Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Staphylococcal Nuclease And Ubiquitin Local Folding Energies And Rates Using Peps-Hdx-Esi-Ms, Julie Rhee

Chemistry & Biochemistry Undergraduate Honors Theses

In this study, Protein Equilibrium Population Snapshot Hydrogen-Deuterium Exchange Electrospray Ionization Mass Spectrometry (PEPS-HDX-ESI-MS) was applied to study the local regions of model proteins, staphylococcal nuclease and ubiquitin. The hydrogen deuterium exchange (HDX) has become a key technique for studying the structural and dynamic aspects of proteins in solution. This technique creates a rapid exchange between all of the exchangeable hydrogen ions with deuterium when the protein is exposed to a solvent. The PEPS method is an equilibrium-based method used to determine the populations of the closed native and open denatured states of a protein. By combining the applications of …

Influence Of Cholesterol On Single Arginine-Containing Transmembrane Helical Peptides, Jordana K. Thibado

Chemistry & Biochemistry Undergraduate Honors Theses

An essential component of animal cells, cholesterol exerts significant influence on the physical properties of the cell membrane and in turn, its constituents. One such category of constituents, the membrane proteins, are responsible for diverse and essential biological functions and often contain polar amino acids. Although sparse within the hydrophobic interior of lipid-bilayer membranes, polar amino acid residues are highly conserved and may play pivotal roles in determining specific structural and functional properties of key proteins. To gain greater understanding of the lipid membrane environment, and more broadly, cellular function, a model peptide framework termed “GWALP23” (acetyl-GGALWLALALAL¹²AL^{14 …}

The Evaluation And Implementation Of Magnetic Fields For Large Strain Uniaxial And Biaxial Cyclic Testing Of Magnetorheological Elastomers., Dave Gorman, Niall Murphy, Ray Ekins, Stephen Jerrams

Articles

Magnetorheological Elastomers (MREs) are “smart” materials whose physical properties are altered by the application of magnetic fields. In previous studies the properties of MREs have been evaluated under a variety of conditions, however little attention has been paid to the recording and reporting of the magnetic fields used in these tests [1]. Currently there is no standard accepted method for specifying the magnetic field applied during MRE testing. This study presents a detailed map of a magnetic field applied during MRE tests as well as providing the first comparative results for uniaxial and biaxial testing under high strain fatigue test …

Iowa Waste Reduction Center Newsletter, May 2016, University Of Northern Iowa. Iowa Waste Reduction Center.

Iowa Waste Reduction Center Newsletter

Contents:

--- New Fact Sheet for Food Waste Reduction
--- Permit Amnesty Period for Prepared Feeds Manufacturing Facilities Ending July 1, 2016
--- New Campaign Aims to Spread Food Waste Reduction Awareness
--- Industry News

Mineral Physics Modeling Of The Effect Of Water On Crustal Seismic Velocity Ratios, Eric Lyman

Physics Capstone Projects

This research explores the relationship between the presence of water (H2O) in the make up of rocks and minerals (specifically quartz) at different levels in the crust. The relationships were calculated using Perple_x software to adjust the level of the different chemical and mineral make up of the rock. The densities were calculated using the velocity of primary waves and shear waves as collected by Tony Lowry. There seems to be at least a casual link between water content and quartz content.

Tensor Products Of A Finite-Dimensional Representation And An Infinite-Dimensional Representation, Felicia Dewanaga

Mathematics Theses - Archive

In this project, we explicitly find the decomposition of the tensor product of a Verma module $Z(\lambda)$ and the standard module ${\mathbb C}^n$ of the Lie algebras $\mathfrak{sl}(n)$, $n=2,3$. The result provides an explicit description of the translation functor introduced by Bernstein and Gelfand.

