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Electronic Theses and Dissertations

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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Code Park: A New 3d Code Visualization Tool And Ide, Pooya Khaloo Jan 2017

Code Park: A New 3d Code Visualization Tool And Ide, Pooya Khaloo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

We introduce Code Park, a novel tool for visualizing codebases in a 3D game-like environment. Code Park aims to improve a programmer's understanding of an existing codebase in a manner that is both engaging and fun to be appealing especially for novice users such as students. It achieves these goals by laying out the codebase in a 3D park-like environment. Each class in the codebase is represented as a 3D room-like structure. Constituent parts of the class (variable, member functions, etc.) are laid out on the walls, resembling a syntax-aware "wallpaper". The users can interact with the codebase using an …


Sampling And Reconstruction Of Spatial Signals, Cheng Cheng Jan 2017

Sampling And Reconstruction Of Spatial Signals, Cheng Cheng

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Digital processing of signals f may start from sampling on a discrete set Γ, f →(f(ϒη))ϒηεΓ. The sampling theory is one of the most basic and fascinating topics in applied mathematics and in engineering sciences. The most well known form is the uniform sampling theorem for band-limited/wavelet signals, that gives a framework for converting analog signals into sequences of numbers. Over the past decade, the sampling theory has undergone a strong revival and the standard sampling paradigm is extended to non-bandlimited signals including signals in reproducing kernel spaces (RKSs), signals with finite rate of innovation (FRI) and sparse signals, and …


Detection Of Inorganic Phosphate In Environmental Water Samples Using A Terbium And Gold Nanoparticle-Based Fret Chemosensor, Madeleine Johnson Jan 2017

Detection Of Inorganic Phosphate In Environmental Water Samples Using A Terbium And Gold Nanoparticle-Based Fret Chemosensor, Madeleine Johnson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A novel chemosensor for the detection of inorganic phosphate (Pi) in environmental water samples is outlined. The sensing solution is comprised of a luminescent lanthanide, terbium (Tb3+), chelated to ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) acid in solution with cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB)- capped gold nanoparticles (AuNPs). The Tb-EDTA and AuNPs undergo a Fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) mechanism in which the Tb3+ luminescence is quenched. Upon the addition of inorganic phosphate (Pi), the AuNPs begin to aggregate and precipitate out of solution. The aggregation of AuNPs results in the restoration of the Tb-EDTA signal which can then be correlated to Pi concentration in …


Hashing For Multimedia Similarity Modeling And Large-Scale Retrieval, Kai Li Jan 2017

Hashing For Multimedia Similarity Modeling And Large-Scale Retrieval, Kai Li

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In recent years, the amount of multimedia data such as images, texts, and videos have been growing rapidly on the Internet. Motivated by such trends, this thesis is dedicated to exploiting hashing-based solutions to reveal multimedia data correlations and support intra-media and inter-media similarity search among huge volumes of multimedia data. We start by investigating a hashing-based solution for audio-visual similarity modeling and apply it to the audio-visual sound source localization problem. We show that synchronized signals in audio and visual modalities demonstrate similar temporal changing patterns in certain feature spaces. We propose to use a permutation-based random hashing technique …


Data Representation In Machine Learning Methods With Its Application To Compilation Optimization And Epitope Prediction, Yevgeniy Sher Jan 2017

Data Representation In Machine Learning Methods With Its Application To Compilation Optimization And Epitope Prediction, Yevgeniy Sher

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation we explore the application of machine learning algorithms to compilation phase order optimization, and epitope prediction. The common thread running through these two disparate domains is the type of data being dealt with. In both problem domains we are dealing with categorical data, with its representation playing a significant role in the performance of classification algorithms. We first present a neuroevolutionary approach which orders optimization phases to generate compiled programs with performance superior to those compiled using LLVM's -O3 optimization level. Performance improvements calculated as the speed of the compiled program's execution ranged from 27% for the …


Mode Evolution In Fiber Based Devices For Optical Communication Systems, Bin Huang Jan 2017

