2011 STAR Scholars Abstract Booklet

MANTUA: A STUDY IN URBAN DEVELOPMENT

MantuaisahistoricalneighborhoodinWestPhiladelphia,borderedby SpringGardenStreettothesouth,MantuaAvenuetothenortheast,and N.40th Street,tothewest. Throughtheirresearch,studentssoughtto understandthephysicalqualitiesoftheneighborhoodthrough quantitativeandqualitativeanalysis. Researchareasincluded architecturalstyles,historicaldevelopment,two-dimensionalgraphical analysis,andthedevelopmentofadetailedthree-dimensionaldigital modelavailableforgeneraluse. Furthermore,thestudents’researchhas laidthegroundworkforfutureinquiryintotheneighborhood.

Architecture

Samantha Holmes

Architecture

Philip June

Architecture

Jeffrey Pond

Architecture

Zoe Spencer

Architecture

Dr. Frank de Santis

Architecture & Interior Design

Patrick Barendt

Matt Haas

Digital Media

Hannah R. Winograd

Digital Media

THE PEALE MUSEUM: NEXUS OF SCIENCE,ART, AND TECHNOLOGY

Dr. Glen Muschio

Cinema & Television

CharlesWillsonPeale,anAmericanpainterandscientistofthe Enlightenment,developedhis"PhiladelphiaMuseum,”housedonthesecond floorofIndependenceHall1811-1827.Themuseumwasarrangedtodepict manasthepinnacleofalllifeonearth.Amongscholars,Peale’sinnovative useofscience,artandtechnologytoraisepublicawarenessaboutthe “scientific”orderingoftheworldiswellknown,yethiscontributionisall butunknowntotheestimated4millionpeopleayearwhovisit IndependenceHall,aUNESCOWorldHeritagesitededicatedtothesigning oftheDeclarationofIndependence.Thegoalofthisprojectistocreatean interactive3DvirtualmodelofPeale'smuseum.Themodelwillbeusedto helpraiseawarenessabouttheimportanceoftheEnlightenmentin understandingtheAmericanRevolution. Our3Ddigitalmodelisbasedona publishedguidetothemuseum'scollectionwrittenbyPealehimself,two paintingsbyTitianPealeandCharlesPeale,andpublishedhistorical accounts.Theresults includeaninteractive3Drenderingofthemodel containingninetyofPeale'sportraits,displaycabinetsandcasesdepictedin thepaintings. Theinteractivemodelwillbeusedinsmartphonetoursof IndependenceHallandforothereducationaluses.

PECO CROWN LIGHTS PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENTS

Theobjectiveofthisprojectistomakeuseofscientificdataproducedinthe NationalScienceFoundation,AwardNumber0803670,“The3DColonial PhiladelphiaProject DigitalRestorationofThin-ShellObjectsfor HistoricalArcheologicalResearchandInterpretation,”toinformthe generalpublic abouttwoarchaeologicalevents,Pennsylvania ArchaeologicalMonthandPhiladelphiaArchaeologicalDay.Toreachour intendedaudience,wewillusetheCrownLightsontopofthePECObuilding. Thiselectronicdisplayboardisanimportantdeviceincommunicatingin formationtoalargeportionofthecityinhabitants.Theteamuseddesign principles,newmediatechnologies,anda3Dmodelofaceramicartifactto producetheanimatedpublicserviceannouncement(PSA).This interdisciplinaryandcollaborativeprojectbringstogetherscience,art,and technology.Workingwithacomputersciencegraduatestudent,weconverted scientificfileformatstobecompatiblewithdesignsoftware.Weworkedwith PhiladelphiaArchaeologicalForum(PAF)toproducethetextforthepublic serviceannouncementwhichreferspeopletothePAFwebsite.ThePSAswill runfromSeptember29thtillOctober31st.

Matt Haas Digital Media

Dr. Glen Muschio Cinema & Television

Hannah R. Winograd Digital Media

Simone Dallaire Entertainment & Arts Management

THE USE OF MEDIA BY PERFORMING ARTS ORGANIZATIONS

Dr. Larry Epstein Arts & Entertainment Enterprise

Arecenttrendintheperformingartsindustryistheuseofvariousdigital mediaoutletsasdistributionplatformsforcreativeworks.Indepthanalysis ofthedevelopmentofthistrendandthebusinessstructurebehindledtothe conclusionthatthereareseveralintersectingdevelopments fuelingthis trend,includingtheconversiontodigitalcinemainmovietheaters,adecline Inoverallmovietheaterattendance,andperformingartsorganization’s interestsinexpandingtheaudienceforthefinearts.Themostfrequent occurrencesofthistrendoccurthroughbroadcastnetworks(i.e.PBS’s Live From The Lincoln Center program)andmovietheaters(i.e. The Met: Live in HD).Theuseofmovietheatersasameanstoshowcasefineartsisarecent advanceand,unliketheuseofbroadcastnetworks,createsasimplified businessmodelthatcouldcreatenewrevenuestreamsforperformingarts organizations.Whilethesetypesof“alternativecontent”eventsshownin movietheatersaroundtheworldmakeupaverysmallpercentageofoverall boxofficegrowth,itisanexpandingmarketthathasseenrecentgrowth. Currently,profitsfromtheseeventshavebeenslim,butcontinuedgrowth, whichseemslikely,couldeventuallyleadtocreatingalternativeincomefor performingartsorganizations.

FASHIONABLE TECHNOLOGY FOR THE MEDICAL INDUSTRY

Smartgarmentscanmakeanenormouscontributiontohealthcare.Designed andfabricatedproperlytheycanincreasepatientsafetyandcomfortand replacebulkymedicalinstrumentation.Throughourresearch,weseekto provethatitispossibletocreatecomfortable,fullymanufacture-ablesystems ofknittedsensors. Weresearcheddo-it-yourselfwearabletechnology websitesandusedconductivethreads,yarnsandfabricstocreaterough semi-flexibleprototypestotestthetechnology.Wethenusedthese prototypestodesignandknitsamplesonaShimaSeikicomputeraided3D knittingsystemonwhichformfittingseamlessgarmentscanbeconstructed withspecializedyarnstoperformspecificfunctions.Thismodeoffabrication offersafutureofmanyopportunitiesforsmartgarmentsandholds remarkablepotentialinmedicalapparel.Thetimepatientsarerequiredto stayinthehospitalcouldbesignificantlyreducediftheyareabletowear comfortableandreliablemonitoringequipmentwithouthindranceto everydayactivities.

Sarah Mackenzie Fashion Design

Dr. Genevieve Dion Fashion Design Design & Merchandising

Jasmine Corrie Graphic Design

THE POLISH POSTER PROJECT

Dr. Jody Graff Program Director, Graphic Design

ThePolishPosterProjectinvolvesthearchivingoftheAntoinetteWestphal CollegeofMediaArts&DesignPolishPosterCollection.Theprojectconsists oftheresearch,organization,andexhibitionofover2000PolishPosters. Whentheposterswereacquired(TheFrankFoxCollection)anddonated(the LewalskiCollection),theywerereceivedwithminimaladditionalinformation. Throughtheresearchofmanybooks,websites,translators,andpersonal accountsofFrankFox,whoknewmanyoftheseartistspersonally,wewere abletogatherbackgroundinformationaboutmanyofthepostersandtheir artists.Asthemainfocusoftheprojectshiftsfromresearchtoexhibition,we arebeginningtodevelopawebsitetoexhibitthepostersforindividuals interestedinPolishPosterdesignandtobeutilizedasasearchabledatabank forstudentresearchandprojects.Asagraphicdesigner,thedesignand developmentofthewebsiteisanaddedbonustothisproject.Whenthe websiteiscomplete,wehopetobeabletobettercollaboratewithmuseums anduniversitiesaroundtheworldinordertogainabetterunderstandingof thehistoryandsignificanceofthePolishPosterart.

GRAPHIC DESIGN AND SILKSCREENING

AsastudentoftheCollegeofMediaArtsandDesign,Ichoseamentorthat wouldgivemetheopportunitytoworkcreatively. Mymentor,AnneSchaefer, isaworkingartist,asmallbusinessowner,andaprofessoratbothDrexeland theUniversityoftheArts. InjusttenweeksIhaveseenaninstallationgofrom anideatothewallsofagallery;Ihavelearnedabouttheinfrastructureofa smallbusiness;Ihaveeditedphotographsandtaughtmyselfhowtobuilda websiteonwhichtoshowthem;andIhavelearnednewsilkscreen techniquesandhowtoapplymyskillstoprintingonfabric. Earlyoninthe summer,mymentorandIdiscussedmypersonalprojectandIdecidedthatI wouldliketotakeonthechallengeofdesigningmyowntextiletobe silkscreenedontoaduvetcover. Whilethisprojectwasdifficultforme,itgave metheopportunitytolearnnewtechniquesfrommymentorandgrowinthe process. IamproudofwhatIhavecreatedandlearnedinthepastweeksand willforeverbechangedbythisexperience.

Elanor Williams

Graphic Design

Ms. Anne Schaefer Graphic Design

THE GROWING BRAZILIAN ECONOMY, ITS EFFECT ON MUSIC PIRACY, AND THE IMPLICATIONS FOR THE DEVALUATION OF MUSIC

Musicpiracyhasconsistentlybeenviewedasaproductoftoday’s technologicaladvancesandhashelpedcausetherecentdevaluationofmusic. TheInternetandadvancementofstoragespaceonpersonaldevicesand computershasmadeiteasierforconsumerstotransferandsharemusic withoutpurchase.However,whiletheUnitedStateshaswitnessed,and utilized,thedevelopmentofmusicpiracyandtheevolutionoftechnology, countrieslikeBrazildidnothavetheaccesstothesametechnologythat definedpiracyintheUnitedStatesandothereconomicallysufficientcountries intheearly2000’s.ByusingaccountsfromProfessorWalters’experiencein Brazil’smusicindustry,aswellasmyowncomparativeanalysis,Iwillshow howpiracyhasstilldevelopedevenwithoutadequateaccesstotechnology andprovethatconsumershavedecreasedthevalueofmusic,notonlyinthe UnitedStates,butinBrazil,aswell.

Michael Rodino Music Industry

Mr. Darren Walters Music Industry

ALZHEIMER’S DAY LIGHTING STUDY

Theobjectiveofthisprojectistodeterminetheinfluencethatdaylightand man-madelightingsystemshaveonthecircadianrhythmofAlzheimer’s patients.ResearchhasshownthatAlzheimer’spatientssuffersleepcycle disruptionduetoadegradationoftheirnaturalcircadianrhythms.This disruptionofsleepexpressesitselfinanincreasedrestlessnessandagitation intheAlzheimerpatient. Researchersarestillfarawayfromfindingacure forAlzheimer’s;however,thisresearchhopestoimprovethequalityoflife forpatients.ThisprojectbuildsontheworkofDr.DanielMarenda(Biology) usingdrosophilafliesthatexhibitAlzheimer’sdisease.

Dataisbeingcollectedusing16normaland16Alzheimerdrosophila melanogaster.Theexperimentfollowstheprotocolof5daysof12hoursof light/12hoursofdarkinacontrolledenvironment.Thiscycleisthenfollowed by7daysofcompletedarkness.Datacollectedwilldirectlyimpactfunded researchbeingconductedbyDr.GenaEllis.Oneofthreepossibleoutcomesis predicted:1)nocorrelationwithlightingandthesleepcycle,2)apositive correlationwithlightingandthesleepcycle,or3)inconclusivedata. Ultimately,theresultsofthisexperimentwillinfluenceexperimentsofhuman trialsinvolvingthedesignoflightingfixturesthatmimicafull24-hourcycleof daylightanddarkness.Thesefixturesareusedasameansofdeterminingan effectivetreatmentofsleepdisorderscausedbyadisruptionincircadian rhythm.

Megan Peaslee Product Design

Dr. Michael Glaser Fashion Design Product Design Design & Merchandising

ADAPTING NONFICTION FOR THE SCREEN

Transcribingastoryfromonemediumintoanotherismuchmoredifficult thanmostpeoplerealize,especiallywhenconvertingaworkofnonfictioninto fiction.Oftentimes,majorelementsmustbealteredsothatthestorycanbe toldinamorenarrativeanddramaticformsoastoreachawideraudience. Inthisproject,Iadaptedthenonfictionnovel Boozehound,byJasonWilson, intoafilmscript. Boozehound isacollectionofsmallvignettesaboutanumber ofveryrareorexpensivespirits.Theprocessbeganwithreadingthebook severaltimesinordertogainathoroughunderstandingofthebasicstory elements.ThenIbrainstormedandoutlinedseveralideas,choosingthebest threetodrafttreatmentsfor.Atreatmentiswherethefilmisbrokendown scenebysceneanddescribedingreatdetail,exposingalloftheproblemsthat aproposalmayhave.ItwasatthisstageIdiscoveredthattheeasiestwayto makethenovelworkasafilmwastocompresstimeandchangethelocation. Aftersettlingonanidea,Iwasfinallyabletobeginwritingthescript.

MyproposedscriptfeaturesDavidCartwell,asemi-famousspiritswriter, whoattendstheTalesoftheCocktailspiritsconferenceinNewOrleans,and who,afteraseriesofstrangeoccurrencesandwiththehelpofafailedlove affair,realizesheislivinginabubbleofbooze,parties,andexoticplacesand needstogetbacktotherealworld.

Justine Higgins

Screenwriting & Playwriting

Mr. Jason Wilson

Pennoni Honors College

WALKABILITY’S IMPACT ON SENIOR HEALTH (WISH)

Objectives: WISHisanexploratorystudythatisfundedbytheNational InstituteofNursingResearchoftheNIHandinvolvesthePhiladelphia CorporationforAgingandtheAsociaciondePuertorriquenosenMarcha. The WISHprojectismeanttodeterminehowtodesignhealthierurban neighborhoods,especiallyinrelationtopeopleoverage60. Ultimately,the projectwillrecruitseniorstoidentifyassetsandlimitationsofthearea. My objectivesforthesummerweretoqualitativelyandquantitativelydescribe thedemographics,walkability,andactivityofoneneighborhoodineastern NorthPhiladelphia. Research Methods: Fieldobservationsandstructured systematicobservationswereconductedinthetargetneighborhood. First,I conductedfieldobservationstoidentifyspecificsegments,orblocks,inthe neighborhoodforfocusinthecomingphasesoftheproject. Next,Icollected quantitativedatausingtwovalidatedstructuredobservationalinstrumentsto assessthewalkabilityandphysicalactivityofresidentswithintheselected segments. Implications: Afterthisprocess,communitymemberswillbe recruitedtoconductsimilarobservations. Thesedatawillthenbecompared tothedataIcollected. Myfindingsfromtheinitialphaseoftheprojectwere compiledintoareport,whichwillbeusedasareferencethroughoutthe project. ThefindingsfromWISHwillimpactthedesignofurban neighborhoodssomoderateformsofphysicalactivity,suchaswalkingand bicycling,areencouraged. Asanincreaseintheseactivitiesbenefitspublic health,cityplannersconsultprojectssuchasWISHtoknowwhatconditions toimproveinanurbanneighborhood.

Brittany Handler Anthropology

Michael School of Public Health Epidemiology & Biostatistics

Dr. Yvonne

Riddhi J. Amin Biological Sciences

ELUCIDATING MICROBIAL GUT SYMBIONTS OF CEPHALOTES VARIANS

Dr. Jacob Russell Biology

Symbioticrelationshipshavebeendocumentedacrossnumerousanimal species,andtheseintimatelinksaffectthereproduction,diet,andthe evolutionofmanyorganisms.Studiesofbacteriainhabitingthegutsofthe ant, Cephalotes varians haverevealedmulti-speciescommunitieswith potentialrolesinhostnutrition.Thisparticularresearchsoughttocultivate thebacterialspeciesthatareknowntoinhabit C. varians gutsandwhile screeningforarchaealandfungalmicrobes.Cultivationofthebacteriawill allowforfurtherinvestigationintotheirexactfunctioninthesymbiotic relationship,whilescreeningforFungiandArchaeaprovidesthefirst attemptstosurveyformicrobesoutsideoftheEubacteria.Sequencesfrom eightdifferentculturedbacteriasuggestthatthegutcontainsrareand previouslyundiscoveredbacterialspecies,suchastheChryseobacterium,a typeofFlavobacteria.However,furtherresearchisrequiredtosuccessfully growthedominantsymbioticmicrobesidentifiedbyculture-independent means.InadditiontotheseEubacteria,PCRscreeningimpliesthepresenceof Archaeain C. varians guts.Futureresearchwillutilizeseveraltypesofgrowth mediagearedtowardsprovidingthesymbiontswiththenutritionneededto becultured.Also,thepresenceofarchaealandfungalspecieswillverifiedby furtherscreeningandsequencinginordertoestablishspecies’identity.In conclusion,thisstudyhasprovidedinsightsintomicrobialcommunitiesthat colonizethedigestivesystemsof C. varians,revealingagreaterdiversitythan originallyappreciated.

THE ROLE OF CALCINEURIN IN A DROSOPHILA MODEL OF ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE

OurlabhasdevelopedatransgenicmodelofAlzheimer’sDisease(AD)by expressingthewildtypehumanformsofbothAPPandBACEwithinthe CNSofDrosophilamelanogaster.Thesetransgenes,combinedwith Drosophila’sendogenousfunctionalhomologofthegamma-secretase complex,recapitulatestheamyloidogenicproteolyticprocessingthatoccursin ADbrains. Calcineurinhasbeenimplicatedinthepathologyandprogression ofneurodegenerationinADbrains.WehaveusedourtransgenicAPP:BACE

DrosophilatotesttheroleofcalcineurininADusingbothRNAiknockdown andpharmacologicaltechniques. Drosophilaexhibitnegativegeotaxisby climbingupwardswhentappedtothebottomofavial,anddisruptionofthis stereotypedresponseisindicativeofnervoussystemdysfunction. Calcineurin inhibitorsadministeredviafeedingimprovetheimpairedmotorreflex behaviorobservedintheAPP:BACEflies.RNAi-mediatedknockdownof calcineurinintheAPP:BACEDrosophilamodelalsopartiallysuppressesthe defectiveclimbingbehavior.Thesestudiesemphasizetheutilityofthismodel fordissectingthemolecularmechanismofneurodegeneration,aswellas testingpossiblepharmacologicalinterventionsinaninvivosystem.

Neha Arjunji Biological Sciences

Dr. Aleister Saunders Biology

BRING OLD COLLECTIONS INTO NEW FOCUS

Duringtheearlydaysofpaleontologicalresearchandfieldworkfossilswhere oftencollectedfrompitsduginlocalfarmsforsoilsorminerals.Thesefossils werecollectedbymuseumworkersorfarmworkersandsenttothemuseum (theAcademyofNaturalSciences).Eachreceivedlotwasprepared,givena museumcollectionnumber,andstudiedthenshelved.Eachtimeaworker collectedatagivenpitthenewlycollectedspecimenswouldbegivenanew number.Synonymizingnumbersandlotsofspecimenscanhelptoilluminate lossofboneduetocollectinghabitsandweathering/rateoffossilbecoming unearthed.

Recentlywefoundcausetosynonymizethreelotsandtheirnumbersinto one.Thishasledustoaskthequestionofhowoftenthesameindividual skeletonmighthavebeencollectedinseparatelotsandnowsitunderseveral separatecollectionsnumbers.Weproposetosetupadichotomouskeyto quantifythepossibilityofanygivenlotsbeingsynonymizable.Thekeywill lookatgenus/species,dateofcollection,placeofcollection,andoverlapof identifiableskeletalelementsandmorphologyofbonebreaksurfaces. Wewillbeginwiththedateofcollectionoftherecentlysynonymized crocodilianskullandextendourtimebracketsoutfromthatdatetotwoyears beforeandafteritiscollecting.Ouroutcomewillbethedichotomouskeyand synonymizedspecimens,aswellasarecommendationforusefulnessofthe keyinotherinstitutionsandinourownvertebratepaleontological collections.

Aja Carter Biological Sciences

Dr. Kenneth Lacovara Biology

EFFECT OF ERBB2 ON GLUTAMINASE EXPRESSION IN BREAST CANCER CELLS

ErbB2isanoncogenethatisoverexpressedincertaintumors,most frequentlyinbreastcancers. ItcanactivatethePI3K/AKTandMAPK signalingpathwaystoenhancetumorgrowthandmetastasis. Glutaminaseis anenzymethatbreaksdownglutaminetoprovideenergy,biosynthetic precursors,andreducingagentsforactivelydividingtumorcells. Our preliminarydatashowsthatErbB2increasesglutaminaseexpression. However,theexactmechanismbywhichErbB2upregulatesglutaminase expressionisnotyetclear. Myresearchgoalistodeterminetheroleofthe PI3K/AKTandMAPK/ERKpathwaysinErbB2-mediatedupregulationof glutaminase.

Toachievethisgoal,IutilizedMCF-10acells(normalhumanmammary cells)andNeuTcells(MCF-10acellswithconstitutivelyactiveratErbB2). I usedMCF-10acellstransientlytransfectedfor24hourswithacontrol plasmid,aplasmidoverexpressingAkt-Myr,andaplasmidoverexpressing pCMV-MEK,respectively. IalsoincludedMCF-10aandNeuTcellsascontrols. IcollectedthewholecelllysateforWesternblotanalysistodeterminethe expressionofErbB2,glutaminase,pAKT,totalAKT,pERK,totalERK,and α-tubulin(aloadingcontrol). Theresultsshowedthattheoveractivationof PI3K/AKTandMAPK/ERKcannotsufficientlyinduceglutaminase upregulationinMCF-10acells.Therefore,ErbB2mayincreaseglutaminase expressionthroughotherpathways. Infuturestudies,Iwilltestother signalingpathwaysthatmayenhanceglutaminaseexpressioninthe ErbB2-positivebreastcancercells.

