Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Constructing A Data-Based Mortality Profile For Avian Tower Kills At Telecommunication Towers In Illinois, Rachel Dipietro

Theses and Dissertations

During spring and fall seasons, Neotropical migratory passerines travel nocturnally across the Western Hemisphere between their wintering and breeding grounds, often encountering man-made threats. One hazard that has gained considerable publicity in recent decades is the communication tower. While there have been many tower kill studies recorded, there has been no attempt at predicting the risk of towers based on their different attributes (e.g., height, type of light, landscape placement) spatially on a regional scale. The objective of this study was to create seasonal mortality profile maps in GIS for Illinois, based on tower attributes combined with key factors such …

An Investigation Of Daylighting Performance In Sidelit Spaces, Zhe Kong

Theses and Dissertations

The positive influence of daylight on people’s work and well-being has been confirmed in many studies. However, excessive daylight causes discomfort glare, which decreases work productivity, impairs occupants’ vision, and may even cause headaches. Substantial studies explored glare by correlating physical lighting measurements and subjective evaluations. With the development of High Dynamic Range (HDR) image techniques, dynamic changes of daylighting distributions can be effectively captured. Consequently, more studies paired HDR image techniques with subject evaluations to explore glare. However, studies merely relying on field measurements are not only time-consuming and labor-intensive but may also disturb occupants. To address these problems, …

Future Melting Away: Water Stress As A Threat To Human Security In Bangladesh And The Role Of International Community, Farzana Afroz Chowdhury

Theses and Dissertations

Bangladesh is considered as one of the frontline states in the global climate change; its policy agendas attempt to respond to the perceived security threats emanating from such changes. Water stress is one of the key problems the country is facing. Yet, links between glaciers in the Hindu Kush Himalaya, Bangladesh’s climate, growing water stress, and its implications for human security have seldom been studied. Drawing on the concepts of climate change, human security and water stress, the thesis examines the causes of Bangladesh’s freshwater crisis and its contribution to the human insecurity. Here in this study, the influence of …

Applying Conditional Distributions To Individuals: Using Latent Variable Models, Feng Ji

Theses and Dissertations

This study proposes a new method to interpret individual results of psychological test batteries. The Mahalanobis distance is a commonly-used measure of how unusual an individual’s profile of scores is compared to a population of score profiles. In models in which there is a set of predictors and a set of dependent variables (e.g., cognitive abilities predicting academic abilities), it is useful to distinguish between a profile of dependent scores that is unusual because its profile of predictor scores is unusual and a profile of dependent scores that is unusual even after controlling for the predictors. The conditional Mahalanobis distance …

Agents Of Change: Scholarly Intervention At The Science-Policy Nexus, Daniel Card

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines an emerging “engaged rhetoric of science, technology, and medicine” (ERSTM)—an effort to ensure rhetoric’s “broader impacts” by more directly engaging the practices of science and sociotechnical policymaking. Through careful analysis of engaged rhetorical practice, I identify divergent conceptualizations of both rhetoric and engagement and subsequently draw on new materialist rhetorical theory and empirical research on science communication and public engagement to advance “problem-oriented rhetorical catalysis” (PRC) as a mode of engagement capable of advancing rhetoric’s institutional value and ethical commitments without abandoning its core disciplinary expertise and areas of inquiry. I further suggest the PRC is uniquely …

Fitting A Complex Markov Chain Model For Firm And Market Productivity, Julia Ruth Valder

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis develops a methodology of estimating parameters for a complex Markov chain model for firm productivity. The model consists of two Markov chains, one describing firm-level productivity and the other modeling the productivity of the whole market. If applicable, the model can be used to help with optimal decision making problems for labor demand. The need for such a model is motivated and the economical background of this research is shown. A brief introduction to the concept of Markov chains and their application in this context is given. The simulated data that is being used for the estimation is …

Quantitative Phenotype Analysis To Identify, Validate And Compare Rat Disease Models, Yiqing Zhao

