Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Tests For Correlation On Bivariate Nonnormal Distributions, Louanne Margaret Beversdorf

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Many samples in the real world are very small in size and often do not follow a normal distribution. Existing tests for correlation have restrictions on the distribution of data and sample sizes, therefore the current tests cannot be used in some real world situations.

In this thesis, two tests are considered to test hypotheses about the population correlation coefficient. The tests are based on statistics transformed by a saddlepoint approximation and by Fisher's Z-transformation. The tests are conducted on small samples of bivariate nonnormal data and found to perfom well.

Simulations were run in order to compare the type …

Routing Protocol Performance Evaluation For Mobile Ad-Hoc Networks, Pedro A. Lopez-Fernandez

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Currently, MANETs are a very active area of research, due to their great potential to provide networking capabilities when it is not feasible to have a fixed infrastructure in place, or to provide a complement to the existing infrastructure. Routing in this kind of network is much more challenging than in conventional networks, due to its mobile nature and limited power and hardware resources.

The most practical way to conduct routing studies of MANETs is by means of simulators such as GloMoSim. GloMoSim was utilized in this research to investigate various performance statistics and draw comparisons among different MANET routing …

Generalization Of The Hybrid Logistic Model For More Than One Rare Risk Factor, Mamunur Rashid

Mathematics Faculty Publications

Logistic models are commonly used to analyze case-control data. For case-control studies, if there tends be rare disease in the control group with the risk factors, then the estimation procedure using logistic regression model for such factors becomes difficult. To overcome such situation, Chen et. al. (2003) proposed a hybrid logistic model in which they first estimate the problematic risk factor assuming that proportions having disease of such risk factor are treated equal for all permissible strata of the other risk factors, and then the residual of the risk factors are modeled by using logistic regression model. The purpose of …

Characterization And Synthesis Of Nanoscale Materials, Jinfeng Wang

Doctoral Dissertations

"This dissertation focuses on the systematic study of techniques for characterization and synthesis of nanoscale materials. We have achieved several goals. Firstly, high number density uniform zinc oxide nanostructure growth has been achieved using thermal evaporation, through control of experimental parameters that include source material temperature, substrate temperature, substrate material, gas flow rate, and choice of catalyst. Aligned zinc oxide nanowires, randomly oriented zinc oxide nanowires, zinc oxide container-shaped structures, and zinc oxide nanobelts have been synthesized with high yield. Secondly, using a one parameter family of lattice fringe geometry curves, we show how to examine the epitaxial relationship between …

Synthesis And Characterization Of New Luminescent Late Transition Metal Complexes Containing The Tridentate 1,3-Di(N-Pyrazolyl)-4,6-Dimethyl Benzene Ligand, Brian Christopher Gruver

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The tridentate 1,3-di(N-pyrazolyl) benzene L 1 was synthesized from dibromobenzene and pyrazole. When reacted with K2PtC14 and IrCl3 the asymmetric complexes (µ-Cl)2(PtL1 )2 and (µ-Cl)2[lr L12]2 were obtained. The tridentate l ,3- dimethyl-4,6-(di-N-pyrazolyl) benzene ligand L2 , was synthesized from di-bromo-mxylene and pyrazole. The ligand was reacted with K2PtC14 to give L2 PtCl. Further reaction with phenylacetylene led to the air sensitive acetylide complex L2 PtC=C(C6H5). L2 PtCl could also be reacted with AgOTf in acetonitrile to give [L2 PtN=CCH3] OTf. Reaction with other late transition metals led to the di-chloro bridged iridium dimer (µ-Cl)2[L 2IrCl]2 and the square planar …

Energy Efficient Clustering And Secure Data Aggregation In Wireless Sensor Networks, Julia Albath

