Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Production Of High Purity Thorium Oxide From Complex Ores Leach Liquor, Ayşe Erdem, Haydar Güneş, Çiğdem Kara, Hasan Akçay, Akan Gülmez, Zümrüt Alkan

Bulletin of the Mineral Research and Exploration

This paper investigates a method for separation and purification of thorium from leach liquors containing rare-earth elements (REE). Iron, which causes problems in the stage of thorium extracting, was first removed by using Adogen 464 solvent. Thorium was extracted with 30% D2EHPA-in kerosene with 1/3 organic/aqueous ratio and stoichiometry of the thorium-D2EHPA complex was calculated as 1:2.6 from slope analysis. After the extraction, LREE and HREE were scrubbed from the extracted organic with 0.25 M H₂SO₄ and 6 M HCl, respectively. Thorium oxalate was precipitated by oxalic acid and calcined at 1,050 °C. It was, after calcination, determined that purity …

Understanding The Effect Of Adaptive Mutations On The Three-Dimensional Structure Of Rna, Justin Cook

Undergraduate Research and Scholarship Symposium

Single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are variations in the genome where one base pair can differ between individuals.¹ SNPs occur throughout the genome and can correlate to a disease-state if they occur in a functional region of DNA.¹According to the central dogma of molecular biology, any variation in the DNA sequence will have a direct effect on the RNA sequence and will potentially alter the identity or conformation of a protein product. A single RNA molecule, due to intramolecular base pairing, can acquire a plethora of 3-D conformations that are described by its structural ensemble. One SNP, rs12477830, which …

The Malina Oceanographic Expedition: How Do Changes In Ice Cover, Permafrost And Uv Radiation Impact Biodiversity And Biogeochemical Fluxes In The Arctic Ocean?, Philippe Massicotte, Rainer M.W. Amon, Antoine David, Sergio Balzano, Simon Bélanger, Ronald Benner, Dominique Boeuf, Annick Bricaud, Flavienne Bruyant, Gwenaëlle Chaillou, Malik Chami, Bruno Charrière, Jing Chen, Hervé Claustre, Pierre Coupel, Nicole Delsaut, David Doxaran, Jens Ehn, Cédric Fichot, Marie-Hélène Forget, Et. Al.

Faculty Publications

The MALINA oceanographic campaign was conducted during summer 2009 to investigate the carbon stocks and the processes controlling the carbon fluxes in the Mackenzie River estuary and the Beaufort Sea. During the campaign, an extensive suite of physical, chemical and biological variables were measured across seven shelf-basin transects (south-north) to capture the meridional gradient between the estuary and the open ocean. Key variables such as temperature, absolute salinity, radiance, irradiance, nutrient concentrations, chlorophyll a concentration, bacteria, phytoplankton and zooplankton abundance and taxonomy, and carbon stocks and fluxes were routinely measured onboard the Canadian research icebreaker CCGS Amundsen and from a …

Improved Bounds On Lorentz Symmetry Violation From High-Energy Astrophysical Sources, Brett David Altschul

Faculty Publications

Observations of the synchrotron and inverse Compton emissions from ultrarelativistic electrons in astrophysical sources can reveal a great deal about the energy–momentum relations of those electrons. They can thus be used to place bounds on the possibility of Lorentz violation in the electron sector. Recent 𝛾 -ray telescope data allow the Lorentz-violating electron 𝑐^𝜈𝜇 parameters to be constrained extremely well, so that all bounds are at the level of 7×10⁻¹⁶ or better.

Removal Of Carbamazepine Onto Modified Zeolitic Tuff In Different Water Matrices: Batch And Continuous Flow Experiments, Othman A. Al-Mashaqbeh, Diya A. Alsafadi, Layal Z. Alsalhi, Shannon L. Bartelt-Hunt, Daniel D. Snow

Nebraska Water Center: Faculty Publications

Carbamazepine (CBZ) is the most frequently detected pharmaceutical residues in aquatic environments effluent by wastewater treatment plants. Batch and column experiments were conducted to evaluate the removal of CBZ from ultra-pure water and wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluent using raw zeolitic tuff (RZT) and surfactant modified zeolite (SMZ). Point zero net charge (pHpzc), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray fluorescence (XRF), and Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) were investigated for adsorbents to evaluate the physiochemical changes resulted from the modification process using Hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide (HDTMA-Br). XRD and FTIR showed that the surfactant modification of RZT has created an amorphous surface with new alkyl …

Automated Evolution Of Feature Logging Statement Levels Using Git Histories And Degree Of Interest, Yiming Tang, Allan Spektor, Raffi Khatchadourian, Mehdi Bagherzadeh

