Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Development Of An Automated Method For Identification Of Wet And Dry Channel Segments Using Lidar Data And Fuzzy Logic Cluster Analysis, Chris Rowney

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Research into the use of LiDAR data for purposes other than simple topographic elevation determination, such as urban land cover classification and the identification of forest biomass, has become prominent in recent years. In many cases, alternative analysis methodologies conducted using airborne LiDAR data are possible because the raw data collected during a survey can include information other than the classically used elevation and coordinate points, the X, Y, and Z of the plane. In particular, intensity return values for each point in a LiDAR grid have been found to provide a useful data set for wet and dry channel …

Broadband Coherent Perfect Absorption In One-Dimensional Optical Systems, Massimo Maximilian Villinger

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Absorption plays a critical role in a variety of optical applications – sometimes it is desirable to minimize it as in optical fibers and waveguides, or to enhance it as in solar cells and photodetectors. We describe here a new optical scheme that controllably produces high optical absorption over a broad wavelength range (hundreds of nm) in systems that have low intrinsic absorption over the same range. This effect, 'coherent perfect absorption' or CPA, arises from a subtle interplay between interference and absorption of two beams incident on a weakly absorbing medium. In the first part of this study, we …

Resistive Pulse Study Of Vesicles And Liposomes, Yuqing Lin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this work, the properties of the liposomes, the artificially created vesicles by various methods, are explored by a resistive pulse method using micropipettes. The fact that vesicles are fundamental in the wide range of functionalities they fulfill as organelles strengthen the desire of understanding the properties of them. The motivation of this work comes from the significant roles that liposomes play in the development of targeted drug delivery systems. Among other significant variables, the size of liposomes is found to be one of the dominating parameters in liposome based drug delivery, and the correlation between liposome size and delivery …

Synchrotron Based Infrared Microspectroscopy Of Carbonaceous Chondrites., Mehmet Yesiltas

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Relationships between organic molecules and inorganic minerals are investigated in five carbonaceous chondrites, Northwest Africa 852 (CR2), Tagish Lake (C2-ungroupped), Orgueil (CI1), Sutter's Mill (CM), and Murchison (CM2), with micron spatial resolution using synchrotron-based imaging micro-FTIR spectroscopy. Correlations based on absorption strength for various constituents are determined using statistical correlation analysis. Silicate band is found to be positively correlated with stretching modes of aliphatic hydrocarbons in NWA 852 and Tagish Lake. The former is highly correlated with the hydration band in all meteorites. Negative correlation is observed between water+organics and carbonate bands in all meteorites. Two dimensional infrared maps for …

The Effects Of Molecular Chaperones On Tau Fibril Assembly, Ahmed Omran

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The accumulation of microtubule-associated protein tau into fibrillar aggregates is the hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative disorders, collectively referred to as tauopathies. Fibrils can propagate from one cell to the next and spread throughout the brain. However, a study shows that only small aggregates can be taken up by cultured neuronal cells. The mechanisms that lead to the breakage of fibrils into smaller fragments remain unknown. In yeast, the AAA+ chaperone HSP104 processes the reactivation of protein aggregates and is responsible for fragmentation of fibrils. This study focused on investigating the effects of molecular chaperones on tau fibrils …

Low Absorption Liquid Crystal Materials For Midwave Infrared, Amy Creekmore

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Liquid crystal is an amazing class of soft matters with applications spanning from visible, infrared, millimeter wave, to terahertz. In addition to direct-view displays and projection displays, liquid crystal is also widely used in adaptive optics, tunable-focus lens, and laser beam steering. Although the visible region has well developed materials and mixtures for the vast variety of applications, the midwave infrared (MWIR) region of the electromagnetic spectrum invites much development as only a few materials have been developed with these applications in mind. Unlike visible region, the major challenge for mid-wave infrared liquid crystal is inherently large absorption loss. To …

Opportunistic Spectrum Utilization By Cognitive Radio Networks: Challenges And Solutions, Muhammad Faisal Amjad

