Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Application Of Stormwater Management Techniques For Mitigation And Education At The Stockbridge School Agricultural Learning Center, Samantha R. Anderson

Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning Masters Projects

The Stockbridge School Agricultural Learning Center (SSALC) will be a 40-acre hands-on agricultural learning laboratory for students, staff, visitors, and neighbors. Still in its planning phases, the Center will be located on what is currently a hay field just north of UMass Amherst campus. A conceptual master plan was created in 2013 that is being used for fundraising as well as planning for agricultural demonstration plots and architectural hubs. Improperly managed agricultural landscapes are known as one of the biggest threats to water quality in the United States. As a model of forward thinking agricultural practices, properly managed stormwater on …

Rogue Waves In Nonlinear Schrodinger Models With Variable Coefficients : Application To Bose Einstein Condensates, J. S. He, E. G. Charalampidis, P. G. Kevrekidis, D. J. Frantzeskasis

Mathematics and Statistics Department Faculty Publication Series

We explore the form of rogue waves solution sin a select set of case examples of non linear Schrodinger equations with variable coefficients. We focus on systems with constant dispersion, and present three different models that describe atomic Bose Einstein condensates in different experimentally relevant settings. For these models, we identify exact rogue waves solutions. Our analytical findings are corroborated by direct numerical integration of the original equations, performed by two different schemes. Very good agreement between numerical results and analytical predictions for the emergence of the rogue waves is identified. Additionally, the nontrivial fate of small numerically induced perturbations …

Sustainable Umass Adquad External Review Final Presentation, Bonny Bentzin, Robert Koester, Matt St. Clair

Sustainability Reports & Plans

No abstract provided.

Sustainable Umass Adquad External Review Final Report, Bonny Bentzin, Robert Koester, Matt St. Clair

Sustainability Reports & Plans

Through the breadth and excellence of its operational and academic activities, the Sustainable UMass program has had considerable success in the past five years; achieving a position of prominence and leadership in the sustainability arena as reflected in national higher education awards. Remarkably, this has been spearheaded by a relatively small group of dedicated people working together as an informal, ad hoc coalition of personnel in Physical Plant, Campus Planning, Auxiliary Services, Transportation Services, the College of Natural Sciences, the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, the Isenberg School of Management, the Library, and University Relations, among others. However, as …

Wrinkling In Buckling And A Thin Sheet, Narayanan Menon

Patterns Around Us

Module 1: Euler Buckling

Learning Objectives:

• What is an instability? A sudden change in behaviour in response to a small change in conditions.

• Instabilities usually involve a change in symmetry from a more symmetric situation to a less symmetric one

• The mechanism for an instability usually involves two competing forces (one force stabilizing the symmetric state, and the other one destabilizing it), with one suddenly winning the contest

• These competing forces in thin objects are often the forces of compression (destabilizing force - favors buckling or wrinkling) and of bending (stabilizing force).

Understanding by data collapse, the power of using …

Evaluation Report, Alan Peterfreund

STEM Digital

This evaluation report synthesizes the results of evaluation activities conducted by SageFox Consulting Group of the STEM DIGITAL project led by the UMass STEM Ed Institute for its no-cost extension year, covering the period September 2013 to August 2014. The goals of the program are to facilitate the participants’ abilities to stimulate student interest in STEM careers while engaging them in ways to think critically about their environment. Participating teachers incorporated digital cameras and Analyzing Digital Images (ADI) software into lab activities focusing on environmental science. STEM DIGITAL materials focused on three strands related to (1) ozone and air quality, …

Patterns In Trash: Factors That Drive Municipal Solid Waste Recycling, Jared Starr

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

Municipal recycling is driven by a variety of factors. Yet how these factors change over time is not well understood. I analyze a suite of contextual and program variable in multiple time periods, spanning 16 years, in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Based on the models run, I reach the surprising conclusion that most program variables have an insignificant effect on recycling rates. These findings can inform municipal officials and waste managers as they seek new ways to increase municipal recycling participation.

