Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Local Atomic And Magnetic Structure Of Multiferroic (Sr,Ba)(Mn,Ti)O3, Braedon Jones

Theses and Dissertations

We present a detailed study of the local atomic and magnetic structure of the type-I multiferroic perovskite system (Sr,Ba)(Mn,Ti)O3 using x-ray and neutron pair distribution function (PDF) analysis, polarized neutron scattering, and muon spin relaxation (μSR) techniques. The atomic PDF analysis reveals widespread nanoscale tetragonal distortions of the crystal structure even in the paraelectric phase with average cubic symmetry, corresponding to incipient ferroelectricity in the local structure. Magnetic PDF analysis, polarized neutron scattering, and μSR likewise confirm the presence of short-range antiferromagnetic correlations in the paramagnetic state, which grow in magnitude as the temperature approaches the magnetic transition. We show …

In-Depth Geochemical Analysis Of Turbidite-Associated Shales Of The Pindos Basin, Greece, Jonathon Michael Sevy

Theses and Dissertations

Detailed geochemical analysis of the turbidite-associated shales of the Cretaceous Katafito Formation, Greece, reveals important details regarding the paleoenvironment, paleoproductivity, and regional tectonics of the Pindos Basin. The Katafito Formation was deposited along an active margin at the early onset of closure of the Tethys Sea in the Pindos sub-basin. While careful studies of the coarse clastic component of turbidites are common, this study consisted of a detailed geochemical characterization of the fine-grained portions, which helped reveal paleoenvironmental information about the basin. This study combined organic and inorganic geochemistry utilizing elemental, mineralogical, and organic chemical signatures from fine-grained turbidite-associated sediments …

Synthesis Of Yaku'amide A Analogues And Progress Toward Synthesis Of Virosine A, Alexander S. Ramos

Theses and Dissertations

The first project in this dissertation endeavors to outline the total synthesis of yaku'amide A and its analogs. Yaku'amide A is a natural product comprised of dehydroamino acids, including E-dehydro isoleucine, and unprecedented Z-dehydro isoleucine. These amino acids present a significant challenge to their synthesis owing to their unsymmetrical nature. To simplify the synthesis process, we synthesized analogs by substituting the E and Z dehydroamino acids with symmetrical subunits. This substitution facilitated the synthesis process and enabled us to obtain a similar three-dimensional structure to that of the natural product. Furthermore, biological testing of the simplified analogs revealed potency similar …

Quantum Computers For Nuclear Physics, Muhammad F. Yusf

Theses and Dissertations

We explore the paradigm shift in quantum computing and quantum information science, emphasizing the synergy between hardware advancements and algorithm development. Only now have the recent advances in quantum computing hardware, despite a century of quantum mechanics, unveiled untapped potential, requiring innovative algorithms for full utilization. Project 1 addresses quantum applications in radiative reactions, overcoming challenges in many-fermion physics due to imaginary time evolution, stochastic methods like Monte Carlo simulations, and the associated sign problem. The methodology introduces the Electromagnetic Transition System and a general two-level system for computing radiative capture reactions. Project 2 utilizes Variational Quantum Eigensolver (VQE) to …

Characterization Of Isomeric States In Neutron-Rich Nuclei Approaching N = 28, Timilehin Hezekiah Ogunbeku

Theses and Dissertations

The investigation of isomeric states in neutron-rich nuclei provides useful insights into the underlying nuclear configurations, and understanding their occurrence along an isotopic chain can inform about shell evolution. Recent studies on neutron-rich Si isotopes near the magic number N = 20 and approaching N = 28 have revealed the presence of low-lying states with intruder configurations, resulting from multiple-particle, multiple-hole excitations across closed shell gaps. The characterization of these states involves measuring their half-lives and transition probabilities.

In this study, a new low-energy (7/2⁻₁) isomer at 68 keV in ³⁷Si was accessed via beta decay …

Phenotyping Cotton Compactness Using Machine Learning And Uas Multispectral Imagery, Joshua Carl Waldbieser

Theses and Dissertations

Breeding compact cotton plants is desirable for many reasons, but current research for this is restricted by manual data collection. Using unmanned aircraft system imagery shows potential for high-throughput automation of this process. Using multispectral orthomosaics and ground truth measurements, I developed supervised models with a wide range of hyperparameters to predict three compactness traits. Extreme gradient boosting using a feature matrix as input was able to predict the height-related metric with R2=0.829 and RMSE=0.331. The breadth metrics require higher-detailed data and more complex models to predict accurately.

