Stanford University Student Journals
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Urban Population Scaling and CO2 Emissions
Full text linkAs the world continues struggling with climate change, it is important to better understand the causes, trends, and beneficial steps that can be taken for improvement. In this paper, we investigate the interplay between a country’s population distribution across urban centers and its environmental footprint. Specifically, we propose a new measure –which we refer to as the “Urban Scaling Factor”– connecting a country’s per-capita CO2 emissions to its level of urbanization. The Urban Scaling Factor is based on a combination of Zipf’s law and the Urban Scaling Hypothesis. With this new factor, we propose a model to determine whether a country would benefit from a shift in its population, either towards increased urbanization or dispersion. Additionally, the model predicts the hypothetical maximum reduction in emissions corresponding to these population shifts.
Subject Classifications: Environmental Science, Earth Science, Data Analytics.
Keywords: CO2 Emissions, Environmental Kuznets Curve, Zipf’s La
An Econo-Environmental Analysis of the Tengeh Reservoir Floating Photovoltaic Farm
Full text linkIn 2021, Singapore marked a significant milestone with the establishment of a 45-hectare floating photovoltaic (FPV) testbed in Tengeh Reservoir, aligning with the global shift towards renewable energy adoption to mitigate carbon emissions. As floating photovoltaic farms gain prominence in large-scale projects, this study aims to compare their efficiency against land-based photovoltaic (LPV) farms. Key parameters, including their albedo, heat-loss coefficient and energy capacity, were analysed to assess their performance. To evaluate the economic viability of FPVs, the study employed the present worth approach, calculating and comparing crucial indicators such as its net present value, internal rate of return, payback period, benefit-cost ratio, profitability index, unit cost of generation and weighted average cost of capital. Furthermore, the environmental sustainability of FPVs was assessed by analysing solar irradiance levels in Singapore using PVGIS-ERA5 data and quantifying CO2 mitigation and emission levels. The findings reveal that FPVs present a lucrative investment opportunity with substantial net CO2 reductions, demonstrating the benefits for developers and the environment. Although FPVs are less technologically mature than their land-based counterparts, they offer promising potential that is likely to only improve through continued research and innovation.
Key Words: Solar Energy; Floating Photovoltaics; Economic Performance; Energy Efficiency; Present Worth Approach; Renewable Energ
The effect of the ketogenic diet in increasing and/or restoring fertility in polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) patients
Full text linkThe effect of the ketogenic diet will be assessed using three factors: the efficacy of the diet as inferred from clinical trials, the advantage of the treatment when compared with other therapies and and the caloric and metabolic sustainability of the diet over a period long enough to restore fertility to childbearing patients.
The hypothesised mechanism of action of PCOS and the ketogenic diet will be discussed and evaluated with the aid of existing scientific literature and articles. Currently, there exists ambiguity surrounding the cause of PCOS. This makes it difficult to determine the true effect of various interventions on infertility within the disorder.
Overall, the efficacy of the ketogenic diet in short intervals demonstrates promising elevation in fertility amongst overweight PCOS patients. However, there is a lack of experimental evidence exploring the effect of the ketogenic diet on lean PCOS patients who make up a significant portion of the target population. Moreover, the nutritional sustainability of the diet makes it unlikely for patients to maintain success due to the difficulty in maintaining ketosis.
Instead, this report suggests that a less restrictive version of the ketogenic diet could be implemented for these patients, but further research and trials would be required to affirm this. As an alternative, this report also suggests that a personalised dietary plan for patients may prove to be quite beneficial as it would be more likely in ensuring long-term success.
Key Words: Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, Ketogenic Diet, Insulin Sensitivity, Follicle Stimulating Hormone, Lutenising Hormone, Ovaries, Fertility, Low-Carbohydrate, Insulin Resistance, Hyperinsulinemia, Hyperandrogenism, Ovarian Function, Reproductive Health, Nutrition, Menstrual Cycl
Predicting the Significance of Genetic Variants in Parkinson’s Disease
Full text linkDifferent genetic variants in the human genome can give rise to distinct forms of Parkinson’s Disease. This study aims to determine the significance of all variants in the human genome linked to Parkinson’s Disease based on empirically validated pathogenicity data.
We condensed the list of variants in the dbNSFP/ClinVar database to only those variants associated with Parkinson’s Disease, used 2 interpretation criteria from the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics/Association for Molecular Pathology’s clinical guidelines to pair each empirically validated variant, with a variant with unknown significance, and finally analyzed for pathogenicity.
