Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Are Sheep And Plants The Future Of Solar? Oberlin College Agrivoltaic Project, Sydney Rosensaft

The Synapse: Intercollegiate science magazine

No abstract provided.

Save The Wasps: Conservation Struggles In Protecting An Animal With A Bad Reputation, Megan Tiffany

The Synapse: Intercollegiate science magazine

No abstract provided.

Unraveling The Mystery Of Autoimmune Encephalitis: Navigating Life And The Science Of A Rare Disease, Anna Harrison

The Synapse: Intercollegiate science magazine

No abstract provided.

Immunity Revolution: Training Innate Immunity For Enhanced Defense, Minh Tran Ha

The Synapse: Intercollegiate science magazine

No abstract provided.

Inside Aphasia: A Deeper Dive Into Brain Injuries' Impact On Language, Keesha Joseph

The Synapse: Intercollegiate science magazine

No abstract provided.

The Neural Manifold: Unfolding The Matrix Of Our Brain, James Lee

The Synapse: Intercollegiate science magazine

No abstract provided.

Issue 38

The Synapse: Intercollegiate science magazine

No abstract provided.

Radiation Exposure Calibration Of The Al2o3:C With Radium-226 And Cesium-137 Using The Osl Method, Selma Tepeli Aydin

All Theses

Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dosimetry was utilized to calibrate Al₂O₃:C powder dosimeters, available commercially as the nanoDot® from Landauer Inc., and compare the dosimeter response to radium-226 (²²⁶Ra) and cesium-137 (¹³⁷Cs). The signal from the OSL was quantified using a microSTARii^® OSL reader also produced by Landauer Inc. Dose-response curves were developed for ²²⁶Ra and ¹³⁷Cs experiments (5 dosimeters each) at thirteen absorbed doses. Individual dosimeter response was tracked by serial number. Linear regression analysis was performed to determine if there were significant differences between the intercepts of the …

Generalized Vulnerability Measures Of Graphs, Julia Vanlandingham

All Theses

Several measures of vulnerability of a graph look at how easy it is to disrupt the network by removing/disabling vertices. As graph-theoretical parameters, they treat all vertices alike: each vertex is equally important. For example, the integrity parameter considers the number of vertices removed and the maximum number of vertices in a component that remains. We consider the generalization of these measures of vulnerability to weighted vertices in order to better model real-world applications. In particular, we investigate bounds on the weighted versions of connectivity and integrity, when polynomial algorithms for computation exist, and other characteristics of the generalized measures.

The Private Pilot Check Ride: Applying The Spacing Effect Theory To Predict Time To Proficiency For The Practical Test, Michael Scott Harwin

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the relationship between a set of targeted factors and the total flight time students needed to become ready to take the private pilot check ride. The study was grounded in Ebbinghaus’s (1885/1913/2013) forgetting curve theory and spacing effect, and Ausubel’s (1963) theory of meaningful learning. The research factors included (a) training time to proficiency, which represented the number of training days needed to become check-ride ready; (b) flight training program (Part 61 vs. Part 141); (c) organization offering the training program (2- or 4-year college/university vs. FBO); (d) scheduling policy (mandated vs. student-driven); and demographical variables, which …

Stochastic Optimal Control Of Conditional Mckean-Vlasov Equations With Jump And Markovian Switching, Charles Samuel Conly Sharp

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis obtains a number of results in stochastic optimal control for conditional McKean-Vlasov equations with jump and Markovian switching. First, we prove the uniqueness of the solutions and derive a relevant version of Itô's formula. We provide the dynamic programming principle and prove the associated verification theorem. A stochastic maximum principle is established. Further, we derive the relationship between dynamic programming and the stochastic maximum principle. Additionally, we utilize our stochastic maximum principle result for a mean-variance portfolio selection problem.

