Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Avidin Cooperative Allosterism Upon Binding Biotin Observed By Differential Changes In Intrinsic Fluorescence, Mark J. Waner, Gianna Ellis, Meghan Graeca, Nicholas Ieraci, Cole Morell, Alycia Murphy, David P. Mascotti

2023 Faculty Bibliography

Similar to streptavidin, the binding of biotin by avidin does not appear to be cooperative in the traditional sense of altered binding strength, though it appears to be cooperative in terms of ligand induced structural communication across subunits in the protein as previously shown for streptavidin. In this work we provide data from intrinsic tryptophan fluorescence as evidence of a cooperative structural change. The technique involves examination of the changes in fluorescence emission corresponding to the various tryptophan populations accompanying avidin-biotin binding. We note that the 335 nm emission population (i.e. more hydrophobic local environment) saturates prior to full ligation …

A High-Precision Electron Emission Model: Computational Methods For Nanoscale Structures, Alister J. Tencate

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

The high-intensity, high-brightness and precision frontiers for charged particle beams are an increasingly important focus for study. Electron microscopy has demonstrated high quality beams from a single nanotip emitter, and cathodes of structured nanoscale arrays show promise as ultracold electron sources. Optimization of the cathode design for precision applications necessitates a detailed treatment of the interplay between the structure geometry, quantum mechanical emission mechanism, and electromagnetic interactions between the emitted electrons and the boundary interface. This dissertation details the numerical tools developed to simulate these processes efficiently with enough fidelity to be accurate even in the ultracold regime.

Conventional simulation …

Chemometrics And Spectroscopic Analyses Of Peganum Harmala Plant’S Seeds By Laser‐Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy, Tahani A. Alrebdi, Amir Fayyaz, Haroon Asghar, Asif Kamal, Javed Iqbal, Naveed K. Piracha

2023 Faculty Bibliography

In the present work, the rapid identification of elements and their relative chemical com‐ position in various Peganum harmala seed samples were investigated using a calibration‐free laser‐ induced breakdown spectroscopy technique (CF‐LIBS). A pulsed Nd:YAG laser‐source with a 5 ns pulse‐duration, and 10 Hz pulse repetition rates providing 400 and 200 mJ energy at 1064 and 532 nm wavelength, respectively, was focused on the Peganum harmala seed samples for ablation. A LIBS 2000+ spectrometer within the wavelength range (200 to 720 nm), emission‐spectra were recorded. The measured spectra of the Peganum harmala sample gives spectral lines of Carbon (C), Magnesium …

Salmon Against Humanity: Are Hatcheries A Part Of Salmon Recovery?, Janine Fong

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

Salmon hatcheries have been in place since the late 1800s, but they are controversial parts of salmon recovery. Evidence has been found that hatcheries may be producing weaker fish and harming naturally-occurring populations. However, many of these issues can be addressed with hatchery reforms. There are also external factors to consider, such as the needs of those who depend on salmon and the loss of habitat. In the larger scheme of things, hatcheries appear to be important tools that can be utilized better in order to conserve salmon more effectively. This paper explores the hatchery controversy, from tribal rights to …

Digital Archaeology: Detection Of Archaeological Structures Using Convolutional Neural Networks On Aerial Lidar Data, Katie Larue

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

Archaeology is a field that is mostly done by hand. Archaeologists explore remote and unknown areas of the world to find undiscovered civilizations that will give us any idea about how people lived in the past. To speed up this process, Airborne light detection and ranging or LiDAR systems have been used to great effect to speed up this processing. However, we still require domain experts to annotate this information to confirm structures. Deep learning has the potential to speed up this process and the following presentation is a basic overview of machine learning, popular types of deep learning models, …

Silicon And Oxygen In Earth’S Core: Applications Of Machine Learning To Metal-Silicate Equilibria And Core Formation, Ruben Keane

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

Within Earth’s core, light elements (Si, O, C, S, N, H) are known to make up a small fraction of the total mass of the core with respect to heavy elements. The degree to which these elements exist in the cores of terrestrial planets have geophysical and geochemical implications, most notably the presence of core convection and a geodynamo, thermal conductivity within the core, and core temperature. Comparison of the composition of chondrites to Earth’s mantle composition and the Preliminary Reference Earth Model have given an estimation of about 10 % light elements in Earth’s core. The concentrations of each …

Resident Scientists-In-Schools: Harnessing Altruism In Stem, Alison Sloat

UNLV Best Teaching Practices Expo

The Resident Scientists-in-Schools and the STEM Teacher Development Academy program helps to diversify and expand the STEM pipeline in CCSD schools.

