Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Applications Of Machine Learning In Biology And Medicine, Saied Haidarian Shahri

Wayne State University Dissertations

Machine learning as a field is defined to be the set of computational algorithms that improve their performance by assimilating data.

As such, the field as a whole has found applications in many diverse disciplines from robotics and communication in engineering to economics and finance, and also biology and medicine.

It should not come as a surprise that many popular methods in use today have completely different origins.

Despite this heterogeneity, different methods can be divided into standard tasks, such as supervised, unsupervised, semi-supervised and reinforcement learning.

Although machine learning as a field can be formalized as methods trying to …

A Control-Theoretic Design And Analysis Framework For Resilient Hard Real-Time Systems, Pradeep Mahendra Hettiarachchi

Wayne State University Dissertations

We introduce a new design metric called system-resiliency which characterizes the maximum unpredictable

external stresses that any hard-real-time performance mode can withstand. Our proposed systemresiliency

framework addresses resiliency determination for real-time systems with physical and hardware

limitations. Furthermore, our framework advises the system designer about the feasible trade-offs between

external system resources for the system operating modes on a real-time system that operates in a

multi-parametric resiliency environment.

Modern multi-modal real-time systems degrade the system’s operational modes as a response to unpredictable

external stimuli. During these mode transitions, real-time systems should demonstrate a reliable

and graceful degradation of service. Many …

Understanding The Physics Of Magnetic Nanoparticles And Their Applications In The Biomedical Field, Suvra Santa Laha

Wayne State University Dissertations

The study of magnetic nanoparticles is of great interest because of their potential uses in magnetic-recording, medical diagnostic and therapeutic applications. Additionally, they also offer an opportunity to understand the physics underlying the complex behavior exhibited by these materials. Two of the most important relaxation phenomena occurring in magnetic nanoparticles are superparamagnetic blocking and spin-glass-like freezing. In addition to features attributed to superparamagnetism, these nanoparticles can also exhibit magnetic relaxation effects at very low temperatures (≲ 50 K). Our studies suggest that all structural defects, and not just surface spins, are responsible for the low-temperature glass-like relaxation observed in many …

Efficient Synergistic De Novo Co-Assembly Of Bacterial Genomes From Single Cells Using Colored De Bruijn Graph, Narjes Sadat Movahedi Tabrizi

Wayne State University Dissertations

Recent progress in DNA amplification techniques, particularly multiple displacement

amplification (MDA), has made it possible to sequence and assemble bacterial

genomes from a single cell. However, the quality of single cell genome assembly has

not yet reached the quality of normal multi-cell genome assembly due to the coverage

bias (including uneven depth of coverage and region blackout) and errors caused by

MDA. Computational methods try to mitigates the amplification bias. In this document

we introduce a de novo co-assembly method using colored de Bruijn graph,

which can overcome the problem of blackout regions due to amplification bias. The

algorithm is …

Building Computing-As-A-Service Mobile Cloud System, Kun Wang

Wayne State University Dissertations

The last five years have witnessed the proliferation of smart mobile devices, the explosion of various mobile applications and the rapid adoption of cloud computing in business, governmental and educational IT deployment. There is also a growing trends of combining mobile computing and cloud computing as a new popular computing paradigm nowadays. This thesis envisions the future of mobile computing which is primarily affected by following three trends: First, servers in cloud equipped with high speed multi-core technology have been the main stream today. Meanwhile, ARM processor powered servers is growingly became popular recently and the virtualization on ARM systems …

Impact Of Antecedent Groundwater Heads And Transient Aquifer Storage On Flood Peak Attenuation In An Unconfined Karst Aquifer: Study Of The Upper Suwannee River, Florida, Usa., Jeremy Loucks

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Flood peak attenuation is an important aspect of understanding flooding and its effects. Few studies exist that look at the effects of ground-surface water interactions in regards to peak attenuation, and fewer still focus on karst environments. In the karstic, variably confined Suwannee River Basin, discharge, river stage, and water table data that were collected over a ten-year period were analyzed to determine the relationship between antecedent groundwater head and flood peak attenuation. Flooding causes high hydraulic heads in the river, which rise faster than corresponding groundwater heads. Springs which normally feed groundwater into the river reverse flow, and conduits …