Mode Evolution In Fiber Based Devices For Optical Communication Systems, Bin Huang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Space division multiplexing (SDM) is the most promising way of increasing the capacity of a single fiber. To enable the few mode fiber (FMF) or multi-mode fiber (MMF) transmission system, several major challenges have to be overcome. One is the urgent need of ideal mode multiplexer, the second is the perfect amplification for all spatial modes, another one is the modal delay spread (MDS) due to group velocity difference of spatial modes. The main subject of this dissertation is to model, fabricate and characterize the mode multiplexer for FMF transmission. First, we designed a novel resonant mode coupler (structured directional …


Light Trapping In Thin Film Crystalline Silicon Solar Cells, Javaneh Boroumand Azad Jan 2017

Light Trapping In Thin Film Crystalline Silicon Solar Cells, Javaneh Boroumand Azad

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation presents numerical and experimental studies of a unified light trapping approach that is extremely important for all practical solar cells. A 2D hexagonal Bravais lattice diffractive pattern is studied in conjunction with the verification of the reflection mechanisms of single and double layer anti-reflective coatings in the broad range of wavelength 400 nm - 1100 nm. By varying thickness and conformity, we obtained the optimal parameters which minimize the broadband reflection from the nanostructured crystalline silicon surface over a wide range of angle 0°-65°. While the analytical design of broadband, angle independent anti-reflection coatings on nanostructured surfaces remains …


A Deoxyribozyme Sensor And Isothermal Amplification For Human Sex Determination, Alexandra Smith Jan 2017

A Deoxyribozyme Sensor And Isothermal Amplification For Human Sex Determination, Alexandra Smith

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Ribozymes are known to catalyze biochemical reactions and behave like enzymes. They are naturally occurring and have very diverse functions within a cell. After investigating ribozymes that next step was to find if DNA can exhibit the same characteristics since RNA and DNA only differ by a ribose 2'-hydroxyl group. This evolution in curiosity gave rise to artificial DNA enzymes that can catalyze certain reactions and have been created by in vitro selection methods. Due to the ability to manipulate and control DNA hybridization, the deoxyribozyme is advantageous to the field of molecular diagnostics. Other hybridization probes like Taqman for …


Harnessing Spatial Intensity Fluctuations For Optical Imaging And Sensing, Milad Akhlaghi Bouzan Jan 2017

Harnessing Spatial Intensity Fluctuations For Optical Imaging And Sensing, Milad Akhlaghi Bouzan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Properties of light such as amplitude and phase, temporal and spatial coherence, polarization, etc. are abundantly used for sensing and imaging. Regardless of the passive or active nature of the sensing method, optical intensity fluctuations are always present! While these fluctuations are usually regarded as noise, there are situations where one can harness the intensity fluctuations to enhance certain attributes of the sensing procedure. In this thesis, we developed different sensing methodologies that use statistical properties of optical fluctuations for gauging specific information. We examine this concept in the context of three different aspects of computational optical imaging and sensing. …


Mesoscopic Interactions In Complex Photonic Media, Roxana Rezvani Naraghi Jan 2017

Mesoscopic Interactions In Complex Photonic Media, Roxana Rezvani Naraghi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Mesoscale optics provides a framework for understanding a wide range of phenomena occurring in a variety of fields ranging from biological tissues to composite materials and from colloidal physics to fabricated nanostructures. When light interacts with a complex system, the outcome depends significantly on the length and time scales of interaction. Mesoscale optics offers the apparatus necessary for describing specific manifestations of wave phenomena such as interference and phase memory in complex media. In-depth understanding of mesoscale phenomena provides the required quantitative explanations that neither microscopic nor macroscopic models of light-matter interaction can afford. Modeling mesoscopic systems is challenging because …


Characterizing Coastal Marsh Groundwater Hydrology With Multichannel Electrical Resistivity Tomography, Matthew R. Kestner Jan 2017

