Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

The Repurposing Of Abandoned Buildings In Gary, Indiana With Sustainable Design: The Revitalization Of A Distressed City, Tatiana Height

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

Abandonment has been a major problem plaguing the city of Gary, Indiana. The city saw its peak in the 1960’s and has since been the site of pollution due to the steel mill, a general lack of investment, and seedy behavior in empty buildings. Based on information gathered, such as the Broken Windows Theory, citizen testimonials, expert interviews, government initiatives, and revitalization plans of other cities, restoring abandoned buildings will prove socially and economically beneficial to the city of Gary. This research provides suggestions for how to mitigate the abandoned building problems, suggestions for possible funding of the abandoned building …

Spatial And Temporal Relationships Between Forest Bird Declines And Prevalence Of The Hemlock Woolly Adelgid In The Northeastern United States, Julie E. Blum, Andrew M. Wilson

Student Publications

The eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) is a vital foundation tree species throughout the eastern United States, providing essential structural diversity and habitat for more than 120 different animal species. Within the past few decades, T. canadensis has undergone significant declines that are largely associated with the hemlock woolly adelgid (HWA; Adelges tsugae), an exotic, aphid-like insect native to East Asia. From the 1970s to present day, the HWA has spread throughout southern New England, large portions of the Mid-Atlantic region, and parts of Tennessee and the Carolinas. Research has shown that loss of the eastern hemlock is …

Holographic Calculations Of Euclidean Wilson Loop Correlator In Euclidean Anti-De Sitter Space, Sannah Ziama

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

The correlation functions of two or more Euclidean Wilson loops of various shapes in Euclidean anti-de Sitter space are computed by considering the minimal area surfaces connecting the loops. The surfaces are parametrized by Riemann theta functions associated with genus three hyperelliptic Riemann surfaces. In the case of two loops, the distance L by which they are separated can be adjusted by continuously varying a specific branch point of the auxiliary Riemann surface. When L is much larger than the characteristic size of the loops, then the loops are approximately regarded as local operators and their correlator as the correlator …

A Statistical Study Into The Spatial Distribution And Dawn-Dusk Asymmetry Of Dayside Magnetosheath Ion Temperatures As A Function Of Upstream Solar Wind Conditions, A. P. Dimmock, K. Nykyri, H. Karimabadi, A. Osmane, T. I. Pulkkinen

Publications

The magnetosheath contains the shocked solar wind and behaves as a natural filter to the solar wind plasma before it reaches the magnetosphere. The redistribution of kinetic energy at the bow shock results in significant thermalization of the solar wind plasma, resulting in a magnetosheath temperature profile which is highly nonhomogeneous and nonisotropic and differs between the dawn and dusk flanks. The present study attempts to study the spatial distribution of magnetosheath ion temperature as a function of upstream solar wind conditions. We pay particular attention to the dawn/dusk asymmetry in which we attempt to quantify using experimental data collected …

Synthesis Of Potential Phosphorus-Nitrogen Containing Flame Retardants, Colin Kloock

Honors Theses

Production of extremely efficient flame retardants is ideal because, in many instances, the amount of flame retardants that are added to pre-production to the mixture are so large that they can have an effect on the physical properties of the material. In addition, these types of polymers, when added during production, are homogenously mixed throughout the mixture which means not only uniform distribution and therefore function, but a less concentration of the retardants need to be used. Using Phosphorus-Nitrogen containing flame retardants in mixtures can have two means by which they function. First is the ability of P-N compounds to …

Cofaçade: A Customizable Assistive Approach For Elders And Their Helpers, Jason Chen Zhao, Richard Christopher Davis, Pin Sym Foong, Shengdong Zhao

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

We present CoFaçade, a novel approach to helping elders reach their goals with IT products by working collaboratively with helpers. In this approach, the elder uses an interface with a small number of triggers, where each trigger is a single button (or card) that can execute a procedure. The helper uses a customization interface to link triggers to procedures that accomplish frequently-recurring high-level goals with IT products. Customization can be done either locally or remotely. We conducted an experiment to compare the CoFaçade approach with a baseline approach where helpers taught elders to perform IT tasks. Our results showed that …

