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Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons™

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College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University

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2014

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Articles 1 - 22 of 22

Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

The Optical Luminosity Function Of Gamma-Ray Bursts Deduced From Rotse-Iii Observations, X. H. Cui, X. F. Wu, J. J. Wei, F. Yuan, W. K. Zheng, E. W. Liang, C. W. Akerlof, M. C. B. Ashley, H A. Flewelling, E. Göǧüş, T. Güver, Ü. Kızıloǧlu, T. A. Mckay, S. B. Pandey, E. S. Rykoff, W. Rujopakarn, B. E. Schaefer, J. C. Wheeler, Sarah A. Yost Nov 2014

The Optical Luminosity Function Of Gamma-Ray Bursts Deduced From Rotse-Iii Observations, X. H. Cui, X. F. Wu, J. J. Wei, F. Yuan, W. K. Zheng, E. W. Liang, C. W. Akerlof, M. C. B. Ashley, H A. Flewelling, E. Göǧüş, T. Güver, Ü. Kızıloǧlu, T. A. Mckay, S. B. Pandey, E. S. Rykoff, W. Rujopakarn, B. E. Schaefer, J. C. Wheeler, Sarah A. Yost

Physics Faculty Publications

We present the optical luminosity function (LF) of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) estimated from a uniform sample of 58 GRBs from observations with the Robotic Optical Transient Search Experiment III (ROTSE-III). Our GRB sample is divided into two sub-samples: detected afterglows (18 GRBs) and those with upper limits (40 GRBs). We derive R-band fluxes for these two sub-samples 100 s after the onset of the burst. The optical LFs at 100 s are fitted by assuming that the co-moving GRB rate traces the star formation rate. While fitting the optical LFs using Monte Carlo simulations, we take into account the …

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Evaluation Of Microarray-Based Dna Methylation Measurement Using Technical Replicates: The Atherosclerosis Risk In Communities (Aric) Study, Maitreyee Bose, Chong Wu, James S. Pankow, Ellen W. Demerath, Jan Bressler, Myriam Fornage, Megan L. Grove, Thomas H. Mosley, Chindo Hicks, Kari North, Wen Hong Kao, Yu Zhang, Eric Boerwinkle, Weihua Guan Sep 2014

Evaluation Of Microarray-Based Dna Methylation Measurement Using Technical Replicates: The Atherosclerosis Risk In Communities (Aric) Study, Maitreyee Bose, Chong Wu, James S. Pankow, Ellen W. Demerath, Jan Bressler, Myriam Fornage, Megan L. Grove, Thomas H. Mosley, Chindo Hicks, Kari North, Wen Hong Kao, Yu Zhang, Eric Boerwinkle, Weihua Guan

Computer Science Faculty Publications

Background: DNA methylation is a widely studied epigenetic phenomenon; alterations in methylation patterns influence human phenotypes and risk of disease. As part of the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study, the Illumina Infinium HumanMethylation450 (HM450) BeadChip was used to measure DNA methylation in peripheral blood obtained from ~3000 African American study participants. Over 480,000 cytosine-guanine (CpG) dinucleotide sites were surveyed on the HM450 BeadChip. To evaluate the impact of technical variation, 265 technical replicates from 130 participants were included in the study.

Results: For each CpG site, we calculated the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) to compare variation of methylation levels …

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A Women In Mathematics, Computer Science, And Physics Course, Jim Crumley, Kristen Nairn, Lynn Ziegler, Pamela L. Bacon, Yu Zhang Jul 2014

A Women In Mathematics, Computer Science, And Physics Course, Jim Crumley, Kristen Nairn, Lynn Ziegler, Pamela L. Bacon, Yu Zhang

MapCores Faculty Publications

Increasing women's participation is a concern in disciplines beyond
physics. As part of our Mathematics, Physics, Computer Science
Research Scholars (MapCores) program, we teach a women in science
class covering these three areas. Our course is a special version of
our college's first year seminar, which is a course designed to
prepare our students to read, write, and speak at a college-level. We
structure our FYS to promote academic confidence and interest in our
disciplines for the women in MapCores. It covers not only contributions
that women have made and barriers that women face in these
disciplines, but also research …

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The Magnetopause: Bringing Space Physics Into A Junior Lab, Jim Crumley, Ari Palczewski,, Stephen Kaster Jul 2014

The Magnetopause: Bringing Space Physics Into A Junior Lab, Jim Crumley, Ari Palczewski,, Stephen Kaster

