Digital Commons Network^™

Origin Of Periclines In The Ozark Plateau, Missouri: A Field And Numerical Modeling, Chao Liu

Doctoral Dissertations

"A series upright sub-horizontal folds in sandstones of the early Ordovician Roubidoux Formation are exposed in road cuts along US Highway 63 in the northern part of the Salem Plateau of central Missouri for over a distance of approximately 10 km. These folds are in marked contrast to the more typical horizontal to sub-horizontal Ordovician strata of the Ozark Plateau. The origin of those folds remains enigmatic. The inspection of the characteristics of these folds using stereographic analysis revealed a non-cylindrical geometrical pattern than a near cylindrical fold. Structural data of 54 folds indicate an alternating basin and dome pattern. …

Decoding The History Of The Early Solar System Using Comet Volatile Compositions, Nathaniel Xavier Roth

Doctoral Dissertations

"Understanding the evolution of the solar system, as well as its current volatile content, requires knowledge of the initial conditions present in the solar nebula. As some of the first objects to accrete in the solar nebula, cometary nuclei are among the most primitive remnants of solar system formation, and their present-day volatile composition likely reflects the composition and conditions where (and when) they formed. As such, the volatile compositions of cometary nuclei may serve as 'fossils' of solar system formation. High-resolution near-infrared spectroscopy offers a valuable tool for sampling the primary volatile (i.e., ices subliming directly from the nucleus) …

Applications Of Machine Learning In Nuclear Imaging And Radiation Detection, Shaikat Mahmood Galib

Doctoral Dissertations

"The main focus of this work is to use machine learning and data mining techniques to address some challenging problems that arise from nuclear data. Specifically, two problem areas are discussed: nuclear imaging and radiation detection. The techniques to approach these problems are primarily based on a variant of Artificial Neural Network (ANN) called Convolutional Neural Network (CNN), which is one of the most popular forms of 'deep learning' technique.

The first problem is about interpreting and analyzing 3D medical radiation images automatically. A method is developed to identify and quantify deformable image registration (DIR) errors from lung CT scans …

Characterization Of A Green Electric Solid Propellant For Electric Propulsion, Matthew Scott Glascock

Doctoral Dissertations

"Electric solid propellants are advanced solid chemical rocket propellants that can be controlled (ignited, throttled and extinguished) through the application and removal of an electric current. These propellants are also being considered for use in ablative pulsed plasma thruster and multimode systems. In this work, the behavior and performance of a novel green electric solid propellant operating in an electrothermal ablation-fed pulsed plasma thruster was investigated. Using an inverted pendulum micro-Newton thrust stand, the impulse bit and specific impulse of the device using the electric solid propellant were measured for short-duration and long-duration runs to end-of-life, at energy levels of …

Accurate Monitoring Of X, Y, And Z Magnetization For Analysis Of Hardware And Pulse Sequence Performance In Nmr Spectroscopy, Emmalou Theresa Schmittzehe

Doctoral Dissertations

"A new nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) imaging protocol has been developed to independently record the x, y, and z components of the nuclear net magnetization at any point in a pulse sequence while eliminating the observation of the other components. This protocol provides an experimental method of tracking magnetization which then can be used in conjunction with theoretical models to scrutinize the predicted outcome of each step in an NMR pulse sequence and potentially find further improvements to their effectiveness and efficiency. The protocol utilizes a rapid rotating-frame imaging pulse-train technique to obtain RF-field (B₁) and resonance-offset (ΔB …

Fault Imaging Enhancement In Taranaki Basin, New Zealand And Rock Physics And Inversion Based Reservoir Characterization In The Central Gulf Coast Region Of Texas, Tianze Zhang

Doctoral Dissertations

"Fault imaging technique and reservoir characterization based on rock physics analysis and pre-stack inversion has been widely used hydrocarbon exploration. For the fault imaging technique, the ant tracking has been widely used in fault interpretation. However, the reliability of the results is highly dependent on appropriately choosing a signal processing method and volume attributes. In our study area, which lies in the southern Taranaki Basin, we applied Graphic Equalizer as the processing tool and the Chaos attribute before running the ant tracking algorithm. Results show that the procedure provides a better result and can map both the major and minor …

Designing Novel Multinary Transition Metal Selenides As High-Efficiency Oxygen Evolution Reaction Electrocatalysts And Investigating Surface Properties, Xi Cao

