Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Investigation Of The Suitability Of The Biscatecholborate Anion As A Reductive Quencher For Photoexcited Ruthenium Polyphyridyl Complexes, Alper Yarasik

Chemistry & Biochemistry Theses

Ruthenium polypyridyl complexes [Ru(L-L)3]2+, (L-L = 1,10 - phenanthroline or 2,2'- bipyridine) which covalently linked to electron donor or acceptor units are frequently used in artificial photosystems because of their high emission quantum yields, long excited-state lifetimes, favorable redox properties and excellent chemical stability. The ruthenium dimer P, [(phen)2Ru(tatpp)Ru(phen)2][PF6]4, undergoes multiple photoreductions in the presence of donors such as triethylamine (TEA); however, large amount of donors (0.3 M) are required for efficient reductions. This explores the use of a anionic donor such as [B(cat)2]- with the hypothesis that ion-pairing will result in lower required concentration of the donor. Electrochemical data …

Nanostructured Layered Copper Hydroxy Dodecyl Sulfate: A Potential Fire Retardant For Poly(Vinyl Ester) (Pve), Everson Kandare, Grace Chigwada, Dongyan Wang, Charles A. Wilkie, Jeanne Hossenlopp

Chemistry Faculty Research and Publications

Composites of poly(vinyl ester) (PVE) with copper hydroxy dodecyl sulfate (CHDS) were prepared by thermal curing. The efficiency of the additive, CHDS, in reducing flammability is demonstrated via cone calorimetry and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The addition of 1-10% by mass of the CHDS additive resulted in significant increments in char formation (~4-11%) from thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Incorporation of the CHDS into the polymer matrix at these low concentrations leads to substantial reductions in the total heat release (~20-30%) but no significant change in the peak heat release rate. The composite materials generally ignite more quickly, however, the flame extinguishes faster …

Evidence Of An Active Enso And Pdq During The Mid-Holocene From A Costa Rican Speleothem, April D. Azouz

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Although the El Nino/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is the most important source of inter-annual climate variability in the tropics, its Holocene history is poorly understood, particularly in Central America. A high resolution (-3.8 years/sample) paleoclimate record of Central American rainfall variability has been reconstructed from a U /Th-dated stalagmite (7890 to 6490 yrs B.P.) from Costa Rica to constrain the onset and variability of ENSO throughout the Holocene, and to determine its role in generating regional climate anomalies. I suggest drier conditions, forced by El Nino, are represented by higher 5180 values, and are correlative with higher 513C values, indicating that …

A Hybrid Architecture Combining Reactive Plan Execution And Reactive Learning, Samin Karim, Liz Sonenberg, Ah-Hwee Tan

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Developing software agents has been complicated by the problem of how knowledge should be represented and used. Many researchers have identified that agents need not require the use of complex representations, but in many cases suffice to use “the world” as their representation. However, the problem of introspection, both by the agents themselves and by (human) domain experts, requires a knowledge representation with a higher level of abstraction that is more ‘understandable’. Learning and adaptation in agents has traditionally required knowledge to be represented at an arbitrary, low-level of abstraction. We seek to create an agent that has the capability …

Collaborative Image Retrieval Via Regularized Metric Learning, Luo Si, Rong Jin, Steven C. H. Hoi, Michael R. Lyu

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

In content-based image retrieval (CBIR), relevant images are identified based on their similarities to query images. Most CBIR algorithms are hindered by the semantic gap between the low-level image features used for computing image similarity and the high-level semantic concepts conveyed in images. One way to reduce the semantic gap is to utilize the log data of users' feedback that has been collected by CBIR systems in history, which is also called “collaborative image retrieval.” In this paper, we present a novel metric learning approach, named “regularized metric learning,” for collaborative image retrieval, which learns a distance metric by exploring …

Bias And Controversy: Beyond The Statistical Deviation, Hady W. Lauw, Ee Peng Lim, Ke Wang

