Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Solid-State Nmr Studies Of Carbon Capture And Carbon Mineralization Reactions, Jeremy Moore

Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation presents research on the chemistry of carbon dioxide capture and mineralization which has been accomplished with a variety of solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy techniques. Materials used for carbon capture interact with CO2 through different adsorption mechanisms, physisorption and chemisorption. The physisorption systems studied have shown that adsorbed CO2 undergoes a hopping mechanism within the material. The studies of chemisorption systems indicate a mixture of adsorption products forms during the adsorption interaction. Carbon mineralization reactions have been studied to better understand the reactions that can occur at underground carbon sequestrations sites that are used for storing CO2. …

Structural And Functional Analysis Of The Reaction Center Complexes From The Photosynthetic Green Sulfur Bacteria, Guannan He

Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The reaction center (RC) complex of the green sulfur bacterium Chlorobaculum tepidum is composed of the Fenna-Matthews-Olson (FMO) antenna protein and the reaction center core (RCC) complex. The RCC complex has four subunits: PscA, PscB, PscC, and PscD. The structure of the intact and functional FMO-RCC complex was studied by chemically cross-linking the purified sample followed by biochemical and spectroscopic analysis. The interaction sites of the cross-linked complex were also studied using LC-MS/MS. A structural model is proposed based on those results. In addition, the RCC complexes were purified, both the PscA-PscC complex from the Chlorobaculum tepidum and the PscA-PscB …

Topics In Lattice Gauge Theory And Theoretical Physics, Javad Komijani

Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation contains two completely independent parts.

In Part 1,

I investigate effective field theories and their applications in lattice gauge theory.

Quantum chromodynamics (QCD) as a part of the standard model (SM) describes the physics of quarks and gluons.

There are several numerical and analytical methods to tackle the QCD problems.

Lattice QCD is the dominant numerical method.

Effective field theories,

on the other hand, provide analytic methods to describe the low-energy dynamics of QCD.

To use the effective theories in lattice QCD,

I develop chiral perturbation theory for heavy-light mesons with staggered

quarks---an implementation of fermions on lattice. …

Enhanced Magnetism In Dy And Tb At Extreme Pressure, Jinhyuk Lim

Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations

At ambient pressure all lanthanide metals order magnetically at temperatures at or below ambient. The magnetic ordering is known to result from the indirect exchange interaction between localized 4f magnetic moments mediated by the surrounding conduction electrons, the so-called Ruderman-Kittel-Kasuya-Yosida (RKKY) interaction. With the RKKY interaction the magnetic ordering temperature To is expected to be proportional to the de Gennes factor which is a function of the Landé g factor gJ and the total angular momentum J. For example, Gd has the highest value of To, 292 K, at ambient pressure as it has the largest de Gennes factor of …

Structure And Function Of Cytochrome Containing Electron Transport Chain Proteins From Anoxygenic Photosynthetic Bacteria, Erica Lois-Wunderlich Majumder

Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines the structure and function of photosynthetic proteins that contain c-type heme cofactors that function in the electron transport chains of anaerobic phototrophic bacteria. The diversity and range of these cytochromes proteins was explored. Then, individual proteins were studied in detail. The diheme cytochrome c from Heliobacteria modesticaldum was studied using hydrogen deuterium exchange mass spectrometry and homology modeling. A structural model of the protein and a mechanism for the cytochrome bc complex was proposed. Next, the monoheme cytochrome c subunit from the Alternative Complex III from the Filamentous Anoxygenic Phototrophs was studied using biochemistry and found to …

Thermophysical Properties And Structural Evolution Of Supercooled Metallic Liquids, Matthew Blodgett

Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Metallic glasses (and glasses in general) offer unique material properties compared to their crystalline counterparts. Yet the physics of the glass transition remain poorly understood. By examining the evolution of properties in the liquid as it is cooled toward the glass transition we hope to discern how they relate to glass formation.

