Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

A Recent Project Shows That The Microbial Carbon Pump Is A Primary Mechanism Driving Ocean Carbon Uptake, Jing M. Chen, Louis Legendre, Ronald Benner

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Enzymology And Inhibition Of Ghrelin Acylation By Ghrelin O-Acyltransferase, Kayleigh Mcgovern-Gooch

Dissertations - ALL

Ghrelin is a circulating peptide hormone that plays a regulatory role in many physiological processes related to energy balance and metabolism. To be recognized by its receptor, growth hormone secretagogue receptor 1a (GHSR1a), the serine 3 residue of ghrelin must be octanoylated. This unique posttranslational modification is catalyzed by the enzyme ghrelin O-acyltransferase (GOAT), a topologically complex integral membrane protein. GOAT is an intriguing target for biochemical studies, as no other enzyme is known to catalyze octanoylation of a serine hydroxyl group. It is also an attractive target for diseases related to ghrelin signaling, such as diabetes and obesity, as …

Qubit Coupled Mechanical Resonator In An Electromechanical System, Yu Hao

Dissertations - ALL

This thesis describes the development of a hybrid quantum electromechanical system. In this system the mechanical resonator is capacitively coupled to a superconducting transmon which is embedded in a superconducting coplanar waveguide (CPW) cavity. The difficulty of achieving high quality of superconducting qubit in a high-quality voltage-biased cavity is overcome by integrating a superconducting reflective T-filter to the cavity. Further spectroscopic and pulsed measurements of the hybrid system demonstrate interactions between the ultra-high frequency mechanical resonator and transmon qubit. The noise of mechanical resonator close to ground state is measured by looking at the spectroscopy of the transmon. At last, …

Planform Change And Bedload Transport In Braiding Rivers, Lara Middleton

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Proglacial gravel-bed braided rivers have a dynamic planform composed of multiple unstable channels and ephemeral bars. The planform position is seen to change during high flows as the position of channels and bars is seen to change. These changes are produced as pulses of bedload transport are mobilized and transported downstream, causing an observable change in the river planform and morphology. While it is known that bedload transport, morphological change and planform change in a braided river are inter-related the relationships have not been quantified. The first component of this research was to build on previous results by re-analyzing daily …

Surface Chemical Properties Of Mo2C, W2C, Mo2N And W2N Probed With Co, Co2And O2 Adsorption: A Dft Analysis, Jingyun Ye, Tianyu Zhang, Lingyun Xu, Shuxia Yin, Krishanthi Weerasinghe, Pamela Ubaldo, Ping And Ge Qingfeng He

Journal of Electrochemistry

Transition metal carbides and nitrides are attractive materials for electrodes in many electrochemical energy storage and conversion applications. In the present study, we use density functional theory slab calculations to characterize the surface chemical properties of molybdenum (Mo) and tungsten (W) carbides and nitrides, namely, Mo₂C, W₂C, Mo₂N and W2N with the adsorption of CO, CO₂ and O₂. These probing molecules provide measures of in both acidity/basicity and redox property of for the surfaces of these carbides and nitrides. Our results show that Lewis basic sites were responsible for CO_{2 …}

Electrostatic Interactions Of Water In External Electric Field: Molecular Dynamics Simulations, Qiang Zhu, Zigui Kan, Jing Ma

Journal of Electrochemistry

A series of molecular dynamics simulations with or without external electric field have been carried out for a bulk water with periodic boundary condition. The difference in radial distribution function of interatomic O…O distance is subtle, with and without external electric field, except for the orientation of dipole moments of water molecules. Without the applied external electric field, distribution of the orientation angle of dipole moments is rather broad. The induced local electric field is analyzed as a function of altitude in direction of electric field. The variation of the local induced electric field is increased as the increase of …

Effects Of Temperature On The Nucleation And Growth Mechanism Of Pbo2 Electrodeposition, Lei Wang, Juan-Qin Xue, Li-Hua Yu, Chang-Bin Tang, Qiang Bi

Journal of Electrochemistry

In order to investigate the effects of temperature on the nucleation and growth of lead dioxide (PbO₂)， the in situ electrochemical depositions of PbO₂ were carried out on the glassy carbon electrode at different temperatures, namely, 25℃,35℃, 45℃, 55℃, and 65℃.The cyclic voltammetric curves, the time-current and the time-potential curves，SEM images and XRD patterns of the PbO₂ coatings deposited at different temperatures were obtained. The results showed that the PbO₂ underwent nucleation and grew at different temperatures. The 3D continuous nucleation mode of PbO₂ electrodeposition remained unchanged with the increase of temperature. However, the …

An Electrochemical Dissolution Study Of Ilmenite Fraction Of Beach Sand In Sulphuric Acid Solution, Rostom Ali M., K. Biswas R., Golam Zakaria Md.

