Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Grenvillian Tectonomagmatic Evolution Of Southwestern Laurentia; Virtual Tour Of Multidimensional Orders Of Scale; Two Methods To Describe The Vastness Of Time; Math Concepts Utilizing Google Earth; Systematic Approach To Motion Analyses; Mathematics And Earth Science-Based Knowledge And Learning, Anthony M. Alvarez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This Dissertation is the product of several individual multi-disciplinary investigations that cover a variety of topics in mathematics, physics, geology, and geoscience education. The first chapter formulates a better understanding of the timings, magma source, and relationships between dikes and associated magmatic bodies of the Red Bluff Granitic Complex to provide a clearer picture of the evolution of post-Grenville magmatism and tectonism of southwestern USA. The second chapter provides an improved method for representing spatial information in the form of a multidimensional virtual tour where the background map is used as a central object. The third chapter describes two methods …

The Hierarchical Structure Of Nanoporous Carbon Electrode Materials Elucidated By Water Sorption: A Comparison Of Multiple Structural Models, Jose Ali Espitia

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The total amount of energy that an electrical double layer capacitor (EDLC) can store depends on the voltage and the accessible surface area for ion electrosorption. Nanoporous carbon materials with a high specific surface area, such as carbide derived carbon (CDC), make ideal electrodes for EDLC devices. CDC materials have fine-tuned pore sizes in the subnanometer range which are controlled by the initial carbide (TiC) and annealing conditions. Water can enter TiC-CDC pores and give filling fractions in excess of 0.6 g/g (H2O/C). Recent reports of water's diffusional dynamics dependence on CDC pore size indicate confinement effects similar to that …

Gravitational Waves Research At Toros Utrgv, Pamela Ivonne Lara

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The detection of gravitational waves (GW) has directly opened a new era in the observation of cosmic events. One hundred years after its theoretical prediction we find ourselves immerged in the multi-messenger study of the signals at the root of gravitational wave detection. The electromagnetic (EM) counterpart to GW is the optical portion of that signal and the main objective in the organization of TOROS Collaboration: finding and studying kilonovas, the name given by Metzger (Metzger et al, 2010), to the EM counterpart to gravitational waves.

In order for TOROS to find kilonovas, it needed to create a python language …

Parallelization And Scalability Analysis Of The \\[1pc] 3d Spatially Variant Lattice Algorithm, Henry Roger Moncada Lopez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this research is to design a faster implementation of an algorithm to generate 3D spatially variant lattices (SVL) and improve its performance when it is running on a parallel computer system. The algorithm is used to synthesize a SVL for a periodic structure. The algorithm has the ability to spatially vary the unit cell, the orientation of the unit cells, lattice spacing, fill fraction, material composition, and lattice symmetry. The algorithm produces a lattice that is smooth, continuous and free of defects. The lattice spacing remains strikingly uniform even when the lattice is spatially varied. This is …

Synthesis And Application Of Photoreactive Collagen Peptides, And Antiparasitic Agents, Alfredo Ornelas

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Since the introduction of solid phase peptide synThesis in 1963, peptides and post-translationally modified peptides can be conveniently synthesized in the chemistry laboratory. In the past decade, there has been a remarkable increase in bioactive peptide research and the therapeutic peptide market value is expected to hit $25 billion this year. Peptides can also provide structural and biological functions and have emerged as promising novel biomaterials in tissue engineering. Here we will describe three different projects, which deal with different aspects of peptide chemistry, i.e. synthetic method development, exploration of new peptide biomaterials, and the use of cell penetrating peptides …

The P-Laplacian Problem Via An Euler Equation And The Basis Properties Of Its Eigenfunctions, Luis Suarez Salas

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The Laplacian operator is used in many fields of science, such as fluidodynamics, mechanics and elasticity. Mathematically, much research has been devoted to develop a theory with which it and other variations can be understood. In this work, we present the p-Laplacian problem via an Euler equation. We then study the properties of its eigenfunctions which generalize the trigonometric functions sine and cosine. In connection with a Fourier series, we then show the generalized trigonometric functions possess basis properties for L^r((0,1)^d), d=1,2,3. Finally, we introduce the spaces of variable exponent and the analogue p(x)-Laplacian problem which has immense applications such …

A Bayesian Model For Spectral Density Estimation, Yi Xie

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

When we analyze a stationary time series, one of the questions we often meet is how to estimate its spectral density. Many approaches have been proposed to this end. In this paper we estimate the spectral density of a stationary time series nonparametrically. We fit a nonparametric regression model to the log periodogram and use third-degree B-spline functions as basis functions. Since the the number of basis functions is relatively large, we place priors such as random-walk and regularized horseshoe on the coefficients of the basis functions to avoid over-fitting and smooth the log periodogram.

