Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Search For The Dark Photon In B 0 → A′A′, A′ → E + E −, Μ + Μ −, And Π + Π − Decays At Belle, S. H. Park, Y. J. Kwon, I. Adachi, H. Aihara, S. Al Said, D. M. Asner, H. Atmacan, T. Aushev, R. Ayad, V. Babu, P. Behera, J. Bennett, M. Bessner, V. Bhardwaj, B. Bhuyan, T. Bilka, J. Biswal, G. Bonvicini, A. Bozek

Faculty and Student Publications

We present a search for the dark photon A′ in the B0 → A′A′ decays, where A′ subsequently decays to e+e−, μ+μ−, and π+π−. The search is performed by analyzing 772 × 106BB¯ events collected by the Belle detector at the KEKB e+e− energy-asymmetric collider at the ϒ(4S) resonance. No signal is found in the dark photon mass range 0.01 GeV/c2 ≤ mA′ ≤ 2.62 GeV/c2, and we set upper limits of the branching fraction of B0 → A′A′ at the 90% confidence level. The products of branching fractions, ℬ(B0→A′A′)×ℬ(A′→e+e−)2 and ℬ(B0→A′A′)×ℬ(A′→μ+μ−)2, have limits of the order of 10−8 depending …

Characterization Of Uranium, Lead, And Rare Earth Element Pollution In Natural Soils And Sediments, Hope Rasmussen

Civil and Environmental Engineering Theses and Dissertations

Heavy metals in the environment add to the global burden of pollution, negatively impacting public health and ecosystem resilience. This study included projects regarding uranium (U), lead (Pb), and rare earth elements (REE) in natural samples, due to their known toxicity, ubiquity, and relevance in context to recent pollution trends. The first project focused on testing the potential of using a hydroxyapatite product as a remediation solution for U-contaminated groundwater and soil at an EPA Superfund site. The results showed that the U was sequestered in a highly crystalline mineral form within the solids, guiding the EPA to specify the …

Spring 2021, Joëlle Walls

The Investigator Research Magazine

Dear readers,

We are proud to present the spring issue of The Investigator and share with you the expansion of diverse research and scholarly activities occurring at Kennesaw State. Although this year was met with challenges, KSU’s research enterprise has thrived and grown.

In this issue, Pamela Whitten discussed the establishment of the Interdisciplinary Innovation Initiative, an internal funding program to spur new collaborations focused on KSU’s research themes. And alumni Carl Saint-Louis and Karen Armstrong, featured in our cover story, have returned as faculty to mentor the next generation.

This publication would not have been possible without the visual …

Chapter 2.1: Visualization Of Metal Ion Buffering Via 3-D Topo Surfaces Of Complexometric Titrations, Garon C. Smith, Md Mainul Hossain

Water Topos: A 3-D Trend Surface Approach to Viewing and Teaching Aqueous Equilibrium Chemistry

This chapter examines 1:1 metal-ligand complexometric titrations in aqueous media. It presents surfaces that plot computed equilibrium parameters above a composition grid with titration progress (mL of ligand) as the x-axis and overall system dilution (log C ) as the y-axis. The sample systems in this chapter are restricted to EDTA as a ligand. Other chelating ligands that form exclusively 1:1 complexes could also be modeled with this software. The surfaces show the quality of the equivalence point break under various conditions. More importantly, they develop the phenomenon of metal ion buffering. They clearly distinguish the difference between …

A Numerical Investigation Of Fractional Models For Viscoelastic Materials With Applications On Concrete Subjected To Extreme Temperatures, Murray Macnamara

Theses and Dissertations

Materials exhibiting both elastic and viscous properties have been termed the name viscoelastic materials and have been modeled using a combination of integer order derivatives affixed in varying ways called viscoelastic models. This results in highly complicated numerical procedures necessitating highly expensive computational time which we will show. To that end the use of fractional derivatives were researched and determined to be the ideal solution for modeling these materials, of which this paper is focused on exploring. Such research began as a theoretical study, however over time the applied benefits were discovered and utilized and have since been expanded on, …

