Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Classifications Of Transformations Of Km#Tn And Pm#Tn Via Symmetry Groups, Adam Banatwala, Jensen Barry, Mackenzie Maude

Mathematics & Computer Science Student Scholarship

Adam Banatwala ’22, Majors: Mathematics and Finance
Jensen Barry ’22, Majors: Biology and Mathematics
Mackenzie Maude ’22, Majors: Mathematics and Art History
Faculty Mentor: Dr. C. Joanna Su, Mathematics and Computer Science

One of the main topics in topology is the classification and comparison of shapes and surfaces. Since Spring 2020, our research group has been using symmetry groups to classify the 1- and 2-dimensional orientable and non-orientable closed surfaces.

First, the group worked on the symmetry groups of the 1- and 2-dimensional orientable closed surfaces; namely, the classification on V?? 1 (the one-point adjoint of n circles) …

An Exploratory Data Analysis On Covid-19 And Its Effects On Crime In New York City, Lanlie Nguyen

Honors Projects

The purpose of this study was to analyze the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and how it has affected the crime rates present in New York City over the years of 2019 and 2020. There is limited criminal research that investigate the connection to pandemics, and how it can be used to reduce crime rates in similar situations. The goal of this study is to reduce crime rates and provide possible policy implications.

This project analyzes the crime rate trends present before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, and compares it to the number of COVID-19 cases. Analysis of the statewide …

Topological Data Analysis With Mapper, Gretchen Langenbahn

Honors Projects

This project is an introduction and overview of Mapper. Mapper is a method of high dimensional data visualization. Data visualization is a very important part of data analysis as it allows for further interpretation and exploration of data. Visualization of high dimensional data sets can be challenging as each variable is a new dimension that must be represented on a 2D, or at most 3D, graph. Mapper allows for high dimensional visualization by using Topological methods to study the relationships between points. This project goes over two different data set: the Iris data set, and a high dimensional data set …

Exploring Music Genres: A Study Of Optimal Differentiation By Feature, Rebecca Stetler

Honors Projects

This study explores the presence of optimal differentiation in music at the feature level by genre. Popularity prediction models are constructed and used to identify influential features in predicting popularity in each genre. These influential features are then assessed for optimal differentiation of the most popular songs from all songs in the genre.

Sustainability In Web Development Through Energy Efficiency, Hannah Bebinger

Honors Projects

As global internet usage expands, websites are growing in both size and complexity. Contrary to the common belief that the internet is immaterial and “environmentally friendly”, web pages have significant negative environmental impacts (Frick, 2015). Websites contribute to global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and electricity consumption. Considering the current climate crisis, it is crucial that web developers be aware of the impact that their work has on the environment and actively work to improve site energy efficiency. With a lack of regulation and awareness, the environmental impact of websites has remained unchecked despite growing concerns for sustainability. Further research and …

Meas: Exploring Links Between Implementation And Standards Mastery, Noah Silver

Honors Projects

In order to effectively enhance a student’s mathematical understanding and development in the field of mathematics, students need to engage in problem solving. Model eliciting activities, or MEAs, provide students with tasks that promote higher level thinking and the ability to utilize mathematics outside of the classroom; they also align and promote the utilization of the Common Core State Standards and Standards for Mathematical Practice. Research suggests that the language and motivation promoted by MEAs enriches engagement and increases student ability and performance of traditional and real-world mathematics. Use of technology further supports these goals. Through the analysis of checkpoint …

Sustainability In Industrial Architecture, Katerina Shuble

Honors Projects

The goal of this project is to complete an in-depth study and analysis of sustainable industrial architecture. Currently, sustainable industrial architecture is an emerging topic amongst architects and industry leaders. Topics involve battling with ideologies and company policies to better the sustainability of industrial architecture. This project will help fill the gap between industrial design and sustainability by creating research and project-based examples of how sustainable industrial design can be completed. The project will be a result of a thorough research study of current sustainable industrial design, and a proposal for new efforts that can be implemented. The goal of …

Powering A Sustainable Electric Vehicle Future, Harmony Ruth, Jordan Brickman

Undergraduate Research Symposium Posters

Electric vehicle sales account for roughly 20% of total sales world wide and are projected to be 80% by 2050. China's electric vehicle market holds a 13.3% market share. China exported 550,000 electric vehicles in 2021. China represents a 54% share of the world's coal consumption as of 2020. Why study China on this issue? China is a major player in the World Economy.

