Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Biofunctionalization And Immobilization Of A Membrane Via Peptide Binding (Cr3-1, S2) By A Monte Carlo Simulation, Ras B. Pandey, Hendrik Heinz, Jie Feng, Barry L. Farmer

Faculty Publications

A coarse-grained computer simulation model is used to study the immobilization of a dynamic tethered membrane (representation of a clay platelet) in a matrix of mobile peptide chains CR3-1:(1)Trp-(2)Pro-(3)Ser-(4)Ser-(5)Tyr-(6)Leu-(7)Ser-(8)Pro-(9)Ile-(10)Pro-(11)Tyr-(12)Ser and S2:(1)His-(2)Gly-(3)Ile-(4)Asn-(5)Thr-(6)Thr-(7)Lys-(8)Pro-(9)Phe-(10)Lys-(11)Ser-(12)Val on a cubic lattice. Each residue interacts with the membrane nodes with appropriate interaction and executes their stochastic motion with the Metropolis algorithm. Density profiles, binding energy of each residue, mobility, and targeted structural profile are analyzed as a function of peptide concentration. We find that the binding of peptides S2 is anchored by lysine residues ((7)Lys,(10)Lys) while peptides CR3-1 do not bind to membrane. The membrane slows down …

Occupier Perceptions Of Green Workplace Environment: The Australian Experience, Hikari Kato, Linda Too, Ann Rask

Hikari Kato

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to shed light on the perceptions by occupiers of green workplace environments. It examines how occupiers (both management and employees) perceive and evaluate the role of green workplace environments, and subsequently assesses the effectiveness of a green workplace environment. Design/methodology/approach – The paper relies on a data set derived from a survey of 128 respondents who have occupied Green Building Council Australia's Green Star-rated offices and buildings for more than 12 months. Findings – The findings suggest that green workplace offers greater psychological benefits (taking pride of the workplace environment) to occupiers …

Optimizing Linear Counting Queries Under Differential Privacy, Chao Li, Michael Hay, Vibhor Rastogi, Gerome Miklau, Andrew Mcgregor

Andrew McGregor

Differential privacy is a robust privacy standard that has been successfully applied to a range of data analysis tasks. But despite much recent work, optimal strategies for answering a collection of related queries are not known.

We propose the matrix mechanism, a new algorithm for answering a workload of predicate counting queries. Given a workload, the mechanism requests answers to a different set of queries, called a query strategy, which are answered using the standard Laplace mechanism. Noisy answers to the workload queries are then derived from the noisy answers to the strategy queries. This two stage process can result …

Site-Specific Photocatalytic Splitting Of Methanol On Tio2(110), Chuanyao Zhou, Zefeng Ren, Shijing Tan, Zhibo Ma, Xinchun Mao, Dongxu Dai, Hongjun Fan, Xueming Yang, Jerry L. Larue, Russell Cooper, Alec M. Wodtke, Zhou Wang, Zhenyu Li, Bing Wang, Jinlong Yang, Jianguo Hou

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Clean hydrogen production is highly desirable for future energy needs, making the understanding of molecular-level phenomena underlying photocatalytic hydrogen production both fundamentally and practically important. Water splitting on pure TiO₂ is inefficient, however, adding sacrificial methanol could significantly enhance the photocatalyzed H₂ production. Therefore, understanding the photochemistry of methanol on TiO₂ at the molecular level could provide important insights to its photocatalytic activity. Here, we report the first clear evidence of photocatalyzed splitting of methanol on TiO₂ derived from time-dependent two-photon photoemission (TD-2PPE) results in combination with scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). STM tip induced molecular manipulation …

A Web 2.0/Web3d Hybrid Platform For Engaging Students In E-Learning Environments, Penny De Byl, Janet Taylor

Penny de Byl

This paper explores the Web 2.0 ethos with respect to the application of pedagogy within 3D online virtual environments. 3D worlds can create a synthetic experience capturing the essence of being in a particular world or context. The AliveX3D platform adopts the Web 2.0 ethos and applies it to online 3D virtual environment forming a Web 2.0/Web3D hybrid that has wider usability than previous alternatives. This combined with the AliveX3D Scene Editor allows learning experiences, which are controlled by the learner, appear authentic and facilitate collaboration conversations to be developed simultaneously. This immersion enables learners to negotiate meaning based on …

