Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Feature-Based Mini Unmanned Air Vehicle Video Euclidean Stabilization With Local Mosaics, Damon Dyck Gerhardt

Theses and Dissertations

Video acquired using a camera mounted on a mini Unmanned Air Vehicle (mUAV) may be very helpful in Wilderness Search and Rescue and many other applications but is commonly plagued with limited spatial and temporal field of views, distractive jittery motions, disorienting rotations, and noisy and distorted images. These problems collectively make it very difficult for human viewers to identify objects of interest as well as infer correct orientations throughout the video. In order to expand the temporal and spatial field of view, stabilize, and better orient users of noisy and distorted mUAV video, a method is proposed of estimating …

Selecting The Best Linear Mixed Model Using Predictive Approaches, Jun Wang

Theses and Dissertations

The linear mixed model is widely implemented in the analysis of longitudinal data. Inference techniques and information criteria are available and well-studied for goodness-of-fit within the linear mixed model setting. Predictive approaches such as R-squared, PRESS, and CCC are available for the linear mixed model but require more research (Edward, 2005). This project used simulation to investigate the performance of R-squared, PRESS, CCC, Pseudo F-test and information criterion for goodness-of-fit within the linear mixed model framework. Marginal and conditional approaches for these predictive statistics were studied under different variance-covariance structures. For compound symmetry structure, the success rates for all 17 …

Banda Forearc Metamorphic Rocks Accreted To The Australian Continental Margin: Detailed Analysis Of The Lolotoi Complex Of East Timor, Carl Eldon Standley

Theses and Dissertations

Petrologic, structural and age investigations of the Lolotoi Complex of East Timor indicate that it is part of a group of thin metamorphic klippen found throughout the region that were detached from the Banda forearc and accreted to the NW Australian continental margin during Late Miocene to Present arc-continent collision. Metamorphic rock types are dominated by (in order of greatest to least abundance), greenschist, graphitic phyllite, quartz-mica schist, amphibolite and pelitic schist. Mineral, whole rock, and trace element geochemical analyses of metabasites indicate that protolith compositions are consistent with tholeiitic basalt and basaltic andesite with mixed MORB and oceanic arc …

System For Collision Detection Between Deformable Models Built On Axis Aligned Bounding Boxes And Gpu Based Culling, David Owen Tuft

Theses and Dissertations

Collision detection between deforming models is a difficult problem for collision detection systems to handle. This problem is even more difficult when deformations are unconstrained, objects are in close proximity to one another, and when the entity count is high. We propose a method to perform collision detection between multiple deforming objects with unconstrained deformations that will give good results in close proximities. Currently no systems exist that achieve good performance on both unconstrained triangle level deformations and deformations that preserve edge connectivity. We propose a new system built as a combination of Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) based culling and …

Eliminating Redundant And Less-Informative Rss News Articles Based On Word Similarity And A Fuzzy Equivalence Relation, Ian Garcia

Theses and Dissertations

The Internet has marked this era as the information age. There is no precedent in the amazing amount of information, especially network news, that can be accessed by Internet users these days. As a result, the problem of seeking information in online news articles is not the lack of them but being overwhelmed by them. This brings huge challenges regarding processing of online news feeds, i.e., how to determine which news article is important, how to determine the quality of each news article, and how to filter irrelevant and redundant information. In this thesis, we propose a method for filtering …

Implicit Affinity Networks, Matthew Scott Smith

Theses and Dissertations

Although they clearly exist, affinities among individuals are not all easily identified. Yet, they offer unique opportunities to discover new social networks, strengthen ties among individuals, and provide recommendations. We propose the idea of Implicit Affinity Networks (IANs) to build, visualize, and track affinities among groups of individuals. IANs are simple, interactive graphical representations that users may navigate to uncover interesting patterns. This thesis describes a system supporting the construction of IANs and evaluates it in the context of family history and online communities.