Clarissa Chu Biological Sciences

Dr. Nianli Sang Biology Shuo Qie Graduate Student Mentor

Steven G. Doll Biological Sciences

DO FREQUENCIES OF BACTERIAL SYMBIONTS IN PEA APHIDS VARY WITH PARASITISM RATES?

Dr. Jacob Russell Biology

Andrew Smith Graduate student mentor

Thepeaaphid, Acyrthosiphon pisum,harborsseveralfacultativebacterial endosymbionts. Oneoftheseendosymbionts, Hamiltonella defensa,isof particularinterestduetoitscapacitytodefendpeaaphidsagainstthe parasitoidwasp Aphidius ervi. Thisstudyseekstodeterminetherelationship amongstsymbiontfrequencyandtheprevalenceofparasites. Wesampled severalalfalfaandcloverfieldsinsoutheasternPennsylvaniaandcentralNew Yorkfor A. pisum anditsnaturalenemiesonceeverythreeweeksbeginningin May,2011. Aphidscollectedinthefieldwereeitherimmediatelystoredin ethanolandscreenedforthepresenceofendosymbiontsinthelaboratoryor broughtbacktothelaboratorytodetermineratesofsuccessful A. ervi parasitism. Wepredictthat H. defensa frequenciesshouldvaryaccordingto waspdensities. Thereisanapparentcostofinfectionintheabsenceof parasitism,andsowepredictthat H. defensa frequenciesshouldvaryin relationtowaspdensity. Ourcurrentfindingsindicatealowfrequencyof H. defensa withinpeaaphidscollectedfromalfalfainNewYorkonthefirst samplingdateinearlyMay. PeaaphidscollectedfromalfalfainPennsylvania onthesamesamplingdatehadahigherfrequencyof H. defensa anda substantialparasitismrate. Temperaturemaybeanimportantfactorin determiningaphidresistancetoparasitism. Assuch,futureanalyseswill examinetherelationshipbetweentemperaturesrecordedinthesamplefields andanyseasonalchangesinsymbiontfrequency,helpingtofurtherelucidate therelationshipsamongst A. pisum,itsnaturalenemies,and H. defensa.

IDEAL CONCENTRATION OF MATRIGEL AND COLLAGEN TO SIMULATE IN VIVO BREAST CANCER INVASION IN THE EXTRACELLULAR MIX

Background:Theextracellularmatrix(ECM)surroundingcellsisanelaborate networkofstructuralproteins,primarilycollagen.Invasionassaysareutilized inexperimentstosimulatecancercellmigrationandinvasionthroughthe ECMofsurroundingtissue.Theseassaysusuallyrelyononetypeofcollagen fiber;however,themammaryenvironmentismorecomplex.Rat-tailcollagen ismadeofshortfibersandbovinecollagenoflongfibers. Weuseda3D innovativeinvasionassayutilizingbothtypesofcollagenatvarying concentrations. Thepurposeofthisstudyistoobservetheeffectsofdiffering concentrationsofECMcomponentsonbreastcellinvasionasitwouldbe usefultostudytumors. Itishypothesizedthatacombinationofrat-tailand bovinecollagenwillbemostsimilartothemammaryECMenvironment.

Methods:NeuNcells,engineeredtomimicpre-invasivebreastcancercells, arecombinedwithagelmixturethatcontainsmatrigel,andvaried concentrations(0.8to2.3mg/ml)andsources(rattailandbovine)ofcollagen foranincubationandinvasionperiodof24hrs. Results: Keepingmatrigel concentrationconstantat1.0mg/ml,themaximumpercentinvasionof 28.37%wasobservedwith0.8mg/mlofrat-tailcollagen.Ataconsistent matrigelconcentrationof1.16mg/ml,themaximumpercentinvasionis 9.87%at1.3mg/mlbovinecollagen. Conclusion:Bydeterminingtheideal concentrationsofmatrigelandcollagenintheinvasionassay,invivoinvasion ofbreastcancercellscanbemimickedforoptimumapplicationinbreast cancerresearch.

Melissa Duong Biological Sciences

Dr. Adrian C. Shieh School of Biomedical Engineering, Science, & Health Systems

EFFECT OF TUBACIN ON THE ACETYLATION OF TUBULIN AND SYNAPTIC PLASTICITY IN A DROSOPHILA

Epigeneticmarksarepost-translationalhistonemodificationsthataffectgene expressionbyalteringthepackagingchromatininthenucleusofeukaryotic cells.Onesuchmodificationisacetylation, whichiscovalently linkedto histone proteinsbyafamilyofenzymescalled histoneacetyltransferases (HATs). Studiesfromourlaboratory showthattheHATTip60playsan importantroleinsynapticplasticity.Forexample,ourmicroarraydatashows thatTip60isassociatedwiththeregulationofgenesenrichedforspecific neuronalprocessinvolvedinlearningandmemory. Wealsoshowthat pre-synpaticlossofTip60HATfunctioncausesasignificantincreasein synapticboutonnumbersatthe Drosophila neuromuscularjunction(NMJ),a wellcharacterizedmodelusedtostudysynapticplasticity.Intriguingly,this increaseinsynapticboutonformationisaccompaniedbyadecreaseinthe acetylationoftubulin,amodificationinvolvedintheorganizationofthe cytoskeletonthatislinkedtoboutonformation.Here,wewillinvestigate whetherTip60associatedtubulinacetylationplaysadirectroleincontrolling synapticboutonformation.Wehypothesizethatrestorationoftubulin acetylationinourTip60HATmutantflieswill atleastpartiallyrescuethe defectsinsynapticplasticityandlocomotoractivitycausedbylossofTip60 HATfunction.Totestthishypothesis,wearetreatingTip60HATmutant flies withTubacin,ahistonedeacetylase(HDAC)inhibitorthatspecifically inhibitsHDAC6fromdeacetylatingtubulin,thuspromotingenhancedtubulin acetylationintheseflies.Wewillthenassesswhetherthistreatmentwillat leastpartiallyrescuethedecreasedlocomotionand increasedsynaptic boutonformationweobserveinTip60HATmutantflies.Thesestudiesshould haveimplicationsfortheuseof tubulinmodificationbased therapeuticsfor potentialtreatmentofneurodegenerativedisorders associatedwithsynaptic plasticitydefects.

Maha Elgawly Biological Sciences

Dr. Felice Elefant Biology

Jessica Sarthi Graduate student mentor

CHANGES IN THE INCIDENCE AND DISTRIBUTION OF BIRD SPECIES OF PENNSYLVANIA AND NEW JERSEY

Inthisproject,Istudiedanthropogenicandenvironmentalaspectsof globalwarming,andotherclimaticchanges.Thechangingclimatewillhave ubiquitouseffectsforlifeonEarth,fromthesmallestphytoplanktonto humanbeings.

Myspecificposterprojectfocusesononegroupofanimalsinaspecific areaaffectedbythesechanges;avianspeciesinseveralsurveyareasacross SouthernNewJerseyandSoutheasternPennsylvania.Accordingtogeneral circulationmodels(GCMs),changesinthelocalclimatearepredictedto impactthesebirdsindifferentways.Ourmodelsaretakenprimarilyfrom theClimateChangeBirdAtlas,publishedbytheUSDepartmentof Agriculture’sForestService,andmodelchangesinthesespecies’incidence (populationdensityperunitarea)anddistribution(extentoftheir habitationrange).Destructionoftheirbreedingandnestinghabitatsand foodscarcity(duetobothanthropogenicandenvironmentalpressures) seriouslythreatenthesespecies’chancesofsurvivalinourvacillating environment.

Richard Alexander Furstein Biological Sciences

Dr. James R. Spotila Biology

Taylor Grimes Biological Sciences

FORMATION OF ORDERED TRIMESIC ACID AND MELAMINE NANOWIRES

Dr. Hai-Feng (Frank) Ji Chemistry

Trimesicacid(TMA)andmelamine(M)nanowireshavedemonstrated conductivepropertiesthatareanorderofmagnitudeovertheindustrial standardofNafion.TheutilizationofTMA=Misrestrictedduetothe disorganizedmannerinwhichthenanowiresareformedduringthe self-assemblyprocedure.ToapplyTMA-Masaprotonconductorinfuel cells,thewiresmustbefabricatedinamannerthatenablesorganization andfacilemanipulation.Bycreatingwiresonpatternedsubstratesthrough theevaporationofwaterfromtheTMA-Msolutions,wireshaveformedin short,orderedarrays.Thisisthefirststeptowardutilizingthelow-cost TMA-Mwiresforfuelcellapplication.

MIR-153 REGULATION OF APP AND PTCH1 EXPRESSION

Alzheimer’sDisease(AD)isaneurodegenerativediseasecharacterizedby theaccumulationofAmyloidBeta(Aβ)peptidesinthebrain.Thisproteinis formedafterthesequentialcleavageofAmyloidPrecursorProtein(APP) byβandγsecretaseenzymes(Zhangetal.,2011).Conversely,theSonic hedgehog(Shh)signalingpathwayisresponsibleforcelldivisionand development.TheactivationofPatched1(PTCH1),amajorcomponentof theShhsignalingpathway,servestodownregulatecellproliferation. RecentresearchhasshownthatincreasedAPPIntracellularC-terminal domain(AICD)-acleavageproductofAPP,leadstoincreasedPTCH1 expression(Trazzi,etal.,2011).MicroRNAs(miRNAs)areshort ribonucleicacidsthatregulategeneexpressionthroughtranslational repression.ThroughseveralonlinemiRNApredictionsitesoftwares,our labidentifiedmir-153asaputativeregulatorofAPPandPTCH1.Having identifiedmir-153asaregulatorofAPPandPTCH1wecanfurther understandtheroleofSonicHedgehogsignalingandAPPmetabolismin Alzheimer’sDisease.

Umar Hafeez Biological Sciences

Dr. James R. Spotila Biology

Katya Hristova Biological Sciences

SYNTHESIS AND CHARACTERIZATION OF POLYMERIC NANOSPHERES FOR DRUG DELIVERY USING

STATISTICAL BIOPROCESSING

Dr. Elizabeth Papazoglou School of Biomedical Engineering, Science, & Health Systems

Antiretroviraltherapyhasproveneffectiveinincreasinglifeexpectancyof thoseinfectedwithHIV-1.However,drugdeliverydevicessuchaspolymer nanoparticlesarepreferredovercurrentlyadministeredantiretroviral drugsfortheirlong-termdrugcirculation,highbioavailabilityandlow toxicity.Forthepurposeofthepresentproject,nanosphereswere preparedfrompolylactide(PLA)andpoly(lactide-co-glycolide)(PLGA) usingsingleemulsionsolventevaporationandspontaneousemulsion solventdiffusionmethods,respectively.Theselectionofthesesynthetic polymersisbasedontheirbiocompatibilityandbiodegradability.Wewere specificallyinterestedintwophysicalpropertiesofthesynthesizednanoparticles:sizeandpolydispersity.Sizeinthenanometerrangeis importantinthatitfacilitatesthecontrolofdrugloadednanospheresentry intothesiteofHIV-1infection.Polydispersityindex(PDI),ontheother hand,isconsideredidealwithinitssmallestrangeleadingtomonodisperse particlesuspensions.Designofexperiments(DOE)wasimplementedas processcharacterizationmeansforscreeningquantitativeparametersthat significantlyeffectsizeandpolydispersityresponse.Wewereableto comparethemagnitudeofmaineffectsandinteractionsofthetested parametersfromanalysisofvariance(ANOVA)outputgeneratedby Minitab,statisticalanalysissoftware. Further,responsesurface methodology(RSM)wasadoptedforprocessoptimization.Real-time monitoringandDOEanalysisprovidesvitalinformationthatenables promptadjustmentstotheon-goingprocessleadingtothedevelopmentof amuchmorewellunderstoodnanospheresynthesisprocess.

ROLE OF HDAC4 AND HDAC5 IN HYPOXIA SENSING

CancercausesveryhighmortalityratesintheUnitedStates.Whileitis difficultfornormalcellstosurviveinhypoxicconditions,tumorcellsare abletothriveintheseconditions,whichareunfavorablefor effective treatmentbychemotherapeutics.Hypoxiacausescellstoaccumulate hypoxia-induciblefactors(HIFs),whichpromotetumorgrowth.Ithasbeen shownthathistonedeacetylases(HDACs)are requiredforHIF-1function. Twomembersofthehistonedeacetylasefamily,HDAC4andHDAC5,have beenimplicatedintheregulationofHIF-1.Itisunclear,however,ifhypoxia affectstheexpressionlevelsofHDAC4andHDAC5.Ourgoalwasto compareHDAC4andHDAC5expressionundernormoxicandhypoxic conditions.Westudiedfourdifferentcelllines:HeLa(cervicalcancer), Hep3B(livercancer),MCF-7(breastcancer),and143B(osteosarcoma).

Hypoxiatreatmentswereachievedbyculturingcellsinthehypoxia chamber,inwhichoxygenconcentrationcanbeprogrammed.Normoxia conditionsweredefinedbyallowingcellstogrowinstandardCO2 incubators.Western blottingwasperformedforeachsampleinorderto comparetheamountofHDAC4andHDAC5present.Ourpreliminary resultsshowthereisnodifferenceinHDAC4levelsbetweendifferentcell lines,orbetweencellstreatedwithhypoxiaornormoxia.Hep3Bcellshave higherlevelsofHDAC5thantheothercells,andHep3Bcellswithhypoxia havemorethanHep3Bcellswithnormoxia.DeterminingwhetherHDAC4 andHDAC5areregulatedbyhypoxiawillcontributetoabetter understandingofhypoxiasensingandfacilitatethedevelopmentofmore effectivechemotherapeutics.

Niti K. Jethava Biological Sciences

Dr. Nianli Sang Biology

Martin Johnson Biological Sciences

TRANSFORMATION OF E. COLI WITH FLUORESCENT REPORTER GENES FOR USE IN CYANOBACTERIA

Dr. Shivanthi

Anandan

Biology

Simara Price

Graduate Student Mentor

Cyanobacteria,aphylumofbacteriacapableofphotosynthesis,are paramountinecology,theformationofthepresentatmosphere,andmanybiotechnologyapplications.Thus,muchinteresthasbeeninvestedinstudying thisgroup.Manyresearchersfocusontheconstitutiveproteinsandsignalingmoleculesthatallowthebacteriatoharvestenergythroughphotosynthesis.Inordertostudythephotosyntheticpathways,genesofinterest mustbeisolatedandtaggedwithappropriatereportergenestoallowdesiredexperimentation.Inthisresearch,theplasmidvectors containing reportergenesweretransformedinto Escherichia coli, replicated, purified,andverified.Thiswascarriedoutsothatthese reporter geneswilllaterbeusedtotaggenesofinterestandusedtostudysignaling pathwaysincyanobacteria.Thesuccessfultransformationof E. coli with fivedifferentreportergeneswasaccomplished.Freezerstocksofthese bacterialstrainswerecreated,andarereadyforfuture experimentaluse.Thesereportergeneswilllaterbeusedtotaggenes involved inlight-responsivesignaling,andtestedincyanobacterialmodelssuchas Synechococcus elongatus.

TESTING THE ROLE OF CALCINEURIN IN ALZHEIMER’S

Alzheimer’sDisease(AD)isaneurodegenerativediseasecharacterizedbythe formationofplaquesinthebrain,whicharemainlycomposedofAb.Unlikethe casewithmanyotherdiseases,thenumberofpeoplewithADisincreasing steadily,makingitofutterimportancetofindatreatmentmethod.Subcloning isatechniqueusedinmolecularbiologytomoveaparticulargeneofinterest intoahostplasmidorvector.Aninvitromodelwascreatedtochecktheeffect ofshrankonsilencingthecalcineuringene,whichcanpotentiallybelinkedto thepathologyanddevelopmentofAD.Todothis,theshRNAconstructwas subclonedintopGIPZ.Fortheinvivomodel,thefruitfly Drosophila melanogaster wasgeneticallycreatedtoexpressbothhumanAPPandBACEgenes. Theflieswillundergodrugtreatmentforfk506andCyclosporineA(CsA).A climbingassaywillbeconductedtodeterminetheeffectofthedrugintermsof improvedcognitivefunction.Thestudieswilldemonstratethe putative roleofcalcineurininADaswellasprovideinsightintopossible pharmacologicalinterventionsthatcanbeutilizedtotreatthedisease.

Dr. Aleister Saunders Biology

ROLE OF TIP60 HAT ACTIVITY ON LEARNING AND MEMORY IN DROSOPHILA

Age-relatedmemorydeficitshavebeenassociatedwithmisregulationof neuronalgenesduetoaberrantepigeneticalterationsinchromatin, specificallyhistoneacetylation.Giventhestronglinkbetweenhistone acetylationandcognition,itisessentialtoidentifytheHATenzymesthat createsuchmarks.OnepromisingcandidateisTip60,aHATthat transcriptionallycontrolsselectgenesbyacetylatinghistonesandnon-histone proteins.Tip60formsacomplexwiththeintracellulardomainofthe Alzheimer’sDisease(AD)associatedamyloidprecursorprotein(APP-AICD).

Thiscomplexepigeneticallycontrolstranscriptionalregulationofneuronal targetgenesthatwhenmisregulated,arelinkedtoADprogression.Basedon thesefindings,alongwithourlaboratory’sdatasupportingaroleforTip60in AD-linkedneuronalprocesses,wewillinvestigateapotentialroleforTip60

HATactivityin Drosophila memoryformationbyexaminingthemorphological andfunctionaleffectsofdisruptingTip60HATactivityandoverexpressing wild-typeTip60onthe Drosophila mushroombody(MB),theflylearningand memorycenter.Inordertoexaminethemorphologicaleffects,double transgenicfliesthatexpresseitheraTip60mutant(lackingHATactivity)or additionalcopiesofTip60wild-typeproteinalongwithaGFPmarkerwillbe generated.AnymorphologicaleffectontheMBwillbeexaminedusingGFP stainingandconfocalimaging.TodeterminethefunctionaleffectsofTip60

HATactivityonlearningandmemory,themalecourtshipassaywillbe conductedandthecourtshipindex(CI)willbeusedtoassesslearningand memorydefectsinmutantflies.Thestudy’sfindingswillprovideinsightinto howTip60epigeneticmisregulationcanpotentiallyleadtomemory-related defectsobservedinage-relatedneurodegenerativediseaseslikeAD.

Sravanthi Koduri Biological Sciences

Dr. Felice Elefant Biology

SELECTION OF PLASMODIUM YOELII MALARIA PARASITES WITH INCREASED ADHERENCE TO VASCULAR ENDOTHELIUM

Erythrocytesinfectedwith Plasmodium falciparum, theparasitethatcauses malariainhumans,areknowntoadheretovascularendothelium, contributingtoseverediseasesincludingcerebralmalariaandplacental malaria. Wehypothesizethatmalariaparasitesthatpreferentiallyinvade reticulocytes,suchas P. yoelii 17X,alsoadheretovascularendothelium localizingtositesoferythropoiesisincludingthespleenandbonemarrow. Geneexpressionprofilingstudiesintherodentmalariaparasite Plasmodium yoelii haveidentifiedasetofparasitegeneswhoseexpressionisincreasedin P. yoelii 17Xparasitesfrominfectedreticulocytesadherenttovascular endothelialcellscomparedtoparasitesfromthenon-adherentcells. Thegoal ofthisstudywastoselecta P. yoelii 17Xlinethatdisplayedanincreased adherencetovascularendothelialcells. Wehavedevelopedaninvitroassay toisolatethesubpopulationofreticulocytesinfectedwith P. yoelii 17Xthat adheretovascularendothelium. Adherentsubpopulationswerethenusedto seriallyre-infectmiceandrepeattheassaysothatafterthe4th cycle,wecan comparethe P. yoelii 17Xlineselectedforincreasedadherencewiththe unselectedstartingpopulationof P. yoelii 17X. Incomparingtheselectedline withthestartingpopulationwecanevaluatethenumberofadherentcells, theeffectofincreasedadherenceonthecourseofinfectioninvivo,including thelengthofprepatentperiod,peakparasitemia,durationofinfection,and thedifferenceingeneexpressionofthe P. yoelii genes.Informationgained helptofocusourstudiesonkeyparasiteproteinsrequiredforadherenceand enablethedevelopmentofinterventionstoblockadherenceandreduce parasitereplication.

Biological Sciences

Dr. James Burns College of Medicine Microbiology & Immunology

Hera Mahmood

Aimee McMullin Biological Sciences

GENETIC BACKGROUND DIFFERENCES USED TO IDENTIFY GENETIC MODIFIERS IN AMYOTROPHIC LATERAL SCLEROSIS

Dr. Elizabeth Blankenhorn College of Medicine Microbiology & Immunology

Amyotrophiclateralsclerosis(ALS)isaneurodegenerativediseaseaffecting bothupperandlowermotorneurons.FamilialALS(FALS)affects5-10%of casesand20%ofFALScasesshowamutationintheCu/Znsuperoxide dismutase(SOD1)gene.Micecontainingextracopiesofthehumanmutant geneSOD1arebothclinicallyandpathologicallysimilartotheclassic portrayalofALS.Diseaseseverityhasbeenfoundtobeaffectedbygenetic background,whichsuggeststheroleofdiseasemodifyinggenes.Agenome widescanofinbredstrains,usingtheF2generationsofB6andSJLmice,was usedtoidentifyQTLsbetweenthetwostrains.Geneticdifferenceswerefound onchromosome17around5.74cM.TheSJLmicecontainingthechromosome

17QTLwerethenbredtodifferentlinesinordertoobtainthechromosome

17insertonadifferentline.Themiceweregenotypedtoidentifywhichlines containedtheSJLinsert.Thelinewhichcontainsthechromosome17insert calledtheB17SlineiscurrentlybeingbredtomicecontainingtheSOD1 transgeneinordertocreatemicewithboththeregionofinterestandthe transgene.Thesemicecanbeusedtoidentifymodifiergenes,whichaffect intracellularpathwaysthatleadtomotorneurondegeneration.Identification ofthemodifiergenesandalsothechangesinintracellularpathwayscanbe usedtotreatdisease.

