Digital Commons Network^™

Isomerization Of Galactose To Tagatose: Recent Advances In Non-Enzymatic Isomerization, Jikai Zhao, Zhuo Wang, Qing Jin, Danyi Feng, Juhee Lee

School of Earth, Environmental, & Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

The valorization of galactose derived from acid whey to low-calorie tagatose has gained increasing attention. Enzymatic isomerization is of great interest but faces several challenges, such as poor thermal stability of enzymes and a long processing time. In this work, non-enzymatic (supercritical fluids, triethylamine, arginine, boronate affinity, hydrotalcite, Sn-β zeolite, and calcium hydroxide) pathways for galactose to tagatose isomerization were critically discussed. Unfortunately, most of these chemicals showed poor tagatose yields (70%). The latter is able to form a tagatose–calcium hydroxide–water complex, which stimulates the equilibrium toward tagatose and prevents sugar degradation. Nevertheless, the excessive use of calcium hydroxide may …

Design And Optimization With Quantum And Memristor Platforms, Yiwei Li

Dissertations and Theses

The complexity and diversity of modern computing challenges have made it difficult for traditional computers to efficiently handle tasks such as computer-aided design, design optimization, and combinatorial problems within a reasonable time frame. In applications such as bitcoin mining and robotic control, power consumption and circuit size are critical factors. To overcome these limitations, this dissertation examines alternative computing technologies such as quantum computers and hybrid memristive circuits. The research demonstrates that these technologies hold the potential to offer more efficient and effective solutions for particular problems, whether in terms of faster computation or reduced power consumption.

Design Of A Virtual Lab For Plate Heat Exchanger Sterilization System, Daniel N. Hauersperger

Graduate Industrial Research Symposium

Online learning has become a staple in contemporary education, requiring new ways to display and promote experiences. Virtual labs can be used to give learners a way to enter a lab environment without the need for expensive equipment or materials. One example is to give students a “hands-on” experience using a sterilization process to preserve biological materials. Sterilization systems incorporate heat exchangers to bring product up to temperature and then cool product down quickly to prevent excess degradation of nutrients. Data generated from virtual labs will allow learners to use the system responses and build their understanding of how the …

Sea-Phages Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experience For Creating A Biotechnology Workforce Development Pipeline, Daphne Fauber, Kari Clase, Carol Weaver

Graduate Industrial Research Symposium

Purdue University has been a member of the SEA-PHAGES (Science Education Alliance-Phage Hunters Advancing Genomics and Evolutionary Science) program since 2011. This program, created in conjunction with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), facilitates undergraduate curriculum for the authentic discovery of novel bacteriophages within the classroom. Since joining the program, undergraduates at Purdue have harnessed wet lab and bioinformatics principles to contribute over 200 previously uncharacterized bacteriophages and 25 novel genomes to the wider scientific literature. The SEA-PHAGES classes at Purdue have resulted in tangible professional deliverables for students through conference presentations and publications. Student outcomes also include transferable skills …

Stellar Atmosphere Models For Select Veritas Stellar Intensity Interferometry Targets, Jackson Ladd Sackrider, Jason P. Aufdenberg, Katelyn Sonnen

Beyond: Undergraduate Research Journal

Since 2020 the Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System (VERITAS) has observed 48 stellar targets using the technique of Stellar Intensity Interferometry (SII). Angular diameter measurements by VERITAS SII (VSII) in a waveband near 400 nm complement existing angular diameter measurements in the near-infrared. VSII observations will test fundamental predictions of stellar atmosphere models and should be more sensitive to limb darkening and gravity darkening effects than measurements in the near-IR, however, the magnitude of this difference has not been systematically explored in the literature. In order to investigate the synthetic interferometric (as well as spectroscopic) appearance of stars …

California Preservice Teachers And Music Integration In Elementary School Settings, Jennifer Potter Gee

