Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Gvsu Sustainable Agriculture Project Handbook, Youssef Darwich, Dana Eardley

Honors Projects

The GVSU Sustainable Agriculture Project was started by a group of Grand Valley students in 2008, and is a project of the Brooks College of Interdisciplinary Studies. The original farm site is on Luce Street on the Allendale campus.

Sustainability Lesson Evaluation, Alison Stemczynski

Honors Projects

No abstract provided.

Strategies For Increasing The Néel Temperature Of Magnetoelectric Fe2Teo6, Sai Mu, Kirill D. Belashchenko

Department of Physics and Astronomy: Faculty Publications

Ways to increase the Néel temperature T_N in the magnetoelectric Fe₂TeO₆ antiferromagnet are explored with the help of first-principles calculations. Substitution of larger ions like Zr or Hf for tellurium increases the superexchange angles. The compensating O vacancies tend to form bound complexes with Zr dopants, which do not degrade the electronic band gap. T_N is estimated to increase by 15% at 12.5% Te → Zr substitution with such compensation. Substitution of N for O is favorable due to the decreased charge-transfer gap. The overall effect for N³⁻ substitution compensated by O vacancies …

Constructing The Quantum Steering Ellipsoid Using State Measurement Of Biphotons, Carter Vanderbilt

Senior Projects Spring 2015

This paper investigates a recently discovered geometric representation of two-qubit states, the Quantum Steering Ellipsoid, by exploring quantum state measurements on mixtures of polarization-entangled photons produced using spontaneous parametric down conversion (SPDC). Measurements of the second photon of a mixed biphoton system that are conditioned on observations of the first photon demonstrate all possible Bloch Vectors that the second photon can be collapsed to by way of ''steering,'' which is only possible due to the nonlocal nature of entangled systems. This paper examines methods to experimentally verify the Quantum Steering Ellipsoid as a geometric classification of quantum states.

Low Absorption Liquid Crystal Materials For Midwave Infrared, Amy Creekmore

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Liquid crystal is an amazing class of soft matters with applications spanning from visible, infrared, millimeter wave, to terahertz. In addition to direct-view displays and projection displays, liquid crystal is also widely used in adaptive optics, tunable-focus lens, and laser beam steering. Although the visible region has well developed materials and mixtures for the vast variety of applications, the midwave infrared (MWIR) region of the electromagnetic spectrum invites much development as only a few materials have been developed with these applications in mind. Unlike visible region, the major challenge for mid-wave infrared liquid crystal is inherently large absorption loss. To …

Signal Processing Spreads A Voxel’S Temporal Frequency Task-Activated Peak And Induces Spatial Correlations In Dual-Task Complex-Valued Fmri, Daniel B. Rowe

Mathematics, Statistics and Computer Science Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

Derivatives Pricing With Accelerated Trinomial Trees, Conall O'Sullivan, Stephen O'Sullivan

Articles

Accelerated Trinomial Trees (ATTs) are a derivatives pricing lattice method that circumvent the restrictive time step condition inherent in standard trinomial trees and explicit finite difference methods (FDMs) in which the time step must scale with the square of the spatial step. ATTs consist of L uniform supersteps each of which contains an inner lattice/trinomial tree with N non-uniform subtime steps. Similarly to implicit FDMs, the size of the superstep in ATTs, a function of N, are constrained primarily by accuracy demands. ATTs can price options up to N times faster than standard trinomial trees (explicit FDMs). ATTs can be …

I. Synthesis Of Ascarosides For Biological Evaluation And Ii. Development Of Visible Light-Promoted Selenofunctionalization And Grafting Of Aryl Iodides, Elizabeth Susan Conner Balapitiya

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation focuses on analog synthesis for biological evaluation and visible light promoted method development. Chapter 1 centers upon the synthesis of Caenorhabditis elegans dauer pheromone analogs. C. elegans is a nematode which, in times of environmental stress, enters a dauer stage. Two highly conserved pathways, which play important roles in some diseases in higher organisms, monitor dauer formation: TGF-β and IGF-1. Dauer formation is triggered by the nematode’s chemosensation of the dauer pheromone, consisting of a group of previously-isolated ascarosides. These compounds differ in chain length, saturation, terminal functionality of side chain, ω vs. ω-1 oxygenation and presence of …

Symplectic Groupoids And Generalized Almost Subtangent Manifolds, Fulya Şahi̇n

Turkish Journal of Mathematics

We obtain equivalent assertions among the integrability conditions of generalized almost subtangent manifolds, the condition of compatibility of source and target maps of symplectic groupoids with symplectic form, and generalized subtangent maps.

