Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Quad General Tree Drawing Algorithm And General Trees Characterization: Towards An Environment For The Experimental Study On General Tree Drawing Algorithms, Chu Yao

Theses and Dissertations

Information visualization produces (interactive) visual representations of abstract data to reinforce human cognition and perception; thus enabling the viewer to gain knowledge about the internal structure of the data and causal relationships in it. The visualization of information hierarchies is concerned with the presentation of abstract hierarchical information about relationships between various entities. It has many applications in diverse domains such as software engineering, information systems, biology, and chemistry. Information hierarchies are typically modeled by an abstract tree, where vertices are entities and edges represent relationships between entities. The aim of visualizing tree drawings is to automatically produce drawings of …

Predictability In The Indian Stock Market: A Study From An Econometric Perspective., Debabrata Mukhopadhyay Dr.

Doctoral Theses

No abstract provided.

Towards The Total Synthesis Of Thioviridamide: Thiyl Radical Approach To The Beta-Thioenamide Linkage Formation, Jung-Hoon Kang

Theses and Dissertations

We developed an approach to the β-thioenamide linkage contained in the S-(2-aminovinyl)cysteine (avCys) residue of thioviridamide.1,2 Kinetic and thermodynamic control of radical additions of thiols to ynamides were studied for the formation of β-thioenamide linkage. Thiyl radicals are electrophilic and ynamides are electron-rich alkynes. This complementary polarity of the radical and acceptor increases the likelihood of a successful radical addition reaction. Because little is known about these types of compounds (β-thioenamides), we were unsure what kinds of yields and stereoselectivities (cis vs. trans) to expect. The adduct stability is another issue to consider. Fortunately, under typical radical addition conditions, the …

Cyber Power In The 21st Century, Joseph M. Elbaum

Theses and Dissertations

Historically, the United States Congress has acknowledged that a separate branch of military service is required to exert supremacy over each of the recognized Domains of Operation. Throughout the evolution of modern warfare, leading minds in military theory have come to the conclusion that due to fundamental differences inherent in the theory and tactics that must be employed in order to successfully wage war within a domain’s associated environment, a specialized force was needed - until now. With the recent inclusion of Cyberspace as an operational domain by the Department of Defense, the case should be made that it, too, …

Improving Library Searches Using Word-Correlation Factors And Folksonomies, Maria Soledad Pera

Theses and Dissertations

Libraries, private and public, offer valuable resources to library patrons; however, formulating library queries to retrieve relevant results can be difficult. This occurs because when using a library catalog for library searches, patrons often do not know the exact keywords to be included in a query that match the rigid subject terms (chosen by the Library of Congress) or terms in other fields of a desired library catalog record. These improperly formulated queries often translate into a high percentage of failed searches that retrieve irrelevant results or no results at all. This explains why frustrated library patrons nowadays rely on …

Quantifying The Effects Of Land Use Change On Stream Ecosystems For Use In Ecological Risk Assessment, Katherine Sciera

All Dissertations

Land disturbance often results in a cascade of physical and chemical stressors to aquatic ecosystems which can impact their biotic integrity. This study examined three developing watersheds near Greenville, SC to evaluate the quantitative relationships between the physical stressors associated with land use alterations and biotic integrity. More specifically, the objectives of this study were to 1) quantify the mechanisms of aquatic ecosystem degradation in streams impacted by watershed urbanization, 2) demonstrate the use of quantitative relationships among the physical, chemical, and biological stressors associated with land use change in an established ecological risk assessment framework, and 3) identify the …

Synthesis, Structure And Magnetic Properties Of Oxy-Anion Based Magnetic Solids Containing Transition Metal Oxide Nanostructures, Kulugammana Gedera Ranmohotti

All Dissertations

Inline with the focus of our research, my goal for this dissertation study is to further explore new classes of magnetic insulators exhibiting novel properties. The scope of this work is twofold: 1) the exploratory synthesis of polyanion-based mixed-framework compounds containing transition metal oxide magnetic nanostructures, and 2) the investigation of the structure/property correlation with respect to the spin couplings in confined lattices. These studies are of fundamental and technological importance regarding the long-term development of low-dimensional magnetic solids for device applications in especially information storage and quantum computing. Several interesting and significant transition metal based silicate, phosphate arsenate and …

