K-State Electronic Theses, Dissertations, and Reports: 2004 -
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/2097/4
This is the collection for doctoral dissertations and masters theses and reports submitted electronically by K-State students. Electronic submission of doctoral dissertations was required beginning Fall semester 2006. Electronic submission for masters theses and reports was required beginning Fall 2007. The collection also contains some dissertations, theses, and reports from the years 2004 and 2005 that were submitted during a pilot test project. Some items before 2004 have been digitized and are available in K-State Electronic Theses, Dissertations, and Reports: pre-2004. Check the Library catalog for dissertations, theses, and reports not found in these collections.
All items included in this collection have been approved by the K-State Graduate School. More information can be found on the ETDR Information Page. Items within this collection are protected by U.S. Copyright. Copyright on each item is held by the individual author.
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Item Open Access Development and evaluation of emulsion-based adjuvants for vaccines against Streptococcus suis and classical swine fever virus in swine(2025) Thapa, RashmiStreptococcus suis and Classical Swine Fever pose significant threats to swine health worldwide, causing substantial economic losses in the pork industry. Effective vaccination is one of the most reliable strategies to control and prevent these infections. Adjuvants enhance immune responses, improve vaccine efficacy, and enable dose sparing, making them essential for large-scale immunization. Among various adjuvant types, emulsion-based systems are especially attractive due to their ability to promote strong humoral and cellular immune responses, extend antigen availability at the injection site, and support safe and scalable formulations. This thesis focuses on developing and evaluating physically stable emulsion adjuvants suitable for swine vaccines. Multiple adjuvants based on different synthetic paraffin oils in conjunction with a surfactant were used to produce the emulsion at the nanoscale. Key physiological properties like droplet size, polydispersity, zeta potential, and emulsion stability were systematically analyzed. The surfactant ratio was optimized to produce nanoscale droplets and ensure stable emulsion for veterinary use. OW-14 (previously established adjuvant) and OW-415 (experimental adjuvant); When co-administered with a subunit protein antigen and inactivated bacteria induced high levels of immune responses in pigs. Cytokine profiling at Days 7 and 28 post-vaccination revealed balanced systemic immune activation, with OW-415 showing modest elevations in IFN-α and IL-10, indicating potential immunomodulatory effects. These findings support the promise of OW-415 as safe, immunogenic, and physically stable adjuvants for swine vaccine development.Item Open Access Evaluating in-person and online video teaching methods to introduce landscape equipment operation and safety and responses of ornamental groundcovers and turfgrass species to drought stress(2025) Dreiling, LeviUniversities are adapting their teaching methods to progress with changes in technology. With these shifts in teaching, educators are interested in which methods are best for certain applications. A study was conducted to determine the efficacy of online vs. traditional hands-on learning with eight types of landscape equipment: power hedge trimmer, rotary push mower, de-thatcher, overseeder, ride-on zero-turn mower, sod cutter, string trimmer, and core aerifier. Results showed that students learn landscape equipment better in-person through hands-on learning, rather than relying only on videos. The survey also showed students prefer hands-on demonstrations to become more comfortable operating these pieces of equipment. Water use in the landscape has become a more prevalent issue as the demand increases for more residential and commercial areas to be irrigated. This increase in water use indicates a need for drought tolerant plant species. We analyzed six ground cover species (Dianthus caryophyllus, Lysimachia nummularia, Phlox subulata, Sedum album, Stachys byzantina, and Vinca major) and three turfgrass species (Bouteloua dactyloides, Festuca arundinacea, and Poa pratensis) to evaluate their performance during drought and recovery. Results show S. album performed the best lasting an average of 157 d until reaching a visual quality rating of one. S. byzantina, B. dactyloides, V. major, D. Caryophyllus also performed well averaging 92, 51, 46, and 40 d, respectively, to a visual quality of one. P. subulata, P. pratensis, F. arundinacea, and L. nummularia performed the worst, averaging 35 d to decline to a visual quality rating of one. Following the dry down, the 60-d recovery period showed the following species recovered: B. dactyloides [58% Percent Green Cover (PGC)], F. arundinacea (45% PGC), L. nummularia (14% PGC), S. album (11% PGC), P. pratensis (10% PGC), and V. major (5% PGC).Item Open Access Collaborative work in the 6th& 8th grade orchestra class: To develop student leaders(2025) Fischer, ZacheryIn this report, I describe how students in 6th-8th grade collaborated on the following areas of growth and development: always keeping consistent steady beat when counting correct rhythms in one's part, watching as well as listening to the director's and ensemble's set tempo, and working together as a team. In my career as a music educator, I have often witnessed students taking the lead during warm-ups or specific concert excerpts they were preparing. During those moments, I realized how impactful and effective those rehearsals were and how engaged everyone was from start to end. To accomplish this project, I used what I learned in my master’s courses focusing on Violin/Viola and Cello/String Bass pedagogy to develop ways my students could create and design lessons on their own to collaborate with their peers. Instead of my former role as a teacher who controlled everything that was being taught and learned, I now get the chance to help and guide my students in how to create, perform, and respond to each other as the observer and facilitator in the classroom. I can see how my students lead, teach, and motivate each other to work as a team, while I follow. My master's degree broadened my understanding of my teaching strategies and improved my teaching methods. This degree also identified and created my own ideas of my personal music philosophy. Everyone deserves the opportunity to gain experience and experience music education. This experience in music education should always apply to one's life in and outside of the classroom. Humans do not gain a music education without putting in hard work and effort every day. This idea led me to the creativity I put into these lessons. My goal was for my students to teach and learn from one another at the highest success level possible.Item Open Access Essays on structural change, total factor productivity growth and government debt(2025) Allor, PreciousThis dissertation comprises three chapters. The first chapter addresses differences in the growth rate of total factor productivity across sectors. The second chapter explores the effect of government debt on productivity growth, with focus on the decomposed components of productivity growth. The third chapter explores the aggregate and sector-level effects of shocks to total factor productivity across sectors. The first chapter, co-authored with with Dr. William Blankenau, explores whether total factor productivity (TFP) growth differs across the manufacturing, service, and