25th Student Academic Conference Schedule

Printers are essential tools in modern offices, homes, and schools. However, they can be a source of frustration when they malfunction. This abstract will explore the causes of common printer malfunctions, and see if there is a reason for them and if there is a way to mitigate these malfunctions from happening. First, we will explain the factors that can cause paper jams to occur, like the environment, the way the paper is processed, and the power supply. Second, we will explore why print job defects happen, such as the printer did not color the page, there are streaks and blank spots, and the disfigurement of the image. Thirdly, the reason and cause for the printer to fail to even try to print, which can be from connectivity problems to something with the software. Fourth, we will analyze user errors and make sure users are buying the correct type of printer for themselves. Finally, we will go over why manufacturers are not improving printers, and what we can do to fix this. By understanding these causes, printer users can take appropriate measures to prevent or mitigate malfunctions, leading to improved productivity and less frustration.

The purpose of this project is to find alternatives to suspension and expulsion for special education students. Suspension and expulsion lead to less learning progress for students with disabilities. Effective alternatives will increase student engagement and learning outcomes. This project supports current and future professionals by providing positive strategies that can be used to help students with disabilities in schools.

Debugging is a time-consuming and challenging task in software development. With the advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, there is an opportunity to improve the debugging experience by automating bug identification and fixing. This project presents Bug-Spray, a VSCode extension that leverages the GPT engine to address this problem.

Bug-Spray aims to enhance developer productivity by identifying and suggesting fixes for bugs in code snippets. The significance of this problem lies in its potential to reduce development time, improve software quality, and optimize resource allocation in software projects. Existing research has explored AI-based code completion and recommendation systems, but the application of AI in debugging remains relatively unexplored.

The primary goal of this work is to demonstrate the effectiveness of utilizing the GPT engine in identifying and fixing bugs within a VSCode environment. The project's importance is highlighted by its potential to advance AI applications in software development and inspire further research in this domain.

The proposed methodology involves the integration of the GPT engine with a VSCode extension. Code snippets will be collected from the user's computer and processed by the engine to identify bugs and generate suggestions for fixes. The project's success will be evaluated based on the accuracy and speed of bug identification and fixing, as well as user satisfaction and adoption rate.

Bug-Spray has the potential to transform the software development process, leading to more efficient development cycles and higher quality software products, ultimately benefiting society through increased productivity and improved software reliability.

Research suggests that emotional regulation plays a vital role in mental and physical health and that music is often used for mood regulation. This research looked to explore the ways music is used for mood regulation and the general effect of music on moods. This study examined the adaptive and maladaptive use of music for mood regulation. Two groups of participants was used; half of the participants were randomly assigned to melancholy music, and the other half were randomly assigned to upbeat music.  A questionnaire containing The Positive and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS) was used to measure current mood states before and after listening to the assigned music. It was predicted that listening to happy, upbeat music will increase positive affect, while people that listen to melancholy music will show an increase in negative affect. The brief-music in mood regulation scale (BMMRS) was used to measure how participants in both groups use music to regulate their moods.
 

This study explored the memory blocking effect (MBE), contextual change, and a connection with creativity. The memory blocking effect occurs when orthographically (spelling) related study words (e.g., KANGAROO) impair word fragment completion performance (K_NG_O_S) for a similar target (e.g., KINGDOMS) (Smith & Tindell,1997; Leynes et al., 2008). The current study explored a possible interaction between study word (e.g., competing KANGAROO and positive KINGDOMS) and match/mismatch of contexts between study and fragment presentations. Higher rates of word fragment completion are expected for positive primed fragments compared to unprimed fragments (i.e., repetition priming). Lower rates of word fragment completion are expected for competing primed fragments compared to unprimed fragments (i.e., MBE).  However, context is predicted to interact with prime. A correlational analysis on memory blocking rates and creativity scores will also conducted.  A significant negative correlation would suggest that higher creativity scores are associated with lower rates of memory blocking.   
 

In this age of artificial intelligence and identity theft, there is increasing concern for online safety. In recent years, we have seen a rise in parents sharing more of their children’s lives on the internet, a trend known as “sharenting”.  Beyond posing potential security risks, many of these children do not or cannot consent to having their lives shared publicly.  The current study used content analysis methods to explore how primary caregivers share information about their children’s lives in ways that may compromise their privacy or safety.  Fifty public Instagram posts were randomly selected and coded for several aspects of a child’s life that could be considered “sharenting”, such as embarrassing or otherwise private behaviors.  It is expected that most posts would contain at least one form of “sharenting.”  Results will be discussed in terms of the potential harms associated with this form of online sharing.

The purpose of our study is to understand how expectations regarding other people’s behavior relates to one’s own behavior, as well as to understand how correct or incorrect expectations can change outcomes for an entire group.  

This research project aimed to build off recent experiments showing that groups that contribute to a public good in ways that the individual contributions have low variance tend to reach more cooperative decisions – regardless of whether the contributions start out cooperative or competitive. We had three conditions in which participants played a standard public goods game against one of three preprogrammed strategies. These strategies had high variance contributions, low variance contributions in a cooperative way or low variance contributions in a competitive way. In some cases, these strategies remain fixed and in other cases these strategies will adapt to the participant’s own strategy. 

We predicted that the high variance strategies would result in the lowest level of contributing, with the low variance conditions having equal levels of contributing.

In the post war era, several American ceramic artists were beginning to challenge the idea that ceramic works were required to be functional in nature. Among these ceramicists was Toshiko Takaezu (1922-2011), a Hawaii-born woman dedicated to her conviction that the art form of ceramics is equal to that of sculpture and painting. 

Though Takaezu did create more functional vessels, her fame was earned primarily through her various series of large, nearly enclosed ceramic “forms” such as “Moons” and “Forests.” My paper focuses on her role as a sculptor in ceramics, a field which, at the time, was facing a fundamental transformation in the West. Additionally, I will analyze the role that her Japanese heritage had on her artwork, especially when considering that in Japan, ceramics was already considered a legitimate, respected art form.

The Ship of Theseus has been retold many times over the ages to help us understand identity -- from Plutarch, to Hobbes, to Butler, to Chisholm, to Sider.

With the issue of deep fakes, stolen identities and author attribution, the issue of identity is at the forefront of modern humanities problems.

The Ship of Theseus explores what identity is by asking us if a ship that has been slowly replaced board by board is at some point no longer the same ship -- Hobbes then asks if the old boards are kept and re-assembled into the ship, is that The Ship of Theseus?

With the advent of Bitcoin blockchain technology, this story needs to be retold with this powerful new anchoring tool.

Can Bitcoin blockchain tech solve The Ship of Theseus?

Does it solve Hobbes' dilemma? Or does it simply muddy the waters?

I propose that it may be possible that the identity issue plaguing modern humanity can be solved by exploring The Ship of Theseus and Bitcoin blockchain technology.

What's Going On? A rhetorical analysis of protest music and its effect on social and political issues.

Long before Marvin Gaye asked us what was going on in response to the treatment of anti-Vietnam war protesters by police in Berkley, California, musicians were using their art and influence to bring awareness of social and political issues of their day. Although many of these artists were considered controversial at the time, their messages have endured, and their songs have become some of the most well-known music in modern history.

As long as musicians have a platform to share their commentary on social and political issues of the time, they will use their influence to try to bring about social change. While it’s unclear which protest songs of the twenty-first century will be considered classics in the future, the messages conveyed in protest music of the past are still relevant today. The continued popularity of these songs speaks to the impact they had, and will continue to have, on society.

This reflection examines how the rhetoric of popular culture can effect societal change. 

In this lab, an experimental setup was used to measure the charge-mass ratio of an electron by creating a beam of electrons.  A magnetic field was applied to the electron beam which resulted in the electrons orbiting at a fixed radius.  The magnetic field was varied by changing the current through the electromagnetic coil pair which were used to generate the magnetic field.  Both the magnetic field strength, as well as the electron speed were known so an equation can be derived to find the electron charge-mass ratio of the electrons.  Using this equation, we calculated an electron charge-mass ratio based on our experiment.  The significance ratio between the experimentally found value and known value was 0.15, which is not significantly different.  This means we were able to calculate the electron charge-mass ratio using this experimental setup with a high level of accuracy.

Antipyrine, a 5-membered heterocyclic ring including two nitrogens and a carbonyl, has been identified by colleagues at Mayo as an early-stage drug candidate for treatment of Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF). Our group is synthesizing analogs of antipyrine to better understand and optimize the spatial and polarity dimensions of the drug for improved IPF treatment.
Antipyrine has a small hydrogen atom attached at the C4-position. I will report studies for the preparation and purification of analogs in which the C4-hydrogen is replaced by a variety of alkyl groups varying in size and flexibility. About ten novel compounds have been prepared and will be reported. 
I have worked out a 3-step procedure in which commercially-available edaravone reacts with a variety of aldehydes and ketones, under catalysis by ethylene diamine diacetate. Reduction is then conducted using sodium cyanoborohydride. N-methylation is then conducted using dimethyl sulfate under solvent-free high-temperature conditions.  
The resulting product mixtures were worked up under aqueous-base conditions, and organic products were extracted using dichloromethane. The novel, previously unreported products were isolated and purified by either crystallization or by “combiflash” column chromatography. Reaction efficiencies and products were typically analyzed by either GC-MS and/or NMR spectroscopy.  
I will present results for a series of alkyl and aryl aldehydes and ketones. Optimization studies, procedural details, and NMR and GC-MS structural characterization, will be presented. A hypothetical mechanism for these reactions will also be presented. 

Teeya Doppler, Katrina Okeson, Brooke Walthal, Alexis Yliniemi
Department: Communication Studies
Abstract- 
Feeling lonely is an emotion that everyone has experienced at some point in their lives. It is also a feeling that some are consumed by because they feel like their community doesn't care for them. Engaging in community inclusion has endless benefits that increase the value of many people’s lives. Community inclusion is a win-win situation; improving the quality lives of others while granting a sense of purpose that you’ve been longing for. It allows us to cherish the simple joys in life and escape from strenuous realities. While comforting others, you’re sincerely encouraging yourself as well. This presentation is based on an assignment from Comm 211, Group and Team. 

Previous studies have shown that faster moving objects are perceived to last longer but it is not yet completely understood how this illusion occurs. With the top-down processing model, early visual neural correlates have shown to play a role, but which ones specifically and how do they work together? To further explore past findings, this study investigates the relationship between time dilation and color perception in regard to temporal frequency. METHODS/STIMULI: In this study, participants were asked to watch a set of multiple brief stimuli and to estimate the amount of time each stimulus spent on the screen. There were ten different stimuli presented to participants 5 times each, varying in temporal frequency and chromaticity; slow chromatic changing, medium chromatic changing, fast chromatic changing, achromatic changing, static chromatic, and static achromatic, blue-only changing, red-only changing fast and red-only changing slow. The average perceived times of each stimuli were collected and compared. It was hypothesized that faster chromatic changes would cause longer measures of perceived time (fast=longest, Med=middle, slow=shortest) and that stationary control conditions would cause longer measures of perceived time compared to the dynamic conditions. 
RESULTS/DISCUSSION: Preliminary data indicate a main effect of condition in which estimated times varied as a function of frequency of the chromatic stimuli. These results suggest that frequency of chromatic changes in the visual environment may serve as a low-level neural mechanism for time dilation.  

When an individual has a severe and/or terminal disease they may transition into palliative care or care that emphasizes the prevention or relief of suffering to enhance a patient’s quality of life. Swallowing and feeding problems are often seen in patients, which can lead to an increase in frustration surrounding care. Speech-Language Pathologists (SLPs) can provide patients and their families with important information about communication and swallowing difficulties that may develop in patients being treated in palliative care.

COVID-19 impacted more than human population, occupations, and businesses, it impacted how medical based Speech-Language Pathologists (SLPs) diagnose dysphagia, swallowing difficulties. Some symptoms of COVID-19 can cause respirtory infections or diseases. The lungs are a huge component of swallowing. If the passageway into the lungs is weakened or damaged, this can cause aspiration pneumonia. In order to properly diagnose an individual with aspiration pneumonia or dysphagia, instrumentals are required. SLPs are unable to medical diagnose dysphagia at a bedside evaluation. During the pandemic, the use of instrumentals were limited due to how contagious the coronavirus was. The pandemic has taught medical SLPs, and all health care workers, to collaborate more and better understand one's profession, as well as becoming more confident in their skills (e.g., diagnosing, treating, etc.). SLPs caseloads have increased in the number of swallowing evaluations since the start of the pandemic. 

With the dramatic change that happens when a student graduates from college it creates a whirlwind of emotions inside the soon to be graduate. This assignment was part of our capstone class COMM496.  In this presentation we each were asked to find a word that best captured where we are as a soon to be graduate. Our three words were stressed, adversity, and development. Interestingly enough all twenty-three students in our class had similar words. 

Abstract

In Minnesota, less than 30% of the teachers are male, and less than 8% in early childhood education. Purpose of this presentation is to promote more male teachers in the early childhood classrooms. In this presentation, the presenter will discuss the importance of male’s role in early childhood classrooms, challenges and issues male teacher candidates face in the education field. Suggestions for higher education faculty, administrators, and teachers will also be discussed. 

Archaeological illustration is a dying visualization form used in archaeology with the use of digital visualization methods taking precedence. However, the techniques and methods used in archaeological illustration can play a vital role in the recording of a site and its artifacts. Illustration methods are often used for site mapping and profile drawing, but it can also be used in visually recording artifacts, especially for publication. During the summer of 2022, a Minnesota State University Moorhead field school conducted excavations at Winnipeg Junction, a railroad ghost town active from 1887-1910 in Clay County, Minnesota. I utilized archaeological illustration throughout these excavations. This poster examines how illustration plays an important part in archaeology, its uses, benefits, and contribution to the archaeological record. 

Both saltwater and freshwater fish have predators in their natural environments. Many fish evolved to avoid being preyed upon recognizing the scent of their predators and the scents of the alarm cues released by other fish around them. When a fish is attacked or eaten their epidermal tissue is damaged causing the release of chemical alarm cue. This alarm cue alerts other fish that there is a predator nearby. Previous research suggested that when predators utilize suction feeding there is no damage to epidermal tissue and therefore no detectable alarm cues are released. In this experiment we asked if the way a predator attacks and eats its prey affects the amount of alarm cue released. We simulated different hunting styles of how predators may eat fish: suction feeding (swallowing whole), grasping (like a bird would), impaling (birds can do this), or chewing (like a crayfish would), and a blank water control. Chemical cues have been produced using zebrafish and methods that mimic these different hunting styles. Each trial involves recording the fish’s behavior before and after the test cue is injected into the tank. The behavior of the fish is recorded using grid lines on the tank making observations regarding how many times the fish crosses a line and what vertical distribution the fish is in every ten seconds for five minutes. Analysis of this data will be done using a one-way ANOVA with post-hoc pairwise comparisons among treatment groups

When it comes to finding a potential candidate for a company there are many factors. Factors include skills, knowledge, behavioral characteristics, and personality attributes. When analyzing a potential candidate, a recruiter must look into each one of these characteristics to determine whether or not the candidate would fit the role they are applying for. There may also be questions to measure behaviors in the candidate for further analysis. Position-specific looks into the talents and skills that are needed for the particular role. They may look into their style of work such as if they can go above and beyond when necessary. The other form, organizational competencies, looks into how the candidate will fit into the company. This presentation will be on competency-based hiring used from a past class based in Human Resources. 

The goal of this project is to develop a reinforcement learning artificial intelligence within the Unreal Engine 5 which will be trained specifically by the player to combat the player. Artificial intelligence has been used in video games to generate levels, control system interaction, play or assist players, and make non-playable characters more interesting and complex. Few games have non-playable characters which learn based on player interactions. Utilizing the format of a rogue-like, in which the player beats the game many times, the AI will be naturally given many opportunities to study its opponent with a variety of items. To do this the AI will keep a record of the interactions it has with the player during their duels, such as what items the player has, where the player is relative to itself, what attacks it used, where it moved, etc. So the AI knows it is behaving appropriately; these interactions will provide the AI with reinforcement through a reward, such as the amount in health the interaction cost the player or the AI. Through this research I hope to create a unique gameplay experience where the AI will eventually contest the player training it. 

Cells are fundamental units of life. They play a key role in the makeup of different components of an organism, such as various kinds of tissues. Since they are so integral to all of life, it is important to acquire more understanding about them. This can be done by culturing different types of cells. There are many aspects to cell development that are involved in cell cultures, and the one we have chosen to measure is the growth rate, which is determined by cell confluency. By recording the confluence level at different time points, we are able to approximate more accurately the rate at which cells grow, in regard to the frequency of media replacement. The confluency attained by cells over a period of time is dependent on the amount of fresh nutrients available for them and the surface area being covered. With a consistent surface area, a variation in the time interval between which fresh nutrients are introduced may play a role in the confluency variation over time. With that variable, we aim to establish a trend regarding the time of nutrient replacement versus the confluency level observed over time. This will be achieved by culturing four groups of A549 CCL-185 epithelial cancer cells with the varying media change rate of confluency being determined by selecting random locations on the flask and performing multiple cell counts and averaging the amount in various areas daily. Variation in the four confluency change rates will help to determine how these cells are affected by the frequency at which we change the cells’ media. These results will allow us to better understand cells as a whole, gain some insight in how cells need to be supplied with fresh nutrients, and the rate at which cells divide. The data gathered from these experiments can then be used for understanding different methods to investigate models of cancers and other diseases caused by dysfunction in cells.

