Digital Commons Network^™

A Gravitational-Wave Measurement Of The Hubble Constant Following The Second Observing Run Of Advanced Ligo And Virgo, B. P. Abbott, R. Abbott, Teviet Creighton, Mario C. Diaz, Soma Mukherjee, Volker Quetschke, Malik Rakhmanov, Karla E. Ramirez, Satzhan Sitmukhambetov, Robert Stone, D. Tuyenbayev, Wenhui Wang, Adam Zadrozny

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Publications

This paper presents the gravitational-wave measurement of the Hubble constant (H0) using the detections from the first and second observing runs of the Advanced LIGO and Virgo detector network. The presence of the transient electromagnetic counterpart of the binary neutron star GW170817 led to the first standard-siren measurement of H0. Here we additionally use binary black hole detections in conjunction with galaxy catalogs and report a joint measurement. Our updated measurement is H0 = - 69+8 16 km s−1 Mpc−1 (68.3% of the highest density posterior interval with a flat-in-log prior) which is an improvement by a factor of 1.04 …

Influence Of Microbial Priming And Seeding Depth On Germination And Growth Of Native Wildflowers, Daniela Barrera, Juan Luera, Kaitlynn Lavallee, Pushpa Soti

School of Earth, Environmental, & Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

Background: Using native wildflowers for restoring marginal lands has gained considerable popularity. Establishment of wildflowers can be challenging due to several environmental factors. Restoring the microbial community in degraded habitats can potentially result in the native plant performance and habitat restoration. This study was conducted to investigate the impact of native soil microbes and seeding depth on germination of south Texas native wildflowers. Two wildflower species, Ratibida columnifera (Nutt.) (Mexican Hat) and Verbesina encelioides (Cav.) (cowpen daisy), were treated with microbial wash extracted from native soils, and germination rate was recorded for 14-day period. We further analyzed the growth, biomass …

Environmental Forcing On Zooplankton Distribution In The Coastal Waters Of The Galápagos Islands: Spatial And Seasonal Patterns In The Copepod Community Structure, Diego F. Figueroa

School of Earth, Environmental, & Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

The oceanographic setting of the Galápagos Archipelago results in a spatially diverse marine environment suitable for a variety of species with different climatic requirements. The goal of this study is to demonstrate that the community of zooplankton in the Galápagos is highly structured by regional differences in productivity patterns and advective sources. Results are mostly based on biodiversity patterns of the copepod community collected over the Galápagos shelf between 2004 and 2006. Two contrasting marine environments were observed: a nutrientrich upwelling system with a shallow mixed layer and a diatom-dominated phytoplankton community in the west, and a non-upwelling system with …

A Simple Model Of Immune And Muscle Cell Crosstalk During Muscle Regeneration, Hristo V. Kojouharov, Benito M. Chen-Charpentier, Francisco J. Solis, Cláudia Cristina Biguetti, Marco Brotto

School of Podiatric Medicine Publications

Muscle injury during aging predisposes skeletal muscles to increased damage due to reduced regenerative capacity. Some of the common causes of muscle injury are strains, while other causes are more complex muscle myopathies and other illnesses, and even excessive exercise can lead to muscle damage. We develop a new mathematical model based on ordinary differential equations of muscle regeneration. It includes the interactions between the immune system, healthy and damaged myonuclei as well as satellite cells. Our new mathematical model expands beyond previous ones by accounting for 21 specific parameters, including those parameters that deal with the interactions between the …

Identifying And Explaining The Role Of The Teacher And The Child In The Guided Play Process: A Qualitative Content Analysis, Saber Abdolmalaki, Noushin Nouri, Faezeh Asadi

Teaching and Learning Faculty Publications

Effective implementation of guided play requires teachers who, with a proper understanding of their role and that of children, know how to begin and interact during the play. Such teachers, while paying attention to and supporting learning goals, also provide children with a process of enjoyable playing experience. The goal of the current study was to identify and explain the role of the teacher and the child in the guided play process of teaching-learning. The research method was inductive qualitative content analysis in which guided play research studies in the field of children’s education from 2000 to 2020 were identified …

