Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Lax Pairs For Some Nonlinear Equations, Ana Castillo

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

Several methods have been proposed to approach the topic of integrable systems of nonlinear partial differential equations. One of these methods is called the Lax pair. The Lax pair is a pair of matrices or operators, that depend on time and satisfy the Lax equation. Based on the inverse scattering method introduced by Gardner, Greene, Kruskal and Miura (1967), Peter Lax introduced the Lax pair to derive soliton equations from the Lax equation. This thesis provides with a brief background on soliton theory, inverse scattering theory, and Lax pairs. The details missing in the work published by Ablowitz, Kaup, Newell, …

Dynamical Behaviors Of Gonorrhea Strain Competition Model, Marisabel Rodriguez

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

In the past decades, Gonorrhea, a sexually transmitted bacterial infection caused by Neisseria gonorrhoeae, has become resistant to a wider range of antibiotics. We apply a phenomenological model that takes into account essential ideas such as the effects of different treatment levels, the transformation and conjugation rates of bacteria, and the response of the immune system. Qualitative analysis provides a more integral view of how model parameters affect the emergence of within-host resistance.

Timing And Interstellar Scattering Of 35 Distant Pulsars Discovered In The Palfa Survey, D. J. Nice, E. Altiere, S. Bogdanov, J. M. Cordes, D. Farrington, J. W.T. Hessels, V. M. Kaspi, A. G. Lyne, Fredrick A. Jenet, Kevin Stovall

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Publications

We have made extensive observations of 35 distant slow (non-recycled) pulsars discovered in the ongoing Arecibo PALFA pulsar survey. Timing observations of these pulsars over several years at Arecibo Observatory and Jodrell Bank Observatory have yielded high-precision positions and measurements of rotation properties. Despite being a relatively distant population, these pulsars have properties that mirror those of the previously known pulsar population. Many of the sources exhibit timing noise, and one underwent a small glitch. We have used multifrequency data to measure the interstellar scattering properties of these pulsars. We find scattering to be higher than predicted along some lines …

A Lover And A Fighter: The Genome Sequence Of An Entomopathogenic Nematode Heterorhabditis Bacteriophora, Xiaodong Bai, Byron J. Adams, Todd A. Ciche, Sandra Clifton, Randy Gaugler, Kwi-Suk Kim, Parwinder Grewal

School of Earth, Environmental, & Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

Heterorhabditis bacteriophora are entomopathogenic nematodes that have evolved a mutualism with Photorhabdus luminescens bacteria to function as highly virulent insect pathogens. The nematode provides a safe harbor for intestinal symbionts in soil and delivers the symbiotic bacteria into the insect blood. The symbiont provides virulence and toxins, metabolites essential for nematode reproduction, and antibiotic preservation of the insect cadaver. Approximately half of the 21,250 putative protein coding genes identified in the 77 Mbp high quality draft H. bacteriophora genome sequence were novel proteins of unknown function lacking homologs in Caenorhabditis elegans or any other sequenced organisms. Similarly, 317 of the …

Uso De Hábitat Y Perspectivas De Lontra Longicaudis En Un Área Protegida De Tamaulipas, México, Piedad Esther Mayagoitia-González, Alejandro Fierro-Cabo, Raul Valdez, Mark Andersen, David Cowley, Robert Steiner

School of Earth, Environmental, & Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

El hábitat de la nutria neotropical (Lontra longicaudis) en el Área Natural Protegida (ANP) La Vega Escondida, ubicada al sur de Tamaulipas, se encuentra rodeado de un paisaje urbano en expansión. Los humedales en esta región están sometidos a una intensa presión debido a diversas actividades antropogénicas tales como la agricultura, ganadería y pesca comercial, así como construcciones y rellenos en orillas de laguna y río. El presente estudio tuvo como objetivos principales la evaluación y uso de hábitat de la nutria dentro del ANP La Vega Escondida, así como determinar la actitud de la población humana hacia esta especie. …

Peace: Pulsar Evaluation Algorithm For Candidate Extraction-A Software Package For Post-Analysis Processing Of Pulsar Survey Candidates, K. J. Lee, Kevin Stovall, Fredrick Jenet, Jose Guadalupe Martinez, Louis Percy Dartez, Alberto Mata, Grady Lunsford, Stephanie Cohen, C. M. Biwer, M. Rohr

