Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Yellowstone Youth Conservation Corps Resource Education Curriculum, Kristen Schulte, Ana Houseal

Kristen A Schulte

Our country’s first National Park is home to the Yellowstone’s Youth Conservation Corps (YELL-YCC), a residential youth employment program founded on service learning concepts implemented through stewardship projects. Education is an integrated into all projects, through the Resource Education Curriculum (REC). This curriculum consists of 17 one-hour lessons developed to enhance the YELL-YCC experience.

The REC was developed for 8th-12th grade students in outdoor settings, divided into groups of 4-6 students each, highlighting specific concepts related to the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, but is adaptable in group size, level, and content. The REC is divided into five themes: leadership, cultural heritage, …

Numerical Simulation Of Diffusion Mri Signals Using An Adaptive Time-Stepping Method, Jing-Rebecca Li, Donna Calhoun, Cyril Poupon, Denis Le Bihan

Donna Calhoun

The effect on the MRI signal of water diffusion in biological tissues in the presence of applied magnetic field gradient pulses can be modelled by a multiple compartment Bloch–Torrey partial differential equation. We present a method for the numerical solution of this equation by coupling a standard Cartesian spatial discretization with an adaptive time discretization. The time discretization is done using the explicit Runge–Kutta–Chebyshev method, which is more efficient than the forward Euler time discretization for diffusive- type problems. We use this approach to simulate the diffusion MRI signal from the extra-cylindrical compartment in a tissue model of the brain …

Composite Fermions And Integer Partitions, Arthur Benjamin, Jennifer Quinn, John Quinn, Arkadiusz Wojs

Jennifer J. Quinn

We utilize the KOH theorem to prove the unimodality of integer partitions with at most a parts, all parts less than or equal to b, that are required to contain either repeated or consecutive parts. We connect this result to an open question in quantum physics relating the number of distinct total angular momentum multiplets of a system of N fermions, each with angular momentum ℓ, to those of a system in which each Fermion has angular momentum ℓ*=ℓ−N+1.

Revisiting Fibonacci And Related Sequences, Arthur Benjamin, Jennifer Quinn

Jennifer J. Quinn

This issue focuses on proving several interesting facts about the Fibonacci Sequence using a combinatorial proof. The aim of Delving Deeper is for teachers to pose and solve novel math problems, expand on mathematical connections, or offer new insights into familiar math concepts. Delving Deeper focuses on mathematics content appealing to secondary school teachers. It provides a forum that allows classroom teachers to share their mathematics from their work with students, their classroom investigations and products, and their other experiences. Delving Deeper is a regular department of Mathematics Teacher.

Strong Chromatic Index Of Subset Graphs, Jennifer Quinn, Arthur Benjamin

Jennifer J. Quinn

The strong chromatic index of a graph G, denoted sq(G), is the minimum number of parts needed to partition the edges of G into induced matchings. For 0 ≤ k ≤ l ≤ m, the subset graph Sm(k, l) is a bipartite graph whose vertices are the k- and l-subsets of an m element ground set where two vertices are adjacent if and only if one subset is contained in the other. We show that sq(Sm(k, l) ) = m choose l-k and that this number satisfies the strong chromatic index conjecture by Brualdi and Quinn for bipartite graphs. Further, …

The Fermion–Boson Transformation In Fractional Quantum Hall Systems, John Quinn, Arkadiusz Wojs, Jennifer Quinn, Arthur Benjamin

Jennifer J. Quinn

A Fermion to Boson transformation is accomplished by attaching to each Fermion a single flux quantum oriented opposite to the applied magnetic field. When the mean field approximation is made in the Haldane spherical geometry, the Fermion angular momentum l_F is replaced by l_B - l_F - 1/2(N-1). The set of allowed total angular momentum multiplets is identical in the two different pictures. The Fermion and Boson energy spectra in the presence of many body interactions are identical if and only if the pseudopotential is "harmonic" in form. However, similar low energy bands of states with Laughlin correlations occur in …

Hybrid Agent Based Simulation With Adaptive Learning Of Travel Mode Choices For University Commuters (Wip), Nagesh Shukla, Albert Munoz, Jun Ma, Nam Huynh

Albert Munoz

This paper presents a methodology for developing a hybrid agent-based micro-simulation model to capture the impacts of commuter travel mode choices on a University campus transport network. The proposed methodology involves: (i) developing realistic population of commuter agents (students and staff); (ii) assigning activity lists and travel mode choices to agents using machine learning method; and, (iii) traffic micro-simulation of the study area transport network. This furthers the understanding of current transport modal distributions, factors affecting the travel mode choice decisions, and, network performance through a number of hypothetical travel scenarios.

