Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Deformation At Uturuncu Volcano, Bolivia: Modeling The Effect Of Volatile Movement In The Hydrothermal System, Karissa Rosenberger

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

Deformation at volcanos is often a precursor to an eruption, but sometimes volcanos experience uplift without actually erupting. Determining the mechanisms behind this deformation and whether it will lead to an eruption is an important part of understanding volcanic systems. Uturuncu volcano in Bolivia has been experiencing deformation for decades, but the last time it erupted was 250,000 years ago. The reason behind this deformation is unknown, but one possible cause is volatiles moving into the hydrothermal system and getting trapped, causing the volume to increase and the surface to uplift. To test this hypothesis, the current volume change of …

Anti-Doping Crisis In Sports, What's Next? Ion Mobility-Mass Spectrometry For The Study Of Anabolic Androgenic Steroids, Diana Constanza Velosa

Theses and Dissertations

The main objective of this work is to augment both qualitative and quantitative measures of anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS) with ion mobility-mass spectrometry (IM-MS), laying the foundation for implementation into analytical drug testing laboratories. AAS testing requires high sensitivity and specificity. IM-MS is presented as an emerging technology workflow capable of targeted quantification of AAS and structural elucidation for potential unknowns, allowing ions to be separated and characterized based on their rotationally averaged collision cross section (CCS). Chapter 1 provides a background of the basic principles of IMS and the different types of analytical methods used for doping analysis currently …

A Comparison Of Automated Bolide Detection Methods, Maxine Thembi Khumalo

Theses and Dissertations

Bolide recording and analysis are crucial so meteoroid fragments can be found, a lightcurve analyzed, and its trajectory calculated. The Spalding Allsky Camera Network (SACN) generates videos and composite images of the night sky that are potential meteors based on changes in brightness. The best way to ensure quick identification is to automate the detection of bolides (and all meteors) using computational techniques. This project tested three algorithms to sort events between those with and without meteors - a Traditional Hough Detection Method, Convolutional Neural Network (CNN), and YOLOv5 against the previous technique from 2018 by Elena Botella. All the …

An Application Risk Assessment Of Werner Enterprises, Nathan Andres

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

Risk assessments provide a systematic approach to identifying potential risks that could negatively impact an organization’s operations, financial performance, and reputation. Using a risk assessment, companies can evaluate potential risks and vulnerabilities, prioritize them based on their potential impact, and develop strategies to manage and address these risks effectively.

Werner Enterprises Inc. is a nationally known trucking company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska. Our cybersecurity capstone project motivation was to partner with Werner to produce an assessment of known application risks in a functional way that can be repeated for all of Werner’s applications. To achieve this, we created a risk …

Creating The Optimal Wedding Seating Chart, Madison Lane

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

The purpose of this project is to develop an effective seating arrangement for a wedding reception that enhances the comfort of guests. The ultimate aim is to create a harmonious and enjoyable atmosphere for all attendees. To achieve this, an integer program was designed to optimize the seating arrangement for the author’s upcoming wedding on May 27th, 2023. To ensure accuracy and feasibility, actual feedback was gathered from the guests to evaluate their compatibility and preferences. The proposed seating chart optimization not only addresses the placement of guests but also determines the number of tables required for the reception. The …

Effects Of Functional Network Model Definition On Biomarker Outcome Prediction, Xinyang Feng

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Machine learning (ML) models are widely used to investigate the human connectome and to predict and understand behavior, emotion, and cognition. Prior research has organized pediatric connectome data using adult functional network models. However, this assumes that adult functional network models are appropriate and useful for prediction developmental outcomes from pediatric connectome data. We hypothesize that the application of adult brain network models could result in poor model fit, limiting the generalizability of results. Here, we test whether prediction of biological age is improved by concordant brain network models matching underlying functional connectome data. To quantify the difference in age …

Uconn Baseball Batting Order Optimization, Gavin Rublewski, Gavin Rublewski

Honors Scholar Theses

Challenging conventional wisdom is at the very core of baseball analytics. Using data and statistical analysis, the sets of rules by which coaches make decisions can be justified, or possibly refuted. One of those sets of rules relates to the construction of a batting order. Through data collection, data adjustment, the construction of a baseball simulator, and the use of a Monte Carlo Simulation, I have assessed thousands of possible batting orders to determine the roster-specific strategies that lead to optimal run production for the 2023 UConn baseball team. This paper details a repeatable process in which basic player statistics …

