Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Predicting Childhood Sexual Or Physical Abuse: A Logistic Regression Geo-Mapping Approach To Prevention, Roland K. Tadoum, Kamila Smolij, Michelle A. Lyn, Craig W. Johnson

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

This study investigates the degree to which gender, ethnicity, relationship to perpetrator, and geomapped socio-economic factors significantly predict the incidence of childhood sexual abuse, physical abuse and non- abuse. These variables are then linked to geographic identifiers using geographic information system (GIS) technology to develop a geo-mapping framework for child sexual and physical abuse prevention.

Using Technology To Teach Technology: Design And Evaluation Of Bilingual Online Physician Education About Electronic Medical Records, Sarah R. Edmonson, Adol Esquivel, Pallavi Mokkarala, Craig W. Johnson, Cynthia L. Phelps

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The "EMR Tutorial" is designed to be a bilingual online physician education environment about electronic medical records. After iterative assessment and redesign, the tutorial was tested in two groups: U.S. physicians and Mexican medical students. Split-plot ANOVA revealed significantly different pre-test scores in the two groups, significant cognitive gains for the two groups overall, and no significant difference in the gains made by the two groups. Users rated the module positively on a satisfaction questionnaire.

Extreme Rainfall In Texas: Patterns And Predictability, John W. Nielsen-Gammon, Fuqing Zhang, Andrew M. Odins, Boksoon Myoung

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

Extreme rainfall, with storm total precipitation exceeding 500 mm, occurs several times per decade in Texas. According to a compositing analysis, the large-scale weather patterns associated with extreme rainfall events involve a northward deflection of the tropical trade winds into Texas, with deep southerly winds extending into the middle troposphere. One such event, the July 2002 South-Central Texas flood, is examined in detail. This particular event was associated with a stationary upper-level trough over central Texas and northern Mexico that established a steady influx of tropical moisture from the south. While the onset of the event was triggered by destabilization …

Rational Hyperholomorphic Functions In R4, Daniel Alpay, Michael Shapiro, Dan Volok

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

We introduce the notion of rationality for hyperholomorphic functions (functions in the kernel of the Cauchy-Fueter operator). Following the case of one complex variable, we give three equivalent definitions: the first in terms of Cauchy-Kovalevskaya quotients of polynomials, the second in terms of realizations and the third in terms of backward-shift invariance. Also introduced and studied are the counterparts of the Arveson space and Blaschke factors.

Point Evaluation And Hardy Space On A Homogeneous Tree, Daniel Alpay, Dan Volok

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

We consider stationary multiscale systems as defined by Basseville, Benveniste, Nikoukhah and Willsky. We show that there are deep analogies with the discrete time non stationary setting as developed by the first author, Dewilde and Dym. Following these analogies we define a point evaluation with values in a C*–algebra and the corresponding “Hardy space” in which Cauchy’s formula holds. This point evaluation is used to define in this context the counterpart of classical notions such as Blaschke factors.

Characterization Of The Mechanisms By Which The Organophosphorus Compound Malathion Induces Apoptosis In L929 Murine Fibroblasts, Laila Masoud Ali Al-Alawi

Theses

While acute organophosphorous compound poisoning due to inhibition of acetylcholinesterase is a well-established clinical entity, the existence of chronic poisoning due to exposure to low levels of organophosphorous compounds (below the threshold required for cholinergic clinical symptoms) is a hotly debated issue. In this study, we have evaluated the effects of noncholinergic doses of malathion (0.01-20 µM) on apoptosis of murine L929 fibroblasts. Employing flow cytometric and caspase activation analyses, we demonstrate that malathion induces apoptosis in L929 cells in a dose- and time-dependent manner. The initiator caspases (caspase-8 and caspase-9) as well as the effector caspase (caspase-3) were activated …

A Web Services Architecture For Umls Knowledge Sources, Parsa Mirhaji, Narendra Kunapareddy, Yanko Michea, Arunkumar Srinivasan

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

A web service is a collection of industry standards to enable reusability of services and interoperability of heterogeneous applications. The UMLS Knowledge Source (UMLSKS) Server provides remote access to the UMLSKS and related resources. We propose a Web Services Architecture that encapsulates UMLSKS-API and makes it available in distributed and heterogeneous environments. This is the first step towards intelligent and automatic UMLS services discovery and invocation by computer systems in distributed environments such as web.

