Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Second-Hand Smoke Exposure In Cars And Respiratory Health Effects In Children, Patrick J. Goodman, Z. Kabir, Luke Clancy, P.J. Manning, J. Holohan, S. Keogan

Articles

We examined potential associations of ever asthma, and symptoms of wheeze (past 12 months), hay fever, eczema and bronchitis (cough with phlegm) among school children exposed to second-hand smoke (SHS) in cars, using a modified Irish International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) protocol. 2,809 children of 13–14 yrs old and who selected randomly from post-primary schools throughout Ireland completed the 2007 ISAAC self-administered questionnaire. Adjusted OR (adjusted for sex, active smoking status of children interviewed and their SHS exposure at home) were estimated for the associations studied, using multivariable logistic regression techniques. Overall, 14.8% (13.9% in young …

Silicone Rubber Passive Samplers For Water Quality Monitoring Of Persistent Organic Pollutants In The Marine Environment, Susan O'Hara

Masters

Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) and Polyaromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) are internationally considered as persistent organic pollutants (POPs) which can be mutagenic, carcinogenic and may accumulate in aquatic organisms and potentially in the human chain. PCBs and PAHs are thus listed as priority pollutants in the Water Framework Directive (WFD) and under the Convention for the protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic (Oslo Paris Convention: OSPAR). Currently most marine monitoring programmes involving such compounds rely on the collection and analysis of discrete water/sediment grab samples or on the analysis of filter feeding indicator organisms e.g. mussels. Such measurements can provide …

Flame, Furnace, Fuel: Creating Kansas City In The Nineteenth Century, Twyla Dell

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Though this work is a fuel and energy history of Kansas City from 1820 to 1920, it also provides a tool to describe and analyze fuel and energy transitions. The four parts follow the rise and fall of wood, coal and oil as their use grows to a peak and, in the case of wood, declines. The founding and growth of Kansas City as an “instant city” that grew from zero population to over three hundred twenty thousand in a hundred years embodies the increased use of fuels and energy in an urban setting and serves as a case study. …

Synthesis, Characterization And Use Of Nb2 O5 Based Catalysts In Producing Biofuels By Transesterification, Esterification And Pyrolysis, Rodrigo F. Brandão, Rafael L. Quirino, Vinicius M. Mello, André P. Tavares, Antônio C. Peres, Flávia Guinhos, Joel C. Rubim, Paulo A. Z. Suarez

Chemistry: Faculty Publications (1990-2023)

Nb2O5/HX (X = HSO4-, H2PO4-, NO3-) compounds were obtained from the treatment of niobium acid (Nb2O5·xH2O) with sulfuric, phosphoric, and nitric acids as well as Nb2O5 and Nb2O5·xH2O have been investigated as catalysts for the transesterification, esterification and pyrolysis of vegetable oils. The compounds were characterized by thermal analysis (DTA-TGA), spectroscopy (DRX, FT-IR and FT-Raman), surface area (BET) and the acidity (Ho) determined by n-butylamine titration using the Hammet´s indicator method. It was observed that after the acid treatment both the surface area and the acidity decreased as compared to the starting Nb2O5·xH2O. The only exception was a higher acidity …

Electric Multipole Moments Of Some Diatomic Molecules Molecules, M. Özgür Sezer, Ayhan Özmen, Hüseyi̇n Yüksel

Turkish Journal of Physics

Molecular Electric Multipole Moment (MEMM) integrals have been derived for diatomic molecular systems, and then some lower multipole moments as dipole moments and quadrupole moments have been calculated for some diatomic molecules. The calculations have been performed by using our analytical formula over Slater-Type orbitals (STOs) with Cade and Huo's basis sets and the GAMESS program package working with Gaussian-Type basis sets (GTOs). The expressions which involve factorials are given in terms of binomial coefficients in order to speed up calculations. The results have been obtained in agreement with data found in the literature.

