Digital Commons Network^™

Assessing Traditional Morphology- And Chemistry-Based Species Circumspections In Lichenized Ascomycetes: Character Evolution And Molecular Species Delimitation In Common Western North American Lichens, Steven Leavitt

Theses and Dissertations

Accurate species delimitation has critical implications for ecological and conservation studies; and for understanding factors driving diversification. However, a growing body of evidence indicates that morphology-based species circumspection in lichenized ascomycetes often fails to accurately represent the number of fungal species. The use of molecular data in lichen systematics provides an important alternative to traditional morphological characters for identifying natural groups and assessing evolutionary histories in challenging lichen taxa. In this work, I examined two common lichen-forming genera in western North America, Rhizoplaca and Xanthoparmelia, as models for investigating character evolution, species delimitation in morphologically and chemically diverse species, …

Unified Communications: The Search For Roi Through Tomorrow’S Business Communication Solutions, Vincent Puglia

Theses

The traditional workplace is evolving; the way in which businesses communicate today is different than it was in the past and yet is likely to change again in the future. The current state of the economy and globalization has forced every organization to review its future business plans and cut costs everywhere including communications. Organizations are seeking out technology in hopes of finding new ways to reduce their bottom-line communication costs. Today, many enterprise business infrastructures are comprised of separate networks - voice, data, and mobile - yet most of the time these networks never interact. The ability to link …

Ocular Vergence Response Over Anaglyphic Stereoscopic Videos, Brian Daugherty

All Theses

The effect of anaglyphic stereographic stimuli on ocular vergence response is examined. An experiment is performed comparing ocular vergence response induced by anaglyphic stereographic display versus standard monoscopic display. Two visualization tools, synchronized three-dimensional scanpath playback and real-time dynamic heatmap generation,
are developed and used to subjectively support the quantitative analysis of ocular disparity. The results of a one-way ANOVA indicate that there is a highly significant effect of anaglyphic stereoscopic display on ocular vergence for a majority of subjects although consistency of vergence response is difficult to predict.

Convergence And The Lebesgue Integral, Ryan Vail Thomas

MSU Graduate Theses

In this paper, we examine the theory of integration of functions of real variables. Background information in measure theory and convergence is provided and several examples are considered. We compare Riemann and Lebesgue integration and develop several important theorems. In particular, the Monotone Convergence Theorem and Dominated Convergence Theorem are considered under both pointwise convergence and convergence in measure.

Almost Everywhere Convergence Of Weighted Ergodic Averages, Christopher Michael Wedrychowicz

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Let $(X,\mathcal{B},\lambda,T)$ be a dynamical system and $\mbox{Log}_{(n)}x$

Almost Everywhere Convergence Of Convolution Measures, Anna K. Savvopoulou

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Let $(X,\mathcal{B},m,\tau)$ be a dynamical system with $(X,\mathcal{B},m)$ a probability space and $\tau$ a measurable, invertible, measure preserving transformation. The present thesis deals with the almost everywhere convergence in $\mbox{L}^1(X)$ of a sequence of operators of weighted averages. Almost everywhere convergence follows once we obtain an appropriate maximal estimate and once we provide a dense class where convergence holds almost everywhere. The weights are convolution products of members of a sequence of probability measures $\{\nu_i\}$ on $\mathbb{Z}$. In the last section, we also prove a variation inequality for this type of sequence operators.

Limitations And Extensions Of The Wolf-Phc Algorithm, Philip R. Cook

Theses and Dissertations

Policy Hill Climbing (PHC) is a reinforcement learning algorithm that extends Q-learning to learn probabilistic policies for multi-agent games. WoLF-PHC extends PHC with the "win or learn fast" principle. A proof that PHC will diverge in self-play when playing Shapley's game is given, and WoLF-PHC is shown empirically to diverge as well. Various WoLF-PHC based modifications were created, evaluated, and compared in an attempt to obtain convergence to the single shot Nash equilibrium when playing Shapley's game in self-play without using more information than WoLF-PHC uses. Partial Commitment WoLF-PHC (PCWoLF-PHC), which performs best on Shapley's game, is tested on other …

Molecular Dynamics Simulation Studies Of Dna And Proteins: Force Field Parameter Development Of Small Ligands And Convergence Analysis For Simulations Of Biomolecules, Anne Loccisano

