Engineering Synthetic Promoters And Gene Circuits For Tumor-Specific Dreadd- Mglur2 Expression Across Age Groups, Sara J. Bariq, Theresa Anil, Harsith Kollipara, Luis Zayas, Devanshi Krishna Gollamudi

OneUSF Undergraduate Research Conference

Synthetic promoters and chemogenetics offer emerging strategies to control cancer cell signaling. Prior work examined tumor-specific promoters and glutamatergic signaling in cancer, yet evidence remains limited on restricting DREADD-engineered GPCRs to tumor cells using multi-gene circuits, particularly across age groups. This review evaluates synthetic promoter–gene circuit designs enabling tumor-restricted expression of DREADD-modified mGluR2 and assesses age-related effects on performance. A comprehensive review of 54 peer-reviewed articles was conducted, investigating factors such as relations between age and changes in gene expression, epigenetic promoter alterations within cancer therapies, and mGluR2 function and implications for therapeutic applications in cancer therapies and immunotherapy. Articles …

Combined Pd-1 And Vegf Pathway Inhibition: Effects On Tumor Microenvironment Dynamics And Predictors Of Therapeutic Response, Kassidey A. Hodges, Athilesh Vimaldev, Aditi Nakioti, Chinmayi Pandyaram, Semené Clement, Muhammad Naeem, Abdul Ghani

OneUSF Undergraduate Research Conference

Biomarkers indicate physiological processes that predict cancer therapeutic responses. Tumor progression relies on immune evasion and angiogenesis within the microenvironment. The programmed cell death protein-1 (PD-1/PD-L1) pathway suppresses CD8+ T-cell activity, while vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) promotes tumor growth and immunosuppression. Biomarkers such as PD-L1 expression, circulating VEGF, and CD8+ T-cell infiltration reflect reliance on these mechanisms and may predict clinical responses to combined PD-1/VEGF inhibition.

This review evaluates how combined inhibition of the PD-1 and VEGF pathways modulates tumor microenvironment dynamics and assesses biomarkers associated with angiogenesis to predict responses to anti-angiogenic therapies. A total of 147 credible …

The Mediterranean Diet And Lipid Profiles In Hyperlipidemia, Aarav Shah, Kartheek Malireddy, Advith Katta, Ishani Sunkara, Alyssa Resendez, Serena Bhaskar

OneUSF Undergraduate Research Conference

The Mediterranean Diet (MedDiet) reduces risk of hyperlipidemia by reducing LDL (Low-Density Lipoprotein) levels, which cause plaque buildup. However, the comparison of the MedDiet with other diets for improving lipid profiles in hyperlipidemic patients has not been thoroughly investigated. This study evaluates how MedDiet compares to diets such as the Vegan, Keto, and DASH diets on adults with hyperlipidemia concerning our primary outcome LDL-C levels and our secondary outcome HDL levels. A meta-analysis on 47 studies, 169 screened, from PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and ScienceDirect focused on comparing effects of DASH, vegan, low-fat, Western, and Keto diets against MedDiet. …

Chimeric Antigen Receptor (Car) T-Cell Therapy For B-Cell Malignancies: A Systematic Review, Bhavya Gudaru, Emma Wudel, Caitlyn Campbell, Ayanna Mukendi, Gabriella Torres

OneUSF Undergraduate Research Conference

Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-cell therapy (CAR T-cell), combination CAR-T-cell strategies, and conventional chemotherapy demonstrate distinct relapse patterns and toxicity profiles in B-cell malignancies. CAR T-cell therapies achieve strong remission rates and toxicities. This review compares relapse outcomes and treatment-related toxicities across those varied approaches to B-cell malignancies, asking how toxicity profiles differ among these modalities, including immune-mediated side effects. A systematic search in PubMed (National Library of Medicine), Google Scholar, ScienceDirect, and EBSCO was carried out to contrast results of CAR T-cell therapy regarding outcomes, rates of relapse and re-emergence, and toxicities relative to cancer therapies. A total of 88 …

Neurodegenerative Disease Risk After Cancer Recovery, Racquel F. Driedger, Maria Koddus, Carla Atteih, Lalitha Jayanth, Sarah Mckenzie, Irene Avila, Aishwarya Aggarwal

OneUSF Undergraduate Research Conference

Cancer and neurodegenerative diseases are two prevalent health issues with high rates of mortality in modern society; cancer involves rapid cell growth, while neurodegenerative diseases involve progressive cell death, suggesting an inverse relationship between the two where certain types of cancer show lower rates of neurodegenerative disorders. Although the exact pathways resulting in this relationship are not fully understood, research in this area continues to grow, aiding the creation of predictive models and therapeutic treatments. The purpose of this literature review is to explore and identify trends within this growing area of research, focusing on the strength of the inverse …

