Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

The John Muir Newsletter, Summer 1997, The John Muir Center For Regional Studies

Muir Center Newsletters (1981-2015)

MUIR 1997 What Does Love Have To Do With It: ~Chr7sTIAi^^ &~KlNDRED REDEMPTION by Bonnie Johanna Gisel (Editor's note: Adjunct Assistant Professor of Nineteenth-Century American Cultural History at Drew University '' TnIleVrSey' ^se[ant^PTlthe coJ^on, in Fall 1997, of her Ph.D. dissertation ZJeannecZrrntitled Jeanne C. Carr: Into the Sun. A Nineteenth-Century American Woman's Experience in Nature and Wilderness) copyright @ 1997, by Bonnie J. Gisel hi ! amination of the letters of Elvira Hutchings written to me C. Carr and to John Muir above all reveal a portrait of friendship shared by Muir and Elvira Hutchings. A further examination provides insight …

High-Order Interior Caustics Produced In Scattering Of A Diagonally Incident Plane Wave By A Circular Cylinder, Charles L. Adler, James A. Lock, Bradley R. Stone, Claudio J. Garcia

Physics Faculty Publications

We examine scattering of a family of initially parallel diagonally incident rays by a dielectric circular cylinder and show that the interior and exterior caustics that occur are qualitatively identical to those produced at normal incidence. We find, however, that (1) varying the plane-wave tilt angle has the same effect on the caustics as varying the refractive index of the cylinder at normal incidence and (2) high-order interior caustics are visible because of larger internal-reflection Fresnel coefficients at diagonal incidence than at normal incidence. We also observe noncaustic ray trajectories produced by the sharp peaking of internal-reflection Fresnel coefficients at …

The Predictability Of Punitive Damages, Theodore Eisenberg, John Goerdt, Brian Ostrom, David Rottman, Martin T. Wells

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

Using one year of jury trial outcomes from 45 of the nation's most populous counties, this article shows a strong and statistically significant correlation between compensatory and punitive damages. These findings are replicated in 25 years of punitive damages awards from Cook County, Illinois, and California. In addition, we find no evidence that punitive damages awards are more likely when individuals sue businesses than when individuals sue individuals. With respect to award frequency, juries rarely award punitive damages and appear to be especially reluctant to do so in the areas of law that have captured the most attention, products liability …

A Robust Estimate For An Autoregressive Time Series, Jeffrey Terpstra

Dissertations

A weighted rank-based estimate for estimating the parameter of an auto-regressive time series is considered. When the weights are constant, the estimate is equivalent to using Jaeckel’s estimate and Wilcoxon scores. The estimate can be shown to be asymptotically normal at rate y/n. In a linear regression setting this estimate has the desired properties of a continuous totally bounded influence function and a positive breakdown point. It is shown via examples and Monte Carlo that these properties are preserved in an autoregressive time series setting.

Measurement Of The Branching Fraction For D0 → K-Π+, R. Barate, M. Thulasidas

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

The branching fraction for D0 → K−π+ is measured with the statistics collected by ALEPH from 1991 to 1994. The method is based on the comparison between the rate for the reconstructed D∗+→ D0π+, D0 → K−π+ decay chain and the rate for inclusive soft pion production at low transverse momentum with respect to the nearest jet. The result is B(D0 → K−π+0 = (3.90 ± 0.09 ± 0.12)%

Technologies For Ubiquitous Supercomputing: A Java Interface To The Nexus Communication System, Ian Foster, George K. Thiruvathukal, Steven Tuecke

Computer Science: Faculty Publications and Other Works

We use the term ubiquitous supercomputing to refer to systems that integrate low- and mid-range computing systems, advanced networks and remote high-end computers with the goal of enhancing the computational power accessible from local environments. Such systems promise to enable new applications in areas as diverse as smart instruments and collaborative environments. However, they also demand tools for transporting code between computers and for establishing flexible, dynamic communication structures. In this article, we propose that these requirements be satisfied by introducing Java classes that implement the global pointer and remote service request mechanisms defined by a communication library called Nexus. …

Synthesis Of Biologically Active Substituted Chalcones, Kiel Steven Hoff

Masters Theses

Two different synthetic routes to poly-hydroxylated chalcones are investigated. The wittig synthesis and protection of the hydroxyl functionalities by forming the methyl ether followed by the base catalyzed Claissen-schmidt reaction and then deprotection were investigated. It was demonstrated that the protection-condensation- deprotection route was more efficient. The antiviral activity of 2,2', 4' - trihydroxychalcone against the HIV virus is also presented.