The Miocene: The Future Of The Past, M. J. Kohn

Geosciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

The Miocene epoch (23.03–5.33 Ma) was a time interval of global warmth, relative to today. Continental configurations and mountain topography transitioned toward modern conditions, and many flora and fauna evolved into the same taxa that exist today. Miocene climate was dynamic: long periods of early and late glaciation bracketed a ∼2 Myr greenhouse interval—the Miocene Climatic Optimum (MCO). Floras, faunas, ice sheets, precipitation, pCO₂, and ocean and atmospheric circulation mostly (but not ubiquitously) covaried with these large changes in climate. With higher temperatures and moderately higher pCO₂ (∼400–600 ppm), the MCO has been suggested as …

Posterior Predictive Critique Of A Psychometric Bayesian Model For Assessing Aphasia, Ashlynn Crisp

Mathematics and Statistics Dissertations, Theses, and Final Project Papers

For persons with aphasia, naming tests are useful for assessing the severity of the disease and observing progress toward recovery. The Philadelphia Naming Test (PNT) is a leading naming test composed of 175 items. The items are common nouns which are one to four syllables in length and with low, medium, and high frequency. Since the target word is known to the administrator, the response from the patient can be classified as correct or an error. If the patient commits an error, the PNT provides procedures for classifying the type of error in the response. Item response theory can be …

Kennesaw State University Hpc Facilities And Resources, Tom Boyle, Ramazan Aygun

Digital Commons Training Materials

The Kennesaw State University High Performance Computing (HPC) resources represent the University’s commitment to research computing. This resource contains verbiage for users of Kennesaw State University's HPC resources to include in their grants and publications. Please use the recommended citation rather than including the listed authors in the your citations.

The current version was published Fall 2023. Previous versions can be found below.

Validating Geoclaw For Simulating Teton Dam Failure By Comparison With Hec-Ras Results And Historical Observations, Hannah R. Spero

Geosciences Undergraduate Theses

The combination of dams degrading with age and other factors like climate change, technical errors, and human errors lead to dams breaching and failing worldwide. In the United States, over 40,000 dams pose a threat to downstream inhabited areas and constitute a widespread hazard if they were to breach. Therefore, it is critical to accurately predict the resultant floods’ downstream flow behavior to create a more resilient community. By improving research, we can concurrently develop and improve mitigation strategies for downstream communities. This study benchmarks the GeoClaw numerical modeling software with the well-documented 1976 Teton Dam failure. A vital tool …

Ekap Update: Rethinking The Presentation Of Historic Sites, Elizabeth Debord, Joy Gritton

2021 Celebration of Student Scholarship - Poster Presentations

The Eastern Kentucky Art Project was founded in 2007 as a way to connect communities with resources pertaining to visual arts and music in Eastern Kentucky. One significant type of resources EKAP features is information regarding historic architecture in Eastern Kentucky. Understanding cultural landmarks in people’s own communities can foster an inclusive and healthy community identity, but it became clear through recent efforts to update the EKAP website that information surrounding the preservation of historic sites is often difficult to access and understand for a general audience. Previous efforts to educate and encourage preservation of important sites was often tied …

Virtual Reality Environment Of Excavator Training For Operation License, Victoria Russ, Jorge Ortega-Moody, Kouroush Jenab

2021 Celebration of Student Scholarship - Poster Presentations

In 2018 unfilled construction worker jobs rose to 404,000[1]. This was an all-time high, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey. The government has no restrictions for operating an excavator; however, it is impossible to get a job without any operation and competency documentation. For this documentation, an employer could be looking at about $1000 for the most highly recognized training, which must be reinstated every five years. Excavation operation is a highly sought-after profession, and jobs are expected to rise by over 10% until 2028. The NSF EPSCoR research project is creating a …

