Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Mineralogy Of Speleothems From Four Caves In The Purcăreţ - Boiu Mare Plateau And The Baia Mare Depression (Nw Romania), Tudor Tamas, Razvan Ungureanu

Studia UBB Geologia

The Purcăreţ - Boiu Mare Plateau and the southern edge of the Baia Mare Depression, in Sălaj and Maramureş Counties, NW Romania, host over 200 caves located in limestones ranging in age from Upper Eocene to Badenian. The carbonate rocks are interposed with non-karst rocks consisting of shales, sandstones and marls. Four caves hosted by limestones of different lithologies have been investigated for secondary minerals in the composition of their speleothems. Calcite, gypsum, goethite, jarosite, brushite, hydroxylapatite and taranakite were found in the composition of crusts, crystals, aggregates and earthy masses. The mineral association was characterized by means of X-ray …

Past Surface Conditions And Speleogenesis As Inferred From Cave Sediments In The Great Cave Of Șălitrari Mountain (Sw Romania), Cristina M. Pușcaș, Ciprian C. Stremtan, Ferenc Kristály

Studia UBB Geologia

Abstract In one of the passages in the Great Cave of Șălitrari Mountain the floor is completely covered by an alluvial deposit at least 6 m in thickness, ranging from boulders, and cobbles, to sand and clay, topped by a layer of dry bat guano. Sediment and mineral samples collected from six profiles underwent broad analyses to determine their petrological and mineralogical makeup, grain-size distribution, and paleoclimatic significance. The complicated facies alternation suggests frequent changes in the former stream’s hydrological parameters, with frequent flooding, leading to the hypothesis that the climate was somewhat wetter than today. Both the mineralogical composition …

New Data On Facies Development And Micropaleontology Of The Eastern Margin Of The Getic Carbonate Platform (South Carpathians, Romania): Case Study Of Mateiaş Limestone, Ioan I. Bucur, Daniela Beles, Emanoil Sasaran, Constantin Balica

Studia UBB Geologia

Mateiaş Limestone represents a lithostratigraphic unit included in the Braşov Series, which is a component of the eastern end of the Getic Nappes’ cover (the Getic carbonate platform). The study of the Mateiaş Limestone in Hulei-Mateiaş-Măgura area has evidenced three main facies, and five microfacies types. The Kimmeridgian (possibly also Early Tithonian) age of the Mateiaş Limestone has been assigned based on a microfossil association identified in thin sections. The regional framework, as well as their sedimentological and micropaleontological features point to the deposition of these limestones on shelf margin and slope environments; the succession in the studied area corresponds …

Late Jurassic–Early Cretaceous Foraminifera From Štramberk-Type Limestones, Polish Outer Carpathians, Daria Ivanova, Boguslaw Kolodziej

Studia UBB Geologia

Foraminifera studies were carried out on the Štramberk-type limestones which occur as pebbles to small boulders (exotics) within the uppermost Jurassic–Palaeogene flysch deposits of the Polish Outer Carpathians. The studies were focused on foraminifera from (1) reef and peri-reef facies, and (2) lagoonal algal-foraminiferal facies. The paper deals with 34 species (including 8 in open nomenclature) representing 30 genera, 22 families, 14 superfamilies, 11 suborders, and 7 orders. A more precise age determination has been obtained for 30 exotics, representing a Tithonian (mostly) to Valanginian age. Foraminiferal assemblages from at least two exotics suggest a Valanginian age as indicated by …

The Role Of Rater Motivation In Personnel Selection Validation Studies, Dan Ispas

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Personnel selection validation studies are routinely conducted in contemporary organizations for selecting and placing employees. Although numerous studies have been conducted with the goal of identifying new predictors, less research was focused on the criterion side. In the current paper, across three studies and five samples, I examined the role played by rater motivation in validation studies. I proposed that rater motivation would impact criterion-related validity of various predictors, the reliability, and the variance of performance ratings. In Study 1, these hypotheses were tested in two samples with varied operationalizations of predictors and of rater motivation. In Study 2, I …

Parts Of The Whole: Thinking About Variance: Standards, Targets, Tracking, And Other Thoughts, Dorothy Wallace

Numeracy

Variation is a natural result of any process, including education. Understanding how variation propagates and increases is necessary for designing educational interventions that work for the intended population. We show how common strategies such as setting standards and tracking can accidentally produce unintended and undesirable results due to the way variation moves through a system.

