Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Degradation Of Trazine Compounds Via Metallic Iron Under Acidic Conditions, Tracy Dombek

Masters Theses

The degradation of dissolved dimethoxyatrazine (2-chloro-4,6-dimethoxy-1,3,5-triazine), terbutylazine (2-chloro-4-ethylamino-6-terbutylamino-1,3 ,5-triazine) and deisopropylatrazine (2-amino-4-chloro-6-ethylamino-1,3,5-triazine) via metallic iron was studied as a function of solution pH. Generally, degradation was more rapid the lower the solution pH and higher the compound pKa. For dimethoxyatrazine k_SA (k_SA= k' (min^-1)* V (L) / M (g) I SA(m²/g)) was found to be 1.33 (± 0.07) E-4 min^-1 m^-2 L at pH 2, 6.1 (± 0.6) E-5 min^-1 m^-2 L at pH 3 and 4.4 (± 0.6) E-5 min^-1 m^-2 L at pH 4. For …

Characterization Of Cosmic Microwave Background Temperature Fluctuations For Cosmological Topologies Specified By Topological Betti Numbers, Troy Gobble

Masters Theses

The cosmic microwave background explorer, COBE, and the Balloon Observations of Millimetric Extragalactic Radiation and Geophysics, BOOMERanG, have collected data from the universe and detected relic anisotropies indicative of one of the earliest events of the universe, decoupling. Hidden in the correlation between these temperature fluctuations is the signature of the global shape, or topology, of the early universe. It is possible to calculate the temperature fluctuations as due to primeval adiabatic density temperature fluctuations from the Sachs-Wolfe effect, which contains a topological term. Here we investigate some of the spaces and how they affect the microwave background.

A large …

Superstring Cosmology: An Investigation Into Low Temperature Effective Gauss-Bonnet Corrections To The Einstein Field Equations In An Inflationary Scenario, David Dressel

Masters Theses

Several problems with the inflationary cosmological model and the force coupling constants are addressed in the context of superstring theory. In order to simplify the field equations slightly, vacuum solutions are attempted. The solutions for several field equations are analyzed in order to obtain an inflationary universe that leads to a nearly static internal space. A solution is found when Gauss-Bonnet terms, as well as the Einstein terms, are used in the field equations, along with an exponential radii function for a ten dimensional product space. The solutions lead to a three-phase universe that might describe our very early universe. …

Calibration, Installation Techniques, And Initial Measurements For Vertical Resistivity Probes Used In Hydrogeologic Investigations, Jeffrey Mark Groncki

Masters Theses

Vertical Resistivity Probes (VRPs) are being increasingly used in a variety of applications where detailed vertical resistivity information in both the vadose and saturated zones is needed. All the different possible array types and spacings must be calibrated for the effect of the 2" (outer diameter) insulating PVC cylinder on which the electrodes are mounted. Apparent resistivities must be corrected by calibration factors. Varying the installation parameters greatly influences the measured apparent resistivity because of the disturbed annulus and the composition of the backfill materials. Bentonite slurry is necessary for the installations to keep the electrodes in good contact with …

Alkyl Nitrates During The Prophet ’98 Summer Intensive, Kristi A. Ostling

Masters Theses

As part of the PROPHET intensive held at the University of Michigan Biological Station in northern Michigan, a gas chromatography system for making fast-turnaround measurements of C1 to C5 alkyl nitrates was developed and deployed from July 19 to August 21, 1998. Every 30 minutes, samples were automatically acquired on a small Tenax trap made from silicosteel column and injected on a GC column by thermal desorption prior to ECD detection. Tests performed to measure breakthrough and on-trap destruction indicated no breakthrough for C3, C4, and C5 nitrates and excellent stability for these compounds on the trap. Chromatographic resolution of …

Stratigraphic Analysis Of Diamicton Units In North-Central St. Joseph County, Michigan, Andrew C. Flint

Masters Theses

Seven subsurface glacial diamicton units, including a paleosol, have been characterized from two borings in north-central St. Joseph County, Michigan. These units have been characterized in terms of their clay mineralogy, texture, color, and stratigraphic position. t-Tests confirm that each unit displays a significant difference in mean 7A/10A peak height ratio from all other units.

