Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Operational Exploitation Of Satellite-Based Sounding Data And Numerical Weather Prediction Models For Directed Energy Applications, David C. Meier

Theses and Dissertations

The wealth of available scientific data collected by the modern constellation of meteorological satellites can be exploited in new and innovative ways, with direct benefit to directed energy applications. The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) provides accurate, geolocated temperature data, which are used as the starting point for the derivation of atmospheric parameters critical to prediction of sensor or directed energy system performance. Twenty-four hour data coverage is achieved by extending the atmospheric characterization between satellite observations using Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) models. A technique is developed to derive wind profiles using AIRS temperature data and the accuracy of these winds …

Characterization Of Cytidylyltransferase Enzyme Activity Through High Performance Liquid Chromatography, James Brault

Theses and Dissertations

The cytidylyltransferases are a family of enzymes that utilize cytidine 5â?? triphosphate (CTP) to synthesize molecules that are precursors to membrane phospholipids. There are four well known enzymes: CTP: phosphoethanolamine cytidylyltransferase (ECT), CTP: glycerol-3-phosphate cytidylyltransferase (GCT), 2-C-methyl-D-erythritol-4-phosphate cytidylyltransferase synthetase (CMS), and CTP: phosphocholine cytidylyltransferase (CCT). Previously, a radioisotope tagging method was employed to study cytidylyltransferase catalysis. Using CCT as a model, a method utilizing high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was developed to replace the radioisotope scintillation technique. The development of this new HPLC method is cheaper, more efficient, and more accurate than the previously established method.

The targets of separation …

Hydroxy Polybenzimidazoles For High Temperature Fuel Cells And The Solution Polymerization Of Polybenzimidazole, Kayley Fishel

Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation, two different hompolymers of polybenzimidazole (PBI) containing hydroxyl functional units were synthesized via the PPA Process to produce gel membranes. These polymers and their phosphoric acid doped membranes were characterized to further explore structure-property relationships in functionalized PBI's. Fuel cell performance of the doped membranes was evaluated and compared to previously reported PBI membrane chemistries. Copolymers of p-OH PBI and para-PBI were prepared at five different copolymer compositions to examine the effects of hydroxy content on membrane properties and compared to the respective homopolymers. The reactivity of the hydroxy groups and the formation of phosphate bridges were …

Defining The Effects Of Gdf-2 On TgfB Signaling In Tumorigenic Epithelial Cells, Tirthankar Bandyopadhyay

Theses and Dissertations

Cancer cells can be viewed as such cells, which have disrupted/aberrant signaling pathways for maintaining cellular homoeostasis. Identifying such altered signaling mechanisms can help us target these pathways in a better way. GDF-2 (Growth and differentiation factor – 2) or BMP9 (Bone morphogenetic protein – 9), a multifunctional cytokine, is a member of the Bone Morphogenetic Protein subfamily, under TGFβ superfamily, with roles distinct from BMP2/4/7. While GDF-2 is known to be one of the most potent ectopic inducers of bone and cartilage formation, it rose to significance with the identification of its receptor ALK1 in endothelial cells. TGFβ’s role …

Fast Methods For Variable-Coefficient Peridynamic And Non-Local Diffusion Models, Che Wang

Theses and Dissertations

In previous studies, scientists developed the classical solid mechanic theory. The model has been widely used in scientific research and practical production. The main assumption of the classical theory of solid mechanics is that all internal forces act through zero distance. Because of this assumption, the mathematical model always leads to partial differential equations, which meet with problems when describing the spontaneous formation of discontinuities and other singularities. A peridynamic model was proposed as a reformation of solid mechanics [40, 41, 43, 44, 45], which leads to a non-local framework that does not explicitly involve the notion of deformation gradients, …

A Survey Of The Kinetic Monte Carlo Algorithm As Applied To A Multicellular System, Michael Richard Laughlin

Theses and Dissertations

We explore the origins and implementation of the Kinetic Monte Carlo method on a system of cells suspended in a liquid media. The situation presented herein has applications in the emerging field of biofabrication, which may have lasting impacts in medical science. The theory behind the method is explained in detail, starting with its emergence in the 1960s, and two major improvements to the scaling of the method are presented, along with a restriction to a special case. Finally, we give the results of several simulations.

