Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Effect Of Accelerated Global Expansion On Bending Of Light, Mir Emad Aghili

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Efficient Utilization Of Solar Energy In Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells And In The Photocatalytic Reduction Of Carbon Dioxide, Aron Joel Huckaba

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

One of the most important questions humanity will face in the next 100 years is going to be "What will happen when oil runs out?" This dissertation describes efforts to utilize solar energy to improve renewable energy technology in two ways: First, through the improvement of dye sensitized solar cells by theimprovement of D-π-A dye subunits, the development of practical sensitizers, and progress towards stable, tunable redox shuttles. A novel indolizine donor subunit was synthesized that was shown to be the strongest reported donor. Dyes made from this novel donor and devices using the Γ-/I 3- reached up to 5.4% …

The Spectroscopic Characterization Of Newly Developed Emissive Materials And The Effects Of Environment On Their Photophysical Properties, Louis Edward Mcnamara

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The development of new materials capable of efficient charge transfer and energy storage has become increasingly important in many areas of modern chemical research. This is especially true for the development of emissive optoelectronic devices and in the field of solar to electric energy conversion. The characterization of the photophysical properties of new molecular systems for these applications has become critical in the design and development of these materials. Many molecular building blocks have been developed and understanding the properties of these molecules at a fundamental level is essential for their successful implementation and future engineering. This dissertation focuses on …

Mercury Methylation Potentials In Sediments An Ancient Cypress Wetland Using Species-Specific Isotope Dilution-Gc-Icp-Ms: Analytical Method Development And The Effect Of Sorbent Amendments, Derek Davin Bussan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A novel method was developed to measure mercury (Hg) directly in environmental solids using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) with online sample ashing. The method combines a direct mercury analyzer (DMA) that is based on sample combustion, Hg pre-concentration by amalgamation with gold, and atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS), with a high resolution ICP-MS. Unlike AAS, the ICP-MS is capable of individual isotope measurements allowing for accurate quantitation by isotope dilution mass spectrometry (IDMS) and for isotope tracer experiments. The method was validated using certified reference materials including sediment (NIST 2709), leaves (NIST 1547), and fish-muscle (DORM-3), with recoveries within …

Method Development For Mass Spectrometric Characterization Of Ultra-Small Nanomolecules And Mass Spectrometry Imaging Of Selected Biomolecules, Nuwan K. Kothalawala

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

High sensitivity, selectivity and remarkable identification capabilities facilitate the applicability of mass spectrometry (MS) in diverse fields. This dissertation outlines how this cutting edge technology is used to determine the chemical composition of the ultra-small nanomolecules (NMs) to atomic precision and obtain spatial resolution of selected biomolecules using mass spectrometry imaging (MSI). Chapter I includes introduction to electrospray ionization (ESI) and matrix assisted laser desorption ionization (MALDI) MS used in my PhD research. Chapter II explains how high resolution ESI-MS methods were developed to analyze the polar water-soluble NMs. These new methods express how ESI-MS parameters need to be optimized …

Using Technology To Engage Students In The Stem Field, April Elizabeth Steen

Honors Theses

The United States is currently facing a shortage of qualified STEM professionals in the workforce and in research fields. Part of this lack of professionals can be traced back to lack of interest and lack of proficiency in mathematics and science at the secondary level of education as well as STEM major attrition at the college level. In an effort to increase student interest in STEM fields and increase retention of STEM majors, technology was employed to engage student interest. At the high school level, a physical chemistry demonstration on the spectroscopy of light was created. The demonstration was presented …

Effect Of Biochar And Activated Carbon Amendments On Gaseous Mercury Emissions Of Soil And Mercury Methylation Rates In Sediment, Ryan Sessums

Honors Theses

Mercury is a pervasive global contaminant with a complex biogeochemical cycle. In this biogeochemical cycle, methylmercury (MeHg+) tends to biomagnify and concentrate in fish and seafood consumed by humans. This study examines the effect of sorbent amendments on both the mercury emission from soils and the methylation rates of mercury in sediments, both of which are believed to be major contributors to the global cycle. Biochar and activated carbon were used to treat soils and sediments to explore their effects. It was found that biochar and activated carbon reduced gaseous mercury emission by 25% and 49%, respectively. Methylation rates in …

Dna I-Motif Stabilization By Ligand Binding To Loop Regions, Harrison Reed Davis

Honors Theses

DNA i-motifs are a secondary structure of DNA that can be useful in a variety of ways, but this experiment investigates the maximum potential to stabilize i-motifs artificially with a small molecule binding to loop regions. DNA with different position and number of loops was tested to see to what extent the i-motif could be stabilized . A drug, Actinomycin D, was used for its known high affinity for a particular DNA sequence, which we used to make the loops of the i-motif. The binding constant for the drug to the DNA was determined through fluorescense spectroscopy while the presence …

