Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Images Of Embedded Jovian Planet Formation At A Wide Separation Around Ab Aurigae, Thayne Currie, Kellen Lawson, Glenn Schneider, Wladimir Lyra, John Wisniewski, Carol Grady, Olivier Guyon, Motohide Tamura, Takayuki Kotani, Hajime Kawahara, Timothy Brandt, Taichi Uyama, Takayuki Muto, Ruobing Dong, Tomoyuki Kudo, Jun Hashimoto, Misato Fukagawa, Kevin Wagner, Julien Lozi, Jeffrey Chilcote, Taylor Tobin, Tyler Groff, Kimberly Ward-Duong, William Januszewski, Barnaby Norris, Peter Tuthill, Nienke Van Der Marel, Michael Sitko, Vincent Deo, Sebastien Vievard, Nemanja Jovanovic, Frantz Martinache

Astronomy: Faculty Publications

Direct images of protoplanets embedded in disks around infant stars provide the key to understanding the formation of gas giant planets such as Jupiter. Using the Subaru Telescope and the Hubble Space Telescope, we find evidence for a Jovian protoplanet around AB Aurigae orbiting at a wide projected separation (~93 au), probably responsible for multiple planet-induced features in the disk. Its emission is reproducible as reprocessed radiation from an embedded protoplanet. We also identify two structures located at 430–580 au that are candidate sites of planet formation. These data reveal planet formation in the embedded phase and a protoplanet discovery …

What’S So Artificial And Intelligent About Artificial Intelligence? A Conceptual Framework For Ai, Rebekah L. H. Rice

SPU Works

There is currently a good deal of attention being focused on artificial intelligence, broadly speaking, and deep learning, specifically. The attention is warranted, as these technologies are predicted to affect our collective lives in innumerable ways even beyond their already expansive social reach. There is much to consider regarding the benefits and potential harms of AI. And of course there are the apocalyptic musings about super-intelligent machines running amok, bringing science fiction scenarios uncomfortably close to anticipated reality. But productively engaging in discussions about the ethical and social implications of AI, and about which sorts of futures it is reasonable …

A Theological Framework For Reflection On Artificial Intelligence, Michael D. Langford

SPU Works

The theological questions before us in a digital age are pressing. What does God think of AI? Is AI good or evil? Will AI save us? What sort of future will AI give us? In what follows, I want to briefly introduce a few theological concepts that will hopefully help equip us for theological reflection on AI. We will begin with the question of epistemology, or how it is that we come by knowledge; in the realm of theology, this centers on revelation. We will then touch on the doctrine of creation, including the understanding of what it means to …

Artificial Intelligence And Theological Personhood, Michael D. Langford

SPU Works

Can AI be a person? What does God tell us about humanity and personhood? These are questions of theological anthropology and involve inquiring after the nature of humanity as God’s creation and what God wills for human personhood.

To address these inquiries, we will look at three biblical texts that bear on issues of theological anthropology, hopefully garnering some theological resources to consider the anthropological status of AI. Specifically, we will look at three “creation” texts that necessarily deal with the nature of human personhood within the divine economy of salvation history. The first is Genesis 1 and 2, which …

Reinforcement In The Information Revolution, Phillip M. Baker

SPU Works

This chapter will outline what it means to be a behaving human and how AI makes sense of these concepts. It will then explore possible near-future implications of our remarkable progress in understanding how human behavior works with the assistance of AI from a neurobiological basis. A focus on understanding the reinforcement mechanisms of the brain will reveal the consequences of ceding control of so much of our brain-environment interactions to AI. It will conclude by offering a potential Christian response to this digital reality from a uniquely Anabaptist perspective.

An Introduction To Artificial Intelligence, Carlos R. Arias

SPU Works

This chapter explores the evolution of artificial intelligence, starting with the first ideas of Alan Turing, going through the promises of its inception, and landing in our current state, when AI invokes a sense of power and awe. Next, the chapter will provide a summary of different technologies related to AI and machine learning, such as deep neural networks, to help the reader distinguish different terminologies. The chapter will end with a discussion of some potential tendencies concerning how AI may be used or evolve in the near future, and some questions about the technology in the long term.

