Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Age Differences In Perceived Individual And Community Recovery After Tornadoes: Implications For Community-Centered Recovery Policy In An Aging Society, Sizhuo Chen, Zhen Cong

Health Sciences and Kinesiology Faculty Articles

"This study examines perceived individual recovery and perceived community recovery among tornado survivors across three waves spanning four years. Using three-wave longitudinal survey data from survivors in Dallas, Texas; Nashville, Tennessee; and Birmingham, Alabama collected in 2021, 2022, and 2025, we estimate recovery trajectories using linear mixed-effects growth models. We link respondents to tract-level SVI 2020 component measures to examine whether tract-level social vulnerability contextualizes age differences in recovery perceptions. We ask: (1) How do perceived individual recovery and perceived community recovery change over time? (2) Do these trajectories differ by age group? (3) Do community social vulnerability measures contextualize …

Nontarget Analysis Of The Volatile And Semivolatile Chemical Profile Of Wildland Firefighter Gear: Insight Into Occupational Exposure And Health Implications, Patrica Ivy Agorsor, Husam Kafeenah, Margaret D. Taiwo, Robin M. Verble, Michael O. Eze

Biological Sciences Faculty Research & Creative Works

Prescribed fire releases a complex mixture of volatile and semivolatile organic compounds to the environment. Firefighters are directly exposed to these hazardous mixtures through occupational activities. This study investigated the volatile and semivolatile chemical contamination profile of firefighter protective gear and the effectiveness of laundering as a decontamination strategy. Our results revealed that firefighter gear accumulated a broad spectrum of combustion-derived contaminants, predominantly composed of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and derivatives, phenolic compounds, and aromatic hydrocarbons. Representative compounds identified included toluene, biphenyl, naphthalene, 1-methynaphthalene, 2-methylnaphthalene, acenaphthene, phenol, alkylated phenols, and chlorinated phenols. Quantitative analysis revealed representative combustion-derived compounds at concentrations (mean …

Graph-Theoretic Analysis Of Function Call Graphs Using L-Moments For Malware Detection, Anthony J. Rose, Wayne C. Henry, Scott R. Graham, Christine M. Schubert Kabban, Christopher M. Rondeau

Faculty Publications

Most malware detection continues to rely on signature matching, which struggles with obfuscated or novel variants. This research presents a malware detector that instead relies on the static structure of function call graphs, summarized using L-moments of the degree, betweenness, closeness, and clustering measures into compact, interpretable descriptors that persist across malware variants. Evaluated on 175,633 binaries spanning many families under balanced, natural-prevalence, and prevalence-weighted training regimes, ensemble methods achieved Area Under the Curve (AUC) values up to 0.98 on the full-corpus random split, while a feed-forward neural network remained robust across regimes with AUC 0.92–0.95. Linear baselines were far …

Enhancing Visitor Experiences Through Storytelling In Interpretive Tour Guiding, Naoko Yamada

International Journal of Tour Guiding and Visitor Attraction Research

Heritage interpretation enables visitors to make sense of their experiences by communicating meaningful messages at natural and cultural heritage sites. By fostering understanding, appreciation, and personal relevance, interpretation enriches visitor experiences and encourages responsible attitudes and behaviors. Among various interpretive approaches, storytelling has emerged as a particularly promising means of achieving these outcomes. However, research examining how storytelling enriches heritage interpretation and promotes deeper visitor engagement remains limited. This conceptual paper synthesizes literature from storytelling, psychology, marketing, tourism, and heritage interpretation to develop a framework explaining how storytelling influences interpretive outcomes. The framework proposes that story elements activate psychological mechanisms, …

Understanding The Role Of Data Science Applications In Soil And Water Health, Payton Davis, Debabrata Sahoo, Dara Park, Brook Russell

Forestry and Natural Resources

Data science is an emerging field that can be incorporated into many disciplines, including environmental science. Data science can provide valuable information from data, enhancing the understanding of systems and environments. This publication is intended to give an overview of the different aspects of data science and how data science can be leveraged into and applied to soil and water health.

