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Honors Theses

2010

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Articles 1 - 26 of 26

Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

African Water: An Experience With Project Management In Bulima, Tanzania, Robert Sharp Dec 2010

African Water: An Experience With Project Management In Bulima, Tanzania, Robert Sharp

Honors Theses

Details the author's experiences researching, designing, and implementing a water system for a boarding school in Africa.


Plankton Community Respiration And Productivity For The Louisiana Offshore Ecosystem, July 2007 Results, Brandon Michael Boyd Oct 2010

Plankton Community Respiration And Productivity For The Louisiana Offshore Ecosystem, July 2007 Results, Brandon Michael Boyd

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.


Rhizocephalan Parasites Of Mud Crabs In South Carolina Estuaries, Erin Burnette May 2010

Rhizocephalan Parasites Of Mud Crabs In South Carolina Estuaries, Erin Burnette

Honors Theses

Rhizocephalan parasites often infect commercially important crustacean species such as the blue crab (Callinectes sapidus). In this experiment, the prevalence of rhizocephalan parasites was determined by sampling mud crabs (Panopeus herbstii) in three different locations; Huntington Beach State Park, Waites Island, and Murrells Inlet. Crabs were determined to be parasitized by the presence of an externae extruding from their apron. Unparasitized crabs were also collected to serve as a control group. The externa were removed and DNA extractions were performed. Polymerase chain reactions (PCR) were done to prove whether the crabs were parasitized by Loxothylacus texanus or Loxothylacus panopaei. Results …


Catalytic Decomposition Of Peroxynitrite And Superoxide By Nafion Films Modified With Iron And Manganese Porphyrin, Amanda Stull, Victor Sarpong May 2010

Catalytic Decomposition Of Peroxynitrite And Superoxide By Nafion Films Modified With Iron And Manganese Porphyrin, Amanda Stull, Victor Sarpong

Honors Theses

Nafion films alone and modified with inert electrolytes and metalloporphyrins were tested in their effectiveness of decomposition of aqueous peroxynitrite (PN) and superoxide. Films that were modified with a cationic manganese porphyrin, which has been shown to be responsible for catalytic decomposition of superoxide ion, were found to be most effective. Peroxynitrite was generated in solution by the decomposition of 3-morpholinosydnonimime (SIN-1) that generates nitric oxide and superoxide ion, which rapidly combine to form peroxynitrite. The tyrosine analogue 4-hydroxyphenylacetic (4-HPA) was used to trap the PN in pH 7.00 PBS buffer and was its nitrated product was detected by observing …


Uv Irradiation On Bacteriophage Survival, Sherri Tomlinson May 2010

Uv Irradiation On Bacteriophage Survival, Sherri Tomlinson

Honors Theses

Bacteriophage is of great interest because of its potential role in controlling bacterial populations in our environment. UV exposure has a damaging effect on the virus decreasing lytic ability. This study set out to test the effects of UV radiation, in amounts comparable to local environmental conditions, on bacteriophage T2. The virus was placed in a Petri dish in a PBS medium and exposed to UV radiation at 365nm. The irradiated virus was allowed to infect E. coli and plated. The plaques formed were counted to determine lytic activity of the virus with respect to UV irradiation. The results showed …


Preferential Fish Consumption Based On Omega-3 Fatty Acids And Mercury Concentrations For Maximum Health Benefits, Katrina Smith May 2010

Preferential Fish Consumption Based On Omega-3 Fatty Acids And Mercury Concentrations For Maximum Health Benefits, Katrina Smith

Honors Theses

The regular consumption of seafood offers a variety of protective effects, including the reduction of the risk of cardiovascular disease and stroke, due to the presence of omega-3 fatty acids in fish. These protective effects may be diminished by the contamination of seafood by mercury. Mercury increases the risk of cardiovascular problems and impedes neurological development. The objective of this project was to determine the fish species that are appropriate for consumption based on low levels of mercury and recommended intake levels of omega-3 fatty acids. Species that are high in omega-3s and low in mercury include salmon, trout and …


Semi-Classical Approaches To Below Threshold Harmonics, James A. Hostetter May 2010

Semi-Classical Approaches To Below Threshold Harmonics, James A. Hostetter

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.


Hurricane Katrina And The Haitian Earthquake: Appeals For Social Responsibility In Governmental Emergency Management, Shawn Lin May 2010

Hurricane Katrina And The Haitian Earthquake: Appeals For Social Responsibility In Governmental Emergency Management, Shawn Lin

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.


