Through an examination of the mechanisms driving gastric motility, absorption, and transit, and using differential equations, we created a compartmental model of the digestion system. Specifically, we seek to understand the process of gastric emptying by modeling the interactions between ingested solids, liquids, and chyme. To make the model accurate biologically, we introduced randomness into the system; additionally, the nonlinearity and number of the parameters in the model make finding analytical solutions impractical. Thus, we created numerical simulations of the model. As this research is at the crossroads of biology and mathematics, both quantitative and qualitative analyses of the simulations will be discussed.
Sep
3
Students Present work at MathFest
Category: Announcements, M/CS Website | 
On August 6 and 7, 2009, Jennifer Jordan ‘11 and Ariel Kramer ‘11 presented their work entitled “Follow the Food Feeding Function: A Biomathematical Study of Gastric Emptying” at MathFest, the national summer meeting of the Mathematical Association of America in Portland, Oregon. Ariel and Jennifer conducted the research under the guidance of Dr. Gretchen A. Koch, Assistant Professor of Mathematics and Computer Science. Ariel presented the first part of the talk in the MAA Student Paper Sessions, while Jennifer’s presentation occurred as part of the Pi Mu Epsilon Student Paper Sessions. Both women previously presented their work during the Summer Science Program presentations at Goucher College and at the Landmark Conference at Susquehanna University. The abstract for their talks is:
