Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Understanding The Beauty Of Mathematics By Composing Claude Debussy's Syrinx Into Mathematical Equations, Mackenzi Mehlberg

Honors Projects

Mesmerizing melodies and narrative storytelling are exemplified in Claude Debussy's Syrinx. As a well-known piece of solo flute literature, it is considered beautiful. Conversely, mathematics is seen as logical, and by implication not beautiful. Using Fourier Analysis, Syrinx can be represented in a different context: a series of mathematical equations. These mathematical equations can then be played as a different interpretation of Syrinx. With this interpretation, we see that mathematics is beautiful.

Computation Offloading Design For Deep Neural Network Inference On Iot Devices, Asmika Boosarapu

Theses and Dissertations

In recent times, advances in the technologies of Internet-of-Things (IoT) and Deep Neural Networks (DNN) have significantly increased the accuracy and speed of a variety of smart applications. However, one of the barriers to deploying DNN to IoT is the computational limitations of IoT devices as compared with the computationally expensive task of DNN inference. Computation offloading is an approach that addresses this problem by offloading DNN computation tasks to cloud servers. In this thesis we propose a collaborative computation offloading solution, in which some of the work is done on the IoT device, and the remainder of the work …

An Electric Vehicle Analysis Model For Sustainable Environment In Devoicing Nationals, Nada A. Nabeeh, Karam M. Sallam, Ali Wagdy Mohamed

Neutrosophic Systems with Applications

The usage of fossil fuels is regarded as the generation of energy alternative towards electric vehicles (EVs) in third-world nations for a cleaner transportation sector. The rapid development of EVs is the most effective solution, even if the short-term ecological benefits for third-world nations cannot cover the short-term expenses. Since ecological issues have opened the door for certain developing nations to catch up to the worldwide competition, it is important to weigh other options to bring EVs to the marketplace. Hence, the study proposes a model of neutrosophic set combined with entropy to deal with uncertain cases. The proposed model …

A Nurse-Led Telehealth Program For Diabetes Foot Care: Feasibility And Usability Study, Jeffery Alford, Constance Johnson

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Diabetes mellitus can lead to severe and debilitating foot complications, such as infections, ulcerations, and amputations. Despite substantial progress in diabetes care, foot disease remains a major challenge in managing this chronic condition that causes serious health complications worldwide.

OBJECTIVE: The primary aim of this study was to examine the feasibility and usability of a telehealth program focused on preventive diabetes foot care. A secondary aim was to descriptively measure self-reported changes in diabetes knowledge, self-care, and foot care behaviors before and after participating in the program.

METHODS: The study used a single-arm, pre-post design in 2 large family …

A Multimodal Immune System Inspired Defense Architecture For Detecting And Deterring Digital Pathogens In Container Hosted Web Services, Islam Khalil

Theses and Dissertations

With the increased use of web technologies, microservices, and Application Programming Interface (API) for integration between systems, and with the development of containerization of services on operating system level as a method of isolating system execution and for easing the deployment and scaling of systems, there is a growing need as well as opportunities for providing platforms that improve the security of such services. In our work, we propose an architecture for a containerization platform that utilizes various concepts derived from the human immune system. The goal of the proposed containerization platform is to introduce the concept of slowing down …

Review Of Toxicity Of Agricultural Chemicals And Implications For Aquatic Fauna Of The Keep River, Samanatha Reynolds, David Morgan

Natural resources commissioned reports

This report was compiled for the Western Australian Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) as part of the National Water Grid Authority (NWGA) project entitled “Managing water quality to enable future irrigation development in the Kimberley Region, WA”. The purpose of this report is to review the toxicity of farm chemicals (herbicides and insecticides) used by farm operators in the Keep River catchment and their potential impacts on the aquatic species in the river, in particular those species that are listed under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. It is designed to complement the report entitled …

Machine Learning Data Feature Reduction And Model Optimization, Francisco P. Maturana, Phillip M. Lacasse

