Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

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 …

Agmaps Land Manager Cd-Rom For The Lake Warden Catchment, Department Of Agriculture And Food

Agmaps

This CD-ROM contains land resource maps and land management information for the Lake Warden catchment. It was prepared by Environmental Knowledge Systems Australia (EKSA) on behalf of the Department of Agriculture and Food Western Australia. Funding has been provided by the Australian and State Governments investment through the Natural Heritage Trust delivered by South Coast NRM in the South Coast region.

Also included on the CD is a lot of technical information which may now be out of date.

Blog Analysis With Fuzzy Tfidf, Chi-Shu Ho

Master's Projects

These days blogs are becoming increasingly popular because it allows anyone to share their personal diary, opinions, and comments on the World Wide Wed. Many blogs contain valuable information, but it is a difficult task to extract this information from a high number of blog comments. The goal is to analyze a high number of blog comments by clustering all blog comments by their similarity based on keyword relevance into smaller groups. TF-IDF weight has been used in classifying documents by measuring appearance frequency of each keyword in a document, but it is not effective in differentiating semantic similarities between …

Mobile Multimedia Streaming Library, Bao Ho

Master's Projects

In recent years, multimedia has become a commonly used tool for presenting contents to the users. The employment of multimedia is no longer limited to only the entertainment industry, but spans in other areas as well. In academics, lectures are recorded to audio and video for storage and distribution to students. Free online multimedia hosting services are popularly cherished, such as “youtube.com” and “yahoo video”, and with the increasing affordability of digital camera, hundreds, or maybe thousands, of home-made videos and music audio are created daily and published online. Low-cost digital recorders such as webcams also help promote the use …

Clustering Blog Information, Mayank Prakash Jaiswal

Master's Projects

Blogs form an important source of information in today’s internet world. There are blogs on different topics such as technical, health, electronic gadgets, shopping, etc. However, most of the blog websites have the blogs arranged in chronological order rather than its contents. Such arrangement of blogs makes it difficult for the user searching information about a particular topic from the blog. To resolve this problem, we propose an approach to cluster the blogs based on its content. We studied several clustering algorithms available. The objective of this report is to understand various steps involved in clustering blog information and working …

Pairwise Alignment Of Metamorphic Computer Viruses, Scott Mcghee

Master's Projects

Computer viruses and other forms of malware pose a threat to virtually any software system (with only a few exceptions). A computer virus is a piece of software which takes advantage of known weaknesses in a software system, and usually has the ability to deliver a malicious payload. A common technique that virus writers use to avoid detection is to enable the virus to change itself by having some kind of self-modifying code. This kind of virus is commonly known as a metamorphic virus, and can be particularly difficult to detect [17]. Existing virus detection software is continually being improved …

Emotional And Domain Concept Enhancements To Alicebot, Alvin Cho

Master's Projects

Extensive research and development have been done in the area of human simulation and artificial intelligence and their related fields, such as common sense knowledge bases, chatterbots, natural language parsing, semantic analysis, synthetic actors, and cognitive sciences. This paper takes part in that extensive research by focusing on the improvement of human simulation in chatterbots, specifically in Alicebot, a prominent non-emotional pattern-matching chatbot. An emotion and personality model is added to Alicebot so that it can make decisions based on its emotions and personality. Alicebot is also augmented with the ability to determine what it likes or does not like …

Operon Prediction With Bayesian Classifiers, Natalia Khuri

Master's Projects

In this work, we present an approach to predicting transcription units based on Bayesian classifiers. The predictor uses publicly available data to train the classifier, such as genome sequence data from Genbank, expression values from microarray experiments, and a collection of experimentally verified transcription units. We have studied the importance of each of the data source on the performance of the predictor by developing three classifier models and evaluating their outcomes. The predictor was trained and validated on the E. coli genome, but can be extended to other organisms. Using the full Bayesian classifier, we were able to correctly identify …

Validation And Verification Of Aircraft Control Software For Control Improvement, Thien-Anh Pham

Master's Projects

Validation and Verification are important processes used to ensure software safety and reliability. The Cooper-Harper Aircraft Handling Qualities Rating is one of the techniques developed and used by NASA researchers to verify and validate control systems for aircrafts. Using the Validation and Verification result of controller software to improve controller's performance will be one of the main objectives of this process. Real user feedback will be used to tune PI controller in order for it to perform better. The Cooper-Harper Aircraft Handling Qualities Rating can be used to justify the performance of the improved system.

