Sept. 4
Mapping Cardiac Pathologies using Nonlinear Analysis for ECG Signals
Aldo Bonasera
Laboratori Nazionali del Sud, Catania, Italy, and Texas A&M University-College Station
Abstract
A novel approach for the nonlinear characterization of Electrocardiogram (ECG) signals has been developed. The new developed methodology is based on a numerical algorithm that extracts the value of d∞ (d-infinite) characterizing the asymptotic chaotic behavior of a system. This algorithm also extracts a measure of the maximum Lyapunov exponent and it is applicable to time series where the knowledge of the system structure and laws is not necessary. In order to prove the significance of the extracted parameters, the presented algorithm was applied on a statistically significant number of ECG signals taken from the MIT-BIH database and including normal subjects and subjects affected by arrhythmia and ventricular arrhythmia. Two maps, one presenting the maximum Lyapunov exponent and the other the d∞ versus a control parameter Π, as a measure of the signal power, were drawn using the parameters extracted by the experimental data. They clearly show three distinguishable zones where the normal subjects and the subjects affected by the two different pathologies can be mapped and discriminate. Concluding, the newly presented algorithm, thanks to its implementation features and it effectiveness, lends itself to future real-time implementation for clinical application in the early diagnosis of cardiac pathologies.
Dr. Aldo Bonasera received his ‘laurea’ degree from the University of Catania (Italy) in 1982, a master of science degree in physics from Michigan State University in 1985 and the ‘dottore di ricerca’ in Rome (Italy) in 1987. He held postdoc positions in France(86), MSU(87) and was associate professor in Germany (87-90). He has been an INFN senior researcher in Catania since 1988. he also held visiting professor positions in Kyoto (Japan),Strasbourg and Toulose (France), visiting distinguished scientist in Jaeri (Japan) and is currently a visiting scientist at Texas A&M University (USA). His research interests are in nuclear physics from fission to relativistic heavy ion collisions, chaos with applications in nuclear physics, electronic circuits and biophysics. Recently he proposed a method to measure astrophysical S-factors in plasma produced by intense laser beams. Dr. Bonasera is a member of the scientific committee on energy and environment for the province of Enna (italy) and the F. Frisone foundation. He is also a honorary professor at the Three Gorges University of China.
Sept. 11
Optical Microscopy: Physics Applied to Biological Imaging
Frank Miskevich
Biology, Texas A&M University-Commerce
Abstract:
Ever since the earliest microscopes, biologists have depended upon the optical power, resolution, and analyses developed by physicists. I will discuss a number of optical techniques in microscopy which increase the range and analytical power of light. Several different types of microscopy will be covered, including fluorescence filters and optical gratings, differential interference contrast (DIC), confocal vs. widefield microscopy,
deconvolution microscopy, total internal reflectance (TIRF) microscopy, fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET), two photon microscopy, and subdiffraction limit fluorescence microscopy. Modern microscopic methods push the optical and computational power available utilizing available optical behaviors for imaging every smaller, more specialized molecular properties.
Biography:
Dr. Miskevich received his PhD degree from the California Institute of Technology in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in 1997. His research focus is primarily in molecular neurobiology, and utilizes numerous microscopy techniques for quantifying and analyzing molecular interactions. He has established fluorescence microscopy as a common technique on the A&M Commerce campus, including fluorescence activated cell sorting, wide field, confocal and deconvolution microscopy. He is a charter member of the Friday Evening Science Society at A&M Commerce.
Sept. 18
A frontier of bioinformatics: An Investigation into the Feasibility of Detecting Microscopic Disease Using Statistical Learning
Jack Yang
Computer Sciences, Texas A&M University-Commerce
Abstract:
The prognosis for many cancers could be improved dramatically if they could be detected while still at the microscopic disease stage. We are investigating the possibility of detecting microscopic disease using statistical learning approaches based on features derived from gene expression levels and metabolic profiles. We use immunochemistry and QRT-PCR to measure the gene expression profiles from a number of antigens such as cyclin E, P27KIP1, FHIT, Ki-67, PCNA, Bax, Bcl-2, P53, Fas, FasL and hTERT in several particular types of neuroendocrine tumors such as pheochromocytomas, paragangliomas; and the adrenocortical carcinomas (ACC), adenomas (ACA), and hyperplasia (ACH) in Cushing’s syndrome. We provide statistical evidence that, higher expression levels of hTERT, PCNA and Ki-67 etc. are associated with a higher risk that the tumors are malignant or borderline, as opposed to benign. We also investigated whether higher expression levels of the P27KIP1 and FHIT etc. are associated with a decreased risk of adrenomedullary tumors. While no significant difference was found between cell-arrest antigens such as P27KIP1 for malignant, borderline, and benign tumors, there was a significant difference between expression levels of such antigens in normal adrenal medulla samples and in adrenomedullary tumors. It follows from a comprehensive statistical analysis that a number of antigens such as hTERT, PCNA and Ki-67 can be considered as cancer markers, while another set of antigens such as P27KIP1 and FHIT are possible markers for normal tissue. Because more than one marker must be considered to obtain a classification of cancer or no-cancer, and if cancer, to classify it as malignant, borderline, or benign, we must develop a intelligent decision system using machine learning techniques, including variants of support vector machines, neural networks, decision trees, self-organizing feature maps (SOFM) and recursive maximum contrast trees (RMCT). These variants and algorithms we developed tended to work very well, yielding an average accuracy that was generally in excess of 90%. Our frame work focused on not only different classification schemes and feature selection algorithms but also ensemble methods such as boosting and bagging in an effort to improve upon the accuracy of the individual classifiers. It is evident when all sorts of machine learning and statistically learning techniques are combined appropriately into one integrated intelligent medical decision system, the prediction power can be enhanced significantly.
