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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Predicting Future Shoreline Condition Based On Land Use Trends, Logistic Regression, And Fuzzy Logic, Lynne M. Dingerson Jan 2005

Predicting Future Shoreline Condition Based On Land Use Trends, Logistic Regression, And Fuzzy Logic, Lynne M. Dingerson

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

The lower Chesapeake Bay and adjacent coastal waters serve as the primary summer nursery areas for juvenile sandbar sharks (Carcharhinus plumbeus) in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean. The large population of juvenile sandbar sharks in this ecosystem benefits from increased food availability that fuels rapid growth and from limited exposure to large shark predators. Juvenile growth and survival is the most critical life history stage for sandbar sharks, and juvenile nursery grounds will continue to play an important role in the slow recovery of this stock from severe population declines due to overfishing. The goal of this study was to assess …


Synthesis And Characterization Of Hydrogen-Rich Polyimide Materials For Radiation Shielding, Sha Yang Jan 2005

Synthesis And Characterization Of Hydrogen-Rich Polyimide Materials For Radiation Shielding, Sha Yang

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.


Effects Of Human Disturbance On The Breeding Success Of Eastern Bluebirds (Sialia Sialis), Caitlin Rebecca Kight Jan 2005

Effects Of Human Disturbance On The Breeding Success Of Eastern Bluebirds (Sialia Sialis), Caitlin Rebecca Kight

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.


Description And Evaluation Of The United States Coastal Pelagic Longline Fishery Interactions With Target And Non-Target Species In The Western North Atlantic, David. Kerstetter Jan 2005

Description And Evaluation Of The United States Coastal Pelagic Longline Fishery Interactions With Target And Non-Target Species In The Western North Atlantic, David. Kerstetter

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Eighty-five monitored sets were used to investigate the interactions of pelagic fishes with commercial pelagic longline gear in the western North Atlantic during the fall mixed species fishery north of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, and the spring swordfish fishery in the southern Gulf of Mexico and northern Caribbean Sea. This dissertation incorporates four components: (1) direct analyses of longline gear behavior using small time-depth recorders, (2) comparisons of catch rates and mortality of all species caught on size 16/0 non-offset circle and size 9/0 straight-shank J-style hooks, including analyses of time-of-capture utilizing electronic hook time recorders, (3) an evaluation of …


Simulation Of Turbidity Maximums In The York River, Virginia, Jae-Il Kwon Jan 2005

Simulation Of Turbidity Maximums In The York River, Virginia, Jae-Il Kwon

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Two of the most important processes in cohesive sediment transport, erosion rate and settling velocity, were the focus of this study. Settling velocities were estimated by the Owen tube method and the acoustic Doppler velocimeter (ADV) method. A novel erosion model, namely a constant erosion rate model, was implemented in a three-dimensional hydrodynamic eutrophication model (HEM-3D) to simulate the turbidity maximums in the York River system, Virginia. Two one-month periods of model simulations were conducted to mimic typical dry (November--December, 2001) and wet (March--April, 2002) seasons. In order to have enough data to verify the model, four slack water surveys …


Tidal Wetland Contributions To Fecal Coliform Loads In Shellfish Growing Waters By Analysis Of Model Prediction Discrepancy, Jie. Huang Jan 2005

Tidal Wetland Contributions To Fecal Coliform Loads In Shellfish Growing Waters By Analysis Of Model Prediction Discrepancy, Jie. Huang

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Fecal contamination in estuaries has become an increasing concern worldwide. The use of wetlands for wastewater treatment has expanded due to their natural ability to improve water quality by removing suspended sediments, nutrients, and fecal bacteria. In general, most of the removal occurs through deposition and accumulation in the wetland substrate. This would suggest that wetlands are effective filters for fecal coliform transported from terrestrial environments to surface waters. It has also been hypothesized, however, that wetlands may be an intermittent source of fecal coliform in tidal systems as a result of wildlife deposition and /or accumulation from terrestrial sources. …


Investigation Of The Life History Of The Cownose Ray, Rhinoptera Bonasus (Mitchill 1815), Donna S. Grusha Jan 2005

Investigation Of The Life History Of The Cownose Ray, Rhinoptera Bonasus (Mitchill 1815), Donna S. Grusha

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.