Performance Analysis Of Empirical Open-Circuit Voltage Modeling In Lithium-Ion Batteries, Part-3: Experimental Results, Prarthana Pillai, James Nguyen, Balakumar Balasingam

Computer Science Publications

This paper is the third part of a series of papers about empirical approaches to open circuit voltage (OCV) modeling of lithium-ion batteries. The first part of the series proposed models to quantify various sources of uncertainties in the OCV models; the second part of the series presented systematic data collection approaches to compute the uncertainties in the OCV to state of charge (SOC) models. This paper uses data collected from 28 OCV characterization experiments, performed according to the data collection plan presented in the second part, to compute and analyze three OCV uncertainty metrics: cell-to-cell variations, C-Rate error, and …

Exploring C++, Alice E. Fischer

Electrical & Computer Engineering and Computer Science Book Series

This book is intended for use by students who hope to deepen their understanding of C++ and learn about advanced features. It is also useful for C or Java programmers who want to learn C++ and OO style . . . fast. It assumes that the reader knows basic programming including types, type-matching rules, control structures, functions, arrays, pointers, and simple data structures. The material should help you develop a deeper understanding of the implementation of C++, of clean program design and of the features that make C++ a powerful and flexible language.

Frequent Storm Surges Affect The Groundwater Of Coastal Ecosystems, Giovanna Nordio, Ryan Frederiks, Mary Hingst, Joel Carr, Matthew L. Kirwan, Et Al

VIMS Articles

Recent studies have focused on the effect of large tropical cyclones (hurricanes) on the shore, neglecting the role of less intense but more frequent events. Here we analyze the effect of the offshore tropical storm Melissa on groundwater data collected along the North America Atlantic coast. Our meta-analysis indicates that both groundwater level and specific conductivity significantly increased during Melissa, respectively reaching maximum values of 1.09 m and 25.2 mS/cm above pre-storm levels. Time to recover to pre-storm levels was 10 times greater for groundwater specific conductivity, with a median value of 20 days, while groundwater level had a median …

Immunofluorescence Visualization Of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Mixtures In The Eastern Oyster Crassostrea Virginica, Kristen M. Prossner, Hamish J. Small, Ryan Carnegie, Michael A. Unger

VIMS Articles

Bivalve mollusks including oysters have low metabolic potential and are therefore susceptible to accumulating high levels of lipophilic organic contaminants such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Human exposure to PAHs via consumption of this important commercial shellfish can be a serious public health concern in areas where high PAH contamination exists. Previous PAH immunohistochemical studies have been limited to laboratory-based exposures focusing on one or a few individual PAH compounds. To date, such studies have yet to explore PAH accumulation in oysters, known to have some of the highest levels of PAHs across different food products. Using a monoclonal antibody …

An Adaptive Algorithm For `The Secretary Problem': Alternate Proof Of The Divergence Of A Maximizer Sequence, Andrew Benfante, Xiang Xu

OUR Journal: ODU Undergraduate Research Journal

This paper presents an alternate proof of the divergence of the unique maximizer sequence {𝑥∗ 𝑛} of a function sequence {𝐹𝑛(𝑥)} that is derived from an adaptive algorithm based on the now classic optimal stopping problem, known by many names but here ‘the secretary problem’. The alternate proof uses a result established by Nguyen, Xu, and Zhao (n.d.) regarding the uniqueness of maximizer points of a generalized function sequence {𝑆𝜇,𝜎 𝑛 } and relies on the strict monotonicity of 𝐹𝑛(𝑥) as 𝑛 increases in order to show divergence of {𝑥∗ 𝑛}. Towards this, limits of the exponentiated Gaussian CDF are …

Nudyclr: Nuclear Dynamic Co-Learned Representations, Víctor Samuel Pérez-Díaz

2023 REYES Proceedings

NuCLR (Nuclear Co-Learned Representations) is a cutting-edge multi-task deep learning framework designed to predict essential nuclear observables, including binding energies, decay energies, and nuclear charge radii. As part of the REYES Mentorship Program, we investigated the application of dynamic loss weighting to further refine NuCLR’s predictive performance. Our findings indicate that while weighting strategies can enhance accuracy in specific tasks, such as binding energy prediction, they may underperform in others. Equal Weighting (EW), the original method employed by NuCLR, demonstrated consistent performance across multiple tasks, affirming its robustness. This report succinctly presents the developments and results of the mentorship program …

Resonance Signatures In 𝜋+𝜋− Scattering: Theoretical Analysis And Interpretation, Mayul Verma

2023 REYES Proceedings

Hadron colour confinement, a phenomenon central to Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD), presents a formidable challenge in theoretical physics. The non-perturbative nature of confinement necessitates innovative approaches to the production of and reaction mechanisms between these subatomic particles. In the pursuit of comprehending the fundamental constituents of matter, particle resonances assume a pivotal role. Through the utilization of advanced methodologies like 𝑆-Matrix formulations, more profound insights into resonance phenomena and their effects on the dynamics of particle interactions can be attained. This research paper embarks on a mathematical journey that holds the potential to shed light on the intricate structure of particle …