Characterizing Coastal Marsh Groundwater Hydrology With Multichannel Electrical Resistivity Tomography, Matthew R. Kestner

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Subsurface waters are highly enriched in nutrients compared to surface waters in the coastal salt marsh environment and may, therefore, have a large effect on biogeochemical processes. There have been numerous studies examining marsh platform hydrology, however, there is a lack of information on the hyporheic zone within tidal creeks in coastal salt marsh environments. Hyporheic exchange has been studied in various non-tidal freshwater systems and verified as a significant pathway for solute transport in typical stream settings. The total volume of water cycled through salt marsh tidal creek hyporheic zones could prove to be a significant component of the …


On The Security Of Nosql Cloud Database Services, Mohammad Ahmadian Jan 2017

On The Security Of Nosql Cloud Database Services, Mohammad Ahmadian

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Processing a vast volume of data generated by web, mobile and Internet-enabled devices, necessitates a scalable and flexible data management system. Database-as-a-Service (DBaaS) is a new cloud computing paradigm, promising a cost-effective and scalable, fully-managed database functionality meeting the requirements of online data processing. Although DBaaS offers many benefits it also introduces new threats and vulnerabilities. While many traditional data processing threats remain, DBaaS introduces new challenges such as confidentiality violation and information leakage in the presence of privileged malicious insiders and adds new dimension to the data security. We address the problem of building a secure DBaaS for a …


Picosecond Yb-Doped Fiber Amplifier, Weibin Zhu Jan 2017

Picosecond Yb-Doped Fiber Amplifier, Weibin Zhu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Due to its versatility, rare earth doped fiber amplifier (RDFA) has attracted a lot of researchers worldwide in recent years. Depends on different kinds of rare earth ion, RDFA can be categorized into neodymium doped fiber amplifier (NDFA), erbium doped fiber amplifier (EDFA), thulium doped fiber amplifier (TDFA), and so forth. Among many kinds of RDFA, the ytterbium doped fiber amplifier (YDFA) has received even more interest, especially in high power application, mainly because of its broad gain bandwidth and high conversion efficiency which are due to its relatively simple electronic structure. The purpose of this research is to study …


The Bessel Function, The Hankel Transform And An Application To Differential Equations, Isaac C. Voegtle Jan 2017

The Bessel Function, The Hankel Transform And An Application To Differential Equations, Isaac C. Voegtle

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis we explore the properties of Bessel functions. Of interest is how they can be applied to partial differential equations using the Hankel transform. We use an example in two dimensions to demonstrate the properties at work as well as formulate thoughts on how to take the results further.


Investigating The Atmospheric Production Of Perchlorate: Inference From Polar Ice Cores, Thomas S. Cox Jan 2017

Investigating The Atmospheric Production Of Perchlorate: Inference From Polar Ice Cores, Thomas S. Cox

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Perchlorate (ClO4) in the environment is of concern, because of potential health risks to humans, among other reasons. Evidence suggests that the majority of environmental perchlorate is formed in the atmosphere (likely in the stratosphere), in chemical processes involving ozone and stratospheric chlorine. A lack of knowledge in regards to the processes has resulted in a limited understanding of the environmental conditions and variables that influence perchlorate production and consequently perchlorate prevalence and variability in the environment. In this study, perchlorate was measured, using an established ion chromatography-­‐electrospray ionization-­‐tandem mass spectrometry (IC-­‐ESI-­‐ MS/MS) technique, in over 1,600 snowpit …


A Statewide Assessment Of Drivers Influencing Biotic Integrity In Perennial, Wadeable Prairie Streams Of South Dakota, Lyntausha Kuehl Jan 2017

A Statewide Assessment Of Drivers Influencing Biotic Integrity In Perennial, Wadeable Prairie Streams Of South Dakota, Lyntausha Kuehl

