Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

The Phylogeography Of North American Chestnuts And Chinquapins (Castanea Mill., Fagaceae), Meagan A. Binkley

Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

North American Castanea Mill. (Fagaceae) consists of three morphologically variable species: Castanea dentata, Castanea pumila and Castanea ozarkensis. Taxonomy of these species has been complicated by intermediate morphology, similarity in growth habit, and putative naturally occurring hybridization where species' ranges overlap in the southeast. The main goals of the present study were to: 1) determine if genetics reflect the morphological variation observed in southeastern populations of North American Castanea, 2) explore the extent of cpDNA haplotype sharing among these taxa, and 3) map haplotype distribution in relation to morphotaxa. Finally, I wanted to use the information obtained from these analyses …

Life History Observations And Determination Of Potential Host Fish Species For Chipola Slabshell, Elliptio Chipolaensis, Lisa Preister

Theses and Dissertations

North America is home to nearly 300 species of freshwater mussels with approximately 80% being found in the southeastern United States. The Federally threatened species, Elliptio chipolaensis (Chipola slabshell), is considered an endemic species to the Chipola River Basin in the Florida panhandle. E. chipolaensis glochidia are released from the female in conglutinates The potential fish host species for Elliptio chipolaensis are the bluegill and redbreast sunfish. Sixty percent of the bluegill successfully transformed E. chipolaensis glochidia into juvenile mussels while 80% of the redbreast sunfish were successful.

Increasing The Recycling Rate In Clark County, Nevada, Emerald Laija

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The purpose of this study was to identify and evaluate policies that could increase the amount of municipal solid waste recycled in Clark County, Nevada. Clark County has not met the Nevada State goal of a 25% recycling rate since it was established by the Nevada Legislature in 1991. Using the system dynamics problem solving approach, a model for Clark County was adapted from a model developed by Stave (2008) to test policy options. There was no feedback in the model due to the long lifespan of the landfill servicing Clark County and the relatively shorter time horizon of the …

The Environmental And Economic Benefits Of Highway Access Management: A Multivariate Analysis Using System Dynamics, Dan Andersen

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Better management of highway operations can be achieved, in part, by controlling vehicular access to adjacent properties and cross streets. This tactic, referred to as access management, has proven safety and operational benefits. However, doubts remain regarding its environmental and economic benefits.

I hypothesize that one environmental indicator, carbon emissions, will decrease with proper access management. Controlling access increases the speed at which vehicles travel, improving fuel efficiency and reducing carbon emissions. My hypothesis relative to financial impacts is that access management will neither help nor harm businesses. Controlling access can reduce travel time which has the effect of increasing …

The Effect Of The Amide Substituent On The Biodistribution And Tolerance Of Lanthanide(Iii) Dota-Tetraamide Derivatives, Mark Woods, Peter Caravan, Carlos F.G.C. Geraldes, Matthew T. Greenfield, Garry Kiefer, Mai Lin, Kenneth Mcmillan, M. Isabel M. Prata, Ana C. Santos, Xiankai Sun, Jufeng Wang, Shanrong Zhang, Piyu Zhao, A. Dean Sherry

Chemistry Faculty Publications and Presentations

Objectives—Recent advances in the design of MRI contrast agents have rendered the lanthanide complexes of DOTA-tetraamide ligands of considerable interest, both as responsive MR agents and paramagnetic chemical exchange saturation transfer agents. The potential utility of these complexes for in vivo applications is contingent upon them being well tolerated by the body. The purpose of this study was to examine how the nature of the amide substituent, and in particular its charge, affected the fate of these chelates postinjection.

