Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

A Computational Investigation Of Wood Selection For Acoustic Guitar, Jonah Osterhus

Senior Honors Theses

The acoustic guitar is a stringed instrument, often made of wood, that transduces vibrational energy of steel strings into coupled vibrations of the wood and acoustic pressure waves in the air. Variations in wood selection and instrument geometry have been shown to affect the timbre of the acoustic guitar. Computational methods were utilized to investigate the impact of material properties on acoustic performance. Sitka spruce was deemed the most suitable wood for guitar soundboards due to its acoustic characteristics, strength, and uniform aesthetic. Mahogany was deemed to be the best wood for the back and sides of the guitar body …

Operation Shark: Addressing The Negative Portrayal Of Sharks In Media, Michael R. O'Shea

Masters Theses

Sharks are some of the most well adapted and effective animals in the animal kingdom. Unfortunately, they are also some of the most feared. For many people the word shark evokes images of vicious attacks like those seen in movies such as Jaws. Sharks have also been negatively portrayed in the media. This negative portrayal of sharks has led to misconceptions about sharks that have damaged their populations. Efforts have been made to raise awareness and fight common misconceptions of sharks. However, many people still hold on to the incorrect ideas they have about sharks. This thesis will examine the …

The Purification And Thermal Stability Of The Peroxidase Enzyme In Cucurbita Moschata, Garen Hamner

Senior Honors Theses

Peroxidases are enzymes that catalyze the reduction of hydrogen peroxide to water while oxidizing organic substrates and are valuable in spheres like industrial and medical applications and histochemistry. Limitations still exist in the use of the well-studied horseradish peroxidase for certain activities due to limitations like poor thermal stability, thus the search for novel peroxidases that can overcome these limitations is an active area of research. Butternut squash peroxidase (Cucurbita moschata) (BSP) shows promise due to significant activity being found in the skin and apparent enhanced thermal stability, but an efficient purification scheme for it is lacking, as well as …

"Who Wrote The Epistle, God Only Knows": A Statistical Authorial Analysis Of Hebrews In Comparison With Pauline And Lukan Literature, Benjamin J. Erickson

Senior Honors Theses

The authorship of Hebrews has been a point of contention for scholars for the past two millennia. While the epistle is traditionally attributed to Paul, many scholars assert that it carries thematic, structural, and stylistic differences from the remainder of his extant epistles; therefore, many other possible authors have been proposed. Of these, only Luke has other New Testament writings. Therefore, this project conducts a statistical comparison of Hebrews to the Pauline and Lukan corpora using stylometric authorial analysis methods. This analysis demonstrates that Hebrews is stylistically closer to Lukan literature than Pauline (but not to a significant degree), and …

Modern Approaches To Treating Hospital Acquired Infections: An Overview Of Current Treatments Using Antibiotics And New Therapies Centered Around Photo-Activated Porphyrins, Meghan Johns

Senior Honors Theses

Annually, hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) affect hundreds of thousands of people in the U.S. and impose a great economic burden. The current problem is further exacerbated due to the failure of traditional treatment strategies considering the rise in antimicrobial resistance rates. Besides the fact that antimicrobial resistances complicates clinical treatment strategies, patients are also more vulnerable to secondary infections and complications from prolonged antibiotic use. As a result, research investigating novel treatment strategies for bacterial infections has recently increased. A strategy using porphyrin-based compounds is showing promise. Porphyrins and their derivatives have exhibited bactericidal effects against Gram-positive bacteria by the destruction …

Parallelized Quadtrees For Image Compression In Cuda And Mpi, Aidan Jones

Senior Honors Theses

Quadtrees are a data structure that lend themselves well to image compression due to their ability to recursively decompose 2-dimensional space. Image compression algorithms that use quadtrees should be simple to parallelize; however, current image compression algorithms that use quadtrees rarely use parallel algorithms. An existing program to compress images using quadtrees was upgraded to use GPU acceleration with CUDA but experienced an average slowdown by a factor of 18 to 42. Another parallelization attempt utilized MPI to process contiguous chunks of an image in parallel and experienced an average speedup by a factor of 1.5 to 3.7 compared to …

Artificial General Intelligence And The Mind-Body Problem: Exploring The Computability Of Simulated Human Intelligence In Light Of The Immaterial Mind, Caleb Parks

