Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Conformational Polymorphism In Organic Crystals: Structural And Functional Aspects - A Review, Bidisha Sengupta, Pradeep K. Sengupta, Romans Grant1, Matthew Beasley1, Benjamin Mason1, Tanesha Love1, Larissa Barroso9, Mariela Alvarado9, M S. Zaman

Faculty Publications

Polymorphism in organic crystals involves the formation of isomeric molecular identities. It is dependent on the structural arrangement due to inter-atomic interactions, as well as external stimuli, which include temperature, visible and UV radiation. Conformational polymorphism of organic crystalline molecules is often the result of isomerism due to the twisting and turning of angular bonds. The arrangement of the atoms supports different types of bonding mechanisms (which include hydrogen bonding) within the same compound. This, in turn, results in the formation of cis/trans configurational isomers or a proton transfer species (tautomer), having different functional properties. The conformers support the flexibility …

A Hubble Pancet Study Of Hat-P-11b: A Cloudy Neptune With A Low Atmospheric Metallicity, Yayaati Chachan, Heather A. Knutson, Peter Gao, Tiffany Kataria, Ian Wong, Gregory W. Henry, Bjorn Benneke, Michael Zhang, Joanna Barstow, Jacob L. Bean, Thomas Mikal-Evans, Nikole K. Lewis, Megan Mansfield, Mercedes López-Morales, Nikolay Nikolov, David K. Sing, Hannah Wakeford

Information Systems and Engineering Management Research Publications

We present the first comprehensive look at the 0.35–5 μm transmission spectrum of the warm (∼800 K) Neptune HAT-P-11b derived from 13 individual transits observed using the Hubble and Spitzer Space Telescopes. Along with the previously published molecular absorption feature in the 1.1–1.7 μm bandpass, we detect a distinct absorption feature at 1.15 μm and a weak feature at 0.95 μm, indicating the presence of water and/or methane with a combined significance of 4.4σ. We find that this planet's nearly flat optical transmission spectrum and attenuated near-infrared molecular absorption features are best matched by models incorporating a high-altitude cloud layer. …

The Effect Of The 21 August 2017 Total Solar Eclipse On The Phase Of Vlf/Lf Signals, A. Rozhnoi, M. Solovieva, S. Shalimov, Dimitar Ouzounov, P. Gallagher, G. Verth, J. Mccauley, S. Shelyag, V. Fedun

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

An experimental study of the phase and amplitude observations of sub‐ionospheric very low and low frequency (VLF/LF) signals is performed to analyze the response of the lower ionosphere during the 21 August 2017 total solar eclipse in the United States of America. Three different sub‐ionospheric wave paths are investigated. The length of the paths varies from 2,200 to 6,400 km, and the signal frequencies are 21.4, 25.2, and 40.75 kHz. The two paths cross the region of the total eclipse, and the third path is in the region of 40–60% of obscuration. None of the signals reveal any noticeable amplitude …

Sampling Methods For Luminescence Dating Of Subsurface Deposits From Cores, Michelle Nelson, Tammy M. Rittenour, Harriet Cornachione

Geosciences Faculty Publications

Study of subsurface deposits often requires coring or drilling to obtain samples for sedimentologic and geochemical analysis. Geochronology is a critical piece of information for stratigraphic correlation and rate calculations. Increasingly, luminescence dating is applied to sediment cores to obtain depositional ages. This paper provides examples and discussion of guidelines for sampling sediment core for luminescence dating. Preferred protocols are dependent on the extraction method, sedimentology, core integrity, and storage conditions. The methods discussed include subsampling of sediment in opaque core-liners, cores without liners, previously open (split) cores, bucket auger samples, and cuttings, under red lighting conditions. Two important factors …

Research Of Parabolic Surface Points In Galilean Space, Abdullaaziz Artykbaev, Bekzod Sultanov

Bulletin of National University of Uzbekistan: Mathematics and Natural Sciences

The paper studies the surfaces of the Galilean space $R_3^1$. First, we consider the geometry of the surface in a small neighborhood of a point on the surface. Basically, we studied the points of the surface where at least one of the principal curvature appeals to zero. Two classes of points are defined where at least one of the principal curvature is zero. These points are divided into two types, parabolic and especially parabolic. It is proved that these neighborhoods using the movement of space is impossible to move each other. A sweep of surfaces with parabolic and especially parabolic …

