Kamaldeen Akorede | First-Year UROP Research Experience
Structural racism leads to discrimination, health inequities, unemployment and low socioeconomic status (World Health Organization (WHO), 2006). Studies show that the US Latinx community faces a disproportionate amount of structural racism when compared to their white counterparts (Ramirez & Peterson 2020).This disparity is due to ethnic discrimination which causes limitations in the cognitive development of children and into adulthood for the cycle to repeat in subsequent generations (Bickard, 2003). The WHO discusses the structural racism that prevents the Latinx community from attaining healthier environments for better cognitive and physical development. In the current study, we hypothesize that if an individual’s zip code is from a low- income neighborhood, then their children will also experience challenges from discrimination in their environment such as access to quality education for mind development. To test this hypothesis, a novel Spanish-language survey was created using Qualtrics. Data collected included zip code and age of Spanish-speaking participants in the US. The survey also collected socioeconomic (SES) data, parent status and asked about experiences with discrimination. The survey received over 300 responses. SPSS was used to analyze the data and to identify trends of discrimination through US zip codes. Responses were placed in a zip code databank created by the US Census to collect the average income and family orientation of survey respondents (https://www.unitedstateszipcodes.org/ , 2021). Given studies such as Bickard (2003), we predict that Spanish-speaking adults responding to our survey from low-income zip code areas and who are also parents, will have children whose cognitive development is affected by their environment and SES. This project contributes to social science research by investigating impoverished communities, and demonstrating that Spanish-speaking families frequently face discriminatory practices that can affect their children’s cognitive growth.
“What are you laughing at?” Cross cultural investigation into international Chinese students’ understanding of US minority group humor
Sherry Xia | Changing Gears
Listening courses in graduate EAP curricula typically focus on academic listening, such as in lectures and seminars (Flowerdew 1995). However, much listening occurs outside of the classroom, with students frequently expressing frustration at not being able to understand or participate in peer conversations about cultural issues such as current topics and humor. To expose international students to diverse voices and content in a non-academic listening course, we utilized examples of US minority group humor, Key and Peele videos, from the Chinese media platform Bilibil. We present our first findings from small listening groups discussing one Key and Peele video, showing that students draw on home culture interpretations when encountering unfamiliar US culture and humor. Chinese students specifically are using an internet practice already familiar to them, live commenting (Danmu), as a tool to deepen their understanding of English, general US culture and minority group culture. We hope to create materials for the new culture class by evaluating students’ depth of understanding of important current aspects of US (minority) culture.
“What are you laughing at?” Cross cultural investigation into international Chinese students’ understanding of US minority group humor
Yimin Xiao | First-Year UROP Research Experience
Listening courses in graduate EAP curricula typically focus on academic listening, such as in lectures and seminars (Flowerdew 1995). However, much listening occurs outside of the classroom, with students frequently expressing frustration at not being able to understand or participate in peer conversations about cultural issues such as current topics and humor. To expose international students to diverse voices and content in a non-academic listening course, we utilized examples of US minority group humor, Key and Peele videos, from the Chinese media platform Bilibil. We present our first findings from small listening groups discussing one Key and Peele video, showing that students draw on home culture interpretations when encountering unfamiliar US culture and humor. Chinese students specifically are using an internet practice already familiar to them, live commenting (Danmu), as a tool to deepen their understanding of English, general US culture and minority group culture. We hope to create materials for the new culture class by evaluating students’ depth of understanding of important current aspects of US (minority) culture.
3d Online Body Shape Model Development
Shreya Mani | First-Year UROP Research Experience
In the automotive industry, there have been an increasing number of fatalities, easily preventable by building safer vehicles. In the medical field, it is almost impossible to thoroughly test accuracy of medical technology without using a physical model, which are oftentimes very expensive. This study involves the development of realistic user-manipulated 3D body models for usage in the medical, automotive, and engineering fields. Along with my mentor and fellow researcher, we have been building a nuanced body model application using Unity to be put out on the apple store and google play store. While results are inconclusive so far, as the application has not been released yet, it hopefully will facilitate the lives of engineers, researchers, and manufacturers working in a number of industries.
3d Online Body Shape Model Development
Tanushree Parasramka | First-Year UROP Research Experience
In the automotive industry, there have been an increasing number of fatalities, easily preventable by building safer vehicles. In the medical field, it is almost impossible to thoroughly test accuracy of medical technology without using a physical model, which are oftentimes very expensive. This study involves the development of realistic user-manipulated 3D body models for usage in the medical, automotive, and engineering fields. Along with my mentor and fellow researcher, we have been building a nuanced body model application using Unity to be put out on the apple store and google play store. While results are inconclusive so far, as the application has not been released yet, it hopefully will facilitate the lives of engineers, researchers, and manufacturers working in a number of industries.
A 5-year Longitudinal Observational Study of Management of Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma
Hamzah Hakkani | First-Year UROP Research Experience
Hepatocellular Carcinoma(HCC), a liver cancer that is linked with hepatitis A and B which are caused by liver cirrhosis, is an increasingly prevalent cancer that affects many people across the globe, majorly in the United States, Asia, and Africa. Treatments and remedies are currently very limited with nothing holding the capabilities of fully healing affected patients. The purpose of this research is to record and analyze the treatments currently used over the course of five years and create a database for future patients who face the cancer. Patients are searched for by project managers and are selected if they have HCC and commit to the project. The chosen patients undergo a health background check and provide documentation of their treatment and checkups every three months for a year and every six months for four more years. Over the course of five years, the patients are monitored and their medical documentation is used as data for the database. The database will allow physicians to categorize the effects of different treatments with the different types of patients to find the best solutions for future patients. After five years, the goal is not necessarily to find a cure or remedy, but rather to have an established database of information to allow doctors to better treat patients with HCC and create research further creating potential for a cure or remedy. The database’s main goal is to allow other researchers to take advantage of the material published and explore different methods of HCC treatment. Currently, the project remains partially complete and will require several years before the database becomes available for publication.
A Comparison of Patient Knowledge and Satisfaction with Tele-neuropsychology Services vs. Standard Practice (pre-COVID Face-to-Face Appointments)
Miracle Nwachukwu | First-Year UROP Research Experience
Introduction: COVID-19 has limited many patients to video-teleconference (VTC) as opposed to face-to-face (FTF) appointments. With this switch, clinicians hope to maintain the same level of patient satisfaction that was seen previously in a traditional FTF setting, including in the field of neuropsychology. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, studies suggested that many patients found VTC just as likable of an experience as FTF for tele-neuropsychology services. Factors such as convenience (staying in the comfort of one’s own home) and cost of travel (gas, flights) all contribute to patient satisfaction with VTC (Seritan et al 2019; Powell et al 2020). However, not all patients have the necessary equipment for telehealth appointments, such as a stable internet connection or a webcam. Additionally, some patients may be uncomfortable with technology and clinician-patient rapport may be difficult to establish (Wilkinson et al 2016). In this study, we investigate patients’ knowledge about neuropsychology prior to VTC and FTF appointments, level of comfort with the technology required for VTC visits, and level of satisfaction with the telehealth services.
A comparison of the Michigan Public Policy Survey and the Canadian Municipal Barometer on Fiscal Health Spring 2020
Alexa Goldstein | First-Year UROP Research Experience
Local government officials play a key role in policymaking in communities nationwide. However, there are a few ongoing surveys of these officials. The Michigan Public Policy Survey (MPPS), conducted by University of Michigan’s Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy, was designed to fill this gap in policy-making research: the survey collects opinions of officials from Michigan’s 1,856 general-purpose local governments (counties, townships, cities, and villages). Each year, the MPPS collects data from these officials on their opinions on a range of local issues, as well as basic financial and demographic information, which allows policy stakeholders to better understand the inner workings of local governments in Michigan. In this project, I look at two questions from the Spring 2020 MPPS regarding local government fiscal health trends and how they may be affected by the impact of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus pandemic. I compare responses to these questions to very similar questions asked on the Canadian Municipal Barometer, a similar survey for officials in the municipalities across Canada. Generally, as of spring 2020, Canadian government officials tended to perceive their fiscal health trending more pessimistically compared to officials in Michigan. While there are multiple possible explanations for this difference, the research provides insights into the ways the coronavirus pandemic has affected local governments’ financial health.
A Comprehensive Review of Forms of Sexual Education and Analysis of an mHealth Comprehensive Sexual Education
Libby Kelley | Community-Engaged
The US has some of the highest rates of teen pregnancy among developing countries with approximately 200,000 babies born to teens aged 15 to 19 in 2016 (1,2). Additionally, nearly 50% of diagnosed STIs are seen in people under the age of 25 (3). These high rates of teen pregnancy and STIs may be due to abstinence-only sex education in schools, which some studies show have minimal effectiveness in preventing STIs and teen pregnancy (4). Michigan state policy requires an emphasis on abstinence, and some schools choose not to provide information on contraceptives at all (5). The purpose of this study was to assess whether abstinence-only sexual education provides the same teen level of education as comprehensive sexual education using a review of relevant literature to compare the two.
A Comprehensive Review of Forms of Sexual Education and Analysis of an mHealth Comprehensive Sexual Education
Anna Hart | First-Year UROP Research Experience
The US has some of the highest rates of teen pregnancy among developing countries with approximately 200,000 babies born to teens aged 15 to 19 in 2016 (1,2). Additionally, nearly 50% of diagnosed STIs are seen in people under the age of 25 (3). These high rates of teen pregnancy and STIs may be due to abstinence-only sex education in schools, which some studies show have minimal effectiveness in preventing STIs and teen pregnancy (4). Michigan state policy requires an emphasis on abstinence, and some schools choose not to provide information on contraceptives at all (5). The purpose of this study was to assess whether abstinence-only sexual education provides the same teen level of education as comprehensive sexual education using a review of relevant literature to compare the two.
A Critical Review of the Literature of Sex-Related Substance Use among Gay and Bisexual Men
Mitchell Scheer | First-Year UROP Research Experience
Although there is significant research on the relationship between substance use and sexual behavior, the existing research typically focuses on heterosexual populations exclusively. Though previous research documents higher use of substances among gay and bisexual, compared with heterosexual, men, less is known about the use of alcohol and other substances specifically within sexual contexts. The goal of the current study was to critically review and synthesize existing research on substance use in sexual contexts and its associations with health outcomes among gay and bisexual men. The study focuses on both sex-related substance use itself, as well as how mental health variables are associated with participation in sex-related substance use. The current study reviews literature on the prevalence of sex-related substance use, mental and physical health outcomes associated with sex-related substance use, as well as attributions about the reasons for engaging in sex-related substance use among gay and bisexual men. Findings from the current review are presented critically, with specific focus on the gaps that still exist within the literature.
A Deeper Look into the World of Addiction
Madeline Wilten | Community-Engaged
The United Community Addiction Network (UCAN) empowers those in the community of Genesee County, Michigan struggling with substance use disorders and addiction. UCAN networks with hospitals, law enforcement, the judicial system, schools, and other systems to evolve how people are treated and how professionals treat co-occurring disorders. They combine the community and clinical aspects of treatment to empower people and to help them find sobriety and reach their potential. Less than 10% of people in need of treatment are being treated for co-occurring disorders alongside their substance use disorder, which causes too many people to relapse and to lack the treatment and resources they need. UCAN is creating an interdisciplinary model for treatment across the world that gives people the resources they need and makes the recovery process easier and more manageable. Through this research project and the current work of UCAN, by analyzing data, we are able to identify gaps in multiple systems and create a cohesive program that addresses every aspect of substance abuse and provides every resource to those who need it.
A Deeper Look into the World of Addiction
Emily Bunnell | Community-Engaged
The United Community Addiction Network or UCAN is a community organization based in Genesee County, Michigan that is working to evolve the way addiction is addressed and treated. The project “A Deeper Look into the World of Addiction” sought to aid the planning, development, and implementation of a new treatment program combining community and clinical services for a pathway to recovery. The focus of the new program is to use evidence based practices in order to treat co-occurring substance use and mental health disorders more effectively. Some evidence based practices include consumer-driven treatment, family and community involvement, and having cross-trained specialists. Alongside the development of a new addiction treatment program, UCAN’s other initiatives work to instill lasting change by including medical examiners, emergency responders, local law enforcement, and a new K-9 unit that aims to identify substances for a drug-free environment. In a coordinated effort with community members, UCAN aims to see the implementation of a co-occuring disorder facility as well as other initiatives to be replicated across the state, country, and around the world.
A Literature Review on Combustion and Properties Studies of Alternative Fuels
Nicholas Robinson | First-Year UROP Research Experience
A literature review has been undertaken in order to understand more about the ignition behavior of fatty alcohols and to eventually conduct my own experiments. Using Scopus, U of M’s online library, I searched for keywords, such as “fatty alcohols”, “diesel”, and/or “combustion”, in scholarly articles in order to find research that was relevant. After finding the article, I would read through it, occasionally skimming through parts I found non-pertinent, while taking notes on the important information. From there, I would compile all of the information into a three or four paragraph summary, giving a description of each scholarly article. So far, my main takeaway would be that fatty alcohols blended with biodiesel can serve as a substitute for fossil diesel, as they generally produce less emissions, and can make the engine more efficient. This research is necessary to provide insight into if these fuels can replace fossil diesel fuel, in order to transition to a more sustainable source such as biofuels.
A National Study of Barriers and Facilitators of Expedited Partner Therapy Use in Emergency Departments: A Qualitative Study
Maaz Munawar | First-Year UROP Research Experience
Background: Emergency Departments (ED) are the primary source of healthcare for many patients diagnosed with sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Expedited partner therapy (EPT), treating the partner(s) of patients with STIs without an exam, is an evidence-based practice for individuals who might not otherwise seek care. Methods: We conducted semi-structured, open-ended interviews with ED medical directors and key medical personnel within different institutions. Participant enrollment continued until thematic saturation was reached. Our interview guide and initial coding were informed by the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR). Interviews were recorded, transcribed, and iteratively coded, and qualitative thematic analysis was used to identify themes and subthemes by consensus. Results: We interviewed 12 medical directors and key informants, including a resident, follow-up nurse, program director, 2 pharmacists, and a physician champion. Some of the primary barriers to EPT were legal liability, lack of a specific implementation process, and the stigma surrounding sexual health. Facilitators of EPT included a clear delineation of task-sharing responsibilities for prescribing EPT, efficient electronic medical record prescribing, and leadership engagement. Many participants acknowledged the ED’s potential role in improving sexual health especially for marginalized populations and expressed a desire to use this practice if it was streamlined and did not affect departmental flow. Conclusions: The non-traditional processes involved in EPT present many challenges for adoption in the ED. Understanding these barriers and facilitators will assist in designing strategies for the implementation of EPT.
A National Study of Barriers and Facilitators of Expedited Partner Therapy Use in Emergency Departments: A Qualitative Study
Alan Cetkovic | First-Year UROP Research Experience
Background: Emergency Departments (ED) are the primary source of healthcare for many patients diagnosed with sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Expedited partner therapy (EPT), treating the partner(s) of patients with STIs without an exam, is an evidence-based practice for individuals who might not otherwise seek care. Methods: We conducted semi-structured, open-ended interviews with ED medical directors and key medical personnel within different institutions. Participant enrollment continued until thematic saturation was reached. Our interview guide and initial coding were informed by the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR). Interviews were recorded, transcribed, and iteratively coded, and qualitative thematic analysis was used to identify themes and subthemes by consensus. Results: We interviewed 12 medical directors and key informants, including a resident, follow-up nurse, program director, 2 pharmacists, and a physician champion. Some of the primary barriers to EPT were legal liability, lack of a specific implementation process, and the stigma surrounding sexual health. Facilitators of EPT included a clear delineation of task-sharing responsibilities for prescribing EPT, efficient electronic medical record prescribing, and leadership engagement. Many participants acknowledged the ED’s potential role in improving sexual health especially for marginalized populations and expressed a desire to use this practice if it was streamlined and did not affect departmental flow. Conclusions: The non-traditional processes involved in EPT present many challenges for adoption in the ED. Understanding these barriers and facilitators will assist in designing strategies for the implementation of EPT.
A National Study of Barriers and Facilitators of Expedited Partner Therapy Use in Emergency Departments: A Qualitative Study
Carlin Pendell | First-Year UROP Research Experience
Background: Emergency Departments (ED) are the primary source of healthcare for many patients diagnosed with sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Expedited partner therapy (EPT), treating the partner(s) of patients with STIs without an exam, is an evidence-based practice for individuals who might not otherwise seek care. Methods: We conducted semi-structured, open-ended interviews with ED medical directors and key medical personnel within different institutions. Participant enrollment continued until thematic saturation was reached. Our interview guide and initial coding were informed by the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR). Interviews were recorded, transcribed, and iteratively coded, and qualitative thematic analysis was used to identify themes and subthemes by consensus. Results: We interviewed 12 medical directors and key informants, including a resident, follow-up nurse, program director, 2 pharmacists, and a physician champion. Some of the primary barriers to EPT were legal liability, lack of a specific implementation process, and the stigma surrounding sexual health. Facilitators of EPT included a clear delineation of task-sharing responsibilities for prescribing EPT, efficient electronic medical record prescribing, and leadership engagement. Many participants acknowledged the ED’s potential role in improving sexual health especially for marginalized populations and expressed a desire to use this practice if it was streamlined and did not affect departmental flow. Conclusions: The non-traditional processes involved in EPT present many challenges for adoption in the ED. Understanding these barriers and facilitators will assist in designing strategies for the implementation of EPT.
