Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Shoreline Transgressive Terraces: Tufa-Encrusted Landforms Indicate Rapid Filling And Failure Of Hopi Lake, Western Bidahochi Basin, Northeastern Arizona, Steven A. Austin, Edmond W. Holroyd Iii, Thomas F. Folks, Nate Loper

Proceedings of the International Conference on Creationism

Bidahochi Basin is an elongate, 300-kilometer-long structural depression in the Painted Desert region of northeastern Arizona. Today, that basin is occupied by the Little Colorado River directly east of Grand Canyon. For more than 150 years geologists have been pondering the notion that a lake once occupied a large part of Bidahochi Basin. In 1936 Howel Williams named it Hopi Lake. Are strandlines from a Pliocene lake imprinted on limestone slopes of Kaibab Formation in western Bidahochi Basin? Our inquiry led us to study Google imagery from Coconino County just east of Flagstaff, Arizona. There the Kaibab Formation is a …

Human Brain Function Above All Other And The Creation Model, James D. Johansen

Proceedings of the International Conference on Creationism

The human brain functions at a level beyond any other brain in all of creation. With mankind being made in the image of God, there must be signatures of this fact in its design. Modeling the human brain that develops an architectural framework offers the potential to unpack this reality. This premise offers a rich area to explore that expands the creation model to capture the engineering framework God used in creation. This paper will focus on brain neurons and neural networks using systems engineering modeling tools.

The systems modeling language (SysML) will be used to capture a model of …

A Rapid Ice Age And Transition To Ice Sheet Growth, Steven M. Gollmer

Proceedings of the International Conference on Creationism

For the past half-century, creationists have explored different explanations for glacial erosion features across the Northern Hemisphere. The best explanation to date is a single post-flood ice age with multiple surges. The challenge with this model is the limited time available between the end of the Flood and the time of Abraham, which appears to be post ice age. Oard (1979) proposed a short post-flood ice age developing due to warm oceans, volcanic aerosols, and barren surfaces. Performing computer climate simulations, Spelman (1996), Vardiman (1998), Gollmer (2013), and Gollmer (2018) verified that enhance precipitation occurs at higher latitudes due to …

How Should Recent Creationists Respond To Dark Matter And Dark Energy?, Danny R. Faulkner

Proceedings of the International Conference on Creationism

Astronomers and cosmologists largely accept the reality of dark matter and dark energy. However, many recent creationists oppose both dark matter and dark energy, though it is not clear why. I propose a review of the evidence for dark matter and dark energy, a survey of creationists’ responses to both, and recommendations of how we ought to view dark matter and dark energy.

There are three lines of evidence for dark matter:

1. Rotation curves of spiral galaxies
2. Dispersion velocities of galaxy clusters
3. Gravitational lensing of distant galaxies and quasars by closer galaxy clusters

The evidence for dark matter goes back …

Testing The Order Of The Fossil Record: Preliminary Observations On Stratigraphic-Clade Congruence And Its Implications For Models Of Evolution And Creation, Kathryn Mcguire, Sophie Southerden, Katherine Beebe, Neal Doran, Matthew Mclain, Todd Charles Wood, Paul A. Garner

Proceedings of the International Conference on Creationism

As a key evidence for macroevolutionary change, the fossil record has been the focus of much study as creation scientists have attempted to interpret its patterns in light of the Flood. Despite this importance, only rarely has the order of the fossil record been scrutinized in any detail, by creationists or evolutionists. We therefore conducted the first large-scale study of the congruence of the fossil record with evolutionary predictions in thirty years.

Our method begins with published phylogenies for organisms found in the fossil record. The order of appearance for each taxon on the phylogeny is assigned a rank, then …

Receding Noahic Flood Waters Led To Seafloor Spreading: A Proposed Geological Model, Harry Dickens

Proceedings of the International Conference on Creationism

Plate tectonics and seafloor spreading are among the most significant geological processes on Earth. However, their emergence and development currently remain unresolved, at least in the secular literature. Some possible mechanisms for the initiation of seafloor spreading are discussed.