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Publications

Modern radio pulsar surveys produce a large volume of prospective candidates, the majority of which are polluted by human-created radio frequency interference or other forms of noise. Typically, large numbers of candidates need to be visually inspected in order to determine if they are real pulsars. This process can be labour intensive. In this paper, we introduce an algorithm called Pulsar Evaluation Algorithm for Candidate Extraction (peace) which improves the efficiency of identifying pulsar signals. The algorithm ranks the candidates based on a score function. Unlike popular machine-learning-based algorithms, no prior training data sets are required. This algorithm has been …

Study Of The Thermodynamics Of Chromium(Iii) And Chromium(Vi) Binding To Iron(Ii/Iii)Oxide Or Magnetite Or Ferrite And Magnanese(Ii) Iron (Iii) Oxide Or Jacobsite Or Manganese Ferrite Nanoparticles, Steven Luther, Nathan Brogfeld, Jisoo Kim, Jason Parsons

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

Removal of chromium(III) or (VI) from aqueous solution was achieved using Fe3O4, and MnFe2O4 nanomaterials. The nanomaterials were synthesized using a precipitation method and characterized using XRD. The size of the nanomaterials was determined to be 22.4±0.9 nm (Fe3O4) and 15.5±0.5 nm (MnFe2O4). The optimal binding pH for chromium(III) and chromium(VI) were pH 6 and pH 3. Isotherm studies were performed, under light and dark conditions, to determine the capacity of the nanomaterials. The capacities for the light studies with MnFe2O4 and Fe3O4 were determined to be 7.189 and 10.63 mg/g, respectively, for chromium(III). The capacities for the light studies …

Observation Of Asymmetric Transport In Structures With Active Nonlinearities, N. Bender, S. Factor, J. D. Bodyfelt, Hamidreza Ramezani, D. N. Christodoulides, F. M. Ellis, T. Kottos

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Publications

A mechanism for asymmetric transport which is based on parity-time- symmetric nonlinearities is presented. We show that in contrast to the case of conservative nonlinearities, an increase of the complementary conductance strength leads to a simultaneous increase of asymmetry and transmittance intensity. We experimentally demonstrate the phenomenon using a pair of coupled Van der Pol oscillators as a reference system, each with complementary anharmonic gain and loss conductances, connected to transmission lines. An equivalent optical setup is also proposed. © 2013 American Physical Society.

Abundance, Distribution, And Habitat Of The Threatened Minnows Campostoma Ornatum And Notropis Chihuahua In The Trans-Pecos Region Of Texas, Seiji Miyazono, Christopher M. Taylor

School of Earth, Environmental, & Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

The Rio Grande and its tributaries in the Trans-Pecos region of Texas have been impacted by a variety of anthropogenic activities such as dewatering and the introduction of nonnative species. These environmental manipulations have negatively affected the native fishes leading to extirpations and declining populations throughout the region. Campostoma ornatum and Notropis chihuahua inhabit tributary streams of the Rio Grande in the Trans-Pecos region and are considered as state-listed threatened species. Little is known about their status and ecological requirements in the region. We hypothesized that the distribution and abundance of these threatened minnows in these spring-fed habitats can be …

Simulation Of Electronic Processes Of Nanoenergetic Gas Generator Using Cabrera Mott Oxidation Model, Zamart Ramazanova

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

This research study is a theoretical framework for understanding rapid thermal processes which occur during the performance of new Nanoenergetic Gas-Generators (NGG) systems that rapidly release a large amount of gaseous products and generate a fast-moving thermal wave during the explosion. The kinetics of rapid oxidation of metal nanoparticles acquires practical importance with the quickly developing nanoenergetic systems. The thin film oxidation theory of Cabrera-Mott model was examined for a spherically symmetric case and used to analyze the physical importance of the exothermic processes for prediction of the reaction time and front velocity. A rapid kinetic of oxide growth on …

Hydro-Thermal Convective Solutions For An Aquifer System Heated From Below, Dambaru Bhatta

School of Mathematical & Statistical Sciences Faculty Publications

We investigate the effect of hydro-thermal convection in an aquifer system. It is assumed that the aquifer is bounded below and above by impermeable boundaries and it is heated from below. The solution of the governing system is expressed in terms of the basic steady state solution and perturbed solution. We obtain the critical Rayleigh number and critical wavenumber using Runge-Kutta method in combination of shooting method and present the marginal stability curve. The amplitude equation is derived by introducing the adjoint system. After amplitude is obtained, we compute the linear solutions for super-critical and sub-critical cases. Numerical results for …