The Problem With Particularized Injury: The Disjuncture Between Broad-Based Environmental Harm And Standing Jurisprudence, Hope M. Babcock

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Several recent events harmonically converged into the topic for this article. The first was a posting on Georgetown Law’s environmental law professors’ listserv by Professor John Bonine, which raised a number of questions about whether and how standing doctrine might be rethought in light of the Supreme Court’s opinion in Massachusetts v. EPA. That opinion relaxed the states’ standing burden because of the unique sovereign interests, finding that federalism bargaining earned states “special solicitude” when it came to meeting the Court’s standing requirements.

The second was a complaint filed by a consortium of regional environmental organizations, Chesapeake Bay Foundation, …

Export Of Terrestrial Dissolved Organic Matter Along A River To Ocean Transect Of The Lower Chesapeake Bay Investigated By Advanced Analytical Techniques, Rachel Leigh Sleighter

Chemistry & Biochemistry Theses & Dissertations

Ultrahigh resolution electrospray ionization Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (ESI-FTICR-MS) has proved essential for the complete separation of the thousands of peaks present in natural organic matter (NOM), a complex assemblage of organic molecules present in water, soils, and sediments. An improved understanding of its composition is crucial to understand how pollutants interact with NOM and how NOM cycles through global carbon cycles.

Optimizing the acquisition and handling of the FTICR mass spectra is the first step to obtaining high quality data. A simple method to internally calibrate the peaks in the complex spectra, using naturally present fatty …

Light Scattering In Ultracold High Density Rubidium Vapor, Salim Balik

Physics Theses & Dissertations

Recent developments in laser cooling and trapping opened the door to a world full of new opportunities for research in atomic, molecular and optical physics as well as condensed matter physics. It became possible to do experiments under conditions that are hard to achieve in condensed matter systems but recently have been observed in atomic systems. Bose Einstein Condensation, the Mott insulator transition, and superfluidity are examples of such achievements. Another considerable interest to both condensed matter and atomic physics is Anderson localization of light. The localization phenomenon is named after P. W. Anderson who suggested the possibility of localization …

The Effects Of Technology On Literacy(S), Thomas Glen Petersen

Masters Theses

"One of the challenges when measuring the effects of technology on literacy(s) is finding a control group where technology; does not play a major role in the culture. The Amish successfully live in a Technocracy where mechanical/electronic tools are used only when absolutely necessary; the Amish are not dependent on them for survival. The crux of the Amish philosophy is humility, serving the community and serving God. Ironically, they have suffered tremendous repercussions for adopting a wholesome, selfless lifestyle which is contrary to most popular world views, regardless of religious or spiritual views"--Purpose, page 40.

Sequential And Direct Two-Photon Double Ionization Of D₂ At Flash, Y. H. Jiang, Artem Rudenko, Kai Uwe Kuhnel, Th. Ergler, S. Ludemann, Karl Zrost, Daniel Fischer, J. Perez-Torres, E. Plesiat, F. Martin, L. Foucar, J. Titze, Markus S. Schoffler, Reinhard Dorner, J. L. Sanz-Vicario, S. Dusterer, R. Treusch, Claus Dieter Schroter, Robert Moshammer, Joachim Hermann Ullrich

Physics Faculty Research & Creative Works

Sequential and direct two-photon double ionization (DI) of D₂ molecule is studied experimentally and theoretically at a photon energy of 38.8 eV. Experimental and theoretical kinetic energy releases of D⁺+D⁺fragments, consisting of the contributions of sequential DI via the D₂⁺(1sσ_g) state and direct DI via a virtual state, agree well with each other.

Measurement Of Semi-Inclusive Π+ Electroproduction Off The Proton, Clas Collaboration, M. J. Amaryan, H. Bagdasaryan, M. Bektasoglu, S. Bültmann, K. V. Dharmawardane, G. E. Dodge, G. Gavalian, N. Guler, C. E. Hyde-Wright, A. Klein, A. V. Klimenko, S. E. Kuhn, M. R. Niroula, L. M. Qin, L. B. Weinstein, J. Zhang

Physics Faculty Publications

Semi-inclusive π+ electroproduction on protons has been measured with the CLAS detector at Jefferson Lab. The measurement was performed on a liquid-hydrogen target using a 5.75 GeV electron beam. The complete five-fold differential cross sections were measured over a wide kinematic range including the complete range of azimuthal angles between hadronic and leptonic planes, ϕ , enabling us to separate the ϕ-dependent terms. Our measurements of the ϕ -independent term of the cross section at low Bjorken x were found to be in fairly good agreement with pQCD calculations. Indeed, the conventional current fragmentation calculation can account for almost all …

