Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

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

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

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

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

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

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

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

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

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

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

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

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

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

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

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

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

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

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

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

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

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

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

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

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

Forecasting Space Weather Using Deep Learning Techniques, Sumi None Dey

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Solar activity gives rise to various kinds of space weather among which solar flares have serious detrimental eects on both near-Earth space and our upper atmosphere that will have consequent influence in our lives. For example, solar flares can damage satellite infrastructure, hinder power grids, disrupt Global Positioning Systems (GPS) and disrupt long-distance communication. Airplane pilots, cabin crew and astronauts can be aected by the harmful radiation released from the Sun. As a result, there is a need of a methodology to forecast space weather accurately. In this work, we have developed a deep learning architecture to do the short-range …

Cerium Levels In Fine And Coarse Airborne Particulate Matter In El Paso, Texas - A Geospatial And Temporal Investigation, Esenam Adzo Fumador

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The Paso Del Norte airshed is shared by two cities, El Paso, Texas, U.S.A. and Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. Population growth in both cities and their desert climate has created persistent challenges in meeting air quality standards for particulate matter, which is generated from both natural and anthropogenic sources.

In Europe, ceria or cerium dioxide (CeO2), introduced into diesel road fuel as nanoparticles, has significantly reduced emissions as well as increased vehicle mileage. Concerns have been raised there about the fate and potential health risks associated with the nanoceria (n-Ce) emitted in diesel exhaust. In the U.S.A on-road use of …

Investigating The 2016 Jackson, Wyoming Earthquake Sequence Using Waveform Cross-Correlation And Seismic Array Methods, Emily Jo Graves

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

During a visual inspection of PDAR data extracted for the catalog events, I observed additional, unreported events, which is to be expected during an energetic swarm or seismic sequence. The casual observation of missed events strongly implied that more such missed events could be found in the data, which could improve the completeness of the earthquake catalog for the Jackson, Wyoming area. Catalog completeness improves our assessment of a region's tectonic behavior and earthquake exposure. To search for recurring swarm or earthquake sequence behavior, I applied waveform correlation methods to scan nearly two decades of continuous PDAR waveforms, comparing to …

Magnetotelluric Analysis Of Central Kenya Kenyan Rift Volcanoes For Geothermal Development, Anna Wairimu Mwangi

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Abstract

High temperature geothermal resources are vast along rift margins because of emplacement of magma in shallow crust. This is the case along the Kenyan Rift valley also known as the Gregory Rift. It is the Eastern arm of the East African rift and a chain of volcanoes along the rift graben characterizes it. We use (MT) magnetotelluric method to image beneath the peralkaline province of the Kenya Rift i.e. Olkaria, Eburru, Badlands, and Longonot volcanoes. The resistivity structure shows active geothermal activity happening at the upper 3km from the subsurface as evidenced by low resistivity cap rock comprised of …

Tracking Topical Evolution In Large Document Collections, Sheikh Motahar Naim

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

A large document collection that builds up over time usually contains a number of different themes. All of these themes or topics are not equally important at the same time. One topic might have high probabilities in some years due to some relevant events, and low probabilities in other years. Analyzing the evolution of such topics has useful applications in a variety of domains, for example, helping researchers to quickly see the changes of research topics in an area, assisting intelligence agents in tracking the activities of a terrorist group, or monitoring damages caused by a natural disaster. In this …

Determing Fault Location Within An Active Rift Basin Using Gravity Analysis To Determine Fault Movemnet And Effect On Water Recharge, Mark Andrew Ornelas

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The growth of the El Paso, TX and Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, metropolitan area has increased reliance of groundwater pumping from the Hueco Bolson. With growing demands for water and recharge of the bolson not occurring at a fast enough rate, water storage within the bolson is beginning to diminish. My study focuses on locating and understanding how faults interact with water flow into the basin and how they aid in storing water on the northwestern side of the bolson. Previous studies in the northernmost part of my study area have delineated a series of faults that predominantly trend northwest-southeast. In …

