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Articles 1 - 17 of 17
Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Bonding Theatre And Chemistry: An Educational Exploration, Matthew Gurniak
Bonding Theatre And Chemistry: An Educational Exploration, Matthew Gurniak
Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019
This paper analyzes the educational aspects of theatre and music and the impact that they have on an audience. The goal was to begin a new conversation about science and theatre and how the two can learn and gain unique insight from each other. To examine how these two antithetical fields can interact, I composed a new, innovative musical that tells the love story between two professors through the use of concepts from general chemistry. The results and responses from the performance of the play were overwhelmingly positive from members of both disciplines. They have inspired continued interest in this …
Reintroduction Of Brook Trout To The South River Via Upwelling Springs, Sydni L. Reinhold
Reintroduction Of Brook Trout To The South River Via Upwelling Springs, Sydni L. Reinhold
Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019
Populations of brook trout, Salvelinus fontinalis, throughout Virginia mountain streams have seen a rapid decline due to warmer conditions, decreased oxygen levels, and changes in the main stem streambed (Hudy et al., 2008). Current solutions have stocked more tolerant adult brook trout in the main stem rivers, which is costly and must be repeated yearly (Lennon, 1967). Finding an environment conducive for stocking brook trout eggs rather than adults would be ideal because they would return to this viable location to spawn, making them a self-sustaining population which is less costly and easier to implement. Upwelling springs connected to the …
Assessing The Impact Of A Constructed Wetland Biome On The Ecosystem Health Of Cedar Run, Thomas Vasilopoulos, Casey Lee
Assessing The Impact Of A Constructed Wetland Biome On The Ecosystem Health Of Cedar Run, Thomas Vasilopoulos, Casey Lee
Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019
A wetlands ecosystem is defined as “an area saturated by surface or groundwater at a frequency or duration sufficient to support...a prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions” (Batzer and Sharitz, 2007). Wetlands serve as biofilters and thus have been used to treat sewage and wastewater, as well as to restore the health of polluted water systems. Solly Walker and Lorinda Palin, owners of a certified natural and biodynamic farm called Avalon Acres located in Broadway, Virginia, constructed a wetland two years ago, using the stream, Cedar Run, that flows through their property. Pollution from agricultural …
Effects Of Agricultural Restoration Practices On Stream Health In The Shenandoah Valley, Virginia, Erin L. Thady
Effects Of Agricultural Restoration Practices On Stream Health In The Shenandoah Valley, Virginia, Erin L. Thady
Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019
The Shenandoah Valley encompasses some of the highest agricultural producing regions in Virginia, many of which are large contributors of nutrients and sediment. The Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) assists landowners in the installation of riparian restoration projects in which cattle are fenced out or a riparian buffer is planted. We examined the temporal effects of riparian restoration and the impact of upstream landuse on water quality for eleven farms participating in the CREP program for various times (from 1 to 14 years). We hypothesized that the length of time that the CREP program has been established would have a …
Measurements Of Photon Beam Intensity At The High Intensity Gamma-Ray Source (Higs) Facility For Astrophysically Relevant Photodisintegration Reaction Cross Section, Evan G. Meekins
Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019
How nuclear reactions in stars and stellar explosions such as supernovae have forged the elements out of hydrogen and helium leftover from the Big Bang is a longstanding, still timely research topic in nuclear astrophysics. Although there is a fairly complete understanding of the production of the chemical elements and their isotopes up to iron by nuclear fusion in stars, important details concerning the production of the elements from iron to uranium remain puzzling. Current knowledge is that the nucleosynthesis beyond iron proceeds mainly via neutron capture reactions and subsequent electron decays to stability. However, some 35 proton-rich stable isotopes, …
Pilot Project To Advance Distributed Wind In Virginia, Sydney Sumner, Kayla Cook
Pilot Project To Advance Distributed Wind In Virginia, Sydney Sumner, Kayla Cook
Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019
The Virginia Energy Plan of 2014 created a demand for alternative energy sources to meet the goal of producing 25% of Virginia's energy from alternative sources by 2025. One of the most promising sources of alternative energy in Virginia is wind. As a result, the Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals, and Energy (DMME) took action to incentivize distributed wind (DW) power by enabling loan assistance with highly favorable terms toward the purchase and installation of distributed wind systems. Our team identified the nine sectors considered most likely to present the strongest potential for development of DW, and landowners within these …
The Synthesis Of 1,3-Difluoro-2-Methyl-4-Phenylbenzene From A One-Pot Reaction Of Difluorocarbene And 1-Phenyl-2-Methylcyclobutene, Ruth Felicitas Menger
The Synthesis Of 1,3-Difluoro-2-Methyl-4-Phenylbenzene From A One-Pot Reaction Of Difluorocarbene And 1-Phenyl-2-Methylcyclobutene, Ruth Felicitas Menger
Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019
Previous studies show that 1,2-disubstituted cyclobutenes can be used in reaction with difluorocarbene to produce 1,3-difluorobenzenes. A pathway to the synthesis of these types of compounds is of interest due to their presence in fluoroquinolone antibacterials, resins, and insecticides. The synthesis is unique because the fluorine atoms from the difluorocarbene are not adjacent to each other when the ring expands to a benzene ring. This study focuses on the reaction of difluorocarbene with 1-phenyl-2-methylcyclobutene, which was synthesized in one-pot in 4 steps starting from 1-phenyl-1-propyne and zirconocene dichloride.