Divergence-Conforming Velocity And Vorticity Approximations For Incompressible Fluids Obtained With Minimal Facet Coupling, Jay Gopalakrishnan, Lukas Kogler, Philip L. Lederer, Joachim Schöberl

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Publications and Presentations

We introduce two new lowest order methods, a mixed method, and a hybrid discontinuous Galerkin method, for the approximation of incompressible flows. Both methods use divergence-conforming linear Brezzi–Douglas–Marini space for approximating the velocity and the lowest order Raviart–Thomas space for approximating the vorticity. Our methods are based on the physically correct viscous stress tensor of the fluid, involving the symmetric gradient of velocity (rather than the gradient), provide exactly divergence-free discrete velocity solutions, and optimal error estimates that are also pressure robust. We explain how the methods are constructed using the minimal number of coupling degrees of freedom per facet. …

Repeated Low-Level Blast Exposure Alters Urinary And Serum Metabolites, Austin Sigler, Jiandong Wu, Annalise Pfaff, Olajide Adetunji, Paul Ki-Souk Nam, Donald James, Casey Burton, Honglan Shi

Chemistry Faculty Research & Creative Works

Repeated exposure to low-level blast overpressures can produce biological changes and clinical sequelae that resemble mild traumatic brain injury (TBI). While recent efforts have revealed several protein biomarkers for axonal injury during repetitive blast exposure, this study aims to explore potential small molecule biomarkers of brain injury during repeated blast exposure. This study evaluated a panel of ten small molecule metabolites involved in neurotransmission, oxidative stress, and energy metabolism in the urine and serum of military personnel (n = 27) conducting breacher training with repeated exposure to low-level blasts. The metabolites were analyzed using HPLC—tandem mass spectrometry, and the Wilcoxon …

Evaluation Of Zero-Net-Rate Pumping Tests, Austin Smith-Jones

All Theses

Accurately estimating the distribution of aquifer properties is key to understanding contaminant movement in the subsurface. The distribution of aquifer properties is typically addressed using slug or constant-rate well tests, and the pros and cons of these tests are well known. Slug tests are appealing because they avoid removing contaminated water, but their results are affected by well skin and the small volume of displaced water limits the volume of aquifer that can be evaluated. Constant-rate well tests have the disadvantage of requiring disposal of potentially contaminated water, but they can generate properties that are more representative than slug tests, …

Synthesis Of A Phenyl Substituted Zinc Dipyrrin Complex For The Purpose Of Analyzing Aromatic Substitutions On The Characteristics Of Compounds Of This Class, Kole Owen

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The field of photochemistry is as innovative in development as it is broad in application. However, utilization of energy from the sun’s electromagnetic radiation remains secondary to the combustion of fossil fuels for the global energy consumption. This is neither a sustainable nor renewable system, and it has contributed to a major decline in the health of our global environment as the greenhouse gases emission has led to an incline in global temperatures and ocean acidity. To develop effective ways to utilize solar energy, experimental effort is being directed towards the understanding of photosensitizers, molecules which absorb solar radiation and …

Design Of A Hyperstable Endocrine Acting Fibroblast Growth Factot, Sara Armstrong

Chemistry & Biochemistry Undergraduate Honors Theses

A novel chimera protein, consisting of the C-terminus of Fibroblast Growth Factor (FGF) 21 and super FGF1, a mutant of the wild-type FGF1, was studied. The protein retained the stability of sFGF1 and the endocrine acting behaviors and binding efficiency of FGF21, so that it could be more practical for therapeutic uses as a wound healing and angiogenic agent. sFGF1- FGF21 was expressed and purified before utilizing various biophysical techniques to measure its stability, secondary and tertiary characteristics, and metabolic activity.

