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Before the Dam Breaks: How Transparency in Negotiations Influence the Outcome of Large Scale Hydroelectric Projects
No full textThe negotiation phase of hydroelectric dam development is vital to ensuring a satisfying outcome for most people, but those who will be affected are often left out of this process, resulting in human rights violations and wasted resources. Organizations that attempt to moderate these negotiations and make them more equitable often fail to insulate themselves from the influence of private industries and governments, which results in policy outcomes that are highly unpopular. Given the increasing demand for hydroelectric power, it is clear that a more just and independent negotiation process is necessary to avoid human rights violations and improve efficiency. By looking at recent examples, this project will analyze how increased inclusion and transparency in dam negotiations leads to more satisfying outcomes for afflicted interest groups
Testing different methods of total RNA extraction from Candida albicans for effective PCR
Get PDFCandida albicans is a commensal fungal pathogen, and to infect the human body, it must penetrate the intestinal mucosal barrier by changing its morphology from yeast to filamentous. The risk of candida infections increases during pregnancy and estrogen levels are high during pregnancy. Thus, we hypothesized that estrogen could act as a signal for C. albicans to become filamentous. In an ongoing study, we have looked at the effect of estrogen on filamentation, but our approach was qualitative rather than quantitative and could not clearly establish the effect of estrogen on filamentation. To get a better understanding of the effect of estrogen we have decided to use qPCR to quantify the gene expression of HWP1 involved in filamentation. In the literature, it is reported that extracting RNA from fungi is challenging because of the cell wall. In our experiments, we have compared 4 extraction methods a) snap freeze/Trizol, b) zirconium beads/Trizol, c) snap freeze/beads/Trizol, and d) hot Formamide-EDTA (FAE) extraction. Methods “a, b, and c” yield poor RNA extraction ~50ng/µl, measured with a nanodrop. Method “d” on the other hand resulted in 300 ng/µl RNA yield and a good RNA quality on agarose gel. Using the total RNA obtained from method “d”, we generated cDNA by RT-PCR and successfully PCR HWP1 in our samples. In conclusion, FAE total RNA extraction is an effective method to obtain good RNA from C. albicans and perform PCR
Photometric Survey of Central Stars of Planetary Nebulae
No full textComplete surveys of the central stars of planetary nebulae are essential for understanding the fraction of these objects that exist as close binary systems, allowing better understanding of stellar evolution. Planetary nebulae are regions of ionized gas expelled from a dying star that has just left the asymptotic giant branch and is evolving into a white dwarf. In this research, we utilized an existing catalog of all planetary nebulae within 2 kpc from us, with a total of 235 targets. We used photometric data from ZTF (Zwicky Transient Facility), SARA (Southeastern Association for Research in Astronomy) telescopes at Kitt Peak National Observatory and Cerro Tololo Interamerican Observatory, and other private telescopes to study the central stars of these planetary nebulae. We visually examined the brightness of the nebulosity and determined which planetary nebulae have bright nebulosity that would cause uncertainty in the photometry of the central stars. Then recorded average brightness and average variation ranges for each central star for which quality data was available. We reviewed the brightness data to determine if each central star varied in brightness in a way indicative of a close companion. If such variability was present we identified that central star as a candidate binary system. We discuss the results of our search in the context of the overall fraction of planetary nebula central stars that exist as close binary systems
Heteroatom Effects in Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons
Get PDFThere are several peaks in the infrared (IR) spectrum of planetary nebulae (PNe) like NGC 7027 whose origins are unknown. This has been a long-standing puzzle in the study of PNe. This project explores heteroatom substitution in polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) as a possible origin for these unidentified infrared emission (UIE) peaks. The heteroatom elements explored in this study are nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, silicon, and sulfur. Previous work has demonstrated that 3- and 4- ring PAHs emit a spectrum close to current spectrum data for UIE and a previous group tested nitrogen substitution in similar structures with varied results. I used the Gaussian 09 program to model these PAHs substituting carbon with these heteroatom elements and a Python program adapted from GaussSum to analyze the resulting spectra of these molecules. I, first, analyzed the stability of the substituted PAHs by calculating their formation energy. Phosphorus had the lowest formation energy of all the heteroatoms with an energy of -0.1968 eV for the most stable substitution. Overall, I found that the heteroatom substituted PAHs were fairly stable and could possibly be found within the circumstellar environment of PNe. Calculated IR spectra will be compared with IR spectra from planetary nebulae
Modeling Close Binary Systems Within Planetary Nebulae
No full textMany fascinating and important processes in space occur in binary systems consisting of a white dwarf and a companion star in a very close orbit. Because of this, understanding this type of system is important to our overall understanding of our universe. These binary systems are born within planetary nebulae. However, only 26 such systems within planetary nebulae have been fully modeled, which isn\u27t a large enough number to result in meaningful statistical data. In order to work towards increasing this number, I used the PHOEBE modeling software to obtain ranges for the secondary temperature, primary and secondary radii, secondary albedo, and system inclination for the close binary system in the planetary nebula Hf2-2. I constrained the primary temperature to a 20 kK range based on a previously published spectrum analysis, while both of the masses were held constant due to not having radial velocities available. I present here the resulting ranges for the parameters
Did My Professor Waste Money?: Computational Cluster Configuration Variations and Cost-Efficiency
Get PDFParallel and distributed computing (PDC) and high performance computing (HPC) tools and techniques are becoming increasingly common and even necessary in many disciplines, particularly as large data sets and high computational loads become commonly encountered challenges. Experimentation in this space is somewhat constrained by the cost and availability of the assets that handle even small and midsize tasks in this space; initial tests and bench-marking may be the only chance to put systems through their paces. Therefore, it has become important to provide information on optimizing these smaller but still impactful systems. This requires experiments focused on delivering more capability with commodity options and configurations.
