Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Molten Salt Technologies For Advanced Nuclear Fuel Cycles And Molten Salt Reactors, Dimitris Killinger

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation provides five topics—an assessment of different monitoring and analytical techniques often cited in the literature for molten salt systems and designs for nuclear engineering applications. First, we explored commonly used materials for quasi-reference electrodes in molten chloride salts. Second, the limitations of the electrochemical analysis known as cyclic voltammetry due to the concentration of uranium(III) present were being investigated. Third, we provided an experimental assessment on the development of a spectroelectrochemical cell for interrogating various spectroelectrochemical techniques, namely chronoabsorptometry and chronofluorometry, and their limitations due to the presence of uranium(III) ions. Fourth, a study on the corrosion resistance …

Development Of Novel Intracavitary Intensity Modulated Brachytherapy Applicators For Optimizing The Target Coverage In Gynecologic Malignancies, Monte Carlo Simulation Dosimetry, Moeen Meftahi

Theses and Dissertations

Gynecologic brachytherapy (GYN-BT) is essential for treating cervical and endometrial cancers, the most prevalent female reproductive cancers. This technique enables high radiation doses to a target with rapid dose fall-off to protect adjacent healthy organs. This dissertation aims to address some of the limitations of intracavitary GYN-BT using an intensity modulated brachytherapy (IMBT) technique and Monte Carlo (MC) simulations.

First, a novel non-invasive shielded vaginal cylinder (VC) applicator was designed to provide optimized radiation coverage for the target volume at vaginal apex, site of most recurrences without BT, for endometrial cancer BT. Physical limitations of current applicators and their resulting …

Biotic Characteristics Of Managed And Unmanaged Coastal Dunes In The Outer Banks, North Carolina, Andrew E. White

Theses and Dissertations

Under future climate change and sea level rise scenarios, Natural and Nature-Based Features (e.g., dunes) that protect coastal habitat and infrastructure will be exposed to increased wave energy and storm surge. Understanding how these forces will impact coastal dunes is necessary for their continued use as protective features. Coastal dunes develop through feedback between vegetation and sediment deposition, a process complicated by species-specific growth rates and responses to burial. Wave flume studies have tested the effects of dune vegetation on erosion and found multiple plant organs across several functional types to be important for resisting erosion. Although dune building and …

Behavioral Screening And Chiral Bioanalysis Of Emerging Stimulant-Type Drugs In Rats, Tyson R. Baird

Theses and Dissertations

The epidemic of drug use in the United States and elsewhere in the world has resulted in tragic loss of life and substantial economic costs. Novel psychoactive substances (NPS) are one of the contributors to this problem, and the lack of information about many of these drugs compounds their risk. This dissertation proposes a strategy to use intracranial self-stimulation (ICSS) as a behavioral screening tool to assess emerging drugs of abuse for their abuse potential in order to generate a proactive threat assessment. A series of stimulant-type drugs including methcathinone, α-pyrrolidinohexanophenone (α-PHP), cocaine, and the phenyltropane analogs of cocaine WIN35428 …

Learning Robot Motion From Creative Human Demonstration, Charles C. Dietzel

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis presents a learning from demonstration framework that enables a robot to learn and perform creative motions from human demonstrations in real-time. In order to satisfy all of the functional requirements for the framework, the developed technique is comprised of two modular components, which integrate together to provide the desired functionality. The first component, called Dancing from Demonstration (DfD), is a kinesthetic learning from demonstration technique. This technique is capable of playing back newly learned motions in real-time, as well as combining multiple learned motions together in a configurable way, either to reduce trajectory error or to generate entirely …

Asymmetric Cuh-Catalyzed Reductive Coupling Of Alleneamides With Carbonyl Electrophiles And The Mechanistic Investigation Into The Suzuki-Miyaura Cross-Couplings Of Electron-Deficient Systems, Samantha L. Gargaro

