Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Multi-Threaded Automatic Integration Using Openmp And Cuda, Rida Assaf

Masters Theses

Problems in many areas give rise to computationally expensive integrals that beg the need of efficient techniques to solve them, e.g., in computational finance for the modeling of cash flows; for the computation of Feynman loop integrals in high energy physics; and in stochastic geometry with applications to computer graphics.

We demonstrate feasible numerical approaches in the framework of the PARINT multivariate integration package. The parallel environment is provided by the cluster of the High Performance Computational Science (HPCS) laboratory, with 22 (16- or 32-core) nodes, NVIDIA GPUs, and Intel Xeon Phi coprocessors.

Monte Carlo integration is implemented in CUDA …

Electron Capture By Multiply Charged Ions From Molecular Targets, Justin Harris

Masters Theses

State-selective differential cross sections for single-electron capture processes in collisions of Ne^q+ (q=2, 3, 5) ions with H₂O and CO₂ have been studied experimentally at laboratory collisions energies between 45 and 250 eV, and at scattering angles between 0^o and 7:20^o by means of translational energy-gain spectroscopy technique. The translational energy spectra show that only a few final states are populated depending on the projectile's charge state, laboratory scattering angle, and the collision energy. In addition, these measurements show that the dominant reaction channels are due to non-dissociative electron capture into excited states of …

A Climatological Study Of Drought In Southern Michigan, Rudy Bartels

Masters Theses

Drought has become a reoccurring phenomenon throughout many regions around the world. Significant drought conditions have beenobserved overthe pastfive decades in relation to economic, social, and agricultural impacts. In this study, Southern Michigan is investigated over the past 52 years from 1960-2012. The Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) will be calculated over a 6-month timescale from monthly precipitations. Three variables including 500-mb heights, surface pressure maps, and sea surface temperatures, will be correlated with the SPI using sliding correlations and Pearson's R correlation to determine any relations between these variables and precipitation variations. We will further investigate the five driest, wettest, …

No Fracking Way! A Study On The Spatial Patterns Of And Changes In Perception And Distance From A Michigan Horizontal Hydraulic Fracturing Site, Shannon Mcewen

Masters Theses

The research investigates whether Michigan residents' perception of risk from an oil and natural gas (ONG) well site that employs the use of horizontal hydraulic fracturing (fracking) changes with distance. The research goal is to determine if residents that live farther from a fracking site perceive it to be more dangerous than those who live closer. Secondary research goals include determining if increasing distance from a fracking site cause residents to overestimate their proximity to a fracking site and if gender and education levels have an effect on residents' perception levels. Data were collected from residents in three counties in …

An Iterative Algorithm For Variational Data Assimilation Problems, Xin Shen

Masters Theses

"Data assimilation is a very powerful and efficient tool to use collected raw data for improving model prediction in numerical weather forecasting, hydrology, and many other areas of geosciences. In this thesis, an iterative algorithm [23] of variational data assimilation with finite element method is utilized to study different models. One motivation for this fundamental mathematical study is to provide a potential tool for simulation of CO₂ sequestration by extending it to more realistic and sophisticated models in the future. The basic idea of variational data assimilation is to utilize the framework of optimal control problems. We apply the …

A Receiver Function Study Of Crust Thickness And Composition Beneath The Southwestern United States, Si Wu

Masters Theses

"Over the past decades, the seismic structure of the crust and upper mantle of the southwestern United States was examined using an array of different methods. The structure and composition of crust received special attentions, most due to the hydrocarbon reserves in this area. Here new constraints on crustal evolution and structure models are provide by systematically analyzing 37,402 receiver functions recorded at 234 seismic stations on the southwestern United States. The results reveal that the Transitional Crust is characterized by a thin (29.0±1.0 km) crust, a low Vp/Vs ratio of 1.76±0.016 and a high amplitude (R) of P-to-S converted …

Assessment Of Contributing Factors To The Reduction Of Diarrhea In Rural Communities Of Para, Brazil, Lee Voth-Gaeddert

