Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Simulating The Oil Spill In The Arabian Gulf Marine Environment: A Risk Assessment In Association With Uae Coastal Desalination Plants, Abubaker Awad El-Hakeem

Theses

The current study is directed towards the development of oil spill hazard contour maps for the prediction of oil spill travel times and critical wind directions in association with major strategic desalination plants in United Arab Emirates. Five desalination plants in are selected along the UAE coastline to be the potential destination points of oil spill hazards. These plants are AI-Shuwayhat, AI-Mirfa, Umm AINar & Taweelah, Jebel Ali and AI-Layah.

In order to reach the set target, a coastal hydraulics simulation model is employed to adopt the real sea-state dynamic conditions. The hydrodynamic simulated results are tuned and tested against …

Optimization Of An Acrylamides-Based Photopolymer For Reflection Holographic Recording, Raghavendra Jallapuram

Doctoral

Photopolymers have been the subject of special attention in the last two decades. The advantage of being self-developing makes them a practical alternative to silver halide photographic emulsions in holographic interferometry applications. This thesis is aimed at understanding diffusion properties and optimization of an acrylamide-based green sensitized photopolymer material for reflection holographic recording. The composition of the photopolymer includes a green sensitive dye (erythrosine B), acrylamide (monomer), electron donor (triethanolamine) a cross linking monomer (NN’methylenebisacrylamide) and a binder (polyvinyl alcohol). On illumination with light of the appropriate wavelength the dye absorbs a photon and enters into an excited state. The …

Population Dynamics Of Clausocalanus Furcatus (Copepoda, Calanoida) In The Northern Gulf Of Mexico, Hongsheng Bi

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Copepods are important components of marine ecosystems. Understanding copepod population dynamics can help interpret variations in both primary producers and higher trophic levels. Egg production, stage duration, and stage-specific mortality rates are key parameters describing copepod population dynamics. Estimation of stage-specific mortality is complicated due to a complex life history, patchiness, and sampling biases. This study was undertaken to quantify the population dynamics of the copepod Clausocalanus furcatus in the northern Gulf of Mexico and to assess the utility of available mortality estimation methods in a highly advective environment. Zooplankton samples were taken every 12h from March 18-April 6, and …

Komatiites Of The Weltevreden Formation, Barberton Greenstone Belt, South Africa: Implications For The Chemistry And Temperature Of The Archean Mantle, Keena Kareem

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The komatiites of the 3.29 Ga Weltevreden Formation, Barberton Greenstone Belt, South Africa represent extremely magnesian lavas derived from the Archean mantle. Three related papers are presented on aspects of the temperature and composition of the Archean mantle, and surface alteration processes. Petrographical and geochemical analyses confirm that olivines from the komatiites retain much of their original igneous character, containing fresh olivines, pyroxenes, and chromites. The olivines from the Weltevreden Formation are extremely magnesian, with Fo contents up to 95.6. Primitive mantle normalized Gd/Yb values near 1, and Al₂O₃/TiO₃ values of 26-33 for these rocks …

Quasicontinuous Derivatives And Viscosity Functions, Rodica Cazacu

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

In this work we demonstrate how the continuous domain theory can be applied to the theory of nonlinear optimization, particularly to the theory of viscosity solutions. We consider finding the viscosity solution for the Hamilton-Jacobi equation H(x, y) = g(x), with continuous hamiltonian, but with possibly discontinuous right-hand side. We begin by finding a new function space Q(X,L), the space of equivalence classes of quasicontinuous functions from a locally compact set X to a bicontinuous lattice L and we will define on Q(X,L) the qo-topology, which is a variant of classical order topology defined on complete lattices. On this …

Economic Valuation Of Natural Resource Management: A Case Study Of The Benuaq Dayak Tribe In Kalimantan, Indonesia, Indah D. Kusuma

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The unavailability of total economic values of indigenous people in Indonesia, both in the short and long term, has created the rejection of their existences in the forest area. The purpose of this study is to estimate the total economic value of sustainable forest management conducted by indigenous tribes in Indonesia using total economic value concepts. The tribe’s total economic value is expressed by estimating the use value, indirect use value and non-use value. The study used benefit transfer and survey methods using questionnaires to estimate the tribe’s total economic value. The estimated total economic value of the Benuaq Dayak …

Carbonate Records Of Submarine Hydrocarbon Venting: Northern Gulf Of Mexico, Matthew S. Hackworth