Algebro-Geometric Solutions For The Degasperis--Procesi Hierarchy, Yu Hou, Peng Zhao, Engui Fan, Zhijun Qiao

School of Mathematical & Statistical Sciences Faculty Publications

Though the completely integrable Camassa--Holm (CH) equation and Degasperis--Procesi (DP) equation are cast in the same peakon family, they possess the second- and third-order Lax operators, respectively. From the viewpoint of algebro-geometrical study, this difference lies in hyper-elliptic and non-hyper-elliptic curves. The non-hyper-elliptic curves lead to great difficulty in the construction of algebro-geometric solutions of the DP equation. In this paper, we derive the DP hierarchy with the help of Lenard recursion operators. Based on the characteristic polynomial of a Lax matrix for the DP hierarchy, we introduce a third order algebraic curve $\mathcal{K}_{r-2}$ with genus $r-2$, from which the …

Biochemical, Nutrient And Inhibitory Characteristics Of Streptomyces Cultured From A Hypersaline Estuary, The Laguna Madre (Texas), Luis E. Espinoza, Anita L. Davelos Baines, Kristine L. Lowe

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

Streptomyces are common soil bacteria that produce secondary metabolites, including several antibiotics; however, the characteristics of marine Streptomyces are largely unknown. Sediment samples were taken from 3 sites in the Laguna Madre to isolate marine Streptomyces. Sediment was diluted, spread onto synthetic seawater media to estimate the total bacterial density of the samples and spread onto starch casein agar to isolate Streptomyces. Isolated Streptomyces were tested for salinity tolerance and optimal growth pH. Isolates were assayed using API 20E® test strips and BIOLOG™ plates to construct biochemical profiles and assess nutrient utilization abilities of the bacteria, respectively. Individual Streptomyces were …

Generalized Local Test For Local Extrema In Single-Variable Functions, Eleftherios Gkioulekas

School of Mathematical & Statistical Sciences Faculty Publications

We give a detailed derivation of a generalization of the second derivative test of single-variable calculus which can classify critical points as local minima or local maxima (or neither), whenever the traditional second derivative test fails, by considering the values of higher-order derivatives evaluated at the critical points. The enhanced test is local, in the sense that it is only necessary to evaluate all relevant derivatives at the critical point itself, and it is reasonably robust. We illustrate an application of the generalized test on a trigonometric function where the second derivative test fails to classify some of the critical …

Mathematical Modeling Of Two-Phase Arterial Blood Flow, Ani Emire Garcia Escorcia

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

Problem of blood flow in an artery with or without catheter and in the presence of single or multi stenosis will be considered. The presence of stenosis locally thickens the artery wall and the use of catheter in the affected area is very important to the diagnostic and treatment of the patient. The blood flow in the arterial tube is represented by a two-phase model composing a suspension of erythrocytes in plasma. The governing equations for both fluid and particles are solved subjected to reasonable modeling and approximations. The important quantities such as blood speed, blood pressure force, impedance (blood …

Compressed Sensing For Multiple Input-Multiple Output Radar Imaging, Juan F. Lopez Jr.

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

Multiple input - multiple output (MIMO) radar utilizes the transmission of spatially diverse waveforms from a static antenna array to gather information about the desired scene. We will demonstrate how techniques from compressed sensing can be applied to image formation in MIMO radar when in the presence of undersampling. We analyze the problem under the general theoretical framework of inverse scattering.

I. Norbornene As Organocatalyst: Unusual: Amination Ii. Stereoselective Synthesis Of 3, 4 Di-Substituted Β-Lactams; Classical Vs Microwave Method, Ravi Reddaboyna

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

I. Amine functionality is important in the preparation of biologically active and industrially useful molecules. Many approaches to form C―N bonds provide access to fine chemical building blocks, pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, and surfactants. Microwave irradiation is a highly recommended ecofriendly approach for the synthesis of medicinally important compounds. Organic catalysis is important segment in the field of organic chemistry, for the synthesis of many complex molecules by providing a number of advantages.

