Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Solvation Properites Of Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Using Chirped-Pulse Fourier-Transform Microwave Spectra Of Carbon Dioxide / 1, 1-Difluoroethene (Dfe) Mixtures, Tulana Ariyaratne Subasinghe Arachchige

Masters Theses

Supercritical carbon dioxide (sc-C0₂) is a highly utilized industrial substance identified as an excellent solvent and a surfactant, which is cheaper and less hazardous than other typical solvents. The higher solubility of fluorinated hydrocarbons than their hydrocarbon (HC) analogs is not well understood and the theory behind the microsolvation of sc-C0₂ cannot be fully explained with the existing chemical information. Microwave spectroscopy is a good method of identifying the structural arrangement of clusters made from fluorinated HCs and C0₂. I n this project, microwave scans of the four different mixtures of 1 , 1-difluoroethene (DFE) …

Synthesis Toward A Molecular Container Based On P-Tert-Butylcalix[4]Arene With Gate Features, Balasooriya Appuhamilage Dinesh Madushan Balasooriya

Masters Theses

Nowadays molecular and supramolecular chemistry have endless examples for the development of smart devices. Among those applications, nano-baskets of calixarenes play vital roles in host-guest chemistry. One of the main appealing concepts of this field is the development of host molecules with gate features. These hosts are designed and constructed for the delivery of chemical or biochemical species that are volatile, or reactive, or sensitive to normal solution environment and they are mainly functioned by predefined groups that are responsive toward stimuli such as concentration, temperature, pH and so on. In our previous study, we found that benzyl bromides can …

Hidden Symmetries In Classical Mechanics And Related Number Theory Dynamical System, Mohsin Md Abdul Karim

Masters Theses

Classical Mechanics consists of three parts: Newtonian, Lagrangian and Hamiltonian Mechanics, where each part is a special extension of the previous part. Each part has explicit symmetries (the explicit Laws of Motion), which, in turn, generate implicit or hidden symmetries (like the Law of Conservation of Energy, etc). In this Master's Thesis, different types of hidden symmetries are considered; they are reflected in the Noether Theorem and the Poincare Recurrence Theorem applied to Lagrangian and Hamiltonian Systems respectively.

The Poincare Recurrence Theorem is also applicable to some number theory problems, which can be considered as dynamical systems. In …

Complex Varieties As Minima, Richard Koss

Masters Theses

We will explore various numeric methods of finding roots of an analytic function over some open set of the complex plane. We will discuss a method of visually observing the roots, a gradient descent method for finding the roots of an analytic function, a gradient descent method for solving systems of analytic functions, and finally a method of descent that uses osculating circles to find roots of an analytic function. Of particular interest to this thesis are roots of complex polynomials. There will be examples, code snippets, and outputs of programs to illustrate all of these methods.

The Impact Of Dutch Disease: The Case Of Nigeria, Halimat Atinuke Laguda

Masters Theses

Nigeria, over the years, has been showing a rapid appreciation of the domestic currency, a rise in real wages and the service sector and a slow-down in the industrial production which are all signs of presence of Dutch disease which predicts that a country with large natural resource rents may experience a de-industrialization and a lower long term economic growth. This paper analyses the impact of Dutch disease in Nigeria Ordinary Least square method, Two-Stage Least Square and Autoregressive Distributed Lag with a system of equation from 1981 to 2017 and found that the real wage rate emphasizes on the …

Synthesis, Characterization And Mechanistic Studies Of Biomimetic Dinuclear Copper(Ii) Complexes, Millaniyage Nuwanthaka Prasad Jayaweera

Masters Theses

Dinuclear copper complexes are significant synthetic targets due to their use as model compounds for the active sites of type 3 copper proteins like catechol oxidase. A distinct class of ligands used in these studies are built on a phenol core to witch various donor side-arms were appended at the 2 and 6 positions of the arene ring. In our quest to quantify the influence of electron donating or withdrawing groups attached to the central arene ring, we have designed a set of ligands that, upon coordination to copper(II) centers, would produce complexes of the general structure. During this research …

Developing A Basket-Shaped Host Molecule Based On P-Tert-Butylcalix[4]Arene Featuring Urea Groups For Encapsulating Volatile Guest Molecules, Lokugama Widanelage Vidula Priyadarshana

