Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

The Effects Of Heavy Metals And Microbes On Extracellular Enzyme Activity At Liberty State Park, Eleanor Urenna Ojinnaka

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

The overall goals of this research were to 1) understand the influence of microbes and heavy metals on extracellular enzyme activity in soil environments and 2) explore the possibility of using living organisms, such as microbes, to improve the enzyme activity of contaminated, poor-functioning soil—bioremediation. Microbes exude enzymes into the soil, which are vital in the cycling of nutrients in soil communities. Thus, measuring extracellular enzyme activity can be used to quantify the health of soil. In this experiment, phosphatase enzyme was measured as a proxy for enzyme activity. The study site is a closed-off section of Liberty State Park …

Application Of Nonequilibrium Thermodynamics To Pattern Selection In Fluid Solid Interaction, Blas J. Ortega

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

The terminal orientation of a rigid body is a classic example of a system out of thermodynamic equilibrium and a perfect testing ground for the validity of the maximum entropy production principle(MEPP). A freely falling body in a quiescent fluid generates fluid flow around the body resulting in dissipative losses. Thus far, dynamical equations have been employed in deriving the equilibrium states of such falling bodies, but they are far too complex and become analytically intractable when inertial effects come into play. At that stage, our only recourse is to rely on numerical techniques which can be computationally expensive. In …

Sentiments In Sustainability Data Collection : Understanding User Sentiment In Collaborative, Social Tagging Environmental Sciences Platforms, Nikita Sanjay Panchariya

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Many scientists throughout the world are exploring how the data can be analyzed and used for sustainability purposes. With these investigations there is significant need to collect and explore the data with mobile collaborative tools to enable real time interactions among the interested users and the researchers. The principle objective of this study is to explore an application of sentiment analysis on the collected heterogeneous data in the form of text, images, and location details that were collected using the Geotagger application and observe and infer users’ reactions and opinions of the geographical data they collect about.

Expression, Purification, Enzymatic And Inhibition Profile Of Brugia Malayi Dihydrofolate Reductase, Romy Perez-Abraham

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) is an essential enzyme that plays an important role in the production of cofactors that are required in deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) synthesis. The literature suggests that DHFR is a potential drug target for the elimination of the parasitic worm, B. malayi. B. malayi is one of the causative parasites of lymphatic filariasis, a globally neglected tropical disease. In this study, we expressed and purified B. malayi DHFR. Expression was carried out in E. coli with a His6-tagged construct, and purification was achieved through affinity chromatography using a special strain of E. coli cells called “LOBSTR.” The resulting …

Establishing A Vegetative Cap For Sustainable Stabilization Of Copper Contaminated Soils In Torch Lake, Michigan, Virinder Pal Singh Sidhu

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Extensive mining activities during the late 19th and early 20th centuries in the Upper Peninsula, Michigan have resulted in a number of contaminated sites with mine tailings. Several million metric tons of mine tailings were generated during the peak of copper (Cu) mining activities in this region. These tailings are called “stamp sands” because they were generated by crushing native Cu containing rocks, by a process known as stamping. The stamp sands were discharged into Lake Superior, other interior lakes and their shorelines, converting these areas into vast, fallow lands. The Cu contaminated stamp sands are being eroded back into …

Evaluating Sustainable Aspects Of Hazardous Waste Remediation, Melissa Ann Koberle-Harclerode

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

The main objective of the research presented herein is to be a major contributor to the current international initiative to advance sustainability assessments for remediation projects by integrating methodologies from the environmental economics and social science disciplines. More specifically, the study aims to address some of the knowledge gaps related to conducting a comprehensive sustainability assessment for a remediation project. These knowledge gaps include: (1) there are few studies that include sustainability assessments of the variety of techniques and technologies implemented during site characterization; (2) the majority of sustainable remediation publications and assessment tools focus on evaluating the environmental impact …

Characterizing Kepler Objects Of Interest Using The Algorithm Exonest, Bertrand Carado

Physics

Recent observations across the galaxy have led to the conclusion that there exist many different extrasolar systems. Using photometric effects, the amount of data that has been produced on exoplanets has significantly increased and will continue to rise. Finding new methods of data analysis to broaden the spectrum of research has therefore become a necessity. Exonest is an algorithm currently in development that uses Bayesian methods, and notably nested sampling, to infer characteristics about an exoplanet from its observed light curve.

