Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Handbook Of Best Management Practices For The Upper Illinois River Watershed And Other Regional Watersheds, B.E. Haggard, Andrew Sharpley, Leslie Massey

Technical Reports

Management actions are strategies carried out by stakeholders that are designed to implement water quality protection and restoration activities with a watershed. This publication presents a range of beneficial management actions from simple to complex that address the pollutant potential that is common across the watershed landscape of northwest Arkansas. Some management actions can be undertaken by any watershed stakeholder at any time, while others need to be carefully planned or lobbied to local and state government. The following chapters address potential management actions that can be taken by individuals or groups at households, businesses, institutions, municipalities, industrial facilities, farms, …

Wayne E. Sabbe Arkansas Soil Fertility Studies 2009, Nathan A. Slaton

Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station Research Series

Rapid technological changes in crop management and production require that the research efforts also be presented in an expeditious manner. The contributions of soil fertility and fertilizers are major production factors in all Arkansas crops. The studies described within will allow producers to compare their practices with the university’s research efforts.

Making Our Communities Greener: A Case Study Of Promoting Biogas Energy By Tongwei Evergreen Libraries In China, Wenjie Zhou, Tim J. Zou, Elaine X. Dong

University Libraries Faculty Publications and Presentations

Promoting the consumption of new energies, particularly of biogas, in rural areas is a strategic initiative of the Chinese government. The government has incorporated this initiative into many of its rural development plans. Likewise, Tongwei Evergreen Libraries (TEL, 通渭青树图书馆) has also integrated ideas of the initiative into its library services. This paper describes the Biogas Promotion Program (BPP) that TEL implemented, discusses the BPP model and roles of TEL in the program, and analyzes the initial results of the program through surveying local farmers. A survey was developed for this assessment study. The survey results show that the government biogas …

Multimedia And Ultrafiltration For Reverse Osmosis Pretreatment Aboard Naval Vessels, Angela C. Mehner

Inquiry: The University of Arkansas Undergraduate Research Journal

The US Navy is interested in improving the pretreatment for shipboard Reverse Osmosis potable water systems. To investigate this problem, the Navy prepared a Task for the 2010 WERC (http://www.werc.net) competition. The research described in this paper was performed to compete in this WERC Task and ultimately received a 1st place award. Several technologies were considered as options for improving the current pretreatment process. Multi-media filtration followed by ultrafiltration was chosen as the most economical solution. This paper presents the final design for a full-scale shipboard system that incorporates multimedia filtration and ultrafiltration yet requires minimal space and optimal power …

Optical Characterization Of Silver Doped Poly (Vinyl Alcohol) Films, W. A. Jabbar, N. F. Habubi, S. S. Chiad

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

Silver-doped PVA films were prepared by casting method in order to study the effect of silver on the optical properties of poly(vinyl alcohol) using UV/VIS spectroscopy. It was found that these thin films have an indirect optical band gap (2.4-1.3) eV as the doping percentage increase. Extinction coefficient and refractive index increase as the doping percentage increase, while in general the optical dispersion parameters show an opposite behavior with doping

Characterization Of Secondary Organic Aerosol (Soa) Formed By The Reaction Of Β-Caryophyllene, Soot And Ozone: Climate Impact, A. Sarkar, N. A. Marley, J. S. Gaffney

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

Diesel soot (black carbon, BC) is an important light absorbing aerosol component in atmosphere that can cause tropospheric heating. Laboratory studies have found it to be unreactive to ozone at ambient temperature. The low uptake coefficient i.e., γ 300 K = 2× 10-7 , of the soot-O3 reaction indicates a low probability of irreversible O3 loss from gas phase to surface-adsorbed product (Particle phase). This shows clearly that at low temperature soot is not reactive with atmospheric oxidants. In contrast, sesquiterpenes (SQT) such as β-caryophyllene (C15H24), which are produced primarily by plants, are extremely reactive with ozone. For example, the …

Molecular Structure Of Fac-Aquadichlorotris(Dimethylsulfoxide)Ruthenium(Ii), L. Foster, J. Hardin, Mark Draganjac, B. C. Noll

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

No abstract provided.

