Digital Commons Network^™

Data Assimilation And Parameter Recovery For Rayleigh-Bénard Convection, Jacob William Murri

Theses and Dissertations

Many problems in applied mathematics involve simulating the evolution of a system using differential equations with known initial conditions. But what if one records observations and seeks to determine the causal factors which produced them? This is known as an inverse problem. Some prominent inverse problems include data assimilation and parameter recovery, which use partial observations of a system of evolutionary, dissipative partial differential equations to estimate the state of the system and relevant physical parameters (respectively). Recently a set of procedures called nudging algorithms have shown promise in performing simultaneous data assimilation and parameter recovery for the Lorentz equations …

Design And Characterization Of Phased Arrays For Uas Detection And Tracking, David Buck

Theses and Dissertations

This work continues the development of phased array radar for UAS detection and tracking. The earlier 1D scanning, 4 channel BYU SAA radar is improved upon and replicated to form a network of radars. These are shown to work together for higher level tracking across multiple fields of view. Additionally, a new phased array instrument is designed and constructed with 16 channels, 2D scanning, and improved signal processing algorithms. Preliminary metrics and field results show the operation of this sensor. A new technique for measuring array mutual impedances from embedded element patterns is developed here. This technique uses an antenna …

Vector-Valued Mock Theta Functions, Clayton Williams

Theses and Dissertations

Ramanujan introduced his now celebrated mock theta functions in 1920, grouping them into families parameterized by an integer called the order. In 2010 Bringmann and Ono discovered generalizations of Ramanujan's mock theta functions for any order relatively prime to 6; this result was later strengthened by Garvan in 2016. It was also shown that by adding suitable nonholomorphic completion terms to the mock theta functions the family of mock theta functions corresponding to a given order constitute a complex vector space which is closed under the action of the modular group. We strengthen the Bringmann, Ono, and Garvan result by …

Variational And Covariational Reasoning Of Students With Disabilities, Lauren Rigby

Theses and Dissertations

Mathematics education reform has led to more conceptually focused instruction in the classroom. Yet, students with disabilities are receiving fewer chances than other students to engage in meaningful mathematics. Furthermore, a research divide between mathematics education and special education in mathematics has led to significant gaps in research on the individual and conceptual understanding of students with disabilities. Through task-based interviews and classroom observations, this study begins the process of closing this research gap through an examination of students' understanding of variational and covariational reasoning. Data suggest that the participants, two students with disabilities, increased their conceptual understanding in a …

Using Machine Learning To Classify Volleyball Jumps, Miki Jauhiainen

Theses and Dissertations

In this study, inertial measurement units (IMUs) were used to train a random forest classifier to correctly classify different jump types in volleyball. Athlete motion data were collected in a controlled setting using three IMUs, one on the waist and one on each ankle. There were 11 participants who at the time played volleyball at the collegiate level in the United States, seven male and four female. Each performed the same number of jumps across the eight jump types--five BASIC jumps and three each of the other seven--resulting in 26 jumps per subject for a total of 286. The data …

In-Situ Chlorine Gas Generation For Chlorination And Purification Of Rare Earth And Actinide Metals, Mark H. Schvaneveldt

Theses and Dissertations

Rare earth and actinide metals, critical to security, medicine, and the economy, have been processed through methods such as solvent extraction and electrorefining. To minimize radiological waste and improve yield, a 'chloride volatility' process--also known as the chlorination and volatilization process (CVP)--has been proposed and demonstrated for processing rare earths. The process takes advantage of the low vapor pressure of rare earth chlorides (<700 >°C), CaCl2 was added to LaCl3 to lower the melting temperature. LaCl3 electrochemical behavior has not previously been studied in CaCl2. Cyclic voltammetry (CV) and square wave voltammetry (SWV) were applied to LaCl3 salts in CaCl2-LiCl …

On Continuity Of Multiplication In The Fundamental Group, Eric Steadman

Theses and Dissertations

For a topological space X, the fundamental group can be topologized as a quotient of the path space with the compact-open topology. For one-dimensional or planar Peano continua, the fundamental group with this topology is a topological group if and only if it is semilocally simply connected. In particular, we demonstrate that the group operation is not continuous in this setting.