Chacahoula 2026, Volume 93, Pawan Khatri, Alayna Pellegrin

Chacahoula

The 2026 issue of Chacahoula, There's No Place Like Home, emphasizes the way in which our university becomes a home to students.  Featuring prize-winning poetry from Allyson Gee, Nick Fredrick, Amaris Kendall and Anmol Subedi, the book includes December 2025 and May 2026 graduating classes, as well as stunning photography of  campus life on the banks of Bayou Desiard. With features covering students, faculty, and staff, this year's time capsule preserves an academic year in the life of the University of Louisiana at Monroe. This edition includes a video message from President Carrie Castille. Download the PDF to your device …

Home On The Range: Where Deer And Antelope Compete With Feral Horses For Limited Resources, Katelyn Davies, Hannah B. Klugman, Kathryn A. Schoenecker, David C. Stoner

All Current Publications

Given projections for continued drought conditions in the West, a better understanding of how native wildlife respond to competition with feral horses will be critical for developing effective conservation programs in the future. This fact sheet provides information on feral horses and presents study data comparing their use of water resources with that of native wildlife.

Oco-3 Meets Ecostress: Insights Into Ecosystem Diurnal Water-Use Efficiency From Co-Located Solar-Induced Fluorescence And Thermal Observations, Zoe Amie Pierrat, Thomas P. Kurosu, Abhishek Chatterjee, Joshua B. Fisher, Maggie Johnson, Le Kuai, Kanishka Mallick, Nicholas Parazoo, Benjamin Wiebe, Kerry Cawse-Nicholson

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Terrestrial ecosystem regulation of carbon and water fluxes is critical for constraining climate–biosphere feedbacks but remains poorly quantified across space and time. Here, we evaluate whether co-located observations from NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory-3 (OCO-3) and the ECOsystem Spaceborne Thermal Radiometer Experiment on Space Station (ECOSTRESS) can reproduce ecosystem water use efficiency (WUE) dynamics observed at FLUXNET sites across temporal scales, vegetation types, climates, and drought conditions. We created the ECOCO3 data set, which harmonizes OCO-3 and ECOSTRESS observations in space and time. ECOCO3 captures broad seasonal and diurnal carbon and water flux patterns including midday drought responses. Sampling sensitivity analysis …

Characterization Of Combined Adsorption Using Fermi Levels, Molecular Dynamics, And Monte Carlo Simulations To Prevent Cu–Zn (111) Alloy Corrosion, Mushtaq Jerri Meften, Ammar Abdul Jabbar Kadhim, Mohammed Shafeeq Abed

Makara Journal of Science

Experimentally developing corrosion inhibitors requires a significant amount of money and time. In silico advancement empowers selecting inhibitor molecules based on their properties derived from theoretical studies, thereby reducing costs. Our main approaches include theoretical studies such as Fermi levels, electrostatic potential surface (EPS), Fukui indices, molecular dynamics stimulations, and Monte Carlo as indispensable tools to investigate the adsorption mechanisms of molecules 6-((5-(((3S,5R)-2-oxo-5-((2-(pyrazin-2-yloxy) thiazol-5-yl) thio) tetrahydro-2H-thiopyran-3-yl) oxy)isothia-zol-3-yl)thio) nicotinic acid (PTT), and (S)-2-((5-((6-((3-(2-thioxoethoxy)-1,2,4-thiadiazol-5-yl)thio)-1,6-dihydropyra-zin-2-yl)oxy)-1,3,4-thiadiazol-2-yl) thio) acetaldehyde (TTD) on the Cu/Zn (111) alloy. We electronically characterized PTT and TTD, which were proven effective inhibitors. Notably, all results suggested that the two exhibited high …

Increasing The Density Value Of Composite Propellant Ap/Htpb/Al For Rocket Performance Using The Sphere Packing Model, Muhammad Iqbal Alfikri, Bayu Prianto, Ariadne Lakshmidevi Juwono

