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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Statistical Analysis Of Arsenic Concentrations In Subsurface Soils At The University Of Mississippi Field Station, David Thomas Webb Jan 2016

Statistical Analysis Of Arsenic Concentrations In Subsurface Soils At The University Of Mississippi Field Station, David Thomas Webb

Honors Theses

The purpose of this investigation is to determine how arsenic concentration varies in soils with respect to soil structures, grain size, soil type, and depth. The investigation was conducted at the University of Mississippi Field Station (UMFS). The UMFS is located in Abbeville, MS and is roughly 700 acres in size. It includes ponds and former agricultural fields, and lies within an internally draining basin. Seven boreholes were drilled using a direct push geoprobe and sampled. The cores obtained from the borings were then cut at one foot intervals, producing a total of 90 soil samples. Each sample was observed …


Rhenium-Pyridyl-Nhcs For Photocatalytic Co2 Reduction, Emily Anne Sharpe Jan 2016

Rhenium-Pyridyl-Nhcs For Photocatalytic Co2 Reduction, Emily Anne Sharpe

Honors Theses

The ability to transform CO2 into a useable fuel source would have a remarkably positive impact on the environment by taking the vast amounts of previous unusable CO2 from the atmosphere and reducing it to CO, which can then be turned into fuel. This project involves the synthesis and testing of air and water stable Re (I) pyridyl N- heterocyclic carbene (NHC) compounds for photocatalytic reduction of CO2 into CO using a simulated solar spectrum. Previous research in this area focused on the use of Re(bpy)CO3X, which quickly became the benchmark of homogeneous CO2 reduction photocatalysts. The Re (I) pyridyl …


A Study On The Characterization And Implementation Of Tools For Advanced Ligo, Hunter Gabbard Jan 2016

A Study On The Characterization And Implementation Of Tools For Advanced Ligo, Hunter Gabbard

Honors Theses

The Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO) is aimed at directly detecting gravitational waves, small perturbations or ripples in the fabric of space-time. Because of their extreme sensitivity, the LIGO detectors are affected by many sources of non-astrophysical noise. In the first part of this thesis we test a pipeline designed for the identification of short-duration noise transients, called Omicron. We first inject simulated noise waveforms in engineering run data from the LIGO detector in Livingston, Louisiana and then determine Omicron efficiency by attempting to recover these injections. In the second part of this thesis, we present a novel method …


Study Of An Active-State Cb1 Receptor Model And Jwh Compound Interactions To Predict New Emerging Synthetic Cannabinoids, Kelsey Leigh Pettus Jan 2016

Study Of An Active-State Cb1 Receptor Model And Jwh Compound Interactions To Predict New Emerging Synthetic Cannabinoids, Kelsey Leigh Pettus

Honors Theses

In recent years, a new class of compounds, called synthetic cannabinoids, have made their appearance in the market as a substitute for illegal marijuana or its constituent natural cannabinoids. These compounds, which are active at the same G- protein coupled receptors (GPCRS) as cannabinoids, are continuing to gain popularity because of the same cannabinoid-like effects they create. Though two cannabinoid receptors have been identified in humans, known as CB1 and CB2, synthetic cannabinoid activity at the CB1 receptor has been the focus of much research regarding synthetic cannabinoid ligand binding. In this study, the structure of the CB1 receptor is …


The Synthesis Of Substituted Pentadentate Ligand Scaffolds And Their Future Application In Ruthenium-Catalyzed Water Oxidation, Manpreet Singh Jan 2016

The Synthesis Of Substituted Pentadentate Ligand Scaffolds And Their Future Application In Ruthenium-Catalyzed Water Oxidation, Manpreet Singh

Honors Theses

Rising global energy demands coupled with depleting natural resources have led to a strong emphasis on finding new sources of energy that are renewable and which limit the negative impact on the environment. One of the strongest candidates is utilizing solar energy to drive water oxidation to produce hydrogen as a fuel source. In order to do this, a better understanding of the mechanism involved in this process must be revealed. Homogenous molecular catalysts allow mechanistic studies and can be also used in Photoelectrochemical Cells (PECs) and other systems to produce chemical fuels. In this work, the new syntheses of …


