Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Barriers To Disaster Preparedness Among Medical Special Needs Populations, Leslie Meyer, Kristina Vatcheva, Stephanie Castellanos, Belinda M. Reininger

School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

A medical special needs (MSN) assessment was conducted among 3088 respondents in a hurricane prone area. The sample was female (51.7%), Hispanic (92.9%), aged >45 years (51%), not insured for health (59.2%), and with an MSN (33.2%). Barriers to preparedness were characterized for all households, including those with inhabitants reporting MSN ranging from level 0 (mild) to level 4 (most severe). Multivariable logistic regression tested associations between hurricane preparedness and barriers to evacuation by level of MSN. A significant interaction effect between number of evacuation barriers and MSN was found. Among households that reported individuals with level 0 MSN, the …

Association Of Total And Differential White Blood Cell Counts To Development Of Type 2 Diabetes In Mexican Americans In Cameron County Hispanic Cohort, Kristina Vatcheva, Susan P. Fisher-Hoch, Mohammad H. Rahbar, Minjae Lee, Rene L. Olvera, Joseph B. Mccormick

School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Objective: To evaluate the relationship between total and differential White Blood Cell (WBC) counts with time to transition to type 2 diabetes in Mexican Americans using prospective data from the Cameron County Hispanic Cohort (CCHC).

Results: Multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression models revealed that obese Mexican-American cohort participants whose total WBC or granulocyte count increased over time had 1.39 and 1.35 times higher risk respectively of transition to type 2 diabetes when compared to overweight participants. The granulocyte or total WBC count in participants with BMI≥35 were significant risk factors for transition to type 2 diabetes.

Conclusions: Increased total WBC …

Phase-Coherent Mapping Of Gravitational-Wave Backgrounds Using Ground-Based Laser Interferometers, Joseph D. Romano, Stephen R. Taylor, Neil Cornish, Jonathan Gair, Chiara M. F. Mingarelli, Rutger Van Haasteren

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications and Presentations

We extend the formalisms developed in Gair et al. [1] and Cornish and van Haasteren [2] to create maps of gravitational-wave backgrounds using a network of ground-based laser interferometers. We show that in contrast to pulsar timing arrays, which are insensitive to the curl modes of the background, a network of ground-based interferometers is sensitive to both the gradient and curl components. The spatial separation of a network of interferometers, or of a single interferometer at different times during its rotational and orbital motion around the Sun, allows for recovery of both components. We derive expressions for the response functions …

Discovery And Follow-Up Of Rotating Radio Transients With The Green Bank And Lofar Telescopes, C. Karako-Argaman, V. M. Kaspi, R. S. Lynch, J. W.T. Hessels, V. I. Kondratiev, M. A. Mclaughlin, S. M. Ransom, A. M. Archibald, J. Boyles, F. A. Jenet, D. L. Kaplan, L. Levin, D. R. Lorimer, E. C. Madsen, M. S.E. Roberts, X. Siemens, I. H. Stairs, K. Stovall, J. K. Swiggum, J. Van Leeuwen

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications and Presentations

We have discovered 21 Rotating Radio Transients (RRATs) in data from the Green Bank Telescope (GBT) 350 MHz Drift-scan and the Green Bank North Celestial Cap pulsar surveys using a new candidate sifting algorithm. RRATs are pulsars with sporadic emission that are detected through their bright single pulses rather than Fourier domain searches. We have developed RRATtrap, a single-pulse sifting algorithm that can be integrated into pulsar survey data analysis pipelines in order to find RRATs and Fast Radio Bursts. We have conducted follow-up observations of our newly discovered sources at several radio frequencies using the GBT and Low Frequency …

Zeros Of Cubic Eisenstein Series, Sahak D. Sandragorsian

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

This thesis provides a detailed exposition and extension of the work of F. K. C. Rankin and Swinnerton-Dyer on the location of the zeros of Eisenstein series for SL(2,Z). Exact values of the zeros in special cases will be given in terms of modular functions. Analogous new results on zeros of cubic Eisenstein series will be presented.

