Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Geometry Of The Trachyte Mesa Intrusion, Henry Mountains, Utah: Implications For The Emplacement Of Small Melt Volumes Into The Upper Crust, Paul H. Wetmore, Charles B. Connor, Sarah E. Kruse, Sean Callihan, Geoffrey Pignotta, Ciprian Stremtan, Andrea Burke

Geology Faculty Publications

The Trachyte Mesa intrusion is one of several small satellite bodies to the larger intrusions of the Henry Mountains, Utah. Most previous studies have worked under the assumptions that Trachyte Mesa is blister shaped and intruded into flat and gently NW dipping strata. In this study we combine structural and geophysical data sets to constrain the structural geology of the host lithologies and the unmodified geometry of the intrusion. Trachyte Mesa intrudes a series of northeast trending upright and open folds formed within the Jurassic Entrada Formation. Truncation of these folds at the contact with the overlying Curtis/Summerville formations indicates …

Revised Crustal Architecture Of The Southeastern Carpathian Foreland From Active And Passive Seismic Data, Dana M. Enciu, Camelia C. Knapp, James H. Knapp

Faculty Publications

Integration of active and passive source seismic data is employed in order to study the nature of the relationships between crustal seismicity and geologic structures in the southeastern (SE) Carpathian foreland of Romania and the possible connection with the Vrancea Seismogenic Zone (VSZ) of intermediatedepth seismicity, one of the most active earthquakeprone areas in Europe. Crustal epicenters and focal mechanisms are correlated with four deep industry seismic profiles, the reprocessed Danube and Carpathian Integrated Action on Process in the Lithosphere and Neotectonics (DACIA PLAN) profile and the Deep Reflection Acquisition Constraining Unusual Lithospheric Activity II and III (DRACULA) profiles in …

A Computational Study Of The Effects Of Temperature Variation On Turtle Egg Development, Sex Determination, And Population Dynamics, Amy L. Parrott

Department of Mathematics: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Climate change and its effects on ecosystems is a major concern. For certain animal species, especially those that exhibit what is known as temperature-dependent sex determination (TSD), temperature variations pose a possibly serious threat (Valenzuela and Lance, 2004). In these species, temperature, and not chromosomes, determines the sex of the animal (Valenzuela and Lance, 2004). It is conceivable therefore, that if the temperature changes to favor only one sex, then dire consequences for their populations could occur. In this dissertation, we examine possible effects that climate change may have upon Painted Turtles (Chrysemys picta), a species with TSD. We investigate …

End User As Application Developer For Decision Support, Shah Jahan Miah

Dr Shah Jahan Miah

This paper discusses a new generation end-user centred information service view, for developing decision support applications. The tailorable solution allows specific applications to be designed by end-users, where integrity is assured by the architecture’s control in knowledge-based systems. In the development approach, the end-users at different level engage in interaction for secondary application creation. This initiative reinforces a shift from the traditional IS development process to a new provision where end-users can actively participate for a secondary application design. A secondary application design can be seen as a secondary activity for tailoring applications by the end users so that it …

Interview With Rabbi Arthur Zuckerman, Shaarie Torah, 2009 (Audio), Arthur Zuckerman

All Sustainability History Project Oral Histories

Interview of Rabbi Arthur Zuckerman by Austin Rosenfeld in NW Portland, Oregon on August 7th, 2009.

The interview index is available for download.

Time-Delay And Doppler Tests Of The Lorentz Symmetry Of Gravity, Quentin G. Bailey

Physics & Astronomy - Prescott

Modifications to the classic time-delay effect and Doppler shift in general relativity (GR) are studied in the context of the Lorentz-violating standard-model extension (SME). We derive the leading Lorentz- violating corrections to the time-delay and Doppler shift signals, for a light ray passing near a massive body. It is demonstrated that anisotropic coefficients for Lorentz violation control a time-dependent behavior of these signals that is qualitatively different from the conventional case in GR. Estimates of sensitivities to gravity-sector coefficients in the SME are given for current and future experiments, including the recent Cassini solar conjunction experiment.