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Biological assessments are used to evaluate the biotic integrity of a system. Great Plains prairie streams are harsh environments due to variable climate, topography, vegetation, and human development. This presents a challenge to water resource managers who must detect impairment and determine causation. The objectives of this study were: 1) to develop a macroinvertebrate Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI) for the Northwestern Great Plains (NWGP) and compare it to an existing Northern Glaciated Plains (NGP) IBI, and 2) to identify and evaluate statewide abiotic drivers of biotic integrity. The IBIs were hypothesized to differ regionally, as were abiotic drivers explaining …


Optimized Multilayer Perceptron With Dynamic Learning Rate To Classify Breast Microwave Tomography Image, Chulwoo Pack Jan 2017

Optimized Multilayer Perceptron With Dynamic Learning Rate To Classify Breast Microwave Tomography Image, Chulwoo Pack

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Most recently developed Computer Aided Diagnosis (CAD) systems and their related research is based on medical images that are usually obtained through conventional imaging techniques such as Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), x-ray mammography, and ultrasound. With the development of a new imaging technology called Microwave Tomography Imaging (MTI), it has become inevitable to develop a CAD system that can show promising performance using new format of data. The platform can have a flexibility on its input by adopting Artificial Neural Network (ANN) as a classifier. Among the various phases of CAD system, we have focused on optimizing the classification phase …


Evaluation Of The Deadwood Bighorn Sheep Herd Translocation, Ty J. Werdel Jan 2017

Evaluation Of The Deadwood Bighorn Sheep Herd Translocation, Ty J. Werdel

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

From 2015-2017, we evaluated a newly established bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) herd in the Deadwood Region of the Black Hills, South Dakota. Our objectives were to 1a) determine annual survival rates, 1b) determine cause-specific mortality, 1c) estimate population size, 2a) assess genetic diversity, 2b) assess disease prevalence, 3) evaluate movement patterns post-release, 4a) evaluate 3rd-order habitat selection, and 4b) estimate herbaceous biomass at foraging sites post-release of translocated bighorn sheep. In February 2015, we captured and translocated 26 bighorn sheep from the Luscar Mine near Hinton, Alberta, Canada to the Deadwood Region of the Black Hills, South Dakota. Overall annual …


An Evaluation Of Nitrogen Supplementation And Processed Soy Fractions On The Performance Of Cultured Fishes, Brandon M. White Jan 2017

An Evaluation Of Nitrogen Supplementation And Processed Soy Fractions On The Performance Of Cultured Fishes, Brandon M. White

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

World population growth has resulted in an increased demand for a sustainable food supply. This rapid growth coupled with an increased per capita consumption of seafood, has resulted in many of the world’s marine fisheries being over-exploited in an effort to meet the global demand for seafood. Aquaculture has attempted to fill the supply and demand gap created by the dwindling supply of fish in the world’s oceans. Fishmeal (FM) has traditionally been the primary protein ingredient in aquafeeds fed to farm-raised fish, however its unstable supply and increasing price have driven researchers to identify alternative protein sources. Soybean meal …


Using Remote Sensing To Estimate Crop Water Use To Improve Irrigation Water Management, Arturo Reyes-Gonzalez Jan 2017

Using Remote Sensing To Estimate Crop Water Use To Improve Irrigation Water Management, Arturo Reyes-Gonzalez

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Irrigation water is scarce. Hence, accurate estimation of crop water use is necessary for proper irrigation managements and water conservation. Satellite-based remote sensing is a tool that can estimate crop water use efficiently. Several models have been developed to estimate crop water requirement or actual evapotranspiration (ETa) using remote sensing. One of them is the Mapping EvapoTranspiration at High Resolution using Internalized Calibration (METRIC) model. This model has been compared with other methods for ET estimations including weighing lysimeters, pan evaporation, Bowen Ratio Energy Balance System (BREBS), Eddy Covariance (EC), and sap flow. However, comparison of METRIC model outputs to …


