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- Creator:
- Preciado, Jesus, Speck, Michael, and Mkrtchyan, Karapet
- Description:
- Aquilegia is a good model system for genetic and evolutionary studies. Its phylogenetic position is between grasses and core eudicots. Aquilegia is a genus consisting of 60-70 species. Aquilegia has a cymose inflorescence pattern. The branching pattern within the genus slightly differs, this may be because of the different climate adaptations of the species and differences in pollination syndromes. In this study, branching patterns are compared between A.coerulea and A. formosa. We have observed that inflorescence in A. formosa is more bramched and bears more flowers.
- Resource Type:
- Abstract, Poster, Presentation, and Student Research
- Campus Tesim:
- Pomona
- Creator:
- Janikarn-Urena, Isis, Little, Richard, Peraza, Kristiana, and Lee, Seok
- Description:
- Candidiasis is a common fungal infection caused by an overgrowth of the dimorphic yeast Candida albicans (C. albicans). Although prevalent in our normal gut flora, C. albicans can become pathogenic with an ability to switch morphology and form biofilms which are essential virulence factors for this fungus. As an opportunistic pathogen, candidiasis frequently appears in medical settings as it can thrive on medical devices and take advantage of immunocompromised individuals. Our lab has reported that male mice are more susceptible to a systemic C. albicans infection when compared to female mice as assessed by survival and weight loss. Tissue fungal load is another parameter that can be used to assess the level of infection. To investigate whether sex played a role in tissue fungal load, male and female mice were injected intravenously with 1x106 C. albicans cells/mouse, and tissues (brain, kidneys, liver) were collected on Day 1, Day 3, and Day 7 after infection. Of the tissues investigated, livers collected from females on Day 3 had a significantly higher fungal load than the livers collected from males on Day 3. In addition, male mice brain and liver fungal loads on Day 1 were greater than those at Day 3. These findings suggest that sex plays a role in mouse C. albicans tissue fungal load.
- Resource Type:
- Abstract, Poster, Presentation, and Student Research
- Campus Tesim:
- Pomona
- Creator:
- Cresta, Burt, Ma, Demetria, Joglekar, Kedar, Tran, Alexander, Yanagi, Ryan, and Keti, Nick
- Description:
- This paper presents the use of stereoscopic vision as a means of autonomous collision avoidance for multicopters with applications for unmanned autonomous systems (UASs). Stereoscopic vision offers an affordable, accessible, and effective method of collision avoidance that can be implemented in both recreational markets and commercial industry. Using a ZED stereoscopic camera, it is possible to generate depth maps using image disparity to calculate the distance between the camera and obstacles in its view. An onboard NVIDIA Jetson TX1 computer board can then process the depth maps via closed-loop algorithm to determine the multicopter's surroundings and perform obstacle detection. The algorithm partitions the continuously updated depth map in equal sections to determine the section containing obstacles with the least proximity. Once this section is chosen, a new vector is calculated to determine the "path of least resistance" and then communicated to the onboard Pixhawk flight controller via DroneKit commands. Using these commands, the UAS can maneuver to safely correct its course and avoid the obstacle autonomously. Flight test objectives, procedures, and results will be discussed along with planned future work to achieve collision avoidance between pre-determined waypoints.
- Resource Type:
- Abstract, Poster, Presentation, and Student Research
- Campus Tesim:
- Pomona
- Creator:
- Sanders, Uriah
- Description:
- Aquilegia coerulea is an emerging model system in plants. The interesting floral morphology includes spurred petals, petaloid sepals, novel organ staminodia, stamens, and carpels. The morphological traits make it attractive for genetic, ecological and evolutionary studies. Adaptive radiation in Aquilegia has led species to inhabit diverse habitats and thus acquire novel genetic and morphological differences. Aquilegia species requires vernalization, a cold treatment to transition to flowering, however, this requirement varies amongst species, for example, A. formosa requires a 6-week vernalization period and A. coerulea requires approximately 3-weeks of vernalization. Both environmental and endogenous signals ensure a successful transition from the vegetative to the reproductive phase. In this study, we are using A. coerulea as a model system to understand the developmental and genetic changes that shoot apical meristem undergoes while transitioning to a floral meristem. Results from developmental and morphological studies demonstrate the formation of inflorescence meristems begins at the third week of vernalization and floral meristems are established by the fourth week. We have sequenced the transcriptome of meristems at various stages of development using RNA-Seq. Differential gene expression analysis indicates the genetic changes that are required for floral meristem formation.
- Resource Type:
- Abstract, Poster, Presentation, and Student Research
- Campus Tesim:
- Pomona
- Creator:
- Tran, Dennis
- Description:
- Software-defined networking is a relatively new phenomenon that allows networks to be more robust, flexible, and cost-effective. By separating the control plane and the data plane, SDN allows a logically centralized controller to manage an entire networking environment. As an increasing number of firms work to integrate SDN, the need for SDN security increases as well. The distributed denial of service attack (DDOS) is a common and effective form of attack that aims to consume the resources of a certain system in order to prevent legitimate users from accessing it. While DDOS attacks normally target individual servers, the constant need for communication between the control plane and the data plane creates a bottleneck that attackers can leverage in a DDOS attack. Previous works have studied the control plane saturation attack using primarily TCP floods that could then be countered with a proxy that only forwards packets to the controller after a TCP handshake is completed. In this project we investigate alternative protocols such as UDP and ICMP that may be used in the same attack, and we test the effectiveness of some common IPS systems against the attack.
- Resource Type:
- Abstract, Poster, Presentation, and Student Research
- Campus Tesim:
- Pomona
- Creator:
- Lee, Siyoung
- Description:
- Primary bile acids are converted to secondary bile acids by gut bacteria, and secondary bile acids are known to be related to GI tract cancers. This research focuses on Clostridium scindens, a bacterial strain that harbors a multi-gene bile acid inducible operon. The BaiCD gene product is one target of this research due to this enzyme's stereospecificity for its substrate. There will be two approaches for this research, biochemical and structural. Starting with biochemical approach, enzymes that have similar redox catalysis that also have high similarity on the sequence identity were found by conducting multiple sequence alignments. Next, site directed mutagenesis will be used to mutate likely key amino acids of BaiCD. Primers that have the desired mutation in them will be designed and prepared prior to PCR and purification. The DNA products after site-directed mutagenesis will be confirmed by sequencing. Redox experiments and enzymatic assays will be conducted on wild type and mutant BaiCD gene products to characterize the impact of each mutated residue on the function of BaiCD enzyme. In parallel, the structural approach will use X-ray crystallography to determine a high resolution structure of BaiCD, and later the structure of the BaiCD enzyme will be compared to other known crystal structures of enzymes that have high similarity on their sequence identity. Together, the biochemical and structural studies will provide information about the mechanism and action of BaiCD.
- Resource Type:
- Abstract, Poster, Presentation, and Student Research
- Campus Tesim:
- Pomona
- Creator:
- Wong, Jordan, Mardia, Aayushi, and Khan, Zuhayr
- Description:
- Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate diaphorase (NADPH-d) histochemistry is used to study nitric oxide (NO) synthesizing nitrigergic cells. When staining neurons, the NADPH-d histochemical technique beautifully stains them entirely, including the dendrites, soma and extensive axon arborizations. Due to not all cells being stained by this technique, it is not possible to know exactly where these neurons and axon arbors or other nitrigergic cells are located relative to other structures. It would be desirable to find a counterstain that provides a clear visualization between the stained nitrigergic cells and the other cell types located in the same area. The NADPH-d histochemical technique involves the formation of a dark blue formazan reaction product from nitro-blue tetrazolium (NBT). Unfortunately, formazan tends to be lost during standard procedures for Nissl counterstaining. By minimizing the exposure of the formazan reaction product to lower grades of ethanol, we have developed two Nissl counterstaining protocols that are suitable to use with the NADPH-d reaction. The first protocol allows the visualization of dark blue NADPH-d stained cells in relation to lighter blue Cresyl Violet (Nissl) stained cells. The second protocol shows more contrast between dark blue stained NADPH-d cells and Neutral Red stained cells. The new staining protocols will enable one to quantitate the percent of NADPH-d stained cells in a given area, and determine how they relate to different neuronal nuclei, tissue layers and blood vessels.