Extraction Of Fiber Morphology From Sem Images For Quality Control Of Fiber Reinforced Composites Manufacturing, Md Fashiar Rahman

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The morphology of fibers (e.g. spatial uniformity, orientation, and length) plays a decisive role in determining the material properties or fabrication quality of fiber-reinforced nanocomposites. Hence, determining the morphology becomes a very critical issue in the field of nanocomposite quality control. The conventional way of quality inspection is to take the scanning electron microscopic (SEM) images of the cross-section of composite material and do the visual checking of these SEM images to evaluate the nanofiber alignment and length distribution. But this type of inspection is often subjective, inaccurate and time consuming. Moreover, the extremely small size of nanofibers makes the …

Geometry, Timing, And Kinematics Of Neogene Extensional And Transtensional Structures Of Southern Death Valley: Implications For Regional Reconstructions And A Corrective Method For Rigid Body Rotations, Zachariah Fleming

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Chapter 1:Advancements in computing capabilities over the last decade have allowed for the routine creation of Structure from Motion-Multiview Stereo (SfM-MVS) terrain models that can serve as base for high resolution geologic mapping. Outcrops models developed from these systems are high-resolution, photo-realistic 3D base providing unprecedented capability for geometric analysis. Yet, before this technology becomes a mainstay of field geology, the potential errors associated with it must be well understood. Here, we compare orientation measurements from multi-point analyses on the SfM-MVS point clouds to those taken in the field with the objective of resolving the geometry of complex folds within …

Experimental Laser Powder Bed Fusion System For Difficult To Process Metallic Materials, Syed Zia Uddin

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The focus of this research was twofold, such as development of defect free fabrication parameters for laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) processing of crack prone or difficult to process metallic materials, and study of the temperature dependence of emissivity for some commonly used metal alloy powders in LPBF process. The later objective extends to the implementation of multiwavelength (MW) pyrometer technology for in situ true surface temperature measurement in LPBF process. LPBF is an additive manufacturing (AM) process capable of layer-by-layer manufacturing by successive laser melting of each layer according to CAD data. AM manufacturing has the inherent advantages of …

Application Of Box-Behnken Experimental Design For The Formulation And Optimisation Of Selenomethionine-Loaded Chitosan Nanoparticles Coated With Zein For Oral Delivery., Giuliana Vozza, Hugh Byrne, Jesus Maria Frias, Minna Khalid Danish, Sinéad M. Ryan

Articles

Selenomethionine is an essential amino acid with a narrow therapeutic index and susceptibility to oxidation. Here it was encapsulated into a nanoparticle composed of chitosan cross-linked with tripolyphosphate for oral delivery. The formulation was optimised using a three-factor Box-Behnken experimental design. The chitosan:tripolyphosphate ratio, chitosan solvent pH, and drug load concentration were independently varied. The dependent variables studied were encapsulation efficiency, particle size, polydispersity index and zeta potential. For optimisation, encapsulation efficiency and zeta potential were maximised, particle diameter was set to 300 nm and polydispersity index was minimised. A 0.15 mg/mL concentration of selenomethionine, chitosan solvent pH of 3, …

Fabrication And Application Of Functional Polymer-Protein Coreshell Nanoparticles, Lin Lu

Theses and Dissertations

The study of polymer-protein nanoparticles is of increasing interest due to their various potential applications in biosensing, imaging, bioseparations, gene and drug delivery, etc. Synthetic polymers can be tailored with different functional groups and properties, therefore, they can serve as platforms to impart proteins with additional features and assist proteins to better perform biological functions. In this dissertation work, we were mainly focusing on the preparation of polymer-protein core-shell nanoparticles by synthesizing new functional polymers and assembling them with proteins for different applications. In chapter 1, a pyridine grafted diblock copolymer P(CL-g-Py)-b-PCL was prepared through ROP and CuAAC reactions. …