A National Study of Expedited Partner Therapy in Academic Emergency Departments
Rafael Cortes | First-Year UROP Research Experience
Background: Rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in the United States are rising dramatically. EDs serve as the primary source of care for many patients diagnosed with STIs. Expedited Partner Therapy (EPT), an evidence-based practice for treating partners of patients with STIs without an exam, can decrease rates of STI reinfection and increase the number of partners treated. Despite the potential benefits of EPT, its use in EDs is poorly understood. Objective: This study characterizes the knowledge, beliefs, interest, and practice of EPT among academic ED medical directors through a cross-sectional survey. We also explore barriers and facilitators to EPT implementation through semi-structured interviews of medical directors and key informants conducted using an interview guide informed by the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Science. Interviews were recorded, transcribed, and iteratively coded, and qualitative thematic analysis was used to identify themes and subthemes by consensus. Results: A total of 48 out of 70 medical directors responded. There was a high awareness of EPT (73%), but only 38% knew how to prescribe EPT, and even fewer (19%) had actually implemented it. Most respondents supported EPT (79%), and were more likely to support EPT if they were already aware of it (89% vs 54%). 41% of those who had not implemented EPT thought that it would be feasible, and 56% thought that departmental support would be likely. Many participants cited medicolegal barriers and lack of clarity regarding the ED’s role in STI care as obstacles to EPT adoption. Other participants cited a perceived benefit of EPT use was the prevention of untreated STIs, particularly among a vulnerable population. Conclusion: Our findings show relatively low use but high interest in EPT in academic EDs, and show the need for increased awareness to implement this public health intervention in the ED setting.
A New Narrative on Live Performance in Classical Era Movie Theaters
Megan Lehman | First-Year UROP Research Experience
Live vaudeville performance that played alongside film showings was an affordable and popular form of entertainment for many Americans prior to the 1930’s. When the Great Depression hit in 1929, many sources put forward the narrative that companies gave up on vaudeville and live performances and never looked back. Our team’s research suggests that this narrative is not the case as we look at evidence relating to the perspective of theater managers, company executives, and other influential individuals in relation to the continuation and production of vaudeville in the 1930’s. We have examined articles from entertainment magazines from this time period and have built upon a database cataloging many live acts and performances using Variety show bills from the early 1930’s. Our research, so far, suggests that rather than vaudeville and live performance coming to an abrupt and definitive end, it would continue to fall and re-emerge several times throughout the 1930’s and beyond. Our research concerning the uncertainty and wavering popularity of vaudeville and live performance provides us with more insight into the motivations and nature of the entertainment industry during this time period, especially considering the economic state of the United States during the Great Depression.
A population-based virtual solution to reduce gaps in genetic risk evaluation (GRE) and management in families at high risk for hereditary cancer syndromes
Karina Vallejo Vasquez | First-Year UROP Research Experience
Genetic test results and their implications, which carry weight not only with the patient but with the patients first and second-degree relatives, are currently understudied. The U01 GeneLINK Trail is “a population-based virtual solution to reduce gaps in genetic risk evaluation (GRE) and management in families at high risk for hereditary cancer syndromes.” There are many complexities in the clinical context after initial genetic risk evaluation takes place and even more arise in communicating this to at risk relatives(ARRs). Barriers like language and socioeconomic status can also play a role in determining the likeliness of someone seeking out GRE. That is why this study aims to develop and test a virtual family-centered communication and decision-making platform, the Family Genetic Health Program (FGHP). As well as determine the independent effects of two design features -level of personalized family genetic risk support and cost of genetic testing for relatives.The study population is selected from the Georgia-California SEER Genetic Testing Linkage Initiative, their data spanning from 2013-2019. Uniform surveying will be the main data collection method.With this study we expect to find out more about 1) cancer patients’ appraisal of communication & engagement with relatives about genetic risk evaluation; 2) relatives’ appraisal of decision-making and receipt of genetic testing (primary outcome); 3) relatives’ completion of formal genetic risk evaluation. The hopes are that this will help lower-resourced practices as well as minority communities who may face a number of barriers that bar them from typically seeking out formal GRE.There is huge potential to improve the ways that patients and ARRs navigate GRE and also aid the prevention of heritable cancer syndromes in the US.
A Predictive Machine Learning Model for [18F] SnAr Radiofluorination
Kevin Cheng | First-Year UROP Research Experience
Positron Emission Tomography, commonly known as PET imaging, is a noninvasive, rapid, and accurate imaging system that tracks the distribution of a radioactive tracer. There are many strategies to incorporate radioactive nuclides into tracers for PET imaging, with the most prevalent approach being radiofluorination”” the incorporation of the radioactive nuclide 18F into a bioactive molecule. One of the most common ways of incorporating 18F into substrates is nucleophilic aromatic substitution (SNAr); however, this approach suffers from harsh conditions, exotic leaving groups, and unpredictability, thereby limiting the ease and broad use of this procedure. Herein, a predictive machine learning model will be developed for SNAr using nucleophilic 18F, allowing for prediction of radiochemical yields given a certain set of reaction conditions. An appropriate data structure for machine learning was constructed by encoding literature substrates and conditions. This involved DFT (density function theory) calculations using Gaussian09 to create an optimized structure and determine quantifiable properties, such as HOMO and LUMO energies, steric hindrance, and NMR data. However, due to the time requirements needed to assemble the data set, no concrete results have been produced as of yet. Using this data set, regression models will be generated via several machine learning algorithms in Python, ranging from simple linear models to more complex decision tree and neural network models. The project hopes to build a successful model that will allow for the prediction of radiochemical incorporation given a substrate and reaction conditions. This model may then be validated through further experimentation and generalized to a wider variety of substrates via strategic experiment selection.
A Qualitative Analysis of Rheumatic Disease Patients’ Experiences with COVID-19
Hallie Chabrier | First-Year UROP Research Experience
Background: Little is known about how COVID-19 interacts with rheumatic diseases. Although people with autoimmune diseases are thought to be more susceptible to complications of COVID-19, countless Americans with such illnesses still face uncertainty with how to protect themselves and how to seek medical attention. Objectives: This project consists of two subprojects with slightly different aims. The objective of the FORWARD subproject is to understand the experiences of rheumatic disease patients who displayed symptoms of COVID-19. The UofM subproject serves to uncover the long term impacts of COVID-19 among rheumatic disease patients. Methods: Qualitative data was collected from two cohorts. We conducted interviews with rheumatic disease patients from the FORWARD registry who reported testing positive for COVID-19 or antibodies, or received treatment for COVID-19. We reviewed electronic medical records of rheumatic disease patients at Michigan Medicine who tested positive for COVID-19 or antibodies, or were presumed positive and displayed symptoms for one month or more. Qualitative analysis, particularly through open coding, will serve to identify patterns or themes within patients’ experiences. Preliminary Results: One theme that continuously appears is the uncertainty in seeking help. Many patients were misdiagnosed””despite displaying symptoms””and thus received inadequate treatment. These experiences often had an emotional impact, prompting fear in terms of spreading the virus and suffering complications due to their autoimmune disease. We have analyzed data from 12 FORWARD participants, and will continue with the 45 UofM patients, looking for significant themes to shed light on the experiences of rheumatic diseases patients throughout the pandemic.
A Review of People’s Perceptions of COVID-19 and Adherence to Public Health Policy
Hanzi Zuo Ms | Changing Gears
From early 2020 to 2021, the unprecedented outbreak of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in Wuhan has evolved into a pandemic. As coronavirus impacted people’s daily life, public transportation and recreational facilities worldwide, countries implemented various public health guidelines to help their cities recover from the virus attack. To understand international differences and similarities in people’s thoughts about the novel coronavirus and associated public health guidelines, I conducted a literature review to examine: 1) people’s perceptions of the coronavirus; 2) people’s adherence to public health policies (e.g., face masks, social distancing, and hand hygiene); and 3) potential reasons for the differences (e.g., cultural beliefs). I reviewed research articles related to the effectiveness of general public health guidelines in major countries in North America, Europe and Asia (e.g., the U.S, U.K., and China respectively) and the opinions of residents regarding the current rules they need to follow. My findings indicate that even though residents in eastern and western nations share basic knowledge about the coronavirus, people from western countries still have some misconceptions about the coronavirus. If people are more optimistic, they are more willing to adhere to public health policies. Based on these findings, future research can focus on the development of new tailored strategies to combat transmission of the coronavirus, such as raising people’s awareness.
A software library for combining, processing and analyzing multi-omic and electronic health record data
Jalen Ballard | First-Year UROP Research Experience
The efficient searching of existing genomic markers is essential for expediting the analysis of key biological information and further manipulating the data in bulk to discover patterns. In particular, the Cutaneous Bioinformatics project aims to process genetic mutations, namely simple nucleotide polymorphisms and insertions-deletions, to deduce how certain mutations facilitate certain epidemiological conditions. To efficiently analyze the genomic markers, a C++ program was developed, tested, and published on GitHub that reads the data from a standard tab-separated value text format and inputs the data into a two-way hash map. The program was developed, tested, and documented by a single individual under the supervision and direction of the leaders of the Cutaneous Bioinformatics project. The software takes command-line arguments and can perform two-way lookups between the markers’ rsIDs and their chromosome, position, and allele sequence. The utilization of a hash table is ideal because it allows lookups in both directions to be performed with constant-time complexity, while manual analysis of the original, multi-gigabyte data file requires linear-time complexity for reverse lookups. The hash table creation was successfully implemented, and, upon deliberations with project supervisors, the syntax of user input for allele sequences in the reverse lookup was taken into account when determining which markers with a particular chromosome and position constitute a match. The incorporation of additional markers and data across other biological disciplines can further augment the ability of researchers to quickly analyze the data and perhaps lead to genetic discoveries.
A software library for combining, processing and analyzing multi-omic and electronic health record data
Nidhi Jaison | First-Year UROP Research Experience
Healthcare research involves the processing and analyzing of collected data, which can cost valuable time. The purpose of this study is to develop a software library as a resource for researchers to process and analyze genetic data. This set of scripts were all developed in the Python 3 language, with the usage of the NumPy and Pandas libraries. The first script, getLoci.py, parses through a .txt file, with each line dedicated to a chromosome, its position, significance (p-value), and other data. It uses this information to identify significant loci within the dataset, and returns a list of the positions and p-values of markers which correspond to each locus. Significance of a locus is defined by a p-value threshold and distinct loci are identified by the distance between markers. As an alternative approach, linkageDisequlibrium.py assigns markers to their loci with respect to their linkage disequilibrium. The next script, compareLoci.py, compares two different sets of loci and identifies which loci are present in each set. The user can input the maximum distance between two loci for them to be considered the same. Lastly, fishersExact.py conducts the Fishers Exact test for enrichment of genetic loci among different features (represented by BED files). These scripts have proven to be efficient, as getLoci.py used 5000MB of memory in 4 minutes with a 20 million line dataset.
A survey of Childhood Cancer Patients and Caregivers Experience during COVID
Maria Murillo | First-Year UROP Research Experience
BACKGROUND The COVID-19 pandemic led to unprecedented change in healthcare delivery. In pediatric oncology, patients and providers were challenged to adapt to evolving circumstances while balancing adherence to well-established oncology treatment and monitoring plans in order to decrease exposure and prevent serious infections in this potentially immunosuppressed population. These changes may have affected healthcare behaviors. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the impact of the first 4 months of the COVID-19 pandemic on the timing of oncologic care and the overall experiences of pediatric oncology patients and families.
A Systematic Examination of Race in Health-Focused Human-Computer Interaction Research
Devon Roe | First-Year UROP Research Experience
The human-computer interaction (HCI) community has a long tradition of health-related research. Epidemiological and public health research has revealed widespread racial disparities in healthcare. We conducted a systematic review of HCI research on race and healthcare, to identify common themes and gaps within health-related HCI research. Beginning with an initial set of 418 articles drawn from two major HCI venues, we applied a set of exclusion criteria resulting in an eventual dataset of 24 articles. We conducted a thematic analysis, with a special focus on examining how race is understood and operationalized. We found considerable variation in definitions of race across articles, with some focusing on skin color, others on socio-cultural differences, and still others not providing any explicit definition of race. This variation was further reflected in common research practices such as the method used to identify participants’ race and the level of specificity used in categorizing participants’ race and ethnicity. We also found that some articles posed racial issues as an area of future work, without including them in their current investigation. We discuss implications for health-related HCI research, including the need for race-consciousness in research design and for specificity in defining race.
Active for Life with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
Vidhiyaa Harish | First-Year UROP Research Experience
COPD is a chronic lung-based disease that blocks airflow making it harder to breathe. Studies have also shown that muscle strength in people with COPD is lower than that of age-matched individuals without COPD. The decrease in muscle strength can impede individuals from partaking in physical activity (PA) which has been associated with a slower decline in lung function and reduced hospitalization in people with COPD. Traditional interventions for COPD have focused on moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) but the Active For Life: COPD intervention program designed by Dr. Larson is novel in its emphasis on light physical activity (LPA) and decreased sedentary time. Participants were recruited and sorted into control or experimental groups, followed by 10 weeks of training classes for both groups. The experimental group did functional circuit training and learned self-regulation strategies. The control group did chair exercises and guided imagery for relaxation and health education. Both groups came back at 2 months, 3 months, 6 months, and 12 months to have various measures of strength, endurance, and physical activity tested. A study was undertaken to see the impact of this intervention on isometric strength measures through knee flexors and extensors. Due to the study being ongoing and having a partially blind setup in order to minimize bias, blinded group interim analysis will be analyzed. If this intervention is successful, in increasing physical activity and muscle strength it could change general physical activity guidelines for people with COPD shifting away from MVPA and towards LPA.
Active for Life with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD): Physical activity and anxiety
Malaika Pasch | First-Year UROP Research Experience
Individuals with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), tend to live a sedentary life which can increase the risk of mortality and heighten symptoms of COPD. In attempting to prevent this sedentary lifestyle in COPD patients, many exercise programs focus on vigorous physical activity which is not sustainable in the long run. The Principal Investigator of this study, Janet Larson, developed an exercise program, called Active Life. The Active Life program emphasizes light physical activity for patients with COPD. The study conducted is a randomized controlled clinical trial where COPD participants are randomly placed into two groups, the Active for Life intervention and the control intervention. The study is conducted to determine if the Active Life intervention is an effective program in promoting physical activity in COPD patients. The participants in the Active Life intervention complete an exercise program including functional circuit training (FCT), health education, and self-regulation strategies. The participants in the control group complete an exercise program that includes chair exercises, relaxation promotion, and health education. The participants complete 10 weeks of lab-based exercise, then a one-year follow-up which measures activity levels and home-based exercises. Through the data collected from the Active Life study, I decided to look into the effect that physical activity has on anxiety levels in patients with moderate to severe COPD. In the study, data was collected on anxiety levels throughout the study as well as different measurements of physical fitness and activity. I examined the long-term (52-week post-intervention) impact of light physical activity on self-reported anxiety compared to the control group.
Active for Life: The effect of a low-intensity functional circuit training program on endurance among COPD patients
Emma Petersen | Changing Gears
Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) often lead inactive lifestyles due to breathing difficulties, and sedentary behavior may worsen both symptoms and mortality. The moderate-to-vigorous-intensity exercises emphasized by most fitness programs are not feasible for patients with COPD, but increasing time of light-intensity exercise may be an effective alternative. In this study, a randomized-controlled trial is used to determine whether a light-intensity fitness program called Active for Life (designed by Principal Investigator [PI] Janet Larson) is effective in improving aerobic endurance among COPD patients in the long term (after 52 weeks). Qualified participants are randomly assigned to one of two treatment groups: the Active for Life intervention and the control group. Both groups are guided through physical and behavioral activities with the goal of educating participants about health, but the Active for Life group is focused on functional circuit training (FCT), while the control group involves chair-based movement. All participants undergo ten weeks of lab-based activities according to treatment group, followed by one year of follow-up appointments and self-paced at-home videos. Aerobic endurance is measured by distance walked during the six-minute walk test at baseline, ten weeks, three months, six months, and one year into the program. We hypothesize that engaging participants in the Active for Life program will increase distance walked during the six-minute walk test.
