Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Utilizing Cyber Espionage To Combat Terrorism, Gary Adkins

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The world has effectively exited the Industrial Age and is firmly planted in the Information Age. Global communication at the speed of light has been a great asset to both businesses and private citizens. However, there is a dark side to the age we live in, where terrorist groups are able to communicate, plan, fund, recruit, and spread their message to the world. The relative anonymity the internet provides hinders law enforcement and security agencies in not only locating would-be terrorists but also in disrupting their operations. The internet is a loosely knit group of computers and routers and is …

A Semantic Web-Based Methodology For Describing Scientific Research Efforts, Aida Gandara

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Scientists produce research resources that are useful to future research and innovative efforts. In a typical scientific scenario, the results created by a collaborative team often include numerous artifacts, observations and relationships relevant to research findings, such as programs that generate data, parameters that impact outputs, workflows that describe processes, and publications, posters and presentations that explain results and findings. Scientists have options in what results to share and how to share them, however, there is no systematic approach to documenting scientific research and sharing it on the Web.

The goal of this research is to define a systematic approach …

Assessing The Equity Implications Of Greenspace Distribution In An Arid Region, Abdelatif Eldeb

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

In the last few decades, vegetation deterioration is receiving increased attention because of its adverse impacts on societal and human health, environmental sustainability, and quality of life. I have selected two cities in Chihuahua Desert region (El Paso and Juarez) as case study sites to develop a novel and applicable methodology for integrating remotely sensed data of different spectral and spatial resolutions into an analysis of the spatial distribution of an urban amenity. The primary objective of this research is to determine if the spatial distribution of greenspace in 2010 is equitable with respect to socio-demographics in El Paso and …

Method Development For A Chemical And Biological Analysis Of Glucocorticoids In Wastewater, Maria Carmen Lozano

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Glucocorticoids are a class of steroid hormones that can either be produced synthetically or naturally by the adrenal glands. The synthetic glucocorticoids are highly prescribed in the United States for their anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive properties to treat a variety of ailments and diseases; however, these have been implicated in a number of adverse human conditions such as obesity, metabolic syndrome, immune-suppression, delayed puberty, adrenal insufficiency and Cushing Syndrome, among others. Ongoing research has shown that synthetic and natural hormones are transported to aquatic environments via mammalian excretion or wastewater effluent, and as a result, the release of glucocorticoids into the …

The Eolian-Sabkha Transition In The Permian Cedar Mesa Sandstone, Se Utah, Alexandra Massad

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This study focuses on the depositional transition between the Permian Cedar Mesa sand dune sea and the adjoining fluvial, lacustrine, playa and a sabkha facies. This transition provides insights into how climate and environment interacted in this unique setting where up to 300 m of eolian sands transition into evaporites. The evaporites are less common as tongues within the eolianites than previously thought and there were several environments that were observed that haven't been previously described or observed in the Cedar Mesa. The arrangement of the various units within the study area support the climate control on stratigraphy.

The intertonguing …

Organic Photovoltaics: A Charge Transfer Perspective In The Study Of Donor-Acceptor Systems, Marco Olguin

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The present research involves the study of donor-acceptor (D/A) dyad complexes from a charge transfer energy perspective. The aim is to provide insight and predictive understanding into the charge transfer processes of the molecular-level components in donor-acceptor based organic solar cells using computational methods to describe photochemical processes at the quantum mechanical level within the Density Functional Theory (DFT) approximation. Predictive understanding is anchored in reproducing experimental results, wherein the present work a perturbative excited-state DFT method is described in detail and shown to give Charge Transfer (CT) energies in excellent agreement with benchmark experimental data. With an accurate excited …

Surface Plasmon Polaritons And Waveguide Modes At Structured And Inhomogeneous Surfaces, Javier Polanco

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

In chapter 1, properties of a p-polarized surface plasmon polariton are studied, propagating circumferentially around a portion of a cylindrical interface between vacuum and a metal, a situation investigated earlier by M. V. Berry (J. Phys. A: Math. Gen. 8, (1975) 1952). When the metal is convex toward the vacuum this mode is radiative and consequently is attenuated as it propagates on the cylindrical surface. An approximate analytic solution of the dispersion relation for this wave is obtained by an approach different from the one used by Berry, and plots of the real and imaginary parts of its wave number …

Depositional Setting And Sequence Stratigraphic Analysis Of The Lower Permian Lower Hueco Formation On The Western Margin Of The Orogrande Basin, South Central New Mexico, Jonathon Eric Stautberg