Appearance Of New Photoluminescence Peak And Spectral Evolution Of Eu3+ In La2zr2o7 Nanoparticles At High Pressure, Santosh K. Gupta, Hisham Abdou, Yuanbing Mao

School of Integrative Biological & Chemical Sciences (Formerly Dept. of Chemistry)

Lots of efforts have been vested recently on tuning the structure and optical properties, particularly for the luminescent nanophosphors. High pressure in that direction has shown great potential to tune the performance of nanophosphors. However, very little attention has been paid on tuning the optical properties of technologically important La2Zr2O7 (LZO) pyrochlore nanoparticles (NPs) and its doped counterpart La2Zr2O7:Eu3+ (LZOE) NPs under elevated pressure. Equally little effort has been given on local structure evolution of Eu3+ ion as a function of pressure in the doped LZOE NPs. Here in this work, LZO depicted strong oxygen vacancy blue emission under ambient …

Effect Of Genotype On The Physicochemical, Nutritional, And Antioxidant Properties Of Hempseed, Youjie Xu, Jikai Zhao, Ruijia Hu, Weiqun Wang, Jason Griffin, Yonghui Li, Xiuzhi Susan Sun, Donghai Wang

School of Earth, Environmental, & Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

Hempseed products has been used as nutraceutical supplements and pharmaceutical products. However, hempseed has been underutilized as a food crop for human consumption. To fill the gap of limited knowledge of the variation of hempseed for food consumption, thirteen hemp varieties were selected to evaluate the effect of genotype on the physicochemical, nutritional, and antioxidant properties of hempseed. The tested hempseed contains 26.48–32.03% crude protein with average of 28.48%, 28.03–33.23% crude oil with average of 29.54%, 28.78–36.55% crude fiber with average of 33.49%, and 5.43%–6.32% ash with average of 5.89. Average test weight of 36.85 lbs/bu was relatively low compared …

Eigenvalues And Eigenfunctions Of A Schrödinger Operator Associated With A Finite Combination Of Dirac-Delta Functions And Ch Peakons, Shouzhong Fu, Zhijun Qiao, Zhong Wang

School of Mathematical & Statistical Sciences Faculty Publications

In this paper, we first study the Schrodinger operators with the following weighted function ___________, which is actually a finite linear combination of Dirac-Delta functions, and then discuss the same operator equipped with the same kind of potential function. With the aid of the boundary conditions, all possible eigenvalues and eigenfunctions of the self-adjoint Schrodinger operator are investigated. Furthermore, as a practical application, the spectrum distribution of such a Dirac-Delta type Schrodinger operator either weighted or potential is well applied to the remarkable integrable Camassa-Holm (CH) equation.

Continuous-Time Controlled Branching Processes, Ines Garcia, George Yanev, Manuel Molina, Nikolay Yanev, Miguel Velasco

School of Mathematical & Statistical Sciences Faculty Publications

Controlled branching processes with continuous time are introduced and limiting distributions are obtained in the critical case. An extension of this class as regenerative controlled branching processes with continuous time is proposed and some asymptotic properties are considered.

Correlation Between No-Slip And Slip Boundary Conditions Associated With A Two-Dimensional Navier-Stokes Flows In A Plane Diffuser, Ranis Ibragimov, Vesselin Vatchev

School of Mathematical & Statistical Sciences Faculty Publications

We examine the viscous effects of slip boundary conditions for the model describing two-dimensional Navier-Stokes flows in a plane diffuser. It is shown that the velocity profile is related to a half period shifted Weierstrass function with two parameters. This allows to approximate the explicit solution by a Taylor series expansion with two new micro- parameters, that can be measured in physical experiments. It is shown that the assumption for no-slip boundary conditions is stable in the sense that a small perturbation of the boundary values result in a small perturbation in the solutions.