Optimizing Linear Counting Queries Under Differential Privacy, Chao Li, Michael Hay, Vibhor Rastogi, Gerome Miklau, Andrew Mcgregor

Gerome Miklau

Differential privacy is a robust privacy standard that has been successfully applied to a range of data analysis tasks. But despite much recent work, optimal strategies for answering a collection of related queries are not known. We propose the matrix mechanism, a new algorithm for answering a workload of predicate counting queries. Given a workload, the mechanism requests answers to a different set of queries, called a query strategy, which are answered using the standard Laplace mechanism. Noisy answers to the workload queries are then derived from the noisy answers to the strategy queries. This two stage process can result …

Improving Requirements Elicitation By Leveraging The Discipline Of Screenwriting, Albert Gardella

Regis University Student Publications (comprehensive collection)

As the field of Engineering has expanded, researchers and practitioners have shown increasing interest in the role of high quality Requirements Engineering (RE) in the System Development Life Cycle (SDLC) and its impact in determining project success. Traditionally, the literature has been dominated by an effort to establish a wider acceptance of the scenario based approach. New ideas, however, are emerging within the past decade which shows researchers presenting various ways that narrative storytelling might be applied to the scenario based approach. This project contributes to the latest wave of literature that looks at narrative and the scenario based approach …

Sample Size And Statistical Power Considerations In High-Dimensionality Data Settings: A Comparative Study Of Classification Algorithms, Yu Guo, Armin Garber, Raji Balasubramanian

Raji Balasubramanian

Background: Data generated using ‘omics’ technologies are characterized by high dimensionality, where the number of features measured per subject vastly exceeds the number of subjects in the study. In this paper, we consider issues relevant in the design of biomedical studies in which the goal is the discovery of a subset of features and an associated algorithm that can predict a binary outcome, such as disease status. We compare the performance of four commonly used classifiers (K-Nearest Neighbors, Prediction Analysis for Microarrays, Random Forests and Support Vector Machines) in high-dimensionality data settings. We evaluate the effects of varying levels of …

A Portable Neutron Spectroscope (Nspect) For Detection, Imaging And Identification Of Nuclear Material, James M. Ryan, Chris Bancroft, Peter F. Bloser, U Bravar, Dominique Fourguette, Colin Frost, Liane Larocque, Mark L. Mcconnell, Jason S. Legere, Jane Pavlich, Greg Ritter, Greg Wassick, Joshua Wood, R S. Woolf

Space Science Center

We have developed, fabricated and tested a prototype imaging neutron spectrometer designed for real-time neutron source location and identification. Real-time detection and identification is important for locating materials. These materials, specifically uranium and transuranics, emit neutrons via spontaneous or induced fission. Unlike other forms of radiation (e.g. gamma rays), penetrating neutron emission is very uncommon. The instrument detects these neutrons, constructs images of the emission pattern, and reports the neutron spectrum. The device will be useful for security and proliferation deterrence, as well as for nuclear waste characterization and monitoring. The instrument is optimized for imaging and spectroscopy in the …

Systems For Assessing And Enhancing The Performance Of Scanning Electron Microscopes By Quantifying And Enforcing Symmetries And Periodicities In Two Dimensions, Peter Moeck

Physics Faculty Publications and Presentations

Scanning probe microscope (SPM) images are enhanced by enforcing one or more symmetries that can be selected based on suitable Fourier coefficient amplitude or phase angle residuals, and/ or geometric Akaike information criteria, and/ or cross correlation techniques. Alternatively, this selection can be based on prior knowledge of specimen characteristics. In addition, a scanning microscope point spread function is obtained based on the evaluation of a calibration image by enforcing at least one symmetry and can be applied to other image acquisitions.

