Architecture

Authors: Joseph Moore. Mentors: Jeff Hill. Insitution: Brigham Young University. Shape memory alloys are extensively utilized in many industries due to their ability to return to a predefined shape when heated. For medical applications, Nitinol, a nickel-titanium shape memory alloy, holds significant favor due to its biocompatibility and super elasticity. Since its discovery in the early 1960s, Nitinol has been the subject of ongoing research and fresh insights into how this alloy operates are of great importance to the industry.Nitinol wires sourced from manufacturers exhibit substantial uncertainty in their actuation temperature, also known as the austenite finish temperature. This study aims to investigate a heat-treatment method that can reduce these uncertainties, ultimately narrowing down the precise and consistent austenite finish temperature for two types of Nitinol wire: a single wire and a coiled variant.To achieve this, Nitinol samples were subjected to heat treatment in a furnace, with temperature and time parameters ranging from 500 to 650 °C and 5 minutes to 2 hours. Subsequently, the austenite finish temperature was triggered and recorded by immersing the heat-treated samples in degassed and deionized water at a controlled temperature.This research defines a straightforward yet effective approach that produces dependable results under controlled conditions. This method has the potential to streamline the determination of austenite finish temperatures, making future research more efficient. It may also open doors for innovative and efficient methods investigating the impact of heat treatment on Nitinol wires.

Authors: Benjamin Merrell. Mentors: Preston Manwaring. Insitution: Brigham Young University. Stage 1 and 2 labor is often characterized by manual examination of the maternal pelvis for fetal position and continuous monitoring by fetal cardiotocography. This practice has not changed in decades despite newer technology becoming available. Manual pelvic examinations have wide inter-examiner variability. Newer technology requires education and training. Unfortunately, both the decades old standard of care and newer technologies target Western markets with high reimbursements. Our lab is seeking to develop simple, robust, reliable, and low-cost technologies for low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) that don’t require the extensive education and training of modern western medical technologies. To facilitate this development, we, in collaboration with obstetric professionals, have created a 3D-printed test jig with a movable carriage that follows the normal path of fetal head delivery to test various stage 1 and 2 labor technologies in both dry and aqueous environments. Device requirements include: 1) delivery path must be representative of normal nulliparous and multiparous fetal head trajectories; 2) device must not utilize electronics or metal that could interfere with various tracking technologies; 3) device must provide a repeatable path for inter-technology evaluations; 4) device should allow for later expansion for higher-fidelity simulations. This presentation represents our early development work and initial outcomes.

Authors: Samuel Weisler. Mentors: Brandon Ro. Insitution: Utah Valley University. Contemporary architecture and design increasingly prioritize sustainable, healthy, and aesthetically pleasing indoor environments, acknowledging the fact that we spend most of our lives inside buildings. However, this research brings up a critical question: are we undervaluing the inherent beauty of the outdoors within our built environment? While the concept of beauty is a subject of heavy debate, the universal beauty of nature remains a constant. This study aims to substantiate the superiority of outdoor spaces over their indoor counterparts by comparing the visual appeal of AI-generated images. Specifically, it will create image pairs for five different activity categories: contemplation, recreation, social interaction, education, and creativity. Each image in the pair must embody essential elements: sunlight, biophilic components, and privacy. For each activity category, AI will be instructed to generate an outdoor space image and an indoor equivalent. Next, visual eye-tracking software will analyze these images, enabling us to quantitatively gauge their visual appeal. The analysis will provide insight into whether outdoor spaces surpass their indoor counterparts in aesthetics. Anticipating that outdoor spaces will exhibit greater visual appeal, this research carries valuable implications for the architectural and design industries. In a world increasingly focused on enhancing the human experience, these findings will advocate for the greater incorporation and prioritization of outdoor spaces in built environments. Increasing our access to outdoor living spaces will undoubtedly improve the quality of human experiences.

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: Nathaniel Stucki. Mentors: Brandon Ro. Insitution: Utah Valley University. In the field of architectural design, the invention of artificial Intelligence or (AI) has sparked incredible amounts of curiosity and debate in regard to its potential impact on classical design principles. For this Project I will dive into the relationship between AI and classical Architecture and aim to determine whether AI can Measure up to the educated experts of classical architecture and how we can use AI as a tool for design.The project will unravel in three separate phases (1-3). Phase 1 will explore the interior and exterior images provided by AI when describing a building akin to the Pantheon because it is considered to be the pinnacle of beauty. The incremental process of refining the text prompt is essential to obtain quality images to continue into the subsequent phases.In phase 2, the VAS by 3M, will be used to assess which of the AI images are the most captivating for both the exterior images and the interior images. The winning interior image and the winning exterior image will then move on to phase 3.Phase 3 will take these AI images and compare them to photographs of the Pantheon VAS 3M. This phase will evaluate the extent that AI can pull attention and will offer insights into the potential utility for architects or designers to use in the design process during the conceptual phase.In conclusion, I expect findings will show VAS attention percentages are slightly skewed in favor of human design and, while AI can enhance the efficiency in the design process, it cannot replace years of classical training. Architects would be wise to, instead of resisting change, fully embrace AI as a tool for design enhancement. This study emphasizes the importance of collaboration between “man and machine” in shaping the future for architecture.