Materials and Methods—Complexes of 6 DOTA-tetraamide ligands were prepared in which the nature of the amide substituent was systematically …

Ambiguous Optimistic Fair Exchange, Qiong Huang, Guomin Yang, Duncan S. Wong, Willy Susilo

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Optimistic fair exchange (OFE) is a protocol for solving the problem of exchanging items or services in a fair manner between two parties, a signer and a verifier, with the help of an arbitrator which is called in only when a dispute happens between the two parties. In almost all the previous work on OFE, after obtaining a partial signature from the signer, the verifier can present it to others and show that the signer has indeed committed itself to something corresponding to the partial signature even prior to the completion of the transaction. In some scenarios, this capability given …

On Visualizing Heterogeneous Semantic Networks From Multiple Data Sources, Maureen Maureen, Aixin Sun, Ee Peng Lim, Anwitaman Datta, Kuiyu Chang

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

In this paper, we focus on the visualization of heterogeneous semantic networks obtained from multiple data sources. A semantic network comprising a set of entities and relationships is often used for representing knowledge derived from textual data or database records. Although the semantic networks created for the same domain at different data sources may cover a similar set of entities, these networks could also be very different because of naming conventions, coverage, view points, and other reasons. Since digital libraries often contain data from multiple sources, we propose a visualization tool to integrate and analyze the differences among multiple social …

Cognitive Agents Integrating Rules And Reinforcement Learning For Context-Aware Decision Support, Teck-Hou Teng, Ah-Hwee Tan

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

While context-awareness has been found to be effective for decision support in complex domains, most of such decision support systems are hard-coded, incurring significant development efforts. To ease the knowledge acquisition bottleneck, this paper presents a class of cognitive agents based on self-organizing neural model known as TD-FALCON that integrates rules and learning for supporting context-aware decision making. Besides the ability to incorporate a priori knowledge in the form of symbolic propositional rules, TD-FALCON performs reinforcement learning (RL), enabling knowledge refinement and expansion through the interaction with its environment. The efficacy of the developed Context-Aware Decision Support (CaDS) system is …

Text Cube: Computing Ir Measures For Multidimensional Text Database Analysis, Cindy Xinde Lin, Bolin Ding, Jiawei Han, Feida Zhu, Bo Zhao

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Since Jim Gray introduced the concept of ”data cube” in 1997, data cube, associated with online analytical processing (OLAP), has become a driving engine in data warehouse industry. Because the boom of Internet has given rise to an ever increasing amount of text data associated with other multidimensional information, it is natural to propose a data cube model that integrates the power of traditional OLAP and IR techniques for text. In this paper, we propose a Text-Cube model on multidimensional text database and study effective OLAP over such data. Two kinds of hierarchies are distinguishable inside: dimensional hierarchy and term …

Assessment Of Exposure And Effects Associated With Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Contamination In South Chattanooga, Tennessee, Jessica K. Leet

Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

The southern part of Chattanooga, TN has been subject to dumping of industrial waste for over 100 years. Chattanooga Creek flows north through this area to the Tennessee River. The dumping of coal tar and other industrial waste in this area h as lead to the contamination of Chattanooga Creek and soil of the surrounding floodplains. Many polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are found in these areas, specifically the 16 PAHs the EPA and ATSDR consider to be priority pollutants. The close proximity of residents to contaminated sites in southern Chattanooga initiated an assessment of the potential human health risks. The …

Green Roofs For A Green Town: Possibilities Of Green Roof Implementation In The Town Of Normal, Lindsey Sihau, '09

Outstanding Senior Seminar Papers

Green roofs have been growing in popularity throughout the world. Scientists have been studying them since the 1980’s. This research project reviews the literature regarding both the benefits and barriers to green roof construction and management. Policies around the nation are then examined and analyzed. Suggestions are made regarding possible additions to the local Stormwater Management Policy that would emphasize the importance of sustainable building techniques such as green roofs, and hopefully offer incentive to their implementation.