Fabrication And Characterization Of Dna Templated Electronic Nanomaterials And Their Directed Placement By Self-Assembly Of Block Copolymers, Dulashani Ruwanthika Ranasinghe Weerakkodige

Theses and Dissertations

Bottom-up self-assembly has the potential to fabricate nanostructures with advanced electrical features. DNA templates have been used to enable such self-assembling methods due to their versatility and compatibility with various nanomaterials. This dissertation describes research to advance several different steps of biotemplated nanofabrication, from DNA assembly to characterization. I assembled different nanomaterials including surfactant-coated Au nanorods, DNA-linked Au nanorods and Pd nanoparticles on DNA nanotubes ~10 micrometer long, and on ~400 nm long bar-shaped DNA origami templates. I optimized seeding by changing the surfactant and magnesium ion concentrations in the seeding solution. After successful seeding, I performed electroless plating on …

Isogeometric Reconstruction And Crash Analysis Of A 1996 Body-In-White Dodge Neon, Kendrick M. Shepherd

Faculty Publications

Isogeometric analysis (IGA) has attracted attention from academia and industry because of its high-fidelity results, ability to represent geometry exactly, and potential to streamline the engineering design-through-analysis process. However, one of the greatest challenges limiting the scope of IGA is the ability to rapidly convert CAD geometry into a set of splines suitable for engineering analysis¾particularly for a wide set of shapes of industrial relevance. In this presentation, we describe a new, mathematically rigorous, potentially automatable framework using Ricci flow and subsequent metric optimization through which surface geometries can be rebuilt as sets of watertight, analysis-suitable, boundary-conforming semistructured NURBS patches. …

Method And Interpretation: Gadamer And The Limits Of Methods In Qualitative Research, Jared C. Parker

Theses and Dissertations

Qualitative modes of research have been working their way into the mainstream of psychological research. Unfortunately, social psychology has largely resisted this trend, despite the particular utility of qualitative research for investigating social phenomena. Curiously, as qualitative research becomes more widely accepted in psychology, much of the discourse surrounding these approaches has revolved around the procedural dimensions of qualitative inquiry. Specifically, it has focused on developing, describing, and defending various codified approaches to qualitative data analysis. Recently, this methodological paradigm has come under some criticism, with scholars critiquing codified methods as leading to shallow, superficial, and formulaic research. Others have …

Selecting And Optimizing Origami-Based Patterns For Deployable Space Systems, Diana Stefania Bolanos

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis addresses the design difficulties encountered when designing deployable origami-based arrays. Specific considerations regarding thickness accommodation, deployment, and parameter modifications are discussed. Patterns such as the Miura-ori, flasher, and hexagon are investigated, with emphasis placed on pattern modification from zero-thickness to finite-thickness. Applying origami principles to form engineering solutions is a complicated task. Competing requirements may create confusion around which pattern is most favorable for the space array application. Implementing origami into a finite-thickness, engineered system poses challenges that are not manifest in a zero-thickness model. As such, it is important to understand and address the limitations of the …

Atomic Layer Deposition And High Sensitivity-Low Energy Ion Scattering For The Determination Of The Surface Silanol Density On Glass And Unsupervised Exploratory Data Analysis With Summary Statistics And Other Methods, Tahereh Gholian Avval

Theses and Dissertations

With the increasing importance of hand-held devices with touch displays, the need for flat panel displays (FPDs) will likely increase in the future. Glass is the most important substrate for FPD manufacturing, where both its bulk and surface properties are critical for its performance. Many properties of the glass used in FPDs are controlled by its surface chemistry. Surface hydroxyls are the most important functional groups on a glass surface, which control processes that occurs on oxide surfaces, including wetting, adhesion, electrostatic charging and discharge, and the rate of contamination. In this dissertation, I present a new approach for determining …

Quantifying Protein Quality To Understand Protein Homeostasis, Hsien-Jung Lavender Lin

