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Articles 2131 - 2160 of 2906

Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Brand X, A Cross-Layer Architecture For Quality Of Transport (Qot), Gregory Arthur De Hart Jun 2006

Brand X, A Cross-Layer Architecture For Quality Of Transport (Qot), Gregory Arthur De Hart

Theses and Dissertations

Computing devices are commonly equipped with multiple transport technologies such as IrDA, Bluetooth and WiFi. Transport switching technologies, such as Quality of Transport (QoT), take advantage of this heterogeneity to keep network sessions active as users move in and out of range of various transports or as the networking environment changes. Autonomous transport switching technologies rely on information regarding current network status and the ambient wireless environment in order to make intelligent decisions. This thesis proposes Brand X, a cross-layer architecture designed for a QoT environment to provide timely and accurate environment information in order to facilitate autonomous transport switching. …


Model Studies Towards The Total Synthesis Of Lyconadin A Via An Acyl Radical Cascade Reaction, Koudi Zhu Jun 2006

Model Studies Towards The Total Synthesis Of Lyconadin A Via An Acyl Radical Cascade Reaction, Koudi Zhu

Theses and Dissertations

Lyconadin A is an alkaloid possessing a unique structure and antitumor activity. The total synthesis of Lyconadin A was proposed via an acyl radical cascade reaction. To investigate the possibility and stereoselectivity of the cascade cyclization, phenyl selenoester 16 was chosen as a model substrate to study the 7-exo-5-exo radical cyclization. A synthetic route to phenyl selenoester 16 was developed. The 7-exo-5-exo radical cyclization was found to occur with a high yield and excellent stereoselectivty. Attempts were also tried to synthesize another radical precursor 14 albeit with less success. A synthetic pathway to the synthesis of 14 as well as …


Computation Of Weights For Probabilistic Record Linkage Using The Em Algorithm, G. John Bauman Jun 2006

Computation Of Weights For Probabilistic Record Linkage Using The Em Algorithm, G. John Bauman

Theses and Dissertations

Record linkage is the process of combining information about a single individual from two or more records. Probabilistic record linkage gives weights to each field that is compared. The decision of whether the records should be linked is then determined by the sum of the weights, or “Score”, over all fields compared. Using methods similar to the simple versus simple most powerful test, an optimal record linkage decision rule can be established to minimize the number of unlinked records when the probability of false positive and false negative errors are specified. The weights needed for probabilistic record linkage necessitate linking …


A Dynamic Attribute-Based Load Shedding And Data Recovery Scheme For Data Stream Management Systems, Amit Ahuja Jun 2006

A Dynamic Attribute-Based Load Shedding And Data Recovery Scheme For Data Stream Management Systems, Amit Ahuja

Theses and Dissertations

Data streams being transmitted over a network channel with capacity less than the data rate of the data streams is very common when using network channels such as dial-up, low bandwidth wireless links. Not only does this lower capacity creates delays but also causes sequential network problems such as packet losses, network congestion, errors in data packets giving rise to other problems and creating a cycle of problems hard to break out from. In this thesis, we present a new approach for shedding the less informative attribute data from a data stream with a fixed schema to maintain a data …


Guided Interactive Machine Learning, Aaron J. Pace Jun 2006

Guided Interactive Machine Learning, Aaron J. Pace

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis describes a combination of two current areas of research: the Crayons image classifier system and active learning. Currently Crayons provides no guidance to the user in what pixels should be labeled or when the task is complete. This work focuses on two main areas: 1) active learning for user guidance, and 2) accuracy estimation as a measure of completion. First, I provide a study through simulation and user experiments of seven active learning techniques as they relate to Crayons. Three of these techniques were specifically designed for use in Crayons. These three perform comparably to the others and …


Ontology-Based Free-Form Query Processing For The Semantic Web, Mark S. Vickers Jun 2006

