2020 Abstracts

Jackson, Gregory (Utah Valley University)
Faculty Advisor: Jackson, Gregory (Utah Valley University, Integrated Studies)

The United States has a significant interest in Mexico as our ally, top trading partner and our neighbor. Current relations between both states remains friendly, however tensions have increased over trade disputes, tariffs, immigration and border security issues. Currently, securing the border between the U.S. and Mexico has become a major focus but is primarily based off stereotypes on Immigration policies and the negative perspectives of Mexico regarding their economics, politics and stability. It is critical to understand the fundamental structure and culture of Mexico in order to work on policies that will protect both Mexico and U.S. security as well as strengthen our relations rather than divide our countries. if we continue to look at the colonization of Mexico as the same process or similar to that of the U.S., we mistakenly ignore key elements that affect Mexico's current economy, society and politics resulting in strains on relations and cooperation between both nations. While looking at the foundations of Mexico's history and the imprint of Spain's influence, we will effectively show the weight of Mexico's development in comparison to that of the U.S. and the affects this has on National Security policies between the two countries.

Beatson, Bridget; Bolanos, Diana; Jackson, Corinne (Brigham Young University)
Faculty Advisor: Vargis, Elizabeth (College of Engineering, Biological Engineering Department)

Origami, traditionally known as the art of paper folding, is not limited solely to paper media. The concepts used in folding paper can also apply to more pliable materials such as fabric. As with paper, different fabric-based origami designs exhibit properties such as shape compliance, increased surface area per unit volume, and selective stiffness. This study explores selected fold patterns in various incontinence product fabrics, aiming to increase fluid wicking performance and thus reduce sag due to saturation. The most suitable materials from various adult incontinence product brands were tested then utilized to develop new concepts for integration into an innovative and revolutionizing product. For the liquid dispersion layer, the concept of pleated fabric was incorporated into the design, mimicking the origami characteristics of peaks and valleys. Tests were performed on suitable materials to measure the spread of fluid in the modified layer as would be actuated by human urination. Final results from this testing indicated significantly broader dispersion of the synthetic urine utilized for testing as compared to that of the unmodified materials. When incorporated into a final product, this would allow for larger distribution of the fluid, thus increasing the product's holding capacity and enabling a more even distribution of the weight of the fluid, helping to reduce sag. This result could greatly increase the comfort and functionality of adult incontinence products.

Clayton, Abigail (Brigham Young University)
Faculty Advisor: Horrocks, Jamie (Humanities, English)

Prior to its public auction in 1847, Shakespeare's Birthplace—the home where he was born on Henley Street in Stratford-upon-Avon—was passed down through various private owners and their tenants who turned the property into an inn and a butcher shop. A mere sign indicated that "Shakespeare was born here." By this point in time, Shakespeare's literary influence permeated both Europe and America, but his status as a cultural icon was not strongly associated with the physical space of his home. However, this was about to change. In 1842, P.T. Barnum, the American showman of circus fame, was touring England with "The Greatest Show on Earth" when he went to visit Shakespeare's home. Five years later, as he was always on the lookout for more "oddities" to add to his menagerie, the public auction of the Birthplace caught his interest, and he could not resist making an offer. This attempt by a foreign invader to "steal Shakespeare" inflamed the British public and sparked debates regarding the cultural ownership of the great playwright. Among leaders of these debates was Charles Dickens, who initiated a series of events across England in an attempt to raise enough money to reclaim Shakespeare for the British people. Although Barnum and Dickens never met in person, the way in which nineteenth-century media manipulated their celebrity personas and followings reveals the way in which transatlantic celebrity was crucial to the formation of Shakespeare as a British heritage icon. The cultural warfare between the two, as represented by sensationalist journalism of the time, started debates over the appropriation of Shakespeare as a symbol of national heritage and identity that have lasted into the twenty-first century.

United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime; U.S. Department of State; The Walk Free Foundation; The Borgen Project; Ling, Bonny; (Utah State University)
Faculty Advisor: Guo, Li (College of Humanities and Social Sciences; Languages, Philosophy and Communication Studies Department)

It is a historical fact that human trafficking for the purposes of sex and forced marriage has been a cancer in societies and civilizations throughout the history of the world. China has a well documented history of trafficking women for the purpose of forced marriage. The main objective of this research is to investigate trends found in the forced marriage markets of China from the rise of Mao Zedong in the mid-twentieth century until 2019. The author used interviews with victims of the forced marriage markets in China as well as secondary data collected from NGOs and watchdog organizations, government publications, and relevant journals. My findings are significant because they illuminate patterns and trends that governmental and non-governmental organizations can use to identify high risk populations and to take action on educating and protecting women who are at high risk of being forced into marriage in China.

