Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Ral Interacting Protein (Ralbp1): Linking Glutathione Conjugate Transport To Oxidative Stress Defenses And Signaling Pathways, Dilki Wickramarachchi

Chemistry & Biochemistry Dissertations

The glutathione-conjugate transporter protein DNP-SG ATPase was demonstrated to be identical to the independently cloned Ral-effector, Ralbp1. Glutathione-conjugate transport is linked to substrate-stimulated ATPase activity, while GTPase stimulating activity (GAP-activity), and clathrin-coated pit-binding activity was demonstrated for this protein by different groups of investigators. The relationship between these activities and physiological functions of Ralbp1 were not clear. The present studies were designed to address the hypothesis that the ability of Ralbp1 to couple the hydrolysis of ATP with the movement of substances, i.e. its transport activity, is the crucial element that allows Ralbp1 to function as a stress-defense protein. Results …

Fisheries Research Report No. 160 - Development Of Biodiversity And Habitat Monitoring Systems For Key Trawl Fisheries In Western Australia., Mervi Kangas, S. Morrison, P. Unsworth, Eva K M Lai, I. Wright, Adrian W. Thomson

Fisheries research reports

Final FRDC report - Project 2002/038

The need for this project was identified through the ESD Risk Assessment workshops held for the Shark Bay and Exmouth Gulf trawl fisheries in May and October 2001. Bycatch issues in the Shark Bay and Exmouth fisheries were identified as a moderate risk through an Ecological Risk Assessment workshop. A better understanding of the faunal composition and habitat preferences of bycatch species in both trawled and untrawled areas has assisted in determining the level of risk to bycatch species. The project provided baseline data on biodiversity and variability of trawl bycatch on and off …

Sharing A Landscape: The Construction Of Sense Of Place On The Maine Coast, Andrea Jane Ednie

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Motivated by interest and concern over the changing coastline in Maine, this study uses the concept of sense of place to develop an understanding of how a range of users share the resource, and to explore how place meanings are associated with their social experiences and perceptions. The site for this study was the Stonington region archipelago, an area that has not yet experienced the same amount of development as seen on the southern Maine coast, yet one that has witnessed a boom in recreational use and an influx of people from other areas. Using a mixed methodology, two groups …

Reinterpreting The Pollen Data From Dos Cabezas, Karl J. Reinhard, Vaughn M. Bryant, Sheila D. Vinton

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

The published pollen analysis of the Dos Cabezas giants, Geyer et al. (2003), lists variety of purported dietary pollen types. The paper also hypothesises that the giants were poisoned with plant toxins. We have severe reservations about the pollen evidence of diet and poisoning. We suggest that the analysts made several errors in their interpretation. Firstly, some of the discovered pollen types are not prehistoric endemics to the Dos Cabezas region of coastal Peru. These include the pollen of fava beans (cultivated in the Old World), and specified species of agave and sage. We believe that some or all of …

Templated Fabrication Of Large Area Subwavelength Antireflection Gratings On Silicon, Chih-Hung Sun, Wei-Lun Min, Nicholas C. Linn, Peng Jiang, Bin Jiang

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Publications and Presentations

We report a cheap and scalable bottom-up technique for fabricating wafer-scale, subwavelength-structured antireflection coatings on single-crystalline silicon substrates. Spin-coated monolayer colloidal crystals are utilized as shadow masks to generate metallic nanohole arrays. Inverted pyramid arrays in silicon can then be templated against nanoholes by anisotropic wet etching. The resulting subwavelength gratings greatly suppress specular reflection at normal incidence. The reflection spectra for flat silicon and the templated gratings at long wavelengths agree well with the simulated results using a rigorous coupled wave analysis model. These subwavelength gratings are of great technological importance in crystalline silicon solar cells.

