Digital Commons Network^™

Metamorphosis, V.P. Loggins

Bryant Literary Review

No abstract provided.

Scene In Adoration, Daniel Edward Moore

Bryant Literary Review

No abstract provided.

The Museum Of Everyday Life, Raphael Kosek

Bryant Literary Review

No abstract provided.

Climate News, Raphael Kosek

Bryant Literary Review

No abstract provided.

Jumpsuit Princess, Meghan Chou

Bryant Literary Review

No abstract provided.

Cotton/Soybean Insect Newsletter, April 24, 2025, Jeremy K. Greene

Clemson University Cotton/Soybean Insect Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Cotton/Soybean Insect Newsletter, April 24, 2025, Jeremy K. Greene

Clemson University Cotton/Soybean Insect Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Uni Piano Studio Spring Recital, April 24, 2025 [Program], University Of Northern Iowa. School Of Music.

Music Recital Programs

Program of a music recitals given by faculty, students, or guest artists from the School of Music at the University of Northern Iowa.

Who’S That?: Prevalence Of Anthropomorphism In Children’S Literature, Mary Beth Mihevc, Kaitlyn Moore, Larissa Martins Pina

Symposium on Research and Creative Expression (SORCE)

Anthropomorphism, the attribution of human characteristics to animals or objects, is often present in children’s literature. Research has shown personification of non-human entities affects the way children experience the world and their thinking about non-human entities (Ganea et al., 2014). The rates of anthropomorphism that children are exposed to is unknown. Therefore, in our study, we analyzed the prevalence rates of anthropomorphism in children’s literature from the 100 most checked out books from two Indiana counties: Porter and Stark (a rural and an urban county), based on circulation data from 2023. To analyze the prevalence of anthropomorphism in children’s books, …

Finding Potential Binary Stars In A Hubble Space Telescope Sample Of Very Hot White Dwarfs, Peyton Mccallips

Symposium on Research and Creative Expression (SORCE)

This project is the first step in determining precise temperatures for hot white dwarf stars using ultraviolet spectra from the Hubble Space Telescope. A way to get the temperature of a hot white dwarf is through performing binary modeling. This project used a list of hot white dwarfs that was obtained from Hubble Space Telescope Heritage project named, "A Treasury Far Ultraviolet Survey of the Hottest White Dwarfs", and evaluated if there was periodic variation in brightness or not. The list contained coordinates, which were put into the database Zubercal to obtain photometric (brightness) data and a light curve (or …

Investigating Π0 And Η Production From Star 2013 Endcap Calorimeter Data, Lucas Opiola, Quinten Metts

Symposium on Research and Creative Expression (SORCE)

The Solenoidal Tracker at RHIC (STAR) experiment, located at Brookhaven National Laboratory, uses collisions of longitudinally polarized proton beams produced in the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) to study the gluon contribution to the proton spin. While the proton spin is known to be 1/2 ħ, the contribution from gluon spin is not precisely known. Our analysis uses 300 pb-1 of √s = 510 GeV collisions to determine the asymmetry of spin-dependent production of neutral pions (π0) and eta (η) mesons. This asymmetry is sensitive to the gluon contribution to the spin of the proton. Collisions at √s = 510 …

The Origin Of Unidentified Infrared Emission Lines In Planetary Nebulae Environments, Abigail Proskurniak, Joel Osterhus

Symposium on Research and Creative Expression (SORCE)

Planetary nebulae emit unidentified infrared emission (UIE) lines that come from an unknown source. A proposed source for these UIE lines is polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) which are composed of fused carbon rings. We have calculated the absorption spectra from various PAHs and compare them to observed UIE lines to try to determine where the UIEs come from. Our goal is to observe how ionization and nitrogen or oxygen heteroatom substitutions affect the infrared (IR) spectrum. We used the Gaussian 09 program to calculate the structures and IR absorption spectra for about ninety different PAHs. These include linear and non-linear …

Soil Metric Analysis Around Engquist Nature Preserve, Jack E. Colwell, Kora Morgan Stephey, Nicole L. Smar, Jon-Paul Mccool

