Engineering Commons^™

Fungi In A Warmer World: Fungal Diversity In The Tropical Miocene Climate Optimum Of The Clarkia Region Of Idaho, Usa, J. Fairchild, L. Lennex-Stone, T. Horsfall, L. Tarlton, S. Jones, A. Caldwell, O. Vanderespt, L. Smallwood, A. Patel, J. O'Keefe, I. Romero, N. Nunnez Otano, M. Pound

2022 Celebration of Student Scholarship - Poster Presentations

A knowledge gap associated with how fungal communities change in response to climate was identified in the 2018 State of the World Fungi report (Willis, 2018). While it is virtually impossible to test in the present, fungal assemblage changes can be studied in sediments from a warmer-than-present period such as the Miocene Climate Optimum (MCO) (Romero et al. 2021; O’Keefe 2017). The Fungi in a Warmer World project aims to generate and analyze a global-scale data set of fungal biodiversity, ecology, and associated flora from MCO sediments. This dataset will be used to model past fungal assemblage changes across the …

Morphometrics Of The Rare Earwigfly Merope Tuber, Nicholas Finch, Sean O'Keefe

2022 Celebration of Student Scholarship - Poster Presentations

Merope tuber Newman (Mecoptera: Meropeidae) is a rare North American species of earwigfly, which is closely related to common scorpionflies. “Earwigfly” refers to three different species: the Western Australian Austromerope poulton, the South American Austromerope brasiliensis, and finally, the Eastern North American Merope tuber. This last species was the focus of our study. Johnson’s 1995 study was based on 160 earwigflies, where he measured the female abdomen length, male and female forewing length, and male basistylus and dististylus length. In their 2014 study, based on 82 earwigflies, Skvarla, Hartshorn, and Dowling measured head width, pronotum width, forewing length, abdomen length, …

Encouraging Increased Ppe Compliance: A Quality Improvement Project, Christen Ballard, Hannah Carpenter, Skyler Harper, Angela Marcum, Suzi White

2022 Celebration of Student Scholarship - Poster Presentations

Personal protective equipment (PPE) is used to minimize infection transmission from patient to healthcare worker, or vice versa. During a clinical rotation in a large urban teaching hospital, it was noted that a number of nurses failed to adhere to proper PPE policies. A literature review focusing on thirty-two studies found that average nurse compliance to proper PPE is 34%. This review included an overall discussion of factors affecting compliance, as well as a more in-depth review of the effect of education on PPE compliance, how comfort and proper fitting affects compliance, and the general effectiveness of PPE when used …

“The Never Ending Story:” Circularizing Ch. Viii In Saccharomyces Cerevisiae, Chisom Iloegbunam, Melissa Mefford

2022 Celebration of Student Scholarship - Poster Presentations

Chromosomes are molecules of DNA that hold large quantities of genetic material in an organism. Generally, in nature, eukaryotic chromosomes are linear while prokaryotic chromosomes are circular. Since they are linear, eukaryotic chromosomes possess telomeres, or repetitive nucleotide sequences, on their ends. This significant difference in structure requires different additions to the basic replication process. In prokaryotes, replication starts at a single point on the chromosome and continues until the whole chromosome has been copied. In eukaryotes, replication happens in fragments with multiple starting points. Because of this more complicated replication process, the free 3’ ends of our DNA cannot …

College Students’ Knowledge And Use Of Herbal Supplements: Informed Decision, Health Risk, Or Marketing Ploy?, Jillian Wallshield, Wilson Gonzalez-Espada

2022 Celebration of Student Scholarship - Poster Presentations

The purpose of this study is to better understand the extent to which college students from Eastern Kentucky use Herbal Supplements (HS). The research questions for this study were:

• How do the participants find out about HS?

• How helpful do participants perceive the HS they take to be?

• What misconceptions do participants have regarding HS?

• Does a positive or negative attitude towards science change the usage rate of HS?

A New Colorimetric Assay Of Apurinic/Apyrimidinic (Abasic) Sites Of Deoxyribonucleic Acid (Dna) Using Bicinchoninic Acid [, Isaiah O. Stephens, Elizabeth M. Thomas

2022 Celebration of Student Scholarship - Poster Presentations

Apurinic/apyrimidinic (AP or abasic) sites are DNA lesions that result from the loss of a nucleobase by hydrolysis of the N-glycosyl bond. It is estimated that AP sites are the most frequent lesions in cells with about 10,000-50,000 times per day per cell under typical aerobic conditions [2]. The formation of AP sites is caused by environmental and cancer therapeutic genotoxins such as alkylating agents, oxidizing agents, ionizing radiation, and ultraviolet radiation.