Sustainability Of Potable Water In The Pilbara, Timothy P. Pidhirnyj

Theses

This paper provides an examination of current and future demands on potable (drinking) water in the Pilbara. In this examination, it builds a picture summarizing human habitation in the Pilbara, and the nature in which the Western Australia state and Commonwealth governments assess and manage resources in the Pilbara, state wide, and nationally. Following on, water demand is broken down into its major user groups per town, and future demand is estimated based on publically available documents. It will be shown that water demand in certain areas of the Pilbara will exceed their licensed extraction limits within the next 20 …

Extraction Of Hydrocarbons And Minimizing Organic Deposits From Crude Oil Using Carbon Dioxide, Adel Adib Azzam

Theses

Supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) technology is a new and powerful separation process, which has several applications in environmental and petroleum industry fields. Supercritical carbon dioxide (SC CO₂) extraction process can be applied as a remediation technique for sediments contaminated with crude oil. On the other hand, SC CO₂ can be applied as an Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) technique in the petroleum industry to increase the ultimate recovery factor of crude oil from reservoirs. Therefore, utilization of SC CO₂ for the extraction applications can result both in environmental and economic benefits.

In this study, SC CO_{2 …}

Utilizing Available Residual Pressure In Fujairah Lines In Bypassing Al Ain Reception Station Considering Transients And Water Hammer Conditions, Hazem Bakri Al Naser

Theses

The objective of this study is to utilize the available residual pressure at Fujairah Transmission lines in order to save energy, operation and maintenance costs, and still deliver the required water to the end users of the distribution network. This has been achieved by bypassing the existing pumping stations (i.e. AARS Reservoir and pumping stations in addition to the local reservoirs and pumping stations of each area). The possibility of transients, surge, and cavitation occurrence was studied via a comprehensive transient simulation to make sure that the proposed bypassing will not have any impact on the upstream transmission system by …

Development Of A Gis Database For Water Resources Management In Ajman Emirate, Uae., Mohammad Rehan Yusuf

Theses

The lack of freshwater resources represents a major constraint against the sustainable development in arid and semi-arid regions. Because of the scarcity and randomness nature of rainfall in arid regions, surface water resources are almost absent. Groundwater resources are always under stress and in many cases do not suffice the water demands for different sectors. Desalination plants are widely constructed to substitute for the water shortage. The UAE, including Ajman emirate, is witnessing a rapid development in the industrial, commercial, construction and agricultural fields which has led to a tremendous increase in water demands.

Proper management of the limited water …

Polymeric Nanofibrous Media For Enhanced Ground Water Filtration, Bothaina Abdulla Al Shamsi

Theses

Water is one of the bulk transportation media for transmission of particulate contaminants. These contaminants are complex mixtures of particles; most of them are usually smaller than 1000 µm in diameter. Chemical and biological aerosols (particulates) are frequently in the range of 1- 10 µm. The particulate matters may carry some adsorbed gaseous contaminants. The removal of particulate and biological contaminants is thus an important step in water purification process. Particulate contaminants if not removed tend to foul reverse osmosis membranes and severely reduce the throughput of the final purification step. The filtration industry is looking for more efficient high …

Evaluation Of Management Options For Groundwater Resources In Khatt Basin Area, Uae Using Gis And Modflow, Nada Buti Khalifa Buthiana Alsuwaidi

Theses

Khatt springs area has been chosen in 1979 to be a major recreational site in Ras Al Khaimah. The outflow water from these springs has been used to irrigate the surrounding farms. In the period 1999-2004, there was a severe drought which affected the flow and water temperature from the spring as the flow decreased to almost one tenth of its average value and temperature decreased from 40 to 33 C. This work is an attempt to develop a GIS-based groundwater flow model for the Khatt springs area with the following main objectives: 1) Characterize the general hydrogeological setting of …

Screening For Latent Or Silent Celiac Disease “Gluten-Sensitive Enteropathy” In Uae Adults Nationals, Waheeba Salman Al Zaabi

Theses

No abstract provided.