Senior Honors Theses

In this thesis I explore whether achieving artificial general intelligence (AGI) through simulating the human brain is theoretically possible. Because of the scientific community’s predominantly physicalist outlook on the mind-body problem, AGI research may be limited by erroneous foundational presuppositions. Arguments from linguistics and mathematics demonstrate that the human intellect is partially immaterial, opening the door for novel analysis of the mind’s simulability. I categorize mind-body problem philosophies in a manner relevant to computer science based upon state transitions, and determine their ramifications on mind-simulation. Finally, I demonstrate how classical architectures cannot resolve so-called Gödel statements, discuss why this inability …

The Impact Of Artificial Intelligence And Machine Learning On Organizations Cybersecurity, Mustafa Abdulhussein

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

As internet technology proliferate in volume and complexity, the ever-evolving landscape of malicious cyberattacks presents unprecedented security risks in cyberspace. Cybersecurity challenges have been further exacerbated by the continuous growth in the prevalence and sophistication of cyber-attacks. These threats have the capacity to disrupt business operations, erase critical data, and inflict reputational damage, constituting an existential threat to businesses, critical services, and infrastructure. The escalating threat is further compounded by the malicious use of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), which have increasingly become tools in the cybercriminal arsenal. In this dynamic landscape, the emergence of offensive AI introduces …

The Quantum Mechanical Background Of Quantum Computing, Isaac Hanna

The Kabod

Quantum mechanics arose out of the question "Is light a particle or a wave?" and has laid forth a model of reality in which particles are modeled by wave functions. The particle is in a superposition of states and can be entangled with other particles to create more complex systems. Observation of the system collapses the wave function to a single point. By using quantum gates, we can manipulate these particles to create algorithms to solve computational problems. Quantum computing does not collapse the complexity hierarchy by providing an across the board exponential speedup but can provide such a speedup …

Enhancing Effective Discipleship Recruitment In The Local Church, Anna Patrice Shanklin

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This study evaluates effective discipleship recruitment in the local church. The overarching goal of this thesis research project is to increase the transition of new members completing new members’ orientation to discipleship training. Through the result of this research, the researcher will design and implement an enhanced recruitment campaign in the local ministry context and target it to new members to increase the population of membership committed to formal discipleship training.

Drug Ideologies Of The United States, Macy Montgomery

Helm's School of Government Conference - American Revival: Citizenship & Virtue

The United States has been increasingly creating lenient drug policies. Seventeen states and Washington, the District of Columbia, legalized marijuana, and Oregon decriminalized certain drugs, including methamphetamine, heroin, and cocaine. The medical community has proven that drugs, including marijuana, have myriad adverse health side effects. This leads to two questions: Why does the United States government continue to create lenient drug policies, and what reasons do citizens give for legalizing drugs when the medical community has proven them harmful? The paper hypothesizes that the disadvantages of drug legalization outweigh its benefits because of the numerous harms it causes, such as …

Small But Mighty: Examing The Utility Of Microstatistics In Modeling Ice Hockey, Matt Palmer

Senior Honors Theses

As research into hockey analytics continues, an increasing number of metrics are being introduced into the knowledge base of the field, creating a need to determine whether various stats are useful or simply add noise to the discussion. This paper examines microstatistics – manually tracked metrics which go beyond the NHL’s publicly released stats – both through the lens of meta-analytics (which attempt to objectively assess how useful a metric is) and modeling game probabilities. Results show that while there is certainly room for improvement in understanding and use of microstats in modeling, the metrics overall represent an area of …

Design And Synthesis Of Peripherally Selective Endocannabinoid Enzyme Inhibitors For Ocular Indications, Kezia Reji Thomas

Senior Honors Theses

Peripherally selective compounds have been found to stimulate endocannabinoid receptor activity, which has been observed to have positive physiological effects such as ocular wound healing and inflammation control. The activation of the cannabinoid 1 receptor via binding of the endogenous ligands, anandamide and 2-arachidonoylglycerol, has been indicated to elicit these effects. Both ligands are controlled by two hydrolase enzymes, fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) and monoacylglycerol lipase (MAGL), which can be targeted for therapeutic inhibition. Sulfonamide derivatives of JZL195 containing carbamate functionalities in the southern region of the inhibitor compounds were produced using novel carbamate exchange reactions. Polar functionalities were …