Publications and Research

Logging—used for system events and security breaches to more informational yet essential aspects of software features—is pervasive. Given the high transactionality of today’s software, logging effectiveness can be reduced by information overload. Log levels help alleviate this problem by correlating a priority to logs that can be later filtered. As software evolves, however, levels of logs documenting surrounding feature implementations may also require modification as features once deemed important may have decreased in urgency and vice-versa. We present an automated approach that assists developers in evolving levels of such (feature) logs. The approach, based on mining Git histories and manipulating …

Effect Of Humic Acid On Co2-Wettability In Sandstone Formation, Mujahid Ali, Faisal Ur Rahman Awan, Muhammad Ali, Ahmed Al-Yaseri, Muhammad Arif, Mónica Sánchez-Román, Alireza Keshavarz, Stefan Iglauer

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

© 2020 Elsevier Inc. Hypothesis: Millions of tons of CO2 are stored in CO2 geological storage (CGS) formations (depleted oil reservoirs and deep saline aquifers) every year. These CGS formations naturally contain small concentrations of water-soluble organic components in particular humic acid (HA), which may drastically affect the rock wettability - a significant factor determining storage capacities and containment security. Hence, it is essential to characterise the effect of humic acid concentration on CO2-wettability and its associated impact on storage capacity. Experimental: To achieve this, we measured advancing and receding contact angles at reservoir conditions using the pendant drop tilted …

A Search For New Physics In B(S) To Mu+Mu- Decays Using Multivariate Data Analysis, And Development Of Particle Detection Technology With Silicon Pixel Detectors, Aidan Grummer

Physics & Astronomy ETDs

A suite of linked research projects is undertaken, combining a search for phenomena beyond the Standard Model of particle physics, development of new instruments for greater precision in detecting fundamental particles, and tracking and understanding the effect upon the detectors of the radiation that is an indelible element of their operating environment. Data recorded by the ATLAS Detector at CERN are employed in a search for evidence of undiscovered particles contributing to the rate of decays of B⁰ and B⁰_s mesons to dimuon final states. New applications of machine learning techniques are implemented to separate this signal …

Microfluidic-Based Bacterial Molecular Computing On A Chip, Daniel P. Martins, Michael Taynnan Barros, Benjamin O'Sullivan, Ian Seymour, Alan O'Riordan, Lee Coffey, Joseph Sweeney, Sasitharan Balasubramaniam,

School of Computing: Faculty Publications

Biocomputing systems based on engineered bacteria can lead to novel tools for environmental monitoring and detection of metabolic diseases. In this paper, we propose a Bacterial Molecular Computing on a Chip (BMCoC) using microfluidic and electrochemical sensing technologies. The computing can be flexibly integrated into the chip, but we focus on engineered bacterial AND Boolean logic gate and ON-OFF switch sensors that produces secondary signals to change the pH and dissolved oxygen concentrations. We present a prototype with experimental results that shows the electrochemical sensors can detect small pH and dissolved oxygen concentration changes created by the engineered bacterial populations’ …

Polyesters Based On Aspartic Acid And Poly(Ethylene Glycol): Functional Polymers For Hydrogel Preparation, Trent N. Gordon, Anna Kornmuller, Yashveer Soni, Lauren E. Flynn, Elizabeth R. Gillies

Chemistry Publications

Hydrogels are commonly used as scaffolds for the preparation of three-dimensional tissue constructs and for the encapsulation and delivery of cells in regenerative medicine. Polyesters are an attractive class of polymers for hydrogel preparation. However, most polyesters have hydrophobic backbones and lack pendent groups that can be chemically functionalized. We describe here the development of water-soluble polyesters based on aspartic acid and poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) (600 or 1500 g/mol), having pendent reactive amines. The reactivity of these amines with methacrylic anhydride, maleic anhydride, and itaconic anhydride was explored for the introduction of crosslinkable groups. The resulting methacrylamide-functionalized polymers were successfully …

Disparities In Meeting Uspstf Breast, Cervical, And Colorectal Cancer Screening Guidelines Among Women In The United States, Gabriel A. Benavidez, Anja Zgodic, Whitney Zahnd, Jan Eberth

Faculty Publications

Introduction

Many sociodemographic factors affect women’s ability to meet cancer screening guidelines. Our objective was to examine which sociodemographic characteristics were associated with women meeting US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) guidelines for breast, cervical, and colorectal cancer screening.

Methods

We used 2018 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System data to examine the association between sociodemographic variables, such as race/ethnicity, rurality, education, and insurance status, and self-reported cancer screening for breast, cervical, and colorectal cancer. We used multivariable log-binomial regression models to estimate adjusted prevalence ratios and 95% CIs.

