Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Tin Sensitization For Electroless Plating, Xingfei Wei

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The tin sensitization process has been used in electroless plating since 1940s Brenner and Riddell developed the electroless plating for surface metallization method. It was found to be an interesting topic to study tin sensitization for chemically controlling metal deposition on different substrates, because the tin sensitization process had critical effects on the electroless plated metal thin films. Nowadays electroless plating metal deposition is still an important method for depositing metals. It has a few advantages over the vapor deposition and electrodeposition method, such as work in an ambient condition, on nonconductive substrates, and without extra power input. Applying electroless …

An Experimental And Computational Evaluation Of The Importance Of Molecular Diffusion In Gas Gravity Currents, Jeremy Jac Herman

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The accidental release of hazardous, denser-than-air gases during their transport or manufacture is a vital area of study for process safety researchers. This project examines the importance of molecular diffusion on the developing concentration field of a gas gravity current released into a calm environment. Questions which arose from the unexpectedly severe explosion in 2005 at Buncefield, England were of particular interest. The accidental overfilling of a large tank with gasoline on a completely calm morning led to a massive open air explosion. Forensic evidence showed that at the time of ignition, a vapor cloud, most of which now appears …

Water Quality Monitoring For Selected Priority Watersheds In Arkansas, Upper Saline, Poteau And Strawberry Rivers, L. B. Massey, J.A. Mccarty, M.D. Matlock, A.N. Sharpley, B.E. Haggard

Technical Reports

Arkansas Natural Resources Commission has identified three priority hydrological unit code (HUC) 8 watersheds, the Upper Saline (HUC 08040203), Poteau (HUC 11110105), and Strawberry Watersheds (HUC 11010012). SWAT models have been developed to estimate nutrient and sediment loads in these watersheds where limited water‐quality data was available. The purpose of this project was to collect additional water samples across these HUC 8 watersheds to better understand how water quality changes across subwatershed with differing land use mixes, as well as estimate nitrate‐nitrogen (NO3‐N), total phosphorus (TP), and total suspended sediment (TSS) loads. Water samples were collected at twenty sites near …

Bedrock Geological Map Of The Rockhouse Quadrangle, Carroll And Madison Counties, Arkansas, Douglas Eben Jones

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A digital geologic map of the Rockhouse quadrangle, Carroll and Madison counties, Arkansas, was created on a 1:24,000 scale using ArcMap 10 and Photoshop CS4. The data obtained in the field are digitized onto the United States Geological Survey (USGS) digital raster graphic (DRG) of the Rockhouse quadrangle. The geology in the Rockhouse quadrangle consist entirely of sedimentary rocks that are Paleozoic ranging from Lower Ordovician to Mississippian in age. The Ordovician System is represented by the Cotter, Powell, Everton, and St. Peter Formations. The Cotter and Powell are the prominent bluff forming units throughout the quadrangle and along the …

Traveltant: Social Interaction Based Personalized Recommendation System, Sultan Dawood Alfarhood

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Trip planning is a time consuming task that most people do before going to any destination. Traveltant is an intelligent system that analyzes a user's Social network and suggests a complete trip plan detailed for every single day based on the user's interests extracted from the Social network. Traveltant also considers the interests of friends the user interacts with most by building a ranked friends list of interactivity, and then uses the interests of those people in this list to enrich the recommendation results. Traveltant provides a smooth user interface through a Windows Phone 7 application while doing most of …

Synthesis Of Platinum And Platinum-Copper Branched Nanoparticles For Electrooxidation Of Methanol, Eric Courtland Taylor

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Platinum and Pt alloys are among the most important heterogeneous catalysts for many organic reactions and electrochemical reactions associated with the fuel cell technologies. How to reduce Pt usage while maintaining the performance of the catalysts becomes a subject for intensive research in materials chemistry. For heterogeneous catalysis, the catalytic reactivity and selectivity are strongly correlated with different crystallographic facets exposed on the surface. The facets with high-index planes whose Miller indices with at one is larger than unity are generally more active than those with low-index planes (e.g., {100}, {111}, and {110}). Tuning the morphology of the nanoparticles to …

