Class of 2021

"The Effect of Social Media Presence on Election Outcomes"

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Nancy Garcia

Political campaigning has long been using social media as a way to advertise and market political candidates, but how exactly have candidate’s used social media to connect with their supporters, and how much of these techniques influenced voters and their support? In this conducted research, the 2018 Texas Senate Race between Ted Cruz and Beto O’Rourke is used to analyze how their social media use and presence on Twitter had any real effect on how they performed in the election outcome. Previous research has found that political candidates that won their election often used social media to create an online presence. Meaning, the candidate that tweeted and interacted with their supporters the most and received the most engagements was the candidate that was most likely going to win. However, in this 2018 Texas senate election, Beto O’Rourke who was the more popular candidate online that fit into all the criteria mentioned, did not win. The findings for this research, which was conducted through manual count of tweets and content analysis, show that although O’Rourke had the most tweets and engagements, he was only able to garner national and viral support from everyone but from the ones that mattered, Texas voters. The use of how and what the two candidates tweeted is also analyzed to compare any similar or different ways they practiced social media use that might have contributed to their loss or win.​

"Detecting Drivers' Cognitive Load with Brain Signal Analysis"

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Hossain Gahangir 

Whether it is driving for a significant amount of time, driving to the same location every time, or even driving to a new location we have never seen before; there are various ways for a driver to be distracted or even fatigued, which may lead to an accidental car crash. This is a problem many people are having all around the world since cars are one of our main resources of transportation. This research is about detecting a drivers' cognitive load with brain signal analysis. Cognitive Load is how much new information a person can take into their working memory, and the working memory is the small amounts of information that is held in the mind to execute a task. While driving, two issues may happen to the driver, they can overload their working memory or even not use working memory which may lead to their brains to shut down and cause brain fog. When a person has reached their limit in working memory, the person can start getting confused. Brain fog can be caused by numerous issues that the driver may have; some of the issues are nutrient deficiency, sleep disorder, inactivity, and many others. This happens when the driver gets fatigued and they cannot focus on the road because it may affect their ability to think which may lead to a car crash. The focus of this research project is to figure out what is going on in the driver's brain while they are driving.

"Effects of Carbon-Based Materials on the Thermodynamic Properties of Solid Fuel"

 Faculty Mentor: Dr. Sanjoy Bhattacharia 

Rockets need to be as efficient as possible. A feasible way to do this is to make the rocket fuel more efficient, specifically through fuel additives. A lot of studies use energetic particles as additives, while this investigation focuses on using carbon-based materials. Aluminum was used as the solid fuel and Manganese (II) Oxide was used as an oxidizer. Additionally, carbon nano diamond, graphene, and graphene oxide were used as the carbon additives. Samples were created by mixing the Al, MnO and carbon-based substances proportionally using a sonicator. The ratios of each substance were acquired by balancing their chemical reactions. The samples were then looked at under the SEM to make sure that the particles were distributed evenly. Three samples contained carbon-based substances while the last sample did not, so it could be used for comparison. The four samples were subjected to the DSC to test their thermodynamic properties. It was expected that the energy released in the samples would increase with the addition of carbon-based materials, but that did not happen. However, for the graphene oxide sample, the temperature in which the energy released decreased. This is a promising discovery, but more tests need to be conducted to show a convincing correlation. Experiments in the future will work to improve the dispersion of the particles among samples and optimize the fuel-oxidizer ratio.

"Transitional Justice Mechanisms after Enforced Disappearances"