Nursery Delineation, Movement Patterns, And Migration Of The Sandbar Shark, Carcharhinus Plumbeus, In The Eastern Shore Of Virginia Coastal Bays And Lagoons, Christina L. Conrath Jan 2005

Nursery Delineation, Movement Patterns, And Migration Of The Sandbar Shark, Carcharhinus Plumbeus, In The Eastern Shore Of Virginia Coastal Bays And Lagoons, Christina L. Conrath

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

The identification and delineation of nursery areas and areas of aggregation of north Atlantic sharks has been identified as an important information need for future management efforts. The objectives of this project were to use a fishery-independent method to study the overwintering area of juvenile sandbar sharks, to spatially delineate the Eastern Shore nursery area, and to examine movement patterns and space use within this nursery area. Data from 21 satellite transmitters attached to large juvenile sandbar sharks revealed that these sharks primarily occurred off the outer banks of North Carolina, at deeper depths and colder water temperatures during the …


Data Broadcast Scheduling: Models, Algorithms, And Analysis, Aaron Thomas Hawkins Jan 2005

Data Broadcast Scheduling: Models, Algorithms, And Analysis, Aaron Thomas Hawkins

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Inherent in the field of data broadcasting is a communication problem in which a server is to transmit a subset of data items in response to requests received from clients. The intent of the server is to optimize metrics quantifying the quality of service the system provides. This method of data dissemination has proved to be an efficient means of delivering information in asymmetric environments demanding massive scalability. of critical importance in such a system is the algorithm used by the server to construct a schedule of item broadcasts.;Due to the real-time nature of this problem, performances of heuristics designed …


Techniques Of Data Prefetching, Replication, And Consistency In The Internet, Xin Chen Jan 2005

Techniques Of Data Prefetching, Replication, And Consistency In The Internet, Xin Chen

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Internet has become a major infrastructure for information sharing in our daily life, and indispensable to critical and large applications in industry, government, business, and education. Internet bandwidth (or the network speed to transfer data) has been dramatically increased, however, the latency time (or the delay to physically access data) has been reduced in a much slower pace. The rich bandwidth and lagging latency can be effectively coped with in Internet systems by three data management techniques: caching, replication, and prefetching. The focus of this dissertation is to address the latency problem in Internet by utilizing the rich bandwidth and …


Quantum Monte Carlo Method For Boson Ground States: Application To Trapped Bosons With Attractive And Repulsive Interactions, Wirawan Purwanto Jan 2005

Quantum Monte Carlo Method For Boson Ground States: Application To Trapped Bosons With Attractive And Repulsive Interactions, Wirawan Purwanto

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

We formulate a quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) method for calculating the ground state of many-boson systems. The method is based on a field-theoretical approach, and is closely related to existing fermion auxiliary-field QMC methods which are applied in several fields of physics. The ground-state projection is implemented as a branching random walk in the space of permanents consisting of identical single-particle orbitals. Any single-particle basis can be used, and the method is in principle exact. We apply this method to an atomic Bose gas, where the atoms interact via an attractive or repulsive contact two-body potential parametrized by the s-wave …


Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Studies Of Relaxor Ferroelectrics, William J. Brouwer Jan 2005

Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Studies Of Relaxor Ferroelectrics, William J. Brouwer

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

This work is devoted to the study of local order in the ferroelectric PbSc1/2Ta1/2O3 (PST) and relaxor ferroelectric solid solutions (1-x)PbSC2/3W1/3O3-(x)PbTiO 3 (PSW-PT), (1x)PbSC2/3W1/3O3-(x)PbZrO 3 (PSW-PZ). Novel Magic Angle Spinning (MAS) Solid State Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (SS-NMR) experiments, including Multiple Quantum MAS (MQMAS) and Double Quantum Filtered Satellite Transition (DQF-STMAS), have been performed on these materials. A gamma function model is proposed for the distribution of quadrupole coupling constants, based on the Poissonian nature of atomic displacements. Moments for distributions may be subsequently extracted through agreement between experimental spectra and simulations implemented in novel programs. Simple crystal compound scandium oxide …


Linking Framework Geology And Nearshore Morphology: Correlation Of Paleo-Channels With Shore-Oblique Sandbars And Gravel Outcrops, A. Grace Browder Jan 2005

Linking Framework Geology And Nearshore Morphology: Correlation Of Paleo-Channels With Shore-Oblique Sandbars And Gravel Outcrops, A. Grace Browder

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.


Eye Pathologies Found In Several Decapod Crustaceans, Andrea M. Maniscalco Jan 2005

Eye Pathologies Found In Several Decapod Crustaceans, Andrea M. Maniscalco

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.


