Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

University at Albany, State University of New York

Theses/Dissertations

2018

Discipline
Keyword
Publication

Articles 1 - 30 of 67

Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Genetically Engineered Peptides For Light Harvesting And Folding Kinetics Studies, Aileen M. Eagleton May 2018

Genetically Engineered Peptides For Light Harvesting And Folding Kinetics Studies, Aileen M. Eagleton

Chemistry

The preparation and characterization of β-sheet forming polypeptides for use in light harvesting applications is described. The Higashiya genetic cassette strategy (HGCS) was employed in order to make DNA libraries of repetitive DNA sequences. These DNA libraries contained gene cassettes coding for proteins designed to fold into the desired secondary motif. The conditions required for peptide expression, folding and formation of micron length fibrils was determined for the purpose of photophysical characterization, such as fluorescence lifetimes and acceptor dye quantum yields. Of special interest was the investigation of an “antenna effect” under FRET illumination, the intensity of acceptor dye emission …


Forensic Identification Of Condom Lubricants By Advanced Statistical Analysis Processing Of Direct Analysis In Real Time Mass Spectrometric Data – Towards Development Of A Condom Residue Database For Forensic Science Practitioners, Allix M. Coon May 2018

Forensic Identification Of Condom Lubricants By Advanced Statistical Analysis Processing Of Direct Analysis In Real Time Mass Spectrometric Data – Towards Development Of A Condom Residue Database For Forensic Science Practitioners, Allix M. Coon

Chemistry

The ability to identify condom derived trace evidence is gaining importance because of the increasing frequency with which perpetrators of sexual assault use condoms in order to avoid leaving behind incriminating DNA evidence that might link them to the crime. Although DNA remains the gold standard for sexual assault evidence, other forms of trace evidence are needed in its absence. When condoms are used, the lubricants associated with them are the trace evidence. For the lubricant residue to be useful in a forensics context, a database of chemical signatures of lubricants against which acquired evidence can be screened is required, …


Differences Between High Shear / Low Cape Environments In The Northeast Us Favoring Straight-Line Damaging Winds Versus Tornadoes, Michael E. Main, Ross A. Lazear, Lance F. Bosart May 2018

Differences Between High Shear / Low Cape Environments In The Northeast Us Favoring Straight-Line Damaging Winds Versus Tornadoes, Michael E. Main, Ross A. Lazear, Lance F. Bosart

Atmospheric & Environmental Sciences

High shear / low CAPE (HSLC) environments are common in the Northeast US and can occur at any time of year. Severe weather in HSLC environments is notoriously hard to predict, often catching both forecasters and the general public off-guard. The goal of this project is to help forecasters to identify HSLC environments favorable for severe weather in the Northeast US, and to discriminate between HSLC environments that are supportive of tornadoes versus those that favor straight-line damaging winds (SDW). A 10-year HSLC severe weather environmental climatology was created for the Northeast US (New England, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania). …


Understanding Microphysical Processes Occurring In Lake-Effect Snowbands Using Quasi-Vertical Profiles Of Wsr-88d Parameters, Marquette Rocque May 2018

Understanding Microphysical Processes Occurring In Lake-Effect Snowbands Using Quasi-Vertical Profiles Of Wsr-88d Parameters, Marquette Rocque

Atmospheric & Environmental Sciences

Knowing the composition and microphysical processes that occur in lake-effect precipitation systems is important in making sure models capture these processes accurately, and could aid forecasters in predicting snow totals and snow water equivalents. Many studies have shown that processes such as riming and dendritic growth can be seen in dual-polarization radar data through parameters such as equivalent radar reflectivity factor, differential reflectivity (ZDR), correlation coefficient, and differential phase. This research examines WSR-88D data from the KTYX (Montague, NY) radar located on the Tug Hill Plateau for several long-lake-axis-parallel lake-effect systems from the Ontario Winter Lake-effect Systems (OWLeS) field campaign …


Assessing Effective Rhetoric On Twitter In Relation To Forecast Uncertainty In Hurricane Tracks, Erin K. Lynch May 2018

Assessing Effective Rhetoric On Twitter In Relation To Forecast Uncertainty In Hurricane Tracks, Erin K. Lynch

