Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Folding Of Bovine Pancreatic Trypsin Inhibitor (Bpti) Is Faster Using Aromatic Thiols And Their Corresponding Disulfides, Ram Prasad Marahatta

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Improvement in the in vitro oxidative folding of disulfide-containing proteins, such as extracellular and pharmaceutically important proteins, is required. Traditional folding methods using small molecule aliphatic thiol and disulfide, such as glutathione (GSH) and glutathione disulfide (GSSG) are slow and low yielding. Small molecule aromatic thiols and disulfides show great potentiality because aromatic thiols have low pKa values, close to the thiol pKa of protein disulfide isomerase (PDI), higher nucleophilicity and good leaving group ability. Our studies showed that thiols with a positively charged group, quaternary ammonium salts (QAS), are better than thiols with negatively charged groups such as phosphonic …

Antibaryon Photoproduction Using Clas At Jefferson Lab, William B. Phelps

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Antibaryon production has been investigated since the advent of nuclear

physics, largely motivated by the potential for baryon-antibaryon bound states.

Due to the recent availability of high statistics experiments there has been a

renewed interest in how antibaryons are created in photoproduction. The g12

(E04-005) experiment conducted at Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Fa-

cility used the CEBAF Large Acceptance Spectrometer to provide the world’s

largest dataset for baryon-antibaryon photoproduction on a liquid hydrogen tar-

get. The focus of this work is to investigate the photoproduction mechanism of

γp → ppp ̄ through detailed differential cross section measurements from 3.95

to …

Paleoenvironments, Origin, And Relative Maturity Of Organic Matter In Barremian-Aptian Limestones Of The Eastern Prada Quarry, Organyà Basin, Ne Spain, Jose R. Llaguno

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study is a multi-proxy analysis of a 30-m section of a Barremian-Aptian succession of interbedded, grayish black (N2) and black (N1) limestones from a quarry of the Sierra de Prada. Index taxa include planktic foraminifera Globigerinelloides blowi and Hedbergella sigali, which combined with δ¹³C data from Cresmina and Gorgo a Cerbara sections indicate a late Barremian to early Aptian age. The rocks are organic-rich with 0.67 - 3.10 wt% total organic carbon (TOC). A marlstone interval (~1m) at 2.24 m has a low bioturbation index (1), TOC ~6.66 wt%, framboidal pyrite, and enrichment spikes of major, …

Examining The Relationships Between Gender Role Congruity, Identity, And The Choice To Persist For Women In Undergraduate Physics Majors, Bronwen Bares Pelaez

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Persistent gender disparity limits the available contributors to advancing some science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields. While higher education can be an influential time-point for ensuring adequate participation, many physics programs across the U.S. have few women in classroom or lab settings. Prior research indicates that these women face considerable barriers. For university students, faculty, and administration to appropriately address these issues, it is important to understand the experiences of women as they navigate male-dominated STEM fields.

This explanatory sequential mixed methods study explored undergraduate female physics majors’ experiences with their male-dominated academic and research spaces in the U.S. …

Trend And Acceleration: A Multi-Model Approach To Key West Sea Level Rise, John Tenenholtz

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Sea level rise (SLR) varies depending on location. It is therefore important to local residents, businesses and government to analyze SLR locally. Further, because of increasing ice melt and other effects of climate change, rates of SLR may change. It is therefore also important to evaluate rates of change of SLR, which we call sea level acceleration (SLA) or deceleration.

The present thesis will review the annual average sea level data compiled at the Key West tidal gauge in Key West, Florida. We use a multi-model approach that compares the results of various models on that data set. The goal …

Drug Candidate Discovery: Targeting Bacterial Topoisomerase I Enzymes For Novel Antibiotic Leads, Shayna Sandhaus

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Multi-drug resistance in bacterial pathogens has become a global health crisis. Each year, millions of people worldwide are infected with bacterial strains that are resistant to currently available antibiotics. Diseases such as tuberculosis, pneumonia, and gonorrhea have become increasingly more difficult to treat. It is essential that novel drugs and cellular targets be identified in order to treat this resistance. Bacterial topoisomerase IA is a novel drug target that is essential for cellular growth. As it has never been targeted by existing antibiotics, it is an attractive target. Topoisomerase IA is responsible for relieving torsional strain on DNA by relaxing …

