Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

A Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory For Nebraska: Livestock And Coal Loom Large, Eric R. Holley, Adam Liska

Adam Liska Papers

Mitigation of climate change requires the systematic identification and cataloging of emissions sources at city, state, and national levels. In this study, an inventory of annual greenhouse gas emissions from the state of Nebraska was created based on industry data, and emissions inventories were completed each year from 1990 to 2016. Nebraska’s net emissions were found to increase from 56.2 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalents (MMtCO₂e) in 1990 to 87.4 MMtCO₂e in 2016. Agriculture was found to be the sector with the most emissions (36 MMtCO₂e) followed by electricity generation (21 MMtCO …

Pronounced Increases In Nitrogen Emissions And Deposition Due To The Historic 2020 Wildfires In The Western U.S., Patrick C. Campbell, Daniel Tong, Rick Saylor, Yunyao Lii, Siqi Ma, Xiaoyang Zhang, Shoba Kondragunta, Fangjun Li

GSCE Faculty Publications

Wildfire outbreaks can lead to extreme biomass burning (BB) emissions of both oxidized (e.g., nitrogen oxides; NOx= NO+NO2) and reduced form(e.g., ammonia; NH3) nitrogen (N) compounds. High N emissions aremajor concerns for air quality, atmospheric deposition, and consequential human and ecosystemhealth impacts. In this study, we use both satellite-based observations and modeling results to quantify the contribution of BB to the total emissions, and approximate the impact on total N deposition in the western U.S. Our results show that during the 2020 wildfire season of August–October, BB contributes significantly to the total emissions, with a satellite-derived fraction of NH3 to …

Nonlinear Mixed-Effects Models For Hiv Viral Load Trajectories Before And After Antiretroviral Therapy Interruption, Incorporating Left Censoring, Sihaoyu Gao, Lang Wu, Tingting Yu, Roger Kouyos, Huldrych F. Gunthard, Rui Wang

Harvard University Biostatistics Working Paper Series

Characterizing features of the viral rebound trajectories and identifying host, virological, and immunological factors that are predictive of the viral rebound trajectories are central to HIV cure research. In this paper, we investigate if key features of HIV viral decay and CD4 trajectories during antiretroviral therapy (ART) are associated with characteristics of HIV viral rebound following ART interruption. Nonlinear mixed effect (NLME) models are used to model viral load trajectories before and following ART interruption, incorporating left censoring due to lower detection limits of viral load assays. A stochastic approximation EM (SAEM) algorithm is used for parameter estimation and inference. …

Normality Properties Of Composition Matricies, Hallie Kaiser, Katy O'Malley, Grace Weeks

Mathematics Student Projects

We explore two main concepts in relation to truncated composition matrices: the conditions required for the binormal and commutative properties. Both of these topics are important in linear algebra due to their connection with diagonalization. We begin with the normal solution before moving onto the more complex binormal solutions. Then we cover conditions for the composition matrix to commute with a general matrix. Finally, we end with ongoing questions for future work.

Why Sine Membership Functions, Sofia Holguin, Javier Viaña, Kelly Cohen, Anca Ralescu, Vladik Kreinovich

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

In applications of fuzzy techniques to several practical problems -- in particular, to the problem of predicting passenger flows in the airports -- the most efficient membership function is a sine function; to be precise, a portion of a sine function between the two zeros. In this paper, we provide a theoretical explanation for this empirical success.

Need To Combine Interval And Probabilistic Uncertainty: What Needs To Be Computed, What Can Be Computed, What Can Be Feasibly Computed, And How Physics Can Help, Julio Urenda, Vladik Kreinovich, Olga Kosheleva

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

In many practical situations, the quantity of interest is difficult to measure directly. In such situations, to estimate this quantity, we measure easier-to-measure quantities which are related to the desired one by a known relation, and we use the results of these measurement to estimate the desired quantity. How accurate is this estimate?

