Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Automatic Annotation Of Database Images For Query-By-Concept, Nualsawat Hiransakolwong

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As digital images become ubiquitous in many applications, the need for efficient and effective retrieval techniques is more demanding than ever. Query by Example (QBE) and Query by Concept (QBC) are among the most popular query models. The former model accepts example images as queries and searches for similar ones based on low-level features such as colors and textures. The latter model allows queries to be expressed in the form of high-level semantics or concept words, such as "boat" or "car," and finds images that match the specified concepts. Recent research has focused on the connections between these two models …

Adaptive Intelligent User Interfaces With Emotion Recognition, Fatma Nasoz

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The focus of this dissertation is on creating Adaptive Intelligent User Interfaces to facilitate enhanced natural communication during the Human-Computer Interaction by recognizing users' affective states (i.e., emotions experienced by the users) and responding to those emotions by adapting to the current situation via an affective user model created for each user. Controlled experiments were designed and conducted in a laboratory environment and in a Virtual Reality environment to collect physiological data signals from participants experiencing specific emotions. Algorithms (k-Nearest Neighbor [KNN], Discriminant Function Analysis [DFA], Marquardt-Backpropagation [MBP], and Resilient Backpropagation [RBP]) were implemented to analyze the collected data signals …

Polarimetric Characterization Of Random Electromagnetic Beams And Applications, Mircea Mujat

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Polarimetry is one of the principal means of investigating the interaction of light with matter. Theoretical models and experimental techniques are presented in this dissertation for polarimetric characterization of random electromagnetic beams and of signatures of random media in different scattering regimes and configurations. The degree of polarization rather than the full description of the state of polarization is of interest in multiple scattering and free space propagation where the statistical nature and not the deterministic component of light bears the relevant information. A new interferometric technique for determining the degree of polarization by measuring the intensity fluctuations in a …

Object Tracking And Activity Recognition In Video Acquired Using Mobile Cameras, Alper Yilmaz

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Due to increasing demand on deployable surveillance systems in recent years, object tracking and activity recognition are receiving considerable attention in the research community. This thesis contributes to both the tracking and the activity recognition components of a surveillance system. In particular, for the tracking component, we propose two different approaches for tracking objects in video acquired by mobile cameras, each of which uses a different object shape representation. The first approach tracks the centroids of the objects in Forward Looking Infrared Imagery (FLIR) and is suitable for tracking objects that appear small in airborne video. The second approach tracks …

A New Optimal Algorithm For Outerplanar Graph Testing., Yuanyuan. Lin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A graph is a mathematical abstraction that is useful in solving a variety of problems. NP-complete (Non-deterministic Polynomial) problems are computational problems for which there is no known polynomial time algorithm solving them. Unfortunately, many important graph theoretic problems are known to be NP-Complete for arbitrary graph. However, for some classes of graphs, polynomial time algorithms have been discovered. Owing to this reason, it is of both theoretical and practical interest to be able to tell if a given graph belongs to one of those classes. As a result, graph recognition has received considerable attention over the last few decades. …

The Weather Of 1785: An Interdisciplinary Approach To Meteorological Reconstruction Using Forensic Synoptic Analysis, Louis K. Mcnally

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the work is to discern differences and similarities in synoptic-scale rneteorology by reconstructing the weather of the year 1785 on a daily basis. This is accomplished by compiling data from both homogenous and non-homogenous observational records, and from historical anecdotal evidence as recorded in diaries, archives and contemporary publications. Through this reconstruction, it is possible to infer some characteristics of the global circulation of 1785. With forensic techniques, I develop meteorological parameters from anecdotal evidence. These data are combined with meteorological observational records to produce a database from which semi-diurnal weather maps can be constructed. Sources include …

Statistical Inference For The Risk Ratio In 2x2 Binomial Trials With Stuctural Zero, Suzhong Tian