Assessing The Effects Of The Spring Hunting Season Start Date On Wild Turkey Seasonal Productivity And Hunter Behavior, Joseph Quehl

Masters Theses

Many states throughout the Southeast have documented declines in wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) harvest and estimates of recruitment in poult-per-hen ratios. Wild turkey populations are driven by seasonal productivity, so the decline in these parameters may indicate a decline in the overall population. One hypothesis as to why we are seeing a reduction in productivity and a potential population decline is that the spring hunting season is disrupting the reproductive cycle by harvesting too many males before they have had the opportunity to breed, or by harvesting dominant males and disrupting the social hierarchy of the flock. Our …

Synthesis Of Block Copolymer Additives For Examining Phase Morphology And Improving Mechanical Properties Of Thermoplastics Elastomers., Bishal Upadhyay

Masters Theses

Polystyrene-block-poly(1,4-butaidene)-block-polystyrene (PS-PB-PS) triblock copolymers are one of the most widely studied thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs) due to their ease of synthesis, non-polar nature, and commercial applicability. Like many block copolymers, incompatibility between PS and PB causes these TPEs to undergo microphase segregation. Many studies have examined the mechanical properties of blends of TPEs and PS homopolymer additives. However, there have been few studies focused on understanding the morphology and mechanical properties of blends of TPEs and copolymer additives with different architectures. Herein, I describe the synthesis of linear and graft copolymer additives based on the random copolymers poly(methyl methacrylate-random-cyclohexyl methacrylate) (PrC). …

The Impacts Of Tilled-In Biodegradable Plastic Mulch On Soil Microbial Communities, Corissa L. Martin

Masters Theses

Plastics mulch films are used in agriculture to help increase crop production by regulating soil water retention and soil temperature while also preventing weed growth. Despite these benefits, plastic mulches have led to higher levels of microplastic pollution as weathering occurs. In response to this issue, biodegradable plastic mulches (BDMs) have been introduced to help reduce plastic pollution as they are designed to be tilled into soil after each growing season to continue degradation. Degradation of these mulch films is dependent on climate and, in some areas, complete degradation can take years. Since some biodegradable plastic mulches are made of …

The Influence Of Ion-Ion Correlations On Conductivity In Concentrated Ionic Systems, Md Dipu Ahmed

Masters Theses

This study delves into the fascinating realm of concentrated ionic systems, such as ionic liquids, superionic materials, organic ionic plastic crystals, and polyelectrolytes, which hold immense potential for energy storage applications. The focus is on understanding the intricate role of ionic correlations in shaping their ionic conductivity behavior. These correlations can either boost or impede conductivity, yet their underlying mechanisms remain elusive. Through extensive investigation of various materials, including ionic liquids with differing anionic masses, pure organic ionic plastic crystals, and doped systems, this research employs advanced techniques like dielectric spectroscopy and innovative momentum conservation models to quantify these correlations. …

The Development Of Strategies For Coastal Wetland Conservation Prioritization In Virginia Under Climate Change, Molly Mitchell, Z. Lv, Bryan Watts, Chance Hines, Kory Angstadt, David Stanhope, Kirk J. Havens, Donna Marie Bilkovic, Karinna Nunez

Reports

This project focuses on developing strategies to improve our understanding and strengthen the sustainability of Virginia’s coastal wetlands to climate change impacts. Marsh migration under sea level rise is a primary pathway for marsh persistence. However, the resulting extent and habitat function of the newly migrated marsh is still being explored. In addition, accelerating sea level rise suggests that coastal wetlands need frequent monitoring to assess change. This project addresses Virginia regional priority 1, to develop a framework to overcome barriers to use existing wetland assessment methodologies and studies for restoration/compensatory mitigation projects to improve functional performance of aquatic resources …

Constraining Silicate Weathering During The Middle Eocene Climatic Optimum (Meco) Using Radiolarian Ge/Si, Olivia R. Laub

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Silicate weathering has long been considered a fundamental component of the earth system and has been cited as one of, if not the primary stabilizing feedback for climate. However, recent work has shown that the role of silicate weathering in the climate system is more complicated and dynamic than previously assumed. In this study I examine the role of weathering in the enigmatic warming event, the Middle Eocene Climatic Optimum (MECO) that occurred approximately 40 Ma. This event works as a good case study as there are multiple features of the MECO that differentiate it from other warming events that …

Computational Study About Noncovalent Bonding Systems Involving Halogen, Chalcogen And Pnicogen Bonds, Jia Lu

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

First terms used in this thesis are introduced and defined as follows. In the periodic table, the elements in the 17^th column are named halogen including fluorine (F), chlorine (Cl), bromine (Br) and iodine (I). The elements in the 16^th column are named chalcogen including oxygen (O), sulfur (S), selenium (Se) and tellurium (Te). The elements in the 15^th column are named pnicogen including nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), arsenic (As) and antimony (Sb).

