UMTC Undergraduate Research Presentations and Papers (UROP)
Persistent link for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/11299/45101
This collection contains posters, scholarly papers, and other presentations prepared by undergraduate researchers, including presentations made at the Undergraduate Research Symposium, the McNair Scholars Symposium, and the National Conference on Undergraduate Research. Additional undergraduate work can be found in the Homecoming Student Scholar and Public Engagement Showcase
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Item Did Early Functional Proteins Use Metal Ions to Bind ATP?(2025-01-31) Soltau, Alexander D.; Blascyk, Eli; Winslow, Peter; Seelig, BurckhardIn early life forms, the first proteins were likely composed of a limited set of amino acid building blocks. Previous work in the Seelig lab has produced random libraries of 85 amino acid-long proteins with ATP binding affinity, made from varying subsets of the 20 modern amino acids. By characterizing these proteins’ binding mechanisms and properties, we hope to gain insight into the nature of early functional proteins. Here, we took initial steps to analyze the metal ion affinity of one such protein composed of five types of amino acids. Further analysis will confirm the dependence of ATP binding on metal ions and extend these investigations to other selected protein variants.Item Evaluating Robotic Manipulation with Depth Data and Pretraining(2024-12-05) Hawver, Mason; Diaz, Ryan; Cui, HanchenAbstract Visual imitation learning (IL) has been approached through end-to-end learning and pre-training methods. While pre-training on large datasets like ImageNet improves sample efficiency, it often struggles with out-of-distribution (OOD) data and fails to update the encoder alongside the policy. Recent studies suggest that multi-modal pre-training can enhance the robustness of downstream policies. In this project, we propose a novel approach to pre-training on in-distribution robotic manipulation datasets, integrating multi-modal sensor data and task-specific objectives to improve robustness. Our goal is to train a simulated robot to perform contact-rich tasks, such as T push, rearrangement, 3-piece assembly, and coffee assembly, and compare our method with existing approaches. We will collect a multi-modal dataset using the Robosuite simulator and augment it with demonstrations generated via the MimicGen framework. A Vision Transformer (ViT) will be trained using self-supervised learning to process masked multi-modal inputs, including RGB and depth images, force-torque sensor readings, and proprioceptive data. The resulting latent embeddings will serve as inputs for policy learning, implemented through behavior cloning with recurrent neural networks (BC-RNN) and diffusion policy learning. We will evaluate our method against other pre-trained visual encoders, measuring task success rates and robustness to distributional shifts. Our work aims to demonstrate the effectiveness of multi-modal pre-training in enhancing the performance and generalization of robotic manipulation policies. Keywords: Visual imitation learning, multi-modal pre-training, robotic manipulation, Vision Transformer, self-supervised learning, contact-rich tasks.Item Computational Electromagnetic Simulation of Radiation Scattering in Scanning Near-field Optical Microscopy Experiments(2025-01) Allen, Benjamin; McLeod, AlexanderItem Assessing the Host-Sanctioning Abilities of Soybean (Glycine max) Cultivars(2025-01-21) Adelmann, NicholasItem Media Portrayals of Migrants in the UK and Italy: Uncovering Racial Biases(2025-01-16) Olson-Hernandez, AlyssaThis study examines the framing of migrants from Africa, the Middle East, and Ukraine in the media from the UK and Italy. It aims to uncover the differences in their representation based on the political orientation and nationality of the source. Using a mixed-methods approach, 60 news articles were analyzed from left and right-leaning sources, categorizing them by tone and framing. The findings reveal significant racial biases, with non-white migrants from Africa and the Middle East often depicted less favorably compared to white Ukrainian migrants. These biases in media coverage contribute to the cycle of discrimination against migrants of color. The study adds to the understanding of the media's role in the perceptions of migrants in media and calls for addressing these biases.Item BidCell and Baysor on Large-Scale Single-Cell and Spatial Transcriptomics Datasets(2024-12-23) Leung, BrandaThe purpose of this