Tracing The Inner Edge Of The Disk Around Hd 100546 With Rovibrational Co Emission Lines, Sean D. Brittain, Joan R. Najita, John S. Carr

Publications

In this paper we present high-resolution 4.7 μm spectra of the isolated Herbig Be star HD 100546. HD 100546 has been the subject of intense scrutiny because it is a young nearby star with a transitional disk. We observe the Δv = 1 rovibrational CO transitions in order to clarify the distribution of warm gas in the inner disk. Modeling of the CO spectrum indicates that the gas is vibrationally excited by collisions and UV fluorescence. The observed emission extends from 13 to 100 AU. The inner edge of the molecular gas emission is consistent with the inner edge of …

Exploiting Bilingual Information To Improve Web Search, Wei Gao, John Bitzer, Ming Zhou, Kam-Fai Wong

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Web search quality can vary widely across languages, even for the same information need. We propose to exploit this variation in quality by learning a ranking function on bilingual queries: queries that appear in query logs for two languages but represent equivalent search interests. For a given bilingual query, along with corresponding monolingual query log and monolingual ranking, we generate a ranking on pairs of documents, one from each language. Then we learn a linear ranking function which exploits bilingual features on pairs of documents, as well as standard monolingual features. Finally, we show how to reconstruct monolingual ranking from …

Computer Assisted Diagnoses For Red Eye (Cadre), Dr. Muhammad Zubair Asghar

Dr. Muhammad Zubair Asghar

This paper introduces an expert System (ES) named as “CADRE-Computer Assisted Diagnoses for Red Eye. Mostly the remote areas of the population are deprived of the facilities of having experts in eye disease. So it is the need of the day to store the expertise of Eye specialists in computers through using ES technology. This ES is a rule-based Expert System that assists in red-eye diagnosis and treatment. The knowledge acquired from literature review and human experts of the specific domain was used as a base for analysis, diagnosis and recommendations. CADRE evaluates the risk factors of 20 eye diseases …

Efficient Simulation Of Fluid Flow, David Hannasch, Monika Neda

Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP)

We are computationally investigating fluid flow models for physically correct predictions of flow structures. Models based on the idea of filtering the small scales/structures and also the Navier-Stokes equations which are the fundamental equations of fluid flow, are numerically solved via the continuous finite element method. Crank-Nicolson and fractional-step theta scheme are used for the discretization of the time derivative, while the Taylor-Hood and Mini elements are used for the discretization is space. The effectiveness of these numerical discretizations in time and space are examined by studying the accuracy of fluid characteristics, such as drag, lift and pressure drop.

Long Distance Microbial Transport In Air: Global Change Implications, Bradley J. Davey, J. C. Bruckner, Jenny C. Fisher, Duane P. Moser

Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP)

The first manifestations of global change will most likelv be observed in the Earth's atmosphere. Changing wind patterns, for example, may effect the long distance dispersal of microor-g anisms. The overall objective of this research is to correlate molecular assessments of microbial community structure from cloud water and snow samples, obtained from DRI's Storm Peak Laboratory atop Mt. Werner in Colorado, with atmospheric data and calculated air mass back trajectories. Our activities for summer of 2009 will be a focused proof-of-concept exercise to determine if intact microbial DNA and viable cells can be recovered from cloud water and alpine snow …

Point And Nonpoint Source Analysis Of Nutrients, Metals, And Pathogens In The Sediment And Water Column In Las Vegas Wash, Christine Simmons, Kumud Acharya

Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP)

Formerly an ephemeral watercourse, Las Vegas Wash is now a perennial system due to urban runoff and wastewater treatment plant (WWP) effluent. Las Vegas Wash flows into Lake Mead, where the discharge point is only a few miles upstream of Las Vegas’ main water intake. This small water cycle establishes the necessity to evaluate water quality especially due to non point sources pollution, wherein my research lies. Several points along Las Vegas Wash upstream and downstream of WWP have been chosen to represent different landuse types such as commercial, residential, wastewater treatment plants, etc. At each location, parameters including arsenic, …