Weighted Additive Criterion For Linear Dimension Reduction, Jing Peng, Stefan Robila

Department of Computer Science Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Linear discriminant analysis (LDA) for dimension reduction has been applied to a wide variety of face recognition tasks. However, it has two major problems. First, it suffers from the small sample size problem when dimensionality is greater than the sample size. Second, it creates subspaces that favor well separated classes over those that are not. In this paper, we propose a simple weighted criterion for linear dimension reduction that addresses the above two problems associated with LDA. In addition, there are well established numerical procedures such as semi-definite programming for efficiently computing the proposed criterion. We demonstrate the efficacy of …

Estimating Sea Level Due To Crustal Stretching In The Margin Of The Indian Ocean, Kisa Mwakanyamale

Masters Theses

Continental crust extension is a precursor to the formation of a new ocean. The overall crustal extension causes change in the volume of global oceans hence change in sea level. The break-up of Gondwana that began during Late Triassic to Early Jurassic time caused continental crustal extension prior to forming the Indian Ocean. Extension started 184 Ma with rifting between SE Africa, Madagascar and Antarctica. This was followed by rifting between Greater India, Australia and Antarctica beginning about 160 Ma. The most recent episode of extension occurred 34 Ma involving separation between Arabia and Horn of Africa. Gridded data sets …

Learner-Centered Assignments In Computer Literacy, Martha E. Myers, Meg C. Murray, Mario Guimaraes, Debra B. Geist

Faculty Articles

Literacy is a concept that is understood to be the identifier of an educated populace. In today's world, literacy includes computer literacy, as well as language and quantitative literacy. This paper describes exercises developed to improve first year students' computer literacy through more learner-centered engagement. Exercises are designed to support learner-centered goals of independent and responsible learners, appropriate breadth and depth of content, teacher as facilitator, and assessment woven into learning. Exercise topics include purchase of a personal computer, basic logic via spreadsheets, an annotated bibliography built with electronic resources, and an integrated assignment customized by and for each student.

Distributed Predictive Health Monitoring, Jorge David Herrera Gonzalez

Computer Science and Engineering Theses

According to the National Center for Health Statistics the major causes of death in the US are (per year) heart diseases with 654 thousand cases, followed by cancer with 550 thousand cases and stroke with 150 thousand cases. In this project we propose, design, implement and test a prototype of a system that promises to improve the level of detection and prediction of several diseases and improves the quality of life of patients by utilizing non-invasive wireless medical sensors. This system is composed of a set of wireless medical sensors, a nearby (close-proximity) PDA (personal digital accessory) or cell phone …

Cxlengine - A Comprehensive Xml Loosely Structured Search Engine, Indhu Krishna Sivaramakrishnan

Computer Science and Engineering Theses

XML keyword search has been a widely researched area. [15] has proposed an XML semantic search engine called OOXSearch, which answers loosely structured queries. The framework of OOXSearch takes into account the semantic relationship between nodes based on their contexts. The context of a node is determined by its parent node. The label "name", for example, could mean the name of a book and could also mean the name of the book's author. If we try to consider the relationship between these two nodes without considering their parent nodes, we would be drawing the incorrect conclusion that these two nodes …

Limitations Of Ieee 802.15.4 Based Wireless Mesh Networks For Wireless Localization, William Anthony Wallace

Computer Science and Engineering Theses

It is highly desirable to create rapidly and inexpensively deployable mesh networks in certain scenarios. Consider the case of a large storage warehouse; workers are constantly moving in the area and not only do they need to send data periodically but their location needs to be tracked as well. Setting up such network can be accomplished with the IEEE 802.15.4 standard, but a mesh network must be created. There would need to be stationary 802.15.4 nodes that join together to form a backbone infrastructure. This backbone infrastructure (mesh network) would allow the workers, using mobile 802.15.4 nodes, to transmit their …

Subrosa: An Experimental Platform For Studying Timing Analysis Of Real Time Anonymity Systems, Hatim Asger Daginawala

Computer Science and Engineering Theses

Timing analysis poses a significant challenge for the mix based anonymous systems that wish to support low-latency applications like web browsing, instant messaging and Voice over IP (VOIP). Research in this area so far has been done through simulations on ad hoc simulators or non practical local area networks. We developed SubRosa, an experimental platform for studying timing analysis of real time anonymity systems to facilitate the study of Tor like low-latency anonymous systems. We present results of experiments on a real distributed network test bed PlanetLab, where we studied timing analysis attacks and some of the defenses to protect …

Panda Monitoring - A System To Monitor High Performance Computing For The Atlas Experiment-Design, Development,Implementation And Deployment, Prem A. Thilagar

