Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Normal And Δ-Normal Configurations In Toric Algebra, Liam Solus

Honors Papers

Toric algebra is a field of study that lies at the intersection of algebra, geometry, and combinatorics. Thus, the algebraic properties of the toric ideal IA defined by the vector configuration A are often characterizable via the geometric and combinatorial properties of its corresponding toric variety and A, respectively. Here, we focus on the property of normality of A. A normal vector configuration defines the toric ideal of a normal toric variety. However, the definition of normality of A is based entirely on the algebraic structures associated with A without regard to any of its combinatorial properties. In this paper, …

Infrared Spectroscopy Of Trapped Gases In Metal-Organic Frameworks, Jennifer M. Schloss

Honors Papers

There are a range of environmental and industrial applications to capturing carbon dioxide from gas mixtures. Currently, materials being used in these applications bind carbon dioxide too strongly for practical purposes, such that they require large amounts of energy to be regenerated for reuse.

Highly porous materials called metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) could serve much more effectively as carbon-capturing materials, as they suck up large amounts of carbon dioxide gas at pressures and temperatures that are nearly ideal for carbon-capture applications. Moreover, they require much less energy than current materials to release the carbon dioxide and be regenerated. Additionally, many different …

Simple Games On Networks, Jason Kimmel

Honors Papers

In the same way that traditional game theory captured the minds of economists and allowed complex problems to be studied using simple models, so have games on networks come to be used in computer science. In particular, previous work has focused on extending a two-player base game M over a network G by having each vertex in G chose a strategy from the base game and play it simultaneously against all adjacent nodes. Similarly, the utility for each vertex becomes the sum of the utility of that node in each of the games it plays against its neighbors. The resulting …

A Multifaceted Phenomenon Of Hydrophobic Effects: Insights Learned From Nucleation Algorithm Based Computer Simulation Approach, Hyunmi Kim

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

We have applied our new approach, a combination of the AVUS-HR nucleation algorithm and a thermodynamic cycle, to the studies of hydrophobicity-related researches. Due to the multifaceted characteristics of hydrophobicity, it is essential to acquire knowledge in various environments where hydrophobic relevant events occur for comprehensive understanding of this process. In this regards, we have chosen two relatively unstudied hydrophobic subjects for application of our new methodology. For the first subject, hydrophobic association behaviors of a methane pair confined into a nanometer sized hydrophobic cavity have been investigated. Our new approach demonstrates that the association behavior between two methane molecules …

Testing And Improving The Luminosity Relations For Gamma-Ray Bursts, Andrew Collazzi

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Gamma Ray Bursts (GRBs) have several luminosity relations where a measurable property of a burst light curve or spectrum is correlated with the burst luminosity. These luminosity relations are calibrated for the fraction of bursts with spectroscopic redshifts and hence the known luminosities. GRBs have thus become known as a type of "standard candle"; where standard candle is meant in the usual sense that their luminosities can be derived from measurable properties of the bursts. GRBs can therefore be used for the same cosmology applications as Type Ia supernovae, including the construction of the Hubble Diagram and measuring massive star …

Formation And Stabilization Of Combustion-Generated Environmentally Persistent Free Radicals On Transition Metal Oxides Supported On Silica, Eric Warren Pimentel Vejerano

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The formation of environmentally persistent free radicals in combustion system was investigated from chemisorptions of chlorine- and hydroxy-substituted benzenes on transition metal oxide surface under post-combustion conditions. This manuscript reports the formation of EPFRs on silica particles containing 5% Fe(III)2O3, Ni(II)O, and Zn(II)O. The EPFRs are formed by the chemisorption of substituted aromatic molecular adsorbates on the metal cation center followed by electron transfer from the adsorbate to the metal ion at temperatures from 150 to 400 oC. Depending on the nature of the adsorbate and the temperature, two organic EPFRs were formed: a phenoxyl-type radical, which has a lower …

Redox-Active Liposome Delivery Agents With Highly Controllable Stimuli-Responsive Behavior, Nicole Hollabaugh Carrier