An Investigation Of Water Obstructions And Related Weather Conditions For Nebraska Roadways, Logan Bundy

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Roadway resilience across the 10,000 miles of road and 3,500 bridges in Nebraska is critical to the economic success of production and logistics. In a state where historical flooding scenarios, such as the one in March 2019 that caused $150 million in damage, could potentially be increasing, it has become essential to understand the spatial and temporal distribution of high-frequency water obstruction areas on roadways. Using Nebraska Department of Transportation (NDOT) historical water obstruction data from June 2016 through August 2021, statistical and spatial analyses were conducted to quantify the relationship between water obstructions and their associated meteorological conditions, and …

Promoting Sustainability At Providence College, Victoria Hanlon, Ava Biafore

Health Sciences Student Scholarship

Victoria Hanlon ’23, Major: Health Policy and Management

Ava Biafore ’23, Majors: Management and Health Policy and Management

Faculty Mentors: Dr. Tuba Agartan, Health Policy and Management and Jill Parrett, Environmental Health and Safety

We are both Health Policy and Management majors conducting an independent study with Dr. Agartan with the goal of improving sustainability practices at Providence College. We are working cross functionally with Jill Parret of the Environmental Safety Department and the Student Congress Sustainability Committee to encourage the student body to increase sustainability awareness. These measures include creating a sustainability dashboard on the Providence College website, Canva …

Synthesis, Characterization, And Thermal Investigation Of Metal Phosphites And Potential Implications For Astrobiology, Kimberly Faye Meyberg

Master of Science in Chemical Sciences Theses

The role of phosphorus in biochemistry is well understood. However, the route by which phosphorus was incorporated into early biomolecules on the prebiotic Earth is uncertain. Phosphate, the most prevalent species of phosphorus found in Earth’s geological record, is insoluble and unreactive with organics in aqueous environments. While the most abundant biogenic elements (C, N, H, O, and S) can be found in a volatile phase under terrestrial conditions, phosphorus cannot, suggesting that minerals must have been the main sources of phosphorus on the early Earth. One possible explanation is that phosphite was a major source of reduced, reactive phosphorus …

Dispersion In High Temperature Superconductors, Lazar Novakovic

Undergraduate Research Symposium Podium Presentations

Superconductors are used in many different industries: Efficient power transmission, Maglev train, MRIs

Low-Cost Adsorbent For Disinfection Byproduct Removal From Drinking Water, Savanna Vacek, Suraj Pochampally

Undergraduate Research Symposium Posters

Disinfection byproducts (DBPs) are harmful contaminants that are unintentionally created in disinfected water after chlorination. Activated carbon, often expensive and difficult to acquire in low-income and rural areas, has previously been used to remove DBPs from drinking water. Biochar is made from agricultural waste (i.e. feedstock) and has been identified as a low-cost yet effective adsorbent to remote contaminants from drinking water. This work focuses on the efficacy of biochar and activated carbon to remove DBPs from drinking water for the purpose of treating drinking water after emergency chlorination. This study has the potential to help water distributors and disadvantaged …

Synthesis Of Modified Walnut Shell Biochar And Material Characterization In Ground Water Treatment, Maaike Parajes, Suraj Pochampally

Undergraduate Research Symposium Posters

Biochar (BC) is a carbon-rich material synthesized from the pyrolysis of biomasses and developed to remove soil and wastewater contaminants. The pyrolysis process involves thermally decomposing the organic materials in the absence of oxygen. Biochar has the potential to be an eco-friendly and effective adsorbent for heavy metals and toxic organic compounds. An adsorbent is a material that attracts other substances on its surface, chemically and physically. Walnut shells were chosen for the biochar modification to improve the surface morphology, pore structure, and adsorption capability.

