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Txa In Dentistry, Valeria Coronilla, Jaime Cabrera-Pardo

Annual Research Symposium

No abstract provided.

When Nutrition Fails: Modeling Protein Malnutrition-Driven Vulnerability In Hepatic Drug Metabolism And Inflammatory Stress, Vijitha D. Kantety, Victor Jiminez Jr.

Annual Research Symposium

Background

Protein malnutrition remains a major global health problem and frequently co-occurs with alcohol use, opioid exposure, and infectious disease, particularly in low- and middle-income settings. The liver is central to both metabolism and inflammatory regulation, yet the effects of a malnutrition-like nutrient environment on hepatic responses to combined metabolic and inflammatory insults are not well defined. Cytochrome P450 3A4 (CYP3A4), a key enzyme involved in opioid metabolism, is highly sensitive to inflammatory signaling and may be especially vulnerable under conditions of nutritional deficiency. This project aims to 1) develop an in vitro model of nutritionally competent versus amino acid–restricted …

Critical Incident Stress Debriefing Situational Simulation Training To Prepare Debriefing Leaders, Jessica A. Borthwick

Creating Healthy Work Environments (CHWE)

Problem Statement: Critical incidents (CIs) occur, and healthcare provider (HCP) support is often insufficient. Upstream impact of this problem includes unease of identifying incidents as CI, lack of operational knowledge of illustrating and identifying second victim phenomenon, limited recommendations for support of second victims, and inadequately trained certified critical incident stress management (CISM) leaders. Critical incident stress debrief (CISD) practice to enhance certified CISM leaders’ skills has been identified as a gap.

Purpose: The impact of CIs are devasting to HCPs in addition to patients and families of patients. A CI is when harm reaches a recipient of healthcare …

Understanding The Meaning Of “Missed Nursing Care” Among Rn Staff Nurses In The Hospital Setting, Amanda P. Henson

Creating Healthy Work Environments (CHWE)

Missed Nursing Care (MNC) includes any incomplete or delayed care required for a patient during an inpatient admission (Kalisch, 2015). This phenomenon leads to costly consequences for patients and hospitals such as pressure injuries, falls, hospital-acquired infection, thrombosis, and other adverse events that increase patient length of stay, readmission rates, and mortality. Additionally, negative consequences for nursing staff exist, such as burnout, turnover, intent to leave their jobs or profession, moral distress, and compassion fatigue (Recio-Saucedo, et al., 2018; Kalisch, 2015). A quantitative study across 11 hospitals including 3,341 RNs and 976 nursing assistants (NA) revealed that MNC predicts nursing …

Could Dietary Zinc Protect Your Gums? Insights From Non-Diabetic Adults, Jacob R. Kelly, Hayden Dehoyos, Man Hung Phd, Amir Mohajeri Phd

Annual Research Symposium

Background:
Zinc plays an important role in enzymatic and inflammatory processes that may influence periodontal health. The relationship between zinc intake and periodontitis remains insufficiently characterized in adults without diabetes.
Methods:
A population-based adult sample was analyzed to examine the association between zinc intake from dietary and supplemental sources and periodontal disease, adjusting for relevant demographic, socioeconomic, behavioral, and health-related factors.
Results:
Zinc intake patterns varied across population subgroups and were associated with periodontal outcomes after accounting for potential confounders. Adequate zinc intake was consistently linked to more favorable periodontal status.
Conclusion:
These findings suggest that sufficient zinc intake may …

Anesthesia Agents And The Risk Of Postoperative Delirium In Noncardiac Surgical Adults An Integrative Review, Narah Latortue, Doreen Wagner

Creating Healthy Work Environments (CHWE)

Introduction: Surgical patients are given anesthetic agents that render them unconscious for surgery. When the surgical procedure is completed, these agents are discontinued. As patients recover from surgery, they may experience an acute onset of confusion or postoperative delirium (POD) that fluctuates and manifests as inattention with changes in perception or cognition, altered levels of consciousness, and changes in motor activity such as agitation or lethargy. At times, a mixture of these symptoms may occur when patients demonstrate a fluctuation between hyperactive and hypoactive motor forms of delirium. Hyperactive delirium is when patients are highly agitated and restless whereas the …

Home Health Nurse Perceptions Of Safety In The Workplace, Natalie Faybisovich

Creating Healthy Work Environments (CHWE)

Background: Home health nursing, a growing care model, caters to individuals seeking medical assistance within the comfort of their own homes. Predicted statistics indicate a 5% employment growth in this sector from 2014 to 2024, which necessitates a 48.6% increase in home health nurse employment. This surge underscores the need to address unique challenges faced by healthcare professionals in this field.