Activity of squirrels and rabbits to domestic cats in Detroit, MI
Indira Sankaran | First-Year UROP Research Experience
Domestic cats are known invasive predators on small mammals and birds in urban areas. Due to domestic cats’ presence, concerns have raisen given the detrimental impact these pets can have on the local wildlife of metropolitan cities. In this study, we analyzed the temporal avoidance of squirrels (Sciurus niger, Sciurus carolinensis) and cottontail rabbits (Sylvilagus floridanus) to the presence of domestic cats (Felis catus) in Detroit Michigan.
Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) diagnosis by image processing
Allen Li | First-Year UROP Research Experience
Despite the vast amount of data available from hospitals on ARDS, much of it is left unused because working with all the available data can be slow and often inconsistent. This project focuses on chest x-ray scans, aiming to turn chest x-rays into privileged information (information that is not always available but can be useful) in order to improve training and increase the accuracy of ARDS classification when available. The project was done largely in Python with the exception of the segmentation algorithm (written in MATLAB), and classification training and accuracy tests for different features were done using a large amount of data from Michigan Medicine. My project’s findings have yielded a 0.72 AUC average score when doing binary classification on chest X-Rays using features extracted from image processing. Privileged information for machine learning is a very important step in ensuring that we harness all the data available, and my project’s findings will help inform future models and serve to show an extra pathway to improve classification accuracy.
Adding problems to interactive ebooks.
Robert Miner | First-Year UROP Research Experience
As many classes are moving away from paper textbooks and toward online ebooks, it is important to use principles from educational psychology to ensure that ebook readers are learning as efficiently as possible. Our research seeks to provide additional data about what types of interactive ebook questions are most effective for learning. We will then apply our findings and findings from prior educational psychology research to create a bank of questions that are proven to be effective. We will accomplish our research goals by writing a free, open-source computer science ebook that is used by tens of thousands of educators and students. We will then collect metadata on the users of the ebook, such as how many attempts it takes to solve a problem or how long they spend on each page. Because our research team is still authoring and revising the ebook, there are currently no results. However, we are expecting and hoping to find that practice with immediate feedback is the most effective for learning. We also hope and expect to find that low cognitive load questions, such as worked examples + practice and adaptive practice questions, will be most effective. Principles of educational psychology tell us that these types of questions will be best. If our findings are contradictory, further study will be needed on alternative, nontraditional educational methods for use in ebooks. The findings of our research will provide guidance to current and future ebook authors and increase the effectiveness of future ebooks in aiding student learning. Our research will also establish a bank of high quality questions that can be used in the classroom for lessons or examinations.
Adolescent Eating Habits and Motivation at the Initiation of an mHealth Behavior Study
Xiaoli Zhu | Changing Gears
Background: In the United States, obesity is the most common chronic illness among adolescents, and it is especially prevalent in Black/African American and Hispanic/LatinX populations. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the prevalence of obesity for children aged 2 to 19 years old was 25.8% for Hispanic youth and 22% for non-Hispanic Black youth, compared to only 14.1% for non-Hispanic White youth. Excess weight has put millions of Black and Hispanic/LatinX adolescents in the US at risk for morbidity and premature mortality. However, communications technology offers a novel way to deliver tailored health behavior interventions for these youth. As part of a larger project to design an app to help adolescents make healthy choices at fast food restaurants (FFR), we assessed participants’ fast food eating habits and their willingness to consider making changes when eating out.
Aerospace Engineering Outreach
Jack Perry | First-Year UROP Research Experience
With the COVID-19 pandemic forcing schools to close, effectively teaching students ages 11-18 has created two main challenges: (1) keeping the students engaged in a virtual environment and (2) adapting hands-on activities normally done in a classroom. This project aimed to tackle both of these issues by creating a video and hands-on activities on the core topics of aerospace and physics. Many high schools in Michigan have students who don’t know of any engineers in their lives and as a result these students have no interest in becoming an engineer themselves. In order to reach these students, this outreach project focused on making a video about aerospace engineering concepts related to American football to keep them interesting. Many students have an unbelievable passion for sports, and if only a fraction of that could be focused on an academic area then their futures would brighten significantly. The feedback we have received about this video shows that students were well engaged with the content created and found the hands-on activities to be simple enough to complete at home. The next step in the project is making an entire aerospace engineering course, which is normally taught to undergraduate upperclassmen, adapted to fit the needs of high school students. Ultimately we want to provide teachers with an engaging way to teach students, and to inspire students to follow a career path that elicits a similar passion in them that we have for aerospace engineering.
Aerospace Engineering Outreach
Linnea Lindblom | First-Year UROP Research Experience
With the COVID-19 pandemic forcing schools to close, effectively teaching students ages 11-18 has created two main challenges: (1) keeping the students engaged in a virtual environment and (2) adapting hands-on activities normally done in a classroom. This project aimed to tackle both of these issues by creating a video and hands-on activities on the core topics of aerospace and physics. Many high schools in Michigan have students who don’t know of any engineers in their lives and as a result these students have no interest in becoming an engineer themselves. In order to reach these students, this outreach project focused on making a video about aerospace engineering concepts related to American football to keep them interesting. Many students have an unbelievable passion for sports, and if only a fraction of that could be focused on an academic area then their futures would brighten significantly. The feedback we have received about this video shows that students were well engaged with the content created and found the hands-on activities to be simple enough to complete at home. The next step in the project is making an entire aerospace engineering course, which is normally taught to undergraduate upperclassmen, adapted to fit the needs of high school students. Ultimately we want to provide teachers with an engaging way to teach students, and to inspire students to follow a career path that elicits a similar passion in them that we have for aerospace engineering.
Age-Dependent Anti-Predator Behavior in Leptodeira Snakes
Meilyn Ward | First-Year UROP Research Experience
Most animals display some form of anti-predator behavior, from expelling foul-smelling substances to making deafening noises. Snakes, despite their minimalistic form, have a wide variety of anti-predator behaviors. Previous studies surrounding the behavior of snakes have focused primarily on predatory and defensive behaviors of adult snakes. This study tests for differences in anti-predator behaviors between juvenile and adult snakes of the Leptodeira genus. Leptodeira are in the family Colubridae and are primarily found across Central and South America, living in a multitude of different environments. Snakes were captured and each was subjected to a variety of stimuli, including auditory, visual, and physical contact. The resulting responses were videotaped and analyzed to generate an ethogram for each video. The behaviors were then divided into aggressive and passive displays. The frequency and length of each behavior was compared between adults and juveniles. This study predicts that adult Leptodeira exhibit aggressive behaviors more frequently than juveniles. If this prediction is true, the difference could imply that aggressive behavior provides an advantage to adult Leptodeira due to their larger size, but not juveniles. This would mean passive attempts at hiding fail more frequently for adult snakes than for juvenile snakes. If the opposite trend is found, it could imply that juvenile Leptodeira, which have white heads that fade to grey or black at adulthood, are more visible than adults and therefore are incentivized to be more aggressive. This research will broaden understanding of how behavior can change after maturation in nonhuman animals.
Air quality monitoring on Roads in Detroit, and the Influence of Nearby Vehicles
Olivia Prodin | First-Year UROP Research Experience
A study was initiated to investigate the impact of varying levels of traffic in front of a moving vehicle on the levels of air pollution particles detected by the vehicle’s sensors. Over 20,000 images were collected by a front-facing camera on the vehicle. Vehicles within ~50 meters of moving vehicle were then counted and sorted into the categories of heavy duty truck (HDT), commercial vehicle (CV), and personal vehicle (PV); also, noting heavy duty trucks in the adjacent lane and within 20 meters of the moving vehicle. Although the experiment is incomplete, it is expected that the presence of heavy duty trucks within 20 meters of the data collection vehicle will result in raised levels of air pollution particles. The presence of heavy traffic in front of a moving vehicle increases the amount of air pollution particles measured by the vehicle.
Alaska Native Health Research
Lauren Kouassi | First-Year UROP Research Experience
Compared to the lower 48 states, Alaska faces unproportional rates of suicide related death and injuries, especially among the Alaskan Native (AN) youth. From the effects of colonialism to social changes, there are numerous issues plaguing Native youth today, putting them at higher risk of suicide compared to their White counterparts. Another aspect of life that puts youth at higher risk is access to firearms, which are commonly found within rural Alaskan homes. Research is being done to learn about safe firearm storage practices within people’s homes in order to increase safety and reduce the risk of firearm related accidents and suicide. The short intervention we are developing uses motivational interviewing to increase adult family members’ safe firearm storage practices in their households. Building on information generated through local household surveys about home firearm storage practices, communications, responsibilities and preferences, we will develop motivational Interviewing guides. This project will identify key motivations and ways of engaging adults in a universal intervention to improve safety practices related to firearm storage. This project integrates previous motivational interviewing research and guides to be used to adapt our brief intervention–the family safety net–to the local priorities, motivations, values and local language use and norms.
Altered Kynurenine Pathway in Aortic Patients is Linked to CKD Atherosclerosis
Skyelar Herriman | First-Year UROP Research Experience
An Analysis of Types of Tips Collected Using an Anonymous Reporting System (ARS) in K-12 Schools
Molly Oppenheim | First-Year UROP Research Experience
While schools have employed systems for students to report incidents of bullying, drugs, mental health, safety concerns, etc. they are often not anonymous, despite being advertised as so. Often times students are directed to report their concerns to a teacher/counselor directly or to fill out a form of some kind that they ultimately need to deliver to a teacher/counselor, thus defeating the point of “anonymous” reporting. This study aims to investigate how the number and demographics of student reports change when an actual Anonymous Reporting System (ARS) as part of the Safe2Say Something (S2SS) initiative is introduced. This experiment included a school district in Pennsylvania where half of the schools implemented the ARS and taught the students how to use it while the other half of schools carried on with their normal reporting system. At the conclusion of the study, all of the tips were coded and categorized on the basis of type (sexual harassment, drugs, mental health, etc), race, gender, grade/age, and whether or not the victim was the one who reported or if it was a witness. After a careful analysis of the data, we expect to see a higher number of tips related to nonviolent bullying and harassment compared to other types of tips, including violence. This knowledge of how an ARS can be more effective for certain types of tips is part of a growing understanding of how to improve school safety and will lead to new standard legislation and implementation regarding reporting in schools.
Analysis of brain c-fos expression in response to the presentation of two temporally separated stimuli by Protein Immunofluorescence Combined with Intronic Fluorescent In situ Hybridization (PICIFISH)
Angela Suo | First-Year UROP Research Experience
This project aims to develop an understanding regarding the neurobiology of vulnerability to addiction and post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Oftentimes when different environmental cues that have been associated with something emotional are triggered, it can lead to an emotional or motivational state that influences the way one behaves and can lead to undesirable consequences. For example, drug-associated cues including seeing or smelling drugs can induce craving which can lead to drug use or relapse. We are particularly interested in the neuronal basis on incentive salience – the cognitive process that attributes a “desire” or “want”, which includes a motivational component, to a rewarding stimulus. To investigate this phenomenon, our lab experiments with animals, particularly rats, and introduces a lever cue followed by a food reward in the cage. A distinction between rats is made: Rats who consistently approach the lever are known as sign-trackers (STs), rats who mainly ignore the lever and go straight to the location of the food are known as goal-trackers (GTs), and then there are unassigned rats who do not particularly show interest in the lever or the place where the food will come down, until the food is given. It is evident that STs attribute incentive value to lever while GT rats attribute predictive value to the lever as they go to the location where the food will eventually come after seeing the lever. Throughout this process, neuronal activity is measured through immunohistochemistry and protein immunofluorescence combined with intronic fluorescence in situ hybridization (PICIFISH). These are methods of staining and amplifying the c-fos MRNA signal through the application of multiple antibodies and blocking serums, which allows us to see the varying levels of c-fos mRNA, a marker for neuronal activity, in various rat brain slices. After these processes are complete, the brain slices are viewed under the microscope, helping us develop an understanding of how much c-fos mRNA was created. By understanding and inspecting the levels of c-fos mRNA expression and neuronal structure of the rats, we hope to develop an understanding of the neurobiology that correlates with addiction and PTSD based on the varying levels of c-fos expression in the distinct types of rats.
Analysis of brain c-fos expression in response to the presentation of two temporally separated stimuli by Protein Immunofluorescence Combined with Intronic Fluorescent In Situ Hybridization (PICIFISH)
Jad Fakhoury | First-Year UROP Research Experience
This project aims to develop an understanding regarding the neurobiology of vulnerability to addiction and post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Oftentimes when different environmental cues that have been associated with something emotional are triggered, it can lead to an emotional or motivational state that influences the way one behaves and can lead to undesirable consequences. For example, drug-associated cues including seeing or smelling drugs can induce craving which can lead to drug use or relapse. We are particularly interested in the neuronal basis on incentive salience – the cognitive process that attributes a “desire” or “want”, which includes a motivational component, to a rewarding stimulus. To investigate this phenomenon, our lab experiments with animals, particularly rats, and introduces a lever cue followed by a food reward in the cage.
Analysis of the Human Ovarian Cell Landscape using Histological and Immunofluorescent Staining
Maria Ciarelli | First-Year UROP Research Experience
Improvements in cancer treatments have led to the increase of cancer survival rates in recent decades. While these treatments are life-saving, they have cytotoxic effects on the ovaries, thus depleting the ovarian follicle supply. The number of follicles in the ovaries is nonrenewable, leading to premature ovarian insufficiency (POI). In vitro follicle culture could serve as a broad fertility preservation option for these patients, but much is still unknown about the mechanisms driving early follicle development. Single cell sequencing of ovarian tissue from deceased donors can be used to characterize the role of stromal cells in follicle development as well as transcriptional differences between follicles at the different stages of development. To verify the cell populations identified using single cell sequencing we will use hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) and immunofluorescent staining to characterize the spatial landscape of follicles and stroma in donor ovarian tissue. I will quantify follicles at different stages of development across donors and use immunofluorescent staining to validate and support the sequencing data. This work will deepen our understanding of follicle development and supporting cell types, leading to development of human follicle culture systems and a broad fertility preservation option for cancer survivors.
Analysis of Wheelchair Dimensions
Justin Meyer | First-Year UROP Research Experience
The goal of this project was to characterize wheelchair dimensions to provide guidance to vehicle manufacturers who are designing integrated wheelchair seating stations in automated vehicles. UMTRI has a database of wheelchair crashes that include front and side view photos of hundreds of wheelchairs. My task on the project was to digitize specific wheelchair points using Image J software, calibrating each photo using a known scale dimension on each photo. These data can be used to define key dimensions for each wheelchair, such as maximum length, width, and height. Forty wheelchairs, including both manual and power styles, were analyzed. Results will be used to create generic 3-dimensional wheelchair models that represent the range of wheelchair sizes available.
Analyzing CRISPR-Cas9 Genomic Engineering through Targeted Deletions
Ahsan Ahmed | First-Year UROP Research Experience
Background: Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) is a technology used to edit genomes at very high precision. It enables precise editing of genomic loci with a RNA-guided CRISPR associated protein 9 (Cas9) nuclease that can cleave the targeted DNA complementary to a guide RNA (gRNA). Precise gene editing via CRISPR-Cas9 has great potential in treating inherited diseases (e.g., cystic fibrosis) or correcting genetic defects.
Objective: To test the specificity and function of the CRISPR-Cas9 in a proof-of-principle experiment, we used two human Emx1 (hEmx1) gene-specific gRNA sequences (3.1+4.1) to guide the Cas9 enzyme for the deletion of the targeted region in human 293AD cells.
Analyzing CRISPR-Cas9 through Genomic Deletions
Kyle Rodrigues | First-Year UROP Research Experience
Background: Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) is a technology used to edit genomes at very high precision. It enables precise editing of genomic loci with a RNA-guided CRISPR associated protein 9 (Cas9) nuclease that can cleave the targeted DNA complementary to a guide RNA (gRNA). Precise gene editing via CRISPR-Cas9 has great potential in treating inherited diseases (e.g., cystic fibrosis) or correcting genetic defects.
Objective: To test the specificity and function of the CRISPR-Cas9 in a proof-of-principle experiment, we used two human Emx1 (hEmx1) gene-specific gRNA sequences (3.1+4.1) to guide the Cas9 enzyme for the deletion of the targeted region in human 293AD cells.
Analyzing how to redesign the University of Michigan website for the higher education of First Generation students
Yining Li | Changing Gears
The First-Generation program has grown tremendously within the past few years. One of the key resources is the First Generation website that provides a plethora of information to University of Michigan first-generation students. Ideally, the website is designed for students to build connections and seek support. Our project explores if the website is performing to students’ standards and if the needs of University of Michigan first-generation students are being met. The overall purpose of this project is to improve the performance based on the feedback we get from our participants.
Analyzing How to Redesign the University of Michigan Website for the Higher Education of First Generation Students
Fatima Lagunas | First-Year UROP Research Experience
The First-Generation program has grown tremendously within the past few years. One of the key resources is the First Generation website that provides a plethora of information to University of Michigan first-generation students. Ideally, the website is designed for students to build connections and seek support. Our project explores if the website is performing to students’ standards and if the needs of University of Michigan first-generation students are being met. The overall purpose of this project is to improve the performance based on the feedback we get from our participants.