Visions of Research in Music Education

The purpose of this study was to examine California preservice teachers’ experiences and beliefs with music and music integration in elementary school settings. Preservice elementary teachers (N = 149), currently pursuing a Liberal Studies degree at one of several universities in California, consisted of the participants in this investigation. Results indicated participants agreed that an elementary classroom teaching should integrate content from music class into other subjects, while also reflecting a significant association between participants’ year in school and their agreement that an elementary general music teacher should integrate other subject area content. Results also indicated a significant association …

The Pursuit Of Peak Athletic Performance, Trevor Short

Topics in Exercise Science and Kinesiology

Topics in Exercise Science and Kinesiology Volume 4: Issue 1, Article 3, 2023. Achieving peak performance in sports is a multifactorial phenomenon that spans several scientific disciplines. The optimization of human performance requires a comprehensive and systematic assessment that identifies potential performance-inhibiting factors. The result of such analysis allows for more individualized and accurate evaluation, athlete monitoring, and training interventions. Thus, there is a need for a multidisciplinary model of peak performance to guide practitioners when conducting a comprehensive analysis. The purpose of this manuscript is to provide a brief but practical vade mecum for practitioners to consider in the …

An Intervention To Promote Growth Mindset And Stem Self-Efficacy Of High School Students: Exploring The Complexity Of Beliefs, Amy Kramer, Emily Dringenberg, Carter Morris, Darcy Mccarthy

Journal of Pre-College Engineering Education Research (J-PEER)

The marginalization of women in engineering is a persistent problem. The overall goal of our collaborative project was to promote interest and participation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), particularly for high school girls. We took an action research approach with a local high school science teacher to develop, implement, and research the impact of a classroom-based intervention designed to encourage growth mindset and STEM self-efficacy beliefs using mixed methods. We analyzed pre- and postsurvey data collected using a control-treatment design to determine the impact of the intervention on high school boys’ and girls’ self-efficacy and mindset beliefs. We …

Optimal Monohedral Tilings Of Hyperbolic Surfaces, Leonardo Digiosia, Jahangir Habib, Jack Hirsch, Lea Kenigsberg, Kevin Li, Dylanger Pittman, Jackson Petty, Christopher Xue, Weitao Zhu

Rose-Hulman Undergraduate Mathematics Journal

The hexagon is the least-perimeter tile in the Euclidean plane for any given area. On hyperbolic surfaces, this "isoperimetric" problem differs for every given area, as solutions do not scale. Cox conjectured that a regular k-gonal tile with 120-degree angles is isoperimetric. For area π/3, the regular heptagon has 120-degree angles and therefore tiles many hyperbolic surfaces. For other areas, we show the existence of many tiles but provide no conjectured optima. On closed hyperbolic surfaces, we verify via a reduction argument using cutting and pasting transformations and convex hulls that the regular 7-gon is the optimal n-gonal tile of …

Strong Recovery In Group Synchronization, Bradley Stich

Rose-Hulman Undergraduate Mathematics Journal

The group synchronization problem is to estimate unknown group elements at the vertices of a graph when given a set of possibly noisy observations of group differences at the edges. We consider the group synchronization problem on finite graphs with size tending to infinity, and we focus on the question of whether the true edge differences can be exactly recovered from the observations (i.e., strong recovery). We prove two main results, one positive and one negative. In the positive direction, we prove that for a sequence of synchronization problems containing the complete digraph along with a relatively well behaved prior …

The Determining Number And Cost Of 2-Distinguishing Of Select Kneser Graphs, James E. Garrison

Rose-Hulman Undergraduate Mathematics Journal

A graph $G$ is said to be \emph{d-distinguishable} if there exists a not-necessarily proper coloring with $d$ colors such that only the trivial automorphism preserves the color classes. For a 2-distinguishing labeling, the \emph{ cost of $2$-distinguishing}, denoted $\rho(G),$ is defined as the minimum size of a color class over all $2$-distinguishing colorings of $G$. Our work also utilizes \emph{determining sets} of $G, $ sets of vertices $S \subseteq G$ such that every automorphism of $G$ is uniquely determined by its action on $S.$ The \emph{determining number} of a graph is the size of a smallest determining set. We investigate …