8-Tqen (N,N,N′,N′-Tetrakis(8-Quinolylmethyl)Ethylenediamine) Analogs As Fluorescent Cadmium Sensors: Strategies To Enhance Cd2+-Induced Fluorescence And Cd2+/Zn2+ Selectivity, Shawn Burdette, Yuji Mikata, Ayaka Takekoshi, Asako Kizu, Yuki Nodomi, Masato Aoyama, Keiko Yasuda, Satoshi Tamotsu, Hideo Konno

Shawn C. Burdette

In order to exploit the untapped sensing potential of the TQEN (N,N,N′,N′-tetrakis(2-quinolylmethyl)ethylenediamine) family of fluorescent probes, 8-TQEN (N,N,N′,N′-tetrakis(8-quinolylmethyl)ethylenediamine) analogs were designed and characterized. Although 8-TQEN lacks practicality owing to poor solubility in both aqueous media and organic solvents, 6-MeO-8-TQEN (N,N,N′,N′-tetrakis(6-methoxy-8-quinolylmethyl)ethylenediamine, 1b) exhibits Cd2+-selective fluorescence enhancement at 395 nm in DMF–HEPES buffer (1 : 1), (ICd/I0 = 25, λex = 332 nm, ϕCd = 0.025). Zn2+ induces weaker fluorescence (IZn/I0 = 9, IZn/ICd = 0.35). In contrast, both the parent probes TQEN (IZn/I0 = 23, ICd/IZn = 0.64) and 6-MeOTQEN (IZn/I0 = 11, ICd/IZn = 1.29 exhibit higher sensitivity toward Zn2+. …

Competition Between Ferromagnetic Metallic And Paramagnetic Insulating Phases In Manganites, G. Li, H. Zhou, S. Feng, Xiaojuan Fan, X. Li, Z. Wang

Xiaojuan Fan

La0.67Ca0.33Mn1−xCuxO3(x=0 and 0.15) epitaxial thin films were grown on the (100) LaAlO3 substrates, and the temperature dependence of their resistivity was measured in magnetic fields up to 12 T by a four-probe technique. We found that the competition between the ferromagnetic metallic (FM) and paramagnetic insulating (PI) phases plays an important role in the observed colossal magnetoresistance(CMR) effect. Based on a scenario that the doped manganites approximately consist of phase-separated FM and PI regions, a simple phenomenological model was proposed to describe the CMR effect. Using this model, we calculated the resistivity as functions of temperature and magnetic field. The …

Polymer Gel Templating Of Free-Standing Inorganic Monoliths For Photocatalysis, Xiaojuan Fan, Honghan Fei, David Demaree, Daniel Brennan, Jessica St. John, Scott Oliver

Xiaojuan Fan

We have developed a simple, low-cost process to fabricate free-standing porous metal oxide monoliths. Various swollen polymers and hydrogels possessing an open network structure are infiltrated with pure liquid metal alkoxide. Hydrolysis followed by chemical or thermal degradation of the polymer leads to bulk porous monoliths, TiO2 and SiO2 as initial examples. The titania solids were subsequently employed as photocatalysts under UV light and monitored for adsorption. The materials show efficient reusable photocatalytic ability as compared to pure-phase nanoparticle titanium oxide.

Constraint-Preserving Sommerfeld Conditions For The Harmonic Einstein Equations, Maria Babiuc-Hamilton, H-O. Kreiss, Jeffrey Winicour

Maria Babiuc-Hamilton

The principle part of Einstein equations in the harmonic gauge consists of a constrained system of 10 curved space wave equations for the components of the space-time metric. A new formulation of constraint-preserving boundary conditions of the Sommerfeld-type for such systems has recently been proposed. We implement these boundary conditions in a nonlinear 3D evolution code and test their accuracy.

