Digital Commons Network^™

Quantifying Computer Network Security, Ian Burchett

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Simplifying network security data to the point that it is readily accessible and usable by a wider audience is increasingly becoming important, as networks become larger and security conditions and threats become more dynamic and complex, requiring a broader and more varied security staff makeup. With the need for a simple metric to quantify the security level on a network, this thesis proposes: simplify a network’s security risk level into a simple metric. Methods for this simplification of an entire network’s security level are conducted on several characteristic networks. Identification of computer network port vulnerabilities from NIST’s Network Vulnerability Database …

Spatial Analysis Of Fatal Automobile Crashes In Kentucky, William Nathan Oris

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Fatal automobile crashes have claimed the lives of over 33,000 people each year in the United States since 1995. As in any point event, fatal crash events do not occur randomly in time or space. The objectives of this study were to identify spatial patterns and hot spots in FARS (Fatal Analysis Reporting System) fatal crash events based on temporal and demographic characteristics. The methods employed included 1) rate calculation using FARS points and average daily traffic flow; 2) planar kernel density estimation of FARS crash events based on temporal and demographic attributes within the data; and 3) two case …

Multiple Storm Event Impacts On Epikarst Storage And Transport Of Organic Soil Amendments In South-Central Kentucky, Sean M. Vanderhoff

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The groundwater in agricultural karst areas is susceptible to contamination from organic soil amendments and pesticides. During major storm events during 2011, dye traces were initiated using sulphorhodamine-B, fluorescein and eosine in a groundwater recharge area where manure was applied to the ground. Fecal coliform samples were collected from significant storm events from January-September 2011. Water samples and geochemical data were collected every four hours before, during, and between the storm events from a waterfall in Crumps cave flowing from the known recharge area to track the transport and residence time of the epikarst water and organic soil amendments during …

Chemical Modification On Gold Slides To Gain Better Control Of Patterning Techniques, Ragini Vuppalapati

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Nanolithography is a rapidly evolving field that requires new combinations of techniques to improve patterning and to assist in fabricating electromechanical devices. An increasing number of applications require surfaces with defined regions of different chemical functionality. In our previous project optimum conditions for lithographic patterning were determined and potential blockers were identified to reduce force on the tip.

This work is focused on identifying good chemical modifications that will allow better control of basic patterning and to investigate the minimum force of patterning required while using each chemical system. The primary aim is to gain better control of basic pattern …

Activity Of Analogs Of Anticancer Drugs On The Serine Protease Enzymes Subtilisin And Chymotrypsin, Dhatri Ravipati

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The anticancer activity of several platinum compounds is due to the formation of complexes with DNA. We hypothesize that the size and shape of the platinum compounds would impact interaction with proteins, and these interactions may be partly responsible for the anticancer activity. Chymotrypsin and subtilisin are serine proteases that have a histidine residue in the active site. We are investigating the inhibition of the digestive enzymes chymotrypsin and subtilisin by analogs of the anticancer drug cisplatin and trying to discern trends in the inhibition as the active site residues vary. In our research, we found that the enzyme subtilisin …

Inhibition Of Cysteine Protease By Platinum (Ii) Diamine Complexes, Chaitanya Rapolu

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Chemotherapy is the first line of treatment used in cancer. Chemotherapy drugs such as cisplatin, carboplatin and oxaliplatin are used in treatment. Cisplatin enters the cell through copper transporter CTR1 by passive diffusion and bind to DNA and proteins. Cisplatin is found to inhibit several enzymes targeting cysteine, histidine and methionine residues, which are expected to be responsible for its anticancer activity. A better understanding of how the size and shape and leaving ligands of platinum complexes affect cysteine protease, papain enzyme are studied. This could give new ways to optimize anticancer activity. The activity of papain enzyme was measured …

Distribution Of Trace Elements In Cumberland River Basin Reservoir Sediments, Laura Mahoney Benneyworth

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Nashville District, maintains ten reservoirs in the Cumberland River Basin in Kentucky and Tennessee, and has been monitoring sediment chemistry in the reservoirs since 1994. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the sediment data collected from the reservoirs from 1994 to 2010 to determine if there are any spatial patterns of the trace elements: arsenic, beryllium, cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, mercury, nickel, and zinc. The results indicated that trace element levels were consistent with national baseline concentrations measured by the U.S. Geological Survey. Center Hill reservoir had the greatest number of trace …

Cagan Type Rational Expectations Model On Time Scales With Their Applications To Economics, Funda Ekiz

