novel method for steam injection into a hydrocarbon using a closed loop system. This system captured any liquid or vapor-phase changes in concentration for benzene, specifically, by comparing samples from pre- and post-steam injection treatment. This experiment challenged benzene precursors (naphtha, cyclohexane, and toluene) and the steam-cracking process by testing an element of low-temperature, low-pressure, low-quality, low-energy steam-injection (i.e., without fire) in a laboratory-controlled setting. A low-pressure apparatus carried steam from a pressurized steam-pot with controlled flow through a 20-micron sparger into the three separate “benzene precursor” products. The closed-loop system was sealed from the steam production, into the flask for steam application, and the collection of all vapor effluent displaced from the product headspace that was captured into tedlar bag samples. This novel method was developed for measurement of benzene concentrations (both air and liquid) through controlled analysis of steam cracking in attempt to recreate field-based experiences of benzene persistence in hydrocarbon storage tank fires. Air and liquid samples were analyzed using GC-FID and GCMS, the results suggested that low-quality, low-energy steam injection generated benzene in cyclohexane samples, both air and liquid and increased benzene concentrations in air samples for naphtha and toluene. These findings are important for hazard communication to firefighters and HazMat workers responding to hydrocarbon storage tank fires, as the exposure concerns to benzene may remain present post-fire
Protective childhood experiences in the ABCD study and mental health, prosocial behavior, and executive function: PACEs-ABCD
No full textChildhood adversity can have detrimental and cascading effects on physical and mental health outcomes. Utilizing longitudinal data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Developmentˢᴹ Study (ABCD), the present study investigates how adverse and protective childhood experiences relate to internalizing and externalizing symptoms, prosocial behavior, and executive function at baseline and over time. Protective factors were collected from common measures of youth-reported parental (i.e., primary caregiver) acceptance, positive school environment, and parental monitoring; and general measures of parent-reported youth physical activity, youth hobbies, neighborhood safety, and the presence of a best friend. A single cumulative protection score (PACEs-ABCD) was calculated for experiences occurring at baseline (9-10 years). Childhood adversity was collected from standardized measures of traumatic events, child abuse, family dysfunction, and economic insecurity, as has been done in previously published studies using ABCD data (see Karcher et al., 2020). Analyses controlled for age, sex at birth, race, caregiver education, site, and the adjustment variable at baseline for year 2 analyses. Results indicate that adverse and protective childhood experiences are associated with internalizing and externalizing symptoms, prosocial behavior, and executive function in expected directions at baseline and two years later, although patterns vary somewhat at different time points. Findings suggest that future research should examine both protective and adverse childhood experiences. Additionally, resilience-promoting factors in the face of risk are important for understanding trajectories of adolescent mental health and development
Bayesian framework for estimating dynamic stability derivatives in 6-DoF blunt-body entry vehicles
No full textAs atmospheric entry vehicles traverse planetary atmospheres, they encounter strongly nonlinear and unsteady aerodynamic loads, leading to uncertain dynamic behavior. Accurate estimation of dynamic stability coefficients is critical for ensuring reliable entry, descent, and landing. This study introduces a Bayesian inference framework coupled with a six-degree-of-freedom dynamic model to estimate these coefficients and quantify their uncertainties using trajectory data. The six-degree-of-freedom model is validated against two benchmark cases, demonstrating strong agreement and establishing its reliability. A two-stage estimation process is employed: (1) Bayesian inference of stability derivatives using Markov Chain Monte Carlo with the No-U-Turn Sampler, based on training cases (₀ = 1°, 5°, 10°, 30°), to recover both static (ₘ, ₙ) and damping (ₘ, ₙ, ₗₚ) coefficients; and (2) prediction at untrained test angles (₀ = 2°, 20°), via Akima spline interpolation of aerodynamic parameters. Applied to the Genesis sample return capsule, the framework accurately reconstructs training trajectories and captures nonlinear damping effects. Predictions at unobserved conditions maintain strong consistency, with only minor discrepancies near the simulation horizon. These results demonstrate the framework’s potential as a robust, uncertainty-aware tool for dynamic stability analysis in atmospheric reentry applications.Mechanical and Aero-Space Engineerin