research is to examine the different types of packages that can be used for cell segmentation, specifically on much larger datasets. The key packages studied were called “Baysor” and “Bidcell”. Previous research discussed the different methods of each package, which served as a foundation for this study to further understand how well each package handles large datasets. In this study, the Xenium mouse brain dataset with 62 million transcripts was used with default parameters used in each package. Furthermore, based on the cell segmentation results, Bidcell appears to have under cell segmentation results, with many cells not being represented when drawn. On the other hand, Baysor appears to have over cell segmentation, with excessive outlining of the cell boundaries. However, Bidcell or Baysor’s results may have accurate results to the real segmentation boundaries. Future studies would benefit from testing by altering parameters and comparing them to the default parameters’ segmentation results.Item Embedding Bipartite and Complete Graphs on Orientable and Non-Orientable Surfaces(2024-12-24) Briol, BlakeIn this paper we will observe the progress having been made in the embedding of regular euler impure graph embeddings on orientable and non-orientable surfaces including the torus T2, real projective plane (RP2), and klein bottle where regular graphs are a graph with a set of nodes where every node can connect to every other node denoted by Km. We will also discuss a partition to be made within an infinite family of euler impure graphs on orientable surfaces as given by Davies and Pfender. We will do so by considering natural solutions to the g/2 floor stipulation. After which, we will discuss constructions of bipartite euler impure graph embeddings on orientable and non-orientable surfaces and their properties where bipartite graphs are graphs with 2 sets of nodes that can connect to every node in the other set denoted by K(m,n). We will also discuss arbitrary node embeddings on the 4-faces of these bipartite euler-impure graph constructions. This construction is heavily inspired by the methodology toward the regular case in the paper,”Edge-maximal graphs on orientable and some non-orientable surfaces,” written by Davies and Pfender.Item Infrared Observations of Variable Brightness Stars and Determining Their Period(2024-12-27) Oellrich, LukeItem Identifying Phytophthora sojae pathotypes through baiting and optimizing a new molecular method(2024-12-20) Johnston, Linnea; Markham, Kathleen, K.; Sreekanta, Suma S.; Fenske-Newbart, Jane; Floyd, Crystal; McCaghey, Megan M.; Malvick, DeanItem Fall 2024: Determining hippocampal tissue iron status in a transgenic hippocampal neuron-specific iron deficiency using immunohistochemistry(2024-12) Klatt, Anna; Carlson, Luke; Bastian, ThomasItem Investigating Localized Gene Expression of Sall4 and Hk2 in Hindlimb Embryonic Tissues of Conditional Knockout Mice(2024-12-18) Schrandt, Mira; Kawakami, Yasu; Kawakami, HirokoItem Feeling Objects Within Virtual and Augmented Reality(2024-12-18) Vo, KevinItem Using_Plasmonic_Nanobubbles_for_mRNA_Cell_Transfection-UROP_Project_Fall2024-(2024-12-18) Wright, LiamItem Brazilian Conservatives on Class vs Race Based Affirmative Action (2024)(2024-12-18) Rodriguez Yado, MarinaSupport for class based affirmative action seems inconsistent with right conservative ideology, yet many Brazilian Conservatives support such policies. This research aims to investigate the unexpected support of class based affirmative action by conservatives in Brazil.Item Examining the Impact of Commercially Available Oral Gel in an in vitro Biofilm Model(2024-12-18) Zvereva-Dedele, Polina; Lima, BrunoDental plaque (a type of oral biofilm) is a microbial community that grows on the tooth surface. This community is remarkably stable despite varying environmental factors. When this equilibrium is disturbed, infections and other kinds of damage are at risk of arising, like tooth and gum disease. Oral biofilms grown in a laboratory setting allows us to better understand how they develop and can contribute to therapeutic strategies against oral and systemic diseases. Xerostomia, more commonly known dry mouth, occurs when salivary glands stop working properly or altogether. This decreases saliva production, resulting in a dry mouth that can be uncomfortable and make it difficult to perform simple daily functions, such as talking and swallowing. However, symptoms can be alleviated with over the counter products, such as oral gel. In this experiment, it was hypothesized that dental plaque