Tempered FBM with Reflecting Walls

Fractional Brownian Motion (FBM) is a Gaussian stochastic process with long-range correlations and a paradigmatic model for anomalous diffusion. For FBM confined by reflecting boundaries, recent work [1] demonstrated unusual accumulation and depletion of particles close to the walls. In many applications of FBM to physics, chemistry, and beyond, the long-range correlations are cut off (tempered) beyond a certain time scale [2]. Here, we study the behavior of tempered FMB in the presence of reflecting walls. More specifically, we analyze the probability density of tempered FBM on a one-dimensional interval between two reflecting wall

Lattice Points Problems about the Paraboloid

The Gauss circle problem, which asks for the best possible error term when approximating the number of lattice points inside a dilating circle centered at the origin by its area, is a longstanding open question in number theory. One may as well ask similar questions for regions bounded by other conics such as hyperbola and parabola, or their higher dimensional generalizations. Building off of the techniques of Huang and Li, we establish in this thesis asymptotic formulae for the number of lattice points under and near the standard paraboloid of dimension two and higher. The upper bound estimates we obtain on the error terms nearly meet those in the omega result of Chamizo and Pastor, and therefore are essentially best possible

False Idol: The Memory of Andrew Johnson and Reconstruction in Greeneville, Tennessee 1869-2022

The memory of Andrew Johnson in Greeneville has progressed through three phases. The first phase began during Johnson’s post-presidential career when he sought national office to demonstrate his vindication. After Johnson died the first phase continued through the efforts of his daughters and local Unionists who sought to strengthen the myth of monolithic Unionism and use Johnson to promote reconciliation and to shield the region from federal intervention in the racial hierarchy. The second phase in the construction of Johnson’s memory began in 1908 when Northerners began to unite with white Southerners in white supremacy. East Tennesseans then celebrated the aspects of Johnson’s memory that they cherished, his attempts to undermine Reconstruction. The Civil Rights Movement ushered the final phase, prompting historians to reexamine Johnson’s racism and presidency. With the image of a white supremacist no longer viable, Greenevillians depict Johnson as a progressive president unfairly impeached by Radical Republicans

THE DEVELOPMENT OF NOVEL NON-PEPTIDE PROTEASOME INHIBITORS FOR THE TREATMENT OF SOLID TUMORS

The proteasome is a large protein complex which is responsible for the majority of protein degradation in eukaryotes. Following FDA approval of the first proteasome inhibitor bortezomib for the treatment of multiple myeloma (MM) in 2003, there has been an increasing awareness of the significant therapeutic potential of proteasome inhibitors in the treatment of cancer. As of 2017, three proteasome inhibitors are approved for the treatment of MM but in clinical trials with patients bearing solid tumors these existing proteasome inhibitors have demonstrated poor results. Notably, all three FDA-approved proteasome inhibitors rely on the combination a peptide backbone and reactive electrophilic warhead to target the proteasome, and all three primarily target the catalytic subunits conferring the proteasome’s chymotrypsin-like (CT-L) activity. It is our hypothesis that compounds with non-peptidic structures, non-covalent and reversible modes of action, and unique selectivity profiles against the proteasome’s distinct catalytic subunits could have superior pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic properties and may bear improved activity against solid tumors relative to existing proteasome inhibitors. In an effort to discover such compounds we have employed an approach which combines computational drug screening methods with conventional screening and classic medicinal chemistry. Our efforts began with a computational screen performed in the lab of Dr. Chang-Guo Zhan. This virtual screen narrowed a library of over 300,000 drug-like compounds down to under 300 virtual hits which were then screened for proteasome inhibitory activity in an in vitro assay. Despite screening a relatively small pool of compounds, we were able to identify 18 active compounds. The majority of these hits were non-peptide in structure and lacked any hallmarks of covalent inhibition. The further development of one compound, a tri-substituted pyrazole, provided us with a proteasome inhibitor which demonstrated cytotoxic activity in a variety of human solid cancer cell lines as well as significant anti-tumor activity in a prostate cancer mouse xenograft model. We have also evaluated the in vitro pharmacokinetic properties of our lead compound and investigated its ability to evade cross-resistance phenomena in proteasome inhibitor-resistant cell lines. We believe that our lead compound as well as our drug discovery approach itself will be of interest and use to other researchers. We hope that this research effort may aid in the further development of reversible non-peptide proteasome inhibitors and may eventually deliver new therapeutic options for patients with difficult-to-treat solid tumors

Multi-Scale Nanoindentation For Characterization Of Oil Shales

Studies of the effects of polishing techniques, scale of nanoindentation, and petrophysical properties were conducted on both Woodford and Tuscaloosa Marine Shale. Polishing procedures include both an in-house developed, mechanical sample preparation protocol as well as ion beam milling. The elastic modulus and hardness of each mechanically polished sample was found to have larger value than those that were ion-milled. Additionally, at low loads, the samples resulted in having high standard deviation. This high deviation was found to be significantly reduced by testing at higher loads. The variations in results between mechanically polished and ion beam milled samples is believed to occur due to a higher “peel-out” rate during mechanical polishing that is not a significant factor within the ion beam milling procedure. The level of polishing was analyzed in order to determine the effect of surface roughness on indentation results within both a standard nanoindentation practice as well as atomic force microscope indentation. Nanoindentation tests were conducted on six Woodford Shale samples (each cut from a single core), as well as thirty Tuscaloosa Marine Shale samples (retrieved from drilling mud). For the Woodford Shale, an average of twenty-five indentations was considered. Likewise, for the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale, eighty indentation tests were completed for each sample depth for an end result of 1,200 indentation tests for determining average mechanical properties of the shale play as a whole. In both cases, maximum loads of 350 mN were used in order to negate deviations due to heterogeneity and obtain average mechanical properties of the samples. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) is used to correlate mechanical properties to the amount of total organic content as well as composition and shale maturity. For both shale plays, decomposition of light and heavy fractions occurs in the range of 200–300 °C and 420–520 °C respectively. By this process of analyses, it is determined that nanoindentation and atomic force microscopy technologies can be successfully used in the determination of mechanical properties for both core plug samples and drill cuttings alike