agriculture sectors. Sector-level labor productivity can be calculated directly from available data. However, this measure depends on sector-level prices and capital/labor ratios as well as TFP. To isolate the effect of TFP requires a multi-sector model of economic growth that allows for differential TFP growth. We use a version of a multi-sector model of structural change to identify relative productivity growth rates in a large group of countries. For our benchmark parameterization, we find that TFP has grown faster in the agriculture sector than in the manufacturing sector at all income levels, but this difference decreases with per capita output. We find that TFP for services has grown more rapidly than for manufacturing in low-income countries. This difference also decreases with per capita output and is negative at higher levels of income. The findings support differential TFP growth rates as a source of industrial dynamics and allow such models to explain a wider set of dynamics. In the second chapter, I revisit the relationship between government debt and labor productivity growth, offering a novel focus on the decomposed components of labor productivity growth: the intra-industry and structural change components. Using a panel dataset of 103 countries from 1950 to 2017, labor productivity growth is decomposed into its constituent components, and panel fixed effects, system GMM, and dynamic panel threshold models are employed to estimate the effects of government debt on labor productivity. The results show that high levels of government debt significantly reduce total productivity growth, primarily through a negative effect on the intra-industry component, while the structural change component remains unaffected. Threshold analysis reveals non-linear effects, with dynamic thresholds of 31% and 94% for total productivity growth and the intra-industry component, respectively. Exogenously imposed thresholds confirm significant negative effects beyond a 60% debt-to-GDP ratio. The study also identifies the crowding-out of private and public investment as key channels through which government debt affects labor productivity. Subgroup analysis reveals that the adverse effects of debt are pronounced in emerging and developing economies, while advanced economies show no statistically significant effects. Robustness checks, using 3-year intervals and external debt instead of general government debt, confirm the consistency of the results. Overall, the findings underscore the importance of prudent fiscal management and highlight that the composition of labor productivity growth, particularly within-industry improvements, is central to understanding the macroeconomic consequences of government debt. The third chapter, co-authored with Dr. William Blankenau, revisits the role of sectoral total factor productivity (TFP) shocks in shaping macroeconomic and sectoral dynamics within a multi-sector model. We adapt the structural change framework of Ngai & Pissarides (2007) to incorporate stochastic, sector-specific TFP shocks and examine their business cycle implications. The model features three sectors: manufacturing, agriculture, and services, with the manufacturing sector producing a good used for both consumption and investment, while the other two produce pure consumption goods. Under the baseline scenario with flexible prices, frictionless labor markets, and uniform initial productivity levels, only shocks to the investment good (manufacturing) affect aggregate outcomes. Shocks to the consumption sectors influence only sectoral dynamics. These results arise primarily from the absence of labor market frictions and the assumption of flexible prices. Sector-level analysis shows that the impulse responses of sectoral variables depend largely on initial TFP levels and the degree of substitutability between goods. Introducing labor adjustment costs enables shocks to the consumption sectors to propagate to the aggregate economy. Moreover, whether these shocks are expansionary or contractionary depends on the degree of substitutability across goods and the initial TFP levels of the shocked sector. Overall, the results highlight how labor market frictions, consumption flexibility, and varying sectoral productivity levels shape the transmission and macroeconomic relevance of sectoral TFP shocks.Item Open Access Biosurfactant and soil wetting bacteria amendments for enhancing water retention in agricultural soils(2025) Gutierrez, Moises MaldonadoClimate-driven drought and rising global population are driving increased demand for freshwater resources, particularly in agriculture. In the U.S. Central High Plains, irrigation increasingly relies on the rapidly depleting Ogallala Aquifer, highlighting the urgent need for sustainable soil and water management strategies. This dissertation investigates a microbial and biochemical approach to improving soil water retention, focusing on the biosurfactant-producing bacterium Bacillus subtilis and its secondary metabolite, surfactin. These agents offer a potentially sustainable, environmentally responsible approach to soil treatment in order to eliminate soil water repellency, enhance water retention, and improve agricultural water use efficiency, particularly in arid and semi-arid climates. The research begins by reviewing the physicochemical basis of soil hydrophobicity, a key limitation to water infiltration and availability. The literature identifies amphiphilic organic compounds as a primary contributor to water-repellent soil, which becomes more pronounced under dry conditions. While synthetic surfactants can be added to the soil to transition these hydrophobic layers to hydrophilic layers, their environmental and economic drawbacks have prompted interest in microbially-produced biosurfactants like surfactin, which have high surface activity, low toxicity, and are stable under diverse conditions. The effect of soil texture in response to surfactin treatment is first presented. Soil textures were systematically varied by mixing sand and silty clay loam soils together at varied ratios, achieving mineralogically equivalent soils with a range of different textures. Contact angle measurements and dryout experiments revealed that soils with sandy loam textures, where water retention is often most problematic, were most responsive with respect to water retention improvement in lab-scale studies. Next, two delivery methods are discussed: (1) direct application of surfactin and (2) indirect delivery via B. subtilis inoculation. The findings demonstrate that B. subtilis inoculation can also reduce contact angles and enhance soil water retention. Experimental data and system dynamics modeling are combined to show that treated soils retain moisture longer, reduce evaporation under dry conditions, and maintain water availability through rainy cycles. Finally, the impact of amending the soil with nitrogen-based soil enrichments, such as NH4NO3, to further promote B. subtilis-mediated soil water retention is reported in Chapter 5. The final portion of this thesis describes the stable encapsulation of B. subtilis in polyethylene glycol (PEG) based hydrogels. This technique has the potential to enhance bacterial survival by forming a protective barrier around cells and to enhance biosurfactant production by localizing bacterial together. Bacteria encapsulation into PEG-based hydrogels was investigated for different step-growth polymerization chemistries that use Michael-type addition reactions for hydrogel crosslinking and PEG monomers of varied molecular weights. The survival and morphology of bacteria within the hydrogels were found to be dependent on crosslinking