Theses and Dissertations

Most natural products and other biologically active small molecules contain multiple stereogenic heteroatoms throughout their carbon scaffold. As a result, methods to install these multi-heteroatom functionalities efficiently are highly desirable. Reductive coupling reactions have been studied extensively, and reductive allylation has been a key method for generating chiral secondary and tertiary allylic alcohols. This work focuses on utilizing naturally abundant and inexpensive Cu for the asymmetric reductive coupling of alleneamides with carbonyl electrophiles to access highly functionalized multi-heteroatom scaffolds that are difficult to produce via traditional methods. Described herein are methods for these asymmetric reductive coupling reactions. Chapter 1 describes …

The Diffusion Of A Discipline: Examining Social Marketing's Institutionalization Within Environmental Contexts, Liz Foote

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

As a social change discipline, social marketing has demonstrated its effectiveness in addressing many types of wicked problems. However, despite its utility in environmental contexts, it is neither well known nor widespread in its uptake in these settings. This study’s purpose is to reveal opportunities to drive the adoption, implementation, and diffusion (“institutionalization”) of social marketing within the domains of environmental sustainability and natural resource conservation. This research considers the use of social marketing as an innovative practice within a diffusion of innovations framework and uses a systems lens to examine early adopter social marketing professionals and the institutional contexts …

Nutrient Improvements In Chesapeake Bay: Direct Effect Of Load Reductions And Implications For Coastal Management, Rebecca R. Murphy, Jennifer Keisman, Jon Harcum, Renee R. Karrh, Mike Lane, Elgin S. Perry, Qian Zhang

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

In Chesapeake Bay in the United States, decades of management efforts have resulted in modest reductions of nutrient loads from the watershed, but the corresponding improvements in estuarine water quality have not consistently followed. Generalized additive models were used to directly link river flows and nutrient loads from the watershed to nutrient trends in the estuary on a station-by-station basis, which allowed for identification of exactly when and where responses are happening. Results show that Chesapeake Bay’s total nitrogen and total phosphorus conditions are mostly improving after accounting for variation in freshwater flow. Almost all of these improving nutrient concentrations …

Validating Software States Using Reverse Execution, Nathaniel Christian Boland

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

A key feature of software analysis is determining whether it is possible for a program to reach a certain state. Various methods have been devised to accomplish this including directed fuzzing and dynamic execution. In this thesis we present a reverse execution engine to validate states, the Complex Emulator. The Complex Emulator seeks to validate a program state by emulating it in reverse to discover if a contradiction exists. When unknown variables are found during execution, the emulator is designed to use constraint solving to compute their values. The Complex Emulator has been tested on small assembly programs and is …

Synthetic Aperture Ladar Automatic Target Recognizer Design And Performance Prediction Via Geometric Properties Of Targets, Jacob W. Ross

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Synthetic Aperture LADAR (SAL) has several phenomenology differences from Synthetic Aperture RADAR (SAR) making it a promising candidate for automatic target recognition (ATR) purposes. The diffuse nature of SAL results in more pixels on target. Optical wavelengths offers centimeter class resolution with an aperture baseline that is 10,000 times smaller than an SAR baseline. While diffuse scattering and optical wavelengths have several advantages, there are also a number of challenges. The diffuse nature of SAL leads to a more pronounced speckle effect than in the SAR case. Optical wavelengths are more susceptible to atmospheric noise, leading to distortions in formed …

Bedrock Anisotropy At Sycamore Farms: An Investigation Using Azimuthal Resistivity And Electromagnetic Induction, Cody M. Kessler

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Azimuthal resistivity surveys coupled with an electromagnetic survey were completed at Sycamore Farms with the goal of investigating bedrock fracturing at the site. Previous work on this subject matter was completed at the site using similar geophysical tools, however, this study utilizes a unique method of azimuthal resistivity and higher resolution electromagnetic data. 72 azimuthal surveys were completed, and the electromagnetic survey covered all fields in which azimuthal surveys were completed. The results from the two methods were compared to identify zones of bedrock fracturing. Although correlation between the two data sets was limited it was found that the electromagnetic …

Has Winter Weather In Southwest Ohio Been Affected By The El Niño Southern Oscillation, The North Atlantic Oscillation, The Pacific Decadal Oscillation, And The Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation?, John A. Blue