Atmospheric & Environmental Sciences

A forecast is only as good as the way it is communicated. As the National Weather Service (NWS) transitions to an Impact-Based Communication style, the new public forecasts discuss how to effectively prepare and protect oneself from harm in the face of severe and significant weather. After severe events, meteorologists need to take the time to analyze the language and style of the rhetoric to assess how effective it was at getting people in harm’s way to take protective actions. It is even more important to understand how information was communicated when there is large uncertainty in the forecast. Uncertainty …


Differentiation Of Potential False Positives From Human Saliva Using Raman Spectroscopy For Forensic Purposes, Selina Casadei Jan 2018

Differentiation Of Potential False Positives From Human Saliva Using Raman Spectroscopy For Forensic Purposes, Selina Casadei

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Traces of body fluids can be found at a crime scene. Being able to identify and differentiate the body fluids while preserving DNA is fundamentally important for forensic applications. Saliva is an important body fluid that can be found on bite marks, cigarette butts, and more, being an excellent source for DNA extraction. Current tests for saliva and other body fluids are destructive and body fluid specific, and are prone to false positives. Our laboratory has developed a universal method for identification of all main body fluids; saliva, semen, sweat, peripheral blood, and vaginal fluid, using Raman spectroscopy combined with …


Whole-Canopy Net Ecosystem Exchange And Water Use Efficiency In An Intermittent-Light Environment -- Dynamic Approach, Sergey Nikolayevich Kivalov Jan 2018

Whole-Canopy Net Ecosystem Exchange And Water Use Efficiency In An Intermittent-Light Environment -- Dynamic Approach, Sergey Nikolayevich Kivalov

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

An observed 20-30% increase in forest net ecosystem exchange (NEE) on partly cloudy days is often attributed to there being more uniform canopy illumination by diffuse radiation when clouds are present. However, the sky on such days is typically populated by fair-weather cumulus clouds, bringing dynamically changing shadow-to-light conditions on the order of minutes to the forest, with radiation alternating from 1000 W m^-2 in the clear sky to less than 400 W m^-2 in under-cloud shadows. These dynamically changing conditions cannot be investigated by the conventional time-averaged eddy-covariance flux method, which requires nearly steady-state turbulent conditions over much longer …


Non-Stationary Counts With Mixture Distributions, Ziqiang Lin Jan 2018

Non-Stationary Counts With Mixture Distributions, Ziqiang Lin

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

We study a new non--stationary mixture Pengram and thinning model for time series of counts that include the effect of covariate variables on the outcome variable. Properties of the model and performance are discussed. It has a simpler likelihood function than the non--stationary INAR(1) model and therefore MLE estimators for the model's parameters are easier to find. Therefore the model offers an alternative to non--stationary INAR(1).


Race, Ethnicity, And The Great Recession : A National Evaluation Of Mortgages And Subprime Lending, 2004-2010, Meghan M. O'Neil Jan 2018

Race, Ethnicity, And The Great Recession : A National Evaluation Of Mortgages And Subprime Lending, 2004-2010, Meghan M. O'Neil

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The dissertation analyzes multilevel models to predict mortgage origination and the allocation of subprime credit pre-and-post Great Recession. With representative samples from two full years of mortgage applications filed in the top 100 U.S. metropolitan areas, the dissertation uncovers evidence of persistent disparities by race and neighborhood minority concentration despite controls for socioeconomic, demographic, assimilation and housing variables. Mortgage outcomes varied by applicant race, neighborhood racial composition and neighborhood racial change. Findings suggest evidence of Fair Housing Act violations and disparate impacts towards minority homebuyers and minority neighborhoods. Results lend support for spatial assimilation theories in explaining much of the …


Photonic Grating Coupler Designs For Optical Benching, Eng Wen Ong Jan 2018

Photonic Grating Coupler Designs For Optical Benching, Eng Wen Ong

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Background: Silicon Photonics has been rapidly developing as a field. The primary reason for this is its lower operating costs and faster switching rates for use in big data centres. Instead of microns-wide copper lines to transmit signals, silicon photonic chips use waveguides, usually of silicon or silicon nitride. Photonic signals bypass the issues of resistive-capacitance lag (RC-lag) and resistive-heating encountered by copper lines. Additionally, a single waveguide may transmit multiple signals along different carrier wavelengths.