Increased Hydride Transfer Rates Within T09a Mutant Of F420:H2 Nadp+ Oxidoreductase, Md Hasmat Ullah

Chemistry & Biochemistry Theses - Archive

F420:H2 NADP+ oxidoreductase (Fno) is an F420 dependent enzyme found in methanogens and sulfate reducing archaea. Fno catalyzes the reversible reduction of NADP+ to NADPH through the transfer of a hydride involving F420 cofactor. The focus of our work is to study the hydride transfer mechanism of Fno from Archaeoglobus fulgidus using site directed mutagenesis, steady-state and pre steady-state kinetic methods. Threonine 09 (T09) is a conserved residue within Fno. The hydroxyl (–OH) group of T09 interacts with the phosphate and ribose of neighboring NADPH. Therefore, T09 was converted into an alanine (T09A) to study its functionality within Fno and …

Identifying Source Of Lead Particles In Floor Dust Using Computer Controlled Scanning Electron Microscope (Ccsem), Joyashree Sarker

Earth & Environmental Sciences Dissertations - Archive

Identifying the sources of lead (Pb) in indoor dust by analysis of the contents of the dust provides an opportunity to mitigate the source of contamination. In this study, it is hypothesized that in residential properties where there exist the potential for friction surfaces to contribute old lead-based paint to the dust such material can be identified by microscopic examination of the dust. Although old lead-based paint in such circumstances can be implicated, without studying the dust it is impossible to know whether some other contributing source may be important. Exterior soil and dust that potentially can enter the home …

Sensitivity Of The Younger Dryas Climate To Changes In Freshwater, Orbital, And Greenhouse Gas Forcing In Comprehensive Climate Models, Taylor Michelle Hughlett

Earth & Environmental Sciences Dissertations - Archive

The Younger Dryas cooling event (~12,900 years before present) was the most recent abrupt climate change in the geologic record where climate for the Northern Hemisphere returned to a near-glacial state. The cause of this cooling event is widely controversial, and no consensus has been found as to why the onset of the cooling occurred. Of the several hypotheses proposed, the freshening of the North Atlantic Ocean due to meltwater discharge from the retreating Lake Agassiz and subsequent changes in oceanic circulation is the most widely accepted one. Additionally, this abrupt climate change can be attributed to other changes in …

Modeling Consequences Of Reduced Vaccination Levels On The Spread Of Measles, Guillermo Ortiz

Honors Program Theses and Projects

Introduction: In this thesis we propose a mathematical model for the spread of measles in a closed population. In section 1 we offer a motivation for the project, describe the measles virus as well as its history in the U.S., and provide a brief summary of three epidemiological models from the literature. In section 2.1 we introduce some probabilistic tools used in our model. Section 2.2.1 outlines our stochastic model used for the spread of measles in a population, which is refined in section 2.2.2 to include health interventions from the CDC. We conclude the thesis by presenting in section …

The Sluggs Survey*: Exploring The Globular Cluster Systems Of The Leo Ii Group And Their Global Relationships, Sreeja Kartha, Duncan Forbes, Adebusola Alabi, Jean Brodie, Aaron Romanowsky, Jay Strader, Lee Spitler, Zachary Jennings, Joel Roediger

Faculty Publications

We present an investigation of the globular cluster (GC) systems of NGC 3607 and NGC 3608 as part of the ongoing SLUGGS (SAGES Legacy Unifying Globulars and GalaxieS) survey. We use wide-field imaging data from the Subaru telescope in the g, r and i filters to analyse the radial density, colour and azimuthal distributions of both GC systems. With the complementary kinematic data obtained from the Keck II telescope, we measure the radial velocities of a total of 81 GCs. Our results show that the GC systems of NGC 3607 and NGC 3608 have a detectable spatial extent of ∼15 …

Krahasimi I Funksioneve Dhe Procedurave Në Ms Sql Dhe Oracle, Besart Jashari

Theses and Dissertations

Që në fillet e para të zhvillimit softuerik, është paraqitur nevoja e ruajtës së të dhënave. Përgjatë viteve janë provuar mënyra të ndryshme të ruajtjes dhe manipulimit të tyre. Një nga mënyrat e para të krijimit të bazave të të dhënave, ishte ruajtja e të dhënave në sistemet e bazuara në fajll. Ruajtja dhe manipulimi i të dhënave në fajll, kishte probleme të shumta si: vështirësia e qasjes, formatet e ndryshme të të dhënave, shumëfishimi i të dhënave të njëjta. Me kalimin e kohës si dhe me zhvillimin e mëtutjeshëm të teknologjisë, në vazhdimësi është paraqitur nevoja e përmirësimit të …