Ontology-Based Free-Form Query Processing For The Semantic Web, Mark S. Vickers

Theses and Dissertations

With the onset of the semantic web, the problem of making semantic content effectively searchable for the general public emerges. Demanding an understanding of ontologies or familiarity with a new query language would likely frustrate semantic web users and prevent widespread success. Given this need, this thesis describes AskOntos, which is a system that uses extraction ontologies to convert conjunctive, free-form queries into structured queries for semantically annotated web pages. AskOntos then executes these structured queries and provides answers as tables of extracted values. In experiments conducted AskOntos was able to translate queries with a precision of 88% and a …


Geologic Map And Structural Analysis Of The Twin Rocks 7.5 Minute Quadrangle, Wayne County, Utah, Samuel C. Sorber Jun 2006

Geologic Map And Structural Analysis Of The Twin Rocks 7.5 Minute Quadrangle, Wayne County, Utah, Samuel C. Sorber

Theses and Dissertations

A new geologic map of the Twin Rocks 7.5 minute quadrangle primarily located within Capitol Reef National Park, south-central Utah, provides stratigraphic and structural detail not previously available. This map has also been instrumental in understanding the evolution and development of fluvial terraces associated with Sulfur Creek and the structural geology of the backlimb of the Miners Mountain uplift. Nine bedrock stratigraphic formations and eight types of Quaternary deposits were mapped throughout the quadrangle. Bedrock stratigraphy ranges in age from Permian to Jurassic. New details absent on previous geologic maps include members of the Chinle and Moenkopi Formations and the …


Fibroblast Migration And Collagen Deposition During Dermal Wound Healing: Mathematical Modelling And Clinical Implications, S. Mcdougall, J. A. Sherratt, P. K. Maini, J. C. Dallon Jun 2006

Fibroblast Migration And Collagen Deposition During Dermal Wound Healing: Mathematical Modelling And Clinical Implications, S. Mcdougall, J. A. Sherratt, P. K. Maini, J. C. Dallon

Faculty Publications

The extent to which collagen alignment occurs during dermal wound healing determines the severity of scar tissue formation. We have modelled this using a multiscale approach, in which extracellular materials, for example collagen and fibrin, are modelled as continua, while fibroblasts are considered as discrete units. Within this model framework, we have explored the effects that different parameters have on the alignment process, and we have used the model to investigate how manipulation of transforming growth factor-b levels can reduce scar tissue formation. We briefly review this body of work, then extend the modelling framework to investigate the role played …


The Mechanism Of Assembly Of The G-Protein Beta Gamma Subunit Dimer By Ck2 Phosphorylated Phosducin-Like Protein And The Chaperonin Containing Tcp-1, Christine M. Baker Jun 2006

The Mechanism Of Assembly Of The G-Protein Beta Gamma Subunit Dimer By Ck2 Phosphorylated Phosducin-Like Protein And The Chaperonin Containing Tcp-1, Christine M. Baker

Theses and Dissertations

Phosducin-like protein (PhLP) binds G-protein beta gamma subunits and is thought to assist in assembly of the G-protein beta gamma dimer. Phosphorylation of PhLP at serine residues 18-20 by the casein kinase 2 (CK2) appears to play an essential role in this process. PhLP has also been shown to interact with the chaperonin containing TCP-1 (CCT) atop its apical domain, not entering the substrate folding cavity. However, the physiological role of the PhLP-CCT interaction in G-protein beta gamma dimer formation remains unclear. This study addresses the mechanism of G-protein beta gamma assembly by exploring the specific roles of CCT and …


Mechanisms Of The Wurtzite To Rock Salt Phase Transitions In Galium Nitride, Jesse Z. Gunter Jun 2006

Mechanisms Of The Wurtzite To Rock Salt Phase Transitions In Galium Nitride, Jesse Z. Gunter

Theses and Dissertations

We studied the wurtzite to rock salt phase transition in gallium nitride ( GaN ). Using the mapping algorithm of COMSUBS we found 435 possible mechanisms for this transition. We then used FIREBALL to do density functional theory calculations and found enthalpy barrier heights for the transition pathway. We used this to determine the mechanisms that are the most favorable for GaN. The most favorable mechanisms for GaN are those that break no bonds during the phase transition. The bond-preserving mechanisms involve bilayer sliding of (010) hexagonal plane in the plus or minus [100] hexagonal direction.