S-Store: Streaming Meets Transaction Processing, John Meehan, Nesime Tatbul, Cansu Aslantas, Ugur Cetintemel, Jiang Du, Tim Kraska, Samuel Madden, David Maier, Andrew Pavlo, Michael Stonebraker, Kristin A. Tufte, Hao Wang

Computer Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Stream processing addresses the needs of real-time applications. Transaction processing addresses the coordination and safety of short atomic computations. Heretofore, these two modes of operation existed in separate, stove-piped systems. In this work, we attempt to fuse the two computational paradigms in a single system called S-Store. In this way, S-Store can simultaneously accommodate OLTP and streaming applications. We present a simple transaction model for streams that integrates seamlessly with a traditional OLTP system. We chose to build S-Store as an extension of H-Store, an open-source, in-memory, distributed OLTP database system. By implementing S-Store in this way, we can make …

A Theory Of Name Resolution, Pierre Néron, Andrew Tolmach, Eelco Visser, Guido Wachsmuth

Computer Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

We describe a language-independent theory for name binding and resolution, suitable for programming languages with complex scoping rules including both lexical scoping and modules. We formulate name resolution as a two-stage problem. First a language-independent scope graph is constructed using language-specific rules from an abstract syntax tree. Then references in the scope graph are resolved to corresponding declarations using a language-independent resolution process. We introduce a resolution calculus as a concise, declarative, and language- independent specification of name resolution. We develop a resolution algorithm that is sound and complete with respect to the calculus. Based on the resolution calculus we …

The Molecular Evolution Of Non-Coding Dna And Population Ecology Of The Spiny Softshell Turtle (Apalone Spinifera) In Lake Champlain, Lucas Edward Bernacki

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

ABSTRACT

Spiny softshell turtles (Apalone spinifera) occur at the northwest limit of their range in Lake Champlain. This species, although widespread across North America, is listed as threatened in Vermont due to habitat destruction and disturbances of anthropogenic origin. The population of spiny softshell turtles in Lake Champlain is isolated from other North American populations and is considered as an independent management unit. Efforts to obtain information on the biology of spiny softshell turtles in Lake Champlain precede 1936 with conservation measures being initiated in 1987.

Methods of studying spiny softshell turtles in Lake Champlain have included direct …

Exploration Of Novel Synthetic Utility Of Lithioacetonitirile, Rambabu Sankranti

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Accurate Computation Of Molecular Properties From Novel Applications Of Quantum Mechanical Wavefunction Methods, James Coleman Howard

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

High-accuracy quantum mechanical (qm) wavefunction methods have been applied to compute molecular properties of weakly-bound clusters. This work focuses on both extending the applicability of robust theoretical methods to larger systems and also determining the inherent accuracy of ab initio methods when compared to experimentally measured properties. Described here is the development of an efficient many-body approach that offers the ability to reduce both the time and the computational resources normally required to compute these properties reliably. The n-body:many-body qm:qm technique has been extended to compute harmonic vibrational frequencies of clusters. Applying this methodology to small hydrogen-bonded clusters demonstrates that …

The Least Prime Number That Splits Completely In S3-Sextic Number Fields, Zhenchao Ge

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In number theory, an integer n is quadratic residue modulo an odd prime p if n is congruent to a perfect square modulo p. Otherwise, n is is called a quadratic nonresidue. Bounding the least prime quadratic residue and the least quadratic nonresidue are two very classical problems in number theory. These classical problems can be generalized to any number field K by asking for bounds the least for prime that splits completely or does not split completely, respectively, in the ring of integers of K. The goal of this thesis is to bound the least prime that splits completely …

Promoting Time In Nature For Children: Investigating The Role Of Provider Nature Relatedness, Lindsey Gauderer

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Research has shown that time spent in and exposure to natural environments has numerous benefits for children, both physical and mental. At the same time, children face many barriers to obtaining time in the outdoors and today's youth spend less time outside than previous generations. Initiatives such as health care provider prescriptions for outdoor activity aim to encourage exposure to nature as a health intervention for children. In order to enhance the potential for success of programs such as these, factors influencing their implementation need to be assessed. This study aims to explore the impact that provider connectedness to nature, …

Monitor: Automation Tools For Landscape-Scale Acoustic Monitoring, Jonathan Edward Katz

