2024 Abstracts

Authors: Tessa Sabin, Derek Bagley, Kylie Olsen, Alexis Klein, Haven Broadhurst. Mentors: Sandi Gillam. Insitution: Utah State University. The purpose of this project was to create systematic, reliable rubrics for using the Frog Story series in language sample analysis for the diagnosis and treatment of children with developmental language disorders (DLD).Language sample analysis is a critical part of the assessment process by speech language pathologists (SLPs) for determining whether a child has a developmental language disorder. This is accomplished by analyzing a child’s use of vocabulary, sentence structures, and grammatical markers (i.e., past tense) and comparing it to their typically developing peers. Once diagnosed, language sampling is used as part of progress monitoring efforts to ensure the child is making reasonable progress toward their language goals in one (or all) of these areas.Elicitation of language from a child is often achieved by asking them to tell a story. One popular way that SLPs have obtained samples is to ask them to retell one of four popular wordless picture books from the Frog Story series by Mercer Mayer. This series involves the antics of a frog and his boy as they encounter different adventures. There is no rubric or “analysis key” associated with the stories leaving the SLP to decide how to use the information obtained from the story independently. This makes it hard to obtain reliable results over multiple time points for use in progress monitoring.In this project, a team analyzed all four Frog stories for their inclusion of specific story elements (i.e., character, setting, episode), vocabulary and sentence structures; and separate rubrics were created. The methodology for identifying the language parameters of interest, reliability in coding, and uses for the rubrics will be described. The rubrics will be automated using a web application so clinicians can upload their child’s story and have them instantly scored, making their use in analysis more reliable and consistent.

Authors: Angel Rodriguez, Mohammad Shekaramiz, Mohammad A S Masoum, Abdennour Seibi. Mentors: Mohammad Shekaramiz. Insitution: Utah Valley University. The research was conducted using a Tello EDU drone, and this is a surrogate study that uses fan pedestals with removed blade cages to expose the blades, with one fan having damaged blades. Real-time object detection is done with Haar detection via Cascade Classifiers, while crack/anomaly detection is done with various deep learning classification models.The proposed path planning and control framework for autonomous drones with low-cost positioning constructs a potential field based on the locations of the turbines if given. According to the potential field, simulated annealing is applied to the traveling salesman problem which generates a collision-free path for path tracking.The proposed computer vision-based navigation system for autonomous flight of small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in GPS-denied constraints can detect cracks on wind turbine blade surfaces using drone-based inspection images. The deep learning model is trained on a large dataset of blade damages, collected by drone-based inspection, to correctly detect cracks.The results of these papers can be used to improve the efficiency and safety of wind turbine inspections, which is crucial for the renewable energy industry as well as demonstrate educational aspects of autonomous systems to be taught in engineering courses.

Authors: Joshua Zander, Angel Rodriguez, Mason Davis, Edwin Nazario Dejesus, Mohammad Shekaramiz, Mohammad A S Masoum, Abdennour Seibi. Mentors: Mohammad Shekaramiz. Insitution: Utah Valley University. The proposed approach of using computer vision and autonomous drones for inspecting small wind turbines is a significant step towards improving the efficiency and safety of wind turbine inspections. The use of DJI Mini 3 Pro and Matrice 300 drones in conjunction with DJI’s Mobile SDK, which allows for programmed flights, enables the drones to fly autonomously and capture high-quality images of the wind turbines. The images are then processed using object detection with YOLOv8, which can accurately detect the turbines. Navigation is based on both GPS and object detection, which ensures that the drones can navigate accurately and avoid any obstacles. The proposed approach is expected to reduce the cost and time required for wind turbine inspections, while also improving the accuracy of the inspection process. This approach can be used to inspect wind turbines in remote locations, which are difficult to access, and can help identify any issues with the turbines before they become major problems.The proposed approach has the potential to revolutionize the wind energy industry by making wind turbine inspections more efficient and cost-effective. The use of computer vision and autonomous drones can help reduce the need for human intervention in the inspection process, which can be dangerous and time-consuming. The proposed approach can also help improve the accuracy of the inspection process by providing high-quality images of the turbines. This can help identify any issues with the turbines before they become major problems, which can help reduce the risk of accidents and improve the safety of the wind energy industry.

