Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Gained In Translation: The Sudden Pivot Taking Physics Labs To The Cloud As A Reform Opportunity, William B. Laing Iii

Faculty Works

I will report on a positive experience with using the forced transition to online learning as an opportunity to adopt one of many best-practice examples from the world of Physics Education Research. Following the example in "Developing scientific decision making by structuring and supporting student agency" by N.G. Holmes, et al [1], (and the instructional materials shared on Physport.org), my efforts were directed toward cueing students to make decisions to design their research question during our online meetings, rather than developing materials to micro-manage their behaviors. Characteristics of the new online medium influenced instructional design and accessibility in surprising ways. …

Nv Center Detection Of Electric Fields And Low-Intensity Light, Nicholas Harmon, Michael Flatte

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Nitrogen vacancy (NV) center spins in diamond are attractive candidates for quantum information processing and sensitive, nanoscale magnetometers due to their long spin coherence times under ambient conditions [1]. The ground state of the NV spin is also sensitive to electric fields [2]. We present a theory of quantum detection using positive operator valued measurements (POVMs) wherein the presence of an electric field is determined by spin-dependent fluorescence of an NV center. The predicted sensitivity to small electric fields can also be used for photon detection. Photons incident upon a chromophore near the diamond interface may induce a charge polarization …

Automated Speech Recognition For Captioned Telephone Conversations, Jeff Adams Ceo, Kenneth Basye Phd, Alok Parlikar Phd, Andrew Fletcher Phd, Jangwon Kim Phd

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Internet Protocol Captioned Telephone Service is a service for people with hearing loss, allowing them to communicate effectively by having a human Communications Assistant transcribe the call and equipment that displays the transcription in near real time. The current state of the art for ASR is considered with regard to automating such service. Recent results on standard tests are examined and appropriate metrics for ASR performance in captioning are discussed. Possible paths for developing fully-automated telephone captioning services are examined and the effort involved is evaluated.

Speech Processing Approach For Diagnosing Dementia In An Early Stage, Roozbeh Sadeghian, J. David Schaffer, Stephen A. Zahorian

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The clinical diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias is very challenging, especially in the early stages. Our hypothesis is that any disease that affects particular brain regions involved in speech production and processing will also leave detectable finger prints in the speech. Computerized analysis of speech signals and computational linguistics have progressed to the point where an automatic speech analysis system is a promising approach for a low-cost non-invasive diagnostic tool for early detection of Alzheimer’s disease.

We present empirical evidence that strong discrimination between subjects with a diagnosis of probable Alzheimer’s versus matched normal controls can be achieved …

Including Wrist Flexion In The Human Arm Model Changes Everything!, William B. Laing Iii, Austin Johnson, Albert D. Gonzalez, Chris S. Hansen

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Does your introductory physics laboratory experiment that analyzes the human arm as a lever assume an inflexible wrist? If so, the analysis of the biceps force required to perform a biceps curl will lead to results that contradict experience: one does not expect the required biceps force to decrease as the mass is raised. We will show that allowing for wrist flexion leads to agreement with empirical data: that the required force does increase as the mass is raised if the wrist angle is allowed to be optimal.

Towards An Automated Screening Tool For Pediatric Speech Delay, Roozbeh Sadeghian, Stephen A. Zahorian

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Speech delay is a childhood language problem that sometimes is resolved on its own but sometimes may cause more serious language difficulties later. This leads therapists to screen children for detection at early ages in order to eliminate future problems. Using the Goldman-Fristoe Test of Articulation (GFTA) method, therapists listen to a child's pronunciation of certain phonemes and phoneme pairs in specified words and judge the child's stage of speech development. The goal of this paper is to develop an Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) tool and related speech processing methods which emulate the knowledge of speech therapists. In this paper …

Quantifying Measurement Error In Digital Instruments, William B. Laing Iii, Sean Bryant

Faculty Works

A first lab experiment clearly illustrates that a glucose meter is actually an excellent source of both random and systematic error, much to the surprise to students and physicians alike. A histogram is constructed and the utility of the standard deviation and standard error to quantify the uncertainty in each measurement and in the mean value, respectively, is demonstrated. From the first lab on, students are challenged to express and interpret confidence intervals in order to form quantitative conclusions. Assessments reveal that many students find this to be surprisingly challenging.

The Physics Of Human Performance: An Ideal Lab, William B. Laing Iii, Harold Mayer

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Physics lab goes to the gymnasium, where students calculate the mechanical power required to walk on an inclined treadmill in watts and convert to units power used to measure human performance: VO2, and METs. Students learn how to use two linear regression models: the ACSM "walking equation" to estimate the actual power expenditure of walking and the Rockport 1 mile test to estimate their own VO2max. Students use models to prescribe exercise parameters for themselves and for two cases. The IDEAL lab collaboration is developing labs that are open, applied to life, and rigorously quantitative.

Maybe I Could Use This Again! Two Ideal Labs Introducing Instrumentation, Sean Bryant, William B. Laing Iii

Faculty Works

Physics lab students are introduced to custom instrumentation using Arduino-like microcontrollers which have allowed us to implement two labs of particular utility for life-science majors. Constructing a fluid circuit using the sponge-resistor model, flow sensors and an LCD display show the current through each section of pipe. The instrument can simultaneously measure and record 18 voltages, which enables us to record high-frequency “snap shots” of a signal generated on an RC-circuit model of an axon. The IDEAL lab collaboration is developing labs that are open, applied to life, and rigorously quantitative.

