Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

The Quashnet River Project: Assessing The Health Of A River Using Water Chemistry And Biomonitoring Data

Watershed Access Lab Projects

The Mashpee High School Environmental Science students studied the watershed of the Quashnet River (also known as the Moonakis River) in Mashpee and Falmouth, MA. The river empties into Waquoit bay. It supports animals such as alewife, eels, brook trout, and herring. This river is vital to the sustainability of these animals. Macroinvertebrate sampling took place on March 4th, 2009, while the water chemistry testing took place on September 15th, 2008.

Specific water samples were tested for Dissolved Oxygen, temperature, pH, turbidity, and nutrients. The Water Quality Index (WQI) had to be weighted since certain parameters were not able to …

How Healthy Is The Magoon Pond Watershed

Watershed Access Lab Projects

Located down the street from my house is the Magoon Pond. I conducted an independent Study to determine the relative health of the Magoon Pond. This pond is a tributary of the North River in Marshfield, Massachusetts. To access the health will we be using a macro-invertebrate biological index as our primary tool. We will also be taking depth and flow measurements to conduct a stream profile and discharge value. To start with we scouted the watershed and choose three different test sites to use, an Inlet site, a Pond site and an Outlet site.

The pond was within a …

Pond Meadow Stream: Monitoring Stream Health Using Benthic Macroinvertebrates

Watershed Access Lab Projects

No abstract provided.

Stream Biomonitoring On High Street, Randolph

Watershed Access Lab Projects

No abstract provided.

Watershed Vocabulary

Watershed Access Lab Projects

No abstract provided.

Abbott Run Annual Study 2009

Watershed Access Lab Projects

The purpose of examining Site A, Cushman Road, and Site B, Shady Pines, was to determine whether or not the water that flows through Abbott Run meets the Class A Water Standards set by the state of Massachusetts. This is crucial because the water that flows through Abbott Run eventually empties into Pawtucket, Rhode Island and they then use it for drinking water. So if the water quality standards were to fall below a Class A rating, then this would mean a contaminated drinking source for all of Pawtucket. This could invariably many complications and should be avoided at all …

1,2-Dimethyl-4,5-Diphenylbenzene Determined On A Bruker Smart X2s Benchtop Crystallographic System, Jonathan B. Briggs, Mikael D. Jazdzyk, Glen P. Miller

Chemistry

The title compound, C(20)H(18), has two crystallographically independent molecules in the asymmetric unit. The phenyl substituents of molecule A are twisted away from the plane defined by the central benzene ring by 131.8 (2) and -52.7 (3)degrees. The phenyl substituents of molecule B are twisted by -133.3 (2) and 50.9 (3)degrees. Each molecule is stabilized by a pair of intraMolecular C(aryl, sp(2))-H center dot center dot center dot pi interactions, as well as by several interMolecular C(methyl, sp(3))-H center dot center dot center dot pi interactions.

Mathematical Sciences News, Georgia Southern University

Department of Mathematical Sciences News (2007-2021)

• Math Students take 2nd Place at MUURMaC

Probability Elicitation Methods For Avoiding Biases: An Exposition, Bethany Mihajlovits

Theses and Dissertations

A large portion of decision analysis lies in a decision maker’s uncertainty about an outcome and what they perceive is the chance (probability) of that outcome occurring (in other words, an individual’s “degree of belief” that an outcome will occur). However, thinking probabilistically can be difficult and we rely on “rather primitive cognitive techniques to make” such assessments (these techniques are termed heuristics) (Clemen & Reilly, 2001 p.311). Heuristics are simple and intuitive but tend to result in probabilities that are biased. This thesis will connect the literature available from both the psychology behind the biases and the mathematical problems …

An Agent Based Gene Flow Model, Erich Foster

Theses and Dissertations

The understanding of gene movement in plant species is critical to the management of both plant and animal species reliant on that plant. Pollen is the mechanism by which plants pass their genetic material from one generation to the next. Pollen dispersal studies have focused primarily on purely random diffusion processes, while this may be a good assumption for species pollinated mainly by abiotic means, such as wind, it is most likely an over simplification for species that are pollinated by biotic means, such as insects [3]. Correlated random walk (CRW) models are a model of animal movement [10] and …

