Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Eleven Years Of Parima Activities In North-Central Kenya: Impacts On Egerton University And Neighboring Communities, D. Layne Coppock, Abdillahi Aboud, Mark Mutinda, Stellamaris Muthoka

Environment and Society Faculty Publications

The PARIMA project was created to improve the well-being of pastoralists and agro-pastoralists in northern Kenya and southern Ethiopia via risk-management research, training, and outreach. The project began to collaborate with Egerton University’s Department of Natural Resources in 1998 and many joint activities were undertaken over the next 11 years. Among them were regional household research on pastoral risks and their management, a training program for Egerton teaching staff to obtain post-graduate degrees, facilitation of Egerton faculty and staff to attend professional meetings, and provision of computer hardware and software that led to the creation of a GIS teaching and …

Simple Cooling Method Improves The Quality Of Marketed Camel Milk In Northern Kenya, D. Layne Coppock, A. O. Adongo, F. Wayua, I. J. Sagalla, H. K. Walaga, C. Amboga

Environment and Society Faculty Publications

Milk marketing is important for many pastoralists to generate income, especially poor households with little else to sell. Milk is accumulated at pastoral settlements and transported to local markets on foot, by pack animals, or in vehicles. Despite challenges of heat and long-distance travel, pastoralists or traders do not attempt to cool marketed milk and possibly reduce risk of spoilage. Milk spoilage is an important problem that limits urban consumer demand. Our research objective was to determine effects of water-soaked hemp (burlap), wrapped around plastic jerry cans, on reducing milk temperature and enhancing quality of marketed camel milk, a key …

Can Pastoral Linkages To Livestock Markets Be Sustained In Southern Ethiopia?, D. Layne Coppock, Getachew Gebru, Solomon Desta, Seyoum Tezera, Zewdu Edea

Environment and Society Faculty Publications

The PARIMA project has facilitated collective action, empowerment of women, and increased involvement in livestock marketing among pastoralists on the Borana Plateau since 2001. Fifty-nine collective-action groups formed by PARIMA and her partners have been recently merged into market-oriented cooperatives, consistent with government policy. We used focus groups and participatory appraisals to assess the extent that market linkages have been sustained since previously reported in 2006. The markets have been growing, but are volatile. Members report they need access to early warning and livestock market-information systems, as well as more capital, to promote trade. Export firms have imposed added conditions …

Evaluation Of Windows Servers Security Under Icmp And Tcp Denial Of Service Attacks, Hari Krishnea Vallalacheruvu

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

Securing server from Distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks is a challenging task for network operators. DDOS attacks are known to reduce the performance of web based applications and reduce the number of legitimate client connections. In this thesis, we evaluate performance of a Windows server 2003 under these attacks. In this thesis, we also evaluate and compare effectiveness of three different protection mechanisms, namely SYN Cache, SYN Cookie and SYN proxy protection methods, to protect against TCP SYN DDoS attacks. It is found that the SYN attack protection at the server is more effective at lower loads of SYN …

Investigation Of Velocity Profiles In Anatomically Realistic Renal Artery Flow Phantoms By Physiological Flow Experimentation, Deepa Chari

Masters

Renal Artery stenosis is one of the major causes of curable renovascular hypertension.An early investigation of renal artery stenosis helps in the management of renovascular hypertension by alternative, less-invasive methods such as drug treatments, thereby reducing the risk involved in the surgery. Therefore an early investigation of renal artery stenosis has been always an attractive goal for the physicians. The renal artery stenosis affects the blood velocity profile in the renal artery. These profiles can be investigated by quantitative Doppler Ultrasound measurements obtained by flow experimentations and can be used as a tool for the identification of renal artery stenosis. …

Landscape Patterns And Patch Dynamics In Hamilton County Over A Forty Year Period: Applicability To The Conservation Of The Eastern Box Turtle, Marie Colson

Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Exurban development is the fastest growing form of land use in the southeastern US and the primary driver of habitat and biodiversity loss. Species with long generation times such as the eastern box turtle (Terrapene carolina carolina) can persist in an urbanizing environment but have higher mortality than in forested habitat and show a response lag which delays detection of population decline. I quantify land use and land cover change over a forty year period by photo interpreting historic imagery that is orthorectified using a direct linear transformation model. A GIS database is created for three study sites and landscape …

A Comparison Theorem For The Topological And Algebraic Classification Of Quaternionic Toric 8-Manifolds, Piotr Runge

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

In order to discuss topological properties of quaternionic toric 8-manifolds, we introduce the notion of an algebraic morphism in the category of toric spaces. We show that the classification of quaternionic toric 8-manifolds with respect to an algebraic isomorphism is finer than the oriented topological classification. We construct infinite families of quaternionic toric 8-manifolds in the same oriented homeomorphism type but algebraically distinct. To prove that the elements within each family are of the same oriented homeomorphism type, and that we have representatives of all such types of a quaternionic toric 8-manifold, we present and use a method of evaluating …

Geologic Mapping, Alluvial Stratigraphy, And Optically Stimulated Luminescence Dating Of The Kanab Creek Area, Southern Utah, Michelle Carlene Summa

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

At the turn of the century, Kanab Creek incised 30-meters into its alluvium, leaving behind fluvial terraces and thick basin fill sediments exposed along arroyo walls. Research objectives were to determine the timing and causes of past valley-filling and arroyo-cutting episodes along a 20 km-long reach of Kanab Creek in southern Utah. Fluvial deposits were mapped at the 1:12,000 scale and sediments were described and dated using Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) and radiocarbon dating.

The Kanab Creek valley can be divided into a narrow, upper terraced reach and a broad lower basin fill reach near Kanab, Utah. The most prominent …

Salinity Inventory And Tolerance Screening In Utah Agriculture, Austin Mccoy Hawks

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Soil salinity, a yield-limiting condition, has plagued crop production for centuries by reducing crop productivity. Research has introduced methods for successfully managing soil salinity. This research discusses the adaptation of established management methods to create new soil salinity management techniques.

One adapted technique is an automated crop screening apparatus. A new design was created and successfully used in rapidly screening two strawberry cultivars to determine their tolerance to salinity. Screening crops and determining their tolerance to yield-limiting conditions are essential in managing soil salinity.

Another salinity management tool used in this research was electromagnetic induction (EMI). EMI was used to …

Health Impacts Of Traffic Related Air Pollution, Amit U. Raysoni, Wen-Wahi Li

School of Earth, Environmental, & Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

Ambient air pollution can be a serious cause of concern for any community. Anthropogenic ambient air pollutants can emanate from industries, traffic, geological sources and domestic heating and cooking. However, studies have shown that traffic related air pollution can have far more detrimental health effects than non-combustion sources. These adverse health effects are most profound in sensitive populations like the elderly and young children. The World Health Organization (WHO) attributes more than 300 million deaths every year to ambient air pollution. The WHO’s Air Quality Guidelines (AQG) and the United States Environment Protection Agency’s (USEPA) National Ambient Air Quality Standards …

Nonlinear Evolution Of Baryon Acoustic Oscillations From Improved Perturbation Theory In Real And Redshift Spaces, Atsushi Taruya, Takahiro Nishimichi, Shun Saito, Takashi Hiramatsu

Physics Faculty Research & Creative Works

We study the nonlinear evolution of baryon acoustic oscillations in the matter power spectrum and correlation function from the improved perturbation theory (PT). Based on the framework of renormalized PT, which provides a nonperturbative way to treat the gravitational clustering of large-scale structure, we apply the closure approximation that truncates the infinite series of loop contributions at one-loop order, and obtain a closed set of integral equations for power spectrum and nonlinear propagator. The resultant integral expressions are basically equivalent to those previously derived in the form of evolution equations, and they keep important nonperturbative properties which can dramatically improve …

Systematic Analysis Of Double-Ionization Dynamics Based On Four-Body Dalitz Plots, Daniel Fischer, Michael Schulz, Katharina R. Schneider, Marcelo F. Ciappina, Tom Kirchner, Aditya H. Kelkar, S. Hagman, Manfred Grieser, Kai Uwe Kuhnel, Robert Moshammer, Joachim Hermann Ullrich