Higgs Boson Equation In De Sitter Spacetime: Numerical Investigation Of Bubbles Using Gpus, Jacob N. Banda

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

The Higgs field, along with its corresponding boson, represent a milestone for modern day particle physics. In this work we consider the Higgs boson equation in de Sitter spacetime. Previous work by K. Yagdjian [23] has formulated sufficient conditions for the existence of the zeros of global solutions in the interior of their supports. In searching for such solutions, we turn to heterogeneous parallel computing, which allows for faster computation through graphical processing units (GPUs). Armed with general-purpose computation on graphics hardware (GPGPU) techniques and explicit numerical schemes, we approximate solutions of the equation for the Higgs boson along with …

On Various Solutions To A (2+1) Dimensional General Camassa-Holm Equation, Eric J. Tovar

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

We study a (2+1)-dimensional generalized Camassa-Holm (2dgCH) equation with both quadratic and cubic nonlinearity. We derive a peaked soliton (peakon) solution and multi-peakon solutions. In particular, the two-peakon dynamical system is explicitly presented and their collisions are investigated in detail. We also find weak kink and kink-peakon interactional solutions. Furthermore, we study all possible smooth one-soliton solutions for the system.

Financial Market And Pricing Of Emerging Financial Derivatives: A Mathematical Approach, Haicheng Gu

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

Pricing has been one of the key problems of financial market theory. With the development of the modern financial market, various new financial derivatives have been created and need to be priced properly. In the thesis, we are going to use several mathematical tools to investigate the essential structure of the financial market and models for financial derivatives.

High Precision Optical Cavity Length And Width Measurements Using Double Modulation, A. Staley, D. Hoak, A. Effler, K. Izumi, S. Dwyer, K. Kawabe, E. J. King, Malik Rakhmanov, R. L. Savage, D. Sigg

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications and Presentations

We use doubly phase modulated light to measure both the length and the linewidth of an optical resonator with high precision. The first modulation is at RF frequencies and is set near a multiple of the free spectral range, whereas the second modulation is at audio frequencies to eliminate offset errors at DC. The light in transmission or in reflection of the optical resonator is demodulated while sweeping the RF frequency over the optical resonance. We derive expressions for the demodulated power in transmission, and show that the zero crossings of the demodulated signal in transmission serve as a precise …

Measuring Infrared Surface Brightness Fluctuation Distances With Hst Wfc3: Calibration And Advice, Joseph B. Jensen, John P. Blakeslee, Zachary Gibson, Hyun Chul Lee, Michele Cantiello, Gabriella Raimondo, Nathan Boyer, Hyejeon Cho

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications and Presentations

We present new calibrations of the near-infrared (near-IR) surface brightness fluctuation (SBF) distance method for the F110W (J110) and F160W (H160) bandpasses of the Wide Field Camera 3 Infrared Channel (WFC3/IR) on the Hubble Space Telescope. The calibrations are based on data for 16 early-type galaxies in the Virgo and Fornax clusters observed with WFC3/IR and are provided as functions of both the optical (g475-z850 ) and near-infrared (J110-H160) colors. The scatter about the linear calibration relations for the luminous red galaxies in the sample is approximately 0.10 mag, corresponding to a statistical error of 5% in distance. Our results …

High Precision Optical Cavity Length And Width Measurements Using Double Modulation, A. Staley, D. Hoak, A. Effler, K. Izumi, S. Dwyer, K. Kawabe, E. J. King, Malik Rakhmanov, R. L. Savage, D. Sigg

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications and Presentations

We use doubly phase modulated light to measure both the length and the linewidth of an optical resonator with high precision. The first modulation is at RF frequencies and is set near a multiple of the free spectral range, whereas the second modulation is at audio frequencies to eliminate offset errors at DC. The light in transmission or in reflection of the optical resonator is demodulated while sweeping the RF frequency over the optical resonance. We derive expressions for the demodulated power in transmission, and show that the zero crossings of the demodulated signal in transmission serve as a precise …

