Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

An Investigation Of 3d Seismic Deep Basement Events In Osage County, Oklahoma, Kevin Matthew Liner

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Deep basement events seen in 3D seismic surveys located in Osage County, Oklahoma can be observed and may have affect overlying sedimentary formations. The 3D surveys used in this study are on the Chautauqua platform about fifty miles northwest of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Stratigraphy of the work area spans base of the Permian to Precambrian formations, with basement depth averaging around 5000 ft in the area of the 3D seismic surveys. Cores spanning Precambrian to Pennsylvanian were examined in the area of the 3D seismic surveys. Hydrothermal minerals were observed in Mississippian age cores. The basement events where tracked using OpendTect …

Effects Of Landscape Disturbances On Autotrophic Processes Within Arkansas Ozark Streams, Bradley J. Austin

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Land-use change is one of the most widespread human impacts and can influence abiotic and biotic processes within surrounding streams. For example, streams in agricultural and urban watersheds receive greater light and nutrient inputs that can promote increased algal growth and primary production. Natural gas (NG) infrastructure development, a recent land use change in many regions, may also stimulate forested stream primary production, by reducing forest cover and increasing sediments and nutrient transport. I sampled streams across a NG activity gradient for algal biomass and gross primary production (GPP) to assess potential effects of this emerging land-use type. Algal biomass …

Transformation Of Swine Manure And Algal Consortia To Value-Added Products, Mahmoud A. Sharara

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The swine production sector is projected to grow globally. In the past, this growth manifested itself in increased herd sizes and geographically concentrated production. Although economically sound, these trends had negative consequences on surrounding ecosystems. Over-application of manure resulted in water quality degradation, while long-term storage of manure slurries was found to promote release of potent GHG emissions. There is a need for innovative approaches for swine manure management that are compatible with current scales of production, and increasingly strict environmental regulations.

This study aims to investigate the potential for incorporating gasification as part of a novel swine manure management …

Experimental Verification And Integration Of A Next Generation Smart Power Management System, Tavis Clemmer

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

With the increase in energy demand by the residential community in this country and the diminishing fossil fuel resources being used for electric energy production there is a need for a system to efficiently manage power within a residence. The Smart Green Power Node (SGPN) is a next generation energy management system that automates on-site energy production, storage, consumption, and grid usage to yield the most savings for both the utility and the consumer. Such a system automatically manages on-site distributed generation sources such as a PhotoVoltaic (PV) input and battery storage to curtail grid energy usage when the price …

Physical Records Of Impacts In The Early And Modern Solar System, Robert Ellis Beauford

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The study of terrestrial meteorite impact craters and of impacted meteorites expands our understanding of cratered rocky surfaces throughout the solar system. Terrestrial craters uniquely expand upon data from remote imaging and planetary surface exploration by providing analogs for understanding the buried sub-surface portions of impact structures, while impacted meteorites provide examples of a much wider range of surface and subsurface impactite materials than we can directly sample thus far through solar system exploration.

This report examines three facets of the impact record preserved in terrestrial impact craters and in meteorites. First, it looks at the macroscopic structure of the …

Logarithmic Spiral Arm Pitch Angle Of Spiral Galaxies: Measurement And Relationship To Galactic Structure And Nuclear Supermassive Black Hole Mass, Benjamin Lee Davis

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation, I explore the geometric structure of spiral galaxies and how the visible structure can provide information about the central mass of a galaxy, the density of its galactic disk, and the hidden mass of the supermassive black hole in its nucleus. In order to quantitatively measure the logarithmic spiral pitch angle (a measurement of tightness of the winding) of galactic spiral arms, I led an effort in our research group (the Arkansas Galaxy Evolution Survey) to modify existing two-dimensional fast Fourier transform software to increase its efficacy and accuracy. Using this software, I was able to lead …

The Power Behind The Controversy: Understanding Local Policy Elites' Perceptions On The Benefits And Risks Associated With High Voltage Power Line Installation In The State Of Arkansas, Rachael Marie Moyer

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Following a proposal for the installation of high voltage power lines in northwest Arkansas, a controversial policy debate emerged. Proponents of the transmission line argue that such an installation is inevitable and necessary to efficiently and reliably support the identified electric load in the region. Opponents claim that the lines will degrade the natural environment and hamper the tourism-based local economy in affected regions, notably in Ozark Mountain areas. This study seeks to understand how local policy elites perceive the benefits and risks associated with proposed transmission lines, which is a critical step in comprehending the formation and changes of …

Subsurface Fluid Flow Through The Mississippian Section Of North-Central Oklahoma, Carolyn Brown