Release Of Mercury Halides From Kcl Denuders In The Presence Of Ozone, Seth N. Lyman, Daniel A. Jaffe, Mae S. Gustin

USU Uintah Basin Faculty Publications

KCl-coated denuders have become a standard method for measurement of gaseous oxidized mercury, but their performance has not been exhaustively evaluated, especially in field conditions. In this study, KCl-coated and uncoated quartz denuders loaded with HgCl₂ and HgBr₂ lost 29–55% of these compounds, apparently as elemental mercury, when exposed to ozone (range of 6–100 ppb tested). This effect was also observed for denuders loaded with gaseous oxidized mercury at a field site in Nevada (3–37% of oxidized mercury lost). In addition, collection efficiency decreased by 12–30% for denuders exposed to 50 ppb ozone during collection of HgCl_{2 …}

Empirical Geographic Modeling Of Switchgrass Yields In The United States, Henriette I. Jager, Latha M. Baskaran, Craig C. Brandt, Ethan B. Davis

Dartmouth Scholarship

Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) is a perennial grass native to the United States that has been studied as a sustainable source of biomass fuel. Although many field‐scale studies have examined the potential of this grass as a bioenergy crop, these studies have not been integrated. In this study, we present an empirical model for switchgrass yield and use this model to predict yield for the conterminous United States. We added environmental covariates to assembled yield data from field trials based on geographic location. We developed empirical models based on these data. The resulting empirical models, which account for spatial …

Axial Temperature Gradients In Gas Chromatography, Jesse Alberto Contreras

Theses and Dissertations

The easiest and most effective way to influence the separation process in gas chromatography (GC) is achieved by controlling the temperature of the chromatographic column. In conventional GC, the temperature along the length of the column is constant at any given time, T(t). In my research, I investigated the effects of temperature gradients on GC separations as a function of time and position, T(t,x), along the column. This separation mode is called thermal gradient GC (TGGC). The research reported in this dissertation highlights the fundamental principles of axial temperature gradients and the separation potential of the TGGC technique. These goals …

Electron Impact Dissociation Of N2o And Co2 With Single Particle Detection Of O(1d2), Wladyslaw Kedzierski, E Blejdea, Aldo Dicarlo, J. W. Mcconkey

Physics Publications

Production of metastable O(¹D₂) atoms following controlled electron impact on N₂O and CO₂ targets has been studied using a neon rare gas matrix detector operating at a temperature of <20 K. A 100 eV pulsed electron beam was used in conjunction with time-of-flight (TOF) techniques to establish O-atom fragment kinetic energies. Probable dissociation channels are discussed.

Nonperturbative Results For Yang-Mills Theories, Joseph Schechter, Francesco Sannino

Physics - All Scholarship

Some non perturbative aspects of the pure SU(3) Yang-Mills theory are investigated assuming a specific form of the beta function, based on a recent modification by Ryttov and Sannino of the known one for supersymmetric gauge theories. The characteristic feature is a pole at a particular value of the coupling constant, g. First it is noted, using dimensional analysis, that physical quantities behave smoothly as one travels from one side of the pole to the other. Then it is argued that the form of the integrated beta function g(m), where m is the mass scale, determines the mass gap of …

Trends In Soil Science Education And Employment, J. Havlin, N. Balster, S. Chapman, D. Ferris, T. Thompson, T. Smith

Earth and Soil Sciences

During the last several decades, members of the SSSA have discussed several trends related to soil science education, including: (i) declining academic programs and course offerings at land grant universities, (ii) decreased enrollments, and (iii) improved employment opportunities for soil science graduates (SSSA, 2006; Ferris et al., 2010). The SSSA Advocacy/Education Task Force met in 2007 and concluded that quantitative survey information was needed to document trends in soil science academic programs, student enrollment, faculty, and job opportunities for graduates. Suggested survey topics included:

• Has the recognition of soil science as a distinct discipline increased or decreased?
• How has the …

Automated Requirements Traceability: The Study Of Human Analysts, David Cuddeback, Alex Dekhtyar, Jane Huffman Hayes

