Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Equivariant Cohomology For 2-Torus Actions And Torus Actions With Compatible Involutions, Sergio Chaves Ramirez

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The Borel equivariant cohomology is an algebraic invariant of topological spaces with actions of a compact group which inherits a canonical module structure over the cohomology of the classifying space of the acting group. The study of syzygies in equivariant cohomology characterize in a more general setting the torsion-freeness and freeness of these modules by topological criteria. In this thesis, we study the syzygies for elementary 2-abelian groups (or 2- tori) in equivariant cohomology with coefficients over a field of characteristic two. We approach the equivariant cohomology theory by an equivalent approach using group cohomology, that will allow us to …

Machine Learning With Digital Signal Processing For Rapid And Accurate Alignment-Free Genome Analysis: From Methodological Design To A Covid-19 Case Study, Gurjit Singh Randhawa

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

In the field of bioinformatics, taxonomic classification is the scientific practice of identifying, naming, and grouping of organisms based on their similarities and differences. The problem of taxonomic classification is of immense importance considering that nearly 86% of existing species on Earth and 91% of marine species remain unclassified. Due to the magnitude of the datasets, the need exists for an approach and software tool that is scalable enough to handle large datasets and can be used for rapid sequence comparison and analysis. We propose ML-DSP, a stand-alone alignment-free software tool that uses Machine Learning and Digital Signal Processing to …

Edge-Cloud Iot Data Analytics: Intelligence At The Edge With Deep Learning, Ananda Mohon M. Ghosh

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Rapid growth in numbers of connected devices, including sensors, mobile, wearable, and other Internet of Things (IoT) devices, is creating an explosion of data that are moving across the network. To carry out machine learning (ML), IoT data are typically transferred to the cloud or another centralized system for storage and processing; however, this causes latencies and increases network traffic. Edge computing has the potential to remedy those issues by moving computation closer to the network edge and data sources. On the other hand, edge computing is limited in terms of computational power and thus is not well suited for …

Range Flow: New Algorithm Design And Quantitative And Qualitative Analysis, Seereen Noorwali

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Optical flow computation is one of the oldest and most active research fields in computer vision and image processing. It encompasses the following areas: motion estimation, video compression, object detection and tracking, image dominant plane extraction, movement detection, robot navigation, visual odometry, traffic analysis, and vehicle tracking. Optical flow methods calculate the motion between two image frames. In 2D images, optical flow specifies how far each pixel moves between adjacent frames; in 3D images, it specifies how much each voxel moves between adjacent volumes in the dataset. Since 1980, several algorithms have successfully estimated 2D and 3D optical flow. Notably, …

N-Heterocyclic Carbene Ligated Group 11 Trimethylsilylchalcogenolates: Building Blocks For Heterometallic Chalcogenide Molecules, Dickron Richard Nahhas

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The synthesis of heterometallic chalcogenide molecules requires the continued investigation into the appropriate reagents necessary to introduce metal – chalcogen bonds in a controlled fashion. Trimethylsilyl metallochalcogenolates (MESiMe₃) act as synthons introducing “ME^–“ in solution upon reacting with an appropriate ternary metal reagent, MX (X= halide, acetate, etc.). Recent work makes use of N–heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) as a class of ancillary ligand that can stabilize these reagents and the heterometallic chalcogenide molecules obtained with them. Building on previous work, this thesis describes the synthesis of group 11 trimethylsilyl metallochalcogenolates stabilized by bis–1,3–tritylimidazole–2–ylidene (abbreviated ITr) …

Contraction Analysis Of Functional Competitive Lotka-Volterra Systems: Understanding Competition Between Modified Bacteria And Plasmodium Within Mosquitoes., Nickolas Goncharenko

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

We propose and analyze an extension to the classic Competitive Lotka-Volterra (CLV) model. The goal is to model competition between species, with a response from the environment. This response is a function of the population of all species and can represent numerous physical phenomena including resource limitation and immune response of a host due to infection. We name this new system a Functional Competitive Lotka-Volterra (FCLV) model. We mainly use the construction of contraction metrics, to determine global properties of the model. We use this result to analyze the competition between Plasmodium sp. and genetically engineered bacteria within the midgut …