Black Hole Microstates & Integrable Deformation In String Theory, Jia Tian Jan 2018

Black Hole Microstates & Integrable Deformation In String Theory, Jia Tian

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

In this thesis, we study microstate geometries of black holes in string theory and explore several aspects of integrabile Conformal Field Theories (CFTs).


Synthesis And Characterization Of Mpims : Metallopolymers Of Intrinsic Microporosity, Kelly Walter Jan 2018

Synthesis And Characterization Of Mpims : Metallopolymers Of Intrinsic Microporosity, Kelly Walter

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Polymers of intrinsic microporosity (PIMs) are class of polymers known for high surface areas arising from their contorted and rigid backbone structures. While high surface area compounds are applicable in many fields, simultaneous solubility and conductivity in PIMs is still lacking. In general, the monomeric units that form the backbone, necessary to yield inefficient polymer strand packing and contortion, also break conjugation in the along the polymer backbone and therefore limit conductivity. It has been previously noted that extended conjugation and the addition of metal atoms (along the backbone) increases conductivity. We therefore sought to use a strategy whereby the …


Extratropical Cyclones Leading To Extreme Weather Events Over Central And Eastern North America, Alicia Marie Bentley Jan 2018

Extratropical Cyclones Leading To Extreme Weather Events Over Central And Eastern North America, Alicia Marie Bentley

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Cool-season extreme weather events (EWEs) occurring over central and eastern North America are typically associated with strong extratropical cyclones (ECs) that are governed by varying combinations of baroclinic, diabatic, and barotropic processes. This dissertation investigates the climatology, evolution, and predictability of ECs leading to EWEs over central and eastern North America, and provides a foundation on which to compare ECs leading to EWEs to ordinary ECs forming over and traversing the same regions.


A Consideration Of Ancient Residues And Their Analysis, Jennifer A. Cardinal Jan 2018

A Consideration Of Ancient Residues And Their Analysis, Jennifer A. Cardinal

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Identification of specific use(s) of ancient pottery vessels through empirical verification is currently very limited for archaeological investigations. Although we can postulate a range of purposes or functions for certain vessels, empirical confirmation of actual use has been determined only for a minuscule portion of the available vessels. This thesis will provide a broad review of organic analyses as applied to foodstuff residues left on ancient artifacts as well as discuss several considerations for such analysis that are unique to their application to archaeological specimens.


Estimation Of Planetary Photometric Emissions For Extremely Close-In Exoplanets, Jennifer L. Carter Jan 2018

Estimation Of Planetary Photometric Emissions For Extremely Close-In Exoplanets, Jennifer L. Carter

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The fine precision of photometric data available from missions like Kepler provide researchers with the ability to measure changes in light on the order of tens of parts per million (ppm). This level of precision allows researchers to measure the loss of light due to exoplanet transits as well as the light emitted by an exoplanet, or planetary photometric emissions. The planetary photometric emissions are due to the thermal emissions of the exoplanet, and reflected stellar light. In many cases it is assumed that the incident stellar light may be modeled as plane parallel rays. For extremely close-in exoplanets the …


Transits Of Non-Spherical Exoplanets, Bertrand Carado Jan 2018

Transits Of Non-Spherical Exoplanets, Bertrand Carado

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The recent years have shed light on amazing new worlds across the galaxy. It has been demonstrated that the Solar System is only one of many other systems. The Kepler Space Observatory, which was launched by NASA in 2009, has greatly contributed to expand knowledge of exoplanets whose characteristics (how massive they are, their size, orbital period, temperature...) vary on a surprisingly large scale. As an example, the least massive exoplanet known today has twice the mass of the moon [1]. The most massive exoplanet has 29 times the mass of Jupiter [2]. Orbital periods of known planets vary between …


An Analysis Of The Linkages Between Large-Scale Flow Regime Transitions On The Spatiotemporal Distribution Of Clustered Extratropical Cyclone Events Over The Northern Hemisphere, Eric Merton John Bunker Jan 2018

An Analysis Of The Linkages Between Large-Scale Flow Regime Transitions On The Spatiotemporal Distribution Of Clustered Extratropical Cyclone Events Over The Northern Hemisphere, Eric Merton John Bunker