Masters Theses

Molecular baskets are a group of synthetic host molecules which are designed to govern the inclusion of small guest molecules. The basic structural features of basket-shaped host molecules are a cavity for holding a much smaller guest molecule and tunable gates for keeping the guest molecule inside. These types of gates can be tuned by changing temperature, concentration, pH, etc. In this research group's previous study, a molecular basket of cal ix[ 4]arene with carboxylic acid groups was synthesized by functionalizing calix[4]arene's phenol hydroxyl groups with benzyl bromide building blocks. In the study detailed here, 1 , l '-((5-(bromomethyl)-1,3-phenylene)bis(methylene))bis(3-isopropylurea) was …

Studying Carbon Dioxide Solvent Properties By Microwave Spectroscopic Investigations Of Vinyl Fluoride/Carbon Dioxide Clusters And Developing New Approaches To Decode Rotational Spectra, Prashansa Kannangara

Masters Theses

Supercritical carbon dioxide (sc-C0₂) is an excellent green solvent, but its properties are not thoroughly understood. For example, fluorinated compounds have higher than expected solubility in sc-C0₂. Microwave spectroscopy is one way to learn more about sc-C0₂ because it can be used to determine detailed structures of small clusters of molecules. The purpose of this investigation was to study weak hydrogen bonding interactions in complexes of fluorinated ethylene (solute) with carbon dioxide (C0₂, solvent). Investigations on dimers with one C0₂ molecule and fluorinated ethylene were carried out previously and found two different …

Impacts Of Plant-Microbe Interactions On Seedling Performance In A Riparian Forest Invaded By Lonicera Maackii, Taylor E. K. Strehl

Masters Theses

Soil microbes have profound impacts on plant growth and survival and can either promote or inhibit plant dominance. Exotic plants are often strongly invasive because they have escaped their natural enemies, potentially including antagonistic soil microbes. I examined how the invasive shrub Lonicera maackii and a common native tree, Acer negundo, responded to soil microbial communities to determine the role of soil microbes in regulating invasion success. This was done by growing both species with microbes from invaded (L. maackii) and uninvaded (A. negundo) soils collected from three locations within a riparian forest. Seedlings were …

Identifying Priority Conservation Areas And Strategies For Myotis Sodalis (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) Via Habitat And Connectivity Modeling, Ashleigh B. Cable

Masters Theses

Myotis sodalis, the Indiana bat, is a federally endangered bat species in the United States of America (USA). Conservation efforts are typically focused at identified maternity sites at local scales, however, the species is a regional migrant that interacts with its environment at multiple spatial scales. We are limited in our knowledge of landscape-level requirements of this species, especially in large areas such as Illinois, USA, where a wide range of environmental and landscape conditions exist. Many previous M. sodalis habitat studies have limited their focus to smaller spatial scales. Due to limitations in funding, personnel, and time, it …

Variation In Leaf Morphology Of An Alpine Shrub Community Along Environmental Gradients, Abdulssalam Khafsha

Masters Theses

Mountains represent complex environment gradients which strongly affect local temperature regimes and rainfall. These changes in climate conditions drive a diversity of plant responses. As alpine environments are expected to change dramatically in response to climate change, understanding plant responses to environmental variation is critical in these environments. Although they are a critical component of alpine communities, the environmental responses of shrubs have been much less examined than trees, representing an important knowledge gap. Leaves, as the primary photosynthetic organs on plants, would be expected to respond strongly to local climate conditions. In this study, I documented how the leaf …

Archaeological Investigation Using Geophysical Methods To Locate Historic Byram's Ford Road, Marshall Seth Foster

Masters Theses

"Ground penetrating radar, a time domain electromagnetic metal detector and a frequency domain electromagnetic metal detector were used with the goal of locating a section of the Byram's Ford Road believed to be intersecting the historic Big Blue Battlefield in the Westport area of Kansas City, Missouri.