Supramolecular Coordination Networks Of S- And F-Block Metals Featuring The 1,8-Naphthalimide Tecton, Andrew Paul Leitner

Theses and Dissertations

The reactions of (S)-2-(1,8-naphthalimido)propanoic acid (HLala), and (S)-2-(1,8- naphthalimido)-3-hydroxypropanoic acid (HLser), protonated forms of ligands that contain a carboxylate donor group, an enantiopure chiral center and a 1,8-naphthalimide π...π stacking supramolecular tecton and in the case of HLser an alcohol functional group, with the appropriate alkali metal hydroxide followed by a variety of crystallization methods leads to the formation of crystalline K(Lala)(MeOH) (1), K(Lala)(H2O) (2), Na(Lala)(H2O) (3), KLser (4), CsLser (5) and CsLala (6). Each of these new complexes has a solid state structure based on six-coordinate metals linked into homochiral helical rod SBU central cores. In addition to the …

Optimized Spectral Processing Of Infrared Diffuse Reflection Spectra For The Detection Of Blood On Fabric, Stephanie Ann Dejong

Theses and Dissertations

The detection of bodily fluids such as blood on interfering backgrounds is important to the forensic community. Luminol, which participates in a chemiluminescent reaction with the heme groups of blood, is one of the most commonly used presumptive tests. Luminol has a few drawbacks, including the requirement of use in a dark environment and potential to degrade the amount of recoverable DNA in blood stains. A potential complementary method is infrared (IR) spectroscopy. These two methods are compared in this work. Infrared diffuse reflection (DR) spectroscopy works well to measure the IR spectrum of samples that are highly absorbing or …

Two-Dimensional Transient Spectroscopy Measuring Heterogeneity In Electronic And Rotational Dynamics, Haorui Wu

Theses and Dissertations

Multiple population-period transient spectroscopy (MUPPETS) is a picosecond, time resolved experiment that uses a sequence of six laser pulses. It was previously known that MUPPETS could measure heterogeneity in electronic-state decay. This dissertation presents two projects that extend MUPPETS to new processes. One process is the extension from 2-level system into 3-level system, another new process extends the kinetics from electronic decay to rotational decay. In addition, a third, ongoing project on rotational dynamics in ionic liquids will also be discussed briefly. The first project consisted of two main parts. The first part focused on the biexciton decay in semiconductor …

Molecules And Metals In The Distant Universe: Sub-Mm And Optical Spectroscopy Of Quasar Absorbers, Sean Stephen Morrison

Theses and Dissertations

In order to gain a complete understanding of galaxy formation and evolution, knowledge of the atomic and molecular gas in the interstellar medium (ISM) is required. Absorption-line spectroscopy of quasars offers a powerful and luminosity independent probe of gas in distant galaxies. The Damped Lyman- systems (DLAs; 20.3 . log NHI ), are the highest neutral hydrogen column density quasar absorbers and contain a substantial fraction of the neutral gas available for star formation in the high-redshift Universe. This thesis presents a study of the metal content in some DLAs, based on optical spectroscopy, and a search for molecules based …

Optimization Of Shell Growth And Influence Of Surface Ligands For Colloidal Cdse/Cds Core/Shell Quantum Dots, Rui Tan

Theses and Dissertations

Progress in the colloidal synthesis of semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) has triggered a burst of research toward applications in QD based light emitting diodes, biological imaging as fluorescent tags, and advanced solar cell designs. In order to adjust and optimize the photo physical properties of QDs, QD heterostructures have been introduced and widely explored. This dissertation is focused on studies of growth of semiconductor colloidal CdSe/CdS core/shell quantum dots and the influences of neutral surface ligands to their photo-physical properties. Chapter 1 provides an introduction of the concept of semiconductor colloidal nanoparticles, core/shell heterostructures and the synthesis methods as well …

Applications Of Attenuated Total Reflectance Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy For Forensic Analysis, Zhenyu Lu

Theses and Dissertations

Blood stains, which are among the traces encountered most frequently at crime scenes, are important for potential extraction and amplification of DNA for suspect identification, as well for spatter pattern analysis to reveal a sequence of events. Attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) was used in detection of blood stains and age estimation because of signature absorbances in the mid-infrared region at 3300 cm-1 (Amide A), 2800-3000 cm-1 (Amide B), ~1650 cm-1 (Amide I), ~1540 cm-1 (Amide II) ,and 1200-1350 cm-1 (Amide III). Position and intensity shifts for amide peaks were observed due to aging changes occurring as …