Harmonic Initial-Boundary Evolution In General Relativity, Maria Babiuc-Hamilton, B´Ela Szil´Agyi, Jeffrey Winicour

Maria Babiuc-Hamilton

Computational techniques which establish the stability of an evolution-boundary algorithm for a model wave equation with shift are incorporated into a well-posed version of the initial-boundary value problem for gravitational theory in harmonic coordinates. The resulting algorithm is implemented as a 3-dimensional numerical code which we demonstrate to provide stable, convergent Cauchy evolution in gauge wave and shifted gauge wave testbeds. Code performance is compared for Dirichlet, Neumann, and Sommerfeld boundary conditions and for boundary conditions which explicitly incorporate constraint preservation. The results are used to assess strategies for obtaining physically realistic boundary data by means of Cauchy-characteristic matching.

Seniors Language Paradigms: 21st Century Jargon And The Impact On Computer Security And Financial Transactions For Senior Citizens, David Cook, Patryk Szewczyk, Krishnun Sansurooah

David M Cook

Senior Citizens represent a unique cohort of computer users insomuch as they have come to the field of computer usage later in life, as novices compared to other users. As a group they exhibit a resentment, mistrust and ignorance towards cyber related technology that is born out of their educational and social experiences prior to widespread information technology. The shift from analogue to digital proficiency has been understated for a generation of citizens who were educated before computer usage and internet ubiquity. This paper examines the language difficulties encountered by senior citizens in attempting to engage in banking and communications …

Securing The Elderly: A Developmental Approach To Hypermedia-Based Online Information Security For Senior Novice Computer Users, David Cook, Patryk Szewczyk, Krishnun Sansurooah

David M Cook

Whilst security threats to the general public continue to evolve, elderly computer users with limited skill and knowledge are left playing catch-up in an ever-widening gap in fundamental cyber-related comprehension. As a definable cohort, the elderly generally lack awareness of current security threats, and remain under-educated in terms of applying appropriate controls and safeguards to their computers and networking devices. This paper identifies that web-based computer security information sources do not adequately provide helpful information to senior citizen end-users in terms of both design and content.

The Battle For Money Transfers: The Allure Of Paypal And Western Union Over Familial Remittance Networks, David Cook, Timothy Smith

David M Cook

Informal Money Transfer systems continue to provide importunate loopholes in the global wrestle against terrorism. Radical cells, as well as broader criminal networks, maintain their use of Hawala systems, but do so in concert with other informal transfer systems, largely to sidestep the regulatory and administrative management of formally institutionalized worldwide money transactions. At a time when financial acts are globally regulated under the Basel Accord and other global instruments, the enduring use of Informal Value Transfers (IVTs) in Australia is cause for mounting unease. To concentrate on the informal money transfer system known as Hawala, is to overlook much …

An Exploration Of 1st And 2nd Generation Cpted For End Of Year School Leavers At Rottnest Island, John Letch, Ellice Mcglinn, Jonathan Bell, Emma Downing, David Cook

David M Cook

The end-of-year post exam celebrations for Year 12 secondary school students presents a unique crime prevention proposition in Australia each year. Students of approximately 17 years of age congregate in a variety of locations in large groups known as ‘Leavers’. Traditionally a number of 'rite of passage' activities, fuelled by additional factors such as alcohol, drugs and peer pressure, have resulted in an increased risk of crime and anti-social behaviour. This paper examines mitigation strategies aligned with Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) when placed at an event. Using the annual Leavers cohort at Rottnest Island, W.A., a number of …

Finance, Fear And Family: Issues Of Trust And The Common Ground With Terrorist Funding, David Cook, Timothy Smith

David M Cook

In the immediate aftermath of al-Qaeda‘s September 11 attacks on the United States of America, examinations of terrorist funding focused on the Middle Eastern and South Asian use of Hawala and non-traceable financial transactions. However, whilst the cloaking of identity is certainly a part of criminal activity for funds transfer, there are other factors. South Asia‘s community banking norms align far more closely with informal systems that follow centuries-old customs of familial trust rather than reportable record keeping. Tightened restrictions on money movement in the form of identity checks and statements of purpose have coerced more than two hundred million …