- Resource Type:
- Abstract, Poster, Presentation, and Student Research
- Campus Tesim:
- Pomona
- Creator:
- Hernandez, Veronica, Prado, Oscar, and Sutkowski, Chloe
- Description:
- San Salvador was the largest settlement along the Old Spanish Trail between New Mexico and Los Angeles during the early 1840s. In the flood of 1862, the Santa Ana River washed away or buried settlers' adobe homes and belongings. Our goal is to use geophysical subsurface imaging techniques to help the Spanish Town Heritage Foundation in assessing the potential for buried artifacts and possibly documenting the cultural importance of this site, before development is implemented. For our research, we are conducting surveys using Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR). This equipment allows us to image or detect buried adobe structures, household cookware, and metallic farming tools in the shallow subsurface. Artifacts are anticipated to be at a depth of 4 meters based on historical archives. The GPR antenna allows imaging to a depth of approximately 7 meters. Since we began our survey in April 2018, 60 profiles have been recorded, each with an approximate length of 100 meters. The site has little topography and is mostly covered in sand, minimizing data collection and processing issues. We expected GPR to be successful because it can penetrate this surface material, and because the physical properties of the buried artifacts that we expect to image are distinct from those of the soil in which they are currently buried. We have detected several anomalies within 500 meters of the Santa Ana River. We plan to focus additional investigation on this part of the site and use different geophysical techniques to confirm and further image these anomalies.
- Resource Type:
- Abstract, Poster, Presentation, and Student Research
- Campus Tesim:
- Pomona
- Creator:
- Tang, Elvis and Cornejo-Garcia, Francisco
- Description:
- Due to increasing number of ways to analyze data, there are additional methods that can be employed to identify factors based on the patterns of the data. Some of these methods include utilizing machine learning algorithms, which can be used to identify significant factors or features involved in a certain dataset. This study will involve the use of its algorithms by applying them to a car accident dataset, which is analyzed through the Highway Safety Information Systems Guidebook for California. A specific data file that lists all the data in the past several years are analyzed, as some factors will be compared with the severity of the car accidents to identify which features are most significant in order to reduce the number of collisions in the future. The methodology of analyzing the data will involve using data science analysis and tools, such as R. The specific algorithms will include a general linear model, such as a multinomial and binary logit regression model, to analyze response variables to the predictor variable, severity. Such regression models focus on binary and continuous values, such as types of traffic control, weather, and what kind of roadway. The results of both models is somewhat similar, leading to several probabilities between several factors that lead to various types of collisions.
- Resource Type:
- Abstract, Poster, Presentation, and Student Research
- Campus Tesim:
- Pomona
- Creator:
- Davis, Jaylen, Smith, Rebecca, Chaichi, Mohammad, Solis, Alexis, Garcia, Kayla, and Pawluk, Janelle
- Description:
- The objective of this study was to determine the performance of lambs fed sorghum sudangrass or pearl millet mixed with cowpea, managed to maximize on forage mass. Twenty-four lambs (bodyweight = 24.5±4.9kg) were blocked by bodyweight and randomly assigned to four treatments (6 lambs per treatment). The treatments were: (i) sorghum sudangrass only (SSO; Control), (ii) pearl millet only (PMO), (iii) sorghum sudangrass + cowpea (SSC), and (iv) pearl millet + cowpea (PMC). The lambs were housed in four pens of equal size (3.6 m x 6.1 m each); two lambs within each pen were considered one experimental unit. Forage was cut manually and chopped into smaller pieces before feeding to the animals. Water and trace mineralized salt block were provided free choice to the lambs. The highest (P < 0.05) lamb bodyweight was gained in SSC treatment (3.9 kg) followed by PMO (2.1 kg) and SSO (1.9 kg). The PMC group (1.3 kg) had the lowest (P < 0.05) lamb bodyweight gain. The highest forage DM yield was obtained from SSO and SSC (12,000 kg/ha each) followed by PMC (8,000 kg/ha) and PMO (7,000 kg/ha). Based on data obtained from this experiment, sorghum sudangrass/cowpea mixture could be considered the best treatment combination for forage yield and lamb performance. This work was done under feedlot (penned) conditions, however, the interaction of sorghum sudangrass/cowpea mixed pasture with grazing animals treading the pastures needs future research.
- Resource Type:
- Abstract, Poster, Presentation, and Student Research
- Campus Tesim:
- Pomona
- Creator:
- Chu, Isabella, Navarette, Samuel, and Villanueva, Samantha
- Description:
- Metallic materials such as stainless steel can become brittle and weak when corroded. The rate of corrosion increases at high temperatures, and in turn, the effect of corroding or oxidizing the metal can lead to a rapid loss of engineering function and result in equipment failure in industrial conditions. Stainless steel is of particular interest because it is used in many applications and fields. Stainless steel also passivates, meaning that it produces a protective oxide layer that helps prevent further corrosion. Understanding the nature of these oxide films will be helpful in developing ways to improve corrosion protection. This project had the objective of characterizing thin oxide films through optical/visual methods and microscopy. The results will be reported and discussed.
- Resource Type:
- Abstract, Poster, Presentation, and Student Research
- Campus Tesim:
- Pomona
- Creator:
- Gutierrez, Carlos
- Description:
- Nitric Oxide (NO) has growing importance due to its biological and environmental relevance. NO interacts with copper metal centers in biological systems to effectively reduce NO to N2O, but the mechanism is unknown, and the intermediates are challenging to characterize. To study this phenomenon, X-ray crystallographic data of two copper complexes, [MeNN]Cu1(n2-ONAr) and Me2NN]CuII(k2-O2N2Ar) were used to conduct X-ray emission spectroscopy (XES) calculations to produce an XES spectrum using density functional theory (DFT). XES is a technique that can be used to probe metalloenzymes by ionizing a 1s core electron leaving behind a hole for valence electrons to fill. When an electron moves to lower energy to fill the hole, measurable energy is given off and recorded. Results conclude that XES calculations could distinguish the two complexes. The calculations suggest that experimental XES should also be able to distinguish these two complexes and would be an ideal tool in identifying extra NO ligands within intermediates.
- Resource Type:
- Abstract, Poster, Presentation, and Student Research
- Campus Tesim:
- Pomona
- Creator:
- Panahi, Niousha and Yu, Christina
- Description:
- This poster presentation focuses on electrohydrodynamic casting nanofiber composite materials. Single jet and coaxial jet was used to fabricate polymer and carbonized composite nanofibers with various structures. In the process of the electrohydrodynamic casting, polyacrylonitril (PAN) was used as the polymer, and dimethylforamide (DMF) was employed as the solvent.Various metallic compounds including nickel acetate, iron chloride, europium (III) acetate, titanium (IV) butoxide, and iron oxide nanoparticles were added into the polymer solution and co-cast onto tissue paper substrate. Upon completion of the electrohydrodynamic casting, the products were heat treated at high temperature in an inert gas chamber to form polymeric carbon based composite materials. Following the collection of carbon based materials, The Scanning electron microscopic (SEM) analysis revealed the composite structure of the nanofibers. Further tests including Hyperthermia test and photosensitive test were also carried out to demonstrate the potential applications of the nanofiber composites for biomedical treatments and photosensing.