Algebraic Tunnelling, Gaurab Sedhain

2023 REYES Proceedings

We study the quantum phenomenon of tunnelling in the framework of algebraic quantum theory, motivated by the tunnelling aspects of false vacuum decay. We see that resolvent C*-algebra, proposed relatively recently by Buchholz and Grundling rather than Weyl algebra provides an appropriate framework for treating the dynamics of non-free quantum mechanical system as an algebraic automorphism. At the end, we propose to investigate false vacuum decay in algebraic quantum field theoretic setting in terms of the two-point correlation function which gives us the tunneling probability, with the corresponding C*-algebraic construction.

Rainwater Catchment System In Public Sector Housing, Araceli Peña, Muhammad Yanzar Sarin

2023 REYES Proceedings

Water is a universal right for all living beings on the planet, but today it has become a commercial good. It costs significantly to extract water from increasingly distant storage sources. For these reasons and many more the fight for water has become increasingly intense. Precisely, an alternative to avoid more dam construction is the implementation of public politic with actions focused on the integral solution of water, that is to say, that it be distributed fairly and equitably to all users, avoiding more concessions to great industries like as soft drinks and breweries, which are the main consumers and …

Using Machine Learning For Web Accessibility, Tlamelo Makati

Academic Posters Collection

This research will explore the potential of machine learning to enhance web accessibility. Web accessibility is typically defined in terms of Web Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), which states that everyone should be able to perceive, operate, understand and interpret the web regardless of disability or use of assistive technology. We would like to consult digital accessibility experts through interviews and focus groups to understand the web accessibility auditing and remediation processes in detail, with a focus on web navigation. An important goal of this work is to establish development processes where all stakeholders can leverage machine-learning tools to produce more accessible …

Ideating Explainable Ai, Helen Sheridan, Emma Murphy, Dympna O'Sullivan

Academic Posters Collection

Exploring user's mental models of an AI-driven recruitment system using design-thinking methods as an approach to ideating XAI.

Turnover, Covid-19, And Reasons For Leaving And Staying Within Governmental Public Health, Jonathan P. Leider, Gulzar H. Shah, Valerie A. Yeager, Jingjing Yin, Kusuma Madamala

Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Environmental Health Sciences Faculty Publications

Background and Objectives:

Public health workforce recruitment and retention continue to challenge public health agencies. This study aims to describe the trends in intention to leave and retire and analyze factors associated with intentions to leave and intentions to stay.

Design:

Using national-level data from the 2017 and 2021 Public Health Workforce Interests and Needs Surveys, bivariate analyses of intent to leave were conducted using a Rao-Scott adjusted chi-square and multivariate analysis using logistic regression models.

Results:

In 2021, 20% of employees planned to retire and 30% were considering leaving. In contrast, 23% of employees planned to retire and 28% …

Western Kansas Field Station Weather Report: 2022 Growing Season, Dewayne Bond, Matthew Sittel

Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station Research Reports

Summary of 2022 weather for research conducted at the research locations included in the 2023 Western Kansas Agricultural Research report.

Rdkg: A Reinforcement Learning Framework For Disease Diagnosis On Knowledge Graph, Shipeng Guo, Kunpeng Liu, Pengfei Wang, Weiwei Dai, Yi Du, Yuanchun Zhou, Wenjuan Cui

Computer Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Automatic disease diagnosis from symptoms has attracted much attention in medical practices. It can assist doctors and medical practitioners in narrowing down disease candidates, reducing testing costs, improving diagnosis efficiency, and more importantly, saving human lives. Existing research has made significant progress in diagnosing disease but was limited by the gap between interpretability and accuracy. To fill this gap, in this paper, we propose a method called Reinforced Disease Diagnosis on Knowlege Graph (RDKG). Specifically, we first construct a knowledge graph containing all information from electronic medical records. To capture informative embeddings, we propose an enhanced knowledge graph embedding method …

Discovery Of The Middle Mantle Transition Zone (Mmtz) And Its Geodynamic Significance, Yuping Wang

Theses and Dissertations--Earth and Environmental Sciences

Global mantle discontinuities and mantle transition zones are crucial to the earth’s evolution. By employing K-Means clustering, which belongs to cluster analysis in machine learning (ML), on shear velocity variation data, we generate heterogeneity percentage profiles for three different global tomographic models (Models S362WMANI+M, SEMUCB-WM1, and S40RTS). Key cluster percentage shifts, which are observed at around 400 km, 650 km, 1050 km, 1500 km, and 2700 km, suggest global mantle discontinuities at corresponding depths. All profiles also indicate a global discontinuity in the lower mantle between 2200 km and 2600 km. The middle mantle transition zone (MMTZ), bounded between 1050 …