Using Trace Fossils To Determine The Role Of Oceanic Anoxic Event Ii On The Cretaceous Western Interior Seaway Paleoenvironment, Jacob Frederick Grosskopf

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Did well-oxygenated benthic conditions exist in all parts of the Cretaceous Western Interior Seaway (CWIS) during the deposition of Bed 63 at the onset Oceanic Anoxic Event II (OAE II), as suggested by findings from two cores from the central portion of the CWIS? This problem was approached by categorizing the bioturbation that is prevalent through Bed 63 into oxygen-related ichnofabrics (ORI) in order to describe benthic oxygen conditions. These data were collected from outcrop and core among seven different sites along West–East and North–South transects that traversed portions of the CWIS with differing depositional settings and proximities to the …

Evolution Of African Easterly Waves And Their Relationship To Tropical Cyclogenesis, Alan Brammer

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The research in this thesis explores the relationship between African easterly waves (AEWs) and tropical cyclogenesis over the eastern Atlantic. This research utilises 33 years of reanalysis and satellite data to investigate the interaction between AEW troughs, the surrounding environment and the embedded vortex.

Anisotropic Spacetimes And Black Hole Interiors In Loop Quantum Gravity, Anton Joe

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This thesis deals with understanding quantum gravitational effects in those anisotropic spacetimes which serve as black hole interiors. Two types of spacetime are investigated. Kantowski-Sachs spacetime and Bianchi-III LRS spacetime. The former, in vacuum, is the interor spacetime for Schwarzschild black holes. The latter is the interior for higher genus black holes. These spacetimes are studied in the context of loop quantum cosmology. Using effective dynamics of loop quantum cosmology, the behavior of expansion and shear scalars in different proposed quantizations of the Kantowski-Sachs spacetime with matter is investigated. It is found that out of the various proposed choices, there …

Nuclear Structure Of 26si And 32cl For Astrophysics, Liudmyla Afanasieva

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

We studied the nuclear structure of two isotopes, 26Si and 32Cl, important for understanding stellar explosions like novae and Type I X-ray bursts. The 31S(p,γ)32Cl reaction rate influences the enrichment of sulfur observed in some nova ejecta, but the uncertainty in the rate spans as much as an order of magnitude and arises from uncertainties in the properties of resonances corresponding to excited states in 32Cl. We populated states in 32Cl via the 10B(24Mg,2n)32Cl reaction using the Argonne Tandem-Linac Accelerator System (ATLAS), with a 75 MeV beam of 24Mg bombarding a 200 μg/cm2 10B target. Gamma rays emitted from recoiling …

Seavipers - Computer Vision And Inertial Position Reference Sensor System (Cviprss), Justin Lee Erdman

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This work describes the design and development of an optical, Computer Vision (CV) based sensor for use as a Position Reference System (PRS) in Dynamic Positioning (DP). Using a combination of robotics and CV techniques, the sensor provides range and heading information to a selected reference object. The proposed optical system is superior to existing ones because it does not depend upon special reflectors nor does it require a lengthy set-up time. This system, the Computer Vision and Inertial Position Reference Sensor System (CVIPRSS, pronounced \nickname), combines a laser rangefinder, infrared camera, and a pan--tilt unit with the robust TLD …

Nanoscale Gumbos: Size-Control, Characterization, And Applications As Enantioselective Molecularly Imprinted Polymers And Fluorescent Materials, Suzana Hamdan

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Nanomaterials derived from a group of uniform materials based on organic salts (GUMBOS) have been introduced into the scientific literature through many analytical, biological, and technological applications. These nanomaterials, referred to as nanoGUMBOS, have been shown to display a number of interesting properties including fluorescence, magnetism, tumor targeting, and optoelectronic properties. Herein, we present major studies on nanoGUMBOS including synthesis and size-control, chiral molecular imprinting in polymers, as well as investigation of optical properties and quantum yield of fluorescent semiconductor-based nanoGUMBOS. Various strategies were introduced for production of well-defined nanoGUMBOS. Specifically, several methods based on sonochemistry, microwave, cyclodextrin, and surfactant-assisted …

Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons Dynamics In The Northern Gulf Of Mexico, Puspa Lal Adhikari