Public Debate Format For The Development Of Soft Skill Competency In Computer Science Curricula, Christopher S. Stuetzle

Computer Science Faculty Publications

We present a method for incorporating soft skill development into a traditional computer science curriculum through the use of a public debate format. The debate format forces participants to practice public speaking, active listening, teamwork, research and preparation, and critical thinking, as well as having the less obvious benefit of contextualizing the material taught in the classroom by introducing contemporary, real-world debate topics. This work presents an example of the incorporation of public debates in an upper-level human-computer interaction class, including a discussion of student feedback, and suggestions for adopting the debate format to other upper-level courses and its perceived …

Noaa Local Climate Analysis Tool (Lcat) Data, Methods, And Usability, Marina Timofeyeva-Livezey, Fiona Horsfall, Annette Hollingshead, Jenna Meyers, Lesley Ann Dupigny-Giroux

College of Arts and Sciences Faculty Publications

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has responded to the increased demand for local climate information by developing the Local Climate Analysis Tool (LCAT). The tool provides rapid responses to climate questions that historically required an extensive data search, research on appropriate analysis techniques, and complex graphics packages. LCAT offers easy and efficient access to scientifically sound analytical capabilities and trusted climate data. Results obtained from LCAT provide relevant climate information to local technical users, decision makers, and educators that will help build a healthy nation and create resilient communities. To ensure that LCAT responds to the articulated needs …

Perceptions Of Potable Water In Rajasthan’S Jodhpur And Barmer Districts, Melissa Spross

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This paper looks at differences and similarities in various populations’ perceptions of safe drinking water (SDW) within Rajasthan (RJ), India, developing suggestions for future initiatives addressing the movement for safe drinking water for all. For this study, surveys were used; the survey was conducted in RJ, India, both in urban Jodhpur and in surrounding rural villages. To analyze the data, all the responses were entered into Excel format to discover patterns, themes and trends within four subtopics: access, storage, quality and cultural significance. The responses indicate that while a distinct water culture spans the geographic area, each different population retains …

Root Cover Pebbling On Graphs, Claire A. Sonneborn

Honors Theses

Consider a graph, G, with pebbles on its vertices. A pebbling move is defined to be the removal of two pebbles from one vertex and the addition of one pebble to an adjacent vertex. The cover pebbling number of a graph, γ(G), is the minimum number of pebbles such that, given any configuration of γ(G) pebbles on the vertices of G, pebbling moves can be used to place one pebble on each vertex of G. We define the root vertex of a graph and fix an initial configuration of pebbles on G where we place all pebbles on the root …

Computational Study Of The Visible Spectrum Of Curcumin's Protonation States, Peter Braegelmann, Joseph D. Alia

Chemistry Publications

Curcumin, the main dye in the important Indian spice turmeric, has received much attention recently for its potential anti-cancer and anti-Alzheimer properties.1 Our study computes the thermodynamics and spectroscopic properties of curcumin’s various protonation states using several methods and compares the results to experiment. M06/3-21G* gave the best thermodynamic results, while M06 with 3-21G* and 6-31G* gave good spectroscopic results for the neutral and dianionic forms of curcumin. However, applying diffuse functions appears to be necessary for the trianionic form. Interestingly, M06 and B3LYP with 6-31+G* gave good spectroscopic results for the singly anionic form.

The Atiyah Class Of A Dg-Vector Bundle, Rajan Amit Mehta, Mathieu Stiénon, Ping Xu

Mathematics Sciences: Faculty Publications

We introduce the notions of Atiyah class and Todd class of a differential graded vector bundle with respect to a differential graded Lie algebroid. We prove that the space of vector fields X(M) on a dg-manifold M with homological vector field Q admits a structure of L_∞[1]-algebra with the Lie derivative L_Q as unary bracket λ₁, and the Atiyah cocycle At_M corresponding to a torsion-free affine connection as binary bracket λ₂.

