Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Detection, Containment And Scaling Relations Of Near Source Explosionsin Granite Through Moment Tensor Representations, Mason Macphail

Earth Sciences Theses and Dissertations

The Source Phenomenology Experiment (SPE) was a series of nine, single-fired chemical explosions within the Morenci Copper mine in Arizona. Its purpose was to design, detonate, record and analyze seismic waveforms from these single-fired, partially and fully contained explosions. Ground motion data from the SPE are analyzed in this study to assess the uniqueness of the source representation of these explosions and its ability to resolve yield and depth when containment and geology or physical parameters of the source region may have a range of possible values. The P-wave velocities (V_p) at the test site are well constrained …

An Analysis Of Mixed-Layer Clay Minerals And Major Element Geochemical Trends In Middle-Upper Pennsylvanian-Aged Paleosols As A Proxy For Characterizing Basin-Wide Diagenetic Patterns And The Paleoenvironment Of The Illinois Basin, U.S.A., Julia A. Mcintosh

Earth Sciences Theses and Dissertations

Pennsylvanian-aged paleosols from four Illinois Basin (IB) cores were sampled to characterize clay mineralogy, paleosol morphology, and major element geochemistry. This data combined with X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray fluorescence (XRF) data from two other stratigraphically equivalent cores were used to better understand basin-wide diagenetic patterns. Paleosols unimpacted by diagenesis are considered reliable proxies for continued geochemical analyses and paleoclimate interpretations of middle to late Pennsylvanian (Desmoinesian-Missourian) low-latitude environments.

Reichweite Ordering, as determined from XRD analysis ofprofiles, indicates that diagenesis impacted the deep interior of the basin and the southern portion of the basin. Further investigation of illitization mechanisms derived …

Optical Micro-Seismometer Based On Evanescent Field Perturbation Of Whispering Gallery Modes, Jaime Da Silva

Mechanical Engineering Research Theses and Dissertations

This thesis proposes a light-weight, compact, and accurate optical micro-seismometer that could be used in many applications, such as planetary exploration. The sensor proposed here is based on the principle of whispering gallery optical mode (WGM) resonance shifts of a dielectric micro-resonator due to disturbances of its evanescent field. The micro-seismometer could be used in place of the traditional bulky seismometers. The design of a waveguide-resonator and mechanical structure to disturb the evanescent field are presented. A proof-of-concept a seismometer model that uses a 5µm ring resonator is numerically tested with actual seismic data. The results show that a WGM-based …

Black Networks In Smart Cities, Shaibal Chakrabarty

Computer Science and Engineering Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation, we present the Black Networks solution to protect both the data and the metadata for mobile ad-hoc Internet of Things (IoT) networks in Smart Cities. IoT networks are gaining popularity with billions of deployed nodes, and increasingly carrying mission-critical data, whose compromise can lead to catastrophic consequences. IoT nodes are resource-constrained and often exist within insecure environments, making them vulnerable to a broad range of active and passive attacks. Black IoT networks are designed to mitigate multiple communication-based attacks by encrypting the data and the metadata, within a communication frame or packet, while remaining compatible with the …

An Early Late Cretaceous Nodosaur From The Marine Eagle Ford Group Of North Central Texas, A Test Of The Endothermy In The Mosasaurs From The Late Cretaceous Of Angola, And The Ontogeny Of A New Pipid Frog From The Miocene Of Ethiopia, Matt Clemens

Earth Sciences Theses and Dissertations

The first two chapters of this dissertation detail the study of the newly recovered Holland Farm nodosaur (SMU 77100) from the Eagle Ford Group (95.29 ± 0.04 MA) of Mansfield in north central Texas. The objectives of this research are (1) to describe the anatomy of the Holland Farm nodosaur, (2) to determine its phylogenetic position within Ankylosauria, (3) to elaborate the substantial differences in body size and osteoderm morphology in armored dinosaurs occurring in north central Texas during the short duration of the Late Albian and Early Cenomanian, and (4) to provide a radiometric date for the lowermost member …

Indirect Imaging Using Computational Imaging Techniques, Aparna Viswanath

Electrical Engineering Theses and Dissertations

The work describes various methods employed towards solving the problem of indirect imaging. Computational techniques are employed to indirectly decipher information about an object hidden from view of a camera. Notion of virtualizing the source of illumination and detectors on real world rough surfaces was exploited to construct a non line of sight computational imager. Diversity was explored from the stand point of both illumination of the object and imaging of light reflected from the object. To understand the impact of scattering by real world rough surfaces, an instrument was developed that allows characterization of isoplanatic angle for different surface …

Design And Synthesis Of Circadian Clock Modulators And The Study Of Lov Domain Protein Lkp2 In Arabidosis Thaliana And Brassica Rapa, Aditi Nagar