Push-Pull Molecules: Models And Polymer Building Blocks For Organic Photovoltaic Applications, Raymond Devaughn

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

Several fluorenone alkynyl based oligo conjugated molecules were synthesized and characterized. Most compounds exhibited UV-Vis absorption onset at ca. 500 nm and a PL emission onset of ~329-370 nm, with excimer emission suspected from most systems near ~530-560 nm. Experimentally determined E_HOMO and E_LUMO energies range from -6.02 to -5.73 eV and -3.47 and 3.55 eV, respectively, with the lowest experimental E_g lying at -2.26 eV for 2-(trimethoxyphenylacetylene)-fluorenone. Cyclic voltammetry indicates quasi-reversible reduction for all systems, with 2,7-bis(nitrophenylacetylene)fluorenone exhibiting a high reduction potential of -1.25 eV. Only 2,7-bis(trimethoxyphenylacetylene)fluorenone exhibited a quasi-reversible oxidation, due to electron rich methoxy …

Free Wake Potential Flow Vortex Wind Turbine Modeling: Advances In Parallel Processing And Integration Of Ground Effects, Nathaniel B. Develder

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

Potential flow simulations are a great engineering type, middle-ground approach to modeling complex aerodynamic systems, but quickly become computationally unwieldy for large domains. An N-body problem with N-squared interactions to calculate, this free wake vortex model of a wind turbine is well suited to parallel computation. This thesis discusses general trends in wind turbine modeling, a potential flow model of the rotor of the NREL 5MW reference turbine, various forms of parallel computing, current GPU hardware, and the application of ground effects to the model. In the vicinity of 200,000 points, current GPU hardware was found to be nearly 17 …

The Potential For Restoration Of Tan Brook, An Urban Headwater Stream In Amherst, Massachusetts, Alison Tenhulzen, Alyssa Black, Robert F. Smith

Research

The goal of the Tan Brook Student Conservation Group is to educate undergraduate students at the University of Massachusetts Amherst about freshwater sustainability. to accomplish this, the group will act to provide opportunities in original research, applied field and laboratory methods, and outreach. The initial goal for the group will be a collaborative project describing the ecological, historical, and social significance of the Tan Brook, which will result in an informative website and educational signage located at several locations in the town of Amherst and on University property where the Tan Brook enters campus. Ultimately, the group will contribute to …

Brief Analysis Of The Tan Brook Watershed In Amherst, Massachusetts, Andrew Mckenna, Robert F. Smith

Research

The Tan Brook is a small 3.91 square kilometer watershed that runs through and encompasses the highly urbanized areas of Amherst, MA. It is part of the Connecticut River basin and the Mill River sub-basin. In order to meet the high demands of the local middle and high school, and heavy runoff from high amounts of impervious cover from downtown Amherst and the University of Massachusetts, the Tan Brook has been highly culverted.

Qualitative And Comparative Analysis Of Stormwater Management In The Tan Brook Watershed, Natalia Von Hausen, Robert F. Smith

Research

The Tan Brook Watershed is both a daylighted and diverted underground stream that runs through the Town Center of Amherst and the campus of UMass Amherst. Various stormwater management practices have been used to infiltrate stormwater runoff from streets, lots, buildings and/or vehicles. These systems are custom-designed relative to the surrounding permeability of the soil, vegetation and geographical topography. Some systems have higher success rates than others.

Fy 2014 Umass Amherst Water & Steam Data By Building, Ezra Small

Campus Data

Each year, UMass Amherst Utilities publishes this spreadsheet which has the monthly and annual building water and steam consumption of each metered building on campus.

2013-2014 Newsletter, Morton Sternheim

STEM Education Institute Newsletters

Patterns Workshop

iCons

New! MassBioEd Seminars

Arsenic: Citizen Science

STEM DIGITAL online

Nanotechnology

Keeping Track Of Our Arsenic Intake: A Possible Citizen-Science Project, Julian Tyson

Chemistry Department Faculty Publication Series

No abstract provided.

Non-Chromatographic Speciation Of Inorganic Arsenic By Atomic Fluorescence Spectrometry With Flow Injection Hydride Generation With A Tetrahydroborate-Form Anion-Exchanger, N. Wang, Julian Tyson

Chemistry Department Faculty Publication Series

No abstract provided.

Fy 2014 Umass Amherst Waste Management Report, Ezra Small

Campus Data

Each year the Office of Waste Management publishes this report which totals recycling and refuse data for the campus.

Fy 2014 Umass Amherst Electricity Data By Building, Ezra Small

Campus Data

Each year, UMass Amherst Utilities publishes this spreadsheet which has the monthly and annual building energy consumption of each metered building on campus. Cost data and production vs. purchased electricity data are also provided.

Umass Amherst Energy & Emissions Data Fy2002-2013, Ezra Small

Campus Data

This spreadsheet and associated tables provides the total fuel usage and associated emissions for the UMass Amherst campus including electricity consumption for all UMass Amherst owned properties between FY2002-2013. Tab 2 provides the calculated Energy Use Intensity (EUI). Tabs 3 & 4 provide the raw GHG and kbtu energy data for the campus. Tab 5 provides the emissions factors and weather normalization factors used by the MA DOER to correctly calculate annual emissions.

