Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Marshall Space Flight Center Arc/Flare Test Analysis, Charles Bowers, Bob Meloy, Malcolm Niedner, Jim Heaney, Rudy Ivancic, Dennis Skelton, Jr Dennison, Justin Dekany, Amberly Evans Jensen, Gregory Wilson, Todd Schneider

Presentations

No abstract provided.

Sustainable Pastoralism On The Borana Plateau: An Innovation Systems Approach, D. Layne Coppock, Seyoum Tezera, Bedasa Eba, Jaldessa Doyo, Demisachew Tadele, Derege Teshome, Nizam Husein, Meiso Guru

Environment and Society Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Nitrogen Content Of Lichens As An Indicator Of Inversion-Based Deposition, Brianne Palmer

UCUR

Inversions have plagued the valleys in Utah resulting in built up pollution carpeting the cities and spreading into surrounding ecosystems. The ecological impact of these inversions is unknown. Inversion-based pollution events deposit nutrients and pollutants in the ecosystems. The purpose of this study is to determine if lichens, due to their unique physiology, preserve a record of inversion-based nitrogen deposition in order to assess the ecological impact of the inversions. In June and July of 2013 we collected 111 samples of lichens from sites exposed to the inversions, along Red Butte Creek and on an elevation gradient on Grandeur Peak …

Advancement Of Petroleum Diesel Alternatives Utilizing A Multifaceted And Interdepartmental Approach, Michael Morgan

UCUR

The advancement of biologically derived alternatives to petroleum diesel fuel requires a multifaceted approach. At Utah State University we use an interdisciplinary team including the Colleges of Engineering, Agriculture & Applied Sciences, and Science in conjunction with industry partners to drive innovation in improving the science behind petroleum diesel alternatives. With increasing petroleum use, depleting reserves, increasing emissions standards, and other factors, there is need for petroleum diesel alternatives that are cost effective, offer improvement, and perform similarly to petroleum diesel. Our team has focused on the use of oleaginous microbes utilizing low value effluent and waste sources including sugars …

Functionalizing Carbon Nanotube Forests With 1,5-Diaminoaphthalene, Ben Pound, T. -C. Shen

UCUR

Carbon Nanotube (CNT) Forests are vertically grown carbon nanotubes. They can be as tall as millimeters, with radii from less than one nanometer (single-walled) to tens of nanometers (multi-walled). Their high surface area to volume ratio provides a unique material system for biosensor applications. However, the CNT surface does not provide covalent bonding sites to many antibodies of interest. One approach is to attach linker molecules with aromatic rings via π-stacking to the CNT surface and activating the linker molecules to bind covalently to specific antibody molecules. Unfortunately, the conventional solution-based functionalization approach often leads to collapse of the CNT …

Plant-­‐Soil Feedback Of Native And Exotic Species In The Intermountain West, Molly Van Engelenhoven

UCUR

For thousands of years farmers have known that soil organisms can destroy crops but only in the past ten years have researchers begun to understand that complex interactions among soil organisms and plants can determine plant diversity and productivity. Much of the research in this young field of study has come from qualitative greenhouse experiments and separately from simple mathematical models. Here, we report findings from a six-year plant-soil feedback (PSF) field experiment that assessed the effects of soil organisms on the growth of twelve plant species common to the intermountain west. Initially, twelve native and exotic species were randomly …

Waterfowl Population Trends, Pariette Wetlands, Utah 1980-­‐2010, David Baird

UCUR

We obtained from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) 30 years of monthly waterfowl population surveys completed at Pariette Wetlands in the Uintah Basin, Utah between 1980 and 2010. The Pariette Wetlands are the largest wetlands managed by the BLM within the lower-48 states and are comprised of 4,033 acres of land. Pariette Wetlands is surrounded by about 6,000 square miles of land where oil and gas production is the major activity. This waterfowl refuge is a significant location for migrating waterfowl species within the Pacific Flyway and provides important summer habitat for resident waterfowl. Our objectives were to determine …

Methods To Decrease Error In Conductivity Measurements Of Highly Disordered Materials, Phil Lundgreen, Justin Dekany, Jr Dennison

Posters

By developing a low-noise, high-voltage battery power supply, system noise has been reduced, increasing accuracy of conductivity measurements of highly disordered insulating materials. The method involves a simple parallel plate capacitor setup with the sample sandwiched between electrodes, a voltage potential applied to one electrode, and a measurement device applied to the back electrode measuring current. Previous methods involved use of a commercial power supply with a claimed low noise and high linearity, but with a low AC output ripple. At high voltages (1000 V), however, the noise became apparent in the readings and an unacceptable uncertainty was introduced in …

Methods To Decrease Error In Conductivity Measurements Of Highly Disordered Materials, Phil Lundgreen, Justin Dekany, Jr Dennison

Presentations

No abstract provided.