Fabrication Of Polymeric Microfluidic Devices For Protein Analysis, Jikun Liu Jun 2006

Fabrication Of Polymeric Microfluidic Devices For Protein Analysis, Jikun Liu

Theses and Dissertations

2-Bromoisobutyryl bromide was immobilized on poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) substrates activated using an oxygen plasma. Atom-transfer radical polymerization was then performed to graft poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) on the PMMA surface. PMMA micro capillary electrophoresis (µCE) devices made with the covalently modified surfaces exhibited substantially reduced electroosmotic flow and nonspecific adsorption of proteins. Both column efficiency and migration time reproducibility were one order of magnitude better with derivatized PMMA µCE devices compared to untreated versions. Fast, reproducible, and efficient separations of proteins and peptides were demonstrated using the PEG-grafted PMMA µCE chips. All analyses were completed in less than 60 seconds, and …


Minimum Spanning Tree Pose Estimation, Parris K. Egbert, Kevin L. Steele Jun 2006

Minimum Spanning Tree Pose Estimation, Parris K. Egbert, Kevin L. Steele

Faculty Publications

The extrinsic camera parameters from video stream images can be accurately estimated by tracking features through the image sequence and using these features to compute parameter estimates. The poses for long video sequences have been estimated in this manner. However, the poses of large sets of still images cannot be estimated using the same strategy because wide-baseline correspondences are not as robust as narrow-baseline feature tracks. Moreover, video pose estimation requires a linear or hierarchically-linear ordering on the images to be calibrated, reducing the image matches to the neighboring video frames. We propose a novel generalization to the linear ordering …


Histogram Matching For Camera Pose Neighbor Selection, Parris K. Egbert, Bryan S. Morse, Kevin L. Steele Jun 2006

Histogram Matching For Camera Pose Neighbor Selection, Parris K. Egbert, Bryan S. Morse, Kevin L. Steele

Faculty Publications

A prerequisite to calibrated camera pose estimation is the construction of a camera neighborhood adjacency graph, a connected graph defining the pose neighbors of the camera set. Pose neighbors to a camera C are images containing sufficient overlap in image content with the image from C that they can be used to correctly estimate the pose of C using structure-from-motion techniques. In a video stream, the camera neighborhood adjacency graph is often a simple connected path; frame poses are only estimated relative to their immediate neighbors. We propose a novel method to build more complex camera adjacency graphs that are …


Image Vectorization, Brian L. Price May 2006

Image Vectorization, Brian L. Price

Theses and Dissertations

We present a new technique for creating an editable vector graphic from an object in a raster image. Object selection is performed interactively in subsecond time by calling graph cut with each mouse movement. A renderable mesh is then computed automatically for the selected object and each of its (sub)objects by (1) generating a coarse object mesh; (2) performing recursive graph cut segmentation and hierarchical ordering of subobjects; (3) applying error-driven mesh refinement to each (sub)object. The result is a fully layered object hierarchy that facilitates object-level editing without leaving holes. Object-based vectorization compares favorably with current approaches in the …


Development And Comparison Of Highly Directional Loudspeakers, Gordon Robert Dix May 2006

Development And Comparison Of Highly Directional Loudspeakers, Gordon Robert Dix

Theses and Dissertations

Highly directive loudspeakers have long been important tools for sound system designers, experimental acousticians, and many other professionals in the audio industry. They allow sound engineers to more easily manipulate the radiation pattern of their loudspeakers to accommodate the purpose of the venue. Many commercially available products, while exhibiting good directivity at mid and high frequencies, generally lack control in the low frequency range. A new method for controlling the radiation pattern of a loudspeaker at low frequencies has been developed and modeled extensively. Prototypes have been built and tested in an anechoic chamber. Results from computer modeling and experimental …