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are introduced into the marine environment via oil seeps/spills, riverine discharges, continental runoff, coastal erosion, and atmospheric deposition. An estimated 2.1 x 1010g of PAHs entered into the northern Gulf of Mexico (GOM) during the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil spill in 2010. It became evident following the oil spill that accurate quantification of ultimate fate of these potentially carcinogenic and/or mutagenic organic pollutants is extremely challenging. In general, very little is known about PAHs fate, distribution and accumulation in the open ocean ecosystems. This study determines the upper ocean vertical fluxes and sedimentary PAHs accumulation rates …

Computational Studies On Bimetallic Catalysis And X-Ray Absorption Spectroscopy, Sayakkarage R. G. Fernando

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Computational studies are very important to gain an insight into reaction mechanisms and in interpreting and understanding complicated experimental observations. This report contains a discussion on computational studies performed on bimetallic catalysis and on X-ray absorption spectroscopy of insulators. The viability of a bimetallic rhodium and cobalt catalysts for industrially important hydroformylation and aldehyde-water shift catalysis (AWS) is discussed. Density functional theory (DFT) studies were used for bimetallic catalysis and time-dependent DFT studies were used for excited state dynamics. These studies were performed using Gaussian 09 package and NWChem. Hydroformylation is experimentally performed in acetone and 30% water/acetone systems and …

Wavelets, Coorbit Theory, And Projective Representations, Amer Hasan Darweesh

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Banach spaces of functions, or more generally, of distributions are one of the main topics in analysis. In this thesis, we present an abstract framework for construction of invariant Banach function spaces from projective group representations. Coorbit theory gives a unified method to construct invariant Banach function spaces via representations of Lie groups. This theory was introduced by \Fch\, and \Gro\, in \cite{FG,FG1, FG2,FG3} and then extended in \cite{CO2}. We generalize this concept by constructing coorbit spaces using projective representation which is first studied by O. Christensen in \cite{O1}. This allows us to describe wider classes of function spaces as …

The Electronic Structure Of Environmentally Persistent Free Radicals Formed On Metal Oxide Surfaces, Chad Allen Thibodeaux

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

We have investigated the electronic structure of environmentally persistent free radicals (EPFRs) formed on two different metal oxides: Cu(II)O and ZnO. Cu(II)O is known to be one of the most active metal oxides to form EPFRs. ZnO, however, forms the longest-lived EPFRs. First, we examined the adsorption of phenol on different crystal faces of ZnO. Ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS) shows direct evidence of charge transfer away from the ZnO to the phenol. This differs from the hypothesized mechanism of EPFR formation that says that an electron is transferred to the metal oxide. UPS difference spectra also shows that the phenol …

Towards The Realization Of Systematic, Self-Consistent Typical Medium Theory For Interacting Disordered Systems, Chinedu Ekuma Ekuma

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This work is devoted to the development of a systematic method for studying electron localization. The developed method is Typical Medium Dynamical Cluster Approximation (TMDCA) using the Anderson-Hubbard model. The TMDCA incorporates non-local correlations beyond the local typical environment in a self-consistent way utilizing the momentum resolved typical-density-of-states and the non-local hybridization function to characterize the localization transition. For the (non-interacting) Anderson model, I show that the TMDCA provides a proper description of the Anderson localization transition in one, two, and three dimensions. In three-dimensions, as a function of cluster size, the TMDCA systematically recovers the re-entrance behavior of the …

On The Development Of Analytical Methodologies To Interrogate The Lipid Dynamics And Phase Transition Resulting From The Reduction Of Stimuli-Responsive Vesicles, James Edward Winter

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The potential is great for liposome drug delivery systems that provide specific contents release at diseased tissue sites upon activation by upregulated enzymes; however, this potential will only come to fruition with mechanistic knowledge of the contents release process. NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase type 1 (NQO1) is a target for reductively-responsive liposomes, as it is an enzyme upregulated in numerous cancer tissues and is capable of reducing quinone propionic acid (QPA) trigger groups to hydroquinones that self-cleave from dioleolylphosphatidylethanolamine (DOPE) liposome surfaces, thereby initiating contents release. This research targets the development of analytical methodologies to observe and characterize the dynamics and resulting …

Rényi Quantum Conditional Mutual Information And Parity Quantum Optical Metrology, Kaushik Parasuram Seshadreesan

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This is a two-part thesis strung together by a common underlying theme—quantum correlations. We present some new characterizations and quantifications of quantum correlations and an application of one such correlation—entanglement—for quantum technology.