Prediction Of Alternative Splice Sites In Human Genes, Douglas Simmons

Master's Projects

This thesis addresses the problem of predicting alternative splice sites in human genes. The most common way to identify alternative splice sites are the use of expressed sequence tags and microarray data. Since genes only produce alternative proteins under certain conditions, these methods are limited to detecting only alternative splice sites in genes whose alternative protein forms are expressed under the tested conditions. I have introduced three multiclass support vector machines that predict upstream and downstream alternative 3’ splice sites, upstream and downstream alternative 5’ splice sites, and the 3’ splice site of skipped and cryptic exons. On a test …

Case Studies In Proof Checking, Robert Kam

Master's Projects

The aim of computer proof checking is not to find proofs, but to verify them. This is different from automated deduction, which is the use of computers to find proofs that humans have not devised first. Currently, checking a proof by computer is done by taking a known mathematical proof and entering it into the special language recognized by a proof verifier program, and then running the verifier to hopefully obtain no errors. Of course, if the proof checker approves the proof, there are considerations of whether or not the proof checker is correct, and this has been complicated by …

Forward Secure Fuzzy Extractors, David Goldenberg

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

Effects Of Mercury On Condition And Coloration Of Belted Kingfishers, Ariel Elizabeth White

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

Effects Of Molecular Motion On Deuteron Magic Angle Spinning Nmr Spectra, Yuanyuan Huang

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Solid state deuteron NMR experiments, especially magic angle spinning (MAS) and off-magic angle spinning (OMAS), are developed to explore dynamical systems. A theoretical discussion of interactions relevant for spin-1 nuclei is presented. Practical aspects of MAS/OMAS experiments are described an detail. The dominant quadrupolar coupling interaction in deuteron NMR has been simulated and the effects of multiple-frame molecular motions on MAS/OMAS spectra are taken into account in this calculation. Effects of chemical shift anisotropy are also simulated, and shown to be small under conditions of rapid sample spinning.;Two numerical methods, direct integration and an efficient simulation routine based on Floquet …

Electromagnetic Strong Plasma Turbulence, A. Melatos, F. A. Jenet, P. A. Robinson

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications and Presentations

The first large-scale simulations of continuously driven, two-dimensional electromagnetic strong plasma turbulence are performed, for electron thermal speeds 0.01c⩽v⩽0.57c, by integrating the Zakharov equations for coupled Langmuir and transverse (T) waves near the plasma frequency. Turbulence scalings and wave number spectra are calculated, a transition is found from a mix of trapped and free T eigenstates for v⩾0.1c to just free eigenstates for v⩽0.1c, and wave energy densities are observed to undergo slow quasiperiodic oscillations.

Species Richness And Soil Properties In Pinus Ponderosa Forests: A Structural Equation Modeling Analysis, Daniel C. Laughlin, Scott R. Abella, W. Wallace Covington, James B. Grace

Public Policy and Leadership Faculty Publications

Question: How are the effects of mineral soil properties on understory plant species richness propagated through a network of processes involving the forest overstory, soil organic matter, soil nitrogen, and understory plant abundance? Location: North-central Arizona, USA. Methods: We sampled 75 0.05-ha plots across a broad soil gradient in a Pinus ponderosa (ponderosa pine) forest ecosystem. We evaluated multivariate models of plant species richness using structural equation modeling. Results: Richness was highest at intermediate levels of understory plant cover, suggesting that both colonization success and competitive exclusion can limit richness in this system. We did not detect a reciprocal positive …

Past, Present, And Future Old Growth In Frequent-Fire Conifer Forests Of The Western United States, Scott R. Abella, W. Wallace Covington, Peter Z. Fule, Leigh B. Lentile, Andrew J. Sanchez Meador, Penelope Morgan

