Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Understanding The Wind-Dominated Landforms Of Saturn’S Moon Titan Through Earth Analogues, Jani Radebaugh, Eric Christiansen, Shannon Tass

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The largest moon of Saturn, Titan, has a thick atmosphere of nitrogen and a pressure similar to that of Earth at the surface. There are winds, strong enough to have produced two wind-dominated landforms similar to those on Earth – vast fields of sand dunes and smaller collections of wind-carved ridges, or yardangs. We seek to understand the relationships between the observed landforms and the winds and surface materials required to form them, both on Earth and Titan. This study of the shapes of winddominated landforms, dunes and yardangs, will help answer key questions about the surface of Titan at …

Mentoring Astronomy Students Through Extensive Research (Master), Dr. Michael Joner

Journal of Undergraduate Research

This Mentoring Environment Grant (MEG) proposed using the Brigham Young University West Mountain Observatory as a mentoring environment where students would experience what it is like to do research at a fully operational observatory by doing a wide variety of observations at regularly scheduled times over the course of several months during the spring and summer terms. The primary project in 2017 involved making nightly monitoring observations of the active Seyfert 1 galaxy Mrk 509 in support of a worldwide campaign involving more than a dozen ground–based and space–based observatories. In 2018, the primary monitoring campaign for extragalactic objects was …

Rational Design Of Multifunctional Enzyme-Like Catalysts For Assembly-Line Chemical Synthesis, David Michaelis

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The main objectives of this proposal was to publish our preliminary findings in peptide catalysis and then submit applications for external funding. Both of these objectives were accomplished during the grant period. In the Fall of 2017, we published our first paper on the development of our new enzyme-like catalysts (ACS Catal. 2017, 7, 7704–7708). This publication should serve as a springboard for additional publications in the area (on which we are currently working) and help ensure external funding for this project. During 2017-2018, we submitted 3 grant applications to the NIH to help support this project. These submissions have …

Computational Number Theory: Modular Forms, Paul Jenkins

Journal of Undergraduate Research

In 2017 and 2018, the following students participated in the BYU Computational Number Theory research group under my direction and produced the following deliverables.

Applying Acoustic Beamforming In Sub-Arrays To Jet Engine Noise, David Van Komen, Kent Gee, Tracianne Nielson

Journal of Undergraduate Research

In Jet engine noise is a large and complex area of research due to the intricacies of the variety of different mechanisms that produce noise traveling in different directions. The dominate noise source is called turbulent mixing noise (TMN) which is created by the interaction of the column of air mixing with the ambient air. Two types of TMN exist: large-scale TMN, the dominant noise source that travels away from the aircraft in the aft quadrant and fine-scale TMN that travels in all directions1. The second type of noise is known as broadband shock-associated noise (BBSAN), which is generated by …

Identifying Unknown Satellites, Nicholas Van Alfen, Joseph Moody

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Satellites are used for a wide range of purposes and by a wide range of organizations from private companies to governments. Specifically, what was of interest to us and the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) with whom we collaborated was the need to identify different satellites using telescopes and determine their purpose. Finding a cheap way to determine the design of a satellite and its use would be of great interest to national security in determining whether a previously unknown satellite is potentially harmful to our own country’s satellites in orbit around the Earth.

Magnetron Sputtering For The Production Of Stable P-Type Zno Thin Films, Colter Stewart, Dr. John Colton

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The principal purpose of my research is to produce stable, long-lasting, reproducible p-type zinc oxide for experimental and commercial use. Semiconductor devices made with zinc oxide (ZnO) have the potential to be a cheaper alternative to those made with gallium nitride (GaN). In addition, ZnO devices could also have superior physical and optical properties [1]. Because of ZnO’s wide band gap and high radiation tolerance, it could potentially be used for UV lasers and LEDs, and thin-film transistors (TFTs) [2]. However, because of natural defects in the ZnO lattice, p-type ZnO has historically been difficult to produce [3]. Our group’s …

The Development Of Individualized Anemia Treatments Using Point Of Care Diagnostics To Distinguish Anemia Caused By Infection Or Chronic Inflammation, Dr. Richard Watt

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Background: Anemia that accompanies inflammation is associated with negative outcomes for patients. Early intervention to treat anemia is an important step in improving the quality of life for anemic patients. Our lab proposed to develop simple diagnostic tests using a Lateral Flow Immunoassays (LFIs) to measure the presence of a hormone called hepcidin because hepcidin is the master regulator of iron homeostasis in the body and elevated hepcidin levels lead to anemia.