AFIT Patents

For machine learning data reduction and model optimization, a method randomly assigns each data feature of a training data set to a plurality of solution groups. Each solution group has no more than a solution group number k of data features and each data feature is assigned to a plurality of solution groups. The method identifies each solution group as a high-quality solution group or a low-quality solution group. The method further calculates data feature scores for each data feature comprising a high bin number and a low bin number. The method determines level data for each data feature from …

A Bit-Parallel Tabu Search Algorithm For Finding Es2 -Optimal And Minimax-Optimal Supersaturated Designs, Luis B. Morales, Dursun A. Bulutoglu

Faculty Publications

We prove the equivalence of two-symbol supersaturated designs (SSDs) with N (even) rows, m columns, s_max=4t+i, where i ∈ {0,2}, t ∈ Z^≥0 and resolvable incomplete block designs (RIBDs) whose any two blocks intersect in at most (N+4t+i)/4 points. Using this equivalence, we formulate the search for two-symbol E(s²)-optimal and minimax-optimal SSDs with s_max ∈ {2,4,6} as a search for RIBDs whose blocks intersect accordingly. This allows developing a bit-parallel tabu search (TS) algorithm. The TS algorithm found E(s²)-optimal and minimax-optimal SSDs achieving the sharpest known E(s²) lower bound with …

Towards An Experimental Bibliography Of Hemispheric Reconstruction Newspapers, Joshua Ortiz Baco, Benjamin Charles Germain Lee, Jim Casey, Sarah H. Salter

Criticism

Digital collections of newspapers have drawn broader attention to the fragmented and scattered print histories of minoritized communities. Attempts to survey these histories through bibliography, however, quickly meet with a fundamental problem: the practice of bibliographic description calls for creating a static record of social affiliations. Given the overwhelming scholarly consensus that categories such as race, ethnicity, and language are socially constructed, this article introduces an experimental bibliographic method for mapping the vast landscape of historical newspapers. This method extends the machine learning affordances of a recent project called Newspaper Navigator to enumerate the newspapers in Chronicling America according to …

Cancellation And Weak Cancellation S-Acts, Samer Adnan Jubair

Al-Bahir

The purpose of this work is to introduce and study a generalization of the cancellation (weak cancellation) of modules to acts. Then some notions related of modules was extend to arbitrary acts. Several statements that are equivalent to the cancellation (weak cancellation) property have been studied. Some characterizations of cancellation (weak cancellation) acts was presented and derive many of their properties. Using the condition of multiplication acts various results of cancellation (weak cancellation) acts are investigated.

Characterizing Effects Of Non-Point Runoff On Subwatersheds Of The Middle White River In Arkansas, Rainee Nicole Lynn Deroin

Student Theses and Dissertations

The Middle White River Watershed located in northeastern Arkansas is part of the larger White River drainage area that flows into the Mississippi River. The watershed has been on the 303(d) list for impairments such as pathogens, turbidity, total suspended solids, and dissolved oxygen. This study monitored water quality and potential toxicity in four subwatersheds of the Middle White River to inform management and regulation downstream conditions. During the three years of weekly sampling from 2019 to 2022, the subwatersheds violated state standards for pathogens, turbidity, and dissolved oxygen. Aquatic and sediment toxicity testing conducted on the four subwatersheds using …

Poly-Gan: Regularizing Polygons With Generative Adversarial Networks, Lasith Niroshan, James Carswell

Conference Papers

Regularizing polygons involves simplifying irregular and noisy shapes of built environment objects (e.g. buildings) to ensure that they are accurately represented using a minimum number of vertices. It is a vital processing step when creating/transmitting online digital maps so that they occupy minimal storage space and bandwidth. This paper presents a data-driven and Deep Learning (DL) based approach for regularizing OpenStreetMap building polygon edges. The study introduces a building footprint regularization technique (Poly-GAN) that utilises a Generative Adversarial Network model trained on irregular building footprints and OSM vector data. The proposed method is particularly relevant for map features …

Comparison Of The Unweighted Log-Rank And Weighted Prentice-Modified Wilcoxon Tests With Left-Truncated Data, Ellen Wight