Sorafenib Resistance And Jnk Signaling In Carcinoma During Extracellular Matrix Stiffening, Thuy V. Nguyen, Marianne Sleiman, Timothy Moriarty, William G. Herrick, Shelly Peyton

Chemical Engineering Faculty Publication Series

Tumor progression is coincident with mechanochemical changes in the extracellular matrix (ECM). We hypothesized that tumor stroma stiffening, alongside a shift in the ECM composition from a basement membrane-like microenvironment toward a dense network of collagen-rich fibers during tumorigenesis, confers resistance to otherwise powerful chemotherapeutics. To test this hypothesis, we created a high-throughput drug screening platform based on our poly(ethylene glycol)-phosphorylcholine (PEG-PC) hydrogel system, and customized it to capture the stiffness and integrin-binding profile of in vivo tumors. We report that the efficacy of a Raf kinase inhibitor, sorafenib, is reduced on stiff, collagen-rich microenvironments, independent of ROCK activity. Instead, …

Why Waste The Wind? A Look Into Small Scale Wind Energy, Mitchell Negus, Jon Swanton, Ben Chilcoat, Mark Settembrino

Student Showcase

The human race’s dependence on fossil fuels for energy generation has started to cause major changes in the environment. Climate change is a universal issue and it is evident that our current energy schematic is not sustainable. At the University of Massachusetts, small-scale wind power has the potential to be a key component in UMass’ energy portfolio as the university shifts from reliance on fossil fuels to renewable energy. Strategically placed turbines would produce clean, renewable energy, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and help to decentralize energy dependence on the Central Heating Plant. Small-scale turbines, like the eddyGT, are tested technologies …

Multi-Sensor Mobile Robot Localization For Diverse Environments, Joydeep Biswas, Manuela M. Veloso

Computer Science Department Faculty Publication Series

Mobile robot localization with different sensors and algorithms is a widely studied problem, and there have been many approaches proposed, with considerable degrees of success. However, every sensor and algorithm has limitations, due to which we believe no single localization algorithm can be “perfect,” or universally applicable to all situations. Laser rangefinders are commonly used for localization, and state-of-theart algorithms are capable of achieving sub-centimeter accuracy in environments with features observable by laser rangefinders. Unfortunately, in large scale environments, there are bound to be areas devoid of features visible by a laser rangefinder, like open atria or corridors with glass …

Integrated Assessment Of Biological Invasions, Ibnes Ibanez, Jeffrey M. Diez, Luke P. Miller, Julian D. Olden, Cascade J B Sorte, Dana M. Blumenthal, Bethany A. Bradley, Carla M. D’Antonio, Jeffrey S. Dukes, Regan I. Early, Edwin D. Grosholz, Joshua J. Lawler

Environmental Conservation Faculty Publication Series

As the main witnesses of the ecological and economic impacts of invasions on ecosystems around the world, ecologists seek to provide the relevant science that informs managers about the potential for invasion of specific organisms in their region(s) of interest. Yet, the assorted literature that could inform such forecasts is rarely integrated to do so, and further, the diverse nature of the data available complicates synthesis and quantitative prediction. Here we present a set of analytical tools for synthesizing different levels of distributional and/or demographic data to produce meaningful assessments of invasion potential that can guide management at multiple phases …

Lights, Camera...Citizen Science: Assessing The Effectiveness Of Smartphone-Based Video Training In Invasive Plant Indentification, Jared Starr, Charles M. Schweik, Nathan Bush, Lena Fletcher, Jack Finn, Jennifer Fish, Charles T. Bergeron

Environmental Conservation Faculty Publication Series

The rapid growth and increasing popularity of smartphone technology is putting sophisticated data-collection tools in the hands of more and more citizens. This has exciting implications for the expanding field of citizen science. With smartphonebased applications (apps), it is now increasingly practical to remotely acquire high quality citizen-submitted data at a fraction of the cost of a traditional study. Yet, one impediment to citizen science projects is the question of how to train participants. The traditional ‘‘in-person’’ training model, while effective, can be cost prohibitive as the spatial scale of a project increases. To explore possible solutions, we analyze three …

Time- And Space-Variant Wave Transmission In Helicoidal Phononic Crystals, F. Li, C. Chong, Panayotis G. Kevrekidis, C Daraio