Physics Faculty Research & Creative Works

We report on an experimental and theoretical systematic study of double ionization of helium by ion impact in terms of four-particle Dalitz plots. Several collision systems covering abroad range of perturbation parameters η (projectile charge to speed ratio) were investigated. With increasing η we observe a systematic trend from features, characteristic to correlated double-ionization mechanisms, to signatures of higher-order processes not requiring electron-electron correlations [the mechanism called "two-step-two projectile-electron interaction" (TS-2)]. The data for the largest η can qualitatively be amazingly well described by a simple model only including the TS-2 mechanism.

Four-Body Model For Transfer Excitation, Allison L. Harris, Jerry Peacher, Don H. Madison, James Colgan

Physics Faculty Research & Creative Works

We present here a four-body model for transfer-excitation collisions, which we call the four-body transfer-excitation (4BTE) model. Each two-body interaction is explicitly included in the 4BTE model, allowing us to study the effects of individual two-body interactions. We apply our model to fully differential cross sections for proton+helium collisions, and study the effect of the incident projectile-atom interaction, the scattered projectile-ion interaction, the projectile-nuclear interaction, and electron correlation within the target atom.

(E,2e) Study Of Two-Center Interference Effects In The Ionization Of N₂, Leigh R. Hargreaves, Christopher J. Colyer, Mark A. Stevenson, B. Lohmann, Ola A. Al-Hagan, Don H. Madison, Chuangang Ning

Physics Faculty Research & Creative Works

A number of previous studies have suggested the possibility of two-center interference effects in the single ionization of diatomic molecules such as H₂ and N₂. While interference effects have been successfully observed in the ionization of H₂, to date evidence for interference in N₂ ionization has yet to be conclusively demonstrated. This study presents triply differential cross sections for electron impact ionization of N₂, measured using the (e,2e) technique. The data are probed for signatures of two-center interference effects. Evidence for interference manifesting in the cross sections is observed.

Coherent Phrase Model For Efficient Image Near-Duplicate Retrieval, Yiqun Hu, Xiangang Cheng, Liang-Tien Chia, Xing Xie, Deepu Rajan, Ah-Hwee Tan

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

This paper presents an efficient and effective solution for retrieving image near-duplicate (IND) from image database. We introduce the coherent phrase model which incorporates the coherency of local regions to reduce the quantization error of the bag-of-words (BoW) model. In this model, local regions are characterized by visual phrase of multiple descriptors instead of visual word of single descriptor. We propose two types of visual phrase to encode the coherency in feature and spatial domain, respectively. The proposed model reduces the number of false matches by using this coherency and generates sparse representations of images. Compared to other method, the …

Block Modeling With Multiple Fault Network Geometries And A Linear Elastic Coupling Estimator In Spherical Coordinates, Brendan J. Meade, John P. Loveless

Geosciences: Faculty Publications

Geodetic observations of interseismic deformation provide constraints on the partitioning of fault slip across plate boundary zones, the spatial distribution of both elastic and inelastic strain accumulation, and the nature of the fault system evolution. Here we describe linear block theory, which decomposes surface velocity fields into four components: (1) plate rotations, (2) elastic deformation from faults with kinematically consistent slip rates, (3) elastic deformation from faults with spatially variable coupling, and (4) homogeneous intrablock strain. Elastic deformation rates are computed for each fault segment in a homogeneous elastic half-space using multiple optimal planar Cartesian coordinate systems to minimize areal …

Object Oriented Program Correctness With Oosiml, José M. Garrido

Faculty Articles

Software reliability depends on program correctness and robustness and these are extremely important in developing high-quality software. Correctness is also essential when considering aspects of software security. However, experience applying these concepts, associated methods, and supporting software with Eiffel and Java have shown that students find some diffculty learning program correctness and in learning the software tools provided. We have developed an experimental language, OOSimL, that includes an assertion notation similar to that of Eiffel but which has much more flexibility, and that provides the same semantics as Java.

