Abstracts from Winning Projects
The following abstracts are from projects that won best of fair awards at GNSEF in recent years.
An Extension of the Faraday Effect: Using Non-Parallel Magnetic Fields
In all reviewed research of experiments involving the Faraday Effect (the rotation of the plane of polarization of light by a magnetic field) a similarity emerges, the magnetic field is always parallel to the medium. What would happen if the magnetic field was not parallel to the direction of the light?
The Faraday Effect equation phi=VBL where phi is the rotation of the plane of polarization, V is the Verdet constant, B is the magnetic field, and L is the material length. If the magnetic field is at an angle theta with a laser beam, then the hypothesis is phi=VBL cos(theta).
Initially, the laser beam passed through the medium without a magnetic field present. Two polaroid filters, one rotated by a stepper motor, filtered the beam to minimum light. The angle at which the filters are crossed is measured. The procedure is repeated with a magnetic field. The angle of Faraday rotation is the difference between the first and second angles.
The procedure was repeated with the magnetic field set at various angles using Terbium glass rods as the optical medium.
The data supported the hypothesis for the shorter of the two Terbium glass mediums. The experiment with the long Terbium glass medium did not uphold the hypothesis. The data fit an inverse tangent curve instead of the predicted cosine curve. It is speculated that the geometry of the experiment involving the long Terbium glass introduced another factor into the equation.
A Catalytic Converter for 4-cycle Engine Lawnmowers, Phase IV
To reduce the emissions coming from a 4-cycle engine lawnmower new designs were made using various catalysts. The designs were made to increase temperature and resident airtime, while decreasing the loss of horsepower and the loss of exit speed of the exhaust.
The lawnmower exhaust was attached to the catalytic converter designs. The exhaust was tested without a converter for carbon monoxide (CO in % volume), hydrocarbons (HC in ppm), nitrogen oxides (NOx in ppm), temperature (degrees C), and engine rotation velocity (rpm). Then a prototype with platinum beads was made and attached to the lawnmower and tested. Next, wire screens plated with nickel were used to design a converter. This decreased the loss of horsepower due to an increase in exit speed of the exhaust.
Prototype A (which used platinum beads) reduced CO by 5% volume, HC by 180 ppm, NOx by 5ppm and engine rotational velocity by 28rpm. The temperature was increased by 1 degree C. Prototype B (nickel plated wire mesh) reduced CO by 3% volume, HC by 120ppm, NOx by 1ppm and engine rotational velocity by 28rpm. Currently, the results using nickel catalyst are low because not enough mesh was used, and new prototypes using nickel catalyst are being designed to increase the amount of mesh in the converter.
Could an antibiotic used in animals cause the death of a child... the relationship between fluoroquinolone use and the development of antibiotic resistance in S. typhi.
The U.S. Center for Disease
Control (CDC) views antibiotic resistance as an important emerging public
health problem, suggesting antibiotic use in animals is an important link
to the rapidly developing problem. If true, this could jeopardize the
effectiveness of quinolone antibiotics, one of the few antibiotic classes
remaining for doctors to effectively treat life-threatening diseases
in humans. The FDA, citing lack of convincing data, does not support the
CDC's request to prohibit the use of fluoroquinolones in livestock and
poultry. This project evaluated the potential for resistance to develop
to enrofloxacin, a fluoroquinolone antibiotic in Salmonella typhimurium
(S. typhi).
The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), the lowest drug level which
inhibits bacterial growt, of enrofloxacin for S. typhi ATCC:14028
is 0.06 micrograms/milliliter. S. typhi is sensitive (S) to
enrofloxacin levels > 0.06 micrograms/milliliter, which in this project
served as the antibiotic positive control (PC). To evaluate the potential
for enrofloxacin resistance development, S. typhi ATCC:14028
was grown for 15 days in drug levels below the MIC. These drug levels
were 0.06 micrograms/milliliter designated "intermediate" (I), and 0.006
micrograms/milliliter designated "Resistant" (R). S. typhi cultures
not exposed to enrofloxacin served as negative controls (NC). All treatments
were replicated eight times and the MIC evaluation was replicated twice.
The enrofloxacin MIC increased 38% for S. typhi ATC:14028.
14028 (p<0.05). The MIC increase in I and R treatements over NC was
statistically different (p<0.01). There was no statistical difference
between I and R treatments. Enrofloxacin resistance can develop in
S. typhi which could lead to a child's death.
An Identity Expressing n! as a Combination of Integers
to the nth Power Using Coefficients from the nth Row of Pascal's Triangle:
Year Two
Last year my project was an
original discovery of an identity relating factorials and exponents using
coefficients from Pascal's Triangle. It included an analytical calculus
proof.
With input from science fair judges, teachers and mathematicians,
I have improved my discovery with two new inductive proofs. The proofs
provide interesting new formulae, including sigma identities for zero.
I have also expanded my project to include imaginary numbers, eliminating
the need for absolute value bars, and pursued some applications for my
identity.
One of the new equations makes a new method of encryption a reality.
As this project represents the barest form of this new method, the encryption
is the simplest possible word replacement technique. Nevertheless,
this technique opens a gateway to a new world of code creation, with
cheap and effective methods.
I have also begun a comprehensive method for testing the computation
of computers and electronic scientific equipment. My findings provide
an interesting test for consumer reports on the efficiency and
accuracy of these devices, and can be used to improve future models.