Using Incomplete Citation Data For Medline Results Ranking, Jorge R Herskovic, Elmer V Bernstam

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Information overload is a significant problem for modern medicine. Searching MEDLINE for common topics often retrieves more relevant documents than users can review. Therefore, we must identify documents that are not only relevant, but also important. Our system ranks articles using citation counts and the PageRank algorithm, incorporating data from the Science Citation Index. However, citation data is usually incomplete. Therefore, we explore the relationship between the quantity of citation information available to the system and the quality of the result ranking. Specifically, we test the ability of citation count and PageRank to identify "important articles" as defined by experts …

Step-Pool Morphology Of A Wilderness Headwater Stream Of The Buffalo River, Arkansas, Aaron M. Nickolotsky

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Step-pool and cascade morphology reflect the geological and climatic factors affecting channels in mountain watersheds. This study uses longitudinal and cross-section surveys of a headwater stream in the Boston Mountains of the Ozarks Plateau region in northwest Arkansas to describe channel form and develop quantitative models for comparisons with other regions. The Bowers Hollow Creek watershed (3.5 km2) is located within the boundaries of the Forest Service’s Upper Buffalo Wilderness Area. Step-pool morphology varies with the influence of lithology and sediment supply in the Boston Mountains. However, step height and wavelength relationships are generally similar to other regions. Distribution of …

Mercury Contamination Of Channel And Floodplain Sediments In Wilson Creek Watershed, Southwest Missouri, Willard E. Rodgers Ii

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Mercury (Hg) is a pollutant affecting aquatic environments and human health world wide. Sediments in urban streams can store Hg from historical industrial waste releases in channel and floodplain deposits. Subsequent erosion of these deposits can remobilize sediment-bound Hg impacting downstream receiving waters. This study describes the distribution of Hg in floodplain and channel sediments of Wilson Creek and its tributaries using geochemical sediment analysis and cesium-137 dating. The upper Wilson Creek watershed drains the southern two-thirds of Springfield, Missouri. Results indicate that Hg concentrations in overbank and active channel sediments along the entire stream length are elevated above the …

Upper Limits On Gravitational Wave Bursts In Ligo’S Second Science Run, B. P. Abbott, R. Abbott, W. G. Anderson, Mario C. Diaz, Wm. R. Johnston, Soumya Mohanty, Soma Mukherjee, Cristina V. Torres

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Publications

We perform a search for gravitational wave bursts using data from the second science run of the LIGO detectors, using a method based on a wavelet time-frequency decomposition. This search is sensitive to bursts of duration much less than a second and with frequency content in the 100–1100 Hz range. It features significant improvements in the instrument sensitivity and in the analysis pipeline with respect to the burst search previously reported by LIGO. Improvements in the search method allow exploring weaker signals, relative to the detector noise floor, while maintaining a low false alarm rate, O ( 0.1 ) μ …

Search For Gravitational Waves From Primordial Black Hole Binary Coalescences In The Galactic Halo, B. P. Abbott, R. Abbott, Mario C. Diaz, Wm. R. Johnston, Soma Mukherjee, Soumya Mohanty, Cristina V. Torres

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Publications

We use data from the second science run of the LIGO gravitational-wave detectors to search for the gravitational waves from primordial black hole binary coalescence with component masses in the range 0.2–1.0M⊙. The analysis requires a signal to be found in the data from both LIGO observatories, according to a set of coincidence criteria. No inspiral signals were found. Assuming a spherical halo with core radius 5 kpc extending to 50 kpc containing nonspinning black holes with masses in the range 0.2–1.0M⊙, we place an observational upper limit on the rate of primordial black hole coalescence of 63 per year …

Upper Limits On A Stochastic Background Of Gravitational Waves, B. P. Abbott, R. Abbott, Mario C. Diaz, Soma Mukherjee, Soumya Mohanty, Cristina V. Torres