The catastrophic plate tectonic (CPT) model for Noah’s Flood was a pioneering attempt to tie aspects of geology together in a conceptual or theoretical physical way. However, the CPT model has an incomplete coverage in clear time order of both Scripture and specific stratigraphy. Formations representing the Flood Year’s receding waters and drying phases seem to have not been considered in …

Radiohalos Through Earth History – What Clues Can They Provide Us?, Andrew A. Snelling

Proceedings of the International Conference on Creationism

Radiohalos are a physical record of radioactive decay that occurred in granites and metamorphic rocks through earth history. They are the result of damage to the host crystals by α-particles produced in the ²³⁸U decay chain (Snelling 2000). Normally ²³⁸U radiohalos are produced. However, there are also radiohalos produced by the three isotopes of Po (²¹⁸Po, ²¹⁴Po and ²¹⁰Po) that are generated towards the end of the ²³⁸U decay chain. Because their half-lives are so fleeting (3.1 mins, 164 µsec, and 138 days, respectively), the existence of these Po radiohalos has been “a …

The Holistic Archival Personality Profiling Model (Happm): Comprehensive Data Integration For Personality Analysis, James Hutson, Pace Ellsworth

Faculty Scholarship

The traditional approach to biographical profiling, predominantly reliant on limited and fragmented datasets, has frequently resulted in superficial personality understandings. This is largely due to an overemphasis on official records and notable events, neglecting the rich tapestry of everyday experiences and personal interactions that significantly shape personalities. To address this shortcoming, this article introduces a multi-disciplinary methodology, The Holistic Archival Personality Profiling Model (HAPPM), which integrates a diverse array of archival materials, including personal correspondences, social media footprints, and family memorabilia. This approach involves digitizing various data forms, including handwritten documents, into machine-readable text, and then semantically classifying this data …

The Influence Of Invasive Species On Fishers’ Satisfactions, Caroline M. Laplante

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Invasives species are prevalent and widespread in North America. Outdoor recreational activities, such as fishing, introduce a point in which humans may interact with invasive species and have to adapt their own behaviors. Bigheaded carp in the Missouri River below Gavin’s Point Dam are a group of invasive fish species that were thought to be negatively relating to recreational fishers’ satisfactions. Using a content analysis and an importance-grid, we conclude that invasive species do not strongly relate to recreational paddlefish fishers’ satisfactions. Paddlefish fishers represent a small sub-set of recreational fishers in Nebraska and South Dakota. The content analysis revealed …

Understanding Avidities Of Recreational Activities For People Possessing Fishing Licenses And Residing In Urban Environments, Kyle F. Hansen

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Recreational fishing is one of the world's most popular pastimes, wherein participation is associated with sociodemographic factors. Even so, fishing license sales are declining in the USA in conjunction with a reduction in rural populations as people move to urban areas. Thus, urban areas are constantly growing in population size, population diversity, and geographic size suggesting a need to understand fishing participation in these growing areas. Natural resource managers often use participation to understand recreationists, yet avidity could provide a new way to understand recreationists. The goal of our study is to understand what sociodemographic factors influence the fishing avidity …

The Biological, Physical And Chemical Response Of The Little Creek Watershed To The 2020 Czu Lighting Complex Fire, Natalie Fontana

Master's Theses

This post-fire study was conducted to characterize and observe fire induced changes in physical habitat parameters, water-quality conditions and macroinvertebrate assemblages in the Little Creek watershed, a tributary to Scotts Creek located in Cal Poly’s Swanton Pacific Ranch in Davenport, California. Pre-fire data was collected by a Cal Poly student, John Hardy, for his 2017 thesis. Post-burn bioassessment surveys for this study were repeated at four of the same study sites used by Hardy to provide comparisons to the California Stream Condition Index via a modified version of the State of California’s Surface Water Ambient Monitoring Program protocol. Macroinvertebrates were …

Wonderstone And Its Connection To Liesegang, Microbes, And Beyond, Haden S. Mandery