II. Cancer refers to a large group of diseases characterized by uncontrolled cell multiplication and the ability of these cells to enter other tissues and spread to other parts …

Vizlab: The Design And Implementation Of An Immersive Virtual Environment System Using Game Engine Technology And Open Source Software, Moises D. Carrillo

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

Virtual Reality (VR) is a term used to describe computer-simulated environments that can immerse users in a real or unreal world. Immersive systems are an essential component when experiencing virtual environments. Developing VR applications is time-consuming, and developers use many resources in creating VR applications. The separate components require integration, and the challenges in using public domain open source software present complex software development. The VizLab Virtual Reality System was created to meet these challenges and provide an integrated suite of tools for VR system development. VizLab supports the development of VR applications by using game engine and CAVE system …

Nascent Nanocomputers: Dna Self-Assembly In O(1) Stages, Michael C. Barnes

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

DNA self-assembly offers a potential for nanoscale microcircuits and computers. To make that potential possible requires the development of reliable and efficient tile assembly models. Efficiency is often achieved by minimizing tile complexity, as well as by evaluating the cost and reliability of the specific elements of each tile assembly model. We consider a 2D tile assembly model at temperature 1. The standard 2D tile assembly model at temperature 1 has a tile complexity of O(n) for the construction of exact, complete n x n squares. However, previous research found a staged tile assembly model achieved a tile complexity of …

A Model For The Micro-Doppler Effect Of The Quadrupedal Body Motion, Noe Pena

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

In radar returns from quadrupedal body motion the micro-Doppler effect is present. This effect can be used to identify and distinguish this motion from others. In this work the model for the micro-Doppler effect due to quadrupedal motion is developed from Maxwell’s equations. The common gait for all quadrupedal mammal motion is described and analyzed. The radar crossection of quadrupedal motion backscattering is discussed. Quadrupedal motion is simulated and the radar returns are analyzed. The micro-Doppler signatures are decomposed and kinematic parameters are extracted

Evolution Of Complex Features In Digital Organisms, Javier A. Magana

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

This thesis examines how complex features evolve in digital organisms, and how capabilities that evolved earlier provide a scaffold for evolving new features. I wanted to see how the organisms used previous adaptations to succeed in new environments, and how significant are these previous adaptations. The system used is the Avida platform, which is software that implements Darwinian evolution on self-replicating digital organisms. First, the system is seeded with ancestors that can only replicate, which gave a baseline for the quality of the task at the end of evolution. Second, the system used ancestors from a simpler environment as seeds. …

Document Collection Visualization And Clustering Using An Atom Metaphor For Display And Interaction, Khanh V. Nghi

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

Visual Data Mining have proven to be of high value in exploratory data analysis and data mining because it provides an intuitive feedback on data analysis and support decision-making activities. Several visualization techniques have been developed for cluster discovery such as Grand Tour, HD-Eye, Star Coordinates, etc. They are very useful tool which are visualized in 2D or 3D; however, they have not simple for users who are not trained. This thesis proposes a new approach to build a 3D clustering visualization system for document clustering by using k-mean algorithm. A cluster will be represented by a neutron (centroid) and …

Electrospinning Nanofibers For Controlled Drug Release, Indrani Banik

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

Electrospinning is the most widely studied technique for the synthesis of nanofibers. Electrospinning is considered as one of the technologies that can produce nanosized drugs incorporated in polymeric nanofibers. In vitro and in vivo studies have demonstrated that the release rates of drugs from these nanofiber formulations are enhanced compared to those from original drug substance. This technology has the potential for enhancing the oral delivery of poorly soluble drugs [1]. The electrospun mats were made using Polycaprolactone/PCL, Poly(DL-lactide)/PDL 05 and Poly(DL-lactide-co-glycolide)/PLGA. The drugs incorporated in the electrospun fibers were 5-Fluorouracil and Rapamycin. The evidence of the drugs being embedded …

The Schwinger Action Principle And Its Applications To Quantum Mechanics, Paul Bracken

School of Mathematical & Statistical Sciences Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Thermodynamics Of Dna Loop Formation, From J To Z, Stephen D. Levene, Stefan M. Giovan, Andreas Hanke, Massa J. Shoura

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Publications

The formation of DNA loops is a ubiquitous theme in biological processes, including DNA replication, recombination and repair, and gene regulation. These loops are mediated by proteins bound at specific sites along the contour of a single DNA molecule, in some cases many thousands of base pairs apart. Loop formation incurs a thermodynamic cost that is a sensitive function of the length of looped DNA as well as the geometry and elastic properties of the DNA-bound protein. The free energy of DNA looping is logarithmically related to a generalization of the Jacobson-Stockmayer factor for DNA cyclization, termed the J factor. …