Ontology Generation, Information Harvesting And Semantic Annotation For Machine-Generated Web Pages, Cui Tao

Theses and Dissertations

The current World Wide Web is a web of pages. Users have to guess possible keywords that might lead through search engines to the pages that contain information of interest and browse hundreds or even thousands of the returned pages in order to obtain what they want. This frustrating problem motivates an approach to turn the web of pages into a web of knowledge, so that web users can query the information of interest directly. This dissertation provides a step in this direction and a way to partially overcome the challenges. Specifically, this dissertation shows how to turn machine-generated web …

Sub-Circuit Selection And Replacement Algorithms Modeled As Term Rewriting Systems, Eric D. Simonaire

Theses and Dissertations

Intent protection is a model of software obfuscation which, among other criteria, prevents an adversary from understanding the program’s function for use with contextual information. Relating this framework for obfuscation to malware detection, if a malware detector can perfectly normalize a program P and any obfuscation (variant) of the program O(P), the program is not intent protected. The problem of intent protection on programs can also be modeled as intent protection on combinational logic circuits. If a malware detector can perfectly normalize a circuit C and any obfuscation (variant) O(C) of the circuit, the circuit is not intent protected. In …

Study On Methods Of Simultaneous Multi-Component Analysis., Jennifer Bernice Ashie

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Many new instrumentation and different instrumental techniques have been developed to deal with increasing complexity of samples encountered. Many researchers also have coupled these instrumental techniques with chemometric algorithms to assist in the quantitative analysis of multi-component samples in the hope of alleviating the need of tedious separation and cleanup procedures. These newer chemometric procedures tend to be complex and difficult to understand and implement and are successful under different circumstances and conditions. In this study, we start from the very simple beginning and examine the factors that can present difficulties with obtaining the correct results and observe how the …

Restrained And Other Domination Parameters In Complementary Prisms., Wyatt Jules Desormeaux

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis, we will study several domination parameters of a family of graphs known as complementary prisms. We will first present the basic terminology and definitions necessary to understand the topic. Then, we will examine the known results addressing the domination number and the total domination number of complementary prisms. After this, we will present our main results, namely, results on the restrained domination number of complementary prisms. Subsequently results on the distance - k domination number, 2-step domination number and stratification of complementary prisms will be presented. Then, we will characterize when a complementary prism is Eulerian or …

Studies Of Surfactants Effect On Riboflavin Fluorescence And Its Determination In Commercial Food Products And Vitamin Tablets., William Emmanuel Ghann

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A simple and economical fluorometer using blue LEDs excitation sources and simple PMT detection had been built, assembled, optimized, and employed for measurement of fluorescence from riboflavin (vitamin B₂). Surfactants have been known to enhance the intensity of fluorescence of fluorescent compounds. Fluorescence analysis of riboflavin in the presence of various anionic, cationic, and nonionic surfactants was also conducted to determine if they could improve analysis. However, the surfactants employed did not seem to have any meaningful enhancement; in fact, some actually diminished the fluorescence intensity of riboflavin. The procedure was linear for riboflavin from 0.01 to 2.5 …

Geochemical Impacts From Permanganate Oxidation Based On Field Scale Assessments., Kelly Ann Moore

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In situ chemical oxidation (ISCO) using permanganate is a technology for treatment of organic hazardous wastes. This research is a review of 30 permanganate (MnO₄^-) ISCO sites to determine whether there are long term impacts on groundwater quality due to the introduction of the oxidant into the subsurface. A second objective is to determine if manganese concentration can be predicted by trends in specific pre and postoxidation monitored parameters (i.e., pH and oxidation reduction potential (ORP)). The final objective is to identify the effects of site and design conditions on groundwater conditions postoxidation. Results indicate that (1) …