Public Policy and Leadership Faculty Publications

Old growth in the frequent-fire conifer forests of the western United States, such as those containing ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa), Jeffrey pine (P. jeffreyi), giant sequoia (Sequioa giganteum) and other species, has undergone major changes since Euro-American settlement. Understanding past changes and anticipating future changes under different potential management scenarios are fundamental to developing ecologically based fuel reduction or ecological restoration treatments. Some of the many changes that have occurred in these forests include shifts from historically frequent surface fire to no fire or to stand-replacing fire regimes, increases in tree density, increased abundance of fire-intolerant trees, decreases in understory …

Forest-Floor Treatments In Arizona Ponderosa Pine Restoration Ecosystems: No Short-Term Effects On Plant Communities, Scott R. Abella, W. Wallace Covington

Public Policy and Leadership Faculty Publications

Leaf litter accumulation during fire exclusion and increases in tree density in postsettlement southwestern Pinus ponderosa forests may limit the establishment of understory vegetation. We performed an experiment in P. ponderosa forests of northern Arizona to ascertain plant community responses to forest-floor scarification and Oi removal on thirty-six 100-m2 plots overlaid on an existing ecological restoration experiment that involved tree thinning and prescribed burning. Constrasting with findings from many other forest types, forest-floor treatments had no effect on community diversity or composition during the 2-year experiment. Sørensen similarities were as high as 97% between posttreatment years within treatments; and successional …

Clarifications Of Rule 2 In Teaching Geometric Dimensioning And Tolerancing, Cheng Lin, Alok Verma

Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

Geometric dimensioning and tolerancing is a symbolic language used on engineering drawings and computer generated three-dimensional solid models for explicitly describing nominal geometry and its allowable variation. Application cases using the concept of Rule 2 in the Geometric Dimensioning and Tolerancing (GD&T) are presented. The rule affects all fourteen geometric characteristics. Depending on the nature and location where each feature control frame is specified, interpretation on the applicability of Rule 2 is quite inconsistent. This paper focuses on identifying the characteristics of a feature control frame to remove this inconsistency. A table is created to clarify the confusions for students …

Dundy County Test Hole Logs, Duane A. Eversoll

Conservation and Survey Division

No abstract provided.

Integrated Guidance For Tidal Shorelines, Center For Coastal Resources Management, Virginia Institute Of Marine Science

Reports

Tidal shorelines are the site of complex interactions between terrestrial and aquatic systems. These areas have values that far outweigh their relative size in the larger ecosystem. They are exceptionally important habitat for a wide variety of organisms, some living primarily on land, others that live in water, and a few that are found only in the intertidal zone between land and water. Tidal shoreline systems provide important filtration capacity for materials carried in runoff and groundwater. They are uniquely valued by human users of coastal systems. In Virginia, tidal shoreline systems are managed in small segments, rather than as …

Microscopic-Macroscopic Simulations Of Rigid-Rod Polymer Hydrodynamics: Heterogeneity And Rheochaos, M. Gregory Forest, Ruhai Zhou, Qi Wang

Mathematics & Statistics Faculty Publications

Rheochaos is a remarkable phenomenon of nematic (rigid-rod) polymers in steady shear, with sustained chaotic fluctuations of the orientational distribution of the rod ensemble. For monodomain dynamics, imposing spatial homogeneity and linear shear, rheochaos is a hallmark prediction of the Doi-Hess theory [M. Doi, J. Polym. Sci. Polym. Phys. Ed., 19 (1981), pp. 229-243; M. Doi and S. F. Edwards, The Theory of Polymer Dynamics, Oxford University Press, London, New York, 1986; S. Hess, Z. Naturforsch., 31 (1976), pp. 1034-1037. The model behavior is robust, captured by second-moment tensor approximations G. Rienäcker, M. Kröger, and S. Hess, Phys. Rev. …

Validating Pareto Optimal Operation Parameters Of Polyp Detection Algorithms For Ct Colonography, Jiang Li, Adam Huang, Nicholas Petrick, Jianhua Yao, Ronald M. Summers, Maryellen L. Giger (Ed.), Nico Karssemeijer (Ed.)

