Bulletin of the American Physical Society
2012 Annual Meeting of the California-Nevada Section of the APS
Volume 57, Number 13
Friday–Saturday, November 2–3, 2012; San Luis Obispo, California
Session C1: Education, Energy, and Medical Physics |
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Chair: Kenneth Ganezer, CSU Dominguez Hills Room: Business 003 0205 |
Friday, November 2, 2012 2:00PM - 2:12PM |
C1.00001: STAR: Preparing future science and math teachers through authentic research experiences at national laboratories John Keller, Bryan Rebar The STEM Teacher and Researcher (STAR) Program provides 9-week paid summer research experiences at national research laboratories for future science and math teachers. The program, run by the Cal Poly Center for Excellence in Science and Mathematics Education (CESaME) on behalf of the entire California State University (CSU) System, has arranged 290 research internships for 230 STEM undergraduates and credential candidates from 43 campuses over the past 6 years. The program has partnered with seven Department of Energy labs, four NASA centers, three NOAA facilities, and the National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO). Primary components of the summer experience include a) conducting research with a mentor or mentor team, b) participating in weekly 2-3 hour workshops focused on translating lessons learned from summer research into classroom practice, and c) presenting a research poster or oral presentation and providing a lesson plan linked to the summer research experience. The central premise behind the STAR Program is that future science and math teachers can more effectively prepare the next generation of science, math, and engineering students if they themselves have authentic experiences as researchers. [Preview Abstract] |
Friday, November 2, 2012 2:12PM - 2:24PM |
C1.00002: Improving the Efficiency of Homologous Gene Replacement by Disrupting the NHEJ Pathway for Gene \textit{KusA} in the Oleaginous Fungus \textit{Mortierella alpina} Kathleen Krueger, Ziyu Dai, Uger Uzuner \textit{Mortierella alpina}, a oleaginous filamentous fungus, is one of industrial fungal strains known for the production of arachidonic acid. It is also of particular interest for hydrocarbon biofuel production since it is able to produce up to 50{\%} of its mass in rich, long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids [PUFA's]. In addition to high fatty acid production, \textit{M. alpina} like many other oleaginous fungi, already have mechanisms for accumulating significant concentrations of hydrophobic compounds making it a naturally equipped candidate to handle potential toxic concentrations of hydrocarbons. The goal of this study was to develop an efficient transformation method for this strain, hence allowing researchers to further manipulate these fungi for further improvement of lipid production. Included was optimization of best culture medium for growth and maintenance, optimal conditions for protoplast generation, and replacement of the homologous \textit{KusA} gene. A successful deletion of \textit{KusA} gene within biotechnologically important \textit{M. alpina} could enable homologous recombination of other genes of interest in a higher frequency. This capacity may also improve the advancing the production of microbial oils for bioenergy and arachidonic acid human health applications. [Preview Abstract] |
Friday, November 2, 2012 2:24PM - 2:36PM |
C1.00003: The Implementation of the Shear Correlation Function and the Matter Power Spectrum in R Allison Scheppelmann, Deborah Bard Weak gravitational lensing is an important tool in understanding the large-scale structure of the universe. One component in understanding the effect of weak gravitational lensing is the shear correlation function and matter power spectrum. The calculation of these values is often complicated and time consuming. In order to decrease the cost of these calculations the implementation uses parallel computing in the language R. This results in the calculations completing faster and a process that is easily changed in order to fit the need of each researcher using the algorithms created in R. [Preview Abstract] |
Friday, November 2, 2012 2:36PM - 2:48PM |