Journal of Electrochemistry

Electrochemical techniques have been used to investigate the dissolution behaviors of ilmenite fraction of beach sand of Bangladesh in sulfuric acid solutions at various temperatures. It is seen from the cyclic voltammetric studies indicated that the dissolution of ilmenite is was very difficult without the addition of carbon powder in ilmenite. The effects of ilmenite-carbon ratio, acid concentration and temperature on cyclic voltammograms have been investigated to understand the dissolution process of ilmenite. The investigated results showed that the dissolution rate of ilmenite (FeTiO₃) is was slow at low applied reduction potentials and temperatures. However, the dissolution rate …

Electrochemical Performance Of Sodium Difluoro(Oxalato)Borate As The Additive Of Non-Aqueous Electrolytes For Sodium-Ion Batteries, Ding Zhang, Qin Zhu, Ying Wang, Cheng-Long Zhao, Shi-Bin Liu, Shou-Dong Xu

Journal of Electrochemistry

Sodium ion battery has attracted worldwide and intensive attention recently, while the adoption of electrolyte additives has been considered as one effective strategy to promote the cell performance. Within this work sodium difluoro(oxalato)borate (NaDFOB) was prepared and adopted as an additive for the general non-aqueous electrolyte formula of 1 mol·L^-1 NaClO₄/EC/PC (Vol: Vol=1:1), and the effects of the additive concentration on ionic conductivity and oxidization decomposition voltage were investigated in detail. In addition, the cell performance evaluated by NaNi_0.5Mn_0.5O₂ as the cathode was also studied. It reveals that the …

Computer Vision Problems In 3d Plant Phenotyping, Ayan Chaudhury

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

In recent years, there has been significant progress in Computer Vision based plant phenotyping (quantitative analysis of biological properties of plants) technologies. Traditional methods of plant phenotyping are destructive, manual and error prone. Due to non-invasiveness and non-contact properties as well as increased accuracy, imaging techniques are becoming state-of-the-art in plant phenotyping. Among several parameters of plant phenotyping, growth analysis is very important for biological inference. Automating the growth analysis can result in accelerating the throughput in crop production. This thesis contributes to the automation of plant growth analysis.

First, we present a novel system for automated and non-invasive/non-contact plant …

Modelling Walleye Population And Its Cannibalism Effect, Quan Zhou

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Walleye is a very common recreational fish in Canada with a strong cannibalism tendency, such that walleyes with larger sizes will consume their smaller counterparts when food sources are limited or a surplus of adults is present. Cannibalism may be a factor promoting population oscillation. As fish reach a certain age or biological stage (i.e. biological maturity), the number of fish achieving that stage is known as fish recruitment. The objective of this thesis is to model the walleye population with its recruitment and cannibalism effect. A matrix population model has been introduced to characterize the walleye population into three …

Nonlinear Waves, Instabilities And Singularities In Plasma And Hydrodynamics, Denis Albertovich Silantyev

Mathematics & Statistics ETDs

This work concentrates on Langmuir wave filamentation instability in the kinetic regime of plasma and computation of Stokes wave with high precision using conformal maps.

Nonlinear effects are present in almost every area of science as soon as one tries to go beyond the first order approximation. In particular, nonlinear waves emerge in such areas as hydrodynamics, nonlinear optics, plasma physics, quantum physics, etc. The results of this work are related to nonlinear waves in two areas, plasma physics and hydrodynamics, united by concepts of instability, singularity and advanced numerical methods used for their investigation.