Theses and Dissertations

Proteins are the center of all biochemical reactions in living organisms. Proteins need to be present at the right time, in the right place, with the correct concentration and have the right shape to carry their designated function. Protein homeostasis is when all proteins in the proteome are in functional balance, and such balance is maintained by synthesis, folding, and degradation machinery. When protein homeostasis is lost, organisms start to age and develop diseases. To truly unveil disease mechanisms and provide more efficient means for treatment and prevention, we need a holistic understanding of the mechanism of protein homeostasis. Currently, …

Reconstructing Historical Earthquake-Induced Tsunamis: Case Study Of 1820 Event Near South Sulawesi, Indonesia, Taylor Jole Paskett

Theses and Dissertations

We build on the method introduced by Ringer, et al., applying it to an 1820 event that happened near South Sulawesi, Indonesia. We utilize other statistical models to aid our Metropolis-Hastings sampler, including a Gaussian process which informs the prior. We apply the method to multiple possible fault zones to determine which fault is the most likely source of the earthquake and tsunami. After collecting nearly 80,000 samples, we find that between the two most likely fault zones, the Walanae fault zone matches the anecdotal accounts much better than Flores. However, to support the anecdotal data, both samplers tend toward …

An Acoustofluidic Scanning Nanoscope Using Enhanced Image Stacking And Processing, Geonsoo Jin, Joseph Rich, Jianping Xia, Albert J. He, Chenglong Zhao, Tony Jun Huang

Faculty Publications

Nanoscale optical resolution with a large field of view is a critical feature for many research and industry areas, such as semiconductor fabrication, biomedical imaging, and nanoscale material identification. Several scanning microscopes have been developed to resolve the inverse relationship between the resolution and field of view; however, those scanning microscopes still rely upon fluorescence labeling and complex optical systems. To overcome these limitations, we developed a dual-camera acoustofluidic nanoscope with a seamless image merging algorithm (alpha-blending process). This design allows us to precisely image both the sample and the microspheres simultaneously and accurately track the particle path and location. …

Trace Elements In Walleye Tissues And Dietary Components From An Impoundment Located Downstream Of The Leadville Mining District, Colorado, I: Hg And Se, Scott J. Herrmann, Del Wayne R. Nimmo, Igor V. Melnykov

Western North American Naturalist

There is a paucity of studies focusing on how total mercury (THg) and total selenium (TSe) concentrations vary in walleye tissues and prey organisms from a reservoir that is downstream from a major mining district and whose basin consists of Cretaceous sedimentary Se-bearing outcroppings. Pueblo Reservoir in Colorado is fed by water from the upper Arkansas River, which has been polluted by trace metals and metalloids since mining began in 1859. Pueblo Reservoir is the only mainstem impoundment on the Upper Arkansas River and is located about 251 km downstream from the historic Leadville Mining District. Nearly all the contaminated …

Trace Elements In Walleye Tissues And Dietary Components From An Impoundment Located Downstream Of The Leadville Mining District, Colorado, Ii: Cu, Zn, As, Cd, And Pb, Del Wayne R. Nimmo, Scott J. Herrmann, Igor V. Melnykov

Western North American Naturalist

Trace elements in 15 walleye (Sander vitreus) tissues taken from the Pueblo Reservoir in Colorado corresponded to many metals of worldwide concern and were the same as those released into the Arkansas River from decades of mining at Leadville, Colorado. Therefore, analyses of walleye stomach contents, gizzard shad (Dorosoma cepedianum; a dietary prey item for walleye), and tissues of walleye were compared for an increase in, or a deficiency of, Cu, Zn, As, Cd, and Pb. Tissues were compared as couplets but also evaluated with tissues clustered into 6 functional groups. The trace elements were found …

Simulation And Localization Of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles Leveraging Lie Group Structure, Easton Robert Potokar

Theses and Dissertations

Autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) have the potential to dramatically improve safety, quality of life and general scientific knowledge. Our coasts, lakes and rivers are filled with various forms of marine infrastructure including dams, bridges, ship hulls, communication lines, and oil rigs. Each of these structures requires regular inspection, and current methods utilize divers, which is dangerous, expensive, and time consuming. AUVs have the potential to alleviate these difficulties and enable more regular inspection of these structures. Furthermore, there are significant scientific discoveries in the fields of geology, marine biology and medicine that AUV exploration of our oceans will enable. Since …

