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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Beyond The Point Charge: Equipotential Surfaces And Electric Fields Of Various Charge Configurations, Jeffrey A. Phillips, Jeff Sanny, David Berube, Anatol Hoemke Jan 2017

Beyond The Point Charge: Equipotential Surfaces And Electric Fields Of Various Charge Configurations, Jeffrey A. Phillips, Jeff Sanny, David Berube, Anatol Hoemke

Physics Faculty Works

A laboratory experiment often performed in an introductory electricity and magnetism course involves the mapping of equipotential lines on a conductive sheet between two objects at different potentials. In this article, we describe how we have expanded this experiment so that it can be used to illustrate the electrostatic properties of conductors. Different configurations of electrodes can be used to show that the electric field is zero inside a conductor as well as within a cavity, the electric field is perpendicular to conducting surfaces, and the charge distribution on conducting surfaces can vary.


Applications Of Fractional Calculus To Newtonian Mechanics, Gabriele U. Varieschi Jan 2017

Applications Of Fractional Calculus To Newtonian Mechanics, Gabriele U. Varieschi

Physics Faculty Works

We investigate some basic applications of Fractional Calculus (FC) to Newtonian mechanics. After a brief review of FC, we consider a possible generalization of Newton's second law of motion and apply it to the case of a body subject to a constant force. In our second application of FC to Newtonian gravity, we consider a generalized fractional gravitational potential and derive the related circular orbital velocities. This analysis might be used as a tool to model galactic rotation curves, in view of the dark matter problem. Both applications have a pedagogical value in connecting fractional calculus to standard mechanics and …


The Stress Granule Transcriptome Reveals Principles Of Mrna Accumulation In Stress Granules, Sarah F. Mitchell Jan 2017

The Stress Granule Transcriptome Reveals Principles Of Mrna Accumulation In Stress Granules, Sarah F. Mitchell

Chemistry and Biochemistry Faculty Works

Stress granules are mRNA-protein assemblies formed from nontranslating mRNAs. Stress granules are important in the stress response and may contribute to some degenerative diseases. Here, we describe the stress granule transcriptome of yeast and mammalian cells through RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) analysis of purified stress granule cores and single-molecule fluorescence in situ hybridization (smFISH) validation. While essentially every mRNA, and some noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs), can be targeted to stress granules, the targeting efficiency varies from <1% to >95%. mRNA accumulation in stress granules correlates with longer coding and UTR regions and poor translatability. Quantifying the RNA-seq analysis by smFISH reveals that only 10% of …


Deadly Heat Waves Projected In The Densely Populated Agricultural Regions Of South Asia, Eun-Soon Im, Jeremy S. Pal, Elfatih A. B. Eltahir Jan 2017

Deadly Heat Waves Projected In The Densely Populated Agricultural Regions Of South Asia, Eun-Soon Im, Jeremy S. Pal, Elfatih A. B. Eltahir

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Works

The risk associated with any climate change impact reflects intensity of natural hazard and level of human vulnerability. Previous work has shown that a wet-bulb temperature of 35°C can be considered an upper limit on human survivability. On the basis of an ensemble of high-resolution climate change simulations, we project that extremes of wet-bulb temperature in South Asia are likely to approach and, in a few locations, exceed this critical threshold by the late 21st century under the business-as-usual scenario of future greenhouse gas emissions. The most intense hazard from extreme future heat waves is concentrated around densely populated agricultural …


An Analysis Of Secondary Teachers' Reasoning With Participatory Sensing Data, Anna E. Bargagliotti Jan 2017

An Analysis Of Secondary Teachers' Reasoning With Participatory Sensing Data, Anna E. Bargagliotti

Mathematics Faculty Works

"Participatory sensing is a data collection method in which communities of people collect and share data to investigate large-scale processes. These data have many features often associated with the big data paradigm: they are rich and multivariate, include non-numeric data, and are collected as determined by an algorithm rather than by traditional experimental designs. While not often found in classrooms, arguably they should be since data with these features are commonly encountered in daily life. Because of this, it is of interest to examine how teachers reason with and about such data. We propose methods for describing progress through a …


Optimization And Control Of Agent-Based Models In Biology: A Perspective, G. An, B. G. Fitzpatrick, S. Christley, P. Federico, A. Kanarek, R. Miller Neilan, M. Oremland, R. Salinas, R. Laubeanbacher, S. Lenhart Jan 2017

Optimization And Control Of Agent-Based Models In Biology: A Perspective, G. An, B. G. Fitzpatrick, S. Christley, P. Federico, A. Kanarek, R. Miller Neilan, M. Oremland, R. Salinas, R. Laubeanbacher, S. Lenhart

Mathematics Faculty Works

Agent-based models (ABMs) have become an increasingly important mode of inquiry for the life sciences. They are particularly valuable for systems that are not understood well enough to build an equation-based model. These advantages, however, are counterbalanced by the difficulty of analyzing and using ABMs, due to the lack of the type of mathematical tools available for more traditional models, which leaves simulation as the primary approach. As models become large, simulation becomes challenging. This paper proposes a novel approach to two mathematical aspects of ABMs, optimization and control, and it presents a few first steps outlining how one might …


On Homology Of Associative Shelves, Alissa Crans Jan 2017

On Homology Of Associative Shelves, Alissa Crans

Mathematics Faculty Works

Homology theories for associative algebraic structures are well established and have been studied for a long time. More recently, homology theories for selfdistributive algebraic structures motivated by knot theory, such as quandles and their relatives, have been developed and investigated. In this paper, we study associative self-distributive algebraic structures and their one-term and two-term (rack) homology groups.


The Alexander Polynominal For Virtual Twist Knots, Isaac Benioff, Blake Mellor Jan 2017

The Alexander Polynominal For Virtual Twist Knots, Isaac Benioff, Blake Mellor

Mathematics Faculty Works

We define a family of virtual knots generalizing the classical twist knots. We develop a recursive formula for the Alexander polynomial Δ0 (as defined by Silver and Williams [Polynomial invariants of virtual links, J. Knot Theory Ramifications12 (2003) 987–1000]) of these virtual twist knots. These results are applied to provide evidence for a conjecture that the odd writhe of a virtual knot can be obtained from Δ0 .