In Part I of the thesis, we use a Rényi generalization of the quantum conditional mutual information (QCMI) to define and study new measures of quantum entanglement and quantum discord. In particular, using a quantity derived from a Rényi QCMI, we introduce: a) the geometric squashed entanglement, a faithful entanglement measure, which is a lower bound on the squashed entanglement and which reduces to the geometric measure of …

Synthesis With Hypergraphs, Christopher Thomas Alvin

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Many problems related to synthesis with intelligent tutoring may be phrased as program synthesis problems using AI-style search and formal reasoning techniques. The _x000C_first two results in this dissertation focus on problem synthesis as an aspect of intelligent tutoring systems applied to STEM-based education frameworks, specifically high school geometry. Given a geometric _x000C_figure as input, our technique constructs a hypergraph representing logical deduction of facts, and then traverses the hypergraph to synthesize problems and their corresponding solutions. Using similar techniques, our third result is focused on exhaustive synthesis of molecules. This synthesis process involves bonding sets of basic, molecular `fragments' …

Modeling The Dynamic Processes Of Challenge And Recovery (Stress And Strain) Over Time, Fan Yang

Department of Statistics: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Work

A dynamic process with challenge and recovery is an important branch in the family of stochastic processes. The dependent data of such processes are often observed over time, and hence, are time dependent. The purpose of this dissertation is to develop methods to characterize a dynamic process with challenge and recovery under different dimensionalities and error assumptions. In this dissertation, a univariate dynamic process under Gaussian assumption is discussed first and a bi-logistic model is developed by three different methods: compartment, additive, and Bayesian. Then the discussion is extended to a bivariate hysteresis system with challenge and recovery. Three methods: …

Site-Specific Habitat And Landscape Associations Of Rusty Blackbirds Wintering In Louisiana, Sinead Mary Borchert

LSU Master's Theses

The Rusty Blackbird (Euphagus carolinus) has gained notoriety in recent years as one of the fastest declining North American bird species, with a global population loss of as much as 95%. Causes of the decline are not completely understood, but the high rate of forested wetland change in the southeastern United States suggests that wintering habitat degradation may be a primary driver. To better inform management on critical wintering grounds, I surveyed 68 sites in Louisiana where Rusty Blackbirds had been known to occur to address how occupancy changes with habitat type and colonization and extinction rates vary with ground …

Forest Stakeholders, Policies And Trade In India's Forest Sector, Joy Das

LSU Master's Theses

The thesis examines a panel of trade flows during 2009-2013, exploring the influence of regulatory quality on the pattern of forest products imports by India from 143 partner countries. The study applies a pooled regression model followed by Generalized Least Squared (GLS) technique and a more robust Feasible Generalized Least Squared (FGLS) method of estimation with regulatory quality, distance between the partner country and India, total forest area of partner country, GDP and population indicators to assess the impact of partner country’s regulatory quality and other trade-related factors on imports of forest products by India. The results support the notion …

A Taste Of Armageddon: When Warring Is Done By Drones And Robots, Brian Stiltner

Philosophy, Theology and Religious Studies Faculty Publications

Discusses the increasing use of drones and weaponized robots. Argues that the international community must put firm ethical guidelines in place before the technology becomes rampant.