An Efficient Method For Online Identification Of Steady State For Multivariate System, Honglun None Xu

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Most of the existing steady state detection approaches are designed for univariate signals. For multivariate signals, the univariate approach is often applied to each process variable and the system is claimed to be steady once all signals are steady, which is computationally inefficient and also not accurate. The article proposes an efficient online method for multivariate steady state detection. It estimates the covariance matrices using two different approaches, namely, the mean-squared-deviation and mean-squared-successive-difference. To avoid the usage of a moving window, the process means and the two covariance matrices are calculated recursively through exponentially weighted moving average. A likelihood ratio …

Analysis Of High Performance Scientific Programming Workflows, Withana Kankanamalage Umayanganie Klaassen

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Substantial time is spent on building, optimizing and maintaining large-scale software that is run on supercomputers. However, little has been done to utilize overall resources efficiently when it comes to including expensive human resources. The community is beginning to acknowledge that optimizing the hardware performance such as speed and memory bottlenecks contributes less to the overall productivity than does the development lifecycle of high-performance scientific applications. Researchers are beginning to look at overall scientific workflows for high performance computing. Scientific programming productivity is measured by time and effort required to develop, configure, and maintain a simulation experiment and its constituent …

Estimating The Optimal Cutoff Point For Logistic Regression, Zheng Zhang

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Binary classification is one of the main themes of supervised learning. This research is concerned about determining the optimal cutoff point for the continuous-scaled outcomes (e.g., predicted probabilities) resulting from a classifier such as logistic regression. We make note of the fact that the cutoff point obtained from various methods is a statistic, which can be unstable with substantial variation. Nevertheless, due partly to complexity involved in estimating the cutpoint, there has been no formal study on the variance or standard error of the estimated cutoff point.

In this Thesis, a bootstrap aggregation method is put forward to estimate the …

Geophysical Investigations Of Southcentral Alaska, Felix Dziedzorm Ziwu

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The Castle Mountain Fault (CMF) is the closest (<50 km) active fault to Anchorage, Alaska and is known to be capable of producing earthquakes of magnitude 7.0 â?? 7.1. While several mapping and trenching studies have been conducted along the CMF, geophysical investigations along the fault zone have been limited. We use over 700 recently collected, closely spaced gravity observations, in addition to existing regional gravity, aeromagnetic, seismic reflection, well log data, and geologic information, to develop new 2D models of the deeper structure of the CMF system. We developed four 2D integrated forward models across the Castle Mountain Fault. These models indicate differences between the western and eastern segments of the Castle Mountain Fault. The models show a thick sequence of Tertiary to Mesozoic sediments overlying the Peninsular terrane basement at varying depths within the area. We identified two main intrusive granitic rocks based on the varying susceptibilities. These granitic rocks share a possible fault contact with the Mesozoic sedimentary rocks. The model also shows that the CMF cuts through the Mesozoic sediments at depth. These rocks can create strong coupling along the fault and with the decreasing eastward angle of subduction, it is highly for fluid migration to the eastern edge of the subducting Yakutat microplate. Seismic events plotted along the profiles supports the Holocene motion along the western CMF (WCMF) and indicates a deeper extent of the CMF into the crust. The eastern CMF shows high rate of deformation based on the structures associated with the Mesozoic rocks.