What Impact Does Sustainable Certification Have? A Comparison Of Aquatic Nitrate And Phosphate Levels Between Two Golf Courses In The Bloomington-Normal Community, Jason Koval, '09

Outstanding Senior Seminar Papers

Two golf courses in the Bloomington-Normal community in central Illinois were tested for nitrate and phosphate concentrations in their ponds. One golf course (The Den) is Audubon International certified while the other golf course (Ironwood) is not. This study tries to establish if differing environmental management practices can contribute to significantly different concentrations of nutrients. It was determined that the nitrate concentration was higher at the non-certified golf course, while the phosphate concentrations at both courses were essentially negligible. The implications of these findings are discussed and were presented to both golf courses. It is the hope of this paper …

The Feasibility Of Implementing Farm To School Programs In Bloomington-Normal Public Schools, Margaret Kane, '09

Outstanding Senior Seminar Papers

Farm to School programs promote partnerships between local farmers and school districts in which farmers can provide fresh organic produce for school meals and education about sustainable agriculture. A focus on local and organic foods has a variety of benefits that affect the environmental, health, and community. This study explores opportunities for Farm to School programs in Bloomington-Normal public schools, and concludes that a this type of program would be feasible in Normal, although there are quite a few barriers to overcome before implementation would be possible.

Environmental Evaluation Of A Quaternary Wastewater Treatment Wetland, Olivia Demeo, '09

Outstanding Senior Seminar Papers

Constructed wetlands for wastewater treatment have become a sustainable alternative to environmentally harmful traditional wastewater treatment methods. This case study evaluated the Schroeder Wildlife Sanctuary, a wetland area constructed for removal of nutrients from wastewater. An environmental evaluation of the wetland was completed that addressed three parameters: the water quality of wetland effluent, the avian biodiversity within the sanctuary, and an assessment of community outreach and education initiatives. Water quality testing was conducted using rudimentary LaMotte and Hach testing kits. The data was contrary to the literature and showed no nutrient removal occurring. However, the results were inconclusive because the …

Growing Food Justice In West Bloomington, Illinois, Daniel Burke, '09

Outstanding Senior Seminar Papers

In some places in the United States, guns are more accessible than tomatoes. In a nation where food is in relative abundance, how can this be? Food security is the ready availability of nutritious and safe food and the assured ability to obtain it through normal sources (Morris et al 1992). Food justice asserts that no one should live without enough food because of economic constraints or social inequities. In this way, food justice frames the lack of healthy food sources in poor communities as a human rights issue (People's Grocery 2008). However, in some communities, access to fresh, healthy …

The Feasibility Of Incorporating Sustainable Materials In The Design Of Habitat For Humanity Homes, Meaghan Collins, '09

Outstanding Senior Seminar Papers

The concept of sustainable design has been one of increasing interest with regards to both personal choices and desire to reduce human impacts on the environment. This paper looks at the concept of sustainable housing design and why it is important. Particularly, it focuses on sustainable housing designs and materials that the McLean County Chapter of Habitat for Humanity can incorporate into the construction of its homes. This paper investigates three types of sustainable construction materials, flooring, cabinetry, and paints that Habitat for Humanity could incorporate into its homes.

Analyzing The Catalytic Role Of Asp97 In The Methionine Aminopeptidase From Escherichia Coli, Sanghamitra Mitra, Kathleen M. Job, Lu Meng, Brian Bennett, Richard C. Holz

Physics Faculty Research and Publications

An active site aspartate residue, Asp97, in the methionine aminopeptidase (MetAPs) from Escherichia coli (EcMetAP-I) was mutated to alanine, glutamate, and asparagine. Asp97 is the lone carboxylate residue bound to the crystallographically determined second metal-binding site in EcMetAP-I. These mutant EcMetAP-I enzymes have been kinetically and spectroscopically characterized. Inductively coupled plasma–atomic emission spectroscopy analysis revealed that 1.0 ± 0.1 equivalents of cobalt were associated with each of the Asp97-mutated EcMetAP-Is. The effect on activity after altering Asp97 to alanine, glutamate or asparagine is, in general, due to a ∼ 9000-fold decrease in k_ca towards …

Steganography In Ipv6, Barret Miller

Computer Science and Computer Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Steganography is the process of hiding a secret message within another message such that it is difficult to detect the presence of the secret message. In other words, the existence of the secret message is hidden. A covert channel refers to the actual medium that is used to communicate the information such as a message, image, or file. This honors thesis uses steganography within the source address fields of Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6) packets to create a covert channel through which clandestine messages are passed from one party to another. A fully functional computer program was designed and written …

