Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Diel And Tidal Rhythms Of Emercenge Events Based On Acousitc Observations In A Shallow Estuary, Mei Sato

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Field observations of emergence events by epibenthic animals were conducted with two Tracor Acoustic Profiling Systems (TAPS) in the Damariscotta River estuary, Maine, in fall 2005 and summer 2006. Spectral analysis revealed that periodic temporal variability of the acoustic signals was concentrated at four periods. One was the solar day (24 h) and the other three were lunar tidal periods of 25.82 (diurnal or Oi), 12.42 (semidiurnal or M2) and 6.21 h (half the semidiurnal period). The mysid Neomysis americana showed strong nocturnal migration patterns of water-column activity during its peak summer emergence season, regulated by the diel cycle. Toward …

Surface Modification Of Pigments And Its Role In Offset Ink Setting, Wei Gu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Ink setting affects offset print quality issues such as print mottle and print gloss. It is known that ink setting depends on many factors, such as the nature of the substrate, the properties of the coating, and the ink formulation. However, the role of pigment surface chemistry in offset ink setting is unknown. From an experimental perspective, it is difficult to determine the role of the surface chemistry as it requires paper coatings that are similar in physical properties and differ only in the pigment surface chemistry. The aim of this study was two-fold. The first was to apply methods …

Yellow Tree: A Distributed Main-Memory Spatial Index Structure For Moving Objects, Hariharan Gowrisankar

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Mobile devices equipped with wireless technologies to communicate and positioning systems to locate objects of interest are common place today, providing the impetus to develop location-aware applications. At the heart of location-aware applications are moving objects or objects that continuously change location over time, such as cars in transportation networks or pedestrians or postal packages. Location-aware applications tend to support the tracking of very large numbers of such moving objects as well as many users that are interested in finding out about the locations of other moving objects. Such location-aware applications rely on support from database management systems to model, …

Determining Environmental Drivers Of Fish Community Structure Along The Coast Of Maine, Adrian Jordaan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The work presented here was conceived to determine whether structure in marine communities could be related to multiple scaled environmental parameters, as seen in lake and stream systems. Four datasets collected from 2001 to 2005 were used. The datasets ranged from local scale tidepool and estuarine surveys, to more regional intertidal/subtidal surveys and conclude using a coast-wide trawl survey. Initially, a bootstrap program for running principal component analysis (PCA) was developed and tested for utility with additional information from Pearson correlation coefficients. The bootstrap-PC A program was capable of determining confidence limits for correlations amongst species. The results from analysis …

Production Of Ethanol From Hardwood, Jay Mitchell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Diminishing crude oil and natural gas supplies, along with concern about greenhouse gas are major driving forces in the search for efficient renewable energy sources. The conversion of lignocellulosic biomass to energy and useful chemicals is a component of the solution. Ethanol is most commonly produced by enzymatic hydrolysis of complex carbohydrates to simple sugars followed by fermentation using yeast.

C₆H_l0O₅ + H₂O −Enxymes→ C₆H₁₂O₆ −Yeast→ 2CH₃CH₂OH + 2C0₂

In the U.S. corn is the primary starting raw material for commercial ethanol production. …

Modeling Large Whale Entanglement Injuries: An Experimental Analysis Of The Influence Of Tissue Compliance, Line Tension, And Draw-Length On Epidermal Abrasion Resistance, Jeremy Paul Winn

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Two test systems were developed to evaluate the influence of draw-length and tissue compliance on entanglement-induced epidermal abrasion in humpback (Megaptera novaeangliae) and right whale (Eubalaena glacialis) tissue samples. Under straight pull abrasion tests an adult right whale fluke required 3.7 times the load and 15 times the draw-length of a right whale calf flipper to induce epidermal failure while a humpback fluke was intermediate between these extremes. Epidermal thickness did not appear to be the cause of this difference in abrasion resistance. Epidermal thickness averaged 8.0k0.2 mm for the calf flipper, 4.9k0.4 rnrn for the humpback fluke, and 5.1k0.1 …

Personal Privacy Protection Within Pervasive Rfid Environments, Eeva Kaarina Hedefine

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Recent advancements in location tracking technologies have increased the threat to an individual's personal privacy. Radio frequency identification (RFID) technology allows for the identification and potentially continuous tracking of an object or individual, without obtaining the individual's consent or even awareness that the tracking is taking place. Although many positive applications for RFID technology exist, for example in the commercial sector and law enforcement, the potential for abuse in the collection and use of personal information through this technology also exists. Location data linked to other types of personal information allows not only the detection of past spatial travel and …

