Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Active Discovering New Slots For Task-Oriented Conversation, Yuxia Wu, Tianhao Dai, Zhedong Zheng, Lizi Liao

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Existing task-oriented conversational systems heavily rely on domain ontologies with pre-defined slots and candidate values. In practical settings, these prerequisites are hard to meet, due to the emerging new user requirements and ever-changing scenarios. To mitigate these issues for better interaction performance, there are efforts working towards detecting out-of-vocabulary values or discovering new slots under unsupervised or semi-supervised learning paradigms. However, overemphasizing on the conversation data patterns alone induces these methods to yield noisy and arbitrary slot results. To facilitate the pragmatic utility, real-world systems tend to provide a stringent amount of human labeling quota, which offers an authoritative way …

T-Pickseer: Visual Analysis Of Taxi Pick-Up Point Selection Behavior, Shuxian Gu, Yemo Dai, Zezheng Feng, Yong Wang, Haipeng Zeng

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Taxi drivers often take much time to navigate the streets to look for passengers, which leads to high vacancy rates and wasted resources. Empty taxi cruising remains a big concern for taxi companies. Analyzing the pick-up point selection behavior can solve this problem effectively, providing suggestions for taxi management and dispatch. Many studies have been devoted to analyzing and recommending hotspot regions of pick-up points, which can make it easier for drivers to pick-up passengers. However, the selection of pick-up points is complex and affected by multiple factors, such as convenience and traffic management. Most existing approaches cannot produce satisfactory …

An Examination Of Thematic Research, Development, And Trends In Remote Sensing Applied To Conservation Agriculture, Zobaer Ahmed, Aaron Shew, Lawton Nalley, Michael Popp, V. Steven Green, Kristofor Brye

Center for Advanced Spatial Technologies Publications and Presentations

Conservation agriculture seeks to reduce environmental degradation through sustainable management of agricultural land. Since the 1990s, agricultural research has been conducted using remote sensing technologies; however, few previous reviews have been conducted focused on different conservation management practices. Most of the previous literature has focused on the application of remote sensing in agriculture without focusing exclusively on conservation practices, with some only providing a narrative review, others using biophysical remote sensing for quantitative estimates of the bio-geo-chemical-physical properties of soils and crops, and few others focused on single agricultural management practices. This paper used the preferred reporting items for systematic …

Geogebra Applets For Fostering Conceptual Understanding In Algebra, Ma. Louise Antonette N. De Las Penas, Mark Anthony C. Tolentino, Maria Alva Q. Aberin, Agnes D. Garciano, Juan Carlo F. Mallari, Jumela F. Sarmiento, Debbie Marie B. Verzosa

Mathematics Faculty Publications

This paper discusses two GeoGebra applets, Radical and Parabola, that are designed to strengthen the conceptual understanding of specific topics in algebra. The design and pedagogical basis of the applets are presented. The integration of the applets in teaching Grade 9 mathematics in a partner high school in the Philippines is then discussed. Finally, we report feedback gathered from students and teachers during this integration. Their feedback indicates the potential of these applets for improving students’ learning of algebra.

A Study On Ethical Hacking In Cybersecurity Education Within The United States, Jordan Chew

Master's Theses

As the field of computer security continues to grow, it becomes increasingly important to educate the next generation of security professionals. However, much of the current education landscape primarily focuses on teaching defensive skills. Teaching offensive security, otherwise known as ethical hacking, is an important component in the education of all students who hope to contribute to the field of cybersecurity. Doing so requires a careful consideration of what ethical, legal, and practical issues arise from teaching students skills that can be used to cause harm. In this thesis, we first examine the current state of cybersecurity education in the …

Improving Automatic Transcription Using Natural Language Processing, Anna Kiefer

Master's Theses

Digital Democracy is a CalMatters and California Polytechnic State University initia-
tive to promote transparency in state government by increasing access to the Califor-
nia legislature. While Digital Democracy is made up of many resources, one founda-
tional step of the project is obtaining accurate, timely transcripts of California Senate
and Assembly hearings. The information extracted from these transcripts provides
crucial data for subsequent steps in the pipeline. In the context of Digital Democracy,
upleveling is when humans verify, correct, and annotate the transcript results after
the legislative hearings have been automatically transcribed. The upleveling process
is done with the …

Trapping And Scattering Of A Multiflagellated Bacterium By A Hard Surface, Alexander P. Petroff, Schuyler Mcdonough

