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Honors Theses

2014

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Articles 61 - 85 of 85

Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Independence Polynomials And Extended Vertex Reduction, Jonathan Broom Jan 2014

Independence Polynomials And Extended Vertex Reduction, Jonathan Broom

Honors Theses

The independence polynomial of a graph is a polynomial whose coefficients number the independent sets of each size in that graph. This paper looks into methods of obtaining these polynomials for certain classes of graphs which prove too large to easily find the polynomial by traditional methods.

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The Effects Of Coal Mining On Health In Appalachia : Global Context And Social Justice Implications, Adrienne Schmidt Jan 2014

The Effects Of Coal Mining On Health In Appalachia : Global Context And Social Justice Implications, Adrienne Schmidt

Honors Theses

The purpose of this report is to investigate the environmental and health effects of coal mining in the Appalachian region of the United States in the context of global natural resource extraction, explore existing regulation for the reduction of negative environmental health effects of mining in Appalachia, and explore the social justice implications of current mining practices. The research for this report was limited to literature published in English. It was found that there are widespread negative health effects of mining in Appalachia due to environmental toxins, a toxic social environment of limited economic opportunity, and occupational health hazards. The …

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Domain-Specific Probes For Calcium Binding To Neural Cadherin, Charles Ryan Humphries Jan 2014

Domain-Specific Probes For Calcium Binding To Neural Cadherin, Charles Ryan Humphries

Honors Theses

Cadherin is a major mediator of cell adhesion whose adhesive function is dependent upon calcium binding. However, the binding of calcium is not completely understood. The binding of calcium can be monitored using an abbreviated construct that contains only the first two extracellular domains (EC12) which includes two tryptophan residues, W2 and W113. Single tryptophan mutants were created which contain only W113 (W2A) and W2 (W113F). Fluorescence spectra were obtained of W2A, W113F, and WT in the presence and absence of calcium. Calcium titration data were collected for each protein. In both experiments, calcium binding increased the fluorescence signal of …

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Implementation Of A Visualizer For Web Request Data Generated By An Internet Information Services Server, Daniel J. Garrett Jan 2014

Implementation Of A Visualizer For Web Request Data Generated By An Internet Information Services Server, Daniel J. Garrett

Honors Theses

I was tasked by Graham Green at FNC, Inc. to design a web tool that is capable of visualizing log data that is produced by FNC's many servers. These logs contain data that will warn Graham about web pages that are failing, servers that are experiencing heavy loads, and sundry other pieces of information, but the data is pure text, and each server has thousands of logs. A visual tool is needed to display necessary information about the data. Rather than make a graph for each individual purpose that might be needed, I built visualization tools that are customizable for …

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Shear Waves In Highly Concentrated Viscoelastic Wormlike Micellar Fluid, Rachel B. Crim Jan 2014

Shear Waves In Highly Concentrated Viscoelastic Wormlike Micellar Fluid, Rachel B. Crim

Honors Theses

Wormlike micellar fluids form by the self-aggregation of surfactant molecules in aqueous solution. These non-Newtonian fluids have been well studied and are used in the oil industry, hydraulics, and medical research. However, little is known regarding the structure of the three-dimensional networks in which the worms become entangled and possibly branched, especially at high concentrations. What is known is that this composition results in two distinctive fluid characteristics: viscoelasticity and strain-birefringence. The latter is exploited in this work in order to study the shear wave speed and attenuation in 500/300mM CTAB/NaSal fluid. Three different experiments were conducted using either a …

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Identification Of A Phytotoxic Fungus And An Investigation Into The Isolation Of Its Phytotoxic Constituents, William E. Briscoe Jan 2014

Identification Of A Phytotoxic Fungus And An Investigation Into The Isolation Of Its Phytotoxic Constituents, William E. Briscoe

