Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Developing White Ash With Resistance To The Emerald Ash Borer, Kaitlin Joy Palla

Open Access Theses

Hypocotyls isolated from mature embryos germinated on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with 22.2 µM 6-benzyladenine (BA) and 0.5 µM thidiazuron (TDZ) were transformed using Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain EHA105 harboring the pBI121-8D2 vector containing the neomycin phosphotransferase (nptII) gene and a full length, codon-optimized Bacillus thuringiensis Cry8Da protoxin gene (cry8D2). Explants were transformed in a bacterial suspension with 100 µM acetosyringone using 90 s sonication and 10 min vacuum-infiltration. Four independent lines of transformed shoots were selectively regenerated on MS medium with 22.2 µM BA, 0.5 µM TDZ, 50 mg L^-1 adenine sulfate, 10% …

Sanitation Infrastructure, Medicinal Plant Use And Diarrhea In Rural Costa Rican Communities, Travis Clifford Sondgerath

Open Access Theses

Diarrhea is estimated to be responsible for 3.3 million deaths a year and is particularly problematic in the developing world among children. The Millennium Development Goals established by the United Nations has set a goal of reducing mortality among children by two thirds during the new millennium. However due to the nature of diarrhea it is often difficult to study its patterns, distribution, and determinants.

This study presents an analysis of the relationship between diarrhea and sanitation infrastructure and medicinal plant use in 4 rural Costa Rican communities. Over the past few decades' access to clean drinking water and municipal …

The Influence Of The Tibetan Plateau Elevation On The Global And Asian Monsoons, Rene Paul Acosta

Open Access Theses

It has been long hypothesized that large-scale topographic changes, such as the surface uplift of the Tibetan Plateau, impacts the development of the South Asian and East Asian monsoons and influences other monsoon regions. However, recent modeling has shown that spatial distribution of the global monsoon, which includes the South Asian and East Asian monsoons is largely unaffected by the elevation of the plateau. In this study, we present results from a series of modern day simulations using CESM1.0 in a mixed-layer (slab ocean) configuration. The Tibetan Plateau height is varied from double that of the modern maximum plateau elevation …

A Qualitative Perspective Of Sustainability Across A Supply Chain, Colton Michael Schliep

Open Access Theses

Schliep, Colton M. M.S., Purdue University, May 2013. A Qualitative Perspective of Sustainability Across a Supply Chain. Major Professors: Dr. Edie K. Schmidt and Dr. Edward Sweeney.

Using a qualitative approach, this investigation examines perspectives of sustainability concepts and industry experiences from people in various supply chain roles, attempting to answer the question, "How does sustainability, as a practice and definition, differ across a supply chain; and what are its benchmarks?" Participants in the study included 5 working professionals across different industries. Using systems analysis, in depth interviews elicited 12 common themes of the research. Outcomes of the research discuss …

Value Centric Approaches To The Design, Operations And Maintenance Of Wind Turbines, Madhur Aravind Khadabadi

Open Access Theses

Wind turbine maintenance is emerging as an unexpectedly high component of turbine operating cost, and there is an increasing interest in managing this cost. This thesis presents an alternative view of maintenance as a value-driver, and develops an optimization algorithm to evaluate the value delivered by different maintenance techniques. I view maintenance as an operation that moves the turbine to an improved state in which it can generate more power and, thus, earn more revenue. To implement this approach, I model the stochastic deterioration of the turbine in two dimensions: the deterioration rate, and the extent of deterioration, and then …

Sustainable Systems Thinking In Communication Design Education, Yvette M. Perullo

Open Access Theses

Design ingenuity and sustainability can, and should, work together. Designers have an ethical responsibility to provide ideas that do no harm, and better yet, create positive solutions that nourish the environment, social and cultural structures, and the economy. This approach, referred to as sustainable systems thinking--in contrast to more common design approaches--looks at a problem as an integrated component of an entire network. Sustainable systems thinking helps designers, clients, and consumers to consider who or what is connected to the design outcome, where the project will have positive and negative ecological, financial, cultural or social impacts, and make the entire …

Habitat Restoration Of A Constructed Ohio River Embayment, Caleb Michael Rennaker

