Digital Commons Network^™

Effects Of Reproduction On Senescence In Local Species, Nathan Smith

Undergraduate Research Conference at Missouri S&T

Understanding the impact of reproduction on the aging process within species populations remains an ongoing challenge in ecological and evolutionary research. In this study, we aim to clarify the relationship between reproduction and senescence using agent-based modeling using wild species data sets. Our objectives include investigating how variations in reproductive rates influence the lifespan and aging trajectories of individuals within populations, as well as identifying potential mechanisms underlying these effects. We will employ agent-based modeling to simulate populations and explore the dynamics of reproduction and senescence using publicly available datasets of local wild species. By manipulating parameters related to reproductive …

Enhancing Galaxy Surveys With Machine Learning, Steven Karst

Undergraduate Research Conference at Missouri S&T

Applications of machine learning (ML) or artificial intelligence (Al) to problems in astrophysics and cosmology have recently entered a golden era. In response, we have updated two of our recent ML/Al efforts that contribute to galaxy surveys whose main scientific target is to reveal the nature of the Comsic Acceleration or Dark Energy. We first revised our effort to infer cosmological information beyond the survey geometry using Graph Neural Networks (GNNs) to take advantage of supercomputing resources on campus. We then updated our methods for galaxy target selection in the Subaru Prime Focus Spectrograph (PFS) survey with modern reinforcement learning …

Effect Of Heat On Virgin And Uv-Aged Asphalt Binders Determined By Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Relaxometry, Kaitlin Miles

Undergraduate Research Conference at Missouri S&T

Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy is a well-known analytical technique that uses the excitation of nuclear spins for solving chemical structures and conformations. Relaxometry is a special field of NMR spectroscopy where information is gained about interactions of nuclear spins with their molecular surroundings. The deterioration of asphalt is a major infrastructure problem, and its rejuvenation back toward its original virgin state is an important field of research and development. The current asphalt industry relies on visual inspection on site and invasive or destructive physical methods to assess emerging asphalt failures. This study examines the chemical changes environmental factors have …

Application Of T Gates For Anti-Concentration In Clifford Circuits, Matthew Dominicis, Mason Toombs, Gabriel Riddle, Parineeta Puja Saha, Himanth Bobba

Undergraduate Research Conference at Missouri S&T

Our study examines the integration of non-Clifford T gates into randomly generated Clifford circuits to enhance their universal unitary capacity. We investigate the impact of T gates on circuit output randomness, focusing on generating random Clifford circuits and analyzing the effects of T gates. Through simulations and analysis, we assess the effectiveness of this modification in achieving outputs consistent with Anti concentration properties while minimizing the required number of Clifford gates. Our findings provide valuable insights into quantum circuits, with implications for quantum computing applications.

The Search For The Akwamu People In The Americas, 1729-1733, Ben Brown, Justin Pope

Undergraduate Research Conference at Missouri S&T

This Poster presentation attempts to trace the journey of one nation of Africans into the Americas. In 1729, the Akwamu Empire, in modern day Ghana, West Africa, suffered a terrible collapse. Rival African armies enslaved thousands of Akwamu subjects and sold them to European slavers on the Gold Coast. This nation later led the biggest island wide slave revolt prior to the age of revolution in the Americas. Using primary and secondary resources such as the "Transatlantic Slave Trade Database," we will attempt to identify the European slave ships that purchased enslaved Akwamu people and trace their journey into the …

The History Of The Billboard Hot 100 And Its Process, Brileigh Cates

Undergraduate Research Conference at Missouri S&T

The Billboard Hot 100 has been around for decades, and it is believed without much accreditation. What really is Billboard, and why is it so popular? Why have other charting companies not taken up as much popularity? How does Billboard determine the popularity of artists? How has this changed with the introduction of the internet? This research project addresses all of these question, allowing the validity of the data collection to be addressed.