Honors Theses

A fungus was isolated from Hedera helix (English ivy) leaves experiencing necrosis and identified as Diaporthe eres by molecular techniques. The fungus was grown in potato dextrose broth medium and the culture medium was extracted with ethyl acetate. Bioassay guided fractionation of ethyl acetate extract of culture filtrate of this fungus led to the isolation of two phytotoxic compounds that are active against the seed germination of the monocotyledon Agrostis stolonifera at 1 mg mL-1. Structures of these active compounds were determined by spectroscopic methods and were determined 8-hydroxy-3.7-dimethylisochroman-1-one and 2-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-ethanol. This is the first finding presented on the phytotoxic …

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The Talbot Effect, Malia Kawamura Jan 2014

The Talbot Effect, Malia Kawamura

Honors Theses

The goal of this project is to experimentally investigate the optical Talbot effect and the electron Talbot effect. The Talbot effect is a near-field diffraction effect which occurs when plane waves are incident upon a grating. The Talbot effect creates full grating revivals at integral Talbot lengths and revivals with greater spatial periodicity at fractional Talbot lengths. We use a green helium neon laser and Ronchi rulings to take CCD camera images of the fractional Talbot revivals directly. Additionally, a photodiode records light intensity as a function of time as a second identical grating is moved to verify the presence …

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Statistical Analysis Of The Variability And Reliability Of Eye-Tracking Test In Measuring Mild Traumatic Brain Injury, Xi He Jan 2014

Statistical Analysis Of The Variability And Reliability Of Eye-Tracking Test In Measuring Mild Traumatic Brain Injury, Xi He

Honors Theses

Saccadic eye-tracking tests have been advocated as a useful tool to distinguish mTBI patients from healthy people. However, intra-individual variances sometimes interfere with the interpretation of eye-tracking results, especially in experiments when group size is restricted. This study analyzes eye-tracking results of 14 mTBI patients taking the test twice with no medical administration in between. Using more accurate models to fit each individual's result, variables such as asymptote (of the fit func­tions) and hypothetical values for peak velocity, peak acceleration, and duration are derived for variability analysis. We conclude that the asymptotes for peak velocity and peak acceleration are the …

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Influence Of The Sea Surface Microlayer On Ozone Deposition Velocity, Kathryn Moore Jan 2014

Influence Of The Sea Surface Microlayer On Ozone Deposition Velocity, Kathryn Moore

Honors Theses

The biogeochemical cycles of both iodine and ozone are strongly linked to human health and global climate and are tightly coupled through chemical processes occurring in the surface ocean and troposphere. The concentration and distribution of these compounds have the potential to drive the oxidizing capacity and suite of chemical reactions occurring in the marine boundary layer. However, modeling coupled ocean-atmosphere systems involving them is challenging because of a limited understanding of the magnitude and dominant mechanisms controlling the fluxes of both species, in addition to temporally and spatially heterogeneous distributions of ozone and iodine in the sea surface and …

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The Impact Of Dams On Nitrogen Cycling In The Messalonskee Stream, Rebecca K. Forgrave Jan 2014

The Impact Of Dams On Nitrogen Cycling In The Messalonskee Stream, Rebecca K. Forgrave

Honors Theses

The Messalonskee Stream in central Maine has five hydroelectric dams on 16.6km. Each dam drastically changes the flow regime of the stream, dividing it into segments with different patterns of sediment settling and organic matter retention. I investigated how these disruptions impact nitrogen cycling, specifically nitrification rates above and below each dam. I expected higher nitrification rates above the dams, where levels of organic matter are higher, and lower rates below the dam where scouring removes organic matter and fine sediment from the streambed. I measured sediment nitrification rates with a nitrapyrin-inhibition assay and potential drivers of nitrification including sediment …

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Deformation Mechanisms In Mylonites At Fletcher Peak, Washington County, Me, Ariana S. Boyd Jan 2014

Deformation Mechanisms In Mylonites At Fletcher Peak, Washington County, Me, Ariana S. Boyd