Skuery: Manipulation Of S-Expressions Using Xquery Techniques, Kevin Burke Tew

Theses and Dissertations

Data query operations inside programming languages presently perform their functions through the use of domain-specific, declarative expressions and by way of course-grain, API library calls. These methods of operation are practiced by relational databases as well as semistructured XML data stores. Layers of translation, which are necessary to transform data and instructions from the domain of programming languages to data query systems, negtatively effect the performance of data query operations. Skuery resolves this impedance by adopting XML as a native data type with a native representation (SXML). Likewise, query operations are defined in a general purpose programming language (Scheme in …

Hydration Studies Of Electrospray Ions From Amino Acids And Small Peptides, Chuong Quoc Nguyen

Theses and Dissertations

This project was undertaken to gain a better understanding of the hydration behaviors of gas phase ions from solutions containing amino acids and peptides. In order to characterize their hydration behavior, the molecules of interest in solutions were first converted into gas phase ions by electrospray ionization (ESI). The completely desolvated ions were then deliberately dispersed into an inert bath gas, usually nitrogen, containing accurately known concentrations of solvent vapor. The resulting mixtures of ions and bath gas were subsequently passed into a vacuum chamber by way of an adiabatic supersonic free jet expansion. The cooling during that expansion caused …

Integer Programming With Groebner Basis, Isabella Brooke Ginn

Theses and Dissertations

Integer Programming problems are difficult to solve. The goal is to find an optimal solution that minimizes cost. With the help of Groebner based algorithms the optimal solution can be found if it exists. The application of the Groebner based algorithm and how it works is the topic of research. The Algorithms are The Conti-Traverso Algorithm and the Original Conti-Traverso Algorithm. Examples are given as well as proofs that correspond to the algorithms. The latter algorithm is more efficient as well as user friendly. The algorithms are not necessarily the best way to solve and integer programming problem, but they …

An Assessment Of Impediments To Low-Impact Development In The Virginia Portion Of The Chesapeake Bay Watershed, Rebecca V'Lent Lassiter

Theses and Dissertations

Stormwater runoff from urban and urbanizing areas poses a serious threat to water quality, and unless managed properly will impede efforts to restore the Chesapeake Bay.Water quantity, as well as quality, must be considered, and Low Impact Development(LID) is an innovative stormwater management approach that addresses both. LID seeks to mimic a site's predevelopment hydrologic regime by retaining and treating stormwater at the lot level using small, cost-effective landscape features.The purpose for this study was to identify and rank impediments to the implementation of LID in the Virginia portion of the Chesapeake Bay watershed. This was accomplished by going to …

Determination Of Size Fractions And Concentrations Of Airborne Particulate Matter Generated From Construction And Demolition Waste Processing Facilities, Jason M. Young

Theses and Dissertations

Construction and Demolition (C&D) processing and recycling facilities accept waste materials that are generated during construction and demolition activities. The processing facility sorts, processes, and transfers the material to another operation. A consequence of these processes is the generation of particulate matter.This study involved quantifying and qualifying airborne particulates at three C&D processing facilities. Active stationary particulate sampling devices were employed to quantify the particle sizes of interest. Results were compared to United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) National Ambient Air Quality Standards(NAAQS) and United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)standards.The results from this study are not valid for …

Repurposing A Roomba: Evaluating And Training Behavior In A Simple Agent, Donald Samuel Abbott-Mccune

Theses and Dissertations

Recent attempts to reprogram a Roomba to be used as a simple agent have led to interesting behavior. Observation has shown that the behavior of the Roomba is not only dependent on the precepts of the Roomba, but also relies heavily on the uncontrollable environmental conditions that the Roomba is placed in. Ultimately this makes the Roomba a great platform to test and teach aspects of artificial intelligence. This paper will show how most of the tested environmental conditions are mitigated by a learning agent that will adjust behavior dependent on the precepts that are received.

