Digital Commons Network^™

On The Topology Of The Noosphere, Julie A. Yusupova

Journal of Conscious Evolution

As a young child I had a certain set of dreams, the enigma of which remained mysteriously hovering in my memories to this day. In one of these earliest dreams of my life, I am playing hide-and-seek with my friends, but am observing myself from an external third-person perspective, just as all my dreams had regularly been until then. I remember that the next morning, my waking conscious mind had noticed this split between self and observer and judged it unusual, and so in the following night’s dream, I somehow willed my observer self to merge into the body of …

Development And Characterization Of Lead & Lead-Free Perovskite Solar Cell Materials, Rubaiya Murshed

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

In recent years, perovskite photovoltaic technology has offered enormous viability and dimensionality in solar cell research. As a light-harvesting active layer, Perovskite generated remarkable development in device efficiency of 25.7% for the single-junction solar cell, and over 33% for the perovskite/silicon tandem solar cell. Also, perovskite-perovskite tandem solar cell (also called all-perovskite tandem solar cell) shows great potential in device performance and achieved a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 26.4%. Transitioning photovoltaic technology from the laboratory to commercial products, high PCE, low cost, long lifetime, and low toxicity are some of the critical factors to consider during material selection. Pb-halide …

Development Of A Metapgs For Accurate Prediction Of Osteoporotic Fracture, Xiangxue Xiao

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Introduction: Early identification of individuals at high-risk for osteoporotic fractures who may benefit from preventive intervention is essential. However, the predictive accuracy of the currently used fracture risk assessment tool remains suboptimal. The first aim of this research is to construct genome-wide polygenic scores for the femoral neck (PGS_FNBMD_idpred) and total body BMD (PGS_TBBMD_idpred) and to estimate their potential in identifying individuals with a high risk of osteoporotic fractures. The second aim is to validate the predictive performance of two previously established PGSs (PGS_FNBMD_idpred and PGS_TBBMD_idpred) in an external cohort …

Generative Pre-Trained Transformers (Gpt) And Space Health: A Potential Frontier In Astronaut Health During Exploration Missions, Ethan Waisberg, Joshua Ong, Mouayad Masalkhi, Nasif Zaman, Sharif Amit Kamran, Prithul Sarker, Andrew G Lee, Alireza Tavakkoli

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

In anticipation of space exploration where astronauts are traveling away from Earth, and for longer durations with an increasing communication lag, artificial intelligence (AI) frameworks such as large language learning models (LLMs) that can be trained on Earth can provide real-time answers. This emerging technology may be helpful for acute medical emergencies, particularly in austere and distant space environments. In this manuscript, we provide an overview of generative pre-trained transformer (GPT) technology, a rapidly emerging AI technology, and implications, considerations, and limitations of such technology for space health.

Collaborative Development Of Utah's Outdoor Recreation Strategic Plan: Process And Findings From 14 Regional Workshops, Jordan W. Smith, Jake Powell, Casey Trout, Nate Trauntvein, Rachel Hall, Wayne Freimund

Environment and Society Faculty Publications

Outdoor recreation within Utah is managed and provided through a patchwork of federal and state agencies as well as county and municipal governments. Each of these entities manages outdoor recreation following different mandates and internal objectives. Rarely has there been an opportunity for representatives from federal, state, county, and local governments to sit down, discuss the long-standing and emerging challenges they face, and collectively develop ideas about how to work towards less-disparate and more aligned outdoor recreation management systems. In late 2022 and early 2023, we convened hundreds of land managers, outdoor recreation and tourism professionals, and elected officials across …

Concentration Theorems For Orthonormal Sequences In A Reproducing Kernel Hilbert Space, Travis Alvarez

All Dissertations

Let H be a reproducing kernel Hilbert space with reproducing kernel elements {Kx} indexed by a measure space {X,mu}. If H can be embedded in L2(X,mu), then H can be viewed as a framed Hilbert space. We study concentration of orthonormal sequences in such reproducing kernel Hilbert spaces.

Defining different versions of concentration, we find quantitative upper bounds on the number of orthonormal functions that can be classified by such concentrations. Examples are shown to prove sharpness of the bounds. In the cases that we can add "concentrated" orthonormal vectors indefinitely, the growth rate of doing so is shown.

