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: Dietary fiber has been consistently associated with beneficial effects on body composition and insulin resistance in humans, potentially acting through alterations in the gut microbiota. Murine studies have shown fiber to be able to mitigate antibiotic-induced gut microbial perturbations and subsequent insulin resistance.

Objective: This study aims to investigate the effect of a short-term antibiotic cycle on glucose control. Furthermore, we will also explore potential associations between dietary fiber intake, glucose control, and body composition.

Methods: This preliminary analysis, derived from a larger randomized controlled trial, prospectively evaluated 11 adults with overweight or obesity, lacking a diabetes diagnosis. Glucose control and insulin resistance, measured via serum, fasting glucose, fasting insulin and HOMA index, were analyzed before and after a short-term antibiotic course (Vancomycin 500 mg/8h for 3 days) and analyzed at Bioreference Laboratories. Total dietary fiber intake was measured through 24h dietary records collected over six days and analyzed using ESHA Food Processor Nutrition Analysis Software. Body composition was evaluated through DEXA and BodPod scans at the TCU Applied Metabolic & Physiology Lab. SPSS was utilized for all statistical analyses. A p-value <0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Results: A 3-day antibiotic cycle of Vancomycin caused a significant increase in fasting insulin 1.50 + 2.08 (p=0.037) and fasting glucose 5.67 + 1.53 (p=0.023), but not HOMA-IR 0.17 + 0.38. No significant correlations were found between fiber intake and chronic glucose control, antibiotic-induced glucose control changes, insulin resistance, or body composition. Participants consumed an average 15.58 grams of fiber per day with females (n=6) meeting 65.5% of fiber RDA for females (25 g/day) and males (n=5) meeting 38.5% of RDA (38 g/day).

Conclusion: The outcomes of this study illustrate the ability of a short-term antibiotic cycle, specifically Vancomycin, to induce harmful effects on glucose control in humans. These findings highlight the need for further research into understanding accumulated exposure risk as well as methods for the prevention and treatment of antibiotic-induced metabolic disruption.

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.

Although there is an effective vaccine for SARS-CoV-2, or COVID-19, the virus is still spreading and affecting millions of people worldwide. SARS-CoV-2, along with many other viruses, is able to form large, multi-nucleated cells, known as syncytia. Syncytia formation, along with syncytia death, may affect the SARS-CoV-2 course of infection. We have been able to compute the death rate of syncytia using data from a study by Vanhulle et al. (2023) that used measurements of electrical impedence to study syncytia formation in cell-cell fusion assays. The death rate of syncytia was found using mathematical modeling. This knowledge can help further our understanding of syncytia and viral disease propagation.

Since the ancient times, a common pigment used for expression in clothes and art was egyptian blue (EB). Today, instead of using this cuprous silicate as a way for one’s personal expression, we will provide reasons why this pigment can be used as a novel bioimaging agent for cell work. Finding another bioimaging agent for cell-use is always an advantage because each agent supplies their own advantages when working in cells. So the more agents we have in our possession, the more angles we can take on a problem. To be considered a bioimaging agent, it needs to dissolve in polar solvents (mainly water), be non-toxic, and display fluorescence in the near-infrared range of the optical spectrum. EB has all three of these properties with the right preparation. Sonicating EB reduces their size to become extremely small sheets, which increases interaction with water molecules to ultimately allow the sheets to dissolve within the water solvent. These sheets are on the nanoscale, so they will be referred to as EB nanosheets (EBNS). EBNS fluoresce in the near infrared and have no history of being toxic. EBNS have the capability of emitting more photons per photons absorbed compared to most materials (high quantum number). This novel material also does not quench fluorescently as easily as other agents due to its copper atoms. EBNS have strong Raman vibrational modes that can help image cells too. We want to highlight why EBNS can be an effective platform for future bioimaging applications and ultimately, cancer imaging/treatment applications.

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.

Human Immunodeficiency Virus(HIV) Type-1 has been studied heavily for decades, yet one of the main areas that has yet to be thoroughly researched is that of the cell-cell fusion. This cell-cell fusion creates multi-nucleated cells called syncytia. Cell-cell fusion of HIV can be regulated via cytosine arabinoside(AraC), a chemotherapy agent. Previous work has shown that syncytia and their formation can be modeled via ordinary differential equations, with an Erlang time distribution measuring the fusion of the cells, though this has not been applied to studying drug-treated systems. By applying the mathematical model to the spread of syncytia under drug treatment, we can gain novel information about the formation of syncytia and its regulation by AraC. We find that AraC affects the syncytia formation rate and slightly affects fusions fusion rates, and requires inclusion of the density of syncytia in the mathematical model. This information is much needed for explaining the full workings of HIV in vitro, and will further help the push to develop full models in regards to HIV type-1