Drone Mapping On Eagle Lake Dam, Nathan Sparks, Timothy Hare

2022 Celebration of Student Scholarship - Poster Presentations

The Eagle Lake Dam is an iconic part of Morehead State’s campus. It can be seen from much of campus and serves as one of the best views around. It is also the single most important structure on campus. A significant percentage of the campus would be damaged or impaired, as well as many people would be endangered if the dam failed. Hence, I am starting a multi-person and multi-year initiative to monitor Eagle Lake Dam using UAV and remote sensing technology. I hope to have teams make annual 3D models of Eagle Lake Dam over the next several years …

Beetle Diversity Within Ecosystems; Insight Of The Order Coleoptera In The Eastern Kentucky Region, Blake Branham, Hannah Pyles, Charles Lydeard, Sean O'Keefe

2022 Celebration of Student Scholarship - Poster Presentations

Having a multitude of definitions, biodiversity can most commonly be seen as the variety and diversity of life within an ecosystem. Its relevance is crucial for species survival and resource availability; a lack of biodiversity sets an ecosystem up for failure, reducing its productivity, species richness, and increasing organismal vulnerability. Measuring biodiversity is crucial for the understanding of an ecosystem’s health, giving scientists knowledge of its stability, productivity, and persistence. This collected information can be implemented in various ways outside the scientific field as well, such as with policy decisions and legal regulations. Biodiversity is most commonly analyzed through quantitative …

Classroom Management In Kentucky, Sarah Miller, Kim Nettleton

2022 Celebration of Student Scholarship - Poster Presentations

Classroom management is a skill many incoming teachers struggle to balance while teaching. Good classroom management aids in establishing a learning environment that encourages both social and academic learning. The case studies recorded examine the classroom management methods of a select group of educators. These subjects described their methods of classroom management, whether self-made or research-based, through a series of interview questions. The interview questions establish an understanding of current practice of classroom management regarding rules, procedures, positive relationships, and classroom arrangement. In evaluating different variations of classroom management, the effectiveness, and advantages and disadvantages of different classroom management methods …

Love And Education In Plato's Symposium, Brooke Boggs, Timothy L. Simpson

2022 Celebration of Student Scholarship - Poster Presentations

This paper seeks to illuminate the significance of Socrates' entrance into a series of speeches by exploring the connection between love and learning in Plato's Symposium. We begin by presenting historical and social contexts relevant to the dialogue and its author. We then turn to the dialogue, outlining the fundamental components of each speech and, moreover, analyzing each speech with the aim of eliciting educational implications which are later highlighted and expanded on by Socrates. We examine these pedagogical connotations through a thorough investigation of each speech, keeping a keen eye on Socrates. We approach our examination of Socrates’ speech …

Telehealth As A Preventative And Quality Control Measure For Hospital Readmissions And Comprehensive Health Factors: A Quality Improvement Project, Miracle Thacker, Randa Thompson, Madison Whitenack, Elizabeth Williams, Kaitlyn Workman, Suzi White

2022 Celebration of Student Scholarship - Poster Presentations

Exploring Telehealth as a tool for reducing hospital readmission rates and improving client long-term health. Findings are to be shared with staff nurses to improve client outcomes.

A Meta-Analysis Of Quantitative Collecting Techniques For Spiders, Eliana Eldridge, Joshua Hicks, Sean O'Keefe

2022 Celebration of Student Scholarship - Poster Presentations

Quantitative sampling of organisms is often used to provide information in ecological studies, monitor populations, and aid in biodiversity projects. Many studies involve the quantitative sampling of spiders. In this meta-analysis study, 207 peer-reviewed journal articles formed the basis of an initial data set for a quantitative analysis of spider collection techniques. Data collected included country of study, mode of study, trapping techniques used, spider diversity, and number of specimens collected. Our meta-analysis gathered research articles that included 33 different countries of study. Trapping techniques greatly vary depending on the habitat in which spiders dwell. These were divided into aerial, …

A Preliminary Survey On The Biodiversity Of Wasps In Eastern Kentucky, Lorien Molstad, Zoe Baker, Julia Fitzpatrick, Bethany Lucio, Sean O'Keefe

2022 Celebration of Student Scholarship - Poster Presentations

Biodiversity is the measure of variability of interactions between living organisms within an area. Biodiversity contributes significantly to the production of different life sustaining resources and supports a diversity of ecological life. A greater biodiverse area can help maintain environmental balance and maintain ecological diversity and health. There are multiple economic, cultural, and scientific reasons as to why biodiversity is important. When assessing biodiversity, mammals and birds are commonly used as surrogates. The problem with mammals and birds is that there are relatively few species and relatively few individuals in an area, so quantitative assessment can be difficult. However, insects …

