Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Design Of Oppnet Virtual Machine For Opportunistic Resource Utilization Networks: A Universal Standard For Application-Level Resource Sharing, Mai A. Alduailij

Dissertations

Opportunistic resource utilization networks or oppnets are a paradigm for specialized ad hoc networks. The Oppnet Virtual Machine (OVM) is a collection of primitives designed to create a middleware for application-level resource acquisition by oppnets and oppnet-enabled systems and devices (where the latter are defined as the computational entities able to communicate with other oppnets or oppnet-enabled entities). Acquisition of communication resources is the foundation for acquisition of other resources.

The OVM primitives can be downloaded by any computational entity—making entity oppnet-enabled. OVM ensures that oppnet-enabled entities can communicate and acquire resources in an opportunistic and ad hoc manner. This …

Deposition And Characterization Of Carbon Nanotubes (Cnts) Based Films For Sensing Applications, Amila C. Dissanayake

Dissertations

The advent of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) has opened up lot of novel applications because of their unique electrical and mechanical properties. CNTs are well known material for its exceptional electrical, mechanical, optical, thermal and chemical properties. A single-wall nanotube (SWNT) can be either semiconducting, metallic or semi-metallic, based on its chirality and diameter. SWNTs can be used in transistor device as active channels due to high electron mobility (~10000 cm2/(V s), electrical interconnects, nano-scale circuits, field-emission displays, light-emitting devices and thermal heat sinks due to low resistivity, high current density (~109A cm-2) and high thermal conductivity (~3500 W m-1). Further, …

Novel Software Defined Radio Architecture With Graphics Processor Acceleration, Lalith Narasimhan

Dissertations

Wireless has become one of the most pervasive core technologies in the modern world. Demand for faster data rates, improved spectrum efficiency, higher system access capacity, seamless protocol integration, improved security and robustness under varying channel environments has led to the resurgence of programmable software defined radio (SDR) as an alternative to traditional ASIC based radios. Future SDR implementations will need support for multiple standards on platforms with multi-Gb/s connectivity, parallel processing and spectrum sensing capabilities. This dissertation implemented key technologies of importance in addressing these issues namely development of cost effective multi-mode reconfigurable SDR and providing a framework to …

Rank Based Procedures For Ordered Alternative Models, Yuanyuan Shao

Dissertations

The ordered alternatives in a one-way layout with k ordered treatment levels are appropriate for many applications, especially in psychology and medicine. There is extensive literature in this area, and many parametric and nonparametric approaches have been introduced. Abelson-Tukey (AT) test is a frequently used parametric method. Its coefficients provide an ideal way of combining means for the purpose of detecting a monotonic relationship between the independent and dependent variables. The AT method, though, is not robust. Furthermore, our initial empirical studies show that it is not more powerful than the Jonckheere-Terpstra (JT) and the Hettmansperger- Norton (HN) nonparametric tests …

Design And Synthesis Of New Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs With Anti-Cancer Activity On Colon Rectal Cancer Cell Lines Hct-116 And Caco-2, Wanda Ivette Rodríguez Rivera

Dissertations

Colon rectal cancer is one of the most common types of cancer and is the third leading cause of cancer related deaths among western countries. Current chemotherapy treatments are highly toxic and mostly result in only a low percentage of tumor reduction; therefore an effective treatment with low toxicity is needed.

In this study, different innovative new COX-2 inhibitors were synthesized using the frame of biologically active chalcones to which active COX-2 pharmacophores SO₂CH₃, SO₂NH₂, SO₂NHCOCH₃ were added. Additionally, the effect of different alkyl chain lengths and the effect …

Maintaining Consistency Between A Design Model And Its Implementation, Hector M. Chavez

Dissertations

Software design models are increasingly being used as part of the software development process as analysis and design artifacts and to automatically generate code that developers can further modify or extend, greatly expediting the software development process. This, however, has introduced the challenge of maintaining consistency between the design models and their implementation as they evolve during the development process. Traditional software testing and verification techniques have been well studied in the past, and they are an integral part of many software development projects, however, they are not well suited for consistency checking between a design model and its implementation. …

Ultrafast Charge Carrier Dynamics In Bare And Surface-Modified Semiconductor Nanoparticles, Jameel Abdul-Hadi Hasan

Dissertations

Charge-carrier relaxation dynamics in semiconductor nanoparticles has been in the forefront of research for last three decades both for their fundamental nature as well as for applications in light-harvesting, luminescent labels, light-emitting diodes and nonlinear optics. Significant research has focused on II-VI semiconductors with emphasis on CdS and CdSe that are toxic. On the other hand, ZnO and TiO2 semiconductor nanoparticles are less toxic and have enormous applications in photo-catalysis, water splitting, solar cells and optical sensors. However, the investigations of charge-carrier dynamics in these semiconductor nanomaterials compared to II-VI semiconductor quantum dots are quite limited. The knowledge of charge-carrier …

Structural Controls On The Distribution Of Groundwater In Southern Sinai, Egypt: Constraints From Geophysical And Remote Sensing Observations, Lamees Mohamed

Dissertations

An integrated (Very Low Frequency [VLF] electromagnetic, magnetic, remote sensing, field, and Geographic Information System [GIS]) study was conducted over the basement complex in Southern Sinai (Feiran watershed) for a better understanding of the structural controls on the groundwater flow. The increase in satellite-based radar backscattering values following a large precipitation event (date: 17, 18 Jan 2010; amount: 34 mm) was used to identify water-bearing features, here interpreted as preferred pathways for surface water infiltration. Findings include: (1) The distribution of the water bearing features (conductive features) correspond to that of fractures, faults, shear zones, dike swarms, and wadi networks; …

Secondary Mathematics Teachers’ Attitudes And Beliefs Toward Statistics: Developing An Initial Profile, Christina M. Zumbrun

Dissertations

Over the last several decades, mathematics education researchers have given increased attention to students’ and teachers’ attitudes and beliefs toward mathematics and statistics, but no work has been done that examines practicing secondary mathematics teachers’ (SMTs’) attitudes and beliefs towards statistics in light of the GAISE framework and the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSSM). This study begins to address this gap in the research by creating the Teacher Attitude and Beliefs toward Statistics Survey (TABSS), a synthesis of items taken from the Survey of Attitudes Toward Statistics (Schau, 2003), the Statistics Course Attitude Scale and newly developed items …

Edge Colorings Of Graphs And Their Applications, Daniel Johnston

Dissertations

Edge colorings have appeared in a variety of contexts in graph theory. In this work, we study problems occurring in three separate settings of edge colorings.