An Investigation On The Effect Of Conserved Hinge Histidine On Influenza Hemagglutinin(Ha2) Protein Conformation Using Md Simulations, Nada Tolba

Chemistry & Biochemistry Undergraduate Honors Theses

Hemagglutinin is a protein on the surface of Human Influenza Viruses.¹ It is composed of two glycopolypeptide domains, the HA1 and HA2 domains. Previous studies have found that across different strains of Influenza viruses, HIS435 residues remain conserved.⁴ In studies where mutations occurred in hinge-site histadine residues, the Influenza virus was inactive.⁴ These investigations indicated a significant role of HIS435 (hinge-site histadines) in virulence. Four systems were created using Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. Each system was composed of an Isolated HA2 trimer solvated in a 150 mM NaCl rectangular water box at 310 K under isobaric and …

Tribute To Gene Chase, Calvin Jongsma

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

Gene’s academic work was always one of service to God, his students, and his colleagues, and his intellectual passion was to promote the development of Christian perspectives on various aspects of the field. His contributions to the ACMS have been much appreciated and, God willing, may still bear fruit into the future.

Can Renewable Portfolio Standards Explain The U.S. States’ Advancement Of Wind Energy?, Elise Monson

Political Science Theses and Capstones

No abstract provided.

Boundaries And Currents Of The Dayside Magnetosphere: Mhd Simulations And Observations, Pauline Marie Dredger

Physics Dissertations - Archive

The solar wind streams through space at supersonic speeds, carrying plasma and the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) from the sun. Earth’s magnetosphere presents a magnetosonic obstacle to the solar wind flow, which slows down suddenly, creating a bow shock. Between the bow shock and Earth’s magnetic field is the region of space called the magnetosheath, which contains the dense plasma and turbulent IMF of the shocked solar wind. The magnetopause is the boundary between the magnetosheath and the region of near-Earth space dominated by the terrestrial magnetic field; its location is determined by the competing pressures of the plasma in …

Investigation Of Optical And Electrical Properties Of Noble Metal And Superconducting Thin Films And Design And Fabrication Of Metamaterial Solar Absorbers, Vivek Khichar

Physics Dissertations - Archive

An extensive study of light-matter interactions leading to the generation of photon drag voltage under surface plasmon resonance conditions in noble metal thin films was undertaken by performing a series of experimental measurements and numerical simulations. The drag voltage originates from a force that arises because of the transfer of momentum from incident light to electrons. This transfer of photon momentum leads to an electric current, which in turn results in the generation of drag voltage. The effect is particularly enhanced under surface plasmon resonance conditions and thereby reinforces the interaction between light and collective oscillations of the surface charges. …

Joint Constraints On Kepler-36 From Kepler And New Keck-Hires Data, Nicholas Juliano

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

I analyze new HIRES Radial Velocity (RV) data in conjunction with transit mid-times and uncertainties from the full 17 quarters of Kepler data to reassess the orbital parameters of the Kepler-36 system. Six additional RV measurements were taken by the Keck-HIRES spectrograph from September 21, 2021 to October 11, 2021. I carry out a differential evolution Markov Chain Monte Carlo-based (DEMCMC) analysis to infer improved orbital elements for the two known planets in the system. Leveraging additional information provided by the new RV measurements, I extend this DEMCMC analysis to a possible three-planet configuration. I explore the likelihood of a …

Simulating Radial Ring Structure With An Ambipolar Elsasser (Am) Bump In Non-Ideal Magnetohydrodynamics Of Protoplanetary Disks, Aleksey S. Mohov

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Rings are one of the most ubiquitous substructures observed in protoplanetary disks. They are known to be a robust site for planetesimal formation; thus we look for mechanisms that can originate stable rings. From chemical modelling of snow lines, we expect a bump in the Ambipolar Diffusion (AD) Elssaser number (Am) in the radial direction. We use the Athena++ code to model the non-ideal Magentohydrodynamics (MHD) behavior of an Am bump. We explore a parameter space of Gaussian bumps with Am = 5, 1, 0.5 peak strength and σ = 0.25, 1, 5. The Gaussian profile is inserted into the …

Enhanced Iot-Based Electrocardiogram Monitoring System With Deep Learning, Jian Ni