SYNTHESIS OF POLY-(2,5-DICHLORO-1,4PHENYLENETEREPHTHALAMIDE)

Poly-(1,4-phenyleneterephthalamide)(PPTAorKevlarpatentedbyDuPont) isapolymerofhigh-tensilestrengthderivedfrom1,4-phenylenediamineand terephthaloylchloride. Itsrigidcrystallinestructuremakesittheperfect materialfortires,bulletproofvests,andotheritems. Thisstudyfocuseson thesynthesisofPPTAwithanewmolecule,2,5-dichloro-1,4phenylenediamine,intheplaceof1,4-phenylenediamine. Theextrachlorine atomsareexpectedtoenhancethestrengthoftheoverallstructure. During thisexperiment,thesynthesisofcommercialPPTAwasstudiedand successfullyimitatedassupportedbyTGAanalysis. Theincorporationof2,5dichloro-1,4-phenylenediamineintotheprocessiscurrentlyindevelopment. Futureresearchentailsperfectingthesynthesisprocessforthenewmolecule andincreasingthemolecularweightoftheproduct.

Pediatrics

HYPOXIC-PRECONDITIONING INCREASES

PROLIFERATION IN THE SUBVENTRICULAR ZONE OF NEWBORN PIGLETS

Neonatalhypoxic-ischemicbraininjuryisacommoncauseoflong-term neurologicaldisabilityinchildren.Despiteadvancesinsupportivecare,no treatmentsforhypoxic-ischemicbraininjuryareavailableatpresent. Neural stem/progenitorcells(NSPs)providethegreaterpotentialtoregenerate neuronsrequiredtoreconstitutethebrainfunction.Oneofthestrategiesto activateendogenousrepairsystemsisneuronalhypoxic-preconditioning(PC) whichrepresentsanadaptiveresponsetoprimethebrainforprotection againstfutureinjury.Todeterminewhetherhypoxic-preconditioningof neonatalbrainincreasestheproliferationofNSPsinthesubventricularzone (SVZ)ofnewbornpiglets,onedayoldpigletsweredividedintonormoxicand hypoxic-preconditioninggroups. Normoxicpigletsweresubjectedto21%O2 for3handPCpigletsweresubjectedto8%O2/92%N2for3h.NSPproliferation wasestimatedbypulsingsingle5-Bromo-2-deoxyuridine(BrdU)injections (50mg/kgbodyweight)intraperitoneallyat1,3or7daysrecovery,two hourspriortosacrifice.TissuesectionswerestainedforBrdUaloneordouble stainedforeitherBrdU/NeuNorBrdU/MBPorBrdU/GFAP.Injectionswith BrdUafterPCrevealedarobustproliferativeresponsewithintheSVZ.BrdU immunostainingwasalsoevidentinthestriatum,whitematterandcortexof PCpiglets.ThenumberofBrdUlabeledcellsinSVZ,striatumandwhitematter significantlyincreasedafterPCcomparedtonormoxiccontrols(P<0.05).The BrdUpositivecellscolocalizedwiththeneuronalmarkerNeuN,astrocyte markerGFAPandoligodendrocytemarkerMBP.Thesestudiesdemonstrate thathypoxic-preconditioningenhancesproliferationintheSVZofnewborn pigletbrain.

Kristina Nikolova Biological Sciences

Dr. Jahan Ara College of Medicine

KISMET-DEPENDENT REGULATION OF GLUTAMATE

RECEPTORS IN A DROSOPHILA MODEL OF CHARGE SYNDROME

CHARGESyndrome,anautosomaldominantbirthdefectidentifiedbya numberofphenotypicanomalies,iscausedbymutationsinthe Chd7.The Drosophila homologofCHD7iskismetencodedby kis.Decreasedlevelsof kismetinflieshasshowntoresultinmotordefectsandhypotonia-like symptomstypicallyfoundinCHARGEpatients,whichsuggeststhatkismet mayhaveaneffectonthemechanismsthatregulatemotorfunction.The defectinmotorco-ordinationwasassessedbyclimbingassays.L-glutamate,a neurotransmitterreleasedfromthemotorneuron,bindstotheglutamate receptors(iGluR)atthe Drosophila NMJ.Weinvestigatedtheglutamatergic neuromuscularjunction(NMJ)of Drosophila.Weusedimmunohistochemistry onlarvalbodywalldissectionsofflieswith90%knockdowninkismetto quantifytheiGluRIIBsub-typeofglutamatereceptors,atthepost-synaptic musclemembrane.WeobservedadecreaseintheiGluRIIBsubunitofthese flieswhencomparedtocontrols.Further,wewillquantifyactivezoneswhich arethesitesforglutamatereleaseatthepre-synapticcomponentoftheNMJ. Thusfar,wehavesuccessfullyoptimizedfortheactivezonemarkerantibody andhypothesizethatwithdecreasedlevelsofkismet,therelativenumberof pre-synapticactivezonesinexperimentalflieswilldecrease.Furthermore,we areoptimizingfortheiGluRIIAsubunitantibody. Basedonthebehavioral andposturaldefectsinflieswithdecreasedlevelsofkismet,wesuggestthat thereisasimilarimportanceofCHD7inCHARGEpatients.Ourstudywill contributetobetterunderstandtheetiologyofCHARGESyndrome.

Guovanna Shoukri Biological Sciences

Dr. Daniel Marenda Biology

Sylvia Shoukri Biological Sciences

RESCUING NEURONAL DEFECTS AND ANALYZING THE ROLE OF KISMET IN CARDIAC FUNCTION IN A DROSOPHILA MODEL OF CHARGE SYNDROME

Biology

Drosophila melanogaster,alsoknownasthefruitfly,isanexcellentmodel organismusedtoanalyzethepathogenesisofCHARGEsyndrome.This syndromeisanautosomaldominantdisordercharacterizedbymutationsofthe Chd7 gene.Thehomologofthisgene,foundin Drosophila,isknownas kismet whichsharesahighdegreeofproteinhomologywiththehuman Chd7 gene. Throughlarvaeandadultflybraindissectionsandimmunohistochemistry,it wasfoundthatthistranscriptionfactorisessentialforproperaxonalpruning andneuronalcellmigrationinspecificneuronalpopulationsstudiedthusfar. Currently,weareworkingtorescuethedefectsseenintheseneuronal populationswithpreviouslyidentifiedmoleculartargetswhicharethesteroidhormone,ecdysonereceptorandtheproneuralgene, atonal.Additionally,weare alsoanalyzingtheroleof kismet intheregulationofglutamatereceptor expressionintheheartanditsaffectoncardiacfunction.Itisshownthatwitha knockdownof kismet,theremayalsobeadecreaseinheartsizeandoverall morphology;therefore,indicatingtheimportanceofthisprotein.Withthis research,wehopetovalidatethemoleculartargetsstudiedbyrescuingdefects seeninourCHARGEmodelflies.Welooktopotentiallyfindnoveltherapeutic targetstohelpCHARGEpatientsandhopetoshedlightonthisdisease.

Dr. Daniel Marenda

SUBCLONING OF AN SHRNA CONSTRUCT TARGETING CALCINEURIN INTO A LENTIVIRAL-VECTOR PGIPZ

Subcloningisatechniqueusedinmolecularbiologythatisusedtotransfera pieceofDNAfromtheparentvectorintothedestinationvector.Thisresearch projectaimstocloneashorthairpinRNA,orshRNAfragments,fromthe parentvectornamedpSM2intothedestinationvectornamedpGIPZ.The shRNApreventsasegmentofmRNAfrombeingtranslatedintoprotein, thereforesilencingtheexpressionofagene.TheshRNAfragmenttobecloned inpGIPZtargetsthegenenamedCalcineurin.

Firstly,thepSM2vectorhastoberestrictiondigestedwithenzymesMluI andXhoItoobtaintheshRNAfragmenttargetingCalcineurinoutofthe vector.PGIPZisalsorestrictiondigestedwiththesameenzymestocutthis destinationvector.AligationreactionissetupwheretheshRNAfragmentis ligatedintothecutpGIPZvectorbytheenzymeT4DNAligase.Oncethe reactionissetup,theligationmixtureistransformedintochemically competentDH5αE.colicells.ThetransformationmixtureisthenplatedonLB agarplateswithAmpicillinresistance.Growthofbacterialcoloniessuggests successfulsubcloningoftheshRNAfragmentintoPGIPZ.Thecoloniesare thenpicked,andtheDNAisextractedsothatitcanbecutwithXhoIandMluI todoublecheckthattherightshRNAfragmentiscloned,andcutwithSacIIto checkforrecombination.Theresultsfromtheresearchprojectshowthatthe shRNAfragmenthasbeensuccessfullyclonedfrompSM2intopGIPZ.

Yekaterina Zavyazkina Biological Sciences

Dr. Aleister Saunders Biology

Evan Curtin Chemistry

THE MEASUREMENT AND PREDICTION OF NONAQUEOUS SOLUBILITY TO CONTROL REACTION OUTCOMES

Withknowledgeofthesolubilityofthereactantsandproducts,wecan chooseasolventtooptimizethereactionandisolatetheproductthrough simple filtration.Solubilitydatawasdeterminedviaexperimentationand wasextrapolatedalongwithameltingpointtopredictsolubilityinavariety ofsolventsatdifferenttemperatures.Specifically,thisinformationwillbe usedtooptimizetheUgireaction.InformationpertainingtotheUgireaction isobtainedbyinvestigationofimines,whichareintermediatesintheUgi reaction.Iminescanbesynthesizedbyreactionsofaldehydesandamines, reactantsthatcanbeeasilyobtained.

Dr. Jean-Claude Bradley Chemistry

O-GLCNACASE AS A NOVEL REGULATOR OF BREAST CANCER GROWTH AND INVASIVENESS

Cancercellshavebeenshowntohaveenhancedglucoseuptakeandaltered glucosemetabolism.Ratherthanundergoingoxidativephosphorylationto obtainATP,cancercellsuseglycolysisastheirprimarymeansofgenerating ATP.About2-5%ofglucoseenterstheHexosamineBiosyntheticPathway producingtheterminalsubstrateUDP-GlcNAc,whichcanthenbeusedby O-GlcNAcTransferase(OGT)toaddO-linkedGlcNAcmoietiesontonuclear andcytosolicproteins. Ourlabhasshownthatbreastcancercellsexhibit increasedO-GlcNAcandOGTlevels,andthisplaysaroleinbreastcancer cellproliferationandinvasiveness.Thepurposeofourworkhasbeento examinethepotentialroleofO-GlcNAcase(OGA),theenzymethatremoves O-GlcNAcmodificationinbreastcancer. Throughwesternblotting,wehave shownthatOGAlevelsaredecreasedinbothER+andER-breastcancercell typescomparedwithnormalmammaryepithelialcells. Wethenknocked downOGAinMCF-7cells(abreastcancerline)usingRNAitechnologyand monitoredanchorageindependentgrowthandinvasivenessviasoftagar and3Dculture.Additionally,wehaveexaminedtheeffectofOGAdepletion on levelsoftheoncogenictranscriptionfactorFOXM1andthecellcycle regulatorp27viawesternblotting.Thesedatapresentthepossibilitythat restorationofOGAmayattenuateinvasivenessandproliferationinthe contextofbreastcancer.

Christopher Schultz Chemistry

Dr. Mauricio J. Reginato College of Medicine Biochemistry & Molecular Biology

ACTIVATION OF TRIS(AMINO-PYRAZOLE)ZINC

BROMIDE THROUGH TEMPLATE SYNTHESIS

Lee Serpas Chemistry

Dr. Elizabeth Papish Chemistry

Thesynthesisoftris(pyrazole)zinchalidesaltsareknownintheliterature, butnotmuchisknownonwhethernewreactionpathwayscanbe establishedwiththesesalts.Onesuchreactionpathwayistemplate synthesis,reactionsinvolvingtheactivationofthepyrazoleligandsinthe zincsaltandcoordinatingthemtoalinkinggrouporatom.Thisreaction pathwaycanleadtotheformationofmetalcomplexessupportedby pyrazolylchelates.Forourstudy,weusedtris(amino-pyrazole)zinc bromidesaltandperformedaseriesofreactionstodetermineiftemplatesynthesisonthissaltissuccessful.Ourfirststudyinvestigatedthereactioninvolvingformaldehyde,baseandzincsalttodeterminewhetheratris ((pyrazolyl)methyl)aminezincbromidecomplexisobtainable.Our secondarystudyinvolvedthereactionofKBH4 andzincsalttodetermine whetheratris(pyrazolyl)boratezincbromidecomplexisformed.Ourfuture goalfromthesestudiesistodevelopnewzinccomplexescontaining hydrogenbondinggroupsthatcanbefurtherreactedatthemetalcenter.

COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER COVERAGE OF JAPANESEAMERICAN INTERNMENT

FormostAmericans,the“DayofInfamy”isknownasDecember7,1941, whentheImperialJapaneseNavylaunchedanairattackontheAmerican militarybasePearlHarborinHawaii.However,formostJapaneseAmericans,anotherdaterelevanttoAmerica’sinvolvementinWorldWarII isequallynotorious.OnFebruary19,1942,PresidentRooseveltsigned ExecutiveOrder9066,whichessentiallyauthorizedtheinternmentof 120,000AmericancitizensofJapaneseancestryandresidentaliensfrom Japan.TenJapanese-Americanrelocationcampswerelaterconstructedin sevenstatesinwesternUnitedStates.Outofthese,twocampswerebuiltin Arizona:Poston,insouthwesternArizona,andGilaRiver,about30miles southeastofPhoenix.Thisstudyisananalysisandexaminationofthe coverageoftheinternmentcampsprovidedbylocalcommunity newspapers.Inordertoresearchthis,Ilocatedandrequestedlocal newspapersfromoutsideofeachcamp,inadditiontocontactingnearby libraries,museums,andhistoricalsocietiesforadditionalinformation,such asobituariesorbiographiesofpersonnelinvolvedwiththeaforementioned newspapersduringthetimeofinternment.Ialsoresearchedandlocated peoplefromthepapersaswellassurvivinginternees.

Alissa Falcone Communication

Dr. Ron Bishop Culture & Communication

Lauren Donaghy Environmental Studies

THE EFFECTS OF WEATHER CONDITIONS AND ANTHROPOGENIC OXYGEN DEPLETION ON DIAMONDBACK TERRAPIN (MALACLEMYS TERRAPIN) ACTIVITY AND ABUNDANCE

Dr. Harold W. Avery Biology

BarnegatBay,NewJersey,isincreasinglythreatenedbythehighvolumeof humanactivityandtheconcomitantinfluxofnutrients;nutrientloading leadstoeutrophy,whichultimatelyleadstothelossofsubmergedaquatic vegetation(SAV).ThediamondbackterrapindependsontheseSAVbedsfor survival,astheterrapin’sdietconsistsprimarilyofcrabsandsnails,which inturnconsumeaquaticvegetation.Throughmeasuringthedissolved oxygen,presenceofunderwaterinvertebrates,andratesofterrapin capturesatthreedifferentstudysiteswithinBarnegatBayinthesummerof 2011,I determinedtherelationshipofweatherconditionsanddissolved oxygendepletiontoterrapinactivityandabundance.Sinceterrapins dependon invertebratesforsustenance,higherterrapintrappingsuccess ratesmayberelatedtogreaterinvertebratepresence.Inareasofoxygen depletion,theremaybefewerterrapinspresentbecauseinvertebratesthat relyondissolvedoxygenperishormove.Weatherconditionssuchas barometricpressureandrainfallmayalsoaffectterrapinbehavior.Lowpressureweathersystemsandrainfallmaytriggerincreasedratesof terrapinactivityandcapturerates.Terrapinsdependphysiologicallyonthe freshwaterthatrainfallprovides,andthereforetheymaybecomemore activeduringsuchweatherconditions.Positivecorrelationsbetweenlow atmosphericpressure,rainfall,andhigherfoodabundancetocapturerates ofterrapinsareexpected.Understandinghowwildlifesuchasterrapins respondtoanthropogenicimpactssuchasoxygendepletion,andnatural weatherconditions,areimportanttoconservationandmanagement programsforthreatenedwildlife.

PUBLIC REASON AND INTERNATIONAL MORALITY

TheAbuGhraibscandaland2003IraqWarandtheresultingmedia coveragehaschangedthefaceofforeignrelationsfortheUnitedStatesof America.Astatisticalanalysisofmediacoverage focusesaclearerlenson howmoralmattersataninternationallevel,suchaswar,torture,and terrorism,aredebatedinnewspaperopinionpages,onlinediscussion groups,andtelevision.AnexaminationofFrenchmediacommentary providesausefulbasisforcross-examination.Thisresearchwillindicate thatreligionhasbeenlargelyprivatizedandmoraldiscoursehasfollowed suit.Thepublicreverttoprudentialargumentsratherthanmoral judgmentsduetotheambiguousnatureofmorality.Itisimperativethat morality's"collectivereflections"arecharacterizednotasunreasoned intuitionbutarticulatedasaconversationaldeliberationofnormsthatform thebasisofoursociety.

Kathryn N. Bassion International Area Studies

Dr. Douglas V. Porpora Culture & Communication

Sean Craig International Area Studies

STUDY OF POLICE OFFICER TESTIMONY IN PRELIMINARY HEARINGS

Policeofficershaveoftenbeenreferredtoasprofessionalwitnesses becausetheyarecalledtotestifyincourtsooften.Judgesorjuriesmayview policeasmoreaccurateandcrediblethancivilianwitnessesduetotheir expertiseandexperience.However,theaccuracyandcredibilityofpolice testimonyshouldnotbetakenasagiven.Somestudieshavedemonstrated thatpoliceofficersaremorepronetoviewacitizenaspartakingincriminal activity.Extendedperiodsoftimemaypassbetweentheincidentandthe courtdateandasthememorycapacityofahumanislimited,testimonymay beinaccurate.Additionally,policemaystretchtruthtoinsuretheiraccount offactscomplieswiththeFourthAmendment.ThispastyeartheACLU broughtaclassactionlawsuitagainsttheCityofPhiladelphiathatalleged thatthousandsofpeopleareillegallystoppedandsearchedonthestreetsof Philadelphia.Inlightofthiscase,Baileyv.CityofPhiladelphia,thenumber andreasonsforpolicestopsonthestreetsofPhiladelphiahavebecome prevalentissues.Thisstudyseekstofindwhetherpolicetestimony providedinhearingsreflectsrepeatingpatterns.Thestudyfocuseson policetestimonyinpreliminaryhearingspertainingtoallegeddrugdeals duringthesummerof2011.DatawascollectedfromtheSouthWestand EastDetectiveDistrictsthroughobservingcourtroomproceedings.Data wasorganizedandtrendsdiscovered.Findingsresultedfromsearchingfor similaritiesintestimony.Reviewandorganizationofdataresultedinthe discoveryofpatternswithinpolicetestimony;however,reasonsthese patternsexistcannotbedeterminedwithoutfurtherresearch.

Dean Daniel M. Filler

Earle Mack School of Law

Mariah Trisch General Engineering

NEWTON’S METHOD AND ROOTS OF POLYNOMIALS ASSOCIATED WITH PAINLEVÉ EQUATIONS

Myprojectwastostudytherootsofvariouspolynomialsassociatedwith thePainleveEquations,whichhavenumerousapplicationstoawidevariety oftopics.Therootsofthesepolynomialshaveveryinterestingpatterns, whichisquiteunexpected.Typicallyarandompolynomialwillhaveroots scatteredthroughoutthecomplexplane,especiallyasyoulookatlargerand largerpolynomials.Howeverthesespecialpolynomialsformpatternssuch assquaresandtriangles.

IbeganbywritingJavacodetocomputetherootsofthepolynomialsutilizingNewton’sMethod.Iwasabletorefinethisbycreatinginitialguesses basedonthediscerniblepatternsformedbytheroots.Ithen modifiedmy codetocreateimagestofurtheranalyzethepolynomials.Foreverypixelin theregion,Ideterminedtowhichrootandhowquicklythatpointwould convergebyusingiterativestepsofNewton’sMethod.

Atfirstitcouldtakebetweenseveralminutesandseveralhoursto rendereachimage,dependingontheresolutionandcomplexityofthe polynomial HoweverIhadahugebreakthroughwhenIwasabletowritea combinationofJavaandCcodethatallowedmetocomputeusingmy GraphicsProcessingUnit(GPU)asopposedtomyCentralProcessingUnit (CPU).GPUsaresopowerfulbecausetheyaredesignedtoprocesslarge amountsofcalculationsinparallel,whichmeantthatIcouldcalculateevery pixelintheimagesimultaneously,insteadofoneatatime.Thisallowedme torenderimagesinamatterofmilliseconds,makingitfareasiertostudy theintricatepatternswithin.

Leland Machen Mathematics

Ronald Perline Mathematics

Dr.