Domination In Digraphs, Lisa Hansen

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Bandwidth, Edgesum And Profile Of Graphs, Yung-Ling Lai

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Groundwater-Kalamazoo River Interaction Near The Parchment City Wellfield, Parchment, Michigan, W. Richard Laton

Dissertations

A detailed hydrogeologic study of the Kalamazoo River and its interaction with the groundwater was completed near Parchment, Michigan. The Kalamazoo River between Portage Creek and Allegan Dam is a Federal superfund site due to PCB contamination trapped in its sediments. The City of Parchment pumps all of its drinking water from a glacial aquifer 850 feet from the Kalamazoo River. This study focused on the hydrogeology and groundwater/surface interaction of the area through the use of surface and downhole geophysics, installation of monitoring wells and peizometers, seepage meters and chemical sampling. It was determined that the Kalamazoo River is …

The Equation Of State For Two Flavor Qcd At N_T=6, James E. Hetrick, C. Bernard

All Faculty Articles - School of Engineering and Computer Science

We improve the calculation of the equation of state for two flavor QCD by simulating on Nt = 6 lattices at appropriate values of the couplings for the deconfinement/chiral symmetry restoration crossover. For amq = 0.0125 the energy density rises rapidly to approximately 1 GeV/fm3 just after the crossover (mπ/mρ ≈ 0.4 at this point). Comparing with our previous result for Nt = 4 [1], we find large finite Nt corrections as expected from free field theory on finite lattices. We also provide formulae for extracting the speed of sound from the measured quantities.

Numerical Simulations Of Gravity Waves Imaged Over Arecibo During The 10-Day January 1993 Campaign, Michael P. Hickey Ph.D., R. L. Walterscheid, Michael J. Taylor, William Ward, G. Schubert, Qihou Zhou, Francisco Garcia, Michael C. Kelly, G. G. Shepherd

Publications

Recently, measurements were made of mesospheric gravity waves in the OI (5577 Å) nightglow observed from Arecibo, Puerto Rico, during January 1993 as part of a special 10-day campaign. Clear, monochromatic gravity waves were observed on several nights. By using a full-wave model that realistically includes the major physical processes in this region, we have simulated the propagation of two waves through the mesopause region and calculated the O(¹S) nightglow response to the waves. Mean winds derived from both UARS wind imaging interferometer (WINDII) and Arecibo incoherent scatter radar observations were employed in the computations as were the …

The Electrochemical Oxidation Of Organic Selenides And Selenoxides, Michael D. Ryan, Jiyi Yau, Michael Hack

Chemistry Faculty Research and Publications

The electrochemical oxidation of alkyl and aryl selenides was investigated in acetonitrile. The oxidation of diphenyl selenide and di(4‐methylphenyl) selenide led primarily to the formation of their respective selenoxides, which were identified by exhaustive coulometric oxidation and and analysis of the products. The selenoxide itself was not observed in the cyclic voltammetry of the selenide for two reasons: first, the protonation of the selenoxide by the acid formed from the reaction of water with the cation radical and second, the formation of a selenoxide hydrate. The formation of the hydrate with diphenyl selenoxide was verified by isolation of the dimethoxy …

Concentrations And Isotope Ratios Of Dissolved Inorganic Carbon In Denitrifying Environments, C. Nascimento, Eliot A. Atekwana, R. V. Krishnamurthy

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

We measured the concentration and isotope ratio of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) in groundwater associated with denitrification (C_org + NO₃^- = CO₂ + N₂) in an agriculturally impacted site in southwestern Michigan. Samples with the lowest nitrate levels also had low dissolved oxygen content and were more depleted in δ¹³C than background groundwater. All the samples had DIC concentrations in excess of titratable alkalinity. The magnitude of this DIC in excess of alkalinity correlated with a decreasing δ¹³C attesting to the presence of CO₂ derived from organic carbon. Carbon …

Geophysical Investigation Of Anomalous Conductivity Associated With A Hydrocarbon Contamination Site, Mike S. Nash

Masters Theses

The high electrical conductivity measured from chemical analyses from ground water below a hydrocarbon contaminated site was the focus of this study. Most theoretical studies have indicated that the electrical conductivity of hydrocarbon contamination is lower than that of the surrounding medium. Geochemical studies at other sites have shown that areas of dissolved fuel oil plume have a higher electrical conductivity. Six methods: Self Potential, Mise-a-la-Masse, Vertical Electrical Sounding, Dipole-Dipole Resistivity Profiling, Electromagnetic Induction, and Ground Penetrating Radar were all used in an attempt to see which method( s) could identify regions of high conductivity.