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

We evaluated a Pareto front-based multi-objective evolutionary algorithm for optimizing our CT colonography (CTC) computer-aided detection (CAD) system. The system identifies colonic polyps based on curvature and volumetric based features, where a set of thresholds for these features was optimized by the evolutionary algorithm. We utilized a two-fold cross-validation (CV) method to test if the optimized thresholds can be generalized to new data sets. We performed the CV method on 133 patients; each patient had a prone and a supine scan. There were 103 colonoscopically confirmed polyps resulting in 188 positive detections in CTC reading from either the prone or …

Formation Of In- (2×1) And In Islands On Si (100) - (2×1) By Femtosecond Pulsed Laser Deposition, M. A. Hafez, H. E. Elsayed-Ali

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

The growth of indium on a vicinal Si (100) - (2×1) surface at room temperature by femtosecond pulsed laser deposition (fsPLD) was investigated by in situ reflection high-energy electron diffraction (RHEED). Recovery of the RHEED intensity was observed between laser pulses and when the growth was terminated. The surface diffusion coefficient of deposited In on initial two-dimensional (2D) In- (2×1) layer was determined. As growth proceeds, three-dimensional In islands grew on the 2D In- (2×1) layer. The RHEED specular profile was analyzed during film growth, while the grown In islands were examined by ex situ atomic force microscopy. The full …

Exploration Of Computational Methods For Classification Of Movement Intention During Human Voluntary Movement From Single Trial Eeg, Ou Bai, Peter Lin, Sherry Vorbach, Jiang Li, Steve Furlani, Mark Hallett

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

Objective: To explore effective combinations of computational methods for the prediction of movement intention preceding the production of self-paced right and left hand movements from single trial scalp electroencephalogram (EEG).

Methods: Twelve naïve subjects performed self-paced movements consisting of three key strokes with either hand. EEG was recorded from 128 channels. The exploration was performed offline on single trial EEG data. We proposed that a successful computational procedure for classification would consist of spatial filtering, temporal filtering, feature selection, and pattern classification. A systematic investigation was performed with combinations of spatial filtering using principal component analysis (PCA), independent component analysis …

Using Pareto Fronts To Evaluate Polyp Detection Algorithms For Ct Colonography, Adam Huang, Jiang Li, Ronald M. Summers, Nicholas Petrick, Amy K. Hara

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

We evaluate and improve an existing curvature-based region growing algorithm for colonic polyp detection for our CT colonography (CTC) computer-aided detection (CAD) system by using Pareto fronts. The performance of a polyp detection algorithm involves two conflicting objectives, minimizing both false negative (FN) and false positive (FP) detection rates. This problem does not produce a single optimal solution but a set of solutions known as a Pareto front. Any solution in a Pareto front can only outperform other solutions in one of the two competing objectives. Using evolutionary algorithms to find the Pareto fronts for multi-objective optimization problems has been …

Natural Resource Management Intermediaries As Potential Next-Users, Jamie Bowyer, Marie Shanks

All other publications

A wide range of individuals and organisations play a role in Natural Resource Management (NRM) in Western Australia currently. Many different service providers also Interact with farmers and land managers to assist or influence farm management decision making. This extensive network has the potential to be tapped by NRM projects to more efficiently influence on-ground practice change. Given the current environment of 'information overload' it is even more important to use these established networks effectively rather than to invent new ones.

This document lists a selection of NRM-related intermediaries and the roles they play in the agricultural sector. Where available, …

Annual Pasture Legume Options For Key Soil Types, Department Of Agriculture, Western Australia, Grains Research & Development Corporation

All other publications

No abstract provided.

Carathéodory Functions In The Banach Space Setting, Daniel Alpay, Olga Timoshenko, Dan Volok

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

We prove representation theorems for Carathéodory functions in the setting of Banach spaces.

Techno-Art Of Selariu Supermathematics Functions, Florentin Smarandache

Branch Mathematics and Statistics Faculty and Staff Publications

In this album we include the so called Super-Mathematics functions (SMF), which constitute the base for, most often, generating, technical, neo-geometrical objects, therefore less artistic. These functions are the results of 38 years of research, which began at University of Stuttgart in 1969. Since then, 42 related works have been published, written by over 19 authors, as shown in the References. The name was given by the regretted mathematician Professor Emeritus Doctor Engineer Gheorghe Silas who, at the presentation of the very first work in this domain, during the First National Conference of Vibrations in Machine Constructions, Timişoara, Romania, 1978, …