Add to ORKGI would like to thank my major professor Dr. Ramanujam Jagannathan for his support, patience, guidance, and his thought provoking suggestions provided throughout the course of this research. His ability to express the complicated problems as simple ones provided me with the motivation and direction. I express my gratitude to the members of my committee: Dr. Vaidyanathan Ramachandran and Dr. Seung-Jong Park for their valuable suggestions and advice. Also, I would like to thank Dr. Jinpyo Hong for his inputs and ideas. I dedicate this work to my family members for their prayers, encouragement and financial support. I would like to thank all my friends at LSU for their assistance, wishes, support and encouragement throughout my research, and a...