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Due to the rapid development of computing and sensing technologies, Internet of Things (IoT)-based cardiac monitoring plays a crucial role in providing patients with cost-efficient solutions for long-term, continuous, and pervasive electrocardiogram (ECG) monitoring outside a hospital setting. In a typical IoT-based ECG monitoring system, ECG signals are picked up by sensors located on the edge, and then uploaded to the remote cloud servers. ECG interpretation is performed for the collected ECGs in the cloud servers and the analysis results can be made instantly available to the patients as well as their healthcare providers.In this dissertation, we first examine the …

Artificial: A Study On The Use Of Artificial Intelligence In Art, Hayden Ernst

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

In the past three to five years there have been significant improvements made in AI due to improvements in computing capacity, the collection and use of big data, and an increase in public interest and funding for research. Programs such as ChatGPT, DALL•E, and Midjourney have also gained tremendous popularity in a relatively short amount of time. This led me to this project in which I aimed to gain a deeper understanding of these art generator AI and where they fit into art as a whole. My goal was to give recommendations to museums and exhibits in Omaha on what …

Applications Of High-Precision U-Pb Geochronology: Innovations And Insights Into Super-Eruption Petrochronology, Chronostratigraphy, And Linking Large Igneous Provinces, Michael T. Mohr

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

The perpetual and persistent forward march of time is a geoscientist’s reference frame for understanding Earth’s natural changes that manifest in all scales of natural materials (e.g., minerals, fossils, glaciers, rocks, mountain belts, cratons). While indicators of relative timing can be abundant in natural materials (e.g., stratigraphic superposition, cross-cutting relationships, crystal growth zonation), numerical timing constraints are required to contextualize and constrain the ordering, duration, and rate of Earth system processes. For investigating Earth processes in deep time, radioisotopic ages provide a temporal foundation for deciphering the clues from an often fragmented and incomplete rock record. Among the radioisotope chronometers, …

Hydrologic Implications Of Snow-Vegetation Interactions In A Semiarid Mountain Climate, Maggi Kraft

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Knowledge of the complex interaction between snow, vegetation, and streamflow in semiarid mountain climates is necessary for predicting water resources. The effects of warming temperatures on snow distribution will cascade into vegetation water use and streamflow. Due to our reliance on snow water resources, it is necessary to understand how vegetation affects snow distribution, how vegetation uses snow water inputs and the subsequent effects on streamflow in the current and warming climate. The overall objective of this research is to improve our understanding of snow-vegetation interactions in a semiarid climate. In this dissertation, I use field data to evaluate how …

Interactive Effects Of Fungal Community Structure And Soil Moisture On Wyoming Big Sagebrush Performance, Arden Marlene Engel

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Large swathes of the North American sagebrush steppe have been converted to grazing and agricultural use. Remaining fragmented areas are threatened by invasive annual grasses and associated perpetuation of increased fire frequency, with efforts to restore sagebrush after fire largely unsuccessful. Lack of success may be due, in part, to poor interactions between sagebrush seed sourced from distant locations and unfamiliar soil fungi.

A greenhouse experiment was designed to evaluate effects of soil fungal community composition on sagebrush reestablishment by answering: (1) How does inoculation with ‘coevolved’ versus ‘foreign’ fungal inoculum impact sagebrush fitness? (2) How does moisture availability modify …

Application Of A High-Resolution Climate Model Dataset To Assess Habitat Suitability For Spotted Wing Drosophila In Southwest Idaho, Elizabeth Padian

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

As global climate change continues to produce large deviations from the normals of the 19th and 20th centuries, the agricultural sector will need to adapt to these changes in order to maintain yields and feed the global population. Crop selections, yield amounts, and pest management techniques may need to be adjusted to adapt. The Spotted Wing Drosophila (SWD) is a small fruit fly-like bug that can infest berries and stone fruit crops by burrowing into the fruit (at most points in the fruit’s lifecycle) and laying its eggs. These eggs will hatch and the larvae will burrow back out of …

Investigating The Petrogenesis Of The Naifeh And Plumeria Seamounts: Insights Into The Geochemical Diversity Of Seamounts Adjacent To The Hawaiian Seamount Chain, Geoffrey Montour