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Over the last few decades, liposomes have generated a lot of interest as drug delivery vehicles to address the need for providing both increased therapeutic efficacy and decreased systemic exposure, simultaneously. The challenge of increasing drug accumulation at diseased sites, without compromising the integrity and stability of the liposomal carrier during circulation, has been met with two possible solutions: (1) active targeting and (2) active triggering. To achieve selective and site-specific delivery of drugs to tumors, active triggering methods have been developed wherein a responsive element is incorporated into the liposomal bilayer, which causes destabilization of the liposome upon exposure …

Guided Modes And Resonant Transmission In Periodic Structures, Hairui Tu

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

We analyze resonant scattering phenomena of scalar fields in periodic slab and pillar structures that are related to the interaction between guided modes of the structure and plane waves emanating from the exterior. The mechanism for the resonance is the nonrobust nature of the guided modes with respect to perturbations of the wavenumber, which reflects the fact that the frequency of the mode is embedded in the continuous spectrum of the pseudo-periodic Helmholtz equation. We extend previous complex perturbation analysis of transmission anomalies to structures whose coefficients are only required to be measurable and bounded from above and below, and …

Structure-Function Relationships In Poly(3-Hexylthiophene)S Formed Via Manipulation Of Oxidative Coupling Routes, Warren James Solfiell

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This investigation focused on the analytical characterization of poly(3-hexylthiophene), a heterocyclic conducting polymer system, with an overall objective of elucidating the effects that the experimental conditions during chemical oxidation using iron(III) chloride as an oxidant impart on the structure of the resulting polymers. Poly(3-alkylthiophene)s are extensively studied materials due to their high electrical conductivities and unique optical properties that make them extremely valuable for use in contemporary technological applications and devices. Specifically, the aim of this research was to determine the dependence of structural characteristics, such as endgroups, molecular weights, and regioregularities, on the solvent employed for the reaction and …

Cognitive Radio Network With A Distributed Control Channel And Quality-Of-Service Solution, Urban Terrell Wiggins

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The proliferation of wireless access and applications to the Internet and the advent of a myriad of highly evolved portable communication devices; creates the need for an efficiently utilized radio spectrum. This is paramount in the licensed and unlicensed radio frequency bands, that spawn an exponential growth in Dynamic Spectrum Access (DSA) research, Cognitive Radio (CR) and Cognitive Radio Networks (CRN) research. DSA research has given way to the paradigm shift toward CR with its dynamic changes in transmission schemas. This paradigm shift from a fixed and centralized frequency spectrum environment has morphed into a dynamic and decentralized one. CR …

Fabrication Of Organosilane Nanostructures As Selective Sites For Surface Chemical Reactions, Kathie Lee Lusker

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Naturally self-assembled mesospheres provide a practical route for controlling the arrangement of materials on surfaces at the nanoscale. Periodic arrays of well-defined nanostructures can be produced with different nanomaterials and interpattern spacings. Results presented in this dissertation demonstrate particle lithography methods developed for fabricating arrays of organosilane nanostructures. Surfaces were designed for the selective deposition of polymers and nanoparticles to produce multicomponent nanopatterns. The approaches for surface patterning provide new directions for studying surface chemistry at the molecular-level, and have practical application for emerging photovoltaic thin film technologies. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) provides unique capabilities for molecular visualization and ultrasensitive …

Integrated Modular Microfluidic System For Forensic Alu Dna Typing, Samuel Kimani Njoroge

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Driven by the numerous applications of genome-related research, fully integrated microfluidic systems have been developed that have advanced the capabilities of molecular and, in particular, genetic analyses. A brief overview on integrated microfluidic systems for DNA analysis is given in Chapter 1 followed by a report on micro-capillary electrophoresis (µCE) of Alu elements with laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) detection, in which the monomorphic Alu insertions on the X and Y chromosomes were utilized to detect male DNA in large female DNA background (Y: X = 1:19) without cell sorting prior to the determination. The polymorphic Alu loci with known restricted geographical …