On The Fattening Of Lines In P3, Mike Janssen

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

We follow the lead of Bocci and Chiantini and show how differences in the invariant alpha can be used to classify certain classes of subschemes of P^3. Specifically, we will seek to classify arithmetically Cohen-Macaulay codimension 2 subschemes of P^3 in the manner Bocci and Chiantini classified points in P^2. The first section will seek to motivate our consideration of the invariant alpha by relating it to the Hilbert function and gamma, following the work of Bocci and Chiantini, and Dumnicki, et. al. The second section will contain our results classifying arithmetically Cohen-Macaulay codimension 2 subschemes of P^3. This work …

Valuing “Green” How “Going Green” Affects A Company’S Stock Price, Alexia Bayer

Honors Projects in Finance

Environmentally conscious decision making has become a prominent topic in business that has the potential to affect the public opinion and performance of companies. This project seeks to identify whether or not positive changes in excess return might offer an incentive for companies to adopt green initiatives. It examines the ways in which companies’ green initiatives, as measured by their annual Carbon Disclosure Project S&P 500 Climate Change Report score, impact their stock price. In other words, is there value in “going green”? It is hypothesized that companies exhibiting greater variance in their environmental initiatives from one year to the …

Getches-Wilkinson Center Newsletter, Spring 2015, University Of Colorado Boulder. Getches-Wilkinson Center For Natural Resources, Energy, And The Environment

Getches-Wilkinson Center for Natural Resources, Energy, and the Environment Newsletter (2013-)

No abstract provided.

Context-Driven Automatic Subgraph Creation For Literature-Based Discovery, Delroy H. Cameron, Ramakanth Kavuluru, Thomas Rindflesch, Amit P. Sheth, Krishnaprasad Thirunarayan, Olivier Bodenreider

Kno.e.sis Publications

Background: Literature-based discovery (LBD) is characterized by uncovering hidden associations in non-interacting scientific literature. Prior approaches to LBD include use of: 1) domain expertise and structured background knowledge to manually filter and explore the literature, 2) distributional statistics and graph-theoretic measures to rank interesting connections and 3) heuristics to help eliminate spurious connections. However, manual approaches to LBD are not scalable and purely distributional approaches may not be sufficient to obtain insights into the meaning of poorly understood associations. While several graph-based approaches have the potential to elucidate associations, their effectiveness has not been fully demonstrated. A considerable degree of …

A Bad Proposal, Edward Whelan

Buffalo Law Review

No abstract provided.

Structural Changes In Dna Upon Binding In A 2:1 Motif To A Polyamide Minor Groove Binder: F -Ipp In 5'-Tagcta-3', Alexandra Kwit

Senior Honors Projects

Polyamide minor groove binders are known to disrupt cellular function when bound to DNA. In this project, the structural changes of the sequence 5'-TAGCTA-3', an important binding site for regulatory proteins in the EGFR pathway, were investigated when bound to f-IPP using molecular dynamics simulations. Changes in base-pair and base-pair-step parameters of slide, twist, and roll varied when f-IPP was added to the 5'-TAGCTA-3' system, causing the DNA backbone to stretch and increase in flexibility. Additionally, changes in dihedral angles of the DNA phosphate backbone upon binding impacted global features of the DNA in that the minor groove narrowed following …

A Novel Pedestrian Hybrid Beacon Designed For South Belvoir Boulevard, Bradley Doughty

Senior Honors Projects

Based upon the recent study by TMS Engineers, Inc. on the section of South Belvoir Boulevard between Washington Boulevard and Carroll Boulevard, a new pedestrian hybrid beacon is designed. Using their recommendations, this traffic signal provides a unique design focused on the safety of pedestrians crossing South Belvoir. This hybrid beacon will minimize pedestrian waiting time, require no interaction from the pedestrian, and clearly articulate to drivers and pedestrians the proper behaviors.