After hydrogen bonds (B-H⋅⋅⋅B) are well studied and understood by scientists and researchers, halogen bonds (R-X⋅⋅⋅B) have drawn attention due to the similarities in …

Fire And Flow: Assessing The Long-Term Effects Of Wildfires And Impact Of High Flow Events On Phosphorus Concentrations In Mountain Streams, Rachel Watts

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Climate change has led to significant shifts in the Earth’s weather patterns, often leading to longer, more intense droughts, irregular but extreme storms, and more severe wildfires with longer burn durations. These weather pattern changes have frequently led to shifts in ecosystem dynamics, impacting aspects such as nutrient flux, species diversity, and overall habitat health. Regarding nutrient flux specifically, changes in phosphorus (P) concentrations can negatively impact stream systems as elevated levels can lead to toxic algal blooms, which can cause habitat degradation, loss of usable recreational areas, and large fish kills. A common trigger of these P spikes is …

Reducing Inputs And Adding Value To Turfgrass Systems Through Clover Inclusion And Plant Growth-Promoting Rhizobacteria Applications, Paige E. Boyle

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Recently, the US has seen an expansion in the amount of turfgrass land cover (lawns, parks, roadsides, sports fields, and golf courses), as well as an interest in reducing fertilizer, water, and pesticide use in these grass systems. To help maintain quality and function while reducing resource inputs, two promising approaches have emerged: planting clover into lawns and applying plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria.

White clover and grass mixtures have been studied for their ability to cut down on fertilizer usage and provide a uniform, dark green lawn, but other clover types have not been as widely studied and may provide similar …

Weakly-Supervised Semantic Segmentation, Zhaozheng Chen

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

Semantic segmentation is a fundamental task in computer vision that assigns a label to every pixel in an image based on the semantic meaning of the objects present. It demands a large amount of pixel-level labeled images for training deep models. Weakly-supervised semantic segmentation (WSSS) is a more feasible approach that uses only weak annotations to learn the segmentation task. Image-level label based WSSS is the most challenging and popular, where only the class label for the entire image is provided as supervision. To address this challenge, Class Activation Map (CAM) has emerged as a powerful technique in WSSS. CAM …

Supporting Software Engineers With Large Language Model-Based Automation, Ting Zhang

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

In recent years, software engineering (SE) has witnessed significant growth, leading to the creation and sharing of an abundance of software artifacts such as source code, bug reports, and pull requests. Analyzing these artifacts is crucial for comprehending the sentiments of software developers and automating various SE tasks, ultimately leading to more human-centered automated SE and enhancing software development efficiency. However, the diverse and unstructured nature of software text poses a significant challenge to this analysis. In response, researchers have investigated a variety of approaches, including the utilization of natural language processing techniques. The advent of large language models (LLMs), …

Towards Securing Smart Contracts Systematically, Duy Tai Nguyen

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

Smart contracts are a groundbreaking technique that allows users to programmatically modify the state of the blockchain. They are essentially self-enforcing programs that are deployed and executed on top of the blockchain. In recent years, we have witnessed various smart contract incidents that led to substantial financial losses and even business closures. These incidents mainly arise from design flaws in Solidity, a dominant programming language for writing smart contracts, which complicates the process of detecting and repairing vulnerabilities. Furthermore, there is a growing interest in attacking smart contracts by the attackers. This thesis is dedicated to developing effective methods to …

Technical Maturity And Network Effects Of Xf Artificial Intelligence Open Platform, Tao Jiang