Of particular interest is the concept of kinetic fragility, first defined in terms of the viscosity behavior near the glass transition, and what it means for a high temperature liquid to be “fragile” or “strong.” This dissertation presents several studies of metallic liquids using the electrostatic levitation technique. …

An Overview Of The Triceratops, Sarah Kanavy

The Compass

A long, long time ago, magnificent creatures roamed the Earth. Although these creatures may have varied greatly in size, shape, color, or dietary needs, the one thing that these creatures all had in common was a specific clade: Dinosauria. A part of this clade was one dinosaur in particular, Triceratops horridus, which is Greek for “three-horn face”. They received this name because of the three horns protruding from their face: two long ones above their eyes and a shorter one from their nose. Fossil evidence shows that Triceratops horridus lived during the Late Cretaceous period and was one of the …

Estimated Mouse Population At The Pennypack Ecological Restoration Trust Vs. Reported Incidence Of Lyme Disease In Pennsylvania, Erika Clark

The Compass

The purpose of this research paper is to determine if the mouse population at the PennyPack Trust is correlated with occurrence of Lyme disease state wide.

Mark-recapture studies of white footed mice, Peromyscus Leucopus, were held at the PennyPack Ecological Restoration Trust in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania in order to estimate the population sizes over six years. The common method of ear tagging has been shown not to interfere with the daily activities of mice, or increase their chances of mortality.

White-footed mice are primary hosts of the black-legged tick, Ixodes scapularis, which is the vector of Borrelia burgdorferi, the bacteria that …

Note Taking Effectiveness In The Modern Classroom, K.M. Beck

The Compass

The technological revolution has forever changed the way that people in many different environments work and learn. The modern classroom is no exception; it is rapidly changing due to the influx of technology such as laptops, tablets, smart boards, etc. This study will examine the effect that such technology has had on the modern day learning environment. Specifically, what effect does typing lecture notes on a laptop instead of writing them by hand have on test scores? Previous literature on this topic varies greatly, and covers a number of different facets of note-taking behavior. Early work in memory identifies three …

Topographic Signatures Of Geodynamics, Samuel G. Roy

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The surface of the Earth retains an imperfect memory of the diverse geodynamic, climatic, and surface transport processes that cooperatively drive the evolution of Earth. In this thesis I explore the potential of using topographic analysis and landscape evolution models to unlock past and/or present evidence for geodynamic activity. I explore the potential isolated effects of geodynamics on landscape evolution, particularly focusing on two byproducts of tectonic strain: rock displacement and damage. Field evidence supports a strong correlation between rock damage and erodibility, and a numerical sensitivity analysis supports the hypothesis that an order of magnitude weakening in rock, well …

Improving Production Of Carbon Nanotube Composites, Dan Broadbent

Faculty Publications

Carbon nanotube (CNT) composites offer great promise for making lighter, thinner and stronger structures. Producing CNT composites, however, can be tricky. The focus of this work is to improve production yields of CNT composites by doing research and development in two areas:

• Research the relationship between ethylene gas concentrations used during CNT growth and yields of usable composite films produced.
• Develop furnace for growing larger CNT samples, which will enable larger sizes and quantities of research product.

Software Metrics And Dashboard, Shilpika Shilpika, George K. Thiruvathukal, Saulo Aguiar, Konstantin Läufer, Nicholas J. Hayward

Computer Science: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Software metrics are a critical tool which provide continuous insight to products and processes and help build reliable software in mission critical environments. Using software metrics we can perform calculations that help assess the effectiveness of the underlying software or process. The two types of metrics relevant to our work is complexity metrics and in-process metrics. Complexity metrics tend to focus on intrinsic code properties like code complexity. In-process metrics focus on a higher-level view of software quality, measuring information that can provide insight into the underlying software development process.

Our aim is to develop and evaluate a metrics dashboard …

Combinatorial Polynomial Identity Theory, Mayada Khalil Shahada

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This dissertation consists of two parts. Part I examines certain Burnside-type conditions on the multiplicative semigroup of an (associative unital) algebra $A$.