Undergraduate Honors Theses

In survival analysis, there is a potential interaction between left-truncated data and rank test procedures for the difference between two groups that has not yet been investigated in depth. This study explores the effect of left truncation on the absolute and relative performance of the unweighted log-rank test and the weighted Prentice modification of the Gehan-Wilcoxon test. Resulting power from simulation study replications revealed that while left truncation does not affect which test performs better overall, it does affect the relative difference between the tests. It significantly worsens the individual performance of the Prentice-modified test, likely because of left truncation …

Variant Spectrum Of Von Hippel-Lindau Disease And Its Genomic Heterogeneity In Japan, Kazuhiro Maejima, Shingo Ashida, Takashi Karashima, Shohei Kojima, Nickolas F Parrish, Shunichi Kosugi, Chikashi Terao, Shota Sasagawa, Masashi Fujita, Todd A Johnson, Yukihide Momozawa, Keiji Inoue, Taro Shuin, Hidewaki Nakagawa

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) disease is an autosomal dominant, inherited syndrome with variants in the VHL gene, causing predisposition to multi-organ neoplasms with vessel abnormality. Germline variants in VHL can be detected in 80-90% of patients clinically diagnosed with VHL disease. Here, we summarize the results of genetic tests for 206 Japanese VHL families, and elucidate the molecular mechanisms of VHL disease, especially in variant-negative unsolved cases. Of the 206 families, genetic diagnosis was positive in 175 families (85%), including 134 families (65%) diagnosed by exon sequencing (15 novel variants) and 41 (20%) diagnosed by multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MLPA) (one …

Managing Soil Organic Carbon In Tropical Agroecosystems: Evidence From Four Long-Term Experiments In Kenya, Moritz Laub, Marc Corbeels, Antoine Couëdel, Samuel Mathu Ndungu, Monicah Wanjiku Mucheru-Muna, Daniel Mugendi, Magdalena Necpalova, Wycliffe Waswa, Marijn Van De Broek, Bernard Vanlauwe, Johan Six

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

In sub-Saharan Africa, maize is one of the most important staple crops, but long-term maize cropping with low external inputs has been associated with the loss of soil fertility. While adding high-quality organic resources combined with mineral fertilizer has been proposed to counteract this fertility loss, the long-term effectiveness and interactions with site properties still require more understanding. This study used repeated measurements over time to assess the effect of different quantities and qualities of organic resource addition combined with mineral nitrogen (N) on the change of soil organic carbon (SOC) contents over time (and SOC stocks in the year …

Contextualizing The Mathematical Knowledge For Teaching Framework For Teachers Of Emergent Bilinguals, Luis M. Fernandez, Mayra Ortiz Galarza

School of Mathematical & Statistical Sciences Faculty Publications

We are amid a rapid demographic shift, with Emergent Bilinguals (EBs) being the fastest growing K-12 student population. This has created an ambitious goal for teacher education programs as they must prepare mathematics pre-service teachers (PSTs) to assess the needs of EBs. As a response, this study conducted a qualitative analysis of 16 PSTs to propose a contextualized version of the Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching (MKT) framework as an emerging knowledge base of teaching that can be used to further guide the planning and enactment of teacher education programs in the mathematics education of EBs, specifically.

Quantifying Implicit Bias In Judicial Legal Opinions: A Natural Language Processing Approach, Philip N. Surendran

Quantitative Social Science Undergraduate Senior Theses

Implicit bias and criminal justice are two concepts that have long been intertwined. There is no justice without neutrality, and yet how do we tell if the actors enforcing the system are actually impartial? In this thesis, I utilize recent advancements in machine learning to attempt to answer this question. Specifically, I use natural language processing to examine the text of opinions written by judges in appellate courts, and I leverage these findings to build quantifiable measures of implicit bias. In particular, I look at the over/under-representation of certain emotions, sentiments and linguistic styles as a proxy for disparate treatment …

Stereotypes And Language Models: Understanding How Language Models Encode Stereotypes, Debiasing Language Models, And Examining How Stereotypes Affect Conversations, Brian C. Wang

