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Algebraic Properties Of Edge Ideals, Rachelle R. Bouchat

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Given a simple graph G, the corresponding edge ideal I_G is the ideal generated by the edges of G. In 2007, Ha and Van Tuyl demonstrated an inductive procedure to construct the minimal free resolution of certain classes of edge ideals. We will provide a simplified proof of this inductive method for the class of trees. Furthermore, we will provide a comprehensive description of the finely graded Betti numbers occurring in the minimal free resolution of the edge ideal of a tree. For specific subclasses of trees, we will generate more precise information including explicit formulas for …

Colloid Mediated Transport Of Heavy Metals In Soils Following Reclamation With And Without Biosolid Application, Jarrod O. Miller

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Soils disturbed by strip mining practices may have increased colloid loads moving to groundwater resources, also enhancing the transport of contaminants into our water resources. We hypothesize that contaminant transport within soils following mining is enhanced by colloid mobility. Two sites were chosen for this study, a 30-year old reclaimed strip mine in southwest Virginia and a recently mined area from eastern Kentucky. Intact reclaimed soil monoliths were retrieved from sandstone derived soils in southwestern Virginia. Reclaimed monoliths from eastern Kentucky were recreated in the lab. Intact undisturbed (native) soil monoliths representing the soils before mining were also sampled for …

Ecosystem Restoration In The Ouachita National Forest: Evaluating The Pragmatism Of Pre-European Settlement Benchmarks, John Lawrence Davenport

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

This paper looks at the intersections of nature and culture through a study of forest ecosystem restoration efforts in the Ouachita National Forest (Arkansas and Oklahoma). Ecosystem restoration goals are often informed by a pre-European settlement (PES) condition, with an implicit (and occasionally explicit) assertion that such conditions are both more natural than and preferable to the contemporary state. In many cases resuming pre-suppression fire regimes remains a key mechanism for achieving this restored condition. This study’s three main objectives include: (1) determining how PES benchmarks arose in restoration thought, (2) examining how the choice to use a PES benchmark …

Accurate And Robust Preconditioning Techniques For Solving General Sparse Linear Systems, Eun-Joo Lee

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Please download this dissertation to see the abstract.

Multivariate List Decoding Of Evaluation Codes With A Gröbner Basis Perspective, Philip Busse

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Please download dissertation to view abstract.

Studies Of Low-Lying States In 94zr Excited With The Inelastic Neutron Scattering Reaction, Esmat Elhami

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

The aim of nuclear structure studies is to observe and describe the structures and associated symmetries in nuclei, which in turn help us in understanding the nature of nucleon-nucleon interactions in a nucleus as a many-body quantum system. The protons and neutrons as constituents of a nucleus and their interactions are responsible for nuclear properties. The evolution of nuclear structure as a function of valence nucleon number, i.e., the number of nucleons beyond a magic number, can be inferred from the experimental level scheme and transition rates. In particular, the studies of low-lying, low-spin excited states in stable nuclei provide …

Charge Density Wave Polarization Dynamics, Luis Alejandro Ladino Gaspar

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

We have studied the charge density wave (CDW) repolarization dynamics in blue bronze (K_0.3MoO₃) by applying symmetric bipolar square-wave voltages of different frequencies to the sample and measuring the changes in infrared transmittance, proportional to CDW strain. The frequency dependence of the electro-transmittance was fit to a modified harmonic oscillator response and the evolution of the parameters as functions of voltage, position, and temperature are discussed. We found that resonance frequencies decrease with distance from the current contacts, indicating that the resulting delays are intrinsic to the CDW with the strain effectively flowing from the contact. …

Metabolite Analysis Of Clostridium Thermocellum Using Capillary Electrophoresis Based Techniques, Anup P. Thakur

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Clostridium thermocellum is a thermophilic bacterium that converts biomass to ethanol directly; however, high sensitivity of this bacterium toward ethanol limits its commercial utility. To elucidate the effect of ethanol on the growth of this bacterium a metabolite analysis of C. thermocellum was performed. The hypothesis of the project was that exogenous ethanol alters the metabolite profile of C. thermocellum. For metabolite analysis, capillary electrophoresis-electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry method (CE-ESI-MS) was developed due to highly polar and charged nature of metabolites. To increase the sensitivity of CE-ESI-MS, several parameters at the ESI interface were optimized. The application of 50% isopropanol …

Methods Development In Qualitative And Quantitative Proteomics, Ting Liu

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Proteomics based on liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry has developed rapidly in the last decade and become a powerful tool for protein mixtures analysis. LC-MS based proteomics involves four steps, sample preparation, liquid chromatography, mass spectrometry and bioinformatics. Improvements in each step have extended its applications to new biological research areas. This dissertation mainly focuses on method developments in both qualitative and quantitative proteomics.