chemistry and monomer size. Microscopic analysis showed that thiol-acrylate crosslinking chemistries were most conducive to cell viability and single-cell encapsulation and that smaller mesh sizes also favored single-cell encapsulation. Other crosslinking chemistries favored encapsulation of aggregated cells and lower cell viability. These biohybrid systems have the potential to offer controlled and sustained microbial activity in various environments, including the soil. In summary, this research advances bioinoculants towards the goal of improving water use efficiency in agriculture. While further field validation is needed, particularly with respect to biosurfactant production kinetics and soil microbiome interactions, this work lays a foundation for integrating microbial inoculants into sustainable, climate-resilient agricultural practices that can advance global food supply and freshwater security.Item Open Access Modeling future scenarios of sustainable agricultural innovations adoption: an MCE analysis of biodegradable mulch suitability(2025) Madin, MichaelWhilst agriculture production faces the challenge of feeding a growing population in the midst of global environmental change, farmers adoption of sustainable innovations to help adapt remain limited. Though a key constraint of adopting many innovations is suitability in a given biophysical context under current and future scenarios, there exist scarce studies on how suitability varies across spatial and temporal extent. Prior studies on factors influencing adoption of innovations have also rarely synthesized evidence on direction of effects. This paradox raises critical questions for research in human-environment geography. The aim of this dissertation is to investigate some of these questions, with particular emphasis on assessing the spatial biophysical suitability of biodegradable mulch (BDM) under recent and future scenarios, and direction of effects of adoption factors. The research combines insights from systematic reviews and GIS-based fuzzy multicriteria analysis techniques. The GIS-based model was used to assess the spatial biophysical suitability of BDM across the conterminous USA. The study identified the Plains, Pacific, and Corn Belt regions as high adoption potential sites, where favorable biophysical suitability (59–99% suitable areas) aligns with enabling socioeconomic conditions (e.g., higher net farm incomes and education levels). Overall, the results suggest that if the world takes the path of SSP370 or SSP585 representing higher emissions with limited mitigation, BDM will have increased relevance as an adaptation with potential to replace plastic mulch and enhance crop production in many areas of the U.S. Theoretically, the study sheds light on how sustainable agricultural innovations are not universally applicable but are highly dependent on local conditions and underline the need for place-based strategies. In the end, it is argued that we will risk obscuring and replicating the very mechanisms in which the current level of sustainable innovation adoption is limited if we fail to promote region-specific strategies.Item Open Access Coulomb explosion imaging of polyatomic molecules with femtosecond optical and XFEL pulses(2025) Chen, KeyuLight-induced chemical reactions are essential processes that have a profound impact on various aspects of human life and technology. A prime example is photosynthesis, where photons from sunlight drive the conversion of water and carbon dioxide into oxygen and glucose, supporting vital life processes. Similarly, light-induced molecular dynamics are at the heart of photovoltaic technologies, which convert photon energy into electrical energy, providing a key energy source. Additionally, extensive research and practical applications exist in the field of molecular and biomolecular switches, where, among other applications, photons are employed to regulate enzyme activities. From a broader perspective, animals and humans can also be seen as undergoing a form of photosynthesis, as we produce vitamin D3 in our skin when exposed to sunlight. The photochemical reaction involving the ring opening in the 1,3-cyclohexadiene molecule serves as a model system for the photosynthetic process of pre-vitamin D generation. A thorough understanding of photo-induced molecular dynamics is essential for advancing our knowledge of these phenomena and enhancing our technological capabilities. Capturing such dynamics in real time has long been a challenge due to the ultrafast (femtosecond) timescales on which many fundamental chemical processes, including bond breaking, isomerization, and ring conversion, occur. Recent advancements in ultrafast spectroscopies and the development of intense light sources, from table-top optical lasers to X-ray free-electron lasers (XFELs), have enabled researchers to visualize these ultrafast dynamics in real time, acquiring a sequence of timed snapshots of evolving molecular structures. Among the most promising techniques for such ‘molecular movie making’ is the so-called Coulomb Explosion Imaging (CEI), which reveals molecular structures by rapidly ionizing molecules to highly charged states and detecting the momenta of the resulting ion fragments. When implemented in a pump–probe configuration, where a pump light pulse initiates a reaction and a delayed probe pulse maps it with Coulomb explosion, CEI can provide unique insights into the evolution of molecular geometries on ultrafast timescales. A successful application of the CEI technique to studies of polyatomic systems relevant to chemistry requires a detailed understanding of the fragmentation processes involved in the formation of Coulomb explosion patterns and of the observables involved in their formation. The main goals of this thesis are (i) to explore such fragmentation dynamics in a few model systems, (ii) to gain detailed understanding of the mechanisms involved in the laser-driven CEI, (iii) to develop efficient routines for handling and representing multidimensional CEI observables, and (iv) to use the developed procedure and the knowledge gained to image light-driven ring conversion reactions. This thesis aims to investigate three different model systems. First, it focuses on the CEI of ethylene (C2H4) driven by intense femtosecond near-infrared laser pulses. Ethylene, a typical unsaturated hydrocarbon molecule, represents an attractive model system for CEI of polyatomic molecules because of its relative simplicity, accessibility for theory, and its planar geometry in the ground state of the neutral molecule. At the same time, it has enough complexity for studying different multi-particle breakup channels, particularly those involving one or more of the four hydrogen atoms, whose detection is one of the important capabilities of the CEI technique. The experimental results and detailed simulations presented here reveal and characterize competing concerted and sequential mechanisms involved in the formation of Coulomb explosion patterns for a triply charged molecule, disentangle two different four-body breakup pathways for quadruple ionization (‘cis-’ and ‘trans-fragmentation’), and explore possibilities and challenges for CEI relying on full atomization of the molecule (breakup into six atomic ions). As a second model system, this thesis addresses CEI of 2(5H)-thiophenone (C4H4OS) employing intense femtosecond laser and XFEL pulses. Here, we first present static CEI patterns for this molecule obtained with 2.6 keV X-ray pulses at the European XFEL and with table-top near-infrared lasers. The results show that a three-dimensional structure of such a complex, non-planar system can be mapped using CEI, including