A Kernel Based Approach To Determine Atypicality, Austin O'Brien Jan 2017

A Kernel Based Approach To Determine Atypicality, Austin O'Brien

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation outlines the development and use for a new probabilistic measure for categorization, referred to as atypicality. Given a set of known source objects, we can create a corresponding set of similarity scores between them. Assuming the set of scores has a normal distribution, we can estimate its parameters. Then, we can introduce new trace objects to the problem, and compute similarity scores for them. The main goal of the atypicality score is to determine if the new trace objects are similar to the source objects. To do this, we bootstrap many new scores using the estimated parameters (from …


Evaluation Of Gamebird Use And Thermal Characteristics Of Alfalfa And Perennial Grasses In Eastern South Dakota, Neal P. Martorelli Jan 2017

Evaluation Of Gamebird Use And Thermal Characteristics Of Alfalfa And Perennial Grasses In Eastern South Dakota, Neal P. Martorelli

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The northern Great Plains provide critical breeding habitat for waterfowl and gamebirds in the United States. Peak commodity prices in the late 2000s resulted in increased agricultural production and large-scale conversions of grassland habitat to monoculture row crops. However, recent declines in commodity prices have created a renewed interest for private landowners to diversify crops and enroll in government subsidized conservation programs that convert idle grassland and unproductive cropland to wildlife friendly perennial grassland plantings. Exploring alternative grassland restoration techniques can improve the efficiency of management practices to benefit future wildlife habitat and productivity on both public and private lands. …


Adaptive Audio Classification Framework For In-Vehicle Environment With Dynamic Noise Characteristics, Haitham Alsaadan Jan 2017

Adaptive Audio Classification Framework For In-Vehicle Environment With Dynamic Noise Characteristics, Haitham Alsaadan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

With ever-increasing number of car-mounted electric devices that are accessed, managed, and controlled with smartphones, car apps are becoming an important part of the automotive industry. Audio classification is one of the key components of car apps as a front-end technology to enable human-app interactions. Existing approaches for audio classification, however, fall short as the unique and time-varying audio characteristics of car environments are not appropriately taken into account. Leveraging recent advances in mobile sensing technology that allows for an active and accurate driving environment detection, in this thesis, we develop an audio classification framework for mobile apps that categorizes …


Analysis Of Novel Cyanide Antidote Dimethyl Trisulfide For Pharmacokinetic Studies, And Sulfur Mustard Metabolites For Identification Of Biomarker Of Inhaled Dose, Erica Manandhar Jan 2017

Analysis Of Novel Cyanide Antidote Dimethyl Trisulfide For Pharmacokinetic Studies, And Sulfur Mustard Metabolites For Identification Of Biomarker Of Inhaled Dose, Erica Manandhar

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Cyanide poisoning by accidental or intentional exposure poses a severe health risk. The current FDA approved antidotes for cyanide poisoning can be effective, but each suffers from specific major limitations. Dimethyl trisulfide (DMTS), a sulfur donor that detoxifies cyanide by converting it into thiocyanate, is a promising next generation cyanide antidote. Although a validated analytical method to analyze DMTS is not currently available from any matrix, one will be vital for the approval of DMTS as a therapeutic agent against cyanide poisoning. Hence, a stir bar sorptive extraction (SBSE) gas chromatography – mass spectrometry (GC-MS) method was developed and validated …


Self-Assembled Architecture Of Natural Organic Matter, Cynthia Johnson-Edler Jan 2017

Self-Assembled Architecture Of Natural Organic Matter, Cynthia Johnson-Edler

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This investigation focuses on the determination of the architecture of the natural organic matter (NOM) contained within a soft coal-like material, an agricultural soil and a peat material. NOM has been extracted from bulk materials, fractionated, reassembled, then characterized by 13C Solid State NMR, Pulsed-Field Gradient NMR (PFG-NMR), and Small Angle Neutron Scattering (SANS). Interpretation of the data obtained by SANS has established that the majority of the components of NOM are mass fractals in solution and surface fractals in the solid state. Surface-to-volume ratios calculated with PFGNMR data indicate the NOM components studied have varying disk-like shapes. These …


