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Proceedings, NAFEO High Tech Student Expo 2001 • 1

Letter from the PI............................................................................................................................ 3Agenda ........................................................................................................................................... 5Guidelines ....................................................................................................................................... 7Participants Participating Institutions ................................................................................................................................................................................................. 9 Faculty and Research Mentors .......................................................................................................................................................................................... 9 Registered Student Presenters ......................................................................................................................................................................................... 10

Student Abstracts ........................................................................................................................... 13Keynote Speaker Diola Bagayoko, Ph.D. The Law of Performance and Excellence in Research ............................... 27Select Student Papers Listed alphabetically by presenters last name. Michael Ashenafi, Vladimir Fedorov, Sergey Mirov, Xie Liang: Spectroscopic Analysis of LiF: F2

- Color Center Crystals ........................................................ 33 Marcus L. Arrington, Fedrico Flores, William Sanders, and Briannia More: Gender Differences in Cheating Behavior among College Students ..................... 37 Jasmyn Dyer, Priscilla Lin, and Ednaida Cintron: A Study of Daily Average Air Temperature Data from GLOBE Schools ..................................................... 40 Vivian Galicia, Norma Sanchez, Miquel Gonzalez, and Christopher Martinez: Detecting an Alu Insertion in Humans ...................................................... 44 Renae Garrett: Analog Temperature Control System Design ................................................................................................................................................. 47 DeAndra S. Hayes, Paul Miller, Ashish Sharma, and Aiichiro Nakano: Visualization of Materials Simulation on an ImmersaDesk ....................................... 51 Enrique Jackson, Abdalla M. Darwish, and M.D. Aggarwal: Investigation of the LiNbO3 Crystal and the Electron Paramagnetic Resonance Study .................. 53 Candace R. Johnson, John Baier, M.D., and Thomas E. Kruger, Ph.D.: Genotyping for TNF-alpha Promoter Region Gene Polymorphisms Using Tracheal Aspirates from Infants with Hyaline Membrane Disease ................................................................................................................ 55 Harry Borden, Leslie M. Lombard, Jolene Robin, and Faith Septor: CO2 Laser .............................................................................................................. 58 Antonino Monterrosa, Hung Nham, Scarleth Ramirez, and Nohemi Rangel: The Effects of Motion on the Sorption of Organics ........................................ 60 Sheldon Richburg, Jacqueline Carr, M-A Alexis, J-M Riche, and J.E. Raynor, Ph.D.: Increased Cephalosporin Resistance Resulted from Structural Modifications of ESBLs in Clinical Strain of Klebsiella pneumoniae. .......................................................................................... 63 John L. Rigueur, Arnesto Bowman, R.N. Thigpen, A. Adderley, and S. Morgan: Preparation and Characterization of Silicate Based Glass Ceramics ............. 68 Shandana Ishaq, Michelle Madrid, and Karla Solorio: The Effects of Saline Concentration on Elodea canadensis ................................................................. 70

Expo Winners ............................................................................................................................... 75Expo Planners National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education .................................................................................................................................. 77 Louis Stokes Louisiana Alliance for Minority Participation ............................................................................................................................................ 78 LS-LAMP Governing Board ........................................................................................................................................................................... 79 LAMP Partner Institutions ............................................................................................................................................................................. 80 Louisiana Board of Regents ............................................................................................................................................................................ 81

Judge’s Score Sheet ......................................................................................................................... 82Conference Evaluation, Criteria, and Results .................................................................................... 83

TABLE OF CONTENTS

2 • Proceedings, NAFEO High Tech Student Expo 2001


On behalf of the Louis Stokes Louisiana Alliance for Minority Participation (LS-LAMP)team, I would like to express our appreciation to everyone who gathered in Washing-ton D.C. for the 15th NAFEO High Tech Student Expo. Every year, this national

competition for minority student research proves to be an exceptionalforum for students to showcase the level of their research and evolvingpresentation skills.

From universities and colleges across the nation, 100 students wereselected to participate in the fifteenth annual NAFEO High Tech Expo2001, in Washington D.C., March 23, as part of NAFEO’s 26th Na-tional Conference on Blacks in Higher Education, March 19-24.

We are particularly proud of this student expo because it show-cases the quality of education and research exposure that minority stu-dents are receiving in science, math, engineering, and technology. TheExpo continues to contribute significantly to preparing minority students to compete in re-search, academics, and communication.

This year students from 19 universities and community colleges attended the Expo, and asmany as 49 undergraduates delivered oral presentations and exhibited posters on their scientificand mathematical research. NAFEO issued awards totaling $2,000 to the top twelve presenters.Select refereed student presentations are included in this proceedings.

It is my pleasure to present this account of the activities, presentations, and informationpresented during the Expo.

We thank the research mentors, judges, faculty, and our students for their participation inand support of this year’s conference. Special congratulations are extended to all the studentpresenters for a job well done.

We challenge the students to continue to pursue excellence and to strive to succeed on thepaths of education and research.

Faith,

Robert L FordLS-LAMP Project Director

The 2001 NAFEO High Tech Expo was funded in part by the National Science Foundation (NSF),through a supplemental award to LS-LAMP (HRD 0000272).

LETTER FROM THE PI


THURSDAY, MARCH 22, 2001Thoroughbred Room6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. NAFEO High Tech Student Expo Registration

7:00 p.m. Expo Informational

FRIDAY, MARCH 23, 20016:30 a.m. – 8:00 a.m. Poster Presentation Set-up8:00 a.m. – 8:30 a.m. Welcome

Frederick Faine, NAFEO RepresentativeOverview of the Days Activities and Review of Guidelines Dr. Diola Bagayoko, LS-LAMP Campus Coordination Director

Session I

Moderators Candace J. Davis and Celika Murphy

8:40 a.m. – 10:10 a.m Oral Presentations by Students10:10 a.m. Break and Session I Tallying

HIGH TECH EXPO 2001 PROGRAM

Dr. Robert L Ford, Project Director, LS-LAMP, Presiding

10:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. Welcome Dr. Wilma RoscoeVice President, NAFEO

Introduction of Keynote Speaker Dr. Robert L Ford

Address to Participants Honorable Dr. Norman MinetaU.S Secretary of Transportation

Dr. Henry PonderPresident, NAFEO

EXPO AGENDA


Keynote Address The Law of Performance for Excellence in ResearchDr. Diola BagayokoDirector and founderThe Timbuktu Academy and1996 Recipient, U.S. Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring

Remarks Luria StubblefieldProgram Administrator, LS-LAMP

11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Lunch on your own

12:30 pm. – 1:00 p.m. Viewing of Student Poster Presentations

Session IIModerators Deidre Hardy and Katrina Emery (poster); Candace J. Davis and Celika Murphy (oral)

1:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. Student Oral and Poster Presentations

5:30 p.m. Session II Tallying

6:00 p.m. Awards, certificates, and presentationsCandace J. Davis, Director of Outreach Operations, LS-LAMP, Presiding

Words of Encouragement Dr. Glen Jones

Remarks Luria StubblefieldProgram Administrator, LS-LAMP

7:30 p.m. NAFEO Leadership Awards BanquetExpo students recognized


Carefully read and follow these guidelines for your NAFEO High Tech Student Expo presentation. Thepage following these guidelines provides the requirements for the submission of manuscripts (papers) to bepublished in the refereed proceedings of the 15th NAFEO High Tech Student Expo 2001. In addition, youare urged to consult “Writing for Success,” pages 212-215, for guidelines for scientific or technical reports orpapers.

THE NAFEO HIGH TECH STUDENT EXPO

In order for all participants to have an enriching and enjoyable experience at the NAFEO High TechStudent Expo, you are requested to adhere to the following guidelines, at all times.

1. No food or drinks are permitted at the Expo.

2. No chewing gum.

3. Each presentation is allowed 10 minutes, including questions and answers. Presentations withmultiple presenters are not allowed extra time.

4. The session moderator will be the ultimate arbiter on all issues during the presentations and willstrictly enforce the time allotted (10 minutes) for each presentation.

5. Questions may be asked by the judges as well as audience members, within the allotted time.

6. All presenters, who will use PowerPoint for their presentation and require computer equipment,are requested to provide an electronic copy of the presentation (diskette, zip disk or CD ROM) toCandace J. Davis, LS-LAMP Director of Outreach Operations, Thursday, March 22, 2001.

7. Note cards may not be used.

The NAFEO Expo participants received Writing for Success! A ‘User-Friendly’ Manual for EffectiveCommunication, by Ora L. Plummer and D. Bagayoko, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. (1998), ISBN# 0-07-154196-9.

GUIDELINES


PARTICIPATING INSTITUTIONS

PARTICIPANTS

ALCORN STATE UNIVERSITY

Napoleon Moses Industrial Technology

CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY LOS

ANGELES

Raymond Garcia Chemistry and Biochemistry

John Gamon Biology and Microbiology

Crist Khachikian Civil Engineering

Margarette Jefferson, Ph.D. Genetics

CLEMSON UNIVERSITY

Bijan Seyfzadeh Center for Advanced Engineering Fibers and Films

FISK UNIVERSITY

Lawrence Pratt Chemistry

Bryan Kent Wallace Physics

FLORIDA A&M UNIVERSITY

Reginald Perry, Ph.D. Electrical Engineering

GRAMBLING STATE UNIVERSITY

Ronnie Davis Sociology

Allen Miles, Ph.D. Chemistry

Frances Staten, Ph.D. Sociology

LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY HEALTH

SCIENCES CENTER

Thomas E. Kruger Pediatrics

DELAWARE STATE UNIVERSITY

Amos Olagunju Computer Information Science

Ambrish Lavonia Engineering Electromechanical Engineering

DILLARD UNIVERSITY

Abdallah Darwish, Ph.D. Natural Science

DREXEL UNIVERSITY

Cato Laurencin Chemical Engineering

FAYETTEVILLE STATE UNIVERSITY

James Raynor Jr. Ph.D. Natural Science

FERMI NATIONAL ACCELERATOR

LABORATORY

Sunil Yadav Mechanical Engineering

• Alcorn State University

•California State University,Los Angeles

• Delaware State University

• Dillard University

• Denmark Technical College

• Drexel University

• Fayetteville State University

• Fisk University

• Florida A&M University

• Grambling State University

• Louisiana State University

• Mississippi Valley StateUniversity

• North Carolina StateUniversity

• Prairie View A&MUniversity

• Queens College of CityUniversity New York

• Southern Universityat New Orleans

• Southern Universityand A&M CollegeBaton Rouge

• University of New Orleans

• Xavier University ofLouisiana

FACULTY AND RESEARCH MENTORS


* In alphabetical order, by presenters’ last names.

ADAMS, BettinaMississippi Valley State UniversityTopic: Attempted Crystallization of theMatrix Protein, M1B, and X-Ray DataCollection of Insulin Crystal

ANTHONY, LejohnnyDenmark Technical CollegeTopic:Ladder Logic Construction Techniques asused by Programmable Logic Controllersapplied to Traffic Light

ARRINGTON, MarcusGrambling State UniversityTopic: Academic Cheating BehaviorsAmong College Students: An ExploratoryStudy

LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY

Raijv Kalia Computer Science

James Garand Political Science

MISSISSIPPI VALLEY STATE UNIVERSITY

Abigail Newsome, Ph.D. MAMP Program

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF STANDARDS

AND TECHNOLOGY

Michelle O’Brien Ionizing Radiation

QUEENS COLLEGE OF CITY

UNIVERSITY of New York Claude Braithwaite, Ph.D. CUNY LS-AMP

Wilma Saffran Biochemistry and Chemistry

SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY AND A&MCOLLEGE BATON ROUGE

Diola Bagayoko, Ph.D. Physics

Barry Self, Ph.D. Chemistry

SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY AT NEW

ORLEANS

Murty Kambhampati, Ph.D. Biology

STANFORD UNIVERSITY

Katharina Baur Materials Science

TULANE UNIVERSITY

William L. Alworth Chemistry

Mark Sulkes Chemistry

UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA AT

BIRMINGHAM

Sergey Mirov Physics

Ming Luo Microbiology

David Green Electrical and Computing Engineering

UNIVERSITY OF NEW ORLEANS

Ashok Puri, Ph.D. Physics

VIRGINIA POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE

AND STATE UNIVERSITY

J.E. McGrath Chemistry

ASHENAFI, MichaelSouthern University and A&MCollege, Baton RougeTopic: Spectroscopic Analysis AndPersistent Photon Gated Spectral HoleBurning in LiF Crystals with F2- ColorCenters

BLACKMORE, EnglebertAlcorn State UniversityTopic: Building Linux Clusters

BLAKE, CharleneFisk UniversityTopic: Dielectric Matrix and ParticleSize Dependence of Surface PlasmonResonance for Nanocrystalline GoldParticles

CARR, JacquelineFayetteville State UniversityTopic: Increased Cephalosporin Resis-tance Resulted from Modification ofPreexisting ESBL Enzymes in ClinicalStrains of Klebsiella pneumoniae

CHATMAN, CourtneyUniversity of New OrleansTopic: What is Albedo?

COSENZA, SilviaUniversity of New OrleansTopic: Laser Doppler Anemometry

DYER, JasmynSouthern University and A&MCollege Baton RougeTopic: A Study of Daily Average AirTemperature Data from GLOBE Schools

STUDENT PRESENTERS*


ELZEY, DurundUniversity of New OrleansTopic: What is Albedo?

GALICIA, VivianCalifornia State University Los AngelesTopic: Detecting an Alu Insertion inHumans

GARRETT, RenaeUniversity of New OrleansTopic: Analog Temperature ControlSystem Design

GITAU, AliceDrexel UniversityTopic: Degradation Characteristics ofPolymer Fibers Utilized for AnteriorCruciate Ligament Replacement

GREEN, KendrickDenmark Technical CollegeTopic:Ladder Logic Construction Techniques asused by Programmable Logic Controllersapplied to Traffic Light.

HAYES, DeAndraXavier University of LouisianaTopic: Visualization of MaterialsSimulation on an ImmersaDesk

JOHNSON, HarryGrambling State UniversityTopic: Synthesis of High Refractive IndexPolyphosphonate Adhesives and TheirHydrolytic Stability

JOHNSON, HarryGrambling State UniversityTopic: Effect ofTetramethylethylenediamine onStereoselectivity of Enolates Formation byLithiumtetramethylpiperdideJOHNSON, CandaceLouisiana State UniversityTopic: Cytokine Gene Polymorphisms inChronic Lung Disease of the PretermInfant

JONES, PhilipSouthern University and A&MCollege Baton RougeTopic: Total Reflection X-Ray Fluores-cence (TXRF) Spectroscopy

KING, SharronDrexel UniversityTopic: Mechanical Properties of a Three-Dimensional Fiber-Based PolymerReplacement for the Anterior CruciateLigament

LOMBARD, LeslieUniversity of New OrleansTopic: CO2 Laser

LONG, NathanielDelaware State UniversityTopic: An Automated Dynamic Cook-book

MARROW, Le RoyUniversity of New OrleansTopic: Laser Doppler Anemometry

MAYARD, SabineQueens College of City UniversityNew YorkTopic: Despair of Double StrandDamage in Mutagenic Repair DeficientYeast

MOORE, GloriaSouthern University at New OrleansTopic: Physicochemical Factors andPrimary Productivity Studies in FourWater Bodies at LUMCON

OMOROGBE, SamuelSouthern University at New OrleansTopic: Mixed Fullerenes-silicon clustersformed by chemical reaction in a super-sonic Molecular Beam: Implications andStudy of the Reaction

ONUORA, ChukwemekaDelaware State UniversityTopic: A Hot Dispatch AmbulanceSystem

PERKINS, BrandySouthern University and A&MCollege, Baton RougeTopic: An Invitro Study of the Effects ofFluoride on Human and Bovine Enamel

PITRE, LaDonyaSouthern University and A&MCollege, Baton RougeTopic: Why Do Americans DislikeWelfare?

PRATHER, RobertPrairie View A&M UniversityTopic: The 777 Flight SimulationControl System

RAMIREZ, ScarlethCalifornia State University Los AngelesTopic: Motion Effects in OrganicSorption-Ground Water Contamination

RAY, MiltonMississippi Valley State UniversityTopic: Resolving Web Redundancy

RICHBURG, SheldonFayetteville State UniversityTopic: Increased Cephalosporin Resis-tance Resulted from Modification ofPreexisting ESBL Enzymes in ClinicalStrains of Klebsiella pneumoniae

RIGUEUR, John L.Fisk UniversityTopic: Preparation and Characteriza-tion of Silicate-Based Glass Ceramics

ROBIN, JoleneUniversity of New OrleansTopic: CO2 Laser

SMITH, VincinciaGrambling State UniversityTopic: Iron Regulated Pyruvate Excretionin Salmonella typhimurium


SMITH, OrraneFlorida A&M UniversityTopic: Plu2000

SOLORIO, KarlaCalifornia State UniversityTopic: The Effects of Saline Concentra-tion on Elodea canadensis

STEWART, DwayneFlorida A&M UniversityTopic: Plu2000

TRAVIS, BrenteriaMississippi Valley State UniversityTopic: Graphical User Interface forFiltration Simulation

WILLIAMS, NinaXavier University of LouisianaTopic: Synthesis and Characterization ofPotential Inhibitors of Cytochromes P4501A1 and 1B1

WILLIAMS, BobbiannSouthern University at New OrleansTopic: HBCUs Usage Web Technologies- A Progress Report

WINDHAM, ErikaMississippi Valley State UniversityTopic: The Development of a ProgramFile for Generating 3-D Solid Models ofthe Superconducting Magnet Coils


* In alphabetical order, by presenters’ last names.

MICHAEL ASHENAFISouthern University and A&M College Baton Rouge

Spectroscopic Analysis And Persistent Photon Gated SpectralHole Burning in LiF Crystals with F2- Color Centers

Both zero phonon lines (ZPL) and multi phonon bands of theabsorption and luminescence of F2- CC were studied in the 13 to 300Ktemperature range. Luminescence and absorption spectra measured in awide range of temperatures helped us to estimate the Debye-Waller fac-tors for absorption and luminescence band. In addition, we also experi-mentally discovered the inhomogeneous broadening of LiF:F2- CC is inthe range five cm to 15 cm-1. Consequently, LiF: F2- CC crystal is apromising medium for hole burning studies. It was shown that below40K inhomogeneous broadening of ZPL prevails over homogeneousbroadening. The Debye-Waller factors for absorption and emission were

calculated from absorption and emission spectraand appeared to be equal to each other. The esti-mated value of the Debye - Waller factors at 77Kis 0.02. This value shows that a Frank Condontype of mechanism best describes the optical tran-sition in LiF: F2- CC. Inhomogeneous broaden-ing of ZPL was observed to vary for crystals withdifferent chemical compositions and doses of ion-izing treatment. For the first time, a persistentphoton gated spectral hole burning at ZPL transi-tion was created at 13K by simultaneous action ofthe first (1040 nm) and second (520 nm) har-monic radiation of the LiF: F2+ Color Center Laser.The spectral hole was stable after 10 days of stor-age at room temperature.

CHARLENE BLAKEC. Maxwell, A. Ueda, M. Wu, and D.O. Henderson, Co-authors

Fisk University

Dielectric Matrix and Particle Size Dependence of Surface PlasmonResonance for Nanocrystalline Gold Particles

Gold was deposited onto MgO and coated with MgO, SiO2, orleft uncoated. The surface plasmon resonance of these samples was mea-sured as a function of its coating (or lack thereof ), its thickness, and itsannealing temperature. We found that the surface plasmon resonance ofgold develops as a result of annealing but generally becomes the same inall samples once the melting point is reached. The surface plasmonresonance is also greatly dependent upon the matrix in which it is embed-ded, but is minimally dependent upon the original thickness of the film.

STUDENT ABSTRACTS*

ORAL PRESENTATIONS

LEJOHNNY ANTHONYDemetrice Rice, Kendrick Green, and Marsha Corbitt, Co-authors

Denmark Technical College

Ladder Logic Construction Techniques as Used by ProgrammableLogic Controllers Applied to Traffic Lights

Today, programmable logic controllers (PLC) have replaced manyelectromechanical relays and timers. PLC is fairly recent development inindustrial process control. The basic means of communicating the lan-

guage of control is through the use of ladder diagram. The object of thisproject is to present the technique ofdeveloping step-by-step ladder logic cir-cuit to control a traffic light signal. Ani-mated process will be displayed as thelogic circuit is being developed. Devel-opment will start with displaying a roadcross section without any signal lightsor stop signs. A timer will be placed onnorth/south signal lights to control red,green, and yellow lights. Then the pro-cess of interconnecting east/west lightswith the north/south lights will beshown. Ladder logic is a language thatdiffers from most other computer lan-guages. The language is drawn graphi-cally as opposed to being written informs of a listing. The programmer simply “draws” a schematic diagramof the logic on the screen. Until recently, input devices (switches andsensors) and output devices (motors, lights, buzzers) and relays had to belinked together permanently. The hard wire circuits are electrical controlsystems, which are constructed to do a specific job. The use of mechani-cal relays, timers, counters, and switches wired together in differentcombinations to create control circuits. Hard- wired circuits are very dif-ficult and costly to design and build. To modify or replace, they must betorn apart and rewired. Such changes are difficult and expensive. Thesefunctions are taken care of within the PLC’s computer. (Presenting withKendrick Green)


JACQUELINE CARRSheldon Richburg, Co-authorFayetteville State University

Increased Cephalosporin Resistance Resulted from Modification ofPreexisting ESBL Enzymes in Clinical Strains of

Klebsiella pneumoniae

The emergence of novel resistance to ß-lactam antibiotics presentsa serious threat in the treatment of infections caused by gram-negativebacteria. Bacterial resistance towards third-generation ß-lactam antibiot-ics has been linked to the production of plasmid-mediated Extended-Spectrum Beta Lactamases (ESBLs). This investigation was undertakento identify novel ESBL genes in outbreak strains of Klebsiella pnemoniaecollected in an Atlanta hospital between 1992-1994. In this regard, 12Klebsiella pneumoniae strains were selected for this study from a pool of68 strains based on their ß-lactam resistance conferred by Kirby-Bauerdisk diffusion. Parent K. pneumoniae strains were conjugated with strep-tomycin-resistant E. coli (HB101). ESBL genes were identified intransconjugates by PCR using primers generated against the publishedSHV-1 sequence. PCR-generated products were sequenced and com-pared to the wild type sequence to identify variant ESBL genes. Dataobtained from sequence analysis suggested the identification of 12 novelenzymes related to SHV-5 and SHV-7 ESBLs. Further, comparison ofsequence analysis and cephalosporin susceptibility data suggest that in-crease cephalosporin resistance resulted from conformational changes in-duced by mutations in ESBL proteins. (Presenting with SheldonRichburg)

JASMYN DYERPriscilla Lin and Ednaida Cintron, Co-authors

Timbuktu AcademySouthern University and A&M College Baton Rouge

A Study of Daily Average Air Temperature Data fromGLOBE Schools

Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment(GLOBE) is an international program for Earth science, environmental,and general science education and research (http://www.globe.gov). Itcurrently involves over 95 countries and 10,000 K-12 schools. Studentsat GLOBE schools collect atmospheric, hydrology, soil, and land cover(biology) data following scientifically designed and tested protocols. Wepresent a study of the daily average air temperature data from selectedGLOBE schools. We obtained an excellent fit of these data to a four-parameter sine curve given by T = ASin(wt+phi) + B where A, w, phi,and B are constants. We discuss the variations of these parameters withlatitude elevation (altitude) and local and dynamic earth subsystems.This work was funded, in part, by the National Aeronautics and SpaceAdministration -Sharp Plus and the Program to Increase the Pursuit ofEducation and Learning in Engineering and Science (PIPELINES) AwardNos. NCC13-00010 (http://www.phys.subr.edu/pipelines)

RENAE GARRETTUniversity of New Orleans

Analog Temperature Control System Design

This project presents the framework in designing an analog tem-perature control system for the process trainer PT326. The design ap-proach relies on the detail analysis of the process trainer plant characteris-tics. The PT326 basic process is to draw air from the atmosphere by acentrifugal blower send the air past a heater grid, through a length oftubing, then back to the atmosphere (Feedback Instruments Limited1978). The purpose of the analog control system is eliminating a distur-bance in the atmosphere’s temperature. This is accomplished by design-ing a control system with the following characteristics. First, a variablereference set point is needed. Second, a difference amplifier is required tosubtract the temperature feedback signal from the reference. Finally,there is a need for a controller that drives the external input connected tothe power amplifier. The resulting steady state error is approximately0.001.

ALICE GITAUDrexel University

Degradation Characteristics of Polymer Fibers Utilized for AnteriorCruciate Ligament Replacement

Recently, several groups 1-3 have developed experimental ACLconstructs, utilizing collagen fibers, biodegradable polymers and com-posites with limited success. Our study will focus on the degradationcharacteristics of four different polymer fiber bundles and the effect ofdegradation on long-term mechanical properties of these polymers. Theresults of these experiments will allow us to select the type of polymerfiber to be used for the braiding of three-dimensional scaffolds for ACLreplacement. Multifilament fibers of L-Poly-lactide, Poly-glycolide,polylactide-co-glycolide (82:18), and Polyglactin 910 were laced intomulti-fiber bundles, for use in degradation studies. The bundles werecut to a length of 6 cm and sterilized with 70 percent isopropyl alcoholfollowed by UV irradiation. The polymer bundles were soaked in 10 mlof phosphate buffered saline (PBS, pH=7.3). The samples were shakenand maintained at 37°C in a water bath. The solutions were changedweekly and at one, two, three, and four weeks pH was measured. At twoand four weeks after immersion, molecular weight, mass retention andmechanical properties of the bundles have been determined. Degrada-tion-related morphological changes were examined using scanning elec-tron microscopy. For mass retention measurements the bundles wererinsed and lyophilized for 24 hours. The dry weight was recorded andthe same samples were used for molecular weight (MW) determination.The mechanical properties of the yarn under tension were tested on anInstron machine (Model 4442 Instron Inc. MA) using a 500 N load cellat a strain rate of two percent per second.


KENDRICK GREENDemetrice Rice, LeJohnny Anthony, and Marsha Corbitt, Co-authors

Denmark Technical College

Ladder Logic Construction Techniques as used by ProgrammableLogic Controllers applied to Traffic Light.

Today, programmable logic controllers (PLC) have replaced manyelectromechanical relays and timers. PLC is fairly recent development inindustrial process control. The basic means of communicating the lan-guage of control is through the use of ladder diagram. The object of thisproject is to present the technique of developing step-by-step ladderlogic circuit to control a traffic light signal. Animated process will bedisplayed as the logic circuit is being developed. Development will startwith displaying a road cross section without any signal lights or stopsigns. A timer will be placed on north/south signal lights to control redgreen and yellow lights. Then the processof interconnecting east/west lights withthe north/south lights will be shown. Lad-der logic is a language that differs frommost other computer languages. The lan-guage is drawn graphically as opposed tobeing written in forms of a listing. Theprogrammer simply “draws” a schematicdiagram of the logic on the screen. Untilrecently, input devices (switches and sen-sors), output devices (motors, lights, andbuzzers), and relays had to be linked to-gether permanently. The hard wire cir-cuits are electrical control systems, whichare constructed to do a specific job. Theuse of mechanical relays, timers, counters,and switches wired together in differentcombinations to create control circuits.Hard-wired circuits are very difficult and costly to design and build. Tomodify or replace, they must be torn apart and rewired. Such changes aredifficult and expensive. These functions are taken care of within thePLC’s computer. (Presented with LeJohnny Anthony)

HARRY JOHNSONH.K. Shobha, Ph.D, and M. Sankarapandia, Ph.D., Co-authors

Grambling State University

Synthesis of High Refractive Index Polyphosphonate Adhesives andTheir Hydrolytic Stability

The synthesis of aromatic polyphosphonates based upon variousbisphenols and dichloro-phenyl phosphine oxides was investigated. Thematerials have been only discussed briefly in the literature, although ithas been recognized that the phosphorus would contribute importantfire resistant characteristics. Major problems with obtaining high mo-lecular weight and preparing materials with sufficient hydrolytic stabilityhad been encountered. In principle, the materials are analogous to thewell-known and very important aromatic polycarbonates. This study has

been conducted as a solution polymerization using catalysts based uponeither imidazoles or dimethyl amino pyridine. The catalysts were able tovery effectively produce high molecular weight, tough ductile materialswith a high degree of optical clarity. In contrast to the aromatic polycar-bonates, the refractive index could be increased from 1.58 to 1.60 (forthe bisphenol-A based system) and as high as 1.64 for a bisphenol basedsystem. The latter was still an amorphous soluble polymer due to thenon-coplanar nature of the phenyl phosphine oxide bond. The secondissue was the poor hydrolytic stability. The polyphosphates were success-fully endcapped with cumylphenol by altering the stoichiometry of thedichloro phenyl phosphineoxide biphenol ratio, to control the molecularweight with an excess of the dichloride and then to cap the active chainends with the monofunctional cumylphenol. The results were quitesuccessful: predicted molecular weights of 25,000 were obtained as veri-fied by both gel permeation chromatography and NMR endgroup analy-sis. Moreover, preliminary rheological studies show that the endcappedsystems are melt stable at 200oC, whereas the systems of initially higher

molecular weight but without anyendcapping clearly degraded quickly—probably an acid catalyzed hydrolysis pro-cess. Thus, the materials are at this stageshown to be tough ductile, transparent ma-terials with high refractive index that havea substantial degree of hydrolytic stability,if properly endcapped to eliminate acidicfunctionalities. Future work should furthercompare the hydrolytic stability of theseoptimized systems to polycarbonates in or-der to ascertain whether the phenylphosphonates are potentially competitiveto the polycarbonates. Furthermore, co-polymers of the phosphonates with thepolycarbonates should be prepared to takeadvantage of the well-known—and alsodemonstrated in this work—extensive high

char yields that can be produced upon pyrolysis in either nitrogen or air.

PHILIP JONESSouthern University and A&M College Baton Rouge

Total Reflection X-Ray Fluorescence (TXRF) Spectroscopy

In order to maintain the quality of integrated circuits and micro-electronic devices, steps must be taken to ensure the purity of the materialas well as the cleanliness of the cleaning processes. The way to analyzethese trace concentrations of impurities is with total x-ray reflection fluo-rescence (TXRF) spectroscopy. TXRF is a proven chemical analysis toolthat uses element specific fluorescence to detect different elements in asample. The two types of systems used in TXRF are the energy dispersiveand wavelength dispersive systems. In an energy dispersive system, thefluorescence is counted by a Si(Li) detector and its energy is determinedwith a multichannel analyzer and some electronics. In a wavelength dis-persive system , the fluorescence first encounters Bragg diffraction with acrystal and is then counted by a detector. The wavelength dispersive


system was used to detect zinc on a silicon substrate. The wavelengthdispersive spectrometer detected the zinc K1 and zinc K2 peaks.

SHARRON KINGDrexel University

Mechanical Properties of a Three-Dimensional Fiber-Based PolymerReplacement for he Anterior Cruciate Ligament

“Mechanical Properties of a Three-Dimensional Fiber-Based Poly-mer Replacement for the Anterior Cruciate Ligament” identifies loaddisplacement relationships of an anterior cruciate ligament replacementas compared to both rabbit and human models. The anterior cruciateligament (ACL), located in the center of the knee, is a primary stabilizer ofthe knee joint, which is frequently injured by a twisting or pivotingmovement. Left untreated, an ACL injury can allow a process of deterio-ration and dysfunction of the knee to occur. Options for the type ofreplacement graft include autograft, allograft, or nondegradable polymergrafts.1 In hopes of eliminating the problems associated with the currentACL replacements, we are currently conducting research to obtain anideal tissue-engineered scaffold for the ACL. Currently, no tissue engi-neered clinical device has been approved by the FDA for ACL recon-struction. Our approach has been to engineer functional ACL scaffoldsbased on various braiding techniques which permit controlled fabrica-tion of scaffolds with a wide range of mechanical properties and geom-etries. Specifically, in this study, mechanical testing was used to character-ize the three-dimensional fibrous scaffold’s load-displacement relation-ship. Polymers of the Poly (a-hydroxyester) acid family were used for thisinvestigation. This study examines the initial mechanical strength of ourscaffold fabrication method. Results showed that our method might beused to fabricate scaffolds comparable to the human and rabbit models.