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

In this paper, we investigate how deviation in evaluation activities may reveal bias on the part of reviewers and controversy on the part of evaluated objects. We focus on a 'data-centric approach' where the evaluation data is assumed to represent the ground truth'. The standard statistical approaches take evaluation and deviation at face value. We argue that attention should be paid to the subjectivity of evaluation, judging the evaluation score not just on 'what is being said' (deviation), but also on 'who says it' (reviewer) as well as on 'whom it is said about' (object). Furthermore, we observe that bias …

Hydrochemistry In An Alpine Karst System, Sequoia And Kings Canyon National Parks, California, Joel Despain

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This study uses high-resolution, long-term conductivity, temperature, discharge, pH, and laboratory data from 2001 through 2003 from an alpine karst spring located at 2,500 m amsl in Sequoia National Park, California to reveal detailed chemical parameters of this karst system. The data show a system with a pronounced spring run-off, extended periods of base flow quiescence, storm responses tied to precipitation as rain or as snowfall, and clear diurnal and seasonal patterns of discharge. pH and spC values show an inverse relationship to discharge and temperature, which are generally in phase. Total inorganic carbon (TIC) and the fraction of mineral-derived …

Influences Of Watershed Urban Development On Habitat Heterogeneity And Native Fish Diversity In A Ridge And Valley Stream In Southeastern Tennessee, Nicholas B. Cookson

Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

The present study examined relationships of landscape features with instream environmental conditions and fish assemblage attributes in a third-order Ridge and Valley stream in the Chattanooga, Tennessee area. Stream water quality, habitat, and fish assemblages were sampled in May-June 2005 at seven sites (drainage areas <17 km2) in the Mountain Creek system (Tennessee River drainage). Watershed urban land use (predominantly residential) ranged from 1.62 % to 18.97 % and housing density from 49 housing units/km2 to 72 housing units/km2. Natural riparian land cover at the sites ranged from 26.9 % to 53.1 %. A total of22 species offish and 3,686 individuals was found at the seven sites. Native species richness per drainage area ranged from 0.12 species/km2 to 1.15 species/km2 at the individual sites. Species evenness ranged from 0.56 to 0.79. Index of biotic integrity ratings varied from poor to good. Watershed urban land use was negatively correlated with species richness, species evenness, variation in stream shape, and variation in current velocity. Housing density in the watershed was positively correlated with sediment depth and negatively correlated with species richness, substrate diversity, and variation in stream shape. Riparian natural cover was positively correlated with variation in current velocity. Results of this study emphasize the negative influence of watershed residential land use on stream habitat heterogeneity and native fish diversity.

Sustainable Development Or Just Plain Development? An Analysis Of Sustainability Indicators For Chattanooga, Tennessee, Cheryl Horn

Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

The city of Chattanooga, Tennessee, and the surrounding area has undergone a notable transformation in recent decades. Many of these changes have been used to promote the city as an environmentally friendly place to live, and the phrase sustainable development is frequently used to describe local growth and planning. However, no comprehensive analysis has been undertaken to determine whether Chattanooga is truly headed toward becoming a sustainable community in terms of environmental, social, and economic considerations. Based on the concept of sustainable development, as defined by the United Nations and others, and on sustainability studies conducted in four other cities, …

Novel Approaches To Photoassisted Deposition Of Semiconductors And Nanocomposite Materials, Sashikala Somasundaram

Chemistry & Biochemistry Dissertations

This dissertation research begins with the use of TiO2-based photocatalysis for the reduction of metal ions with very negative reduction potentials. The indirect photocatalytic reduction of four metal ions: Cd2+, Zn2+, Mn2+, and Tl+ using formate radical anions generated in UV-irradiated aqueous TiO2 suspensions, is described. Using Tl+ as a model metal ion, a simple kinetics scheme was developed for the indirect reduction route, and the predictions from this model were shown to be in excellent agreement with experimental data. Titania-based photocatalysis was then used for the preparation of MSe/TiO2 "coupled" semiconductors. Heterogeneous photocatalysis using photoexcited TiO2 substrates was shown …

Development Of A Custom Call Management System For The Service Department Of Premiere Copier Inc., Markas Korotkovas

Regis University Student Publications (comprehensive collection)

Premiere Copier needs a system that will facilitate the functionality required by the current business process as well as being more robust, reliable and scalable. The new system has to mitigate all the problem areas mentioned in the section 1.2.3. The complete list of the requirements is presented in the Section 3.1.1. This project is the first real life experience for the one man developing team as well. Working through the whole development life cycle of the application, fulfilling the roles of project manager, developer and designer at the same time presents an excellent educational opportunity as well.