The effects of physical exercise on cognitive performance are examined in this study. Gender differences in cognitive performance are also observed. Sixty students of Minnesota State University Moorhead (18-24 years old), from low-level psychology classes, completed a physical exercise questionnaire to determine their quasi-experimental group (less exercise or more exercise). Participants also completed a set of 30 questions adapted from the Wonderlic Personnel Test to determine their current cognitive performance score. It is predicted that participants with more physical exercise experience will earn higher scores on the Wonderlic Personnel Test compared to participants with lower experience. Furthermore, male participants, regardless of their exercise group, are expected to perform better in the Wonderlic Personnel Test.

This project was made in the purpose of showing how certain stylistic animated films can be translated into other styles and still be entertaining and unique. The choreography of the fight scene, taken from Puss in Boots and the Last Wish, was used as the center of interest for it being a perfect example of the topic being discussed.

The MSUM Planetarium works every year to write and produce new and interesting planetarium shows to bring in students and community members. This year, among others, we have developed a show based on the book series (soon to be television series) Percy Jackson and the Olympians. Come see how we incorporate astronomy, art, and storytelling to build Camp Half-Blood in the night sky!

The MSUM Planetarium is proud to host many local school groups throughout the Fargo-Moorhead area each year. Each of these field trips provides students with the opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of the world beyond our atmosphere. By aligning each show with the applicable state standards and connecting with classroom teachers, students at the Planetarium can explore content that they are discussing in thier home classrooms in a hands on way and return to thier schools with even more questions to trigger further classroom learning. Our goal is to foster curiosity, because we know that every student is a scientist.

The need for strong and unique passwords has become more critical than ever, with the proliferation of online accounts and the rise in cybercrime. However, the use of a single password for multiple accounts or storing passwords in an unsecured manner poses a significant risk to personal and sensitive data. Password breaches and identity theft have become more prevalent, highlighting the importance of secure password management.

Online password managers offer a solution to this problem, but they come with inherent risks associated with storing sensitive information on third-party servers. An offline password manager is a secure solution that eliminates these risks by storing all data locally on the user's device.

This project focuses on the development of an offline password manager that meets the highest security standards. The proposed solution involves the use of encryption algorithms and secure key storage to safeguard user data. A local database will store encrypted passwords, and the manager will use a master password to provide access to the stored passwords. The password manager will also provide a user-friendly interface, generate and store complex passwords, and enable easy access to user accounts without compromising security.

The effectiveness of the proposed solution will be evaluated through testing and user feedback to ensure it meets the highest security standards. An offline password manager provides a secure way to manage passwords, eliminates the need to remember multiple passwords, and provides peace of mind to users. This project addresses a significant problem in today's digital world and proposes an innovative solution that ensures password security and convenience.

This project examines the evolution of New Nollywood production value and filmic language. What were the cultural factors relevant to the emergence of New Nollywood as distinct from old Nollywood? How have the recent changes in African exhibition (from video films to streaming and theaters) changed form and style? What filmmaking elements do Nollywood filmmakers prioritize over others? The samples for the project are films that have won or were nominated for awards of cinematography or editing at the African Movie Academy Awards as well as films that have grossed highly. We viewed films on Netflix, ranging from the years 2009 to now, analyzing scenes and tracking examples of improving production values, different production priorities, and unique or self-referential cinematography. To clearly show the evolution, this project will provide clips and stills from Nigerian films that reflect the change in production value and filmic language of Nollywood films over time. The project will also highlight scholarly materials, basing the research on the essence of national cinema. 

Burnout is a debilitating psychological condition brought about by work-related frustrations that result in lowered productivity and morale (Ferney Harris et al., 2008). This poster presentation will discuss what burnout is, the rates of burnout among professionals, the effects of COVID-19, and how to prevent burnout. Due to increasing caseloads, some Speech language-pathologists (SLP) report working up to 20 more hours per week beyond their regular workload. SLPs are given increased responsibilities such as caseload, paperwork, individual education plan meetings, etc. These increased responsibilities lead to burnout when professionals are not given the time to take care of themselves outside of their contracted hours. Other causes of burnout include, but are not limited to, work-life balance, time limitations, nature of work, role ambiguity, salary, and coworkers. (Kalkhoff & Collins, 2012). School-based and hospital-based SLPs and graduate students experience burnout and are affected by COVID-19 in different ways. This discussion will provide the listener with a better overall understanding of burnout so they can recognize and prevent it. 

Following a stroke that results in aphasia, psychological health changes are a key area that needs to be taken into consideration. Psychosocial health encompasses many different states of mental, emotional, social, and spiritual well-being. This review of literature explored how professionals treat psychological health, life adjustments of the patient and their significant others, and promote understanding of the evaluation process. As Speech-Language Pathologists learn to provide care in the recovery process for psychosocial health, more research should be replicated for severity and time post-onset of a stroke. 

The use of social media in the workplace has entailed numerous situations both positive and negative for the employer and the employee. The undeniable fact is that in the last few decades, social media has polarized society enough to have the workplace also emerge and polarized into it. This work aims to show the importance of social networks in professional life, and highlight the importance that social media has in helping people get and maintain a job, avoid legal issues in the workplace, help promote companies and products, and properly communicate within the workplace. To better understand this subject, it is necessary to expose the jurisprudential position, presenting Brazilian courts that already meet the demand on this matter. The methodology used in this study is a quantitative method, analyzing existing data on the guidelines for using social media in the workplace and its positive and negative impacts. In the results, it was found making use of these tools as allies is of great importance to building a good network, disseminating personal portfolios, and seeking recommendations from friends, bosses, or former colleagues. When explored correctly, these can help build a positive and true image of yourself, however, the misuse of the same tools in the work environment can cause many consequences, including the dismissal of the employee.

The spiral from an issue to a full-blown crisis can happen in a matter of moments, and if an organization is unequipped to respond, consequences can exacerbate quickly. Crisis response plans and management teams are integral to the success of a business and cannot be ignored. Research conducted by Alfonso Gonzalez-Herrero and Cornelius Pratt have established an integrated symmetrical model for crisis management teams. It includes the framework of crises involving levels of problem-recognition, information seeking and processing, and the crisis life cycle. This research, applying Gonzalez-Herrero and Pratt’s framework, analyzes real-life crisis moments and their outcomes. Specifically, a comment made by Dan T. Cathy, CEO of Chick-Fil-A, stating what the public deemed anti-LGBTQ+ speech. This research analyzes Cathy’s comments, the effects on his business, the public’s reaction, and more. It also uses theory to determine the ineffective crisis response plan utilized and what could have been done to better manage the crisis.

Verbal fluency (VF) tasks are well-established and widely used tools in clinical assessment and research settings to evaluate executive functioning skills. They consist of generating as many items as possible that either begin with an initial letter (i.e., phonemic) or belong to a category (i.e., semantic) within 60 seconds. Due to deficits in executive functioning, individuals with Parkinson’s disease (PD) have increased difficulty with phonemic compared to semantic fluency. Although VF tasks are commonly used as intervention tools within speech-language pathology (SLP) clinical practice, there is limited research investigating their therapeutic benefit. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of a VF task intervention program at rehabilitating VF performances of an individual with PD. Additionally, this study investigated any effects of intervention on other measures of executive functioning. A quasi-experimental, pre-test/post-test design was used. The ten-session intervention period focused on teaching and practicing the clustering and switching approach to VF tasks. Results revealed no significant changes in VF performances after intervention. Significant changes to other executive functioning measures validate the need for further investigation into VF tasks as therapeutic tools for SLP.

Prior to its ban in 1996, leaded gasoline was available for use in all vehicles. We suspected that the use of this gasoline may have increased the concentration of lead in the soil near Highway 10. The purpose of this experiment is to determine the anthropogenic levels of lead in soil, and its relation to how lead partitions and deposits in soil.

Surveying lead within Moorhead and surrounding areas. We collected soil samples from some places within Moorhead itself along parks, residential areas, and our college campus. We collected soil along a transect eastward of Moorhead along highway 10. We also collected soil from two transects perpendicular from highway 10. 

In analyzing the samples, we began the process by evaporating water from the samples at a temperature in the range of 100°-105°C for 18-19 hours, maintaining the temperature to prevent evaporating any volatile or trace elements. Using an agate mortar and pestle, we ground the dried samples to a fine powder. Next, the Hitachi X-Met8000 Handheld-analyzer was used to analyze the elemental composition of the samples through x-ray fluorescence. Then, using the data collected, we recorded it digitally to create graphs, tables, and spreadsheets. In compiling data, we aimed to determine correlations in lead levels. 

In our observations, we noticed some statistically significant trends. Among these, we noticed a trend in depth, an East-West trend, and a significant northward trend perpendicular to highway 10. We did not observe anything statistically significant southward perpendicular to highway 10, but did observe a remarkable amount of variability within town.

Our results show that the agricultural areas are well below the EPA guidelines for residential gardens of 100 ppm. We plan to further examine the relationship between depth and concentration.

The purpose of this abstract is to discuss the impact of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) on communication disorders in elementary-aged children, and it will review therapeutic strategies an SLP may use when working with a child with ADHD.  Not only will an SLP provide an array of therapeutic interventions, but they will also collaborate with the child’s teacher, caregivers, and even peers at times to create a more holistic approach with ample opportunities of strategy carry-over. It is important to note that an SLP will notdiagnose a child with ADHD but may refer the student to a professional that can. Although the SLP can not diagnose ADHD, SLPs will use different assessment tools to determine the student’s areas of needs. Once the areas of need are identified, the SLP will begin to administer therapy. This can be done through teaching and guiding the student to form a better grasp on control over their inattentiveness, hyper fixation, hyperactivity/impulsivity, and other coexisting disabilities that may be present through appropriate therapeutic strategies. Being exposed to the characteristics of ADHD and which intervention techniques an SLP may use to help their student advance with their education responsibilities will enhance the importance of intervention while developing an understanding of why an SLP would work with a student with ADHD. 
Keywords: ADHD, SLP, Elementary-Aged Children, Therapy, Intervention

The structure of the classroom and how we get information is evolving. What methods could be employed to help increase understanding of educational subjects? One way of increasing comprehension and retention of information is increasing the emotional engagement and content of the topic being studied (Zacoletti et al, 2019).  Fiction writing includes emotional language and concepts that may increase overall retention of information. However, research on this topic has not used systematic ways to show whether the reader is truly attending to or reacting to the emotional content of the reading material. This study examined the difference in factual retention on fiction (more emotional) and nonfiction passages.  In this study participants read a fiction and nonfiction passage.  Participants took an emotional response survey and a quiz for each passage.  Eye tracking data on some participants was also collected using a Tobii x120 system. It is anticipated that the quiz scores on the fiction passages will be higher than the nonfiction passages. To measure whether the fiction passages were in fact leading to different patterns of reading or more emotional responses, emotional response survey results and eye fixations on emotive language will be analyzed. 

This research project was conducted to learn more about students with emotional behavior disorders that are incarcerated. We wanted to extend this further by looking deeper into the education they receive while incarcerated. We hope this brings awareness not only to the justice system but the toll it takes on students within the justice system.  

A voice that does not match gender identity can negatively impact the quality of life and safety of those who identify as transgender. Gender-affirming voice therapy is a skilled service that Speech Language Pathologists (SLP) can provide to this population. The aim of this research was to examine the relationship between voice perception and quality of life in transgender individuals to help SLPs provide a higher quality of care.

It has been found that persons with aphasia (PWA) often experience a decrease in their self-perceptions, social networks, and quality of everyday interactions. They also have reported feelings of grief or loss and a lack of psychosocial support. To improve the quality of speech-language therapy services offered to PWA, it is imperative that SLPs know what techniques are supported by research to improve the psychosocial well-being of someone with an aphasia diagnosis. The articles referenced in this paper were critiqued and vetted using best clinical judgment. Common themes among the articles were then identified and cross-checked to avoid conflicting findings or conclusions. The main conclusions of this paper lead to best practices and services offered by SLPs to PWA.

My name is Cassie Ishaug. I am a sophomore here at MSUM. I am a double major in Spanish and Teaching English as a Second Language. At MSUM I work at the Academic Success Center as a Spanish Tutor and at the Planetarium. I am also the president of the MSUM Spanish Club or El Club de Español. At the planetarium I was initially hired to make Spanish translations of scripts for shows that were already written. The director of the Planetarium, Sara Schultz, offers us student workers quite a bit of freedom when it comes to projects that we work on as long as we run them by her first. When I started in the Planetarium last year I was just learning the ropes. At the Student Academic Conference last year my presentation was on the show that I had completely translated from English to Spanish, but in my second year here we realized how much more I can do. For this year's Student Academic Conference I am going to show all of the other amazing projects that I have gotten the opportunity to work on. Some major examples are a Mayan show that I wrote and working with the hundreds of children that come through the Planetarium for field trips and public shows on a weekly basis. During my presentation I will go into more depth on the amazing things we do in the planetarium and some of my current and past projects, because there are quite a few. 

Minnesota has a rich history of precontact Native American sites spanning thousands of years. Archaeologists split this timeline into several different periods including, the Paleoindian, Archaic, Initial Woodland, Terminal Woodland, and the Mississippian. After the introduction of pottery during the Initial Woodland Period, archaeologists can further refine the later periods by distinctions in pottery such as temper, paste, and decoration or style. Pottery thus becomes a primary tool for archaeologists to assign relative dates to archaeological assemblages and sites. One such site is the Crave Site located on the shores of Pelican Lake in western Minnesota. The Crave site is a pre contact site first identified in 2000 during the construction of the then landowner’s home. An area rich in ceramics was identified, possibly indicating long, repeated patterns of occupation. In this poster I provide an overview of the ceramic analysis of pottery shards recovered from the Crave Site that was collected during early site survey by Minnesota State University Moorhead archaeology students as part of an ANTH 300 class.

MSUM has been enrolled in the global research network, the Nutrient Network (NutNet) for a total of seven years out of a ten year commitment. The “North Pond” site at the MSUM Regional Science Center was set up with the intention of following NutNet protocol to collect data on grassland ecology. The site is split into three blocks, each of which has 10 5x5 m plots within them; the thirty plots are fertilized with a factorial combination of Nitrogen, Potassium, and Phosphorus (NPK) nutrients according the the NutNet protocol (Nutrient Network, 2016). The data collected in these plots includes plant biomass, as well as species abundance and diversity data (Nutrient Network, 2023) Along with the annual fertilizer treatments, this site was burned in May of 2018 during a prescribed fire. Controlled burns have been shown to successfully achieve objectives of land management by the Minnesota DNR (MN DNR Prescribed Burn Handbook, 2020), which has led us to the question: how does prescribed burning impact plant biomass accumulation overtime on our prairies? We compared seasonal aboveground biomass data and light levels (Photosynthetically Active Radiation) at the ground surface from 2018-2022 to analyze the impact that controlled burning has had on the North Pond site and what variation there has been in plant and litter composition over the past five years. 

Aphasia is an acquired language impairment with novel characteristics that impact one’s ability to communicate and receive information effectively. Traditionally, alternative forms of communication were not introduced into aphasia rehabilitation until language recovery came to a perceived plateau. However, recent research has demonstrated language recovery may occur well into the chronic stages of aphasia. This review of the literature focused on Visual scene displays, a high-technology form of augmentative and alternative communication, a new type of rehabilitation practice that has shown positive outcomes in the chronic stages of individuals’ language recovery.

Aphasia is an acquired disorder that is neurologic in nature and can be characterized by having negative impacts on communication (Attard et al., 2015), which, in turn, can have potential impacts on social participation (Lanyon et al., 2018) and relationships (Azios et al., 2022). While most individuals with aphasia will make some progress towards regaining skills they previously had, many will never be able to recover their overall communication and mobility skills. This can drastically affect an individual’s participation in social activities and lead to social isolation (Dalemans et al., 2010). This poster will focus on the importance of group therapy that is led by professionals to help answer this question: What is the link between aphasia group therapy and the reduction of social isolation? It was found that many individuals with aphasia often will isolate themselves due to various factors, including negative and changing self-acceptance, altered friendships and relationships, communication deficits, and declined social participation. Group therapy can provide many benefits to the quality of life of individuals with aphasia.