Doctoral Dissertations

"Communication consumes the majority of a wireless sensor network's limited energy. There are several ways to reduce the communication cost. Two approaches used in this work are clustering and in-network aggregation. The choice of a cluster head within each cluster is important because cluster heads use additional energy for their responsibilities and that burden needs to be carefully distributed. We introduce the energy constrained minimum dominating set (ECDS) to model the problem of optimally choosing cluster heads in the presence of energy constraints. We show its applicability to sensor networks and give an approximation algorithm of O(log n) for solving …

The Effect Of Free Chlorine And Monochloramine On Lead In Drinking Water And Epitaxial Electrodeposition Of Tin Sulfide, Sansanee Boonsalee

Doctoral Dissertations

"Electrochemical deposition is utilized in various electronic and photovoltaic applications and in the protective coating industries. This dissertation primarily addresses the environmental aspects of electrochemical deposition. In the first part of this study, Pb dissolution in drinking water was investigated in the presence of two disinfectants: free chlorine (in the form of HOCI/OCr) and monochloramine (NH₂Cl). In the second part of this study, epitaxial SnS nanodisks were electrodeposited onto a Au(100) substrate. Water utility systems use either free chlorine or monochloramine in their disinfection program. Whereas free chlorine reacts with natural organic matter in the water to produce halogenated organic …

Modeling And Synergy Testing Of Drug Combination Data: A Pharmacokinetic Analysis, Jacy Rebecca Crosby

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this paper, we present and implement a method to assess the mathematical synergy of two-drug combinations based on a stochastic model. The drugs in question are two isomers that are applied to the human eye via a liquid eye drop. Techniques applied to the data in this paper can be applied to other two-drug combination studies.

We derive the mean and the variance terms of the drug combination "effects" in closed form using Ito's method of stochastic differential equations. The model fit of the data to the individual subject is examined by both statistical and graphical methods. Two estimation …

Estimating Bounds For Nonidentifiale Parameters Using Potential Outcomes, Thidaporn Supapakorn

Doctoral Dissertations

"Conclusions from studies vary regarding the association of weight loss among obese people and measures of health and/or mortality. Total weight loss for individuals in a population may be a combination of intentional weight loss (IWL) and unintentional weight loss (UWL). Among people who have no intention to lose weight, the total weight loss observed is UWL. Among people who have intention to lose weight, the total weight loss is assumed to be UWL and IWL. Note that total weight loss among subjects intending to lose weight is observable but IWL itself is not and, therefore, the latent variable that …

Business-Oriented Software Process Improvement Based On Cmm And Cmmi Using Qfd, Yan Sun

Doctoral Dissertations

"Software Process Improvement (SPI) has become the key to the survival of many software development organizations. Many international SPI models/standards are developed for SPI. The Capability Maturity Model (CMM) and Capability Maturity Model Integrated (CMMI)) from the Software Engineering Institute are two SPI models. In this study, several existing SPI models and approaches are reviewed, their advantages are identified, and their drawbacks are discussed. A set of new SPI frameworks integrating Quality Function Deployment (QFD) with both CMM and CMMI are developed by combining the best features of previous approaches and addressing their limitations"--Abstract, page iii.

Time Reversal, Brian E. Anderson, Michele Griffa, Paul A. Johnson, Carene Larmat, Timothy J. Ulrich

Faculty Publications

This article provides an historical overview of Time Reversal (TR), introduces its basic physics, addresses advantages and limitations, and describes some applications of this very active research area of acoustics. In the Geophysics Group at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, we conduct studies of TR of elastic waves in solids. Our work includes application of TR to nondestructive evaluation of materials, as well as to earthquake source characterization, and ground-based nuclear explosion monitoring. We emphasize the term elastic waves here to underscore that we include both compression and shear waves, in contrast to purely acoustic waves that are only compressional.

A Reductio Ad Absurdum Experiment In Sufficiency For Evaluating (Computational) Creative Systems, Dan A. Ventura

Faculty Publications

We consider a combination of two recent proposals for characterizing computational creativity and explore the sufficiency of the resultant framework. We do this in the form of a gedanken experiment designed to expose the nature of the framework, what it has to say about computational creativity, how it might be improved and what questions this raises.