Honors Theses

Mylonite formation and development is dependent on a number of factors including temperature, strain rate, and fluid fugacity. All three factors affect flow stress and viscosity; thus, a variance in each will affect the development of mylonites. This study focuses on factors leading to the formation of mylonite surrounded by ultramylonite of the same protolith, along-strike to one another at the center of a fault zone. The rocks in question are from the Deblois granite cut by the Kellyland fault zone, a ductile strike-slip fault zone within the larger Norumbega fault system in eastern Maine. The Deblois granite as a …

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Purenovation, Inc, Alex Nelson Jan 2014

Purenovation, Inc, Alex Nelson

Honors Theses

Welcome to PUREnovation, where "converting today and conserving tomorrow" is our lifestyle. Our mission embodies the idea of providing customers the opportunity to maximize cost savings while simultaneously helping to reduce the carbon footprint in their hometown. With a management team that encompasses a wide variety of backgrounds, we possess the necessary skills and abilities to drive our mission and visions forward. Based on our values and convictions, we believe that it is of the utmost importance to serve the individuals who live in small towns and to preserve the nature of the earth that God has graciously provided for …

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Dynamic Feature Extraction And User Classification Using Touchanalytics™, Clay Mcleod Jan 2014

Dynamic Feature Extraction And User Classification Using Touchanalytics™, Clay Mcleod

Honors Theses

Security systems for modern computing devices suffer from a multitude of weaknesses that can render users helpless against an attack on their system. Various attempts at incorporating human characteristics into security systems have achieved varying levels of success in improving security. In this paper, we study the usefulness of TouchAnalytics™ - a second-level security system that attempts to authenticate a user based on touch-data gathered from an interaction with the device. Through the use of machine learning algorithms, we developed a system that is successful at au- thenticating users, achieving under 0.05% False Authentication Rate (FAR). We conclude that the …

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Synthesis And Characterization Of A New Bimetallic Catalyst, Gjl-46, And Its Use In The Catalytic Hydrosilylation Of Phenylacetylene, Gabriel J. Labonia Jan 2014

Synthesis And Characterization Of A New Bimetallic Catalyst, Gjl-46, And Its Use In The Catalytic Hydrosilylation Of Phenylacetylene, Gabriel J. Labonia

Honors Theses

A new bimetallic catalyst was synthesized from the metalation of 1,1'-(1,3-phenylene) bis(4-butyl-1 H-1,2,4-triazol-4-ium) iodide with silver oxide and the transmetalation of that complex with Rh(COD)2OTf. The structure of the compound, GJL-46, with molecular formula C34H46I2N6Rh2, was confirmed with mass spectra analysis, 1H NMR and 13C NMR. The catalytic activity of the produced molecule, GJL-46, with molecular formula C34H46I2N6Rh2, in the hydrosilylation of phenylacetylene is reported.

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The Tutte Polynomial Formula For The Class Of Twisted Wheel Graphs, Amanda Hall Jan 2014

The Tutte Polynomial Formula For The Class Of Twisted Wheel Graphs, Amanda Hall

Honors Theses

The 20th century work of William T. Tutte developed a graph polynomial that is modernly known as the Tutte polynomial. Graph polynomials, such as the Tutte polynomial, the chromatic polynomial, and the Jones polynomial, are at the heart of combinatorical and algebraic graph theory and can be used as tools with which to study graph invariants. Graph invariants, such as order, degree, size, and connectivity which are defined in Section 2, are graph properties preserved under all isomorphisms of a graph. Thus any graph polynomial is not dependent upon a particular labeling or drawing but presents relevant information about the …

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On Harmonic Vibrational Frequency Convergence To The Complete Basis Set Limit In Water Dimers And Hydrogen Fluoride Dimers, Amanda Hardwick Jan 2014

On Harmonic Vibrational Frequency Convergence To The Complete Basis Set Limit In Water Dimers And Hydrogen Fluoride Dimers, Amanda Hardwick

