Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Selective Iodination Using Diaryliodonium Salts, William H. Miller Iv

Department of Chemistry: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Aryl iodides have become widely recognized as versatile synthetic intermediates, owing to aromatic iodine’s excellent ability to participate in oxidative addition reactions. Iodoarenes readily undergo a variety of synthetic transformations including metal catalyzed cross-coupling reactions, diaryliodonium chemistry, formation of organometallics through reduction or metal-halogen exchange, as well as classical S_N2 type chemistry. Because a wide array of transformations are available for aryl iodides, organic molecules containing this moiety often serve as vital precursors to highly desirable pharmaceuticals.

This thesis describes a simple and selective two-step approach to the formation of aryl iodides. This method proceeds through an easily …

Applications Of Discrete Mathematics For Understanding Dynamics Of Synapses And Networks In Neuroscience, Caitlyn Parmelee

Department of Mathematics: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Mathematical modeling has broad applications in neuroscience whether we are modeling the dynamics of a single synapse or the dynamics of an entire network of neurons. In Part I, we model vesicle replenishment and release at the photoreceptor synapse to better understand how visual information is processed. In Part II, we explore a simple model of neural networks with the goal of discovering how network structure shapes the behavior of the network.

Vision plays an important role in how we interact with our environments. To fully understand how visual information is processed requires an understanding of the way signals are …

Adaptation To Climate Change Via Insurance And Financial Incentives, Eric R. Holley

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Catastrophic climatic events have accounted for 72% of global insurance claims and totaled ~$1 trillion from 1980 to 2012. Costs are driven by socio-economic developments and an increased frequency and severity of climatic disasters in which climate change may have been a contributing factor. Climate change is projected to become a more prominent driver of these changes in the decades ahead. Government policies to reduce systemic risk have been the predominant approach for multi-level mitigation and adaptation to climate change. The analysis presented here shows how forceful and effective market-based approaches for adaptation and mitigation to climate change already operate …

On Approximately Controlled Systems, Nazim I. Mahmudov, Mark A. Mckibben

Mathematics Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Flow Scales Of Influence On The Settling Velocities Of Particles With Varying Characteristics, Corrine N. Jacobs, Wilmot Merchant, Marek Jendrassak, Varavut Limpasuvan, Roi Gurka, Erin E. Hackett

Marine Science

The settling velocities of natural, synthetic, and industrial particles were measured in a grid turbulence facility using optical measurement techniques. Particle image velocimetry and 2D particle tracking were used to measure the instantaneous velocities of the flow and the particles' trajectories simultaneously.We find that for particles examined in this study (Rep = 0.4-123), settling velocity is either enhanced or unchanged relative to stagnant flow for the range of investigated turbulence conditions. The smallest particles' normalized settling velocities exhibited the most consistent trends when plotted versus the Kolmogorov-based Stokes numbers suggesting that the dissipative scales influence their dynamics. In contrast, the …

Finite Generation Of Ext-Algebras Of Finite Dimensional Algebras And Associated Monomial Algebras, Melissa Margaret Dimarco

Dissertations - ALL

In this thesis, we investigate the Ext-algebra of a basic, finite dimensional $K$-algebra $A=K\mathcal{Q}/I$, where $K$ is an algebraically closed field and $\mathcal{Q}$ is a finite quiver. We denote the Ext-algebra of $A$ by $E(A)$. We denote $\bar{A}=A/A^+$ to be the direct sum of all simple modules over $A$.