Traditional engineering approach assumes that we know the probability distributions of measurement errors; however, in practice, we often only have partial information about these distributions. In some cases, we only know the upper bounds on the measurement errors; in such cases, the only thing we know about …

Environmentalism In J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord Of The Rings, Sophie Butler

4610 English: Individual Authors: J.R.R. Tolkien

The theme of environmentalism within Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy, while sometimes underlying, is an ever-present background to the characters and actions of Middle-Earth.The hero’s movements through nature contrasted with the criminal destruction of nature by the villains presents two clear perspectives about the treatment of nature, but Tolkien also inserts his perspective through the inclusion of Tree characters, like Ents. Trees and tree characters are an essential part of Tolkien's legendarium that help to illuminate the author's claims about environmentalism and the impacts of progress on the world. How characters interact with nature inform their ethics and point …

New Bounds On The Real Polynomial Roots, Emil Prodanov

Conference papers

The presented analysis determines several new bounds on the real roots of the equation anxn+an−1xn−1+⋯+a0=0 (with an>0). All proposed new bounds are lower than the Cauchy bound max{1,∑j=0n−1|aj/an|}. Firstly, the Cauchy bound formula is derived by presenting it in a new light – through a recursion. It is shown that this recursion could be exited at earlier stages and, the earlier the recursion is terminated, the lower the resulting root bound will be. Following a separate analysis, it is further demonstrated that a significantly lower root bound can be found if the summation in the Cauchy bound formula is …

On The Coriolis Effect For Internal Ocean Waves, Rossen Ivanov

Conference papers

A derivation of the Ostrovsky equation for internal waves with methods of the Hamiltonian water wave dynamics is presented. The internal wave formed at a pycnocline or thermocline in the ocean is influenced by the Coriolis force of the Earth's rotation. The Ostrovsky equation arises in the long waves and small amplitude approximation and for certain geophysical scales of the physical variables.

Computer-Based Scaffolding In Computer Science Education, Rebecca Trinh, Simone Levy

Summer REU Program

No abstract provided.

Σ-Ary, Minnesota State University Moorhead, Mathematics Department

Math Department Newsletters

No abstract provided.

The Effects Of Stem And Non-Stem Mathematics Corequisite Courses On Student Success At Public Institutions In West Virginia, Vanessa S. Keadle

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

This study explored the differences in student success outcomes between students enrolled in non-STEM and STEM corequisite mathematics courses at 18 postsecondary institutions across five academic years in West Virginia, using de-identified student data. The researcher analyzed this extant data to determine if student characteristics were predictors of success, as defined as passing the mathematics corequisite course, retention to the next semester, and earning a GPA of 2.0 or higher. The researcher also conducted analyses to understand if the differences in those outcomes between STEM and non-STEM courses were significant. This study identified statistically significant gaps in success for students …

Implementing The Simplex Algorithm To Solve Zero-Sum Games, Chineng Vang

Senior Seminars and Capstones

The concept of a zero-sum game in Game Theory is widely studied in fields such as Mathematics and Economics in order to analyze situations and determine optimal courses of actions. Although a game or situation with fewer decisions can be solved by hand, we can turn to the Simplex Algorithm to efficiently solve larger games. This paper examines how the Simplex Algorithm can be implemented as a linear program in order to solve m x n zero-sum games.

Hypergeometric Motives, David P. Roberts, Fernando Rodriguez Villegas

Mathematics Publications

No abstract provided.

Assessment Of The Negative Role Amur Honeysuckle Has On Urban Forest Diversity, Hayley Schlabowske, Paige Lundborg, Jason Koontz, Michael Reisner

Independent Research Projects

Lonicera maackii (Amur Honeysuckle), an invasive shrub species, has out-competed native species in urban riparian zones for decades due to its ability to receive more sunlight and it also secretes an allelochemical from its leaves that negatively impacts the ecosystems. Our research question is how does Lonicera maackii affect native plant species in the herbaceous understory? Five forest communities were sampled in Northwest Illinois. Sites were separated into four different categories with L. maackii only, Garlic Mustard (Alliaria petiolata) only, Neither invasive species, and sites where both occur. There were 12 sites for each of the four categories resulting in …