NATHANIEL LONGDelaware State University

An Automated Dynamic Cookbook

Surplus ingredients end up in the trash at American homes, cafete-rias, and restaurants everyday. A system called E-Cookbook has beendesigned and implemented for effectively managing and using ingredi-ents, categories of meals, and recipes. The E-Cookbook dynamically up-dates the quantity of each ingredient and new recipes in the database.The E-Cookbook generates the quantities of ingredients, nutritional facts,and preparation instructions along with a shopping list of insufficient ormissing ingredients for each recipe. The format of a recipe includes a title,an index, names and measures of ingredients associated with sequentiallyordered cooking, procedures, and number of servings. This researchpresents the principles underlying the design and implementation of theE-Cookbook in the Visual Basic Access and Structured Query Languageenvironment.

SAMUEL OMOROGBESouthern University at New Orleans

Mixed Fullerenes-Silicon Clusters Formed by Chemical reaction in asupersonic Molecular Beam:

Implications and Study of the Reaction

The literature review has not revealed experimental data and infor-mation about combined Fullerene - Silicon clusters. These novel Fullerene- Silicon clusters may be of importance in chemical vapor deposition(CVD) processes. This research involved the development of new syn-thetic approaches and characterization of reactive Fullerene and Siliconspecies in the gas Phase. The technique of laser vaporization supersonicexpansion was used to prepare and study theses molecular species. Theobservation of these new species may be relevant to reactions which occurat the interface between silicon wafer and deposited carbons. The struc-ture of these gas-phase species and mechanisms can then be studied.

CHUKWEMEKA ONUORADelaware State University

A Hot Dispatch Ambulance System

The 911 system is reserved for medical, crime, fire, and otheremergencies. The medical teams consisting of paramedics and ambulancegroups work simultaneously to stabilize and transport patients or victimsto healthcare facilities. An ambulance and/or a paramedic team is dis-patched to the distress call location based on the severity of the emer-gency. The determination of the closest ambulance group to a distress callin real-time emergency situations is a vital decision for the managers ofambulance groups. This paper will present the principles underlying anovel scalable, automated and decentralized system for dispatching am-bulances in the state of Delaware.

When a distress call is received, geocoding is used to assign a censustract code to the address and a binary search is performed on an orderedlist of census tract codes to locate the ambulance to be dispatched. If thesearch fails, the binary search is performed on the closest adjacent list ofcensus tract or ZIP codes in the proximity of the distress call location. Themajor components of the hot dispatch system are a command centernode receiving distress calls, geocoding the address, determining ambu-lance group proximity, and dispatching an ambulance; an ambulancestation node receiving dispatch information from the command center orfrom another ambulance groups.

If the command center is faulty, verifying availability of ambu-lance and taking over from a failed command center; an ambulance noderesponding to an emergency and communicating with the commandcenter and neighboring ambulance groups in the event of a breakdown;a database at each node containing ambulance information for each county,station, ZIP code, census tract code, IP addresses, and so on; and a com-munication module facilitating communication among nodes via theInternet (TCP/IP) using sockets.


BRANDY PERKINSSouthern University and A&M College Baton Rouge

An Invitro Study of the Effects of Fluoride on Humanand Bovine Enamel

All fluoride dentifrices (toothpastes) sold in the USA are classifiedas over-the-counter (OTC) drugs by the Food and Drug Administration(FDA). Thus, as with all OTC drugs, all fluoride dentifrices must meetFDA standards for safety and efficacy.

Two of the required FDA analyses employ the use of human enamel.Healthy human enamel is difficult to acquire, thus this study was de-signed to evaluate bovine enamel as a replacement substrate. Thebioavailability and bioequivalence of a fluoride dentifrice can be evalu-ated by conducting enamel fluoride uptake (EFU) and enamel solubilityreduction (ESR) testing, respectively.

Therefore, EFU and ESR analysis were conducted on both pow-dered bovine and human enamel with the three types of fluoride (stan-nous fluoride, sodium fluoride, and sodium monofluorophosphate). TheESR results indicate that bovine enamel and human enamel yield similartrends for the three source of enamel. Similarly, the EFU trends wereconsistent between both substrates.

Consequently, these studies indicate that powdered bovine enamelwould be a suitable substrate for conducting ESR and EFU analysis.

ROBERT PRATHERPrairie View A&M University

The 777 Flight Simulation Control System

Current flight simulation control systems are realistic but oftenincomplete. The simulated functions include three to four axis control,trim and limited programmability. Projects of this magnitude generallycost thousands of dollars and do not present significant constructiondetails. The objectives of the 777 Flight Simulation Control SystemProject are to decrease construction cost for virtual flight decks, decreasetime needed to research target aircraft and increase construction feasibil-ity through the use of extended documentation. The development of anew software series called Professional Multi-Function Displays (ProMFD) increased the realism of modern day flight simulators. The soft-ware completely and realistically simulates the actual multifunction dis-plays from the Boeing 777. In addition, the system remotely importsdata from the Microsoft Flight Simulator environment to make real-time,graphical adjustments to the necessary instruments. The electronic sys-tem features a keyboard emulation system which is far less expensive thanthe standard Extended/Programmable Input Controller. The 777 projectresulted in a four-step endeavor to create a realistic and cost-effectiveflight simulation control system. The research, electronic interface devel-opment, physical construction, and documentation produced an inex-pensive and well-documented flight simulation control system. Flightsimulation developers in over ten different countries are using the tech-niques developed under this project.

SHELDON RICHBURGJacqueline Carr, Co-authorFayetteville State University

Increased Cephalosporin Resistance Resulted fromModification of Preexisting ESBL Enzymesin Clinical Strains of Klebsiella pneumoniae

The emergence of novel resistance to ß-lactam antibiotics presentsa serious threat in the treatment of infections caused by gram-negativebacteria. Bacterial resistance towards third-generation ß-lactam antibiot-ics has been linked to the production of plasmid-mediated Extended-Spectrum Beta Lactamases (ESBLs). This investigation was undertakento identify novel ESBL genes in outbreak strains of Klebsiella pnemoniaecollected in an Atlanta hospital between 1992-1994. In this regard, 12Klebsiella pneumoniae strains were selected for this study from a pool of68 strains based on their ß-lactam resistance conferred by Kirby-Bauerdisk diffusion. Parent K. pneumoniae strains were conjugated with strep-tomycin-resistant E. coli (HB101). ESBL genes were identified intransconjugates by PCR using primers generated against the publishedSHV-1 sequence. PCR-generated products were sequenced and com-pared to the wild type sequence to identify variant ESBL genes. Dataobtained from sequence analysis suggested the identification of 12 novelenzymes related to SHV-5 and SHV-7 ESBLs. Further, comparison ofsequence analysis and cephalosporin susceptibility data suggest that in-crease cephalosporin resistance resulted from conformational changes in-duced by mutations in ESBL proteins. (Presented with Jacqueline Carr)


JOHN L. RIGUEURArnesto Bowman, Richard N. Thigpen, Arlinda Adderley, S. Morgan,

Co-authorsFisk University

Preparation and Characterization of Silicate Based Glass Ceramics

We have prepared different samples of silicate-based glass usingvarious amounts of SiO2 in different compositions. Measurements weretaken using the Scanning Differential Calorimeter- ThermogravimetricAnalysis (SDT). The SDT measurements showed the nucleating phaseof the silicate samples, as well as the glass transition phase. These measure-ments allowed us to see at what temperature crystallization of the glasswill occur. Knowing the crystallization temperature allows us to know atwhat temperature the glass can be ceramed.

ORRANE SMITHDwayne Stewart, Co-author

Florida A&M University

PLU2000

Mainstream society has been bombarded with a frenzy of elec-tronic toys from Tomogatchies and Furbies to Tickle-Me-Elmos. Yet nei-ther have far-reaching splendor that satisfy the demands of the shiftinginterests in society. The purpose of our project is to create a robot with anopen system to enable some flexibility for the changing desires of con-sumers. Much like modern PCs, upgrades can be made by attachingcomponents to the main unit and software will be provided to interfaceand control the new devices. The robots primary platform will consist offeatures such as speech and touch response and obstacle avoidance. IRemitters and detectors will be used for the obstacle avoidance capabilities.Tactile bumper switches will be used to help the robot navigate throughits environment. A CD player and on-board speakers will be used forcommunication with the user. In the future, the robot will be able to beoperated using a remote control. It will also have speech recognitioncapabilities. These devices will be orchestrated by the MotorolaMC68HC11 microcontroller and the program that governs their behav-ior will be Interactive C. Our main pursuit is to create an educational toythat will spark curiosity in robotics and programming and can respond tothe shift in consumer interest. (Presented with Dewayne Stewart)

VINCINCIA SMITHGrambling State University

Iron Regulated Pyruvate Excretion in Salmonella typhimurium

In the environment, iron is insoluble and inaccessible to bacteria.Bacteria have developed methods to capture insoluble iron and convert itto the soluble form that is useful to the cell. It was recently discovered thatSalmonella enterica excretes pyruvate when it is starved for iron. Re-

searchers have suggested that pyruvate may function as an iron chelatorwhen Salmonella resides in a host. It has been shown that iron and theferric uptake regulator protein regulate pyruvate excretion. Our currentworking model proposes that an unidentified enzyme, which contains aniron-sulfur (Fe-S) center, also controls pyruvate excretion. The focus ofmy project was to isolate and characterize genes involved in this regulatedpyruvate excretion. A series of mutant hunts were performed to isolategenes relevant to pyruvate excretion. Specifically, cells were plated onenriched media containing glucose and a pH indicator. If pyruvate wasexcreted, bacterial colonies were yellow because pyruvate is an acid. But ifa gene or genes causing pyruvate excretion were disrupted, colonies wouldbe purple because they would be basic. Three mutants have been identi-fied, each was shown to eliminate pyruvate excretion. Causative muta-tions are being sequenced to identify the disrupted genes. In a secondapproach, the role of aconitase in pyruvate excretion was directly tested.Aconitase may be a central player in this phenomenon because it func-tions as an iron responsive protein (as well as an enzyme in the TCA cycle)in eukaroytes. However, an iron responsive role has not yet been demon-strated for this protein in bacteria. The aconitase genes were cloned andaconitase mutants have been constructed in collaboration with A. Horswilland J.C. Escalante. These cells were tested for pyruvate excretion. Theaconitase mutants had decreased pyruvate levels, but the pyruvate levelswere not altered in strains containing aconitase clones.

DWAYNE STEWARTOrrane Smith, Co-authorFlorida A&M University

PLU2000

Mainstream society has been bombarded with a frenzy of elec-tronic toys from Tomogatchies and Furbies to Tickle-Me-Elmos. Yet nei-ther have far-reaching splendor that satisfy the demands of the shiftinginterests in society. The purpose of our project is to create a robot with anopen system to enable some flexibility for the changing desires of con-sumers. Much like modern PCs, upgrades can be made by attachingcomponents to the main unit and software will be provided to interfaceand control the new devices. The robots primary platform will consist offeatures such as speech and touch response and obstacle avoidance. IRemitters and detectors will be used for the obstacle avoidance capabilities.Tactile bumper switches will be used to help the robot navigate throughits environment. A CD player and on-board speakers will be used forcommunication with the user. In the future, the robot will be able to beoperated using a remote control. It will also have speech recognitioncapabilities. These devices will be orchestrated by the MotorolaMC68HC11 microcontroller and the program that governs their behav-ior will be Interactive C. Our main pursuit is to create an educational toythat will spark curiosity in robotics and programming and can respond tothe shift in consumer interest. (Presented with Orrane Smith)


BOBBIANN WILLIAMSSouthern University at New Orleans

HBCU’s Usage of Web Technologies - A Progress Report

Properly maintained Web content can provide operational andstrategic advantages to institutions of higher education. It can also hurtthem if care is not taken to ensure that the technology and the informa-tion is accurate and appealing. Similarly, a carefully constructed andmaintained web site can become a recruiting tool. On the other hand, apoorly designed and updated web site can become a cyber embarrass-ment and may result in negative perceptions about the institution. Nega-tive perceptions and experiences can discourage a prospective studentfrom considering the institution as his/her choice for a program or it cancause a corporate stakeholder to offer their assistance to a competinginstitution. This study examined the use of web technologies by Histori-cally Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). Specifically, the researchfocused on how HBCUs are using the Internet to convey institutionalinformation to the public and to facilitate student recruitment. All 124HBCUs were examined to determine their level of institutional disclo-sure using Web technologies. The variables investigated include numberof items disclosed, amount and type of information (breadth and depth),inclusion of sophisticated features. The results of this study should be ofinterests to web designers, administrators, counselors, recruiters, students,alumni, and academicians at the respective HBCUs. Social equity ex-perts, digital divide scientists, state regional board members and staff,corporate donors, and decision makers of legislative and funding agenciesmay find the outcomes reported in this research useful.

NINA WILLIAMSXavier University of Louisiana

Synthesis and Characterization of Potential Inhibitorsof Cytochromes P450 1A1 and 1B1

Mechanism-based inhibitors that are selective for importantmonooxygenase enzymes P450 1A1 or 1B1 could be useful for studiesof chemical carcinogenesis. Flavones (and specifically their acetylenicgroups) bind tightly to the active sites of P450 1A1 and 1B1 at the hemeiron of the enzyme, resulting in inhibition of tumor formation. Alkyla-tion of a phenol to produce propargyl ether, a flavone with an acetylenicgroup attached, provides the necessary structure to bind to the P450active site. GC/MS data show that this compound could potentiallyinhibit the actions of Cytochrome P450. Analysis of the naturally occur-ring isoflavones luteolin trimethyl ether and fustin using a fluorescence-based polarization assay indicate their respective affinities and bindingefficiencies to the Estrogen Receptor complex. High affinity for this com-plex indicates the ability of the isoflavones to attach to the active sites ofP450 and thus inhibit these enzymes.

Poster Presentations

BETTINA ADAMSMississippi Valley State University

Attempted Crystallization of the Matrix Protein, M1B, and X-RayData Collection of Insulin Crystal

Protein crystallography is a tool used by scientists to determine thethree-dimensional structure of protein. The process of structure determi-nation involves three steps: protein purification and crystallization, datacollection and processing, and model building and refinement. The firstgoal of this project was to find crystallization conditions for the matrixprotein (M1B) from the influenza virus. The second goal was to collectdiffraction data of an insulin crystal. The three-dimensional (3-D) struc-ture of the insulin crystal can be used to build a compound to treatdiabetes mellitus. The 3-D structure of a protein is important because itgives insights into the structural basis of the protein’s function. Thestructure permits the design of compounds that bind to and inhibitprotein activity. Many pharmaceutical companies are using 3-D struc-tures to find and design compounds against proteins that are involved inviral infections and cancer.

In recent years considerable attention has been given to academiccheating behaviors. Drawing on findings from previous studies, this studyexamined academic cheating behaviors as related to factors as gender, age,grade point average, field of study, and test anxiety. Employing a surveyquestionnaire, data were gathered from African-American students in aclassroom setting. Each respondent was asked to report on the followingself-reported cheating behaviors, perceived level of cheating in the class-


room, and faculty punishment for cheating. In addition to these areas ofassessment, respondents were asked to provide insight into why collegestudents cheat? Descriptive and inferential statistics were used for analyz-ing the data. As observed in previous studies, self-reported cheating be-haviors were more common in males than females. The results also indi-cated that the most frequently mentioned reasons for cheating were fail-ure to study, followed by a desire to obtain good grades and the fear offailure. Merton’s Strain Theory was applied toward an understandingand explanation of academic cheating.

MARCUS ARRINGTONFederico Flores, Co-authorGrambling State University

Academic Cheating Behaviors Among College Students: An Explor-atory Study

This study examined gender differences in academic cheating be-haviors. Employing a survey questionnaire, data were gathered from Af-rican-American students in a classroom setting. The t-test of independentsamples was used to analyze the data. As observed in previous studies,self-reported cheating behaviors were more common in males than fe-males. Gender-role socialization perspective was applied toward an un-derstanding and explanation of academic cheating.

ENGLEBERT BLACKMOREAlcorn State University

Building Linux Clusters

This project demonstrates how off-the-shelf computers and com-ponents, like Intel-style personal computers, can be modified en masseinto a high-performance computing engine. This applied research wascompleted in a computer networking laboratory at Alcorn State Univer-sity.

Computing problems always seem to meet or exceed availablecomputing resources. There is always a need for more processing power,network bandwidth, and greater input/output (I/O) capabilities. As tech-nology advances, more can be done with computers, which heightensexpectations of what can be done, which in turn pushes the leading edgeof technology to create faster computers. Super-Computers have resultedfrom this technology development.

Supercomputers are used to perform various operations like solv-ing Numerical Computation problems, to generate computer generatedimagery (CGI), to forecast weather, etc., in parallel which would take a lotof time if performed on a single machine. Though supercomputers canperform all the applications rapidly and accurately, the main drawbacksare that they are extremely expensive to develop, maintain and program.

This project is a prototypical Linux cluster, a low cost, yet efficientsystem for processing large data sets relating to space-science, research,weather, graphics, etc. It is basically a network of workstations intercon-nected by a hub, switch or a router to balance network performance.With the addition of message passing software such as Message Passing

Interface (MPI), a powerful yet economical parallel processing computercan be built. Advantages of Linux Clusters include free operating systemwhich can be downloaded from the Internet, high reliability, works withoff-the-shelf components, runs on any kind of computer architectureavailable and supports most of the peripheral devices and has thousandsof applications.

Supercomputing is one of the biggest areas of research in variousprivate and government organizations. The main goal of this project is todevelop a Linux Cluster at Alcorn State University to meet its HighPerformance Computing needs for research.

COURTNEY CHATMANDurund Elzey and Osahon Eribo, Co-authors

University of New Orleans

What is Albedo?

Albedo is the fraction of light that is reflected by a body or asurface. It is commonly used in astronomy to describe the reflectiveproperties of planets, satellites, and asteroids; however, it can be used toshow the amount of reflective light upon common substances on theEarth. Albedo is usually classified into two general types: normal andbond albedo. Normal albedo is a measure of a surface’s relative brightnesswhen illuminated and observed vertically. Bond albedo, named afterAmerican astronomer George P. Bond, is the fraction of the total incidentsolar reflected energy by a planet back to space or the measure of theplanet’s energy balance. In this case, we used the distance from a commonsurface to determine albedo. Using a Calculator-Based Laboratory (CBL)with a light probe as the sun, albedo was easily calculated and accepted.Using common surfaces such as snow, water, sand, dirt, and mud madethe CBL read much easier. (Presented with Durund Elzey)

SILVIA COSENZA

Le Roy Marrow, Co-authorUniversity of New Orleans

Laser Doppler Anemometry

Invented in 1964 by Yeh and Cummins, Laser Doppler Anemom-etry is a well-proven technique for measuring fluid velocity accuratelyand non-invasively and has been used as such for more than four de-cades. It is a well-established technique that gives information about flowvelocity. Some of its key features are its non-intrusive measurements (op-tical technique), non-intrusive technique (no calibration required), highaccuracy, and very high spatial resolution due to small measurementvolume, and the ability in reversing flow. It requires the utilization oftracer particles. Laser light illuminates the flow, and light scattered fromparticles in the flow is collected and processed. A common practice, asingle laser beam is split into two equal-intensity beams, which are fo-cused at a common point in the flow field. An interference pattern isformed at the point where the beams intersect, defining the measuringvolume. Particles moving through the measuring volume scatter light of


varying intensity, which is collected by a photodetector.These small particles in a current pass through the LDA measuring

volume and scatter the light whose frequency is shifted by the Dopplereffect due to the particle movement. The frequency change of the scat-tered light is detected and converted into a particle or flow velocity.Applications of the LDA includes Laminar and Turbulent flow, investi-gations on aerodynamics, liquid flows, and biological and environmentalapplications. An important application of the LDA in a biological fieldlies in the studies of atherosclerosis. The branches of the terminal aorta,specifically the right and left iliac arteries, are the main players in this typeof research and the usage of the LDA.

The main reason for looking into this region is that regions of thesearteries immediately downstream of the terminal aorta are typically sus-ceptible to atherosclerosis in humans. The LDA allows us to make acalculation of the nearly “point” velocity measurements. From these mea-surements an estimate of the shear stresses at the wall of the vessel can bemade. This helps in understanding the relationships between vascularpermeability and shear stress experienced by the endothelium. The LDAis also being used in current research on the hydraulic behavior of mean-dering flood plains. This research is aimed at reducing problems causedby river flooding. (Presented with Le Roy Marrow)

DURUND ELZEYCourtney Chatman and Osahon Eribo, Co-authors

University of New Orleans

What is Albedo?

Albedo is the fraction of light that is reflected by a body or asurface. It is commonly used in astronomy to describe the reflectiveproperties of planets, satellites, and asteroids; however, it can be used toshow the amount of reflective light upon common substances on theEarth. Albedo is usually classified into two general types: normal andbond albedo. Normal albedo is a measure of a surface’s relative brightnesswhen illuminated and observed vertically. Bond albedo, named afterAmerican astronomer George P. Bond, is the fraction of the total incidentsolar reflected energy by a planet back to space or the measure of theplanet’s energy balance. In this case, we used the distance from a commonsurface to determine albedo. Using a Calculator-Based Laboratory (CBL)with a light probe as the sun, albedo was easily calculated and accepted.Using common surfaces such as snow, water, sand, dirt, and mud madethe CBL read much easier. (Presented with Courtney Chatman)

VIVIAN GALICIAChristopher Martinez, M. Gonzalez, and Norma Sanchez, Co-author

California State University Los Angeles

Detecting an Alu Insertion in Humans

In Bioscience 46(1) p32 (1996), “The Mobile Genetic ElementAlu in the Human Genome,” Gabriel E. Novick reports that only ap-proximately 10 percent to 20 percent of human DNA encodes func-

tional sequences. Most genetic material constitutes “junk” DNA. Alusequences are the largest family of short interspersed repetitive elements(SINEs) in humans. Alu elements are thought to turn on or off othergenes. The study of Alu elements has led to the discovery of geneticdisorders such as hemophilia and familial hypercholesterolemia. Mostimportantly, this type of research provides new directions for genomemapping and biochemical research. In this experiment, polymerase chainreaction (PCR) was used to amplify a short region of chromosome eightto look for a 300 base-pair Alu element called TPA-25. This insert isparticularly useful for experimental purposes because its expression isdimorphic: it is either present or absent in individuals. TPA-25 is alsopractical for a population study because its presence is phenotypicallyneutral. The objective of this study is to compare the expression of TPA-25 in a male versus female population and to calculate allelic frequenciesfor the selected population as a whole. Preliminary results indicate thatthe expression of TPA-25 is not preferentially expressed in either sex butis distributed randomly in individuals throughout the population. *Worksupported in part through funding by the Louis Stokes California StateUniversity (CSU) Alliance for Minority Participation and, in part, throughfunding by the CSU Los Angeles Minority Science and EngineeringImprovement Program and faculty advisor Raymond Garcia.

DEANDRA HAYESXavier University of Louisiana

Visualization of Materials Simulation on an ImmersaDesk

By using the ImmersaDesk R2, we render materials simulations ona 4’x5' resolution projected screen which allows the user to interact witha displayed 3-D object. A 3-D box containing several groups of atomswere drawn by using a program called OpenGL; whereby using theImmersaDesk goggles and joystick, one is able to move in and around thebox as well as zoom in and out. The main objective is to use theImmersaDesk and select a certain region of the box and be able to sortregions from the item closest to the viewer to the item farthest from theviewer.


CANDACE JOHNSONLouisiana State University

Genotyping for TNF-alpha Promoter Region Gene PolymorphismsUsing Tracheal Aspirates from Infants with

Hyaline Membrane Disease

In order to determine if there is an association between the expres-sion of the high-producing allele and the development of bronchopul-monary dysplasia in preterm infants, the purpose of this investigationwas to: determined the sufficiency of tracheal aspirates in constituting asuitable DNA source for TNF-alpha genotyping, determine if the DNAobtained from the tracheal aspirates yields a sufficient and appropriatepolymerase chain reaction product based on the published TNF- alphagene sequence, and develop SouthernBlotting techniques in order to begingenotyping patients for the -308 gua-nine or adenine allele.

LESLIE LOMBARDUniversity of New Orleans

CO2 Laser

This project was created to fa-miliarize the operation of CO

2-Laser

to a group of Louis Stokes LouisianaAlliance for Minority Participationscholars. The Laser’s setup, alignment,firing, and shutdown was assigned toeach member of the group. The entire group was charged with familiar-izing themselves with various safety procedures and protocols and a gen-eral familiarization of the PHYWE CO

2-Laser. Each student was respon-

sible for researching their assigned procedure and demonstrating theoperation of the laser. The group then setup and reassembled the disas-sembled laser. Alignment was initiated using a smaller HeNe alignmentlaser.

Once the laser was aligned within the first alignment criteria, thegas was released into the laser tube and its pressure monitored and re-corded for purposes of adjustment for maximum power output andefficiency. Power was supplied via a HV-DC power supply and recordedalso for maximum power and efficiency. The laser was then fired and itsoutput recorded. The laser was then realigned to its optimal setting. Oncealignment was within the optimal range, the laser was fired again and thegroup recorded a set of successive increases in gas pressure and voltageincreases in an attempt to reach the Laser’s optimal power output. Thedata was recorded and graphed. (Presented with Jolene Robin)

LE ROY MARROWSilvia Cosenza, Co-authorUniversity of New Orleans

Laser Doppler Anemometry

Invented in 1964 by Yeh and Cummins, Laser Doppler An-emometry is a well-proven technique for measuring fluid velocity accu-rately and non-invasively and has been used as such for more than fourdecades. It is a well-established technique that gives information aboutflow velocity. Some of its key features are its non-intrusive measurements(optical technique), non-intrusive technique (no calibration required),high accuracy, and very high spatial resolution due to small measurementvolume, and the ability in reversing flow. It requires the utilization of

tracer particles. Laser light illuminatesthe flow, and light scattered from par-ticles in the flow is collected and pro-cessed. A common practice, a single la-ser beam is split into two equal-inten-sity beams, which are focused at a com-mon point in the flow field. An inter-ference pattern is formed at the pointwhere the beams intersect, defining themeasuring volume. Particles movingthrough the measuring volume scatterlight of varying intensity, which is col-lected by a photodetector.

These small particles in a currentpass through the LDA measuring vol-ume and scatter the light whose fre-quency is shifted by the Doppler effectdue to the particle movement. The fre-

quency change of the scattered light is detected and converted into aparticle or flow velocity. Applications of the LDA includes Laminar andTurbulent flow, investigations on aerodynamics, liquid flows, and bio-logical and environmental applications. An important application of theLDA in a biological field lies in the studies of atherosclerosis.

The branches of the terminal aorta, specifically the right and leftiliac arteries, are the main players in this type of research and the usage ofthe LDA. The main reason for looking into this region is that regions ofthese arteries immediately downstream of the terminal aorta are typicallysusceptible to atherosclerosis in humans. The LDA allows us to make acalculation of the nearly “point” velocity measurements. From these mea-surements an estimate of the shear stresses at the wall of the vessel can bemade. This helps in understanding the relationships between vascularpermeability and shear stress experienced by the endothelium. The LDAis also being used in current research on the hydraulic behavior of mean-dering flood plains. This research is aimed at reducing problems causedby river flooding. (Presented with Silvia Cosenza)


SABINE MAYARDWillma Saffran, Ph.D., Co-authors

Queens College of City University New York

Despair of Double Strand Damage in Mutagenic RepairDeficient Yeast

DNA repair is important for the survival of all organisms, includ-ing baker’s yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Mutations and chemical at-tacks can alter the DNA structure. Psoralen crosslinks are harmful to cells.For if the cell does not repair itself it will die. Repair in the cell will lead tomutation. Cells deficient in the rad5 gene were analyzed. This gene isrequired for mutagenic repair. It is believed that nucleotide excisionrepair and recombination will work. The restriction enzyme Xbal wasused to look for the site where the damage is. Then BsiWI was also addedthe samples of DNA. BsiWI is an enzyme that cuts DNA at the mutationsite. In other words, by adding the BsiWI, a mutation can be distin-guished. Data shows that BsiWI had cut most of the samples indicatingthat there were not any mutation. The latter procedures have beenapplied to another batch of samples from the strain 14A. Evidence ofgene conversion was found in six of the samples. Fewer mutations areexpected because these strains lack rad5 gene. This indicates that whenone repair pathway is blocked, damage is channeled to an alternate path-way. Using the same procedure as described, more samples are beinganalyzed for a batch of samples from the strain 13A.

GLORIA MOORESouthern University at New Orleans

Physicochemical Factors and Primary Productivity Studies in FourWater Bodies at LUMCON

Physicochemical properties (temperature, salinity, depth, and sus-pended particles) and primary productivity in four water bodies (AcadianaDock, Front Pond, Back Pond, and Pumping Station) at Louisiana Uni-versities of Marine Consortium (LUMCON) were studied for a period of10 weeks during summer 2000 and the results are summarized for aposter presentation. We followed standard techniques in collection andanalysis of samples (depth by secchi disk method, temperature using anormal thermometer, salinity using a salinometer, chlorophyll using afluorometer, and primary productivity using Winkler’s light and darkbottle technique). Temperature in water ranges from 270C (AcadianaDock) to 350C (Pumping Station). Salinity ranges from eight ppt to 22ppt in samples collected from different sites. The minimum and maxi-mum sechhi disk appearance in water bodies were 1.0 - 2.5 feet.

Maximum chlorophyll concentration was found in samples col-lected from Acadiana Dock and there was a consistent increase in chloro-phyll from week one to week five of our study. The chlorophyll distribu-tion measurements are an index of biomass. Chlorophyll changes inresponse to processes of production, and is a measure of the abundance ofphytoplankton. The measurement of dissolved oxygen concentration isan indicator of the net trophic status. We greatly appreciate the financialsupport provided by LUMCON to conduct this research.

LADONYA PITRESouthern University and A&M College Baton Rouge

Why Do Americans Dislike Welfare?

Welfare has received extreme disapproval ever since its establish-ment in the early 1930s. In understanding why Americans dislike wel-fare, political analysts have conducted extensive research. Some observersspeculate that Americans’ attitudes towards blacks have a significant af-fect on their attitudes towards welfare. In this paper, based on the priorwork of Martin Gilens, I evaluate the argument that Americans’ attitudestowards blacks affect their attitudes towards welfare. I develop a statisticalmodel that allows me to examine how Americans’ attitudes towards blacksshape their attitudes towards welfare, controlling for the effects of othervariables. Utilizing data from the 1994, American National ElectionStudy, I estimate a model in which welfare attitudes are a function ofperceptions of welfare recipients as undeserving, racial attitudes, liberal/conservative ideology, party identification, and several demographic vari-ables. Using multivariate regression analysis, I conclude that racial atti-tudes and perceptions of welfare recipients as undeserving are statisticallysignificant. The results of this study suggest that in 1994 while attitudestowards blacks has an effect on attitudes towards welfare, individualismhas the most critical effect on attitudes towards welfare

SCARLETH RAMIREZAntonino Monterrosa, Hung Nham, and Nohemi Rangel, Co-authors


Motion Effects in Organic Sorption - Ground WaterContamination

In the Environmental Scientific Technology Journal 25(7) p.1223(1991), William Ball and P. Roberts’ “Long-Term Sorption of Haloge-nated Organic Chemicals by Aquifer Material” states, “of the identifiedorganic contaminants in subsurface drinking water supplies, organicchemicals are detected at the highest concentrations and with the greatestfrequency.” In the past, the goal for cleanup of such organic waste hasbeen to decontaminate up to levels that would meet all applicable, rel-evant or appropriate environmental standards. It has been clear that incertain situations cleanup levels may be unrealistic and unattainable. Inpart, this situation has been caused by the uncertainty that exists regard-ing molecular interactions, especially between the contaminants and theenvironment.

In fact, when referring to groundwater certain factors such as move-ment have been omitted. Movement is kinetic energy which affects therate of reactions at the molecular level in such a way that it changes thedecontamination process. Our results show that the increased motion ofan organic mixture increased the adsorption of the contaminants into thesilicate. This approach offers an alternative way to examine and to analyzedecontamination procedures. *Work supported in part through funding


by the Louis Stokes California State University (CSU) Alliance for Mi-nority Participation and, in part, through funding by the CSU Los Ange-les Minority Science and Engineering Improvement Program and facultyadvisor Crist Khachikian.