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Publications

The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory has performed a third science run with much improved sensitivities of all three interferometers. We present an analysis of approximately 200 hours of data acquired during this run, used to search for a stochastic background of gravitational radiation. We place upper bounds on the energy density stored as gravitational radiation for three different spectral power laws. For the flat spectrum, our limit of Ω0

Upper Limits From The Ligo And Tama Detectors On The Rate Of Gravitational-Wave Bursts, B. P. Abbott, R. Abbott, W. G. Anderson, Mario C. Diaz, Wm. R. Johnston, Soumya Mohanty, Cristina V. Torres

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Publications

We report on the first joint search for gravitational waves by the TAMA and LIGO collaborations. We looked for millisecond-duration unmodeled gravitational-wave bursts in 473 hr of coincident data collected during early 2003. No candidate signals were found. We set an upper limit of 0.12 events per day on the rate of detectable gravitational-wave bursts, at 90% confidence level. From software simulations, we estimate that our detector network was sensitive to bursts with root-sum-square strain amplitude above approximately 1–3×10−19  Hz−1/2 in the frequency band 700-2000 Hz. We describe the details of this collaborative search, with particular emphasis on its advantages …

Limits On Gravitational-Wave Emission From Selected Pulsars Using Ligo Data, B. P. Abbott, R. Abbott, Mario C. Diaz, Wm. R. Johnston, Soumya Mohanty, Soma Mukherjee, Cristina V. Torres

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Publications

We place direct upper limits on the amplitude of gravitational waves from 28 isolated radio pulsars by a coherent multidetector analysis of the data collected during the second science run of the LIGO interferometric detectors. These are the first direct upper limits for 26 of the 28 pulsars. We use coordinated radio observations for the first time to build radio-guided phase templates for the expected gravitational-wave signals. The unprecedented sensitivity of the detectors allows us to set strain upper limits as low as a few times 10−24. These strain limits translate into limits on the equatorial ellipticities of the pulsars, …

Electric-Field Generated By The Combustion Of Titanium In Nitrogen, Karen S. Martirosyan, Mona Setoodeh, Dan Luss

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Publications

A short temporal electrical impulse (duration of 30–150ms) was generated during the nitridation of mixtures of titanium and titanium nitride by a high temperature moving reaction front. The maximum voltage and current were generated in the combustion front region, in which the conversion of Ti to TiN was incomplete. The electric field (voltage up to 2V and current up to 60mA) decayed and vanished before the maximum combustion temperature was attained. The generation of an electric field during a rapid high-temperature nitridation is most probably due to the different diffusion velocities of charge carriers through the growing titanium nitride shell …

Search For Gravitational Waves Associated With The Gamma Ray Burst Grb030329 Using The Ligo Detectors, B. P. Abbott, R. Abbott, Mario C. Diaz, Wm. R. Johnston, Soumya Mohanty, Soma Mukherjee, Cristina V. Torres

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Publications

We have performed a search for bursts of gravitational waves associated with the very bright gamma ray burst GRB030329, using the two detectors at the LIGO Hanford Observatory. Our search covered the most sensitive frequency range of the LIGO detectors (approximately 80–−2048   Hz), and we specifically targeted signals shorter than ≃150  ms. Our search algorithm looks for excess correlated power between the two interferometers and thus makes minimal assumptions about the gravitational waveform. We observed no candidates with gravitational-wave signal strength larger than a predetermined threshold. We report frequency-dependent upper limits on the strength of the gravitational waves associated with …

Phase Effects In The Diffraction Of Light: Beyond The Grating Equation, Stacy Wise, V. Quetschke, A. J. Deshpande, G. Mueller, D. H. Reitze, D. B. Tanner, B. F. Whiting, Y. Chen

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Publications

Diffraction gratings affect the absolute phase of light in a way that is not obvious from the usual derivation of optical paths using the grating equation. For example, consider light which encounters first one and then the second of two parallel gratings. If one grating is moved parallel to its surface, the phase of the light diffracted from the grating pair is shifted by 2π each time the grating is moved by one grating constant, even though the geometric path length is not altered by the motion. This additional phase shift must be included when incorporating diffraction gratings in interferometers.