Undiagnosed Diabetes And Pre-Diabetes In Health Disparities, Susan P. Fisher-Hoch, Kristina Vatcheva, Mohammad H. Rahbar, Joseph B. Mccormick

School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Globally half of all diabetes mellitus is undiagnosed. We sought to determine the extent and characteristics of undiagnosed type 2 diabetes mellitus and pre-diabetes in Mexican Americans residing in the United States. This disadvantaged population with 50% lifetime risk of diabetes is a microcosm of the current pandemic. We accessed baseline data between 2004 and 2014 from 2,838 adults recruited to our Cameron County Hispanic Cohort (CCHC); a two-stage randomly selected 'Framingham-like' cohort of Mexican Americans on the US Mexico border with severe health disparities. We examined prevalence, risk factors and metabolic health in diagnosed and undiagnosed diabetes and pre-diabetes. …

Particle Dynamics In The Rising Plume At Piccard Hydrothermal Field, Mid-Cayman Rise, Margaret L. Estapa, John A. Breier, Chris R. German

School of Earth, Environmental, and Marine Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Processes active in rising hydrothermal plumes, such as precipitation, particle aggregation, and biological growth, affect particle size distributions and can exert important influences on the biogeochemical impact of submarine venting of iron to the oceans and their sediments. However, observations to date of particle size distribution within these systems are both limited and conflicting. In a novel buoyant hydrothermal plume study at the recently discovered high-temperature (3988C) Piccard Hydrothermal Field, Mid- Cayman Rise, we report optical measurements of particle size distributions (PSDs). We describe the plume PSD in terms of a simple, power-law model commonly used in studies of upper …

Iron-Mediated Stabilization Of Soil Carbon Amplifies The Benefits Of Ecological Restoration In Degraded Lands, Lucas C. R. Silva, Timothy A. Doane, Rodrigo S. Correa, Vinicius Valverde, Engil Isadora Pujol Pereira, William R. Horwath

School of Earth, Environmental, and Marine Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Recent observations across a 14‐year restoration chronosequence have shown an unexpected accumulation of soil organic carbon in strip‐mined areas of central Brazil. This was attributed to the rapid plant colonization that followed the incorporation of biosolids into exposed regoliths, but the specific mechanisms involved in the stabilization of carbon inputs from the vegetation remained unclear. Using isotopic and elemental analyses, we tested the hypothesis that plant‐derived carbon accumulation was triggered by the formation of iron‐coordinated complexes, stabilized into physically protected (occluded) soil fractions. Confirming this hypothesis, we identified a fast formation of microaggregates shortly after the application of iron‐rich biosolids, …

Approximate Analysis Solution Of Burgers-Kdv Equation, Hani Aldirawi

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

In this thesis, we study the Two-Dimensional Burgers-Kortewege-de Vries(2D-BKdV) equation by analyzing the equivalent Abel equation, which indicates that under some particular conditions, the 2D-BKdV equation has a unique bounded traveling wave solution. By using the theorem of contractive mapping, a traveling wave solution to the 2D-BKdV equation is expressed explicitly.

Modification Of Traffic-Related Respiratory Response By Asthma Control In A Population Of Car Commuters, Maria C. Mirabelli, Rachel Golan, Roby Greenwald, Amit U. Raysoni, Fernando Holguin, Priya Kewada, Andrea Winquist, W Dana Flanders, Jeremy A. Sarnat

School of Earth, Environmental, and Marine Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Background: Effects of traffic-related exposures on respiratory health are well documented, but little information is available about whether asthma control influences individual susceptibility. We analyzed data from the Atlanta Commuter Exposure study to evaluate modification of associations between rush-hour commuting, in- vehicle air pollution, and selected respiratory health outcomes by asthma control status.