 Faculty Mentor: Dr. Laura Bell 

Even after several years of research, the transitional justice field continues to expand as more of its uses and outcomes are examined. Used as a mechanism for establishing accountability and justice while furthering reconciliation measures, transitional justice is most commonly used after large-scale human rights violations in an effort to bring unification to an otherwise divided conflict. Enforced disappearances, as a human rights violation, falls under this category. However, enforced disappearances are as equally, if not more, complex in their nature. Lack of ample evidence and first-hand encounters are due to their clandestine quality and make it difficult to analyze the best way forward in deterring or recovering from these violations. Given these circumstances, the question arises: is transitional justice an effective mechanism for deterring enforced disappearances and aiding societies in the healing, reconciliation process? Through qualitative research including case studies, scholarly articles, and data this research study attempts to answer this relevant question, as countries and communities everywhere continue to suffer from these human right violations. Although transitional justice surely has the potential to aid in the transition process of country’s recovering from turmoil, this study finds it does not necessarily guarantee the determent of enforced disappearances or other human rights violations. Furthermore, it is evident that much more intricate planning, educational training programs, and support from both local governments and the international community is necessary for its mechanisms to reach their maximum potential. This research study analyzes the discussions and factors associated with these topics in order to provide the evidence from which these conclusions are drawn.

"Women and the Making of Modern Day South Korea: An Analysis of Post-WWII Family Planning Programs"

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Paul Clark 

In 1963, South Korea began a modernization process under President Park Chung Hee, who introduced the FPP to curb the alarming fertility rate and redirect resources to modernization efforts.​ Women and the Family Planning Program (FPP) played a central role in not only curbing fertility but also evolving South Korean culture and life.​ This research relies on a mixture of primary and secondary sources regarding the FPP and New Village Movement to prove women played a central role in the modernization process through their biological, social, and economic reproduction.​ Although women played a central role in the modernization process, their involvement in the FPP and the SMC forced the identity of wives and mothers upon them while also barring them from achieving true equality.​

"Preparation of Cast Resins from Plant-Based Starting Material"

 Faculty Mentor: Dr. Maha L. Shrestha 

The main objective of this project is to replace petroleum based raw materials with environmental-friendly, agricultural-based starting materials. Plant based starting material obtained from soybean oil was tested for this purpose. Various catalyst concentration of tris(pentaflorophenyl)borane or BCF, and different solvents were also used for comparison. 

"Mexican Migration: How Drought Influenced the Migration during the Mexican Revolution"

 Faculty Mentor: Dr. Timothy Bowman 

This research addresses how drought before the Mexican Revolution influenced the exodus of Mexicans leaving to the United States in the 1910s. I constructed an argument that uses a variety of newspapers, weather data, and migration patterns, to show that drought also would have been a cause to people leaving Mexico. Drought has been attributed to a cause for the insurrections during the revolution, but not for people leaving.

"Requirements of the List: Sex Offender Registry and State Statutes"

 Faculty Mentor: Dr. Brandon Bang 

During the 1980s and 1990s, sexual offenses started to garner more attention from the public and politicians due to some infamous cases in the United States, which caused the establishment of the sex offender registry. The sex offender registry contains many requirements for registered sex offenders since the main focus is to reduce recidivism and protect the public. However, there is speculation that the sex offender registry is ineffective at accomplishing these goals. It may be doing more collateral harm to registered sex offenders instead of reducing harm. Considering this, some have advocated for reforming the registry. This study aims to analyze the registration laws and state statutes for adult sex offenders within all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Through this analysis, areas for reform can be uncovered.

"Patient Satisfaction with Hearing Devices and Bluetooth Technology"

 Faculty Mentor: Dr. Brenda Cross 

People with hearing loss usually use a hearing device to amplify their hearing ability. These hearing devices can use Bluetooth technology to enhance the sounds around them. Results will show if the participants are satisfied or dissatisfied. To evaluate satisfaction ratings, a survey will be completed by participants with a wide age range. This survey will be sent out to patients with any type of hearing loss. 32 responses were recorded after the closing of the survey, with the youngest participant being 27 years old and the oldest participant being 93 years old. This survey was also sent to the parents/guardians of minors, but no reposes were recorded. The results showed that participants that use these devices are more satisfied than dissatisfied. The younger population were more satisfied than the geriatric population. The geriatric population has more difficulty with technological capabilities. The younger population found the Bluetooth technology very beneficial.