Biochar Hydrophilicity Characterization By A Smartphone-Based Apparatus: Design, Construction, And Measurement Calibration, Emma Letourneau, Suraj Pochampally

Undergraduate Research Symposium Posters

Water contact angles are used to determine hydrophilicity, which is a material's attraction to water. A water contact angle of greater than 90 degrees indicates a hydrophobic material that repels water, whereas a contact angle of less than 90 degrees indicates a hydrophilic material [Fig. 1]. Water contact angles are measured through a goniometer, which can cost between $2000 to $10,000.

Biochar is a porous carbon material created from biological waste products, that is pyrolyzed (i.e. burned) in a low-oxygen, high heat environment. Biochar can be used to remove contaminants from water and remediate soil while reusing waste, making it …

Expanding The Library Of Planet Building Materials In Magrathea, Rosalie Chaleunsouck, Tristan Benally

Undergraduate Research Symposium Posters

Exoplanets are often modeled with fully-differentiated layers of iron, silicates, water, and gas. The large pressure and temperature ranges within each layer results in changes of phase and mineral equilibrium. MAGRATHEA is an open-course planet interior structure code with a large library of equations of state for planet building materials. This allows for the user to build detailed planet models and test differing measurements of the equation of state. We extend MAGRATHEA's library to include upper-mantle materials and various phases of iron cores. We show the impact of these materials on the characterization of rocky planet interiors.

Microbial Life In Deep-Subsurface Environments: The Role Of High Pressure In Biogeochemical Cycles, Cheyenne Brokaw

Undergraduate Research Symposium Posters

Ocean World: An ocean world is considered any planet or moon currently with a liquid ocean. While the deepest part of the Ocean (Mariana Trench, 11,000 mbsl, 110 Mpa) and the lithosphere host microbial life, it begs the question, How?

Climate Change Hope Scale: Factor Analysis In An Adult Sample, Gemma Ortega, Steven J. Glover, Jesse Tabaczynksi, Orei Z. Odents

Undergraduate Research Symposium Posters

Willpower - how much individuals believe that set goals can be met. Waypower - the extent to which individuals can think of strategies for accomplishing those goals.

The Climate Change Hope Scale (CCHS; Li & Monroe, 2017) was designed to measure three aspects of hope: 1. Personal sphere willpower and waypower (WP) 2. Collective sphere willpower and waypower (CW) 3. Lack of willpower and waypower (LW).

A three-factor model fits the CCHS among adolescents. The purpose of our study was to determine if the three-factor model fits the CCHS in adults.

Eye-Tracking Using Deep Learning, Sam Trenter

Theses

Eye-tracking can be valuable for researchers in many domains. Most eye-tracking technologies require an extra piece of costly hardware. Several other available eye-tracking solutions are usually not very accurate and require a costly subscription. Our project was oriented at creating a free and open-source alternative that does not require additional equipment. We developed a deep learning-based solution as a prototype for this project. Specifically, we developed a deep learning model to predict a user’s gaze position on the screen. We created our training data set using a commercially available eye-tracker to train the model. Each training sample consists of a …

Sharp Inequalities Of The X-Ray Transform And The Competing Symmetries Argument, Arthur D. Dressenwall

Mathematics, Statistics, and Computer Science Honors Projects

We examine the $k=1$ case of a conjecture by Baernstein and Loss pertaining to the operator norm of the $k$-plane transform from $L^p(\R^d)$ space to $L^q(\M)$ space. Previous work on this problem by Carlen and Loss, as well as by Drouot, has used an iterative technique known as the ``competing symmetries argument’’ to prove this conjecture in the $q=2$ and $q=d+1$ cases. We summarize the conjecture and this proof technique, then perform work that strongly suggest that no sufficiently ``nice” transformation exists that can be used to apply the competing symmetries argument to other cases of the conjecture.