Understanding student misconceptions of a content allows for educators to teach their students in the most effective way. This study investigates misconceptions related to immunology among undergraduate students. One Hundred and Eleven true or false questions pertinent to immunology were distributed to eight institutions who provided a variety of responses. The data was analyzed to find the percent answered correctly with an explanation per each question. Thematic coding helped to analyze the overarching misconception related to five core concepts within immunology. My analysis shows an average of 18.2% of all respondents offered an explanation and of that, 52% answered the question correctly with a correct explanation. Developing interventions to correct and prevent these misconceptions will allow for proper education on immunology and public health.  

This academic paper discusses a research and development project to build a smart mirror with facial recognition technology to display the user's personal information and calendar details. The project addresses the inconvenience of accessing multiple devices for personal data and the high cost of current smart mirrors. The project uses facial recognition data obtained through a raspberry pi and a camera integrated into the mirror to solve this problem. The user's personal information and calendar details from their device are then displayed on the mirror screen.

The project's success is evaluated based on the accuracy of facial recognition technology, the user's ability to access their information, and the overall cost of the smart mirror. The paper highlights the project's broader impact, which includes providing quick and easy access to personal information, reducing the need to check multiple devices, improving the user experience with an advanced and user-friendly interface, and contributing to a more connected society by improving technology integration into daily life. Overall, the paper contributes to advancing knowledge in facial recognition technology and the development of more advanced and user-friendly smart devices.

The invention of the dry cell battery made safe, portable electricity available to many people in the United States. During the summer of 2022, I took part in a field school that excavated part of a ghost town called Winnipeg Junction. Here my dig partner and I uncovered a large dry cell battery in our unit. This discovery inspired me to investigate the history of these batteries and how they related to the railroad. Which has led to a greater understanding of how they were used and why they came about. 

Climate change has caused many effects on our world already and it will only get worse. In order to obtain the energy needed to power the world we have used energy sources like coal power plants, natural gas, and petroleum. All these ways required the burning of fossil fuels. Burning fossil fuels releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere which can cause detrimental effects such as an increase in severe weather patterns such as floods, wildfires, and droughts, as well as a rise in sea level due to the melting of the polar ices caps to name a few. Some ways that we have tried to combat these impacts are renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power. These sources are very reliable and don’t release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. However, a lot of people believe that we should rely on energy sources that we already have rather than expanding the renewable energy sector.

Fossil fuels will run out eventually so it is inevitable that we will have to find new energy sources. One very efficient and very controversial energy source is through the process of nuclear fission. Nuclear fission plants have been providing clean energy with a lot less production of carbon dioxide but there are downfalls such as radioactive waste, potential accidents, and something else. The best option of all doesn’t quite exist yet: the power of the sun, nuclear fusion. Nuclear fusion reactions have been known to yield millions of times more energy than nuclear fission reactions. This energy can be harnessed without releasing any carbon dioxide or creating radioactive waste if using deuterium. Deuterium is found in seawater and would be an almost inexhaustible energy source. Nuclear fusion reactors are how we will save the planet from ourselves.

The goal of this project is to determine exactly which properties make a given medium an effective neutron moderator. Having a firm grasp on these properties in question allows for extrapolation, which may lead to more effective or affordable moderators being identified for future use. Heat capacity should also be considered, which may require fundamentally differing reactor designs. The final product of this project should be a cited comprehensive overview of what makes a good moderator.

Information will be collected from a variety of sources, including those drawn from but not limited to that which is available at the MSUM Library. 

               SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) has without a doubt played an exponential role in our lives regarding both present and future times. During the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a minimal amount of cases of seasonal viruses (specifically influenza) that occurred within both the United States and the world. All of this data will be found in the Center of Disease Control (CDC). Not only did we see a lack of seasonal virus cases while we were in the epidemic, but there was a rapid increase in influenza cases immediately following the reintegration of society. This includes both the time that the peak began to rise and the abnormal number of cases so early within the season. My goal was to visualize and understand both the case rates in very exact detail that can be imagined comparing the case rates of COVID-19 and influenza. With this data visualization, we can infer and understand new potential public health policies that can allow for preventative care for future pandemics and yearly seasonal viruses. This includes the reliability of masking, social distancing, and promotion of good hygiene. All these public policies can be found via the promotional campaigns that the United States government provided throughout the pandemic.

Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) is a gene editing tool typically used to modify the genome of mammalian cells by injecting DNA into a living organism and uses a sequence of RNA and guides the Cas9 protein to show the correct locations to cut. A new DNA template allows for the cut to be both repaired and altered. Our goal is to edit the A549 (a type of human lung epithelial cell) line to knock out the Tet methylcytosine dioxygenase 2 (Tet2 gene). The Tet2 gene allows for the coding of its dioxygenase enzyme which codes for a protein that specifically regulates DNA. Tet2 plays a role in the activation of genes that are responsible for both immune responses and inflammation within the lungs. We expect that after Tet2 is knocked out there will be changes in both cellular growth and morphology. Using this technique, we will have the potential to reduce the growth of cancerous cells found in both the lungs and other cancer cells. There is also an opportunity for us to investigate the altered expression of specific chemokines and lymphocytes. Allowing CRISPR to be a viable option to reduce cell growth in people with multiple different types of cancer. 

Aspergillus fumigatus (Af) is a commonly inhaled, respiratory fungal pathogen and an allergen found in flooded indoor environments, household dust, soil, and plant matter. While a competent immune system effectively clears the inhaled fungus, this same fungus poses a significant threat to weakened immune systems due to its potential to invade the lungs, bloodstream, and brain tissue. The mouse genome is 99% similar to the human genome and can effectively model the effects of inhaled Af (Guénet, 2005). Antibodies play a crucial role in neutralizing pathogens and in mediating an allergic response. In this study, I will investigate the IgE response against Af, and particularly, if TLR7 protein deficiency in mice can influence IgE production in a time and gender specific manner. Based on literature review, I hypothesize that TLR7 presence is critical for enhanced IgE production against Af, in female and male mice. Results from such studies will inform the design of treatment and diagnostic options for humans, against Af.

The objective of this research is to investigate the potential use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the prediction and diagnosis of rare genetic diseases. Artificial intelligence (AI) has become a valuable tool for predicting and diagnosing rare genetic diseases. The traditional diagnostic techniques & methods for rare genetic diseases, rely on expensive and time-consuming genetic testing, could take years to even decades to diagnose, which can lead to delayed diagnoses and possible death. AI offers a faster and more accurate alternatives through the analysis of genetic and clinical data and has shown promising results in predicting and diagnosing rare genetic diseases using machine learning. This technology has proven effective in identifying genetic mutations, enabling early disease detection, and developing personalized treatment plans. Throughout this research, we’ll explore how AI is currently being used to predict and diagnose rare genetic diseases, the different types of data used by healthcare systems, comparison of different AI algorithms and models created to predict rare genetic diseases, and the accuracy in diagnosing rare genetic diseases. With the increasing availability of genomic data, AI has the potential to significantly improve the diagnosis and treatment of rare genetic diseases, ultimately improving patient outcomes. The potential impact of this research is significant, benefiting millions of people worldwide who live with rare genetic diseases and improving the lives of patients, families, health administrators, doctors, and clinics.

According to the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA), approximately 1-2 out of 1,000 children have childhood apraxia of speech. Childhood apraxia of speech (CAS) is a neurological speech sound disorder in which children have difficulties creating accurate movements while speaking. These difficulties can cause various psychological damages to children with CAS and can cause a decline in academic performance.

            The purpose of this presentation is to identify the psychological impact for children with CAS and to discuss possible ways to decrease these detrimental impacts. In this presentation, the presenter will discuss possible ways to create inclusive classrooms where children with CAS can learn and develop effectively. Suggestions for current educators and teacher candidates will be presented.

When a human feels pain, nerves signal your brain that it’s time to retreat. It’s a default reaction to avoid further harm that every human experiences. Art is the creative process of putting human emotion, thoughts, or memories on a canvas. Typically, it’s something that is displayed on a wall and is meant to be still and quiet. When one combines pain and art through performance, unease settles in, and the threshold of what might be too far begins to challenge society's norms. To use the human body as your medium is a choice that not many would make. The liveliness and fragility of flesh is too vulnerable to convey the deep internal messages an artist wishes to express. This concern is what makes the human body so effective as a medium. Serbian artist Marina Abramovic (b.1949) is known for performing daunting tasks that distress her body and mind. She often puts herself in harm's way to challenge her endurance. She assesses her limits while putting herself on display in close proximity with danger. In the piece Art Must Be Beautiful, Artists Must Be Beautiful from 1975, Abramovic violently brushes her hair back with one hand while combing it forward with the other. She repeats this motion as well as the words “Art must be beautiful, artists must be beautiful” for an hour straight. By executing this rather simple feminine task in an aggressive way, Abramovic calls attention to the sexist expectations of the art world and ultimately exposes the damage that these inveterate mentalities can breed. Abramovic is the pioneer of how impactful performance art can be and why her bodies of work, and performance art as a whole, is incredibly important to women and society. 

The purpose of this literature review was to determine evidence based practice of therapy approaches used in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) by speech-language pathologist for infants experiencing difficulty with feeding and swallowing. The poster provides an overview of dysphagia, causes of dysphagia in preterm infants, explains the role of a speech-language pathologist in the NICU, and describes current pediatric dysphagia treatment. The five therapy approaches currently used in the NICU include cue-based feeding, positioning, oral motor intervention, nonnutritive sucking, and thickening agents.

This project is centered around an analysis of Indian cinema’s representation of the British Raj period, one of the darkest times in Indian history. The research questions guiding the project are - How do Indian filmmakers represent British rule? How has the portrayal of the colonizers changed over the years? How accurate are these films to the actual history? To answer these questions, the project analyzed Shaheed, The Legend of Bhagat Singh, RRR, Lagaan, Kesari, and other related films produced at different points in Indian cinema history. These titles were selected to gain a better insight into the progression of how Indian cinema has depicted major historical events that occurred during the British Raj period. Our approach for this project uses the framework of national cinema.

The real projective plane, PR2, is most easily thought of if we start with the Euclidean plane. In the Euclidean plane most lines intersect at a single point. With the obvious exception of parallel lines. This is where the projective plane comes in. We could think of an equivalence class of lines where lines are in the same equivalence class if they are parallel (or in other words have the same slope). Note there are an infinite number of these equivalence classes as there are a infinite number of potential slopes. Then we can add in a point at infinity for each of these equivalency classes where the set of parallel lines meet.

We can take this a step farther in our mathematical modal. If we want to physically see these points at infinity in our modal. We can scale our modal to be a unit circle. Then we can create a program to graph this and see if it has the properties Wed mathematical expect.

Research showed faculty-student interactions impact student engagement and was a primary factor to student retention (Kuh & Hu, 2001; Means & Pyne, 2017; Swecker et al., 2013; Tinto, 1987). The literature revealed while retention may be an issue for many institutions, there is a greater need to address retention specifically related to first-generation college students (FGCS). Students often seek advice from faculty and staff when faced with questions about their academic progress. Faculty and staff voices need to be collected regarding their perceptions of the effectiveness of the support systems used within an institution that promote retention for FGCS. This dissertation research study aimed to explore faculty and staff perceptions of the factors that influence retention with a qualitative-dominant explanatory sequential mixed-methods research design. In the first phase, twenty-three (n = 23) faculty and staff at a two-year community college in southeastern Minnesota participated in an online questionnaire. Key findings from Phase One included faculty and staff perceived Academic Integration, Academic Conscientiousness, Support Service Satisfaction, and Financial Strain as having a significant impact on retention of FGCS and they perceive themselves as slightly prepared to advise FGCS on topics related to Financial Strain. In the second phase, eight (n = 8) faculty and staff from the same institution participated in an interview. Key findings from Phase Two included 50% of faculty and staff commented that the institution’s support systems for FGCS were effective; of those, 66.6% of staff commented these support systems were effective whereas 40% of faculty perceived the supports as effective. 
This research study added to the body of literature regarding research that focused on faculty and staff perceptions regarding FGCS retention, the use of the mixed-methods approach to explore retention, and the exploration of FGCS retention at a two-year institution. 

The Dnmt and Tet genes both play a role in gene regulation through methylation and demethylation of DNA respectively. Ten eleven translocation (Tet) proteins are a dioxygenase that catalysis the demethylation of 5 methyl cytosine. DNA methyltransferase (Dnmt) proteins are enzymes responsible for the methylation of 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5-HmC) to 5-methylcytosine. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction (QPCR) is a method that utilizes DNA replication to determine the expression of genes in a sample. The qPCR data we collected was from an experiment that measured the expression of the Tet and Dnmt genes when mice were exposed to a mixed allergen. Gene expression was recorded for both male and female mice. The mice were separated by gender and further grouped into a vehicle and mixed allergen groups. Mice in the vehicle group did not receive any treatment and those in the mixed allergen group were dosed with a mixed allergen.  Based on our results we noticed some trends in the data. The levels of Tet expression decreased after being exposed to the fungus in both males and females. The levels of Dnmt expression went down after the mice were exposed to the fungus for both males and females. This study is important because it opens the door to different studies that focus on the Tet and Dnmt genes. The data analysis from this study can be used as a reference for experiments trying to look at the effect of expression changes of these genes. 

Infectious disease-related literacy influences all aspects of our lives. These include decisions related to vaccinating ourselves, our family and/or friends; preventative behaviors (like masking, hand hygiene, and our handling of antibiotics); as well as our individual contributions and handlings towards large-scale public health issues (like climate change and its impact on emerging infectious diseases). In this study, we aimed to assess the infectious disease-related terminology knowledge among MSUM undergraduate students and its correlation (if any) with a student’s age, year in college, number of college-level science courses taken, religious beliefs, moral/philosophical beliefs, presence or absence of an illness among a known relative(s), and current/prior occupation(s). It is our hope that, with this study’s data, more effective science-based pedagogical techniques can be designed—thus preventing harmful scientific misconceptions from developing and protecting our community’s health.

Guitar tablature is a form a musical notation that show which strings to play, and which frets the strings need to be pressed down on. It is uncommon for guitar tabs to display any indicators as to which fingers should be used to press the strings with. Experienced guitar players will have no issue figuring out fingerings on their own, but this may be more a struggle to a novice. When the fingerings are given in the tabs, learning to play a song becomes as simple as following a recipe. My personal desire to learn songs easily without delving deeper into learning the intricacies of the guitar is what drove me to pursue this project. I will explore the use of reinforcement learning to try to generate fingerings for tabs given in ASCII format. Reinforcement learning is a type of machine learning that involves an agent taking in observations and making decisions to optimize a reward. This seems to be well suited for the use of making decisions to generate optimal fingerings for guitar tablature.

Around a decade ago, scientists discovered a new technique in biotechnology that focused in the manipulate of an organism's DNA using to create new traits or functions. As a field of biotechnology, genetic engineering is a process that uses laboratory-based technologies to alter the DNA makeup of an organism. It can involve changing, deleting, or adding genes from different species or sources, such as bacteria, plants, or animals. Genetic engineering has many applications, such as improving crops, producing medicines, creating transgenic animals, and studying diseases.

Genetic engineering has many challenges in the health department that need to be addressed and regulated. Families who have watched their children suffer from catastrophic genetic disorders now have the option of editing nasty mutations out of the gene pool. One unanswered challenge is where to draw the boundary between illness treatment and augmentation, and how to enforce it in light of varied views regarding disorders like deafness. Our goal will be to get an answer to this question and found how medicine can use engineering to repair or replace a defective gene or introducing therapeutic genes to fight disease. By using gene targeting, nuclear transplantation, transfection of synthetic chromosomes or viral insertion we can expand our learning in genetics engineering far more than ever before.

Invasions of Privacy

            Eli Cuchna will be researching the development how big corporations will take customers personal data and sell it for profit. He is wondering who collects the big data, what type of data is collected, when does it happen, where it gets sent to, and why it is such a big concern.

            Eli is concerned with how little individuals care about their data being stolen. As computer systems become more integrated with our lives, more of it can also be logged by our devices. This research is to dive into this situation and conclude of much of a problem is really is.

            The type of data needed is information about how companies collect user’s data, what type of data is collected, and what is done with it. Data will be collected from MSUM’s library, scholarly articles, and other trustworthy sources. These sources will then be used to support the arguments against the invasions of privacy.

            Success of the research will be decided upon the factors of determining the problem of privacy violation and the severity, that the topic should be comprehensive to the audience, and that they audience should rethink of how companies use their data.

            The significance of this project is to bring awareness to how companies mistreat our data and the risks that come along with it. Eli hopes to affect how students and faculty think about what information they put online.

            Eli hopes to eventually see laws put in place to protect people around the world from big companies stealing data and selling it for profit. He wants people to be more aware of how data is used by companies.

Antipyrine, a 5-membered heterocyclic ring including two nitrogens and a carbonyl, has been identified by colleagues at Mayo as an early-stage drug candidate for treatment of Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF).  Our group is synthesizing analogs of antipyrine to better understand and optimize the spatial and polarity dimensions of the drug for improved IPF treatment.