the 3D arrangement of its hydrogen atoms. While the data obtained with XFEL pulses ionizing the sulfur K-edge are more robust and exhibit much higher signal to noise ratio, the same signatures of the 3D molecular structure can still be revealed in the experiments with near-infrared lasers when using appropriate data analysis procedures. As a second step, we apply laser-driven CEI to image ring opening in 2(5H)-thiophenone triggered by the absorption of an ultraviolet (UV) photon. The CEI patterns map the femtosecond evolution of this ring opening reaction, complementing earlier results obtained with time-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy and ultrafast electron diffraction. Finally, we perform detailed simulations of the CEI of ring conversion dynamics in the 2,3-dihydrofuran (C4H6O) molecule upon deep-UV excitation and present the first experimental results demonstrating the feasibility of mapping this photoreaction with CEI employing table-top near-infrared lasers. Overall, this thesis demonstrates the capability of CEI to image molecular structures, track ultrafast dynamics across a range of systems, and provides several essential recipes for understanding and representing multidimensional CEI data. These findings contribute to the broader understanding of photo-induced molecular reactions and provide a foundation for future studies of ultrafast photochemical processes.Item Open Access Tectonic Implications of Mantle Source Changes recorded by Eocene-Oligocene Basalts from The Dillon Volcanic Field Southwest Montana (USA)(2025) Everhart, WyattBasalts of the Eocene to Oligo-Miocene Dillon volcanic field Montana (U.S.A.) record the change from dominantly compression to extensional tectonics, within the northern Rocky Mountains and accordingly, also present across the North American Cordillera. The Dillon volcanic field is composed of lavas and intrusives that crop out across southwestern Montana, but most prominently in the Gravelly Range, where they define multiple eruptive centers (e.g., Black Butte, Lion Mountain, etc.). Prior work suggested lower Dillon volcanism-initiated ca. ~50-39 Ma, which occurred adjacent to coevally with the 51-40 Ma central Idaho Challis and the 54-44 Ma Absaroka volcanism. Multiple tectonic models have been proposed to explain the ~33-16 Ma middle and upper Dillon volcanism (e.g., Farallon slab rollback, slab tearing/foundering, lithospheric drip), which erupted during the later period of regional extension and basin sedimentation. Dillon volcanic rocks have mainly high-K compositions, are primarily subalkaline, but include eruptions of small volume alkali basalts. The lower Dillon rocks tend to range from basaltic trachyandesites to basaltic andesites. Middle/upper Dillon rocks include basanite, trachybasalt, basalt, basaltic andesites, and basaltic trachyandesites. Basalts of the Dillon volcanics are often olivine rich with groundmass of clinopyroxene and plagioclase; however, middle/upper samples tend to contain titanaugite, reflecting their alkali compositions. Lavas, especially dikes and sills in the Gravelly Range, often contain small ~1-2 cm-wide crustal xenoliths, such as Eocene Renova formation sediment. Dikes and sills cut Renova strata, and some Dillon lavas overlying Renova sediments. These xenoliths, along with microscopic quartz xenocrysts, are evidence of crustal interaction, though assimilation-fractional crystallization modelling shows that this interaction had a small effect on the basalt bulk rock chemistry and their Sr-Nd isotope-compositions. Trace element and Sr-Nd isotope ratios of the lower Dillon volcanics display arc-like signatures, which we suggest reflect subduction of the Farallon plate (e.g., Ta/Th <0.2, 87Sr/86Sri 0.7072 - 0.7078; 143Nd/144Ndi 0.51204 - 51229). Middle and upper Dillon rocks have intermediate Ta/Th (0.2-0.6) coupled with Sr-Nd isotopes (87Sr/86Sr 0.7059 - 0.7043; 143Nd/144Ndi 0.51204 - 0.51236) suggesting magma sources from metasomatized lithosphere mantle. Some middle/upper Dillon rocks have high Ta/Th (>0.6) with low 87Sr/86Sr (0.7043-0.7049) which might suggest an asthenosphere source, however, these rocks have lower, and thus more enriched, 143Nd/144Ndi (0.51203-0.51232), unlike any other documented regional Cenozoic volcanics and we suggest this likely reflects lower crustal interaction. We propose that the middle Dillon volcanics are sourced from metasomatized subduction-affected lithospheric mantle that melted after the initiation of slab tearing/rollback and upwelling asthenosphere. Eruptions of middle Dillon basalts occurred contemporaneously with the onset of regional extensional tectonics and Renova basinal strata deposition. Continued extension resulted in eruptions of the upper Dillon alkali basalts, which we show were sourced from asthenosphere that interacted with low crust (or possibly lithospheric mantle melts) and resulted in whole rock 87Sr/86Sri and 143Nd/144/Ndi ratios that resemble enriched mantle (e.g., EM1-like).Item Open Access Cultivar innovation: impacts of adoption and potential for adaptation(2025) Ala-Kokko, KristiinaChapter 1 – From Field Trials to Farm Adoption: Identifying the Productivity Effect of On-Farm Technology Adoption Technology adoption is an important farm management decision and is frequently made using information that is unavailable to the researcher. Aside from their own experiences, producers often rely on extension services to inform their adoption decisions. Here, we propose a novel instrumental variable (IV) approach to identify the effect that a new technology, genetically modified (GM) corn, has on farm yield using instruments constructed from extension information. The proposed approach allows us to explore the degree of the endogeneity bias in estimating the impact of GM adoption on farm productivity. Candidate instruments are constructed from variety trial data to resemble information acquired by producers from university extension variety trial reports and are spatially merged with on-farm production data. We find that failure to account for the endogeneity of the adoption decision does indeed result in a substantial upward bias in the estimated productivity gains. After correcting for this bias through our IV approach, GM corn results in large on-farm yield gains of 19.6 bushels per acre. We demonstrate that variety trial data can be used to estimate the on-farm impact of a new technology, and this approach is general enough to be applied to additional contexts (i.e., technologies, crops, and/or locations). Chapter 2 – Effects of Warming on Cool-Season Pulse Varieties in North America Climate change is expected to have detrimental impacts on agriculture at low latitudes, some of which are already being felt. The impacts at high latitudes are less certain and are still debated. We examine the impacts of warmer temperatures at high latitudes using a novel cool-season pulses field trial dataset that includes 87 locations in the Northern Plains of the United States and western Canada from 2001 to 2023. Using regression analysis, we identify temperature thresholds of 29°C for field peas and 30°C for lentils, beyond which yield reductions begin due to heat stress. A moderate +2°C warming severely reduces field pea and lentil yields by 15.7% and 18.9%, respectively. Projected warming scenarios are extended to estimate the impacts on test weight and protein content, finding that warming has small negative effects on test weight (-0.9% to -0.1%) and moderate positive effects on protein content (+2.5% to +5.6%). Findings suggest that even at high latitudes, breeding programs should prioritize heat resilience to mitigate the detrimental effects on yield