Tributary Contribution To The Spring River, Ar As Determined By Water Quality Analyses, T. R. Brueggen, C. B. Dowling, Jennifer L. Bouldin

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

Tributaries often play an important role in the chemical properties, productivity and species diversity in a river channel. The objective of this study was to analyze the effect of tributaries on the water quality of the Spring River, AR. The Spring River has an approximate length of 92 km and has been divided into four zones according to the water source(s) that feed that segment of river. In this study approximately 30 km of the upstream river segment were sampled, which included nine tributaries contributing to the main river channel and incorporated the upper three previously defined zones. Samples were …

Analysis Of Gamma Rays And Cosmic Muons With A Single Detector, A. Bachri, P. C. Grant, A. Goldschmidt

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

In this paper, we report on the construction and upgrade of a 2002 Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) Quanknet Cosmic Muons Detector. By adapting this model, we modify the electronics and mechanics to achieve a highly efficient gamma-ray and cosmic-ray detector. Each detector module uses a one-inch-thick scintillator, attached to a photomultiplier tube (PMT) and mounted on a solid aluminum frame. A mechanical support was designed to allow flexible positioning between the two modules. The detector uses scintillation to transform passing radiation into detectable photons that are guided toward a photocathode surface of the PMT, triggering the release of photoelectrons …

Beyond The Pie: Communicating With Smart Objects Using Menu-Based Natural Language Interfaces, Tanmaya Kumar

Inquiry: The University of Arkansas Undergraduate Research Journal

In both real and 3D virtual worlds, people and avatars (representations of people) need to be able to communicate with things around them. Without guidance, however, people cannot use the language that the things can understand. The goal of our research is to extend the 3D virtual world Second Life® to better model pervasive computing and overcome the boundaries of communication. The aim of this paper is to show how to build a dynamic menu-based user interface that enables humans to communicate with model entities. The focus is the applicability of object-specific grammars associated with things (objects in the real …

Research Note: Automated Path Finding Service For Second Life, Daniel Starling

Inquiry: The University of Arkansas Undergraduate Research Journal

No abstract provided.

Synthesis And Characterization Of Ruthenium Complexes Containing Chlorophenanthroline And Bipyridine, Anwar A. Bhuiyan, S. Kudo, J. Bartlett

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

The divalent ruthenium polypyridine complexes hold promise as efficient photocatalysts for solar energy conversion schemes. This paper deals with the synthesis and spectroscopic investigation of ruthenium polypyridine complexes, which may be useful as photosensitizers. The homoleptic ruthenium(II) complex Ru(Cl-phen)3(PF6)2 (where Cl-phen = 5- chloro-1,10-phenanthroline), and heteroleptic ruthenium(II) complexes Ru(Cl-phen)2(bpy)(PF6)2, and Ru(Cl-phen)(bpy)2(PF6)2 (where bpy = 2,2′-bipyridine) have been prepared by following the standard synthetic procedure. Silica and alumina column chromatographies were used to purify the compounds. Mass spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance (nmr) spectroscopy, and elemental analysis were used to confirm the identity and the integrity of the complexes. Absorption and emission …

Smart Objects In A Virtual World, Akihiro Eguchi

Inquiry: The University of Arkansas Undergraduate Research Journal

The coming Internet of Things will usher in a smart semantic world where many more physical objects will be networked so that they can communicate with each other and with humans. This paper identifies protocols that smart objects will need to follow and the ways in which today’s virtual worlds can be used to better design and understand these protocols for tomorrow’s smart world.