Response Of Test Masses To Gravitational Waves In The Local Lorentz Gauge, Malik Rakhmanov

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Publications

The local Lorentz gauge represents a natural coordinate frame for an observer to analyze the effect of gravitational waves on detectors, and has been widely used to describe the response of resonant bars. Its application to laser interferometers has thus far been restricted to the long-wavelength regime, in which the separation between the test masses is much less than the wavelength of the gravitational waves. In this paper we show that the local Lorentz gauge can be used for calculations of geodesic deviations of the masses even when their separation is comparable to or greater than the wavelength of the …

First All-Sky Upper Limits From Ligo On The Strength Of Periodic Gravitational Waves Using The Hough Transform, B. P. Abbott, R. Abbott, W. G. Anderson, Mario C. Diaz, Wm. R. Johnston, Soma Mukherjee, Soumya Mohanty, Cristina V. Torres

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Publications

We perform a wide parameter-space search for continuous gravitational waves over the whole sky and over a large range of values of the frequency and the first spin-down parameter. Our search method is based on the Hough transform, which is a semicoherent, computationally efficient, and robust pattern recognition technique. We apply this technique to data from the second science run of the LIGO detectors and our final results are all-sky upper limits on the strength of gravitational waves emitted by unknown isolated spinning neutron stars on a set of narrow frequency bands in the range 200–400   Hz. The best upper …

Spatial Relationships Of Grassland Net Ecosystem Carbon Dioxide Exchange In A First-Order Agricultural Basin In Southern Ontario, Patrick S. Chahil

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This study quantified the midday (10:00 – 16:00) summer source/sink CO2 relationships of various land-use types, particularly grass-dominated riparian areas, using dynamic chamber techniques, while evaluating the relative contribution of root and microbial components towards the overall soil respiration. The influence of nearby agriculture and was related to elevated N and P, which were 40 and 1000% larger, respectively. A site adjacent to cropped fields showed similar (within 8%) study averaged soil respiration as an open grassland site, but 22% lower soil respiration than a riparian site 250-300 m downstream, which is adjacent to an open grassland fallow. A maple …

Spatial And Spatial-Temporal Analysis Of Mountain Pine Beetle Infestations At A Landscape Scale, Trisalyn Anna-Lisa Nelson

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The impact of the current mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins) epidemic in British Columbia underscores the need for scientifically informed management practices. During an epidemic it is necessary to manage large areas and an understanding of landscape scale spatial and spatial-temporal processes is required. With the recent availability of large area, multi-temporal data sets there are new opportunities for landscape scale studies of the mountain pine beetle over space and through time. In this thesis large area spatial and spatial-temporal patterns of lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta var. Latifolia) mortality are explored using point data collected through helicopter surveys. As …

Assessing Recharge And Discharge Across The Prairie Pothole Landscape: Application Of Spatial Hydrological Data And Statistical Analysis In A Groundwater Flow Model, Christopher D. Laveau

Theses and Dissertations

Quantifying the spatial and temporal dynamics between groundwater recharge, discharge, and wetlands is a necessary step to develop effective water management strategies. Wetlands in the northern Great Plains play a role in flood control, water supply, and regional ecology. The water budget of a wetland in the northern prairies is often an unequal balance between moisture input and output in which the permanence of a wetland depends on its groundwater budget. Identifying and quantifying groundwater recharge and discharge zones has applications in predicting the spatial and temporal distribution of wetlands.