For more than a quarter century, edge colorings have been studied that induce vertex colorings in some manner. One research topic we investigate concerns edge colorings belonging to this class of problems. By a twin edge coloring of a graph G is meant a proper edge coloring of G whose colors come from the integers modulo k that induce a proper vertex coloring in which the color of a vertex is the sum of …

Electron Transmission Through Micrometer Sized Funnelshaped Tapered Glass Capillaries And Electron Micro-Beam Production, Samanthi Jayamini Wickramarachchi

Dissertations

The prime motivation of this work is to understand the fundamental transmission process of an electron beam through a funnel-shaped capillary taking into account its shape together with the energy, angular and time dependence of the transmitted electrons produce a microsized electron beam. The utilized capillaries had inlet/outlet diameters of 800/16 μm, 800/100 μm and lengths of 35 mm. Considerable transmission of 800 and 1000 eV electrons for tilt angles up to 1.5^o and only small transmission for 500 eV electrons was observed for the capillary with the smaller outlet diameter of 16 μm. Incident electrons with energies of …

Phantom Maps, Decomposability, And Spaces Meeting Particular Finiteness Conditions, James Schwass

Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation is to extend principles for detecting the existence of essential phantom maps into spaces meeting particular finiteness conditions. Zabrodsky shows that a space Y having the homotopy type of a finite CW complex is the target of essential phantom maps if and only if Y has a nontrivial rational homology group. We show this observation holds on the collection of finite generalized CW complexes. Similarly, Iriye shows a finite-type, simply connected suspension space is the target of essential phantom maps if and only if it has a nontrivial rational homology group. We show this observation …

Failing To Replicate: Hypothesis Testing As A Crucial Key To Make Direct Replications More Credible And Predictable, Pedro Fernando Mateu Bullón

Dissertations

Theory cannot be fully validated unless the original results have been replicated, resulting in conclusion consistency. Replications are the strongest source to verify research findings and knowledge claims. Sciences such as medicine, chemistry, physics, genetics, and biology, are considered successful because their knowledge claims are buttressed by a large set of replications of original studies. Unfortunately in the social sciences many attempts to replicate fail and thus there is a continuing need for replication studies to confirm facts, expand knowledge to gain new understanding, and verify hypotheses. Two plausible explanations for the failure to replicate in the social sciences could …

Comparing Slug Test Methods For Unconfined Aquifers, Hussain Jaber Alfaifi

Dissertations

Slug test methods are used to determine in situ aquifer hydraulic conductivity (K) more quickly and economically than a pump test can. This study compares slug test methods for unconfined aquifers, looking at how to conduct a test using a physical slug, and at different analysis methods including Bouwer and Rice (1976), Kansas Geological Survey (KGS 1994), Hvorslev (1951) and Dagan (1978). Questions that motivated this study include: How well does the Bouwer and Rice method work? What is the most effective way to conduct a slug test? Does using a large physical slug relative to the well diameter and …

Novel Spectroscopic Tools To Differentiate Molecule-Dna Binding Interactions, Sense Dna And Track Dna Melting, Saad Hmoud Alotaibi

Dissertations

The discovery of DNA as a genetic material and its double helical structure led to numerous studies directed at understanding molecule-DNA interactions. These studies have played an integral role in medical diagnostics, forensics, imaging and therapeutics. Typically, molecule-DNA interactions have two prominent modes: intercalation and minor groove binding. Several optical techniques are available that can monitor molecule-DNA binding interactions, but they cannot differentiate between intercalation and minor-groove binding. The major goals of the research are to develop novel optical spectroscopic tools that can differentiate molecule-DNA binding interactions, selectively and sensitively detect one form of DNA over another, and track DNA …

Three Essays On Panel Data Estimation, Alexander Houser

Dissertations

This work discusses various aspects of panel data estimation. In chapter one, an algorithm for semiparametric random effects estimation is proposed. The performance of bootstrap-based confidence intervals for the proposed estimators are examined and found reasonable. The algorithm is also applied to a set of U.S. state level medical expenditure data to estimate the medical Engel curve. In the second chapter, the predictive performance of various parametric and semiparametric panel data estimators is compared on the same dataset of U.S. state level medical expenditures as well as out of sample forecast performance and bootstrap bias-corrected mean square errors of the …

Integrating Formative Assessment Into Physics Instruction: The Effect Of Formative Vs. Summative Assessment On Student Physics Learning And Attitudes, Chaiphat Plybour

Dissertations

Of many instructional strategies used to improve teaching and learning in science, formative assessment is potentially one of the most effective. A central feature is timely feedback during learning, giving students the opportunity to benefit and improve while also enabling teachers to adjust instruction to learner needs. By contrast, conventional assessment tends to be mostly summative, assigning point scores, grading and ranking students, and providing extrinsic motivation. For maximum effectiveness in enhancing learning, formative assessment should be designed into instruction from the start rather than being an add-on. This project comprised development, teaching, and research aspects. Two physics topic modules, …