A Criterion For Identifying Stressors In Non-Linear Equations Using Gröbner Bases, Elisabeth Marie Palchak May 2010

A Criterion For Identifying Stressors In Non-Linear Equations Using Gröbner Bases, Elisabeth Marie Palchak

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.


The Northwest Forest Plan: Up To Our Neck In Owls?, Ashley N. Horvat Apr 2010

The Northwest Forest Plan: Up To Our Neck In Owls?, Ashley N. Horvat

Honors Theses

Traversing across the vast Pacific Northwest with the Northern spotted owl (Strix occidentalis caurina), one would experience a dynamic landscape that ranged from areas shrouded with ancient forests, mountains dotted with dense young forests, large swathes of empty habitat from clearcuts, and corridors filled with canopies and a plethora of life. The once vibrant forests that blanketed the Pacific Northwest in an abundance of life and sheltered these rare owls in their canopies were threatened by the removal of these primordial giants in these forests. The wild salmon that journey in record numbers through the cold rivers and …


Detecting Malicious Javascript, Matthew F. Der Apr 2010

Detecting Malicious Javascript, Matthew F. Der

Honors Theses

The increased use of the World Wide Web and JavaScript as a scripting language for Web pages have made JavaScript a popular attack vector for infecting users' machines with malware. Additionally, attackers often obfuscate their code to avoid detection, which heightens the challenge and complexity of automated defense systems. We present two analyses of malicious scripts and suggest how they could be extended into intrusion detection systems. For our analyses we use a sample of deobfuscated malicious and benign scripts collected from actual Web sites. First, using our malicious sample, we perform a manual analysis of attack signatures, identifying four …


Analysis Of Boolean Functions With High Second Order Nonlinearity, Corneliu A. Bodea Apr 2010

Analysis Of Boolean Functions With High Second Order Nonlinearity, Corneliu A. Bodea

Honors Theses

Highly nonlinear Boolean functions play a central role in the design and security analysis of high speed stream cyphers and block cyphers. We focus on analyzing the structure of Boolean functions that exhibit high second order nonlinearity. We commence with a theoretical overview of Boolean functions and Reed- Muller codes. We then introduce a new equivalence relation, 2-equivalence, for which we prove a number of important properties. Finally, we analyze the second order nonlinearity of concatenations of two Boolean functions.


A Discrete Nonlinear Model Of Resonant Scattering, Katherine Hollister Smith Apr 2010

A Discrete Nonlinear Model Of Resonant Scattering, Katherine Hollister Smith

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.


Synthesis And Reactivity Of Alpha-Azido Acylals, Gretchen Bell Jan 2010

Synthesis And Reactivity Of Alpha-Azido Acylals, Gretchen Bell

Honors Theses

alpha-Azido -Azido acylals are a novel combination of azide (N3) and acylal [R-C(OOCR)2] functional groups. Since these compounds are new chemical entities, little is known in the chemical literature about their physical, chemical, and biological properties. This synthetic methodology investigation sought to (1) develop a one-pot, two reaction method for preparing alpha-azido acylals and (2) investigate the chemical reactivity of alpha-azido acylals with phosphine reagents. Progress has been made and will be discussed regarding both the synthesis and reactivity of alpha-azido acylals. This work developed methods and processes that will have significant impact in our broader objective of exploring the …


Analysis Of The Electron Withdrawing Capability Of Acetylene Groups For Promoting Nucleophilic Aromatic Substitution, Eric D. Braunstein Jan 2010

Analysis Of The Electron Withdrawing Capability Of Acetylene Groups For Promoting Nucleophilic Aromatic Substitution, Eric D. Braunstein

Honors Theses

It is well known that electron withdrawing groups, such as nitro or carbonyl groups, activate benzene rings for nucleophilic aromatic substitution. However, little research has been done to investigate the electron withdrawing capability of acetylene groups for substitution of aromatic halides. Experimental and computational investigations on the reactivity of halogenated phenylacetylenes with oxygen and other nucleophiles will be described.