Photography Practicum: Learning The Basics Of Managing A Fine Art Photography Darkroom, Brooklin Routt, Allison Jones, Frazier Pack, Robyn Moore

2022 Celebration of Student Scholarship - Poster Presentations

The photography practicum provides Art and Design student researchers with the practical experience of managing a fine art photography studio. Students learn how to operate, manage, and maintain industry-standard fine art archival inkjet printers as well as a fourteen-station traditional black and white darkroom. This project provides essential expertise and knowledge that students, as lab monitors, both share with other students and incorporate into their own fine art practice and professional activities. Student researchers learn how to mix, store, and dispose of photographic chemistry, provide daily assistance to undergraduate and graduate photography students, and generate ideas for improvements to the …

Survey Of Spiders Within Eastern Kentucky, Mercy Hailu, Bailey Bullock, Joshua Hicks, Eliana Eldridge, Sean O'Keefe

2022 Celebration of Student Scholarship - Poster Presentations

Biodiversity is known to be the variation of living organisms compromising several levels, beginning from genes, then species, communities, then finally ecosystems. Biodiversity is crucial in maintaining ecological balance, boosting ecosystem productivity, and determining the quality of ecosystem services such as pest management in agriculture. Being aware of biodiversity's importance can also help with the prevention of continuous threats to biodiversity and be best prepared to manage conservation challenges. Typically, mammals, birds, and plants are used to assess biodiversity. However, spiders may be effective in indicating environmental change because they are taxonomically quite diverse, species fill a variety of ecological …

Creating The First Genetically Engineered Eukaryote With Circular Chromosomes, Duncan Mcginnis, Melissa Mefford

2022 Celebration of Student Scholarship - Poster Presentations

Prokaryotes and eukaryotes differ in their chromosome structure; prokaryotes have a single circular chromosome, while eukaryotes have multiple circular chromosomes. Linear chromosomes are more complex than circular ones and create problems for eukaryotes. Many of these issues are solved by telomeres—long, repetitive sequences of DNA found on the ends of most eukaryotic chromosomes. They protect the ends from harm and limit how many times a cell can divide. Two of our greatest medical challenges, cancer and aging, are closely related to telomeres; most cancers upregulate telomerase, and aging human cells display shorter telomeres. To investigate the evolution and function of …

Fungi In A Warmer World: Middle Miocene Fungal Assemblages And Diversity From Alum Bluff, Florida, Savannah Jones, Taylor Horsfall, Laikin Tarlton, Abigayle Caldwell, Liberty Smallwood, Jolene Fairchild, Libby Lennex-Stone, Alyssa Patel, Olivia Vanderespt, Ingrid Romero, Jennifer O'Keefe, Noelia Nunez Otano, Sophie Warny, Matthew Pound

2022 Celebration of Student Scholarship - Poster Presentations

Fungi play a key role in the terrestrial carbon cycle, soil formation, and overall plant growth as terrestrial decomposers (1, 2). Thus, the study of fungi, especially in the fossil record, is critical to understanding how fungal assemblages will react to future warming events. Fossil fungi provide a large-scale, long-term dataset unavailable from modern records, allowing for the generation of viable paleoclimate reconstructions and predictions (3, 4). Despite their importance and advantages in forming ecological and climatological interpretations, deep-time fungi have been underutilized (3). The Fungi in a Warmer World (FiaWW) project aims to deliver the first global view of …

Risky Behaviors In Central Appalachia/Eastern Kentucky: Teen Pregnancy And Sexually Transmitted Infections, Allison Hyden, Lisa Shannon

2022 Celebration of Student Scholarship - Poster Presentations

According to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (2017), Central Appalachia had a teen birth rate 63% higher than the national rate. In the Big Sandy Region of Kentucky, the teen pregnancy rates per 1,000 females ages 15-19 were Floyd at 55.9, Johnson at 30.3, Magoffin at 57.3, Martin at 50.7, and Pike at 38.2. These were more than double the national rate (16.9) (Centers for Disease Control, 2021). Sexually transmitted infection (STI) rates within the area were also high. Chlamydia increased 200%, and syphilis increased 300% between 2011 and 2017; many of these cases were in young adults (Meehan, 2018). …

