Chemistry
Peptide nucleic acids (PNAs) are highly resilient molecules that are resistant to nucleases and proteases. As formidable nucleic acid mimics, peptide nucleic acids can hybridize with complem…
Energy: Chemical
The objective of the project was to create a full body exoskeleton that would increase the strength of the user though implementation of electromyographic sensors and pneumatic actuators. Th…
Computational Biology and Bioinformatics
This experiment analyzed the effects of solute concentration on the optical rotation of various chiral molecules by building a polarimeter to measure their angle of rotation and comparing th…
Materials Science
Purpose: A series of biomonitoring techniques were used to assess the surface water quality of Weeks Bayou subwatershed using chemical, macroinvertebrate, and bacterial analyses. The aquatic…
Earth and Environmental Sciences
Research presented here addresses the potential to use the principles of evolutionary robotics to design a controller able to learn within the lifetime of the robot. Test groups of robots ar…
Engineering Mechanics
In the current society, individuals depend heavily on fossil fuels to function properly. The non-renewable aspect of such energy looms over as resources dwindle over time. Options to combat…
Energy: Chemical
The purpose of this experiment is to find out which of alternative energy can produce more power under the same circumstances. I wanted to see which element, wind or water, at the same rate…
Engineering Mechanics
The primary purpose of this experiment was to determine whether quarry's can sustain freshwater prawns. These researchers tested the quarry's water quality and compared it to the water quali…
Earth and Environmental Sciences
Fourth Award
The future of personalized cancer treatment relies on the existence of computational models that can accurately predict how a patient will respond to a cancer drug, given the genetic makeup…
Embedded Systems
Epilepsy afflicts 50 million people worldwide, and any type of seizure has the potential to be dangerous, especially if the victim is unprepared. Epileptic patients need an easy and convenie…
Computational Biology and Bioinformatics
Eye-color genotypes are good predictors of eye-color phenotypes. The purpose of this project was to go the other direction and see if eye-color genotypes could be predicted based on eye-colo…
Microbiology
This project focuses on predicting the strength of solar flares based on sunspot characteristics. It was hypothesized that the probability of generating an intense solar flare within a sunsp…
Microbiology
Detection of disease in humans is primarily based upon symptoms an individual may experience. New research suggests that monitoring the oral microbiome for changes in the normal flora could…
Materials Science
Third Award
Endocrine Disrupting Compounds (EDCs) have a profound impact on aquatic reproductive processes. Current municipal waste water treatment plants (MWTP) do not eliminate highly persistent EDC’s…
Energy: Chemical
Solar energy has become more practical recently and is one of the fastest growing industries around the world due to the influx in demand for renewable energy. Mechanical trackers have been…
Embedded Systems
The purpose of this year’s research and development was to add to the accuracy of the previously produced earth-like planets. To accomplish this I have shifted much of the code of the progra…
Earth and Environmental Sciences
The objective of this project was to develop an artificial intelligence for an original strategy game that adapted and learned from its past successes and failures and applied its new knowle…
Mathematics
Fourth Award
Short non-coding RNAs, microRNAs (miRNAs) regulate gene expression by silencing their target mRNAs through degradation. Because miRNA dysregulation is linked with tumorigenesis, expression s…
Robotics and Intelligent Machines
Can soldiers and athletes be protected from bacterial and fungal infections on the epidermal level? Using myrrh and licorice extracts in addition to copper and titanium nanoparticles, which…
Engineering Mechanics
With the recent upsurge in mobile device use, and with the relative stall in the development of battery technology (in comparison to the development of processors that consume incredible amo…
Computational Biology and Bioinformatics
The purpose of this study was to screen several VHH nanobodies for effective intracellular binding to a-Synuclein (Syn), whose aggregation is associated with Parkinson’s disease. Previously,…
Mathematics
The current study investigated the effectiveness of UV protection strategies – avobenzone based sunscreen (A), zinc oxide based sunscreen (Z), untreated cloth, SunGuard™ treated cloth UV pro…
Materials Science
This investigation studied the effect of various exposures of Ultraviolet radiation on Fruit Flies (Drosophila melanogaster) cultivated in Turmeric, a spice that has previously been proven t…
Chemistry
The role of psychosocial care for cancer patients has become a priority to include in effective cancer treatment. Estimates indicate that 88% of women with breast cancer recover from the dis…
Physics and Astronomy
Third Award
Over the past decade, there has been an explosion of interest in PT-symmetric structures in quantum systems, when reversed in parity (P) and time (T), remain invariant. The purpose of this w…
Robotics and Intelligent Machines
Escherichia coli is a Gram-negative bacteria about two microns in length. Enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC) is characterized by the production of heat-labile (LT) and/or heat-stable (ST) entero…
Mathematics
The higher incidence of DCIS cases in underdeveloped nations and an increased need for cytopathological tests have placed an undue learning burden on the medical enterprise to process millio…
Cellular and Molecular Biology
The purpose of the research project is to discover if the quantity of mitochondria in Drosophila melanogaster affects its lifespan. Furthermore, if there is a correlation between mitochondri…
Physics and Astronomy
Quantum locking is a newly defined quantum effect which allows a Type II superconductor to levitate pinned in a strong magnetic field. This is very different than the Meissner effect (levita…
Mathematics
Third Award
Multidrug resistance (MDR) is a major obstacle to successful chemotherapy. The main cause of MDR is the increased drug efflux by ABC transporters. AC220 is a potent and selective inhibitor o…