Purpose: This secondary analysis aims to explore and understand the safety concerns encountered by home healthcare nurses, emphasizing the importance of identifying and addressing these concerns to enhance safety and care provision in home settings.

Methods: This secondary analysis …

Implementation Of Adverse Childhood Experiences Screening In Pediatric Primary Care, Megan Nicole Waite

Creating Healthy Work Environments (CHWE)

Introduction: Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are potentially traumatic events that occur in childhood including abuse, neglect, and household dysfunction. They are highly prevalent among children, especially those that are racially, ethnically, or socioeconomically disadvantaged. ACEs are negatively associated with unfavorable health outcomes in children including behavioral problems, cognitive delays, and poor physical health. Various governing bodies recommend routine screening for ACEs in pediatric primary care, but some studies report screening rates as low as 4%.

Aims: The aim of this quality improvement doctor of nursing practice (DNP) project was to implement an evidence-based ACE screening protocol and referral to behavioral …

Fostering Civility Between Nursing Faculty, Students, And Clinical Partners To Promote Positive Patient Outcomes, Breanne N. Wilburn, Kathryn A. Osteen, Christine J. Oliver, Courtney K. Brandt

Creating Healthy Work Environments (CHWE)

Nurse educators contribute to healthy practice environments and positive patient outcomes in part by educating students on civil practice in didactic and clinical environments (Foreman, 2023; Naseri et al., 2022). Incivility among students, nursing faculty, and clinical partners is a growing concern in the nursing profession (Foreman, 2023; Hajira et al., 2022). Nursing educators serve as examples for students through participating in culturally inclusive civil discourse (Meires, 2018). Further, student incivility in the academic setting could lead to future workplace incivility and is tied to unhealthy practice environments and negative patient outcomes (Park & Kang, 2020; Wei et al., 2018). …

“It Takes A Special Person” --Exploring Undergraduate Nursing Students’ Emotional Needs While Providing End-Of-Life Care, Kalei H. Kowalchik

Creating Healthy Work Environments (CHWE)

Background: Navigating end-of-life (EOL) care as a nursing student can results in intense emotions such as grief and despair and there is limited research on undergraduate nursing students’ thoughts and experiences on the need for emotional support resources when caring for patients and families at the EOL.

Purpose: To explore undergraduate nursing students’ experiences and their perceived need for integrating emotional and psychological support services while caring for dying populations.

Theoretical Framework: The Nerstrom Transformative Learning Model was used to guide this research which identifies how adult learners interact in their environment with a limited worldview that is …

Examining How The Strive+ Intervention Affects Caregivers' Comfort Levels And Behaviors: A Quantitative Study, Nastacia Taylor

Creating Healthy Work Environments (CHWE)

Support To Reunite, Involve, and Value Each Other (STRIVE) is a five-session manualized psycho-educational family intervention that incorporates cognitive behavioral therapy strategies to facilitate communication skill development, problem solving, and creating a positive family atmosphere. This strengths-based dyadic intervention has been shown to reduce delinquency, drug use, and high-risk sexual behaviors among disadvantaged adolescents aged 13 to 17 years with lived experience of homelessness.

The updated STRIVE+ was tested to investigate the possibility for lowering youth risk factors for commercial sexual exploitation. Adolescent behavioral family treatments are an effective strategy to intervene to prevent adverse developmental consequences. The STRIVE+ intervention …

Device Manager: Bundle Implementation For Reducing Device-Related Pressure Injuries, Sierra Holloway

Creating Healthy Work Environments (CHWE)

Background: Pressure injuries (PIs) are a continuing global problem in healthcare and worse for critically ill patients, costing up to $30 billion annually in the United States and are not reimbursable. Medical devices provide life support and healing in hospitalized patients but can also cause harm. Approximately 30-60% of PIs come from medical devices, causing pain, discomfort, and patient dissatisfaction while worsening patient outcomes.

