Digital Commons Network^™

Adapt Laser Shaping, Quinlin Reynolds

ATU Scholars Symposium

Investigation into producing a machine learning algorithm that allows a He-Ne laser to classify whether a produced beam shape is uniformly gaussian or not, in order to adaptively move the laser to consistently target the encoded interference pattern area. This will then result in continuous uniform beam shapes of the desired output.

A Diverse And Inclusive Way To Teach Art, Kennedi L. Richards

ATU Scholars Symposium

"A Diverse and Inclusive Way to Teach Art" is a presentation that gives information on how to teach with respect to all students. It is the instructors responsibility in the classroom to make the conscious decision to include examples of artists that look like the population within your classroom. This presentation informs educators how to teach students about many artists of all backgrounds, ethnicities, and genders.

Marilyn: More Than Just Another Showgirl, Allie Strausl

CURIO Symposium

No abstract provided.

Arkansas Soil Erosion And Conservation Methods In Ornamental Landscapes, Abby J. Cutsinger

ATU Scholars Symposium

This study will attempt to identify the best soil erosion mitigation methods for Arkansas ornamental landscape settings by comparing the strengths and weaknesses of known techniques. Since soil is not a renewable resource, we must apply conservation practices wherever possible, not just in agricultural settings. To determine the most effective erosion prevention techniques, this study will review soil studies conducted by the NRCS and NASA, as well as articles on best practices observed in ornamental landscape and agricultural industries. These are analyzed by comparing and contrasting techniques against known problems with Arkansas soil to determine which methods are most effective. …

The Ethics Of Customizable Ai-Generated Pornography, Aaron Yarmel, Jonathan Lang

Midwest Ethics Symposium

No abstract provided.

Wildlife Trafficking And Illegal Trade In Endangered Species, Caden J. Kump

ATU Scholars Symposium

There has been a long endeavor with illegal trade and trafficking involving endangered species. There are ways to fix it if we put more focus into the type of punishments or boons to give to the people who do it right. There are numerous ways to fix this like better surveillance or rewards/encouragement for the people who do it by the book where it outweighs doing it illegally. Using surveillance has helped locating and identifying the lawbreakers for people like game wardens. Giving rewards or encouragement has also kept people at bay from committing these crimes because now they can …

Applications Of Supercapacitors In Robotic Systems, Charles Davis, Zachary Giese, Joseph Gober, Samuel Grisham, Avery Mahan

ATU Scholars Symposium

This project explores the utilization of a bespoke supercapacitor system to energize and propel a robot across various challenging courses. The custom supercapacitor setup serves as the primary power source, providing rapid charging capabilities and high energy density. The research investigates the integration of this innovative power solution into the robot's design, aiming to optimize its performance and endurance in competitive environments.

The Ethics Of Ai And Robotics In Kitchens And Food Systems, Rachel Robison-Greene

Midwest Ethics Symposium

No abstract provided.

Exploring Diatom Community Composition Along The Ganga River Ghats In Prayagraj Using Next Generation Sequencing: A Comprehensive Biodiversity Analysis, Mrinalinee Singh, Vaibhav Saran, Sam Higginbottom

New Trends In Informatics Research Conference

The Ganga River is a crucial water body in India, impacting the lives of millions. This research focuses on studying tiny organisms called diatoms in different areas of the Ganga River in Prayagraj, using High Throughput Sequencing. Diatoms were collected from four riverbanks, and the results show a diverse community of 45,447 diatoms belonging to 65 species. By using a new generation sequencing method, we classified these diatoms into four classes, nineteen orders, twenty-four families, thirty-nine genera, and sixty-five species. This detailed study is a significant contribution to understanding the ecology of the Ganga River.