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In the first part of this dissertation, CHARMM force field parameters for DNA minor groove-binding polyamides were developed. The parameterization involved the subdivision of the polyamides into model compounds, which were calibrated against MP2/6-31G(d) data. To test the new parameters, fourteen 10 ns molecular dynamics crystal simulations have been carried out on a DNA/polyamide complex at low (113K) and high (300K) temperatures. Of the 18 helical parameters examined, only one (stagger) is found to be statistically significant from the crystal structure with a t-test at the 95% confidence level. For the high temperature, stagger is non-significant at the 97% confidence …

Enterprise Network Convergence: Path To Cost Optimization, Vidhumana Sridharan

Theses

During the past two decades, telecommunications has evolved a great deal. In the eighties, people were using television, radio and telephone as their communication systems. Eventually, the introduction of the Internet and the WWW immensely transformed the telecommunications industry. This internet revolution brought about a huge change in the way businesses communicated and operated. Enterprise networks now had an increasing demand for more bandwidth as they started to embrace newer technologies. The requirements of the enterprise networks grew as the applications and services that were used in the network expanded. This stipulation for fast and high performance communication systems has …

Towards The Convergence Of The Development And Human Rights Discourses: Case Study Of The World Bank Poverty Reduction Project In Matrouh, Marwa Yehia Abdel Meguid

Archived Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Settling-Time Improvements In Positioning Machines Subject To Nonlinear Friction Using Adaptive Impulse Control, Tim Hakala

Theses and Dissertations

A new method of adaptive impulse control is developed to precisely and quickly control the position of machine components subject to friction. Friction dominates the forces affecting fine positioning dynamics. Friction can depend on payload, velocity, step size, path, initial position, temperature, and other variables. Control problems such as steady-state error and limit cycles often arise when applying conventional control techniques to the position control problem. Studies in the last few decades have shown that impulsive control can produce repeatable displacements as small as ten nanometers without limit cycles or steady-state error in machines subject to dry sliding friction. These …

Convergence: The Next Big Step, Gaurav Paliwal

Theses

Recently, web based multimedia services have gained popularity and have proven themselves to be viable means of communication. This has inspired the telecommunication service providers and network operators to reinvent themselves to try and provide value added IP centric services. There was need for a system which would allow new services to be introduced rapidly with reduced capital expense (CAPEX) and operational expense (OPEX) through increased efficiency in network utilization. Various organizations and standardization agencies have been working together to establish such a system. Internet Protocol Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) is a result of these efforts. IMS is an application level …

Content Differences Between Print And Online Newspapers, Jessica E. Smith

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Internet provides the opportunity to develop a new way to present journalism, but many scholars say newspaper Web sites do nothing but mirror their print parents. This study used content analysis to compare the content of stories in five newspapers with their Web counterparts, and it examines whether reporter affiliation or a story's geographic emphasis has a relationship with the story's amount of contextual elements. These elements could include photos, graphics, or multimedia or interactive components online. This approach applied gatekeeping theory to publications that have editions in two media.

This study examined the five largest newspapers in the …

Long Term Behavior Of The Positive Solutions Of The Non-Autonomous Difference Equation X N+1= A N X N-1 [Divided By] 1+Xn , N = 0,1,2,...., Mark Bellavia

Theses

It is our goal to investigate the long term behavior of the solutions of the following difference equation: X _n+1= A _n x _n-1 [divided by] 1+X_n , n = 0,1,2,...., Where {A_n}∞ _n=0 is a periodic sequence of positive real numbers. We will examine how the different periods of the sequence and the relationship of the terms of the sequence affect the long term behavior of the solutions.

Fuzzy Membership Function Initial Values: Comparing Initialization Methods That Expedite Convergence, Stephanie Scheibe Lee

Theses and Dissertations

Fuzzy attributes are used to quantify imprecise data that model real world objects. To effectively use fuzzy attributes, a fuzzy membership function must be defined to provide the boundaries for the fuzzy data. The initialization of these membership function values should allow the data to converge to a stable membership value in the shortest time possible. The paper compares three initialization methods, Random, Midpoint and Random Proportional, to determine which method optimizes convergence. The comparison experiments suggest the use of the Random Proportional method.

A Topological Approach To Nonlinear Analysis, Wendy Ann Peske

Theses Digitization Project

A topological approach to nonlinear analysis allows for strikingly beautiful proofs and simplified calculations. This topological approach employs many of the ideas of continuous topology, including convergence, compactness, metrization, complete metric spaces, uniform spaces and function spaces. This thesis illustrates using the topological approach in proving the Cauchy-Peano Existence theorem. The topological proof utilizes the ideas of complete metric spaces, Ascoli-Arzela theorem, topological properties in Euclidean n-space and normed linear spaces, and the extension of Brouwer's fixed point theorem to Schauder's fixed point theorem, and Picard's theorem.