Makara Journal of Science

This research employs the sphere packing volume (SPV) model to optimize the density of composite propellants thereby enhancing rocket performance. We systematically varied the diameters of spherical ammonium perchlorate (AP) particles (50 and 400 µm) and aluminum powder (Al) particles (10 and 30 µm). These particles were incorporated at an ideal AP:Al ratio of 4:1 into a matrix of hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene and toluene diisocyanate. By adjusting the AP ratio for each Al particle size and considering theoretical and tap densities, we precisely calculated the SPV value for each composition. The composition with the highest SPV value yielded remarkable results. This …

Impact Of Disturbances On Butterfly Communities At The Forest Edge Of Bukit Mas Village, North Sumatra, Indonesia, Nurhayati Nurhayati, Mufti Petala Patria, Nurul Winarni, Fairuz Husna

Makara Journal of Science

Biotic homogenization can negatively impact ecosystem function and stability, reducing species diversity and interac-tions. Although deforestation has declined in Gunung Leuser National Park since 2011, associated pressures still operate at various places within the park, possibly leading to biotic homogenization. This study looked into the differences in butterfly diversity under three habitat types to understand their responses to various levels of disturbance, including en-vironmental factors. This research was carried out in September 2023 at the forest edge of the Bukit Mas Village, North Sumatra. We used the Point Count method; observations were made twice in the morning (08.00–12.00 h) and …

Lignin Valorization To Phenolic Compounds Over Metal Oxide-Modified Hierarchical Zsm-5 Zeolites Derived From Indonesian Minerals, Arnia Putri Pratama, Iman Abdullah, Yuni Krisyuningsih Krisnandi

Makara Journal of Science

Lignin, a key component of lignocellulosic biomass, offers significant potential as a renewable raw material for the sustainable production of aromatic chemicals. To investigate its heterogeneous catalytic depolymerization, benzyl phenyl ether (BPE) was used as a model compound. Hierarchical ZSM-5 catalysts were synthesized and modified with metal oxides (NiO and CuO). Belitung kaolin and Bayat natural zeolite, natural minerals from Indonesia, were used as silica and alumina sources to synthesize hierarchical ZSM-5 zeolite (labeled as ZSM-5N), which was compared with hierarchical ZSM-5 synthesized using pro-analysis precursors (labeled as ZSM-5S). Comprehensive physicochemical characterization using FTIR, XRD, BET, XRF, SEM-EDX, and NH₃-TPD …

Evaluating Peak Metamorphic Conditions Of The Kyanite-Bearing Rocks At Willis Mountain, Virginia, Usa, Emma J. Hunt, Peter Horvath, Connor R. Gregory, Jade D. Sabillon, Ethan H. Watson

Earth and Environmental Sciences Publications

Willis Mountain, near Dillwyn in central Virginia, is the world’s largest kyanite deposit located in the Chopawamsic Fm. of the Piedmont province. However, little is known about the temperature and pressure conditions under which the kyanite deposit and its surrounding rocks formed, compared with similar-aged rocks in the Blue Ridge province to the southwest. Willis Mountain is composed of kyanite-bearing muscovite schists to kyanite quartzites which contain up to 55% kyanite. The following methods were used to evaluate the metamorphic conditions, with multiple calibrations for each: phase equilibrium modelling; trace element thermometry (titanium in quartz and zirconium in rutile); garnet-biotite …

Generalized Apostol-Bernoulli Functions And The Evaluation Of Character Sums, Brad Isaacson

Publications and Research

We introduce two types of generalized Apostol–Bernoulli functions attached to Dirichlet characters and express them by generalized Apostol–Bernoulli numbers. As a corollary, we obtain formulas expressing two families of character sums by generalized Apostol–Bernoulli numbers. These sums are twisted generalizations of sums introduced and studied by Arakawa, Berndt, Ibukiyama, Kaneko, Kim, Ramanujan, and Zaharescu in the context of modular forms and theta function identities.

