University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez Institutional Repository
Welcome to the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez Institutional Repository.
Bienvenidos al Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Puerto Rico en Mayagüez.
Recent Submissions
Publication Restricted A proximal sensing approach to sediment transport at different scales(2025-11-19)This thesis investigates sediment transport dynamics in a humid tropical subbasin and at plot scale with rainfall simulations integrating geochemical and hydrological analyses. In the plot-scale phase of the project, silver nanoparticles were introduced to assess their effectiveness as tracers within the sediment fingerprinting methodology. Portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF) spectroscopy provided reliable elemental content data, which were used in a machine learning model (Random Forest) to distinguish between the two dominant soil types, Oxisols (Daguey series) and Ultisols (Consumo series). The models achieved high classification and prediction performance. Field observations and rainfall simulations showed that Daguey soils, which cover steeper slopes and exhibit lower infiltration capacity, contribute most to erosion and sediment load. Aluminum and silicon emerged as stable tracers of soil origin, whereas silver nanoparticle tagging reduced classification accuracy. The study demonstrates that combining pXRF data with machine learning models is an effective approach for sediment fingerprinting in tropical environments.Publication Restricted Exploring familiar writing practices in the classroom: Educators’ tangled narratives(2025-09-29)This thesis is a mixed methods single case study over educators’ use of writing as a punishment at the University of Puerto Rico Mayagüez Campus. It also explores the feelings of both students and educators with the use of writing as a punishment. The population for this research included first year intermediate and advanced English students, as well as the English department faculty. A student survey was utilized that contained eight questions varying from demographic information to their experience and knowledge about writing as a punishment. An educator survey was also conducted with ten questions detailing their demographic information, experience, and thoughts about the practice. This was then followed up with an individual educator interview that explored the same ideas as the educator survey. This study’s results indicate there is some dissonance between students and educators about the prevalence of the practice and with lived experience. It also shows that students may have differing experiences with writing as a punishment based on gender or course level. This research serves as groundwork for future research in and out of Puerto Rico.Publication Restricted Efecto de la suplementación de suero ácido de queso blanco del país en la alimentación de cerdos durante la lactancia y post-destete en condiciones de clima tropical(2025-11-23)The effect of cheese whey supplementation in swine diets at two different phases, pre-weaning and post-weaning was evaluated. On day seventh of lactation and during the next four weeks of the pre-weaning phase, eight litters randomly received one of the following: dry nursery feed + liquid cheese whey supplementation (SS); or dry nursery feed only (DC). The litters were balanced with 12 pigs per litter. For the post-weaning phase, twelve weanlings from five different litters were selected and randomly assigned to one of the following dietary treatments: dry concentrated commercial feed (DC); dry concentrated commercial feed + liquid cheese whey supplementation (SS); and a slurry of dry concentrated commercial feed with liquid cheese whey (DS). Pigs were allotted individually with a total of four pigs per treatment. Diets were offered for four weeks after weaning and data was collected over a 10-week period after weaning. During the pre-weaning phase, no significant differences (P>0.05) in weight gain were observed between the groups; however, the SS group showed a lower intake of dry nursery feed (P≤0.05) during the total phase. Meanwhile in the post-weaning phase, no statistically significant differences were found (P>0.05) between the treatments for weight gain, feed consumption and feed efficiency or conversion. These findings suggests that supplementation of liquid cheese whey in pigs during lactation and post weaning can be considerate and should be further evaluated as an alternative to reduce the higher feeding costs during these phases, since it did not adversely affect their development or growth. This might be an economical and nutritious alternative for pig supplementation in Puerto Rico.Publication Open Access Use-cases and research opportunities of latest wireless technologies in bio-medical applications(2025)I delivered a talk virtually on "Use-cases and research opportunities of latest wireless technologies in bio-medical applications" as a part of "Online six day hands-on training in Machine learning and artificial intelligence for Biomedical applications" hosted by SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Vadapalani Campus, Chennai, India. I'm uploading the slides I used in this work.Publication Open Access Conjunto tecnológico para la produccion de pimientos tipos "cubanelle" y "campana"(Agricultural Experiment Station, 2018)La producción de hortalizas en Puerto Rico tiene gran importancia económica, tanto por generar empleos como ingresos. Además de productos frescos de alta demanda, se genera materia prima para productos elaborados como sofritos y vinagretas (valor añadido). Entre los sectores agrícolas en Puerto Rico, el sector de hortalizas es el que tiene el mayor potencial para la sustitución de importaciones. Nuestra isla tiene el clima adecuado y nuestros agricultores producen con calidad y eficiencia. De otra parte, el periodo desde la siembra a la cosecha de las hortalizas es de corta duración, por lo que los agricultores pueden tener varias cosechas al año. El pimiento es una de las hortalizas favoritas de los consumidores por ser ingrediente principal para la elaboración de sofrito, condimento esencial en la cocina puertorriqueña, lo que lo convierte en un producto de alta demanda. Aun cuando hemos observado un aumento en la producción de pimiento seguimos teniendo un amplio margen de crecimiento ya que la demanda sigue superando la oferta. Antes del Huracán María aportábamos el 51.6% del consumo total de pimiento. En el Cuadro 1 se presenta la producción, precio y valor del cultivo para poder evaluar la tendencia en producción. Luego del Huracán María la producción comenzó a restablecerse con relativa rapidez y se espera que continúe esta tendencia hasta lograr la expectativa que se tiene de abastecer el mercado local.
Communities in Scholar@UPRM
Select a community to browse its collections.