Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Comparative Analysis Of Survival And Decay Of Fecal Indicator Bacteria In Bovine Feces And Freshwater Microcosms, Reem Tariq

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Agricultural runoff can carry FIB that can pollute surface waters through the soil matrix. This study was designed to inspect the impact of temperature and matrix on the survival of FIB. The FIB were routinely enumerated over an 18-day period from fecal samples and freshwater microcosms maintained at 4oC, 22oC, and 35oC. It was found that the FIB studied underwent a primary growth of up to 1-log10 to 3-log10, highlighting the weakness of conventional FIB as indicators of pathogen contamination. The concentrations of FIB in the water phase were found to be significantly greater than those observed in the fecal …

Italian Domination In Complementary Prisms, Haley D. Russell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Let $G$ be any graph and let $\overline{G}$ be its complement. The complementary prism of $G$ is formed from the disjoint union of a graph $G$ and its complement $\overline{G}$ by adding the edges of a perfect matching between the corresponding vertices of $G$ and $\overline{G}$. An Italian dominating function on a graph $G$ is a function such that $f \, : \, V \to \{ 0,1,2 \}$ and for each vertex $v \in V$ for which $f(v)=0$, it holds that $\sum_{u \in N(v)} f(u) \geq 2$. The weight of an Italian dominating function is the value $f(V)=\sum_{u \in V(G)}f(u)$. …

Vector Partitions, Jennifer French

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Integer partitions have been studied by many mathematicians over hundreds of years. Many identities exist between integer partitions, such as Euler’s discovery that every number has the same amount of partitions into distinct parts as into odd parts. These identities can be proven using methods such as conjugation or generating functions. Over the years, mathematicians have worked to expand partition identities to vectors. In 1963, M. S. Cheema proved that every vector has the same number of partitions into distinct vectors as into vectors with at least one component odd. This parallels Euler’s result for integer partitions. The primary purpose …

Postcranial Morphology And The Locomotor Adaptations Of Extant And Extinct Crocodylomorphs And Lepidosaurs, Laura Rooney

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

I have collected a series of linear measurements of the postcranial skeletons of 43 extant crocodylian and lepidosaur taxa to determine if those engaging in similar locomotor behavior display similar morphology despite phylogenetic differences. Stepwise discriminant function analyses reveal reptile locomotor mode can be accurately predicted (over 80% correct) based on morphology. Semi-aquatic taxa are distinguished by a longer ischium relative to pubis length, a longer scapula relative to humerus length, and a broader acetabulum than terrestrial and arboreal taxa. Arboreal taxa display a more elongate, gracile humerus and a smaller acetabulum. This morphometric data can potentially be used to …

Evaluation Of Using The Bootstrap Procedure To Estimate The Population Variance, Nghia Trong Nguyen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The bootstrap procedure is widely used in nonparametric statistics to generate an empirical sampling distribution from a given sample data set for a statistic of interest. Generally, the results are good for location parameters such as population mean, median, and even for estimating a population correlation. However, the results for a population variance, which is a spread parameter, are not as good due to the resampling nature of the bootstrap method. Bootstrap samples are constructed using sampling with replacement; consequently, groups of observations with zero variance manifest in these samples. As a result, a bootstrap variance estimator will carry a …

Long-Range Electrostatic Interactions In Gold Catalysis And Fluorinating Reagent Development., Zhichao Lu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Our research focus is on applying two long range electrostatic interactions--coulombic interaction between ion pairs and hydrogen bonding—to two tasks: exploring counterion effects in gold catalysis and utilizing hydrogen bonding for fluorinating reagent development. Cationic gold catalysis is considered one of the most important breakthroughs in organic synthesis over the past two decades. A wealth of empirical information on counterion effects is now available regarding homogeneous gold catalysis. However, the rational understanding of the counterion effect on reactivity is still elusive. We proposed a widely applicable model to rationalize the kinetic effect in gold catalyzed reaction. We first solved the …