Doctoral Dissertations

”Water splitting has been widely considered to be an efficient way to generate sustainable and renewable energy resources in fuel cells, metal-air batteries and other energy conversion devices. Exploring efficient electrocatalysts to expedite the anodic oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is a crucial task that needs to be addressed to boost the practical application of water splitting. This research focuses on the identification of OER electrocatalysts by systematically designing non-stochiometric mixed transition metal-based selenide OER electrocatalysts through combinatorial electrodeposition and investigation of selenide-based naturally occurring minerals as effective OER electrocatalyst. Paper I describes the study of Ni-Fe-Co selenides as OER catalysts …

Numerical Modeling Study Of A Neutron Depth Profiling (Ndp) System For The Missouri S&T Reactor, Mubarak Mohammed Albarqi

Doctoral Dissertations

”For decades, Neutron Depth Profiling has been used for the non-destructive analysis and quantification of boron in electronic materials and lithium in lithium ion batteries. NDP is one of the few non-destructive analytical techniques capable of measuring the depth profiles of light elements to depths of several microns with nanometer spatial resolution. The technique, however, is applicable only to a handful of light elements with large neutron absorption cross sections. This work discusses the possibility of coupling Particle Induced X-ray Emission spectroscopy with Neutron Depth Profiling to yield additional information about the depth profiles of other elements within a material. …

Volumetric Error Compensation For Industrial Robots And Machine Tools, Le Ma

Doctoral Dissertations

“A more efficient and increasingly popular volumetric error compensation method for machine tools is to compute compensation tables in axis space with tool tip volumetric measurements. However, machine tools have high-order geometric errors and some workspace is not reachable by measurement devices, the compensation method suffers a curve-fitting challenge, overfitting measurements in measured space and losing accuracy around and out of the measured space. Paper I presents a novel method that aims to uniformly interpolate and extrapolate the compensation tables throughout the entire workspace. By using a uniform constraint to bound the tool tip error slopes, an optimal model with …

The Impact Of Artificial Intelligence On Higher Education, Yizhi Ma

Masters Theses

"A perfect storm is hitting higher education. Decreased funding from traditional funding sources, such as State Governments, and transformative changes caused by artificial intelligence (AI) will revolutionize higher education. Higher education needs to change and evolve quickly and continuously to prepare students for the upheavals in the job market caused by AI, machine learning, and automation.

As AI continues to make inroads into our world and our lives, its impact and effects can no longer be ignored. What kinds of organizational changes in higher education are necessary? How can higher education continue to prepare students for the AI evolution and …

Advanced Techniques For Improving Canonical Genetic Programming, Adam Tyler Harter

Masters Theses

"Genetic Programming (GP) is a type of Evolutionary Algorithm (EA) commonly employed for automated program generation and model identification. Despite this, GP, as most forms of EA's, is plagued by long evaluation times, and is thus generally reserved for highly complex problems. Two major impacting factors for the runtime are the heterogeneous evaluation time for the individuals and the choice of algorithmic primitives. The first paper in this thesis utilizes Asynchronous Parallel Evolutionary Algorithms (APEA) for reducing the runtime by eliminating the need to wait for an entire generation to be evaluated before continuing the search. APEA is applied to …

Geophysical Imaging Beneath Lake Chesterfield, Missouri, James Daniell Hayes

Masters Theses

"Lake Chesterfield in Wildwood, Missouri, has been leaking since construction of the earth-fill dam was completed in 1986, despite numerous mitigation efforts. The mitigation efforts, including the injection of grouting and the emplacement of clay liners, has not solve the leakage problem.

In the current study, geophysical (subsurface imaging) data was acquired across the drained and dry lake bed and along the base of the earth-fill dam to 1) map variable depth to top of bedrock, 2) determine the variable quality of the bedrock to depths on the order of 80 ft., 3) identify any significant karst features beneath the …

Theory Of Potential-Based Integral-Form A-Φ Formulation In Electromagnetic Applications, Qin S. Liu, Li (Lijun) Jun Jiang, Sheng Sun, Qi Dai, Weng Cho Chew

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Recent progress on the theory of potential-based A-φ formulationin the integral form and its electromagnetic applications are summarized and presented here. By using Lorenz gauge and solving the vector and scalar potential formulations in tandem, the A-φ formulationac-curately captures the correct physics of both electrostatics and magnetostatics. The wide-band stable, dense-discretization breakdown free and structure-independent solver provides an alternative solution to various electromagnetic scattering and circuital problems. Also, the A-φformulationis applied to solve the characteristic modes at low frequencies.