Alanizy, Malak (Weber State University)
Faculty Advisor: Arnold, Kristen (Weber State University, Interior Design Technology)

Youth impact is a unique organization serving kids who is dealing with poverty, drugs, incarceration of a parent, gang influences and the general needs of that child for the day. By giving them the education and skills necessary to succeed and prosper. The design of the building needs to function while supporting various programs including family support, learning clubs, arts for spirituality, and training. Improving the func-tionality of the interior spaces of the organization will be the focus of the project.
Color will assist in defining the psychological functioning of end users because "color in interior design can be more easily personalized, strongly interacts with the color of other decorating objects, and its pleasantness could affect home attachment." (Marco, Sergio, Mattia, & Iacopo, 2018).
Designating areas where students can engage in a variety of short, instructional activities and other areas where student can work without interruption. "If there is too much structure set in place it can stifle creativity, and if there is not enough structure it can lead to distractions and little focus." (Ryan Hannah 2013).
By addressing the physical needs of the students in the classroom will be designed to conceptualize and monitor the academic, emotional, and behavioral needs of students experiencing child traumatic stress. "The cognitive and psychological effects of trauma exposure are paired with difficulties in academic and social functioning." (Kassandra Reker 2016).
Overall, Project Bloom Village at Youth Impact implementing fundamental elements and principles of design with sound research will provide a well-designed space to simplify the mission of the organization.

Mark Langeveld (University of Utah)
Faculty Advisor: Langeveld, Mark (University of Utah, Engineering)

Introduction:

The risk of getting type 2 diabetes has been widely found to be associated with lower socioeconomic position across countries. Not only the financial burden but also the clinicians often having the long waitlists for one-on-one assessment of chronic disease patient's behavior makes it difficult for timely treatment and monitoring supplies. Among the top 10 diseases that are causes of death, Diabetes is the most self-manageable chronic disease. Type 2 diabetes patients often require insulin therapy as well as self-managing on eating well and exercising. A mobile app can be applied as a self-managing mechanism that treats chronic complications of diabetes. I will describe my work to analyze five commercially available mobile apps that are effective in improving diabetes-related outcomes.

Method:

I analyzed with technology reviews of iterative mobile app design of each mobile app(Glucose Buddy, Diabetes care4Life, Diabetes Diary, BlueStar Diabetes, Gather Health) and reviewing comments from peer and public review. I organized the findings by test process with diabetes patients through three categories for this report: 1. App features (on which platform that the app is available, what the app does, cost, etc.) 2. App usability and quality of tracking presented as an average of three scores given by the University of Utah healthcare researchers 3. Summary of the evidence from the evaluation of each category of patients who are motivated and who were not: monitoring glycemic control, glucose control, blood pressure, HbA1c improvement, weight, and diabetes treatment satisfaction

Result:

The record comprised 30 patients, of which 10 completed the mobile app module for 6 weeks. Demographics were similar for users and nonusers. Of the application users, the behavior improvement of pre-test and posttest scores were better for users compared with non-users (+1.8%). Of the users, 92% reported that the application had significant improvement (p < 0.05) in an outcome compared with HbA1c and glycemic control. The usability score of each app evaluated by healthcare researchers was (Glucose Buddy: 72.3 (out of 100), Diabetes care4Life: 45, Diabetes Diary: 16, BlueStar Diabetes: 85, Gather Health: 60) Without additional support from a health care provider, 5 mobile apps demonstrated an improvement in fasting blood glucose, 2-hour post-breakfast blood glucose, diabetes knowledge, and self-care behaviors compared with controls.

Conclusion:

I have analyzed and created a prototype of a mobile app that fills the gap between efficacy, cost, and features from the limited statistical evidence. Patients were satisfied with the use of the mobile health app for Diabetes, and the use of the program significantly improved their behavior and knowledge retention. Tailoring the traceable evaluation of mobile app to patient preferences and needs and updating the tools could empower and guide the patients to effective mobile apps in improving diabetes outcomes.

Hunt, J. Porter; Wilding, Kristen M.; Barnett, R. Jordan; Robinson, Hannah; Soltani, Mehran; Cho, Jae; Bundy,Bradley C. (Brigham Young University)
Faculty Advisor: Bundy, Bradley (Brigham Young University, Chemical Engineering)

In this research, a cell-free protein synthesis (CFPS) platform is used to create a biosensor aimed towards detecting concentrations of amino acids or enzymes in a sample. A CFPS biosensor is an effective method to detect these molecules due to its rapid, high-throughput nature. Additionally, the biosensor analysis can be done on-site. Potential applications of this assay include monitoring dietary health, adjusting cancer treatments, and the diagnosis of the onset of certain disease.

