Physics Commons^™

Ogden College Of Science & Engineering Newsletter (Winter 2014), Cheryl Stevens, Dean

Ogden College of Science & Engineering Publications

No abstract provided.

Misalignments: Challenges In Cultivating Science Faculty With Education Specialties In Your Department, Seth D. Bush, Nancy Pelaez, James A. Rudd Ii, Michael T. Stevens, Kimberly D. Tanner, Kathy S. Williams

PIBERG Publications

Science Faculty with Education Specialties (SFES) are increasingly being hired across the United States. However, little is known about the motivations for SFES hiring or the potential or actual impact of SFES. In the context of a recent national survey of US SFES, we investigated SFES perceptions about these issues. Strikingly, perceptions about reasons for hiring SFES were poorly aligned with perceptions about potential and actual contributions reported by SFES themselves, and the advice they extended to beginning SFES was varied. While preparation of future teachers and departmental teaching needs were common reasons offered for SFES hiring, the potential and …

Photoelectric Characterization Of Bacteriorhodopsin Reconstituted In Lipid Bilayer Membrane, Joel Kamwa

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The objective of this work was to conduct basic research in biologically inspired energy conversion solutions. A photosynthetic protein (Bacteriorhodopsin) was reconstituted in a bi-layer membrane. Then, when a laser beam was shined on the membrane, the photon energy was used by the protein to pump protons across the membrane. The translocation of protons across the membrane was measured as photocurrent. For this purpose, a system was built to characterize the lipid bilayer membranes and to measure the photocurrent. The lipid bilayer membrane was characterized by its capacitance and resistance. A picoampere photocurrent was observed when Bacteriorhodopsin protein was present …

Oligomerization Of The Sterile-2 G-Protein Coupled Receptor In Yeast Cells In The Presence And Absence Of Alpha-Factor Pheromone Using Fluorescence Spectroscopy And Forster Resonance Energy Transfer Analysis, Joel David Paprocki

Theses and Dissertations

G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are the largest family of receptors that respond to a wide variety of extracellular stimuli, including molecular ligands such as odorants, neurotransmitters, and hormones, as well as physical agents sigh as light and pressure. The stimulation event results in initiating conformational changes in the structure of the receptor, which further results in the release of the heterotrimeric G-protein; the latter has a variety of functions within signaling pathways in cellular biology. The GPCR explored in this investigation is the Sterile 2 α-factor receptor (Ste2), whose natural function is that of a yeast mating pheromone receptor. Its natural …

Measuring The Role Of Inhibition In Auditory Discrimination In Mice, Tazima Nur

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Understanding how inhibitory neurons affect sensory information processing in the cerebral cortex is an ongoing goal of both neuroscience and statistical physics research. In this master's thesis research project, an experimental system has been designed and built for studying how auditory dynamic range depends on inhibitory neurons, based on observations of mouse behavior. In this thesis, firstly, the topic of inhibition and information processing has been introduced. Then two papers related to inhibition and dynamic range has been reviewed in detail. One of the papers is an experimental work that analyzes the affect of inhibition on dynamic range. The other …

Atom-Based Geometrical Fingerprinting Of Conformal Two-Dimensional Materials, Mehrshad Mehboudi

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The shape of two-dimensional materials plays a significant role on their chemical and physical properties. Two-dimensional materials are basic meshes that are formed by mesh points (vertices) given by atomic positions, and connecting lines (edges) between points given by chemical bonds. Therefore the study of local shape and geometry of two-dimensional materials is a fundamental prerequisite to investigate physical and chemical properties. Hereby the use of discrete geometry to discuss the shape of two-dimensional materials is initiated.

The local geometry of a surface embodied in 3D space is determined using four invariant numbers from the metric and curvature tensors which …

Cross-Disciplinary Sciences At Gettysburg College: Second Annual Poster Presentation, X-Sig

Student Publications

This booklet includes Biology student presentations by: Taylor Bury, Abigail Dworkin-Brodsky, Mary Pearce, Jasper Leavitt, Morgan Panzer, Ellen Petley, Kalli Qutub, Taylor Randell, Samantha Eck, Lana McDowell, Jenn Soroka, Celina Harris, Natalie Tanke, Alexandra Turano, and Caroline Garliss.

This booklet includes Biochemistry & Molecular Biology student presentations by: Matthew Dunworth, Andrew Sydenstricker, Brianne Tomko, Albert Vill, Warren Campbell, David Van Doren, Kevin Mrugalski, Stacey Heaver, Alecia Achimovich, and Katherine Boas.

This booklet includes Chemistry student presentations by: Kristen Baker, Laura Lee, Kathryn Fodale, Daniel Ruff, Michael Counihan, Ida DiMucci, Joshua Sgroi, Celina Harris, and Natalie Tanke.