Projektimi Dhe Dimenzionimi I Rrjetës Wan Në Qytetin E Gjakovës, Besar Kurshumlia

Theses and Dissertations

Sot shërbimet e internetit kanë arritur po thuajse në çdo kënd të globit, dhe përdorimi i tij është bërë i domosdoshëm, duke iu qasur nga pajisje të ndryshme si p.sh.: telefonat, tablatet dhe kompjuterë të ndryshëm. Pra internetin mund të shfrytëzojmë përmes pajisjeve të ndryshme duke u qasur në rrjet në dy mënyra: me tela, dhe pa tela (wireless). Shërbimet e internetit mund të ofrohet nga ISP të ndryshëm në qytete dhe fshatra, duke implementuar rrjeta WAN. Pothuajse në të gjithë zonat e banuara të Republikës së Kosovës janë implementuar rrjeta ku ofrohet shërbimi i internetit, por ka zona tjera …

A Pilot Study For Examining Population Movement During The Peri-Medieval Climatic Anomaly In The Nebraska Sand Hills, Nora C. Greiman

Department of Anthropology: Theses and Student Research

The Sand Hills of Nebraska comprise a dynamic environment of sand dunes that has changed much over the millennia since their formation. Periods of dune reactivation have occurred throughout history, including one such period at approximately A.D. 900-1300 associated with the Medieval Climatic Anomaly (MCA). Much is known about the geologic activity during this period but little is known about how human populations responded to changing environments. I examine the chronology of three sites occupied during the peri-MCA and the change or stasis in population movements via chemical characterization of ceramic artifacts. Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating was performed on …

E56h + E59h Mutation Affects Binding Of The Recombinant Haemphilus Influenza Carbonic Anhydrase To A Ni-Nta Column, Eric D. Lebel, Kathleen Cornely

Chemistry & Biochemistry Student Scholarship

The Haemophilus influenzae carbonic anhy- drase (HICA) is important in converting carbon dioxide to bicarbonate in bacteria. Endogenous cellular proteins, like Escherichia coli carbonic anhydrase (ECCA), have been observed to bind to a Ni-NTA column, which can be used as a means of protein purification. The possibility ex- ists that proteins that do not normally bind to Ni-NTA, like HICA, can be engineered using site directed mutagenesis to introduce histidine resi- dues that would give the protein the capability to bind, allowing for a one-step purification method. Site-directed mutagenesis was used to introduce the double mutation of E56H + E59H …

Initial Wetland Hydrology And Vegetation Composition In Predicted Wetlands Adjacent To Lake Naconiche, Nacogdoches County, Texas, Amy L. Urbanovsky

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Plans for the construction of Lake Naconiche, located in northern Nacogdoches County, included a monitoring project to demonstrate at least 176 acres of land adjacent to the lake would be converted into wetlands. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the creation of wetlands around the lake and establish a benchmark of vegetation composition and condition for future comparison. Eight locations, placed where the majority of wetlands were expected to form, were chosen for monitoring from the shoreline at 348 feet above mean sea level (ft MSL) to the county fee take line at 357 ft MSL.

Shallow groundwater …

Cest: City Event Summarization Using Twitter, Deepa Mallela

Computer Science Graduate Projects and Theses

Twitter, with 288 million active users, has become the most popular platform for continuous real-time discussions. This leads to huge amounts of information related to the real-world, which has attracted researchers from both academia and industry. Event detection on Twitter has gained attention as one of the most popular domains of interest within the research community. Unfortunately, existing event detection methodologies have yet to fully explore Twitter metadata and instead rely solely on identifying events based on prior information or focus on events that belong to specific categories. Given the heavy volume of tweets that discuss events, summarization techniques can …

The End-Cretaceous Mass Extinction And The Chicxulub Impact, Rebecca Teed

Earth and Environmental Sciences Faculty Publications

This handout focuses on the evidence for the theory that a massive meteor impact off the coast of Mexico caused the mass extinction at the end of the Cretaceous Period. The dinosaurs and about 75% of all marine invertebrate species and many other organisms died abruptly at this time. It is part of a set of four articles on possible causes of the Permian and Cretaceous mass extinctions that can be used to organize classroom debates or to have students compare and contrast the events and their causes.