Mapping Reality Into Virtual Worlds, Josh Mcfarlane

Computer Science and Computer Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

As virtual worlds become more prevalent, they become increasingly useful as a means of information dissemination. This thesis examines the possible connections between real world objects and their virtual world counterparts. We look at how, by attaching sensors to an object, or by using a smart object with embedded sensors, the information can be relayed to a server. From this information, it will be possible to create a duplicate object in the virtual world and have it mirror the real world object in terms of state and movement. Almost all current solutions for remotely viewing a room or area are …

Characterization Of Campus Parking Lot Stormwater And Remediation Of Risks Using Constructed Wetland Treatment Systems, Andrew Mcqueen

All Theses

Campus parking lot stormwater (CPLSW) runoff mobilizes a variety of constituents from vehicular and atmospheric deposition that may pose risks to receiving aquatic systems. The overall objective of this research was to provide an approach for risk characterization, toxicity identification, and remediation of constituents of concern in CPLSW. The specific objectives of this research were to: (1) Characterize campus parking lot stormwater (CPLSW) to discern the constituents of concern present in these waters; (2) Perform TIE manipulations to identify possible fractions of concern in CPLSW, and; (3) Evaluate the performance of a pilot-scale constructed wetland treatment system (CWTS) designed to …

Physics Of Type Ia Supernovae, Ginger Bryngelson

All Theses

Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia), the thermonuclear explosion of a white dwarf, were once considered standard candles. However, increased observations reveal inhomogeneities in chemical composition and luminosity behavior, roughly dividing SNe Ia into three luminosity classes; super-luminous, sub-luminous, and normally-luminous. After introducing the problem in the context of previous observations and modeling, this thesis explores the physical processes occurring in a SN Ia after explosion, and discusses observations of SN light curves.
A simple model of the expanding ejecta calculates the energy deposition from the decay of radioactive Ni56 as well as photon diffusion. It produces light curves that match …

High School Mathematics Teachers' Evolving Understanding Of Comparing Distributions, Sandra R. Madden

Dissertations

Statistics has achieved a position of status in the secondary curriculum (College Board, 2006b; Franklin et al., 2007; NCTM, 2000) and understanding of statistics is essential for high school mathematics teachers if they are to engage students in thoughtful pursuit of statistical ideas. High school teachers typically are ill-prepared in the area of statistics (Ben-Zvi & Garfield, 2004a; CBMS, 2001; Shaughnessy, 1992, 2007). Using methods of design research, this study investigated 56 high school mathematics teachers' understanding of the statistical concept ofcomparing distributions and demonstrated that a modest four-day, statistics-oriented, technology-rich, professional development program may significantly improve teachers' understanding. …

Switch On And Switch Off Nanosensors For The Detection Of Nerve Gas Agents, Shankar Varaganti

Dissertations

The central hypothesis of this research is the development of novel nanosensors by a bottom-up approach for the detection of nerve gas agents. The nanosensor assembly consists of four main parts; nanoparticles (N), Monomer (M), Complex (C) and Receptor (R). Two novel Ru (II)-bipyridyl and zinc complexes with tryptophan receptors either in 4,4' or 5,5' position of the bipyridyl ring have been synthesized and characterized by using ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR, mass spectrometry and absorption spectroscopy. Silica nanoparticles or quantum dots are used as a platform for the nanosensors. Highly conjugated stilbene type compounds are used as monomers. …

Tinytermite: A Secure Routing Algorithm, Joshua Lewis Patterson

Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

In this thesis, we introduce TinyTermite. TinyTermite is a novel probabilistic routing algorithm that is secure against selective forwarding and replay attacks. We use suspicion pheromone to build a flexible map of possible compromised neighbors. As suspicion builds up and decays for each neighbor, TinyTermite is able to deal with uncertain stimulus and react properly. TinyTermite is fully implemented on TinyOS based Intel Mote 2 platform and the experiments were done to compare its performance with that of the traditional Termite algorithm. The experimental results show that TinyTermite is significantly more secure against replay and sinkhole attacks by lowering the …