Sin And Grace, Bruce D. Baker

SPU Works

The theological lens of sin and grace gives a broader and deeper viewpoint than mere ethics. Ethical analysis is of course useful and necessary, but ethics alone is not enough. Ethics apart from a robust, holistic understanding of humans as persons-in-communion will remain mired in reductionist thinking about human dignity and morality. Therefore, this final chapter addresses the ethical issues of AI through the lens of sin and grace.

Epilogue: A Litany For Faithful Engagement With Artificial Intelligence, Bruce D. Baker

SPU Works

A litany is a thoughtfully organized prayer for use in public worship by the church, or as a personal devotional practice by individuals. This seems a fitting way to close our reflection on AI, faith, and the future. Prayer will be essential to our faithful response to the new opportunities and challenges AI brings. Our hope is that this litany will serve as a practical guide to thoughtful invocation of the Holy Spirit in prayers for wisdom and discernment, and in the daily disciplines of spiritual growth.

Periodic Functions Related To The Gompertz Difference Equation, Tom Cuchta, Nick Wintz

Faculty Scholarship

We investigate periodicity of functions related to the Gompertz difference equation. In particular, we derive difference equations that must be satisfied to guarantee periodicity of the solution.

(R1521) On Weighted Lacunary Interpolation, Swarnima Bahadur, Sariya Bano

Applications and Applied Mathematics: An International Journal (AAM)

In this paper, we considered the non-uniformly distributed zeros on the unit circle, which are obtained by projecting vertically the zeros of the derivative of Legendre polynomial together with x=1 and x=-1 onto the unit circle. We prescribed the function on the above said nodes, while its second derivative at all nodes except at x=1 and x=-1 with suitable weight function and obtained the existence, explicit forms and establish a convergence theorem for such interpolatory polynomial. We call such interpolation as weighted Lacunary interpolation on the unit circle.

(R1889) Analysis Of Resonant Curve In The Earth-Moon System Under The Effect Of Resistive Force And Earth’S Equatorial Ellipticity, Sushil Yadav, Mukesh Kumar, Rajiv Aggarwal

Applications and Applied Mathematics: An International Journal (AAM)

In the present paper, we have determined the equations of motion of the Moon in spherical coordinate system using the gravitational potential of Earth. Using perturbation, equations of motion are reduced to a second order differential equation. From the solution, two types of resonance are observed: (i) due to the frequencies–rate of change of Earth’s equatorial ellipticity parameter and Earth’s rotation rate, and (ii) due to the frequencies–angular velocity of the bary-center around the sun and Earth’s rotation rate. Resonant curves are drawn where oscillatory amplitude becomes infinitely large at the resonant points. The effect of Earth’s equatorial ellipticity parameter …

(R1897) Further Results On The Admissibility Of Singular Systems With Delays, Abdullah Yiğit, Cemil Tunç

Applications and Applied Mathematics: An International Journal (AAM)

Admissibility problem for a kind of singular systems with delays is studied in this article. Firstly, given the singular system with delays is transformed into a neutral system with delays. Secondly, a new sufficient criterion is obtained on the stability of the new neutral system by aid of Wirtinger-based integral inequality, linear matrix inequality (LMI) method and meaningful Lyapunov-Krasovskii functionals (LKFs). This criterion is valid for both systems. At the end, Two numerical examples are given to illustrate the applicability of the obtained results using MATLAB-Simulink software. By this article, we extend and improve some results of the past literature.

(R1516) Results On Fekete-Szegö Problem For Some New Subclasses Of Univalent Analytic Functions With Fractional-Order Operators, N. Singha, R. Kumar

Applications and Applied Mathematics: An International Journal (AAM)

We introduce some new subclasses of analytic functions which are univalent in an open unit disk by means of fractional calculus. The elemental interest is to explore the significance of fractional-order operators while formulating a few distinct subclasses of univalent analytic functions. Present work establishes the Fekete-Szegö inequality for the proposed subclasses. In addition, some classical Fekete-Szegö problems have also been retrieved and discussed as particular cases of the presented work. To make the suggested work more evident, an extremal function is also provided for which a sharp upper bound is attained.

