Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Harboring Change: Legacy Contamination, Plant-Metal Dynamics, And The Fate Of A Boston Marsh, Emma Brooks

Graduate Masters Theses

Coastal wetlands within the Boston Harbor watershed provide numerous ecosystem services and community benefits but are challenged by anthropogenic influence including a legacy of pollution and increasing mean sea level. In this thesis, I will consider the historic and present sources of contamination in Boston Harbor, the role an individual salt marsh species (Salicornia depressa) plays in the movement of heavy metals, and how projected sea level rise and urbanization may affect future marsh viability. These complex issues are explored through a case study of Pattens Cove, a 9.6-acre parcel of state-managed land in Dorchester, MA home to …

Association Between Dietary Inflammatory And Antioxidant Potential And Systemic Inflammatory And Oxidative Status With The Risk And Severity Of Coronary Artery Disease, Zahara Namkhah, Elham Alipoor, Manhnaz Salmani, Negar Ebrahimi, Monireh Ahmadpanahi, Ali Vasheghani-Farahani, Mehdi Yaseri, Michael David Wirth, Longgang Zhao, James Hébert Scd, Javad Hosseinzadeh-Attar

Faculty Publications

Background and aims

Unhealthy diets have pro-inflammatory properties that have been shown to contribute to coronary artery disease (CAD). The dietary inflammatory index (DII®) and the dietary antioxidant quality score (DAQS) quantify the anti-/pro-inflammatory and antioxidant potential of a diet. This study aims to investigate the association between the energy-adjusted DII (E-DIITM), DAQS, oxidant/anti-oxidant biomarkers, and CAD risk and severity.

Methods and results

This cross-sectional study investigated 158 participants for the presence and severity of CAD based on coronary angiography. E-DII and DAQS scores, malondialdehyde (MDA), total oxidant status (TOS), glutathione peroxidase (GPX) activity, total antioxidant capacity (TAC) and conventional …

Re: Medical Monitoring Working Group Meeting Minutes, Mike Mcanulty, Eric Hassler

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

A Systematic Evaluation Of Threaded Internode Communication In Hpc, William Pepper Marts

Computer Science ETDs

High Performance Computing (HPC) applications increasingly rely on both process and thread-level parallelism to maximize performance across complex, multi-node systems. However, conventional bulk synchronous communication strategies often leave both compute and network resources underutilized due to synchronization delays. This dissertation systematically evaluates the potential of fine-grained, threaded inter-node communication as a strategy for reducing these inefficiencies. To this end, I design and develop two tools: the MiniMod modular application framework and the Configurable Messaging Benchmark (CMB), which together enable empirical, reproducible assessment of communication performance across varying application behaviors, threading models, and communication granularities. Through experiments across multiple systems and …

A Community-Based Study To Investigate Persistent Ambient Odors In Childs Park, Fl, Gennaro Saliceto

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

For many years, residents in Childs Park, Saint Petersburg, Florida, have reported unpleasant odors. Although there have been prior efforts to address the issue, the odors continue to be a concern for the community, who worry about possible health implications. This research aimed to equip residents with information to address the issue by identifying the presence of airborne pollutants that generate odors, quantifying the concentrations of toxic organic pollutants, and exploring the sources and environmental conditions that contribute to odors and their perception.

To accomplish these aims, the study utilized different methods. First, two walking measurement campaigns were conducted to …

Implications Of Neural Compression To Scientific Images, João Phillipe Cardenuto, Joshua Krinsky, Lucas Nogueira, Aparna Bharati, Daniel Moreira

Computer Science: Faculty Publications and Other Works

While neural compression has the potential to revolutionize image compression, recent studies have emphasized its ability to introduce subtle artifacts that could alter the image content. Concerned about the impact of such modifications on scientific images, this work explores the potential effects of neural compression on these images, focusing on two critical aspects: semantic understanding and forensic integrity. We use scientific image datasets to assess the performance of neural compression techniques on Visual Question Answering (VQA) and copy-move forgery detection tasks. Our findings indicate that the subtle changes introduced by neural ] compression do not significantly degrade the performance of …