"Modeling and Analysis of Emissions from Cleary Flood Power Generation Station"

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Erick Butler  

Cleary Flood Power Generation Station is a natural-gas fired power plant located in Taunton, Massachusetts. Cleary Flood is a “peaking” power plant, only operating at times of peak demand, which tends to be in the hot, humid summer months. Lakes Environmental’s AERMOD ViewTM, hourly emissions and meteorological data for the year 2017 was used to model the NOx concentrations around the power plant, averaged seasonally. Each season was modeled for three scenarios— two gas release parameter sets and a hypothetical NOx treatment implementation. The gas release parameters reported by the power plant were either high end or low end with respect to exit temperature and velocity. The control scenario was modeled with high end parameters. Due to weather and emissions trends, a much higher NOX concentration was observed in the summer season, as expected. Despite this, even the highest concentration was low enough to not be a major component in local air pollution, with the highest seasonal concentration as low as 0.08 μg/m3 (summer, low end parameters). This is further reinforced by comparison to local air quality data, which presents opposite trends and much higher NOX concentrations. The low NOX concentrations for which Cleary Flood is culpable is primarily a reflection of its limited generation; further study regarding its proportional emissions would provide a better insight into how Cleary Flood affects the surrounding areas. However, as it currently operates, Cleary Flood is not a significant contributor to local NOX pollution and additional pollution control is not recommended.

"Strategic Brand Placement inside the Marvel Cinematic Universe"

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Emily Kinsky 

This research investigates the use of popular music in Phase 3 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Past research has proven popular music can enhance audience engagement with a film by setting the tone. This research looks at the results on Google Trends to see if the 81 popular songs featured in the 11 films that create Phase 3 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe saw an increase of online searches. This research shows the benefit to the artists partnering with the Marvel Cinematic Universe, along with action taken by the audience after viewing the film. The music selected for the films are not limited to one specific genre. Phase 3 of the MCU used a variety of music genres that range in original release dates from 1910 through 2018.

"Biomechanical Differences in Sitting Positions"

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Vanessa Fiaud 

The goal of this research is to compare and contrast back posture on three different chairs: stool, yoga ball, and kneeling chair. ​A total of seven participants (Mean Age = 20.286) performed one trial on each chair while watching a five-minute video. ​Two video cameras were used to record the frontal and sagittal plane view of the first five seconds (pre) and last five seconds (post) of watching the video. ​Participants then surveyed their comfortableness of each chair from a scale from 0-3. ​Once results were gathered, there was no statistically significant difference between the 3 chairs in the sagittal back angles. ​There was a significant difference (p = 0.00 - 0.04) found between chairs in hip and knee angles. ​The comfortableness survey revealed that the kneeling chair was rated as the most comfortable chair during the five-minute video.

"Neonatal Physical Therapy"

 Faculty Mentor: Dr. Rick Haasl 

The purpose of this study is to obtain a clear understanding of neonatal physical therapy (NPT). This will include the perceived best practices within NPT and most beneficial therapeutic modalities for infants in the neonatal care. The study will also consist of the importance of NPT’s and the skills they need to possess. Data for this study will be acquired through a secondary analysis of existing data. Through the following research method data will be collected in open and axial coding. Research will also be conducted through non-participant observation at BSA Hospital. Through observation the researcher will gain understanding of the subject and how it relates to real-world experience in the neonatal intensive care unit.

"Causation of Scoliosis and the Demographic Group At Risk"

 Faculty Mentor: Dr. Vanessa Fiaud 

Scoliosis affects the human population from infancy until after puberty, distorting the spine and trunk by creating an abnormal 3-dimensional torsional deformity. An understanding of this condition may help in addressing scoliosis to individuals who are suffering from it. The purpose of this study is to investigate the current knowledge of scoliosis amongst students aspiring to be physical therapists, attending physical therapy programs, or are physical therapists. An online survey of 40 questions was distributed. 133 individuals participated but only 110 completed the questionnaire. The physical therapy (PT) students had an average of 23.59, kinesiology was 23.03, and the other was 20.06. As a result, a p-value of 0.03 of the three groups was collected revealing a slight difference between the means, concluding that a significant difference does exist. The study illustrates that there is a clear lack of knowledge of scoliosis in the overall population thus leading to a distribution of inaccurate information to patients. However, the results of PT and kinesiology individuals were slightly higher than those of other majors.