- Resource Type:
- Abstract, Poster, Presentation, and Student Research
- Campus Tesim:
- Pomona
- Creator:
- Al-Beitawi, Zayd
- Description:
- Online booking for hotels has heavily been impacted by the thousands of detailed reviews that consumers write after each of their stays. Consumers breakdown their experiences at the hotel by elaborating on a wide variety of factors including the quality of the check-in service, cleanliness of a room, availability of a variety of facilities, a welcoming (or sometimes unsettling) atmosphere, and much more. This can impact whether more people choose to stay there, or what areas hotel management chooses to improve upon to create a better experience for future customers. With vast number of reviews constantly being posted to review sites like Yelp and TripAdviser, it can be difficult to pinpoint a specific factor that a certain customer or manager may be looking for with regards to potentially booking or fixing the hotel. In this study, we extracted 321 Yelp hotel reviews, parsed into 2866 review sentences, then categorize them based upon six hotel review factors (from previous research studies) - service, price, location, cleanliness, room quality, and facilities. Using this training data, we applied machine learning to create a predictive model that can automatically identify the weight for each of these factors in each review sentence. This model can be used to create a content-filtering recommender system to support the decision making process of hotel consumers and management.
- Resource Type:
- Abstract, Poster, Presentation, and Student Research
- Campus Tesim:
- Pomona
165. Recombinant approach to characterize BaiL, an enzyme involved in secondary bile acid formations.
- Creator:
- Aguirre, Roman
- Description:
- Bile acids are the key component of bile that are responsible for the absorption of fats and fat-soluble vitamins. Bile acids are generated in the liver and released into the gastrointestinal tract (upper intestine). After release into the GI tract, certain strains of bacteria found within the GI tract convert these primary bile acids into secondary bile acids, which have been linked to intestinal diseases such as colon cancer. To understand how secondary bile acids are formed, the enzymes encoded within the bile acid inducible operon are being characterized. The baiL gene encodes the BaiL enzyme, which is predicted to be an oxidoreductase. To characterize this protein, a recombinant approach was taken by overexpressing the gene through an initial small scale overexpression using E. coli bacteria with Tuner and B834 cell lines. After identifying conditions for growth and overexpression (temperature and time, evaluation of soluble and whole cell samples) through analysis using SDS PAGE, a large-scale overexpression is performed to produce large amounts of protein. The protein within these cell pellets then undergo a metal affinity purification using a cobalt column in an AKTA purification device. Future goals include further optimization of conditions for protein overexpression. After this initial purification, more purification techniques, such as size exclusion chromatography, will be utilized and BaiL ultimately characterized via X-ray crystallography.
- Resource Type:
- Abstract, Poster, Presentation, and Student Research
- Campus Tesim:
- Pomona
- Creator:
- Galvan, Patricia
- Description:
- The type VI secretion system (T6SS) in Gram-negative bacteria mediates contact-dependent antagonism within bacteria. In patients with cystic fibrosis (CF), chronic pulmonary infections with Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Burkholderia cenocepacia are common. Our lab previously performed T6SS-mediated interbacterial competitions between B. cenocepacia strain AU1054 and the P. aeruginosa reference strain PAO1, both of which produce functional T6SSs. Results revealed there is a strong competitive interaction in favor of PAO1 when it is exposed to T6SS attack from AU1054. This is indicative of the proposed "tit-for-tat" mechanism of T6SS activity in P. aeruginosa strain PAO1. However, B. cenocepacia can be the dominant organism in the lungs of CF patients during polymicrobial infections, even outnumbering P. aeruginosa. Our hypothesis is that B. cenocepacia can outcompete P. aeruginosa reference strains other than PAO1 and recently collected P. aeruginosa clinical isolates, possibly in a T6SS- dependent manner. We evaluated T6SS microbial competitions between both wild-type AU1054 and a T6SS-null AU1054 mutant against the P. aeruginosa reference strains PA14 and PAK, as well as a collection of recent P. aeruginosa clinical isolates. Competition results demonstrated that reference strains PAK and PA14 responded to and out competed an AU1054 T6SS attack in a similar manner as PAO1. However, AU1054 strongly outcompeted the P. aeruginosa clinical strains BC236 and BC238 in a T6SS-dependent manner. Our findings indicate that the interactions between B. cenocepacia and laboratory-adapted P. aeruginosa strains are not indicative of the true interactions between B. cenocepacia and P. aeruginosa during coinfection of the CF lung.
- Resource Type:
- Abstract, Poster, Presentation, and Student Research
- Campus Tesim:
- Pomona
- Creator:
- Kirk, Amanda, Caballero, Desiree, and Merki, Kristin
- Description:
- American society has become increasingly sedentary putting this population at higher risks of developing chronic disease such as osteoporosis. One potential link between sedentary behaviors and risk of chronic disease progression is obesity. Researchers have suggested that certain types of obesity may be a strong predictor of risk of osteoporosis-related non-spine fractures. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationships between physical activity levels (PA), obesity and bone mineral density (BMD) in adult sedentary women. Twenty-three women, aged 45-62, were asked to wear an accelerometer for one week and participate in a DEXA scan. Participants were divided based on obesity status into two groups. A one-way ANOVA analysis was ran looking at the differences in BMD and PA by group. Multiple linear regression was used to analyze the effect of PA measures and body composition on BMD. Light PA decreased whole body BMD (WBBMD) (β= -13.5, p=.012) while Body Fat percentage (BF%) and fat free mass (FFM) increased it (β=1754.7, p=.041 and β=3.558, p=.001). Light PA, BF% and FFM all yielded a higher L1-L4 lumbar spine BMD (β=-.003, p=.05, β=0.641, p=.037 and β=.001, p=.017). The higher the total amount and the longer the length of sedentary bouts increased arm BMD (β=.052, p=.038 and β=.016, p=.000). Lastly, higher MET values yielded higher arm BMD (β=6.085, p=.020). These results demonstrate that PA levels and body composition have an effect on sedentary adult women's bone density levels. Further investigation of causal mechanisms underlying these associations is warranted.
- Resource Type:
- Abstract, Poster, Presentation, and Student Research
- Campus Tesim:
- Pomona
- Creator:
- Ploysangngam, Jesper, Clairday, Ben, Trabanino Ramirez, Elvira, Repolda, Brittany, and Cheung, Elwin
- Description:
- Given the situation of increasing freshwater scarcity, it is important to find an alternative source of water. This has provoked organizations to use reclaimed water as an alternative for urban, agricultural, and recreational uses, but more research should be done to study the biological and chemical conditions that could produce pathogenic activity This research tested reclaimed water in Cal Poly Pomona's (CPP) reclaimed distribution network. Samples from five sites were collected and tested. These sites were the Pomona Water Reclamation Plant effluent, High Lift Station, Reservoir, Swine Booster Station, and Rose Garden. The pH and temperature were checked at the collection site, and the remaining physical,chemical, and biological tests were performed in the water analysis lab. Biological tests included an enterobacteria, coliform, and HPC count, and ATP activity measurement. Non-biological tests included conductivity, alkalinity, total and free chlorine content, true and apparent color, and turbidity. The total organic carbon, total dissolved solids, and total solids were also measured. On average, the temperature and pH have been found to be from 23-27 °C and 7.3-7.9 respectively. The TOC count has been seen as high as 8 mg/l, which is well above the EPA standard of 2 mg/l for acceptable drinking water. There have been heterotrophic bacterial found in the counts. Based upon the findings, the reclaimed water is not sanitary for direct human use. Future tests could show the impact of the water on the surrounding area over time.
