Undergraduate Research Scholarly and Creative Activities Awardee’s
“Presentation of Research in Poland Conference” – Joshua Beatty
Abstract-Research dissemination proposal
Purpose: The purpose of this conference is to disseminate research previously accomplished. The conference will provide a specific analysis area to which the research is oriented. This will allow for specific academic feedback in the conducted area of research.
Background Research: This project is co-authored by a UVU faculty member who provides expertise in Latin American Studies. His expertise together with my research provides new insight into the previously underappreciated proliferation of the term “Nahuatlatos” (interpreters in Nahua and other languages) and the philological study of the word.
Methodology: The research will be disseminated at the First European Nahuatl Conference in Warsaw, Poland.
Expected Outcomes: The First European Nahuatl Conference will provide the opportunity to receive specific area focused feedback on previously accomplished research and suggestions for venues for publication. Academics and professionals who specifically work in Nahuatl and Latin American Studies will be present at the conference. Their expertise will be invaluable in reviewing our research and in making suggested revisions.
Personal discussion: This project is a culmination of hard work and research performed over two summer semesters at Yale University and my senior capstone thesis. Having the opportunity to present at this conference will be irreplaceable. Not only will I have the opportunity for my work to be analyzed by academics in the specific field I hope to enter, but I will also be able to meet the majority of the top academics in my field in person. As graduate school is in the future, this opportunity would place a nice seal on my bachelors work as I finish my degree this semester.
“Carcinoma Detection: Software Development, Data Analysis, and Engineering Central Question: Software for high frequency breast cancer detection is developed by two students at Utah Valley University (UVU). Dissipation of our work to the scholarly world is presented.” – Thomas Burton
Background: Our team has developed a system to detect residual carcinoma in breast tissue. The system applies pioneering data analysis techniques to determine the tissue malignancy type. This software is a prototype for a final product for in vivo tissue examination to assist surgeons in the operating room. This project is important due to the crude nature of current breast cancer surgical techniques. In lumpectomy, malignant breast tissue are removed and pathology analysis is done to detect carcinoma on margins of the excised tissue. If malignant cells are present then a second, and sometimes a third, procedure is needed to remove the residual carcinoma. Our system improves patient outcomes by moving the pathology analysis to the operating room to successfully remove all malignant tissue in one procedure.
Methodology: Waveform data is generated by sending an ultrasonic soundwaves through a tissue sample. The software collects, analyzes, and stores the data in a database. The system is tested using phantoms at our lab. This proposal is a dissipation for our summer project to share our findings at the World Congress on Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering. This conference is selected because it is ideal for our interdisciplinary project.
Expected Outcome: This project is a collaboration of two students from two colleges. Jessica is a biology major and a pre-med student. I am a senior level computer science (CS) student with graduate school ambitions. By presenting our work at a peer reviewed conference we are exposed to the current trends of breast cancer detection and treatments. The conference topics are Ultrasound and Physics Application, Ultrasound and Engineering, Diagnostic Imaging, Biosignals Processing, and Clinical Engineering. The experience gained from attending this conference will help us improve our technology as well as our chances of being accepted to a top-tier schools after graduation from UVU. In addition to demonstrating our ability to conduct research, we will improve our communication skills by developing and sharing a presentation at the conference. This is a gold opportunity to represent UVU as an undergraduate institute with many engaged learning and interdisciplinary research activities.
Personal Discussion: Conducting research in breast cancer detection has resulted in immense personal growth. This research allows me to combine my technical abilities and passion for learning to improve the world around me. I’ve faced many challenges along the way. During the summer semester, I worked as a CS tutor and a teaching assistant. Even with my busy schedule, I was able to work 20 hours per week on this project to meet its deadline. This experience has motivated me to pursue my graduate studies to contribute the academic community.
“Culture Wars: The Long-term Ramifications of a Legacy of Doubt” - Brooke Schroeder
Attorneys are taught the importance of absolute decisions: guilty or not, harm done or not, etc. In contrast, those in social science/medically related fields are taught to ground decisions in the scientific method: develop a hypothesis, test, and retest data, etc. In addition to these differences, a complex history of expert testimony that was either unethical or founded on poor practices, coupled with research raising concerns about the validity of unaided “clinical decision making” (Ziskin & Faust, 1988, Monahan, 1981) has resulted in an enduring legacy of doubt regarding the use of social science in the courtroom.