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

In the western and southwestern United States, the term wonderstone is used to describe volcanic, volcaniclastic, and sedimentary rocks with variegated banding produced by iron oxide mineralization or staining. This iron oxide mineralization is typically described as Liesegang banding. In this paper I will (1) test if the banding in wonderstone follows the spacing and width laws characteristic of Liesegang, (2) identify the source of iron that ultimately precipitated in the bands, and (3) examine the role that microbes played in the formation of the mineralization in these rocks. I conclude that the iron oxide mineralization is not Liesegang banding. …

Population Demography Of A Glacial-Relict Stream Fish Mediated Via Anthropogenic Alteration, Joseph M. Spooner

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Northern Pearl Dace Margariscus nachtriebi are a small-bodied glacial-relict fish species of greatest conservation need (SGCN) found throughout Canada and the northern United Sates. Their distribution within the Nebraska Sandhills Ecoregion is isolated from the northern core distribution of the species following the last glaciation period approximately 18,000 years ago. Headwater streams within the Nebraska Sandhills Ecoregion are predominately groundwater fed and provide the cool water temperatures needed to support Northern Pearl Dace and other glacial-relict SGCN. Headwater streams within the Nebraska Sandhills Ecoregion have been geomorphically altered through anthropogenic processes such as channelization whereby habitat homogenization has occurred. Evidence …

Habitat Heterogeneity In Nebraska Streams And Distribution Prediction For Tier-1 Cyprinids Using Multi-Scale Modeling Of Fluvial And Landscape Features, Connor P. Hart

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Multiscale environmental processes determine in-stream habitat conditions which drive species distributions. Habitat constitutes the physical template upon which ecological processes occur and species conduct life stage activities. Habitat heterogeneity promotes biodiversity of aquatic systems. Stream classification informs freshwater conservation by providing a useful framework to account for habitat heterogeneity, often based on landscape regions of similar environmental processes. A greater understanding of landscape-based classification frameworks as means to classify stream systems may improve understanding of drivers of biodiversity. Using Nebraska as a case study, on a statewide scale, objectives were 1) to characterize habitat availability for several at-risk fish species, …

A Survey On Varieties Generated By Small Semigroups And A Companion Website, João Araújo, João Pedro Araújo, Peter J. Cameron, Edmond W. H. Lee, Jorge Raminhos

Mathematics Faculty Articles

This paper presents new findings on varieties generated by small semigroups and groups, and offers a survey of existing results. A companion website is provided which hosts a computational system integrating automated reasoning tools, finite model builders, SAT solvers, and GAP. This platform is a living guide to the literature. In addition, the first complete and justified list of identity bases for all varieties generated by a semigroup of order up to 4 is provided as supplementary material. The paper concludes with an extensive list of open problems.

Raman Spectroscopic Analysis Of Human Serum Samples Of Convalescing Covid-19 Positive Patients, Hugh Byrne, Naomi Jackson, Jaythoon Hassan

Articles

Rapid screening, detection and monitoring of viral infection is of critical importance, as exemplified by the rapid spread of SARS-CoV-2, leading to the worldwide pandemic of COVID-19. This is equally the case for the stages of patient convalescence as for the initial stages of infection, to understand the medium and long terms effects, as well as the efficacy of therapeutic interventions. Optical spectroscopic techniques potentially offer an alternative to currently employed techniques of screening for the presence, or the response to infection. In this study, the ability of Raman spectroscopy to distinguish between samples of the serum of convalescent COVID-19 …

Every Relu-Based Neural Network Can Be Described By A System Of Takagi-Sugeno Fuzzy Rules: A Theorem, Barnabas Bede, Olga Kosheleva, Vladik Kreinovich

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

While modern deep-learning neural networks are very successful, sometimes they make mistakes, and since their results are "black boxes" -- no explanation is provided -- it is difficult to determine which recommendations are erroneous. It is therefore desirable to make the resulting computations explainable, i.e., to describe their results by using commonsense rules. In this paper, we use "fuzzy" techniques -- techniques developed by Lotfi Zadeh to deal with commonsense rules formulated by using imprecise ("fuzzy") words from natural language -- to show that such a rule-based representation is always possible. Our result does not yet provide the desired explainability, …

Smooth Non-Additive Integrals And Measures And Their Potential Applications, Olga Kosheleva, Vladik Kreinovich

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

In this paper, we explain why non-additive integrals and measures are needed, how non-additive integrals and measures are related, how to use them in decision making, and how they can help in fundamental physics. These four topics are covered, correspondingly, in Sections 2-5 of this paper.