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Hydrocarbon seep sediments are examined from 3 sites in the Gulf of Mexico (Green Canyon Lease Blocks 232, 185, and 272) to relate the effects of gas hydrates and hydrocarbons on microbial process, pore fluid chemistry, and the processes of authigenic carbonate formation. Hydrocarbon-fueled microbial reactions result in pore fluids with lowered SO₄^2- (all consumed by –10 cm) and enrichments in H₂S, alkalinity, and DIC (up to 20 mmol, 30 meq/L, and 18 mmol/L, respectively) which promote carbonate formation. Pore fluid d¹³C_DIC (PDB) is influenced by thermogenic hydrocarbons and crude oil in GC …

Final Report For The Development Of The Nasa Technical Report Server (Ntrs), Michael L. Nelson

Computer Science Faculty Publications

The author performed a variety of research, development and consulting tasks for NASA Langley Research Center in the area of digital libraries (DLs) and supporting technologies, such as the Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting (OAI-PMH). In particular, the development focused on the NASA Technical Report Server (NTRS) and its transition from a distributed searching model to one that uses the OAI-PMH. The Open Archives Initiative (OAI) is an international consortium focused on furthering the interoperability of DLs through the use of "metadata harvesting". The OAI-PMH version of NTRS went into public production on April 28, 2003. Since that …

Archive Ingest And Handling Test, Michael L. Nelson, Johan Bollen, Giridhar Manepalli, Rabia Haq

Computer Science Faculty Publications

The Archive Ingest and Handling Test (AIHT) was a Library of Congress (LC) sponsored research project administered by Information Systems and Support Inc. (ISS). The project featured five participants: Old Dominion University Computer Science Department; Harvard University Library; Johns Hopkins University Library; Stanford University Library; Library of Congress. All five participants received identical disk drives containing copies of the 911.gmu.edu web site, a collection of 9/11 materials maintained by George Mason University (GMU). The purpose of the AIHT experiment was to perform archival forensics to determine the nature of the archive, ingest it, simulate at least one of the file …

Cns Connections, Winter 2005-06, University Of Northern Iowa. College Of Natural Sciences.

CNS Connections

Inside this issue:

-- Message from the Dean
-- At Last: An updated home for Physics
-- PSM degrees a coming attraction at UNI
-- CEEE celebrates 10 productive years
-- CNS inaugurates special Preview Day
-- Faculty and Student Research Highlights
-- Purple Pride
-- UNI offers many opportunities in the classroom and beyond
-- Update from the Centers
-- Two programs increase diversity in Math Department
-- College News
-- ChemWall provides passport to Chemistry at UNI
-- Industrial Tech students build renewable energy system at area park
-- Alumni News
-- CNS Advisory Board

Infrared And X-Ray Spectroscopic Studies Of The Copper(Ii) Oxide Mediated Reactions Of Chlorinated Aromatic Precursors To Pcdd/F, Steven L. Alderman

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/F) are toxic compounds produced in combustion systems such as incinerators, and their emissions are an important environmental issue. Chlorinated phenols and benzenes form PCDD/F through heterogeneous reactions following adsorption onto fly-ash surfaces. Current research implicates transition metals in promoting formation of phenoxyl radicals that react to form PCDD/F, although this has not been studied extensively. This objective of this work is to better understand PCDD/F formation from chlorinated aromatic precursors. Using 2 chlorophenol as a model PCDD/F precursor and silica as a fly-ash surrogate, time-dependent chemisorption of 2 chlorophenol onto silica was studied in situ …

Protecting The Communication Structure In Sensor Networks, S. Olariu, Q. Xu, M. Eltoweissy, A. Wadaa

Computer Science Faculty Publications

In the near future wireless sensor networks will be employed in a wide variety of applications establishing ubiquitous networks that will pervade society. The inherent vulnerability of these massively deployed networks to a multitude of threats, including physical tampering with nodes exacerbates concerns about privacy and security. For example, denial of service attacks (DoS) that compromise or disrupt communications or target nodes serving key roles in the network, e.g. sink nodes, can easily undermine the functionality as well as the performance delivered by the network. Particularly vulnerable are the components of the communications or operation infrastructure. Although, by construction, most …

Introduction: Data Communication And Topology Algorithms For Sensor Networks, Stephan Olariu, David Simplot-Ryl, Ivan Stojmenovic