Improved Conductivity Measurements Of Highly Disordered Insulating Materials, Phil Lundgreen, Justin Dekany, Jr Dennison

Presentations

By developing a low-noise, high-voltage battery power supply, system noise has been reduced, increasing accuracy of conductivity measurements of highly disordered insulating materials. The method involves a simple parallel plate capacitor setup with the sample sandwiched between electrodes, a voltage potential applied to one electrode, and a measurement device applied to the back electrode measuring current. Previous methods involved use of a commercial power supply with a claimed low noise and high linearity, but with a low AC output ripple. At high voltages (1000 V), however, the noise became apparent in the readings and an unacceptable uncertainty was introduced in …

Less Cookbook And More Research! Synthetic Efforts Toward Jbir-94 And Jbir-125: A Student-Designed Research Project In A Sophomore Organic Chemistry Lab, Mike A. Christiansen, C. L. Crawford, C. D. Mangum

Chemistry and Biochemistry Faculty Publications

In light of the meaningful learning gains that can be obtained through a genuine research experience, chemistry educators have had a longstanding interest in making teaching labs less “cookbook-like” and more research-driven [1]. With this mindset, we recently restructured our two-semester sophomore organic chemistry lab course to include a synthesis project that was chosen, designed, and carried out by students. This led to progress toward the syntheses of JBIR-94 and JBIR-125, two antioxidative/anticancer natural products that have yet to be assembled through organic chemistry. The major drawback of our course redesign is that it requires close supervision by an instructor …

Welcome And Opening Remarks, Rick C. Chappell

Magnetospheric-Ionospheric Coupling Conference

No abstract provided.

A More Social Science: Barriers And Incentives For Scientists Engaging In Policy, Gerald G. Singh, Jordan Tam, Thomas D. Sisk, Sarah Klain, Megan E. Mach, Rebecca G. Martone, Kai M. A. Chan

Environment and Society Faculty Publications

Scientists are increasingly called upon to engage in policy formulation, but the literature on engagement is strong on speculation and weak on evidence. Using a survey administered at several broadly “ecological” conferences, we investigated: (1) the extent to which respondents engage in policy‐related activities (including reporting scientific results, interpreting science for policy makers, integrating science into decision making, taking a position on a policy issue, and acting as a decision maker); (2) what factors best explain these types of engagement; and (3) whether respondents' activity levels match their stated beliefs on such activities. Different factors explain different forms of participation. …

Cathodoluminescence Measurements Of Several Bisphenol/Amine Epoxy Samples, Justin Christensen

Senior Theses and Projects

No abstract provided.

The Spacetime Geometry Of A Null Electromagnetic Field, Charles G. Torre

Charles G. Torre

We give a set of local geometric conditions on a spacetime metric which are necessary and sufficient for it to be a null electrovacuum, that is, the metric is part of a solution to the Einstein-Maxwell equations with a null electromagnetic field. These conditions are restrictions on a null congruence canonically constructed from the spacetime metric, and can involve up to five derivatives of the metric. The null electrovacuum conditions are counterparts of the Rainich conditions, which geometrically characterize non-null electrovacua. Given a spacetime satisfying the conditions for a null electrovacuum, a straightforward procedure builds the null electromagnetic field from …

The Spacetime Geometry Of A Null Electromagnetic Field, Charles G. Torre

All Physics Faculty Publications

We give a set of local geometric conditions on a spacetime metric which are necessary and sufficient for it to be a null electrovacuum, that is, the metric is part of a solution to the Einstein-Maxwell equations with a nullelectromagnetic field. These conditions are restrictions on a null congruence canonically constructed from the spacetime metric, and can involve up to five derivatives of the metric. The null electrovacuum conditions are counterparts of the Rainich conditions, which geometrically characterize non-null electrovacua. Given aspacetime satisfying the conditions for a null electrovacuum, a straightforward procedure builds the nullelectromagnetic field from the metric. Null …