MapCores Faculty Publications

Undergraduate students often have minimal exposure to many subfields
of physics which are active areas of research. Space physics
is an area that is particularly difficult to expose students to since
it builds off of another area that most undergraduates see little of,
plasma physics. The magnetopause is convenient entry point
into space physics, since it can be modeled as a pressure balance, which is
a concept familiar from introductory physics. We use the Earth's
magnetopause as the basis for a lab for junior physics majors. In
the lab students analyze results from a NASA MHD simulation and
data from …

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Effect Of Australian Pine (Casuarina Equisetifolia) Canopy Density On The Understory Plant Community On San Salvador, Bahamas, Jeffry Anderson, Anna Baumgartner Apr 2014

Effect Of Australian Pine (Casuarina Equisetifolia) Canopy Density On The Understory Plant Community On San Salvador, Bahamas, Jeffry Anderson, Anna Baumgartner

Celebrating Scholarship & Creativity Day (2011-2017)

Casuarina equisetifolia, or Australian pine, is an invasive angiosperm species on the island of San Salvador, The Bahamas. It was originally found only in Southeast Asia and Australia. This tree is unique in that its leaves are much reduced and occur in whorls around the photosynthetic branchlets. It has been established that this tree contributes to the increased erosion of sediment on the dunes of San Salvador (Sealey 1998). This study investigated several possible factors contributing to differences in the understory plant community which may contribute to this erosion including leaf litter density, shading, and soil pH. It is …

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Elce - Sustainable Serving, Kevin Curwick, Allison Fischbach Apr 2014

Elce - Sustainable Serving, Kevin Curwick, Allison Fischbach

Celebrating Scholarship & Creativity Day (2011-2017)

Describes the Sustainability Student Worker Network (SSWN) and the connections between ELCE (Experiential Learning & Community Engagement) and sustainability at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University.

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Effect Of Sulfuric Acid Exposure On Common Mineral Dust Particles, Miguel D. Mendoza Apr 2014

Effect Of Sulfuric Acid Exposure On Common Mineral Dust Particles, Miguel D. Mendoza

Celebrating Scholarship & Creativity Day (2011-2017)

Mineral dust has a large effect on cloud formation and ultimately the climate. Several studies have shown the addition of acid to these mineral dust particles decreases their ability to nucleate ice. This study explores what chemistry occurs between common components of mineral dust particles and sulfuric acid. Hematite (Fe2O3), calcite (CaCO3), and quartz (SiO2) were exposed to sulfuric acid, and then analyzed using a combination of Attenuated Total Reflectance-FTIR, Diffuse Reflectance-FTIR Spectroscopy, X-Ray Diffraction, and Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectroscopy to identify functional groups, mineral species, and aqueous phase elements. …

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Ring-Opening Polymerization Of Lactones And Lactides: An Organic Chemistry Lab Synthesis, Erin Wissler Apr 2014

Ring-Opening Polymerization Of Lactones And Lactides: An Organic Chemistry Lab Synthesis, Erin Wissler

Celebrating Scholarship & Creativity Day (2011-2017)

This project analyzed the ring opening chemistry of D, L- lactide, γ – butyrolactone, valerolactone, dodecalactone and caprolactone. Starting with each of the above monomers, Sn(Oct)2,SnCl2, Zn(acac)2, ZnCL2, and AlCl3 were used as catalysts in the polymerization process. Initiators included benzyl alcohol, 2-phenylethanol and 1-butanol. The results of each reaction were analyzed by 1H-NMR and IR spectroscopy and dynamic light scattering (DLS). The results were collated to determine the most promising candidates for a student project in the teaching laboratory.

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Tiny Homes: Improving Carbon Footprint And The American Lifestyle On A Large Scale, Timothy Michael Carlin Apr 2014

Tiny Homes: Improving Carbon Footprint And The American Lifestyle On A Large Scale, Timothy Michael Carlin

Celebrating Scholarship & Creativity Day (2011-2017)

Since the year 1950, the size of the average American house has increased by two and one half times, from 1,000 Square Feet to 2,400 Square Feet. The drastic growth in housing size has led to increased spending and usage of utilities (natural gas, electricity, etc.), resulting in surges in the American carbon footprint. This research explores the potential for tiny homes to serve as a solution to the elusive idea of sustainable housing that is available to the average American homeowner, aiding in the size reduction of the American carbon footprint. Utilizing existing literature on the topic of tiny …

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Classification Of Biorenewable Multiblock Copolymers, Sean Pickthorn Apr 2014