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

An Analysis of the Linkages Between Large-Scale Flow Regime Transitions on the Spatiotemporal Distribution of Clustered Extratropical Cyclone Events over the Northern Hemisphere


Illumination Modulation For Improved Propagation-Based Phase Imaging, Tonmoy Chakraborty Jan 2018

Illumination Modulation For Improved Propagation-Based Phase Imaging, Tonmoy Chakraborty

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Propagation-based phase imaging enables the quantitative reconstruction of a light beam's phase from measurements of its intensity. Because the intensity depends on the time-averaged square of the field the relationship between intensity and phase is, in general, nonlinear. The transport of intensity equation (TIE), is a linear equation relating phase and propagated intensity that arises from restricting the propagation distance to be small. However, the TIE limits the spatial frequencies that can be reliably reconstructed to those below some cutoff, which limits the accuracy of reconstruction of fine features in phase. On the other hand, the low frequency components suffer …


Bounded Algebra In Symmetric Monoidal Categories, Bryan Bennett Jan 2018

Bounded Algebra In Symmetric Monoidal Categories, Bryan Bennett

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Bounded algebra methods have been a valuable tool in algebraic topology and algebraic K-theory since their introduction in the 1960's. Using two parameters, a metric space and an additive category, Pedersen-Weibel used bounded algebra to produce a non-connective delooping of the K-theory spectrum of a ring. This dissertation generalizes the Pedersen-Weibel construction in the categorical parameter, establishes an embedding of the Pedersen-Weibel construction into the generalized bounded category, and proves the analogue of nonconnective delooping theorem for this embedding.


On The Geometric Interpretation Of Certain Vertex Algebras And Their Modules, Jesse Richard Corradino Jan 2018

On The Geometric Interpretation Of Certain Vertex Algebras And Their Modules, Jesse Richard Corradino

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

We consider the geometric foundations of certain vertex algebras and their modules according to the formalism of Harish-Chandra Geometry that we develop in conjunction with Formal Geometry. Our main result is that we introduce an extension of the torsor of formal coordinates whereby a sheaf of pro-coherent modules is obtained over an affine scheme that corresponds to a certain vertex algebra. As a corollary of this result, we obtain a similar sheaf of pro-coherent modules corresponding to certain representations of the aforementioned vertex algebra.


Stratospheric And Tropospheric Contributions To The Poleward Energy Flux Across 70°N And 65°S In The Merra-2 And Cesm, Christopher Cardinale Jan 2018

Stratospheric And Tropospheric Contributions To The Poleward Energy Flux Across 70°N And 65°S In The Merra-2 And Cesm, Christopher Cardinale

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The flux of moist static energy (MSE) across 70°N and 65°S plays a key role in the energy budget and climate of the polar regions. This flux, which provides respectively 98 W m⁻² and 91 W m⁻² heating of the northern and southern polar caps, is usually studied from a vertically integrated perspective. Its vertical structure is examined using the NASA-MERRA-2 reanalysis to compute monthly fluxes of sensible, latent and potential energy across 70°N and 65°S for the period 1980-2016. The flux is bimodal, with peaks in the lower troposphere and in the middle stratosphere, and is near zero at …


The Entropic Dynamics Approach To The Paradigmatic Quantum Mechanical Phenomena, Susan Difranzo Jan 2018

The Entropic Dynamics Approach To The Paradigmatic Quantum Mechanical Phenomena, Susan Difranzo

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Standard Quantum Mechanics, although successful in terms of calculating and predicting


The Upper-Level Turbulence, Static Stability And Tropopause Structure Of Tropical Cyclones, Patrick Duran Jan 2018

The Upper-Level Turbulence, Static Stability And Tropopause Structure Of Tropical Cyclones, Patrick Duran

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Upper-tropospheric thermodynamic processes can play an important role in tropical cyclone (TC) structure and evolution. Despite its importance, until recently few in-situ observations were available in the upper levels of TCs. Two recent field campaigns -- the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Hurricane and Severe Storm Sentinel (HS3) and the Office of Naval Research Tropical Cyclone Intensity (TCI) experiment -- provided a wealth of high-altitude observations within TCs. These observations revealed that the upper-level static stability and tropopause structure of TCs can change dramatically with both space and time.