Authors: Camille Bryner, Alyson Camacho, Bowen J Houser. Mentors: William G Pitt. Insitution: Brigham Young University. In an attempt to combat a growing number of nosocomial infections related to medical devices, many studies have investigated the effect of polydopamine (pDA) coated surfaces on biofilm formation and found them to have antibacterial and anti-adhesive properties. However, we discovered that pDA coated magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) display strong attractive interactions with many, but not all, species of bacteria. Fe3O4 MNPs were prepared using sodium acetate, ethylene glycol, and iron (III) chloride hexahydrate solutions and characterized by a variety of methods. XRD data confirmed a magnetite pattern characteristic of Fe3O4, then TEM characterization of MNP samples showed successful pDA coating onto iron oxide particles. Bacterial capture efficiencies (CE) by pDA-MNPs for 8 strains of bacteria were measured by optical turbidity and plate counts. We have found that CE is a function of exposure time to and concentration of MNPS; thus some experiments were done with constant exposure time and variable MNP concentration and others were done at variable exposure times and constant MNP concentrations. Additionally, these pDA-MNPs exhibit extremely efficient adhesion to some bacteria such as Staphylococcus epidermidis (S. epidermidis) while being ineffective at capturing some strains of Esherichia coli (E. coli). We propose that such capture ability of pDA-coated MNPs can be employed for detection and identification of bacteria in hospitals and for food science quality control.

Authors: Samantha Marx, Jessa Wright, Nathan Dobbin. Mentors: Christa St John. Insitution: Utah Valley University. Goddess of Spring and Death(2023) is a dance for film co-created by three Utah Valley University undergraduates focusing on retelling of the Ancient Greek myth of Persephone and Hades through a new perspective. Throughout time, stories are often retold; however, this myth has rarely been told from Persephone’s point of view. With a collaboration between the two disciplines of ballet and film, there was opportunity for a more intimate viewing of narrative-based choreography with creative camerawork and post-production editing. The purpose of this presentation is to disseminate research from the dance for camera: Goddess of Spring and Death(2023) in addition to how this collaboration affected both disciplines. The traditional myth tells of the story of Hades kidnapping Persephone to the Underworld and marrying her, typically focusing on the actions of Hades and Demeter. However, the researchers’ collective focus of this narrative was to include Persephone’s agency. The narrative still follows a similar plot to the original myth however, Persephone’s character was more developed as she was given the agency to go into the Underworld and eat the pomegranate of her own free will. An unlikely format for this narrative, the respective areas of ballet and film have become a popular collaboration, especially post-COVID. Stereotypically, narrative ballets are commonly performed on a proscenium stage while film works with verbal narratives. Both disciplines were challenged to explore and collaborate together in a field that is not yet standard. The experience for all on the project, including the dancers and crew, was that of gaining new learning that can be applied in the post-graduate fields.

Authors: Atira Schulte. Mentors: Michael Popich. Insitution: Westminster College. We live in an environmental crisis caused by mass overconsumption and non-sustainable practices of humans- issues rooted in anthropocentric beliefs that humans may use all other life to our benefit with no regard for consequences. Animals and ecosystems have the right to exist and flourish, they have intrinsic worth, so they ought to have moral standing. This research aimed to build a new ethical theory that would extend the same rights humans are widely considered to have to other animals and ecosystems; especially citing Martha Nussbaum, James Sterba, and John O’Neill. The age-old desire to dominate nature must be replaced with a newfound respect and wonder for non-human life and the environment; Reframing our methods of thinking and moving towards more sustainable methods of living. Only by changing the mindset of humans, from one of domination and exploitation to stewardship and coexistence-even friendship, can we resolve this environmental crisis.