Physics

Thiovulum majus, which is one of the fastest known bacteria, swims using hundreds of flagella. Unlike typical pusher cells, which swim in circular paths over hard surfaces, T. majus localize near hard boundaries by turning their flagella to exert a net force normal to the surface. To probe the torques that stabilize this hydrodynamically bound state, the trajectories of several thousand collisions between a T. majus cell and a wall of a quasi-two-dimensional microfluidic chamber are analyzed. Measuring the fraction of cells escaping the wall either to the left or to the right of the point of contact - and …

Limonene Enantiomeric Ratios From Anthropogenic And Biogenic Emission Sources, Shan Gu, Wentai Luo, Avisa Charmchi, Kevin J. Mcwhirter, Todd Rosenstiel, James F. Pankow

Chemistry Faculty Publications and Presentations

Emissions from volatile chemical products (VCPs) have been identified as contributors to air quality degradation in urban areas. Limonene can be a tracer compound for VCPs containing fragrances in densely populated regions, but limonene is also emitted from conifers that are planted in urban areas. This creates challenges for using limonene to estimate VCP emissions. In this study, the −/+ enantiomeric ratios of limonene from VCP and conifer emission sources were quantified to evaluate if this measurement could be used to aid in source apportionment and emission inventory development. Samples were analyzed using a gas chromatograph equipped with a chiral …

Using Flipped Classroom Modules To Facilitate Higher Order Learning In Undergraduate Organic Chemistry, Lauren R. Holloway, Tabitha Miller, Bryce Da Camara, Paul M. Bogie, Briana L. Hickey, Jack Barbera, Angie L. Lopez, Multiple Additional Authors

Chemistry Faculty Publications and Presentations

In an ongoing effort to incorporate active learning and promote higher order learning outcomes in undergraduate organic chemistry, a hybrid (“flipped”) classroom structure has been used to facilitate a series of collaborative activities in the first two courses of the lower division organic chemistry sequence. An observational study of seven classes over a five-year period reveals there is a strong correlation between performance on the in-class activities and performance on the final exam across all classes; however, a significant number of students in these courses continue to struggle on both the in-class activities and final exam. The Activity Engagement Survey …

The Α-Crystallin Chaperones Undergo A Quasi-Ordered Co-Aggregation Process In Response To Saturating Client Interaction, Kirsten Lampi, Adam P. Miller, Susan E. O'Neill, Steve L. Reichow

Chemistry Faculty Publications and Presentations

Small heat shock proteins (sHSPs) are ATP-independent chaperones vital to cellular proteostasis, preventing protein aggregation events linked to various human diseases including cataract. The α-crystallins, αA-crystallin (αAc) and αB-crystallin (αBc), represent archetypal sHSPs that exhibit complex polydispersed oligomeric assemblies and rapid subunit exchange dynamics. Yet, our understanding of how this plasticity contributes to chaperone function remains poorly understood. This study investigates structural changes in αAc and αBc during client sequestration under varying degree of chaperone saturation. Using biochemical and biophysical analyses combined with single-particle electron microscopy (EM), we examined αAc and αBc in their apo-states and at various stages of …

Exploitation Of Environmental Dna (Edna) For Ecotoxicological Research: A Critical Review On Edna Metabarcoding In Assessing Marine Pollution, Sakib Tahmid Rishan, Richard Kline, Md Saydur Rahman

School of Earth, Environmental, & Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

Highlights

• eDNA describes the genetic material of organisms present in aquatic environments.

• eDNA metabarcoding characterizes DNA of various marine species from a single sample.

• eDNA has enormous promise for ecotoxicological research in marine environments.

Abstract

The rise in worldwide population has led to a noticeable spike in the production, consumption, and transportation of energy and food, contributing to elevated environmental pollution. Marine pollution is a significant global environmental issue with ongoing challenges, including plastic waste, oil spills, chemical pollutants, and nutrient runoff, threatening marine ecosystems, biodiversity, and human health. Pollution detection and assessment are crucial to understanding the state of …

A 2,000-Year Record Of Eelgrass (Zostera Marina L.) Colonization Shows Substantial Gains In Blue Carbon Storage And Nutrient Retention, Martin Dahl, Martin Gullström, Irene Bernabeu, Oscar Serrano, Carmen Leiva-Dueñas, Hans W. Linderholm, Maria E. Asplund, Mats Björk, Tinghai Ou, J. Robin Svensson, Elinor Andrén, Thomas Andrén, Sanne Bergman, Sara Braun, Anneli Eklöf, Zilvinas Ežerinskis, Andrius Garbaras, Petter Hällberg, Elin Löfgren, Malin E. Kylander, Pere Masqué, Justina Šapolaitė, Rienk Smittenberg, Miguel A. Mateo

