VTechWorks
VTechWorks provides global access to Virginia Tech scholarship, including journal articles, books, theses, dissertations, conference papers, slide presentations, technical reports, working papers, administrative documents, videos, images, and more by faculty, students, and staff. Faculty can deposit items to VTechWorks from Elements, including journal articles covered by the University open access policy. Email vtechworks@vt.edu for help.
Open Access Policy
Virginia Tech's open access policy enables researchers to deposit the accepted version of scholarly articles with no embargo.
Theses and Dissertations
Virginia Tech was first in the world to require ETDs in 1997, and continues to add scans of older theses and dissertations.
Open Textbooks
More than 50 freely available and openly licensed textbooks are among our most downloaded items.
Communities in VTechWorks
Select a community to browse its collections.
Recent Submissions
Single-cell atlases as meta-analytic compasses for developmental biology: a case study using the Arabidopsis root
Chen, Min; Kari, Saahithi; Szekely, Pablo; Bargmann, Bastiaan O. R.; Shahan, Rachel (2026-07-06)
Plant development requires coordinated execution of gene regulatory programs across diverse cell types. While classical genetic and genomic approaches have revealed many of the genes required for plant growth and patterning, these methods often average signals across heterogeneous tissues, thereby obscuring how regulatory programs operate within individual cells. Therefore, resolving gene expression at the cellular level is essential for understanding how developmental decisions are made, integrated, and propagated during organ growth. The Arabidopsis thaliana root, with its simple anatomy and invariant cell lineages, provides an ideal system for addressing these questions. Recent advances in single-cell and single-nucleus transcriptomics have enabled construction of comprehensive cellular atlases that capture gene expression dynamics across cell identities and developmental trajectories. In this Expert View article, we highlight recent conceptual and technical developments that illustrate how single-cell atlases have transformed studies of root development. We emphasize how these atlases serve as community resources to inform the interpretation of new datasets, including those generated from mutants and in response to perturbation, as well as provide a platform for meta-analysis to initiate new studies. Using auxin signaling as a meta-analysis case study, we demonstrate how legacy transcriptomic data can be reinterpreted within a cell lineage-resolved framework. Finally, we highlight how spatial transcriptomics and rigorous data-sharing practices will extend cellular atlases across tissues and species, thereby enabling increasingly precise strategies for understanding and engineering plant growth and resilience.
Hydro-Québec met en jeu sa réputation à Gull Island
Calder, Ryan S. D. (2026-08-27)
Real-time three-dimensional evaluation of the feline heart; feasibility and reference intervals
Chavez, Lezith Desiree (Virginia Tech, 2026-09-01)
Current feline echocardiographic practice relies on linear, geometry-dependent two-dimensional and Motion mode (M-mode) measures rather than direct volumetric quantification. Full-volume real-time three-dimensional echocardiography (RT3DE) can produce ventricular volumes without the geometric assumptions of two-dimensional methods, but its feasibility and normal values have not been established for the feline left ventricle. This prospective, cross-sectional study evaluated the feasibility of full-volume RT3DE and generated reference intervals for left ventricular end-diastolic volume (EDV), end-systolic volume (ESV), and ejection fraction (EF) in 120 healthy cats. Diagnostic-quality datasets were obtained in all cats, the majority without sedation, and three-dimensional acquisition time was significantly shorter than that of the conventional two-dimensional examination. EDV was weakly associated with body weight and is reported as weight-specific allometric limits, whereas ESV and EF were independent of body weight. Interobserver reproducibility was strongest for ejection fraction and weakest for end-systolic volume. These findings demonstrate that full-volume RT3DE is feasible in healthy cats and provide preliminary normative values that may support volumetric assessment of feline cardiac disease. The reference intervals were derived from clinically healthy cats and require validation before application to cats with suspected cardiomyopathy.
Assessing Level of Traffic Stress on Virginia’s Roadways
Hamm, Laura (National Surface Transportation Safety Center for Excellence, 2026-09-01)
This project developed and demonstrated a practical, scalable, and reproducible framework for calculating and applying Level of Traffic Stress (LTS) classifications across Virginia using publicly available and broadly accessible datasets. The work focused on developing a workflow that can be maintained and updated over time without reliance on proprietary software or specialized data collection efforts. The resulting LTS classifications were used to support analyses of bicycle network connectivity and accessibility and develop a prototype visualization tool to support planning and decision-making.
The browser-based prototype visualization tool using VTTI’s DataViz platform allows users to visualize LTS classifications throughout a network, compare different LTS calculation approaches, and conduct accessibility and routing analyses between selected origins and destinations. The application was intentionally designed to operate without specialized geographic information system software, improving accessibility for practitioners and stakeholders.
Overall, this project demonstrates that statewide and regional LTS analysis is technically feasible using scalable workflows and publicly available datasets. The resulting framework provides a practical foundation for identifying low-stress network gaps, evaluating bicycle accessibility, prioritizing infrastructure improvements, and supporting multimodal transportation planning. The work also highlights the importance of moving beyond isolated segment-level classifications toward network-based evaluations of accessibility that reflect how bicyclists experience the transportation system in practice.
Developing a Plan for Educating Roadway Users of Motorcycle-specific Safety Topics
McCall, Robert (National Surface Transportation Safety Center for Excellence, 2026-09-01)
This report documents the development of a Motorcycle Safety Awareness Program designed to educate middle and high school students not yet driving, as well as novice drivers, about the motorcycles’ unique vulnerabilities and operating constraints. The program builds directly on the proven structure and delivery model of the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute’s Sharing the Road initiative, which uses hands-on demonstrations to make roadway risks involving large trucks concrete and memorable. The motorcycle modules apply the same experiential learning logic: students first receive a short classroom lesson introducing core concepts (visibility limitations, braking complexity, rider vulnerability, and common conflict scenarios), then participate in a guided hands-on demonstration with a stationary, stabilized motorcycle. This physical perspective-taking component is intended to increase empathy, improve hazard anticipation, and reinforce simple behavioral commitments such as “look twice,” avoid left-turn conflicts, provide additional following distance, and respect a motorcycle’s full lane.
The proposed delivery format is intentionally brief and scalable. A typical session is designed as a 15-minute module that can be inserted into existing driver education classes, school assemblies, insurance safety events, and community outreach settings. The classroom component (≈ 7 minutes) uses visuals, statistics, and real-world examples to explain why motorcycles are harder to detect and why common driver assumptions about speed, distance, and braking do not reliably apply. The hands-on component (≈ 8 minutes) allows students to sit on the motorcycle (with the engine off) while an instructor guides them through: (1) a braking coordination exercise illustrating hand/foot control requirements; (2) a visibility and “head-check” exercise highlighting limited rearward awareness compared with passenger vehicles; and (3) a short reflection activity emphasizing the absence of a protective shell. Together, these elements aim to produce a more durable learning outcome than lecture-only messaging.
Finally, the report describes how the motorcycle module integrates with Sharing the Road to create operational efficiencies and a unified vulnerable road user safety message. Because both programs target new and soon-to-be new drivers and utilize similar delivery partners (educators, insurers, community safety staff), the motorcycle module can be deployed as a stand-alone session or paired with existing truck demonstrations, depending on scheduling and site needs. Interested parties have been identified that are willing to assist in a pilot deployment.