Methods: Between 2009 and 2011, 39 adults participated in Atlanta Commuter Exposure, and each conducted two scripted rush-hour highway commutes. In-vehicle particulate components were measured during all commutes. Among adults with asthma, we evaluated asthma control by questionnaire and spirometry. Exhaled nitric oxide, forced expiratory volume in …

Alternative Restoration Treatments To Maximize Growth And Survival Of Tamaulipan Thornscrub Species During Seeding Establishment, Jennifer Lynn Vela

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

Anthropogenic activities that destroy, degrade, or fragment terrestrial ecosystems have long-lasting detrimental impacts on ecosystem function, services, and biodiversity. The Tamaulipan thornscrub ecoregion of south Texas and northeastern Mexico has sustained considerable loss, degradation, and fragmentation due land conversion for agriculture, urbanization, and introduction of invasive flora and fauna. In an attempt to restore habitat for endangered and migratory animals, United States Fish and Wildlife Service has undertaken a large-scale thornscrub revegetation effort in south Texas. The goal of this study was to develop effective restoration techniques to promote growth and survival of Tamaulipan thornscrub species during seedling establishment. Beginning …

A Study On Hispanic College Students' Mathematics Anxiety, Study Habits, And Academic Performances On Mathematics, Luis M. Fernandez

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

Mathematics anxiety has been described as a feeling of apprehension, fear, tension, and discomfort when confronted with mathematics. Mathematics anxiety has also been shown to interfere with mathematics performance; therefore, for our research we investigated what portions of individuals seem to suffer higher levels of mathematics anxiety and to what extent they are affected by it. We also investigated the study habits of the students and how these affect their mathematics anxiety levels and overall mathematics performance. Our data was obtained from Hispanic undergraduate students (n=405) who took Elementary Algebra (Math 1300), Intermediate Algebra (Math 1334), College Algebra (Math 1340) …

Evaluation Of Control Strategies For The Spread Of Citrus Greening, Vicente Valle Martinez

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

Huanglongbing, also known as citrus greening, is a vector-based disease in citrus (with no cure known to date) that has drastically affected the citrus production in Florida in less than a decade and has been recently detected in Texas and California. In this paper, an epidemic model of the spatial spread of the disease is implemented among commercial and residential groves by taking into consideration the diffusion patterns of the psyllid vectors. A system of differential equations resembling one for malaria infection in humans is derived to evaluate different control methods such as quarantine, treatment, removal, foliar treatment, and pest …

Double Compact Objects. Iii. Gravitational-Wave Detection Rates, Michal Dominik, Emanuele Berti, Richard O'Shaughnessy, Ilya Mandel, Krzysztof Belczynski, Christopher Fryer, Daniel E. Holz, Tomasz Bulik, Francesco Pannarale

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications and Presentations

The unprecedented range of second-generation gravitational-wave (GW) observatories calls for refining the predictions of potential sources and detection rates. The coalescence of double compact objects (DCOs)—i.e., neutron star–neutron star (NS–NS), black hole–neutron star (BH–NS), and black hole–black hole (BH–BH) binary systems—is the most promising source of GWs for these detectors. We compute detection rates of coalescing DCOs in second-generation GW detectors using the latest models for their cosmological evolution, and implementing inspiral-merger-ringdown gravitational waveform models in our signal-to-noise ratio calculations. We find that (1) the inclusion of the merger/ringdown portion of the signal does not significantly affect rates for NS–NS …

Lateral Dispersal And Foraging Behavior Of Entomopathogenic Nematodes In The Absence And Presence Of Mobile And Non-Mobile Hosts, Harit K. Bal, Parwinder Grewal

School of Earth, Environmental, and Marine Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Entomopathogenic nematodes have been classified into cruisers (active searchers) and ambushers (sit and wait foragers). However, little is known about their dispersal and foraging behavior at population level in soil. We studied lateral dispersal of the ambush foraging Steinernema carpocapsae (ALL strain) and cruise foraging Heterorhabditis bacteriophora (GPS11 strain) from infected host cadavers in microcosms (0.05 m2) containing Wooster silt-loam soil (Oxyaquic fragiudalf) and vegetation in the presence or absence of non-mobile and mobile hosts. Results showed that the presence of a non-mobile host (Galleria mellonella larva in a wire mesh cage) enhanced H. bacteriophora dispersal for up …