The first part of this paper provides an overview of concepts …

Side-Effects Of Pesticides On The Life Cycle Of The Mite Pathogenic Fungus Neozygites Floridana, V. W. Wekesa, M. Knapp, I. Delalibera

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

The tomato red spider mite, Tetranychus evansi Baker and Pritchard, is an invasive species in Africa causing considerable damage to Solanaceous crops. The fungal pathogen Neozygites floridana Weiser and Muma from Brazil has been considered a potential candidate for introduction into Africa for the control of T. evansi. To be incorporated in the tomato production system, N. floridana has to be compatible with the pesticides used for the control of other pests and diseases. Pesticides used in tomatoes that might affect the fungus were therefore studied by the use of different methods. Two insecticides (Lambda-cyhalothrin and Methomyl), two acaricides (Propargite …

S2st: A Relational Rdf Database Management System, Anthony T. Piazza

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

The explosive growth of RDF data on the Semantic Web drives the need for novel database systems that can efficiently store and query large RDF datasets. To achieve good performance and scalability of query processing, most existing RDF storage systems use a relational database management system as a backend to manage RDF data. In this paper, we describe the design and implementation of a Relational RDF Database Management System. Our main research contributions are: (1) We propose a formal model of a Relational RDF Database Management System (RRDBMS), (2) We propose generic algorithms for schema, data and query mapping, (3) …

Utilizing Concept Mapping As A Teaching And Learning Tool To Prepare For The Science Taks Test, Rosa Linda Zuniga

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

Concept mapping was used with Donna High School students to determine its effect on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) test. Concept mapping was used with models such as the Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol model (SIOP), the 5- E model, and the Learning Groups model. This measure was taken because the models used have not helped students improve their TAKS scores significantly. The findings of this research reveals that using the process of concept mapping together with the SIOP model helps students clearly see related concepts and motivates them to think more deeply. Students quickly realize what concepts …

Perturbation Theory Analysis Of Attosecond Photoionization, Anthony F. Starace, Evgeny A. Pronin, M. V. Frolov, N. L. Manakov

Anthony F. Starace Publications

Ionization of an atom by a few-cycle attosecond xuv pulse is analyzed using perturbation theory (PT), keeping terms in the transition amplitude up to second order in the pulse electric field. Within the PT approach, we present an ab initio parametrization of the ionized electron angular distribution (AD) using rotational invariance and symmetry arguments. This parametrization gives analytically the dependence of the AD on the carrier envelope phase (CEP), the polarization of the pulse, and on the ionized electron momentum direction, p^ . For the general case of an elliptically polarized pulse, we show that interference of the first- and …

Noteworthy Winter Prey Of Short-Eared Owls In Southern Texas: A Case Study, Damon Williford, Marc C. Woodin, Mary Kay Skoruppa

The Prairie Naturalist

The winter range of North American short-eared owls (Asio flammeus) encompasses much of the United States, including southern Texas, where it is a common winter resident (Oberholser 1974, Rappole and Blacklock 1985). Winter food habits of short-eared owls are relatively weJl documented, but the majority of investigations have been conducted in eastern Canada and northeastern U.S. (Clark 1975, Holt 1993); midwestern U.S. (Colvin and Spaulding 1983); and British Columbia and Pacific northwestern U.S. (Bogiatto et al. 2001). The short-eared owl has a narrow trophic niche, generally preying on small mammals, with voles (Microtus spp.) and deer mice …

Bed Site Selection Of Fawn Pronghorn In Custer State Park, South Dakota, Chad P. Lehman, Jamin D. Hartland, Barbara J. Keller, Joshua J. Millspaugh, Gary C. Brundige

The Prairie Naturalist

We evaluated pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) fawn bedding site characteristics on a prairie and ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) landscape interface in Custer State Park, South Dakota. We radio-marked 16 adult female pronghorn and collected bed site information from their fawns during 2007~2008. We compared bed site selection with random sites (n = 74) during 2 periods; the early hiding phase when fawns were 1 ~28 days of age (n = 23 bed sites) and the later group phase when fawns were 29~60 days of age (n = 52 bed sites). During the hiding phase fawns selected dry …

