Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Controls On The Development Of Hummocky Topography On Debris-Covered Glaciers, Ryan M. Strickland

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Rock debris covers many glaciers in Earth’s highest mountains and the debris impacts glacier response to changes in climate. Interactions between debris, drainage, glacier dynamics, and climate produce contrasts in melt rates that cause debris-covered glaciers to develop complex, hummocky topography. Contrasts in melt rate produce thousands of hills–hummocks–and depressions. Ponds and ice cliffs often form in the depressions. Although ponds and ice cliffs occupy only a small fraction of the surface, they account for nearly half of glacier melt. Understanding the processes that control the development of hummocky topography is key to predicting the evolution of debris-covered glaciers. In …

Transformer-Based Deep Learning Prediction Of 10-Degree Humphrey Visual Field Tests From 24-Degree Data, Min Shi, Anagha Lokhande, Yu Tian, Yan Luo, Mohammad Eslami, Saber Kazeminasab, Tobias Elze, Lucy Shen, Louis Pasquale, Sarah Wellik, Carlos Gustavo De Moraes, Jonathan Myers, Nazlee Zebardast, David Friedman, Michael Boland, Mengyu Wang

Wills Eye Hospital Papers

PURPOSE: To predict 10-2 Humphrey visual fields (VFs) from 24-2 VFs and associated non-total deviation features using deep learning.

METHODS: We included 5189 reliable 24-2 and 10-2 VF pairs from 2236 patients, and 28,409 reliable pairs of macular OCT scans and 24-2 VF from 19,527 eyes of 11,560 patients. We developed a transformer-based deep learning model using 52 total deviation values and nine VF test features to predict 68 10-2 total deviation values. The mean absolute error, root mean square error, and the R2 were evaluation metrics. We further evaluated whether the predicted 10-2 VFs can improve the structure-function relationship …

High Prevalence Of Artifacts In Optical Coherence Tomography With Adequate Signal Strength, Wei-Chun Lin, Aaron Coyner, Charles Amankwa, Abigail Lucero, Gadi Wollstein, Joel Schuman, Hiroshi Ishikawa

Wills Eye Hospital Papers

PURPOSE: This study aims to investigate the prevalence of artifacts in optical coherence tomography (OCT) images with acceptable signal strength and evaluate the performance of supervised deep learning models in improving OCT image quality assessment.

METHODS: We conducted a retrospective study on 4555 OCT images from 546 patients, with each image having an acceptable signal strength (≥6). A comprehensive analysis of prevalent OCT artifacts was performed, and five pretrained convolutional neural network models were trained and tested to infer images based on quality.

RESULTS: Our results showed a high prevalence of artifacts in OCT images with acceptable signal strength. Approximately …

Robust Hydropower Planning Balances Energy Generation, Carbon Emissions And Sediment Connectivity In The Mekong River Basin, M. Tangi, Rafael Schmitt, Rafael M. Almeida, S. Bossi, Alexander S. Flecker, F. Sala, A. Castelletti

School of Earth, Environmental, and Marine Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

We present a framework for strategic dam planning under uncertainty, which includes GHG emissions mitigation as a novel objective. We focus on the Mekong River Basin, a fast‐developing region heavily relying on river‐derived ecosystem services. We employ a multi‐objective evolutionary algorithm to identify strategic dam portfolios for different hydropower expansion targets, using process‐related and statistical models to derive indicators of sediment supply disruption and GHG emissions. We introduce a robust optimization approach that explores variations in optimal portfolio compositions for more than 5,000 state‐of‐ the‐world configurations, regarding sediment origins and trapping and GHG emissions. Thus, we can rank dam projects' …

3d-Magnetometer Arrays In Physics Experiments, Shaun G. Vavra

Masters Theses

This study presents the design and experimental evaluation of a magnetometer array utilizing LIS3MDL chips integrated with an Arduino microcontroller. Magnetometer arrays find crucial applications in various fields, including physics research, geophysics, and navigation systems. The goal of this research is to create an affordable and versatile magnetometer array for scientific investigations and practical applications. The paper begins by outlining the hardware and software components of the array. The LIS3MDL chips, known for their high sensitivity and low power consumption, are employed as the core sensing elements. The Arduino microcontroller is utilized for data acquisition and processing. The integration of …

Spontaneous Plant Colonization Of Newly Established Green Roofs: An Experimental Approach, Braden Matthew Coats