Computer Science and Software Engineering

The requirements traceability matrix (RTM) supports many software engineering and software verification and validation (V&V) activities such as change impact analysis, reverse engineering, reuse, and regression testing. The generation of RTMs is tedious and error-prone, though, thus RTMs are often not generated or maintained. Automated techniques have been developed to generate candidate RTMs with some success. When using RTMs to support the V&V of mission-or safety-critical systems, however, a human analyst must vet the candidate RTMs. The focus thus becomes the quality of the final RTM. This paper investigate show human analysts perform when vetting candidate RTMs. Specifically, a study …

Extreme Data Mining: Inference From Small Datasets, Răzvan Andonie

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of the Sciences

Neural networks have been applied successfully in many fields. However, satisfactory results can only be found under large sample conditions. When it comes to small training sets, the performance may not be so good, or the learning task can even not be accomplished. This deficiency limits the applications of neural network severely. The main reason why small datasets cannot provide enough information is that there exist gaps between samples, even the domain of samples cannot be ensured. Several computational intelligence techniques have been proposed to overcome the limits of learning from small datasets.

We have the following goals: i. To …

Geochemical Analysis Of Surface And Ground Waters Around Cle Elum, Wa; Implications For The Proposed Exempt Well Moratorium, David Hickey, Ryan Opitz, Carey A. Gazis

Student Published Works

The Yakima River drainage is one of the most heavily irrigated regions in the state, and water use has been much contested and litigated. Due to this water demand and the increase in drilling of domestic wells, a moratorium on exempt well drilling was proposed in 2007. In this study geochemical data is used to evaluate the surface-groundwater interaction in the area around Cle Elum, WA. The hydrogeology of this area is poorly understood due to the complex stratigraphy where the valley floor meets the bedrock of the Cascade Range. It is important to understand the relationship between groundwater and …

Direct Observations Of Coherent Backscatter Of Radar Waves In Precipitation, A. R. Jameson, A. B. Kostinski

Department of Physics Publications

In previous work, it was argued that a source of radar coherent scatter occurs in the direction perpendicular to the direction of wave propagation because of the presence of grids of enhanced particle concentrations with spatial periodicities in resonance with the radar wavelength. While convincing, the evidence thus far has been indirect. In this work the authors now present direct observations of radar coherent backscattered signals in precipitation in the direction of wave propagation.

The theory is developed for the cross-correlation function of the complex amplitudes in the direction of propagation calculated for nearest neighbor range bins. Data are analyzed …

The Interplay Of Chaos Between The Terrestrial And Giant Planets, Wayne B. Hayes, Anton V. Malykh, Christopher M. Danforth

College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences Faculty Publications

We report on some simple experiments on the nature of chaos in our planetary system. We make the following interesting observations. First, we look at the system of Sun + four Jovian planets as an isolated five-body system interacting only via Newtonian gravity. We find that if we measure the Lyapunov time of this system across thousands of initial conditions all within observational uncertainty, then the value of the Lyapunov time seems relatively smooth across some regions of initial condition space, while in other regions it fluctuates wildly on scales as small as we can reliably measure using numerical methods. …

Protecting Degraded Rainforests: Enhancement Of Forest Carbon Stocks Under Redd+, David P. Edwards, Brendan Fisher, Emily Boyd

Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources Faculty Publications

The likely Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD+) mechanism includes strategies for the enhancement of forest carbon stocks. Recent concerns have been expressed that such enhancement, or restoration, of forest carbon could be counterproductive to biodiversity conservation, because forests are managed as "carbon farms" with the application of intensive silvicultural management that could homogenize diverse degraded rainforests. Restoration increases regeneration rates in degraded forest compared to naturally regenerating forest, and thus could yield significant financial returns for carbon sequestered. Here, we argue that such forest restoration projects are, in fact, likely to provide a number of benefits to biodiversity …

One For All: Nine East Bay Communities Band Together To Get Energized, Tim Faulhnel, The Bay News

East Bay Energy Consortium Documents

No abstract provided.