Masters Theses

"In developing communities the occurrence of diarrhea has been reported at elevated levels as compared to those communities in more developed regions. Diarrheal diseases were linked to over one million deaths in 2012 throughout the world. While multiple pathways are present for the transmission of diarrheal diseases, water has been the focus for many aid organizations. Point-of-use (POU) water treatment methods are a common tool used by aid organizations in efforts to provide potable water. The CAWST biosand filter is a POU tool that has shown removal effectiveness of pathogenic microorganisms ranging from 90-99%. However, minimal literature was found that …

Cervical Cancer Histology Image Feature Extraction And Classification, Peng Guo

Masters Theses

"Cervical cancer, the second most common cancer affecting women worldwide and the most common in developing countries can be cured if detected early and treated. Expert pathologists routinely visually examine histology slides for cervix tissue abnormality assessment. In previous research, an automated, localized, fusion-based approach was investigated for classifying squamous epithelium into Normal, CIN1, CIN2, and CIN3 grades of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) based on image analysis of 62 digitized histology images obtained through the National Library of Medicine. In this research, CIN grade assessments from two pathologists are analyzed and are used to facilitate atypical cell concentration feature development …

Energy Efficient Scheduling And Allocation Of Tasks In Sensor Cloud, Rashmi Dalvi

Masters Theses

"Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) is a class of ad hoc networks that has capability of self-organizing, in-network data processing, and unattended environment monitoring. Sensor-cloud is a cloud of heterogeneous WSNs. It is attractive as it can change the computation paradigm of wireless sensor networks. In Sensor-Cloud, to gain profit from underutilized WSNs, multiple WSN owners collaborate to provide a cloud service. Sensor Cloud users can simply rent the sensing services which eliminates the cost of ownership, enabling the usage of large scale sensor networks become affordable. The nature of Sensor-Cloud enables resource sharing and allows virtual sensors to be scaled …

Shear-Wave Splitting And Mantle Deformation Beneath The Western Tibetan Plateau, Melissa Ann Ray

Masters Theses

"The Tibetan Plateau has been an enigma to the scientific community since scientists first began to focus their attention on the area. Numerous studies over the decades were conducted to address how the plateau formed, mostly in the central and eastern portions of the Tibetan Plateau. Many questions still remain regarding the western Tibetan Plateau, and this study will add constraints to the mechanisms which regulated the formation of the plateau.

Data was acquired from over 13,000 measurements from 172 stations covering the western region of the plateau encompassing the Qiangtang Terrane, the Lhasa Terrane, and the Himalayan Orogenic Zone. …

Top-K With Diversity-M Data Retrieval In Wireless Sensor Networks, Kiran Kumar Puram

Masters Theses

"Wireless Sensor Network is a network of a few to several thousand sensors deployed over an area to sense data and report that data back to the base station. There are many applications of wireless sensor networks including environment monitoring, wildlife tracking, troop tracking etc. The deployed sensors have many constraints like limited battery, limited memory and very little processing capacity. These constraints show direct effect on the network life time.

In many applications of Wireless Sensor Networks, such as monitoring chemical leak, the user is not interested in all the data points from the entire region, but may want …

Investigations Towards Synthesis Of Cinnamaldehyde Semicarbazone Derivatives And Their Photochromicity By Modifying The Ring, The Linker, And The Semicarbazone, Xiao Xiao

Masters Theses

Cinnamaldehyde semicarbazone was varied in three ways, by altering the ring, the conjugated linker, and the semicarbazone, to investigate how changing the structure affects the photochomicity. The synthesis of 7 hetero- and 2 polycyclic- aromatic semicarbazone variants involved three steps, (a Wittig reaction, hydrolysis, and condensation to the semicarbazone) with cumulative yields of 15% to 52%. Generally, the pyridine series gave lower yields than other synthesized semicarbazones. The Wittig reaction gave cis/trans mixtures in ratios of 2 : 1 to 1 : 7 for the 6 acetals, except for the 3 that went directly to the aldehyde, due to the …

Low Resolution Examination Of Cool-Water Carbonate Foraminifera Around Tasmania During The Pleistocene, Sara Jane Hughes

