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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Mentoring Undergraduate Research In Mathematical Modeling, Glenn Ledder Jun 2022

Mentoring Undergraduate Research In Mathematical Modeling, Glenn Ledder

Department of Mathematics: Faculty Publications

In writing about undergraduate research in mathematical modeling, I draw on my 31 years as a mathematics professor at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, where I mentored students in honors’ theses, REU groups, and research done in a classroom setting, as well as my prior experience. I share my views on the differences between research at the undergraduate and professional levels, offer advice for undergraduate mentoring, provide suggestions for a variety of ways that students can disseminate their research, offer some thoughts on mathematical modeling and how to explain it to undergraduates, and discuss the challenges involved in broadening research participation …


Mentoring Undergraduate Research In Mathematical Modeling, Glenn Ledder Jun 2022

Mentoring Undergraduate Research In Mathematical Modeling, Glenn Ledder

Department of Mathematics: Faculty Publications

In writing about undergraduate research in mathematical modeling, I draw on my 31 years as a mathematics professor at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, where I mentored students in honors’ theses, REU groups, and research done in a classroom setting, as well as my prior experience. I share my views on the differences between research at the undergraduate and professional levels, offer advice for undergraduate mentoring, provide suggestions for a variety of ways that students can disseminate their research, offer some thoughts on mathematical modeling and how to explain it to undergraduates, and discuss the challenges involved in broadening research participation …


A Mathematical Model For The Adoption Of Information And Communication Technology In School Libraries In Nigeria, Helen Olubunmi Jaiyeola Akinade, Jeremiah Ademola Balogun, Peter Adebayo Idowu Apr 2022

A Mathematical Model For The Adoption Of Information And Communication Technology In School Libraries In Nigeria, Helen Olubunmi Jaiyeola Akinade, Jeremiah Ademola Balogun, Peter Adebayo Idowu

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

This study focused on the development of a mathematical model required for estimating the number of adopters of ICT devices among libraries located in Nigeria. Data for this study was collected from 121 respondents selected based on a research survey approach using simple random sampling. 9 ICT devices were identified, namely: PCs, printers/fax machines, search engines, e-library systems, bulk SMS services, library management systems, bar/QR code readers, projectors and video conferencing. The results showed that the earliest ICT devices were adopted for use in 1997, such as: PCs, printers/fax machines and search engines. The remaining ICT devices were adopted in …


Mathematical Modeling Of Diabetic Foot Ulcers Using Optimal Design And Mixed-Modeling Techniques, Michael Belcher Jan 2020

Mathematical Modeling Of Diabetic Foot Ulcers Using Optimal Design And Mixed-Modeling Techniques, Michael Belcher

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

A mathematical model for the healing response of diabetic foot ulcers was developed using averaged data (Krishna et al., 2015). The model contains four major factors in the healing of wounds using four separate differential equations with 12 parameters. The four differential equations describe the interactions between matrix metalloproteinases (MMP-1), tissue inhibitors of matrix metalloproteinases (TIMP-1), the extracellular matrix (ECM) of the skin, and the fibroblasts, which produce these proteins. Recently, our research group obtained the individual patient data that comprised the averaged data. The research group has since taken several approaches to analyze the model with the individual …


Mathematical Model Investigating The Effects Of Neurostimulation Therapies On Neural Functioning: Comparing The Effects Of Neuromodulation Techniques On Ion Channel Gating And Ionic Flux Using Finite Element Analysis, Kaia Lindberg May 2019

Mathematical Model Investigating The Effects Of Neurostimulation Therapies On Neural Functioning: Comparing The Effects Of Neuromodulation Techniques On Ion Channel Gating And Ionic Flux Using Finite Element Analysis, Kaia Lindberg

