Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Water Column Productivity And Temperature Predict Coral Reef Regeneration Across The Indo-Pacific, Bernhard Riegl, Peter W. Glynn, Evie A. Wieters, Samuel J. Purkis, C. D'Angelo, Joerg Wiedenmann

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Predicted increases in seawater temperatures accelerate coral reef decline due to mortality by heat-driven coral bleaching. Alteration of the natural nutrient environment of reef corals reduces tolerance of corals to heat and light stress and thus will exacerbate impacts of global warming on reefs. Still, many reefs demonstrate remarkable regeneration from past stress events. This paper investigates the effects of sea surface temperature (SST) and water column productivity on recovery of coral reefs. In 71 Indo-Pacific sites, coral cover changes over the past 1-3 decades correlated negative-exponentially with mean SST, chlorophyll a, and SST rise. At six monitoring sites …

Smart Data - How You And I Will Exploit Big Data For Personalized Digital Health And Many Other Activities, Amit P. Sheth

Kno.e.sis Publications

No abstract provided.

Fire Modulates Climate Change Response Of Simulated Aspen Distribution Across Topoclimatic Gradients In A Semi-Arid Montane Landscape, Jian Yang, Peter J. Weisberg, Douglas J. Shinneman, Thomas E. Dilts, Susan L. Earnst, Robert M. Scheller

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

Content Changing aspen distribution in response to climate change and fire is a major focus of biodiversity conservation, yet little is known about the potential response of aspen to these two driving forces along topoclimatic gradients.

Objective This study is set to evaluate how aspen distribution might shift in response to different climate-fire scenarios in a semi-arid montane landscape, and quantify the influence of fire regime along topoclimatic gradients.

Methods We used a novel integration of a forest landscape succession and disturbance model (LAN DIS-II) with a fine-scale climatic water deficit approach to simulate dynamics of aspen and associated conifer …

Optimization Of Aggregating Agents And Sers Substrates For Sers Detection Of Cotinine And Trans 3'-Hydroxycotinine, Sungyub Han

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation mainly focuses on applications of Surface Enhance Raman Scattering (SERS) to detect tobacco-related biomarkers with optimized experimental conditions (pH and aggregating agents) and SERS substrates (silica core and silver shell nanoparticles). Cotinine (COT) and trans 3-hydroxycotinine (3HC), metabolized from nicotine as one of main chemicals of tobacco, have been used as tobacco biomarkers because their half-life are longer than that of nicotine, which enable to monitor the tobacco exposure. The effects of aggregating agents and pH on SERS detection of COT and 3HC were investigated. Aggregating agents play an important role in SERS detection of target molecules since …

New Coastal Resilience Director Brings Track Record, Expertise, Insideodu, Old Dominion University

News Items

No abstract provided.

Systems, Methods And Devices For Vector Control Of Permanent Magnet Synchronous Machines Using Artificial Neural Networks, Shuhui Li, Michael Fairbank, Xingang Fu, Donald C. Wunsch, Eduardo Alonso

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

An example method for controlling an AC electrical machine can include providing a PWM converter operably connected between an electrical power source and the AC electrical machine and providing a neural network vector control system operably connected to the PWM converter. The control system can include a current-loop neural network configured to receive a plurality of inputs. The current-loop neural network can be configured to optimize the compensating dq-control voltage. The inputs can be d- and q-axis currents, d- and q-axis error signals, predicted d- and q-axis current signals, and a feedback compensating dq-control voltage. The d- and q-axis error …

Optical Switching And Routing Architectures For Fiber-Optic Computer Communication Networks, Alok Choudhary, Salim Hariri, Wang Song, Partha Banerjee, Sanjay Ranka

Partha Banerjee

Optical technology has become a significant part of communication networks. We propose an Optical Interface Message Processor (OPTIMP) that exploits high-bandwidth, parallelism, multi-dimensional capability, and high storage density offered by optics. The most time consuming operations such as switching and routing in communication networks are performed in optical domain in the proposed system. Our design does not suffer from the optical/electrical conversion bottlenecks and can perform switching and routing in the range of Gigabits/s. The proposed design can have significant impact in high-speed communication networks as well as high-speed interconnection networks for parallel computers. The source-destination (S-D) information from a …