Masters Theses

Benthic foraminifera from nine sediment samples recovered during Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Leg 189: The Tasman Gateway were examined to determine how changing Southern Ocean conditions affect benthic foraminiferal populations. All samples come from Site 1168 situated 70km from the coast of Tasmania on the western continental slope (2463 m below the surface) and are spaced at roughly 150,000 years apart. Identifications of benthic foraminifera were done with a dissecting microscope and several reference books. Foraminifera were correlated with environmental proxy data obtained from Brughmans (2003) (total organic carbon, carbonate, siliciclastics, coarse fractions, chlorin, barium, aluminum, iron, and titanium) and …

Role Of Feedstock And Process Conditions On Biomass Gasification For Synthesis Gas Production, Mayoorey Murugathasan

Masters Theses

In this study gasification of three different biomasses were performed to study the impact of process conditions and different feed stocks on final syngas composition. Final composition of the syngas determines the energy value of the resulting syngas and the suitability of syngas in chemical synthesis applications. Three kinds of feedstocks studied include switch grass pellets:wood chips 50:50 mixture, wood pellets:wood chips 50:50 mixture and wood pellets.

The effect of process conditions including temperature and feed stock composition on syngas composition were studied. Gas chromatography was used to analyze the final gas composition of syngas samples collected at five different …

Theoretical And Spectroscopic Analysis Of Ch...Π Interactions Of Fluorinated Aromatic Systems, Anuradha Gayathri Akmeemana

Masters Theses

CH...π interactions are non-covalent interactions which occur in organic compounds that are important in biological and chemical sciences in many ways. Microwave spectroscopy is an important technique that can be used to detect CH...π interactions in the gas phase molecules. Previously microwave spectroscopic studies of complexes containing CH...π interactions, benzene...HCCH (Ulrich, N.W.; Seifert, N.A.; Dorris, R.E.; Peebles, R.A.; Pate, B.H.; Peebles, S.A., Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 2014, 16, 8886-8894) and fluorobenzene...HCCH (Ulrich, N.W.; Songer, T.S.; Peebles, R.A.; Peebles, S.A.; Seifert, N.A.; Perez, C.; Pate, B.H. Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2013, 15, 18148-18154) were done at Eastern Illinois University and the …

Computational And Experimental Studies Of Non-Covalent Interactions: Characterization Of Ch...Π Interactions And Structure Of 1,1-Difluoroethylene...Carbon Dioxide, Ashley M. Anderton

Masters Theses

Weakly bound CH/π interactions, due to the abundance of C-H bonds and π systems that exist in larger organic molecules, are an important driving force in the construction of biomacromolecules, supramolecular assemblies and crystal packing of organic compounds. To assist in the characterization of CH/π interactions, a density functional theory (DFT) study has been conducted to determine a quick and cheap method for accurate determination of the binding energy and rotational constants for CH/π interactions. Seven complexes were used in this study: five benzene-HY complexes (where Y= C≡CH, Cl, F, Br and C≡N) and two fluorobenzene-HY complexes (where Y= C≡CH …

Synthesis And Characterization Of Molecular Components For The Preparation Of Poly-Rotaxanes, Austin P. Welti

Masters Theses

The self-sorting ability of certain crown ethers make them important players in the field of supramolecular chemistry, especially those studying mechanically interlocked molecules (MIMs). Of these MIMs, rotaxanes and catenanes are the most common. Our approach in the synthesis of poly-rotaxane systems involves the preparation of axles containing multiple recognition motifs to determine the self-sorting principles that each motif shows. These principles include narcissistic self-sorting, and also type I and type II social self-sorting principles. Using these techniques, poly-rotaxane formation can be made readily available.

A hetero-poly-rotaxane equipped with a naphthalene diimide (NDI) site and two ammonium salt sites has …

Statistical Analysis Of Sleep Patterns In Drosophila Melanogaster, Luyang Wang

Masters Theses

“Sleep is one of the most preserved and restorative behaviors of animals and is important in human health. Lack of sleep may cause numerous diseases. So the study of sleep rhythms is very essential and complicated. In order to simplify the process of studying sleep, the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, is utilized as a model organism for several reasons. Some of the molecular mechanisms that contribute to the circadian clock in the fruit fly were also found to generate similar cycles in mammals. In order to study sleep patterns in the fruit fly, experiments were designed and performed to …

Investigation Of Angiogenic Effects Of Bioactive Borate Glass Microfibers And Beads In A Rodent Model, Richard Jeffrey Watters