Towards The Design And Syntheses Of Novel Triads Comprising Single Robson-Type Macrocyclic Dicopper(Ii) Cores Flanked By Two Terminal Polypyridyl Ruthenium(Ii) Complexes., Leslie Shane Moody

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Progress toward the syntheses of new tetranuclear bimetallic complexes of copper(II) and ruthenium(II) was realized. The designed triads comprise a central binuclear copper(II) complex with a tetraiminodiphenolate macrocyclic Robson-type compartmental ligand. In the envisioned complexes, the macrocyclic core is further functionalized by attachment of two polypyridyl ruthenium(II) complexes. A novel dibrominated dicopper(II) Robson complex was formed by the 2:2:2 condensation reaction of 4-bromo-2,6-diformylphenol and 1,3- diaminopropane with cupric chloride. Similarly, a new dibrominated dizinc(II) was synthesized from zinc tetrafluoroborate and the same diamine and dialdehyde. The new dicopper(II) complex did not heterocouple with borylated substrates under explored Suzuki reaction conditions. …

Applications Of Operations Research In Domestic Electric Utilities, Jametta Myers

Theses and Dissertations

Since its inception in the 1950s, operations research has been used in a number of industries, including the energy industry. Documentation of its use in exploration, production, gasoline blending, oil spill management, coal mining, coal handling, and coal mixing is extensive. However, considerably less documented research exists for one significant customer of many of these products: the electric utility. This work reviews refereed literature from United States operations research journals that document the use of operations research in United States electric utility operations. Applications that centered specifically on the areas of thermal energy generation, transmission, distribution, capacity planning, electric power …

Enterprise Vault And Discovery Accelerator: Email Archiving And Discovery Solution Implementation And The Legal Landscape, David Beebe

Regis University Student Publications (comprehensive collection)

One of the most pressing Information Technology challenges organizations are facing today is managing the vast amount of data that exist at their company, especially with regard to email data. Over the last decade many legal regulations have been passed and amended to address these growing data concerns, especially with regard to email, as they contain critical business communications. These regulations require organizations to be able to quickly and accurately search and recover email data related to legal proceedings, which has led to an overwhelming adoption of email archiving and recovery solutions. Email archiving and recovery solutions allow organizations to …

Secureqemu: Emulation-Based Software Protection Providing Encrypted Code Execution And Page Granularity Code Signing, William B. Kimball

Theses and Dissertations

This research presents an original emulation-based software protection scheme providing protection from reverse code engineering (RCE) and software exploitation using encrypted code execution and page-granularity code signing, respectively. Protection mechanisms execute in trusted emulators while remaining out-of-band of untrusted systems being emulated. This protection scheme is called SecureQEMU and is based on a modified version of Quick Emulator (QEMU) [5]. RCE is a process that uncovers the internal workings of a program. It is used during vulnerability and intellectual property (IP) discovery. To protect from RCE program code may have anti-disassembly, anti-debugging, and obfuscation techniques incorporated. These techniques slow the …

Dynamic Load Balancing Of Virtual Machines Hosted On Xen, Terry Clyde Wilcox

Theses and Dissertations

Currently systems of virtual machines are load balanced statically which can create load imbalances for systems where the load changes dynamically over time. For throughput and response time of a system to be maximized it is necessary for load to be evenly distributed among each part of the system. We implement a prototype policy engine for the Xen virtual machine monitor which can dynamically load balance virtual machines. We compare the throughput and response time of our system using the cpu2000 and the WEB2005 benchmarks from SPEC. Under the loads we tested, dynamic load balancing had 5%-8% higher throughput than …

Timing And Characterization Of The Change In The Redox State Of Uranium In Precambrian Surface Environments: A Proxy For The Oxidation State Of The Atmosphere, Gerald D. Pollack

