Copyright (c) 2013 Utah State University All rights reserved. http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/student_showcase Recent documents in Student Showcase en-us Sat, 04 May 2013 01:46:18 PDT 3600 http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/student_showcase/5 http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/student_showcase/5 Thu, 02 May 2013 08:45:03 PDT Joseph B. Jensen et al. http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/student_showcase/4 http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/student_showcase/4 Wed, 01 May 2013 10:00:18 PDT Though the view of city lights is considered a modern beauty, indicative of the strength of the human intellect, it is the cause of an assortment of negative effects. Most street lights emit light radially, sending large portions of the light into the sky, leaving the ground dim. The excess light- light pollution- directed at the atmosphere destroys our ability to view beauty of the night sky and represents a loss of energy and money. Damage is also done to nocturnal and migratory animals as well as greatly affecting local ecosystems. To improve the efficiency of astronomical endeavors, the economy, and ecosystems, small innovations must be made to outdoor light fixtures. This project analyzes the luminosity output of outdoor light fixtures and the ambient light pollution of Utah State University Campus. As Utah State University has a sustainability program, Blue Goes Green, that has already implement lighting codes, the goal of this project is the work with the collegiate administration to renovate old lighting fixtures.

]]> Rachel K. Nydegger et al. Presentations http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/student_showcase/3 http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/student_showcase/3 Wed, 01 May 2013 09:50:31 PDT The distribution of spiral and bar galaxy inclination angles is expected to be uniform. However, analysis of several major galaxy catalogs shows this is not the case; galaxies oriented near edge-on are significantly more common in these catalogs. In an attempt to explain this discrepancy, we have developed a galaxy simulation code to compute the appearance of a spiral type galaxy as a function of its morphological parameters. We examine the dependence of observed brightness upon inclination angle by using smooth luminous mass density and interstellar medium (ISM) density distributions. The luminous mass component is integrated along a particular line of sight, thus producing a mass distribution, from which a surface luminosity profile is derived. The ISM component is integrated alongside the luminous mass component to account for light extinction. Preliminary data ignoring extinction demonstrate trends that match the observed distribution for small inclinations. We reproduce overall spiral galaxy morphology and outline the ongoing validation process. If the dependence of the total surface brightness on inclination strongly corresponds to the observed distribution of inclination angles, we can attribute much of the discrepancy to a geometrical selection effect.

]]> Jordan C. Rozum et al. Presentations http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/student_showcase/2 http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/student_showcase/2 Wed, 24 Apr 2013 13:11:39 PDT This research is a study of the similarities and differences of the four sound families (principal, flute, reed, and string) of the organ, specifically, we used the organ located in the Kent Hall at USU. This experiment focuses on the mechanics of the organ, turning sound into mathematical signals, and performing Fourier analysis using computer methods. We conclude that a certain family of pipes (flute pipe family) had the most similarities to the “natural” series while the reed family was the most variant. We show the steps taken in our experiment and attempt to explain the variance and correlation of the results.

]]> Mario Harper et al. http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/student_showcase/1 http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/student_showcase/1 Thu, 19 Apr 2012 09:34:20 PDT The ability to convert the carbohydrates present within algae biomass to high value industrial solvents, namely bio-acetone and bio-butanol, has been demonstrated. Clostridium sp., an obligate anaerobic, spore forming, saccharolytic, and acetone butanol and ethanol (ABE) producing microorganism is capable of metabolizing the carbohydrates present in algal cells. This metabolic activity produces acetone and butanol, in relatively high quantities, as fermentative byproducts. This has been confirmed via GC analysis of the clarified supernatant measured against calibration curves established using analytical standards. Our claim is that we can produce these high value and renewable solvents using algae biomass as well as the algae meal that is produced throughout biodiesel production processes.

]]> Neal Hengge et al.