A Biodistribution And Toxicity Study Of Cobalt Dichloride–Nacetyl Cysteine (C4) As An Implantable Mri Marker For Prostate Cancer Treatment, Steven J. Frank, Mary J. Johansen, Karen S. Martirosyan, Mihai Gagea, Carolyn S. Van Pelt

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Publications

Purpose—C4, a cobalt dichloride–N-acetyl cysteine complex, is being developed as a positivesignal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) marker to localize implanted radioactive seeds in prostate brachytherapy. We evaluated the toxicity and biodistribution of C4 in rats with the goal of simulating systemic effects of potential leakage from C4 MRI markers within the prostate.

Methods—9 μl doses (equivalent to leakage from 120 markers in a human) of control (0.9% sodium chloride), 1% (proposed for clinical use) and 10% C4 solution were injected into the prostates of male Sprague-Dawley rats via laparotomy. Organ toxicity and cobalt disposition in plasma, tissues, feces …

Novel Patterns Of Torsion-Inversion-Rotation Energy Levels In The Ν11 Asymmetric Ch-Stretch Spectrum Of Methylamine, Mahesh B. Dawadi, C. Michael Lindsay, Andrei Chirokolava, David S. Perry, Li Hong Xu

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

The high-resolution infrared spectrum of methylamine (CH3NH2) has been recorded using slit-jet direct absorption spectroscopy in the ν11 CH-stretch region (2965–3005 cm−1) with a resolution of 0.0025 cm−1. The 621 lines assigned by ground state combination differences represent 27 substates with |K′| ≤ 2 for the A, B, E1, and E2 symmetries. The spectrum of CH3NH2 is complicated by torsion and inversion tunneling connecting six equivalent minima. The upper states K′ = 0, ± 1 for E1 and E2 are substantially perturbed by “dark” states. The result in the spectrum is multiplets of 2 or 3 …

Einstein@Home All-Sky Search For Periodic Gravitational Waves In Ligo S5 Data, J. Aasi, J. Abadie, B. P. Abbott, Matthew Benacquista, Teviet Creighton, Mario C. Diaz, Soma Mukherjee, Malik Rakhmanov, Volker Quetschke, Joseph D. Romano

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Publications

This paper presents results of an all-sky search for periodic gravitational waves in the frequency range [50,1 190]  Hz and with frequency derivative range of ∼[−20,1.1]×10−10  Hz s−1 for the fifth LIGO science run (S5). The search uses a noncoherent Hough-transform method to combine the information from coherent searches on time scales of about one day. Because these searches are very computationally intensive, they have been carried out with the Einstein@Home volunteer distributed computing project. Postprocessing identifies eight candidate signals; deeper follow-up studies rule them out. Hence, since no gravitational wave signals have been found, we report upper limits on …

Search For Gravitational Waves From Binary Black Hole Inspiral Merger And Ringdown In Ligo-Virgo Data From 2009-2010, J. Aasi, J. Abadie, Matthew Benacquista, Teviet Creighton, Mario C. Diaz, Soma Mukherjee, Volker Quetschke, Malik Rakhmanov, Robert Stone, Cristina V. Torres

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Publications

We report a search for gravitational waves from the inspiral, merger and ringdown of binary black holes (BBH) with total mass between 25 and 100 solar masses, in data taken at the LIGO and Virgo observatories between July 7, 2009 and October 20, 2010. The maximum sensitive distance of the detectors over this period for a (20,20)⁢M⊙ coalescence was 300 Mpc. No gravitational wave signals were found. We thus report upper limits on the astrophysical coalescence rates of BBH as a function of the component masses for nonspinning components, and also evaluate the dependence of the search sensitivity on component …

Non-Equilibrium Casimir Force Between Vibrating Plates, Andreas Hanke

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Publications

We study the fluctuation-induced, time-dependent force between two plates confining a correlated fluid which is driven out of equilibrium mechanically by harmonic vibrations of one of the plates. For a purely relaxational dynamics of the fluid we calculate the fluctuation-induced force generated by the vibrating plate on the plate at rest. The time-dependence of this force is characterized by a positive lag time with respect to the driving. We obtain two distinctive contributions to the force, one generated by diffusion of stress in the fluid and another related to resonant dissipation in the cavity. The relation to the dynamic Casimir …