Encapsulation Of Copper(Ii) Complexes With Three Dentate No$_{2}$ Ligands Derived From 2,6-Pyridinedicarboxylic Acid In Nay Zeolite, Massomeh Ghorbanloo, Somayeh Ghamari, Hidenori Yahiro

Turkish Journal of Chemistry

2,6-Pyridinedicarboxylic acid (H$_{2}$dipic) reacts with copper-exchanged zeolite NaY to form [Cu(dipic)(H$_{2}$O)$_{2}$]$_{n}$, which is encapsulated in the pores of the zeolite. In this zeolite-encapsulated form, the copper derivative functions as an efficient catalyst for the oxidation of cyclohexene, toluene, cyclohexane, and ethyl benzene in the presence of hydrogen peroxide (as an oxidant). The catalyst was readily recovered from the reaction mixture, and it could be reused for an additional three runs without perceptible loss of activity. The heterogeneous catalyst exhibited considerably higher activity and selectivity compared with [Cu(dipic)(H$_{2}$O)$_{2}$]$_{n}$ itself.

Thermal Structure Of Low-Grade Accreted Lower Cretaceous Distal Turbidites, The Central Pontides, Turkey: Insights For Tectonic Thickening Of An Accretionary Wedge, Mesut Aygül, Aral I. Okay, Roland Oberhänsli, Martin A. Ziemann

Turkish Journal of Earth Sciences

No abstract provided.

Calcareous Nannofossils Of The Paleocene Eocene Transition In Four Sections From Egypt, Mahmoud Faris, Sherif Farouk

Turkish Journal of Earth Sciences

A detailed analysis of calcareous nannofossil assemblages was carried out across the Paleocene-Eocene transition in four outcrops in Egypt (the Gebel Matulla, Markha, El-Quss Abu Said, and Gebel Duwi sections) that span the Discoaster multiradiatus (NP9) to Discoaster binodosus (NP11) zones. The Paleocene-Eocene (P/E) boundary is placed in the lower part of the Esna Shale Formation based on the LOs of the Calcareous Nannofossil Excursion Taxa (CNET or RD) that define the base of NP9b. The studied sections are considered complete and document the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM). The occurrences of long-armed and asymmetrical discoasters (e.g., D. araneus, D. anartios) …

Regulating Drivers’ Aggressiveness By Sonifying Emotional Data, Maryam Fakhrhosseini, Paul Kirby, Myounghoon Jeon

Department of Psychology and Human Factors Publications

There have been efforts within the area of cognitive and behavioral sciences to mitigate drivers’ emotion to decrease the associated traffic accidents, injuries, fatalities, and property damage. In this study, we targeted aggressive drivers and try to regulate their emotion through sonifying their emotional data. Results are discussed with an affect regulation model and future research.

Controlling For Confounding When Association Is Quantified By Area Under The Roc Curve, Hadiza I. Galadima

Theses and Dissertations

In the medical literature, there has been an increased interest in evaluating association between exposure and outcomes using nonrandomized observational studies. However, because assignments to exposure are not done randomly in observational studies, comparisons of outcomes between exposed and non-exposed subjects must account for the effect of confounders. Propensity score methods have been widely used to control for confounding, when estimating exposure effect. Previous studies have shown that conditioning on the propensity score results in biased estimation of odds ratio and hazard ratio. However, there is a lack of research into the performance of propensity score methods for estimating the …

Stakeholder Perceptions Of Sustainable Value And Water Conservation: A Case Study Of Social, Environmental, And Economic Concerns In The Rookery Bay Estuary, Bruce Victor Lilyea

Department of Conflict Resolution Studies Theses and Dissertations

Stakeholders’ perceptions of social, environmental, and economic concerns in the Rookery Bay Estuary were examined through this research. The purpose of this study was to discover the shared value and common resolution responses for the people of the Rookery Bay area that can extend to other local environmental management scenarios. Using Stakeholder Theory, Rational Choice Theory, Symbolic Interactionism, and Systems Theory as theoretical foundation, the following research questions were considered: RQ1) What are the points of shared value of community stakeholders facing environmental management issues? RQ2) How do the perspectives of the community stakeholders toward the social, environmental, and economic …

An Isomorphism Problem In Z2, Matt Noble

Theory and Applications of Graphs

We consider Euclidean distance graphs with vertex set ℚ² or ℤ² and address the possibility or impossibility of finding isomorphisms between such graphs. It is observed that for any distances d₁, d₂ the non-trivial distance graphs G(ℚ², d₁) and G(ℚ², d₂) are isomorphic. Ultimately it is shown that for distinct primes _p1, _p2 the non-trivial distance graphs G(ℤ², √p1) and G(ℤ², √p2) are not isomorphic. We conclude with a few additional questions related to this work.