Walls And Wilderness: Analyzing The Impacts Of Border Barriers On U.S. Government Lands Of The United States - Mexico Border, Bryce Garrett Fugate

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This paper seeks to describe the impacts of physical structures (fences, walls, barricades, etc.) on five selected areas of federally-protected U.S. lands along the U.S.-Mexico border that fall under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Department of the Interior. The five selected areas are: Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge, Big Bend National Park, Organ Mountains - Desert Peaks National Monument, the Tohono O'odham Nation Reservation, and Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. The research looks into the historical development of structures put in place on the U.S. - Mexico border, how they have become ever more ubiquitous in the region, and what …

Effects Of Increasing Deciduous Shrub Litter On Ecosystem Functioning In Alpine Tundra, Alejandro Emmanuel Benhumea

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Rising temperatures due to global warming have resulted in rapid environmental changes in northern environments, resulting in an increase in deciduous shrub growth which has the potential to alter soil ecosystem properties and processes. In order to address some potential mechanisms by which shrubs alter ecosystem properties and processes, we designed an experiment which separated the effects of physical shrub presence and the effects of litter quantity in a fully factorial experiment on a north facing alpine plateau in the southwest Yukon, Canada. Specifically, we asked the following questions: What are effects of shrub litter, independent of shrub presence, on …

Deep Learning Models For Scoring Protein-Ligand Interaction Energies, Md Mahmudulla Hassan

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

In recent years, the cheminformatics community has seen an increased success with machine learning-based scoring functions for estimating binding affinities. The prediction of protein-ligand binding affinities is crucial for drug discovery research. Many physics-based scoring functions have been developed over the years. Lately, machine learning approaches are proven to boost the performance of traditional scoring functions. In this study, two scoring functions were developed; one is based on the Convolutional Neural Networks and the other one, called DLSCORE, is based on an ensemble of fully connected neural networks. Both the models were trained on the refined PDBbind (v.2016) dataset using …

Development Of A Dna Aptamer That Specifically Inhibits Human Carbonic Anhydrase Ii, Afroz Karim

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Carbonic anhydrases (CA) are a family of enzymes that catalyze the rapid interconversion of carbon dioxide and water to bicarbonate. Carbonic anhydrase II is the most abundant protein in the cytosol. CA II inhibitors are emergent therapeutic targets for the development of antiglaucoma agents. Glaucoma is a disease affecting large number of people and characterized by an elevated intraocular pressure due to excessive secretion of aqueous humor. The enzyme CA II is responsible for the secretion of aqueous humor. Isoforms of CA II such as CA IV and CA I are present in many tissues and organs other than the …

Gravitational Analysis And Fault Identification Within An Active Rift Basin: The Mesilla Valley Bolson In Western Texas - Southern New Mexico, Jose Pablo Cervantes

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The metropolitan region of El Paso Texas and Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, located within the northern Chihuahua Desert, contains approximately two million inhabitants. The two main aquifers that supply groundwater to this region are the Mesilla and Hueco Bolsons. Both bolsons have been tapped for decades without sustainable recharge. This study's purpose is to use geophysical methods coupled with published geochemical analyses to determine the structural and stratigraphic controls on the quality and quantity of groundwater in the southern Mesilla Bolson.

The Mesilla Bolson is one of many fault-controlled basins within the Rio Grande Rift - southern Basin and Range. Faults …

Variety-Dependent Physiologic And Biochemical Effects Of Copper Nano Particles On Rosie And Green Bok Choy (Brassica Rapa) Phenotypes, Chaoyi Deng

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The effects of Cu-based nanoparticles (NPs) in bok choy (Brassica rapa subsp. chinensis) are unknown. In this study, Rosie and Green, two varieties of bok choy, with different anthocyanin content, were cultivated for 70 days in soil amended with copper oxide nanoparticles (nano CuO), bulk copper oxide (bulk CuO) and copper chloride (CuCl2) at 75, 150, 300 and 600 mg Cu/kg soil. Cu and essential elements in tissues, and relative chlorophyll content, were determined. In both varieties, nano CuO treatments caused significantly more Cu uptake in roots and shoots, compared with bulk CuO and ion CuCl2 (p ≤ 0.05). Additionally, …

Backward Elimination Algorithm For High Dimensional Variable Screening, Sophia Korkor Foli

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

In recent times, variable selection in high-dimensional data has become a challenging prob- lem. We investigate here a popular but classical variable screening method, the Back- ward Elimination (BE) in a high dimensional setup (small-n-large P). The BE method as a variable screening method reduces the dimension of small-n-large P data into a lower dimensional data and then established shrinkage methods such as: LASSO, SCAD and MCP can be applied directly. To overcome the problems in high dimensional data, Chen and Chen (2008) recently developed a family of Extended Bayesian Information Criterion (EBIC) which is consistent with finite sample properties …

