Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Molecular Characterization And Photochemical Transformation Of Dissolved Organic Matter From Land To Ocean, Hongmei Chen

Chemistry & Biochemistry Theses & Dissertations

Molecular characterization and photochemical transformation of dissolved organic matter (DOM) in both rivers and the ocean is the main research focus of this dissertation. Chemical characterization of DOM is hampered by the limited application of advanced techniques to desalt, concentrate, isolate and then molecularly characterize DOM. An affordable, commercially available mini-electrodialysis (mini-ED) system has been evaluated and recommended for the efficient desalting of small volume samples of seawater prior to analysis by electrospray Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (ESI FTICR-MS).

A high-recovery technique of DOM isolation – reverse osmosis coupled with electrodialysis (RO/ED) – was used to isolate …

Spectroscopic Characterization Of Dissolved Organic Matter: Insights Into The Linkage Between Sources And Chemical Composition, Xiaoyan Cao

Chemistry & Biochemistry Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation investigated the chemical structure of DOM by advanced solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT-ICR MS) techniques, as well as isotopic measurements and UV-visible spectroscopy, to shed light on the linkages between DOM sources and DOM composition. Unique and extensive sets of DOM samples studied here were isolated from various aquatic systems, covering end-member environments in which DOM is considered either microbially derived or terrestrially derived, and areas in which DOM has characteristics intermediate between the two end members. Important insights into specific site-related questions were also gained such as …

Advances In Understanding The Molecular Composition Of Dissolved Organic Matter And Its Reactivity In The Environment, Rajaa Mesfioui

Chemistry & Biochemistry Theses & Dissertations

Dissolved organic matter (DOM) is the ultimate product of Earth's systems dynamics. DOM chemical signature is strongly shaped by the interaction among Earth's spheres, such as the atmosphere, the geosphere, the biosphere, and the hydrosphere, but also life and human activity. DOM source, composition, photochemical alteration and availability affect freshwater ecosystems, their carbon and nitrogen fluxes and, thus, the global carbon and nitrogen cycles. The aim of this thesis was to gain an understanding of the molecular composition of DOM and its photochemical and biological reactivity in an environment impacted by anthropogenic disturbance. The York and James River systems within …

Synthesis And Characterization Of Sugar Based Low Molecular Weight Gelators And The Preparation Of Chiral Sulfinamides, Hari Prasad Reddy Mangunuru

Chemistry & Biochemistry Theses & Dissertations

Low molecular weight gelators (LMWGs) have received considerable attention in the field of chemistry from last few decades. These compounds form self-assembled fibrous networks like micelles, cylindrical, sheets, fibers, layers and so on. The fibrous network entraps the solvent and forms gel, because of the self-assembly phenomenon and their demonstrated potential uses in a variety of areas, ranging from environmental to medicinal applications.

Sugars are good starting materials to synthesize the new class of LMWG's, because these are different from some expensive materials, these are natural products. We have synthesized and characterized the LMGS's based on D-glucose and D …

The Influences Of Poultry Litter Biochar And Water Source On Radish Growth And Nutrition, Julia Allen, David E. Longer, Edward E. Gbur, Lichen Hao

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

Many row-crop fields today have declined in soil fertility due to poor management practices and overuse of pesticides. Under these conditions, plant nutrient uptake can be sub-optimal. There are several soil amendments that can be used to improve soil quality and plant growth. This study focused on the addition of biochar to the soil and the use of structured water to enhance plant growth. Biochar is produced by pyrolysis of organic feedstocks. Previous studies which focused on biochar have shown an increase in plant yield, nutrient availability in the soil, and soil water holding capacity. Structured water is the liquid …

Bermudagrass Growth In Soil Contaminated With Hydraulic Fracturing Drilling Fluid, Douglas Wolf, Kristofor R. Brye

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

Hydraulic fracturing is the process of injecting aqueous solutions at high pressure to break apart rock formations and increase the extraction of natural gas. The solutions are recovered and have been land-applied as one disposal technique. Excessive fluid application can result in increased soil salinity that can inhibit plant growth. The objective of this greenhouse study was to evaluate the effects of inorganic fertilizer, broiler litter, and Milorganite® and soil depth interval (0-15 cm or 0-30 cm) on the growth of bermudagrass [Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers] in soil that was collected from a site that had been contaminated with fracturing …