A Partial Inventory Of Islands In North Dakota: Potential For Breeding Waterfowl Management, Michael L. Szymanski

The Prairie Naturalist

Islands can provide secure nesting habitat for ducks and other waterbirds, especially in agriculturally dominated landscapes. I inventoried natural and man-made islands in the portion of North Dakota covered by the Prairie Pothole Joint Venture (PPJV). I mapped 1,305 islands in this area; up to 46% of which could provide enhanced nest success with management (e.g., predator removal or establishment of brushy cover). Management of islands for breeding ducks may be an important method for achieving desired reproductive rates in the PP JV as substantial areas of perennial grass cover are lost from federal conservation programs, primarily the Conservation Reserve …

Rattle: A Data Mining Gui For R, Graham J. Williams

The R Journal

Data mining delivers insights, pat terns, and descriptive and predictive models from the large amounts of data available today in many organisations. The data miner draws heavily on methodologies, techniques and algorithms from statistics, machine learning, and computer science. R increasingly provides a powerful platform for data mining. However, scripting and programming is sometimes a challenge for data analysts moving into data mining. The Rattle package provides a graphical user interface specifically for data mining using R. It also provides a stepping stone toward using R as a programming language for data analysis.

Copas: An R Package For Fitting The Copas Selection Model, J. Carpenter, G. Rücker, G. Schhwarzer

The R Journal

This article describes the R package copas which is an add-on package to the R pack age meta. The R package copas can be used to f it the Copas selection model to adjust for bias in meta-analysis. A clinical example is used to illustrate fitting and interpreting the Copas selection model.

Convergenceconcepts: An R Package To Investigate Various Modes Of Convergence, Pierre Lafaye De Micheaux, Benoit Liquet

The R Journal

ConvergenceConcepts is an R pack age, built upon the tkrplot, tcltk and lattice packages, designed to investigate the convergence of simulated sequences of random variables. Four classical modes of convergence may be studied, namely: almost sure convergence (a.s.), convergence in probability (P), convergence in law (L) and convergence in r-th mean (r). This investigation is performed through ac curate graphical representations. This package may be used as a pedagogical tool. It may give students a better understanding of these notions and help them to visualize these difficult theoretical concepts. Moreover, …

Party On!, Carolin Strobl, Torsten Hothorn, Achim Zeileis

The R Journal

Random forests are one of the most popular statistical learning algorithms, and a variety of methods for fitting random forests and related recursive partitioning approaches is available in R. This paper points out two important features of the random forest implementation cforest available in the party package: The resulting forests are unbiased and thus prefer able to the randomForest implementation avail able in randomForest if predictor variables are of different types. Moreover, a conditional per mutation importance measure has recently been added to the party package, which can help evaluate the importance of correlated predictor variables. The rationale of this …

Expression Artifact With Retroviral Vectors Based On Pbmn, Yoshitaka Fukunaga, Robert A. Svoboda, Ronald Cerny, Keith R. Johnson, Margaret J. Wheelock

Ronald Cerny Publications

While characterizing various splice forms of p120 catenin, we observed what appeared to be a novel posttranslational modification of p120, resulting in a higher molecular weight form that was dependent on the splicing pattern. Further investigation revealed the higher molecular weight form to be a fusion protein between sequences encoded by the retroviral vector and p120. We found that the publicly available sequence of the vector we used does not agree with the experimental sequence. We caution other investigators to be aware of this potential artifact.

Democracy And The Environment In Latin America, Javier Albert Escamilla

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This study examines the ability of democratic and non-democratic states alike to protect the environment. Democracy has long been an important concept in the study of politics and environmental protection is an increasingly important issue in world politics. Advocates of democracy claim democratic states are better able to protect the environment than non-democracies. In contrast there are those that argue democracy's emphasis on individual rights leads to excessive resource consumption. This thesis employs a mixed methods approach to determine if democratic countries protect the environment more than their non-democratic counterparts. In short democracies do protect the environment better than non-democracies …