Quality Of Service Based Data-Aware Scheduling, Archit Kulshrestha

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Distributed supercomputers have been widely used for solving complex computational problems and modeling complex phenomena such as black holes, the environment, supply-chain economics, etc. In this work we analyze the use of these distributed supercomputers for time sensitive data-driven applications. We present the scheduling challenges involved in running deadline sensitive applications on shared distributed supercomputers running large parallel jobs and introduce a ``data-aware'' scheduling paradigm that overcomes these challenges by making use of Quality of Service classes for running applications on shared resources. We evaluate the new data-aware scheduling paradigm using an event-driven hurricane simulation framework which attempts to run …

Semiconducting Polymers And Block Copolymers Prepared By Chain-Growth Living Polymerization, Jinwoo Choi

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Organic semiconducting polymers are the unique materials that considered a basis for the next generation of electronic and optoelectronic applications. However, high device performance of semiconducting polymers strongly depends on their molecular structure and nanoscale organization. Therefore, it is an essential task to develop robust and versatile synthetic approaches to build such well-defined semiconducting polymer materials. This Ph.D. study aimed at design of state-of-the-art synthetic approaches towards organic semiconducting polymers via chain-growth living polymerization as well as development of polymer architectures which can self-organize into supramolecular nanoassemblies or allow external control of the polymer’s properties. First, we prepared a series …

Housing With Support Marketing Study Tool, Gary M. Travis

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Housing for persons with serious mental illness (SMI) that is permanent, affordable, and supportive is very limited because the availability of these resources is inadequate and subject to significant demand by persons that are disabled or on a limited income. The limited access to housing for persons with SMI is contributing to homelessness and Minnesota has seen a steady rise since 1994 in the rate and number of people that are homeless and coping with mental illness (Wilder Research, 2010a). While some of the impact of disability, homelessness, and limited affordable housing access is known, what remains uncertain is a …

An Incentive Based Approach To Detect Selfish Nodes In Mobile P2p Network, Hemanth Meka

Masters Theses

"The growth of mobile devices led to the wide use of Mobile P2P networks. These networks are used in a wide variety of areas and hence there is lot of research in the field of mobile networks. Detecting selfish nodes is one of the research topics triggered due to the popularity of mobile P2P networks. It is necessary to detect selfish nodes in such networks to improve the efficiency of the network. In this thesis, an incentive based approach to detect selfish nodes is designed and evaluated. This approach differs from the existing work as it (i) can be used …

Morpho-Tectonic Analysis Of The Tekeze And The Blue Nile Drainage Systems Of Northwestern Ethiopian Plateau, Ethiopia, Elamin Hassan Dai Ismail

Masters Theses

"This study examines the morpho-tectonic evolution of the drainage system in the northwestern Ethiopian plateau by focusing on the Tekeze and the Blue Nile Rivers. The plateau is underlain by Precambrian crystalline rocks, overlain by Mesozoic sedimentary section that is topped with a 1-3 km thick pile of Oligocene-Quaternary volcanic rocks. It is bounded in the east and southeast by the Afar Depression (AD) and the Main Ethiopian Rift (MER). Satellite derived Digital Elevation Models are analyzed using ArcGIS and RiverTools to extract morpho-tectonic parameters of tributaries of the Tekeze and Blue Nile Rivers including Normalized Steepness Index (K_{sn …}

Optimization Of Textual Affect Entity Relation Models, Ajith Cherukad Jose

Masters Theses

"Affective computing is a recent research area in computer science which deals with the design and development of systems that can recognize, interpret and process human affects/emotions. Various research projects in the past have focused on affect sensing and processing raw textual data. One such research effort conducted at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) has introduced an affect propagation algorithm which can generate affective relationships between entities contained in a given textual document. The algorithm depends upon a set of real-valued numeric parameters for which the best possible values are unknown. This thesis describes three different contributions to ORNL's …

Meloc - Memory And Location Optimized Caching For Mobile Ad Hoc Networks, Lekshmi Manian Chidambaram

Masters Theses

"The advancement of Mobile ad hoc networks (MANET) is tremendous in the field of social and military applications. Caching and Replication are the two common techniques used to improve data access efficiency in Mobile Ad hoc networks. Caching favors data access efficiency by bringing data closer to the source. Existing caching approaches are deficient in reducing the number of cache locations, thus reducing the number of copies, which is needed for many mission critical applications considering safety and security. Conversely, reducing the number of caches should not affect the efficiency of data access. We design an efficient broker based caching …