Ground penetrating data were acquired at three sites, Site A, Site B, and Site C. The time domain EM metal detector was used to acquire data at Site A, where subsequent ground truthing was conducted using the frequency domain EM metal detector and an excavation tool. Significant anomalies were visible on both the …

Less Is More: Beating The Market With Recurrent Reinforcement Learning, Louis Kurt Bernhard Steinmeister

Masters Theses

"Multiple recurrent reinforcement learners were implemented to make trading decisions based on real and freely available macro-economic data. The learning algorithm and different reinforcement functions (the Differential Sharpe Ratio, Differential Downside Deviation Ratio and Returns) were revised and the performances were compared while transaction costs were taken into account. (This is important for practical implementations even though many publications ignore this consideration.) It was assumed that the traders make long-short decisions in the S&P500 with complementary 3-month treasury bill investments. Leveraged positions in the S&P500 were disallowed. Notably, the Differential Sharpe Ratio and the Differential Downside Deviation Ratio are risk …

Evaluation Of Naturally Occurring And Anthropogenic Contamination In Missouri Streams, Christina Jane Sehrt

Masters Theses

"The goal of this study is to observe the values and variability of water quality parameters and benthic macroinvertebrates in watersheds with very little anthropogenic impact and to compare these values with those acquired in watersheds with more anthropogenic impact. The following five HUC 12-digit watersheds had very little anthropogenic impact and were considered "pristine": Rogers Creek, Mill Creek, Middle West Fork-Black River, Bee Fork, and Ottery Creek. Five largely urban sub-basins were also considered; these basins are: Grand Glaize Creek, Glaize Creek, Sugar Creek, Hominy Creek, and Grindstone Creek. For each watershed, both water quality parameters and benthic macroinvertebrates …

Impact Of Framing And Base Size Of Computer Security Risk Information On User Behavior, Xinhui Zhan

Masters Theses

"This research examines the impact of framing and base size of computer security risk information on users' risk perceptions and behavior (i.e., download intention and download decision). It also examines individual differences (i.e., demographic factors, computer security awareness, Internet structural assurance, self-efficacy, and general risk-taking tendencies) associated with users' computer security risk perceptions. This research draws on Prospect Theory, which is a theory in behavioral economics that addresses risky decision-making, to generate hypotheses related to users' decision-making in the computer security context. A 2 x 3 mixed factorial experimental design (N = 178) was conducted to assess the effect of …

Advanced Techniques For Improving Canonical Genetic Programming, Adam Tyler Harter

Masters Theses

"Genetic Programming (GP) is a type of Evolutionary Algorithm (EA) commonly employed for automated program generation and model identification. Despite this, GP, as most forms of EA's, is plagued by long evaluation times, and is thus generally reserved for highly complex problems. Two major impacting factors for the runtime are the heterogeneous evaluation time for the individuals and the choice of algorithmic primitives. The first paper in this thesis utilizes Asynchronous Parallel Evolutionary Algorithms (APEA) for reducing the runtime by eliminating the need to wait for an entire generation to be evaluated before continuing the search. APEA is applied to …

Reprocessing And Comparison Of The 2 Hz And 10 Hz Vertical Component Seismic Data Of The Blackfoot 3c-2d Survey, Mete Sarikaya

Masters Theses

"The Blackfoot seismic 3C-2D data were obtained from the Consortium for Research in Elastic Wave Exploration Seismology (CREWES) Project in 1995. The seismic data acquisition was performed in the Blackfoot Field, which is around 15 km southeast of Strathmore, Alberta. The 4 Hz and 10 Hz vertical component data are reprocessed to increase the quality and resolution of the seismic images. The Glauconitic sand reservoir at approximately 1.1 s, and a strong reflection about at 1.5 s are the focuses of the study.

The processing procedure includes different parameters and methods to obtain the best seismic sections of 2 Hz …

Temporal Changes Of Nutrients Within The Lower Grand River Watershed And Selected Sites, Weston Scott Duley

Masters Theses

"This report presents the results of a study carried out in collaboration with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) to estimate total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) at five USGS monitoring sites within Lower Grand River Watershed (LGRW) and two monitoring sites on the Missouri River. The objective of this study was to quantify temporal changes in TN and TP concentrations and compare those to best management practices (BMPs).