A series of HPC tools were identified for testing against commonly used benchmarks that use parallelization techniques such as MPI and OpenMP. For the selection of each benchmark, networking speed was considered above CPU power as this may be a road to increased performance at minimal additional cost. The configuration used for this experiment consists of a computing cluster with three AMD Ryzen 9 5950 CPUs and one AMD Ryzen 9 7950X CPU, all readily available. Variations in performance were investigated using the selected benchmarks: specific tests were done with both homogeneous and heterogeneous CPU configurations, as well bonded and unique-IP configurations for 10GbE network adapters
Cookin’ Time: Deploying a Satellite Synchronized Oven-Controlled Oscillator Stratum-1 Timekeeping System
Get PDFPrecision timekeeping is critical in both the sciences and in the operation of large complex computer installations, impacting tasks ranging from distributed database synchronization to cryptography. It also impacts domains like satellite communication and high-volume financial transactions. The accuracy of time is measured not only in the units of time the clock is capable of but also in how far the clock will drift, relative to Universal Coordinated Time (UTC) over a period of time. Most commodity modern computers have clocks that drift a few milliseconds each day, which creates issues across a variety of time-sensitive applications. This project aims to create and deploy a stratum-1 clock capable of providing highly accurate time data over the Precision Time Protocol (PTP). A core component of a stratum-1 device is a connection to a reliable source of UTC via a stratum-0 device, which is most readily obtained via GPS satellites. The team utilized an L1/L2 GPS receiver to acquire an accurate time source, used to synchronize with a local digitally controlled oven-controlled crystal oscillator (DCOXCO) which provides a high precision tick based on a hyper accurate quartz vibration. This near-atomic-clock grade device with locally developed custom housing, once deployed and verified, will provide the opportunity to pursue a variety of advanced questions in multiple disciplines
Real, Digital? Product Type on Joy, Psychological Ownership, and Worth.
No full textThe prevalence of digital goods have increased as technological advances continue to interact with consumerism. Despite this, physical goods are still preferred, as demonstrated by the preference for physical books over e-books (Pew Research Center, 2016). Factors concerning identity and legacy often make physical objects more desirable and valuable than digital ones (Giles et al., 2007). Individuals tend to have higher levels of psychological ownership of physical goods than digital (Atasoy et al., 2018). Thus, this study investigates the levels of psychological ownership and joy individuals experience with digital and physical goods.
Participants were asked on a survey how much they would pay for these goods, how much psychological ownership they would feel towards each item, and how much joy each object brings. We expect participants to have greater psychological ownership ratings, joy ratings, and be willing to pay more for physical rather than digital goods. The data will be analyzed by running paired samples t-tests with the product type (digital or physical) as the grouping variable and the amount of money participants are willing to pay, their perceived levels of ownership, and joy as our dependent variables. This project allows us to gain insight into how people feel about objects that come in the form of physical and digital goods. As digital goods become more plentiful, how we view and value our goods is bound to change and this sets a foundation on which to build an understanding
What’s that? A New Set of Novel Stimuli for Research
No full textWord learning studies require the use of novel stimuli to effectively test participants. Previous research has found that novelty of objects can affect the learning of these objects (Horst & Hout, 2015). Children who have been exposed to a novel object for a short time are less likely to associate novel names to these objects than still-novel objects (Horst et al., 2011). Having an extensive list of novel objects, as well as the novelty of these objects is important. Certain studies require objects to be easily distinguishable (Twomey et al., 2014), while others find it more useful for objects to look similar (Homa et al., 2011). Thus, we have created a set of unique items that include both easily distinguishable items and items that are highly similar that differ in surface level features, such as color. These objects were a combination of hand-crafted and store bought items that were unique and did not have easily identifiable names. These objects were tested by the public to ascertain their effectiveness as novel objects. Through a survey format, we introduced participants to these novel objects and asked a series of questions to discover how novel these objects were. This project will provide another database of novel objects for use in other researchers’ studies. This study also allows our lab to have a collection of objects that can be used in person or through digital form in any future studies that we conduct and will provide other researchers with additional stimuli options
Apparently Healthy College Students: Elevated Blood Pressure and the Need for Cardiovascular Risk Education
Get PDFElevated blood pressure (BP) at a young age leads to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) (Zhang et al., 2019). College students are often unaware of hypertension and its risk factors which could increase the development of these conditions. Our study served to educate, assess BP rates, and identify risk factors to promote health. To frame our research, two theoretical models were utilized: Neuman Systems Model and The Fogg Behavioral Model (TFBM).
Through convenience sampling, BP assessments were performed on participants attending a private midwestern university. At each screening, participants filled out a Google Form, measuring hypertension knowledge, habits, stress, medications, history, and other factors. BP, heart rate, body fat, body water, and BMI were measured. BP was measured twice and averaged. Recent caffeine, food, and alcohol intake were recorded. Education was provided about stress, stress reduction, and CVD.
The results indicated most participants were unaware of their risk factors regarding hypertension. The majority of participants self-reported normal BP; however, 52% of participants had an elevated systolic BP, and 30.4% of participants had an elevated diastolic BP. Caffeine and alcohol use were not shown to be related to hypertension. Participants reported high stress related to college life.
To prevent future complications of hypertension in participants, it is crucial to implement interventions that address these outcomes (Choi et al., 2020). We disseminated our results and invited students to perform a knowledge check on another Google Form, of which 96% of students were able to accurately identify their risks