Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

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 …

Parallel Generalized Delaunay Mesh Refinement, Andrey Nikolayevich Chernikov

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

The modeling of physical phenomena in computational fracture mechanics, computational fluid dynamics and other fields is based on solving systems of partial differential equations (PDEs). When PDEs are defined over geometrically complex domains, they often do not admit closed form solutions. In such cases, they are solved approximately using discretizations of domains into simple elements like triangles and quadrilaterals in two dimensions (2D), and tetrahedra and hexahedra in three dimensions (3D). These discretizations are called finite element meshes. Many applications, for example, real-time computer assisted surgery, or crack propagation from fracture mechanics, impose time and/or mesh size constraints that cannot …

First-Principles Calculations Of Electric Field Gradients In Complex Perovskites, Dandan Mao

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Various experimental and theoretical work indicate that the local structure and chemical ordering play a crucial role in the different physical behaviors of lead-based complex ferroelectrics with the ABO 3 perovskite structure. First-principles linearized augmented plane wave (LAPW) with the local orbital extension method within local density approximation (LDA) are performed on structural models of Pb(Zr1/2Ti1/2 )O3 (PZT), Pb(Sc1/2Ta1/2)O3 (PST), Pb(Sc2/3W1/3)O3 (PSW), and Pb(Mg 1/3Nb2/3)O3 (PMN) to calculate electric field gradients (EFGs). In order to simulate these disordered alloys, various structural models were constructed with different imposed chemical orderings and symmetries. Calculations were carried out as a function of B-site …

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 …

Spatial Beam Shaping Of High-Power Ultrashort Laser Pulses, Shuyan Zhang

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

This thesis presents both theoretical and experimental studies of a diffractive beam shaping system for ultrashort high-power laser pulses.;A theoretical model is developed to simulate the reshaped intensity profiles for a 100-fs pulse with various energy levels. Both temporal evolution and spatial intensity distribution of the pulse at the target plane of the beam shaping system are calculated. Numerical simulation shows that after passing through the beam shaping system, the pulse front is significantly curved due to the propagation time delay, and the pulse duration time through the target plane is broadened because of the group velocity dispersion. However, for …

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 …

Chumming On The Chesapeake Bay And Complexity Theory: Why The Precautionary Principle, Not Cost-Benefit Analysis, Makes More Sense As A Regulatory Approach, Hope M. Babcock

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Estuaries like the Chesapeake Bay ("Bay") and Puget Sound are in grave trouble. They each suffer from poor water quality, loss of habitat, and declining biodiversity, and efforts to restore their health are straining both public and private resources. While accomplishments are often recorded in the fight against these ills, it is clear these accomplishments "are not yet equal to the scale of the problems." The focus of this article is on the nation's largest estuary, the Bay. Despite the investment of billions of dollars to improve water quality, the Bay continues to suffer from severe environmental degradation that impairs …

Magnetization Dynamics And Anisotropy In Ferromagnetic/Antiferromagnetic Ni/Nio Bilayers, Andreas Petersen

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

The Effects Of Mercury On The Nesting Success And Return Rate Of Tree Swallows (Tachycineta Bicolor), Rebecka L. Brasso

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

The Infection Dynamics Of Pav1 In The Caribbean Spiny Lobster Panulirus Argus, Caiwen Li

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Panulirus argus Virus 1 (PaV1) is an emerging disease in Caribbean spiny lobster Panulirus argus. It is considered a threat to the lobster industry in the Florida Keys. In order to understand the infection dynamics of the PaV1 virus in the lobster host, a sensitive and specific fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) assay was developed for diagnosis of PaV1 in lobsters. The lower limit of detection using the 110-bp DNA probe in a dot-blot hybridization for PaV1 was 10 pg of cloned DNA template and 10 ng of genomic DNA extracted from hemolymph of diseased spiny lobster. The probe specifically …

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 …

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

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

Mercury Exposure In Terrestrial Insectivorous Birds, Scott Lawrence Friedman

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

Forward Secure Fuzzy Extractors, David Goldenberg

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

Using Building Energy Simulation And Geospatial Modeling Techniques In Determine High Resolution Building Sector Energy Consumption Profiles, Shem C. Heiple

Dissertations and Theses

A technique is presented for estimating hourly and seasonal energy consumption profiles in the building sector at spatial scales down to the individual taxlot or parcel. The method combines annual building energy simulations for cityspecific prototypical buildings and commonly available geospatial data in a Geographical Information System (GIS) framework. Hourly results can be extracted for any day and exported as a raster output at spatial scales as fine as an individual parcel (

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 …

Resolving Terrain Effects In Borehole Temperature Profiles, Shannon M. Heinle

Theses and Dissertations

The study of borehole paleoclimatology aids scientists in determining past climate changes and in understanding current climate trends. Accurate borehole temperature logs are necessary to obtain a useful temperature profile. However, as many climate workers have discovered, borehole temperature profiles can have many causes of inaccuracy. Uncertainties associated with borehole data include errors stemming from temperature measurement, depth measurement, thermophysical property measurements, and terrain effects. Terrain effects include topography, changes in land cover over time, direct and diffused sun radiation, and groundwater flow.

This study focused on specific terrain effects influencing borehole temperature profiles in the United States borehole dataset …

Quantifying The Glacial Meltwater Component Of Streamflow In The Middle Fork Nooksack River, Whatcom County, Wa, Using A Distributed Hydrology Model, Carrie B. Donnell

WWU Graduate School Collection

Glacial meltwater is a vital component of rivers and streams in glaciated regions such as the Pacific Northwest, and can be critical for municipal water supplies, power generation, and habitat issues. The Middle Fork of the Nooksack River is fed by meltwater from Deming Glacier on Mount Baker, WA. The City of Bellingham has been diverting water from the Middle Fork since 1962 to supplement the water supply, and to maintain water quality in Lake Whatcom, the water source for the city. Because of regulations, water is only diverted when the Middle Fork exceeds minimum acceptable streamflow. A concern for …

Applicability Of The Nlos Model For Predictions Of Soil Water Movement And Nitrogen Transport In An Agricultural Soil, Agassiz, Bc, Heather R. Hirsch

WWU Graduate School Collection

The Abbotsford-Sumas aquifer is a shallow, unconfined aquifer in northern Whatcom County, WA and southern British Columbia, Canada that is contaminated with nitrates due to agricultural land use. Currently, conservation managers rely on Post-Harvest Soil Nitrate Tests (PHSNTs) to predict nitrate leaching potential to the aquifer. However, these tests have limitations as an assessment tool because of their inaccuracy. Therefore, US and Canadian government agencies are considering the NLEAP on STELLA (NLOS) leaching model as an additional tool for assessing nutrient management strategies. NLOS is an adaptation of the Nitrogen Leaching and Economic Analysis Package (NLEAP) model. I examined the …