Howlett, Dylan (Brigham Young University)
Faculty Advisor: Fullwood, David (Brigham Young University, Mechanical Engineering); Bowden, Anton (Brigham Young University, Mechanical Engineering)

Identifying motion of the human spine, and irregularities in movement can be vital for diagnosing a back injury patient. Modern methods of identifying injuries include an expensive X-ray or MRI scan, simple inspection by a trained professional, or very primitive two point instruments. We have developed a strain gauge with high flexibility that is able to withstand repeated high-strain. This gauge is able to properly measure the motion of the lumbar spine, allowing health professionals and patients to monitor the state of their back. This paper presents a survey of different manufacturing methods for these gauges, including screen printing, extrusion and compression molding. The gauges are analyzed for their piezoresistivity vs strain and optimized for the desired application.

Keyser, Michael A.; Jiang, David; Timmins, Lucas H. (University of Utah)
Faculty Advisor: Timmins, Lucas (University of Utah, Biomedical Engineering)

Coronary heart disease is one of the leading causes of death in the United States and is caused by a buildup of atherosclerotic plaque blocking blood flow in a coronary artery. Stents are used to restore blood flow to affected regions by reopening the blocked artery. Failure among stents is common, and a 3D reconstruction of a stent can be used to investigate the cause of failure. We have previously established a 3D stent reconstruction technique that utilizes optical coherence tomography (OCT) and micro-computed tomography imaging data to provide a high-spatially resolved stent reconstruction. However, analysis revealed that each OCT image was subjected to a curvature induced rotational drift due to the imaging process. Thus, the purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between vessel curvature and OCT image drift. Four separate channels of constant curvatures, 0, 1/60, 1/30, and 1/20 mm^-1 were drilled out of Delrin using a CNC machine resulting in a 'U' shaped channel. Each channel was imaged, and the rotational drift for the curvature of that channel was determined by calculating the average change in image orientation. The orientation of an image was the angle of the top edge of the 'U' with respect to a horizontal line. Results demonstrated the rotational drift was -0.172, -0.598, -0.927, and -1.124 degrees for curvatures of 0, 1/60, 1/30, and 1/20 mm^-1 .We discovered the relationship between the curvature of the channel and the rotational drift of an image to be _=-19.12_-0.227 where _ is the curvature of the channel _ is the rotational drift of the OCT image in degrees. In conclusion, we demonstrated that there is a linear relationship between curvature and OCT image circumferential drift that can be used to improve the overall accuracy of the reconstruction.

Parkinson, Bethany; Andrews, David; Magleby, Spencer (Brigham Young University)
Faculty Advisor: Magleby, Spencer (Brigham Young University, Mechanical Engineering)

Increasing worldwide urbanization is leading to a rising population of people living in apartments. Apartments typically have short leases, which lead to a high turnover rate, or number of renters that move in per year. For example, the 2018 turnover rate in New York City was 30.5%. People who move this often usually buy cheap furniture each time they change apartments, because carrying furniture on public transportation is impractical. The goal of our research is to create furniture that allows people who move often to avoid re-purchasing furniture. This goal leads to three design requirements. First, the furniture should be easily collapsed and deployed. This permits the furniture to be conveniently stored and transported. Ideally, the furniture could be deployed with one hand. Second, the furniture should be inexpensive, both in manufacturing processes and material selection. Lastly, the furniture should be aesthetically pleasing. We have utilized origami as a method to achieve these design objectives, because it can be deployed in one motion.

There are significant challenges to designing and implementing origami-inspired furniture. For example, any joints between the legs, seat, table, and back of the furniture need to allow not only for the furniture to be stable in its deployed state, but also to be flat in its non-deployed state. Additionally, the employed joints must account for the thickness of the material. Each type of joint that is adaptable to thick materials was therefore considered and analyzed in the specific loading situation of a chair. Using these criteria and three unique types of joints, a variety of chairs were conceptualized. After prototyping, each type of chair was expanded to create an entire family of furniture, including a table, stool, and couch. The principles and design approaches developed in this project have generated origami-inspired furniture that is easily transportable, functional, inexpensive, comfortable, and aesthetic.