Sequences Of Spiral Knot Determinants, Ryan Stees
Sequences Of Spiral Knot Determinants, Ryan Stees
Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019
Spiral knots are a generalization of the well-known class of torus knots indexed by strand number and base word repetition. By fixing the strand number and varying the repetition index we obtain integer sequences of spiral knot determinants. In this paper we examine such sequences for spiral knots of up to four strands using a new periodic crossing matrix method. Surprisingly, the resulting sequences vary widely in character and, even more surprisingly, nearly every one of them is a known integer sequence in the Online Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences. We also develop a general form for these sequences in terms …
Testing Of The Late-Ordovician Pre-Gice Warm Water Carbonate Hypothesis In Alabama, Brandon Euker, Stacey Law
Testing Of The Late-Ordovician Pre-Gice Warm Water Carbonate Hypothesis In Alabama, Brandon Euker, Stacey Law
Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019
The Guttenberg Carbon Isotope Excursion (GICE) (uppermost Sandbian-lower Katian, Late Ordovician) has been suggested to represent the transition from a Cambrian-Ordovician greenhouse world to Late Ordovician icehouse world. This transition is thought to coincide with a proposed shift from deposition of warm water carbonate rocks to cool water carbonate rocks in the North American midcontinent. We used oxygen isotopes (d18O) of conodonts to test the idea that the rocks below the GICE interval represent a consistently warm environment. Conodonts were isolated from samples of the Chickamauga Group collected at the Tidwell Hollow section in Blount County, AL, from …
Compost Land Management And Soil Carbon Sequestration, Kylene A. Hohman
Compost Land Management And Soil Carbon Sequestration, Kylene A. Hohman
Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019
Extensive fossil fuel burning has released carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Under proper ecological conditions plants convert atmospheric carbon dioxide into stable soil organic matter, a natural and efficient means of mitigating climate change. In the symbiotic relationship between mycorrhizae and plants, mycorrhizae provide plants with essential nutrients in exchange for carbon sugars leaked from the plants. Mycorrhizae convert carbon sugars to an exudate called glomalin, a protein that assists in developing soil aggregates composed of sand, silt, and clay. These aggregates, called humus, store carbon for hundreds of years under healthy ecological conditions. Compost prompts soil microbes to aerobically …
A Computational Investigation Of Large Gaps In Contingency Tables, Noah J. Watson
A Computational Investigation Of Large Gaps In Contingency Tables, Noah J. Watson
Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019
Integer programming can be used to find upper and lower bounds on the cells of a multi-dimensional contingency table using the information from the released margins. The linear relaxation of these programs also provides bounds and the discrepancy between these bounds, the integer programming gap, can be large. While the more notable examples of large gaps have been shown to be rare, here we provide some results on the rarity of large gaps on small tables.