This booklet include Health …

Quantum Mechanics In Complex Systems, Ross Douglas Hoehn

Open Access Dissertations

This document should be considered in its separation; there are three distinct topics contained within and three distinct chapters within the body of works. In a similar fashion, this abstract should be considered in three parts. Firstly, we explored the existence of multiply-charged atomic ions by having developed a new set of dimensional scaling equations as well as a series of relativistic augmentations to the standard dimensional scaling procedure and to the self-consistent field calculations. Secondly, we propose a novel method of predicting drug efficacy in hopes to facilitate the discovery of new small molecule therapeutics by modeling the agonist-protein …

2014 Scas Annual Meeting Program

Journal of the South Carolina Academy of Science

No abstract provided.

Scas Officers And Council Members 2014-2015

Journal of the South Carolina Academy of Science

No abstract provided.

Table Of Contents

Journal of the South Carolina Academy of Science

No abstract provided.

Advances In Image Acquisition And Filtering For Mri Neuroimaging At 7 Tesla, Andrew T. Curtis

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Performing magnetic resonance imaging at high magnetic field strength promises many improvements over low fields that are of direct benefit in functional neuroimaging. This includes the possibility of improved signal-to-noise levels, and increased BOLD functional contrast and spatial specificity. However, human MRI at 7T and above suffers from unique engineering challenges that limit the achievable gains. In this thesis, three technological developments are introduced, all of which address separate issues associated with functional magnetic resonance neuroimaging at very high magnetic field strengths.

First, the image homogeneity problem is addressed by investigating methods of RF shimming — modifying the excitation portion …

Heterogeneous Rotational Diffusion Of A Fluorescent Probe In Lipid Monolayers, Christina M. Othon

Christina M Othon

The rotational correlation time of the lipid probe 1-palmitoyl-2-{6-[(7-nitro-2-1,3-benzoxadiazol-4-yl)amino]hexanoyl}-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (NBD-PC) is measured using fluorescence anisotropy for two lipid species. We measure the rotational diffusion in a monolayer of 1,2-Didecanoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DPPC) which displays a phase transition at room temperature from the liquid expanded to the liquid-condensed phase. The constant rotational diffusion of the probe throughout the phase transition reflects the measurement of dynamics in only the liquid-expanded phase. We contrast the dynamic changes during this phase coexistence to the continuous density increase observed in 1,2-dimyristoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DMPC) at room temperature. We observe a non-exponential decay of the probe diffusion consistent with heterogeneity …

A Soft Condensed Matter Approach Towards Mathematical Modelling Of Mass Transport And Swelling In Food Grains, Michael Chapwanya, N. Misra

Articles

Soft condensed matter (SCM) physics has recently gained importance for a large class of engineering materials. The treatment of food materials from a soft matter perspective, however, is only at the surface and is gaining importance for understanding the complex phenomena and structure of foods. In this work, we present a theoretical treatment of navy beans from a SCM perspective to describe the hydration kinetics. We solve the transport equations within a porous matrix and employ the Flory–Huggin’s equation for polymer–solvent mixture to balance the osmotic pressure. The swelling of the legume seed is modelled as a moving boundary with …

Plasmonic Optical Sensors: Performance Analysis And Engineering Towards Biosensing, Peipei Jia

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensing for quantitative analysis of chemical reactions and biological interactions has become one of the most promising applications of plasmonics. This thesis focuses on performance analysis for plasmonic sensors and implementation of plamonic optical sensors with novel nanofabrication techniques.

A universal performance analysis model is established for general two-dimensional plasmonic sensors. This model is based on the fundamental facts of surface plasmon theory. The sensitivity only depends on excitation light wavelength as well as dielectric properties of metal and dielectrics. The expression involves no structure-specified parameters, which validates this formula in broad cases of periodic, quasiperiodic …

A Non-Contrast Magnetic Resonance Imaging Technique To Assess Blood-Brain Barrier Permeability, Harini Pandithasekera

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The Blood-brain barrier (BBB) regulates the entry of compounds between the blood and the brain, thus plays an important role in brain homeostasis. Studies indicate in disease states such as Alzheimer’s the BBB integrity is compromised. The motive of this project is to investigate the sensitivity of the diffusion-weighted arterial spin labeling (DW-ASL) technique to detect water exchange. Testing the sensitivity requires a reliable method of opening the barrier at specific locations of the brain. Here, a unique technology named focused ultrasound (FUS) has been used to mimic a compromised BBB environment.