Dense Platinum Nanoparticles Confined In Mn-N-C Nanocages For Robust Heavy-Duty Pemfcs, Lei Zhao, Zhen-Min Cao, Jia-Yu Zuo, Ming-Liang Yang, Hong-Yan Qiao, Jun-Song Chen, Rui Wu

Journal of Electrochemistry

High-loading Pt cathodes are essential for heavy-duty proton exchange membrane fuel cells but suffer from a critical tradeoff between ionomer sulfonate poisoning and nanoparticle instability. Herein, we report a spatial confinement strategy to encapsulate dense Pt nanoparticles (~51.8 wt%) within Mn/N-co-doped mesoporous carbon nanocages (denoted as Pt-MnNC). This architecture excludes bulky ionomers to create an ionomer-shielded environment against sulfonate poisoning, while Mn-N_x-mediated strong metal-support interactions anchor the Pt nanoparticles to prevent agglomeration and further boost durability. In the 5 × 5 cm² membrane electrode assembly tests, the Pt-MnNC catalyst delivers an exceptional power density of 1.26 W·cm …

Efficient Acidic H2O2 Electrosynthesis Over Co Atoms Anchored On Nitrogen-Doped Hierarchical Porous Carbon, Xiao Huang, Zi-Hao Zhan, Hao-Xu Niu, Guan-Yu Luo, Jin-Tao Huang, Bo-Xuan Jin, De-Li Wang

Journal of Electrochemistry

The two-electron oxygen reduction reaction (2e⁻ ORR) presents a promising route for the on-site production of hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂), offering a green alternative to energy-consuming anthraquinone process. However, the high selectivity toward the competing 4e⁻ ORR over the desired 2e⁻ pathway leads to low Faradaic efficiency for H₂O₂, posing a critical challenge in catalyst design. In this work, a nitrogen-doped hollow hierarchical porous carbon with anchored Co atoms (CoN/HPC) was constructed for high-performance H₂O₂ production. The as-prepared Co-N/HPC catalyst showed excellent 2e⁻ ORR performance, achieving …

Engineering Small-Sized Cations With Strong Solvation For High-Voltage Supercapacitors, Tong Huo, Pan Liu, Hao Chen, Peng Zhang, Zhen-Lei Chen, Guo-Fu Sun, Zhi-Qiang Shi, Jing Wang

Journal of Electrochemistry

Supercapacitors (SCs) have attracted much attention in the field of energy storage due to their high power density and long cycle life. However, their relatively low energy density limits their application in a wider range of fields. Methods to increase energy density include enhancing specific capacitance and extending operating voltage window. Herein, we report a novel electrolyte salt, tetramethylammonium bis(fluorosulfonyl)imide (TMA-FSI), the resulting electrolyte formed with propylene carbonate (PC), designated as TMF, exhibited a wide electrochemical stability window (ESW) of 5.09 V. On the one hand, we found that the small size of TMA⁺ enables it to enter the …

Geotechnical Enhancement Of Noncohesive Coal Mine Overburden Using Microbially Induced Calcite Precipitation And Fly Ash Stabilization For Sustainable Pavement Applications, Atul Gautam, Laxmikant Yadu

Journal of Sustainable Mining

The majority of the waste generated from opencast mining, termed as overburden (OB), is dumped adjacent to the mine boundary and poses long-term stability issues. Various studies have been carried out to assess the risk of dump slope failure, and treatment strategies have been accordingly recommended to strengthen this OB dump. However, scant works are reported to sustainably utilize this OB for construction works. This study aims to quantify the performance of stabilized noncohesive coal mine OB collected from Gondegaon opencast mine (OCM) in India. Stabilization was achieved using two techniques, namely microbially induced calcite precipitation (MICP) through Sporosarcina pasteurii …

Re: Approval Letter For The Butte Priority Soils Operable Unit Draft Final Reclamation Improvement Field Sampling And Investigation Plan: Bres No. 129 – Heaney Dump, Molly Roby

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

Re: Approval Letter For The Butte Priority Soils Operable Unit Draft Final Reclamation Improvement Field Sampling And Investigation Plan: Bres No. 135 – Washoe Sampling Works, Molly Roby

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

Re: Approval Letter For The Butte Priority Soils Operable Unit Draft Final Reclamation Improvement Field Sampling And Investigation Plan: Bres No. 105 – Lizzie Shaft, Molly Roby

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

Evaluating Atmospheric Nox In The Marine Boundary Layer Near Tampa Bay, Ben Lloyd '25, Anson Kirsch, Samuel Irvine, Yasin Elshorbany, James Ivey

Student Research

Nitrogen oxides (NOX), including nitric oxide (NO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), are atmospheric constituents that can contribute to nitrate deposition in seawater. Since nitrate availability can influence marine ecosystems, understanding atmospheric nitrogen inputs is important for characterizing nitrogen cycling in coastal environments. This dataset contains atmospheric NO and NO₂ measurements collected from July 5–6, 2023, in the marine boundary layer near Tampa Bay, Florida, at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg campus using a Teledyne T200UP Analyzer.