When Is A Single "And"-Condition Enough?, Olga Kosheleva, Vladik Kreinovich

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

In many practical situations, there are several possible decisions. Any general recommendation means specifying, for each possible decision, conditions under which this decision is recommended. In some cases, a single "and"-condition is sufficient: e.g., a condition under which a patient is recommended to take aspirin is that "the patient has a fever and the patient does not have stomach trouble". In other cases, conditions are more complicated. A natural question is: when is a single "and"-condition enough? In this paper, we provide an answer to this question.

If We Add Axiom Of Choice To Constructive Analysis, We Get Classical Arithmetic: An Exercise In Reverse Constructive Mathematics, Olga Kosheleva, Vladik Kreinovich

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

A recent paper in Bulletin of Symbolic Logic reminded that the Axiom of Choice is, in general, false in constructive analysis. This result is an immediate consequence of a theorem -- first proved by Tseytin -- that every computable function is continuous. In this paper, we strengthen the result about the Axiom of Choice by proving that this axiom is as non-constructive as possible: namely, that if we add this axiom to constructive analysis, then we get full classical arithmetic.

Perception Of Bias In Chatgpt: Analysis Of Social Media Data, Abdullah Wahbeh, Mohammad A. Al-Ramahi, Omar El-Gayar, Ahmed El Noshokaty, Tareq Nasralah

Computer Information Systems Faculty Publications

In this study, we aim to analyze the public perception of Twitter users with respect to the use of ChatGPT and the potential bias in its responses. Sentiment and emotion analysis were also analyzed. Analysis of 5,962 English tweets showed that Twitter users were concerned about six main types of biases, namely: political, ideological, data & algorithmic, gender, racial, cultural, and confirmation biases. Sentiment analysis showed that most of the users reflected a neutral sentiment, followed by negative and positive sentiment. Emotion analysis mainly reflected anger, disgust, and sadness with respect to bias concerns with ChatGPT use.

The Fierce Green Fire: Vol. 14 Issue 10, Wofford College Environmental Studies Program

The Fierce Green Fire

No abstract provided.

Generalized Differentiable Neural Architecture Search With Performance And Stability Improvements, Emily J. Herron

Doctoral Dissertations

This work introduces improvements to the stability and generalizability of Cyclic DARTS (CDARTS). CDARTS is a Differentiable Architecture Search (DARTS)-based approach to neural architecture search (NAS) that uses a cyclic feedback mechanism to train search and evaluation networks concurrently, thereby optimizing the search process by enforcing that the networks produce similar outputs. However, the dissimilarity between the loss functions used by the evaluation networks during the search and retraining phases results in a search-phase evaluation network, a sub-optimal proxy for the final evaluation network utilized during retraining. ICDARTS, a revised algorithm that reformulates the search phase loss functions to ensure …

Material Formulation And Process Optimization Towards Fabricating Robust 3d Printed Structures, Austin Riggins

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation focuses on understanding and addressing the fundamental physicochemical phenomena that lead to weak interfaces and structural warpage in material extrusion 3D printing. Polymeric feedstocks used for this manufacturing technique were manipulated through the incorporation of additives that alter the dynamics of the matrix during and after printing. In Chapter II, adhesion between layers of structures printed from PEEK was strengthened through a combination of low-molecular weight additive incorporation and post-printing thermal annealing. Chapter III reports a method for decreasing the irreversible thermal strain of structures printed from poly(lactic acid) by introducing nanographene and photoinitiator additives into the feedstock …

Static And Dynamic State Estimation Applications In Power Systems Protection And Control Engineering, Ibukunoluwa Olayemi Korede