Unit 4, informally called the Gray Marker tilt has been correlated between borings in this study and to the findings of others (Gardner, 1997, Nicks, in preparation). The Newbury till described by the Indiana Geological Survey (unpublished data) may also correlate to Unit 4, raising …

Structural And Stratigraphic Relationships Of Ortho- And Paragneisses Southwest Of Marion, North Carolina, Brendan Richardson Bream

Masters Theses

This thesis examines the stratigraphic and structural relationships in the western Inner Piedmont of several orthogneisses and a paragneiss sequence. Detailed mapping was completed for an area slightly larger than one 7.5-minute quadrangle and is located southwest of Marion, North Carolina, at the northeast outcrop termination of the main Henderson Gneiss unit. From bottom to top, the stratigraphy of the study area consists of the Tallulah Falls Formation, Poor Mountain Amphibolite, and Poor Mountain Quartzite. Amphibolites and amphibole gneisses of the Tallulah Falls Formation, Poor Mountain Formation, and Dysartsville gneiss are interpreted as tholeiitic basalts related to rifting along the …

Depositional And Diagenetic Relationships Of The Honaker-Nolichucky Formational Boundary (Middle Cambrian, Conasauga Group), Southern Appalachians, Gary Alan Ottinger

Masters Theses

The upper Honaker and lower Nolichucky Formations (Middle Cambrian, Conasauga Group) in northeastern Tennessee comprise part of a thick pericratonic Cambro-Ordovician passive margin sequence along the eastern edge of North America. Throughout the Cambrian, the interplay of autocyclic controls, including sediment supply, tectonism and accompanying subsidence, and eustasy, resulted in various sedimentary architectures, including the Conasauga platform and intrashelf basin adjacent to the craton. To date, the Middle Cambrian westerly carbonate sections adjacent to and within the intrashelf basin (near Knoxville) have been studied in considerable detail. Particularly, these studies have proposed a third-order sequence boundary near Knoxville as well …

Spectroscopic And Kinetic Investigation Of Carbocation Reactivity In Supercritical Carbon Dioxide, Hongshu Jin

Masters Theses

Recent interest in the use of supercritical CO₂ as an environmentally benign reaction medium has included the development of solvent systems that may support polar and ionic chemistry. Carbocations are key intermediate in a variety of synthetically important reactions and characterization of their reactivity is the focus of this work. UV-visible absorption, and steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy has been used to identify and monitor the reaction kinetics of 9- phenylxanthenium carbocation. The arylcarbocation is conveniently generated from 9- phenylxanthen-9-ol in supercritical CO₂ under mildly acidic conditions. Under these conditions 9-phenylxanthenium ion is extremely stable and persists for …

Multiple Isotopic Studies Of Calcium Carbonate Growths In Concrete Structures, Danielle M. Schmitt

Masters Theses

Secondary minerals, predominantly carbonates, forming under concrete structures have received attention in terms of their possible role in the degradation of their hosts. δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O analyses of several calcium carbonate growths collected from bridges in Michigan and New York were performed. The δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O values clustered around -24.7 ± 1(PDB) and 13.7 ± 1(SMOW) ‰, respectively. A positive δ¹⁸O- δ¹³C correlation suggests kinetically driven precipitation involving atmospheric CO2• ¹⁴C activities determined for select samples support the theory that atmospheric CO₂ is involved …

Efficiency Of Distributed Priority Queues In Parallel Adaptive Integration, Rodger Zanny

Masters Theses

The adaptive integration algorithm is· effective in numerically solving integration problems. It is able to focus the application of integration rules on the portion of the integration region where the integrand is the least well-behaved. Parallel implementations must use dynamic load balancing or performance suffers.

