Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Sagebrush Ecosystem Characterization, Monitoring, And Forecasting With Remote Sensing: Quantifying Future Climate And Wildlife Habitat Change, Collin G. Homer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) ecosystems constitute the largest single North American shrub ecosystem and provide vital ecological, hydrological, biological, agricultural, and recreational ecosystem services. Disturbances continue to alter this ecosystem, with climate change possibly representing the greatest future disturbance risk. Improved ways to characterize and monitor gradual change in this ecosystem are vital to its future management. A new remote sensing sagebrush characterization approach was developed in Wyoming which integrates three scales of remote sensing to derive four primary continuous field components (bare ground, herbaceousness, litter, and shrub), and four secondary components (sagebrush, big sagebrush, Wyoming sagebrush, and shrub …

Barred Preferential Arrangements, Connor Thomas Ahlbach '13, Jeremy Usatine '14, Nicholas Pippenger

All HMC Faculty Publications and Research

A preferential arrangement of a set is a total ordering of the elements of that set with ties allowed. A barred preferential arrangement is one in which the tied blocks of elements are ordered not only amongst themselves but also with respect to one or more bars. We present various combinatorial identities for r_m‚_ℓ, the number of barred preferential arrangements of ℓ elements with m bars, using both algebraic and combinatorial arguments. Our main result is an expression for r_m,_ℓ as a linear combination of the r_k (= r_0,_ …

Nonlocal Aggregation Models: A Primer Of Swarm Equilibria, Andrew J. Bernoff, Chad M. Topaz

All HMC Faculty Publications and Research

Biological aggregations such as fish schools, bird flocks, bacterial colonies, and insect swarms have characteristic morphologies governed by the group members' intrinsic social interactions with each other and by their interactions with the external environment. Starting from a simple discrete model treating individual organisms as point particles, we derive a nonlocal partial differential equation describing the evolving population density of a continuum aggregation. To study equilibria and their stability, we use tools from the calculus of variations. In one spatial dimension, and for several choices of social forces, external forces, and domains, we find exact analytical expressions for the equilibria. …

Chromatic Bounds On Orbital Chromatic Roots, Dae Hyun Kim, Alexander H. Mun, Mohamed Omar

All HMC Faculty Publications and Research

Given a group G of automorphisms of a graph Γ, the orbital chromatic polynomial OPΓ,G(x) is the polynomial whose value at a positive integer k is the number of orbits of G on proper k-colorings of Γ. In \cite{Cameron}, Cameron et. al. explore the roots of orbital chromatic polynomials, and in particular prove that orbital chromatic roots are dense in R, extending Thomassen's famous result (see \cite{Thomassen}) that chromatic roots are dense in [32/27,∞). Cameron et al \cite{Cameron} further conjectured that the real roots of the orbital chromatic polynomial of any graph are bounded above by the largest real root …

Exploring The Baccalaureate Origin Of Domestic Ph.D. Students In Computing Fields, Susanne Hambrusch, Ran Libeskind-Hadas, Fen Zhao, David Rabson, Amy Csizmar Dalal, Ed Fox, Charles Isbell, Valerie Taylor

All HMC Faculty Publications and Research

Increasing the number of US students entering graduate school and receiving a Ph.D. in computer science is a goal as well as a challenge for many US Ph.D. granting institutions. Although the total computer science Ph.D. production in the U.S. has doubled between 2000 and 2010 (Figure 1), the fraction of domestic students receiving a Ph.D. from U.S. graduate programs has been below 50% since 2003 (Figure 2).

The goal of the Pipeline Project of CRA-E (PiPE) is to better understand the pipeline of US citizens and Permanent Residents (henceforth termed domestic students ) who apply, matriculate, and graduate from …

Existence And Qualitative Properties Of Solutions For Nonlinear Dirichlet Problems, Alfonso Castro, Jorge Cossio, Carlos Vélez

All HMC Faculty Publications and Research

Sign-changing solutions to semilinear elliptic problems in connection with their Morse indices. To this end, we first establish a priori bounds for one-sign solutions. Secondly, using abstract saddle point principles we find large augmented Morse index solutions. In this part, extensive use is made of critical groups, Morse index arguments, Lyapunov-Schmidt reduction, and Leray-Schauder degree. Finally, we provide conditions under which these solutions necessarily change sign and we comment about further qualitative properties.