The current work involved the application of a groundwater model …

Uterine Mast Cells And Immunoglobulin-E Antibody Responses During Clearance Of Tritrichomonas Foetus, L. B. Corbeil, C. M. Campero, J. C. Rhyan, M. L. Anderson, L. J. Gershwin, D. W. Agnew, L. Munson, R. H. Bondurant

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

We showed earlier that Tritrichomonas foetus–specific bovine immunoglobulin (Ig)G1 and IgA antibodies in uterine and vaginal secretions are correlated with clearance of this sexually transmitted infection. Eosinophils have been noted in previous studies of bovine trichomoniasis but the role of mast cells and IgE responses have not been reported. The hypothesis that IgE and mast cell degranulation play a role in clearance was tested in 25 virgin heifers inseminated experimentally and infected intravaginally with T. foetus strain D1 at estrus and cultured weekly. Groups were euthanatized at 3, 6, 9, or 12 weeks, when tissues were fixed and secretions …

West Nile Virus Infection In Farmed American Alligators (Alligator Mississippiensis) In Florida, Elliott R. Jacobson, Pamela E. Ginn, J. Mitchell Troutman, Lisa Farina, Lillian Stark, Kaci Klenk, Kristen L. Burkhalter, Nicholas Komar

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

Persuasive Email Messages For Patient Communication, Muhammad Walji, Kathy Johnson-Throop, Todd Johnson, Elmer Bernstam, Jiajie Zhang

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

To improve health and reduce costs, we need to encourage patients to make better health care decisions. Since email is widely available, it may be useful for patient-directed interventions. However, we know little about how the contents of an email message can influence a health-related decision. We propose a model to understand how patients may process persuasive email messages.

The Use Of Culmen Length To Determine Sex Of The American White Pelican, Brian S. Dorr, D. Tommy King, Patrick Gerard, Marilyn G. Spalding

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Culmnen length has been suggested as being diagnostic for sex in the American White Pelicans (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos). However, the literature on the use of culmen length to determine sex is inconsistent, with reported overlap in culmen lengths for males and females ranging from 1 mm to >120 mm. Morphological measurements from 188 American White Pelicans collected in Mississippi and Louisiana whose sex was determined by dissection and gonadal inspection were measured. The use of culmen length alone was used to determine gender for this sample by establishing the minimum obsewed culmen length for males and the maximum observed …

Blackbird Use And Damage Of Wildlife Conservation Sunflower Plots, Jonathan M. Raetzman, George M. Linz, William J. Bleier

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Annual blackbird damage to sunflower is valued at $5 to $10 million. Perhaps more importantly, the National Sunflower Association has identified blackbirds as the key reason for growers to abandon sunflower in areas of prime production. North Dakota and South Dakota together produce approximately 70% of sunflower grown in the United States. This crop adds $906 million to the regional economy. To date, cost effective and environmentally safe methods to reduce bird damage to sunflower remain elusive. In the 1980’s, scientists from the National Wildlife Research Center (NWRC) showed that “decoy” sunflower plots can greatly reduce bird damage to local …

Avian Use Of Commercial Sunflower And Grain Crops Compared To Usda Wildlife Conservation Sunflower Plots In North Dakota., Heath M. Hagy, George M. Linz, William J. Bleier

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

North Dakota and South Dakota produce about 70% of the sunflower grown in the United States. Blackbird depredation, particularly in the Prairie Pothole Region (PPR), can be a major problem that results in some producers abandoning sunflower. Reduced acreage of an otherwise profitable crop is important economically and might harm migratory bird populations relying on the shrub-like habitat in sunflower fields for food and cover. In 2004 in an effort to reduce blackbird damage, USDA Wildlife Services provided funds to growers to plant Wildlife Conservation Sunflower Plots (WCSP). Growers were instructed to plant 8-ha units of oilseed sunflower near shelterbelts …

Wildlife Disease Research At The Aphis National Wildlife Research Center, R. G. Mclean, L. Clark, M. R. Dunbar, K. C. Vercauteren, T. A. Campbell

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Research on wildlife diseases at the newly formed Wildlife Disease Program (WDP) at the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), Wildlife Services (WS), National Wildlife Research Center (NWRC) concentrates on wildlife diseases of importance to domestic animal and human health. We are conducting studies on wildlife rabies, bovine tuberculosis (TB), chronic wasting disease (CWD), West Nile virus (WNV), pathogenic bacteria of birds, and pseudorabies (PR). The goal of the research is to develop innovative methods for surveillance, intervention, prevention, and control of these diseases.