Photonic Tools For Advanced Sensing And Imaging At The Nanoscale., Jafar Hamed Ghithan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation reports a novel bio-sensing strategy based on single-mode, electro-active, integrated optical waveguide (SM-EA-IOW) platforms. It also reports the development of a super-resolved far-field optical imaging tool to enable optical, electronic, and spectroelectrochemical investigations at the nanoscale. SM-EA-IOW platforms with its outstanding sensitivity for spectroelectrochemical interrogation was combined with a sandwich bioassay for the development of a novel immunosensing based strategy for label-free detection of infectious pathogens. The strategy begins with the functionalization of the electroactive waveguide surface with a capturing antibody aimed at a specific target analyte. Once the target analyte is bound to the photonic interface, it …

Region Based Gene Expression Via Reanalysis Of Publicly Available Microarray Data Sets., Ernur Saka

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A DNA microarray is a high-throughput technology used to identify relative gene expression. One of the most widely used platforms is the Affymetrix® GeneChip® technology which detects gene expression levels based on probe sets composed of a set of twenty-five nucleotide probes designed to hybridize with specific gene targets. Given a particular Affymetrix® GeneChip® platform, the design of the probes is fixed. However, the method of analysis is dynamic in nature due to the ability to annotate and group probes into uniquely defined groupings. This is particularly important since publicly available repositories of microarray datasets, such as ArrayExpress and NCBI’s …

Network Science Algorithms For Mobile Networks., Heba Mohamed Elgazzar

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Network Science is one of the important and emerging fields in computer science and engineering that focuses on the study and analysis of different types of networks. The goal of this dissertation is to design and develop network science algorithms that can be used to study and analyze mobile networks. This can provide essential information and knowledge that can help mobile networks service providers to enhance the quality of the mobile services. We focus in this dissertation on the design and analysis of different network science techniques that can be used to analyze the dynamics of mobile networks. These techniques …

Assessing The Curve Number Method For Modeling Urban Watershed Stormwater Runoff Across Louisville, Ky., Garrett J. Seay

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

According to the US EPA when a watershed reaches 75% impervious land cover, surface runoff accounts for 55% of precipitation input losses compared to 10% for a ‘natural cover’ watershed, exacerbating urban flooding during extreme rainfall events. This research modeled historical rainfall-runoff processes for six urban watersheds within the city of Louisville, KY for a series of these extreme rainfall events. Precipitation and resultant runoff discharge events were collected in the field over the spring and summer of 2016. Surface biophysical data in the form of gridded elevation, land cover and soil type were also collected and processed for each …

Computational Modeling Of Electronically Excited States In Cobalamin-Dependent Reactions., Brady D. Garabato

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The current understanding of the photolytic properties of Vitamin B12 derivatives or cobalamins are summarized from a computational point of view. The focus is on two non-alkylcobalamins, cyanocobalamin (CNCbl) and hydroxocobalamin (HOCbl), two alkylcobalamins, methylcobalamin (MeCbl) and adenosylcobalamin (AdoCbl), as well as the stable cob(II)alamin radical. Photolysis of alkylcobalamins involves low-lying singlet excited states where photo-dissociation of the Co-C bond forms singlet-born alkyl/cob(II)alamin radical pairs (RPs). Potential energy surfaces (PESs) of low-lying excited states as functions of both axial bonds provide the most reliable tool for analysis of photochemical and photophysical properties. Due to the size limitations associated with the …

Longitudinal Tracking Of Physiological State With Electromyographic Signals., Robert Warren Stallard

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Electrophysiological measurements have been used in recent history to classify instantaneous physiological configurations, e.g., hand gestures. This work investigates the feasibility of working with changes in physiological configurations over time (i.e., longitudinally) using a variety of algorithms from the machine learning domain. We demonstrate a high degree of classification accuracy for a binary classification problem derived from electromyography measurements before and after a 35-day bedrest. The problem difficulty is increased with a more dynamic experiment testing for changes in astronaut sensorimotor performance by taking electromyography and force plate measurements before, during, and after a jump from a small platform. A …