The first part of this …

Lattice Calculation Of Nucleon Isovector Axial Charge With Improved Currents, Jian Liang, Yi-Bo Yang, Keh-Fei Liu, Andrei Alexandru, Terrence Draper, Raza Sabbir Sufian

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

We employ dimension-4 operators to improve the local vector and axial-vector currents and calculate the nucleon isovector axial coupling g³_A with overlap valence on 2 + 1-flavor domain wall fermion (DWF) sea. Using the equality of g³_A from the spatial and temporal components of the axial-vector current as a normalization condition, we find that g³_A is increased by a few percent towards the experimental value. The excited-state contamination has been taken into account with three time separations between the source and sink. The improved axial charges g³_A(24I) = 1.22(4)(3) …

Fresnel Spatial Filtering Of Quasihomogeneous Sources For Wave Optics Simulations, Milo W. Hyde Iv, Santasri Bose-Pillai

Faculty Publications

High-spatial-frequency optical fields or sources are often encountered when simulating directed energy, active imaging, or remote sensing systems and scenarios. These spatially broadband fields are a challenge in wave optics simulations because the sampling required to represent and then propagate these fields without aliasing is often impractical. To address this, two spatial filtering techniques are presented. The first, called Fresnel spatial filtering, finds a spatially band-limited source that, after propagation, produces the exact observation plane field as the broadband source over a user-specified region of interest. The second, called statistical or quasihomogeneous spatial filtering, finds a spatially band-limited source that, …

Gravitation And Black Hole Electrodynamics, Maria Rodriguez

Funded Research Records

No abstract provided.

Investigation Of Copper Cysteamine Nanoparticles As A New Type Of Radiosensitiers For Colorectal Carcinoma Treatment, Zhipeng Liu, Li Xiong, Guoqing Ouyang, Lun Ma, Sunil Sahi, Kunpeng Wang, Liangwu Lin, He Huang, Xiongying Miao, Wei Chen, Yu Wen

Physics Faculty Publications

Copper Cysteamine (Cu-Cy) is a new photosensitizer and a novel radiosensitizer that can be activated by light, X-ray and microwave to produce singlet oxygen for cancer treatment. However, the killing mechanism of Cu-Cy nanoparticles on cancer cells is not clear yet and Cu-Cy nanoparticles as novel radiosensitizers have never been tested on colorectal cancers. Here, for the frst time, we investigate the treatment efciency of Cu-Cy nanoparticles on SW620 colorectal cells and elucidate the underlying mechanisms of the efects. The results show that X-ray activated Cu-Cy nanoparticles may kill SW620 cancerscells is in a dose-dependent manner. The JC-1 staining shows …

Ua12/2/1 College Heights Herald, Vol. 93, No. 2, Wku Student Affairs

WKU Administration Documents

WKU campus newspaper reporting campus, athletic and Bowling Green, Kentucky news. This issue contains articles:

• Kast, Monica. Total Solar Eclipse Lowers Temperatures
• Collins, Emma. Students Receive a Gouda Opportunity – Hilltopper Creamery
• DeLetter, Emily. Dean of College of Education to Retire After 28 Years – Sam Evans
• Ziege, Nicole. Student Government Association Has First Meeting of New School Year
• Alvey, Rebekah. New Program Supports First-generation Students – Intercultural Student Engagement Center
• Collins, Emma. Advertising & Public Relations Officially Change Departments
• Gibson, Helen. Hello from the WKU Talisman
• King, Jennifer. Editorial Cartoon re: Donald Trump
• Leonard, Nicole. Your Opinion, Not Theirs …

Cobalt-Doped Ceria/Reduced Graphene Oxide Nanocomposite As An Efficient Oxygen Reduction Reaction Catalyst And Supercapacitor Material, Shaikh Parwaiz, Kousik Bhunia, Ashok Kumar Das, Mohammad Mansoob Khan Dr, Debabrata Pradhan

Dr. Mohammad Mansoob Khan

"Blinded By The Lines: Mid-Ir Spectra Of Mira Variables Taken With Spitzer", Dana Baylis-Aguirre, Michelle J. Creech-Eakman, Donald G. Luttermoser, Tina Gueth

Donald G. Luttermoser

We present preliminary analysis of mid-infrared spectra of M-type and C-type Mira variables. Due to the brightness of this sample, it is straightforward to monitor changes with phase in the infrared spectral features of these regular pulsators. We have spectra of 25 Mira variables, taken with phase, using the Spitzer Infrared Spectrograph (IRS) high-resolution module. Each star has multiple spectra obtained over a one-year period from 2008-09. This is a rich, unique data set due to multiple observations of each star and the high signal-to-noise ratio from quick exposure times to prevent saturation of the IRS instrument. This paper focuses …

Holdrege Nebraska State Soil, Nebraska Society Of Professional Soil Scientists

Conservation and Survey Division

No abstract provided.

