http://hdl.handle.net/1969.1/3367 Fri, 24 May 2013 23:33:32 GMT 2013-05-24T23:33:32Z http://hdl.handle.net/1969.1/148623 Exploring Hidden Genetic Divergence Within Sunda Colugos by Means of Novel DNA Capture Methods and Next Generation Sequencing It has been the goal of biologists to catalog and protect genetic diversity and variation among biological organisms. The amount of diversity cataloged is growing every year. In the twelve years between the latest two publications of Mammal Species of the World, the number of mammalian species increased from 4998 to 5339 (~7%). This number is expected to increase substantially, especially with the advent and application of new genomic approaches to assess levels of species diversity. This increased diversity is partially due to increased taxonomic investigation in Southeast Asia, which is known for being a hot spot of species richness. This richness has been shown in recent years to be continually threatened by human induced habitat loss, as is the case of a poorly known group of mammals, the flying lemurs, or colugos. The colugo is a small arboreal mammal that inhabits more than fifty islands in the SE Asian archipelago and adjacent mainland areas of the Malay Peninsula, Thailand and Vietnam. The colugo has extremely inefficient terrestrial locomotor capabilities, which isolate the colugo to forested areas, where it is capable of gliding over one hundred meters between trees. This study proposes a molecular phylogenetic analysis of the Sunda colugo (Galeopterus variegatus) to redefine the evolutionary relationships between disjunct populations of this poorly understood mammal, using a novel DNA capture method to isolate degraded mtDNA fragments from museum samples, by hybridization to DNA fragments derived from a modern colugo genome. The results demonstrate extremely efficient crossspecies capture of mtDNA sequences as great as 10-15% divergent from the probe, combined with Next Generation Sequencing Technologies to obtain high depth of coverage of hybridized sequences. Phylogenetic results indicate the widespread presence of species-level taxonomic units both within and between the islands of the Southeast Asian archipelago. This novel approach to ancient DNA capture has potentially broad implications for the conservation of this enigmatic mammal, and further suggest that vicariant evolutionary analysis of colugos will be invaluable for defining the biogeographic history of the SE Asian archipelago. Wed, 11 Jul 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/1969.1/148623 2012-07-11T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/1969.1/148622 Equilibrium and Stability of Rectangular Liquid-filled Vessels Here we focus on the stability characteristics of a rectangular liquid-filled vessel. The position vector of the center of gravity of the liquid volume is derived and used to express the equilibrium angles of the vessel. Analysis of the potential function determines the stability of these equilibria, and bifurcation diagrams are constructed to demonstrate the co-existence of several equilibrium configurations of the vessel. To validate the results, a vessel of rectangular cross-section was built. The results of the experiments agree well with the theoretical predictions. Wed, 11 Jul 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/1969.1/148622 2012-07-11T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/1969.1/148621 Racism in Soccer: Eliminating Soccer Racism and Using Sport as a Vehicle for National Change Racism and soccer have long been intertwined, however the upcoming 2010 World Cup in South Africa poses a unique opportunity to study the relationship between racism and sport. In studying previous international sporting events, specifically the 2006 World Cup in Germany, the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and the 1995 Rugby World Cup in South Africa, it is evident that sport is often strategically used to promote specific ideals. Throughout these historical tournaments, the games have succeeded in not only promoting positive values within the sporting arenas but also in carrying these values over to the general society. I am interested it studying how the upcoming World Cup can be used to not only reduce racism in soccer but also promote equality throughout South Africa. Wed, 11 Jul 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/1969.1/148621 2012-07-11T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/1969.1/148620 A STUDY OF PROPERTIES OF TYPE IA SUPERNOVA AND THE CALIBRATION OF MULTIBAND PHOTOMETRY The peak luminosity of Type Ia Supernova (SN) can be calibrated using a distance independent luminosity parameter called the decline rate parameter (?m15 (B) to get accurate distances to the galaxies. The photometry gathered from the telescopes should be transformed to a standard scale for uniformity and should be corrected for precision in measurements. The sources of systematic errors are correctly identified and remedied using S-corrections and extinction corrections. The study found a larger scatter in the photometry of Type Ia Supernovae (SNe) in the ultraviolet band (U-band). The importance of Type Ia as a valuable cosmological tool is subsequently shown by deriving the U-band decline rate relation and the magnitude redshift diagram for 36 objects. The photometry of Type Ia SNe puts constraints on the Einstein?s equation of state parameters and supports the Dark Energy cosmological parameter causing the accelerated expansion of the Universe. Fri, 27 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/1969.1/148620 2012-04-27T00:00:00Z