Authors: Addison Hedges, Kevin Sattler. Mentors: Moriel Zelikowsky. Insitution: University of Utah. Trauma has been reported to affect over 70% of all adults worldwide. This includes, but is not limited to, physical and sexual violence, injury, threat of death, and natural disasters. Experiencing one or more traumatic events can lead to post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and anxiety. These symptoms and disorders can negatively affect interpersonal relationships, confidence, aggression, and other aspects of daily behavior. Exactly how these traumatic events are encoded in the brain is poorly understood. Extensive research has been done on the hippocampus with regard to its central role in learning and memory, but only recently has research been done to uncover its role in emotional responses. This research has found distinct functional differences between the dorsal and ventral subregions of the hippocampus. Recent studies suggest that the ventral hippocampus (VH) plays an important role in emotional response. The VH projects to other emotional processing areas of the brain that modulate fear, aggression, and social processing. This project aims to test the hypothesis that distinct populations of neurons in the VH encode individual behavioral effects of trauma as well as discover the extent of overlap between neuronal cells activated by trauma-induced aggression (TIA) vs. trauma-altered sociability (TAS). To test this hypothesis, both male and female mice were injected with an hM4D inhibitory DREADD virus to chemogenetically silence VH. Later the mice underwent either no trauma or a foot shock trauma consisting of 10 1mA foot-shocks randomly applied over 60 minutes. They were then tested for aggression and social response using two distinct behavioral assays known as Resident Intruder and 3-Chamber. Half the mice received DCZ, a ligand used to activate DREADDs, while the other half received a control vehicle prior to each behavioral assay. Our findings show that silencing of the VH led to attenuated TIA and TAS when compared to control groups. Next, using retrograde viral tracing, activity-dependent neuronal tagging, and immunohistochemistry, we examined the existence and extent of overlapping neuron populations in the VH. These findings suggest the VH plays an important role in encoding and responding to trauma. They also highlight the importance of continued research into how behavioral changes are manifested in the brain and how these experiences are studied.

Authors: Hailey Packard. Mentors: Brandon Ro. Insitution: Utah Valley University. In the vast landscape of architectural mediums, the key to capturing clients' attention and ensuring a comprehensive grasp of a proposed project lies in the choice of rendering methods. This research endeavors to pinpoint the most effective communication medium through an experiment employing various rendering techniques. Four renderings of a single exterior façade will be crafted, each utilizing diverse media methodologies. To convert the renderings into quantifiable data an innovative approach involves subjecting the renderings to AI-driven algorithms, predicting where the human eye is drawn to in the images in the first 3-5 seconds superseding the influence of cognitive bias, and aiming to identify which of the images inherently captures the most attention. The research results will be examined and the significance of differences between rendering methods addressed. This research delves into the implications for architects, exploring how these findings may influence presentation strategies, considering potential impact of passing fads, taking into account the alignment of media style with architectural subject matter, and noting whether the experiment requires diverse architectural styles for optimal effectiveness. The current hypothesis regarding these results is that the images with contrast and hierarchy in the composition, such as watercolor renderings, will outperform the other methods. The overarching objective of this research project is to discern the most effective medium for capturing the client's attention when presenting architectural projects. Due to modern advancements that increase our access to an abundance of knowledge and techniques, architects and designers must make informed choices about how they present their ideas. By comparing these mediums and formats through these methods, this research will attempt to identify the most effective strategy for engaging clients and enhancing their comprehension of projects which will also aid in contributing to a clearer understanding of visual communication in the architectural field.