Low Trap-State Density And Long Carrier Diffusion In Organolead Trihalide Perovskite Single Crystals, Dong Shi, Valerio Adinolfi, Riccardo Comin, Mingjian Yuan, Erkki Alarousu, Andrei Buin, Yin Chen, Sjoerd Hoogland, Alexander Rothenberger, Khabiboulakh Katsiev, Yaroslav B. Losovyj, Xin Zhang, Peter A. Dowben, Omar F. Mohammed, Edward H. Sargent, Osman M. Bakr

Peter Dowben Publications

The fundamental properties and ultimate performance limits of organolead trihalide MAPbX₃ (MA = CH₃NH₃ +; X = Br^– or I^–) perovskites remain obscured by extensive disorder in polycrystalline MAPbX₃ films. We report an antisolvent vapor-assisted crystallization approach that enables us to create sizable crack-free MAPbX₃ single crystals with volumes exceeding 100 cubic millimeters. These large single crystals enabled a detailed characterization of their optical and charge transport characteristics. We observed exceptionally low trap-state densities on the order of 10⁹ to 10¹⁰ per cubic centimeter in MAPbX₃ single crystals …

Sustainability And Economic Analysis Of Propylene Carbonate And Polypropylene Carbonate Production Processes Using Co2 And Propylene Oxide, Yaşar Demirel

Yaşar Demirel Publications

Currently, the industrially important polycarbonates are synthesized from bisphenol A and diphenyl carbonate, which are highly toxic and hence other feasible alternatives are preferable. Following the considerable advances on the catalyst for the synthesis of carbonates from CO₂ and propylene oxide (PO), industrial scale processes for the productions of propylene carbonate (PC) and polypropylene carbonate (PPC) have been designed and simulated with sustainability and economic analyses. The CO₂ is supplied by a nearby bioethanol plant, while the PO from a petrochemical process. The first part of the study is for the production of 200 million lb/year cyclic PC …

Comparative Metal Oxide Nanoparticle Toxicity Using Embryonic Zebrafish, Leah C. Wehmas, Catherine Anders, Jordan Chess, Alex Punnoose, Cliff B. Pereira, Juliet A. Greenwood, Robert L. Tanguay

Physics Faculty Publications and Presentations

Engineered metal oxide nanoparticles (MO NPs) are finding increasing utility in the medical fields as anticancer agents. Before validation of in vivo anticancer efficacy can occur, a better understanding of whole-animal toxicity is required. We compared the toxicity of seven widely used semiconductor MO NPs made from zinc oxide (ZnO), titanium dioxide, cerium dioxide and tin dioxide prepared in pure water and in synthetic seawater using a five-day embryonic zebrafish assay. We hypothesized that the toxicity of these engineered MO NPs would depend on physicochemical properties. Significant agglomeration of MO NPs in aqueous solutions is common making it challenging to …

Tunable 3d Plasmonic Cavity Nanosensors For Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy With Sub Femtomolar Limit Of Detection, Mohammadali Tabatabei, Mohamadreza Najiminaini, Kiefer Davieau, Bozena Kaminska, Mahi Singh, Jeff Carson, Francois Lagugne-Labarthet

Chemistry Publications

Metallic nanohole arrays (NHAs) with a high hole density have emerged with potential applications for surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) including the detection of analytes at ultra-low concentrations. However, these NHA structures generally yield weak localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) which is a prerequisite for SERS measurements. In this work, a compact three-dimensional (3D) tunable plasmonic cavity with extraordinary optical transmission properties serves as a molecular sensor with sub-femtomolar detection. The 3D nanosensor consists of a gold film containing a NHA with an underlying cavity and a gold nanocone array at the bottom of the cavity. These nanosensors provide remarkable surface …

The View From Ventress - 2015, University Of Mississippi. College Of Liberal Arts

Liberal Arts Newsletters

Special Section: Research and Create. The College of Liberal Arts’ 18 departments, eight interdisciplinary programs, and 13 centers/institutes range from the natural sciences and social sciences to the fine arts and humanities. Through individual and collaborative efforts, faculty and students push the boundaries of our understanding and appreciation of the world around us. They analyze and create; they publish, discuss, and perform.

Using The Wrf Model To Simulate The Playa Breeze Over Dugway Proving Ground, Daniela Maria Spade

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The aim of this model and observation based study is to investigate the Advanced Research Weather Research and Forecasting Model's (WRF-ARW, although WRF from hereout) ability to simulate the three-dimensional structure of playa breezes and drainage flows occurring in Dugway Proving Ground, Utah using sub-km nesting in addition to improved land use and terrain datasets (as compared to the default datasets provided with WRF), in addition to studying the diurnal cycle and interactions between the playa breeze and drainage flows. A playa breeze is a thermally forced air circulation system that develops near the edge of playas, which have properties …