Implementation Of Survey And Evaluation System, Srinivas Maddali

Regis University Student Publications (comprehensive collection)

The goal of this project was to evaluate technologies for a survey solution for HopeHouseOfColorado website and implement the best solution. Thus allow the website administrators the ability to create surveys and manage the collected data. The implemented solution allowed the administrators to present the survey information in an organized and graphical manner. The implemented survey tool improved the survey process at HopeHouse and standardized the data collection format.

Context Aware Energy Conservation In Pervasive Computing Environments, Prathiba Joseph

Computer Science and Engineering Theses

Extending battery lifetime is one of the most critical and challenging problems in mobile systems. When the mobile device sounds a low battery alarm, the user is given an ultimatum to quickly find a power source or suspend work. The greatest utility of mobile devices is their ability to be used anywhere, and at anytime. But power limitations of these devices seem to hinder this goal. The ever-growing needs of mobile users for increased lifetime of wireless devices imply that emerging wireless systems must be more energy-efficient than ever before. Cyber foraging or remote resource exploitation may be an efficient …

Evaluating Indexing And Routing Schemes For Spatial Queries In Sensor Networks, Raja Rajeshwari Anugula

Computer Science and Engineering Theses

Recent advances in low-power sensing devices coupled with widespread availability of wireless ad-hoc networks, has fueled the development of sensor networks. These senor networks have various applications such as to monitor conditions at different locations (temperature, pressure, rainfall, vibrations etc.,), tracking of objects and so on. Each device is equipped with an energy source (usually with a battery), memory, CPU and communication bandwidth, which is severely constrained. Hence each sensor network is comprised of hardware for sensing, software for communication and computational algorithms. Spatial queries are commonly applied to sensor network, for example: "Find the highest temperature sensed in a …

An Application Of Parallel And Distributed Computing Methods To Approximate Pattern Matching Of Genetic Regulatory Motifs, Tushar Kumar Jayantilal

Computer Science and Engineering Theses

Bioinformatics is a relatively new scientific field concerned with providing computational means and support to research in molecular biology and genetics. It draws from many different areas of computer science, including database theory, algorithm design and analysis, and artificial intelligence, to name just a few. In many applications, such as one described in this thesis, a biologist is interested in locating a particular pattern, or sequence motif, in a given string or set of strings over the four-letter DNA alphabet. In this thesis we present an efficient approach to locating promoter and other regulatory sequences in entire genomes or in …

Differentiating Web Service Offerings, Halina Kaminski, Khalid Sherdil, Hanan Lutfiyya, Nazim H. Madhavji, Mark Perry

Computer Science Publications

The advent of Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) paradigm and increasing use of Web Services (WS) implies that the future will see a large number of services transferred between providers and consumers, using many applications or agents working on behalf of humans. Discovering and using the services is the easy part. Negotiating and selecting the best services from amongst the plethora of similar ones, depending on their cost and quality, is the challenging issue. However, existing WS-I standards neither cater to provision of Service Level Agreements (SLAs), nor their exchange between parties. These standards are confined merely to WS description (WSDL). …

Modeling Large Whale Entanglement Injuries: An Experimental Analysis Of The Influence Of Tissue Compliance, Line Tension, And Draw-Length On Epidermal Abrasion Resistance, Jeremy Paul Winn

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Two test systems were developed to evaluate the influence of draw-length and tissue compliance on entanglement-induced epidermal abrasion in humpback (Megaptera novaeangliae) and right whale (Eubalaena glacialis) tissue samples. Under straight pull abrasion tests an adult right whale fluke required 3.7 times the load and 15 times the draw-length of a right whale calf flipper to induce epidermal failure while a humpback fluke was intermediate between these extremes. Epidermal thickness did not appear to be the cause of this difference in abrasion resistance. Epidermal thickness averaged 8.0k0.2 mm for the calf flipper, 4.9k0.4 rnrn for the humpback fluke, and 5.1k0.1 …