Dynamic Approach To K-Forcing, Yair Caro, Ryan Pepper

Theory and Applications of Graphs

The k-forcing number of a graph is a generalization of the zero forcing number. In this note, we give a greedy algorithm to approximate the k-forcing number of a graph. Using this dynamic approach, we give corollaries which improve upon two theorems from a recent paper of Amos, Caro, Davila and Pepper [2], while also answering an open problem posed by Meyer [9].

Scheduling N Burgers For A K-Burger Grill: Chromatic Numbers With Restrictions, Peter Johnson, Xiaoya Zha

Theory and Applications of Graphs

The chromatic number has a well-known interpretation in the area of scheduling. If the vertices of a finite, simple graph are committees, and adjacency of two committees indicates that they must never be in session simultaneously, then the chromatic number of the graph is the smallest number of hours during which the committees/vertices of the graph may all have properly scheduled meetings of one continuous hour each. Slivnik [3] showed that the fractional chromatic number can be similarly characterized. In that characterization, the meetings are allowed to be broken into a finite number of disjoint intervals. Here we consider chromatic …

Path-Tables Of Trees: A Survey And Some New Results, Kevin Asciak

Theory and Applications of Graphs

The (vertex) path-table of a tree Τ contains quantitative information about the paths in Τ. The entry (i,j) of this table gives the number of paths of length j passing through vertex ^vi. The path-table is a slight variation of the notion of path layer matrix. In this survey we review some work done on the vertex path-table of a tree and also introduce the edge path-table. We show that in general, any type of path-table of a tree Τ does not determine Τ uniquely. We shall show that in trees, the number of paths passing through …

Atmospheric Responses To North Atlantic Sst Anomalies In Idealized Experiments. Part I: Northern Hemispheric Circulation, Michael C. Veres, Qi Hu

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Idealized model experiments using the NCAR CESM1.0.5 under equinox conditions are designed and performed to address two fundamental questions about the effects of the sea surface temperature (SST) variation associated with the Atlantic multidecadal oscillation (AMO) on circulation and precipitation in North America and Europe: 1) Is the observed relationship between the AMOSST and the warm-season precipitation in North America a statistical coincidence? and 2)Why is the response of negative precipitation anomaly to warm SST in the AMO fairly uniform across most of North America, whereas the positive precipitation anomaly in the cold SST rather spotty? Model experiments are done …

Land Use/Land Cover Changes And Regional Climate Over The Loess Plateau During 2001-2009 – Part Ii., Rezaul Mahmood

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Estimation Of Crop Gross Primary Production (Gpp): Ii. Do Scaledmodis Vegetation Indices Improve Performance?, Qingyuan Zhang, Yen-Ben Cheng, Alexei I. Lyapustin, Yujie Wang, Xiaoyang Zhang, Andrew E. Suyker, Shashi Verma, Yanmin Shuai, Elizabeth M. Middleton

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Satellite remote sensing estimates of gross primary production (GPP) have routinely been made using spectral vegetation indices (VIs) over the past two decades. The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index(NDVI), the Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), the green band Wide Dynamic Range Vegetation Index(WDRVI_green), and the green band Chlorophyll Index (CI_green) have been employed to estimate GPP under the assumption that GPP is proportional to the product of VI and photosynthetically active radiation (PAR)(where VI is one of four VIs: NDVI, EVI, WDRVI_green, or CI_green). However, the empirical regressions between VI*PAR and GPP measured locally …

Opportunistic Spectrum Utilization By Cognitive Radio Networks: Challenges And Solutions, Muhammad Faisal Amjad

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Cognitive Radio Network (CRN) is an emerging paradigm that makes use of Dynamic Spectrum Access (DSA) to communicate opportunistically, in the un-licensed Industrial, Scientific and Medical bands or frequency bands otherwise licensed to incumbent users such as TV broadcast. Interest in the development of CRNs is because of severe under-utilization of spectrum bands by the incumbent Primary Users (PUs) that have the license to use them coupled with an ever-increasing demand for unlicensed spectrum for a variety of new mobile and wireless applications. The essence of Cognitive Radio (CR) operation is the cooperative and opportunistic utilization of licensed spectrum bands …

Modeling Social Norms In Real-World Agent-Based Simulations, Rahmatollah Beheshti

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Studying and simulating social systems including human groups and societies can be a complex problem. In order to build a model that simulates humans' actions, it is necessary to consider the major factors that affect human behavior. Norms are one of these factors: social norms are the customary rules that govern behavior in groups and societies. Norms are everywhere around us, from the way people handshake or bow to the clothes they wear. They play a large role in determining our behaviors. Studies on norms are much older than the age of computer science, since normative studies have been a …

