Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Probability Models For Health Care Operations With Application To Emergency Medicine, Azaz Bin Sharif

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This thesis consists of four contributing chapters; two of which are inspired by practical problems related to emergency department (ED) operations management and the remaining two are motivated by the theoretical problem related to the time-dependent priority queue. Unlike classical priority queue, priorities in the time-dependent priority queue depends on the amount of time an arrival waits for service in addition to the priority class they belong. The mismatch between the demand for ED services and the available resources have direct and indirect negative consequences. Moreover, ED physician pay in some jurisdictions reflects pay-for-performance contracts based on operational benchmarks. To …

The Design And Synthesis Of Ghrelin Analogues As Non‐Invasive Ghs‐R1a Imaging Probes, Carlie L. Charlton

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The field of molecular imaging is constantly growing and evolving in order to provide the best possible healthcare for patients in various stages of disease and therapy. Molecular imaging aims to locate specific markers of disease by selectively targeting the markers of interest with high selectivity and visualizing the accumulation using external detection. The growth hormone secretagogue receptor-1a (GHS-R1a) has been shown to be involved in various important biological functions such as energy homeostasis and cardiac contractility. GHS-R1a has shown involvement in proliferation, migration and cell invasion of specific cancer subtypes. Therefore, targeting GHS-R1a is an important marker of different …

Reframing The Mammoth Steppe: Examining Mammoth Steppe Ecology Using Carbon And Nitrogen Isotopic Compositions Of Megafauna Collagen, Rachel E. Schwartz-Narbonne

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The Pleistocene mammoth steppe was a vast biome that stretched from northwestern Europe to central Canada. A diverse set of megaherbivore and megacarnivore species lived within this biome and there was significant ecosystem faunal and floral homogeneity. At the end of the Pleistocene, this biome disappeared, with the extinction or extirpation of many of the megafaunal species that inhabited it. This thesis reconstructs the ecology of the mammoth steppe using the isotopic compositions of carbon and nitrogen from megafaunal collagen. The reconstruction is done at a variety of ecological scales, beginning with individual animal- and season-specific isotopic studies of antlers, …

Stable Isotope Paleolimnology Of Barry Lake, Ontario, Canada Since Ad - 1268, Zijun Liu

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The paleolimnology of Barry Lake, SE Ontario, Canada is described using mineralogy, magnetic susceptibility, carbon:nitrogen ratio, mass accumulation rates, grain-size, δ¹⁸O and δ¹³C of authigenic calcite and mollusc aragonite, δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N of organic matter, and archival records. These sediments span the Medieval Warm Period (MWP), Little Ice Age (LIA), and human settlement. Interval I proxies (AD 1268-1350, MWP) indicate warmer and drier conditions and elevated lacustrine production. Interval II (AD 1350-1615) was cooler and wetter, with lower lacustrine production and low-oxygen conditions causing loss of shelly fauna. Interval III (AD 1615-1850, …

Aerobic Oxidations Mediated By Allylnickel(N-Heterocyclic Carbene)Chloride Complexes: Investigating The Role Of A Pendent Amine Group, Richard J. Hazlehurst

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Molecular oxygen (O₂) represents the most ideal "green" oxidant for the large-scale oxidation of organic compounds, due to its inexpensive and environmentally benign characteristics. However, a number of challenges remain for its use in the fine chemical and pharmaceutical industry, including the development of highly selective catalytic transformations. NiCl(allyl)(NHC) complexes have been shown to react with O₂ to promote the oxidation of the allylic ligand, however non-catalytically.

This report details the synthesis and characterization of novel NiCl(cinnamyl/allyl)(NHC) complexes, containing a pendent 2° amine arm on the NHC ligand to act as a hydrogen-bond donor group. The complexes …

Dissolved Organic Matter In Subarctic Streams And Rivers: Direct And Proxy Measures Of Quantity, Quality, And Mercury, Tara M. Despault

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The drainage network of the Hudson Bay Lowlands (HBL) peatland complex regulates the transport of freshwater and solutes, including dissolved organic matter (DOM) and mercury, to Hudson Bay. Due to the remoteness and areal extent of the HBL, traditional, campaign-based sampling programs are unable to fully elucidate the region’s hydrology and biogeochemistry. This study investigated seasonal variability of DOM quantity and quality in two distinct stream orders to explore DOM sources to surface waters in the region, and assessed optical measurements as proxies for riverine DOM and mercury. In-stream primary production and enhanced microbial processing influenced DOM characteristics during base …

The Study Of Nano-Optics In Hybrid Systems, Marek J. Brzozowski

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

In this thesis, we study the quantum light-matter interaction in polaritonic heterostructures. These systems are made by combining various nanocomponents, such as quantum dots, graphene films, metallic nanoparticles and metamaterials. These heterostructures are used to develop new optoelectronic devices due to the interaction between nanocomposites.

Photoluminescence quenching and absorption spectrum are determined and an explanatory theory is developed for these polaritonic heterostructures. Photoluminescence quenching is evaluated for a graphene, metallic nanoparticle and quantum dot system. It is shown that average distance between nanocomposites or concentration of nanocomposites affect the output these system produced. Photoluminescence quenching was also evaluated for a …

Feature Encoding Strategies For Multi-View Image Classification, Kyle Doerr

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Machine vision systems can vary greatly in size and complexity depending on the task at hand. However, the purpose of inspection, quality and reliability remains the same. This work sets out to bridge the gap between traditional machine vision and computer vision. By applying powerful computer vision techniques, we are able to achieve more robust solutions in manufacturing settings. This thesis presents a framework for applying powerful new image classification techniques used for image retrieval in the Bag of Words (BoW) framework. In addition, an exhaustive evaluation of commonly used feature pooling approaches is conducted with results showing that spatial …

Study Of Infectious Diseases By Mathematical Models: Predictions And Controls, Sm Ashrafur Rahman

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The aim of this thesis is to understand the spread, persistence and prevention mechanisms of infectious diseases by mathematical models. Microorganisms that rapidly evolve pose a constant threat to public health. Proper understanding of the transmission machinery of these existing and new pathogens may facilitate devising prevention tools. Prevention tools against transmissions, including vaccines and drugs, are evolving at a similar pace. Efficient implementation of these new tools is a fundamental issue of public health. We primarily focus on this issue and explore some theoretical frameworks.

Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is considered one of the promising interventions against HIV infection as …

Lagoon Wastewater Effluent Impacts Stream Metabolism In Red River Tributaries, Chris T. Chesworth

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Lagoons are the most common form of sewage treatment for rural Canadian communities and may therefore be a major source of pollution to local waterways. However, the environmental effects of pulse releases of lagoon effluent are largely unknown. This study reports on changes in physicochemical conditions and stream metabolism occurring as result of summer lagoon effluent releases into Red River tributaries, Manitoba, Canada. We calculated metrics of stream metabolism using the single-station, open water method. We found that an effluent release results in a significant short-term increase in physicochemical (i.e., water nutrients, stream discharge) conditions which had a subsidy effect …

Dynamically Testing Graphical User Interfaces, Santo Carino

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Software test generation for GUIs is a hard problem. The goal of this thesis is to investigate different methods for dynamically generating tests for GUIs. We introduce the concept of an event-pair graph, which is used to represent and measure test suites, and show how it can be used to generate tests and measure GUI coverage. Before we can begin generating tests, we first want to determine which is better: a small test suite with a few long tests or a large test suite with many short tests. Therefore, we designed and conducted a study to determine which is more …