The Blue Heron Wetland Restoration Project: Eradication Of Ludwigia Peploides Ssp. Montevidensis From The Blue Heron Wetlands Of Portland, Or, Alexander Staunch

Environmental Science and Management Professional Master's Project Reports

The Blue Heron Wetland Restoration Project (BHWRP) is an ongoing community driven effort to eradicate Ludwigia peploides ssp. montevidensis from a 3.5 acre ephemeral wetland in Portland, OR. Established in summer 2011 by the East Columbia Neighborhood Association (ECNA), the BHWRP consisted of an herbicide efficacy pilot study, widespread eradication effort, and establishment of a stewardship program. Ludwigia peploides ssp. montevidensis is an emerging threat to northwestern Oregon and the infestation within the Blue Heron Wetlands (BHW) represented one of the first known infestations of L. peploides ssp. montevidensis within the State of Oregon.

First observed within the BHW in …

Synthetic And Mechanistic Studies Of Catalytic Oxidations By Manganese(Iii) Porphyrin And Iodobenzene Diacetate, Kawai Kwong

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

With iodobenzene diacetate [PhI(OAc)2] as the oxygen source, manganese(III) porphyrin complexes exhibit remarkable catalytic activity towards the selective oxidation of hydrocarbons. The readily soluble PhI(OAc)2 in the presence of small amount of water is more efficient oxygen source than the commonly used PhIO under the same conditions, leading to a potent catalytic system for the efficient oxidation of alkenes and activated hydrocarbons. When the reactions were carried out in the presence of a small amount of water at 50 oC, high selectivity for epoxides and excellent catalytic efficiency with up to 10,000 TON have been achieved in alkene epoxidations. In …

Bio-Crosslinking Of Starch Films With Oxidized Sucrose, Hazal Canisag

Department of Textiles, Merchandising, and Fashion Design: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

In this work, corn starch films were crosslinked with a novel bio-based agent; oxidized sucrose and their strength and stability were improved. Although starch is an inexpensive, biodegradable and abundant source, industrial applications of starch films are limited due to their poor mechanical properties. Crosslinking is one of the most common methods to enhance the mechanical properties of starch films. However, most of the available crosslinkers, such as gluteraldehyde, phosphorus oxychloride, sodium trimetaphosphate, and epichlorohydrin, are either toxic, expensive or with low crosslinking efficiencies. Oxidized sucrose, which is derived by periodate cleavage, has aldehyde groups in the structure and this …

A Novel Root Based Arabic Stemmer, Mohammed N. Al-Kabi, Saif A. Kazakzeh, Belal M. Abu Ata, Saif A. Al-Rababah, Izzat M. Alsmadi

Computer Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Stemming algorithms are used in information retrieval systems, indexers, text mining, text classifiers etc., to extract stems or roots of different words, so that words derived from the same stem or root are grouped together. Many stemming algorithms were built in different natural languages. Khoja stemmer is one of the known and widely used Arabic stemmers. In this paper, we introduced a new light and heavy Arabic stemmer. This new stemmer is presented in this study and compared with two well-known Arabic stemmers. Results showed that accuracy of our stemmer is slightly better than the accuracy yielded by each one …

Evaluation Of Spam Impact On Arabic Websites Popularity, Mohammed N. Al-Kabi, Izzat M. Alsmadi, Heider A. Wahsheh

Computer Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

The expansion of the Web and its information in all aspects of life raises the concern of how to trust information published on the Web especially in cases where publisher may not be known. Websites strive to be more popular and make themselves visible to search engines and eventually to users. Website popularity can be measured using several metrics such as the Web traffic (e.g. Website: visitors’ number and visited page number). A link or page popularity refers to the total number of hyperlinks referring to a certain Web page. In this study, several top ranked Arabic Websites are selected …