- Resource Type:
- Abstract, Poster, Presentation, and Student Research
- Campus Tesim:
- Pomona
- Creator:
- Janikarn-Urena, Isis, Peraza, Kristiana, Little, Richard Michael, and Lee, Seok
- Description:
- Candida albicans (C. albicans) is an opportunistic yeast and is the 4th leading cause of hospital born infections. C. albicans can cause mucocutaneous or systemic candidiasis. However, it is not known whether women or men are more susceptible to this type of infection. Innate and adaptive immunity play a crucial role in combating C. albicans infections. Cytokines, proteins that regulate immune responses, are critical in the immune response to infections. Tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) is a crucial cytokine in activating the body's inflammatory response. To investigate if there is a sex-dependent effect on TNF-α secretion, male and female mice were infected with 1 x 106 C. albicans/mouse intravenously (IV). On Days 1, 3, and 7 after infection, mouse tissues (brain, kidneys and liver) were collected. TNF-α was measured from tissue homogenates via a cytokine specific Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay. We found that TNF-α levels from kidney homogenates measured higher on Days 3 and 7 in infected male mice compared to infected female mice. TNF-α levels in female and male mouse brains and liver were not significantly different throughout the experiment. In addition, there was a time-dependent effect between TNF-α levels from liver homogenates measured on Days 1 and 3 in infected female mice. These findings show that TNF-α levels are tissue specific and sex specific, suggesting a sex dependent immune response.
- Resource Type:
- Abstract, Poster, Presentation, and Student Research
- Campus Tesim:
- Pomona
- Creator:
- Rufael, Yonas and Molina, Ruben
- Description:
- It has been shown in the past that salivary esterase enzyme breaks down the methacrylate bond of the dental adhesive monomers. Moreover, other studies have shown that dental adhesive undergoes phase separation into hydrophilic rich phase and hydrophobic rich phase during infiltration through the demineralized dentin. The hydrophilic rich phase has limited quantity of cross-linker, which plays a crucial role in higher dentin/adhesive bond strength and preventing water penetration. Thus, higher cross-linker concentration in the hydrophilic-rich phase will impart extended clinical lifetime to this phase. Moreover, low crosslinking density can cause bacterial penetration leading to recurrent decay and hence failure of the composite restoration. So, the purpose of this research is to design novel dental cross-linker monomers that are resistant to salivary esterase enzyme and are also hydrophilic rich in nature. This will be achieved by Computer Aided Molecular Design (CAMD). Quantitative structure property relationships (QSPRs) were developed for properties, octanol/water partition coefficient and cholesterol esterase inhibition constant using descriptors, connectivity indices. An optimization formulation that minimizes the difference between properties of newly designed molecules and target values was solved via stochastic algorithm, Tabu search.
- Resource Type:
- Abstract, Poster, Presentation, and Student Research
- Campus Tesim:
- Pomona
- Creator:
- Sanjenis, David, Velasco, Jose, and Lao, Mark Anthony
- Description:
- Civil engineering projects require collecting precise measurements using geospatial technologies through topographic and photographic mapping. Photographic mapping focuses on collecting, processing, and analyzing optical and ranging images of the mapped area. Recently, developments in airborne sensors and easy to fly, reliable, low-cost commercial UAVs have opened a new era for high quality and reliable mapping from UAVs using remote sensing techniques. Two types of sensors are utilized to extract accurate geospatial information: active and passive. UAV mapping systems have been employed in numerous surveying assignments and have established a low-cost and time efficient alternative to classical manned aerial surveys. Data from photogrammetry are collected from different elevations to see which elevation produces the most accurate results to produce high quality Digital Elevation Models (DEMs). Drones equipped with a Canon PowerShot S100 camera were flown at 30 meters and 127 meters of elevations, the measurement error changed from 1.5 meters to 2.5 meters. We used the Agisoft Photoscan commercial software to check the errors of both datasets. Based on the one-meter increase in error, we concluded that when altitude increases the accuracy decreases.
- Resource Type:
- Abstract, Poster, Presentation, and Student Research
- Campus Tesim:
- Pomona
- Creator:
- Park, Jihye
- Description:
- Development of technology has affected the exhibition industry since exhibition display methods have become vary. Particularly, immersive technology allows visitors experience dynamic displays. The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between exhibitors' immersive display and exhibition attendees' satisfaction. Specifically, exhibition attendees' perceptions of immersive display attributes and its individual impact on attendees' overall satisfaction are investigated. The results will contribute to exhibition research on how exhibitors should prepare their exhibition display to satisfy booth visitors by controlling the types and quality of immersive display.
- Resource Type:
- Abstract, Poster, Presentation, and Student Research
- Campus Tesim:
- Pomona
- Creator:
- Alvarado, Marina and Ayala, Rita
- Description:
- West Nile Virus (WNV) is a significant cause of neuronal injury and inflammation and is commonly spread to humans through the bite of infected mosquitoes. Currently, WNV is the leading cause of mosquito-borne neuroinvasive disease in the US with which there is no cure. In order eliminate invading viruses from the central nervous system (CNS), antiviral T cells must enter the CNS and perform their anti-viral functions. These T cells must be highly regulated in order to prevent bystander damage of neuronal tissue. Dendritic Cells (DCs) are potent regulators of antiviral T cells and have been shown to have a protective role during WNV infection. These cells may be pivotal in regulating antiviral immunity within the CNS. However, they are not readily present within the CNS and it is unkown how they are recruited during WNV infection to induce protective immunity. XCR1 is a chemokine receptor expressed by a subset of DCs known to have a key role in antiviral defense. Lymphotactin, the ligand for XCR1, is expressed by activated T cells, DCs, macrophages, and NK cells. We hypothesize that CNS-infiltrating T cells express lymphotactin in order to recruit XCR1 expressing DCs which in turn will induce and regulate their antiviral activities. This ensures effective viral clearance while simultaneously protecting against neuronal injury. In order to determine the role of lymphotactin, we will measure viral infection, replication, and neuronal injury in a well-established WNV neuroinvasive mouse model both in the presence and absence of lymphotactin.
- Resource Type:
- Abstract, Poster, Presentation, and Student Research
- Campus Tesim:
- Pomona
- Creator:
- Nocedal, Arol, Castillo, Serena, Pitawanakwat, Alexander, Kuo, Chang-Hong, and Esparza, Alejandro
- Description:
- This project is part of a multi-year senior project, Aeroelastic Inflight Power Generation (AIPG), consisting of multiple teams working toward creating a 3D printed UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) to harness the power generated from multiple sources during flight and store such power in a graphene supercapacitor so the UAV may break the world record for autonomous flight. The objective is: Explore the integration of computer vision systems to assemble graphene supercapacitors. Two pieces of supercapacitor electrodes are assembled together in parallel, with the solid electrolyte membrane in the middle. The specific goal is to use a robotic arm to identify and lift a supercapacitor slab component by implementing a computer vision system and stack it on top of other supercapacitor slabs. This will be accomplished with a robotic arm from ROBOTIS incorporating their DYNAMIXEL technology and the real-time object detection system YOLO (You Only Look Once). The DYNAMIXEL has superior angular resolution and built-in sensors not requiring calibration testing to operate. YOLO allows cameras to be used as a versatile sensor to detect components as their design changes. This combined system decreases the man hours needed for supercapacitor assembly while avoiding human contact with hazardous materials. If designed and implemented well, this robotic method should improve the mass production of super capacitors, making it cost-competitive to existing lithium-ion batteries. Future work would implement the robotic assembly line in a cleanroom environment. Work done here would greatly contribute to the overall multi-year project AIPG, which involves collaboration with other disciplinary teams.