The first part of this dissertation focuses on qualitative analysis of T. gondii Parasitophorous Vacuole Membrane (PVM) proteins, which is very important for T. gondii’s survival. The hypothesis of this study is that proteomic …

Algebraic And Combinatorial Properties Of Certain Toric Ideals In Theory And Applications, Sonja Petrovic

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

This work focuses on commutative algebra, its combinatorial and computational aspects, and its interactions with statistics. The main objects of interest are projective varieties in Pⁿ, algebraic properties of their coordinate rings, and the combinatorial invariants, such as Hilbert series and Gröbner fans, of their defining ideals. Specifically, the ideals in this work are all toric ideals, and they come in three flavors: they are defining ideals of a family of classical varieties called rational normal scrolls, cut ideals that can be associated to a graph, and phylogenetic ideals arising in a new and increasingly popular area of …

Mechanistic Investigations Of The Trans Excision-Splicing And Trans Insertion-Splicing Reaction, Perry Patrick Dotson Ii

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Group I intron-derived ribozymes are catalytic RNAs that have been engineered to catalyze a variety of different reactions, in addition to the native self-splicing reaction. One such ribozyme, derived from a group I intron of Pneumocystis carinii, can modify RNA transcripts through either the excision or insertion of RNA sequences. These reactions are mediated through the trans excision-splicing (TES) or trans insertionsplicing (TIS) reaction pathways. To increase our current understanding of these reactions, as well as their general applicability, a mechanistic and kinetic framework for the TES reaction was established. Furthermore, additional ribozymes were investigated for their ability to …

Precision Measurements Of The Neutron Electric Form Factor At High Momentum Transfers, Ameya Suresh Kolarkar

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

The neutron, although electrically neutral, is composed of elementary charged particles and as a result, possesses a charge distribution within. The charge distribution can be studied by measuring a quantity called the neutron electric form factor, Gⁿ_E. Experiment E02-013 at Jefferson Lab’s Hall A measured Gⁿ_E at high four-momentum transfer values of Q2 = 1.2, 1.7, 2.5 and 3.4 (GeV/c)² in double polarized semi-exclusive ³He(e, e'n) scattering in quasi-elestic kinematics by measuring the transverse asymmetry A_T of the cross section.

The neutron electric form factor is essential to …

The H-Vectors Of Matroids And The Arithmetic Degree Of Squarefree Strongly Stable Ideals, Erik Stokes

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Making use of algebraic and combinatorial techniques, we study two topics: the arithmetic degree of squarefree strongly stable ideals and the h-vectors of matroid complexes.

For a squarefree monomial ideal, I, the arithmetic degree of I is the number of facets of the simplicial complex which has I as its Stanley-Reisner ideal. We consider the case when I is squarefree strongly stable, in which case we give an exact formula for the arithmetic degree in terms of the minimal generators of I as well as a lower bound resembling that from the Multiplicity Conjecture. Using this, we can …

Benzene-1,3-Diamidoethanethiol (Bdeth2) And Its Metal Compounds, Kamruz Md Zaman

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

There is a global need to find a permanent and readily implemented solution to the problem of heavy metal pollution in aqueous environments. A dithiol compound, benzene-1,3-diamidoethanethiol (BDETH₂), also known as N,N'-bis(2-mercaptoethyl) isophthalamide or N,N'-bis(2-mercaptoethyl)-1,3-benzenedicarboxamide, capable of binding divalent metal ions, has been synthesized and characterized. A broad range of BDET-metal compounds, spanning the periodic chart, has been prepared and characterized by IR, MS, EA, Raman, XAFS and TGA. The characteristics of the BDET-M compounds were determined through secondary reactions. In an effort to derivatize BDET-M compounds through alkylalumination a new cyclic compound, 1,3- bis(4,5-dihydrothiazolo)benzene, has …

Regulation Of L-Type Voltage-Dependnet Calcium Channels By The Rem Gtpase, Chunyan Pang

