Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Unsupervised Machine Learning In Agent-Based Modeling, Luke D. Robinson

Celebration of Learning

Agent-based models (ABMs) are used by researchers in a variety of fields to model natural phenomena. In an ABM, a wide range of behaviors and outcomes can be observed based on the parameters of the model. In many cases, these behaviors can be categorized into discrete outcomes identifiable by human observers. Our goal was to use clustering algorithms to identify those outcomes from model output data. For this project, we used data from the NetLogo Wolf Sheep Predation model to explore and evaluate three clustering algorithms from Python's scikit-learn package. If this task can be completed reliably by a computer, …

Education On Campus Waste Disposal, Catherine Johnson, Christina Fox, Alyssa Schutzenhofer, Courtney Wilber

Environmental and Sustainability Studies Undergraduate Projects

No abstract provided.

Pine Needle Pyrolysis: Bio-Waste Into Biofuel, Alexandra Fuentes

Scholarly and Creative Works Conference (2015 - 2021)

This project explores the alternate uses of biomass. In particular, it focuses on pine needles as a source for biofuels. Pine needles are of interest because in certain Mountain communities they are collected and removed from residential properties. By removing the pine needles, communities create a “defensible space” to prevent wild fires from destroying homes. These needles are often placed in regional landfills. The South Tahoe Refuse and Recycling Services alone has more than 4,340 tons of pine needles dumped at their facility annually. This large amount of biomass can be a potential energy source.

The focus of this research …

Kinetics Of Crystal Violet Color Fading Via A Small Footprint Diode Array Spectrometer, Paige Lott

Georgia College Student Research Events

Crystal violet is a pH indicator and is commonly used to classify bacteria. In acidic solutions, crystal violet is yellow in color and at approximately the pH of 1.6, it transitions to a violet color. Over time, this violet color fades as it reacts with the CO 2 in the air until it is clear. A small footprint visible-near- infrared spectrometer (Vis-NIR) with diode array detector was employed in this investigation. Using the software that operates the spectrometer, the absorbance of crystal violet solutions can be measured at 585 nm at high concentrations of base as a function of time. …

Unusual Isotopic Effects Produced In Precipitation As A Byproduct Of Unusual Atmospheric Processes, Shelby Hurst

Research and Creative Activities Poster Day

Precipitation is the ultimate source of all surface and groundwater recharge. Stable oxygen and hydrogen isotope investigation of precipitation has a long history. The factors controlling these stable isotopes are well known and include mean annual temperature, amount of precipitation, altitude and air mass trajectory (Dansgaard, 1964; Yurtsever and Gat, 1981).

The Chess Puzzle Lock Screen, Ryan J. Hayes

Student Scholar Showcase

The Chess Puzzle Lock Screen

Many times each day, owners of cellphones use their phone’s lock screen in order to access their device. The goal of this project has been to take advantage of the action of unlocking one’s device by incorporating an element of self-help into the process. Every time a user who is interested in learning a new field attempts to access their device, that user is faced with a problem pertaining to a subject they are interested in learning more about. After many repetitions of this scenario, the user will have increased their understanding of this field. …

Virtual Reality: Google Cardboard And Unity, Emma Elliott

Student Scholar Showcase

Virtual Reality is currently the hottest way for people to play video games because it provides an immersive and interactive world to explore. It uses computer software to create sounds, realistic images, and other effects to simulate a virtual setting. The current craze started on the Oculus Rift headset and has incited other companies to make their own, but most are expensive or require another system to play. Instead of buying an expensive headset, anyone with a smartphone can play in Virtual Reality with Google’s cheap alternative, the Google Cardboard. The goal of this project is to complete a prototype …

Iso-Α-Acids Degradation In Beer, Emily Whittle

Student Scholar Showcase

Iso-a-acids are one of the key components that provide bitterness to beer. Understanding the stability of beer flavor over extended period is useful to the rapidly expanding craft beer industry and to the consumer. The lupulin glands of hops (Humulus Lupulus, L.) contain three a-acids: humulone, adhumulone, and cohumulone. The a-acids are converted to six iso-a-acids upon boiling, this is the main reason for boiling wort during the brewing process. The six iso-a-acids are cis­-isohumulone, trans-isohumulone, cis-isoadhumulone, trans-isoadhumulone, cis-isocohumulone, and trans-isocohumulone. We propose that the concentration of iso-a-acids in beer will decline over time …

Spectrofluorometric Analysis Of Bisphenol-A In Drinking Water Bottles, Jeff Brochetti