Approaching Aromatic Interactions With Small Molecule Model Systems: Assessing N-Heteroarene In ∏ -Stacking And Ch-∏ Interactions, Crystal Engineering Of Atropisomeric Rotors, And Developing Responsive Organic Charge-Transfer Complex, Ping Li

Theses and Dissertations

Non-covalent interactions involving aromatic species are important in many areas in chemistry, biochemistry, and materials sciences. During the past two decades, small molecule model systems have emerged as a powerful tool to advance our knowledge of the stability trends for aromatic interactions in the condensed phase. Among these, the Cshape N-arylimide molecular balances developed by our laboratory have proven to be one most successful and versatile model systems that can be readily adapted to investigate various types of aromatic interactions. These molecular balances are particularly apt at isolating and accurately measuring the targeted weak aromatic interaction energies for different geometries. …

Sustainable Polymeric Materials Derived From Novel Soybean Based Monomers And Polymers: From Synthesis To Applications, Nathan Trenor

Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis, monomers and polymers derived from high oleic soybean oil are investigated. The properties of these monomers and polymeric materials are characterized and discussed. Chapter 1 describes an overall background of bio-based resources, monomers, polymers, and their potential impact on society. Polymerization techniques are introduced, and the overall objective of my research is described. Chapter 2 outlines the large scale preparation of a soybean based monomer and the use of this monomer in thermoset elastomers. The synthetic procedures and characterizations of the monomers and polymers are discussed. A model study using oleic acid is described and proved to …

Optical Spectroscopy And Chemometrics For Discrimination Of Dyed Textile Fibers And Magnetic Audio Tapes, Nathan C. Fuenffinger

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation focuses on the application of both novel and standard chemometric approaches toward societal problems of interest in the areas of forensic science and cultural heritage preservation. Microspectrophotometry (MSP), a technique enabling measurements of absorption of electromagnetic radiation by microscopic materials in the ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) region, is widely used by forensic examiners for comparisons of metameric textile fibers. These comparisons are often hindered, however, by the raw or normalized spectra showing little detail or having few points of comparison. Derivative preprocessing can enhance structure in some instances. We have demonstrated through the use of multivariate statistics that derivatives are …

Spectroscopy And Chemometrics For Cultural Heritage And Forensics: Conservation Of Magnetic Tape By Identifying Degraded Polymer Signatures; And Characterizing The Chemiluminescent Reaction Of Luminol With Blood, Brianna Marie Cassidy

Theses and Dissertations

The first half of this manuscript focuses on the identification of degraded magnetic tape using attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) and multivariate statistics. For several decades before the digital era, magnetic tape was the dominant audio and visual recording medium. A majority of magnetic tapes contain polyester urethane (PEU) binders, which are known to degrade via hydrolysis, making the retrieval of recorded data difficult and at times impossible. Degraded tapes are currently identified through visual inspection followed by playback on vintage equipment. However, if degraded tapes are played, they are likely to stick and shed onto player …

Comparing The Geography Of Environmental Justice Guidelines, Fish Consumption Waterbodies, And Land Use/Land Cover In South Carolina, Matthew James Neet

Theses and Dissertations

Environmental justice (EJ) grew out of the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s, as well as grass roots organizations during the 1980s and early 1990s. However, it was not until President William J. Clinton signed Executive Order (EO) 12898 in 1994 that EJ became an official governmental policy. With this directive, federal agencies made EJ part of their daily operations. EO 12898 had two overriding goals, the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all populations. As part of these goals, minority, low-income, and native populations would be analyzed for any disproportionate and adverse impacts on human or environmental health. Despite …

Nd − Pdpa: N Dimensional Probability Density Profile Analysis, Arjang Fahim

Theses and Dissertations

Proteins are often referred as working molecule of a cell, performing many structural, functional and regulatory processes. Revealing the function of proteins still remains a challenging problem. Advancement in genomics sequence projects produces large protein sequence repository, but due to technical difficulty and cost related to structure determination, the number of identified protein structure is far behind. Novel structures identification are particularly important for a number of reasons: they generate models of similar proteins for comparison; identify evolutionary relationships; further contribute to our understanding of protein function and mechanism; and allow for the fold of other family members to be …