In this study, the approach to the analysis of long-term surface water-quality data by using Weighted Regressions on Time, Discharge and Seasons models …

U-Pb Detrital Zircon Geochronology Of Paleozoic Clastics Of The Ozark Plateau: Implication For Sea-Level Fluctuations And Far-Field Tectonics, Chen Zhao

Masters Theses

"The Ozark Plateau of south-central Missouri is underlain by Ordovician to Pennsylvanian carbonate and clastic strata. Enigmatic, presumably Pennsylvanian 'filled sink' structures are common on the Ozark Plateau and remain a source of controversy. We present results for U-Pb ages of detrital zircons for 13 samples from the OP. We use U-Pb ages from other Paleozoic clastics and 'filled sinks' on the OP, to suggest: 1) FSS record a period of Middle Ordovician erosion and sedimentation and 2) document significant shifts in sediment provenance that reflect regional tectonic events affecting the North American Craton.

The KDE plots of normalized detrital …

The Correlation Between Sleep And Lifespan In Drosophila Melanogaster, Joshua Randall Lisse

Masters Theses

”Adequate sleep is associated with an individual’s health. Too little sleep is associated with many health problems, including cardiovascular disease, obesity, and a general increase in all-cause mortality. Yet the molecular changes that link poor sleep and changes in health are still not well understood. Individuals have a unique daily need for sleep, and deviations from the animal’s regular sleeping patterns can be indicative of, or result in, underlying changes in its health. Therefore, we hypothesize that changes in the sleep architecture in Drosophila melanogaster reflect changes in the fly’s health.

We determined sleep architecture in wild-type male flies over …

Amplitude-Preserved Processing Of The Blackfoot 10 Hz Seismic Data, Bader Mohammed A Algarni

Masters Theses

"The broadband 3C-2D seismic survey was acquired in the Blackfoot Field in southern Alberta. The single-component 10 Hz geophone data were reprocessed to increase vertical resolution and provide a better seismic image of the incised valley channel fill deposits in the Glauconitic Formation. The amplitude-preserved seismic processing of the data was followed by the Kirchhoff prestack time migration. The processing parameters and algorithms used were based on parameter optimization approach. Elevation statics and surface consistent residual statics were utilized to remove near surface delays in the data. Seismic noise, such as ground roll and air blast, were attenuated effectively by …

Removal Of Antimony And Bismuth From Copper Electrorefining Electrolyte By Two Proprietary Solvent Extraction Extractants, Andrew Artzer

Masters Theses

"Antimony and bismuth are two of the most problematic impurities in copper electrorefining (ER). Because of this, much research has been done investigating the ways to remove them. Processes that are currently being used industrially include anode additions, liberators, ion exchange (IX), and solvent extraction (SX). Of these, liberators and anode additions are the most common while SX is the least, mostly being used for arsenic removal. There are other methods that have been evaluated, but are not in commercial use. These include the use of various electrolyte additives, and adsorbents such as bentonite clay and heavy metal sulfates.

Two …

Evolved Parameterized Selection For Evolutionary Algorithms, Samuel Nathan Richter

Masters Theses

"Selection functions enable Evolutionary Algorithms (EAs) to apply selection pressure to a population of individuals, by regulating the probability that an individual's genes survive, typically based on fitness. Various conventional fitness based selection functions exist, each providing a unique method of selecting individuals based on their fitness, fitness ranking within the population, and/or various other factors. However, the full space of selection algorithms is only limited by max algorithm size, and each possible selection algorithm is optimal for some EA configuration applied to a particular problem class. Therefore, improved performance is likely to be obtained by tuning an EA's selection …

Characterization Of Chromosomal Translocations In A Group Of Killifish Species By Using Genome-Wide High-Density Snp Mapping Approach, Naznin Sultana Remex

Masters Theses

"The role of chromosomal rearrangements in reproductive isolation and introgression between species is poorly understood. In heterozygous form, rearrangements may directly interrupt meiotic progression leading to partial sterility/subfertility (underdominance) or may suppress local meiotic segregation (recombination suppression). Such unbalanced meiotic segregation may also result in reproductive isolation and play roles as a driving force of speciation. The objective of this study was to gain insight into the pattern of chromosomal rearrangements in two closely related killifish species in the genus Fundulus (F. notatus, and F. olivaceus) by constructing genetic linkage maps using high-resolution single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) …

