Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

The Process Of Tracking In Mathematics In Box Elder School District, Megan Haramoto Bushnell

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Educational policymakers have used tracking to instruct students in a variety of subjects, including mathematics. Tracking, which has also been called ability grouping, is a process by which students in the same grade are placed into different classes based on academic ability. Few educators and sociologists have looked at the process by which students are placed in different mathematics tracks. The research design of this study focused on accumulating, evaluating, and reporting the understanding and observations of 12 teachers and 4 counselors as they discussed their knowledge and involvement in the mathematics placement procedures from the intermediate and middle school …

A Three-Dimensional, Time-Dependent Circulation Model Of Utah Lake, Eric V. Callister

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Spatial and temporal variations of Utah Lake’s flow field were modeled using the Estuary Lake and Computer Model from the Centre for Water Research (CWR-ELCOM) at the University of Western Australia as part of an effort to increase understanding of the lake’s natural processes in order to restore the lake to its pristine, clear-water state and preserve the habitat of the June sucker, an endangered species. The model was validated using temperature measurements taken by sensors in 2007. The water temperature was a strong function of air temperature and incident short wave radiation, and was influenced to a lesser degree …

Intergranular Phases In Cyclically Annealed Yba2cu3o7-X And Their Implications For Critical Current Densities, Andrew Peter Clarke

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

We report changes in the intergranular material and grain morphology of YBa₂Cu₃O_7-x during cyclic anneals between 780 and 980 ºC in oxygen at atmospheric pressure. Two endothermic reactions were detected: (a) the eutectic reaction of YBa₂Cu₃O_7-x with CuO and BaCuO₂ at 900 ºC (enthalpy ∆H_a) and (b) the peritectic reaction of YBa₂Cu₃O_7-x with CuO at 950 ºC (∆H_b). During the first anneal, only reaction (b) is detected, and although it should only occur if there is an excess of CuO, …

Forensic And Anti-Forensic Techniques For Object Linking And Embedding 2 (Ole2)-Formatted Documents, Jason M. Daniels

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Common office documents provide significant opportunity for forensic and anti-forensic work. The Object Linking and Embedding 2 (OLE2) specification used primarily by Microsoft’s Office Suite contains unused or dead space regions that can be over written to hide covert channels of communication. This thesis describes a technique to detect those covert channels and also describes a different method of encoding that lowers the probability of detection.

The algorithm developed, called OleDetection, is based on the use of kurtosis and byte frequency distribution statistics to accurately identify OLE2 documents with covert channels. OleDetection is able to correctly identify 99.97 percent of …

Extending F10.7'S Time Resolution To Capture Solar Flare Phenomena, Ariel O. Acebal

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Solar ultraviolet (UV) radiation ionizes the neutral components in the atmosphere, which is partly responsible for the formation of the ionosphere, and contributes to heating of the atmosphere. Solar flares change the solar spectrum at times by several orders of magnitude. These changes modify the Earth's upper atmosphere, causing problems to communication systems and space operations, such as increased satellite drag. Unfortunately, solar UV measurements are limited since they can only be observed with space-based sensors. In order to work around this limitation, the solar radio emissions at a wavelength of 10.7 cm have been used as a proxy for …

Synthetic Complexes Of Relevance To Ni(Ii)-Containing Enzymes, Katarzyna Rudzka

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The work outlined herein presents an investigation of synthetic model complexes of relevance to the active sites of Ni(II)-containing enzymes, particularly urease, glyoxalase I, and acireductone dioxygenase. The research focuses on studying the structural and reactivity features of nickel complexes with biologically relevant substrates. The anion of acetohydroxamic acid is a well-known inhibitor of urease enzymes, including those isolated from Klebsiella aerogenes and Bacillus pasteurii. A precursor to the acetohydroxamate coordination in ureases is proposed to be an interaction between Ni(II) and acetohydroxamic acid. By using a novel supporting chelate ligand capable of secondary hydrogen bonding interactions a novel …

Threat Perception As A Determinant Of Pro-Environmental Behaviors: Public Involvement In Air Pollution Abatement In Cache Valley, Utah, Joshua D. Marquit

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Threat perception related to environmental issues such as air pollution may be a determinant of pro-environmental behaviors. Among the potential threats of air pollution, include the perceived impacts on the psychological, social, and economic wellbeing of a community. Because of rapid increases in population growth, urbanization, and the mountainous landscapes, the American West is extremely susceptible to the adverse impacts of air pollution.