of pulse crops under future warming scenarios. Chapter 3 – Heterogeneous Effects of Yield and Quality for Herbicide Tolerant Lentil Varieties Weeds are a significant biotic stressor on crop production globally. In Canada and the United States, traits for herbicide tolerance (HT) developed through genetic engineering (GE) have been limited to crops produced for animal feed, fuel, and fiber, while crops produced for human food consumption have more limited options for weed control. Clearfield varieties are a non-GE alternative that allows producers to selectively target weeds using chemical herbicides. Using variety trial data that includes over 6,600 observations from 2001 to 2023, we quantify the effects of HT technology on lentil outcomes in western Canada and the Northern Plains of the United States. Our main findings reveal the heterogeneous effects of HT on lentil output across two important dimensions, yield and test weight. This distinction is important as HT varieties result in a yield reduction of 4.2% and an increase in test weight by 0.5%. Although there is a yield reduction overall, we find that HT improves yield by 3.4% for each day early season weed interference. Later in the growing season when weed interference impacts lentil quality, HT increases test weight by 0.1% for each additional day of weed interference. Taken together, our results suggest that HT technology in lentils provides risk reducing benefits for production and may be a potential adaptation strategy for producers facing increased weed pressure at higher latitudes due to warmer temperatures.Item Open Access Understanding and indentifing musical intervals: A comprehensive K-12 curriculum(2025) Reist, ThadThis report presents lessons from a curriculum designed to introduce the concept of musical intervals to lower elementary students, and to continue the understanding of musical intervals as students move upward by grade from K-12. I have both expanded upon others’ games and activities and invented my own games and activities to teach the concept of intervals using music classroom materials such as buckets, boomwackers and instruments, xylophones and piano. I have composed short pieces and exercises to demonstrate intervals to all grades. This curriculum begins at the kindergarten level, when students are introduced to the concepts of two pitches being the same, different, higher, and lower. By the 12th grade, students will be able to identify all intervals between the unison and octave. I believe the recognition of intervals is beneficial to becoming a well-rounded musician and is one of the initial vital steps to unlocking musical potential. Consequently, many students learned musical intervals and were able to identify them in the music they were learning. During my Masters’ studies, I was exposed to multiple music education philosophies and theories of music teaching, all of which were new to me. I do not have a bachelor’s degree in education, and during my first year of teaching I knew that I needed to acquire more knowledge to be a successful music educator. In learning music education philosophies, what resonated the most for me was Christopher Small’s assertion that music is ultimately about relationships of many types. In my Organization and Administration of School Music Programs course, the overarching theme was also about relationships. This was of vital importance to my development as an educator because I have been building a music program in my district from the ground up. Crucial to this is the relationships that I, the sole music teacher, develop and nurture with students, their parents and the community. Furthermore, bringing people together for musicking, with the goal of producing better people and societies, is important to me. In creating these lessons about musical intervals, my challenge was to build trust and make this activity fun for students. Students are naturally competitive, turning the learning of intervals into a game is a way to do so. In my goal to build a successful music program from K-12, learning foundational concepts such as intervals is critical to ear training, sight reading and playing, composition, and improvisation.Item Open Access Analysis and numerical methods for nonlocal models(2025) Mustapha, IlyasThis dissertation addresses the regularity of solutions for nonlocal diffusion equations over the space of periodic distributions. The spatial operator for the nonlocal diffusion equation is given by a nonlocal Laplace operator with a compactly supported integral kernel. We follow a unified approach based on the Fourier multipliers of the nonlocal Laplace operator, which allows the study of regular and distributional solutions of the nonlocal diffusion equation, as well as integrable and singular kernels, in any spatial dimension. In addition, the results extend beyond operators with singular kernels to nonlocal super-diffusion operators. We present results on the spatial and temporal regularity of solutions in terms of the regularity of the initial data or the diffusion source term. Moreover, solutions of the nonlocal diffusion equation are shown to converge to the solution of the classical diffusion equation for two types of limits: as the spatial nonlocality vanishes or as the singularity of the integral kernel approaches a certain critical singularity that depends on the spatial dimension. Furthermore, we show that, for the case of integrable kernels, discontinuities in the initial data propagate and persist in the solution of the nonlocal diffusion equation. The magnitude of a jump discontinuity is shown to decay over time. In addition, we present a spectral numerical method for nonlocal equations on bounded domains. These spectral solvers exploit the fact that integration in the nonlocal formulation transforms into multiplication in Fourier space and that nonlocality is decoupled from the grid size. Our approach extends the spectral solvers developed by Alali and Albin (2020) for periodic domains by incorporating the two-dimensional Fourier Continuation (2D-FC) algorithm introduced in Bruno and Paul (2022). We evaluate the performance of the proposed methods on two-dimensional nonlocal Poisson and nonlocal diffusion equations defined on bounded domains. While the regularity of solutions to these equations in bounded settings remains an open problem, we conduct numerical experiments to explore this issue, particularly focusing on studying discontinuities.Item Open Access Integrating machine learning for energy management: Applications in power system, building, and agriculture(2025) LIU, XUEBOEnergy management sits at the nexus of global sustainability objectives, striving not only to curtail greenhouse gas emissions but also to balance resource conservation and economic viability. Against this backdrop, machine learning (ML) has become an increasingly vital tool, offering flexible, data-driven methods for forecasting, optimization, and real-time decision-making in complex energy environments. By leveraging high-resolution data—from solar and wind generation to occupant behavior and crop conditions—these approaches uncover patterns and adapt strategies in real-time to enhance both operational efficiency and system resilience. This dissertation explores the application of tailored ML solutions across three critical areas. 1. For island power systems with high renewable penetration, it demonstrates how data-driven frequency nadir constraints can bolster grid stability without imposing excessive costs. 2. For occupant-centric building controls, it illustrates how multi-agent reinforcement learning can considerably reduce energy use while preserving occupant comfort. 