Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Interference Effects For Intermediate Energy Electron-Impact Ionization Of H₂ And N₂ Molecules, Zehra Nur Ozer, Hari Chaluvadi, Don H. Madison, Mevlut Dogan

Physics Faculty Research & Creative Works

We have studied electron impact ionization of H₂ and N₂ molecules at intermediate energies to look for possible two center interference effects experimentally and theoretically. Here we report a study of the interference factor I for 250 eV electron-impact ionization. The experimental measurements are performed using a crossed-beam-type electron-electron coincidence spectrometer and theoretical calculations are obtained using the Molecular Three Body Distorted Wave Approximation (M3DW). We found that the I-factor demonstrated strong evidence for two-center interference effects for both H₂ and N₂. We also found that the I-factor is more sensitive to projectile angular scans …

No Thermal Anomalies In The Mantle Transition Zone Beneath An Incipient Continental Rift: Evidence From The First Receiver Function Study Across The Okavango Rift Zone, Botswana, Youqiang Yu, Kelly H. Liu, M. Moidaki, Cory A. Reed, Stephen S. Gao

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Mechanisms leading to the initiation and early-stage development of continental rifts remain enigmatic, in spite of numerous studies. Among the various rifting models, which were developed mostly based on studies of mature rifts, far-field stresses originating from plate interactions (passive rifting) and nearby active mantle upwelling (active rifting) are commonly used to explain rift dynamics. Situated atop of the hypothesized African Superplume, the incipient Okavango Rift Zone (ORZ) of northern Botswana is ideal to investigate the role of mantle plumes in rift initiation and development, as well as the interaction between the upper and lower mantle. The ORZ developed within …

Intrusion Detection System Of Industrial Control Networks Using Network Telemetry, Stanislav Ponomarev

Doctoral Dissertations

Industrial Control Systems (ICSs) are designed, implemented, and deployed in most major spheres of production, business, and entertainment. ICSs are commonly split into two subsystems - Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs) and Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems - to achieve high safety, allow engineers to observe states of an ICS, and perform various configuration updates. Before wide adoption of the Internet, ICSs used "air-gap" security measures, where the ICS network was isolated from other networks, including the Internet, by a physical disconnect [1]. This level of security allowed ICS protocol designers to concentrate on the availability and safety of …

Extinction In A Hyperdiverse Endemic Hawaiian Land Snail Family And Implications For The Underestimation Of Invertebrate Extinction, Claire Régnier, Philippe Bouchet, Kenneth Hayes, Norine Yeung, Carl Christensen, Daniel Chung, Benoit Fontaine, Robert Cowie

Department of Biology Faculty Publications

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List includes 832 species listed as extinct since 1600, a minuscule fraction of total biodiversity. This extinction rate is of the same order of magnitude as the background rate and has been used to downplay the biodiversity crisis. Invertebrates comprise 99% of biodiversity, yet the status of a negligible number has been assessed. We assessed extinction in the Hawaiian land snail family Amastridae (325 species, IUCN lists 33 as extinct). We did not use the stringent IUCN criteria, by which most invertebrates would be considered data deficient, but a more realistic …

Between Worlds: Securing Mixed Javascript/Actionscript Multi-Party Web Content, Phu Huu Phung, Maliheh Monshizadeh, Meera Sridhar, Kevin W. Hamlen, V. N. Venkatakrishnan

Computer Science Faculty Publications

Mixed Flash and JavaScript content has become increasingly prevalent; its purveyance of dynamic features unique to each platform has popularized it for myriad Web development projects. Although Flash and JavaScript security has been examined extensively, the security of untrusted content that combines both has received considerably less attention. This article considers this fusion in detail, outlining several practical scenarios that threaten the security of Web applications. The severity of these attacks warrants the development of new techniques that address the security of Flash-JavaScript content considered as a whole, in contrast to prior solutions that have examined Flash or JavaScript security …

Salient Object Detection Via Augmented Hypotheses, Tam Nguyen, Jose Sepulveda

Computer Science Faculty Publications

In this paper, we propose using augmented hypotheses which consider objectness, foreground, and compactness for salient object detection. Our algorithm consists of four basic steps. First, our method generates the objectness map via objectness hypotheses. Based on the objectness map, we estimate the foreground margin and compute the corresponding foreground map which prefers the foreground objects. From the objectness map and the foreground map, the compactness map is formed to favor the compact objects. We then derive a saliency measure that produces a pixel-accurate saliency map which uniformly covers the objects of interest and consistently separates foreground and background.

