Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

An Integrated Drought Index (Idi) Incorporating Physical And Social Aspects, Rebecca L. Lanier

Master's Theses

The purpose of this research was to determine significant bio-physical (physical and environmental) and social variables that can be integrated into a drought index to predict areas susceptible to drought. Severe drought events are capable of causing millions of dollars in damage. The 1988 drought caused the United States approximately $40 billion in damage. Drought forecasting, modeling, and detection have, therefore, become imperative to understand the social, economic and environmental impacts of droughts, and also to explore how these impacts play a role in the occurrence of a drought. A number of drought indices widely used in the U.S. rely …

The Vascular Flora Of Wayne County, Mississippi, Daniel M. Mcnair

Master's Theses

The vascular flora of Wayne County, Mississippi, was surveyed from 2013–2015, and the species of native and naturalized plants are listed. In total, 1,135 species were identified from field collections, previously collected herbarium specimens, and field observations. These belong to 556 genera and 165 families. Four of these species represent first recorded occurrences in the state of Mississippi: Blyxa aubertii Rich., Gomphrena serrata Pav. ex Moq., Isoetes valida (Engelm.) Clute, and Polypogon interruptus Kunth. GPS coordinates are given for important collection sites representing the diversity of plant communities in the county. All voucher specimens from the survey are deposited in …

A Statistical Model For The Prediction Of Dissolved Oxygen Dynamics And The Potential For Hypoxia In The Mississippi Sound And Bight, Andreas Moshogianis

Master's Theses

Hypoxia events occur when dissolved oxygen concentrations fall below the minimum threshold (dissolved oxygen concentrations < 2 mg O₂ L^-1) necessary to avoid respiratory distress among aquatic organisms. In the Mississippi Sound and Bight, hypoxia is most prevalent from late-spring through late summer. Since hypoxia events can have dramatic effects on coastal fisheries, the spatial and temporal magnitude of hypoxia presents a clear threat to the productive fisheries in the northern Gulf of Mexico. Long-term hydrographic data were collected from eight sampling stations on a monthly basis from January 2009 to December 2011 along a cross-shelf transect from the mouth of …

Recreation Ecology Of Colorado Fourteeners: An Assessment Of Trail Usage And Impacts, James C. Ewing

Master's Theses

The popularity of climbing Colorado’s 14,000 ft. peaks, or “Fourteeners”, has risen dramatically in recent years, raising important sustainability and management questions. Moreover, groups managing the peaks operate with major capital constraints so their efforts need to be informed, prioritized, and efficient. This paper gauges the dynamics of trail usage, explanatory variables, and recreational impacts across all 58 Fourteeners, and details evaluation adjustments that minimize error and produce results in-step with the resource management framework. Relative to a baseline study completed in 2005, substantial changes occurred in trail usage and impact dynamics. The greatest changes were concentrated on peaks previously …

Mixed-Criticality Job Models: A Comparison, Sanjoy K. Baruah, Zhishan Guo

Computer Science Faculty Research & Creative Works

The Vestal model in widely used in the real-time scheduling community for representing mixed-criticality real-time workloads. This model requires that multiple WCET estimates -- one for each criticality level in a system -- be obtained for each task. Burns suggests that being required to obtain too many WCET estimates may place an undue burden on system developers, and proposes a simplification to the Vestal model that makes do with just two WCET estimates per task. Burns makes a convincing case in favor of adopting this simplified model; here, we report on our attempts at comparing the two models -- Vestal’s …

Non-Commutative Holomorphic Functions On Operator Domains, Jim Agler, John E. Mccarthy

Mathematics Faculty Research

We characterize functions of d-tuples of bounded operators on a Hilbert space that are uniformly approximable by free polynomials on balanced open sets.

