Switchgrass generates cellulosic ethanol, classified as an alternative fuel by federal definition. For switchgrass and other vegetation to become biofuel we have to look specifically at the cellulose microfibril and extract the glucose. This extraction leads to the fuel being produced. Switchgrass can deposit organic matter deep within the soil profile as the roots expand into the subsoil for nutrients and water. Not only is switchgrass a good biofuel product, but the carbon sequestration that comes along with planting this grass is highly beneficial. Due to the roots reaching deep into the soil, switchgrass is low maintenance while adding nutrients. In this project, we will be researching possible farms in Saskatchewan, Canada preferably in close proximity to ethanol biorefinery plants for maximum switchgrass plantation, in order to seek possible expansion of biofuel production in Saskatchewan. We will be looking at farms, proximity of farms to biorefineries, and soil make up.

Urbanization is an ever-growing problem that has led to habitat loss, habitat degradation, the spread of diseases, and so much more. Wildlife are slowly being pushed out of their historic home ranges, increasing human-wildlife conflicts. As a result, there has been a push to restore lost habitat and mitigate habitat destruction. However, this can be made tricky when managers are unaware of what makes a habitat suitable. Thus, there is an immediate need to determine ways of identifying environments favored by many species and implement conservation plans. Conducting present/absence surveys on animals and placing the sightings on a map is one way of determining where a species can be found. The purpose of this research will be to study the effects of urbanization on raccoons within parks in the Fort Worth area. Parks are valuable habitats for organisms in an urban environment as these parks have resources not found in highly human-disturbed areas such as neighborhoods or shopping districts. We will be comparing the raccoon sightings from iNatrualist, a citizen science platform, to different parks in the surrounding area to determine habitat suitability. We used GIS data from iNatrualist to compare raccoon sightings to habitat type. Habitat was divided into four categories: concrete, open field, water, and field with trees. Pictures of the study site were used to train Mulrispec, a multispectral image data analysis system, to identify areas that meet the habitat types. The distribution data was overlaid on top of the new map. Raccoon sightings were compared to habitat types to determine habitat preference. By identifying suitable habitats, we hope to learn how raccoons and other urban organisms are adapting to rising urbanization.

This project uses GIS to take a look at multiple layers of spatial data to identify possible relationships between COVID-19 and a variety of social and economic factors impacting social vulnerability in Tarrant County, Texas in the year 2020. The purpose of this research is to better understand trends of widespread public health events and factors that may contribute their severity. A variety of techniques are used to map COVID-19 rates for each city and to visualize differences in social vulnerability across the county. Furthermore, GIS is used to analyze social vulnerability and access to hospitals in order to identify areas underserved by medical care. From there, recommendations for new hospital locations are established.

For this project, we used GIS remote sensing technology to locate and identify potential locations for urban farming. The purpose of this project is to recognize and assist in the issue of food deserts in areas such as the DFW (Dallas Fort Worth) metroplex. A food desert refers to any area with limited or no access to affordable, nutritious food. This may include a lack of access to farmers’ markets, vegetable shops, or fresh produce. This project aims to recognize and assist in the issue of food deserts in urban areas with a particular focus on the East Fort Worth/Arlington area of Tarrant County. Several relevant datasets including high spatial resolution commercial remote sensing and other relevant spatial (such as property appraisal datasets, land temperature data) and non-spatial datasets. These will be combined in a GIS environment to identify empty plots of land that could be used for the purposes of urban agriculture while assessing their potential for food growth. Once these plots of land are identified, we will use ArcGIS to assess ecosystem services provided by these urban farms, such as the impact on climate and urban heat.

Crafts & Conversations was established to foster community among TCU students and the residents of a local retirement facility, Trinity Terrace. During monthly meetings, students and residents share their stories while collaborating on season-themed craft activities, including murals, cross-stitching, snow globes, suncatchers, decoupage, and upcycled terrariums. TCU students who volunteer in these monthly meetings build meaningful friendships, combat stereotypes against the elderly, and improve communication and leadership skills. In addition, each event opens with a performance by TCU music students, enabling them to cultivate their craft and share their talent. Even throughout the pandemic, Crafts & Conversations nurtured memories and connections through Zoom and masked in-person meetings. With a commitment to sustainability, this project will continue to enrich the lives of residents at Trinity Terrace and Brookdale Westover Hills, providing dedicated student volunteers with opportunities to strengthen the Fort Worth community.

