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Differential Pressure Sensor Analysis
Full text linkThe project goal is to fabricate a pressure sensor using p-type doped silicon. Doped silicon exhibits piezoresistive properties. The resistance of the material changes with mild deformation of the material. The sensor will then be implemented in a circuit design and evaluated. The stretch goal of the project is to build an air pressure sensor, but the baseline goal is to sense any pressure, be it from strain or weight. The material is sensitive to resistance changes across temperature, so a polyimide heater and sensing thermistor will be used to hold it at a stable temperature to stabilize that effect. The silicon wafer will be connected electrically into the circuit using an electrically conductive epoxy or adhesive. Plan A is to seal a piece of P-type silicon inside of a bulkhead wall to sense pressure between the inside of a sealed box and the outside. An idea from a classmate was to include insulative materials to help with the temperature challenge. Differential pressure sensors 2SMPP-03 and MP3V5050GP will be included on the board both to compare the built sensor to and as a backup plan to compare to one another in the event of sensor fabrication failure
Dual Axis Photovoltaic Solar Tracker VS Stationary Solar Panels
Full text linkThis paper explores the development and advantages of a dual-axis photovoltaic solar tracker, engineered to optimize solar energy capture by maintaining continuous alignment with the sun throughout the day. Solar panels operate based on the photovoltaic effect, where incident sunlight excites electrons in a semiconductor material, typically silicon - producing direct current electricity [1[. However, in stationary systems, this energy conversion peaks only when the panel’s orientation directly faces the sun, which happens briefly once per day. In contrast, a dual-axis tracker dynamically adjusts both azimuth and elevation angles to follow the sun’s path, significantly increasing daily energy output. In large-scale solar farms, industrial-grade actuators are commonly used to adjust the tilt angle of heavy solar arrays to follow the sun's elevation throughout the day [5[. However, these systems are typically mounted in a fixed horizontal position - usually facing east where the sun rises and only adjusts along a single axis. This half-stationary design limits their ability to track the sun's full trajectory, especially in locations where the sun’s path varies more dramatically with seasons or latitude. In contrast, our project offers a fully dynamic dual-axis tracking solution capable of adjusting both the horizontal (azimuth) and vertical (elevation) angles. This makes it effective in virtually any geographic location, especially useful for travelers using a solar energy system on vehicles such as RVs and Campers. For our design, we implemented a scaled-down version of this concept using servo motors and a compact gear system to mimic the functionality of industrial actuators. Despite its miniature size, the design follows the same control principles, utilizing sensor feedback to achieve real-time dual-axis sun tracking and maximizing solar exposure. The final system demonstrates that even at reduced scale, dynamic tracking dramatically improves solar efficiency compared to fixed panels. Our results confirm that dual-axis tracking is a practical and effective solution for maximizing solar output in both experimental and real-world applications
Confidence intervals for forced alignment with the Mason-Alberta Phonetic Segmenter
Full text linkForced alignment is a common tool in experimental phonetics to align audio with orthographic and phonetic transcriptions. Phonetic segmentation is not a straightforward process, however, and boundaries between phonetic segments cannot be easily determined. Most forced alignment tools provide a single estimate of a boundary based on conditional probabilities of segment categories given some acoustic data. The present project introduces a method of deriving confidence intervals for these boundaries using a neural network ensemble technique with the Mason-Alberta Phonetic Segmenter. Ten different segment classifier neural networks were previously trained, and the alignment process is repeated with each model. The alignment ensemble is then used to place the boundary at the median of the time points, and 97.85% confidence intervals are constructed using order statistics. On the Buckeye and TIMIT corpora, the ensemble boundaries show a slight improvement over using just a single model. The confidence intervals are incorporated into Praat TextGrids using a point tier, and they are also output as a table for researchers to analyze separately
Complete mitochondrial genomes of the Eastern lowland olingo (Bassaricyon alleni), ringtail (Bassariscus astutus), white-nosed coati (Nasua narica), and crab-eating raccoon (Procyon cancrivorus) elucidate the phylogeny of the Procyonidae
Full text linkBasque Txalaparta and Contemporary Percussion
Full text linkThe txalaparta was little-known around the time it underwent a revival within a Basque cultural reinvigoration in the 1960s, a politically complex time in the history of the Basque Country. Community and sharing are at the heart of txalaparta, both in its historical origins and performance practice. This dissertation aims to provide a point of access and interaction by contemporary percussionists and musicians through 1) developing a notation informed by the txalaparta practice, 2) applying that notation to comment on an observable pedagogy, 3) collaboration with contemporary classical composers to write original works inspired by txalaparta, all while 4) mindfully navigating the sociopolitical questions pertaining to these types of ethnomusicological and anthropological studies. It has developed into an experimental contemporary music practice that maintains those same values of community and sharing, as expressed through interviews with txalaparta performers, revivalists, and scholars in their readiness to share their ideas. A collaborative notation, along with original music towards this practice, will allow musicians of both cultures to share in this music-making practice and continue to complement each other in areas of performance, composition, and pedagogy