Identifying External Cross-References Using Natural Language Processing (Nlp), Elham Rahmani

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

[Context and motivation] Software engineers build systems that need to be compliant with relevant regulations. These regulations are stated in authoritative documents from which regulatory requirements need to be elicited. Project contract contains cross-references to these regulatory requirements in external documents. [Problem] Exploring and identifying the regulatory requirements in voluminous textual data is enormously time consuming, and hence costly, and error-prone in sizable software projects. [Principal idea and novelty] We use Natural Language Processing (NLP), Pattern Recognition and Web Scrapping techniques for automatically extracting external cross-references from contractual requirements and prepare a map for representing related external cross-references …

Point Process Modelling Of Objects In The Star Formation Complexes Of The M33 Galaxy, Dayi Li

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

In this thesis, Gibbs point process (GPP) models are constructed to study the spatial distribution of objects in the star formation complexes of the M33 galaxy. The GPP models circumvent the limitations of the two-point correlation function employed in the current astronomy literature by naturally accounting for the inhomogeneous distribution of these objects. The spatial distribution of these objects serves as a sensitive probe in understanding the star formation process, which is crucial in understanding the formation of galaxies and the Universe. The objects under study include the CO filament structure, giant molecular clouds (GMCs) and young stellar cluster candidates …

A Visual Analytics System For Investigating Multimorbidity Using Supervised Machine Learning, Maede Sadat Nouri

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Patterns of multimorbidity are complex and difficult to summarise using static visualization techniques like tables and charts. We present a visual analytics system with the goal of facilitating the process of making sense of data collected from patients with multimorbidity. The system reveals underlying patterns in the data visually and interactively, which enables users to easily assess both prevalence and correlation estimates of different chronic diseases among multimorbid patients with varying characteristics. To do so, the system uses count-based conditional probability, binary logistic regression, softmax regression and decision tree models to dynamically compute and visualize prevalence and correlation estimates for …

The Journey Of A Single Polymer Chain To A Nanopore, Navid Afrasiabian

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Single chain translocation has been eagerly studied for more than two decades due to its importance in biological processes and also, providing a better understanding of polymer dynamics. Polymer translocation can be divided into three stages of reaching the pore, entering the pore and passing through it. We study the delivery of the chain from the bulk to the entrance, which is called the capture process, for a single chain driven by hydrodynamic flow. Our molecular dynamics-lattice Boltzmann simulations show that the converging flow around the nanopore not only facilitates the process of finding the pore but also deforms the …

Physical Dispersions Of Meteor Showers Through High Precision Optical Observations, Denis Vida

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Meteoroids ejected from comets form meteoroid streams which disperse over time due to gravitational perturbations and non-gravitational forces. When stream meteoroids collide with the Earth's atmosphere, they are visible as meteors emanating from a common point-like area (radiant) in the sky. Measuring the size of meteor shower radiant areas can provide insight into stream formation and age. The tight radiant dispersion of young streams are difficult to determine due to measurement error, but if successfully measured, the dispersion could be used to constrain meteoroid ejection velocities from their parent comets. The estimated ejection velocity is an uncertain, model-dependent value with …

Abelian Integral Method And Its Application, Xianbo Sun

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Oscillation is a common natural phenomenon in real world problems. The most efficient mathematical models to describe these cyclic phenomena are based on dynamical systems. Exploring the periodic solutions is an important task in theoretical and practical studies of dynamical systems.