Einstein@Home Discovery Of A Palfa Millisecond Pulsar In An Eccentric Binary Orbit, B. Knispel, A. G. Lyne, B. W. Stappers, P. C.C. Freire, P. Lazarus, B. Allen, C. Aulbert, O. Bock, S. Bogdanov, A. Brazier, F. Camilo, F. Cardoso, S. Chatterjee, J. M. Cordes, F. Crawford, J. S. Deneva, H. B. Eggenstein, H. Fehrmann, R. Ferdman, J. W.T. Hessels, F. A. Jenet, C. Karako-Argaman, V. M. Kaspi, J. Van Leeuwen, D. R. Lorimer, R. Lynch, B. Machenschalk, E. Madsen, M. A. Mclaughlin, C. Patel

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications and Presentations

We report the discovery of the millisecond pulsar (MSP) PSR J1950+2414 (P = 4.3 ms) in a binary system with an eccentric (e = 0.08) 22 day orbit in Pulsar Arecibo L-band Feed Array survey observations with the Arecibo telescope. Its companion star has a median mass of 0.3 Mo and is most likely a white dwarf (WD). Fully recycled MSPs like this one are thought to be old neutron stars spun-up by mass transfer from a companion star. This process should circularize the orbit, as is observed for the vast majority of binary MSPs, which predominantly have orbital eccentricities …

Internal Dynamics In The Molecular Complex Of Cf3cn And H2o, Wei Lin, Anan Wu, Xin Lu, Xiao Tang, Daniel A. Obenchain, Stewart E. Novick

Chemistry Faculty Publications and Presentations

The rotational spectrum of trifluoroacetonitrile–water complex has been studied by pulsed-nozzle, Fourier transform microwave spectroscopy. Both a-type and b-type transitions have been observed. The rotational constants, centrifugal distortion constants, and the 14N nuclear quadrupole coupling constants have been determined. The complex is T-shaped, with the oxygen atom from the water located 3.135 Å from the carbon atom of CF3 of the trifluoroacetonitrile molecule.

Non-Communicable Diseases And Preventive Health Behaviors: A Comparison Of Hispanics Nationally And Those Living Along The Us-Mexico Border, Belinda M. Reininger, Jing Wang, Susan P. Fisher-Hoch, Alycia Boutte, Kristina Vatcheva, Joseph B. Mccormick

School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Background: Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are rising among US Hispanics, but few studies have examined the preventive health behaviors for these NCDs among Hispanics. This study compared the preventive health behaviors of smoke-free living, physical activity, fruit and vegetable consumption, and avoidance of heavy alcohol use in Hispanics in the United States and Hispanics living along the US-Mexico border.

Methods: Two weighted data sets with information on Hispanic populations were analyzed: 1) the national Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey (n = 29,942) from 2009; and 2) the Cameron County Hispanic Cohort (n = 1,439) recruited from the US-Mexico border between 2008–2011. …

Bounded Rationality Alters The Dynamics Of Paediatric Immunization Acceptance, Tamer Oraby, Chris T. Bauch

School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Interactions between disease dynamics and vaccinating behavior have been explored in many coupled behavior-disease models. Cognitive effects such as risk perception, framing, and subjective probabilities of adverse events can be important determinants of the vaccinating behaviour, and represent departures from the pure “rational” decision model that are often described as “bounded rationality”. However, the impact of such cognitive effects in the context of paediatric infectious disease vaccines has received relatively little attention. Here, we develop a disease-behavior model that accounts for bounded rationality through prospect theory. We analyze the model and compare its predictions to a reduced model that lacks …

Multiblock Discriminant Analysis For Integrative Genomic Study, Mingon Kang, Dong-Chul Kim, Chunyu Liu, Jean Gao