In recent years, the Supreme Court gave total power of evidence admission, or “gate keeping” to judges, (Daubert v. Merrell Dow, 1993), which has only emphasized the importance of an impartial evaluation of potential mental health testimony and required that judges, at least, learn to consider key scientific aspects of proffered testimony. One study (Edens, et al., 2012) noted that the negative aspersions in their sample were not uncommon and that allegations made towards experts involved financial bias, partisanship, or pseudoscience. Attorneys may perpetuate the problem of “mercenary experts” when they believe the worst about mental health professionals and act on the basis of that belief. Further, lowering of admissibility standards has put Utah at particularly high risk for unethical or unqualified experts. Previously classified as a Daubert state, Utah recently revised Rule of Evidence 702, permitting state judges to assess testimony in a way “not so rigorous as to be satisfied only by scientific or other specialized principles or methods that are free of controversy or that meet any fixed set of criteria fashioned to test reliability.” Utah R. Evid. 702(b)-(c).
By analyzing transcripts from murder cases in Utah from the past 5 years and surveying students attending Utah law schools, we hope to test the following hypotheses: most mental health experts used in court are not adequate forensic evaluators, attorneys and judges use disparaging language towards mental health expert witnesses, and the existing law school culture and curriculum contributes to the current climate of confusion. Through a subscription with the Utah State Court Xchange record services, murder cases were assessed using qualitative methods. The information accessed is public record and provides information on the type of expert testifying in court. For the second part of the study, a self-report survey were distributed electronically to students attending two Utah law schools. Students responding to the survey were asked to answer a series of multiple choice and open-ended questions, with the hope to evaluate where the curriculum and culture may be failing them. Education on research and science is the only way to increase attorney self-awareness and help them serve with integrity as counsel and, maybe one day, as judges
Brooke Schroeder, the student spearheading this project, proposed this research after years of working in the mental health field. Originally coming to school at 26 to simply complete the Substance Use Disorder Certificate program, she ended up inspired by professors like Dr. Tolman and expanded her goals to include attending a JD/PhD program after graduation. This has truly been a passion project for this small but determined team.
“Construction and Practical Application of Cosmic Ray Detector” – Russell Garner
As I am nearing graduation my mentor Prof. Kim Nielsen and I thought it prudent to invest time and talent towards a senior project. The project itself was undetermined until just a few weeks ago. At length, Prof Nielsen and I agreed upon the assembly and testing of a cosmic ray detector. The detector itself has already been purchased and will be assembled and deployed to test for cosmic rays in various conditions.
Purpose: The purposes of this plan are far reaching and numerous. The first and most apparent of which is to test for cosmic rays under a number of different conditions (e.g. different times of year, different weather, varying altitude etc.) Understanding the direction and type of cosmic rays will add greatly to the knowledge of the origin and behavior of the rays. Additionally, the cosmic ray detector being constructed will be light and compact allowing for easy access to areas not normally available to larger apparatuses.
Another purpose worthy of note is the test of skill of myself (the student) in assembly and networking with other students and faculty. The cosmic ray detector is one of the more complex items I’ve assembled for the school and I believe it will add greatly to my understanding of circuits and fundamental physics concepts. In the future I plan to expand on this design to make a larger, more accurate detector capable of other important functions.
Background Research: I have performed previous research with cosmic rays which spanned from January to June of this year. The differences being that the cosmic ray detector provided was only calibrated for muon detection and the devices involved were large and cumbersome. The end goal for this small detector would be to be able to mount in on an airborne platform (preferably a weather balloon) and observe changes in the cosmic rays as a function of altitude in a short period of time. Already we have confirmed that muons are more common in higher altitudes and less abundant otherwise.
Methodology: Professor Nielsen and I have already created a comprehensive week by week plan for the remainder of the year. Production has already begun with a diagram of the working system along with study and reports of how the components involved function (e.g. photomultipliers, scintillation plates, circuitry etc.) A new soldering iron has been presented to our lab and assembly will occur with the help of another student in the lab who is an EE major. After completion of assembly. The apparatus will be tested in a number of different locations or varying altitude in the state of Utah.
Expected Outcomes: The group expects to have a fully operational cosmic ray detector in a few weeks. It will provide us with data which can be extrapolated to discern variables in weather patterns and cloud formations. Eventually, we would like to send this device up to nearly 100,000 feet above sea level on an experimental weather balloon.
Personal Discussion: This project will help me in a variety of ways. For one, I will become more familiar with cosmic rays and their behaviors in earth’s atmosphere. On another level, I will learn in an immense and detailed way the construction of electrical circuits to achieve a higher purpose. I believe that completing this project will accelerate my learning capabilities and spur me towards completing my bachelor’s degree and then going on to attain my masters.