The Investigation Of Human Scent From Epileptic Patients For The Identification Of A Biomarker For Epileptic Seizures, Philip R.N. Davis

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Studies have shown that some canines have the ability to predict seizures in people with epilepsy, and that canines can be trained to recognize changes in humans before an epileptic seizure and make these predictions. It is not known with any certainty to what the canines are alerting. However, canines’ exceptional sense of smell and their ability to discriminate human scent is well established. Therefore, it is possible that the canines could be responding to an olfactory cue, such as the release of some volatile organic compounds (VOCs) prior to the onset of a seizure.

Individuals release a wide array …

Resilient And Real-Time Control For The Optimum Management Of Hybrid Energy Storage Systems With Distributed Dynamic Demands, Christopher R. Lashway

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A continuous increase in demands from the utility grid and traction applications have steered public attention toward the integration of energy storage (ES) and hybrid ES (HESS) solutions. Modern technologies are no longer limited to batteries, but can include supercapacitors (SC) and flywheel electromechanical ES well. However, insufficient control and algorithms to monitor these devices can result in a wide range of operational issues. A modern day control platform must have a deep understanding of the source. In this dissertation, specialized modular Energy Storage Management Controllers (ESMC) were developed to interface with a variety of ES devices. The EMSC provides …

Simplifying Sample Preparation Using Fabric Phase Sorptive Extraction: Analysis Of Trace Targeted Pollutant Residues In Environmental, Biological And Food Samples, Rodolfo Mesa

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Sample preparation is an essential component of analytical methods in chemistry. It is not only necessary but also presents an opportunity to increase the effectiveness of the method significantly. There are various commercially available technologies for sample preparation, including numerous variations of LLE, SPE, and SPME. However, these technologies all present significant deficiencies, including the inability to extract directly from complex samples such as whole milk. Instrumental analysis has been improved greatly in the last two decades but still is not applicable to complex samples without sample preparation.

This work presents the theory of FPSE, including the synthesis of sol-gel …

Quantification Of Precipitation Asymmetries In Tropical Cyclones And Their Relationship To Storm Intensity Changes Using Trmm Data, Yongxian Pei

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The climatology of precipitation asymmetries in Tropical Cyclones (TCs) and their relationship to TC intensity changes using 16 years of data from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite. TC Inner core precipitation asymmetries were quantified using the Fourier wavenumber decomposition method upon the pixel level data of 3,542 TRMM TMI overpasses. Composites of wavenumber–1 and wavenumber 1–6 total precipitation asymmetries were constructed to show the distribution pattern under different storm motion speed, vertical wind shear and the combined effects of varying vertical wind shear and storm motion. Results indicate that motion–relative total precipitation asymmetry is located down–motion. The phase …

Data Mining Techniques To Understand Textual Data, Wubai Zhou

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

More than ever, information delivery online and storage heavily rely on text. Billions of texts are produced every day in the form of documents, news, logs, search queries, ad keywords, tags, tweets, messenger conversations, social network posts, etc. Text understanding is a fundamental and essential task involving broad research topics, and contributes to many applications in the areas text summarization, search engine, recommendation systems, online advertising, conversational bot and so on. However, understanding text for computers is never a trivial task, especially for noisy and ambiguous text such as logs, search queries. This dissertation mainly focuses on textual understanding tasks …

Hybrid Polymer Electrolyte For Lithium-Oxygen Battery Application, Amir Chamaani

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The transition from fossil fuels to renewable resources has created more demand for energy storage devices. Lithium-oxygen (Li-O₂) batteries have attracted much attention due to their high theoretical energy densities. They, however, are still in their infancy and several fundamental challenges remain to be addressed. Advanced analytical techniques have revealed that all components of a Li-O₂ battery undergo undesirable degradation during discharge/charge cycling, contributing to reduced cyclability. Despite many attempts to minimize the anode and cathode degradation, the electrolyte remains as the leading cause for rapid capacity fading and poor cyclability in Li-O₂ batteries. In this …