Insights Into The Timing, Origin, And Deformation Of The Highland Mountains Gneiss Dome In Southwestern Montana, Usa, Lane Markes Boyer

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Highland Mountains of southwestern Montana offer a unique view of the Archean igneous and metamorphic rocks within the Great Falls tectonic zone (GFTZ). A Paleoproterozoic structural gneiss dome has been interpreted in the southern extent of the Highland Mountains. The ∼ 130km² of exhumed metamorphic rocks and gneiss dome exposed in the Highland Mountains are the primary focus of this research. The formation of the Highland Mountains gneiss dome is proposed to be directly related to a northwest-side down detachment (the Steels Pass shear zone) that formed during terrane collision along the GFTZ. The field investigation determined foliation …

A Geomechanical Study Of The Mississippian Boone Formation, Karen Nicole Mason Buckland

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Boone Formation in northwest Arkansas is a chert-limestone sequence analogous to the subsurface Mississippi Lime reservoir in parts of Oklahoma and Kansas. It has low permeability and produces via horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing. The response to stimulation by fracturing is dependent on the quantity of chert in the area. Chert nodules and laterally extensive chert layers in the sequence are variable. Locally, cm- to dm-scale chert bedding is continuous and comprises up to 50% of the outcrop. Elsewhere, the chert is nodular and intermittent.

Samples collected from representative outcrops spanning the thickness and aerial extent of the formation …

A Roadmap To Mindful Consumption Through Informative Labeling Practices: The Effects Of Sustainability Disclosure Formats On Consumer Product Evaluations, Yoon-Na Cho

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Despite the interest of consumers in sustainable and environmentally friendly products, only a limited number of studies have focused on sustainability level disclosures for consumer packaged goods. The general overarching purpose of this dissertation is to extend the internal reference point and information processing literatures to better understand how consumers will process sustainability disclosures. Applying the theoretical lens of assimilation bias in conjunction with self-enhancement offers an important extension to prior work. Across two retail lab studies and four online experiments, I demonstrate that the perceived sustainability utility (i.e., the difference between a specific brand's level of sustainability and category-level …

Evaluation Of Broiler Litter Heat Production During Windrowing & Nitrogen Based Gas Emission Mitigation Using Biofilter, Min Lei

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Ammonia emission from animal feeding operations (AFOs) has negative effects on environment and animals' health. Thus measuring and mitigating ammonia emission from AFOs is important for environmental protection. In chapter I, different ammonia measurements were discussed and a mitigation technology- biofilter was represented.

In-house windrowing of built-up litter has been used by broiler producers to reduce pathogen loads and rejuvenate litter for the next flock. When litter is piled up for an extended period during downtime, heat generated by the litter pile can become a substantial heat source due to the metabolism of microorganisms. In chapter II, heat production rates …

Fabrication Of Tungsten Tips Suitable For Scanning Probe Microscopy By Electrochemical Etching Methods, Gobind Basnet

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The fabrication of metal tips is becoming an interesting field for scientists who are working in spectroscopy measurements. A significant amount of work has already been done in the tips fabrication process. Metal tips used to analyze the surface of materials play a key role in the scanning tunneling microscope (STM) technique. It's remarkable quality that it is used to study the surface of material at the atomic level.

There are various methods used in the tips fabrication process. Of diverse methods, three different electrochemical etching methods: submerged method, single lamella drop-off method, and double lamella drop-off method are commonly …

Multiscale Study Of Batio3 Nanostructures And Nanocomposites, Lydie Louis Louis

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Advancements in integrated nanoelectronics will continue to require the use of unique materials or systems of materials with diverse functionalities in increasingly confined spaces.

Hence, research on finite-dimensional systems strive to unearth and expand the knowledge of fundamental physical properties in certain key materials which exhibit numerous concurrent and exploitable functions.