Gabriella D’Urbano Physics

THE BEHAVIOR OF MAGNETIC NANODOTS FOR INFORMATION STORAGE

Dr. Goran Karapetrov Physics

Vorticesarewhatmakeupthestoragecapacityofourcomputersandmuch oftherestofourcurrenttechnology.Thepurposeofthisprojectwasto studythedifferenceinstorageabilitiesofvorticesbytheirstate.Vortex stateischaracterizedbyitspolarityanditschirality,bothofwhichare independentofoneanother;becauseofthis,adifficultyarisesincontrolling thevortexstate.Throughthemanipulationofthegeometryofthedomain, vortexstatecanbebettercontrolled.Throughthestudyofthegeometry andstateofthevorticesthecapacityandenergyefficiencyofcomputerscan begreatlyincreased.Sinceactualmeasuringinstrumentsarebeyondthe scopeofthisproject,thestudyofthesedomainswasaccomplishedthrough simulationsbytheuseoftheObjectOrientedMicroMagneticFramework. It wasconcludedinthisprojectthatcertaingeometriesofdomainsfarbetter controlthevortexstate.

SEARCHING FOR A NUCLEAR GEOREACTOR WITH ANTINEUTRINOS

ApossibleenergysourcefortheEarth’smagneticfieldisageo-reactor,a naturalnuclearreactoratthecoreoftheplanet. Todeterminethe feasibilityofthisgeo-reactor,weanalyzeddatafromtheKamiokaLiquid scintillatorAnti-NeutrinoDetector(KamLAND)experimenttosetlimitson thepoweroutputofthishypotheticalnuclearreactor. Makinguseof measurementsoftheanti-neutrinoratedetectedbyKamLAND,weestimate thethermalpowerofthegeo-reactor.

Basedonthe10yearsofdatacollectedbyKamLAND,themostlikely poweroutputofthisgeo-reactoris11.1(+9.9,-8.7)TW. Thisresultismore than1σabovezero.Whiletheseresultssuggesttheexistenceofa geo-reactor,theenergyoutputishigherthanexpected(3-10TW). Also,the sumofreactorheat(11.1TW)andexpectedradiogenicheat(19-31TW) fallswithinmeasurementsofdirectheatflowfromtheEarthwhichare between30and44TW.

Jeremy Gaison Physics

Dr. Jelena Maricic Physics

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF GALAXY CLUSTERS

USING WEAK LENSING RECONSTRUCTION

Wecompareweaklensingreconstructionswithnumericalsimulationsof galaxyclusters. Thesimulationspredictellipticalprofiles,and parameterizedmodelsareusedtobreakthemass-sheetdegeneracy. Navarro-Frank-White(NFW)andSingularIsothermalSphere(SIS)profilesare commonlyusedtodescribetheclusters.

Futureworkincludesstudyingtheeffectsofclusterorientationsand observerposition.

Physics

Dr. David Goldberg

Physics

William Giang

STAR FORMATION RATES AND HI GAS IN VOID GALAXIES

Galaxiestendtoclusterandformafilamentarystructurethroughoutthe universe.Foundthroughoutthislargerstructurearevoids–regionsthat aresignificantlylessdensethanthecosmologicalaverage.Understanding theeffectofthesurroundingenvironmentonagalaxy’sstarformationrate andphotometricpropertiesiscrucialinordertodeterminehowgalaxies andtheuniversehaveevolved.Thegoalofthisprojectistostudythestar formationratesandphotometricpropertiesofvoidgalaxiesutilizingdata fromtheSloanDigitalSkySurvey(SDSS)andtheAreciboLegacyFastALFA Survey(ALFALFA).

Accuratecalculationsofstarformationratesandphotometricproperties relyontwothings:

1)correctlyidentifyingopticalmatchestoradiodata fromALFALFA,and

2)usingreliablephotometryofopticaldata.The resolutionlimitofALFALFAistoolowtodistinguishbetweengalaxiesthatare veryclosetogether,sowerelyonthepositionalaccuracyoftheradiosource toidentifyopticalmatches.Onceaconfidentopticalmatchisfound,weinspectthephotometrybecauseSDSStendstoincorrectlydeblendlowsurfacebrightnessgalaxies.Wherethereappearstobeaseriouserror,werun aseparatealgorithmtoredothephotometry.Oncewecompileasampleof confidentmatches,wewillcomparetheefficiencyofstarformationingalaxiesinvoidsandnon-voidsbycalculatingtheratioofstellarmasstogas massandtheratioofstarformationtogasmass.

Robyn Smith Physics

Dr. Michael Vogeley Physics

Anna Danylyuk

Psychology

Dr. Kirk

Heilbrun

Psychology

APPROACHES TO THE RESTORATION OF COMPETENCY TO DEFENDANTS DEEMED INCOMPETENT TO STAND

TRIAL: DO THEY WORK?

Incompetencetostandtrialisanareawithinforensicpsychologythatisin greatneedoffurtherresearch.Manystudieshavebeenaimedatmeasuring competency,buttoofewfocusonthetreatmentsofdefendantsafterthey havebeenadjudicatedincompetenttostandtrial.Thisstudyconsidersthe historicalbackgroundandcontemporaryresearchonCSTtoestablish whichinterventionsappeartobemosteffectiveintherestorationof competency.Problem-orientedapproachesthattargetspecificfunctional deficits relevanttoincompetence,ratherthanthenon-specifictreatmentof symptomsofseverementalillness,appeartoyieldthebestpost-treatment results.

SUPPORT MODELS FOR HIGH-FUNCTIONING STUDENTS ON THE AUTISM SPECTRUM IN COLLEGE

Background:High-functioningadolescentsontheautismspectrumare increasinglymorelikelytopursuepostsecondaryeducation.Asaresult, somecollegesanduniversitieshavestartedtocreateprogramsdesignedto smooththispopulation’stransitionintoadulthood.Autismsupportis offeredinvariousapproaches.Someoftheprogramsaimtosupport studentsbyfacilitatingtheiracademicsuccessandimprovingtheir sociability.Othersfocusonrefiningpersonallivingskillsandvocational preparation.Manyutilizepeermentorsorsocialcoachesorprovide additionalpsychologicalservices.Theprogramswereultimatelycreatedto strengthenthequalityoflifeforautisticindividuals.

Method:TenautismsupportprogramsintheUnitedStateswerestudied indepth.Thefollowingaspectswereinvestigated:academicsupport,social support,psychologicalsupport,independentlivingsupport,campusand communitysupport,programcriteria,theadmissionsprocess,andfees.The programswerethenassessedbasedonsupportsrecommendedby adolescentsontheautismspectrumandtheirfamilies.

Discussion:Theprogramsvaryfromintensivetoavailableas-needed. Someprogramsare intendedforstudentsseekingastandarddegree,while othersarenotdegreegranting.Socialskillspracticefollowedbyacademic assistance weredeemedthemostcrucialsupports.Whilethereareclaims thatthesetypesofcollegesupportprogramsenhancethequalityoflifefor personsonthespectrum,minimalresearchhasexploredthe overall productivenessoftheseprograms.Weproposenecessaryareasoffuture research,includingcriteriathatmaybeusedduringandaftercollegeyears tomeasureoutcomes.

Emily Morris Psychology

Dr. Felicia Hurewitz Psychology

EFFECTS OF CLAW LENGTH AND PROPORTION TO BODY SIZE ON INTERSPECIFIC AND INTRASPECIFIC COMPETITION FOR LIMITED RESOURCES IN TRACHEMYS SCRIPTA ELEGANS AND PSEUDEMYS RUBRIVENTRIS

Johnathan

Daniel Guest

Undecided Science

Dr. Harold W. Avery Biology

Theclawlengthofjuvenileturtlesrelativetobodysizeisthoughttobea physicalcharacteristicthatgivesanindividualorspeciesacompetitive edge.Juvenileturtleswithlargerclawsinproportiontobodysizemay correlatewithmorefrequentfeedingandbaskinginteractions,whichmay playaroleinaturtle’sabilitytoobtainresources.Assumingthattheratioof clawlengthtoplastronlength(Cl:Pl)isacharacteristicthatenablesjuvenile turtlestobetterutilizeresources,theindividualorspecies withalower Cl:Plratioshouldbeabletofeedandbaskmoreeasily.Thisstudyexamined howtheCl:Plratioofaninvasiveturtlespecies, Trachemys scripta elegans, andanativespecies, Pseudemys rubriventris, impactstheabilitytoobtain resources.Six T.s. elegans andsix P. rubriventris werehousedinasingle tank,withastationaryplatformusedforbaskingandfeedingthatwas monitoredbycamera.Thisexperimentaldesignwasreplicatedthreetimes. Thelengthofthemiddleclawontherightforefootofeachturtlewas measuredweeklytothenearest0.1mmusingdigitalcalipers. Theresults ofthisstudyshowthattheCl:Plratiowasslightlylowerfor T.s. elegans than P. rubriventris,suggestingthat T.s. elegans mayhaveacompetitive advantage.However,thecorrelationbetweenCl:Plratioandincreased competitivebehaviorisyettobedetermined.

DEVELOPMENT AND CHARACTERIZATION OF ANION EXCHANGE MEMBRANES FOR USE IN ALKALINE FUEL CELLS

Intherecentyears,solidpolymerelectrolytemembraneshavegarnered muchinterest.Itswiderangeofapplicationsinfuelcellsandtheabilityto doawaywiththeuseoffossilfuelsmakesitapromisinginnovationofthe 21stcentury.

However,theHydrogen-Oxygenfuelcellthatwasdevelopedmakesuse ofprotonexchangemembranes(PEM)andplatinumasacatalyst,thereby makingitexpensive.DuringtheSTARprogram,Iworkedondevelopingand characterizinganionexchangemembranes(AEM)foruseinfuelcells,the majorbenefitofwhichisthatAEMscanfunctionwithnon-preciousmetals ascatalysts.

MyfocuswasprimarilyonAEMcharacterization.Iperformed dimensionalanalysisandwateruptakemeasurementsonthemembranesto determinehowthemembranesbehaveinsolventssuchaswaterand methanol.Next,IusedElectrochemicalImpedanceSpectroscopytomeasure theionicconductivityofthesemembranes.IthenperformedDifferential ScanningCalorimetryonthemtoanalyzehowtheybehavedatvarying temperatures.Lastly,IpreparedMembraneElectrodeAssembliesforthe standardH2-O2fuelcellandperformedfuelcellexperiments,whichserved asacontrolfortheAEMs.Theaboveexperimentswerealsoperformedon twodifferenttypesofPEM’ssoastocreateabasisforcomparison.

OurresultsshowedthatwhileAEM’sareeconomicallymoreefficient, theydonotperformaswellasthestandardPEMsthatarebeingused. However,ifAEMsareabletomatchthepoweroutputofstandardH2-O2fuel cells,theycouldprovetobeamarveloussourceofcleanenergy.

Rishon Benjamin Chemical Engineering

Dr. Yoseff Elabd Chemical & Biological Engineering

MWNT/POLYURETHANE NANOCOMPOSITE FOR STRETCHABLE NEGATIVE INDEX MATERIAL

Creationofnegativeindexmaterials(NIMs)hasbeendocumentedasearly asthelate1990s,andmostofthisworkusesacomplexcombinationofsplit -ringresonatorsandstraightmetallicwires.Thesematerialsdemonstrate bothnegativemagneticpermeabilityandnegativeelectricalpermittivity overthesamefrequencyrange.Morerecentworkhasintroduceda simplifiedapproach,usingarraysofshortwirepairsandcontinuouswires thataremorecompatiblewithconventionalfabricationtechniques.Our currentworkfocusesoncreatingastretchableNIMsotherefractiveindex ofthematerialhasanegativevalueatdifferentfrequencieswhenstretched. Recently,astretchableconductivenanocompositehasbeensuccessfully madefrommulti-walledcarbonnanotubesdispersedinpolyurethane.We willpatternthiscompositeonanunmodifiedpolyurethanelayer,according totheshortwirepairNIMstructure.Thefrequencyoverwhichtheshort wirepairstructuresexhibitanegativerefractiveindexhasbeenshownto beinverselyproportionaltothelengthoftheshortwires.Therefore,by creatingthisstructurefromstretchablematerials,wehopetoeasilymodify theresonantfrequencyofthewirepairs. ThisshouldresultinaNIMthatis effectiveoverafrequencyrangecontrollablebystretching.Thematerial willhaveapplicationsindefense(suchasstealthaircraft),health(suchas superlenses),etc.

Harrison Bradley Chemical Engineering

Dr. Hai-Feng (Frank) Ji Chemistry

TRAP GREASE CONVERSION TO BIODIESEL AND ITS ECONOMICS

Trapgrease,alsoknownasbrowngrease,isawasteproductfromthefood serviceindustry.trapgreaseisaheterogeneousmixtureoflipids,water, foodparticles,detergents,andotherundesirablecomponents.Duetoits highlipidcontent,trapgreaseisaviablefeedstockforbiodieselproduction. Aproceduretoisolatelipidsfromtrapgreasewasimplementedand optimizedduringtheproject.Uponmildheating(60C)thelipidsintrap greasecoalesceandrisetoformalipidlayerthatcanbedecantedand filtered.Severalanalyticaltests,includingtitration,Thermogravimetric Analysis,NuclearMagneticResonance,andMassSpectroscopy,wereused tomeasurethecompositionoftrapgreasebeforeandafterconversionto biodiesel.Thelipidlayerwascomposedofapproximately86%freefatty acidwhichcanbeconvertedtobiodieselusinganacidcatalyzedbubble columnreactor.Resultsshowthatrawtrapgreasecontainsbetween30%to 50%lipidsofwhichnearlyallcanbeconvertedtobiodiesel.Usingyields fromthisprojectandcollaborationwithRussellReid,awastemanagement companythatcollectstrapgrease,aneconomicanalysisofatrapgreaseto biodieselpilotplantisbeingdeveloped.

Jacklyn Briguglio Chemical Engineering

Dr. Richard Cairncross Chemical & Biological Engineering

Joshua Carle Chemical Engineering

EXFOLIATION OF MAX PHASES TO CREATE MXENE

Dr. Michel Barsoum Materials Science & Engineering

MAXphasesareternarymetalcarbidesand/ornitridesthatcontainatleast threedifferentelements;anearlytransitionmetal(M),anA-groupmetal (A),andcarbonand/ornitrogen(X). TheMAXphasesarefoundinratiosof 2:1:1,3:1:2,or4:1:3andthestructureiscomposedofalternatingMandX layersinterleavedbyanAlayer.Thegoaloftheresearchwastoexfoliate theMAXphasesbyremovingthe“A”layer,leavingtheMXlayers(MXene) thatinprinciplecanbeusedinthesamewayasgrapheneandothersimilar two-dimensionalmaterials.Thiswasattemptedbywetchemistry; combiningdifferentpowderedMAXphaseswithacidsandbasesofvarying concentrations.Theywerelefttoreactforvaryingtimes,usuallybetween 2hoursand10days,andweredoneateitherroomtemperatureorabout 50°C.Currently,211,312,and413MAXphaseshavebeenexfoliatedusing hydrofluoricacid.Testingiscontinuingtoseewhetherornototheracidsor basescanattainthesameresults.Duetocompositionsthatarequite differentfromgraphene,theMXenescouldbeusefulinapplicationsthat grapheneisnotorcouldbemoreeffective.SuchusesofMXeneinclude,but arenotlimitedto,lithiumionbatteries,pseudocapacitors,and/orother electronicapplications.

INCREASING THE PRODUCTION OUTPUT OF CARBON NANOTUBES VIA CHEMICAL VAPOR DEPOSITION

Thepurposeoftheprojectistoincreasetheproductionofcarbon nanotubessothattheycanbeusedinvariousscientificapplications.In manytypesofproductionthatoccurintheMaterialsScienceand EngineeringDepartment,makingthecarbonnanotubescanoftenbethe rate-limitingstep.

Thecurrentprocessformanufacturingnanotubesinvolveschemical vapordeposition(CVD).Thisprocessinvolvesheatingacarbon-containing gastothepointwhereitdecomposesanddepositscarbononthegiven surface.Thesurfaceusedforcreatingnanotubesisaporousanodic aluminumoxide(AAO)membrane.Theporesactastube-shapedtemplates forcreatingthenanotubes,asthecarbonisdepositedinatubeshape.

Originally,theprocesswasonlythoughttobeabletouse6AAO membranesperCVDrun.Thegoaloftheprojectwastoincreasethisto100 membranesperrun.Theamountofmembranesperrunisdirectly proportionaltotheamonuntofnanotubesproduced.Bygradually increasingtheamountofmembranes,theproductioneventuallywasableto reach100fullydepositedmembranes.

Withtheproductiongreatlyincreased,carbonnanotubemanufacturing nolongerhastobetheratelimitingstepoflongerprocesses.

Anthony Durbano Chemical Engineering

Dr. Michael Schrlau Materials Science & Engineering

APPLYING OXIDE ABSORBER LAYERS TO ETA SOLAR CELLS

Samuel Hardy Chemical Engineering

Dr. Jason Baxter Chemical & Biological Engineering

Extremelythinabsorber(ETA)solarcellshavehighconversionefficiency becausethethinabsorberlayerpreventsrecombinationandarethecurrent focusofthenanomaterialforenergyapplicationandtechnologies(NEAT) lab.Thesecellsaremadefromaholeconductor(p-type),anabsorberand anelectronconductor(n-type).Sincethesecellsusemuchlessmaterial theircostislowerthanthatofstandardsolarcells.Thecurrent configurationoftheETAsolarcellsbeingproducedintheNEATlabis copperthiocyanate(p-type)ontopofcadmiumselenide(absorber)ontop ofzincoxidenanowires(n-type).Howevercadmiumselenideissomewhat expensiveanddangeroussinceitismadeoutofcadmium.Howeverboth thecopperthiocyanateandcadmiumselenidelayerscanbereplacedwitha layerofcopper(I)oxide.Acopper(I)oxidelayercanbedepositedonzinc oxidenanowiresthroughelectrodeposition.TothisdateIhavesuccessfully depositedcopper(I)oxideontozincoxidenanowiresandfilledthepores betweenwireswithcopper(I)oxide.Sincethecopper(I)oxidehasbeen determinedtobemorphologicallyviabletheninthecomingweeksIwill begintomakefullyfunctioningcellwithcopper(I)oxideandtesttheir efficiency.

FABRICATION OF NANOFIBER-BASED ELECTRODES FOR USE IN LITHIUM-AIR BATTERIES

Mostlaptopsuselithium-ionbatteriesbecauseoftheirhighenergyto weightratio. Researchisbeingconducted todevelop lithium-airbatteries toimprovetheenergydensityoflithium-ionbatteriesbytenfold. Theaimis todevelopahybridorganic/inorganicnanofiber-basedelectrodefor lithium-airbatteriesthatincorporatesmulti-phaseboundarieswhereall reactantsarepresenttogetherfortheelectrochemicalreactiontotakeplace efficiently. Nanofibershavebeenproducedusingaprocesscalled electrospinningthatusesastrongelectricfieldtothinapolymersolution formingultrathinfiberswithdiametersintherangeof50-500nm.

Asafirststep,nanofibersfrompolyvinylalcohol(PVA)/water/ manganeseacetatesolutionwerefabricatedandthencalcinedat700oC. ThecalcinationprocessburnedawayPVAandsynthesizedporous nanofibersofmanganeseoxidenanoparticles,whichhavebeenshowntobe excellentcatalystsforLi-airbatteries.SEMwasusedtomakesurethatthe nanofibersretainedtheirmorphologyafterthecalcinationandXRDwas conductedtocharacterizethecrystalstructure.

Toincorporatecarbon(forelectronconduction)inthesenanofiber electrodes,PVA/water/manganeseacetatesolutionwasspuncoaxially withapolyacrylonitrile(PAN)/dimethylformamide(DMF)which,when calcined,canformcarbonnanofibersdecoratedwithcatalystnanoparticles ontheiroutersurface. Inordertoensurethatthenanofiberswerecoaxial, SEMandmicrotomingtechniqueswereusedandXRDwasusedagainto characterizethecrystalstructures.

Havinganexcellentcatalystandameansofelectronconduction,a nanofiber-basedelectrodesforuseinlithium-airbatteriesarenotfar.

Alice Hu Chemical Engineering

Dr. Vibha Kalra Chemical & Biological Engineering

Paul Lachaud Chemical Engineering

Dr. Jason Baxter Chemical & Biological Engineering

POLY

(3-

HEXYLTHIOPHENE) AS AN ORGANIC HOLECONDUCTOR IN EXTREMELY THIN ABSORBER PHOTOVOLTAICS

ThepurposeofthisprojectistoinvestigatePoly(3-hexylthiophene)(P3HT) asanorganichole-conducting(p-type)layerinorganic-inorganicExtremely thinabsorber(ETA)solarcellsinplanarandnanowirearray morphologies.ETAlayerprovideshighsurfaceareawithathinnerlayer, leadingtolowerchargerecombinationbyhavingathinfilmabsorber coatedongeometricallystructuredmaterial.Organicpolymersare appealinginsolarcellsbecauseoftheirpotentialtobecheaplyprocessed onlargescaleproductionthroughroll-to-rollprocessing. Poly(3-hexylthiophene)isapromisingpolymerforphotovoltaic applicationsduetoitshighchargemobilitycomparedtootherpolymers.In thesecells,ZincOxidenanowires(ZnONW)preparedbychemicalbath deposition(CBD)orZnOthinfilmspreparedbydip-coatingareutilizedas theelectronacceptor(n-type).CadmiumSelenide(CdSe)depositedby electrodepositionisutilizedasalightabsorbinglayerbetweenthetransparentn-typeandp-typematerials.TheP3HTwasdepositedontheZnO core/CdSeshellnanowireswitha2%byweightsolutionofP3HTin Chlorobenzenebyspincoating.Scanningelectronmicroscopy(SEM)show thatP3HTinfiltratestheZnONW/CdSearrays.Furtherexperimentswillbe completedtodeterminetheeffectofP3HTcomparedto Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)(PEDOT)onthecurrent-voltage characteristicsofthesecellsinvariousZnOnanowireandplanar arrangements.

