Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Algoraph But In C++, Adam James Czeranko, Andres Louis Solorzano

21st Annual Celebration of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity (2022)

Given a configuration of “pebbles” on a graph G, a pebbling move removes two pebbles from a source vertex and one pebble is added to an adjacent vertex. A vertex is reachable if there is a sequence of pebbling moves that places one pebble on that vertex; a graph is solvable if every vertex is reachable. The pebbling number of graph G is the smallest integer π(G), such that any configuration that uses π(G) pebbles is solvable. A graph satisfies the two-pebbling property if for any configuration of more than 2π(G) - q pebbles, where q is the number of …

Landscape Materials: Impact On Water Quality At Different Temperatures, Vignesh Tiruvannamalai '24

Distinguished Student Work

The purpose of this experiment is to analyze how commonly used landscaping materials (wood mulch, rubber mulch, and landscape stones) will affect the quality and chemical composition of runoff water they come into contact with, and how this will be impacted by different temperatures experienced in different climatic regions.

In order to conduct this experiment, always wear safety goggles and gloves when handling experiment materials. First, prepare the landscaping materials and rinse the containers and lids. Then, place the designated amount of landscaping materials in each container and fill each with 2.27 liters of filtered water, subsequently covering them and …

Population Genomic Dynamics Of Mesopelagic Lanternfishes Diaphus Dumerilii, Lepidophanes Guentheri, And Ceratoscopelus Warmingii (Family: Myctophidae) In The Gulf Of Mexico, Andrea Bernard, Kimberly A. Finnegan, Tracey Sutton, Ron Eytan, Max Weber, Mahmood Shivji

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Assessing the impacts of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill (DWHOS) on deep-sea fish assemblages of the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) has been hindered by an absence of baseline (pre-spill) data concerning the population genetic dynamics of these fishes. The lanternfishes (Myctophidae) are a speciose, yet understudied, taxonomic group, that comprise a significant portion of the global deep-sea biomass, making them integral members of meso- and bathy-pelagic food webs. Herein, we used a genomic approach (double digest restriction site associated DNA sequencing) to investigate the temporal genetic dynamics of three species of lanternfishes within the northern GOM in the region of …

Presence Or Absence Of Microcystins Within The Lake Macatawa Watershed, Keiley M. Hoving, Garrett E. Peck

21st Annual Celebration of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity (2022)

Cyanobacteria, commonly known as blue-green algae, are freshwater aquatic microorganisms that are important indicators of climate change. They also release microcystins: toxins that can cause sickness, organ failure, or even death in plants, animals and humans. Studies have monitored microcystin presence and concentration in large-scale Cyanobacterial blooms, such as in Lake Erie, but often omit smaller scale instances. This project determines whether or not microcystins are present in the Lake Macatawa Watershed and identifies important conditional factors associated with microcystin presence to conclude if harmful algal blooms like those of Lake Erie are plausible locally. Six sample locations along the …

Connecting Chemical Composition And Methane Production In A West Michigan Peatland, Rachel Shaw, Grace Behrens, Lauren Bryan, Alexis Koehl, Christian Lundy

21st Annual Celebration of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity (2022)

The future net radiative forcing of peatlands will depend in large part on changes in methane emissions. However, current climate models lack a mechanistic representation of methane production. We conducted an anaerobic incubation experiment using peat from various depths in five cores collected from a West Michigan peatland in order to connect methane production to observable differences in the chemical composition of peat and peat pore water. We hypothesized that less decomposed peat may have a larger supply of fermentable sugars that can thus produce more methane than more decomposed peat. C:N, hydrolyzable amino acids, and neutral sugars were analyzed …

Carbon Storage And Methane Production From Interdunal Wetlands In Saugatuck Harbor Natural Area, Grace Behrens

21st Annual Celebration of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity (2022)

Wetlands have a dual impact on the climate: a cooling effect caused by organic matter accumulation in anoxic sediments (removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere); and a warming effect caused by methane emissions from these sediments. In this study, we analyzed the relative importance of both processes in interdunal wetlands in the Saugatuck Harbor Natural Area (SHNA). The SHNA wetlands are a unique ecosystem, dependent on high water levels in Lake Michigan. Thus, carbon accumulation in the wetlands may be ephemeral as the lake level falls. Our goal in this study was to evaluate the extent of carbon accumulation in …

Automatic Alignment Of Remote Imagery For Use In Sand Dune Modeling, Heleyna Tucker, Theodore Lockett, Blake Harlow, Jackson Krebsbach

21st Annual Celebration of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity (2022)