Previous work has prepared pyrazolidinone rings with various N2-aryl groups.  I have now worked out a novel 3-step one-vial procedure in which the C4-C5 single bonds in pyrazolidinone rings can be converted to C=C double bonds as found in antipyrine.  

The procedure involves C4-deprotonation by the strong base LDA under anhydrous, air-free conditions in THF solvent.  The resulting enolate anion is then treated with trimethylsilyl chloride.  The resulting silyl enol ether is then treated with molecular iodine.  The resulting C4-iodide then undergoes spontaneous elimination to produce the desired C4=C5 double bond. 

Products were worked up with water and extracted using dichloromethane.  Products were then purified by “combiflash” chromatography.  Reactions and products were typically analyzed by GC-MS and NMR spectroscopy.  

I will present novel products, procedural details, and NMR and GC-MS structural characterization.  A hypothetical mechanism for the transformation will be presented.  

In these novel, never-before-reported analogs, the N2-phenyl of antipyrine is replaced by a variety of more complex aryl groups.  These vary in volume, and some contain nitrogen, oxygen, or fluorine atoms that could impact drug binding. 

Past research using a variety of mock jury paradigms has investigated the relationship between a defendant’s race and conviction rates, generally finding that black defendants are judged as guilty more often than white defendants.  The purpose of the current study was to further investigate the race-guilt relationship as a function of crime type, specifically testing one "stereotypically black" crime and one "stereotypically white" crime.  Undergraduate participants read a mock court case where defendant race (black and white) and crime type (burglary and embezzlement) were manipulated, and then provided a judgement of the defendant’s guilt.  Contrary to expected, the white defendant was rated as more guilty than the black defendant.  Additionally, the effect of crime type was only marginally significant, with no interactive effects of race and crime detected.  We discuss these contradictory findings in light of various individual difference factors and offer suggestions for future research.  

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a leading cause of death and disability in the United States. Resulting deficits depend on various factors such as severity and type of the injury; however, social communication is often impacted. A speech-language pathologist is involved in the assessment, planning, and treatment of individuals with TBI. The purpose of this study was to review evidence-based treatments of social communication deficits resulting from traumatic brain injury (TBI) in adults. The two types of treatment examined within this study are group intervention and communication partner training (CPT). The presenter will discuss the various aspects of each treatment and their respective efficacies, as well as implications for future research. The target audience for this presentation is those within the field of speech-language pathology and related professionals who treat individuals with TBI.

Climate change is one of the most prevalent problems we face today and is also an example of a wicked problem. A wicked problem is a problem that is not easily solved, or impossible to solve, due to its complex nature. Climate change causes long term shifts in temperature that not only has a drastic effect on our quality of oxygen, but it also harms our animals and wreaks havoc to our ecosystems. Wildfires are one of the main factors contributing to this disaster, and they will never operate as a natural ecosystem process which is one of the many reasons why it is considered a wicked problem. We can help minimize this natural disaster by increasing resources allocated to firefighting and prevention, reducing greenhouse gasses, removing dead trees from forests, and developing recovery plans. While these minimization efforts sound effective, it will take the help of business analytics to interpret data, make predictions, and recommend solutions for the best course of action.

In recent years, there has been an increase in awareness for the neglect of ocean conservation and there have been numerous events that have had a great impact on biodiversity. One example to visualize this is the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. The overabundance of trash present in the ocean has led to organisms like loggerhead sea turtles mistaking plastic bags for jellyfish when foraging or seals becoming entangled in fishing nets. In turn, this leads to the death of these organisms, which affects overall biodiversity. What is biodiversity and why is it important? All species are interconnected, with food webs, hierarchal systems, and chemical cycles. Because of this, all organisms to some extent rely on resources from other organisms. In the MSUM Oceanarium, there is an exhibit that is meant to display biodiversity as well as spark discussion on conservation efforts and the importance of maintaining a healthy ecosystem in the presence of trash pollution.

Chemical cues are used by fish in order to detect predators. One major chemical source is alarm cues released when prey are injured by a predator attack, indicating an increased predation risk (Ferrari et al. 2010). A large amount of research has been done on the behavior and ecology of how prey use these chemical cues to reduce their risk of being killed (Ferrari et al. 2010). However, research on the effects hypoxic conditions have on this behavior is fairly new. The reason this question is important is due to how climate change is warming water globally. Warm water carries less oxygen than cold water. Alongside this, climate change is also increasing rates of biochemical oxygen demand of organic materials in sediments. Both of these factors together will lead to more severe and long-lasting depletion of dissolved oxygen. This leads us to ask the question; what effect will hypoxia have on chemically-mediated risk assessment by fishes? Previous work by Strand et al. (2022) showed reduced overt behavioral responses to alarm cues under conditions of hypoxia. However, what the study did not show was if hypoxic conditions also limited fishes’ learning capabilities and this is what we wish to examine in trials.

Mechanical ventilation is a process that uses a machine called a ventilator to assist or replace someone's breathing abilities if said person is extremely ill. Using differential equations, we can model the volume of a single lung compartment while a patient inhales and exhales. 

This is a literature review on the topic of understanding interprofessional roles in diagnosis and intervention of school-aged students with dyslexia. The article explains dyslexia and the eligibility process to determine services for students who meet the criteria. The article explores two models during the assessment process, including response to intervention (RTI) and the discrepancy model, and two models during the intervention process, including direct and indirect intervention. Throughout the assessment and intervention process, it examines the roles of general education teachers, special education teachers, reading specialists, speech-language pathologists, and school psychologists. Through research, it was found that there is an overlap of professionals that assesses and provide intervention for grade school students with dyslexia. Additionally, the literature review explains the importance of collaboration between professionals, as it concluded many professionals have the jurisdiction to provide services, but not all are best suited (Spencer et al., 2018). 

        In 2019, the travel and tourism sector created a $53.4 billion trade surplus for the United States economy and supported over one million jobs (Raimondo, 2022). Yet, the literature on tourism-related economic growth is inconsistent. While most researchers identify a positive relationship between tourism and economic growth, some find this relationship depends on model specification and theoretical context. Evaluating literature pre- and post-economic crises provides an opportunity to review the alternative data, methodologies, and findings of prior studies. This study compares and contrasts the economic experiences of small, tourism-dependent nations with the United States from 2000 to 2022 to clarify the influence of the tourism industry in different destinations. Research findings can inform public policy decisions being made to stimulate the travel and tourism industry as the global economy recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Minorities in public schools are underrepresented with student to staff ratio. According to Census Bureau (2023), 68.8% of teachers are white and 31.2% are nonwhite in the US public schools between 2010-2019. The purpose of this presentation is to share the challenges minority students experience daily in their classrooms. Growing up in a predominantly white community has been incredibly challenging as students. It was an inspiration for the presenters to choose the path of becoming educators. In this presentation, we will share our own stories we experienced in classrooms. We will also share suggestions for teachers, university faculty, and students.

First, the United States saw in 1979 the Three Mile Island nuclear incident. The development of nuclear power plants in the United States decreased because of public sentiment. In 1986, the disastrous Chernobyl nuclear power plant explosion in Soviet Ukraine occurred, devastatingly impacting the environment and the people of Ukraine. Added to the crisis at Three Mile Island, the global community grew leery of any future nuclear power plants. Fewer plants were constructed because of these accidents, but new plants were built, as time can change attitudes. In the last decade or so, people have started to call for more energy from nuclear plants. Their trust, or possibly just the basic need for energy and push to move away from fossil fuels, drove the push towards more use of nuclear energy. Just when momentum for more nuclear power plants seemed on the upswing, nature dealt the nuclear industry a nasty blow. It came in the form of an earthquake and a tsunami. The Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Japan was hit by both, causing all three nuclear reactor cores to melt down. This presentation will examine this most recent accident, its immediate impact on the Japanese people and the surrounding area, and the long-term issues Japan will have to deal with. Then it will look at how the accident at Fukushima has affected current nuclear energy utilization and how it is influencing the future development of nuclear energy globally.

Problem: Myasthenia Gravis (MG) is an autoimmune disease that causes ocular/general muscle weakness as well as speech and language difficulties in regard to dysarthria, dyspnea, and dysphagia. All areas impact the scope of the speech-language pathologist (SLP). Methodology: A research review was completed to determine the impact of MG on the clinical practice of SLP. A plethora of evidence-based studies were examined to determine the best practice for an SLP when treating dysarthria, dyspnea, and dysphagia in patients with MG. Results: Research found that the treatment of dysarthria in patients with MG may cause an increase in muscle weakness, suggesting that an SLP may not target repetitive exercises and vocal usage, but may instead target education regarding compensatory strategies for the patient. Research completed by Sapienza et al. (2011), Wang et al. (2019), Rassler et al. (2007), and Weiner et al. (2015) did find success with respiratory training techniques, specifically Expiratory Muscle Strength (EMS) training and Respiratory Muscle Endurance Training (RMT). Finally, the benefit of education and counseling to patients regarding their MG-related dysphagia was noted. Implications: There were many shortfalls in research such as the lack of research from the perspective of an SLP and in regard to Myasthenia Gravis as a whole. Despite these shortfalls, the research indicates that the role of an SLP when treating MG is to focus on education/counseling as well as teaching the individual compensatory strategies and interventions to strengthen or maintain the patient's muscle functions. 

Artificial Intelligence is an often misunderstood resource that is at its most valuable when being used to take on the most critical problems facing humanity; among the highest of importance in those critical problems is climate change, due to its potentially catastrophic nature. Lots of energy has gone into the development and use of AI, which in turn burns fossil fuels, releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, and further advancing the impacts of climate change.

 In order to account for all of the environmental damage that the development of artificial intelligence may cause, AI can be used as a tool to reduce the world’s carbon emissions. This project researches exactly how artificial intelligence can and is being used to fight climate change, what impact it is and eventually could make, and if this is sufficient enough evidence in support of the continued use of AI.

To come to this conclusion, the impact of the current implementations of AI for the good of the environment will need to be assessed requiring the data on how much of a carbon footprint is created, and what the offset is in comparison to the impact it makes in the pursuit of a world no longer at risk of environmental damage. 

Abstract

Active learning styles can help students engage in the classroom. In many of the meta-analyzed studies of education active learning styles were found to increase student performance according to Freeman et al (2013). The proposed study is investigating how professors’ intentions and attitudes pertaining to their preferred teaching methods. This is shown by comparing the professor’s intentions and attitudes toward using an active teaching style to improve how they teach in their classroom. We predict the faculty who have the most intention towards using active learning methods will use more active teaching in the classroom. Also, it is predicted that the professor’s attitude, subjective norms, and perceived control beliefs toward the new styles will increase the use of active learning styles. The professors were given a survey as they entered the study to understand their intent, attitude, perceived social norms, and perceived control beliefs before going through a workshop to learn about active learning teaching techniques. The participants were observed during classroom sessions over two years. The observer marked the types of teaching that were presented during the period. Then, they were given the same survey to measure their intention, attitude, social norms, and control beliefs were after completing the workshop. It is expected that the professors with the highest intention and attitude towards using active learning will lecture less than those who have lower intentions and attitudes. The implications for future research are the knowledge of how to have students engage in the classroom and how the teacher’s outlook can impact those results.

Multiple studies confirm a relationship between self-esteem and body image, but less is known about how individuals who frequently self-weigh and exercise compared to those who do so less frequently. The current study investigated the relationship between self-weighing and exercise frequency and an individual's self-esteem and body image. It was predicted that those who weigh themselves more often will report lower self-esteem and body image, whereas those who exercise more often will report higher self-esteem and body image. Finally, those who never self-weigh but do exercise will report the highest self-esteem and body image.  The results confirmed past research showing a positive correlation between self-esteem and body image in general; however, there was no difference in self-esteem and body image as a function of weighing or exercise frequency.  Results are discussed in light of sample limitations, and avenues for future research are provided. 

The project I propose to present at the SAC is a report on research that I am conducting on the processing speeds of different software architectures. How different software designs handle different-sized payloads for different requests is what is being tried to be understood with this project. This information is helpful for programmers to understand when a specific architecture is more effective for their business solution than another. This is significant because it will help with development times and save on the cost of having to do this research on their own. In research on this topic, not many studies like this have been done before. This applied architecture approach to research has not been done before to test the stress of the different architectures. This project will be accomplished by developing three different applications that all solve the same business problem with just a different architecture implementation. Data will be gathered by testing the runtime from when the software gets a request to when it completes it.

Early intervention is critical for achieving age-appropriate developmental milestones for children with disabilities. This research hopes to benefit professionals working with emerging learners by providing them with the resources and help they need to progress into their adult life. This presentation will cover what early intervention is, the effectiveness of it, and data to support our findings.

Lung cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer-related deaths worldwide, and current treatments are often associated with significant side effects. Eugenol is a natural compound found in clove oil that has been reported to have anti-cancer properties. In this study, I will investigate the effect of eugenol on the viability of A549 lung cancer cells will be investigated using a cell viability assay. A549 cells will be cultured in DMEM medium supplemented with 10% FBS and 1% antibiotics/antimycotics and incubated at 37°C in a humidified atmosphere containing 5% CO2. Once the cells reach 80-90% confluency, they will be treated with various concentrations of eugenol (0, 10, 50, and 100 µM) for 24 hours. Cell viability will be assessed using the MTT assay, which will measure the ability of viable cells to reduce MTT to formazan. The results are expected to show a dose-dependent decrease in cell viability in A549 cells treated with eugenol compared to untreated cells. These findings will suggest that eugenol may have potential as an anti-cancer agent in lung cancer. The anti-cancer properties of eugenol will be attributed to its ability to induce apoptosis, inhibit cell proliferation, and suppress angiogenesis. Further studies will be needed to investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying the anti-cancer properties of eugenol. Additionally, in vivo studies will be necessary to determine the efficacy and safety of eugenol as an anti-cancer agent in animal models and humans. In conclusion, this study will demonstrate that eugenol inhibits the viability of A549 lung cancer cells in a dose-dependent manner. These findings will provide a basis for further investigation of eugenol as a potential therapeutic agent for lung cancer.

When explaining the difference between wants and needs to students, early childhood teachers are using textbooks as their preferred method of teaching. To teach wants and needs effectively to young children the use of multimodal learning is imperative. In this presentation, presenters will introduce examples of multimodal learning, for example, students will differentiate between wants and needs by separating wants and needs from a book read, playing a game to separate objects, and making their own wants and needs chart. This presentation will also suggest a developmentally appropriate way of assessing  their understanding of wants and needs: observation of the activities and the students chart.

Social network analysis (SNA) is a research approach with powerful tools to address different aspects of animals' social organization because it provides many metrics to describe social patterns. SNA provides descriptive statistics of a social group by examining how individual interactions form distinct community structures. Utilizing SNA to explore animal networks has generated valuable insights into the contact structure of animal societies the influence of individuals on network structure, fitness consequences of an individual's position in the network, disease transmission and collective decision making. The hypothesis that fish can obtain information about a predator's approach from changes in the behavior of other community members was tested using European minnows. The presence of skittering and inspection behavior in the transmitting fish suggests the presence of a predator to the information receiver. Therefore, the receiver fish modify their behavior and hide based on information from individuals who have seen a predator. The rate at which fish eat is an indication of whether there is the presence of a predator or not. Observing this behavior, the fish community gains information from those closest to the predator. Minnows decrease feeding and adopt vigilant behavior in response to visual cues from conspecifics that detect an approaching predator. This poster will summarize the literature about use of social information by fish to assess predation risk, and identify promising areas for future research.

Students and educators use many methods to assist with reading comprehension and remembering information they have read. Finding the correct method can be especially challenging when dealing with nonfiction text that lacks emotional responses and connections. Writing to learn has been one method proposed to increase memory of content. This study investigated the impact of writing on learning by creating a fictional story with characters out of a nonfiction text then testing for increased levels of reading comprehension and memory. Over 30 participants were divided into three groups. They all read the same nonfiction passage. Group 1 then wrote a fictional story based on the passage and discussed the story. Group 2 created a nonfiction written summary about the passage and then discussed the information.  Group 3 simply discussed the passage. Each group took an online quiz a week later. It was hypothesized that Group 1 would perform the best on the quiz, as their fictional story should help them create more emotional and personal connections to the information. 

The Fantasy/Science Fiction genre is one of the most popular and profitable literary genres in terms of sales. Popularity continues to rise, as well as businesses related to these books. Book Subscription Boxes have popped up left and right, each offering something different. Through being an avid reader and Book Subscription Box user, I noticed there was something missing in the Book Subscription Box market. The Little Bookshop is an immersive Book Subscription Box business that was created in Dr. Siwei Zhu’s ENTR229 Start Your Own Business in the Fall of 2021. This subscription service was born out of the desire to immerse oneself into a bookish world without a novelty/trinket feel. I will provide an overview of the project originally created as well as how I have updated it since 2021. 