A series of experiments were conducted in a …

A Comparative Study Of Gupix And Geopixe Software In The Analysis Of Pixe Spectra Of Aerosol Samples, Sean Collison

Honors Theses

Proton-induced X-ray emission (PIXE) spectroscopy is a powerful tool used in the Union College Ion-Beam Analysis Laboratory for the elemental analysis of environmental pollution. Samples are bombarded with proton beams from the 1.1‐MV Pelletron accelerator and characteristic X-rays emitted from the samples are detected, resulting in X-ray energy spectra. These spectra are analyzed using software packages that fit the data and calculate the concentrations of elements in the samples. I have performed a comparative study of two of the most popular software packages, GUPIX and GeoPIXE, in the analysis of atmospheric aerosol samples to assess the strengths and weaknesses of …

Implications Of The Landauer Limit For Quantum Logic, F. Matthew Mihelic

Faculty Publications

The design of any system of quantum logic must take into account the implications of the Landauer limit for logical bits. Useful computation implies a deterministic outcome, and so any system of quantum computation must produce a final deterministic outcome, which in a quantum computer requires a quantum decision that produces a deterministic qubit. All information is physical, and any bit of information can be considered to exist in a physicality represented as a decision between the two wells of a double well potential in which the energy barrier between the two wells must be greater than kT·ln2. Any proposed …

Pubspectra To Do Data, George Mcnamara

George McNamara

PubSpectra raw data that I had in my "to do" folder to add to the PubSpectra data set but never did.

PubSpectra has over 2000 spectra in it (last updated 2006) in Excel "big file" format - the XLSX file inside the zip file at

http://works.bepress.com/gmcnamara/9/

Anyone is welcome to add and organize new data yourselves. I used Un-Scan-It from Silk Scientific (www.silkscientific.com).

More importantly, I strongly adopting my PubSpectra format of 1 nm wavelength intervals, with the row number corresponding to nm. For example, 400 nm data appears in row 400.

Much of Urse Utzinger's "Spectra Arizona" data,

http://www.spectra.arizona.edu/ …

Schrödinger And Nietzsche And Life: Eternal Recurrence And The Conscious Now, Babette Babich

Articles and Chapters in Academic Book Collections

The phenomenological question of consciousness usually associated with Husserl (although there are echoes of this in Augustine as in Marcus Aurelius, Kant and Schopenhauer), is the consciousness of the now, the present moment. I explore this consciousness for Erwin Schrödinger, which for him included reference to the Upaniṣads together with Nietzsche’s central teaching or “thinking” of the eternal recurrence of the same.

Study Of The Motility Of Biological Cells By Digital Holographic Microscopy, Xiao Yu

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation, I utilize digital holographic microscopy (DHM) to study the motility of biological cells. As an important feature of DHM, quantitative phase microscopy by digital holography (DH-QPM) is applied to study the cell-substrate interactions and migratory behavior of adhesive cells. The traction force exerted by biological cells is visualized as distortions in flexible substrata. Motile fibroblasts produce wrinkles when attached to a silicone rubber film. For the non-wrinkling elastic substrate polyacrylamide (PAA), surface deformation due to fibroblast adhesion and motility is visualized as tangential and vertical displacement. This surface deformation and the associated cellular traction forces are measured …

Biophysical Studies Of Axonal Transport, Leslie Cyle Conway

Doctoral Dissertations

Intracellular transport provides a mechanism by which cellular material, such as organelles, vesicles, and protein, can be actively transported throughout the cell. This process relies on the activity of the cytoskeletal filament, microtubules, and their associated motor proteins. These motors are able to walk along microtubule tracks while carrying cellular cargos to enable the fast, regulated transport of these cargos. In cells, these microtubule filaments act as a binding platform for numerous different motor species as well as microtubule-associated proteins (MAPs). In addition, these filaments often form higher order structures, such as microtubule bundles. How motors navigate such complex, crowded …

Volume 06, Kristen Gains, Amanda Willis, Holly Backer, Monika Gutierrez, Cara O'Neal, Sara Nelson, Sasha Silberman, Jessica Beardsley, Jamie Gardner, Edward Peeples, Matthew Sakach, Tess Lione, Emily Wilkins, Kelsey Holt, Jessica Page, Jamie Clift, Charles Vancampen, Gilbert Hall, Jenny Nehrt, Kasey Dye, Amanda Tharp, Jamie Leeuwrik, Ashley Mcgee, Emily Poulin, Michael Kropf, Nick Pastore, Austin Polasky, Morgan Glasco, Laura L. Kahler, Melinda L. Edwards, Brandon C. Smith, Mariah Asbell, Cabell Edmunds, Amelia D. Perry, Alyssa Hayes, Irina Boothe, Perry Bason, James Early

Incite: The Journal of Undergraduate Scholarship

Introduction from Dean Dr. Charles Ross

Caught Between Folklore and the Cold War: The Americanization of Russian Children's Literature by Kristen Gains

