Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Calculator Usage In Secondary Level Classrooms: The Ongoing Debate, Nicole Plummer

Honors College Theses

With technology becoming more prevalent every day, it is imperative that students gain enough experience with different technological tools in order to be successful in the “real-world”. This thesis will discuss the debate and overall support for an increased usage of calculators as tools in the secondary level classroom. When the idea of calculators in the classroom first came to life, many educators were very apprehensive and quite hesitant of this change. Unfortunately, more than 40 years later, there is still hesitation for their usage; and rightfully so. While there are plenty of advantages of calculator use in the classroom, …

Synthesis And Characterization Of New Gd3+-Containing Complexes As Potential Targeted Contrast Agents For Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Sashiprabha Manjari Vithanarachchi

Wayne State University Dissertations

The focus of the research described in this thesis is the study of chemistry relevant to target-specific contrast agents for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). MRI is a widely used technique in diagnostic medicine and biomedical research to obtain anatomical and physiological details of soft tissues. Contrast agents are used to enhance the contrast of MR images by causing changes to the chemical environment of water molecules. Clinically approved GdIII-containing contrast agents for MRI are non-specific, and consequently, have limited utility. Target-specific contrast agents represent one way to circumvent this limitation. In the research described in this thesis, myelin and Β-amyloid …

Effects Of Statin Drugs And Tocotrienol Rich Fraction Supplementation In Chronic Hemodialysis Patients And Metabolomic Profile, Eno Latifi

Wayne State University Theses

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is known as a heterogeneous disorder which currently is on the rise and lately has been classified as a public health issues in the United State and worldwide. CKD is an irreversible and progressive disease which can lead to kidney failure, and this is depicted by the advanced stage of the disorder when it reaches the point, that is classified as end stage of renal disease (ESRD) (Stage 5 of CKD) (eGRF <15 mL/min/ 1.73 m2 working capacity), where both organs are in a total or permanent kidney failure. End-Stage renal disease patients, on hemodialysis have been associated to experience an accelerated form of atherosclerosis, which is induced by inflammation, impairment of antioxidant system and elevated oxidative stress. Since the problem effecting ESRD patients is multifactorial, the objective of this investigation is to explore and look at the effects of supplementing with vitamin E-tocotrienol rich fraction (TRF), a micronutrient which has anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and lipid lower capabilities into tackling these comorbid conditions experienced by this population. Therefore the aims of this investigation will be to explore changes in lipid profiles, inflammatory markers, and oxidative status, as well as look at any changes in metabolomic profiles. It was hypothesized that by supplementing with TRF a vitamin E, for 16 weeks in ESRD patients undergoing hemodialysis, it may help reverse and/or improve, oxidative status, inflammatory markers, increase antioxidants status and improve lipid profiles.

The study was double-blinded, randomized, parallel, placebo-controlled design trial, of 81 adult patients undergoing chronic hemodialysis at Great Lake Dialysis Clinic, Detroit MI, where …

Taming Uncertainties In Real-Time Routing For Wireless Networked Sensing And Control, Xiaohui Liu

Wayne State University Theses

Real-time routing is a basic element of closed-loop, real-time sensing and control, but it is challenging due to dynamic, uncertain link/path delays.

The probabilistic nature of link/path delays makes the basic problem of computing the probabilistic distribution of path delays NP-hard, yet quantifying probabilistic path delays is a basic element of real-time routing and may well have to be executed by resource-constrained devices in a distributed manner;

the highly-varying nature of link/path delays makes it necessary to adapt to in-situ delay conditions in real-time routing, but it has been observed that delay-based routing can lead to instability, estimation error, and …

A Decision Modeling For Phasor Measurement Unit Location Selection In Smart Grid Systems, Seung Yup Lee

Wayne State University Theses

As a key technology for enhancing the smart grid system, Phasor Measurement Unit (PMU) provides synchronized phasor measurements of voltages and currents of wide-area electric power grid. With various benefits from its application, one of the critical issues in utilizing PMUs is the optimal site selection of units.