Authors: Rafael Deo. Mentors: Matthew Wilcox. Insitution: Brigham Young University. A listening test is an important method used to assess language proficiency. It can be used as placement tests, pre and post-tests, research purposes, classroom evaluations, and many more. Comparison of results of such tests can also be used to assess language gain throughout a period of time. However, to create such listening tests that can genuinely evaluate an individual's ability, audio quality plays an important role, too. This factor should be addressed because it seems trivial, even though it can affect test-takers results. Through this presentation, I will provide general guidelines and practical tools for finding, evaluating and capturing listening passages for proficiency tests.

Authors: Maggie Wu, Ashley Littlefield, Bryant Jones. Mentors: Bryant Jones. Insitution: Snow College. A novel method of predictive thermodynamic property mining using AIMD simulations of molten salts for use in molten salt nuclear reactorsSolving the worlds energy crisis has been a heavily debated and researched topic for many years. One proposed solution to this problem is the micro molten salt nuclear reactor (MMSR). The MMSR is a small portable nuclear powerplant that can provide an affordable source of energy that is completely safe, readily available, and passively controlled. The waste products from this reactor are also heavily sought medically important isotopes. One final hurdle for MMSR development is the mining of the thermodynamic properties for previously unstudied eutectic mixtures of molten salts. Due to the hygroscopic nature of molten salt eutectics, experimental techniques for measuring thermodynamic properties are time and cost prohibitive. Modern supercomputing techniques provide a solution for property mining. However, computational methods have been historically limited to previously experimentally studied salts. There has always been a need for experimentally measured values to be determined first to provide tuning for the computational techniques. This group has developed a novel technique for tuning the values for previously unstudied salts. This greatly enhances the predictive capabilities of computation methods. This technique was then employed to successfully measure the density, Heat capacity, and coefficient of thermal expansion for two promising uranium salt eutectics. These studies provided the data to also study the molecular structure of these salts. This study showed interesting new aggregation of the uranium atoms that will be presented.

Authors: Jaren Meikle, Samuel Archer. Mentors: Jacob Dean. Insitution: Southern Utah University. Dipyrroles are bicyclic, heterocyclic compounds ubiquitous in nature. Dipyrroles form subunits in commonly-occurring photoactive biological subunits such as bilins, and are thus remarkable in their ability to absorb visible light despite their chemical simplicity. In this work, the photochemistry of a model dipyrrole serving as an analogue to the core subunit found in bilins was investigated and found to show a proclivity to undergo pH-dependent reactions. When the acidic and basic variants were irradiated with blue light and the time-resolved UV-vis spectra were recorded, we found stark differences in reactivity between the two variants. The protonated variant is highly photostable and resistant to photoxidation with photonic energy being channeled into rapid internal conversion. The basic variant, however, undergoes consistent oxygen-dependent photooxidation, forming hydroxy and methoxy adducts. Our research is currently focused on elucidating the structure of these photoproducts, identifying the mechanism of photooxidation, as well as modeling the kinetics of the reaction.

Authors: Samuel Andersen. Mentors: Jianlong Han. Insitution: Southern Utah University. We study a Gray-Scott model arising from chemistry. Using nondimensionalization, we reduce the number of parameters, we also analyze the stability of the steady state solutions of the system.

Authors: Elizabeth Jenkins. Mentors: Jerry Johnson. Insitution: Brigham Young University. There is convincing data on the potential relationship between predator-prey environments and cognitive abilities. There is often an increase in cognition found in species living among predators. Culum Brown and Victoria A. Braithwaite (2005) conducted an experiment to test this hypothesis on Brachyraphis episcopi. While they anticipated their results would support this hypothesis, the populations under non-predator conditions solved the cognitive tests more quickly. In this study, I replicate their experiment with a different species, named Brachyraphis rhabdophora, to determine if their results are repeatable. Populations of Brachyrhaphis rhabdophora are found in northwestern Costa Rica and are distinctly segregated into different river drainages. In each drainage, the populations are isolated into predator and non-predator populations. These populations experience a parallel separation of social environment to the populations used by Brown and Braithwaite. Using their same methodology, we measured cognition in Brachyrhaphis rhabdophora by presenting them with the task of locating a hidden food patch. I expected that that the predatory-prey population would complete this task more efficiently, although it’s possible that this species could produce the same contradictory results. Once the data are all collected, I will present the results and publish a paper on my findings.