MILTON RAYMississippi Valley State University

Resolving Web Redundancy

Organizations want to produce web pages that are informativeand easy to use. Many organizations have multiple web sites to deliverinformation to the World Wide Web community. One of the most com-mon problems with creating this information is web redundancy. Webredundancy is presenting the same information on different web pagesthat might be on different web sites. The University of Alabama at Bir-mingham (UAB) main web site and the UAB Electrical & ComputingEngineering web site are used to illustrate solution approaches to resolv-ing the web redundancy problem. The solution approaches exploredinclude dynamic generation of pages, multiple pages, manually main-tained, cross-linked pages, and web page scraping.

JOLENE ROBINand Leslie Lombard, University of New Orleans

CO2 Laser

This project was created to familiarize the operation of CO2-Laser

to a group of Louis Stokes Louisiana Alliance for Minority Participationscholars. The Laser’s setup, alignment, firing, and shutdown was assignedto each member of the group. The entire group was charged with famil-iarizing themselves with various safety procedures and protocols and ageneral familiarization of the PHYWE CO

2-Laser.

Each student was responsible for researching their assigned proce-dure and demonstrating the operation of the laser. The group then setupand reassembled the disassembled laser. Alignment was initiated using a

smaller HeNe alignment laser. Once the laser was aligned within the firstalignment criteria, the gas was released into the laser tube and its pressuremonitored and recorded for purposes of adjustment for maximum poweroutput and efficiency. Power was supplied via a HV-DC power supplyand recorded also for maximum power and efficiency. The laser was thenfired and its output recorded.

The laser was then realigned to its optimal setting. Once alignmentwas within the optimal range, the laser was fired again and the grouprecorded a set of successive increases in gas pressure and voltage increasesin an attempt to reach the Laser’s optimal power output. The data wasrecorded and graphed. (Presented with Leslie Lombard)

KARLA SOLORIOShandana Ishaq and Michelle Madrid, Co-authors


The Effects of Saline Concentration on Elodeacanadensis

In Aquatic Botany 52(1-2) p. 75 (1995), Edward Glenn, T. L.Thompson, R. Frye, J. Riley, and D. Baumgartner investigated the “Ef-fects of salinity on growth and evapotranspiration of Typha domingensisPers.” The researchers concluded, “the salinity imposed severe constraintsto Typha growth and distribution.” Their results stated that the inflow ofsalinity caused deterioration of the Typha strands owing to excess salinity.Recent studies indicate that overpopulation, industrialization, and pollu-tion are only a few factors currently contributing to the freshwater short-age worldwide. It’s known that freshwater is a crucial element for thesurvival of all living organisms. Without freshwater, most biological mecha-nisms would not be able to function.

The long-term objective of this study is to grow fresh water aquaticplants in saline solutions in order to lessen the need for fresh water. Thus,the tolerance of Elodea canadensis to salt was tested to define the survivallimits of a freshwater aquatic plant in saline habitats. Our results showedthat Elodea canadensis has the ability to resist saline habitats only inconcentrations of three to four parts per thousand of NaCl, indicatingthat it is rather sensitive to salt.

*Work supported in part through funding by the Louis StokesCalifornia State University (CSU) Alliance for Minority Participationand in part through funding by the CSU Los Angeles Minority Scienceand Engineering Improvement Program and faculty advisor John Gamon.


BRENTERIA TRAVISNathan Smith, Co-author

Mississippi Valley State University

Graphical User Interface for Filtration Simulation

A filtration simulation developed by the Center for AdvancedEngineering Fibers and Films that models flow through porous filtermedia needed a graphical user interface to make the program more visu-ally appealing, facilitate the user input of data, and prevent user access toprogram code. Interface development began with an elaborate detailedlayout. The layout consisted of three major screens: first a screen a l -lowing the user to specify various parameters; a second a screen allowingthe user to input the total execution time of the simulation and a timestep that divides the total filtration time into separate loops; and finally, ascreen showing that the execution of the program is complete. After thelayout was developed each screen along with additional popup figureswas individually produced using the Guide Control Panel of MATLAB.MATLAB (Matrix Laboratory) is a high performance language for tech-nical computing. It integrates computation, visualization, and program-ming in an easy to use environment where problems and solutions areexpressed in a familiar mathematical notation. Program linkage and pro-viding callbacks (simple programs that operate each push button on theGUI) was the final strip in building the GUI. The GUI enhances theusability of the filtration simulation. The enhancements are demonstratedby the main screen of the GUI. The screen allows the user to specifyvarious parameters and then successfully places them in the Center’sfiltration model. It also provides the user with the ability to clear, save,and reload the parameters. The “user friendly” enhancement (graphicaluser interface) created for the filtration model successfully executes theprogram and reduces user interference with code. The interface will allowresearchers to input process conditions to customize the simulation.

ERIKA WINDHAMMississippi Valley State University

The Development of a Program File for Generating 3-D SolidModels of the Superconducting Magnet Coils

My research exemplifies details of how a program file was devel-oped for generating three-dimensional solid models of the superconduct-ing magnet coils. The purpose of the program is to aid mechanical engi-neers in the creation of three-dimensional solid models of the supercon-ducting magnet coils form given data points. 3-D solid models facilitatein performing 3-D magnetic and stress analysis of the superconductingcoils by the design engineer. The program file was created to execute I-DEAS solid modeling program. The I-DEAS software includes an easy-to-use recording capability known as a macro. This facility lets the userrecord anything that he or she has done with the software, such as settingup views or creating standard parts, for automatic repetition at some latertime. A full-function programming language supports the software. Thislanguage provides the ability for the user to write his or her own applica-tion programs. A program file is an external file of I-DEAS commandsthat you can build from within the software and then edit with the hosttext editor. Program and user-defined variables can be included.


THE LAW OF PERFORMANCE AND EXCELLENCE IN RESEARCH

A COMPREHENSIVE, PRECISE, DYNAMIC, AND QUINTESSENTIAL GUIDE TO SUCCESSFUL CAREERS IN SCIENCE,MATHEMATICS, ENGINEERING, AND TECHNOLOGY (SMET) FIELDS AND OTHERS

KEYNOTE MESSAGE

DIOLA BAGAYOKO, PH.D.Director, Timbuktu Academy

Southern University System Distinguished Professor ofPhysics and Chancellor’s Fellow

Director of Campus Coordination, Louis Stokes LouisianaAlliance for Minority Participation

“Luck is what happens when preparation meets or makes, recognizes, and acts on opportunity.”

This paper first identifies essential attributes (knowledge, skills, experience, behavioral traits) that undergird successfulcareers in SMET and other fields. It then presents the Power Law of Performance and the Law of Performance thatassert that any individual not suffering from a severe physiological or mental impairment can excel in any discipline ofstudy, including SMET fields, and can secure successful and rewarding research-based careers. Devoting adequatetime to learning and to the practice of research, according to the Law of Performance or of Practice (LP), is the acondition that applies to every individual—irrespective of “perceived” notions of “innate” abilities. Using metathinking, we attempt to warn the reader about common errors and misconceptions related to careers, in general, andthe ones in SMET, in particular. Specifically, the dynamic or ever-changing nature of work, market, and relatedenvironments is a fundamental reason for acquiring the versatility bestowed by research performance and skills. In thecontext of changes that are becoming faster, due to developments in SMET, research proficiency is both a warranty forcontinued employment, by virtue of its versatility, and of happiness, due to its many reward$ that include money andvery much more. Hence, beginning immediately and continuing to prepare oneself is the key to excellence.

INTRODUCTION

While we have no need or intention to sound pretentious, we arecompelled to warn the reader that no less than total concentration andthe harnessing of most intellectual attributes are needed to appreciatefully what follows. Given the complexity of the issues, we had to utilizeuniversal and powerful principles to address the topic in a comprehensive

fashion. We did so by avoiding minutia that change with time and byfocusing on overarching principles, trends, and patterns that are germaneto the dynamics of human activities—from antiquity to the present andbeyond. The size of this paper dictates that the reader be referred tocurrent and future sources that delve into the details of careers in manyprofessions. A second reason for this referral stems from the fact that thesedetails change continually. The “smart” approach, in such instances, is toget the permanent sources of information as opposed to a specific piece of


information that may be obsolete in a year or less [1]. The rest of thisarticle follows the order intimated in the abstract.

THE “IMPERATIVES” FOR A SUCCESSFUL CAREER(IN RESEARCH IN SMET)

Language and Communication SkillsA detailed analysis of the tasks a person performs at most jobs

reveals the following: (a) the need to read and to understand informationfrom a variety of sources, including written and oral sources, diagrams,videos, etc.; (b) the need to transmit information to others in a flawlessfashion—this perfect transmission requires that the information possessthe following qualities: accuracy, precision, completeness, coherence, and clar-ity (i.e., APC3); the volume of information to transmit and the need forcontinuity often dictate that a flawless transmission include written ma-terials; (c) the fact that learning is cumulative and that the more oneknows about a subject or task, the better and faster one can learn addi-tional, related materials, topics, processes, or instruments; and (d) the factthat thinking, after all, is done in a language.

In the case of a research careers in competitive sectors (public orprivate), having enough knowledge and experience to read and under-stand the literature and being able to write articles that pass peer ordepartmental reviews are simply non-negotiable. Further, the continualchanges noted above require, to avoid obsolescence, that one follow newdevelopments in a regular fashion—through professional magazines (i.e.,science, nature), journals, web sites, books, and conferences. To do so,however, demands competitive language and communication skills (i.e.,reading, writing, listening, and speaking). These skills, that are acquiredand enhanced through practice, constitute the first “imperative” for asuccessful career. The implication of this everlasting reality is that there isno substitute for the mastery of the applicable language and of the utili-zation of the key qualities of information (i.e., APC3). This mastery has toinclude that of the grammar, vocabulary, syntax, etc. in that language—as verified by standardized tests as opposed to self-misleading perceptionsof mastery [see American College Test (ACT), the Graduate Record Ex-amination (GRE), and other tests]. Consequently, from pre-K to the Ph.D.and beyond, very well-informed individuals regularly and consistently workto hone their language and communication skills. (Well, parents have toensure the regular and consistent learning up to middle school, in many cases.)

Homework: As all good professors, the only way we can verify thatlearning occurred is to close the feedback loop. So, the homework to bedone for the above chapter on “competitive language and communica-tion skills” is the following. Conduct three or more interviews of successfulresearchers and professionals (government, academia, or in industry).Design and ask ten (10) or more questions aimed a determining theextent to which language and communication skills play a role in theirwork. Hint: Do they get information from others? Do they transmitinformation to others? Do they write proposals? Do they have to followguidelines or procedure manuals? Do they write strategic or other plans?Do they write reports or any kind? Do they conduct reviews (that requireextensive reading)? Do they publish? Do they receive or send letters,memoranda, or electronic mails? Without APC3, how do they avoid mis-understandings of all kinds—particularly when vital or critical issues are

at $take? To what extent have their communication skills (i.e., languageand APC3) contributed to their advancement or promotion?

How could they function successfully without the communica-tion tasks noted above? Please note, in these web and e-mail days, thatmany of these interviews could be conducted at a distance!

Mathematics (the language of Science and Technology)Numbers and mathematics, believe it or not, have been inextrica-

bly woven into the fabric of human activities from the dawn of humanityto present. Further, scientific and technological developments that partlyrest on mathematics are rendering the master of some mathematics aninescapable condition for successfully fitting into current and particu-larly future societies. This assertion could be substantiated, at an elemen-tary level, by looking around oneself. What do you see, hear, or feel thatcan be totally characterized without using mass (numbers), shape (num-bers and geometry), volume (numbers and geometry), or intensity (as oflight or of sound, numbers)? At the intermediate level, motions of allkinds require numbers and mathematics for a complete description. Itwill require more than one book to describe the mathematics that wentinto the design and production of tools of all genres [i.e., kitchen appli-ances, pieces of equipment in hospitals, cars, airplanes, computers, so-phisticated software products performing formidable operations, etc.].The ubiquity of mathematics is the reason it is the second “imperative”for a successful career (and for simply fitting functionally into presentand future societies).

The direct and obvious consequence of the above status of mathematicsis that from pre-K to the Ph.D. and beyond, well-informed individuals workregularly and persistently to acquire, maintain, and enhance their mastery ofmathematics. This mastery, as in the case of language and communicationskills, is to be determined by objective measures and not delusional per-ceptions or ideas of mastery. Be kind and inform your younger relativesand your descendants that a solid mathematics course (or more) shouldbe taken every year of high school—up to calculus, at a minimum. In-form parents you know that Algebra I should be taken in the 8th grade, atthe latest. In college, the calculus series is a necessity, from calculus I to III.(Pre-calculus courses may need to be taken, before the first college calcu-lus, if the high school mathematics was not adequate; before this paper, itis presumed that many people, unfortunately, did not know the utterseriousness with which mathematics has to be taken at all grade levels.)SMET undergraduate students should generally take, in addition to thecalculus series, differential equation. Physics majors should add complexvariables, vector calculus, and college level linear algebra. We providebelow the general way of determining the needed mathematics coursesfor any major.

Mathematics is the language of science and technology, period, under-standing it or not. Unfortunately, one has to know a great deal of scienceand technology to know appropriately the extent to which this assertionis true. So, a student is generally at a loss as to what mathematics coursesto take and in what sequence—given that she/he does not know enoughto know. The simple solution to this conundrum is to consult seriously(not in passing) with successful faculty members, researchers, engineers,technologists, medical doctors, etc. while one if far away from their level.(We advise doing it in the freshman or sophomore years if possible.) Asynthesis of the responses from these professionals as to what mathemat-ics courses to take and in what order will provide a clear road map. The


reason this is critical rests in part on the fact that knowledge is oftensequential or taxonomic in mathematics, i.e., Algebra I is needed beforeAlgebra II, irrespective of one’s “innate” abilities. (Remember that no “in-nate abilities” guarantee championship titles in the Olympics, the NationalBasket Ball Association (NBA), the National Football Association (NFL),tennis, golf, etc., without extensive and sustained practice over time. Simi-larly, it takes studying, reviews, practice to excel in intellectual endeavors—sosays the law of performance discussed below!) Oh, some people do notunderstand that most difficulties in a mathematics class, for someone whois studying appropriately, are due to an inadequate background and not toany lack of innate “smartness” as explained below with the law of perfor-mance.

Fundamentals of Probability and StatisticsOur third “imperative” is “fundamentals of probability and statis-

tics,” a part of mathematics. While space limitation does not allow us toprovide details on this affirmation, its importance is the reason it is ad-dressed here by itself. This importance includes system failure issues inengineering, the plethora of probability and statistical systems in physics,and the inescapable presence of probability and statistics in dealing withlarge numbers of anything (people, electrons, atoms and molecules, nu-clei and their decay processes, the parts in a complex system, etc.). Under-standing that statistical correlations have nothing to do with causation, ingeneral, may save one from falling under the spell of false claims by ill-informed sources. The complexity of issues in science, technology, and insociety makes it patently necessary that a leader, lawyer, scientist, engineer,well-meaning politician, etc., understand the fundamentals of probabil-ity and statistics in order to avoid doing the opposite of what she/hemeant! The June 15 issue of Science reads in part, on page 1971 [2],“statistics have become indispensable to scientists in almost every discipline.”

If you find the little book entitled “How to use and misuse statis-tics,” or a similar one, you will have illustrations of the above point. Theoverall need for “probability and statistics” and the need for it in mostgraduate programs in SMET demand that one take at least an introductorycourse in “probability and statistics” before completing the Bachelor’s degreeprogram. In some SMET departments, the above introduction is pro-vided in some courses (i.e., statistics and thermodynamics, in the case ofsome physics departments). The online textbook by David Lane of RiceUniversity [2] is an ideal self-help tool for an introduction to the basics ofstatistics. The online, interactive demonstrations of key concepts are notedby Science as a distinction of this new resource that was developed in partwith funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF).

RESEARCH PROFICIENCY:ULTIMATE VERSATILITY, LIFELONG EMPLOYMENT

WARRANTY, ETC.

The process of creating new knowledge, i.e., research, is a verycomplex one. To begin with, it generally demands “competitive languageand communication skills” that partly enable life long learning. In SMET,it also demands the mastery of some fundamental mathematics: the scopeand depth of the needed mathematics vary with SMET fields, the ex-perimental or theoretical nature of the work, and other factors. Pleaserecall that without some serious mathematics, one cannot even read manypublications in SMET let alone add to them.

Research proficiency or expertise includes knowledge, compre-hension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. These six intel-lectual attributes are known as categories of the Bloom taxonomy of thecognitive domain. As noted above, research proficiency demands “com-petitive language and communication skills” and “adequate knowledgeand skills in some areas of mathematics”—particularly in the case of SMETfields. The performance of research in SMET often follows the scientificmethod that can be written in a variety of ways. Our succinct renditionfollows: (1) observations and note taking in accord with APC3; (2) searchfor explanations in the scientific literature and note taking according toAPC3; (3) design of experiment or construction of a theory—accompa-nied with written notes that follow APC3; (4) conduct of experiments orapplications of a new theory—with detailed notes obeying APC3; (5)analysis of findings (from experiment or theory) and comparison withobservations and established, theoretical or experimental knowledge—documented in writing that obeys APC3; (6) writing report and publish-ing findings—while paying special attention to accuracy, precision, com-pleteness, coherence, and clarity (APC3) for every proposition or state-ment; (7) in case of problems in a step (or if the comparison in step 5 doesnot lead to agreements), then go back to (1), (2), (3), or (4) to (a) look forpossible oversights or errors or (b) formulate a new hypothesis, design anew experiment, or to construct a new theory. It must be clearly under-stood that while high school and other discussions of the scientific methoddo not generally include the extensive, detailed, and complete writingaccording to APC3, this writing is the hallmark of an understanding ofthe actual scientific process or method. Laboratory journals or researchjournals or notes, the latter for theoreticians, are indispensable in theactual practice of research. (Let the hypocentral need for accurate, precise,complete, coherent, and clear notes be another reminder of the indispens-able role of “language and communication skills” in SMET and in mostintellectual endeavors.)

Once the research questions are posed, most research can be thoughtof a “problem-solving”! Indeed, the only difference may be that someresearch problems may require months or years to solve completely whilesome mundane or classroom problems can be solved rapidly. Essentially,however, research is just a form of problem-solving. Some of the research-ers we admire the most, besides the ones in SMET, include law enforce-ment and forensic professionals. For the latter groups, the critically ofpaying attention to every detail and of recording every detail cannot beoveremphasized. Indeed, in this area, some data or information can be lostforever—making a solution to the problem extremely difficult if notimpossible. For training oneself in problem-solving, i.e., some aspects ofresearch, the reader is urged to consult “A Problem-Solving Paradigm(PSP)” by Bagayoko, Kelley, and Hasan [3], in College Teaching. For thefirst time to our knowledge, there is finally a comprehensive way forteaching or learning problem-solving. The mental attributes or disposi-tions involved in problem-solving are often the same ones for research—even though the specific, technical knowledge and skills for research indifferent fields could be vastly different.

We assert that research proficiency through the process describedabove is applicable to most human activities! In particular, the actualpractice of research in SMET fields and in others follows our seven stepsrigorously. Hence, research proficiency acquired in a discipline, except forsome specific technical knowledge and skills, is transferable to researchprocesses in many others. This transferability (i.e., versatility) is a key


THE LAW OF PERFORMANCE:Adequate practice begets excellence in school, college and in

research—the same way it does in sport!

reason that research proficiency is our fourth “imperative” for a successfulcareer in SMET and other fields. When a division in a major corporationis closed, for any reasons, professionals with research proficiency willgenerally be transferred to other divisions or will easily find other re-search-based jobs in the private or public sectors. There lies the reasonthat research proficiency is lifelong employment warranty.

In the event the reader does not know, we should underscore theloss of employment by individuals with no research experiences or skills,upon the closure of their divisions, and the great difficulties they have infinding comparable positions that pay adequately. The increasingly rapiddevelopments in science, mathematics, engineering, and technology arefueling the changes in the job markets. [Unfortunately, some are not stillgetting it that good salaries without research skills are very often traps; if andwhen robots, new technologies, or new knowledge render their positions irrel-evant, they will find themselves in debt (house, car, and other notes) andwithout a meaningful prospect for employment or self-employment.]

The above point is very difficult to understand. The difficultiesstem in part from the fact that some parents or acquaintances withoutresearch experiences seem to have done or to be doing rather well! Areason for that situation is that when they entered the workforce, the rateof changes was very slow compared to the picture today: there were notcellular phones, Internet, genome maps, sophisticated transportationmeans, nano-materials, global warming, or space tourism, etc. It is there-fore critical “not to move forward to the past.” A second reason that can leadto grave errors is explained by statistics. The “impressions about somedoing very well without research expertise” are very often ill-informed.Yes, exceptions are not rules. Let the rules guide you. Indeed, with some basicknowledge of statistics, one can see that anecdotal cases, however glitter-ing or numerous they may be, are never to be taken as central tendencies(a statistical concept) without a full knowledge of the total picture of thegroups or systems under study. In other words, the relative success of afew high school or college dropouts, for the cautious thinkers, must notovershadow the dead-ends faced by the great majority of them! Alwaysremember and be guided by these two reasons.

Another illustration of the exception and rule scenario for you andyour peers or relatives follows. Knowing a few NBA or NFL draftees whodid very well, financially and otherwise, is one thing; choosing basket ballor football as your profession is another. While the expanding nature ofthe job market in SMET and related fields can accommodate SMETgraduates, particularly the ones with research skills, the NFL or NBAteams, in fixed numbers, cannot employ all college graduates who aregood basket ball or football players! To understand this further, just calcu-late the total numbers of players on the NBA and NFL teams and com-pare them to the total numbers of college seniors on college teams! Do notstop there, remember also that most teams already have a full roster andonly take a few draftees in a given year!

THE LAW OF PERFORMANCE:Adequate practice begets excellence in school, college and in re-

search—the same way it does in sport!

The Power Law of Human Performance or of Practice (PLP)states that the time (T) it takes an individual to perform a given taskdecreases as the number of times (N) the individual practiced the taskincreases. In mathematical terminology, the law is [4]:

T = A + B (N + E)-p or T = A + B/(N + E)p

where A, B, E and p are constants that vary (a) with the task athand and (b) with the individual performing the task. A represents aphysiological limit. B and E partly denote prior experiences before thebeginning of the practice sessions, and p is the learning rate. In otherwords, the law states that “practice renders perfect.” This law applies to theperformance of sensory-motor (or athletic), creative (or artistic), and cogni-tive (or intellectual) tasks. The shorter the time T to perform the task -completely and correctly - the higher the level of proficiency. Hence, as thenumber of practices increases, so does the proficiency of the individual. Thefigure below graphically shows the plot of the above expression for aproblem-solving task.

The dramatic impact of this law becomes apparent when oneconsiders its application to several tasks over several days, months, andyears. Then, it becomes clear that genius is mostly the result of sustained,competitive practice. The same way adequate practice, at an adequatescope and depth, is needed for the making of Olympic, National Basket-ball Association, National Football Association, and Major League Soccerchampions and for the making of musicians and artists, the same way it isneeded for the making of science, engineering, and mathematics scholarsand researchers in any discipline.

Further, this law is implacable. It applies whether one likes it ornot! It applies to the refinement or the enhancement of the teaching,mentoring, research, and writing skills of a teacher or faculty member!The law implicitly addresses the need to strive for quality! Indeed, prac-ticing bad grammar, incorrect mathematics, etc. renders one very good atthem! So, even though the power law and the law of performance do notexplicitly factor in the issue of quality, they do so indirectly.

The compound law of human performance, or simply the law ofperformance (Education, Vol. 115, No. 1, pp. 31-39, 1994), is theconvolution of the power law of performance as simultaneously appliedto several tasks over a long period of time. The main difference betweenthe power law and the law is that the former follows a simple equationthat involves an exponent or power (i.e., p) while the mathematical formof the latter is yet to be determined. The quintessential point here, however,stems from the fact that according to the law of human performance, theabilities, skills, and attributes (of individuals) that are meaningfully en-gaged and challenged in and outside the classroom (as by lessons, assignments,research)—from pre-K through graduate school and beyond — are the onesthat will develop! The law of human performance provides the scientificbasis for high expectations for all students! Professional mentoring, asdefined elsewhere by Bagayoko (http://www.phys.subr.edu/timbuktu.htm), provides an almost fail-safe strategy for promoting theacademic excellence of all students (female or male, minority or non-


The Power Law of PerformanceT= A + B(N+E)^(-p)

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140

Number of Practices, N

Tim

e to

Per

form

the

Task

, T

A=0, B=991.2, E=0, p=0.51 - Problem Solving Task Ref. Newel and Rosenbloom (1981)

minority, young or mature). Student retention, on-time graduation, andtheir success in graduate school are partly by-product of the quest forproficiency and excellence— through competitive teaching, learning,and research. It is critical to note that the same way the LP applies to the

cognitive domain, the same way it applies to non-cognitive (i.e., behavioral)variables: Character and study habits are also molded through practice!

Newel, A. and P. S. Rosenbloom (1981).” Mechanisms of SkillAcquisition,” Edited by Anderson, J. R. Hillsdale, N. J.: Erlbaum

DIRECT APPLICATIONS: the need to plan and to execute (i.e., prac-tice)

By linking prior experiences or practice to the speed with whichone learns or discover new knowledge, the law of performance states thatour levels of achievements in the classroom, in athletic events, artisticendeavors, and in research are determined for the most part by us—giventhat we decide every day on the time we devote to various tasks! Further,the law of performance is a great liberator that says that there is nothingwrong in not being an expert in a subject or a task at once—no one is!Hence, consulting experts, getting the appropriate materials, doing ad-equate practice is all that is needed.

Each and every one of the imperative proficiencies describedabove (i.e., in language and communication, mathematics, probabilityand statistics, and research) is acquired through practice! And no oneshould forget, in light of the meaning of B and E, that difficulties inmathematics, science, engineering, and technology courses are very oftencaused by an inadequacy of background, practice, prior experiences, or ofstudying. In fact, for individuals not suffering from a severe physiologi-cal or mental impairment, that is the case.

In particular, research expertise often requires many years of prac-tice. Hence, the sooner one starts performing research, the better it willbe. If you missed the opportunity in high school, make certain that you start assoon as possible in college. (And if your institution or department does notunderstand this point, then find one that does and that has good faculty

research-mentors.) Of course, the law of performance says to remember,at the beginning of new learning experiences, that the feeling or impres-sion of being lost is a sign that one started learning new things! (Oh, yes,I know, many students erroneously take it to mean that they are not“smart” enough. Please explain the facts to them.) At conferences, thebest experts do not know or understand everything—including the onesmaking the presentations! So, you are not alone. And, these experts knowthat research questions can be found, in a quasi–infinite number, in theprofessional and technical literature (magazine, journals, books, etc., onpaper or in electronic media) and not by looking at the sky or ground. Theexperts keep on learning; according to the law of practice, that is how theybuilt and continue to enhance their expertise!

We explained above the need to consult several faculty members,peers, experts, etc. in order to determine the background that is neededfor career options one is contemplating. The same is true for courses onehas to take in college or in graduate school. Hence, there is a critical needto plan professionally, in writing. Only through such a planning can onedetermine indispensable background or experiences and take the neededsteps to acquire them — through regular and persistent efforts. “A collegeportfolio” should be prepared by 10th or 11th grade students; “a graduateschool portfolio” should be prepared by college sophomores or juniors; and“a research career portfolio” should be prepared by every graduate student.The preparation of these portfolios, first and foremost, brings to lightneeded credentials, background, experiences, etc. when there is still timeto acquire them. See Reference [1] for an example of a “college portfolio”that can be easily adapted to design other portfolios noted above.

CONCLUSION

At the beginning of this presentation, I noted that it had alreadybeen delivered by Dr. Norman Y. Mineta, the honorable U.S. Secretary ofTransportation. It has also been reiterated by Dr. Henry Ponder, thePresident of NAFEO. Indeed, these officials just addressed you and un-derscored the fact that the opportunities in science, mathematics, engi-neering, and technology are almost limitless. Paraphrasing Dr. Mineta’sstatement, we see that the sky is the limit in transportation alone. (And, ifyou ask NASA, even the sky or ocean floor may not be limits!) We addedthat many interdisciplinary areas offer more opportunities than can holdon a single list. Some of these areas include Earth Science, Energy andEnvironmental Science, Global Climate Change Research (with possibleapplication to other planets), Materials Science, Engineering, and Tech-nology (MSET), Genomics and the nascent Proteomics, Agriculture Sci-ence and Technology, Biomedical Research, and many others. HonorableDr. Mineta and Dr. Ponder acknowledged your present accomplishments,including the research you already performed and the technical presenta-tions many of you will make in the following session.

In light of the foregoing, it is my deepest hope that you will fullyutilize the content of this provocative address not only to take youraccomplishments and preparedness to new heights, but also to informmany other people, including your peers, young relatives, and your de-scendants. “Luck is what happens when PREPARATION (through effort orpractice as per the LP) meets or makes, recognizes, and acts on opportunity.”We are counting on you.

ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY

[1] http://www.phys.subr.edu/timbuktu/careers.htm This site pro-


vides a listed of hot links to extensive information on careers inscience, mathematics, engineering, and technology. Sources in-clude the American Institute of Physics, the American PhysicalSociety, the American Chemical Society, the American Mathemati-cal Society, the American Psychological Association, etc. Availableinformation include: how to prepare for a career, interview tips,resume preparation, free posting of a resume, etc. (Also visit thesite of the American Association for the Advancement of Science:http://www.aaas.org/)

[2] Science, Vol. 292, No. 5524, Page 1971, June 15, 2001. See“Scoop on Stats” in the Section on Netwatch. The web site on arecently developed online statistics textbook, by David Lane atRice University, is provided (http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~lane/rvls.html).

[3] “A Problem Solving Paradigm,” D. Bagayoko, Ella L. Kelley, andSaleem Hasan. College Teaching, Vol. 48, No. 1, pp. 24-27, 2000.Understanding, knowing, and paying attention to the five (5)categories involved in problem-solving is a prerequisite for prop-erly teaching or learning it, by design. These categories are knowl-edge, skills, resource, strategy/experience, and behavioral bases of prob-lem solving proficiency or expertise.

[4] “The Dynamics of Student Retention: A Review and a Prescription,”D. Bagayoko and Ella L. Kelley. Education, Vol. 115, No. 1, Pages31-39, 1994. This paper elaborates extensively on the Power Lawof Performance and it introduces the compound law (or simply theLaw) of Performance. The article utilizes the law of performance toexplain the creation of educational, research, and professionalvalue-added (high academic achievements and expertise).

[5] Jaime Escalante, in our view, rigorously applied the law of perfor-mance when he worked with his Hispanic American students tomake calculus geniuses out of them. Please think about his equa-tion that says the following: “determination + discipline + hardwork = success.” Anyone who understands and heeds this equa-tion will be following the law of practice by devoting significantlylarge amounts of time to learning and research tasks at hand, andthat over months and years.

[6] Writing for Success: A User-Friendly Manual for Effective Communi-

SEE INFORMATION ON UPCOMING

NAFEO HIGH TECH

STUDENT EXPO

ONLINE AT WWW.LS-LAMP.ORG

ON THE NAFEO EXPO PAGE

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The research and related work that led to most of the findings inthis paper were funded in part by (a) the Department of the Navy,Office of Naval Research (ONR, Grant No. N00014-98-0748), throughthe Timbuktu Academy; (b) the National Science Foundation (NSF),through LS-LAMP (Award No. HRD-0000272); and (c) the NationalAeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), through the Program toIncrease the Pursuit of Education and Learning IN Engineering andScience (PIPELINES, NASA Award Nos. NAG5-8552 and NCC13-00010). (d) The presentation of these findings in a keynote address atthe NAFEO High Tech Student Expo 2001 was funded by the NationalScience Foundation, through a supplement (Award No. HRD-0000272,Amendment No. 001) to LS-LAMP. The noted funding notwithstand-ing, the author bears the entire responsibility for the content of this articleand of the related presentation.

cation, By Professor Ora Plummer and Dr. Diola Bagayoko. Pub-lisher: McGraw Hill. ISBN: 0-07-154196-9 (1998). A copy ofthis book was provided to student participants of this 2001NAFEO High Tech Expo with the hope that it will be persistentlyused for “continuous improvements” of language and communi-cation skills. Please refer to the first “imperative” discussed above.[Note: Dr. Bagayoko does not make any money from sales of thisbook; he donated his share of the royalties to the Southern Univer-sity Foundation for the purpose of establishing and endowmentfor the Timbuktu Academy.]