Effect On Focusing Fields By Ferromagnetic Cell Cores In Linear Induction Accelerators, Cooper Guillaume

Senior Honors Theses

In the Los Alamos National Laboratories DARHT facility, there are two perpendicular linear induction accelerators, LIAs. The LIAs’ solenoids produce magnetic fields which focus the electron beam. Simultaneously, the accelerating pulse creates a magnetic field. These two field intensities act upon a ferromagnetic material in the cells to enhance magnetic flux density. Due to the nonlinearity of the material, this flux density will reach a saturation point. In turn, the magnetic field intensity of the axial solenoidal magnetic field will be affected and slightly altered. The width of the electron beam will increase, causing a decrease in effectiveness. Through simulation, …

An Exploration Of The Application Of Desalination In Disaster Relief, Emma Sager

Senior Honors Theses

This paper aims to explore the application of small-scale desalination systems to provide clean water in the wake of marine natural disasters. A lack of clean water is a devastating impact of many natural disasters. Desalination technologies, both thermal and membrane, show potential for being scaled down and self-powered by renewable energy. Desalination can transform ocean water and contaminated drinking water with a high salt content into drinkable, usable water. While these techniques are not perfected, and the solution to a need for clean water is multifaceted, desalination shows potential. Through further research and ever-advancing technology, small-scale desalination could develop …

Synthesis And Characterization Of Some Disubstituted Cyclopentadienyl Rhenium Complexes As Potential Candidates In Semiconductive Materials, Chloe Vernon

Liberty University Research Week

Undergraduate

Three Minute Thesis

Thp-1 Monocytes As A Model For The Characterization Of Potential Agents For Hypersensitization Observed In Ags?, Colin Baker

Liberty University Research Week

Undergraduate

Three Minute Thesis

A Growth Mindset: Fostering Resilience And Success In The Middle School Mathematics Classroom, Mary Jicha

Liberty University Research Week

Undergraduate

Applied

A Statistical Comparison Of Hebrews To Accepted Pauline And Lukan Corpora, Benjamin Erickson

Liberty University Research Week

Undergraduate

Applied

Temperature Dependent Esterification Of Free Fatty Acids In The Presence Of Triglycerides, Megan Mccoy, Margaret Tyler

Liberty University Research Week

Undergraduate

Basic

Mindfulness To Reduce Math Anxiety And Improve Math Performance, Hannah Murch

Liberty University Research Week

Graduate

Applied

Implementation Of Complex Low-Density Polyethylene Chemistry Into Rigorous Computational Fluid Dynamics Model, Elijah Yoder

Liberty University Research Week

Graduate

Applied

The Mceliece Cryptosystem As A Solution To The Post-Quantum Cryptographic Problem, Isaac Hanna

Liberty University Research Week

Undergraduate

Theoretical Proposal

Column Chromatography Of An Oxepine Synthesized From Meldrum's Acid, Destiny Latia Keishara Braynen

Liberty University Research Week

Undergraduate

Basic

Presumptive Color Testing Of Aspirin Using The Marquis Reagent, Lynza Osorio

Liberty University Research Week

Undergraduate

Basic

Synthesis Of Mn(Co)3[1,2-Csh3(Co-(C4h3s))2] And X-Ray Crystallography Of Re(Co)3[1,2-Csh3(Co-(C4h3s))2 ], Wilmar Janusz, Abbye Morgan, Chloe Vernon

Liberty University Research Week

Undergraduate

Basic

Time Dependent Selective Esterification Of Free Fatty Acids For Algae Biofuel Testing, Margaret Tyler, Megan Mccoy

Liberty University Research Week

Undergraduate

Basic

Activation Of Nrf2 Pathway By Natural Products, Genesis Schat, Madelyn Sedlachek

Liberty University Research Week

Undergraduate

Basic

Novel Tandem Reaction To Synthesize 2-Formalphenylboronic Acids, Sarah Bingham, Chinelo Emmanuela Nnadozie, Destiny Latia Keishara Braynen

Liberty University Research Week

Undergraduate

Basic

Inhibiting Nitroso Related Methylation Of Guanine Using Dietary Supplements And Flavonoids, Elijah Gocotano, Hannah Klose

Liberty University Research Week

Undergraduate

Basic