A semigroup $S$ is called $n$-collapsing if, for every $a_1,\ldots, a_n \in S$, there exist functions $f\neq g$ on the set $\{1,2,\ldots,n\}$ such that \begin{center} $s_{f(1)}\cdots s_{f(n)} = s_{g(1)}\cdots s_{g(n)}$. \end{center} If $f$ and $g$ can be chosen independently of the choice of $s_1,\ldots,s_n$, then $S$ satisfies a semigroup identity. A semigroup $S$ is called $n$-rewritable if $f$ and $g$ can be taken to be permutations. Semple and Shalev extended Zelmanov's Fields Medal writing solution of the Restricted …

Electrically Conductive Polyaniline Sensitized Defective-Tio2 For Improved Visible Light Photocatalytic And Photoelectrochemical Performance: A Synergistic Effect, M O. Ansari, Mohammad Mansoob Khan Dr, S A. Ansari, M H. Cho

Dr. Mohammad Mansoob Khan

Sulfonated polyaniline@pure-TiO2 (s-Pani@p-TiO2) and polyaniline@defective-TiO2 (s-Pani@m-TiO2) nanocomposites were prepared by the in-situ oxidative polymerization of aniline in the presence of TiO2 (p-TiO2 and m-TiO2) nanoparticles followed by sulfonation with fuming sulfuric acid. Defect-induced TiO2 (m-TiO2) nanoparticles were obtained by an electron beam (EB) treatment of commercial TiO2 (p-TiO2) nanoparticles. The resulting s-Pani@p-TiO2 and s-Pani@m-TiO2 nanocomposites were characterized by UV-visible diffuse absorbance spectroscopy, photoluminescence spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Polyaniline (Pani) was dispersed uniformly over the defective m-TiO2 surface with intimate contact on the interface to act cooperatively with the defects introduced deliberately to achieve remarkably …

Large-Scale And High-Resolution 3-D Cave Mapping By Terrestrial Laser Scanning: A Case Study Of The Domica Cave, Slovakia, Michal Gallay, Ján Kaňuk, Zdenko Hochmuth, John D. Meneely, Jaroslav Hofierka, Vladimír Sedlák

International Journal of Speleology

Mapping and modelling the complicated geometry of caves is a challenging task that has traditionally been undertaken by tacheometric surveying methods. These methods are excellent for capturing the general shape of a cave system but they are not suitable for high-speed, high-resolution mapping of complex surfaces found in this environment. Terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) technologies can acquire millions of points represented by 3-D coordinates, at very high spatial densities on complex multifaceted surfaces within minutes. In the last few years, advances in measurement speed, reduction in size / cost and increased portability of this technology has revolutionised the collection of …

Visible Light Responsive Systems Based On Metastable-State Photoacids, Yi Liao

Chemistry and Chemical Engineering Faculty Publications

Proton transfer is one of the most fundamental processes in nature. Metastable-state photoacids can reversibly generate a large proton concentration under visible light with moderate intensity. which provides a general approach to control various proton transfer processes. Several applications of mPAHs have been demonstrated recently including control of acid-catalyzed reactions, volume-change of hydrogels, polymer conductivity, bacteria killing, odorant release, and color change of materials. They have also been utilized to control supramolecular assemblies, molecular switches, microbial fuel cells and cationic sensors. In this talk, the mechanism, structure design, and applications of metastable-state photoacids are introduced. Recent development of different types …

X-Ray Structure Of A Mammalian Stearoyl-Coa Desaturase, Yonghong Bai, Jason G. Mccoy, Elena J. Levin, Pablo Sobrado, Kanagalaghatta R. Rajashankar, Brian G. Fox, Ming Zhou

Chemistry Faculty Research & Creative Works

Stearoyl-CoA desaturase (SCD) is conserved in all eukaryotes and introduces the first double bond into saturated fatty acyl-CoAs. Because the monounsaturated products of SCD are key precursors of membrane phospholipids, cholesterol esters and triglycerides, SCD is pivotal in fatty acid metabolism. Humans have two SCD homologues (SCD1 and SCD5), while mice have four (SCD1-SCD4). SCD1-deficient mice do not become obese or diabetic when fed a high-fat diet because of improved lipid metabolic profiles and insulin sensitivity^5,6. Thus, SCD1 is a pharmacological target in the treatment of obesity, diabetes and other metabolic diseases⁷. SCD1 is an integral …

Schneefernerhaus As A Mountain Research Station For Clouds And Turbulence, S. Risius, H. Xu, F. Di Lorenzo, H. Xi, H. Siebert, R. A. Shaw, E. Bodenschatz