Recognition Of Design Failure By Fourth-Grade Students During An Engineering Design Challenge, Ron K. Skinner, Danielle B. Harlow

Journal of Pre-College Engineering Education Research (J-PEER)

The practice of persisting and learning from design failures is essential to engineering design and offers unique ways of knowing and learning for K-12 students. To understand how students engage in the practice of persisting and learning from design failures, we must first understand how, if at all, they recognize that a design failure has occurred. We studied a classroom of fourth-grade students engaged in an engineering design challenge and examined the ways in which design failure occurred and how students recognized, neglected to recognize, or misinterpreted design failure. We found that, in addition to anticipating failure, conducting fair tests, …

Reconversion Of Parahydrogen Gas In Surfactant-Coated Glass Nmr Tubes, Robert V. Chimenti, James Daley, James Sack, Jennifer Necsutu, Nicholas Whiting

College of Science & Mathematics Departmental Research

The application of parahydrogen gas to enhance the magnetic resonance signals of a diversity of chemical species has increased substantially in the last decade. Parahydrogen is prepared by lowering the temperature of hydrogen gas in the presence of a catalyst; this enriches the para spin isomer beyond its normal abundance of 25% at thermal equilibrium. Indeed, parahydrogen fractions that approach unity can be attained at sufficiently low temperatures. Once enriched, the gas will revert to its normal isomeric ratio over the course of hours or days, depending on the surface chemistry of the storage container. Although parahydrogen enjoys long lifetimes …

The Chanticleer, 2023-03-02, Coastal Carolina University

The Chanticleer Student Newspaper

The editorially independent student produced weekly newspaper of Coastal Carolina University.

The Indiana Statesman, March 2, 2023, Indiana State University

Student Newspaper

Conflicts betwen opposing fans: The issue with visitors’ section; PA Senate subpoenas OH railroad; SCOB hosts Diversity in Business Symposium; Cult leader pleads not guilty to sex charges

Predictive Correlation Between Teacher Self-Efficacy Factors In Literacy And Preparedness To Teach Morphology, Angelique M. Tomlinson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this quantitative predictive correlation study was to examine the relationship between teacher self-efficacy factors in literacy and teacher preparedness in teaching morphology in elementary classrooms. Results from this study have the potential of determining needed instructional changes at both the teacher training and elementary school levels. One hundred fifteen respondants came from elementary teachers in three school districts across the Tennessee Valley, although only 69 participants completed the survey in its entirety. The Teacher Sense of Efficacy in Literacy Instruction (TSELI), with demographic questions on education level, teacher position, and completion of Language Essentials for Teachers of …

2023 March 2 - Tennessee Weekly Drought Summary, Tennessee Climate Office, East Tennessee State University

Tennessee Climate Office Weekly Drought Summaries

No abstract provided.

Wallaby Pilot Survey: Hydra Cluster Galaxies Uv And H I Morphometrics, Benne W. Holwerda, Frank Bigiel, Albert Bosma, Helene M. Courtois, Nathan Deg, Helga Dénes, Ahmed Elagali, Bi-Qing For, Baerbel Koribalski, Denis A. Leahy, Karen Lee-Waddell, Ángel R. López-Sánchez, Se-Heon Oh, Tristan N. Reynolds, Jonghwan Rhee, Kristine Spekkens, Jing Wang, Tobias Westmeier, O Ivy Wong

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

Galaxy morphology in atomic hydrogen (H I) and in the ultraviolet (UV) are closely linked. This has motivated their combined use to quantify morphology over the full H I disc for both H I and UV imaging. We apply galaxy morphometrics: concentration, asymmetry, gini, M₂₀ and multimode-intensity-deviation statistics to the first moment-0 maps of the WALLABY Survey of galaxies in the hydra cluster centre. Taking advantage of this new H I survey, we apply the same morphometrics over the full H I extent on archival GALEX FUV and NUV data to explore how well H I truncated, extended ultraviolet …