Reimagining Academic Editorial Procedure For Creative Novel Publishing: Press Of Rebellious Origins And Imagination’S Manuscript Process, Suravi Gurung

OneUSF Undergraduate Research Conference

My close examination of manuscripting processes based on common ethical practices outlined in “The Handbook of Journal Publishing” (Sally Morris, et al.) explores how academic publishing pipelines are established and the functionality of each stage. This project further inspects internal editorial systems within journals or publishing houses throughout a manuscript’s processing, and how these frameworks can appear through applied analysis, with both text and flowcharts for each stage. “Press of Rebellious Origins and Imagination’s Manuscript Process” is a mock in-house guidebook based on the pre-existing journal of POROI (Project on the Rhetoric of Inquiry at the University of Iowa and …

Demographics Of Published Nonfiction Authors In Literary Magazines And What It Means For Academia, Amanda Bitkauskaite

OneUSF Undergraduate Research Conference

In a 2023 survey done by The Author’s Guild (“Key Takeaways from the Authors Guild’s 2023 Author Income Survey”), the demographic of published authors has shifted from what many perceive to be a male dominated field–with the data collected showing that published authors are majority women, writing romance and fantasy. This survey study was conducted to see if this applies to academic creative writing, in particular, non-fiction. The study took a look at 100 writers who were published in 6 different academic literary magazines, looking at several demographics—age, gender, and sexuality. It also examined their education level, job, and whether …

A Pooled Analysis Of Efficacy Outcomes Of Til In Advanced Mel Patients Treated At Moffitt Cancer Center, Joel Kuriakose

OneUSF Undergraduate Research Conference

Tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) therapy induces durable responses in a subset of patients with metastatic melanoma, yet determinants of efficacy remain incompletely defined. We performed integrated immunophenotypic and spatial transcriptomic profiling of TIL infusion products and matched tumor microenvironments (TMEs) from patients treated in early-phase TIL-based trials at Moffitt Cancer Center. The objective response rate was 36%, with a median progression-free survival (PFS) of 10 months. Responders exhibited infusion products enriched for CD8⁺ T cells, stem-like memory (TSCM) CD8⁺ subsets, and LAG3⁺CD8⁺ T cells, along with enhanced TIL persistence in the periphery. Notably, prior exposure to immune checkpoint was associated with …

Resistance Is Futile: Using Star Trek Fanfiction To Reimagine Milton's Paradise Lost, Ezra J. Steffen

OneUSF Undergraduate Research Conference

“Resistance Is Futile: Using Star Trek Fanfiction to Reimagine Milton’s Paradise Lost” is a panel that discusses my reimagination of Milton’s epic for Dr. Emily Jones’ Selected British Authors class. There, I drew parallels between characters in P.L. and characters in Star Trek: The Original Series. Using a Gnostic lens, I reframed temptation as a positive and necessary action. I painted Sarek, Spock’s dad, as an imperfect god who stood in the way of Spock’s growth. Spock, acting as a hybrid of Adam and Eve, gets tempted to stray from his father by Leonard “Bones” McCoy. In my published fanfiction, …

The Economic And Social Effects Of Early Educational Tracking In Germany, Vitaly S. Buravtsov, Colin Britton

OneUSF Undergraduate Research Conference

For over a century, Germany has utilized a three-pronged approach to secondary schooling. This includes the Gymnasium path, targeted at students preparing to enter university studies; Hauptschule, which prepares students for vocational employment; and Realschule, which bridges the gap between the two. Students are selected for these paths around ages 10-11 after completing primary schooling. Through researching German law, analyzing government-provided and privately written research data, and personal testimony from former students of the German education system, we find that the “channeling” effects of the education system produce substantial economic and social effects. This channeling can lead to competing effects—achieving …

Occupational Copd: Emerging Risks And Preventive Strategies In High-Risk Work Environments, Stacy N. Rodriguez, Matthew Lim, Oluwabusayo Michael-Asalu, Anish Punukollu

OneUSF Undergraduate Research Conference

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a progressive lung disease marked by persistent airflow limitation, intensified by occupational exposure to dust, chemicals, fumes, and airborne hazards. Healthcare workers and first responders operate in complex environments that may contribute to COPD development. This review evaluates occupational risk factors and prevention strategies relevant to high-risk workers. A PubMed search using the terms “COPD” and “occupational” identified 130 articles, of which 40 peer-reviewed studies were selected following relevance-based screening. The literature showed that long-term exposure to gases, fumes, vapors, and dust significantly increases COPD risk and is associated with chronic respiratory symptoms, reduced …