(R1510) A Special Case Of Rodriguez-Lallena And Ubeda-Flores Copula Based On Ruschendorf Method, Marvin G. Pizon, Rolando N. Paluga

Applications and Applied Mathematics: An International Journal (AAM)

Measure of dependence is a particular way of looking at the association between random variables, and one way to capture stochastic dependence is through the use of copula. In this study, a Rushendorf Method was applied to a bivariate function to obtain a copula through the use of a special case of Rodriguez-Lallena and Ubeda-Flores (RLUF) copula. Properties of the RLUF copula such as the density, measures of dependence, and lower and upper tail dependence were studied. In particular, measures of dependence such as Spearman’s rho, Kendall’s tau and Blomqvist’s beta of RLUF copula are given. Moreover, the Root-Mean-Square Error …

(R1507) Mathematical Modeling And Analysis Of Seqiahr Model: Impact Of Quarantine And Isolation On Covid-19, Manoj Kumar Singh, . Anjali

Applications and Applied Mathematics: An International Journal (AAM)

At the moment in time, an outbreak of COVID-19 is transmitting on from human to human. Different parts have different quality of life (e.g., India compared to Russia), which implies the impact varies in each part of the world. Although clinical vaccines are available to cure, the question is how to minimize the spread without considering the vaccine. In this paper, via a mathematical model, the transmission dynamics of novel coronavirus with quarantine and isolation facilities have been proposed. The examination of the proposed model is set in motion with the boundedness and positivity of the solution, sole disease-free equilibrium, …

(R1961) On Fuzzy Upper And Lower Theta Star Semicontinuous Multifunctions, A. Mughil, A. Vadivel, O. Uma Maheswari

Applications and Applied Mathematics: An International Journal (AAM)

This work introduces the concepts of fuzzy upper and lower theta star (respectively theta)- semicontinuous multifunction on fuzzy topological spaces in the Sostak sense. In L-fuzzy topological spaces, the mutual relationships of these fuzzy upper (resp. fuzzy lower) theta star (resp. theta)-semicontinuous multifunctions are established, as well as several characterizations and properties. Later, researchers looked at the composition and union of these multifunctions.

A Global Ecological Signal Of Extinction Risk In Terrestrial Vertebrates, M. J. Munstermann, N. A. Heim, D. J. Mccauley, J. L. Payne, N. S. Upham, Steve C. Wang

Mathematics & Statistics Faculty Works

To determine the distribution and causes of extinction threat across functional groups of terrestrial vertebrates, we assembled an ecological trait data set for 18,016 species of terrestrial vertebrates and utilized phylogenetic comparative methods to test which categories of habitat association, mode of locomotion, and feeding mode best predicted extinction risk. We also examined the individual categories of the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List extinction drivers (e.g., agriculture and logging) threatening each species and determined the greatest threats for each of the four terrestrial vertebrate groups. We then quantified the sum of extinction drivers threatening each species to …

Highly Swellable Hydrogels Prepared From Extensively Oxidized Lignin, Jihyeon Hwang, Daniella V. Martinez, Estevan J. Martinez, Gift Metavarayuth, Dustin Goodlett, Qi Wang, Mitra Ganewatta, Michael S. Kent, Chuanbing Tang

Faculty Publications

Biopolymers such as lignin are gaining renewed appeal due to the need for sustainable materials. Herein, we used chelator-mediated Fenton (CMF) chemistry to oxidize Kraft lignin to develop sustainable super absorbent materials. The CMF chemistry adds oxygen, opens aromatic rings and increases COOH content, producing hydrophilic lignin without depolymerization. UV absorption, molecular weight, elemental analysis, and titration were used to study the chemical compositions of CMF-processed lignin. Then the chemically modified hydrophilic lignin was used to produce lignin-based hydrogels utilizing an aqueous polymerization and cross-linking reaction that enabled tunable properties. The resulting lignin hydrogels absorbed water up to 96% and …