CONTROLLED GROWTH OF NANOWIRES FOR SOLAR CELL APPLICATIONS

Anextremelythinabsorber(ETA)solarcellisacellthathasahighsolar energyconversionrate. Ithasann-i-psemiconductorarrangementthatis composedofelectroncarrier,absorber,andholecarrierlayers. Tocreate theETAsolarcells,zincoxide(ZnO)hasbeenselectedastheprimary electroncarrier,cadmiumselenideastheabsorberlayer,aswellasa numberofholecarrierssuchaselectrolytesolutionsofpotassium ferricyanideandpotassiumferrocyanide,copperthiocyanate,andP3HT. In ordertomaximizeefficiencyinETAsolarcells,nanowirearrayshavebeen usedtodecreasethethicknessoftheabsorbinglayerinthecellwhilestill containingthesamevolumeoftheabsorbinglayercomparedtoaplanar cell. However,therehavebeenproblemswhentryingtodepositthehole conductinglayersofthecellontopofZnOnanowirescoveredincadmium selenideduetoalackofspacebetweenthewires. Inresponse,amethodis beingdevelopedtocreatealessdensearrayofZnOnanowiresthroughuse ofanextremelythinlayerofTiO2aboveadip-coatedZnOseedlayer. This layerwascreatedbyspincoatingasolutionof.033Mtitaniumisopropoxide and.033Mdiethanolamineandisbelievedtoblockthenucleationof nanowiresontheZnOseedlayersothatthenumberdensityofnanowires decreases.

Daniel McPherson

Chemical Engineering

Dr. Jason Baxter

Chemical & Biological Engineering

Meredith Snyder Chemical Engineering

RECONSTITUTED LIMESTONE

Dr. Michel Barsoum Materials Science & Engineering

ItisbelievedthatintheprocessofmakingtheGreatPyramids,the Egyptianscastblocksofreconstitutedlimestoneinsteadofcarvingthem fromnaturallimestone.Theirrecipeconsistedofwater,lime,clayor diatomaceousearth,andanaggregate.Thissimpleformulaisearthfriendly, relativelycheap,easytofindandsustainableinproperratios.Ordinary PortlandCement(OPC)iswhatismostcommonlyusedinconcretearound theworld.However,itisresponsibleforputting5%oftheworldsCO2 pollutionintotheair.Besidesitscontributiontopollution,it’sexpensive anditcracksafterawhile.UsingtheideabehindthePyramids,2”x4” cylindersweremadeandtestedforstrengthusingtheInstronmachineat 7,14,and28days.ThecylinderswerecomposedofCaO(lime), DiatomaceousEarth,GranulatedLimestone(aggregate),andwater.The purposeofmakingandtestingthecylinderswastodetermineiftheformula wouldbestrongenoughwithstandareal-lifesetting.

Aproofofconceptinvolvingthisformulaistheconstructionofagarden shedatalivingcommunityinSouthPhiladelphia.Ifthisshedcanbebuilt anditresistsnaturalweatherandwearandtear,itprovestheideabehind thisresearch.Itlegitimizesthefactthatthischeaperandmoreenviron mentallyfriendlyconcreteisanoptionformassproduction.Ifconstruction companiesswitchedfromOPCtothissimplermethodofreconstituted limestone,theycouldsignificantlycutdownthepollutionintheworld. Besidesthepollutionfactor,itslowcostwouldmakeitsuitableforthird worldnationsstrugglingtomakesheltersandvariousbuildings.Testing andresearchwillbecontinuedtocreateasturdyandsustainableshed.

WASTE TO FUEL: CULTIVATING ALGAE FOR OIL USING LANDFILL WASTE

Thisprojectisdesignedtoevaluatetheeconomicfeasibilityandefficiency ofusinglandfillleachateandgasstreamstogrowalgaethatcouldbeused toproducebiofuel.Aswastedecomposesinlandfillsitproduceslandfill gases,bothcarbondioxideandmethane,aswellaslandfillleachate.Ifthese wastestreamscouldberecoveredandusedasfeedstocksforbiofuel synthesis,landfillscouldinturnbecomeon-sitebiorefineries.

Thefirststeptowardscreatinganon-sitebiorefineryinalandfillisto determinethegrowthconditionsunderwhichalgaeproducethehighest yieldoffuel-gradelipids.Batchexperimentswereusedtodeterminethe optimalleachatedilutionthatwouldsupportalgalgrowth.Sampleswere testeddailyforchlorophyllconcentrationusingaFluorometer.The fluorescencereadingcouldthenbeusedtocalculatetheconcentrationof algaeinthesample.

Graphingthesample’sfluorescenceversustimeinhoursgaveaclear depictionofwhichdilutionprovidedtheoptimalconditionsforthealgae. Thegrowthcurvesshowedthatanydilutionover20percentleachatedid notallowforanyalgalgrowth,anddilutionsbetween1and10percent allowedforthemost.Morebatchexperimentswillneedtobeconductedin ordertofindtheoptimaldilution,aswellasteststodeterminethelipid concentrationsinthealgae.

Theseresultswillbeusedtodesignapilot-scalebioreactor,whichwill thenbetestedandusedtocreateabiggerbiorefinerytobeplacedina landfill.

Eliya Hurd Civil Engineering

Dr. Mira Stone Olson

Civil, Architectural, & Environmental Engineering

Jeffrey Resnick Civil Engineering

CALIBRATION OF ORIFICE REDUCTION DEVICE FOR MEASURING FLOW RATES IN HYDROLOGY EXPERIMENTS

Dr. Franco Montalto

Civil, Architectural, & Environmental Engineering

Amajorconcernincitiesishowtodealwiththevastamountsofstorm waterthattheyreceive.Sinceconcrete,metal,andasphaltdominatethe terraininurbanizedareas,therearefewernaturalplacesthatabsorbwater duringarainfallevent.Therefore,itisnecessarytoreducetheamountsof rainfallthatactuallyenterthesewersystemincities,sothatwater treatmentfacilitiesdonotgetbackeduptothepointwheretheymust releaseuntreatedwaterbackintotheenvironment.Bybuildingarainfall simulator,carefulmeasurementscanbeobservedinalaboratorysetting thatwilltelldevelopers,builders,andcityplannersalikewhatcombinations ofvegetationandsoilarebesttoreducerunoff.Inconjunctionwiththe rainfallsimulator,anexperimentalplothasbeenbuiltfromwhichrunoff andinfiltrationrateswillbemeasured.Inordertomeasuretheserates, orificereductiondeviceswillbeused.TheORDactsasaflowmeterforthe rainfallsimulator,sowhenarainfalleventissimulated,thequantityof runoffwatercanbecalculated.ThedepthofwaterintheORDismeasured usingapressuretransducer,andinordertoequatethedepthtoaflowrate acalibrationproceduremustbeperformed.Thisworkwillpresentthe resultsofthecalibrationprocedurefortwoORDs,whichwilllaterbeused inconjunctionwiththerainfallsimulator.

PRIORITIZING REPAIRS ON LONG SPAN BRIDGES

Therearewidespreadconcernsabouttheconditionofthenation's infrastructure,butlimitedknowledgeabouthowtoprioritizeamongthe manyneeds.Thisprojectaimstosurveyexpertsonninedifferentrepairs neededonalongspanbridge.Identifyingandcontactingpotential respondentswhohavethespecializedexpertiseneededtotakethesurvey isalargeportionoftheproject.Onceasufficientnumberofrespondents havebeenreached,thedatawillbetakenfromthesurvey,and analyzed.Ifthedatawillshowaconsensusregardingthepriorityand necessityoftherangeofrepairs,thenthiscaninformconsensusguidelines forprioritization.Ifaconsensusisnotfoundthentheareasofdisagreement canbeidentifiedfromthissurveyandservetoguidefuturedeliberations andresearchtoarriveataconsensus.

Delia Votsch

Civil Engineering

Dr. Patrick Gurian

Civil, Architectural, & Environmental Engineering

ADIABATIC CIRCUITS AND CLOCKING

ThetraditionalCMOScircuitfamiliesthataremostcommonintoday’s computerelectronicsareveryfastandeasytoconstruct.However,these circuitsarenotthemostefficient.The2n_IPGLcircuitfamilycancreatea 70%powersavingsandtheuseofaRotaryClockcanincreasepower savingsasopposedtoaclocktree.Thecombinationofthesetotechniques couldsaveevenmorepower,butrequiresadjustmentstotheRotaryclock forcompatibility.Thisprojectexploresthecreationof2n_IGPLcircuit layoutsandtheuseofaRotaryClockwhenpairedwiththesecircuits.

Richard Andrew Benton Computer Engineering

Dr. Baris Taskin Electrical & Computer Engineering

RETWEETING ON TWITTER

Thepurposeofthisprojectistocollecttweetsfromthesocialnetworking websiteTwittertoascertainthecorrelationbetweenatweetbeingposted againbyanotheruser(aretweet)andvariouspropertiesoftheuser,the user’sfollowers,andthetweetitself.Thesepropertiesincludethepresence ofahashtaginthetweet,thelengthoftimetheuserhashadtheTwitter account,andthenumberoffollowersoftheuser.Thisprojectispartofa researchgoaltounderstandhowinformationpropagatesthrough onlinesocialnetworksandhowsomemedia(e.g.,videos)becomeviral. Thisunderstandingofthecharacteristicsofinformationpropagationhas applicationsinthedevelopmentofmarketingstrategiesbybusinesses, developmentofpublicpoliciesbygovernments,developmentofdefenses againstviruspropagationbycomputerprofessionalsandthedevelopment ofsocialtheoriesbysociologists.

Michael Mitrione Computer Engineering Dr. Harish Sethu

Electrical & Computer Engineering

HIGH PERFORMANCE SIMULATION

Michael J. Conway Computer Science

Dr. Jeffrey Johnson Computer Science

Itisimpossibletoanalyticallysolveagravitationalsysteminvolvingan arbitrarynumberofbodies;moreover,itisinfeasibletoconduct experimentsonthisscale.Inordertostudythesen-bodysystems,itis necessaryforastrophysiciststodesignandruncomputermodelsbasedon thefundamentallawofgravitation.Unfortunately,thecomputationalload inperformingsuchsimulationsgrowsquadraticallywiththenumberof particles,aseachparticlepairmustbeconsidered.Varioustechniques, rangingfromapproximationalgorithmstohardware-levelparallelism,have beenemployedtomaken-bodysimulationsfaster.TheAstrophysical MultipurposeSoftwareEnvironment(AMUSE)gathersawiderangeof astrophysicalsimulatorswritteninseverallow-levellanguages,suchas FORTRANandC,andprovidesauniformhigh-levelPythoninterface. However,eventhisinterfacerequiressignificantprogrammingexperience tooperateproperly.Themaingoalofthisprojectwastocontinuethe developmentoftheGPUnitgraphicalinterfaceforrunningAMUSE simulations.Pilotrunsidentifiedareasoftheprogramrequiringfurther development,suchassupportforrunningsimulationsonaremotecluster. Basedonthispreliminaryinformation,numerousdesignimprovementsand additionalfeatureswereimplemented.Theresultingprogrammadethe capabilitiesoftheAMUSEframeworkmorereadilyavailabletonoviceusers. Itisexpectedthatthesemodificationswillallowresearcherstotake advantageofthefullpotentialoftheAMUSEsoftware.

MULTITOUCH SURFACES AS MUSICAL INTERFACES

Multitouchsurfacesallowuserstointeractwithcomputersinwaysthat wouldhaveneverbeenpossiblewithtraditionalcomputerinputdevices. Thegoalofmyresearchwastocreateandanalyzemultitouchmusical interfacesandstudyhowauserinteractswiththem.

Threedifferentprogramsweremade:onethatlimitsthesoundsauser canmakebutalmostalwayssoundsgood,asoundsynthesizerwithkeys arrangedinaspecificallydesignedpatterntomakecertainsound combinationseasytoplaythatdynamicallygeneratessounds,anda traditionalpianointerfacethatinteractswithaphysicalgrandpiano.

Byexaminingthesedifferentinterfacesandwatchinghowusersuse them,wewillknowmoreabouthowusersinteractwithmultitouch surfacesandbeabletodesignfuturemusicalinterfacesthatareeasierfor themusicallyinexperiencedtouse.

Anthony Matsanka

Electrical Engineering

MULTI-BAND DIPOLE ANTENNAS FOR COGNITIVE RADIO

Dr. Kapil R. Dandekar

Electrical

& Computer Engineering

Aswirelesscommunicationscontinuetoevolve,frequencycrowdingand antennasizearebecominglargerissues.Newantennasdesignsareneeded tofitdevicesandworkwithnewintelligentsoftware.Onesuchnewantenna typeisthemultibandantenna.Thelengthofanantenna’sarmcorresponds tothefrequencythattheyresonateat,whichallowsasignaltobesent wirelessly.Multibandantennastakeadvantageofthispropertybecause theyarecomprisedofmorethanonearm.Asanexplorationofmultiband receptionandtransmission,amultiplenestedframedipoleantennawith threebandswasdesigned.TheantennawascomputermodeledwithAnsoft HighFrequencyStructureSimulator(HFSS)andoptimizedforthe1.8,2.4, and3.5GHzfrequencybands.Itwasconstructedusingaprintedcircuit boardmillingmachine.Theantennawasthenmeasuredwithanetwork analyzer.Itwasfoundtohavestrongsignalsatthethreedesired frequencies.Thisantennadesignwillbeusedinconjunctionwithasoftware defineradiotestbedknownastheWirelessOpen-AccessResearchPlatform (WARP).Usingthemultibandantenna,WARPwillperformcognitiveradio techniquestoassessifafrequencybandisbeingused,andswitchoperating modestomakeuseofbandsthatarenotinuse.Theoverallgoalofthiswork istodemonstratethepotentialperformancegainwhenaradiosystemiscapableofadaptingitsoperatingfrequencybasedontheassessmentofthe frequencybandsavailableforuse.

REPLACING CARCINOGENIC POLYSTYRENE WITH ALGINATE FOAM

Thisprojectattemptedtodiscoverwhetherbiocompatiblealginatefoam couldpotentiallyreplacepolystyreneasabuildingmaterialbecause polystyrene(Styrofoam)wasrecentlylabeledacarcinogenbytheNational ToxicologyProgram.Differentpatentsweregatheredwhichcontained methodsforproducingdifferenttypesofalginatefoamsandanalyzedfor relevance. Next,thematerialsforcreatingthepotentialreplacementfoams werecollectedandthedifferentfoamsweremade. Afterperforming qualitativeanalysisonthefoams,thefoamsweresubjectedtoa compressivetestonanInstronmachine. Itwasfoundthatthealginate foamhadamuchlowerYoung’sModulusandcompressivestrengththan polystyrene,meaningthatithasalowermechanicalstrength. Moretests, suchasthermalconductivityandabsorbency,mustbeperformedto determinewhetherornotthealginatefoamcansuccessfullyreplace polystyreneasaconstructionmaterial.

Jared Ely

Materials Science & Engineering Dr. Caroline Shauer

Materials Science & Engineering

Peter Vincent Palena III

Materials Science & Engineering

KOH ACTIVATION OF CARBON ONION SUPERCAPACITORS

Carbononions,oronion-likecarbon(OLC),isananostructuredcarbon materialthatcanbeusedforsupercapacitorapplications. Itisknownthat OLCdisplayscharacteristicsofasupercapacitoratmuchfaster charge-dischargeratescomparedtotraditionalmaterials,suchasactivated carbonorcarbide-derivedcarbon(CDC).Thegoaloftheseexperimentswas toalterthestructureoftheOLCtoincreasethecapacitancewhile maintainingcapacitivebehavioratfastcharge-dischargerates.

OLCwassubmittedtoanactivationprocesstoremovesomeofthe carbonatomsonitssurface,creatingaroughexteriororevenpores,hence increasingthesurfaceareaandcapacitance.Potassiumhydroxide(KOH) wasusedastheactivatingagent.Byvaryingthetimeandtemperatureofthe activationprocess,differentsurfacetextureswereformed.

Dr. Yury

Gogotsi

Materials Science & Engineering

Nitrogengas-sorptionconfirmedthatmicropores(<2nm)hadbeen createdinthematerial.Theelectrochemicalperformancesofthesamples weretestedusingcyclicvoltammetry(CV)tomeasurecapacitanceand resistanceathighscanrates.Ascanrateisproportionaltohowfastthe capacitorischargedanddischarged.Idealperformancewascategorizedas highcapacitancewithlowresistance.TheCVresultsshowedthatamore intensereactionprocess,meaninglongertimeorhighertemperature, producedamaterialwithhighercapacitance,butalsoanincreased resistance.Athighscanrates,thelessintensereactionhadmorecapacitive performance.Theseresultssuggestthatalowertemperaturethanthe testedvaluesmayprovidetheidealconditionsforsynthesis.Furtherwork includesexperimentingwithlowertemperaturesandlowerscanrates.

USING BIOWALLS TO SUSTAINABLY REDUCE HUMAN EXPOSURE TO INDOOR VOLATILE ORGANIC COMPOUNDS

Althoughconcentrationsofindoorcontaminantssuchasvolatileorganic compounds(VOCs)arenotsignificantlyhighaccordingtooccupational standards,thefactthatthemajorityofAmericansspendexcessiveamount oftimeindoorsmakesitalargeexposurepathwayandperhapsacritical healthissue.Traditionally,indoorairqualityhasbeencontrolledby ventilation,dilutingthecontaminatedairwithnewoutsideair. Becausethe newairmustmatchindoortemperature,increasingventilationairdemand increasestheoperationalcostandenergyuseofthebuilding.Inaneffortto reduceenergyuseandassociatednegativeimpactsontheenvironment, biofiltrationhasemergedasanalternativemethodtoindoorairfiltration. Laterthisfall,theDrexelIntegratedSciencesBuildingwillopenwitha “Biowall”biofiltrationsystem.InaBiowall,theindoorairisrecirculated throughplantsrootedintoaporoustextilethroughwhichairisdrawn,so thatVOCsareconsumedbymicrobeslivingontheplantroots.Tomeasure theefficiencyofremoval,anaeroponicsystemisconstructedtomimicthe Biowall,equippedwithvariouslaboratorypartssuchasSwagelokfittings andaeroponichomegardensystem.Assuringthatthemodelingofsuch apparatuswouldresemblethatofidealsystem,theapparatusismodified, havingrubbersealingandadditionaltubingtodistributeairinflowevenly. Inconjunction,amodelingstudyisperformedtooptimizetheoperational characteristicsoftherealBiowall.Resultsshowthatincreasingtheairflow throughitandmaintainingasmallrangeofwatertemperatureleadstothe mostVOCremoval.

Young Kwang Lee

Materials

Science & Engineering

Dr. Michael Waring

Civil, Architectural, & Environmental Engineering

Ian Riley

Materials Science & Engineering

GROWTH MECHANICS OF GOLD CORE-SHELL NANOWIRES

Dr. Jonathan Spanier

Materials Science & Engineering

Withthegrowingdemandforhighspeed,miniaturizedelectronics,the scientificcommunityisextremelyinterestedinthehighpotentialof nanowiredevices,especiallythepossibilityofusingcore-shellnanowiresas memorystoragedevices.Apressingproblemwithcurrentmemorystorage technologyisthatasthearearepresentingasinglebitisdecreased,soisthe bit’sstability.PreviousworkbytheMesomaterialslabhasfoundthatby puttingathinmagneticshellaroundananowire,ahighlystablenanoscale bitcanbecreated.IftheMesomaterialslabistousethesecore-shell nanowireseffectively,theymusthaveaconsistentmethodofgrowing nanowireswithspecificdimensions.Thegoalofthisprojectwasto investigatehowchangesinvariouselectroplatingconditions,suchas current,soluteconcentration,andgrowthtimeaffectedthenanowire’s properties.Theresistancesofthesewireswerealsotestedtofinda relationshipbetweenwirelength,wirediameter,andresistance.The completedresearchonthenanowiregrowthmechanicswillbeusedto furtherinvestigatetheirpropertiesandpotential,eventuallyintegrating manydifferentcoresandmagneticshellsuntilthebestcore-shellnanowires arediscoveredforanyapplication.

LASER-INDUCED REDUCTION OF GRAPHITE OXIDE

Grapheneisamaterialwithexceptionalelectrical,thermal,mechanical,and opticalproperties.Thepreparationofhighqualitygraphenesheetsorflakes onalargescaleandinaninexpensivemannerisessentialforwidespread applicationsofthisprospectivematerial. Graphiteoxide(GO)isaverygood candidatetobeusedasaprecursorforproductionofgraphene,asitcanbe derivedbywetchemistryreactionsfrominexpensivegraphitepowder. ThenGOcanbereducedtoformchemicallymodifiedgraphene,inwhicha largeportionofoxygen-containingfunctionalgroupsareremovedby chemicalreactionorbythermaltreatment.

Herewereportonthepreparationandpropertiesinvestigationof deoxidizedGObyUVexcimerlaserirradiation.Theexcimerlaserthrougha photothermalprocessheatstheGOparticlesdispersedinaqueous suspensionandhelpstoreducetheoxygenbondedinthem.Asaresulta laserinducedtransformationofGOintolaserconvertedGO(CGO)is observed.AwetchemistrymethodtoproduceGOhasbeenverifiedandthe GOandCGOsampleswerecharacterizedusingRaman,FTIR,XPS,TEMand SEM,ThereductionofGOinthiswayisafastandefficientmethodwiththe potentialtobecomeaneasypathwaytoproducemodifiedgraphenefora varietyofapplications.