3. Within agricultural operations, it highlights how advanced reinforcement learning frameworks can align irrigation, fertilization, and renewable resource utilization to increase yields while limiting environmental impact. Taken together, these studies exemplify the transformative role ML can play in shaping a more sustainable and cost-effective energy future. The first section of this dissertation focuses on island or weakly interconnected power grids, which face unique challenges due to high penetrations of inverter-based renewable energy resources. As intermittent sources like photovoltaics reduce overall system inertia, operators must ensure stable frequency responses following severe disturbances such as generation outages. To this end, a data-driven unit commitment (UC) model is proposed, incorporating frequency nadir constraints derived from comprehensive dynamic simulations and year-long generation data. By capturing the relationship between scheduled generation and post-disturbance frequency levels, these constraints effectively limit frequency deviations to acceptable ranges, thereby improving system reliability. Extensive simulations reveal that this approach yields significantly more robust frequency nadirs than a simpler minimum inertia constraint, with only a marginal increase in generation costs. The result is a more sustainable, renewable-powered grid that maintains stability and reliability without compromising economic feasibility. Next, the dissertation addresses energy efficiency in buildings, where HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning) systems account for a considerable share of total electricity usage. Traditional control methodologies often rely on static occupant behavior assumptions, which fail to capture short-term fluctuations in clothing insulation, metabolic rates, and occupancy patterns. To overcome these limitations, a multi-agent deep reinforcement learning (MADRL) framework is introduced for multi-zone HVAC control. In this setup, each zone is managed by an intelligent agent that learns to dynamically adjust heating and cooling setpoints based on real-time occupant behavior and energy cost signals. Simulation studies demonstrate that the proposed occupant-centric approach reduces electricity expenses significantly compared to rule-based methods and by slightly saving relative to single-agent deep reinforcement learning (DRL), all while preserving occupant comfort. Such improvements underscore the role of advanced learning algorithms in achieving energy efficiency and occupant satisfaction simultaneously, thereby contributing to the broader sustainability agenda. The final section explores the Food-Energy-Water (FEW) nexus, where agriculture intersects with renewable energy utilization. A novel framework is developed to integrate solar power, green ammonia production, and deep reinforcement learning–based optimization. By producing ammonia on-site using renewable energy, farms can leverage a valuable agricultural input while also storing excess energy for later use. The intelligent control system, driven by DRL, coordinates the timing of ammonia production, energy storage, and irrigation schedules to maximize farm revenue and optimize resource use. Simulation results confirm that this integrated approach can significantly enhance both economic and environmental outcomes, paving the way for greener, more resilient agricultural practices. Collectively, these three ML-driven frameworks showcase the versatility and impact of data-based decision-making in advancing sustainability and energy efficiency. Whether in stabilizing low-inertia power grids, managing building energy consumption with occupant-centric insights, or aligning agricultural operations with renewable resources, machine learning stands out as a transformative technology. By rigorously addressing each domain’s distinct challenges and synthesizing overarching lessons learned, this dissertation provides a blueprint for policymakers, engineers, and researchers aiming to foster sustainable energy systems. Ultimately, the proposed methodologies demonstrate that targeted applications of ML can lead to robust, cost-effective, and resource-conscious energy management solutions, propelling global efforts toward a more efficient and low-carbon future.Item Open Access Improving student achievement: Incorporating weekly individual practice time in the advanced middle school orchestra classroom(2025) McCready, DanielThe lessons demonstrated in this report are focused on exploring the impact of incorporating student practice time during large ensemble class time in the advanced middle school orchestra. Students have been taking on increasingly numerous activities, family responsibilities, and other pursuits outside the school day and I aim to show that by incorporating one or two “Practice Classes” into the weekly schedule can over time, ultimately benefit student achievement. I have designed these lessons around ideas learned in my Master’s studies in the area of human development and cognition, instrument pedagogy, and classroom management. By incorporating these “Practice Classes” into our weekly schedule over the course of 4 months, we were able to learn several pieces of music more difficult than prior. Furthermore, I was able to attend to some of the lowest achieving students’ needs and bring their level up drastically as a result. The final aspect was that for a majority of students in my specific classroom they are not able to take their instrument home, for any reason, due to location, size of instrument, family dynamics, homelessness, or transportation. From the skills learned in the classes mentioned above, I also created handouts with helpful practice tips, reminders, encouraging phrases, and places for students to write short and long-term goals for themselves. By encouraging the students to practice amongst each other, I have seen a great increase in their willingness to let their guard down, speak up for themselves and their engagement during regular large ensemble rehearsals. At the completion of the activity, I interviewed my students and the use of “Practice Classes” effectively eliminated all of those barriers for the students who are affected by them the most and in the case of the highest achievers, they were able to learn more solo literature during their home practice sessions.Item Open Access Audiation in the high school choral classroom: Utilizing solfege alongside various methods of teaching music(2025) Holbert, KaraThe lessons demonstrated in this report are focused on implementing the idea of audiation within the context of a high school choral music classroom, utilizing solfege regularly alongside various methods of teaching as facilitators. In my classroom I noticed a general disconnect between visual and auditory learning. Students were often able to identify notes as they saw them, but they were unable to determine how those notes were supposed to sound. Because of this disconnect, I decided to create lessons that focused deliberately on the idea of audiation within the context of a regular rehearsal. My goal was to help the students in my class become well-rounded singers, combining their visual reading skills with their aural skills. Combining these aspects creates for much more efficient music-making and allows for students to become independent singers. Throughout these lessons, I utilized the curriculum I created for sight reading as part of my coursework in the Master’s program, as well as a variety of teaching methods I learned through many of my classes in the program. As a result of these lessons, I was able to see and hear growth in a relatively short amount of