Detection Of A Distinct Metal-Poor Stellar Halo In The Early-Type Galaxy Ngc 3115*, Mark Peacock, Jay Strader, Aaron Romanowsky, Jean Brodie

Faculty Publications

We present the resolved stellar populations in the inner and outer halo of the nearby lenticular galaxy NGC 3115. Using deep Hubble Space Telescope observations, we analyze stars 2 mag fainter than the tip of the red giant branch (TRGB). We study three fields along the minor axis of this galaxy, 19, 37, and 54 kpc from its center—corresponding to 7, 14, and 21 effective radii (re ). Even at these large galactocentric distances, all of the fields are dominated by a relatively enriched population, with the main peak in the metallicity distribution decreasing with radius from [Z/H] ~ –0.5 …

Symmetric Solitonic Excitations Of The (1 + 1)-Dimensional Abelian-Higgs Classical Vacuum, F. K. Diakonos, Garyfallia C. Katsimiga, X. N. Maintas, C. E. Tsagkarakis

Physics Faculty Research & Creative Works

We study the classical dynamics of the Abelian-Higgs model in (1 + 1) space-time dimensions for the case of strongly broken gauge symmetry. In this limit the wells of the potential are almost harmonic and sufficiently deep, presenting a scenario far from the associated critical point. Using a multiscale perturbation expansion, the equations of motion for the fields are reduced to a system of coupled nonlinear Schrödinger equations. Exact solutions of the latter are used to obtain approximate analytical solutions for the full dynamics of both the gauge and Higgs field in the form of oscillons and oscillating kinks. Numerical …

Variation Of The Weyl Action, James Thomas Wheeler

James Thomas Wheeler

We show how to vary the fourth order Weyl gravity action to derive the Bach equation.

Coherent Digital Holographic Adaptive Optics, Changgeng Liu

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A new type of adaptive optics (AO) based on the principles of digital holography (DH) is proposed and developed for the use in wide-field and confocal retinal imaging. Digital holographic adaptive optics (DHAO) dispenses with the wavefront sensor and wavefront corrector of the conventional AO system. DH is an emergent imaging technology that gives direct numerical access to the phase of the optical field, thus allowing precise control and manipulation of the optical field. Incorporation of DH in an ophthalmic imaging system can lead to versatile imaging capabilities at substantially reduced complexity and cost of the instrument. A typical conventional …

Giant Magnetization Canting Due To Symmetry Breaking In Zigzag Co Chains On Ir(001), B. Dupé, Jessica E. Bickel, Y. Mokrousov, F. Otte, Kirsten Von Bergmann, André Kubetzka, Stefan Heinze, Roland Wiesendanger

Physics Faculty Publications

We demonstrate a canted magnetization of biatomic zigzag Co chains grown on the (5 × 1) reconstructed Ir(001) surface using density functional theory (DFT) calculations and spin-polarized scanning tunneling microscopy (SP-STM) experiments. It is observed by STM that biatomic Co chains grow in three different structural configurations. Our DFT calculations show that they are all in a ferromagnetic (FM) state. Two chain types possess high symmetry due to two equivalent atomic strands and an easy magnetization direction that is along one of the principal crystallographic axes. The easy magnetization axis of the zigzag Co chains is canted away from the …

A Heuristic Evolutionary Method For The Complementary Cell Suppression Problem, Hira B. Herrington

CCE Theses and Dissertations

Cell suppression is a common method for disclosure avoidance used to protect sensitive information in two-dimensional tables where row and column totals are published along with non-sensitive data. In tables with only positive cell values, cell suppression has been demonstrated to be non-deterministic NP-hard. Therefore, finding more efficient methods for producing low-cost solutions is an area of active research.

