1941 research outputs found
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Green Chemistry : Ionic Liquids Synthesis and its Application as Medium in Diels-Alder Reaction
No full textAdvisor: Gholam A. MirafzalIonic Liquids have been considered as efficient and environmentally friendly reaction medium for a variety of organic reactions. Our experimental results on the synthesis of two of the imidizolium ionic liquids and their use as medium in Diels-Alder reaction will be presented.Drake University, Department of Chemistr
The Determination of The Product of Vanillin in Commercially Available Products
No full textAdvisor: John N. GituaSynthetic vanillin, instead of natural vanilla extract, is sometimes used as a flavoring agent in foods, beverages, and pharmaceuticals. The purpose of this study was to determine whether there is a correlation between the amounts of vanillin and the price of such available products. Extraction of vanillin from samples obtained from the local restaurants was achieved by using a combination of organic solvents and the amounts of vanillin determined using the gas chromatographic (GC) technique. We anticipate that this study may be able to inform the consumer whether the price for his/her favorite vanillin containing products is influenced by the amount of vanillin in the product.Drake University, Department of Chemistr
Gender Influences on Gait When Walking Normally Versus Carrying Weight
No full textAdvisor: David S. SenchinaAnatomically, males and females have many differences. Females tend to have a wider pelvis than males. Traditionally, males have longer limbs as well as larger muscle mass. Based on these facts, we hypothesized that females will have a larger step width and males will have a larger step length. Also, we hypothesized that the addition of carrying 15% body weight would affect the males gait less.
This study was conducted to investigate gender differences in gait. The subject was asked to walk normally across three strips of paper, and then walk across the paper again while carrying a box, which weighed 15% of their body weight. Step width and step length measurements were then taken from the ink marks on the Kraft paper. The average step length in normal walking for males was 74.8 cm and in females was 78.7 cm. When 15% of the subjects body weight was added the average step length for males was 74.5 cm and females was 76.3 cm. In normal walking, the males averaged 7.712 cm and the females averaged 7.94 cm for step width. In walking with 15% of body weight, males averaged
8.9 cm and females averaged 8.85 cm for step width. It’s hard to make conclusions about gender differences in gait for this study because we had a limited number of subjects. But, we can conclude when a person is carrying a box full of weights versus walking normally, step length decreases and step width increases to increase ones balance.Drake University, Pharmacy & Health Sciences Program, Biochemistry, Cell and Molecular Biology Program, Department of Biolog
Relational Learning Using Speed of Motion
No full textAdvisor: Olga LazarevaPigeons demonstrate robust relational learning after multiple-pair transposition training (Lazareva, Young, & Wasserman, 2005; Lazareva, Miner, Young, & Wasserman, 2008). These studies, however, employed the stimuli varying along the same dimension (i.e., size), raising concerns about generality of the findings. We trained pigeons to select the faster (or the slower) of the two stimuli moving horizontally.
The first group of pigeons was trained with the pairs 1+ 2- and 2+ 3- (or 1- 2+ and 2- 3+;
32 digits denote speed of rotation and plus and minus signs denote reward and nonreward, respectively). The second group of pigeons was trained with the pairs 1+ 2-, 2+ 3-, and 3+ 4- (or 1- 2+, 2- 3+, and 3- 4+). We expect to replicate an increase in relational learning from two-pair to three-pair training. We will also explore whether relational disparity (i.e., the dissimilarity of the two testing stimuli) and novelty (i.e., Euclidean distance from the testing pair to the training pair) will affect relational responding as it was reported earlier.Drake University, Department of Psycholog
An Evaluation of Water Recovery from Brine
No full textAdvisor: John Fisher, NASA Ames Research CenterSaving resources is critical to controlling the costs of manned space exploration. It is important to explore technologies for recovering essential resources, such as water, from waste in space. The current water recovery system used on the International Space Station is capable of recovering 85% of the water from waste liquids (urine and humidity condensate). The wastewater brine generated from this process is typically a 20% solid solution, and it is proposed that brine be further dewatered to recover an additional 95% of its water. This study was aimed at evaluating the characteristics of dewatered brine and its behavior throughout the dewatering process. Vacuum distillation was the chosen method of evaporation. Three trials were run using a 20% sodium and potassium chloride solution,
untreated urine, and wastewater brine. The results discovered in this experiment will be considered in evaluating and developing candidate technologies for brine water recovery and processing.Drake University, Enterprise Advisory Service
Oxidation of Alkenes Using Dioxirane of 1,3-Dichloroacetone