Masters Theses

Urban Heat Island Effect (UHI) increases heat risks in densely developed environments. Ecosystem services provided by green spaces are known to mitigate UHI. Green roofs, designed as novel ecosystems, transform less-utilized spaces like rooftops into functional areas, executing ecosystem functions in densely populated urban environments where traditional green spaces are less common. Research has examined ways to reduce the obstacles of implementing green roofs to maximize accessibility and efficiency of the performed ecosystem services. Research involving plant community dynamics found that maximizing biodiversity on green roofs enhances the ecosystem services provided. Utilizing spontaneous colonizing species, or species that are not …

Koopman-Inspired Proximal Policy Optimization (Kippo), Andrei Cozma

Masters Theses

Reinforcement Learning (RL) has made significant strides in various domains, yet developing effective control policies for environments with complex, nonlinear dynamics remains a challenge, particularly for policy gradient methods. These methods often struggle due to high-variance in gradient estimates, non-convex optimization landscapes, and sample inefficiency, resulting in unstable learning, suboptimal policies, and trade-offs between performance and reproducibility. The quest for more robust, stable, and effective methods has led to numerous innovations and remains a critical area of research. Proximal Policy Optimization (PPO) has gained popularity in recent years due to its balance in performance, training stability, and computational efficiency. In …

Assessment Of Enzyme Stability In Subsurface Sediments By Computational Methods, Kambiz Kalhor

Masters Theses

The microorganisms found in marine subseafloor sediment play a vital role in global carbon and nitrogen cycles, with an estimated 2.9×10²⁹ cells, accounting for about 0.6% of Earth’s total living biomass. These microbes grow at a very slow rate, with carbon turnover occurring over the course of years to thousands of years, about six orders of magnitude slower than sulfate reducing bacteria in pure culture. These slow metabolic rates suggest that the enzymes they produce must also have extended lifespans in order to be effective over such long periods of time. As a result, these enzymes are likely to …

2d Temperature Map Acquisition Using Hyperspectral Imaging System (Hsis), Anthony Kim

Masters Theses

Imaging techniques are close to our lives and are used for various applications. In the engineering field, one of the dominant techniques is hyperspectral imaging. It is a necessary tool that combines spectroscopy and digital photography and provides additional information on what is imaged by the imaging system. Hyperspectral imaging has been applied to various fields including remote sensing, cultural relic conservation, food microbiology, forensic science, biomedicine, etc.

In particular, work was done to apply hyperspectral imaging to measure the temperature and emissivity of an object. Due to its ability to measure temperature and emissivity without being in contact with …

The Mechanical Strength Of Sedimentary Rocks At Meridiani Planum, Mars, Tyler J. Seyglinski

Masters Theses

The physical properties of rocks such as their strength, hardness, and density can help inform our understanding of the formation and modification history of rock units. For sedimentary rocks, their strength is inherently linked to factors such as porosity and degree of induration, which are in turn controlled by factors such as burial depth and water-rock interaction. On Earth, rock strength is typically assessed as unconfined compressive strength (UCS) and can be measured directly or inferred via indirect strength tests (e.g., the Schmidt hammer test). On Mars, instruments such as the Rock Abrasion Tool (RAT) onboard the Opportunity rover can …

Transfer Learning For Predictive Maintenance: A Case Study, Colter A. Swanson

Masters Theses

In light of recent strides in high-performance computing, the concept of transfer learning has emerged as a prominent paradigm within the realm of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning methodologies. Analogous to the human brain's capacity to assimilate information across related domains for pattern recognition, transfer learning has swiftly asserted its dominance, particularly in deep learning applications such as image classification and natural language processing. Despite its ascendancy in these domains, there exists a lack of comprehensive investigations in alternative domains, notably those encompassing tabular data formats. This thesis seeks to redress this gap by conducting an empirical examination of transfer …

Optimization Of Learning Algorithms In Neuromorphic Computing Systems., Oyinpere S. Ameli

Masters Theses

Spiking Neural Networks (SNNs) are a type of artificial neural network that aim to more closely mimic the data processing processes observed in biological neural systems. However, one major challenge in training these networks has been their non-differentiable nature, which makes it difficult to apply traditional gradient-based learning techniques. Different approaches have been proposed to address this challenge, ranging from supervised learning - largely inspired by error backpropagation in Deep Neural Networks - to unsupervised learning, which closely emulates biological learning approaches such as spike-timing dependent plasticity (STDP). Neuromorphic hardware platforms such as Intel's Loihi offer programmable plasticity that allows …