Nonlinear Dynamics Of Filaments In Free Space And Fluids, Victoria Kelley
Nonlinear Dynamics Of Filaments In Free Space And Fluids, Victoria Kelley
Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019
The purpose of this paper is to study a straight rod, held at both ends, with a known twist and tension or compression. We study the stability of this steady state when the system is dominated either by inertia or drag. In order to do this, we first replicate the work of Goriely and Tabor to look at the case with inertia, without drag. After conducting the analysis for that case, we then apply their framework to perform a linear stability analysis of a model that is without inertia, but with hydrodynamic drag. Our motivation is the study of locomotion …
The Synthesis And Colloidal Characterization Of Several Triscationic Amphiphilic Antibacterial Agents, Kristin R. Mckenna
The Synthesis And Colloidal Characterization Of Several Triscationic Amphiphilic Antibacterial Agents, Kristin R. Mckenna
Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019
M-P,12,12, a triscationic amphiphile, was characterized for its antibacterial and colloidal properties as well as its ability to associate with sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS). This amphiphile has a mesitylene core, one pyridinium headgroup, and two dimethyldodecylammonium tails. The critical aggregation concentration (CAC) for M-P,12,12 was determined by three different methods. According to isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC), the CAC is 2.54 mM, conductivity studies determined the CAC to be 2.07 and the degree of ionization to be 0.188, and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy yielded a CAC value of 1.73 mM. The NMR study of the water-insoluble solid formed by M-P,12,12 …
Using Residential Location To Assess The Environmental Value-Action Gap Of Students At James Madison University, Emma Rose Martin
Using Residential Location To Assess The Environmental Value-Action Gap Of Students At James Madison University, Emma Rose Martin
Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019
This study focuses on the environmental Value-Action Gap of students at James Madison University (JMU) in Harrisonburg, Virginia. This gap occurs when a person has pro-environmental beliefs but does not have congruent actions. Often, there are other factors apart from a person’s values that influence his/her willingness to participate in eco-friendly behavior (Howell 2013). For this study, the factor of influence being addressed is location. When students live on-campus at JMU they are surrounded by ‘green’ initiatives. Understanding the diffusion of environmental behavior from on-campus living to off-campus living is important because the majority of a JMU student’s residency is …
The Effect Of Hofmeister Series Counterions On The Colloidal And Antimicrobial Properties Of Triple-Headed Cationic Amphiphiles, Kirstie A. Thompson
The Effect Of Hofmeister Series Counterions On The Colloidal And Antimicrobial Properties Of Triple-Headed Cationic Amphiphiles, Kirstie A. Thompson
Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019
Antibacterial resistance is becoming increasingly prominent, causing a great need for novel antibacterial products. This work focuses on developing an understanding of the relationship between counterion identity on colloidal and antibacterial activity for cationic amphiphiles. In an amphiphile series with three hydrophilic quaternary ammonium bromide head groups and one hydrophobic tail, the amphiphile with a linear hydrocarbon chain with 18 carbons is more antibacterial than those with longer or shorter tails. Counterion exchange of the bromide counterions with various Hofmeister series anions significantly affects both antibacterial and colloidal activity. The logarithm of critical aggregation concentration [log(CAC)] was found to have …
Quantifying The Use Of Chloroform Vapor Exposure To Improve The Adhesion Of Au Thin Films Onto Pmma, Kathleen T. Krist
Quantifying The Use Of Chloroform Vapor Exposure To Improve The Adhesion Of Au Thin Films Onto Pmma, Kathleen T. Krist
Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019
The metallization of Au onto plastics is an important processing step in applications such as the aerospace and automotive industries, the field of microelectronics, and the fabrication of microfluidic devices. While its corrosion resistance and excellent electrical and thermal conductivity make Au a useful choice, its inertness results in poor adhesion to polymer surfaces. Previous studies have indicated that exposing commercially available poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) sheets to chloroform vapor following Au deposition significantly improves adhesion. In this study, we utilized electron-beam evaporation and magnetron sputtering to deposit Au thin films onto 1.50 mm thick PMMA and exposed the samples to …
Population Projection And Habitat Preference Modeling Of The Endangered James Spinymussel (Pleurobema Collina), Marisa Draper
Population Projection And Habitat Preference Modeling Of The Endangered James Spinymussel (Pleurobema Collina), Marisa Draper
Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019
The James Spinymussel (Pleurobema collina) is an endangered mussel species at the top of Virginia’s conservation list. The James Spinymussel plays a critical role in the environment by filtering and cleaning stream water while providing shelter and food for macroinvertebrates; however, conservation efforts are complicated by the mussels’ burrowing behavior, camouflage, and complex life cycle. The goals of the research conducted were to estimate detection probabilities that could be used to predict species presence and facilitate field work, and to track individually marked mussels to test for habitat preferences. Using existing literature and mark-recapture field data, these goals were accomplished …