Automatic Composition Of Themed Mood Pieces, Heather Chan, Dan A. Ventura

Faculty Publications

Musical harmonization of a given melody is a nontrivial problem; slight variations in instrumentation, voicing, texture, and bass rhythm can lead to significant differences in the mood of the resulting piece. This study explores the possibility of automatic musical composition by using machine learning and statistical natural language processing to tailor a piece to a particular mood using an existing melody.

Determining The Refractive Index In The Extreme Ultraviolet Using Kramers-Kronig On Thin-Film Scandium Oxide Transmission Data, David D. Allred, Jacqualine J. Butterfield

Faculty Publications

Whereas the real part of the refractive index is dependent on both transmittance and reflectance, the imaginary part can be determined from transmittance data alone. It is possible to use Kramers-Kronig analysis to calculate the real part if the imaginary part is known over a sufficiently broad range. We show that the delta calculated from reflection and transmission data without taking into account roughness may underestimate the real part of the refractive index of the scandium oxide samples we are studying by up to 40% near 270 eV.

Nanoscale Characterization Of Thin Film Coatings Using Annular Dark Field Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy, Guillermo Acosta, Richard Vanfleet, David D. Allred

Faculty Publications

When considering the optical performance of thin films in the Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV), developing an accurate physical description of a thin film coating is necessary to be able to successfully model optical performance. With the short wavelengths of the EUV, film interfaces and sample roughness warrant special attention and care. The surfaces of thin film samples are routinely measured by Atomic Force Microscopy, from which roughness can be determined. However, characterizing the quality of interfaces below the surface is much more challenging. In a recent study of scandium oxide thin films, High Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy and Annular Dark Field …

Utilizing Phrase-Similarity Measures For Detecting And Clustering Informative Rss News Articles, Yiu-Kai D. Ng, Maria Soledad Pera

Faculty Publications

As the number of RSS news feeds continue to increase over the Internet, it becomes necessary to minimize the workload of the user who is otherwise required to scan through huge numbers of news articles to find related articles of interest, which is a tedious and often an impossible task. In order to solve this problem, we present a novel approach, called InFRSS, which consists of a correlation-based phrase matching (CPM) model and a fuzzy compatibility clustering (FCC) model. CPM can detect RSS news articles containing phrases that are the same as well as semantically alike, and dictate the degrees …

Digital Cs1 Study Pack Based On Moodle And Python, Atanas Radenski

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Books and Book Chapters

We believe that CS1 courses can be made more attractive to students:

• by teaching a highly interactive scripting language – Python
• by using an open source course management system - such as Moodle - to make all course resources available in a comprehensive digital study pack, and
• by offering detailed self-guided online labs

We have used Moodle [1] and Python [2] to develop a "Python First" digital study pack [3] which comprises a wealth of new, original learning modules: extensive e-texts, detailed self-guided labs, numerous sample programs, quizzes, and slides. Our digital study pack pedagogy is described in recent ITiCSE …

Reduced Acute Inflammatory Responses To Microgel Conformal Coatings, Amanda W. Bridges, Neetu Singh, Kellie L. Burns, Julia E. Babensee, L. Andrew Lyon, Andrés J. García

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Implantation of synthetic materials into the body elicits inflammatory host responses that limit medical device integration and biological performance. This inflammatory cascade involves protein adsorption, leukocyte recruitment and activation, cytokine release, and fibrous encapsulation of the implant. We present a coating strategy based on thin films of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) hydrogel microparticles (i.e. microgels) cross-linked with poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate. These particles were grafted onto a clinically relevant polymeric material to generate conformal coatings that significantly reduced in vitro fibrinogen adsorption and primary human monocyte/macrophage adhesion and spreading. These microgel coatings also reduced leukocyte adhesion and expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNF-alpha, IL-1 beta, …