“A CROW IN A PIGEON’S NEST”: ZORA NEALE HURSTON, BLACK SCHOLARSHIP, AND THE FIELDS OF PEACE AND CONFLICT RESOLUTION
Full text linkThis dissertation positions Zora Neale Hurston and her contributions as vanguards. As a Black woman scholar typically researched as an outside Other, centering interdisciplinarian Hurston allows for further exploration of the ways of being an educated Black woman in perceived sacred spaces, including White institutions like colleges and universities. This positioning asserts that Hurston’s knowledge production can contribute to peace and conflict resolution (PaCR) as interdisciplinary fields if introduced broadly and specifically when examining Black communities. Her work in the United States and several short stories, three novels, and 141 letters written from 1925-1956 to those in the academy, ties to the academy, and the publishing establishment are historically contextualized and analyzed from various angles, including interpersonal and intra-racial interactions based on the social contract, offering unique perspectives on accessibility and humiliation. These works demonstrate how PaCR can disrupt the status quo by integrating Black scholarship, opening itself up to pedagogical changes like cognitive justice and dismantling Eurocentric monocultures of knowledge. Additionally, they stand as an extended invitation for PaCR to do what it has not done by permitting Black people, specifically Black women, into what has been perceived as a sacred space. To accomplish this, Hurston and her works serve as entry points for other Black scholarship and knowledge production to become central in the fields’ quests for expertise, cultural competency, equity, and social justice of communities they claim to serve. Tags: accessibility, anthropology, Black feminism, cognitive justice, humiliation, Hurston, knowledge production, peace and conflict resolution, plantation politics, social justic
Project 1: Using Large Language Models (LLMs) to Predict One-Year Hospitalization Rates in Kidney Transplant Recipients
Full text linkObjective: This study aimed to find the most successful LLM prompt strategy for health outcome predictions and compare the functioning of various LLMs in clinical predictions
Effects of Enrichment on Behavioral Aspects of hTau Mice Modeling Alzheimer’s Disease
Full text linkThis thesis investigated the effects of repeated exposure to a nesting task and different forms of enrichment on Alzheimer’s disease (AD)-modeling mice. Using hTau expressing AD mice from strain rTg4510, the nesting study examined if continual exposure to a nestlet could prevent the decay in nesting ability over time. Alternatively, the aggression study explored the efficacy of cardboard tubes and nestlets in attenuating aggression in the noncarrier/noncarrier mice from strain rTg4510. Behavioral assays and survival analyses were conducted to assess nesting ability and aggression levels, respectively. Two-way repeated-measures ANOVAs revealed no statistically significant effect of treatment in the nesting study but there was a significant effect of time; Chisquares revealed aggression levels varied across the aggression intervention groups with some significant effects of, and driven by, sex. Implications for animal welfare and future research are discussed, highlighting the need for further investigation into enrichment protocols and their behavioral impacts on laboratory animals
Ground-based Light Curve Follow-up Validation observations of TESS object of interest TOI 5907.01
Full text link“The Transiting Exoplanet Surveillance Satellite (TESS), created in 2018, is an MIT-led mission to detect exoplanets. It has gathered data for 75% of the night sky and confirmed 542 exoplanets, with 7208 candidates (3). This observational study aims to verify the existence of TESS Object of Interest (TOI) 5907.01, one of these candidates. We used AstroImageJ (AIJ) to perform multi-aperture photometry on the 77 exposures taken using GMU’s 0.8 lens. Additionally, we conducted a Near Eclipsing Binary (NEB) check to verify that the transit caused was truly due to the planet, not a binary star close to the TOI. We found a clear transit at the expected times with the expected depth for TOI 5907.01. However, our NEB check was inconclusive, meaning we cannot fully rule out the possibility of a false positive.
Leading Others to Join: Influencing Nonprofit Sector Policy through Moral and Fact-based Messages
Full text linkAlthough the nonprofit sector serves as the cornerstone of American democracy, sector advocates often struggle to successfully influence public policy. Political psychology literature finds people make most of their political decisions based on their emotions and values, but nonprofits often highlight only facts in advocacy messages. This research examines the how moral and fact-based messages influence public support for nonprofit sector-wide issues. Findings show moral messages are more persuasive than fact-based messages, but the extent to which the values match those of the target audience influence the outcome. Unique contribution of research is application of theory to unfamiliar, nonpartisan policy issues and impact of different message designs on outcomes