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study consisted of using drill stem tests, seismic amplitude data, and well logs to create the parameters needed to construct a groundwater flow model for a portion of Osage County. At the start, a potentiometric map of Osage County, Oklahoma was generated to use as a basis for the initial hydraulic heads and the constant heads in the model. Next, three seismic amplitude images were produced in a seismic interpretation program, OpenDtect, to base the hydraulic conductivity values on. In addition, utilizing Gamma Ray on 12 separate wells east-west across the county, a structural cross-section was created within Petra. …

Analysis Of Paleokarst Sinkholes In The Arkoma Basin Using 3-D Seismic, Michael Kumbalek

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Paleokarst features are important to understand, both with regards to research geologists and to the petroleum industry. In terms of geology, understanding paleokarst features can yield more information about the depositional and surface environments of past times, and how diagenetic alteration affected the environment during the formation of karst features. In the petroleum industry, paleokarst features can have positive or negative consequence resulting in a potential reservoir with enhanced porosity due to the paleokarst features, or as a geo-hazard to prepare for or avoid when drilling.

Inspired by issues faced when drilling in the Ft. Worth basin, this study utilizes …

Top-Down Aluminum Induced Crystallization For Photovoltaics, Seth Daniel Shumate

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Passivating silicon solar cell surfaces is critical to fabricating very high efficiency and low cost photovoltaic devices. The sun-facing surface of the solar cell, known as the emitter, is particularly important when designing a solar cell. This work focused first on an alternative method of forming the emitter of silicon solar cells, and secondly on a method for improving the surface passivation of both these non-traditional and standard n-type solar cells.

Top-down aluminum induced crystallization (TAIC) was used for forming a polycrystalline silicon layer from amorphous silicon using aluminum to catalyze the crystallization at much lower temperatures than otherwise possible. …

Methane Emissions From Direct-Seeded, Delayed-Flood Rice Grown On A Clay Soil, Alden Daniel Smartt

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Due to the production of methane (CH4) under flooded-soil conditions, rice (Oryza sativa L.) cultivation is a major contributor to agricultural CH4 emissions. Studies examining CH4 emissions from rice have only recently been initiated in Arkansas and no data have been collected from rice produced on clay soils in Arkansas. Therefore, research was conducted in 2012 and 2013 at the Northeast Research and Extension Center in Keiser, Arkansas to examine the factors affecting CH4 emissions from rice produced on a Sharkey clay (very-fine, smectitic, thermic Chromic Epiaquerts). The objectives of this study were to determine: 1) the effect of vegetation …

Population Dynamics In Active Galactic Nuclei, Jon Bessler

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this thesis is to present an approach to understanding the dynamics that govern the evolution of active galactic nuclei (AGN) in general, and those associated with spiral galaxies in particular. This approach starts with the continuity equation governing the mass function for a population of supermassive black holes (SMBHs). This approach is then extended to the luminosity function for AGN. Where the dynamical parameters that govern accretion are fairly well known, those values are adopted. The values that are not as well known are constrained by comparing evolved luminosity functions with observed luminosity functions. Boundary conditions for …

Epitaxial Growth Of Silicon On Poly-Crystalline Si Seed Layer At Low Temperature By Using Hot Wire Chemical Vapor Deposition, Manal Abdullah Aldawsari

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

There has been a growing interest in using low cost material as a substrate for the large grained polycrystalline silicon photovoltaic devices. The main property of those devices is the potential of obtaining high efficiency similar to crystalline Si devices efficiency yet at much lower cost because of the thin film techniques. Epitaxial growth of Si at low temperatures on low cost large grained seed layers, prepared by aluminum induced crystallization method (AIC), using hot wire chemical vapor deposition (HWCVD) system is investigated in this thesis. In this work, different parameters have been studied in order to optimize the growth …

A Pump Monitoring Approach To Irrigation Pumping Plant Performance Testing, William Merritt Mcdougall

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Traditionally, irrigation pumping plants have been tested using an instantaneous appraoch, which tests performance parameters over a very short time interval. Using this method, the tester measures the necessary work and energy use parameters to calculate the desired pumping plant performance values. The primary limitation of this approach is its inability to determine the season long efficiency of an irrigation pumping plant.