Chemostratigraphic Correlations Across The First Major Trilobite Extinction And Faunal Turnovers Between Laurentia And South China, Jih-Pai Lin, Frederick A. Sunberg, Ganqing Jiang, Isabel P. Montanez, Thomas Wotte

Geoscience Faculty Research

During Cambrian Stage 4 (~514 Ma) the oceans were widely populated with endemic trilobites and three major faunas can be distinguished: olenellids, redlichiids, and paradoxidids. The lower–middle Cambrian boundary in Laurentia was based on the first major trilobite extinction event that is known as the Olenellid Biomere boundary. However, international correlation across this boundary (the Cambrian Series 2–Series 3 boundary) has been a challenge since the formal proposal of a four-series subdivision of the Cambrian System in 2005. Recently, the base of the international Cambrian Series 3 and of Stage 5 has been named as the base of the Miaolingian …

Chemical Tools And Treatments For Neurological Disorders And Infectious Diseases, Andrea Lemus

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Neurological disorders have multiple etiologies such as genetics and age. Stress related disorders are becoming more common and diagnosed more often. Mental health disorders are no longer being treated as purely psychological. Mechanisms into the underlying factors of these disorders continue to bring this area to new frontiers. Chapter 2 of this dissertation focuses on the efforts made to prove the association of the protein FKBP51 to the stress response. We synthesized and used a molecular tool to discover and prove these interactions.

The study of neurodegenerative diseases is of continued importance as the world reaches record numbers of an …

Antarctic Deep Sea Coral And Tropical Fungal Endophyte: Novel Chemistry For Drug Discovery, Anne-Claire D. Limon

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Considered the pulse controlling the biological interactions and contributing to the ecological survival of organisms, natural products have intrigued, challenged, and stimulated the scientific and non-scientific minds for millennia. Drug resistance and the lack of suitable potent drugs against neglected tropical diseases further motivate the biological activity assessment of these secondary metabolites, when possible.

This thesis describes the chemical investigation of two marine organisms and the elucidation of eight novel structures.

The study of a deep sea Antarctic coral unveils six novel terpenoid structures from three different molecular classes: sesquiterpenoid alcyopterosins, a triterpene steroid, and three prostaglandins. While mass availability …

@Houstonpolice: An Exploratory Case Of Twitter During Hurricane Harvey, Seungwon Yang, Brenton Stewart

Faculty Publications

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the Houston Police Department (HPD)’s public engagement efforts using Twitter during Hurricane Harvey, which was a large-scale urban crisis event.

Design/methodology/approach

This study harvested a corpus of over 13,000 tweets using Twitter’s streaming API, across three phases of the Hurricane Harvey event: preparedness, response and recovery. Both text and social network analysis (SNA) techniques were employed including word clouds, n-gram analysis and eigenvector centrality to analyze data.

Findings

Findings indicate that departmental tweets coalesced around topics of protocol, reassurance and community resilience. Twitter accounts of governmental agencies, such as …

Towards Completely Automated Glycan Synthesis, Matteo Panza

Dissertations

Carbohydrates are ubiquitous both in nature as biologically active compounds and in medicine as pharmaceuticals. Although there has been continued interest in the synthesis of carbohydrates, chemical methods require specialized knowledge and hence remain cumbersome. The need for development of rapid, efficient and operationally simple procedures has come to the fore. This dissertation focuses on the development of a fully automated platform that will enable both experts and non-specialists to perform the synthesis of glycans. Existing automated methods for the synthesis of oligosaccharides are highly sophisticated, operationally complex, and require significant user know-how. By contrast, high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) …

Statistical Methods And Validation Procedures For Spike Sorting, Michael Thomas

University Honors Theses

Spike sorting is the process of converting a recording of the electrical activity generated by neurons firing in the brain, into a representation of the timings for each distinct neuron's firing. This representation of neuronal firings, when paired with data on the subjects' perceptions or actions during the recording, can then be used to map patterns of brain activity to specific stimuli or behaviors. Here we will examine the evolution of mathematical techniques employed to tackle this problem, as well as examine a few of the still open questions.