Authors: Liv Harris. Mentors: Lane Law. Insitution: Salt Lake Community College. We will use the bacterial luciferase (heterodimer of luxA and luxB) venus fusion to replicate a bioluminescence resonance energy transfer (BRET) in E. coli. We are interested in evaluating the use of the improved luciferase in an auto-bioluminescent reporter system. We must first introduce a plasmid that contains the information for the protein called luciferase and luciferin. After the culture is auto-bioluminescent, we can circularly permute the system to achieve a higher yield of light emission.

Authors: Spenser A Clark. Mentors: Acacia Overono. Insitution: Utah Valley University. It is not uncommon for a college student to see a list of learning objectives when skimming through a syllabus for a program or course. The goal of learning objectives is to set reasonable expectations for student learning and guide their study, as well as providing a framework for the development of teaching practices and assessment. Part of the inception of learning objectives as a means of organizing teaching and assessment in the classroom may be attributable to the Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, more commonly referred to as Bloom's Taxonomy. Another taxonomy similar to Bloom's, but much less well known, is the Structure of Observed Learning Outcome (SOLO) taxonomy. Bloom’s taxonomy organizes learning objectives into six categories: Remember, Understand, Apply, Analyze, Evaluate, and Create. The categories are structured as a cumulative hierarchy in which mastery of each level is assumed necessary for progressing to the next. The structure of Bloom’s is not derived from any specific learning theory, but a categorization of pre-existing learning objectives. Bloom’s therefore suffers from a lack of a strong theoretical foundation and may not accurately reflect how learning actually occurs. Additionally, although Bloom’s has been widely employed in the context of educational assessment, research has shown that it suffers from low interrater reliability and is inconsistent between educational contexts such as courses and topics. Unlike Bloom’s, SOLO is based upon Piaget’s Stage Development theory and categorizes learning into five distinct stages: Prestructural, Unistructural, Multistructrual, Relational, and Extended Abstract. SOLO does not suggest that learning is unidirectional or hierarchical. It also acknowledges internal cognitive processes rather than focusing solely on observable behaviors. Although very little research has investigated its reliability, it could be an attractive alternative to Bloom’s because it may more accurately reflect how learning occurs. The present work reviews the development and implementation of these two models and compares them.

Authors: Elise Bennett, Zenos Thoreson, Blaise Bartlett, Jacob McFadden, Melanie Rosa, Nathan Walker, Logan Fenn, Eric Domyan, Colleen Hough. Mentors: Eric Domyan, Colleen Hough. Insitution: Utah Valley University. A team of 13 biotech students competed in the international Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) competition in Paris, France in the Bioremediation category. The iGEM Foundation is a non-profit organization whose purpose is to promote education and collaboration for the advancement of synthetic biology. The Grand Jamboree is a 4-day expo where students, academics, investors, industry representatives, journalists, and the public gather while student teams from around the world compete for medals and awards by following the engineering cycle, design, build, test, learn (DBTL) with living organisms. Our team chose to focus on bioremediation of Utah Lake because, not only is it a local issue, it is also used worldwide as an example of toxic algal blooms. Excess nutrient loading in Utah Lake is causing eutrophication, which leads to increased algal blooms that produce toxins hazardous to human, animal, and aquatic life. The excess nutrients are composed mostly of nitrogen and phosphorous compounds that enter the lake primarily from wastewater treatment plants, runoff fertilizer, and naturally occurring inorganic environmental sources. Our goal is to reduce the nutrient load of wastewater entering the lake by engineering a harmless organism to sequester phosphorus and convert nitrogenous compounds to atmospheric nitrogen, which is biologically inert. We chose the microalgae Chlamydomonas reinhardtii as the chassis for the genetically engineered machine. A second, long-term goal would be to turn the sequestered nutrients into a product that is usable to the local community. We have a responsibility to the local community, native people, plants, and animals to restore Utah Lake to its natural beauty to be respectably and responsibly shared by all.