The Molding Melanin Magic Mentorship Program is an organization seeking to empower minority female high school students at the Texas Academy of Biomedical Sciences (TABS) through in-depth mentorship regarding apply for college, professional school, and pursuing a career in STEM. With the guidance of TCU’s Pre-Health Institute, the program connects high school and college students with similar interests and provides an engaging curriculum of workshops and activities to bolster information received in the classroom setting. Alongside mentorship, the program’s research utilized group audio recordings which were analyzed to capture motivations and themes that emerged from the mentees and mentors during facilitations. The initiation and development of near-peer relationships were widespread and extended beyond facilitations emboldening participants to apply for college and pursue a career in STEM.

Despite bats providing essential ecosystem services, such as pollination, seed dissemination, and pest control, bat populations are facing a global decline due to habitat loss from human activities, including urbanization. We can, however, enhance urban areas to support bat communities by ensuring that suitable resources, such as water, are available and accessible. While availability is associated with the abundance of water sources in an area, accessibility dictates whether bats can physically get to and drink from the surface of a water source. One factor that can influence accessibility is the level of clutter. Clutter represents any physical obstruction present on the surface of the water or in the immediate surrounding area, including vegetation, exposed rock, and debris. Yet, not all forms of clutter are natural. The presence of litter can negatively hinder water accessibility. Thus, in urban areas where litter is more prevalent, a simple litter or trash clean-up scheme could potentially represent an effective restoration activity that community groups could undertake to increase water availability and accessibility for bats in their neighborhoods. To explore this concept, we assessed whether such a community-based clean-up scheme could effectively improve water resource accessibility for bats. For this, we cleared water sources in local parks and neighborhoods of trash monthly during the bat activity season, while conducting behavioral surveys using thermal cameras to determine whether bats drank from these sources. We then compared bat drinking activity recorded at ponds from 2021-2022 prior (i.e., no clean-up) with activity post-clean-up in 2023 to establish if more bats drank. From our results, we hope to inform not only local wildlife conservation programs but also efforts to improve community health.

Mercy Clinic is located in Fort Worth and it serves underrepresented minority adults who live in the 76110 and 76104 zip codes near TCU. It provides free care such as wellness visits, routine checkups, and monthly Women's Health clinics. Through collaboration with the Mercy Clinic staff and medical students at the Burnett School of Medicine, a sustainable approach was taken for the Women's Health initiative. The Women's Health Initiative aims to maintain and further the clinic's Women's Health approach and assist in education. Certain community clinics in the Fort Worth area can face disparities with inadequate funding, limiting the access and quality of patient care. Through a grant provided by the Pre-Health Professions Institute, the Experimental Projects to Impact the Community (EPIC Grant), remedial actions were able to take place for Mercy Clinic, not only improving the quality of patient satisfaction and care but also the sustainability of the clinic by reducing waste. The aid has been able to give access to reusable items such as metal speculums, lighting tools for examinations, and a more efficient way to keep up with patient check-in and management by using laminated paper sheets. This project aimed to aid Mercy Clinic's performance and quality output for the community it looks after.