Foldamers Reveal And Validate Therapeutic Targets Associated With Toxic Α-Synuclein Self-Assembly, Jemil Ahmed, Tessa C. Fitch, Courtney M. Donnelly, Johnson A. Joseph, Tyler D. Ball, Mikaela M. Bassil, Ahyun Son, Chen Zhang, Aurélie Ledreux, Scott Horowitz, Yan Qin, Daniel Paredes, Sunil Kumar

Chemistry and Biochemistry: Faculty Scholarship

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder for which there is no successful prevention or intervention. The pathological hallmark for PD involves the self-assembly of functional Alpha-Synuclein (αS) into non-functional amyloid structures. One of the potential therapeutic interventions against PD is the effective inhibition of αS aggregation. However, the bottleneck towards achieving this goal is the identification of αS domains/sequences that are essential for aggregation. Using a protein mimetic approach, we have identified αS sequences-based targets that are essential for aggregation and will have significant therapeutic implications. An extensive array of in vitro, ex vivo, and in vivo assays …

Sciadopitys Verticillata (Japanese Umbrella Pine) Id #783, Claire Cavanagh

BIO 140 Arboretum Project

Location: Back of Library, West side of Parking Lot

Carbohydrate Metabolism In Bacteria: Alternative Specificities In Adp-Glucose Pyrophosphorylases Open Novel Metabolic Scenarios And Biotechnological Tools, Jaina A. Bhayani, Maria Josefina Iglesias, Romina I. Minen, Antonela E. Cereijo, Miguel Ballicora, Alberto A. Iglesias, Matias D. Asencion Diez

Chemistry: Faculty Publications and Other Works

We explored the ability of ADP-glucose pyrophosphorylase (ADP-Glc PPase) from different bacteria to use glucosamine (GlcN) metabolites as a substrate or allosteric effectors. The enzyme from the actinobacteria Kocuria rhizophila exhibited marked and distinctive sensitivity to allosteric activation by GlcN-6P when producing ADP-Glc from glucose-1-phosphate (Glc-1P) and ATP. This behavior is also seen in the enzyme from Rhodococcus spp., the only one known so far to portray this activation. GlcN-6P had a more modest effect on the enzyme from other Actinobacteria (Streptomyces coelicolor), Firmicutes (Ruminococcus albus), and Proteobacteria (Agrobacterium tumefaciens) groups. In addition, we …

Evaluation Of E-Learning Experience In The Light Of The Covid-19 In Higher Education, Ahmad Mohmmad Al-Smadi, Ahed Abugabah, Ahmad Al Smadi

All Works

Covid-19 has been stated as a worldwide outbreak of pandemic disease and crisis. The Covid-19 pandemic has dramatically affected the teaching and learning experience at universities and schools. In response, governments and higher education institutions around the world put significant efforts to ensure that students continue to obtain the best possible level of education and learning outcomes. As such effective evaluation of e-learning is essential in order to ensure that students get proper learning and education especially during the current circumstances of Covid-19. Our study was carried out to determine the main elements and factors related to students' satisfaction and …

Oregon’S Place-Based Integrated Water Resources Planning Program: A Participatory Evaluation, Rebecca Mclain, Sadie Boyers, Jess Downey, Emily Jane Davis

National Policy Consensus Center Publications

In 2015, the Oregon Legislature passed ORS 536.220, which directed the Oregon Water Resources Department (OWRD) to develop an integrated water resources strategy and gave it authority to make grants and provide technical assistance to communities seeking to engage in place-based planning integrated water resources planning (hereafter place-based planning). The legislation provided a means by which Oregon communities could coordinate an assessment of the water needs of instream and out-of-stream water interests in their area and reach agreement on how those needs could be met now and in the future. Legislators structured the program to give persons who live, work, …