Optical Second Harmonic Generation In The Batio3 Phase On Magnetically Aligned Multiferroic Nanofibers, Katia Gasperi

Theses and Dissertations

Multiferroic materials enable the exploration of electrical control of magnetic properties and vice versa. Their increasing interest is especially due to their potential applications in the industry of information storage. Thanks to recent progress in nanotechnology, they have also been found to have many other applications such as transducers and sensors, and they already occupy a unique place in the biomedical field. The objective of this project is to study multiferroic nanofibers made of cobalt ferrite CoFe2O4 (CFO) and barium titanate BaTiO3 (BTO) with a specific focus in the characterization of the ferroelectric phase. We researched the state of knowledge …

Modeling, Simulation, And Applications Of Fractional Partial Differential Equations, Wilson Cheung

Theses and Dissertations

The Black-Scholes model is commonly used to track the price of European options with respect to maturity in many financial markets. This model degenerates into a partial differential equation that relates the European-style option price to the underlying price and time of expiry. Black-Scholes assumes that underlying prices satisfy a geometric Brownian motion.

After the U.S. stock market crash of 1987, this assumption becomes inaccurate as it fails to represent the behavior of S&P 500 European vanilla option prices. Specifically, under the measure of moneyness, the volatility smirk does not flatten out and the resulting conditional return distribution does not …

Novel Block Copolymer Architectures For Lithography-Relevant Self-Assembly, Jeffery Hakim Hayat

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is focused on the synthesis, characterization, self-assembly, and materials processing of various functionalized block copolymer systems. A variety of monomers were prepared and polymerized through various polymerization techniques including atom transfer radical polymerization, reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer polymerization, and ring-opening metathesis polymerization. Self-assembly of the functionalized block copolymers led to well-defined nanostructures in bulk and thin films. These materials have the capability to be utilized in various applications including ordered catalysts and templates for nanolithography. In Chapter 1, the overall background of diblock and triblock copolymers and their preparation methods is in this dissertation. Major research objectives of …

Dental Hygienists' Cognitive Process In Periodontal Soft Tissue Charting, Kelsey M. Schwei

Theses and Dissertations

Introduction: Dental hygienists have not had the opportunity to be involved in the design and development of the periodontal soft tissue charts and the surrounding interface features that are used while examining dental patients in daily practice. In some cases, dentists are able to give their opinions, wants, and needs into the development of the health information systems that they use on a daily basis, but too often, the dental hygienist is forgotten about and no input is ever given to the developers from the dental hygienists. This project considers the impact of well-designed interfaces on effectiveness and workflow particularly …

Warranty Period And Product Price Optimization For Remanufactured Products, Yuxi Liu

Theses and Dissertations

This study considers a remanufactured electrical product under a tiered warranty policy. Warranty is key in ensuring a good manufacturer—consumer relationship. Manufacturers hope to minimize warranty costs while consumers believe that good warranty promises better product quality and reliability. This Thesis presents an optimal warranty period from the perspective of a manufacturer to maximize the total expected profits, while ensuring sustained consumer relation. We use real data from a local company with a global supply chain to provide a numerical example.

Arylboronates As H2o2 Or Photo-Inducible Dna Cross-Linking Agents: Design, Synthesis, Mechanism, And Anticancer Activity, Yibin Wang

Theses and Dissertations

Interest in the development of cancer therapies with improved selectivity and reduced host toxicity has been growing. In this thesis, we designed and synthesized a series of novel non-toxic arylboronic ester and biarylboronic ester derivatives that can be activated by hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) to induce DNA interstrand cross-link formation. The mechanism of DNA cross-linking induced by these arylboronates involves generation of phenol intermediates 1 followed by departure of leaving group (L) leading to quinone methides (QMs) 2, which directly cross-link DNA via alkylation. The QM formation is the rate-determining step for DNA cross-linking. The activity and selectivity of these compounds …

Using A Personalized Machine Learning Approach To Detect Stolen Phones, Huizhong Hu