Symposium on Research and Creative Expression (SORCE)

This project analyzed soil parameters from multiple locations owned by the Shirley Heinze Land Trust in Porter County, Indiana, some of which are being ecologically restored or have been restored in the past. The samples were collected from prairie, forested wetland, riverine wetland/floodplain ecological areas, and current agricultural areas that are to be restored to each of those same environmental types. To measure the effectiveness of the rehabilitation mentioned above, this project compared bulk density, soil chemistry, organic matter, aggregate stability, and particle size analysis from the agricultural area to those from restored and natural settings. This allowed the estimation …

Using Games And Movement In The Classroom To Help Boost Students Comprehension, Madison Lynn

Symposium on Research and Creative Expression (SORCE)

The idea for this project is to see if using games and movement in a lesson will help students' comprehension of a lesson. I wanted to test this because students sitting for a long period of time will start to zone out and lose interest. When students zone out and you go to do an assessment the student won't remember as well because they weren't engaged in the lesson. The theory I used for research is Vygotsky's theory because it is about using play-based learning in the classroom and having a collaborative approach to learning. My hypothesis for this project …

Corporate Taxation And Income Inequality: Implications For Labor, Capital, And The Distribution Of Benefits, Aidan Obermueller

Symposium on Research and Creative Expression (SORCE)

Since the 1980s, the United States has seen income increasingly accrue to firm and capital owners. Business productivity has grown 2.7 times as much as worker pay, indicating a growing percentage of profits that go to firm owners and shareholders – those who own capital in the economy. This trend is coupled with growing income inequality: the top 1% of earners, who own 54 percent of public equity markets, have seen their share of overall income double from 10% to 20%. The United States economy has gradually shifted away from labor during this period, with the labor share of income …

Micromobility Paths At Valparaiso University, Veronica Melo, Connor Mcmahon

Symposium on Research and Creative Expression (SORCE)

This paper evaluates the need and potential benefits of creating micromobility routes on the Valparaiso University campus. Student education on college campuses is supported by not only the faculty and staff who run the campus, but by the infrastructure that enables its daily functions. A crucial part of this infrastructure comes in the form of transportation routes, including: sidewalks, walking paths and roads. On these routes, diverse modes of transportation interact, at times with varying levels of cohesiveness. Challenges can occur when these modes of transportation conflict, leading to a decrease in user comfort and safety. With its vast and …

Predicting Chronic Disease Onset Using Wearable Data, Irshad Shaik

Symposium on Research and Creative Expression (SORCE)

Chronic diseases like cardiovascular diseases and diabetes account for a considerable proportion of worldwide mortality rates, and early detection and prevention are pivotal. The purpose of this project is to create a model that predicts the onset of chronic disease using available physiological data from wearable devices. The system aims to apply machine learning and deep learning methodologies to generate early warning alerts for the patient and their caretakers, as well as personalized preventive care based on continuous health monitoring of the patient. Wearable technologies, despite the current battery life and device bulkiness limitations, represent a promising avenue for collecting …

Predictive Models For Health Monitoring In Wearable Devices, Manideep Akkinapelli

Symposium on Research and Creative Expression (SORCE)

Wearable health monitoring systems, integrated with data-driven predictive models, are transforming personalized healthcare by enabling early disease detection and proactive intervention. Traditional health monitoring relies on rule-based thresholds and prior medical knowledge, limiting adaptability to individual variations. This project leverages machine learning models—Random Forest, Support Vector Machines (SVM), and Neural Networks—to analyze physiological data from wearable devices, enhancing predictive accuracy in detecting conditions like heart disease and sleep apnea.