Masters Theses

"The primary objective of this research project was to evaluate the effects of three different compositions of bioactive glass microfibers (45S5, 13-93B3, and 13-93B3Cu) and bioactive glass beads (13-93, 13-93B3, and 13-93B3Cu) on angiogenesis in subcutaneous tissue in the SKH1 'hairless' mouse. Microvascular responses to the bioactive glass implants were investigated via three experimental approaches: noninvasive vital imaging of microvasculature in dorsal skin windows; quantitative histomorphometry of microvascular densities; and quantitative PCR measurements of mRNA expression of pro-angiogenic cytokines VEGF and FGF-2. The live imaging of dorsal skin window preparations in the hairless SKH1 showed the formation of a halo-like …

A Remote Sensing Investigation Of Elevated Sub-Horizontal Topographic Surfaces In The Wichita Mountains, Oklahoma, Liang Xue

Masters Theses

"Multiple elevated horizontal to sub-horizontal topographic surfaces are present in the Wichita Mountains, Oklahoma. Elevated topographic surfaces, developed primarily on granite bedrock with gentle slopes of 0.5 to 7⁰,were investigated using 1) Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) extracted from NAD 27 UTM coordinates, 2) Google Earth imagery, and 3) USGS topographic maps. In the western Wichita Mountains prominent topographic surfaces at elevations of 720 ± 5 m, 685 ± 5 m, and 660 ± 5 m are well preserved on at least four different mountains (e.g., Solder's Peak, King Mt.) and can be correlated with similar surfaces on at least seven …

An Empirical Study On Symptoms Of Heavier Internet Usage Among Young Adults, Saipreethi Vishwanathan

Masters Theses

"Understanding negative consequences of heavy Internet use on mental health is a topic that is gaining significant traction recently. A number of studies have investigated heavy Internet usage, especially among young adults in relation to online games, social media and email. While such studies do provide valuable insights, Internet usage so far has been characterized by means of self-reported surveys only that may suffer from errors and biases. In this paper, we report the findings of a two month empirical study on heavy Internet usage among students conducted at a college campus. The novelty of the study is that it …

Development Of Structural Basins And Domes On The Sinn El-Kaddab Plateau, Egypt: Insights From In Situ Data And Application Of Moderate Resolution Orbital Imagery Of The Seiyal Fault, Thomas J. Jerris

Masters Theses

"The Seiyal Fault, one of many east-west trending faults located in the Western Desert of Egypt, and associated structural basins and domes are investigated using remote sensing imagery and field studies. Analysis of Shuttle Reconnaissance Topography Mission data, multi-spectral data from the Landsat Thematic Mapper (LM), Landsat 7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+), the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflectometer (ASTER) data, and imagery from Google Earth. Band combinations 3-2-1 and 7-4-2 in ETM+ and 3N-2-1 and 7-3-1 in ASTER, and Google Earth provided the most useful images for geologic mapping. The Seiyal Fault is best characterized as a zone …

Efficient Data Access In Mobile Cloud Computing, Siva Naga Venkata Chaitanya Vemulapalli

Masters Theses

"This thesis focuses on the development of efficient data transfer mechanism among mobile devices using Mobile cloud computing paradigm. Mobile cloud computing is coupling of mobile computing and cloud computing. In the Mobile cloud computing paradigm, users connect to cloud service providers over the Internet and leverage the cloud resources to perform their processing, storage and communication tasks. In this thesis, the focus is on communication tasks among mobile devices performed using Mobile cloud computing paradigm.

Communication or data sharing among mobile devices is often limited by proximity of the devices. This limitation can be removed by employing Mobile cloud …

Access Control Delegation In The Clouds, Pavani Gorantla

Masters Theses

"Current market trends need solutions/products to be developed at high speed. To meet those requirements sometimes it requires collaboration between the organizations. Modern workforce is increasingly distributed, mobile and virtual which will incur hurdles for communication and effective collaboration within organizations. One of the greatest benefits of cloud computing has to do with improvements to organizations communication and collaboration, both internally and externally. Because of the efficient services that are being offered by the cloud service providers today, many business organizations started taking advantage of cloud services. Specifically, Cloud computing enables a new form of service in that a service …