Problem: The practicum site saw increased MDRPIs over two years, over the hospital average, due to a lack of standardization and knowledge for preventing MDRPIs. This led to extended lengths of stay, increased healthcare costs, and …

Implementation Of A Dedicated Rapid Response Nurse, Brandie Kopsas-Kingsley

Creating Healthy Work Environments (CHWE)

Background/Significance of problem: Rapid Response Teams have been used to reduce the incidence of intrahospital decline. While these teams excel at providing emergent responses during times of critical illness, they generally lack a proactive approach.

Clinical question/project purpose: Is a dedicated Rapid Response Nurse role effective in improving the culture of safety and reducing Rapid Response Team activations? The purpose of this project is to implement a dedicated Rapid Response Nurse (RRN) role that aids nurses in identifying patients at risk of decline or who are currently declining.

Search of literature/best evidence: A literature search was completed for full-text, …

Screen And Intervene: Assessing Knowledge, Preparedness, And Confidence In Managing Postpartum Depression, Caroline Everly Quinn

Creating Healthy Work Environments (CHWE)

Postpartum depression (PPD) is a mental health condition where a parent experiences intense and ongoing depressive symptoms such as sadness, anxiety, lack of energy, suicidal thoughts and actions, and more. One in seven people who give birth will experience PPD. Furthermore, suicide is a leading cause of death in the perinatal period, accounting for 20% of postpartum deaths. Though PPD is common, there are many barriers to screening, managing, and treating this condition.

This evidence-based quality improvement (QI) project aimed to assess nursing students’ and nurses’ levels of knowledge and readiness to screen, intervene, and manage patients with PPD in …

Veterans’ Living To Create Healthy Environments And The Meaning Of Their Well-Being: A Phenomenological Inquiry, Cheryl L. Birmingham

Creating Healthy Work Environments (CHWE)

The Veterans reside in a unique environment influenced by past military experiences that may have positive and negative effects on their well-being as Veterans. With nearly half of the 18.4 million Veterans in the United States living beyond 61 years the physical and mental health conditions may desolate the Veterans’ well-being. Promoting Veterans’ well-being has been studied extensively but scant research has been done on the environmental influences and how it helps to define It is critical to understand how Veterans define well-being to inform future program development addressing mental health needs. The purpose of this study is to discover …

Implementation Of A Mindfulness Intervention Among Professional Firefighters And The Effect On Perceived Stress Levels, Rachel L. Mowry

Creating Healthy Work Environments (CHWE)

Problem Statement: Firefighters experience high levels of stress related to their occupation that negatively impacts their physical and mental health and can lead to loss of occupation, decreased work productivity, and suicide. Occupational stress in firefighters impacts firefighters as individuals, as well as their places of work and communities; therefore, this phenomenon should be investigated further. Mindfulness is a strategy which is shown to be effective in the reduction of occupational-related stress. Mindfulness-based strategies can be delivered through a variety of methods including mindfulness-based stress reduction, mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, virtual mindfulness interventions, and other structured programs. Increased mindfulness has been …

Understanding Treatment Adherence Among Patients With Pulmonary Hypertension, Justin Wilson, Jill Cox, Rula Btoush

Creating Healthy Work Environments (CHWE)

Several effective treatment options are currently available for patients with pulmonary hypertension (PH), including pharmacologic therapies such as breakthrough prostacyclin infusions, the use of durable medical equipment’s, and a myriad of lifestyle modifications. In spite of the availability of these treatment options, many patients remain unsure about their disease and the regular use of recommended treatment. Treatment adherence is defined as the extent to which a person's medication taking behavior, diet, and lifestyle changes corresponds with agreed health care providers recommendations (Burkhart & Sabaté, 2003). Even though a plethora of research has addressed treatment adherence among patients with various diagnoses, …

Preliminary Design: 9-Passenger Stol Aircraft, Rodrigo Dieguez Novo, Jason Tundidor, Alexander Hosein, Riley Turner, Jet Stevenson, David Corley

Student Research Symposium (SRS)

This poster analyzes the configuration selection process for the Cedar Island Aviation Company CIAC-1, a modern 9-passenger, twin-engine turboprop STOL aircraft developed to replace legacy commuter aircraft such as the Cessna 402C and Tecnam P2012 in Cape Air’s fleet. The main objective of this study us to identify a configuration that maximizes performance, safety, maintainability, while reducing acquisition and operating cost. Several configurations were evaluated using a decision matrix that considered short field performance, certification, aerodynamic efficiency, safety, etc. After trade studies and further analysis, a high wing, multi-engine with conventional tail layout and retractable gear was selected for its …