Near-Optimal Compressed Sensing Guarantees For Anisotropic And Isotropic Total Variation Minimization, Deanna Needell, Rachel Ward

CMC Faculty Publications and Research

Consider the problem of reconstructing a multidimensional signal from partial information, as in the setting of compressed sensing. Without any additional assumptions, this problem is ill-posed. However, for signals such as natural images or movies, the minimal total variation estimate consistent with the measurements often produces a good approximation to the underlying signal, even if the number of measurements is far smaller than the ambient dimensionality. Recently, guarantees for two-dimensional images were established. This paper extends these theoretical results to signals of arbitrary dimension and to both the anisotropic and isotropic total variation problems. To be precise, we show that …

From Urysohn's Universal Space To A Universal Space-Time, Asuman Güven Aksoy, Zachary Glassman '14, Olga M. Kosheleva, Vladik Kreinovich

CMC Faculty Publications and Research

A known Urysohn’s result shows that there exists a universal metric space, i.e., a metric space into every other (separable) metric space can be isomorphically embedded. Moreover, this universal metric space can be selected to be ultra-homogeneous — every isomorphism of its two finite subsets can be extended to the isomorphism of the whole space. Starting with Einstein’s theories of Special and General relativity, space-times are described by a different type of structure — a set (of events) equipped with the proper time τ (a, b) between points a and b; such spaces are known as space-times with kinematic metric, …

Projected Hg Dietary Exposure Of 3 Bird Species Nesting On A Contaminated Floodplain (South River, Virginia, Usa), Jc Wang, Mc Newman

VIMS Articles

Dietary Hg exposure was modeled for Carolina wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus), Eastern song sparrow (Melospiza melodia), and Eastern screech owl (Otus asio) nesting on the contaminated South River floodplain (Virginia, USA). Parameterization of Monte-Carlo models required formal expert elicitation to define bird body weight and feeding ecology characteristics because specific information was either unavailable in the published literature or too difficult to collect reliably by field survey. Mercury concentrations and weights for candidate food items were obtained directly by field survey. Simulations predicted the probability that an adult bird during breeding season would ingest specific amounts of Hg during daily foraging …

The Mechanism Of Photo-Hydrosilylation On Silicon And Porous Silicon Surfaces, Kurt W. Kolasinski

Chemistry Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Oregon Nmr Consortium: A Collaboratory For Nmr Data Acquisition And Processing, R. Carlisle Chambers

Faculty Publications - Department of Biological & Molecular Science

The Oregon NMR consortium was created to provide access to a modern, high-field 400 MHz NMR spectrometer for students and faculty at several two-year and small four-year institutions. Students use both on-site and remote access to conduct their NMR experiments. Remote access involves connecting to the NMR console over the Internet. Features of the consortium are described, including the details of remote access, sample transport, and data processing. This paper also discusses the impact that the access to the NMR spectrometer has had on student achievement of several learning goals in the organic chemistry courses at the partner institutions.

Modeling Of Co2-Water-Rock Interactions In A Mississippian Sandstone Reservoir Of Kentucky, Anne M. Schumacher

Theses and Dissertations--Earth and Environmental Sciences

This study examined CO₂-water-rock interactions occurring during a carbon sequestration pilot test into a Mississippian oil reservoir in western Kentucky. New samples (n=62) and archived data, both collected from oil wells, were used to characterize the chemistry of formation waters from the Sugar Creek field in Hopkins County. In addition, core and cuttings samples (n=17) from the reservoir and overlying cap-rocks in, or near, the field were analyzed for bulk and clay mineralogy using X-ray diffraction. Electric logs were used to select sample intervals within the overlying cap-rocks and the center of the producing zones in the Jackson …

Spatio-Temporal Variability In Groundwater Discharge And Contaminant Fluxes Along A Channelized Stream In Western Kentucky, Ganesh N. Tripathi

Theses and Dissertations--Earth and Environmental Sciences

Spatio-temporal variability in groundwater discharge and contaminant fluxes along a channelized stream in western Kentucky