Dynamic local load-balancing techniques allow each processor to maintain its own pool of work in a local priority queue and balance the workload based on local criteria. However, the use of locally controlled priority queues is known to be inefficient (in terms of the number of integration rule applications needed to reach an answer) as …

Gas Sparging And Humic Acid Sorption/Desorption, Masaki Sakakibara

Masters Theses

Partition coefficients (K_DOC) for sorption of PAHs and chlorinated benzenes to dissolved humic acids (HA) were measured using gas-sparging methodology. The resulting K_DOC values were significantly lower than the K_OW-based K_DOC values, which generally appear to provide reliable estimates for K_DOC values. The K_DOC values measured by gas sparging were also strongly influenced by the concentration of HA in solution, as measured by dissolved organic carbon content (DOC). Increasing DOC concentration consistently resulted in decreased K_DOC values for all compounds investigated. Previous studies have claimed that K_DOC values measured using …

Investigations Of A Phenanthroline-Based Azo Dye Ligand And Of Re(I) And Ru(Ii) Complexes Based On This Ligand, Yan Zhang

Masters Theses

A 1,10-phenanthroline based azo dye ligand, phen-azo-phenol, produced by diazotizing 5-amino-1,10-phenanthroline (5-NH₂-phen) and then coupling to phenol, and several transition metal complexes containing this ligand, have been synthesized and characterized. The phen-azo-phenol ligands attach to Re(I) and Ru(II) through the phenanthroline linkage to form stable polypyridyl complexes. These complexes show greatly enhanced absorption properties in the visible region when compared to the well-known analogous bipyridine and phenanthroline containing complexes. The visible light absorption of the free ligand and the complexes containing this ligand are greatly affected by the position of the deprotonation equilibrium of the -OH group on …

Optimization Of The Reaction Of Hexamethyldisilazane On A Fumed Silica Surface, Frederick R. Jones

Masters Theses

Hexamethyldisilazane (HMDS) is commonly used to transfer trimethylsilyl (TMS) groups to silica surfaces. While studies have been done examining individual factors that influence the reaction, no investigations have reported how these factors affect each other. The factors examined in this study include temperature, presence of catalyst (butylamine), pretreatment, time, concentration, solvent, and presence of water in the solvent. The purpose of this study is to examine potential factors and two-way interactions to determine which significantly affect the yield and produce an optimum set of conditions.

The HMDS reactions occurred in an organic solvent slurry under nitrogen. Using statistical experimental design, …

Investigating The Allosteric Behavior Of Malate Dehydrogenase From Escherichia Coli, Eman M. Ghanem

Masters Theses

Regulatory mechanisms of malate dehydrogenase from E.coli (eMDH) involving NADH as an allosteric effector were investigated. The reaction was studied in both directions: malate oxidation and oxaloacetate reduction. When malate was the variable substrate, a plot of rate against substrate concentration was sigmoidal in the presence of 0.065 mM NADH, which indicates the presence of an allosteric site for NADH on the enzyme. Binding of NADH at the allosteric site causes conformational changes in the active site and, thereby, changes the catalytic activity of the enzyme. An increase in K_m value, from 1.3 to 3.9 mM malate was observed, …

A Portable, Object-Oriented Library For Neural Network Simulation, Martin P. Franz

Masters Theses

A portable, object-oriented library for simulation of general Multi-layer Feedforward Neural Networks (MLFNs) is described. Unlike all-encompassing neural network simulation environments, the library was designed to allow convenient use in existing programs and in applications where training and testing data are generated using separate, often complex simulations.

The library' s design goals include modularity, portability, efficiency, correctness, compactness, and type-safety. To demonstrate how these objectives are met, competing architectural choices are presented, along with the criteria used for determining the strategy actually implemented. Sample applications using the library are presented, showing how the library' s class files are used in …

Synthesis, Characterization And Photophysical Behavior Of A Cr(Iii) Bimetallic System, Yan Chen

Masters Theses

Many binuclear transition metal complexes have been studied to understand the nature of interactions between the metal centers. People have found Simultaneous Pair Excitation phenomenon in some bimetallic system that can serve as a potential source of Non-Linear Optical behavior.

Thus a series of Cr₂ -([14]aneN₄)₂-X₄ⁿ⁺ complexes were synthesized and characterized. Only the cis,cis configuration was found. The results were compared with those of their monomer analogs. The electronic structures are very similar in both monomer and dimer complexes. The quantum yield, UV-Vis absorption and lifetime studies suggested a possible coupling between the …

Separation And Determination Of Monochlorophenols By Capillary Zones Electrophoresis, Zarina Yasmin Banu

Masters Theses

Chlorine has been widely used in industry. One of the most common uses of chlorine is in municipal water treatment plants. Chlorine reacts with a variety of organic compounds, among these are phenol and its derivatives which are commonly found in natural waters. When these compounds react with chlorine, a variety of chlorine substituted and oxidized products result depending on concentrations, pH, and temperature. In order to study these reactions it is necessary to separate and determine the various products produced.