Computer Science Faculty Publications

(First paragraph) We are very proud and honored to have been entrusted to be Guest Editors for this special issue. Papers were sought to comprehensively cover the algorithmic issues in the “hot” area of sensor networking. The concentration was on network layer problems, which can be divided into two groups: data communication problems and topology control problems. We wish to briefly introduce the five papers appearing in this special issue. They cover specific problems such as time division for reduced collision, fault tolerant clustering, self-stabilizing graph optimization algorithms, key pre-distribution for secure communication, and distributed storage based on spanning trees …

Time In Service To Historical Ecology, Ted L. Gragson

Ecological and Environmental Anthropology (University of Georgia)

Historical Ecology is one of the ascendant views in ecological and environmental anthropology. It originates in the intellectual transformation of history and ecology during the last 50 years, and seeped into anthropology in the last 10 to 15 years. Historical Ecology is increasingly recognized as one of the key approaches in the discipline helping to advance our understanding of what it means to be human.
There are numerous definitions of historical ecology, but the anthropological challenge is to place human decision-making, and the consciousness that drives it, at the center of our analyses of the human-environmental relationship (Crumley 1994, Whitehead …

Spotted Sea Trout (Cynoscion Nebulosus) And Pinfish (Lagodon Rhomboides) Dietary Analysis According To Habitat Type, Micah Russell

LSU Master's Theses

The diets of a transitory fish (spotted sea trout, Cynoscion nebulosus) and a fish with presumed greater site-fidelity (pinfish, Lagodon rhomboides) were analyzed with respect to habitat. Sampling occurred in Barataria Bay, Louisiana between May 2003 and May 2004. Spotted sea trout were caught using gillnets, and pinfish were caught using baited fish traps. Each gear was used on three habitats: mud bottom, oyster shell, and marsh edge. In addition, sampling for spotted sea trout was repeated at three locations along a salinity gradient. A total of 175 spotted sea trout stomachs and 137 pinfish stomachs were examined. Seventeen prey …

Quantitative Clay Mineralogy Of Several Louisiana Soils, Johan Forsman

LSU Master's Theses

A method was developed to simplify the approach to obtaining a better quantitative representation (QR) of complex clay mineral assemblages by XRD analysis. The method has eight steps: 1) preparation of samples with preferred orientation; 2) qualitative identification of phases; 3) peak decomposition to obtain precise locations of individual peaks contained within broad diffraction bands; 4) creation of a library of theoretical XRD patterns by modeling of one-dimensional XRD patterns; 5) selection of experimental library patterns; 6) employing the LINEST function found in common spreadsheet software to fit library patterns to experimental patterns; 7) evaluation of results to determine needed …

Identification Of 'Structural Alerts' And Associated Mechanisms Of Action Of Mammary Gland Carcinogens In Female Rodents, Shanna Tommika Moss

LSU Master's Theses

A new structure-activity relationship (SAR) approach to modeling was utilized to study mammary gland carcinogens. A set of chemicals tested for mammary tumorigenesis that have been analyzed in the Carcinogenic Potency Database (CPDB) were subjected to several computational analyses in an attempt to predict each chemical’s carcinogenic potential. A total of six learning sets (rat and mouse mammary gland carcinogen, CPDB rat and mouse, and female-specific rodent models) were developed and validated using a SAR modeling algorithm called categorical-SAR (cat-SAR). The predictive cat-SAR program evaluates active and inactive compounds of known biological activity and predicts their biological activity from this …

Offshore Oil And Gas Platforms As Stepping Stones For Expansion Of Coral Communities: A Molecular Genetic Analysis, Amy D. Atchison

LSU Master's Theses

The northern Gulf of Mexico (GOM) is one of the most productive oil and gas exploration areas in the world, currently containing approximately 3,800 offshore platforms. These platforms serve as artificial reefs in shallow water, which until their introduction was nearly devoid of shallow hard substrata. The question is raised whether this newly available substrate could help expand coral populations in the GOM. In this study, I examined adult scleractinian corals on oil and gas platforms in the northern GOM, in the vicinity of the Flower Garden Banks (FGB; approximately 180 km SE of Galveston, Texas) and attempted to determine …

Do Predator Exclusion, Position, And Plant Architecture Influence Hydrilla-Dwelling Macroinvertebrate Communities?, Jonathan C. Fisher