Geosciences Dissertations

The redox-sensitive geochemical behavior of uranium permits the use of Th/U ratios as a geochemical proxy for the oxidation state of the atmosphere and oceans during sedimentary processes. Due to the effects of post-depositional uranium mobility on Th/U ratios during events involving oxygenated fluids, direct measurements of Th/U ratios are often misleading, but the whole rock Pb isotope composition may be used to determine a sample¡¦s apparent time-integrated Th/U ratio (ƒÛa) and the timing associated with the onset of the U-Th-Pb geochemistry. Rare earth element (REE) concentrations were determined by isotope dilution mass spectrometry to evaluate the influence of multiple …

Nondestructive Evaluation Of Aircraft Composites Using Terahertz Time Domain Spectroscopy, Christopher D. Stoik

Theses and Dissertations

Terahertz (THz) time domain spectroscopy (TDS) was assessed as a nondestructive evaluation technique for aircraft composites. Material properties of glass fiber composite were measured using both transmission and reflection configuration. The interaction of THz with a glass fiber composite was then analyzed, including the effects of scattering, absorption, and the index of refraction, as well as effective medium approximations. THz TDS, in both transmission and reflection configuration, was used to study composite damage, including voids, delaminations, mechanical damage, and heat damage. Measurement of the material properties on samples with localized heat damage showed that burning did not change the refractive …

Performance Analysis Of A Light Weight Packet Scanner, Paras Gandhi

Theses and Dissertations

The growth of networks around the world has also given rise to threats like viruses and Trojans. This rise in threats has resulted in counter measures for these threats. These counter measures are in the form of applications called firewalls or IDS. The incorporation of these applications in the network results in some delay in communications. The aim of the experiment in this thesis is to measure the delay introduced by such a firewall in the best case and compare it with the communication done on a network without such an application. These experiments are done using a special miniature …

Energy Efficient Embedded System Design For Medical Care System Using Wireless Sensor Network, Qi Li

Theses and Dissertations

Recent surveys on medical service systems show that the cost of patient monitoring has grown significantly. The widespread use of portable digital medical device makes it possible to provide a more comprehensive tracking of patient conditions. However, the development of a full scale, distributed health monitoring system is much delayed due to the lack of efficient wireless communication in a large distributed network. This becomes a challenging research topic which is to find a way to provide accurate and real time patient information to medical experts in a fast, efficient and cost effective fashion. This paper proposes a novel solution …

Wireless Intelligent Structural Health Monitoring System, Belle Ashwin

Theses and Dissertations

Metal structures are susceptible to various types of damages, including corrosion, stress damage, pillowing deformation, cracks etc. These kinds of damages in the metal structures occur mainly due to operational conditions and exposure to the environment. Our research involves a portable integrated wireless sensor system with video camera and ultrasound capabilities which is being developed to investigate corrosion damage on real structures in real time. This system uses images of the metal surfaces, which are captured from an integrated wireless sensor and then quantified and analyzed using computational intelligence. The quantification of the obtained images is done with specialized component …

Synthesis And Evaluation Of Structural Analogs Of Escherichia Coli Lipid A For Application Towards Cd14-Targeting Glycotherapeutics, Aileen Fay Galos Bongat

Dissertations

Lipid A is a glucosamine-based phospholipid that anchors carbohydrate molecules to the outer membrane of most Gram-negative bacteria. During severe infection, this amphiphilic macromolecule invoke a strong and acute pro-inflammatory response that leads to sepsis and ultimately to septic shock, organ failure and death. Thus, following the convention that the best antidote is often a derivative of the parent agonistic molecule, researchers have actively pursued the idea of creating an analog of Lipid A that can block the cellular receptor for this molecule and thereby arrest the cascade of events that lead to sepsis. Consequently, we became interested in creating …

Using Geoscience Education Graduate Students To Help Faculty Transform Teaching Practice, Teagan L. Tomlin

Theses and Dissertations

Universities make claims about student learning that graduates don't often achieve and are under pressure to show improvement in teaching and learning in their undergraduate programs. This has been the constant focus of university-level professional development programs, but most teachers are still not using the most effective teaching methods. Individual departments need to find ways to help their instructors overcome three main challenges associated with adopting more effective student-centered teaching methods. No matter what strategy is adopted, instructors need considerable support to 1) change their beliefs about what constitutes effective teaching and learning, 2) learn to effectively implement new strategies, …