Leveraging Context Patterns For Medical Entity Classification, Garrett Johnston

Computer Science Senior Theses

The ability of patients to understand health-related text is important for optimal health outcomes. A system that can automatically annotate medical entities could help patients better understand health-related text. Such a system would also accelerate manual data annotation for this low-resource domain as well as assist in down- stream medical NLP tasks such as finding textual similarity, identifying conflicting medical advice, and aspect-based sentiment analysis. In this work, we investigate a state-of-the-art entity set expansion model, BootstrapNet, for the task of medical entity classification on a new dataset of medical advice text. We also propose EP SBERT, a simple model …

A High-Tech, Low-Cost, Internet Of Things Surfboard Fin For Coastal Citizen Science, Outreach, And Education, Philip J. Bresnahan, Tyler Cyronak, Robert J. W. Brewin, Andreas J. Andersson, Taylor Wirth, Todd R. Martz, Travis Courtney, Nathan Hui, Ryan Kastner, Andrew Stern, Todd Mcgrain, Danica Reinicke, Jon Richard, Katherine Hammond, Shannon Waters

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Coastal populations and hazards are escalating simultaneously, leading to an increased importance of coastal ocean observations. Many well-established observational techniques are expensive, require complex technical training, and offer little to no public engagement. Smartfin, an oceanographic sensor–equipped surfboard fin and citizen science program, was designed to alleviate these issues. Smartfins are typically used by surfers and paddlers in surf zone and nearshore regions where they can help fill gaps between other observational assets. Smartfin user groups can provide data-rich time-series in confined regions. Smartfin comprises temperature, motion, and wet/dry sensing, GPS location, and cellular data transmission capabilities for the near-real-time …

Effects Of Spatial And Temporal Variability In Surface Water Inputs On Streamflow Generation And Cessation In The Rain–Snow Transition Zone, Ernesto Trujillo

Geosciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Climate change affects precipitation phase, which can propagate into changes in streamflow timing and magnitude. This study examines how the spatial and temporal distribution of rainfall and snowmelt affects discharge in rain–snow transition zones. These zones experience large year-to-year variations in precipitation phase, cover a significant area of mountain catchments globally, and might extend to higher elevations under future climate change. We used observations from 11 weather stations and snow depths measured from one aerial lidar survey to force a spatially distributed snowpack model (iSnobal/Automated Water Supply Model) in a semiarid, 1.8 km² headwater catchment. We focused on surface …

Reconceptualizing The Hyporheic Zone For Nonperennial Rivers And Streams, Kendra E. Kaiser

Geosciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Nonperennial streams dominate global river networks and are increasing in occurrence across space and time. When surface flow ceases or the surface water dries, flow or moisture can be retained in the subsurface sediments of the hyporheic zone, supporting aquatic communities and ecosystem processes. However, hydrological and ecological definitions of the hyporheic zone have been developed in perennial rivers and emphasize the mixing of water and organisms from both the surface stream and groundwater. The adaptation of such definitions to include both humid and dry unsaturated conditions could promote characterization of how hydrological and biogeochemical variability shape ecological communities within …

How To Combine Expert Estimates? How To Estimate Probability In The Intersection Of Two Populations?, Miroslav Svitek, Olga Kosheleva, Vladik Kreinovich

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

In this paper, we consider two different practical problems that turned to be mathematically similar: (1) how to combine two expert-provided probabilities of some event and (2) how to estimate the frequency of a certain phenomenon (e.g., illness) in an intersection of two populations if we know the frequencies in each of these populations. In both cases, we use the maximum entropy approach to come up with a solution.

Valuing Angling On Reservoirs Using Benefit Transfer, Richard T. Melstrom, Mark A. Kaemingk, Nicholas W. Cole, John C. Whitehead, Christopher J. Chizinski, Kevin L. Pope

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

Economic assessments are rarely applied to inland recreational fisheries for management purposes, especially when compared to fish, habitat, and creel assessments, yet economic assessments can provide critical information for management decisions. We provide a brief overview of economic value, key terminology, and existing economic techniques to address these issues. Benefit transfer, a technique used to measure economic value when an original analysis is not practicable, is conducted by drawing on existing estimates of economic value in similar contexts. We describe an application of benefit transfer to measure the economic value of several recreational fisheries in Nebraska, USA. We examine two …