The study addresses the growing need for real-time, personalized health monitoring, particularly as populations age and chronic diseases become more prevalent. Arizona serves as a testbed for validating model …

Guitar Research, Thane T. Martin, Ruth Cook, Chris Noga

Symposium on Research and Creative Expression (SORCE)

To better understand the effects bracing structures have on guitar sound quality, we are investigating how adding weight to an acoustic guitar's soundboard affects its resonant frequency. Based on the typical mass of a guitar soundboard (200 to 250 grams), we predict that even a few grams of additional weight will yield measurable differences in the frequency peaks. Our objective is then to determine the minimum mass required to produce noticeable changes. We measure resonant frequencies by striking the guitar bridge with an impact hammer and recording the resulting frequency by measuring the displacement of the soundboard with a capacitor …

Algorithm For Predicting Bitcoin Fees, Mason Tulacz, Matthew Landrum, Kristian Simakoski, Mason Ellerbroek

Symposium on Research and Creative Expression (SORCE)

Bitcoin was designed to be a decentralized peer-to-peer cash system, which creates scarcity in two ways: the total supply of Bitcoin available, and the block size of each block. The blocks, which form what is called the Bitcoin Blockchain, can contain at most 4 MB of data. Since the size of blocks is limited, and each transaction takes up some size, the number of transactions included in a block is necessarily limited. To combat this, users incentivize their transaction to be included in a block through a transaction fee, or the price the transactor pays a miner to include their …

Nse Bus Emulator For Valparaiso University Thinsat Project, Kenny Blanton, Ranger Scott

Symposium on Research and Creative Expression (SORCE)

The Valparaiso University Satellite Project is developing a 0.5U ThinSat payload in partnership with Near Space Launch (NSL). This abstract highlights the NSE Bus Emulator, a critical testing platform that replicates the NSL ThinSat bus interface.

Our emulator consists of a custom-designed PCB, fabricated through JLCPCB with SMD components pre-assembled, integrated with an Arduino Mega. The hardware provides identical mounting and connector configurations to the actual ThinSat bus, supplying regulated power rails (3.3V, 5V, and BUSS6-9V) with current measurement capabilities and software-controlled power switches.

The software builds upon NSL's proprietary Arduino code, enhanced by our faculty advisor to improve power …

Use Of Ambient Light In Vam 3d Printing, Ian Bos, Alex Miroballi, Kyan Luckett, Nate Peyer

Symposium on Research and Creative Expression (SORCE)

VAM (volumetric additive manufacturing) is a method of 3D printing that produces 3D geometries using projected light and resin. Using VAM produces layerless prints in minutes. Current methods only use a UV projector to produce a geometry. Our method of VAM aims to use projection methods of much lower power to produce comparable final objects. Due to the nonlinear nature of VAM resin, we attempt to use an ambient light source to reduce the power output of projection. The resin cures only in regions that pass a light dose threshold. The reaction of the resin could almost be viewed as …

Ai-Driven Sales Data Analysis For Family Express, Bhavaj Madev Varri, Haydar Cukurtepe, Manisai Chamakuri, Prathyusha Marri, Srikrupa Gutti, Chinmai Pasupuleti

Symposium on Research and Creative Expression (SORCE)

Retail businesses rely heavily on data-driven decision-making, yet extracting valuable insights from raw sales data can be quite challenging. In collaboration with Family Express, we created an AI-driven analytics platform that utilizes data science algorithms to convert sales data into valuable business intelligence.

We began the analysis with data preprocessing and cleaning, where missing values were handled using forward filling, backward filling, and interpolation methods. To further reduce any inconsistencies in the data, techniques like window smoothing were used. A correlation analysis was performed to examine relationships between gas sales and in-store purchases across all locations, providing insights on how …

Using Computational Fluid Dynamics To Examine Fluctuating Pressure In Pitot Tube Measurements, Samuel Starkenburg

Symposium on Research and Creative Expression (SORCE)

This project utilizes Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) to analyze the accuracy and behavior of a pitot tube in measuring the speed of a moving bicycle. A pitot tube is a common device for measuring fluid velocity by comparing the stagnation pressure of a moving fluid to the static pressure. CFD can simulate the fluid flow using governing equations of conservation of mass, momentum, and energy. The CFD is done using SimScale, a free to use, cloud-based software. By simulating riding conditions, this project will examine the aerodynamic interactions between the pitot tube and the surrounding airflow. Values such as the …