Classification Of Biorenewable Multiblock Copolymers, Sean Pickthorn

Celebrating Scholarship & Creativity Day (2011-2017)

Recent advances in polymer production sciences have led to an increase in research in sustainable practices. Our efforts intended to produce a toughened biorenewable multiblock copolymer. Polylactide has been noted to be produced by sustainable practices but is limited because of the fragile structure. To improve the brittle behavior of polylactide, preparation of polylactide-b-polybutadiene-b-polylactide multiblock copolymers were synthesized with a fixed weight of dihydroxyl polybutadiene (~3000 and ~2000g/mole series) and variable volume percent (50-90%) of both semicrystalline poly(L-lactide) and amorphous poly(D,L-lactide). Producing a multiblock copolymer intended to strengthen the mechanical properties by bridging and gapping over several domains. Initially, triblock …

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Vegetation And Climate History Of The St. John’S Abbey Arboretum (Collegeville, Minnesota) Based Upon Lacustrine Fossil Pollen, Emily Kiolbasa Apr 2014

Vegetation And Climate History Of The St. John’S Abbey Arboretum (Collegeville, Minnesota) Based Upon Lacustrine Fossil Pollen, Emily Kiolbasa

Celebrating Scholarship & Creativity Day (2011-2017)

No abstract provided.

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Mapcores 2013-2014 Assessment Report, Kristen Nairn, Pamela L. Bacon, Jim Crumley, Yu Zhang Apr 2014

Mapcores 2013-2014 Assessment Report, Kristen Nairn, Pamela L. Bacon, Jim Crumley, Yu Zhang

MapCores Faculty Publications

This is a report showing the assessment results for the MapCores (MAthematics, Physics, COmputer science REsearch Scholars) program at the College of Saint Benedict. Started in 2009, MapCores is a cohort-based program designed to increase women's interest and achievement in mathematics, physics, computer science and engineering. The report was submitted for the National Science Foundation grant number 0965705.

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The Nature And Nurture Of Intuition, Thomas Q. Sibley Feb 2014

The Nature And Nurture Of Intuition, Thomas Q. Sibley

Forum Lectures

Are people just innately good at mathematics or not? My teaching experience suggests mathematical ability is not just fate: Students develop their mathematical abilities by doing mathematics. In particular we discuss geometric intuition, its connection with geometric reasoning and the possibility of developing them, using examples to get the listeners actively thinking about their own geometric thinking.

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Effects Of Oxidation On Protein-Nanoparticle Interactions, Valdez R. Rahming, Md. Abul Fazal Jan 2014

Effects Of Oxidation On Protein-Nanoparticle Interactions, Valdez R. Rahming, Md. Abul Fazal

Chemistry Faculty Publications

Aims: Upon entrance into the blood stream most nanoparticles bind to an array of proteins forming a “protein corona”. Fibrinogen is the second most abundant blood protein and has been reported to bind to a variety of nanoparticles including metal oxides, polymeric nanoparticles and carbon nanotubes.
Study Design: Study the effects of oxidation on the binding interactions between human serum fibrinogen and magnetic iron (III) oxide nanoparticles.
Place and Duration of Study: Department of Chemistry, College of St. Benedict, 37 South College Avenue, St. Joseph, MN 56374, U.S.A., between June 2011 and May 2012.
Methodology: Spectroscopic techniques (UV-Vis, IR, fluorescence, …

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Modeling Tolerance In Dynamic Social Networks, Amanda Luby Jan 2014

Modeling Tolerance In Dynamic Social Networks, Amanda Luby

Honors Theses, 1963-2015

The study of social networks has become increasingly important in recent years. Multi-agent systems research has proven to be an effective way of representing both static and dynamic social networks in order to model and analyze many different situations. Previous implementations of multi-agent systems have observed a phenomenon called tolerance between agents through simulation studies, which is defined as an agent maintaining an unrewarding connection. This concept has also arisen in the social sciences through the study of networks. We aim to bridge this gap between simulation studies in multi-agent systems and real-world observations. This project explores how local interactions …

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Measuring Ultrashort Laser Pulses Using Frequency-Resolved Optical Gating In Conjunction With Genetic And Iterative Algorithms, Alexandra M. Brancale Jan 2014

Measuring Ultrashort Laser Pulses Using Frequency-Resolved Optical Gating In Conjunction With Genetic And Iterative Algorithms, Alexandra M. Brancale