Observational Intelligence: An Overview Of Computational Actual Entities And Their Use As Agents Of Artificial Intelligence, Brandon Scot Saunders

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis' focus is on the use of Alfred North Whitehead's concept of Actual Entities as a computational tool for computer science and the introduction of a novel usage of Actual Entities as learning agents. Actual Entities are vector based agents that interact within their environment through a process called prehension. It is the combined effect of multiple Actual Entities working within a Colony of Prehending Entities that produces emergent, intelligent behavior. It is not always the case that prehension functions for desired behavior are known beforehand and frequently the functions are too complex to construct by hand. Through the …

Supporting Data-Intensive Wireless Sensor Applications Using Smart Data Fragmentation And Buffer Management, Mbonisi Masilela

Theses and Dissertations

Recent advances in low power device technology have led to the development of smaller powerful sensors geared for use in Wireless Sensor Networks. Some of these sensors are capable of producing large data packets in a single reading. This becomes a challenging problem given the constraints imposed by current MAC and Transport Layer implementations since a single data packet can exceed the MTU of the protocol stack. Little has been done in the way of addressing this issue in Wireless Sensor Networks. This paper proposes a novel solution to this issue. Proposed is a Lightweight Data Transportation Protocol that uses …

Design Synthesis And Evaluation Of Diterpenones As Potent Chemopreventive Agents For Aflatoxin B1 Induced Carcinogenesis In Human Liver Cells, Miguel Angel Zuniga

Theses and Dissertations

DESIGN, SYNTHESIS, AND EVALUATION OF DITERPENONES AS POTENT CHEMOPREVENTIVE AGENTS FOR AFB1 INDUCED CARCINOGENISIS IN HUMAN LIVER CELLS By Miguel A. Zuniga, Ph.D. A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Virginia Commonwealth University. Major Director: Qibing Zhou, Ph.D Assistant Professor Department of Chemistry Terpene quinone methides (TPQMs) have been isolated from a variety of plants and show broad activities against bacteria, fungi, and cancerous cell lines. The biological activity has been attributed to the reactive electrophilic QM moiety, this structural feature has long been recognized as an intermediate in organic …

Phase Ii Trials Powered To Detect Activity In Tumor Subsets With Retrospective (Or Prospective) Use Of Predictive Markers, Grishma S. Sheth

Theses and Dissertations

Classical phase II trial designs assume a patient population with a homogeneous tumor type and yield an estimate of a stochastic probability of tumor response. Clinically, however, oncology is moving towards identifying patients who are likely to respond to therapy using tumor subtyping based upon predictive markers. Such designs are called targeted designs (Simon, 2004). For a given phase I1 trial predictive markers may be defined prospectively (on the basis of previous results) or identified retrospectively on the basis of analysis of responding and non-responding tumors. For the prospective case we propose two Phase I1 targeted designs in which a) …

Initial Studies On A Novel Target-Promoted Dna Alkylation System, Ting Xu

Theses and Dissertations

A novel target-promoted DNA alkylation system was designed, which consists of a DNA intercalating/alkylating quinone methide (QM) precursor, a removable amine linker, and a sequence-specific delivery. The QM in this system was regenerated by eliminating the amino linker promoted by the hydrophobic interaction between the target DNA and the intercalating QM precursor. Three alkylation model systems (methoxyl polycyclic system, intramolecular hydrogen bonding system and biaryl system) were proposed and synthesized. The potential DNA QM alkylation was investigated by deoxyadenosine (dA) and deoxyguanosine (dG) alkylation with the biaryl system. Only one deoxynucleoside adduct was observed when dA or dG reacted with …

Raman Scattering In Gan And Zno, Shinobu Nagata

Theses and Dissertations

The Micro-Raman scattering technique has been used for the study of GaN and ZnO. Capabilities of the Raman technique and existing literature on Raman spectroscopy in GaN and ZnO are reviewed. About 50 GaN and ZnO samples with a wide range of properties are studied. From the analysis of positions of the E2H and A1(LO) phonon modes, biaxial stress and plasmon coupling of the Al(LO) mode are observed and compared to a bulk GaN sample. The stress-related shift rate for the AI(LO) mode in hexagonal GaN is established to be 2.7 ± 0.4 cm-1/GPa through series of GaN with low …