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Assessing historical environmental conditions linked to habitat colonization is important for understanding long-term resilience and improving conservation and restoration efforts. Such information is lacking for the seagrass Zostera marina, an important foundation species across cold-temperate coastal areas of the Northern Hemisphere. Here, we reconstructed environmental conditions during the last 14,000 years from sediment cores in two eelgrass (Z. marina) meadows along the Swedish west coast, with the main aims to identify the time frame of seagrass colonization and describe subsequent biogeochemical changes following establishment. Based on vegetation proxies (lipid biomarkers), eelgrass colonization occurred about 2,000 years ago after geomorphological changes …

Environmental Dna Metabarcoding Of Pan Trap Water To Monitor Arthropod-Plant Interactions, Joshua H. Kestel, David L. Field, Philip W. Bateman, Nicole E. White, Karen L. Bell, Paul Nevill

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Globally, the diversity of arthropods and the plants upon which they rely are under increasing pressure due to a combination of biotic and abiotic anthropogenic stressors. Unfortunately, conventional survey methods used to monitor ecosystems are often challenging to conduct on large scales. Pan traps are a commonly used pollinator survey method and environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding of pan trap water may offer a high-throughput alternative to aid in the detection of both arthropods and the plant resources they rely on. Here, we examined if eDNA metabarcoding can be used to identify arthropods and plant species from pan trap water, and …

Introducing Pour Points: Characteristics And Hydrological Significance Of A Rainfall-Concentrating Mechanism In A Water-Limited Woodland Ecosystem, Ashvath S. Kunadi, Tim Lardner, Richard P. Silberstein, Matthias Leopold, Nik Callow, Erik Veneklaas, Aryan Puri, Eleanor Sydney, Sally E. Thompson

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

The interception of rainfall by plant canopies alters the depth and spatial distribution of water arriving at the soil surface, and thus the location, volume, and depth of infiltration. Mechanisms like stemflow are known to concentrate rainfall and route it deep into the soil, yet other mechanisms of flow concentration are poorly understood. This study characterizes pour points, formed by the detachment of water flowing under a branch, using a combination of field observations in Western Australian banksia woodlands and rainfall simulation experiments on Banksia menziesii branches. We aim to establish the hydrological significance of pour points in a water-limited …

Voice Synthesis Improvement By Machine Learning Of Natural Prosody, Joseph Kane, Michael N. Johnstone, Patryk Szewczyk

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Since the advent of modern computing, researchers have striven to make the human–computer interface (HCI) as seamless as possible. Progress has been made on various fronts, e.g., the desktop metaphor (interface design) and natural language processing (input). One area receiving attention recently is voice activation and its corollary, computer-generated speech. Despite decades of research and development, most computer-generated voices remain easily identifiable as non-human. Prosody in speech has two primary components—intonation and rhythm—both often lacking in computer-generated voices. This research aims to enhance computer-generated text-to-speech algorithms by incorporating melodic and prosodic elements of human speech. This study explores a novel …

Generative Ai In Finance: Risks And Potential Solutions, Nydia Remolina Leon

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Generative Artificial Intelligence captured the attention of academics, policymakers, the private sector, and some regulators in 2022 after the launch of ChatGPT and its widespread adoption worldwide. Then, during the World Economic Forum session in 2023, Microsoft Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella said that the ‘golden age’ of AI is underway and generative AI is set to play a big role in it. Accordingly, Microsoft has invested billions of dollars into OpenAI, the company behind the launch of ChatGPT. Additionally, Google and Meta have also created their own generative AI models. Given the multiplicity of potential use cases …

2024 Draft Final Silver Bow Creek Conservation Area Repository Data Gap Quality Assurance Project Plan (Qapp), Pioneer Technical Services, Inc.

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

Wayne E. Sabbe Arkansas Soil Fertility Studies 2023, Nathan A. Slaton

Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station Research Series

Rapid technological changes in crop management and production require that the research efforts be presented in an expeditious manner. The contributions of soil fertility and fertilizers are major production factors in all Arkansas crops. The studies described within will allow producers to compare their practices with the university’s research efforts. Additionally, soil-test data and fertilizer sales are presented to allow comparisons among years, crops, and other areas within Arkansas.