The Effects Of Pressure On Wide Bandgap Gan Semiconductors, William Kang, Linda Tran, Eunja Kim

Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP)

Gallium nitride (GaN) is a group-III nitride semiconductor; which may prove useful in developing optical instruments that operate under high ambient pressures. The purpose of this project is to examine the properties of GaN under varying conditions. The methods used in this experiment consist of modeling free energy as a function of lattice constants; calculating bond lengths, bond strengths, and bulk moduli; and comparing the resultant data with values in published literature. We will also compare these results with experimental data drawn from x-ray diffraction scans. By doing so, we hope to determine whether gallium nitride is suitable for use …

Martian Life Detection With Amino Acid Enantiomers, Ali Jamil, Gaosen Zhang, Henry J. Sun

Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP)

The Viking mission showed that Martian soil can degrade a heterotrophic medium to carbon dioxide as if live microorganisms were present. The result is considered inconclusive, however, because abiotic oxidants, such as superoxides, may also exist on Mars and would explain the Viking result. One way to resolve this ambiguity is to repeat the Viking experiment with a isomerically pure medium. The consumption of one isomer, either D or L, would indicate biological activity. Indiscriminate destruction of both isomers would indicate abiotic redox processes. This idea was validated for glucose by REU research last summer (Sun et al. 2009). The …

Researching Nitrite Oxidation At High Temperatures, Dolores A. Huang, Jeremy A. Dodsworth, Brian P. Hedlund

Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP)

15N-nitrate (NO3 -) pool dilution experiments show that ammonia (NH3) is oxidized to nitrate in geothermal springs up to at least 85C; however, nitrite (NO2 -)- oxidizing microorganisms are only known to grow up to 66°C. We hypothesize that thermophilic microorganisms oxidize nitrite to nitrate at high temperatures. Alternatively, it is possible that nitrite is oxidized abiotically. We propose to test these hypotheses by setting up microbial enrichments designed to grow thermophilic nitrite oxidizing bacteria by varying incubation temperature (50, 65, 80°C), oxygen concentration (20% and 5%), and cultivation media. A negative control consisting of filtered spring water (0.1 μm) …

Temperature Links To Compositional Variations At Mutnovsky Volcano, Kamchatka, Russia, Lindsey Clark, Adam Simon, Kelly L. Robertson, Sean Mulcahy

Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP)

Full petrographic descriptions of fifty two rock samples collected from one hundred thousand year old Mutnovsky Volcano, Kamchatka, Russia are being studied to determine the magma compositions of the volcano through time. I expect that the composition will change with time owing to variation in input at the base of the volcano pluming system, above the subducting Pacific Ocean crust. This variation in composition, including the abundance of important atmospheric gases, water, and carbon dioxide, may play a key role in the abundance and type of greenhouse gases being emitted. The samples will also be analyzed by using electron probe …

Baseline Microbial Characterizations Of An Imperiled Aquatic Diversity Hotspot: Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge, Jessica Newburn, Jim Bruckner, Jenny C. Fisher, Duane P. Moser

Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP)

Located in the discharge zone of the Death Valley Flow System, Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge is a spring-fed desert oasis and biodiversity hotspot about 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas. These critical wetlands are potentially threatened by groundwater pumping, exotic species invasions, and climate change. Although a major component of the lower food web, very little is known about the microbial makeup of this ecosystem. As a first step towards understanding the microbial and biogeochemical aspects of this system, a detailed molecular-based characterization of microbial communities, baseline chemistry, and physical characteristics of various springs of Ash Meadows will be …

Martian Life Detection With Xylose Enantiomers, Arturo White, Gaosun Zhang, Henry J. Sun

Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP)

Ability of Martian soil to degrade carbohydrates, shown by the Viking mission, has two interpretations. One possibility is that the soil harbors living microorganisms. Alternatively, the soil is sterile but chemically oxidizing, i.e. it is laden with photochemical oxidants. It was shown by REU research last summer that these two possibilities can be distinguished by the use of glucose enantiomers. Life is selective: Earth organisms use D-glucose, but ignore Lglucose. This stereo selectivity is absent in chemical reactions. The goal of this project is to test if xylose, a five carbon sugar, is also suitable for chiral life detection. Mixed …

Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program, University Of Nevada Las Vegas, College Of Sciences

Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP)

No abstract provided.