The dataset provides observations of atmospheric nitrogen oxide concentrations that can be compared with measurements of nitrate in rainwater and seawater to …

Re: Approval Letter For The Butte Priority Soils Operable Unit Draft Final Reclamation Improvement Field Sampling And Investigation Plan: Bres No. 46 – Missoula Mine, Molly Roby

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

Re: Approval Letter For The Butte Priority Soils Operable Unit Draft Final Insufficiently Reclaimed Sites Field Sampling And Investigation Plan: Bres No. 11 – Magna Charta Lessee Dumps, Molly Roby

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

Re: Approval Letter For The Butte Priority Soils Operable Unit Draft Final Insufficiently Reclaimed Sites Field Sampling And Investigation Plan: Bres No. 1503 – Hornet Addition, Molly Roby

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

Ai In Higher Education: Some Notes From The Front, Debra Rienstra

University Faculty Publications and Creative Works

We’re four weeks into the semester now. This past summer, our university unveiled a campus-wide AI policy that exhorts students and faculty to use discernment and tries to lay out some rules about security. Meanwhile, we have purchased a campus-wide subscription to an AI aggregator tool now available to all students, faculty, and staff (in part, from what I understand, as an attempt to effect some boundaries). And then, in the news, all this hand-wringing over the end of humanity, etc., on the one hand and techno-utopian promises on the other.

When Three Points Aren't Enough: Parameter Estimation In Newton's Law Of Cooling, Alberto A. Condori, Cara D. Brooks, Madeline R. Goldberg

CODEE Journal

We begin with a paradoxical three-point problem where the standard parameter estimation formula fails because temperature data must satisfy a concavity condition reflecting Newton's Law of Cooling's exponential structure. Although a closed-form solution for A exists for equally-spaced measurements, high sensitivity to error motivates the use of overdetermined systems with many measurements. The "profiling over A" technique transforms this three-parameter nonlinear problem into a sequence of simple linear regressions, providing computational efficiency and conceptual transparency. This approach can be generalized to many parameter estimation problems in science and engineering, making it a valuable tool for undergraduates interested in applied mathematics. …

Powers' Conjecture On The Third Largest Eigenvalue Of A Graph, Kevin Schmidt

Master's Theses

In 1989, David Powers conjectured that for any connected graph G on n vertices, the k-th largest eigenvalue of the adjacency matrix satisfies λk(G) ≤ ⌊n/k⌋ for every 1 ≤ k ≤ n/2. The conjecture has since been resolved case by case, in the sharper form λk(G) ≤ n/k − 1: the case k = 1 is classical, k = 2 was settled independently by Hong and by Powers in 1988, and k ≥ 4 was shown to fail by Nikiforov and Linz. This thesis surveys the resolution of the remaining case, k = 3, achieved in March 2026 by …

Table Of Contents, The Editors

Coal Geology & Exploration

No abstract provided.

Unique Connotation Of Geological-Engineering Dual Sweet Spot Evaluation For Effective Coalbed Methane Exploitation, Luo Pingya, Zhu Suyang

Coal Geology & Exploration

Objective In China, the exploitation of deep and shallow coalbed methane (CBM) still relies on the evaluation approach oriented to the geological-engineering dual sweet spots of unconventional hydrocarbons. However, exemplary CBM production technologies delivered unsatisfactory performance in other blocks and failed to find wide application even in zones with overlapping geological and engineering sweet spots. This issue represents the principal theoretical and technical challenge confronting the comprehensive development of the CBM industry in China. Methods This study aims to elucidate the causes of this issue and provide corresponding solutions, as well as clarifying the conditions for the effective linkage between …