time. With deliberate attention to the idea of Audiation coupled with the utilization of solfege, as well as a variety of teaching methods, I was able to notice growth in desired skills in students that will ultimately make them stronger, well-rounded musicians. Over the course of my time in the Master’s program, I have been able to gain an incredible amount of new ideas, knowledge, skills, and methods. I have gained a much deeper understanding of effective music instruction, refining my own personal teaching philosophy along the way. Through my coursework, I developed a sight-reading curriculum specifically tailored to the needs of my students, with the goal of increasing overall literacy and independence in the choral music classroom. Leadership lessons from coursework also challenged me to consider the broader impact of my role as a music educator, encouraging me to lead with a broad vision, but also keep a student-centered mindset in every rehearsal. I was influenced by many different kinds of teaching methods, including Music Learning Theory, which emphasizes the concept of Audiation, which ultimately lead me to create this project. Audiation is a skill that I was taking for granted and needed to spend more time focusing on teaching the skill within my classroom. During the completion of this project, I was able to realize that Audiation was happening throughout my rehearsals, but students were not utilizing the skill when it was needed, or did not have the vocabulary to describe it. Deliberate attention to this concept, coupled with the sight-reading curriculum I created, and all of the various methods and philosophies I learned in the Master’s program have been showcased throughout this project. From this report I have gained tremendous insight about the direction I would like to grow in as a music educator, and how all of my coursework can lead me there.Item Open Access Applications of the Hardy-Littlewood method to polynomial congruences and Diophantine inequalities(2025) Kydoniatis, KonstantinosThis manuscript revolves around two peer-reviewed results. First, we prove that for any positive integers $k$, $q$, $n$ with $n>N(k)$, integer $c$, and polynomials $f_i(x)$ of degree $k$ whose leading coefficients are relatively prime to $q$, there exists a solution $\underline{x}$ to the congruence $$ \sum_{i=1}^n f_i(x_i) \equiv c \pmod q $$ that lies in a cube of side length at least $\max\{q^{1/k},k\}$. Moreover, the result is best possible up to the determination of $N(k)$. The latter half of the manuscript is centred around Diophantine inequalities. Let $k\geq 2$, $s\geq \lceil k(\log k+4.20032) \rceil$, and $\lambda_1,\dots ,\lambda_s,\omega\in\mathbb{R}$. Assume that the $\lambda_i$ are non-zero, not all in rational ratio, and not all of the same sign in the case that $k$ is even. Then, for any $\epsilon > 0 $, the inequality $$ |\lambda_1 x_1^{k}+\lambda_{2} x_2^{k}+\cdots+\lambda_{s} x_s^{k}+\omega|<\epsilon $$ has $\gg P^{s-k}$ integer solutions with $|x_i|\leq P$. Moreover the asymptotic formula for the number of smooth solutions is established assuming the same conditions hold.Item Open Access Big band, small town: The strengthening of music education in rural schools through performance and community service(2025) Smallwood, KirstenThe project and subsequent lessons demonstrated in this report are focused on the impact community service has upon band programs in rural schools. The goal of this project was to present an opportunity for the jazz band students to not only add performance hours, but to also give back to the community that supports through many different avenues. As a result of this endeavor, my students gained skills musically, as well as those skills needed to efficiently lead and communicate with each other and effectively plan an event on their own. This project was based on the knowledge and skills that I gained in the summer masters’ program, and more specifically in Learning Theories in Music Teaching. Through this project, the summer Masters’ program pushed me to get out of my comfort zone and approach performance as service and connect my students to the community. Over the course of my Masters’ Program, I have been able to discover and refine my own philosophy of music education as well as fine tune it to fit the specific needs of my students in my current teaching situation. I have learned how to approach the podium in a different light through score analysis and rehearsal techniques, while also seeing myself as the educator as someone who is a guide in students’ learning rather than a boss. I have found what works best for my students, and how to effectively apply those different methods. The high standard of excellence set forth by my professors in the summer Masters’ program has aided in my endeavor to continue to hold my students to a high standard of achievement as well as realize what effects music has on their lives and why they continue to perform.Item Open Access Developing listeners in the high school band classroom: Using student-led rehearsals(2025) Nations, BlakeThe lessons demonstrated in this report are focused on using student-led rehearsals to improve high school band students’ listening abilities in respect to ensemble rhythmic accuracy, note accuracy, balance accuracy, and expression accuracy. Young musicians often do not know what they should be listening to in an ensemble setting and teachers normally have no way of assessing their listening abilities. These lessons incorporate student-led rehearsals with minimal teacher intervention to force students to listen to the ensemble to find inaccuracies that need corrected. I designed these lessons using ideas I gained from study during my master’s program in the areas of rehearsal techniques and score study. Using student-led rehearsals led to a positive outcome in two areas: students’ listening abilities improved throughout the lessons and students enjoyed making a piece of music fully their own that they were excited to share with parents and the community. During my time at K-State, I have developed my abilities and skills by adapting instruction to the specific students at my school. An example of these adaptations is that my band program paid for a drill writer to write drill. The difficulty and amount of drill that we received was too much for my program. I now write the drill for specific students in mind, not just shapes or dots on the field. I have also created leadership positions within both the marching band and concert band parts of my program at the junior high and high school level. Having these positions creates more buy-in from students and allows the program to run smoother overall while lowering my workload. This allows me to focus on what I want to focus on: making music. Making music in the high school classroom is easier with the students’ new leadership skills and their new listening skills that have been developed through student-led rehearsalsItem Open Access Teaching small ensemble chamber playing in the large ensemble rehearsal(2025) Selander, BrianThe lessons demonstrated in this report are focused on teaching small ensemble playing during the large group rehearsal setting. Playing in a small ensemble requires a different level of playing compared to playing in a larger ensemble. In many ways, it creates a better musician because of the attention to detail needed when only one player is assigned per part. The improvement in musicianship within the smaller ensembles can improve the musicianship when placed back in the larger ensembles. Many schools in our region have well-established small ensemble programs within their band programs. This was something I had yet to