Digital Commons Network^™

Role Of Influence In Complex Networks, Nur Dean

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Game theory is a wide ranging research area; that has attracted researchers from various fields. Scientists have been using game theory to understand the evolution of cooperation in complex networks. However, there is limited research that considers the structure and connectivity patterns in networks, which create heterogeneity among nodes. For example, due to the complex ways most networks are formed, it is common to have some highly “social” nodes, while others are highly isolated. This heterogeneity is measured through metrics referred to as “centrality” of nodes. Thus, the more “social” nodes tend to also have higher centrality.

In this thesis, …

Asymmetric Alpha-Stannylation Of Heterocycles And Their Subsequent Use In Cross-Coupling Reactions, Haoran Zhao

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

α-Substituted oxygen-containing heterocycles are commonly present in biologically active molecules. Statistics shows that at least one α-substituted ether moiety appears in over 20% of the top 200 small-molecule pharmaceuticals. This project illustrates a reliable regioselective method to introduce simple cyclic ethers towards the diversification of small molecules. Aryl halides bearing various functional groups were well tolerated independent of their electronic properties. It was found that cyclohexyl spectator ligands on tin selectively slows transmetallation of undesired units, circumventing the competitive transfer of n-butyl group from ⁿBu₃SnR reagents. Compared to the normally used ⁿBu₃SnR reagents, Cy …

Applying A Systems Approach To The Legacy Of Lead In Soil, Sara Perl Egendorf

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Lead (Pb) in soil is a global environmental issue. The particularly high lead concentrations found in surface soils have been emplaced by humans and bring with them life-altering and life-shortening effects for our species and countless others. While much of the general population is unaware of lead lurking in our soils, scientists from a range of backgrounds have generated a body of research documenting this ubiquitous phenomenon, arising from sources such as lead in gasoline, paint, industry, and incineration. Scientists have also explored ways to remediate soil and continue calling for efforts to limit toxicant exposure. Why, then, does this …

Spectral Sequences For Almost Complex Manifolds, Qian Chen

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In recent work, two new cohomologies were introduced for almost complex manifolds: the so-called J-cohomology and N-cohomology [CKT17]. For the case of integrable (complex) structures, the former cohomology was already considered in [DGMS75], and the latter agrees with de Rham cohomology. In this dissertation, using ideas from [CW18], we introduce spectral sequences for these two cohomologies, showing the two cohomologies have natural bigradings. We show the spectral sequence for the J-cohomology converges at the second page whenever the almost complex structure is integrable, and explain how both fit in a natural diagram involving Bott-Chern cohomology and the Frolicher spectral sequence. …

Excitons In Self-Assembled Hybrid Systems Of Molecular Aggregate Light-Harvesting Nanotubes: Charge-Transfer Substrates And Solution-Stabilized Nanocomposites, Kara Ng

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Delocalized Frenkel excitons-coherently-shared excitations among chromophores-are responsible for the remarkable effciency of supramolecular light-harvesting aggregates within photosynthetic organisms. Despite tremendous progress towards a deeper understanding of these photosynthetic complexes, as well as progress in the development of organic solar cells, the possibility of using bio-inspired molecular nanostructures for large-scale solar energy conversion has not been realized yet. The persistent limitations in translating natures design principles for applications in optoelectronic devices have been the supramolecular structures fragility, and the Frenkel excitons delicate nature. The structural instability, both dis-assembly and spontaneous re-assembly of aggregates. Analysis of the absorption spectrum of a model …

Essays On Trade Liberalization, Structural Change, And Technical Efficiency, Li Zhao

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

A recent and growing literature analyzes differential growth across regions of Asia, Latin America, and Sub Saharan Africa. The structural change of labor reallocation is an important determinant of growth in developing countries having large productivity gaps across sectors within the border. Therefore, sectoral characteristics are still an important determinant of cross-region studies. In addition, it is well-known that labor reallocation across economic sectors does not automatically occur without external shocks, especially from international trade.

However, recent studies debate the importance of trade policy as more research focuses on the cost of transportation and communication in international trade and economic …

Matrix Low Rank Approximation At Sublinear Cost, Qi Luan

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

A matrix algorithm runs at sublinear cost if the number of arithmetic operations involved is far fewer than the number of entries of the input matrix. Such algorithms are especially crucial for applications in the field of Big Data, where input matrices are so immense that one can only store a fraction of the entire matrix in memory of modern machines. Typically, such matrices admit Low Rank Approximation (LRA) that can be stored and processed at sublinear cost. Can we compute LRA at sublinear cost? Our counter example presented in Appendix C shows that no sublinear cost algorithm can compute …

Pointing The Zinc Finger On Protein Folding: Energetic Investigation Into The Role Of The Metal-Ion In The Metal-Induced Protein Folding Of Zinc Finger Motifs, Inna Bakman-Sanchez