Building Crowd Movement Model Using Sample-Based Mobility Survey, Larry J. J. Lin, Shih-Fen Cheng, Hoong Chuin Lau

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Crowd simulation is a well-studied topic, yet it usually focuses on visualization. In this paper, we study a special class of crowd simulation, where individual agents have diverse backgrounds, ad hoc objectives, and non-repeating visits. Such crowd simulation is particularly useful when modeling human agents movement in leisure settings such as visiting museums or theme parks. In these settings, we are interested in accurately estimating aggregate crowd-related movement statistics. As comprehensive monitoring is usually not feasible for a large crowd, we propose to conduct mobility surveys on only a small group of sampled individuals. We demonstrate via simulation that we …

Learning And Controlling Network Diffusion In Dependent Cascade Models, Jiali Du, Pradeep Varakantham, Akshat Kumar, Shih-Fen Cheng

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Diffusion processes have increasingly been used to represent flow of ideas, traffic and diseases in networks. Learning and controlling the diffusion dynamics through management actions has been studied extensively in the context of independent cascade models, where diffusion on outgoing edges from a node are independent of each other. Our work, in contrast, addresses (a) learning diffusion taking management actions to alter the diffusion dynamics to achieve a desired outcome in dependent cascade models. A key characteristic of such dependent cascade models is the flow preservation at all nodes in the network. For example, traffic and people flow is preserved …

Incremental Dcop Search Algorithms For Solving Dynamic Dcop Problems, William Yeoh, Pradeep Varakantham, Xiaoxun Sun, Sven Koenig

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Distributed constraint optimization (DCOP) problems are well-suited for modeling multi-agent coordination problems. However, it only models static problems, which do not change over time. Consequently, researchers have introduced the Dynamic DCOP (DDCOP) model to model dynamic problems. In this paper, we make two key contributions: (a) a procedure to reason with the incremental changes in DDCOPs and (b) an incremental pseudo-tree construction algorithm that can be used by DCOP algorithms such as any-space ADOPT and any-space BnB-ADOPT to solve DDCOPs. Due to the incremental reasoning employed, our experimental results show that any-space ADOPT and any-space BnB-ADOPT are up to 42% …

Incorporating Analytics Into A Business Process Modelling Course, Gottipati Swapna, Shankararaman, Venky

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Embedding analytics is about integrating data analytics into operational systems that are part of an organization’s business processes. Currently, most organizations focus on automation business processes and enhancing productivity. However, going forward, in order to stay competitive, organizations have to go beyond automating their processes, by making them more intelligent, by embedding analytics into their processes and business applications. Therefore, there is need for enhancing the knowledge and skills of BPM professionals with know-how on improving a business process by embedding analytics into the workflow. In this paper contribution, the authors share their experience on how an existing process modelling, …

Adaptive Duty Cycling In Sensor Networks With Energy Harvesting Using Continuous-Time Markov Chain And Fluid Models, Ronald Wai Hong Chan, Pengfei Zhang, Ido Nevat, Sai Ganesh Nagarajan, Alvin Cerdena Valera, Hwee Xian Tan

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

The dynamic and unpredictable nature of energy harvesting sources available for wireless sensor networks, and the time variation in network statistics like packet transmission rates and link qualities, necessitate the use of adaptive duty cycling techniques. Such adaptive control allows sensor nodes to achieve long-run energy neutrality, where energy supply and demand are balanced in a dynamic environment such that the nodes function continuously. In this paper, we develop a new framework enabling an adaptive duty cycling scheme for sensor networks that takes into account the node battery level, ambient energy that can be harvested, and application-level QoS requirements. We …

Coordinated Persuasion With Dynamic Group Formation For Collaborative Elderly Care, Budhitama Subagdja, Ah-Hwee Tan

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Ageing in place demands a new paradigm of inhouse caregiving allowing many aspects of daily lives to be tackled by smart appliances and technologies. The important challenges include the effective provision of recommendations by multiple parties of caregiver constituting changes of the user’s behavior. In this multiagent environment, interdependencies between agents become major issues to tackle. This paper presents an approach of dynamic group formation for autonomous caregiving agents to collaborate in recommending different aspects of well-being. The approach supports the agents to regulate the timing of their recommendations, prevent conflicting messages, and cooperate to make more effective persuasions. A …

Boundary-Layer Flow Of Nanofluids Over A Moving Surface In The Presence Of Thermal Radiation, Viscous Dissipation And Chemical Reaction, Eshetu Haile, B. Shankar

Applications and Applied Mathematics: An International Journal (AAM)