Surface and groundwater discharges and contaminant fluxes can vary with time and space depending upon the hydrogeological processes and geological setting of the area of interest. This study examined a ~300-m-long, channelized reach of a first-order perennial stream, Little Bayou Creek, in the Coastal Plain of far western Kentucky during the period October 2010–February 2012. Along the study reach, springs discharge groundwater contaminated by the chlorinated organic compound trichloroethene (TCE) and radionuclide technetium-99 (⁹⁹Tc) released as a result of past activities at the …

The Buzz On Bees, Rebecca Ruiz

Lewis Honors College Capstone Collection

Apis mellifera, more commonly known as the honeybee, plays a pivotal role in the ecosystem and in the survival of the planet. Many do not understand, nor realize, that the honeybee offers a wide array of products and services besides sweet honey. Honeybees have become endangered at a time when their presence is vital and evidence indicates that they can be the means to a more sustainable future for our planet. Particularly focused on in this research are the ideas of honeybees’ essential presence in medical advances, their participation in global economics, and their involvement in the development of …

Influence Of Flue Gas Components On The Growth Rate Of Chlorella Vulgaris And Scenedesmus Acutus, Czarena Crofcheck, Aubrey Shea, Michael D. Montross, Mark Crocker, Rodney Andrews

Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering Faculty Publications

Atmospheric carbon dioxide levels have increased since the industrial revolution due to the increase in combustion of fossil fuels. One possible alternative strategy is the use of microalgae for CO₂ capture and recycling. Major components in coal-derived flue gas that may accumulate and effect algae growth include both sulfur oxides and fly ash. However, in practical application, sulfur oxides will be converted quickly to the acid product (H₂SO₄) in the aerobic aqueous conditions of algae cultivation. In this article, the influence of elevated H₂SO₄ levels and the presence of coal-derived fly ash …

A Generalization Of The Turaev Cobracket And The Minimal Self-Intersection Number Of A Curve On A Surface, Patricia Cahn

Mathematics Sciences: Faculty Publications

Goldman and Turaev constructed a Lie bialgebra structure on the free Zmodule generated by free homotopy classes of loops on a surface. Turaev conjectured that his cobracket ∆(α) is zero if and only if α is a power of a simple class. Chas constructed examples that show Turaev’s conjecture is, unfortunately, false. We define an operation µ in the spirit of the Andersen-Mattes-Reshetikhin algebra of chord diagrams. The Turaev cobracket factors through µ, so we can view µ as a generalization of ∆. We show that Turaev’s conjecture holds when ∆ is replaced with µ. We also show that µ(α) …

Intersections Of Loops And The Andersen–Mattes–Reshetikhin Algebra, Patricia Cahn, Vladimir Chernov

Mathematics Sciences: Faculty Publications

Given two free homotopy classes α₁,α₂ of loops on an oriented surface, it is natural to ask how to compute the minimum number of intersection points # (α₁,α₂) of loops in these two classes.

We show that, for α₁≠α₂, the number of terms in the Andersen–Mattes–Reshetikhin Poisson bracket of α₁ and α₂ is equal to # (α₁,α₂). Chas found examples showing that a similar statement does not, in general, hold for the Goldman Lie bracket of α₁ and α₂.

The …

Uniform Gaussian Bounds For Subelliptic Heat Kernels And An Application To The Total Variation Flow Of Graphs Over Carnot Groups, Luca Capogna, Giovanna Citti, Maria Manfredini

Mathematics Sciences: Faculty Publications

In this paper we study heat kernels associated with a Carnot group G, endowed with a family of collapsing left-invariant Riemannian metrics σϵ which converge in the Gromov- Hausdorff sense to a sub-Riemannian structure on G as ϵ rarr; 0. The main new contribution are Gaussian-Type bounds on the heat kernel for the σϵ metrics which are stable as ϵ rarr; 0 and extend the previous time-independent estimates in [16]. As an application we study well posedness of the total variation flow of graph surfaces over a bounded domain in a step two Carnot group (G; σϵ ). We establish …