Photoproduction Of Π0 On Hydrogen With Clas From 1.1 Gev - 5.45 Gev Using E+E –Γ Decay, Michael C. Kunkel

Physics Theses & Dissertations

Photoproduction of the π⁰ meson was studied using the CLAS detector at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility using tagged incident photon energies spanning the range E_γ = 1.1 GeV - 5.45 GeV. The measurement is performed on a liquid hydrogen target in the reaction γp → pe ⁺e^–(γ). The final state of the reaction is the sum of two subprocesses for π⁰ decay, the Dalitz decay mode of π⁰ → e ⁺e^–γ and conversion mode where one photon from π⁰ → γγ decay is converted into a …

Impact Of Thread Scheduling On Modern Gpus, Orevaoghene Addoh

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) has become a more important component in high-performance computing systems as it accelerates data and compute intensive applications significantly with less cost and power. The GPU achieves high performance by executing massive number of threads in parallel in a SPMD (Single Program Multiple Data) fashion. Threads are grouped into workgroups by programmer and workgroups are then assigned to each compute core on the GPU by hardware. Once assigned, a workgroup is further subgrouped into wavefronts of the fixed number of threads by hardware when executed in a SIMD (Single Instruction Multiple Data) fashion. In this …

Summary Tables: City Of Norfolk, Virginia Shoreline Inventory Report, Marcia Berman, Karinna Nunez, Sharon Killeen, Tamia Rudnicky, Julie Bradshaw, Karen Duhring, Kory Angstadt, Alexandra Procopi, David Weiss, Carl Hershner

Reports

The data inventory developed for the Shoreline Inventory is based on a three tiered shoreline assessment approach. This assessment characterizes conditions that can be observed from a small boat navigating along the shoreline or by using observations made remotely at the desktop using high resolution imagery. The three tiered shoreline assessment approach divides the shorezone into three regions:

1) the immediate riparian zone, evaluated for land use; 2) the bank, evaluated for height, stability, cover and natural protection; and 3) the shoreline, describing the presence of shoreline structures for shore protection and recreational purposes.

The 2014 Inventory for the City …

Assessing The County’S Readiness For A Climate Related Event, Chesapeake Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve In Virginia

Reports

Grade Level: 9-12

Subject Area: Earth Science, Environmental Science

Students will participate in a role playing scenario in which they represent different stakeholder groups, including emergency responders, land planners, and watermen. Using a variety of provided resources, students are given a task to present on, whether it be creating an evacuation route for their county and identifying shelters, establishing new areas for development, or locations for the best catch of crabs in the year 2050.

Lesson plan has 2 parts.

Atmospheric Mercury Species In Northern Mississippi: Concentrations, Sources, Temporal Patterns, And Soil-Air Exchange, Yi Jiang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Mercury is a highly toxic element that is found both naturally and as an introduced contaminant in the environment. The majority of Mercury released to the environment is into the atmosphere, where because of its high volatility and long residence time is dispersed globally. In order to better understand the factors controlling the distribution and temporal patterns of atmospheric Mercury species, as well as the sources of airborne Mercury in the mid-south region, concentrations of gaseous elemental mercury (gem), gaseous oxidized mercury (gom), and particulate-bound mercury (pbm), along with meteorological parameters and other ancillary data, were collected for more than …

An Efficient Storage And Retrieval Mechanism For Large Unstructured Grids, Oyindamola Akande

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The size of spatial scientific datasets is steadily increasing due to improvements in instruments and availability of computational resources. Scientific datasets today are often far too large to fit into a single machine's memory or even a single disk. However, much of the research on efficient storage and access to spatial datasets has focused on large multidimensional arrays. In contrast, unstructured grids consisting of collections of implices (e.g. triangles or tetrahedra) present special challenges that have received less attention. Data values found at the vertices of the simplices may be dispersed throughout a datafile, producing especially poor disk locality. Partitioning …

Research Needs In The Colorado River Basin: A Summary Of Policy-Related Topics To Explore Further In Support Of Solution-Oriented Decision-Making, Colorado River Governance Initiative, University Of Colorado Boulder. Getches-Wilkinson Center For Natural Resources, Energy, And The Environment Western Water Policy Program