Spectroscopic Characterizations Of The Compound Ii Intermediate Of Soybean Peroxidase From Soybean Seed Coatings, Andoh-Baidoo Rosemarie Agyepong

Theses and Dissertations

Spectroscopic characterization of ferric soybean peroxidase with peroxides were studied to determine the ligand coordination and to characterize the structure of the heme active site and its intermediates (ferryl species). The lifetime, chemical reactivity and distinctive colors of the ferryl species (FeIV) formed during the oxidation of peroxidase (FeIII) by peroxides enabled structure, dynamics and reaction mechanisms to be studied. Resonance Raman spectroscopy was used as a means of characterizing the structure of the soybean peroxidase and its intermediates. Excitation in the Soret absorption band at 406.7nm with 2-5mW laser power was used for this study. Resonance Raman spectra in …

Resampling-Based Multiple Hypothesis Testing With Applications To Genomics: New Developments In The R/Bioconductor Package Multtest, Houston N. Gilbert, Katherine S. Pollard, Mark J. Van Der Laan, Sandrine Dudoit

U.C. Berkeley Division of Biostatistics Working Paper Series

The multtest package is a standard Bioconductor package containing a suite of functions useful for executing, summarizing, and displaying the results from a wide variety of multiple testing procedures (MTPs). In addition to many popular MTPs, the central methodological focus of the multtest package is the implementation of powerful joint multiple testing procedures. Joint MTPs are able to account for the dependencies between test statistics by effectively making use of (estimates of) the test statistics joint null distribution. To this end, two additional bootstrap-based estimates of the test statistics joint null distribution have been developed for use in the …

A Class Of Semiparametric Mixture Cure Survival Models With Dependent Censoring, Megan Othus, Yi Li, Ram C. Tiwari

Harvard University Biostatistics Working Paper Series

No abstract provided.

Surrogate Ratio Method In The Actinide Region Using The (Α,Α'F) Reaction, S. R. Lesher, J. T. Burke, L. A. Bernstein, H. Ai, C. W. Beausang, D. L. Bleuel, R. M. Clark, F. S. Dietrich, J. Escher, P. Fallon, J. Gibelin, B. L. Goldblum, I. Y. Lee, A. O. Macchiavelli, M. A. Mcmahan, K. Moody, E. B. Norman, L. Phair, E. Rodriguez-Vieitez, N. D. Scielzo, M. Wiedeking

Physics Faculty Publications

In the Surrogate Method, the measured decay probability of a compound nucleus formed via a direct reaction is used to extract the cross section for a reaction with a different entrance channel that proceeds through the same compound nucleus. An extension of the Surrogate Method, the Surrogate Ratio Method (SRM), uses a ratio of measured decay probabilities to infer an unknown cross section relative to a known one. To test the SRM we compare the direct-reaction-induced fission probability ratio of ²³⁴U(α, α’ f ) to ²³⁶U(α, α’f ) with the ratio of cross sections …

Habitat Suitability Criteria For Fishes Of The South Fork Of The Shenandoah River And An Investigation Into Observer Effects Associated With Two Techniques Of Direct Underwater Observation, Robert Clayton Ramey

Theses and Dissertations

This study constructed habitat suitability criteria for fishes of the South Fork of the Shenandoah River, in Virginia. The criteria will be used in an IFIM study to produce estimates of the discharge required by fishes in the South Fork. Chi-square tests were used to evaluate whether criteria described habitat use to a statistically significant degree. Secondly, chi-square tests were used to test transferability. The criteria described the habitat use of seven taxa commonly found in the South Fork to a statistically significant degree. Habitat criteria for two taxa did not describe their habitat use to a statistically significant degree. …

Certain Pattern Recognition Tasks Using Genetic Programming., Durga Muni Dr.

Doctoral Theses

No abstract provided.