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

On the western margin of the Orogrande Basin in south-central New Mexico, eight outcrop datasets, in the form of measured stratigraphic sections from the lower interval of the Lower Permian Lower Hueco Formation were analyzed in regard to depositional facies distribution and sequence stratigraphy. Based on petrographic analysis of 247 samples and associated field relationships, 11 depositional facies are recognized: 1) quartz sandstone, 2) quartz siltstone and shale, 3) fenestral dolomudstone, 4) microbial intraclast packstone, 5) dolomudstone, 6) green-algal packstone to grainstone, 7) ostracode foram wackestone, 8) oolitic packstone, 9) fossiliferous packstone and grainstone, 10) fusulinid packstone and grainstone, 11) …

Cjc: An Extensible Checker For The Cleanjava Annotation Language, Cesar Eduardo Yeep

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Formal program verification can be used as a complementary technique to software testing. It allows checking the correctness of all the states of a program which may be impossible using only software testing as a verification technique. One software development process that relies on formal verification is Cleanroom Software Engineering. Cleanroom's main principles are to certify the software with respect to its specification and to produce zero-fault or near-zero-fault software. Cleanroom has being tested primarily in safety-critical systems that require a high level of correctness by development teams in places such as NASA and IBM, demonstrating lower fault rates and …

Thermal Barrier Coatings (Tbc's) For High Heat Flux Thrust Chambers, Christopher Michael Bradley

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The last 30 years materials engineers have been under continual pressure to develop materials with a greater temperature potential or to produce configurations that can be effectively cooled or otherwise protected at elevated temperature conditions. Turbines and thrust chambers produce some of the harshest service conditions for materials which lead to the challenges engineers face in order to increase the efficiencies of current technologies due to the energy crisis that the world is facing. The key tasks for the future of gas turbines are to increase overall efficiencies to meet energy demands of a growing world population and reduce the …

Security Games With Interval Uncertainty, Md Towhidul Islam

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Game theory has become an important tool in solving real-life decision making problems. Security games use the concept of game theory in adversarial scenarios to protect critical infrastructure. The main purpose of security games is to allocate security resources among various targets and maximize payoff for the defender considering various kinds of attackers. It is hard for domain experts to predict the attacker's behavior, so one of the major challenges in describing this game model is representing uncertainty about the attacker's payoff. Several approaches have been developed to generate these game models based on uncertainty, such as Bayesian games. However …

Moments Of Matrix Variate Skew Elliptically Contoured Distributions, Shimin Zheng, Jeff Knisley, Chunming Zhang

ETSU Faculty Works

Matrix variate skew elliptically contoured distributions generalize several classes of important distributions. This paper defines and explores matrix variate skew elliptically contoured distributions. In particular, we discuss the first two moments of the matrix variate skew elliptically contoured distributions.

Stochastic Representations Of The Matrix Variate Skew Elliptically Contoured Distributions, Shimin Zheng, Chunming Zhang, Jeff Knisley

ETSU Faculty Works

Matrix variate skew elliptically contoured distributions generalize several classes of important distributions. This paper defines and explores matrix variate skew elliptically contoured distributions. In particular, we discuss two stochastic representations of the matrix variate skew elliptically contoured distributions.

Predictors Of Treatments Acceptable To Patients For Late-Life Depression, Gerald J. Jogerst, Shimin Zheng, Erik Vanderlip

ETSU Faculty Works

Objectives. Describe older patients’ perceptions about depression and characteristics associated with acceptance of treatments. Design. Cross-sectional study. Setting. Three primary care clinics in Iowa. Participants. Consecutive sample of 529 primary care patients. Measurements. Depression screening tool (a 9-item patient health questionnaire [PHQ-9]) and questionnaire including sociodemographic data, patient attitudes about depression, and acceptability of different treatments. Results. Mean age was 71.9 years (range 60–93 years), 314 (59%) female. Among the 529 participants, 93 (17.5%) had history of depression and 60 (11.3%) had PHQ-9 scores of 10 or greater. Participants believed depression is a disease for which they would use medication …

Raising The Game: Applying Theory And Analytics To Real-World Threats, Singapore Management University

Perspectives@SMU

Safety and security are, on many levels, essential priorities for governments, businesses and individuals. While an increase of defence and security budgets may bring some assurance of peaceful times to come, it seems the world has no lack of insane perpetrators who can still somehow evade, breach, ambush, assail and attack as they please. Enter the “Bayesian Stackelberg Game”, a game theory model that can, and has been applied rather successfully to the allocation of security resources in the United States by Prof Milind Tambe, University of Southern California.