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Interactions between inorganic metal-ion cofactors and organic protein scaffolds are important for the proper structure and function of metalloproteins. Zinc finger proteins (ZFPs) are an example of proteins with such crucial metal-protein interactions. Incorporation of the Zn(II)-ion into ZFPs allows for their correct folding into structures that can carry out vital biological functions which include gene expression and tumor suppression. In addition, engineered ZFPs have shown to be promising genetic therapeutics in the clinic. And yet, there is still a gap in a quantitative understanding of the energetic contribution of the metal-protein interactions towards the structure and function of these …

I. Selective Chlorination And Fluorination Of Quinols Ii. Synthetic Study Of Strongylophorine-26, Sihan Li

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Organic compounds containing halogen are an important and useful class of intermediates that can be converted to other functionalities. This thesis describes our strategy in selective chlorination and fluorination of quinols to offer the corresponding aromatic structures. Quinols, or cyclohexadienones, as oxidized derivatives of phenols, have their remarkable chemical reactivities, including additions to enone, enolate alkylations, aldol reactions, cycloadditions, and rearrangements. Dienone-phenol rearrangement provides the asymmetric route since the stereocenters located in the six-membered ring of various cyclohexadienone were widely using in building larger chiral arrays for many total syntheses

Chapter one of this thesis discusses our new selective nucleophilic …

Control Of Molecular Energetics And Transport Via Strong Light-Matter Interaction, Rong Wu

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Strong light-matter coupling in excitonic systems results in the formation of half-light half-matter quasiparticles called exciton polaritons. These hybrid quasiparticles take on the best of both systems, namely, the long-range propagation and coherence arising from the photonic component and the nonlinear interaction from the excitonic component. We develop methods for making high quality factor cavities and investigate the potential applications of these strongly coupled states arising specifically in organic molecular systems.

In the first project we investigate the potential of organic dye molecules to undergo condensation in an optical cavity at room temperature. The second study involves the use of …

Valid Time Rdf, Hsien-Tseng Wang

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The Semantic Web aims at building a foundation of semantic-based data models and languages for not only manipulating data and knowledge, but also supporting decision making by machines. Naturally, time-varying data and knowledge are required in Semantic Web applications to incorporate time and further reason about it. However, the original specifications of Resource Description Framework (RDF) and Web Ontology Language (OWL) do not include constructs for handling time-varying data and knowledge. For simplicity, RDF model is confined to binary predicates, hence some form of reification is needed to represent higher-arity predicates. To this date, there are many proposals extending RDF …

Set Operators, Xiaojin Ye

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

My research is centered on set operators. These are universally applicable regardless of the internal structure (numeric or non-numeric) of each individual observed datum. In our research, we have developed the theory of set operators to fill holes and gaps in observed data and eliminate paper shred garbage, thereby changing the observed symbolic data set into one whose pattern is closer to the pattern in the underlying population from which the observed data set was sampled with perturbations.

We describe different set operators including increasing operators, decreasing operators, ex- pansive operators, contractive operators, union preserving operators, intersection preserving op- erators, …

Tidal Wetland Inundation And Vegetation Phenology From Space: A Synthesis Of Approaches For Characterizing Ecological Status And Inundation Dynamics In Tidal Wetlands With Remote Sensing Observations, Brian T. Lamb

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation focuses on the monitoring and characterization of tidal marshes using remote sensing-based approaches. Chapter 1 introduces the topics of wetland ecology and remote sensing. Chapters 2-4 are the main research chapters of the dissertation covering the topics of tidal marsh mapping, tidal marsh vegetation characterization, and assessment of tidal marsh inundation patterns. Chapter 5 summarizes the preceding chapters and highlights future research directions.

The primary research objective of Chapter 2 is the mapping and study of tidal marshes of the Chesapeake and Delaware Bays. This chapter also features a thematic focus on the evaluation of various forms of …

How Should Context-Dependent Words Be Taught To Beginning Readers?, Abigail M. Turner

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This study examined three different instructional methods for teaching beginners to read context-dependent words. Two types of context-dependent words were taught: irregular past tense verbs and function words. The words were embedded either in scrambled contexts or in meaningful sentence contexts. Three different instructional conditions to teach the words were compared. In the Meaningful Context condition, students studied the target words embedded in meaningful sentences. In the Scrambled condition, students studied target words placed in scrambled word sequences. In the Combination condition, students studied target words in both types of contexts that were alternated across learning trials. Participants were 53 …

Understanding Atmospheres Across The Stellar-Substellar Boundary, Eileen C. Gonzales