Spec: A Soft Prompt-Based Calibration On Performance Variability Of Large Language Model In Clinical Notes Summarization

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Electronic health records (EHRs) store an extensive array of patient information, encompassing medical histories, diagnoses, treatments, and test outcomes. These records are crucial for enabling healthcare providers to make well-informed decisions regarding patient care. Summarizing clinical notes further assists healthcare professionals in pinpointing potential health risks and making better-informed decisions. This process contributes to reducing errors and enhancing patient outcomes by ensuring providers have access to the most pertinent and current patient data. Recent research has shown that incorporating instruction prompts with large language models (LLMs) substantially boosts the efficacy of summarization tasks. However, we show that this approach also …

Nontrivial Invariant Subspaces Of Linear Operator Pencils, Jaewoong Kim, Jasang Yoon

School of Mathematical & Statistical Sciences Faculty Publications

In this paper, we introduce the spherical polar decomposition of the linear pencil of an ordered pair T=(T1,T2) and investigate nontrivial invariant subspaces between the generalized spherical Aluthge transform of the linear pencil of T and the linear pencil of the original pair T of bounded operators with dense ranges.

Light Curve And Hardness Tests For Millilensing In Grb 081122a, Grb 081126a, Grb 110517b, And Grb 210812a, Oindabi Mukherjee, Robert J. Nemiroff

Michigan Tech Publications

Analyses are given on four recent gravitational millilensing claims on gamma-ray bursts (GRBs): GRB 081122A, GRB 081126A, GRB 110517B, and GRB 210812A. Two tests, a light curve similarity test and a hardness similarity test, compare different temporal sections of a single GRB to see if they are statistically similar. The hardness similarity test shows that the ratio between the second and the first emission episodes in each energy channel differed from the same ratio averaged over all energy channels at above 90 per cent confidence level in GRB 081122A. Additionally, the light curve similarity test applied to GRB 081122A, GRB …

The Effect Of Internet Firms’ Data Analytics Capability On Their Innovation Speed And Innovation Quality: A Dynamic Capability Perspective, Yeyu Hua

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

With the advent of big data era, data plays a pivotal role in sustainingfirms’ competitive advantages. Although a few studies have shown that data analytics capability contributes to firms’ innovative performance, these studies either focus on general innovative performance or specific types of innovation, such as incremental innovation, radical innovation, and supply chaininnovation. In this thesis, I enrich this stream of literature by conducting twostudies to further examine the relationship between data analytics capabilityand innovation speed as well as innovation quality. This thesis consists of twostudies. Study 1 is a survey study, in which I investigate the relationshipbetween data analytics …

Open-Inquiry Opens Doors To Intriguing Optics Experiments At Home: A Case Study, Paul R. Destefano, Ralf Widenhorn

Physics Faculty Publications and Presentations

[This paper is part of the Focused Collection on Instructional labs: Improving traditions and new directions.] This manuscript presents a case study of an introductory physics student who, during the remote learning conditions imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic, found inspiration within a new, openinquiry, project-based, laboratory curriculum designed at Portland State University. The phenomenon investigated by the study subject was intriguing to both the student and the lab instructors for its unfamiliar and instructive optical effect: a ring-shaped pattern or halo created by a laser diffusely reflected in a shallow body of water. Drawing on classwork and interview responses, this …

Universality Class Of A Spinor Bose–Einstein Condensate Far From Equilibrium, Seung Jung Huh, Koushik Mukherjee, Kiryang Kwon, Jihoon Seo, Junhyeok Hur, Simeon I. Mistakidis, H. R. Sadeghpour, Jae Yoon Choi

Physics Faculty Research & Creative Works

Scale Invariance And Self-Similarity In Physics Provide A Unified Framework For Classifying Phases Of Matter And Dynamical Properties Near Equilibrium In Both Classical And Quantum Systems. This Paradigm Has Been Further Extended To Isolated Many-Body Quantum Systems Driven Far From Equilibrium, For Which The Physical Observables Exhibit Dynamical Scaling With Universal Scaling Exponents. Universal Dynamics Appear In A Wide Range Of Scenarios, Including Cosmology, Quark–gluon Matter, Ultracold Atoms And Quantum Spin Magnets. However, How The Universal Dynamics Depend On The Symmetry Of The Underlying Hamiltonian In Non-Equilibrium Systems Remains An Outstanding Challenge. Here We Report On The Classification Of Universal …

Ionization Cross Sections Of Hydrogen Molecule By Electron And Positron Impact, Károly Tőkési, Robert D. Dubois

Physics Faculty Research & Creative Works

We Present Ionization Cross Sections of Hydrogen Molecules by Electron and Positron Impact for Impact Energies between 20 and 1000 EV. a Three-Body Classical Trajectory Monte Carlo Approximation is Applied to Mimic the Collision System. in This Approach, the H2 Molecule is Modeled by a Hydrogen-Type Atom with One Active Electron Bound to a Central Core of Effective Charge with an Effective Binding Energy. Although This Model is Crude for Describing a Hydrogen Molecule, We Found that the Total Cross Sections for Positron Impact Agree Reasonably Well with the Experimental Data. for the Electron Impact, Our Calculated Cross Sections Are …