The Thermodynamic Fate Of Isolated Quantum Systems, John Keim, Isabel Martinez-Robles, Nicolaus A. Chlanda, Sage M. Thomas, Maja Teofilovska, Sarah E. Spielman, Jordyn Strunk, Tina Zhao, Juniper J. Bauroth-Sherman, Hannah Conley, Philip Conte, Aidan Kirk, Thomas J. Carroll, Michael W. Noel

Physics and Astronomy Summer Fellows

Isolated quantum systems are typically observed to come to thermal equilibrium. The weak Eigenstate Thermalization Hypothesis (wETH) states that the vast majority of eigenvectors are thermal. This implies that most initial states should thermalize. Studying the rare cases in which they fail to thermalize could reveal insight into quantum dynamics. In our experiment, we excite Rydberg atoms and allow them to exchange energy via dipole-dipole interactions. We find that they do not thermalize. We present numerical and theoretical results that show that our experimental initial state is not typical.

Proceedings Of The Cuny Games Conference 11.0, Robert O. Duncan, Grace Axler-Diperte, Joe Bisz, Christina Boyle, Devorah Kletenik, Carolyn Stallard

Publications and Research

The CUNY Games Conference combines workshops, idea exchanges, interactive participant presentations, playtesting, and playing tabletop games into a one-day online event to promote and discuss game-based learning. The conference focuses on creative pedagogy, such as playful learning activities or games, that teachers can use in the classroom every day. The conference is online and features interactive presentations by attendees, informal idea exchange sessions, and workshops by the conference organizers.

Hierarchy Viz: A Visual Analytics Framework For Visualizing Hierarchical Data Using Machine Learning, Vinay Kumar Uppalapati

Theses and Dissertations

Automated visualization systems aim to generate visualizations directly from raw data with minimal user inputs. However, while existing systems focus on data visualizations mainly using line charts and scatter plots to explore the data patterns, they struggle with hierarchical data representation where data relationship is essential. Hierarchical visualization, crucial for understanding multi-level relationships, typically requires users to manually define hierarchies and have expertise in visualization tools to create meaningful representations. This makes the process complex, time-consuming, and reliant on domain knowledge. To address this, we propose HierarchyViz, an automated system that detects multiple hierarchies in raw datasets and generates intuitive …

Exploring Character-Level Attacks On Neural Ranking Models, Surjyanee Halder

Master’s Dissertations

Neural ranking models (NRMs) have achieved state-of-the-art performance in information retrieval, yet they remain highly susceptible to subtle adversarial inputs such as character-level typos. This project explores the robustness of such systems by introducing a reinforcement learning (RL)-based query perturbation framework. RL agents—PPO, DQN, and A2C—were trained to minimally modify user queries (e.g., through character deletions or swaps) with the goal of significantly altering the resulting document rankings, as measured by Kendall’s Tau. Experiments were conducted on the TREC DL 2019 and 2020 benchmarks using two different neural rankers: Mini LM and a fine-tuned Character BERT model. The perturbation attacks …

Explaining Query Expansion Algorithms, Aditya Dutta

Master’s Dissertations

Query Expansion (QE) techniques aim to mitigate vocabulary mismatch in Information Retrieval by augmenting user queries with related terms. However, their effectiveness varies across queries. This work investigates the explainability of QE by leveraging the concept of an Ideal Expanded Query (IEQ): a hypothetical query yielding near-perfect retrieval performance, measured via Average Precision (AP). We hypothesize that the closer an Expanded Query (EQ) variant is to the IEQ, the higher its AP. Our approach consists of three major components: (i) generating an IEQ, (ii) measuring the similarity between an EQ and an IEQ, and (iii) computing the correlation between the …

Re: Conditional Approval Letter For The Butte Priority Soils Operable Unit (Bpsou) 2025 Revised Draft Final Unreclaimed Sites Quality Assurance Project Plan (Qapp) (Dated May 15, 2025), Molly Roby

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

The Discovery, Communication, And Implementation Of New Geologic Findings: Examining The Cascadia Earthquake, Saylor Brainard