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Winter temperature and precipitation in Southwest Ohio over the last century were examined for anomalies attributable to teleconnections with large-scale atmospheric perturbations caused by the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO), and the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO). The record of temperature gives evidence of a teleconnection with the NAO, ENSO, and PDO, with the strongest link being for phases of the NAO. Most winters during positive NAO phases had mean monthly temperature warmer than the century long mean, and the majority of negative NAO phase winters had colder temperatures. The difference …

The Effects Of An Ultrafast Pulsed Laser On Ybco Thin Film Circuit Transients, Matthew L. Rustad

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Terahertz (THz) frequency light has shown promise for a wide variety of applications due to its material characterization and imaging capabilities. Its nondestructive nature coupled with its submillimeter spatial resolution provides the most value for terahertz light as an imaging tool. The application of terahertz technology has been limited by a lack of novel and powerful sources. It has been shown that that Yttrium Barium Copper Oxide (YBCO), a type II superconductor, has certain properties that would allow YBCO to be an effective source for THz light. Recent microwave work has shown that when a persistent supercurrent is placed on …

Novel Natural Language Processing Models For Medical Terms And Symptoms Detection In Twitter, Farahnaz Golrooy Motlagh

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This dissertation focuses on disambiguation of language use on Twitter about drug use, consumption types of drugs, drug legalization, ontology-enhanced approaches, and prediction analysis of data-driven by developing novel NLP models. Three technical aims comprise this work: (a) leveraging pattern recognition techniques to improve the quality and quantity of crawled Twitter posts related to drug abuse; (b) using an expert-curated, domain-specific DsOn ontology model that improve knowledge extraction in the form of drug-to-symptom and drug-to-side effect relations; and (c) modeling the prediction of public perception of the drug’s legalization and the sentiment analysis of drug consumption on Twitter. We collected …

A Solder-Defined Computer Architecture For Backdoor And Malware Resistance, Marc W. Abel

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This research is about securing control of those devices we most depend on for integrity and confidentiality. An emerging concern is that complex integrated circuits may be subject to exploitable defects or backdoors, and measures for inspection and audit of these chips are neither supported nor scalable. One approach for providing a “supply chain firewall” may be to forgo such components, and instead to build central processing units (CPUs) and other complex logic from simple, generic parts. This work investigates the capability and speed ceiling when open-source hardware methodologies are fused with maker-scale assembly tools and visible-scale final inspection.

The …

Deep Understanding Of Technical Documents : Automated Generation Of Pseudocode From Digital Diagrams & Analysis/Synthesis Of Mathematical Formulas, Nikolaos Gkorgkolis

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The technical document is an entity that consists of several essential and interconnected parts, often referred to as modalities. Despite the extensive attention that certain parts have already received, per say the textual information, there are several aspects that severely under researched. Two such modalities are the utility of diagram images and the deep automated understanding of mathematical formulas. Inspired by existing holistic approaches to the deep understanding of technical documents, we develop a novel formal scheme for the modelling of digital diagram images. This extends to a generative framework that allows for the creation of artificial images and their …

Evaluation Of The Potential Of Nanofluids Containing Different Ag Nanoparticle Size Distributions For Enhanced Solar Energy Conversion In Hybrid Photovoltaic-Thermal (Pvt) Applications, James Walshe, John Doran, George Amarandei

Articles

Hybridising photovoltaic and photothermal technologies into a single system that can simultaneously deliver heat and power represents one of the leading strategies for generating clean energy at more affordable prices. In a hybrid photovoltaic-thermal (PVT) system, the capability to modulate the thermal and electrical power output is significantly influenced by the spectral properties of the heat transfer fluid utilised. In this study, we report on one of the first experimental evaluations of the capability of a multimodal silver nanofluid containing various particle shapes and particle sizes to selectively modulate the solar energy for PVT applications. The diverse set of particle …

The Challenges Of Growing Orchids From Seeds For Conservation: An Assessment Of Asymbiotic Techniques, Devani Jolman, Martín I. Batalla, Alexis Hungerford, Pryce Norwood, Noah Tait, Lisa E. Wallace