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In some statistical analyses, researchers may encounter the problem of analyzing correlated 2x2 table with a structural zero in one of the off diagonal cells. Structural zeros arise in situation where it is theoretically impossible for a particular cell to be observed. For instance, Agresti (1990) provided an example involving a sample of 156 calves born in Okeechobee County, Florida. Calves are first classified according to whether they get a pneumonia infection within certain time. They are then classified again according to whether they get a secondary infection within a period after the first infection clears up. Because subjects cannot, …

Multiple Scattering Of Light In Inhomogeneous Media And Applications, Claudia Mujat

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Light scattering-based techniques are being developed for non-invasive diagnostics of inhomogeneous media in various fields, such as medicine, biology, and material characterization. However, as most media of interest are highly scattering and have a complex structure, it is difficult to obtain a full analytical solution of the scattering problem without introducing approximations and assumptions about the properties of the system under consideration. Moreover, most of the previous studies deal with idealized scattering situations, rarely encountered in practice. This dissertation provides new analytical, numerical, and experimental solutions to describe subtle effects introduced by the properties of the light sources, and by …

Quadratic Spatial Soliton Interactions, Ladislav Jankovic

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Quadratic spatial soliton interactions were investigated in this Dissertation. The first part deals with characterizing the principal features of multi-soliton generation and soliton self-reflection. The second deals with two beam processes leading to soliton interactions and collisions. These subjects were investigated both theoretically and experimentally. The experiments were performed by using potassium niobate (KNBO3) and periodically poled potassium titanyl phosphate (KTP) crystals. These particular crystals were desirable for these experiments because of their large nonlinear coefficients and, more importantly, because the experiments could be performed under non-critical-phase-matching (NCPM) conditions. The single soliton generation measurements, performed on KNBO3 by launching the …

Stable Spatial Solitons In Semiconductor Optical Amplifiers, Erdem Ultanir

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A spatial soliton is a shape invariant self guided beam of light or a self induced waveguide. Spatial solitons appear as a result of the balance of diffraction and nonlinear focusing in a system. They have been observed in many different conservative media in the last couple of years. Solitons are ubiquitous, because of the probability of using their interactions in optical data processing, communications etc. Up to now due to the power required to generate the solitons, and the response times of the soliton supporting media, these special waves of nature could not penetrate the applications arena. Semiconductors, with …

Chemical Structure - Nonlinear Optical Property Relationships For A Series Of Two-Photon Absorbing Fluorene Molecules, Joel Mccajah Hales

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation reports on the investigation of two-photon absorption (2PA) in a series of fluorenyl molecules. Several current and emerging technologies exploit this optical nonlinearity including two-photon fluorescence imaging, three-dimensional microfabrication, site-specific photodynamic cancer therapy and biological caging studies. The two key features of this nonlinearity which make it an ideal candidate for the above applications are its quadratic dependence on the incident irradiance and the improved penetration into absorbing media that it affords. As a consequence of the burgeoning field which exploits 2PA, it is a goal to find materials that exhibit strong two-photon absorbing capabilities. Organic materials are …

Thermal Management, Beam Control,And Packaging Designs For High Power, Te-Yuan Chung

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Several novel techniques for controlling, managing and utilizing high power diode lasers are described. Low pressure water spray cooling for a high heat flux system is developed and proven to be an ideal cooling method for high power diode laser arrays. In order to enable better thermal and optical performance of diode laser arrays, a new and simple optical element, the beam control prism, is invented. It provides the ability to accomplish beam shaping and beam tilting at the same time. Several low thermal resistance diode packaging designs using beam control prisms are proposed, studied and produced. Two pump cavity …

Part I: Evaluation Of Russian Synthetic Compounds As A Potential Source Of New Drug Leads Agains Breast And Colon Cancer Part Ii: Isolation Of Beta-Amyrin Formate From Eucalyptus Viminalis Labill And Investigation Of Its Colon Cancer Activity, Mihaela Cohanoschi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Although modern medicine made great steps toward curing most diseases considered deadliest, yet cancer remains one of the major public health problems. The first part of this thesis investigates a new source of selective compounds that are potential candidates against cancer. Fifteen Russian compounds were tested in order to establish their efficiency against two types of cancer: human breast SK-Br-3 and colorectal carcinoma HT-29. The bioassay results show that seven of the new synthetic Russian compounds can be considered new drug leads, based upon their low toxicity and efficacy in slowing the growth of human breast cancer and colon cancer …