Chemistry Theses and Dissertations

Circadian rhythms are self-autonomous endogenous clocks synchronized with the rotation of the Earth. With the Earth’s rotation and revolution on its axis, the internal clock undergoes oscillation in the period of ~24 hour and governs day to day activities in most organisms. In humans, it regulates the day to day physiological activities. Today’s modern lifestyle has an impact on health: shift work, jet lag, and irregular eating habits contribute to the misalignment of the endogenous circadian oscillator, thereby, increasing the risk of many metabolic disorders including diabetes, irregular blood pressure, sleep disorders, obesity, depression, and cancer. The primary goal of …

Cloud Service Reliability And Usability Measurement, Abdullah Bokhary

Computer Science and Engineering Theses and Dissertations

Cloud computing has become a major resource for fulfilling people's computational and storage needs. Investing in these services requires measuring and assuring its quality in general, and reliability and usability are primary concerns. However, using traditional reliability models can be challenging because of the environmental constraints and limited data availability due to the heterogeneous environment and diverse stakeholders. Also, the quality of cloud service Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) has a direct impact on the usability and reliability of the service.

We developed a framework to measure reliability with alternative available information that most cloud providers offer in three stages: 1) …

The Transition From Sevier To Laramide Orogeny Captured In Upper-Plate Magmatic Structures, Eastern Transverse Ranges, Ca, Brody Friesenhahn

Earth Sciences Theses and Dissertations

The onset of the Laramide orogeny is of great tectonic significance to the geologic history of the US, but the timing and nature of the shift between Sevier and Laramide tectonics remains enigmatic. The eastern Transverse Ranges of southern California provide the opportunity to observe the effects of Laramide tectonics on the mid-crust. Wide Canyon is a north/south-trending canyon in the northern Little San Bernardino Mountains of the eastern Transverse Ranges. Al-in-hornblende thermobarometry of Needy et al. (2009) yields a projected paleodepth depth of ~20 km for Wide Canyon where Cretaceous granitoids intrude metamorphic country rock of Proterozoic age in …

Association Tests For Genetic Effect And Its Interaction With Environmental Factors, Zhengyang Zhou

Statistical Science Theses and Dissertations

My research is in the area of statistical genetics, and it contains three projects: (1) Differentiating the Cochran-Armitage (CA) trend test and Pearson’s chi-square test: location and dispersion; (2) Decomposing Pearson’s chi-square test: a linear regression and its departure from linearity; (3) Testing nonlinear gene-environment (GxE) interaction through varying coefficient and linear mixed models.

(1) In genetic case-control association studies, a standard practice is to perform the CA trend test with 1 degree-of-freedom (df) under the assumption of an additive model. However, when the true genetic model is recessive or near recessive, it is outperformed by Pearson’s chi-square test with …

A Microresonator-Based Laser Doppler Velocity Sensor For Interplanetary Atmospheric Re-Entry, Benjamin Wise

Mechanical Engineering Research Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis, a laser velocity sensor concept based on optical microresonators is presented and the application to spacecraft atmospheric entry is explored. The concept is based on the measurement of Doppler shift of back-scattered laser light. Specifically, the Doppler shift is detected by observing the whispering gallery optical modes (WGM) of a dielectric microresonator excited by the back scattered light from particulates and gas molecules. The microresonator replaces the typical Fabry-Perot interferometer and CCD camera system, thereby significantly reducing the size and weight of the overall detection system. This thesis presents proof-of-concept results for this measurement approach. The Doppler …

Multi-Reference Systems In Chemistry; Unconventional Bonding In Organic Chemistry; Covalent Bonding In Transition Metal Clusters, Alan Wilfred Humason

Chemistry Theses and Dissertations

The geometries, chemical properties, and reactivities of molecules are determined by their electronic structure. The field of ab initio computational chemistry works to calculate the kinetic and potential energies between the nuclei and electrons of a molecule. These calculations usually begin with the determination the electronic ground state.

Molecules that cannot be adequately described with a single, ground state configuration are called \textit{multi-reference systems}, which require the calculation of a linear combination of all pertinent electronic configurations, with a corresponding increase in computational cost. This is not `black box' methodology, because solving these systems requires a good understanding of the …

Cretaceous Dinosaurs And The World They Lived In: A New Species Of Ornithischian Dinosaur From The Early Cretaceous (Aptian) Of Texas, Reconstruction Of The Brain Endocast And Inner Ear Of Malawisaurus Dixeyi, And Reconstruction Of The Paleoclimate And Paleoenvironment Of Cretaceous Terrestrial Formations In Texas And Oklahoma Using Pedogenic Minerals, Kate Andrzejewski

Earth Sciences Theses and Dissertations

Material from over thirty individuals of a new ornithopod was recovered from the Proctor Lake locality in the Twin Mountains Formation (Aptian) of north-central Texas. This material includes various ontogenetic stages, providing insight into the growth patterns of this species. The new ornithopod is recovered basal to Iguanodontia, but more derived than Hypsilophodon foxii. The presence and morphology of 4 premaxillary teeth along with a combination of both basal and derived characters distinguish this taxon from all other ornithopods.