Cafm Studies Of Epitaxial Lateral Overgrowth Gan Films, Vishal P. Kasliwal

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis uses the techniques of atomic force microscopy (AFM) and conductiveAFM (CAFM) to study defect sites on GaN films. In particular, these defect sites demonstrate current leakage under reverse-bias conditions that are detrimental to device fabrication. Two growth techniques that were used to improve this leakage behavior for samples in this study included: epitaxial lateral overgrowth (ELO) and nano-ELO using a Si3N4 film. Both techniques decrease defects such as threading dislocations by controlling the nucleation and growth behavior of the GaN films. The EL0 technique uses a patterned dielectric film to laterally grow micron-wide regions (referred to as 'wings') …

Structures And Reactivities Of Ionized And Metal Cation-Containing Acetylene Clusters, Paul O. Momoh

Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation, the ion mobility technique is used to determine the structures of small acetylene cluster ions, (C2H2)1-3+, mass-selected from the largest ever reported ionized acetylene clusters. The technique is also used to characterize the reaction of acetylene clusters with water in an effort to elucidate thermochemistry and kinetics of some interesting ion-molecule reactions suspected to occur in interstellar clouds and other interplanetary bodies.A combination of ion mobility measurements, collision induced dissociation (CID), and theoretical calculations are used to provide the most conclusive evidence for the frequently hypothesized trimerization of ionized acetylene to form the benzene ion. The results …

Theoretical Investigation Of The Structure And Vibrational Frequencies Of Water And Methanol Complexes, John Michael Craig

Theses and Dissertations

Water and methanol are common solvents used in liquid chromatographic (LC) separations. It is highly desirable to model .the interactions of these solvents in order to better understand the nature of analyte solvation and its effect on retention. Therefore, structure and frequencies of complexes of these solvent molecules have been studied from a theoretical perspective as a first step in this direction. Specifically, cluster structures have been optimized at the RHF and MP2 levels in various flexible basis sets and with the counterpoise correction for basis set superposition error, and trends in the structure and binding energies of several clusters …

Stability Analysis Of Systems Of Difference Equations, Richard A. Clinger

Theses and Dissertations

Difference equations are the discrete analogs to differential equations. While the independent variable of differential equations normally is a continuous time variable, t, that of a difference equation is a discrete time variable, n, which measures time in intervals. A feature of difference equations not shared by differential equations is that they can be characterized as recursive functions. Examples of their use include modeling population changes from one season to another, modeling the spread of disease, modeling various business phenomena, discrete simulations applications, or giving rise to the phenomena chaos. The key is that they are discrete, recursive relations. Systems …

Study Of Covalent And Non-Covalent Interactions In Ternary Systems Involving: Metal/Dna-Rna/Protein, Where Metal = Platinum(Ii), Palladium(Ii), Anzellotti I. Atilio

Theses and Dissertations

Ternary systems comprising DNA/RNA, proteins and one (or more) metal ion are generating increased interest due to its biological relevance. The knowledge gained from the study of these systems could provide important clues regarding the precise mechanism for transcription factors, repair proteins and metal complexes with anti-tumoral/anti-viral activities.The interactions occurring among the components of these ternary systems can be broadly grouped into covalent and non-covalent. The first kind of interactions can lead to the irreversible transformation of the components in the system, while the second is thought to be reversible leading to transient states and fluxionality. Both kinds of interaction …

An Adaptive Dose Finding Design (Dosefind) Using A Nonlinear Dose Response Model, James Michael Davenport

Theses and Dissertations

First-in-man (FIM) Phase I clinical trials are part of the critical path in the development of a new compound entity (NCE). Since FIM clinical trials are the first time that an NCE is dosed in human subjects, the designs used in these trials are unique and geared toward patient safety. We develop a method for obtaining the desired response using an adaptive non-linear approach. This method is applicable for studies in which MTD, NOEL,NOAEL, PK, PD effects or other such endpoints are evaluated to determine the desired dose. The method has application whenever a measurable PD marker is an indicator …

An Evaluation Of Mold In Public Schools In The City Of Richmond, Va, Stephen Asante-Ansong