This is part of a student-led analysis and assessment of the Broom Creek and Amsden Formations in the subsurface of the Williston Basin in west-central North Dakota.  The Broom Creek Formation has been selected a potential carbon storage unit because of the porosity and permeability of aeolian and nearshore sand facies commonly occurring in the upper part of the formation (which currently functions as a saline aquifer).  Project CarbonSAFE was an initiative sponsored by the DOE and local and state agencies and carried out by the EERC.  The Broom Creek was eventually selected as having a good potential for carbon storage because of the porosity and permeability of certain facies and because of the nature of overlying and underlying formations which have good characteristics to function as seals (siltstones and anhydrite layers).  The Broom Creek has never been exploited as a hydrocarbon reservoir, so the characteristics of the formation were largely unknown.  To rectify this lack of knowledge and explore the storage potential of this interval, the EERC supervised the coring of the Broom Creek, the description and analysis of these cores as well as a section of 3D Seismic in Mercer and Oliver Counties in North Dakota (near the potential carbon storage field).  The analysis of individual cores combined with analysis of the line of 3D seismic was good for a large-scale assessment of the carbon storage potential of the Broom Creek, but it may fail to recognize and characterize key surfaces that separate genetic packages of facies within the formation. A sequence stratigraphic analysis will recognize these surfaces and allow for a high-resolution constraint on the vertical and lateral distribution of key facies. This may reveal more about the geologic history of this formation and provide more information about potential storage volumes of interval of interest.

This is part of a student-led analysis and assessment of the Broom Creek and Amsden Formations in the subsurface of the Williston Basin in west-central North Dakota.  The Broom Creek Formation has been selected a potential carbon storage unit because of the porosity and permeability of aeolian and nearshore sand facies commonly occurring in the upper part of the formation (which currently functions as a saline aquifer).  Project CarbonSAFE was an initiative sponsored by the DOE and local and state agencies and carried out by the EERC.  The Broom Creek was eventually selected as having a good potential for carbon storage because of the porosity and permeability of certain facies and because of the nature of overlying and underlying formations which have good characteristics to function as seals (siltstones and anhydrite layers).  The Broom Creek has never been exploited as a hydrocarbon reservoir, so the characteristics of the formation were largely unknown.  To rectify this lack of knowledge and explore the storage potential of this interval, the EERC supervised the coring of the Broom Creek, the description and analysis of these cores as well as a section of 3D Seismic in Mercer and Oliver Counties in North Dakota (near the potential carbon storage field).  The analysis of individual cores combined with analysis of the line of 3D seismic was good for a large-scale assessment of the carbon storage potential of the Broom Creek, but it may fail to recognize and characterize key surfaces that separate genetic packages of facies within the formation. A sequence stratigraphic analysis will recognize these surfaces and allow for a high-resolution constraint on the vertical and lateral distribution of key facies. This may reveal more about the geologic history of this formation and provide more information about potential storage volumes of interval of interest.

Every child grows up with a different and unique personality. The size of families may affect their development in different ways. A child can develop depending on the care they get from their other siblings. This presentation will focus on a child’s social and emotional development when growing up in a large household. Through this autobiography study, the presenter will be sharing the case of growing up in a family with ten siblings and how it impacted her life: mental health, personality, and social skills. Furthermore, suggestions for families and educators who have a large group of children in their life will be discussed.

The ocean is home to most of the life on our planet.  Sadly, some of this home gets destroyed by our actions and leaves the life there in dangerous situations. While our creatures are safe in the habitats we have created for them, many creatures in the sea are not as lucky. Our goal is to display all sides to this story and to have all the life in our ocean be as happy in their home as the creatures in our oceanarium. 

Grassland bird populations have declined greatly over the past 50 years due to factors including habitat loss, fragmentation, and degradation. Conservation strategies include protecting and managing high-quality remnant grassland and restoring land previously used for row-crop agriculture. While restoration practices may have many different goals, one common one is that restored areas support native grassland species similarly to remnant grasslands. We attempt to assess the success of one grassland restoration in the northern tallgrass prairie ecoregion by comparing the abundance of four grassland birds in neighboring remnant and restored areas. We surveyed the breeding bird community in a 550-ha remnant grassland embedded in a large grassland-agriculture matrix in western Minnesota and in a nearby 250-ha protected area containing a mix of grassland and riparian forest. At each site, we conducted point counts at 16 points, recording all birds detected. We visited each point at least three times in 2020 and 2022. We will estimate the species richness of grassland birds at each study site in each year, and the abundance of four species, Grasshopper Sparrow, Savannah Sparrow, Sedge Wren, and Common Yellowthroat, using binomial N-mixture models. Preliminary results from one year of data show that grassland bird abundance is greater at the remnant grassland site, but that Grasshopper Sparrows and Common Yellowthroats occur in equal or greater abundance at the restored grassland site. These results are useful for land managers to assess the efficacy of grassland land management and restoration strategies.

The MSUM Planetarium recently purchased AVI’s Laser Camp for use in outreach.  Laser Camp is a set of lessons, equipment, and a laser diode designed for middle and high school students. This adaptable 5-day camp introduces the fundamentals and properties of light, laser safety, programming, and artistic creativity. The Laser Camp participants start by learning about the nature of light and finish by creating a “Laser song” module that can be shown to the entire camp.  This camp brings science, technology, and art together for students to learn while having fun doing it. 

I will be providing a brief informational board on how the internet functions in laymans terms, along with a visual showing the route packets take on their journey to a specific server
This will include an overview of the following:

OSI layer
Tracert
Routing basics
Data encapsulation
A visual showing the path data takes to a hostname (ex. google.com)

I think this is important as it will give others knowledge on how their data is transmitted across the internet, giving others a better understanding of computers and technology.

My goal is to provide informational knowledge to others about the internet.

I will be creating a simple application that maps public IP addresses returned from Traceroute to a location in google maps, showing the route to a router/server.

In 2022, light-vehicle sales in the United States dropped by approximately 1.5 million units from 2021 to their lowest level in a decade (Singhi, 2023). The recent semiconductor shortage hinders automotive producers from meeting vehicle demand. A review of current literature and secondary data highlights conditions within the vehicle and semiconductor markets from January 2020 to December 2022, illustrating the impact of the semiconductor shortage on the automotive industry. While most previous studies consider automotive market conditions in a qualitative manner, this research employs regression analysis to quantify the relationship between US light-vehicle sales and independent variables representing semiconductor market conditions, economic factors, and demographic characteristics. The results of this research inform recommendations designed to mitigate negative impacts on vehicle producers and consumers.

In today's fast-paced world, managing finances is crucial, and financial tracking software has become an essential tool for gaining insight into spending habits. This project features a full stack web application that I built with the goal of providing an efficient and user-friendly platform for tracking financial activity. The software helps individuals gain valuable insights into their finances, with a particular focus on understanding spending patterns. During this presentation, I will be showcasing my finance tracking application and demonstrating how it can help users achieve greater financial awareness. This web application utilizes Kotlin, Spring Boot, and PostgreSQL for the backend, while the frontend is developed using Typescript and React.

For more than forty years, the United States utilized an area of land that is now called the 
“Nevada National Security Site” to carry out over one thousand tests of nuclear weapons. 
The Nevada Test Site, which is located about 65 miles from Las Vegas, was the principal 
nuclear weapons test location of the United States from when it was established in 1951 
until 1992. The nation carried out around 900 underground tests and 100 above ground 
nuclear tests. These tests led to devastating consequences, as nuclear fallout was 
distributed throughout the region onto nearby cities, and the impacts of excess radiation 
on humans and the environment were apparent. Because of the health impacts of the 
nuclear fallout on humans, a lawsuit was brought upon the U.S. Government in 1982 
accusing them of negligence during the testing. In this presentation, I will outline the 
history of the nuclear tests carried out by the United States at the Nevada Test Site. I will 
also highlight the impacts the tests had on humans and the environment, both in the local 
area and in the rest of the contiguous United States, and will go over the findings and 
rulings of the subsequent lawsuit against the United States government.

Children with language impairments can often display challenging behaviors such as aggression, self-injurious behaviors, noncompliance, and screaming (Bopp et al., 2004). Speech language pathologists (SLPs) who work with these individuals do not always feel adequately trained to manage these behavior problems within their caseload (Chow & Wallace, 2019). This project examines a variety of behavior management strategies that an SLP can implement within his or her daily workload to help manage and control these challenging behaviors. The techniques discussed are visual schedules, behavior specific praise, pivotal response training, and functional communication training. The research suggests that these strategies can help reduce and eliminate challenging behaviors in children that may be be seen on an SLP’s caseload (Bopp et al., 2004; Ennis et al., 2020; De Korte et al., 2021). 

Interactive read-alouds are an essential part of child development. In this presentation, we will describe what makes a read-aloud engaging and interactive, and the benefits of interactive read-alouds for children aged birth through third grade. Specifically, we will describe: 1) the necessary components of an interactive read-aloud, including teacher preparation and presentation of the text, intentionality, how to promote student engagement, an optional revisitation of the book, and providing opportunities for students to further explore and engage with the text; 2) benefits of interactive read-alouds that will be presented include: encourages enjoyment of reading, builds student vocabulary and language skills, creates an opportunity for students to engage with text outside of their independent ability, and book revisitation provides scaffolding and builds recall and comprehension skills. 

 The process through which distinct functional regions of the cerebral cortex are produced is known as cortical arealization. This process is crucial for the development of a properly functioning mammalian brain. Arealization is facilitated by the graded expression of key transcription factors which allows for the precise regional patterning characteristic of a fully developed brain. An important functional region that emerges from cortical arealization is the primary visual area (V1). The exact size and location of V1 is heavily influenced by expression of the transcription factor Emx2. Previous work done in the Pax6 gene has shown that cortex-specific deletion of a gene can result in anatomical changes to the thalamus. The research currently underway in the neurobiology lab here at MSUM is seeking to document anatomical changes to V1 and the thalamus of mice with Emx2 mutations, with a conditional knock out that restricts the mutation to the developing cortex. This is being done using various immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization approaches to visualize V1 in the cortex, the dorsal lateral geniculate of the thalamus and the reticular thalamic nucleus. In addition to this, we are working to characterize potential functional changes within the visual systems of these mice using the visual cliff test, which assesses depth perception. For these observations, we record them before and after the critical period, which is a period where re-wiring and refinement of connections within the visual system occurs. Observations are then made before P18 (postnatal day 18) and after the critical period P38 (postnatal day 38). Data on the P38 mice have been previously collected, and we are currently collecting data from P18 mice, to compare both sets of data and data and assess whether there are changes that occur during the critical period within the visual system in mice under EmX2 conditional knock out. Our goal is to better understand the influence of cortical development on the development of the thalamus and produce more sophisticated correlations between structural characteristics of the visual system and aspects of its overall function.

The manipulation of success and failure in a laboratory setting is an important part inducing a certain affect state. In the modern day, these manipulations may take place online or in-person. This study explored whether textual success or failure feedback influences affective states in different ways than does a more personal delivery of that same feedback. We hypothesized that changes in affect will be weaker when task feedback is delivered textually online instead of via an online video attempting to simulate in-person feedback. Measures of positive and negative affect were collected before and after a bogus “mental agility” matrix task with falsified success or failure feedback. The results indicate that the success/failure feedback manipulation did indeed induce affective change in our participants; however, there was no difference in affect between the textual and video feedback modalities. Future directions and the implications of feedback modalities are discussed. 

The purpose of this project is to research the importance of organization systems and their impact on a project’s success, security, and efficiency. Organizational systems have evolved from closed-source physical mediums into the modern digital open-source options. Businesses and software have had a small amount of study done to show the impact caused by various aspects of these changes in organizational mediums, such as the quality of external pull requests on open-source projects, the balance of security vs efficiency, and necessity of complexity within an organizational medium. The goal is to display the importance of selecting the right method of organization for a business or project, and to visualize how different aspects of organization affect different aspects of the business or project. Different studies on the impact of organization mediums and their adoption will be researched and compiled to create a clear visualization on which organizational structures should be used for different types of projects.

Numerous studies have been conducted on the effects of social media on the human mind. These effects include increased stress, increased psychological distress, decreased attentional control, and social media addiction (He & Li, 2022; Mahalingham et al., 2022; Scherr & Wang, 2021). A recent study (Marengo et al., 2021) found that the smartphone application TikTok has more addictive qualities compared to other social media applications such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. This study focuses on the effect that TikTok has on the attention levels of college-aged individuals. Participants completed an attention to documentary test along with a questionnaire based on their weekly TikTok usage. The predicted outcome of this experiment was that participants of the high-usage TikTok group will have lower attention to documentary scores and higher TikTok usage during the attention test compared to those in the low-usage TikTok group.

Mindfulness is defined as control over one’s attention and being present at the moment and without judgment (Norris et al 2018). Numerous studies have shown the benefits of mindfulness in everyday life (Yakobi et al 2021; Chiesa et al., 2011; Deng et al 2019). Currently, the physiological mechanisms of mindfulness have not been identified. A recent study (Atchley, 2016) used an auditory oddball paradigm to demonstrate the difference in the P3 event-related potential (ERP) component as a factor that can be used to measure mindfulness meditation competence. This study aims to establish a visual measure of mindfulness using P3 ERP. Participants were grouped into two separate categories: naive meditators and experienced meditators. It was hypothesized that the P3 amplitudes would differ between stimulus-response and breath-counting conditions, as well as between experienced and novice meditators, with experienced meditators having more attentional control along with higher P3 responses.

The theory of linguistic relativity suggests that language may alter or dictate the way our brains organize information (Wharf 1953). In addition, research in perception has indicated that color discrimination and categorization choices can vary depending on the structure of an individual’s primary language (Winawer et al. 2007). Semantic Satiation is a cognitive technique in which the act of repeating a word may cause that word to lose meaning for a matter of seconds to minutes (Cao et al. 2019; Lindquist et al. 2006). This study aims to investigate both the theory of linguistic relativity and Semantic Satiation in a novel way by using a multiple presentation format that may limit internal dialogue. Participants were administered the Farnsworth Munsell 100 Hue Color Test (Farnsworth 1943) and a color discrimination task. Color matches were made across (i.e. blue/green) and within- (i.e. dark blue/light blue) color categories while reaction times and accuracy were recorded, and online versus in-person data collection was also compared. It was hypothesized that across-category matches would be faster than within-category matches prior to satiation, with the effect diminishing after satiation.  

Patients diagnosed with head and neck cancer are informed during pretreatment appointments of long-term effects that can occur after treatment. The effects of treatment for head and neck cancer are often impactful on an individual’s quality of life. The role of this literature review was to identify ways medical professionals can work together to better prepare patients during pretreatment appointments, treatment procedures, and posttreatment toward improved quality of life and survival outcomes. Speech-language pathologists specialize in the speech and swallowing treatment of patients with head and neck cancer, consequently, they have a strong role in monitoring of the patients’ quality of life.

WWII saw for the first time ever nuclear weapons being used in war. This was through the bombing of the Japanese cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki. And as with most of all bombings during WWII, these were riddled with the deaths and blood of innocents. Hiroshima, alone, would see the deaths of around 70,000 people simply when the bomb went off, more would die later from either radiation poisoning, being buried alive, from succumbing to their wounds from shrapnel, or by burning alive. Those who were far enough away from the initial explosion and survived were still in poor shapes and sometimes were almost worse off than those that died immediately. But death, destruction, and the wounded weren’t all that plagued the Japanese people at that point in time. They were still being plagued by the burning question of what had happened. Confusion and theories ran rampant throughout the dilapidated ruins of Hiroshima, none coming even close to the truth of the matter. These people were still kept in the dark even when President Truman in his address had told the Japanese government about what kind of bomb had been dropped on Hiroshima. These survivors of the atomic bombings weren’t even referred to as survivors by the rest of Japan. To Japan they were Hibakusha: atomic bomb affected people. The struggles for the Hibakusha sadly still continued long after the bombing as they would face livelong symptoms from radiation poisoning, have to try to find places to live, would have to face discrimination in their daily lives, and would have to wait a long time before systems and laws that would help them continue to live their lives were put into place. In this presentation, all this will be gone over in more detail, and we shall delve deeper into the events that happened on and after August 6th, 1945. 

A spoken language disorder (SLD) is a developmental language impairment in the acquisition and use of language (ASHA, n.d.). When SLD is not accompanied by a developmental disability, it is known as a specific language impairment (SLI). SLI may impact a child’s ability to comprehend and use language which affects how they communicate and interact with others. When a child’s language skills are impaired, it can potentially lead to characteristics of challenging behavior. Many teachers report feeling unprepared due to a lack of resources and support required to meet the needs of students with challenging behaviors (Kuhn et al., 2021). There are various evidence-based intervention strategies that both teachers and Speech-Language Pathologists (SLPs) may implement collaboratively to enhance language clarity and decrease classroom behavior. Some examples that will be discussed include visual activity schedules, behavior-specific praise, self-management, and classroom management strategies. This poster presentation will provide an overview of the relationship between specific language impairments and challenging behaviors in school-aged children. The presenter will also discuss the importance of collaboration between SLPs and teachers along with intervention strategies to reduce these behaviors in the classroom and enhance language skills.

