Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Ua668/4 Ogden College Of Science & Engineering Geography & Geology Administration, Wku Archives

WKU Archives Collection Inventories

Records created by and about the administration of the Geography & Geology department.

Ua6/1/1 Lost River Cave & Valley - Oral History Project, Wku Archives

WKU Archives Collection Inventories

Unprocessed oral history files regarding Lost River Cave & Valley.

Ua1b1/3 University Lecture Series, Wku Archives

WKU Archives Collection Inventories

Records created by the University Lecture Series committee which invites distinguished and prominent individuals to lecture at the university. The records include correspondence with potential speakers and programs, posters and recordings of lectures.

Ua1b1/2 L.Y. Lancaster Lecture Series, Wku Archives

WKU Archives Collection Inventories

Records regarding the L.Y. Lancaster Lecture Series.

Ua24 Mammoth Cave International Center For Science & Learning, Wku Archives

WKU Archives Collection Inventories

Records created by and about the Mammoth Cave International Center for Science and Learning.

Ua1c11/25 Lost River Cave Photo Collection, Wku Archives

WKU Archives Collection Inventories

Photographs and postcards created by Lost River Cave & Valley.

K–12 Environmental Education Resources, Roxanne Myers Spencer

DLPS Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Doppler-Broadening Of Light Nuclei Gamma-Ray Spectra, Melinda D. Whitfield

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Non-destructive methods of material interrogation are used to locate hidden explosives and thwart terrorism attempts. In one such method materials are bombarded with neutrons which react with the nuclei of the atoms within causing a de-excitation process emitting a gamma-ray. The spectrum displayed by the collection of these gamma-rays gives valuable information regarding the material’s elemental make-up. It has been hypothesized that gamma-rays from neutron-induced gamma-ray reactions on light elements with atomic numbers less than 20, including most of the gamma-rays of interest in explosives detection, are Doppler-broadened. This thesis focuses on the gamma ray spectra from the 4438 keV …

An Application And Refinement Of The Karst Disturbance Index Through Evaluating Variability In Island Karst Disturbance In Puerto Rico, Brandon Lee Porter

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Karst environments are unique landscapes that contain important resources, including freshwater aquifers and specialized ecosystems, which are easily disturbed due to the interconnected nature of the surface and subsurface. The anthropogenic impacts on karst are deleterious to the ecosystems that are dependent on the karst environment and also to groundwater supplies. The Karst Disturbance Index (KDI) is a holistic tool used to measure anthropogenic impacts associated with karst environments, which has been applied and refined through studies performed in Florida and Italy, yet still remains untested and susceptible to modification for other areas. Application of the KDI in Arecibo, Puerto …

Investigation Of Volatile Products From Wood Pyrolysis, Prabhavathi Gade

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

In this research we are following the thermo-chemical degradation of wood in the absence of oxygen. The objectives are to evaluate the influence of heating rates on pyrolysis products obtained from wood pyrolysis and to evaluate the influence of acid pre-treatment on pyrolysis products. Depending on the wood heating rates, pyrolysis can be categorized as Flash pyrolysis, Fast pyrolysis, and Slow pyrolysis. We have evaluated the volatile products obtained at different heating rates and the volatile products obtained from sulfuric acid pre-treatment by using gas chromatography- mass spectrometry (GC-MS). We have also performed thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA) of raw wood samples …

Farmers' Markets In Kentucky: A Geospatial, Statistical, And Cultural Analysis, Elizabeth Ann Schmitz

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

To assess what factors are driving the exponential growth of farmers’ markets in Kentucky, geospatial and statistical analysis of a database of 121 farmers’ markets was conducted. A statewide survey of market leaders and a case study of a single farmers’ market both identified reasons for growing support of farmers’ markets in Kentucky.

Market distribution, vendor levels, and gross sales were mapped against a backdrop of county urban classification, median household income, and education levels. Kruskal-Wallace analysis was used to identify if Kentucky’s rural, micropolitan, and metropolitan markets differ significantly in terms of their age, number of vendors, and market …

The Hydrology Of The Carroll Cave-Toronto Springs System: Identifying And Examining Source Mixing Through Dye Tracing, Geochemical Monitoring, Seepage Runs, And Statistical Methods, Benjamin Verlinden Miller

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

In karst areas relationships between activities occurring on the surface and the overall health of the subsurface environment are often highly interconnected. However, the complex nature of karst flow systems can often make identification of these connections difficult. Carroll Cave, a large stream cave system located in the central Missouri Ozarks, is known for its biological and speleological significance. A dye tracing project to delineate a Carroll Cave recharge area through dye tracing has identified an area of 18.5 km2 which contributes water to the cave. The water from Thunder River within Carroll Cave was positively traced to eight springs …

Appearance Based Stage Recognition Of Drosophila Embryos, Gopi Chand Nutakki

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Stages in Drosophila development denote the time after fertilization at which certain specific events occur in the developmental cycle. Stage information of a host embryo, as well as spatial information of a gene expression region is indispensable input for the discovery of the pattern of gene-gene interaction. Manual labeling of stages is becoming a bottleneck under the circumstance of high throughput embryo images. Automatic recognition based on the appearances of embryos is becoming a more desirable scheme. This problem, however, is very challenging due to severe variations of illumination and gene expressions. In this research thesis, we propose an appearance …