Adsorption Of Co On Supported Gold Nanoparticle Catalysts: A Comparative Study, Heather Hartshorn, Christopher J. Pursell, Bert D. Chandler

Chemistry Faculty Research

The adsorption of CO on three different gold nanoparticle catalysts supported on high surface area TiO₂ was studied using infrared transmission spectroscopy at room temperature and CO pressures typically used in CO oxidation reactions. The three, real-world catalysts were Au catalysts synthesized in our laboratory from thiol monolayer protected clusters (MPCs) and two commercial catalysts from the World Gold Council (WGC and AuTEK). Within experimental reproducibility, the adsorption data for the three catalysts are indistinguishable. While showing approximately Langmuir behavior, the adsorption data also show coverage dependence, as others have observed for many catalyst systems. Two approaches were used …

Metal-Assisted Hydrolysis Of Biological Molecules, Sarah Shealy Cepeda

Chemistry Dissertations

In Chapter I is a general description of novel metal complexes which hydrolytically cleave peptides, proteins, DNA, and other biological molecules. These reagents are becoming the more important as potential therapeutic agents. A panel of ligands was investigated for coordination to ZrIV and other metals in groups 4, 5, and 6 to effect the greatest degree of hydrolysis. Chapter II describes a ZrIV complex which is capable of hydrolyzing a 30 amino acid peptide, insulin chain B, with amino acid specificity. Oxidized insulin chain B peptide was hydrolyzed after only 4 h of treatment at pH 7.0 and 60 °C …

Evaluating Test-Driven Development In An Industry-Sponsored Capstone Project, John Huan Vu, Niklas Frojd, Clay Shenkel-Therolf, David S. Janzen

Computer Science and Software Engineering

Test-Driven Development (TDD) is an agile development process wherein automated tests are created before production code is designed or constructed in short, rapid iterations. This paper discusses an experiment conducted with undergraduate students in a year-long software engineering capstone course. In this course the students designed, implemented, deployed, and maintained a software system to meet the requirements of an industry sponsor who served as the customer. The course followed an incremental process in which features were added incrementally under the direction of the industry sponsor and the professor. The fourteen students observed in the study were divided into three teams. …

Design Patterns Go To Hollywood: Teaching Patterns With Multimedia, Adam Dukovich, David S. Janzen

Computer Science and Software Engineering

Studies indicate that understanding the contexts in which design patterns are to be used is one of the most (if not the most) difficult challenge in applying design patterns, yet little research on the topic attempts to solve the problem of better teaching the contexts. This paper discusses a new paradigm through which the teaching of design patterns can be viewed, one which focuses on conceptual examples and contexts as the key elements in teaching design patterns. We created several multimedia learning modules that use this approach and we evaluated the modules by comparing them to other methods of instruction …

An N-Dimensional Version Of The Beurling-Ahlfors Extension, Leonid V. Kovalev, Jani Onninen

Mathematics - All Scholarship

We extend monotone quasiconformal mappings from dimension n to n+1 while preserving both monotonicity and quasiconformality. The extension is given explicitly by an integral operator. In the case n=1 it yields a refinement of the Beurling-Ahlfors extension.

Application Of Time-To-Event Methods In The Assessment Of Safety In Clinical Trials, Kelly L. Moore, Mark J. Van Der Laan

U.C. Berkeley Division of Biostatistics Working Paper Series

Since randomized controlled trials (RCT) are typically designed and powered for efficacy rather than safety, power is an important concern in the analysis of the effect of treatment on the occurrence of adverse events (AE). These outcomes are often time-to-event outcomes which will naturally be subject to right-censoring due to early patient withdrawals. In the analysis of the treatment effect on such an outcome, gains in efficiency, and thus power, can be achieved by exploiting covariate information. We apply the targeted maximum likelihood methodology to the estimation of treatment specific survival at a fixed end point for right-censored survival outcomes. …

A Mathematical Model For Anti-Malarial Drug Resistance, Amanda Matthews

Theses and Dissertations

Despite the array of medical advances of our modern day society, infectious diseases still plague millions of people worldwide. Malaria, in particular, causes substantial suffering and death throughout both developed and developing countries. Aside from the socioeconomic challenges presented by the disease's prevalence in impoverished nations, one of the major difficulties scientists have encountered while attempting to eradicate the disease is the parasite's ability to become resistant to new drugs and methods of treatment. In an effort to better understand the dynamics of malaria, we analyze a mathematical model that accounts for both the treatment aspect as well as the …