Inclusion Of Women In Computer Science, Naomi Johnson, Dr. Kevin Seppi

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Since the 1980’s, the percentage of computer science degrees awarded to women in the United States has fallen dramatically. There are growing numbers of men earning bachelor’s degrees in CS, and the numbers of women are increasing very slowly. For decades, researchers have been studying recruitment and retention of women and other minorities in CS, yet it is still not apparent what departments, professors, or students can do in order to get the numbers of women earning degrees in CS up again.

Microbes And Metals: Purifying The Water Of Lake Titicaca, Sara Ludlow, Dr. Gregory T. Carling

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Pollution of Lake Titicaca has become a major threat to the health and lifestyle of the Uru people who use the lake water for their daily needs. Cities along the coast dump untreated sewage directly into the lake introducing dangerous microbial levels of Escherichia coli. Runoff from nearby mines increases the risk of toxic levels of lead, arsenic, and other heavy metals. Previous members of the ongoing Global Engineering Outreach (GEO) program identified biosand filtration as a viable option for mitigating these risks. As such, they implemented single stage biosand filters in the community, but they were never able to …

Random Polynomial Interpolation From Known Roots In The Multivariate Case, Catherine Sawyer, Tyler Jarvis

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The purpose of this project was to develop a method by which sets of multivariate polynomials with known roots could be rapidly generated. Generating such polynomials would be of great use in testing root finding algorithms, yet remains an open problem

Modeling Main Group Metal Alkane Functionalization Reactions In Highly Acidic Carboxylic And Sulfuric Acid Solvents, Lily H. Carlson, Daniel H. Ess

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Our group is interested in identifying the unknown mechanisms of main-group C-H functionalization reactions. In the long term, our goal is to use computational chemistry tools to develop general principles on mechanisms, intermediates, reactivity, and selectivity for hydrocarbon C-H functionalization reactions by p-block main-group compounds as well as provide prediction of new catalysts and reactions. However, in providing these predictions, it remains unclear if different mechanistic pathways and intermediates will be predicted if examined in a complete solvent sphere (see Figure 1 for technical details). This is especially important for non-aqueous solvents such as carboxylic acids and sulfuric acid. To …

Heterodinuclear Co-Zr Compound Shows Increased Reactivity In Kumada Coupling, James Coombs, Daniel Ess

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Heterodinuclear compounds containing a metal–metal bond represent a potentially useful subclass of catalyst in organic synthesis. Heterodinuclear compounds offer the possibility of increased reactivity due to interactions between metal centers (Scheme 1A). These so-called cooperative effects can enhance reactivity by changing the electronic density, increasing nucleophilicity/electrophilicity of the reactive metal, and by lowering the energy barriers for changes in oxidation state. These changes in reactivity can allow a heterodinuclear compound to be an effective catalyst for many chemical reactions that would be unfeasible with a mononuclear analogue.

Making Mri Scans Quieter Through Time-Reversal Acoustics And Active Noise Control, Trent Furlong, Brian Anderson

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Noise from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) equipment puts patients at risk for hearing damage.i Active noise control (ANC) systems have been implemented inside the MRI’s bore to reduce perceived noise, but the equipment used cannot have magnetic material or the ANC system will interfere with the MRI machine’s imaging quality. These systems are also limited in size because of the MRI machine’s small bore. Our project was to determine the feasibility of using time-reversal (TR) acoustics to remotely focus a noise-canceling signal to a desired point in space (e.g. a patient’s ear inside an MRI machine) and see if significant …

Cancerous Male And Female Gene Expression, Clarissa Farmer, E. Shannon Tass

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Genetic diagnosing is becoming more popular, as well as more and more accurate. However, many genetic diseases have complex genetic effects and are still not fully understood. Transthyretin Amyloidosis (ATTR; also known as familial or hereditary amyloidosis) is a terminal genetic disease. It is caused by unstable transthyretin proteins that fold improperly, and then deteriorate. The fragmented proteins are deposited outside of the cell and build up in the tissues over time, forming insoluble oligomers. The oligomers continue to grow into Amyloid fibrils, which adversely affect many organs in the body, eventually causing their failure. In order to accurately diagnose, …

Cluster Analysis Via Random Partition Distributions, Brandon Carter, Dr. David B. Dahl