The Vascular Flora Of The North Chickamauga Creek Gorge State Natural Area, Hamilton & Sequatchie Counties, Tennessee, Stacy D. Huskins

Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

The vascular flora of the North Chickamauga Creek Gorge State Natural Area (NCCG) was studied during three growing seasons from 2006 to 2008. NCCG is located in Hamilton and Sequatchie counties, Tennessee, on the eastern edge of the Cumberland Plateau. Within the study area are 2,862 hectares of eastern deciduous forest that contain 12 distinct habitat types. A survey of these habitat types over three growing seasons yielded 110 families, 329 genera, and 604 species or lesser taxa, including 238 county records. Seventy-six introduced species were found, comprising 12% of the total flora. Eleven species with either a state or …

Pas: Predicate-Based Authentication Services Against Powerful Passive Adversaries, Sriram Chellappan, Xiaole Bai, Wenjun Gu, Xun Wang, Dong Xuan, Bin Ma

Computer Science Faculty Research & Creative Works

Securely authenticating a human user without assistance from any auxiliary device in the presence of powerful passive adversaries is an important and challenging problem. Passive adversaries are those that can passively monitor, intercept, and analyze every part of the authentication procedure, except for an initial secret shared between the user and the server. In this paper, we propose a new secure authentication scheme called predicate-based authentication service (PAS). In this scheme, for the first time, the concept of a predicate is introduced for authentication. We conduct analysis on the proposed scheme and implement its prototype system. Our analytical data and …

Built-In Electric Field Assisted Spin Injection In Cr And Mn Δ-Layer Doped Aln/Gan(0001) Heterostructures From First Principles, X. Y. Cui, Julia E. Medvedeva, B. Delley, C. Stampfl, Arthur J. Freeman

Physics Faculty Research & Creative Works

Highly spin-polarized diluted ferromagnetic semiconductors are expected to be widely used as ideal spin injectors. Here, extensive first-principles density-functional theory calculations have been performed to investigate the feasibility of using Cr- and Mn-doped wurtzite polar AlN/GaN(0001) heterostructures, with the aim to realize the appealing half-metallic character and, hence, efficient electrical spin injection. To overcome the formation of detrimental embedded clusters, we propose digital delta-layer doping perpendicular to the growth direction so as to realize enhanced performance at room temperature. The formation energy, electronic and magnetic properties, and the degree of spin polarization for both neutral and charged valence states for …

Seasonal Changes In A Eutrophic Lake (Wilgreen Lake, Madison County, Kentucky) From Summer Stratification Through Fall Turnover, Richard D. Stockwell, Walter S. Borowski

EKU Faculty and Staff Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Effective-Range Theory For An Electron In A Short-Range Potential And A Laser Field, M. V. Frolov, N. L. Manakov, Anthony F. Starace

Anthony F. Starace Publications

The time-dependent effective-range (TDER) theory introduced by Frolov et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 91, 053003 (2003)] and used in numerous applications for processes involving a linearly polarized intense laser field is presented in detail for the general problem of an electron, initially bound in a short-range potential, interacting with a laser field of arbitrary polarization. The TDER theory combines the well-known effective-range theory for a weakly bound electron in a short-range potential with the quasistationary, quasienergy state (QQES) or Floquet formulation for an electron interacting with a harmonic, time-dependent field, such as a monochromatic laser field. We present the basic …

Alagnak Wild River Visitor Use Project: Alagnak Wild River Resident User Study, Douglas Deur

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

This report represents a thematic summary of findings from the Alagnak Wild River Resident Users Study, the final project in a larger series of studies conducted for the National Park Service (NPS) as part of the Alagnak Wild River Visitor Use Project. The National Park service administers the 56 miles of designated Wild River along the Alagnak in collaboration with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, which manages fish and wildlife populations along the river. The NPS is charged with managing the river’s natural and cultural resources, as well as preserving the river’s lands and resources for current and …