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Cognitive Radio Network (CRN) is an emerging paradigm that makes use of Dynamic Spectrum Access (DSA) to communicate opportunistically, in the un-licensed Industrial, Scientific and Medical bands or frequency bands otherwise licensed to incumbent users such as TV broadcast. Interest in the development of CRNs is because of severe under-utilization of spectrum bands by the incumbent Primary Users (PUs) that have the license to use them coupled with an ever-increasing demand for unlicensed spectrum for a variety of new mobile and wireless applications. The essence of Cognitive Radio (CR) operation is the cooperative and opportunistic utilization of licensed spectrum bands …

Modeling Social Norms In Real-World Agent-Based Simulations, Rahmatollah Beheshti

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Studying and simulating social systems including human groups and societies can be a complex problem. In order to build a model that simulates humans' actions, it is necessary to consider the major factors that affect human behavior. Norms are one of these factors: social norms are the customary rules that govern behavior in groups and societies. Norms are everywhere around us, from the way people handshake or bow to the clothes they wear. They play a large role in determining our behaviors. Studies on norms are much older than the age of computer science, since normative studies have been a …

The Adsorption Of Polyatomic Molecules On Carbon Surfaces, Jared T. Burde

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Carbon nanotubes exhibit the structure and chemical properties that make them apt substrates for many adsorption applications. Of particular interest are carbon nanotube bundles, whose unique geometry is conducive to the formation of pseudo-one-dimensional phases of matter, and graphite, whose simple planar structure allows ordered phases to form in the absence of surface effects. Although both of these structures have been the focus of many research studies, knowledge gaps still remain. Much of the work with carbon nanotubes has used simple adsorbates^1-43, and there is little kinetic data available. On the other hand, there are many studies of …

Population Ecology Of Rocky Mountain Elk In The Black Hills, South Dakota And Wyoming, Benjamin D. Simpson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

We conducted a 2-year (2012–2013) study of survival and cause–specific mortality using individually marked adult cow and neonate elk (Cervus elaphus) occupying the southwestern region of the Black Hills. We used known-fate analysis in Program MARK for survival analysis of adult cows and calves. We estimated survival and cause-specific mortality of 49 adult female elk over the 2 years of the study. Annual adult cow survival was 0.85 (95% CI = 0.72–0.87). We documented 12 mortalities with harvest (58.3%) and predation (16.6%) accounting for the majority of known mortalities. We captured and fit 71 neonates < 10 days of age with expandable Very High Frequency (VHF) radiocollars during summer 2012 (n = 37) and 2013 (n = 34). Annual (12 month) survival of elk calves was 0.75 (95% CI = 0.61–0.84) while summer (20 weeks; 15 May–25 September) survival was 0.79 (95% CI = 0.68–0.88). Predation accounted for 87.5% of mortalities; remaining mortalities were from starvation (6.3%) and unknown (6. 3%) causes. We used Global Positioning System (GPS) collars to collect 167,707 locations to determine home range, movement ecology, and macroscale resource selection of 48 adult cow elk. We documented elk using a variety of migration strategies (obligate migrator, resident, conditional migrator, disperser); the majority of the population (58%) was migratory. Spring migration distance travelled ranged from 2.45 km – 74.44 km (n = 42); fall migration distances ranged from 6.41km – 153.95 km (n = 46). We used 99% Brownian Bridge Movement Models to create seasonal and overall home ranges of adult cow elk. Mean overall home range size for conditional migrators was 249.28 km2 (SE = 28.60, n = 7, range = 233.75), for obligate migrant elk it was 227.18 km2 (SE = 13.94, n = 29, range = 346.83), and for resident elk it was 175.65 km2 (SE = 22.75, n = 11, range = 216.04). We used discrete choice models to determine resource selection at the macro-habitat scale of collared adult elk using ArcMap 10.1 data. Adult cow elk selected for open grassland/herbaceous areas and early successional forest areas close to forested edges at higher elevations. Our study showed that elk populations have the ability to thrive within an ecosystem with healthy predator populations.