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Complexities in the atmospheres of sources that straddle the boundary between low-mass stars and planets drive the spectral features we observe and the fundamental parameters that we derive. In an effort to understand the underlying cause of these spectral features, this work examines low-mass stars and brown dwarfs using two approaches: distance-calibrated spectral energy distributions (SEDs) and atmospheric retrievals. SEDs allow for the determination of semi-empirical fundamental parameters, while atmospheric retrievals allow us to derive the atmospheric structure and composition, as well as extrapolated fundamental parameters for a source. Low-metallicity and high surface gravity sources, known as subdwarfs, are the …

Peo-Ppo-Peo Surfactant Mixtures As Templates For Silicas With Very Large Cylindrical Mesopores At Ambient Temperature And With Helical Mesopores At Sub-Ambient Temperature, Laurance Beaton

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The original research described herein concerns the synthesis of mesoporous silicas through a surfactant-templating method. The approach taken involved the use of a mixed surfactant system of two poly(ethylene oxide)-poly(propylene oxide)-poly(ethylene oxide) surfactants, with one of the copolymers containing a much larger percentage of hydrophobic (PPO) blocks than the employed co-surfactant. Systematic adjustments of experimental parameters initially enabled the preparation of 2-D hexagonally ordered mesoporous silicas (SBA-15) of uncommonly large pore diameter at ambient temperature. Comparable silica was synthesized with and without temperature control. Additional adjustments to experimental parameters, including reduction of the relative amount of framework precursor used in …

A Plan For Democratic Public Schooling, Diana Concepcion

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This project addresses concerns within inner-city public schools while restructuring how we facilitate learning in our school buildings. It provides an overview of continued research on challenges faced in public schools including reform policy (testing and curricular changes), privatization, day-to-day structures and how they impact the academic and social-emotional development of our students. By examining our current designs and policies, we are able to identify why and how these systems have not been beneficial to our students, and we are able to find basic solutions in supporting the holistic needs of our students. This project proposes a school plan which …

Small Molecule Synthetic Carbohydrate Receptors, Marcelo F. Bravo Carranco

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Carbohydrate – receptor interactions are often involved in the attachment of viruses to host cells, and this docking is a necessary step in the virus life cycle that precedes infection and, ultimately, replication. Despite the conserved structures of the glycans involved in docking, they are still considered “undruggable”, meaning these glycans are beyond the scope of conventional pharmacological strategies. Recent advances in the development of synthetic carbohydrate receptors (SCRs) – small molecules that bind carbohydrates – could bring carbohydrate-receptor interactions within the purview of druggable targets. Here we discuss the role of carbohydrate-receptor interactions in viral infection, the evolution of …

Locke’S Rebellious Progeny: Phenomenology And Ethics Of Leopardi’S A-Dialectical Materialism, Paolo Pellecchia

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

With this study I reconstruct a genealogy of the a-dialectic materialism that defines the production of 19^th-century Italian author Giacomo Leopardi and with which he criticizes canonical metaphysical stances. In this regard, I consider John Locke as the first instance of a philosophical outlook that stands as an alternative to the anthropocentrism demanded by traditional metaphysics. By focusing on An Essay Concerning Human Understanding and its significant influence on Leopardi’s philosophical and aesthetic work, I emphasize how Locke’s system finds a synthetic formulation in the hypothesis, at the time highly contested yet groundbreaking, that matter might be endowed …

Particle Dynamics In Anti-De Sitter Space By Eih Method, Jiusi Lei

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Following the work of Einstein, Infeld and Hoffmann, we show that particle dynamics in Anti-de Sitter spacetime can be built up by regarding singularities in spacetime manifold as the source of particles.

Since gauge fields play a foundational role in the action, the singularities are chosen to be point-like instantons. Their winding number, defined by an integration on the spheres surrounding those singularities, will turn out to be related to their masses. And their action, derived from the Chern-Simons forms, will be a co-adjoint orbit action, with group element g ∈ SO(4, 2) describing the collective coordinates of the particle. …

Alternative Cichoń Diagrams And Forcing Axioms Compatible With Ch, Corey B. Switzer

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation surveys several topics in the general areas of iterated forcing, infinite combinatorics and set theory of the reals. There are two parts. In the first half I consider alternative versions of the Cichoń diagram. First I show that for a wide variety of reduction concepts there is a Cichoń diagram for effective cardinal characteristics relativized to that reduction. As an application I investigate in detail the Cichoń diagram for degrees of constructibility relative to a fixed inner model of ZFC. Then I study generalizations of cardinal characteristics to the space of functions from Baire space to Baire space. …

A Semi-Automated Approach To Medical Image Segmentation Using Conditional Random Field Inference, Yu-Chi Hu

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Medical image segmentation plays a crucial role in delivering effective patient care in various diagnostic and treatment modalities. Manual delineation of target volumes and all critical structures is a very tedious and highly time-consuming process and introduce uncertainties of treatment outcomes of patients. Fully automatic methods holds great promise for reducing cost and time, while at the same time improving accuracy and eliminating expert variability, yet there are still great challenges. Legally and ethically, human oversight must be integrated with ”smart tools” favoring a semi-automatic technique which can leverage the best aspects of both human and computer.