Melin: Academic Reference Manager, Harris Gustafson

Symposium on Research and Creative Expression (SORCE)

Enterprise level applications are notoriously complex to design, implement, and maintain, oftentimes burdened by the intricate nature of enterprise architecture. This project investigated the applicability of enterprise design patterns, drawn from Martin Fowler’s Patterns of Enterprise Application Architecture, within a simulated enterprise environment, focusing on their impact on complexity and maintainability for a single-person development team. The project, "Melin", a full-stack web application enabling students and faculty to manage academic references (import/export, DOI/ISBN search, manual creation, cloud storage, citation/bibliography generation), was developed over 14 weeks using an iterative Scrum/Kanban approach with 3-week sprint cycles. While implementing the Repository and Unit …

A 3d Nash Solution For The Ukraine-Russia War, Matthew Landrum

Symposium on Research and Creative Expression (SORCE)

In the nearly three years since the Ukrainian-Russian war officially began, it has become increasingly clear that neither country can obtain a total military victory. That is, some type of negotiated, or arbitrated, outcome must be achieved. In this presentation we explore what a solution obtained by the Nash Arbitration Method (NAM) might look like.

Social Isolation In Older Adults Transitioning To Assisted Living Facilities, Bryn Benzing, Alyssa Gonzalez, Adalynn Harper, Ariel Farrar, Riley Gaskill, Becca Haller, Soniya Ottayil

Symposium on Research and Creative Expression (SORCE)

Social Isolation in Older Adults Transitioning to Assisted Living Facilities

Background: Social isolation describes the objective state of being lonely, whereas loneliness is a subjective feeling based on relationships (Rohr et al., 2022). In a meta-analysis, 33% of an elderly population experienced social isolation (Ran et al., 2024). Based on the framework of loneliness, social isolation, and associated health outcomes (Barnes et al., 2020), the purposes of this study were to describe experiences of social isolation, loneliness, and strategies that decreased these experiences in older adults following a move to assisted living.

Methods: Using a qualitative approach, residents 65 and …

Open Source Flight Firmware Development For Autonomous Downlinking Via Satnogs, Blair Bram, Peter Sorenson

Symposium on Research and Creative Expression (SORCE)

This student-led project, in partnership with NearSpace Education, focuses on designing, constructing, and programming a payload for integration into an existing satellite platform. The payload is built to fit within a 0.5U CubeSat form factor measuring 10 cm × 10 cm × 5 cm and serves as a testbed for autonomous downlink scheduling through the SatNOGS network, a global open-source ground station network.

To develop this, the team utilizes the open-source COMMS architecture by the Libre Space Foundation. This allows for hands-on experience in small spacecraft payload integration, mission operations planning, and communications subsystem design. The project also draws on …

Assistive Technology: Cost-Effective Adaptive Switches, Grant Engelbert, Saeed Barnawi, Jonathan Orozco, Reva Johnson

Symposium on Research and Creative Expression (SORCE)

Adaptive switches are crucial in the field of assistive technology and enable people with mobility challenges to interact with their environment. However, the high cost of adaptive switches limits accessibility. While additive manufacturing has reduced cost, existing designs primarily focus on functionality over innovation. The failure to address different types of sensory issues and cost reduction has led to a limited market. The goal of this project was to develop accessible, low-cost options that considered sensory processing issues. We studied materials, electrical and mechanical components, and types of manufacturing to optimize the design and functionality for an adaptive switch. We …

Pest And Disease Detection In Corn With Ai, Suma Dommati

Symposium on Research and Creative Expression (SORCE)

Corn production is significantly impacted by pests and diseases, leading to substantial yield losses and economic damage. Traditional detection methods are time-consuming, labor-intensive, and rely on expert knowledge. Artificial Intelligence (AI), specifically machine learning and computer vision techniques, can provide an efficient solution for pest and disease detection in corn. This study explores the use of AI models for automated detection and classification of pests and diseases affecting corn plants.

The dataset used for this research is the Corn Leaf Disease Dataset, which includes a total of 4188 images for classifying four types of corn leaf conditions: Common Rust (1306 …