Genetic algorithms (GA) have shown to be effective in finding good solutions to the cell suppression problem. However, these methods have the shortcoming that they tend to produce a large proportion of infeasible solutions. The primary goal of this research was …

A Rapid And Sensitive High-Throughput Screening Method To Identify Compounds Targeting Protein-Nucleic Acids Interactions, Nicole Alonso, Roboan Guillen, Jeremy W. Chambers, Fenfei Leng

Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry

DNA-binding and RNA-binding proteins are usually considered ‘undruggable’ partly due to the lack of an efficient method to identify inhibitors from existing small molecule repositories. Here we report a rapid and sensitive high-throughput screening approach to identify compounds targeting protein– nucleic acids interactions based on protein–DNA or protein–RNA interaction enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (PDI-ELISA or PRI-ELISA). We validated the PDI-ELISA method using the mammalian highmobility- group protein AT-hook 2 (HMGA2) as the protein of interest and netropsin as the inhibitor of HMGA2–DNA interactions. With this method we successfully identified several inhibitors and an activator for HMGA2–DNA interactions from a collection of …

Surface Temperature Probability Distributions In The Narccap Hindcast Experiment: Evaluation Methodology, Metrics, And Results, Paul C. Loikith, Duane E. Waliser, Huikyo Lee, Jinwon Kim, J. David Neelin, Benjamin R. Lintner, Seth Mcginnis, Chris A. Mattmann, Linda O. Mears

Geography Faculty Publications and Presentations

Methodology is developed and applied to evaluate the characteristics of daily surface temperature distributions in a six-member regional climate model (RCM) hindcast experiment conducted as part of the North American Regional Climate Change Assessment Program (NARCCAP). A surface temperature dataset combining gridded station observations and reanalysis is employed as the primary reference. Temperature biases are documented across the distribution, focusing on the median and tails. Temperature variance is generally higher in the RCMs than reference, while skewness is reasonably simulated in winter over the entire domain and over the western United States and Canada in summer. Substantial differences in skewness …

Development And Characterization Of Polymorphic Microsatellite Markers (Ssrs) For An Endemic Plant, Pseudolarix Amabilis (Nelson) Rehd. (Pinaceae), Qi-Fang Geng, Jun Liu, Lin Sun, Hong Liu, Yan Ou-Yang, Ying Cai, Xin-Sheng Tang, Hong-Wei Zhang, Zhing-Sheng Wang, Shu-Qing An

Department of Earth and Environment

Pseudolarix (Pinaceae) is a vulnerable (sensu IUCN) monotypic genus restricted to southeastern China. To better understand levels of genetic diversity, population structure and gene flow among populations of P. amabilis, we developed five compound SSR markers and ten novel polymorphic expressed sequence tags (EST) derived microsatellites. The results showed that all 15 loci were polymorphic with the number of alleles per locus ranging from two to seven. The expected and observed heterozygosities varied from 0.169 to 0.752, and 0.000 to 1.000, respectively. The inbreeding coefficient ranged from −0.833 to 1.000. These markers will contribute to research on genetic diversity and …

Coalition Formation For Distributed Constraint Optimization Problems, Nathaniel Gemelli

Dissertations - ALL

This dissertation presents our research on coalition formation for Distributed Constraint Optimization Problems (DCOP). In a DCOP, a problem is broken up into many disjoint sub-problems, each controlled by an autonomous agent and together the system of agents have a joint goal of maximizing a global utility function. In particular, we study the use of coalitions for solving distributed k-coloring problems using iterative approximate algorithms, which do not guarantee optimal results, but provide fast and economic solutions in resource constrained environments. The challenge in forming coalitions using iterative approximate algorithms is in identifying constraint dependencies between agents that allow for …

Modeling Neurovascular Coupling From Clustered Parameter Sets For Multimodal Eeg-Nirs, M. Tanveer Talukdar, H. Robert Frost, Solomon G. G. Diamond

Dartmouth Scholarship

Despite significant improvements in neuroimaging technologies and analysis methods, the fundamental relationship between local changes in cerebral hemodynamics and the underlying neural activity remains largely unknown. In this study, a data driven approach is proposed for modeling this neurovascular coupling relationship from simultaneously acquired electroencephalographic (EEG) and near-infrared spectroscopic (NIRS) data. The approach uses gamma transfer functions to map EEG spectral envelopes that reflect time-varying power variations in neural rhythms to hemodynamics measured with NIRS during median nerve stimulation. The approach is evaluated first with simulated EEG-NIRS data and then by applying the method to experimental EEG-NIRS data measured from …