Honors Theses

This work focuses on the convergence of harmonic vibrational frequencies in the water dimer (H2O)2 and the hydrogen fluoride dimer (HF)2 to the complete basis set (CBS) limit. It also evaluates the effect of counterpoise (CP) correction procedures and the effect of sequentially removing diffuse functions from specific basis sets on the harmonic vibrational frequencies of these dimers. Computations were run using second-order Møller-Plesset perturbation theory (MP2) with large, flexible correlation consistent basis sets. This research aims to determine if removing diffuse functions can increase the speed of harmonic vibrational frequency computations without sacrificing accuracy. Results indicate that CP-correction procedures …

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Investigation Into The Synthesis Of Dodecahydro-3a,9a-Diazaperylene, Andrew Palmer Jan 2014

Investigation Into The Synthesis Of Dodecahydro-3a,9a-Diazaperylene, Andrew Palmer

Honors Theses

Dodecahydro-3a,9a-diazaperylene (DHDAP) may serve as a potential donor for use in a donor-sigma-acceptor complex for unimolecular rectification. In order to use DHDAP as a donor, its synthesis must first be studied and altered in such manners as to add a synthetic handle. Other things of important include increasing the yield and better understanding the mechanism by which DHDAP forms. Numerous experiments were conducted in various manners such as testing various solvents among various temperatures to even adding in extra reagents to push the reaction one way or another. In the end the yield of the synthesis was found to improve …

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Raman Spectroscopic And Computational Analysis Of The Effects Of Noncovalent Interactions On Dmso, Ashton T. Nicholson Jan 2014

Raman Spectroscopic And Computational Analysis Of The Effects Of Noncovalent Interactions On Dmso, Ashton T. Nicholson

Honors Theses

Dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) is a widely used chemical in synthetic chemistry and also has unique and important biological applications. In the pure liquid, DMSO forms chain like structures of alternating sulfur and oxygen atoms due to its high self-association. However, it is known that DMSO/water mixtures form solutions with unique physical characteristics depending on the mole ratio. For instance, at a 1:2 ratio of DMSO/water a eutectic mixture forms with a freezing point of-70 C. Vibrational spectroscopy allows us to study the effects of noncovalent interactions when water and DMSO interact in solution. Spectral shifts can be analyzed in order …

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Synthesis Of An Unsymmetrical Ccc-Nhc Pincer Ligand Precursor, Brian Spurlock Jan 2014

Synthesis Of An Unsymmetrical Ccc-Nhc Pincer Ligand Precursor, Brian Spurlock

Honors Theses

The purpose of this study was to synthesize a 3-butyl-1-(3-(3-butyl-1H-imidazol-3-ium-1-yl)phenyl)-4,5-dichloro-1H-imidazol-3-ium salt using an Ullmann-type copper coupling reaction. This salt would subsequently be metallated and evaluated for C-H bond activation and luminescence. However, NMR and MS spectra did not show evidence of conversion to the desired product under standard conditions so a model reaction was designed making use of recent findings concerning the Ullmann-type coupling of imidazoles to aryl halides. Specifically, an activated aryl halide with a larger leaving group was used with a more soluble base and a ligand for the copper. The desired product appears by ESI-MS to have …

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Anchoring The Potential Energy Surfaces Of Homogenous And Heterogenous Dimers Of Formaldehyde And Thiofomaldehyde, Christina M. Holy Jan 2014

Anchoring The Potential Energy Surfaces Of Homogenous And Heterogenous Dimers Of Formaldehyde And Thiofomaldehyde, Christina M. Holy

Honors Theses

This work characterizes five stationary points of the formaldehyde dimer, (CH2O)2, two of which are minima, seven newly-identified stationary points of the formaldehyde/thioformaldehyde (mixed) dimer, CH2O/CH2S, four of which are minima, and five newly-identified stationary points of the thioformaldehyde dimer, (CH2S)2 , three of which are minima. Full geometry optimizations and corresponding harmonic vibrational frequencies were performed on CH2O and CH2S as well as each of the dimer configurations (Figures 3-5). The computations were carried out with second order Møller-Plesset perturbation theory (MP2), with the heavy-auc-cc-pVTZ (haTZ) basis set. Additionally, thirteen density functional theory methods were employed: B3LYP, B3LYP-D3, B3LYP-D3(BJ), …