Inhibition Of The Thioesterase Activity Of Human Fatty Acid Synthase By 1,4- And 9,10-Diones, Herman H. Odens

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Fatty acid synthase (FASN) is the enzyme that synthesizes fatty acids de novo in human cells. Although FASN is generally expressed at low levels in most normal tissues, its expression is highly upregulated in many cancers. Consistent with this notion, inhibition of FASN activity has demonstrated potential to halt proliferation and induce cell death in vitro and to block tumor growth in vivo. Consequently, FASN is widely recognized as a valuable therapeutic target. In this report, we describe a variety of 1,4-quinones and 9,10- anthraquinones, including several natural compounds and some newly synthesized compounds, that potently inhibit the thioesterase (TE) …

Above-Threshold Ionization As Temporal Multi-Slit Interference, William B. Laing Iii

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When atoms are subjected to a laser pulse of sufficiently high intensity, electrons are ionized by absorbing multiple photons in excess of the ionization potential. The resulting sequence of peaks in the photoelectron spectrum separated by the energy of one photon is called “above-threshold ionization” (ATI). This time-independent description of ATI invokes the language of photons, even though calculations are performed using the time-dependent Schrodinger equation with a classical electric field. We demonstrate that the energy-periodic structure of ATI can be understood from the interference of ionized electron wavepackets produced periodically each half-cycle of the laser field. Using this simple …

Above-Threshold Ionization As Temporal Multi-Slit Interference, William B. Laing Iii, B.D. Esry

Faculty Works

When atoms are subjected to a laser pulse of sufficiently high intensity, electrons are ionized by absorbing multiple photons in excess of the ionization potential. The resulting sequence of peaks in the photoelectron spectrum separated by the energy of one photon is called ``above-threshold ionization'' (ATI). This time-independent description of ATI invokes the language of photons, even though calculations are performed using the time-dependent Schrodinger equation with a classical electric field. We demonstrate that the energy-periodic structure of ATI can be understood from the interference of ionized electron wavepackets produced periodically each half-cycle of the laser field. Using this simple …

Why Do Molecules Echo Atomic Periodicity?, Ray Hefferlin, Jonathan Sackett, Jeremy Tatum

Faculty Works

Franck–Condon factors are investigated for sequences of free

main-group diatomic molecules. Theory-based Condon loci

(parabolas) and Morse-potential loci are plotted on Deslandres

tables to verify if they, indeed, follow the largest Franck–Condon

factors. Then, the inclination angles of the Condon loci

are determined. Thus, entire band systems are quantified by

one variable, the angle. For all available isoelectronic sequences,

this angle increases from a central minimum toward

magic-number molecular boundaries. The theory for the Condon

locus gives the angle in terms of the ratio of the upperstate

to the lower-state force constants. It is concluded that

the periodicity is caused …

The Higgs Boson In The Periodic System Of Elementary Particles, Ding-Yu Chung, Ray Hefferlin

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It is proposed that the observed Higgs Boson at the LHC is the Standard Model Higgs boson that adopts the existence of the hidden lepton condensate. The hidden lepton is in the forbidden lepton family, outside of the three lepton families of the Standard Model. Being forbidden, a single hidden lepton cannot exist alone; so it must exist in the lepton condensate as a composite of μ’ and μ’± hidden leptons and their corresponding antileptons. The calculated average mass of the hidden lep-ton condensate is 128.8 GeV in good agreements with the observed 125 or 126 GeV. …

Why Police Learn From Third-Party Data, Randall K. Johnson

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This essay argues that third-party data collection, particularly of administrative complaints and departmental audit information, holds greater promise than lawsuit data collection. It does so by asserting that third-party data collection is more useful for three reasons. First, third-party data collection prevents manipulation by individual police officers and law enforcement agencies. Second, it assures that police behavioral trends are actually identified. Lastly, third-party data collection helps to deter published § 1983 cases. The essay, however, only models and tests the final claim.

The Homework Server, John Beckett

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The Homework Server is a true Web hosting platform which provides the student a realistic Web environment for project testing and turn-in while preventing other students from stealing their code. The Homework Server is a comprehensive environment based on freely available software. It is scripted in PHP/XHTML, integrates easily with university systems using IMAP authentication, and requires very little maintenance since most routine tasks are automated. The server described supports student applications that use XHTML, CSS, JavaScript, PHP5, and MySQL.

The Effect Of A New Version Of Software On Its Use: A Case Study Of A Course Management System, John Beckett

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Course Management Systems (CMS) are used to support the growing trend of colleges and universities to offer classes at a distance, and to use technology to provide resources and communication with and for students in traditional classroom settings. Actual use and success of these systems has been mixed in practice, however, for reasons which are not entirely clear.

The theory of Diffusion of Innovations (DOI) described and codified by Everett M. Rogers in 1962 is used to describe how innovations are selected, adopted, and brought to bear on the needs of people with jobs to do. Gary C. Moore and …