The Detection Of An Invasive Pathogen Through Chemical And Biological Means For The Protection Of Commercial Crops, Alison G. Simon

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Standoff detection of targets using volatiles is essential when considering substances that are hazardous or dangerous, or for which the presence or location is unknown. For many invasive biological threats, their presence is often not realized until they have begun visibly affecting and spreading through crops or forests. The fungus Raffaelea lauricola is a biothreat vectored by the invasive beetle Xyleborus glabratus, or redbay ambrosia beetle (RAB), whose presence in avocado groves is currently detectable by visual inspection. Once visually identified, the affected trees must be removed and destroyed to protect those remaining trees. However, if the fungus is …

Structural Surface Mapping For Shape Analysis, Muhammad Razib

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Natural surfaces are usually associated with feature graphs, such as the cortical surface with anatomical atlas structure. Such a feature graph subdivides the whole surface into meaningful sub-regions. Existing brain mapping and registration methods did not integrate anatomical atlas structures. As a result, with existing brain mappings, it is difficult to visualize and compare the atlas structures. And also existing brain registration methods can not guarantee the best possible alignment of the cortical regions which can help computing more accurate shape similarity metrics for neurodegenerative disease analysis, e.g., Alzheimer’s disease (AD) classification. Also, not much attention has been paid to …

Trapped Ion Mobility Spectrometry Coupled To Fourier Transform Ion Cyclotron Resonance Mass Spectrometry For The Analysis Of Complex Mixtures., Paolo Benigni

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Analytical Characterization of complex mixtures, such as crude oil, environmental samples, and biological mixtures, is challenging because of the large diversity of molecular components. Mass spectrometry based techniques are among the most powerful tools for the separation of molecules based on their molecular composition, and the coupling of ion mobility spectrometry has enabled the separation and structural elucidation using the tridimensional structure of the molecule. The present work expands the ability of analytical chemists by furthering the development of IMS-MS instrumentation by coupling Trapped Ion Mobility Spectrometry to Fourier Transform Ion Cyclotron Resonance Mass Spectrometry (TIMS-FT-ICR MS). The TIMS-FT-ICR MS …

Applications Of Paper Microfluidic Systems In The Field Detection Of Drugs Of Abuse, Ling Wang

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Over the years, colorimetric reagents and immunology have been widely used in screening tests for illicit drugs; however, the test kits are not always convenient for field use and often require the user to mix and develop a specific set of reagents. In our project, we have been working on alternative platforms based on paper microfluidic devices (uPADs) for field testing. These devices utilize wax channels printed on paper to direct the analyte towards a specific set of chemical reagents. Using the procedure, we have developed a six-channel chip that adapts known colorimetric reagents targeting cocaine, opiates, amphetamines and ketamine …

Linking Organic Matter Dynamics To Management, Restoration, And Climate In The Florida Everglades, Peter Regier

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Florida Everglades is a massive and highly managed subtropical wetland ecosystem, strongly influenced by anthropogenic control of freshwater distribution and highly susceptible to a changing climate, including rising sea-level and changes in temperature and rainfall. Shifting hydrologic regimes impact ecosystem function and biogeochemistry, which in turn control the sources, fate, and transport of organic matter. As a master environmental variable, it is essential to understand how organic matter dynamics will respond to changes in the balance between freshwater and saltwater associated with landscape-scale Everglades restoration efforts and climate change. The research comprising this dissertation improves current understanding of the …

In Situ Arsenic Speciation Using Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy, Mingwei Yang

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Arsenic (As) undergoes extensive metabolism in biological systems involving numerous metabolites with varying toxicities. It is important to obtain reliable information on arsenic speciation for understanding toxicity and relevant modes of action. Currently, popular arsenic speciation techniques, such as chromatographic/electrophoretic separation following extraction of biological samples, may induce the alternation of arsenic species during sample preparation. The present study was aimed to develop novel arsenic speciation methods for biological matrices using surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS), which, as a rapid and non-destructive photon scattering technique. The use of silver nanoparticles with different surface coating molecules as SERS substrates permits the measurement …