Interview With Angela Martin, Village Gardens, 2009 (Audio), Angela Martin

All Sustainability History Project Oral Histories

Interview of Angela Martin by Steve Jarosz at Village Gardens, Portland, Oregon on August 6th, 2009.

The interview index is available for download.

Mineral Content Analysis Of Atmospheric Dust Using Hyperspectralinformation From Space, A. Chudnovsky, E. Ben-Dor, A. B. Kostinski, I. Koren

Department of Physics Publications

The Bodélé depression of northern Chad is considered one of the world's largest sources of atmospheric mineral dust. Mineral composition of such transported dust is essential to our understanding of climate forcing, mineralogy of dust sources, aerosol optical properties, and mineral deposition to Amazon forests. In this study we examine hyperspectral information acquired over the Bodélé by EO‐1 Hyperion satellite during a dust storm event and during a calm clean day. We show that, for the suspended dust, the absorption signature can be decoupled from scattering, allowing detection of key minerals. Our results, based on the visible and shortwave infrared …

Post-Newtonian Corrections To The Gravitational-Wave Memory For Quasicircular, Inspiralling Compact Binaries, Marc Favata

Department of Physics and Astronomy Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

The Christodoulou memory is a nonlinear contribution to the gravitational-wave field that is sourced by the gravitational-wave stress-energy tensor. For quasicircular, inspiralling binaries, the Christodoulou memory produces a growing, nonoscillatory change in the gravitational-wave "plus" polarization, resulting in the permanent displacement of a pair of freely-falling test masses after the wave has passed. In addition to its nonoscillatory behavior, the Christodoulou memory is interesting because even though it originates from 2.5 post-Newtonian (PN) order multipole interactions, it affects the waveform at leading (Newtonian/quadrupole) order. The memory is also potentially detectable in binary black-hole mergers. While the oscillatory pieces of the …

Obtaining Parsimonious Hydraulic Conductivity Fields Using Head And Transport Observations: A Bayesian Geostatistical Parameter Estimation Approach, Michael Fienen, R. Hunt, D. Krabbenhoft, Tom Clemo

CGISS Publications and Presentations

Flow path delineation is a valuable tool for interpreting the subsurface hydrogeochemical environment. Different types of data, such as groundwater flow and transport, inform different aspects of hydrogeologic parameter values (hydraulic conductivity in this case) which, in turn, determine flow paths. This work combines flow and transport information to estimate a unified set of hydrogeologic parameters using the Bayesian geostatistical inverse approach. Parameter flexibility is allowed by using a highly parameterized approach with the level of complexity informed by the data. Despite the effort to adhere to the ideal of minimal a priori structure imposed on the problem, extreme contrasts …

Algorithm To Diagnose Leaks Or Blockages Downstream Of The Secondary Air Injection Reaction (Sair) Pressure Sensor, Ian J. Mac Ewen, Martin L. Hall, Lawrence O. Murray, Julia C. Grow, Richard Van Camp, David Edward Prout, Igor Anilovich

Physics Patents

A control module and method for an exhaust system of an engine can include a secondary air intake (SAI) pressure module that monitors SAI pressure. An accumulation module can accumulate an SAI string length based on the monitored SAI pressure. A calculation module can determine an average SAI string length based on the accumulated SAI string length. A determination module can determine an operating characteristic of the vehicle exhaust based on the average SAI string length.