Authors: Parker R. Carlquist, Lexi Brady, Seth Dotson, Jeff Glenn. Mentors: Jeff Glenn. Insitution: Brigham Young University. Background: Addressing public health problems requires cooperation from stakeholders who may have wide-ranging political, religious, moral, and societal beliefs. If stakeholders lose trust and mutual understanding between one another, the influence of public health efforts decreases. The COVID-19 pandemic illustrated these complexities as communities became divided in opinions regarding the appropriate response. Without systems and strategies to maintain and increase trust, divisive public health issues may become unsolvable. Objectives: The Campus Conversations project analyzed the effectiveness of reflective structured dialogue (RSD) in helping develop skills and abilities to address difficult conversations and topics. The project hosted conversations among Brigham Young University students of varying demographics and ideologies on divisive topics such as diversity and gender.Methods: Students were recruited to participate in an hour-long conversation with 4-6 others, including a student facilitator who guided the conversation. Conversations began with foundational agreements followed by 3 rounds of questions. Participants were each given an opportunity to speak uninterrupted in each round, followed by group discussion and questions. The structure encourages the sharing of personal experiences and beliefs in an environment that fosters understanding instead of judgement. Pre- and post-conversation surveys were administered to measure the effects of the conversations on skills. Participants were asked to rate how important they believed a skill was and also assess their ability to use it. A collection of 8 different skills and 6 different mindsets/abilities were measured. Results: Survey results found that participation in a conversation using RSD is associated with statistically significant improvements in how students rated the importance of 6 different skills. Additionally, 8 skills and mindsets/abilities saw statistically significant improvements in students’ assessed capability. The skills of “vulnerability” and “suspending judgement” saw the greatest improvements in both rated importance and assessed capabilities. The average change between pre- and post-surveys overall was a 10.5% increase. Conclusions: In order to develop effective public health policies, consensus and understanding must be achieved among stakeholders and communities. The results highlight the potential for RSD conversations to be used as an effective tool to improve students’ belief in the importance of skills required for difficult conversations and potentially improve their ability to use them. Public Health Implications: Public health is currently working to address various divisive problems that require collaboration from stakeholders that range across the political, demographic, and societal spectrums. Utilizing RSD can help promote understanding and the ability to discuss divisive issues in a calm and structured way, forming a foundation whereupon policy can be effectively created, discussed, and advocated.

Authors: Nykitha chomina, Emalee Dias, Mary Roberts. Mentors: Jodi Lopez. Insitution: Utah Valley University. As e-cigarette use has increased in popularity among the general population, especially among adolescents, the demand for research has become evident. E-cigarettes became available in the United States in 2007 and were created as a tobacco cessation tool, even though there is no current research supporting those claims. The wide array of flavors is attributed to the growing popularity of e-cigarettes with known and unknown properties. There is some overlap between the chemicals found in traditional cigarettes and e-cigarettes including nicotine. Some of the most negative effects of these ingredients include carcinogenic effects and negative oral manifestations such as hairy tongue, xerostomia, inflammation, and increased incidence of periodontal disease. For decades dental professionals have been interviewing patients regarding their smoking habits; however, with the rise of e-cigarette use, there is a greater demand for patient education. It is crucial that dental professionals take on an active role when it comes to preaching the truths about the dangers of e-cigarettes and the negative impact on oral health. Keywords: e-cigarette, oral health, ingredients

Authors: Karina Geranios, Madison Mathews, Connor Baird. Mentors: Robert Kagabo. Insitution: Utah Tech University. Abstract: Addressing Teenage Pregnancy and Related Public Health Issues in Rhino Camp Refugee Settlements in UgandaIntroductionWhen individuals cross international borders for fear of persecution due to reasons such as their race, belonging to a particular religion, or political group and seeking safety, they become refugees in the new host country. In most resource deprived countries, these refugees are placed in refugee camps where they receive necessities such as food, water, medical care, or shelter. However, in some cases even in these intended safe refugee camps there are many social and public health challenges mostly due to overcrowding. Teenage pregnancy, which is girls getting pregnant between the ages 10-19 is one of those issues not well investigated within refugee camps. Teenage pregnancy is associated with several adverse outcomes for young mothers including intergenerational cycles of poverty and is the leading cause of death among adolescent girls.MethodsUsing constructs from the community-based participatory research approach, the authors used mixed methods study in June 2023 to collaborate with community members to assess and initiate culturally acceptable teenage pregnancy interventions in Rhino Camp Refugee Settlement. Play and sports activities were used to enhance collaborative efforts between community members and researchers.FindingsMeasures intended to decrease the spread of Covid-19 such as tough lockdowns might have increased risk sexual behaviors and abuse and therefore increased teenage pregnancy. Community leaders are in search of appropriate interventions to reduce teenage pregnancy and provide education to teenage mothers.ConclusionThe study resulted in a collaborative interest between researchers, public health providers, and community leaders to identify culturally acceptable teenage pregnancy measures of intervention. Organized play activities, and menstrual clinics proved to be excellent ways to share teenage pregnancy and related public health challenges information including preventive measures.

