In this dissertation, we introduce a family of fully discrete finite difference time-domain (FDTD) methods for Maxwell’s equations in linear and nonlinear materials. Onecategory of methods is constructed using multiscale techniques involving operator splittings. We present the sequential splitting scheme, the Strang Marchuk splitting scheme,the weighted sequential splitting scheme including...
Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have generated considerable excitement and considerable skepticism since their recent inception (e.g., Kim, 2014; Perna et al., 2014). By fall 2015, approximately 35 million people had participated in 4200 courses offered by over 550 institutions (Shah, 2015). In addition to MOOCs’ potential for expanding access...
Fires set by Native Americans were important in shaping and maintaining Willamette Valley prairie plant communities. With fire exclusion after Euro-American settlement in the 1840's, composition of the remaining prairies shifted toward shrub and tree dominance with a concomitant decline in endemic prairie plant populations. I hypothesize that by restoring...
The Goose Lake Basin, situated on the border of Oregon and California, USA, faces significant challenges from drought, wildfire, and other environmental stressors. This region hosts numerous endemic fish species such as the Goose Lake redband trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss newberri), Goose Lake lamprey (Entosphenus sp.), Goose Lake tui chub (Siphateles...
Motion planning is a cornerstone of autonomous robots, enabling robots to safely and efficiently perform tasks such as package delivery, infrastructure inspection, and manipulation. However, as the field of robotics matures, robotic systems are being developed that (1) are challenging to analytically model, (2) require computationally expensive model-based controllers, and...
Sampling intervals of precipitation geochemistry measurements are often coarser than those required by fine-scale hydrometeorological models. This study presents a statistical method to temporally downscale geochemical tracer signals in precipitation so that they can be used in high-resolution, tracer-enabled applications. In this method, we separated the deterministic component of the...
Persistent and uncontrolled inflammation is the root cause of various debilitating diseases. Given that interleukin-1 receptor–associated kinase 4 (IRAK4) is a critical modulator of inflammation, inhibition of its activity with selective drug molecules (IRAK4 inhibitors) represents a promising therapeutic strategy for inflammatory disorders. To exploit the full potential of this...