Ionic Liquid Extraction Unveils Previously Occluded Humic-Bound Iron In Peat Soil Pore Water, Timothy J. Veverica, Evan S. Kane, Amy Marcarelli, Sarah A. Green

Amy Marcarelli

Globally, peatland ecosystems store tremendous amounts of C relative to their extent on the landscape, largely owing to saturated soils which limit decomposition. While there is still considerable uncertainty regarding CO2 production potential below the water table in peatland ecosystems, extracellular Fe reduction has been suggested as a dominant pathway for anaerobic metabolism. However, colorimetric methods commonly used to quantitate Fe and partition between redox species are known to be unreliable in the presence of complex humic substances, which are common in peatland pore water. We evaluated both the standard o-phenanthroline (o-P) Method and an ionic liquid extraction (ILE) Method …

Differential Preservation Of Vertebrates In Southeast Asian Caves, Julien Louys, Shimona Kealy, Sue O'Connor, Gilbert J. Price, Stuart Hawkins, Ken Aplin, Yan Rizal, Jahdi Zaim, Mahirta, Daud A. Tanudirjo, Wahyu Dwijo Santoso, Ati Rati Hidayah, Agus Trihascaryo, Rachel Wood, Joseph Bevitt, Tara Clark

International Journal of Speleology

Caves have been an important source of vertebrate fossils for much of Southeast Asia, particularly for the Quaternary. Despite this importance, the mechanisms by which vertebrate remains accumulate and preserve in Southeast Asian caves has never been systematically reviewed or examined. Here, we present the results of three years of cave surveys in Indonesia and Timor-Leste, describing cave systems and their attendant vertebrate accumulations in diverse geological, biogeographical, and environmental settings. While each cave system is unique, we find that the accumulation and preservation of vertebrate remains are highly dependent on local geology and environment. These factors notwithstanding, we find …

Grnsight: A Web Application And Service For Visualizing Models Of Small- To Medium-Scale Gene Regulatory Networks, Kam D. Dahlquist, John David N. Dionisio, Ben G. Fitzpatrick, Nicole A. Anguiano, Anindita Varshneya, Britain J. Southwick, Mihir Samdarshi

Ben G. Fitzpatrick

GRNsight is a web application and service for visualizing models of gene regulatory networks (GRNs). A gene regulatory network (GRN) consists of genes, transcription factors, and the regulatory connections between them which govern the level of expression of mRNA and protein from genes. The original motivation came from our efforts to perform parameter estimation and forward simulation of the dynamics of a differential equations model of a small GRN with 21 nodes and 31 edges. We wanted a quick and easy way to visualize the weight parameters from the model which represent the direction and magnitude of the influence of …

Ecosystem Modeling Of College Drinking: Parameter Estimation And Comparing Models To Data, Azmy S. Ackleh, Ben G. Fitzpatrick, Richard Scribner, Neal Simonsen, Jeremy J. Thibodeaux

Ben G. Fitzpatrick

Recently we developed a model composed of five impulsive differential equations that describes the changes in drinking patterns (that persist at epidemic level) amongst college students. Many of the model parameters cannot be measured directly from data; thus, an inverse problem approach, which chooses the set of parameters that results in the “best” model to data fit, is crucial for using this model as a predictive tool. The purpose of this paper is to present the procedure and results of an unconventional approach to parameter estimation that we developed after more common approaches were unsuccessful for our specific problem. The …

Optimization And Control Of Agent-Based Models In Biology: A Perspective, G. An, B. G. Fitzpatrick, S. Christley, P. Federico, A. Kanarek, R. Miller Neilan, M. Oremland, R. Salinas, R. Laubeanbacher, S. Lenhart

