Nitrogen (N) deposition can alter belowground microbial communities, especially ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungi, resulting in a reduced ability of associated trees to access organic nutrients. This study tested whether N addition decreases ECM species richness and shifts ECM species composition across spatial scales in a subtropical slash pine (Pinus elliottii) plantation...
The 2005 NHL Lockout instituted a hard salary cap, which is the most limiting salary cap of the major US sports leagues. The NHL as a result doesn’t have the luxury of overpaying or dumping a contract as other professional sports leagues have, which places a huge constraint and emphasis...
Understanding how root traits vary within and among species, and how they respond to heterogeneous environments, can provide important insight into functional plant attributes that influence plant survival in competitive environments. Selecting plant material with root traits that will support its survival in competitive environments may help improve the outcomes...
Climate change, whether referring to historic ice ages or contemporary shifts in global climate patterns, has been linked to wide-ranging and regionally variable changes in biotic communities.
After large-scale disturbances such as fire, seeding can be necessary to reestablish a plant community and prevent soil erosion. While native plants are ideal for providing ecosystem services and supporting wildlife, currently seeded natives often fail to establish in disturbed landscapes. Further, reseeding with native plants is often hindered by...
Fire is an agent of ecosystem change that has played a critical role in shaping the tallgrass prairie ecosystem. Periodic prescribed fire maintains the prairie by removing woody and invasive plant species, and stimulating growth of native herbaceous species. Fire’s beneficial effect on the tallgrass prairie aboveground community, in terms...
Because long-chain n-alkanes (n-C21 to n-C37) are found in the epicuticular leaf waxes of all vascular plants and are stable, long-lived molecules, the study of their molecular and isotopic compositions stands to serve as a potentially powerful tool in the fields of modern chemotaxonomy and paleoecology. This study attempts to...
The challenges of using inadequate online recruitment systems can be addressed with
machine learning and software engineering techniques. Bi-directional personalization
reinforcement learning-based architecture with active learning can get recruiters to recommend
qualified applicants and also enable applicants to receive personalized job recommendations.
This paper focuses on how machine learning...
Attitude control in quadrotor Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) systems is traditionally managed by optimal control loops tuned to minimize errors in performance. While robust, these loops perform sub-optimally in dynamic and unpredictable environments which inspire new interest in sophisticated solution and approaches such as reinforcement learning (RL) approaches which should...
This thesis discussed how motifs of height and depth in Black literature highlight Black characters’ inability to form positive racial identities. The thesis uses three canonical pieces of Black literature, Passing, Native Son, and Plum Bun, to demonstrate that Black characters who try to reimagine White space are forced into...