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Computer Sciences

Dartmouth College

Dartmouth College Ph.D Dissertations

Theses/Dissertations

2010

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Some Communication Complexity Results And Their Applications, Joshua E. Brody Nov 2010

Some Communication Complexity Results And Their Applications, Joshua E. Brody

Dartmouth College Ph.D Dissertations

Communication Complexity represents one of the premier techniques for proving lower bounds in theoretical computer science. Lower bounds on communication problems can be leveraged to prove lower bounds in several different areas. In this work, we study three different communication complexity problems. The lower bounds for these problems have applications in circuit complexity, wireless sensor networks, and streaming algorithms. First, we study the multiparty pointer jumping problem. We present the first nontrivial upper bound for this problem. We also provide a suite of strong lower bounds under several restricted classes of protocols. Next, we initiate the study of several non-monotone …


Optimization Algorithms For Site-Directed Protein Recombination Experiment Planning, Wei Zheng Jun 2010

Optimization Algorithms For Site-Directed Protein Recombination Experiment Planning, Wei Zheng

Dartmouth College Ph.D Dissertations

Site-directed protein recombination produces improved and novel protein variants by recombining sequence fragments from parent proteins. The resulting hybrids accumulate multiple mutations that have been evolutionarily accepted together. Subsequent screening or selection identifies hybrids with desirable characteristics. In order to increase the "hit rate" of good variants, this thesis develops experiment planning algorithms to optimize protein recombination experiments. First, to improve the frequency of generating novel hybrids, a metric is developed to assess the diversity among hybrids and parent proteins. Dynamic programming algorithms are then created to optimize the selection of breakpoint locations according to this metric. Second, the trade-off …


Graph Algorithms For Nmr Resonance Assignment And Cross-Link Experiment Planning, Fei Xiong Jun 2010

Graph Algorithms For Nmr Resonance Assignment And Cross-Link Experiment Planning, Fei Xiong

Dartmouth College Ph.D Dissertations

The study of three-dimensional protein structures produces insights into protein function at the molecular level. Graphs provide a natural representation of protein structures and associated experimental data, and enable the development of graph algorithms to analyze the structures and data. This thesis develops such graph representations and algorithms for two novel applications: structure-based NMR resonance assignment and disulfide cross-link experiment planning for protein fold determination. The first application seeks to identify correspondences between spectral peaks in NMR data and backbone atoms in a structure (from x-ray crystallography or homology modeling), by computing correspondences between a contact graph representing the structure …


Flexible Object Manipulation, Matthew P. Bell Feb 2010

Flexible Object Manipulation, Matthew P. Bell

Dartmouth College Ph.D Dissertations

Flexible objects are a challenge to manipulate. Their motions are hard to predict, and the high number of degrees of freedom makes sensing, control, and planning difficult. Additionally, they have more complex friction and contact issues than rigid bodies, and they may stretch and compress. In this thesis, I explore two major types of flexible materials: cloth and string. For rigid bodies, one of the most basic problems in manipulation is the development of immobilizing grasps. The same problem exists for flexible objects. I have shown that a simple polygonal piece of cloth can be fully immobilized by grasping all …