Attributes Of The Fisher Valley Megaflap And Comparison To The Gypsum Valley Megaflap, Paradox Basin, Utah And Colorado: Implications For Controls On Megaflap Formation, Kate Grisi

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Megaflaps are panels of steeply dipping to overturned strata that extend kilometers up the side of a salt diapir or equivalent weld. They often form important components of salt-diapir related hydrocarbon systems, though little is known about their geologic characteristics or how they form. In this study, I collected structural, stratigraphic, and sedimentologic data of the Fisher Valley megaflap and compared these attributes to the previous studied Gypsum Valley megaflap to test the differential sediment loading model proposed for initiation of megaflap formation. This model predicts that the sediment source proximal megaflap of Fisher Valley should have started rotation earlier, …

The Inverse And Direct Hofmeister Series Of Hen Egg White Lysozyme At Ph Below The Isoelectric Point (Pi) As Seen By Small Angle X-Ray Scattering(Saxs), Pawan Koirala

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The structural changes of Hen Egg White Lysozyme (HEWL) in the intermediate stages leading up to Hofmeister anion-induced aggregation were measured using small-angle x-ray Scattering (SAXS). We used three concentrations of HEWL: 10mg/ml, 60mg/ml and 200mg/ml and two concentrations of salts: 0.1M and 1.0M, mostly in a Tris-buffer solution with a pH of 9.0. For 200mg/ml in Di-water solution, the scattering signal was best fit using an ellipsoidal form factor with equatorial radius of 28.4±0.1 Å and polar radius of 11.3±0.1 Å, and a screened Coulomb repulsive structure factor with an effective radius of 19.9±0.1 Å and protein surface charge …

Magnetic And Catalytic Properties Of Transition Metal Doped Mos2 Nanocrystals, Luis Martinez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Magnetism and catalytic activity of nanoscale layered two-dimensional (2D) transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) have gained an increasing research interest in the recent past. To broaden the current knowledge and understanding on this subject, in this work, together with my collaborators, I study the magnetic and electrocatalytic properties of hydrothermally grown pristine and transition metal doped (10% of Co, Ni, Fe and Mn) 2H-MoS2 nanosheets/nanocrystals (NCs), with the particle size of 25-30 nm. A broad range of experimental measurements such as x-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, x-ray photo absorption spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, magnetic, catalytic and electron spin resonance have been employed …

Assessing The Hydrologic Impacts Of Extreme Rainfall And Land Use Change On A Semiarid Watershed, Tahneen Jahan Neelam

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Abstract: Intense precipitation events increase the risk of flash floods in the New Mexico-Texas-Mexico border region. Compounding effects of changing land use and precipitation pattern can influence rainfall-runoff processes that govern flash flooding. Paradoxically, this southwestern semiarid watershed has substantial water conflict that may get worse by 2025 due to changing climate and increasingly competitive demands for over-appropriated water resources. Using Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT), we investigate the impact of changes in precipitation intensity and land use on runoff and arroyo flows in the dry, mountainous terrains. The baseline watershed simulation model shows that for a statistically insignificant …

Exploring The Effects Of Zinc Nanoparticle Concentration, Antioxidant, And Media On Cilantro (Coriandrum Sativum), And Radish (Raphanus Sativus) Plants Growth, Venkata Laxma Reddy Pullagurala

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) have proven to be one of the emerging chemicals of concern in the contemporary times. Soil acts as one of the major sinks of these ENMs. Reports have shown that ENMs have varied effects on soil biota. Particularly, their effects on plants are inconsistent. Amongst these ENMs, ZnO nanoparticles (nZnO) are the fourth largest raw materials in the nanotechnology industry. Globally, it is estimated that around 34,000 tons of n ZnO are utilized per year. The nZnO exposure on terrestrial plants yielded both beneficial as well as detrimental effects. Recently, there is an emerging evidence about the …

Solvent And Concentration Effects Governing The Hierarchical Organization Of Asphaltenes: A Small-Angle X-Ray Scattering Study, Hasan Rejoanur Rahman