Coaching Approach Behavior And Leading By Modeling (Calm) Program For Treating Early Childhood Anxiety: A Case Study, Dana G. John

OneUSF Undergraduate Research Conference

Anxiety disorders onset earlier than most mental health conditions, with preschool-age children showing prevalence rates comparable to children ages 5–17 years. Yet, there are limited treatment options suitable for preschool-age children that account for still-developing abstract thinking and metacognition. The Coaching Approach Behavior and Leading by Modeling (CALM) Protocol was adapted from Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) to target a broad range of anxiety disorders in children ages 3-8 years. This case study outlines the implementation of a 10-session CALM treatment protocol for a 5-year- old female presenting with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). Post-intervention assessments revealed significantly improved anxiety symptoms measured …

Sleep Restriction And Its Affects On Mood, April M. Rummery Lamb

Ursidae: The Undergraduate Research Journal at the University of Northern Colorado

Sleep plays a fundamental role in the human body being able to function effectively, in particular it plays an essential role in mood regulation. Previous research on sleep and mood has found that there is a correlation between receiving an inadequate amount of sleep and having a negative mood. However, the current field has mostly looked at the relationship between disordered sleep and mood disorders as opposed to everyday sleep patterns and daily mood. The present study aims to look at how sleep restrictions which occur naturally (not caused by sleep disorders such as insomnia) effect daily mood. To conduct …

The Missing Void: Lack Of Pockets In Womenswear And Its Effect On Daily Life, Clare Bolon

Ursidae: The Undergraduate Research Journal at the University of Northern Colorado

Pockets give power to people who possess them. Yet, an estimated half of the U.S. population —women— frequently wear garments lacking useful pockets. Why? Womenswear is molded by beauty standards. This study brings an anthropological perspective on gender inequality in the U.S. by examining modern clothing and the differences in pocket access by gender. 127 participants were recruited for a mixed methods survey, most from a medium-sized university in the Mountain West region. Survey questions explored the attitudes and experiences of people who wear women’s clothing regarding pockets (or the lack thereof) and its impact on their daily lives. Open-ended …

Status And Characteristics Of Artisanal Fisheries In The Gulf Of Aqaba, Red Sea, Egypt, Ahmed M. El-Sadek, Abdel-Kader M. Hassan, Hussein A. El-Naggar, Hassan M. M. Khalaf-Allah, Azza A. El Ganainy

Blue Economy

This study provides a comprehensive assessment of the artisanal fisheries operating in the Egyptian sector of the Gulf of Aqaba, Red Sea, with emphasis on fishing practices, gear characteristics, species composition, and landing trends. Field surveys and fisher interviews conducted across the main landing sites Nabq, Dahab, Nuweiba, and Taba revealed a predominantly small-scale fishery dependent on traditional gears such as trammel nets, gillnets, hooks and lines, and traps. A total of 130 vessels currently operate in the region, although only 40 hold valid licenses. Species composition analysis showed dominance of emperors (Lethrinidae, 27.85%), groupers (Epinephelidae, 14.19%), …

Representation Formulas And Large Time Behavior For Solutions To Some Nonconvex Hamilton-Jacobi Equations, Hung Vinh Tran

University of Tennessee Mathematical Journal

We give a new representation formula for solutions to nonconvex first-order Hamilton-Jacobi equations in the periodic setting and present some applications. We then prove the large-time behavior of solutions under additional assumptions.

Neurophysiological Findings In Adolescent Internet Addiction, Rithvik G. Bhathivi, Eamon Sarkar, Krish Makhija

OneUSF Undergraduate Research Conference

Internet addiction in adolescents causes behavioral changes and cognitive impairments, which can affect brain regions involved in attention, memory, and impulse control. These issues can impact cognitive development during adolescence. This study discusses the behavioral changes linked to internet addiction and their effects on cognitive outcomes in adolescents. Although attention, memory, and impulsivity problems are associated with internet addiction, the specific behaviors related to cognitive impairment and brain function are not clearly identified. To evaluate the association between behavioral patterns linked to internet addiction and neurocognitive outcomes in adolescents, a comprehensive literature review was performed through PubMed with the following …

Corrigendum To " Urban Transportation Strategy As Urban Sustainable Indicator Frameworks Study Of Masdar City, Abu Dhabi", Rania Badawy Shokry

Mansoura Engineering Journal

No abstract is required for this article.