The flow problem presented in the paper is boundary-layer flow of nanofluids over a moving surface in the presence of thermal radiation, viscous dissipation and chemical reaction. The plate is assumed to move in the same or opposite direction to the free stream which depends on the sign of the velocity parameter. The partial differential equations appearing in the governing equations are transformed into a couple of nonlinear ordinary differential equations using similarity transformations. The transformed equations in turn are solved numerically by the shooting method along with the fourth order Runge-Kutta integration technique. Influences of the pertinent parameters in …

An Optimal Reinsurance Contract From Insurer's And Reinsurer's Viewpoints, Ali P. Bazaz, Amir T. Payandeh Najafabadi

Applications and Applied Mathematics: An International Journal (AAM)

This article constructs two classes of appropriate reinsurance contracts from both an insurer’s and a reinsurer’s viewpoints. The first class, say C; has been constructed by minimizing the conditional tail expectation, say CTE, of an insurer’s random risk. Then an optimal reinsurance contract has been obtained by estimating the reinsurance’s random risk, using the Bayesian estimation method while the second class of reinsurance contracts, say C*; is obtained by minimizing a convex combination of the CTE of both the insurer’s and reinsurer’s random risks. These two approaches consider both the insurer’s and reinsurer’s viewpoints to establish an optimal reinsurance contract. …

On The Growth Of Solutions Of The Generalized Axially Symmetric, Reduced Wave Equation In (N + 1) Variables, Devendra Kumar

Applications and Applied Mathematics: An International Journal (AAM)

In this paper we have investigated the growth properties of solutions of the generalized axially symmetric, reduced wave equation in (n + 1) variables. Results analogus to those for order and type found in the theory of entire functions of several complex variables, of solutions, in terms of their expansion coefficients have been obtained. Our study is essential to a detailed understanding of the scattering of waves by central potentials and may be applied for generalized (n + 2)􀀀dimensional problems of potential scattering in quantum mechanics.

The Fuzzy Over-Relaxed Proximal Point Iterative Scheme For Generalized Variational Inclusion With Fuzzy Mappings, Rais Ahmad, Mijanur Rahaman, Haider A. Rizvi

Applications and Applied Mathematics: An International Journal (AAM)

This paper deals with the introduction of a fuzzy over-relaxed proximal point iterative scheme based on H(-, -)-cocoercivity framework for solving a generalized variational inclusion problem with fuzzy mappings. The resolvent operator technique is used to approximate the solution of generalized variational inclusion problem with fuzzy mappings and convergence of the iterative sequences generated by the iterative scheme is discussed. Our results can be treated as refinement of many previously-known results.

Differential Transform Method For Solving The Two-Dimensional Fredholm Integral Equations, F. Ziyaee, A. Tari

Applications and Applied Mathematics: An International Journal (AAM)

In this paper, we develop the Differential Transform (DT) method in a new scheme to solve the two-dimensional Fredholm integral equations (2D-FIEs) of the second kind. The differential transform method is a procedure to obtain the coefficients of the Taylor expansion of the solution of differential and integral equations. So, one can obtain the Taylor expansion of the solution of arbitrary order and hence the solution of the given equation can be obtained with required accuracy. Here, we first give some basic definitions and properties about DT from references, and then we prove some theorems to extend the DT method …

Dynamics Of An Sir Model With Nonlinear Incidence And Treatment Rate, Balram Dubey, Preeti Dubey, Uma S. Dubey

Applications and Applied Mathematics: An International Journal (AAM)

In this paper, global dynamics of an SIR model are investigated in which the incidence rate is being considered as Beddington-DeAngelis type and the treatment rate as Holling type II (saturated). Analytical study of the model shows that the model has two equilibrium points (diseasefree equilibrium (DFE) and endemic equilibrium (EE)). The disease-free equilibrium (DFE) is locally asymptotically stable when reproduction number is less than one. Some conditions on the model parameters are obtained to show the existence as well as nonexistence of limit cycle. Some sufficient conditions for global stability of the endemic equilibrium using Lyapunov function are obtained. …

Laminar Boundary Layer Flow Of Sisko Fluid, Manisha Patel, Jayshri Patel, M. G. Timol

Applications and Applied Mathematics: An International Journal (AAM)

The problem of steady two dimensional laminar boundary layer flow of non-Newtonian fluid is analyzed in the present paper. Sisko fluid model, one of the various fluid models of non- Newtonian fluid, is considered for stress-strain relationship. Similarity and numerical solutions obtained for the defined flow problem.