The Sedimentary Record Of Eocene Deformation In The Interior Of The Southern Canadian Cordillera, Erica May Rubino

Theses and Dissertations

Eocene sedimentary strata exposed in the interior of the southern Canadian Cordillera (SCC) in British Columbia (BC) and northernmost Washington (WA) record a poorly understood history of extension-related deformation in the hinterland of the orogen. Today these strata are exposed in isolated, distinct outcrop belts, although the nature of the original basin(s) is unknown. We examined 650 m of Eocene strata, analyzed 2,995 detrital zircons for uranium-lead (U-Pb) ages, and measured 67 detrital zircons for Hf isotope systematics in an effort to better understand the physiography of the SCC during this time period. Eocene strata consist of clast- and matrix-supported …

Synthesis Of Small-Molecule Fluorescent Probe And Polymers For Bioapplication: Bioimaging And Enzyme Stabilization, Yanmei Xu

Theses and Dissertations

In chapter one, we designed, synthesized and characterized two cysteine sensors CCPAP and CCPAN, with improved water solubility, cell penetration ability, and potential targeting selectivity. Two types of positive charged groups, i.e. triphenylphosphonium and pyridinium were introduced respectively to the frame structure CCP by coupling carboxylic acid with amine to improve the cell permeability and cysteine selectivity. ESI-MS, NMR and IR were employed to characterize the molecular structures of the two novel probes. These probes have better water solubility than the parent molecule DCP, and better cell penetration capability than CEP, which could further distinguish the cysteine concentration differences in …

An Axion Search With The Majorana Demonstrator, Clinton Gray Wiseman

Theses and Dissertations

The Majorana Demonstrator is an array of P-type point contact (PPC) germanium detectors enclosed in a multi-layered shield at the 4850’ level of the Sanford Underground Research Facility. Its primary goal is to search for the neutrinoless double beta decay of 76Ge. The initial 10 kg-y dataset, taken over a two year period, has energy thresholds as low as 1 keV. This allows concurrent rare event searches for the signatures of dark matter and solar axions in the low energy spectrum. Though the detectors are routinely operated with sub-keV energy thresholds, changing noise conditions in the array have made it …

Phylogeny, Ancestral Genome, And Disease Diagnoses Models Constructions Using Biological Data, Bing Feng

Theses and Dissertations

Studies of bioinformatics develop methods and software tools to analyze the biological data and provide insight of the mechanisms of biological process. Machine learning techniques have been widely used by researchers for disease prediction, disease diagnosis, and bio-marker identification. Using machine-learning algorithms to diagnose diseases has a couple of advantages. Besides solely relying on the doctors’ experiences and stereotyped formulas, researchers could use learning algorithms to analyze sophisticated, high-dimensional and multimodal biomedical data, and construct prediction/classification models to make decisions even when some information was incomplete, unknown, or contradictory. In this study, first of all, we built an automated computational …

Structural And Chemical Consequences Of High Oxygen Coverages On Rh(111), Rachael Gabrielle Farber

Dissertations

Partial oxidations of small molecules over metal surfaces are central to many heterogeneously catalyzed reactions. However, the identity of the actual surface species that promote or hinder these reactions has remained elusive for a variety of reasons. Recently, the understanding of the role of surface oxides in catalytic activity has changed. Instead of being thought of as poisons, they are now believed to be effective promoters of selective catalysis.

Rhodium (Rh) effectively promotes oxidation reactions and is a benchmark system for models of heterogeneously catalyzed chemistry. For this reason, Rh(111) was chosen as the model system for this dissertation work. …

The Enzymatic Activity And Inhibition Of Dape Encoded N-Succinyl-L,L-Diaminopimelic Acid Dessucinylase, Tahirah Heath