In this paper, Exonest was tested by being used to study three extra-solar systems: each containing a single confirmed …

The Utilization Of Exonest In Characterizing Kepler Objects, Nicole Wallack

Physics

With the first detection of an exoplanet, came the study of methods to detect and characterize additional planets. Multiple methods for finding exoplanets were developed, including transit methods. When a star’s flux is being observed for an extended period of time and a slight dip in the relative flux is seen periodically, this may be evidence of a planet passing in front of the star and blocking out a portion of the received flux. It is this method that is employed by the Kepler spacecraft. Kepler observes approximately 100,000 stars looking for periodic decreases in stellar fluxes. From the produced …

Proof Of Concept For The Forensic Analysis Of Blood Spots To Distinguish Time Since Deposition And Relative Age Of Blood Spot Originator, Roselyn Rodrigues

Chemistry

In the field of forensics, blood is considered a highly useful tool. DNA found in blood is currently viewed as the best source of identifying a suspect; however, DNA analysis is mainly used as a comparative method. DNA analysis can single out a suspect they are physically present in custody or if a match is made through a database of stored profiles, such as the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS).1-3 There are new methods of DNA analysis that can identify a person of African/Caribbean decent, hair and eye color, and even the age of a person.4-6 However, this DNA analysis …

Effect Of Concentration, Temperature, And Base Changes On Retrovirus Dimerization, Ashley Colvin

Chemistry

RNA-RNA junctions between hairpin loops are a common feature of RNA retroviruses, accounting for their high mechanical stability. Dimerization of Moloney Murine Leukemia Virus (MMLV) is dependent on H3 stem loop interactions, which are an example of such a junction. H3 in MMLV dimerizes via a two base pair hairpin loop enhanced by two adjacent stacking bases. All atom, explicit solvent molecular dynamics pulling simulations were performed to examine the stability of the junction. Salt concentrations and temperatures were varied and unstacking times of the flanking bases and breaking times of the kissing bonds were calculated. Survival curves revealed that …

Influence Of Topography On Convective Patterns Across The Greater Capital Region Of New York, Rachel O’Donnell

Atmospheric & Environmental Sciences

The greater Albany region is unique in regards to its terrain. The various mountain ranges and river valleys play a significant role in convective patterns due to modification of flow. The purpose of this research is to compare the days of convection, both severe and non-severe, to the large scale flow pattern. Lightning data from the National Lightning Detection Network was used to analyze the role terrain plays in organizing convection and the associated lightning. The greater Capital Region was divided into 0.1° grid boxes, and the number of total lightning strikes (both cloud-to-cloud and cloud-to-ground) was recorded within that …

Analysis Of Late Summer Heat Waves In The Northeast Us, Tomer Burg

Atmospheric & Environmental Sciences

The climatological temperature maximum and heat wave frequency, defined as three or more consecutive days of maximum temperatures at or above 32 degrees Celsius, often peak around mid to late July in the Northeast United States. However, numerous notable heat waves have occurred in late August into early September, including 1953, 1973, and to a lesser extent 2015. An analysis of daily means of 500 hPa geopotential heights from the NCEP-NCAR Reanalysis dataset over a 67–year period (1948–2015), in addition to surface temperatures from numerous stations east of the Mississippi River, shows a secondary peak in mean temperatures, geopotential heights …

Exploring Bird Evolution: An Ornithology Lesson For Middle And High School Students, Amanda Marie Colley

Atmospheric & Environmental Sciences

Hands-on learning is believed to be one of the best ways to engage students in science. Science is meant to invoke curiosity and imagination. It is up to educators to teach science in a way that will welcome students rather than scare them away. In this project, a science lab activity was designed, in collaboration with the New York State Museum, to help students better understand the concept of evolution as it appears in birds. Students must measure the leg and wing bones of six different bird species, and find the ratio between each bird’s leg and wing length. Students …

Haul Truck Tires Recycling, Jessica N. Lizarazu

Chemical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

The disposal of large Off-the-Road (OTR) tires is an increasingly important concern. These tires can weigh up to 8,450 pounds with an overall diameter and width of approximately 140.7 inches and 45.1 inches respectively. OTR tires are used for mining vehicles such as haul trucks, wheel loaders, backhoes, graders, and trenchers. These new tires cost between $38,000 and $50,000 each, depending on multiple factors including oil prices and the cyclical nature of the industry. Haul trucks contain six tires per vehicle, and mines replace these tires around every 9-12 months. Statistics regarding discarded OTR tires are not provided by the …

Financial Performance In Upstream, Downstream, And Integrated Oil Companies In Response To Oil Price Volatility, Jonathan P. Garcia

Finance Undergraduate Honors Theses

This paper investigates the relation between crude oil price volatility and stock returns among oil companies using a three-part methodology, by using the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) as oil price benchmark. I asses the various indicators that set signals for oil price volatility and the interpretation of each (PMI, S&P500, DJIA, and World Crude Oil Output). This research also focuses on the relation between different types of companies in the oil industry (integrated, upstream, and downstream) and how each type of company will be assessed in a particular way to predict abnormal returns, based on market data and statistical analyses …