Numerical Studies On Bose-Einstein Condensates, Megan Benkendorf

Undergraduate Research Conference at Missouri S&T

Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) is a state of matter near absolute zero temperature for which all atoms lose their individual properties and condense into a macroscopic coherent "super-wave". The superfluidity of BEC has been the focus of active research since the first experimental realization of BEC in 1995. The recent launch of the Cold Atom Laboratory to the space station on May 21, 2018, has once again drawn spotlights to these fascinating properties of BEC. In this project, we will carry out numerical studies to understand the behavior of exciton-polariton BECs. A modified Gross-Pitaevskii equation is used to model the dynamics …

Numerical Studies On Bose–Einstein Condensates, Megan Benkendorf

Undergraduate Research Conference at Missouri S&T

Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) is a state of matter near absolute zero temperature for which all atoms lose their individual properties and condense into a macroscopic coherent "super-wave". The superfluidity of BEC has been the focus of active research since the first experimental realization of BEC in 1995. The recent launch of the Cold Atom Laboratory to the space station on May 21, 2018, has once again drawn spotlights to these fascinating properties of BEC. In this project, we will carry out numerical studies to understand the behavior of exciton-polariton BECs. A modified Gross-Pitaevskii equation is used to model the dynamics …

Quantifying Asphalt Binder Uv Effects With Relaxometry, Rosalee Brown

Undergraduate Research Conference at Missouri S&T

Asphalt deterioration involves many physical and chemical changes caused by environmental factors such as automotive strain, extreme heat, and UV exposure. Asphalt binder assessment in the industry is currently based on structurally destructive testing methods and tests of physical performance without accounting for chemical structure. An emerging evaluation of asphalt binder uses relaxometry, a field of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, to directly observe how asphalt binder is changed by causes of deterioration such as UV exposure. NMR relaxometry explores nuclear spins' interactions with their environment. This noninvasive method can provide a detailed view into the chemical environment of virgin …

American Resistance: The Bund And Their Opposition, Emily Copeland

Undergraduate Research Conference at Missouri S&T

This Honors Thesis investigates American opposition to the German American Bund during the turbulent 1930s. It reveals the differing attitudes within American society during the German American Bund's peak. While some embraced fascist ideologies, others protested against them, highlighting the intricacy of American politics leading up to World War II. This study explores the efforts undertaken by Americans to counter the fascist doctrine of the German American Bund on democratic soil. The research gathered insight from documents and artifacts at institutions such as the St. Louis Kaplan Feldman Holocaust Museum, Curtis Laws Wilson Library, and other archival sources, investigating the …

A Fisher Information-Based Approach To Improve Labeling Efficiency Of Neural Network Models In Image Classification, Joshua Caruso

Undergraduate Research Conference at Missouri S&T

Active learning is a framework for training machine learning models where the goal is to reduce the number of labels used during training. Neural network models used for image classification require a large training dataset to achieve good accuracy. This project will use active learning to reduce the number of labels needed for training neural network models. We propose to use the Fisher information of the neural network parameters to actively select which images are labelled and included in the training data. A key challenge is the large number of parameters in commonly used neural network models, which significantly increases …

Investigating Geomorphic Controls On The Luminescence Properties Of Quartz Sand In A River System, Jenna Mills

Student Research Symposium

Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) dating of quartz sand grains is used to date young deposits across disciplines in geology and archaeology. OSL dating requires that the quartz mineral is sensitized, or pre-conditioned to produce a luminescence signal following exposure to ionizing radiation. The geological processes that enhance the OSL sensitivity (photons released per given radiation dose and sediment mass) remain uncertain. Our Research Objectives are to investigate the geomorphic controls (bedrock source, fluvial transport, and hillslope processes) on OSL sensitivity using sediment collected along the Pagliara River in NE Sicily.

The Pagliara catchment (13km²) is tectonically active and …

Towards Fast, Realistic Gas Plume Simulation For Lwir Hyperspectral Images To Improve Deep Learning Identification Models, Scout Jarman

Student Research Symposium

• Longwave infrared (LWIR) hyperspectral images (HSI) are taken from airborne platforms and can be used to find gas plumes.
• Detection and identification of gas plumes has applications in environmental monitoring, disaster response, and national security
• Deep learning can be used to identify gases from a large library of materials,  but can be difficult to apply in practice