Predictive Modeling Of Webpage Aesthetics, Ang Chen

Masters Theses

"Aesthetics plays a key role in web design. However, most websites have been developed based on designers' inspirations or preferences. While perceptions of aesthetics are intuitive abilities of humankind, the underlying principles for assessing aesthetics are not well understood. In recent years, machine learning methods have shown promising results in image aesthetic assessment. In this research, we used machine learning methods to study and explore the underlying principles of webpage aesthetics"--Abstract, page iii.

Geophysical Imaging Beneath Lake Chesterfield, Missouri, James Daniell Hayes

Masters Theses

"Lake Chesterfield in Wildwood, Missouri, has been leaking since construction of the earth-fill dam was completed in 1986, despite numerous mitigation efforts. The mitigation efforts, including the injection of grouting and the emplacement of clay liners, has not solve the leakage problem.

In the current study, geophysical (subsurface imaging) data was acquired across the drained and dry lake bed and along the base of the earth-fill dam to 1) map variable depth to top of bedrock, 2) determine the variable quality of the bedrock to depths on the order of 80 ft., 3) identify any significant karst features beneath the …

Design And Implementation Of Applications Over Delay Tolerant Networks For Disaster And Battlefield Environment, Karthikeyan Sachidanandam

Masters Theses

"In disaster/battlefield applications, there may not be any centralized network that provides a mechanism for different nodes to connect with each other to share important data. In such cases, we can take advantage of an opportunistic network involving a substantial number of mobile devices that can communicate with each other using Bluetooth and Google Nearby Connections API(it uses Bluetooth, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), and Wi-Fi hotspots) when they are close to each other. These devices referred to as nodes form a Delay Tolerant Network (DTN), also known as an opportunistic network. As suggested by its name, DTN can tolerate delays …

Agent Based Terrain Generator: Cruthú, Lawrence L. O'Boyle

Masters Theses

Terrain generation models are applied in different industries and fields of study. Current techniques assist in planning transportation networks, visualizing population migrations, conducting epidemiology research, and training self-driving cars and drones. Many current applications and research models generate complex realistic artifacts, e.g., trees, rivers, coastlines, populations, and even cities. Unfortunately, most of these techniques are described and implemented separately. Techniques do not work together to generate a complete holistic view. This thesis proposes a model, Cruthú (Gaelic for "creation"), that provides a novel platform allowing for complete world generation by integrating existing research and algorithms. The model is inspired by …

Regional Sulfur Isotope Study Of The Vms Deposits In The Penokean Volcanic Belt, Nicholas M. Moleski

Masters Theses

The Penokean Volcanic Belt (PVB), located in northern Wisconsin and Upper Peninsula, Michigan hosts several volcanogenic massive sulfide deposits (VMS) including the well-known deposits of Flambeau and Crandon. The host rocks of the VMS deposits are Paleoproterozoic in age overlying Archean age basement rocks. This study provides δ³⁴S (VCDT) values for the following deposits within the PVB; (1) Eisenbrey, (2) Schoolhouse, (3) Bend, (4) Flambeau, (5) Reef, (6) Horseshoe, and (7) Back Forty, and explains the distribution of δ³⁴S values in the region.

The study reveals tight ranges of δ³⁴S values for each deposit …

A Structural And Stratigraphic Study Of The A-2 Carbonate In Southwest Michigan And Reservoir Characterization Of An A-2 Carbonate Gas Storage Field, Clayton Joupperi

Masters Theses

The Overisel and Salem gas storage fields of southwest Michigan annually store 34 Bcf of natural working gas in the upper dolomitized portion of the Silurian A-2 Carbonate. Porosity and permeability in these fields is thought to be enhanced by fracturing and dolomitization associated with the dissolution and collapse of underlying salt units. This study utilizes wire-line logs from 383 wells to explore the structural and stratigraphic controls on the deposition and diagenesis of the A-2 Carbonate in southwest Michigan. Core and thin sections from 4 wells serve as the primary data for investigating the depositional and diagenetic history of …