A secondary data analysis was conducted using data from the Air Quality Perception Survey conducted in Cache County, Utah. The survey focused on the public perception of air pollution in Cache County and perceived impact on personal …

Sources And Source Processes Of Organic Nitrogen Aerosols In The Atmosphere, Mark E. Erupe

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The research in this dissertation explored the sources and chemistry of organic nitrogen aerosols in the atmosphere. Two approaches were employed: field measurements and laboratory experiments. In order to characterize atmospheric aerosol, two ambient studies were conducted in Cache Valley in Northern Utah during strong winter inversions of 2004 and 2005. The economy of this region is heavily dependent on agriculture. There is also a fast growing urban population. Urban and agricultural emissions, aided by the valley geography and meteorology, led to high concentrations of fine particles that often exceeded the national ambient air quality standards. Aerosol composition was dominated …

Agent-Organized Network Coalition Formation, Levi L. Barton

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This thesis presents work based on modeling multi-agent coalition formation in an agent organized network. Agents choose which agents to connect with in the network. Tasks are periodically introduced into the network. Each task is defined by a set of skills that agents must fill. Agents form a coalition to complete a task by either joining an existing coalition a network neighbor belongs to, or by proposing a new coalition for a task no agents have proposed a coalition for. We introduce task patience and strategic task selection and show that they improve the number of successful coalitions agents form. …

Strides Towards Better Application Security, Sathyaraj Balasubramanian

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Static analysis tools analyze source code for vulnerabilities. However, these types of tools suffer from various problems that limit their effectiveness. This thesis examines these static analysis tools and suggests techniques for making them more efficient at detecting different types of vulnerabilities.

The thesis further analyzes possible causes for these vulnerabilities by examining the source code written by programmers of various categories. Finally, this thesis discusses solutions and techniques to improve general security awareness as well as the importance of secure coding among the students and software developers.

Nutrient Loading And Eutrophication In The Great Salt Lake, Wayne A. Wurtsbaugh

Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Gravity Has A Story To Tell: Lisa And The Search For Low Frequency Gravitational Waves, Shane L. Larson

Colloquia and Seminars

No abstract provided.

One With The Cosmos: A Short Tour Out Your Backdoor, Shane L. Larson

Public Talks

No abstract provided.

Seasonal Variations Of Semidiurnal Tidalperturbations In Mesopause Region Temperature And Zonal And Meridional Winds Above Fort Collins, Colorado(40.6°N, 105.1°W), Tao Yuan, H. Schmidt, C. Y. She, D. A. Krueger, S. Reising

All Physics Faculty Publications

On the basis of Colorado State University (CSU) Na lidar observations over full diurnal cycles from May 2002 to April 2006, a harmonic analysis was performed to extract semidiurnal perturbations in mesopause region temperature and zonal and meridional winds over Fort Collins, Colorado (40.6°N, 105.1°W). The observed monthly results are in good agreement with MF radar tidal climatology for Urbana, Illinois, and with predictions of the Hamburg Model of the Neutral and Ionized Atmosphere (HAMMONIA), sampled at the CSU Na lidar coordinates. The observed semidiurnal tidal period perturbation within the mesopause region is found to be dominated by propagating modes …

Low-Fluence Electron Yields Of Highly Insulating Materials, Ryan Hoffman, John R. Dennison, Clint D. Thomson, Jennifer Albresten

All Physics Faculty Publications

Electron-induced electron yields of high-resistivity high-yield materials - ceramic polycrystalline aluminum oxide and polymer polyimide (Kapton HN) - were made by using a low-fluence pulsed incident electron beam and charge neutralization electron source to minimize charge accumulation. Large changes in the energy-dependent total yield curves and yield decay curves were observed, even for incident electron fluences of < 3 fC/mm². The evolution of the electron yield as charge accumulates in the material is modeled in terms of electron recapture based on an extended Chung-Everhart model of the electron emission spectrum. This model is used to explain the anomalies measured in highly …