(R1503) Numerical Ultimate Survival Probabilities In An Insurance Portfolio Compounded By Risky Investments, Juma Kasozi

Applications and Applied Mathematics: An International Journal (AAM)

Probability of ultimate survival is one of the central problems in insurance because it is a management tool that may be used to check on the solvency levels of the insurer. In this article, we numerically compute this probability for an insurer whose portfolio is compounded by investments arising from a risky asset. The uncertainty in the celebrated Cramér-Lundberg model is provided by a standard Brownian motion that is independent of the standard Brownian motion in the model for the risky asset. We apply an order four Block-by-block method in conjunction with the Simpson rule to solve the resulting Volterra …

(R1511) Numerical Solution Of Differential Difference Equations Having Boundary Layers At Both The Ends, Raghvendra Pratap Singh, Y. N. Reddy

Applications and Applied Mathematics: An International Journal (AAM)

In this paper, numerical solution of differential-difference equation having boundary layers at both ends is discussed. Using Taylor’s series, the given second order differential-difference equation is replaced by an asymptotically equivalent first order differential equation and solved by suitable choice of integrating factor and finite differences. The numerical results for several test examples are presented to demonstrate the applicability of the method.

Joint Control Of Manufacturing And Onsite Microgrid System Via Novel Neural-Network Integrated Reinforcement Learning Algorithms, Jiaojiao Yang, Zeyi Sun, Wenqing Hu, Louis Steinmeister

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Research & Creative Works

Microgrid is a promising technology of distributed energy supply system, which consists of storage devices, generation capacities including renewable sources, and controllable loads. It has been widely investigated and applied for residential and commercial end-use customers as well as critical facilities. In this paper, we propose a joint state-based dynamic control model on microgrids and manufacturing systems where optimal controls for both sides are implemented to coordinate the energy demand and supply so that the overall production cost can be minimized considering the constraint of production target. Markov Decision Process (MDP) is used to formulate the decision-making procedure. The main …

Single-Pass Inline Pipeline 3d Reconstruction Using Depth Camera Array, Zhexiong Shang, Zhigang Shen

Department of Construction Engineering and Management: Faculty Publications

A novel inline inspection (ILI) approach using depth cameras array (DCA) is introduced to create high-fidelity, dense 3D pipeline models. A new camera calibration method is introduced to register the color and the depth information of the cameras into a unified pipe model. By incorporating the calibration outcomes into a robust camera motion estimation approach, dense and complete 3D pipe surface reconstruction is achieved by using only the inline image data collected by a self-powered ILI rover in a single pass through a straight pipeline. The outcomes of the laboratory experiments demonstrate one-millimeter geometrical accuracy and 0.1-pixel photometric accuracy. …

Evaluation Of Sustainability Determinants To Develop A Sustainability Rating System For California Infrastructure Construction Projects, Joseph Kim, Patricia Mccarthy

Mineta Transportation Institute

This study evaluates the important sustainability determinants that affect factors’ success in meeting their sustainability goals when conducting infrastructure construction projects in California. The study implemented the online survey method to evaluate the sustainability characteristics that infrastructure industry professionals currently are aware of under the current situation in California. A data set of 25 validated survey responses is used for statistical data analysis using analysis of variables, Kruskal-Wallis tests, and two sample t-tests. The analysis results showed that the median response values for the six major sustainability categories do not show any significant difference. The results also showed that no …

Comprehensive Review Of Polymer And Polymer Gel Treatments For Natural Gas-Related Conformance Control, Ali Al Brahim, Baojun Bai, Thomas P. Schuman

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Conformance problems often exist in natural gas-related activities, resulting in excessive water production from natural gas production wells and/or excessive natural gas production from oil production wells. Several mechanical and chemical solutions were reported in the literature to mitigate the conformance problems. Among the chemical solutions, two classes of materials, namely polymer gels and water-soluble polymers, have been mostly reported. These systems have been mainly reviewed in several studies for their applications as water shutoff treatments for oil production wells. Natural gas production wells exhibit different characteristics and have different properties which could impact the performance of the chemical solutions. …