Antarctic Atmospheric Rivers
Namitha Kumar | First-Year UROP Research Experience
Atmospheric Rivers (ARs) are long and narrow areas of concentrated moisture found within the first few kilometers of the atmosphere. When they make landfall, this moisture is released in the form of rain or snow, at times transporting moisture from the tropics or subtropics. Due to their impacts at landfall, there has been an explosion of interest in characterizing ARs. However, the AR definition is largely qualitative and relies on regionally specific case studies from the North Pacific, therefore, a number of AR detection algorithms exist. I will be focusing on the region of Antarctica because there is little studied from that region, and there are large differences between algorithms when applied to that region. The Atmospheric River Tracking Method Intercomparison Project (ARTMIP) aims to identify and quantify the uncertainty in AR science due to algorithm choice. The focus of this project is on a set of AR catalogues from ten algorithms run on MERRA-2 reanalysis (1 hour time intervals and 0.5 degree latitude and longitude intervals). This project seeks to understand and quantify the differences between regional and global algorithms when applied to the region of Antarctica by examining how the number of AR events changes with algorithm and comparing algorithms along transects in Antarctica. We can cross analyze the output of each of the detection algorithms to identify areas of inconsistency in atmospheric river detection and understand the nature and source of those inconsistencies, which is the goal of this UROP project.
Anti-AAPI Hate in the Coronavirus Pandemic: Which harassment incidents get the attention of American media?
Pristina Koon | First-Year UROP Research Experience
As incidents of anti-Asian American hate have spiked since the beginning of the global coronavirus pandemic, leaders, advocates, and members of the Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) community feel there is not enough media attention given to this rise in racially-charged harassment (Marston). This project investigates the qualitative properties of the most frequently reported harassment incidents (FRHI). FRHIs are defined by appearing in American media at least ten times throughout 2020. FRHIs were compiled after analyzing a database composed of 2020 Newsbank and Proquest articles surrounding the issue of anti-AAPI hate.
APIS Ice Cover Modeling
Manish Venumuddula | First-Year UROP Research Experience
We updated statistical models that model the onset and extent of ice cover along and around the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore(or APIS) – a US National Park that is famous for its picturesque rock formations in winter and accessed by foot. Over the past 50 years, climate has changed dramatically, leading to extreme variability in when and if Great Lakes freeze to a safe amount. We modeled when ice cover reached a specified extent, and if ice cover would reach that specified extent in a certain year. This project models ice cover extent using survival and beta regression models using teleconnections and historical daily ice cover data dating back to 1973. Analysis of results shows a significant increase in ice cover variability after the 1990s. The model accommodates for this change, and can be split into two different models.
Application for Cardiac Signal Visualization and Annotation
Yuzhao Heng | Changing Gears
Massive amounts of data are being generated at a high velocity in the medical industry, at a rate and dimension that humans cannot catch up understanding them. Machine learning (ML) has the potential to analyze the medical time series data to support physicians in clinical decision making. However, in order to build useful machine learning (ML) algorithms, it is important to have annotated medical data set that can be used to train ML models. This project at the start is about building a viewer for surface ECG and intracardiac electrogram signals acquired during cardiac ablation procedures. Building the framework at early stages to support basic functionality is engineering-oriented with design decisions. We are currently developing a web application in Python. Specifications were created based upon the needed functionality of the application after talking with multiple cardiologists. The next step would be inviting medical students and cardiologists to use the app and gather feedback. Eventually, we want to build a platform/infrastructure that allows for development and evaluation of ML algorithms, and to improve cardiovascular disease management and treatment. By working with cardiologists and intelligent algorithms, we want to build a tool that can quickly review, search, annotate and analyze signals at high throughput. The end goal is that researchers across the country can use our tool to review their own data, and also deploy a real-time graphical decision support tool to assist cardiac procedures.
Arch Replacement During Type A Aortic Dissection Repair
Marc Titsworth | First-Year UROP Research Experience
Prior to and following aortic surgery, surgeons periodically track the diameter of the aorta to follow growth and determine whether surgical re-intervention is required. By the use of imaging studies such as CT and TEE/TTE, we can examine the data from preoperative and postoperative imaging. This can be used to follow growth, which is a risk factor for reoperation. The different management techniques of managing the aortic arch during acute type A aortic dissection (ATAAD) treatment involves different extents of replacement of the arch. For this project, aortic dissection patients surgically treated at Michigan Medicine in the past year will be added to an online database. Information pertaining to the aortic dissection repair including preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative variables such as age, pre-existing comorbidities, and postoperative stroke will be collected in the database. Through a retrospective chart review and analysis of this REDcap aortic dissection database, aortic dissection patients will be separated into four groups of varying extent of aortic arch replacement during ATAAD repair: (1) the hemiarch (proximal repair beyond the innominate artery without any arch vessels involved) (2) zone 1 (innominate and left common carotid artery) (3) zone 2 (right common carotid and subclavian arteries) and (4) zone 3 (also known as total arch, includes the region distal to the subclavian artery). A statistical analysis comparing baseline characteristics (gender, median age, hypertension, coronary artery disease, and diabetes) using chi-square and fisher tests will be performed to determine whether these are significantly different between groups.
Archaeology of Jebel Barkal (ancient Nubia)
Nami Kaneko | First-Year UROP Research Experience
Gebel Barkal is an archaeological site in Northern Sudan along the Nile River that was a capital city and temple center of ancient Kush (Nubia). The site was first excavated in 1916-20 under the direction of George Reisner, an archaeologist based at Harvard and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. A University of Michigan project is beginning to work at the site with both excavation and conservation, working with the local community to create lasting connections surrounding this site. I have been working to to transcribe George Reisner’s field diaries from 1918 to 1920. By using older information of past seasons (or excavations), my mentor and his colleagues can inform their excavation and gain insight on the best ways to excavate and, in turn, preserve the site.
Archaeology of Jebel Barkal Website Creation
Adia Archer | First-Year UROP Research Experience
Jebel Barkal is a UNESCO World Heritage site in northern Sudan. The Jebel Barkal Archaeological Project at the University of Michigan was looking for an effective way to share its archaeological findings with a range of audiences and found that creating a website would meet these needs. We surveyed different archaeological project websites to determine which features would work well for the project’s needs. This also helped us to determine what website builder would be utilized, as they all have different offerings for features you can include. In addition, we looked into how the websites looked aesthetically to figure out what would appeal most to different audiences, the general public, teachers, students, scholars, and eventually people in Sudan (in an Arabic version). From our previous research we found that the features most important to us were a research portal, one section with older research from the previous director, Tim Kendall, one from the current director, Geoff Emberling, and a news feed/blog to keep visitors up to date with the findings at the site and intrigue possible sponsors to want to donate. We also found that for aesthetic purposes, making sure text passages are not too long and that there are images included helps to keep the user connected to the topic but not overwhelmed. Lastly, formatting of the website was discussed frequently as some audiences have different access to computers and phones; we found that websites generally need a universal format that will look good no matter what device they are displayed on. In conclusion, it will be possible to create an engaging website for this project that will have research available for professionals and researchers to use, but also be useful to the general public with shorter summaries of the research.
Architecture of Dwelling: Considering Design, Social Relations, and Policy in Single and Multi-Family Housing
Stephanie Rosas | First-Year UROP Research Experience
Despite the growing field of architecture, single room occupancy housing in specifically, has not been adjusting to the changing needs of society in affordability, adaptability, and changing demographics. Housing needs to be seen by the perspective of a designer, sociologist, and policy maker all at once and addressed in its complexity. This project re-imagined New Hope Housing in Houston, Texas to more appropriately serve its residents in a series of 3D models of 20 different housing structures. An analysis of the pre-existing environment offered further conversation on what affordable housing can look like when reimagining the intersection of social justice, policy, financing, and construction to provide housing access for all. The study was able to create 20 3D models, using Rhino 3D, and showcase them to a wider audience through a newly developed interactive website and social media page. We interviewed architects whose work surrounds housing, to further include them in the conversation of affordable housing efforts. These models add depth to our understanding of housing and explores the possibilities within housing that not only makes a person’s home affordable, but also livable. There is a widening gap between architectural innovation and residential design that needs to be addressed to meet the needs of a demanding and evolving society and this project will contribute to the future research on this topic.
Architecture of Dwelling: Considering Design, Social Relations, and Policy in Single and Multi-Family Housing
Yin To Wong | First-Year UROP Research Experience
Single room occupancy (SRO) housing in the United States have long been negatively stigmatized due to their housing of impoverished and minority communities in America. While this view of SROs has improved over time, there is still a great amount of negative bias that overshadows SRO’s historic role and future potential as a housing solution. Our research work builds connections with and brings in ideas from organizations experienced with building new SRO housing models as a way to address the issue of housing affordability in cities across the US. Our goal is to share this research with the wider public through a website, that will help dispel the stigma and increase the availability of SRO’s as an affordable housing option.
Architecture of Dwelling: Considering Design, Social Relations, and Policy in Single and Multi-Family Housing
Michaela Nam | Community-Engaged
Supportive housing is a cost-effective combination of affordable housing with services that helps people live more stable, productive lives. Having such housing options are vital especially in cities undergoing rapid re-development because rising property values displace low-income households from their homes and sources of income. New Hope Housing is a non-profit organization that aims to provide such housing to individuals and families. A case study by the Urban Land Institute offers a comprehensive analysis on one of New Hope Housing’s apartments, highlighting the unique structure of their development model and operating timeline. Building on an integrated approach between a debt-free development model and single room occupancy (SRO) design, this research project looks for solutions to how SROs can re-define housing and positively impact the neighborhoods surrounding low-income housing.
Assessing Climate Adaptability in Madagascar Through U.N’s AFRice Program
Yasmine Elhagehassan | First-Year UROP Research Experience
Adaptation to climate change has become an important topic in recent years as climate impacts have become increasingly severe. Discussion of adaptation is particularly important in low-income countries, which are more susceptible to changes in climate. One of the recipients of the UN’s adaptation funds, Madagascar, provides an example of how conflict of interest among governmental institutions prevent their citizens from being able to adapt. One of UN’s funding programs, AFRice, attempts to prepare rice farmers within the Alaotra-Mangoro region through a series of training seminars and workshops, rewarding participants with agricultural tools and seeds. In order to understand how efficient the AFRice program was in its goals, a survey was conducted on 600 households (among both beneficiary and non-beneficiary households) to understand the living conditions that could attest to the success of the AFRice program. The collected survey data was analyzed for descriptive statistics in the statistical program R. Three variables were used to determine differences in the adaptive capacity of beneficiary versus non-beneficiary households: Adaptive Capacity, Long-Term Coping Strategies, and Food Security. During the analysis, the averages were determined for each variable, and an ANOVA test conducted in order to understand significant differences between the two groups. It is hypothesized that households that participated in the project will have higher adaptive capacity, rely on fewer coping strategies, and will be more food secure than households that did not participate. These findings would indicate the effectiveness of the UN AFRice project and contribute to better practices of future UN projects that can aid other vulnerable countries as they face climate impacts.
Assessing Men’s Proclivity to Recognizing Subtle Gender Bias Against Women in STEM
Isabella Gorsd | First-Year UROP Research Experience
Women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) frequently encounter gender bias (e.g., questioning of their STEM ability, assignment to secretarial roles). Given the subtle and ambiguous nature of contemporary sexism, people vary in their likelihood of recognizing subtly sexist interactions. Past research demonstrates that women are more sensitive to gender bias and more readily recognize it when it occurs. However, there remains a dearth of research related to men’s experiences in witnessing bias. In the present research, we ask: (1) what are the individual difference measures that contribute to men’s proclivity in recognizing subtle gender bias, (2) what are the affective consequences of recognizing subtle gender bias during group tasks, and (3) how do men’s affective states after witnessing subtle gender bias influence their desire to work with women in mixed-gendered groups? STEM identified men (N=275) read a fake transcript depicting a conversation between 3 STEM identified college students (1 woman, 2 men). Participants were exposed to one of two transcripts in which a man either (a) demonstrates subtle gender bias against a woman or (b) engages in a neutral interaction with a woman. After reading the transcript, participants completed measures related to their affect (state and collective), their impressions of the interaction (open and closed ended), and behavioral measures related to the students in the transcript. Open ended responses were coded to determine recognition of bias. Findings and implications for this work are discussed.
Assessing the Accuracy of sPHENIX Design in Measuring Jet Charge
Alexandra Kucich | First-Year UROP Research Experience
The purpose of this research project is to determine the efficacy of designs for the new sPHENIX detector at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider in measuring the charge of a quark jet with precision. The paper “Jet Charge: A Flavor Prism for Spin Asymmetries at the Electron-Ion Collider” by Kang, Liu, et al. provides the basis for this research by suggesting that determining jet charge could yield valuable clues as to the separation of various quark flavors in jet production and associated spin asymmetries. It is therefore imperative for the sake of later investigations into nucleon spin and flavor structure using sPHENIX to ensure that the detector is capable of accurately measuring jet charge. The study will utilize Monte Carlo simulations to produce known values for the charges of jets and the flavor of a parton initiating them. Code that mimics current sPHENIX detector design will then reconstruct these jet charge values in the jet-producing, simulated proton-proton collisions. Reconstructed jet charge values will then be compared against the known, generated values in order to assess the accuracy of the reconstruction. Assessing sPHENIX’s jet charge measurements will allow for improvements to its jet charge reconstruction algorithm and eventually more accurate probes of nucleon flavor and spin structure as described in Kang et al.
Associations of adverse childhood experiences with chronic systemic inflammation in adulthood
Christine Yu | First-Year UROP Research Experience
Background: Childhood trauma and adverse childhood events (ACEs) contribute to adult physical and mental health. However, little is known about the underlying mechanisms that explain this relationship, which could inform the development of targeted interventions. Recent research has suggested that chronic systemic inflammation and immune dysfunction may play a key mediating role between ACEs and health outcomes across the lifespan. Objectives: The goal of this project was to review existing literature in order to determine the potential for chronic systemic inflammation to explain associations of ACEs with adult health outcomes. Exposure of interest: adverse childhood experiences Outcome of interest: chronic systemic inflammation Methods: Pubmed and Scopus were searched with subject headings “˜Childhood Trauma’, “˜Adverse Childhood Experiences’, “˜Child Abuse’ cross referenced with “˜Inflammation’, “˜C-reactive protein’, “˜CRP’, “˜Interleukin’, and “˜IL-6′. A wide range of studies like literature reviews, human studies, and qualitative studies were considered. Results: Among existing studies, markers of chronic systemic inflammation included C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin (IL)-6, fibrinogen, and tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-a. Findings indicated that chronic systemic inflammation is a mechanism by which ACEs influence health outcomes in adulthood. As an example of this, Lacey and colleagues (2020) observed that specific ACEs like household dysfunction and parental loss were associated with higher levels of CRP and fibrinogen among adults aged 44-45 years. Conclusions: Chronic systemic inflammation likely plays a role in the relationship between ACEs and adult health outcomes. This project highlights the role of early-life exposures in health across the lifespan and the need for strategies that reduce the burden of ACEs. Whether systemic inflammation can be targeted to buffer against the effects of ACEs on health will require further study.
Audio to phone transcription
Jingze Li | First-Year UROP Research Experience
Our goal of this project is to find a method to generate boundaries for each sound (consonant or vowel) in a piece of speech, and label it with the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). There are commercially-available tools to convert audio pieces to words for popularly used languages, such as English and Spanish. There is no such tool for resource-poor languages, many of which do not even have an orthography. An urgent task now is to document endangered languages before they are lost forever, which will benefit people who speak them and researchers. The most time consuming and most difficult task in documenting a language is to convert its recording to transcription. In the current practice, the transcription of an unanalyzed language is still done by hand, and each hour of recording would require 100 hours of an experienced linguist to transcribe. We believe automatic transcription will save time and free our linguists from laborious work. Throughout the year we had worked on identifying acoustic cues, practiced manual transcription, and understanding signals for different features. Currently, I am working on a Japanese audio file and I was able to identify boundaries (about 50% accuracy) for major classes of sounds. If time allowed, we wish to distinguish between different consonants, nasals and vowels and identify the most effective cues we can use (i.e. intensity and sharpness of sounds).