Angle Offset And Electrode Alignment Impact On Townsend Discharges, Andrew Murphy, Seth Gerow

Student Research Symposium (SRS)

The work seeks to improving the understanding of atmospheric electricity on Earth and beyond through the modeling of Townsend electrostatic discharges. The successful outcome this work will answer questions relating to these discharges and how the electrode shape, angular offset from the vertical, and material composition impact the initiation of gas discharges. Specifically, the proposed work seeks to build off of the work seen in the Bench for Automated Measurements of Electrical Discharges (BeAMED) through control and measurement of vertical angular offset of the electrode through use of induced flux probes. This will reduce uncertainty in future experimentally determined results …

Nasa Microgravity Operations: S.E.A.M (Softgood Element Attachment Mechanism), Aidan Magann, Sena Nitta, Kamanakai Natividad, Alex Ptak, Nicholas Coy, Tyler Griscom

Student Research Symposium (SRS)

Softgoods play an essential role in spaceflight, providing thermal protection for sensitive equipment and serving as a defense against debris encountered in space. During Extravehicular Activities (EVA), astronauts may be required to fasten softgoods and maintain the connections between existing components and newly installed ones. The 2025 NASA Micro-G NExT Challenge sought to develop a device to meet this need. SEAM (Softgoods Element Attachment Mechanism) provided NASA with an effective solution to this engineering challenge. Team SEAM developed a manually powered, astronaut-friendly fastening tool designed to simplify the installation of softgoods in a microgravity environment. After a nationwide call for …

Ring Learning With Errors: Quantum Safe Encryption For Space-Based Assets, Gage Hauptman, Beck Jorgensen

Student Research Symposium (SRS)

Space-based assets rely on public key cryptography to ensure secure command, control, and telemetry operations. However, conventional algorithms like Rivest-Shamir-Adleman (RSA) and Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC) are susceptible to Shor’s algorithm when exposed to advanced quantum computing. In this poster, we focus on a quantum-resistant encryption methodology rooted in polynomial rings, specifically Ring Learning With Errors (RLWE). Rather than assessing its quantum resilience, we aim to evaluate throughput and timing variations across diverse telemetry data payloads on representative CPU hardware commonly used in space assets. We will analyze the encryption durations of telemetry payloads and project an experimental encryption rate …

Implementing And Evaluating Strategies For Student Success In An Nsf-Funded S-Stem Project, Sydney Cash

Student Research Symposium (SRS)

This poster is based on an NSF-funded S-STEM project that offers financial assistance to 25 high-achieving domestic students with demonstrated financial need at our institution. The project supports students to complete a four–year undergraduate program and a one year accelerated master's program in the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) department. These students are supported through the project with many resources, most importantly, an assigned faculty mentor whom they meet regularly, as well as professional development workshops, and advising. We conduct an IRB approved study and collect both qualitative and quantitative data utilizing survey instruments to measure students' academic success. …

Interplanetary Trajectory Optimization With Artificial Intelligence, Shiloh Cuffe

Student Research Symposium (SRS)

Trajectory optimization is an essential component of mission planning and space mission control. Mission planning involves developing a trajectory that allows a spacecraft to complete objectives, like performing orbital maneuvers, rendezvous missions, or planetary impacts, while also minimizing resource utilization and avoiding physical and functional violation of constraints. In interplanetary mission planning, a vehicle must travel to another planet using the same concepts. This task requires a reliable trajectory planning algorithm that could handle uncertainties in the environment. Traditional methods utilizing models and numerical methods have been used to solve these problems before. While these approaches are efficient in that …

Self-Aligned Focusing Schlieren (Safs), Kayla Schijveschuurder

Student Research Symposium (SRS)

Self-Aligned Focusing Schlieren (SAFS) is an emerging variant of schlieren imaging that addresses the alignment, access, and noise limitations of conventional and focusing schlieren systems. Schlieren techniques visualize refractive-index gradients in transparent flows but traditionally require matched optical components and dual-sided access, which complicates implementation and increases sensitivity to vibration and background disturbances. SAFS integrates source and cutoff functions into a single self-aligning optical element, leveraging retroreflection and polarization optics to provide simplified setup. This project will develop and set up an operational 2-inch-diameter optics SAFS system for flow visualization and analysis.