The main aim of this research is to develop a decision support system, which can be used in resource allocation task for smart grid system analysis. As an effort to suggest a robust decision model and standardize the decision modeling process, a harmonized modeling framework, which considers operational circumstances of component, is …

Energy Transfer In A Discrete, Soluble Heterobimetallic Complex Containing Tb3+ And Eu3+, Nikhil Kumar Barua

Wayne State University Theses

A discrete, heterobimetallic Tb3+-Eu3+ -containing complex has been synthesized, and energy transfer was observed in the complex without using an antenna. This result represents a new way of observing lanthanide emission using lanthanide excitation in discrete, soluble complex. The occurrence of energy transfer in the mixed heterobimetallic Tb3+-Eu3+ complex was characterized using steady state luminescence spectroscopy and luminescence-decay studies. These findings are likely to be useful for fundamental mechanistic studies of energy transfer in lanthanide-containing systems.

Biophysical Studies Of Mutant H69 Rna Constructs, Daya Nidhi Kharel

Wayne State University Theses

The importance of helix 69 (H69) of the large ribosomal subunit is emphasized by its location in the ribosome and key contacts with protein factors and tRNAs during different steps of protein synthesis. The presence of three highly conserved pseudouridine modifications in H69 has a significant impact on modulation of the ribosome conformations. Specific nucleotides of H69 may be necessary for the function of this helix-loop RNA, as some mutations are deleterious to bacterial growth. In this study, we investigated the effects of single nucleotide mutations in a 19-nucleotide H69 construct with and without pseudouridines on the RNA stability and …

Genetic And Biochemical Studies Of Human Apobec3h Enzyme, Thisari Sachithra Aluthgama Guruge

Wayne State University Theses

The AID/APOBEC enzymes are DNA/RNA cytosine deaminases with important functions in innate and adaptive immunity. APOBEC3 enzymes play a crucial role in restricting the replication of exogenous retroviruses such HIV-1 and endogenous retrotransposition events. In particular, APOBEC3 enzymes have evolved in humans by gene duplication to compose seven members. APOBEC3H is highly diverse in its allelic sequence and the distribution is population-specific. It has evolved under strong positive selection over millions of years. To study the catalytic mechanism, structure, function and the underlying cause of its high diversity, a high resolution crystal or NMR structure is required are not yet …

Investigating The Anisotropy Of Magnetic Susceptibility And Other Rock Magnetic Properties Of The Beaver River Diabase In Northeastern Minnesota, Samer H. Hariri

Wayne State University Theses

The Beaver River Diabase (BRD) is a series of mafic dikes and sills within the Beaver Bay Complex (BBC) of northern Minnesota, which formed during the development of the ~1.1 Ga Midcontinent Rift (MCR). The BRD is one of the youngest and most extensive intrusive phases of the BBC. The BRD dikes and sills were emplaced into the medial levels of the 6-10 kilometer-thick North Shore Volcanic Group and occur over an arcuate area extending 120 by 20 kilometers. The BRD is composed of fine- to medium-grained ophitic olivine gabbro and does not display obvious foliation or lineation features and …

The Investigation Of The Molecular Mechanism Of Rhodopsin Activation By Small Angle Neutron Scattering And Small Angle X-Ray Scattering Techniques, Kurt William Van Delinder

Wayne State University Theses

Rhodopsin is a visual pigment found within the rod photoreceptor cells of the retina. It is a visual protein found within human beings and commonly shared amongst other vertebrate species. The major pigment protein is responsible for converting photons into chemical signals, which stimulates biological processes in the nervous system, and this allows the ability to then sense light [4]. The process of how rhodopsin is activated is believed to be understood with the introduction of a time ordered sequence of intermediate states. However, there are still major gaps and inconsistencies regarding the large-scale conformational changes that follow photoactivation. The …

Efficient Allocation And Enforcement Of Interfaces In Compositional Real-Time Systems, Farhana Dewan

Wayne State University Dissertations

Compositional real-time research has become one of the emerging trends in embedded and real-time systems due to the increasing scale and complexity of such systems. In this design paradigm, a large system is decomposed into smaller and simpler components, each of which abstracts their temporal requirements via interfaces. Such systems are mostly implemented by resource partitions to ensure that the components receive resources according to their interfaces. Potential implementations of a resource partition are via server-based interfaces or demand-based interfaces. In this context, our thesis in this dissertation is as follows:

Currently, server-based interfaces ensure strong temporal isolation among components …

Adaptive Stochastic Systems: Estimation, Filtering, And Noise Attenuation, Araz Ryan Hashemi

Wayne State University Dissertations

This dissertation investigates problems arising in identification and control of stochastic systems. When the parameters determining the underlying systems are unknown and/or time varying, estimation and adaptive filter- ing are invoked to to identify parameters or to track time-varying systems. We begin by considering linear systems whose coefficients evolve as a slowly- varying Markov Chain. We propose three families of constant step-size (or gain size) algorithms for estimating and tracking the coefficient parameter: Least-Mean Squares (LMS), Sign-Regressor (SR), and Sign-Error (SE) algorithms.