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Climate change coupled with land-use change will likely alter habitats and affect state parameters of the animal populations that dwell in them. Affected parameters are anticipated to include site occupancy and abundance, population range, and phenophase cycles (e.g., arrival dates on breeding grounds for migrant bird species). Detecting these changes will require monitoring many sites for many years, a process that is well suited for an automated system. We developed and tested monitoR, an R package that is designed for long-term, multi-taxa automated passive acoustic monitoring programs. monitoR correctly identified presence for black-throated green warbler and ovenbird in 64% and …

The Impact Of Ecosystem Services Knowledge On Decisions, Stephen Mark Posner

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

The need to protect diverse biological resources from ongoing development pressures is one of today's most pressing environmental challenges. In response, "ecosystem services" has emerged as a conservation framework that links human economies and natural systems through the benefits that people receive from nature. In this dissertation, I investigate the science-policy interface of ecosystem services in order to understand the use of ecosystem service decision support tools and evaluate the pathways through which ecosystem services knowledge impacts decisions. In the first paper, I track an ecosystem service valuation project in California to evaluate how the project changes the social capacity …

Investigation Of A Ring Fragmentation Reaction For The Synthesis Of Tethered Aldehyde Ynones And Medium Sized Cyclic Ynones And Ynolides, Ali Bayir

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

The fragmentation of γ-silyloxy-β-hydroxy-α-diazoesters to provide tethered aldehyde ynoates was discovered and developed in Prof. Brewer's laboratory. This reaction is a Lewis acid mediated heterolytic cleavage of the Cβ-γ bond of a γ-silyloxy-β-hydroxy-α-diazocarbonyl functional group array contained in a ring compound.

This dissertation describes a further study of this ring fragmentation reaction and application of this fragmentation to the preparation of synthetically useful organic molecules. The purpose of this dissertation work was three fold. The first objective was to extend this ring fragmentation reaction to the synthesis of tethered aldehyde ynones by fragmenting various γ-silyloxy-β-hydroxy-α-diazo ketone compounds. The second objective …

Biological Indicators Of Compost-Mediated Disease Suppression Against The Soilborne Plant Pathogen Rhizoctonia Solani, Lynn Fang

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Compost can suppress soilborne plant pathogens that cause significant damage on globally important food crops. However, reports of plant pathogen suppression are inconsistent likely because there are no established standards for feedstock material, application rate, and maturity age upon application. Excellent results can be achieved in greenhouse trials, but field applications are much less reliable. Disease suppression occurs through the activity of biocontrol organisms (direct antagonism), and general microbial competition. Biocontrol species are hypothesized to colonize the pile during the curing phase, but single species may not be as important as microbial consortia. Substrate composition during maturation may give rise …

Lake Trout Spawning Site Use In Lake Champlain & The Development Of The Binomial Rolling Residence Test, Victoria M. Pinheiro

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Lake trout populations were extirpated from the lower four Great Lakes by 1960 and from Lake Champlain by 1900. The decline of lake trout populations fueled a wave of restoration-based research that spanned the Great Lakes and filled in many of the gaps in our knowledge of lake trout behavior and ecology. However, remarkably little is known about lake trout spawning behavior, even less about sex-specific differences in spawning site use. Lake trout use specific spawning sites, and may return to the same site year after year. More males are caught on spawning sites than females and are present at …

Grass-Based Dairy In Vermont: Benefits, Barriers, And Effective Public Policies, Serge William Wiltshire

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

A comprehensive literature review was undertaken in order to define and assess the sustainability and resiliency characteristics associated with grass-based and confinement dairy farming. Primarily as a result of reduced input costs, grass-based dairy farming often enhances profitability over confinement systems, especially on small farms. Further, conversion of tilled soil to permanent pasture has been shown to significantly reduce harmful sediment and nutrient transport into waterways. Perennial forage also acts as a carbon sink, curtailing or even negating a grass-based farm's carbon footprint. Finally, social benefits derived from enhanced nutrition and higher quality of life are also associated with grass-based …

Method Development For The Detection And Quantitation Of Illicit Drugs In Fingerprints Using Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization-Mass Spectrometry, Madison Roussel

Honors Theses

The purpose of this research was to develop a method for the detection and quantitation of caffeine and 11-nor-9-carboxy-Δ9- tetrahydrocannabinol in fingerprints using matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS). The matrix used was 2,5-dihydroxybenzoic acid (DHB). The presence of the analytes was confirmed by analysis using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS). 11-nor-9-carboxy-Δ9- tetrahydrocannabinol was chosen as the drug of interest because it is the major metabolite of tetrahydrocannabinol, the main psychoactive component of marijuana. Marijuana's popularity as a recreational drug continues to increase with its legalization and decriminalization across the country. It is critical to establish methods for the quantification …