Howell, Ashley (Brigham Young University)
Faculty Advisor: Killpack, Marc (Ira A. Fulton College of Engineering, Mechanical Engineering); Salmon, John (Ira A. Fulton College of Engineering, Mechanical Engineering)

Human-robot co-manipulation of objects to complete specific tasks, such as carrying a stretcher in a search and rescue operation, is an open ended problem in the foreseeable future. Since many motions of the shared object, like rotation and translation, initially feel identical, it can create disagreement between the human and the robot on where to move the object. Programming a robot to determine what kind of movement a human is suggesting and acting accordingly requires extensive data on how humans interpret such communications. This project focuses on designing and constructing a stretcher like object that will be used in a series of experiments in which two humans will carry it through a random arrangement of obstacles. Sensors on the object will gather data on the different ways humans move and interact with it through forces and torques. Indications of these movements will be used to instruct a robot on how to "follow" with the goal of adding no additional cognitive load to the human leader.

Wheeler, Isaac; Lignell, David (Brigham Young University)
Faculty Advisor: Lignell, David (Brigham young University, Chemical Engineering)

Turbulence remains one of the great unsolved problems of classical physics; for this reason it remains one of the primary focuses of study in computational fluid dynamics. Numerically, the governing equations for fluid flow can be solved, but to accurately simulate a turbulent flow (as found in combustion, drag calculations, and a variety of other situations) the equations must be solved at small enough length scales to describe very small structures present in turbulent phenomena. Hierarchical parcel swapping (HiPS) is a proposed model for turbulent mixing; the model is computationally cheaper than a numerical simulation at similar length scales, and allows for variation in diffusion coefficients (Schmidt number Sc). In my presentation I will discuss the implementation of HiPS and its agreement with established turbulent phenomena.

Bundy, Bradley C; Mills, Heather; Nelson, Andrew (Brigham Young University)
Faculty Advisor: Bundy, Bradley (Brigham Young University, Chemical Engineering)

Many advantages are associated with cell-free protein synthesis. It is the fastest way to obtain a protein from a gene, and large amounts can be produced.

A common challenge in cell-free protein synthesis is inconsistency in reaction results, when protein yields appear to vary significantly between trials of the same reaction. Correcting this problem by focusing on and adjusting laboratory technique was the platform of this specific research project. Such adjustments aimed to increase the precision with which reagents were measured and the accuracy of the spectrophotometer results; and to decrease potential error created by air bubbles and non-uniformly mixed reagents.

Overall, amounts of protein yield became more consistent as procedural steps were performed with greater focus on laboratory technique. These results indicate that adjusting laboratory technique could potentially help to increase consistency in yield amounts and reduce error in cell-free protein synthesis reactions. Further direction for the research includes using the improved and more accurate CFPS reactions to produce protein therapeutics, which is used in the treatment of various diseases.

Brad Bundy; Nelson, Andrew; Welton, Meagan (Brigham Young University)
Faculty Advisor: Bundy, Brad (Brigham Young University, Chemical Engineering)

Cell-free protein synthesis (CFPS) is the process of making proteins without the limiting environment of a cell. The CFPS system allows us to modify and engineer proteins in ways that have not been done before. This technology has the potential to significantly impact the fields of protein therapeutics, unnatural amino acid insertion, and biosensors. Our research looks into optimizing the process of CFPS. Specifically, we want to understand what the impact of adding bubbles to a cell-free reaction is on CFPS yields. We want to know if adding bubbles to the CFPS mixture prior to incubation will increase the oxygenation of the reaction and affect protein production rates. This knowledge will help us optimize the CFPS process for future applications.

Jensen, Sally; Lignell, David (Brigham Young University)
Faculty Advisor: Lignell, David (Ira A. Fulton College of Engineering, Chemical Engineering)

Radiative heat transfer is central to many chemical engineering processes. Turbulent combustion accounts for 80% of the world's energy. Understanding radiative heat transfer is important for efficient design, regulating pollutant emissions, and doing hazard analyses of these processes. Radiation depends on temperature as well as local composition fields. It is important for combustion because it affects heat transfer to surrounding environments. This in turn impacts fire spread in wild fires as well as heat transfer in power plant boilers and other such applications. Radiation also directly affects the temperature field. The temperature field in turn feeds back to the radiation and impacts the formation of pollutants, such as soot, NOx and other species. Modeling is difficult because computing the absorption coefficient depends on the spectral properties of molecules. Computing these requires millions of spectral bands, which is too expensive to compute for normal applications. A common method that is currently used to predict radiation is the Weighted-sum-of-gray-gases model. Doctors Solovjov and Webb developed a new method called the Rank Correlated Integration of the Spectral Line Weighted-sum-of-gray-gases (rcSLW) model. It is a complex model that is difficult to implement, but it is accurate. It has been implemented in python and in C++. The model has been provided on github to allow for easy access by the community. We will present an overview of the rcSLW model and code interface as well as show selected results applied to systems of interest with respect to combustion.