Gravity Wave And Tidal Influences On Equatorial Spread F Based On Observations During The Spread F Experiment (Spreadfex), D. C. Fritts, S. L. Vadas, D. M. Riggin, M. A. Abdu, I. S. Batista, H. Takahashi, A. Medeiros, F. Kamalabadi, H. L. Liu, B. G. Fejer, Michael J. Taylor

All Physics Faculty Publications

The Spread F Experiment, or SpreadFEx, was performed from September to November 2005 to define the potential role of neutral atmosphere dynamics, primarily gravity waves propagating upward from the lower atmosphere, in seeding equatorial spread F (ESF) and plasma bubbles extending to higher altitudes. A description of the SpreadFEx campaign motivations, goals, instrumentation, and structure, and an overview of the results presented in this special issue, are provided by Fritts et al. (2008a). The various analyses of neutral atmosphere and ionosphere dynamics and structure described in this special issue provide enticing evidence of gravity waves arising from deep convection in …

Temperature And Electric Field Dependence Of Conduction In Low-Density Polyethylene, John R. Dennison, Jerilyn Brunson

All Physics Faculty Publications

A traditional constant voltage conductivity test method was used to measure how the conductivity of highly insulating low-density polyethylene (LDPE) polymer films depends on applied electric field, repeated and prolonged electric field exposure, and sample temperature. The strength of the applied voltage was varied to determine the electric field dependence. At low electric field, the resistivity was measured from cryogenic temperatures to well above the glass transition temperature. Comparisons were made with a variety of models of the conduction mechanisms common in insulators, including transient polarization and diffusion and steady-state thermally activated hopping conductivity and variable range hopping conductivity, to …

Low-Fluence Electron Yields Of Highly Insulating Materials, Ryan Hoffmann, Jr Dennison, Clint D. Thomson, Jennifer Albretson

Journal Articles

Electron-induced electron yields of high-resistivity, high-yield materials - ceramic polycrystalline aluminum oxide and the polymer polyimide (Kapton HN), - were made by using a low-fluence, pulsed incident electron beam and charge neutralization electron source to minimize charge accumulation. Large changes in energy-dependent total yield curves and yield decay curves were observed, even for incident electron fluences of <3 fC/mm². The evolution of the electron yield as charge accumulates in the material is modeled in terms of electron re-capture based on an extended Chung-Everhart model of the electron emission spectrum. This model is used to explain anomalies measured in highly insulating, …

Deep Dielectric Charging Of Spacecraft Polymers By Energetic Protons, Nelson W. Green, Jr Dennison

Journal Articles

The majority of research in the field of spacecraft charging concentrates on electron charging effects with little discussion of charging by protons. For spacecraft orbiting in the traditional LEO and GEO environments, this emphasis on electrons is appropriate since energetic electrons are the dominant species. However, for spacecraft in orbits within the inner radiation belts, or for interplanetary and lunar space probes, proton charging effects may also be of concern. To examine bulk spacecraft charging effects in these environments, several typical highly insulating spacecraft polymers were exposed to energetic protons with energies from 1 to 10 MeV to simulate protons …

Seasonal And Longitudinal Dependence Of Equatorialdisturbance Vertical Plasma Drifts, Bela G. Fejer, J. W. Jensen, S. Y. Su

Bela G. Fejer

[1] We used equatorial measurements from the ROCSAT-1 satellite to determine the seasonal and longitudinal dependent equatorial F region disturbance vertical plasma drifts. Following sudden increases in geomagnetic activity, the prompt penetration vertical drifts are upward during the day and downward at night, and have strong local time dependence at all seasons. The largest prompt penetration drifts near dusk and dawn occur during June solstice. The daytime disturbance dynamo drifts are small at all seasons. They are downward near dusk with largest (smallest) values during equinox (June solstice); the nighttime drifts are upward with the largest magnitudes in the postmidnight …

Movement Strategies Of Seed Predators As Determinants Of Plant Recruitment Patterns, Lorenzo Mari, Renato Casagrandi, Marino Gatto, Tal Avgar, Ran Nathan