Enumeration Problems For A Linear Congruence Equation, Tian-Xiao He, Wun-Seng Chou, Peter Shiue

Tian-Xiao He

Let m ≥ 2 and r ≥ 1 be integers and let c Є Zm = {0, 1, …,m ─ 1}. In this paper, we give an upper bound and a lower bound for the number of unordered solutions x1, …, xn Є Zm of the congruence x1 + x2 + ••• + xr ≡ c mod m. Exact formulae are also given when m or r is prime. This solution number involves the Catalan number or generalized Catalan number in some special cases. Moreover, the enumeration problem has interrelationship with the restricted integer partition.

Development Of A Novel Affinity Membrane Purification System For Deoxyribonuclease, Kyle Landry, Robert Levin

Kyle S Landry

Motzkin Algebras, Georgia Benkart, Thomas Halverson

Thomas M. Halverson

No abstract provided.

Evaluation Of Chlorine Emission Potential At The New Deer Island Wastewater Treatment Plant, Somnath Basu, Kenneth Shilinsky, Irvine Wei

Irvine W. Wei

The Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA) is currently constructing a 1,200 million gallon per day secondary wastewater treatment facility on Deer Island, in Boston Harbor. Chlorine, in the form of sodium hypochlorite solution, is purchased and barged to Deer Island for use in both effluent disinfection and odor scrubbing. The Process Engineering Department of Deer Island, as part of its on-going cost effectiveness program, is currently evaluating on-site generation of sodium hypochlorite. The technical analysis includes a thorough examination of the chemistry of production and storage, including potential losses to atmosphere. This paper presents an overview of that examination, defines …

Transport Evidence Of Robust Topological Surface State In Bitecl Single Crystals, The First Strong Inversion Asymmetric Topological Insulator, F Xiang

F X Xiang

Three-dimensional (3D) topological insulators (TIs) are new forms of quantum matter that are characterized by their insulating bulk state and exotic metallic surface state, which hosts helical Dirac fermions1-2. Very recently, BiTeCl, one of the polar semiconductors, has been discovered by angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy to be the first strong inversion asymmetric topological insulator (SIATI). In contrast to the previously discovered 3D TIs with inversion symmetry, the SIATI are expected to exhibit novel topological phenomena, including crystalline-surface-dependent topological surface states, intrinsic topological p-n junctions, and pyroelectric and topological magneto-electric effects3. Here, we report the first transport evidence for the robust topological …

Fermi-Surface Topology And Low-Lying Electronic Structure Of The Iron-Based Superconductor Ca₁₀(Pt₃As₈)(Fe₂As₂)₅, Madhab Neupane, Chang Liu, Su-Yang Xu, Yung-Jui Wang, Ni Ni, J. Allred, N. Alidoust, Hsin Lin, R. Markiewicz, A. Bansil, R. Cava, M. Hasan

Hsin Lin

We report a study of low-energy electronic structure and Fermi surface topology for the recently discovered iron-based superconductor Ca₁₀(Pt₃As₈)(Fe₂As₂)₅(the 10-3-8 phase, with Tc∼8 K), via angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES). Despite its triclinic crystal structure, ARPES results reveal a fourfold symmetric band structure with the absence of Dirac-cone-like Fermi dots (related to magnetism) found around the Brillouin zone corners in other iron-based superconductors. Considering that the triclinic lattice and structural supercell arise from the Pt₃As₈ intermediary layers, these results indicate that those layers couple only weakly to the FeAs layers in this new superconductor at least near the surface, which has …

A Treeboost Model For Software Effort Estimation Based On Use Case Points, Luiz Capretz, Ali Nassif

Luiz Fernando Capretz

Software effort prediction is an important task in the software development life cycle. Many models including regression models, machine learning models, algorithmic models, expert judgment and estimation by analogy have been widely used to estimate software effort and cost. In this work, a Treeboost (Stochastic Gradient Boosting) model is put forward to predict software effort based on the Use Case Point method. The inputs of the model include software size in use case points, productivity and complexity. A multiple linear regression model was created and the Treeboost model was evaluated against the multiple linear regression model, as well as the …