Autonomous Single-Molecule Manipulation Based On Reinforcement Learning, Bernhard Ramsauer, Grant J. Simpson, Johannes J. Cartus, Andreas Jeindl, Victor García-López, James M. Tour, Leonhard Grill, Oliver T. Hofmann

Faculty Publications

Building nanostructures one-by-one requires precise control of single molecules over many manipulation steps. The ideal scenario for machine learning algorithms is complex, repetitive, and time-consuming. Here, we show a reinforcement learning algorithm that learns how to control a single dipolar molecule in the electric field of a scanning tunneling microscope. Using about 2250 iterations to train, the algorithm learned to manipulate the molecule toward specific positions on the surface. Simultaneously, it generates physical insights into the movement as well as orientation of the molecule, based on the position where the electric field is applied relative to the molecule. This reveals …

Designing A Makerspace, Mackenzie Dinsmoor

Instructional Psychology and Technology Graduate Student Projects

The purpose of this project was to design a makerspace in the McKay School of Education here at Brigham Young University. This project is for pre-service teachers and faculty in the Teacher Education Department primarily in the Elementary Education program.

The purpose of a makerspace is to provide students with the materials and experiences to iteratively design and create. It’s a place for hands-on learning with all the tools for creativity. Makerspaces provide creative ways to encourage students to design, experiment, build and invent as they deeply engage in science, engineering and tinkering. A makerspace is not solely a science …

Text And Data Mining Applications For Teaching Music Bibliography, Taylor Greene, Laurie Sampsel

Library Presentations, Posters, and Audiovisual Materials

Text and data mining (TDM) is a process of increasing interdisciplinary potential and one with many practical applications for music graduate students. TDM, however, remains a topic rarely introduced in the music bibliography course. Understandably, talk of artificial intelligence, algorithms, and programming languages are intimidating to music students, but thanks to software applications, knowledge about these computer science topics are not required to participate in research using TDM. This presentation explores ways to introduce digital humanities to music students through TDM.

In our presentation, we will discuss two approaches to incorporating TDM into the music bibliography course, focusing on two …

Partnering To Advance Equity In Coastal Resilience: Lessons Learned For Research And Practice Collaborations For On-The-Ground Projects, Ren-Neasha Blake Gilmore, Marina Saitgalina, Jennifer Whytlaw, Nicole Hutton, Tom Allen, Joshua Behr, Wie Yusuf

Presentations, Lectures, Posters, Reports

No abstract provided.

Benthic Habitat Mapping Of Mountain Top Bank Within The Northern Gulf Of Mexico Through Integrated Geophysical And Visual Data Analysis, Bethany Pertain

Master's Theses

Mesophotic coral ecosystems (MCEs) are among the seafloor ecosystems that have been poorly studied throughout the world’s oceans, but they are a vital and diverse ecosystem that should be prioritized for future mapping and ecological studies. Priority should be given to them because they possess natural, social, and economic values, and face a variety of threats, all of which, if not better understood will result in the loss of this unique ecosystem. Insights into these ecosystems, among other deep-sea environments, are lacking due to difficulty accessing them, inherent lag between data collection by an autonomous system and observation by a …

A Phenomenological Study Examining The Collaborative Community Experiences Of Veteran Special Educators, Jennifer Boyd

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This phenomenological study aimed to examine and describe the experiences of veteran special education (SPED) teachers in rural southwest Georgia school districts regarding their collaborative community network experiences within the field. Granovetter’s (1973) social network theory (SNT) encompasses critical concepts of belongingness and connection about job satisfaction over time and throughout educational contexts and guided this study. A phenomenological approach involving teacher interviews, a focus group, and journal prompts was used to examine the experiences of SPED teachers on their social networks. Eleven veteran SPED teachers were interviewed using open-ended interview scripts developed to target the central research question. Convenience …

Predicting Student Pragmatic Social Skills Development By Student Age And Behavior Classification, Christopher Justin Pope