- Resource Type:
- Abstract, Poster, Presentation, and Student Research
- Campus Tesim:
- Pomona
- Creator:
- Bosek, Olivia, Marino, Arielle, and Guiragossian, Talia
- Description:
- Currently, our team is conducting a study that explores the educational experiences of college students who are parents. This is an important topic to study because this growing population has a different experience than the traditional college student. Not only do they plan to achieve a degree, but are simultaneously raising a child. Throughout this research, we examine institutional policies and practices that facilitate academic success for student parents in hopes to understand barriers they may face. According to previous research, many parenting students choose to pursue a college education because they view it as being beneficial in the long run as it can grant more job options, ensure financial security, and the ability to be a better resource for their children in the future (Estes, 2011). Despite the growing college population of parenting students, many face multiple issues which affect their ability to progress in higher education due to a lack of resources (Brown & Nichols, 2012). In order to gain a better sense of the level of support provided to student-parents, specifically across the Cal State University system, we analyzed the websites of the 23 Cal States. We conducted a content analysis, which included visiting each university's homepage and searching the website for resources useful to student-parents. The findings were then analyzed to compare similarities and differences found across the universities, which indicated, on average, limited support for student-parents. This research study aims to identify, create, and improve programs that will ensure student-parent success across the CSU system.
- Resource Type:
- Abstract, Poster, Presentation, and Student Research
- Campus Tesim:
- Pomona
- Creator:
- Sierra, Alan
- Description:
- Oral administration of Ibuprofen presents many challenges. Ibuprofen can cause upset stomach, as a hydrophobic drug it demonstrates poor gastrointestinal absorption due to its low water solubility , and as a result of the first pass response is reduced in concentration by the liver. Topical administration of Ibuprofen as oil-in-water microemulsion increases the bioavailability of the drug and as a result of bypassing the liver all together, increases its safety. In this study, different ratios of Medium-chain triglyceride oil and corn oil were used as solvents to increase the skin permeability of the drug along with Tween 80 surfactant to decrease the surface tension of the microemulsion and keep it in solution. All ratios set in 25% change of oil intervals were stable and the emulsion of 75% MCT, 25% corn oil, and .15g in 8mL DI water produced the smallest droplet sizes at .119 μm.
- Resource Type:
- Abstract, Poster, Presentation, and Student Research
- Campus Tesim:
- Pomona
- Creator:
- Markson, Jordan and Ancona, Janelle
- Description:
- Cal Poly Pomona has established a biosafety level 2 (BSL-2) facility for poultry vaccinology research. A central component of that research is the successful incubation and hatching of specific pathogen free (SPF) chicken eggs in the BSL-2 facility. In order to stimulate the best natural nesting, a cooling period (21.1°C) was implemented in one of the three treatment groups. The other two treatment groups maintained a temperature of 37.5 °C. The temperature change was implemented in order to see if cooling periods are essential to egg development, since hens will periodically leave their nest for short periods of time. We evaluated the hatchability rate with and without a cooling period for the SPF eggs in our BSL-2 Facility. 119 SPF chicken eggs were acquired by a commercial supplier. Eggs were divided into three treatment groups, one experiencing a 60 minute per day cooling period (n = 39) and two without a cooling period (n = 80). Eggs were placed in a cabinet incubator within the BSL-2 facility and incubation parameters, other than temperature were controlled for (humidity, temperature, turning interval etc.). Candling to evaluate egg development occurred after the 1st and before the 3rd week of incubation. Heart rate was taken as well before the 3rd week of incubation. This process determined the viability and development with each protocol. The first treatment group without a cooling period had a hatchability rate of 82.5%. The hatchability rate of the treatment group with the cooling period was 94.9%. The hatchability rate of the second treatment group without a cooling period is to be determined.
- Resource Type:
- Abstract, Poster, Presentation, and Student Research
- Campus Tesim:
- Pomona
- Creator:
- Khuu, Steven and Mata, Carolina
- Description:
- Bile acids play a large role in digestion by aiding in the breakdown and absorption of fats and oils entering the body. When these bile acids enter the intestinal tract, they can be converted into secondary bile acids, which have been linked to cancers of the gastrointestinal tract and other GI diseases. The bacterium Clostridium hylemonae can catalyze this conversion of the secondary bile acids and may contribute to the development of these diseases. C. hylemonae contains a bile inducible operon with many genes, including baiK. The baiK gene encodes an enzyme (BaiK) that is most likely involved in the transfer of CoA to and from substrates. Biochemical investigation is required to characterize how BaiK contributes to bile acid metabolism by C. hylemonae. To carry out these studies, a recombinant approach using E. coli was chosen. First, the cell line B-834 was transformed with a plasmid containing the baiK gene. The protein is then overexpressed and purified using column chromatography. After purification, BaiK will be used used for crystallization experiments and biochemical assays.
- Resource Type:
- Abstract, Poster, Presentation, and Student Research
- Campus Tesim:
- Pomona
- Creator:
- Brady, Grant, Weiner, Nicholas, and Dietz, Derick
- Description:
- The gas turbine has been around in its modern form since the late 1950s with only marginal changes in overall construction design. These engines are open systems and do not have any pressure rises through the combustion chamber. A pressure rise during the combustion process has some significant thermodynamic advantages, that can lead to more work produced and a significant gain in efficiency as a system. This is the goal of our project. This project is a compact disk-shaped pressure gain combustor, which is a combination of piston and gas turbine engine concepts. The core of the engine is a stationary radial combustor in which constant volume combustion occurs using rotating inlet and outlet walls, resembling a valved combustor. When timed correctly with the engine's rpm and ignition, this effect will cause a gain in pressure. With the addition of a single stage radial flow compressor and proper fuel mixture in a centered plenum, this system should produce a significant amount of combustion work.
- Resource Type:
- Abstract, Poster, Presentation, and Student Research
- Campus Tesim:
- Pomona
- Creator:
- Foyil, Brad
- Description:
- Insemination must occur near ovulation, however in swine there is no practical way to determine when ovulation occurs. It is common practice to artificially inseminate (AI) each sow repeatedly over the course of an estrus period in an attempt to maintain fertility numbers. OvuGel® (JBS United, Sheridan, IN) is a product (intravaginal administered GnRH agonist triptorelin) that has been shown to synchronize ovulation in sows, allowing for a single fixed-time insemination to be used. Despite the promising results from initial studies using OvuGel, triptorelin uptake rates may be affected by a number of factors. Combining Ovugel with isotonic sodium chloride has the potential to increase uptake and the effectiveness of the compound. Identifying the optimal quantity of sodium chloride to maximize triptorelin uptake, increasing ovulation precision and maximizing farrowing rates all would provide a significant economic benefit to the swine industry.
- Resource Type:
- Abstract, Poster, Presentation, and Student Research
- Campus Tesim:
- Pomona
- Creator:
- Arroyo, Fernando, Yau, Steven, and Nguyen, Richard
- Description:
- The purpose of this research is to make Cal Poly Pomona a more water sustainable community by looking at the following areas: water reuse and reclamation, stormwater management, and low impact developments. The amount of stormwater for the campus is 2035.96 acre-foot per year which is a commodity and is being lost every year. Buildings and parking lots are not environmental friendlies because they collect water with waste which could be improved on. To begin, the safe clean water program, a program that provides fund for projects in L.A. County, was analyzed for Cal Poly Pomona to become a potential project funded by the Measure W tax. Moreover, low-impact developments and native plants are examined in preparation for the survey of the campus. To organize the survey, a map of the campus is divided into four sections and the GIS data was utilize to obtain a better idea of the geography. Each section was inspected and discussed. Discussions focus on improving the reuse of stormwater and, implementing native plants and low-impact developments. The results of the survey showed that Cal Poly Pomona has a number of nonnative plants that could be replaced or removed, current drainage systems that need to be properly maintained, construction of low-impact developments such as rain gardens, bioretention, and dispersion and establishment of a new stormwater collection system. Overall, the survey shows that Cal Poly Pomona could benefit from Measure W by receiving funds and will benefit from our proposed scheme.