Despite being entirely preventable, cavities remain the leading chronic childhood disease in the US. The "TCU Tooth Fairies" initiative aims to raise awareness of oral hygiene and improve access to essential oral hygiene resources. We are collaborating with the Mercy Clinic of Fort Worth and local FWISD elementary schools to make a sustainable impact. Our project involves distributing dental hygiene bags and an educational book written and published by TCU students Cayla Prophater and Chie Nguyen to local elementary schools. This has been instrumental in promoting comprehensive healthcare. Each hygiene kit includes a laminated educational card for children's bathroom mirrors, detailed oral health maintenance instructions, and recommendations from local Fort Worth dentists. The TCU Pre-Dental Club has worked with Mercy Clinic Volunteer Dr. Stewart, Fort Worth Pediatric Dentist Dr. Jerod Brazeal, and TCU Alum Dr. Courtney Favaloro, TCU Professor Dr. Virginia Hodges to ensure seamless integration of this project. Our mission is to empower our local community with comprehensive oral hygiene education, fostering lasting improvements in dental health practices and promoting overall well-being.

TCU Chemistry Club has established a once-per-week science club at Burton Hill Elementary School in Fort Worth to provide 16-30 3rd-5th grade students the opportunity for academic and personal growth. We provide hands-on learning experiences, foster scientific curiosity, and teach them to learn to think like a scientist through engaging experiments in chemistry, physics, and biology. Beyond academics, our focus extends to providing mentorship, building confidence, and encouraging students to pursue a STEM career path. The consistent, engaging activities require the TCU Chemistry Club to effectively recruit volunteers, organize activities, and communicate throughout the project. This presentation will focus on qualitative analysis of the project by exploring the meaningful relationships developed, students' transformative experiences, and their personal growth, showcasing our commitment to impactful STEM education in 3rd-5th grade students.

The Beautiful Feet Ministries Clinic & the True Worth Clinic are two nonprofit clinics that provide free, comprehensive medical and dental care for the homeless and underserved communities in the Southside area of Fort Worth. The patients served by these clinics encounter unique challenges in their medical journey, stemming from impoverished living conditions, financial instability, and restricted access to medications.

The goal of the “Medication Compliance Initiative” is to enhance patients’ ability to adhere to prescribed medication regimens. This initiative has introduced waterproof bags and cross-body fanny packs into the clinics, offering patients a secure means to store and safeguard their medications from adverse weather conditions, potential theft, and additional unforeseen circumstances. These intentional carry solutions not only ensure physical integrity of medications, but also empower patients to seamlessly incorporate their treatment plans into their daily lives, promoting better health outcomes and overall well-being for our patients.

Oral reading accuracy is an important measurement to assess language proficiency in educational settings. We aim to quantify misclassification rates when reading scores are assessed by humans versus an AI scoring system using speech recognition. The project breaks down misclassification rates into two components: True Positive, where human or AI systems correctly identify the correct words, and True Negative, where they correctly identify the incorrect words. For each reader, and conditional on the true score, the number of true positives and true negatives is assumed to follow binomial distributions. We propose two solutions to estimate misclassification rates, the first model assumes true scores are available, while the second model explores binomial and Poisson distribution structures for true scores with the minimization of normed Euclidean distance when the true scores are not observed. The models are evaluated through a study of elementary school students using ten passages of different lengths and difficulty.

Medical Nutrition Therapy (MNT) is evidenced-based nutrition therapy provided by a Registered Dietitian/Registered Nutritionist (RD/RDN) to help treat medical conditions. The purpose of the study was to evaluate current understanding and perception of the RD/RDN role in healthcare among undergraduate pre-health students. Following IRB approval, a convenience sample of TCU pre-health students (n=94) completed an electronic survey. Data were coded into and analyzed using SPSS 29. Over 23% (n=22) of participants had taken a nutrition course. Participants were asked their opinions regarding the importance of the RD/RDN in improving quality of care for patients with a variety of diseases including heart disease, diabetes, obesity, stroke, cancer, chronic kidney disease, Parkinson’s disease, Crohn’s disease, irritable bowel syndrome, eating disorders, and ulcerative colitis. Over 55% (n=52) reported that the RD/RDN would be important in the care in all of these conditions. When asked if they would either refer a patient with a specific disease to an RD/RDN for nutrition counseling, provide a nutrition handout, briefly educate patient on nutrition themselves, or recommend online nutrition information from an official source, over half of participants would refer to an RD/RDN for obesity, celiac disease, heart disease, chronic kidney disease, diabetes, Crohn’s Disease, irritable bowel syndrome, eating disorders and ulcerative colitis. Fewer than half of participants would refer patients with Parkinson’s Disease, cancer and stroke to an RD/RDN. Less than a quarter of pre-health students have taken a nutrition course and therefore most are likely unfamiliar with MNT recommendations appropriate for various chronic diseases.