In the first part, we use the work of Green, Solberg, and Zacharia to construct a family of elements in $K\mathcal{Q}$, which we call $\{f_i^j\}$. These elements yield a minimal projective resolution of $\bar{A}$ over $A$. Consequently, $\{f_i^j\}$ form a dual basis of $E(A)$. In Chapter 2, we see that the …

Problems In Hard And Soft Matter: From Brain Folds And Levy Localization To Active Elasticity, David Mayett

Dissertations - ALL

This thesis presents a study of condensed matter systems at different length scales. The first part presents a study of elastic instabilities in biological systems ranging from the cerebral cortex in the brain to the lining of the intestines. Such instabilities lead to a zoo of morphologies ranging from primary folds to villi and crypts to secondary folds and are brought about by growth, mechanical stresses, or a combination of the two. We propose a novel model for the description of primary folds in the cerebral cortex. Motivated by the spatial structure of the cortex, we model its elasticity as …

Observation Of J/Psi P Resonances Consistent With Pentaquark States In Lambda_B^0 To J/Psi K^- P Decays, Nathan Philip Jurik

Dissertations - ALL

The observation of structures consistent with charmonium-pentaquark states decaying to $J/\psi p$ in $\Lambda_b^0 \rightarrow J/\psi K^- p$ decays is presented. The data sample analyzed corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 3 $fb^{-1}$ acquired with the LHCb detector from 7 and 8 TeV $pp$ collisions. An amplitude analysis was performed which utilized all six kinematic degrees of freedom in the decay. It was shown that adequate descriptions of the data are unattainable with only $K^- p$ resonances in the amplitude model. For satisfactory fits of the data, it was found to be necessary to include two $J/\psi p$ resonances, with …

Convenient Etherification Using Trichloroacetimidates And Synthesis Of Aminosteroid Ship Inhibitors, Kyle Timothy Howard

Dissertations - ALL

Alcohols are a common form of functionality in organic chemistry, and are often present in biologically active molecules. The protection of hydroxy groups is crucial in long multi-step synthetic routes, as the unprotected alcohol is typically not compatible with many reagents. Alcohols are often protected as corresponding benzyl ether, which can then be removed when desired to reveal the alcohol functional group. Classic methodology for protection of alcohols as benzyl ethers requires harsh conditions utilizing strong acids and bases, which functions well for simple substrates. In more complex multifunctional molecules this can lead to degradation and side products. Therefore, there …

The Evolution Of Extreme Longevity In Modern And Fossil Bivalves, David Kelton Moss

Dissertations - ALL

The factors involved in promoting long life are extremely intriguing from a human perspective. In part by confronting our own mortality, we have a desire to understand why some organisms live for centuries and others only a matter of days or weeks. What are the factors involved in promoting long life? Not only are questions of lifespan significant from a human perspective, but they are also important from a paleontological one. Most studies of evolution in the fossil record examine changes in the size and the shape of organisms through time. Size and shape are in part a function of …

Plasma Volume Hematocrit (Pvh): “Big Data” Applied To Physiology Enabled By A New Algorithm, Paul Washington Dent

Dissertations - ALL

This work describes the ongoing analysis of blood noninvasively in vivo along with the in vitro validation of the algorithm. The blood is taken as two components, red blood cells and plasma, both of which cause elastic emission (from Mie and Rayleigh scattering) and inelastic emission (from fluorescence and Raman emission). The algorithm describes the linear dependence of the volume fractions of both red blood cells and plasma with both the elastic and inelastic emissions where the two equations are independent. These equations are used to calculate the Hematocrit which is defined as the volume fraction of red blood cells …

Searches For Supersymmetric Particles With The Atlas Detector Using Boosted Decay Tree Topologies, Daniel Bullock

Physics Dissertations - Archive

The existence of a scalar Higgs particle poses a challenge to the Standard Model through an unnatural hierarchy problem with quadratic divergence. A supersymmetric framework, proposing heavy partners to every Standard Model particle, can solve this problem by introducing new loop diagrams that involve a new fermion-boson symmetry. The LHC has the potential to probe the energy scale necessary for creation of these particles and the ATLAS experiment is poised for discovery. The detected particles are studied by reconstructing the detected events in boosted frames that approximate each decay frame of the interaction with pairs of heavy, invisible particles. This …