Managing The Business Of Software Product Line: An Empirical Investigation Of Key Business Factors, Faheem Ahmed, Luiz Capretz

Luiz Fernando Capretz

Business has been highlighted as a one of the critical dimensions of software product line engineering. This paper’s main contribution is to increase the understanding of the influence of key business factors by showing empirically that they play an imperative role in managing a successful software product line. A quantitative survey of software organizations currently involved in the business of developing software product lines over a wide range of operations, including consumer electronics, telecommunications, avionics, and information technology, was designed to test the conceptual model and hypotheses of the study. This is the first study to demonstrate the relationships between …

Developing The Lismore Csg Poll- A University/Local Government Collaboration, Hanabeth Luke, Kristin Den Exter, William Boyd, David Lloyd, Ben Roche

Dr Kristin den Exter

Regional universities can contribute to the capacity of regional governance by providing an important source of specialist knowledge that can be used to aid problem-solving and engage communities more actively in decision-making. This paper reports a case of a partnership between a regional university and a local government authority (LGA), in a situation where the local government authority chose to run a referendum-style poll on a regionally important environmental and industrial issue; the development of the coal seam gas industry in a rural area. The partnership was adopted to produce an independently developed question for the poll. The poll question …

Infectious Texts: Modeling Text Reuse In Nineteenth-Century Newspapers, David Smith, Ryan Cordell, Elizabeth Dillon

Elizabeth Maddock Dillon

Texts propagate through many social networks and provide evidence for their structure. We present efficient algorithms for detecting clusters of reused passages embedded within longer documents in large collections. We apply these techniques to analyzing the culture of reprinting in the United States before the Civil War. Without substantial copyright enforcement, stories, poems, news, and anecdotes circulated freely among newspapers, magazines, and books. From a collection of OCR’d newspapers, we extract a new corpus of reprinted texts, explore the geographic spread and network connections of different publications, and analyze the time dynamics of different genres.

Eef-Cas: An Effort Estimation Framework With Customizable Attribute Selection, Katarina Grolinger, Besa Muslimi, Miriam Capretz, Mark Benko

Katarina Grolinger

Existing estimation frameworks generally provide one-size-fits-all solutions that fail to produce accurate estimates in most environments. Research has shown that the accomplishment of accurate effort estimates is a long-term process that, above all, requires the extensive collection of effort estimation data by each organization. Collected data is generally characterized by a set of attributes that are believed to affect the development effort. The attributes that most affect development effort vary widely depending on the type of product being developed and the environment in which it is being developed. Thus, any new estimation framework must offer the flexibility of customizable attribute …

Knowledge As A Service Framework For Disaster Data Management, Katarina Grolinger, Emna Mezghani, Miriam Capretz, Ernesto Exposito

Katarina Grolinger

Each year, a number of natural disasters strike across the globe, killing hundreds and causing billions of dollars in property and infrastructure damage. Minimizing the impact of disasters is imperative in today’s society. As the capabilities of software and hardware evolve, so does the role of information and communication technology in disaster mitigation, preparation, response, and recovery. A large quantity of disaster-related data is available, including response plans, records of previous incidents, simulation data, social media data, and Web sites. However, current data management solutions offer few or no integration capabilities. Moreover, recent advances in cloud computing, big data, and …

Euagxal11-X With The Bahg11-Type Structure: Composition, Coloring, And Competition With The Bacd11-Type Structure, Fei Wang, Karen Pearson, Warren Straszheim, Gordon Miller

Fei Wang

EuAgxAl11-x phases adopting the BAHg(11)-type structure (space group Pm (3) over barm, Z = 3) were synthesized with high yield by arc melting a mixture loaded as "EuAg3 Al-5(7) (5)" and annealing at 500 degrees C for 40 days This phase has it very narrow phase width around EuAg4 Al-0(7) (0); and it is unstable 600 and 700 degrees C, at which it transforms into other phases. Magnetometry indicates that Eu is divlaent, which gives the valence electron concentration per Ag/Al atom as 2 45 e(-)/atom, higher than in the BaCd11-type phases in the Eu-Ag-Al system (2 10-2 30 e(-)/atom) …