Decidability Of Unification Modulo Two Theories Of Division, Zhenjiang Dai Jan 2018

Decidability Of Unification Modulo Two Theories Of Division, Zhenjiang Dai

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

We study decidability of a term rewriting system R modulo equational theories associative (A) or associative-commutative (AC). The study of this problem is motivated by possible applications to handle multiplication (∗) and division (/) algebras. We use several steps to prove the term rewriting system R modulo equational theories is decidable.


Fusing Satellite Data To Monitor The Urban Area's Effect On Plant Phenology, Norman Gervais Jan 2018

Fusing Satellite Data To Monitor The Urban Area's Effect On Plant Phenology, Norman Gervais

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This dissertation centrally focuses on developing and validating the use of fused satellite imagery to monitor the effects of the urban area on plant phenology, specifically the timing of the start and end of the growing season (SOS and EOS, respectively). In the first paper, Chapter 2, data from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and Landsat were fused together using the Spatial and Temporal Adaptive Reflectance Fusion Model (STARFM) to produce a time series of a high spatial and high temporal resolution vegetation index. From this time series, the SOS and EOS were extracted and compared between the urban …


Dry Air, Midlevel Flow, And The Persistence Of Deep Convection In Atlantic Tropical Disturbances, Charles Helms Jan 2018

Dry Air, Midlevel Flow, And The Persistence Of Deep Convection In Atlantic Tropical Disturbances, Charles Helms

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

An analysis of dropsonde-observed relative humidity in the Tropical Storm Gabrielle (2013) pregenesis disturbance suggests the presence of a layer of dry air that is being advected into the disturbance from the north. The focus of this study is on this and similar dry air layers, termed dry air inflow pathways (DAIPs), that are characterized by unidirectional disturbance-relative flow drawing dry air into a tropical disturbance. It is hypothesized that DAIPs act to prevent the establishment of persistent deep convection by importing midlevel


A Family Of Cyclooctatetraenyl Lanthanide(Iii) Chloridebridged Dimers : Synthesis, Characterization, And Magnetic Properties, Joshua Sky Greenough Jan 2018

A Family Of Cyclooctatetraenyl Lanthanide(Iii) Chloridebridged Dimers : Synthesis, Characterization, And Magnetic Properties, Joshua Sky Greenough

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Historically, the 10π-aromatic ligand, cyclooctatetraene (COT), has played a pivotal role


On Lm-Systems And Forward Closed String Rewriting Systems, Daniel Hono Jan 2018

On Lm-Systems And Forward Closed String Rewriting Systems, Daniel Hono

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The E-Unification problem appears in important application areas, e.g. automated deduction and cryptographic protocol analysis. As E-Unification is undecidable in general, there is an active search for decidable and, ideally, tractable instances of the problem.


Carborane Functionalized Cysteine : Synthesis, Structural Characterization, And Biological Evaluation For Boron Neutron Capture Therapy, Tianyu He Jan 2018

Carborane Functionalized Cysteine : Synthesis, Structural Characterization, And Biological Evaluation For Boron Neutron Capture Therapy, Tianyu He

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Carbon-containing boranes, also known as carboranes, have attracted immense interest since their discovery in the 1950’s. Characterization of carboranes revealed their highly symmetrical polyhedral structures, which make them chemically and thermally stable. Their unique chemical properties, hydrophobicity and aromaticity also make them ideal candidates for a variety of applications. Prominent among these are the applications in materials and medicinal chemistry. On the materials chemistry front, carboranes have been investigated as self-assembly building blocks, liquid crystals and gas storage and separation materials. In the medicinal chemistry field, carborane derivatives have been extensively investigated as potential drugs, with a lot of attention …


Changes In Extreme Precipitation In The Northeast United States : 1979-2014, Macy Howarth Jan 2018

Changes In Extreme Precipitation In The Northeast United States : 1979-2014, Macy Howarth

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Extreme precipitation can have significant adverse impacts on infrastructure and property, human health, and local economies. This thesis examines recent changes in extreme precipitation in the Northeast United States, which here includes the states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. Daily station data from 58 stations missing less than 5% of days for the years 1979–2014 from the United States Historical Climatology Network was used to analyze both total and extreme precipitation, with the latter defined as the top 1% of days with precipitation.