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Cluster analysis is an important exploratory data analysis technique used in a wide variety of fields. Cluster analysis seeks to discover a natural grouping of the data, where items in the same cluster or group are more similar than items from different clusters. Through our research, we developed a novel method for cluster analysis which takes pairwise distance information as input. Our new method improves upon traditional cluster analysis methods which also take pairwise distance information as input, such as hierarchical clustering. Our method, cluster analysis via random partition distributions (CaviarPD) is based on probability distributions and therefore allows the …

Finding Planets Around Massive Stars, Elisabeth Frischnecht, Denise Stephens

Journal of Undergraduate Research

During the formation stages of a solar system, huge clouds of gas and dust contract into a disk around the growing star. These disks are the birthplace of planets, and are essential to our understanding of solar system formation. Historically, the search for planets outside of our solar system has typically been constrained to stars that are similar to the sun. However, Herbig Ae/Be (HAe/Be) stars offer promising results. HAe/Be stars are 2-10 times larger than the sun and retain their formation disks. These disks around these stars are brighter and larger than those around solar type stars, so they …

Detecting Microcracks In Structures By Electromagnetic Excitation Of Acoustic Resonances, Joshua Gregg, Brian Anderson

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Stainless steel structures are often affected by stress corrosion cracking, which makes microscopic cracks that can go unnoticed and eventually cause the structure to fail. A useful method for detecting stress corrosion cracking is nonlinear resonant ultrasound spectroscopy (NRUS). NRUS involves vibrating a sample and looking for amplitude-dependent shifts in the sample’s resonance frequencies. NRUS tests are typically performed by driving vibrations in rods with piezoelectric transducers and measuring the amplitude-dependent shifts in the resonance frequencies. I am developing a different technique for driving the vibrations, which has never been used for NRUS. The technique uses a coil attached to …

Cyclic Peptide Catalyst Design, Millicent Campbell, David Michaelis

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Enzymes found in nature are more efficient catalysts than those used in organic chemistry labs. However, natural enzymes are not ideal for organic synthesis because they only make one product and only work in specific conditions. The Michaelis lab designed a catalyst capable of mimicking enzyme-like reactivity in the lab. This catalyst consists of an alpha helix with an imidazolidinone catalyst and a thiourea catalyst (see figure 1). The imidazolidinone catalyst and thiourea catalysts are attached adjacent to each other on the alpha helix, which acts as a rigid scaffold that can mimic the proximity effects seen in natural enzymes. …

Primordial Origins Of Supermassive Black Holes, William Black, David Neilson

Journal of Undergraduate Research

At the center of the Milky Way sits a supermassive black hole named Sagittarius A*1, which is over a million times the mass of our sun. Other galaxy centers host similar black holes which are up to thousands of times larger than even Sagittarius A*. Some of these giants have been sighted in the very early universe (700 million years after the Big Bang is still relatively early in the universe—it’s now been nearly 14 billion years!).

Increasing Cryptographic Security Through Quantum Erasure, Richard Barney, Jean-Françios S. Van Huele

Journal of Undergraduate Research

In our increasingly data-driven society, the ability to transmit secure messages is more essential than ever. This ability allows economies to thrive and protects both personal and national security. In order to achieve this security, cryptographers have developed methods to encrypt data. One of the most successful of these methods is to use a secure key to encrypt and decrypt the sensitive data. This method has been very successful but it is still possible for outside agents to obtain the secure key and thereby access sensitive information.

Using Aviris And Machine Learning To Map And Discriminate Bull Kelp And Giant Kelp Along The Pacific Coast Of The United States, Tanner Thompson, Dr. Ryan Jensen

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Kelp forests provide food and shelter for many organisms, and they are an important part of coastal ecosystems throughout the world. Along the Pacific coast of the United States, kelp forests are made up of two species of kelp: bull kelp (Nereocystis Leutkana) and giant kelp (Macrocystis Pyrifera). While similar, these two species are physiologically and structurally different.