Computer Science Senior Theses

This thesis describes a variety of approaches in examining how language models encode stereotypes (understanding stereotypes from a model point-of-view), debiasing language models, and using language models to understand how stereotypes affect conversations (understanding stereotypes from a conversational point-of-view). We present a novel approach for textual clues analysis that makes language models more interpretable, combining the understanding of what stereotypes the internal structures of language models have encoded during their initial training (via attention-based analysis) and understanding what textual clues are most relevant to identifying stereotypes for models trained to detect stereotypes (via SHAP-based analysis). We find that different pre-trained …

What Makes An Impartial Jury? Perceptions Of Jury Impartiality And Court Legitimacy, Joshua P. Freitag

Quantitative Social Science Undergraduate Senior Theses

In light of decreasing trust in courts at all levels of the American justice system, it is more important than ever to understand what affects people’s perceptions of the courts as fair, just, and legitimate. The Black Lives Matter protests highlighted a racial element to perceptions of impartiality in the jury system. Existing literature reveals a complex historical relationship between race and the jury, but little research has been done on public perceptions of race in the jury box.

With a novel two-experiment design using a survey instrument and a half White–half Black respondent sample pool fielded using Prolific, I …

Sarcasm Detection In English And Arabic Tweets Using Transformer Models, Rishik Lad

Computer Science Senior Theses

This thesis describes our approach toward the detection of sarcasm and its various types in English and Arabic Tweets through methods in deep learning. There are five problems we attempted: (1) detection of sarcasm in English Tweets, (2) detection of sarcasm in Arabic Tweets, (3) determining the type of sarcastic speech subcategory for English Tweets, (4) determining which of two semantically equivalent English Tweets is sarcastic, and (5) determining which of two semantically equivalent Arabic Tweets is sarcastic. All tasks were framed as classification problems, and our contributions are threefold: (a) we developed an English binary classifier system with RoBERTa, …

Geoarchaeology Of Estuarine Seascapes In Tampa Bay, Florida., Kendal R. Jackson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation investigates the geological, ecological, and archaeological histories of Tampa Bay, Florida’s largest open-water estuary system. Previous geoscientific and archaeological work has studied the evolution of Florida’s estuaries as ‘pre-anthropogenic’ ecosystems and conceptualized Indigenous maritime societies as mostly passive inhabitants of dynamic ‘natural’ environments. Further, the environmental legacies of more recent, industrial-scale estuary modification attending Florida’s 20th-century population boom have been understudied—leading to popular and scientific confusion about historical conditions. The work composing this dissertation research seeks to reconceptualize Tampa Bay as a complex mosaic of cultural seascapes that have been variously altered and modified by human societies across …

Mitotrace: A Computational Framework For Analyzing Mitochondrial Variation In Single-Cell Rna Sequencing Data, Lukas M Simon

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Genetic variation in the mitochondrial genome is linked to important biological functions and various human diseases. Recent progress in single-cell genomics has established single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNAseq) as a popular and powerful technique to profile transcriptomics at the cellular level. While most studies focus on deciphering gene expression, polymorphisms including mitochondrial variants can also be readily inferred from scRNAseq. However, limited attention has been paid to investigate the single-cell landscape of mitochondrial variants, despite the rapid accumulation of scRNAseq data in the community. In addition, a diploid context is assumed for most variant calling tools, which is not appropriate for …

A Pebbling Game On Powers Of Paths, Garth Isaak, Matthew Prudente, Joseph M. Marcinik Iii

Communications on Number Theory and Combinatorial Theory

Two Player Graph Pebbling is an extension of graph pebbling. Players Mover and Defender use pebbling moves, the act of removing two pebbles from one vertex and placing one pebble on an adjacent vertex, to win. If a specified vertex has a pebble on it, then Mover wins. If a specified vertex is pebble-free and there are no more valid pebbling moves, then Defender wins. The Two-Player Pebbling Number of a graph G, η(G), is the minimum m such that for every arrangement of m pebbles and for any specified vertex, Mover can win. We specify the …