Employing Synergetic Effect Of Doping And Thin Film Coating To Boost The Performance Of Lithium-Ion Battery Cathode Particles, Rajankumar L. Patel, Yingbing Jiang, Amitava Choudhury, Xinhua Liang

Chemistry Faculty Research & Creative Works

Atomic layer deposition (ALD) has evolved as an important technique to coat conformal protective thin films on cathode and anode particles of lithium ion batteries to enhance their electrochemical performance. Coating a conformal, conductive and optimal ultrathin film on cathode particles has significantly increased the capacity retention and cycle life as demonstrated in our previous work. In this work, we have unearthed the synergetic effect of electrochemically active iron oxide films coating and partial doping of iron on LiMn_1.5 Ni_0.5O₄ (LMNO) particles. The ionic Fe penetrates into the lattice structure of LMNO during the ALD process. …

A Bayesian Method For Cluster Detection With Application To Five Cancer Sites In Puget Sound, Albert Y. Kim, Jon Wakefield

Mathematics Sciences: Faculty Publications

Cluster detection is an important public health endeavor and in this paper we describe and apply a recently developed Bayesian method. Commonly-used approaches are based on so-called scan statistics and suffer from a number of difficulties including how to choose a level of significance and how to deal with the possibility of multiple clusters. The basis of our model is to partition the study region into a set of areas which are either “null” or “non-null”, the latter corresponding to clusters (excess risk) or anti-clusters (reduced risk). We demonstrate the Bayesian method and compare with a popular existing approach, using …

Determining Methods Of Propagation For The Investigation Of Intraspecific Variability Of Climate Change Responses Of Appalachian Plant Species, Gayle L. Tyree

Honors Theses

Species range migrations are a well-documented response to climate change (Loarie et al. 2009), with range shifts mainly occurring poleward or to higher elevations (Walther et al. 2002). As range shifts occur, variation in phenotypic traits within plant species across climate gradients could affect their abilities to acclimate or adapt to a changing climate (Hooper et al. 2005, Souza et al. 2011). In 2014 Dr. Jennifer Boyd (BGES) initiated a research project to examine potential intraspecific phenotypic variation within wide-ranging Appalachian plant species of responses to projected future atmospheric CO2 and temperature regimes. As an undergraduate research assistant, I focused …

Uncovering Cryptic Diversity Of Desmognathine Salamanders In The Cumberland Plateau Utilizing Molecular Genetic Techniques, Katherine E. Ray

Honors Theses

Cryptic species are difficult to identify morphologically; therefore, their distributions are often poorly understood. However, species distributions are critical for evaluating biodiversity in ecology and biodiversity. Dusky salamanders (Desmognathus) are an example of species of North American salamanders that have been particularly difficult to classify. Specifically, in the southern Cumberland Plateau, the dusky salamanders’ distributions are unknown. Desmognathus fuscus and D. conanti have been found to the north and south of the southern Cumberland Plateau, respectively. However, they have not been adequately sampled in this region. I studied genetic variation in the mitochondrial gene CytB in Desmognathus salamanders sampled from …

Which Language(S) Are Best (For Web Development), Jackson A. Stone

Honors Theses

This thesis is intended to shine light on the complex nature of the online software ecosystem, in the hopes that it may help students who wish to pursue web development determine how to best spend their time researching and learning varying technologies.

Spontaneous Parametric Down Conversion Of Photons Through Β-Barium Borate, Luke Horowitz

Physics

An apparatus for detecting pairs of entangled 405nm photons that have undergone Spontaneous Parametric Down Conversion through β-Barium Borate is described. By using avalanche photo-diodes to detect the low-intensity converted beam and a coincidence module to register coincident photons, it is possible to create an apparatus than can be used to perform quantum information experiments under a budget appropriate for an undergraduate physics lab.

Evaluating The Role That A Putative Fxiii Binding Site Plays In The Reactivity Of Three Glutamines Within The Coagulation Substrate Fibrinogen Aα (233-425)., Chad A. Stephens

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Theses

Formation of a stable thrombus in vivo depends on the interaction between fibrinogen and the transglutaminase factor XIII (FXIII). Characteristics of blood plasma, such as concentration of Ca2+, are well known to regulate the activation and subsequent reactivity of FXIII. Despite this knowledge, the role fibrin(ogen) plays in modulating FXIII activation and reactivity is not entirely delineated. Currently, the coagulation substrate fibrinogen Aα is proposed to contain a binding site for the active factor XIII with fibrinogen Aα E396 serving a major role. A series of mass spectrometry and NMR spectroscopy studies was conducted to assess whether putative interactions between …

Generalized Singular Value Decomposition With Additive Components, Stan Lipovetsky