Semantic Similarity Of Spatial Scenes, Konstantinos A. Nedas

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The formalization of similarity in spatial information systems can unleash their functionality and contribute technology not only useful, but also desirable by broad groups of users. As a paradigm for information retrieval, similarity supersedes tedious querying techniques and unveils novel ways for user-system interaction by naturally supporting modalities such as speech and sketching. As a tool within the scope of a broader objective, it can facilitate such diverse tasks as data integration, landmark determination, and prediction making. This potential motivated the development of several similarity models within the geospatial and computer science communities. Despite the merit of these studies, their …

Investigating How Students Think About And Learn Quantum Physics: An Example From Tunneling, Jeffrey Todd Morgan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Much of physics education research (PER) has focused on introductory courses and topics, with less research done into how students learn physics in advanced courses. Members of The University of Maine Physics Education Research Laboratory (PERL) have begun studying how students in advanced physics courses reason about classical mechanics, thermal physics, and quantum physics. Here, we describe an investigation into how students reason about quantum mechanical tunneling, and detail how those findings informed a portion of a curriculum development project. Quantum mechanical tunneling is a standard topic discussed in most modern physics and quantum physics courses. Understanding tunneling is crucial …

Object Tracking In Distributed Video Networks Using Multi-Dimentional Signatures, Sabeshan Srinivasan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

From being an expensive toy in the hands of governmental agencies, computers have evolved a long way from the huge vacuum tube-based machines to today's small but more than thousand times powerful personal computers. Computers have long been investigated as the foundation for an artificial vision system. The computer vision discipline has seen a rapid development over the past few decades from rudimentary motion detection systems to complex modekbased object motion analyzing algorithms. Our work is one such improvement over previous algorithms developed for the purpose of object motion analysis in video feeds. Our work is based on the principle …

Sources And Deposition Processes Linking Atmospheric Chemistry And Firn Records From Four Glacier Accumulation Zones In The Mcmurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica, Bruce R. Williamson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Samples of snow and firn from accumulation zones on the Victoria Upper Glacier, the Clark Glacier, the Commonwealth Glacier and the Blue Glacier in the McMurdo Dry Valleys (~77 to 78º S and 161 to 164º E), Antarctica, are evaluated chemically and isotopically to determine the relative importance of local (site-specific) factors versus regional-scale climatic influences in defining regional glaciochemistry. Two approaches for distinguishing these controls are examined: comparing chemical concentrations using multivariate statistical analysis, and examining the effect of physical filtration (capturing particulate material largely originating in close proximity to each site) on sample values. These techniques provide constraints …

Radon In Ground Water: A Study Of The Measurement And Release Of Waterborne Radon And Modeling Of Radon Variation In Bedrock Wells, Vincente E. Guiseppe

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Naturally occurring radon gas (222Rn) exists in ground water and drinking water supplies. Research involving radon in ground water requires the ability to accurately measure radon in water. In the absence of a national program, an intercomparison study of laboratories was sanctioned by the State of Maine. The University of Maine research laboratory supplied each laboratory with water samples of various radon concentrations, served as the reference laboratory, and analyzed the results presented here. The external review of the University of Maine laboratory and agreement with some of the participating laboratories verifies its accuracy in measuring radon in water. A …

Archaeological Geology And Postglacial Development Of The Central Penobscot River Valley, Maine, Usa, Alice Repsher Kelley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this interdisciplinary study is to provide a geological and environmental context for the Late Pleistocene and Holocene Native American occupation of the central Penobscot River Valley, Maine. In addition, this work provides a model for the regional synthesis of geological, archaeological, and paleoenvironmental data in order to examine large-scale patterns of archaeological site formation and preservation. The postglacial central Penobscot Valley experienced varied and rapid landscape changes. Withdrawal of the Laurentide Ice Sheet was followed by marine transgression and regression. Subaerial exposure initiated landscape development. The postglacial Penobscot River rapidly excavated a channel through glacial sediments, creating …

Spatial And Temporal Changes In Stream Chemistry At Three Watersheds During High Discharge Episodes, Mollie Kate Laird