Synthesis Of Multifunctional Nanogels Using A Protected Macromonomer Approach, Neetu Singh, L. Andrew Lyon

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Nanoparticles possessing multiple functionalities provide synthetic handles for varied surface chemistries, making them useful for a range of applications such as biotargeting and drug delivery. However, the combination of interfering functionalities on the same particle is often challenging. We have employed a synthetic scheme involving chemical protection/deprotection to combine interfering functional groups on the same hydrogel nanoparticle. The synthesis of amine-containing poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) nanogels was carried out via free radical precipitation polymerization by incorporating a Fmoc-protected amine poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) macromonomer. The Fmoc group was then removed to obtain free amines, which were shown to be available for conjugation. We further …

Salt Marshes As A Source Of Chromophoric Dissolved Organic Matter (Cdom) To Southern California Coastal Waters, Catherine D. Clark, Liannea P. Litz, Stanley B. Grant

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

To determine chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM) sources in Southern California coastal waters, optical properties of a river outlet and adjacent tidally flushed salt marshes were monitored (dry season; June July 2001). Average absorption coefficients doubled at ebb vs. flood tides (4.8 +/- 1.5 vs. 2.1 +/- 0.9 m(-1); 300 nm), suggesting significant salt marsh CDOM inputs into coastal waters. Average spectral slopes were not statistically different for any sites or tides (0.010 +/- 0.002 nm(-1)), consistent with salt marsh CDOM dominating coastal waters. Three-dimensional fluorescence excitation-emission matrices (EEMs) at ebb tide showed contributions from terrestrial, protein, and marine humic-like …

Network Formation Using Ant Colony Optimization -- A Systematic Review, Steven C. Oimoen, Gilbert L. Peterson, Kenneth M. Hopkinson

Faculty Publications

A significant area of research in the field of hybrid communications is the Network Design Problem (NDP) [1]. The NDP is an NP complete problem [1] that focuses on identifying the optimal network topology for transmitting commodities between nodes, under constraints such as bandwidth, limited compatible directed channels, and link and commodity costs. The NDP focuses on designing a flexible network while trying to achieve optimal flow or routing. If a link (or arc) is used, then an associated fixed cost of the edge is incurred. In addition, there is a cost for using the arc depending on the flow. …

Contrasting The 2007 And 2005 Hurricane Seasons: Evidence Of Possible Impacts Of Saharan Dry Air And Dust On Tropical Cyclone Activity In The Atlantic Basin, D. Sun, K. M. Lau, Menas Kafatos

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

In this study, we provide preliminary evidence of possible modulation by Saharan dust of hurricane genesis and intensification, by contrasting the 2007 and 2005 hurricane seasons. It is found that dust aerosol loadings over the Atlantic Ocean are much higher in 2007 than in 2005. The temperature difference between 2007 and 2005 shows warming in the low-middle troposphere (900–700 hPa) in the dusty region in the eastern North Atlantic, and cooling in the Main Development Region (MDR). The humidity (wind) differences between 2007 and 2005 indicate significant drying (subsidence) in the Western North Atlantic (WNA) in 2007. The drier air …

A Study Of Land Surface Processes Using Land Surface Models Over The Little River Experimental Watershed, A. K. Sahoo, P. A. Dirmeyer, P. R. Houser, Menas Kafatos

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

Three different land surface models (Hydrological improvements to the Simplified version of the Simple Biosphere model (HySSiB), Noah model, and Community Land Model (CLM)) were simulated on the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center’s Land Information System platform at 1-km resolution over the Little River Experimental Watershed, Georgia, and the simulated results were analyzed to address the local-scale land-atmosphere processes. All the three models simulated the soil moisture in space and time realistically. The Noah model produced higher soil moisture whereas the CLM got lower soil moisture with many dry down phases. CLM and HySSiB models were oversensitive to the atmospheric …