Dolphin Skin Cfd Analysis For Biomimetic And Hydrodynamic Applications, Joseph Krahn

Liberty University Research Week

The skin of dolphins, along with other aquatic creatures such as sharks, has been long studied for its drag-reducing flow properties. The theorized behavior of flow over dolphin skin involves the trapping of fluid within the sinusoidal grooves of the skin mesh. This trapping mechanism energizes the flow, producing vortices and a partial slip condition on the skin surface, reducing boundary layer separation, and enhancing streamlines. Amy Lang et. al from the University of Alabama have investigated this phenomenon by constructing a physical demonstration and collecting experimental data of specified flow parameters for a “no-skin” control and “skin” case. Through …

The Technical Code For Worship, Rayah Smith

Liberty University Research Week

The Church is the body of Christ, and when individuals within the body of Christ come together in small gatherings, they participate in corporate worship. While the Bible does not specifically address how to apply technology within the corporate worship context, it does articulate how the Church should worship and what the focus should be. Verses such as Hebrews 12:28-29, which says, “Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire,” and Hebrews 13:15, “Through him …

The Future Of Sound: A New Methodology For The Production Of Modular Synthesizer Music, Darius Holweg

Liberty University Research Week

Modular Synthesizers have been experimented with for musical purposes since their inception. In recent years, there has been an interest in utilizing the versatility, flexibility, and self-generative nature of modular synthesizers to innovate in music in a way that other synthesizers and modern musical tools cannot. There is much space for improved mixing and recording techniques to maximize the sonic quality and commercial viability of modular synthesizer music, compared to the way that modular synthesizer based music is typically recorded. This paper explores the necessity for, and implementation of an improved commercial model for multitrack recording and mixing modular synthesizers, …

The Advancement Of Genome Editing Tools - A Blessing Or A Curse?, Haeun Tae

Liberty University Research Week

Just over a decade ago, the Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR-Cas) system was identified in prokaryotes. The emergence of this system has expanded the potential of genome editing, bringing what were once thought impossible into reality in the fields of biotechnology, agriculture, and medicinal research. Recently, a eukaryotic CRISPR-Cas-like system, Fanzor, was reported under a novel class of the RNA-guided DNA cleavage system termed OMEGA. Thus, it was the goal of this thesis to share the history of genome editing tools, compare the structure and functions of reported RNA-guided DNA cleavage systems, review their current and prospective applications, …

Improving Student Engagement Despite Lowering Attention Spans In The Classroom, Kaycee Lee

Liberty University Research Week

Attention spans have been decreasing throughout society for many years, partially due to the constant increase of technological advances. The average human attention span of eight seconds is particularly concerning to teachers and others in the classroom. It does not seem that the average attention span is ever going to increase, so teachers must implement intentional methods and strategies within their classroom to keep their students’ attention. Physical activities, technology and hands-on lesson supports, small group instruction, shorter lesson times, flexible seating, and differentiated instruction are all strategies supported by research to improve student engagement within the classroom. Every classroom …

The Looking Glass Self In Film: The Effects Of A Positive Self Image, Rebecca Kicinski

Liberty University Research Week

The theory of the Looking Glass Self suggests that an individual’s self image is socially constructed through interactions with others. Numerous studies support this theory, finding the significance of self image in individual lives as well as the impact that people, or outsiders, around the individuals can have on their self image. Generation Z in particular struggles to maintain a positive self image in the face of others. A close textual analysis of the films It’s a Wonderful Life (1947) and Hugo (2011) will show clearly that the Looking Glass Self is not only relevant despite its age, but also …

Advisync: A Dynamic Academic Course Scheduler, Spencer M. Anderson, Wilson Escobar, Devin Scott Sandlin, Nathan Patrick Doyle

ATU Scholars Symposium

Academic advising at universities can be a tedious and disorganized process for both students and advisors. Each advisor may have several dozen advisees to manage each semester, and each individual student has unique sets of classes they need to take to graduate. This might lead to scheduling errors. These errors can put the student behind in their degree, thus extending the time it takes for them to graduate past financial aid periods and delay their entry into the workforce. To address this issue, we create AdviSync. It is a tool for both students and advisors that aims to provide a …

Documenting Wonderland: Conducting A Collection Survey To Inform Collecting Policies, Sara Pettinger, Anne L. Foster

Journal of Western Archives

Collection surveys and collecting policies have become standard for effective archival collection management. But in recent years, surveys have most often been used to establish processing and preservation priorities and collecting policies are often considered static documents that, once established, change little as the collections grow. The Yellowstone National Park Archives, with a mandate to update its collecting policy and limited space and resources, developed a project to survey its collections in order to inform an updated policy. With a more granular focus on analyzing collections than previous surveys have undertaken, this case study focused on defining success and fulfillment …

Visualizing Nfl Player Metrics, Jayson Rhea

Campus Research Month

This project is dedicated to reshaping the exploration of NFL player data. Tailored for sports analysts and fantasy football managers, the goal is to deliver convenience through seamless data navigation and precise filtering through an interactive dashboard. In contrast to the static formats found on the NFL website and ESPN, this dynamic interface offers interactive visualizations, empowering users to effortlessly compare data. These comparisons can be used draw quick conclusions about player performance.