An Investigation Into Applications Of Canonical Polyadic Decomposition & Ensemble Learning In Forecasting Thermal Data Streams In Direct Laser Deposition Processes, Jonathan Storey

Theses and Dissertations

Additive manufacturing (AM) is a process of creating objects from 3D model data by adding layers of material. AM technologies present several advantages compared to traditional manufacturing technologies, such as producing less material waste and being capable of producing parts with greater geometric complexity. However, deficiencies in the printing process due to high process uncertainty can affect the microstructural properties of a fabricated part leading to defects. In metal AM, previous studies have linked defects in parts with melt pool temperature fluctuations, with the size of the melt pool and the scan pattern being key factors associated with part defects. …

Radiative Alpha Capture On Carbon-12, Ling Gan

Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis, we used Effective Field Theory (EFT) to calculate the radiative ALPHA capture on 12C . This reaction is considered the “holy grail” in nuclear astrophysics because it determines the relevant abundance of 16O and 12C . We considered the E1 transition from initial p-wave at energy around the Gamow energy E_G =0.3MeV.The theoretical formula for the cross section is obtained by fitting the EFT parameters to the phase shift and S-factor data. We find the Effective Range Expansion (ERE) parameters describing the ALPHA-wave phase shift are fine tuned. The shallow bound state and the resonance ALPHA-wave …

A Conceptual Decentralized Identity Solution For State Government, Martin Duclos

Theses and Dissertations

In recent years, state governments, exemplified by Mississippi, have significantly expanded their online service offerings to reduce costs and improve efficiency. However, this shift has led to challenges in managing digital identities effectively, with multiple fragmented solutions in use. This paper proposes a Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI) framework based on distributed ledger technology. SSI grants individuals control over their digital identities, enhancing privacy and security without relying on a centralized authority. The contributions of this research include increased efficiency, improved privacy and security, enhanced user satisfaction, and reduced costs in state government digital identity management. The paper provides background on digital …

Study Of Augmentations On Historical Manuscripts Using Trocr, Erez Meoded

Theses and Dissertations

Historical manuscripts are an essential source of original content. For many reasons, it is hard to recognize these manuscripts as text. This thesis used a state-of-the-art Handwritten Text Recognizer, TrOCR, to recognize a 16^th-century manuscript. TrOCR uses a vision transformer to encode the input images and a language transformer to decode them back to text. We showed that carefully preprocessed images and designed augmentations can improve the performance of TrOCR. We suggest an ensemble of augmented models to achieve an even better performance.

Designing An Artificial Immune Inspired Intrusion Detection System, William Hosier Anderson

Theses and Dissertations

The domain of Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS) has witnessed growing interest in recent years due to the escalating threats posed by cyberattacks. As Internet of Things (IoT) becomes increasingly integrated into our every day lives, we widen our attack surface and expose more of our personal lives to risk. In the same way the Human Immune System (HIS) safeguards our physical self, a similar solution is needed to safeguard our digital self. This thesis presents the Artificial Immune inspired Intrusion Detection System (AIS-IDS), an IDS modeled after the HIS. This thesis proposes an architecture for AIS-IDS, instantiates an AIS-IDS model …

Interfacial Properties Of Hybrid Lipid-Polymer Bilayers: Applications In Drug Delivery And Biosensors, Keith L. Willes

Theses and Dissertations

Amphiphilic block copolymers are unique macro-molecules capable of self-assembling into bilayers analogous to naturally occurring lipid membranes. When combined with lipids, these copolymers form hybrid membranes with unique and sometimes unpredictable properties, including increased chemical and mechanical stability. These synthetically enhanced biological structures represent a versatile platform suitable for a wide range of applications, from advanced biosensing devices to drug delivery systems. The realization of these advancements necessitates a deep understanding of material properties, including the ability to predict and control interfacial behaviors. It has been shown that in the case of pure lipid membranes, interfacial behaviors are dominated by …