Results

Overall, the proportion of women meeting USPSTF guidelines for breast, cervical, …

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Npl Site Butte Priority Soils Operable Unit, Pioneer Technical Services, Inc.

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

Ready To Engage? Urban Middle School Teachers’ Responsiveness To Targeted Engagement Interventions On Their Virtual Instructional Practices: An Action Research Study, Svetlana Nikic

Dissertations

Teachers’ effectiveness is associated with their instructional practices and is ultimately linked to students’ learning outcomes. In order to impact teachers’ effectiveness, schools focus substantial effort and resources on professional development led by an assumption that teachers’ classroom practices can be improved through targeted interventions. Even if this premise is correct, little information is available about how much a teacher’s practice may change through interventions, or which aspects of instructional practice are more receptive to improving teacher effectiveness (Garret et al., 2019).

This study took place at an urban middle school and examined teachers’ responsiveness to targeted engagement intervention in …

Non-Hazardous Industrial Solid Waste Tracking System, Justin Tank

Masters Theses & Doctoral Dissertations

The Olmsted Non-Hazardous Industrial Solid Waste Tracking System allows waste generators of certain materials to electronically have their waste assessments evaluated, approved, and tracked through a simple online process. The current process of manually requesting evaluations, prepopulating tracking forms, and filling them out on triplicate carbonless forms is out of sync with other processes in the department. Complying with audit requirements requires pulling physical copies and providing them physically to fulfill information requests.

Waste generators in Minnesota are required to track their waste disposals for certain types of industrial waste streams. This ensures waste is accounted for at the point …

Groups Of Narrow Bipolar Events Within Thunderstorms, Sampath Bandara, Thomas Marshall, Sumedhe Karunarathne, Maribeth Stolzenburg

Faculty and Student Publications

This investigation is focused on groups of Narrow Bipolar Events (NBEs), defined as NBEs that occurred within 10 km horizontally and ±660 ms of a located, large-amplitude NBE from a dataset of positive NBEs that occurred in Mississippi thunderstorms. In two months only 15 groups were found, with a total of 31 positive and 4 negative NBEs. Each group had 2 to 5 NBEs; four groups had both positive and negative polarity NBEs. About half of the NBEs had typical values for range-normalized fast antenna (FA) electric field change magnitudes (4–15 V/m) and typical VHF powers (1000–45,000 W), but 17 …

Evaluation Of Native Ecotypes And Modern Cultivars Of Grasses And Legumes In Mongolia, D. Tumenjargal, D. Namkhai, B. Turtogtokh, N. Enkhtuya, L. Bayarmaa, D. Lkhagvasuren, Sodnomdarjaa Jigjidsuren

IGC Proceedings (1993-2023)

No abstract provided.

Prospects Of Triticale As Fodder And Feed In Farming Of Bangladesh, N. Tabassum, M. R. Uddin, U. S. Gim

IGC Proceedings (1993-2023)

No abstract provided.

Blooming Characteristics Of Lespedeza Hedysaroides, Q. Z. Sun, S. F. Zhao, L. J. Xu, Z. R. Zhang

IGC Proceedings (1993-2023)

No abstract provided.

Evaluation Of The Performance Of Seventeen Varieties Of Alfalfa (Medicago Sativa L), Yan Sun, Qingchuan Yang

IGC Proceedings (1993-2023)

No abstract provided.

Pueraria Montana Peroxidase Activity, Kathryn Briley, Gregory Raner

Liberty University Research Week

Undergraduate

Basic

The Origin & Evolution Of The Chinese Language, Charity Bullis, Yan Xie

Liberty University Research Week

Undergraduate

Textual or Investigative

Calibration Between Eye Tracker And Stereoscopic Vision System Employing A Linear Closed-Form Perspective-N-Point (Pnp) Algorithm, Mohammad Karami

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

In many advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) applications, it is essential to figure out where gaze of driver locates in image area of stereoscopic vision system. This problem, which involves a cross calibration between the stereo vision system and eye tracker, is a challenging task since the two systems are not consistent in modality and do not share a common image area. The eye tracker system provides a 3D gaze vector which describes the direction of driver’s 3D line of gaze, while the stereoscopic vision system provides a depth image frame. In this thesis, this crosscalibration was performed with a …

Seed Rain And Viable Soil Seed Bank Of 'Black Soil Land' Degraded Alpine Meadow In Qinghai‐Tibetan Plateau, Zhanhuan Shang, Yushou Ma, Ruijun Long

IGC Proceedings (1993-2023)

No abstract provided.

Effects Of Sowing Methods And Seeding Rates On Chemical Composition Of Tephrosia Bracteolata, Olufemi S. Onifade, T. A. Amole, Alaba O. Jolaosho, O. M. Arigbede, Jimoh A. Olanite, U. Y. Anele, A. M. Oyeladun

IGC Proceedings (1993-2023)

No abstract provided.