The findings of this study …

Changes In Channel Morphology And Flood-Plain Ecosystems Of The Green River Between The Flaming Gorge Dam, Utah And The Gates Of Lodore, Colorado, Gloria Christine Celeste Britton

Masters Theses

Closure of Flaming Gorge Dam in 1962 reduced the flow rate and variability of discharge on the Green River below this dam. These changes, coupled with the decreased sediment load due to stilling and sporadic peaking in response to demand for hydroelectric power and controlled releases of up to 4500 cfs to cope with snowmelt have impacted the channel morphology and ecosystems of the main stem Green River between the Dam and the Gates of Lodore. Detailed comparative analysis of channel shape and riparian ecosystems or pre-dam and post-dam aerial photographs revealed that significant changes occurred after closure. Channel width …

A Toolkit For Specializing Production Operating System Code, Crispin Cowan, Dylan Mcnamee, Andrew P. Black, Calton Pu, Jonathan Walpole, Charles Krasic, Perry Wagle, Qian Zhang

Computer Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Specialization has been recognized as a powerful technique for optimizing operating systems. However, specialization has not been broadly applied beyond the research community because the current techniques, based on manual specialization, are time-consuming and error-prone. This paper describes a specialization toolkit that should help broaden the applicability of specializing operating systems by assisting in the automatic generation of specialized code, and {\em guarding} the specialized code to ensure the specialized system continues to be correct. We demonstrate the effectiveness of the toolkit by describing experiences we have had applying it in real, production environments. We report on our experiences with …

Review Of The United States Environmental Protection Agency Superfund Technical Assistance Grant Program, Robert Leslie Annear, Scott A. Wells, Shuguang Li, Marvin Beeson, Michael L. Cummings, Richard Pratt

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

The EPA Technical Assistance Grant Program has been around for several years, but there are not many examples of its use in the Pacific Northwest from which citizens can learn from when considering applying for a Technical Assistance Grant. The EPA program is designed to provide citizens with technical assistance in understanding the issues related to a Superfund site (or proposed Superfund site) in their community. This report provides an overview of the Technical Assistance Grant Program with information on applying for the grant, selecting a Technical Advisor and managing the grant. Additionally two case studies are reviewed in order …

Search For The Bc Meson In Hadronic Z Decays, R. Barate, Manoj Thulasidas

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

A search for the Bc meson decaying into the channels Jψπ+ and Jψℓ+νℓ (ℓ = e or μ) is performed in a sample of 3.9 million hadronic Z decays collected by the ALEPH detector. This search results in the observation of 0 and 2 candidates in each of these channels, respectively, while 0.44 and 0.81 background events are expected. The following 90% confidence level upper limits are derived:Br(Z→BcXBr(Z→qq̄Br(Bc+→Jψπ+)

Production Of Η Mesons In Double Pomeron Exchange, Alec Schramm, Daniel Reeves

Alec J Schramm

We estimate the production cross section for ηc and ηb mesons via Pomeron-Pomeron fusion in peripheral heavy-ion collisions. Total and elastic PP cross sections are calculated in an equivalent Pomeron approximation.

Efficient Parallel Processing With Optical Interconnections, Lili Hai

Dissertations

With the advances in VLSI technology, it is now possible to build chips which can each contain thousands of processors. The efficiency of such chips in executing parallel algorithms heavily depends on the interconnection topology of the processors. It is not possible to build a fully interconnected network of processors with constant fan-in/fan-out using electrical interconnections. Free space optics is a remedy to this limitation. Qualities exclusive to the optical medium are its ability to be directed for propagation in free space and the property that optical channels can cross in space without any interference. In this thesis, we present …

An Investigation Of The Oxygraphic Response Of Stressed Bovine Blood, Cristin Mckenna

Dissertations

Oxygraphic profiles of stressed bovine blood in a temperature controlled 2 ml reactor vessel provide the basis for an investigation of blood's response to various conditions. This response is broken down into an initial response (within 3 seconds), the response over 1 hour and the response over 24 hours. Fast-assay runs which investigate the initial response display a dose-response relationship when chemically stressed by phenol. Phenol concentrations in the 1,000 ppm range indicate a decrease in dissolved oxygen (DO) and higher phenol concentrations of over 20,000 an increase in DO. In addition to phenol concentration, other factors investigated with respect …

Multi-Wavelength Infrared Imaging Computer Systems And Applications, Jun Li

Dissertations

This dissertation presents the development of three computer systems for multi-wavelength thermal imaging.

Two computer systems were developed for the multi-wavelength imaging pyrometers (M-WIPs) that yield non-contact temperature measurements by remotely sensing the surface of objects with unknown wavelength-dependent emissivity. These M-WIP computer systems represent the state-of-art development in remote temperature measurement system based on the multi-wavelength approach. The dissertation research includes M-WIP computer system integration, software development, performance evaluation, and also applications in monitoring and control of temperature distribution of silicon wafers in a rapid thermal process system.