A New Class Of Generalized Power Lindley Distribution With Applications To Lifetime Data, Marvis Pararai, Gayan Warahena-Liyanage, Broderick O. Oluyede

Department of Mathematical Sciences Faculty Publications

A new class of distribution called the beta-exponentiated power Lindley (BEPL) distribution is proposed. This class of distributions includes the Lindley (L), exponentiated Lindley (EL), power Lindley (PL), exponentiated power Lindley (EPL), beta-exponentiated Lindley (BEL), beta-Lindley (BL), and beta-power Lindley distributions (BPL) as special cases. Expansion of the density of BEPL distribution is obtained. Some mathematical properties of the new distribution including hazard function, reverse hazard function, moments, mean deviations, Lorenz and Bonferroni curves are presented. Entropy measures and the distribution of the order statistics are given. The maximum likelihood estimation technique is used to estimate the model parameters. Finally, …

Construction And Optimization Of A Tapered Amplifier System For Applications In Ultra-Cold Plasma Research, Ryan Cole

Honors Theses

The number density of cold atoms confined in a magneto-optical trap (MOT) is critically dependent on the intensity of the lasers used to cool the sample. To generate large optical powers while retaining the practicality of homemade external cavity diode lasers (ECDLs), a tapered amplifier (TA) system was designed and constructed to amplify the output of an existing 780 nm, continuous-wave ECDL. The amplifier’s performance is discussed in terms of its gain and power output. Under standard operating conditions, optical amplification of 12 dB is achieved, with a maximum power output of 0.75 W. The completed amplifier is installed into …

The Central Hankel Transform, Matthew J. Levine

Honors Theses

This honors thesis presents the Hankel transform on an integer sequence, a function with colorful mathematical history and rich theoretical background. We then introduce a matricial Toeplitz transform that parallels some of most famous qualities of the Hankel transform, especially when in consideration of popular sequences like the Fibonacci numbers. The result is a characterization of the injectivity of this new function, a description of some of its interesting behaviors, and a discussion of a few new Fibonacci identities.

Mathematical Modeling Of Emiliania Huxleyi And A Host-Specific Virus, Julia Middleton

Honors Theses

The world’s oceans provide the basis for life on the planet. One microscopic algae, the coccolithophores, and Emiliania huxleyi in particular, is a major source of carbon drawdown in the context of the global carbon cycle and account for a significant amount of the primary production in oceanic ecosystems. We know that the oceans are packed with marine viruses and they have an important role in the rise and fall of plankton populations but current mathematical models do not accurately account for virus-host interactions when predicting plankton blooms. Therefore I am using model optimization and comparison techniques to evaluate current …

Experimental And Computational Investigation Of Selected Β-Hydroxy Carbenes, Joseph D. Deangelo

Honors Theses

The photolytic precursor to the sterically hindered β-bis(tert)-butanol carbene, 3-(1a,9b-dihydro-1H-cyclopropa[l]phenanthren-1-yl)-2,2,4,4-tetramethylpentan-3-ol was prepared in three steps from phenanthrene. Photolysis of the precursor generates the desired β-hydroxy carbene, an intermediate, which subsequently rearranges into two different observed products from an intramolecular C-H insertion and alkyl shift. Four intramolecular mechanisms were ultimately considered to account for the possible rearrangement pathways. Computational studies using density functional theory are also presented.

In addition, the photolytic precursors to two cyclic β-hydroxy carbenes, 1-(1a,9b-dihydro-1H-cyclopropa[l]phenanthren-1-yl)cyclopropan-1-ol and 1-(1a,9b-dihydro-1H-cyclopropa[l]phenanthren-1-yl)cyclobutan-1-ol, were also prepared through different synthetic routes from phenanthrene. …

Generation Of 2-Adamantylidenecarbene From A Phenanthrene-Based Precursor, Christine E. Wamsley

Honors Theses

This thesis examines the generation of 2-adamantylidenecarbene from a phenanthrene-based precursor. A three-step synthetic procedure was used to generate the 2-adamantylidenecarbene precursor, which subsequently underwent photolysis to produce 2-adamantylidenecarbene. This product was trapped with cyclohexene. No evidence of a ring expansion to 4-homoadamantyne was observed. It was also noted that the target precursor underwent rearrangement during photolysis, leading to the formation of an isomer containing a seven-membered ring. This isomer did not photolyze. Additionally, computational studies were performed using Gaussian 09. Geometries were initially optimized and then, the single point energies of the singlet and triplet carbene states were calculated. …