The Spacetime Geometry Of A Null Electromagnetic Field, Charles G. Torre

Presentations and Publications

We give a set of local geometric conditions on a spacetime metric which are necessary and sufficient for it to be a null electrovacuum, that is, the metric is part of a solution to the Einstein–Maxwell equations with a null electromagnetic field. These conditions are restrictions on a null congruence canonically constructed from the spacetime metric, and can involve up to five derivatives of the metric. The null electrovacuum conditions are counterparts of the Rainich conditions, which geometrically characterize non-null electrovacua. Given a spacetime satisfying the conditions for a null electrovacuum, a straightforward procedure builds the null electromagnetic field from …

Practicing Environmental Etiquette In Utah's Deserts, Jordan Burningham, Roslynn Brain

Environment and Society Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

A Column Free Protein Purification Procedure Using E. Coli Single ‐ Stranded Dna Binding Protein (Ssb) As An Affinity Tag, Mark Soffe

Research on the Hill (Salt Lake City)

SSBs are DNA binding proteins that are essential components of cells and play key roles in DNA replication, repair, and recombination. Here we utilize two biochemical properties associated with the E. coli SSB protein to develop a novel procedure to purify proteins using a resin-free strategy to combat the largest bottleneck in biochemical research— obtaining uncontaminated, single proteins from the total cellular contents.

1. E. coli SSB binds to single stranded DNA (ssDNA) with extremely high affinity.

2. It is also a unique protein with respect to its purification—it is possible to obtain greater than 95% pure SSB from the …

Analysis Of Mexican Spotted Owl Diet In The Canyonlands Of Southern Utah, Natalie Schvaneveldt

Research on the Hill (Salt Lake City)

While diets of Mexican Spotted Owls within forested habitat have been studied, little research has been published on the diet of owls that occupy canyon habitats (see Willey In Press). Since the Mexican Spotted Owl is federally listed as a threatened species, it is important to identify primary prey of Utah’s canyon dwelling owls to better understand their dietary needs (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1993). We hope that the findings from this research can better inform state and federal managers on spotted owl prey use and aid in future management of small mammal populations in canyon habitats. We intend …

Facile Preparation Of 1st-­‐Row Transition Metal Chalcogenides As Hydrogen Evolution Catalysts In Water, Lia Bogoev

Research on the Hill (Salt Lake City)

Hydrogen, when generated directly from water with renewal energy input, is a promising chemical fuel for sustainable energy applications. As such, the development of synthetic catalysts of hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) that functionally mimic the elegant water reduction chemistry of hydrogenase enzymes have attracted broad interest, but creating molecular systems that utilize earth-abundant elements and achieve high activity, low overpotential, and long-term stability in green aqueous media remains a significant challenge. Solid-state inorganic compounds offer an alternative strategy to meet this goal. Our group is developing 1st-row transition metal chalcogenides via facile potential dynamic deposition as competent HER catalysts in …

The Effect Of Acceleration On Nucleate Boiling And Bubble Departure Dynamics In Microgravity, Jenica Sparrow, Heng Ban, Jr Dennison

Presentations

No abstract provided.

Warming, Soil Moisture, And Loss Of Snow Increase Bromus Tectorum’S Population Growth Rate, Aldo Compagnoni, Peter B. Adler

Green Canyon Environmental Research Area, Logan Utah

Climate change threatens to exacerbate the impacts of invasive species. In temperate ecosystems, direct effects of warming may be compounded by dramatic reductions in winter snow cover. Cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum) is arguably the most destructive biological invader in basins of the North American Intermountain West, and warming could increase its performance through direct effects on demographic rates or through indirect effects mediated by loss of snow. We conducted a two-year experimental manipulation of temperature and snow pack to test whether 1) warming increases cheatgrass population growth rate and 2) reduced snow cover contributes to cheatgrass’ positive response to …

Characterizing And Quantifying Time Dependent Night Sky Brightness In And Around Tucson, Arizona, Rachel K. Nydegger, Constance E. Walker