The Hope College Dune Group has been studying West Michigan sand dunes for over twenty years. The group’s interests include observing the mechanisms and effects of sand transport, as well as learning how sand movement and resident dune vegetation affect one another. One of the fundamental tasks of this group is to use machine learning algorithms to create accurate ground-surface and vegetation models from drone imagery in an automated way. A key step in this process is the identification of various types of surface coverage–such as sand, live grass, trees, and other vegetation–automatically from images. An eventual goal of this …

Machine Learning Applications Using Scikit-Learn And Tensorflow, Trevor Palmatier, Kenneth Munyuza

21st Annual Celebration of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity (2022)

Machine learning (ML) is a powerful tool with vast applications in pattern-recognition and identification tasks. Our goal was to explore different applications of machine learning and develop a working understanding of the processes required for the effective application of ML models to problem-solving. Using SciKit-Learn for traditional ML models and TensorFlow for neural networks, existing techniques were explored for two major categories of ML tasks: Regression and Classification modeling. This knowledge was then applied in a biomedical engineering pilot research study (in collaboration with Dr. Brooke Odle, Engineering) analyzing manual patient-handling tasks using data from inertial measuring units (IMUs) and …

Terrestrial Trash Taphonomy: Characterizing Roadside Litter As Potential Sources Of Plastic In Waterways, Kailey M. Hoving, Kelly J. Gotham

21st Annual Celebration of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity (2022)

We collected and characterized roadside litter from 300 m transects along 4 streets in Holland, Michigan that included stream crossings or storm drain inlets. Opposite sides of 3 roads were collected as separate sampling sites, and 4 of these were resampled after ~30 days, yielding 11 different collections. Litter was unevenly distributed within single transects, with some concentrations of litter (e.g., car parts, styrofoam) apparently resulting from single, localized releases of material. Despite such idiosyncratic occurrences, factor analysis of collected items placed associated sites (opposite sides of roads and resampled sites) in non-overlapping domains. Of 11,223 items analyzed, 83.2% were …

Data-Driven Design And Analysis Of Next Generation Mobile Networks For Anomaly Detection And Signal Classification With Fast, Robust And Light Machine Learning, Muhammed Furkan Küçük

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This research focuses on machine (and deep) learning applications (including clustering,anomaly detection and signal classification) for self-organizing and next generation mobile networks in wireless communications. Specifically, this dissertation document will address the three different topics.

First, in the study titled “Performance analysis of neural network topologies and hyperparameters for deep clustering”, we explore the relationship between the clustering performance and network complexity. Deep learning found its initial footing in supervised applications such as image and voice recognition successes of which were followed by deep generative models across similar domains. In recent years, researchers have proposed creative learning representations to utilize …

Towards Asymmetric Mannich Reactions And Alkylation Of Indoles, Bianco Bicalho

Honors Theses

In the presence of trimethylsilyl trifluoromethanesulfonate (TMSOTf) and 2,6-lutidine, acylated thiones undergo Aldol and Mannich reactions with aldehydes and nitrones to yield complex nitrogen-containing compounds. The use of a chiral metal-ligand complex is hypothesized to accelerate the reaction and increase stereochemical control during product formation. N-Alkylindoles undergo Friedel-Crafts alkylation with acetates in the presence of TMSOTf and 2,6-lutidine to produce 3-alkyl indoles. Varying Substitution on the indole at the 5 position and removal of the alkyl group from the 1 position both show continued reactivity at the 3 position even in the presence of TMSOTf.

Three-Heartbeat Multilead Ecg Recognition Method For Arrhythmia Classification, Liang-Hung Wang, Yan-Ting Yu, Wei Liu, Lu Xu, Chao-Xin Xie, Tao Yang, I-Chun Kuo, Xin-Kang Wang, Jie Gao, Patricia Angela R. Abu

Department of Information Systems & Computer Science Faculty Publications

Electrocardiogram (ECG) is the primary basis for the diagnosis of cardiovascular diseases. However, the amount of ECG data of patients makes manual interpretation time-consuming and onerous. Therefore, the intelligent ECG recognition technology is an important means to decrease the shortage of medical resources. This study proposes a novel classification method for arrhythmia that uses for the very first time a three-heartbeat multi-lead (THML) ECG data in which each fragment contains three complete heartbeat processes of multiple ECG leads. The THML ECG data pre-processing method is formulated which makes use of the MIT-BIH arrhythmia database as training samples. Four arrhythmia classification …

The Role Small And Medium Enterprises’ In Sustainability Coastal Media Solutions Goal 8 Un Sdg, Bridgette Devlin

Goal 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth

No abstract provided.