Development And Properties Of Kernel-Based Methods For The Interpretation And Presentation Of Forensic Evidence, Douglas Armstrong Jan 2017

Development And Properties Of Kernel-Based Methods For The Interpretation And Presentation Of Forensic Evidence, Douglas Armstrong

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The inference of the source of forensic evidence is related to model selection. Many forms of evidence can only be represented by complex, high-dimensional random vectors and cannot be assigned a likelihood structure. A common approach to circumvent this is to measure the similarity between pairs of objects composing the evidence. Such methods are ad-hoc and unstable approaches to the judicial inference process. While these methods address the dimensionality issue they also engender dependencies between scores when 2 scores have 1 object in common that are not taken into account in these models. The model developed in this research captures …


Land Surface Phenologies And Seasonalities Using Cool Earthlight In Temperate And Tropical Croplands, Woubet Gashaw Alemu Jan 2017

Land Surface Phenologies And Seasonalities Using Cool Earthlight In Temperate And Tropical Croplands, Woubet Gashaw Alemu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In today’s world of increasing food insecurity due to more frequent and extreme events (droughts, floods), a comprehensive understanding of global cropland dynamics is critically needed. Land surface parameters derived from the passive microwave Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer on EOS (AMSR-E) and AMSR2 data enable monitoring of cropland dynamics and they can complement visible to near infrared (VNIR) and thermal infrared (TIR) data. Passive microwave data are less sensitive to atmospheric effects, cloud contamination, and solar illumination constraints resulting in finer temporal resolution suitable to track the temporal progression of cropland cover development compared to the VNIR data that has …


Lignin Transformation And Characterization Of Pyrolytic Products, Eric Amo Boakye Jan 2017

Lignin Transformation And Characterization Of Pyrolytic Products, Eric Amo Boakye

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Lignocellulosic materials derived from plants have the ability to serve as feedstocks in place of depleting petroleum and coal for production of fuels and chemicals. Lignin forms about 30% of lignocellulosic material, and is the second most abundant non-fossil organic carbon source in the biosphere. However, it is often treated as waste or, in some instances, burned to supply energy. Developing an efficient and environmentally benign method to convert lignin to high value-added aromatic monomers (e.g., guaiacol, vanillin, acetovanillone, and eugenol) for synthesis of polymers is of interest. Mineral bases, such as NaOH and CsOH, or supported-metal catalysts (Pt, Ru, …


Spatial And Spatiotemporal Modeling Of Epidemiological Data, Laxman Karki Jan 2017

Spatial And Spatiotemporal Modeling Of Epidemiological Data, Laxman Karki

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation focuses on modeling approach for spatial and spatiotemporal data with epidemiological applications. Chapter one gives the general overview of spatial and spatiotemporal data and challenges in the statistical analysis of spatial and spatiotemporal data, and motivation and objectives of the study. Chapter two describes the regression models commonly used in spatial data analysis. Various types of regression methods such as OLS, GWR and MGWR were used to study the association between diabetes prevalence and socioeconomic and lifestyle factors on county level data of Midwestern United States. A new analysis workflow is purposed for regression analysis of spatial data. …


Sequential Growth Of Molecular Complexity Via Alternating Ground State And Photochemical Reactions, Haibo Li Jan 2017

Sequential Growth Of Molecular Complexity Via Alternating Ground State And Photochemical Reactions, Haibo Li

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A new strategy of increasing molecular complexity by post photochemical oxidation followed by secondary intramolecular photochemical reaction is developed. It is based on the mild oxidation of photochemical generated alcohol by primary intramolecular cycloaddition of aromatic o-aminoaldehydes and a secondary intramolecular cycloaddition of aromatic o-aminoketone. Both cycloadditions are triggered via excited-state intramolecular proton transfer (ESIPT). Additionally, an efficient continuous reaction of photocatalyzed 2-nitrobenzyl alcohol intramolecular reduction and aryl nitroso Diels-Alder (NDA) reaction was discovered.