The Lick Agn Monitoring Project: Velocity-Delay Maps From The Maximum-Entropy Method For Arp 151, Misty C. Bentz, Keith Horne, Aaron J. Barth, Vardha Nicola Bennert, Gabriela Canalizo, Alexei V. Filippenko, Elinor L. Gates, Matthew A. Malkan, Takeo Minezaki, Tommaso Treu, Jong-Hak Woo, Jonelle L. Walsh

Physics

We present velocity-delay maps for optical H I, He I, and He II recombination lines in Arp 151, recovered by fitting a reverberation model to spectrophotometric monitoring data using the maximum-entropy method. H I response is detected over the range 0-15 days, with the response confined within the virial envelope. The Balmer-line maps have similar morphologies but exhibit radial stratification, with progressively longer delays for Hγ to Hβ to Hα. The He I and He II response is confined within 1-2 days. There is a deficit of prompt response in the Balmer-line cores but strong prompt response in the red …

U–Pb Zircon Geochronology And Tectonostratigraphy Of Southern Liverpool Land, East Greenland: Implications For Deformation In The Overriding Plates Of Continental Collisions, Scott M. Johnston, Ebbe H. Hartz, Hannes K. Brueckner, George E. Gehrels

Physics

The East Greenland Caledonides formed in the overriding plate as Baltica was subducted westward beneath Laurentia from 460 to 360 Ma, and offer a unique opportunity to investigate lower crustal deformation in the overriding plates of continental collisions. Field work and new zircon geochronology from gneisses in southern Liverpool Land, exposed in the hinterland ~100 km east of the nearest Caledonian gneisses, define three tectonostratigraphic units that are, from the bottom up, the eclogite+peridotite-bearing Tværdal complex and the granulite-facies Jættedal complex in the footwall of the top-N Gubbedalen shear zone, and the Hurry Inlet granite and associated paragneiss screens in …

Schrödinger Dispersive Dstimates For A Dcaling-Critical Class Of Potentials, Marius Beceanu, Michael Goldberg

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Scholarship

Consider the focussing cubic nonlinear Schr\"odinger equation in R 3 :

iψ t +Δψ=−|ψ| 2 ψ.

It admits special solutions of the form e itα ϕ , whereϕ is a Schwartz function and a positive (ϕ>0 ) solution of

−Δϕ+αϕ=ϕ 3 .

The space of all such solutions, together with those obtained from them by rescaling and applying phase and Galilean coordinate changes, called standing waves, is the eight-dimensional manifold that consists of functions of the form e i(v⋅+Γ) ϕ(⋅−y,α) . We prove that any solution starting sufficiently close to a standing wave in the Σ=W 1,2 (R 3 …

The Perfect Spill: Solutions For Averting The Next Deepwater Horizon, Robert Costanza, David Batker, John W. Day, Rusty A. Feagin, M. Luisa Martinez, Joe Roman

Institute for Sustainable Solutions Publications and Presentations

In this article the authors comment on the oil spill incident from the Deepwater Horizon, particularly on its economic and ecological damages. The authors highlighted the disaster as an event wherein much is needed to be learned so that future oil spills can be avoided. One lesson refers to the valuability of natural capital assets and other public entities that are at risks due to private interests and that better regulations and incentives are needed to protect these assets against risks.

Bioinformatics Across The Sciences, Nigel Yarlett

Cornerstone 3 Reports : Interdisciplinary Informatics

No abstract provided.

Nonperturbative Qcd Simulations With 2+1 Flavors Of Improved Staggered Quarks, James E. Hetrick, A. Bazavov

All Faculty Articles - School of Engineering and Computer Science

Dramatic progress has been made over the last decade in the numerical study of quantum chromodynamics (QCD) through the use of improved formulations of QCD on the lattice (improved actions), the development of new algorithms, and the rapid increase in computing power available to lattice gauge theorists. In this article simulations of full QCD are described using the improved staggered quark formalism, “asqtad” fermions. These simulations were carried out with two degenerate flavors of light quarks (up and down) and with one heavier flavor, the strange quark. Several light quark masses, down to about three times the physical light quark …

Covariance Identities And Mixing Of Random Transformations On The Wiener Space, Nicolas Privault

Communications on Stochastic Analysis

No abstract provided.