“New Media: Interactions and Transactions" Conference Presentation” - Tyler Jaynes
The purpose of this project is to ultimately present my accepted work, “Entertainment Media and Bioethics: An Anticipatory Dialogue,” at the “New Media: Interactions and Transactions” Conference hosted by ChouaibDoukkali University in El Jadida, Morocco. This is an international conference, with presentations in English, French, and Spanish, and the ultimate paper my presentation is based on will be published by the conference organizers. In regards to the material within the paper, it’s focus is upon developing an argument to distinguish between anticipatory thought and speculative thought using entertainment media as a catalyst. The ultimate goal of the paper is to assist ethicists within the field in redirecting their focus to medical technologies that are currently being developed, albeit this specific paper does not make major ethical claims in terms of following a given ethical theory to develop the skills I view as being absent within the field. This is accomplished in a different paper, which is also being presented at two other venues this year, using Amartya Sen’s Capabilities Approach. I also argue that a shift of this nature will modernize bioethics as a field, and allow ethicists to resolve many ethical dilemmas before a given technology or technique becomes public. Should this shift occur within the field, it is hoped that further stagnation within the field of bioethics can be prevented in the future.
This is only one of several presentations I will be giving on the topic of anticipatory thought in bioethics this year, and it is hoped that this paper publication will allow for other presented papers to be published either by conference-related journals or unaffiliated academic journals. Beyond the specifics of the paper and presentation, it is hoped that other conference presentations at ChouaibDoukkali University during this time will yield other relevant information regarding current issues within the field of ethics--which could then viably be shared amongst students on the Utah Valley University campus through on-campus presentations and/or essays summarizing each attended presentation. In regards to how this given presentation and subsequent presentation will impact my education here at Utah Valley University, there are several benefits to this project. Beyond adding credentials to my curriculum vitae, this given project will open many other opportunities in the future for publication and aid in my graduate school application process. And given that I am currently the President of the Philosophy Club here on campus, this project may very well open doors for other students here on campus in regards to the organization of guest speakers and conference organization (as I plan to organize the Undergraduate Philosophy conference here on campus this coming Spring with help from the Philosophy Department staff).
“Simulating Particle and Photon Orbits Around a Black Hole” - Katerina Merrill
Objective:I am a physics major student and last semester I became a member of Dr. Kim Nielsen’s research group. In my research project, I plan to create mathematical and computer simulation models of particle and photon orbits around a black hole which will add to a deeper understanding of high-energy radiation emissions from supermassive black holes into space in the form of gamma ray bursts. This model will contribute to my long-term objective in my undergraduate research where I am going to focus on gamma radiation’s impact on the Earth’s atmosphere. With this new initiative in within the research group, we will pursue collaborative efforts with leading research groups from University of Utah and University of Tokyo.
Background:Our research group focuses on atmospheric dynamics on both short- and long-term scales. For example, recent studies have suggested that cosmic rays and gamma rays may play essential roles in cloud formation (short-term), which is important to understand climate changes (long-term). My contribution towards this subject is to explore the sources and energetics of cosmic rays and gamma radiation. Gamma ray bursts, occurring when matters collapse into a black hole, are some of the most energetic phenomena occurring in our universe. Understanding the motion of particles in the proximity of black holes is the first step towards my research topic of gamma-ray bursts and their possible effect on Earth’s atmosphere.
Methodology:To achieve this objective, I will create a plan of weekly achievements under the supervision of my instructor professor Nielsen. A significant part of the process will be self-studying principles of general relativity, astrophysics, and fundamentals of nuclear and particle physics. I am currently learning Python programming that will provide me with tools to implement the mathematical model into a computer simulation model. In detail, I will model particle and photon orbits around a Schwarzschild black hole using the Schwarzschild metric, which is the most general solution of the Einstein field equations. By applying conservation of energy and Kepler’s law (relativistic) I will establish the models for particle and photon orbits and implement them into a computer model for visualization.
Outcomes:Mathematical model of particle and photon orbits around black holes.
Computer simulation to visualize orbits.
Present work at APS conference ‘Four Corners Fall 2018’.
Initiate collaboration with University of Utah and University of Tokyo.
Personal discussion:After my graduation, I would like to continue with similarly focused research either in graduate or doctoral studies. Also, I aspire to publish an article in a scientific journal by the end of my undergraduate studies. Being able to implement research like this would be a valuable experience and great preparation for my future career in scientific research.