Evaluation Of The Photo-Induced Structural Mechanisms In Chalcogenide, Cedric Lopez

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Chalcogenide glasses and their use in a wide range of optical, electronic and memory applications, has created a need for a more thorough understanding of material property variation as a function of composition and in geometries representative of actual devices. This study evaluates compositional dependencies and photo-induced structural mechanisms in As-S-Se chalcogenide glasses. An effective fabrication method for the reproducible processing of bulk chalcogenide materials has been demonstrated and an array of tools developed, for the systematic characterization of the resulting material's physical and optical properties. The influence of compositional variation on the physical properties of 13 glasses within the …

Toward Building A Social Robot With An Emotion-Based Internal Control, Andreas Marpaung

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis, we aim at modeling some aspects of the functional role of emotions on an autonomous embodied agent. We begin by describing our robotic prototype, Cherry--a robot with the task of being a tour guide and an office assistant for the Computer Science Department at the University of Central Florida. Cherry did not have a formal emotion representation of internal states, but did have the ability to express emotions through her multimodal interface. The thesis presents the results of a survey we performed via our social informatics approach where we found that: (1) the idea of having emotions …

Selective Mode Excitation In Specialty Waveguides Using Micro Optical, Waleed Mohammed

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Although optical fibers and specialty waveguides are the base of majority of today's telecom and light delivery applications, fabrication deformation, nonlinearity and attenuation limit the bandwidth of the data being transmitted or the amount of power carried by these systems. One-way to overcome these limitations without changing the fibers design or fabrication is to engineer the input light in order to excite a certain mode or a group of modes with unique optical properties. Diffractive and micro optics are highly effective for selectively coupling light to specific modes. Using micro optics, mode selective coupling can be achieved through several matching …

Discrete Nonlinear Wave Propagation In Kerr Nonlinear Media, Joachim Meier

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Discrete optical systems are a subgroup of periodic structures in which the evolution of a continuous electromagnetic field can be described by a discrete model. In this model, the total field is the sum of localized, discrete modes. Weakly coupled arrays of single mode channel waveguides have been known to fall into this class of systems since the late 1960's. Nonlinear discrete optics has received a considerable amount of interest in the last few years, triggered by the experimental realization of discrete solitons in a Kerr nonlinear AlGaAs waveguide array by H. Eisenberg and coworkers in 1998. In this work …

Dispersion-Managed Breathing-Mode Semiconductor Mode-Locked Ring Laser, Bojan Resan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A novel dispersion-managed breathing-mode semiconductor mode-locked ring laser is developed. The "breathing-mode" designation derives from the fact that intracavity pulses are alternately stretched and compressed as they circulate around the ring resonator. The pulses are stretched before entering the semiconductor gain medium to minimize the detrimental strong integrating self-phase modulation and to enable efficient pulse amplification. Subsequently compressed pulses facilitate bleaching the semiconductor saturable absorber. The intracavity pulse compression ratio is higher than 50. Down chirping when compared to up chirping allows broader mode-locked spectra and shorter pulse generation owing to temporal and spectral semiconductor gain dynamics. Pulses as short …

Monolithic Integration Of Dual Optical Elements On High Power Semicond, Laurent Vaissie

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation investigates the monolithic integration of dual optical elements on high power semiconductor lasers for emission around 980nm wavelength. In the proposed configuration, light is coupled out of the AlGaAs/GaAs waveguide by a low reflectivity grating coupler towards the substrate where a second monolithic optical element is integrated to improve the device performance or functionality. A fabrication process based on electron beam lithography and plasma etching was developed to control the grating coupler duty cycle and shape. The near-field intensity profile outcoupled by the grating is modeled using a combination of finite-difference time domain (FDTD) analysis of the nonuniform …