SPECTROSCOPIC ANALYSIS OF LIF: F2- COLOR CENTER CRYSTALS

Michael Ashenafi, Vladimir Fedorov, Sergey Mirov, Xie LiangDepartment of Physics, University of Alabama at Birmingham , Birmingham, Alabama

LiF: F2

- crystals are widely used as an active laser media for tunable lasers and passive Q-switches forneodymium lasers. Current study was conducted to analyze the spectroscopic properties of LiF with F

2-

color centers. Fundamental spectroscopic equations that relate integral coefficients and cross – sections ofabsorption and emission with Einstein coefficients of spontaneous emission and concentration of opticalcenters are usually derived on the basis of Franck-Condon principle under the condition that only directoptical transitions are possible. It is not known upfront that for the F

2- CC in LiF the Franck-Condon type

of electron-phonon coupling is valid. Hence, one of the goals of this study was to measure and compare toone another Debye-Waller factors, a

a and a

e, for absorption and emission spectra of F

2- CC respectively. (The

equality of these factors directly indicates the Franck-Condon type of optical transitions in F2- CC). Both

zero phonon line and multiphonon band of the absorption and luminescence of F2- CC were studied at 13-

300K temperature range. Luminescence and absorption spectra measured in a wide range of temperatureshelped us to estimate the Debye-Waller factors for absorption and luminescence band and make a conclusionabout Franck-Condon mechanism of interaction for F

2- CC. In addition, we also experimentally discovered

inhomogeneous broadening of LiF: F2- to be 5cm-1 - 15 cm-1, that makes them a promising medium for the

hole burning experiments. The hole burning experiment was successfully conducted using F2

+** laser.

INTRODUCTION

Lasers, using color centers in ionic crystals, have become a newimportant class of sources for coherent radiation with smoothly tunablewavelengths. In the last decade several color centers have been developedcovering a large fraction of the 0.8 – 4µm near and middle infraredwavelength range. These high gain laser materials, based on various single-electron defects in alkali halide crystals, allow broadly tunable laser opera-tion and have already found a widespread applications in areas such asfiber optics and molecular spectroscopy.1

LiF: F2- crystals possess a unique combination of mechanical,

thermo-optical, spectroscopic, and laser output characteristics. F2- centers

are two anion vacancies (empty nods of a crystal lattice) located along thediagonal face of a unit cell with three-captured electrons.2 They are widelyused in laser technology.

The objective of the current project was to make a detailed charac-terization of absorption and emission properties of LiF: F

2- in the tem-

perature range 13 to 300K and define fundamental mechanisms likeFranck-Condon that governs optical transitions in F

2- color centers.

THEORY/ BACKGROUND

It was known long ago that electrons in atomic systems exist in adiscrete energy states. A transition from one energy state to another resultsin a movement of either upward (absorption) or downward (emission) ina form of quantified amount of energy called photons. The line shapes ofthese transitions are due to two possible types of broadening; namely,homogeneous and inhomogeneous broadening.

The optical electrons of an impurity center interact with bothintramolecular and intermolecular vibrations (phonon).3 One such inter-action that is responsible for the formation of broadening is electron-phonon interaction. At relatively low temperatures, taking the ZeroPhonon Line (ZPL) broadened absorption or emission band integral areaand dividing it to the integral area of the whole spectrum can give theprobability of zero-phonon transitions. This ratio, called Debye-Wallerfactors, a

a and a

e, for absorption and emission spectra, respectively, can

best describe the strength of electron-phonon coupling.When the Debye-Waller factor of absorption (a

a) is equal to the

Debye-Waller factor of emission (ae), we have a Franck-Condon type of

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approximation that resulted from the direct optical transition of electronsfrom one energy level to the other.

EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURES/METHODS

For this experiment, we used four LiF crystals in order to choose asample with a high absorption coefficient, greater than one cm-1 at thecentral wavelength of F

2- color center absorption, 960 nm, at room tem-

perature using Schimadzu 3101 UVPC spectrophotometer. All crystalswere irradiated with different doses of g-quanta and were brick red incolor due to a high concentration of F

2 optical centers.

As shown in Figure 1, we designed an experimental set up for ahigh-resolution absorption spectra measurement in a wide (13-300K)temperature range. By cooling our crystal in a vacuumed closed cyclecryostat, we were able to decrease lattice vibrations significantly and studyin details F

2- color center.

We measured the transmissions of LiF: F2- CC in order to calculate

the absorption coefficient using the expression: kabs.

= -lnT/d, where T istransmission and d is a thickness of the crystal. From the absorptionspectra measured in the temperature range of 13 -300K, we obtained theprofile, full width half maximum (FWHM), and the area of zero phononline using Peak fit 3 & 4 software.

Once the line width and the central wavelength of ZPL of F2- color

centers absorption spectrum were known, the crystal fluorescence wasstudied using set up shown in Figure 2. We used LiF: F

2+** CC laser

operating at 9614 cm-1 in the temperature range 13 - 300K, whichcaused fluorescence to be emitted from the sample. These fluorescencephotons were collected and measured by Spectra Pro - 150 spectrometer(Acton Research Corp.), - InGaAs TE cooled detector combination, cali-brated according to the manufacturer’s standards. A personal computerwith SR272 software on it was used to control and register the fluores-cence signal emitted at specific wavelength. From the emission spectra ofboth multi and zero phonon line measured in the temperature range of13 - 300K, we calculated the line width (FWHM), and the area of zerophonon line using peak fit 3 & 4 software.

We used both the first and the second harmonic wavelength ofF

2+** laser at 0.52ml simultaneously to irradiate LiF: F

2- CC in order to

check if the broadening is inhomogeneous or not. The set up was thesame as emission scheme but instead of using the first harmonic wave-length of F

2+** laser, we used both the first harmonic wavelength and the

second harmonic wavelength of F2+** laser simultaneously.

After collecting all the data, we plotted the spectra of both Lumi-nescence and absorption in order to analyze them at a range of selectedtemperatures. Since the relative strength of the signal was not the same fordifferent areas of the spectrum, each part of the spectrum at differenttemperature had to be multiplied by calibration coefficients in order toform a whole calibrated spectrum. Lastly, we calculated and comparedDebye-Waller factors for both absorption and emission in order to testthe validity of Franck-Condon approximation for optical transitions inF

2- CC.

EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS

In Figure 3 and Figure 4, the conjugative absorption and emis-sion bands of LiF: F

2- CC are shown for 13K, 50K, 77K, and 160K. The

structure of Zero Phonon Line of F2- starts to disappear at 160K and

Figure 1. The absorption spectra for LiF: F2- sample was measured at the

range of 13 to 300K using spectrometer Spectra Pro – 750 – TE cooled InGAsdetector in combination with a resolution better than one cm-1.

Figure 2: For Luminescence measurements, a tunable LiF: F2+CCL with

50ns pulse duration was used.

Figure 3. The temperature dependence of the Zero Phonon Line of LiF: F2-’s

absorption spectrum.


completely vanishes at 300K. At 13K, the central wavelength of bothabsorption and emission of ZPL of F

2- CC was observed at 1040.1 nm,

which agrees well with published data.In the temperature range of 13 to 50K, it was discovered that

inhomogeneous broadening of LiF: F2- prevails over homogeneous broad-

ening. As shown in Figure 5, inhomogeneous broadening of LiF: F2- was

observed to vary from 5 to15 cm-1. After 60K, homogeneous broadeningdominates ZPL’s F

2- CC absorption and emission spectrum.

From the ratio of the integral area of ZPL’s F2- CC absorption

spectrum to the integral area of the whole absorption spectrum, we foundthe Debye - Waller factor (a

a) to be 0.02. The Debye- Waller factor for

emission (ae) was calculated to be 0.02, using the same technique that was

applied for absorption (aa).

DISCUSSION

At low temperatures, where lattice vibration is negligible, we canclearly see maximum peak of both absorption and emission spectrumzero phonon line. But, as we increase the temperature the structure ZPLof F

2- CC starts to disappear and finally washes out due to intermolecular

vibrations (see Figure 3 and Figure 4).As shown in Figure 5, the temperature independent behavior of

F2

- CC ZPL’s line in the temperature range 13-50K leads us to suggestthe type of broadening to be inhomogeneous broadening (for crystalsinhomogeneous broadening does not depend on temperature). This wasproven by irradiating the crystal using F

2+** laser.

Hole burning is the final step to make sure the nature of a broad-ening to be inhomogeneous or not. As shown in Figure 6, we successfullyaccomplished the hole burning experiment and proved inhomogeneousbroadening prevailed over homogeneous broadening in the temperaturerange of 13 to 50K. The incident photons from the F

2+** laser destroyed

the F2-CC and resulted in the formation of a hole on the absorption curve

of ZPL’s F2- optical center. It was observed that after three days of storage,

the irradiated LiF: F2- CC crystal was found stable.

As shown clearly on the same Figure 5, the line width start toincreases steadily as temperature increases. This could only be true ifhomogeneous broadening prevails over inhomogeneous broadening at

that range of temperature. Homogeneous broadenings are believed tochange as a function of temperature.

As shown in Figure 7, the normalized multi phonon absorptionand emission curves match one another showing that Debye-Waller fac-tors of both absorption must be equal to the Debye- Waller factor ofemission and hence, optical transition of LiF: F

2- CC can be best de-

scribed by Franck-Condon mechanisms.

Figure 6. Hole burning ZPL F2- CC using F2

+** laser at Pl=1.04mm= 100mW,Pl=0.52mm= 2mW, /= 23Hz, pulse duration t =100ns, Irradiation time T = 20min.,and Spot diameter d = 1mm.

Figure 5. Temperature dependence of ZPL F2- CC’S absorption and emission

line width

Figure 4. The temperature dependence of the Zero Phonon Line of LiF: F2-’s

emission spectrum.


This was proven theoretically by equating Debye Waller factors forboth absorption and emission. The table summarizes spectroscopic re-sults.

CONCLUSIONS

From the early stage of the experiment, we noticed the trend ofsimilarity between the two conjugative bands. As shown in Figure 7, theresemblance of the absorption and emission spectra can be seen veryclearly. This could only happen if there exist a direct transition between

Figure 7. Normalized Absorption and Emission curves (matches one another)showing Debye Waller factors for absorption and emission are equal and opticaltransitions in LiF: F2

- are described by Franck – Condon mechanisms

energy levels of F2-CC. The equality of Debye-Waller factors for both

absorption and emission spectra was enough to conclude that Franck-Condon type of electron coupling better describe LiF: F

2- optical transi-

tion.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We would like to acknowledge the National Science Foundationfor providing Research Experiences for Undergraduate -site award underGrant No. DMR-9987872 and The University of Alabama at Birming-ham Department of Physics, The School of Natural Science and Math-ematics.

REFERENCES

1. W. Gellermann, A. Muller, D. Wandt, S. Wilk, F. Luty. Appl.Phys.61(4)(1987)

2. V.P. Chebotayev, S. I. Marennikov., V. A. Smirnov.Appl Phys. B 31,193 - 199(1983)

3. I.S. Osad’ko, Sov. Phys. Usp.22 (5)(1979)

TABLE 1Summary of spectroscopic results of LiF: F

2- at the temperature range of 13K - 120K

ZPL Property Temperature, Kelvin Absorption of F2-CC Emission of F

2- CC

Max. Central wavelength 13 9614.1 nm 9614.1 nmFWHM 13 5.932 cm-1 5.864 cm-1

Int. Area 13 40.5 cm-1 39.03 cm-1

Max. Central wavelength 30 9614.1 nm 9614.1 nmFWHM 30 5.897 cm-1 5.864 cm -1-

Int. Area 30 38.84 cm-1 38.46 cm-1


Int. Area 50 33.37 cm -1 32.26 cm -1


Int. Area 21.45 cm-1 24.05 cm-1


Int. Area 120 2.32 cm-1 4.73 cm-1


GENDER DIFFERENCES IN CHEATING BEHAVIOR AMONG COLLEGE STUDENTS

Marcus L. Arrington, Federico Flores, William Sanders, and Britannia MooreGrambling State University

Advisors: Frances Staten, Ph.D. and Ronnie Davis, Ph.D.Grambling State University

This study examined gender differences in academic cheating behaviors. Employing a survey questionnaire, data were gatheredfrom African-American students in a classroom setting. The t-test of independent samples was used to analyze the data. Asobserved in previous studies, self-reported cheating behaviors were more common in males than females. Gender-role socializa-tion perspective was applied toward an understanding and explanation of academic cheating.

hand, there have also been reports of equivalence in cheating behavioramong males and females. For example, Houston (1983) and Haines etal. (1986) found no gender differences with respect to˚˚ cheating.

Another factor relative to gender differences in cheating behavioris moral reasoning. Thompson and Pleck (1995) acknowledged competi-tiveness in males as a motivation to cheat. It appears that males are lessconcerned with getting caught (Poltorak 1995), while females wouldrather make an excuse than cheat (Ward and Beck, 1984). With thegiven research in mind, we questioned the differences among genderwith regard to cheating behavior, and in line with the work of Poltorak(1995), we wondered whether certain cheating behaviors revealed sig-nificant differences. Therefore, in an effort to gain further insight ongender differences, this study investigated various forms of academic ceating among African-American college students. An effort was also mae to apply the gender role socialization perspective toward the unde-rstanding and explanation of the finding

METHOD

SampleData for this study were collected from a convenience sample of

210 African-American students in a classroom setting. Of the studentswho reported their gender, classification, and majors, 94 were male and116 were female; 84 were freshman, 35 were sophomore, 47 were juniorand 43 were senior; 81 were social sciences majors, 24 were business

INTRODUCTION

The genealogy of cheating behaviors can be traced far into re-corded history. As early as ancient times, during the height of the Chinesecivilization, acts of dishonesty were identified in testing environments(Barnett and Dalton, 1981). For example, required degrees were some-times sold to wealthy families whose child or children were candidates forcivil service positions. This act of concession would keep peace and elimi-nate possible discontent with the government (Murphey 2001). In thesame way, academic environments throughout the world have becomebreeding grounds for deceitful cheating schemes. Research conducted inthe United States (Davis, Grover, Becker, McGregor, 1992 ) and UnitedKingdom (Franklyn-Sykes and Newstead, 1995 ) indicates that over 50percent of university students have engaged in various forms of academiccheating during their years of undergraduate study.

There are conflicting findings in the literature on gender differ-ences in cheating behavior. Some researchers have found males to reporthigher levels of cheating behaviors than their female counterparts . In asurvey of more than 6,000 college students Davis et al. (1992) discov-ered that there is a difference in cheating behavior among males andfemales. Likewise, research conducted by Baird (1980) and Calabreseand Cochran (1990) supports previous studies regarding a greater inci-dence of academic cheating among males. Contrary to the above find-ings, Jacobson, Berger, and Milham (1970) found that females wereparticipants in cheating activity more often than males. On the other


majors, 19 were nursing majors, 38 were natural sciences majors, ninewere art majors, 13 were education majors and 20 were other majors.Measures

The questionnaire was designed to assess gender differences in self-reported cheating behaviors. Respondents indicated their gender on thesurvey; males were coded 1 and females 2. The cheating index, devisedby, Newstead, Franklyn-Stokes, and Armstead ( 1995 ), was used tomeasure cheating behaviors. Some of the items included:

• Copying material for course work from a book or other publicationwithout acknowledging the source.

• Submitting a piece of course work as an individual piece of workwhen it actually been written jointly with another student.

• Lying about medical or other circumstances to get an extended dead-line on exemption from a submitting an assignment.

• Attempting to obtain special consideration by offering or receivingfavors through, for example, bribery, seduction, corruption.The following Lickert-type scale was used to classify the responses:

(1) never, (2) sometimes, and (3) often.

FindingsShown in Table 1 are the t-test results regarding differences in

cheating behavior of students with regard to copying material from abook or other publication without acknowledging the source. The meanfor the male group was 1.74 (SD = 0.67), and the mean for the femalegroup was 1.50 (SD = 0.61). Significant differences were found betweenmale and female students (t = 2.66, DF = 206, P< 0.01) with regard tocopying material from a book or other publication without acknowledg-ing the source. Thus, it can be concluded that male students reportedthat they copied material without using citations more often than fe-males.

Table 2 provides the t-test results concerning differences in cheat-ing behavior of students with regard to submitting a piece of course workas an individual piece of work when it has actually been written jointlywith another student. The mean for the male group was 1.50 (SD=0.57), and the mean for the female group was 1.34 (SD = 0.61). Signifi-cant differences were found between male and female students (t = 2.66,DF = 2.06, P< 0.05 ) with regard to submitting a piece of course-work asan individual piece when it was actually written jointly with anotherstudent.

Furthermore, reported in Table 3 are the t-test results regardingthe differences in cheating behavior with respect to students lying aboutmedical or other circumstances to get an extended deadline or exemptionfrom their academic work. The mean for the male group was 1.41 (SD =0.65), and the mean for the female group was 1.23 (SD = 0.54). Signifi-cant differences were found between male and female students (t = 2.06,DF = 2.00, P<0.01) with regard to lying about medical circumstances.Therefore, the data revealed that males are more likely to lie about medi-cal circumstances than their female counterparts.

Finally, Table 4 provides the t-test results regarding the differ-ences in cheating behavior of students obtaining special consideration byofferings or receiving favors. The mean for the male group was 1.41 (SD= 0.65). and the mean for the female group was 1.16 (SD = 0.41). Therewere significant differences between male and female students (t = 3.33,DF = 2.01, P<0.001) with regard to obtaining special consideration byoffering or receiving favors. Thus, the data indicated that males weremore likely to obtain special consideration by offering or receiving favorsmore so than their female peers.

DISCUSSION

In view of the findings in previous studies, questions arise as towhat gives students, whether male or female, the impetus to cheat? Amongresearchers, several explanations have been presented to bring clarity tothe reasons for gender cheating differences. One indicating factor behindthese differences is childhood socialization.

For example, women are socialized to commit themselves to highermoral standards than men (Franke, Crown, and Spanke, 1997) and toconsider the negative effects their behavior could have on others (Robinand Martin, 1993). In contrast, males are reared individualistically toperceive minor deviance and risk taking to be a part of manhood (Sinn,1997). Herein lies the notion of performance as a reason behind themales’ cheating behavior. In a study conducted in Moscow, Poltorak(1995) found that males are socialized to be the provider in the home. Tobring in monetary resources, they “perform” certain jobs/duties. Thishistorical truth gives insight into why male respondents, compared totheir female counterparts, reported economic pressure as a justificationfor cheating.

Another factor relative to gender differences in cheating behavioris moral reasoning. Thompson and Pleck (1995) acknowledged competi-tiveness in males as motivation to cheat. It appears that males are lessconcerned with getting caught (Poltorak 1995), while females wouldrather make an excuse than cheat (Ward and Beck, 1984).

TABLE 1Copying Material From Book by Gender

Statistics Male FemaleN = 93 N = 115

Mean 1.74** 1.50 Standard Deviation 0.67 0.61 Standard Error 0.07 0.06 Mean Difference 0.24 T-Value 2.66 df 2.06

P = 0.008** Significant at the 0.01 level

TABLE 2Submitting Coursework by Another Student by Gender


Mean 1.50* 1.34Standard Deviation 0.57 0.56Standard Error 0.06 0.05Mean Difference 0.16T-Value 2.09df 2.06

F= 0.04**Significant at the 0.05 level


As indicated previously, researchers have long attempted toexplain gender differences in cheating behavior among college students.Most applicable to discerning reasons for cheating in regard to gender isthe Socialization Theory. It has been well documented in the literaturethat the learning of gender roles commences at birth ( Mussen, 1969;Frieze et al, 1978, Davis,1990). Lewis, (1972) attests to this in a studyon infants. He noticed that males are socialized to be assertive, while girlsreceive more gentle, nurturing care. This indicates that some forms ofsocial deviance often involving assertive behavior are more tolerated frommales than females (such as, extramarital affairs, cohabitation rape, andexcessive alcohol consumption). In contrast, the passive behavior womenare conditioned to embrace, conflicts with most social deviancy.

As a result, the higher moral standard in females prevents themfrom participating in most social deviance. Moreover, Robin and Martinin 1993, suggested that women may have higher levels of internal andexternal constraints. They are more concerned with the perception othershave of them and how their actions could have negative ramifications.Relative to this view, Hirchi (1969) theorized that individuals who havea strong bond to society are less likely to violate its norms or commitdeviant acts, and that bonding to society is manifested in a strong com-mitment to conformity; and a belief in the moral validity of social rules.Thus, a double-standard socialization may account for gender differ-ences in academic cheating or males’ lesser conformity to some of societalvalues and norms . Moreover, Whitley (1998), noted that the tendency

of males to report greater academic cheating than females may be a reflec-tion of their involvement in other previous forms of minor social deviance. Since certain acts of deviance are more tolerated for males, they may bemore inclined to report academic dishonesty and to manifest little guilt orshame compared to their female counterparts. With these different per-spectives in mind, we suggest further research on the moral values andsocial deviance as related to gender difference in academic cheating.

REFERENCES

1. Baird, J. S., Jr. (1980). Current trends in college cheating. Psychologyin the School, 17(4), 515- 522.

2. Barnett David C. (November, 1981). Why College Students Cheat.Journal of College Student Personnel, 22, 545-551.

3. Calabrese, R., and Cochran, J.T. (1990). The Relationship of Alien-ation to Cheating Among a Sample of American Adolescents.Journal of Research and Development in Education, 23, 65- 72.

4. Davies, Bronwyn. Frogs and Snails and Feminist Tales. New York:Pandora Press, 1990.

5. Davis , S F., Grover, C. A., Becker, A.H., and McGregor, L.N. (1992).Academic Dishonesty: Prevalence, Determinants, Techniquesand Punishments. Teaching of Psychology, 916-20.

6. Frieze, Irene H., Jacquelynne E. Parsons, Paula B. Johnson, Diane N.Rable, and Gail L. Zellman. Women and Sex Roles. New York:Norton, 1978.

7. Franke, G. R, D.F. Crown, and D.F. Spake. (1997). Gender Differ-ences in Ethical Perceptions of Business Practices: A social roletheory perspective. Journal of Applied Psychology, 82, 920- 934.

8. Haines, V.J., G.M. Dickhoff, E.E. Labeff, and R.E Clark. (1986).College Cheating: Immaturity, Lack of Commitment and the Neu-tralizing Attitude. Research in Higher Education, 25, 342-354.

9. Houston, J.P. (1983). College Classroom Cheating, Threat, Sex andPrior Performance. College Student Journal, 17, 229-235.

10. Jacobson, L.I., S.E. Berger, and J. Millham. (1970). IndividualDifferences in Cheating When Confronting Failure. Journalof Personality and Social Psychology, 15, 48-56.

11. Lewis, Gordon H. (August 1972). Role Differentiation. AmericanSociological Review, 37, 424-434.

12. Murphey, Rhoads. East Asia: A New History. Second Edition,New York: Longman. 2001

13. Mussen, Paul H. “Early Sex Role Development.” In David Goslin(ed.), Handbook of Socialization Theory and Research. Chicago:Rand McNally, 1969, pp. 707-732.

14. Newstead, S. E., A. Franklyn-Stokes, and P. Armstead. IndividualDifferences in Student Cheating. Journal of Educational Psychol-ogy, 88, (2), 229-241.

15. Poltorak, Yulia. (1995). Cheating Behavior Among Students ofFour Moscow Institutes. Higher Education, 30, 225-246.

16. Robbins, C. A., and S.S Martin. (1993). Gender Styles of Devi-ance, and Drinking Problems. Journal of Health and Social Behav-ior, 34, 302-321.

17. Sinn, J.S. (1997). The Predictive and Discriminant Validity ofMasculinity Ideology. Journal of Research in Personality, 31, 117-135.

18. Thompson, Jr., E. H., and J.H. Pleck. (1987). The Structure of

TABLE 3Lying About Medical Circumstances by Gender



P = 0.004**Significant at the 0.05 level

TABLE 4Obtaining Special Consideration Through Favors by Gender

Statistic Male FemaleN = 92 N = 111


P = 0.001*Significant at the 0.01 level


A STUDY OF DAILY AVERAGE AIR TEMPERATURE DATA FROM GLOBE SCHOOLS

Jasmyn DyerMcKinley Senior High School , Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Timbuktu Academy Scholar

Priscilla LinWest High School ,Torrance, California

NASA-Sharp Plus Scholar at the Timbuktu Academy

Ednaida CintronTeodoro Aguilar Mora High School , Yabucoa, Puerto Rico

NASA-Sharp Plus Scholar at the Timbuktu Academy

Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) is an international program for Earth science,environmental, and general science education and research (http://www.globe.gov). It currently involves over 95 countries and10,000 K-12 schools. Students at GLOBE schools collect atmospheric, hydrology, soil, and land cover (biology) data followingscientifically designed and tested protocols. We present a study of the daily average air temperature data from selected GLOBEschools. We obtained an excellent fit of these data to a four-parameter sine curve given by T = ASin (wt+f)+B where, A, w, f, andB are constants. We discuss the variations of these parameters with latitude, elevation (altitude), and local and dynamic Earthsubsystems that prevail at the school sites.

PURPOSE

The purpose of this research is to analyze daily average air tempera-ture data from selected GLOBE schools. Specifically, we were interestedin establishing whether or not daily average air temperature data fromGLOBE schools follow any particular mathematical model. The sinusoi-dal variations of temperature in a given day (i.e., diurnal variations) arewell known in the Journal of Geophysical Research. The resulting analy-sis is to be employed to investigate the effect of latitude and of elevationon the daily average air temperature.

RESEARCH METHOD AND APPROACH

GLOBE data utilized in this work were collected by GLOBE schoolsfollowing scientifically designed, developed, and field-tested protocols.These protocols address (a) requisite equipment specifications, (b) instru-ment calibration, (c) how, when, and where to measure, and (d) safetyprecautions, if applicable. These protocols ensure data validity, accuracy,and reliability. Hence, GLOBE data are scientific data. By using thesedata, we are adopting the experimental set-up and measurement proce-

INTRODUCTION

As stated at its web site (http://www.globe.gov), Global Learningand Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) is a “worldwidenetwork of students, teachers, and scientists working together to study andunderstand the global environment.” Teachers and students from all gradelevels work with research scientists to learn more about planet Earth bymaking environmental observations at or near their schools. More than10,000 K-12 schools in over ninety-five countries currently participatein the GLOBE program.

GLOBE schools collect data in one or more of the following cat-egories: atmosphere, hydrology, soil, land cover/biology. As underscoredbelow, GLOBE schools follow scientifically designed, developed, andfield-tested protocols to ensure the validity, accuracy, and reliability oftheir data. The noted web site provides details on the specific variables forwhich measurements are made (i.e., atmospheric, water, and soil tempera-tures; soil moisture, horizons, density; cloud cover; precipitations, etc.).

Male Role Norms. In M.S. Kimmel (Ed.), Changing Men:New Directions in Research on Men and Masculinity (pp.25-36).Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

19. Ward, A.A., and W.L. Beck. (1984). Gender and Sociology. Jour-nal of Social Psychology, 130(3), 333-339.

20. Whitley, B.E., Jr. (1998). Factors Associated With Cheating Among

College Students: A review. Research in Higher Education, 39, 235-274.


dures described in the GLOBE Teacher Manual that is available in itsentirety at the GLOBE web site. The data employed below are alsoavailable at the GLOBE web site.

Mathematical curve fitting or modeling generally requires thatone utilize a large amount of data in order to obtain good results withsmall errors. Measurements of daily average air temperature are the mostcommonly data from GLOBE schools. We therefore selected schools that hadthe practically continuous daily average air temperature data for two consecu-tive years. While Tabor Academy, in Massachusetts, USA, had totallycontinuous data, a few of the selected schools had a few gaps (i.e., days forwhich no daily average air temperatures were available). We ascertain thefact that these gaps were minors in the sense that there were not manyconsecutive days of the year for which no data were taken.

For the purpose of investigating the effects of latitude and eleva-tion, two pairs of schools were included in the students; members of theeach pair were generally at the same latitude but at different elevation oraltitude. A minimum of approximately 500 meters was the differencebetween altitudes of the members of a pair. The selected schools are listedbelow, with a star or double stars indicating the pairs of schools in thestudy.

1. *Gymnasium of the Gavros – Kastoria, Greece2. *3rd Lyceum of Aigaleo – Athens, Greece3. **Rossmoor Elementary School – Los Alamitos, California, USA4. **Pueblo High Magnet School – Tucson, Arizona, USA5. Tabor Academy – Marion, Massachusetts, USA6. Kodiak High School – Kodiak, Alaska, USA7. Tenno-Minami Junior High School – Akita, Japan8. Utajarven Ylaaste – Utajarvi, Finland9. Vannarodsskolan – Sosdala, Sweden10. Mittelschule Elsterberg - Elsterberg, Germany

Our method of analysis consisted of fitting the daily average airtemperature data, from the selected schools, to a sine curve of the formToC=ASin(wt+f)+B, where A, w, f, B are constants that vary from oneschool to another. The temperature T is in degree Celsius. The days of theyear, from one to 365, are utilized to obtain the variable (t) in theequation. Specifically, the number of a given day is divided by 365 andmultiply by two pi to obtain t in radians. Plots of the daily average airtemperatures, as given at the GLOBE web site, clearly hint at a sine curve.(Of course, a cosine curve could be used as well, provided that the initialphase is changed accordingly.)

We copied that table of data at the GLOBE web site and pasted itin Microsoft Excel spread sheet. We then proceeded to manually adjustthe constants in order to obtain a fit, after reducing the temperature datato five-day or weekly averages. We subsequently replaced this semi-manualfitting with one that is done entirely by the computer. For this automaticfitting procedure, we utilized the Graph Pad Prism software. No five-dayor weekly averages were used in the automatic fitting process.

It is important to note, however, that the days for which no tem-perature data are available have to be deleted from the data set beforerunning the Prism software. Failure to do so will result in missing tem-perature data being replaced by zeros!

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

We obtained an excellent fit of the data with the sine curve equa-tion given above. This fit was obtained for all the ten schools in this study.The table below provides a summary of our results (i.e., the fit parametersfor the various schools). Figure 1 shows an example fit the data fromTabor Academy, in Massachusetts. Figure 2 and Figure 3 compare thefitted curves for schools in the two pairs identified above.

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Tabor AcademyLat: 41.7060 NLong: 70.7853 WElev: 4 m

y=-11.49*SIN(0.9889q-0.8471)+12.39

Figure 1. Daily average air temperature at Tabor Academy in Massachusetts, USA.


Ave rage Air Te mpe rature3rd Lyceum of Aigleo, Athens, Greece

Gymnasium of the Gavros, Kastoria, Greece

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AthensAt hens:La t : 37.9915 NLong: 23.6752 EEle v: 40 m

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y=9.372*SIN(1.01θ+0.3974)+11.71

y=9.293*SIN(1.014θ+0.2598)+19.35

Comparison of Daily Average Air TemperatureRossmoor Elementary School, Los Alamitos, California, USA

Pueblo High Magnet School, Tuscon, Arizona, USA

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Rossmoor Elementary SchoolLat: 33.7769 NLong: 118.0386 WElev: 7 my=4.705*SIN(0.974θ+0.9139)+1.80

Pueblo High Magnet SchoolLat: 32.1842 NLong: 110.9813 WElev: 693 my=9.673*SIN(1.008θ+1.114)+20.53

Figure 2. Average Air Temperature at the 3rd Lyceum of Aigleo in Athens, Greece and at the gymnasium of the Gavros in Kkastoria, Greece.

Figure 3. Comparison of the daily average temperature at Rossmoor Elementary School in Los Alamitos, California, USA and Pueblo High Magnet School in Tuscon,Arizona, USA.


TABLEFit parameters for the daily average air temperature at the identified schools in specified countries. The fitted equation is ToC=A*Sin(wt+f)+B. Thelatitude, longitude, and elevation of the schools are also provided. 2 |A| represents the difference between the maximum and the minimum dailyaverage air temperatures. The initial phase is f; it varies with the first day where data are considered. B is a measure of the yearly average air temperature.