Browse All Undergraduate research

As part of a Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program with the National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO), I (with mentor Dr. Constance Walker of NOAO) characterized light pollution in and near Tucson, Arizona using eight Sky Quality Meters (SQMs). In order to analyze the data in a consistent way for comparison, we created a standard procedure for reduction and analysis using python and MATLAB. The series of python scripts remove faulty data and examine specifically anthropogenic light pollution by excluding contributions made by the sun, moon, and the Milky Way. We then use MATLAB codes to illustrate how the light …

Annual Solar Motion And Spy Satellites, Margaret Jensen, Shane L. Larson

Browse All Undergraduate research

A topic often taught in introductory astronomy courses is the changing position of the Sun in the sky as a function of time of day, and season. The relevance and importance of this motion is explained in the context of seasons and the impact it has on human activities such as agriculture. The geometry of the ob- served motion in the sky is usually reduced to graphical representations and visualizations that can be difficult to render and grasp. Sometimes students are asked to observe the Suns changing motion and record their data, but this is a long-term project requiring several …

Modeling The Defect Density Of States Of Disordered Sio2 Through Cathodoluminescence, Amberly Evans Jensen

Theses and Dissertations

Spacecraft charging is the accumulation of an electrical charge on orbiting spacecraft induced by the space plasma environment and has harmful effects on the electrical functionality of a spacecraft. This is studied extensively, particularly in the Materials Physics Group (MPG) at Utah State University (USU). During charging studies performed by the MPG, another potentially problematic effect of the space plasma environment on spacecraft was observed: light emanating from the sample undergoing electron beam bombardment. Space-based observatories are one type of spacecraft on which this luminescence may occur. If the luminescence from the material caused by the space plasma is within …

Water Quantity And Quality In The Columbia Basin Trust Region, Janice Brahney

Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications

This report collects the documents generated as part of a two year effort to catalogue the variety of water quality and quantity data that has been collected in the Columbia Basin Trust region of British Columbia. Through the cataloguing effort, a number of important data and knowledge gaps were identified and specific recommendations developed. The available water quantity and climate data was then used in a number of analyses focused on understanding the relationship between changing climate conditions and stream discharges.

One overall finding is that there is a large variety of data collected and held by various different entities. …

Diffusive Electron Heat Flow And Temperature Variance Along Magnetic Field Lines, Michael Kushlan

Physics Capstone Projects

In this research we examine how electron heat moves along magnetic field lines and how this affects temperature variations in plasmas. Specifically we wrote FORTRAN code to solve the electron temperature equation numerically. We also solved the steady state electron temperature equation analytically using an integrating factor. We verified that the numerical and analytical solutions obtained the same result. Finally we calculated the standard deviation of temperature in our domain for the steady state. Gaussian legendre quadrature was used to integrate various functions. We represented our magnetic field and heat source with Fourier series. The sin and cosine coefficients for …

Remediation Research In Usu 1360 Intelligent Life In The Universe, Tony Triplett, Jared Butler

Physics Student Research

Some students struggle more than others during their college years and if not identified and given the help they need many drop out, resulting in less money for the university and lack of direction and education for the student. Students were identified as “at-risk” after failing their first exam in a general science course and were given an extra assignment to make up some points. The assignment was given to help students learn structured study skills in order to prepare for the following examination. The work turned in by these students was analyzed and critiqued for quality and effort. As …

A Review Of Passive Sampling Systems For Ambient Air Mercury Measurements, Jiaoyan Huang, Seth N. Lyman, Jelena Stamenkovic Hartman, Mae Sexauer Gustin

USU Uintah Basin Faculty Publications

Atmospheric mercury (Hg) temporal and spatial patterns must be measured accurately in order to adequately understand the role of this pathway as it relates to Hg toxicity and exposure of humans and wildlife to Hg. It is also important to understand the distribution of the different chemical forms (elemental, oxidized, or particle bound) and specific compounds in air (e.g., HgCl2, HgBr2, HgO, Hg(NO3)2, and HgSO4). However, the current automated and passive sampling methods of measurement have limitations and artifacts impacting our ability to achieve this task. Both abiotic and biotic systems have been developed to measure the total gaseous Hg …