Monte Carlo Simulations Of Ferroelectric Crystal Growth And Molecular Electronic Structure Of Atoms And Molecules, Malliga Suewattana Jan 2005

Monte Carlo Simulations Of Ferroelectric Crystal Growth And Molecular Electronic Structure Of Atoms And Molecules, Malliga Suewattana

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

In this thesis, we explore two stochastic techniques to study properties of materials in realistic systems. Specifically, the kinetic Monte Carlo (KMC) method is utilized to study the crystal growth process of ferroelectric materials and the quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) approach is used to investigate the ground state properties of atoms and molecules.;In the growth simulations, we study the growth rates and chemical ordering of ferroelectric alloys using an electrostatic model with long-range Coulomb interactions. Crystal growth is characterized by thermodynamic processes involving adsorption and evaporation, with solid-on-solid restrictions and excluding diffusion. A KMC algorithm is formulated to simulate this …


Distinguishing Sediment Transport Modes To The Outer-Shelf Off The Waiapu River, New Zealand, Lisa D. Addington Jan 2005

Distinguishing Sediment Transport Modes To The Outer-Shelf Off The Waiapu River, New Zealand, Lisa D. Addington

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.


Hypoxia In Shallow Coastal Waters: A Case Study In Onancock Creek, Virginia, Taiping Wang Jan 2005

Hypoxia In Shallow Coastal Waters: A Case Study In Onancock Creek, Virginia, Taiping Wang

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.


Reproductive Attributes Of Polynoid Polychaetes From Hydrothermal Vents On The East Pacific Rise, Jessica Lynn Wallace Jan 2005

Reproductive Attributes Of Polynoid Polychaetes From Hydrothermal Vents On The East Pacific Rise, Jessica Lynn Wallace

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.


Bi(Iii) Initiated Cyclization Reactions And Iodonium Fragmentation Kinetics, Yajing Lian Jan 2005

Bi(Iii) Initiated Cyclization Reactions And Iodonium Fragmentation Kinetics, Yajing Lian

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.


An Investigation Of Programmer-Identified Concerns, Meghan Kathleen Revelle Jan 2005

An Investigation Of Programmer-Identified Concerns, Meghan Kathleen Revelle

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.


Factory: A N Object-Oriented Parallel Programming Substrate For Deep Multiprocessors, Scott Arthur Schneider Jan 2005

Factory: A N Object-Oriented Parallel Programming Substrate For Deep Multiprocessors, Scott Arthur Schneider

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.


Application Of Survival Analysis Methods To Pulsed Exposures: Exposure Duration, Latent Mortality, Recovery Time, And The Underlying Theory Of Survival Distribution Models, Yuan Zhao Jan 2005

Application Of Survival Analysis Methods To Pulsed Exposures: Exposure Duration, Latent Mortality, Recovery Time, And The Underlying Theory Of Survival Distribution Models, Yuan Zhao

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Ecotoxicologists adopted median lethal concentration (LC50) methods from mammalian toxicology. This conventional LC50 approach has shortcomings. Fixing the exposure duration and selecting the 50% mortality level result in loss of ecologically relevant information generated at all other times. It also ignores latent mortality that can manifest after exposure ends. as a result, it cannot adequately predict pulsed exposure effects in which concentration, duration, and frequency of pulses change through time. The underlying theory of the dose-response models used to calculate LC50 values, stochastic versus individual effective dose (IED) theory, has not been tested rigorously either. In this study, the effects …


Iron And Carbon Limitation Of Prokaryotic Growth In The Ocean, Jacques L. Oliver Jan 2005

Iron And Carbon Limitation Of Prokaryotic Growth In The Ocean, Jacques L. Oliver

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Studies were undertaken to examine the roles of iron and carbon in modulating prokaryotic growth in the ocean. The context of the first study was an open-open iron fertilization experiment in the high nutrient, low chlorophyll (HNLC) regime in the Southern Ocean. The context of the second study was the oligotrophic, iron-replete, and organic carbon-limited northwest Sargasso Sea. Experimental sea water cultures were amended with an iron chelator, desferrioxamine B (DFOB), and other nutrients to examine the effects of iron and carbon limitation on growth. In the first study prokaryotic abundance, carbon production, and growth rate increased in response to …


Site Fidelity, Home Range, And Daily Movements Of White Perch, Morone Americana, And Striped Bass, Morone Saxatilis, In Two Small Tributaries Of The York River, Virginia, Patrick E. Mcgrath Jan 2005

Site Fidelity, Home Range, And Daily Movements Of White Perch, Morone Americana, And Striped Bass, Morone Saxatilis, In Two Small Tributaries Of The York River, Virginia, Patrick E. Mcgrath

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Striped bass (Morone saxatilis) and white perch (M. americana) are two common species residing within Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. These congeners are both commercially and recreationally important species. White perch are permanent residents in the Bay, while striped bass are only residents during the first few years of their life. During these initial years, striped bass co-occur with white perch. There is very little known about white perch and resident striped bass site fidelity and home range. This acoustic tagging study aims to examine site fidelity and home range of both species and determine if there is any spatial …


Photochemical Modification Of Polyethylene Terephthalate Surface, Zhengmao Zhu Jan 2005