School Location (country) Latitude Longitude Elevation A w f Bin degrees in degrees in meters (m)

Gymnasium Kastoria, Greece 40.6248 21.2010 858 9.372 1.01 0.3974 11.71 of the Gavros

3rd Lyceum Athens, Greece 37.9915 23.6752 40 9.293 1.014 0.2598 19.35of Aigaleo

Rossmoor California, USA 33.7769 -18.0386 7 4.705 0.9741 0.9139 16.8Elementary

Pueblo High Arizona, USA 32.1842 -110.9813 693 9.673 1.008 1.114 20.53Magnet School

Tabor Academy Massachusetts, USA 41.7060 -70.7853 4 -11.49 0.9889 -0.8471 12.39

Kodiak High Alaska, USA 57.7883 -152.4030 35 -7.564 -0.9704 -2.395 5.203School

Tenno-Minami Akita, Japan 39.8283 140.0571 64 -12.98 0.9559 -0.3959 12.88 Junior High

Utajarven Ylaaste Utajarvi, Finland 64.7622 26.4150 80 -13.48 0.9740 -0.3471 1.960

Vannarodsskolan Sasdala, Sweden 56.0413 13.6785 100 -8.655 0.9445 -0.0896 7.939

Mittelschule Elsterberg, Germany 50.60 12.1675 314 -8.817 0.9644 -16.38 11.44Elsterberg

The fitting, if done for each year, provides a powerful mechanismfor detecting and assessing variations in the daily average air temperatureat a location, over years, decades, or longer periods. In particular, theentire data table with well over six hundred numbers, for a given locationand for a given year, can be easily represented by the four parameters ofthe fitting!

A rapid and easy comparison of the daily average air temperaturesat two different locations is made possible by our result. Indeed, once thefit parameters are known, the average daily air temperatures of any two ormore locations can be plotted for comparison. Such plots allowed us toobserve the expected fact that daily average air temperatures decrease aslatitude increases. The comparison of the data at some schools, as givenbelow, warns against an over-generalization of this pattern. Specifically, alocation at a higher latitude may have higher temperatures than anotherat a lower latitude due to differences in altitude or in the elements ordynamics of their respective local, Earth subsystems.

Classic textbooks on Earth science contain graphs that show asomewhat linear decrease of the temperature in the troposphere as alti-tude increases. The daily average air temperatures at 3rd Lyceum of Aigleo,Athens, Greece, and at Gymnasium of the Gravos, in Kastoria, Greece,as shown in Figure 2, ideally follow this pattern. Namely, the daily aver-age air temperatures at the school located at a higher altitude (858m) aresystematically lower than the ones at the school located at an altitude of

40 m. The longitudes of these two schools are different by 2.5 degrees.Figure 3 compares the daily average air temperature at Pueblo

Magnet High School, in Arizona, and at Roossmoor Elementary School,in Los Alamitos, California. Clearly, the pattern observed for the twoschools in Greece does not seem to hold. As expected, the lowest averageair temperature at the Arizona school (altitude of 693 m) is lower than theone for the California School (altitude of 7 m). Contrary to expectations,however, the average daily air temperatures at the Arizona school aregenerally much higher than the corresponding ones at the Californiaschool. This behavior, we believe, is due to the impact of the local dynam-ics of the Earth subsystems that exist at the two schools. The influence ofthe desert in Arizona and the proximity of a large body of water inCalifornia (i.e., Pacific Ocean) are believe to be the dominant factors inexplaining the above behavior. Water is known to temper temperaturevariations. See Table 1.

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

We found that daily average air temperature data from GLOBEschools can be fitted very well with a four-parameter sine curve. Wediscussed selected applications of this finding for the assessment of shortterm and long term temperature variations at a location and for compar-ing temperatures of two different sites. The need to minimize errors was


a reason for selecting schools with practically continuous temperaturedata. This point underscores the need for GLOBE schools to take datacontinually in order to avoid large gaps of several days or weeks in thedata. Such gaps will render a fit unreliable due to unknown errors.

This work, we hope, will promote extensive GLOBE “LearningActivities” and discussions focused on temperature data. In particular, theavailability of fitting software products should facilitate these inquiries.A natural extension of this work consists of studies of water and soiltemperatures. These studies and others, in a variety of ways, could berelated to that for the daily average air temperature. Fit parameters fromsuch data, over decades and centuries, could be invaluable in the devel-opment and validation of global climate change research models.

REFERENCES

1. GLOBE’s web site (http://www.globe.gov) contains extensive in-formation on every aspect of the program—including data col-lected and reported by GLOBE schools.

2. Hamblin, W. Kenneth, and Eric H. Christiansen, Earth’s DynamicSystems. Ninth Edition, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 2001.

3. PRISM v. 3.02 Graphpad Software, Inc., www.graphpad.com

DETECTING AN ALU INSERTION IN HUMANS

Vivian Galicia, Norma Sanchez, Miguel Gonzalez, Christopher MartinezUndergraduate Students, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry

California State University, Los Angeles

Advisors: Dr Raymond E. Garcia, Professor of BiochemistryMargaret Jefferson, Ph.D., Professor of Genetics

Novick [I] reports that only approximately 10 percent to 20 percent of human DNA encodes functional sequences. Mostgenetic material constitutes “junk” DNA. Alu sequences are the largest family of short interspersed repetitive elements (SINEs)in humans. Alu elements are thought to turn on or off other genes. AN elements as well as other repetitive species were onceconsidered useless. The study of Alu elements has lead to the discovery of genetic disorders such as hemophilia, and familialhypercholesterolemia. Most importantly, this type of research provides new directions for genome mapping and biochemicalresearch. In this experiment, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is used to amplify a short region of chromosome eight, to look fora 300 base-pair Alu element called TPA- 25. This insert is particularly useful for experimental purposes because its expressionis dimorphic: it is either present or absent in individuals. TPA-25 is also practical for a population study because it’s presence isphenotypically neutral: its expression is not based on gender, ethnicity, or any other observable characteristic. The objective ofthis study is to compare the expression of TPA-25 in a male vs. female population, and to calculate allelic frequencies for theselected population as a whole. Preliminary results indicate that the expression of TPA-25 is not preferentially expressed ineither sex, but is distributed randomly in individuals throughout the population.

INTRODUCTION

The Alu family constitutes approximately five percent of the totalmass of the human genome, and there are more than 500,000 copies perhaploid genome [4]. Alu elements are ancestrally derived for the 7 SLRNA gene. The 7 SL RNA is a small constituent of the signal recognitionparticle (SRP) involved in the transport of proteins into the lumen of theendoplasmic reticulum in the cytoplasm of the cell. The SRP binds to aspecific signal contained in secretory proteins and targets them to theendoplasmic reticulum. AN elements have diverged but they retain ap-

proximately 90 percent of the sequence of the 7 SL RNA gene [I].Alu elements are a class of repetitive DNA sequences that were once

considered non-functional and inconsequential to genetic organizationand evolution. However, recent studies have identified specific AN ele-ments as DNA organizers [2], enhancers, and silencers [3] in gene expres-sion. Alu elements and other SINEs are a source of genetic material witha close proximity to other DNA sequences, fueling the coevolutionaryprocess. A significant number of mutations are promoted by the closeinteraction of chromosomal segments at all levels. In light of these discov-eries it is more feasible that their insertion is not entirely random and,


rather than being useless sequences, they generate a significant amount ofgenetic variability and increase the population’s survival in a changingenvironment. Today, the biology of Alu elements is being widely exam-ined in order to determine the molecular basis of a growing number ofidentified diseases to provide new directions in genome mapping andbiomedical research.

In this experiment, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is used toamplify a short region from chromosome 8, to look for a 300 base pairAlu element called TPA-25, found within an intron of the tissue plasmi-nogen activator gene. This particular Alu element belongs to a group ofabout two thousand that is restricted mostly to the human genome. Afew of these elements, including TPA-25 are fairly recent having onlyinserted within the last one million years and are not fixed in the humanspecies. This insertion is dimorphic: it is present in some individuals andnot in others. Because the Alu sequence is found within an intron, it doesnot affect the expression of the TPA gene, and it is phenotypically neu-tral. These characteristics make TPA-25 an excellent candidate for a popu-lation study, which can be achieved by screening people for the presenceor absence of TPA-25. The purpose of this project is to compare theexpression of TPA-25 in a male vs. female population and to calculateallelic frequencies for the selected population as a whole to determine if itis under genetic equilibrium. The Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium describesa non-evolving population, in which the population’s gene poolremains constant unless acted upon by something other than ran-dom fertilization. The Hardy-Weinberg equation enables the cal-culation of frequencies form alleles in a gene pool if the frequen-cies of genotypes are known. One application is to find the per-centage of the human population that carries an allele for a par-ticular disease or trait, in this case the expression of TPA-25.

This leads to the formulated hypothesis; since the presenceof TPA-25 in phenotypically neutral, there should be no signifi-cant difference in its expression in a male vs. female population.

EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE

Isolation of cheek cell DNA. The source of template DNA is sev-eral thousand cells obtained by rinsing with a saline mouthwash (a blood-less and noninvasive procedure). Once the cells have been collected,purification is necessary for maximal amplification of the desired prod-uct. Cellular components that can interfere with PCR amplification in-clude iron, magnesium, and other heavy metal cat ions. Iron and otherpositive ions can inhibit Taq polymerase. Magnesium ions are cofactorsfor cellular nucleases that can degrade genomic DNA. To prevent thebreakdown of DNA and interference in the amplification process, the cellextract is treated with a negatively charged resin; Chelex which binds tothe positive cations. The cell and the non-desired products are separatedby centrifugation. Finally the cells are sterilized for a ten-minute incuba-tion period in boiling water prior to amplification.

PCR Reaction and Amplification. Amplification of Alu insertionTPA-25 form the crude cell extract is biochemically demanding andrequires the precision of automated cycling. Polymerase chain reaction isused to amplify the 300 base pair Alu region. The PCR reaction mix iscomposed of PCR buffer, oligonucleotide primers (upstream primer(‘5-GTAAGAGTTCCGTAACAGGACAGCT-3’) and downstreamprimer (‘5-CCCCACCCTAGGAGAACTCTCTTT-3’),deoxynucleotides (dATP, dTTP, dCTP, dGTP), and thermus aquaticus

(Taq) polymerase. Thermal cycling consists of an automated threetemperature cycle programmed specifically for optimal amplification:denaturing DNA (94C), annealing the primers (58C), and maximalextension of the complimentary strand (72C).

Casting, Staining, and Viewing Agarose Gel. Once the PCR prod-uct is obtained, it is separated according to molecular weight via electro-phoreses on a standard two percent agarose gel stained with ethidiumbromide and viewed under ultraviolet light. A proper molecular weightmarker must be used to compare bands at the expected range and also toserve as a control for proper electrophoreses and staining conditions. Ahomozygous individual for the TPA-25 insertion amplifies a large frag-ment (-400 bp), which represents the insertion between the two primers;an individual homozygous for the lack of the insertion shows only a smallfragment (-100 bp); and a heterozygous individual amplifies both prod-ucts.

RESULTS

Figure 1 demonstrates the results of the genotypic distribution ofAlu TPA-25 in a male vs. female population. The genotypic ratios for theexpression of TPA-25 were 4:12:9 in females for the homozygous domi-nant heterozygous, and homozygous recessive condition, respectively. Atotal of 64 percent of the females tested expressed the Alu insertion.‘Memaleatios determined were 9:9:7 for the aboveswed conditions. Atotal of 72 percent of the male population expressed the presence ofTPA-25. Figure 2 demonstrates the results of the genotypic distributionof the combined population. After calculating the allelic frequencies, itwas determined that the selected population as a whole was not undergenetic equilibrium.

DISCUSSION / CONCLUSION

Overall, the hypothesis was substantiated: Alu insertion TPA-25 isexpressed randomly in individuals, not preferentially based on gender. Inthe pool of men and women tested, males showed an 8% higher expres-sion of TPA-25 than females. The 8% difference is a result of two more

Figure 1. Genotypic distribution of Alu. TPA-25 in a male (grey) vs. female(burgundy) population: n =50, ages 18 - 20. +/+ homozygous condition, TPA -25 insertion is expressed. +/- heterozygous condition, the dominant allelecontrols the expression of TPA - 25. -/- homozygous recessive condition, lackof TPA - 25 insertion.

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men than women (18:16) who tested positive for the insertion. Since thepopulation tested was relatively small (n 50), this difference could beaccounted for by chance. The smaller the population, the greater thelikelihood of a substantial alteration of allelic frequencies due to samplingerror. In this study, 25 males and 25 females were screened for the pres-ence of Alu insertion TPA-25. The population tested consisted of collegestudents within the age of 18-20; no other requirements were imple-mented. But in order to ideally test the conditions of a specific popula-tion it must be isolated from other populations to avoid movement ofindividuals, which can change gene pools. In this study no guidelineswere established in terms of geographic consistency between the subjects,people of many ethnic backgrounds were tested which may account forthe 8% difference. This disparity amongst the percentages in the sexstudy was also supported by the Hardy-Weinberg equation, which math-ematically showed that the population was not in equilibrium. In orderto achieve higher statistical confidence a larger population must be tested.Furthermore, greater restrictions of the population selected must be en-forced to keep all other variables with the exception of sex constant.

The Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium values for allele and genotypefrequencies calculated can provide a baseline for tracking genetic struc-ture of a population over a succession of generations.

In future studies with regard to the study of the population aswhole, allelic frequencies for the expression of TPA- 25 should be calcu-lated during a certain time course to examine the evolution of the insert.If the presence of an Alu insertion such as that of TPA- 25 become moreprominent in later generations, then the population is evolving; and thepresence of the insert is not random. Therefore, it may probe to be neces-sary for survival.

Once enough data has been collected, analysis of the populationmust be done in an attempt to discover a trend for those who testedpositive for the expression of Alu insertion TPA- 25 in order to determineits function.

REFERENCES

1. Bloom, M.V., G.A. Freyer, and D.A. Micklos. (1996). LaboratoryDNA Science . Menlo Park California. Benjamin Cummings Pub-lishing Company, Inc.

2. Englander, E. W. and B.H. Howard. (1995). Nucleosome position-ing by human Alu elements in chromatin. Journal of BiologicalChemistry 270: 10091-10096.

3. Hanke, J. H., J.E. Hambor, and P. Kavathas. (1995). Repetitive Aluelements from a cruciform structure that regulates the function ofthe human CD8 alpha T cell-specific enhancer. Journal of Molecu-lar Biology 246: 63- 75.

4. Novick, G., E. Batzer, and A. Mark. (1996). The mobile geneticelement Alu in the human genome. Bioscience I :32.

5. Rineham, F.P., T.G. Ritch, P.L. Deininger, and C.W. Schmid. (1981).Renaturation rate studies of a single family of interspersed repeatedsequences on human deoxyribonucleic acid. Biochemistry 20: 3003-3010.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Research supported by the Louis Stokes California State Univer-sity Alliance for Minority Participation Program and by the CaliforniaState University, Los Angeles Minority Science and Engineering Im-provement Program. Faculty advisor: Dr. Raymond E. Garcia, Dr. Mar-garet Jefferson, and Professor Milton Randle.

Figure 2. Genotypic distribution of combined population :n = 50, ages 18-20+/+ = Homozygous condition , TPA –25 insertion is expressed;+/- = Heterozygous condition, the dominant allele controls the expression ofTPA –25; -/- = Homozygous recessive condition, lack of TPA-25 insertion.

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ANALOG TEMPERATURE CONTROL SYSTEM DESIGN

Renae GarrettUniversity of New Orleans

Dr. Russel Trahan - MentorUniversity of New Orleans

The objective of this project is to design an analog temperature control system for the process trainer, which is located in theControls Laboratory. This design produces the reference set point for the process trainer. When the temperature feedbacksignal is subtracted from the reference input a steady state error of zero is obtained. The core requirement of the design is tomaintain this zero steady state error while a disturbance is applied to the system. The outcome of our application obtainedreasonable results of a steady state error of approximately 0.001.

INTRODUCTION

The principal conditions required in the design of the analog tem-perature controller are to achieve a zero steady state error when a distur-bance is applied and contain a variable reference set point. The simplestpart of the design is creating a variable reference set point. The referenceset point is determined by having a reference voltage applied to thedesign. The change in the voltage respectively changes the set point.However, to obtain a zero steady state error (e

ss), the analysis of the trans-

fer function of the process controller was derived. This open loop transferfunction without a controller (plant G(s)) was determined to be a type 0system, i.e. when a step input,

r(t) = A, is applied, then eAKss

p=

+1 .

Therefore, for ess to equal zero, then a type 1 system is needed, i.e.

when a step input, r(t) = A, is applied, then ess = 0. Neither the lead nor

the PD controller has the capability of increasing the type of a system.Whereas the PI Controller’s (which is a type of lag compensator) pole isset to zero and results in the ability of changing a system from a type 0 toa type 1.

Incorporated in the remaining sections of this report is a completeexplanation of the design approach that developed into the final out-come. This clarification is obtained by including all theoretical descrip-tions and performances of the design, and laboratory measurements. Abrief discussion is also given on error and economic analysis.

SYSTEM MODELI. PLANT G(S)

The first step in understanding the process trainer is determiningthe plant G(s).

By applying a step input into the system and measuring the out-put of the process trainer at Y, the step response was generated on anoscilloscope and transferred to a software program called Grabber. Thesettling time T

s at 1.6 sec. and time delay T at 0.19 sec. were measured

from the step response. The time delay that was determined is approxi-mately the same as the time delay given in the process trainer PT 326manual. Therefore, the time delay, T = 0.18 sec, given by the manual isthe amount that is used for all mathematical procedures.

Since the plant G(s) is a type 0 system and has a time delay, thenthe G(s) is similar to

Since Ts = 4t at 1.6 sec, then t at 0.4.

This gives a complete plant

In using this calculation for plant G(s), Figure 1 was developed inMatlab.

es

Ts−

+τ 1

G se

s

Ts

( ).

=+

−

0 4 1


II. OUTPUT VOLTAGE VS. OUTPUT TEMPERATURE

The next step is used to understand the relationship between theoutput voltage and the output temperature. A number of values weretaken that gave the linear relationship between the output voltage (y)and temperature (x). The following equation was derived:

y C= +6

152375. o or y x= −

615

9 5.

Based on the above measurements, the operating range for thedesign is from 30°C to 40°C.

The below signal flow chart shows how the use of knowing therelationship between the output voltage and temperature was imple-

mented into the analysis of the design. The flow chart shows where Tverses V equation is used.

III. PI CONTROLLER GC(S)

The understanding of the need for a PI controller was recognizedfrom the fact that the plant G(s) is a type 0 system. The combination ofthe desired controller (PI) and the plant will produce an outcome of atype 1 system. First, the zero for G

c(s) is determined without including

the time delay so that the root locus can be determined. Once, this isobtained, then the time delay will be add and the essential modificationscan be made.

The PI controller gives

G s KKs

Ks

KK

sc PI

P

I

P( ) = + =+

, where KK

I

P

= z

In finding the root locus with z = .707, zwn = 4, and the closed

loop poles at – 4 ± 4j, thefollowing calculations were made.

Angle Criterion:q

z – (110.55°+135°) = ± 180°

qz = 65.55°

z = x + 4x = y(tan-1(65.55°)) = 1.818z = 5.818

Magnitude Criterion:

CHARTThis signal flow chart shows where T verses V equation is used.

Figure 1. Graph generated on Matlab. Used to simulate mathematical modelof plant G(s) of the process trainer PT 326.

0

0.5

1

1.5

0.2 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3


Kdpdzp = =

× ++

=ΠΠ

4 2 4 154 18

552 2

2 2

..

.

KI = K

P (5.818) = 32.04

Using the results from the above calculations the PI controllerwithout the time delay is giving as

G ss

sc ( ) ..

=+

555818 .

In order to add the time delay into the model, the correspondingsecond order approximation was found for e-0.18s. This second orderapproximation was determined by using the Matlab function pade.However, now the system has changed. Therefore,

KP will also change. As a result, the variation in the system is as

follows:

G s G s Kps s js s s jc( ) ( )

( . )( . . )( . )( . . )

=+ + ±

+ + ±5818 16 66 9 623

2 5 16 66 9 623

The root locus and bode plot was found for the above functionwith K

P = 5.5. The results produce an oscillating system with no phase or

gain margin. Consequently, reducing the gain KP will reduce the oscilla-

tion. Knowing that the ratio between the KP and K

I must stay the same,

the Integral and Proportional gains must both be changed to obtain thecore requirement of the design.

When the control system was built with and KI = 2.9 and K

P = 0.5

and disturbance was applied, oscillation was still being produced in theoutput. Using the root locus and bode plot, K

P was reduced until a

response was obtained with no percent overshoot. At this point KP = 0.1

and KI = 0.582. At these values, the zero steady state error is obtained.

IV. SCHEMATIC

There are three parts in the design layout. The first stage producesthe reference set point and contains a difference amplifier. The secondstage consists of a PI controller that is used to drive the external inputconnected to the power amplifier. The third stage is a summing amplifierthat combines the PI controller.

The First StageThe reference set point is determined by having a reference voltage

applied to the design. The set point changes in respect to the change ofthe reference voltage. The reference voltage is then sent to a differenceamplifier. Here the output from the sensor is subtracted from the refer-ence. See Figure 2.

The Second StageThe second stage consists of the PI Controller. The values for the

resistors and capacitors are derived from the following:K

P = - R

2/R

1 and K

I = - 1/sR

3C

1

Consequently, the following values where determined for the con-

Figure 2. First stage of design schematics.

Figure 3. Third stage of design schematics.

The Third StageThe final stage of the schematic is the summing amplifier. Here

the Proportional and Integral are combined to completely produce the PIController. The final theoretical schematic is illustrated in Figure 4.

RESULTSI. System Design

The final design, which produced a zero steady state error, is whereall of the following measurements were obtained. Each measurementwas determined by using one of the attached measuring devices.

Measuring Devices:Fluke – 87 series III Digital Multi-meterHewlett Packard – 33120A 15 MHz Function/Arbitrary Waveform

GeneratorHewlett Packard - 6284A DC Power Supply 0-20V, 0-3A (Serial code:

524917)Hewlett Packard – 6236B Triple Output Power Supply 0-6V,0-2.5A

/ 0 ± 20V,0-0.5A (Serial Code: 2140A-13825)Process Trainer PT-326 (Serial Code: 503346)Tektronix – 2201 100 MHz Oscilloscope (Serial Code: 540927)

The below table shows then measurements taken from the final design.


II. COST ANALYSIS

The design included three potentiometers, 11 resistors, and fiveopamps. The following gives the cost analysis of these devices.

As shown above, this design that meets all required conditions is avery economical design.

III. ALTERNATIVE DESIGNS

The one factor that must hold in this design is the use of a PIController. Since, the desired result is for zero steady state error, the systemhas to increase to a type 1 system.

There are two techniques that could have worked as design alter-natives. The first method is to determine a value of the zero that providesoptimal desired response. Changing the closed loop poles to make thezero have a small magnitude could have produced this perfect response.The second technique is to use two PI controllers. This will increase thesystem to a type 2 and allow the opportunity for e

ss = 0 with a ramp

input.

DISCUSSION

The design meets all specifications by providing a variable refer-ence set point, contains a difference amplifier that subtracts the feedbackfrom the reference, and maintains a zero steady state error when a distur-bance is applied. Even while the design meets all requirements, it is a costeffective and efficient model. However, error analysis is not perfect. Erroris produced when comparing the theoretical and actual values of K

I and

KP. The error produced by K

I is 3.1 percent and K

P is 5.02percent.

Figure 4. The final theoretical schematic.

TABLEMeasurements of Final Design

Normal OperatingSteady State Error

Maximum Set-Point(Reference)

Minimum Set-Point(Reference)

Operating Range

Average Position ofCorrecting Element

Average Position ofCorrecting Element

Correcting Element Range

Settling time withStep Disturbance

Actual Value of KI

(Integral)

Actual Value of KP

(Proportional)

0.001

14.3V = 40oC

0V = 0oC

2.8V to 6.9V or30oC to 40oC

4.35V = 35oC

40oC

10oC - 65oC

5 seconds

0.6

0.095


VISUALIZATION OF MATERIALS SIMULATION ON AN IMMERSADESK

DeAndra S. HayesXavier University of LouisianaComputer Science Department

Paul Miller, Ashish Sharma, and Aiichiro NakanoConcurrent Computing Laboratory for Materials Simulations

Department of Computer Science and Department of Physics and Astronomy at Louisiana State University

By using the Immersadesk R2, immersive and interactive 3-D visualization for material stimulation was carried out. A 3-D boxcontaining several groups of atoms was drawn by using a program called OpenGL; whereby using the Immersadesk goggles andjoystick, one is able to move in and around the box as well as zoom in and out. The main objective is to use the Immersadesk andselect a certain region of the box and be able to sort regions from item closest to the viewer to the item farthest from the viewer.

BACKGROUND

Immersadesk R2 was developed in 1994 at the University of Illi-nois at Chicago (Figure 1). It features a 4’x5’ rear projected screen thatcan be oriented as either a drafting table or large screen TV. The screenmostly fills a user’s field of view. Most users wear glasses or goggles to viewhigh-resolution images on the Immersadesk. The position and orienta-tion of one user’s head can be tracked by the system so the display can beupdated continuously to show current orientation of the tracked user;basically the position of the glasses determines what one observes. Thereis also interaction in the hand-held wand (which is a combination 3-Dmouse and pointing device). This wand allows the user to interact withthe environment. Basically the Immersadesk is mostly used to show datasets from simulations and experiments.

CONCLUSION

The design of the analog temperature control system is reasonableand meets all conditions. Every strategy used in this design is to derive azero steady state error whenever a disturbance is applied to system. Anoperating range is given and within that range the system works mostefficiently.

Through the strenuous nights and days placed on providing aoptimal design, an increase in understanding the methods of derivingcircuits for control systems from transfer functions was obtained. Also, abetter understanding of PI controllers was gained.

THE PROJECT

Visualization is the transformation of data or information intopictures. It engages primary human sensory - vision. It is a tool forcommunication, a carrier of information, and an aid for learning andunderstanding. Visualization is a method of computing. It transformsthe symbolic into the geometric, enabling researcher to observe theirsimulations and computation. Visualization offers a method of seeingthe unseen. It enriches the process of scientific discovery and fosterscomplex multi-dimensional data sets. It studies those mechanisms inhumans and computers that allow them in concert to perceive use andcommunicate visual information.

Visualization is a tool both for interpreting image data fed into acomputer and for generating images from

REFERENCES

Dorf, Richard and Robert Bishop. Modern Control Systems 9th ed.2001.

Mims, Forrest. Engineer’s Mini-Notebook – Op Amp, IC Circuits 2nd

ed. 1985.Process Trainer PT-326 Operational Manual.


Figure 1.

A 3-D box containing several groups of atoms was drawn by usinga program called OpenGL. OpenGL is a software interface to graphichardware. This interface consists of about 150 distinct commands tospecify the objects and operations needed to produce interactive threedimensional applications. (Figure 2)

In conclusion, the program developed in this project will be usedto interact with very large size data sets from materials stimulation per-formed on parallel computers.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Thanks to Concurrent Computing Laboratory for Materials Simu-lations (CCLMS) staff and especially Paul Miller, Ashish Sharma, Dr.Rajiv Kalia, Dr. Aiichiro Nakano and Louis Stokes Louisiana Alliance forMinority Participation (LS-LAMP) for their help and support.

Figure 2.

REFERENCES

1. OpenGl Programming Guide 2nd edition. The Official Guide tolearning OpenGl. Mason Woo, Jackie Neiden, Tom Davis.

2. www.fakespacesystems.com. Introduction to ImmersaDesk R2.

3. www.cc.gatech.edu/scivis/ttutorial/tutorial.html. Scientific Visual-ization Tutorial.

4. “C” A Reference Manual. Fourth Edition. Samuel P. Harbison andGuy L. Steele Jr.


INTRODUCTION

Paramagnetic resonance may serve as an effective way of investigat-ing defects in crystals. Such a possibility is connected first with fact thatin paramagnetic crystals dislocation type defects alter the internal crystal-line fields and thereby cause a displacement of the paramagnetic reso-nance line and a charge in the spin lattice interaction. In the first step ofthe investigation, we were concerned mainly with characterization of thenonlinearities and the enhancement of the nonlinearities due to a doublyand/or singly doped LiNbO

3 crystal.

The Electron Paramagnetic Resonance and the phase conjugatesignal through the DFWM of a set of four LiNbO

3 crystals out of the 12

crystals were under investigation.LiNbO

3 doped with Cu:Ce, Fe:Mn, Mn, and Ni were chosen

because when 647nm laser writing beam was used, the Fe doped crystal

was found to give the strongest diffracted beam (3900 µW ), and Mn

doped crystal did not show hologram. In addition, the diffracted beam

from the LiNbO3: Ni was relatively low (146

µW

) and was very sensi-

tive to orientation with the C-axis as well as the degradation of hologramthat was extremely quick.

We used the irradiation technique to change to nonlinearity of

these crystals by introducing a more controlled defect center to the crys-tals. This might enhance the photosensitivity and the nonlinear responseof the crystals. Irradiation, in general, has proven that one of the mostimportant techniques for modifying the properties of the materials.

EXPERIMENTAL

We used the EPR spectrometer by Bruker, model 300ES spec-trometer. The measurements were taken at room temperature. Themicrowave frequency was set at 9.64 GHz, and the modulation field was100-kHz. Figure 1 shows the EPR spectrum for LiNbO

3 :Fe:Mn at

different times along the 400 days monitoring period. One main con-cern was the spin concentration in each crystal and what is the effect onthe radiation on the spin concentration? To investigate this we mappedthe spin concentration in the LiNbO

3 :Fe:Mn; this was done by acquir-

ing the EPR spectrum for the crystal then calculating the spin concentra-tion from the spectrum. Then by using a HeNe laser and an opticalcavity, the decay and growth of the EPR signal that monitored as afunction of the position of the laser on the face of the crystal. Thisincorporated in a computer program to generate the 3D plot shown in

INVESTIGATION OF THE LINBO3 CRYSTAL AND THE ELECTRON PARAMAGNETIC RESONANCE STUDY

Enrique Jackson and Abdalla M. DarwishPhysics Department, Dillard University, New Orleans, LA

Laser Matter Research Labs, Normal, Al

M.D. AggarwalDepartment of Physics, Alabama A&M University, Normal, Alabama

A homegrown doubly doped LiNbO3 single crystal irradiated with different doses of gamma rays. The short and long-rangeeffects of the irradiation processes on the photosensitivity of these crystals were under investigation. For the short range effect,the photosensitivity was increased; in particular, the phase conjugate signal became more stronger and the rising time for thephase conjugate signal was increased except for LiNbO3 doped with Mn and Fe. For the long-range effect, the phase conjugatesignal was found to increase for the crystal doped with Cu and Ce then decreased after 150 days. On the other hand, theresponse time for the crystal doped Ni and Mn was found to decrease drastically after 150 days. Other crystals doped with Feand Mn, Fe did not show much change between short and long-range effect for 300 days. Almost all the crystals after 320 daysshowed oscillations on the phase conjugate signal.

KEY WORDS: Transition metals ions, LiNbO3, photosensitivity, charge transfer, electron paramagnetic resonance, laserillumination, spin concentration, gamma irradiation, phase conjugate signal.


three crystals. We also observed an oscillation behavior at the end of themonitoring period. These results were a preliminary interpretation andconsidered with extreme caution until confirmed. For the first time thespin concentration for the LiNbO

3 :Fe:Mn was mapped. The mapping

include both experimental and theoretical calculations that gave the plotof the 3D image.

REFERENCES

1. Danieleiko, P.P. Banerjee, T. Hudsen, D. McMillen, and A. Darwish.“Characterization of optical nonlinearly of special prepared photo-refractive lithium niobate crystals,” J. Opt. Eng., Tech Digest, Vol.3137, pp. 50-58, (1997).

2. Darwish, A., D. McMillen, T. Hudson, and P. Banerjee. “Investiga-tions of the charge transfer and the photosensitivity in a single anddouble doped LiNbO

3 single crystals; an optical-electron para-

magnetic resonance study (Part I),” J. Opt. Eng., Tech Digest, Vol.2362, 29-31, (1997).

3. Darwish, A., D. Ila, D. B. Poker, and Hensley. “Investigation ofimplanted LiNbO

3 applying electron paramagnetic resonance,” to

be published in J of MRS.4. Halliburton. L.E., and C. Chen, “ESR and optical point defects in

Lithium Niobate,” Nuc. Inst. And Meth. In Phys. Res., B1, 344-347, (1984).

5. Jermann, F., and J. Otten, “Light induced charge transport inLiNbO

3 :Fe at high light intensities,” J. Opt. Soc. Am. B., Vol. 10,

11, 2085-2092, (1993).6. Kukhtrarev, N. V., and S. G. Odulov. “Dynamic self diffraction of

coherent beams,” Sov. Phys. Usp. 22(9), (1979).7. McMillen, D., Tracy Hudsen, J. Wagner, A. Darwish, J. Li, and F. T.