Jonathon E. Affleck Mechanical Engineering

Dr. Zhorro Nikolov Centralized Research Facilities

A BATTERY- POWERED, ULTRA-LOW-NOISE WAVEFORM GENERATOR AND AMPLIFIER FOR PROBING SOLID-STATE ARTIFICIAL ATOMS

The21stcenturyhaswitnessedtheinventionofthebasiccomponentsofa quantumcomputer-acomputerthatsolvesproblemsfasterthanclassical computersrunningonbinarylogic.Thesecomponentsarecalled"quantum bits"or"qubits."Onesuchqubitisasolid-statedevice,calledthe superconductingJosephsonJunction,whose"0"and"1"statescorrespond toitssuperconductingandnon-superconductingstates.AtDrexel University,qubitsarebeingprobedbyelectricalcurrentandmicrowaves.

Thegoalofmyresearchprojectwastooptimizeanelectroniccircuit thatdetectedandamplifiedminutevoltageswhenthequbitsswitchedfrom theirsuperconductingtonormalstateswhileisolatingtheseminutesignals fromunwanted,low-frequencynoise(60Hz)specificallythoseintrinsicto poweroutletsandcommercialequipment.

Towardsthisgoal,Idesignedandtestedabattery-poweredamplifier capableofamplifyinglowsignalswithprecisionandeliminatingnoise intrinsictoitscommercialcounterparts.Thecircuit,consistingofhighperformance,ultralow-noiseIC’s,wasassembledonabreadboard,tested, packagedontoaPCBandshieldedinamodularbox;thisdesignreplaced StanfordResearchSystems’commercialoperationalamplifier.The amplifierwasusedtocreatehistogramsofsuperconducting-to-normal switchingeventsandthewidthsofthehistograms,whichareindicativeof thepresenceofunwantednoise,werecomparedtothewidthsofthe histogramsobtainedinusingcommercialamplifiers.Whiletheuseof custom-built,DC-poweredamplifiersdoesnotguaranteeprecisionand isolationfromunwantednoise,itcanreduceunwantedinterferenceand resolveplotsthataresignaturesofdistinctquantumenergystatescritical tobuildingaquantumcomputer.

Alex Benjamin

Mechanical Engineering

Dr. Roberto Ramos

Mechanical Engineering & Mechanics

AUTONOMOUS SPACE ROBOTICS

Amainissueinspaceexplorationistheinabilitytoquicklyandefficientlyfix problemsonsatelliteswhiletheyareinspace.Inordertomakeadjustments todamagedsatellites,acrewofastronautsmustphysicallyapproachthem, costingsignificantamountsoftimeandmoney.Apotentialsolutiontothis issueisutilizingateamofrobotstorepairthesatellitesratherthanacostly unitofhumans.Therobotscouldbestoredinthesatelliteanddeployed whenproblemsarise.However,whenrobotsmoveonafreelymoving satellite,theydisturbitsmovementandabilitytocommunicate.Ifmultiple robotsfollowparticularpathsaroundthesatellite,theymaybeableto counteractoneanother’smovement,thusallowingittomaintainitsoriginal position.Inordertodeterminetherelationshipbetweentherobotsandthe satellite’sposition,testswerecreatedtosimulateafrictionless,space-like environment.Thesetestsconsistofaplatformsuspendedfromaceilingand aplatformsuspendedonanairtable,testingtherotationalandtranslational effects,respectively.Severalrobotswereplacedoneachoftheplatforms. Theonesuspendedfromtheceilinghasbeensuccessfulthusfar,exhibiting definitiverotationwhenrobotswereonboard.Theairtableplatform, however,struggledtoholdtheweightofseveralrobots.Testswillsoon continuewithmorepowerfulairequipment.Ifthesetestsaccurately demonstratetheeffectofmovingrobotsonafreestandingspaceobject, remotesatelliterepairwillbecomeanevengreaterpossibility.

Robert J. Davies, Jr. Mechanical Engineering

Dr. Jin Kang

Mechanical Engineering & Mechanics

Robert A. Hall, Jr. Mechanical Engineering

Dr. Michel Barsoum Materials Science & Engineering

SMALLER IS HARDER

ThroughtheuseofNano-indentation,thehardnessandelasticmodulusofa samplecanbefound.Forthisresearch,twomicasamples,muscoviteand biotite,wereobserved.Thesampleswereplacedinacontrolled environmentwiththeloadandtipsizebeingtheonlyvariables.Four hemisphericaltipsofmicronsize,1,5,21,and100μmwereusedwiththe loadvaryingbasedonthetipused.Aloadvs.displacementplotwas acquiredfromtheNano-indenter,fromwhichbothastressvs.strainand harmoniccontactstiffnessvs.contactradius(Svs.a)curvewerederived.In observingthestress-straincurvesofthesamplesweabletodetermine whenthesesamplestransitionfromelastictoplasticintheirdeformationas wellastheirelasticmodulus.Inaddition,theSvs.acurvesprovidean alternatetofindingthemodulus,whichwasalmostthesameasthemodulus calculatedfromstress-straincurves. Theload-displacementcurvesdisplay whenthesurfaceofthesamplehasbeenpierced,creatingapop-in.Through observingthepop-insusingascanningelectronmicroscope(SEM)weare abletoseethatwhenthesampleisnolongerabletosustaintheload,it sometimesleavesanexplosion-likecrater.Usingtipsofdifferentsizesto findthesepropertiesprovedthatsmallersizeisstrongerintermsofthe stressallottedbyeachtip.

INKJET FABRICATION OF HYBRID SOLAR CELLS

Inkjetprintingcanbeusedinlargescalecommercialapplicationsandis alsocompatiblewithorganicandinorganicpolymers.Inrecentyears, improvementsindeviceperformancehavebeenseeninthedevelopment oforganic-inorganicsolarcells.Moststudiesonsolarcellfabricationhave focusedonusinglab-scalespin-coatingmethodstodeposittheorganic polymeractivelayer.Spincoatingisahighlyinefficientwaytodeposit layers.Inthisposter,wepresentourresultsinusinganDimatixprinting deviceforinkjetprintingofpoly(3-hexylthiophene)(P3HT)/[6,6]-phenylC61-butyricacidmethylester(PCBM)inkmaterialsforlarge-scale processingofhybridsolarcells. Theeffectsofjettingparametersofthe printer,suchaswaveform,jettingfrequency,anddropspacing,onfilm thicknessanduniformityarediscussedindetail. Performanceofthecells, intermsofshortcircuitcurrent,opencircuitvoltage,fillfactor,and efficiencyarediscussed.Improvementupontheseresultscanbe completedinfutureresearch.Implementationofprintedcellsinto commercialapplicationswouldresultinamoreeconomicallyefficientuse ofpower.

Elizabeth Hallman Mechanical Engineering

Dr. Ying Sun Mechanical Engineering & Mechanics

Shimin Huang Mechanical Engineering

DEVELOPMENT A VALIDATION OF AN IN VITRO MODEL OF BLAST-TBI

Dr. Arye Rosen School of Biomedical Engineering, Science, & Health Systems

Xu Meng Graduate Student Mentor

Researchershavebeenusinglargeshocktubetogenerateshockwave,for blast-inducedtraumaticinjury(bTBI)studying.However,theexact mechanismsofenergytransmissionfromthelowlevelblastwavestothe brain,andtheresultingmildinjury,areunknown.Alsolittleisknownabout cellularresistancetotheblastwaves.Thus,thereisaneedtodesignanovel model,mimickingtheshocktube,tostudythecells’acuteresponse.My researchinvolvessimulatingtheblastoverpressure(BOP)generatedbythe largeshocktubeinasmallerenvironment-aPetridish,inwhichthecells arecultured,andmonitoringthereal-timecells’activitiesbymicroscope. BasedonthefrequencyanalysisoftheBOPwaveformfromtheliterature, theactuatorisusedasthesource.Abloodpressuresensoranda hydrophonearechosentovalidatethisidea.Thebloodpressuresensoris smallenoughtoworkinthePetridishandthehydrophoneisusedto calibratethebloodpressuresensor. Aftercalibration,thebloodpressure sensorisusedtomeasuretheshockwaveproducedbytheactuatorinthe Petridish.Basedontheabovemeasurements,abetteractuatorwith positionandaccelerationcontrolwillbedesignedformoreprecise monitoringofmovementanddesiredBOPwaveform.Subsequentlythis injurymodelandthemicroscopewillbeusedforouracutebTBIstudy purpose.

A GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE FOR ANALYZING

PARAMETRIC EFFECTS ON POLYMER ELECTROLYTE FUEL CELL PERFORMANCE

Oneofthesellingpointsoffuelcellsistheirremarkablyhightheoretical efficiencywhencomparedtootherpowerproducingengines.However,the maximumefficiencythatisusedinthesecomparisonsisunachievable becauseofmajorlossesthatthefuelcellexperiencesduetolossesfrom entropy,reactantcrossover,reactionactivation,resistance,andfuel concentration.Inordertofindwaystoreducetheselosses,researchersrun copiousexperimentstoproducepolarizationcurvesthatgraphicallydisplay theeffectsofthemajorlosses.Thisstudydevelopsamathematicalmodel thatcanbeusedtoconstructapolarizationcurvebasedonuser-inputted parametersofapolymerelectrolyte(PEM)fuelcelltoshowresearchersthe expectedlossesintheirfuelcelldesign.Thepolarizationcurveshowsthe expectedactualvoltageofthefuelcellataspecificcurrentoutput,which canbeanalyzedtounderstandthevoltaiclossesofthefuelcell.A mathematicalmodeldescribingthevoltaiclossesofthecellwasdeveloped fromknownelectrochemicalandthermodynamicequations.This mathematicalmodelwasthenvalidatedusingexperimentaldataand parametersfromthreestudiesandyieldinganaverageerrorbetween0.01 and0.06V.Inordertomakethemodelmoreconvenientlyusableby researchers,agraphicaluserapplicationwascreatedthatallowedusersto modifyoperationalandassemblyparametersandobservechangestothe polarizationcurve.Optimizationandpolarizationanalysistoolsarealso providedintheapplicationtoaidusersinfindingthebestdesignfortheir cell.

Arvind Kalidindi Mechanical Engineering

Dr. Emin Caglan Kumbur

Mechanical Engineering & Mechanics

Kristaps Kancans

Mechanical Engineering

CHARACTERIZATION OF A VORTEX GENERATOR

Dr. James Tangorra Mechanical Engineering & Mechanics

Thepurposeofthisresearchwastobuildandcharacterizeanewvortex generatorforperturbinglivebluegillsunfishandroboticfinsystems. Characterizationwouldallowforthequantificationandpreciseapplication offorcestoroboticfinsorfish.Thenewgeneratordesigneliminatedthe previousproblemsofpressuredropoff,noise,andnozzlesize.Itreplaceda waterpumpwithanairpressurizedvessel,addedamorespaceefficient mountingsystem,andreplacedtheoriginalvalvewithasilentone.Vortices weretestedusingvideoanalysisandforceplatereadings.Acorrelation betweenseveralvariables,suchawaterinputpressureandvortexspeed, hasbeenestablished.Furtherresearchwillcontinuetomodelvariablesthat havenotyetbeenexplored.

AUTOMATING REPETITIVE WEB INTERACTION

ThepointofthisprojectistouseSeleniumIDE,aprogramnormally intendedforwebtesting,toautomatealongseriesofinputsintoawebsite. Seleniumhasthecapabilitiestorecordaseriesofactionsandsavetherun asaJUnitJavafile,whichcanthenbeexecutedfromanexternalapplication call. Automationremediesmanyproblemsassociatedwithperforminga repetitivesetofactions;repetitivejobscanbecompletedinseveralclicks ratherthanathousandclicks,humanerrorininputtingdataiscompletely removed,andthelengthoftimeneededtofinishalongsetofinputsis effectivelyreducedtoafractionofitsoriginaltime.

Morespecifically,thispieceofsoftwareisbeingusedtostreamlinea verylongseriesofactionsperformedontheMapleTAhomeworkwebsite. Professorsandaidesmustperformalongseriesofactionsinorderto completesimpletasks,suchaspreparingstudentsfortheirfinals;Selenium simplifiesthesetasksandperformsthemmuchmoreefficientlythan humaninputcan. OncetestingthroughMapleTAhasbeencompleted,the programcanbeextendedtoautomateotherimportantwebsitetasksacross Drexel’scampusandotherwebsitesingeneral.

Michael Lucidi

Mechanical Engineering

Dr. Bruce Char

Computer Science

Sean Rodeheaver Mechanical Engineering

THERMO-MECHANICAL PROCESSING ROUTES FOR AZ31

Dr. Surya Kalidindi Mechanical Engineering & Mechanics

InanefforttoincreasefuelefficiencyanddecreaseCO2emissions,the automotiveindustryisinvestigatingmagnesium(Mg)alloysbecausethey arelightweightandhaveahigherspecificstrengththanmetalstypically usedinautomobilestoday,e.g.aluminumandsteel.Thesealloyshavebeen employedinnumerouscastapplications,butcannotfulfilltheir weight-savingpotentialbecausetheycurrentlylacktheformabilitytobe usedinwroughtapplications.IfMgalloysaretobeemployedinnew applications,areliablephysics-basedmodeltopredictthematerial behaviorduringformingisnecessarytospeedupthisprocess.However, therecurrentlyexistseveralgapsinourunderstandingofthefundamental mechanismsofplasticdeformationinMgalloystodevelopreliablemodels. OnecomplicationisthatthemechanicalbehaviorofMgalloysis stronglydependentongrainsize,asgrainsizeinfluencestheextentof differentdeformationmechanismssuchasslipandtwinning.Itiseasyto achievegrainsizesfrom10-25µm;howeveritisdifficulttoproduce materialwithlargergrainsizestostudytheeffectofgrainsizeonthe deformationbehavior.Therefore,arangeofthermo-mechanicalprocessing routeswereexploredtoachievealargergrainsizeontheorderof100um inMg-alloyAZ31(Mgwith3wt.%Aland1wt.%Zn). Atwo-stepprocess wasfoundtosignificantlyincreasethegrainsize.Eachstepinvolvedasmall compressivestrainparalleltothec-axisfollowedbyannealingto recrystallizethematerial.

OPTIMIZATION OF SOLAR PANEL LAY DOWN

Thesolarpanelsareusedtopowersatellitesthatareinorbit;ifthesolar panelsarenotattachedproperly,thesolarpanelscouldbreakorpopoffin spaceleavingthesatellitewithoutpower,resultinginawasteofbothtime andmoney.Thepurposeofthisprojectwastocomeupwithwaysto optimizethesolarpanellaydownprocedureusedforthesolarpanelson satellites.Themethodspreviouslyusedcanbedescribedasquitecrude, timeconsuming,andarduous.TotacklethisprojectIfirsttriedtheoriginal methodtoputdownsolarpanelsandthen,later,Itooktimetocomeup withinventionsandimprovementstotheprocess.Icreatedatoolthathelps evenlyspreadsthesiliconeadhesivewhichisnormallydonebyhand, leavingairbubblesbetweenthecellsandtheboard.Theimprovementsthat Imadehavebothexpeditedand,simplifiedtheprocessallowingthejobto bedonewithasmoothapplicationofsilicone.Itisimportantthatthis procedurebedonequicklybecausethetasksrequiresuseofasilicone adhesivewhichisonlyusablefortwentyminutesafteritleavesthebottle. Themethodpresentedresultedinmuchsmootherandevenlydistributed contactpointscomparedtothesamplepreparedusingtheprevious ‘manual’method.

Armando Salome

Mechanical Engineering

Dr. Jin Kang

Mechanical Engineering & Mechanics

ROBOTICS

David Torres, Jr.

Mechanical Engineering

Dr. Paul Yu Oh

Mechanical Engineering & Mechanics

Theobjectiveoftheprojectwastoprogramarobottoautonomously navigatingacoursetoreachdesignatedlocations. TherobotwasaLEGO NXTMindstormsRobotandwasprogrammedinNXC(NotExactlyC) language. AGPSandelectroniccompasswasusedtoallowtherobotto knowitsorientation,heading,andlocation. Oncegivenafinaldestination, therobotwouldbeabletodriveitselftotheendpoint. Thealgorithm allowedtherobottocorrectitselfifitveeredoffcoursebycalculatingthe necessarycorrectionsbasedofftheinformationfromthecompassand GPS. Afeedbackcontrollerwasusedinthecodetomakethese corrections. ItusedthedatafromtheGPSandcompasstocalculatehowfar itwasfromthegoal(theerror)andadjustedtherobottomakesureitwas goingintherightdirection. Therobotwasabletosuccessfullynavigatethe course,butittookalongtimetocomplete. Theproblemwasthatthedata fromtheGPSdidnotupdatequickenoughtoallowtherobottocorrectitself properly. Inordertocorrectthisproblem,amoreaccurate,fasterupdating GPSsensorwouldhavetobeusedtogivetherobotup-to-dateinformation andcorrectlyreorientitself. Amorecomplicatedalgorithm,suchasa KalmanFilter,couldalsobeusedtomorepreciselyadjusttherobotand eliminateerror.

DIALOGUES WITH DARWIN STICKY NOTE PROJECT

Participatorydesigninmuseumscanengagethepublicwithtechnologyas simpleasastickynote.Muchofparticipatorydesignresearchfocuseson incorporatingadvancedtechnologytoregainpublicinterest.However, low-fidelitymethodshavetheirownvalueandappeal.Thisresearch focusesononesuchprojectinanattempttoshiftthebalance.Withinthe "DialogueswithDarwin"exhibitionattheAmericanPhilosophicalSociety MuseumfromApril17,2009 -October17,2010,visitorswereencouraged to"continuethedialogue"bypostingtheirownthoughts,comments,and questionson3x3inchstickynotesontwowallpanels.Thisstudyaimsto discovertrendsinvisitorpoststhroughgroundedtheoryandfrequency analysisofasystematicrandomsampleofthe2,293stickynotesuploaded onthemuseum'sFlickraccount.Thestickynoteswerefoundtofalllargely intothreecategories:sense-making,exhibitappreciation,andthescience vs.religiondebate.Tofurtherclassifythe'sciencevs.religion'posts, rhetoricalanalysiswasusedtoascertaintrendsinthemodesofpersuasion usedbyeachsideofthedebate.Thisstudyreflectsthebroaderattitudes andopinionsofoursocietytoday. Theprojectadditionallydemonstrates theabilityoflowtechnologytoengageaudiencesandtoactasaunique mediumfordiscoursesurroundingcontroversialtopics.

Sean Goggins iSchool

Connie Lin Information Systems

Dr.

Dr. Michelle Rogers iSchool

ELECTRONIC COMMUNITY RESOURCE DATABASE

Health/Medicine2.0isbecomingmorepopularastheuseoftheInternet advances.WeknowthattheInternetisusedtosearchforhealthrelated informationbutwhatwearetryingtounderstandbetterishowonline healthprovisionsaremeetingpatientneeds.Wealsowanttofindoutwhat featuresofmedicine2.0variousmedicallyorientedwebsitescurrentlyhave. ByanalyzingtheresultsofarecentsurveydoneatanorthPhiladelphia healthclinic,myresearchteamandIwereablegainbetterunderstandingof howpatientsusetheInternettosearchforhealthrelatedinformationand howusefultheinformationistothem.Thenextstepinmyworkincludedan extensivestudyofwebsitessuchas,WebMDandMedicinePlus,to determinetheirlevelsofincorporationofMedicine2.0featuressuchas, opennessandparticipation.Thesefindingswillbeusedtoredesignan existingprototypeuserinterfaceforSt.Christopher'shospital.Thiswebsite willultimatelybeatoolthatprimarycareprovidersandpatientscanuseto accessresourcesforhealthierlivingwithintheirlocalcommunity.For example,thetoolcouldbeusedtofindthelocationsofnearbycommunity fitnesscenters.Basedonourfindings,weareaimingtointegratethe Medicine2.0featuresintoourinterface.Wewillthenconductusabilitytests tomakesurethatthenewfeaturesareeasytouseandunderstand.

Ekene Arinze

Information Technology

Themainfocusofthisprojectinvolvestheissueofprivacywithregardsto socialmediawebsites.Theterm“socialmedia”referstotheinteractive mannerinwhichinformationisexchanged;throughusercommunication andsocialinteraction,mediaofalldifferenttypescanberelayedthrough theInternet.Thedifferentsocialmedia(SM)websitestestedinclude Facebook,Twitter,LinkedInandDigg.AllSMwebsitescontainaprivacy policystatinghowinformationisusedbytheplatformandhowsuch informationcouldbepassedonandusedbythirdparties.

Theinitialgoaloftheprojectistounderstandwhattypesof informationarebeingenteredbytheuseronSMplatforms.Withthis informationontheSMservers,certaindatacanbegatheredusing applicationprogramminginterfaces(APIs).TheseAPIsareactually providedbytheSMwebsitesandallowdeveloperstogathernon-private informationfromusers.

Thesecondpartoftheprojectistoseehowthisgatheredinformation canbeanalyzedtocreateconnectionsbetweendifferentpeople,events, topicsandarticles.Thiseffectivelybuildsasocialnetworkspecificto certaincriteria.Basedonwhatthesearchreturns,itallowsfortracking trendsandforextrapolationforwhatcanhappeninthefuture.Thissortof searchingcanhaveusefulapplicationsinthefuture,asitcanallow companiestoseetheeffectivenessofadvertisingcampaignsorevenpredict eventsthatareevolvingfromtheInternetspacetotherealworld,suchas themassiveproteststhatbrokeoutinEgypt.