University Honors Theses

The Cascadia Subduction Zone, located off the Coast of the Pacific Northwest, is at risk of generating a 9.0 magnitude earthquake in the near future. Despite its significance, the discovery of the seismic potential of Cascadia didn't occur until 1987, when geologist Brian Atwater searched for non-traditional forms of earthquake evidence. As decades of continued research fleshed out Atwater's initial discovery, the implications associated with the discovery became apparent, presenting Washington and Oregon with the high probability that a massive earthquake will take place within the next century. Communicating the severity of this geologic discovery to both the public and …

Re: Conditional Approval Letter For The Butte Priority Soils Operable Unit (Bpsou) 2025 Revised Draft Final Unreclaimed Sites Quality Assurance Project Plan (Qapp) (Dated May 15, 2025), Molly Roby

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

Investigation Of Isobaric Mixing As A Mechanism For Boundary-Layer Cloud Formation, Jaemin Yeom, Nithin Allwayin, Virendra P. Ghate, Katia Lamer, Fan Mei, Raymond A. Shaw

Michigan Tech Publications

This study investigates the potential role of isobaric mixing in the formation of marine boundary layer clouds. Cloud formation theory emphasizes uplift and adiabatic cooling, but recent observations support the existence of small clouds forming at various altitudes, even below the lifting condensation level. Isobaric mixing of air with different thermodynamic properties can generate localized supersaturation. A Gaussian mixing model is employed to simulate this process, considering the correlation between temperature and water vapor. Cloud droplet size distributions from aircraft measurements show a persistent and prominent mode of small droplets at 9 (Formula presented.) m, and the size of this …

Revitalization Of Endangered Languages With Ai, Ivory Yang

Dartmouth College Master’s Theses

The preservation and revitalization of endangered languages, particularly those with minimal digital presence, presents significant challenges for computational linguistics. This thesis addresses these challenges by proposing novel methods for language identification and data generation, focusing on underrepresented Indigenous languages, specifically Nüshu, Native American and Native Alaskan languages.

In the first study, a COLING 2025 paper, we present NüshuRescue, an AI-driven framework designed to facilitate the preservation of Nüshu, an endangered script used exclusively by Yao women in China. Using minimal seed data, we demonstrate how GPT-4-Turbo can generate new translations, expanding a publicly available Nüshu-Chinese corpus, achieving 48.69% accuracy in …

How’S It Growing? Tools For Observing Snow And Sea Ice In A Changing Arctic Ocean, Ian Alexander Raphael

Dartmouth College Ph.D Dissertations

September Arctic sea ice extent has diminished by roughly 50% in the 45 years since satellite observations began. The Arctic Ocean may experience ice-free summers within the next decade, with implications for habitat, resource extraction, geopolitics, and local and global climate change. To predict how Arctic sea ice will change in the future, we need to understand its behavior in the present. In situ sea ice mass balance measurements (snow accumulation, ice growth, snow and ice surface melt, and bottom melt) are essential for studying the processes driving rapid changes in the ice pack, and for validating remote sensing measurements …

Deep Neural Networks For Particle Identification In Simulated Proton-Proton Collisions At Lhc And Rhic, Omar Mazhar Khalaf

Theses and Dissertations

Particle identification is an essential part of experimental high-energy physics, which allows the study of the most fundamental constituents of matter. This thesis explores the use of deep neural networks for identifying particles in simulated proton-proton collisions at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). The deep neural networks were trained on LHC datasets which have various momentum ranges including regions of high transverse momentum above 3 GeV/c. The key findings of thesis include achieving an accuracy of 99.99%, 98.3%, and 90.14% for 3-5 pt, 5-7 pt and above 7 pt regions respectively for the …

Probabilities With Values In Scaled Hyperbolic Numbers, Daniel Alpay, Ilwoo Choo

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

In this paper, we introduce a notion of a probabilistic measure which takes values in t-scaled hyperbolic numbers for t ∈ R, with a system of axioms generalizing directly Kolmogorov’s axioms. i.e., we establish a suitable measure theory in the set Dt of all t-scaled hyperbolic numbers for arbitrarily fixed t ∈ R.