Almost 7% of seniors living in Dallas/Fort Worth/Arlington were food insecure in 2020, while 2.4% were classified as having very low food security. A cross sectional descriptive design study evaluated current factors contributing to food insecurity (FI) among older adults living in vulnerable areas in Tarrant County, Texas. Sites were identified using demographic information collected from US Census Bureau public data repositories and covered household income, percent with a disability, percent without a car, age >65 years, percent >65 years with a disability, and percent >65 years in poverty. Meals On Wheels (MOW) of Tarrant County administration identified three at risk community sites, which were Southside Community Center in Fort Worth (site 1), Bedford YMCA in Bedford (site 2), and Magnolia Apartments in Arlington (site 3). Following IRB approval, researchers interviewed 48 older adults at these sites. Quantitative and qualitative data were analyzed using SPSS and NVivo, respectively. Participants were 74.1+/-7.7 years of age with a range of 61-93 years. Over 83% (n=40) were female, while 16.7% (n=8) were male. Participants were 58.3% (n=28) White, 33.3% (n=16) Black/African-American, and 6.3% (n=3) Asian. Over 29% (n=14) of participants identified as Hispanic. Participants (36.2%, n=17) agreed that, “Most older people I know are able to afford enough food to eat” and (66.7%, n=32) reported causes of FI related to finances including low income, loss or lack of jobs, inflation, lack of or limited government assistance. Participants at sites 1 and 2 reported that raising awareness is most needed, while those at site 3 reported that food was most needed to help older adults with FI. FI causes and barrier to resources can help identify solutions specific to improve the quality of life for older adults in these areas.

Background: Limited opportunities to gain knowledge regarding nutrition and food preparation techniques currently exist in the school system. Dietetic interns taught adolescents enrolled in a university-hosted summer cooking camp how to prepare foods from scratch, use basic knife skills, meal plan and combine common kitchen ingredients to make budget-friendly meals and healthy snacks. Dietetic students taught nutrition lessons about reading nutrition labels, protein, sodium, nutrient density, added sugars, whole grains, vitamin C and iron.

Objectives: 1) Describe cooking/nutrition knowledge and self-efficacy in adolescents; 2) describe the correlation between caregiver cooking/nutrition efficacy and adolescent cooking/nutrition knowledge prior to education.

Design: Following IRB approval, a convenience sample of 7th-9th grade adolescents enrolled in a five-day cooking camp and their caregivers were recruited to participate in the study.

Methods: Adolescent participants completed pre- and post-camp surveys to measure cooking/nutrition knowledge, experience and self-efficacy. One caregiver per adolescent completed a pre-camp survey to measure cooking experience and confidence. Frequency of family meals and home-meal preparation was measured for all participants.

Results: Adolescent participants (n=23) were 12.8+/-0.95 years. Participants were 74% (n=17) female and 26% (n=6) male. Caregiver confidence of cooking ability using basic ingredients and adolescent pre-camp cooking confidence (r=0.547, p=0.001) were positively correlated. Adolescent participants reported that they were able to perform the following tasks pre- and post-camp, respectively: Cook raw meat and poultry (52%, n=12; 96%, n=22); Cook dried beans (9%, n=2; 100%, n=23); Use food preparation methods to prevent food borne illness (52%, n=12; 96%, n=22); Shop for foods to stay on a budget (61%, n=14; 96%, n=22); Use the nutrition facts label (78%, n=18; 100%, n=23).

Conclusions: A cooking camp is an effective approach to provide adolescents with cooking/nutrition education and improve their self-efficacy related to meal preparation.