Characterizing Nematode Communities In Carrot Fields And Their Bioindicator Role For Soil Health, A. Habteweld, D. Brainard, A. Kravchencko, Parwinder Grewal, H. Melakeberhan

School of Earth, Environmental, & Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

Plant-parasitic nematodes (PPN) are known to reduce quality and yield of carrot (Daucus carota var. sativus). Efficient nematode management begins with identifying the predominant PPN present in a given field before taking any management decisions. The management decisions should also consider suppression of PPN and promotion of beneficial nematodes represented by bacterivores, fungivores, omnivores, and predators to improve soil health conditions. We selected four carrot fields suspected to have PPN problems in Mason and Oceana counties in Michigan, USA. The counties are located in the major carrot-producing regions of Michigan. These sites have not been previously sampled for …

Multifunctional Conductive Paths Obtained By Laser Processing Of Non-Conductive Carbon Nanotube/Polypropylene Composites, Federico Cesano, Mohammed Jasim Uddin, Alessandro Damin, Domenica Scarano

School of Integrative Biological & Chemical Sciences (Formerly Dept. of Chemistry)

Functional materials are promising candidates for application in structural health monitoring/self-healing composites, wearable systems (smart textiles), robotics, and next-generation electronics. Any improvement in these topics would be of great relevance to industry, environment, and global needs for energy sustainability. Taking into consideration all these aspects, low-cost fabrication of electrical functionalities on the outer surface of carbon-nanotube/polypropylene composites is presented in this paper. Electrical-responsive regions and conductive tracks, made of an accumulation layer of carbon nanotubes without the use of metals, have been obtained by the laser irradiation process, leading to confined polymer melting/vaporization with consequent local increase of the nanotube …

Local Well-Posedness And Blow-Up For A Family Of U(1)-Invariant Peakon Equations, Stephen C. Anco, Huijun He, Zhijun Qiao

School of Mathematical & Statistical Sciences Faculty Publications

The Cauchy problem for a unified family of integrable U(1)-invariant peakon equations from the NLS hierarchy is studied. As main results, local well-posedness is proved in Besov spaces, and blow-up is established through use of an L 1 conservation law.

Positive Solutions For A Class Of Elliptic Equations, Xiyou Cheng, Zhaosheng Feng, Lei Wei

School of Mathematical & Statistical Sciences Faculty Publications

This paper is concerned with a class of semilinear elliptic equations with a potential function−Δu=λ|x|−αu−|x|σupinΩ∖{0},where λ,σ∈R, α>0, p>1, and Ω⊂RN (N≥3) is a bounded smooth domain with 0∈Ω. We establish the existence, nonexistence and asymptotic behavior of positive solutions when the potential function |x|−α has strong singularity at the origin. When the potential function |x|−α has weak singularity at the origin, we obtain some qualitative properties of positive solutions.

Robust Inference Of Kinase Activity Using Functional Networks, Serhan Yılmaz, Marzieh Ayati, Daniela Schlatzer, A. Ercüment Çiçek, Mark A. Chance, Mehmet Koyutürk

Computer Science Faculty Publications

Mass spectrometry enables high-throughput screening of phosphoproteins across a broad range of biological contexts. When complemented by computational algorithms, phospho-proteomic data allows the inference of kinase activity, facilitating the identification of dysregulated kinases in various diseases including cancer, Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. To enhance the reliability of kinase activity inference, we present a network-based framework, RoKAI, that integrates various sources of functional information to capture coordinated changes in signaling. Through computational experiments, we show that phosphorylation of sites in the functional neighborhood of a kinase are significantly predictive of its activity. The incorporation of this knowledge in RoKAI consistently …

The Rider (2021-02-15), Jacqueline Peraza

The Rider Archives

Vol.6 No.20

A Secure And Flexible Fpga–Based Blockchain System For Iiots, Han-Yee Kim, Lei Xu, Weidong Shi, Taeweon Suh