Open Access Theses

Backwater habitats of large rivers provide habitat for aquatic biota and influence important predator-prey interactions in fishes and other aquatic organisms. However, these areas often exhibit turbid conditions and lack habitat complexity. Restoration of lentic habitats through direct habitat manipulations has shown success in prior efforts, but these methods have not been tested in backwater habitats of large rivers. I attempted to create habitat in an Ohio River embayment by establishing founder colonies of aquatic macrophytes coupled with the placement of underwater gravel beds. I also evaluated the effects of total suspended solids (TSS) on overwintering structures of American Pondweed …

Improving Model Performance For Invasive Plant Species Distribution Using Global-Scale Presence-Only Data: Parameterization And Data Quality, Feng Yu

Open Access Theses

Invasive species have significant ecological and economic impacts. To control species' invasion, risk assessment provides the most essential information for identification and evaluation of the potential risk of the invasive species, especially in their early invasion stages. Species distribution models (SDMs) is the foundation for risk assessment, in terms of both the practical and theoretical interest in our understanding of species invasion process. SDMs contribute to the proactive invasion management and the test of ecological or biogeographical hypotheses about species distributions in relation to their environment.

However, modeling of invasive species at large spatial scale (i.e., cross-continental) is rarely discussed. …

Accurate Prediction Of Spectral Phonon Relaxation Time And Thermal Conductivity Of Intrinsic And Perturbed Materials, Tianli Feng

Open Access Theses

The prediction of spectral phonon relaxation time, mean-free-path, and thermal conductivity can provide significant insights into the thermal conductivity of bulk and nanomaterials, which are important for thermal management and thermoelectric applications. We perform frequency-domain normal mode analysis (NMA) on pure bulk argon and pure bulk germanium. Spectral phonon properties, including the phonon dispersion, relaxation time, mean free path, and thermal conductivity of argon and germanium at different temperatures have been calculated. We find the dependence of phonon relaxation time τ on frequency ω and temperature T vary from ~ω^-1.3 to ~ω^-1.8 and ~T^-0.8 to ~T^{-1.8 …}

Swat Model Simulation Of Bioenergy Crop Impacts In A Tile-Drained Watershed, Chelsie Marie Werling Boles

Open Access Theses

Tile drains are an important component of agricultural production in the Midwest, and their inclusion in modeling studies is important in watersheds where they are a principal hydrologic pathway. The new tile drainage simulation method in the Soil Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) was parameterized and tile flow results were compared with reviewed literature. Streamflow, sediment, and nutrient outputs were compared to measured values and simulated crop yields were examined with respect to average county yields. Plant growth stressors were examined to account for differences between simulated and published yields. The bioenergy crop switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) was applied over …

Potential For Electrical Power Generation Using Forest Wood Biomass In Rural Areas Of Catalonia, Arnau Gonzalez

Open Access Theses

Biomass is a renewable energy source that has been used for many years. However, its usage as an electricity source in Spain is not well developed due to many causes, among which highlights the lack of knowledge about the available technical potential. This research sought to close this gap assessing the technical potential for electricity generation using forest wood biomass in rural areas of Catalonia. The study characterizes the amount and type of biomass available in Catalonian forests that can be used to produce electricity without going beyond the capacity of regeneration of the forest, as well as the state-of-the-art …

Content Analysis Concerning State Green Lodging Certification Programs In The United States, Yue Yu

Open Access Theses

The present thesis reports a content analysis study of state green lodging certification programs (SGLCPs) in the United States. The study explores how the government and industry associations operate and maintain SGLCPs. Through online research, the researcher found that 20 states have SGLCP. There are total 21 programs in operation currently. The study focused on the textual content of the 21 programs' websites.

The study determined the rationale of SGLCPs adoption through analyzing program purposes and certification bodies. The application procedure, assessment process, participation rate, certification levels, recertification process of programs were discussed to figure out whether SGLCPs implement the …

A Spatially Explicit Watershed Scale Optimization Of Cellulosic Biofuels Production, Jingyu Song

Open Access Theses

Producing biofuels from energy crops is one such alternative. They can result in relatively lower greenhouse gas emissions compared to traditional energy sources. Up to now, corn grain is the most researched energy crop. Cellulosic perennial crops such as switchgrass, miscanthus and fast growing trees are also promising energy crops and are expected to help with the energy supply. The 2007 Renewable Fuel Standard requires 16 billion gallons of a total of 36 billion gallons of renewable fuels to be cellulosic biofuels by 2022. Many studies are being done to evaluate costs and feasibility of different potential feedstocks and the …