Simplified Synthesis Of Conjugated Polymers Enabled Via 1,4-Dihydropyrrolo[3,2-B]Pyrrole, Kenneth-John Jack Bell

Master of Science in Chemical Sciences Theses

Conjugated polymers have attracted significant attention as the active layer material in organic electronics, such as organic photovoltaics and light-emitting diodes, partly due to the ability to influence a broad range of properties through structural design motifs. However, high performance conjugated polymers suffer from numerous synthetic steps, generation of toxic waste, and harsh reaction conditions all of which impart additional costs that inhibit their widespread utilization. Therefore, an emphasis on reducing synthetic complexity and utilizing abundant, commercially available starting materials is needed for organic electronics to reach their full potential. Dihydropyrrolo[3,2-b]pyrrole (H₂DPP) chromophores offer a simple one-pot synthesis …

Program And Proceedings: Nebraska Academy Of Sciences 1880–2022, 142nd Anniversary Year, One Hundred-Thirty-Second Annual Meeting, April 22, 2022

Nebraska Academy of Sciences: Programs and Proceedings

Program

Aeronautics and Space Science

Anthropology

Applied Science and Technology

Biological Sciences

Biomedical Sciences

Chemistry

Earth Sciences

Environmental Sciences

Physics

2022 Maiben Lecture: Dan Sitzman

2022 Friend of Science Award: Julie Sigmon and Chris Schaben

Binary Transition Metal Oxides@Reduced Graphene Oxide@Polyaniline As Bifunctional Electrode Materials For Energy Conversion And Storage, Jonghyun Choi

Electronic Theses & Dissertations

The world’s increasing consumption of energy has led researchers to focus on research and development for high performance-energy devices. Development of materials used in energy devices is currently focused on improving the performance and stability of devices. Composite materials are well known as an effective way to improve the performance of an energy device. A composite is a combination of two or more materials with different properties, and such combinations can be of great help in advancing the performance of a composite material by adding the advantages or compensating for the disadvantages of each material.

In this study, ternary composite …

2022 Residential Metals Abatement Program (Rmap) Field Sampling Plan (Fsp) – Indoor Dust – Group 4 Monroe Head Start, Former Hawthorne School, Margaret Leary Elementary, And Ramsay Elementary, Elsie King, Christopher Berg, Thomas J. Beckman

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

Superfluidity Of Dipolar Excitons In A Double Layer Of Α -T3 With A Mass Term, Oleg L. Berman, Godfrey Gumbs, Gabriel P. Martins, Paula Fekete

Publications and Research

We predict Bose-Einstein condensation and superfluidity of dipolar excitons, formed by electron-hole pairs in spatially separated gapped hexagonal α − T3 (GHAT3) layers. In the α − T3 model, the AB-honeycomb lattice structure is supplemented with C atoms located at the centers of the hexagons in the lattice. We considered the α − T3 model in the presence of a mass term which opens a gap in the energy-dispersive spectrum. The gap opening mass term, caused by a weak magnetic field, plays the role of Zeeman splitting at low magnetic fields for this pseudospin-1 system. The band structure of GHAT3 …

Performance Comparison Of The Filesystem And Embedded Key-Value Databases, Jesse Hines, Nicholas Cunningham

Campus Research Month

A common scenario when developing local applications is storing many records and then retrieving them by ID. A developer can simply save the records as files or use an embedded database. Large numbers of files can slow down filesystems, but developers may want to avoid a dependency on an embedded database if it offers little benefit for their use case. We will compare the performance for the insert, update, get and delete operations and the space efficiency of storing records as files vs. using key-value embedded databases including RocksDB, LevelDB, Berkley DB, and SQLite.

Can Rigorous Metaphorical Thinking Improve Learning Outcomes?, Arian Dovald

Campus Research Month

Theoretical metaphors are a novel way of analyzing theories in physics. Thinking of physical models as theoretical metaphors clarifies the role of language in scientific modeling. They show how theories make connections between concepts, language, and math. I propose a study to measure the effect on learning outcomes of explicit instruction on theoretical metaphors.

*Interactive Earthquake Visualization With Open Data, Matous Hybl

Campus Research Month

Because earthquakes claim thousands of lives and billions of dollars yearly, there is a great need to recognize patterns in seismic data. While some tools for analysis exist, most geological software is expensive and open earthquake visualizations are limited. In this project, we provide accessible earthquake visualizations aimed to encourage geologists, and science enthusiasts in general, to explore open data using accessible, yet powerful, tools.