Image Based View Synthesis, Jiangjian Xiao

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation deals with the image-based approach to synthesize a virtual scene using sparse images or a video sequence without the use of 3D models. In our scenario, a real dynamic or static scene is captured by a set of un-calibrated images from different viewpoints. After automatically recovering the geometric transformations between these images, a series of photo-realistic virtual views can be rendered and a virtual environment covered by these several static cameras can be synthesized. This image-based approach has applications in object recognition, object transfer, video synthesis and video compression. In this dissertation, I have contributed to several sub-problems …

Towards Direct Writing Of 3-D Photonic Circuits Using Ultrafast Lasers, Arnaud Zoubir

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The advent of ultrafast lasers has enabled micromachining schemes that cannot be achieved by other current techniques. Laser direct writing has emerged as one of the possible routes for fabrication of optical waveguides in transparent materials. In this thesis, the advantages and limitations of this technique are explored. Two extended-cavity ultrafast lasers were built and characterized as the laser sources for this study, with improved performance over existing systems. Waveguides are fabricated in oxide glass, chalcogenide glass, and polymers, these being the three major classes of materials for the telecommunication industry. Standard waveguide metrology is performed on the fabricated waveguides, …

The Effects Of Microprocessor Architecture On Speedup In Distrbuted Memory Supercomputers, Glen L. Beane

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Amdahl's Law states that speedup in moving from one processor to N identical processors can never be greater than N, and in fact usually is lower than N because of operations that must be done sequentially. Amdahl's Law gives us the following formula for speedup: Speedup < or = (S+P)/(S+(P/N)) where is the number of processors, S is the percentage of the code that is serial (i.e., cannot be parallelized), and P is the percentage of code that is parallelizable. We can substitute 1 - S for P in the above formula and we see that as S approaches zero speedup approaches N. It can also be shown that seemingly small values of S can severely limit the maximum speedup. Researchers at the University of Maine saw speedups that seemed to contradict Amdahl's Law, and identified an assumption made by the law that is not always true. When this assumption is not true, it is possible to achieve speedups that are larger than the theoretical maximum speedup of N given by Amdahl's Law. The assumption in question is that the computer performance scales linearly as the size of the problem is reduced by dividing it over a larger number of processors. This assumption is not valid for computers with tiered memory. In this thesis we investigate superlinear speedup through a series of test programs specifically designed to exhibit superlinear speedup. After demonstrating these programs show superlinear speedup, we suggest methods for detecting the potential for superlinear speedup in a variety of algorithms.

Demographics Of Western South Dakota Wetlands And Basins, Bryan A. Rieger

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Wetlands, whether natural or man-made in origin, are an important feature of the semiarid landscape of western South Dakota. These wetlands have numerous social and economic values and functions for both landowners and non-owners, as well as for fish and wildlife species. For this reason, accurate information about wetland abundance, characteristics and distribution is important. These demographic summaries of wetland resources of western South Dakota were based on digital wetland data, as delineated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s National Wetlands Inventory (NWI) office. Surface water covers approximately 257,006 ha or about 2.4% of the 10,810,700 ha of western …

The Use Of Selected Water Quality Parameters To Identify Fecal Coliform Sources In Support Of The Sinking Creek Total Maximum Daily Load., Susana Maria Floresguerra

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Sinking Creek, located in upper east Tennessee, is on the 303(d) list for not meeting minimum water quality standards for recreation. A Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) for fecal coliforms was developed. The purpose of this study was to investigate the use of water quality parameters to identify areas that contribute to the fecal coliform loading. Concentrations of nitrate-N, orthophosphates, BOD, alkalinity, hardness, and optical brighteners (OB) were monitored at fourteen stations monthly for one year. Site 3 (agricultural region) exhibited the highest average nitrate-N loadings (627.34 mg/sec) and orthophosphate (as PO₄^3-) loadings (84.83 mg/sec). Alkalinity loadings …

Interworking Methodologies For Dcom And Corba., Edwin Kraus

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The DCOM and CORBA standards provide location-transparent access to network-resident software through language independent object interfaces. Although the two standards address similar problems, they do so in incompatible ways: DCOM clients cannot use CORBA objects, and CORBA clients cannot utilize DCOM objects, due to incompatible object system infrastructures.