We …

Modeling Of Epizootics On Four Genera Of Arabian Gulf Corals, John Alexander Kluge

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

Coral colonies, from a reef near Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE), were counted and assessed for condition using photo-transects. An epidemic model, used to track how a communicable disease moves through a population, was constructed to help predict the future condition of this coral reef. In situ data from a disease outbreak that occurred in September 2011 provided a baseline for the model. Coral Populations of Porites, Platygyra, Acropora and Dipsastrea were modelled using condition categories that included Healthy, Black Band Disease Infected, Cyanobacteria Infected, Recovered, Recruits or Dead. Results from the modelling indicate that populations of Platygyra and …

Thermal Preferences And Critical Temperature Regimes Of The Western North Atlantic Invasive Lionfish Complex (Pterois Spp.), Benjamin Barker

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

Temperature preference, behavioral tolerance, and physiological tolerances were determined for locally captured, invasive juvenile lionfish at four different acclimation temperatures (13°C, 20°C, 25 °C and 32°C). Temperature preferences and avoidance temperatures were evaluated using an automated shuttlebox system that presents subject-driven temperature stimuli to subjects, who control the temperature with their movement throughout the tank for 12 hours. Subjects are tracked by a computer system, with data output approximately every second. Acute preference was calculated from the archived data as the mean temperature that the fish occupied during the first two hours of dynamic experimentation. Acute preference measurements were used …

A Quantitative Assessment Of The January 2010 Cold Spell Effect On Mangrove Utilizing Coral Reef Fishes From Biscayne National Park, Florida, Jeffrey M. Ellis

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the effects of the January 2010 cold spell on mangrove utilizing coral reef fishes off the southeast coast of Florida, USA, in the vicinity of Biscayne National Park (BNP). An ongoing, fishery-independent mangrove visual survey documenting fish assemblages in BNP provided data from the years 1998 to 2014 for examination. Of particular interest were the presence, abundance, and size structure for five mangrove utilizing coral reef fishes: sergeant major (Abudefduf saxatilis), yellowfin mojarra (Gerres cinereus), schoolmaster snapper (Lutjanus apodus), gray snapper (Lutjanus griseus), and great barracuda (Sphyraena barracuda …

A Revision Of The Genera Of Charitometridae With Abruptly Expanded Genital Pinnules, Alois Romanowski

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

Feather star (Echinodermata: Crinoidea: Comatulida) family Charitometridae has not been revised since 1950. Molecular analysis, new specimens of existing species, and the discovery of a new species has revealed the need for a generic-level revision of those genera that exhibit abruptly expanded genital pinnules. A morphological study was conducted using 57 specimens representing 10 species of the Charitometridae. The genus Poecilometra is redescribed, and two species formerly placed in Strotometra have been moved to the genus based primarily on possession of pedunculate genital pinnules and a wide flange on the first pinnular of the proximal pinnules. A new species was …

Cross-Shelf And Latitudinal Benthic Community Investigation In The Nearshore Habitats Of The Northern Florida Reef Tract, Katelyn Klug

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

The Florida Reef Tract (FRT) extends from the tropical Caribbean northward along the Florida coast into a warm temperate environment where tropical reef communities diminish with increasing latitude. This study was designed to map the nearshore benthic habitats including coral reefs and evaluate how the benthic communities differ between habitats and along the coast.

Benthic communities across the northern FRT from Key Biscayne to Hillsboro Inlet (25.5°-26.3° N) were digitized from aerial photography taken in 2013 at a 1:1,000 scale. Three main hard-bottom habitat types were identified that ran parallel to shore and consecutively further away from shore: Colonized Pavement, …

Comment On "Fluorotechnology Is Critical To Modern Life: The Fluorocouncil Counterpoint To The Madrid Statement", Ian T. Cousins, Simona A. Balan, Martin Scheringer, Roland Weber, Zhanyun Wang, Arlene Blum, Miriam Diamond, Tony Fletcher, Gretta Goldenman, Christopher Higgins, Avery E. Lindeman, Graham Peaslee

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Double Spin Asymmetries Of Inclusive Hadron Electroproduction From A Transversely Polarized 3He Target, C. Dutta, A. Kolarkar, Wolfgang Korsch, Y. X. Zhao, K. Allada, K. Aniol, J. R. M. Annand, T. Averett, F. Benmokhtar, W. Bertozzi, P. C. Bradshaw, P. Bosted, A. Camsonne