Temporal Data Mining In A Dynamic Feature Space, Brent K. Wenerstrom May 2006

Temporal Data Mining In A Dynamic Feature Space, Brent K. Wenerstrom

Theses and Dissertations

Many interesting real-world applications for temporal data mining are hindered by concept drift. One particular form of concept drift is characterized by changes to the underlying feature space. Seemingly little has been done to address this issue. This thesis presents FAE, an incremental ensemble approach to mining data subject to concept drift. FAE achieves better accuracies over four large datasets when compared with a similar incremental learning algorithm.


Direct Observation Of Laser Filamentation In High-Order Harmonic Generation, John Charles Painter May 2006

Direct Observation Of Laser Filamentation In High-Order Harmonic Generation, John Charles Painter

Theses and Dissertations

We investigate the spatial evolution of an intense laser pulse as it generates high-order harmonics in a long gas cell, filled with 80 torr of helium. A thin foil separates the gas-filled region of the cell from a subsequent evacuated region. The exit plane of the gas cell can be scanned along the laser axis so that the evolution of the laser throughout the focus can be observed (full scanning range of 9 cm). We constructed an apparatus that images the laser radial energy profile as it exits the cell. The high harmonics, odd orders ranging from 45 to 91, …


Food Shelf Life: Estimation And Experimental Design, Ross Allen Andrew Larsen May 2006

Food Shelf Life: Estimation And Experimental Design, Ross Allen Andrew Larsen

Theses and Dissertations

Shelf life is a parameter of the lifetime distribution of a food product, usually the time until a specified proportion (1-50%) of the product has spoiled according to taste. The data used to estimate shelf life typically come from a planned experiment with sampled food items observed at specified times. The observation times are usually selected adaptively using ‘staggered sampling.’ Ad-hoc methods based on linear regression have been recommended to estimate shelf life. However, other methods based on maximizing a likelihood (MLE) have been proposed, studied, and used. Both methods assume the Weibull distribution. The observed lifetimes in shelf life …


Trust Negotiation For Open Database Access Control, Paul A. Porter May 2006

Trust Negotiation For Open Database Access Control, Paul A. Porter

Theses and Dissertations

Hippocratic databases are designed to protect the privacy of the individuals whose personal information they contain. This thesis presents a model for providing and enforcing access control in an open Hippocratic database system. Previously unknown individuals can gain access to information in the database by authenticating to roles through trust negotiation. Allowing qualified strangers to access the database increases the usefulness of the system without compromising privacy. This thesis presents the design and implementation of two methods for filtering information from database queries. First, we extend a query modification method for use in an open database system. Second, we introduce …


Bayesian And Positive Matrix Factorization Approaches To Pollution Source Apportionment, Jeff William Lingwall May 2006

Bayesian And Positive Matrix Factorization Approaches To Pollution Source Apportionment, Jeff William Lingwall

Theses and Dissertations

The use of Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF) in pollution source apportionment (PSA) is examined and illustrated. A study of its settings is conducted in order to optimize them in the context of PSA. The use of a priori information in PMF is examined, in the form of target factor profiles and pulling profile elements to zero. A Bayesian model using lognormal prior distributions for source profiles and source contributions is fit and examined.


Mechanisms Imposing The Vbeta Bias Of V14a Natural Killer T Cells And Consequences For Microbial Glycolipid Recognition, Paul B. Savage, Dasten G. Wei, Shane A. Curran, Luc Teyton, Albert Bendelac May 2006

Mechanisms Imposing The Vbeta Bias Of V14a Natural Killer T Cells And Consequences For Microbial Glycolipid Recognition, Paul B. Savage, Dasten G. Wei, Shane A. Curran, Luc Teyton, Albert Bendelac

