Interdisciplinary – Page 31 – UROP Spring Symposium 2021

Interdisciplinary

Simulation of intracardiac electrograms to aid in the study of cardiac arrhythmias

The main task of my project is to study the electrocardiogram(ECG) of human hearts, by building a model that can simulate the heart beats and then train it to be able to read in data from patients in real-life and give a diagnose through machine learning. The human heart Myocytes beats under the flow of ions(in-and-out and among cells) causing changes in voltages on cell membranes, which can be measured(through ECG). Under abnormal conditions, these regular changes will be disrupted, causing chaos in the electric flows in certain pattern(based on the specific illness). The change of voltage based on time can be expressed in mathematical ways using a set of differential equations. The features of the cells can be captured through object oriented programming: they all have periodic pulses but in different patterns due to their specific role in heart. After building such model, we can train it with data from real patients so that it will give a primary judgement on new patients. This tool is meant to help doctors, especially who works in emergency, with a relatively reliable suggestion which may improve the efficiency of giving a medical diagnose.

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The Effect of Uncertainty on Competitive Behavior

How does cosmic uncertainty “” the general feeling that the world lacks a higher power, order, or meaning “” affect social decision-making? Some prior studies suggest that whether conditions are certain or uncertain, people default to cooperative behavior (Zuckerman 1975; Torii & Hidaka, 2015); yet, there too exists research which suggests that uncertainty leads to more competitive behavior (Burleigh & Meegan, 2017). These conflicting findings create a gap in our understanding of how circumstances of uncertainty impact competitive behavior. In order to resolve this conflict, we will conduct two studies wherein we differentiate between task uncertainty and a more global (cosmic) sense of uncertainty. The first study will examine the relationship between two dispositional forms of (un)certainty “” belief in a just world and ambiguity tolerance “” and competitive behavior. We have already recruited data from participants (N = 153) who engaged in a prisoner’s dilemma task; data will be analyzed in a multiple logistic regression predicting a person’s decision to cooperate/compete from each individual difference measure. Following data analysis, we will follow this exploratory study with a confirmatory study in which we experimentally manipulate belief in a just world and/or outcome ambiguity to test the effect more rigorously. In sum, we aim to shed light on how people’s beliefs about the world drive their decisions to compete or cooperate.

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Competition and Competitors in the Workplace

Managers often galvanize employees with brief competitions (Grote, 2005; Hazels & Sasse, 2008; Johnson & Dickinson, 2010). For instance, the sales manager at a car dealership – seeking to start the year strong – may offer a bonus to the top salesperson in January. Yet, competition stems not only from organizational structures, but also from the personalities of employees (Mischel & Shoda, 1995). Structural and dispositional sources of competition have both been shown to individually improve productivity (Garcia et al., 2013), but do they have an additive or interactive effect? That is, do highly competitive employees behave any differently when a competitive incentive is introduced? Research on person-organization fit suggests that people thrive best in organizations that are compatible with their personalities; thus, competitive people will excel in competitive environments (Fletcher et al., 2008).

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Competition and Competitors in the Workplace

Managers often galvanize employees with brief competitions (Grote, 2005; Hazels & Sasse, 2008; Johnson & Dickinson, 2010). For instance, the sales manager at a car dealership – seeking to start the year strong – may offer a bonus to the top salesperson in January. Yet, competition stems not only from organizational structures, but also from the personalities of employees (Mischel & Shoda, 1995). Structural and dispositional sources of competition have both been shown to individually improve productivity (Garcia et al., 2013), but do they have an additive or interactive effect? That is, do highly competitive employees behave any differently when a competitive incentive is introduced? Research on person-organization fit suggests that people thrive best in organizations that are compatible with their personalities; thus, competitive people will excel in competitive environments (Fletcher et al., 2008). Yet, research on the strong situation hypothesis (Cooper & Withey, 2009; Mischel, 1977) tells a different story: personality is only relevant in situations where the “correct” course of action is ambiguous; so competitive people will receive no added benefit from structural competition. Perhaps more troubling, research on the overjustification effect (Deci & Ryan, 1989) suggests that introducing and subsequently removing an extrinsic incentive will undermine intrinsic motivation – harming the long-term performance of competitive employees. Thus, it remains unclear how introducing a competitive incentive will impact the short- and long-term productivity of employees from various dispositional and professional backgrounds. We will address this gap in the literature with two studies – one exploratory and one confirmatory – wherein participants reflect on their experiences in their own workplace. We will also collect information on participants’ professional backgrounds and trait competitiveness. This research will shed light on best practices for motivating employees and potentially reveal a common yet misguided practice in management.