Reducing Tillage In Small-Scale Permanent Bed Organic Vegetable Production Systems, Jeremiah D. Vallotton

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The response of field-grown vegetable crops to reduced tillage and mulching in permanent beds was evaluated through measuring crop yields, weed pressure, earthworm counts, and soil basal respiration. Two vegetable crops (“Bush Delicata” squash and “Farao” cabbage) were started in April and May of 2016 and 2017 respectively, transplanted in late June, and harvested on 15-Sep-2016 and 25-Aug-2017. Fruit number and weight of squash, and head weight and feeding damage of cabbage were measured. These results suggest that intensive tillage (8” rototill every year) can be successfully reduced to alternating years of shallow (2”) rototilling and a less intensive form …

A Comparison Of Four Wetlands Assessment Procedures Relevant To The Alluvial Valleys Of East Texas, Amy Camp

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Currently several methods are used by public and private entities to assess wetland functional condition in support of the Section 404 Clean Water Act program. Four of these are: Forested Wetlands in Alluvial Valleys of the Coastal Plain of the Southeastern United States (SEHGM); A Regional Guidebook for Applying the Hydrogeomorphic Approach to the Functional Assessment of Forested Wetlands in Alluvial Valleys of East Texas (ETXHGM); Texas Rapid Assessment Method (TXRAM); and the Wildlife Habitat Appraisal Procedure (WHAP). Little previous research compares wetland functional assessment methods. Results of the SEHGM, ETXHGM, TXRAM, and WHAP methods were compared on five East …

Structural Geology Of The Caddo Gap Area, Ouachita Mountains, Arkansas, Martin Messmer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Caddo Gap quadrangle is located on the southern margin of the Benton Uplift, the orogenic core of the Ouachita Mountains. Recent field mapping focused on delineating stratigraphic and structural relationships in the southern part of the quadrangle to improve existing reconnaissance-scale maps of the area. New structures were discovered that provide further information about the structural evolution of the Ouachita fold and thrust belt.

Field work included mapping the three informal members (Lower, Middle and Upper) of the Arkansas Novaculite. Major folds within the study area include the Nelson Mountain Anticline and two synclinal folds (“South Caddo Mountain” and …

Glacial History Of The Tsagaan Gol- Potanin Glacier Valley, Altai Mountains, Mongolia, Mariah J. Radue

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The last glacial termination (~19-11 ka) marks the end of the last ice age and the transition to modern interglacial conditions. The mechanisms that triggered deglaciation are unresolved. Various hypotheses for deglacial warming involve changes in Earth’s orbit, an 80-ppm increase in atmospheric CO­₂, a ‘bipolar seesaw’ in oceanic-heat redistribution, and shifting wind belts. Here, I present a ¹⁰Be surface-exposure chronology for a system of glacial landforms in the Tsagaan Gol-Potanin Glacier valley in the Mongolian Altai (49°N, 88°E) to determine the nature of the termination in interior Asia. Located near the center of Earth’s largest continent, …

Marine Protected Areas In Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction: Defining "Success" For Conservation And Management, Emily Suzanne Nocito

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

With growing attention to and use of marine protected areas [MPAs], there are an increasing number of policy goals ascribed to these area-based management tools [ABMT]. One expectation is that an MPA can increase system “resilience”, yet oftentimes resilience – including whether we are considering social, economic or ecological resilience – stays unspecified. In recent years, there has also been a specific focus on MPAs as tools to promote climate change resilient ocean systems. Through a meta-analysis of the scientific literature and an analysis of over one thousand three hundred voluntary commitments made at the United Nation Ocean Conference, this …

An Analysis Of International Agreements Over Cybersecurity, Lucas Ashbaugh

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Research into the international agreements that increase cooperation over cybersecurity challenges is severely lacking. This is a necessary next step for bridging diplomatic challenges over cybersecurity. This work aspires to be push the bounds of research into these agreements and offer a tool that future researchers can rely on. For this research I created, and made publicly available, the International Cybersecurity Cooperation Dataset (ICCD), which contains over 350 international cybersecurity agreements and pertinent metadata. Each agreement is marked per which subtopics within cybersecurity related agreements it covers. These typologies are:

• Discussion and Dialogue

• Research

• Confidence Building Measures

• Incident Response

• Crime …

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Regional Stress Regime Study Of East Texas Based On Orientation Of Fractures In The Weches Formation, Cory D. Ellison

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Fractures in the Weches Formation in a roughly 50 mile radius around Nacogdoches, Texas were documented and analyzed using data obtained at various outcrops. This data was used to infer information about the regional stress regime based on the direction of maximum/minimum horizontal stresses (SHmax / SHmin) that formed the fractures. This is based on the principle that systematic, steeply dipping, mode I joints propagate in the direction of SHmax and normal to the direction of SHmin. Joints in the Weches Formation are typically iron filled and are predominantly opening mode, indicated by crack-seal formation, steep dip (700 – 900) …

Theoretical Analysis Of Nonlinear Differential Equations, Emily Jean Weymier

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Nonlinear differential equations arise as mathematical models of various phenomena. Here, various methods of solving and approximating linear and nonlinear differential equations are examined. Since analytical solutions to nonlinear differential equations are rare and difficult to determine, approximation methods have been developed. Initial and boundary value problems will be discussed. Several linear and nonlinear techniques to approximate or solve the linear or nonlinear problems are demonstrated. Regular and singular perturbation theory and Magnus expansions are our particular focus. Each section offers several examples to show how each technique is implemented along with the use of visuals to demonstrate the accuracy, …

Analytical And Numerical Investigations Of The Kudryashov Generalized Kdv Equation, William Hilton

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis concerns an analytical and numerical study of the Kudryashov Generalized Korteweg-de Vries (KG KdV) equation. Using a refined perturbation expansion of the Fermi-Pasta-Ulam (FPU) equations of motion, the KG KdV equation, which arises at sixth order, and general higher order KdV equations are derived. Special solutions of the KG KdV equation are derived using the tanh method. A pseudospectral integrator, which can handle stiff equations, is developed for the higher order KdV equations. The numerical experiments indicate that although the higher order equations exhibit complex dynamics, they fail to reach energy equipartition on the time scale considered.

Learning Algorithms For Fat Quantification And Tumor Characterization, Sarfaraz Hussein

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Obesity is one of the most prevalent health conditions. About 30% of the world's and over 70% of the United States' adult populations are either overweight or obese, causing an increased risk for cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and certain types of cancer. Among all cancers, lung cancer is the leading cause of death, whereas pancreatic cancer has the poorest prognosis among all major cancers. Early diagnosis of these cancers can save lives. This dissertation contributes towards the development of computer-aided diagnosis tools in order to aid clinicians in establishing the quantitative relationship between obesity and cancers. With respect to obesity and …

Machine Learning Methods For Flow Cytometry Analysis And Visualization, Emily Sassano

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Flow cytometry is a popular analytical cell-biology instrument that uses specific wavelengths of light to profile heterogeneous populations of cells at the individual level. Current cytometers have the capability of analyzing up to 20 parameters on over a million cells, but despite the complexity of these datasets, a typical workflow relies on subjective labor-intensive manual sequential analysis. The research presented in this dissertation provides two machine learning methods to increase the objectivity, efficiency, and discovery in flow cytometry data analysis. The first, a supervised learning method, utilizes previously analyzed data to evaluate new flow cytometry files containing similar parameters. The …

Exploring Natural User Abstractions For Shared Perceptual Manipulator Task Modeling & Recovery, Senglee Koh

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

State-of-the-art domestic robot assistants are essentially autonomous mobile manipulators capable of exerting human-scale precision grasps. To maximize utility and economy, non-technical end-users would need to be nearly as efficient as trained roboticists in control and collaboration of manipulation task behaviors. However, it remains a significant challenge given that many WIMP-style tools require superficial proficiency in robotics, 3D graphics, and computer science for rapid task modeling and recovery. But research on robot-centric collaboration has garnered momentum in recent years; robots are now planning in partially observable environments that maintain geometries and semantic maps, presenting opportunities for non-experts to cooperatively control task …