Michigan Tech Publications

Cloud measurements are usually carried out with airborne campaigns, which are expensive and are limited by temporal duration and weather conditions. Ground-based measurements at high-altitude research stations therefore play a complementary role in cloud study. Using the meteorological data (wind speed, direction, temperature, humidity, visibility, etc.) collected by the German Weather Service (DWD) from 2000 to 2012 and turbulence measurements recorded by multiple ultrasonic sensors (sampled at 10 Hz) in 2010, we show that the Umweltforschungsstation Schneefernerhaus (UFS) located just below the peak of Zugspitze in the German Alps, at a height of 2650 m, is a well-suited station for …

High-Resolution Measurement Of Cloud Microphysics And Turbulence At A Mountaintop Station, H. Siebert, R. A. Shaw, J. Ditas, T. Schmeissner, S. P. Malinowski, E. Bodenschatz, H. Xu

Michigan Tech Publications

Mountain research stations are advantageous not only for long-term sampling of cloud properties but also for measurements that are prohibitively difficult to perform on airborne platforms due to the large true air speed or adverse factors such as weight and complexity of the equipment necessary. Some cloud-turbulence measurements, especially Lagrangian in nature, fall into this category. We report results from simultaneous, high-resolution and collocated measurements of cloud microphysical and turbulence properties during several warm cloud events at the Umweltforschungsstation Schneefernerhaus (UFS) on Zugspitze in the German Alps. The data gathered were found to be representative of observations made with similar …

Curved Noncommutative Tori As Leibniz Quantum Compact Metric Space, Frédéric Latrémolière

Mathematics Preprint Series

We prove that curved noncommutative tori are Leibniz quantum compact metric spaces and that they form a continuous family over the group of invertible matrices with entries in the commutant of the quantum tori in the regular representation, when this group is endowed with a natural length function.

Applications Of Green Chemistry In Asymmetric Transfer Hydrogenation And Chiral Separations, Ruoqiu Wu

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Green chemistry has been applied to all aspects of the life cycle of chemically related products, including design, usage, manufacturing, analysis, and disposal. In this thesis, I focus on the green chemistry applications in organic synthesis and analytical chemistry. More specifically, allylic and chiral alcohols are abundant in natural sources such as in essential oils, and widely utilized as starting materials. They are also major components in food, fragrance, biocides and the pharmaceutical compounds. In this thesis, I report the first Ru-catalysed asymmetric transfer hydrogenation (ATH) of prochiral allylic alcohols. This reaction provides chiral secondary alcohols in excellent enantioselectivities and …

Biomass Burning Emissions And Potential Air Quality Impacts Of Volatile Organic Compounds And Other Trace Gases From Temperate Fuels Common In The United States, J. B. Gilman, B. M. Lerner, W. C. Kuster, P. D. Goldan, C. Warneke, P. R. Veres, J. M. Roberts, J. A. De Gouw, I. R. Burling, Robert Yokelson

Chemistry and Biochemistry Faculty Publications

A comprehensive suite of instruments was used to quantify the emissions of over 200 organic gases, including methane and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and 9 inorganic gases from 56 laboratory burns of 18 different biomass fuel types common in the southeastern, southwestern, or northern United States. A gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer (GC-MS) provided extensive chemical detail of discrete air samples collected during a laboratory burn and was complemented by real-time measurements of organic and inorganic species via an open-path Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (OP-FTIR) and 3 different chemical ionization-mass spectrometers. These measurements were conducted in February 2009 at the U.S. Department …

Anomalous High-Energy Waterfall-Like Electronic Structure In 5 D Transition Metal Oxide Sr2Iro4 With A Strong Spin-Orbit Coupling, Yan Liu, Li Yu, Xiaowen Jia, Jianzhou Zhao, Hongming Weng, Yingying Peng, Chaoyu Chen, Zhuojin Xie, Daixiang Mou, Junfeng He, Xu Liu, Ya Feng, Hemian Yi, Lin Zhao, Guodong Liu, Shaolong He, Xiaoli Dong, Jun Zhang, Zuyan Xu, Chuangtian Chen, Gang Cao, Xi Dai, Zhong Fang, X. J. Zhou

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

The low energy electronic structure of Sr₂IrO₄ has been well studied and understood in terms of an effective J_eff= 1/2 Mott insulator model. However, little work has been done in studying its high energy electronic behaviors. Here we report a new observation of the anomalous high energy electronic structure in Sr₂IrO₄. By taking high-resolution angle-resolved photoemission measurements on Sr₂IrO₄ over a wide energy range, we have revealed for the first time that the high energy electronic structures show unusual nearly-vertical bands that extend over a large energy range. …