Study Of B ¯ 0 →D+H- (H=K/Π) Decays At Belle Study Of B ¯ 0 →D+H- (H=K/Π) ... Waheed E. Et Al., E. Waheed, P. Urquijo, I. Adachi, H. Aihara, S. Al Said, D. M. Asner, H. Atmacan, V. Aulchenko, T. Aushev, S. Bahinipati, P. Behera, K. Belous, J. Bennett, M. Bessner, V. Bhardwaj, B. Bhuyan, T. Bilka, J. Biswal, A. Bobrov

Faculty and Student Publications

We present a measurement of the branching fractions of the Cabibbo favored B¯0→D+π- and the Cabibbo suppressed B¯0→D+K- decays. We find B(B¯0→D+π-)=(2.48±0.01±0.09±0.04)×10-3 and B(B¯0→D+K-)=(2.03±0.05±0.07±0.03)×10-4 decays, where the first uncertainty is statistical, the second is systematic, and the third uncertainty is due to the D+→K-π+π+ branching fraction. The ratio of branching fractions of B¯0→D+K- and B¯0→D+π- is measured to be RD=[8.19±0.20(stat)±0.23(syst)]×10-2. These measurements are performed using the full Belle dataset, which corresponds to 772×106BB¯ pairs and use the Belle II software framework for data analysis.

Explainabilityaudit: An Automated Evaluation Of Local Explainability In Rooftop Image Classification, Duleep Rathgamage Don, Jonathan Boardman, Sudhashree Sayenju, Ramazan Aygun, Yifan Zhang, Bill Franks, Sereres Johnston, George Lee, Dan Sullivan, Girish Modgil

Published and Grey Literature from PhD Candidates

Explainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI) is a key concept in building trustworthy machine learning models. Local explainability methods seek to provide explanations for individual predictions. Usually, humans must check these explanations manually. When large numbers of predictions are being made, this approach does not scale. We address this deficiency for a rooftop classification problem specifically with ExplainabilityAudit, a method that automatically evaluates explanations generated by a local explainability toolkit and identifies rooftop images that require further auditing by a human expert. The proposed method utilizes explanations generated by the Local Interpretable Model-Agnostic Explanations (LIME) framework as the most important superpixels of …

Chapter 3.2: Why Batteries Deliver A Fairly Constant Voltage Until They Suddenly Die: An Application Of Nernst Topo Surfaces, Garon C. Smith, Md Mainul Hossain, Patrick Maccarthy

Water Topos: A 3-D Trend Surface Approach to Viewing and Teaching Aqueous Equilibrium Chemistry

Two characteristics of batteries, their delivery of nearly constant voltage and their rapid failure, are explained through a visual examination of the Nernst equation. Two Galvanic cells are described in detail: (1) a wet cell involving iron and copper salts and (2) a mercury oxide dry cell. A complete description of the wet cell requires a three-dimensional Nernst surface because the potential is a function of two variables: the activities of both the oxidized and reduced forms in each redox couple. Dry cell potentials, which utilize solid or pure liquid species, are functions of only one variable and can be …

Asymptotic Properties Of Kneser Solutions To Third-Order Delay Differential Equations, Martin Bohner, John R. Graef, Irena Jadlovská

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Research & Creative Works

The aim of this paper is to extend and complete the recent work by Graef et al. (J. Appl. Anal. Comput., 2021) analyzing the asymptotic properties of solutions to third-order linear delay differential equations. Most importantly, the authors tackle a particularly challenging problem of obtaining lower estimates for Kneser-type solutions. This allows improvement of existing conditions for the nonexistence of such solutions. As a result, a new criterion for oscillation of all solutions of the equation studied is established.

Establishing A Machine Learning Framework For Discovering Novel Phononic Crystal Designs, Drew Feltner

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

A phonon is a discrete unit of vibrational motion that occurs in a crystal lattice. Phonons and the frequency at which they propagate play a significant role in the thermal, optical, and electronic properties of a material. A phononic material/device is similar to a photonic material/device, except that it is fabricated to manipulate certain bands of acoustic waves instead of electromagnetic waves. Phononic materials and devices have been studied much less than their photonic analogues and as such current materials exhibit control over a smaller range of frequencies. This study aims to test the viability of machine learning, specifically neural …

Temperature Trends In The Northeastern United States From 1950-2018, Emanuel Eagle

Environmental Studies Honors Papers

No abstract provided.