Impact Of Snac On Physical And Mental Health, Halle Larson, Kaylee West

Student Research Symposium

Food insecurity is a common occurrence among college students and may have profound impacts on a student’s physical and mental well-being. It is vital that college campuses create not only access to food, but a culture of food security among students and student service organizations. Many institutions are striving to provide food assistance to their students and create this culture through a variety of methods. Ninety seven percent of institutions involved in programs to fight food insecurity implement a food pantry to combat this issue, but only 54% track the impact of their food pantries. Through this study, the impact …

Social And Economic Impacts Of Snac, Sara Marshall, Carson Johnson

Student Research Symposium

Food security is a common concern among college students.¹ Compared to 10% of U.S. households experiencing food insecurity², many college campuses report food insecurity prevalence about four times the national average.³ Approximately 39% of Utah's higher education student's face food insecurity.⁴ The stability of food for an individual can greatly impact different aspects of life including social and economic factors, such as social relationships.⁵

Wave Properties Of 2019 Southern Ssw Event, Gabriel Decker

Student Research Symposium

Sudden Stratospheric Warming (SSW) events are extreme increases in polar stratospheric temperatures (10s of Kelvins) over several days. They happen nearly yearly in the Northern Hemisphere, but they’re rare in the Southern.

Planetary Waves (PWs) are large-scale perturbations of the atmospheric dynamical structure that extend coherently around a full longitude circle. (A. K. Smith, 2003)

The exact relationship between SSWs and PWs is not known, but in September 2019, there was a Southern Hemispheric SSW (2^nd ever recorded) which coincided with a strong PW activity. In this investigation, we examined the PW to better understand whether this PW activity …

Impact Of Snac On Academic Success, Maeci Armstrong, Alivia Fonnesbeck

Student Research Symposium

This study aimed to address the impact of the intervention of SNAC. Based on the results, the USU SNAC pantry has made a substantial positive impact on students’ academic performance.

The main themes of participants’ comments indicate that SNAC helped them have more energy, increased focus, and increased time spent at school. These results are consistent with other studies that discuss the impact food pantries have on students’ academic success [1].

Participants expressed gratitude for the alleviation of food insecurity stressors, allowing them to better concentrate on their studies. These findings resonate with prior research highlighting the crucial role food …

The 2022 Hunga Tonga Volcanic Eruption's Impact On Radio Communications, Spencer Brothers

Student Research Symposium

On January 15^th 2022, the Hunga Tonga volcanic eruption, Figure 1, ejected unprecedented amounts of water into the stratosphere. The resulting plume may present temporary opportunities for long distance radio communication.

Examining The Factor Structure Of A Subjective Well-Being Measure In A Medical Student Sample, Hoan Do, Mary Wurm-Schaar, Gordon Brooks

Mid-Western Educational Researcher

Accreditation standards for U.S. medical education programming require that training programs promote trainee wellness and well-being, although constructs such as psychological distress and depression commonly serve as proxies for well-being. A direct measure of subjective well-being would be invaluable to inform programming efforts to promote medical trainees’ well-being and advance the study of the well-being construct itself. This study investigated the structural validity of subjective well-being as measured by the Well-Being Scale in a sample of 548 osteopathic medical students. Results of the confirmatory factor analysis indicated that subjective well-being is best represented by a bifactor model with a general …

Exploring School Counselor-Principal Collaboration, Self-Efficacy, And School Climate: A Comprehensive Review Of Literature, Rachel Louise Geesa, Derien D. Kunce, Audrey N. Enyeart

Mid-Western Educational Researcher

School counselors and principals have many shared responsibilities within PK-12 schools to better meet students’ social/emotional, academic, and career and college readiness needs. School counselor-principal collaboration can promote the success of PK-12 students, staff, and the overall school environment. Within the area of school counselor-principal collaboration, more research is needed regarding the implementation of collaboration methods between the two professions at pre-service levels. Due to this need, we conducted an extensive literature review to examine the developments and outcomes of school counselor-principal collaboration. Based on the review of 33 articles, the following themes emerged within the literature. These themes focus …

Beyond Elkonin Boxes: Using Multisensory Strategies To Master Decodable High Frequency Words With First Graders, Kelle Dewine, Hannah Chai

Mid-Western Educational Researcher

Increasing engagement may enable struggling readers to catch up with their peers. This study examined the impact of using multisensory strategies with Elkonin boxes to teach decodable words to first grade students. The study found that student interest impacted engagement, particularly when it was a combination of auditory, tactile, and visual. Multisensory strategies enabled the high frequency words to enter the memory system through multiple channels, thereby creating stronger learning and higher engagement.

