Arts - Buffalo State College

96
Physical Geography, Sciences, and Mathematics
Determination of Theobromine In Cocoa
and Tealeaves
Sheila Hagerty, FOR 614: Forensic Applications of Instrumental
Analysis
Faculty Mentor: Professor Alexander Nazarenko, Chemistry
Theobromine, a bitter alkaloid, is present in cacao and to lesser
extent, in tealeaves and is regularly consumed by many through
consumption of foods and beverages. It is in the methylxanthine
class of chemical compounds, along with caffeine and theophylline.
Theobromine’s systematic name is 3,7-dihydro-3,7-dimethyl-1Hpurin-,6-dione.
Isolation procedure of theobromine from cocoa
requires its extraction with subsequent removal of lipids (“cacao
butter”) and additional extraction of the alkaloid with methanol. The
resulting crystalline compound was investigated using UV spectra,
Fourier transform infrared techniques, mass spectra and nuclear
magnetic resonance experiments. This can be used for positive
identification of the compound. Both gas chromatography (with
flame ionization or mass spectra detectors) and high performance
liquid chromatography with UV spectrophotometric detection are
suitable for quantitative determination of theobromine and do not
require derivatisation. The peculiarities of theobromine analysis in
natural samples will be discussed.
Presentation Type and Session: Poster V
Determining Neutron Age In Distilled Water
Steven Tarasek, Physics
Faculty Mentor: Professor Michael DeMarco, Physics
During this beginning research project, our objective was to study
the distribution of neutrons emitted from our Plutonium-Beryllium
(PuBe) source as they travel through water. One of the characteristics
of the neutrons is designated as Neutron Age, or Fermi age. Neutrons
from the Pu(Be) source activate the In foil and produce gamma
rays. Using the gamma rays that are proportional to the number
of neutrons emitted from our Indium isotope, we determined the
neutron age. The gamma rays were detected using a Germanium
detector attached to a multichannel analyzer (MCA). Along with the
age, we calculated the cross section for absorption of our Indium
foil, as well as the neutron flux of our PuBe source. Fermi age for a
particular medium is related to nuclear reactor design, helping to
figure out how far to place fuel rods from one another in order to
have the neutrons at the right energy to continue the nuclear fission
chain reaction, while also keeping the reactor from overheating and
melting down.
Presentation Type and Session: Poster VI
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Effects of On-Campus Storm Water
Mitigation Efforts To Scajaquada Creek
Jerome Krajna, Alyssa Russell, and Ashley Williams, GES
460/529: Environmental Field Methods and Analysis
Faculty Mentor: Professor Elisa Bergslien, Earth Sciences and
Science Education
Scajaquada Creek, located within Erie County, New York, is a 29
square mile urbanized sub-watershed of the Lake Ontario basin, and
a tributary of the Niagara River. Because Scajaquada Creek is located
within an urbanized area it has been highly manipulated leading
to degraded water quality. This has led Buffalo State College to
implement on-campus storm water mitigation efforts with the goal of
improving the water quality in Scajaquada Creek. In this study we will
collect water samples every five days over the course of three weeks
at three points along the campus’ border with the creek, and a fourth
sample in nearby Hoyt Lake. With these samples we will compare
oxygen levels, pathogens, phosphorous, and the presence of floatables
to samples collected prior to the mitigation projects implementation.
We look to show that the on-campus mitigation efforts have improved
the water quality of the creek.
Presentation Type and Session: Poster VIII
An Error Term For Levinson’s Inequality
Allan Sesay, Mathematics
Faculty Mentor: Professor Peter Mercer, Mathematics
Jensen’s Inequality was discovered in 1906 by Danish
mathematician Johan Jensen. It is a cornerstone of the theory of
Mathematical Inequalities. It applies to functions which are convex –
that is, f’’≥0. In recent years, researchers have found and used “error
terms” for Jensen’s Inequality. Levinson’s Inequality was discovered
in 1964 by American mathematician Norman Levinson. It applies to
functions for which f’’’≥0. In the project my goal was to find an error
term for Levinson’s Inequality. I began by studying several proofs of
Jensen’s Inequality, and several methods for obtaining its error term.
This involved reading mathematics papers published as recently as
2008 and 2010. The hope was that I could suitably modify one of
those methods to get an error term for Levinson’s Inequality. But after
some time, it became evident that this could not be the case because
Jensen’s Inequality gives rise to a “linear functional” that is positive,
while the linear functional arising from Levinson’s Inequality is not
positive. So whatever error term I might find had to have a different
sort of character. But this apparent setback showed be not what to
look for, which turned out to be helpful. After lots of reading and lots
of thinking, I eventually found an error term. Very roughly, Levinson’s
Inequality reads (for f’’’≥0) L1 ≤ L2. I found that this could be recast
n
βf '''(α)
as L1 − L2 = E, where E is the desired error term, E = − ∑(A1 − xj)
n ,
j =1
0≤α≤1 and 0≤α≤1/2, and so in particular, f’’’≥0 gives is back
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Levinson’s Inequality .
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Presentation Type and Session: Poster VII
2 .
L1 ≤ L2.
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