Improving Water Distribution Network Data Extraction From Rawgpr Images With Multi-Agent Techniques And Machine Learning, Gemma Stanton, David Ayala-Cabrera

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Concerns around climate change, disaster resilience, and digitization underscore the importance of reliable and affordable information about critical infrastructure such as water distribution networks (WDNs) in order to prevent/mitigate potential negative effects. For instance, lack of data from WDNs enables problems such as leaks to persist undetected. While manual and destructive detection methods exist to monitor the health of WDNs (e.g., impact echo, laser scan, among others), these methods lack the power to provide comprehensive data for continuous modelling, operation, assessment, and maintenance. Ground penetrating radar (GPR) offers one non-destructive testing method that is inexpensive and easily operable; however, the …

A Survey Of Wildfire Spread Prediction And Risk Estimation Methodswith Machine Learning Techniques, Sergiu Dascalu, Rui Wu, Andrew Munoz, Shanyue Guan

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Wildfires can be very dangerous and destructive. In 2021, states in the USA particularly affected by deadly and damaging wildfires include California, Oregon, Montana, Washington, and Arizona (statista.com, 2021). Worldwide, countries recently affected significantly by devastating wildfires include, but are not limited to, Algeria, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Greece, India, Spain, South Korea, and Turkey. Thus, two important research questions are “how to predict fire spread behaviours?” and “how to evaluate wildfire risks?”. To answer these questions, in this paper we conducted a survey of recent methods and approaches that are based on machine learning techniques. For the first research question, …

A Valley Lost To Time, Washington C. Pearce

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis delivers a playable and functional module for the 5 th Edition of the World’s Greatest Role-Playing Game. The Critical Introduction uses reader response and performance theory to create a framework for reading role-playing games as literature, explains some of the recent scholarship surrounding role-playing games, and details the creative process and work of the creative thesis.

In A Valley Lost to Time, Adventurers recruited by the Trellin Prime Minister are sent westward, over the Drazlin mountain range, with a mission to discover the fate of a decades-lost failed colony. The route is long and treacherous, passing through a …

Quantifying Protein Quality To Understand Protein Homeostasis (Supplemental Data), Hsien-Jung Lavender Lin

ScholarsArchive Data

This data set includes the supplementary data for chpaters 3 and 4 in the dissertation Quantifying Protein Quality to Understand Protein Homeostasis. It includes various excel worksheets that were used to generate the data reported in the dissertation. We make this data available to the public so anyone who wants to reproduce the results has the resources and access to other perspectives that weren't discussed in depth in the dissertation. Chapter 3 used mass-spectrometry to quantify the surface accessibility differences in human serum albumin (HSA)between patients with and without rheumatoid arthritis (RA). We found certain residues are less reactive …

Horizontal And Vertical Model Reuse In Mathematical Programmingbased Farm Agent Simulation, Christian Troost, Thomas Berger

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

A well-established strand of agricultural economic agent-based modeling employs mathematical programming (MP) to simulate farming decisions (Berger Troost 2012; Kremmydas et al. 2018). More specifically, in the sense of the MoHuB framework’s conceptualization of human behavior (Schlüter et al. 2017), MP is used to implement the Selection component in these models. It can be combined with perception, knowledge, learning and value-oriented components to reflect different theories of decisionmaking and is often coupled to biophysical process models to evaluate human-environment feedback. We conceptualize different levels of component reuse in MP-based farm agent simulation (i.a. technical basis, coupling interfaces, components for between-decision …

The Environmental Fate, Transformation, And Speciation Of Nano Copper Oxide In A Freshwater Environment, Bianca N. Ross, Christopher D. Knightes

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

The use and production of engineered nanomaterials have grown rapidly over the past few decades due to their unique properties and versatility. As a result of widespread industrial applications, nanomaterials have evolved into their own unique class of emerging contaminants. However, the full extent of nanomaterials’ impact on the environment is currently unknown. In this study, we use the Water Quality Analysis Simulation Program (WASP, version 8.32) to investigate the fate, transformation, and speciation of nano copper oxide (nanoCuO), a common component of antifouling boat-bottom paints, in a freshwater environment over the course of 101 years. WASP serves as a …

