Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Investigation Of Catalytic Oxidation And Coupling Reactions On Gold, Palladium, And Gold-Palladium Alloys, Theodore Douglas Thuening

Theses and Dissertations

Polyvinyl acetate is a common adhesive and additive to emulsion-based paints produced in the millions of tons per year through the palladium catalyzed coupling of ethylene and acetic acid. Understanding the reaction mechanism and kinetics is integral to designing a more efficient catalyst through an increase in activity, selectivity, or both. It has been shown that selectivity for the vinyl acetate monomer (VAM) reaction increases to ~94% upon alloying palladium with gold compared to palladium alone (~80% selective).

The characterization of the VAM formation reaction on Pd(111) and Au/Pd(111) single crystal alloys has been extensively studied, but it has been …

A Theoretical Analysis On The Zintl-Klemm Concept And Its Extensions, Sandra Maria Simon

Theses and Dissertations

The desire to rationalize and explain the complex structures that form in solid states has motivated many to explore collections of structures with similar topologies but with differing compositions in order to determine whether or not similar chemical bonding was responsible for the structures. The Zintl-Klemm Concept, the Extended Zintl-Klemm Concept Model-1, and the Extended Zintl-Klemm Concept Model-2 attempt to rationalize and predict the structure of a group of intermetallics, referred to as Zintl Compounds, and their oxides based on simple electron counting schemes and with the introduction of pseudo-atoms.

This study looks at the electronic structure of a set …

Interaction With Nitric Oxide Of The Nitrosomonas Europaea Tetraheme Protein Cytochrome C554, And Two Of Its Variants, In Increasingly Reducing Environments, Jennifer M. Mcgarry

Theses and Dissertations

A re-investigation of the interaction with NO of the small tetraheme protein cytochrome c554 (C554) from Nitrosomonas europaea has shown that the 5-coordinate heme II of the 2-electron or 4-electron reduced protein will nitrosylate reversibly. The nitrosylation process was found to be first order in C554, first-order in NO, and second-order overall. The rate constant for NO binding to the heme was determined to be 3000 ± 140 M-1s-1, while the rate constant for dissociation was 0.034 ± 0.009 s-1; the degree of protein reduction does not appear to significantly influence the nitrosylation rate. In contrast to a previous report, …

Modeling Gravitational-Wave Sources For Pulsar Timing Arrays, Joseph Simon

Theses and Dissertations

The recent direct detections of gravitational waves (GWs) from merging black holes by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) marks the beginning of the era of GW astronomy and promises to transform fundamental physics. In the coming years, there is hope for detections across the mass scale of binary black holes.

Pulsar Timing Arrays (PTAs) are galactic-scale low-frequency (nHz - $\mu$Hz) GW observatories, which aim to directly detect GWs from binary supermassive black holes (SMBHs) ($\gtrsim 10^{7} \msun$). The frequency and black hole mass range that PTAs are sensitive to is orders of magnitude different from those LIGO is observing, …

Galactic Outflows And Their Correlations With Galaxy Properties At 0.8 < Z < 1.6, Lindsey Whiting

Theses and Dissertations

Out

ows have been shown to be ubiquitous in galaxies between z = 1 and z=2,

and many models and observations have attempted to correlate the absorption line

properties of these out

ows with morphological characteristics of their host galaxies.

In this study, we examined the spectra of 71 galaxies with redshifts 1< z<2, paying

particular attention to the FeII and MgII absorption lines. We plotted the equivalent

width, velocity, and maximum velocity of the absorption features against various

physical properties of the galaxies, obtained from catalogues created by Skelton et

al., (2014) and van der Wel et al., (2012). We conrmed …

Is It Rational To Care About The Natural Environment?, Joshua Brown

Theses and Dissertations

This paper helps address the question of how people who currently care about the natural environment, or nature, might rationally persuade those who do not currently have such concern. Philosophers have largely ignored this question, but it is important outside philosophy. For instance, many environmental advocates seem to believe that others should care about nature. At least much writing that falls under the broad category of environmentalism intends to persuade us to care about nature in one way or another.