Urban Forest Justice And The Rights To Wild Foods, Medicines, And Materials In The City, Melissa R. Poe, Rebecca J. Mclain, Marla R. Emery, Patrick T. Hurley

Institute for Sustainable Solutions Publications and Presentations

Urban forests are multifunctional socio-ecological landscapes, yet some of their social benefits remain poorly understood. This paper draws on ethnographic evidence from Seattle, Washington to demonstrate that urban forests contain nontimber forest products that contribute a variety of wild foods, medicines, and materials for the wellbeing of urban residents. We show that gathering wild plants and fungi in urban forests is a persistent subsistence and livelihood practice that provides sociocultural and material benefits to city residents, and creates opportunities for connecting with nature and enhancing social ties. We suggest that an orientation toward human-nature interactions in cities that conceptualizes the …

Spectroscopic Analysis Of Polymerization And Exonuclease Proofreading By A High-Fidelity Dna Polymerase During Translesion Dna Synthesis, Babho Devadoss, Irene Lee, Anthony J. Berdis

Chemistry Faculty Publications

High fidelity DNA polymerases maintain genomic fidelity through a series of kinetic steps that include nucleotide binding, conformational changes, phosphoryl transfer, polymerase translocation, and nucleotide excision. Developing a comprehensive understanding of how these steps are coordinated during correct and pro-mutagenic DNA synthesis has been hindered due to lack of spectroscopic nucleotides that function as efficient polymerase substrates. This report describes the application of a non-natural nucleotide designated 5-naphthyl-indole-2′-deoxyribose triphosphate which behaves as a fluorogenic substrate to monitor nucleotide incorporation and excision during the replication of normal DNA versus two distinct DNA lesions (cyclobutane thymine dimer and an abasic site). Transient …

Charge-Pairing Interactions Control The Conformational Setpoint And Motions Of The Fmn Domain In Neuronal Nitric Oxide Synthase, Mohammad Mahfuzul Haque, Mekki Bayachou, Mohammed A. Fadlalla, Deborah Durra, Dennis J. Stuehr

Chemistry Faculty Publications

The NOS (nitric oxide synthase; EC 1.14.13.39) enzymes contain a C-terminal flavoprotein domain [NOSred (reductase domain of NOS)] that binds FAD and FMN, and an N-terminal oxygenase domain that binds haem. Evidence suggests that the FMN-binding domain undergoes large conformational motions to shuttle electrons between the NADPH/FAD-binding domain [FNR (ferredoxin NADP-reductase)] and the oxygenase domain. Previously we have shown that three residues on the FMN domain (Glu(762), Glu(816) and Glu(819)) that make charge-pairing interactions with the FNR help to slow electron flux through nNOSred (neuronal NOSred). In the present study, we show that charge neutralization or reversal at each of …

Synthesis And Evaluation Of Some 17-Acetamidoandrostane And N,N-Dimethyl-7-Deoxycholic Amide Derivatives As Cytotoxic Agents: Structure/Activity Studies, Yanmin Huang, Jianguo Cui, Linyi Jia, Chunfang Gan, Huacan Song, Chun Zeng, Aimin Zhou

Chemistry Faculty Publications

Using pregnenolone and 7-deoxycholic acid as starting materials, some 17-acetamidoandrostane and N,N-dimethyl-7-deoxycholic amide derivatives were synthesized. The cytotoxicity of the synthesized compounds was tested in vitro against two tumor cell lines: SGC 7901 (human gastric carcinoma) and Bel 7404 (human liver carcinoma). The result showed that the blockage of the interaction of the amide group with outside groups might cause a decrease of the cytotoxicity, and an O-benzyloximino group at the 3-position of N,N-dimethyl-7-deoxycholic amide could enhance the cytotoxic activity of the compound. The information obtained from the studies provides the structure-activity relationship for these compounds and may be useful …

Metastable Nanostructured Metallized Fluoropolymer Composites For Energetics, Hannah A. Miller, Bradley S. Kusel, Seth T. Danielson, James W. Neat, Eryn K. Avjian, Scott N. Pierson, Stephen M. Budy, David W. Ball, Scott T. Iacono, Sharon C. Kettwich

Chemistry Faculty Publications

Fluoropolymers have long served as potent oxidizers for metal-based pyrolant designs for the preparation of energetic materials. Commercial perfluoropolyethers (PFPEs), specifically known as Fomblins®, are well-known to undergo accelerated thermal degradation in the presence of native metals and Lewis acids producing energetically favorable metal fluoride species. This study employs the use of PFPEs to coat nano-aluminum (n-Al) and under optimized stoichiometric formulations, harness optimized energy output. The PFPEs serve as ideal oxidizers of n-Al because they are non-volatile, viscous liquids that coat the particles thereby maximizing surface interactions. The n-Al/PFPE blended combination is required to interface with an epoxy-based matrix …

Development Of Quantitative Bioanalytical Methods For The Pharmacological Studies Of Anti-Cancer Drugs, Ye Feng

ETD Archive

In the anticancer drug discovery and therapy development, it is essential to understand the pharmacological properties of the drugs. Today, pharmaceutical analysis is employed throughout the whole drug discovery and development process. Pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic relationships are playing an increasingly important role in decisions on the rational development and use of new drugs and they can provide a detailed knowledge of the mechanism of the drug and a better understanding of the molecular targets on which they act. Due to the significance of pharmacological analysis, sensitive analytical methods are critically needed for pharmacological studies. Therefore, our long-term goal is to provide guidelines …

Optimization Of Gradient Chromatofocusing For The Protein Separation And Lc-Ms/Ms Determination Of Ngp1-01 In Mouse Serum, Brain, And Retina, Harini Jogiraju

ETD Archive

No abstract provided.