Ruthenium Metal Complex Interaction With Dna Of Tumor Cells, Danielle N. Baca

Research & Creative Achievement Day

In this project, computational chemistry was used to dock variations of (p-Cymene)Ru(curcuminato)chloro (Ru-cur) in DNA strands to find the best affinity for potential anti-cancer drugs. The Ru-cur complex has been chosen as the metal anticancer complex because it is not very toxic, selective for cancer cells, and has ligand exchange kinetics similar to those of platinum. First the geometry of the Ru-cur complex was optimized via a quantum mechanical method. The GAMESS program was used for this portion. Once the geometry of the complex was optimized, docking programs were explored to find the best docking poses and binding energies for …

Allylic Rearrangement In Nbs Bromination Reactions, Devann J. Harris, Bryanna L. Wichner

Research & Creative Achievement Day

The allylic bromination of alkenes using N-bromosuccinimide (NBS) is a useful and selective substitution reaction, in which bromine radicals abstract hydrogen from the alkene to form a resonance-stabilized radical intermediate. However, allylic rearrangement can be a consequence of the intermediate's two resonance structures. Some literature sources imply that NBS bromination gives only one major product from asymmetrical alkenes, e.g., 2-hexene and 2-heptene, even when they should form equally stable but non-equivalent resonance contributors. In this research, bromination of trans-2-hexene was performed using cyclohexane as the solvent, and the products were analyzed using GC-MS to determine if only one product, 4-bromo-2-hexene, …

Evaluating The Importance Of Biosecurity In Swine Operations, Lindsey Lemley, Lilly Rogers, Austin Calhoun

ATU Scholars Symposium

Swine health is critical to maintaining a profitable and productive swine operation. Biosecurity and sanitation are important practices that help maintain herd health. This study aimed to discover how biosecurity protocols and management practices differ between swine operations of different sizes. With diseases such as Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome Virus (PRRSV), Brucellosis, and Porcine Circovirus type 2 (PCV2) being common in the swine industry, a strong biosecurity protocol protects swine farmers from financial losses associated with disease outbreaks. In 2004 alone, the estimated financial loss to PRRSV was over $761 million. Data concerning biosecurity and sanitation was collected from …

Microhabitat Use Of The Highland Darter (Etheostoma Teddyroosevelt) In The Illinois Bayou Watershed Of Arkansas, Colton W. Morris

ATU Scholars Symposium

Highland Darters (Etheostoma teddyroosevelt) are an Ozark regional endemic species, occurring in the Arkansas River and upper White River systems of Arkansas, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Missouri. There have been very few studies on this species, specifically those that have quantified the habitat use of this species across its range. A new study was needed to fill in the knowledge gap of microhabitat use by the Highland Darter in Arkansas. We wanted to address this knowledge gap by assessing the microhabitat use of this species in the Illinois Bayou watershed in Arkansas. Highland Darters were observed during snorkel surveys at known …

Use Of Deep Learning In Content-Based Image Retrieval (Cbir), Angelina Das

ATU Scholars Symposium

In the world of computer vision and data retrieval, a crucial task is finding images within a database based on their visual content. This is known as content-based image retrieval (CBIR). As the number of digital images explodes across fields like online shopping, healthcare, and social media, the need for powerful and precise CBIR systems becomes ever more critical. Early CBIR methods depended on features crafted by hand, like color distributions, texture descriptions, and shape characteristics. However, these techniques often have difficulty capturing the true meaning of an image and might not handle very large datasets effectively. With the rise …

Incorporating Ai Into The Evaluation Of A Fishing Guide Business Plan, Payton J. Beyer, Joe W. Lothrop, Nicholas J. Mcnally, Sam W. Schultz, Sam R. Shutter, Trent B. Steuernagel

Research & Creative Achievement Day

This project explores the use of AI in determining the feasibility of a small business plan for a fishing guide service in Winona, Minnesota.  Findings describe prompt curation strategies relevant for specific chapters of a business plan, as well as the potential advantages and challenges associated with utilizing AI for this purpose.  Additionally, an analysis of the Bauer Angling Business Plan and its feasibility is included.