Support And Rank Varieties Of Totally Acyclic Complexes, Nathan Thomas Steele

Mathematics Dissertations - Archive

Support and rank varieties of modules over a group algebra of an elementary abelian p-group have been well studied. In particular, Avrunin and Scott showed that in this setting, the rank and support varieties are equivalent. Avramov and Buchweitz proved an analogous result for pairs of modules over arbitrary commutative local complete intersection rings. In this dissertation we study support and rank varieties in the triangulated category of totally acyclic chain complexes over a complete intersection ring and show that these varieties are also equivalent. We also show that any homogeneous affine variety is realizable as the support of some …

Heparin-Peptide Interactions, Jacqueline Anastasia Morris

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Heparin is a polydispersed sulfated molecule that is part of the family called glycosaminoglycans found in the extracellular matrix and cell surfaces. This molecule is extremely important for the activation of proteins and protein-receptor interactions that are responsible for downstream cell signaling pathways. Heparin has been isolated from porcine intestine and used as an anticoagulant for the prevention of embolisms, heart thrombosis, and clotting during heart surgeries. This so-called miracle drug was in use until 2008, when isolated batches were found to be contaminated with other glycosaminoglycans similar to heparin. From 2008, there has been a dire need for a …

Geologic, Geochemical, And Geophysical Characterization Of The Gold Deposits Of The Horseshoe Bend Mining District, Idaho: Building A Four Dimensional Model For Ore Exploration, Joshua Ekhoff

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

The Eocene aged Trans-Challis Fault System of central Idaho provides the tectonic and magmatic framework for a series of Au-Ag and Cu-Mo ore deposits. From its northernmost extension near Butte, Montana to its southwestern terminus in the Boise Basin of south-central Idaho the Trans-Challis Fault System is associated with some of the richest precious metal deposits found in Idaho. However, the southernmost tip of the Trans-Challis Fault System, composed of the Horseshoe Bend and Pearl mining districts, remains understudied, receiving little economic or academic attention. As a result, how the Pearl to Horseshoe Bend mining districts fit within the established …

Pre-Eruptive Timescales And Processes Of Large Shallow Magma Systems Revealed By Compositional Variability In Silicic Ignimbrites, Amanda C. Laib

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Intracontinental magmas are stored at shallow crustal depths and commonly produce compositionally variable deposits when erupted. A core objective of igneous petrology is to understand the processes and pathways by which these magmas are generated and differentiated. Despite decades of research, debate persists regarding the comparative effects of processes like assimilation, fractional crystallization, and magma mixing in the production of compositional zonation. There are two end member hypotheses of how compositional variability develops in pre-eruptive magma bodies; one proposes long-term storage and crystal fractionation of a mafic or intermediate parent magma, while the other proposes a more transient system resulting …

Feedbacks Among Climate, Soils, Vegetation, And Erosion Drive Valley Asymmetry Development In The Mountains Of Central Idaho, Michael John Poulos

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Aspect has long been recognized as a significant source of landscape variability, which is induced by the orientation of land surfaces relative to solar incidence. Insolation differences on opposing aspects (e.g., north and south-facing slopes) act as localized climatic perturbations, altering surface energy balances and temperatures. Over shorter timescales, aspect-induced changes to the energy balance alter snow pack dynamics, soil water input rates and seasonality, and plant available water and water stress. Over longer timescales, aspect-induced insolation variability affects bedrock weathering rates and depths, soil and regolith development, vegetation type and density, erosion rates and processes, and ultimately hillslope and …

Living In Lahar Zones: Assessing Hazard Exposure, Risk Perception, And Preparedness Behaviors In Communities Within The Mount Baker And Glacier Peak Volcanic Hazard Zones, Kimberley Anne Corwin

