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Exploiting Artificial Intelligence and Optimization for Smart Agriculture
No full textDynamic integration of Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become a vital component for unlocking the potential of smart agriculture. Currently, limitations such as limited computational resources, poor network connectivity, and rigid treatment strategies stifle optimal agricultural outcomes. This creates a challenge of leveraging the capabilities of modern artificial intelligence to combat the natural and artificial constraints of the smart agriculture environment. The primary contribution of this thesis is the development of frameworks to alleviate the overhead data and computational demand for AI within smart agriculture settings. The first framework, iCrop+, utilizes TinyML and LoRa to guarantee high-precision disease detection for resource-constrained and low connectivity environments. The second framework, AgriSmart, leverages optimization techniques with differential evolution and process-based modeling tools to optimize agricultural resource applications. Strategies for irrigation and fertilizer are dynamically updated based on changing weather and soil conditions, allowing precise resource allocation. These frameworks were deployed on real-world testbeds and agricultural modeling software to showcase the potential improvements for smart agriculture. The extensive experimentation performed showcased significant improvements for low-cost high accuracy crop disease detection and high-yielding efficient agricultural resource allocation
Beyond the Gas Tax: Evaluating Oregon’s Road Usage Charge (OReGO) as a Model for Sustainable Infrastructure Funding
No full textFuel tax revenues are declining nationwide due to electric vehicle adoption, improved fuel efficiency, and long periods without rate adjustments. This erosion has created long-term instability in transportation funding, including in Oregon, where revenue no longer aligns with road use. Road usage charges (RUCs) offer a potential replacement by charging drivers per mile traveled rather than per gallon consumed. However, their success depends less on technology and more on how programs are designed and governed.
This capstone examines which design features make RUC programs effective, using Oregon’s OReGO program as the central case. A Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) comparing Oregon, Utah, Virginia, New Zealand, and Germany identifies the combination of conditions that lead to successful implementation. The analysis finds that three institutional features: administrative simplicity, strong privacy protections, and transparent governance consistently predict program success. Fiscal adequacy and technological flexibility matter, but they do not produce success on their own.
Oregon excels in transparency and privacy protections, but its multi-vendor administration increases complexity, raises costs, and limits participation. Virginia’s DMV-integrated system and New Zealand’s long-standing, simple structure demonstrate that streamlined administration improves user trust, lowers costs, and enhances scalability. Germany shows that high revenue cannot compensate for weak transparency or privacy safeguards.
The study also highlights broader concerns affecting acceptance, including misconceptions that RUC is an additional tax, persistent privacy fears, and potential impacts on rural and low-income drivers. Clear communication and equity-oriented design are essential to address these challenges.
The capstone recommends a phased strategy: simplifying OReGO’s administration and strengthening public communication in the near term; expanding participation and implementing equity adjustments in the medium term; and promoting interstate interoperability and inflation indexing over the long term.
Overall, Oregon’s experience shows that sustainable RUC systems depend on public trust and institutional legitimacy. Transparent, privacy-protective, and easy-to-use systems are most likely to succeed as states transition away from the declining fuel tax
A Comparative Study of State-Level Fast Programs to Identify Best Practices for Kentucky
No full textThis capstone project examines best practices among state-level innovation programs participating in the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Federal and State Technology (FAST) Partnership Program, with a specific focus on the Kentucky Science and Engineering Foundation (KSEF). As a key player in Kentucky’s innovation ecosystem, KSEF supports small businesses and entrepreneurs in pursuing federal Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) funding. This study evaluates KSEF’s current program effectiveness and identifies strategies from similar states that could strengthen Kentucky’s outcomes in securing federal innovation funding.
Using a qualitative comparative research design, this study analyzes interviews with program directors at FAST programs in demographically and economically similar states. These states were selected due to comparable population sizes, income levels, rural composition, and economic challenges. The analysis identifies which program activities produce the strongest outcomes in helping small firms access SBIR/STTR funding.