Theses and Dissertations

Forty-three (43) schools in the City of Richmond were used for this study. The rooms in these schools that were selected for testing were those rooms in which complaints about air quality were made by school staff. Tests were done to find out the counts of the different mold species present in these schools. Air-O-Cell (AOC) samples were taken in all schools, swab samples were taken in a few and in the rest biotapes were used. Samples that were taken were analyzed and interpreted at AmeriSci Laboratories, an accredited industrial hygiene laboratory. Documentation was done for the sampling methods. Statistical …

Probabilistic Methods, Joseph Kwaku Asafu-Adjei

Theses and Dissertations

The Probabilistic Method was primarily used in Combinatorics and pioneered by Erdös Pai, better known to Westerners as Paul Erdos in the 1950s. The probabilistic method is a powerful tool for solving many problems in discrete mathematics, combinatorics and also in graph .theory. It is also very useful to solve problems in number theory, combinatorial geometry, linear algebra and real analysis. More recently, it has been applied in the development of efficient algorithms and in the study of various computational problems.Broadly, the probabilistic method is somewhat opposite of the extremal graph theory. Instead of considering how a graph can behave …

Drift Tube Ion Mobility Measurements For Thermochemistry, Kinetics And Polymerization Of Cluster Ions, Ridha Ben Mohsen Mabrouki

Theses and Dissertations

In this work, the Drift Tube Ion Mobility technique is used to study the hydrophobic hydration and solvation of organic ions and measure the thermochemistry and kinetics of ion-molecule reactions. Furthermore, an exploratory study of the intracluster polymerization of isoprene will be presented and discussed. The ion hydration study is focused on the C3H3+ cation1 and Pyridine▪+ radical cation.2 The chemistry of the cyclic C3H3+ cation1 has received considerable attention and continues to be an active area of research.3-7 The binding energies of the first 5 H2O molecules to c-C3H3+ were determined by equilibrium measurements. The measured binding energies of …

Mechanisms Of Accumulation And Biological Consequences Of Polynuclear Platinum Compounds, Peyman Kabolizadeh

Theses and Dissertations

The novel trinuclear complex, BBR3464 has undergone Phase II clinical trials and been shown to have greater cytotoxicity and cellular uptake than clinical anticancer platinum drugs such as cisplatin, oxaliplatin and carboplatin. The clinical efficacy of cisplatin, oxaliplatin and carboplatin is limited due to acquired resistance and dose limiting side effects. The three major pharmacological factors contributing to the intrinsic cytotoxicity of, and cellular resistance to, platinum drugs are (i) cellular uptake and efflux of platinum; (ii) the frequency and nature of Pt-DNA adducts; and (iii) deactivating metabolic reactions with sulfur-containing nucleophiles. Since decreased cellular uptake of platinum drugs is …

Developing A Rapid Method For Assessing The Physical Stability Of Streams In Minnesota's Agassiz Beach Ridges, Abigail V. Franklund

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis assessed the physical characteristics and stability of selected western Minnesota streams that cross the eastern beach ridges of glacial Lake Agassiz. Stream and river channels in this area host unusually diverse aquatic habitat and biodiversity, but incompatible land use along channels and in watersheds impair their quality and function. Previous rapid assessment protocols have been developed for stream attributes and stability, but these methods have been developed elsewhere in the United States and are not necessarily appropriate for western Minnesota’s unique geology and landscape.

A rapid reconnaissance method was developed to assess stream conditions using an integrated numerical …

Methane Potential Of Upper Fort Union Formation Sandstones, Campbell County, Wyoming, Michael J. Blackstone

Theses and Dissertations

Coalbed methane has been produced from the coalbeds of the Upper Fort Union Formation in the Powder River Basin for many years. The sandstones associated with these coals have also proven to be gas-charged, but industry has done little with the sandstones thus far. The purpose of this study is to determine the paleoenvironrnent responsible for the deposition of the coal and sandstone bodies in an attempt to locate gas-charged sandstone bodies in the Tongue River Member of the Fort Union Formation.

The 30-mile by 90-mile study area was chosen because of the presence of a decrease in thick coalbed …