Graphic Design by Amanda Willis

Graphic Design by Holly Backer

Prejudices in Swiss German Accents by Monika Gutierrez

Photography by Cara O'Neal

Photography by Sara Nelson

Edmund Tyrone's Long Journey through Night by Sasha Silberman

Photography by Jessica Beardsley

Photography by Jamie Gardner and Edward Peeples

The Republican Razor: The Guillotine as a Symbol of Equality by Jamie Clift

Graphic Design by Matthew Sakach

Genocide: The Lasting Effects of Gender Stratification in Rwanda By Tess Lione and Emily …

In-Package Atmospheric Pressure Cold Plasma Treatment Of Cherry Tomatoes, N. Misra, Kevin Keener, Paula Bourke, J Mosnier, Patrick Cullen

Articles

Cold plasma is increasingly under research for decontamination of foods, especially fresh fruits and vegetables. The effect of cold plasma on food quality, however, remains under researched. This study investigates the effects of cold plasma generated within a sealed package from a dielectric barrier discharge on the physical quality parameters and respiration rates of cherry tomatoes. Respiration rates and weight loss were monitored continuously, while other parameters are reported at the end of storage period. Differences among weight loss, pH and firmness for control and treated cherry tomatoes were insignificant towards the end of storage life. Changes in respiration rates …

In-Package Atmospheric Pressure Cold Plasma Treatment Of Strawberries, N. Misra, Paula Bourke, Patrick Cullen, Sonal Patil

Articles

The ability to generate low temperature plasma at atmospheric pressure offers new opportunities to decontaminate biological materials, including fresh foods. In this study, strawberries were treated with atmospheric cold plasma (ACP), generated with a 60 kV dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) pulsed at 50 Hz, across a 40 mm electrode gap, generated inside a sealed package containing ambient air (42% relative humidity). The current-voltage characteristics revealed that the plasma operated in the filamentary regime. The background microflora (aerobic mesophillic bacteria, yeast and mould) of strawberries treated for 5 min was reduced by 2 log 10 within 24 h of post-ACP treatment. …

In-Package Nonthermal Plasma Degradation Of Pesticides On Fresh Produce, N. Misra, Shashi Pankaj, Tony Walsh, Finbarr O'Regan, Paula Bourke, Patrick Cullen

Articles

In-package nonthermal plasma (NTP) technology is a novel technology for the decontamination of foods and biological materials. This study presents the first report on the potential of the technology for the degradation of pesticide residues. A cocktail of pesticides, namely Azoxystrobin, Cyprodinil, Fludioxonil and Pyriproxyfen was tested on strawberries. The concentrations of these pesticides were monitored in priori and post- plasma treatment using GC-MS/MS. An applied voltage and time dependent degradation of the pesticides was observed for treatment voltages of 60, 70 and 80 kV and treatment durations ranging from 1 to 5 min, followed by 24 h in-pack storage. …

An Experimental Investigation Into The Mechanisms Of Bacterial Evolution, Zhenmao Wan

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This thesis studies the two fundamental mechanisms of bacterial evolution — horizontal gene transfer and spontaneous mutation, in the bacterium Escherichia coli through novel experimental assays and mathematical simulations. First, I will develop a growth assay utilizing the quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) to provide real-time enumeration of genetic marker abundance within bacterial populations. Second, I will focus on horizontal gene transfer in E. coli occurring through a process called conjugation. By fitting the qPCR data to a resource limited, logistic growth model, I will obtain estimated values of several key parameters governing the dynamics of DNA transfer through conjugation …

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 …

A Theoretical Study Of Interaction Of Nanoparticles With Biomolecule, Chunhui Liu

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

Many types of materials at nanoscale are currently being used in everyday life. The production and use of such products based on engineered nanomaterials have raised concerns of the possible risks and hazards associated with these nanomaterials. In order to evaluate and gain a better understanding of their effects on living organisms, we have performed first-principles quantum mechanical calculations and molecular dynamics simulations. Specifically, we will investigate the interaction of nanomaterials including semiconducting quantum dots and metallic nanoparticles with various biological molecules, such as dopamine, DNA nucleobases and lipid membranes.

Firstly, interactions of semiconducting CdSe/CdS quantum dots (QDs) with the …

Vibrational Spectroscopic Analysis Of Body Fluids: Avoiding Molecular Contamination Using Centrifugal Filtration, Franck Bonnier, Matthew Baker, Hugh Byrne

Articles

The use of centrifugal filtration for protein purification and concentration represents an important improvement for the application of vibrational spectroscopy to analysis of bodily fluids based on protein fractions with specific molecular weight. Vibrational spectroscopic techniques are highly specific and can potentially detect small variations in the protein content indicating the presence of different diseases, therefore usable as markers for early diagnostic. However, due to the high sensitivity of the techniques, it is essential to verify that no molecular contamination occurs during the preparation of the samples. Concentration of the blood serum using commercially available centrifugal filters has been shown …