Two-Phase Partitioning System Using Elvax 40w Polymer For The Biodegradation Of Aqueous Phenols, Amit Suresh Ghode

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

A solid-liquid two phase partitioning system (TPPS) is a new technology platform for destroying toxic organic compounds. TPPS have traditionally been operated by using an immiscible organic phase which partitions organic compounds into the aqueous phase. TPPS using an immiscible organic phase suffers from several limitations such as the organic phase could be biodegradable and hence only certain compatible microbial strains could be used. This therefore, eliminates the desired use of mixed microbial populations for efficient degradation. A solid-liquid two phase partitioning system, in which solid polymeric beads replace liquid organic phase, appears to have benefits over the traditional liquid-liquid …

Internet Gis As A Historic Place-Making Tool For Mammoth Cave National Park, Ann E. Epperson

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This project laid the groundwork for an Internet-delivered Public Participation Geographic Information System to facilitate exploration and discovery of the past communities of the Mammoth Cave Park area. The emergence of Internet Web 2.0 design along with distributed GIS services allows for anyone to interact with and add to the information found on central Internet sites. Historical geography often relies upon public participation from individuals outside the academic world to provide narrative descriptions, photographs and manuscripts of past places and events to augment information held by institutions and academia. A public-participation website for the Mammoth Cave Historic GIS (MCHGIS) created …

On-Metal Synthesis Of Some Rhenium Complexes, Chad L. Phillips

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

In 1977, Shirakawa and coworkers discovered the first conductive polymers. Their conductive polymers have been extensively studied. Though some of these first conductive polymers such as polyactelyne seemed to be a promising organic conductor, the commercial applications of these polymers were severely limited due the polymer’s highly air-sensitive nature. Thus, the current focus has shifted towards the development of heterocyclic aromatic polymers which are air-stable and have a low band gap. Expanding of the work of Snyder and Selegue, the focus of my research has been the incorporation of rhenium metal into an organic compound in an on-metal fashion. Several …

Ua35/1 Doers & Deeds Vol. 7, No. 17, Wku Provost

WKU Archives Records

Newsletter created by the WKU Provost & Vice President of Academic Affairs to highlight the activities of faculty, staff and alumni.

Geographic Factors Of Residential Burglaries - A Case Study In Nashville, Tennessee, Jonathan A. Hall

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This study examines geographic patterns and geographic factors of residential burglary at the Nashville, TN area for a twenty year period at five year interval starting in 1988. The purpose of this study is to identify what geographic factors have impacted on residential burglary rates, and if there were changes in the geographic patterns of residential burglary over the study period. Several criminological theories guide this study, with the most prominent being Social Disorganization Theory and Routine Activities Theory. Both of these theories focus on the relationships of place and crime. A number of spatial analysis methods are hence adopted …

Geogram 2010, David J. Keeling Editor, Wku Department Of Geography And Geology

Earth, Environmental, and Atmospheric Sciences Publications

No abstract provided.

Smith, Charles F., 1954-1972 (Sc 2341), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 2341. Entry of Charles F. "Chuck" Smith for a Future Farmers of America Foundation, Inc. Proficiency Award in Soil, Water and Air Management. Includes a note from Smith's chapter advisor on his death in a traffic accident.

Sumpter, Ward Cullin, 1902-1977 (Sc 2318), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 2318. Chemistry notebook of Ward Cullin Sumpter, probably kept about 1930 while he was a doctoral student at Yale University. Includes other miscellaneous documents: a tribute to a church's departing pastor, a draft petition in support of an anti-cigarette law, and a poem relating to the 1928 presidential election.

A Comparative Study Of Threshold-Based Feature Selection Techniques, Huanjing Wang, Taghi M. Khoshgoftaar, Jason Van Hulse

Dr. Huanjing Wang

Abstract Given high-dimensional software measurement data, researchers and practitioners often use feature (metric) selection techniques to improve the performance of software quality classification models. This paper presents our newly proposed threshold-based feature selection techniques, comparing the performance of these techniques by building classification models using five commonly used classifiers. In order to evaluate the effectiveness of different feature selection techniques, the models are evaluated using eight different performance metrics separately since a given performance metric usually captures only one aspect of the classification performance. All experiments are conducted on three Eclipse data sets with different levels of class imbalance. The …

A Comparative Study Of Filter-Based Feature Ranking Techniques, Huanjing Wang, Taghi M. Khoshgoftaar, Kehan Gao

Dr. Huanjing Wang

One factor that affects the success of machine learning is the presence of irrelevant or redundant information in the training data set. Filter-based feature ranking techniques (rankers) rank the features according to their relevance to the target attribute and we choose the most relevant features to build classification models subsequently. In order to evaluate the effectiveness of different feature ranking techniques, a commonly used method is to assess the classification performance of models built with the respective selected feature subsets in terms of a given performance metric (e.g., classification accuracy or misclassification rate). Since a given performance metric usually can …

