Digital Commons Network^™

First Mover: Otto Struve And The Use Of Scientific Capital In Astrophysics, 1921–1950, Erik Paul Norquest

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

Otto Struve (1897-1963) came to the United States in 1921 and became one of the dominant personalities in the field of astrophysics. Struve’s career made him, in the words of sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, a “first mover” in a scientific field that was firmly engaged in the process of what Thomas Kuhn called “normal science.” Struve pulled astrophysics further away from its empirical roots in categorization and made it more like physics in its unification of theory and observation. The primary way that he accomplished this was through his administration of Yerkes and McDonald observatories, where he brought in theorists to …

The First-Integral Method For Duffing-Van Der Pol-Type Oscillator System, Xiaochuan Hu

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

In this thesis, we restrict our attention to nonlinear Duffing–van der Pol–type oscillator system by means of the First-integral method. This system has physical relevance as a model in certain flow-induced structural vibration problems, which includes the van der Pol oscillator and the damped Duffing oscillator etc as particular cases. Firstly we apply the Division Theorem for two variables in the complex domain, which is based on the ring theory of commutative algebra, to explore a quasi-polynomial first integral to an equivalent autonomous system. Then through a certain parametric condition, we derive a more general first integral of the Duffing–van …

Zero Inflated Exponential Distribution And It's Variants, Sougata Dhar

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

There have been a lot of studies with respect to the popular Zero Inflated versions of some discrete distributions, like Zero Inflated Poisson and Zero Inflated Negative Binomial distributions. They arise naturally in the literature when one aims to model count data sets having more than usual number of zeros by well known probability distributions. But it can be argued and established that Zero Inflated versions of continuous distributions also make sense. In this thesis, we first provide some motivations for studying Zero Inflated versions of exponential distribution and its variants and then study some parametric and Bayesian aspects related …

Mathematics Of Synthetic Aperture Radar Imaging, Guillermo Garza

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

In Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imaging, radar antennas are mounted on an airborne platform. The scene to be imaged is illuminated by electromagnetic waves transmitted from an antenna. The goal is to extract information of the scene from the measurements taken of the scattered waves. Reconstructing an image of the scene is an inverse problem. In this thesis, we study a method of image reconstruction developed by formulating the data collected as a Fourier integral operator acting on the scene, then applying an approximate inverse operator to that data. In particular, we examine the effects of bistatic system geometry to …

Collapsing Of Non Homogeneous Markov Chains, Agnish Dey

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

In this thesis we have considered questions about lumpability of a non homogeneous markov chain. A number of results similar to those obtained in [2] in the case of homogeneous markov chains have been presented here. We have also considered a few results along the lines of those considered in [8].

Qualitative Analysis To A Nonlinear System, Pengcheng Xiao

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

In this thesis, we first present a qualitative analysis to a nonlinear system under certain parametric conditions. Then for a special case, we make a series of variable transformation and apply the Prelle-Singer Method to find the first integrals of the simplified equations without complicated calculations. Through the inverse transformations we get the first integrals of the original equation. Finally, we use the same Prelle-Singer method to get the first integral for an extended nonlinear system.

Subdifferentials Of Distance Functions And Applications To Facility Location Problems, Juan Salinas Jr.

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

The classical Heron problem states: on a given straight line in the plane, find a point C such that the sum of the distances from C to the given points A and B is minimal. This problem can be solved using standard geometry or differential calculus. In the light of modern convex analysis, we are able to investigate more general versions of this problem. In this thesis we propose and solve the following problem: on a given nonempty closed convex subset of IRs , find a point such that the sum of the distances from that point to n given …

Creation Of Post Ap Chemistry Class, Julian Medrano

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

The creation of a Post AP Chemistry Class to be taught at the high school level for grade 12 students is discussed. The class is to be taught under the supervision of the University of Texas Pan American professors and taught by an MS Chemistry teacher, in order to better transition students into upper level chemistry courses beyond Chemistry 1401 and 1402.

Inverse Synthetic Aperture Radar Imaging Theory And Application, Jaime Xavier Lopez

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

Inverse Synthetic Aperture Radar (ISAR) is an electromagnetic sensing system that is capable of producing high resolution microwave images of moving targets. Despite being developed within the engineering community, the theory of radar imaging is a subject of tremendous mathematical richness. The theory of ISAR imaging alone is filled with many applications and open problems that the mathematician and physicist may find interesting. In this thesis, the basis for a filtered back projection imaging algorithm is derived from a popular scalar wave model. This imaging algorithm is based on a filtered-adjoint method for inverting ISAR data, and allows for the …

Biocompatibility Of Electrospun Polymer Nanofibers (Epns) With Nih 3t3 Cell Line And Interaction Of Quercetin With Different Flavonoids: Induction Of Phase Ii Enzymes In Vitro Cancer Cell Lines, Brenda S. Benavides

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

Part I: In this study Electrospun nanofibers, Elasthane™ 55D, Elasthane™ 75D, Biospan®, Hydrothane™ and Lycra® were evaluated for their biocompatibility to be artificial tissue substitutes using NIH-3T3 fibroblast cells. A colorimetric based MTT dye reduction assay demonstrated that EPNs did not stop cell growth in vitro. Additionally, fluorescence confocal microscope images verified that cell adhesion occurred in the nanofibers, and cell growth on the EPNs over two weeks period was confirmed by DNA quantification.

Part II: This section of the thesis is focused on evaluation of chemopreventive properties of various phytochemicals by induction of Phase II enzymes. The interaction of …

Synthesis And Characterization Of 4,4-Prime-Distyrylbiphenyl And Its Applications In Organic Field Effect Transistors, Nestor A. Santos Jr.

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

4,4’-distyrylbiphenyl (DSBP), an ambipolar small molecule with electroluminescent properties, was synthesized following two synthetic protocols. Accordingly, biphenyl was bromomethylated using a mixture of paraformaldehyde and hydrogen bromide in 20% to 60% isolated yields. Bromomethylated biphenyl was then reacted with triphenyl phosphine, or with triethyl phosphate to yield the corresponding triphenyl phosphonium bromide or triethyl phosphonate, respectively. DSBP was synthesized by reaction of the triphenyl phosphonium bromide or triethyl phosphonate with freshly distilled benzaldehyde according to the Wittig, or Horner-Wadsworth-Emmons protocols. DSBP from the Wittig reaction resulted in a mixture of cis-trans isomers, while the product from the Horner-Wadsworth-Emmons reaction yielded …

Duffing-Van Der Pol-Type Nonlinear Oscillator System, Jing Cui

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

In this thesis, we are concerned with the nonlinear Duffing–van der Pol–type oscillator system by means of the Lie symmetry reduction method. This system has physical relevance as a simple model in certain flow-induced structural vibration problems, which includes the van der Pol oscillator and the damped Duffing oscillator etc as particular cases. By applying the Lie symmetry analysis, we find two nontrivial infinitesimal generators, and use them to construct canonical variables. Through the inverse analysis, some dynamical properties of the nonlinear system under certain parametric conditions are presented. Comparison with the existing results by the Prelle– Singer procedure is …