The Relationship Between Urban Tree Lai And Urban Heat, Amanda Sheepherd, Dr. Ryan Jensen

Journal of Undergraduate Research

It is well known that urban areas are warmer than the surrounding rural areas, with various negative (though sometimes not immediately perceived) consequences for urban residents and the environment. As the world’s human population becomes increasingly urban, methods of mitigating urban heat become more imperative to explore. Though not nearly as abundant as in many natural environments, trees are fairly common in urban areas and can be utilized to offset urban heat. Studying the cooling effects of trees on the surrounding areas can further our understanding of the relationship between trees and temperature. Leaf Area Index (LAI) is a specific …

Patterns Of The Past: Mountain Hemlock And Pacific Northwest Climate, Aaron Snow, Dr. Matthew Bekker

Journal of Undergraduate Research

In July, 2016, I had the opportunity to attend the North American Dendroecological Fieldweek (NADEF) at Mount Rainier National Park, Washington. NADEF organizes the attendees into five different groups to undergo specific research projects all having to do with tree rings. My group, the intro group, hiked to the southern side of the park, assembled a chronology of mountain hemlock trees (Tsuga mertensiana), and observed notable attributes of the collected data. Because the fieldweek lasted only seven days, our research was minimal, which was why I applied for an ORCA grant in order to take the research to …

Alzheimer’S Disease: A New Model Defining The Mechanism Of Iron- Catalyzed Radical Damage To Neurons, Richard Watt, Jonathan Wisco

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The MEG proposal focused on understanding how elevated homocysteine levels cause the inability of cells to control iron levels as a cause for Alzheimer’s disease. Iron is associated with the amyloid plaques and tau tangles that are proposed to cause damage to neurons. Dr. Wisco and I previously submitted an NIH R15 proposal that was viewed positively but was not funded due to a lack of preliminary data. Our goal was to use MEG funding to provide preliminary data supporting the hypothesis. We proposed that Homocysteine was a dangerous trigger for disrupting iron metabolism. Biochemical techniques, immunohistochemistry techniques and MRI …

Mentoring Undergraduates At The Intersection Of Organic Synthesis And Peptide Science, Steven L. Castle

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Our academic goals were threefold. First, we aimed to synthesize building blocks and begin assembling them to construct the anticancer peptide yaku’amide A (YA, Figure 1). Our purposes in synthesizing YA were to develop new chemical reactions suitable for efficiently preparing its unusual amino acids (shown in red and blue in Figure 1), and synthesize simplified analogues for use in studies designed to reveal its biological target and mode of action. Our second academic goal was derived from the first and involved investigating the ability of bulky dehydroamino acids (i.e., the amino acids of YA shown in blue in Figure …

Function Of Ric-8a In G Protein E+- Subunit Biogenesis, Barry Willardson

Journal of Undergraduate Research

1. Grant Ludlam. The MEG award helped support Grant’s work from January 2015 through August 2016. During this time Grant has worked on three projects. He investigated the role of Ric8A in the folding of the G protein a subunit and its assembly into the G protein heterotrimeric complex. Unfortunately, his results showed that deletion of Ric8A in the photoreceptor cells of mice did not affect G protein signaling. As a result, he changed his research focus to determining the structure of the BBSome core complex. He assisted a graduate student, Takuma Aoba, in this work. They used a combination of …

A Novel Approach To A Big Simulation Problem: Creating Efficient Dry Granular Material Simulations With Accurate Visual Detail And Behavior, Seth Holladay

Journal of Undergraduate Research

We received a MEG grant for researching the simulation of granular materials for computer graphics and animation. Materials such as sand and snow simulation is very expensive but necessary for productions, as well as hard to control the look, so I have been mentoring undergraduate and graduate students researching how to make sand simulations both efficient and art directable.

Calculating Music Similarity With Mobile Device Playlists, Jacob O'Bryant, Dennis Ng

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Music recommendation systems, such as Pandora and Spotify, help listeners to discover new music. The similarity of different songs is an important measure used in music recommendation. We have studied manually-created playlists on mobile devices to see if they can be used to accurately calculate song similarity. We collected playlists from 41 research subjects and used a co-occurrence model to calculate similarity between songs in the collection.

Using Frequency Noise Feedback To Satabilize Extended Cavity Diode Lasers For Use In Atomic Physics, Mckinley Pugh, Dallin Durfee

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Diode lasers in particular are useful in atomic physics because they are durable, compact, and relatively inexpensive. Unfortunately diode lasers also have linewidths that are much wider than atomic transitions. One common method to narrow the linewidth of diode lasers is to add a reflection grating outside the laser, creating an extended cavity diode laser (ECDL). While ECDLs are effective at narrowing the linewidth, they also introduce so many variables that affect the wavelength of the laser that small changes in the laser’s environment can cause the laser to mode hop, or jump to an entirely different wavelength.