Computer Science and Engineering Theses

Grid resources are gaining wide importance in the wake of experiments such as ATLAS aiding in a bigger goal to understand the complexities of nature. The need for a good monitoring system is realized as grid resources are being implemented widely. This work is an analysis of the existing monitoring system of the Panda which is a grid middleware for the ATLAS experiment running in CERN. The thesis aims at identifying the key bottlenecks of the current monitor and speaks about the implementation of a new monitor for the same .The new monitor which is being designed with scalability and …

Transmission Scheduling In Sensor Networks Via Directed Edge Coloring, Maggie Xiaioyan Cheng, Li Yin

Computer Science Faculty Research & Creative Works

This paper presents a transmission scheduling scheme in sensor networks. Each node is assigned a list of time slots to use for unicasting and broadcast communication. the algorithm employs edge coloring on a directed graph for transmission scheduling. It is different from previous works that use vertex coloring of a graph for node scheduling, or those that use edge coloring of undirected graphs for link scheduling. the proposed algorithm uses the least number of time slots compared to its counterparts and it avoids both the hidden terminal problem and the exposed terminal problem in both unicast and broadcast communication. ©2007 …

Mechanics Of Burrowing In Muddy Sediments, Kelly M. Dorgan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Marine muds are elastic solids through which animals move by propagating a crack-shaped burrow. Dilations previously considered anchors serve to exert dorsoventral compressive stresses on the burrow walls that, through elastic behavior of the medium, focus strongly at the tip of the burrow. This focused stress breaks adhesive or cohesive bonds, propagating a crack for the animal to follow. The force exerted by the polychaete, Nereis virens, to propagate a crack has been measured in gelatin, an analogue of muddy sediment, through photoelastic stress analysis. Finite element analysis was used to convert measured forces to those exerted in natural sediments …

Dijet Production In Diffractive Deep Inelastic Scattering At Hera, S. Chekanov, M. Derrick, S. Magill, B. Musgrave, D. Nicholass, J. Repond, R. Yoshida, Margarita C. K. Mattingly, M. Jechow, N. Pavel, A. G. Yagües Molina, S. Antonelli, P. Antonioli, G. Bari, M. Basile, L. Bellagamba, M. Bindi, D. Boscherini, A. Bruni, G. Bruni, L. Cifarelli, F. Cindolo, A. Contin, M. Corradi, S. De Pasquale, G. Iacobucci, A. Margotti, R. Nania, A. Polini, G. Sartorelli, A. Zichichi

Faculty Publications

The production of dijets in diffractive deep inelastic scattering has been measured with the ZEUS detector at HERA using an integrated luminosity of 61 pb-1. The dijet cross section has been measured for virtualities of the exchanged virtual photon, 5 < Q2 < 100 GeV2, and γ*p centre-of-mass energies, 100 < W < 250 GeV. The jets, identified using the inclusive kT algorithm in the γ*p frame, were required to have a transverse energy E* T,jet > 4 GeV and the jet with the highest transverse energy was required to have E* T,jet > 5 GeV. All jets were required to be in the pseudorapidity range -3.5

The Effect Of A Skyrme Interaction On Nucleon Induced Reactions, Yingfa Zhang

Masters Theses

The main goal of this Master thesis is the theoretical study of the interaction between a nucleon and a nucleus. This is a fundamental method to study the structure and dynamics of nuclear systems. This thesis concentrates on the study of nucleon scattering on light nuclei, ⁶Li, ⁷Li and ¹⁴N, with the effective interaction M3Y and its modification by adding a Skyrme force. This is the first time the Skyrme interaction has been employed in scattering calculations. From a comparison of the measured differential cross section σ (θ) and the analyzing power Ay (θ) for ⁶Li …

An Empirical Analysis Of Mobile Voice Service And Sms: A Structural Model, Youngsoo Kim, William B. Vogt, Ramayya Krishnan, Rahul Telang

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

In addition to the wireless telephony boom, a similar exponential increasing trend in wireless data service - short message service (SMS) - is visible as technology advances. We develop a structural model to understand how mobile users behave, especially how they consume voice, and services. Specifically, we measure the own- and the cross-price elasticities of these services. The cross-price elasticity is of significant importance because marketing activities are critically influenced by whether the goods are substitutes or complements. The research context poses significant econometric challenges due to three-part tariff, sequential discrete plan choice and continuous quantity choices. Using detailed individual …