Dissertations

The bacterial enzyme DapE is a hydrolase in the late stage of the mDAP/lysine biosynthetic pathway that catalyzes the hydrolysis of N-succinyl-L,L-diaminopimelic acid (L,L-SDAP) to succinic acid and L,L-diaminopimelate (DAP). The product DAP is ultimately converted to m-DAP and then to lysine which is used in the construction of proteins, whereas for humans, lysine is an essential amino acid obtained through diet. DapE has been shown to be conserved across many strains of bacteria. The m-DAP produced through the succinylase pathway is used by both gram negative and gram-positive bacteria in the construction of the essential peptidoglycan cell wall. Because …

Pbw Bases And Marginally Large Tableaux In Type D, Ben Salisbury, Adam Schultze, Peter Tingley

Mathematics and Statistics: Faculty Publications and Other Works

We give an explicit description of the unique crystal isomorphism between two realizations of B(∞) in type D: that using marginally large tableaux and that using PBW monomials with respect to one particularly nice reduced expression of the longest word

How Often Does The Best Team Win? A Unified Approach To Understanding Randomness In North American Sport, Michael J. Lopez, Gregory J. Matthews, Benjamin S. Baumer

Mathematics and Statistics: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Statistical applications in sports have long centered on how to best separate signal (e.g., team talent) from random noise. However, most of this work has concentrated on a single sport, and the development of meaningful cross-sport comparisons has been impeded by the difficulty of translating luck from one sport to another. In this manuscript we develop Bayesian state-space models using betting market data that can be uniformly applied across sporting organizations to better understand the role of randomness in game outcomes. These models can be used to extract estimates of team strength, the between-season, within-season and game-to-game variability of team …

How Often Does The Best Team Win? A Unified Approach To Understanding Randomness In North American Sport, Michael J. Lopez, Gregory J. Matthews, Benjamin S. Baumer

Mathematics and Statistics: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Statistical applications in sports have long centered on how to best separate signal (e.g. team talent) from random noise. However, most of this work has concentrated on a single sport, and the development of meaningful cross-sport comparisons has been impeded by the difficulty of translating luck from one sport to another. In this manuscript, we develop Bayesian state-space models using betting market data that can be uniformly applied across sporting organizations to better understand the role of randomness in game outcomes. These models can be used to extract estimates of team strength, the between-season, within-season, and game-to-game variability of team …

Crystal Structure Of (2-{[(8-Aminona­Phthalen-1-Yl)Imino]­Meth­Yl}-4,6-Di-Tert-Butyl­Phenolato-Κ3n,N′,O)Bromido­Nickel(Ii), Patrick O’Brien, Matthias Zeller, Wei-Tsung Less

Chemistry: Faculty Publications and Other Works

The title compound, [NiBr(C25H29N2O)], contains an NiII atom with a slightly distorted square-planar coordination environment defined by one O and two N atoms from the 2-{[(8-aminonaphthalen-1-yl)imino]methyl}-4,6-di-tert-butylphenolate ligand and a bromide anion. The Ni—O and Ni—N bond lengths are slightly longer than those observed in the phenyl backbone counterpart, which can be attributed to the larger steric hindrance of the naphthyl group in the structure of the title compound. The molecule as a whole is substantially distorted, with both the planar naphthalene-1,8-diamine and imino–methyl– phenolate substitutents rotated against the NiN2OBr plane by 38.92 (7) and 37.22 (8), respectively, giving the molecule …

Principles Of Surface Chemistry Central To The Reactivity Of Organic Semiconductor Materials, Gregory J. Deye

Dissertations

Organic thin-films are rapidly becoming implemented as semiconducting materials in electronic devices and as a result, surface reactivity plays an increasingly important role in the improvement of semiconducting properties. My dissertation addresses how organic thin-films react with gaseous molecules. Previous reports of chemical reactions on organic surfaces claim, “phase rebuilding reaction mechanisms,” whereby reactions only proceed if chemisorbed adsorbate molecules are able to traverse through voids in the molecular lattice. The over-assumptions of this model and lack of correlation to reaction temperature make understanding of organic substrate reactivity incomplete. In contrast, I argue applied heat causes deformation of the molecular …