Authors: Karissa Bauer, Kennedy Lewis, James Belnap, Andrew Torena, Braden Freestone, Luis Montenegro Calla. Mentors: Daniel Clark. Insitution: Weber State University. In the United States, 157 documented cases of primary amoebic meningoencephalitis (PAM) have been recorded between 1962 and 2022. In the 60 years since the first reported case, only four patients have survived; a 97.5% fatality rate. The causative agent responsible for the highly fatal infections, is the free-living, single-celled parasite, Naegleria fowleri— or the “brain-eating amoeba.” The aquatic thermophiles are opportunistic pathogens that inhabit a wide range of environments; from poorly maintained pools, moist sediment, rivers, lakes, etc. Exposure to N. fowleri invasion is reliant on direct contact with a host’s upper nasal mucosa, and the active parasite. Rapid deterioration of neural tissues occurs shortly after infection.Today, there is no universally accepted treatment plan for treating PAM infections. The CDC has recommended an empirical approach to treatment, and suggests utilizing combination drug-therapies. Suggested drugs include Amphotericin B, Azithromycin, Fluconazole, Miltefosine, and Rifampin. To better understand and evaluate the effects of these drugs on N. fowleri, a rescue-of-infection model was applied to test the efficacy of single and combination-drug treatments, at various time points. The model utilized an immortalized HeLa cell line that was infected with the amoebae until roughly 50% cytotoxicity was observed. The rescue stage commenced with drug additions, and HeLa cell metabolism, and apoptosis levels were monitored using fluorescence viability assays and caspase-3 enzyme detection systems. Drug combinations that included Rifampin and Amphotericin B, provided the greatest protection for human Hela cells against N. fowleri infections. Data collected from this model provides deeper understanding of Naegleria fowleri pathogenicity. This knowledge will aid the development of more reliable and efficient treatments for this devastating infection.

Authors: Arawyn Walter. Mentors: Alexandra Giannell. Insitution: Utah Valley University. “Breaking Boundaries” is an abstract self portrait that describes the duality of distancing myself from relationships, juxtaposed to being entangled in the complex connections I have with family and friends. Boundaries, in my sense of the word, are barriers/rules that are set to make an individual feel comfortable, however these barriers can be complicated and are different from person to person. This piece explores my own personal struggle when it comes to setting boundaries for myself and being able to understand the boundaries of others. The two figures resting in the center of the piece expressing two versions of myself, one in action and one in rest revealing two mental states that portray the emotions showing two extremes of what relationships feel like to me. Parts of the work physically emerges from the canvas from my hands that are tangled up in string. The distance of the tangled and strained strings from the canvas comments on my state now and the physical distance I have put between myself and past relationships in order to feel a sense of freedom from the pressures they put on me and I put on myself.

Authors: Zachary Flynn, Britton Davis, Josh Nicholls, Bryson Mumford. Mentors: Joseph Price. Insitution: Brigham Young University. The United States has massive amounts of public data and land ownership stretching back to the early homesteading period of the American West. This data has been of limited use for economic research because it only includes the name of the ownership, thus making it impossible to study racial and gender differences in land on ownership. We develop an innovative method for linking individual land records to US census records. Our key innovation is that we start by linking individuals with unique names that we can make from land record to census record based on name and town. We then use the geo-coordinates in the land records and the proximity of households on the census sheets to link other individuals that have more common names. This two-step process allows us to link 36% of a sample of people in the land records in Colorado to a census record between 1880 and 1940. This new linked data will be a valuable resource for individuals doing research on the development of the American economy, and also people doing genealogical research.