Multimedia And Interactive Components In Converged Media, Amanda L. Welch

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A content analysis of news Web sites reveals how many multimedia and interactive components both converged and non-converged media organizations include on their Web presence. The sample included four news Web sites considered to be highly converged with their print and broadcast counterparts (TBO.com, chicagotribune.com, DallasNews.com, and Azcentral.com), one newspaper Web site not affiliated with a broadcast media organization (buffalonews.com), and one broadcast news Web site not affiliated with a print news organization (kfmb.com). A multimedia and interactivity score was given to each Web site based on the quantity of these components each site used. Both kfmb.com (a non-converged organization) …

The Use Of Filters In Topology, Abdellatif Dasser

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Sequences are sufficient to describe topological properties in metric spaces or, more generally, topological spaces having a countable base for the topology. However, filters or nets are needed in more abstract spaces. Nets are more natural extension of sequences but are generally less friendly to work with since quite often two nets have distinct directed sets for domains. Operations involving filters are set theoretic and generally certain to filters on the same set. The concept of a filter was introduced by H. Cartan in 1937 and an excellent treatment of the subject can be found in N. Bourbaki (1940).

A Convergence Of Modes: Present Status Of Online News Sites A Content Analysis Of 100 Online Newspaper Web Sites, Renee Chantal Duplessis

LSU Master's Theses

This study examines the current status of online news sites in terms of their level of convergence, and how they are affected by different organizational factors such as organizational influence, cross media partnerships and circulation size. A content analysis of the top 100 circulated newspaper dailies in the United States was conducted to provide understanding as to the current status of these online newspaper sites. A number of categories were examined including newspaper circulation size, updatedness, cross media partnership/ ownership, and level of convergence. Results showed that the majority of the Internet newspaper sites examined shared a media partnership on …

Some Problem In Homogenization., M. Rajesh Dr.

Doctoral Theses

No abstract provided.

Media Convergence, Obscenity Law And The Internet, Lynette Lim

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

Digitization and innovation in technology has resulted in a climate of media convergence. Media convergence occurs when elements of previously distinctly separate media forms co-mingle to create new capabilities. Although there is no such thing as complete convergence as of yet, there is probably the closest thing to a purely converged medium. Any user is able to access a variety of text, hypertext, graphic, audio and video files online. However, it is also because of media convergence that makes the Internet difficult to regulate. Laws that were proposed to provide some form of legal control to the access of online …

On Vector Sequence Transforms And Acceleration Techniques, Steven L. Hodge

Mathematics & Statistics Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation is devoted to the acceleration of convergence of vector sequences. This means to produce a replacement sequence from the original sequence with higher rate of convergence.

It is assumed that the sequence is generated from a linear matrix iteration x_i+ i = Gx_i + k where G is an n x n square matrix and x_I+1 , x_i,and k are n x 1 vectors. Acceleration of convergence is obtained when we are able to resolve approximations to low dimension invariant subspaces of G which contain large components of the error. When …

The Pre-Tertiary Geology And Mesozoic Tectonic Evolution Of Eastern China, Southeast Asia And Adjacent Regions, Michael P. Klimetz

Geology Theses and Dissertations

Several orogenic belts transecting south-eastern Asia are the sites of former convergent plate margins although there have been varying interpretations of the collisional framework of individual continental blocks, styles of convergence at these zones and the timing of respective collisions. A comprehensive tectonic study of eastern China, Mongolia and the southern Soviet Far East indicates the collision of the South China Block with a combined North China-Northeast China Fold Zone Block in the late Triassic-early Jurassic, their collective suturing to Eurasia in the late Jurassic-early Cretaceous, followed by the Sikhote Alin-Japan Block in the mid to late Cretaceous. The evidence …

Some Results Concerning Asymptotic Distributions And Their Applications., J. Sethuraman Dr.

Doctoral Theses

This thesis is being submitted to the Indian statistical Institute in support of the author's application for the degree of doctor of philosophy. The thesis embodies research carried out by the author during the period 1958-1961 under the supervision of dr.R.R. Bahadur, Professor of statistics are the Indian Statistical Institute Calcutta.This thesis is concerned with development of a new method of establishing asymptotic distributions and the elaboration of some of its applications in several fields of statistics.The thesis consists of five chapters. Chapter I describes, in general terms, the various problems considered in the thesis. Chapter II Deals with the …