Geologic Map Of The Nez Perce Drainage Basin, Southwestern Montana, Rose Aimee Feinstein

Inquiry: The University of Arkansas Undergraduate Research Journal

A geologic map of the Nez Perce drainage basin in southwestern Montana offers an understanding of the developing paleotopography of the area following the Laramide orogeny, ca. 65 ma. In this project, a small drainage basin was studied in detail, focusing on the geomorphology, structure, lithology, and ages of the various rock units. Based on the results of these studies and the relationships found among four major gravel units mapped within the basin, the basin development was approximated. The youngest unit is a fine-grained (mean diameter = 8.23 cm) channel deposit within Nez Perce Creek, sourced from within the basin, …

Effects Of Diesel And Biodiesel Blends On Engine Performance And Efficiency, Christopher Hunt, Donald Johnson, Don Edgar

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

Tests were conducted during the summer of 2009 on a John Deere 3203 diesel tractor to determine differences in specific fuel consumption (sfc), power take-off (PTO) torque (Nm), and PTO power (kW), between ultralow sulfur No. 2 Diesel (D2), 20% biodiesel (B20), 50% biodiesel (B50), and100% biodiesel (B100). Four 1-hr tests were conducted with D2, while three 1-hr tests were conducted with B20, B50, and B100. The results indicated that there was no significant (p < 0.05) difference between D2 and B20 for power or torque. Fueling with B50 resulted in significantly lower power and torque than fueling with D2 or B20, but significantly higher power and torque than fueling with B100. There were significant differences between each fuel in sfc; as the biodiesel blend increased, sfc also increased. Based on these data, B20 appears to be the optimal biodiesel blend for this and similar compact utility tractors since fueling with B20 resulted in no significant loss in power or torque (compared to D2) and only a slight increase in fuel consumption.

Sediment Phosphorus Flux In Beaver Lake In Northwest Arkansas, Taraf Abu Hamdan, Thad Scott, Duane Wolf, Brian E. Haggard

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

Internal phosphorus (P) loading may influence primary production in lakes, but the influence of sediment-derived P has not been well studied in Beaver Lake of Northwest Arkansas. Soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP), dissolved organic P (DOP), and total dissolved P (TDP) sediment-water fluxes were determined using intact sediment cores collected from deepwater environments in the riverine, transition zone, and lacustrine zones of Beaver Lake. The SRP, DOP, and TDP fluxes were also estimated from cores collected from shallow locations in the transition zone. There was a net positive SRP (0.001 – 0.005 µg P cm-2 h-1), DOP (0.005 – 0.01 µg …

Assessment Of Total Organic Carbon Concentrations In Two Streams Of Northwest Arkansas: Town Branch And Brush Creek, Abigail N. Washispack, Jason A. Mcginnis, Brian E. Haggard

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

Within a stream, changes in flow rate and local environment can affect the total organic content (TOC) concentrations in the stream water and TOC delivery downstream to water supply reservoirs. Disinfection by-products (DBPs) result from various chemical reactions between chlorine, bromine, and organic carbon in raw water during the drinking water treatment process; DBPs are potential carcinogens and are regulated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. In this project, we measured the TOC concentrations in two streams in the Beaver Lake Watershed: Town Branch and Brush Creek. We then compared TOC concentrations between the two streams and to that observed …

Evaluation Of Best Management Practices To Reduce Nutrients Runoff In Watersheds In Arkansas, Hector German Rodriguez Diaz

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

There are many non point sources (NPS) of pollution issues across the state of Arkansas. Each region of the state has different concerns. Many watersheds have been included in the Arkansas's 2008 303(d) list for NPS impairments with sediment and nutrients being the primary causes of concern. This research hypothesized that there are no cost or net returns risks when adopting best management practices (BMPs) to control nutrients runoff and that selection, timing, placement and cost have no impact on the implementation of BMPs. Using two priority watersheds, the L'Anguille River and the Lincoln Lake, as examples, the environmental benefits …

New Infrared Spectral Data For 27 Asteroids: An Investigation Of Meteorite-Asteroid Relationships By Using The Modified Gaussian Model, Katherine Marie Gietzen

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Asteroids provide unique insights into the origin and early history of the solar system. Since asteroids are considered to be fairly pristine, studying them provides opportunities to learn more about the primordial solar system, its materials, processes and history. Since the discovery in 1801 of the first asteroid, Ceres, during the era when everyone was searching for the "missing planet", astronomers have been trying to understand what they are, where they came from, why they exist and what they can tell us about how our solar system formed and evolved.