Orbital Angular Momentum Generation Using Composite Quasi-Continuous Metasurfaces With Perfect Efficiency, Menglin L.N. Chen, Li (Lijun) Jun Jiang

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

A composite perfect electric conductor (PEC)-perfect magnetic conductor (PMC) metasurface is proposed for orbital angular momentum (OAM) generation. Each scatterer on the metasurface consists of an anisotropic PEC layer and an isotropic PMC layer. Unlike conventional metasurfaces that composed of discrete scatterers, the scatterers on the proposed metasurface form a quasi-continuous pattern. Therefore, negative consequences of periodicity breaking from the patterned scatterers with varying sizes or orientations and their mutual coupling are avoided. We model the scatterer using Jones matrix. Its design is based on the features of PEC and PMC, which abandons complicated optimization process. The patterning of scatterers …

Electron Transfer Plus Double Ionization In Slow He2+ + Ar Collisions, Y. Gao, Michael Schulz, D. L. Guo, S. F. Zhang, X. L. Zhu, R. T. Zhang, W. T. Feng, D. M. Zhao, X. Ma

Physics Faculty Research & Creative Works

We performed a kinematically complete experiment on double ionization accompanied by single capture in 30 keV/amu He2⁺ + Ar collisions. The data were systematically analyzed using three different techniques, namely, fully differential cross sections as a function of the electron emission angle of each electron, the correlation function, and four-particle Dalitz plots. The data can to a large extent be explained within the independent electron model. However, the correlation function reveals small but significant effects from correlations in the initial target state. These correlations strongly depend on the interaction between the nuclei of the collision partners. Furthermore, a surprisingly …

Single-Crystal Investigation Of The Proposed Type-Ii Weyl Semimetal Cealge, Halyna Hodovanets, C. J. Eckberg, P. Y. Zavalij, Hyunsoo Kim, W. C. Lin, M. Zic, D. J. Campbell, J. S. Higgins, J. Paglione

Physics Faculty Research & Creative Works

We present details of materials synthesis, crystal structure, and anisotropic magnetic properties of single crystals of CeAlGe, a proposed type-II Weyl semimetal. Single-crystal x-ray diffraction confirms that CeAlGe forms in a noncentrosymmetric I4₁md space group, in line with predictions of nontrivial topology. Magnetization, specific heat, and electrical transport measurements were used to confirm antiferromagnetic order below 5 K, with an estimated magnon excitation gap of Δ = 9.11 K from heat capacity and hole-like carrier density of 1.4 x 10²⁰ cm^-3 from Hall effect measurements. The easy magnetic axis is along the [100] crystallographic direction, indicating …

Facial Expression Recognition By De-Expression Residue Learning, Huiyuan Yang, Umur Ciftci, Lijun Yin

Computer Science Faculty Research & Creative Works

A facial expression is a combination of an expressive component and a neutral component of a person. In this paper, we propose to recognize facial expressions by extracting information of the expressive component through a de-expression learning procedure, called De-expression Residue Learning (DeRL). First, a generative model is trained by cGAN. This model generates the corresponding neutral face image for any input face image. We call this procedure de-expression because the expressive information is filtered out by the generative model; however, the expressive information is still recorded in the intermediate layers. Given the neutral face image, unlike previous works using …

Almost Periodic Functions In Quantum Calculus, Martin Bohner, Jaqueline Godoy Mesquita

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Research & Creative Works

In this article, we introduce the concepts of Bochner and Bohr almost periodic functions in quantum calculus and show that both concepts are equivalent. Also, we present a correspondence between almost periodic functions defined in quantum calculus and N₀, proving several important properties for this class of functions. We investigate the existence of almost periodic solutions of linear and nonlinear q-difference equations. Finally, we provide some examples of almost periodic functions in quantum calculus.

A Wideband 2-D Fast Multipole Algorithm With A Novel Diagonalization Form, Ling Ling Meng, Mert Hidayetoǧlu, Tian Xia, Wei E.I. Sha, Li (Lijun) Jun Jiang, Weng Cho Chew

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

It is well known that Green's function can be expressed by multipole expansion, plane-wave expansion, and exponential expansion (spectral representation). These three expansions constitute of the foundations of the fast multipole algorithm (FMA). The plane-wave expansion has the low-frequency breakdown issue due to its failure in capturing the evanescent spectra, while the multipole expansion is inefficient at high frequencies. The spectral representation usually involves in direction-dependent issue. In this communication, the 2-D FMA is interpreted as Parseval's theorem in Fourier transform. To achieve a stable and accurate transition between the multipole expansion and the plane-wave expansion, a novel diagonalization in …