Balasundaram

Information Technology

Christopher Myers

Information Systems

Victor Khou

Software Engineering

Dr. Christopher C. Yang

iSchool

Alyxis Johnson Information Technology

SMART CLOSET

Dr. Jennifer A. Rode iSchool

Asmartclosetisadevicethatallowsuserstoviewthecontentsoftheir closetwithasimpletouchoftheirfinger,addingubiquitouscomputinginto everydayinteractionswithclothes. Insteadofmanuallyopeningacloset andsortingthroughnumerousclothingitems,theclothinginthesmart closetwillbetaggedwithRFIDtagsallowingtheusertoviewthecloset virtually,makingiteasierfortheusertocreateoutfitsandalsokeeptrackof multipleaspectsoftheirclothingsuchaswhenanitemhasbeenlast washed,orifanitemiscurrentlyloanedouttoafriend. Afteranalyzingthe resultsoftheethnographicandspeeddatingstudiesthatwereconducted,a userinterface(UI)designfortheloaningaspectoftheclosetwascreated. Thistaskconsistedofseveralsubtasks,whichincluded:loaninganitem, browsingthroughloaneditems,retrievingitems,andbrowsingthrough borroweditems. Thesmartclosetresearchisbeingdoneinconjunction withDr.HansGellersonoftheUniversityofLancasterandDr.John ZimmermanofCarnegieMellonUniversity. Futureresearchwillconsistof realworldimplementationsusingthesmartclosetinadditiontofurther iterationsofthedesign.

PRIVACY AND SECURITY IN SOCIAL MEDIA

Insoftwareengineering,theneedtoconstantlyrewritethesame components forsimilarprojectscanleadtoalossinproductivity.Projectsthatproduce andconsumereusablesoftwarecomponentsarethereforepotentiallymore efficient,thoughreusablesoftwaretendstobemoredifficulttodesignand build.Additionally,theresultingproducttendstobemorecomplex.

Theoverallobjectiveofthisprojectistoexploretheimplicationsof designingsoftwaretomakeitmorereusable. Themethodwillbeacasestudy approachusinganexisting,on-goingopensourceprojectbeingworkedonby Drexelstudents. Thecasestudywillexamineandanalyzethedesignchanges andcomplexityadditioncreatedingeneralizingproductfeaturestoincrease reusepotential.

ThecasestudysoftwareproductisapackagetosupportbuildingWeb repositoriesofeducationalmaterials. Thisworkisbeingdoneaspartofa largerNSFNationalScienceDigitalLibraryprojectrelatedtocomputing education. Initialtasksforthisprojecthaveincludedlearningaboutthecase studyproductandworkdonethusfartobuildaninitialversion,andliterature reviewofpriorworkindesigningsoftwareforreuse.

Preliminaryresultsindicatethatsubstantialdesignrevisionandadditional complexityarerequiredtoprovidegeneralityintheproduct. Effortsthusfar havefocusedondatabaseanduserinterfacechanges. Inbothareas, generalityrequiressignificantchange. Forexample,additionofaparentchild tablecanintegrateflatinformationstructuresintoinformationalhierarchies.

Benjamin Kos Software Engineering

Dr. Gregory Hislop iSchool

Mathilde Berger Business & Engineering

COST AND POLICY ISSUES OF ACTIVE SPACE DEBRIS REMOVAL TECHNOLOGY

Dr. Neil Desnoyers Decision Sciences

Inthepast20years,therehasbeenanincreasingfocusontheproblemof spacedebrispollutingEarth’sorbits.Withmorethan520,000ofthese defunctsatellites,rocketbodies,andotherpiecesofspacerefusefloatingin LowEarthOrbit(LEO),spacecraftarebeingdamagedandexpertswarnthat acascadingeffectmayrenderorbitsunusablefordecades.Inturn,the internationalspacecommunityhasrespondedwithmitigationguidelines andproposalsforactivespacedebrisremovalsolutions.However,legal, political,technical,andeconomicchallengesarenowimpedingprogress towardsthegoalofadebris-freeLEO.Theobjectivesofthisresearchareto identifytherelatedlegalandpolicyconstraints,formulatepotentiallegal andpolicysolutions,andfinallyprovidecostestimatesand recommendationsforimplementingoneparticulardebrisremovaldevice. Byreviewingscholarlyjournalarticles,primarylegaldocuments,andother worksweareabletodevelopourownconclusionsandrecommendations ontheseobjectives.Basedontheseanalyses,weconcludethattheUnited Nationsandotherinternationalagenciesmustgeneratenewlegislationand agreementsinordertoovercomethelegalandpoliticalchallengesfacing orbitaldebrisremoval.Also,wefindthatInSituLow-EarthOrbitPlasmaisa technicallyfeasibleandaffordablespacedebrisremovaloption.Withthe useoftheselegal,policy,andtechnicalsolutions,Earth’sorbitsmayonce againbecleanandsafeforfutureuseandexploration.

HERAKLES

ThepurposeoftheHeraklesProjecthasbeentoexamineandgaingreater understandingofthemanyliteraryadaptationsofHeraklesthroughout ancientGreekandRomanhistory. Thishasbeendonethroughan analysisofseveral primarysourcesinEnglishandGreek,including Sophocles’WomenofTrachis,Euripides’Herakles,andApollonius Rhodius’Argonautika. Galinsky’sTheHeraklesTheme,asecondary source,wasalsostudied. Thisphaseoftheprojectshowedawiderange ofpersonalitiesandvalues,rangingfromHeraklesasatragicherotoa heroonthecomicstage. TheHeraklesthemeoftheancientworldwas thencomparedtoacontemporaryadaptationofthemythologicalheroin themovieLesTravauxD’Hercule(1958). Thismodernadaptationof Heraklesasapowerfulandbeneficentwarriorherocontainsmanydirect correlationstoancientportrayalsofthemightyheroandhighlightsthe cultureandvaluesofthemidtwentiethcentury. Furtherresearchwill focusontheHeraklesthemeinItaliancinemaofthelatertwentieth century,aswellasonscholarlyworkexaminingthesignificanceof Heraklesinancienttimes.

Dawn Armentani Business Administration

Dr. Eva Thury English & Philosophy

Administration

RESEARCH IN CORPORATE DISCLOSURE PRACTICES

Earle Mack School of Law

Formyproject,Iwasaskedtocomparetheactionsofseveralcompanies overthepastdecadewhichhavebeenreprimandedforactionstakenthat thepublic,specificallyinvestors,wereunawareof. Thecompanies, specificallytopexecutives,wereinvolvedinmanyunderhandedbusiness activities.Theseactivitieswereusedtoprojectamorepositiveoutlookof thecompanytohidetheinternalturmoilthatwasobviouswithinthe companies. Bycomparingnewsarticlesandcompanydocumentstofacts broughtoutinvariouscourtcasesandcomplaints,Iwasabletoseehow thesecompaniesandexecutivescontinuouslyliedandmisrepresentedtheir companies’financialstatus. WhileIfocusedononecompanyinparticular (QwestCommunications),eachcompanyIresearchedengagedinbusiness practiceswhichalteredtheimageofthecompany. Despiteprojectinga positiveimageforthecompany,eachenterpriseeventuallyfalteredina seriousmanner,whethertheresultwasbankruptcyorseverepenalties. Thelackoftransparencyofeachcompanyresultedinnumerousinvestors losingmillionsofdollarsbecausetheyweresimplyunawareofthetrue problemsofthecompanies. Understandingtheseresultsisimportant becauseanyinvestorisalwaysconcernedaboutthetruthfulnessabouta company’spublicstatementssothattheyfeelconfidentintheir investments.

Brandon Cohen

Business

Dean Roger Dennis

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER OFFICES IN THE GREATER PHILADELPHIA REGION

Thepurposeofthisprojectistoidentifythefactorsthatinfluencethe performanceoftheofficesoftechnologycommercialization.Thecase studiesofthetechnologytransferoffices(TTO)inthegreater Philadelphiaareaweredocumented.Informationhasbeencollected througharchivalsourcesandthroughsemi-structuredinterviewsusinga questionnairedevelopedforthispurpose.Bycomparingthestructureand theprocessesoftheseoffices,Iintendtocreateinsightintothe functioningoftheTTOsandbenchmarksomeofthebestpracticesin universitytechnologycommercialization.

Louis Luong Business Administration

Vadake Narayanan Finance

Dr.

Mir Business Administration

MIS JOBS / SMARTPHONE PROTECTION & HACKING

Study1:ExplorationofMISjobmarketwithemphasisonskillsets

TypeofResearch:Qualitative

Methodology:TextAnalysisthroughtextmining

Description:Inthisstudy,datawasextractedfromManagement InformationSystems(MIS)relatedjobadvertisementsinCareerBuilders. Theseadvertisementswerecodedandanalyzedusingco-occurrenceand similaritymatricestoidentifyrelationshipsamongtheskillsets,educational background,experienceandknowledgerequiredforthevariouspositions.

ThiswasachievedusingQDAMiner,atextminingtool.

Outcome:DocumentonMIScareersforLeBowAdvisingCenterandforall businessstudents.

Dr. Murugan Anandarajan Management

Study2:Exploringfactorswhichmotivatesmartphoneusersfrom protectingthemselvesfrompotentialhacking.

TypeofResearch:Quantitative

Methodology:Survey

Description:ThetheoreticalbasisofthisstudytheProtectionMotivation Theory,whichstatesthatpeople’sintentiontoprotectthemselvesisbased onperceivedthreatandcoping.Asurveywasdevelopedtocapturepeople’s perceptionsaboutthisphenomenon.Thedatafromthesurveywillbe analyzedusingregressionandconclusionswillbederived.

Outcome:LeadingtoPotentialalargerstudy.

Farjad

FUNDING OF NONPROFITS IN NATURAL DISASTERS

Althoughdonationsarecrucialtoassistnonprofitsinsupportingthe victimsofnaturaldisasters,littleisknownabouthowthesedonationsare madeandhowtheyaffectpeople’snormaldonationbehavior.This researchprojectthereforeexploreshowtheoccurrenceofnatural disasters,andspecificallythe2005SouthPacificTsunami,affects philanthropicbehavior.Usingsurveydataonapproximately8,000 households,weexploredhowdonationsaremadetodisasterrelief,what factorscontributedtohowmuchafamilygavetothetsunami,and whetherdisastergivingreducestheamountgiventoothercharities. UsingthestatisticalanalyzingprogramSTATA,wewereabletotakeout anymisrepresentedstatisticsto“clean”thedata.Followingthis,wewere abletousetheprogramtoexploreseveralrelationshipsbetweendisaster giving,normalgiving,andwhatdemographicfeaturesaffectthem. Throughthisanalysiswewereabletodiscoverseveralsignificant relationships,someofwhichcanbefoundthroughgraphical representationontheposterbeingpresented.Withknowledgeofthese typesofgivingpatterns,peoplewillbeabletojudgehowtheycangive moreeffectively,governmentswillbeabletoallocateresourcesmore effectivelybyputtingthemtowardsareasthatreceivelessgiving,and nonprofitswillbeabletounderstandwheretheirdonationsarecoming fromandthegroupsofpeoplethataremorelikelytodonate.Italsopaves theroadforfutureresearchwheregivingpatternsforthesamefamilies canbeanalyzedacrossdifferentyears.

John Nabial Business Administration

Dr. Teresa Harrison Economics

Tanmai Rayavarapu Business Administration

WHAT IS THE SOURCE OF ANALYST VALUE?

Thepurposeofthisprojectistofindthesourceofanalystvalue.Weknow thatsell-sideanalystsgeneratevaluebutwhatcausesananalysttomake theserevisions?Ourhypothesisandourprimarycontributionwillbeto documentthatanalystsgeneratenewinformationaboutthefirmsthey cover,andthatthisnewinformationisthemaindriverbehindthevalue generatedbytheirreports.

Dr. Naveen Daniel Finance

AfterthepassageoftheRegulationFairDisclosure(RegFDinshort)in October2000,whichbarredfirmsfromselectivedisclosuretofavored analysts,shareholdersetc,weidentifiedthatnewinformationwouldbe particularlyimportant.Thereforeweplannedtodownloadreportsfrom Investextfromtheyears1999and2003fromthesameanalystsof randomlyselectedfirms.Wehopetoidentifythejustificationforan analyst’schanges.Wethencategorizethemotivesbehindthegenerationof anewreport.

Thisisstillanongoingstudysomuchmoredataislefttoaccumulate beforeresultsareshownhoweverwiththedatacomingin,ourresultsand findingsshouldlinktheabnormalreturnstotheamountofnewinformation thatisthere.

Overall,wewanttoseeifanalystsactuallydobringnewinformation. Doesstockpriceatanytimeactuallyreflectinformationgiven?Does informationdrivestockprices?Ineffect,wewanthopetoseethatanalysts doaddvalue.

CEO OVERCONFIDENCE

ACEO'sconfidenceinhiscompanycanbeanimportantindicatorofthe firm'soverallhealthandperformance.CEOsofwellperforming companiesareportrayedasconfidentandcharismatic.However, sometimesacompany'sleadercanbeover-confident,andoverstatethe performanceorfutureprospectofhisorherorganizationleadingto unintendedconsequences.Thisstudyattemptstoinvestigatetheeffectsof CEOoverconfidenceonafirm'sperformancethroughanarchival approach.Anonlinenewsdatabasewasusedtogathersecondarydata whichisthenanalyzedtocollectdataaboutCEOs,theirconfidencelevels, andtheperformanceoftheirfirms.Atthispoint,nodefinitiveconclusions canbedrawnfromthedatacollected,buttheresultsofthisstudywill proveimportanttounderstandingtherelationshipbetweenthepersonal traitsofCEOsandtheperformanceoftheirfirms,andtheabilityto estimatehowvarioustypesofCEOswillrespondorperformindifferent circumstances.

Peter Yocum Business Administration

Finance

Dr. Hiu Lam (Helen) Choy

Tian Zou Business Administration

EXPLORING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN STATE LAWS AND DATA BREACH INCIDENTS

Thisprojectaimsatexploringtherelationshipbetweenthestringencyof statelawsandthefrequencyofdatabreachincidents.Iworkoncollecting, analyzingandinterpretingdatabreachesincidents,whichisalsoknownas identitytheft,includinghacking,virus,stealing,accidentallossand malicioususeorsellsecurityinformation.Thisissuerecentlyhasbecomea globalproblemandimposeshugethreatstothestabilityofoursociety.

First,Irankstatelawsbythelevelofstringency. Doesthestatelaw requireinformingpotentialvictims,anddoestheletterincludedifferent variablessuchassummaryoftheincident,company’sapology,contact informationandfeepayabletocreditmonitorservices.

Dr. Murugan Anandarajan Management

Second,IcreateadatabaseofdatabreachincidentsinUSfrom2004to date.Thedatabasecontainsover3200incidentsandorganizesthemby using25variables,suchastypeoffirm,typeofbreach,numberofaffected people,natureofthebreach,location,etc.

Third,Iidentifyandcodenotificationlettersthatsenttoconsumers whosepersonalinformationwasstolentoseedidcompaniesineachstate strictlyfollowthestatelaws.

Fourth,with34variables,Itrackfluctuationofbreachedorganizations’ stockpricestoseetheimpactofdatabreachincidentonstockperformance. Icombinethefirst3partsofthisprojectandconductexploratorydata analysis.Furthermore,Iuseregressionmodeltoidentifycriminalpatterns andimpactonstockpricefluctuation.

R&D POLICIES FOR SMES:A CROSS-COUNTRY ANALYSIS

Givenitsoverarchingreach,andprovidedwiththerightstimulus,small andmedium-sizedenterprises(SMEs)couldprovideaveryvaluable socialbenefit.IntheEuropeanUnion,SMEsareseenasthedriversfor economicrecoveryandgrowth.Thesystemicdeficiencieswithsmall firmssuchasunavailabilityofeasycredit,paucityofinfrastructureand susceptibilitytolosseshavepromptedgovernmentstodevotespecial policiestoSMEs.IcomparedtheapproachesoftheUnitedStatesandthe EUinaidingsmallenterprisesandtheimpetusgiventothedevelopment ofR&D.Istudiedthemostefficientmethodsofeffusingthesubsidiesto smallfirmsandtheindirecteffectsthattheaforementionedsubsidies haveonthemarket.Sincethetargetaudienceforsuchpoliciesnumberis inthetensofmillions,thereisanelementofpopulisminvolvedwiththe governments.Inthispositiveanalysis,usingmyfindings,Ihaveevaluated themeritsanddemeritsofsubsidizingSMEs.

Ananth Bevinahally Economics

Dr. Christopher Laincz Economics

Melanie Jeske Economics & Environmental Studies

Dr. Walter F. Bien Biology

NJ

PINE BARRENS ECOLOGY: EDUCATION AND INFORMATIONAL WEBSITE FOR CONSERVATION EFFORTS AT THE AIR NATIONAL GUARD WARREN GROVE RANGE

TheDepartmentofDefense(DOD)underTheSikesActof1960 (amended 2009)isrequiredtoimplementconservationandrehabilitationprograms onfederallands.IncooperationwiththeDepartmentoftheInterior,USFish andWildlifeServices,andstateagencies,eachmilitarybaseisrequiredto developanIntegratedNaturalResourcesManagementPlan(INRMP),which guidesenvironmentalstewardshipandbiodiversityconservation. Drexel University,LaboratoryofPinelandsResearch(LPR),forthepasttwelve yearshasconductedbiodiversityconservationandmitigationprojectsat theWarrenGroveRangeinsupportoftheWarrenGroveRangeINRMP.

OwnedandoperatedbytheNewJerseyAirNationalGuard177thFighter Wing,theWarrenGroveRangeisanair-to-groundgunneryrangelocatedin theNewJerseyPinelands.Tosatisfyseveraltaskordersoutlinedinthe INRMP,we(LPR)aredevelopinganinformationalwebsitethatwill promotegreaterawarenessofthevaluethattheWarrenGroveRange bringstothepublicandlocalcommunity.Thewebsitewillinclude informationonthemilitarymissionatWGR,Pinelandsecosystem,fire management,communityoutreach,DrexelUniversityresearchprojects, environmentalstewardship,andeducationalresources. Muchofthe informationonthewebsitewillbebasedonscientificdataandresearch conductedbyLPR,whileliteratureandinternetsourceswillalsobeusedfor educationalpurposes. TheNewJerseyPinelandsishometomany threatened,endangered,andat-riskspecies,furtherhighlightingthe importanceofbiodiversityconservationtotheregion. Thecreationofan educationalwebsitefocusedonnativespecies,biodiversityconservation, andothernaturalresourceswillhelptofurthereducatethepublicand promotegreatercommunityawarenessontheimportanceofenvironmental stewardshipandthemilitarymissionatWarrenGroveRange.

SMARTPHONE MARKETING

WechosetostudythedifferencesbetweenAppleiPhoneusersand Androidphoneusers.Thedifferencesrangedfromneedsandwantsina phonetopersonalitytraitsthatprovethattwodifferentmarketing strategiescanbeused.Wefirstfoundinformationthathadalreadybeen collectedaboutthedifferencesbetweenthetwophoneusersincluding personalitytypesandpreviousmarketingcampaigns.Followingthatwe createdasurveyandfounddataoneachusersfavoritefeature,mostused featureandtheiroverallcommentsonthephone.Fromthiswedeveloped auserprofileincludingthatiPhoneusersvaluephonedesignwhen pickingtheirphone,perceivethemselvesascreative,andarepretentious inneedingaelitephone.Androidphoneuserstendtobemorefunctionbased;theylovethebasicsofbeingabletotext,usethephone,andhaving easyaccesstoallofthefeatures.Thisdataisextremelyimportantin developingamarketingstrategybecauseitbecomesobviouswhat featurestohighlightwhenadvertisingthephone.Forexample,ifiPhone weretoattempttotakesomeofAndroid’smarketshare,theywouldjust wanttohighlightfeaturesthatattracttheAndroid’suser’sprofile. Other informationfoundshowsAndroidusers’lackofinterestinusingtheir phoneasanMP3playerwhichwithfurtherresearchcouldshowthatit stemsfromApple’slargemarketshareononlinemusicandAndroid’slack oflongbatterylife.Theprofilesofeachphoneusercouldbeusedin marketingcampaignsworldwide.

Robyn Freedman Finance

Dr. Hyokjin Kwak Marketing

Meg Miller Marketing

PREVENTING CHILDHOOD OBESITY

Hai Duong Nursing

Dr. Renee Turchi School of Public Health Community Health & Prevention

Manypatientsfacethechallengeofbeingoverwhelmedwithinformation whilefeelingpowerlessastogoabouttheirnewfoundsituation.Theyknow whattodo;thenextstepishowtodoit.Itisnolongerbreakingnewsthat obesityisahugeproblemintheUnitedStatesandmoresoinchildren.Its prevalenceremainsinfamilieswithlowincomes.Withresourcesalready establishedinthecommunity,thetaskbecomestoconnectthesefamilies. Bychartingthecommunity,validatingresources,anddevelopinganonline database,informationcanbegatheredtobedeliveredtoinformedpatients readytotakeaction.Patientswillbecomemoreesteemedtoadoptmore nutritiousdietsandworktowardsmoreactivelifestyles.Aftersettingfoot outintothecommunity,theonlinedatabasewillbemoreoccupiedwith resourcesreadyforinquisitorstoutilizeandbecomeatoolusedby caregivers,patients,andthegeneralpublicaliketobemoreawareofthe resourcesalreadypresentinourneighborhoods.

THORAX GEOMETRY QUANTIFICATION OF PEDIATRIC ANIMAL MODELS

Currently,animalmodelsareusedtoreplicatescoliosisin-vivoinorderto studyprogressionofspinedeformitiesandtheeffectofcorrectivesurgical procedures.Oneofthelimitationsofusingquadrupedanimalmodelsis theirabilitytoaccuratelyrepresentthescolioticspineandassociated thoraxdeformitiesoccurringinbipedalhumans.Verylimitedinformation isavailableonthegeometriccharacteristicsofthespineandthoraxfor thevariousanimalmodelsusedinscoliosisresearch.Thisdearthof knowledgeisevenmoreinthepediatricliterature.Ourresearchaimsto studythegeometriccharacteristicsofthespineandthoraciccageof variousageandsizematchedpediatricanimalmodelswithhumans.Inaddition, biomechanicalexperimentswillalsobeperformedtoevaluatethe effectofabnormalspinecurvatureonthecomplianceofthepediatric thorax.FromanimalCTscansthethoracicgeometryofeachanimalwill be analyzedandanappropriateanimalmodelforthehumanpediatric thoraciccagewillbecreated.