Territorializing the Koryo Saram: Negotiating South Korean Perspectives on Homeland and Diaspora

Diasporas are increasingly prevalent as globalization has increased transnational interaction between homelands and host-states. The territorial state as a container of the nation is challenged by transnational interactions of diasporas, although titular nation-states continue to territorialize detached ethnic minority groups within homeland rhetoric. This thesis evaluates diasporic identity and transnational belonging of the Koryo saram – or Koreans of the former Soviet Union – to explore how South Korea utilizes its assumed role as ethnic homeland to expand its economic influence in Central Asia. During the Joseon period (1392-1910) northern Koreans experienced socio-cultural marginalization that encouraged migration to the Russian Far East, and in 1937 the entire Koryo saram population of 200,000 ethnic Koreans was deported to Soviet Central Asia. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, South Korea has made significant efforts to reintroduce nationalized Korean culture and history in order to revitalize the ‘Koreanness’ of the Koryo saram to expand its global economic influence and reinforce political legitimacy on the peninsula, but South Korean government policy does not recognize the Koryo saram as belonging within the Korean ethnos. South Korean primarily maintains interactions with the Koryo saram to infiltrate burgeoning Central Asian economies, diversify its energy needs, and promote the cultural soft power of the ‘Korean wave’ (Hallyu) despite the socio-cultural division between the “homeland” and the Koryo saram diaspora. This separation of the diaspora from a collective myth of homeland and homeland return reveals the “liminal diasporism” of adaptive diasporas in an age of transnationalism and globalization

Birding by Ear: A Study of Recreational Specialization and Soundscape Preference

Soundscapes have become recognized as an important natural resource. The traditional human-made versus natural soundscape comparison currently used in recreational resource management is challenged by borrowing soundscape components (i.e., biophony, anthrophony, and geophony) from soundscape ecology. This study is designed to evaluate the soundscape preference of birders. A three-component model of recreational specialization was used to evaluate how recreationists may differ in their preference for soundscape components. Data from in-person surveys collected at The Audubon Center and Sanctuary at Francis Beidler Forest in Harleyville, South Carolina were used in combination with surveys from online birding list servers to obtain a sample of 415 individuals with varying levels of specialization. The findings suggest that soundscape preference exists as biophony, geophony, and anthrophony and that preference for geophony differs among specialization segments

Final Development, Testing, and Flight Preparation of the Rigidizable Get-Away-Special Experiment (RIGEX)

The purpose of this research is to support the final development of the Rigidizable Inflatable Get-Away-Special Experiment (RIGEX). The RIGEX program is an experimental initial step in developing large-scale rigidizable inflatable structures, which can be utilized in space applications. The primary intent of RIGEX is to verify and validate ground testing of inflation and rigidization methods for inflatable space structures against a zero-gravity space environment. This is performed by designing a Canister for All Payload Ejections (CAPE) experiment to collect data on space rigidized structures for validation of ground testing methods. The results presented in this thesis provide documentation needed to meet the requirements set forth by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for launching a payload into space. This thesis establishes a process for appropriately ground testing the components of RIGEX in an environment similar to space and explains future testing required. Methods for charging and testing the performance of the onboard inflation system are also discussed. Additionally, the steps taken to replace the onboard imaging system are explained. Throughout the course of assembling the RIGEX protoflight model, several complications were encountered and the design was modified, which are presented along with an as-built final assembly drawing package. Lastly, the procedure for handling RIGEX during its future progression is illustrated

Motion Compensated Self Supervised Deep Learning for Highly Accelerated 3D Ultrashort Echo Time Pulmonary MRI

Purpose: To investigate motion compensated, self-supervised, model based deep learning (MBDL) as a method to reconstruct free breathing, 3D Pulmonary ultrashort echo time (UTE) acquisitions. Theory and Methods: A self-supervised eXtra Dimension MBDL architecture (XD-MBDL) was developed that combined respiratory states to reconstruct a single high-quality 3D image. Non-rigid, GPU based motion fields were incorporated into this architecture by estimating motion fields from a low resolution motion resolved (XD-GRASP) iterative reconstruction. Motion Compensated XD-MBDL was evaluated on lung UTE datasets with and without contrast and was compared to constrained reconstructions and variants of self-supervised MBDL that do not consider respiratory motion. Results: Images reconstructed using XD-MBDL demonstrate improved image quality as measured by apparent SNR, CNR and visual assessment relative to self-supervised MBDL approaches that do not account for dynamic respiratory states, XD-GRASP and a recently proposed motion compensated iterative reconstruction strategy (iMoCo). Additionally, XD-MBDL reduced reconstruction time relative to both XD-GRASP and iMoCo. Conclusion: A method was developed to allow self-supervised MBDL to combine multiple respiratory states to reconstruct a single image. This method was combined with GPU-based image registration to further improve reconstruction quality. This approach showed promising results reconstructing a user-selected respiratory phase from free breathing 3D pulmonary UTE acquisitions