Wheeler, Jesse; Bean, Brennan; Schwartz, Sam; Christensen, Randy; Moon, Kevin (Utah State University)
Faculty Advisor: Moon, Kevin (College of Science, Mathematics and Statistics Department)

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) often rely on GPS for navigation. GPS signals, however, are very low in power and are easily jammed or otherwise disrupted. Precise measurements of initial position and motion at the time of GPS signal loss would allow navigation for UAV navigation in GPS denied regions. This work presents a method for determining the navigation errors present at the beginning of a GPS-denied period by utilizing data from a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) system. This is accomplished by comparing an online-generated SAR image with a reference image obtained a priori. The distortions relative to the reference image are learned and exploited with a convolutional neural network to recover the initial navigational errors, which can be used to recover the true flight trajectory throughout the synthetic aperture. Our neural network approach outperforms traditional navigation recovery methods as well as other machine learning models.

Pulsipher, Kyle; Despain, Dillon; Wood, David; Fullwood, David T.; Bowden, Anton E. (Brigham Young University)
Faculty Advisor: Bowden, Anton (Brigham Young University - Ira A. Fulton College of Engineering, Mechanical Engineering); Fullwood, David (Brigham Young University - Ira A. Fulton College of Engineering, Mechanical Engineering)

Design and Testing of Flexible Wiring Systems in Biomechanical Devices
Kyle Pulsipher, Dillon Despain, David Wood, David T. Fullwood, Anton E. Bowden
A major challenge to wearable electronic devices is the implementation of required wiring and hardware that can accommodate large deformations and strain. For example, several current biomechanical engineering projects utilize a nanocomposite, wide-range, wearable strain sensing technology developed at BYU. Our research challenge was to create a wearable system of conductive links between a multi-sensor system and a microcontroller, while keeping the system low-profile, inexpensive, and functional when experiencing strains of at least 60%.

Several solutions were hypothesized and tested, including experimental silicone composite solutions with dispersed conductive nanofillers. Mechanical solutions were also contemplated, in the form of geometrically positioning a traditional wire in such a way that it could strain the required amount.

Our final solution utilizes a fine-gauge wire shaped into a sine curve, whose period and amplitude are controlled, such that the stretched length (the arc length of the sine curve) is a required strain factor longer than the period of the function. The wire is coated in an elastic silicone body that maintains the wire at the unstrained shape and length. Our implementation provides 130% of the wiring system and accommodates 16 independent sensor connections.

The wiring system is positioned in such a way that the wires are hidden in the artistic form of the sensing system. This electrical structure is both highly practical and aesthetically pleasing.

Bailey J. McFarland, Cheng Chen, Asfand Yar Khan, Harley Cragun, Justin A. Jones and Yu Huang (Utah State University)
Faculty Advisor: Huang, Yu (College of Engineering, Biological Engineering Department); Jones, Justin (College of Science, Biology Department)

Neurological diseases are the largest cause of disability worldwide. Tissue engineering approaches are desirable as they can be used to treat these diseases by replacing damaged and non-repairable brain tissues with engineered materials. Electrospinning of bioactive molecules is a promising materials engineering method to culture neurons and support nervous tissue growth. This suitability for neural cell culture is due to the electrospun material's fibrous and porous structure that mimics the structure of the extracellular matrix. The electrospinning process also allows for the controllable development of complex 3D cell culture, which is key to the creation of viable neural connections. In addition, the formation of both aligned and unaligned layers of fibers allows for intricate guiding of cell morphology that improves outcomes in neural cultures. Finally, the choice of appropriate bioactive materials can improve neurological cell culture. Spider silk, a bioactive protein, contains sequences of amino acids that support nerve cell binding and scaffolding, in complement to which, chitosan fibers have been shown to promote the healthy growth of neural cells.

This project develops a novel method of electrospinning a fibrous scaffold for neural tissue engineering from solutions of recombinant spider silk protein and chitosan. Preliminary results in this study are promising and add to the body of research in neural tissue engineering. These bioactive materials paired with the morphological benefits of electrospinning allow an opportunity to create a substrate that can improve stem cell differentiation into healthy neurons.