Predation by novel invasive species poses a significant threat to vulnerable isolated populations of fishes isolated in desert springs therefore knowledge of the risk assessment abilities of these fishes could be an important tool for the conservation and management of these species. Many fish species acquire predator recognition by pairing chemical alarm cues released by damaged skin with a novel stimulus connected to the predator. Here, we tested to see if desert pupfish can use this mechanism to acquire predator recognition of a novel predator. We presented predator-naïve pupfish with (1) water + odor of largemouth bass fed a diet of earthworms, (2) alarm cues from skin extract (epidermal alarm cues) + odor of bass fed a diet of earthworms, or (3) water + odor of bass fed a diet of pupfish (dietary alarm cues). Pupfish responded to the treatment containing skin extract with a significant reduction in vertical position and a significant reduction in activity relative to the other two treatments. The lack of a response to dietary alarm cues may be a result of long periods of isolation from fish predators (partial predator naïveté). Pupfish were retested 24 – 48 h later with bass odor fed an earthworm diet. Pupfish that had received skin extract + bass odor responded with a significant reduction in vertical position and a reduction in activity relative to the other two treatments. This is the first demonstration of acquired predator recognition in a pupfish, the first report of partial predator naïveté, and opens the possibility of predator-recognition training as a potential tool for management and conservation of endangered desert fishes.

The Ocean is one of the most important biomes on our planet. The U.S. economy greatly benefits from the ocean, it provides roughly 282 billion dollars in goods and services and around three million people with employment. By and large, the ocean is extremely important and crucial to humanity's survival both physically and economically. Currently the ocean and its resources are being marginalized and exploited. One of the ways our society is exploiting the world’s oceans is by over-fishing. Overfishing happens when fisheries or fishermen catch too many fish at once, depleting populations which inhibits fish populations to recover. Unsustainable fishing practices puts the ocean’s ecosystems in danger and affects the billions of people that depend on the ocean in their day-to-day life. The best solution to overfishing is not just spreading awareness but smarter fishery management systems that can reverse the incentives that encourage overfishing. The MSUM Oceanarium features an exhibit displaying overfishing and the impact it has on marine ecosystems.
 
 

Predation removes most fish from the gene pool before they are old enough to reproduce. Those that remain are very good at detecting and avoiding predators and pass those genes on to their offspring. Recently, it has been demonstrated that some fish can associate risk with auditory stimuli when a novel auditory stimulus is paired with chemical alarm cue released from damaged epithelium. Many damselfish species (Pomacentridae) are capable of hearing and producing sound. These sounds are used for aggression, courtship and mating; little research had been done on the potential use of sound in predator-prey interactions involving damselfish. In this study, we tested if damselfish can learn to recognize a predetermined audio stimulus if it is co-presented with chemical alarm cue. Are they able to recognize the audio stimulus as an indicator of risk to predation? In our test group, damselfish were conditioned using chemical alarm cue and a territorial damselfish call. We observed changes in behavior in terms of activity, vertical distribution, and shelter use. Fish were then tested by playing the same territorial call from conditioning and behavioral changes were recorded.

The MSUM School of Performing Arts will present a special evening performance in honor of the Student Academic Conference highlighting the musical achievements of our outstanding student body.  The performance will feature members of both the MSUM Wind Ensemble Ensemble and the MSUM Percussion Ensemble in a unique joint concert performance, including the regional premier of a new work by Jesus Martinez, "Unjustified," composed in honor of the tragic death of Breonna Taylor in March of 2020 as America began to once again grapple with issues of race and policing.

   Antipyrine, a 5-membered heterocyclic ring including two nitrogens and a carbonyl, has been identified by colleagues at Mayo Clinic as an early-stage drug candidate for treatment of Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF). Our group is synthesizing analogs of antipyrine to better understand and optimize the spatial and polarity dimensions of the drug for improved IPF treatment. 
   Antipyrine has a small hydrogen atom attached at the C4-position. Studies for the preparation and purification of analogs in which the C4-hydrogen is replaced by a variety of much larger aryl groups will be reported. About ten novel compounds have been prepared and will be reported. The substituted aryl groups vary in volume, in electron-rich versus electron-poor character, and in hydrophobic versus hydrophilic character. 
   A general procedure has been developed in which commercially available antipyrine can be C4-arylated in varying efficiency with a variety of aryl bromides. Successful conversions involve palladium acetate as a catalyst, dimethylacetamide (DMA) as solvent, and are run under high temperatures using air-free argon-gas conditions. 
   Crude product mixtures were worked up using case-by-case extraction conditions. Complementary extraction and vacuum-distillation procedures were developed for removal of the high-boiling DMA solvent. Purified products were isolated in high purity following ether digestion. Reaction and product analysis involved either GC-MS or NMR spectroscopy. 
   Optimization results, procedural details, and NMR and GC-MS structural characterization will be presented. A hypothetical mechanism for these reactions will also be presented.

Investigation of Chlorogenic acid’s effect on A549 cell growth and proliferation. 
 
Abstract
 
Cancer, in its many forms, is responsible for a very large number of deaths globally, each year. Significant strides have been made in understanding and characterizing underlying molecular mechanisms and effects of tumor growth however, there is still much to be explored. Chlorogenic acid (CGA), a natural phenolic compound found in foods like kale, has emerged as one potential candidate in this regard; initial studies have suggested that this compound may possess anticancer properties. Consequently, there has been increasing interest in evaluating the therapeutic potential of chlorogenic acid in fighting cancer and understanding its underlying molecular mechanisms of action. Various research has postulated anticancer activity in these polyphenols with success being seen with curcumin as a good inhibitor of tumor growth in breast cancer cells. Hence, Chlorogenic acid can be expected to succeed as well. 
My study will aim to demonstrate the anticancer effects of chlorogenic acid on A549 cell lines. This will be achieved through various experimental procedures provided by previous research involving chlorogenic acid being tested as a potential inhibitor against breast cancer cells. Overall, this will be a study of cell viability and proliferation  at various concentrations of CGA. I expect CGA to cause inhibition of cell proliferation. Having carried out these various tests and Chlorogenic acid proved to be an effective inhibitor of the growth of the A549 cell lines, the next step would be to transfect immunocompromised mice with these A549 cells and undergo therapy with Chlorogenic acid treatment for our in vivo experiment. We would expect to see chlorogenic acid effectively inhibiting tumor growth in vivo.
 
 

This poster presentation will examine the treatment outcomes of individuals with apraxia of speech (AOS) co-occurring with aphasia, specifically in regard to sound production treatment (SPT). SPT has been used for years to treat these co-occurring disorders. This review of the literature examined different research studies and their data to determine the kind of effect SPT had on treatment outcomes and prognosis for improvement for these individuals.

This poster presentation will discuss the interdisciplinary roles that work together on a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU)  team to provide the best care for an infant and their family, and the importance of the Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP) in their developmental care. Each medical professional on the NICU team has an important role in ensuring the infant develops in a way that provides them with the best outcomes at discharge and in the future. This presentation will address the importance of all professionals on the NICU team and how they contribute to the infant’s plan of care.

Beginning with the abolitionist movements of the 19th century, women realized that by joining together they had more of a voice in attaining certain rights.  This paper will contextualize the fight for voting rights in first-wave feminism, beginning around the turn of the twentieth century.  Next, it will give a brief biographical sketch of some of the leaders of the voting-rights movement.  Then, the paper will review the film Iron-Jawed Angels, and analyze the types of violence towards the suffragettes that was hinted at during this film. The paper will also address the flaws of the film, and will conclude by tracing the voting rights timeline for Women of Color and Indigenous Women in the US.  

Chlorhexidine is a popular ingredient among oral health products; it is a solid foundation for treating gingivitis and other oral bacteria, as well as lowering inflammation and reducing gum bleeding. However, recent studies have taken interest in the possible downsides of using chlorhexidine. These studies include short term antibacterial effects, and a change in pH after extensive usage along with an increase in bacteria. In recent years and studies, cannabidiol (CBD) has been on the rise for safe and effective oral health care which can make for a viable substitute for chlorhexidine. CBD is a non-psychoactive cannabinoid produced by cannabis sativa (C.sativa) that holds anti-microbial and anti-inflammatory properties. Within the oral cavity there are an array of cannabinoid receptors such as cannabinoid receptor 2 (CB2) in the peripheral nervous system, these receptors could stand as a measure for treatment against oral diseases. CB2 receptors are activated by cannabinoids and studies have tied them to having a function in the immune system of eukaryotes. In recent studies, CBD components have been used in experiments to analyze its effectiveness in preventing and treating diseases. CBD oral studies have shown several benefits of its application in dental treatments some of which include; antifungal effects, potential against gingivitis, potential against oral cancer, synergistic effect, and anti-inflammatory properties for inflamed gums. The purpose of this experiment is to compare the antimicrobial effects of both Chlorhexidine and CBD against the mycobacterium strains Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus mutans to determine if CBD is a worthy treatment plan. We expect to see greater inhibition of the bacteria colonies with the CBD treatment compared to chlorohexidine. With our expected results we can move forward to looking further into the mechanisms of cannabidiol inhibition of microbial growth.

Individuals who are amongst different minority groups such as asylum seekers and refugees may not have adequate opportunities to access oral health care and maintain oral health. Consequently, the aim of this study was to evaluate the social and public health aspects that contribute to the neglect in oral health care amongst these groups. This scoping review identified 29 records through the National Library of Medicine search engine, in which 12 free full-text reviews were analyzed for text eligibility. Out of the 12 records collected, 7 individual studies were included. These studies were able to address the inequities regarding access to oral health care throughout differentiating cultures; including cultural and/or linguistic barriers that may affect their education regarding oral healthcare and/or oral hygiene. This scoping review is currently in progress, but the preliminary results of the investigation suggest that there are great inequities in regard to access in oral health care amongst the different minority groups. These inequities are parallel to their limited access, resources, and funds. Additionally, we can also identify that there are linguistic and cultural barriers that lead to the neglect of oral health care amongst minority groups. Finally, it is prevalent that as the education of migrants and asylum seekers is heightened, their oral health and hygiene are improved. Such results are able to provide not only us, but society, an insight into what we can do in order to present an equal opportunity in health care to all the members of society.

Simone Lewald and Lee Hanson

Habitat for Humanity 

Department – Communication Studies

Abstract-

Habitat For Humanity is essentially a lending hand nonprofit organization that allows low-income or even homeless families a chance to get an affordable mortgage. The misconception is that Habitat for Humanity gives away homes for free, but that is not the case. For our class, group and team communication, this research project was done in order to find methods for qualifying families for the housing program and the rollout plan. The organization is unfunded and lacks the volunteers to run the program. Funding for the organizations comes from local companies and the ReStore. The ReStore is a shop that resells home improvement materials. Our group was able to work on the ReStore sales floor and improve the function of the store. Through this opportunity, we were able to understand the complications of the ReStore, the troubles of the public, and the improvement of families' lives. 

Gracie

Kaitlin

Libby

Abstract

 This presentation is based on work done for Interpersonal Communications. Love is a powerful emotion that many strive to have, but the problem with falling in love is that you have to fall in love first. Securing the first state can be the hardest step in a relationship, but with certain methods and understanding of different cultures, many will find a high success rate. Researchers have solidified the importance of knowing the “do’s and don’t’s” of dating and how certain techniques could throw off potential partners. The cultural differences between individuals can also cause a barrier with first impressions. Depending on the upbringing of a person, they may have different views on how they attempt dating and what dating means to them. In conclusion, there is no “fool proof” method of starting a relationship with someone, but there are certain steps that can help the outcome of asking someone on a date.

The United States remains the only industrialized country to retain and apply capital punishment, along with Iran, Russia, and China, among others. Despite the advancements made in the standards of decency and punishment over the last several decades, the US death penalty remains a relic of the past with little understanding of what happens behind closed doors. One major part of that story is what occurs while a prisoner awaits their fate on death row, a time, on average, of 10-15 years. Very little existing research shares the story of life on death row from the perspective of the about 2,500 people living there. This study attempts to address that gap by examining what life on death row is like by exchanging pen pal letters with people living on death row around the United States. We began exchanging letters with people living on death row in August, 2022, sending out a total of ten letters and receiving back three letters (one letter was returned to sender; two letters were received from one participant). While one participant has expressed willingness to contribute to this study, we have been unable to officially obtain the informed consent form required by the IRB from them for various logistical reasons. As such, the results presented in our study will focus on understanding and reflecting on our experiences writing people who live on death row and the methodological challenges we encountered during the process. 

This project describes the influence of authoritarianism in Chilean film through the work of two directors: Alejandro Jodorowsky and Pablo Larraín. We chose this subject because we are interested in Latin American culture and cinema as well as our interest in being future directors. Through this project, we aim to gain a greater understanding and deeper appreciation of Chilean cinema and the directors that populate it. Our goal is to discover how each director approaches the subject of authoritarianism in his work, how accurate that depiction is to Chilean history, and how the style of each director differs. In the analysis of style, the project focuses on use of color and costuming in their films. In addition, we will compare themes presented in each film such as generational trauma and political issues. We are using a combination of films and peer reviewed articles to approach these ideas, using national cinema as our framework. The films we selected are considered Jodorowksy and Larraín’s most influential work and have an underlying theme of authoritarianism throughout them. 

When excavating a ghost town, it is essential to know the geospatial characteristics surrounding the area. This way you can be certain you are digging in the right place and it also helps with finding prominent areas. The Minnesota State University Moorhead tackled such an issue during our Summer 2022 excavations at Winnipeg Junction. Winnipeg Junction is a late 19th early 20th century railroad town which was platted east of Moorhead, MN, and abandoned in 1910. A combination of USGS maps, survey markers, and GIS were used to find the exact location of Ole Gol Saloon and restaurant. In this poster, I aim to show how using a variety of GIS tools and archaeology methods helped us reconnect the past to the present. We georeferenced a plat map of Winnipeg Junction and brought it to existence in a contemporary map so we could compare it to Saloon Row.

This literature review was completed to explore emerging literacy skills in children who use Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) for communication purposes. This paper explored the differences in language and literacy learning for children who utilize AAC and defined specific interventions and supports that can be implemented during the development of early literacy skills. The reviewed literature consisted of single study research designs, case studies, analysis of relevant surveys, and literature reviews completed by experts in the field of speech-language pathology and AAC. The summary of findings include external and internal factors of which are an influencing factor in the development of both language and literacy skills (Smith, 2005). Overall, there are delayed emergent literacy skills for AAC users versus typically developing peers. Intervention factors such as participation, opportunities, and access play a large part in how overall literacy intervention is accomplished (Erickson and Clendon, 2009). Educators, paraprofessionals, speech therapists, and caregivers play a critical role in the effectiveness of intervention across settings and activities (Loncke, 2014).  

The characterization of phages is becoming increasingly important in biochemistry and biotechnology due to their potential to treat bacterial infections without need for antibiotics. RosaDiaz, Babydotz, and Marcie, three Microbacterium foliorum infecting lytic phages, were characterized in order to be added to the online databases and be used for future studies on Actinobacteria phages. The purpose of this study is to extract phage proteins and isolate them from remaining bacterial debris. The extraction technique tested is a concentration of phage particles using PEG and regular centrifugation followed by ultracentrifugation using layered and isopycnic CsCl gradients, which separates the phage from the bacterial remnants thanks to density  differences. All suspected phage proteins are then tested using 1D gel electrophoresis and if extraction is successful, 2D gel electrophoresis will be used to separate the proteins using both mass and isoelectric point. Any protein obtained during this research will be analyzed using Mass Spectrometry and compared to a protein database to have more information about our phages. 

MAT Financial aims to assist young adults in achieving their financial goals by providing them with tools to save and budget their money effectively. We utilized the lean canvas startup method to interview 15 customers including consumers, experts, and leaders in the field to develop our model. Our customers suggested that we utilize automatic sorting techniques through bank account linking to overcome the challenges faced by our target market. As a result, we are developing a user-friendly app that offers a "One Click Budget" algorithm to provide budgetary suggestions for our users. By offering a convenient and time-effective solution, we hope to encourage young adults to save money and achieve financial freedom and security.

The Coffeeman App offers organization for students to keep track of, purchase, send and spend gift cards to local Fargo-Moohread coffee shops. This app helps students avoid wasting gift cards and increase efficiency of using them. We used the lean canvas startup method to interview 15 customers composed of customers, experts, and owners in the field to develop our model. By introducing our app idea to owners of local ocoffee shops, we hope to make the use of gift cards more convenient for them and their customers. The app will notify the user when they step into a local coffeee shop to remind them to use the remaining balance of their gift card. If for any reason a gift card becomes voidm our customers will be able to transfer balance to another shop on the app. 