Binary Star Systems With Asymmetrically Heated Disks: Thermal Phase Curves For The Disk In Epsilon Aurigae, Richard Luther Pearson Iii

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Epsilon Aurigae is a long-period eclipsing binary that contains a warm F-star (~7750 K) and a circumstellar disk enshrouding a hidden companion, likely to be a hot B-star (>15,000 K). The eclipse itself lasts just over two years---thanks, in part, to the size of the disk---and occurs every 27.1-years. Its evolutionary status is still debated, along with the true nature of each stellar component, due to the high uncertainty in its parallax. The disk is similarly debated from the near absence of solid state infrared spectral features indicating its composition, particle size distribution, and density. An investigation of a …

Reasoning Tradeoffs In Implicit Invocation And Aspect Oriented Languages, Jose Sanchez Salazar

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

To reason about a program means to state or conclude, by logical means, some properties the program exhibits; like its correctness according to certain expected behavior. The continuous need for more ambitious, more complex, and more dependable software systems demands for better mechanisms to modularize them and reason about their correctness. The reasoning process is affected by the design decisions made by the developer of the program and by the features supported by the programming language used. Beyond Object Orientation, Implicit Invocation and Aspect Oriented languages pose very hard reasoning challenges. Important tradeoffs must be considered while reasoning about a …

Mass Spectral Studies To Investigate Butylbenzene Fragmentation Pathway And Pyrolysis Products., Balasubramaniam Lingam

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation research, two fundamental studies involving gas chromatography mass spectrometry of n-butylbenzene and pyrolysis products are presented. In the first study, fragmentation pathways of n-butylbenzene in quadrupole ion trap have been investigated. At low energy, product ion corresponding to m/z 92 and m/z 91 are formed via competitive parallel dissociation. Studies have also shown that at higher energy m/z 92 has sufficient internal energy to undergo further fragmentation yielding m/z 91 via consecutive dissociation. Thus in order to discern the fragmentation pathways of n-butylbenzene, the technique of two-dimensional correlation spectroscopy (2DCOS) was applied to the mass spectral data. …

Observations, Thermochemical Calculations, And Modeling Of Exoplanetary Atmospheres, Jasmina Blecic

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation as a whole aims to provide the means to better understand hot-Jupiter planets through observing, performing thermochemical calculations, and modeling their atmospheres. We used Spitzer multi-wavelength secondary-eclipse observations to characterize planetary atmospheres. We chose targets with high signal-to-noise ratios, as their deep eclipses allow us to detect signatures of spectral features and assess planetary atmospheric structure and composition with greater certainty. Chapter 1 gives a short introduction. Chapter 2 presents the Spitzer secondary-eclipse analysis and atmospheric characterization of WASP-14b. The decrease in flux when a planet passes behind its host star reveals the planet dayside thermal emission, which, …

Selective Electro-Magnetic Absorbers Based On Metal-Dielectric-Metal Thin-Film Cavities, Janardan Nath

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Efficient absorption of light is required for a large number of applications such as thermo-photovoltaics,thermal imaging, bio-sensing, thermal emitters, astronomy, and stealth technology. Strong light absorbers found in nature with high intrinsic losses such as carbon black, metal-black, and carbon nano-tubes etc. are bulky, not design-tunable and are hard to pattern for micro- and nano- devices. We developed thin-film, high performance absorbers in the visible, near-, mid-, long-wave - and far-IR region based on a 3 layer metal-dielectric-metal (MDM) structure. We fabricated a 3-layerMDMabsorber with large band-widths in the visible and near IR spectral range without any lithographic patterning. This …

Characterizing Exoplanet Atmospheres: From Light-Curve Observations To Radiative-Transfer Modeling, Patricio Cubillos Vallejos

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Multi-wavelength transit and secondary-eclipse light-curve observations are some of the most powerful techniques to probe the thermo-chemical properties of exoplanets. Although the large planet-to-star brightness contrast and few available spectral bands produce data with low signal-to-noise ratios, a Bayesian approach can robustly reveal what constraints we can set, without over-interpreting the data. Here I performed an end-to-end analysis of transiting exoplanet data. I analyzed space-telescope data for three planets to characterize their atmospheres and refine their orbits, investigated correlated noise estimators, and contributed to the development of the respective data-analysis pipelines. Chapters 2 and 3 describe the Photometry for Orbits, …

Folate Conjugated Hyperbranched Polyester Nanoparticles For Prostate Tumor-Targeted Delivery Of A Cytotoxic Peptide Via Prostate Specific Membrane Antigen, Orielyz Flores-Fernandez