Multiscale Modeling And Gaussian Process Regression For Applications In Composite Materials, Joshua Arp

All Dissertations

An ongoing challenge in advanced materials design is the development of accurate multiscale models that consider uncertainty while establishing a link between knowledge or information about constituent materials to overall composite properties. Successful models can accurately predict composite properties, reducing the high financial and labor costs associated with experimental determination and accelerating material innovation. Whereas early pioneers in micromechanics developed simplistic theoretical models to map these relationships, modern advances in computer technology have enabled detailed simulators capable of accurately predicting complex and multiscale phenomena.

This work advances domain knowledge via two means: firstly, through the development of high-fidelity, physics-based finite …

Trust-Based Runtime Verification Of Autonomous Robotic Systems, Maziar Fooladi Mahani

All Dissertations

 Trust plays a crucial role in enabling effective collaboration and decision-making within human-multi-robot teams. In this context, runtime verification techniques and trust inference models have emerged as valuable tools for assessing and quantifying the trustworthiness of individual robots. This dissertation presents a study on trust-based runtime verification and introduces a Bayesian trust inference model for human-multi-robot teams. Firstly, we discuss the concept of runtime verification, which involves monitoring and analyzing the behavior of robots during their operation. We highlight the importance of trust as a key factor in determining the reliability and credibility of robot actions. By integrating trust metrics …

Algebraic And Integral Closure Of A Polynomial Ring In Its Power Series Ring, Joseph Swanson

All Dissertations

Let R be a domain. We look at the algebraic and integral closure of a polynomial ring, R[x], in its power series ring, R[[x]]. A power series α(x) ∈ R[[x]] is said to be an algebraic power series if there exists F (x, y) ∈ R[x][y] such that F (x, α(x)) = 0, where F (x, y) ̸ = 0. If F (x, y) is monic, then α(x) is said to be an integral power series. We characterize the units of algebraic and integral power series. We show that the only algebraic power series with infinite radii of convergence are …

Zeros Of Modular Forms, Daozhou Zhu

All Dissertations

Let $E_k(z)$ be the normalized Eisenstein series of weight $k$ for the full modular group $\text{SL}(2, \mathbb{Z})$. It is conjectured that all the zeros of the weight $k+\ell$ cusp form $E_k(z)E_\ell(z)-E_{k+\ell}(z)$ in the standard fundamental domain lie on the boundary. Reitzes, Vulakh and Young \cite{Reitzes17} proved that this statement is true for sufficiently large $k$ and $\ell$. Xue and Zhu \cite{Xue} proved the cases when $\ell=4,6,8$ with $k\geq\ell$, all the zeros of $E_k(z)E_\ell(z)-E_{k+\ell}(z)$ lie on the arc $|z|=1$. For all $k\geq\ell\geq10$, we will use the same method as \cite{Reitzes17} to locate these zeros on the arc $|z|=1$, and improve the …

Nonlinear Charge And Spin Currents In Non-Centrosymmetric Electron Systems, Aniruddha Pan

All Dissertations

In this thesis, we discuss the existence of spin and charge currents in systems with broken spin inversion symmetry proportional to the magnitude square of the driving electric and thermal fields. This outcome is predicated on symmetry considerations in the momentum space, whereby the product between the current operator and the out-of-equilibrium distribution function has to be even.

First, we derive the second-order correction to the particle distribution function $\delta f^{(2)}$ in a semi-classical approximation, considering the local change in the equilibrium distribution function caused by external fields. Our approach departs significantly from the previous theory where $\delta f^{(2)}$ is …

Improved Vehicle-Bridge Interaction Modeling And Automation Of Bridge System Identification Techniques, Omar Abuodeh

All Dissertations

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) recognizes the necessity for cost-effective and practical system identification (SI) techniques within structural health monitoring (SHM) frameworks for asset management applications. Indirect health monitoring (IHM), a promising SHM approach, utilizes accelerometer-equipped vehicles to measure bridge modal properties (e.g., natural frequencies, damping ratios, mode shapes) through bridge vibration data to assess the bridge's condition. However, engineers and researchers often encounter noise from road roughness, environmental factors, and vehicular components in collected vehicle signals. This noise contaminates the vehicle signal with spurious modes corresponding to stochastic frequencies, impacting damage monitoring assessments. Thus, an efficient and reliable SI …