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

We report the measurement of beam-target double spin asymmetries (A_LT) in the inclusive production of identified hadrons, e⃗ + ³He^↑→h+X, using a longitudinally polarized 5.9-GeV electron beam and a transversely polarized ³He target. Hadrons (π^±,K^±, and proton) were detected at 16^∘ with an average momentum ⟨P_h⟩=2.35 GeV/c and a transverse momentum (p_T) coverage from 0.60 to 0.68 GeV/c. Asymmetries from the ³He target were observed to be nonzero for π^± production when the target …

Hard Three-Loop Corrections To Hyperfine Splitting In Positronium And Muonium, Michael I. Eides, Valery A. Shelyuto

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

We consider hard three-loop corrections to hyperfine splitting in muonium and positronium generated by the diagrams with closed electron loops. There are six gauge-invariant sets of such diagrams that generate corrections of order mα⁷. The contributions of these diagrams are calculated for an arbitrary electron-muon mass ratio without expansion in the small mass ratio. We obtain the formulas for contributions to hyperfine splitting that in the case of a small mass ratio describe corrections for muonium and in the case of equal masses describe corrections for positronium. The first few terms of the expansion of hard corrections in …

Observing Strategy For The Sdss-Iv/Manga Ifu Galaxy Survey, David R. Law, Renbin Yan, Matthew A. Bershady, Kevin Bundy, Brian Cherinka, Niv Drory, Nicholas Macdonald, José R. Sánchez-Gallego, David R. Wake, Anne-Marie Weijmans, Michael R. Blanton, Mark A. Klaene, Sean M. Moran, Sebastian F. Sanchez, Kai Zhang

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

Mapping Nearby Galaxies at Apache Point Observatory (MaNGA) is an integral-field spectroscopic survey that is one of three core programs in the fourth-generation Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-IV). MaNGA's 17 pluggable optical fiber-bundle integral field units (IFUs) will observe a sample of 10,000 nearby galaxies distributed throughout the SDSS imaging footprint (focusing particularly on the North Galactic Cap). In each pointing these IFUs are deployed across a 3° field; they yield spectral coverage 3600−10300 Å at a typical resolution R ~ 2000, and sample the sky with 2'' diameter fiber apertures with a total bundle fill factor of 56%. Observing …

Attribute-Based Encryption With Efficient Verifiable Outsourced Decryption, Baodong Qin, Robert H. Deng, Shengli Liu, Siqi Ma

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Attribute-based encryption (ABE) with outsourced decryption not only enables fine-grained sharing of encrypted data, but also overcomes the efficiency drawback (in terms of ciphertext size and decryption cost) of the standard ABE schemes. In particular, an ABE scheme with outsourced decryption allows a third party (e.g., a cloud server) to transform an ABE ciphertext into a (short) El Gamal-type ciphertext using a public transformation key provided by a user so that the latter can be decrypted much more efficiently than the former by the user. However, a shortcoming of the original outsourced ABE scheme is that the correctness of the …

Approximate Analysis Solution Of Burgers-Kdv Equation, Hani Aldirawi

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

In this thesis, we study the Two-Dimensional Burgers-Kortewege-de Vries(2D-BKdV) equation by analyzing the equivalent Abel equation, which indicates that under some particular conditions, the 2D-BKdV equation has a unique bounded traveling wave solution. By using the theorem of contractive mapping, a traveling wave solution to the 2D-BKdV equation is expressed explicitly.

Forecasting The Response Of Earth's Surface To Future Climatic And Land Use Changes: A Review Of Methods And Research Needs, Jon D. Pelletier, A. Brad Murray, Jennifer L. Pierce, Paul R. Bierman, David D. Breshears, Benjamin T. Crosby, Michael Ellis, Efi Foufoula-Georgiou, Arjun M. Heimsath, Chris Houser, Nick Lancaster, Marco Marani, Dorothy J. Merritts, Laura J. Moore, Joel L. Pederson, Michael J. Poulos, Tammy M. Rittenour, Joel C. Rowland, Peter Ruggiero, Dylan J. Ward, Andrew D. Wickert, Elowyn M. Yager