Applications Of Node-Based Resilience Graph Theoretic Framework To Clustering Autism Spectrum Disorders Phenotypes, John Matta, Junya Zhao, Gunes Ercal, Tayo Obafemi-Ajayi

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

With the growing ubiquity of data in network form, clustering in the context of a network, represented as a graph, has become increasingly important. Clustering is a very useful data exploratory machine learning tool that allows us to make better sense of heterogeneous data by grouping data with similar attributes based on some criteria. This paper investigates the application of a novel graph theoretic clustering method, Node-Based Resilience clustering (NBR-Clust), to address the heterogeneity of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and identify meaningful subgroups. The hypothesis is that analysis of these subgroups would reveal relevant biomarkers that would provide a better …

Experimental Study On The Influence Of Slickwater On Shale Permeability, Zhonghua Liu, Baojun Bai, Zheyu Zhang, Jing Tang, Shunpeng Zeng, Xiaogang Li

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

There are two diametrically opposite views of the influence of slickwater on shale permeability among scholars at home and abroad. We used the shale outcrops rock samples from the Lower Silurian Longmaxi Formation in Sichuan Basin. The permeability of these dry samples before and after immersion in different solution systems were tested by pulse attenuation method. The experimental results show that the impregnation of different slickwater components and standard salt solution can promote the increase of the permeability of shale samples. The stress sensitivity of shale samples after liquid immersion is medium weak to weak. The sample stress sensitivity is …

Bounding The Moment Deficit Rate On Crustal Faults Using Geodetic Data: Application To Southern California, Jeremy Maurer, Kaj Johnson, Paul Segall

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The interseismic moment deficit rate (MDR) constrains the potential for future moment release in earthquakes. Published estimates of the geodetic MDR in Southern California vary by a factor of 3 depending on the type of forward model, method of estimation, and data quality. It is our aim to determine to what degree these discrepancies may be explained by quantifying the uncertainty for a given class of forward models, accounting for data errors and limited model resolution. We apply a new method, the Constrained Optimization Bounding Estimator, to bound the MDR in Southern California using geodetic data and an elastic plate-block …

Receiver Function Investigations Of Seismic Anisotropy Layering Beneath Southern California, Fansheng Kong, Stephen S. Gao, Kelly H. Liu, Jianguo Song, Weiwei Ding, Yinxia Fang, Aiguo Ruan, Jiabiao Li

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Seismic azimuthal anisotropy characterized by shear wave splitting analyses using tele seismic XKS phases (including SKS, SKKS, and PKS) is widely employed to constrain the deformation field in the Earth's crust and mantle. Due to the near-vertical incidence of the XKS arrivals, the resulting splitting parameters (fast polarization orientations and splitting times) have an excellent horizontal but poor vertical resolution, resulting in considerable ambiguities in the geodynamic interpretation of the measurements. Here we use P-to-S converted phases from the Moho and the 410- (d410) and 660-km (d660) discontinuities to investigate anisotropy layering beneath Southern California. Similarities between the resulting splitting …

Prospects For Observing And Localizing Gravitational-Wave Transients With Advanced Ligo, Advanced Virgo And Kagra, Benjamin P. Abbott, Marco Cavaglia, For Full List Of Authors, See Publisher's Website.

Physics Faculty Research & Creative Works

We present possible observing scenarios for the Advanced LIGO, Advanced Virgo and KAGRA gravitational-wave detectors over the next decade, with the intention of providing information to the astronomy community to facilitate planning for multi-messenger astronomy with gravitational waves. We estimate the sensitivity of the network to transient gravitational-wave signals, and study the capability of the network to determine the sky location of the source. We report our findings for gravitational-wave transients, with particular focus on gravitational-wave signals from the inspiral of binary neutron star systems, which are the most promising targets for multi-messenger astronomy. The ability to localize the sources …

Search For Subsolar-Mass Ultracompact Binaries In Advanced Ligo's First Observing Run, B. P. Abbott, Marco Cavaglia, For Full List Of Authors, See Publisher's Website.