Antibiotic Resistance Of Helicobacter Pylori Strains In The United Arab Emirates And Its Relation To The Gene Associated To Gastric Cancer “Cag A Gene”, Wafa Ali Rashid Al-Tayyari

Theses

Helicobacter pylori is a flagellated corkscrew, slow growing neutrophilic gram negative ureolytic organism. It has an extraordinary ability to establish infection in human stomach that can last for years or decades. Its eradication remains an important public health challenge especially in light of broadening indications and increasing antimicrobial resistance.

AIM: i) Identification of H. pylori in UAE patients ii) Determination of the prevalence of antibiotic resistance genes (mutation in 23S rRNA gene in clarithromycin, and deletion in RdxA gene in metronidazole) among H. pylori strains isolated from U.A.E patients by using molecular methods, iii) Ascertain whether Cag A- positive H. …

Integrating Advanced Facades Intro Sustainable Office Buildings In The Emirate Of Abu Dhabi, Uae, Ahmad Omar Balhamar

Theses

Abu Dhabi emirate consume about 130 millions AED in air conditioning electricity bills, this amount is only for 700 buildings in Abu Dhabi City and 300 buildings in Musafah district. Abu Dhabi city consumes 239.70 Kw/m²/year; however Musafah district consumes 179.92 Kw/m²/year. The difference came from different in total area of glass building facades between Abu Dhabi city and Musafah district buildings. Despite the fact that Abu Dhabi is one of the hottest cities in the Gulf region, its modern office buildings are characterized by glass facades. Such a concept comes with increased air conditioning operational …

Germination Ecology Of Two Indigenous Range Grasses Lasiurus Scindicus And Panicum Turgidum, Naeema Sultan Abdullah Al-Shamisi

Theses

The utilization of indigenous forage species to replace the exotic ones could help in saving large amounts of water. The indigenous forage grasses Lasiurus scindicus and Panicum turgidum have been ranked among the plants that could tolerate drought during vegetative and reproductive stages and are currently being successfully used as fodders under experimental conditions in the UAE and in some parts of the world. However, there are no enough information about their dormancy and the environmental factors affecting their seed germination. In this study, the innate dormancy, light and temperature requirements, drought and salinity tolerances and the impact of dormancy …

Impact Of Heavy Metals On Childhood Behaviors And Development: A Uae Study, Said Yousef Ahmad Abdel Razeq

Theses

BACKGROUND: Environmental toxic metal exposure is well known to adversely affect children's development and behavior. To our knowledge, there are no studies that carefully examined this potential hazard in UAE and Gulf countries.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this case-control study was to determine blood concentrations of 12 heavy metals in school-age children in Al Ain City. The other aim was to correlate the blood levels with developmental (e.g., learning disability) and behavioral (e.g., Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder) problems in children.

METHODS: One hundred and forty seven subjects (73 with developmental and/or behavioral disorders and 74 controls) participated in the study. The …

Workplace Privacy: An Environmental-Behaviour Analysis Of Etisalat Offices In Al-Ain, Latefa Ali Saleh Ahmad Alkuwaiti

Theses

The purpose of this study was to explore environmental quality factors in the workplace and to examine the level of job satisfaction among the employees of Etisalat Al-Ain through three main factors: visual privacy, acoustical privacy and social interaction. The theoretical and conceptual elements of the study evolved from the literature of office history, behaviour studies, building performance evaluation and job satisfaction.

Data were gathered in two stages, first phase with a population of 10 and second stage with 100 subjects of Etisalat employees, including both those working in open plan workstations and those who work in enclosed offices.

Using …

Water Demand Forecasting In Umm Al Quwain Using The Iwr-Main, Aysha Abdulla Al Mualla

Theses

Water demand forecasting has become an essential component in effective water resources planning and management. It provides valuable trigger in determining the time and the capacity for new water resources development. In the United Arab Emirates, the need for an accurate water demand forecasting becomes particularly important. The reasons for this include, and are not limited to, high temperature throughout the year, high population growth rates, and high development growth.