Findings from this comparative analysis informs best practices that can guide future strategy at KSEF. Specifically, the research provides evidence-based recommendations for improving program effectiveness, increasing participant engagement, and efficient use of resources. Beyond organizational benefits, this project will contribute to a broader understanding of how state-level initiatives can promote equitable economic development in rural and underserved communities. 3
By applying policy analysis, program evaluation, and data-driven decision-making skills developed through the Master of Public Administration program, this capstone project aims to generate actionable insights that advance both KSEF’s mission and the state of Kentucky’s research and development capacity
Inter and Intra Molecular Interactions to Control the Optoelectronic Properties of Materials
No full textFunctional materials used for optoelectronic applications are often employed in the solid-state regime. The properties of such solid-state materials are entirely dependent on the inter and intra molecular interactions that the molecules experience. Intermolecular interactions are interactions between two adjacent molecules and can be broken down into two subgroups: repulsive and attractive. Intramolecular interactions are interactions that occur within a molecule and include things like bonding, resonance, and electron distribution. These properties can be tuned through a number of techniques to afford desirable outcomes for various material applications. This dissertation will investigate how the tuning of the inter and intra molecular forces influence a material’s electronic and optical properties.
The dissertation will cover three projects that leverage control over hydrogen bonding, ionic interactions, and electron density to influence the optoelectronic properties of various systems. The first project attempted to increase intermolecular electronic couplings by using hydrogen bonded coproducts between an organic small molecule semiconductor and benzoic acids. Hydrogen bonding is a monodirectional interaction. The second project, in contrast, focuses on ionic interactions, which are multidirectional. These ionic interactions were investigated through the addition of a conjugated organic core to the inorganic anion in an organic inorganic hybrid material (OIHM) to improve material photoluminescence quantum yield (QY) efficiency. Additionally, alkyl substituents and anion size were changed to probe the effect of spacing on QY. In the third project of this dissertation, the focus moves from intermolecular interactions to intramolecular interactions. This project focuses on using electron donating and accepting groups to tune the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) and lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) levels of a metal complex to achieve more efficient deep red and near infrared (NIR) emission
WHERE DOES THE MONEY GO? THREE ESSAYS ON INTERGOVERNMENTAL TRANSFERS, SPENDING, AND POVERTY IN INDONESIA
No full textIndonesia allocates substantial intergovernmental transfers to local governments; nonetheless, the decrease in poverty remains limited. This dissertation posits that the binding constraint is institutional, specifically the regulations and incentives that dictate the extent to which funds are allocated from the government to designated programs. Institutional pass-through refers to the fraction of a transfer that is allocated to a program expenditure. The three essays integrate estimation, budget composition evidence, and a formal model to explain both modest average effects and heterogeneity across regions and programs.
The first essay evaluates the impact of transfers on provincial poverty from 2001 to 2022 by employing instrumented variation derived from transfer formulas. Transfers are categorized into DAU, DAK, DBH, and Dana Desa to delineate distinct pathways. The instrument utilizes provincial populations as a formula driver and considers it exogenous to short-run poverty, conditional on fixed effects and variables. Findings indicate modest average effects that fluctuate according to the level of governance.
The second essay evaluates whether transfers enhance pro-poor program initiatives or are redirected towards administrative functions and other noticeable yet less impactful categories. Fixed-effects estimates and heterogeneity regarding fiscal autonomy reveal composition alterations aligned with subdued pass-through, particularly in low-capacity environments.
The third essay develops a theory in which a budget allocator faces audit intensity, procurement frictions, visibility incentives, and scale-seeking bureaucracy. The model defines pass-through, derives sufficient conditions for higher pass-through, and yields testable predictions about audits, earmarks, reporting, and implementation capacity.
Conclusively, the essays explain why large flows can yield small poverty gains and (why effects strengthen where governance is stronger). Policy priorities emphasize raising pass-throughs rather than only enlarging transfers: strengthening audits and reporting, discipline administrative expansion, retain high-impact visible outlays, improve implementation capacity, and use earmarks selectively
Understanding the influence of applied magnetic field on aluminum alloys: Implications on strength, precipitate development and diffusion of solutes
No full textThe processing of certain metals and alloys under magnetic fields presents a promising yet underexplored frontier for controlling microstructure alongside improving physical and mechanical properties. Magnetic fields can be strategically applied at different stages of materials processing, from melting and solidification to subsequent heat treatments to achieve targeted properties in materials. Although magnetic fields have been found to aid changes in microstructural evolution and phase equilibria in ferrous materials, there is limited application of this technique in non-ferrous material systems. This dissertation aims at contributing to the understanding of the influence of magnetic field on the mechanical properties and solid-state diffusion in different non-ferrous metallic systems.