Using Quantitative And Kinetic Proteomics To Explore Proteostasis, Nathan Raul Zuniga Pina

Theses and Dissertations

Every cell consists of carefully orchestrated biomolecules such as lipids, carbohydrates, and proteins. To maintain internal stability (homeostasis), cells maintain the right amount of these molecules at the right time and at the right place. This process is especially true for proteins since they are the foundation functional units within the cell. Proteins form structures and perform chemistry that bestows cells overarching functional roles. Cells maintain protein homeostasis (proteostasis) by modulating synthesis, folding, and degradation processes (turnover) to maintain the abundance levels for all proteins. This is the foundational kinetic model of proteostasis that is covered in this work, and …

Combinatorial Problems Related To Optimal Transport And Parking Functions, Jan Kretschmann

Theses and Dissertations

In the first part of this work, we provide contributions to optimal transport through work on the discrete Earth Mover's Distance (EMD).We provide a new formula for the mean EMD by computing three different formulas for the sum of width-one matrices: the first two formulas apply the theory of abstract simplicial complexes and result from a shelling of the order complex, whereas the last formula uses Young tableaux. Subsequently, we employ this result to compute the EMD under different cost matrices satisfying the Monge property. Additionally, we use linear programming to compute the EMD under non-Monge cost matrices, giving an …

Biomolecular Function From Structural Snapshots, Roshanak Etemadpour

Theses and Dissertations

Biological molecules can assume a continuous range of conformations during function. Near equilibrium, the Boltzmann relation connects a particular conformation's free energy to the conformation's occupation probability, thus giving rise to one or more energy landscapes. Biomolecular function proceeds along minimum-energy pathways on such landscapes. Consequently, a comprehensive understanding of biomolecular function often involves the determination of the free-energy landscapes and the identification of functionally relevant minimum-energy conformational paths on these landscapes. Specific techniques are necessary to determine continuous conformational spectra and identify functionally relevant conformational trajectories from a collection of raw single-particle snapshots from, e.g. cryogenic electron microscopy (cryo-EM) …

Toward A Greater Comprehension Of The Paraná Epicontinental Sea During The Late Paleozoic Ice Age: The Glacial And Postglacial Record In The Western Paraná Basin (Brazil) And The Kaokoveld Fjord Network (Namibia), Eduardo Luiz Menozzo Da Rosa

Theses and Dissertations

The late Paleozoic Ice Age (LPIA; 362 to 255 Ma) was an icehouse interval that drove substantial changes in Earth’s surficial systems. Numerous paradigms regarding aspects of the LPIA were established throughout ~150 years of research based primarily on the evolving state of knowledge in sedimentology. The near-field lithological evidence for widespread glaciation across sedimentary basins of Gondwana are the building blocks for comprehensive paleoclimatic, biologic, paleogeographic, and ice volume models. Nevertheless, the embodied glacial record from several late Paleozoic Gondwanan depocenters still rely on insufficient and/or outdated sedimentologic and stratigraphic studies, which can lead to misinterpretations in models built …

Big Data Applications And Challenges In Giscience (Case Studies: Natural Disaster And Public Health Crisis Management), Amir Masoud Forati

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines the application and significance of user-generated big data in Geographic Information Science (GIScience), with a focus on managing natural disasters and public health crises. It explores the role of social media data in understanding human-environment interactions and in informing disaster management and public health strategies. A scalable computational framework will be developed to model extensive unstructured geotagged data from social media, facilitating systematic spatiotemporal data analysis.The research investigates how individuals and communities respond to high-impact events like natural disasters and public health emergencies, employing both qualitative and quantitative methods. In particular, it assesses the impact of socio-economic-demographic …

Statically Scheduling Circular Remote Attribute Grammars, Seyedamirhossein Hesamian