A new approach to evaluating irrigation pumping plant performance is the use of pump monitoring systems which use high frequency, real-time data collection and telemetry to relay information directly from the pump to the user. This method of …

Controls On Dissolution Rate Variation At A Pair Of Underflow-Overflow Springs At The Savoy Experimental Watershed, Kiefer Allen Vaughn

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Physical dissolution experiments and numerical modeling have been used in the past to study limestone dissolution rates. Numerical models have typically used constant dissolution rates, whereas rates in nature vary in time. Limestone tablets allow natural estimation of rates over month time scales, but these rates cannot necessarily be extrapolated to geologic timescales and also do not aid our understanding of short term variability. This study characterizes natural variability in these rates and examines potential causes of that variability from first principles. This may enable more accurate projections of dissolution rates within models. This study combines measurement of physical and …

Toolstone Use In Ozark Prehistory: Assessing Adaptations To A Lithic Dichotomy In The Boston Mountains And Springfield Plateau, Luke Allen Morris

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Toolstone use in the Ozark Mountains is a reactionary process reliant on how the landscape provides or constrains chipped stone for prehistoric populations. These technological adaptations are recognized at sites throughout the area, but no regional assessment of lithic assemblages provides answers as to why certain stones are used at a particular location. This thesis employs a five step mass analysis of lithic assemblages, and GIS visualizations to observe how the organization of stone technologies vary based on location within contrasting geologic contexts. The chert-bearing Springfield Plateau, and the Boston Mountains with siltstone, are two neighboring dichotomous landscapes that illustrate …

Inertial Force-Driven Synthesis Of Near-Infrared Plasmonic Nanosphere Composites: Physicochemical Characterizations, Joseph Noel Batta-Mpouma

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Near-infrared (NIR) responsive nanoparticles (NPs) like gold nanorods (GNRs) are important in biomedical fields because of their transparency for biological tissues. Although GNRs are sought after as contrast agents for theranostics in cancer studies, capping ligands like cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) for the GNR synthesis are toxic for biological tissues. The need for an alternative to toxic GNRs is of interest to alleviate the problem.

This work aimed to optimize the synthesis of NIR responsive nanosphere composites (NSCs) by inertial force (g-force) using colloidal gold NPs as model, elucidate the mechanism for the NSC formation, and study their detailed physicochemical characteristics. …

On Color Fixing Groups Associated With Colored Symmetrical Tilings, April Lynne D. Say-Awen, Ma. Louise Antonette N. De Las Peñas, Teofina A. Rapanut

Mathematics Faculty Publications

In this paper, we contribute to the study of colored symmetrical tilings by giving formulas for their associated color fixing groups. In the second part of the paper we provide an application of the results in describing symmetry groups of nanostructures.

Values Assigned To National Parks By Hispanics In The United States: Castillo De San Marcos And Fort Matanzas Nm And Great Smoky Mountains Np, Carla Mora-Trejos

All Dissertations

The integrity of Parks and Protected Areas (PPA) depends on management that acknowledges their position as part of the socio-cultural context and demonstrates awareness and attention to ethnic and racial dimensions of the communities adjacent to these areas. The Unites States National Park Service has dedicated resources and effort to determine ways to keep units in the national park service relevant in a changing world. The fastest growing and second largest demographic in the Unites States is the Latino or Hispanic population. Very little has been published about this rapidly growing population of Latin Americans residing in the United States …

The All-Digital Future And Digital Cise, George K. Thiruvathukal

Computer Science: Faculty Publications and Other Works

EIC George Thiruvathukal describes the magazine's digital future and the importance of archives--being able to access digital content in the years to come will be an important challenge for both publishers and readers.

Moneyware: Simulating Software Portfolio Quality Management, Robert David Beverly

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

In this research we introduce MoneyWare, a simulator designed to explore and ultimately to provide guidance on simulating software portfolio quality management. The name “MoneyWare” is inspired by the movie Moneyball. It chronicled a baseball team which used more descriptive statistics to achieve a higher quality ball club with limited resources. MoneyWare is inspired by the observation that the problem of software development is somewhat analogous. Management is faced with an incoming stream of tasks for development. The tasks vary in terms of size, priority, risk, and date needed. But, in any case, the demands come to more than the …

Recent Shoreline Erosion Rates Along Black River Bay, Jamaica: Erosion And Recovery After Hurricane Ivan In 2004, Karen Louise Zelzer

MSU Graduate Theses

Rising sea level is threatening coastal areas, particularly those in the Caribbean which rely heavily on tourism and marine resources to support local economies. The purpose of this study is to analyze shoreline position along the south coast of Jamaica to determine the locations and rates of coastal change. IKONOS satellite imagery sets for 2003, 2007 and 2012 were used to monitor land use and shoreline changes along Black River Bay, including Galleon Beach Fish Sanctuary, in St. Elizabeth, Jamaica. In particular, the effect of Hurricane Ivan in 2004 on shoreline changes was evaluated. Erosion rates were significantly higher during …