Audio to phone transcription
Jack Moeser | First-Year UROP Research Experience
By the end of this century, at least 50% of the world’s 6,000 languages are projected to go extinct (UNESCO 2013), meaning that they have no living, fluent speakers and have not been transcribed. Linguists are able to transcribe languages phonetically using recorded samples of a language, but this process is highly time consuming and requires a significant quantity of recordings to be transcribed, meaning that humans are not able to efficiently transcribe languages. Clearly, this process should be automated to increase efficiency, but currently, there is not a sufficient program available. The goal of this project is to develop a transcription program that can transcribe audio files into phonetic symbols in order to facilitate the preservation of endangered languages. In order to accomplish this task, short audio samples of Australian English, a known language, will be segmented and transcribed phonetically manually, using the software Praat (Boersma & Weenink 2020). Major classes of phonetic sounds will be classified using the acoustic information in the audio file, including amplitude, pitch, and frequency spectrum, as well as data that can be derived from the provided data, such as the rate at which the amplitude of a wave crosses the horizontal axis. By analyzing this data in Microsoft Excel, hopefully we will be able to clearly distinguish and notate different phonetic sounds automatically and successfully using information that can be obtained without any knowledge of a language. References: Boersma, Paul, & David Weenink. 2020. Praat: doing phonetics by computer [Computer program]. Version 6.1.16, retrieved 6 June 2020 from http://www.praat.org/. UNESCO 2013. Endangered languages. http://www.unesco.org/new/en/culture/themes/endangered-languages/. Accessed 8/21/2013.
Audio to Phone Transcription — Illustration with Mandarin
Yingjie Qu | Changing Gears
Generally, linguists’ first step in analyzing any language is to transcribe audio files into written representation. This is an extremely time-consuming process because the committed time to audio length ratio for an experienced linguist is about 100:1, which slows down the analysis of language tremendously. In addition, despite many advances in language technology, there does not exist such a tool with which any audio file in any language could be converted into transcribed phones automatically. Our research project focuses on developing a method to convert audio files of speech to transcribed phones (consonants and vowels), without prior knowledge of the target language.
Availability of ICU Resources in Response to COVID-19 Pandemic
Alexandra Yates | First-Year UROP Research Experience
COVID-19 has increased intensive care unit admissions thereby increasing the demand for the ICU’s resources. This greater demand in the ICU has led to rapid resource depletion and an alarming lack of these needed resources such as beds and staff. This pandemic has taxed the hospitals’ resources particularly in the intensive care units as many were underprepared and were forced to adapt to the changing environment in order to treat the influx of COVID-19 patients. There are numerous studies being conducted elsewhere but this study aims to measure the effects of the pandemic on hospitals in the state of Michigan and study how these hospitals adapted to the changing environment and how they dealt with resource depletion. Surveys have been conducted of numerous hospital ICUs at three points in time (initial, 4 weeks, and 12 weeks) to collect information regarding the effects the pandemic had and changes the hospital’s ICU made to combat these effects. The responses of these studies will be analyzed to find trends and consistencies across hospitals. By collecting information at different times, it is hypothesized that hospitals will have altered in terms of policy and resource availability as these hospitals saw peaks and dips in the number of COVID-19 patients. This study will compile the results to understand how COVID-19 has affected ICUs and how they adapted to deal with the pandemic with the hope that this knowledge can be used within the healthcare field for the betterment of hospital preparedness.
Awareness of Racial Inequality: The Process of Scale Development
Monica Mashkevich | First-Year UROP Research Experience
Racism and race-based discrimination are clearly present in today’s society, but to what extent? To what extent do Black people experience discrimination and understand racism? This can be answered through the process of scale development. This study will outline the process to develop a scale, and will further describe how that scale can be used to measure the psychological phenomenon of racism awareness. In the past, there has been a great deal of scales that have been made for related topics that could be used as an object of comparison. This study will analyze the use of other scales, their effectiveness, and how they can be used to develop a new scale. To develop this scale, 2 middle schools and 2 high schools will be randomly selected. 40 students, balanced relatively evenly across grades 6 through 12, will also be invited to complete a one-on-one interview. These students will have to self-identify as African American or Black, must receive parental consent, and must self consent to participate in the study. Interviews will be conducted with the students, and they will be asked questions about their race-related experiences and understanding of racial inequality. Common themes that students mentioned will be gathered. These themes, along with other scales developed in the past, will be used to develop a scale that thoroughly measures adolescents’ awareness of racial inequality, based on their experiences, education, and knowledge.
Behind “To Make The Slave Anew”: The Editing Process and The Unpacking of Art in the Antebellum South
N'Dea Shelton | First-Year UROP Research Experience
The Antebellum South was a place riddled with change but also so many who wanted to hold onto the past they believed themselves the preservers of. White Southerners took their job of preservation, especially of the slave and plantation culture, extremely seriously and their were several avenues of preservation ranging from full traveling choirs to full on changes in the functioning of everyday life for African Americans. In working with Dr.Young this semester on his book, I have learned so much about these representations and the part that interested me the most was the art and this depiction of the plantation south. What was included and excluded and what symbolism did that hold? Who wanted these pieces in their homes and how did this impact the progression of African Americans. My presentation will address these questions and many others as we dive into Dr.Young’s writing and unpack these questions as well as discuss the process of getting to work on such a project.
Better Air Quality Outcomes in Southwest Detroit
Alexis Barritt | Community-Engaged
Southwest Detroit Environmental Vision (SDEV) works to fulfill the needs of the community by empowering its residents to engage and by providing a connection to important resources. SDEV works with industrial corporations, businesses, and residents to address environmental pressures and concerns, specifically air pollution. Residents of Southwest Detroit live in the middle of industry and are exposed to bad air quality that leads to asthma, lead poisoning, strokes, heart attacks, and more. Even more significantly, these high impact areas correlate to more COVID fatalities as a result of these pre-existing conditions. SDEV recognizes that these high impact areas are primarily urban areas of color and that environmental and racial justice go hand in hand. To combat this issue, SDEV is working to propose a revised truck route to reduce truck traffic on residential streets and to increase enforcement of Detroit’s Anti-Idling Ordinance. SDEV has compiled a list of community members willing to host cameras and air-quality monitors at their residences collecting data relating to pollution levels. This data will be used in the proposal to revise the truck routes in order to better protect the health and wellbeing of the community. SDEV also fosters civic engagement and advocates for environmental policy. This is done by organizing residents to talk to their representatives who vote on the policies that affect them. Through these efforts, SDEV is able to engage the community and make deep and impactful changes that lessen environmental pressures. SDEV works to ensure that the residents come first and their concerns are being heard and met.
Better Air Quality Outcomes in Southwest Detroit
Jacquelyn Zamora | Community-Engaged
Southwest Detroit Environmental Vision (SDEV) works to fulfill the needs of the community by empowering its residents to engage and by providing a connection to important resources. SDEV works with industrial corporations, businesses, and residents to address environmental pressures and concerns, specifically air pollution. Residents of Southwest Detroit live in the middle of industry and are exposed to bad air quality that leads to asthma, lead poisoning, strokes, heart attacks, and more. Even more significantly, these high impact areas correlate to more COVID fatalities as a result of these pre-existing conditions. SDEV recognizes that these high impact areas are primarily urban areas of color and that environmental and racial justice go hand in hand. To combat this issue, SDEV is working to propose a revised truck route to reduce truck traffic on residential streets and to increase enforcement of Detroit’s Anti-Idling Ordinance. SDEV has compiled a list of community members willing to host cameras and air-quality monitors at their residences collecting data relating to pollution levels. This data will be used in the proposal to revise the truck routes in order to better protect the health and wellbeing of the community. SDEV also fosters civic engagement and advocates for environmental policy. This is done by organizing residents to talk to their representatives who vote on the policies that affect them. Through these efforts, SDEV is able to engage the community and make deep and impactful changes that lessen environmental pressures. SDEV works to ensure that the residents come first and their concerns are being heard and met.
Beyond the Horizon: the Detroit Observatory’s Early Women Astronomers
Yasmeen Berry | Mellon Scholars
The year 2020 marked the 150th anniversary of the admission of women to the University of Michigan. “Beyond the Horizon: the Detroit Observatory’s Early Women Astronomers” is an expansion upon an online exhibition. It was created to showcase the development and impact of higher education in astronomy for women at the University of Michigan. Created in collaboration with the Bentley Historical Library and the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP), this exhibition gave a unique look into the lives of early women astronomy students at the Detroit Observatory. In an effort to increase the online presence of information regarding these early women astronomers, biographical sketches were adapted to accommodate for increased online accessibility. In addition to these online awareness efforts, information was added on previous women astronomers showcased and on new additions to the exhibition. The collection currently includes Harriet W. Bigelow, Agnes Ermina Wells, Hazel Marie Losh, Helen (Walter) Dodson Prince, and Laura Elizabeth Hill Mclaughlin.
Beyond the Walls of Our Classrooms: Creating Authentic Audiences for Students
Nicole Tooley | Research Scholars
When teachers extend the purpose of an assignment beyond the walls of a classroom, students begin to care. Through an exploration of creative-writing pedagogy and the latest advancements in technology and publishing, this research aims to explore how to implement authentic audiences in secondary ELA and creative writing classrooms. Whether that be through letter-writing, community-based projects, or submitting work out to literary journals, the hope is that students will be able to confidently answer questions like “Who are we writing for?” and “Why does this matter?” To make the findings of this research more accessible to the intended audience of secondary teachers and students, this research will adopt and be delivered through one of the proposed forms of publication: the zine.
Big Cats and Big Data: modeling the ecology of predator-prey dynamics and intraguild predation in the jaguar (Panthera onca) and ocelot (Leopardus pardalis)
Sean Richards | First-Year UROP Research Experience
Although intraguild predation and interspecific killing play a major role in structuring ecosystems and food webs, we lack a mechanistic understanding of the complex behaviors and outcomes for coexistence among carnivore species. Such is the focus of this project; we built an agent-based model (ABM) in NetLogo to simulate competition between felids, specifically jaguars (Panthera onca) and ocelots (Leopardus pardalis). We searched the literature to parameterize t important components of the model such as movement, home range, and intraguild killing frequencies. Simulation runs were performed 1000 times for each level of additional arboreal refuge, recording the number of coexistence outcomes over a predetermined number of ticks to represent time. We used generalized linear models (GLMs) to determine the relationships between spatial refugia on the coexistence outcomes of the jaguar and ocelot model. Progress so far indicates that increased arboreal availability leads to more coexistence between the two species despite overlapping home ranges and occupancy. In a broader context, this modeling approach can give researchers predictive power in complex systems and guide management decisions for protected areas in neotropical ecosystems.
Bioinformatics and Biochemical studies on cancer proteins
Sohavni Singh | First-Year UROP Research Experience
Protein sequence data is abundant, but ancestry information of those proteins and experimental analysis of the structure of those protein sequences are less available, and costly to produce. Thus, machine learning algorithms are being developed to predict protein structure. For structure prediction, available data is collected and parsed for the specific properties one’s algorithm requires, such as torsion angles for tertiary structure prediction. After an algorithm is trained against this data, the algorithm can be tested in its correctness of predicting protein structure. As a new algorithm is developed, an increase in accuracy and precision is expected.
Bioinformatics study on genetic diseases
Sarah Ory | First-Year UROP Research Experience
Bioinformatics study on genetic diseases
Miranda Baumbick | First-Year UROP Research Experience
Missense single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are single point mutations that alter the amino acid produced. By changing the amino acid, protein stability, pathogenicity, or chemical properties of the protein can change. These mutations can also cause various diseases, specifically diabetes, intellectual disability, and speech-language disorder. However, not all mutations are pathogenic. This study’s objective is to research the properties of these mutations by looking at the change in free energy, amino acid change, and pathogenicity and to determine whether or not it’s harmful to humans. The study specifically focused on the forkhead transcription factors, a set of DNA-binding proteins involved in regulating gene expression. Data was gathered from the Uniprot database, and PyMOL was used to determine protein to DNA contact. EvoEF was used to calculate the change in free energy, and SIFT and Polyphen-2 were used to predict pathogenicity. The results showed common trends among most pathogenic mutations such as high ??G values, no DNA contact, and a high damaging score. Therefore, the data collected is useful for making predictions about mutations.
Bioinformatics study on genetic diseases
Crystal Sanchez | First-Year UROP Research Experience
Proteins are responsible for much of the functions and regulation of living organisms and their body systems. Understanding protein function has much to do with protein structure, thus, knowing what form proteins take is very useful. There are millions of different types of proteins, many of which are essential for human survival. Current ways to determine protein structure require knowledge of the genetic DNA sequence, which can later be translated into an amino acid sequence, thus revealing the shape through chemical properties. However, this study aims to create a program that can accurately predict protein structure without knowledge of the amino acid sequence. Instead, cryo-EM density maps are utilized to map the protein structure. The density maps are created utilizing convolutional neural networks (CNN), which are used to predict key atoms. These deep learning techniques are applied to create the program that can accurately predict a protein structure. This research is valuable because other scientists who require knowledge of protein structure could use it, especially if they do not have access to a specific genetic sequence they need. Next steps include perfecting the program such that the predictions reach the threshold for accuracy.
Bioinformatics study on protein modeling
Jordan Davis | Changing Gears
Determining the structure of proteins can be a long expensive task. However, using new applications of deep learning ai it is possible to formulate a protein structure using its sequence. Through many supporting applications the final goal is becoming more attainable.
Bioinformatics study on protein structures
Ava Pardo-Keegan | First-Year UROP Research Experience
The majority of proteins are composed of foldable, stable subunits called domains. The structures of these proteins can be made up of a single domain or multiple domains. Determining structures of multidomain proteins is a crucial step in elucidating their functions and designing new drugs to regulate these functions. However, it has been largely ignored by the mainstream of computational biology due to the difficulty in modeling inter-domain interactions. Therefore, almost all of the advanced protein structure prediction methods are optimized for modeling single domain proteins. In this study, we presented a method to construct a multidomain protein structure library with known full-length structures to assist the multidomain protein structure prediction. We collect all multidomain proteins from the Protein Data Bank based on the DomainParser, and multidomain proteins defined in CATH and SCOPe databases are also included in the library. This resulted in a total of 15,293 multidomain proteins in the library. The completeness of the library is examined by structurally matching a set of non-redundant multidomain proteins through the library using TM-align. The results show that most of the cases can obtain at least 1 template with correct global fold (TM-score >0.5) from the library, which indicates that the constructed multidomain protein library can likely be used to guide the multidomain protein structure modeling.
Black Families After Civil War – Creating Network of Care
Gideon Kortenhoven | Mellon Scholars
How did African American families survive and care for themselves during the transition for slavery to freedom? Our research investigates this question by following the lives of widows after the Civil War. After the war, the wives of Black soldiers who died filed for pensions from the federal government. These files include biographical information of the families and testimonies from those that could attest to the fact that the woman filing for a pension was married and had found support or taken up with a new husband. The goal of this research is to understand how Black women formed networks of care and how Black families and friends maintained ties from slavery, to freedom–through the Reconstruction period and into Jim Crow period. This research compiles genealogical data from the census, analyzes secondary literature, and examines pension files. We find that Black women held closely to their immediate familial relationships and their friends through common experiences and interactions. However, separation of Black families and friends due to geographical movement caused a strain on relationships. We hope to uncover more intimate information regarding the families being researched. The networks created among Black people represent the past and contemporary need for a sense of community among African Americans.
Black Families After the Civil War- Creating Networks of Care
Maia Jackson | First-Year UROP Research Experience
How did African American families survive and care for themselves during the transition for slavery to freedom? Our research investigates this question by following the lives of widows after the Civil War. After the war, the wives of Black soldiers who died filed for pensions from the federal government. These files include biographical information of the families and testimonies from those that could attest to the fact that the woman filing for a pension was married and had found support or taken up with a new husband. The goal of this research is to understand how Black women formed networks of care and how Black families and friends maintained ties from slavery, to freedom–through the Reconstruction period and into Jim Crow period. This research compiles genealogical data from the census, analyzes secondary literature, and examines pension files. We find that Black women held closely to their immediate familial relationships and their friends through common experiences and interactions. However, separation of Black families and friends due to geographical movement caused a strain on relationships. We hope to uncover more intimate information regarding the families being researched. The networks created among Black people represent the past and contemporary need for a sense of community among African Americans.
Black Feminist Approaches to Black Popular Culture Pedagogy – Background/Intro
Maya Ferguson | First-Year UROP Research Experience
Black popular culture and Black feminisms in social media have become generative pedagogical sites in previous years. With the rise of celebrities such as Beyoncé and Lizzo, and the explosion of social media as a primary means of creating cultural discourses, students are increasingly interested in how gender, race, sexuality, class, and other vectors of identity shape their entertainment experiences. Yet, few teachers feel comfortable effectively teaching Black popular culture using an intersectional lens. This project will construct a guidebook for teaching Black popular culture using Black feminist pedagogies and best practices from seasoned educators, to provide educators with a comprehensive framework and concrete strategies for teaching Black popular culture across disciplines. This project uses a variety of sources from interviews to books to educational studies in order to look at what it means to teach popular culture through the lens of Black feminism. Our research team has studied Black popular culture and Black feminism in an academic setting in order to better understand how to ask questions for our interviews we conducted for the project. The questions this guidebook will answer are: 1) What is Black feminism? 2) What methods can I use for teaching that fall under the framework of Black feminism? 3) How can I ensure these methods of teaching allow students to get the most out of their experience, academically and personally? The goal for this guidebook is to be used as a resource for educators across the country. Since Black feminism and Black popular culture have not been taught widely among classrooms, we hope this guidebook will start making these methods and ideas accessible.