Within the asteroid population are a number of sub-populations, the …

Thin Film Integrated Capacitors With Sputtered-Anodized Niobium Pentoxide Dielectric For Decoupling Applications, Susan Jacob

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Electronics system miniaturization is a major driver for high-k materials. High-k materials in capacitors allow for high capacitance, enabling system miniaturization. Ta2O5 (k~24) has been the dominant high-k material in the electronic industry for decoupling capacitors, filter capacitors, etc. In order to facilitate further system miniaturization, this project has investigated thin film integrated capacitors with Nb2O5 dielectric. Nb2O5 has k~41 and is a potential candidate for replacing Ta2O5. But, the presence of suboxides (NbO2 and NbO) in the dielectric deteriorates the electrical properties (leakage current, thermal instability of capacitance, etc.). Also, the high oxygen solubility of niobium results in oxygen …

White River Forum Ii: Second Annual Meeting Of The White River Forum, John Havel, Kenneth Steele

Technical Reports

This second annual meeting of the White River Forum is proof of widespread interest in the water quality of the Upper White River watershed. The participation of numerous elected officials, state and federal agencies, universities, businesses, and local citizens indicates that interest in understanding policy issues crosses political boundaries and occupations.

Describing The Economic Impact Of The Oil And Gas Industry In Arkansas, Katherine A. Deck, Viktoria Riiman

Publications and Presentations

The Arkansas oil and natural gas industries are increasingly important to the state’s economic vitality. As global demand for energy increases, domestic production is put into the spotlight. This study describes the economic impact of the oil and gas industries in Arkansas, focusing on the sector’s economic output, employment, and tax revenues.

Factors Affecting Redox Magnetohydrodynamics For Flow In Small Volumes, Matthew D. Gerner

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Lab-on-a-chip technologies offer the possibility of developing analytical devices that are low-cost, portable, disposable, fast, and operable by non-technical personnel. Such devices require automated methods to manipulate ultra-small volumes (picoliters) of samples and solution, including pumping, stirring, and positioning. Current methods for ultra-small volume microfluidics have limitations that restrict their use including high voltage requirements, disadvantageous flow profiles or rates, and relatively complicated fabrication due to mechanical parts. Redox magnetohydrodyanmics (RMHD) that utilizes permanent magnets for portability shows promise as a micropump with ease of switching flow direction, no moving parts, compatibility with both aqueous and non-aqueous solutions, low voltages …

Water Quality Sampling, Analysis And Annual Load Determinations For The Illinois River At Arkansas Highway 59 Bridge, 2008, L.B. Massey, L.W. Cash, B.E. Haggard

Technical Reports

The Arkansas Water Resources Center monitored water quality at the Illinois River at the Arkansas Highway 59 Bridge, just upstream from the Arkansas-Oklahoma state border during base flow and storm events from July 1, 2008 through June 30, 2009. Water samples were collected manually or with an auto-sampler and analyzed for nitrate-nitrogen, ammonia-nitrogen, total nitrogen, total phosphorus, soluble reactive phosphorus, sulfate, chloride and total suspended solids. The U.S. Geological Survey recorded instantaneous stage and discharge at the site, total annual discharge was 1,010,000,000 m³ , with 37% attributed to base flow and 63% attributed to storm flow. Loads were estimated …

Water Quality Sampling, Analysis And Annual Load Determinations For Nutrients And Solids On The Ballard Creek, 2008, L.B. Massey, L.W. Cash, B.E. Haggard