A Multi-Taxonomic Approach To Assess The Impact Of Overabundant White-Tailed Deer (Odocoileus Virginianus) In Forest Ecosystems Across Northeast Ohio, Sara A. Laux

ETD Archive

Browsing by white-tailed deer has alters plant species diversity of the forest understory across much of North America. A reduced understory may lead to the simplification of the forest-floor microhabitat, causing broad scale shifts in the community composition and abundance of litter-dwelling arthropods and small mammals. The objectives of this study were to 1) document changes in the forest-floor microhabitat as a result of over-browsing by deer and 2) determine if differential browsing pressures indirectly affect faunal biodiversity (litter-dwelling arthropods and small mammals) of forest ecosystems. I predicted that browsing within the understory will reduce structural complexity of the forest-floor …

Design, Synthesis And Characterization Of Chain-End Functionalized Glyco-Polymer For Efficient Proteomic Analysis, Satya Nandana Narla

ETD Archive

No abstract provided.

Gradient Chromatofocusing And Reversed Phase Hplc In Protein Analysis And Lc-Ms/Ms Determination Of Thiazolidinedione Nl-1 In Mouse Serum And Brain, Kiran K. Pedada

ETD Archive

No abstract provided.

Development Of Lc-Ms/Ms Methods For Quantitative Analysis Of Plant-Derived Anticancer Agent And Synthetic Estrogen In Complex Matrices, Simuli Lindah Wabuyele

ETD Archive

No abstract provided.

Singing Behavior And Geographic Variation In The Songs Of The Veery (Catharus Fuscescens) Across The Appalachian Mountains, Courtney L. Brennan

ETD Archive

The Veery (Catharus fuscescens) is a common Neotropical migrant thrush whose breeding distribution spans the Northern United States and southern Canada and continues south through the high elevations of the Appalachian Mountains. Despite its wide distribution, many aspects of Veery biology are largely unknown, including a clear characterization of song and knowledge of geographic song variation. I describe the song structure, repertoire size, and patterns of song delivery in the songs of the Veery and describe geographic song variation across four regions along the Appalachian Mountains. Visual analysis of song spectrogram images of territorial males revealed that Veeries' repertoire ranges …

Influence Of Earthworms On Plant And Soil Invertebrate Communities Of The Cleveland Metroparks, Anton F. Schermaier

ETD Archive

No native earthworms exist in the Great Lakes region of Ohio. All earthworms found in previously glaciated areas of the United States either migrated from unglaciated areas or were introduced as a result of human activities such as agriculture and sport fishing. Non-native earthworms may facilitate dramatic changes in structure and function of plant and invertebrate communities of forest ecosystems. This study examined how the presence of non-native earthworms within the Cleveland Metroparks may correspond with plant and soil invertebrate communities. Special attention was given to the Asian earthworm, Amynthas spp., a recent arrival to northeastern Ohio and a particularly …

The Effects Of Urban Land Use On Wasps: (Hymenoptera: Apocrita), Klaire Elise Freeman

ETD Archive

For the first time in human history, more than half of the human population lives in urban areas (Pickett et al 2011). It is essential that research occurs in urban ecosystems understanding both the biological and social aspects of urban ecosystems is needed for the sustainable management of urban ecosystems (Angold et al. 2006, Fetridge et al. 2008, Loram et al. 2008, Matteson et al. 2008, McIntyre 2000, Picket et al 2011, Pickett et al 2001, Sumoski et al. 2009) This study examines the role of insects, specifically wasps, in urban gardens and vacant lots in Cleveland, Ohio. This study …

Saline Adaptation Of The Microalga Scenedesmus Dimorphus: From Fresh Water To Brackish Water, Bethany Marie Gigante

ETD Archive

The fresh water microalga Scenedesmus dimorphus is of interest in the microalgae to biofuel field. With a 26 dry weight as lipid content and a potential doubling time of 60-70 hours, it is a viable candidate for biofuel production. Recent studies have focused on optimizing the growth rate and lipid content of S. dimorphus by finding ideal light, carbon-dioxide flow rates, nutrient composition of media, pH, temperature, and implementation of various stresses in the growth environment. Adaptation of S. dimorphus to a saline environment would make it a viable biofuel stock world-wide. This saline adaptation experiment was conducted in two …