Learning The Unified Kernel Machines For Classification, Steven C. H. Hoi, Michael R. Lyu, Edward Y. Chang

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Kernel machines have been shown as the state-of-the-art learning techniques for classification. In this paper, we propose a novel general framework of learning the Unified Kernel Machines (UKM) from both labeled and unlabeled data. Our proposed framework integrates supervised learning, semi-supervised kernel learning, and active learning in a unified solution. In the suggested framework, we particularly focus our attention on designing a new semi-supervised kernel learning method, i.e., Spectral Kernel Learning (SKL), which is built on the principles of kernel target alignment and unsupervised kernel design. Our algorithm is related to an equivalent quadratic programming problem that can be efficiently …

Sustainability With Globalization: An Unsustainable Proposition, Daniel B. Reader

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Globalization is recognized as a world-encompassing phenomenon, even as its benefits are debated. Sustainability, the capacity to maintain high standards of living through generations, is at stake. This paper examines the problems of sustainability with globalization from several perspectives. High statistical correlation between indices of globalization and environmental degradation (r2 = 0.977, p < .001) is found using multi-dimensional scaling software. The socially destabilizing, culture flattening effects of globalization are examined, and the terms ‘nationalism’ and ‘terrorism’ are defined. On the basis of its medial position among the indices of both globalization and environmental degradation, Chile is explored in a case study of the interaction. Conclusions regarding Chile’s vulnerabilities are reached, and the country’s environmental, social, and economic ‘weak spots’ are identified. The ethical positions of globalization and sustainability are considered, and the conclusion that there is very little that can be done to alter the nature of the interaction is drawn. It is suggested that globalization minimizes the prospects of success in efforts toward sustainability by maximizing vulnerabilities among sustainability’s components.

An Algorithm To Generate 4-Regular Planar Hamiltonian Graphs, Mehmet Ascigil

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

In this paper, the problem of randomly generating 4-regular planar Hamiltonian graphs is discussed and a solution is described. An algorithm which efficiently generates the graphs in linear time and in a near-uniform manner is given. In addition, a formula is provided that determines the total number of such graphs. The generation of graphs starts with forming the Hamiltonian cycle of the final graph. Each vertex is randomly assigned to be connected with zero. one. Or two edges in the area bounded by the Hamiltonian cycle. A positive prefix vector is used to determine all the edges in the area …

Strategies For Reducing Mosquito-Borne Disease Vulnerability In Equine Populations: A Kentucky Case Study, Sara Dalton

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This research examined equine management practices that limit or contribute to the spread of West Nile virus and other mosquito-bome disease. I hypothesize that there is a relationship between equine management practices and outbreaks of mosquito-borne disease in horse populations. Improved and appropriate mosquito habitat management may limit the risk of mosquito-borne disease in humans and horses by helping to lower the mosquito populations. The study goals were to recognize equine management practices and mosquito prevention practices that foster outbreaks of mosquito-borne disease. This study used a questionnaire for county level analysis of equine management practices and the relationship to …

An Energy-Efficient And Access Latency Optimized Indexing Scheme For Wireless Data Broadcast, Yuxia Yao, Xueyan Tang, Ee Peng Lim, Aixin Sun

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Data broadcast is an attractive data dissemination method in mobile environments. To improve energy efficiency, existing air indexing schemes for data broadcast have focused on reducing tuning time only, i.e., the duration that a mobile client stays active in data accesses. On the other hand, existing broadcast scheduling schemes have aimed at reducing access latency through nonflat data broadcast to improve responsiveness only. Not much work has addressed the energy efficiency and responsiveness issues concurrently. This paper proposes an energy-efficient indexing scheme called MHash that optimizes tuning time and access latency in an integrated fashion. MHash reduces tuning time by …

Exact Casimir Interaction Between Eccentric Cylinders, D. A. R. Dalvit, F. C. Lombardo, F. D. Mazzitelli, R. Onofrio

Dartmouth Scholarship

The Casimir force is the ultimate background in ongoing searches for extragravitational forces in the micrometer range. Eccentric cylinders offer favorable experimental conditions for such measurements as spurious gravitational and electrostatic effects can be minimized. Here we report on the evaluation of the exact Casimir interaction between perfectly conducting eccentric cylinders using a mode summation technique, and study different limiting cases of relevance for Casimir force measurements, with potential implications for the understanding of mechanical properties of nanotubes.