Black Feminist Approaches to Black Popular Culture Pedagogy – Expected Results/Conclusions
Jasmin Lee | First-Year UROP Research Experience
Black popular culture and Black feminisms in social media have become generative pedagogical sites in previous years. With the rise of celebrities such as Beyoncé and Lizzo, and the explosion of social media as a primary means of creating cultural discourses, students are increasingly interested in how gender, race, sexuality, class, and other vectors of identity shape their entertainment experiences. Yet, few teachers feel comfortable effectively teaching Black popular culture using an intersectional lens. This project will construct a guidebook for teaching Black popular culture using Black feminist pedagogies and best practices from seasoned educators, to provide educators with a comprehensive framework and concrete strategies for teaching Black popular culture across disciplines. This project uses a variety of sources from interviews to books to educational studies in order to look at what it means to teach popular culture through the lens of Black feminism. Our research team has studied Black popular culture and Black feminism in an academic setting in order to better understand how to ask questions for our interviews we conducted for the project. The questions this guidebook will answer are: 1) What is Black feminism? 2) What methods can I use for teaching that fall under the framework of Black feminism? 3) How can I ensure these methods of teaching allow students to get the most out of their experience, academically and personally? The goal for this guidebook is to be used as a resource for educators across the country. Since Black feminism and Black popular culture have not been taught widely among classrooms, we hope this guidebook will start making these methods and ideas accessible.
Black Feminist Approaches to Black Popular Culture Pedagogy – Methods
Tyleah Tyner | First-Year UROP Research Experience
Black popular culture and Black feminisms in social media have become generative pedagogical sites in previous years. With the rise of celebrities such as Beyoncé and Lizzo, and the explosion of social media as a primary means of creating cultural discourses, students are increasingly interested in how gender, race, sexuality, class, and other vectors of identity shape their entertainment experiences. Yet, few teachers feel comfortable effectively teaching Black popular culture using an intersectional lens. This project will construct a guidebook for teaching Black popular culture using Black feminist pedagogies and best practices from seasoned educators, to provide educators with a comprehensive framework and concrete strategies for teaching Black popular culture across disciplines. This project uses a variety of sources from interviews to books to educational studies in order to look at what it means to teach popular culture through the lens of Black feminism. Our research team has studied Black popular culture and Black feminism in an academic setting in order to better understand how to ask questions for our interviews we conducted for the project. The questions this guidebook will answer are: 1) What is Black feminism? 2) What methods can I use for teaching that fall under the framework of Black feminism? 3) How can I ensure these methods of teaching allow students to get the most out of their experience, academically and personally? The goal for this guidebook is to be used as a resource for educators across the country. Since Black feminism and Black popular culture have not been taught widely among classrooms, we hope this guidebook will start making these methods and ideas accessible.
Black Youth Understanding of Racial Inequality: Scale Development and Validation
Lana King | First-Year UROP Research Experience
Although there is an abundance of research done on the topic of racism, a specific tool has yet to be developed that assesses how adolescents view and understand racism. Most of the current scales on racism focus on experiences, rather than understanding of racism. The goal of this study is to develop a more distinct scale that captures Black youth’s understanding of racism. This will allow professionals to learn more about racial stress in youth and the effects this can have on education. After analyzing the scale responses, professionals can use the results to help Black youth in more appropriate ways, such as designing treatment plans or effective ways to discuss race in the classroom. The scale development process includes multiple phases in order to create the most concise, effective product. Some of the specific phases for this project include one-on-one interviews with school-age children, expert panels, and item analysis. Once that scale is developed and put into use, there will be a better understanding of how youth view racism. This insight will provide valuable information that can be utilized to promote healthy development.
Black Youth Understanding of Racial Inequality: The Ins and Outs of Scale Development and Validation
Lina Magid | First-Year UROP Research Experience
When most people think of racism, the first thing that comes to mind is interpersonal racism, which is a type of racism that occurs when an individual’s own racially biased thoughts are forced upon others around them in ways such as unfair treatment. What most people fail to see is that racism is much larger than that. Racism is a multifaceted system that assigns value, structures opportunities, and unfairly disadvantaged individuals based on their perceived race. Since racism is so prevalent, it’s often inescapable for people of color, and since it’s multifaceted, it has multiple implications for people of color. These implications range from the school to prison pipeline to health disparities. The purpose of our research is to develop a scale that specifically measures Black youth’s understanding of racism, inclusive of its multiple forms. In the past, certain scales have had a tendency of not being generalizable to the population in question. In order to create a scale that can accurately capture all aspects of racism, our team has to create multiple questionnaires and then schedule interviews with Black youth to see if any of our questions are capable of accurately capturing what these youth have experienced. After generating an appropriate questionnaire, the next step of our research would be to determine the validity of our scale in hopes that it could be used by others. Our main goal is to develop a scale that’s able to have multiple implications in the real world, but we are also hoping that the findings of this scale would be generalizable to all Black youth. We hope our scale can be used by schools to help their students unpack racial inequality, we also hope that it can be used by mental health professionals to help guide their communication and treatment plans. In other words, we want this scale to be used by others to tackle racism’s multiple dimensions.
BME Career Exploration: Examining Students’ Connection with the Field
Annie Wang | Research Scholars
Historically, BME undergraduate programs have been successful in exposing students to the broad spectrum of knowledge required to adequately address problems in engineering and medicine. While this has allowed for flexibility in the careers that undergraduate biomedical engineers can enter, many BME students believe that the broad curriculum can lead employers to perceive them as underprepared to enter industry positions upon graduation. Recent studies have validated this concern as BME students report fewer co-op and industry internship placements pre-graduation, enter the job market with fewer available jobs seeking BME graduates, and receive lower average annual salaries than other engineering disciplines. However, despite the challenges, students continue to pursue and persist through BME undergraduate degrees. If the perception is that their options are limited in industry, it is important to identify and understand the careers that students view as attainable and choose to pursue. To explore what students perceived as possible for a career upon graduation and how students understand possible careers in BME, this longitudinal study examined changes in BME students’ career aspirations over time. Fourteen (14) undergraduate BME students were interviewed three times over the course of their third year at a large R1, public university. A qualitative, open-coding approach to identify patterns of change at the individual and group levels. Findings indicated that most participants had a narrow initial view of possible careers in the field. Over the course of the study, changes in participants’ understanding of career possibilities were observed based on if they had already decided what career they wished to pursue or not. For those who had not decided on a career yet, concrete exposures to possible BME careers were important to their development of more optimistic BME career outlooks. Suggestions for future research to more broadly understand BME students’ career exploration is also presented.
Boards of Directors – A Behavioral Analysis
Grace Fabbri | Changing Gears
This project is related to the psychology of Boards of Directors. We are attempting to find out why certain companies allow or promote unethical behavior from their employees, and/or engage in it themselves. The purpose is generally to seek knowledge on the subject, but also to begin to lay down a framework for how companies can establish a healthy work environment. Our methodology is literature review, the findings from which have been put into a paper. The driving force behind unethical behavior is broadly capitalistic – our research has shown that many companies are willing to cut corners for the sake of saving money. These results are extremely relevant, especially when considering how to regulate this behavior moving forward. Calling more attention to the ways in which companies take advantage will hopefully help put better protections in place for employees and discourage further unethical behavior in the future.
Brain Networks for Fear Learning in Infant Rats
Esha Kaul | First-Year UROP Research Experience
In this lab, we are conducting experiments to seek a better understanding about the correlation between behavior and the brain structure. More specifically, we are using fear conditioning and analyzing certain areas of the brain to see this correlation. This study is able to give insight by using infant rats and looking into how the brain network works when they are encountered by a “threatening stimuli.” Through the process of immunohistochemistry, we are able to examine slices of the brain and use specific proteins to highlight neurons that are associated with the behavior that occurs during the fear learning process. The desired section of the brain that is known to be associated with learning is called the amygdala, which is heavily analyzed in our study. This is important for us to understand how fear impacts our brain networks and can possibly reveal limitations that can be further explored (White).
Brain Networks for Fear Learning in Infant Rats
Robert Maurer | First-Year UROP Research Experience
In this lab, we are conducting experiments to seek a better understanding about the correlation between behavior and the brain structure. More specifically, we are using fear conditioning and analyzing certain areas of the brain to see this correlation. This study is able to give insight by using infant rats and looking into how the brain network works when they are encountered by a “threatening stimuli.” Through the process of immunohistochemistry, we are able to examine slices of the brain and use specific proteins to highlight neurons that are associated with the behavior that occurs during the fear learning process. The desired section of the brain that is known to be associated with learning is called the amygdala, which is heavily analyzed in our study. This is important for us to understand how fear impacts our brain networks and can possibly reveal limitations that can be further explored (White).
Bronze Age Ayia Irini, Kea, Greece
Allison Densel | First-Year UROP Research Experience
A chronic issue in the study of history is the underrepresentation of ordinary people. Primary sources, the documents that traditionally serve as the basis of the historical record, are typically written by the elites of a society, who were often out of touch with the lives and experiences of their less-influential counterparts. Archaeology fills this gap in perspective, as the physical traces of these everyday people remain in the objects and structures they leave behind. This study examines data from Ayia Irini, a Bronze Age settlement on the Greek island of Kea, in order to come to new conclusions about everyday life for the site’s inhabitants. Through the transcription of field notebooks from excavations in the 1960s and 70s under Jack Caskey of the University of Cincinnati, the locations of artifacts and structures in relation to one another can be identified and collected. Of particular interest in this study is the analysis of metal artifacts, as there is sufficient evidence to suggest that metallurgy was an important industry at the site. The overarching goal of this stage of the research is to be able to generate phase plans of the site, showing where artifacts were deposited over the course of Ayia Irini’s history. Organizing the data in this manner contributes to our understanding of the economy and social structure of the site, as it can help us determine who was involved in production, shifting our focus onto the everyday people instead of the elites who dominate the historical record.
Bronze Age Metallurgy in Ayia Irini, Kea, Greece and Dhaskalio-Kavos, Keros, Greece
Paul Young | Changing Gears
During the Bronze Age much metallurgical activity and trade occurred throughout the Cycladic archipelago in the Aegean Sea. In this island cluster there is currently only a limited amount of knowledge of metallurgical activity. Overall this study aims to analyze how the Cycladic site Ayia Irini, Kea, Greece–which appears to be a major hub of metallurgical significance throughout much of the Bronze Age–compares with recently investigated sites. To test the hypothesis that Ayia Irini is a metallurgical output and trade hub, the site was compared with recent finds from other Cycladic sites. An extensive search of the last 20 years of Cycladic finds in the British School at Athens’ Archaeological Reports journal was conducted. Additionally a case study specifically comparing Ayia Irini with a well-known major site–Dhaskalio-Kavos, Keros, Greece–was undertaken. Ultimately the results show that Ayia Irini seems to be a major metallurgical site of the Cyclades archipelago, with both similarities to and differences from Dhaskalio-Kavos, which also preserves extensive evidence for metallurgical activities. Since metallurgy was of paramount social and economic importance in the Aegean region during the Bronze Age, Ayia Irini and other sites in the Cyclades should be further investigated.
Building A Simulated World
Sumaiya Ferdawsi | Changing Gears
Due to the high demand for motor vehicles, one of the key concerns for the automotive industry is to make vehicles accessible and safe. Both real test vehicles and driving simulators are used to assess the quality and performance of vehicles. However, many driving simulators are too expensive to purchase, too complex to use, take too long to run the software, and sometimes lack the desired functional characteristics. The goal of the research is to build a virtual world and an easy-to-use virtual driving simulator platform through the creative use of free software like CARLA and RoadRunner. This driving simulator will be suitable to support research on driver distraction, driver workload, and driver interfaces for partially automated vehicles. This will also inspire qualified people to use the simulation and work on safety on roads. Keywords: simulator, accident, driver distraction, 3D- map, RoadRunner.
Building A Simulated World
Conleth Stead | First-Year UROP Research Experience
Due to the high demand for motor vehicles, one of the key concerns for the automotive industry is to make vehicles accessible and safe. Both real test vehicles and driving simulators are used to assess the quality and performance of vehicles. However, many driving simulators are too expensive to purchase, too complex to use, take too long to run the software, and sometimes lack the desired functional characteristics. The goal of the research is to build a virtual world and an easy-to-use virtual driving simulator platform through the creative use of free software like CARLA and RoadRunner. This driving simulator will be suitable to support research on driver distraction, driver workload, and driver interfaces for partially automated vehicles. This will also inspire qualified people to use the simulation and work on safety on roads.
Building the Kindergarten Pipeline: DPSCD’s Approach to Enhancing the Transition from Early Childhood to Kindergarten
Megan Shohfi | Community-Engaged
Detroit Public Schools Community District (DPSCD) aims to educate and empower every student, in every community, every day, to build a stronger Detroit. DPSCD understands the immense benefits of Kindergarten for the academic and personal development of Detroit students. As the primary entry point for most families into the District, it is critical that DPSCD maintain a healthy Kindergarten enrollment. However, in fall 2020, DPSCD saw a decline in Kindergarten enrollment like many cities and districts across the country. To combat this trend, the District has developed a series of new programs and resources that support parents in navigating the transition between pre-K and Kindergarten. This includes webinars, school-led open houses, and video-based resources for families. The District is engaging early childhood centers and educators, as well as drawing on best practices, to build strong community connections and create resources that prepare students to thrive in Kindergarten.
Business + Tech
Christian Weichsel III | First-Year UROP Research Experience
Despite the University of Michigan Ross School of Business being one of the best undergraduate business schools in the nation and offering prestigious opportunities for students, it lacks the necessary technological education for the future of the world in business. This project is designed to create and nourish a place in Ross, and later to the university as a whole, that combines the concepts of business and technology, uniting them to better prepare students for their corporate futures that will require tech literacy. An opportunity through Business + Tech to enhance student’s opportunities within technology is the annual Ross Datathon which gives students a large dataset and requires them to best optimize the data to the specific problem at hand. In order to gain interest in Datathon, however, corporate sponsors must be present to share their insights and organizations must have options for engagement. This project culminated in the outreach of 240 business individuals and over 100 corporations. Among these companies, 6 formed official partnerships. Additionally, Datathon gave partnerships to 13 business and tech oriented clubs to further engagement among the U of M community. As of February 26th, Datathon had a total registration of 140 students both undergraduates and graduates alike.. Tech at the Ross School of Business has a long journey ahead before it can compare to other top notch universities with business schools like UVA, NYU, and UPenn. Business + Tech and the connections formed these past two semesters will help guide technology to be more than just a project based opportunity but be implemented into classes.
Business + Tech
Grace Aretakis | First-Year UROP Research Experience
The Ross Business School at the University of Michigan is known for its advanced resources, wide reaching recruitment opportunities and skilled faculty, culminating to provide students with a well rounded education in Business Administration. Where Ross offers many resources for students with an interest in major sectors of business such as finance, consulting, marketing etc., there is a gap in resources offered for students interested in the intersection of business and technology. The Business +Tech Initiative at Ross aims to fill in these gaps through the creation of a centralized hub for currently existing tech opportunities at Ross, and new tech opportunities created by the initiative. Preliminary research began with a mapping of the existing tech ecosystem at Ross. This provided the team with a better understanding of what students to target to gain insights from, and what opportunities and events exist/ should exist at Ross. This research then led to the process of reaching out to students to gain insights.
Business + Tech Initiative
Alexandra Greenberg | First-Year UROP Research Experience
There is currently a large divide between the integration of technology and business among students enrolled in universities across the country. As a result, through the leadership of entrepreneur Phillip Brabbs and a team of MBA students and undergraduate researchers, the Ross Digital + Tech Initiative was born. The goal of the Initiative is to align and integrate Digital Business activities to develop business leaders for a digital world; influence digital business practices through data and research, and build connections with industry and policy to shape the future of business. The approach to expanding the Initiative deals with aligning and integrating the Digital Business content, stakeholder engagement and brand in a reinforcing way to amplify and expand the Ross Digital Business reputation through synergies across the 3 areas. The areas span across topics including tech literacy, tech mastery, and tech competency. This study utilizes bi-weekly meetings with fellow tech scholars, weekly meetings with MBA mentors, and bi-weekly all-hands meetings to ensure cohesiveness across the project. Along with that, by utilizing applications such as Basecamp and Excel, we are able to organize data, stay in communication, and create content for the online database. This study is just the beginning of a long journey to equip leaders with tech to build a better world. Although no immediate conclusions have been drawn, long-term goals for the future of the Initiative range from the continued execution of annual Datathons to launching a Tech Founder Speaker Series to establishing the Ross Tech Scholar Program.