Integrated Density Functional Theory And Experimental Study Of Optical And Electronic Properties For Mos2/ (Metal=Au, Pt, Ni, Cu) And Mos2/Graphene/Metal Heterointerfaces, Shishir Timilsena, Sanju Gupta, Muhammad I. Bhatti, Nicholas Dimakis

School of Integrative Biological & Chemical Sciences Faculty Publications

We present computational simulations and experimental analyses of various heterointerfaces constructed from two-dimensional molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) and graphene on gold (Au), platinum (Pt), nickel (Ni), and copper (Cu) substrates. We combined density functional theory electronic structure, optical properties, and work function to elucidate heterostructure changes due to metal selection, corroborated with experimentally determined surface electronic properties. Here, we correlate shifts in the metal d-band center relative to the Fermi energy with the MoS2 bandgaps and bandgaps in the Dirac point region of the MoS2/graphene/Metal heterointerfaces. For the Ni heterointerfaces, the upshift of the metal d-band relative to the Fermi energy …

Pvc Biodegradation Potential Of Native Fungal Strains From Mt. Hood National And Tillamook State Forests, Bristol Ozturgut

University Honors Theses

Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is a toxic, degradation-resistant environmental waste product. Recent research has revealed fungal enzymatic activity capable of biodegrading plastics. As PVC infiltrates local environments, it becomes imperative to determine the adaptability of local fungi to PVC substrates. In this experiment, 100 local native fungal strains sampled from the Tillamook State and Mt. Hood National forests and one commercial strain of common oyster mushroom were investigated for their ability to colonize and digest PVC by direct isolation on 0.1% and 0.2% PVC-enriched limited growth media. Substrates for positive cultures were imaged using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy to analyze potential …

Characterization Of The Quaternary Active Twin Lakes Fault, Mount Hood, Oregon, Johnathan Peterson

University Honors Theses

The High Cascades chain of volcanoes results from Cascade Arc volcanism and is responsible for the generation of the highest topography in the state of Oregon. Surrounding Mt. Hood at the crest of the Cascade chain in northern Oregon is the Mt. Hood Fault Zone, an extensional fault zone of generally north-south trending normal faults that down-drop this high volcanic topography. The Twin Lakes Fault is located just south of Mt. Hood and is one of the southernmost faults in the Mt. Hood Fault Zone, previously mapped as approximately 12-13 km in length. This study provides the first in-depth characterization …

Late Holocene To Modern Dust Increases In Antarctic Ice Cores, Lillian D. Tipton

Dartmouth College Master’s Theses

Dust aerosols impact global climate by influencing direct and indirect radiative forcing, serving as cloud condensation nuclei, and supplying trace nutrients to the ocean that affect the marine biological pump. Antarctic ice core dust records show dust deposition changing in step with global climate over the past eight ice-age cycles. However, fewer studies have focused on Antarctic dust deposition during the late Holocene-to-modern period. Notably, 20^th-century increases in dust deposition have been observed in ice cores from James Ross Island (JRI) and Dronning Maud Land, with the JRI record hypothesized to reflect desertification and land-use changes in Patagonia. …

Hydrogen Storage In Multilayer Ti3c2tx Mxene, Yi Zhi Chu, Kah Chun Lau

Michigan Tech Publications

In this work, we systematically investigated the hydrogen storage properties of multilayer Ti3C2Tx MXene using density functional theory (DFT) coupled with the quantum-thermodynamic model to include the thermodynamic effect on hydrogen adsorption and storage behavior over a wide range of applied pressure and temperature. In addition to the surface-adsorbed hydrogen, we show that the interlayer spacing is a plausible storage route that could contribute to an additional hydrogen storage capacity. Due to hydrogen-bond bounded multilayer Ti3C2Tx, the insertion, diffusion, and adsorption of hydrogen molecules into the interlayer spacing of the multilayer structure require sufficient external pressure to overcome the energy …

Methodological Memorandum For Michelle Llado-Wrzos' Phd Dissertation, Michelle Llado-Wrzos Ed.D., Cristo Leon Ph.D.