Computer Science Faculty Publications

Blockchain is a promising solution for Industry 4.0 due to its traceability and immutability. However, blockchain itself does not guarantee the input data integrity. The tampered data from an endpoint device can be a significant problem because it may result in a cascaded negative effect on the whole smart factory operations. In this paper, we propose an FPGA-based private blockchain system for IIoTs, where the transaction generation is performed inside the FPGA in an isolated and enclaved manner. For the key confidentiality and transaction integrity, the proposed system utilizes a PUF, soft processor, and tightly coupled sensor connections inside the …

Modeling The Effect Of Lockdown Timing As A Covid‑19 Control Measure In Countries With Differing Social Contacts, Tamer Oraby, Michael G. Tyshenko, Jose Campo Maldonado, Kristina Vatcheva, Susie Elsaadany, Walid Q. Alali, Joseph C. Longenecker, Mustafa Al‑Zoughool

School of Mathematical & Statistical Sciences Faculty Publications

The application, timing, and duration of lockdown strategies during a pandemic remain poorly quantified with regards to expected public health outcomes. Previous projection models have reached conflicting conclusions about the effect of complete lockdowns on COVID-19 outcomes. We developed a stochastic continuous-time Markov chain (CTMC) model with eight states including the environment (SEAMHQRD-V), and derived a formula for the basic reproduction number, R0, for that model. Applying the R 0 formula as a function in previously-published social contact matrices from 152 countries, we produced the distribution and four categories of possible R 0 for the 152 countries and chose one …

Effect Of Lanthanum Doping On The Reactivity Of Unsupported Comos2 Catalysts, Carolina Valdes, Diego Gonzalez, Kenneth Flores, Thomas Eubanks, John Valle, Agnelia Tiffany Hernandez, Carlos Hernandez, Jorge Lopez, Mataz Alcoutlabi, Jason Parsons

School of Integrative Biological & Chemical Sciences (Formerly Dept. of Chemistry)

In the present study, catalytic systems based on La-doping were developed to improve the activity and performance of CoMoS2 hydrodesulfurization catalysts. Lanthanum-doped at 5, 10, or 25% of the Co content in CoMoS2 hydrodesulfurization catalysts were synthesized through a solvothermal process. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analyses confirmed the catalysts were triphasic consisting of Co9S8, MoS2, and La2S3. The La doped catalysts showed enhanced catalytic activity compared with CoMoS2 synthesized under the same conditions. The CoMoS2 prepared under solvothermal synthesis conditions showed a catalytic activity of 6.80 mol g-1 s-1, however, the La0.05Co0.95MoS2 doping showed a catalytic …

Non-Diffracting States At Exceptional Points, Cem Yuce, Hamidreza Ramezani

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Publications

We propose to use exceptional points (EPs) to construct diffraction-free beam propagation and localized power oscillation in lattices. We specifically consider two systems to utilize EPs for diffraction-free beam propagation, one in synthetic gauge lattices and the other one, in unidirectionally coupled resonators where each resonator individually is capable of creating orbital angular momentum beams (OAM). In the second system, we introduce the concept of robust and tunable OAM beam propagation in discrete lattices. We show that one can create robust OAM beams in an arbitrary number of sites of a photonic lattice. Furthermore, we report power oscillation at the …

Environmental Drivers Of Mesophotic Echinoderm Assemblages Of The Southeastern Pacific Ocean, Ariadna Mecho, Boris Dewitte, Javier Sellanes, Simon Van Gennip, Erin E. Easton, Joao B. Gusmao

School of Earth, Environmental, & Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

Mesophotic ecosystems (50–400 m depth) of the southeastern Pacific have rarely been studied because of the logistical challenges in sampling across this remote zone. This study assessed how oxygen concentrations and other environmental predictors explain variation in echinoderm assemblages at these mesophotic systems, where this group is among the predominant fauna. We compiled data on echinoderm taxa at 91 sampling stations, from historical and recent surveys (between 1950 and 2019), covering a longitudinal gradient of approximately 3,700 km along with the Nazca, Salas y Gómez, and Juan Fernández ridges. Uni- and multivariate model-based tools were applied to analyze the patterns …

