Feeling the Beat, in Rhythm and in Speech: Oscillatory Entertainment in Beat and Speech Perception

From the Washington University Senior Honors Thesis Abstracts (WUSHTA), 2017. Published by the Office of Undergraduate Research. Joy Zalis Kiefer, Director of Undergraduate Research and Associate Dean in the College of Arts & Sciences; Lindsey Paunovich, Editor; Helen Human, Programs Manager and Assistant Dean in the College of Arts and Sciences Mentor: Jonathan Peell

Sustaining Multimodal Choices: Examining Travel Behavior for Non-work Trips Beyond COVID-19

Increasing the usage of sustainable travel modes requires changes in both environmental and psychological dimensions. A knowledge gap exists concerning the mechanism via which various factors interact to shape travel decision. Gaining such knowledge requires our ability to examine people’s behavioral adjustment in reaction to environmental and psychological changes or interventions. This project uses COVID-19 as a natural experiment, treating the significant disruption induced by the pandemic as an intervention to study changes in travel behaviors and adoption of different travel choices following the COVID pandemic. This project builds upon a 2020 study conducted by the PI’s. It adopts a mixed-method, longitudinal research plan that takes advantage of the earlier study’s research output about sustainable travel during the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown period. Findings from this project indicate that people resumed their travel and generally anticipated continuous increase in travel activities by all options (driving, transit, and walking/biking) as society emerges out of the pandemic. The perceived health threat connected to COVID will likely have a persistent influence over people’s future travel choices, especially driving. Some findings indicate that the pandemic experience may make driving less habitual to some people as they started recognizing the feasibility and benefits of using other travel choices, such as walking and biking, to reach some destinations (e.g., parks). The study shows a clear negative impact from COVID on transit users during the emergency period. The inability to use transit appears to cause significant stress to this group and resulted in people switching to other travel modes. These pandemic experiences may lead to people using less transit in the future. Overall, the environmental factor’s impact on future travel behaviors is weak compared with one’s perceptions, attitudes, and experiences. These findings suggest that a built- environment approach has limited effectiveness for travel behavior modifications. The greater level of walking or biking in one’s neighborhood produces clear benefits that people can enjoy. These benefits increase people’s likelihood to use more active travel. The experience of reduced driving, however, may not be able to generate a similar level of enjoyment, thus failing to lead to a significant change in driving behavior. Social programs and public campaigns may focus on letting people understand and experience the social and individual benefits associated with less driving

MEMS sensor-based monitoring system for engineered geological disposal facilities

The design of a novel MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical System) sensor-based monitoring system is presented in this article for the in-situ monitoring of the conditions (temperature, relative humidity) of an engineered bentonite barrier for the underground disposal of radioactive waste in a geological disposal facility (GDF). A first prototype of the monitoring system incorporating multiple state-of-the-art MEMS sensors has been developed on a PCB-based (Printed Circuit Board) structure, in order to measure the variation of temperature and relative humidity inside a cylindrical bentonite block during the hydration process. The monitoring system comprises of separate sensor boards, the microcontroller-equipped interface board, and the software user interface in Labview environment. One of the main design priorities is to reduce the size of the embedded sensors in order to minimize their influence on the hydro-mechanical response of the bentonite block. The sensor boards are encapsulated in different manners to protect them from moisture, chemical corrosion and mechanical shocks. The sensor system has been tested and calibrated in the temperature range between -20°C and 120°C, and at different relative humidity levels implemented by saturated salt solutions in enclosed containers. Test results demonstrate that the sensors have shown good functionality and robustness in harsh test environments such as high temperature and high humidity. Both temperature and relative humidity sensors have shown satisfactory precision level and temporal stability, which are in good accordance with the design specification of these devices

Systematic analysis of the Hippo pathway organization and oncogenic alteration in evolution.

The Hippo pathway is a central regulator of organ size and a key tumor suppressor via coordinating cell proliferation and death. Initially discovered in Drosophila, the Hippo pathway has been implicated as an evolutionarily conserved pathway in mammals; however, how this pathway was evolved to be functional from its origin is still largely unknown. In this study, we traced the Hippo pathway in premetazoan species, characterized the intrinsic functions of its ancestor components, and unveiled the evolutionary history of this key signaling pathway from its unicellular origin. In addition, we elucidated the paralogous gene history for the mammalian Hippo pathway components and characterized their cancer-derived somatic mutations from an evolutionary perspective. Taken together, our findings not only traced the conserved function of the Hippo pathway to its unicellular ancestor components, but also provided novel evolutionary insights into the Hippo pathway organization and oncogenic alteration

Assessing risk to fresh water resources from long term CO2 injection- laboratory and field studies

In developing a site for geologic sequestration, one must assess potential consequences of failure to adequately contain injected carbon dioxide (CO2). Upward migration of CO2 or displacement of saline water because of increased pressure might impact protected water resources 100s to 1000s of meters above a sequestration interval. Questions posed are: (1) Can changes in chemistry of fresh water aquifers provide evidence of CO2 leakage from deep injection/sequestration reservoirs containing brine and or hydrocarbons? (2) What parameters can we use to assess potential impacts to water quality? (3) If CO2 leakage to freshwater aquifers occurs, will groundwater quality be degraded and if so, over what time period? Modeling and reaction experiments plus known occurrences of naturally CO2-charged potable water show that the common chemical reaction products from dissolution of CO2 into freshwater include rapid buffering of acidity by dissolution of calcite and slower equilibrium by reaction with clays and feldspars. Results from a series of laboratory batch reactions of CO2 with diverse aquifer rocks show geochemical response within hours to days after introduction of CO2. Results included decreased pH and increased concentrations of cations in CO2 experimental runs relative to control runs using argon (Ar). Some cation (Ba, Ca, Fe, Mg, Mn, and Sr) concentrations increased over and an order of magnitude during CO2 runs. Results are aquifer dependant in that experimental vessels containing different aquifer rocks showed different magnitudes of increase in cation concentrations. Field studies designed to improve understanding of risk to fresh water are underway in the vicinity of (1) SACROC oilfield in Scurry County, Texas, USA where CO2 has been injected for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) since 1972 and (2) the Cranfield unit in Adams County, Mississippi, USA where CO2 EOR is currently underway. Both field studies are funded by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) regional carbon sequestration partnership programs and industrial sponsors. Preliminary results of groundwater monitoring are currently available for the SACROC field study where researchers investigated 68 water wells and one spring during five field excursions between June 2006 and July 2008. Results to date show no trend of preferential degradation below drinking water standards in areas of CO2 injection (inside SACROC) as compared to areas outside of the SACROC oil field.Bureau of Economic Geolog

Evaluation of building performance for strategic facilities management in healthcare : a case study of a public hospital in Australia

Purpose - This paper evaluates the main elements of building performance namely building function, building impact and building quality in order to promote strategic facilities management in healthcare organisation to improve core (health) business activities. Design/methodology/approach - Based on current available toolkits, a questionnaire is issued to healthcare users (staff) in a public hospital about their level of agreement in relation to these elements. Statistical analysis is conducted to regroup the elements. These regrouped elements and their inter relationships are used to develop a framework for measuring building performance in healthcare buildings. Findings - The analysis helped to clarify the understanding and agreement of users in Australian healthcare organisation with regards to building performance. Based on the survey results, 11 new elements were regrouped into three groups. These new regrouped elements will be used to develop a reliable framework for measuring performance of Australian healthcare buildings. Originality/value - Currently there is no building performance toolkit available for Australian healthcare organisation. The framework developed in this paper will help healthcare organisations with a reliable performance tool for their buildings and this will promote strategic facilities management