Assessing The Efficacy Of Virtual Experiments In The General Chemistry Laboratory, Cory Jerome Hensen

Dissertations and Theses

As more students enroll in chemistry courses, institutions are faced with increasing costs and limited laboratory space to keep up with the demand. One solution some institutions have turned to is the incorporation of virtual experiments into the curriculum, as this can lower costs and increase the availability of laboratory space. Some institutions have offered sections that complete all of their experiments in a virtual environment, others have offered sections that alternate between a traditional hands-on experiment and a virtual experiment, and some institutions have replaced only select experiments throughout the curriculum with a virtual experiment. To begin to be …

Trends And Disparities In Self-Reported And Measured Osteoporosis Among Us Adults, 2007-2014., Qing Wu, Yingke Xu, Ge Lin

Environmental & Occupational Health Faculty Publications

(1) Background: Studies examining osteoporosis trends among US adults by different socioeconomic status (SES) are limited. The prevalence of self-reported osteoporosis in the US is rarely reported. (2) Methods: Data from the National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey (NHANES) between 2007–2008 and 2013–2014 cycles were analyzed. Age-adjusted prevalence of self-reported and that of measured osteoporosis were calculated overall and by sex, race/ethnicity, education attainment, and SES. (3) Results: The prevalence of self-reported osteoporosis was higher than that of measured osteoporosis in all three survey cycles for women, and in 2007–2008 and 2009–2010 for men. Participants with high school/GED or higher …

Male Burmese Pythons Follow Female Scent Trails And Show Sex-Specific Behaviors, Shannon A. Richard, Eric A. Tillman, John S. Humphrey, Michael L. Avery, M. Rockwell Parker

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Animals communicate with potential mates using species-specific signals, and pheromones are powerful sexual signals that modify conspecific behavior to facilitate mate location. Among the vertebrates, snakes are especially adept in mate searching via chemical trailing, which is particularly relevant given that many snake species are invasive outside their native ranges. Chemical signals used in mate choice are, thus, potentially valuable tools for management of invasive snake species. The Burmese python (Python bivittatus) is an invasive snake in the Florida Everglades where it is negatively impacting native fauna. In this study, we sought to: (i) determine if males can follow conspecific …

Robot Simulation Analysis, Jacob Miller, Jeremy Evert

Student Research

• Simulate virtual robot for test and analysis

• Analyze SLAM solutions using ROS

• Assemble a functional Turtlebot

• Emphasize projects related to current research trajectories for NASA, and general robotics applications

An Investigation Into Weather's Effect On Aerosol Particles Using Wrf And Mapss, Hayden Webb, Devin Smoot

Student Research

Aerosols are solid or liquid particles suspended in air or gas. Many processes contribute to increased aerosol particles in the atmosphere, such as winds, ocean waves, and industrial exhaust. Once suspended, particles can be carried thousands of miles before being returned to the ground by gravity or rain. Some particles can be suspended for several years and travel all around the world, these particles have the greatest impact on climate and weather.

Correction Factors For Kac–Moody Groups And T-Deformed Root Multiplicities, D. Muthiah, A. Puskás, Ian Whitehead

Mathematics & Statistics Faculty Works

We study a correction factor for Kac–Moody root systems which arises in the theory of p-adic Kac–Moody groups. In affine type, this factor is known, and its explicit computation is the content of the Macdonald constant term conjecture. The data of the correction factor can be encoded as a collection of polynomials mλ∈Z[t] indexed by positive imaginary roots λ. At t=0 these polynomials evaluate to the root multiplicities, so we consider mλ to be a t-deformation of mult(λ). We generalize the Peterson algorithm and the Berman–Moody formula for root multiplicities to compute mλ. As a consequence we deduce fundamental properties …

Variation In Host Home Range Size Decreases Rabies Vaccination Effectiveness By Increasing The Spatial Spread Of Rabies Virus, Katherine M. Mcclure, Amy T. Gilbert, Richard B. Chipman, Erin E. Rees, Kim M. Pepin

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

1. Animal movement influences the spatial spread of directly transmitted wildlife disease through host-host contact structure. Wildlife disease hosts vary in home range- associated foraging and social behaviours, which may increase the spread and intensity of disease outbreaks. The consequences of variation in host home range movement and space use on wildlife disease dynamics are poorly understood, but could help to predict disease spread and determine more effective disease management strategies.
2. We developed a spatially explicit individual-based model to examine the effect of spatiotemporal variation in host home range size on the spatial spread rate, persistence and incidence of rabies virus …