Challenging The State Of The Art In Post-Introductory Statistics: Preparation, Concepts, And Pedagogy, Nathan L. Tintle, Beth Chance, George Cobb, Allan Rossman, Soma Roy, Todd Swanson, Jill Vanderstoep

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

The demands for a statistically literate society are increasing, and the introductory statistics course ("Stat 101") remains the primary venue for learning statistics for the majority of high school and undergraduate students. After three decades of very fruitful activity in the areas of pedagogy and assessment, but with comparatively little pressure for rethinking the content of this course, the statistics education community has recently turned its attention to use of randomization-based methods to illustrate core concepts of statistical inference. This new focus not only presents an opportunity to address documented shortcomings in the standard Stat 101 course (for example, improving …

Quality Revolutions, Solidarity Networks, And Sustainability Innovations: Following Fair Trade Coffee From Nicaragua To California, Christopher M. Bacon

Environmental Studies and Sciences

Nicaraguan smallholder cooperative leaders working in partnership with a California-based small-scale roasting company pioneered an alternative approach to confronting the post-1999 coffee crisis. They built coffee tasting laboratories and integrated grassroots organizing efforts to create a national smallholder cooperative association that dramatically improved the quality, consistency, and prices from of the coffee they exported. Cooperative leaders used this development project to gain a more significant share of political economic power in a domestic coffee industry historically dominated by colonial powers, and corporate and domestic elites. This alliance between the artisanal small-scale roasting companies and cooperative leaders also proved that smallholders …

The Contribution Of Small Anthropogenic Particulates (Sap) To The Sediment Load Of A Major Ephemeral Fluvial System, Santa Ana River (Sar), Southern California, Junjie Shen

Theses Digitization Project

This research was undertaken to explore the distribution of small anthropogenic particulates (SAP) in the Santa Ana River (SAR), and to determine the contribution of SAP to the sediment load of the SAR. SAP have never been documented before in the fluvial systems, especially in Southern California. This project will effectively establish a baseline for future changes in SAP for environmental monitoring and regulations.

Comparison Of Pcr And Quantitative Real-Time Pcr Methods For The Characterization Of Ruminant And Cattle Fecal Pollution Sources, Meredith R. Raith, Catherine A. Kelty, John F. Griffith, Alexander Schriewer, Stefan Wuertz, Sophie Mieszkin, Michele Gourmelon, Georg H. Reischer, Andreas H. Farnleitner, Jared S. Ervin, Patricia A. Holden, Darcy L. Ebentier, Jennifer A. Jay, Dan Wang, Alexandria B. Boehm, Tiong Gim Aw, Joan B. Rose, E. Balleste, W.G. Meijer, Mano Sivaganesan, Orin C. Shanks

United States Environmental Protection Agency: Publications

The State of California has mandated the preparation of a guidance document on the application of fecal source identification methods for recreational water quality management. California contains the fifth highest population of cattle in the United States, making the inclusion of cow-associated methods a logical choice. Because the performance of these methods has been shown to change based on geography and/or local animal feeding practices, laboratory comparisons are needed to determine which assays are best suited for implementation. We describe the performance characterization of two end-point PCR assays (CF128 and CF193) and five real-time quantitative PCR (qPCR) assays (Rum2Bac, BacR, …

Effects Of Chiloquin Dam On Spawning Distribution And Larval Emigration Of Lost River, Shortnose, And Klamath Largescale Suckers In The Williamson And Sprague Rivers, Oregon, Barbara A. Martin, David A. Hewitt, Craig M. Ellsworth

United States Geological Survey: Publications

Chiloquin Dam was constructed in 1914 on the Sprague River near the town of Chiloquin, Oregon. The dam was identified as a barrier that potentially inhibited or prevented the upstream spawning migrations and other movements of endangered Lost River (Deltistes luxatus) and shortnose (Chasmistes brevirostris) suckers, as well as other fish species. In 2002, the Bureau of Reclamation led a working group that examined several alternatives to improve fish passage at Chiloquin Dam. Ultimately it was decided that dam removal was the best alternative and the dam was removed in the summer of 2008. The U.S. …

Assessment Of Coal Geology, Resources, And Reserve Base In The Powder River Basin, Wyoming And Montana, James A. Luppens, David C. Scott, Lee M. Osmonson, Jon E. Haacke, Paul E. Pierce

United States Geological Survey: Publications

Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated in-place resources of 1.07 trillion short tons of coal in the Powder River Basin, Wyoming and Montana. Of that total, with a maximum stripping ratio of 10:1, recoverable coal was 162 billion tons. The estimate of economically recoverable resources was 25 billion tons.