Abelian integral is an integral of a polynomial differential 1-form over the real ovals of a polynomial Hamiltonian, which is a basic tool in complex algebraic geometry. In dynamical system theory, it is generalized to be a continuous function as a tool to study the periodic solutions in planar dynamical systems. The zeros of Abelian integral and their distributions …

Earthquake Site Characterization Of Rock Sites In Eastern Canada And Stiff Ground Sites In Vancouver, British Columbia, Sameer Ladak

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Site characterization is a crucial component in assessing seismic hazard, typically involving in situ shear-wave velocity (V_S) depth profiling, and measurement of site amplification including site period. These methods are ideal for soil sites and less reliable in more complex geologic settings including rock sites. A multi-method approach to earthquake site characterization is tested at 25 seismograph stations across Eastern Canada. It is typically assumed these stations are installed on hard rock. We seek to identify which site characterization methods are most suitable at rock sites as well as to confirm the hard rock assumption. Active-source refraction and …

Impact-Generated Dykes And Shocked Carbonates From The Tunnunik And Haughton Impact Structures, Canadian High Arctic, Jennifer D. Newman

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The Canadian High Arctic contains two impact structures created by hypervelocity impact events in carbonate-rich target rocks. The remote locations of the Tunnunik and Haughton impact structures means that there are aspects of these impact structures which have yet to be fully investigated. This study characterizes the range of impact-generated dykes exposed from both impact structures which include lithic breccias, impact melt-bearing breccias, and impact melt rocks. Breccias may include silicate impact glass fragments and evidence for carbonate melt. Impact melt rocks from the Haughton impact structure contain the rare terrestrial mineral moissanite. This is only the third reported occurrence …

Characterization Of Impact Melt Rocks And Hydrothermal Mineralization At The Haughton Impact Structure, Devon Island, Canada: An Investigation Of Impacts Into Carbonate Targets, Cassandra L. Marion

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Impact cratering is a fundamental and ubiquitous geological process on all solid planetary bodies in our solar system. Impacts into carbonate-rich sedimentary target rocks on Earth are still poorly understood. The fate of carbonates during impact, in particular whether they undergo melting or decomposition, is actively debated. The dominant process is significant as decomposition would cause severe climatic effects due to release of large amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. At the root of the problem is the difficulty to distinguish and characterize the genesis of the variety of impactite carbonates produced. The Haughton impact structure in the Canadian …

Water Supply Capacity Development In The Context Of Global Change, Patrick Breach

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The ANEMI model is an integrated assessment model of global change that emphasizes the role of water resources. The model is based on the principles of system dynamics simulation in order to analyze changes in the Earth system using feedback processes. Securing water resources for the future is a key issue of global change, and ties into global systems of population growth, climate change carbon cycle, hydrologic cycle, economy, energy production, land use and pollution generation.

This thesis focusses on the development of global water supplies necessary to keep pace with a growing population and global economy using an integrated …

The Influence Of Radiolytically Produced Nitric Acid On The Corrosion Resistance Of Copper-Coated Used Nuclear Fuel Containers, Joseph P. Turnbull

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

In Canada, the proposed disposal method for high level nuclear waste involves sealing the waste in steel containers with a 3 mm outer copper coating and burying it in a deep geologic repository. However, the thickness of the container is significantly reduced making a reassessment of the influence of γ-radiation, emitted by the waste form, on container corrosion a potential licensing requirement. Under humid aerated conditions, the formation of nitric acid is expected, potentially resulting in the formation of droplets or wetted layers on the container surface. Currently available literature on the corrosion of copper in nitric acid does not …

A Requirements Measurement Program For Systems Engineering Projects: Metrics, Indicators, Models, And Tools For Internal Stakeholders, Ibtehal Noorwali

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Software engineering (SE) measurement has shown to lead to improved quality and productivity in software and systems projects and, thus, has received significant attention in the literature, particularly for the design and development stages. In requirements engineering (RE), research and practice has recognized the importance of requirements measurement (RM) for tracking progress, identifying gaps in downstream deliverables related to requirements, managing requirements-related risks, reducing requirements errors and defects, and project management and decision making.