Authors: Sven Wilson, Joseph Price, Hannah Hammond, Katharine Wilson. Mentors: Joe Price. Insitution: Brigham Young University. Research suggests that environmental and behavioral risk factors often shared by spouses will result in similar spousal lifespans. This is seen most powerfully in the well-documented tendency for the hazard of mortality to rise immediately after spousal loss, thereby causing a greater concordance in spousal lifespans. This is sometimes referred to as "broken heart syndrome," and a widowhood effect on mortality has been observed in multiple large population studies in many countries. We employ a new dataset from the United States containing over 2.8 million couples drawn from the 1940 census who were born between 1880 and 1920 who are linked to US Census Schedules through 1940 and to the wiki-like genealogical data source Family Search. To account for the presence of assortative mating, we employ a strategy where the lifespan of the spouse's siblings is used as an instrumental variable for spousal lifespan. We find only a small amount of assortative mating on the basis of lifespan, but considerable sorting based on education and income. Our simple IV model finds a statistically significant causal relationship between the death of both husbands and wives on the lifespan of their respective spouses, and those effects are roughly twice as big as the OLS estimates. An additional year of life for the spouse adds .11 years to the husband’s lifespan; and .157 years to the wife. The larger effect on women’s lifespan is in opposition to most of the literature on the widowhood effect.

Authors: Lucy Peterson. Mentors: Alexa Sand. Insitution: Utah State University. In this paper I explore the relationship between the art in early printed books and their spiritual significance. I take my examples from Art of the Good Lyvyng and Good Deyng translated by Thomas Lewing published in 1503 and The Festial of John Mirk published in 1528. These books contain examples of architectural elements used as frames for illustrations depicting scenes related to the devotional subjects discussed by both texts. The use of the architecture is imaginative in nature and can be characterized as micro-architecture as defined by François Bucher: “A definition of the ideal Gothic structure through the use of small monuments of architecture usually classified within the ‘minor arts’.” Architectural elements were used to indicate different periods of Christianity. This paper will argue that Gothic and Classicizing architectural styles were used to convey specific time periods and specific themes relating to the scene presented within the image.

Authors: Josie Allred. Mentors: John Salmon. Insitution: Brigham Young University. From the weekly grocery run to the daily commute to work or school, transportation plays a central role in meeting the basic needs of nearly every American family. Unfortunately, not everyone has equal access to safe, convenient, and efficient transportation. When not carefully planned and implemented, the advancement of transportation infrastructure and technology often favors high income communities. For example, in many areas, shared electric scooters and bicycles have been made more widely available in higher income neighborhoods, leaving lower-income communities with limited access to these micro-mobility options. The result of these and other similar developments is increased economic disparity and barriers to opportunity. One such transportation advancement for which careful implementation is vital is Wireless Power Transfer (WPT) technology for electric vehicles (EVs). WPT technology offers the potential for EVs to charge while in motion on the roads, thereby accelerating the adoption of EVs, and building a cleaner tomorrow. Through this research, we seek to contribute to a future of equitable integration of WPT technology into roadways across America. Because the demographics of Indianapolis closely resemble the US overall, a simulation was run with drivers in the city, using sample data from the US and Indianapolis. The simulation was then used to determine potential locations in which WPT technology could be effectively implemented. Informed by this and other research, WPT technology can be integrated in an intentional manner ensuring equitable access for people of any socioeconomic status.

Authors: Daniel Lentz. Mentors: Dave Norwood. Insitution: University of Utah. Information security as a field has suffered from a significant imbalance of power on the side of the attacker contra the defender. In a mirror of the historical advantages raiders possessed over settlements, attackers can act more flexibly, persistently, and are less bound by organizational bloat. To negate this advantage, defenders will have to adopt new strategies that recontextualize their position. It is suggested that defenders adopt a hybridized approach, utilizing generative AI and machine learning in tandem to develop a more fluid and dynamic strategy to overwhelm attackers. The adoption of this approach coincides with the addition of an employee type called a “Wallfacer” (a role inspired by the similarly named Wallfacer Inititative in Cixin Liu's novel The Dark Forest) - a specially selected employee given the task to act erratically to ensure that the generative AI and ML algorithms a consistently baffle both internal and external threats. Multiple Wallfacers will work in tandem with minimally intrusive oversight to ensure that nothing they do violates legal or company policy.