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

The Naifeh and Plumeria seamount clusters, which consist of 10 submarine volcanoes located ~220km north of the Northwest Hawaiian Ridge, were mapped and sampled by the E/V Nautilus expedition NA101 in 2018. The origin of these seamounts is unknown, but their unique orientation and location imply several possible mechanisms of formation. Four possible mechanisms of formation include: 1) off-axis upwelling of the Hawaiian mantle plume, 2) ancient arch volcanism, 3) intraplate extension and deformation, 4) hotspot volcanism. Investigating the origin of these seamount clusters will better constrain the composition of the underlying mantle, as well as the depth and extent …

Characterization Of Public Opinion On Severity Of Mental Illness And Hiv Based On Individual Traits Using Hierarchical Multi-Category Probit Models, Md Moinul Ahsan

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis, we focus on modeling categorical response variables from public opinion datasets. A hierarchical probit model was used to analyze these different variables. Particularly for multinomial data, we tried different covariate settings to see the model’s performance. For that purpose, we tried two different estimation techniques. The first algorithm uses identified parameters by fixing the first diagonal element of the covariance matrix at 1. The second algorithm uses one unidentifiable parameter and subsequently identifies the parameters by fixing the trace of the covariance matrix. The results from the simulation study confirm that the trace-restricted algorithm performs better with …

Baseball’S Evolution In The 21st Century, And How It Exemplifies Human Response To Change, Jonathan Sharpe

Honors Projects

The game of baseball has changed a lot in the past twenty years. It can be primarily attributed to the explosion in data analytics and how they are used to evaluate baseball players. This led to different player profiles being preferred and eventually led to the development of players changing. As a result, the strategies employed have also evolved and turned into a different game than seen only a couple of decades ago. This paper will explore the changes that the game has seen. On the other hand, Major League Baseball has also implemented its own changes to try and …

Dual Crosslinked Poly(Acrylamide-Co-N-Vinylpyrrolidone) Microspheres With Re-Crosslinking Ability For Fossil Energy Recovery, Jingyang Pu, Baojun Bai, Jiaming Geng, Na Zhang, Thomas P. Schuman

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Microspheres have been proposed to be applied in controlling wastewater production for mature oilfields and migrating leakage for gas and nuclear waste storage. However, it remains challenging for stacked microspheres to maintain strong blocking ability in micron-sized small pores or fractures. In this study, a novel microsphere was developed with comprehensive properties including high deformability and long re-crosslinking time upon tunable swelling ratio for the applications. A dual covalent and physical crosslinking strategy was used to develop novel microspheres reinforced by a hydrogen bond (H-bond, between pyrrole ring and amide group) and coordination bond (between chromium acetate (CrAc) and carboxyl …

What Does The Geometry Of The Hβblr Depend On?, Lizvette Villafaña, Peter R. Williams, Tommaso Treu, Brendon J. Brewer, Aaron J. Barth, Vivian U, Vardha N. Bennert, Hengxiao Guo, Misty C. Bentz, Gabriela Canalizo, Alexei V. Filippenko, Elinor Gates, Michael D. Joner, Matthew A. Malkan, Jong-Hak Woo, Bela Abolfathi, Thomas Bohn, K. Azalee Bostroem, Goni Halevi, Carol E. Hood, J. Chuck Horst, Maxime De Kouchkovsky, Benjamin Kuhn, Douglas C. Leonard, Raúl Michel, Melanie Kae B. Olaes, Daeseong Park, Jordan N. Runco, Remington O. Sexton, Isaac Shivvers, Chance L. Spencer, Benjamin E. Stahl, Samantha Stegman, Jonelle L. Walsh, Weikang Zheng

Physics

We combine our dynamical modeling black-hole mass measurements from the Lick AGN Monitoring Project 2016 sample with measured cross-correlation time lags and line widths to recover individual scale factors, f, used in traditional reverberation-mapping analyses. We extend our sample by including prior results from Code for AGN Reverberation and Modeling of Emission Lines (CARAMEL) studies that have utilized our methods. Aiming to improve the precision of black-hole mass estimates, as well as uncover any regularities in the behavior of the broad-line region (BLR), we search for correlations between f and other AGN/BLR parameters. We find (i) evidence for a …