Ben G. Fitzpatrick

Agent-based models (ABMs) have become an increasingly important mode of inquiry for the life sciences. They are particularly valuable for systems that are not understood well enough to build an equation-based model. These advantages, however, are counterbalanced by the difficulty of analyzing and using ABMs, due to the lack of the type of mathematical tools available for more traditional models, which leaves simulation as the primary approach. As models become large, simulation becomes challenging. This paper proposes a novel approach to two mathematical aspects of ABMs, optimization and control, and it presents a few first steps outlining how one might …

Robustness, Weak Stability, And Stability In Distribution Of Adaptive Filteringalgorithms Under Model Mismatch, Ben G. Fitzpatrick, G. Yin, Le Yi Wang

Ben G. Fitzpatrick

This work is concerned with robustness, convergence, and stability of adaptive filtering (AF) type algorithms in the presence of model mismatch. The algorithms under consideration are recursive and have inherent multiscale structure. They can be considered as dynamic systems, in which the `state' changes much more slowly than the perturbing noise. Beyond the existing results on adaptive algorithms, model mismatch significantly affects convergence properties of AF algorithms, raising issues of algorithm robustness. Weak convergence and weak stability (i.e., recurrence) under model mismatch are derived. Based on the limiting stochastic differential equations of suitably scaled iterates, stability in distribution is established. …

Model Application Niche Analysis: Assessing The Transferability And Generalizability Of Ecological Models, Jessica B. Moon, Theodore H. Dewitt, Melissa N. Errend, Randall J. F. Bruins, Mary E. Kentula, Sarah J. Chamberlain, M. Siobhan Fennessy, Kusum J. Naithani

United States Environmental Protection Agency: Publications

The use of models by ecologists and environmental managers, to inform environmental management and decision-making, has grown exponentially in the past 50 yr. Due to logistical, economical, and theoretical benefits, model users frequently transfer preexisting models to new sites where data are scarce. Modelers have made significant progress in understanding how to improve model generalizability during model development. However, models are always imperfect representations of systems and are constrained by the contextual frameworks used during their development. Thus, model users need better ways to evaluate the possibility of unintentional misapplication when transferring models to new sites. We propose a method …

Enrollment Decision-Making In U.S. Forestry And Related Natural Resource Degree Programs, Mark Rouleau, Terry Sharik, Samantha Whitens, Adam Wellstead

Michigan Tech Publications

This article investigates enrollment decision-making trends among students currently enrolled in forestry and related natural resource (FRNR) degree programs in the United States. We conducted an online survey administered to all student participants attending the Society of American Foresters (SAF) National Convention in Salt Lake City, UT, in 2014 to obtain our enrollment decision-making data. Students were asked to rank the enrollment factors they considered most important to their decision to enroll, and factors that caused them to hesitate when enrolling in their degree program. We found that the “typical” FRNR enrollee was a person who enjoyed being outdoors and …

Calcium-Mediated Control Of S100 Proteins: Allosteric Communication Via An Agitator/Signal Blocking Mechanism., Yiming Xiao, Gary S Shaw, Lars Konermann

Chemistry Publications

Allosteric proteins possess dynamically coupled residues for the propagation of input signals to distant target binding sites. The input signals usually correspond to "effector is present" or "effector is not present". Many aspects of allosteric regulation remain incompletely understood. This work focused on S100A11, a dimeric EF-hand protein with two hydrophobic target binding sites. An annexin peptide (Ax) served as the target. Target binding is allosterically controlled by Ca²⁺ over a distance of ∼26 Å. Ca²⁺ promotes formation of a [Ca₄ S100 Ax₂] complex, where the Ax peptides are accommodated between helices III/IV and III'/IV'. …

Foundations, 2, David Peak

Foundations

The double slit experiment in dim light – photons!

Let’s imagine doing the double slit experiment again, but now in very dim light. To do so requires putting the laser, plate, and collector in a sealed, light-tight box. Inserting neutral density filters in the beam between the laser and the double slit plate decreases the intensity of the beam striking the plate. In fact, the experiment can be done at such a low intensity that a human eye will not see any light on the CCD collector; but the CCD can. Under these conditions, the number of pixels that “light …