Evaluating Alternative Ebullition Models For Predicting Peatland Methane Emission And Its Pathways Via Data–Model Fusion, Shuang Ma, Lifen Jiang, Rachel M. Wilson, Jeff P. Chanton, Scott Bridgham, Shuli Niu, Colleen M. Iversen, Avni Malhotra, Jiang Jiang, Xingjie Lu, Jason Keller, Xiaofeng Xu, Daniel M. Ricciuto, Paul J. Hanson, Yiqi Luo

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Understanding the dynamics of peatland methane (CH₄) emissions and quantifying sources of uncertainty in estimating peatland CH₄ emissions are critical for mitigating climate change. The relative contributions of CH₄ emission pathways through ebullition, plant-mediated transport, and diffusion, together with their different transport rates and vulnerability to oxidation, determine the quantity of CH₄ to be oxidized before leaving the soil. Notwithstanding their importance, the relative contributions of the emission pathways are highly uncertain. In particular, the ebullition process is more uncertain and can lead to large uncertainties in modeled CH₄ emissions. To improve model simulations …

Bounding Projective Hypersurface Singularities, Benjamin Castor

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

We first provide background necessary for understanding monodromy and spectra. We then compare several different methods involving Hodge-theoretic spectra of singularities which produce constraints on the number and type of isolated singularities on a projective hypersurface of fixed degree. In particular, we introduce a method based on the spectrum of the nonisolated singularity at the origin of the affine cone on such a hypersurface, and relate the resulting explicit formula to Varchenko’s bound. We then provide a purely combinatorial interpretation of our theorems and our conjecture.

Evaluating Alternative Ebullition Models For Predicting Peatland Methane Emission And Its Pathways Via Data–Model Fusion, Shuang Ma, Lifen Jiang, Rachel M. Wilson, Jeff P. Chanton, Scott Bridgham, Shuli Niu, Colleen M. Iversen, Avni Malhotra, Jiang Jiang, Xingjie Lu, Yuanyuan Huang, Jason Keller, Xiaofeng Xu, Daniel M. Ricciuto, Paul J. Hanson, Yiqi Luo

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Understanding the dynamics of peatland methane (CH4) emissions and quantifying sources of uncertainty in estimating peatland CH4 emissions are critical for mitigating climate change. The relative contributions of CH4 emission pathways through ebullition, plant-mediated transport, and diffusion, together with their different transport rates and vulnerability to oxidation, determine the quantity of CH4 to be oxidized before leaving the soil. Notwithstanding their importance, the relative contributions of the emission pathways are highly uncertain. In particular, the ebullition process is more uncertain and can lead to large uncertainties in modeled CH4 emissions. To improve model simulations of CH4 emission and its pathways, …

A New Method To Compute The Hadamard Product Of Two Rational Functions, Ishan Kar

Rose-Hulman Undergraduate Mathematics Journal

The Hadamard product (denoted by∗) of two power series A(x) =a₀+a₁x+a₂x²+···and B(x) =b₀+b₁x+b₂x²+··· is the power series A(x)∗B(x) =a₀b₀+a₁b₁x+a₂b₂x²+···. Although it is well known that the Hadamard product of two rational functions is also rational, a closed form expression of the Hadamard product of rational functions has not been found. Since any rational power series can be expanded by partial fractions as a polynomial plus a sum of power series …

Sedimentation Processes In A Dredge Pit And Surrounding Environment In Northern Gulf Of Mexico, Adam M. Gartelman

LSU Master's Theses

Louisiana’s Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority has been using dredged sand from onshore and offshore sites for barrier island restoration and beach nourishment projects. Caminada dredge pit (CDP) located on eastern Ship Shoal in inner Louisiana shelf underwent two increments in 2014 and 2016, with material used to restore Caminada Headland and nearby areas. Multiple pits in East Terrebonne borrow areas (ET) right next to CDP were then used for East Timbalier Island and other barrier islands near Terrebonne Bay. ET1, north of CDP, was dredged in 2020, and ET2, west of CDP, was dredged in 2020 and 2021 used …