In this paper, I argue that people should care about nature to the extent that they have three other, rationally …

Automating A 3d Point Matching System For Human Faces, Priya Vashistha

Theses and Dissertations

3D point matching for human faces is opening new possibilities in the fields of face matching, face recognition, face retrieval, biomedical, virtual reality, etc. and is overcoming the limitations of 2D face matching. The purpose of this study is to research and implement an automated 3D point matching system for human faces. This will be added to an existing system implemented for 3D point matching on face models. The current implementation is a manual procedure to find matching between the faces, where a set of landmarks are selected on both sources and target meshes and the faces are registered using …

An Examination Of The Dynamics Of A Rear-Inflow Jet Associated With An Idealized Mesoscale Convective System, Caitlin Crossett

Theses and Dissertations

This study evaluates the main controls on the descent of the rear-inflow jet (RIJ), associated with a mesoscale convective system (MCS), toward the surface. This study employs the Cloud Model 1 (CM1), release 18.3, to simulate idealized MCSs. The model has a horizontal grid spacing of 1 km with 100 vertical levels, and utilizes doubly periodic lateral boundary conditions. The Morrison double-moment explicit moisture scheme is used and Coriolis accelerations are ignored. To initiate convection, a 2 K warm bubble is applied over a limited subset of the domain. Simulations in which the magnitude of vertical wind shear is perturbed, …

Infinite-Dimensional Traits: Estimation Of Mean, Covariance, And Selection Gradient Of Tribolium Castaneum Growth Curves, Ly Viet Hoang

Theses and Dissertations

In evolutionary biology, traits like growth curves, reaction norms or morphological shapes cannot be described by a finite vector of components alone. Instead, continuous functions represent a more useful structure. Such traits are called function-valued or infinite-dimensional traits. Kirkpatrick and Heckmann outlined the first quantitative genetic model for these traits. Beder and Gomulkiewicz extended the theory on the selection gradient and the evolutionary response from finite- to infinite-dimensional traits.

Rigorous methods for the estimation of these quantities were developed throughout the years. In his dissertation, Baur defines estimators for the mean and covariance function, as well as for the selection …

Towards Autonomous Microcystin Detection: Investigating Methods For Automation, Maureen Anne Schneider

Theses and Dissertations

Due to increased anthropogenic activity, severe eutrophication is occurring in bodies of water around the world. Effects include decreased water quality, decreased value of surrounding land and recreational use (estimated loss in revenue of 0.67 and 3.96 U.S. billion dollars per year), and increased occurrence of toxin producing Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs). Microcystins are cyclic peptides made up of 7 amino acids and 800-1100 Daltons in size. They are one of the most predominantly produced of these toxins, and therefore was the focus of this study. Numerous structural variants of microcystin (referred to as congeners) exist, but microcystin-LR is one …

Robust And Computationally Efficient Methods For Fitting Loss Models And Pricing Insurance Risks, Qian Zhao

Theses and Dissertations

Continuous parametric distributions are useful tools for modeling and pricing insurance risks, measuring income inequality in economics, investigating reliability of engineering systems, and in many other areas of application. In this dissertation, we propose and develop a new method for estimation of their parameters—the method of Winsorized moments (MWM)—which is conceptually similar to the method of trimmed moments (MTM) and thus is robust and computationally efficient. Both approaches yield explicit formulas of parameter estimators for location-scale and log-location-scale families, which are commonly used to model claim severity. Large-sample properties of the new estimators are provided and corroborated through simulations. Their …

Utilizing Natural And Man-Made Resources For Economic Development: What Are The Mechanisms And Why?, Linh Pham

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation studies the roles of natural resources in determining economic outcomes such as innovation, investment, profitability and economic growth.