Extending The Frequency Reach Of Pulsar Timing Array Based Gravitational Wave Search Without High Cadence Observations, Yan Wang, Soumya Mohanty, Zhoujian Cao

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Publications

Gravitational wave (GW) searches using pulsar timing arrays (PTAs) are assumed to be limited by the typical average observational cadence of 1/(2 weeks) for a single pulsar to GW frequencies . 4 × 10−7 Hz. We show that this assumption is incorrect and that a PTA can detect signals with much higher frequencies, which are preserved in the data due to aliasing, by exploiting asynchronous observations from multiple pulsars. This allows an observation strategy that is scalable to future large-scale PTAs containing O(103) pulsars, enabled by the Five-hundred meter Aperture Spherical Telescope and the Square Kilometer Array, without requiring a …

Traveling Wave Phenomena In A Nonlocal Dispersal Predator-Prey System With The Beddington-Deangelis Functional Response And Harvesting, Zhihong Zhao, Yan Li, Zhaosheng Feng

School of Mathematical & Statistical Sciences Faculty Publications

This paper is devoted to studying the existence and nonexistence of traveling wave solution for a nonlocal dispersal delayed predator-prey system with the Beddington-DeAngelis functional response and harvesting. By constructing the suitable upper-lower solutions and applying Schauder's fixed point theorem, we show that there exists a positive constant c∗ such that the system possesses a traveling wave solution for any given c>c∗. Moreover, the asymptotic behavior of traveling wave solution at infinity is obtained by the contracting rectangles method. The existence of traveling wave solution for c=c∗ is established by means of Corduneanu's theorem. The nonexistence of traveling wave …

Scalable, Cost-Efficient Synthesis And Properties Optimization Of Magnetoelectric Cobalt Ferrite/Barium Titanate Composites, Farnaz Safi Samghabadi, Long Chang, Mohammad Khodadadi, Karen S. Martirosyan, Dmitri Litvinov

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Publications

Cobalt ferrite (CoFe2O4)/barium titanate (BaTiO3) particulate composites exhibiting high magnetoelectric coefficients were synthesized from low-cost commercial precursors using mechanical ball milling followed by high-temperature annealing. CoFe2O4 (20 nm–50 nm) and either cubic or tetragonal BaTiO3 nanoparticle powders were used for the synthesis. It was found that utilizing a 50nm cubic BaTiO3 powder as a precursor results in a composite with a magnetoelectric coupling coefficient value as high as 4.3 mV/Oe cm, which is comparable to those of chemically synthesized core–shell CoFe2O4–BaTiO3 nanoparticles. The microstructure of these composites is dramatically different from the composite synthesized using 200nm tetragonal BaTiO3 powder. CoFe2O4 …

Scalable, Cost-Efficient Synthesis And Properties Optimization Of Magnetoelectric Cobalt Ferrite/Barium Titanate Composites, Farnaz Safi Samghabadi, Long Chang, Mohammad Khodadadi, Karen S. Martirosyan, Dmitri Litvinov

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Publications

Cobalt ferrite (CoFe2O4)/barium titanate (BaTiO3) particulate composites exhibiting high magnetoelectric coefficients were synthesized from low-cost commercial precursors using mechanical ball milling followed by high-temperature annealing. CoFe2O4 (20 nm–50 nm) and either cubic or tetragonal BaTiO3 nanoparticle powders were used for the synthesis. It was found that utilizing a 50nm cubic BaTiO3 powder as a precursor results in a composite with a magnetoelectric coupling coefficient value as high as 4.3 mV/Oe cm, which is comparable to those of chemically synthesized core–shell CoFe2O4–BaTiO3 nanoparticles. The microstructure of these composites is dramatically different from the composite synthesized using 200nm tetragonal BaTiO3 powder. CoFe2O4 …