Books, Reports, and Studies

14 p. ; 28 cm

Amides Are Excellent Mimics Of Phosphate Internucleoside Linkages And Are Well Tolerated In Short Interfering Rnas, Daniel Mutisya, Chelliah Selvam, Benjamin Lunstad, Pradeep S. Pallan, Amanda Haas, Devin Leake, Martin Egli, Eriks Rozners

Chemistry Faculty Scholarship

RNA interference (RNAi) has become an important tool in functional genomics and has an intriguing therapeutic potential. However, the current design of short interfering RNAs (siRNAs) is not optimal for in vivo applications. Non-ionic phosphate backbone modifications may have the potential to improve the properties of siRNAs, but are little explored in RNAi technologies. Using X-ray crystallography and RNAi activity assays, the present study demonstrates that 3'-CH2-CO-NH-5' amides are excellent replacements for phosphodiester internucleoside linkages in RNA. The crystal structure shows that amide-modified RNA forms a typical A-form duplex. The amide carbonyl group points into the major groove and assumes …

Patterns Of Maximum Body Size Evolution In Cenozoic Land Mammals: Eco-Evolutionary Processes And Abiotic Forcing, Juha J. Saarinen, Alison G. Boyer, James H. Brown, Daniel P. Costa, S.K. Morgan Ernest, Alistair R. Evans, Mikael Fortelius, John L. Gittleman, Marcus J. Hamilton, Larisa E, Harding, Kari Lintulaakso, S. Kathleen Lyons, Jordan G. Okie, Richard M. Sibly, Patrick R. Stephens, Jessica Theodor, Mark D. Uhen, Felisa A. Smith

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

There is accumulating evidence that macroevolutionary patterns of mammal evolution during the Cenozoic follow similar trajectories on different continents. This would suggest that such patterns are strongly determined by global abiotic factors, such as climate, or by basic eco-evolutionary processes such as filling of niches by specialization. The similarity of pattern would be expected to extend to the history of individual clades. Here, we investigate the temporal distribution of maximum size observed within individual orders globally and on separate continents. While the maximum size of individual orders of large land mammals show differences and comprise several families, the times at …

Application Of Two-Photon Absorbing Fluorene-Containing Compounds In Bioimaging And Photodyanimc Therapy, Xiling Yue

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Two-photon absorbing (2PA) materials has been widely studied for their highly localized excitation and nonlinear excitation efficiency. Application of 2PA materials includes fluorescence imaging, microfabrication, 3D data storage, photodynamic therapy, etc. Many materials have good 2PA photophysical properties, among which, the fluorenyl structure and its derivatives have attracted attention with their high 2PA cross-section and high fluorescence quantum yield. Herein, several compounds with 2PA properties are discussed. All of these compounds contain one or two fluorenyl core units as part of the conjugated system. The aim of this dissertation is to discuss the application of these compounds according to their …

Spin Cobordism And Quasitoric Manifolds, Clinton M. Hines

Theses and Dissertations--Mathematics

This dissertation demonstrates a procedure to view any quasitoric manifold as a “minimal” sub-manifold of an ambient quasitoric manifold of codimension two via the wedge construction applied to the quotient polytope. These we term wedge quasitoric manifolds. We prove existence utilizing a construction on the quotient polytope and characteristic matrix and demonstrate conditions allowing the base manifold to be viewed as dual to the first Chern class of the wedge manifold. Such dualization allows calculations of KO characteristic classes as in the work of Ochanine and Fast. We also examine the Todd genus as it relates to two types of …

A Posteriori Error Estimates For Surface Finite Element Methods, Fernando F. Camacho

Theses and Dissertations--Mathematics

Problems involving the solution of partial differential equations over surfaces appear in many engineering and scientific applications. Some of those applications include crystal growth, fluid mechanics and computer graphics. Many times analytic solutions to such problems are not available. Numerical algorithms, such as Finite Element Methods, are used in practice to find approximate solutions in those cases.