Image Up-Sampling Using The Discrete Wavelet Transform, Laleh Asgharian

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

Image up-sampling is an effective technique, useful in today's digital image processing applications and rendering devices. In image up-sampling, an image is enhanced from a lower resolution to a higher resolution with the degree of enhancement depending upon application requirements. It is known that the traditional interpolation based approaches for up-sampling, such as the Bilinear or Bicubic interpolations, blur the resultant images along edges and image features. Furthermore, in color imagery, these interpolation-based up-sampling methods may have color infringing artifacts in the areas where the images contain sharp edges and fine textures. We present an interesting up-sampling algorithm based on …

Summer 2006, Nsu Oceanographic Center

Currents

No abstract provided.

Viscoelastic Flow In Rotating Curved Pipes, Yitung Chen, Huajun Chen, Jinsuo Zhang, Benzhao Zhang

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Research

Fully developed viscoelastic flows in rotating curved pipes with circular cross section are investigated theoretically and numerically employing the Oldroyd-B fluid model. Based on Dean’s approximation, a perturbation solution up to the secondary order is obtained. The governing equations are also solved numerically by the finite volume method. The theoretical and numerical solutions agree with each other very well. The results indicate that the rotation, as well as the curvature and elasticity, plays an important role in affecting the friction factor, the secondary flow pattern and intensity. The co-rotation enhances effects of curvature and elasticity on the secondary flow. For …

Two Biological Applications Of Optimal Control To Hybrid Differential Equations And Elliptic Partial Differential Equations, Wandi Ding

Doctoral Dissertations

In this dissertation, we investigate optimal control of hybrid differential equations and elliptic partial differential equations with two biological applications. We prove the existence of an optimal control for which the objective functional is maximized. The goal is to characterize the optimal control in terms of the solution of the opti- mality system. The optimality system consists of the state equations coupled with the adjoint equations. To obtain the optimality system we differentiate the objective functional with respect to the control. This process is applied to studying two prob- lems: one is a type of hybrid system involving ordinary differential …

Cohomological Dimension With Respect To Nonabelian Groups, Atish Jyoti Mitra

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation addresses three aspects of cohomological dimension of metric spaces with respect to nonabelian groups.

In the first part we examine when the Eilenberg-Maclane space (n = 1) of the abelianization of a solvable group being an absolute extensor of a metric space implies the Eilenberg-Maclane space of the group itself is an absolute extensor. We also give an elementary approach to this problem in the case of nilpotent groups and 2-dimensional metric spaces.

The next part of the dissertation is devoted to generalizations of the Cencelj- Dranishnikov theorems relating extension properties of nilpotent CW complexes to its homology …

Synthesis Of Lanthanum-Strontium Manganites By Oxalate-Precursor Co-Precipitation Methods In Solution And In Reverse Micellar Microemulsion, Vuk Uskoković, Miha Drofenik

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Nanostructured lanthanum–strontium manganites were synthesized using two different co-precipitation approaches, one in bulk solution, and the other in reverse micelles of CTAB/1-hexanol/water microemulsion. In both cases, precursor cations were precipitated by using oxalic acid. The properties of the materials synthesized by using these two methods were compared in order to reveal potential advantages of the microemulsion-assisted approach. The influence of the annealing conditions on the properties of synthesized manganites was investigated by using X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, differential thermal analysis, thermogravimetric analysis and magnetic measurements.

Metric Measurements On A Plane From A Single Image, Micah K. Johnson, Hany Farid

Computer Science Technical Reports

The past decade has seen considerable advances in the application of principles from projective geometry to problems in image analysis and computer vision. In this paper, we review a subset of this work, and leverage these results for the purpose of forensic analysis. Specifically, we review three techniques for making metric measurements on planar surfaces from a single image. The resulting techniques should prove useful in forensic settings where real-world measurements are required.