The Mineral Industry Of Nebraska

United States Geological Survey: Publications

In 2013, the value of the nonfuel mineral production1 in the State of Nebraska was $166 million,2 0.2% of the total U.S. nonfuel mineral production, ranking it 39th in the country. In 2012, the corresponding value was $160 million,2 0.2% of the Nation’s total nonfuel mineral production, ranking it 36th among the 50 States. In 2013, on a per capita basis, nonfuel mineral production in Nebraska in 2013 had a value of $89 compared with the national average of $238. In 2012, the per capita value was $86 compared with the national average of $241. The value of nonfuel mineral …

Decadal Variability Of Net Water Flux At The Mediterranean Sea Gibraltar Strait, L. Fenoglio-Marc, A. Mariotti, G. Sannino, B. Meyssignac, A. Carillo, M. V. Struglia, M. Rixen

United States Department of Commerce: Staff Publications

Long-term variability of the net water flux into the Mediterranean Sea at the Gibraltar Strait over the period 1960–2009 is explored based on an approach combining multiple observational datasets and results from a regional climate model simulation. The approach includes deriving Gibraltar net inflow from the application of the Mediterranean Sea water budget equation using observationally based estimates of mass variation, evaporation, precipitation and simulated river discharge and Bosphorus Strait water fluxes. This derivation is compared with results from a simulation using the PROTHEUS regional ocean–atmosphere coupled model considering both individual water cycle terms and overall Gibraltar water flux.

Results …

Improving Usability: Evaluating The Effect Of Changing Environmental Factors On Cognitive Load, Robin J. Deegan

Theses

Mobile devices are now truly ubiquitous. Their pervasiveness in all facets of our lives brings many advantages. Principle to these advantages is the notion that mobile devices can be used “Anytime, Anywhere”. The size, portability, battery life and computational power of mobile devices mean that they can be used for a diverse range of uses in an equally diverse range of environments.

Usability is primarily concerned with “ease of use” and “learnability”. Mobile devices are challenging this notion of Usability as they are used in new ways. Firstly mobile devices arc used in complex distracting environments and these distractions interfere …

Integrable Systems As Fluid Models With Physical Applications, Tony Lyons

Doctoral

In this thesis we begin with the development and analysis of hydrodynamical models as they arise in the theory of water waves and in the modelling of blood flow within arteries. Initially we derive three models of hydrodynamical relevance, namely the KdV equation, the two component Camassa-Holm equation and the Kaup-Boussinesq equation. We develop a model of blood flowing within an artery with elastic walls, and from the principles of Newtonian mechanics we derive the two-component Burger's equation as our first integrable model. We investigate the analytic properties of the system briefly, with the aim of demonstrating the phenomenon of …

The Turning, Stretching And Boxing Technique: A Direction Worth Looking Towards, Mark Dunne

Doctoral

3D avatar user interfaces (UI) are now used for many applications, a growing area for their use is serving location sensitive information to users as they need it while visiting or touring a building. Users communicate directly with an avatar rendered to a display in order to ask a question, get directions or partake in a guided tour and as a result of this kind of interaction with avatar UI, they have become a familiar part of modern human-computer interaction (HCI). However, if the viewer is not in the sweet spot (defined by Raskar et al. (1999) as a stationary …

Novel Liquid Chromatography - Fourier Transform Mass Spectrometry (Ms) And Triple Quadrupole Ms Methods For The Determination Of Diarrhetic Shellfish Poisoning (Dsp) Toxins., Bébhine Carey

Theses

Harmful algal blooms (HABs) appear to be on the rise globally, which not only has a negative impact on the shellfish industry but can also cause human and animal intoxications. In order to advance our knowledge of HABs, specific and sensitive analytical methods are required to aid in monitoring shellfish and algal samples for biotoxins, harmful to consumers.