Scholarship In International Technical Communication, 1950-1989: A Historical Study, Xiaoyan Huang

Masters Theses

"This thesis is a study of the published scholarship in international technical communication from 1950 to 1989. It provides insight into the four decades' worth of scholarship as well as a resource for the development of present and future scholarship in international technical communication. It attempts to answer the following research questions: What did scholars of international technical communication study in each decade? What are the similarities and differences among the four decades in terms of scholarship in international technical communication? What are the strengths and weaknesses of the relevant scholarship in the four decades? What can we learn from …

The Origin Of Quartz Glomerocrysts: Insights From The Rhyolite Dike At Medicine Park, Ok, Sedeg Ahmed E. Ahmed

Masters Theses

"The origin of quartz glomerocrysts a distinctive petrographic feature of the rhyolite dike in Medicine Park, Oklahoma, was investigated using transmitted light and cathodoluminescence microscopy to determine if quartz glomerocrysts formed during quartz crystallization or during quartz dissolution. Quartz glomerocrysts are typically comprised of two to six individual phenocrysts of quartz and commonly exhibit subhedral partially embayed crystal forms with very rare euhedral phenocrysts in both glomerocrysts and individual quartz phenocrysts. The size range of the individual quartz phenocrysts are 0.08mm to 1.7mm while the size range is 0.08mm to 3.25mm for quartz glomerocrysts . Cathodoluminescence revealed that individual quartz …

A Detailed Petrographic Analysis Of The Mt. Sheridan Roosevelt Gabbro And Associated Rock Types, Daniel Russell Lasco

Masters Theses

"The Mt. Sheridan Roosevelt Gabbro of the Wichita Mountains igneous province in Southwestern Oklahoma underwent dynamic crystallization, resulting in three distinct gabbro zones with a range of pegmatite morphologies spread throughout. The three zones are informally named the lower, central, and upper zones. The lower zone consists of a quartz and alkali feldspar poor, plagioclase and pyroxene rich, poorly altered, gabbro cumulate. The central zone is comprised of a heavily altered quartz and alkali feldspar rich gabbro with few cumulate textures. The upper zone is mineralogically and texturally identical to the lower zone, distinguished only by its higher elevation. The …

Assess Commercialization Feasibility Of Algae-Based Bio-Fuel With Dashboard And Scorecard Technologies, Madhur Chopra

Masters Theses

"The growing energy depleting energy supplies and increasing environmental pollution has motivated researchers across the globe to look for alternative energy sources. Various energy sources have been identified but none of them have the capability of realistically replacing the fossil fuels and meeting the current demand. Algae based bio-fuels give some hope but producing them at large scale is a challenge which needs to be overcome.

The underlying objective of this research project is two folds. Firstly, the project aims to assist with the commercialization of algae based bio-fuels by developing Dashboard based and Balanced Scorecard based monitoring prototypes. The …

Analyzing Dashboard Performance In Educational, Non-Profit Sectors, Rutuja B. Honnatti

Masters Theses

"Applications of the performance dashboard in the business sector are well documented, but very little research has been performed on its implementation in higher education. The changing economic scenario has exerted pressure on universities to perform to a new standard and achieve their missions and goals. The objective of this research is to investigate if performance management dashboards can be applied to overcome challenges faced by institutions of higher education, such as lack of access to information, stakeholders not taking advantage of what is being offered, students' anxiety about not being able to find a job and strategic planning. A …

Relaxation Imaging To Characterize Lightweight Polymer-Crosslinked Aerogels, Emmalou T. Satterfield

Masters Theses

"Silica aerogels are three-dimensional assemblies of silica nanoparticles with extremely low densities. In some instances, the internal void volume is more than 90% of the total volume. The highly porous structure of the aerogels leads to attractive properties for thermal and noise insulation, due to very low thermal conductivity and very high acoustic impedance. The strength of silica aerogels has been substantially improved by casting a thin conformal polymer coating over the entire internal porous surfaces of the nanostructure. The coating reinforces the interparticle connections without significantly compromising the internal void space. To analyze and compare the properties of several …