Advancements In Liquid Chromatography For The Determination Of Polycyclic Aromatic Compounds In Environmental Samples, Hugh Hayes

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation is to provide a new and improved analytical methodology for the analysis of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and polycyclic aromatic sulfur heterocycles (PASHs) in environmental samples. Hundreds of PAHs and PASHs are present in the environment and have great toxicological importance and the chemical determination of these components is a priority. The complete normal-phase liquid chromatography (NPLC) retention behavior has been explored for these compounds. Retention indices were determined for 124 PAHs, 62 methyl-PAHs (MePAHs), 67 PASHs, and 80 alkyl-PASHs on an aminopropyl (NH2) stationary phase which represents the most comprehensive study of polycyclic aromatic …

Compiler Design Of A Policy Specification Language For Conditional Gradual Release, Manasa Kashyap Harinath

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Securing the confidentiality and integrity of information manipulated by computer software is an old yet increasingly important problem. Current software permission systems present on Android or iOS provide inadequate support for developing applications with secure information flow policies. To be useful, information flow control policies need to specify declassifications and the conditions under which declassification must occur. Having these declassifications scattered all over the program makes policies hard to find, which makes auditing difficult. To overcome these challenges, a policy specification language, 'Evidently' is discussed that allows one to specify information flow control policies separately from the program and which …

An Examination Of Beta Diversity Indices And Their Predictors In Two Large-Scale Systems, Philip Schroeder

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Biodiversity is what conservation biology was developed to conserve. It is the physical manifestation of life as a concept and, be it for practical or idealistic reasons, all conservationists seek to protect or, in some cases, enhance it. Because of its monolithic importance to the field, much effort has been expended trying to better measure and understand it. Recently, greater attention has been paid to the partition of diversity; the observation that the total diversity of a system (γ) can be broken down into within-site diversity (α) and between-site diversity (β). In particular, it has been noticed that the β …

Mathematical Foundations Of Adaptive Quantum Processing, Daniel Bonior

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Quantum information has the potential to revolutionize the way we store, process, transfer and acquire information [1,14,15,21,37]. In particular, quantum information offers exciting new approaches to secure communication, computation and sensing. However, in order to realize such technologies, we must first understand the effect that environmental noise has on a quantum system. This dissertation builds upon recent studies that have explored the underlying structure of quantum information and the effects of qubit channels in quantum communication protocols. This work is divided into five main chapters, with Chapter 1 being a brief introduction to quantum information. We then begin Chapter 2 …

Tuning Chemical And Optical Properties Of Nanomaterials: From Extended Surfaces To Finite Nanoclusters, Zahra Hooshmand Gharehbagh

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Modifying the electronic and optical properties of surfaces and nanostructures are in the forefront of surface science. This dissertation's focus is on this problem. The first part is on the adsorption of functionalized naphthalene molecules on Cu(111) surface. The results show that changing the functional group results in modification of charge redistribution at the interface of molecule and surface and the electronic structure of Cu changes. The second part discusses the new Moire structure of h-BN on Rh(111) induced by intrinsic carbon impurities of Rh single crystals. We found that these impurities intercalate between h-BN and Rh(111) with new local …

Development Of A Tabletop Coherent Soft X-Ray Source, Hanfu Kong

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this thesis is to design a tabletop coherent soft X-ray source for attosecond high resolution imaging. We collect signals from gas cells with different length and lens with different focal length. A spectrometer with a grating and a CCD camera is applied to observe and measure the spectrum of the X-ray attosecond pulses. This thesis first introduces the theory background of ultrafast lasers, then mainly explains high harmonic generation, which is the key method for attosecond pulses generation, subsequently presents the experiment system and analyzes the results from the experiment, also compares different combinations of parameters of …