Applications Of Digital Terrain Modeling To Address Problems In Geomorphology And Engineering Geology, Sarah Johnson

Theses and Dissertations--Earth and Environmental Sciences

This dissertation uses digital terrain modeling and computational methods to yield insight into three topics: 1) evaluating the influence of glacial topography on fluvial sediment transport in the Teton Range, WY, 2) integrating regional airborne lidar, UAV lidar, and structure from motion photogrammetry to characterize decadal-scale movement of slow-moving landslides in northern Kentucky, and 3) applying machine learning methods to surficial geologic mapping.

The role of topography as a boundary condition that controls the efficiency of fluvial erosion in the Teton Range, Wyoming, was investigated by using existing lidar data to delineate surficial geologic units, geometrically reconstruct the depth to …

How Reliable Are Shap Values When Trying To Explain Machine Learning Models, Jason Lawless

Senior Honors Theses and Projects

With the rapid growth and application of machine learning and artificial intelligence models that can not be understood by humans, there is a growing movement calling for an increase in interpretability. There are numerous methods that attempt to explain these models that vary drastically in the process of evaluating models. In this paper, we investigate a local post-hoc method called SHAP. SHAP utilizes Shapley values from game theory to attribute an importance value to each input in a model at each datapoint. Shapley values can require significant computation time, especially as the number of inputs increases. In order to shorten …

Querying The Past: Automatic Source Attribution With Language Models, Ryan Muther, Mathew Barber, David Smith

Faculty & Staff Publications

This paper explores new methods for locating the sources used to write a text by 昀椀ne-tuning a variety of language models to rerank candidate sources. These methods promise to shed new light on traditions with complex citational practices, such as in medieval Arabic where citations are ambiguous and boundaries of quotation are poorly defined. After retrieving candidates sources using a baseline BM25 retrieval model, a variety of reranking methods are tested to see how effective they are at the task of source attribution. We conduct experiments on two datasets—English Wikipedia and medieval Arabic historical writing—and employ a variety of retrieval- …

Progression Magazine, 2022-2023, Coastal Carolina University

Progression Magazine

Magazine of the Gupta College of Science at Coastal Carolina University.

Notes On Totally Geodesic Foliations Of A Complete Semi-Riemannian Manifold, An Sook Shin, Hyelim Han, Hobum Kim

Turkish Journal of Mathematics

In this paper, we prove that the orthogonal complement $\mathcal{F}^{\perp}$ of a totally geodesic foliation $\mathcal{F}$ on a complete semi-Riemannian manifold $(M,g)$ satisfying a certain inequality between mixed sectional curvatures and the integrability tensor of $\mathcal{F}^{\perp}$ is totally geodesic. We also obtain conditions for the existence of totally geodesic foliations on a complete semi-Riemannian manifold $(M,g)$ with bundle-like metric $g$.

Some Remarks On Parameterized Inequalities Involving Conformable Fractional Operators, Ci̇han Ünal, Fati̇h Hezenci̇, Hüseyi̇n Budak

Turkish Journal of Mathematics

In this paper, we prove an identity for differentiable convex functions related to conformable fractional integrals. Moreover, some parameterized inequalities are established by using conformable fractional integrals. To be more precise, parameterized inequalities are obtained by taking advantage of the convexity, the Hölder inequality, and the power mean inequality. Furthermore, previous and new results are presented by using special cases of the obtained theorems.

Locally Product-Like Statistical Submersions, Kazuhi̇ko Takano, Esra Erkan, Mehmet Gülbahar

Turkish Journal of Mathematics

In this paper, the main identities on locally product-like statistical submersions are obtained with the aid of statistical structures and their Riemannian curvature tensors. Some examples of locally product-like statistical submersions are presented. Some results on $F$-invariant, $F^{\ast}$-invariant and antiinvariant locally product-like statistical submersions are given.

Sensing Translocating Polymers Via Induced Magnetic Fields, Şahi̇n Büyükdağli

Turkish Journal of Physics

The requirement to boost the resolution of nanopore-based biosequencing devices necessitates the integration of novel biosensing techniques with reduced sensitivity to background noise. In this article, we probe the signatures of translocating polymers in magnetic fields induced by ionic currents through membrane nanopores. Within the framework of a previously introduced charge transport theory, we evaluate the magnetic field signals generated by voltage- and pressure-driven DNA translocation events in monovalent salt solutions. Our formalism reveals that in voltage-driven transport, the translocating polymer suppresses the induced magnetic field via the steric blockage of the ion current through the midpore. In the case …