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

As the number of people living at risk from volcanic hazards in the U.S. Pacific Northwest grows, more detailed studies of community hazard exposure, risk perception, and preparedness levels become critical to developing effective mitigation, response, and recovery plans. This thesis uses risk mapping and a knowledge, risk perception, and preparedness survey to examine the risk that lahars from Mount Baker and Glacier Peak volcanoes pose to nearby communities in the Skagit Valley (WA). The risk map component of this research identifies spatial variations in lahar risk and estimates potential losses associated with a maximum envisioned lahar. The survey component …

Lava Lake Eruptive Processes Quantified With Infrasound And Video At Mount Erebus, Antarctica, Alexander Miller

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

A natural laboratory exists at Mount Erebus where strombolian activity from the lava lake is directly observed from the crater rim. Lava lake eruptions occur when pressurized bubble slugs distend the lake surface before bursting within a few tenths of a second. The unique setting presents an ideal site to quantify bubble growth through infrasound and video analysis. Two infrasound sensors and one video camera recorded eruptions ~330 m from the lava lake in 2006. Infrasound waveforms exhibit a high-amplitude bipolar pulse followed by a coda consisting of about five decaying oscillations. Video records are quantified by tracking the expanding …

Protracted Thrusting Followed By Late Rapid Cooling Of The Greater Himalayan Sequence, Annapurna Himalaya, Central Nepal: Insights From Titanite Petrochronology, Jesse Bennett Walters

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Temperature-time (T-t) paths derived from coupled Zr-in-titanite thermometry and U-Pb geochronology are useful for examining middle-crustal tectonic processes. T-t data collected from the titanite-bearing calcsilicates of the upper Greater Himalayan Sequence (GHS) along the Marsyandi River, Annapurna Himalaya, illustrate a significantly different metamorphic history than previously recorded in central Nepal. Combined with traditional thermobarometry, textural relationships, and field mapping, titanite T-t data reveal a protracted history of mid-crustal tectonics. Peak Zr-in-titanite temperatures are 750-850 °C at 10-14 kbar. T-t paths are divided into two groups, which are separated by the Chame Shear Zone (CSZ). Group I (upper) rocks show cooling …

Tsunami Warning System, Amay Vijay Desai

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

The effects of a tsunami on a coastline can be devastating. In an attempt to mitigate the damages caused by tsunamis, and to provide coastal communities with evacuation alerts, it is essential to have early warning systems installed offshore. Tsunami early warning systems can detect the formation of tsunami waves long before they reach shore, providing coastal communities with information about the strength of an incoming tsunami.

Since providing accurate information about oceanic wave patterns is absolutely necessary to forecast the magnitude of a tsunami as it forms, the focus of this research is to develop a novel approach which …

Forcing Cesium Into Higher Oxidation States Via Useful Hard X-Ray Induced Chemistry At Extreme Conditions, Daniel Thomas Sneed

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Recent theoretical work published in Nature Chemistry postulates the existence of cesium in high oxidation states when bonding with fluorine. It is thus predicted to behave as a p-block element (such as xenon) at pressures above 5 GPa. At these pressures, fluorine atoms may bond with the inner p-shell electrons forming CsFn, where n may vary from 2 up to 6; thus the oxidation state of Cs may change up to 6+. My research focused on physically synthesizing these compounds and to verify that, given the right conditions, bonding doesn't only occur with valence electrons, but with the inner p-shell …

Numerical Computing With Functions On The Sphere And Disk, Heather Denise Wilber

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

A new low rank approximation method for computing with functions in polar and spherical geometries is developed. By synthesizing a classic procedure known as the double Fourier sphere (DFS) method with a structure-preserving variant of Gaussian elimination, approximants to functions on the sphere and disk can be constructed that (1) preserve the bi-periodicity of the sphere, (2) are smooth over the poles of the sphere (and origin of the disk), (3) allow for the use of FFT-based algorithms, and (4) are near-optimal in their underlying discretizations. This method is used to develop a suite of fast, scalable algorithms that exploit …

Some Nonparametric Ordered Restricted Inference Problems In The Context Of A Statistical Education Study, Bradford M. Dykes