Faculty Publications

Mouse and human natural killer T (NKT) cells recognize a restricted set of glycosphingolipids presented by CD1d molecules, including self iGb3 and microbial alpha-glycuronosylceramides. The importance of the canonical Valpha 14-Jalpha18 TCR alphachain for antigen recognition by NKT cells is well recognized, but the mechanisms underlying the Vbeta8, Vbeta7, and Vbeta2 bias in mouse have not been explored. To study the influences of thymic selection and the constraints of pairing with Valpha 14-Jalpha 18, we have created a population of mature T cells expressing Valpha 14-Jalpha 18 TCRalpha chain in CD1d-deficient mice and studied its recognition properties in vitro and …


No Free Lunch, Bayesian Inference, And Utility: A Decision-Theoretic Approach To Optimization, Christopher Kenneth Monson Apr 2006

No Free Lunch, Bayesian Inference, And Utility: A Decision-Theoretic Approach To Optimization, Christopher Kenneth Monson

Theses and Dissertations

Existing approaches to continuous optimization are essentially mechanisms for deciding which locations should be sampled in order to obtain information about a target function's global optimum. These methods, while often effective in particular domains, generally base their decisions on heuristics developed in consideration of ill-defined desiderata rather than on explicitly defined goals or models of the available information that may be used to achieve them. The problem of numerical optimization is essentially one of deciding what information to gather, then using that information to infer the location of the global optimum. That being the case, it makes sense to model …


Clustering Of Database Query Results, Kristine Jean Daniels Apr 2006

Clustering Of Database Query Results, Kristine Jean Daniels

Theses and Dissertations

Increasingly more users are accessing database systems for interactive and exploratory data retrieval. While performing searches on these systems, users are required to use broad queries to get their desired results. Broad queries often result in too many items forcing the user to spend unnecessary time sifting through these items to find the relevant results. This problem, of finding a desired data item within many items, is referred to as "information overload". Most users experience information overload when viewing these database query results. This thesis shows that users information overload can be reduced by clustering database query results. …


Compositional Stability Of Fept Nanoparticles On Sio2/Si During Annealing, Richard R. Vanfleet, B. Yao, R. V. Petrova, K. R. Coffey Apr 2006

Compositional Stability Of Fept Nanoparticles On Sio2/Si During Annealing, Richard R. Vanfleet, B. Yao, R. V. Petrova, K. R. Coffey

Faculty Publications

The loss of Fe due to oxidation or diffusion into the substrate can prevent the successful preparation of well-ordered, stoichiometric, FePt nanoparticles. In this work we report the composition changes during annealing observed for small (<10 nm) FePt nanoparticles on thermally grown SiO2 layers on Si wafer substrates. Additionally, we describe the use of a controlled reducing gas mixture, Ar+H2+H2O, to reduce the loss of Fe.


Erratum: "Hard Sphere Radial Distribution Function Again", Andrij Trokhymchuk, Douglas Henderson, Ivo Nezbeda, Jan Jirsak Apr 2006

Erratum: "Hard Sphere Radial Distribution Function Again", Andrij Trokhymchuk, Douglas Henderson, Ivo Nezbeda, Jan Jirsak

Faculty Publications

Some misprints have been found for parameters given by Eqs. 29 and 30 and the relevant equations in the Appendix.


Two New Resorcinarenes: A Pyridine & Acetic Acid Ligand For Metal Coordination And A Deep-Cavity Nitroquinoxaline Resorcinarene, Samantha Sizemore Vernetti Apr 2006

Two New Resorcinarenes: A Pyridine & Acetic Acid Ligand For Metal Coordination And A Deep-Cavity Nitroquinoxaline Resorcinarene, Samantha Sizemore Vernetti