Reconnecting A Stream Channel To Its Floodplain: Implications For Benthic Diatoms And Macroinvertebrate Trophic Structure, Patrick M. Edwards, Nicole C. Popp, Yangdong Pan, Christine L. Weilhoefer, Aspen Peterman, Lauren Mork, Matthew F. Johnson, Megan Colley, Multiple Additional Authors

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

Streams systems draining upland landscapes provide valuable ecosystem services, but they are vulnerable to incision and channelization caused by anthropogenic disturbance. Restoring a degraded stream to its pre-disturbance condition by reconnecting the channel to its historical floodplain aims to recover lost hydro-morphological processes and functions. Seeking evidence to indicate whether that aim is met in practice, we examined diatoms and the stream macroinvertebrate trophic structures in three reaches of Whychus Creek, Oregon, United States. Two reaches were reconnected to their pre-disturbance floodplains in 2012 and 2016. The third, control reach, was not restored and was selected to represent the degraded …

Rising Water Temperature In Rivers: Ecological Impacts And Future Resilience, Matthew F. Johnson, Lindsey K. Albertson, Adam C. Algar, Stephen J. Dugdale, Patrick Edwards, Judy England, Christopher Gibbins, Multiple Additional Authors

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

Rising water temperatures in rivers due to climate change are already having observable impacts on river ecosystems. Warming water has both direct and indirect impacts on aquatic life, and further aggravates pervasive issues such as eutrophication, pollution, and the spread of disease. Animals can survive higher temperatures through physiological and/or genetic acclimation, behavioral and phenological change, and range shifts to more suitable locations. As such, those animals that are adapted to cool-water regions typically found in high altitudes and latitudes where there are fewer dispersal opportunities are most at risk of future extinction. However, sub-lethal impacts on animal physiology and …

Editorial: Innovating A New Knowledge Base For Water Justice Studies: Hydrosocial, Sociohydrology, And Beyond, Melissa Haeffner, Jenia Mukherjee, Rebecca Lave, Jamie Linton, John Ndiritu, Raul Pacheco-Vega, Maria Ruska, Margreet Zwarteveen

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

Creating a new knowledge base that centers water justice (Zwarteveen and Boelens, 2014; Sultana, 2018; Wölfle-Hazard, 2022) in hydrosocial and sociohydrology studies involves a broader discussion about why justice matters, how to work toward this goal, and what the implications for research praxis are. The articles in this Research Topic approach different angles of water justice: as law (Fernández and Alba), a social movement (Dame et al.), practice (Pool et al.; Reeves and Bonney), cases of injustice (Caretta et al.), and theory (Krueger and Alba). From this Research Topic, we find that the interrelated concepts of naturecultures and care can …

Strongly Magnetized Accretion In Two Ultracompact Binary Systems, Thomas J. Maccarone, Thomas Kupfer, Edgar Najera Casarrubias, Liliana E. Rivera Sandoval, Aarran W. Shaw, Christoper T. Britt, Jan Van Roestel, David R. Zurek

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Publications

We present the discoveries of two of AM CVn systems, Gaia14aae and SDSS J080449.49+161624.8, which show X-ray pulsations at their orbital periods, indicative of magnetically collimated accretion. Both also show indications of higher rates of mass transfer relative to the expectations from binary evolution driven purely by gravitational radiation, based on existing optical data for Gaia14aae, which show a hotter white dwarf temperature than expected from standard evolutionary models, and X-ray data for SDSS J080449.49+161624.8 which show a luminosity 10−100 times higher than those for other AM CVn at similar orbital periods. The higher mass transfer rates could be driven …

Small Unmanned Aircraft System Detection And Tracking With Audio, Computer Vision, And Deep Learning Techniques, Anthony C. Brunson

Theses and Dissertations

sUAS present significant risks to local and federal agencies when under the control of negligent, reckless, or criminal operators. In the face of an escalating presence of sUAS in shared airspace with traditional aircraft, and their deployment in protected airspace as potential weapons, safeguarding personnel, facilities, and assets becomes paramount. This research seeks to address this emerging threat by investigating the efficacy of integrating low-cost distributed sensors and Machine learning (ML) models to enhance battlespace awareness and complement existing sensing platforms for real-time sUAS detection, classification, and localization. The thesis introduces the conceptualization and development of a Drone Detection Command …