However, despite the recognized benefits of RM, research indicates that only 5\% of the literature on SE measurement addresses requirements. This small percentage is reflected in …

Characterization Of Impactite Clay Minerals With Implications For Mars Geologic Context And Mars Sample Return, Christy M. Caudill

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Geological processes, including impact cratering, are fundamental throughout rocky bodies in the solar system. Studies of terrestrial impact structures, like the Ries impact structure, Germany, have informed on impact cratering processes – e.g., early hot, hydrous degassing, autometamorphism, and recrystallization/devitrification of impact glass – and products – e.g., impact melt rocks and breccias comprised of clay minerals. Yet, clay minerals of authigenic impact origin remain understudied and their formation processes poorly-understood. This thesis details the characterization of impact-generated clay minerals at Ries, showing that compositionally diverse, abundant Al/Fe/Mg smectite clays formed through these processes in thin melt-bearing breccia deposits of …

Deep Learning On Smart Meter Data: Non-Intrusive Load Monitoring And Stealthy Black-Box Attacks, Junfei Wang

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Climate change and environmental concerns are instigating widespread changes in modern electricity sectors due to energy policy initiatives and advances in sustainable technologies. To raise awareness of sustainable energy usage and capitalize on advanced metering infrastructure (AMI), a novel deep learning non-intrusive load monitoring (NILM) model is proposed to disaggregate smart meter readings and identify the operation of individual appliances. This model can be used by Electric power utility (EPU) companies and third party entities, and then utilized to perform active or passive consumer power demand management. Although machine learning (ML) algorithms are powerful, these remain vulnerable to adversarial attacks. …

Quantification Of Septic System Contribution To Nutrient Loads In Surface Waters, Archana Tamang

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Freshwater systems worldwide are threatened by excessive nutrient (nitrogen and phosphorus) loading. This study evaluated the contribution of septic systems to stream nutrient loads in nine subwatersheds. Stream sampling was conducted during low and high discharge conditions, with samples analyzed for total phosphorus (TP), soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP), nitrate (NO₃-N), and acesulfame (ACE; wastewater tracer). Higher septic effluent reached the subwatershed outlets during high discharge conditions. Subwatersheds with newer households had a lower percentage of septic effluent reaching the stream compared with subwatersheds with older households. Seasonal and event-based ACE concentration-discharge relationships revealed that the hydrological pathways delivering …

Investigating Citation Linkage As A Sentence Similarity Measurement Task Using Deep Learning, Sudipta Singha Roy

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Research publications reflect advancements in the corresponding research domain. In these research publications, scientists often use citations to bolster the presented research findings and portray the improvements that come with these findings, at the same time, to make the contents more understandable to the audience by navigating the flow of information. In the science domain, a citation refers to the document from where this information originates but doesn't specify the text span that is actually being cited. A more precise reference would indicate the text being referenced. This thesis develops a framework which can create a linkage between the citing …

Source Parameters Of Induced Seismicity In North America, Joanna M. Holmgren

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Source parameters of earthquakes play a key role in the understanding of earthquake behavior and modelling of seismic hazard. They describe the size of earthquakes, including how much energy is generated during the rupture, and how the ground motion is distributed over different frequency bands and azimuths. The last decade’s increase in induced seismicity caused by oil and gas production has led to an interest in understanding the underlying earthquake processes and how they can be modelled. This thesis is divided into three studies, each examining source parameters of induced earthquakes in North America.

In the first study, I show …

Hierarchical Group And Attribute-Based Access Control: Incorporating Hierarchical Groups And Delegation Into Attribute-Based Access Control, Daniel Servos

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Attribute-Based Access Control (ABAC) is a promising alternative to traditional models of access control (i.e. Discretionary Access Control (DAC), Mandatory Access Control (MAC) and Role-Based Access control (RBAC)) that has drawn attention in both recent academic literature and industry application. However, formalization of a foundational model of ABAC and large-scale adoption is still in its infancy. The relatively recent popularity of ABAC still leaves a number of problems unexplored. Issues like delegation, administration, auditability, scalability, hierarchical representations, etc. have been largely ignored or left to future work. This thesis seeks to aid in the adoption of ABAC by filling in …

The Incorporation Of Phosphorus Into Polymer Networks For Drug Encapsulation And Release, Tristan D. Harrison

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This thesis focuses on the incorporation of phosphonium salts into polymer networks for uses in drug delivery and antibacterial coatings. Compared to their ammonium analogues, which have been extensively investigated, phosphonium salts were of interest due to their different chemical properties and their higher chemical and thermal stabilities. The thesis describes the development of covalently crosslinked hydrogels, ionically crosslinked hydrogels and thin film materials to be utilized in the aforementioned applications.