The analysis of variant pairs based on ACMG/AMP criteria revealed strong correlation (R-squared = 0.9943) between CADD scores for PS1 variants. However, for PM5 variants, the lower correlation (R-squared = 0.118) indicates poor predictive value. This indicates that the PS1 criteria is effective in predicting the significance of VUSs based on empirically validated data. Furthermore, we analyzed the COMT gene to predict how treatment of Parkinson’s Disease can be affected.
The results indicate that, for >1000 SNVs exome wide, we can accurately predict the significance of VUSs based off empirically validated data. On this basis, patients with currently unvalidated mutations can gain information about their likelihood of developing Parkinson’s Disease. Further research is required to understand the clinical presentation of each variant.
The Role of Artificial Intelligence in Enhancing Renewable Energy Efficiency: A Case Study on Solar and Wind Energy Optimization
Full text linkThis paper explores the transformative role of artificial intelligence (AI) in enhancing the efficiency and functionality of renewable energy systems, focusing on solar and wind energy optimization. Solar and wind energy, as key players in the global energy transition, are not just environmentally beneficial but also socially transformative, offering affordable energy solutions to underserved communities. For instance, low-income families in Pakistan increasingly adopt solar energy due to its affordability compared to traditional energy sources (Asian Development Bank [ADB], 2022). The paper highlights AI applications such as predictive maintenance, optimization of energy output, and integration with energy storage, emphasizing their potential to improve the reliability and sustainability of renewable energy systems. Concrete examples include AI-powered solar panel tracking systems increasing efficiency by 20% (Massachusetts Institute of Technology [MIT], 2021), Google’s DeepMind predicting wind power output 36 hours in advance to enhance value by 20% (Google, 2019), and a Danish wind farm utilizing AI to optimize layout, achieving a 12% increase in energy production (Technical University of Denmark, 2020). The research underscores AI’s role in not only driving technical innovation but also addressing global energy inequities
“Accessibility, Sustainability, and Universality”: An Interview with Open Access Scholar John Willinsky
Full text linkDr. John Willinsky is an educator, author, and advocate of the Open Access Movement who seeks to redefine scholarly publishing as a public resource built upon accessibility, sustainability, and universality. Dr. Willinsky is a Professor Emeritus in the Stanford Graduate School of Education where he also serves as the Khosla Family Professor. Additionally, Dr. Willinsky directs The Public Knowledge Project – an Open Source publishing platform housing scholarly journals, books, and preprints that seeks the global advancement of Open Access and Open Science. He is the author of The Access Principle (2005) and frequently analyzes the relationships between research, scholarship, the publishing industry, the internet, and accessibility in his additional publications that have been featured in Learned Publishing, Perspectives on Medical Education, and the Canadian Journal of Higher Education among others.
Open Access is an international movement that supports open online access to academic information, including research, publications, and data across disciplines. The movement opposes the traditional subscription model of scholarly conversation and instead seeks to make information freely available to readers. Similar movements like Open Science and Open Source demonstrate the movement’s discipline defying reach and the desire for accessible and collaborative research networks in not only scholarly publishing, but academia at large.
I was excited to speak with Dr. Willinsky because of his significance to my own research into the Open Access Movement as well his practical approaches to increasing accessibility within the classroom, the higher education system, and the scholarly publishing industry at large. This interview was conducted in October 2024
The Kinematics of Parkinson’s Disease: Utilizing Foot Sensors as a Predictor of Postural Instability and Severity
Full text linkAround 60,000 individuals are diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease (PD) in the United States each year. With the disease’s increasing prevalence, early severity diagnosis is critical for effective symptom management. The MDS-UPDRS is the current gold standard of PD severity diagnosis, which is highly comprehensive. Still, it lacks the utilization of complex data, and its potential subjectivity contributes to the accuracy of only 80.6% of clinical diagnoses of PD. This research project aims to incorporate kinematic data in the MDS-UPDRS by analyzing the impact of left and right foot velocities on the Postural Stability MDS-UPDRS score and, thus, PD severity. Three primary data analyses were conducted to investigate the relationships between (1) velocity and time (i.e., constructing velocity curves), (2) step length for control and PD patients, and (3) step length and MDS-UPDRS scores. Velocity and step length demonstrated a positive correlation; the trends among participant groups in velocity curves were similar to those of the step length boxplot analyses, as confirmed by confidence intervals and p-values. Additionally, a statistically significant (p=0.0237) inverse relationship between step length and MDS-UPDRS scores was observed, indicating that larger step lengths correlate with better postural stability. These results culminate in a negative correlation between foot velocity and MDS-UPDRS scores, and therefore, incorporating kinematic data into the MDS-UPDRS may reduce subjectivity and improve early diagnosis accuracy. By combining this modified rating scale with other diagnostic methods, researchers can develop a device that accurately diagnoses and treats Parkinson’s disease.