The analysis is carried out in a multi-scale framework considering the relative size of the gain (rate of …

Search For Contact Interactions Using The Dimuon Mass Spectrum In P-P Collisions At Sqrt(S) = 8 Tev At Cms, Chamath Kottachchi

Wayne State University Dissertations

The mass hierarchy problem associated with the standard model suggests that there might be more fundamental particles in nature. If quarks and leptons have substructures, known as preons, the manifestation of compositeness can be a four-fermion contact interaction. The experimental signal for contact interactions is a non-resonant enhancement of the number of events in the high-mass region of the dimuon mass spectrum. This dissertation describes a detailed search strategy for contact interactions using the Compact Muon Solenoid experiment. The dimuon mass spectrum above 300 GeV has been studied using the data collected in 2012 at sqrt(s) = 8 TeV corresponding …

Robust Regression Methods For Massively Decayed Intelligence Data, Akiva Joachim Lorenz

Wayne State University Dissertations

Homeland Security, sponsored by governmental initiatives, has become a vibrant academic research field. However, most efforts were placed with the recognition of threats (e.g. theory) and response options. Less effort was placed in the analysis of the collected data through statistical modeling. In a field that collects more than 20 terabyte of information per minute though diverse overt and covert means and indexes it for future research, understanding how different statistical models behave when it comes to massively decayed data is of vital importance.

Using Monte Carlo methods, three regression techniques (ordinary least squares, least-trimmed, and maximum likelihood) were tested …

Collective Flow And Azimuthally Differential Pion Femtoscopy With The Alice Experiment At The Lhc, Vera Reneee Loggins

Wayne State University Dissertations

Since 2009, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at European Organization

for Nuclear Research (CERN) has been conducting experiments in $pp$,

Pb-Pb, as well as $p$-Pb collisions with the center of mass energy

ranging $\sqrt{{s}_{NN}}=0.9-5.05$~TeV. In this thesis, both,

estimates of background correlations in anisotropic flow, $v_1-v_5$,

measurements

in Pb-Pb collisions at

$\sqrt{{s}_{NN}}=2.76$~TeV, and azimuthally differential pion femtoscopy

of Pb-Pb collisions are reported.

Two particle azimuthal correlations are statistically the most precise

method of measuring anisotropic flow. The main drawback of this method

is its sensitivity to the non-flow correlations, which unlike real

flow, do not have geometrical origin. Non-flow contribution …

Hiv-1 Rna Dimerization At Single Molecule Level, Hansini R. Mundigala

Wayne State University Dissertations

The Dimerization Initiation Sequence (DIS) is a conserved hairpin-loop motif on the 5' UTR of the HIV-1 genome. It plays an important role in genome dimerization through formation of a "kissing complex" intermediate between two homologous DIS sequences. This bimolecular kissing complex ultimately leads to the formation of an extended RNA duplex. Understanding the kinetics of this interaction is key to exploiting DIS as a possible drug target against HIV. We wish to report a novel study that makes an important contribution to understanding the dimerization mechanism of HIV-1 RNA in vitro. Our work has employed single-molecule fluorescence resonance energy …

Experimental And Theoretical Studies Of Binding Interactions In Divalent Transition Metal Cation-N-Donor Ligand Complexes: Structures, Sequential Bond Dissociation Energies, Mechanisms And Energetics Of Collision-Induced Dissociation, Holliness Nose

Wayne State University Dissertations

The thesis research described here involves a series of experiments that have been designed to probe the influence of the electronic structure of the metal cation, the nature and number of ligands, as well as the effects of chelation and steric interactions on the geometry and binding strength of transition metal cation-ligand complexes. The experimental studies make use of energy-resolved collision-induced dissociation (CID) techniques that are carried out in a custom-built guided ion beam tandem mass spectrometer (GIBMS) to probe the structures, energetics, and fragmentation behavior of the complexes of interest. Electronic structure theory calculations including several density functional theory …