develop when I started this project. My outcome for this project was to help establish our small ensemble program by equipping our students with the skills needed to do this on their own next year, without having to go as extensively into the larger group demonstrations as we did with this project. My hope is to build confidence and leadership within my older students and have them pass down what they learned through this project to develop a successful and self-sustaining small ensemble program for years to come. We started by playing through each of the four parts of three different quartets in unison. I then split the band into thirds and assigned each a different quartet. Within each quartet, I assigned each student one of the four parts from their assigned quartet. They played through each part together in their small group, and eventually were able to play as a single player on each of the four parts. Throughout this process, I was teaching them the skills needed to play within a smaller group, and eventually, down to a quartet. Over the course of my master’s program at Kansas State University, I have developed and honed many areas of my music teaching. For starters, I developed my skills and understanding of research. While I spent time in my undergraduate studies developing skills in research, it was nothing compared to what I learned over the course of my time at KSU. I feel more confident in searching for and finding materials for not only the courses I took, but also as an educator looking for ways to improve my craft. I also feel the courses I have taken have provided me with more confidence as a teacher. I feel a strength of mine as a teacher/educator has been my presence in front of my students. I have no problem getting in front of my students/ensembles. However, I feel I am providing better feedback for my students, have enhanced my conducting and rehearsing, and am helping develop musicians within a music program and not just “teaching band,” all because of the things I have learned at KSU. I know I still have not learned everything I can, but I know that going through my graduate studies has given me the passion to want to continue getting better, even as I finish up the work for my master's degree.Item Open Access An investigation of the social, emotional, and character development practices and perceptions of Kansas school-based agricultural education teachers(2025) James, KaCeeFor decades, schools have addressed students’ basic needs from dental to eye exams in addition to teaching them academic content. Given the increasing concern for student mental health, many states have recently begun requiring educators to incorporate social and emotional learning into the educational setting. In 2012, the Kansas State Department of Education adopted a framework to promote social, emotional, and character development (SECD) competencies. The Kansas SECD standards provide a framework for schools to incorporate social and emotional learning (SEL) alongside character development, supporting students in their personal, social, and character growth. These standards include practicing citizenship, personal safety, problem-solving, risk prevention, and promoting a positive school culture. This study investigated the perceptions and practices of Kansas school-based agricultural education (SBAE) teachers regarding social, emotional, and character development. SBAE teachers are uniquely positioned to foster these skills through the major areas of agricultural education that encompass the three-component model – classroom instruction, student organization, and work-based learning. The Kansas SECD standards and the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning guided this research. The central question was, “How do Kansas SBAE teachers perceive they foster social, emotional, and character development in their programs?’ A collective case study was conducted to examine the perceptions and teaching strategies of six Kansas SBAE teachers to understand how they incorporate social, emotional, and character skills in their programs. The teacher participants were interviewed via Zoom using a semi-structured interview protocol. After the interviews, additional supporting documents, including pictures of learning spaces, lesson plans, and sample classroom rules and expectations, were gathered from the teacher participants. The supporting documents provided triangulation and added to the credibility of the findings. The data collected through the case study was used to explain how teachers integrate social, emotional, and character learning in their classrooms and FFA chapters. This study identified key themes related to Kansas SBAE teachers’ perceptions and practices concerning SECD. Teachers saw themselves as both educators and mentors, roles reflected in recurring themes: SECD as a foundation, relationships and safe environments, and challenges of formal SECD. Additionally, four themes emerged in relation to how teachers implement SECD in their classrooms: creating a supportive and relational learning environment, intentionally integrating SECD through agricultural education, empowering students through responsibility, and modeling desired behaviors and attitudes for student development. The findings from this study contribute to the growing body of knowledge on SECD within SBAE and can inform teachers, teacher educators, and professional development efforts. Additional research is needed to measure the impact of SBAE teachers’ SECD practices on student outcomes. Teacher preparation programs should explicitly incorporate strategies to develop pre-service teachers’ confidence and fluency in SECD, including examining ways to model positive behaviors, build strong relationships, and create supportive learning environments.Item Open Access Student ownership in the band classroom: Assessing student understanding and increasing student buy-in(2025) Whitaker, BraydenIn this project, I developed techniques and rehearsal strategies that give students more ownership and musical decision-making opportunities in the middle school and high school band setting. When students are able to make musical decisions and effectively lead their peers in music making experiences, it shows a competent understanding of musicality. It also enhances the cohesive atmosphere of the music classroom, giving the students a bigger stake in the learning occurring. Overall, these techniques have proven to be effective and a useful form of informal assessment during daily lesson planning. Students have been more engaged during lessons and have shown more buy-in to the rehearsal process. The experiences I have had during my Master’s degree program have helped me become a better teacher by exposing me to different philosophies of music education, which in turn has helped me form my own philosophies that inspire my daily teaching. One such self-developed philosophy, which inspired this project, is that the music classroom is a collaborative experience between the teacher and the students. The students have an equal say in the music education experience, and we as teachers need to make sure we plan for that and give our students a chance to take ownership and express their thoughts and feelings. Another development in my teaching due to my Master’s program experience would be an increase in my understanding of pedagogical aspects of music education. For example, I now have a better understanding of what makes quality literature and what aspects of that literature I can look for to address the needs of the ensembles I teach. I have also learned new rehearsal techniques that make me a more effective, more engaging teacher in the classroom.