Impact Of The Degree Of Incorporation Of Domain Knowledge Into The Automatic Calibration Of Land Use (Natural Hazard Exposure) Models, Charles P. Newland, Holger R. Maier, Aaron C. Zecchin, Jeffery P. Newman

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Natural hazard risk is generally quantified using a combination of hazard, exposure and vulnerability. Consequently, quantifying future risk requires integrated modelling of these three components over time in response to drivers of change, such as climate change and population growth. We have developed such an integrated model to better understand future natural hazard risk, UNHARMED, in which land use and building stock models simulate changes in exposure. Application of the model to different regions requires calibration of the land use model to the local conditions. Calibration is critical given the sensitivity of the model to changes in land use, however …

Model-Data Marriage Counselling: Resolving The Age-Old Conflict Between Models And Data (And Between Those Who Model And Those Who Measure), Felix Egger, Maria P. Vilas, Matthew P. Adams, Hayley Langsdorf

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Models and data (and those who generate them) have an important but sometimes uneasy relationship. Effective integration of information from models and data is the “holy grail” for decision-makers and those seeking to understand environmental systems. Data provide snapshots of what is happening in the system, which is essential for thorough model calibration, validation, and testing. In contrast, models can explore the underlying processes driving the observed behaviour. Thus, models and data provide complementary information about a system. In cases where model predictions do not agree with observations, resolving any discrepancies is essential for model-data integration and can be a …

Resources Recovery From Wastewater Treatment Plants: Full-Scale Optimization By Using A Mathematical Model Including Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Hazal Gulhan, Alida Cosenza, Giorgio Mannina

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) have the advantage of reducing pollutants discharged into the environment. However, WWTPs impose a burden on the environment with direct, indirect, and external indirect greenhouse gas emissions. Reducing this burden caused by WWTPs is an important step for sustainable development especially when technologies aimed to recover resources are applied. Indeed, considering the resources such as water, organic matter, nitrogen, phosphorus, and biopolymers in the wastewater content, WWTP can be viewed as resource recovery, not a burden. Within the scope of the European Union Horizon 2020 “Achieving wider uptake of water-smart solutions — WIDER UPTAKE” project, which …

Key Laboratory Of The Virtual Geographic Environment, Ministry Of Education Of Pr China, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China; Nanjing Normal University, Qian Wang, Joseph H.A. Guillaume, John D. Jakeman, Barry Croke

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Key Laboratory of the Virtual Geographic Environment, Ministry of Education of PR China, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China; Nanjing Normal University

A Mixed Method Approach To Understanding Team Members' Perspectives After Receiving Problem-Solving Training And Performance Feedback, Alexander Mark Julian

Theses and Dissertations

While countless studies have collected data on the effectiveness of various problem- solving models, few have attempted to identify which components of the training process are helpful to participants. Two teacher teams consisting of seven participants were trained in an adapted version of the Team-initiated Problem Solving (TIPS) model, observed each meeting, and provided performance feedback regarding how well they had adhered to the model. A mixed method approach was used to collect quantitative data in the form of the teams' adherence to the TIPS model and qualitative data once successful adherence to the model had been shown. Researchers interviewed …

The Telsam Protein Polymer Significantly Improves The Speed And Propensity Of Crystallization Of Target Proteins, Seyedeh Sara Soleimani

Theses and Dissertations

While conducting pilot studies into the usefulness of fusion to TELSAM polymers as a potential protein crystallization strategy, we observed novel properties in crystals of two TELSAM–target protein fusions, as follows. (i) A TELSAM–target protein fusion can crystallize more rapidly and with greater propensity than the same target protein alone. (ii) TELSAM–target protein fusions can be crystallized at low protein concentrations. This unprecedented observation suggests a route to crystallize proteins that can only be produced in microgram amounts. (iii) The TELSAM polymers themselves need not directly contact one another in the crystal lattice in order to form well-diffracting crystals. This …