My project is by no means complete. A graphic approach to the pure
aspect of my project appears to have connections to the Gamma Function.
Relating the sigma to the integral has inherent benefits for
mathematics, especially number theory. A more complex method of encryption
is also a worthy pursuit.
The following abstracts are from projects
that won best of fair awards at GNSEF in 1998.
A Reliable Whole-mount Histochemistry Procedure for the Analysis of
the Vitellaria in the Rotifer Philodina roseloa.
This is a first-year study with approximately 500 tests conducted in order to match the membranous chemistry of the vitellaria, in the rotifer Philodina roseola. The development of this procedure has been centered around a protocol which will help elucidate the morphogenetic proteins involved in regulating segmentation and spatial differentiation.
P. roseola moreover, is a parthenogenetic bilaterally segmented pseudocoleomate, which carries no males within the species. Previous procedures have tried with limited success, incorporating reagents and methods that were degrading (Jeppesen, Rosa-Molinar 1995), and did not maintain the organism's three dimensional histological composition. In this way, one will actually lose information pertaining to the organism's histological composition. Therefore, a reliable whole-mount histochemistry procedure was developed in order to differentially stain the vitellaria in the rotifer P. roseola. Statistical analysis was conducted on the preliminary histochemistry procedure that was originally formulated in this study, as well as a modified procedure which was derived from the original. Both the statistical analysis and the photomicrographs which were produced, show that the modified procedure effectively stains the vitellaria. The preliminary procedure often had a dessicating and/or macerating effect on the rotifer tissue due to the concentrations of the reagents. The quality of the differential stain was not as prominent in the preliminary procedure either.
In the future, the modified whole-mount histochemistry procedure that has been derived in this experiment, will be accompanied by an immunohistochemistry procedure that will label specific morphogenic proteins involved in regulating the spatial organization of the reproductive system in the rotifer P. roseola.
An Identity Involving n!, Consecutive Integers to the nth Power, and the nth Row of Pascal's Triangle
Sequences of numbers are interesting in their patterns. I discovered that the finite difference of a sequence of consecutive squares terminates in 2 = 2!. I next tried a sequence of cubes and their finite differences, the result being 6 = 3!. Hoping this was not a mere coincidence, I repeated the procedure with numbers to the fourth power. Again, I found the finite difference was 24 = 4!.
Next, I expressed the relationship in reverse, postulating a telescoping identity of n! as a combination of consecutive integers to the nth power. This combination surprisingly contained coefficients which exist in the nth row of Pascal's Triangle! The combination could then be generalized with the following equation:
A program was written on Mathematica to test the postulate. The program ran over night, and it was found that the relationship was true for 1000! Given that the equation did not break down with large numbers, I pursued a proof of this identity, which is available in the extended report. Thus, there is a logical connection between nth powers, n! and the nth row of Pascal's Triangle!!
The following abstracts are from projects that won best of fair awards
at GNSEF in 1997.
The objective was to determine if the manufacturer's recommended cleaning
technique for children's medication dispensing droppers, rinsing, would
remove contaminate bacteria and viruses. Additional experiments investigated
alternative cleaning techniques.
Rinsing was evaluated by randomly assigning dispensing droppers to nine
positive controls (+C), nine negative controls (-C), 42 bacterial replicates,
and 128 viral replicates. Bacillus subtilis was chosen as the test
bacterium and BHV1 virus was chosen as the test virus. A dropper was used
to dispense a randomly selected nonprescription children's liquid medication
into a disposal. Next, the dropper was contaminated with either B.
subtilis spores or BHV1 and rinsed. A drop from each dispenser was
used to inoculate either blood agar plates (bacterial evaluation), or
a cell culture monolayer (viral evaluation). Growth was evaluated at 24
hour intervals. Rinsing reduced bacterial growth but not viral growth
when compared to the nonrinsed +C (p < 0.05). Significant growth remained
compared to the -C (p < 0.05).
Four additional cleaning techniques were evaluated. Each technique was
repeated 12 times for bacterial evaluation and 32 times for viral evaluation.
Two techniques, boiling in water and washing with soapy water, significantly
lowered the bacterial and viral contamination compared to either the precleaning
cohorts or +C. Postcleaning values were statistically similar to the noncontaminated
-C.
To accomplish this project a light proof box is used. The inside of the
box is painted flat black so very little light is reflected off the sides
of the box. Two steppers are mounted on the same end of the bottom of
the box. Two CdS cells are mounted onto each of the stepper motores.CdS
cells are light sensitive cells that reduce electrical resistance as the
light intensity on them increases. The CdS cells transmit data to the
computer via modem. The computer interprets this data and makes appropriate
changes in the stepper motors position so that each CdS cell has an equal
amount of light hitting each cell. When the cells are equal the computer
computes the number of stepps into degrees and triangulates the distance
from the center point between the stepper motors to the light source.
The distance is accurate to within 5% of the distance between the stepper
motors.
An Evaluation of Cleaning Techniques for a Child's Medicine Dispensing
Device
A delicate balance exists between the health and wellness of children. I
questioned the trust we place in the phrase, "read and follow label directions."
It may place a child at risk of infection from contaminated medication dispensing
droppers.
Triangulating Distance Using Stepper Motors and CdS Cells
Engineer a system to which a computer can be connected and used to determine
the distance from a predetermined position to a randomly placed light.