Visualizing Swarm Behavior And Opinion Dynamics In Multi-Agent Systems Using Rgb Color Feedback, Ava Neubert

Student Research Symposium (SRS)

Understanding how individual agents within a swarm form, share, and adapt their opinions is essential for developing robust and cooperative multi-agent systems (MAS). This research focuses on visualizing collective swarm behavior through a dynamic RGB color-coding system that represents each agent’s opinion state in real time. The study aims to provide an intuitive and interpretable method for observing how consensus forms and evolves across a distributed network. A simulation was developed in AnyLogic to model swarm interactions under conditions of limited communication and environmental uncertainty. Each agent’s color continuously changes based on its internal state and the influence of neighboring …

Seed-Induced Uniqueness In Transformers: Subspace-Aligned Latent Keys For Authentication, Ayse Okatan

Student Research Symposium (SRS)

We introduce Model-Bound Latent Exchange (MoBLE), a decoder-binding property in Transformer autoencoders that we formalize as Zero-Shot Decoder Non-Transferability (ZSDN). In a controlled character-level identity task with iso-architectural models trained on identical data but different random seeds, we observe that self-decoding achieves 86-92% exact sequence match and ≈98-99% token accuracy, while zero-shot cross-decoding collapses to chance (≈ 1/vocabulary size) with 0% exact matches. This sharp separation persists despite identical architectures and training recipes, and is corroborated by weight-space distances and attention-divergence diagnostics. We argue that ZSDN is best interpreted as model binding-an authentication and accesscontrol mechanism for latent representations-on identity …

Reduction Of Lunar Dust Adhesion Via Biomimetic Surfaces, Alyssa Vega

Student Research Symposium (SRS)

Lunar regolith poses significant risks to exploration machinery and equipment due to its highly abrasive, fine, angular, and electrostatic nature, as observed during the Apollo missions. A promising approach to mitigate these effects is the use of bio-inspired, or biomimetic, surfaces. These surfaces replicate natural micro and nanoscale textures to achieve functional properties such as reduced adhesion and enhanced durability. This study aims to quantify the correlation between surface morphology, surface energy, and adhesion in engineered biomimetic samples. Additively manufactured samples were investigated using optical profilometry to quantify surface roughness and topography, enabling correlation of morphology with adhesion and wettability …

Intelligent Detection And Response System For Attacks On Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Based On Hybrid Ai Models, Mlp And Autoencoder, Kristiyan Stefanov

Student Research Symposium (SRS)

This paper presents an intelligent hybrid system for detecting and responding to cyberattacks targeting Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). Existing UAV defense systems rely heavily on centralized processing and cannot effectively detect new or unknown attacks in real time. To address this gap, the proposed architecture integrates two artificial intelligence models: a supervised Multilayer Perceptron (MLP) for classifying known threats and an unsupervised Autoencoder (AE) for detecting behavioral anomalies. Both models operate onboard using edge AI hardware, allowing autonomous processing without ground connectivity. The system analyzes telemetry, GPS, IMU, and network control data to detect attacks such as GPS spoofing, RF …

Stellar Evolution And The Lane-Emden Equation: A Comprehensive Study Of Closed-Form And Numerical Solutions, Payton Miller, Henry Vu

Student Research Symposium (SRS)

Stars are often modeled as self-gravitating, spherically symmetric polytropic gas spheres. The Lane-Emden equation describes the density profile of such a system, with different systems being represented by their polytropic index. Although analytical solutions exist for polytropic indices 0, 1 and 5, it is still open to find the analytical solution for other polytropic indices. However, numerical methods yield approximate solutions that offer valuable insights into the nature of stars. In this project, we begin by exploring known analytic solutions to the equation. Then we implement numerical methods to find approximate solutions for various polytropic indices using Python. To this …

Mob-Air: Mob Detection From A Uav, Ethan Thomas, Liam Abraham, Nikolaos Triantafilloy

Student Research Symposium (SRS)

Man-overboard (MOB) events continue to pose a significant challenge to maritime safety, where rapid and reliable detection of a person in the water is critical to survival. Traditional search and rescue (SAR) operations rely on manual surveillance from ships or crewed aircraft. These operations can be slow to initiate, manpower-intensive, and limited by poor visibility, sea state, and weather. Autonomous systems, particularly uncrewed aerial systems (UAS), have the potential to drastically improve the effectiveness of SAR operations. Our team will investigate the use of a UAS to improve the support of SAR operations with a focus on developing an advanced …