Journal of Roleplaying Studies and STEAM

This methodological memorandum outlines the research approach for Michelle Llado-Wrzos' PhD dissertation, which explores the underrepresentation of women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields. Despite multiple efforts to reduce the gender disparity, female students remain significantly less likely to pursue STEM majors compared to their male peers. The research focuses on assessing the impact of extrinsic motivators—specifically financial incentives and exposure to female role models—on the STEM major choices of female high school students. By adopting a mixed-methods approach, this study thoroughly integrates quantitative surveys and qualitative interviews to examine these motivators.

A quasi-experimental design will assess the …

Journal Of Roleplaying Studies And Steam (Jrpssteam) Vol. 4 [2025], Número 1 (Issue 1), Ivan Ávila González Phd, Cristo Leon, Romano Ponce-Díaz Phd, Diogo A. Camelo, Alfonso Rincón Vaquero, Edgar Ávila González, Daira Pando Tamayo, Michelle Llado-Wrzos, Leonid Moyzhes, Andrea A. Echeverría Barrios

Journal of Roleplaying Studies and STEAM

La cultura es un diálogo constante con el pasado, el presente y el futuro. Todos nuestros objetos culturales son el resultado causal de las personas que estuvieron antes que nosotros, se actualizan en nuestro proceder en el presente y, les proyectamos al futuro con la esperanza de que aporten algo positivo a las generaciones que estarán delante de nosotros; de tal forma, este Volumen 4 [2025], número 1 (Issue 2) es el resultado directo de la labor de los editores fundadores Mauricio Rangel Jiménez, Miguel Angel Bastarrachea Magnani y todas aquellas personas que trabajaron antes que nosotros para que existiera …

Cutting-Edge Methods For Analyzing Student Behavior In Educational Settings: A Review, Shatha Talib Rashid, Hasanen S. Abdullah

Journal of Soft Computing and Computer Applications

The ability to predict students' performance in educational settings like schools and universities is crucial. A key objective of this effort is to increase academic outcomes and prevent dropout rates, among other benefits. Automating student activities, encouraged by information collected from any technology-based learning tool, has an important role in the process here. Those big quantities of information ought to be completely studied theoretically and processed for gaining worthy insights concerning a student's background as well as interacting with scientific missions, facilitating the development of advanced ways and algorithms to predict students' performance. The current study reviews several contemporary mechanisms …

Blockchain-Based Physical Election Votes Digitally Secure Transfer, Mohanad A. Mohammed, Hala B. Abdul Wahab

Journal of Soft Computing and Computer Applications

Responsibility for maintaining election transparency over time and ensuring democratic values intact is held by the Iraqi Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC). However, transferring physical election votes from election centers is a critical duty, where many challenges appear regarding accountability and security measures. This study proposes a system that utilizes blockchain technology to solve any challenges or difficulties and ensure an effective and improved election process by providing its highest trustworthiness and legitimacy and ensuring a decentralized security process. This system offers unique blockchain characteristics such as immutability, decentralization, and transparency, providing an extra level of security to the data …

Modern Face Recgognition Systems: A Review Of Methods And Empirical Findings, Zahraa Naji Razoqi, Raheem Ogla, Abdul Monem S. Rahma

Journal of Soft Computing and Computer Applications

The face recognition system is a biometric technique that replaces traditional passwords and personal identification. This research is dedicated to presenting a study of some facial recognition systems. Since it is unlikely to replicate and is more stable over time, the domain of facial feature extraction has proven to be more effective in attaining exact facial recognition, which is important, especially in intelligent security surveillance systems. Face recognition systems encounter several challenges, primarily related to pose variations, illumination conditions, and occlusions such as hair, glasses, and so on. To address these challenges, enhance performance, and boost the accuracy and speed …

Arson Event Detection Using Yolov9, Ali Abbas Abbod, Matheel E. Abdulmunimb, Ismail A. Mageed

Journal of Soft Computing and Computer Applications

Detecting event anomalies is crucial for surveillance systems, as it enables the identification of occurrences in videos, both temporally and spatially. It can identify deviations from patterns without requiring human oversight by learning from past information to distinguish normal behavior and pinpoint irregularities. Early detection of arson fires is critical to mitigating damage, public safety, property, and the environment, as well as saving lives and aiding in law enforcement investigations. The objective of this study is to evaluate a system for detecting events using the You Only Look Once version 9 (YOLOv9) model in surveillance videos with a focus on …