Gallium oxide is a wide-bandgap semiconductor gaining significance for its outstanding optoelectronic and gas-sensing properties. Although gallium oxide is known for its antibacterial efficacy, limited research is available on the antimicrobial properties of gallium oxyhydroxide (GaOOH). This study investigates GaOOH's antibacterial action by examining the effect of the growth solution's pH on its chemical and physical properties and their correlation with bacterial growth inhibition. The hydrothermal method was used to synthesize GaOOH microparticles (MPs). Deionized water, ammonium hydroxide, and gallium nitrate hydrate salt were mixed to create samples with pH levels ranging from 5 to 10 at 60°C. Subsequent analysis, including scanning electron microscopy, Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, and photoluminescence spectroscopy, revealed that higher pH levels increased the average GaOOH MPs length and created more crystal lattice defect sites. The correlation between surface chemistry and pH was evident in the position of higher energy FTIR Ga-OH bending bands. Antibacterial studies demonstrated a greater inhibition of Escherichia coli, a Gram-negative bacterium, at higher pHs. This suggests a potential role of defect sites in GaOOH's antimicrobial activity. There was significant inhibition of Staphylococcus aureus growth. However, no conclusive correlation with pH was established, possibly due to the characteristics of the Gram-positive cell wall. Future studies should further explicate the relationship between GaOOH MPs morphologies and growth inhibition of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus.

Several viruses have the ability to cause cells to fuse together into large multinucleated cells called syncytia. It is known that syncytia help the virus propagate without leaving the cell, however it is unknown how the formation rate is affected by temperature. This project aims to use mathematical modeling to investigate the rate of syncytia formation in the HIV virus as temperature varies. A cell-cell fusion mathematical model was used to analyze data from cell-cell fusion assays at various temperatures. Parameters were estimated via minimization of squared residuals, with uncertainties assessed through bootstrapping. These findings could help develop strategies for controlling viral spread.

Cell imaging is an important tool in cancer diagnosis and therapy. Folic acid receptors are overexpressed on the surface of various cancer cells, making it an attractive target for cancer imaging. In our research, we aim to exploit this biological phenomenon by creating Folic Acid Graphene Quantum Dots (GQDs) that can help us selectively target and visualize cancerous tissue. GQDs were used as a base due to their easy functionalization abilities, high cellular viability, and fluorescent properties that allow them to be tracked inside the cell. We functionalized GQDs with folic acid and assessed their structure and morphology as well as optical properties using FTIR, TEM, absorption, and fluorescence spectroscopies. The efficacy of the FA-GQDs is evaluated through their internalization study in cancerous (HeLa) cells at hours 1,6,12, 24, and 48 by utilizing the intrinsic fluorescence of FA-GQDs. In vitro toxicity tests have shown low toxicity (80% viability) of the synthesized FA-GQDs. The proposed FA-N-GQDs provide a novel platform for the detection of cancerous tissues and could be used as a cancer diagnosis biodevice.

The Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), a small neighboring galaxy around one Milky Way diameter away, provides a unique opportunity to study outflowing gas clouds in great detail. Massive stars in the LMC undergo supernova explosions when they die, blasting gas in all directions. If the gas escapes from the galaxy, a galactic wind is formed. Using data from the Hubble Space Telescope, we can try to better understand how this wind moves and its physical properties. Because there can be numerous of these gas clouds in each direction, we often detect complex patterns that we are characterizing with a Gaussian fitting algorithm. Thoroughly studying the resolved galactic wind of the LMC will ultimately contribute to our understanding of the processes that drive galaxy evolution.

Currently our lab is designing a system that allows us to leverage cathodoluminescence spectroscopy to study the optoelectronic properties of gallium oxyhydroxide and gallium oxide. This system would allow us to place our samples within a vacuum chamber and irradiate it with a high-energy electron beam, causing light emissions that are then collected by a fiber optic cable. This optical system allows us to capture the emissions and investigate them as its characteristics are dependent on the material properties of the sample. Furthermore, since we are working in ultra-high vacuum conditions, the components of the system have to be designed with careful consideration, in addition to allowing several degrees of freedom in order to precisely position our sample within the vacuum chamber.