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Prostate Cancer is the second most deadly cancer in men, after lung cancer. The need for new and effective therapeutics that can constrain prostate cancer progression are challenged by the lack of suitable delivery strategies that target prostate cancer tissue. To study CT20p as potential chemotherapeutic agent in the treatment of prostate cancer we proposed the use of targetable hyperbranched polyester (HBPE) based nanoparticles as delivery system. Folic acid was conjugated to the nanocarrier to improve the selectivity of the nanoparticle towards specific cell surface targets in prostate cancer cell lines. Specifically we evaluated LNCaP that up-regulated the PSMA receptor. …

Resource Management In Large-Scale Systems, Ashkan Paya

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The focus of this thesis is resource management in large-scale systems. Our primary concerns are energy management and practical principles for self-organization and self-management. The main contributions of our work are: 1. Models. We proposed several models for different aspects of resource management, e.g., energy-aware load balancing and application scaling for the cloud ecosystem, hierarchical architecture model for self-organizing and self-manageable systems and a new cloud delivery model based on auction-driven self-organization approach. 2. Algorithms. We also proposed several different algorithms for the models described above. Algorithms such as coalition formation, combinatorial auctions and clustering algorithm for scale-free organizations of …

An Integrated Framework For Automated Data Collection And Processing For Discrete Event Simulation Models, Carlos Rodriguez

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Discrete Events Simulation (DES) is a powerful tool of modeling and analysis used in different disciplines. DES models require data in order to determine the different parameters that drive the simulations. The literature about DES input data management indicates that the preparation of necessary input data is often a highly manual process, which causes inefficiencies, significant time consumption and a negative user experience. The focus of this research investigation is addressing the manual data collection and processing (MDCAP) problem prevalent in DES projects. This research investigation presents an integrated framework to solve the MDCAP problem by classifying the data needed …

Wind Induced Ground Motion, Vahid Naderyan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Wind noise is a problem in seismic surveys and can mask the seismic signals at low frequency. Development of practical solutions to this problem must be based on a good understanding of the mechanism of the wind-ground coupling. This thesis investigates the driving pressure and shear stress perturbations on the ground surface associated with wind-induced ground motions. A prediction of the ground displacements spectra from the measured ground properties and predicted pressure and shear stress at the ground surface is developed. Field measurements are conducted at a site in Marks, MS, having a flat terrain and low ambient seismic noise …

A Survey Of Mathematical Models Of Dengue Fever, Iurii Bakach

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this paper, we compare and contrast five models of Dengue fever. We evaluate each model using different scenarios and identify the strenghts and wecknesses of each of the model

Semi-Leptonic Decay Of Lambda-B In The Standard Model And With New Physics, Wanwei Wu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Heavy quark decays provide a very advantageous investigation to test the Standard Model (SM). Recently, promising experiments with b quark, as well as the analysis of the huge data sets produced at the B factories, have led to an increasing study and sensitive measurements of relative b quark decays. In this thesis, I calculate various observables in the semi-leptonic decay process Λb → Λ cτν[special character omitted]τ both in the SM and in the presence of New Physics (NP) operators with different Lorentz structures. The results are relevant for the coming measurement of this semi-leptonic decay at LHC b experiment …

Acousto-Electric Impedance Of Ferroelectric Phononic Superlattice, Ola Hassan Nusierat

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Acousto-Electric Impedance z of a Ferroelectric Phononic Superlattice (fps) is investigated. The analytical derivation of z and its phase reveal that both are functions of physical parameters such as the electromechanical coupling coefficient, the mechanical quality factor, the domain length and the phase velocity of the plate acoustic waves (paw). Mathematical code is produced that allows for modeling z in a two dimensional fps. It is observed that z depends on the number of domains in the fps structure. Fewer domains in the structure might minimize z or make it approach zero at certain conditions. A series of experiments …

Photogenerated O-Azaxylylenes: Mechanistic Studies And Synthetic Applications, William Cole Cronk

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research sets out to build upon excited state o-azaxylylene cycloaddition. The mechanism behind the excitation and cycloaddition process of photogenerated o-azaxylylenes was determined experimentally. Time-correlated single-photon counting, steady-state spectroscopy, triplet quenching experiments, and quantum yield studies provided evidence suggesting that excited state intramolecular proton transfer is followed by intersystem crossing and stepwise addition to the tethered unsaturated pendant.