Proof Of Finetuning Data, Bing-Jyue Chen, Mohammad Mohsen Minaei Bidgoli, Duc Le

Defensive Publications Series

Methods and systems for training or fine-tuning machine learning models (e.g., diffusion models) and generating zero-knowledge proofs are disclosed.  Such zero-knowledge proofs can demonstrate that a machine learning model was trained or fine-tuned using specified data elements (e.g., provided by a client).  A computer system (e.g., a server computer) can receive a request from a client computer to train a machine learning model using specified data elements.  The server computer can use a hash function to generate noise corresponding to the specified data elements, which can be bound to the specified data elements.  The computer system can train or fine-tune …

Electrical Penetration Assembly For Pressure Vessels And Corresponding Method For Preventing Condensation, Angela Lotti, Simone Guffanti, Martin Baumgaertl, Gianluca Pauletto

Defensive Publications Series

The present technical disclosure relates to electrical penetration assembly for a pressure vessel as well as to a corresponding method for preventing condensation in an electrical penetration assembly mounted in a pressure vessel containing a gaseous environment, the method comprising:

- providing an electrical penetration assembly comprising at least one electrically conductive conductor, at least one, preferably metallic, mounting structure, and at least one electrically insulating body surrounding at least a portion of the electrically conductive conductor, wherein the mounting structure and the electrically insulating body define at least one thermally constrained region around the electrically conductive conductor having an …

Automatically Organizing Footage For Video Content Creators, Na

Defensive Publications Series

This disclosure describes user interfaces and techniques to support video content creation workflows. A creator canvas project workspace supports easy navigation, drag-and-drop editing, tagging, and clip rearranging/trimming. Rich thumbnails are provided that indicate duration and edit/trim status of a clip. Artificial intelligence techniques are used for clip selection, key moment and best take identification, clip annotation, storyboard recommendation, etc. as well as to suggest new projects. Poor quality (e.g., shaky) footage can be flagged automatically. A project-based capture mode embeds a unique identifier into capture video file metadata. This metadata is used for project organization and separating such clips from …

Caldwell Adaptive Ocular Transport Discovery Platform (Aotdp-1.0) A Modular Open-Hardware Multi-Physics Testbed For Discovering Non-Invasive Posterior Ocular Transport Mechanisms, Michael Victor Caldwell Mr.

Defensive Publications Series

The Caldwell Adaptive Ocular Transport Discovery Platform (AOTDP-1.0) is an open-hardware experimental research platform designed to investigate, compare, and optimize candidate non-invasive ocular transport mechanisms using standardized laboratory phantom eye models.

The platform does not claim to provide a clinically validated drug-delivery method. Instead, it addresses a fundamental engineering challenge:

How can researchers objectively evaluate competing physical mechanisms for transporting therapeutic agents toward posterior ocular regions without invasive injection approaches?

AOTDP-1.0 provides a modular multi-physics test environment where researchers can independently test and compare:

• acoustic transport methods,

• controlled micro-pressure gradients,

• electromagnetic-assisted approaches,

• optical stimulation concepts,

• fluidic transport mechanisms,

• mechanical interface …

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Revertible Color Personalization, Na

Defensive Publications Series

Current approaches for applying color personalization to images captured by a camera are irreversible, require large amounts of storage, do not scale well across lighting conditions, and need intensive manual tuning. This disclosure describes a flexible, efficient, reversible, and scalable alternative approach to support revertible color personalization for images captured with a camera. The modular approach involves applying color personalization in a dedicated stage that is decoupled from and follows regular color processing operations. The color personalization module includes three primary components: a 3x3 matrix block for tone adjustments, a color lookup table (CLUT) block for specific personalization styles, and …

System And Method For On-Demand Generation Of Physics-Grounded, Verification-Gated, Competency-Driven Multi-Modal Technical-Training Content, Michael R. Glass

Defensive Publications Series

A system generates interactive technical-training artifacts — including circuit/equipment simulations, technical diagrams, "see-inside" equivalent-circuit views, injected fault scenarios, and step-by-step or narrated explanations — on demand and adapted to a learner's competency state. Unlike systems that script simulation behavior or that emit generative-model output without a correctness guarantee, the disclosed system computes artifact behavior from a numerical physics solver so behavior emerges from the solve, and passes every generated artifact through a verification gate that checks it against that same solved ground-truth model and rejects or regenerates any artifact inconsistent with the model before it is delivered. A …