Mathematics Theses

Neurostimulation therapies demonstrate success as a medical intervention for individuals with neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease. Despite promising results from these treatments, the influence of an electric current on ion concentrations and subsequent transmembrane voltage is unclear. This project focuses on developing a unique cellular-level mathematical model of neurostimulation to better understand its e↵ects on neuronal electrodynamics. The mathematical model presented here integrates the Poisson-Nernst-Planck system of PDEs and Hodgkin-Huxley based ODEs to model the e↵ects of this neurotherapy on transmembrane voltage, ion channel gating, and ionic mobility. This system is decoupled using the Gauss-Seidel method and …


The Mathematical Modeling Of Ballet, Kendall Gibson Apr 2019

The Mathematical Modeling Of Ballet, Kendall Gibson

Mathematics Senior Capstone Papers

This project aims to analyze the connections between ballet and mathematics. Specifically, this project focuses on analyzing the three-dimensional surfaces created as a dancer performs ballet choreography. The primary goal is to use a Vicon motion capture system in conjunction with MATLAB to model the three-dimensional lines and surfaces created by a dancer’s legs as she performs specific ballet movements. The movements used for this experiment were a pique turn and a rond de jambe. The data was collected using sensors to create objects in Vicon to record the position of the ankle, knee, and hip of the working leg …


Convergence To Consensus In Heterogeneous Groups And The Emergence Of Informal Leadership, Sergey Gavrilets, Jeremy David Auerbach, Mark Van Vugt Jul 2016

Convergence To Consensus In Heterogeneous Groups And The Emergence Of Informal Leadership, Sergey Gavrilets, Jeremy David Auerbach, Mark Van Vugt

Faculty Publications and Other Works -- Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

When group cohesion is essential, groups must have efficient strategies in place for consensus decisionmaking. Recent theoretical work suggests that shared decision-making is often the most efficient way for dealing with both information uncertainty and individual variation in preferences. However, some animal and most human groups make collective decisions through particular individuals, leaders, that have a disproportionate influence on group decision-making. To address this discrepancy between theory and data, we study a simple, but general, model that explicitly focuses on the dynamics of consensus building in groups composed by individuals who are heterogeneous in preferences, certain personality traits (agreeability and …


The Role Of Mathematical Modeling In Designing And Evaluating Antimicrobial Stewardship Programs, Lester Caudill, Joanna R. Wares Apr 2016

The Role Of Mathematical Modeling In Designing And Evaluating Antimicrobial Stewardship Programs, Lester Caudill, Joanna R. Wares

Department of Math & Statistics Faculty Publications

Antimicrobial agent effectiveness continues to be threatened by the rise and spread of pathogen strains that exhibit drug resistance. This challenge is most acute in healthcare facilities where the well-established connection between resistance and sub-optimal antimicrobial use has prompted the creation of antimicrobial stewardship programs (ASPs). Mathematical models offer tremendous potential for serving as an alternative to controlled human experimentation for assessing the effectiveness of ASPs. Models can simulate controlled randomized experiments between groups of virtual patients, some treated with the ASP measure under investigation, and some without. By removing the limitations inherent in human experimentation, including health risks, study …


Roles Of A Teacher And Researcher During In Situ Professional Development Around The Implementation Of Mathematical Modeling Tasks, Hyunyi Jung, Corey Brady Apr 2016

Roles Of A Teacher And Researcher During In Situ Professional Development Around The Implementation Of Mathematical Modeling Tasks, Hyunyi Jung, Corey Brady

University Faculty Publications and Creative Works

Partnership with teachers for professional development has been considered beneficial because of the potential of collaborative work in the teacher’s own classroom to be relevant to practice. From this perspective, both teachers and researchers can draw on their own expertise and work as authentic partners. In this study, we address the need for such collaboration and focus on how a teacher and a researcher performed their roles when collaboratively implementing mathematical modeling tasks within a context of in situ professional development. Using multi-tier design-based research, as a framework, a researcher worked in a teacher’s classroom to implement a series of …