Key Words: Biomedical Engineering; Biomechanics; Parkinson’s Disease; Gait Analysis; Foot Sensor
Perfect Imperfection: Findings Between Friend-Specific Perceived Pressure for Perfection and Self-Reported Anxious Symptoms Among College Students
Full text linkThe current study investigates friend-specific perceived pressure for perfection (PPP) and self-reported anxious symptoms among college students. Prior research has suggested an association between PPP, psychopathological disorders, and maladaptive behaviors. For our survey, we utilized a novel PPP scale tailored to young adults and the GAD-7. From that data (N = 63) participants recruited from Santa Barbara City College, the survey found a significant correlation between friend-specific PPP and self-reported anxious symptoms. Following the survey we conducted a between-subjects experiment (N = 130) that suggests that PPP may cause anxious symptoms. These findings demonstrate the importance of addressing friend-specific PPP in clinical interventions aimed at reducing anxious symptoms as well as perfectionism research as a whole. Additionally, our survey contributes a novel scale for assessing friend-specific socially prescribed perfectionism for future research
Merleau-Ponty\u27s Interpretation of Machiavelli: Nationalism, Dynamic Perspectives, and the Fabric of Society
Full text linkThis essay examines how Niccolò Machiavelli\u27s political philosophy and Maurice Merleau-Ponty\u27s phenomenology overlap, emphasizing how they both offer valuable perspectives on nationalism, government, and social cohesiveness. Merleau-Ponty frames nationalism as a relational and anticipatory construct shaped by dynamic encounters, emphasizing perception, embodiment, and the lived experience. Renowned for his pragmatism, Machiavelli sees nationalism as a tool for strategy, supporting measures like assimilation and eradication to maintain peace and consolidate power. By contrasting these viewpoints, the essay looks at how their theories handle the difficulties of contemporary leadership in a divided and globalized society. Shared elements like flexibility, foresight, and the function of symbols in promoting unity are highlighted in the analysis. Additionally, it assesses their applicability to current concerns such as technological disruption, international cooperation, and populism. Both scholars emphasize how leaders must carefully balance inclusion and coercion in order to preserve social harmony. In addition to broadening our knowledge of political theory, this synthesis provides practical advice for negotiating the challenges of governance in a changing global environment
Puzzle Box: Chiasmus, Queering, and Subjective Finitude in Clive Barker’s Hellraiser
Full text linkThis essay, an analysis of Clive Barker’s Hellraiser, enters into the conversation of queer negativity by utilizing a Foucauldian framework for understanding subjectivity and limits. This framework is expanded by Eve Sedgewick and Susan Sontag’s analyses of camp, in order to attend to the experience of the horror viewer. In addition to queer-focused philosophy, the essay takes inspiration from Eugenie Brinkema’s book Life Destroying Diagrams (2022) in which she employs a formalist approach to reading film. Finally, formalist literary studies shape this thesis through their investigation of the chiasmus: a rhetorical device which makes legible the crossings that queer the subject within horror.
At the core of this essay lies the queer subject-other positionality of the Cenobites in Clive Barker’s Hellraiser. The Cenobites’ freedom, and their queerness, is found in their continued sadomasochistic illegibility. Though they are trapped at one’s fingertips, always summonable through the iconic puzzle box, they are ephemeral: specters discernible only in discrete collisions with the mortals who summon them. By illuminating the intertwined relationship between perceived interior (the home) and exterior (the sadistic hellscape of the Cenobites), the essay rejects the premise of an outside and presents alterity as a disruption within the Foucauldian grid. Hellraiser’s Frank Cotton becomes the site of such a disruption through his summoning of the Cenobites, but his refusal to relinquish subjectivity bars him from becoming queered in the way that they are. Frank thus finds himself dragged between forces as the film unfolds—agonized by continued visibility, yet trapped within the grid he sought to transcend