Theses and Dissertations

Functionalizing the upper rim of resorcinarene-based cavitands allows a variety of compounds to be synthesized from a single scaffold. Using the upper-rim moieties as ligands for a variety of transition metal ions further increases the versatility of this class of host compounds. A new resorcinarene-based molecule functionalized with four pyridine and acetic acid ligands has been successfully prepared to explore the properties of metal-assembled complexes. To synthesize this compound, tetra(bromomethyl)cavitand was reacted with N-(2-pyridylmethyl)-N-ethylacetate amine to give ethyl acetate pyridine resorcinarene. Hydrolysis of the ester gave acetic acid pyridine resorcinarene (APRes) in good yield. Complexes with Cu2+, Co2+, and Zn2+ …


Axiomatic Multi-Transport Bargaining: A Quantitative Method For Dynamic Transport Selection In Heterogeneous Multi-Transport Wireless Environments, Qiuyi Duan, Michael A. Goodrich, Charles D. Knutson, Lei Wang Apr 2006

Axiomatic Multi-Transport Bargaining: A Quantitative Method For Dynamic Transport Selection In Heterogeneous Multi-Transport Wireless Environments, Qiuyi Duan, Michael A. Goodrich, Charles D. Knutson, Lei Wang

Faculty Publications

Transport selection mechanisms are designed to facilitate seamless connectivity in heterogeneous multi-transport environments, allowing access to the “best” available transport according to user requirements. Evaluating transport configurations dynamically according to the user’s preferences and Quality of Service (QoS) requirements is a challenging task. This paper describes a quantitative approach that applies the Utility Theorem and Nash’s Bargaining solution to heterogeneous wireless environments. The mathematical model presented generates and adjusts the transport preference list dynamically depending on the degree to which a transport satisfies user preferences and the application’s QoS requirements. We incorporate a negotiation engine using the Axiomatic Multi-Transport Bargaining …


Separating Lines Of Text In Free-Form Handwritten Historical Documents, William A. Barrett, Douglas J. Kennard Apr 2006

Separating Lines Of Text In Free-Form Handwritten Historical Documents, William A. Barrett, Douglas J. Kennard

Faculty Publications

We present an approach to finding (and separating) lines of text in free-form handwritten historical document images. After preprocessing, our method uses the count of foreground/background transitions in a binarized image to determine areas of the document that are likely to be text lines. Alternatively, an Adaptive Local Connectivity Map (ALCM) found in the literature can be used for this step of the process. We then use a min-cut/max-flow graph cut algorithm to split up text areas that appear to encompass more than one line of text. After removing text lines containing relatively little text information (or merging them with …


Dial 2004 Working Group Report On Acquisition Quality Control, William A. Barrett, Henry Baird, Frank Le Bourgeois, Xiaofan Lin, George Nagy, Steve Simske, Elisa H. Barney Smith Apr 2006

Dial 2004 Working Group Report On Acquisition Quality Control, William A. Barrett, Henry Baird, Frank Le Bourgeois, Xiaofan Lin, George Nagy, Steve Simske, Elisa H. Barney Smith

Faculty Publications

This report summarizes the discussions of the Working Group on Acquisition Quality at the International Workshop on Document Image Analysis for Libraries, Palo Alto, CA, 23-24 January 2004. Acquisition of the image is one of the most time intensive components of forming a digital library, and the quality of the acquisition will affect all later stages of the digital library project. The current state of the art in acquisition is analyzed. Problems and suggested improvements for image acquisition and storage formats and the special problems associated with acquisition from microfilm follows. A list of general suggestions was developed which was …


Gas Chromatography: Mass Spectrometry Of Chemical Agents And Related Interferents, Lailiang Zhai Mar 2006

Gas Chromatography: Mass Spectrometry Of Chemical Agents And Related Interferents, Lailiang Zhai

Theses and Dissertations

One of the main problems encountered in chemical analysis operations in the field is collecting sufficient sample from the source and transferring that sample to the measurement instrument for fast separation and identification. I have been involved in developing a field-portable gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) system with solid phase microextraction (SPME) sampling for point detection of chemical agents. The objective is to minimize the analysis time between sampling and detection of a potential chemical threat. SPME offers a convenient means for sampling gaseous and liquid samples, concentrating the analytes, and transferring the analytes to the injection port of a GC …