Interstice, Shravan Rao

Masters Theses

When I was about three years old, I distinctly remember being too small to see what was on top of the table. A couple of years later, when I could see those objects, I thought the world around me had grown smaller. In a way, it did, as I experienced, lived, captured, remembered, and shared the space repeatedly. This sense of the world shrinking was exaggerated during the Covid-19 pandemic, allowing new behaviours and modes of interaction to emerge. Continually shaping our modern lives, virtual technologies redefine how we access and share information and stories or even explore new places. …

Beyond The Lines, Miranda-Max De Beer

Masters Theses

Long-held frameworks and philosophies developed over human history have rarely accounted for dynamic flux or shifts between parallel states of being; they’ve ignored the glaring consequences humanity’s brief occupation of the Geologic Timeline will have on the planet. These beliefs have enabled societies to operate through life as if there was no tomorrow, (ab)using the Earth without considering those who eventually reap what’s sown. Beyond the Lines identifies manifestations of the mindset that restricts how we understand living systems and the world around us as so much of what exists in tandem with contemporary society does not adhere to the …

Temporary Urbanism-Spatial Democracy In The Temporary City, Shijie Li

Masters Theses

This thesis is committed to exploring and discussing the way people behave in the temporary urbanism, perceive and deploy their space arrangement rights and how this nourishes relationships between people, between people and society, and brings a greater sense of spiritual identity and belonging to people.

The modern city is the result of the spatial distribution of material production, urban space is political and oriented to the distribution of power, and citizens are deprived of the subjective qualification and right to participate in the creation o f urban cultural space. Many factors have led to the monopolization of human participation …

Reintroducing Hemp (Rongony) In The Material Palette Of Madagascar: A Study On The Potential Of Hemp Clay Components And Its Impact On Social And Ecological Communities., Henintsoa Thierry Andrianambinina

Masters Theses

When mentioning the word hemp, especially in the local language of Madagascar, the literal translation does not set it apart from marijuana, as they are both called “rongony” - creating the stigma around hemp as the negative stereotype of marijuana. However, the material has been used by the ancestors of Madagascar, as well as across cultures, in its fibrous form to produce fabrication like textile goods and packaging. During colonization, the prohibition of hemp intensified, and since then, any activity related to either of these plants is prohibited and will end in severe punitive measures. This thesis explores the strengths …

Unearthing Complexity: Tangible Histories Of Water And Earth, Alexis Violet

Masters Theses

Unearthing Complexity investigates conceptions of time and surface through geological stories of the water and earth. Building on theories of deep time, hydrofeminism, critical zones, and grounding, I hope to foster a deeper awareness of time scales other than our own and a more tangible understanding of the embodied experience of matter in the universe. Working toward a new literacy of the water and earth in which they are recognized as living, changing bodies to which we are inherently tied at a molecular level, the site of this multiscalar inquiry occurs in the coastal zones of the Narragansett Bay where …

Public-Ish, Aliah Werth

Masters Theses

Climate change affects public space, and architecture must establish tenets that prioritize pedestrians in this difficult era. Greywater re-use can be a mechanism for creating shade, and in turn, public space.

As heat waves grow more intense, the vast swaths of asphalt that connect commercial zones pose greater risks to public health and to urban vitality. This thesis records the typical material, spatial, and lived conditions of strip malls in urban heat islands, and demands more from infrastructure in public-ish space.

Heat violence weaves through Los Angeles’ built form. Parking space minimums, required setbacks, and height restrictions pull buildings away …

Wast3d Potential, Andrew Larsen

Masters Theses

Waste is obsolete. Standard building industry practices are harmful to the environment. Non-traditional construction methods were examined as alternatives. Circular design logic was the guiding principle in material choice. Additive manufacturing is a proven modern method for building construction. Research on 3D printing case studies revealed that recycled plastic is a proven material and readily available. Removing plastic waste from the environment and sequestering it in architectural components gives the material a new purpose. The component of focus was a building block for a wall assembly. Inspiration was taken from the hexagonal Basalt rock formations found near volcanic fault lines. …