Facile One-Pot Synthesis Of Nico₂Se₄-Rgo On Ni Foam For High Performance Hybrid Supercapacitors, Bahareh Golrokh Amin, Jahangir Masud, Manashi Nath

Chemistry Faculty Research & Creative Works

A facile, innovative synthesis for the fabrication of NiCo₂Se₄-rGO on a Ni foam nanocomposite via a simple hydrothermal reaction is proposed. The as-prepared NiCo₂Se₄-rGO@Ni foam electrode was tested through pxrd, TEM, SEM, and EDS to characterize the morphology and the purity of the material. The bimetallic electrode exhibited outstanding electrochemical performance with a high specific capacitance of 2038.55 F g^-1 at 1 A g^-1. NiCo₂Se₄-rGO@Ni foam exhibits an extensive cycling stability after 1000 cycles by retaining 90% of its initial capacity. A superior energy density …

Building An Alternative Web Scraper For Big Data Analytics, Kurtis Clark, Amanda Evert

Student Research

Over the summer, I was given access to WebScraper3000 and asked to web scrape, collect internet data, from ratemyprofessors.com. I spent several months working with the program to accomplish this. It only ever seemed to work properly on websites where it has tutorials about scraping them. Even then, the program would only scrape the most rudimentary data in small amounts. If either of these two conditions were missing, the software would lose large quantities of data or just simply crash along the way. After collecting enough data to act as a sample for the research, I decided to abandon the …

Search For Gravitational-Wave Signals Associated With Gamma-Ray Bursts During The Second Observing Run Of Advanced Ligo And Advanced Virgo, Tiffany Summerscales, Ligo Scientific Collaboration And The Virgo Collaboration

Faculty Publications

We present the results of targeted searches for gravitational-wave transients associated with gamma-ray bursts during the second observing run of Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo, which took place from 2016 November to 2017 August. We have analyzed 98 gamma-ray bursts using an unmodeled search method that searches for generic transient gravitational waves and 42 with a modeled search method that targets compact-binary mergers as progenitors of short gamma-ray bursts. Both methods clearly detect the previously reported binary merger signal GW170817, with p-values of <9.38 × 10⁻⁶ (modeled) and 3.1 × 10⁻⁴ (unmodeled). We do not find any significant evidence for …

Mitogenomic Phylogenetic Analyses Of Leptogorgia Virgulata And Leptogorgia Hebes (Anthozoa: Octocorallia) From The Gulf Of Mexico Provides Insight On Gorgoniidae Divergence Between Pacific And Atlantic Lineages, Samantha Silvestri, Diego F. Figueroa, David Hicks, Nicole J. Figueroa

School of Earth, Environmental, and Marine Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

The use of genetics in recent years has brought to light the need to reevaluate the classification of many gorgonian octocorals. This study focuses on two Leptogorgia species—Leptogorgia virgulata and Leptogorgia hebes—from the northwestern Gulf of Mexico (GOM). We target complete mitochondrial genomes and mtMutS sequences, and integrate this data with previous genetic research of gorgonian corals to resolve phylogenetic relationships and estimate divergence times. This study contributes the first complete mitochondrial genomes for L. ptogorgia virgulata and L. hebes. Our resulting phylogenies stress the need to redefine the taxonomy of the genus Leptogorgia in its entirety. The fossil-calibrated divergence …

Covalently Functionalized Sawdust For The Remediation Of Phosphate From Agricultural Wastewater, Daniel Meister, David Ure, Angela Awada, Jean-Claude Barrette, Joel Gagnon, Bluent Mutus, John F. Trant

Chemistry and Biochemistry Publications

Phosphate remediation from wastewater is rapidly becoming an ever more attractive process due to a combination of both the economic pressure of increasing phosphate scarcity and the environmental damage caused by untreated agricultural runoff. Ideally, remediated phosphate will be recoverable and would be able to be reused as fertilizer. Many different resins have been investigated, but due to the scale of the challenge, any feasible solution will involve the use of very inexpensive waste products as the solid support. Sawdust, functionalized with iron-binding ligands, is such a potential resin. Sawdust alone binds 0.3 g/kg of phosphate which is insufficient. Iron …