This research has many potential applications, not only in providing an alternative diagnostic tool and a better understanding of the mechanisms involved in malignant transformation subject to environmental changes, but also in providing information that is useful for treatment planning and cancer prevention.
Bio
Dr. Jack Yang received his Ph.D. and MS degrees both from Purdue University, West Lafayette main campus and his post doctoral training from Harvard Medical School and Indiana University School of Medicine. He also received training in biostatistics and bioinformatics from Johns Hopkins University. He was a faculty member of Indiana University. Dr. Yang was trained as a combined experimental and computer scientist with more than 15 years of teaching, research and engineering practice experience in biomedical engineering and computational science. He was a recipient of a number of outstanding achievement and best paper awards.
Dr. Yang is the Editor-in-Chief of International Journal of Functional Informatics and Personalized Medicine and an honorary consulting editor of International Journal of Computational Biology and Drug Design. He has also been an editor of more than a dozen journals and proceedings books. He was the general chair of IEEE Bioinformatics and Bioengineering at Harvard Medical School in 2007. Dr. Yang has delivered many invited talks including a number of keynote lectures to promote the emerging field of functional informatics and personalized medicine. He has published more than 100 peer reviewed papers and book chapters. He specializes in cancer biology and artificial intelligence. He is the chair of board of directors of International Society of Intelligent Biological Medicine.
Sept. 25
The Unique Potential of Non-thermal Plasma Technology for Material Development
Ben Jang
Department of Chemistry, Texas A&M University-Commerce
Abstract:
The use of non-thermal plasma technology for the design and development of novel catalyst materials has made a significant progress recently. It is reported that not only hydrogen plasma can reduce various metal precursors at room temperature, but also argon plasma and even air and oxygen plasmas have significant reducing powers at room temperature. In addition, plasma modified catalysts behave completely different from the traditionally prepared catalysts under inert, reducing and reaction atmospheres. Various examples will be reviewed and summarized to demonstrate the unique potential of the non-thermal plasma technology. Additional applications of non-thermal plasma technology for material development will be discussed.
Bio:
Dr. Jang received his BS and PhD from National Taiwan University and UT-Arlington, respectively. He joined A&M-Commerce from the Research Triangle Institute in 2001 and received the Distinguished Service Award in 2002, Faculty Development Leave Award in 2006, and the H.M. Lafferty Distinguished Faculty Award for Scholarship and Creative Activity in 2007. Dr. Jang is a leader in the Plasma-Catalysis research area. He organized international symposia with the ACS national meetings in 2000 and 2003 on plasma catalysis and organized the “Green Chemistry” symposia in Fuel and Energy areas in 2006 and 2008. He served as the news-correspondent for the Applied Catalysis Journal B: Environmental and the guest editor for Catalysis Today and Green Chemistry journals. He is currently collaborating with the Oak Ridge National Lab (ORNL) to advance the fundamental understanding of the potential of Non-thermal plasma technology for material and catalyst development.
Oct. 2
Mission to Mars
John H. Hoffman
Professor of Physics & Associate Dean, NS&M, University of Texas at Dallas
Abstract:
A spacecraft carrying instruments designed to look for water, study the weather, photograph the terrain and discover what minerals make up the surface
and subsurface of Mars landed safely on the red planet on May 25, 2008 after a 9 month journey from earth. Called the Phoenix lander, the spacecraft’s
robotic arm began digging trenches in the surface to find the ice layer that was predicted to be very near the surface. One of the 6 scientific instruments on the
board is called TEGA, Thermal Evolved Gas Analyzer. It consists of two instruments, a set of 8 tiny ovens that heats samples deposited in them by the
robotic arm, and a mass spectrometer, designed and built at UTD, that analyzes gasses evolved from the samples. Data from TEGA did confirm that
whitish materials exposed by the robotic arm digging in Wicked Witch really is water ice. The operation of the lander, how we lived on Mars time and
some early results will be presented.