On Progenitively Koszul Commutative Rings, Paul Russell Stern

Mathematics Dissertations

This paper introduces and identifies classes of progenitively Koszul rings. A progenitively Koszul ring is a commutative ring that admits a Koszul complex A=K(R) that is formal, and such that the homology algebra H(A) generated by A is a Koszul algebra. Local complete intersections, which yield exterior algebras (an example of a Koszul algebra) for their homology algebras, serve as a prototype. It is shown that the local complete intersections occupy only a small portion of the class of progenitively Koszul rings. The material in Chapter 1 will cover basic definitions and facts regarding free resolutions differential graded algebras, homology, …

Synthesis And Characterization Of Ruthenium Bipyridyl Complexes For Detecting Nerve Gas Agents And Explosives, Arambe Gedara Aruna Weerasinghe

Masters Theses

Five novel 2,2 '-bis bi pyridine Ru(II) complexes have been synthesized and characterized using ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR, ¹H-¹H-COSY, elemental analysis, fast atom bombardment or electrospray mass spectra and electronic absorption spectroscopy. Binding of Ru (11) complexes with nerve gas analogos such as diethyl chlorophosphate (DCP), dimethyl methyl phosphonate (DMMP) and hydrolyzed product (HCl) has been investigated by electronic absorption, fluorescence, and lifetime studies. Compound 1 showed a quenching in ³MLCT emission after an initial increase in intensity upon the addition of DCP with a bathochromic shift of 25 nm. Compound 2 exhibit a …

Ground-Level Ozone Across Kentucky: Modeling And A Synoptic Analysis Of High Concentrations, John Walker

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Rural areas are often more susceptible to high concentrations of ground-level ozone (O3) than urban areas. However, rural populations are, for the most part, unaware of this problem. Currently the rural areas of Kentucky have no daily forecast for O3. This research addresses the issue by using methodologies from previous Kentucky O3 modeling research to develop a daily forecast model within Geographic Information Systems. The rural O3 model developed by Kendrick (2005) will be used in this research, as a Standard model, along with an application of the model introduced by Cobourn and Hubbard (1999), as the Hi model, to …

Commuting Analysis In A Small Metropolitan Area - A Case Study Of Bowling Green/Warren County, Kentucky, Caitlin Hagar

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

In previous studies of urban commutes, little attention has been paid to commute patterns in smaller urban areas. In this study, the concept of "excess commute" (EC) is applied to the Bowling Green-Warren County Metropolitan Statistical Area (BGWCMSA) in Kentucky. EC quantifies the portion of commute distance explained by the overall spatial separation of jobs and households. Results in this thesis research show that approximately 65% of commute distance by persons driving alone in the study area can be explained by the physical locations of homes relative to job sites as well as the existing roadway network, leaving an EC …

Sustainability Of Western Kentucky University: An Examination Of Campus Environmental Policies, Performance And Potential For Change, Christian Ryan-Downing

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Institutions of higher learning are in a pivotal position to address the environmental problems that global society faces now, but response to this challenge requires transformation in priorities and practices. Recognizing the impacts that universities have on the environment and the social and economic costs associated with these impacts, institutions of higher learning are changing policies and management to become more sustainable. Sustainability is defined by the World Commission on Environment and Development as "development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs" (1987). To evaluate the environmental impacts …

Fundamental Investigation Of Vesicle Bilayer Membrane Dynamics, Wilson Okumu

Masters Theses

We studied the bilayer of vesicles from dimyristolyphosphatidylcholine (DMPC), using nitrobenzoxadiazole (NBD) probes, attached to the head (NBD-PE) and the tail (NBD-PC) of phospholipid derivatives. We characterized the bilayer as it underwent reversible transition from the gel to the fluid through a phase transition range. The main phase transition was characterized by steady state and timeresolved fluorescence anisotropy, fluorescence intensity decrement and kinetics of dithionite reduction. We also studied DMPC with dihydrocholesterol. Differences between the surface and interior regions of the bilayer region were obtained. The activation barrier was enthalpic in the gel, entropic in the fluid phase and anomalous …