College of Arts and Sciences Faculty Publications

Earth's Future published by Wiley on behalf of the American Geophysical Union. In the future, Earth will be warmer, precipitation events will be more extreme, global mean sea level will rise, and many arid and semiarid regions will be drier. Human modifications of landscapes will also occur at an accelerated rate as developed areas increase in size and population density. We now have gridded global forecasts, being continually improved, of the climatic and land use changes (C&LUC) that are likely to occur in the coming decades. However, besides a few exceptions, consensus forecasts do not exist for how these C&LUC …

Climate Controls On Air Quality In The Northeastern U.S.: An Examination Of Summertime Ozone Statistics During 1993-2012, Evan M. Oswald, Lesley Ann Dupigny-Giroux, Eric M. Leibensperger, Rich Poirot, Jeff Merrell

College of Arts and Sciences Faculty Publications

The goal of this study is to better understand the linkages between the climate system and surface-level ozone concentrations in the Northeastern U.S. We focus on the regularity of observed high ozone concentrations between May 15 and August 30 during the 1993-2012 period. The first portion of this study establishes relationships between ozone and meteorological predictors. The second examines the linkages between ozone and large-scale teleconnections within the climate system. Statistical models for each station are constructed using a combination of Correlation Analysis, Principal Components Analysis and Multiple Linear Regression. In general, the strongest meteorological predictors of ozone are the …

Why Are The Nitro And Sulfone Groups Poor Hydrogen Bonders?, Charles A. Kingsbury

Chemistry Department: Faculty Publications

The interactions of water or methanol with nitromethane and dimethyl sulfone vs. comparison molecules, e.g. dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO), are reported. For nitromethane with water, the classical (edgewise) hydrogen bonded configuration is modestly stabilizing. However, the approach of water over the face of the nitro group is preferred in AM1 calculations. Generally, molecules such as sulfones and nitro compounds have lower energy bonding orbitals than sulfoxides. The energy of the n δ σ* interaction (e.g. nitro lone pair to O-H of water) thus is larger for the nitro and sulfone cases, and this interaction is less prevalent than other cases. Since …

A Cradle To Farm Gate Life Cycle Analysis Of Land Use In U.S. Pork Production, William Benjamin Putman

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this study was to conduct a detailed Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of the U.S. live swine production supply chain to quantify land use requirements and to assess the impact associated with various ration compositions. The functional unit was defined as one kilogram (2.2 pounds) of live swine at the farm gate, ready for transport to the abattoir. This assessment focused on the three highest producing USDA regions, which encompassed the Midwest (Regions 5 and 7) and the Southeast (Region 4), representing 86% of U.S. market hog production.

First, a literature review was conducted to summarize the most …

Alliaria Petiolata (M.Bieb.) Cavara & Grande [Brassicaceae], An Invasive Herb In The Southern Ozark Plateaus: A Comparison Of Species Composition And Richness, Soil Properties, And Earthworm Composition And Biomass In Invaded Versus Non-Invaded Sites, Jennifer D. Ogle

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Invasive species are widely recognized as organisms that severely alter ecosystem processes in the habitats to which they are introduced. Alliaria petiolata is one of the most important invasive plants in forests of the northern United States. This study examined the geographic distribution of the plant in the southern Ozarks, as well as the effect that it may be having on natural processes within forests of the region by comparing plant species richness, plant cover, and soil properties in invaded and non-invaded plots. It was found that A. petiolata is not significantly altering species richness, cover, or soil properties in …

Paleoclimate Implications From Stable Isotope Analysis Of Sedimentary Organic Carbon And Vertebrate Fossils From The Cedar Mountain Formation, Ut, U.S.A., Garrett Andrew Hatzell

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Oxygen and carbon isotopic compositions of fossilized vertebrate teeth and bone were analyzed to determine isotopic values of vertebrate faunal diet from the early Cretaceous Cedar Mountain Formation of Utah. Results for δ18O of PO4 (δ18Op) (Suarez et al., 2014) from the same data set have been compared to the δ18O of CO3 (δ18Oc) portion of teeth and turtle shell to determine if diagenetic alteration of the isotopes has occurred by plotting the line of best fit equation that models the relationship between unaltered δ18OP and δ18OC of modern mammals from Iacumin et al., 1996. Results indicate slight diagenesis of …