Photochemical Modification Of Polyethylene Terephthalate Surface, Zhengmao Zhu

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

The prospect of obtaining desired surface-mediated characteristics while retaining bulk-mediated physical properties and avoiding potential environmental issues with wet chemical technology lends considerable appeal to photochemical approaches to surface modification.;We undertook a combined experimental and computational approach to investigate the effect of deep UV irradiation on the polyethylene terephthalate (PET) surface. its response to 172 nm UV from a xenon examiner lamp in the absence of oxygen was characterized with X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS), Time of Flight/Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (ToF/SIMS), transmission infrared spectroscopy (IR), and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM). The surface chemistry details suggested that the primary photochemical reactions …


Characterization Of Ionic, Dipolar And Molecular Mobility In Polymer Systems, Zhenrong Guo Jan 2005

Characterization Of Ionic, Dipolar And Molecular Mobility In Polymer Systems, Zhenrong Guo

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Changes in the ionic and dipolar molecular mobility in a polymer system are the basis for the changes in the dielectric mechanical properties of polymer materials. Frequency Dependent Dielectric Measurements (FDEMS) and Ion Time-of-Flight (ITOF) are two important techniques to investigate ionic and dipolar molecular mobility in polymer systems. The results can be related to the macro- and molecular dielectric, electrical and dynamic properties of polymeric materials. The combination of these two methods provides a full view of electric, dielectric and dynamic behavior for the systems as they undergo chemical and/or physical changes during polymerization crystallization, vitrification, and/or phase separation.;The …


Vibrational Lifetimes Of Hydrogen And Oxygen Defects In Semiconductors, Baozhou Sun Jan 2005

Vibrational Lifetimes Of Hydrogen And Oxygen Defects In Semiconductors, Baozhou Sun

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Characterization of defect and impurity reactions, dissociation, and migration in semiconductors requires a detailed understanding of the rates and pathways of vibrational energy flow and of the coupling mechanisms between local modes and the phonon bath of the host material. Information on the inelastic microscopic interaction can be obtained by measuring the lifetime of local vibrational modes. This dissertation presents lifetime measurements of hydrogen and oxygen defects in semiconductors by means of time-resolved infrared pump-probe spectroscopy.;First, we measured the vibrational lifetime of H- and D-related bending modes in Si and other semiconductors. Time-resolved pump-probe and linewidth measurements reveal that the …


Modifications Of Spacetime And Particle Physics Beyond The Standard Model, Justin M. Conroy Jan 2005

Modifications Of Spacetime And Particle Physics Beyond The Standard Model, Justin M. Conroy

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

In this dissertation we consider spacetime modifications that result in new physics beyond the standard model. We investigate various collider implications of a particular Lorentz-conserving formulation of QED in which spacetime coordinates are noncommuting. We also consider collider implications of Universal Extra Dimensions. Specifically, we address the possible formation of bound states involving the first quark KK-modes, i.e. KK-quarkonium. In addition, we consider the use of boundary conditions in extra dimensions to break gauge symmetries in unified theories. These boundary conditions can be related to a boundary Higgs sector that decouples from the theory. This technique of "Higgsless" symmetry breaking …


Impact Of Large Scale Substrate Roughness On Giant Magnetoresistive Thin Films, Shannon M. Watson Jan 2005

Impact Of Large Scale Substrate Roughness On Giant Magnetoresistive Thin Films, Shannon M. Watson

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

This dissertation presents an investigation on the effects of large scale roughness on the properties of giant magnetoresistive multilayers. The large scale roughness (sigmarms > 5 nm) is introduced into giant magnetoresistive thin films through the substrate. Current-in-plane (CIP) and current-perpendicular-to-the-plane (CPP) thin films were deposited by dc magnetron and triode sputtering. All films were characterized for roughness, magnetic and electronic behavior.;Our research on both pseudo spin valves and exchange-biased spin valves shows that long length scale roughness does not have a significant detrimental effect on GMR thin films. For the CIP films, we find that a decrease in GMR correlates …


Sonar Sensor Interpretation For Ectogeneous Robots, Wen Gao Jan 2005

Sonar Sensor Interpretation For Ectogeneous Robots, Wen Gao

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

We have developed four generations of sonar scanning systems to automatically interpret surrounding environment. The first two are stationary 3D air-coupled ultrasound scanning systems and the last two are packaged as sensor heads for mobile robots. Template matching analysis is applied to distinguish simple indoor objects. It is conducted by comparing the tested echo with the reference echoes. Important features are then extracted and drawn in the phase plane. The computer then analyzes them and gives the best choices of the tested echoes automatically. For cylindrical objects outside, an algorithm has been presented to distinguish trees from smooth circular poles …