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Rational expectations provide people or economic agents making future decision with available information and past experiences. The first approach to the idea of rational expectations was given approximately fifty years ago by John F. Muth. Many models in economics have been studied using the rational expectations idea. The most familiar one among them is the rational expectations version of the Cagans hyperination model where the expectation for tomorrow is formed using all the information available today. This model was reinterpreted by Thomas J. Sargent and Neil Wallace in 1973. After that time, many solution techniques were suggested to solve the …

A Climatology Of High-Wind Events Associated With Post-Tropical Cyclones In The United States, Joshua M. Gilliland

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

During 1951-2009, 47% of all tropical systems (TSs) within the Atlantic Basin transitioned to post-tropical (PTC) extratropical classification. These systems have shown the capability of producing hurricane-force winds and gusts for portions of the eastern United States. This study provides a climatological foundation for high-wind observations that were contributed from PTCs. In this study, 76 PTC systems were identified and tracked using six hourly observations from the National Hurricane Center’s HURDAT dataset. Mean wind radii buffers were calculated and used to determine the high-wind observations attributed by PTCs. High-wind climatology was developed by using hourly surface wind data from the …

Synthesis And Structure Of A Substituted Pyridazine, Kiranmai Byrichetti

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Pyridazines are heterocyclic compounds with an N-N bond in their ring structure. Heterocyclic aromatic compounds are of great interest as a result of their novel properties and commercial applications. Our current research is focused on the potential role of pyridazines in next generation electronic devices that utilize organics as the semiconducting material. The synthesis of 5, 6-fused ring pyridazines beginning from fulvenes (Scheme 1) is described herein. These fused heterocycles will serve as synthetic models and building blocks for potential organic or organometallic conducting polymers.

Our goal was to modify the route of Snyder et al. previously reported for the …

Regiospecific Synthesis Of Ortho Substituted Phenols, Ravindra Kotha Balasainath

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Phenol is highly reactive toward electrophilic aromatic substitution. By this general approach, many groups can be appended to the ring, via halogenation, acylation, sulfonation, and other processes. Phenol contains the hydroxyl group (–OH), which is a strongly activating ortho/para directing group in aromatic electrophilic substitution (AES). AES gives a mixture of ortho-and para isomers, which must be separated.

The strong directing ability of phenol can also result in multiple substitutions on the aromatic ring which could be a major concern in the regiospecific synthesis of phenols. AES and Directed ortho--Metalation (DoM) are the only ways to directly substitute …

Higher Derivatives Of The Hurwitz Zeta Function, Jason Musser

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The Riemann zeta function ζ(s) is one of the most fundamental functions in number theory. Euler demonstrated that ζ(s) is closely connected to the prime numbers and Riemann gave proofs of the basic analytic properties of the zeta function. Values of the zeta function and its derivatives have been studied by several mathematicians. Apostol in particular gave a computable formula for the values of the derivatives of ζ(s) at s = 0. The Hurwitz zeta function ζ(s,q) is a generalization of ζ(s). We modify Apostolʼs methods to find values of the derivatives of ζ(s,q) with respect to s at s …

Determining The Viability Of A Hybrid Experiential And Distance Learning Educational Model For Water Treatment Plant Operators In Kentucky, Jana R. Fattic

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Drinking water and wastewater industries are facing a nationwide workforce shortfall of qualified treatment plant operators due to factors including the en masse retirement of baby boomers and the tightening of regulatory requirements regarding the hands-on experience required prior to licensure. Rural areas are hardest hit due to the lack of educational and experiential opportunities available to them within a reasonable proximity. Using a variety of demographic and industry data, a geographic analysis of Kentucky was conducted to assess the viability of the traditional classroom delivery model versus a hybrid experiential and distance learning educational model (HEDLEM). Although this analysis …

Single-Step Biofriendly Synthesis Of Surface Modifiable, Near-Spherical Gold Nanoparticles For Applications In Biological Detection And Catalysis, Vivek D. Badwaik

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

There is an increased interest in understanding the toxicity and rational design of gold nanoparticles (GNPs) for biomedical applications in recent years. Such efforts warrant reliable, viable, and biofriendly synthetic methodology for GNPs with homogeneous sizes and shapes, particularly sizes above 30 nm, which is currently challenging. In the present study, an environmentally benign, biofriendly, singlestep/ single-phase synthetic method using dextrose as a reducing and capping agent in a buffered aqueous solution at moderate temperature is introduced. The resulting GNPs are near-spherical, stable, catalytically active, place exchangeable, and water-soluble within the size range of 10-120 nm. The added advantage of …

Deterministic And Stochastic Bellman's Optimality Principles On Isolated Time Domains And Their Applications In Finance, Nezihe Turhan

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The concept of dynamic programming was originally used in late 1949, mostly during the 1950s, by Richard Bellman to describe decision making problems. By 1952, he refined this to the modern meaning, referring specifically to nesting smaller decision problems inside larger decisions. Also, the Bellman equation, one of the basic concepts in dynamic programming, is named after him. Dynamic programming has become an important argument which was used in various fields; such as, economics, finance, bioinformatics, aerospace, information theory, etc. Since Richard Bellman's invention of dynamic programming, economists and mathematicians have formulated and solved a huge variety of sequential decision …

Development Of Fractional Trigonometry And An Application Of Fractional Calculus To Pharmacokinetic Model, Amera Almusharrf

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

No abstract provided.