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Over the course of a decade, schools have experienced an increase in inappropriate student behaviors and suspensions with a decrease in teacher retention. Students are demonstrating intensive externalizing and internalizing behaviors that are producing a negative effect on their success in the classroom, with low teacher efficacy in knowing how to properly address those behaviors and concerns. Students receiving special education services in behavior tend to experience challenges with more than just behavior but tend to only experience addressing of behavior. Studies have shown that an increased number of students with a behavioral disorder are more likely to have an …

The Impact Of Student Achievement Based Upon The Differences Between Teacher Perception Of Blended Learning And Their Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge, Jason Dewayne Pizzino

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this quantitative, correlational research study was to understand if student benchmark scores in a blended learning environment were predicted by teachers’ Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK). This study used a correlational methodology to examine if in a blended learning environment, teachers’ perceptions of the TPACK score predict their students’ scores on the second nine-weeks benchmark test in a middle school mathematics. Bivariate linear regression was used for data analysis to determine the predictive relationship between teachers' TPACK-21CL survey score and their students' second nine weeks benchmark score using the latest SPSS software. The data was collected from …

Teaching High School Students An Apologetic Curriculum On Relativism, Ryan G. Willert

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this action research project is to develop and teach an apologetic curriculum on relativism to the high school students at Eastern Hills Church. The research project will measure the student's prior knowledge of relativism and show that an apologetic curriculum on the topic can be used in order to grow their knowledge of the worldview that inhabits their generation. There were twenty total student participants. Eight total male students ranging from 9th grade to the 12th grade level. There were twelve female students ranging from the 9th grade to the 11th grade level. Each student was given …

Quantification Of Hydraulic Trait Control On Plant Hydrodynamics And Risk Of Hydraulic Failure Within A Demographic Structured Vegetation Model In A Tropical Forest (Fates–Hydro V1.0), Chonggang Xu, Bradley O. Christoffersen, Zachary Robbins, Ryan G. Knox, Rosie A. Fisher, Rutuja Chitra-Tarak, Martijn Slot, Kurt C. Solander, Lara M. Kueppers, Charles D. Koven, Nate G. Mcdowell

School of Integrative Biological & Chemical Sciences Faculty Publications

Vegetation plays a key role in the global carbon cycle and thus is an important component within Earth system models (ESMs) that project future climate. Many ESMs are adopting methods to resolve plant size and ecosystem disturbance history, using vegetation demographic models. These models make it feasible to conduct more realistic simulation of processes that control vegetation dynamics. Meanwhile, increasing understanding of the processes governing plant water use, and ecosystem responses to drought in particular, has led to the adoption of dynamic plant water transport (i.e., hydrodynamic) schemes within ESMs. However, the extent to which variations in plant hydraulic traits …

Conceptualizing Stable States In Origami-Based Devices Using An Energy Visualization Approach, Jacob Greenwood, Larry L. Howell, Alex Avila, Spencer P. Magleby

Faculty Publications

In many origami-based applications, a device needs to be maintained in one or more fold states. The origami stability integration method (OSIM) presented in this paper pro- vides an approach for graphically combining various techniques to achieve stability. Existing stability techniques are also categorized into four groups based on whether they are intrinsic or extrinsic to the origami pattern and whether they exhibit gradual or non-gradual energy storage behaviors. These categorizations can help designers select appropriate techniques for their applications. The paper also contains de- sign considerations and resources for achieving stability. Finally, two case studies are presented that use …

Sdn-Based Routing Framework For Elephant And Mice Flows Using Unsupervised Machine Learning, M Al-Saadi, Asiya Khan, Vasilios Kelefouras, David J. Walker, B Al-Saadi

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

Software-defined networks (SDNs) have the capabilities of controlling the efficient movement of data flows through a network to fulfill sufficient flow management and effective usage of network resources. Currently, most data center networks (DCNs) suffer from the exploitation of network resources by large packets (elephant flow) that enter the network at any time, which affects a particular flow (mice flow). Therefore, it is crucial to find a solution for identifying and finding an appropriate routing path in order to improve the network management system. This work proposes a SDN application to find the best path based on the type of …