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The relationship between Ninia’s responses to predation threats and age

Animals perceive and react to different predation signs based on the severity of the threat; the age of the animal often affects the aggressive and defensive reactions towards the predation signals. My study tests how exposing Ninia (a nocturnal snake) of different age classes to varying stimuli could elicit different aggressive and defensive responses. Data was collected by capturing and filming snakes in the neotropics, and then those videos were analyzed for specific behaviors. I predict that if Ninia are exposed to aggressive stimuli, they will engage in defensive behavior, regardless of age. If Ninia are exposed to non-aggressive stimuli, they will engage in aggressive behaviors if they are an adult but will engage in defensive behaviors if they are younger. The potential influence of age in Ninia’s response to non-aggressive stimuli may indicate that the size of the snake (which correlates with age) is an important predictor for understanding behavioral reactions to threats. If age has no influence on Ninia’s response to aggressive stimuli and their responses are more defensive; this may mean that in a life-or-death situation, it is more advantageous to respond defensively in order to increase the chances of survival. Overall, this study provides the opportunity to shed light on general defensive behaviors of animals, and how age and perceived aggression levels of a predator influence their responses to threats.

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Rhythm Wheels: Using Music as a Mathematical Learning Tool

Though ample research has been conducted studying how education can be improved, the research being done with CSDT – Culturally Situated Design Tools – is unique in that it combines STEM lessons, cultural art, and modern tech with the aim of simultaneously improving STEM education and reducing the implicit racism that devalues certain cultures. One component of the CSDT suite (csdt.org) is Rhythm Wheels, the program this study uses. It employs animations to educate users in the ways traditional music from the African diaspora (Carribean, hiphop, salsa, etc.) have math concepts like least common multiple embedded in them. Musicians from these traditions know this math in a form that is unfamiliar to Western education systems, but can be “translated” through a computational medium. This study will introduce Rhythm Wheels to high school students, drawing largely from underrepresented demographics. It will use a pre/post test contrast to examine how this may have impacted their understanding of the math and computing concepts, as well as how they think about culture. We hypothesize that combining computing, math, and culture studies together in education might enhance all three. These results may add to the ever-growing body of evidence for the idea that math and computing ideas already exist in traditional cultural practices, and that allowing students to translate them through computational media can create enjoyable activities that aid the decolonization of STEM.

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The Application of Genomic Tools for Monitoring Aquatic Endangered, Invasive, and Economically Important Species

Environmental DNA (eDNA) is genetic material from urine, waste, mucus, or sloughed cells collected from aquatic habitats that can be analyzed for species detection without ever seeing the actual organism. It is an emerging management tool that is useful for monitoring invasive, native, and endangered species. Traditional methods of data collection tend to harm or kill species so that they can be preserved for laboratory identification. Sampling done using eDNA methods, on the other hand, is a low-cost alternative that does not harm any species. It can be done in harsher conditions and is able to detect species that tend to be missed using traditional methods. While this technology has been shown to be extremely beneficial, there have been issues concerning a communication and knowledge gap between researchers and conservationists. Our research project aims to bridge this gap by creating a database that is publicly accessible, and user-friendly for both conservationists and other scientific researchers. We have compiled important information from approximately 300 research articles and organized it in a uniform format, within a centralized database. This database focuses on allowing the end-user to search through pre-designed assays for a variety of target species, with generalized information about quantitative real-time PCR (e.g. chemistry (SYBR green, Probe) and primer efficiency). We believe this database will greatly benefit conservationists and other potential non-geneticist eDNA end-users as an efficient tool to search through pre-designed assays, and to understand key concepts for implementing qPCR based eDNA monitoring.