Software Power Analysis And Optimization For Power-Aware Multicore Systems, Shinan Wang

Wayne State University Dissertations

Among all the factors in sustainable computing, power dissipation and energy consumption, arguably speaking, are fundamental aspects of modern computer systems. Different from performance metric, power dissipation is not easy to measure because hardware instrumentation is usually required. Yet as an indispensable component of a computer system, software becomes a major factor affecting power dissipation besides hardware energy-efficiency and power states. With detailed information on resource usage and power dissipation of an application/software, software developers will be able to leverage algorithms and implementations in order to produce power-efficient solutions. Hardware instrumentation, despite its accuracy, is costly and complicated to set …

Properties Of Nonlinear Randomly Switching Dynamic Systems: Mean-Field Models And Feedback Controls For Stabilization, Guangliang Zhao

Wayne State University Dissertations

This dissertation concerns the properties of nonlinear dynamic systems hybrid with Markov switching. It contains two parts. The first part focus on the mean-field models with state-dependent regime switching, and the second part focus on the system regularization and stabilization using feedback control. Throughout this dissertation, Markov switching processes are used to describe the randomness caused by discrete events, like sudden environment change or other uncertainty.

In Chapter 2, the mean-field models we studied are formulated by nonlinear stochastic differential equations hybrid with state-dependent regime switching. It originates from the phase transition problem in statistical physics. The mean-field term is …

Study On Endurance Of Flash Memory Ssds, Mochan Shrestha

Wayne State University Dissertations

Flash memory promises to revolutionize storage systems because of its massive performance gains, ruggedness, large decrease in power usage and physical space requirements, but it is not a direct replacement for magnetic hard disks. Flash memory possesses fundamentally different characteristics and in order to fully utilize the positive aspects of flash memory, we must engineer around its unique limitations. The primary limitations are lack of in-place updates, the asymmetry between the sizes of the write and erase operations, and the limited endurance of flash memory cells. This leads to the need for efficient methods for block cleaning, combating write amplification …

The Energy Trilogy: An Integrated Sustainability Model To Bridge Wastewater Treatment Plant Energy And Emissions Gaps, A. Adhim A. Altalibi

Wayne State University Dissertations

ABSTRACT

An estimated 4% of national energy consumption is used for drinking water and wastewater services. Despite the awareness and optimization initiatives for energy conservation, energy consumption is on the rise owing to population and urbanization expansion and to commercial and industrial business advancement. The principal concern is since energy consumption grows, the higher will be the energy production demand, leading to an increase in CO2 footprints and the contribution to global warming potential.

This research is in the area of energy-water nexus, focusing on wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) energy trilogy - the group of three related entities, which includes …

Evaluation Of Presynaptic Dopamine Dynamics After: Toluene Inhalation Or Trkb Receptor Activation, Aaron Kwaku Apawu

Wayne State University Dissertations

Dopamine (DA) neurons in the striatum mediate several functions of the brain and have been linked to a host of neurological disorders including Parkinson's disease and addiction, both of which occur as a result of dysfunction in the DA system. In the present study, our first objective was to understand how the striatal DA system adapts to acute and repeated administration of inhalant toluene. The use of toluene as inhalant, like other drugs of abuse, is known to perturb DA neurotransmission in the brain reward pathway. However, the exact mechanism underling toluene's influence on striatal DA neurotransmission is unknown. The …

On Ranked Approximate Matching Of Large Attributed Graphs, Mohammad Shafkat Amin

Wayne State University Dissertations

Many emerging database applications entail sophisticated graph based query manipulation, predominantly evident in large-scale

scientific applications. To access the information embedded in

graphs, efficient graph matching tools and algorithms have become of prime importance. Although the prohibitively expensive time

complexity associated with exact sub-graph isomorphism techniques has limited its efficacy in the application domain, approximate yet efficient graph matching techniques have received much attention due to their pragmatic applicability. Since public domain databases are noisy and incomplete in nature, inexact graph matching techniques have proven to be more promising in terms of inferring knowledge from numerous structural data repositories.