Creating A Masters In Numeracy Program, Eric Gaze

Numeracy

The Master of Science in Numeracy program at Alfred University received full approval from the New York State Education Department (NYSED) in May of 2007. This first-of-its-kind program seeks to provide teachers at all levels, from across the curriculum, the skills, and more importantly the confidence, to introduce relevant quantitative concepts in their own disciplines. Created to be a complement of the MS Ed. in Literacy, the 30-hour MS in Numeracy program consists of four required core courses (Teaching Numeracy, Teaching with Data, Assessment and Learning Theories in Numeracy, and Doing Science and Numeracy), five electives from a list of …

Reorganizing School Mathematics For Quantitative Literacy, Rick Gillman

Numeracy

This paper offers an alternative curriculum for high school mathematics. It proposes replacing the Algebra-Geometry-Algebra rush to calculus model with one which focuses on improving student problem-solving skills and general quantitative literacy skills while reinforcing basic manipulative skills. Most of these goals are gained by expanding the current single-year algebra-one course into two years. The model proposes moving “learning to write proofs” from the traditional geometry course into a separate discrete mathematics course. It requires statistics for every student, and requires a senior-level modeling course for every college-going student. In addition, the proposed model creates opportunities for students to move …

Spreadsheets Across The Curriculum, 1: The Idea And The Resource, H L Vacher, Emily Lardner

Numeracy

This paper introduces Spreadsheets Across the Curriculum, a workshop-based educational materials development project to build a resource to facilitate connecting mathematics and context in undergraduate college courses where mathematical problem solving is relevant. The central idea is “spreadsheet modules,” which, in essence, are elaborate word problems in the form of short PowerPoint presentations with embedded Excel spreadsheets. Students work through the presentations on their own, making and/or completing the spreadsheets displayed on the slides in order to perform calculations or draw graphs that address the issue (context) posed in the word problem. The end result of the project is the …

Quantitative Reasoning In The Contemporary World, 2: Focus Questions For The Numeracy Community, Bernard L. Madison, Shannon W. Dingman

Numeracy

Numerous questions about student learning of quantitative reasoning arose as we developed, taught and assessed the Quantitative Reasoning in the Contemporary World course described in the companion paper in this issue of Numeracy. In this paper, we present some of those questions and describe the context in which they arose. They fall into eight general problem areas: learning that is context-bound and does not easily transfer (i.e., situated learning); the need for a productive disposition regarding mathematics; the connection between QL and mathematical proficiency; the persistence of students, despite our efforts, for using the wrong base for percents; the inconsistent …

Quantitative Reasoning In The Contemporary World, 1: The Course And Its Challenges:, Shannon W. Dingman, Bernard L. Madison

Numeracy

The authors describe successes and challenges in developing a QL-friendly course at the University of Arkansas. This work is part of a three-year NSF project Quantitative Reasoning in the Contemporary World (QRCW) that supported the expansion of the course. The course, MATH 2183, began experimentally in Fall 2004 as a section of finite mathematics known informally as “News Math” for 26 students from arts and humanities disciplines. Over the past six years, the course has evolved and now MATH 2183 is approved to satisfy the College of Arts and Sciences mathematics requirement for the Bachelor of Arts degree. In 2009-2010, …

Quantitative Literacy: Does It Work? Evaluation Of Student Outcomes At Colby-Sawyer College, Benjamin Steele, Semra Kilic-Bahi