The first chapter studies the ease of substitution between energy and other production inputs over time and across countries. Improvements in energy efficiency over the past decades have substantially decreased the amount of energy used per unit of capital. Yet, previous literature often assumes a constant elasticity of substitution between capital and energy. In this chapter, we develop a Solow growth model with a variable elasticity of substitution (VES) between production inputs and show that the long-run growth rate directly …

Performance Optimization Of Onboard Lithium Ion Batteries For Electric Vehicles, Rohit Anil Ugle

Theses and Dissertations

Next generation of transportation in the form of electric vehicles relies on better operation and control of large battery packs. The individual modules in large battery packs generally do not have identical characteristics and may degrade differently due to manufacturing variability and other factors. Degraded battery modules waste more power, affecting the performance and economy for the whole battery pack. Also, such impact varies with different trip patterns. It will be cost effective if we evaluate the performance of the battery modules prior to replacing the complete battery pack. The knowledge of the driving cycle and battery internal resistance will …

Factors Controlling Diffusive Co2 Production And Transport In The Cedarburg Bog, Saukville, Wisconsin, Emily Kay Joynt

Theses and Dissertations

Wetlands are vital components of the carbon cycle, containing an estimated 20-30% of the global soil carbon reservoir. The Cedarburg Bog of southeastern Wisconsin boasts a myriad of wetland habitats including the southernmost string bog found in North America. Soil carbon dioxide (CO2) behavior in these systems is the response of multiple interdependent variables that are, collectively, not well understood. Many studies have measured and modeled soil CO2 flux (soil respiration) based on isolated, intermittent measurements that do not account for the full range of soil CO2 flux intensity. In the Cedarburg Bog, high-resolution measurements of soil CO2 flux were …

Analysis Of Bas-Relief Generation Techniques, Zachary Salim Benzaid

Theses and Dissertations

Simplifying the process of generating relief sculptures has been an interesting topic of research in the past decade. A relief is a type of sculpture that does not entirely extend into three-dimensional space. Instead, it has details that are carved into a flat surface, like wood or stone, such that there are slight elevations from the flat plane that define the subject of the sculpture. When viewed orthogonally straight on, a relief can look like a full sculpture or statue in the respect that a full sense of depth from the subject can be perceived. Creating such a model manually …

Optimal Control Of Energy Production In A Market With Emission Allowances, Leonhard Kunczik

Theses and Dissertations

With a growing awareness for preserving the environment, governments started to regulate the greenhouse gas emissions of energy producers by implementing markets for CO2 allowances. Such markets can be found in the European Union with the Emission Trading

Scheme (EU ETS). The CO2 emission permit trading is one approach to provide incentives to the power firms to reduce their CO2 emission.

This thesis proposes two models for an optimal control of the energy production rate depending on the energy unit price as well as on the trading of emission derivatives. One model aims to maximize the wealth of the power …

Reducing The Environmental Impacts Of Building Materials: Embodied Energy Analysis Of A High-Performance Building, Layla Qarout

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to assess the embodied energy and carbon emissions of structural building materials, and determine environmental savings associated with construction. In common architectural practice, the analysis of the environmental cost of materials is typically not taken into account. This can be attributed to the lack of available data, loyalty to conventional construction methods, and complexity of embodied energy calculations. Although efforts are made to ensure accuracy of the information contained in energy databases, they are based on public domain sources and the “best” energy and carbon coefficients, with no guarantee to accuracy. Therefore, it is …

Adaptive Monte Carlo Sampling For Cloud And Microphysics Calculations, Thomas Franz-Peter Roessler

Theses and Dissertations

An important problem in large-scale modeling of the atmosphere is the parametrization of clouds and microphysics on subgrid scales. The framework Cloud Layers Unified By Binormals (CLUBB) was developed to improve the parametrization of subgrid variability. Monte Carlo sampling is used to couple the different physical processes, which improves the grid average of subgrid tendencies.