The two M-WIPs are capable of data acquisition, signal processing, system …

High Speed Protocols For Dual Bus And Dual Ring Network Architectures, Yaling Zhou

Dissertations

In this dissertation, two channel access mechanisms providing fair and bandwidth efficient transmission on dual bus and dual ring networks with high bandwidth-latency product are proposed. In addition, two effective priority mechanisms are introduced to meet the throughput and delay requirements of the diverse arrays of applications that future high speed networks must support.

For dual bus architectures, the Buffer Insertion Bandwidth Balancing (BI_BWB) mechanism and the Preemptive priority Bandwidth Balancing (P_BI_BWB) mechanism are proposed. BI_BWB can significantly improve the delay performance of remote stations. It achieves that by providing each station with a shift register into which the station …

Sampling And Analysis Of Trace Level Volatile Organic Compounds From Air Via Membrane Permeation, Naihong Zhu

Dissertations

The objective of this study is to develop air sampling techniques using membrane permeation. Two novel techniques for sampling and analysis of trace level VOCs from air via membrane permeation are presented:

1. selective concentration of VOCs into a canister using a membrane permeator;
2. on-line membrane extraction for direct introduction of VOCs from air emissions into a gas chromatograph.

In the membrane permeator-canister sampling system (MPCS), the air sample containing trace level VOCs as well as some interferences such as moisture are passed through the membrane module. Polydimethyl siloxane membrane used in this research is highly permeable to organic compounds, but …

On Document Filing Based Upon Predicates, Zhijian Zhu

Dissertations

This dissertation presents a formal approach to modeling documents in a personal office environment, proposes a heterogeneous algebraic query language to manipulating objects (folders) in the document model, and investigates a predicate-driven document filing system for automatically filing documents.

The document model was initially proposed in [38] which adopts a very natural view for describing the office documents using the relational and object-oriented paradigms. The model employs a dual approach to classifying and categorizing office documents by defining both a document type hierarchy and a folder organization. This dissertation extends and specifies formally the document model. Documents are partitioned into …

Assessment Of Potential Operating Benefits Incurred By Implementing Iso 14001 : Five Case Studies From The New Jersey Chemical Industry, Stefanie Gitter

Theses

Environmental management is an important aspect of strategic planning and competitiveness for many businesses. Environmental management systems (EMS) are operating policies that are established to help a company measure progress towards goals set forth in a strategic environmental plan. A growing number of EMS models are being used by countries and industry groups, so the International Standards Organization (ISO) developed one model to prevent duplicate efforts which can result when companies try to meet the import requirements of different countries.

The ISO-EMS model is a series of standards, and ISO 14001 is the first to be published. Companies will be …

Development Of Methods For Field Determination Of Chromium (Vi) In Water And Groundwater, David John Chesbro

Theses

In this study, methods for the determination of chromium (VI) in fresh water at low ppb levels for the use under field conditions were developed. The plan was to devise a simple and inexpensive on-site field method which would be useable by people who are not professional chemists. An investigation was carried out to develop a preconcentration and determination procedure for the analysis of chromium (VI) using anion-exchange membranes and/or resins. The chromium (VI) would be sorbed to the solid support and then treated with 1 ,5-diphenylcarabzide, a specific colorimetric reagent for chromium (VI), which forms a red complex upon …

A Graphical Environment For Change Detection In Structured Documents, Girish A. Patel

Theses

Change detection in structured documents (e.g. SGML is important in data warehousing, digital libraries and Internet databases. This thesis presents a graphical environment for detecting changes in the structured documents. We represent. each document by alp ordered labeled tree based on the underlying markup language. We then compare two documents by invoking previously developed algorithms for approximate pattern matching and pattern discovery in trees. Several operators are developed to support. the comparison of the documents; graphical devices are provided to facilitate the use of the operators. We believe the proposed tool is useful for not only document management, but also …

Object Oriented Partitioning For A Medical Vocabulary Based On Semantic Network, Mansnimar Singh

Theses

Computers have become ubiquitous and indispensable part of everyday life both for personal use and in the workplace. Medicine is one of the few domains that has not fully adopted computerization. One impediment to this emanates from a communication gap between the computer science professional and the medical professional. Besides, medical terminology is full of synonyms and medical professionals use them according to their personal preferences. This lack of common terminology has prevented sharing of knowledge and automating data processing, resulting in the healthcare information explosion.

Semantic network models have been developed to represent medical concepts and to provide a …