Dr. Sriram Balasubramanian School of Biomedical Engineering, Science, & Health Systems

Rohan S. Agarwal Biomedical

Dr. Yinghui Zhong School of Biomedical Engineering, Science, & Health Systems

HYDROGELS IN REGENERATIVE MEDICINE

Hydrogelsarenetworksofpolymerchainsthatarewater-insoluble,usually foundasacolloidalgelinwhichwateristhedispersionmedium.The naturalqualitiesofhydrogelsgiveitadegreeofflexibilitysimilartonatural tissueduetoitsstructureandsignificantwatercontent.Duetotheirunique biocompatibility,flexiblemethodsofsynthesis,rangeofconstituents,and desirablephysicalcharacteristics,havebeenthematerialofchoiceformany applicationsinregenerativemedicine.Theycanserveasscaffoldsthat providestructuralintegritytotissueconstructs,controldrugandprotein deliverytotissuesandcultures,andserveasadhesivesorbarriersbetween tissueandmaterialsurfaces.Inourproject,thepropertiesofhydrogels, whichareimportantfortissueengineeringapplicationsandtheinherent materialdesignconstraintsandchallenges,hadtobeconsidered.

Forourexperiment,wefocusedonthedrugreleaseofalginategels. Alginategelshavealsobeenusedindrugdeliveryapplications.Toreduce thediffusionofhydrophilicdrugsthroughalginategels,drugscanbe trappedinthepolymerthroughioniccomplexation.Alginategelshavealso beenusedtoencapsulatecellsforcartilagerepairandsolutionsof chondrocytesandalginatehavebeeninjectionmoldedintoanatomically shapedimplants,haveusedalginategelstocultureexplantsofperiosteum forcartilagetissueengineering,Alginatehasfurtherbeenutilizedin surgicaldressings,andevenforsuppressingtheabsorptionofradioactive strontiuminthebody.

Wayne Cheng

Biomedical Engineering

METAGENOMIC COMPARISON OF DIFFERENT ECOSYSTEMS

ThisprojectusesthefastUniFracmetricofcomparingandcontrasting differentenvironmentsbasedonthevaryingrichnessandabundanceof microbialcommunitiespresent.Suchanalysissimultaneouslyusesgenetic and/oraminoacidsequencesfromallspeciespresentwithinasample andisthereforecalled“metagenomic.”Microbialsamplescontaining bacteria,archaea,andfungiarecollectedfromseveraldifferent environments,fromfarmsoiltounderwaterseavents.Specificnucleic acidscodingforaproteinandspecificaminoacidscomprisingaprotein aresequenced.UsingtheNaïveBayesClassifier,thesesequencesare comparedandcontrastedtouncoverdetailsabouttheenvironmentsfrom whichtheirsamplesoriginated.Thegoalofthisprojectistoshedlighton thehowcertainecosystemshavedevelopedandchangedovertime.Itwill alsorevealwhichenvironmentsaresurprisinglymostsimilartoor differentfromeachother.

Jacob Allen Clouse Biomedical Engineering

Dr. Gail L. Rosen Electrical & Computer Engineering

Jacqueline Gerhart Biomedical Engineering

Dr. Ahmet Sacan School of Biomedical Engineering, Sciences, & Health Systems

Withinthepastdecade,advancesintechnologyhavedrasticallychangedthe fieldsofbiologyandmedicine. Theavailabilityofhigh-throughput experimentalbiologicaldatahascreatedchallengesinstorageandanalysis ofthisdata. Withmultipledatasourcesandinstitutionalproviders,it becomesimpracticaltomakeuseoftheavailabledatainanintegrated workflow. TheBioDBprojectseekstoprovideasolutionbyincorporating genomicandproteomicdatabasesintoasingleprogramminglibrary,one thatwillprovideacleaninterfacethatallowsuserstoquerythedatafora specificgeneID,sequence,orpathway. AnObjectRelationalMapping approachisusedtorepresentvariousbiologicaldatatablesas programmableobjects.Variousbiologicalentitiesaretransparentlylinked usingpublicgenemappingtools,suchasNCBI,EBI,andAmiGO.Alocal databasesystemiscreatedandpopulatedonanas-neededbasistoprovide acachingmechanism.BioDBwillbeusedtoperformanintegratedanalysis ofmicroarraydatasets,wheregeneswillbemappedtotheirbiological pathwaysusingtheKEGGPathwayDatabase.Theresultisafast,simpletool thatcombinesallbiologicaldatafromavarietyofsourcesintoasingle platform. BioDBisexpectedtobecomean“enabler”inmanybiologicaland medicalapplications.Thetransparentaccessandmodelingofthebiological entitiesitprovideswillhelpanswermanyquestionswhoseintegrated investigationwashithertoimpractical.Acasestudyinvestigationof microarraydatabasescouldpotentiallyhelpdiscovernewgenesandtheir pathwaysinvolvedincancerandmetastasis.

GLYCATED COLLAGEN INHIBITS ENDOTHELIAL CELL RESPONSE TO SUBSTRATE STIFFNESS

Endothelialcells(EC)comprisethesinglecellbarrierthatlinesallblood vessel.Thesecellsareresponsibleforcontrollingpermeability, inflammation,andwoundhealing.ECadhesiontothesubstratedepends oncell-extracellularmatrix(ECM)interactionsaswellassubstrate stiffness.Assubstratestiffnessincreases, ECdevelopamorespread morphology. Indiabeticpatients,hyperglycemiainducesECMglycation whichstiffensthematrixandaffectscell-ECMadhesion.Wehypothesized thatECMglycationwouldaltercellresponsetosubstratesofdifferent stiffness.Endothelialcellswereseededontopolyacrylamide(PA)gels withvaryingshearmodulus(0.3kPa,5kPa,10kPa,30kPa).Thegelswere coatedwitheithernative(NC)orglycated(GC)Type1collagen.After 24hours,cellswerelabeledforactinandnucleiandimagedusing fluorescentmicroscopy.Cellareaandaspectratiowerethenquantified usingImageJ.CellareaonbothGCandNCincreasedsubstratestiffness. However, from0.3kPato30kPagels,cellsongelscoatedwithNC increasedinareaby336%,whileonGCcellareaonlyincreasedby220%. CellaspectratioonNCalsoincreasedwithgelstiffness,howevercellson GCdidnotfollowthistrend.Thisstudyprovidesfurtherunderstandingof howdiabeticconditionsaltercellresponsetosubstratemechanics.

Claudia Gutierrez Biomedical Engineering

Dr. Alisa Morss Clyne Mechanical Engineering & Mechanics

School of Biomedical Engineering, Science, & Health Systems

QUANTIFICATION OF THE THREE-DIMENSIONAL STRUCTURAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE NORMAL AND SCOLIOTIC SPINE AND THORACIC CAGE FOR PEDIATRIC SUBJECTS

Hasan Biomedical Engineering

Dr. Sriram Balasubramanian

School of Biomedical Engineering, Sciences, & Health Systems

IdiopathicScoliosisisadiseasethataffectsmanychildrenduringtheir developmentalandgrowthyears.Becauseofdeformationofthespine thethoraciccagedeformsaswell,whichcompromisesthefunctionof internalorgans,leadingtosignificanthealthproblems.Currently,no dataexistsondetailedquantifiedthoracoanatomyofthenormaland scolioticpediatricthorax.Throughthisstudy,datafromnormaland scolioticpediatricpatientsisobtainedfromtheChildren’sHospitalof Philadelphiaandquantifiedforvariousparametersrelatedtospine andribgrowth.Dataobtainedfromthecurrentstudywouldprovide quantitativeexplanationofpreviouslyreportedribasymmetry differencesinscolioticthorax,providegeometricalandstructural detailsnecessaryforthedevelopmentofpediatriccomputational models,andhelpcliniciansgaininsightintoscoliosis.

Muzammil

GLYCOPROTEOMIC BIOMARKERS FOR THE EARLY DETECTION OF LIVER CANCER IN THE AFP- SUBPOPULATION

Hepatocellularcarcinoma(HCC),aprimarycanceroftheliver,isoneof themostcommoncancersintheworld.IncertainAsianandAfrican countries,HCCduetoinfectionwiththeHepatitis-BVirus(HBV)isthe mostcommoncancer,andoneofthemostdeadly,witha5-yearsurvival rateoflessthan13%.Infact,oncethepatientstartstoshowsymptoms andisdiagnosed,theaveragesurvivaltimeisonly3to6months.The biomarkercurrentlyusedtodiagnoseHCCisAlpha-Fetoprotein(AFP). Duetoit’slessthanadequatesensitivity,however,manyindividualsgo undiagnosed.Thepurposeofthisstudyistoidentifypotential biomarkersthatmaybeusedinconjunctionwithAFPinordertoincrease thepercentageofpeoplewithHCCthatcanbediagnosedandtreated yearsbeforethecancerstartsshowingsymptoms,apointatwhich recoveryisextremelyunlikely.Inordertofindabiomarkerthatwill identifythoseindividualsthatAFPmisses,aspecificsamplesetwillbe usedofindividualswithHCCthathadlowlevelsofAFP.Ifasuccessful biomarkerforthisgroupcouldbeidentified,thensensitivityand specificityofa combinedscreen(withAFP)wouldimprove.This investigationwillbeperformedusingHighPerformanceLiquid Chromatography(HPLC)toidentifythesugarcomponentsofserum glycoproteins.Then,theproteinanaloguewillbeidentifiedusingmass spectroscopyandlectinpulls. Lastly,ahigh-throughputscreeningassay willbedevelopedtoallowforthevalidationofthebiomarkercandidates.

Alexander Koszycki Biomedical Engineering

Dr. Anand Mehta College of Medicine Microbiology & Immunology

Dr. Matthew Maltese CHOP Anesthesiology & Critical Care Medicine

CHEST STIFFNESS IN PORCINE MODEL

Dr. Sriram Balasubramanian

School of Biomedical Engineering, Sciences, & Health Systems

Cardiopulmonaryresuscitation(CPR)isanemergencyprocedurethat isperformedtoperfusethebrainandheartviaexternalchest compressionsandreturnnormalheartfunctionviadefibrillation.The stiffnessofthechestchangesandcanresultinavariedamountof forcetoreachtherequireddepthduringcompressions.Thepurpose ofthisstudywastoanalyzehowcheststiffnesschangesduringthe resuscitationeventandhowthischangeaffectscompressiondepth, bloodpressure,andreturnofspontaneouscirculation.Ventricular fibrillationwasinducedelectricallyorthroughasphyxiationandwent untreatedforsevenminutesbeforeCPRwasattemptedtorestore circulation. Chestcompressionandpressuredatawerecollected throughthedefibrillatorandPowerLabcomputerprogram.Datawas thenimportedintoMatLabforanalysis.Throughanalyzingthedata graphswereproducedwhichshowedcompressiondepthand pressureplottedtogether.Astimeincreased,thecompressiondepth increasedslightlyandthiscanbeattributedtoachangeinchest stiffnessovertime.Itbecameeasiertocompresstheheartandasa resultbloodpressuresincreasedaswell.Throughfurtherdata analysisonotherswinemodelsandamorecompleteanalysisofthedata, otherconclusionswillbedrawnregardingthespecificcheststiffness andhowmuchitchangedovertime.

Nathan Lear Biomedical Engineering

THE ALL POWERFUL HURRICANE

Theobjectiveofthisresearchprojectistoobservetheeffectofwarm wateronhurricanedevelopment.Itwillbeinterestingtounderstandhow changingwatertemperaturewouldaffectthehurricaneintensityandthe numberofhurricanethatoccursinayear.Historichurricanedatais collectedfromtheNASAEarthobservatorywebsiteandmodeledwith experimentaldata.Thedatawillshowtheintensityandnumberof hurricanesoverseveralyearsinresponsetoaverageglobaltemperature duringeachhurricaneseason.Therearemanyinstancesinthepast decadethatthehurricanestartedsmallbutduetothewarmwater,it becamestronger.Forexample,HurricaneKatrinastaredoutasacategory 1hurricanebutitbecameacategory5afteritabsorbsthewarmocean water.HurricaneKatrinaalonetook1,300livesandcausingover100 billiondollar'sworthofdamage.Hurricaneonlyhappenduringthe hurricaneseasonandtheAtlantichurricaneseasonbeginsatJune1st andendatNovember30th.Withboththeexperimentaldataandthedata fromtheNASAEarthobservatorywebsite,therelationshipbetweenthe hurricaneandthetemperaturewillbeapparent.Futurestudiescanfocus moreonbuildingstrongerhousethatcanwithstandstronghurricaneand findingwaystostoptheearthfromwarmingupthewaterandpreventing thehurricanefrombecomingstrongerthanitalreadyis.

Phuong Nguyen

Biomedical Engineering

Dr. James R. Spotila Biology

Erin O’Brien Biomedical Engineering

SURFACE MODIFICATION OF PMMA FOR QLIDA ASSAY

Dr. Elisabeth Papazoglou

School of Biomedical Engineering, Sciences, & Health Systems

Theoriginalgoalofthisprojectwastoidentifyasubstancethatwould modifythesurfaceofaPMMAcapillary,inordertofunctionalizeitfor aQLIDAassay,moreeffectivelythansodiumhydroxide.Sulfuricacid wastestedasapossiblealternative,andthesignalstrengthofthose capillarieswerecomparedtothoseofsodiumhydroxide-modifiedcapillaries.However,theresultsofthesetestsindicatedthatneitherof thesecompoundswassignificantlyimprovingtheresultsoftheassay. Thisrealizationledtoaseparateexperiment,inwhichthePMMA capillarieswewerecurrentlyusingwerecomparedtotheold capillaries.Afterperformingthesameassayineachtype,wefoundthat thenewshipmentwasindeedoflowerqualitythantheold shipment.ThismeantthatthenewshipmentwasunusablefortheQLIDA assay.

RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN THE ROOTS OF POLYNOMIALS AND THE ROOTS OF THEIR DERIVATIVES

Findingtherootsofapolynomialfunctionisafundamentalproblemin mathematics.Peoplearemostaccustomedtofindingrootsbysettingthe polynomialfunction,f(x),equaltozero,andsolvingforx.Newton’smethod,however,statesthattherootofapolynomialisatafixedpointwhere g(x)=xwhereg(x)=x-(f(x)/f’(x)).Apointneartherootisestimated,and pluggedintothisequation;theresultisthenpluggedbackintothesame equation,andtheprocessisrepeateduntil(f(x)/f’(x))isalmost0,indicatingthatthereisafixedpoint/root.

Thisprojectexplorestherelationshipbetweentherootsofa polynomialandtherootsofitsderivatives.Oneaspectofthese relationshipsisdescribedbytheGauss-Lucastheorem(GLT).TheGLTstates thattherootsofthederivativeofafunction,P’,liewithinthe convex hulloftherootsoftheoriginalfunction,P.Toprovethistheorem,one showsthattherootsofP’arefixedpointsthefollowingfunction related totheGLT,g(z)=i/(abs(z-i))2)/(1/(abs(z-i))2).Astartingpoint,sufficientlyclosetotherootofP’,waschosenaszintheGLT,andthesame iterativeprocessasmentionedinNewton’smethodwasperformed.The desiredresult,wouldhavebeenhavingthepointsapproachingtheroot ofP’.However,aftertestingseveralpolynomials,mostcommonlythe pointsintheGLTmarchedintowardstherootofthederivative,andthen outtowardsoneoftherootsoftheoriginalpolynomial.Variousnumerical experimentshavebeenperformedtoseeifthisinformationcanbeused tocomputetherootsofthederivativepolynomial.

Neharika Ramani Biomedical Engineering

Dr. Ronald Perline Mathematics

OBJECTS OF DAILY LIVING IN CARDIOPULMONARY RESUSCITATION

Cardiopulmonaryresuscitation(CPR)isanemergencymedical procedurethatrestoresbreathingandanormalheartrhythmtothose thatexperiencecardiacarrestfollowingaccidents,injuries,cardiac arrest,stroke,andairwayobstruction.WhileCPRisavitalbasiclife skill,oftentimes,bystandersarereluctanttoprovidequalityCPRdue tolackoftraininganddecreasedretentionofpreviouslyacquiredCPR skills(Sworatel.2008).ThequalityofCPRcanbeimprovedby providinglaypersonswithaninexpensiveandaccessibleoptionto practiceskillssubsequenttotakingacourse.Theobjectiveofthis studyistocompareappliedforceandresultingdeformationof compressionsconductedondailyobjectsoflivingwiththethoracic forceanddeflectiondatafromchestcompressioncyclesconductedon varyingagegroupsofpatients.PhillipMRXwithQCPRdefibrillator

(PhillipsElectronicsN.V)wasusedtocollectforceandchest deformationdataoncompressionsdoneonthevarioushousehold objects.Objectsincludedafootball,soccerball,poolnoodle,Nerf football,toiletpaper,sodabottle,andalifejacket.Thisdatawas appliedtoaparallelspringforcedampermodelinMATLAB(The MathWorks,Inc.)toobtainthemeanelasticforceatvaryingdepths andthestiffnesscoefficientsoftheobjects.Theelasticforceand displacementrelationshipswerethencomparedtothatfordifferent agegroupsofhumans(Malteseatel.2008).Itwasfoundthattoilet paperrollheldsimilarelasticforceanddisplacementpropertiesto thatofthe8-22yearoldsandthatalifejacketheldsimilarproperties thatofthe6-year-oldgroup.Theseobjectsthatholdforceand deflectionpropertiesakintothoseofthehumanchestforthedifferent agegroupswillallowforaneconomicalandaccessiblemethodto furtherpracticeofCPRskillswithouttheneedofstandardized training.Inthefuture,studiescanbeconductedtodeterminethe effectivenessofusingobjectsofdailylivingtoimprovethequalityof CPRandretentionofskills.

Sona Rathod Biomedical Engineering

Dr. Matthew Maltese CHOP Anesthesiology & Critical Care Medicine

Dr. Sriram Balasubramanian School of Biomedical Engineering, Sciences, & Health Systems

THE RELEASE OF CHYMOTRYPSIN THROUGH HYDROGEL

Spinalcordinjuryisoneofthemostprevalentproblemsintoday’s society.Theoverallobjectiveofthisprojectwastousebiomedical engineeringprinciplestocreateadeliverysystemfortheregenerationof spinalcordtissue.Ourdeliverysystemswerecomprisedofanalginategel whichwasusedtoreleasetheproteinchymotrypsin.Oneofourdelivery systemsuseddextransulfateasanadditiontoalginicacid,whiletheother systemusedjustalginicacid.Thereleaseofchymotrypsinwasusedto modelthereleaseofNerveGrowthFactor(NGF)inthehumanbody.We chosenegativelychargedAlginicacidtocreateouralginategelduetothe factthatalginateiscompatiblewithhumanbodyandeasilybindswith positivelychargedchymotrypsin.Thechymotrypsinfromthealginategel wasreleasedintoHank’sBuffer,amodelforcerebrospinalfluid,and measuredevery24hoursthroughfluorescencetesting.Toaidinthe measureofitsrelease,thechymotrypsinwaslabeledwithFITC(a fluorescencemolecule).After12daysofmeasurements,ourresultsshowed thatoursystemscanbesuccessfullyusedtorelease chymotrypsin.Theresultsmetouroriginalobjectivebyshowingthat alginate gelisapracticaldeliverysystemtotreatspinalcordinjury. However, thenextstepwouldbetomodifythisdeliverysystemtocontroltherate ofreleaseofthegrowthfactorintothebodyandthusprolongthetreatmentasnecessary.

Bhavit Vora Biomedical Engineering

Dr. Yinghui Zhong School of Biomedical Engineering, Sciences, & Health Systems

Dr. Ronald Perline Mathematics

SPACE CURVES AND THE BICYCLE PROBLEM

Althoughthegeometryofcurvesintheplaneandspaceisverywell known,thereremainsomesurprisinglysimpleproblemswhichhave notbeenfullyinvestigated. Inourproject,westudythe“bicycle problem”:supposeafronttireofabicycletracesoutacertain(closed path);whatcanyousayaboutthegeometryofthepathsweptoutby thereartire?Amongthevariousquestionsoncanimagine,three importantonesare:1)Giventhetracksoftherearandfrontwheel, canyoutellwhichwaythebicyclewent;2)ifthetrackofthefront wheelisasmoothsimpleclosedcurvecanoneridethebicyclesothat therearwheeltrackalsoclosesup;3)canonerideabicycleinsucha waythatthetracksoftherearandfrontwheelscoincide?

Forthemostpart,theseproblemshavebeenstudiedinthecontext ofplanarcurves.Ourprojectinvolvesinvestigatingthreedimensional analoguesoftheproblem,inparticularusingthegeometryof sphericalcurves(curveswhichlieonasphere)tocomeupwithnew examplesofclosedbicyclepaths.

Rebecca Wright Biomedical Engineering

SPECIAL THANKS

We would like to extend our sincere gratitude to all Faculty Mentors, Graduate Students, and everyone at Drexel University who has helped teach, guide, and mentor these STAR Scholars.

Their experience with the STAR Scholars Program helps shape these students’ academic and professional futures for years to come, and it would not be possible without your participation.

We applaud and thank you.

STAR Scholars is a program administered through the Office of Undergraduate Research and the Pennoni Honors College.