Theses and Dissertations

With the increasing number of smartphone penetration, mining smartphone data that make smartphone smarter became a top research area, there are a lot of event data which we can use to predict behavior or detect anomalies. The privacy disclosure caused by stolen or lost phones becomes an increasingly difficult problem that cannot be ignored. So we design an anomaly detection system by mining patterns to detect stolen phones. We use a pattern mining algorithm to abstract patterns from user past behavior, then construct a personalized model and use a scoring function and threshold setting strategy to detect stolen events. Moreover, …

Siguria E Rrjetave Kompjuterike, Blinera Ahmeti

Theses and Dissertations

Shpërndarja e internetit në përmasa më të mëdha filloi në fillim të viteve 1980. Qysh në këtë fillim lindi edhe nevoja për sigurinë e rrjetave kompjuterike, menjëherë pas shfaqjes së sulmeve të para që shkaktuan dëme në informacionet dhe sistemet kompjuterike. Ndryshimet shumë të shpejta në botën e kompjuterikës, aplikacioneve mobile dhe rrjetave pa kabllo kanë ndryshuar plotësisht tiparet e sigurisë së rrjetave. Qysh nga ajo kohë, sado që ka pasur zhvillime tepër të mëdha në botën e internetit, ende ka shumë ngecje në zhvillimin e metodave të sigurisë së rrjetave.

Problemet me sigurinë më së lehti dhe më së …

Implementimi Dhe Adaptimi I E-Commerce Në Kompanitë E Vogla Në Zvicër, Drilon Tahiri

Theses and Dissertations

Qëllimi i këtij hulumtimi është të shqyrtojë implementimin dhe adaptimin e e-commerce në kompanitë e vogla në Zvicër . Ky hulumtim përshkruan të gjitha përfitimet dhe pengesat me të cilat ballafaqohen kompanitë e vogla gjatë procesit të implementimit të e-commerce. Një hulumtim cilësor është kryer. Po ashtu është kryer edhe një intervistë me një menaxher të një kompanie të vogël në Zvicër.

Ky studim tregon se kompanitë e vogla në Zvicër kanë përparësi në implementimin dhe adaptimin e e-commerce në krahasim me vendet e tjera të Evropës, por ende ka pengesa të cilat mund të përmirësohen në të ardhmen.

Përfitimet …

Programimi Paralel Me Gpu, Kujtim Kërqeli

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Zgjidhja E Problemeve Të Transportit Në Rrjetat Telekomunikuese Duke Kaluar Në Ran-In E Bazuar Në Ip, Meriton Ahmeti

Theses and Dissertations

Operimi i Radio paisjeve (Antenat) të operatorëve të ndryshëm të telefonisë mobile dhe ndërlidhja e tyre me Rrjetën Bërthamë (Core Network) mundësohet nga RAN (Radio Access Network) i cili jo domosdoshmërisht është i njejtë për operator të ndryshëm mobil.

Përgjatë viteve të zhvillimit të Telekomunikacionit në përgjithesi dhe të Komunikimeve mobile në veçanti, janë zhvilluar teknologji të reja për ta tejkalur problemin e diversitetit në mes të teknologjive të aplikuara në rrjetën e një operatori të telefonisë mobile por edhe për të tejkaluar kufizimet e ndryshme teknike.

Në aspektin e dizajnimit të rrjetës së operatorëve të telefonisë mobile gjithmonë kalimi …

Krahasimi I Teknologjive Për Implementimin Dhe Përkrahjen E Videove Në Ueb, Rinor Svarça

Theses and Dissertations

Në këtë punim diplome jemi munduar të analizojmë dy teknologjitë më të përdorura për lansimin e videove në internet Adobe Flash dhe HTML5, edhe pse nuk janë të ngjashme kanë të përbashkët mundësinë e shfaqjes së videove në ueb faqe, ku dhe jemi fokusuar më shumë në këtë të përbashkët të këtyre dy teknologjive. Gjithashtu kemi hulumtuar për historikun, zhvillimin, ngjashmëritë dhe dallimet që kanë, kemi analizuar edhe problemet e tye dhe si ka ardhur deri te zëvendësimi i Flash me HTML5 për një kohë mjaftë të shkurtër. Jemi munduar t’i krahasojmë të gjitha pjesët e përbashkëta dhe kemi paraqitur …