Correspondingly, ferroelectric nanostructures, which particularly display a plethora of complex phenomena, prevalent in countless fields of research, are noteworthy candidates. Presently, however, the assimilation of zero-(0D) and one-dimensional (1D) ferroelectric into micro- or nano-electronics has been lagging, in part due to a lack of applied and fundamental studies but …

Utilizing A Modular Approach To Gamification To Improve Nutrition And Fitness In Children, Chad Richards

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Obesity is a worldwide epidemic that affects adults and children, impacts over 30% of the population in several states of the U.S., damages national economies, and is a factor in four out of the six of the leading causes of death, including diabetes and heart disease. Obesity is preventable: solution approaches include better education, more exercise, better nutrition, and changing eating habits. Still, it is difficult for many people to remain interested enough to educate themselves and to learn new behaviors to change their eating and exercise habits.

Gamification is a relatively new research area that involves using video game …

The Use Of Non-Traditional Technologies To Improve The Efficiency And Sustainability Of Modern Poultry Production, Christopher Pixley

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Historically, major driving factors for the animal agriculture industry have been efficiency and profitability. As demand for efficient food production has increased, the industry has focused research efforts on ways to improve the rearing process. Current market demands are requiring the industry to abandon some of the traditional tools it has used to maximize productivity. However, developing alternative technologies are available which may fill the void. Unfortunately, these alternatives are less well-described and the beneficial impacts they can have are not fully understood. As the animal agriculture industry matures it is becoming evident that consumers will continue to demand methods …

Modeling Chemical Reactions In Aqueous Solutions, Osman Uner

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The energy barriers for SN2 ligand exchange reactions between the chloride anion and para-substituted benzyl chlorides were investigated both in water solution and in the gas phase by using quantum chemical simulations at the DFT and Hartree-Fock levels. The question addressed was the effect of the solvent (water) and of the substituent on the barrier height. The para substitutient groups included NH2, OH, OCH3, CH3, C(CH3)3, H, F, Cl, Br, I, CF3, CN, NO2, and SO3- . The calculations in aqueous solution were carried out with the recently developed Ultrafast Monte Carlo method using the TIP3P explicit water model. The …

Analysis Of Tripolitic Chert In The Boone Formation (Lower Mississippian, Osagean), Northwest Arkansas And Southwestern Missouri, Paul Marchand Minor

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Boone Formation in northwest Arkansas and southwestern Missouri exposes a nearly complete sequence of Lower Mississippian chert-bearing carbonates deposited by a single 3rd order transgression and regression. An abundant amount of chert that has replaced limestone highlights the Boone, but little is understood about the timing and development of chert in Lower Mississippian carbonates. Interpretation of the diagenetic history of the chert, in particular tripolite, has significant implications beyond the outcrop. Determining the origin, timing, and extent of tripolitic chert in the Lower Mississippian System improves reservoir characterization in subsurface petroleum reservoirs in the mid-continent that are laterally equivalent …

Dammed Arkansas: Early Developments In How Arkansas Came To Be A Dammed State, 1836-1945, Mary Suter

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The need to manage the rivers of Arkansas has been a driving force in developments that have resulted in dramatic changes to the geographical "face" of Arkansas over the last 200 years. These changes are the creation of man-made lakes throughout the state, where before, there had been none. The many lakes that dot the Ozarks and the Ouachitas were created by dams. There are 1,251 dams over 25 feet in height, or that impound more that 50 acre-feet of water, in Arkansas, and uncounted smaller dams. No matter their size, dams were constructed to manage the rivers and streams …

Evaluation Of Water Sanitation Options For Poultry Production, Pramir Maharjan

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

An evaluation of poultry farm water supplies was conducted to determine the value and impact of water system sanitation practices in commercial broiler houses on microbial levels. Water line cleaning between flocks using concentrated disinfectant solution before placing chicks reduced biofilms retained in the lines to a safe level. Occasional microbial surges were noticed during different points of flock grow-out period even when daily water sanitation was present indicating water is highly susceptible to microbial contamination. However, the daily water sanitation practice controlled the occasional microbial surges in water from sustaining and kept drinking water to a microbiologically acceptable level. …