Computer Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Human diseases are abnormal medical conditions in which multiple biological components are complicatedly involved. Nevertheless, most contributions of research have been made with a single type of genetic data such as Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) or Copy Number Variation (CNV). Furthermore, epigenetic modifications and transcriptional regulations have to be considered to fully exploit the knowledge of the complex human diseases as well as the genomic variants. We call the collection of the multiple heterogeneous data “multiblock data.” In this paper, we propose a novel Multiblock Discriminant Analysis (MultiDA) method that provides a new integrative genomic model for the multiblock analysis …

Magnetism Of Fept Nanoclusters In Polyimide, Mircea Chipara, Tom George, Yingfan Xu, Ralph Skomski, Lanping Yue, Nasar Ali, David J. Sellmyer

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications and Presentations

FePt nanoclusters have been implanted onto polyimide films and subjected to thermal annealing in order to obtain a special magnetic phase (L10) dispersed within the polymer. SQUID measurements quantified the magnetic features of the as-prepared and annealed hybrid films. As-implanted FePt nanoparticles in polyimide films exhibited a blocking temperature of 70 ± 5 K. Thermal annealing in zero and 10 kOe applied magnetic field increased the magnetic anisotropy and coercivity of the samples. Wide Angle X-Ray Scattering confirmed the presence of FePt and L10 phase. All samples (as deposited and annealed) exhibited electron spin resonance spectra consisting of two overlapping …

Analogs Of Ldl Receptor Ligand Motifs In Dengue Envelope And Capsid Proteins As Potential Codes For Cell Entry, Juan Guevara Jr., Jamie Romo Jr., Troy Mcwhorter, Natalia Valentinova Guevara

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications and Presentations

It is established that cell entry of low density lipoprotein particles (LLPs) containing Apo B100 and Apo E is mediated by receptors and GAGs. Receptor ligand motifs, XBBBXXBX, XBBXBX, and ΨBΨXB, and mono- and bipartite NLS sequences are abundant in Apo E and Apo B100 as well as in envelope and capsid proteins of Dengue viruses 1-4 (DENV1-4). Synthetic, fluorescence-labeled peptides of sequences in DENV2 envelope protein, and DENV3 capsid that include these motifs were used to conduct a qualitative assessment of cell binding and entry capacity using …

Tio 2 Fibers: Tunable Polymorphic Phase Transformation And Electrochemical Properties, Edna Garcia, Qiang Li, Xing Sun, Karen Lozano, Yuanbing Mao

Chemistry Faculty Publications and Presentations

A series of one-dimensional (1D) nanoparticle-assembled TiO2 fibers with tunable polymorphs were prepared via a novel and large scale ForceSpinning® process of titanium tetraisopropoxide (TTIP)/polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) precursor fibers followed with a thermal treatment at various calcinations temperatures. The thermal and structural transformations were characterized by thermogravimetric analysis/differential scanning calorimetry, scanning electron microscopy, and X-ray diffraction. The influence of polymorphic phase of the TiO2 fibers on the electrochemical performance in neutral aqueous 1 M Na2SO4 electrolyte was investigated. The polymorphic amorphous/anatase/rutile TiO2 fibers prepared at 450 °C achieved a highest capacitance of 21.2 F g−1 (6.61 mF cm−2) at a current …

The Requisite Electronic Structure Theory To Describe Photoexcited Nonadiabatic Dynamics: Nonadiabatic Derivative Couplings And Diabatic Electronic Couplings, Joseph E. Subotnik, Ethan Alguire, Qi Ou, Brian R. Landry, Shervin Fatehi

Chemistry Faculty Publications and Presentations

Conspectus

Electronically photoexcited dynamics are complicated because there are so many different relaxation pathways: fluorescence, phosphorescence, radiationless decay, electon transfer, etc. In practice, to model photoexcited systems is a very difficult enterprise, requiring accurate and very efficient tools in both electronic structure theory and nonadiabatic chemical dynamics. Moreover, these theoretical tools are not traditional tools. On the one hand, the electronic structure tools involve couplings between electonic states (rather than typical single state energies and gradients). On the other hand, the dynamics tools involve propagating nuclei on multiple potential energy surfaces (rather than the usual ground state dynamics).

In this …