Peralkaline Felsic Magmatism At The Nemrut Volcano, Turkey: Impact Of Volcanism On The Evolution Of Lake Van (Anatolia), Ray Macdonald, Mari Sumita, Hans-Ulrich Schmincke, Boguslaw Baginski, John C. White, Slawomir S. Ilnicki

EKU Faculty and Staff Scholarship

Nemrut volcano, adjacent to Lake Van (Turkey), is one of the most important peralkaline silicic centres in the world, where magmatism for ~570,000 years has been dominated by peralkaline trachytes and rhyolites. Using onshore and Lake Van drill site tephra samples, we document the phenocryst and glass matrix compositions, confirming a complete spectrum from very rare mafic to dominantly silicic magmas. Magma mixing has been common and, along with the multi-lineage nature of the magmas, indicates that Nemrut has been a very open system where, nevertheless, compositionally zoned caps developed during periods of relative eruptive quiescence. Geothermometry suggests that the …

Global Holomorphic Functions In Several Noncommuting Variables, Jim Agler, John E. Mccarthy

Mathematics Faculty Publications

We define a free holomorphic function to be a function that is locally, with respect to the free topology, a bounded nc-function. We prove that free holomorphic functions are the functions that are locally uniformly approximable by free polynomials. We prove a realization formula and an Oka-Weil theorem for free analytic functions.

Authentication Melee: A Usability Analysis Of Seven Web Authentication Systems, Scott Ruoti

Theses and Dissertations

Passwords continue to dominate the authentication landscape in spite of numerous proposals to replace them. Even though usability is a key factor in replacing passwords, very few alternatives have been subjected to formal usability studies and even fewer have been analyzed using a standard metric. We report the results of four within-subjects usability studies for seven web authentication systems. These systems span federated, smartphone, paper tokens, and email-based approaches. Our results indicate that participants prefer single sign-on systems. We utilize the Systems Usability Scale (SUS) as a standard metric for empirical analysis and find that it produces reliable, replicable results. …

Kinetic Characterization Of B-Carotene In N-Hexane At Various Oxygen Concentrations, Katelyn Mary Arnold

Honors Theses

We have characterized the photo – degradation of ẞC in oxygenated and deoxygenated n–hexane solvent and in the solid phase using broadband (BB; λ ≥ 200 nm) and 313 nm filtered output of a 100 W Hg Arc lamp. Oxygen concentrations of 0, 10, 20, and 100% were used in the solution phase studies. ẞC(s) did not photo – degrade upon exposure to BB light under air atmospheres; the mass and appearance of the samples, TLC chromatograms, and the absorption spectra were all identical pre- and post-irradiation. In the solution phase, the order of the photo – degradation with respect …

Chitinozoan Biodiversity In The Ordovician Of Gondwana: An Interval-Free Approach Using The Quantitative Stratigraphic Correlation Program Conop9, Rachel Sales

Honors Theses

The purpose of this study is to examine the biodiversity patterns of a group of fossil organisms called chitinozoans. Chitinozoans are organic-walled, planktonic microfossils that first appear in the Early Ordovician Period (488 million years ago) and diversify rapidly through the Paleozoic Era. The Ordovician Period was a time of great global climate change, and by studying this group of fossil plankton, we hope to better understand how modern plankton, which are the base of the marine food chain, might respond to climate change. We used a method called constrained optimization (CONOP9) to construct a composite range chart of 152 …

When Can We Simplify Data Processing: An Algorithmic Answer, Julio Urenda, Olga Kosheleva, Vladik Kreinovich, Berlin Wu

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

In many real-life situations, we are interested in the values of physical quantities x₁, ..., x_n which are difficult (or even impossible) to measure directly. To estimate these values, we measure easier-to-measure quantities y₁, ..., y_m which are related to the desired quantities by a known relation, and use these measurement results to estimate x_i. The corresponding data processing algorithms are sometimes very complex and time-consuming, so a natural question is: are simpler (and, thus, faster) algorithms possible for solving this data processing problem? In this paper, we show that by using …