The Thermoelectric Properties Investigation Of X0.05Mo3Sb7-YTeY (X=Mn, Fe, Ni, Co; Y=1.5, 1.6, 1.7), Tim Holgate

All Theses

With ever increasing energy costs, dwindling resources, and terms with the prefix 'green' filling headlines, the need for environmentally friendly energy sources has never been greater. Since the mid-20th century researchers have been pursuing greater efficiency in thermoelectric materials. Thermoelectric materials achieve energy conversion via the Seebeck effect (heat to electric power) and the Peltier effect (electricity to cooling power). Presented herein are the measured electrical and thermal transport properties and phenomenal analysis of the Ir₃Ge₇-type system: X_0.05Mo₃Sb_7-yTe_y (X=Mn, Fe, Ni, Co; y=1.5, 1.6, 1.7) where 'X' are interstitially …

Simulation And Analysis Of Cadmium Sulfide Nanoparticles, Chad Everett Junkermeier

Theses and Dissertations

I used ab initio molecular dynamics calculations to model cadmium sulfide nanoparticles. The nanoparticles were originaly spherical, bulk-like zinc-blende structures. Constant temperature molecular dynamics calculations reveals that CdS nanoparticles that are about 2 nm in diameter and have unpassivated surfaces are in an amorphous structure with short range order. The nearest neighbor distance on the surface of the nanoparticles being near the wurtzite nearest neighbor distance. I wrote the program xyzSTATS and used its results in justifying the amorphous nanoparticles claim. I also estimated the band gap of the CdS nanoparticles with unpassivated dangling bonds.

Preparation Of Carboxylic Acid Functionalized Glycopolymers Through Raft And Post-Polymerization Modification For Biomedical Application, Husnu Alp Alidedeoglu

Dissertations

The primary theme of this dissertation involves the synthesis of well-defined primary amine functionalized polymers, subsequent modification of the polymers to produce novel carboxylic acid functionalized glycopolymers and surface polymerization of these systems utilizing controlled polymerization techniques. Additionally, the synthesis of new water-based allylic copolymer latexes is described. Carbohydrates are natural polymers which possess unlimited structural variations. They carry a huge density of information, and play major roles in recognition events and complex biological operations. For example, hyaluronic acid (HA), an anionic glycosaminoglycan, provides lubricating and cushioning properties in the extracellular matrix and has been found to be involved in …

Photopolymerization And Characterization Of Thiol-Enes And Thiourethanes, Qin Li

Dissertations

Compared to conventional acrylic monomer systems, thiol-ene photopolymerization, an efficient click process leading to the formation of dense and uniform molecular networks, has several distinct advantages including relative insensitivity to oxygen inhibition, high monomer conversion and low shrinkage. Although there has been a revival of interest in thiol-enes in the past 6 years, the structure-property relationship of these networks has not been explored in detail. For future applications, thiol-enes with higher shelf-life stability and glass transition temperatures need to be used. Sulfur containing urethanes, thiourethanes and dithiourethanes are a class of widely used materials due to their distinct properties such …

Structural And Magnetic Properties Of Manganites Pr1-XCa1+XMno4, Oxypnictides Cefeaso1-XFX, And Filled Skutterudite Pros4As12, Songxue Chi

Doctoral Dissertations

We present neutron scattering, with triple-axis and time-of-flight spectrometers, to study the structural and magnetic properties of the layered manganites Pr_1-xCa_1+xMnO₄ (PCMO), and to determine the crystalline electric field (CEF) levels in iron pnictides CeFeAsO_1-xF_x and filled skutterudite compound PrOs₄As₁₂.

For the single-layered manganites PCMO, four dopings (x=0.5, 0.45, 0.40 and 0.35) have been studied. At half-doping, the system first becomes charge- and orbital- ordered (CO/OO) near T_CO = 300 K and then develops CE-type antiferromagnetic (AF) order below T_N = 130 K. …