Technical Reports

The Arkansas Water Resources Center monitored water quality at Ballard Creek at the Washington County Road 76 Bridge in northwest Arkansas during base flow and storm events from July 1, 2008 through June 30, 2009. Water samples were collected manually or with an auto-sampler and analyzed for nitrate-nitrogen, ammonia-nitrogen, total nitrogen, total phosphorus, soluble reactive phosphorus, sulfate, chloride and total suspended solids. Instantaneous stage and discharge were recorded at the site; total annual discharge was 55,800,000 m³ , with 27% attributed to base flow and 73% attributed to storm flow. Loads were estimated using the mid-interval integration approach using continuous …

Illinois River Volunteer Monitoring, L.B. Massey, B.E. Haggard

Technical Reports

Understanding how water quality conditions change along a land use gradient and over time is important for sustainable watershed management. Therefore, a volunteer monitoring program was created to measure water chemistry at 37 established sites within the Upper Illinois River Watershed and to evaluate changes in water chemistry over the past 15 years. The Illinois River Watershed Partnership (IRWP), a non‐profit organization subcontracted with the Arkansas Water Resources Center at the University of Arkansas, to manage the volunteer monitoring project, train volunteers to collect samples following EPA approved methods, and to analyze the collected samples. The AWRC trained 27 volunteers …

Heterosternuta Sulphuria (Coloptera: Dytiscidae) Occurence In The Sulphur Springs Headwater System And In Buffalo National River Tributaries (Arkansas, Usa): Current Distribution, Habitat Conditions, And Biomonitoring Framework, S.D. Longing, B.E. Haggard

Technical Reports

Heterosternuta sulphuria is an endemic aquatic species of concern in Arkansas, with a priority score of 80 out of 100 and a conservation rank of S1and G1. A need of the Arkansas Wildlife Action Plan (AWAP) was to obtain baseline information on distribution and population status of H. sulphuria. Here, we report new H. sulphuria records for 39 sites across 10 counties in the Ozark Highlands and Boston Mountain ecoregions and a determined habitat type of shallow margins and small bedrock pools of perennial streams and spring seeps. Few habitat patches were observed per site because detection was typically rapid …

Frequency Distributions Of Median Nutrient And Chlorophyll Concentrations Across The Red River Basin, 1996-2006, S.D. Longing, B.E. Haggard

Technical Reports

Acquisition and compilation of water quality data for a ten year time period (1996 – 2006) from 589 stream and river stations was conducted to support nutrient criteria development for the multi–state Red River Basin shared by Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas, USA. Twenty–three water quality parameters were collected from five data sources (USGS, ADEQ, LDEQ, OCC, OWRB, and TCEQ) and an additional 13 parameters were acquired from at least one source. Data for the primary biological parameter of interest, chlorophyll a, was sparse and available from only two sources. Following compilation of data, medians were calculated for …

Understanding Sources And Consequences Of Variation In Self-Assembly, Arjun Dasgupta

Computer Science and Computer Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Self-assembly is the process of constructing a larger structure from small component parts that randomly collide and bond through weak interactions [2]. It is a potentially important method in the field of nanoscale manufacturing. However, because of the nature of self-assembly, randomness and the design of self-assembly compete with each other, and unforeseen things can be produced. In this thesis, the tiling assembly model of Winfree [7] was simulated. The tiling assembly model has two bonds which assemble planar nanostructures. The goal of the simulations was to determine what probabilities would produce an average degree of four (the ideal) for …

Imaging Second-Harmonic Radiation And Scattering Patterns In Zno Micro/Nanostructures, Katrina Marie Geren

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The optical characteristics of ZnO nanostructures have recently garnered interest due to the inclusion of these structures in many nanoscale optical and optoelectronic devices. This thesis will address several characteristics involving second harmonic generation and scattering in ZnO nano- and microstructures. A method will be presented for determining the nonlinear coefficients of the second order susceptibility in a single ZnO rod. This method uses transmission geometry where previous methods have employed back-reflected irradiation. The nonlinear coefficients found using this new technique were consistent with previous data from similar structures. Models will be presented for predicting the second harmonic scattering patterns …