Medical-Dental Staff Topics, 1987, V21 N1, January, Advocate Health - Midwest

Historical Documents - Combined

St. Luke's Hospital, Milwaukee, WI: An issue of "Medical-Dental Staff Topics". This was an internal publication for ASLMC staff members reporting on news, research, events, and staffing updates. Includes a staff calendar and information on continuing education opportunities.

Medical-Dental Staff Topics, 1987, V21 N5, May, Advocate Health - Midwest

Historical Documents - Combined

St. Luke's Hospital, Milwaukee, WI: An issue of "Medical-Dental Staff Topics". This was an internal publication for ASLMC staff members reporting on news, research, events, and staffing updates. Includes a staff calendar and information on continuing education opportunities.

Medical-Dental Staff Topics, 1987, V21 N6, June, Advocate Health - Midwest

Historical Documents - Combined

St. Luke's Hospital, Milwaukee, WI: An issue of "Medical-Dental Staff Topics". This was an internal publication for ASLMC staff members reporting on news, research, events, and staffing updates. Includes a staff calendar and information on continuing education opportunities.

Medical-Dental Staff Topics, 1987, V21 N8, August, Advocate Health - Midwest

Historical Documents - Combined

St. Luke's Hospital, Milwaukee, WI: An issue of "Medical-Dental Staff Topics". This was an internal publication for ASLMC staff members reporting on news, research, events, and staffing updates. Includes a staff calendar and information on continuing education opportunities.

Medical-Dental Staff Topics, 1987, V21 N9, September, Advocate Health - Midwest

Historical Documents - Combined

St. Luke's Hospital, Milwaukee, WI: An issue of "Medical-Dental Staff Topics". This was an internal publication for ASLMC staff members reporting on news, research, events, and staffing updates. Includes a staff calendar and information on continuing education opportunities.

Medical-Dental Staff Topics, 1987, V21 N10, October, Advocate Health - Midwest

Historical Documents - Combined

St. Luke's Hospital, Milwaukee, WI: An issue of "Medical-Dental Staff Topics". This was an internal publication for ASLMC staff members reporting on news, research, events, and staffing updates. Includes a staff calendar and information on continuing education opportunities. Also included is a special report on the upcoming merger between Good Samaritan and Mount Sinai hospitals, now Aurora Sinai Medical Center.

6 Fundamental Stages Of Play In Daycare Design, Jacey Jensen

Student Research Symposium

THE 6 STAGES OF PLAY RESEARCH

The six stages of play are fundamental for children's growth and development as they provide valuable opportunities for learning, socialization, and self-expression. Through play, children engage in sensory exploration, develop essential motor skills, and enhance cognitive abilities such as problem-solving and creativity. Each stage of play- from solitary play to cooperative play- builds upon the previous one, fostering social, emotional, and cognitive development in a progressive manner. Play also allows children to express their thoughts, feelings, and experiences, helping them develop communication skills, and emotional resilience. Overall, the six stages of play provide a …

Social Justice In Design, Baylee Paskett

Student Research Symposium

Access to Healthy Food:

Ensuring that this grocery market offers affordable and high-quality fresh produce will make nutritious food accessible to all residents regardless of income levels. Implementing programs or partnerships that provide subsidies, discounts, or vouchers for low-income individuals or families will provide the locals with healthy food options that are more affordable.

Housing Strategies For Human Trafficking Survivors, Brynne Rindlisbacher

Student Research Symposium

This study addresses the critical importance of providing comprehensive aftercare services to survivors of human trafficking, highlighting the significance of supporting their healing journey and empowering them to rebuild their lives. The lack of dedicated aftercare facilities tailored to the needs of human trafficking survivors exacerbates their vulnerability to ongoing exploitation and psychological distress. The approach involves collaboration with experts in trauma-informed care, rehabilitation, and social services to design and establish the aftercare center, incorporating best practices and evidence-based interventions to address the diverse needs of survivors. Upon implementation, the human trafficking aftercare center demonstrates tangible outcomes in terms of …