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Asphaltenes are a group of planar molecules found in crude oil and are prone to aggregation which often causes blockage of pipes along the oil production stream resulting a huge economic downside. In an effort to understand the hierarchical organization of asphaltene in different solvents and concentrations, the solution structure of various asphaltene solutions were studied using small-angle x-ray scattering (SAXS). Solvents were chosen based on miscibility maps. Such maps are generated on the critical value of the solubility parameter difference between asphaltenes or asphaltene components, and a range of solvents. The critical factors that affect asphaltene and asphaltene component …

A Comparative Study Characterizing Traffic Related Air Pollutant Concentrations At Near-Road Communities In El Paso, Texas, Adan Rangel

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Numerous scientific studies have demonstrated the influence of traffic related air pollution at near-road communities and the associated health risks for these populations. This study uses on-site air quality monitors to characterize air pollutants at near-road schools in El Paso, TX to understand children's exposure to traffic-related air pollutants. Ambient air monitoring stations were installed at Coldwell Elementary, Bliss Elementary, and a residential house located in close proximity to major inter-state roadways. In this study, air quality data for PM2.5, PM10, NO2, and O3 was collected over a period of nine weeks in Fall 2018. The spatial and temporal variability …

Geant4 Study Of A Gamma Ray Collimator For Proton Therapy, Selim Romero

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This Thesis presents the results of an investigation of the use of collimators in proton therapy. The problem to solve is that in the proton therapy, we do not have the certainty if the target-tumor is receiving all the energy to destroy it or if we are really shooting at this one, so the remaining question is: where the beam is hitting? How to know it? to answer those questions our work has the propose of study proton therapy to determine where the proton interactions occur, these kinds of interactions usually produce gamma rays, and we simulated in GEANT4 the …

Facies Changes Associated With Formation Of An Extensive Salt Shoulder By The Coastal And Eolian Carmel And Entrada Formations, Gypsum Valley, Colorado, Ryan Burtron Ronson

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

A salt shoulder forms a zone at the margin of a salt diapir where that margin steps relatively abruptly inward. These shoulders form when the salt rise rate near the diapir margin substantially decreases or stops relative to the salt rise rate at the inboard central part of the diaper. Based on current models of interactions between these salt shoulders and overlying sediment, it was anticipated that the thickness changes of the Entrada and Carmel formations would be only gradual and that any notable thinning would take place proximal to the neck portion of the diapir that would still have …

Insights Into The Interaction Of Copper Oxide Nanopar-Ticles With Sweetpotato (Ipomoea Batatas (L.) Lam.): The Role Of Lignin On Copper Uptake And Translocation, Nestor Javier Bonilla Bird

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Sweetpotato [Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam.] is widely cultivated in many countries worldwide. The world production of sweetpotato is around 127 billion tons and it is ranked seventh in the world as a staple food. After harvesting, sweetpotato storage roots are treated with fungicides to prolong shelf life. Lignin plays an important role in the conservation of the storage roots. One of the practices to activate the lignification pathway is called “curing process.” The roots are placed under 80% relative humidity at a temperature of 29 ºC for a period of 7 to 15 days, followed by a cooling period at …

A Mixed Finite Element Method For The Coupling Of Linear Elasticity And Stokes Flow, Maranda Bean

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The complex interaction between fluids and structures require the coupling the laws concerning structure mechanics and fluid dynamics and are of vital importance to many scientific and engineering fields. We propose a method for modeling the coupling of a linearly elastic solid and slow fluid flow modeled by Stokes equations. The model equations are expressed in terms of displacement, velocity and stress. With these primary variables, we use a single mixed finite element space based on the Hellinger-Reissner variational principle for linear elasticity to discretize the resulting system spatially. This results in more accurate approximations for stress than those obtained …

A Machine Learning Approach To Rendering 3d Stratigraphic Models Of The Hueco Bolson, Western Texas And Northern Mexico, Joel Gerardo Castro

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Data visualization is an effective way to analyze large amounts of spatial information to identify correlations, trends, outliers, and patterns. In this Thesis I test the application of supervised machine learning algorithms to render a series of 3D visualizations designed to highlight general traits of the Hueco Bolson, a geologic basin located east of the Franklin Mountains in far west Texas and northern Mexico. A geologic basin is one of the most common inland places where sediments are collected. The geology of basins is of much interest to geophysicists, hydrologists, paleontologists, and oil prospectors. Here the task of 3D geologic …