This thesis investigates the performance of bridging tools to resolve the incompatibilities between DCOM and CORBA, in ways that allow clients to cross object system boundaries. Two kinds of tools were constructed and studied: tools that bind clients to services at compile time, and tools that support dynamic client-server bindings. Data developed …

Towards A Taxonomy Of Aspect-Oriented Programming., Mario Bernard Hankerson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As programs continue to increase in size, it has become increasingly difficult to separate concerns into well localized modules, which leads to code tangling- crosscutting code spread throughout several modules. Thus, Aspect-Oriented Programming (AOP) offers a solution to creating modules with little or no crosscutting concerns. AOP presents the notion of aspects, and demonstrates how crosscutting concerns can be taken out of modules and placed into a centralized location.

In this paper, a taxonomy of aspect-oriented programming, as well as a basic overview and introduction of AOP, will be presented in order to assist future researchers in getting started on …

The Effects Of The 2001-2002 Drought On Maine Surface Water Supplies, Catherine Schmitt

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Maine lakes and streams serve as significant sources of public water supply, serving 40% of the population. Drought affects surface water resources by reducing water quantity and altering water quality, for example by reducing inputs of materials from the watershed and increasing water residence times. The 2001-2002 drought was the worst in Maine in over thirty years, and it exposed deficiencies in current water resources planning and management. In this study, I evaluated the effects of the 2001-2002 drought on Maine public water systems in order to identify characteristics of systems vulnerable to drought and determine appropriate indicators of drought …

Towards A Connection Between Linear Embedding And The Poincaré Functional Equation., Tara Marie Michels

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Several linear embeddings of the logistic equation, x_n+1=ax_n(1-x_n) are considered, the goal being to establish a connection between linear embedding and the Poincaré Functional Equation. In particular, we consider linear embedding schemes in a classical Hardy space.

An Investigation Of The Cumulative Impacts Of Shrimp Trawling On Mud Bottom Fishing Grounds In The Gulf Of Maine: Effects On Habitat And Macrofaunal Community Structure, Anne W. Simpson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Despite the widespread occurrence of trawl fisheries on mud-bottoms, there is limited knowledge concerning the effects of trawling induced disturbance on these habitats and their resident macrofaunal communities. I investigated the cumulative impacts of seasonal commercial shrimp trawling on infaunal habitat and macrofaunal community structure on two mud-bottom fishing grounds in the Gulf of Maine from June 2000 - December 2001. One fishing ground located near the Outer Pumpkin Ledges (Pumpkin) experienced trawling activity during the 2000-2001 fishing season. In contrast, the other fishing ground near Monhegan Island was not trawled during the same period because shrimp abundances were low. …

Mechanistic Studies Of The Oxidation Of Lignin And Cellulose Models, Oh-Kyu Lee

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Oxygen delignification is an environmentally friendly pulp bleaching system. To develop a selective delignification process that results in high DP retention of carbohydrate with lignin being removed, obtaining better knowledge of reactions occurring during oxygen delignification is essential.

In this work, mixtures of guaiacol (model lignin) and methyl-ß-D-glucoside (model cellulose) were reacted in a pressurized oxygen reaction system (pH 12,65 psi O₂, and 95°C in a glass reaction vessel). In the results, methyl-ß-D-glucoside degraded only in the presence of lignin. This indicates that hydroxyl radicals, that subsequently react with methyl-ß-D-glucoside, are generated in the system. Unfortunately, we could …