In this work we present L2 and pointwise a posteriori error estimates for Adaptive Surface Finite Elements solving the Laplace-Beltrami equation −△_Γ u = f . The two sources of errors for Surface Finite Elements are a Galerkin error, and a …

Homogeneous Gorenstein Ideals And Boij Söderberg Decompositions, Sema Güntürkün

Theses and Dissertations--Mathematics

This thesis consists of two parts. Part one revolves around a construction for homogeneous Gorenstein ideals and properties of these ideals. Part two focuses on the behavior of the Boij-Söderberg decomposition of lex ideals.

Gorenstein ideals are known for their nice duality properties. For codimension two and three, the structures of Gorenstein ideals have been established by Hilbert-Burch and Buchsbaum-Eisenbud, respectively. However, although some important results have been found about Gorenstein ideals of higher codimension, there is no structure theorem proven for higher codimension cases. Kustin and Miller showed how to construct a Gorenstein ideals in local Gorenstein rings starting …

Material Tensors And Pseudotensors Of Weakly-Textured Polycrystals With Orientation Measure Defined On The Orthogonal Group, Wenwen Du

Theses and Dissertations--Mathematics

Material properties of polycrystalline aggregates should manifest the influence of crystallographic texture as defined by the orientation distribution function (ODF). A representation theorem on material tensors of weakly-textured polycrystals was established by Man and Huang (2012), by which a given material tensor can be expressed as a linear combination of an orthonormal set of irreducible basis tensors, with the components given explicitly in terms of texture coefficients and a number of undetermined material parameters. Man and Huang's theorem is based on the classical assumption in texture analysis that ODFs are defined on the rotation group SO(3), which strictly speaking makes …

Stability And Controls For Stochastic Dynamic Systems, Zhixin (Harriet) Yang

Wayne State University Dissertations

This dissertation focuses on stability analysis and optimal controls for stochastic dynamic systems. It encompasses two parts. One part of our work gives an in-depth study of stability of linear jump diffusion, linear Markovian jump diffusion, multi-dimensional jump diffusion and

regime-switching jump diffusion together with the associated numerical solutions. The other part of our work is controls for stochastic dynamic systems, to be specific, we concentrated on mean variance types of control under different formulations. We obtained the nearly optimal

mean-variance controls under both two-time-scale and hidden Markov chain formulations and convergence for each case is achieved.

In Chapter 2, …

Assembly And Function Of Macromolecular Complexes For Accurate Trna Aminoacylation In Helicobacter Pylori, Gayathri Niroshani Silva

Wayne State University Dissertations

ABSTRACT

ASSEMBLY AND FUNCTION OF MACROMOLECULAR COMPLEXES FOR ACCURATE TRNA AMINOACYLATION IN HELICOBACTER PYLORI

by

GAYATHRI SILVA

January 2014

Advisor: Dr. Tamara L. Hendrickson

Major: Chemistry (Biochemistry)

Degree: Doctor of Philosophy

Abstract

The aminoacylation of tRNA is a critical step in maintaining the accuracy of the genetic code. Many microorganisms are missing one or more aminoacyl tRNA synthetases (aaRSs) and rely on indirect pathways to produce certain aa–tRNAs. In Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori), the genes encoding both asparaginyl tRNA synthetase (AsnRS) and glutaminyl tRNA synthetase (GlnRS) are missing and the organism consequently relies on the indirect pathway for …

In-Network Processing For Mission-Criticalwireless Networked Sensing And Control: A Real-Time, Efficiency, And Resiliency Perspective, Qiao Xiang

Wayne State University Dissertations

As wireless cyber-physical systems (WCPS) are increasingly being deployed in mission-critical applications, it becomes imperative that we consider application QoS requirements in in-network processing (INP). In this dissertation, we explore the potentials of two INP methods, packet packing and network coding, on improving network performance while satisfying application QoS requirements. We find that not only can these two techniques increase the

energy efficiency, reliability, and throughput of WCPS while satisfying QoS requirements of applications in a relatively static environment, but also they can provide low cost proactive protection against transient node failures in a more dynamic wireless environment.