Isolation And Characterization Of Bacterial Symbionts From Crotalaria Spectabilis Grown On Trichloroethene Contaminated Soil, April Lyn Rocha

Masters Theses

"The discovery of several members of the Leguminosae family growing on a TCE contaminated site demonstrated that they have the capabilities to tolerate the TCE contamination. This led to an investigation of the plants' ability to metabolize TCE. Research by Dr. Lee Newman showed that nodules from Crotalaria spectabilis grown on the site had TCE metabolites present while nodules from other legumes at the site did not. The presence of TCE metabolites within the C. spectabilis nodules suggests that the bacterial symbiont may be responsible for TCE metabolism. This led us to investigate the symbiont of C. spectabilis and its …

Modeling Hourly Electricity Prices: A Structural Time Series Approach Incorporating Modified Garch Innovations, Edirisinghe Mudiyanselage Asitha Edirisinghe

Doctoral Dissertations

"The main objective of this research is to develop time series based procedures for modeling day-ahead and real-time hourly electricity prices. Such empirical processes exhibit features that make the direct application of standard time series models infeasible. Four years of hourly day-ahead and real-time electricity price data from the region supplied by the American Electric Power (AEP) company through the PJM Regional Transmission Organization (RTO) and one half years of real-time electricity prices from the MISO RTO are utilized as an empirical basis for developing such procedures. The price data show several features, such as irregular seasonal behavior, weekly and …

Evidence Supporting Measure Of Similarity For Reducing The Complexity In Information Fusion, Xinde Li, Jean Dezert, Florentin Smarandache, Xinhan Huang

Branch Mathematics and Statistics Faculty and Staff Publications

This paper proposes a new solution for reducing the number of sources of evidence to be combined in order to diminish the complexity of the fusion process required in some applications where the real-time constraint and strong computing resource limitation are of prime importance. The basic idea consists in selecting, among the whole set of sources of evidence, only the biggest subset of sources which are not too contradicting based on a criterion of Evidence Supporting Measure of Similarity (ESMS) in order to process solely the coherent information received. The ESMS criterion serves actually as a generic tool for outlier …

A Study Of Mo(4+)Quinoxalyl-Dithiolenes As Models For The Non-Innocent Pyranopterin In The Molybdenum Cofactor, Kelly G. Matz, Regina P. Mte, Rebecca Rothstein, Martin L. Kirk, Sharon J. Nieter Burgmayer

Chemistry Faculty Research and Scholarship

A model system for the molybdenum cofactor has been developed that illustrates the noninnocent behavior of an N-heterocycle appended to a dithiolene chelate on molybdenum. The pyranopterin of the molybdenum cofactor is modeled by a quinoxalyldithiolene ligand (S(2)BMOQO) formed from the reaction of molybdenum tetrasulfide and quinoxalylalkyne. The resulting complexes TEA[Tp*MoX(S(2)BMOQO)] [1, X = S; 3, X = O; TEA = tetraethylammonium; Tp* = hydrotris(3,5-dimethylpyrazolyl)borate] undergo a dehydration-driven intramolecular cyclization within quinoxalyldithiolene, forming Tp*MoX(pyrrolo-S(2)BMOQO) (2, X = S; 4, X = O). 4 can be oxidized by one electron to produce the molybdenum(5+) complex 5. In a preliminary report of …

Neutrosophic Interval Bialgebraic Structures, Florentin Smarandache, W.B. Vasantha Kandasamy

Branch Mathematics and Statistics Faculty and Staff Publications

In this book the authors for the first time introduce the notion of neutrosophic intervals and study the algebraic structures using them. Concepts like groups and fields using neutrosophic intervals are not possible. Pure neutrosophic intervals and mixed neutrosophic intervals are introduced and by the very structure of the interval one can understand the category to which it belongs. We in this book introduce the notion of pure (mixed) neutrosophic interval bisemigroups or neutrosophic biinterval semigroups. We derive results pertaining to them. The new notion of quasi bisubsemigroups and ideals are introduced. Smarandache interval neutrosophic bisemigroups are also introduced and …