The first section of this dissertation investigates the mechanical properties and precipitate evolution in a conventionally peak-aged 7075 aluminum alloy. Peak-aged 7xxx series possess ultra-high strength, a property derived from two complementary factors: thermomechanical processing and a high density of nanoscale precipitates formed during aging. While laboratory-scale samples often achieve a uniform distribution of these strengthening phases, this homogeneity is frequently lost in large-scale industrial plates, leading to a gradient of properties. For this study, the through-thickness of a 32-mm thick hot rolled 7075 aluminum alloy was investigated. The alloy exhibited a complex M-shaped mechanical strength profile through the thickness of the plate as opposed to a parabolic trend that would be expected for a simpler system. The influence of varying cooling rate and non-uniform plastic deformation was taken into account in modelling the evolution of precipitates and strength profile. A computational model coupled with experimental data enabled quantification of the contribution of both heterogenous cooling rate and varying nucleation site density in the evolution of properties through the thickness of the 7075 aluminum alloy plate.
The second section of this dissertation provides fundamental understanding on the effect of magnetic field annealing on the mechanical properties and precipitate evolution in three (3) 7xxx aluminum alloy; 7075, 7085 and 7056 at time steps below the peak ageing condition. The main strengthening-precipitate-forming alloying element in these 3 different alloys are Zn and Mg, however in varying compositions. This work demonstrates the influence of alloy composition in the susceptibility of the different 7xxx aluminum alloys to magnetic field treatment while being aged for 1, 2 and 4 h under 0 and 3 Tesla. With magnetic field, the 7xxx aluminum alloys showed improved yield strength (up to 27 MPa) and microhardness (up to 10 HV). The solute supersaturation which is correlated to the total Zn and Mg content in these 7xxx alloys proved to be a driving force for the extent to which the alloys were susceptible to magnetic field treatment. This section heralds a novel processing route for enhancing the properties of non-ferrous metals such as aluminum alloys.
The third section of this dissertation underscores the contribution of magnetic field annealing to the solid-state diffusion of a coupled Al-Mg-Zn system. In this work, binary alloys are being coupled together with thermal compression bonding technique at suitable temperature, strain and compressional force without magnetic field. The solid-state bonded systems were then annealed without (0T) and with magnetic field (3T) at different temperatures. The results seek to elucidate the mechanisms that give rise to increased strength and precipitation kinetics observed for Mg- and Zn-containing Al alloys arising from the application of an external magnetic field during annealing
SOCIAL CONTROL AND INCLUSIVE FREEDOM: AN EMBEDDED SINGLE CASE STUDY OF CAMPUS EXPRESSION AT A SOUTHERN PUBLIC UNIVERSITY
No full textThis study examines how staff at a Southern public university experienced and interpreted their participation in the institution’s Open Expression Support Team (OEST), a campus initiative designed to maintain an educational environment where students feel free to engage in freedom of speech and expression without fear of intimidation or coercion. Using an embedded single-case study design, the research draws on interviews, documents, and observations to explore the OEST’s role in supporting inclusive freedom (Ben-Porath, 2017), which emphasizes the balance of free expression and inclusion in higher education.