Dissertations

Over the past 10 years, the Department of Statistics at Western Michigan University has developed a question generating system that can be used for creating multiple forms of exams, quizzes and homework for online and face-to-face use. This system can also be used to provide students with a form of instantaneous feedback. With the goal of analyzing how different levels of feedback in an online learning environment impacts students' performance on assignments, this study presents data collected on two semesters of students enrolled in three different meeting types (strictly online, typical face-to-face, and honors face-to-face) of an introductory Statistics course. …

Thermoelectric Half-Heuslers: Synthesis, Processing, And Performance, Joseph Robert Croteau

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Thermoelectric half-Heusler compounds have potential to convert the heat wasted from industrial and transportation processes to useful electricity. Among the highest performing half-Heusler compounds are nano-structured bulk materials which have been arc-melted, pulverized into a nano-powder, and sintered by DC-hot press. High performing n- and p-type half-Heusler compounds with nominal composition of Hf_0.25Zr_0.75NiSn_0.99Sb_0.01 and Nb_0.75Ti_0.25FeSb, respectively, have been provided to us in both dense and powder form by our collaborators at the University of Houston. We consolidate these powders by SPS, refine these powders to improve both particle size …

The Density Topology On The Reals With Analogues On Other Spaces, Stuart Nygard

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

A point x is a density point of a set A if all of the points except a measure zero set near to x are contained in A. In the usual topology on ℝ, a set is open if shrinking intervals around each point are eventually contained in the set. The density topology relaxes this requirement. A set is open in the density topology if for each point, the limit of the measure of A contained in shirking intervals to the measure of the shrinking intervals themselves is one. That is, for any point x and a small enough …

The Influence Of The Electric Supply Industry On Economic Growth In Less Developed Countries, Edward Richard Bee

Dissertations

This study measures the impact that electrical outages have on manufacturing production in 135 less developed countries using stochastic frontier analysis and data from World Bank’s Investment Climate surveys. Outages of electricity, for firms with and without backup power sources, are the most frequently cited constraint on manufacturing growth in these surveys.

Outages are shown to reduce output below the production frontier by almost five percent in Africa and by a lower percentage in South Asia, Southeast Asia and the Middle East and North Africa. Production response to outages is quadratic in form. Outages also increase labor cost, reduce exports …

Identifying And Addressing Soil Property Issues Affecting Roadside Vegetation Establishment, Xu Li, Martha Mamo, Walter H. Schacht, Tala Awada, Humberto Blanco-Canqui

Nebraska Department of Transportation: Research Reports

Attaining adequate vegetation cover along highways is important for NDOR to comply with EPA’s stormwater regulations. However, low plant cover is a common problem on shoulders (first 16 feet off the pavement) of many highways in Nebraska. The ultimate goal of this study is to identify cost-effective engineering solutions that assure adequate seed beds (i.e., soil conditions) for establishment of selected seeding mixtures. The objectives of this study are to (1) characterize the soil properties along roadsides where vegetation stands have not developed well, and (2) verify the effects of select soil property parameters on plant germination and establishment.

Sampling …

Realizing Spaces As Classifying Spaces, Gregory Lupton, Samuel Bruce Smith

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Publications

Which spaces occur as a classifying space for fibrations with a given fibre? We address this question in the context of rational homotopy theory. We construct an infinite family of finite complexes realized (up to rational homotopy) as classifying spaces. We also give several non-realization results, including the following: the rational homotopy types of and are not realized as the classifying space of any simply connected, rational space with finite-dimensional homotopy groups.

The Update, August-October 2016, University Of Northern Iowa. College Of Humanities, Arts And Sciences.

Update

Inside This Issue:
--CHAS Briefs
--Spotlight-Student: Tsering Kyi
--Spotlight-Faculty: Nikki Harken
--Science in the Media
--Cornerstone Theatre Performance
--Senior Seminar Service
--NSF at UNL
--Calendar of Events