Lithium- And Oxygen- Isotope Profiles Of A Mid-Atlantic Ridge Oceanic Core Complex: The Atlantis Massif, 30°N, Ellen J. Crapster-Pregont Jan 2010

Lithium- And Oxygen- Isotope Profiles Of A Mid-Atlantic Ridge Oceanic Core Complex: The Atlantis Massif, 30°N, Ellen J. Crapster-Pregont

Honors Theses

Oxygen (O) and lithium (Li) are fluid-mobile elements used as geochemical tracers of a crustal component in the mantle. The isotopes of each element fractionate according to the degree and temperature of hydrothermal alteration. Previous studies demonstrate that Li and O isotopic trends are coupled within the upper crust near mid-ocean ridges but are decoupled in subduction-related volcanism. To better understand the average crustal signature of these systems, it is necessary to characterize these systems in the presently poorly understood lower oceanic crust. This study uses lower crustal samples from IODP Expedition 305 Hole U1309D exhumed at the Atlantis Massif, …


The Impacts Of Land Use And Development Patterns On Water Quality Of The Belgrade Lakes, Ian M. Mccullough Jan 2010

The Impacts Of Land Use And Development Patterns On Water Quality Of The Belgrade Lakes, Ian M. Mccullough

Honors Theses

The purpose of this study was to assess the impacts of patterns of land use and development on water quality in the Belgrade Lakes on a regional scale. Regional research and cooperation could identify key areas in the watershed where development or changing land use could have the greatest negative influences on lake water quality. Past work has centered on water chemistry, nutrient dynamics, development and economic factors but there has been no comprehensive analysis of land use and development history for the entire Belgrade Lakes Region. The Belgrade Lakes are a chain of 7 lakes in central Maine connected …


The Fundamental Gap For Hyperbolic Triangles, Dennis Stuart Fillebrown Jan 2010

The Fundamental Gap For Hyperbolic Triangles, Dennis Stuart Fillebrown

Honors Theses

In 1983, M. van den Berg made his Fundamental Gap Conjecture about the difference between the first two Dirichlet eigenvalues (the fundamental gap) of any convex domain in the Euclidean plane. Recently, progress has been made in the case where the domains are polygons and, in particular, triangles. We examine the conjecture for triangles in hyperbolic geometry, though we seek an for an upper bound for the fundamental gap rather than a lower bound.


Geophysical Analysis Of Seasonal Montandon Gravel Ridge Water Table Fluctuation And Moisture Gradient Variation Due To Storm Events, Annie Strader Jan 2010

Geophysical Analysis Of Seasonal Montandon Gravel Ridge Water Table Fluctuation And Moisture Gradient Variation Due To Storm Events, Annie Strader

Honors Theses

The purpose of this research project is to continue exploring the Montandon Long-Term Hydrologic Research Site(LTHR) by using multiple geophysical methods to obtain more accurate and precise information regarding subsurface hydrologic properties of a local gravel ridge,which are important to both the health of surrounding ecosystems and local agriculture. Through using non-invasive geophysical methods such as seismic refraction, Direct Current resistivity and ground penetrating radar (GPR) instead of invasive methods such as boreholedrilling which displace sediment and may alter water flow, data collection is less likely to bias the data itself. In addition to imaging the gravel ridge subsurface, another …


Development Of A Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectrometer For Lead-Free Gunshot Residue Analysis, Ryan Alexander Gregg Jan 2010

Development Of A Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectrometer For Lead-Free Gunshot Residue Analysis, Ryan Alexander Gregg

Honors Theses

Research has demonstrated that Laser‐Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) can be used as an effective method of screening for the common elemental components in gunshot residue. Barium (Ba), lead (Pb), and antimony (Sb) make up the primer cap of most ammunition involved in forensic gunshot residue analysis. Recently, ammunition manufacturers have started producing and popularizing ammunition with zinc (Zn), titanium (Ti), and gadolinium (Gd) primer components that are non‐toxic to the environment. This paper discusses the development of the Ole Miss Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry's first LIBS instrument for forensic analysis of lead‐free using Gd as a tracer element for …


Closed Time-Like Curves And Inertial Frame Dragging: How To Time Travel Via Spacetime Rotation, Conrad Wilson Moore Jan 2010

Closed Time-Like Curves And Inertial Frame Dragging: How To Time Travel Via Spacetime Rotation, Conrad Wilson Moore

Honors Theses

As the number of solutions to the Einstein equations with realistic matter sources that admit closed time-like curves (CTC's) has grown drastically, it has provoked some authors [10] to call for a physical interpretation of these seemingly exotic curves that could possibly allow for causality violations. A first step in drafting a physical interpretation would be to understand how CTC's are created because the recent work of [16] has suggested that, to follow a CTC, observers must counter-rotate with the rotating matter, contrary to the currently accepted explanation that it is due to inertial frame dragging that CTC's are created. …


