The compact symmetric multicategories (CSMs) introduced by Joyal and Kock in their 2011 note 'Feynman Graphs, and Nerve Theorem for Compact Symmetric Multicategories' [JK11] directly generalise a number of unital operad types, such as wheeled properads, that admit a contraction operation as well as an operadic multiplication. These structures are known to exhibit strange behaviour related to the contraction of units, and this is problematic for [JK11]. In this thesis, I modify the construction of [JK11] to obtain non unital (coloured) modular operads as algebras for a monad defined in terms of connected graphs, and use this as a foundation for a new construction of CSMs based on special graph morphisms. A corresponding nerve theorem characterises CSMs in terms of a Segal condition. This construction sheds light, and provides some control, on the behaviour of the contracted units.

The computation of a piecewise smooth function that approximates a finite set of data points is decomposed into two decoupled tasks: first, the computation of the locally smooth models, and hence, the segmentation of the data into classes that consist on the sets of points best approximated by each model, and second, the computation of the normalized discriminant functions for each induced class. The approximating function is then computed as the optimal estimator with respect to this measure field. Applications to image processing and time series prediction are presented as well.

Control algorithms which exploit the unique properties of chaos can vastly improve the design and performance of many practical and useful systems. The program Perfect Moment is built around such an algorithm. Given two points in the system's state space, it autonomously maps the space, chooses a set of trajectory segments from the maps, uses them to construct a composite path between the points, then causes the system to follow that path. This program is illustrated with two practical examples: the driven single pendulum and its electronic analog, the phase-locked loop. Strange attractor bridges, which alter the reachability of different state space points, can be used to increase the capture range of the circuit.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Oregon State University, 2007. / Printout. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 73-75). Also available on the World Wide Web.

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<p>Constitutive stable DNA replication (cSDR) is an alternative mode of replication initiation in Escherichia coli. cSDR is active in rnhA and recG mutants, which lack proteins that remove DNA-RNA hybrids called R-loops. The mechanism for cSDR initiation, therefore, is thought to involve these R-loop structures, which are proposed to form at specific locations known as oriK sites on the chromosome. Thus far, oriK sites have only been mapped to broad, 100-200 kb regions on the chromosome, so the specific elements involved in initiation are still unknown. My research focused on localizing the oriK sites on the chromosome, specifically those in the terminus region, where two of the major oriK sites had previously been mapped. We used two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (Friedman & Brewer, 1995) to analyze the replication forks that are blocked at the innermost Ter sites at the terminus, and found that elevated levels of replication forks are blocked at the Ter sites in rnhA mutants. We also used microarray and deep sequencing analysis to determine that there is a major location of oriK activity in the chromosome, located in the region between TerA and TerC. Furthermore, we also studied the use of the activation-induced deaminase (AID) enzyme as a tool for identifying regions of R-loop formation in the chromosome, and learned about its properties in the process.</p> / Dissertation

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Oregon State University, 2007. / Printout. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 93-97). Also available on the World Wide Web.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2008. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis--Auburn University, 2008. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 49-50).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hong Kong, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 108-114).