One-Step Synthesis Of Kanamycin Functionalized Gold Nanoparticles With Potent Antibacterial Activity Against Resistant Bacterial Strains, Hitesh Kumar Waghwani

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

On the verge of entering the post-antibiotic era, numerous efforts are in place to regain the losing potential of antibiotics which are proving ineffective against common bacterial infections. Engineered nanomaterials, especially gold nanoparticles (GNPs) capped with antibacterial agents are proving to be an effective and novel strategy against multi-drug resistant (MDR) bacteria. In this study, we report a one-step synthesis of kanamycin-capped GNPs (20 ± 5 nm) utilizing the combined reducing and capping ability of the aminoglycoside antibiotic, kanamycin. Antibacterial assays showed dosedependent broad spectrum activity of Kan-GNPs against Gram-positive (Staphylococcus epidermidis and Enterococcus durans), Gram-negative (Escherichia coli and Enterobacter …

Application Of A Numerical Method And Optimal Control Theory To A Partial Differential Equation Model For A Bacterial Infection In A Chronic Wound, Stephen Guffey

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

In this work, we study the application both of optimal control techniques and a numerical method to a system of partial differential equations arising from a problem in wound healing. Optimal control theory is a generalization of calculus of variations, as well as the method of Lagrange Multipliers. Both of these techniques have seen prevalent use in the modern theories of Physics, Economics, as well as in the study of Partial Differential Equations. The numerical method we consider is the method of lines, a prominent method for solving partial differential equations. This method uses finite difference schemes to discretize the …

Syntheses, Structures And Properties Of Metal-Organic Frameworks, Xin Liu

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Mercury is one of the most serious heavy metal pollution sources that threaten people’s health. For decades, people have developed many technologies and materials to capture mercury from flue gas of coal-fired plant. Currently, the most effective material for mercury absorption is powdered activated carbon, which shows increased efficiency when modified with halogen functional groups such as bromine. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have potential applications in mercury capture due to their fantastic properties such as high porosity and high thermal stability. More important, their pore sizes and topology structures can be controlled through choosing different organic ligands in the syntheses. However, …

Fused Arene-Based Molecular Systems As Additives For Organic Photovoltaics, Rachana Neesu

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Organic photovoltaics (OPVs) are mainly based on organic semiconducting small molecules, macromolecules, and polymers, which form an active layer in photovoltaics. They act as an active material in absorbing light and causing charge mobility to generate electricity from sunlight. This thesis describes the molecular systems derived from fused arenes such as anthracene, pyrene, carbazole and thiophene for use as either a donor or an acceptor component of the active layer of OPVs. Two novel molecular systems (9- anthracenecarboxy-1-methylpyrene, (1) and Py-bi-TH-ANT, (2) were prepared using Steglich esterification and Grignard metathesis followed by Kumada coupling. The molecular structure of each was …

Study Of Mechanical Properties Of Pva Fiber-Reinforced Concrete With Raman Spectroscopic Analysis, Ramyasree Annam

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The brittleness of concrete has always been a safety and economic issue of great concern. The low tensile strength of concrete is the cause of its intrinsic brittle nature. This is critical considering the amount of concrete used for the construction of highways, buildings, and other facilities. The mechanical properties of concrete must be improved to provide upgraded construction. Crack resistant and durable concrete has always been a major goal for engineers. Many approaches have been tried to make concrete a better construction material. Fiber reinforcement is an approach which has been shown to improve the quality and durability of …

Neotectonics Of Major Faults Based On Strain Analysis And U-Th Dating Of Syntectonic Calcite, R. Weinberger, P. Nuriel, John Craddock

John Craddock

No abstract provided.

Bismuth(Iii) Bromide Catalyzed Synthesis Of Polyhydroquinoline Derivatives Via The Hantzsch Reaction, Joshua Yoo, Thomas Laughlin, Joseph Krob, Ram Mohan

Ram S. Mohan

Bismuth(III) bromide is an efficient catalyst for the one-pot multicomponent synthesis of polyhydroquinolines via the Hantzsch reaction. The mild reaction conditions, short reaction times, high yields, and the remarkably low toxicity of bismuth compounds make this method especially attractive.

Lake Core Record Of Grinnell Glacier Dynamics During The Late Pleistocene And Younger Dryas, Glacier National Park, Montana, Usa, N. Schachtmann, K. Macgregor, A. Myrbo, N. Hencir, C. Riihimaki, J. Thole, Louisa Bradtmiller

Louisa I. Bradtmiller

No abstract provided.