- Resource Type:
- Abstract, Poster, Presentation, and Student Research
- Campus Tesim:
- Pomona
- Creator:
- Aguilar, Rebekah
- Description:
- Measuring naturally occurring radioactive material is of great interest in monitoring soil and rocks, which are important in assessing health risks to a population and serves as a reference in documenting changes to environmental radioactivity. These measurement practices are taught to upper division physics students in laboratory. Physics students study gamma spectroscopy and isotopes that produce decays using Ge detectors, whose operation require liquid nitrogen cooling and is therefore costly. The use of an affordable and more portable detector, the NaI detector, without sacrificing the precision needed in upper division physics courses is being studied. Known decay products from sources containing 40-K, 238-U, and 232-Th were used for calibration. The gamma energy peaks that were measured include: 1440 keV for K-40, 1764 keV for the Uranium-238, and 2614 keV for the Thorium-232 series. A secular equilibrium was used to assume that the activity of each isotope within their decay series were the same. The results from the calibration sources indicate using the NaI detector for monitoring soil samples is efficient, cost effective and promising.
- Resource Type:
- Abstract, Poster, Presentation, and Student Research
- Campus Tesim:
- Pomona
- Creator:
- Kuetzing, Peter
- Description:
- There are an estimated 100,000 cases of torn Anterior Cruciate Ligaments (ACL) in the United States each year. Although autografts and allografts are approved treatments, they are expensive, labor intensive, cause donor site morbidity, and require a lengthy patient recovery process. Despite decellularization treatments, DNA left in allografts can increase the risk of disease transmission and immunogenic response. Synthetic implants eliminate the harvesting procedure and have great biocompatibility. Understanding the time dependent properties of a synthetic material that closely matches those of native ligaments is imperative for ACL reconstruction innovation. PLG 10-90 (L-lactide -co-glycolide) monofilament is an absorbable biopolymer and strong candidate for ACL reconstruction. The biopolymer sufficiently matches average native ACL tensile strength and percent elongation to fracture. Additionally, the dissolution time of PLG 10-90 is approximately the same as ACL growth time. This inversely proportional relationship offers the potential of scaffold reconstruction procedures. This research will determine a set of evolutionary equations which predicts failure under a variety of conditions. Specimens are stored under an assortment of loads at in-vivo conditions. A specimen is then subjected to one of several tensile tests, including a jump test, to determine the properties at different time points. These tests illustrate the time dependent properties in terms of rate of dissolution and strain rate. This data will show a relationship between the strength of PLG 10-90 and its dissolution which is required to build a constitutive model and determine the viability for ACL reconstruction.
- Resource Type:
- Abstract, Poster, Presentation, and Student Research
- Campus Tesim:
- Pomona
- Creator:
- McHugh, Joseph
- Description:
- We have developed molecular techniques to identify classes of cyanobacteria for early toxin threat detection and control before the growth becomes toxic. This screening is part of a larger sustainability project focused on converting dairy cow manure effluent into a fast-growing, algae-based, safe animal feed crop. The algae are produced in paddle-wheeled model ponds on the dairy farm which could become contaminated by toxic cyanobacteria. To ensure the integrity of our analysis, multiple species of pure cyanobacteria cultures were grown and their DNA purified. The 16S rRNA and rpoC1 gene sequences were targeted for their universal detection of cyanobacteria using PCR. To distinguish cyanobacteria species that have the potential to produce toxins, four gene clusters in the toxin synthesis pathways were targeted: mcy (microcystin), nda (nodularin), cyr (cylindrospermopsin), and ana (anatoxin-a). PCR-amplified fragments were separated using agarose gel electrophoresis and sequenced. 16S rRNA/rpoC1 PCR assays allowed for positive identification of quality control strains (QC) and exhibited the sensitivity and specificity to discriminate against multiple genera of non-cyanobacteria strains. Within our QC strains we have identified strains that indicate potential to produce microcystins, and anatoxin-a. Toxin production was quantitated using Abraxis/Beacon ELISA kits. Our future goal is quantitation of the toxin genes with qPCR. This protocol will routinely detect and identify the presence of cyanobacteria species that could produce toxins in algae production ponds and allow for their control in algae-based livestock feed operations.
- Resource Type:
- Abstract, Poster, Presentation, and Student Research
- Campus Tesim:
- Pomona
- Creator:
- Abboud, Ibrahim
- Description:
- One of the issues that the world is facing is that we are running out of the fossil energy resources, and the use of renewable ones is currently limited. Recently, researchers have put lots of efforts to find a way to use biomass as one of the possible renewable sources. They realized that it is possible to convert this biomass material into organic compounds that are close to the characteristics of petrochemicals. One of the reactions that help in this process is the catalytic deoxydehydration (DODH), which is a reaction that removes two adjacent hydroxyl groups (-OH) from vicinal diols to produce alkenes. The DODH reaction requires a catalyst and a reducing agent that help in completing the reaction. According to the article " Deoxydehydration (DODH) of Biomass-Derived Molecules", the first catalytic deoxydehydration was demonstrated by Andrews and Cook using PPh3 as the reducing agent and Cp*ReO3 as the catalyst (1). Subsequently, researchers started synthesizing catalysts with different metals (such as rhenium, ruthenium, vanadium, or molybdenum) adding various reductants such as phosphines, sulfite, alcohols while changing the other parameters such as temperature and reaction time. In this research paper, molybdenum-based catalysts for DODH are discussed.
- Resource Type:
- Abstract, Poster, Presentation, and Student Research
- Campus Tesim:
- Pomona
- Creator:
- Caudle, Mitchell, Lewis, Grace, and Retherford, Margaux
- Description:
- The integration of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) into the national airspace system presents itself with a myriad of technical problems. One of the key requirements for this integration is the human equivalent level of safety, which requires the ability to detect and avoid other aircraft/obstacles in their flight path so that the UAVs complete their mission without any loss or damage to other aircraft or property. This presentation talks about the use of ADS-B (Automatic Dependent Surveillance- Broadcast) transponders for detection of collision of other similarly equipped aircraft/UAVs. ADS-B transponders can receive and broadcast global position and velocities among other pertinent information in a 100-nautical mile radius. This research used Ping-2020 ADS-B transponders for the collision detection. The collision detection and avoidance is first tested in software-in-the-loop simulation, which also uses the flight controller, Ardupilot, and ADS-B transponders in the loop. MAVproxoy, a UAV ground station software package, is used to communicate between in the autopilot and simulation environment via MAVLink. FlightGear flight simulator is used to visualize the motion of the UAVs. The research uses two fixed-wing aircraft equipped with Pixhawk autopilots, which allow autonomous waypoint navigation. The collision avoidance algorithms use a three-step system of detect, predict, and avoid. The algorithm calculates and sends the waypoints for collision avoidance to the autopilot. Using the kinematic equations, the UAV velocities can be calculated from the information received from GPS sensors, and future positions can be predicted. The collision avoidance algorithm is tested using the incoming information from real-time aircraft.