Adaptive Wavelet Discretization Of Tensor Products In H-Tucker Format, Mazen Ali

Masters Theses

"In previous work, the solution to a system of coupled parabolic PDEs, modeling the price of a CDO, was approximated numerically. Due to the nature of the problem, the system involved a large number of equations such that the parameters cannot be stored explicitly. The authors combined the data sparse H-Tucker storage format with the Galerkin method to approximate the solution, using wavelets for the space discretization together with time stepping (Method of Lines). The aforementioned approximation is of the linear kind, i.e., using a nonadaptive method. In this work, three methods for solving such systems adaptively are presented, together …

Gold-Magnetite Nanoparticle-Biomolecule Conjugates: Synthesis, Properties And Toxicity Studies, Akshay Pariti

Masters Theses

"This thesis study focuses on synthesizing and characterizing gold-magnetite optically active magnetic nanoparticle and its conjugation with biomolecules for biomedical applications, especially magnetic fluid hyperthermia treatment for cancerous tissue. Gold nanoparticles have already displayed their potential in the biomedical field. They exhibit excellent optical properties and possess strong surface chemistry which renders them suitable for various biomolecule attachments. Studies have showed gold nanoparticles to be a perfect biocompatible vector. However, clinical trials for gold mediated drug delivery and treatment studied in rat models identified some problems. Of these problems, the low retention time in bloodstream and inability to maneuver externally …

Microwave Assisted Reconstruction Of Optical Interferograms For Distributed Fiber Optics Sensing & Characterization Of Pcb Dielectric Properties Using Two Striplines On The Same Board, Lei Hua

Masters Theses

"A new concept, the microwave-assisted reconstruction of an optical interferogram for distributed sensing, was developed to resolve both the position and reflectivity of each sensor along an optical fiber. This approach involves sending a microwave-modulated optical signal through cascaded fiber optic interferometers. The optical spectrum of each sensor can be reconstructed by sweeping the optical wavelength and detecting the modulation signal. A series of cascaded fiber optic extrinsic Fabry-Perot interferometric sensors was used to prove the concept. The microwave-reconstructed interferogram matched well with those recorded individually from a traditional optical spectrometer. The application of distributed strain measurement was also investigated. …

Pn Anisotropy Tomography Of The Colorado Plateau And Adjacent Areas, Shengyao Cheng

Masters Theses

"The Pn tomography method utilizes seismic waves that refract along the Moho interface to perform inversion in order to investigate velocity anomalies and seismic anisotropy in the uppermost mantle. Results from Pn tomography can provide important information about the composition, temperature, and tectonic processes beneath the study area. Over the past decades, numerous seismic and geologic studies have been conducted in the Colorado Plateau and its adjacent areas to reveal crustal and mantle structures and processes responsible for the diverse surface geological features and tectonic events that have occurred in this area. To investigate lateral variations in the uppermost mantle …

On Temporal And Frequency Responses Of Smartphone Accelerometers For Explosives Detection, Srinivas Chakravarthi Thandu

Masters Theses

"The increasing frequency of explosive disasters throughout the world in recent years have created a clear need for the systems to monitor for them continuously for better detection and to improve the post disaster rescue operations. Dedicated sensors deployed in the public places and their associated networks to monitor such explosive events are still inadequate and must be complemented for making the detection more pervasive and effective. Modern smart phones are a rich source of sensing because of the fact that they are equipped with wide range of sensors making these devices an appealing platform for pervasive computing applications. The …

Ecology Of A Declining Great Plains Fish, Fundulus Sciadicus, In The Missouri Ozarks, Gregory Travis Thompson

Masters Theses

"Anthropogenic habitat disturbances are of growing concern due to their impacts on native biota, especially in freshwater ecosystems. Damming, channelization, urbanization, wetland draining, and non-native fish introductions all play large roles in habitat homogeneity, fragmentation, and species competition. This has negative effects on native fish and invertebrate species. In the Midwestern United States, the plains topminnow (Fundulus sciadicus) has been declining across its range, to the point of becoming a species of special concern in Missouri. This is possibly due to a combination of the above anthropogenic habitat disturbances. To better understand the ecology of the plains topminnow …