The main objective of this study is to forecast the water demand in UAQ for the next 25 years using the IWR-MAIN software. Two methods; namely the Constant Use Rate …

Investigation On The Minimization Of Sulfur Dioxide Emissions At Abu Dhabi Gas Liquefaction Company Limited (Adgas) And Its Impact On Ambient Air Quality, Haitham Salmeen Abdulla Babahar

Theses

The processing of sour gases within Abu Dhabi Gas Liquefaction Company (ADGAS) LNG Trains located in Das Island involves sulfur dioxide (SO₂) emissions that mainly result from fuel gas usage to produce steam and electricity, and incomplete recovery of sulfur from acid gases. ADGAS SO₂ emissions affect the ambient air quality in Das Island, and this has the potential to affect the health of the residents of the island. The aim of this work is to explore the feasible technologies to minimize SO₂ emissions from ADGAS, and study the impact of such on the ambient air …

Development And Characterization Of Sulfur Dioxide Gas Analyzer, Samira Mohamed Saeed Mohamed Baomran

Theses

Sulfur dioxide (SO₂) is considered one of the main contaminants in air because of its major contribution to acid rain and due to the major health concerns associated with exposure to high concentrations of SO₂. Hence, there has been a great interest in the determination of SO₂ because of continuous monitoring its impacts on the environment and public health. However, limited reports targeted SO₂ in gas streams.

Therefore, the primary objective of the present work was to develop affordable gas analyzer for continuous monitoring of SO₂ in gas streams. The principle of operation …

Influence Of Iron And Iron-Bearing Minerals On Soil Magnetic Properties, Suzan Marwan Ramadan Shahin

Theses

In this study, soil magnetic properties (magnetic susceptibility/ permeability) due to iron and iron bearing minerals have been evaluated by using MS2B on different percentage levels from pure iron, hematite and magnetite content at different conditions. The study shows that soil magnetic behavior has a strong dependency on grain size, temperature, water content, pH and compositional content.

Also, soil electrical behaviors have been studied due to iron and iron bearing minerals by using Impedance/ gain-phase Analyzer on different soil magnetic inclusion at different percentages. The study has established the strong effect of the magnetic inclusion on the measurements of relative …

Fluoride And Phosphate Glass Whispering Gallery Micro-Resonators, Jonathan Ward

Theses

This PhD work focuses on spherical microlasers made from commercial and experimental laser glasses. The laser light in a microsphere is confined in a region called a whispering gallery mode, which has unique properties that allow for many nonlinear effects to be observed with only sub-mW pump powers. Efficient coupling of light into the microsphere is attained by using adiabatically tapered fibres fabricated using various heating methods including a CO₂ laser, a sapphire tube furnace and electric heaters. However, the best result is obtained using a fibre pulling rig with an oxy-butane torch as the heat source. This system …

The Geometry Of The Space Of Oriented Geodesics Of Hyperbolic 3-Space, Nikos Georgiou

Theses

In this thesis we construct a Kähler structure (J, Ω, G) on the space L(H³) of oriented geodesics of hyperbolic 3-space H³ and investigate its properties. We prove that (L(H³),J) is biholomorphic to (see thesis pdf), and that the Kähler metric G is of neutral signature, conformally flat and scalar flat.

We establish that the identity component of the isometry group of the metric G on L(H³) is isomorphic to the identity component of the hyperbolic isometry group. We show that the geodesics of G correspond to ruled minimal surfaces in H3, which …

Holographic Recording In Acrylamide Photopolymers: Thickness Limitations, Mohammad Mahmud, Izabela Naydenova, Nitesh Pandey, Tzvetanka Babeva, Raghavendra Jallapuram, Suzanne Martin, Vincent Toal

Articles

Holographic recording in thick photopolymer layers is important for application in holographic data storage, volume holographic filters and correlators. Here, the characteristics of acrylamidebased photopolymer layers having thickness from 250 μm to 1-mm were studied. For each layer thickness samples with three different values of absorbance were studied. By measuring both the first order diffraction efficiency growth of holographically recorded gratings and studying the diffraction patterns obtained, the influence of scattering on the diffraction efficiency of thick volume holographic gratings was analyzed. It was observed that above a particular thickness and absorbance, the first order diffraction efficiency significantly decreased because …