Focused Retention: Goal-Conditioned Switched Decay As An Active Anti-Decay Force In Agent Memory (Loci), Arko Sanyal

Defensive Publications Series

Memory systems decay passively: strength falls with time, lifted only by rehearsal. We propose a memory spectrum in which decay is goal-conditioned: while a commitment is open, the item decays with a very long half-life (it holds, though it is not frozen); the moment the commitment resolves, decay switches to fast and the trace collapses. Focus, on this account, is not slower forgetting but a regime switch controlled by the fate of a goal. The model contributes: (1) a switched-decay retention law; (2) a release taxonomy — fulfilled, re-clamped, relinquished, nullified, abandoned — in which rejection is a choice node, …

A Separate, Fast-Decaying Memory Spectrum For A System's Own Thoughts, With Reflection-Gated Crystallization (Loci), Arko Sanyal

Defensive Publications Series

Memory systems for interactive agents store observations — facts about the world and the user. We argue the system's own reasoning traces ("thoughts") require a structurally different store: a separate spectrum with its own much faster decay law, and a gated bridge to long-term memory that only a confirmed outcome can open. A thought's retention follows an exponential decay with a roughly 4-hour half-life; cold thoughts are pruned. A thought is crystallized into a durable fact only when a later, externally-produced outcome confirms it — unconfirmed reasoning is never allowed to become long-term "truth," which makes the gate an anti-hallucination …

Reflection-On-Action: Label-Free Learning From Behavioral Outcomes In Interactive Agents (Loci E+R), Arko Sanyal

Defensive Publications Series

Most systems that adapt to a user learn from labels: explicit ratings, reward signals, or annotated targets. We describe and evaluate a mechanism that learns from behavior alone, with no labels of any kind. The system acts, observes what the user does next, and updates its model in proportion to how surprising that behavior was — treating the user's own subsequent behavior as the only training signal. We call this reflection-on-action (e+r): act, then learn from the behavioral outcome. We formalize the label-free update (behavioral surprise as the sole learning signal, with the target always the externally produced behavior so …

Forecasting Affective State From Interaction Streams: A Closed Loop With Heat-Decay Memory, Label-Free Mood Estimation, And Trajectory-Based Crisis/Venting Separation (Loci R+E), Arko Sanyal

Defensive Publications Series

We ask whether a person's near-future affective state can be forecast from the interaction stream alone — no self-report, no labeled emotions. We describe a closed forecasting loop that converts an interaction stream into a bounded affect estimate and projects it forward. The loop decomposes interaction into parallel streams: a heat-decay salience stream (recurrence-weighted, exponentially decaying), an exact-value stream, a mood stream derived from reconstruction error against the person's own adaptive percentile band (arousal, valence, coherence — no labeled emotions), a reflection stream, and a forecast stream. On a held-out 24-hour criterion the loop reaches 74% mood-forecast accuracy versus 48% …

Generating Device-Agnostic Beating Haptic Effects, Shan Xu, Philip Quinn, Hong Z. Tan

Defensive Publications Series

This disclosure describes techniques that enable a computing device (e.g., a smartphone, tablet, wearable device, game controller, etc.) to generate device-agnostic beating haptic effects (e.g., low-frequency vibrations, breathing sensations, fluttery feedback, engine textures, etc.) using a piecewise linear envelope (PWLE) representation. The computing device may receive one or more beating parameters (e.g., beating frequency, carrier frequency, sharpness, amplitude scaling envelope, etc.) and calculate a high-resolution composite beating waveform envelope. To achieve compatibility across diverse actuator hardware (e.g., linear resonant actuators (LRAs), voice coil actuators, etc.), the computing device may simplify the high-resolution composite amplitude envelope into a PWLE representation using …

Civil Discourse: A 3-Part Lesson Plan With Media Literacy Connections, Greg Davis

Journal of Media Literacy Education Pre-Prints

This article presents a three-part lesson plan designed to help students develop civil discourse skills through emotional self-regulation, value exploration, and structured debate. Drawing inspiration from Alaa Al-Musalli’s work on “Unteaching Divisive Argumentation,” the lesson introduces students to the emotional dynamics of disagreement, the ethical diversity that underlies opposing viewpoints, and the practice of respectful argumentation. The culminating activity—a classroom debate over a fictitious local law regulating electric bikes and scooters—invites students to reflect on how tone, listening, and self-awareness affect discourse. Integrating media literacy, the lesson concludes with a discussion of memes and online bias, prompting students to evaluate …