Kentucky Soldiers At The Battles Of Frenchtown And The River Raisin Massacre, Christian Wright, Adrian Mandzy

2021 Celebration of Student Scholarship - Poster Presentations

Research on The War of 1812 has been sporadic over the last two hundred years. In spite of the two centuries which have passed, significant gaps in the scholarship remain. Most individuals recognize that Kentucky troops played a major role in the war, but their participation and the number of casualties they suffered remains speculative. American newspaper accounts of the period, written with an eye to sell more copies, may not be accurate as they historically over inflated the number of dead. At the same time, British accounts have a tendency to downplay the numbers of American troops involved for …

Effects Of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy On Intraocular Pressure In Dogs, Sierra Ott, Lauren Mirus

2021 Celebration of Student Scholarship - Poster Presentations

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) is a method in which pressurized oxygen is used to improve oxygen delivery to tissues. This treatment has been found to be effective in a variety of disorders in human and animal medicine, however it is underutilized in small animal medicine, in part because veterinary professionals may not be adequately familiar with how it works and when it is worthwhile. There has been hesitancy to utilize this method of treatment due to the fear of the unknowns, one example being a potential for an increase in intraocular. The mission of this project was to expand knowledge …

Relation Among Potential Predictors Of Drug Abuse Risk In Rats, Emma Brock, Wesley White

2021 Celebration of Student Scholarship - Poster Presentations

Animal models have been used to investigate behavioral processes and mechanisms that underlie addiction. A variety of measures have been developed for rats that are modest predictors of drug abuse risk. The purpose of this pilot study was to begin to assess whether several established and potential measures of drug abuse vulnerability were correlated. The subjects were eight adult male Wistar rats. The rats were run on procedures that yielded measures of anxiety, sensation seeking, short term responsive to acutely administered drug, and sensitivity to conditioned stimuli. These measures were correlated with a potential new measure of drug abuse vulnerability—withdrawal …

Past Sexual Assault, Daily Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms, And Sexual Functioning: The Role Of Pre Sex Drinking, Natalie Fyffe, Elizabeth Neilson

2021 Celebration of Student Scholarship - Poster Presentations

Women with a history of adolescent or adult sexual assault (ASA) report difficulties with sexual functioning. One hypothesized contributor is posttraumatic stress (PTS), however, for whom and under what circumstances PTS affects sexual functioning is unclear. While ongoing research has found that some ASA survivors may drink to cope with PTS symptoms, little research has examined the association between PTS, pre-sex drinking, and sexual functioning at the proximal level. This study examines the moderating effects of number of standard drinks prior to sex on the indirect association between ASA and sexual functioning via PTS symptoms. Method: First- and second-year college …

Preventing Needle Stick Injuries: A Quality Improvement Project, Adrianna Kerns, Emilea Pitts, Grace Richman, Katie Rawlings, Megan Riley, Mary Suzanne White

2021 Celebration of Student Scholarship - Poster Presentations

"Needlestick injuries (NSI) affect approximately 1,000 people per day across U.S. hospitals. Needlestick injuries cost an estimated $3,042 per victim annually, according to the report. The costs go toward laboratory fees for testing exposed employees, associated labor and counseling and post-exposure follow-ups." (Beckner's Clinical Leadership & Infection Control, 2020). It was noted at an urban teaching hospital that needlestick injuries are an issue. Researchers believe this number is an underestimate of the actual amount of needle stick injuries. The purpose is to increase the education of staff nurses on the topic of needle stick injuries. We thoroughly reviewed 56 studies …

Who Are You? The Evolution Of Appalachian Identity, Kiersten Baum, Ashton Culp

2021 Celebration of Student Scholarship - Poster Presentations

No abstract provided.