Electron-Transfer Mediated Photo-Switching In Nanoparticles, Liaoran Cao

All Dissertations

Previous publications from our lab demonstrated viable approaches to design a photo-switching nanoparticle with arguably superior brightness and photostability resulting in an improved resolution in localization-based microscopy, as compared to other photo-switching dyes or particles. As a follow-up, this dissertation is focused on two major tasks: first, developing nanoparticles with better photo-switching properties for super-resolution imaging; second, trying to achieve a better physical picture of the mechanisms involved in photo-switching, including polaron dynamics, charge transfer, and energy transfer. A new class of photo-switchable nanoparticles was developed by blending conjugated polymer semiconductor with fullerene-based electron acceptors, and further blending with polystyrene …

Expansion Of The Diazacyclobutene Motif For Antiparasitic Evaluation, Brock Alexander Miller

All Dissertations

Molecules containing N-heterocycles are prevalent in pharmaceutical settings. The ability to generate highly functionalized molecules containing N-heterocycles in very few synthetic operations is valuable for drug discovery. Our group has developed a two-step synthesis to access a rarely studied diazacyclobutene scaffold via a formal [2+2] cycloaddition between 4-phenyl-1,2,4-triazolinedione and electron-rich thioalkynes. Our interest in this scaffold increased exponentially from promising preliminary biological evaluations against a protozoan parasite, Trypanosoma brucei. While we were able to double the number of historical examples of this scaffold, there were significant limitations in our methodology. The most notable limitations were the lack …

Examining The Influence Of The Classroom Environment On Motivation, Belonging, And Academic Confidence In Engineering Education: A Relational Developmental Systems Approach, Robert O'Hara

All Dissertations

This dissertation explores the impact of the classroom environment on undergraduate engineering students by integrating three manuscripts using the process-person-context-time (PPCT) model within Bioecological Systems Theory. Each manuscript focused on students’ sense of belonging, motivation, and academic confidence. The study confirms prior research suggesting a link between students' perceptions of the environment and their sense of belonging, motivation, and academic confidence. The findings highlight the complex nature of student and classroom environment relationships throughout their college experience. Moreover, the results are demonstrated across different engineering majors. Overall, this dissertation highlights the significance of understanding the complex interactions between students and …

Modeling And Solution Methodologies For Mixed-Model Sequencing In Automobile Industry, Ibrahim Ozan Yilmazlar

All Dissertations

The global competitive environment leads companies to consider how to produce high-quality products at a lower cost. Mixed-model assembly lines are often designed such that average station work satisfies the time allocated to each station, but some models with work-intensive options require more than the allocated time. Sequencing varying models in a mixed-model assembly line, mixed-model sequencing (MMS), is a short-term decision problem that has the objective of preventing line stoppage resulting from a station work overload. Accordingly, a good allocation of models is necessary to avoid work overload. The car sequencing problem (CSP) is a specific version of the …

Motion Synthesis And Control For Autonomous Agents Using Generative Models And Reinforcement Learning, Pei Xu

All Dissertations

Imitating and predicting human motions have wide applications in both graphics and robotics, from developing realistic models of human movement and behavior in immersive virtual worlds and games to improving autonomous navigation for service agents deployed in the real world. Traditional approaches for motion imitation and prediction typically rely on pre-defined rules to model agent behaviors or use reinforcement learning with manually designed reward functions. Despite impressive results, such approaches cannot effectively capture the diversity of motor behaviors and the decision making capabilities of human beings. Furthermore, manually designing a model or reward function to explicitly describe human motion characteristics …

Essays On Integer Programming Approaches To Analyze Equilibrium Solutions In Games, Lucky Cho

All Dissertations

In this dissertation, we present three applications of integer programming to analyze non-cooperative games. In a non-cooperative game, players of the game act selfishly and choose the best response given every other player's decision. The game reaches a Nash equilibrium when no player can benefit by changing its decisions. Our goal is to create an integer program that can identify these Nash equilibriums by modeling the best response of the game's players in the constraints. We prove a one-to-one correspondence between the game's Nash equilibrium and the feasible solution of a corresponding integer program. The one-to-one correspondence allows us to …