The End-Permian Mass Extinction And A Possible Massive Impact, Rebecca Teed

Earth and Environmental Sciences Faculty Publications

This handout examines the evidence for the theory that a massive meteor impact caused the mass extinction at the end of the Permian Period. This is the worst mass extinction known to geologists, and 90% or more of all species on Earth were wiped out. It is part of a set of four articles on possible causes of the Permian and Cretaceous mass extinctions that can be used to organize classroom debates or to have students compare and contrast the events and their causes.

The End-Permian Mass Extinction And The Siberian Traps Eruptions, Rebecca Teed

Earth and Environmental Sciences Faculty Publications

This handout focuses on the evidence for the theory that a series of flood-basalt eruptions in Siberia caused the mass extinction at the end of the Permian Period. This is the worst mass extinction known to geologists, and 90% or more of all species on Earth were wiped out. It is part of a set of four articles on possible causes of the Permian and Cretaceous mass extinctions that can be used to organize classroom debates or to have students compare and contrast the events and their causes.

Optical Analysis And Fabrication Of Micro And Nanoscale Plasmonically Enhanced Devices, Avery M. Hill

Mechanical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Plasmonic nanostructures have been shown to act as optical antennas that enhance optical devices due to their ability to focus light below the diffraction limit of light and enhance the intensity of the incident light. This study focuses on computational electromagnetic (CEM) analysis of two devices: 1) GaAs photodetectors with Au interdigital electrodes and 2) Au thin-film microstructures. Experiments showed that the photoresponse of the interdigital photodetectors depend greatly on the electrode gap and the polarization of the incident light. Smaller electrode gap and transverse polarization give rise to a larger photoresponse. It was also shown that the response from …

Improving Photocatalytic Activity By Appending A Quinone To Ruthenium Polypyridyl Complex, Amy N. James

Chemistry & Biochemistry Undergraduate Honors Theses

By converting natural light energy into chemical energy, chemists are studying ways to take advantage of clean energy. The rising precedence of “green chemistry” has led to academic interest in the activity of photocatalysts and harnessing visible light in an efficient, accessible, and safe manner. Photochemistry is an upcoming and fascinating field of study that has made significant progress, but also has great potential for future work. By utilizing light as a natural energy source, many reaction processes in chemistry can be viewed with a new perspective. Ru(bpy)₃²⁺ is one of the most widely used photocatalysts. An efficient …

⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr As A Potential Fingerprint For Determining The Provenance Of Total Dissolved Solids Associated With Hydraulic Fracturing Activities In The Barnett Shale, Texas, Richard Brian Goldberg

Earth & Environmental Sciences Theses - Archive

Over the last decade there has been a dramatic increase in unconventional drilling that utilizes hydraulic fracturing to extract oil and gas. The Barnett Shale in north central Texas has been a significant contributor to this increase in unconventional production. Potential environmental contamination from hydraulic fracturing and associated activities is a topic of current debate. One concern is the management of produced/flowback water (PFW), which contains high amounts of total dissolved solids (TDS) acquired from interaction with the reservoir formation and its constituents. Development and testing of geochemical methods to determine if a particular contaminant is the result of PFW …

Simulation Of Conservation Practice Effects On Water Quality Under Current And Future Climate Scenarios, Carlington W. Wallace

Open Access Dissertations

Analysis of the effects of implementing different conservation practices, as well as increased levels of conservation practices under existing and projected future climate, will determine if current conservation practice recommendations will be sufficient to maintain soil and water resources. The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) was used to study four watersheds of different sizes (CCW = 680 km2, F34 = 183 km2, AXL = 42 km 2 and ALG = 20 km2) located in Northeastern Indiana. The overarching goal of this study was to evaluate the effect of various agricultural practices on runoff and agricultural chemical losses under current …

Preparation Of Novel Steroidal Conjugates As Potential Diagnostic And Therapeutic Agents With An Emphasis On Quinoid And Halogenated Moieties, Nuha Obaid Juma Alsoom