Analytical Method Development For The Analysis Of Biomass Degradation Products, Calista Dean, Emma Schmittzehe

2021 Celebration of Student Scholarship - Poster Presentations

The goal of this project is to study the kinetics of hydrothermal liquefaction of biomass. Biomass contains stored chemical energy that can be converted to renewable liquid and gaseous fuels through various processes, but an in-depth understanding of the kinetics of these processes is important in order for them to be feasible on a large scale. Since biomass degradation products depend on the type of biomass used as well as the reaction conditions, this task can be quite complicated. To minimize complications in our initial studies, we will use D-glucose as the starting material. To better understand the degradation pathway’s …

Parental Sensitivity And Children's Emotion Regulation Development, Griffin Newell, Olivia Kee, Shari Kidwell

2021 Celebration of Student Scholarship - Poster Presentations

Parental sensitivity is critical in the development of children’s attachment to their caregivers. Sensitivity refers to a parent's ability to understand and react synchronously with their child's emotions. Covert hostility is a form of insensitivity in which parents are subtly dismissing. The current study examines both parenting constructs during a frustration task, in relation to child behavior in an emotion interview. As part of a larger longitudinal study, 35 children (average age 6 years) and their parents waited eight minutes for children to be permitted to open a bag of prizes. Parental reactions to their children's behaviors were coded into …

Data Acquisition For Physics With Arduino, Kyle Litton, James Adkins

2021 Celebration of Student Scholarship - Poster Presentations

Arduino is an open-source electronics microcontroller board that allows us to marry technology with our environment. There are countless modules commercially available that can be easily manipulated with programs written in the Arduino Integrated Development Environment (IDE), giving users full control of input and output. Several of these modules naturally relate to physics and data acquisition. Since physics analyses rely on data, the Arduino is a natural choice for a system where the user has full control of data collection methods. This poster will present our development of a data acquisition system that integrates equipment commonly found in physics laboratories. …

Improving Patient Outcomes With High Nurse To Patient Ratios: A Quality Improvement Study, Abigail Ross, Alexis Bradshaw, Brenna Murphy, Carson Jones, Cierra Connelley, Haley Nyderek, Hannah Dorton, Morgan Minton, Mary Suzi White

2021 Celebration of Student Scholarship - Poster Presentations

According to the United States Registered Nurse Workforce Report Card and Shortage Forecast: A Revisit published in the May/June 2018 issue of the American Journal of Medical Quality, a shortage of registered nurses is projected to spread across the country between 2016 and 2030. Surveyed nurses see the shortage in the future as a catalyst for increasing stress on nurses (98%), lowering patient care quality (93%) and causing nurses to leave the profession (93%) (American Association of Colleges of Nursing, 2021). A thorough literature review was conducted, and 40 studies were reviewed. Common themes that emerged include: high nurse to …

Analytical Derivation And Numerical Validation Of The Functionally Graded Arches Under Pressure And Thermal Loadings, Seba Gravitt, Zhaochao Li

2021 Celebration of Student Scholarship - Poster Presentations

The functionally graded materials (FGM) were developed originally to resist the high temperature of aircraft in the 1980s. With the development and improvement of the manufacturing technology, more and more FGM types have been used and studied in practical engineering applications. The present work focuses on the stability performance of the heated FGM arch subjected to the pressure field. The material properties distribute non-uniformly in the thickness direction of the FGM arch, which may show different buckling mechanisms from the conventional uniform materials. It is found the arch expands when the thermal field is introduced. The uniform pressure is applied …

Preservation Of Morehead State History, Jacob Bush, Alana Scott, Dieter Ullrich

2021 Celebration of Student Scholarship - Poster Presentations

This project is being undertaken in an effort to preserve the buildings and history of Morehead State University. It is the goal of this project to make additions to the historic district of MSU by adding qualifying buildings to the National Register of Historic Places. By adding buildings to the Register, they would be recognized on the federal level as historic sites and receive support for their preservation. The Register seeks to protect sites of importance through many ways including the gifting of funding to ensure preservation. The goals of this project will be achieved using historical texts from our …

Past The Tipping Point, But With Hope Of Return: How Creating A Geoengineering Compulsory Licensing Scheme Can Incentivize Innovation, Brooke Wilson

Washington and Lee Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice

This Note explores the patenting of geoengineering technologies and issues arising from the early stages of this high-risk, high-reward technology. This Note focuses on one possible solution to solving the issues surrounding the patenting of geoengineering technology: Creating a specialized compulsory licensing scheme.