Paleolithic Protection In A Western World: A Look Into Preagricultural Nutrition As A Remedy For The Diseases Of Civilization, Emilie R. Caron Jan 2016

Paleolithic Protection In A Western World: A Look Into Preagricultural Nutrition As A Remedy For The Diseases Of Civilization, Emilie R. Caron

Honors Theses

The aim of this investigation is to discover the associations of the Western diet to noncommunicable diseases and to determine if a reversion to a Paleolithic diet will provide treatment and prevention of these diseases. Noncommunicable diseases, otherwise known as Diseases of Civilization, are lifestyle influenced diseases and encompass obesity, diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease, and associated cancers. Incidences of these diseases have skyrocketed in the past century and show no signs of decline. Since 1900, the death rates due to heart disease and cancer have risen to account for 47% of total deaths in the United States in 2010. (Tippett, …


A Computational Study Of High Energy Density Materials And Their Detection Using Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy, Emily N. Hugo Jan 2016

A Computational Study Of High Energy Density Materials And Their Detection Using Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy, Emily N. Hugo

Honors Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to theoretically predict the vibrational spectra of select high energy density materials (HEDMs) as well as some of their byproducts and to determine if using surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) could be a viable detection method for these compounds. Studying the vibrational patterns of these compounds will help in identifying them in the environment for remediation purposes. Because the byproducts are smaller and easier to model than the parent compounds, these were studied more in depth through analyzing their Infrared and Raman spectra. Ag2 was used to model the interactions between the Ag nanoparticles used …


Effect Of 5-Hydroxymethylcytosine Modifications On Stability Of Vegf I-Motifs, Bethany Summerford Jan 2016

Effect Of 5-Hydroxymethylcytosine Modifications On Stability Of Vegf I-Motifs, Bethany Summerford

Honors Theses

DNA i-motifs are a secondary structure of DNA formed at low pH by internal folding of strands rich in cytosine. This study focuses on trying to determine if the DNA from the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) promoter, which can form an i-motif, can be stabilized with the epigenetic modification to 5- hydroxymethylcytosine in four separate locations on the DNA strand, and to what extent the degree of stabilization depends on the location of the modification. Stability of the i-motif was determined by measuring pKa and melting point (Tm) of each VEGF modification using circular dichroism spectroscopy. The modified samples …


Method Development Toward The Analysis Of The Functionalization Of Proteins, Victoria Calcote Jan 2016

Method Development Toward The Analysis Of The Functionalization Of Proteins, Victoria Calcote

Honors Theses

Calmodulin is a ubiquitous small intracellular protein that functions as a receptor for regulatory calcium signals and thus regulates a multitude of physiological processes in organisms as diverse as yeast, fruit flies, and mammals. Since its structure and function have been extensively studied, our goal is to create a calmodulin biomaterial, with the ultimate goal of in situ drug delivery or as a scaffold for stem cell growth and differentiation. We plan to create this biomaterial by using Click Chemistry, the rapid creation of new heteroatom bonds through a copper-catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloaddition. The bonds are created by treating calmodulin as …


Blue Cheese Cosmology: Lensing By Cosmic Strings, Jared Wofford Jan 2016

Blue Cheese Cosmology: Lensing By Cosmic Strings, Jared Wofford

Honors Theses

The light bending effects around cosmic strings in universes with varying rates of expansion are investigated. A relationship between the angular deflection and the expansion rate is found. This is made possible by the Blue Cheese model, which is a generalization to a cylindrical realm of the Swiss Cheese model


The Evolution Of The Sugarcoated American Food Market And The Paradox Of Artificial Sweeteners, Mary Moses Hitt Jan 2016

The Evolution Of The Sugarcoated American Food Market And The Paradox Of Artificial Sweeteners, Mary Moses Hitt

Honors Theses

Living in present-day America makes it hard to imagine an era when sugar was not as inexpensive and readily available as it is now. It is in little colorful packets on restaurant tables, filled to the brim in jars at coffee shops, or mixed into candy products located at the beginning of every cash register. Today, sugar is one of, if not, the most widely consumed food products in the world, but our love for sugar is nothing new. Humans have been experiencing the bliss triggered by sweet-tasting foods since their earliest diets, which included fruits and honey. Our diets …