Simulation Of Groundwater Flow And Analysis Of The Effects Of Water-Management Options In The North Platte Natural Resources District, Nebraska, Steven M. Peterson, Amanda T. Flynn, Joseph Vrabel, Derek W. Ryter

United States Geological Survey: Water Reports and Publications

The North Platte Natural Resources District (NPNRD) has been actively collecting data and studying groundwater resources because of concerns about the future availability of the highly inter-connected surface-water and groundwater resources. This report, prepared by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the North Platte Natural Resources District, describes a groundwater-flow model of the North Platte River valley from Bridgeport, Nebraska, extending west to 6 miles into Wyoming. The model was built to improve the understanding of the interaction of surface-water and groundwater resources, and as an optimization tool, the model is able to analyze the effects of water-management options …

Characterizing Demographicparameters Across Environmental Gradients: A Case Study With Ontario Moose, Garrett M. Street, Tal Avgar, Arthur R. Rodgers, John M. Fryxell

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

Population-level demographic characteristics as estimated by standard logistic growth models (i.e., carrying capacity and intrinsic growth rate) should vary with changes in habitat quality and availability of resources. However, few published studies have tested this hypothesis by comparing population growth rates across broad bioclimatic gradients, and fewer still the carrying capacities of those populations. We used time series data on moose (Alces alces) population densities based on aerial census and hunter harvest data for 34 management units across Ontario to estimate local carrying capacities and intrinsic growth rates. These population parameters were then regressed against associated habitat covariates for each …

Dendrochronological Analysis Of The Crowe Barn

Historic Structures

Dating historical structures using dendrochronology. The Historical Structures collection consists of reports that are the result of dendochronological analysis of timbers from structures in Pennsylvania and Ohio. Contributors: Wiesenberg, Nicholas

Development Of A Small Animal Conformal Irradiator With Dual Energy X-Ray Computed Tomography Imaging For Kilovoltage Dosimetry, Michael D. Jensen

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

External beam radiotherapy has become technically sophisticated with image guided radiation therapy (IGRT) and intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT). These technologies allow for precise delivery of radiation to geometric targets in cancer patients. However, many questions remain on how to best define targets based on biological information, such as functional imaging, and how to combine radiation with other cancer therapies. To help answer these questions, small animal preclinical studies are needed to generate data to inform clinical trials. However, the precise radiation delivery capabilities of IGRT and IMRT have not been available in the preclinical labs. To enable translational experiments …

Quantization Of Two Types Of Multisymplectic Manifolds, Baran Serajelahi

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This thesis is concerned with quantization of two types of multisymplectic manifolds that have multisymplectic forms coming from a Kahler form. In chapter 2 we show that in both cases they can be quantized using Berezin-Toeplitz quantization and that the quantizations have reasonable semiclassical properties.

In the last chapter of this work, we obtain two additional results. The first concerns the deformation quantization of the (2n-1)-plectic structure that we examine in chapter 2, we make the first step toward the definition of a star product on the Nambu-Poisson algebra (C^{\infty}(M),{.,...,.}). The second result concerns the algebraic properties of the generalized …

U.S. Drought Monitor, August 11, 2015, Brian Fuchs

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for August 11, 2015 (8/11/15) plus: U.S. crop areas experiencing drought (map), Approximate percentage of crop located in drought, by state (bar graph), Percent of crop area located in drought, past 52 weeks (line graph) for: Corn, Soybeans, Hay, Cattle, Winter wheat.

Software Design For An Intelligent Attitude Determination And Control System, Matthew Russell, Jeremy Straub

Jeremy Straub

Space exploration and satellite missions often carry equipment that must be accurately pointed towards distant targets, therefore making an effective attitude determination and control system (ADCS) a vital component of almost every spacecraft. However, the effectiveness of the ADCS could decrease drastically if components shift during launch, degrade in efficiency over the course of the mission, or simply fail. Prior work [0] has presented a concept for a adaptive ADCS which can respond to changing spacecraft conditions and environmental factors. This poster presents an implementation for a lazy learning ADCS is presented that uses past maneuver data to construct and …