Virginia Journal of Science Note: This manuscript has been accepted for publication and is online Volume 68, Issue 1 & 2 ahead of print. It will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the Spring & Summer 2017 resulting proof before it is published in its final form. doi: 10.25778/mhc9-zj49 PROCEEDINGS OF THE 95TH ANNUAL MEETING Virginia Academy of Science Virginia Commonwealth University May 17-19, 2017 Contents PROCEEDINGS OF THE 95TH ANNUAL MEETING ............................................................................................ 1 Agriculture, Forestry, and Aquaculture ........................................................................................................ 1 Astronomy, Mathematics and Physics with Materials Sciences ................................................................... 2 Biology with Microbiology and Molecular Biology ....................................................................................... 7 Biomedical and General Engineering .......................................................................................................... 23 Botany ......................................................................................................................................................... 28 Chemistry .................................................................................................................................................... 34 Data Science, Computing and Statistics ...................................................................................................... 37 Education .................................................................................................................................................... 38 Entomology ................................................................................................................................................. 41 Environmental Science ................................................................................................................................ 46 Medical Sciences ......................................................................................................................................... 50 Natural History and Biodiversity ................................................................................................................. 61 Psychology .................................................................................................................................................. 65 Structural Biology, Biochemistry and Biophysics ........................................................................................ 69 Agriculture, Forestry, and Aquaculture Posters SEEING IS BELIEVING: THE IMPORTANCE OF HANDS ON EXPERIENCES IN THE DIVERSE WORLD OF MODERN AGRICULTURE. R. Spencer Irby & Tim C. Durham, Agriculture Program, Ferrum College, Ferrum, VA 24088. Education can be delivered through auditory, visual, and kinesthetic modalities. However, there is often a disconnect between theory and practice in agricultural education, elevating the latter in importance. A hands-on approach 1 Virginia Journal of Science, Vol. 68, No. 1, 2017 https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/vjs/vol68/iss1 allows students to better grasp abstract concepts. This bridges and actualizes the theories broached in class. Accordingly, courses such as AGS 218: Regional Experiences in Agriculture at Ferrum College are an intuitive and beneficial complement to an educational curriculum, particularly for students in the midst of major coursework. In the aforementioned course, students observed and participated in a wide variety of agricultural exercises within the Commonwealth, while gaining firsthand experiences in a nontraditional, open air classroom setting. The course also provided a platform for students to converse directly with individuals in industry employment sectors of interest, with a particular focus on alumni mentoring. Perhaps most importantly, the course challenged and contextualized student perspectives on the global dilemma of resource scarcity and a growing population. Astronomy, Mathematics and Physics with Materials Sciences K-KINGS IN PRODUCTS OF DIGRAPHS. Morgan Norge & Peter LaBarr, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA 23284-2014. A k-king in a digraph D is a vertex that can reach every other vertex in D by a directed path of length at most k. We consider k-kings in the strong product of digraphs. In particular, we determine the relationship between k-kings in the strong product of digraphs and k-kings in the factors of the product. STOPPING POWER OF LEAD FOR ATMOSPHERIC MUONS. B. Murphy, C. Barazandeh & W. Majewski, Div. of Mathematics, Science & Engineering, NVCC. Our muon experiment is very distinct from most other experiments, as it has but a single detector instead of two in stereo. We with our single detector may identify stopped muons by their unique decay signature. In addition to measuring the muon lifetime, our detector also was permitted to measure the kinetic energy distribution of the muons (up to 140 MeV) as they come to be stopped in our detector, and the energy spectrum of the electrons created in the decay. In our presentation, we present them as graphs and interpret their shape. Our detector measures properties of not only stoppable low- energy muons with energy below 140 MeV but also of those muons passing through, with average energy as high as 4 GeV. An important property we discovered about them is their flux: the number of cosmic ray muons that hit the Earth’s surface per unit area per unit time. Muons make a major part of the natural background ionizing radiation, with the average value of about 10,000 muons per square meter per minute at the Earth’s surface. Because they are highly penetrating, reaching down through a kilometer or so of rock, we measured the attenuation of their flux by different layers of lead shielding, up to 25 cm thickness, of lead plates and bricks. Our results are expressed in terms of the lead stopping power – the energy a muon loses as it passes through 1 cm of lead. AIP Grant. MUON LIFETIME AND ITS STANDARD MODEL OF PARTICLE IMPLICATIONS. C. Barazandeh & W. Majewski, Div. of Mathematics, Science & Engineering, NVCC. The NOVA Chapter of the Society of Physics Students for years was using its Muon Detector to register the arrival and stopping of a muon as a voltage pulse as an investigation into different aspects of cosmic radiation. This may detect a second pulse after a time delay of about two microseconds, which occurs from the electron created in the decay. From the distribution of the individual muons’ lifetimes, we found the mean muon lifetime at rest, in agreement with the accepted data. From this measured lifetime, we calculated the strength of the Weak Nuclear Force – one of the four fundamental forces of nature. Using an SM relation, we found from our totally non-electric 2 Virginia Journal of Science, Vol. 68, No. 1, 2017 https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/vjs/vol68/iss1 experiment the value of the elementary electric charge e, and so the strength of the Electromagnetic Force. This turned out to be a number close (error 7.5%) to the value 1.6E -19 C which we see in our introductory physics textbooks! Finally, from our simple muon lifetime experiment, we found the vacuum expectation value v (error of 4% from the accepted value) of the recently discovered fundamental Higgs field. This field pervades all space and determines the masses of all known particles of the visible Universe, including the Higgs particle mass itself. This is an amazing result, showing how powerful and mathematically consistent is the Standard Model of Particles. Supported: EF Grant. PHYSICS OF PROPULSION & LEVITATION OF SELF-DRIVEN ELECTRODYNAMIC WHEELS. Jorge Del Carpio, Vincent Cordrey, Brady Murphy, Sepehr Samiei & Walerian Majewski, Department of Physics, Northern Virginia Community College, Annandale, VA. The NOVA Society of Physics Students chapter constructed an electrodynamic wheel using a motorized bicycle wheel with a radius of 12 inches and 36 one-inch cube Nd magnets attached to the rim of the wheel with one inch wooden spacing blocks between magnets. The radial magnetic field on the outer rim of the wheel is maximized by arranging the magnets in a series of Halbach arrays. The wheel is being upgraded to 76 magnets directly in contact with one another, doubling both angular rotation of the magnetic field and the density of pole reversals. In this talk, we describe a method of mounting magnets on the wheel which overcomes the repulsion forces which can be up to 70 lbs. The rotation of a wheel with alternating magnetic poles along the rim creates a time-varying magnetic field in the vicinity of the rim. When a conductive metal track is immersed in this area of strong reversing magnetic flux, the time-dependent flux induces eddy currents in the track, generating both lift (levitation) and drag (propulsion) forces on the wheel’s magnets which can be measured with force gauges. Measurements of the low-density interim 38 magnet non-Halbach state of the upgraded wheel showed partial levitation can be achieved with non-Halbach systems. Electrodynamic wheels may have applications in magnetic levitation (Maglev) transportation, since multiple electrodynamic wheels could be used on a vehicle to produce lift, traction, and guidance forces via simple rotation of the wheels above conductive tracks. (Supported by: Society of Physics Students Sigma Pi Sigma research grants and The Virginia Academy of