Earlier studies have shown 3-chloro and 4-chlorophenol cannot be separated by commercial GLC columns. GC/MS (electron impact) measurements cannot …

Application Of The Paleomagnetic Fold Test To Determine The Relative Timing Of Sill Intrusion And Deformation In The Southwest Helena Salient, Montana, Stephen Christopher Whisner

Masters Theses

The Doherty Mountain fold complex is a highly folded and faulted region along the southern boundary of the Helena Salient in southwestern Montana. This region has a complex deformation history that is a key to deformation within the Helena Salient as a whole. A structural interpretation of the deformed rocks of this area was conducted using field mapping and cross section construction at 1:24,000 scale providing insight to the internal deformation processes involved. Fourteen folds and three major faults were mapped and analyzed showing the influence of the Southwest Montana Transverse Zone and late stage detachment faulting on fold orientation. …

Nickel Subsulfide Can Protect Human Fibroblasts From The Mutagenic Effect Of Benzo[A]Pyrene Diolepoxide, Samir M. Hamdan

Masters Theses

Cancer researchers are interested in identifying the environmental causes and synergistic influences of different carcinogens. It is important to examine the combined effect of multiple carcinogens since this is a more realistic representation of the true environmental situation in which we are exposed daily. Our study has reported that pretreating human fibroblasts with nickel subsulfide followed by the simultaneous treatment with both nickel subsulfide and benzo[a]pyrene diolepoxide (BPDE) can protect human fibroblasts from the mutagenic effects of BPDE. These results correlate well with our previous chromium-BPDE co-treatment work, suggesting a transition metal dependent protective effect. This protective effect was dependent …

Gas Phase Diagnostics Of Cvd Diamond Growth From Chloromethane And Chloroform, James M. Chenault

Masters Theses

Low energy electron impact ionization (LEEII) time of flight mass spectrometry (TOFMS) has been used to interrogate gases sampled through an orifice from a diamond growth surface. Methane, chloromethane and chloroform precursor gases were examined to produce electron energy plots of the fragment ions that occur using LEEII. Filament temperature studies were completed covering temperatures from room temperature to over 2000 °C, and the results were compared to the LEEII plots. The monochloromethyl radical has been detected in the experiments using chloroform and the effect of a pretreatment with this radical present has been shown to enhance diamond nucleation. …

Improvement Of Epa Method 8330: Complete Separation Of Explosives Using A Two Phase Approach, Michael J. Lang

Masters Theses

A wide range of primary and secondary contaminants is found in environmental matrices containing explosive residues. HPLC methodology for the detection of explosive is now standardized in EPA Method 8330, and represents the most common method currently used for explosive analysis. However, co-elution of some of the analytes occurs even using method 8330. As a result, explosive analysis using HPLC have required the use of a confirmation column in an additional analysis step.

In the current work, all of the compounds in the EPA 8330 explosives list were resolved using a single HPLC separation. While the EPA 8330 HPLC conditions …

Identification Of Subaqueous Groundwater Discharge To Large Scale Surface Water Bodies, East Tennessee Technology Park Site, Doe Oak Ridge Reservation, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, Thomas Frank Zondlo

Masters Theses

In East Tennessee, the Tennessee River and its tributaries cut across many of the sub-parallel strike valleys in the Valley and Ridge several times, including the karstic carbonate strike belts within them. The construction of dams along the Tennessee River and its tributaries, including the Clinch River, has increased the river stage between 5 and 20 m, which caused inundation of considerable areas. This also raised the baselevel for drainage, thus altering the groundwater regime within the valleys intersected by these rivers. The stud area addressed in this research includes an industrial facility situated on karstic carbonate bedrock which is …

Implementation Of The Graphical User Interface Of The Parint Package In Java, Gwowen Fu

Masters Theses

The graphical user interface (GUI) of the ParInt interface package provides a convenient and efficient way for users to integrate multivariate functions on a parallel system or a network.

This thesis introduces basic structure of the GUI and gives a detailed description of each class of how the classes communicate with each other and how the connection with the parallel program is made.