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

Plant recruitment in nature exhibits several distinctive patterns ranging from hump shaped to monotonically decreasing with distance from the seed source. We investigate the role of post-dispersal seed predation in shaping these patterns, introducing a new mechanistic model that explicitly accounts for the movement strategy used by seed eaters. The model consists of two partial differential equations describing the spatiotemporal dynamics of both seed and predator densities. The movement strategy is defined by how predators move in response to the different cues they can use to search for seeds. These cues may be seed density, seed intake, distance from the …

On A New Process For Cusp Irregularity Production, Herbert C. Carlson, K. Oksavik, J. Moen

Faculty publications

Two plasma instability mechanisms were thought until 2007 to dominate the formation of plasma irregularities in the F region high latitude and polar ionosphere; the gradient-drift driven instability, and the velocity-shear driven instability. The former mechanism was accepted as accounting for plasma structuring in polar cap patches, the latter for plasma structuring in polar cap sun aligned arcs. Recent work has established the need to replace this view of the past two decades with a new patch plasma structuring process (not a new mechanism), whereby shear-driven instabilities first rapidly structure the entering plasma, after which gradient drift instabilities build on …

Vignettes From The World Of Gravitational Wave Astrophysics, Shane L. Larson

Colloquia and Seminars

No abstract provided.

Songs From The Milky Way: Our Galaxy In Low Frequency Gravitational Waves, Shane L. Larson

Colloquia and Seminars

No abstract provided.

How Movement Properties Affect Prey Encounter Rates Of Ambush Versus Active Predators: A Comment On Scharf Et Al, Tal Avgar, Nir Horvitz, Luba Broitman, Ran Nathan

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

Using an individual‐based model, Scharf and coworkers showed that ambush predators may encounter prey more frequently than active predators. We show that this surprising result emerges because active predators were oblivious to prey during movement, an assumption that refutes the common conception about active foraging and lessens the key difference between these foraging modes. A revised model confirms that active predators always encounter prey more frequently, unequivocally supporting the authors’ conclusion that the advantage of active predators diminishes as prey moves faster or more directionally. We suggest that movement‐dependent perception quality can determine the relative efficiency of these two foraging …

Low-Fluence Electron Yields Of Highly Insulating Materials, Ryan Hoffmann, John R. Dennison

All Physics Faculty Publications

Electron-induced electron yields of high-resistivity, high-yield materials - ceramic polycrystalline aluminum oxide and the polymer polyimide (Kapton HN), - were made by using a low-fluence, pulsed incident electron beam and charge neutralization electron source to minimize charge accumulation. Large changes in energy-dependent total yield curves and yield decay curves were observed, even for incident electron fluences of

Starlight In The Night: Discovering The Secret Lives Of Stars, Shane L. Larson

Public Talks

No abstract provided.

Richfield Field Office Planning Area - Proposed Resource Management And Final Environmental Impact Statement, United States Department Of The Interior, Bureau Of Land Management

Final environmental Impact Statements (UT)

The Proposed RMP was crafted primarily from the Preferred Alternative presented in the DRMP/DEIS (Alternative B) and includes other decisions within the range of alternatives (Alternatives N, A, C, and D) in response to public comments and internal review. The No Action Alternative (Alternative N) reflects current management. The BLM has removed the DRMP/DEIS Alternative B (Preferred Alternative) from the PRMP/FEIS. The other DRMP/DEIS Alternatives (Alternatives N, A, C, and D) and analyses are carried forward in the PRMP/FEIS only for comparative purposes and to correct some mistakes that were identified during the public comment period.

Moab Field Office Planning Area Proposed Resource Management Plan And Final Environmental Impact Statement, United States Department Of The Interior, Bureau Of Land Management

Final environmental Impact Statements (UT)

This Proposed Resource Management Plan (RMP) and Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) describes and analyzes the Proposed Plan and draft alternatives for the planning and management of public lands and resources administered by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Moab Field Office. The Moab planning area is located in southeastern Utah and includes approximately 2.5-million acres of land in Grand and San Juan Counties. Within the Moab planning area, the BLM manages approximately 1.8-million acres of BLM-administered public land surface as well as about 29,000 acres of federal mineral estate.

Dark Side Of The Universe: Dark Matter In The Galaxy And Cosmos, Shane L. Larson

Public Talks

No abstract provided.