Describing And Mapping The Interactions Between Student Affective Factors Related To Persistence In Science, Physics, And Engineering, Jacqueline Doyle

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation explores how students’ beliefs and attitudes interact with their identities as physics people, motivated by calls to increase participation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers. This work combines several theoretical frameworks, including Identity theory, Future Time Perspective theory, and other personality traits to investigate associations between these factors. An enriched understanding of how these attitudinal factors are associated with each other extends prior models of identity and link theoretical frameworks used in psychological and educational research. The research uses a series of quantitative and qualitative methodologies, including linear and logistic regression analysis, thematic interview analysis, and …

Behavioral And Neural Mechanisms Of Social Heterogeneity In Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Kailey Macnamara

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common child-onset neurodevelopment disorders, affecting 5% of children in the United States (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Treatment matching in ADHD is difficult and unsatisfactory; the same general treatment algorithm is recommended for all children. It is therefore important to consider the development of specialized treatment programs based on a variety of behavioral and neurological biomarkers. Unfortunately, due to its multi-faceted classification, the heterogeneity of this behavioral disorder is under-investigated (Costa Dias et al., 2015). Scientific research in this area is especially limited as the severity of ADHD goes undiagnosed, children tend to …

A Functional Trait Approach To Examine Plant Community Dynamics In South Florida Hardwood Hammock Forests, Suresh Chandra Subedi

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The tropical hardwood forests of south Florida persist as well-drained patches of broadleaf forest separated by brackish water swamp, marsh, or pineland. In this dissertation, a functional trait approach was used to understand the structure and dynamics of these communities and their responses to abiotic and biotic variation. Twenty-seven permanent plots (20 x 20 m²) were established across the south Florida landscape, representing four sub-regions: Everglades marsh, Long Pine Key, Upper Keys, and Lower Keys. Community weighted mean trait values for four of six selected traits showed significant inter-sub-regional variation. Out of them, three traits (specific leaf area, …

How The Use Of Subjectivist Instructional Strategies In Teaching Multiple Sections Of An Eighth Grade Algebra Class In Guyana Relates To Algebra Achievement And Attitude Changes Toward Mathematics, Jennifer Hoyte

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In Guyana, South America, the Ministry of Education seeks to provide universal, inclusive education that prepares its citizens to take their productive places in society and to creatively solve complex, real-world problems. However, with frequent national assessments that are used to place students in high school, college or into jobs, teachers resort to using familiar strategies such as lecture, recitation and test drilling. Despite their efforts, over 56% of students are failing the Grade 6 assessments, 43% failing 10th grade Mathematics and over 60% failing college algebra courses. Such performance has been linked to students’ lower academic self-concept and their …

Novel Nucleoside Analogues With Bases Modified With (Β-Halo)Vinyl Sulfone Or Β-Keto Sulfone As Probes To Study Rna/Dna-Proteins Interactions, Sk Md Sazzad Hossain Suzol

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The C-5 modified pyrimidine analogues are well-known anticancer and antiviral drugs which underscore further development of novel probes to study their physical, chemical, and biological properties. In my dissertation the syntheses and properties of (β-halo)vinyl sulfone and/or (β-keto)sulfone analogues of C-5 modified pyrimidine have been discussed. In the first part of the dissertion, the synthesis of 5-(β-halo)vinyl sulfones either by transition metal-catalyzed or iodine-mediated halosulfonylation reaction of 5-acetylene pyrimidine nucleosides have been explored. The novel (β-chloro/bromo/iodo)vinyl sulfones efficiently undergo addition-elimination reaction with different nucleophiles such as thiols, amines, amino acid, peptides to provide (β-substituted)vinyl sulfone analogues. The rate of these …

Investigating The Effects Of Land-Cover Change On The Hydrologic Conditions Of A Restored Agricultural Area In Everglades National Park, Dillon Reio

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In the Florida Everglades, remodeling of natural wetlands to promote agriculture and human settlement, have profoundly altered its hydrologic regime. As a result of anthropogenic changes, many restoration programs have been initiated to restore hydrologically controlled wetland ecosystems. One such restoration project that has been ongoing for the past 27 years is the Hole-in-the-Donut restoration program in Everglades National Park. The restoration program is unique in that it utilized an unorthodox technique to restore the landscape. The viability of the restoration technique was assessed by coupling long-term hydrologic and evapotranspiration data with water chemistry analyses. Key results indicated that the …