Numeracy

Colby-Sawyer College has adopted a mission for quantitative literacy (QL) to give students the “necessary skills to understand and use quantitative information in their personal and professional lives.” We have implemented an across-the-curriculum approach to develop these skills. As part of this QL program, we administer two assessment tests, one in basic mathematical skills and one that applies those skills, plus an attitude survey to both freshmen and seniors. Three years of data show that seniors score about 10 percentage points higher than freshmen on these tests. However, seniors still scored below 55 percent on both tests, and many cannot …

Science Literacy: Hand In Glove With Numeracy, Gerry G. Meisels

Numeracy

Science Literacy requires numeracy as part of its foundation, and much of Numeracy draws on examples and applications from the sciences. They share the goal of creating a society that is mathematics numerate and science literate, and are interrelated. National priorities to strengthen both among all our students are driven by practical considerations of economic competitiveness that increasingly depend on technological innovation. It is also critical to each individual for long-term job opportunities and for informed citizenship. With up to 80% of 21st century jobs requiring mathematics and science skills, a large majority of the 2,900,000 students who graduate from …

Advancing Assessment Of Quantitative And Scientific Reasoning, Donna L. Sundre, Amy D. Thelk

Numeracy

Advancing Assessment of Quantitative and Scientific Reasoning is a four-year NSF Project (DUE-0618599) in part designed to evaluate the generalizability of quantitative (QR) and scientific reasoning (SR) assessment instruments created at James Madison University to four other four-year institutions with very distinct missions and student demographics. This article describes the methods, results, and findings we obtained in our studies. More specifically, we describe how to conduct content-alignment exercises in which faculty members map each item from a prospective test to the student learning objectives taught at the institution. Our results indicated that 92-100% of the QR and SR items were …

Draft Tampa Bay Interagency Seagrass Monitoring Program Training And Field Manual, Walt Avery, Roger Johansson, J. J. Pacowta

Reports

To insure quality assurance of the data collected among the various agencies, a training session is held each fall immediately prior to baywide TBISP monitoring. The goals of the session are to 1) determine the variability of the data collection among the agencies and to minimize this variability and 2) assess the repeatability of a seagrass investigator in determining species composition, abundance, density, and height. The purpose of this manual is to provide a seagrass researcher with information concerning TBISP protocols and results.

Variable-Density Flow Models Of Saltwater Intrusion In Coastal Landforms In Response To Climate Change Induced Sea Level Rise And A Chapter On Time-Frequency Analysis Of Ground Penetrating Radar Signals, Swagata Guha

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Populations residing on and near the world’s coasts have become increasingly dependent on coastal groundwater for their supply of freshwater. Under the conditions of predicted climate changes, the expected rise in global sea level can adversely affect the quality and quantity of freshwater resources in coastal areas as a result of saltwater intrusion.

In this study, a suite of two- and three-dimensional variable-density groundwater flow models of major coastal landforms (e.g. deltas, estuaries and small islands) has been constructed to assess the effects of sea level rise (SLR), using different SLR rates of 0.5 m, 1m and 1.5 m over …

Structural Diversity In Crystal Chemistry: Rational Design Strategies Toward The Synthesis Of Functional Metal-Organic Materials, Amy J. Cairns

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Metal-Organic Materials (MOMs) represent an important class of solid-state crystalline materials. Their countless attractive attributes make them uniquely suited to potentially resolve many present and future utilitarian societal challenges ranging from energy and the environment, all the way to include biology and medicine. Since the birth of coordination chemistry, the self-assembly of organic molecules with metal ions has produced a plethora of simple and complex architectures, many of which possess diverse pore and channel systems in a periodic array. In its infancy however this field was primarily fueled by burgeoning serendipitous discoveries, with no regard to a rational design approach …

Chemical Investigation Of The Antarctic Marine Invertebrates Synoicum Adareanum And Artemisina Plumosa, Jaime Heimbegner Noguez