Neural-Network-Based Detection Of Radiopharmaceutical Extravasation In Pet/Ct Data, Elijah D. Berberette

Masters Theses

The immediate identification of PET/CT radiopharmaceutical extravasation can eliminate many adverse effects such as misdiagnosis and improper therapy. Radiopharmaceutical extravasation is the leakage of an injected radiotracer from the patient’s intended vein into surrounding tissues. The detection of this phenomenon often requires the use of an external monitoring device; due to a lack of robust visual features that can provide indication that it has occurred. In this thesis, the feasibility of using neural networks trained on PET/CT data to identify extravasation is explored. This approach begins with a novel preprocessing methodology that automatically extracts body weight normalized standard uptake values …

On Weak Solutions And The Navier-Stokes Equations, Aryan Prabhudesai

Mathematical Sciences Undergraduate Honors Theses

In this paper, I will discuss a partial differential equation that has solutions that are discontinuous. This example motivates the need for distribution theory, which will provide an interpretation of what it means for a discontinuous function to be a “solution” to a PDE. Then I will give a detailed foundation of distributions, including the definition of the derivative of a distribution. Then I will introduce and give background on the Navier-Stokes equations. Following that, I will explain the Millennium Problem concerning global regularity for the Navier-Stokes equations and share mathematical results regarding weak solutions. Finally, I will go over …

An Llm-Assisted Easy-To-Trigger Poisoning Attack On Code Completion Models: Injecting Disguised Vulnerabilities Against Strong Detection, Shenao Yan, Shen Wang, Yue Duan, Hanbin Hong, Kiho Lee, Doowon Kim, Yuan Hong

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Large Language Models (LLMs) have transformed code completion tasks, providing context-based suggestions to boost developer productivity in software engineering. As users often fine-tune these models for specific applications, poisoning and backdoor attacks can covertly alter the model outputs. To address this critical security challenge, we introduce CODEBREAKER, a pioneering LLM-assisted backdoor attack framework on code completion models. Unlike recent attacks that embed malicious payloads in detectable or irrelevant sections of the code (e.g., comments), CODEBREAKER leverages LLMs (e.g., GPT-4) for sophisticated payload transformation (without affecting functionalities), ensuring that both the poisoned data for fine-tuning and generated code can evade strong …

Assessing The Reactivity Of Amino Acids To Chlorination Using Capillary Electrophoresis, Pedro De Allende

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Amino acids (AA) are ubiquitous in wastewater systems. One of the most popular wastewater treatments is chlorination which is effective at eradicating bacteria and overall treating the wastewater, but it can also produce disinfection by-products (DBPs). Certain DBPs have been classified as Class B Carcinogens to humans and are therefore highly regulated and monitored. Past studies have shown that natural organic matter (NOM), specifically amino acids, can be precursors to DBPs if chlorinated to the correct dose. This thesis project explored AA chlorination's mechanism(s) to understand further which products arise. In particular, the investigation detailed which steps of the mechanism …

First Diffusion Course: "The Structure Of Language As A Connection Between Artificial Intelligence, Information And Ethics", Dioneia Monte-Serrat

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

From August 22nd to November 21st, the first Diffusion Course on “The structure of language as a connection between artificial intelligence, information and ethics” will take place on a Thursday of each month, in Ribeirao Preto, Brazil. You are cordially invited to sign up for in-person classes and join other researchers and students on this course.

7th International Conference On Creative Mathematical Sciences Communication (Cmsc`24), Frances A. Rosamond

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

The 7th International Creative Mathematical Sciences Communication (CMSC) conference is scheduled for October 2024 in Trier, Germany. Initiated in Darwin, Australia in 2013, CMSC aims to explore novel methods of imparting computational thinking to diverse audiences including non-specialists, modern citizens, and children. Participants from around the world and from various and interdisciplinary disciplines such as science, education, dance, drama, and visual arts convene to exchange ideas, present experimental approaches, and collaborate on engaging children in the exploration of ongoing, unresolved research challenges.

Oh Statistics!, Heather L. Cook

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

This poem was written about statistics and the usefulness thereof.