Design Portfolio For The Tri-Cities Homestead 2.0: A Second Look At A Doe Solar Decathlon Net Zero Home Design, Talia Dreicer

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

The redesign of a Solar Decathlon Design Challenge home attempts to correct inaccuracies and works to create a more energy efficient and cost-effective home design. Comparative analysis is conducted to identify design characteristics that created the greatest efficiency increases for the lowest cost. The comparative analysis results in three versions of a house design: a “worst” efficiency, “best” efficiency, and final home design. The final, reimagined design is significantly more efficient than the original design and the associated pricing and energy analysis are more accurate and robust than their counterparts in the original design.

Insulin: Roles And Functions In Biochemistry And U.S. Healthcare, Mia Brinkley

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

I will be researching insulin through a variety of academic perspectives, utilizing both my biochemistry major and history minor, as well as my passion for healthcare and goals for my future career in medicine. I will begin by researching the history of the discovery of the hormone and the start of its use as a drug for diabetes. I will go into the biochemistry of the insulin protein and its interaction with the insulin receptor protein. I will then go into the problems it poses for those receiving it, regarding cost and access to low-income populations in the US. I …

Estimating The Denitrification Rate In Hood Canal Using Water Circulation, Spencer Johnson

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

Hood Canal is a long, fjordal estuarine inlet. Because of a sill near its mouth, Hood Canal experiences regular low oxygen in its bottom water; recently, dissolved oxygen has been even lower than usual, leading to fish kills and other ecosystem damage. Anthropogenic nutrients, particularly nitrogen, may be the cause, so it is important to quantify the components of the nitrogen cycle, like denitrification. To my knowledge, there is only one estimate of denitrification from Hood Canal in the literature. This study sought to supplement that data with an independent estimate of denitrification using water circulation along with N2 concentrations …

Radioactive Future, Avery Garritano

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

Prior to being decommissioned in 1987, the Hanford Site— a nuclear production complex located in Benton County, Washington— was the local for reprocessing a large portion of the nation’s supply of plutonium and uranium. Now, over 30 years later, 430 million curies of radioactive waste are kept on-site in surface facilities or underground tanks which are beginning to deteriorate, and nearly two thousand capsules of highly radioactive cesium and strontium sit in an aging facility. This waste includes cesium-135, a by-product of plutonium production which has a half-life of nearly two million years. While the proposed disposal method of burial …

Whose Water Is It Anyway?: The Adjudication Of Water Rights In The Nooksack Watershed, Emma Ledsham

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

This paper examines the current state of water rights in the Nooksack watershed, specifically looking at stakeholders such as the Lummi Nation, Nooksack Indian Tribe, and local farmers. I then go on to explore what an adjudication of water rights is, its process, and how it will be used in the Nooksack watershed to create an inventory of water users in the area. Finally, I explore the possible effects that adjudication might have on the different stakeholder groups and how they might respond to it.

Contamination In The Upper Columbia: Smelting And Its Impact To The Environment And Human Health, Brenden Murphy

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

The objectives of this project include discussing the historical context of the smelting that occurred in Washington and Canada over the past century and how political events shaped the geographies of the region(s). Another objective will be to assess the level of environmental impact to the Upper Columbia region and the potential health effects to organisms and humans from the pollution released from the smelters. We will also explore the interaction of different agencies and stakeholders and the political processes of environmental cleanup to which parties are held responsible. Explaining the different advocacy and conservation groups already involved in the …