Atom Economical Reactions Of Terpenoids And Post-Consumer Plastics With Sulfur, Charini Maladeniya

All Dissertations

The production of Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) and its uses have a complicated environmental impact, which is influenced by infrastructure development and building operations as well as CO₂ emissions, which account for 7% of all worldwide CO₂ emissions. Due to the increasing population, production is still ongoing. The search for cement and construction materials produced with zero to low CO₂ emissions is therefore continuous. Finding recyclable, CO₂ gas-free biocomposites with high sulfur content that can rival the mechanical properties of popular building supplies like Portland cement is the primary objective of the research discussed in this …

Teaching Them To Fish: Using A Districtwide System Of Supports To Improve College And Career Readiness In A Rural School District, Lavonia Johnson-Davis

All Dissertations

This dissertation served as a case study that examined the impact of a districtwide system of support drawn from existing literature and organizational structure and management. The identified framework, the Limelight County College and Career Readiness Intervention (LCRI) Framework, utilized the Plan, Do, Study, Act (PDSA) cycle of improvement science. Three reoccurring themes or focus areas were identified as significant: curriculum instructional framework redesign, comprehensive guidance, and professional development.

While the study's findings are constrained by the density of the data gathered within a limited time frame, the findings provide many opportunities for longitudinal studies and confirm the integrity of …

Recovering Coefficients Of Second-Order Hyperbolic And Plate Equations Via Finite Measurements On The Boundary, Scott Randall Scruggs

All Dissertations

Abstract In this dissertation, we consider the inverse problem for a second-order hyperbolic equation of recovering n + 3 unknown coefficients defined on an open bounded domain with a smooth enough boundary. We also consider the inverse problem of recovering an unknown coefficient on the Euler- Bernoulli plate equation on a lower-order term again defined on an open bounded domain with a smooth enough boundary. For the second-order hyperbolic equation, we show that we can uniquely and (Lipschitz) stably recover all these coefficients from only using half of the corresponding boundary measurements of their solutions, and for the plate equation, …

Accurate Orientation Control Of Tendon Driven Continuum Robots That Exhibit Elasticity, Manu Srivastava

All Dissertations

This dissertation makes new contributions to the modeling and implementation of Tendon Driven Continuum Robots (TDCRs). Specifically, motivated by 3D printing of concrete using a continuum hose robot in construction applications, we focus on TDCRs featuring compliance in the robot backbone and actuating tendons, e.g. surgical robots/endoscopes/catheters with tendon actuation. We expand previous mechanics-based models to show how and why such compliance significantly restricts performance when traditional kinematics-based planning and control techniques are applied.

The main contribution of this work is a new Elasticity Compensation(EC) model that explains why the ad hoc approach of preloading/pretensioning the tendons compensates for compliance …

Acceleration Methods For Nonlinear Solvers And Application To Fluid Flow Simulations, Duygu Vargun

All Dissertations

This thesis studies nonlinear iterative solvers for the simulation of Newtonian and non- Newtonian fluid models with two different approaches: Anderson acceleration (AA), an extrapolation technique that accelerates the convergence rate and improves the robustness of fixed-point iterations schemes, and continuous data assimilation (CDA) which drives the approximate solution towards coarse data measurements or observables by adding a penalty term.

We analyze the properties of nonlinear solvers to apply the AA technique. We consider the Picard iteration for the Bingham equation which models the motion of viscoplastic materials, and the classical iterated penalty Picard and Arrow-Hurwicz iterations for the incompressible …

The Influence Of Allostery Governing The Changes In Protein Dynamics Upon Substitution, Joseph Hess

All Dissertations

The focus of this research is to investigate the effects of allostery on the function/activity of an enzyme, human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) protease, using well-defined statistical analyses of the dynamic changes of the protein and variants with unique single point substitutions ¹. The experimental data¹ evaluated here only characterized HIV-1 protease with one of its potential target substrates. Probing the dynamic interactions of the residues of an enzyme and its variants can offer insight of the developmental importance for allosteric signaling and their connection to a protein’s function. The realignment of the secondary structure elements can …

On Phishing: Proposing A Host-Based Multi-Layer Passive/Active Anti-Phishing Approach Combating Counterfeit Websites, Wesam Harbi Fadheel

Dissertations

Phishing is the starting point of most cyberattacks, mainly categorized as Email, Websites, Social Networks, Phone calls (Vishing), and SMS messaging (Smishing). Phishing refers to an attempt to collect sensitive data, typically in the form of usernames, passwords, credit card numbers, bank account information, etc., or other crucial facts, intending to use or sell the information obtained. Similar to how a fisherman uses bait to catch a fish, an attacker will pose as a trustworthy source to attract and deceive the victim.