C++ Programming for Brain-Computer Interface Calibration Innovations
Akshaya Ravikumar | First-Year UROP Research Experience
The UM Direct Brain Interface Laboratory utilizes the classifier program included in the C++ distribution of the BCI2000 v3 to calibrate a P300 BCI to the brain activity of an individual. “BCI” refers to an electroencephalogram (EEG)-based brain-computer interface which allows participants with physical impairments to directly interact with a computer interface using their brains with minimal motor demands. In order to interact with this interface, participants use the P300 component of the event-related brain potential (ERP) (Farwell and Donchin 1988). Though the technology is promising, there are barriers to clinical implementation that the UM-DBI Laboratory aims to address. It is to aid the efficiency and effectiveness of UM-DBI studies that relevant C++ tool and usability additions are proposed. The P300 BCI Classifier calibrates via machine learning and this classifier program has been the point of focus for this project. Through the addition of various practical additions and refinements, the source code for the P300 BCI classifier may be better modified to provide more meaningful output, and allow for a more accessible and functional user interface when assessing output and input. These additions are made through careful coding and testing practice. The general methodology implemented in this research project includes assessing desired changes/additions to be made, understanding the context in which this modification should be implemented, and carefully testing input and output in order to assess adequate functionality (without any unintended consequences). This work is ongoing, and it is intended that all additions will provide added usability and functionality to UM-DBI laboratory researchers.
C++ Programming for Brain-Computer Interface Evaluation of Choice-making
Dharivi Bansal | First-Year UROP Research Experience
A Direct Brain Interface provides a direct connection between the human brain and various other kinds of technologies. The University of Michigan- Direct Brain Interface (UM-DBI) Laboratory’s current work focuses on creating practical clinical tools for people with physical disabilities. These tools include electroencephalogram (EEG)-based brain-computer interfaces (BCIs). The UM-DBI laboratory has been working on software for cognitive testing and is creating additional test question formats . As a single term project, I have limited goals to achieve in a short time frame. I have picked up on this project and am working on improving the overall layout of the question formats and adding more usability features to the software. The existing code for the BCI to generate questions for cognitive testing is written in C++ and uses the Visual Studio 2010 compiler. It uses Cmake and QT creator to simplify the GUI application development. I used an agile method to work on improving the code and met with my mentor regularly to fix issues. As a result of my work, the lab will now be able to skip certain training pages that are not required during the testing process. The program instead will start from the base level of questions. There are parameter error checking features that are still being implemented. Once completed, it will lower the chances of the software crashing while in use and will make things run smoother.
C++ Programming for Data Packaging
Caitlin Russell | First-Year UROP Research Experience
The University of Michigan’s Direct Brain Interface Laboratory has a backlog of raw data that needs to be systematically processed and saved into a standardized format for later analysis. This project was to create a new Graphical User Interface (GUI) in MATLAB which would allow any user to simply process and package the raw BCI data. The GUI also needs to take in information gathered from surveys for each session for each participant and save them for later use. Using MATLAB’s design environment App Designer, a new GUI was created that incorporated code from previous data packaging projects. The GUI currently allows the user to load in raw data then process it, and administer and save surveys or load in survey data that was administered elsewhere, then save all of the processed data together in a standardized form. This new GUI will work for the lab’s data collected during the keyboard replacement study, with the ability for data from different protocols to be added in the future.
CAD modeling of course to test exoskeletons
Jochanan Satriabudi | First-Year UROP Research Experience
Exoskeletons are being considered for a wide set of applications in several fields, including medical, military, and industrial. The rise of exoskeleton usage requires an assessment of the exoskeleton’s performance, usability, and safety. This research of exoskeleton assessment methods is conducted to develop test methods for exoskeleton testing and assessment in the form of an obstacle course. Literature reviews in relevant topics are conducted to determine the appropriate test methods. Methods of testing consist of stairs, ramps, slopes, and transitions between each test method. Information and data on lower body ergonomics, object sizing standards, and usability are gathered to implement course measures and transitions, as well as layouts within the obstacle course. Currently, the design of the obstacle course is under development. The obstacle course will be designed by utilizing the computer-aided design. The final results of this exoskeleton assessment course have not been found. It is expected that a standard of exoskeleton assessments is formed by the final design of the obstacle course. This standard of exoskeleton assessments is expected to guide future exoskeleton development.
Calibration of a system of measuring indoor radon concentrations using charcoal canisters.
Thomas Kennings | First-Year UROP Research Experience
Radon-222 is a radionuclide present in elevated concentrations in many indoor areas. Radon can pose a health risk to building inhabitants, so accurate and affordable radon screening is needed. Canisters filled with activated charcoal are a common and inexpensive method for testing, with different charcoal batches and canister designs requiring specific calibration. This is typically performed in large volume commercial environmental chambers with controlled and constant temperature, pressure, humidity, and radon concentration. If canisters could be calibrated in less controlled environments both calibration and quality control could be more accessible. The objective of this study was to compare calibrations of charcoal canisters from a controlled radon chamber and a less controlled basement storage room. A group of canisters was sent to a commercial environmental chamber with constant and known radon levels. Another group of canisters manufactured from the same charcoal batch was placed in a basement laboratory with high, naturally occurring radon concentration. Following exposure, each canister was counted using the same gamma-ray spectroscopy system. The data were processed in several different ways before being used to estimate the signal corresponding to a given radon concentration. Certain spectroscopic data processing techniques improved the accuracy of calibrations. Mathematical models were needed to account for radon uptake on the charcoal and the decay of radon and its decay products. Initial results suggest that commercial-grade chambers are not necessary to accurately calibrate charcoal canisters as long as the change in radon as a function of time in the calibration space is measured.
Can a growth mindset-based syllabus improve students’ perceptions of taking challenging coursework?
Michael Hicks | Changing Gears
Research methods/statistics is a challenging requirement that many psychology majors are reluctant or anxious to take. This study examines if a syllabus designed to facilitate a growth mindset?the belief that abilities can be developed as opposed to being fixed?can improve students’ perceptions of and willingness to take a challenging course on research methods in psychology. Many studies now support the benefits of a growth mindset, such as greater perseverance in the face of challenges (Hochanadel, A., & Finamore, D., 2015) and improved academic performance, even in advanced mathematics (Yeager et al. 2019). Studies also demonstrate that course syllabi can markedly affect students’ perceptions of the course and instructor (Saville, Zinn, Brown, & Marchuk, 2010). In this study, participants were randomly assigned to read either a conventional or growth-mindset based syllabus and then report their course perceptions, motivation to take, and perceived ability to succeed in the Research Methods in Psychology course after a brief growth mindset measure. Analyses of variance should reveal that students who read the growth mindset-oriented syllabus report significantly greater both motivation to enroll and perceived ability to succeed in the course as well as more positive perceptions of it and more of a growth mindset than do students who read a standard syllabus with the same requirements. Simply designing a syllabus to facilitate a growth mindset may thus be a brief and cost-effective way to increase students’ enrollment and self-efficacy in challenging courses.
Cannabis Legalization and Familial Factors Effects on Usage in Children and Parents
Andrea Kennedy | First-Year UROP Research Experience
In November 2018, a bill was passed to legalize recreational cannabis usage. In response, FYI-3 (Flint Youth Injury Study 3) decided to study how parenting attitudes and behaviors can affect children’s usage of cannabis. The study included attitudes and perceptions towards the new bill. FYI-3 used a past cohort of participants from a previous study, (Flint Youth Injury 1) and conducted live interviews as well as surveys from both parents and their children from the pool of participants. Risk factors and promotive factors will then be predicted and assessed, based on survey answers and both parental and child responses during interviews, using a codebook. Although the study is not yet completed, these risk factors will show how parental attitudes and usage of cannabis can affect children’s behavior around and toward cannabis. This study will serve to provide insight on familial attitudes and behaviors towards cannabis, in hopes that future states that pass legalization bills will see the effects on families and youth.
Carbon Taxes by Any Other Name
Elizabeth Peppercorn | First-Year UROP Research Experience
Intro and problem statement: Our research has focused on the impact of carbon taxes on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Current international rankings and information is not clearly calculated and has left out a number of taxes that do have an impact on greenhouse gas emissions, although the taxes are not explicitly described as carbon taxes. The goal of this project is to create a broader definition and model of carbon taxes so that we can re-rank countries and determine which strategies are best at reducing global emissions.
Carbon Taxes by Any Other Name
Zachary Marmet | First-Year UROP Research Experience
Our research has focused on the impact of carbon taxes on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Current international rankings and information is not clearly calculated and has left out a number of taxes that do have an impact on greenhouse gas emissions, although the taxes are not explicitly described as carbon taxes. The goal of this project is to create a broader definition and model of carbon taxes so that we can re-rank countries and determine which strategies are best at reducing global emissions.
Carbon Taxes by Any Other Name
Lauren Montigue | First-Year UROP Research Experience
Carbon taxes come in many forms, but the main two are explicit carbon taxes, where carbon emitted is taxed by volume, and emissions trading systems, where governments give companies permits for how much carbon they can emit. International organizations such as OECD and World Bank have created their own rankings of carbon taxes by country. However, neither of these rankings encompasses every carbon tax. Our study incorporates a broader array of taxes to more accurately measure the performance of a country in reducing its emissions, and thus yield a more accurate ranking. Country-by-country and industry-by-industry statistics on taxation, expenditure, emissions, and product mainly from the OECD database were collected. Carbon tax data was also collected from the OECD’s figures on all environmentally related tax revenue in 2016. Calculations involving the data were performed to evaluate each country’s carbon intensity per currency unit of consumption expenditure, which were compared across countries and across industries. By the end of the semester, we will have a new ranking and a paper written on our methods as well as a comparison of our new ranking to the OECD’s previous ranking. We expect our new ranking to be similar; however, countries in the European Union will likely have higher levels of carbon taxes in our ranking since the OECD does not account for their emissions trading systems. Our goal for this project is to give activists more precise data to lobby their governments to increase carbon taxes and curb the effects of climate change.
Carbon Taxes by Any Other Name
Shane Yamco | First-Year UROP Research Experience
Carbon taxes come in many forms, but the main two are explicit carbon taxes, where carbon emitted is taxed by volume, and emissions trading systems, where governments give companies permits for how much carbon they can emit. International organizations such as OECD and World Bank have created their own rankings of carbon taxes by country. However, neither of these rankings encompasses every carbon tax. Our study incorporates a broader array of taxes to more accurately measure the performance of a country in reducing its emissions, and thus yield a more accurate ranking. Country-by-country and industry-by-industry statistics on taxation, expenditure, emissions, and product mainly from the OECD database were collected. Carbon tax data was also collected from the OECD’s figures on all environmentally related tax revenue in 2016. Calculations involving the data were performed to evaluate each country’s carbon intensity per currency unit of consumption expenditure, which were compared across countries and across industries. By the end of the semester, we will have a new ranking and a paper written on our methods as well as a comparison of our new ranking to the OECD’s previous ranking. We expect our new ranking to be similar; however, countries in the European Union will likely have higher levels of carbon taxes in our ranking since the OECD does not account for their emissions trading systems. Our goal for this project is to give activists more precise data to lobby their governments to increase carbon taxes and curb the effects of climate change.
Cardiac Implications of Bipolar Depression Linked CACNA1C Gene Single Nucleotide Polymorphism
Rachel Dow | First-Year UROP Research Experience
There is a connection that has been observed between cardiac functioning and Bipolar Disorder. This study focuses on understanding the functioning behind the CACNA1C gene mutation and it’s role in the cardiac function of patients with Bipolar Disorder. To produce accurate reactions of adult cardiomyocytes in response to these drugs we first propagated the human-induced pluripotent stem cell cardiomyocytes with Matrix Plus, a substrate that closely mimics the environment found in the human body. Next, we continue this propagation in 96 well plates and generating cardiac muscle tissue on which we tested certain drug therapies with voltage-sensitive dyes to measure their electrophysiological reaction. Next, we performed experiments on the effects certain medications have on the cardiac muscle we have propagated to better understand their effects on the cardiovascular system and the body. We hope to discover a way to create a personalized tool for bipolar patients in order to use our newly obtained knowledge of medications to prescribe them the safest drug possible. If we are able to properly understand the mechanisms behind the CACNA1C gene mutation and its role in cardiac function we could revolutionize the field of personalized medicine and medication screening by making the toxicity screening patient-specific, possibly saving or improving the lives of many bipolar patients whose lives are affected by their medications.
Career and Educational Concerns Over Time
Gillian Wheatley | Changing Gears
History serves us in many ways as a society. It allows researchers to peel back decades and peer into what could have never been seen without careful documenting and archiving. The Center for the Education of Women is home to a wealth of information dating from 1964 until now that paints a picture of the life’s women led at a time when education was not as welcoming or as accessible as it is now. The first and foremost goal of this project was to dust off all of the old files and give them new life in a database that was designed to lend ease of access to future researchers. As one can probably imagine, this task was a lot easier said then done. Sifting through decades worth of counseling records, scholarship applications, and many other types of documents was a tedious and time-consuming task that required a concise plan of attack and well-designed spreadsheets. But, through plenty of hard work and determination our team was able to preserve history for many years to come.
Cesarean Deliveries in Mississippi: A Case Study on Reproductive Health Care
Emma Behrendt | First-Year UROP Research Experience
In the Zochowski lab, we are currently studying trends in medically unnecessary surgical (NTSV) births on a state by state basis (NTSV meaning nulliparous (first birth), term (head down), singleton (only one infant), vertex). By looking at a variety of non-clinical factors like hospital location, staffing, presence of doulas/midwives, patient race, ethnicity, insurance status, etc. we hope to be able to better understand how NTSV C-section rates are influenced across institutions. Through data collection, organization, and interpretation, I am helping to build a database of state level information in an attempt to answer why are more and more hospitals pushing for C-section deliveries? My role in this project is to complete a checklist of tasks in order to retrieve data needed for each of the states I have been assigned. This presentation is a further analysis of the data collected in the state of Mississippi.
Changes in Health Behaviors After the Onset of Covid-19 and Differences Between Men and Women
Emily Noyer | Changing Gears
With the onset of the Covid-19 Pandemic, many people’s daily lives and routines changed dramatically. Several studies have looked at how these changes impact health behaviors but seldom have looked at how changes in health behavior differ by gender. This study aims to examine changes in health behavior and identify if there are differences between men and women. Health behaviors are defined as anything that could have a negative or positive impact on health, specifically we looked at sleep, diet, exercise, smoking and drinking. Participants completed a survey asking how their health behaviors have changed since the start of the Covid-19 Pandemic. SPSS was used to analyze the data. Research will still need to be done on how we can address these differences and why some populations are more likely to have changes in health behavior. However, these results will help guide public health efforts to target specific populations.
Characterization of a thermoluminescent dosimetry system for seven different dosimetric materials
Christian Irvine | First-Year UROP Research Experience
A series of experiments was conducted to fully characterize a prototype planchet-based thermoluminescent dosimeter (TLD) reader, the Rexon UL-320-FDR. Seven sets of dosimeters of different TLD materials were used in calibration, dosage, and heating rate experiments. This was accomplished through irradiating a set of 100 3mmx3mmx1mm dosimeters, or chips, for each material. Calibrations were conducted through three trials, with statistical analysis to obtain calibration factors for every chip in each set. Corrections were made for nonuniformities due to position in the field of the Cesium-137 source. Groups of ten chips within a set received a unique dose of between 2.4 and 29 mGy to check linearity and study noise. Heating rate experiments chips irradiate to 15 mGy were processed in groups of 10 with different heating rates for each group of 10, ranging from 1 to 20 °C·s -1 . Preliminary analysis revealed a relative standard deviation in calibration factors of <10% for LiF:Mg,Ti, from both experimental errors and individual chip variations. Linearity in sensitivity as a function of dose was generally observed over the range of doses. Some unusual behavior was observed in the glow curves, or signals recorded as a function of time during heating, for heating rates exceeding 10 °C·s -1 . This work substantially helps improve the accuracy, understand the uncertainties involved, and optimize the heating rates of future experiments conducted with these sets of TLDs and the Rexon UL-320-FDR. Additionally these data sets are of great use in designing and testing glow curve analysis software.
Characterization of the Artemis Human Disease Gene in DNA repair
Itzel Talavera-Vilchis | First-Year UROP Research Experience
Mutations in DNA repair mechanisms can cause life-threatening conditions such as Severe Combined Immunodeficiency Disorder (SCID) or Omenn Syndrome (OS). The Artemis protein’s role in non-homologous end-joining (NHEJ) repair is especially crucial to cleave DNA hairpins during V(D)J recombination. A mutation in the Artemis gene can impair DNA repair mechanisms, increasing the possibility of SCID and/or OS in young patients. To study the hypomorph missense mutation from glycine to glutamate at position 6 in the Artemis gene, a Q5 mutagenesis kit was used to amplify the mutation plasmid, followed by bacterial transformation, restrictive digests, cell culture, Western Blot Analysis, and transient V(D)J recombination assays to observe what effects the Artemis mutation has on competent E.Coli cells. Recombination frequency calculated from the surviving cells on a double selection plate will be used to determine the effect the missense mutation has on Artemis gene survival. An in-depth analysis of the cells will reveal whether the change was an inversional or deletional phenomenon. Since little research has been done on this specific GGG to GAG at position 6 in the Artemis gene mutation, results will pave a path to further research on its characteristics.
