The Rush to Fit In

A week ago, I had been dead set on not rushing. I had heard the rumors and beliefs of my peers, that Greek life encouraged excessive drinking and partying, that hazing was still incredibly prevalent and demeaning, that Greek life worked only to discriminate and exclude members of the campus who refused to take part, promoted unfair gender roles, and encouraged pageantry and forced conversations between strangers. Still, the call of philanthropy, having a group of sisters, and finding a home on campus appealed to me. In the end, it felt like I was choosing between rushing with my friends or facing long weekends alone in my dorm room. So, that first morning, I grit my teeth, and went with it. [excerpt

Quantum Monte Carlo Simulation of the High-Pressure Molecular-Atomic Crossover in Fluid Hydrogen

A first-order liquid-liquid phase transition in high-pressure hydrogen between molecular and atomic fluid phases has been predicted in computer simulations using ab initio molecular dynamics approaches. However, experiments indicate that molecular dissociation may occur through a continuous crossover rather than a first-order transition. Here we study the nature of molecular dissociation in fluid hydrogen using an alternative simulation technique in which electronic correlation is computed within quantum Monte Carlo, the so-called Coupled Electron Ion Monte Carlo (CEIMC) method. We find no evidence for a first-order liquid-liquid phase transition.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures; content changed; accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. Let

Heavy metals in particulate matter in Spokane County

Heavy metals in particulate matter (e.g., dust) have multiple negative health ramifications for humans including cancer, infertility, and reduced lung function. The Spokane Regional Clean Air Agency (SRCAA) has seven air quality monitoring stations around Spokane County to measure total levels of PM2.5 (particles with a diameter less than 2.5 micrometers) and PM10 (particles with a diameter less than 10 micrometers). For comparison, the width of a human hair is between 50 and 70 micrometers. The objective of this research is to examine the heavy metal composition of the particulate matter including elements such as lead, copper, and zinc. We obtained air filters from the SRCAA which had accumulated particulate matter in rural or urban environments including Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge and downtown Spokane over discrete time periods in 2013 and 2014. A microwave digestion method using nitric acid was developed to extract particulate matter from the filters. To determine the heavy metal content of the filters, we are in the process of analyzing the digestions using an inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometer (ICP-OES)

Using Photovoice to Measure Learning Objectives at Camp with Adults with Developmental Disabilities

This thesis explores what qualitative objectives adults with developmental disabilities learn and comprehend at a weeklong camp that is meant to enhance interests, abilities, and social skills. The methodology used is Photovoice analysis which allows an individual who either has difficulties verbally expressing themselves or is nonverbal to still participate in question and answer focus groups. For data analysis, my categories relate back to the six domains of recreational therapy: physical, emotional, spiritual, social, cognitive, and leisure

Fermentation of Carcinus Maenas as a Method of Waste Stream Valorization

The European green crab, Carcinus maenas, is an aggressive invasive species of green crab that has had severe ecological and economic effects to the North American East Coast since the early 1800s. The green crab has disrupted entire ecosystems, particularly in the Gulf of Maine, due to its eating and uprooting of eel grass. The disruption of this plant reduces coastal habitats for bivalves and other coastal marine life. The green crabs have also been found to prey on juvenile lobsters and bivalve mollusks, disrupting both the ecosystem in the Gulf of Maine and the seafood economy dependent on lobsters and soft-shell clams. With the changing climate and consistent increases in the ocean temperature, the number of crabs killed by the cold, winter temperatures has been steadily decreasing. The establishment of a green crab fishery for the sale of soft-shell crabs has been identified as a method to control the growing population since the crabs are too small for hard-shell culinary use. However, most crabs fished cannot be sold as soft-shell, creating a large amount of biomass. The biomass can currently only be sold to lowvalorization waste streams such as compost, bait, or animal feed. In order to sustain green crab fisheries, a high-value waste stream valorization needs to be established. Fish sauce is a clear, brown, fish-flavored condiment that is traditionally spontaneously fermented from under-utilized fish species and salt. Fish sauce originated in Asia, but has been fermented in many places throughout the world including Rome, South America, and Africa with slight variations to the formulation depending on location and starting material. Since this fermentation is spontaneous it relies on the proteolytic activity of endogenous enzymes and proteolytic bacteria to break down proteins into amino acids. One of the most common fish species used for the fermentation of fish sauce is the anchovy, which has a protein content of about 20%. Green crabs have a protein content of about 17%, indicating that green crabs could be used instead of anchovies to produce a similar condiment. The data from this work showed that when fermented at a temperature of 24°C at a salt content of 20-30%, a green crab fermented condiment can be produced that is chemically comparable to commercially available fish sauce products. Fermentation temperatures of 30°C, 37°C, and 50°C were investigated to provide guidance for temperature control. A temperature of 30-37°C with a salt content of 20% and a 90 day fermentation time was suggested based on this data, but a temperature of 24°C or 50°C will still produce a viable product. The most abundant families of bacteria throughout the course of the fermentation, regardless of fermentation temperature or time, were Rhodobacteracea, Saprospiraceae, and Hyphomonadaceae, all of which contain salt-tolerant proteolytic genera isolated from marine sources. The creation of a viable fermented crab sauce product creates a high-value waste stream for green crab fishers, thus opening the doors to start economical large-scale fishing of green crabs on the North American East Coast

Computational Modeling of Temporal EEG Responses to Cyclic Binary Visual Stimulus Patterns

The human visual system serves as the basis for many modern computer vision and machine learning approaches. While detailed biophysical models of certain aspects of the visual system exist, little work has been done to develop an end-to-end model from the visual stimulus to the signals generated at the visual cortex measured via the scalp electroencephalogram (EEG). The creation of such a model would not only provide a better understanding of the visual processing pathways but would also facilitate the design and evaluation of more robust visual stimuli for brain-computer interfaces (BCIs). A novel experiment was designed and conducted where 15 participants viewed stereotyped visual stimuli while their EEG was recorded simultaneously. The resulting EEG responses were characterized across participants. Furthermore, a Residual Connection Feed Forward system identification Neural Network (ReCon FFNN) was implemented as a preliminary end-to-end model of the visual system that uses the temporal characteristics of the visual stimulus as the model input and the corresponding EEG time series as the model output. This preliminary model was able to reproduce temporal and spectral characteristics of the EEG and serves as a proof of concept for the development of future artificial neural network or biophysical models that incorporate spatio-temporal information