An Environmental And Economic Assessment Of Future Municipal Solid Waste Disposal: A Case Study Of Select High Growth Regions Of Virginia., Joseph Krouse

Theses and Dissertations

This research analyzed environmental and economic factors associated with municipal solid waste (MSW) management of select high growth Planning District Commissions (PDCs) of Virginia. Current MSW management scenarios were compared to future hypothetical scenarios utilizing a regional landfill or waste-to-energy (WTE) combustion facility. Life-cycle inventory and full cost accounting methods of the Municipal Solid Waste Decision Support Tool, developed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), were utilized to estimate annualized environmental emissions and economic costs. Model results and analysis indicate that a regional landfill would be the least cost intensive MSW management strategy in comparison to current management methods; however …

Ionic Selectivity In L-Type Calcium Channels By Electrostatics And Hard-Core Repulsion, Dezso Boda, Douglas Henderson, Monika Valisko, Bob Eisenberg, Dirk Gillespie

Faculty Publications

A physical model of selective "ion binding" in the L-type calcium channel is constructed, and consequences of the model are compared with experimental data. This reduced model treats only ions and the carboxylate oxygens of the EEEE locus explicitly and restricts interactions to hard-core repulsion and ion–ion and ion–dielectric electrostatic forces. The structural atoms provide a flexible environment for passing cations, thus resulting in a self-organized induced-fit model of the selectivity filter. Experimental conditions involving binary mixtures of alkali and/or alkaline earth metal ions are computed using equilibrium Monte Carlo simulations in the grand canonical ensemble. The model pore rejects …

Ultrasensitive Beam Deflection Measurement Via Interferometric Weak Value Amplification, P. Ben Dixon, David J. Starling, Andrew N. Jordan, John C. Howell

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

We report on the use of an interferometric weak value technique to amplify very small transverse deflections of an optical beam. By entangling the beam’s transverse degrees of freedom with the which-path states of a Sagnac interferometer, it is possible to realize an optical amplifier for polarization independent deflections. The theory for the interferometric weak value amplification method is presented along with the experimental results, which are in good agreement. Of particular interest, we measured the angular deflection of a mirror down to 400

Interval Estimation For The Difference In Paired Areas Under The Roc Curves In The Absence Of A Gold Standard Test, Hsin-Neng Hsieh, Hsiu-Yuan Su, Xiao-Hua Zhou

UW Biostatistics Working Paper Series

Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves can be used to assess the accuracy of tests measured on ordinal or continuous scales. The most commonly used measure for the overall diagnostic accuracy of diagnostic tests is the area under the ROC curve (AUC). A gold standard test on the true disease status is required to estimate the AUC. However, a gold standard test may sometimes be too expensive or infeasible. Therefore, in many medical research studies, the true disease status of the subjects may remain unknown. Under the normality assumption on test results from each disease group of subjects, using the expectation-maximization …

Frames And Ways Of Knowing: Key Considerations For Policy Responses To Climate Risk And Vulnerability, Helen Ingram, Joanna Endter-Wada

Environment and Society Faculty Publications

This paper argues that resilience and adaptability in face of climate change is largely dependent upon the ways in which framing occurs and knowledge is produced and diffused in particular communities and contexts. Climate change problems are contextual, multifaceted and complex, engendering wide variation in social sense making and invoking different formulations of facts and relevant knowledge. Transferring and translating information among different ways of knowing and transforming ways of knowing so that they are more inclusive and accepted is critical to adaptability and resilience. Examples from the American West and Latin America illustrate that only when multiple frames and …

Faulkner The Humanist: How His Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech Changed How We Interpret "Barn Burning", Jessie L. Magee

Student Research Conference Select Presentations

No abstract provided.

Protecting Walden Pond: A Step Towards Defending Ordinary Nature In The United States, Jessie L. Magee

Student Research Conference Select Presentations

No abstract provided.