A New Analytic Numeric Method Solution For Fractional Modified Epidemiological Model For Computer Viruses, Ali H. Handam, Asad A. Freihat

Applications and Applied Mathematics: An International Journal (AAM)

Computer viruses are an extremely important aspect of computer security, and understanding their spread and extent is an important component of any defensive strategy. Epidemiological models have been proposed to deal with this issue, and we present one such here. We consider the modified epidemiological model for computer viruses (SAIR) proposed by J. R. C. Piqueira and V. O. Araujo. This model includes an antidotal population compartment (A) representing nodes of the network equipped with fully effective anti-virus programs. The multi-step generalized differential transform method (MSGDTM) is employed to compute an approximation to the solution of the model of fractional …

Algorithm For Solving Tri-Diagonal Finite Volume Discretized Linear Systems, J. S. V. R. Krishna Prasad, Parag V. Patil

Applications and Applied Mathematics: An International Journal (AAM)

In this paper we present efficient computational algorithms for solving finite volume discretized tri-diagonal linear systems. The implementation of the algorithm for steady state finite volume structured grids linear system using MS Excel is presented. An example is given in order to illustrate the algorithms.

Period Change And Stellar Evolution Of Β Cephei Stars, Hilding R. Neilson, Richard Ignace

ETSU Faculty Works

The β Cephei stars represent an important class of massive star pulsators that probe the evolution of B-type stars and the transition from main sequence to hydrogen-shell burning evolution. By understanding β Cep stars, we gain insights into the detailed physics of massive star evolution, including rotational mixing, convective core overshooting, magnetic fields, and stellar winds, all of which play important roles. Similarly, modeling their pulsation provides additional information into their interior structures. Furthermore, measurements of the rate of change of pulsation period offer a direct measure of β Cephei stellar evolution. In this work, we compute state-of-the-art stellar evolution …

Computational Analysis Of The Sir Mathematical Model For The Dengue Fever, Joseph Phillip Diaz

Theses and Dissertations

Dengue fever is a disease affecting people in more than 100 countries. Here we consider a host and vector model for the transmission of dengue fever. This SIR model consists of three compartments of susceptible, infective and removed for host (human) and two compartments of susceptible and infective for vector (dengue mosquitos). These five compartments yield five coupled nonlinear ordinary differential equations (ODEs). After non-dimensionalization, we have a system of three nonlinear ODEs. Reproductive number and two equilibrium points are calculated for various cases. Simulation is carried out for susceptible, infective and removed and the results are presented in graphical …

The Distribution And Reproductive Success Of The Western Snowy Plover Along The Oregon Coast - 2015, David J. Lauten, Kathleen A. Castelein, J. Daniel Farrar, Adam A. Kotaich, Eleanor P. Gaines

Institute for Natural Resources Publications

We monitored the distribution, abundance and productivity of the federally threatened Western Snowy Plover (Charadrius nivosus nivosus) along the Oregon coast from 3 April – 11 September 2015. From north to south, we surveyed and monitored plover activity at Sutton Beach, Siltcoos River estuary, the Dunes Overlook, North and South Tahkenitch Creek, Tenmile Creek, Coos Bay North Spit, Bandon Snowy Plover Management Area, New River HRA and adjacent lands, and Floras Lake. Our objectives in 2015 were to: 1) estimate the size of the adult Snowy Plover population along the Oregon coast, 2) locate plover nests, 3) determine …

Evaluation Of Large‑Scale Meteorological Patterns Associated With Temperature Extremes In The Narccap Regional Climate Model Simulations, Paul C. Loikith, Duane E. Waliser, Huikyo Lee, J. David Neelin, Benjamin Lintner, Seth Mcginnis, Linda Mears, Jinwon Kim