Mathematics and Statistics Department Faculty Publication Series

We present a dynamically tunable mechanism of wave transmission in 1D helicoidal phononic crystals in a shape similar to DNA structures. These helicoidal architectures allow slanted nonlinear contact among cylindrical constituents, and the relative torsional movements can dynamically tune the contact stiffness between neighboring cylinders. This results in cross-talking between in-plane torsional and out-of-plane longitudinal waves. We numerically demonstrate their versatile wave mixing and controllable dispersion behavior in both wavenumber and frequency domains. Based on this principle, a suggestion towards an acoustic configuration bearing parallels to a transistor is further proposed, in which longitudinal waves can be switched on/off through …

Interaction Of Sine-Gordon Kinks And Breathers With A Parity-Time-Symmetric Defect, Danial Saadatmand, Sergey V. Dmitriev, Denis I. Borisov, Panayotis G. Kevrekidis

Mathematics and Statistics Department Faculty Publication Series

The scattering of kinks and low-frequency breathers of the nonlinear sine-Gordon (SG) equation on a spatially localized parity-time-symmetric perturbation (defect) with a balanced gain and loss is investigated numerically. It is demonstrated that if a kink passes the defect, it always restores its initial momentum and energy, and the only effect of the interaction with the defect is a phase shift of the kink. A kink approaching the defect from the gain side always passes, while in the opposite case it must have sufficiently large initial momentum to pass through the defect instead of being trapped in the loss region. …

Vector Rogue Waves And Dark Bright Boomeronic Solitons In Autonomous And Non Autonomous Settings, R. Babu Mareeswaran, E. G. Charalampidis, T. Kanna, P. G. Kevrekidis, D. J. Frantzeskakis

Mathematics and Statistics Department Faculty Publication Series

In this work, we consider the dynamics of vector rogue waves and ark bright solitons in two component nonlinear Schrodinger equations with various physically motivated time dependent non linearity coefficients, as well as spatio temporally dependent potentials. A similarity transformation is utilized to convert the system into the integrable Manakov system and subsequently the vector rogue and dark bright boomeron like soliton solutions of the latter are converted back into ones of the original non autonomous model. Using direct numerical simulations we find that, in most cases, the rogue waves formation is rapidly followed by a modulational instability that leads …

Lattice Three Dimensional Skyrmions Revisited, E. G. Charalampidis, T. A. I, P. G. Kevrekidis

Mathematics and Statistics Department Faculty Publication Series

In the continuum a skyrmion is a topological nontrivial map between Riemannian manifolds, an a stationary point of a particular energy functional. This paper describes lattice analogues of the aforementioned skyrmions, namely a natural way of using the topological properties of the three dimensional continuum Skyrme model to achieve topological stability on the lattice. In particular, using fixed point iterations, numerically exact lattice skyrmions are constructed: and their stability under small perturbation sis explored by means of linear stability analysis. While stable branches of such solutions are identified, it is also shown that they possess a particularly delicate bifurcation structure, …

Episodic Non-Markov Localization: Reasoning About Short-Term And Long-Term Features, Joydeep Biswas, Manuela M. Veloso

Computer Science Department Faculty Publication Series

Markov localization and its variants are widely used for localization of mobile robots. These methods assume Markov independence of observations, implying that observations made by a robot correspond to a static map. However, in real human environments, observations include occlusions due to unmapped objects like chairs and tables, and dynamic objects like humans. We introduce an episodic non-Markov localization algorithm that maintains estimates of the belief over the trajectory of the robot while explicitly reasoning about observations and their correlations arising from unmapped static objects, moving objects, as well as objects from the static map. Observations are classified as arising …

Effects Of Invasive Winter Moth Defoliation On Tree Radial Growth In Eastern Massachusetts, Usa, Michael J. Simmons, Thomas D. Lee, Mark J. Ducey, Joseph S. Elkinton, George H. Boettner, Kevin J. Dodds

Environmental Conservation Faculty Publication Series

Winter moth, Operophtera brumata L. (Lepidoptera: Geometridae), has been defoliating hardwood trees in eastern Massachusetts since the 1990s. Native to Europe, winter moth has also been detected in Rhode Island, Connecticut, eastern Long Island (NY), New Hampshire, and Maine. Individual tree impacts of winter moth defoliation in New England are currently unknown. Using dendroecological techniques, this study related annual radial growth of individual host (Quercus spp. and Acer spp.) trees to detailed defoliation estimates. Winter moth defoliation was associated with up to a 47% reduction in annual radial growth of Quercus trees. Latewood production of Quercus was reduced by up …