Theses and Dissertations

Classical attribute grammars invented by Knuth have been the subject of extensive study. Over the years there have been various extensions introduced, each with the goal of making attribute grammar more useful for applications such as program analysis. The first extension described here is circular attribute grammar by Farrow. It is followed by remote attribute grammar, which was introduced separately by Boyland and Hedin. More recently, Hedin introduced circular remote attribute grammars and a proof of concept implementation with demand evaluation. Remote attribute grammars make it possible for semantic rules to access attributes of nodes that are not local, and …

Private Ethereum Blockchain Implementation And Its Security Features For Smart Home Iot, Hasibul Grande Alam

Theses and Dissertations

The security and privacy of IoT devices have become primary concerns as smart home networks are connected to the internet. Ethereum blockchain can be a solution to mitigate or prevent attacks – sniffing attacks, malware attacks, Eavesdropping, and Distributed Denial of Services (DDoS) attacks. Deploying Ethereum in resource constraint IoT devices is challenging due to resultant energy consumption, computational overhead, and delay. We adopted smart home as a case study to examine our methodology as a model for general IoT applications. This thesis work presents the implementation of private Ethereum blockchain that is optimized and installable on smart home IoT. …

Intellibeehive, Christian Ivan Narcia-Macias

Theses and Dissertations

Utilizing computer vision and the latest technological advancements, in this study, we developed a honey bee monitoring system that aims to enhance our understanding of Colony Collapse Disorder, honey bee behavior, population decline, and overall hive health. The system is positioned at the hive entrance providing real-time data, enabling beekeepers to closely monitor the hive's activity and health through an account-based website. Using machine learning, our monitoring system can accurately track honey bees, monitor pollen-gathering activity, and detect Varroa mites, all without causing any disruption to the honey bees. Moreover, we have ensured that the development of this monitoring system …

A Combinatorial Proof Of Supercranks For Partitions With A Fixed Number Of Parts, Jacob J. Gutierrez

Theses and Dissertations

In a previous paper by Eichhorn and Kronholm, a selection of supercranks for p(n,m) was established by generating functions. In this paper we will reprove this result with combinatorial witnesses for the selection of supercranks via integer lattice points.

Attitudes Towards Mathematics Of Developmental Mathematics Students In A Community College, Benjamin Ortiz

Theses and Dissertations

Reformations to developmental mathematics aim to remove barriers for students entering higher education. Challenges like costly multi-course sequences and high failure rates prohibit students’ access to college-level math courses and prevent degree or certification completion. Understanding factors that foster student success is critical to increase student success. This study focuses on students’ attitudes towards mathematics, utilizing the novice-expert continuum through Code et al.’s Mathematical Attitude and Perceptions Survey (MAPS) instrument. Student expertise scores, including all MAPS dimensions and specific dimension scores, were assigned. Kruskal-Wallis Rank-Sum tests identified differences in student populations by course and attitude dimension. …

An Automatic Solver For Optimal Control Problems, Marcel Efren Benitez

Theses and Dissertations

Optimal control theory is a study that is used to find a control for a dynamical system over a period of time such that a objection function is optimized. In this study we will be looking at optimal control problems for ordinary differential equations or ODEs and see that we can use an automatic solver using the forward-backward sweep using Matlab to solve for them from an 1 dimension to bounded cases and to nth dimension cases.

Use Of Digital Twins To Mitigate Communication Failures In Microgrids, Andrew Eggebeen

Theses and Dissertations

This work investigates digital twin (DT) applications for electric power system (EPS) resilience. A novel DT architecture is proposed consisting of a physical twin, a virtual twin, an intelligent agent, and data communications. Requirements for the virtual twin are identified. Guidelines are provided for generating, capturing, and storing data to train the intelligent agent. The relationship between the DT development process and an existing controller hardware-in-the-loop (CHIL) process is discussed. To demonstrate the proposed DT architecture and development process, a DT for a battery energy storage system (BESS) is created based on the simulation of an industrial nanogrid. The creation …

A Design Strategy To Improve Machine Learning Resiliency Of Physically Unclonable Functions Using Modulus Process, Yuqiu Jiang