Student Scholar Showcase

Spectrofluorometric Analysis of Bisphenol-A in Drinking Water Bottles

Bisphenol-A (BPA) is of environmental concern due to its ability to act as an endocrine disruptor in humans and many other animals. In the food industry, BPA is widely used in the production of plastic bottles and plastic liners in aluminum cans. Over time, trace amounts of BPA can leach from the container and into the contents inside. A new method of testing for trace amount of BPA involved the formation of an inclusion complex with ß-Cyclodextrin. With the formation of the inclusion complex, it becomes much easier to analyze low concentrations …

A Game Of Monovariants On A Checkerboard, Linwood Reynolds

Student Scholar Showcase

Abstract: Assume there is a game that takes place on a 20x20 checkerboard in which each of the 400 squares are filled with either a penny, nickel, dime, or quarter. The coins are placed randomly onto the squares, and there are to be 100 of each of the coins on the board. To begin the game, 59 coins are removed at random. The goal of the game is to remove each remaining coin from the board according to the following rules: 1. A penny can only be removed if all 4 adjacent squares are empty. That is, a penny cannot …

Stacking 2d Materials, Michael Hernandez, John C. Mann

Seaver College Research And Scholarly Achievement Symposium

Monolayer Transition Metal Dichalcogenides are atomically thin semi-conductors that are considered quasi 2D materials due to their extremely small thickness. It has been observed that atomically thin crystals exhibit different physical properties than their bulk counterparts due to quantum confinement effects. We are attempting discover new physical properties by developing a technique to stack two different monolayer crystals, MoS2 and MoSe2.

Early College High Schools: Achieving The Dream Of College For Urban, North Texas Students, Wendy N. Jasper

National Youth Advocacy & Resilience Conference

Tarrant County College, an Achieving the Dream Leader College, has created an environment at its district that has made an Associate’s Degree attainable for students in the county’s most challenged high schools and may provide ideas for outreach and recruitment to those interested in developing an Early College High School within their home institution.

The Property Of Mass: An Interdisciplinary Metaphysical Investigation, Benjamin Hayworth

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

The property of mass as used in the physical sciences is somewhat of a metaphysical conundrum. Not only has the definition of mass changed with various paradigm shifts in physics, but the powers belonging to the property have also varied. In my study, I begin by examining the historical context surrounding the term, including the changes to its definition. In doing so, it is revealed that various definitions of mass are used and circulated in general discussion, so a cogent criterion of identity is established by which each definition can be measured. After determining the distinctions between each mass term, …

Characterization Of The Mannose-6-Phosphate/Insulin-Like Growth Factor Ii Receptor Using 1-3mh, Zechariah Craig

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

The mannose-6-phosphate/insulin-like growth factor 2 receptor (M6P/IGF2R), a recombinant triplet protein receptor for studies involving receptor dimerization, plays a pivotal role in mediating cellular growth. This receptor is comprised of fifteen similar units that fold into five triplet subunits. The goal of this experiment is to investigate how to make the 1-3MH protein more stable at the DNA level and generate a larger yield from DNA extractions for more effective transfections. This was accomplished by minorly changing the protocols for the DNA purification. Instead of using a standard column DNA purification kit, a crude DNA purification was done instead. This …

A Modular Robotic System For Assessment And Exercise Of Human Movement, Mohan Sai Ambati

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

This project targets the problem of developing a wearable modular robotic system, for assessing human movement and providing different types of exercises for the user. The system attempts to provide not only a variety of exercises (concentric, eccentric, assisted and resisted), but also to assess the change in variability of the movement as the subject shows functional improvement. The system will not only be useful for patients with sensorimotor problem such as stroke, Parkinson’s, cerebral palsy, but also for special populations such as astronauts who spend long periods of time in space and experience muscle atrophy. In this work, a …

Optimizing Campus Mobility With A Focus On Sustainability: A Graph Theory Approach To Intra-Campus Transportation Networks, Quinn M. Nelson

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

The idea of public transportation is supported by most in theory but often heavily criticized by users when put into application. There are common tensions that are related to public transportation, as described by frequent users: unreliable, too crowded, and slow. The University of Nebraska-Omaha (UNO) is a growing metropolitan institution that uses a shuttle system to transport students among their three campuses daily. As of 2015, the current total student enrollment is approximately 16,000; UNO plans to enroll 20,000 students by 2020. The expected student growth is also reflected by the current construction of new buildings and expansion of …