Clustering And Classification Of Email Contents, Izzat Alsmadi, Ikdam Alhami

Computer Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Information users depend heavily on emails’ system as one of the major sources of communication. Its importance and usage are continuously growing despite the evolution of mobile applications, social networks, etc. Emails are used on both the personal and professional levels. They can be considered as official documents in communication among users. Emails’ data mining and analysis can be conducted for several purposes such as: Spam detection and classification, subject classification, etc. In this paper, a large set of personal emails is used for the purpose of folder and subject classifications. Algorithms are developed to perform clustering and classification for …

Fluorescence Monitoring And Parallel Factor Analysis Of Contaminant Mixtures In Water, Nina M. Caputo

Honors College

Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products (PPCPs) pollute our water systems regularly by entering the environment through inefficient methods of water treatment, ineffective sanitation and unregulated industrial and agricultural runoff. Currently, the most common methods of identifying PCPPs are expensive, time consuming and often require the aid of a trained expert. This project aims to further the methodology of utilizing fluorescence spectroscopy as a means of pollutant detection with a focus on contaminant mixtures. Four non-regulated EPA contaminants were fluoresced at compound specific EEM parameters and then again in two component mixtures to determine their limits of detection (LOD). The results …

Push, Pull, And Spill: A Transdisciplinary Case Study In Municipal Open Government, Jan Whittington, Ryan Calo, Mike Simon, Jesse Woo, Meg Young, Perter Schmiedeskamp

Articles

Municipal open data raises hopes and concerns. The activities of cities produce a wide array of data, data that is vastly enriched by ubiquitous computing. Municipal data is opened as it is pushed to, pulled by, and spilled to the public through online portals, requests for public records, and releases by cities and their vendors, contractors, and partners. By opening data, cities hope to raise public trust and prompt innovation. Municipal data, however, is often about the people who live, work, and travel in the city. By opening data, cities raise concern for privacy and social justice.

This article presents …

Summary Tables: Lancaster County, Virginia Shoreline Inventory Report, Marcia Berman, Karinna Nunez, Sharon Killeen, Tamia Rudnicky, Julie Bradshaw, Kory Angstadt, David Stanhope, Christine Tombleson, Karen Duhring, Alexander D. Renaud, Robert Isdell, Pamela Braff, David Weiss, Carl Hershner

Reports

The Shoreline Inventory Summary Tables quantify observed conditions based on river systems, such as the combined length of linear features (e.g. shoreline miles surveyed, miles of bulkhead and revetment), the total number of point features (e.g. docks, boathouses, boat ramps) & total acres of polygon features (tidal marshes).

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

Reports

The Shoreline Inventory Summary Tables quantify observed conditions based on river systems, such as the combined length of linear features (e.g. shoreline miles surveyed, miles of bulkhead and revetment), the total number of point features (e.g. docks, boathouses, boat ramps) & total acres of polygon features (tidal marshes).

Summary Tables: Stafford County, Virginia Shoreline Inventory Report, Marcia Berman, Karinna Nunez, Sharon Killeen, Tamia Rudnicky, Julie Bradshaw, Karen Duhring, David Stanhope, David Weiss, Carl Hershner

Reports

The Shoreline Inventory Summary Tables quantify observed conditions based on river systems, such as the combined length of linear features (e.g. shoreline miles surveyed, miles of bulkhead and revetment), the total number of point features (e.g. docks, boathouses, boat ramps) & total acres of polygon features (tidal marshes).

The Future Of Science Education In Elementary School, Anah Soble

The Synapse: Intercollegiate science magazine

No abstract provided.

Toward Mobile Robots Reasoning Like Humans, Jean Oh, Arne Suppe, Felix Duvallet, Abdeslam Boularias, Luis Navarro-Serment, Martial Hebert, Anthony Stentz, Jerry Vinokurov, Oscar Romero, Christian Lebiere, Robert Dean

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Robots are increasingly becoming key players in human-robot teams. To become effective teammates, robots must possess profound understanding of an environment, be able to reason about the desired commands and goals within a specific context, and be able to communicate with human teammates in a clear and natural way. To address these challenges, we have developed an intelligence architecture that combines cognitive components to carry out high-level cognitive tasks, semantic perception to label regions in the world, and a natural language component to reason about the command and its relationship to the objects in the world. This paper describes recent …