Vertical Resistivity Electrode Arrays For Detecting Hydrocarbon Movement And Content In Sands, Kirt Elliott

Masters Theses

In many contamination sites where hydrocarbon is involved an accurate thickness of the contaminant can not be achieved through the most commonly used methods. The purpose of this study is to find an alternate method of determining a precise thickness and monitor the contaminant movement in conjunction with the current methods. Vertical resistivity electrode arrays were tested in a lab environment on singular probes and between probes. The arrays tested were the Wenner, dipole dipole, gradient, parallel and down-hole 3-arrays. Electrode pipes were constructed and placed into a sand tank where the hydrocarbon thickness and the water level could be …

Factors Governing The Rate Of Appearance Of Fuels In Monitoring Wells, Bradley A. Green

Masters Theses

Delays in the appearance of free product (e.g. fuels) in groundwater monitoring wells often cause costly delays in site evaluation. Little is known about how monitoring well design and installation affect this rate of appearance. This study examined the effects of well screen open area, filter pack grain size and wettability, and well development methods on the rate of appearance and subsequent thickness of free product in wells.

Laboratory and field results indicate that free product appears faster in hydrophilic filter packs than in hydrophobic filter packs. Hydrophobic filter packs with a finer grain size than the "industry standard", seem …

A Generic Multi-Electrode Automated/Semi-Automated Field Resistivity System, Douglas D. Werkema

Masters Theses

Geophysical field exploration using electrical resistivity typically employs the use of four electrodes which are progressively relocated to positions that differ from a few meters to hundreds of meters. Consequently, field operations are tiresome and often lead to imprecise locations of electrodes and poor data quality. This project develops an automated field resistivity system.

This automation of resistivity measurements is accomplished by using multiple sets of field electrodes, a programmable switch box, remotely controlling the acquisition instrument and digitally storing the results. Controlling the process is the Acquisition Control^©software, for Windows 95^© .The prototype switch box has …

Sm-Nd Systematics As Indicators Of Displaced Plutons: A Test In The Idaho Batholith-Boulder Batholith Region, Christine J. Brand

Masters Theses

In east-central Idaho and western Montana a 400km-long Cretaceous and Tertiary magmatic corridor extends from the Wallowa-Seven Devils terrane to the Helena Salient. Three basement provinces underlie this area: Archean basement to the east, Permo-Triassic basement to the west, and Proterozoic basement in-between. Ideally, if Cretaceous plutons were decapitated and translated eastward along thrusts over a different basement province, then the Cretaceous pluton and the in-place Tertiary pluton would show different isotopic signatures. Pluton samples from locations evenly spaced throughout the magmatic corridor were analyzed for ε⁰_Nd, ε^t_Nd, and ¹⁴⁷Sm/¹⁴³Nd model ages …

An Efficient Library For Parallel Ray Tracing And Animation, John Edward Stone

Masters Theses

"A parallel ray tracing library is presented for rendering high detail images of three dimensional geometry and computational fields. The library has been developed for use on distributed memory and shared memory parallel computers and can also run on sequential computers. Parallelism is achieved through the use of message passing and threads. It is shown that the library achieves almost linear scalability when run on large distributed memory parallel computers as well as large shared memory parallel computers.

Several applications of parallel rendering are explored including rendering of CAD models, animation, magnetic resonance imaging, and visualization of volumetric flow fields. …

Reactions Of Modified Silica Gel Surfaces With Organometallic Compounds: Enhancing Olefin Polymerization Catalysts, Richard E. Diebel Iii

Masters Theses

Pretreated silica gels with distinct silica surfaces containing either isolated silanols, vicinal silanols, siloxanes, or some combinations of the three, were reacted with several organometallic compounds to determine how each compound reacted with the different silica surface species. The organometallic compounds used were trimethylaluminum, triethylaluminum, diethylaluminum chloride, ethylaluminum dichloride, methylaluminoxane, dibutylmagnesium, and bis-cyclopentadienyl dimethyl zirconium.

These reacted silica gels were analyzed using diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy and ICP-AES elemental analysis. CH/Metal ratios were calculated using specific peaks in the IR spectra to elucidate the surface bonded species. Elemental analysis was used to determine how much metal was bonded …