The herpes virus, like many other viruses, can be engineered to target and kill cancer cells. The herpes virus, when loaded with immune stimulating factors, like interleukin 12, can be even more effective at killing cancer cells. We use a mathematical model of oncolytic virus infection and apply it to experimental data from Fukuhara et al. (2023) to assess the effectiveness of different herpes virus strains in treating cancer. We are able to estimate virus characteristics such as viral production rate and infectious lifespan of the different strains, allowing for a quantitative comparison. This type of analysis can help identify which strains are most effective at killing tumors.

Researchers use mathematical models of cancer to study the effectiveness of different regimens of chemotherapy when treating tumors. These models help predict how different treatments affect cancer cell growth in hopes of determining which will effectively kill a tumor. Realistic pulsed drug treatments are computationally expensive and difficult to analyze mathematically. We examine when the effect of a pulsed drug treatment can be well-represented by a constant dose model. Our approach studies treatment applied in various cancer growth patterns, such as exponential, linear, logistic, Mendelsohn, surface, Gompertz, and Bertalanffy models. Mathematically modeling and analyzing the comparison between tumor growth under a pulsed drug treatment and under a constant dose helps us understand when the use of the simpler model can make accurate predictions.

Syncytia are the multinucleated cells that can occur due to virus infection of cells. Mathematical models in the form of ordinary differential equations can be used to simulate the growth of these infections. Several ODE models can explain syncytia growth. Before employing these models on actual data, it is essential to analyze their structural and practical identifiability. Structural identifiability is an inherent property of each model and its parameters, referring to our ability to determine parameter values for the model. Practical Identifiability analysis of a model is concerned with accurately determining parameter values given experimental error. Obtaining accurate parameter values allows us to make conclusions about our data within the context of our model that can provide insight into the nature of the spread of syncytia. These two techniques allow us to determine whether or not the parameters of a model are identifiable with the data we plan to collect. Consequentially, we can plan experiments adequately to truly parameterize the data in the contexts of our model and make accurate conclusions.

Currently, research of gallium oxide (GO) nano- and microcrystals is rapidly expanding with the demand for potential uses. GO has been shown to be a promising material for possible applications in many different fields including photocatalysis, biomedicine, and optoelectronic devices. In our lab (led by Dr. Strzhemechny) we examine both the fundamental (nature of crystal defects) and applied (antibacterial action) properties of GO. During the hydrothermal growth process of GO, we are producing different nano and microscopic morphologies of this material by controlling various growth parameters including varied pH and adding surfactants to the material. The synthesis procedure includes using the precursor material, gallium nitrate hydrate, ammonium hydroxide. We use a calcination furnace that can get to temperatures high enough to effectively synthesize GO. Now, with a thermocouple and pyrometer we can predict outcomes during the calcination step with high accuracy and precision.

This study addresses the escalating concern over the interaction of multiple respiratory viruses by introducing a mathematical model to analyze triple infection dynamics involving influenza (IAV), respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and SARS-CoV-2. With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the resurgence of RSV, understanding the dynamics of triple infections is critical for public health preparedness. Comprehending the interactions among these viruses is crucial for improving our capacity to forecast and curb disease outbreaks. The central question addressed in this study is how variations in infection rates influence the duration and maximum population size of each virus in a triple infection scenario. Prior research has explored coinfections involving two respiratory viruses, yet triple infections, especially among adults, remain infrequent and poorly elucidated. The urgency to address these questions arises from the potential for overwhelming hospitals and exacerbating disease burden, especially in vulnerable populations. By developing a mathematical model to analyze triple infections, this research aims to provide insights that can inform public health strategies and mitigate the impact of respiratory virus outbreaks. Through extensive simulations, the study evaluates how variations in infection rates influence the duration and maximum population size of each virus. The findings unveil intriguing patterns: while SARS-CoV-2 demonstrates remarkable resilience across various infection rates, influenza and RSV display more nuanced responses, exhibiting sensitivity to changes in transmission rates.