In this Thesis we develop an adaptive Monte Carlo sampling algorithm that re-uses sample points of the previous time step by re-weighting them according to the change of the underlying distribution. This process is called 'what-if sampling' and is an application of importance sampling. An …

Associated Hypothesis In Linear Models With Unbalanced Data, Rica Katharina Wedowski

Theses and Dissertations

In a two-way linear model one can test six different hypotheses regarding the effects in this model. Those hypotheses can be ranked from less specific to more specific. Therefore the more specific hypotheses are nested in the less specific ones. To test those nested hypotheses sequential sums of squares are used. Searle sees a problem with these since they test an associated hypothesis that has the same sums of squares but involve the sample sizes. Hypotheses should be generic and not dependent on the data. The proof he uses in his book Linear Models for Unbalanced Data is not easy …

A Study Of The Effect Of Using Simulations On Students' Learning Of Inferential Statistics In The Elementary Statistics Classes In The Mathematics Department Of The University Of Wisconsin Milwaukee, Alexa Schut

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis reports the results of a studying into the use of simulation-based teaching in Introductory Statistics Class to analyze the effectiveness of this teaching strategy. We give a brief overview of the more recent research into the impact of using computer simulations in an introductory statistics course in order to deepen student understanding of inferential statistics along with the a look at a similar study recently conducted at another university. We then give a review of our study conducted in Math Stat 215 classes at UW-Milwaukee to evaluate whether or not the use of simulations in this introductory statistics …

Performance Test Of The Pasquill Stability Classification Scheme, Hillary Lin Chapman

Theses and Dissertations

In 1961, Frank Pasquill proposed a method for classifying atmospheric stability based on routinely available surface observations – namely wind speed, cloud cover, and the strength of incoming solar radiation. Stability is classified into six categories: extremely unstable (A); moderately unstable (B); slightly unstable (C); neutral (D); slightly stable (E); and moderately stable (F). These categories are ultimately meant to be used to determine the rate of diffusion of windblown pollutants, but since their inception, the classes have often seen use outside of their originally intended purpose. In this thesis, the performance of the Pasquill scheme is tested in order …

Ethnic Party Bans And Civil Unrest: A Measurement Modeling Approach To Predicting Effects Of Constitutional Engineering, Kelly Gleason

Theses and Dissertations

Political representation through exclusively ethnic parties has long been thought to create, or enforce, social cleavages leading to conflict. To gain support and mobilize ethnic constituents, ethnic party leadership has incentive to exaggerate differences between, or even antagonize, members of other ethnic groups through the process of ethnic outbidding. Classic political theory cautions that the exclusive nature of ethnic parties can also produce a dangerous zero sum game between ethnic groups that cannot be solved by compromise via democratic institutions. Several institutional solutions have been proposed to counter the problem of instability ethnic divisions create for new democracies, encountering varying …

Downstream Predictability Of The Path Of Severe Wind Producing Mcss Using Ruc Analysis Data, Russell Danielson

Theses and Dissertations

A method for predicting the track of mesoscale convective systems (MCSs) is developed, based upon meteorological parameters in the path of the systems. Rapid Update Cycle model analysis from the years 2007 through 2011 were used to gather meteorological data for 94 MCS events. An artificial neural network model was developed to predict whether the MCS will track to the “Right”, “Left”, or stay on its current path. The most important parameters to predict the track of an MCS in this model are precipitable water, most unstable CAPE, 700hPa temperature, surface-500hPa mean wind, low-level equivalent potential temperature difference, and 700-500hPa …

On Some One-Complex Dimensional Slices Of The Boundedness Locus Of A Multi-Parameter Rational Family, Matthew Hoeppner

Theses and Dissertations

Complex dynamics involves the study of the behavior of complex-valued functions when they are composed with themselves repeatedly. We observe the orbits of a function by passing starting values through the function iteratively. Of particular interest are the orbits of any critical points of the function, called critical orbits. The behavior of a family of functions can be determined by examining the change in the critical orbit(s) of the functions as the values of the associated parameters vary. These behaviors are often separated into two categories: parameter values where one or more critical orbits remain bounded, and parameter values where …