Inflowing and outflowing gas in a galaxy’s environment provides an avenue for recycling star-forming materials. To probe these galactic environments, we look for edge-on galaxies with background active galactic nuclei (AGN) at a range of projected positions and orientations relative to the host galaxies. The AGN serve as bright background flashlights that shine light through the intervening gas, enabling us to study the composition and physical properties of the CGM. We use archival spectroscopic observations from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and emission-line spectra from the Mapping Nearby Galaxies at Apache Point Observatory (MaNGA) Survey to probe these clouds. We find 9 existing galaxy-AGN pairs in the archive that meet our criteria, with more to come with future observations and an in-progress proposal for the next HST observation cycle. Our data for the galaxies include spatially-resolved maps of gas density, gas & stellar motion, and gas ionization, which allow us to parameterize quantities like star-formation rates. By comparing the data across a large sample, we assess the influence that a galaxy’s environment has on its star formation.

Massive stars die through powerful supernova explosions, which produce clouds of gaseous debris that can be propelled to the outskirts of the galaxy. The material on the outer edge is more vulnerable to processes occurring in the environment. These processes pull and tug the debris and can form a gaseous stream flowing from the galaxy. One prominent example in the night sky is the Magellanic Stream (MS), which flows out of our neighboring galaxy, the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). With observations from the Hubble Space Telescope, we are examining the absorption features of light from background stars that pass through the gaseous material of the MS enabling us to measure its physical properties. We traced the small-scale motion of the neutral hydrogen gas using emission-line data from the Galactic All-Sky Survey and the Galactic Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder programs to determine where the MS begins relative to the LMC. Comparing these observations, we find the MS in the absorption spectra on the nearside of the LMC between +235 ≤ vlsr ≤ +350 km/s. By investigating the physical properties of the MS, we can better understand how the environmental processes shaped its formation.

Surface defects in nano- and micro-crystals strongly affect performance of materials in applications, necessitating elucidation and control of those defects. The beta variant of gallium oxide (β-Ga2O3) in nano- and microcrystalline form is attracting a strong interest due to its potential applications in such critical areas as biological therapeutics, optoelectronics, and catalysis. In our studies, β-Ga2O3 crystals are produced through a simple bottom-up hydrothermal method, which yields, as a first step, an α-GaOOH precursor, which then undergoes calcination to bear the final product. Variation of growth parameters allows for a synthesis of particles with tunable morphologies and surface structures. Optoelectronic and physicochemical properties of both α-GaOOH & β-Ga2O samples are studied by a range of experimental techniques. These investigations address, among others, the surface defect properties. We also evaluate the impact of surface defects and particle morphologies on the antibacterial action α-GaOOH.

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.

Open clusters are groups of stars with the same age, chemistry, and velocity. These characteristics make open clusters powerful tools for tracing the dynamic and chemical evolution of our home galaxy, the Milky Way. The goal of the Open Cluster Chemical Abundance and Mapping (OCCAM) survey is to identify and analyze a large sample of open clusters with a wide range of chemical abundances. To do this, it utilizes the infrared spectra provided by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey’s (SDSS) APOGEE spectrograph and the kinematic data from the Gaia Space Telescope to form a large survey of open clusters with uniformly derived chemical abundances (e.g., C, Mg, Si, Al, Fe, Ni). Here, we present the results from the OCCAM analysis of the latest SDSS/APOGEE data release. This dataset of 153 different open clusters, including 2061 individual stars, is used to investigate the variation of the Milky Way’s chemistry for multiple different abundance groups. In addition to this dataset, we also present the current status of new optical observations that will allow us to expand the wavelength coverage for each star and trace more elements. These new observations enable us to accurately decipher the chemical fingerprints from ancient supernovae (e.g., Y, Ba, Ce, Nd, Eu) and expand our analysis.

Characterizing Galactic sub-structures is crucial to understanding the assembly history and evolution of the Milky Way. To accomplish this, we need to identify and analyze the accreted sub-structures. With ESA Gaia and SDSS-IV/APOGEE, studies have been done to analyze the kinematics and chemical abundances, respectively. However, one challenge that still remains is deriving reliable ages for these sub-structures. We utilize the new relationship between the carbon to nitrogen ratio and stellar age derived by the OCCAM team, which has recently been extended to the metal-poor regime, to probe stars within the sub-structures in the metallicity range -1.2 ≤ [Fe/H] ≤ +0.3 dex. This allows us to determine the ages of a greater number of stars within these sub-structures, which paints a more coherent picture of the original galaxies that have been disrupted to form the Milky Way’s halo. Using the sample of halo sub-structures in Horta et al. (2023), we apply the newly extended calibration to determine ages of stars within these sub-structures and compare them to previous age estimates.