A braincase of the Cretaceous titanosaurian sauropod Malawisaurus dixeyi was CT scanned and a 3D rendering of the endocast and inner …

Determining Principal Stress Orientations And Magnitudes In The Fort Worth Basin, Texas, Louis Quinones

Earth Sciences Theses and Dissertations

Since 2008, the Fort Worth Basin in northern Texas has experienced over 30 M3.0+ earthquakes, including one M4.0. Earthquakes have primarily occurred on Precambrian basement faults and within the overlying Ellenburger limestone unit, which is the primary wastewater disposal formation used in the basin. The most productive earthquake sequences (Azle, Irving- Dallas, and Venus) have been recorded using local seismic networks containing a mix of SMU broadband, IRIS short period, and USGS NetQuakes stations and by regional seismic networks operated under the Advanced National Seismic System and the Texas Seismic Network (TexNet).

Using the data recorded by the local seismic …

Characterization Of Ground Deformation Associated With Shallow Groundwater Processes Using Satellite Radar Interferometry, Xie Hu

Earth Sciences Theses and Dissertations

Shallow groundwater processes maylead to ground deformation and even geohazards. With the features of day-and-night accessibility and large-scale coverage, time-series interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) has proven a useful tool for mapping the deformation over various landscapes at cm to mm level with weekly to monthly updates. However, it has limitations such as, decorrelation,atmospheric artifacts, topographic errors, andunwrapping errors, in particular for the hilly, vegetated, and complicated deformation patterns. In this dissertation, I focus on characterizing the ground deformation over landslides, aquifer systems, and mine tailings impoundment, using the designed advanced time-series InSAR strategy, as well as theinterdisciplinary knowledge of …

An Analysis Of Frenkel Defects And Backgrounds Modeling For Supercdms Dark Matter Searches, Matthew Stein

Physics Theses and Dissertations

Years of astrophysical observations suggest that dark matter comprises more than ~80 % of all matter in the universe. Particle physics theories favor a weakly-interacting particle that could be directly detected in terrestrial experiments. The Super Cryogenic Dark Matter Search (SuperCDMS) Collaboration operates world-leading experiments to directly detect dark matter interacting with ordinary matter. The SuperCDMS Soudan experiment searched for weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) via their elastic-scattering interactions with nuclei in low-temperature germanium detectors.

During the operation of the SuperCDMS Soudan experiment, ²¹⁰Pb sources were installed to study background rejection of the Ge detectors. Data from these sources …

Advances In Local Vibrational Mode Theory And Unified Reaction Valley Approach (Urva), Yunwen Tao

Chemistry Theses and Dissertations

Since the establishment of the Local Vibrational Mode Theory and the Unified Reaction Valley Approach (URVA), these two research pillars have been pushed forward in the CATCO group and played an important role in (i) characterizing the chemical bonds in molecules and (ii) molecular chemical reactions. This dissertation elaborates my contributions to the Local Vibrational Mode Theory and the Unified Reaction Valley Approach (URVA).

We have applied the Local Vibrational Mode Theory to hydrogen bonding in liquid water and proposed an explanation for the Mpemba effect. We explored and discovered new directions of applying local vibrational modes majorly in characterizing …

Investigation Of The Effects Of Harmful Radiation On Type-Ii Strained Layer Superlattice Focal Plane Arrays Operated In The Long Wave Infrared, Patrick Fumo

Electrical Engineering Theses and Dissertations

In-situ exposure of InAs/InAsSb strained layer superlattice focal plane arrays to gamma-rays revealed the possibility of a detector capable of imaging through a total ionizing dose event. Two long wave infrared focal plane arrays were exposed to a Co⁶⁰ source at dose rates of 60 Rads/s and 70 Rads/s in incremental steps up to a total accumulated dose of 30 kRads. The first device showed no degradation in dark current density with accumulated dose while the second device tested showed a small increase up to 1 kRad and minimal increases with subsequent dose steps. The primary imaging defect in …

The Impact Of Ppb W/Z Lhc Data On Ncteq15 Parton Distribution Functions With An Emphasis On Refitting The Ncteq15 Npdf Set, Eric Godat