Doctoral Dissertations

The developed methodologies are proposed to serve as support for control centers and fault analysis engineers. These approaches provide a dependable and effective means of pinpointing and resolving faults, which ultimately enhances power grid reliability. The algorithm uses the Least Absolute Value (LAV) method to estimate the augmented states of the PCB, enabling supervisory monitoring of the system. In addition, the application of statistical analysis based on projection statistics of the system Jacobian as a virtual sensor to detect faults on transmission lines. This approach is particularly valuable for detecting anomalies in transmission line data, such as bad data or …

Atomic-Level Mechanisms Of Fast Relaxation In Metallic Glasses, Leo W. Zella

Doctoral Dissertations

Glasses are ubiquitous in daily life and have unique properties which are a consequence of the underlying disordered structure. By understanding the fundamental processes that govern these properties, we can modify glasses for desired applications. Key to understanding the structure-dynamics relationship in glasses is the variety of relaxation processes that exist below the glass transition temperature. Though these relaxations are well characterized with macroscopic experimental techniques, the microscopic nature of these relaxations is difficult to elucidate with experimental tools due to the requirements of timescale and spatial resolution. There remain many questions regarding the microscopic nature of relaxation in glass …

Exploring Soil Microbial Dynamics In Southern Appalachian Forests: A Systems Biology Approach To Prescribed Fire Impacts, Saad Abd Ar Rafie

Doctoral Dissertations

Prescribed fires in Southern Appalachian forests are vital in ecosystem management and wildfire risk mitigation. However, understanding the intricate dynamics between these fires, soil microbial communities, and overall ecosystem health remains challenging. This dissertation addresses this knowledge gap by exploring selected aspects of this complex relationship across three interconnected chapters.

The first chapter investigates the immediate effects of prescribed fires on soil microbial communities. It reveals subtle shifts in porewater chemistry and significant increases in microbial species richness. These findings offer valuable insights into the interplay between soil properties and microbial responses during the early stages following a prescribed fire. …

A Measurement Of Neutron Polarization And Transmission For The Nedm@Sns Experiment, Kavish Imam

Doctoral Dissertations

The D.O.E Nuclear Science Advisory Committee Long Range Plan has called for experimental programs to explore fundamental symmetry violations and their implications in nuclear, particle and cosmological physics. The neutron electric dipole moment experiment at the Spallation Neutron Source (nEDM@SNS) aims to search for new physics in the Time-reversal (T) and Charge-Parity (CP) symmetry violating sector by setting a new limit on the nEDM down to a few x 10^-28 e·cm using a novel cryogenic technique, which combines the unique properties of polarized Ultracold Neutrons (UCN), polarized ³He, and superfluid ⁴He. The experiment will employ a cryogenic …

Towards Safer Code Reuse: Investigating And Mitigating Security Vulnerabilities And License Violations In Copy-Based Reuse Scenarios, David Reid

Doctoral Dissertations

Background: A key benefit of open source software is the ability to copy code to reuse in other projects. Code reuse provides benefits such as faster development time, lower cost, and improved quality. There are several ways to reuse open source software in new projects including copy-based reuse, library reuse, and the use of package managers. This work specifically looks at copy-based code reuse.

Motivation: Code reuse has many benefits, but also has inherent risks, including security and legal risks. The reused code may contain security vulnerabilities, license violations, or other issues. Security vulnerabilities may persist in projects that copy …

Integration Of Raman Spectroscopy And Python-Based Data Analysis For Advancing Neurobiological Research, Natalie E. Dunn

Doctoral Dissertations

The field of Raman spectroscopy continues to expand into biological applications due to its usefulness as a non-invasive technique that can be utilized qualitatively and quantitatively. However, the inherent weakness of Raman scattering leads to the need for each collected spectra to undergo a preprocessing step to remove noise, background drift, and cosmic rays. Biological research in particular needs large datasets due to the increased variability in samples. As datasets grow, the need to perform preprocessing on each individual spectra becomes daunting. Often, these steps are done by hand with the help of specialized software programs. Preprocessing can be accelerated …