‘Opening The Future’ – A Reliable Funding Model For Open Access Monographs: Introducing An Innovative Approach To Publishing Oa Books Through Library Membership Funding, Kira Hopkins, Tom Grady

All Things Open

We outline the work of two university presses (Liverpool University Press and Central European University Press) who are, with assistance from Copim (Community-led Open Publication Infrastructures for Monographs), running an innovative revenue model to fund open access monographs. Called Opening the Future (OtF) this model builds on library subscription models: giving library members access to a highly-regarded backlist, with the revenue then used to make the frontlist openly accessible to all.

Given the current global library environment and budget pressures, a consortial model of funding promises a cost-effective solution for OA that means no single institution bears a disproportionate burden. …

School Counseling Psychology Internship, Sarah S. Gathje

Research & Creative Achievement Day

This is a summary of my school counseling internship through the psychology program at WSU. I completed it on site at Caledonia Middle/High School under the supervision of school counselor Brent Schroeder. I was able to learn counseling techniques for individuals and groups of students, help teach character development lessons, attend meetings, and learn what goes on behind the scenes in the life of a school counselor.

Mussel Communities Of Two Impacted Tributaries In The Arkansas South Central Plains Ecoregion, Jimmy Hall, Seth Drake, Parker Brannon, Savannah Wise

ATU Scholars Symposium

Anthropogenic influences such as mining and water quality degradation from wastewater effluents and agricultural runoff heavily impact freshwater mussel communities. The South-Central Plains (SCP) Ecoregion in Arkansas contains the Smackover Formation, an area that has been exploited for its oil with high frequency of drilling. In 1922 the Smackover pool in Union County was found and quickly became one of the world's most productive oil sites. Hurricane Creek and Smackover Creek, two tributaries within the Ouachita River basin, have experienced negative impacts from oil exploration and mining. However, to our knowledge, mussel communities in these creeks have not been assessed …

A Comparative Study On The Effects Of Meishan And Duroc Teaser Boars On Farrowing Rates Of Two Individual Swine Operations, Allie Shewmake, Payton Ham

ATU Scholars Symposium

Effective use of certain teaser boar breeds in artificial insemination, a common assisted reproductive procedure, in swine production provides a surmountable outlet to increase farrowing rates, breeding outcomes, and economic gain within the swine industry. Previous studies have emphasized the importance of boar types in swine breeding outcomes; however, this study delves into the divergent characteristics of Meishan and Duroc boars and how their different attributes affect the farrowing rates of Yorkshire-landrace sows at two individual swine operations, a smaller independent facility, and a larger commercial facility. Data was garnered and contrasted for three-year (2015-2017) time spans from each operation. …

The Importance Of Program Collaboration To Educate Nursing Students In Bilingualism, Lindsey N. Voigt, Halle M. Wohlers

Research & Creative Achievement Day

Purpose: With a growing Spanish-speaking population, communication is becoming more important in the healthcare field. It is important to address the needs of this population and one of the ways this can be achieved is by increasing the number of bilingual nurses. The overall purpose of this project was to discover the impact of bilingual nurses in health care and use that information to inspire and educate current and future nursing students. The findings from our review of literature were synthesized along with a survey to create resources for nursing and Spanish double majors and minors at Winona State University …

Dashboard To Quickly Estimate The Cost And Duration Of An Nyc Green Taxi Trip, Isaac Braun

Campus Research Month

Before hailing a New York City (NYC) taxi, residents and tourists do not easily know how much the trip will cost them or how long it may take. Taxis are still heavily used, even with the increase of ride-hailing services like Uber, and a new system has yet to be built to provide customers with these two metrics before taking a trip. This project aims to give riders a quick way to estimate a ride’s cost and duration through an interactive dashboard that allows filtering by pickup and drop-off neighborhoods. This is accomplished by analyzing three years of public data …