Yu. “Optical properties of twelve doped LiNbO3 crystals,” J. Opt.

Eng., Tech Digest, Vol. 3137, (1997).8. Mirzakhanyan, A.A. “The splitting in zero field of ground state

levels of the Ni2+ ion in LiNbO

3,” Sov. Phys. Solid State 23, 8,

(1981).9. Shtryrkov, E. I. “Scattering of light by a periodic structure of excited

and unexcited atoms,” Sov. Phys. Usp. 23(8), (1979).10. Towner H., and H. Story, “EPR studies of crystal field parameters

in Fe3+ LiNbO3,” The J. of Chem. Phys., Vol. 56, 7, (1972).

figure 2. For the peaks, which are marked as I to VI in figure 2, werepeated the experiment with a smaller beam diameter to generate a moreprecise 3D plot for the spin concentration at these locations. The plots ofthe spin concentration for the peaks on figure 2 are shown in figures 3and figure 4.

We performed the DFWM experiment by using the HeNe laserand the phase conjugate (PC) signal that detected and monitored theexperiment over a period of 400 days. During the monitoring period, wekept the three crystals in a temperature-controlled box setting with threesmall windows that allowed the laser beam to go through each crystalwithout interpreting the crystals setting or conditions. This process rolledout the effect of the temperature of the stability of the phase conjugatesignal. In figure 5 the plot of the time evolution of the phase conjugatesignal intensity for three crystals LiNbO

3:Mn:Fe3,LiNbO

3:LiNbO

3,Ni,

and LiNbO3:Cu:Ce was shown.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

The time evolution of the phase conjugate signal intensity wasmonitored over 400 days for the three gamma irradiated LiNbO

3:Ni,

Cu:Ce and Fe:Mn crystals. The phase conjugate intensity decreased forall crystals. The start of each curve is where the irradiated crystals with ahigh dose shown in Table 1. We expected that the intensity of the PCsignal would decrease with time; however, the PC signal intensity re-mained nearly fixed for a period of 100 days, then all of a sudden, therewas an increase in the intensity for 50-60 days. After that, the PC signalintensity decreased for a period of 100 days. The intensity level for thePC signal almost lost its stability and an oscillation pattern for the inten-sity that formed for the three crystals.

One possible explanation for this behavior is that the irradiationdefects on the crystals that change the kinetics of the formation and themigration of the charges over the long period. In addition, the effect ofthe irradiation is demolishing at the end of the 400 days because it isbased on the light-diffraction kinetics. After the irradiation process, thecrystals should relax and adopt new behavior for the charge transfer. Thiscan explain the increase of the intensity of the PC signal during thesecond 100 days of the observation.

CONCLUSIONS

We monitored the intensity of the phase conjugate signal for threegamma-irradiated LiNbO

3 crystals. We studied the effect of the time

evolution on the intensity of the phase conjugate signal for 400 days andthere was a change in the intensity that followed the same pattern for the

TABLE 1Phase conjugate (PC) signal at different irradiation doses for LiNbO

3 crystals

IRRADIATION DOSE Before irradiation 1.5x106 rad 2.5 x 107 rad 3.5 x 108 rad PC SIGNAL RISING TIME ms

LiNbO3:Cu:Ce 22 20 19 16

LiNbO3:Fe:Mn 32 29 20 17

LiNbO3:Ni 41 32 22 19


GENOTYPING FOR TNF-ALPHA PROMOTER REGION GENE POLYMORPHISMS USING TRACHEAL ASPIRATES

FROM INFANTS WITH HYALINE MEMBRANE DISEASE

Candace R. JohnsonDepartment of Biological Sciences

Louisiana State University

John Baier, M.D. and Thomas E. Kruger, Ph.D.Department of Pediatrics

Louisiana State University Health Sciences CenterShreveport, Louisiana

In order to determine if there is an association between the expression of the high-producing allele and the development ofbronchopulmonary dysplasia in preterm infants, the purpose of this investigation was to: determined the sufficiency of trachealaspirates in constituting a suitable DNA source for TNF-alpha genotyping, determine if the DNA obtained from the trachealaspirates yields a sufficient and appropriate polymerase chain reaction product based on the published TNF- alpha genesequence, and develop Southern Blotting techniques in order to begin genotyping patients for the -308 guanine or adenineallele.

INTRODUCTION

Recent evidence suggests that cytokine gene polymorphisms, par-ticularly those that result in high and/or overproduction of inflammatorycytokines (ex. TNF- alpha) and low production of down-regulatorycytokines (ex. IL-10), may contribute to disease processes.1-5 Somecytokines, such as IL-10 which are generally accepted as down-regulatorycytokines, may also produce disease due to their pleiotropic activities ifthey are overproduced. For example, overproduction of IL-10 whichdown-regulates T cell responses, but up-regulates B cell responses has beenassociated with the rheumatoid arthritis and Felty’s syndrome.6 To date,several diseases have been associated with gene polymorphisms that resultin aberrant production of cytokines. These include autoimmune diseasessuch as rheumatoid arthritis (increased TNF- alpha followed by increasedIL-10), Felty’s syndrome, systemic lupus erythematosus increased IL-10), as well as diseases mediated by inflammatory responses such as acuteand chronic heart, kidney and liver transplant rejection (increased TNF-alpha /low IL-10), arteriosclerosis and lung fibrosis (increased TGF-beta1).6-9

Recently, our laboratory has been studying bronchopulmonarydysplasia (BPD) which is a chronic lung disease typically found in pre-mature infants. This disease has two major components: (1) an inflam-matory component characterized by an influx of PMN’s and macroph-

ages into the lung, and (2) being a fibrotic component characterized bythickening of the lung tissue. Interestingly, the magnitude of the inflam-matory component correlates with the severity of the disease.

Based on previous studies demonstrating the significance ofcytokine gene polymorphisms and their relationship to disease processes,we decided to examine the TNF- alpha gene promoter region polymor-phism (G

lo / A

hi) at -308 upstream from the start transcription site (ATG)

to determine if there is an association with an expression of the high-producing allele and the development of BPD in preterm infants.

The specific objectives of this investigation are to 1) determine iftracheal aspirates (TAs) provide a suitable DNA source for TNF- alphagenotyping, and if so, begin purifying DNA from TAs obtained frompremature infants who did and did not develop BPD, 2) determine if theDNA obtained from these tracheal aspirates yields an appropriate PCRamplification product based on the published TNF- alpha gene sequence,and if so, begin PCR amplification of DNA purified from the TAs ofpremature infants who did and did not develop BPD, and 3) developSouthern blotting techniques and begin genotyping the patients for the-308 guanine or adenine allele.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Tracheal Aspirates: The study population consisted of very lowbirth weight infants admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU)


at the Louisiana State University Medical Center in Shreveport betweenFebruary 1997 and March 1998. The study was approved by the Insti-tutional Review Board for Human Research at LSUMC. Tracheal aspi-rates were collected only when clinically indicated. Sterile normal saline(0.5 ml) was instilled into the endotracheal tube and 3-4 manual breathswere provided by a self inflating bag. Airway secretions were aspiratedinto sterile traps and any material remaining in the catheter was washedinto the trap with an additional 0.5 cc saline. Tracheal aspirate cells wereobtained by microcentrifugation and the cell pellets were frozen at -20°Cuntil DNA isolations were performed.

Total DNA Isolation: Isolation of total DNA was performed usingthe QIAmp DNA Mini kits™ from Qiagen Incorporated (Chatsworth,CA) according to manufacturers’ specifications. Briefly, TA pellets weredigested in proteinase K and applied to silica gel QIAmp spin columns.Columns were washed in appropriate buffers and total DNA elutedusing 50 µl elution buffer. The total DNA recovered from each samplewas quantified and assessed for purity by spectrophotometric analysis at260 nm and 280 nm. Equivalent amounts (0.1 µg) of the resulting totalDNA was then subjected to PCR amplification.

Primers: The oligonucleotide primers used for PCR amplificationwere synthesized (200 µM each) commercially by Integrated DNA Tech-nologies Inc., (Coralville, IA). The TNF- alpha primer set consists of a 23base sense primer (5'-ACT CAA CAC AGC TTT TCC CTC CA-3')and a 20 base antisense primer (5'-TCC TCC CTG CTC CGA TTCCG-3') that amplifies the region containing the -308 allele and results ina 259 base pair TNF- alpha specific cDNA PCR product.1

Polymerase Chain Reaction: The DNA obtained from the TA’swas amplified by the polymerase chain reaction in a Hybaid PCR Expressthermal cycler (Midwest Scientific, St. Louis) using the PCR Core Sys-tem II (Promega Corporation, Madison, WI) in accordance with themanufacturers’ specifications. Briefly, 0.1 µg of total DNA was amplifiedby PCR in a 50 µl reaction mixture containing 1.5 mM MgCl2, 200 µMeach dNTP, 0.5 µM (each) sense and antisense primers, and 1.25U Taqpolymerase. Cycling parameters consisted of an initial melting step for 5min at 95°C.

The TNF- alpha specific DNA was then amplified for 40 cycles,each cycle consisting of an initial melting step at 95°C for 30 seconds,annealing at 66°C for 30 seconds, and extension at 72°C for one minute[1]. All PCR amplifications included a final extension step at 72°C for10 minutes to insure full length transcripts. Some of the PCR productswere visualized by 2% agarose gel electrophoresis as described below toensure appropriate length and amount of product.

Agarose Gel Electrophoresis: PCR products were visualized onethidium bromide stained two percent agarose gels. Briefly, 10 µl of eachPCR reaction was diluted 1:2 in 10 µl of 6X sample buffer containing 40percent w/v sucrose and 0.25 percent w/v bromophenol blue as a track-ing dye, and was loaded onto a 15 cm X 15 cm 2 percent agarose gel.Electrophoresis was performed in Tris-acetate-EDTA (TAE) buffer at100 V for 1.5 hours. Gels were stained with 0.5 µg/ml ethidium bro-mide and the TNF- alpha specific cDNA was visualized using a UVtrans-illuminator. The molecular weight of the PCR products were con-firmed by comparison to a DNA ladder consisting of standard cDNAthat ranges from 100 bp to 1000 bp in 100 bp increments (PromegaCorporation, Madison, WI).

Probes: The oligonucleotide probes used for the hybridizationanalysis were synthesized (200 µM each) commercially by Integrated

DNA Technologies Inc., (Coralville, IA). The TNF- alpha G allele probewas a 17 base sense probe (5'-GAG GGG CAT GGG GAC GG-3') andthe TNF- alpha A allele probe was an 18 base antisense probe (5'-CCCGTC CTC ATG CCC CTC-3'.1

Dot Blotting: A total of 40 µl of each PCR product was denaturedin 0.25 N NaOH at 37°C for 15 min. and then blotted in quadruplicate(10 µl PCR product/dot) onto Hybond-N+ Nylon Transfer Membrane™(Amersham International, Slough, UK). The membranes were then bakedfor 2 hrs at 80°C. After DNA cross-linking, the membranes were blockedovernight at 42.5°C in hybridization buffer (without probe) containing5X SSC/ 0.5 percent milk powder/ 0.1 percent N-lauryl sarcosine/ 0.02percent SDS.

After blocking, 400 ng of the appropriate biotin-labeled probewas added to the hybridization buffer at a final concentration of 40 ng/ml, and the membranes were allowed to hybridize overnight at 42.5°C.The membranes were then washed twice in 5X SSC/ 0.1 percent SDS for5 min. at room temperature (RT), stringency washed once in 1X SSC/0.1 percent SDS for 30 min. at 56°C (G specific probe) or 59°C (Aspecific probe), rinsed for one min. at RT in 0.15M NaCl/ 0.1M Tris pH7.5 and then blocked for 30 mins. at RT in 0.15M NaCl/ 0.1M Tris pH7.5 containing 0.5 percent milk powder.1 Next, streptavidin HRP con-jugate was added (1:5000) and the membrane incubated for 30 mins. atRT.

The membrane was then washed 6X for 10 min. each wash with0.15M NaCl/ 0.1M Tris pH 7.5/ 0.5 percent milk powder/ and devel-oped for 1 min. using the ECL Chemiluminescence System™ (AmershamInternational, Slough, UK). Autoradiography was performed on the blotsusing Kodak X-OMAT LS film and two Lightning Plus intensifyingscreens with an exposure time of approximately one minute.

RESULTS

The DNA isolated from 177 patients’ tracheal aspirate sampleshad a mean yield of approximately 4.44 +/- .28 µg DNA/TA and had amean O.D. 260/280 ratio of approximately 1.83. These data suggestthat most TAs yield enough DNA for PCR amplification since each PCRreaction tube requires at least 0.1 µg of template DNA. Additionally,most TA DNAs were sufficiently pure enough to be useful for TNF-alpha genotyping since our previous studies suggest that PCR amplifica-tion requires DNA with an O.D. 260/280 value of at least 1.45 (“pureDNA” has a O.D. 260/280 ratio of 1.9). However, electrophoreticanalysis of PCR products generated from the TA DNA suggests thatwhile all of the products are the appropriate 259 bp fragment predictedby the gene sequence, the amounts of the PCR products vary signifi-cantly between patient samples. In fact, some of the patient DNA samplesfailed to produce a significant PCR product in spite of using 0.1 µg oftemplate DNA in each PCR reaction tube (ex. patient #’s 94 and 100).

Some of the PCR samples generated from TAs contain enoughmaterial to detect the TNF-alpha -308 alleles in the dot blotting proce-dure. This figure shows the results of two patient TA-derived PCRproducts blotted at approximately 10 µl PCR product/dot that stainpositive for the TNF-alpha -308 G allele.

DISCUSSION

These studies demonstrate that tracheal aspirates obtained frompremature infants may be useful for establishing a correlation between


the expression of TNF- alpha -308 Glo/Ahi production alleles and thegenetic predisposition for developing BPD. While the total DNA yieldsand purity appear to be adequate in most TA-derived DNA samples, theintegrity of the DNA in some samples may be questionable as indicatedby the differing amounts of PCR product generated in spite of equalamounts (0.1 µg) of template DNA in each PCR reaction tube (Fig. 2).Thus some of the DNA in the TAs may have undergone partial (and in afew samples complete) degradation as a result of inappropriate handlingof patient TAs prior to arrival in our laboratory. In some instances, degra-dation of the DNA may have occurred as a result of pulmonary microbialinfection(s) in the premature infants since it is known that bacteria andother infectious agents produce nucleases. While these preliminary stud-ies suggest that TA samples may be useful for genotyping patients for thedifferent TNF- alpha gene polymorphisms, at this time we must becareful in our assessment of the use of TA samples taken retrospectivelyuntil more of the 177 patient samples have been further analyzed by dothybridizations.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This investigation was partially sponsored by the National Sci-ence Foundation. The third author would like to acknowledge the Of-fice of Multicultural Affairs at the Louisiana State University HealthSciences Center in Shreveport for its support and accommodations dur-ing this investigation.

REFERENCES

1. Perry C, Pravica V, Sinnott PJ, Hutchinson IV. Genotyping forpolymorphisms in interferon- gamma, interleukin-10, transform-ing growth factor- beta 1 and tumor necrosis factor- alpha genes: atechnical report. Transplant Immunology 1998; 6: 193-197.

2. Hutchinson IV, Pravica V, Perry C, Sinnott P. Cytokine gene poly-morphisms and relevance to forms of rejection. TransplantationProceedings 1999; 31: 734-736.

3. Sankaran D, Asderakis A, Ashraf S, et al. Cytokine gene polymor-phisms predict acute graft rejection following renal transplanta-tion. Kidney International 1999; 56: 281-288.

4. Hutchinson IV, Turner DM, Sankaran D, Awad MR, et al. Influ-ence of cytokine genotypes on allograft rejection. TransplantationProceedings 1998; 30: 362-363.

5. Azzawi M, Grant SDC, Hastleton PS, Yonan N, et al. TNF alphamRNA and protein in cardiac transplant biopsies: comparison withserum TNF alpha levels. Cardiovascular Research 1996; 32: 551-556.

6. Coakley, G., Mok, C.C., Hajeer, A.H., Ollier, W.E.R., Turner, D.,Sinnott, P.J., Hutchinson, I.V., Panayi, G.S., and Lanchbury, J.S..Interleukin-10 promoter polymorphisms in rheumatoid arthritisand Felty’s syndrome. British Journal of Rheumatology. 1998; 37:988-991.

7. Wilson, A.G., di Giovine, F. S., and Gordon, W.D. Genetics ofTumour Necrosis Factor- alpha in autoimmune, infectious, andneoplastic diseases. Journal of Inflammation. 1995; 45:1-12.

8. Turner, D.M., Grant, S.C.D., Lamb, W.R., Brenchley, P.E.C., Dyer,P.A., Sinnott, P.J., and Hutchinson, I.V. A genetic marker of highTNF- alpha production in heart transplant recipients. Transplan-tation. 1995; 60:1113-1117.

9. Turner, D.M., Grant, S.C.D., Yonan, N., Sheldon, S., Dyer,P.A.,Sinnott, P.J., and Hutchinson, I.V. Cytokine gene polymor-phism in heart transplant rejection. Transplantation. 1997; 64:776-779.


CO2 LASER

Harry D. Borden, Leslie M. Lombard, Jolene Robin, and Faith Septor.Advisors: Dr. Ashok Puri and Amrit De,

Department of Physics, College of Sciences,University of New Orleans, Louisiana

The CO2 Laser project was created to familiarize a group of LS-LAMP scholars with its operation. The CO2 Laser was selectedas a project because of its ease of operation and its many practical applications. The group was also charged with familiarizingitself with the various safety procedures and protocols.

INTRODUCTION:

Lasing has been observed in a large number of molecular gases. Ofparticular importance is the carbon dioxide (CO

2) molecular gas laser,

which has lasing transitions at several wavelengths in the infrared, princi-pally around 9.6 mm and 10.6 mm.

Development of the CO2 laser has proceeded at a fast pace. CO

2

lasers are capable of modes of operation such as continuous, repetitivelypulsed, Q-switched, and mode-locked operation, with high-energy out-puts and large working efficiencies (10%-30%). Furthermore, they emitlight at a frequency exhibiting little atmospheric absorption.

The PHYWE (name of vendor) CO2 is a device, which uses the

carbon dioxide molecule to produce high energy levels of infrared light.This light is a result of photons being emitted due to the vibration of thecarbon dioxide molecule. The vibration of the carbon dioxide moleculeis caused by the introduction of nitrogen gas. Nitrogen gas, which is adiatomic molecule with one degree of vibrational freedom, has energy ofexcitation nearly equal to that of carbon dioxide. This introductioncauses collisions between the two molecules, which result in the CO

2

molecule being raised to its vibration level.Since the vibrational level of a molecule is very close to its ground

state, most of the energy require to raise it to this level is transferred to thephoton that is emitted. This results in a substantial level of efficiency. Asa consequence, the CO

2 laser has an output that can reach a wavelength

of 10.6 microns.In comparison, an atomic laser has an atomic ionization limit, which

is equivalent to the vibrational level in a molecule, far above its groundstate. For this reason a considerable amount of energy is needed to raise itto this level. However, only a small amount of this energy is emitted inthe form of a photon, the rest is returned to the ground state, where it issubsequently wasted. In light of this, the CO

2 laser is a much better

choice over the atomic laser.

APPLICATIONS

An important area of industrial application for CO2 lasers has been

in materials processing, including hole drilling in various substances,paper cutting and perforation, cloth cutting, scribing of semiconductorwafers, and welding. For example, the heat produced by its high outputis sufficient for heating the substrate, which allows for a good weld be-tween materials.

In addition, carbon dioxide lasers are being used in laser-inducedfusion studies, experimental optical communications and tracking sys-tems, and in environmental testing and monitoring.

If this diffraction grating is mounted in such a manner that it canbe moved, then a CO

2-laser can be tuned. CO

2-lasers of this type are used

for spectroscopic analyses. For measurement of atmospheric pollutants,the CO

2-laser is employed on the basis of that of the LIDAR principle.

In the field of medicine, the CO2 laser can be used in surgery as a

laser scalpel, in the ablative treatment of skin areas, and as a source of lightfor the heat treatment of deep-lying tissue layers (e.g. neuro-stimulation).

Another field in which the CO2 laser is used the military. The laser

can be used in the identification of enemy stockpiles. The high wave-length of the laser causes vibrations in the chemical weapons, which canbe detected, and used for identifying them.

COMPONENTS OF THE CO2 LASER

The CO2 laser, which was used by the group, contained several

components that were necessary for its successful operation:1. The laser tube- It channels the CO

2 laser-gas along the laser light

propagation. Typically, the CO2-laser gas contains a mixture of

4.5%CO2, 13.5 %N

2, and 82%He.

2. Hardware- Consists of a Tri-point laser tube holder, adjustable mir-ror mounts, Brewster window mounts, and an optical bench.

3. Optics- The laser cavity contains one Si-plano mirror and one ZnSe


plano/concave partial reflector, reflecting 95% of the incominglight at 10.6 mm.

4. Electronics- A high voltage power supply is required to“pump” the laser tube by discharging. The current andvoltage electronically highly stabilized dc power unit hasa nominal output of 50 mA and 5KV. Two ballast resis-tors absorb about 50%of the total supply output power.

5. Vacuum- The typical operating pressure for the CO2 mixture is

from 30 to 40 mbar. Therefore, a vacuum pump is required.6. Gas- The CO

2-laser gas mixture is supplied in a quantity of 50L at

a pressure of 200 atm. Consequently a pressure regulation is neededto reduce the outlet pressure to one atmosphere above normal.

7. Cooling circuit- The laser tube requires permanent cooling to reachhigher inversion densities. This is ensured by a closed cooling cir-cuit, which consists essentially of a circulating pump and a 10Ltank with destilled water from the cooling jacket.

8. Power meter- The power output of the laser, e.g. the intensity of theinfrared beam is measured using a power meter whose most sen-sible range allows the instantaneous detection of a change in powerof 1 mW. The maximum measurable power is 10 Watt withmounted heat sink.

PROCEDURE

Each member of the group was assigned one operation of the laserand was responsible for researching their assigned procedure. Theseprocedures included alignment, firing, shutdown, and output efficiency.However, the whole group was responsible for the set-up and assembly ofthe laser.

Alignment of the laser was initiated using a smaller HeNe align-ment laser.

A He/Ne-laser and two pinhole screens in front of the He/Ne-laserand at the end of the optical bench are used to align the laser tube and themirrors perfectly. A target is centered at the other end and the He/Ne laserbeam after passing through the pinhole was made to hit the center of thetarget. The glass laser tube was then placed in the path of the He/Ne laserbeam such that it passed through the tube without hitting the sides, asthis would result in drastic reduction of power. One of the two mirrorswith higher reflectance was placed at one end of the tube, and wasadjusted so as to ensure that the He/Ne laser beam was reflected back tothe center of the pinhole.

After this the second mirror was placed in its path to ensure that asecond beam was also transmitted back to the center of the same pinhole.Next the Brewster windows were rotated so as to align them in parallel. Awhite semi-transparent screen was held up at a certain distance and bylooking at the reflected beams on this screen the Brewster windows wererotated.

Finally for the firing procedure, first the vacuum pump was turnedon so as to create a vacuum in the laser tube. This was monitored by avacuum pressure gauge. Next the gas valves were gradually released andan output pressure of 200 mbar was maintained. A second valve wasused to let in the gas into the tube at the desired pressure, which wasmonitored by the vacuum pressure gauge. Finally the power supply wasturned on. A high dc voltage was applied to the gas inside the tube, inorder to ionize it. A pink glow was observed inside the tube. The mirrorswere further adjusted in order to obtain optimum output. At certain

instances minor misalignment of the mirrors resulted in no output at all.The output power of the laser was studied as a function of the inputcurrent, input voltage, gas pressure, and rotation of the Brewster win-dows.

SAFETY

Because the operating voltages are lethal, and its output can burnor cause eye damage in a fraction of a second, the CO

2 laser should only

be assembled and operating by experienced persons. Consequently, theprecautions and safety measures must be observed to ensure safe opera-tion of this device.

SUMMARY

CO2 lasers are popular for a variety of applications and are com-

mercially available in various types. The smallest is as short as a few centi-meters with, output powers of from less than a watt to a few watts. Themost common type of CO

2 laser is available in powers up to about one

kilowatt. An improvement on laser design uses larger tubes, a higher gasflow rate, and heat exchangers for gas cooling. These produce outputpowers of a few kilowatts. The largest commercial lasers are multikilowattsystems. The largest CO

2 lasers are chemically powered gas dynamic lasers

under experimental development for defense applications.

CONCLUSION

The operation of the CO2 laser was both a learning and fun expe-

rience for the group. Each member learned the theory of how a laserworks and its various components. The group also learned how to as-semble the laser and the procedures that are necessary to make it function.They were also taught the safety procedures that need to be followed forthe operation of a device that has the potential of being deadly. Overall,the project successfully achieved its goal of familiarizing the group withthe laser’s operation. The group was able to gain hands-on experiencewith a device that would normally be inaccessible to them.

REFERENCES

1. Duley, W.W. CO2 Lasers—Effects and Applications. New York:

Academic Press, 1976.2. Anderson, John D., Jr. Gas Dynamic Lasers - An Introduction. New

York: Academic Press, 1976.3. Siegman A.E (Lasers, University Science books 1986).


THE EFFECTS OF MOTION ON THE SORPTION OF ORGANICS

Antonino Monterrosa, Hung Nham, Scarleth Ramirez, and Nohemi RangelCalifornia State University, Los Angeles

In Environmental Scientific Technology Journal Edition 25(7) p.1223 (1991), William Ball and P. Roberts’s “Long-TermSorption of Halogenated Organic Chemicals by Aquifer Material” states, “of the identified organic contaminants in subsurfacedrinking water supplies, organic chemicals are detected at the highest concentrations and with the greatest frequency.” In thepast, the goal for clean up of such organic waste has been to decontaminate up to levels that would meet all applicable, relevantor appropriate environmental standards. It has been clear that in certain situations clean-up levels may be unrealistic andunattainable. In part, this situation has been caused by the uncertainty that exists regarding molecular interactions, especiallybetween the contaminants and the environment. As a matter of fact, a research is being conducted by Dr. Crist Khachikianregarding the effects and behavior of solid organic compounds in porous media. Though research has and is being conductedon this field, certain factors such as movement have been omitted. Movement is kinetic energy, which affects (theoretically) therate of reactions at the molecular level in such a way that it changes the decontamination process. This is why we expect ourresults to show that the increased motion of an organic mixture increases the sorption of the contaminants into the silicate. Thisapproach offers an alternative way to examine and to analyze decontamination procedures.

INTRODUCTION

The Process in which chemicals become associated with solid phasesis generally referred to as sorption (either adsorption onto a two-dimen-sional surface, or absorption into a three-dimensional matrix). This phasetransfer process may involve dissolved molecules with adjacent solid phases.

Sorption is extremely important because it may dramaticallyaffect the fate and impact of chemicals in the environment. Such impor-tance is readily understood if we recognize that structurally identicalmolecules behave very differently if they are surrounded by water mol-ecules and ions as opposed to clinging onto the exterior of solids or beingburied within a solid matrix. Clearly, the environmental movements ofwater-borne molecules must differ from that fraction of the same kind ofmolecules carried by particles that settle. Additionally, only the dissolvedmolecules are available to collide with the interfaces leading to otherenvironmental compartments such as air; and thus these phase transfers,for practical purposes are limited to the dissolved species of a chemical.Finally, the chemical milieu of the solution and solid worlds differ greatly,For example, the thin layer of water surrounding silicate surfaces is typi-cally “more acidic” than bulk water, and thus reactions involving protonsor hydroxide ions proceed at different rates for sorbed molecules whichare otherwise structurally identical to dissolved molecules. It is possiblethat molecules located within particles are substantially shaded from inci-dent light; therefore, these molecules may not get involved with direct

photochemical processes. Finally insofar as molecular transfer into micro-organisms is frequently a prerequisite to a substance’s biodegradation, itshould be recognize that the greater ease of chemical movement fromsolution versus from within solids to bacteria generally causes the biologi-cal decomposition of the sorbed form of the chemical to be slower than itsdissolved counterpart. Hence, we must understand solid-solution ex-change phenomena before we can quantify virtually any other processaffecting the fate of chemicals in the environment.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Project Name: “The Effects and Behavior of Solid Organic Compoundsin Porous Media” by Crist S. Khachikian, Ph.D.

Sorption or the effects of such process are extremely important inthe field of environmental engineering. At the molecular level, theorieschange and the results obtained from applying regular theories at suchlevel might not be as expected. In this project, which started as Dr.Khachikian’s master thesis and continued on to his dissertation, the ef-fects that certain contaminants such as naphthalene have on organicssuch as silicate or sand have been studied. To illustrate, some of theobjectives of this project have been to:

a. Study effects of organic compounds on the physical properties ofporous media

b. Develop a mass transfer correlation for solid organics in natural


porous mediac. Determine the concentration of naphthalene reaching groundwater

below.

At the beginning of the contamination period, the contaminantwill stick to the walls of the silicate in this case. After a certain period oftime, there will be a change in the overall area of the solid. This situationis caused by a change in the area of the pores. (NOTE: it is important toremember that at microscopic level what appears to be solid has pores).There comes a point at which the solid cannot absorb anymore contami-nant. This period of time is called “Irreversibility”. But what happenswhen the contamination is removed? Because of the existence of thepores and the state of irreversibility, not all of the contamination will beremoved. In order to determine what is the maximum possible removedcontaminant , it is important to know the upper limit that the contami-nation can reach. In other words, it’s important to determine at whatpoint does the irreversible state is reached. To find this information, inthis experiments different kinds of silicate have been run using the samecontaminant –naphthalene. The point of this was to compare the amountsof contaminant left on the sands by a direct comparison of the area left onboth silicates. It is important to remember that the area to be comparedwill involve the external vs. internal or the surface area of the solid versusthe pores’ area. Using a correlation between research already done andthese experiments the final result should be the transport or exposure ofthe contaminant. Chart 1 illustrates this point:

CHART 1HYPOTHESIS

Motion affects organic sorption. Shaking a vial containing a cer-tain contaminate with an organic substance will cause a greater amount ofsorption, and will therefore yield different results than unshaken vials ofthe same contents.

LONG-TERM OBJECTIVES

We intend to examine the amounts of contaminate reacting withgroundwater resembling a porous media which can be simulated in alaboratory. The results found in these experiments can be used in re-search on how to reduce the amount of contaminant found in the aqui-

fers that supply our drinking water. Furthermore, if once a conclusion isreached, we can apply our results to a more sophisticated set of experi-ments that will lead to further advancements in environmentalremediation. One of these advance steps would be to calculate the amountof time it takes for sorption reactions to occur. This is also a vital part ofour long-term objectives.

SIGNIFICANCE/IMPORTANCE

Because we all play a role in our societies natural services, we mustidentify what must be achieved in order to keep a sanitary environmentand personal well-being. In order to maintain a working economy that isbeneficial to all creatures on this planet, we must advance our techniquesin research to improve the prospects of life. Once we have a systematicway of cleaning up man-made pollutants that allowed us the reaching ofour goals, the overall well-being of earth and it inhabitants will be saferhands than today’s.

METHODS OF RESEARCH

PublicationsBall, William nd Paul Roberts , “Long- Term Sorption of Halogenated

Organic Chemicals by Aquifer Materials “ (1991).Gschwend, Phylip M. and Shian-chee Wu, “On the Constancy of

sediment-Water Partition Coefficients of Hydrophobic OranicPolllutants” (1985)

Holmen, Britt and Philip Gschwend of MIT, “Estimating SorptionRates of Hydrophobic Organic Compounds in Iron Oxide andAluminosilicate Clay-Coated Aquifer Sands” (1997).

Khachikian, Crist “The Effects and Behavior of Solid Organic Com-pounds in Porous Media” (2000).