A Right To Cybercounter Strikes: The Risks Of Legalizing Hack Backs, Jan Kallberg

Jan Kallberg

The idea to legalize hacking back has gained traction the last years and received several influential corporate and political proponents in the United States and Europe. The growing frustration with repeated cyberattacks and lack of credible law enforcement pushes for alternative ways to prevent future cyberattacks. As of today, counter cyberattacks are illegal in a majority of the nations because it constitutes another cybercrime independent from the initial attack. If cyber counter attacks were legalized it raises a set of questions. The first line of questions are linked to the underlying assumptions that the proposal to legalize counter cyberattacks are …

Comparing Skew Schur Functions: A Quasisymmetric Perspective, Peter R. W. Mcnamara

Peter R. W. McNamara

Reiner, Shaw and van Willigenburg showed that if two skew Schur functions s_A and s_B are equal, then the skew shapes $A$ and $B$ must have the same "row overlap partitions." Here we show that these row overlap equalities are also implied by a much weaker condition than Schur equality: that s_A and s_B have the same support when expanded in the fundamental quasisymmetric basis F. Surprisingly, there is significant evidence supporting a conjecture that the converse is also true.

In fact, we work in terms of inequalities, showing that if the F-support of s_{A …}

U.S. Drought Monitor, February 3, 2015, Brian Fuchs

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for February 3, 2015 (2/3/15) 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.

Cosmic Background Radiation, Sree Ram Valluri, B G. Sidharth

Physics and Astronomy Publications

It is shown that a collection of photons with nearly the same frequency exhibits a “condensation” type of phenomenon corresponding to a peak intensity. The observed cosmic background radiation can be explained from this standpoint.We have obtained analogous results by extremization of the occupation number for photons with the use of the Lambert W function. Some of the interesting applications of this function are briefly discussed in the context of graphene which exhibits an interesting two dimensional structure with several characteristic properties and diverse practical applications.

Simulating Ice Core 10be On The Glacial–Interglacial Timescale, C Elsasser, D Wagenbach, I Levin, A Stanzick, Mark J. Christl, A Wallner, S Kipfstuhl, I K. Seietstad, H Wershofen, Jack E. Dibb

Earth Sciences

¹⁰Be ice core measurements are an important tool for paleoclimate research, e.g., allowing for the reconstruction of past solar activity or changes in the geomagnetic dipole field. However, especially on multi-millennial timescales, the share of production and climate-induced variations of respective ¹⁰Be ice core records is still up for debate. Here we present the first quantitative climatological model of the ¹⁰Be ice concentration up to the glacial–interglacial timescale. The model approach is composed of (i) a coarse resolution global atmospheric transport model and (ii) a local ¹⁰Be air–firn transfer model. Extensive global-scale observational data of short-lived …

Operators In Quantum Machanics, Ronald Lovett

Topics in Quantum Mechanics

No abstract provided.

Enhancement Of Local Piezoresponse In Polymer Ferroelectrics Via Nanoscale Control Of Microstructure, Yoon-Young Choi, Pankaj Sharma, Charudatta Phatak, David J. Gosztola, Yunya Liu, Joonseok Lee, Byeongdu Lee, Jiangyu Li, Alexei Gruverman, Stephen Ducharme, Seungbum Hong

Stephen Ducharme Publications

Polymer ferroelectrics are flexible and lightweight electromechanical materials that are widely studied due to their potential application as sensors, actuators, and energy harvesters. However, one of the biggest challenges is their low piezoelectric coefficient. Here, we report a mechanical annealing effect based on local pressure induced by a nanoscale tip that enhances the local piezoresponse. This process can control the nanoscale material properties over a microscale area at room temperature. We attribute this improvement to the formation and growth of β-phase extended chain crystals via sliding diffusion and crystal alignment along the scan axis under high mechanical stress. We believe …

Coordinated Investigation Of Mid-Latitude Upper Mesospheric Temperature Inversion Layers And The Associated Gravity Wave Forcing By Na Lidar And Advanced Mesospheric Temperature Mapper At Logan, Utah (42°N), Tao Yuan, Pierre-Dominique Pautet, Yucheng Zhao, Xuguang Cai, Neal R. Criddle, Michael J. Taylor, William R. Pendleton Jr.