Authors: Seth Leavitt. Mentors: Nathan Crane. Insitution: Brigham Young University. One common form of 3D printing is Fused filament fabrication (FFF). In this process, a plastic filament is melted and extruded one line at a time to form a 3D shape. FFF often has problems that arise during printing that can cause the rest of the print to fall apart or otherwise fail. We assessed the feasibility of classifying 3D printing errors in prints using Thermography and data processing. We did this by taking constant thermal video of a specially designed printer to collect our temperature data. Then, using a constant travel speed on the printhead and using the distance traveled, we calculated the speed at which the cooling occurs. We collected cooling data on both control prints as well as parts with simulated defects (gaps in the print substrate). By analyzing the differences between the two sets of data, we determined that is feasible to identify anomalies in the printed part. This is a first step towards improving the quality of 3D-printed parts.

Authors: Dallin Zollinger, Lauren Brooks. Mentors: Lauren Brooks. Insitution: Utah Valley University. Antibiotics are one of the most important inventions in recent history, saving countless lives. However, their use has also caused antibiotic resistance to increase in frequency among bacterial populations at an astonishing rate. This increase in frequency will influence our treatment of infections worldwide since previous treatments will no longer be effective, causing many deaths that would once have been preventable. Streptogramins are a class of antibiotics used to treat infections which bacteria have evolved resistance to. This study was focused on the vatA gene, which encodes resistance to streptogramins in Staphylococcus aureus. Samples were collected from various areas on the Utah Valley University campus, the DNA was extracted, and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) specific to the vatA gene was performed. Gel electrophoresis was then performed to visualize the amplicons generated from the PCR to evaluate the presence or absence of the vatA gene. Through this work, we have identified locations where this gene is found.

Authors: Sydney Holt, Mikaela Cowles. Mentors: Joe Jensen. Insitution: Utah Valley University. We are using Surface Brightness Fluctuations (SBF) to measure distances to giant elliptical galaxies using the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). These distance measurements will be used to better define the Hubble Constant, and hopefully help resolve the Hubble tension crisis in cosmology. Part of SBF requires a knowledge of the colors of the galaxies to be studied in order to account for variations in age and composition of the stars contained within. To this end, we are using PanSTARRS and DECam data to determine the optical g-z color (464 nm-900 nm) values for galaxies from the Virgo and Fornax clusters out to 300 million light years.

Authors: Isaac Settle, Easton Gray, Bonnie Anderson. Mentors: Bonnie Anderson. Insitution: Utah Valley University. Study of mode transitions with an artificially-blown clarinet Isaac Settle, Easton Gray, and Bonnie AndersenAbstractWhile playing the clarinet one might experience what is called a squeak or grunt note. A squeak note is a note that is in a higher register without any change of the keys being pressed. Similarly, a grunt note is a lower shifted note with the same circumstances. Both tend to be undesirable while playing, but often happen when learning how to play the clarinet. A similar occurrence of tonal differences can be controlled intentionally when advanced students enacting the technique called voicing to play the instrument in different registers. This research studied the physical parameters that cause squeak and grunt notes. An airtight box was built to hold the mouthpiece of the clarinet and attached to an air compressor. The effects on mode transitions between registers based on air pressure and where contact is applied on specific parts of the reed of the clarinet were studied. Additionally, a laser vibrometer was used to compare reed vibrations to that of the pitch of the clarinet. This data can help clarinet students as they learn the technique of voicing.

Authors: John Walton, Mason Astill, Jarrett Nelson. Mentors: Dustin Shipp. Insitution: Utah Valley University. Our research group is working to create a meta analysis of the variables that affect the efficiency of eddy current braking systems. We are making a track to accelerate marbles made from different non-ferromagnetic materials down an incline, through a photogate to get its initial velocity, then through a solenoid. We are testing several metals for the marbles and solenoids driven by alternating current with different frequencies. The marble after passing through the solenoid will have its new velocity recorded, allowing us to determine the deceleration experienced by the marble.