A Comparative Analysis Of The Andes And The Himalayas: How Climate Change Effects The Health Of Glaciers And The Social Impacts This Has On Surrounding Communities, Jacqueline Mountford

Environmental Studies Honors Papers

The glacial ice in both the Andean and Himalayan Mountain ranges act as water towers for the billions of people that live within their watersheds. Throughout the year, these communities rely on the glacial meltwater to increase the flow of rivers, but this meltwater is the most impactful during the dry season when there is less precipitation. Communities in both the Andes and Himalayas use this glacial meltwater for human and animal consumption, agricultural purposes, and harnessing hydroelectric power as a clean energy source. One of the biggest worries for scientists and people around the world is how climate change …

An Attention-Based Resnet Architecture For Acute Hemorrhage Detection And Classification: Toward A Health 4.0 Digital Twin Study, Aftab Hussain, Muhammad Usman Yaseen, Muhammad Imran, Muhammad Waqar, Adnan Akhunzada, Mohammad Al-Ja'afreh, Abdulmotaleb El Saddik

Computer Vision Faculty Publications

Due to the advancement of digital twin (DT) technology, Health 4.0 applications have become reality and starting to take roots. In this article, we focus on intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) which is a life-threatening emergency that needs immediate diagnosis and treatment. ICH is caused by bleeding inside the skull or brain. Radiologists typically examine computed tomography (CT) scans of the patients to determine the ICH and its subtype. But the manual assessment of the CT scan is a complex and time-consuming task. The existing pre-trained convolutional neural network (CNN) models are state-of-the-art for ICH classification. However, they employ poor feature extraction …

Networks Of Disinformation: The Proliferation Of Hate Speech In Chile And Colombia During The Venezuelan Migration Crisis, Isabelle Valdes, Erika Frydenlund (Mentor)

Computer & Information Science: Research Experiences for Undergraduates in Disinformation Detection and Analytics

No abstract provided.

Fake Review Detection, Michael Husk, Faryaneh Poursardar (Mentor)

Computer & Information Science: Research Experiences for Undergraduates in Disinformation Detection and Analytics

No abstract provided.

Module 1: Introduction To Technology Foresight, Risk Management, And Insurtech, Michael Mcshane, C. Ariel Pinto, Hesamoddin Tahami, Hengameh Fakhravar

Developing Technology Foresight: Case Study of AI in InsurTech

Instructional Module 1 for course, Developing Technology Foresight: Case Study of AI in InsurTech.

Module 2: Case Studies Of Ai And Insurtech, Michael Mcshane, C. Ariel Pinto, Hesamoddin Tahami, Hengameh Fakhravar

Developing Technology Foresight: Case Study of AI in InsurTech

Instructional Module 2 for course, Developing Technology Foresight: Case Study of AI in InsurTech.

Module 3: Technology Foresight And Insurtech, Michael Mcshane, C. Ariel Pinto, Hesamoddin Tahami, Hengameh Fakhravar

Developing Technology Foresight: Case Study of AI in InsurTech

Instructional Module 3 for course, Developing Technology Foresight: Case Study of AI in InsurTech.

An Assessment Of Scientific Claim Verification Frameworks: Final Presentation, Ethan Landers, Jian Wu (Mentor)

Computer & Information Science: Research Experiences for Undergraduates in Disinformation Detection and Analytics

No abstract provided.

Effect Of Nest Box Temperature Mitigation Treatments On Nest Success And Nestling Condition In A Southeastern Population Of Eastern Bluebirds (Sialia Sialis), Christopher G. Horacek, Katie Stumpf, Wayne Powell

Graduate Research Showcase

Understanding behavioral responses of wildlife to climate change will be important as global temperatures continue to rise. Effects of rising temperatures may impact many species, including those that breed in seemingly protected nests, such as cavity nesting birds. Variations in nest cavity microclimate during the early development of secondary cavity nesting passerines may affect the growth of offspring and impact nesting success and survival. We examined the effect of two heat mitigation treatments (white exterior, n=11, and an internal foil heat shield, n=16) and nest box opening orientation (north, south, east, west) on internal nest box temperatures and the effect …