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Lewis Knudson first successfully germinated orchid seeds asymbiotically on artificial medium in 1922. While many orchid species have since been grown asymbiotically, the tremendous variation in how species respond to artificial medium and growth conditions ex situ has also become apparent in the past century. In this study, we reviewed published journal articles on asymbiotic orchid seed germination to provide a summary of techniques used and to evaluate if these differ between terrestrial and epiphytic species, to identify areas where additional research is needed, and to evaluate whether asymbiotic germination could be used more often in ex situ conservation. We …

Academic Performance In Mathematics Of High School Students With Virtual Instruction Vs. Face-To-Face Instruction, Ahmed Dakwar

Master of Science in Mathematics

The intent of this study was to explore the extent to which the academic performance in mathematics differs between high school students with virtual learning and students with traditional classroom face-to-face learning. The study focused on Tennessee public high schools, and this thesis was a quantitative study. The data were collected from credible Internet sources such as the Tennessee Department of Education website, where the data were made available for the public to use and analyze for research purposes.

A total of 143 high schools located in 58 counties participated in the study. The selection of the sample was done …

Reading Ability And Success In Algebra 1: Using Reading Scores And Regression To Predict Success On The Ohio Algebra 1 Eoc, Joshua Klein, Renee Lambert

Master of Science in Mathematics

The state of Ohio requires high school students to meet course credit and testing requirements in order to graduate. The purpose of standardized testing is to ensure all students are being taught and learning the same standards at the same proficient level. An algebra teacher who is already teaching the Ohio algebra standards would assume that students would be successful on the algebra 1 EOC exam. When students are not successful, it becomes necessary to determine where instruction has failed, or what interventions must be used to supplement learning to achieve success. Because these are high-stakes tests, being able to …

Students With Disabilities And Participation In Extracurricular Activities, Stephanie M. Miller

Master of Science in Mathematics

The role of secondary educators is to produce successful students, not only academically but developmentally. Educators must equip students with the skills and habits they need to transition into adulthood smoothly. Instructors are constantly looking at ways to produce student achievement, but unfortunately, not all students graduate on time, and, even worse, some students drop out of high school. One group of students who fall into this at-risk category is those with disabilities. Students with disabilities tend to have lower academic achievement, more chronic absences, and more behavior misconduct than students without disabilities.

This study examined the effect participation in …

Assessing The Impact Of Covid-19 On Students Mathematical State Test Scores At A Southern Ohio School, Sierra Grooms

Master of Science in Mathematics

COVID-19 caught the world by surprise in the fall of 2019. By spring of 2020, most (if not all) schools were in a virtual setting. It was a major and quick (almost overnight) change with little to no plan of action. This paper aims to analyze the impact of the COIVD-19 virus on students' performance of their mathematics state test. Students’ pre-COVID (spring of 2019) mathematics state test scores were compared to their post-COVID (spring of 2021) mathematics state test scores. When analyzing potential predictors, gender wasn’t found to play a significant role in students’ test scores, but socioeconomic status …

Extracurricular Activities And Their Effects On Edgerton High School Students’ Geometry State Test Scores, Nicholas C. Archer

Master of Science in Mathematics

Extracurricular activities play a big role in developing some students into well-rounded adults, while other students choose to not participate in any. This study was performed to show a specific relationship between participating in extracurricular activities and higher test scores on the geometry state test in Ohio. This study was conducted at a rural high school in northwest Ohio, with a sample of 145 students who took both the geometry state test and the eighth-grade standardized test. With this data and the data of which of these students participated in which extracurricular activity, if any, this study could then answer …

Self-Esteem, Attitudes Toward Mathematics, And Mathematics Achievement In A Rural Appalachia High School, Jennifer Akers

Master of Science in Mathematics

The study was conducted at a rural Appalachia high school that is in the northern part of Appalachia. Research on students from Appalachia is difficult to find. The research wanted to see if any relationships occurred between students’ self-esteem, attitudes toward mathematics and mathematics achievement. Social and Emotional Standards are becoming an important part of students’ educational experience. Students’ poor mathematics achievement at Huntington High School has been topic of interest since 2005 and before. If self-esteem and attitudes towards mathematics have a relationship to math achievement, then Huntington High School could use the way they implement Social and Emotional …