BooksFetter, C.W. “Contamination Hydrogeology”Freeze, R. Allan and John A. Cherry, GroundwaterSchwarzenbach, Rene, P. Gschwned, and D. Imboden, Environmen-

tal Organic ChemistryMcMaster, Marvin, HPLC: a Practical User’s Guide

Internetwww.lycos.comwww.epa.gov

RESULTS

The research focuses on the amount of sorption of porous mediaby subject it to an environment similar to that of an underground aquifer.Currently this experiment is being conducted at the Environmental En-gineering department C-162 E & T Building at California State Univer-sity, Los Angeles. We will be dealing with multiples vials of differentvariables that will have different outcomes in the results based on thesevariables. One the research that has been conducted at this laboratory isthe contaminant transport that behaves like pulse in soil columns and thesorption and transfer to gas phase reducing concentration reaching thegroundwater. Figure 1 illustrates this example.

METHODS

Surface Area Runs * Change in area * Change in pores

* “Irreversibility”

Dissolution Runs * Moffett vs. Silica * External vs. Internal

Correlation Sh = f(Pe)

Transport/ Exposure


The methods used in this research are as follows:Analytical methods- Since we need to determine the rate of sorption (2):

K sorb

= 23 D* R2

Where (3) D = ?Dw

Kd (1-O)?

s + O

And (4) Kd is given by Cw/Cs

We need to find the Kd in terms of the concentration of contami-

nants in the water and the concentration of contaminant in the sand. (SeeAppendix)

MATERIALS/INSTRUMENTATIONS

This experiment and many others where conducted in this labora-tory using the following:

NaphthaleneWaterSilicate ( Sand )Vials with SeptaEquipmentBalance - Weights mass of sandHigh Pressurized Liquid Chromatography: measures the time it takes

contaminant to react with sand and H2O

Shaker Rotisserie: rotates vials in order to speed the reaction timeSyringe: injects amount (10µ, 5µ, 2µ, 1µ) of contaminant into vial

BUDGET

VialsSample Vials - Glass screw thread (15 x 45) $ 56.10Sample Vials - Glass screw thread (17 x 60) $ 58.26HPLC Vials - Pre-assembled with I-D $179.16Vial Rack $ 20.00

Cleaning Solution $16.92Contrad Detergent $ 16.07Concentrate Stain remover + $ 22.92Subtotal $ 369.43Tax $ 30.48Total $399.91

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS

From Dr. Khachikian’s research:•Early time dissolution of a solid phase semi-volatile organic from soil

exhibits transient behavior (readily available portion)•Experimentally observed transient release behaves like an asymmetric

pulse in a soil column transport model•Pulse is largely attenuated (here, over 3 m), but significant concentra-

tions can reach shallow groundwater

ASSESSMENT/SIGNIFICANCE OF FINDINGS

The study of our environment has become essential during the lastdecades. Our lives depend on maintaining our ecosystem as balanced aspossible. Unfortunately, man destroys nature more than it heals it. Thecontamination levels have made it impossible for nature to develop insome areas of our planets. If we, as living entities of this planet, do notwant to be prevented from living in some areas of the planet, we must fixthe damage done to our planet. In order to do this, the existing remediationtechniques must be updated. Based on the research done by Dr.Khachikian, our intent is to use his results in a way that will allow us toanalyze how motion affects this process. In other words, we intent toanalyze up to what point does motion change the amount of contami-nant taken by the solid. By doing this, we will open new doors in theenvironmental remediation field.

REFERENCES

Ball, William and Paul Roberts, “Long- Term Sorption of HalogenatedOrganic Chemicals by Aquifer Materials “ (1991).

Fetter, C.W., Contamination HydrogeologyFreeze, R. Allan and John A. Cherry, GroundwaterSchwarzenbach, Rene, P. Gschwned, and D. Imboden, Environmen-

tal Organic ChemistryMcMaster, Marvin, HPLC: a Practical User’s Guide

APPENDIX

K sorbate

Rate of SorptionR2 y intercept? Porosity = 0.35D

wDiffusion coefficient = 8.6 x 10^-6 cm/s

Kd

Partition/Distribution Coefficient?

sSolid Density = 2.65 g/cm3

Cw Concentration of contaminant in waterCs Concentration of contaminant in sand

-300

-250

-200

-150

-100

-50

0

0 5 10 15

Max. Concentration: 0.30 mg/L

(at t ~ 3 days)

Concentration (mg/L)

Depth

(cm)

Figure.


INCREASED CEPHALOSPORIN RESISTANCE RESULTED FROM STRUCTURAL MODIFICATIONS OF ESBLS INCLINICAL STRAINS OF KLEBSIELLA PNEUMONIAE.

S. Richburg1, J.Y. Carr1, M-A Alexis1, J-M Riche2, and J.E. Raynor1

Department of Natural Sciences, Fayetteville State University1

and Department of Biology, Fayetteville Technical Community College2

The emergence of novel resistance to ß-lactam antibiotics presents a serious threat in the treatment of infections caused by gram-negative bacteria. Bacterial resistance towards third-generation ß-lactam antibiotics has been linked to the production ofplasmid-mediated Extended-Spectrum Beta Lactamases (ESBLs). Amino acid substitutions in these enzymes were suggested toexpand their spectrum of cepthalosporin antibiotics. This investigation was undertaken to identify the role of amino acidsubstitutions in ESBL identified in outbreak strains of Klebsiella pneumoniae collected in an Atlanta hospital 1992-1994. Inthis regard, 12 Klebsiella pneumoniae strains were selected for this study from a pool of 68 strains based on their ß-lactamresistance conferred by Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion. Parent K. pneumoniae strains were conjugated with streptomycin-resistantE. coli (HB101). ESBL genes were identified in transconjugates by PCR using primers generated against the published SHV-1 sequence. PCR-generated products were sequenced and compared to the wild type sequence to identify amino substitutions.Data obtained from sequence analysis suggested the identification of twelve novel enzymes related to SHV-5 and SHV-7 ESBLs.Further, comparison of sequence analysis and cephalosporin susceptibility data suggest that amino acid substitutions occur atpositions which altered ESBL conformation, thus, increasing cephalosporin resistance and spectrum towards cephalosporinantibiotics.

INTRODUCTION

Cephalosporin-resistant bacteria evolved over two decades ago,shortly after the introduction of highly stable Extended-Spectrum cepha-losporins.[1] Improper use of cephalosporins is mostly responsible for thespread and dissemination of cephalosporin resistance among several spe-cies of Enterobacteriaceae. While ESBLs can be found among manybacterial species, Klebsiella pneumoniae appear to produce ESBL variantsat a higher frequency than other clinical strains.2

ESBLs are plasmid-mediate enzymes that provide bacteria anti-biotic resistance to b-lactam antibiotics such as penicillins and cepha-losporins by hydrolyzing the b-lactam ring between the carbonyl carbonand the nitrogen. The cleaved b-lactam antibiotic is unable to form cova-lent bonds with bacterial transpeptidases to prevent cell wall synthesis.Treatment of infections caused by ESBL-producing bacteria is problem-atic because plasmids encoding ESBLs generally also encode multipledrug resistance.3 These plasmid serve as vectors for dissemination of cepha-losporin resistance among members of Enterobacteriaceae.4

ESBLs are divided into two major classes of enzymes identified inthe early 80s, TEM-or SHV-related b-lactamases.5 Since the emergenceof these enzymes, variants from each class which differ in two to fouramino acids have been identified at an alarming rate.6 These variantsprovide a broader spectrum of cephalosporin-resistance to ESBL-pro-ducing bacterial strains. The increased cephalosporin-resistance observedin variants generally results in the production of one to several variants inthe same bacterial strain.7

Microbiological and Clinical laboratories across the country havebeen identifying ESBL variants for the past two decades.2 Identificationof variants provides health providers the best drug choice to treat a poten-

tial resistance outbreak and reduce the chances of dissemination of drugresistance and the emergence of similar resistance patterns.8 If left uni-dentified, ESBL-producing bacteria may colonize patients who will leavethe hospital and disseminate the strains in other environments. Thus,these resistance genes have the opportunity to move onto more resistantplasmids and eventually initiate an outbreak involving highly cepha-losporin-resistant organisms.9

In this study, we analyzed 43 cephalosporin-resistant strains ofKlebsiella pneumoniae to establish a relationship between cephalosporinresistance and amino acids substitutions in ESBL in clinical strains ofKlebsiella pneumoniae.


Bacterial strains and conjugation. All bacterial strains were pro-vided to our lab as a gift from Dr. Tenorver laboratory, Hosipital Infec-tions Branch, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. For all conju-gative experiments, streptomycin resistant Escherichia coli (HB101) weremated with parental Klebsiella pneumoniae strains as previously describedby Bradford et al., 1996. Transconjugates were selected on Tryptic SoyAgar plates containing two ug/ml cefotaxime (Hoechst-Roussel Pharma-ceuticals Inc., Somerville, N.J.) and 25 ug/ml of streptomycin (Bristol-Myers Squibb, Princeton, N.J.).

Susceptibility testing. Susceptibility testing of parental strains andtransconjugates was performed in the laboratory by traditional Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion tests of various antibiotics as described by the Na-tional Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards (National Commit-tee for Clinical Laboratory Standards, 1990 ). Briefly, a 5-ul aliquot ofculture (approximately 106 CFU/ml) grown to the logarithmic phase in


Mueller-Hinton broth (BBL) was inoculated onto the agar plates. Plateswere incubated for 18 h at 37 oC and judged according to NCCLS.10

Plasmid analysis. Plasmids from parental Klebsiella pneumoniaeand transconjugates were isolated by a procedure described by Birnboimet al., 1979 and Wheatcroft and Williams et al., 1981.11,12 Briefly, oneml of cells or 2-3 large colonies from an overnight plate is resuspended inglucose buffer (0.5 M glucose, 10 mM Tris, pH 8.0, 10 mM EDTA)with the addition of lysozyme (1ug/ml) and placed on ice for five min.Lysis was completed with the addition of one percent SDS /0.2 N NaOH,then immediately neutralized with three M Potassium acetate.13 Plas-mids were precipitated with isopropyl alcohol and washed twice with70 percent ethanol. Contaminating RNA was removed by the additionof RNAse incubated at 37oC for 30 min. Plasmid DNA was resus-pended in TE buffer and electrophoresed in a 0.7percent agarose gelprepared in 1x TAE.

Polymerase Chain Reaction. SHV type ESBL genes were ampli-fied by PCR using plasmids or intact cells from overnight plates asperformed as described by Clark et al., 1993. Typically, 1 ul of cellsfrom agar plates (one or two colonies resuspended in 100 ul of distilledwater) or 50 ng of plasmid DNA, 10 mM Tris (pH 8.3), 50 mM KCL,1.5 mM MgCl

2, 0.2 mM deoxynucleotide triphosphates (dATP, dCTP,

dGTP and dTTP), 0.5 uM each primer, and 2.5 U of Taq DNA poly-merase [14]. Amplifications will be carried out in a Perkin-Elmer Cetusmodel 9600 DNA thermocycler. Approximately 15 ul of PCR prod-

ucts will be layered onto a 1.8 percent agarose gel (Ultrapure; GIBCOBethesda Research Laboratories, Gaitherburg, MD) prepared with 0.5xTBE buffer, pH 8.3 and electrophoresed for 1h at 150 V. DNA bandswere visualized by treating gels with 10 uM ethidium bromide.

DNA sequencing. Nucleotide sequences were determined in bothdirections using a modified protocol of performed Sanger et al., 1977.Single-stranded DNA generated by PCR was sequenced using Sequenaseenzyme (United States Biochemical, Cleveland, Ohio).15,16 The protocolfor sequencing will be performed as described by the manufacturer of theSequenase Kit (United States Biochemical). For each strain, a minimumof two independent PCR products will be sequenced in order to elimi-nate any errors introduced by PCR.14

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The purpose of this study was to establish a relationship betweenamino acid substitutions in ESBLs and cefotaxime resistance. Plasmidsencoding ESBLs were transferred to cefotaxime-susceptible/ Streptomy-cin-resistant E. coli to differentiate plasmid-mediated cephalosporin resis-tance from possible chromosomal-mediated resistance. Cephalosporin-resistant transconjugates containing zones of inhibition #14 mm forcefotaxime revealed by Kirby Bauer were selected for further study (Table.1). These strains were suggested to produce ESBLs due to their highresistance to commonly used penicillins and cephalosporins. While highly

TABLE 1Antibiotic Susceptibility test of clinical isolates of Klebsiella pneumoniae

stre

ptom

ycin

gent

amyc

in

amik

acin

oxac

illin

pipe

raci

llin

ampi

cilli

n w

/ sul

bact

am

cefo

taxi

me

ceft

azad

ime

ceft

riax

one

cefo

xitin

aztr

eona

m

imip

enem

cipr

oflo

xaci

n

trim

etho

prim

tetr

acyc

lin

cham

phen

icol

TC92-030842 13 6 14 6 6 6 13 6 13 23 6 23 18 6 20 6

TC92-030845 11 6 12 6 6 6 13 6 12 18 6 26 17 10 15 6

TC92-030847 12 6 12 6 6 6 13 6 13 18 6 26 12 6 17 6

TC93-026724 16 9 20 6 6 17 13 19 13 20 20 23 26 20 18 16

TC93-026727 13 9 20 6 6 15 12 19 12 21 20 24 25 19 20 18

TC93-026729 15 9 23 6 6 14 14 18 15 23 22 22 28 23 21 18

TC93-026734 13 21 22 6 18 17 6 25 6 9 6 25 24 6 6 18

TC93-026740 14 10 19 6 8 16 14 18 15 22 22 23 21 23 20 15

TC94-042258 17 22 25 6 18 10 20 17 19 6 24 26 31 23 22 21

TC94-042260 14 10 20 6 6 18 14 15 15 15 18 26 28 16 14 6

TC94-005371 6 12 20 6 6 12 15 8 15 16 6 26 16 6 6 6

TC94-005374 13 9 19 6 6 15 13 18 13 21 20 26 24 20 19 18

TC94-005375 11 6 12 6 6 6 12 6 12 21 6 35 16 6 18 6


resistant to these antibiotics, these stains show similarity in their resistanceto tetracyclines and chloramphenicol. Such resistance genes have beenreported to be encoded on large plasmids encoding ESBLs.

Plasmid profiles of cefotaxime-resistant transconjugate (TC) strainsrevealed the presence of a distinct chromosomal band observed in eachlane. An 80kb plasmid is esxhibited in Figure 2. PCR amplification of

antibiotic disk diffusion testing. Using PCR, a single band with theapproximate molecular weight of 972 bp (Figure 2) was obtained whenusing primers generated against the SHV-1 b-lactamase gene. In mostcases, a bright band was obtained; however, in some cases PCR yield waslow relative to the bacterial resistance to cefotaxime.

PCR products were used as templates for sequence analysis tocompare nucleotide sequences of ESBL genes. Analysis of nucleotidesequences revealed twelve novel ESBL genes. We used the location ofselected amino acids proposed by Amber et al., (1991) to compare se-quences obtained from this study with the sequences of known ESBLsequences. Mutations were noted based on amino acid deviations fromthe SHV-1 wild-type ESBL. Surprisingly, our sequences show great ho-mology to SHV-5 and SHV-7. TC40, TC45, TC47, TC58, TC60,TC71 and TC74 contain the same amino acid Arg, Asp, and Arg resi-dues found in positions 43, 179, and 205, respectively as SHV-5. Simi-larly, TC24 and TC27 contain the amino acids Ser and Asp in positions43, and 179, respectively as SHV-7. TC75 was the only strain thatshowed disparity. For example, Pro, Arg, and Thr are found in positions43, 179, and 205, respectively (Table 2).

These findings are interesting because to date, over 37 SHV-typeESBLs have been identified, yet the population of strains evaluated inthis study were closely related to SHV-5 and SHV-7 [21]. This suggeststhat these two genes and gave rise to the outbreak from which the currentstrains were taken. To establish a basis for these mutations, we deter-mined the mutation positions and the types of amino acid substitutions.As were indicated by several investigators, ESBLs have hot spots formutations. For example, positions 43, 179, 205, 238, and 240 appearto be important hot spots in ESBLs. In the strains tested, 71percent ofthe ESBLs contained an Arg at position 43 while all strains had a con-served Asp at position 179. Arg was present in 71% of ESBLs at position205. Positions 238 and 240 showed the greatest disparity among aminoacid substitutions. This suggests that these sites play a greater role in thediversity of ESBLs. Generally speaking, strains which have an increasednumber of amino acid substitutions in hot spots show greater resistancetowards cephalosporins. This suggest that the type of amino acid substi-tution determines the level of cephalosporin resistance most likely byaltering the conformation of ESBL such that a broad range of b-lactamantibiotics can fit into the enzyme’s active site. Hot spots appear to bepivotal positions for modifying ESBL structure. In most cases, we ob-served that polar amino acids are involved in substitutions. Polar aminoacids allows electrostatic interactions with b-lactam antibiotics, increasingthe potential for cleaving.22,23

Outbreaks inolving cephalosporin resistance is becoming increas-ing more popular and problematic in treatment due to the number ofemerging ESBL variants. Meyer et al., 1993 suggested that amino acidsubstitutions occur by natural selection which allows the survival of strainswho manifest gene variations.4 For example, out of a population of bac-teria that is resistant to 1st generation cephalosporins, a few strains mayhave ESBL variations which will allow them to carry resistance to secondgeneration cephalospoins. Improper antibiotic treatment or use providesproper conditions for variants ESBLs to become overproduced as bacte-rial populations increases, the whole population becomes resistant toboth first and second generations of cephalosporins.

In this study, we identified 12 novel variant ESBLs genes closelyrelated to SHV-5 and SHV-7. Since mutations occur at position identi-fied as hot spots, it is suggested that the amino acid substitutions play avital role in the structural modification of ESBL to broaden their spec-

ESBL genes using SHV-1 primers most lanes encoded the ESBL gene(Figure1). Plasmids of greater size which also encode ESBL were ob-served in TC45 and faintly in TC42, TC47, TC34, and TC71.

ESBL genes, most likely the same one, were detected in both bandsduring Southern Blot analysis when using probes against the SHV-1beta-lactamase gene (data not shown). Multiple plasmids of lesser mo-lecular sizes were observed in strains TC47, TC25 and TC27.

In fact, TC 25 and TC27 show similar plasmid profiles. This isnot unusual since these strains were collected in the same year and fromthe same outbreak. The presence of multiple plasmids in transconjugatesstrains support the multiply resistance observed in data obtained from

Figure 2. PCR amplification of ESBL genes using SHV-1 primers.

Figure 1. Plasmids isolated from transconjugates.


trum of cephalosporin antibiotics. Finally, our study shows that pre-existing genes may undergo further mutations under proper conditionsto give rise to emerge a similar outbreak. Further investigations must beconducted to identify all possible ESBL variations, so that the best cepha-losporin antibiotics can be used for treatment. This will reduce thenumber of emerging ESBLs and similar high-level antibiotic outbreaks.

REFERENCES

1. Chanal, C. M., D. L. Sirot, A. Petit, R. Labia, A. Morand, J. L. Sirot,and R. A. Cluzel. 1989. Multiplicity of TEM-derived b-lactamasesfrom Klebsiella pnuemoniae strains isolated at the same hospitaland relationships between the responsible plasmids. Antimicrob.Agents Chemother. 33:1915-1920.

2. Finland, M. 1979. Emergence of antibiotic resistance in hospitals.1935-1975. Rev. Infect. Dis. 1:4-21.

3. Ito, H., Y. Arakawa, S. Ohsuka, R. Wacharotayankun, N. Kato, andM. Ohta. 1995. Plasmid-mediated dissemination of the metallob-lactamase gene among clinically isolated strains of Serratiamarcescens. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 39:824-829.

4.Meyer, K. S., C. Urban, J. A. Eagan, B. J. Berger, and J. J. Rahal.1993. Nosocomial outbreak of Klebsiella infection resistant to lategeneration cephalosporins. Annu. Intern. Med. 119:353-358.

5. Ambler R. P., Coulson A. F. W., Frer J.M., Ghuysen J. M., Joris B.,

Forsman M., Levesque R. C., Tiraby G., Whaley SG: A standardnumbering scheme for the class A beta-lactamases. BiochemicalJournal 1991, 276: 269-272.

6.Matthew, M. 1979. Plasmid-mediated beta-lactamases of Gram-negative bacteria: properties and distribution. J. Antimicrob.Chemother. 5-349-358.

7. Jacoby, G. A., and A.A. Medeiros. 1991. More Extended-Spec-trum b-Lactamases (Minireview). Antimicrob. Agents and Chemother.35:1697-1703.

8. Arakawa, Y., M. Ohta, N. Kido, Y. Fujii, T. Komatsu, and N. Kato.1986. Close evolutionary relationship between the chromosoma-lly encided b-lactamase gene of Klebsiella pnuemoniae and the TEMb-lactamase gene mediated by R plasmids. FEBS Lett. 207:69-74.

9. Jacoby, G. A., A. A. Medeiros, T. F. O’Brien, M. E. Pinto, and H.Jiang. 1988. Broad-spectrum, transmissible b-lactamases. N. Engl.J. Med. 319:723-724

10. National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards. 1994.Performance standards for antimicrobial disk susceptibility tests.Approved standard M2-A4. National Committee for Clinical Labo-ratory Standards, Villanova, Pa.

11. Birnboim, H. C., and J. Doly. 1979. A rapid alkaline extractionprocedure for screening recombinant plasmid DNA. Nucleic AcidsRes. 7:1513-1523.

12. Wheatcroft, R., and P. A. Williams. 1981 Rapid methods for the

TABLE 2Comparative Amino Acid Sequence of Known SHV-type Extended Spectrum Beta-Lactamases and Transconjugate Derived SHV-type Extended

Spectrum Beta-Lactamases

BETA-LACTAMASE AMINO ACID POSITION

43 179 205 238 240

SHV-1 ARG ASP ARG GLY GLU

SHV-5 ARG ASP ARG Ser Lys

SHV-7 Ser Asp Arg Ser Lys

TC92-030840 Arg Asp Arg Arg Gly

TC92-030842 Arg Asp Thr Ala Gly

TC92-030845 Arg Asp Arg Ala Lys

TC92-030847 Arg Asp Arg Ala Gly

TC93-026724 Ser Asp Arg Ala Gly

TC93-026727 Ser Asp Arg Ser Arg

TC93-026734 Arg Asp Thr Ser Ala

TC94-042258 Arg Asp Arg Ser Ala

TC94-042260 Arg Asp Arg Ser Arg

TC94-005371 Arg Asp Arg Ser Asn

TC94-005374 Arg Asp Arg Ser Thr

TC94-005375 Pro Arg Thr Ser Arg


study of both stable and unstable plasmids in Pseudomonas. J.Gen. Microbiol. 124:433-437.

14. Sambrook, J., E. F. Fritsch, and T. Maniatis. 1989. Molecularcloning: a laboratory manual, vol. 1, 2nd ed., Cold Spring HarborLaboratory Press, Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y.

15. Biggin, M. D., T. J. Gibson, and G. F. Hong. 1983. Buffergradient gels and S-label as an aid to rapid DNA sequence determi-nation. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 80:3963-3965.

16. Sanger, F., S. Nicklen, and A. R. Coulson. 1977. DNA sequenc-ing with chain-terminating inhibitors. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA74:5463-5467.

17. Jacoby, G. A., and L. Sutton. 1991. Properties of plasmids re-sponsible for extended-spectrum b-lactamase production.Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 35:164-169.

18. Lachapelle, J., J. P. Quinn, D. Miyashiro, S. Walmsley, K. Bush, J.L. Brunton, and R. C. Levesque. 1990. Sequence of genes blaT-10 and blaT-11 which encode the extended-spectrum b-lactamasesTEM-10 and TEM-11. Program Abstr. 30th Intersci. Conf.Antimicrob. Agents Chemother., abstr. no. 187.

19. Papanicolaou, G. A., A. A. Medeiros, and G. A. Jacoby. 1990.Novel plasmid-mediated b-lactamase (MIR-1) conferring resistanceto oxyimmino- and a-methoxy b-lactams in clinical isolates of Kleb-siella pneumoniae. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 34:1590-1592.

20.Nicolas, M. H., V. Jarlier, N. Honore, A. Philippon, and S. T. Cole.1989. Molecular Characterization of the Gene Encoding SHV-3b-Lactamase Responsible for transferable Cefotaxime Resistance inClinical Isolates of Klebsiella pneumoniae. Antimicrobial Agents andChemother. vol. 33 12:2096-2098.

21.Jacoby, G. A., and I. Carreras. 1990. Activities of b-lactam antibi-otics against Escherichia coli strains producing extended-spectrumb-lactamases. Antimicrob. Agents and Chemother. 34:858-862.

22.Jacoby, G. A. 1994. Genetics of Extended-Spectrum Beta-Lactamases. Eur. J. Microbiol. Infect. Dis. vol.13 S1-S11.

23. Arakawa, Y., M. Ohta, N. Kido, M. Mori, H. Ito, T. Komatsu, Y.Fujii, and N. Kato. 1989. Chrmosomal b-lactamase of Klebsiellaoxytoca, a new class A enzyme that hydrolyzes broad-spectrum b-lactam antibiotics. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 33:63-70.

16th NAFEO High Tech Student ExpoMarch 23 -24, 2002

Washington D.C.

www.ls-lamp.org

NAFEO Expo 2002 Page


PREPARATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF SILICATE BASED GLASS CERAMICS

John L. Rigueur, Arnesto Bowman, R. N. Thigpen, A. Adderley, and S. MorganFisk University

We have prepared different samples of silicate-based glass using various amounts of SiO2 in different compositions. Measure-

ments were taken using the Scanning Differential Calorimeter- Thermogravimetric Analysis (SDT). The SDT measurementsshowed the nucleating phase of the silicate samples, as well as the glass transition phase. These measurements allowed us to seeat what temperature crystallization of the glass will occur. Knowing the crystallization temperature allows us to know at whattemperature the glass can be ceramed.

INTRODUCTION

Simplistically glass is an inorganic solid material that is usuallytransparent or translucent as well as hard, brittle, and impervious to thenatural elements. It is a homogeneous material with a random, non-crystalline molecular structure.[5] Varieties of glass differ widely in chemicalcomposition and in physical qualities. Typical glass contains formers,fluxes and stabilizers. Silica glasses are made up of Silicon dioxide (SiO

2),

which is the former. The largest percentage of the composition is madeup of the former. The flux lowers the temperature at which the formerwill melt. Sodium carbonate (Na

2CO

3) is used as a flux for this project,

when heated carbon dioxide gas and sodium oxide are the products.Stabilizers make the glass water resistant and strong. Calcium carbonate(CaCO

3) also known as calcined limestone is a stabilizer. If a stabilizer is

not present in a glass, water and humidity attack and dissolve the glass.The Silicate glasses will be made into a glass-ceramic, which are

polycrystalline material prepared by the controlled crystallization of glass.[3]

By subjecting the glass to a programmed thermal treatment, nucleationand the growth of crystalline phases occur. This process results in a fine-grained polycrystalline material in which the final properties dependupon such factors as the nature of the precipitated phases, the finaldegree of crystallinity attained, and the size of the crystallites. Thesefactors are in turn controlled primarily by the composition of the baseglass, and the nucleation and thermal treatments. Usually a nucleatingagent is included in the glass to provide nuclei for subsequent crystalgrowth.[1]

In biomedical research glass ceramics seem to be well suited. Theyare multiphase materials, as are our bones and teeth, which can probablybe simulated by multiphase materials. The occurrence of surface or bulkcrystallization determines the way of processing the glass-ceramic.

When the surface crystallization rate is low, the glass-ceramic maybe obtained by thermal treatment of glass monoliths.

For this project, using different amounts of the former Silicondioxide we can see which composition would give us the most effectiveglass-ceramic, where it will have crystalline phases of the appropriate sizeand composition.

EXPERIMENTAL

A. Calculations and measurementsReagent grade powders of SiO

2, Na

2CO

3-H

2O, Al

2O

3, MgO and

TiO2 were mixed in the required proportions to obtain a glass with the

nominal compositions (mole percent) 49.0 SiO2-22.0Na

2O-21.0AlO

3-

3.5MgO-4.5TiO2. The mole percentages of the powders were then

converted to grams. Taking the formula weight of each powder andmultiplying it by the mole percent did this.

For example the formula weight of Al2O

3 is 101.96 grams, this

was multiplied to 21.0, which yielded 2141.2. The total amount of thepowders was then divided by 50. That number was then divided intoeach powders product, which gave the amount in grams. The powderswere then mixed together and placed into a silica crucible for melting.Several other compositions of silicate were also made. (Table).

All samples were placed and melted in a silica crucible. The 49percent SiO

2 was melted at 1500oC for one hour. The melted glass was

viscous and did not pour easily; it also contained air bubbles in thesample. The 54 percent SiO

2 was melted at the same temperature this

time for two hours.Prior to removal from the Lindberg furnace the temperature was

raised to 1600oC for several minutes, the melted glass still showed someviscosity. Both compositions of 35.4 percent SiO

2 were heated at 1475oC


for two hours, the samples produced looked like a glass-ceramic. The71.0 percent SiO

2 with zero percent, five percent, and 10 percent TiO

2

were heated at 1450oC, which was then heated to 1500oC for ten min-utes before pouring.

B. AnnealingEach sample was then placed into an annealing furnace for ten

minutes. Annealing is the process of slowly cooling a glass. This is a veryimportant part of glass making because if a hot glass object is cooled tooquickly, it will be highly strained by the time it reaches room temperature:it may break as it cools. Highly strained glasses break easily if subjected tomechanical or thermal shock.[4]

The 49 percent and 54 percent SiO2 glasses were annealed at

450oC and then left to slowly cool to room temperature. The 35.4percent samples were annealed at 702oC. This is the process of coolingthe glass quickly. The 71 percent SiO

2 samples were annealed for ten

minutes at 450oC and allowed to cool to room temperature.

C. Thermal AnalysisSimultaneous Differential Scanning Calorimeter/ Thermogravi-

metric Analysis (SDT), measurements were performed on some of thesamples. Different heating rates used were 20oC/min, 10oC/min, 5oC/min, and 2.5oC/min.

The Simultaneous Differential Scanning Calorimeter/Thermogravimetric Analysis (SDT) measures the temperatures heat flowassociated with transitions in materials and function of time and tempera-ture in a controlled atmosphere and measures the amount and rate changein the weight of a material as a function of temperature and time.

In the SDT the instrument supplies heat to either the samplebeing investigated or the reference material in order to keep their tem-peratures equal.[2] The instantaneous heat supplied to the sample orreference is available as the output signal. The fraction of glass crystallizedat any time is proportional to the amount of heat evolved.[2]

During crystallization of the glass, an exothermic peak is observedbecause the enthalpy of the crystal is lower than that of the glass. Theenthalpy corresponding to the area under the peak is equal to the heat ofreaction.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The SDT measurement shown in sample ‘Arnesto’ shows a crystal-lization peak at 821.46oC. It was found that the SDT curves had oneprominent peak in the temperature range between 600oC and 1000oCfor the54 percent SiO

2 samples. Measurements of the 71 percent SiO

2

were also taken with the five percent and 10 percent TiO2. These showed

a crystallization peak at the temperature range 500oC and 600oC.The crystallization reaction of the glass follows the Avrami equa-

tion, x=1-exp [-(-kt)n], [2] where x is the fraction crystallized after. time t,n a dimensionless quantity called the Avrami exponent and k the reactionrate constant. The rate constant k obeys the Arrhenius equation, k = vexp [-E/RT], where v is the frequency factor, E activation energy, R gasconstant and T isothermal temperature in degrees Kelvin. Differentia-tion of the Avrami law, with respect to t gives, dx/dt=nkn tn-1(1-x) wheredx/dt is the rate of crystallization at time t. Setting dx/dt = 0 at thecrystallization peak results in the equation, ln (Tp2/a) = ln E/R –ln v+E/R Tp where a is the heating rate in degrees per minute. The plot ln Tp2/a vs. 1/Tp resulted in a straight line. Finding the slope allows us todetermine E, while the intercept of the line gave us v.

CONCLUSION

Though we made different compositions of silicate based glass, wedid not find what we were looking for in the SDT graphs. This projectis incomplete; we have yet to find a silicate composition that shows twocrystallization peaks. The appropriate leaching conditions to remove theundesired crystalline phases have not been determined. Raman Spectros-copy measurements of the glass samples also have to be made.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The work at Fisk University was supported by NSF-REU underproposal# DUE –998-7224, award# DUE-998-7224 and NASA Cen-ter Cooperative Agreement NCC8-133. The summer student internsacknowledge the support of NSF and the AMP program Grant# HRD-9550701.