The Craft Academy Robotics Project, Daniel Brooks, Josh Day, Brianna Kayatin, Logan Lee, Shawn Nelson, Brady Sammons, Paul Zigo, Rachel Rodgers

2022 Celebration of Student Scholarship - Poster Presentations

To begin, the team’s research project consisted of a robot that could compete on a 12-foot by 12-foot playing field alongside 3 other robots. The robot had to fit within an 18in-by-18in limit, it could be made of a variety of materials and motors specified in the game manual to help it achieve the most amount of points possible. There are many ways to earn points in Freight Frenzy divided into 3 sections, Autonomous, Tele-Operation or “Op” for short, and End-Game: In the Autonomous section, the match starts with a 30-second Autonomous Period where Robots are operated only via pre-programmed …

Fungi In A Warmer World - Fungal Diversity From The Peak Warming Of The Miocene Climate Optimum As Recorded In The Latah Formation, Clarkia, Idaho, Usa, J. Fairchild, I. C. Romero, N. B. Nunez Otano, S. Warny, M. J. Pound, J. M. K. O'Keefe

2022 Celebration of Student Scholarship - Poster Presentations

Microfungi are a vital part of ecosystems as they help with key processes, such as carbon and nutrient cycling, especially through the actions of mycorrhizal and saprotrophic members (Nuñez Otaño et al., 2015, 2021; Willis et al., 2018). Microfungi can also be good indicators of plant biodiversity in an area because many fungal taxa are host-specific (Rutten et al., 2021; Francioli et al., 2021; Hu et al., 2021; Wijayawardene et al., 2022 ). Despite being crucial components in ecosystems, they are often overlooked. In the fossil record, microfungi have a high preserva􀆟on rate and they are often preserved close to …

Reducing Early-Age Shrinkage Cracks Of Bridge Decks And Rails, Soumitra Das, George Morcous, Jiong Hu

UNL Student Research Days Posters, Graduate

Early-age shrinkage cracking of concrete bridge decks and rails accelerates the penetration of water and chemicals which leads to reinforcement corrosion, delamination, and eventually spalling. All this results in shorter service life, road closure, and costly repair. Development of Low-cement concrete(LCC) mix to reduce early age shrinkage crack through aggregate grading optimization was done in this research work. This approach also reduces concrete cost ($15-$20/cyd) (15–25%) and its carbon footprint (≈15%).

Lyapunov-Based Economic Model Predictive Control For Detecting And Handling Actuator And Simultaneous Sensor/Actuator Cyberattacks On Process Control Systems, Henrique Oyama, Dominic Messina, Keshav Kasturi Rangan, Helen Durand

Chemical Engineering and Materials Science Faculty Research Publications

The controllers for a cyber-physical system may be impacted by sensor measurement cyberattacks, actuator signal cyberattacks, or both types of attacks. Prior work in our group has developed a theory for handling cyberattacks on process sensors. However, sensor and actuator cyberattacks have a different character from one another. Specifically, sensor measurement attacks prevent proper inputs from being applied to the process by manipulating the measurements that the controller receives, so that the control law plays a role in the impact of a given sensor measurement cyberattack on a process. In contrast, actuator signal attacks prevent proper inputs from being applied …

Hot Spot Analysis Of Potential Sanitary Sewer Exfiltration In Crystal Creek Watershed, Adam Schumacher, Michael Reisner, Kevin Geedey

Independent Research Projects

Crystal Creek in Davenport Iowa drains suburban and park areas before draining into Duck Creek, a tributary of the Mississippi River. Contact recreation is a designated use for all the streams. As a pilot project with the city of Davenport, Augustana College’s Upper Mississippi Center assessed this stream in the summer of 2021 to determine if relatively inexpensive monitoring tools could be used to assess possible sewage contamination in that stream. Running through multiple residential areas, sewer lines follow the studied region of the creek, leading to the hotspot focus that was conducted by student researchers. Fecal coliform, optical brighteners, …

Under-Oil Autonomously Regulated Oxygen Microenvironments: A Goldilocks Principle-Based Approach For Microscale Cell Culture, Chao Li, Mouhita Humayun, Glenn M. Walker, Keon Young Park, Bryce Connors, Jun Feng, Molly C. Pellitteri Hahn, Cameron O. Scarlett, Jiayi Li, Yanbo Feng, Ryan L. Clark, Hunter Hefti, Jonathan Schrope, Ophelia S. Venturelli, David J. Beebe