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

The Rem, Rem2, Rad, and Gem/Kir GTPases, comprise a novel subfamily of the small Ras-related GTP-binding proteins known as the RGK GTPases, and have been shown to function as potent negative regulators of high voltage-activated (HVA) Ca²⁺ channels upon overexpression. HVA Ca²⁺ channels modulate Ca²⁺ influx in response to membrane depolarization to regulate a wide variety of cellular functions and they minimally consist of a pore-forming α1 subunit, an intracellular β subunit, and a transmembrane complex α₂/δ subunit. While the mechanisms underlying RGK-mediated Ca²⁺ channel regulation remain poorly defined, it appears that both membrane …

A Systematic Study Of Thermodynamic And Transport Properties Of Layered CaN+1(Ru1-XCrX)NO3n+1, Vinobalan Durairaj

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Orbital degrees of freedom play vital role in prompting novel phenomena in ruthenium based Ruddlesden-Popper compounds through coupling of orbits to spin and lattice. Physical properties are then particularly susceptible to small perturbations by external magnetic fields and/or slight structural changes. Current study pertains to the impact when a more-extended 4d Ruthenium ion is replaced by a less-extended 3d Chromium ion.

Perovskite CaRuO₃ (n=∞) is characterized by borderline magnetism and non- Fermi liquid behavior – common occurrences in quantum critical compounds. Remarkably, Cr substitution as low as x=0.05 abruptly drives CaRu_1−xCr_xO₃ from a paramagnetic …

Empirical Processes And Roc Curves With An Application To Linear Combinations Of Diagnostic Tests, Costel Chirila

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

The Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve is the plot of Sensitivity vs. 1- Specificity of a quantitative diagnostic test, for a wide range of cut-off points c. The empirical ROC curve is probably the most used nonparametric estimator of the ROC curve. The asymptotic properties of this estimator were first developed by Hsieh and Turnbull (1996) based on strong approximations for quantile processes. Jensen et al. (2000) provided a general method to obtain regional confidence bands for the empirical ROC curve, based on its asymptotic distribution.

Since most biomarkers do not have high enough sensitivity and specificity to …

Carbon Nanotube Supported Metal Catalysts For NoX Reduction Using Hydrocarbon Reductants, Eduardo Santillan-Jimenez

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Nitrogen oxides (NO_x) are atmospheric pollutants that pose a serious threat to both the environment and human health. Although catalytic deNO_x technologies for engines working under stoichiometric air-to-fuel ratios (i.e., most gasoline engines) are already available, their performance is unsatisfactory under excess air conditions like those under which diesel engines operate.

The selective catalytic reduction of NO_x with hydrocarbon reductants (HC-SCR) is a potential deNO_xsolution for diesel engines, whose operating temperatures are 150-500 ºC. Given that is unlikely for a single catalyst to show acceptable activity throughout this entire temperature span, the use of …

Paleogene Mirelands Of The Upper Mississippi Embayment, Western Kentucky, Jennifer Marie Klein O'Keefe

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Detailed petrography, geochemistry, and palynology together describe the depositional environments and paleoecology of an abandoned meander-fill system in western Kentucky. Oriented block petrography reveals alternating clay-rich and attrinite-rich zones of variable thickness. Woody tissues, where present, do not show dessication features and deflation layers could not be identified. Overall, petrography is indicative of a topogenous mire. Mire palyno-assemblages are less diverse than assemblages reported from clays in the region. Castanea-Cupuliferoidaepollenites assemblages dominate the entire system and other tree pollen are common; fungal spores are relatively uncommon. Weighted statistical analyses reveal ecological groupings beyond this dominance and define botanical succession within …

The Mobility Of Fecal Indicator Microorganisms Within A Karst Groundwater Basin In The Inner Bluegrass Region, Kentucky, James Wade Ward

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

This project implemented novel approaches to assess the source, age, concentration and mobility of fecal indicator microorganisms within a karst groundwater system. Research was conducted in the well-characterized Blue Hole Spring karst groundwater basin in Versailles, Woodford County, Kentucky. At this site the AC/TC ratio and fecal coliform (FC) bacteria counts were used to delineate sources of fecal inputs and determine relative age of the fecal matter. An aging experiment using indicator bacteria (total coliform (TC) and atypical colonies (AC)), which approximated subsurface conditions, indicated that changes in the AC/TC ratio are likely to be retarded during bacterial transport through …