Publications

Mesospheric inversion layers (MIL) are well studied in the literature but their relationship to the dynamic feature associated with the breaking of atmospheric waves in the mesosphere/lower thermosphere (MLT) region are not well understood. Two strong MIL events (ΔT ~30 K) were observed above 90 km during a 6 day full diurnal cycle Na lidar campaign conducted from 6 August to 13 August Logan, Utah (42°N, 112°W). Colocated Advanced Mesospheric Temperature Mapper observations provided key information on concurrent gravity wave (GW) events and their characteristics during the nighttime observations. The study found both MILs were well correlated with the development …

Selective Reduction Of Cr(Vi) In Chromium, Copper And Arsenic (Cca) Mixed Waste Streams Using Uv/Tio2 Photocatalysis, Shan Zheng, Wenjun Jiang, Mamun Rashid, Yong Cai, Dionysios D. Dionysiou, Kevin E. O'Shea

Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry

The highly toxic Cr(VI) is a critical component in the Chromated Copper Arsenate (CCA) formulations extensively employed as wood preservatives. Remediation of CCA mixed waste and discarded treated wood products is a significant challenge. We demonstrate that UV/TiO2 photocatalysis effectively reduces Cr(VI) to less toxic Cr(III) in the presence of arsenate, As(V), and copper, Cu(II). The rapid conversion of Cr(VI) to Cr(III) during UV/TiO2 photocatalysis occurs over a range of concentrations, solution pH and at different Cr:As:Cu ratios. The reduction follows pseudo-first order kinetics and increases with decreasing solution pH. Saturation of the reaction solution with argon during UV/TiO2 photocatalysis …

Factors Affecting Individual Foraging Specialization And Temporal Diet Stability Across The Range Of A Large “Generalist” Apex Predator, Adam E. Rosenblatt, James C. Nifong, Michael R. Heithaus, Frank J. Mazzotti, Michael S. Cherkiss, Brian M. Jeffery, Ruth M. Elsey, Rachel A. Decker, Brian R. Silliman, Louis J. Guillette Jr., Russell H. Lowers, Justin C. Larson

FCE LTER Journal Articles

Individual niche specialization (INS) is increasingly recognized as an important component of ecological and evolutionary dynamics. However, most studies that have investigated INS have focused on the effects of niche width and inter- and intraspecific competition on INS in small-bodied species for short time periods, with less attention paid to INS in large-bodied reptilian predators and the effects of available prey types on INS. We investigated the prevalence, causes, and consequences of INS in foraging behaviors across different populations of American alligators (Alligator mississippiensis), the dominant aquatic apex predator across the southeast US, using stomach contents and stable …

Dual-Spacecraft Reconstruction Of A Three-Dimensional Magnetic Flux Rope At The Earth's Magnetopause, H. Hasegawa, B. U. Ö. Sonnerup, S. Eriksson, T. K. M. Nakamura

Dartmouth Scholarship

We present the first results of a data analysis method, developed by Sonnerup and Hasegawa (2011), for reconstructing three-dimensional (3-D), magnetohydrostatic structures from data taken as two closely spaced satellites traverse the structures. The method is applied to a magnetic flux transfer event (FTE), which was encountered on 27 June 2007 by at least three (TH-C, TH-D, and TH-E) of the five THEMIS probes near the subsolar magnetopause. The FTE was sandwiched between two oppositely directed reconnection jets under a southward interplanetary magnetic field condition, consistent with its generation by multiple X-line reconnection. The recovered 3-D field indicates that a …

Noise Pollution? What's The Solution?: Understanding Traffic Noise Pollution In Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, Andrew F. Kapp, Joseph M. Passmore, Anika H. Schneider

Joseph M. Passmore

Noise pollution can be damaging to a community by impacting its atmosphere as well as the health of its residents, local quality of life, and local economy. Our study sought to gain insight into the level of noise pollution in Gettysburg, both in-town and on the Gettysburg College campus, and how noise pollution may be affecting the local residents and students. We selected 9 sampling sites, 6 in-town and 3 on the college campus, and measured the noise pollution in dBA with portable sound meters three days a week and three times a day over a three week period. Our …