Chattanooga Crime Over Time: An Analysis Of Police Incident Open Data, Logan Bateman

Campus Research Month

The police and citizens of Chattanooga may want to know where the most crime occurs, what time of day is crime or police incidents most likely to occur over time. This information can help them understand the crime hotspots in the area. This research work presents a dashboard built upon open data in attempt to bring understanding and insights to the police and citizens about police incidents from the city of Chattanooga over the past five years.

A Weighted Probability Measure For Objects In Euclidean Space, Alessandro Xello

Mathematics Colloquium Series

Since we were little kids, we developed our own sense dimension as a measure of some kind of extent. Whether it be length, width, or height, we intuitively understand how these features fit in the three-dimensional world we live in, and how to measure it. Nevertheless, mathematicians have found themselves dealing with objects, like fractals, and spaces, like R4 , that challenge our intuitive and self-developed definition of measure, to the point that it is not sufficient anymore. Lebesgue measure and Harsdorf measure for example are ways of assigning a measure to objects that belong to n-dimensional Euclidean spaces, in …

Database Query Execution Through Virtual Reality, Logan Bateman, Marc Butler

Campus Research Month

Building database queries often requires technical knowledge of a query language. However, company employees, such as executives, managers, and others (outside of software research and development, generally) may not have the pre-required knowledge to accurately construct and execute database queries. This paper proposes an approach to constructing database queries using virtual reality. This approach utilizes natural hand or controller gestures which map to various components of building and visualizing database queries.

Realtime Visualization Of Kafka Architectures, Matthew Jensen, Miro Manestar

Campus Research Month

Apache Kafka specializes in the transfer of incredibly large amounts of data in real-time between devices. However, it can be difficult to comprehend the inner workings of Kafka. Often, to get real-time data, a user must run complicated commands from within the Kafka CLI. Our contribution is a tool that monitors Kafka consumers, producers, and topics, and displays the flow of events between them in a web-based dashboard. This dashboard serves to reduce the complexity of Kafka and enables users unfamiliar with the platform and protocol to better understand how their architecture is configured.

Synthesis Of Benzophenone-O-Glycosides Under Basic Conditions, Samuel Burns

Undergraduate Research Symposium 2022

Type 2 diabetes is a growing health concern worldwide characterized by high blood sugar. Anti-diabetic therapy aims at correcting this sugar imbalance by inhibiting the enzyme α-glucosidase which is responsible for cleaving carbohydrates and starch into glucose. Benzophenone glycosides are a class of biomolecules with α-glucosidase inhibitory properties that have garnered some attention. It can be found and isolated from some traditional medicinal plants which was not done for this project. Once isolated, new derivatives can be synthesized by manipulating protecting groups of the starting material to get the benzophenone. The benzophenone can then undergo glycosylation with the protected sugar …

An Exploration Of A Year At The Ursinus Food Forest, Victoria Bearden

Environment and Sustainability Presentations

The Ursinus Food Forest began a commitment to a new form of sustainable land management at Whittaker Environmental Research Station. This management integrates lessons from urban agriculture, urban forestry, and agroforestry (see Clark & Nichols 2013) with principles of permaculture (Jacke et al 2005). Begun in 2017, and this past fall marked 2 years since the planting of phase one in 2019. In the fall of 2021 students, faculty, facilities, and volunteers planted the second phase of the food forest site, which added 7 new food producing species. Including this, many projects were created to enhance the site throughout the …

Has The Time (Finally!) Arrived To Talk About Sustainable Lifestyles?, Maurie J. Cohen

Chemistry Sustainability and the Circular Economy

Presentation at the Princeton American Chemical Society (PACS) event in recognition of the 52nd International Earth Day

Odu Researchers Will Put Buoys In The Mediterranean Sea To Help Schools Teach Climate Change, Mindy Ayala-Diaz

News Items

No abstract provided.

Quantification Of Motility In Bacillus Subtilis At Temperatures Up To 84°C Using A Submersible Volumetric Microscope And Automated Tracking, Megan M. Dubay, Nikki Johnston, Mark Wronkiewicz, Jake Lee, Chris Lindensmith, Jay Nadeau

Physics Faculty Publications and Presentations

We describe a system for high-temperature investigations of bacterial motility using a digital holographic microscope completely submerged in heated water. Temperatures above 90°C could be achieved, with a constant 5°C offset between the sample temperature and the surrounding water bath. Using this system, we observed active motility in Bacillus subtilis up to 66°C. As temperatures rose, most cells became immobilized on the surface, but a fraction of cells remained highly motile at distances of >100 μm above the surface. Suspended non-motile cells showed Brownian motion that scaled consistently with temperature and viscosity. A novel open-source automated tracking package was used …