This study explores the efficacy of host-side APT (Anti-Phishing Techniques) based onWebsite features like Lexical, Host-Based, or Content-Based …

Insights Into The Characteristics Of Outdoor Recreationists In Utah From A Statewide Survey, Jordan W. Smith, Nate Trauntvein, Casey Trout

Environment and Society Faculty Publications

Understanding the characteristics and preferences of outdoor recreationists in Utah can inform the administrative, funding, and management decisions of the many entities who provide outdoor recreation opportunities within the state. There is currently a lack of data on characteristics, preferences, and opinions of the state’s outdoor recreating public. As one component of the analysis supporting the development of the state’s outdoor recreation strategic plan, we launched a short online survey to begin to address this need. The survey was administered in spring of 2023 to an online panel of individuals who indicated that they are current residents of Utah and …

An Application Of The Banzhaf Values For Cooperating Among Producers Of Waste Processing In The Al-Mahmudiya Factory, Huda Hadi, Jabbar Abbas

Baghdad Science Journal

The game theory has been applied to all situations where agents’ (people or companies) actions are utility-maximizing, and the collaborative offshoot of game theory has proven to be a robust tool for creating effective collaboration strategies in a broad range of applications. In this paper first, we employ the Banzhaf values to show the potential cost to waste producers in the case of a cooperation and to reduce the overall costs of processing non-recyclable waste during cooperation between producers. Secondly, we propose an application of the methodology to study a case for five waste producers' waste management in the Al-Mahmudiya …

Total Global Dominator Coloring Of Trees And Unicyclic Graphs, Chithra K. P., Joseph Mayamma

Baghdad Science Journal

A total global dominator coloring of a graph is a proper vertex coloring of with respect to which every vertex in dominates a color class, not containing and does not dominate another color class. The minimum number of colors required in such a coloring of is called the total global dominator chromatic number, denoted by . In this paper, the total global dominator chromatic number of trees and unicyclic graphs are explored.

A Statistical Study Of The Amount Of Radiation Generated From Communication Towers In The Nineveh Plain Region, Baghdeda, Ilham M. Yacoob, Rajaa A. Basheer, Raed Sabeeh Karyakos, Malik H. Kheder

Baghdad Science Journal

This research presents a statistical study of radiation generated from communication towers in the Nineveh Plain region Baghdeda. The intensity of radiation energy was measured at 10 meters away from the communication tower in different locations, using a (1PC XH-901 Dosimeter/ Personal Dose Alarm / Radiation Detector, dosage rate: 0.01 μSv/h to 150μSv/h) to measure the amount of radiation at various times. Energy densities were measured and compared with standard limits provided by other authorities, such as the International Committee for Radiation Protection. Results were analyzed using SPSS version 26 to implement the data. The results show that the means …

The Classical Continuous Optimal Control For Quaternary Nonlinear Parabolic Boundary Value Problems, Jamil A. Ali Al-Hawasy, Wissam A. Abdul-Hussien Al-Anbaki

Baghdad Science Journal

In this paper, our purpose is to study the classical continuous optimal control (CCOC) for quaternary nonlinear parabolic boundary value problems (QNLPBVPs). The existence and uniqueness theorem (EUTh) for the quaternary state vector solution (QSVS) of the weak form (WF) for the QNLPBVPs with a given quaternary classical continuous control vector (QCCCV) is stated and proved via the Galerkin Method (GM) and the first compactness theorem under suitable assumptions(ASSUMS). Furthermore, the continuity operator for the existence theorem of a QCCCV dominated by the QNLPBVPs is stated and proved under suitable conditions.