Approach To Arsenic And Selenium Removal From Fly Ash By Oxalate And Estimation Of Calcium Effects On Both Elements, Ying Wen

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

An approach to arsenic and selenium removal from fly ash is studied. This research includes a comparison of the leaching ability of ammonium oxalate, ammonium citrate, ammonium nitrate and EDTA to extract arsenic and selenium; use of common agricultural waste as a source of oxalate anion to remove arsenic and selenium from fly ash and estimation of additional calcium effects on arsenic and selenium leaching behaviors.
This research shows that extraction strength order is EDTA > ammonium oxalate > ammonium citrate > ammonium nitrate > water, achieving arsenic extraction efficiencies of 94.18%, 84.17%, 4.50%, 2.89% and 0.18%, respectively; achieving selenium extraction efficiencies of 96.14%, …

National Park Service Cave And Karst Resources Management Case Study: Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Daniel C. Nolfi

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

As discussed in the National Parks Service’s (NPS) Directors Orders/Natural Resources Management Reference Manual #77 and the 2006 NPS Management Policy Handbook, implementing a management plan specifically for cave and karst resources within a national park is paramount to afford these resources appropriate protection. With support from the Federal Cave Resources Protection Act and the National Park Service Organic Act of 1906, management actions protecting caves has begun to place significant importance outside the traditional cave environment onto a broader karst landscape. The need to understand and protect the karst environment and caves as a karst resource has taken a …

Efficient Schema Extraction From A Collection Of Xml Documents, Vijayeandra Parthepan

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The eXtensible Markup Language (XML) has become the standard format for data exchange on the Internet, providing interoperability between different business applications. Such wide use results in large volumes of heterogeneous XML data, i.e., XML documents conforming to different schemas. Although schemas are important in many business applications, they are often missing in XML documents. In this thesis, we present a suite of algorithms that are effective in extracting schema information from a large collection of XML documents. We propose using the cost of NFA simulation to compute the Minimum Length Description to rank the inferred schema. We also studied …

Innovative Purification Protocol For Heparin Binding Proteins: Relevance In Biopharmaceutical And Biomedical Applications, Sumit Batra

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Heparin binding (HB) proteins mediates a wide range of important cellular processes, which makes this class of proteins biopharmaceutically important. Engineering HB proteins could bring many advantages, but it necessitates cost effective and efficient purification methodologies compared to the currently available methods. One of the most important classes of heparin binding protein is the fibroblast growth factors (FGFs) and its receptors (FGFRs). In this study, we report an efficient off-column purification of FGF-1 from soluble fractions and purification of the D2 domain of FGFR from insoluble inclusion bodies, using a weak amberlite cation (IRC) exchanger. This approach is an alternative …

Determining The Lon-Exchange Mechanism Of Strontium Into A Niobium Doped Titanosilicate, Samantha Jane Kramer

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

A 25% niobium substituted sitinakite was exchanged with strontium as time resolved X-ray diffraction data was collected. The structural modeling of this data by Rietveld method1 has lead to the determination of the atomic positions of the ions and unit cell parameters as strontium occupancy increases.

The starting material of the exchange experiment is the protonated phase, H2Nb0.67Ti1.33SiO7·1.9 H2O, with space group P42/mcm2,3. Once strontium (Sr2+) enters the unit cell, extra-framework H2O molecules shift to provide the necessary hydration coordination. These new positions of H2O result in a lowering of symmetry to the P-42m space group, and it is thought …

Generalized Bathtub Hazard Models For Binary-Transformed Climate Data, James Polcer

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

In this study, we use a hazard-based modeling as an alternative statistical framework to time series methods as applied to climate data. Data collected from the Kentucky Mesonet will be used to study the distributional properties of the duration of high and low-energy wind events relative to an arbitrary threshold. Our objectiveswere to fit bathtub models proposed in literature, propose a generalized bathtub model, apply these models to Kentucky Mesonet data, and make recommendations as to feasibility of wind power generation. Using two different thresholds (1.8 and 10 mph respectively), results show that the Hjorth bathtub model consistently performed better …