Isometries Of Besov Type Spaces Among Composition Operators, Melissa Ann Shabazz

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Let Bp,alpha for p >1 and alpha >1 be the Besov type space of holomorphic functions on the unit disk D. Given Phi, a holomorphic self map of D, we show the composition operator CPhi is an isometry on Bp,alpha if and only if the weighted composition operator WPhiPhi, is an isometry on the weighted Bergman space Ap,alpha. We then characterize isometries among composition operators in Bp,alpha in terms of their Nevanlinna type counting function. Finally, we find that the only isometries among composition operators on Bp,alpha, except on B 2,0, are induced by rotations. This extends known results by …

The Functional And Distributional Ecology Of Mycetozoans Under Changing Edaphic And Climatic Dynamics, Geoffrey Lloyd Zahn

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Investigations into the distribution and ecosystem functions of fruiting amoebae revealed that local-scale environmental conditions can largely explain broad biogeographical patterns in species assemblage, the way in which amoeboid predators shape bacterial communities and how this top-down influence may affect global biogeochemical processes in a changing climate. The distribution and assemblage of protosteloid amoebae on the islands of New Zealand and Hawaii did not yield any expected patterns of island biogeography, and conformed to other global regions studied. The strongest predictor of species richness in a given region was sampling effort and these species do not appear to have any …

Static And Dynamical Properties Of Ferroelectrics And Related Material In Bulk And Nanostructure Forms, Zhigang Gui

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Ferroelectrics (FE) and multiferroics (MFE) have attracted a lot of attentions due to their rich and novel properties. Studies towards FE and MFE are of both fundamental and technological importance. We use a first-principles-based effective Hamiltonian method, conventional ab-initio packages and linear-scale three-dimension fragment method to investigate several important issues about FE and MFE. Tuning the properties of FE and MFE films are essential for miniaturized device applications, which can be realized through epitaxial strain and growth direction. In this dissertation, we use the effective Hamiltonian method to study (i) BaTiO 3 films grown along the (110) pseudocubic direction on …

Good Stein Neighborhood Bases For Nonsmooth Pseudoconvex Domains, Chizuko Iwaki

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In 1979, Dufresnoy showed that the existence of a good Stein neighborhood base for Ω ⊂ℂⁿ implies that one can solve the inhomogeneous Cauchy-Riemann equations in C^∞(Ω̄), even if the boundary of Ω is only Lipschitz. In my thesis, I will show sufficient conditions for the existence of a good Stein neighborhood base on a Lipschitz domain satisfying Property (P).

Designing Fret Assays To Study Electrostatic Interactions Pertaining To The Binding Of Intrinsically Disordered Proteins, Ashley Ann Howard

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Fibroblast growth factor receptor plays a major role in several biological processes. Without FGFR, a human cannot live. FGFR is involved in cell differentiation and wound healing. Of course, if FGFR signaling becomes unregulated, it causes severe distress in the body. Several cancers are contributed to high signaling levels, as well as developmental conditions like rickets and Kallmann’s syndrome. FGFR is thought to undergo an auto-inhibition (or self-regulatory) process in order to try to facilitate regulation. The exact method of this inhibition is currently unknown, but is proposed to involve the unstructured acid box region of FGFR. We developed a …

Synthesis Of Palladium And Palladium-Copper Nanostructures As Electrocatalysts, Haibin Wu

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Pd and its alloys are alternatives of Pt as promising catalysts and electrocatalysts for many reactions. Size controlled synthesis of nanoparticles remains a major research subject, since smaller size particles show better catalytic performance. In this work, we developed a modified chemical wet method to prepare Pd and Pd-Cu nanostructures with uniform small size. Different sizes and shapes of Pd nanostructures were successfully synthesized by using the two reducing agents (i.e., L-ascorbyl-6-palmitate or phenylphosphinic acid). The reducing agents play a role to control the final morphologies and sizes of particles. The use of L-ascorbyl-6-palmitate favors to form irregular branch shapes …

Automatic User Profile Construction For A Personalized News Recommender System Using Twitter, Shiva Theja Reddy Gopidi

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Modern society has now grown accustomed to reading online or digital news. However, the huge corpus of information available online poses a challenge to users when trying to find relevant articles. A hybrid system “Personalized News Recommender Using Twitter’ has been developed to recommend articles to a user based on the popularity of the articles and also the profile of the user. The hybrid system is a fusion of a collaborative recommender system developed using tweets from the “Twitter” public timeline and a content recommender system based the user’s past interests summarized in their conceptual user profile. In previous work, …