In keeping with the principles of diversity oriented synthesis, a modular approach was taken to gain access to a diverse array of N,O,S-Polyheterocycles which were modified postphotochemically via Suzuki coupling to yield fused biaryls. Cycloaddition products, outfitted with halogens …

Facial Expression Analysis Via Transfer Learning, Xiao Zhang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Automated analysis of facial expressions has remained an interesting and challenging research topic in the field of computer vision and pattern recognition due to vast applications such as human-machine interface design, social robotics, and developmental psychology. This dissertation focuses on developing and applying transfer learning algorithms - multiple kernel learning (MKL) and multi-task learning (MTL) - to resolve the problems of facial feature fusion and the exploitation of multiple facial action units (AUs) relations in designing robust facial expression recognition systems. MKL algorithms are employed to fuse multiple facial features with different kernel functions and tackle the domain adaption problem …

Parallel Fabrication And Transport Properties Of Carbon Nanotube Single Electron Transistors, Muhammad Islam

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Single electron transistors (SET) have attracted significant attention as a potential building block for post CMOS nanoelectronic devices. However, lack of reproducible and parallel fabrication approach and room temperature operation are the two major bottlenecks for practical realization of SET based devices. In this thesis, I demonstrate large scale single electron transistors fabrication techniques using solution processed single wall carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) and studied their electron transport properties. The approach is based on the assembly of individual SWNTs via dielectrophoresis (DEP) at the selected position of the circuit and formation of tunnel barriers on SWNT. Two different techniques: i) metal-SWNT …

Convective Heat Transfer In Quasi-One-Dimensional Magnetic Fluid In Horizontal Field And Temperature Gradients, Jun Huang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this work we studied the convective heat transfer in a magnetic fluid in both zero and applied magnetic fields. The natural convection is observed in a quasi-one dimensional magnetic fluid in a horizontal temperature gradient. The horizontal non-homogeneous magnetic fields were applied across the sample cell either parallel or anti-parallel to the temperature gradient. The temperature profile was measured by eight thermocouples and temperature sensitive paint. The flow velocity field and streamlines were obtained by optical flow method. Calculated Nusselt numbers, Rayleigh number, and Grashof number show that the convective flow is the main heat transfer mechanism in applied …

Structure-Property Relationship Of The Two-Photon Circular Dichroism Of Compounds With Axial And Helical Chirality, Carlos Diaz

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Back in 1894 Lord Kelvin coined the term "chiral" in order to refer to molecules whose mirror images were not superimposable with themselves. Over the years, research has demonstrated the important role that chiral molecules play in life, chemistry, and biology as well as their importance in the development of new drugs and technologies. The efforts to understand chiral systems have been mainly driven by spectroscopic methods that leverage on the opposite responses that enantiomers have to linear or circularly polarized light of both handedness. More specifically, Electronic Circular Dichroism (ECD) which measures the differences in linear absorption of left …

The Finite Embeddability Property For Some Noncommutative Knotted Varieties Of Rl And Drl, Riquelmi Salvador Cardona Fuentes

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Residuated lattices, although originally considered in the realm of algebra providing a general setting for studying ideals in ring theory, were later shown to form algebraic models for substructural logics. The latter are non-classical logics that include intuitionistic, relevance, many-valued, and linear logic, among others. Most of the important examples of substructural logics are obtained by adding structural rules to the basic logical calculus FL. We denote by 𝖱𝖫𝑛 � the varieties of knotted residuated lattices. Examples of these knotted rules include integrality and contraction. The extension of �� by the rules corresponding to these two equations is …

New Methods For Measuring Transient Interactions Between Proteins And Curved Membranes, Philip P. Cheney

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Variations in the physical deformation of the plasma membrane play a significant role in the sorting and behavior of the proteins that occupy it. Determining the interplay between membrane curvature and protein behavior required the development and thorough characterization of a model plasma membrane with well defined and localized regions of curvature. This model system consists of a fluid lipid bilayer that is supported by a dye-loaded polystyrene nanoparticle patterned glass substrate. As the physical deformation of the supported lipid bilayer is essential to our understanding of the behavior of the protein occupying the bilayer, extensive characterization of the structure …