SRS Abstract Drainage Area Climate Classification

For my SRS project I will be determining the climate(s) within a given polygon. The Polygon size and shape will be determined from a specified drainage area for a given stream. I will be using over 400 stream data points with a series of drainage area shape files given to me by Nicole Wilson. I will base the climate on the gauge site location within the drainage area. The koppen climate classification scheme will then be used to specify each drainage area.

Public awareness of human rights violations in cobalt-rich mines of the Democratic Republic of Congo have American cobalt consumers scrambling for reliable suppliers to meet rising demand, with uncertainties about futures in cobalt's supply chain. Global cobalt production supply forecast falls short of global demand forecast for the next ten years, even with the completions of major planned mined projects. The exponential increase in demand for cobalt results from its utility in personal electronics batteries, electric vehicle batteries, and jet engine construction. Chemical extracting operations whose sole purposes are to extract cobalt are not profitable in the status quo, leaving a window of opportunity for reclaimed cobalt to take hold in the market. This project studies consumer patterns to determine "urban mine" qualities in Texas. The resulting analysis exists to be cross-applied to other states to determine target regions best suited for cobalt reclamation strategies in hopes of securing America's geopolitical mineral stability.

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive brain disorder and the most common form of dementia. The disease gradually destroys brain cells, leading to confusion, erratic behavior, and severe loss of memory. Alzheimer’s is eventually fatal, and no treatment or cure has been discovered. Researchers aim to better understand Alzheimer’s pathology through the use of a transgenic mouse model of AD, the 5xFAD mice. A previous study by Bonardi et al. (2011) has shown that another model of AD, the APP/PS1 mouse, exhibits a deficit in extinction learning before it displays a deficit in acquisition. We aim to determine if this same trend exists in 5xFAD mice, despite having more extensive genetic mutations. Learning will be assessed using the Contextual Fear Conditioning (CFC) paradigm, where the mice are introduced to an environmental context and experience a mild aversive stimulus. When reintroduced to the context 24 hours later, mice will freeze if they acquired a memory for the pairing of an aversive stimulus with the novel context. Freezing is an instinctive rodent fear response. After repeated trials of exposure to the environment in the absence of an aversive stimulus, the mice gradually freeze less. This is indicative of new learning of the environment no longer being paired with the stimulus, or extinction of the initial association. The 5xFAD mice typically exhibit impaired acquisition by 6 months of age as compared to wild type mice. The present study examined if the 5xFAD mice would display a deficit in extinction learning prior to this deficit in acquisition. Preliminary data indicate that 5xFAD mice, like APP/PS1 mice, show a deficit in memory extinction before they exhibit a loss of memory acquisition. Three-month old FAD mice extinguish more slowly than three-month old wild type mice, but show no difference in acquisition. This research is important because it indicates alternative cognitive measures may allow for earlier diagnosis of neurodegenerative diseases, such as AD.

It is estimated that 45% of people over the age of 85 in the U.S. suffer from Alzheimer’s disease. Patients with Alzheimer’s disease, which is characterized by cognitive deficiencies and memory loss, have higher concentrations of amyloid plaques in brain tissue than patients without the disease. Abnormal levels of transition metal ions Fe, Zn, and Cu in brain tissue are associated with amyloid beta plaques and also have been shown to catalyze the generation of excess reactive oxygen species (ROS) and cause oxidative stress. The combination of the ROS generation and the amyloid plaque formation results in neurodegeneration, which ultimately causes the memory loss and ultimate death associated with Alzheimer’s. We have synthesized the compounds L2 and L4 which are designed to be chelating agents of metal ions and also scavengers of ROS. We hypothesize that due to their chelating properties and pyridol groups, L2 and L4 should reduce oxidative damage in neuronal cells by chelating metal ions and scavenging radicals. Furthermore, we hypothesize that due to its extra pyridol group, L4 will be a stronger antioxidant than L2. The cytotoxicity of the compounds was tested on HT-22 neuronal cells. Neuronal cells will be treated with BSO, a compound that induces formation of ROS, in the presence and absence of L2 and L4. If our hypothesis is correct, our compounds should reduce the oxidative damage induced by BSO, and L4 should be more effective at doing so than L2.

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative condition in which beta-amyloid protein accumulates into plaques, and tau protein forms neurofibrillary tangles. In the past, our laboratory has shown that repeated inflammatory events increase beta-amyloid in the hippocampus of male C57BL6/J mice. We sought to determine the effect of a second exposure to the bacterial mimetic lipopolysaccharide (LPS) on beta amyloid accumulation. An initial round of seven, once daily LPS or sterile saline injections, was administered to male C57BL6/J adult mice. Fourteen days after the last injection, a second round of LPS or saline injections was given, followed by tissue collection and quantification of beta-amyloid levels in the hippocampus. The results showed that animals injected with two rounds of LPS had significantly lower levels of beta-amyloid accumulation than those animals injected with just a single round of LPS, although both groups had significantly higher levels of beta-amyloid than the saline control animals. These results suggest a reduced inflammatory response following a secondary exposure to LPS. More specifically, animals exposed to LPS for a second time showed significantly less central and peripheral inflammation four hours after LPS administration than animals with no prior exposure. In addition, increased levels of IgM and IgG were discovered in the mice with prior LPS exposure. This could indicate possible antibody production against LPS or beta-amyloid rather than tolerance of the LPS as a mechanism for the reduced inflammatory response. In order to establish whether this results in a life-long effect, we are currently exploring the impact of LPS administration in old age for mice who were exposed to LPS earlier in life.