REFERENCES

1. J. Salinas, J. Roman, M. Vallet-Ragi, J.M. Oliviera, R.N. Correia,M.H. Fernandes, “In vitro bioactivity of glass and glass-ceramicsof the 3CaO×P

2O

5-CaO×SiO

2-CaO×MgO×2SiO

2 system”,

Biomaterials 21 (2000) 251-257.2. Xiaojie J. Xu, Chandra S. Ray, and Delbert E. Day, “Nucleation and

Crystallization of Na2O-2CaO-3SiO

2 Glass by Differential

Thermanl Analysis,” Glass Division, Paper No. 23-G-90.3. Moses, Henry A, “Development of novel porous glass-ceramic ma-

terials for protein purification and immobilization,” PHS 398 (Rev4/98).

4. http://vmesa17.u-3mrs.fr:10085/~www-pol/dsc.html5.http://www.britanica.com/bcom/eb/article/printable/3/

0,5722,37723,00.html

TABLECompositions of Silicate Glass

54.0SiO2-16.0Na2CO3H2O-21.0Al2O3-4.5TiO2-3.5MgO

44.0CaO-35.4SiO2-14.2NH4H2PO4 (P2O5)-13.0MgO-0.4TiO2

71.0SiO2-11.0NaCO3-H2O-1.0AlO3-12CaCO3-3.5K2CO3-1.5LiCO3

71.0SiO2-11.0NaCO3-H2O-1.0AlO3-5.0TiO2-12CaCO3-3.5K2CO3-1.5LiCO3

71.0SiO2-11.0NaCO3-H2O-1.0AlO3-10.0TiO2-12CaCO3-3.5K2CO3-1.5LiCO3.


THE EFFECTS OF SALINE CONCENTRATION ON ELODEA CANADENSIS

Shandana Ishaq , Michelle Madrid, and Karla SolorioDepartment of Biology and MicrobiologyCalifornia State University, Los Angeles

Glenn et al.1 investigated the “Effects of salinity on growth and evapotranspiration of Typha domingensis Pers”. The researchersconcluded, “the salinity imposed severe constraints to Typha growth and distribution.” Their results stated that the inflow ofsalinity caused deterioration of the Typha strands owing to excess salinity. Recent studies indicate that overpopulation, industri-alization, and pollution are only a few factors currently contributing to the freshwater shortage worldwide. It’s known thatfreshwater is a crucial element in the survival of all living organisms. Without freshwater, most biological mechanisms would notbe able to function. The long-term objective of this study is to grow fresh water aquatic plants in saline solutions in order to lessenthe need for fresh water. Thus, the tolerance of Elodea canadensis to salt was tested to define the survival limits of a freshwateraquatic plant in saline habitats. Our results showed that Elodea canadensis has the ability to resist saline habitats only inconcentrations of three to four parts per thousand of NaCl, indicating that it is rather sensitive to salt. *Work supported in partthrough funding by the Louis Stokes - California State University (CSU) Alliance for Minority Participation and in partthrough funding by the CSU, Los Angeles Minority Science and Engineering Improvement Program and faculty advisor, Dr.John A. Gamon.

INTRODUCTION

As the world’s population grows, so does the need for freshwaterfrom lakes, ponds, and other natural resources. Yet fresh water is only 2.5percent of the world’s total water supply, and is being used at a muchfaster rate than can be replenished by rainfall. Currently, about 450million people in 31 countries are facing a serious water shortage, andU.N. officials are predicting that by the year 2025 two-thirds of theworld’s population could be suffering from water shortages if action isnot taken now. Scientists are now coming up with ways to convertsaltwater and sewer water into freshwater, but to avoid a crisis, manycountries must conserve water, pollute less, manage supply and demand,and slow population growth.

Many essential plants for life here on earth have made their habi-tats in freshwater sources. If these freshwater aquatic plants were forcedto live in different water conditions in the future, such as seawater, wouldthey be able to adapt, or even survive? For this experiment, we tested themost common freshwater aquatic plant, Elodea canadensis, in saltwaterconcentrations similar to that to seawater to see if the plant would be ableto live.

Elodea canadensis, also known as American Elodea, are freshwateraquatic plants usually found in Northern and North Central states downto Kentucky and Virginia. They can grow either submerged in soil orfloating on top of the water. The leaves grow close together on all sides ofthe stem, and the plant can grow up to three meters tall. The cells ofElodea canadensis maintain a water balance with their normal freshwaterenvironment to keep the water potential equal on both inside and out-

side the cell. Water diffuses into the plant cells by osmosis, and thevacuoles of the plant cells fill with water.2 The freshwater environment ofElodea canadensis allows the cells to be in osmotic balance (the movementof water in and out of the cells is equal). When living cells are placed intoany environment where there is a higher water concentration inside thecell compared to outside the cell, water loss called “plasmolysis” occurs,which is very harmful to the cells and the plant as a whole.3 In thisexperiment, we will be placing these plants into saltwater environments(similar to seawater salinity), which are hypertonic to the plant cells.Thus, the hypothesis is that Elodea canadensis will not survive in seawaterconditions or other habitats with high saline concentrations. If this hy-pothesis is proven correct, we plan to find the threshold concentration inwhich Elodea canadensis plant cells can survive without plasmolyzing.


American Elodea (Elodea canadensis) plants were raised at the Cali-fornia State University, Los Angeles greenhouse for approximately fiveweeks. During this period, 36 strands of Elodea were placed in watercontainers. A total of 12 containers were used in sets of three strands ofElodea throughout the experiment (Figure 1). Since trying to assimilatean oceanic environment to discover whether the plants could survive, aconcentration of 32g of NaCl per liter of distilled water would accuratelyassimilate the ocean.4 Two more concentrations, 16g higher and 16grams lower than 32g were used to investigate the adaptability of theplants. A Control containing solely distilled water was also used. Forprecaution and error, an additional two containers per concentration


Figure 2. Plants in Experiment #2 with high salinity tend to sink.

were used having in total: 3-Control, 3-A (16g), 3-B (32g), and 3-C(48g). The first experiment was conducted on April 17, 2000. Data wasrecorded pertaining to the length and mass of the Elodea. Standardizedrulers were used to measure the length of the plants, and a triple beambalance was necessary to measure the mass. Data was periodically re-corded for a week.

The second experiment was conducted on April 24, 2000 andsimilar procedures taken from Experiment #1 were followed. The mea-surements of new plants were recorded and the same containers wereused. The containers were properly washed in order to eliminate anyresidues of the previous experiment. The difference between the firstexperiment and the second experiment was the amount of NaCl used.Based on the results that were observed in the earlier experiment, theconcentration of saline was decreased. The final amounts were 6g-A,10g-B, 14g-C, and Control.

The attempt to find the salinity tolerance of the Elodea plants andfurthermore to find a threshold, a third experiment was conducted. Thelast experiment was done on May 3, 2000 and also followed the sameprocedures. The concentrations were 3g-A, 4g-B, 5g-C, and Control.

MolarityMolarity is the ratio between the moles of dissolved substance and

the volume of solution. Molarity is most common method used by chem-

ists. The general equation to determine molarity is M = g NaCl x 1mole/MW NaCl/1L

The molarity for all the experiment was calculated. Beakers and atriple beam balance were used for salt measurements. The molarities forexperiment one were: A-0.27M, B-0.55 M, C-0.82 M, and Control.Experiment two had molarities of: A-0.10 M, B-0.17 M, C-0.24 M, andControl. Lastly, the molarities for experiment three were: A-0.05 M, B-0.06 M, C-0.08 M, and Control.

SpectrophotometerIn order to detect how much saline concentration was affecting the

plants, the measurement of absorbency of sunlight was determined. Aspectrophotometer 20, acetone, and distilled water were materials usedfor this experiment. First the spec 20 was set to 663l (wavelength) forapproximately 20 minutes. Two strands of Elodea per container wereobtained for conduction of this procedure. In order to extract the pig-ments of the chloroplast the strands of Elodea were grounded with amortar and pestle. Then it was dissolved in 20mL of acetone and 4.5 mLof distilled water. Each solution was then put into a test tube and insertedinto the spec 20 to obtain the absorbency. Readings for all of the concen-trations of saline were recorded for experiments two and three only.

Figure 1. The arrangement of the plants in Experiment #2.


RESULTS

According to the data collected, Experiment #1 showed a decreaseof weight of 22.1g to 17.03g from day one to day four in the Control.From day one through day four in the concentration of 48g (A), theweight decreased from 20.533g to 15.3g. At 32g (B), the weight de-creased from 17.017g to 15.1g. In addition, at 16g (C) the weight alsodecreased beginning with 16.63g to 13.9g. From the data collected, thelength of Experiment #1 it is seen that the height decreased. The Con-trol from day one read 33.6cm and at day four it measured 32.3cm. At48g (A), the length recorded from day one to day fourat 31.3 cm to28.9cm. At 32g (B), the length decreased from 27.9cm to 27.2cm. Alsoat the 16g (C), the length was recorded from day on at 27.03cm anddecreased to 25.93cm.

In the weight for Experiment #2 (Figure 2), Control read 8.93g atday one and decreased to 7.4g at day four. At 6g (A), the weight read8.6g and gradually decreased to 6.86g. At 10g (B), the plant was re-corded weighing 8.5g and decreased to 6.83g. At 12g (C) weight was8.4 g and decreased to 5.6g. From the data collected of length in Experi-ment #2 (Figure 3), the Control measured 38.8cm and decreased to33.2cm. At 6g (A) was measured at 33.6cm and decreased in lengthuntil it was fragmented and not measurable. At 10g (B), the plant wasmeasured to be 31.4cm and decreased in length also, and was immeasur-able the last day. In plant 12g (C), the length measured was 30.03cmand also it decreased being immeasurable the last day.

Weight in Experiment #3 (Figure 4), the Control weight 14.5g atthe start and it decreased to 9.3g. In 3g (A), the weight was recorded at12.5g and decreased to 8.3g. The weight for 4g (B) was recorded to be11.6g and read 8g the last day. At 5g (C), the recorded weight was 11.0gand decreased to 7.8g the last day. In the measurement of length inExperiment #3, the Control measured 30.7cm and decreased to 27.5cm. At 3g (A), the plant measured 29.5cm and decreased to 26.1cm. At4g (B), the plant was recorded at 28.4cm and decreased to 24.9cm.Plant 5g (C) was recorded 27.7cm and decreased and measured 21.3cm.

The absorbency of the light passing through the Elodea canadensis

was only conducted for Experiment #2 and Experiment #3.Throughthe experiments, it was recorded that the light absorbency decreased assalinity increased. In Experiment #2, the estimated absorbency percent-age of Control was 0.20 percent, A-0.196 percent, B-0.19percent, andC-0.166 percent. The estimated absorbency in Experiment #3 was.Control-0.2533 percent, A-0.25 percent, B-0.24 percent, and C-.2133percent

DISCUSSION

According to the data that was gathered, the proposed hypothesisis supported. Sufficient data shows that the presence of high salineconcentrations does cause death in the Elodea canadensis plant. However,data also suggest that there is a threshold in terms of the salinity tolerance

Figure 4. Top view of Elodea canadensis in Experiment #3.

Figure 11. High salinity can cause Elodea canadensis to break apart inExperiment #2.


of this plant. It was noted in this experiment that the threshold for Elodeawas that of 3.0-4.0 parts per thousand. Sculthorpe 5 supports thisfinding and states that the actual tolerance of salt in Elodea canadensis is3.0 parts per thousand.

The high osmotic pressure acting upon the plant’s cells caused thedeath of Elodea canadensis plants in saline concentrations higher than3.0-4.0 parts per thousand. Evidence of high osmotic pressure indicatedthat the turgor pressure of the cell decreased with increasing salinity .6.All solution concentrations higher than this amount [3.0-4.0 PPT] werehyperosmotic to the plant’s cell, and as a result the cell lost water to it’ssurrounding, thus being plasmolyzed. Plasmolysis occurred as a conse-quence of the evacuation of water from the vacuole, where there is purewater to outside of the cell where the concentration of solutes was greater.

The effect of plasmolysis in this experiment had a direct effect onthe plant’s ability to photosynthesize. The chloroplast, the main cellorganelle responsible for storage of chlorophyll (the photosynthetic pig-ment), was affected by the flaccidness of the plant cell once it had beenthrough plasmolysis. The absorption of solar light was measured to notethe amount of light absorbed by Elodea, and results indicated that theplant’s capability to absorb light decreased with higher increments of saltpresent in its environment. When the cell was plasmolyzed, the ability forthe chlorophyll to absorb solar energy was greatly reduced. In turn, theplant could not turn solar energy into energy that the plant utilizes tosurvive. Consequently, the plant did not photosynthesize at a maximumrate, and this resulted in death.

Although the hypothesis being tested was supported by the re-sults obtained, there were several limitations that did not allow for moreaccuracy and precision in the experiment. One of which was the timeallotted for the experiment. Three experiments were performed, but yetthe possibility of finding a threshold for the tolerance of salinity in Elodeacanadensis could have been investigated in a more detailed context bytesting concentrations of 3.1 parts per thousand through 3.9 parts perthousand. Also, there were some errors introduced while conducting theexperiment, some of which are believed to have affected the data themost are- inaccurate measurements, as for example, in height, and weightmeasurements obtained throughout the experiments. Another factorthat might have resulted in detrimental results is the manner in which thesolutions were prepared.

Outside of expected human error, there were also uncontrollablefactors that could have affected the results. Some of these include thelocation, the temperature and the humidity at California State University

Los Angeles’s greenhouse. It was noted in the first experiment that theposition of the plants played an important role in the plant’s ability tosurvive in the saline concentrations. Factors that were not controlled werethe humidity and the temperature in the greenhouse, which also couldhave had an effect on the survival of the plants.

This project can be further expanded in several manners. Oneway could be testing the Elodea canadensis plant in other salts known tobe present in the ocean, such as magnesium, calcium and potassiumcations and the sulfate, carbonate, bicarbonate and bromide anions.4

Also, different species of aquatic plants could be tested, since a variety ofaquatic plants allows for broader spectrum of investigation.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The Louis Stokes California State University Alliance for MinorityParticipation supported this work in part through CSU, Los AngelesMinority Science and Engineering Improvement Program. We also liketo acknowledge Dr. John A. Gamon, Associate Professor of Biology atCSU Los Angeles for his guidance. Further more, our mentors: Dr. R.Garcia, Dr. M. Jefferson, and Professor M. Randle for their committedeffort and support.

REFERENCES

1. Glenn, Edward, T.L. Thompson, R. Frye, J. Riley, and D.Baumgartner. “Effects of Salinity on growth and evapotranspira-tion of Typha domingensis Pers.” Aquatic Botany, 52:75,1995.

2. Gamon, John A. Plant Biology Lab Manual. Ed 4 (revised). SouthPasadena, CA: Salamander Publications, 1997.

3. Campbell, Neil A., Reece, Jane, and Mitchell, Lawrence, G. Biol-ogy: Ed 5. Menlo Park, CA; Addison-Wesley Longman, Inc.,1999.

4. Dawson, Yale E. Marine Botany. New York: Holt, Reinhart, andWinston, Inc, 1966.

5. Sculthorpe, C.D. The Biology of Aquatic Vascular Plants. NewYork: Saint Martins Press, 1967.

6. Solomon, Berg, Martin et. Al. Biology Ed. 4 New York: SaundersCollege Publishing, 1996.


EXPO WINNERS

ORAL PRESENTATIONS

First PlaceAlice Gitau, Drexel University, Degradation Characteristics of Polymer Fibers Utilized for Anterior Cruciate Liga-

ment Replacement.

Second PlaceHarry Johnson, Grambling State University, Synthesis of High Refractive Index polyphosphonate Adhesives and

their Hydrolytic Stability.

Nina Williams, Xavier University of Louisiana, Synthesis and Characterization of Potential Inhibitors of Cyto-chromes P450 1A1 and 1B1.

On March 23, 49 undergraduate students, representing 19 universities and community colleges fromacross the nation, displayed theirresearch projects in chemistry, physics, math, computer science, engineering, and life sciences. Judges from academia and industry

examined the students presentations and rated the student presentation. The students’ presentations were judged on scientific andsocial relevance; demonstrated knowledge of the scientific methods of research; depth of knowledge and understanding of subject area; use ofadvanced analytical, technological, and related skills for work; and quality of verbal and oral communication skills in writing and presentations.

Listed below are the oral and poster presentation winners.


Third PlaceRenae Garret, University of New Orleans, Analog Temperature Control System Design.

Sharron King, Drexel University, Mechanical Properties of a three-dimensional Fiber-Based Polymer Replacement for Anterior Cruciate Ligam

Jacqueline Carr and Sheldon Richburg, Fayetteville State University, Increased Cephalosporin Resistance Resulted from Modification of PreexistingESBL Enzymes in Clinical Strains of Klebsiella pneumoniae.

POSTER PRESENTATIONS

First PlaceCandace Johnson, Louisiana State University, Cytokine Gene Polymorphisms in Chronic Lung Disease of the Preterm infant

Second PlaceLaDonya Pitre, Southern University at Baton Rouge, Why Americans Dislike Welfare

Karla Solorio, California State University- Los Angeles, The Effects of saline Concentration on Elodea canadenis

Third PlaceMilton Ray, Mississippi Valley State University, Resolving Web Redundancy

John Rigueur, Fisk University, Preparation and Characterization of Silicate Based Glass Ceremics

Vivian Galicia, California State university- Los Angeles, Detecting an Alu Insertion in Humans


NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR EQUAL OPPORTUNITY IN HIGHER

EDUCATION (NAFEO)

The National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education is the national umbrellaand public policy advocacy organization for 118 of the nation’s historically and predominantlyBlack colleges and universities - public and private, large and small, urban and rural, liberal arts,

agricultural, research, scientific, and technological insti-tutions. Its mission is to champion the interests of His-torically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs)through the executive, legislative, regulatory and judicialbranches of federal & state government - to articulate theneed for a system of higher education where race, ethnicity,socioeconomic status and previous educational attainmentlevels are not determinants of either the quantity or qual-ity of higher education.

2001 CONFERENCE COMMITTEEDr. John T. Gibson, Chair Dr. Henry PonderPresident, Alabama A&M Univeristy CEO and President,

NAFEO

Dr. Joe A. Lee, President Dr. Wilma RoscoeTougaloo College Vice President, NAFEO

Dr. Marie V. McDemmond, President Mrs. Queen L. GladdenNorfolk State University Conference Coordinator,

NAFEO

Dr. Albert J. H. Sloan, Vice ChairPresident, Miles College

Dr. Joann Boyd-ScotlandEx-Effico ChairpersonNAFEO Board of Directors

NAFEO BOARD OF DIRECTORSDr. Joann R.G. Boyd-Scotland, Chair Dr. Willis B. McLeodPresident, Denmark Technical College Chancellor, Fayetteville StateUniversity

Dr. Wesley C. McClure, Past Chair Dr. Lee E. Monroe, Jr.President, Lane College President, Paul QuinnCollege

Dr. Joe A. Lee, Chair-Elect Dr. W. Clinton PettusPresident, Tougaloo College President,Cheyney University ofPennsylvania

Dr. George E. Barnes, Vice Chair Dr. Albert J. H. Sloan, II

Vice President, Hinds Community College President, Miles CollegeUtica Campus

Dr. William T. Keaton, Vice Chair Dr. David H. SwintonPresident, Arkansas Baptist College President, Benedict College

Julius L. Chambers, Esq., Vice Chair Dr. Henry PonderChancellor, North Carolina President, NAFEO Central University

Dr. Earl S. Richardson, Secretary Dr. Delbert W. BakerPresident, Morgan State Universit President Oakwood College

Dr. Oscar L. Prater, Treasurer Dr. Calvin W. BurnettPresident, Fort Valley State University President, Coppin StateUniversity

Dr. Clinton Bristow Jr. Dr. Sabetha JenkinsPresident, Alcorn State University President, JarvisChristian College

Dr. Carlton E. Brown Dr. Wilma RoscoePresident, Savannah State University Vice President, NAFEO

Dr. Charles C. Kidd Sr.President, York College/The City University of New York

EXPO PLANNERS


LOUIS STOKES LOUISIANA ALLIANCE FOR MINORITY PARTICIPATION

(LS-LAMP)

The Louis Stokes Louisiana Alliance for Minority Participation (LS-LAMP) integrates research,

education, and systemic mentoring within its objective of increasing the number and quality

of minority students receiving bachelor degrees in science, mathematics, engineering, and tech-

nology.

One of 28 National Science Foundation-founded Alliances for Minority Participation programs

nationwide, LS-LAMP began in 1995 with a five-year objective of doubling the number and increasing

the quality of minority students receiving BS degrees in SMET fields and of sending at least 40 percent

of these graduates to enroll and succeed in SMET graduate programs in Louisiana and elsewhere. Suc-

cessful in its purpose and holding to the gains in Phase I, the 11 LS-LAMP partner institutions have

increased the number of minority SMET bachelor degree recipients and have increased the number of

them enrolling and succeeding in graduate school.

The central tool of LS-LAMP is systemic mentoring that includes, in part, financial support,

research participation, and preparation for and guidance into SMET graduate programs.

Student participation in academic year and summer research programs is a vital component of LS-

LAMP. For the past five years, LS-LAMP has joined the National Association for Equality in Higher

Education (NAFEO) in sponsoring the NAFEO High Tech Student Expo. This year’s expo attracted

more than 120 students and faculty nationally.

LS-LAMP is funded by the National Science Foundation (cooperative agreements # HRD 9550765

and #HRD 0000272) and the Louisiana Board of Regents. Funding for the NAFEO High Tech Stu-

dent Expo is provided by the National Science Foundation Historically Black Colleges and Universities

Program (NSF HBCU-UP), through a supplement to LS-LAMP (Cooperative Agreement # HRD

0000272, Amendment # 001). The Expo is hosted by NAFEO and LS-LAMP.

LS-LAMP is nationally recognized as one of the foremost contributors to the education of under-

represented minorities pursuing SMET careers in the state of Louisiana.


Dr. E. Joseph SavoieChairman, LS-LAMP Governing BoardCommissioner of Higher EducationLouisiana Board of Regents

Dr. Ray AuthementPresident, University of Southwestern Louisiana

Dr. Joseph BouieChancellor, Southern University at New Orleans

Dr. James C. BrownChancellor,Southern University at Shreveport Bossier City

Dr. Scott CowenPresident, Tulane University

Dr. Michael DaggDirector, Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium

Dr. Mark EmmertChancellor, Louisiana State University

Dr. Steve FavorsPresident, Grambling State University

Dr. Raymond GarrityPresident, Nunez Community College

Dr. Robert HebertPresident, McNeese State University

Dr. Edward JacksonChancellor, Southern University and A&M College

Dr. Michael LomaxPresident, Dillard University

Dr. Gregory O’BrienChancellor, University of New Orleans

LS-LAMP PROJECT PRINCIPALS

Dr. Diola BagayokoLS-LAMP Co-PI and

Campus Coordination DirectorSouthern University and A&M College

P.O. Box 11776Baton Rouge, LA 70813

[email protected]

Dr. Kerry DavidsonLS-LAMP Co-PI and

Deputy Commissioner for SponsoredPrograms

Louisiana Board of Regents150 Third Street, Suite 129Baton Rouge, La. 70803

[email protected]

Dr. Robert L FordLS-LAMP Project Director

Southern University and A&M CollegeDepartment of ChemistryBaton Rouge, LA 70813

[email protected]

LS-LAMP GOVERNING BOARD


Dr. Henry BartTulane University(504) [email protected]

Dr. Vibhakar DaveSouthern University New Orleans(504) [email protected]

Dr. Sharon FlanaganNunez Community College(504) [email protected]

Mr. Warner BrownSouthern University Shreveport - Bossier(318) [email protected]

Dr. Su-Seng PangLouisiana State University(225) [email protected]

Dr. Ella KelleySouthern University and A&M College(225) [email protected]

LAMP PROJECT STAFF

Luria Shaw StubblefieldLS-LAMP Program Administrator(225) [email protected]

Dr. Saleem HasanLS-LAMP Evaluation Coordinator(225) [email protected]

Candace J. DavisLS-LAMP Director of Outreach Operations(225) [email protected]

Celika MurphyLS-LAMP Research Associate(225) [email protected]

Dr. George MeadMcNeese State University(337) [email protected]

Dr. Allen MilesGrambling State University(318) [email protected]

Dr. Abdalla DarwishDillard University(504) [email protected]

Dr. Paul W. SammarcoLouisiana Universities MarineConsortium (LUMCON)(504) [email protected]

Dr. Ashok PuriUniversity of New Orleans(504) [email protected]

Dr. Vijay RaghavanUniversity of Louisiana in Lafayette(337) [email protected]

LS-LAMP PARTNER INSTITUTIONS

MAP TO BE PLACED BY PRINTER


E. Joseph SavoieCommissioner of Higher Education

Louisiana Board of Regents150 Third Street, Suite 129

Baton Rouge, LA 70801-1389225-342-4253

Herschel Abbott Jr.At large, New Orleans

Norbert A. SimmonsDistrict 1, New Orleans

John GeorgesDistrict 2, New Orleans

Virgil RobinsonDistrict 2, New Orleans

William Clifford SmithDistrict 3, Houma

Pat A. StrongDistrict 3, Franklin

Reggie DupreDistrict 4, Lafayette

William T. “Ron” Roberts, Vice ChairDistrict 4, Shreveport

Scott BrameDistrict 5, Alexandria

Melvin RambinDistrict 5, Monroe

Frances T. HenryDistrict 6, Baton Rouge

Roland Toups, SecretaryDistrict 6, Baton Rouge

William “Billy” BlakeDistrict 7, Lake Charles

Richard E. D’Aquin, ChairDistrict 7, Lafayette

Sherman Ruth, StudentBaton Rouge

The Louisiana Board of Regents providesfunding and support to the Louis StokesLouisiana Alliance for Minority Participa-

tion (LS-LAMP), along with the National ScienceFoundation, respectively.

Dr. E. Joseph Savoie is the Commissioner ofHigher Education, Louisiana Board of Regents.

Listed below are the members of the 2001Board.

Special acknowledgments and thanks are extended to the Louisiana Board of Regents staff Mr. Jim Gershey,executive director of special programs, Ms. Patricia Graham, electronic administration manager, and Mr. BobbyR. McCoy, assistant commissioner for information services, for the excellent support they have provided to LS-LAMP.

LOUISIANA BOARD OF REGENTS


15th NAFEO High Tech Student Expo 2001

March 23, 2001

Student PresentationsStudent PresentationsStudent PresentationsStudent PresentationsStudent PresentationsJudge’s Score SheetJudge’s Score SheetJudge’s Score SheetJudge’s Score SheetJudge’s Score Sheet

Presenter Number Discipline

Name of Presenter

Title of Project

College/University

Circle the score assigned to each of the criteria:

Criteria Excellent Good Fair Poor1. Scientific and Social Relevance 20 15 10 52. Demonstrated knowledge of the scientific method of research 20 15 10 53. Depth of knowledge and understanding of subject area 20 15 10 54. Use of advanced analytical, technological and related skills for work 20 15 10 55. Quality of verbal and oral communication skills in writing and presentation 20 15 10 5

TOTAL:

/ /Judge’s Signature Date

JUDGE’S SCORE SHEETJUDGE’S SCORE SHEET


Conference participants, speakers and judges completed conference evaluation forms on the last day of the conference. The following pagespresents the questions on the form and the answers.

A. Participation InformationWhat is your primary area of professional concentration? (Please circle one)

Student Faculty Industry/National Laboratory Representative Other (specify):Academic DisciplineHighest Degree Received

B. Conference Informationa. What motivated you to attend the conference?b. Evaluate the NAFEO High Tech Student Expo 2001c. Using the rating of excellent, good, fair, and poor, rate the following:

High Tech Expo FacilitiesHigh Tech Expo MealsSession LengthKeynote SpeakerQuality of Student Oral PresentationTime Allotted for each Oral PresentationQuality of Student Poster PresentationTime for Informal NetworkingQuality of Industry ExhibitsQuality of Equipment and Technical Support for Presentations (computers, projectors, poster boards)Registration and Abstract Submission MethodsGeographic LocationProgram Format

C. Student PresentationsPlease provide comments and recommendations on the following:a. Quality of student oral presentationsb. Quality of the student poster presentations\C. What topics, activities, or sessions would you suggest for future references?

D. Please comment on the conference format and facilities.

E. Overall, how would you rate the conference? Excellent Good Fair Poor

F. Publicitya. How did you find out about the conference? (Circle one) NAFEO LS-LAMP web site AMP contacts HBCU-UP contacts Other (Please specify)b. Was this publicity adequate? Yes No

Please suggest ways of reaching more participants.

G. Registration and abstract submission processa. Did you receive notification that your registration was complete? Yes Nob. Did you receive notification that your abstract had been received Yes Noc. Did you receive notification that your abstract had been accepted/declined Yes Nod. Please evaluated the registration and abstract submission methods. Excellent Good Fair Poor

Suggest ways of improving them.

CONFERENCE EVALUATION AND CRITERIA


A total of 69 responses were received from the participants of theconference. Of these 69 respondents, 13 were faculty members, one industry representative, and 55 students.

The evaluation consisted of two types of questions, 1) narrative,that requested comments, suggestions and recommendations, and 2)rating type, that requested a score based on a Lickert scale. The Lickertscale consisted of four choices: excellent, good, fair, and poor. Each re-spondent was expected to grade a variety of aspects of the conference andto provide an overall rating of the conference. In order to compute theratings, each grade was given a numerical equivalent (excellent - 5, good- 4, fair - 3, and poor - 2). The numerical average of all responses to aparticular question provided the average rating for that question.

1. High Tech Expo Facilities (4.5) 2. High Tech Expo Meals (4.0) 3. Session Length (3.9) 4. Keynote Speaker (4.6) 5. Quality of Student Oral Presentations (4.4) 6. Time Allotted for each Oral Presentations (4.2) 7. Quality of Student Poster Presentations (4.4) 8. Time for Informal Networking (3.8) 9. Quality of Industry Exhibits (4.1)10. Quality of Equipment and Technical Support for Presentations (computer, projectors, poster boards) (4.4)11. Registration and Abstract Submission Methods (4.3)12. Geographic Location (4.6)13. Program Format (4.1)14. Please evaluate the registration and abstract submission methods

(4.3)15. Overall, how would you rate the conference? (4.4)

Overall rating of the conference (4.4)

This rating was provided in response to a request to provide anoverall rating for the conference. The rating is between excellent andgood (very good) indicating that overall, only minor problems occurredduring the entire conference. This is an important rating because it pro-vides the overall perception of the participants as opposed to the percep-tion of the organizers.

The rating (very good) indicates that many of the problems thatthe organizers may have considered significant did not actually affect theparticipants. Another overall rating, the average rating based on the aver-age of all the responses was also computed. This average overall rating of4.3, closely matches the single overall rating provided by each respon-dent indicating that the average of the responses to individual questionsclosely match the overall impression about the conference.

Time Allotted for each Oral Presentation (4.2)Although the rating is good, there were several respondents who

commented that set up time should not be included in the ten minutesallotted for the presentation, others commented that the time should beten minutes for presentation and five minutes more for questions andanswers.

Quality of Student Poster Presentations (4.4)Although the rating is high, only 24 of the 69 respondents rated

the poster session. Many stated that they had not yet seen the posters.

What topics, activities, or sessions would you suggest for future confer-ences?

There were several requests for a graduate school fair and a gradu-ate school information session. There were several requests for more timeto be allotted for informal student-student interaction.

Please comment on the conference format and facilities.Several respondents stated that the method for assigning hotel

rooms was not to their liking.

How did you find out about the conference?Of the 63 people who responded to this question, 68% (43)

stated that they found out from LS-LAMP or their AMP contacts. Lessthan 10% (6) had been informed through NAFEO and about 11% (7)had found out about the Expo through their HBCU-UP contacts.

Please suggest more ways of reaching participantsMany of the respondents suggested contacting departments, advi-

sors, and students directly, indicating that the current method of com-municating through HBCU-UP PIs and NAFEO contacts had not beensuccessful. Even though the conference dates and deadlines had beenannounced at the LS-LAMP web site well in advance, inadequate public-ity by other organizations resulted in the deadlines for registration andabstract submission having to be extended twice to enable those who hadreceived the news late to register and to participate in the High TechStudent Expo.

Saleem Hasan, Ph.D., LS-LAMP Evaluation Coordinator

ConfConfConfConfConferererererence Evence Evence Evence Evence Evaluaaluaaluaaluaaluation Rtion Rtion Rtion Rtion Resultsesultsesultsesultsesults

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