The Word Problem For The Automorphism Groups Of Right-Angled Artin Groups Is In P, Carrie Anne Whittle

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

We provide an algorithm which takes any given automorphism f of any given right-angled Artin group G and determines whether or not f is the identity automorphism, thereby solving the word problem for the automorphism groups of right-angled Artin groups. We do this by solving the compressed word problem for right-angled Artin groups, a more general result. A key piece of this solution is the use of Plandowski's algorithm. We also demonstrate that our algorithm runs in polynomial time in the size of the given automorphism, written as a word in Laurence's generators of the automorphism group of the given …

Assessment And Conceptualization Of Groundwater Flow In The Edwards Aquifer Through The Knippa Gap In Uvalde County, Texas, Jennifer Raye Adkins

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Edwards aquifer is one of the major regional karst aquifers in the United States, with an average withdrawal of 950 million liters per day (L/d). This investigation focuses on the connection between the Uvalde pool and the San Antonio pool of the Edwards aquifer, known as the Knippa Gap, west of the San Antonio metropolitan area in Uvalde County. This is a major zone of recharge to the Edwards aquifer and is approximately 6.4 km wide. The Knippa Gap is bounded by northeast trending faults of the Balcones Fault Zone (BFZ) on the north (specifically the Cooks and Trio …

Optimization Of Sample Preparation In Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization (Maldi) Mass Spectrometry Of Macromolecules, Evgenia Akhmetova

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

New method for the matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) and Fourier transform mass spectrometry (MALDI-FTMS) analysis of low molecular weight polyvinyl acetate (PVAc) was developed and then applied to the characterization of commercially available chewing gum. The optimization of MALDI analysis of PVAc was achieved by investigating the influence of sample preparation variables such as the choice of solvent and choice of matrix-analyte ratio. It was demonstrated that the use of ethyl acetate as a solvent and 2,5-Dihydroxybenzoic acid as a matrix yielded the highest signal intensity for the pure polymer sample. The application of TOF technique did not …

Design And Evaluation Of A Fiber Optic Probe As A Means Of Subsurface Planetary Exploration, Robert Paul Pilgrim

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Optical Probe for Regolith Analysis (OPRA) is an instrumentation concept designed to provide spectroscopic analysis of the near subsurface of unconsolidated regolith on bodies such as moons, asteroids and planets. Below a chemically altered surface may lay the geological history in the form of stratigraphy that is shielded from degradation due to harsh external environments. Most of what we know about our solar system comes from remote platforms, such as satellites that are deployed into orbit around the target body. In the case of Mars, we have had several successful landers and rovers however, with the exception of the …

Structural Properties Of Ferroelectric Lead (Zirconium0.5,Titanium0.5)Oxygen3 Nanotube Array And Electronic Structure Of Lao Delta-Doped Strontium Titanate, Rajendra Prasad Adhikari

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this Dissertation we begin with two introductions on: 1) ferroelectricity and related phenomena, and 2) novel properties of Oxide electronics and the generation of two dimensional electron gas. We then give theoretical background of density functional theory (including LDA+U) and pseudopotentials. The first part of research work is about structural, polarization, and dielectric properties of ferroelectric Lead Zirconate Titanate (PZT) solid solution in the form of a nanotube array, embedded in a matrix medium of different ferroelectric strengths. We use the effective Hamiltonian derived from first-principles and finite-temperature Monte Carlo methods to determine the various properties. We revealed different …

Bottled Water Mini Case, Michael Galbreth, Matthew A. Waller, Christopher Vincent, David G. Hyatt