Faculty and Student Publications

Oxygen levels in vivo are autonomously regulated by a supply–demand balance, which can be altered in disease states. However, the oxygen levels of in vitro cell culture systems, particularly microscale cell culture, are typically dominated by either supply or demand. Further, the oxygen microenvironment in these systems is rarely monitored or reported. Here, a method to establish and dynamically monitor autonomously regulated oxygen microenvironments (AROM) using an oil overlay in an open microscale cell culture system is presented. Using this method, the oxygen microenvironment is dynamically regulated via the supply–demand balance of the system. Numerical simulation and experimental validation of …

Evaluation Of The Carotid Artery Using Wavelet-Based Analysis Of The Pulse Wave Signal, Sameh El-Sharo, Amani Al-Ghraibah, Jamal Al-Nabulsi, Mustafa Muhammad Matalgah

Faculty and Student Publications

The use of pulse wave analysis may assist cardiologists in diagnosing patients with vascular diseases. However, it is not common in clinical practice to interpret and analyze pulse wave data and utilize them to detect the abnormalities of the signal. This paper presents a novel approach to the clinical application of pulse waveform analysis using the wavelet technique by decomposing the normal and pathology signal into many levels. The discrete wavelet transform (DWT) decomposes the carotid arterial pulse wave (CAPW) signal, and the continuous wavelet transform (CWT) creates images of the decomposed signal. The wavelet analysis technique in this work …

Operating Machine Learning To Identify Tools (Omlit), Jason Chavez, Grant Schorr, Sebastian De La Cruz

Computer Science and Engineering Senior Theses

Today’s society is heavily reliant on using data to improve systems and create innovative technology. This project takes advantage of artificial intelligence, specifically machine learning (ML) which has allowed us to create a web application that detects tools, specifically hand tools. By having the user upload an image of one of three hand tools (screw driver, handsaw, or power drill) the user will be able to identify the tool as well as be provided information on hand tool safety. This identification system is handled by a pre-trained Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) model and trained using a self built data set. …

Lyapunov-Based Economic Model Predictive Control For Online Model Discrimination, Henrique Oyama, Helen Durand

Chemical Engineering and Materials Science Faculty Research Publications

Economic model predictive control (EMPC) is a flexible control design strategy that can be modified to achieve many operating goals while also ensuring safe operation (e.g., by adding Lyapunov-based stability constraints to form Lyapunov-based EMPC, or LEMPC). Prior works have investigated LEMPC capabilities for achieving goals online beyond optimizing process economics, including aiding in model structure selection to benefit model-based control system design since the accuracy and quality of the process model are important for achieving an expected performance from such systems. This work further probes the capabilities of LEMPC to accomplish multiple objectives during process operation, including aiding in …

Visual Homing For Robot Teams: Do You See What I See?, Damian Lyons, Noah Petzinger

Faculty Publications

Visual homing is a lightweight approach to visual navigation which does not require GPS. It is very attractive for robot platforms with a low computational capacity. However, a limitation is that the stored home location must be initially within the field of view of the robot. Motivated by the increasing ubiquity of camera information we propose to address this line-of-sight limitation by leveraging camera information from other robots and fixed cameras. To home to a location that is not initially within view, a robot must be able to identify a common visual landmark with another robot that can be used …

Analysis Of An Existing Method In Refinement Of Protein Structure Predictions Using Cryo-Em Images, Maytha Alshammari, Jing He, Willy Wriggers, Jiangwen Sun

College of Sciences Posters

Protein structure prediction produces atomic models from its amino acid sequence. Three-dimensional structures are important for understanding the function mechanism of proteins. Knowing the structure of a given protein is crucial in drug development design of novel enzymes. AlphaFold2 is a protein structure prediction tool with good performance in recent CASP competitions. Phenix is a tool for determination of a protein structure from a high-resolution 3D molecular image. Recent development of Phenix shows that it is capable to refine predicted models from AlphaFold2, specifically the poorly predicted regions, by incorporating information from the 3D image of the protein. The goal …

Telomerase Activity Enhancement In Saccharomyces Cerevisiae, Mackenzie Neal, Hailey Rietz, Melissa Mefford

2022 Celebration of Student Scholarship - Poster Presentations

Telomeres are located at the ends of eukaryotic linear chromosomes and are composed of repeated nucleotide sequences. One of their main functions is to protect chromosomal ends from being damaged. Telomeres cannot be completely copied during DNA replication so they gradually shorten during each replication cycle in what is known as the “end replication problem”. To counteract this problem, the RNA dependent enzyme complex telomerase works to extend telomeres and help protect the ends of chromosomes. Telomeres and the telomerase enzyme are heavily involved in the aging process and cancer progression. Telomeres gradually shorten with age and eventually become so …