In-person poster presentation: Educational impact of student-led observatory automation

Over the past summer Minnesota State University Moorhead implemented nearly full automation of the Paul. Feder Observatory.  Our goal, beyond increasing utilization of the facility by students, is better accessibility for the broader community. Students did the bulk of the integration of a dome upgrade with the rest of the system. They added remote capabilities to power the camera and filter wheel, prototyped and constructed dust covers to protect the imaging equipment, and integrated control into ACP, the software used for remote observing. The benefits for students have been immediate even though automation only worked reliably for the last third of the summer: in May and June, prior to upgrade, only 2 nights per month were used, consistent with past years; in July and August, 8 nights per month were used, roughly four times more than past summers.  Data on exoplanet transits and variable stars that was collected after the upgrade will be presented.

This is a presentation that follows the Strong Scholars Summer Research project of Scripting the Sky: Creating Comprehensive User Material and Show Development 

An explanation of the process and planning that goes into creating user materials for the planetarium and show development for the 50th anniversary of the MSUM planetarium and the successes and difficulties that happened while we worked over the summer. 

River Keepers of Fargo-Moorhead is an organization that is dedicated to protecting, preserving, and restoring the Red River of the North and its tributaries. The organization also works to educate people about the importance of the river and its surrounding environment to the well-being of the community. Their most notable program is called RiverWatch, which is a volunteer-based program that monitors the quality of the water in the Red River. Through their programs, initiatives, and events, they are working to make the Red River of the North a healthier river for everyone in the Fargo-Moorhead area.

            River Keepers of Fargo-Moorhead also has a number of other programs and initiatives aimed at restoring and protecting the health of the Red River and its tributaries. These include working with local governments to develop and implement policies that protect the river and its tributaries, as well as working with local businesses and industries to help reduce pollution in the river. The organization also works with local schools and universities to educate students about the importance of the river and its environment. 

 In Group & Team Communication, with Theresa Hest, we were tasked with organizing a volunteering event with a nonprofit within our community. After that we presented our experiences and key takeaways. Through this program we learned to communicate more effectively. The project was designed to exercise our communication so that the team could work together to spend an afternoon cleaning a river that needed attention.

Merlins are known to breed in urban areas throughout the northern Great Plains. Hypotheses to explain this behavior include prey availability, for example due to bird feeding, and nest site availability in a landscape historically dominated by grassland. To better understand the factors influencing Merlin nest site selection in urban settings, we initiated a study to find and monitor nests in Moorhead, MN, USA in 2021 and 2022. Playback surveys were conducted in 0.64 square km quadrants with points spaced 200 meters apart to identify potential nest sites, which were later revisited and monitored from the ground using binoculars and spotting scopes. In 2021, 246 points within 12 quadrants were surveyed, resulting in 8 potential nest sites and 6 confirmed active nests. In 2022, 426 points within 26 quadrants have been surveyed, and as of 4 July 2022 there are 8 confirmed active nests and at least 7 highly likely nest sites out of 27 potential nest sites. All confirmed nests have been in conifers (in 2021 all were in blue spruce, Picea pungens) 9-17 meters above ground and 1-4 meters from the top of the tree. In 2021, all active nests successfully fledged young, and all confirmed nests in 2022 have successfully hatched young. Unusually, one nest from 2021 is being reused in 2022. We will assess the relationship between nest sites and vegetation landscape variables obtained using AρρEEARS, the Application for Extracting and Exploring Analysis Ready Samples. Additionally, this year we are analyzing prey items found at nest sites to determine prey use by Merlins in the area. Findings will allow us to conduct targeted surveys for prey species in future years to assess the correlation between Merlin nest site selection and prey abundance. Preliminary findings show an apparent affinity for preying on blackbirds.?

SummitSnug

            For people that enjoy skiing and need to retain steady, comforting warmth from their fingertips to their elbows because of the frigid cold. We are here to help, by eradicating cold temperatures while skiing caused by snow and wind while increasing durability and comfort. We used the lean canvas startup method to interview 15 customers composed of consumers, experts, and leaders in the field to develop our model. With new innovative technology that allows our glove to heat up when in contact with human touch. Also, allowing, our revolutionary sleeve to retract and tighten to the forearm depending on the temperature of your skin.

Virtual reality has begun to make its way into the consumer electronics market, but the use of VR technology in everyday life has not become widespread or readily understood by the general population. A particular area of interest for studying the future of this technology (especially in the post-pandemic technological landscape) seems to be the many ways it could improve learning and the classroom experience. In a similar vein, the development process of VR applications is also not widely understood by developers and programmers who do not work in the field. This presentation aims to support the resolution of these shortcomings by exploring and describing the development process, and allowing participants to experience the potential of VR in the classroom. This will be accomplished by developing a prototype VR app that showcases some potential ways VR could improve learning in the classroom. This app will give participants a better understanding of VR technology and app development, as well as giving them real experience on how VR can help the learning process. 

As technology has progressively moved forward, account security has simultaneously gotten more difficult as well as more important. Every new service you sign up for requires a new account and by extension a new password to create and remember. Currently, the attempted solutions to this problem are password generation apps and password keeper apps. The purpose of this project is to examine the advantages and shortcomings of those approaches. Primarily, my attention will be focused on the widely accepted practices of strong password creation as well as the psychological element in creating not only a strong password, but one that is memorable to the user. Therefore, the intent of this project is to merge the existing systems for ensuring account security through the study of what makes a password weak or strong as well as how memory retention works.

Non-Fungible Tokens or NFT's provide a revolutionary opportunity for artists to democratize access of their work to the world. Minting artwork to a blockchain such as the Ethereum Virtual Machine as an NFT allows the transfer of physical goods, such as paintings, photographs, or sculptures from the physical world to the internet. My goal is to help an MSUM student artist at every step of the process, from the transfer of art from physical to digital, to the minting and sale of an NFT using an Ethereum Smart Contract and NFT marketplace. Artists will be able to profit from digital scarcity and take advantage of this intersection of art and technology in a way that artists never have been able to do before. 

Newton's Law of Cooling applies concepts from Differential Equations to the temperature of an object in an environment over time. We applied this concept to Jack's pizza, a favorite among many college students. We modeled the cooling of a cooked Jack's pizza, determining the perfect amount of time to allow a pizza to cool before eating.

Previous research suggests that negative pretrial media publicity (PTP) leads to a higher number of guilty verdicts (Hoetger et al., 2022). Additionally, when racial biases are present the suspect is more likely to be found guilty (Mitchel et al., 2005).  The aim of the current study was to evaluate guilt and fairness judgements provided by undergraduate participants after they read hypothetical neutral or negative PTP for either a Black or White suspect.  Specifically, we predicted that the Black suspect who was portrayed negatively by the media would be rated as more guilty and less fairly covered by the media than his neutrally portrayed and White counterparts.  Results showed no effect for PTP or defendant race on guilt judgements; however, there was a race main effect for perceived fairness in that participants rated the Black suspect’s PTP as less fair than that of the White suspect. We discuss the implications of these results in light of the characteristics of our sample and current cultural and social events.

Children understand the world best when the learning experiences are related to their real lives. Social Studies is often taught by memorizing facts when children do not truly understand the world around them. 

The purpose of this presentation is for people to get a better understanding of how to teach children about the world around them effectively. Specifically, presenters will present how children understand where they live; effective teaching strategies to teach first-grade children to make connections between where they live and the world. How learning should promote the active and multimodal nature of children's learning within interdisciplinary will be presented. 

Early childhood teachers use a free-play based environment to create learning opportunities for students. Teachers often place materials in the classroom that are incomplete, over or under stimulating, unclear, or not challenging enough for the students to engage with. Placing intentional materials in the classroom that have a clear understanding and connection to learning goals provides a structured consistent learning opportunity for the students and the teacher. Learning from the elements of Maria Montessori’s “Prepared Environment” teachers can provide more intentional learning opportunities in a purposeful, intentional environment. During this presentation the presenter will discuss the elements of a “Prepared Environment” and intentional learning materials for young children in comparison to a play-based learning classroom. 

Teachers often read aloud to children, but do not get the children actively involved, missing vital opportunities to support and improve the child’s language development by simply adding vocabulary explanations, asking a few key questions, and reading the story more than once in a period of 7-10 days. Simply reading a book to young children isn’t enough to promote lasting language and literacy skills.

This study will show target audiences (teachers, caregivers, and parents) how to use a repeated interactive read-aloud with their children. It will explain how this technique is more effective in improving children’s oral vocabulary and comprehension skills. It will also help adults share cultured, rich, and more complex picture books with young children, especially those with limited literary experiences at home, including English language learners and dual language learners.

Millions of people around the world experience and get diagnosed with a neurodegenerative disease that gradually will get worse over time. These disease causes many things such as memory loss and leads to the shrinking of the brain and its cells. Many of these diseases will overall cause memory loss due to neural cell deterioration or morphological changes. In this research experiment, we will be looking at neural cell deterioration and morphological changes in mice of three different ages. Two of the mice brains will be from one-month-old mice, the next two will be from fourteen-month-old mice, and the last two will be from an age somewhere in the middle depending on what we have available to us. All the brains will be fixed and then embedded into wax. From there we will section the brains using a microtome. These sections will get plated onto glass slides and we will then be able to do an H&E (hematoxylin and eosin) stain to allow us to see inflammation around the neural tissue. This stain will show darker and denser clumps of inflammation where there is more neural cell damage or morphological changes. Once this is done we will compare the inflammation seen in the neural tissue between the different ages of mice used and interpret the results that we find. These results can help us learn more about neural cell deterioration and morphological changes. This in hand will give us more knowledge about neurodegenerative diseases.

This study aims to provide a conducive environment for individuals to work or study efficiently, free from any interruptions. The approach involved conducting 15 interviews with customers, comprising experts, leaders in the field, and consumers, using the Lean Canvas startup method. The proposed model features a tranquil space similar to a library, as well as a comfortable ambiance like that of a cafe. Additionally, we aim to boost the morale of consumers by offering simple Korean snacks, such as Ramen. Collaboration with libraries is also planned to enhance data accessibility for consumers and increase efficiency in work and collaboration. Overall, this study presents a novel approach to creating an environment that fosters productivity and improves the overall experience of individuals working or studying.

Mitchell Brown

Hunter Carlin

Habram Martinez

Dragon Fit Pro Application Abstract

 When thinking of an innovative idea to change the way college students improve their well-being on campus, we wanted to find a way to make helpful tools accessible to everyone. Being students at MSUM, we didn’t know if a workout app would help freshmen receive useful information to assist in achieving their physical and mental health goals. We took this idea to various customers and received valuable insight. We solidified our idea by knowing that our fitness application would help busy freshmen plan their workouts and improve their self-image. We referenced the lean canvas startup method, compiled of competitors, customers, and experts. Each giving both positive and negative feedback. Our finalized idea consists of an easy to navigate workout app, sponsored by MSUM and working with the Russell & Ann Gerdin Wellness Center, that provides assisted workouts, discussion boards, and motivative tactics to keep the user engaged. We can make an agreement with the school enabling the impossibility for other parties to target the attending freshmen, making our application an MSUM exclusive. 

The research project focuses on the impact of technology on humans through affective computing and human-computer interaction. With the increased use of technology in our daily lives, it is crucial to examine its impact on human well-being. The study aims to analyze and evaluate specific technologies that excel in improving human health and well-being. The criteria for measuring the impact of technology on human well-being will be social, economic, and overall health improvement.

The study will contribute to intellectual merit by increasing knowledge about how technology affects humans, inspiring individuals to create technologies to improve human life. It will also advance the understanding of how technology affects humans and computers. The research findings will have practical implications for society to create and advance more technologies to enhance human life. The significance of this study lies in the potential of technology to improve human health and well-being, and it is vital to investigate its impact to ensure a positive outcome.

In order to find the electron charge to electron mass ratio (e/m ratio), an Electron Charge-to-Mass Ratio apparatus was used. This device consisted of an electron accelerator placed inside of a glass ball which was filled with an excitable gas. The goal of this project was to determine the e/m ratio by keeping the accelerating voltage constant while varying the current going through the Helmholtz coils and measuring the diameter of the ring created by the electrons exciting the gas molecules. The e/m ratio could be could be found from the linearized equation of B2 * e/m * r2 = 2U where B is the magnetic field strength, r is the radius of the electron ring and U is the accelerating voltage. The accepted value for the e/m ratio is 1.7588E11 C/kg. Our measured e/m ratio was (1.66 ± 0.11)E11 C/kg. This gave a significance ratio of less than 1, thus indicating the accepted value was not significantly different when compared with measured value.

Sync is a decentralized peer-to-peer cloud storage system that leverages the power of GunDB, a distributed graph database, to provide a secure, accessible, and efficient alternative to traditional centralized cloud storage platforms like Google Drive and Dropbox. The problem addressed by Sync is the security vulnerabilities and potential downtime associated with centralized storage solutions. Decentralized storage systems have been shown to offer improved security due to their reduced vulnerability to targeted attacks and data breaches, as well as better data availability and fault tolerance as they do not rely on a single point of failure.

Previous research has demonstrated the potential advantages of graph databases in various applications such as social networks, recommendation systems, and semantic web. Distributed databases like GunDB have been shown to offer better fault tolerance, improved scalability, and increased data availability compared to traditional centralized databases. However, the scalability and performance of decentralized systems like Sync remain open research questions.

The goal of this work is to investigate the potential advantages and trade-offs of Sync as a decentralized cloud storage solution compared to established centralized platforms. The importance of this work lies in exploring the feasibility of a more secure and accessible cloud storage system that can potentially compete with traditional platforms in terms of performance, user satisfaction, and scalability.

To achieve this goal, we will review the current state of knowledge about Sync, its use of GunDB, and its potential advantages and disadvantages compared to traditional cloud storage platforms. We will analyze existing research on distributed graph databases, decentralized storage systems, and their applications. The methods applied in solving the problem include evaluating the security, availability, fault tolerance, performance, user satisfaction, and scalability of Sync compared to centralized solutions, as well as exploring optimization techniques for decentralized systems. By investigating Sync's potential as a viable alternative to traditional cloud storage, this work contributes to the understanding and development of more secure and accessible data storage solutions.

The importance of physical environment in an Early childhood Classroom 

Oftentimes classrooms can be ineffective for early elementary students’ learning and development. Classroom environments play an important role providing children effective learning opportunities when it is structured to be developmentally appropriate. In this presentation we will discuss the importance of a classroom's physical environment for young children and how it affects their learning and development. Specifically, we will present an analysis of physical classroom environments of public schools. Utilizing methods of observations and collecting photos of the classrooms, presenters analyzed physical environments in six functions: Security and Shelter, Social Contact, Task Instrumentality, Symbolic Identification, Pleasure and Growth. 

A variety of health conditions can arise in individuals who stutter such as anxiety (Lowe et al. 2021, Manning & Beck 2013).  In the past, treatment for individuals who stutter focused primarily on reassembling the speech to increase control of verbal production. This is known as fluency shaping or stuttering modifications. Evaluation is used to assess social anxiety. Many individuals who experience stuttering may also experience social anxiety as well because there is an increase in negative feelings from social situations caused by their stuttering (Messenger et al. 2004). Treatment for fluency disorders can involve knowledge and understanding on how the individual interacts socially. The treatment plan for persistent stuttering has grown and diversified evolving from behavior based to a more holistic approach. A lot of therapy time for stuttering has focused on the evidence behind treating the motor component, however, the presence of social anxiety warrants attention in therapy (Lowe et al. 2021). 

“Seeing In Color: XRF analysis of glass from Winnipeg Junction”

X-ray fluorescence (XRF) is an elemental methodology that can be used to analyze the different compounds used to the appearance of glass. Historically, glass making methods included known colorants, opacifiers, clarifiers, and fining agents. Up until the turn of the 20th Century, a variety of glass colors were still in use, including aqua-marine, aqua, amethyst, brown, and green. A variety of colored glass pieces and bottles were recovered from an historic railroad town during a Minnesota State University Moorhead archaeological field school in the summer of 2022. Winnipeg Junction is located in eastern Clay County, Minnesota and had short boom town existence from 1897 to 1910. This poster provides the preliminary results of a qualitative XRF analysis of the glass recovered from Winnipeg Junction.

Executive functioning is a crucial part of each person's existence and how they manage day-to-day life. "Executive functions cover a variety of skills that allow one to organize behavior in a purposeful, coordinated manner, and to reflect on or analyze the success of the strategies employed" (Banich, 2004, p. 391). Individuals with autism often demonstrate impaired skill sets in this area compared to peers (Kemper & Bauman, 1998; McAlonan et al., 2005). Executive function is often characterized by three main categories: working memory, cognitive flexibility, and inhibitory control (Hill,2004). It is important for speech-language pathologists (SLPs) to understand intervention strategies to assist individuals who have autism in obtaining the necessary skills to manage their life. This poster presentation will discuss what executive function impairment is and treatment strategies that target the three main categories of executive function. The strategies include mindfulness-based interventions (Tang et al., 2012), cognitive training interventions (Pasqualotto et al., 2021), and accommodation strategies (Zainalabidin & Ahmad, 2019). This discussion will provide the listener with information on what executive function is, how its impairment may affect individuals who have autism, and evidence-based intervention strategies that assist in areas of deficit

The object of this research is to understand how quantum computing is being used, and what the benefits are to using it. 