Covalently crosslinked hydrogels were developed with the targeted application of drug delivery. The hydrogels were created by curing formulations with ultra-violet light. Then, anionic drug molecules were loaded, which …

Paleoproductivity Of Late Holocene Lake Huron, Jamal Khaled Nigim

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The paleolimnology of North America’s Lake Huron is described using lead-210 dating, mineralogy, magnetic susceptibility, total organic carbon (TOC), total nitrogen (TN), carbon:nitrogen (C/N) ratio, grain size, and the δ¹³C_OM and δ¹⁵N_TN of organic matter. Sediment cores from Lake Huron’s 6 depositional basins and Georgian Bay span the Medieval Warm Period, Little Ice Age, and Canadian-European settlement. The main organic matter source is lacustrine algae, as indicated by δ¹³C_OM, δ¹⁵N_TN and C/N. Prior to the 19th century, primary production changes are reflected only by small variations in …

Visualization And Joint Analysis Of Monitored Multivariate Spatio-Temporal Data With Applications To Forest Fire Modelling And Sports Analytics, Devan Becker

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This thesis develops and applies novel techniques for the study of complex data structures with applications to wildland fire analytics and sports analytics. We consider situations where different models share information, including many different variables recorded simultaneously in aerial wildland fire fighting, how the frequency and severity of wildland fires are related, and how the shot locations of hockey players can be decomposed into spatial components that are shared across different players.

The first study analyzes flight patterns while fighting a wildland fire using several outlier detection techniques. These techniques applied several definitions of ``outlier'' to determine whether or not …

Driving Maneuver Detection Using Knowledge Distillation Networks, Kyle Windsor

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

In this thesis, we examine the current state of Advanced Driving Assistance Systems (ADAS) and their relation to maneuver prediction in the literature. We then attempt to solve the problem of variable inter-driver behavior by applying a novel distillation learning system using RoadLab data on tracked driver cephalo-ocular gaze behavior in tandem with high-resolution CANbus data. Current training-based methods in maneuver prediction are potentially subject to underfitting as drivers may exhibit different behavior when preparing to maneuver, but it has been shown that drivers can be grouped into at least two distinct behavior models. We use this information to personalize …

Phage-Bacteria Interaction And Prophage Sequences In Bacterial Genomes, Amjad Khan

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

In this investigation, we examined the interaction of phages and bacteria in bacterial biofilm colonies, the evolution of prophages (viral genetic material inserted into the bacterial genome) and their genetic repertoire. To study the synergistic effects of lytic phages and antibiotics on bacterial biofilm colonies, we have developed a mathematical model of ordinary differential equations (ODEs). We have also presented a mathematical model consisting of a partial differential equation (PDEs), to study evolutionary forces acting on prophages. We fitted the PDE model to three publicly available databases and were able to show that induction is the prominent fate of intact …

A Micromechanics-Based Multiscale Approach Toward Continental Deformation, With Application To Ductile High-Strain Zones And Quartz Flow Laws, Xi Lu

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Earth’s lithosphere may be regarded as a composite material made of rheologically heterogeneous elements. The presence of these heterogeneous elements causes flow partitioning, making the deformation of Earth’s lithosphere heterogeneous on all observation scales. Understanding the multiscale heterogeneous deformation and the overall rheology of the lithosphere is very important in structural geology and tectonics. The overall rheology of Earth’s lithosphere on a given observation scale must be obtained from the properties of all constituents and may evolve during the deformation due to the fabric development. Both the problem of flow partitioning and characterization of the overall rheology are closely related …