LSU Master's Theses

Hydrilla verticillata invaded south central Louisiana during the 1970s subsequently becoming the dominant submerged macrophyte in floodplain habitats of the Atchafalaya River Basin. The effects of hydrilla on littoral habitat structure, water quality, fish, and macroinvertebrates have been pervasive, and I hypothesized that dense hydrilla stands would also impact vertebrate predation on resident macroinvertebrates, although predation effects would likely be mediated by bed position. During 2003 and 2004, I conducted exclosure experiments in the Atchafalaya River Basin with artificial substrates to test for variations in hydrilla bed macroinvertebrate communities caused by predation, plant architecture, and bed position. To determine invertebrates …

Assessment Of Water Conservation Technique In Rice Culture To Develop Water Use Policies, Manoch Kongchum

LSU Master's Theses

The rapid growth of world population has resulted in significantly increased global water demand. According to a recent report on limited water supply, conservation techniques and water use policies are needed to preserve water resources. Worldwide agriculture is the largest consumer of water, particularly for growing rice. Water use for rice production was chosen because rice will continue to be a staple crop for the majority of the world’s population and because of its pervasive use of water. Hence, this thesis was designed to investigate water conservation possibilities for rice production in two water management regimes: alternate flooding and drying, …

Effects Of Adding Sediment To A Fresh Water Thin Mat Floating Marsh, Kate Carpenter

LSU Master's Theses

Floating marshes are wetlands of emergent vascular vegetation which have a significant mat of live and dead roots, decomposing and dead organic material, and mineral sediments. This mat moves vertically as ambient water levels rise and fall. These marshes have unique hydrology in that overland sheet flow is reduced or eliminated leaving no inorganic sediment input, but there is extensive belowground water exchange. The effect of significant sediment introduction into wetlands with floating marshes is unknown. The purpose of this study was to observe the marsh mat response to Mississippi River sediment addition and measure species composition change and growth …

A Parallel Computing-Visualization Framework For Polycrystalline Minerals, Venkatasrirama Pavankumar Yerraguntla

LSU Master's Theses

In this report, we have reported some preliminary results in the development of a parallel computing-visualization framework for large-scale molecular dynamics simulations of polycrystals of minerals, which are geophysically relevant for Earth’s mantle. First, we have generated the input configurations of atoms belonging to various grains distributed in the space in a way, which resembles the polycrystalline structure of the minerals. The Input configuration is developed using Voronoi geometry. Thus generated polycrystalline system is simulated using the PolyCrystal Molecular Dynamics algorithm. Performance tests conducted using up to 256 processors and a couple of millions of atoms have shown that the …

Ecology Of Soil Microarthropods In Gobi Gurvan Saykhan Mountains, Southern Mongolia, Tsedev Bolortuya, Badamdorj Bayartogtokh

Erforschung biologischer Ressourcen der Mongolei / Exploration into the Biological Resources of Mongolia, ISSN 0440-1298

In the present paper, we describe the community structure, species diversity, population density, and the character of distribution of soil microarthropods of the Gobi Gurvan Saykhan mountains. In total 45 species of soil microarthropods belonging to 37 genera and 24 families were identified. Twenty-seven species of soil microarthropods belonging to 25 genera and 20 families were found in the Züün Saykhan, 31 species belonging to 27 genera and 19 families in the Dund Saykhan. Oribatid mites are the dominant group (35 species = 77.8% of total species richness), while mesostigmatid mites account for 7 species (15.6 %). Other groups are …

Biodiversity And Ecology Of Soil Oribatid Mites (Acari: Oribatida) In The Grassland Habitats Of Eastern Mongolia, Badamdorj Bayartogtokh

Erforschung biologischer Ressourcen der Mongolei / Exploration into the Biological Resources of Mongolia, ISSN 0440-1298

Composition, abundance, distribution, and diversity of oribatid mite communities were investigated at five study areas in Eastern Mongolia. A total of 88 species of oribatid mites were recorded from the studied areas. The largest number of species (51 spp.) was found in the habitats of river valleys, while the plain steppe which covers the largest area contained the lowest species richness (24 spp.). Three other sub-regions with similar landscape types show approximately the same species richness (39 to 45 spp.), although they are located relatively far from each other. The oribatid mite faunas of all sub-regions were essentially similar to …

Types Of Areas And The Origin Of Black Flies Fauna In Mongolia (Diptera: Simuliidae), Josef Halgoš