- Resource Type:
- Abstract, Poster, Presentation, and Student Research
- Campus Tesim:
- Pomona
- Creator:
- Raman, Isabella
- Description:
- In the present study, we plan to examine the neural correlates of the conscious recollection of long-term memories (LTM). This process is defined as the retrieval of qualitative or associative information during recognition, and a wealth of studies have shown it is dissociable from "familiarity", which is a strength-based type of recognition. However, fewer studies have focused on whether the cognitive and/or neural basis of recollection differs as a function of the type of association that is retrieved. We take up this question in the present study and hypothesize that the electroencephalographic (EEG) activity and event-related potentials (ERPs) associated with recollection following item-feature vs. item-item associative encoding differs. Following the performance of two mental imagery encoding tasks (separation imagery and interactive imagery), designed to promote dissociable levels of recollection of item-feature vs. item-item, respectively, yet comparable levels of item recollection, we will record EEG while participants perform a recognition memory task sensitive to the contribution of recollection or familiarity. This will permit us to investigate whether the specific ERP associated with recollection, the "P600 old/new effect", differs as a function of encoded association. We will examine whether overall oscillatory activity differs as well. of the brain that occurs during item recollection. Overall, we believe that our results will help inform neurocognitive models of recognition LTM.
- Resource Type:
- Abstract, Poster, Presentation, and Student Research
- Campus Tesim:
- Pomona
- Creator:
- Agunos, Darwin
- Description:
- The Force Concept Inventory (FCI) is an important diagnostic tool widely utilized within the PER (Physics Education Research) community. While students' performance on the FCI has been extensively studied, relatively less work was done in primarily undergraduate institutions (PUI) and minority-serving institutions. As part of an effort to provide evidence for the reproducibility of educational studies for a variety of student body as well exploring possible gender or racial gaps in student's performance, data was collected over a year-long period for a number of introductory physics courses at Cal Poly Pomona (both a PUI and Hispanic serving institution) to understand factors that affect students' performance on the FCI. In this work, we discuss background variables that predict students' FCI scores at the end of the term. This baseline measure can be used for any future studies conducted at our institution to evaluate the effectiveness of any pedagogical reforms. We will also explore possible gender or racial gaps for our student body.
- Resource Type:
- Abstract, Poster, Presentation, and Student Research
- Campus Tesim:
- Pomona
- Creator:
- Kupsik, Jakub
- Description:
- Traffic congestion on the freeways is one of the worst issues in California. During peak hours, traffic can slow down to a stop-and-go crawl. A significant cause of this behavior is driving habits: human beings have a tendency to drive closer as they slow down, which makes merging difficult and exacerbates the slowness. The Tail Gator app uses machine vision to, when placed on the dashboard of a normal car, collect and relay information to the driver in a hands-free manner regarding the vehicle in front of them. It would tell the driver the distance and relative speed of the car in front of them, which the driver can then use to build good, anti-congestion driving habits and stop tailgating in traffic. The technology behind this has further applications: it could be used to recommend to drivers optimal speed and acceleration based on the traffic situation, which would also be useful in guiding the behaviors of self driving cars to better the road for everyone.
- Resource Type:
- Abstract, Poster, Presentation, and Student Research
- Campus Tesim:
- Pomona
- Creator:
- Osuna, Ivan
- Description:
- Human comfort in regards to clothing systems depends upon the ability of the fabrics and their construction to transmit perspiration away from the body. If the clothing system is inefficient in this regard, the wearer will experience a great deal of discomfort and physiological distress. It is critical, therefore, for the clothing to be "breathable" This project was an attempt to quantify the effect of environmental factors on the creation and transport of moisture/moisture vapor through different fabrics. The physics of the phenomenon will be described. The design and construction of a custom-made apparatus will be reported. The apparatus utilizes a controlled water heater, a humidity/temperature sensor, a fan, and a weighing scale. The results will be reported and discussed.
- Resource Type:
- Abstract, Poster, Presentation, and Student Research
- Campus Tesim:
- Pomona
- Creator:
- Tasci, Amy
- Description:
- Butanol is a gasoline substitute and naturally derived, making the production of butanol of increasing importance. Butanol is produced through acetone, butanol, ethanol (ABE) fermentation pathway in some bacteria, including the Clostridium species. Because of the increasing interest in butanol production, understanding the metabolic flux through the ABE pathway is important for optimizing the recovery of the biofuel. Global profiling of the ABE pathway intermediates is difficult due to the volatile nature of the metabolites and their structural similarity. Our goal is to develop a procedure for the quantification of butanol and butyric acid using Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (NMR). Due to the complexity of the spectra, traditional 1H-NMR is insufficient for quantification, so we developed 2D approaches for quantification that involve J-resolved spectroscopy (JRES) and Total Correlation Spectroscopy (TOCSY) through the application of a calibration curve. We created a calibration curve with standards and then tested the correlation of the expected concentration of an analyte with the known concentration, and found that they were in high agreement (R2 = 0.97). Overall, there were 4 successful reproducible trails. Although the 1H approach was the most accurate, we are working on improving the 2D approaches so that butanol and butyric acid can be quantified in a complex sample. Once these tests work on known sample, they can be moved onto real samples from Dr. Wei-Jen Lin's lab from Biological Sciences.
- Resource Type:
- Abstract, Poster, Presentation, and Student Research
- Campus Tesim:
- Pomona
- Creator:
- Singh, Parveena
- Description:
- Fanfiction allows people from various communities to celebrate their favorite fandoms, characters, and relationships together. Over the past decade, fanfiction has developed into a center for activism through the racebending movement in online communities like Tumblr. The following research focuses on how racebending in fanfiction provides women of color with a space where they can have creative power and a voice for their unique narratives by recasting white female characters with women of color instead. There is primarily a focus on women of color due to how studies show women having lower self-esteem with increased media exposure as opposed to men, and how stereotyped representations of female minorities on screen have a profound effect on girls of color. The research shows why racebending is of importance for women of color by highlighting the lack of central characters played by them in movies and television, as well as the lack of these women in creatives roles such as writers and directors. The deficiency of women of color both onscreen and off screen directly leads to the homogenous nature of mainstream media and the occurrence of whitewashing, which is detrimental because as Dr. Lori Kido Lopez presents in "Fan-Activists and the Politics of Race in The Last Airbender" it supports the idea that whiteness can stand in for all racial difference. Fanfiction counters this idea through racebending, where women of color can see positive representations of themselves by being producers of their own media instead of simply consumers of it.
- Resource Type:
- Abstract, Poster, Presentation, and Student Research
- Campus Tesim:
- Pomona
- Creator:
- Brown, Aaron, Santana, Anthony, and Khatri, Hemisha
- Description:
- West Nile virus (WNV) is a neurotropic flavivirus capable of causing irreparable neuronal injury and encephalitis which can potentially result in lethal disease. In order to control WNV replication and any associated neurologic disease, it is vital that anti-viral T cells enter the central nervous system (CNS) and become fully activated. Dendritic cells (DCs) are powerful APCs responsible for activating T cells and regulating their effector immune responses, however, their role within the CNS during WNV encephalitis remains uncertain. Previously, we detected the presence of DEC-205-expressing DCs within the perivascular spaces of the CNS during WNV encephalitis. DEC-205 is an endocytic receptor expressed on a subset of DCs which have been shown to be effective at cross-presentation and initiating anti-viral immunity. We hypothesize that DEC-205 expressing DCs are critical in the immune defense against WNV encephalitis via the activation of anti-viral T cell immunity. In this study, the ability of DEC-205 expressing DCs to limit viral infection, replication, and neuronal injury will be examined utilizing a well-established mouse model of WNV encephalitis in DEC-205 expressing wild-type (WT) mice and DEC-205 gene knockout (KO) mice following WNV infection. In future studies, utilizing the same mouse model, the mechanisms by which DEC-205 expressing DCs are able to induce protection against WNV encephalitis will be determined by investigating the a
- Resource Type:
- Abstract, Poster, Presentation, and Student Research
- Campus Tesim:
- Pomona
- Creator:
- Oliver, Pi Raymond
- Description:
- Advancements in machine learning over the past several decades have provoked a sharp increase in humanity's ability to gather and analyze bulk data at a deep level of understanding - and use that data to make informed decisions and solve critical issues. Artificial Neural Networks (ANN's) have been used to handle analysis of various high-dimensional data types - including audio, video, visual, and numerical data. Medical Infrared Thermography (IT) utilizes infrared light to produce surface-temperature measurements of thermal images which may be used for medical diagnosis and analysis. Surface temperature thermograms give insight into the subsurface blood flow and tissue properties in a medically non-invasive and cost-effective manner. Image analysis of thermograms with ANN's have already been used to diagnose conditions and identify patterns in medical imagery for humans and many other species - but in particular - there are not many examples in the literature of its use in dogs (Canis lupus familiaris). Dogs have varying thermal surface temperature patterns based on breed/mix, coat type, relative size, and other characteristics. Our research seeks to identify a normal thermal pattern/range of dogs and determine how machine learning technologies may be applied to diagnose medical phenomena therein. We are developing a Convolutional Neural Network that seeks to analyze paired thermal/visual images of dogs alongside numerical data and determine if the dog has a normal or abnormal thermal pattern. Further classification, training, and network optimization may lead to increased diagnostic capability.