The Binding Number Of A Graph And Its Cliques, Jeremy Lyle, Wayne Goddard

Faculty Publications

We consider the binding numbers of K(r)-free graphs, and improve the upper bounds on the binding number which force a graph to contain a clique of order r. For the case r = 4, we provide a construction for K(4)-free graphs which have a larger binding number than the previously known constructions. This leads to a counterexample to a conjecture by Caro regarding the neighborhoods of independent sets. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Mineralogical And Technological Properties Of The Zeolites From Foça (İzmi̇r), Bi̇gadi̇ç (Balikesi̇r) And Gördes (Mani̇sa), Günnur Ulusoy, Mustafa Albayrak

Bulletin of the Mineral Research and Exploration

Technological analyses of zeolites are important for their areas of use. Zeolite samples were collected from different regions (İzmir-Foça, Balıkesir-Bigadiç, Manisa-Gördes) for this study. First mineralogical and chemical analyses of the samples were conducted in the study. Later on, technological tests of the samples were made for their utilizing in ceramic industry (pre-technological), in paper industry (filling and coating) and as cat litter. Finally, the results were evaluated. It was concluded that some samples can be used in baked ceramics in the ceramic industry; they have high whitening properties to be used in paper industry. As for cement additives, their …

Complex Dielectric Permittivity Measurements From Ground-Penetrating Radar Data To Estimate Snow Liquid Water Content In The Pendular Regime, John H. Bradford, Joel T. Harper, Joel Brown

CGISS Publications and Presentations

Monitoring the snow water equivalent (SWE) is critical to effective management of water resources in many parts of the world that depend on the mountain snowpack for water storage. There are currently no methods to remotely sense SWE with accuracy over large lateral distances in the steep and often forested terrain of mountain basins. Previous studies have shown that measurements of ground-penetrating radar (GPR) velocity can provide accurate estimates of SWE in dry snow. Introduction of liquid water into the snowpack results in a three-phase system that cannot be accurately characterized with GPR velocity alone. We show that measuring the …

Complex Dielectric Permittivity Measurements From Ground-Penetrating Radar Data To Estimate Snow Liquid Water Content In The Pendular Regime, John H. Bradford, Joel T. Harper, Joel Brown

Geosciences Faculty Publications

Monitoring the snow water equivalent (SWE) is critical to effective management of water resources in many parts of the world that depend on the mountain snowpack for water storage. There are currently no methods to remotely sense SWE with accuracy over large lateral distances in the steep and often forested terrain of mountain basins. Previous studies have shown that measurements of ground-penetrating radar (GPR) velocity can provide accurate estimates of SWE in dry snow. Introduction of liquid water into the snowpack results in a three-phase system that cannot be accurately characterized with GPR velocity alone. We show that measuring the …

Distributed Algorithms For Maximizing The Lifetime Of Wireless Sensor Networks, Akshaye Dhawan

Computer Science Dissertations

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) are emerging as a key enabling technology for applications domains such as military, homeland security, and environment. However, a major constraint of these sensors is their limited battery. In this dissertation we examine the problem of maximizing the duration of time for which the network meets its coverage objective. Since these networks are very dense, only a subset of sensors need to be in "sense" or "on" mode at any given time to meet the coverage objective, while others can go into a power conserving "sleep" mode. This active set of sensors is known as a …

Conveyance Estimator Ontology: Conceptual Models And Object Models, Xiaoshan Pan, Jens G. Pohl

Collaborative Agent Design (CAD) Research Center

This paper proposes the construction of a Conceptual Model as a logical step prior to the preparation of the Object Model of an ontology to facilitate the design and development of software systems in which a high-level internal representation of context supports some intelligent capabilities. The intent of the Conceptual Model is to be expressive for human interpretation utilizing descriptions that are readily understood by laypersons, subject matter experts, and software developers who may be concerned with only a particular portion of the software system. The intent of the Object Model (as a subset of an ontology) is to be …