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Of the small percentage of organisms chemically investigated over the years as potential sources of natural products, much less is known about those from the marine realm. Despite the lack of attention they have received in comparison to terrestrial organisms, marine life have recently been found to represent a valuable source for novel bioactive compounds. Cold water marine habitats are home to a plethora of organisms that have the ability to produce secondary metabolites that exhibit a great deal of diversity in both their chemical structures and biological activities. The chemical investigation of these unique and relatively unstudied ecosystems is …

Ground Surface Deformation Patterns, Magma Supply, And Magma Storage At Okmok Volcano, Alaska, From Insar Analysis: 1. Inter-Eruption Deformation, 1997-2008, Zhong Lu, Daniel Dzurisin, Juliet Biggs, Charles Wicks Jr., Stephen R. Mcnutt

School of Geosciences Faculty and Staff Publications

Starting soon after the 1997 eruption at Okmok volcano and continuing until the start of the 2008 eruption, magma accumulated in a storage zone centered ∼3.5 km beneath the caldera floor at a rate that varied with time. A Mogi-type point pressure source or finite sphere with a radius of 1 km provides an adequate fit to the deformation field portrayed in time-sequential interferometric synthetic aperture radar images. From the end of the 1997 eruption through summer 2004, magma storage increased by 3.2–4.5 × 10⁷ m³, which corresponds to 75–85% of the magma volume erupted in 1997. …

In Memoriam

Studia UBB Geologia

No abstract provided.

Forest Conservation In A Changing World: Natural Or Cultural? Example From The Western Carpathians Forests, Romania, Angelica N. Feurdean

Studia UBB Geologia

In order to plan for the future management of some of the most biodiverse forests of Europe, it is essential that we understand under which condition they arose and the time and processes responsible for their variability. Here, I highlight the main findings from the palaeoecological (pollen and charcoal), archaeological and historical investigation comprising the last 6000 years, in the Apuseni Natural Park, NW Romania and discuss the effect of the past land use and forest management on these forests. I then ask what does it mean in term of conservation values if these forests are not natural but a …

Coastal Karren Features In Temperate Microtidal Settings: Spatial Organization And Temporal Evolution, Lluís Gómez-Pujol, Joan J. Fornós

Studia UBB Geologia

Basin pools are the diagnostic feature of Coastal Karren landscape at temperate settings. According to the size and connectivity parameters four morphological zones are identified along limestone coastal profiles. Each zone reflects the balance between the effects of physical and chemical weathering-erosion agents. Broadly, marine abrasion, bioerosion and biological driven solution show a larger influence seaward, whereas non-biological driven solution enhances its participation landward

Upper Cenomanian – Lower Turonian (Cretaceous) Calcareous Algae From The Eastern Desert Of Egypt: Taxonomy And Significance, Ioan I. Bucur, Emad Nagm, Markus Wilmsen

Studia UBB Geologia

An assemblage of calcareous algae (dasycladaleans and halimedaceans) is described from the Upper Cenomanian to Lower Turonian of the Galala and Maghra el Hadida formations (Wadi Araba, northern Eastern Desert, Egypt). The following taxa have been identified: Dissocladella sp., Neomeris mokragorensis RADOIČIĆ & SCHLAGINTWEIT 2007, Salpingoporella milovanovici RADOIČIĆ 1978, Trinocladus divnae RADOIČIĆ 2006, Trinocladus cf. radoicicae ELLIOTT 1968, and Halimeda cf. elliotti CONARD & RIOULT, 1977. Most of the species are recorded from the first time from Egypt. Three of the identified algae (T. divnae, S. milovanovici and H. elliotti) also occur in Cenomanian limestones of the Mirdita zone, Serbia, …

Investigations On Some Zeolitic Volcanic Tuffs From Cluj County (Romania), Used For Zinc Ions Removal From Aqueous Solution, Horea Bedelean, Andrada Maicaneanu, Silvia Burca, Maria Stanca