The Examination And Prediction Of Success In An Urban Honors Algebra 2 Class, Sonja Spencer-Jackson

Master of Science in Mathematics

Students are missing out on the benefits of taking higher-level math courses or accessing courses like Precalculus and Calculus. There is significant research that shows that algebra is a major factor and predictor of success in mathematics, college enrollment, and entering science, engineering, technology, and mathematics fields. Since Black students and Hispanics are more likely to be placed in lower-level tracks, they are excluded from high quality instruction that would prepare them for post secondary attendance. The goal should be to increase the participation of students in these courses. This study examined a small honors Algebra 2 class in an …

The Effects Of The Covid-19 Pandemic On English Standardized State Test Scores In Ohio, Shelby Dalton

Master of Science in Mathematics

As online learning becomes more popular, it is important to understand how it affects academic achievement. The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted how schools operate tremendously, including an abrupt transition to online learning. The current study seeks to improve the understanding of how much this transition has affected students and their academic achievement. This study examines how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected ELA-II tenth grade test scores using socioeconomic status (SES), disability category, the type of instructional delivery in the 2020-2021 academic year, and ELA-I eighth grade test scores as predictor variables. The data was obtained from Rock Hill Local Schools, …

Predicting Academic Achievement In Undergraduate Statistics Courses Using The Grit Gauge, Brittany Barbush

Master of Science in Mathematics

Higher education institutions strive to make accurate predictions regarding student achievement. These predictions can lead to productive admissions policies, better initial course placements, greater retention rates, and ultimately higher graduation rates. Current research suggests that cognitive and non-cognitive factors can predict academic success. Using a multiple measures system can provide the most encompassing assessment method for potential student success. Grit is a non-cognitive factor that has recently gained the attention of researchers in its ability to predict success. Grit can be described as a dispositional personality trait that enables an individual to achieve long-term goals despite difficulties that may arise. …

Cognitive And Non-Cognitive Predictors Of Academic Success In Undergraduate Mathematics Courses, Amy Lamb

Master of Science in Mathematics

The changes in student demographics and course modality led the researcher to examine cognitive and non-cognitive predictors of academic success in undergraduate mathematics courses. Linear regression analyses were used to determine if ACT and mathematics subscore, high school grade point average, GRIT Gauge® score, age and socioeconomic status were significant predictors of academic success in undergraduate mathematics courses. The results indicated that only high school grade point average was a significant predictor of academic success. In addition, independent samples t-tests were used to determine if there was a statistically significant difference in the mean GRIT® score between STEM and non-STEM …

Estimating Groundnut Yield In Smallholder Agriculture Systems Using Planetscope Data, Daniel Kpienbaareh, Kamaldeen Mohammed, Isaac Luginaah, Jinfei Wang, Rachel Bezner Kerr, Esther Lupafya, Laifolo Dakishoni

Faculty Publications-- Geography, Geology, and the Environment

Crop yield is related to household food security and community resilience, especially in smallholder agricultural systems. As such, it is crucial to accurately estimate within-season yield in order to provide critical information for farm management and decision making. Therefore, the primary objective of this paper is to assess the most appropriate method, indices, and growth stage for predicting the groundnut yield in smallholder agricultural systems in northern Malawi. We have estimated the yield of groundnut in two smallholder farms using the observed yield and vegetation indices (VIs), which were derived from multitemporal PlanetScope satellite data. Simple linear, multiple linear (MLR), …

Exploring The Potential Of Online Education And College Students' Connection To Nature, Michael Weinstein

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

There is limited research examining the efficacy of online delivery for experiential, field-based, interdisciplinary coursework in environmental education geared towards undergraduate students, and how connection to nature can be understood through the theory of emerging adulthood. This research employed a convergent mixed methods approach to explore the experiences of 11 undergraduate students enrolled in an online, introductory ecology course, and how their experience of connection to nature was influenced through the course, technology-mediated nature embedded within the course, and how their identities as emerging adults were impacted by their connection to nature. Quantitative methods employed included pre/post surveys, while qualitative …