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The application of genomic tools for monitoring aquatic economically important, invasive and endangered species

Environmental DNA (eDNA) is genetic material from urine, waste, mucus, or sloughed cells collected from aquatic habitats that can be analyzed for species detection without ever seeing the actual organism. It is an emerging management tool that is useful for monitoring invasive, native, and endangered species. Traditional methods of data collection tend to harm or kill species so that they can be preserved for laboratory identification. Sampling done using eDNA methods, on the other hand, is a low-cost alternative that does not harm any species. It can be done in harsher conditions and is able to detect species that tend to be missed using traditional methods. While this technology has been shown to be extremely beneficial, there have been issues concerning a communication and knowledge gap between researchers and conservationists. Our research project aims to bridge this gap by creating a database that is publicly accessible, and user-friendly for both conservationists and other scientific researchers. We have compiled important information from approximately 300 research articles and organized it in a uniform format, within a centralized database. This database focuses on allowing the end-user to search through pre-designed assays for a variety of target species, with generalized information about quantitative real-time PCR (e.g. chemistry (SYBR green, Probe) and primer efficiency). We believe this database will greatly benefit conservationists and other potential non-geneticist eDNA end-users as an efficient tool to search through pre-designed assays, and to understand key concepts for implementing qPCR based eDNA monitoring.

The application of genomic tools for monitoring aquatic economically important, invasive and endangered species Read More »

The Application of Genomic Tools for Monitoring Aquatic Endangered, Invasive, and Economically Important Species

Environmental DNA (eDNA) is genetic material from urine, waste, mucus, or sloughed cells collected from aquatic habitats that can be analyzed for species detection without ever seeing the actual organism. It is an emerging management tool that is useful for monitoring invasive, native, and endangered species. Traditional methods of data collection tend to harm or kill species so that they can be preserved for laboratory identification. Sampling done using eDNA methods, on the other hand, is a low-cost alternative that does not harm any species. It can be done in harsher conditions and is able to detect species that tend to be missed using traditional methods. While this technology has been shown to be extremely beneficial, there have been issues concerning a communication and knowledge gap between researchers and conservationists. Our research project aims to bridge this gap by creating a database that is publicly accessible, and user-friendly for both conservationists and other scientific researchers. We have compiled important information from approximately 300 research articles and organized it in a uniform format, within a centralized database. This database focuses on allowing the end-user to search through pre-designed assays for a variety of target species, with generalized information about quantitative real-time PCR (e.g. chemistry (SYBR green, Probe) and primer efficiency). We believe this database will greatly benefit conservationists and other potential non-geneticist eDNA end-users as an efficient tool to search through pre-designed assays, and to understand key concepts for implementing qPCR based eDNA monitoring.

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Rapid Understanding of Best Practices in Rural Intensive Care (RUBRIC)

The U.S. has had great disparities between rural and urban hospital resources – particularly with intensive care. Rural ICUs have much less resources as compared to urban ICUs and as such, have been impacted differently by the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aims to work on characterizing adaptations made by rural ICUs in response to COVID-19 along with setting up for further studies which contribute to the development of a toolkit of methods used by high-functioning rural ICUs. This toolkit will provide knowledge and understanding of ways in which rural ICU care can be made more effective. The toolkit will be created by conducting a randomized, nationwide survey of ICU administrators who can answer questions regarding their ICU’s changes to resources including capacity, staffing, policies, and workflow in response to the pandemic. We hypothesize that high-performing rural ICUs have made particular adaptations that have aided them in providing effective patient care during the COVID-19 pandemic. Particularly, we predict that hospitals will respond by 1. Reducing barriers to inter-hospital transfer and 2. Expanding alternative care strategies. In order to identify these adaptations, we are conducting a randomized nationwide survey of ICU administrators at rural ICUs about their adaptations in response to COVID-19. Upon completion of the survey, the responses received will be analyzed and a toolkit of resources will be developed and rapidly disseminated. Our toolkit of resources will allow rural ICUs to prepare for future public health emergencies by optimizing resources and maximizing patient care.

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