Late Permian Paleoenvironmental Factors Expounded Through Analysis Of A Forest-Floor Paleosol Profile, Karoo Basin, South Africa, Cassi Knight Jan 2010

Late Permian Paleoenvironmental Factors Expounded Through Analysis Of A Forest-Floor Paleosol Profile, Karoo Basin, South Africa, Cassi Knight

Honors Theses

Beaufort Group paleosols from the Karoo Basin, South Africa, record the paleoenvironmental conditions that existed prior to and after the Permian-Triassic extinction event. Paleosol exposures from Wapadsberg Pass, Eastern Cape Province, represent a well- preserved forest-floor litter overlying an interpreted inceptisol, a condition unique to the basin. Vegetation that colonized this landscape included a canopy of the gymnosperm Glossopteris and an understory of sphenopsids (Phyllotheca and Trizygia). Wapadsberg Pass paleosol sites were sampled for petrographic and geochemical analyses to constrain interpretations of Late Permian paleoenvironmental conditions that existed ~ 70 m below the Permian-Triassic Boundary (PTB). This project focuses on …


Development Of A Spectral 2-D Fast Fourier Transform Analysis For Sand Ripple Morphology Interpretation, Christopher M. Englert Jan 2010

Development Of A Spectral 2-D Fast Fourier Transform Analysis For Sand Ripple Morphology Interpretation, Christopher M. Englert

Honors Theses

A MATLAB-based 2-Dimensional Fast Fourier Transform spectral analysis is developed and tested for its applicability to bedform morphology and hydrodynamic data from a hydrodynamically complex field site. The aspects of the procedure tested are (1) the use of an 8 sub-region arrangement for analysis versus five other arrangements, (2) the procedure for averaging the wavelength-and-orientation outputs from each sub-region to produce a single representative value for each image, (3) methods for eliminating and/or filtering poor quality data, and (4) the procedural steps in the spectral analysis that can appropriately incorporate automation versus manual involvement and interpretation. The automated technique is …


Vibrational Spectroscopic Monitoring Of Co2-O Energy Transfer: Cooling Processes In Atmospheres Of Venus & Mars, Jakob Aaron Schaeffer Jan 2010

Vibrational Spectroscopic Monitoring Of Co2-O Energy Transfer: Cooling Processes In Atmospheres Of Venus & Mars, Jakob Aaron Schaeffer

Honors Theses

The vibrational excitation of CO2 by a fast-moving O atom followed by infrared emission from the vibrationally excited CO2 has been shown to be an important cooling mechanism in the upper atmospheresof Venus, Earth and Mars. We are trying to determine more precisely the efficiency (rate coefficient) of the CO2-O vibrational energy transfer. For experimental ease the reverse reaction is used, i.e. collision of a vibrationally excited CO2 with atomic O, where we are able to convert to the atmospherically relevant reaction via a known equilibrium constant. The goal of this experiment was to measure the magnitudes of rate coefficients …


Parity Periodicity: An Eliminative Approach To The Collatz Conjecture, Austin J. Phillips Jan 2010

Parity Periodicity: An Eliminative Approach To The Collatz Conjecture, Austin J. Phillips

Honors Theses

The 3n + l Conjecture states that when the Collatz function is applied repeatedly to an initial value, the sequence of values generated always converges to 1, regardless of the starting value. This paper strengthens the claim that all such sequences are convergent by showing that certain types of nonconvergent sequences cannot exist. Specifically, no sequence with parity-periodic values can exist This eliminates all possible nontrivially periodic sequences and all divergent sequences with periodic parity. Therefore, if a counterexample to the conjecture exists, It must be a divergent sequence whose values display no parity periodicity.


Developing The Techniques For Raman, Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering (Sers), And Fluorescence Spectroscopies Of Organic Molecules In Isolation, Jonathan Wolfe Jan 2010

Developing The Techniques For Raman, Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering (Sers), And Fluorescence Spectroscopies Of Organic Molecules In Isolation, Jonathan Wolfe

Honors Theses

The nature of matter and light has been a subject of philosophical debate since antiquity. However, by the end of the nineteenth century, much of the scientific community believed that most of the significant principles that govern the natural world had been discovered. Classical physics was able to explain complex phenomena such as planetary motions, elasticity, and hydrodynamics. The field of thermodynamics had been developed nearly to completion by James Joule, Sadi Carnot, Josiah Gibbs, et al. The magnetic and electronic nature of light had been demonstrated by James Clerk Maxwell's famous equations. In the neighboring field of chemistry, a …