A Comparative Study Of Threshold-Based Feature Selection Techniques, Huanjing Wang, Taghi M. Khoshgoftaar, Jason Van Hulse

Computer Science Faculty Publications

Abstract Given high-dimensional software measurement data, researchers and practitioners often use feature (metric) selection techniques to improve the performance of software quality classification models. This paper presents our newly proposed threshold-based feature selection techniques, comparing the performance of these techniques by building classification models using five commonly used classifiers. In order to evaluate the effectiveness of different feature selection techniques, the models are evaluated using eight different performance metrics separately since a given performance metric usually captures only one aspect of the classification performance. All experiments are conducted on three Eclipse data sets with different levels of class imbalance. The …

A Comparative Study Of Filter-Based Feature Ranking Techniques, Huanjing Wang, Taghi M. Khoshgoftaar, Kehan Gao

Computer Science Faculty Publications

One factor that affects the success of machine learning is the presence of irrelevant or redundant information in the training data set. Filter-based feature ranking techniques (rankers) rank the features according to their relevance to the target attribute and we choose the most relevant features to build classification models subsequently. In order to evaluate the effectiveness of different feature ranking techniques, a commonly used method is to assess the classification performance of models built with the respective selected feature subsets in terms of a given performance metric (e.g., classification accuracy or misclassification rate). Since a given performance metric usually can …

Exploring Zirconia As A Column Packing Material, Tushar Ghugare

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Zirconia is one of the most promising column packing materials for High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC). The perfect HPLC support material should be energetically homogenous, have a high surface area on which different chemical species can reversibly attach and be physically and chemically stable over a wide range of pH, temperature and solvent conditions. Most existing supports do not have all of these properties. This project is also focused on a proteomics study. Zirconia, hafnium oxide and titanium oxide which are some of the more promising materials currently available, can be used for the separation and analysis of phosphorylated proteins. …

Synthesis, Kinetic And Photocatalytic Studies Of Porphyrin-Ruthenium-Oxo Complexes, Yan Huang

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Macrocyclic ligand-complexed transition metal-oxo intermediates are the active oxidizing species in a variety of important biological and catalytic oxidation reactions. Many transition metal catalysts have been designed to mimic the predominant oxidation catalysts in Nature, namely the cytochrome P450 enzymes. Ruthenium porphyrin complexes have been the center of the research and have successfully been utilized, as catalysts, in major oxidation reactions such as the hydroxylation of alkanes. This study focuses on kinetic and photocatalytic studies of oxidation reactions with wellcharacterized high-valent ruthenium-oxo porphyrin complexes.
The trans-dioxoruthenium(VI) porphyrins have been among the best characterized metal-oxo intermediates and their involvement as …

Algal Biomass Accrual In Relation To Nutrient Availability Along A Longitudinal Gradient In The Upper Green River, Kentucky, Mary Douglas Penick

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Nutrient limitation in aquatic ecosystems results from a deficiency in nitrogen or phosphorus levels relative to cellular growth needs. Nutrient limitation of freshwater systems is a function of biotic and abiotic factors. Biotic factors include vascular and nonvascular plant community composition. Abiotic factors include underlying bedrock and land-use activities (e.g. agriculture, septic systems). Nutrient availability directly affects growth, productivity, and community structure of primary producers. The purpose of this study was two-fold: (1) to assess the relationship between ambient algal biomass. and in-stream nutrient levels along the longitudinal course of a river through a transition from weak to well-developed underlying …

High Pressure Liquid Chromatography Studies Of The Reaction Of Platinum Complexes With Peptides, Khaja Muneeruddin

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Platinum complexes (cisplatin, carboplatin and oxaliplatin) are effective anticancer agents. However the major drawbacks of platinum chemotherapy are toxic side effects and resistance. The affinity of platinum complexes to sulfur donor ligands of side chains of methionine and cysteine amino acids was assumed to be responsible for toxicity and resistance. Recently, it was found that the reaction of platinum complex with proteins containing sulfur donor ligands could actually favor its anticancer activity. Copper transporter 1 (Ctr 1), a protein involved in the transport of copper into the cell, also helps in the influx of cisplatin by binding to N-terminal domain …

On-Metal Synthesis Of Some Aryl Substituted Rhenium Η5 Cyclopenta[C] Pyridazyl Complexes, Phenahas Gandu Sriramulu

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Heterocyclic organic and organometallic compounds (e.g. polypyrrole) and their derivatives have been of great interest for conductive polymers due to their novel properties and environmental stability as compared to non-aromatic analogs (e.g. polyacetylene). We are interested in synthesizing organometallic pyridazines and rhenium pyridazyl complexes for polymer research. SeveraI5,6-fused ring pyridazines (1,2-CsH3(CRNH)(CRN) have been synthesized and characterized. Additionally, pyridazyl complexes of rhenium were synthesized in three steps beginning from fulvenes 1,2-CsH3(COHR)(COR). On-Metal synthesis and characterization of (Re(CO)3 {1,2- CSH3(CRN)(CRN)}] (R=C6RtOMe, C6RtCI, C4H30) and some off-metal pyridazines are reported here. Our research is focused on synthesis of a variety of 5,6- fused …