Erforschung biologischer Ressourcen der Mongolei / Exploration into the Biological Resources of Mongolia, ISSN 0440-1298

The survey of Mongolian Black Flies species (Diptera: Simuliidae) is given in the presented work. The classification based on Emelyanov (1974) and Gorodkov (1984) appeared to be as most advantageous one. Black Flies species found on the Mongolian territory up to now were classified according to the character of their distribution among 5 groups: Holoarctic species (7 species), Eurasian (15), Eastern Palaearctic (20), Turanian-Mediterranean (7), Mongolian endemic species (8). Individual groups are divided according to the type of area into smaller subgroups. The zoogeographical analysis has shown big similarity with Black Flies zoogeography in Siberia and Far East (in percentage …

Restoration Success Of Backfilling Canals In Coastal Louisiana Marshes, Joseph Baustian

LSU Master's Theses

The need for effective marsh restoration techniques in Louisiana is a pressing issue as the state continues to lose coastal wetlands. Returning spoil banks to canals, known as "backfilling", is an attractive restoration option because it restores marsh, prevents future wetland loss, and is cost effective. The direct conversion of marsh to canals and spoil banks accounted for over 22% of Louisiana's wetland loss from 1930 to 1990, and the indirect losses associated with canal dredging are even larger. The restoration success of 30 canals, backfilled twenty years ago, was examined in this study and compared to restoration success shortly …

Platform Recruited Reef Fish, Phase I: Do Platforms Provide Habitat That Increase The Survival Of Juvenile Reef Fishes?, Lauren Kay Nowling

LSU Master's Theses

There are currently over 4000 functioning oil and gas platforms in the northern Gulf of Mexico (Gulf). Platform operations, and their prior drilling operations, produce trace amounts of lead, barium, vanadium, and lanthanum residues that are leached into the surrounding waters and are deposited on the sea floor. These residues have isotopic ratios different from those typical of the Gulf seafloor and can be used as harmless ‘fingerprints’ if they become incorporated into hard-parts or tissues in fishes associated with oil and gas platforms. From 2002 to 2004, 115 red snapper were collected from oil and gas platforms and artificial …

Nekton Utilization Of Black Mangrove (Avicennia Germinans) And Smooth Cordgrass (Spartina Alterniflora) Sites In Southwestern Caminada Bay, Louisiana, Melanie Christine Caudill

LSU Master's Theses

This is the first study to compare nekton use and habitat value among Spartina alterniflora (Spartina), Avicennia germinans (black mangrove), and transition (S. alterniflora and A. germinans) sites within Louisiana's salt marsh-mangrove ecotone. Fishes and crustaceans were collected in Caminada Bay during fall 2003 and spring 2004 using 4 m2, bottomless lift nets. Although analyses were unable to demonstrate significant differences in fish (p=0.0753) and crustacean (p=0.1457) densities and species composition (p=0.8801) across sites, habitat-specific trends in nekton use were evident. Fishes, including gulf killifish and sheepshead minnows, showed affinities for the Spartina site, while crustaceans, especially white shrimp, were …

Sensorsimulator: Simulation Framework For Sensor Networks, Cariappa D. Mallanda

LSU Master's Theses

Wireless sensor networks have the potential to become significant subsystems of engineering applications. Before relegating important and safety-critical tasks to such subsystems, it is necessary to understand the dynamic behavior of these subsystems in simulation environments. There is an urgent need to develop a simulation platform that is useful to explore both the networking issues and the distributed computing aspects of wireless sensor networks. Current approaches to simulating wireless sensor networks largely focus on the networking issues. These approaches use well-known network simulation tools that are often difficult to extend to explore distributed computing issues. Discrete-event simulation is a trusted …

Naturally-Derived Porphyrin And Chlorin Photosensitizers For Photodynamic Therapy, Jodie Angela Hargus

LSU Master's Theses

In oncologic applications of photodynamic therapy (PDT), the discriminating localization of porphyrin-type compounds in solid tumors is exploited for the selective ablation of neoplastic tissue with minimal destruction and irritation to normal tissue. PDT is a locoregional, binary cancer therapy in which a photosensitizer—light-activated drug—absorbs light of an appropriate wavelength and excites to the singlet state. This photosensitizer in the excited singlet state can undergo an internal transition to the excited triplet state, a relatively long-lived and high-energy species that transfers its excess energy to molecular oxygen. Molecular oxygen subsequently excites from the stable triplet state to the highly reactive …