Novel Star Map Identification Algorithm Using Improved Radial Features, Junyang Zhao, Zhili Zhang, Dianjian Liu, Zhaofa Zhou, Zhenjun Chang

Journal of System Simulation

Abstract: In order to improve the star map identification efficiency and insure the identification veracity, the radial feature is ameliorated by cyclic feature, and a new star map identification method based on the ameliorative radial feature matching is proposed. The star map data are processed according to quadrant order to establish the database of new radial feature. The radial feature matching between the observation stars in the matching star map and the reference star in the feature database is carried out in the order of circumferential quadrant. The star with the largest count in the star database is the final …

Copenhagen: Sustainable By Design, David P. Jones, Karen M. Watkins

Sustainability Research & Practice Seminar Presentations

No abstract provided.

A New Memristor Chaotic System And Its Application In Image Encryption, Shuanghui Qu, Zhihong Yang, Xuwei Rong, Shuhua Wu

Journal of System Simulation

Abstract: A new memristor chaotic system is designed by the method of bringing an ion migration memristor into the Chen system equation. The basic dynamic characteristics of the memristive system are investigated via bifurcation, Lyapunov exponent et al, which proves the validity of the new system. The new memristor system is applied in the image encryption to improve the security of the encryption key. A dual encryption algorithm is used, which makes every pixel value of plaintext influence all pixel values of ciphertext. Although there is no direct link between plaintext and ciphertext, the sensibility of ciphertext varying with …

Robust And Self-Synchronous Steganography For Voice-Over-Ip Based On Ldpc Codes, Zhanzhan Gao, Guangming Tang, Haitao Song

Journal of System Simulation

Abstract: VoIP (Voice over IP) is a kind of voice communication technology based on UDP/IP protocols, so packet loss will inevitably happen when the channel environment deteriorates. Besides that, stego VoIP data flows are real-time and have no head or tail, which pose more challenges to accurately extract the secret messages. This paper proposes a robust and self-synchronous VoIP steganography method, which solves the above two problems under the premise of maintaining good imperceptibility. In this method, low density parity check (LDPC) codes are introduced to preprocess the secret data, and the encoded data are embedded into voice …

Thermodynamic Simulation Of Carbonitride Precipitation In Micro-Alloyed Steel, Weigang Li, Yang Wei, Liu Chao, Baokang Yan

Journal of System Simulation

Abstract: A mathematical model for calculating the precipitation of carbonitride in the process of hot rolling of composite micro-alloyed steel is established, and the interaction between the carbonitride and AlN is considered. In view of the difficulties of the thermodynamic model that the variables are multiple, the equations are nonlinear and the boundary conditions are determined difficultly, the Newton-Raphson numerical algorithm characterized by coupled problem is adopted. The precipitation starting temperature and precipitation sequence of carbonitride and AlN at different compositions are determined. The equilibrium composition of elements in austenite, the composition and mass fraction of carbonitride precipitates, as well …

Numerical Simulation For Airflow Field Around Car Wheels, Haibo Huang, Xudong Yu, Qingguo Liu, Zhang Tao, Jianan Dong

Journal of System Simulation

Abstract: The airflow field characteristics around the wheels have great influence on the flying of road dust and tire wear particles. Using the rotating wall boundary technology, an aerodynamic model of the vehicle-tire was built and verified. The airflow field around the wheels was obtained. The results show that the two airflows between the wheel and the wheel guard meet leading to the vortex. The airflows mainly overflow near the intersection. Due to the significant pumping effects, the airflow tends to fly to outside and upward near the front and rear wheels, respectively. In the …

Effect Of Flow Field Environment On Microstructure Surface Preventing Microorganism Attachment, Chunxi Li, Quanxi Xue, Xiangshan Zhang, Xuemin Ye

Journal of System Simulation

Abstract: The kinetic characteristics of microorganism model moving in different surfaces and flow field environments are simulated. The internal flow dynamics and the inherent mechanism of antifouling on microstructure surface are examined. The results indicate that for the static flow field, vortices are generated in the micro-pits as microorganism moves above microstructure surface. The velocity in the microstructure surface is greater than that in the smooth surface, and the strain rate and shear stress exerted on microorganism are relatively smaller resulting in the rapid passing the microstructure surface. For the dynamic flow field, the flow field presents regular fluctuations …