Global-In-Time Solvability And Blow-Up For A Non-Isospectral Two-Component Cubic Camassa-Holm System In A Critical Besov Space, Lei Zhang, Zhijun Qiao

School of Mathematical & Statistical Sciences Faculty Publications

In this paper, we prove the global Hadamard well-posedness of strong solutions to a non-isospectral two-component cubic Camassa-Holm system in the critical Besov space B2,11/2(T). Our results show that in comparison with the well-known work for classic Camassa-Holm-type equations, the existence of global solution only relies on the L1-integrability of the variable coefficients α(t) and γ(t), but nothing to do with the shape of the initial data. The key ingredient of the proof hinges on the careful analysis of the mutual effect among two component forms, the uniform bound of approximate solutions, and several crucial estimates of cubic nonlinearities in …

Identifying Nitrogen Source And Seasonal Variation In A Black Mangrove (Avicennia Germinans) Communityof The South Texas Coast, Ashley Elizabeth Murphy, Carlos E. Cintra-Buenrostro, Alejandro Fierro-Cabo

School of Earth, Environmental, & Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

Black mangrove (Avicennia germinans) stands in south Texas grow in association with other autotrophic organisms including herbaceous halophytes and cyanobacterial mats. Despite the relevant ecosystem services provided by this coastal plant community, limited information exists on its functioning, in particular as it pertains to nutrient dynamics, namely nitrogen (N). Nitrogen stable isotopes were used to assess potential N sources for plant growth in this community. Plant tissue (leaves), cyanobacteria, and sediment were sampled once every season for one year. Total N in A. germinans (2.6 %) and associated saltwort (Batis maritima) (2.1 %) was higher than in cyanobacteria (0.6 %), …

Covert Computation In Self-Assembled Circuits, Angel A. Cantu, Austin Luchsinger, Robert Schweller, Tim Wylie

Computer Science Faculty Publications

Traditionally, computation within self-assembly models is hard to conceal because the self-assembly process generates a crystalline assembly whose computational history is inherently part of the structure itself. With no way to remove information from the computation, this computational model offers a unique problem: how can computational input and computation be hidden while still computing and reporting the final output? Designing such systems is inherently motivated by privacy concerns in biomedical computing and applications in cryptography. In this paper we propose the problem of performing “covert computation” within tile self-assembly that seeks to design self-assembly systems that “conceal” both the input …

Influence Of Land Use Intensity And Management On Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi-Avocado Symbiosis, Pushpa Soti, Bulent Toprak, Nina De La Rosa, Krish Jayachandran

School of Earth, Environmental, & Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

This study was done to assess the effect of soil disturbance on arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi spore abundance and root colonization in avocado (Persea americana Mill.). Rhizosphere soil and root samples of avocado were collected from different farms in south Florida and analyzed for degree of mycorrhizal colonization in roots, spore density and diversity in soil along with soil characteristics. There was significant difference in the soil characteristics among the different farms. Similarly, there was a significant difference in the degree of mycorrhizal colonization in the roots and the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi spore morphotypes among different land use and management practices. …

Heterocycles In The Treatment Of Neglected Tropical Diseases, Kush K. Maheshwari, Debasish Bandyopadhyay

School of Integrative Biological & Chemical Sciences (Formerly Dept. of Chemistry)

Background: Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) affect a huge population of the world and the majority of the victims belong to the poor community of the developing countries. Until now, the World Health Organization (WHO) has identified 20 tropical diseases as NTDs that must be addressed with high priority. However, many heterocyclic scaffolds have demonstrated potent therapeutic activity against several NTDs.

Objective: There are three major objectives: (1) To discuss the causes, symptoms, and current status of all the 20 NTDs; (2) To explore the available heterocyclic drugs, as well as their mechanisms of action (if known), that are being used …