Characterization of TRPM8-expressing sensory neurons
Matthew Eitzman | First-Year UROP Research Experience
The cation channel TRPM8 has been implicated in cold detection, yet no identification of distinct subpopulations of TRPM8-expressing sensory neurons responsible for detecting different levels of cold stimuli (noxious vs. innocuous) has been made. The current study takes advantage of Designer Receptors Exclusively Activated by Designer Drugs (DREADD), light-sensitive channelrhodopsin-2 ion channels (ChR2), thermal behavioral assays, immunostaining, and RNAscope technology to investigate the role of different subpopulations of TRPM8 sensory neurons in dorsal root ganglia of mice. First, we want to study the function of TRPM8 sensory neurons in vivo by expressing an inhibitory Gi DREADD selectively in TRPM8 sensory neurons in the dorsal root ganglia (DRG) of mice. Upon injection of the DREADD agonist clozapine-N-oxide (CNO), the DREADD-expressing TRPM8 sensory neurons could be selectively inhibited to infer neuronal function following cold-plate behavioral assays. Sensory neurons in the DRG can be broadly divided into three groups based on cell body diameter: small, medium and large. From our RNAscope results, “small” TRPM8 neurons expressed significantly higher levels of the trpm8 gene than “medium to large” TRPM8 neurons, potentially providing a basis for differentiation between the two subpopulations. Thermal-related behavioral experiments are still ongoing. We hypothesize that the two subpopulations of TRPM8 sensory neurons serve distinct functions in sensing cold stimuli of different intensities.
Characterizing Black Hole Binary Outbursts: X-ray Characterization of AT2019wey
Ryan Walker | First-Year UROP Research Experience
AT2019wey is a transient optical source discovered in late 2019 and identified as a bright X-ray by the eROSITA X-ray telescope in early 2020. The nature of the source is unknown, with the source location and outburst properties suggesting an origin in a Galactic low mass X-ray binary. Herein, we present an analysis of multiple observations of AT2019wey made by the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory over the course of 6 months in 2020. X-ray spectra in the 1 – 10 keV energy band have been modeled with an absorbed power-law model to study the temporal evolution of the X-ray properties of the source. Over time, the power-law photon index is observed to increase as the source brightened, consistent with the emergence of a prominent accretion disk. We discuss the results of this analysis and place constraints on the nature of this system in the context of models for accreting black holes and neutron stars.
Characterizing different clinical settings for the diagnosis of idiopathic Rapid Eye Movement Sleep Behavior Disorder
Isabelle Havis | First-Year UROP Research Experience
Idiopathic Rapid Eye Movement Sleep Disorder (iRBD) is a disorder characterized by dream re-enactment. RBD is referred to as idiopathic when it occurs in isolation. A majority of iRBD patients will go on to receive a diagnosis of an a-synucleinopathy, a family of neurodegenerative disorders including Parkinson’s and Dementia with Lewy Bodies (DLB) [1]. In clinical settings, iRBD is likely to be diagnosed by a variety of medical providers including specialists in Neurology, Psychiatry, and Primary Care. iRBD patients often have 10-15 years in between the onset of iRBD and the onset of a neurodegenerative disorder, leaving a considerable length of time in which to intervene with therapeutic approaches. The problem is that as of yet, we are not sure in which clinical settings patients are receiving their diagnoses of iRBD. Our project aims to bridge this knowledge gap, which currently prevents us from recruiting iRBD patients into clinical trials aimed at preventing a-synucleinopathies such as Parkinson’s and DLB. In order to gather our data, we have conducted a retrospective chart review of UM medical records for relevant patients. We hope to gain a clear picture of where patients are receiving their iRBD diagnoses, in hopes of further research in the future. References [1] McKeith IG, Ferman TJ, Thomas AJ, Blanc F, Boeve BF, Fujishiro H, Kantarci K, Muscio C, O'Brien JT, Postuma RB, Aarsland D, Ballard C, Bonanni L, Donaghy P, Emre M, Galvin JE, Galasko D, Goldman JG, Gomperts SN, Honig LS, Ikeda M, Leverenz JB, Lewis SJG, Marder KS, Masellis M, Salmon DP, Taylor JP, Tsuang DW, Walker Z, Tiraboschi P (2020) Research criteria for the diagnosis of prodromal dementia with Lewy bodies. Neurology 94, 743-755.
CHEAR Research Project
Darryl Herring III | Changing Gears
Background: Obesity is prevalent among adolescents living in the United States, and Black/African American and Hispanic/LatinX adolescents are disproportionately affected. Between 2018-19, the prevalence of obesity for Caucasian youth aged 10-17 years old was 11.5%, while the prevalence for Hispanic youth was 20.7%, and for Black youth the prevalence was 22.9%. Recent studies have shown that fast food franchises target areas with a high density of minority youth, leading to increased fast food consumption. However, with the emerging use of technology, mobile applications can help encourage adolescents to make healthier food choices and improve daily health habits. Tailored app content including images that are viewed as appealing and personally relevant provide a promising way to increase the effectiveness of mHealth applications. Yet little is known about Hispanic/Latinx teens’ preferences regarding images to be used in a health promotion app.
Child health consequences of migration, a systematic review
Emma Suh | First-Year UROP Research Experience
Despite a large variety of studies on the impacts of migration on children’s health, there is no unity among them. There is no overall consensus that summarizes the effects of migration on adolescents, leaving the field blurry and overwhelming. This systematic review condenses the studies about child migrants in order to understand the trending impacts, if any, on their health. Following the PRISMA approach, the study will be able to sort through various databases to find the most relevant sources. The systematic review is in the beginning of the title review stage, and we are hoping to narrow down from thousands of studies to a couple hundred sources. Given those sources, we will be able to narrow down the sources further, which will give us accurate results on children’s health. The review will provide a foundational piece of literature that will improve the understanding of the health of child migrants. This paper will become a part of a body of research that could help child migrants internationally.
Child Priming of Syntactic Structure
Isabella Tape | First-Year UROP Research Experience
Our lab investigates whether children’s interpretation of sentences with PP-attachment (prepositional phrase) ambiguities can be primed by producing sentences with unambiguous meaning. We are trying to determine if children’s description of an image or selection of an image is influenced by the kind of image they had described to them earlier. Basically, a student will have a modifier and instrument interpretation of a prepositional phrase represented in front of them in the form of images and they are supposed to choose which they think is accurate after being read the sentence. Our hypothesis is that the child will choose the image which we have primed them to choose. In order to prime the child, we will show them two images and read them a sentence with an ambiguous prepositional phrase, and one photo will be of either the instrument or modifier interpretation with the correct nouns and the other will be the other interpretation with incorrect nouns, leading the child to select the interpretation we choose because of the nouns. Then we will give them a couple of images with the correct nouns depicted, one with a modifier interpretation and one with an instrument, and read them an ambiguous sentence and see which they select. We also ask the child to say a sentence and then we select the image, being certain to select the image corresponding with the interpretation we want them to learn. We keep our data in an Excel Sheet and compile the results to see if the interpretation most commonly selected aligns with the interpretation we try to teach them. Though this semester we have mostly done control work, the lab in the past has found that children are most frequently drawn to instrument interpretations of the sentence. The main conclusions of this research are that priming is possible when sentence structure is ambiguous.
Child Priming of Syntactic Structure
Nina Pacheco | First-Year UROP Research Experience
Past research provides that adults are susceptible to linguistic priming, meaning that the presence of one stimulus, in this case a certain sentence structure, can affect their response to another stimulus, their interpretation and production of said structure in a later sentence (Branigan, Pickering, & McLean 2005), but does it work on children? Through our research in psycholinguistics we are investigating whether or not priming can be used to affect how children hear or produce globally ambiguous sentences such as “The lion scratches the giraffe with the pencil,” in which there could be two interpretations; either the lion uses the pencil as an instrument to scratch the giraffe (instrument bias), or the lion uses his hand to scratch the giraffe, while the giraffe is holding a pencil (modifier bias). In this study we present children ages four and a half to six and a half with an image representing a globally ambiguous sentence and ask them to describe it to a puppet as the puppet chooses the “correct” interpretation, whichever interpretation is being primed. The child and the puppet then trade roles, and the participant is presented with a pair of images that correspond to two possible meanings of a sentence spoken by the puppet. Participants are then asked which image best matches the sentence spoken by the puppet, presenting to researchers their interpretation of the sentence. This study is ongoing, however results thus far have shown that while children naturally appear to prefer the instrument interpretation of these sentences, priming can occur with globally ambiguous sentence structures, as the participants often chose the interpretation that matched the structure (instrument or modifier biased) that they were primed for. The results of this study will help us better understand how children’s language develops in terms of sentence structure and whether or not their current understandings are similar to those of adults.
Chimeric Antigen Receptor T Cell Design through Systems Biology
Alexa Cotter | First-Year UROP Research Experience
Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells are a promising solution for treating cancers that are drug resistant, but are currently unsuccessful in solid tumors due to their stronger defense mechanisms that prevent the CAR T cells from recognizing the tumor. This project aims to identify the defense mechanisms in triple negative breast cancer related to infiltrating B cells and plasma cells in order to improve CAR T cell targeting in these tumors. We analyzed publicly available single cell RNA sequencing data from 12 patients with treatment-naive triple negative breast cancer and identified B cell and plasma cell subsets within these tumors. A total of 13 subsets were identified, with different patients displaying distinct subtypes of B and plasma cells. We compared the survival probability associated with the genes identified for each subset of cells. Survival analysis indicated that no single set of genes was associated with increased survival. Interestingly, clusters 1 and 2, denoted by genes IGKV-3, HLA-DRA, and MS4A1, were associated with patients that had increased immune infiltrate, which may indicate that these cells could be used to improve targeting of CAR T cell therapy.
Chimeric Antigen Receptor T Cell Design through Systems Biology
Julianna Caton | First-Year UROP Research Experience
CAR T cell cancer therapy is a new, promising treatment that offers an alternative to the existing methods of fighting cancer, such as chemotherapy and radiation therapy. However, at present it is primarily useful in counteracting blood cancers like leukemia, and is far less effective on solid tumors. To circumvent this issue, sc-RNAseq data from triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) patients was analyzed using bioinformatic techniques in R to identify adjuvant targets. Cells were clustered into groups using genetic markers, allowing for survival analysis on certain genes to predict which pathways were associated with improved patient recovery. Once identified, these genes will be tested in vitro, using CAR T cells to record cessation of cancer cells with and without these pathways enabled. Such findings have the potential to have a significant impact on the field of cancer therapy, as they offer a treatment to tumors such as TNBC that have previously been difficult, if not impossible, to successfully treat.
Chimeric Antigen Receptor T Cell Design through Systems Biology
Amogh Angadi | First-Year UROP Research Experience
Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells are an emerging therapy for drug-resistant cancers. So far, they have only been effective on hematological malignancies such as leukemia, but have had little success on solid tumors such as triple negative breast cancer (TNBC), due to the immunosuppressive nature of solid tumors that prevents the CAR T cells from operating effectively. In this study, we used publicly available single cell RNA sequencing data to study how fibroblasts in diseased and healthy patients affect and communicate with the CAR T cells. We used Seurat to cluster the different cells in the tumor microenvironment in healthy and diseased tissue and ran a survival analysis for each cluster. Our results show us that the cluster containing macrophages, which is defined by the FOS, DNAJB1, ZFP36, JUNB, and KLF4 genes, has a significant effect on the survival of patients with TNBC. We hope to confirm these computational results through in vivo experimentation of mice infected with TNBC. These data will shed light on how to better engineer CAR T cells to make them more effective in targeting solid tumors.
Civic Resilience and Neighborhood Resilience Projects and Hubs
Elizabeth Daberko | Community-Engaged
As the climate crisis accelerates, emergency and civil services increasingly are overstretched. Resilience-based programming provides relief by empowering individual citizens, neighborhood organizations, and local institutions to share the planning and preparation on behalf of their communities. Settlements become more resilient to the impacts of climate change when they develop the capacity of neighborhoods to endure, quickly recover from, and renew after extreme events. To aid these processes, we developed “A Pattern Language for Neighborhood Resilience” as a starting point. This book contains a number of guides – or patterns – on how to invest in skills, small-scale infrastructure, relationships, and supplies that increase a neighborhood’s resilience. The book is currently in draft form and soon will be pre-tested before being released. As a living document, it will undoubtedly be modified and expanded throughout its adoption.
Civic resilience and neighborhood resilience projects and hubs.
Kjersti Swanson | First-Year UROP Research Experience
Anthropogenic climate change is one of the most threatening challenges facing the world today. As global temperatures continue to rise over the course of the next century, a host of issues including dramatic sea level rise, dangerous storm systems, widespread drought and wildfires will impact every facet of American life. Cutting carbon emissions is the most effective short term solution to curb adverse effects, but we must also develop resiliency in our governments, in our communities and in our neighborhoods if we are to successfully mitigate climate change. This research project attempts to build resiliency through understanding and awareness in localized communities to prepare for both short and long term consequences of climate-related issues. A comprehensive compilation of behavior patterns, relating to neighborhood-scaled physical and structural adaptations, are included in this document to help neighborhoods prepare for these climate events. It is meant to be self-directed, so that individuals, neighborhoods, and civic organizations can decide which tools are necessary for local adaptation. A neighborhood, for example, in reasonable proximity to a floodplain will have a very different set of useful patterns compared to one exposed to seasonal wildfires. Neighborhoods that adhere to climate resilient programs will be less vulnerable to the threat of climate events, and will be more likely to sustain themselves in the future.
Clinical factors of BK polyomavirus in kidney transplantation
Madeline Vincent | First-Year UROP Research Experience
Viral infections caused by the presence of the BK virus predispose kidney transplant patients to graft failure and immunosuppression reduction is the only effective treatment for BK infection. However, even transient reduction of immunosuppression medications can cause rejection of the transplanted kidney. Within a single large transplant center, we examined which treatment-related clinical factors are predictive of graft failure or rejection in kidney transplant patients with BK viremia. We identified a group of 400 kidney transplant recipients that had BK viral infections from 2006 to 2017. Using an electronic medical records database, I gathered data on BK treatment, including immunosuppression reduction (MMF dose reduction, MMF hold, tacrolimus dose reduction) and the use of intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) therapy and antiviral medications. These were compared to patient outcomes, including the presence of donor-specific antibody (DSA) and death-censored graft survival, as measured by retransplantation or return to dialysis. Regression analysis will be utilized in order to test for the presence of a statistically significant correlation to the development of DSA and a proportional hazards model to determine if treatment was related to graft failure. It is known that the presence of DSA often results in and is predictive of graft failure, however more data will need to be collected to determine if the remaining factors have a statistically significant correlation with graft failure. If we determine that any of the remaining factors are predictive of graft failure, these findings could inform future treatment for patients with viral BK infections.
Colorectal Cancer: Rise in Early Onset, Detection Methods, and Aftermath Due to Covid-19
Isabelle Harber | First-Year UROP Research Experience
Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most frequently diagnosed cancers in the United States and has taken thousands of lives annually. One of the key methods in decreasing death rates of those with colorectal cancer is early detection by way of several different screening methods. However, early onset of the disease is a more recent concern that is revealing a dangerous trend. Due to Covid-19, many screening methods and tests have been put on hold as most doctors need to put their effort towards the influx of Covid-19 patients. Purpose: The purpose of the review is to examine the emerging trends in colorectal cancer, specifically young onset, and the different types of screening methods available at the present time (and potential ones for the future). Also, the purpose is to analyze how the pandemic has impacted CRC screening tests and treatments, as well as longer term CRC patient outcomes.
Colorectal Cancer: Rise in early onset, screening and impact of Covid-19 pandemic
Dania Zeidan | First-Year UROP Research Experience
Background: Colorectal cancer is one of the most frequently diagnosed cancers in the United States and has taken thousands of lives annually. One of the key methods in decreasing the death rates associated with colorectal cancer is early detection by way of several different screening methods. Due to Covid-19, many screening methods and tests have been put on hold as many doctors need to put their effort towards the influx of Covid-19 patients. Methods: This review was conducted by a thorough search of peer-reviewed journals from medical databases, as well as articles from other reputable sources. Keywords used included colorectal cancer, incidence, detection, screening method, colon, and Covid-19. Results: There are both advantages and limitations to all CRC screening methods. Unfortunately, administering these screenings has become difficult due to the pandemic. Not only have there been missed and delayed screening procedures, but there have been delayed surgeries, misdiagnoses, and likely missed diagnoses altogether. Consequently, it is predicted that there will be thousands of excess CRC-related deaths within the next decade. Conclusion: Delays in screening methods due to the pandemic are predicted to cost thousands of lives in the future as cancer is harder to control with late detection. With the strain Covid is putting on the healthcare system, many CRC patients have had to forgo not only screening tests but other treatments, including surgeries. The effects of Covid-19 are catastrophic and will continue to unfold over the next several years.