Biography:
Dr. Hoffman was born and raised in Minnesota. He received his PhD in Physics from the University of Minnesota under Professor Alfred Nier, one of the
pioneers in the field of mass spectrometry. He was employed in the Atmosphere and Space Division of the Naval Research Laboratory before joining
the Southwest Center for Advanced Studies in Dallas, the predecessor to the University of Texas at Dallas. He has developed and flown mass spectrometers
on three Apollo missions, the last being on the Apollo 17 ALSEP to study the composition of the moon’s atmosphere. This was followed by the Pioneer
Venus Mission in 1978, Halley’s comet in 1986 and the Phoenix mission to Mars in 2007. Interspersed among the planetary missions were numerous satellites
in earth orbit. All these involved studies of the composition of the atmospheres of these bodies and extensive mapping of the upper ionosphere of earth. He
is currently Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies in the School of Natural Science and Mathematics and Professor of Physics.
Oct. 9
Neutron Star Crusts and Nuclear Pasta
Dr. Will Newton
Department of Physics, Texas A&M University-Commerce
Abstract:
The so-called 'pasta' phases of nuclear matter occur at the bottom of the inner crust of neutron stars and in collapsing stellar cores, and in both cases mediate the transition from non-uniform to uniform nuclear matter. They consist of exotic nuclear structures; the canonical picture involves cylindrical, planar, cylindrical bubble and spherical bubble nuclear geometries. To model such phases self-consistently one must go to three dimensions.
We present the first results of a new 3D, finite temperature Skyrme-Hartree-Fock+BCS code applied to nuclear 'pasta'. The effects of the numerical procedure are carefully examined. We demonstrate the existence of many more 'pasta' shapes in addition to the canonical shapes. Preliminary results indicate that the size of the region in a neutron star crust occupied by the 'pasta' phases depends sensitively on the proton fraction in the crust, which in turn depends on the asymmetry energy. We discuss how this may lead to new observational constraints on the asymmetry energy through the modelling of the mechanical, thermodynamical and hydrodynamical properties of the pasta phases.
Bio:
Dr. Newton received in 2008 his DPhil from the University of Oxford, UK where he worked on properties of neutron stars and the supernova equations of state. He also received his Masters in Physics from the University of Oxford in 2000 and a research masters degree (MSc) in 2002 at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the University of Tennessee where he modeled giant resonances in Argon isotopes. He joined the Department of Physics at Texas A&M University-Commerce as a postdoc on Sept. 1, 2008.
Oct. 16
Transistors and wires:
Quantum transport and nonlinear dynamics at the bottom
Prof. Charles Stafford
University of Arizona - Tucson
Abstract:
Electronic devices as small as a single molecule represent the ultimate limit of Moore's law. Fundamental problems of nanofabrication, device reproducibility, and power dissipation must be overcome to reach this goal. I will describe a new concept for a single-molecule transistor, which we call a Quantum Interference Effect Transistor (QuIET). This device exploits quantum interference stemming from molecular symmetry to control the flow of electrical current, and promises to overcome the problems of power dissipation and environmental sensitivity that beset nanoscale devices. As daunting as the challenge of creating a single-molecule device is the problem of connecting large numbers of nanodevices into an integrated circuit. I will describe our research program on metal nanowires, which has led to the study of a new class of nonlinear dynamics that correctly describes the self-assembly of perfect nanoconductors.
Bio:
Prof. Charles Stafford received a Ph.D. in physics from Princeton University in 1992. Since 1998, he has been on the faculty of the Physics Department at the University of Arizona, where he is currently Associate Professor of Physics. His research has focused on strongly-correlated electron systems and, more recently, on quantum transport and cohesion in nanostructures. His current interests include electron transport in single-molecule heterojunctions and the structural dynamics of metal nanowires.
Oct. 23
(APS DNP meeting in CA)
Oct. 30
Surface defects and reconstructions of titanium dioxide
Prof. Kenneth T. Park
Department of Physics, Baylor University
Bio:
Dr. Park received his BA in Physics from the UC-Berkeley in 1988 and a Ph.D. from the University of Rochester in 1993. He is currently an Associate Professor of Physics at Baylor University. His main research interests are in surface defects & nanoparticles on TiO2, alkali metal adsorbed on MoS2, electron donor-acceptor complex and metal-organic interface: Thin films of metallo-phthalocyanine. More information about his research and a list of his recent publications can be found at http://www.baylor.edu/physics/index.php?id=10287
Nov. 6
Gravitational Wave Astronomy: A Status Report
Mario C. Diaz
Professor and Director
Center for Gravitational Wave Astronomy and
Department of Physics and Astronomy
The University of Texas at Brownsville
Abstract:
The LIGO observatories have recently finished more than a year of observation at design sensitivity. They will be going through an upgrade that will enhance their sensitivity by a factor of two and start a new period of observation in 2009. After this new run, work to install the major upgrades that constitute Advanced LIGO will start. A few years later the LIGO observatories will start operating with an order of magnitude enhanced sensitivity. In this talk I review the most recent results obtained during the last observation period (scientific run number 5): these results although null, are giving interesting upper limits in observational astrophysics. I will discuss the implications they have for the nascent field of Gravitational Wave Astronomy.