Dynamic Nuclear Structure Emerges From Chromatin Cross-Links And Motors, Kuang Liu, Alison E. Patteson, Edward J. Banigan, J. M. Schwarz

Physics - All Scholarship

The cell nucleus houses the chromosomes, which are linked to a soft shell of lamin protein filaments. Experiments indicate that correlated chromosome dynamics and nuclear shape fluctuations arise from motor activity. To identify the physical mechanisms, we develop a model of an active, cross-linked Rouse chain bound to a polymeric shell. System-sized correlated motions occur but require both motor activity and cross-links. Contractile motors, in particular, enhance chromosome dynamics by driving anomalous density fluctuations. Nuclear shape fluctuations depend on motor strength, cross-linking, and chromosome-lamina binding. Therefore, complex chromosome dynamics and nuclear shape emerge from a minimal, active chromosome-lamina system.

Can CP Be Less Than CV?, Yingbin Ge, Samuel L. Montgomery, Gabriel L. Borrello

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of the Sciences

Can C_P be less than C_V? This is a fundamental question in physics, chemistry, chemical engineering, and mechanical engineering. This question hangs in the minds of many students, instructors, and researchers. The first instinct is to answer “Yes, for water between 0 and 4 °C” if one knows that water expands as temperature decreases in this temperature range. The same question is asked in several Physical Chemistry and Physics textbooks. Students are supposed to answer that water contracts when heated at below 4 °C in an isobaric process. Because work is done to the contracting water, less …

Ancient Great Wall Building Materials Reveal Paleoenvironmental Changes In Northwestern China, Robert Patalano, Jing Hu, Qin Leng, Weiguo Liu, Huanye Wang, Patrick Roberts, Michael Storozum, Lin Yang, Hong Yang

Science and Technology Department Faculty Journal Articles

Plant material used in the construction of segments and beacon towers of the ancient Great Wall in northwestern China contain untapped potential for revealing paleoenvironmental conditions. Here, we characterize the molecular preservation and stable carbon and nitrogen isotope compositions of common reeds (Phragmites) collected from Great Wall fascines dated to the Han Dynasty in today’s Gansu and Xinjiang provinces using a combination of chromatographic techniques and isotope analyses. Our data demonstrates that ancient reeds were harvested from local habitats that were more diverse than exist today. The isotope data also capture differential rates of environmental deterioration along the eastern margin …

The Analysis Of Heavy Metals In Samples Of Honey Using X-Ray Fluorescence And Anodic Stripping Voltammetry, Mia Arrieta, Kaleigh Beale

Spring Showcase for Research and Creative Inquiry

A daunting reality is haunting scientists as Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) is declining bee population in the United States (1). A concrete conclusion as to why CCD is happening remains unclear but extensive research and studies are leaning towards a toxic component in honey to bees called hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) (1). HMF has been a culprit in question for a while but researchers are still on the fence as to whether it should be concluded as such. It is theorized that HMF is formed in very warm temperatures and catalyzed by a metal in honey; manganese (1). Manganese is one of …

Chemistry Meets Art: Instrumental Analysis At The Lcva, James Rakes, Mia Arrieta, Kaleigh Beale, Adonel Grubb

Spring Showcase for Research and Creative Inquiry

This project is an ongoing collaboration between the Longwood chemistry program and the Longwood Center for the Visual Arts. The demonstration shows the capabilities of the X-ray fluorescence spectrophotometer as a non-destructive elemental analysis technique. Our class visited the LCVA to analyze several pieces in their art collections. We were able to utilize the XRF instrument to analyze the elemental composition of glass and metal, painted pottery and porcelain, oil paintings, and metals. This project lays the groundwork for further research using X-ray fluorescence for non-destructive chemical analysis.

The Abundance Of Soil Microbes In Relationship To Proximity To The Urban Area Of Lancer Park In Farmville, Virginia, Christian Michael, Callie Cutrell, Miguel Diaz-Montealegre

Spring Showcase for Research and Creative Inquiry

Soil microbes are microorganisms found in soil that serve various critical roles and functions in the environment, such as decomposition and the cycling of nutrients in ecosystems. Natural and human-caused factors can have positive and/or negative impacts on soil microbes. The objective of this study is to examine the abundance of soil microbes in relationship to proximity to the urban area of Lancer Park in Farmville, Virginia. Soil samples were taken from four locations within Lancer Park: the upper and lower floodplain of Buffalo Creek, the bottom of a large stormwater detention pond, and adjacent to an ephemeral channel connecting …