Geography Faculty Publications and Presentations

Large-scale meteorological patterns (LSMPs) associated with temperature extremes are evaluated in a suite of regional climate model (RCM) simulations contributing to the North American Regional Climate Change Assessment Program. LSMPs are characterized through composites of surface air temperature, sea level pressure, and 500 hPa geopotential height anomalies concurrent with extreme temperature days. Six of the seventeen RCM simulations are driven by boundary conditions from reanalysis while the other eleven are driven by one of four global climate models (GCMs). Four illustrative case studies are analyzed in detail. Model fidelity in LSMP spatial representation is high for cold winter extremes near …

Simulations Of A New Response-Adaptive Biased Coin Design, Aleksandra Stein

Department of Statistics: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Modern medical experiments accrue and treat patients--hence obtain treatment response data--throughout a trial. Designs which prospectively plan to modify patient allocation by leveraging accumulating data are response-adaptive randomization (RAR) designs. Many such designs attempt to balance the desire to bias assignment proportions towards a treatment which is performing better against the need to maintain randomization in the face of continued equipoise.

This dissertation consists of simulated investigations into frequentist and ethical properties of an new RAR biased coin design. Chapter 2 proposes a new adaptive design for phase III clinical trials, a modification of the 2001 Bandyopadhyay and Biswas biased …

Analysis Of Neuronal Sequences Using Pairwise Biases, Zachary Roth

Department of Mathematics: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Sequences of neuronal activation have long been implicated in a variety of brain functions. In particular, these sequences have been tied to memory formation and spatial navigation in the hippocampus, a region of mammalian brains. Traditionally, neuronal sequences have been interpreted as noisy manifestations of neuronal templates (i.e., orderings), ignoring much richer structure contained in the sequences. This paper introduces a new tool for understanding neuronal sequences: the bias matrix. The bias matrix captures the probabilistic tendency of each neuron to fire before or after each other neuron. Despite considering only pairs of neurons, the bias matrix captures the best …

Olfactory Enrichment In California Sea Lions (Zalophus Californianus), Mystera M. Samuelson

Dissertations

In the wild, California sea lions (Zalophus californianus) are exposed to a wide array of sensory information at all times. However, it is impossible for captive environments to provide this level of complexity. Therefore unique procedures and practices are necessary for the maintenance of physiological and psychological health in captive animals (Wells, 2009). This project aims to explore the behavioral effect of scent added to the environment, with the goal of improving the welfare of captive sea lions by introducing two scent types: 1.) Natural scents, found in their native environment, and 2.) Non-natural scents, not found in …

Hybrid Aryl-Ether-Ketone And Hyperbranched Epoxy Networks, John Misasi

Dissertations

In this dissertation, relationships between chemical structures, cure kinetics and network architectures are correlated to bulk mechanical properties for novel, hybrid epoxy-amine networks. The work is split into two primary sections: the first is the synthesis and characterization of multifunctional glassy networks based on aryl-ether-ketone diamine curatives, while the second is based on the synthesis and characterization of hyperbranched epoxy polymers and their resulting networks.

Three aryl-ether-ketone (AEK) diamines of increasing molecular weights were synthesized and used to cure 4,4’-tetraglycidylether of diaminodiphenylmethane (TGDDM); the resulting networks were compared to 4,4’-diaminodiphenyl sulfone cured TGDDM. Architectural differences were created by varying cure …

Macrobenthic Communities In The Northern Gulf Of Mexico Hypoxic Zone: Testing The Pearson-Rosenberg Model, Shivakumar Shivarudrappa

Dissertations

The Pearson and Rosenberg (P-R) conceptual model of macrobenthic succession was used to assess the impact of hypoxia (dissolved oxygen [DO] ≤ 2 mg/L) on the macrobenthic community on the continental shelf of northern Gulf of Mexico for the first time. The model uses a stress-response relationship between environmental parameters and the macrobenthic community to determine the ecological condition of the benthic habitat. The ecological significance of dissolved oxygen in a benthic habitat is well understood. In addition, the annual recurrence of bottom-water hypoxia on the Louisiana/Texas shelf during summer months is well documented.

The P-R model illustrates the decreasing …