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Detector Characterization Analysis Of The Initial Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (Ligo) Using Principal Component Analysis (Pca), Daniel Duddleston Jan 2014

Detector Characterization Analysis Of The Initial Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (Ligo) Using Principal Component Analysis (Pca), Daniel Duddleston

Honors Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate transient noise events in data from the initial Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) and to test detector characterization software developed by the LIGO Scientific Collaboration (LSC). Detector characterization is the process of identifying and removing noise that corrupts the data stream of the LIGO detectors. This is vital to improving the sensitivity of the LIGO interferometer and increasing the probability of detecting gravitational waves of astrophysical origin. The data analyzed in this thesis were collected in 2010 during the S6 (Enhanced LIGO) science run. Two software tools, PCAT and Omega Scans, were …

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The Origins Of An Everyday Behavior: Why Do People Share Meals?, David Lee Jan 2014

The Origins Of An Everyday Behavior: Why Do People Share Meals?, David Lee

Honors Theses

Humans are socially driven creatures that require constant interaction. One way humans have consistently expressed their social nature since prehistory is through sharing meals. Recent studies and literature were examined in order to investigate the roots behind why sharing meals has been the most consistent method of social output. Through careful reading and analysis, reasons behind why people share meals were traced in perspective levels. The biological and molecular aspect explains how humans evolved from prehistoric primates and their similarities associated with food consumption. Genetics and food preferences also play a role by allowing humans to taste food rather than …

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Energy Drinks And Caffeine: The Science Behind The Billion- Dollar Industry, Eric Villarreal Jan 2014

Energy Drinks And Caffeine: The Science Behind The Billion- Dollar Industry, Eric Villarreal

Honors Theses

Ask any college student how he or she gets through long study sessions, all-nighters, and the always grueling finals week and he or she will most likely reference some caffeine-containing beverage as the antidote, with energy drinks becoming an ever increasing option. The effects, both physiological and psychological, of the ingredients in energy drinks (caffeine and, to a lesser degree, glucose) dictate their usefulness to consumers. A review of the available research literature from http://scholar.google.com using the following keywords: caffeine, energy drink, Red Bull, caffeinated beverage, caffeine drink, energy drink industry, energy drink company, and glucose yielded the references that …

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The Matrix Method Of Linear Dichroism, Kenna Collums Jan 2014

The Matrix Method Of Linear Dichroism, Kenna Collums

Honors Theses

This thesis discusses linear dichroism, and in particular the matrix method behind the spectroscopic technique. Linear dichroism uses the difference in the absorption of light that is parallel to the orientation axis and the absorption of light that is perpendicular to the orientation axis. From this process, the structure and function of molecules can be studied. The matrix method diagonalizes a Hamiltonian matrix with a unitary matrix. This Hamiltonian matrix is constructed from the transition energies, which are the diagonal elements, and coupling energies, which are off-diagonal elements.

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Mercury In Fish In North Mississippi Reservoirs: Statistical Analysis And Risk Assessment, Stacy Wolff Jan 2014

Mercury In Fish In North Mississippi Reservoirs: Statistical Analysis And Risk Assessment, Stacy Wolff

Honors Theses

Mercury (Hg) is a pollutant of particular concern because it is wide-spread, persistent, and poses a serious risk to human health. Once released into the atmosphere, it cycles through the environment by a series of complex biogeochemical processes. Upon deposition to aquatic ecosystems, inorganic mercury can be transformed to methylmercury by microorganisms. Methylmercury is a known human neurotoxin that can bioacculmulate in fish tissue and biomagnify up aquatic food chains. Consumption of contaminated fish is the primary route of human exposure to methylmercury. The Mississippi Department of Health has issued fish consumption advisories for Grenada and Enid Lakes in the …

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