Prof. Mario C. Diaz received his Ph.D from the University of Cordoba, Argentina. He is the director of the Center for Gravitational Wave Astronomy and former chair of the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Texas at Brownsville. He is also an adjunct professor of physics at UT-Dallas. Before joining UT-Brownsville, Dr. Diaz held research and/or faculty positions at the California Institute of Technology, University of Pittsburgh, Mercyhurst College and the University of Cordoba. Dr. Diaz is a leader of the LIGO collaboration searching for signals of gravitational waves. He has presented over 150 talks in conferences/seminars/colloquia around the world. More information about his research and a list of his publications can be found at http://www.phys.utb.edu/~mario/Research_files/mcd-cv-2008.pdf
Nov. 13
Medical Physics Role in Brain Imaging Research
Jack L. Lancaster
Professor and Chief, Biomedical Image Analysis Division
University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio
Abstract
The primary area of research at the UTHSCSA’s Research Imaging Center (RIC) is the brain and medical physicists play an important role in almost all research projects. Positron emission tomography (PET) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) systems are the principal imaging systems, and an in-depth understanding of their capabilities is critical when designing human or animal research projects. PET and functional MRI (fMRI) studies are used to measure changes in regional brain blood flow associated with subtle changes in brain activity. Detailed images of brain anatomy are acquired using high-resolution 3-D MRI techniques. Together these 3-D assessments of function and anatomy are advancing our understanding of what happens where in the brain, a field generally referred to as brain mapping. Non-imaging devices such as transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) systems provide a means to directly stimulate neuronal activity, and an in-depth understanding of the time varying magnetic and electric fields produced by these systems is important for proper use. TMS applied during PET imaging allows us to monitor changes in blood flow at the stimulated site as well as at other sites in the brain connected by a system-level network. Finally, analysis of 3-D images and TMS data requires a sound background in physics, math, anatomy, physiology and computer science. Examples of research at the RIC will be presented.
Dr. Jack L. Lancaster received his BS in Physics from the University of Texas at Arlington in 1968 and a Ph.D in medical physics from the University of Texas Health Science Center at Dallas in 1978. He is currently a professor of Radiology and the Chief of the Biomedical Image Analysis Division at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. Dr. Lancaster has been a PI or Co-Pi of many research projects funded by the NIH. His expertise is in imaging methodologies. His major current research interests are in the study of genetic disorder such as the 18q-syndrome, primarily studying myelin using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and developing a new mathematical model to estimate myelin levels in white matter from the MRI. More information about his research can be found at http://ric.uthscsa.edu/lancasterj.html
Nov. 21
TBA
Dec. 4
(Physics Student Research Workshop and competition for the best research award)
3-5:20pm, Science Building 127
The winner(s) of the Best Student Research Award will be selected by vote by all students enrolled in 401/501 and faculty/staff members after the powerpoint presentations of all students. The award carries a Certificate, $200 and will be a shining item on your resume.
Each talk is 15 minutes including 12 minutes for presentation and 3 minutes for questions in the format of American Physical Society meetings.
Session Chair: Dr. Carlos Bertulani
3:00-3:15pm
Ashley Golden
The Study of the Muon Capture using the QRAP Code
3:15-3:30pm
Taylor Bailey
Tunneling of composite objects
3:30-3:45pm
Junting Huang
Radiative capture cross sections of astrophysical interest
Session Chair: Dr. Charles Rogers
3:45-4:00pm
Hongliang Chen
Remote control land rover with multi joints robot arm.
4:00-4:15pm
Michael Gearheart
The Physics of Teaching Physics
4:15-4:30
Jerry Pate
A Cost Efficient Smartboard
Session Chair: Dr. Anil Chourasia
4:30-4:45
Hong Dong
Density of states of Silicon
4:45-5:00
Mark Ellermann
Using VASP and plane waves to determine positions and energies of atoms in diamond lattice
5:00-5:15
John Hickman
Career in medical physics
5:15-5:30 Vote for the winner(s) of the Best Student Research Award
6:00 pm Physics Christmas Party at Lone Star
Seminars and colloquia in previous semesters