Terroir Studies In Washington And Wisconsin American Viticultural Areas, Snejana Karakis

Theses and Dissertations

The concept of terroir has been evaluated since the 12th century, when Cistercian monks from Burgundy realized that the physical environment in which grapes are grown has a major influence on the character and quality of the resulting wine. These environmental conditions affecting grape and wine quality are known as terroir in viticulture and have become increasingly important in the grape growing and wine industry. In this dissertation, three studies investigating the terroir of vineyards located in Washington and Wisconsin American Viticultural Areas (AVAs), which are defined by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) as delimited grape-growing …

Numerical Methods For Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman Equations, Constantin Greif

Theses and Dissertations

In this work we considered HJB equations, that arise from stochastic optimal control problems

with a finite time interval. If the diffusion is allowed to become degenerate, the solution cannot be

understood in the classical sense. Therefore one needs the notion of viscosity solutions. With some

stability and consistency assumptions, monotone methods provide the convergence to the viscosity

solution. In this thesis we looked at monotone finite difference methods, semi lagragian methods and

finite element methods for isotropic diffusion. In the last chapter we introduce the vanishing moment

method, a method not based on monotonicity.

Optimal Trading Under The American Perpetual Put Option For Geometric Brownian Motion And Mean-Reverting Processes, Ines Larissa Siebigteroth

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is focused on the perpetual American put option under the geometric Brownian motion and mean-reverting models. Two approaches, which have been applied before to the call option of a mean-reverting process, will be studied in details for the two models. The first approach amounts to solving the associated quasi-variational inequality for the optimal stopping problem. A verification theorem is proved to demonstrate that the solution to the quasi-variational inequality agrees with the value function. The second approach is based on detailed analyses of an auxiliary two-point stopping problem, which leads to an explicit expression for the value function. …

Cocompact Cubulations Of Mixed 3-Manifolds, Joseph Dixon Tidmore

Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation, we complete the classification of which compact 3-manifolds have a virtually compact special fundamental group by addressing the case of mixed 3-manifolds. A compact aspherical 3-manifold M is mixed if its JSJ decomposition has at least one JSJ torus and at least one hyperbolic block. We show the fundamental group of M is virtually compact special iff M is chargeless, i.e. each interior Seifert fibered block has a trivial Euler number relative to the fibers of adjacent blocks.

Asymptotic Expansion Of The L^2-Norm Of A Solution Of The Strongly Damped Wave Equation, Joseph Silvio Barrera

Theses and Dissertations

The Fourier transform, F, on R^N (N≥1) transforms the Cauchy problem for the strongly damped wave equation u_tt(t,x) - Δu_t(t,x) - Δu(t,x) = 0 to an ordinary differential equation in time t. We let u(t,x) be the solution of the problem given by the Fourier transform, and v(t,ƺ) be the asymptotic profile of F(u)(t,ƺ) = û(t,ƺ) found by Ikehata in [4].

In this thesis we study the asymptotic expansions of the squared L^2-norms of u(t,x), û(t,ƺ) - v(t,ƺ), and v(t,ƺ) as t → ∞. With suitable initial data u(0,x) and u_t(0,x), we establish the rate of growth or decay of …

Black-Scholes Model: An Analysis Of The Influence Of Volatility, Cornelia Krome

Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis the influence of volatility in the Black-Scholes model is analyzed. The deduced Black-Scholes formula estimates the price of European options. Contrary to the other parameters of the formula, the future volatility of the underlying asset cannot be observed in the market. The parameter needs to be assumed in order to calculate the option price. An inaccurate assumption may lead to an erroneous volatility. It is studied how a falsely assumed volatility impacts on the option price. Empirical simulations will be carried out to get an impression of possible errors in the computations. Afterwards, those results will be …