grown in various oral gel concentrations would have different biofilm formation and composition compared to natural saliva conditions. It was found that the formation of dental plaque biofilm was significantly lower in higher concentrations of oral gel. These findings partially supported the hypothesis, but more work in the future is necessary.Item Spectroscopy With Digital Micromirror Array(2024-12) Hofhansel, Peter; McLeod, AlexanderItem An Evaluation of Occupancy Sensing Methods for Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Docking(2024-12-16) Schmertman, Brock B.Docking stations play a critical role in the long-term deployment of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) by automating a range of costly tasks [4], [5]. One requirement of a functional station is an occupancy sensor system capable of detecting when the AUV is correctly oriented to initiate docking. A majority of occupancy sensing approaches presented in academic literature either employ specialized equipment, require a particular form factor to implement, or lack sufficient technical detail to replicate. To address these shortcomings, this report presents the implementation and evaluation of various occupancy sensing methods using inexpensive, commercially available components conformable to many AUV and docking station form factors. First, it was determined that contact-based sensing, implemented with a limit switch, successfully confirmed a critical segment of the AUV was in place to initiate docking. If precautions are implemented to mitigate the risk of false positives, contact-based sensing has a strong potential to reliably measure AUV occupancy. Second, a commercially available radio frequency identification (RFID) reader was found to successfully propagate RFID signals through barriers of air, tap water, and salt water. This demonstrates its potential for use in both fresh and saltwater environments. However, the serial connection to the reader was found to fail in a chlorinated pool, which presents operational issues in certain conductive mediums. Third, a commercially available inductive module was found to successfully couple through barriers of air and tap water, demonstrating its potential to measure AUV occupancy in a freshwater environment by monitoring the current circulating the transmitter. However, coupling was not observed through chlorinated pool water, indicating the module is prone to attenuation in more conductive, electrolyte mediums. Lastly, it was found that applying a simple high-pass filtering algorithm to the accelerometer output of an inertial measurement unit (IMU) was highly effective in characterizing collisions between the AUV and docking station. Moreover, collision detection may be a viable approach to occupancy detection if additional functionality is implemented to distinguish AUV and environmental collisions.Item Comparative Analysis of Renewable Energy Adoption in France and Sweden: Disparities under EU-Wide Incentive Programs(2024-12-14) Brown, JacksonThis research explores the comparative effectiveness of renewable energy adoption in France and Sweden, focusing on why these two European Union (EU) member states, despite operating under similar EU-wide incentive programs such as the Renewable Energy Directive (RED) and the European Green Deal, have achieved vastly different outcomes. Updated quantitative data reveal that Sweden’s share of renewable energy increased from 53.4% to 66% between 2017 and 2022, still far outpacing France, who grew from 15.8% to 20.3% (Eurostat, n.d.). While Sweden is the top European Union performer by a wide margin, France finds itself struggling. Coming in as the 15th ranked EU country when measured in share of renewable energy, France is some 3% below the EU average. They are also just one of four countries to miss their 2020 renewable energies target in 2022 ("Renewable Energy in the European Union," n.d.). Sweden’s success stems from long-term policy consistency, high carbon taxes, and effective market-based mechanisms like the green certificate system (International Energy Agency, 2021; Andersson, 2019; Swedish Energy Agency, 2020). Meanwhile, France’s reliance on nuclear energy and complex permitting processes has slowed renewable energy adoption (Bergek & Berggren, 2014; World Bank Group, 2020).Item Bilingual Children's Use of Internal State Terms Across English and Spanish(2024-12) Mehring, Kendall; Ebert, KerryItem Morphological Variation in Longnose and Shortnose Gar Across a Latitudinal Gradient(2024-12-08) Wilson-Thieroff, Jonathan; David, Solomon R.