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

Studying the impact mechanism of the commercial value of artificial intelligence open technology platforms has theoretical and practical significance. This article aims to enrich and expand the theoretical research on technology maturity, value co creation, and network effects on open technology platforms at home and abroad through empirical research on artificial intelligence open technology platforms and ecology. This study takes XF's open technology platform case as the research object, and based on technology maturity theory, value co creation, and network effects theory, examines the network effect value creation mechanism of open technology platforms driven by technology maturity in three development …

Gr-493 Advancing Non-Invasive Glucose Monitoring Through Integrated Physical Factors And Wavelength Optimization, El Arbi Belfarsi

C-Day Computing Showcase

This work examines the effects of physical factors like skin tone, temperature, thickness, and humidity on the performance of GlucoCheck, a non-invasive glucose monitoring device using IR technology. It delves into how these variables influence light absorption and scattering in the skin, affecting IR image quality in GlucoCheck. The research addresses how skin humidity alters transmittance, and skin temperature and color diversely impact light absorption. These findings underscore the importance of considering these variables to improve glucose level predictions. We propose a data collection strategy using advanced sensors for real-time acquisition of these factors, integrating them into the algorithm for …

Uc-424 Ai Limitations For Web Devlopment, Jacob J. Lalicata, Josh Garske, Thomas Rowlinson, Matthew Madrigal, Muyiwa E. Adewumi

C-Day Computing Showcase

This research project delves into the exploratory journey of using an AI (Artificial Intelligence), specifically ChatGPT, to assist in developing an auction website. Highlighting the iterative process of problem identification, solution finding, and implementation during development, this project aims to furnish insights into leveraging AI capabilities while addressing its limitations. Through this, developers and AI enthusiasts can gain a comprehensive understanding of effective collaboration with AI, addressing common pitfalls, and devising solutions during software development.

Uc-491 Spectrum Analysis Cli Tool, Vitor B. Santos, Trey Redden, Sam Corella, Christopher Flores Santos, Jonathan Glennon

C-Day Computing Showcase

The Spectrum Analysis CLI Tool takes in .mp4 recordings of a Spectrum Analyzer, converts them programmatically into values the application can understand and outputs this data into a .csv file. This file can be parsed/filtered by the user with commands during upload of the .mp4 recording, or anytime after the recording has been processed.

Uc-502 Chess App With Ai, Connor Handley, John Paul Cohran, Cole Smith, Paul Russell, Eric Tsai

C-Day Computing Showcase

The objective of this project is to create a website that contains a virtual chess game, where the user can play against an opponent powered by an artificial intelligence model. This chess platform will be a widely accessible and user-friendly way to become more familiar with and practice the game of chess.

Gr-504 Synthetic Dna Sequence Generation And Classification For Species Discrimination, Nishat Tasnim

C-Day Computing Showcase

The two main goals of this research are to apply machine learning models in computational biology to classify DNA sequences from different species and to create synthetic DNA sequences using GANs. Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) synthesize DNA sequences while preserving key characteristics like sequence length and GC content. The dataset is enhanced by these artificial sequences, which makes classification jobs better. The classification accuracy of black rat and human genome sequences is evaluated using machine learning models, including Random Forest, SVM, and Logistic Regression. Notably, when trained with synthetic data, all models perform better.

Uc-454 Resilient Infrastructures: Enhancing Akwaaba's Cyber Defenses, Christian Mckee, Mateen Begum, Marisa G. Diaz, Kelvin Nguyen, Shreya Patel

C-Day Computing Showcase

The project focuses on securing the server infrastructure of Akwaaba, a Caribbean-inspired steakhouse chain with locations in New York City, Atlanta, and Los Angeles. It involves assessing risks, implementing mitigation strategies, and establishing access policies for the on-premise servers. The student team will analyze the Red Hat Linux-based Virtual Machine hosting the WordPress website, which uses PHP, MariaDB, and Apache. Their objective is to prevent intrusions and data breaches that could compromise customer and business data. Furthermore, the team will perform Red and Blue team penetration testing to evaluate security measures and simulate potential attacks. They will incorporate the latest …