We first …

Multiparticle Correlations In Pb--Pb Collisions At \Snn=2.76 Tev, Jocelyn Mlynarz

Wayne State University Dissertations

Quantum Chromodynamics, which describe the interactions of quarks and gluons, have been found not to violate global parity symmetry. However, the possibility

of local parity violations due to transitions in the vacuum state of QCD is not excluded. The effects of these parity violations could be measured in the

hot and dense medium created in the ultrarelativistic heavy ion collisions experiment conducted at the Large Hadron Collider, called a Quark-Gluon Plasma, in which

the quarks that compose most of ordinary matter are deconfined. In the strong magnetic fields which permeate the QGP in non-central collisions, parity violation

would express itself …

Adaptive State Feedback Control Of Lorenz Systems To Its Non-Trivial Equilibrium, Anh V. Tran

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The complex Lorenz system is a simplified nonlinear dynamical system, which is derived from the Navier-Stokes equations that govern a closed thermal convection loop. The Lorenz system is chaotic for large Rayleigh number. In this chaotic regime, we implement a linear state feedback controller to stabilize the state trajectory at its original nontrivial equilibrium. The state variable for feedback is easily measurable. The system is proved to be globally asymptotically stable with a optimal feedback gain. The stability bound is improved over the previous result. We also established globally stability of the adaptively control system, where the system parameters are …

Exponentially Weighted Moving Average Charts For Monitoring The Process Generalized Variance, Anna Khamitova

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The exponentially weighted moving average chart based on the sample generalized variance is studied under the independent multivariate normal model for the vector of quality measurements. The performance of the chart is based on an analysis of the chart's initial and steady-state run length distributions. The three methods that are commonly used to determinate run length distribution, simulation, the integral equation method, and the Markov chain approximation are discussed. The integral equation and Markov chain approaches are analytical methods that require a nu- merical method for determining the probability density and cumulative distribution functions describing the distribution of the sample …

Epistasis In Predator-Prey Relationships, Iuliia Inozemtseva

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Epistasis is the interaction between two or more genes to control a single phenotype. We model epistasis of the prey in a two-locus two-allele problem in a basic predator- prey relationship. The resulting model allows us to examine both population sizes as well as genotypic and phenotypic frequencies. In the context of several numerical examples, we show that if epistasis results in an undesirable or desirable phenotype in the prey by making the particular genotype more or less susceptible to the predator or dangerous to the predator, elimination of undesirable phenotypes and then genotypes occurs.

Generalized Weibull And Inverse Weibull Distributions With Applications, Valeriia Sherina

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis, new classes of Weibull and inverse Weibull distributions including the generalized new modified Weibull (GNMW), gamma-generalized inverse Weibull (GGIW), the weighted proportional inverse Weibull (WPIW) and inverse new modified Weibull (INMW) distributions are introduced. The GNMW contains several sub-models including the new modified Weibull (NMW), generalized modified Weibull (GMW), modified Weibull (MW), Weibull (W) and exponential (E) distributions, just to mention a few. The class of WPIW distributions contains several models such as: length-biased, hazard and reverse hazard proportional inverse Weibull, proportional inverse Weibull, inverse Weibull, inverse exponential, inverse Rayleigh, and Frechet distributions as special cases. Included …

Generating Surfaces Of Variable Eccentricity Within A Ray Tracer, Joshua A. Smith

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Polynomial surfaces used in ray tracing have recently been improved upon allowing for three dimensional applications. Among these are surfaces that have a varying eccentricity. This paper will discuss a method for finding real roots of polynomials [allowing us to create these surfaces]. First, we will give the reader a basic comprehension of the workings of a ray tracer, a general understanding of three dimensional polynomial surfaces, how this newly implemented root finder functions, and how these concepts enable us to create surfaces of variable eccentricity. Then, examples will be provided to demonstrate the capabilities of the program.

Precise Partitions Of Large Graphs, Pouria Salehi Nowbandegani

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

First by using an easy application of the Regularity Lemma, we extend some known results about cycles of many lengths to include a specified edge on the cycles. The results in this chapter will help us in rest of this thesis. In 2000, Enomoto and Ota posed a conjecture on the existence of path decomposition of graphs with fixed start vertices and fixed lengths. We prove this conjecture when |G| is large. Our proof uses the Regularity Lemma along with several extremal lemmas, concluding with an absorbing argument to retrieve misbehaving vertices. Furthermore, sharp minimum degree and degree sum conditions …