Nanosensors For The Detection Of Nerve Agents And Explosives, Deepak Kumar Thimmaraju

Masters Theses

The central hypothesis of this research was development of a novel nanosensor for the detection of nerve agents and explosives. The nanosensor assembly comprises a bottom up approach with nanoparticle (N), monomer (M), nanomolecule (N) and a receptor (R) as moieties of a NMNR assembly. My research was focused on evaluating receptors for their efficiency towards the target analytes such as nerve agents and explosives. Pi electron rich receptor 2-Phenyl-2-Propanol and its fluorinated analog 1,1,1,3,3,3-Hexafluoro-2-Phenyl-2-Propanol were investigated for their ability to detect nerve agents such as DCP, its analogs DMMP and HCl along with the explosives mono, di, and trinitrotoluene. …

Nanomaterial Composites For The Detection Of Nerve Gas Analogs, Yogesh Datar

Masters Theses

The basis of the research work described here is the use of nanocomposite materials built by bottom-up approach for the selective detection of nerve gas analogs. Nanocomposites materials constructed by using nanoparticle-monomer-receptor (NMR) concept have been utilized to detect nerve gas analogs DCP and DMMP. Synthetic approach used in the construction of nanosensors involved use of robust platforms such as silica nanoparticles and fluorescent quantum dots. Highly conjugated receptor molecules were synthesized by using stilbeneoid compounds. A complete opto-nanosensor was developed by anchoring highly conjugated receptor molecules onto the silica nanoparticles as well as onto the quantum dots. The opto-nanosensors …

Self-Organizing Neural Architectures And Cooperative Learning In A Multiagent Environment, Dan Xiao, Ah-Hwee Tan

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Temporal-Difference–Fusion Architecture for Learning, Cognition, and Navigation (TD-FALCON) is a generalization of adaptive resonance theory (a class of self-organizing neural networks) that incorporates TD methods for real-time reinforcement learning. In this paper, we investigate how a team of TD-FALCON networks may cooperate to learn and function in a dynamic multiagent environment based on minefield navigation and a predator/prey pursuit tasks. Experiments on the navigation task demonstrate that TD-FALCON agent teams are able to adapt and function well in a multiagent environment without an explicit mechanism of collaboration. In comparison, traditional Q-learning agents using gradient-descent-based feedforward neural networks, trained with the …

Tuning Tabu Search Strategies Via Visual Diagnosis, Steven Halim, Hoong Chuin Lau

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

While designing working metaheuristics can be straightforward, tuning them to solve the underlying combinatorial optimization problem well can be tricky. Several tuning methods have been proposed but they do not address the new aspect of our proposed classification of the metaheuristic tuning problem: tuning search strategies. We propose a tuning methodology based on Visual Diagnosis and a generic tool called Visualizer for Metaheuristics Development Framework(V-MDF) to address specifically the problem of tuning search (particularly Tabu Search) strategies. Under V-MDF, we propose the use of a Distance Radar visualizer where the human and computer can collaborate to diagnose the occurrence of …

Malicious Mobile Code Related Experiments With An Extensible Network Simulator, Attila Ondi

Theses and Dissertations

The automated spread of worms such as Code-Red, SQL/Slammer, and Nimda have caused costly problems to computers connected to the Internet. Even users whose machines were not vulnerable to these threats suffered a loss of productivity and experienced great frustration as connectivity and network traffic were negatively impacted during outbreaks. Although the number of new worm attacks reported in the media seems to be declining, it is vital that researchers study the effects of malicious code on the global network to understand how to defend against future threats. The choice of system for studying the spread of worms and viruses …

On Mathematical Modeling, Nonlinear Properties And Stability Of Secondary Flow In A Dendrite Layer, Daniel N. Riahi

School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

This paper studies instabilities in the flow of melt within a horizontal dendrite layer with deformed upper boundary and in the presence or absence of rotation during the solidification of a binary alloy. In the presence of rotation, it is assumed that the layer is rotating about a vertical axis at a constant angular velocity. Linear and weakly nonlinear stability analyses provide results about various flow features such as the critical mode of convection, neutral stability curve, preferred flow pattern and the solid fraction distribution within the dendrite layer. The preferred shape of the deformed upper boundary of the layer, …