In this work …

Growth Of Conjugacy Classes Of Reciprocal Words In Triangle Groups, Blanca T. Marmolejo

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In this thesis we obtain the growth rates for conjugacy classes of reciprocal words for triangle groups of the form G = Z2 ∗ H where H is finitely generated and does not contain an order 2 element. We explore cases where H is infinite cyclic and finite cyclic. The quotient O = H/G is an orbifold and contains a cone point of order 2, due to the first factor Z2 in the free product G. The reciprocal words in G correspond to geodesics on O which pass through the order 2 cone point on O. We use methods from …

An Accurate Solution Of The Self-Similar Orbit-Averaged Fokker-Planck Equation For Core-Collapsing Isotropic Globular Clusters: Properties And Application, Yuta Ito

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Hundreds of dense star clusters exist in almost all galaxies. Each cluster is composed of approximately ten thousand through ten million stars. The stars orbit in the clusters due to the clusters' self-gravity. Standard stellar dynamics expects that the clusters behave like collisionless self-gravitating systems on short time scales (~ million years) and the stars travel in smooth continuous orbits. Such clusters temporally settle to dynamically stable states or quasi-stationary states (QSS). Two fundamental QSS models are the isothermal- and polytropic- spheres since they have similar structures to the actual core (central part) and halo (outskirt) of the clusters. The …

Emulating Condensed Matter Systems In Classical Wave Metamaterials, Matthew Weiner

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

One of the best tools we have for the edification of physics is the analogy. When we take our classical set of states and dynamical variables in phase space and treat them as vectors and Hermitian operators respectively in Hilbert space through the canonical quantization, we lose out on a lot of the intuition developed with the previous classical physics. With classical physics, through our own experiences and understanding of how systems should behave, we create easy-to-understand analogies: we compare the Bohr model of the atom to the motion of the planets, we compare electrical circuits to the flow of …

An Empirical Study Of Refactorings And Technical Debt In Machine Learning Systems, Yiming Tang, Raffi Khatchadourian, Mehdi Bagherzadeh, Rhia Singh, Ajani Stewart, Anita Raja

Publications and Research

Machine Learning (ML), including Deep Learning (DL), systems, i.e., those with ML capabilities, are pervasive in today's data-driven society. Such systems are complex; they are comprised of ML models and many subsystems that support learning processes. As with other complex systems, ML systems are prone to classic technical debt issues, especially when such systems are long-lived, but they also exhibit debt specific to these systems. Unfortunately, there is a gap of knowledge in how ML systems actually evolve and are maintained. In this paper, we fill this gap by studying refactorings, i.e., source-to-source semantics-preserving program transformations, performed in real-world, open-source …

The Relationship Between Impact Energy And Glass Fracture Via .177 Caliber Steel Bbs, Jocenel Beach

Student Theses

Fractured glass is often found at shooting scenes and can provide useful information for crime scene reconstruction. Mechanical glass fracture from a projectile impact can result in different types of fracture patterns. The degree of fracture depends on several factors including: type of glass, the thickness of the glass, curvature (if any), distance from the muzzle, contact angle, and type of projectile. Correlating impact energy to the degree of glass fracture can provide useful information regarding the muzzle-to-target distance for a particular firearm/ammunition combination. This research focuses on the projectile impact velocity of .177 steel BBs shot from a pneumatic …

Environmental Engineering Senior Design I, Pamela Jb Clenance

Open Educational Resources

No abstract provided.

New Kid On The Blockchain: The Rise Of Cryptocurrency In The Global Arena: Humanitarian Usage With Blockchain, Rhonda S. Binda

Open Educational Resources

In 2018, the world was shaken by the fast rise of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies that use a decentralized, blockchain technology for payment transfers outside of the traditional banking system. The potential impact this alternative form of banking could have in the medium and long term on the over 2 billion people globally unbanked is tremendous. Additionally, blockchain itself is being used for value transfer combined with bio and genetic tagging technologies in refugee camps for example, bringing to rise a new era where technology for development is disrupting education, healthcare and security programs globally.

Brave New World: The Rise Of Cryptocurrency In The Global Arena: An Introduction To Cryptocurrency, Rhonda S. Binda

Open Educational Resources

The trifecta of globalization, urbanization and digitization have created new opportunities and challenges across our nation, cities, boroughs and urban centers. Cities are in a unique position at the center of commerce and technology becoming hubs for innovation and practical application of emerging technology. In this rapidly changing 24/7 digitized world, city governments worldwide are leveraging innovation and technology to become more effective, efficient, transparent and to be able to better plan for and anticipate the needs of its citizens, businesses and community organizations. This class will provide the framework for how cities and communities can become smarter and more …