Physics Faculty Research & Creative Works

We present the first Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo search for ultracompact binary systems with component masses between 0.2 M_⊙-1.0 M_⊙ using data taken between September 12, 2015 and January 19, 2016. We find no viable gravitational wave candidates. Our null result constrains the coalescence rate of monochromatic (delta function) distributions of nonspinning (0.2 M_⊙, 0.2 M_⊙) ultracompact binaries to be less than 1.0 x 10⁶ Gpc^-3 yr^-1 and the coalescence rate of a similar distribution of (1.0 M_⊙, 1.0 M_⊙) ultracompact binaries to be less …

Author Correction: Femtosecond Laser Mass Spectrometry And High Harmonic Spectroscopy Of Xylene Isomers (Scientific Reports (2018) Doi: 10.1038/S41598-018-22055-9), Abdullah Alharbi, Andrewy E. Boguslavskiy, Dane Austin, Nicolas Thire, D. Wood, P. Hawkins, Felicity Mcgrath, A. S. Johnson, I. Lopez-Quintas, Bruno Schmidt, Francois Legare, J. P. Marangos, Anh-Thu Le, Ravi Bhardwaj

Physics Faculty Research & Creative Works

The original version of this Article contained a typographical error in the spelling of the author Nicolas Thiré, which was incorrectly given as Nicholas Thiré. Nicolas Thiré was also incorrectly affiliated with 'Instituto de Química Física Rocasolano, IQFR-CSIC, Serrano 119, 28006, Madrid, Spain'. The correct affiliation is listed below.

INRS-EMT, Advanced Laser Light Source, 1650 Lionel-Boulet Bvd, Varennes, J3X1S2, Canada.

This has now been corrected in the PDF and HTML versions of the Article and in the accompanying Supplementary Information file.

Data-Enabled Computational Multiscale Method In Materials Science And Engineering, Shaoping Xiao, Amaury Lendasse, Renjie Hu

Engineering Management and Systems Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

In the Community of Computational Materials Science, One of the Challenges in Hierarchical Multiscale Modeling is Information-Passing from One Scale to Another, especially from the Molecular Model to the Continuum Model. a Machine-Learning-Enhanced Approach, Proposed in This Paper, Provides an Alternative Solution. in the Developed Hierarchical Multiscale Method, Molecular Dynamics Simulations in the Molecular Model Are Conducted First to Generate Datasets, Which Represents Physical Phenomena at the Nanoscale. the Datasets Are Then Used to Train Neural Networks for Failure Classification and Stress Regressions. Finally, the Well-Trained Learning Machines Are Implemented in the Continuum Model to Study the Mechanical Behaviors of …

Application Of A Hygroscopicity Tandem Differential Mobility Analyzer For Characterizing Pm Emissions In Exhaust Plumes From An Aircraft Engine Burning Conventional And Alternative Fuels, Max B. Trueblood, Prem Lobo, Donald E. Hagen, Steven C. Achterberg, Wenyan Liu, Philip D. Whitefield

Chemistry Faculty Research & Creative Works

In the last several decades, significant efforts have been directed toward better understanding the gaseous and particulate matter (PM) emissions from aircraft gas turbine engines. However, limited information is available on the hygroscopic properties of aircraft engine PM emissions which play an important role in the water absorption, airborne lifetime, obscuring effect, and detrimental health effects of these particles. This paper reports the description and detailed labbased performance evaluation of a robust hygroscopicity tandem differential mobility analyzer (HTDMA) in terms of hygroscopic properties such as growth factor (GF) and the hygroscopicity parameter (κ). The HTDMA system was subsequently deployed during …

Capillary-Tube Package Devices For The Quantitative Performance Evaluation Of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectrometers And Pulse Sequences, Lingyu Chi, Ming Huang, Annalise R. Pfaff, Jie Huang, Rex E. Gerald Ii, Klaus Woelk

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

With the increased sensitivity of modern nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrometers, the minimum amount needed for chemical-shift referencing of NMR spectra has decreased to a point where a few microliters can be sufficient to observe a reference signal. The reduction in the amount of required reference material is the basis for the NMR Capillary-tube Package (CapPack) platform that utilizes capillary tubes with inner diameters smaller than 150 µm as NMR-tube inserts for external reference standards. It is shown how commercially available electrophoresis capillary tubes with outer diameters of 360 µm are filled with reference liquids or solutions and then permanently …

Exploring Best Lossy Compression Strategy By Combining Sz With Spatiotemporal Decimation, Xin Liang, Sheng Di, Sihuan Li, Dingwen Tao, Zizhong Chen, Franck Cappello

Computer Science Faculty Research & Creative Works

In today’s extreme-scale scientific simulations, vast volumes of data are being produced such that the data cannot be accommodated by the parallel file system or the data writing/ reading performance will be fairly low because of limited I/O bandwidth. In the past decade, many snapshot-based (or space-based) lossy compressors have been developed, most of which rely on the smoothness of the data in space. However, the simulation data may get more and more complicated in space over time steps, such that the compression ratios decrease significantly. In this paper, we propose a novel, hybrid lossy compression method by leveraging spatiotemporal …