Contemporary …

Interference Modeling And Control In Wireless Networks, Xin Che

Wayne State University Dissertations

With the successful commercialization of IEEE802.11 standard, wireless networks have become a tight-knit of our daily life. As wireless networks are increasingly applied to real- time and mission-critical tasks, how to ensuring real-time, reliable data delivery emerges as an important problem. However, wireless communication is subject to various dynamics and uncertainties due to the broadcast nature of wireless signal. In particular, co-channel interfer- ence not only reduces the reliability and throughput of wireless networks, it also increases the variability and uncertainty in data communication [64, 80, 77].

A basis of interference control is the interference model which \emph{predicts} whether a …

Networks Of Users And Powers: Blackboard Software Roadmap As Cultural Practice, Diana Gellci

Wayne State University Dissertations

With the rapid growth of eLearning applications - the software providing for learning through the Internet - it has become commonplace to describe those technologies as both simple tools and user-friendly. These two vague yet suggestive terms make the operating of the technology appear as social value and any related issues as a user's problem. Interested neo-liberal groups take a step further when considering eLearning technologies as the solution for the problems faced in the field. STS studies recognize that technology fetishism is strategically employed to justify the latest developments of capitalism as technological and logical.

This doctoral study examines …

Alterations In The Mouse Striatum Following Acute And Repeated Ethanol Exposure, Brooke D. Newman

Wayne State University Dissertations

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is an important neuromodulator that has implicated in regard to several neurological disorders, including alcohol addiction. BDNF is also an important modulator of dopamine (DA), a neurotransmitter that is heavily implicated in addiction with one of the DA rich brain regions being referred to as the reward center of the brain. One of the focuses in alcohol dependence research includes determining risk factors that make an individual more susceptible to becoming dependent. BDNF has been of interest as a risk factor due to its involvement in ethanol consumption and addiction evidenced in a vast number of …

Moser-Trudinger And Adams Type Inequalities And Their Applications, Nguyen Lam

Wayne State University Dissertations

In this dissertation, we study some variants of the Moser-Trudinger inequalities and Adams inequalities. The proofs of these inequalities relied crucially on the symmetrization arguments in the literature. By proposing new arguments and approaches, we develop successfully the critical versions of these well-known inequalities in many different settings where the rearrangement arguments may not be existed. As applications of our results, we also study in this dissertation the elliptic equations that contain the exponential nonlinearities.

Investigation Into The Binding Interactions Of Klenow Fragment To Dna Modified With Carcinogens Af And Aaf Using Surface Plasmon Resonance, Ashley M. Floyd

Wayne State University Dissertations

The two major forms of DNA adducts from the carcinogen N-acetoxyacetyl-2-aminofluorene, N-(deoxygunanonsin-8-yl)-2-acetylaminofluorene (dG-C8-AAF) and N-(deoxyguanosin-8-yl)-2-aminofluorene (dG-C8-AF), are both known to impede replication, though in different ways. AAF is a strong block to replication leading to frameshift mutations, while the AF adduct is more easily bypassed, causing base substitutions. Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) was used to study the binding of exonuclease deficient E. coli polymerase I, Klenow fragment (KF), to DNA modified with AF or AAF at two locations: as a templating base or in the last formed base pair. KF binding to the modified DNA bases was also monitored to …

Development Of Silicon-Based Anodes And In-Situ Characterization Techniques For Lithium Ion Batteries, Jinho Yang

Wayne State University Dissertations

Development of lithium ion batteries (LIBs) with higher capacity has been booming worldwide, as growing concerns about environmental issues and increasing petroleum costs. The demands for the LIBs include high energy and power densities, and better cyclic stability in order to meet a wide range of applications, such as portable devices and electric vehicles. Silicon has recently been explored as a promising anode material due to its low discharge potential (<0.4 V) and high specific capacity (4200 mAh g^-1). The capacity of silicon potentially exceeds more than 10 times of the conventional graphite anode (372 mAh g^-1). However, the silicon anode experiences huge volume …

Using Large-Angle Beamstrahlung To Detect And Diagnose Colliding Beams For Luminosity Optimization, Hussein Farhat

Wayne State University Dissertations

The large-angle-beamstrahlung is a very effective technique that can be used to monitor two crossing beams. Monitoring the beam helps in analyzing and studying the beams profiles, allowing beams adjustments, and eventually leading to a perfect beams collision. The perfect beam collision results in a higher luminosity; as a result, a high particles production rate and new physics can be discovered.