C1.00004: Small Satellites for Secondary Students Kevin Zack, Lynn Cominsky Small Satellites for Secondary Students is a program funded by a three-year grant from NASA to bridge the gap in STEM education for secondary-school students. This is accomplished by creating the educational resources that are needed to support the development of a small scientific payload in alignment with scientific and technological education standards. The prototype payloads are flexible multi-experiment platforms designed to accommodate a wide range of student abilities with minimal resource requirements. The heart of each payload is an Arduino microcontroller which communicates with components that provide sensor data, Global Positioning System information, and which offer on-board data storage. The payload is built with off-the-shelf components and a pre-etched, custom-designed connector board. The platform also supports real-time telemetry updates through the use of Wi-Fi. To date, the prototype payloads have been tested on both high-powered rockets reaching over 3km and weather balloons tethered at 300m. Multiple successful rocket test runs reaching 1km have been conducted in partnership with amateur rocket clubs including the Association of Experimental Rocketry of the Pacific. From these flights, we are continuing to improve the payload design in order to increase the likelihood of student success. [Preview Abstract] |
Friday, November 2, 2012 2:48PM - 3:00PM |
C1.00005: Solar Concentration for Electricity and Cooking Mike Kim, Connor Fourt, Pete Schwartz, Michael Lee, Taylor Frostholm, Josh Fernandes, Jared Tower Over 8000 Schefflers exist worldwide, mostly in Africa and Asia. Having constructed the first Scheffler reflector in North America 2 years ago, the next goal was to make it less expensive. The original model took 4 students 2 months and about {\$}1000. In order to lower the cost and construction time the design was minimized, less expensive materials were used, and the construction process was automated. The original complex frame took 1000 people-hours and it was minimized to a day. Instead of using aluminum for the reflective dish, we turned to using aluminized Mylar, which cut the cost by over 90{\%}. A thermal storage unit was added to extend cooking time well into the evening. Finally, a concentrated solar module of High Efficiency Photo Voltaics (HEPV) is to be placed at the focus of the concentrator to generate electricity and water as a byproduct. The final cost is estimated to be about {\$}200 ({\$}0.10 per thermal watt) including the HEPV, an 80{\%} cost reduction. Such technology is practical in the U.S. as well as developing nations. [Preview Abstract] |
Friday, November 2, 2012 3:00PM - 3:12PM |
C1.00006: A Characterization of Pleistocene Climate as Revealed by Empirical Mode Decomposition Matthew Rodrigues, Charles Camp, Pamela Martin, Alex Gerber A consensus as to the characterization of the Pleistocene's climate with respect to Milankovich theory (the forcing of climate by orbital dynamics) has remained elusive. In part, this is due of the shortcomings of classical techniques such as Fourier analysis in the study of nonlinear, nonstationary data. Confounding this problem, the age-depth relationship used to produce reconstructed time series of proxy data for past climate derived from ocean sediments often are ``tuned'' by assuming that the records have some component of climate change associated to one of the orbital parameters. Recently, a new time-series of proxy data for the waxing and waning of the ice ages has been constructed devoid of orbital assumptions--thereby allowing for clearer testing of the validity of Milankovich theory and related hypothesis for the timing and amplitude of the Pleistocene ice ages. We analyze this newly constructed record using a relatively new data-adaptive technique known as empirical mode decomposition (EMD), which is well suited for the study of nonlinear and nonstationary time data. Our EMD analysis clearly isolates the various components of this complicated time series and provides new insight into the behavior of the climate during the Pleistocene. [Preview Abstract] |
Friday, November 2, 2012 3:12PM - 3:24PM |
C1.00007: Designing high specificity anti-cancer nanocarriers by exploiting non-equilibrium effects Konstantinos Tsekouras, Igor Goncharenko, Michael Colvin, Kerwyn Huang, Ajay Gopinathan Although targeting of cancer cells using drug-delivering nanocarriers holds promise for improving therapeutic agent specificity, the strategy of maximizing ligand affinity for receptors overexpressed on cancer cells is suboptimal. To determine design principles that maximize nanocarrier specificity for cancer cells, we studied a generalized kinetics-based theoretical model of nanocarriers with one or more ligands that specifically bind these overexpressed receptors. We show that kinetics inherent to the system play an important role in determining specificity and can in fact be exploited to attain orders of magnitude improvement in specificity. In contrast to the current trend of therapeutic design, we show that these specificity increases can generally be achieved by a combination of low rates of endocytosis and nanocarriers with multiple low-affinity ligands. These results are broadly robust across endocytosis mechanisms and drug-delivery protocols, suggesting the need for a paradigm shift in receptor- targeted drug-delivery design. [Preview Abstract] |
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