No full textAdvisor: Gholam A. MirafzalOxidation of alkenes using dioxirane system generated from 1,3-dichloroacetone and oxone produces good to excellent yields of epoxide products. The reaction system is facile, mild, efficient and safe. Our experimental results of 1:1 competitive epoxidation reactions involving styrene substrate and its derivatives will be presented to demonstrate sensitivity of the dioxirane epoxidation system to the polarity & ionizability of the pi bonds in the substrates.Drake University, Department of Chemistr
Gender-Based Comparison of Walking Speed and Simultaneous Mental Math Performance
No full textAdvisor: David S. SenchinaWalking is so automatic to us that we often multitask while walking (for instance, by talking to others, carrying things, or eating/drinking). However, it might be expected that multitasking would cause gait to change as compared to walking without multitasking. The purpose of this study was to compare time differences between males and females during forward and backward walking with simultaneous
mental math performance. Nine subjects walked across three 7 m sheets of brown paper placed on the floor with markered moleskin pads on their feet while being given mental math problems. This procedure was done for both forward and backward walking. Time to complete the task, step length, step width, stride length, and math problem responses were recorded. There were no significant
differences between genders in terms of time-to-completion or mental math results.Drake University, Department of Biology, Pharmaceutical, Biomedical and Administrative Science
All-Optical Network Coding
Get PDFIn this paper, we investigate the application of network coding to all-optical networks from both the algorithmic and infrastructural perspectives. We study the effectiveness of using network coding for optical-layer dedicated protection of
multicast traffic which provides robustness against link failures in the network. We present a heuristic for solving this problem
and compare it with both inefficient optimal methods and non-network coding approaches. Our experiments show that
our heuristic provides near optimal performance while significantly outperforming existing approaches for dedicated multicast
protection. We also propose architectures for specialized all-optical circuits capable of performing the processing required for
network coding and show how these devices can be effectively deployed in an all-optical multicast network
2010 National Student Advertising Competition ; "Let's Get Personal"
No full textBlue, Inc. is composed of the following students: Caleb Bailey, Alejandro Munoz, Alex White, Emily Madden, Becca Neely, Caitlin Able, Tara Scieszinski, Sarah Vachlon, Amy Heger, Savannah Herr, Molly Silver, Atasha Sosa, Trisha Lightfoot, Ashleigh Brady, Matt Osborn, Jason Sigal, Jonathan Rzepecki, Katie Martin, Troy Kimberlin, John Pugh, Evan Favreau, Sarah Haveika, Jeff Vejvoda, Alexandra Doffing, Jacey Gustafson, Ngan Hoang, Justine LePore, Tyler Tran, Kelly Anctil, Karissa Brown, Duncan Groff, Natalie Zheng, Michelle Havemann, Maggie Matz, Melissa Lewis, and Robby Patterson.Blank Park Zoo, Blue Moon Dueling Piano Bar, Court Avenue Brewing Company, Delta Gamma, Des Moines Radio Group, Des Moines Symphony, Drake Athletics Department, Drake Diner, Drake Opera, Iowa Bakery Cafe, Iowa Cubs, Liar's Club, Mars Cafe, Peggy's Tavern, Plaza Lanes, Pure Paper, RAYGUN, Sodexho, Soleil Salon, Starbucks of Drake West Village, Texas Roadhouse, Trophy's Bar & Grill, University Bookstore, Webspec Design
Social Support, Psychosocial Needs, and Atributions of Individuals with Rheumatoid Arthritis : A Qualitative Analysis
No full textAdvisor: Nicole TaylorRheumatoid arthritis is one of the most commonly diagnosed autoimmune diseases. The causes of this disease remain largely unknown, and individuals with this chronic illness face many psychological, social, and emotional consequences. The current study used both quantitative and qualitative methods to assess the experiences of individuals with rheumatoid arthritis, their levels of depression and anxiety, access to social support, severity of the disease symptoms and the participants’ willingness to access support groups. Thirteen interviews were conducted using semi-structured questions to prompt participants to share their diagnosis process, consequences of their rheumatoid arthritis, and sources of support. Participants were also asked to describe the ways that rheumatoid arthritis had affected
their relationships, family, and occupational and academic functioning. In this presentation, we will discuss the initial results of our analysis of the qualitative data using a method called consensual qualitative research. The first five presenters have been involved in the core coding group and the mentor has served as the auditor. The first analysis of the data revealed that many participants sought out various types of formal and informal support when dealing with their rheumatoid arthritis. In addition, participants expressed reservations about joining formal support groups, which may have been precipitated by a lack of referrals from their diagnosing physicians and limited awareness of the comorbid
mental health issues associated with rheumatoid arthritis. We will discuss the results of the
data that are general, typical, and variant among the thirteen participants.Drake University, Department of Psycholog