Discordium Mathematica - A Symphony In Aleph Minor, Vijay Fafat

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

How did Mathematics arise? Who created it? Why is it subject to Godel’s Incompleteness Theorems? And what does all this have to do with Coleridge’s poem, “Kubla Khan”, and “The Person from Porlock”? Here is a complete mythology of Mathematics set in an epic poetry format, fusing thoughts and verses from Western religions and Eastern mysticism… Those with immense patience and careful reading shall reap the fruit… (best read on a large screen or in printed form)

Love Is No Mean Thing: A Larkin Logarithm, Michael P.H. Stanley Md

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

This poem was recited at a marriage recently in Vermont. I met the groom in my freshman year. He was the first college friend I ever made, and he used to burst into the room like Cosmo Kramer and settle down in an easy-chair to think about math (my side of the dorm was quieter than his). I thought that was remarkable and delightful, and so, when the task came to write a matrimonial poem for him, I selected a mathematical conceit. The poem concludes with a mathematical paraphrasing of Philip Larkin's last line from Arundel Tomb.

Pi: A Perpetual Journey, Ravindra K. Bisht

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

A brief history of the constant pi is presented with a poetic flavor.

Eighth Grade Algebra, Joseph Chaney

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

This is a poem about the affirming power of algebra in the life of a teenager.

Prime Motivation Of Eratosthenes, Pamela L. King

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

The sieve of Eratosthenes is used as a metaphor for the concept of people falling through the social safety net, and people who were once excluded, making efforts to increase inclusiveness.

Poems From The Series "At The Dimensional Border", Philip Fried

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

Poems about the border between the second and third dimensions, on geometry and the human condition.

Mathematical Graffiti: Bridges 2023 Clerihew Collection

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

Clerihews are poems of a form invented by Edmund Clerihew Bentley around the turn of the 19th-20th century. The poems are typically biographical, humorous, and are made up of two couplets. The rhyming pattern is always aabb, but the meter of the two couplets is usually not the same. The first line is simply the name of the person, the other three lines relate to the subject, often in an absurd way. If the rhyme is slightly off, or the rhythm irregular or awkward, or the facts a bit confused, so much the better. The present collection of clerihews, written …

The Value Of Adding Nothing: A Call For Reform-Oriented Polynomial Division, Jonathan Clark, Jeneva Clark

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

The call to implement reform practices in schools reflects the historical turn away from the behaviorist theory of learning in education. Yet the praxis of this turn remains a significant challenge, particularly within mathematics classrooms where procedural memorization is emphasized. In this article, we show one means of how to advance our pursuit of meaningful mathematics into polynomial division. Building on the literature for reform-based division methods, an alternative to the long division algorithm will be explored that relies solely on adding zero and fundamental algebraic principles.

Book Review: How To Expect The Unexpected: The Science Of Making Predictions -- And The Art Of Knowing When Not To By Kit Yates, Mark Huber

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

Humans think about the future all the time. Prediction is a part of how we prepare for the coming of both good and bad events in our lives. Kit Yates' book, How to expect the unexpected, concentrates primarily on the question of why prediction is difficult, and what mental shortcuts people take in prediction that can lead to incorrect results. Unfortunately, a lack of concern for details and several omissions undermine the quality of the book.

Geometric Shapes That Sing And Move: An Interdisciplinary Lesson With Pre-Service Teachers, Gladys Krause, Gustavo Velandia

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

Our work shares a practical example of an interdisciplinary lesson in which two teacher educators collaborated to integrate mathematics and music in an elementary mathematics methods course. This paper describes the process of collaboration in designing the lesson and shares original instructional resources to be used in the classroom. We also discuss what the pre-service teachers participating in the lesson shared about their learning experience, and what we, the teacher educators, learned from this experience. In presenting this work we aim to promote the opening of spaces in teacher preparation programs that allow pre-service teachers to develop their own instructional …

States Of Matter, Todd Sformo

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

This is a non-fiction essay overtly about three methods used in overwintering physiology, set in the context of my first learning them, along with associated thoughts and ideas as I began working on my PhD. The mathematics shows up mainly in the final section of the essay whose subtitle plays on a poem by Wallace Stevens called “Anecdote of the Jar”. This section is fable-like in its explanation of protein purification and begins with an impossible statement that is slowly adjusted to make sense by words and math.