Studia UBB Geologia

Representative samples of zeolitic tuffs from Măcicaş, Aluniş and Apahida occurrences (Cluj County, Romania) were investigated using optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and wet chemical analyses. The studied tuffs samples are mainly represented by vitric and vitric crystal varieties. The mineral assemblage suggests a rhyo-dacitic petrographic type of the volcanic tuff. Diagenetic alteration process in the pyroclastic sequence from this region led to the formation of zeolites, mainly clinoptilolite. The zeolitic tuffs under study can be used in wastewaters treatment to remove Zn2+ ions. Zn2+ removal was performed on some bulk samples: Aluniş (labelled A1), Apahida …

Managing The Geodiversity In Baia Mare Region: From The Scientific To The Public Interest, Alexandrina Fülöp, Marinel Kovacs

Studia UBB Geologia

The management of the geodiversity develops around the geological sites with scientific significance, which may be used for education. It is a key component of the natural resources in the Baia Mare region, which encompasses the Oaş and Gutâi Mts. and the adiacent Oaş, Maramureş and Baia Mare basins. After the decline of the mining-derived activities in the region, the development of the scientific and public interest on the geodiversity can be an alternative for the future. The scientific value of the geodiversity in the Baia Mare region is justified by the complex geology of the Neogene magmatic rocks and …

Statistical Learning And Behrens-Fisher Distribution Methods For Heteroscedastic Data In Microarray Analysis, Nabin K. Manandhr-Shrestha

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The aim of the present study is to identify the di®erentially expressed genes be- tween two di®erent conditions and apply it in predicting the class of new samples using the microarray data. Microarray data analysis poses many challenges to the statis- ticians because of its high dimensionality and small sample size, dubbed as "small n large p problem". Microarray data has been extensively studied by many statisticians and geneticists. Generally, it is said to follow a normal distribution with equal vari- ances in two conditions, but it is not true in general. Since the number of replications is very small, …

Metal-Organic Materials: From Design Principles To Practical Applications, Mohamed H. Alkordi

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The works presented herein outline rational design approaches towards construction of solid state materials with great potentials to answer some of current demanding applications. Specifically, the materials targeted are metal−organic materials with desirable structural features and functional properties. Metal−organic materials are constructed from organic linker molecules and metal ions under relatively mild solvothermal reaction conditions that preserve the structural features of the relatively simple building blocks. Therefore, it is feasible to conceive a retrospective pathway of the reaction and thus deconstruct the desirable structures into simple, chemicallyrelevant, building blocks in an approach known as the molecular building block approach. Due …

Data Summary From The Tampa Bay Interagency Seagrass Monitoring Program Through Year 2008, Walt Avery, Roger Johansson

Reports

In 1997, the TBEP coordinated the creation of a bay-wide fixed transect seagrass monitoring program. The primary goal of the program is to document temporal and spatial changes in seagrass species composition, abundance, and distribution along a depth gradient. Several bay area agencies committed personnel and equipment to the program. Data collection from 60 transects began in 1998. Currently, 62 transects are monitored due to revisions in transect selection and location. This paper presents a general summary of Tampa Bay seagrass trends from 1998-2008

Long-Term And Seasonal Trends In Phytoplankton Production And Biomass In Tampa Bay, Florida., J.O. R. Johansson

Reports

Phytoplankton production is a basic process in aquatic ecosystems that converts inorganic carbon into organic matter and provides an important indicator of trophic state. The City of Tampa Bay Study Group maintains a 32 year long monthly record of phytoplankton production rates and biomass (chlorophyll-a) in Hillsborough Bay (HB) and Middle Tampa Bay (MTB), and a recent record during the last nine years for Old Tampa Bay (OTB). Production is measured using the classic in situ 14C method with samples incubated vertically in the water column. Annual production rates during the most recent decade are about 410gCm-2 for HB, 350gCm-2 …

Designing Successful Online Courses - Part 2, Kathleen P. King

Leadership, Counseling, Adult, Career and Higher Education Faculty Publications

Once again, our major goal is to provide faculty with consistent guidance through the many instructional decisions and design steps they need to pursue in this process. This process is a fantastic opportunity to craft a virtual learning space in which people can engaging in learning beyond the constraints of time and space.