Physics Theses and Dissertations

As the LHC experiments increase their statistics and reduce their systematics, it is in- creasingly important to reduce the theoretical uncertainties so we can perform precision com- parisons. The parton distribution functions (PDFs) which describe the hadronic structure of protons and nuclei are the critical link between the experimental data and the proposed theoretical models; hence, a better understanding of the PDFs is essential for improved pre- dictions. Nuclear PDFs, in particular, have proven valuable in this regard, especially for flavor differentiation. I introduce ”nCTEQ+LHC,” the first PDF set fit using the nCTEQ formalism to include data from the LHC. …

Discrete Ranked Set Sampling, Heng Cui

Statistical Science Theses and Dissertations

Ranked set sampling (RSS) is an efficient data collection framework compared to simple random sampling (SRS). It is widely used in various application areas such as agriculture, environment, sociology, and medicine, especially in situations where measurement is expensive but ranking is less costly. Most past research in RSS focused on situations where the underlying distribution is continuous. However, it is not unusual to have a discrete data generation mechanism. Estimating statistical functionals are challenging as ties may truly exist in discrete RSS. In this thesis, we started with estimating the cumulative distribution function (CDF) in discrete RSS. We proposed two …

Cosmological Distance Measurements With Rotse Supernovae Iip And Observational Systematics On Desi Emission Line Galaxy Clustering, Govinda Dhungana

Physics Theses and Dissertations

Both Supernovae (SNe) and Baryon Acoustic Oscillations (BAO) surveys emerged as complementary probes of the expansion history of the universe in the last few decades. SNe Ia cosmology has reached the systematic limits in the optical surveys. The most frequently occuring SNe Type IIP are emerging as equally rich distance probes for the next generation larger surveys. In this thesis, I highlight the astrophysical observables of these events in the context of ROTSE III SN survey and using the ROTSE SNe IIP sample, I present calibration in the framework of expanding photosphere method (EPM) to use them as cosmological distance …

Near-Optimal Control Of Switched Systems With Continuous-Time Dynamics Using Approximate Dynamic Programming, Tohid Sardarmehni

Mechanical Engineering Research Theses and Dissertations

Optimal control is a control method which provides inputs that minimize a performance index subject to state or input constraints [58]. The existing solutions for finding the exact optimal control solution such as Pontryagin’s minimum principle and dynamic programming suffer from curse of dimensionality in high order dynamical systems. One remedy for this problem is finding near optimal solution instead of the exact optimal solution to avoid curse of dimensionality [31]. A method for finding the approximate optimal solution is through Approximate Dynamic Programming (ADP) methods which are discussed in the subsequent chapters.

In this dissertation, optimal switching in switched …

Swelling As A Stabilizing Mechanism During Ion Bombardment Of Thin Films: An Analytical And Numerical Study, Jennifer M. Swenson

Mathematics Theses and Dissertations

Irradiation of semiconductor surfaces often leads to the spontaneous formation of rippled structures at certain irradiation angles. However, at high enough energies, these structures are observed to vanish for all angles, despite the absence of any identified, universally-stabilizing physical mechanisms in operation. Here, we examine the effect on pattern formation of radiation-induced swelling, which has been excluded from prior treatments of stress in irradiated films. After developing a suitable continuum model, we perform a linear stability analysis to determine its effect on stability. Under appropriate simplifying assumptions, we find swelling indeed to be stabilizing at wavenumbers typical of experimental observations. …

Understanding Natural Keyboard Typing Using Convolutional Neural Networks On Mobile Sensor Data, Travis Siems

Computer Science and Engineering Theses and Dissertations

Mobile phones and other devices with embedded sensors are becoming increasingly ubiquitous. Audio and motion sensor data may be able to detect information that we did not think possible. Some researchers have created models that can predict computer keyboard typing from a nearby mobile device; however, certain limitations to their experiment setup and methods compelled us to be skeptical of the models’ realistic prediction capability. We investigate the possibility of understanding natural keyboard typing from mobile phones by performing a well-designed data collection experiment that encourages natural typing and interactions. This data collection helps capture realistic vulnerabilities of the security …

Developing Statistical Methods For Data From Platforms Measuring Gene Expression, Gaoxiang Jia

Statistical Science Theses and Dissertations

This research contains two topics: (1) PBNPA: a permutation-based non-parametric analysis of CRISPR screen data; (2) RCRnorm: an integrated system of random-coefficient hierarchical regression models for normalizing NanoString nCounter data from FFPE samples.

Clustered regularly-interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) screens are usually implemented in cultured cells to identify genes with critical functions. Although several methods have been developed or adapted to analyze CRISPR screening data, no single spe- cific algorithm has gained popularity. Thus, rigorous procedures are needed to overcome the shortcomings of existing algorithms. We developed a Permutation-Based Non-Parametric Analysis (PBNPA) algorithm, which computes p-values at the gene level …