Theses and Dissertations

Introduction

The laboratory rat has been widely used as an animal model in biomedical research. There are many strains exhibiting a wide variety of phenotypes. Capturing these phenotypes in a centralized database provides researchers with an easy method for choosing the appropriate strains for their studies. Current resources such as NBRP and PhysGen provided some preliminary work in rat phenotype databases. However, there are drawbacks in both projects: (1) small number of animals (6 rats) used by NBRP; (2) NBRP project is a one-time effort for each strain; (3) PhysGen web interface only enables queries within a single study – …

Understanding 1-D Vertical Flux Dynamics In A Low-Gradient Stream: An Assessment Of Stage As A Control Of Vertical Hyporheic Exchange, Frances Claire Harris

Theses and Dissertations

Little Kickapoo Creek (LKC) is a low-gradient, third-order perennial stream with headwaters in Bloomington, IL. The objective of this study is to characterize vertical one-dimensional (1-D) flux rates in the top 150 cm of the streambed, test the viability of a heat tracing method in a low-gradient area, and determine the relationship between stage and 1-D vertical flux rates. In 2009, six wells were installed along the thalweg of the stream in a 25-meter stretch spaced at 5-meter intervals. Each well recorded temperature at five separate depths logging at 15-minute0 intervals from February 2009 to March 2010: 30, 60, 90, …

Forecasting Country Conflict Within Modified Combatant Command Regions Using Statistical Learning Methods, Sarah Neumann

Theses and Dissertations

Conflict forecasts are crucial to Combatant Commanders’ understanding of the dynamic environment encompassing countries within their area of responsibility. The current structure of the Combatant Commands (COCOMs) is rooted in geography by grouping nations in geographic proximity to the same regional command. However, leaders today question the effectiveness of the current structure. A novel modified k-means clustering algorithm is developed and implemented that groups countries based on data similarities and geographic proximity resulting in new COCOM groupings that improve conflict forecasts. The data spans various political, military, economic, and social characteristics of countries, and is used to develop conditional logistic …

Developing A Cyberterrorism Policy: Incorporating Individual Values, Osama Bassam J. Rabie

Theses and Dissertations

Preventing cyberterrorism is becoming a necessity for individuals, organizations, and governments. However, current policies focus on technical and managerial aspects without asking for experts and non-experts values and preferences for preventing cyberterrorism. This study employs value focused thinking and public value forum to bare strategic measures and alternatives for complex policy decisions for preventing cyberterrorism. The strategic measures and alternatives are per socio-technical process.

Impacts Of Drainage Systems On Stormwater Hydrology: Rocky Branch Watershed, Columbia, South Carolina, Logan Ress

Theses and Dissertations

The effects of urbanization and associated land use changes, specifically increases in impervious surfaces, have long been the focal point of urban hydrologic research. However, studies and calculations that consider impervious surfaces alone do not encompass all factors that influence urban hydrologic response. Artificial structures such as storm sewer (SS) systems and road networks increase rates of stormwater conveyance, yet these artificial networks are rarely considered in computations of drainage densities and associated hydrologic alterations. This study examines several hydrologically relevant descriptors that can be used to better understand the impact of urbanization on small watersheds. Rainfall and stormflow data …

Consuming Digital Debris In The Plasticene, Stephen R. Parks

Theses and Dissertations

Claims of customization and control by socio-technical industries are altering the role of consumer and producer. These narratives are often misleading attempts to engage consumers with new forms of technology. By addressing capitalist intent, material, and the reproduction limits of 3-D printed objects’, I observe the aspirational promise of becoming a producer of my own belongings through new networks of production. I am interested in gaining a better understanding of the data consumed that perpetuates hyper-consumptive tendencies for new technological apparatuses. My role as a designer focuses on the resolution of not only the surface of the object through 3-D …

Penalized Mixed-Effects Ordinal Response Models For High-Dimensional Genomic Data In Twins And Families, Amanda E. Gentry

Theses and Dissertations

The Brisbane Longitudinal Twin Study (BLTS) was being conducted in Australia and was funded by the US National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). Adolescent twins were sampled as a part of this study and surveyed about their substance use as part of the Pathways to Cannabis Use, Abuse and Dependence project. The methods developed in this dissertation were designed for the purpose of analyzing a subset of the Pathways data that includes demographics, cannabis use metrics, personality measures, and imputed genotypes (SNPs) for 493 complete twin pairs (986 subjects.) The primary goal was to determine what combination of SNPs and …