Findings reveal that the OEST functions as a mechanism of social control, employing former social control through surveillance and policy enforcement, and informal social control mechanisms, including education and relationship building. While the OEST reduces reliance on campus police and fosters dialogue on campus, its commitment to viewpoint neutrality limits real-time support for marginalized students who face harmful speech and expression. The study highlights tensions between absolutist free speech norms and inclusion, situating the OEST within broader frameworks of disciplinary power, legal environments, and the college-prison nexus. It also illuminates how the sociopolitical climate of a campus shapes community responses to expressive activities. Additionally, the study underscores the extensive labor of student affairs practitioners, who often go above and beyond their formal responsibilities with limited compensation
Implications include the need for institutional policies that affirm dignity alongside expressive activity. This study also connects higher education to the criminalization of school discipline by highlighting how a public university employed criminal justice-inspired tactics to regulate and support expressive activity. This research contributes to understanding how universities navigate free speech and inclusion amid polarized sociopolitical climates
Analysing the US—China “AI Cold War” Narrative
No full textDiscussions about artificial intelligence (AI) are gaining prominence in the recent revival of “cold war” narratives comparing US-China relations today to the historical rivalry between the US and the Soviet Union. Drawing on a review of existing academic and policy literature engaging with the “AI cold war” narrative, this paper examines how the narrative is justified, and numerous ways that it can be challenged. It finds that the framing is largely driven by the securitisation of AI, as state actors and policy pundits view AI innovations’ dual-use capabilities as key to national security and ideological competition. However, critics posit that the narrative exaggerates China’s AI capabilities, promotes commercial interests of tech firms and defence contractors, creates self-reinforced militarisation, and undermines the potential for international research and regulatory cooperation. Moreover, the Cold War binary framing may misrepresent the global distribution of AI capabilities. To extend beyond the AI cold war narrative, future research may recognise the limitations of the binary framing and expand analysis on the AI development strategies of third-party players (including those from the Global South) drawing upon local and regional political economic dynamics and development contexts. This paper concludes by inviting scholars to rethink the affective power of narratives and contribute research and narrative analysis that allow for the articulation of perspectives from third countries
A comparison of adjuvant therapy modality and treatment outcomes between appalachian and non-appalachian patients with high-risk endometrial carcinoma
No full textObjective: The incidence and mortality of endometrial cancer is increasing. After surgical staging, patients with high-risk disease often undergo adjuvant treatment, which may include systemic therapy, radiation therapy, or combined modalities. Patients in rural Appalachia have limited access to subspecialty care needed for optimal disease management. This study aims to compare adjuvant treatment regimens and outcomes among patients with high-risk endometrial cancer living in Appalachian and non-Appalachian regions.
Methods: We retrospectively identified 179 patients with high-risk endometrial carcinoma who underwent surgical staging at a single academic medical center and received adjuvant therapy between 2012 and 2019. Patients were identified as Appalachian (n = 119) and non-Appalachian (n = 60) residents based on home ZIP code. Adjuvant therapy regimen, recurrence rate, recurrence location, progression free survival (PFS), and overall survival (OS) were compared. Statistical comparisons were performed using multinomial and ordinal logistic regression models, Kaplan-Meier curves, Log Rank test, two-sample t-tests, Fisher’s exact, and chi-square tests. Results: There was no significant difference in adjuvant therapy regimen between groups. Overall recurrence rates were similar, though rate of vaginal recurrence was higher among non-Appalachian patients compared to Appalachian patients (42 % vs. 14 %, p = 0.05). There were no differences in rate of pelvic or distant recurrences, PFS, or OS.
Conclusion: Despite lower densities of subspecialists in rural Appalachia, Appalachian and non-Appalachian patients with high-risk endometrial cancer received similar adjuvant therapy regimens and had similar disease outcomes. Further efforts should work to optimize treatment and surveillance for patients with endometrial carcinoma with barriers to subspecialty care
Stigma and Isolation: The Lived Experiences of Male Sexual Assault Survivors in College
Get PDFMale sexual assault survivors on college campuses face barriers to disclosure, support, and recovery due to stigma, societal expectations of masculinity, and inadequate institutional resources. This hermeneutic phenomenological study explored the lived experiences of six male survivors of sexual assault enrolled in college, focusing on their perceptions of sexual violence before and after their assault, the psychological burden of disclosure, and their experiences with available support systems. Participants described challenges including rape myths, feelings of isolation, fear of emasculation, and limited access to gender-inclusive resources. While online communities provided some support, institutional services often failed to meet their needs due to confidentiality concerns, a lack of male-specific resources, and policies that prioritized female survivors. Findings suggest that improving awareness, comprehensive sex education, and the development of survivor-centered, gender-inclusive resources could foster a more supportive environment for male survivors. These insights underscored the necessity for institutional reform to address gaps in mental health services, legal support, and survivor advocacy tailored to the experiences of male sexual assault survivors in higher education settings