How Light Pollution Affects Four Aspects of Early Scarlet Globe Radishes (Raphanus sativus)

Light pollution is excess light at night, typically from urban areas, that is spilled into the sky and can not only impact the ability of people to view stars but influence human and ecological behaviors. This experiment was conducted to examine the effects of blue LED light pollution on the average leaf length, plant height, stem thickness, and the discoloration of the radish leaves. This is because the agricultural effects of high levels of light pollution are understudied. This research was conducted by creating a dark environment with curtains under a grated table in a greenhouse and dividing the underside into four sections, each having two gardening buckets with six seeds. The experiment was carried out over a 40 day period post germination, with measurements taken every third day. Data for the plant height, stem width, and leaf pigmentation were not statistically significant, though leaf pigmentation data had a p-value slightly above 0.05 (p=0.07878). Leaf length data were statistically significant (p=0.00001), with the group set at 40 lux blue light pollution having the longest leaves, which indicates that higher intensities of blue light pollution can negatively impact the growth of plants and have economic significance in the field of agriculture with lower quality plants

Enhancing Thermal, Mechanical, and Chemical Performance of Bio-based Polyurethane Adhesives: The Role of Pentaerythritol Crosslinking in Castor and Soybean Oil Polyols

Wood adhesives play a crucial role in construction and manufacturing, but traditional adhesives often rely on environmentally harmful synthetic materials. This project explores a sustainable alternative by synthesizing bio-based adhesives derived from castor oil polyols (COP) and soybean oil polyols (SOP). The goal is to develop an eco-friendly adhesive that offers enhanced bonding strength, thermal stability, and chemical resistance. Incorporating pentaerythritol as a crosslinker increases hydroxyl group availability, resulting in higher crosslinking density. This improvement enhances adhesive strength and thermal stability through the formation of a more rigid polymer network. Tensile strength testing revealed that SOP at 5 wt.% exhibited the highest room-temperature tensile strength (6.14 MPa), while COP at 5 wt.% achieved 5.05 MPa. At 90C, SOP at 10 wt.% retained a tensile strength of 4.73 MPa, outperforming COP at 5 wt.% (4.52 MPa), demonstrating superior high-temperature performance for SOP-based adhesives. The research methodology involves synthesizing polyols from renewable plant oils via epoxidation and ring-opening reactions, followed by their conversion into adhesives using methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) and pentaerythritol. FT-IR spectroscopy and tensile strength testing were used to evaluate adhesive performance under varying weight percentages and temperatures. To further validate properties, additional tests-including thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), gel swelling tests, and water contact angle measurements- will assess thermal stability, crosslinking density, solvent resistance, and surface hydrophobicity. By developing high-performance bio-based adhesives, this study advances sustainable material innovation, reducing reliance on petroleum-based products while providing durable and robust wood bonding solutions

High-Strength, Self-Healing, Recyclable, and Catalyst-Free Bio-Based Non-Isocyanate Polyurethane

Non-isocyanate polyurethanes (NIPUs) from renewable resources have attracted wide attention because of their remarkable benefits to sustainable development and green production. In this work, a strong, self-healing, and catalyst-free NIPU(ECMP)was prepared based on the hyperbranched bio based cyclic carbonate (Ec-MTDA) synthesized through catalytic carbonization of 1,8-menthanediamine (MTDA) and CO2.The hyperbranched and rigid structures of ECMP enable improved mechanical properties that ahigh tensile strength of up to 34.9 MPa can be achieved. Benefiting from the dynamic trans esterification reaction between the carbamate and hydroxyl groups, ECMP presents favorable self-healing, reprocessing properties, and shape memory. Notably, 91% of the original tensile strength can be recovered after self-healing behavior. In addition, abundant polar groups provide excellent adhesion properties for ECMP with a high shear strength of 7.09 MPa. This study provides a promising strategy for the design of bio-based NIPUs, which broadens their applications in printing, furniture, packaging, and other industries

Dining Room, Undated

Black and white photo of the dining hall in Chandler, filled with people eating at the tables. On the bottom right corner of the photo is printed compliments KSTC Pittsburghttps://digitalcommons.pittstate.edu/chandler-facs/1015/thumbnail.jp

Weede Basketball Court, Undated

Black and white photo of the basketball court inside Weede Gymnasium. Undated, the court is embellished with the split-face logo, designed in 1985.https://digitalcommons.pittstate.edu/weede_gym/1104/thumbnail.jp

AI Symposium Q&A

PSU employee asks a question during the Q&A session.https://digitalcommons.pittstate.edu/aisymp-photos-2025/1047/thumbnail.jp

AI Symposium Refreshments

Food table set up by the windows at the AI Symposium.https://digitalcommons.pittstate.edu/aisymp-photos-2025/1017/thumbnail.jp

Interdisciplinary and Comprehensive Evaluations to Increase Service Access for Children Impacted by Autism Spectrum Disorder

Identification and treatment of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in rural communities continues to lag when compared to opportunities in urban areas (e.g., Antezana et al., 2020), with the average age of diagnosis being delayed in both rural communities and in households with limited income (Mandell et al., 2010). Though many factors may contribute to the deficiency of available services, lack of qualified diagnosticians in rural locations presents as a major barrier to families accessing evaluations. Early intervention services have been found to significantly improve symptomology of ASD in children diagnosed prior to three years of age (e.g., Gabbay-Dizdar et al., 2021), yet a diagnosis is required prior to accessing care. Rural areas may benefit from interdisciplinary ASD evaluation and diagnostic mechanisms that increase access to care. The purpose to the present project is to pilot an interdisciplinary evaluation model using faculty and students at a university located in a rural area of the country. The evaluation model includes multiple disciplines engaging in a multi-department collaboration for both collegiate student training and community support, creating a comprehensive evaluation process to support children suspected of having ASD but who are unable to access timely diagnostics and treatment due to geographic location. The study aims to identify socially valid training and evaluation measures by comparing self-report data from participants to self-report data from individuals obtaining the same service in a less intensive or comprehensive model. Initial data indicate preference for interdisciplinary training settings

Advancing Al-Generated Inoculation Messaging: A Comparative Study of ChatGPT-40, Microsoft Co-Pilot, and Gemini

A 2023 exploratory study examined ChatGPT-4\u27s ability to analyze, adapt, and independently generate inoculation messages through a 10-week training initiative. This initiative assessed whether ChatGPT-4 could identify key structural elements (e.g., forewarnings, preemptive refutations), enhance message features (e.g., linguistic style, length), customize messages for specific audiences, and replicate the inoculation message design process on novel issues. Twenty-four previously published inoculation messages were used to train ChatGPT-4 through various prompting techniques, including sequential, active, iterative, and chain-of-thought prompts. While the Al demonstrated originality in its responses, structural weaknesses were evident, such as difficulty producing clear, accessible language and advanced education-level comprehension requirements. Additionally, ChatGPT-4 struggled to develop explicit forewarnings and limited its messages to two refutations. Open Al was unable to craft threat components with consistency leading Mason and colleagues (2024) to observe that inoculation strategies are more than merely information and transmission, but rather tools for carefully crafted appeals which are psychological arousing in order to generate threat and threat awareness in message recipients, (p. 7). The current investigation attempts to replicate the 2023 study using ChatGPT-4o and expands the focus of inquiry to two additional generative Al platforms -- Microsoft Co-Pilot and Gemini, Findings, discussion, practical significance, and limitations are offered