Between-Day Reliability Activity Fluctuations In Young Adults At Baseline And 6-Months Follow-Up, Connor J. Wicks

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

Human Daily Motor Activity (DMA) is characterized by complex temporal fluctuations and scale invariance. DMA is estimated from a time series composed of continuous amounts of activity recorded with the Actigraph GT9X monitor. The purpose of this study was to measure the complex temporal fluctuations in several young healthy adults over a 7-day period. After six months there was a follow-up of another 7-day period. Future collections will involve healthy older adults and adults with Parkinson’s disease. For the first phase of this study, 24 healthy young adults wore the monitor on their non-dominant hand for seven straight days. For …

Teaching And Learning Mathematics In The Ar/Vr Environment, Alexander Vaninsky

Publications and Research

This presentation discusses teaching and learning mathematics in augmented (AR) or virtual (VR) reality created by a combination of goggles and earphones. It claims that interactive learning in such an environment is more attractive and efficient. It increases motivation and interest in the subject matter. The approach is underlain by the findings of educational neuroscience considering the learning process as the formation of domains in the brain forming mathematics knowledge centers. The teaching process provides sensory excitation and establishes connections among these and other domains. Hardware and software are available in the market. The suggested approach allows for practical implementation …

Special Topic 1: Chemical Evolution- A Possible Origin Of Life, Gordon Gribble

Chemistry 52, Gordon Gribble lectures on Special Topics

No abstract provided.

Special Topic 3, Part 1: Pesticides: Natural And Manmade Pesticides, Gordon Gribble

Chemistry 52, Gordon Gribble lectures on Special Topics

No abstract provided.

Special Topic 5: Chemical Warfare, Gordon Gribble

Chemistry 52, Gordon Gribble lectures on Special Topics

No abstract provided.

Special Topic 2: Insect Pheromones, Supporting Images 1, Gordon Gribble

Chemistry 52, Gordon Gribble lectures on Special Topics

No abstract provided.

Special Topic 2: Insect Pheromones And Chemical Defense Secretions, Gordon Gribble

Chemistry 52, Gordon Gribble lectures on Special Topics

No abstract provided.

Introduction To Special Topics, Gordon Gribble

Chemistry 52, Gordon Gribble lectures on Special Topics

No abstract provided.

Special Topic 4: Cancer And Chemical Carcinogenesis, Gordon Gribble

Chemistry 52, Gordon Gribble lectures on Special Topics

No abstract provided.

Special Topic 2: Insect Pheromones, Supporting Images 2, Gordon Gribble

Chemistry 52, Gordon Gribble lectures on Special Topics

No abstract provided.

Special Topic 3, Part 2: Pesticides: Herbicides, Vietnam Defoliants, And Dioxin, Gordon Gribble

Chemistry 52, Gordon Gribble lectures on Special Topics

No abstract provided.

Improving Our Understanding Of Ocean Circulation: A Modeling Study, Nicole M. Flecchia

Senior Honors Projects

The Gulf Stream is not a rigidly contained ocean current; it curves and meanders in a manner that causes portions of it to go unstable, breaking off to form warm core rings. These rings travel west – due to the earth’s rotation - through the Slope Sea and onto the southern New England shelfbreak, affecting various physical parameters of our coastal waters as well as the biogeochemical and ecological properties (i.e. the ‘health’) of the those waters. Where a warm core ring lands along the east coast and the time of year it appears varies with each ring, causing each …

Direct Band Gap Measurements, John Ryan Peterson

Student Works

This presentation was given during the summer of 2016 as part of the BYU REU program funded by the NSF. Here I give a brief explanation of our quantum dot synthesis and then explain the mechanism of photoluminsecence used to measure indirect band gap energies of semiconductors. Our experimental setup is shown. Direct band gaps of lead sulfide quantum dots synthesized in ferritin are reported. The data show that the band gap can be tuned arbitrarily in a certain range by varying the concentrations of the reactants. We compare stability of quantum dots in ferritin to quantum dots synthesized without …

Quantum Dot Band Gap Measurements, John Ryan Peterson

Student Works

This presentation was given during the summer of 2016 as part of the BYU REU program funded by the NSF. Here I give a brief explanation of our quantum dot synthesis as well as explain the use of absorption spectroscopy to measure indirect band gap energies of semiconductors. Our experimental setup is shown and recent improvements are explained. We report indirect band gaps of quantum dots containing varying amounts of cobalt oxide and manganese oxide and synthesized in the protein ferritin. The data show that the band gap can be tuned arbitrarily in a certain range by varying the concentrations …