Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

The Emotions Of Science: Using Social Media To Gauge Public Emotions Toward Research Topics, Cole C. Freeman

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Online and in the real world, communities are bonded together by emotional consensus around core issues. Emotional responses to scientific findings often play a pivotal role in these core issues. When there is too much diversity of opinion on topics of science, emotions flare up and give rise to conflict. This conflict threatens positive outcomes for research. Emotions have the power to shape how people process new information. They can color the public's understanding of science, motivate policy positions, even change lives. And yet little work has been done to evaluate the public's emotional response to science using quantitative methods. …

Optimizing Cluster Sets For The Scan Statistic Using Local Search, James Shulgan

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

In recent years, scattering sensors to produce wireless sensor networks (WSN) has been proposed for detecting localized events in large areas. Because sensor measurements are noisy, the WSN needs to use statistical methods such as the scan statistic. The scan statistic groups measurements into various clusters, computes a cluster statistic for each cluster, and decides that an event has happened if any of the statistics exceeds a threshold. Previous researchers have investigated the performance of the scan statistic to detect events; however, little attention was given to the optimization of which clusters the scan statistic should use. Using the scan …

A Computational Study Of Binary Linear And Quadratic Programming And Solvers, William Cody Mackelfresh

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

In this thesis we study and compare computational capability of two solvers, Gurobi and BiqCrunch, and their capabilities to solve various binary quadratic and linear programming problems. We review two types of programming models for three types of combinatorial optimization problems, namely Max-Cut, Max Independent Set, and Max-$k$-Cluster. We also review the Reformulation-Linearization Technique (RLT) and Semidefinite Programming (SDP) approaches for solving these models, go over the software and hardware used to solve these problems, and finally review the numerical results obtained by solving the problems.

Real-Time Traffic Sign Detection And Classification Based On A Video Feed, Victor Ciuntu

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Autonomous vehicle development is currently progressing at a very fast pace and traffic sign detection and classification has an important role in it. This thesis looks at the history of autonomous vehicles as well as different implementations for traffic sign detection and classification. Multiple possible approaches are analyzed with the final goal of doing this task in real-time using a portable system.

To accomplish this task, the final solution uses a convolutional neural network for detection and classification combined with a custom optical character recognition algorithm for speed limit signs. The optical character recognition algorithm is built from the ground …

An Automated Method For Detecting Water Levels Using Computer Vision And Artificial Intelligence, Priyanjani Chowdary Chandra

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Flooding is one of the most dangerous weather events today. Between 2015-2019, on average, it has caused more than 130 deaths every year in the USA alone. World Health Organization has reported that, between 1998-2017, floods have affected more than 2 billion people worldwide. The devastating nature of flood necessitates the continuous monitoring of water level in the rivers and streams in flood-prone areas to detect the incoming flood. In this thesis, we have designed and implemented a computer vision and AI-based system that continuously detect the water level in the creek. Our solution employs an effective template matching algorithm …

Environmental Discriminators For Significant Tornadoes And Hail In The U.S. Using Proximity Soundings, Cody Michael Converse

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Over the last 50 years, the United States has experienced an increase in severe storm events that produced $1 billion in damages or greater. Much of this loss is attributed to significant tornadoes and hail associated with deep, moist convection. Improving forecasts for these significant events assist in mitigating the impacts of these events. Previous work has identified statistically significant environmental parameters associated with severe thunderstorms, but more research is needed in identifying statistically significant ingredients associated with environments that produce significant tornadoes and hail.

This thesis aims to answer the following question: “Can diagnostics commonly used to forecast for …

Examination Of Practices Used By Ap Computer Science Teachers With Higher Than Average Female Enrollment, Derek J. Miller

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation examines the practices employed by AP Computer Science A teachers that can help recruit and retain female students in computer science. A survey was sent to teachers to see what practices they used in their classrooms and what practices they thought had the biggest influence on female student recruitment and retention. Of the five practice categories (recruitment, pedagogical, curricular, extracurricular, and mentoring), the survey respondents thought recruitment was the most influential and curricular was the least influential. After the survey, 12 teachers were chosen for interviews because they had a higher enrollment of female students than the rest …

Development Of Machine Learning Models To Predict The Online Impact Of Research, Mohammed Murtuza Shahzad Syed

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Scientific research is being increasingly shared online in a way such that there is a need to develop methodologies to measure the impact of specific papers in ways that go beyond traditional indicators of scholarly citations and beyond the scholarly community. In this thesis, new machine learning models are developed to measure and predict the impact ofresearch in the online context. The extent to which research papers are mentioned on social media platforms, i.e., their online sustainability, indicates the public's interest in and perhaps even the level of understanding of scientific topics. A research paper having a long lifespan, i.e., …

Cnn-Based Speed Detection Algorithm For Walking And Running Using Wrist-Worn Wearable Sensors, Venkata Devesh Reddy Seethi

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

In recent years, there have been a surge in ubiquitous technologies such as smartwatches and fitness trackers that can track human physical activities effortlessly. These devices have enabled common citizens to track their physical fitness and encourage them to lead a healthy lifestyle. Among various exercises, walking and running are the most common activities people do in everyday life, either through commute, exercise, or by doing household chores. While performing these activities, the speed at which a person walks and runs is an essential factor to determine the intensity of activity. Therefore, it is important to measure walking/running speed to …