Predator Prey Models In Competitive Corporations, Rachel Von Arb Apr 2013

Predator Prey Models In Competitive Corporations, Rachel Von Arb

Honors Program Projects

Predator prey models have been used for years to model animal populations. In recent years they have begun to be applied to economic situations. However, the stock market has remained largely untouched. We examine whether the success of competitive corporations such as Target and Walmart, as measured by the indicators of price per share, market share, and volume, can be modeled by various predator prey models. We consider the basic Lotka-Volterra model and the two-predator, one-prey model, as well as a ratio-dependent model. We discuss the use of numerical techniques and regression analysis as tools to estimate model parameters. For …


Social Aggregation In Pea Aphids: Experiment And Random Walk Modeling, Christa Nilsen, John Paige, Olivia Warner, Benjamin Mayhew, Ryan Sutley, Matthew Lam '15, Andrew J. Bernoff, Chad M. Topaz Jan 2013

Social Aggregation In Pea Aphids: Experiment And Random Walk Modeling, Christa Nilsen, John Paige, Olivia Warner, Benjamin Mayhew, Ryan Sutley, Matthew Lam '15, Andrew J. Bernoff, Chad M. Topaz

All HMC Faculty Publications and Research

From bird flocks to fish schools and ungulate herds to insect swarms, social biological aggregations are found across the natural world. An ongoing challenge in the mathematical modeling of aggregations is to strengthen the connection between models and biological data by quantifying the rules that individuals follow. We model aggregation of the pea aphid, Acyrthosiphon pisum. Specifically, we conduct experiments to track the motion of aphids walking in a featureless circular arena in order to deduce individual-level rules. We observe that each aphid transitions stochastically between a moving and a stationary state. Moving aphids follow a correlated random walk. …


Optimal Therapy Regimens For Treatment-Resistant Mutations Of Hiv, Weiqing Gu, Helen Moore Jan 2006

Optimal Therapy Regimens For Treatment-Resistant Mutations Of Hiv, Weiqing Gu, Helen Moore

All HMC Faculty Publications and Research

In this paper, we use control theory to determine optimal treatment regimens for HIV patients, taking into account treatment-resistant mutations of the virus. We perform optimal control analysis on a model developed previously for the dynamics of HIV with strains of various resistance to treatment (Moore and Gu, 2005). This model incorporates three types of resistance to treatments: strains that are not responsive to protease inhibitors, strains not responsive to reverse transcriptase inhibitors, and strains not responsive to either of these treatments. We solve for the optimal treatment regimens analytically and numerically. We find parameter regimes for which optimal dosing …


A Mathematical Model For Treatment-Resistant Mutations Of Hiv, Helen Moore, Weiqing Gu Apr 2005

A Mathematical Model For Treatment-Resistant Mutations Of Hiv, Helen Moore, Weiqing Gu

All HMC Faculty Publications and Research

In this paper, we propose and analyze a mathematical model, in the form of a system of ordinary differential equations, governing mutated strains of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and their interactions with the immune system and treatments. Our model incorporates two types of resistant mutations: strains that are not responsive to protease inhibitors, and strains that are not responsive to reverse transcriptase inhibitors. It also includes strains that do not have either of these two types of resistance (wild-type virus) and strains that have both types. We perform our analysis by changing the system of ordinary differential equations (ODEs) to …


Modeling Basketball Free Throws, Andrew Lang, Joerg M. Gablonsky Jan 2005

Modeling Basketball Free Throws, Andrew Lang, Joerg M. Gablonsky

College of Science and Engineering Faculty Research and Scholarship

This paper presents a mathematical model for basketball free throws. It is intended to be a supplement to an existing calculus course and could easily be used as a basis for a calculus project. Students will learn how to apply calculus to model an interesting real-world problem, from problem identification all the way through to interpretation and verification. Along the way we will introduce topics such as optimization (univariate and multiobjective), numerical methods, and differential equations.