Theses and Dissertations

Physically unclonable functions (PUFs) are hardware security primitives that utilize non-reproducible manufacturing variations to provide device-specific challenge-response pairs (CRPs). Such primitives are desirable for applications such as communication and intellectual property protection. PUFs have been gaining considerable interest from both the academic and industrial communities because of their simplicity and stability. However, many recent studies have exposed PUFs to machine-learning (ML) modeling attacks. To improve the resilience of a system to general ML attacks instead of a specific ML technique, a common solution is to improve the complexity of the system. Structures, such as XOR-PUFs, can significantly increase the nonlinearity …

Automated Human Activity Recognition From Controlled Environment Videos, Pranay Mandadapu

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores deep learning methods for Human Activity Recognition (HAR) from videos to automate the annotation of human activities in videos. The research is particularly relevant for continuous monitoring in healthcare settings such as nursing homes and hospitals. The innovative part of the approach lies in using YOLO models to first detect humans in video frames and then isolating them from the rest of the image for activity recognition which leads to an improvement in accuracy. The study employs pre-trained deep residual networks, such as ResNet50, ResNet152-V2, and Inception-ResNetV2, which were found to work better than custom CNN-based models. …

Electrolysis Degradation Of Cyanuric Acid In Wastewater At Cu/Go Cathodes, Chioma Chinwe Nwakanobi

Theses and Dissertations

This work evaluates the development of electrochemical processes for the oxidative degradation of persistent organic chemicals in waste waters, specifically the oxidation of cyanuric acid in the presence of NaCl at Cu/GO cathodes and Ti anodes. The experiment used a graphene oxide doped copper mesh cathode to examine different concentrations of cyanuric acid (30 mg/L, 40 mg/L, and 50 mg/L) and various concentrations of NaCl electrolyte (0.007mol/L, 0.03mol/L, 0.07mol/L, 0.1mol/L, and 0.2mol/L). In addition, the effect of pH (2, 4, 6, and 8), and applied current (0.200A, 0.150A and 0.100A) were studied. The Cu/GO electrode played a central role in …

Chemical Investigation Of Dichloromethane Extract Of Aloe Vera Peels: An Agricultural Waste, Nazmul Huda

Theses and Dissertations

Aloe barbadensis Miller, commonly called Aloe Vera, is a widely popular succulent plant species cultivated across subtropical regions worldwide from India to the Tex-Mex border. Besides its historical uses, Aloe juice has garnered attention as a potential remedy for various ailments, particularly in treating various skin conditions and facilitating wound recovery, including obesity, diabetes, hepatitis, Crohn's disease, and ulcerative colitis. Regrettably, the agricultural practice following sap extraction involves discarding Aloe vera peels, constituting agricultural waste. As part of our continuous research on extraction, isolation, separation, and spectral characterization of value-added chemicals present in waste botanicals herein, …

Thin Film Piezoelectric Energy Harvesting Nanostructured Materials: Tailoring Size, Porosity, Morphology Of Zinc Stannate Perovskites (Abx3), Christopher Munoz

Theses and Dissertations

Three dimensional (3D) piezoelectric zinc stannate (ZnSnO3) nanoweb arrays are synthesized using a combination of treatment methods deposited in PDMS thin films for electrochemical analysis of its piezoelectric response. Advantages of hydrothermal, molten salt, and solvothermal synthesis methods were leveraged to facilitate several chemical and surface engineering techniques. The combination of these treatments reduce the size of zinc stannate to approximately ~40nm-80nm weblike networks, much smaller than previously reported ZnSnO3 sub-micro cubes. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) analysis reveal a mesoporous protonated tristannate (H2Sn3O7) nanoweb template with connecting wirelike strands having diameters ranging from 12-27nm across and …

Enhancing Time Series Hashing Performance Via Deep Orthogonal Hashing, Mahmudul Hasan Robin

Theses and Dissertations

Deep hashing has been widely used for efficient retrieval and classification of high-dimensional data like images and text. However, its application to time series data is still challenging due to the data’s temporal nature. To tackle this issue, a new deep hashing method has been proposed that generates efficient hash codes and enhances the time series hashing performance using a ResNet model with Orthohash (Cosine Similarity Loss). The proposed method uses one loss architecture while using ResNet model for efficient hashing. It uses the Character Trajectories dataset to extract discriminative features from the time series data. These features are then …