Journal of Modern Applied Statistical Methods

The singular value decomposition (SVD) technique is extended to incorporate the additive components for approximation of a rectangular matrix by the outer products of vectors. While dual vectors of the regular SVD can be expressed one via linear transformation of the other, the modified SVD corresponds to the general linear transformation with the additive part. The method obtained can be related to the family of principal component and correspondence analyses, and can be reduced to an eigenproblem of a specific transformation of a data matrix. This technique is applied to constructing dual eigenvectors for data visualizing in a two dimensional …

Almost Unbiased Estimator Using Known Value Of Population Parameter(S) In Sample Surveys, Rajesh Singh, S.B. Gupta, Sachin Malik

Journal of Modern Applied Statistical Methods

An almost unbiased estimator using known value of some population parameter(s) is proposed. A class of estimators is defined which includes Singh and Solanki (2012) and Sahai and Ray (1980), Sisodiya and Dwivedi (1981), Singh, Cauhan, Sawan, and Smarandache (2007), Upadhyaya and Singh (1984), Singh and Tailor (2003) estimators. Under simple random sampling without replacement (SRSWOR) scheme the expressions for bias and mean square error (MSE) are derived. Numerical illustrations are given.

A Comparison Of Estimation Methods For Nonlinear Mixed-Effects Models Under Model Misspecification And Data Sparseness: A Simulation Study, Jeffrey R. Harring, Junhui Liu

Journal of Modern Applied Statistical Methods

A Monte Carlo simulation is employed to investigate the performance of five estimation methods of nonlinear mixed effects models in terms of parameter recovery and efficiency of both regression coefficients and variance/covariance parameters under varying levels of data sparseness and model misspecification.

Variable Selection In Regression Using Multilayer Feedforward Network, Tejaswi S. Kamble, Dattatraya N. Kashid

Journal of Modern Applied Statistical Methods

The selection of relevant variables in the model is one of the important problems in regression analysis. Recently, a few methods were developed based on a model free approach. A multilayer feedforward neural network model was proposed for developing variable selection in regression. A simulation study and real data were used for evaluating the performance of proposed method in the presence of outliers, and multicollinearity.

Jmasm39: Algorithm For Combining Robust And Bootstrap In Multiple Linear Model Regression (Sas), Wan Muhamad Amir, Mohamad Shafiq, Hanafi A.Rahim, Puspa Liza, Azlida Aleng, Zailani Abdullah

Journal of Modern Applied Statistical Methods

The aim of bootstrapping is to approximate the sampling distribution of some estimator. An algorithm for combining method is given in SAS, along with applications and visualizations.

Jmasm35: A Percentile-Based Power Method: Simulating Multivariate Non-Normal Continuous Distributions (Sas), Jennifer Koran, Todd C. Headrick

Journal of Modern Applied Statistical Methods

The conventional power method transformation is a moment-matching technique that simulates non-normal distributions with controlled measures of skew and kurtosis. The percentile-based power method is an alternative that uses the percentiles of a distribution in lieu of moments. This article presents a SAS/IML macro that implements the percentile-based power method.

Mechanism And Use Of Paired Ion Electrospray Ionization (Piesi) In High-Performance Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (Hplc-Ms) For Sensitive Analysis Of Anionic Compounds, Hongyue Guo

Chemistry & Biochemistry Dissertations - Archive

In recent years, the paired ion electrospray ionization (PIESI) technique has been emerged as a promising alternative to overcome the inherent low sensitivity of negative ESI-MS. The current research focused on the further understanding of the mechanism of the enhanced sensitivity in PIESI based on previous studies, as well as novel applications of PIESI in sensitive and selective analysis of challenging anionic compounds. Specifically, this dissertation describes research in two areas: 1) The mechanism of PIESI in sensitive detection of anions was further investigated using two rational designed surface-active ion-pairing reagents. As compared to their corresponding non-surface-active ion-pairing reagents, the …

Highly Fluorinated, Coinage Metal Complexes Of Tris(Pyrazolyl)Borates With Additional Electron Withdrawing Groups And Pyrazolate Π-Stackings With Arenes, Naleen Bandupriya Jayaratna

Chemistry & Biochemistry Dissertations - Archive

Tris(pyrazolyl)borates are very popular ligands in inorganic chemistry, bioinorganic chemistry, and organometallic chemistry due to their attractive properties. It is possible to extensively modify the steric and electronic properties of these ligands by changing the pyrazolyl substituent groups. Taking into account the importance and current interest of fluorinated tris(pyrazolyl)borates and weakly coordinating anions in general, three new tris(pyrazolyl)borates, [HB(4-Cl-3,5-(CF₃)₂Pz)₃]-, [HB(3,4,5-(CF₃)3Pz)₃] and [HB(4-(NO₂)-3,5-(CF3)₂Pz)₃]- have been developed (Pz = pyrazolyl). Silver alkene adducts of the ligands have been isolated to evaluate the electronic properties of the ligands and to study their catalytic properties. These adducts found to be the most electron deficient …