A Comparison Of Some Confidence Intervals For Estimating The Kurtosis Parameter, Guensley Jerome

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Several methods have been proposed to estimate the kurtosis of a distribution. The three common estimators are: g₂, G₂ and b₂. This thesis addressed the performance of these estimators by comparing them under the same simulation environments and conditions. The performance of these estimators are compared through confidence intervals by determining the average width and probabilities of capturing the kurtosis parameter of a distribution. We considered and compared classical and non-parametric methods in constructing these intervals. Classical method assumes normality to construct the confidence intervals while the non-parametric methods rely on bootstrap techniques. The bootstrap …

Efficient Mission Planning For Robot Networks In Communication Constrained Environments, Md Mahbubur Rahman

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Many robotic systems are remotely operated nowadays that require uninterrupted connection and safe mission planning. Such systems are commonly found in military drones, search and rescue operations, mining robotics, agriculture, and environmental monitoring. Different robotic systems may employ disparate communication modalities such as radio network, visible light communication, satellite, infrared, Wi-Fi. However, in an autonomous mission where the robots are expected to be interconnected, communication constrained environment frequently arises due to the out of range problem or unavailability of the signal. Furthermore, several automated projects (building construction, assembly line) do not guarantee uninterrupted communication, and a safe project plan is …

The Identification Of Volatile Organic Compounds From Synthetic Cathinone Derivatives For The Development Of Odor Mimic Training Aids, Vanquilla Shellman Francis

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Methylone, Ethylone, Methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV), and α-Pyrrolidinopentiophenone (α-PVP) collectively referred to as bath salts are a new trend of illicit substances known as synthetic cathinones. Designed by chemically modifying the core structure of the compound cathinone, synthetic cathinones became prevalent within the United States around the mid-2000s. As a cheap and less controlled alternative to methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, ecstasy), it has become heavily abused, prompting emergency scheduling by federal regulators. Although regulations have been placed to halt incoming traffic of these drugs, lack of ground efforts still leave a large percentage of bath salts available.

This study is two-fold, as it seeks …

Rip Current Formation And Beach Safety Implications For Several U.S. Atlantic Coast Beach Areas, Kathleen Michelle Fallon

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation combines seemingly different studies, which work together to describe the physical characteristics of rip current development and associated social implications at several locations. These fast-moving, concentrated flows of water travel offshore and can be found on any beach with sufficient wave action. Any event of increased wave steepness will erode a large quantity of sediment from the beach. The material deposited offshore eventually makes its way back; during this process, ocean water becomes trapped behind a shore-attached bar resulting in a ridge-and-runnel. These formations are seen at East Hampton, where rip-like currents form as concentrated water drains from …

Multinucleon Short-Range Correlation Model For Nuclear Spectral Functions, Oswaldo Artiles

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The main goal of the research presented in my dissertation was to develop a theoretical model for relativistic nuclear spectral functions at high missing momenta and removal energies based on the multi-nucleon short-range correlation (SRC) model. The nuclear spectral functions are necessary for the description of high energy nuclear processes currently being studied at different labs such as JLAB, LHC and FNAL.

The model followed the effective Feynman diagrammatic approach in order to ac-count for the relativistic effects important in the SRC domain. In addition to the two-nucleon (2N) SRC with center of mass motion contribution, the contribution of the …

Analysis Of Eye-Tracking Data In Visualization And Data Space, Sayeed Safayet Alam

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Eye-tracking devices can tell us where on the screen a person is looking. Researchers frequently analyze eye-tracking data manually, by examining every frame of a visual stimulus used in an eye-tracking experiment so as to match 2D screen-coordinates provided by the eye-tracker to related objects and content within the stimulus. Such task requires significant manual effort and is not feasible for analyzing data collected from many users, long experimental sessions, and heavily interactive and dynamic visual stimuli. In this dissertation, we present a novel analysis method. We would instrument visualizations that have open source code, and leverage real-time information about …