Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

The Effects Of Clipping On The Biomass Production Of Native Warm Season Grasses On Reclaimed Abandoned Coal Mine Soils, James A K Daniel

Electronic Theses & Dissertations

THE EFFECTS OF CLIPPING ON THE BIOMASS PRODUCTION OF NATIVE

WARM SEASON GRASSES ON RECLAIMED

ABANDONED COAL MINE SOILS

James A K Daniel

Strip mining leaves behind highly disrupted plant and soil communities. Mined land reclamation returns the land back to a natural or economically usable state, however, reclamation cannot completely restore the soils to their original state. Subsequently, normal frequencies of management practices may not be as effective as in undisturbed soils. Understanding how the severity of soil disturbance affects plant production is important for habitat rehabilitation and determining effective management techniques to be implemented following reclamation. This project …

Synthesis Of New Aliphatic Pseudo-Branched Polyester Co-Polymers For Biomedical Applications, Zachary Shaw

Electronic Theses & Dissertations

In this study, a hyperbranched polyester co-polymer was designed using a proprietary monomer and diethylene glycol or triethylene glycol as monomers. The synthesis was carried out using standard melt polymerization technique and catalyzed by p-Tolulenesulfonic acid. The progress of the reaction was monitored with respect to time and negative pressure, with samples being subjected to standard characterization protocols. The resulting polymers were purified using the solvent precipitation method and characterized using various chromatographic and spectroscopic methods including GPC, MALDI-TOF, and NMR. We have observed polymers with a molecular weight of 29,643 kDa and 33,996 kDa, which is ideal to be …

Effects Of Forest Management On Densities And Nest Survival Of Breeding Birds In Upland Hardwood Ecosystems, Michael Barnes

Electronic Theses & Dissertations

Over the past 50 years, significant declines in 47% of Neotropical migrant bird species have been documented in North America. Declines are most likely due to the loss and fragmentation of breeding, wintering, and stopover habitat mainly caused by agriculture and urban development. This loss of critical habitat results in population sinks that need to be maintained by immigration from a population source found in continuously forested landscapes. However, in landscapes harvested for timber, forest management practices alter the landscape and as a result, affect breeding bird abundances and nest success. The objective of our study was to determine the …

Lanthanum-Based Perovskites As An Effective Electrocatalyst For Water Splitting And Energy Storage Applications, Xavier Martinez

Electronic Theses & Dissertations

Recent changes in global weather patterns have accented the need a shift from fossil fuels to a cleaner energy option. As part of an overall plan, hydrogen production for fuel cells offer substantial power without carbon emissions. Overall water splitting, with the aid of a low cost electrocatalyst could prove to be an abundant green fuel source. Utilizing readily available transition metals, three perovskite nanostructures were studied as a multifunctional material for hydrogen production as well as an energy storage material. LaCoO₃ (LCO), LaFeO₃ (LFO)_, and LaMnO₃ (LMO) were synthesized and characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) …

Nanomedicine-Based Immunochemotherapy For The Mr Imaging And Treatment Of Triple Negative Breast Cancer, Saloni Darji

Electronic Theses & Dissertations

Cancer is known to be a detrimental disease and it accounts for many deaths every year. In women Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) known to be a very aggressive type of tumor. Current treatment approaches are abortive and have many side effects. With the recent advances in nanotechnology and immunotherapy for cancer treatment, we have designed new nanomedicine that combines both the aspects of cancer treatment. In this work, we have developed an anti-PD-L1-conjugated, Doxo-SS-Gd MR imaging agent encapsulating iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs) to form IONP-Doxo-SS-Gd-PD-L1 nanomedicine for the targeted MR imaging and treatment of TNBC. The anti-PD-L1 acts as …

Method Development To Quantify The Reinforcing Properties Of Silica Fillers, Hamid Reza Givehchi

Electronic Theses & Dissertations

Polysiloxane polymers are widely used as a high-temperature resistant materials with the ability to maintain flexibility at extremely low temperatures. Unfortunately, polysiloxane elastomers generally exhibit low strength and poor mechanical properties and have no practical use unless they are reinforced. These elastomers can be mechanically improved through the use of reinforcing silica-based fillers. It is known that silanol groups on the surface of silica filler particles can interact with the polysiloxane backbone. Interactions of silanol groups on the fillers’ surfaces with the polysiloxane backbone through hydrogen bonding may hinder the mobility of the polymer chain and can improve thermal, physical, …