There doesn’t appear to be direct classes in colleges about quantum computing, however it’s just as important as machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI). Questions that arise when we think of quantum computing include the possibilities, the impact, and how quantum computing can be used in the working industry. What companies actually use quantum computing, and how does quantum computing compare to classical computers? These are all important factors to consider.

Quantum computing was released in 1993 and has been growing since. There is a lot of focus on its speed, and the large problems it can solve. The primary focus groups within the industry of quantum computing include finance, applications, health, science, and networking. There is a future with quantum computing and developers need to be aware of all the solutions available to them. To address these problems, I would like to present any research I can find on quantum computing along with a comparison to classic programming. I will be comparing python to quantum computing and showcase the differences learned. There will also be information on what companies are utilizing quantum computing and the future ahead of us.

Existing research recognizes that the unemployment rate exhibits two opposing effects on the crime rate: the opportunity effect and the motivation effect. The opportunity effect specifies that, as the unemployment rate rises, the crime rate decreases because unemployment reduces opportunities to commit crimes when individuals spend more time at home while not working (Phillips and Land). The motivation effect states that, as the unemployment rate rises, the crime rate increases because people are motivated to commit crimes for monetary gains. Given these two opposing effects, the overall relationship between the crime rate and the unemployment rate remains small and insignificant. Research also notes that the opportunity effect occurs immediately when the unemployment rate rises while the motivation effect takes longer to manifest itself. Cantor and Land find that unemployment affects different types of crimes in different ways. Both the opportunity and motivation effects impact non-violent property crimes; however, the opportunity effect also affects violent crime. For years 2010-2014, I employ OLS regressions to determine the relationship between eight crime rate dependent variables (all violent crime, murder, aggravated assault, robbery, all property crime, burglary, larceny, and motor vehicle theft) and the U.S. unemployment rate. If a positive relationship between crime rates and the unemployment rate exists, this result matters to both individuals targeted in a growing number of crimes and policymakers. Policymakers could respond to persistently high unemployment rates by increasing spending to police forces. This research may reveal that directing additional resources to unemployment insurance can complement traditional crime prevention efforts. 

This project aims to develop a mobile app called "MySalah," which will provide comprehensive information on daily five prayers and the Islamic calendar, as well as additional features to help the Muslim community stay informed and connected to their faith through technology. The app will collect data from various online sources and will include features such as location-based prayer times, reminders, mosque locator, Islamic knowledge and resources, community features, personalization options, and multimedia content. The success of the project will be evaluated based on user feedback and usage statistics, with the app considered successful if widely adopted by the Muslim community. The proposed project has the potential to benefit society by providing a useful resource for the Muslim community and demonstrating the potential for technology to support and enhance religious practices.

In the last decade, vinyl records have seen a resurgence in popularity and a major increase in sales, with no signs of slowing down. This rapid growth has allowed many people to start collecting vinyl records, including myself. The problem is once your collection starts to grow, it can be hard to know exactly what you have as well as what vinyl’s you want to add to your collection.

The goal of this project is to create an Android application that will allow the user to manage, catalog, and grow their vinyl record collection. This project focuses on the use of Adobe XD, Android Studio, and the Kotlin programming language with an emphasis on learning and understanding these systems. To determine if this project is a success I will create a list of features that the finished app should have. If this list of features is met, then the project is a success. Throughout the project, I will be focusing on creating not only a usable application but also one that follows UI/UX design principles and is visually appealing. When complete I will have created an application that is fully functional and well-designed.

Alcohol has had and continues to have, major influences in the shaping of Clay County Minnesota. Alcohol has a deep historical reach in the region, with the late 19th century and turn of the 20th century being one of the wettest times in the county. Saloon Row in Moorhead, so named from the outlawing of liquor establishments on the North Dakota side and subsequent move of business to the Minnesota side, is a prime example. On the West end of the county, alcohol was also influencing a blossoming railroad community called Winnipeg Junction. This small, but growing community had three saloons, likely catering to different clientele. This poster is a preliminary examination of a refuse pit from recent excavations at Winnipeg Junction and will look at comparisons in drinking culture between Winnipeg Junction and Saloon Row.

 The endocannabinoid system is a regulatory pathway occurring throughout the body that is used to control the activity of neurotransmitters. CB2 receptors are one type of endocannabinoid receptor, mainly found in the peripheral system, specifically immune cells. This pathway is activated by lipid metabolites known as cannabinoids. The expression of CB2 receptors in immune cells indicates a role in the immune response. The A549 cells are classified as epithelial lung cells which are equipped to defend its host by recruiting immune cells in the presence of antigens. Our research aims to look at the effect of CB2 receptor activation on A549 lung epithelial cells under different concentrations of cannabidiol (CBD) solution by conducting a viability assay via serial dilution on a 96 well plate. With studies showing a correlation in the activation of the endocannabinoid system and immune-related apoptosis, this project looks at phenotypical changes in cell morphology and cell growth. A decrease in the number of cells in cultures with higher CBD concentrations is expected due to evidence of apoptosis upregulation. This research could have several implications which include a better understanding of CB2’s role in the immune response and the development of CBD’s therapeutic. 

This research project analyzes how Fifth Generation Chinese female filmmakers use mise-en-scène to break down traditional gender roles and reexamine their national culture. The project describes the narrative preoccupations of female filmmakers, the stylistic features that help to tell these stories, and how their work compares to the work of their male counterparts of the same cycle. Some key questions guiding this research include: what kinds of stories dominate Fifth Generation female filmmaking, what are the recurring themes, what cinematic techniques do Fifth Generation female filmmakers utilize to get their message across, and how is mise-en-scène used to push the reconceptualization of societal norms? Specific aspects of mise-en-scène such as performance, costuming, set and décor, props, and lighting will be analyzed to address these questions. The research sample is limited to films we have been able to access, as many of the works of female filmmakers have limited availability. The overarching theoretical framework for the project is drawn from scholarship on concepts of national cinema.

            This research is done on four models of disabilities, which are different ways we perceive people with disabilities. The four models of disability discussed in this research are the medical, social, capability, and biopsychosocial model. Like implicit biases, it is important to understand our assumptions about people with disabilities and know where they come from. Our beliefs can come from our culture, ideals, social status, and core values instilled deep within us. The medical model focuses on the ideology that assumes a person with disabilities is sick or incapable of having a good quality of life, while the social model assumes that disabilities are caused by society’s constructed expectations of ‘normal’. The capability model looks at the individual’s functional skills and how they are able to perform them, to determine if they have a disability in a given moment. Lastly, the biopsychosocial model is a combination of both the medical model and the social model. It recognizes the individual’s diagnosis and its limitations but offers support to take away the barrier of having a disability. This allows the person to be an active participant in society without any restrictions. These models all shape our view on people with disabilities and have an underlying impression on our thoughts and actions. It is important to realize what model we tend to focus on for ourselves and others because only seeing disabilities from one perspective can be problematic, causing a person to be closed minded or uninformed on what they believe about disabilities.

The world of machine learning is growing rapidly, getting close to almost replicating human speech, art, photography, and even motion and video. With this comes a lot of possibilities for use in the fields of translation and communication. AI has already been used in road sign reading for self-driving cars and language translation. This research will take a deeper dive into AI, translation, language and nonverbal communication. The main goal is to perhaps come up with a rough model of a sign to speech/speech to sign translation AI, however if this proves to be beyond the resources available, topics will be covered thoroughly. Sign language is a very developed language system that has been tried and tested in multiple different communities. It enables the people who are hard of hearing or deaf to have the ability to quickly and efficiently communicate with each other. Having an easy bridge through the power of AI between both the hearing and hard of hearing communities would be a very powerful change in society. 

The use of artificial intelligence (AI) in image recognition tasks has become increasingly popular, prompting the need to evaluate the performance of different AI classifiers in terms of accuracy and efficiency. This literature review examines various studies on AI classifiers and their effectiveness in image recognition tasks. The review highlights the limitations and challenges of AI classifiers in accurately identifying and removing hate speech online, the potential consequences of bias in AI algorithms, and the importance of transparency in AI systems. Additionally, the review includes studies that propose new classifier ensemble methodologies based on subspace learning, demonstrate the effectiveness of machine learning approaches using random forest classifiers, investigate the limitations of existing algorithms and propose modifications to improve performance, and present predictive classifiers for diseases based on stacking model fusion approaches. Finally, the review explores the use of explainable artificial intelligence (XAI) in detecting and mitigating bias in COVID-19 CT-scan classifiers, demonstrating its potential to improve the accuracy and reliability of diagnostic tools. In conclusion, the review highlights the need for further research in developing AI classifiers that can overcome existing limitations and challenges.

Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITS) have emerged as a promising educational technology that can provide personalized, adaptive, and interactive learning experiences to students. Proponents of ITS argue that they are always more beneficial than traditional teaching methods. However, this claim is not without controversy, and there are many factors that can influence the effectiveness of ITS. In this paper, we critically evaluate the hypothesis that "Intelligent Tutoring Systems are always more beneficial." We review the existing literature on ITS and compare their effectiveness to traditional teaching methods across different subjects, student populations, and learning outcomes. We also examine the strengths and weaknesses of ITS, including their ability to support diverse learners, their cost-effectiveness, and their potential to replace human teachers.

The sensory systems are deeply intertwined with speech and language acquisition due to their dependence on multiple sensory processes. Sensory integration (SI) is “the ability to organize sensory information for use” (Ayres, 1972b, p. 1). Individuals with sensory integration dysfunction have a decreased ability to process and integrate sensations (Bundy et al., 2020, p.4). Sensory integration therapy (SIT) aims to improve sensory processing and the ability to use all senses together. A review of the research for SIT only supported its use for goals targeting the areas of: functioning and participation, socialization, attention, behavioral regulation, sensorimotor skills and motor planning, reading and reading-related skills, and individualized goals (May-Benson and Koomar, 2010; Scaff et al., 2018). SIT as a treatment for language had support in early research, but newer studies found little evidence to support its use (Ayres, 1972a, 1978; Ayres and Mailloux, 1981; Cummings, 1991; Mauer, 1999; Griffer, 1999; Schooling et al., 2012; Scaff et al., 2018). Some support was found for SI as a treatment for social skills, though research on this goal was limited (Scaff et al., 2018). SIT that focused on areas of participation, such as socialization, were found to have the most substantial support for positive outcomes (Scaff et al., 2018; May-Benson and Koomar, 2010). Participation plays an essential role in speech-language therapy by allowing engagement in the intervention. Further research is needed with high-efficacy studies to better understand the relationship between SI and communication and the use of SI as a treatment for communication deficits. 

   Early childhood teachers often use textbooks as a method of teaching instead of hands-on experiences in the classroom. While children learn the best through the use of multiple modalities, educators in public schools tend to not include active engagement in their lessons. In this presentation, presenters will introduce a developmentally appropriate way of teaching second grade about voting with a focus on predictions, polling data, and presenting gathered data within an interdisciplinary context. 

   Furthermore, the lesson in this presentation will include effective ways of supporting children’s learning of language and literacy as well as mathematics in a social studies lesson. This includes an introduction to voting, a reading of The Class Election, and promoting children to use key vocabulary words through a polling and charting activity. A developmentally appropriate way of assessing children's learning will also be introduced.

Antipyrine, a 5-membered heterocyclic ring including two nitrogens and a carbonyl, has been identified by colleagues at Mayo as an early-stage drug candidate for treatment of Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF).  Our group is synthesizing analogs of antipyrine to better understand and optimize the spatial and polarity dimensions of the drug for improved IPF treatment. Antipyrine has a methyl (CH3) substituent at the N1-position. Presented will be studies for the preparation and purification of N1-alkyl analogs, in which the N1-methyl group is replaced by larger groups varying in length and functionality.  The preparative process will mostly introduce hydrophobic groups. A procedure has been produced where commercially available edaravone can be alkylated in varying efficiency with electrophilic alkyl halides or tosylates.  Reactions are run under solvent-free conditions, at variably high temperatures (under which the starting edaravone melts and allows mixing), in pressure-contained vials.   The resulting product mixtures were worked up under aqueous-base conditions to neutralize the cationic products, and organic products were extracted with dichloromethane.  The novel, previously unreported products were isolated and purified by column chromatography.  Reaction efficiencies were typically analyzed by either Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry and/or Nuclear Magnetic Resonance spectroscopy.  A series of 1º and 2º iodo- and bromoalkanes and tosylates will be presented along with procedural details, and NMR and GC-MS structural characterization. A hypothetical mechanism for these reactions will also be presented.   

Habitats and environments can be found anywhere one looks; they are essential for maintaining survival in the wild. Just like every other animal on this Earth, fish need places to hide and thrive. Up to 25% of all marine life call coral reefs home. Coral reefs provide shoreline protection from natural elements while also supporting local communities in tourism and fishing. Unfortunately, coral reefs are dying due to a rapidly changing climate. The rising temperatures cause numerous symbiotic single-celled algae to vacate the once colorful, bright, and vibrant coral. Once the algae is gone the coral turns white allowing them to slowly die of starvation and become susceptible to diseases. Without coral reefs the entire marine ecosystem would change due to numerous species of fish dying off, shores would obtain the full brute force of the waves, and millions of people would die. Although there are other contributing causes for coral bleaching, climate change is the major cause and will be mainly focused on this poster. To bring awareness to climate change and the rapidly dying reefs, MSUM’s Oceanarium will soon be obtaining a reef system that they will be maintaining and growing. With this new reef tank, they will be able to teach about how coral thrives and witness the natural beauty that coral holds. 

This project analyzes a certain national cinema in order to broaden our horizons on national cinema practices. The national cinema we chose to analyze is the Peruvian cinema. We focus our analyses on cinematography; specifically, cinematographic elements including composition, camera movement, camera angles, and color. We will also touch on the subject of mise-en-scene, specifically lighting techniques. Some questions we asked ourselves include: How do filmmakers utilize cinematography to communicate Peru’s political and socio economic history? How do the selected films reflect the unique cultural identities within Peru? How does the cinematography in Peru’s national cinema differ from that of other regions of Latin America? To answer these questions, we decided to examine a number of films that were influential in some way, such as award-winning films. The project uses a national cinema framework drawing from the works of Steven Croft and Andrew Higson. 

Harnessing the power of femininity and the female body, Hannah Wilke (1940-1993) became a pioneer through her provocative works of art. She used her own body as a vehicle to communicate larger themes and she often photographed her own body and performed nude. She demonstrated what a woman's role was in society in 1970s America. Her work was disruptive and would dismay some viewers because it took away the power of the gaze accustomed to passive or static images of women. 

The focus of my paper will be to analyze a selection of Hannah Wilke’s performances, Hannah Wilke Through the Large Glass (1978) and Gestures (1974), that exposed her nude body to the public in unexpected ways. Channeling, yet also partly defying, second-wave feminist values, Wilke championed the right for women to choose to show their skin, or not and to. More importantly, she championed the right to be free of judgment with which route they choose. 

How well does high school prepare you for the real world? A survey conducted by the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AACU) found that only 55% of high school students feel like they are prepared to enter the real world. The purpose of this presentation is to discuss how we can improve this statistic. I believe that teaching our students more life skills to our students is a good start. Many students move onto the real world not knowing how to do basic skills such as cooking or even balancing a checkbook. Throughout this presentation, we will discuss the importance of different life skills and explain why they should be taught to high school students. This presentation was part of an assignment used in Business and Professional Communications.

Panic attacks and anxiety can be crippling when you are unaware of what can help you in those situations. We know that there are exercises and techniques out there that can prevent and manage episodes and want to utilize these as a solution to that problem. We used the lean canvas startup method to interview 15 customers composed of consumers, experts, and leaders in the field to develop our model. By creating the only application that has a reputation of scientific validity that physicians can prescribe in the future. We are positioned to usher into the world the ability to regain their independence from fear and worry.

There are approximately 47 million individuals worldwide living with dementia. (Bayles et al., 2020). It is predicted that the percentage of individuals worldwide living with dementia will increase approximately 15.1% by 2040 (Saragih et al., 2022). The focus of this paper will be to address music interventions utilized in therapy for individuals with mild-moderate dementia.

Cybersecurity is becoming bigger and bigger in our lives, yet not all of us know how cybersecurity started or even how our computers can be infected with viruses and malware. In a world where technology controls so much of our daily lives. I think it’s important to know how cybersecurity started and where the first viruses came from and how they have evolved over the years. Knowing the past of cybersecurity is also helps to show us what we need to improve in the future, and what the future of cybersecurity will look like. I’m hoping to educate myself and other on the importance of cybersecurity and look at where everything started in order to see where it’s headed. I will go over different major data breaches through history and how they were fixed and how it will also affect the future of cybersecurity.