Theses

Steroids bonded to pharmaceutically active molecules are interesting candidates as therapeutic agents. In this work, a number of potentially bioactive residues, which include the quinoid moiety, have been synthesized as a simple steroid quinone hybrid, where the steroid component will be estradiol derived or the steroid cholesterol derived. For this purpose, two novel reactions have been explored namely, the modification of the APPEL reaction to connect residues by using PPh3/BrCCl3 for amidation and esterification of carboxylic acids. Another one is the hydrogenation reaction of alkenes by using NaBH4, AcOH, Pd/C and toluene or benzene in the presence of benzyl groups …

Enhancing Snort Ids Performance Using Data Mining, Mohammed Ali Almaleki

Theses

Intrusion detection systems (IDSs) such as Snort apply deep packet inspection to detect intrusions. Usually, these are rule-based systems, where each incoming packet is matched with a set of rules. Each rule consists of two parts: the rule header and the rule options. The rule header is compared with the packet header. The rule options usually contain a signature string that is matched with packet content using an efficient string matching algorithm. The traditional approach to IDS packet inspection checks a packet against the detection rules by scanning from the first rule in the set and continuing to scan all …

A Modularized Tablet-Based Approach To Preparation For Remedial Mathematics, Kenneth A. Parker

Publications and Research

Basic arithmetic forms the foundation of the math courses that students will face in their undergraduate careers. It is therefore crucial that students have a solid understanding of these fundamental concepts. At an open- access university offering both two-year and four-year degrees, incoming freshmen who were identified as lacking in basic arithmetic skills were engaged in an experimental technology-enhanced workshop designed to provide them with a deeper understanding of arithmetic prior to their initial remedial coursework. Customized online content was created specifically for this experiment, and the first implementation (n=27) yielded statistically significant improvement, not only from pretest to post- …

A 'Tissue Model' To Study The Barrier Effects Of Living Tissues On The Reactive Species Generated By Surface Air Discharge, Tongtong He, Dingxin Liu, Han Xu, Zhichao Liu, Dehui Xu, Dong Li, Qiosong Li, Mingzhe Rong, Michael G. Kong

Bioelectrics Publications

Gelatin gels are used as surrogates of human tissues to study their barrier effects on incoming reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (RONS) generated by surface air discharge. The penetration depth of nitrite into gelatin gel is measured in real time during plasma treatment, and the permeabilities of nitrite, nitrate, O₃ and H₂O₂ through gelatin gel films are quantified by measuring their concentrations in the water underneath such films after plasma treatment. It is found that the penetration speed of nitrite increases linearly with the mass fraction of water in the gelatin gels, and the permeabilities of …

Role For Reactive Oxygen Species In Methamphetamine Modulation Of Dopamine Release In The Striatum, David Matthew Hedges

Theses and Dissertations

Methamphetamine (METH) is a highly addictive substance that is highly prevalent in today’s society, with over 1 in 20 adults over 26 having taken it at least once. While it is known that METH, a common psychostimulant, acts on both the mesolimbic dopamine (DA) and nigrostriatal DA systems by affecting proteins involved in DA reuptake and vesicular packaging, the specific mechanism of what is known as METH neurotoxicity remains obscure, but has been shown to involve oxidative stress. Studies have shown that reactive oxygen species act on the same proteins that METH affects. Oxidative species have also been known to …

Teaching The Basics Of Reactive Oxygen Species And Their Relevance To Cancer Biology: Mitochondrial Reactive Oxygen Species Detection, Redox Signaling, And Targeted Therapies, Balaraman Kalyanaraman, Gang Cheng, Micael Hardy, Olivier Ouari, Brian Bennett, Jacek Zielonka

Physics Faculty Research and Publications

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) have been implicated in tumorigenesis (tumor initiation, tumor progression, and metastasis). Of the many cellular sources of ROS generation, the mitochondria and the NADPH oxidase family of enzymes are possibly the most prevalent intracellular sources. In this article, we discuss the methodologies to detect mitochondria-derived superoxide and hydrogen peroxide using conventional probes as well as newly developed assays and probes, and the necessity of characterizing the diagnostic marker products with HPLC and LC-MS in order to rigorously identify the oxidizing species. The redox signaling roles of mitochondrial ROS, mitochondrial thiolperoxidases, and transcription factors in response to …