With the increasing student population trend at TCU, parking on campus is equally increasing
in difficulty. Due to the limited campus space, expanding parking availability is not a feasible
solution. Spark is a smart parking system that monitors the status of each space in parking lots,
indicating the space’s occupancy status on an aerial “Google Maps” view of the parking lot in a
smartphone application and, potentially, a website. The application could be linked to the TCU
Single-Sign-On for increased security and to make it easier for TCU students, faculty, and staff
to save their parking preferences. Spark can measure the fill rate of individual lots, recommend
a time-to-leave to procure a parking spot, and even provide update notifications on the status
of the user’s preferred lots.

Using the finite element method as a numerical approximation in solving for eigenvalues of the hyperbolic Laplacian, this research investigates the estimates of the first two eigenvalues with Dirichlet and Neumann boundary conditions on bounded domains in the upper half plane. Examples of finite element code using Matlab are presented to illustrate how to obtain these approximations for hyperbolic polygons. These values can further be used to shed light on the Selberg and Fundamental Gap conjectures.

In the past, Personality Psychologists have commonly applied clustering techniques on questionnaire data to analyze personality structure. The purpose of this research is to determine if techniques from topological data analysis can provide a greater understanding of personality. Specifically, persistent homology was used to determine clusters topologically and analyze the ‘shape’ of the data. Previous work we have done focused on seeing how persistent homology can provide insight on identifying the key (most persistent) clusters in the data. New analysis looks to see how the Big 5 Personality Factors cluster together as a function of age.

Background: To replace milk fats and eggs commonly found in ice cream, vegan varieties substitute with vegetable fats and/or pureed fruits. Vegan ingredient substitutions for ice cream must contain similar structural components to milk fat to preserve the expected texture/mouthfeel of the product. The purposes of this study were 1) to measure university students’ preferences and sensory ratings of vegan ice cream substitutions and 2) to identify which ingredients act as the best replacements.

Methods: 54 students enrolled in one of two TCU Nutritional Sciences (NTDT) courses participated in this single-blind, cross-sectional study. Subjects completed sensory evaluation of three homemade vegan ice creams containing different structural/flavor components. Sample A included coffee, cashews, and coconut cream; B used coconut cream and dates, and C contained coconut milk. Evaluations took place on two separate occasions in the NTDT Laboratory Kitchens. Flavor, sweetness, texture, mouthfeel, eye appeal, color, and overall rating of vegan ingredient substitutions for ice cream recipes were assessed. Sensory criteria responses were analyzed using SPSS XIX. Frequency distributions, ANOVAs, correlations, and descriptive statistics were determined to meet study objectives (p≤0.05). Protocol was approved by the TCU IRB.

Results: 53% of participants preferred the flavor of sample A, 42% of participants reported that sample B was the preferred flavor, and sample C received the lowest overall acceptability rating, with 73% of the participants disliking the flavor. More than 50% of participants stated sample A was most similar to traditionally-prepared non-vegan ice cream, and 78% of participants stated that they would consume these ice creams outside of the study.

Conclusions: Acceptable vegan ice cream fat substitutes are available. Cashew, coconut cream, dates, and coffee contributed to the rich flavors, creamy textures, and overall desirable sensory qualities in samples A and B. Coconut milk, utilized in sample C, contributed to an undesirable and unacceptable crystallized texture.

Background: Research indicates individuals who follow plant-based diets make healthier food choices and have less chronic disease than those consuming the Standard American Diet. It is hypothesized that Texas Christian University (TCU) students have limited knowledge and/or exposure to vegan/plant-based lifestyles and diets. The purpose of this study was to determine whether knowledge level and attitudes/beliefs of vegan/plant-based diets/lifestyle changed with exposure and newly-gained knowledge in a semester-long three-hour course.

Methods: Subjects included 23 junior/senior multidisciplinary TCU students (56%/female; 44%/male) enrolled in a course about plant-based diets and lifestyles. Students completed a pre-assessment questionnaire on the first day of class before exposure to any content regarding vegan/plant-based diets and lifestyles. Students completed a post-assessment questionnaire at semester end to ascertain if changes in attitudes/knowledge/beliefs regarding vegan/plant-based diets and lifestyles changed over time with exposure and newly-gained subject knowledge in the course. Data was analyzed using SPSS (p<0.05).

Results: Prior to starting the course, 13% of students reported they were vegetarians, and 83% typically consumed animal protein in their diets (p=0.01); more students in health-related disciplines noted having friends/family members who followed vegan diets (p=0.01). Pre-assessment results showed that female students were more knowledgeable than male students about plant-based diets/veganism (p=0.01); whereas, post-assessment knowledge scores showed no differences among gender. Overall, post-assessment scores improved for all students in the following categories: reasons why people choose veganism, acceptable foods for vegans, nutrients at risk for vegans, availability of vegan ready-to-eat foods/grocery store and restaurant meals, and risk for chronic disease of vegans vs. people who consume animal products (p=0.01).

Conclusions: Students majoring in the sciences and nursing/health sciences possessed greater knowledge about vegan/plant-based diets/lifestyles than their counterparts majoring in other subjects. Although level of prior knowledge varied among all students, exposure to the topic through a vegan/plant-based studies course increased knowledge of participants.