Honors Theses, 1963-2015

Precise ultrashort light pulse measurements are critical in many physics experiments using ultrafast lasers. A Frequency-Resolved Optical Gating (FROG) system can efficiently and accurately record these desired measurements. FROGs split the input laser beam, delay half of the beam, and overlap both halves in a nonlinear medium. The resulting beam allows the retrieval of phase and duration information. A data file is created by the FROG software that includes beam intensity measurements. By using genetic and iterative algorithms, the intensity data can be manipulated in order to retrieve the pulse duration and phase information. One focus of this research was …

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Computing Local Constants For Cm Elliptic Curves, Sunil Chetty, Lung Li Jan 2014

Computing Local Constants For Cm Elliptic Curves, Sunil Chetty, Lung Li

Mathematics Faculty Publications

Let E/k be an elliptic curve with CM by O. We determine a formula for (a generalization of) the arithmetic local constant of Mazur-Rubin at almost all primes of good reduction. We apply this formula to the CM curves defined over Q and are able to describe extensions F/Q over which the O-rank of E grows.

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Using Spe And Hplc-Ms To Quantify And Identify Pharmaceutical Compounds In St. John's University Wastewater, Melissa E. Stuckey Jan 2014

Using Spe And Hplc-Ms To Quantify And Identify Pharmaceutical Compounds In St. John's University Wastewater, Melissa E. Stuckey

Honors Theses, 1963-2015

Pharmaceuticals in wastewater have become a concern of environmental toxicologists. An efficient method of discovering the concentrations of these pharmaceuticals in wastewater has not yet been produced. The method we developed includes an automated Solid Phase Extraction (SPE) procedure prior to injecting a sample of wastewater into the High Performance Liquid Chromatograph (HPLC) and Mass Spectrometer – Electrospray Ionization (MS-ESI). Three unknown peaks were identified on the HPLC and MS from wastewater obtained from the St. John’s Wastewater Treatment Plant in June 2013. Methods of analysis including NMR, GC-MS and IR have been used to determine the composition of these …

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Colored Independence Of Cycle Graphs And Finite Grids, Michael Terhaar Jan 2014

Colored Independence Of Cycle Graphs And Finite Grids, Michael Terhaar

Honors Theses, 1963-2015

Colored independence is a way in which we can understand scheduling/storage problems where events that cannot occur together are modeled by vertices connected by edges, and events that must occur together are modeled by vertices that have the same color. This research will be looking specifically at colored independence on cycles and grids. The number we strive to describe on said graphs is the independence partition number. The independence partition number can be defined as the minimum of the maximum independent set that exists on each partition of a graph G. This research will be able to contribute to the …

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Bifurcation And Non-Convergence In The Hansen-Patrick Root-Finding Method, Preston Hardy Jan 2014

Bifurcation And Non-Convergence In The Hansen-Patrick Root-Finding Method, Preston Hardy

Honors Theses, 1963-2015

The Hansen-Patrick Root-Finding Method is a one-parameter family of cubically convergent root-finding methods. The parameter is called alpha and can be any complex number. With a few different values of alpha, Hansen-Patrick becomes equivalent to other, more well-known root-finding methods. For example, when alpha equals -1, Hansen-Patrick becomes equivalent to Halley’s Method. There has been previous research into the dynamical systems that arise when varying the initial starting point or varying a family of functions. This paper deals with what happens when the initial point and function are fixed but the root-finding method varies. We are interested in spurious cycles …

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Achieving Numerical Reproducibility In The Parallelized Floating Point Dot Product, Alyssa Anderson Jan 2014

Achieving Numerical Reproducibility In The Parallelized Floating Point Dot Product, Alyssa Anderson

Honors Theses, 1963-2015

The world depends on computers every day to do accurate real-world mathematics. Computers must store real numbers in a finite representation that approximates real numbers, called floating point representation. However, simply by changing the order in which we add a list of floating point numbers can provide a different result that may even be less accurate than another ordering. This is because floating point addition is not associative. That is, (a + b) + c is not necessarily equal to a + (b + c). Parallel computing techniques introduce the ability to reorder computations, thus producing a difference in results …

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Using Arduino To Design A Myoelectric Prosthetic, Kathleen Talbot Jan 2014

Using Arduino To Design A Myoelectric Prosthetic, Kathleen Talbot

Honors Theses, 1963-2015

The loss of a limb can be a very traumatic experience for a person. Prosthetics are devices that can help restore some of the functionality to the user. However, without insurance, prosthetics can be very expensive, creating demand for more efficient and cheaper prosthetics. My research uses an Arduino microcontroller to design a myoelectric prosthetic – a prosthetic that reads electrical signals from the residual limb and powers motors for movement.

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