Tyrone Jackson & Friends

Tyrone Jackson & Friendshttps://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/musicprograms/2923/thumbnail.jp

Wind Ensemble

David Kehler, Conductorhttps://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/musicprograms/2952/thumbnail.jp

Guatemalan Maya Women’s Attitudes Towards Biomedical Contraception After Migrating to the United States

Medical providers in the United States who discuss the use of contraceptives with Maya women migrants might discover strong reluctance and complex beliefs about the social and physical benefits of biomedical contraceptive measures. This research report presents information about contraceptive usage among Maya in Guatemala and how usage or attitudes toward contraception might have changed while living in the United States. The research team, during 2024, interviewed six adult female Guatemalan Maya refugees over Zoom to understand their thoughts toward contraceptive use before and after migrating. Discussion points included: lack of sexual education in Guatemala, health concerns arising from using contraception, correlation between acculturation into American culture and openness to contraception, beliefs about contraceptives that originated in Guatemala, and the impact of religion in their decision to use contraception. This research will help organizations tailor their approaches and interventions to consider the concerns of Maya women, fostering a deeper understanding and effective communication

Validity of Body Composition Estimates in Women Assessed by a Multifrequency Bioelectrical Impedance Device

Background: Multifrequency bioelectrical impedance devices such as the InBody 770 (IB770) offer faster measurements and lower costs compared with other body composition assessments. This study validated measures from IB770 against the deuterium oxide dilution technique (D2O) and DXA and compared a four-compartment (4C) model using total body water (TBW) derived from IB770 compared with D2O. Methods: A total of 55 adult females (mean ± SD, age: 21.1 ± 2.6 years) completed IB770 and DXA scans and the D2O protocol. Lin’s concordance correlation coefficients (CCCs), Bland–Altman analyses, and other equivalence tests evaluated agreement between IB770 and the criterion for measures of fat mass (FM), fat-free mass (FFM), and TBW individually and as part of 4C models. Results: There was substantial agreement between IB770 and D2O for TBW (MD = Mean Difference) (MD = 0.34 L, CCC = 0.98) and between the IB770 and DXA for FM (MD = −0.22 kg, CCC = 0.99). IB770 overestimated FFM compared with DXA (MD = 3.15 kg, CCC = 0.91). Both 4C models had almost perfect agreement for FM (CCC = 0.99), FFM (CCC = 0.99), and body fat percentage (CCC = 0.99). Conclusions: IB770 is valid for assessing TBW and can be used within the context of a 4C model in females

Symphony Orchestra

Nathaniel F. Parker, Director & Conductorhttps://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/musicprograms/2951/thumbnail.jp

Jazz Ensemble I

Sam Skelton, conductorhttps://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/musicprograms/2950/thumbnail.jp

Developing Peptide Based Inhibitors Targeting Amyloid-Beta for Alzheimer’s Disease

Alzheimer’s Disease is widely known as the most common precursor of dementia, cited as a progressive neurological disease that negatively impacts one’s cognitive functions over time. It’s identified as the seventh leading cause of death by the CDC, seeing an 145% increase in deaths since its discovery by Alois Alzheimer in 1906. Throughout the years of various potential treatment options for this disorder, scientists have been unsuccessful in both curing the disease and eradicating its merciless symptoms. One promising avenue is the use of targeted therapeutics via amyloid-beta, a peptide that is placed at the forefront of Alzheimer’s disease causes due to its accumulation that results in neurofibrillary tangles and senile plaques. In this research, various peptides are developed, synthesized, and investigated to analyze their impact on binding affinity to Amyloid-beta. The aim is to improve potent analogues by modifying previously tested peptide sequences, display superior binding affinities in developed peptides to amyloid-beta and showcase a decrease in fibril formation through fluorescence testing. Solid phase peptide synthesis protocol was employed to synthesize the peptide and mass spectrometry experiment was conducted to verify the mass of these peptides. Cyclic peptide was synthesized by adding 10% DMSO and stirring for one or two days. Selected ion monitoring (SIM) assay was performed by liquid chartography and mass spectrometry by monitoring the intensity of related peaks of amyloid beta once peptide inhibitors were added at various concentrations. Dissociation constant (Kd) is used to measure the binding affinity between amyloid-beta and peptide inhibitors. The linear peptide (LP1) has shown excellent binding affinity with a Kd value of 0.037 micromolar (µM). Its cyclic counterpart (CP-1) also displayed similar binding affinity with a Kd value of 0.049 micromolar (µM)

CAG*-EDP: Chaos-enhanced Ant-Genetic, A* Algorithm hybrid with Error Detection and Patching

The works within this project aim to introduce a fine navigation system that accounts for both path planning and gait efficiency for quadrupedal robots. A chaotic ant-genetic-A* algorithm (CAG*) is developed to enrich the will-be-combined individual benefits of the A* Algorithm, Ant Colony Optimization (ACO), and a chaos-enhanced Genetic Algorithm (GA) whilst minimizing their detriments, a process to be done through an overhead monocular camera and motion capture which serve as stand-ins for UAVs and GPS data, respectively. Error Detection and Patching (EDP) will call for the correction of the Unitree Go1 Dog’s (the main unit of experimentation) gait sequence in the event it goes astray and/or adopts an inefficient walk cycle when moving autonomously, in tandem with enforcing an efficient, minimalist approach for path planning by only using CAG* to develop routes as needed rather than continuously

In-situ thermal measurement of Polymers

In this research, we conducted a detailed experimental investigation into how strain affects the thermal conductivity of Ecoflex elastomer, utilizing a newly developed method for measuring thermal conductivity under mechanical strain for the first time. In situ thermal conductivity measurement apparatus was developed by combining the KLA T150 nanoscale tensile tester and a custom-fabricated thermal measurement sensor. The development of an experimental method for measuring the thermal conductivity of nanomaterials under mechanical testing simultaneously will contribute to the development of novel materials for flexible electronics by helping us to better understand the strain effect on their thermal performance. Interestingly, the thermal conductivity of Ecoflex elastomer is shown to increase with an increase in tensile strain until the engineering strain reaches 20%. This is understood to be due to the straightened polymer chains, which makes the phonon transport to be more efficient through the stiffened polymer chains. At very high degrees of mechanical strain, the thermal conductivity may decrease due to the disruption of filler-to-filler connections and increased phonon-boundary scattering between polymer chains and magnetic powders. This is caused by the reduced spacing resulting from the increased mechanical strain. The findings from this study are expected to propel the advancement of future flexible electronics by facilitating the creation of a foundational elastomer