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A longitudinal study of first order streams in three forested watersheds was conducted to determine spatial and temporal trends in geochemistry during high discharge acidic episodes. The watersheds were East Bear Brook and Hadlock Brook (Maine, USA), and Fernow WS3 (West Virginia, USA). Watersheds were selected based on soil type, stream pH, and historical chemistry. Stream sampling sites were distributed along an elevational gradient and sampled simultaneously during a high discharge episode. Base flow samples were collected prior to the start of the hydrological event. The Maine watersheds, East Bear Brook and Hadlock Brook, were sampled during fall 2005 rain …

Vascular Morphometry Of The Retina In Antarctic Fishes Is Dependent Upon The Level Of Hemoglobin In Circulation, Jody M. Wujcik

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Antarctic notothenioids express the circulating oxygen-binding protein hemoglobin (Hb) over a broad range of blood concentrations. White-blooded icefishes (Suborder: Notothenioidei, Family: Channichthyidae) are the only known adult vertebrates to lack Hb completely. In addition to its role in oxygen transport, Hb is the primary reactant in degradation of nitric oxide (NO). Thus, NO should be degraded at a slower rate in Hb-lacking icefishes than in Hb-expressing notothenioids, leading to higher steady-state levels of NO in the former group. Increased levels of NO should stimulate upregulation of angiogenesis, the growth and proliferation of new blood vessels from existing vasculature. Based upon …

Contrasting Chemical Response To Experimental Acidification Of Five Acid-Sensitive Streams, Heather Vanessa Goss

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

To evaluate the role of stream water and substrates in response to acidification, we experimentally acidified five first-order streams in 2005: East Bear Brook, Hadlock Brook, and Mud Pond Inlet (Maine, USA); Fernow WS3 (West Virginia, USA); and Lesní Potok (Czech Republic). All have forested catchments and low alkalinity water. We evaluated water samples from a reference site above the point of hydrochloric acid addition and from two or three sites located 16 to 94 m downstream. Just before acid addition we collected streambed sediment samples for sequential extraction of metals. Several sediment-water and aqueous processes contributed to neutralization of …

A Geochemical, Isotopic, And Petrologic Study Of A Watershed With Arsenic-Enriched Ground Water In Northport, Maine, Gail Elizabeth Lipfert

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

High mean arsenic concentrations up 26.6 ¹mol/L (1990 ¹g/L) occur in ground water within a watershed at Kelly's Cove, Northport, Maine, USA. The Kelly's Cove watershed is a fractured-bedrock system composed of sul¯dic schist with granitic to dioritic intrusions. Arsenic is enriched in these rocks up to 1050 mg kg¡1 (average: 68 mg kg¡1). The distribution of arsenic in the bedrock appears to be controlled by the presence of arsenopyrite and arsenian pyrite, that occur primarily in post-metamorphic, tourmaline + quartz § carbonate veins and the Kelly's Cove granite. Based on the metamorphic signature of the tourmaline chemistry and the …

Thermal And Mechanical Effects Of A Shallow Asthenosphere In The Acadian Orogen: An Investigation Through Numerical Modeling, Lucy E. Brown

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A high-temperature region associated with Acadian deformation extends 200 km through north-central New England. The scale of this heat source is investigated in order to better understand the rheology and mechanics of deforming orogens. In central Maine, on the boundary of the high-temperature region, isograds in pelitic rocks are normal to the accretionary structures and record a steep northeast-southwest thermal gradient. The isogradic sequence, geobarometry, and the mineral assemblages indicate low-pressure, high-temperature metamorphism, moderately low pressures of 3 kbar, and temperatures ranging from 600º to 450ºC over a 10 km region. The spacing between these isograds and the temperature at …

The Geoarchaeological Setting Of The Sebasticook Lake Fish Weir Newport, Maine, Christopher Evan Miller

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A geophysical and coring survey of Sebasticook Lake, Newport, Maine, provides evidence of past human-landscape interactions associated with construction and use of a Middle Archaic to Middle Woodland period fish weir, located at the lake inlet. Geophysical methods employed included Seismic Reflection Profiling (SRP) and Sidescan Sonar (SSS) survey of the Sebasticook Lake basin, and Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) survey of the fish weir site and lake inlet. Three cores were collected using a modified, square-rod Wright piston corer in the lake basin. The Sebasticook fish weir complex consists of >630 stone-tool-modified wooden stakes, driven into stiff underlying glacial mud …