Wal-Mart Sustainability Case Project

CASE OVERVIEW This case presents an interesting and very real dilemma: In 2005, Walmart committed to selling “products that sustain people and the environment.” However, despite environmental and social concerns of the category that include energy required for transport and storage, the plastic used for bottling, the potential lack of purity due to chemicals leeching from the plastic, massive waste, and the cost relative to tap water, consumers want and continue to buy bottled water. Thus the espoused goals of the company are in seeming conflict with its business model. Bottled water is an item under public scrutiny, and producers …

Bottled Water Logistics And Forecasting, Michael Galbreth, Matthew A. Waller, Christopher Vincent, David G. Hyatt

Wal-Mart Sustainability Case Project

CASE OVERVIEW This case presents an interesting and very real dilemma: In 2005, Walmart committed to selling “products that sustain people and the environment.” However, despite environmental and social concerns of the category that include energy required for transport and storage, the plastic used for bottling, the potential lack of purity due to chemicals leeching from the plastic, massive waste, and the cost relative to tap water, consumers want and continue to buy bottled water. Thus the espoused goals of the company are in seeming conflict with its business model. Bottled water is an item under public scrutiny, and producers …

Distortion Tolerant Source Code Using Viterbi Algorithm, Christopher Hankins

Electrical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Convolutional codes are used in digital communication systems in order to protect information from distortion and increase system reliability. One of the most efficient methods for decoding convolutional codes is based on the Viterbi Algorithm. Considering the fundamental similarities between these channel codes and source codes, it is logical to postulate that the Viterbi Algorithm may also provide a basis for the implementation of an efficient lossy source code. In this thesis, the Viterbi Algorithm is used to used to compress digital data from a symmetric Bernoulli source. The Viterbi source code is simulated and shown to produce results which …

A Cradle To Farm Gate Life Cycle Analysis Of Water Use In U.S. Pork Production, Eric Boles

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The intent of this study was to analyze water use across a range of regions, scales and practices of the U.S. pork industry. A Life Cycle Assessment of water use within the pork supply chain was performed. Cumulative water use was the environmental impact category used in the LCA to evaluate the impacts of pork production processes throughout the pork supply chain. The functional unit for the analysis was the volume of water required to produce one kilogram of swine (live weight) at the farm gate.

A comprehensive literature review was used to design and propagate algorithms for the National …

Algorithms And A Software Application For The Discovery Of Heparin-Binding Proteins For Chemical Analysis, Christopher Dempewolf

Computer Science and Computer Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Heparin is a biological molecule that plays a vital role in anticoagulation. As such, it is used for the prevention of blood clotting in a variety of medical disorders. However, it is easily contaminated with foreign substances, and this can prove fatal for a person receiving heparin. In order to prevent this, proteins that easily bind to heparin need to be added to the solution. Then, the unwanted substances can easily be filtered out. Certain sequences or patterns of amino acids are known to have a high probability of binding to heparin. Thus, proteins that contain large numbers of these …

A Critical Examination Of The Stormwater Education, Based On Sites Parameters, In Landscape Architecture Departments In The Sec, Brandon Doss

Landscape Architecture Undergraduate Honors Theses

The amount of accessible natural resources is dwindling and water could be the next world crisis. One response to this issue is the creation of methodologies which evaluate sustainability of new land development. A system to address the issues is the Sustainable Sites Initiative. This method was created in 2009 by the American Society of Landscape Architects, the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, and the United States Botanic Garden. Their primary goal was to create a metric for rating development to encourage a more sustainable approach. A piece of this evaluation is water management. Landscape architecture is poised to address …

Identifying Robust Sift Features For Improved Image Alignment, Sanjay Abhinav Vemuri

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis, we will study different ways to improve feature matching by increasing the quality and reducing the number of SIFT features. We created an algorithm to identify robust SIFT features by evaluating how invariant individual feature points are to changes in scale. This allows us to exclude poor SIFT feature points from the matching process and obtain better matching results in reduced time. We also developed techniques consider scale ratios and changes in object orientation when performing feature matching. This allows us to exclude false-positive feature matches and obtain better image alignment results.