Patterns For Active E-Learning In Cms Environments, Atanas Radenski

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

The proliferation of course management systems (CMS) in the last decade stimulated educators in establishing novel active e-learning practices. Only a few of these practices, however, have been systematically described and published as pedagogic patterns. The lack of formal patterns is an obstacle to the systematic reuse of beneficial active e-learning experiences. This paper aims to partially fill the void by offering a collection of active e-learning patterns that are derived from our continuous course design experience in standard CMS environments, such as Moodle and Black-board. Our technical focus is on active e-learning patterns that can boost student interest in …

The Java 5 Generics Compromise Orthogonality To Keep Compatibility, Atanas Radenski, Jeff Furlong, Vladimir Zanev

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

In response to a long-lasting anticipation by the Java community, version 1.5 of the Java 2 platform - referred to as Java 5 - introduced generic types and methods to the Java language. The Java 5 generics are a significant enhancement to the language expressivity because they allow straightforward composition of new generic classes from existing ones while reducing the need for a plethora of type casts. While the Java 5 generics are expressive, the chosen implementation method, type erasure, has triggered undesirable orthogonality violations. This paper identifies six cases of orthogonality violations in the Java 5 generics and demonstrates …

Color Transparency In Qcd And Post-Selection In Quantum Mechanics, Shmuel Nussinov, Jeff Tollaksen

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

We discuss color transparency in the nuclear QCD context from the perspective of pre- and post-selected ensembles. We show that the small size of the hadronic states can be explained by the peculiar "force of post-selection," in contrast to the more standard explanation based on external forces.

Rational Functions Associated To The White Noise Space And Related Topics, Daniel Alpay, David Levanony

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

Motivated by the hyper-holomorphic case we introduce and study rational functions in the setting of Hida’s white noise space. The Fueter polynomials are replaced by a basis computed in terms of the Hermite functions, and the Cauchy-Kovalevskaya product is replaced by the Wick product.

A Workflow Visual Modeler And Its Interface To Existing Workflow Management Systems, Jyoti Chaturvedi

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The rapid growth and complexity of today's businesses have created a need for business process management approaches that will promote the efficient functioning of these organizations. Users of business process management tools greatly benefit from using visual process modeling capabilities. Cross-business interaction sets forth the need for standardization of notations in designing these models.

The goal of this thesis is to study state of the art business process management notations and state of the art diagramming frameworks associated with building a Visual Modeler that can be easily integrated with existing workflow management systems. This thesis presents a Visual Modeler that …

Preserd - Privacy Ensured Service Discovery In Mobile Peer-To-Peer Environment, Santhosh Muthyapu

Masters Theses

"In mobile peer-to-peer networks many service discovery protocols have been proposed. Most of these protocols disregard the exposure of the participating peers' privacy details, although they consider the security issues. In these methods, the participating peers must provide their identities, during the service discovery process, to be authorized to utilize the service. However, a peer might not be willing to reveal its identity until it identifies the service providing peer. So these peers face a problem; should the requesting peer or the service providing peer reveal the identity first, and hence, this is similar to the chicken-and-egg problem. The protocol …

Kinetics And Thermodynamics Of Salt-Dependent T7 Gene 2.5 Protein Binding To Single- And Double-Stranded Dna., Leila Shokri, Boriana Marintcheva, Mootaz Eldib, Andreas Hanke, Ioulia Rouzina, Mark C. Williams

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Publications

Bacteriophage T7 gene 2.5 protein (gp2.5) is a single-stranded DNA (ssDNA)-binding protein that has essential roles in DNA replication, recombination and repair. However, it differs from other ssDNA-binding proteins by its weaker binding to ssDNA and lack of cooperative ssDNA binding. By studying the rate-dependent DNA melting force in the presence of gp2.5 and its deletion mutant lacking 26 C-terminal residues, we probe the kinetics and thermodynamics of gp2.5 binding to ssDNA and double-stranded DNA (dsDNA). These force measurements allow us to determine the binding rate of both proteins to ssDNA, as well as their equilibrium association constants to dsDNA. …