- Resource Type:
- Abstract, Poster, Presentation, and Student Research
- Campus Tesim:
- Pomona
- Creator:
- Alestwani, Burhan and Melendez, Ryan
- Description:
- As the demand for computational power increases, the need to develop cost efficient methods for computing is constantly rising. To help solve this issue, our research is dedicated towards developing low power computational technology while being a cost-efficient solution compared to other resources. The project is aimed towards using Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) platforms that can be reconfigured and applied for use in image processing, data mining, and medical applications. The objective is to implement the maximum units of soft-core processors (Micro-Blaze) efficiently on a single FPGA chip while using the minimum amount of resources. The process for testing was performed using Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT). The next objective is to design communication interfaces to connect the multiple low-power FPGA platforms for rapid scalability. This allows the FPGA boards to be used in large scale projects and support the high computational demand for the power-hungry applications.
- Resource Type:
- Abstract, Poster, Presentation, and Student Research
- Campus Tesim:
- Pomona
- Creator:
- El-Issa, Rafed
- Description:
- Modern day technology's consistently fast development is no longer a surprise to the users and consumers of it. The sheer speed at which technology develops has numbed citizens' to its continued improvements, creating an environment where society only feels awe when its development becomes gradual. Most users often overlook a crucial aspect of the technology they make use of: its ability to manipulate data in some manner. Regardless of the industry in which technology is being used, data is almost always a key factor and is much more precious than everyday users believe it to be. Data hiding and encryption is a key function enveloped within any technology used to process data. My design project is aimed to provide a live simulation of how specific data that is useful to a party would need to be transferred to ensure security and integrity. It utilizes a sonar to acquire the distance of an object in its perimeter, a microcontroller unit (MCU) to process this data anonymously, and a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) unit with an embedded microprocessor to retrieve this data and encrypt it so that it is not easily accessible to anyone. The only way to access this data is to have a specific key in one's possession. This simulation offers users a hands-on understanding of how precious data is processed during communication of interested parties.
- Resource Type:
- Abstract, Poster, Presentation, and Student Research
- Campus Tesim:
- Pomona
- Creator:
- Samad, Liana S. Ab, Lee, Kun Justin, Magin, Ashley, Riedel, Stefan F., and Lwin, Phillip M.
- Description:
- Microbial contaminations in food and water may post a threat to public health. Ice is defined as a food by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). According to the International Packaged Ice Association (IPIA), approximately 2 billion bags of ice are sold from retail, wholesale, and vending producers each year in the U.S. Out of 700 commercial ice-making companies, 200 of the aforementioned are not represented by the IPIA and do not comply to specific packaged ice processing standards. Potential sources of microbial contamination in ice may come from water, equipment, and handlers. Non-IPIA complied samples were collected from gas stations, liquor stores, or convenient stores in Los Angeles and Orange counties. The microbiological quality of non-IPIA complied ice samples were compared the results with the IPIA-complied packaged ice samples using microbiological, molecular, and sequencing analyses. Among the 132 non-IPIA complied packaged ice samples analyzed, 15 samples contained unsatisfactory level of heterotrophs (≥ 500 Most Probable Number [MPN]/100 ml), 12 samples contained unsatisfactory level of coliforms (≥ 1 MPN/100 ml), 19 samples had Staphylococci, and 70 samples had yeast/molds. None of the 24 IPIA-complied samples had unacceptable microbial levels. None of the samples analyzed showed the presence of the pathogen, Salmonella. Our results revealed the microbiological quality of non-IPIA and IPIA complied ice samples in Southern California. These findings may lead to a better enforcement of processing standards on packaged ice.
- Resource Type:
- Poster
- Campus Tesim:
- Pomona
- Department:
- Biological Sciences Department
- Creator:
- Vega, Ulises, Schicker, Philippe, Chahla, Basel, and Rodriguez, Brian
- Description:
- Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are aircrafts that are either controlled remotely by a human from a ground station or by an on board computer. There are various types of UAVs such as fixed wing drones as well as quadcopters and hexacopters, all of which use rotating blades. Originally, drones were used in areas deemed too dangerous for humans with exclusive applications in the military sector, but recent enthusiasm has led to an expansion into commercial, scientific and recreational areas. The goal is to embellish a drone with a Collision Avoidance System (CAS). Such a system uses ultrasonic sensors to detect potential objects that are in the flight path of the aircraft. It then measures and displays the distance between hazards and the UAV. The drone also records live video footage, with its camera, which is sent to goggles or a display. The skills applied to the project include learning how to solder, wire, read blueprints, use mechanical tools as well as the methodology of assembling, building, and programming drones. To accomplish this, three sensors are placed strategically on the front, rear and bottom of the UAV. These sensors are connected to an Arduino (a single-board microcomputer) that is coded to send the data to the ground station. At the station, another microcomputer is connected to a radio receiver. This receiver collects specific information and displays them on an LCD screen.
- Resource Type:
- Abstract, Poster, Presentation, and Student Research
- Campus Tesim:
- Pomona
- Creator:
- Manzanarez, Karlos and Nguyen, Amanda
- Description:
- Biomass is currently being researched as an alternative to fossil fuels because it does not have a finite supply. Biomass refers to organic matter such as wood, agricultural products, solid waste and natural gas that all contain precursors to high energy molecules. A challenge in using biomass as a fuel is that large numbers of oxygen atoms must be removed to increase the overall energy density. Deoxydehydration (DODH) is the name of the process that converts vicinal diols into alkenes. When DODH reactions are catalyzed, the reactions may be carried out in the presence of a metal oxide catalyst and reductant. In the current work, a vanadium complex was synthesized and adsorbed onto a silica support in order to form a heterogeneous catalyst. Several vanadium to silica ratios were synthesized and tested for DODH catalysis. Initial studies investigated conversion of styrene glycol into styrene. Catalysts synthesized at higher temperatures with higher vanadium:silica ratios were more effective for converting styrene glycol into styrene. Properties of supported catalysts are not fully understood and supported catalysts have not been widely studied for DODH reactions. This experiment demonstrates that supported catalysts are effective catalysts for DODH reactions. Extensions of the work will tailor catalysts for higher product yields and direct biomass conversion.
- Resource Type:
- Presentation, Abstract, Student Research, and Poster
- Campus Tesim:
- Pomona
- Creator:
- González, Jorge, Camino, Dakota, and Cusumano, Antonino
- Resource Type:
- Poster
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno