Project of Excellence (PoE)

A Java Application for Music Visualization Through Amplitude, Frequency Extraction, and 2-D Java Graphics

Music is a complex field of research involving mathematics, physics, and psychology. Consequently we do not fully understand music and its influence on the mind. When we study music, as in Music Theory, we usually think of listening and training the ear. However, music visualization can surely help us understand music by showing musical structures and aesthetic patterns. In this paper I document a Java application I programmed to visualize music with the hopes of furthering musical study. Visualizing music is a tricky task. There are not many sources for developing such systems, which shows the possible growth in this field. Moreover, even after creating a visualizer it is still difficult to conclude that the graphics mimic the true nature of music. In my application, I designed a Java system of circles that are fed amplitudes from song files to change their vertical positioning. After doing so the circles seemed to show a smoothness and direct reflection of sonic change in the song. However, the amplitudes were fed to the circles through meaningless mathematical computation and thus I could not conclude anything more than detection of amplitude change. This paper documents a full description of the structure of my application.

Cold Plasma Technology assisted Neuroblastoma Cancer Treatment

Neuroblastoma is a very rare type of cancerous tumor that normally affects children. Each year, 800 new cases are diagnosed in the United States. Neuroblastoma accounts for 50 percent of all cancers in infants, making it the most common tumor in infants younger than 1 year. Neuroblastoma tumors generally develop in the adrenal glands and can spread to other areas including the chest, the spine or spinal cord regions and the abdomen. Application of cold plasma technology for leukemia cancer treatment has been researched and demonstrated. This research study investigates the effect of our newly developed cold plasma technology on neuroblastoma cancer cells and also develop an optimized plasma dosages for feasible cancer treatment. In this research, Neuro2a cells that are murine neuroblastoma line derived from AJ mice is cultured in DMEM media. Triplicate samples of 104 neuroblastoma cells were plated and treated with cold plasma technology. Post-treated cells were read at zero-hour, 24-hour and 48-hour time periods after treatment and the results of the study will be presented.

Conservation of water during shower with the application of sensors

The purpose of this Project of Excellence is to apply a motion sensor to a showering assembly to conserve water. This was done by mimicking the functions of a touchless faucet to design an assembly that was applied to a stand-up shower. Thirty-six trials were done to show that water conservation is attainable through the application of sensors to a showerhead.

Integration of thermal and RGB camera on UAV for cattle and tick-carrier identification

Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) has been widely used in Agriculture application thanks to its simplicity, cost-effectiveness, and autonomous flight capability. Ranch management involves identifying cattle and tick-carrier in an area. This project describes the possibility of applying UAV technology in ranch management and monitoring. Cattle and tick-carrier animals identification in many cases relies heavily on human eye observation. This method is usually time consuming and expensive. Applying UAV to this area could reduce the cost of human labor and increase the accuracy of the tracking process. With an RGB camera mounted to the drone, ranch managers can acquire the bird's eye view of the large area that human observation does not offer. Besides, adding a thermal camera to the drone helps managers locate the hiding wild animals and thus increases the accuracy of the cattle tracking. Having the dual camera side-byside, both thermal and standard RGB images can be obtained at the same time for the same scene. Thermal imaging cameras open the capability of spotting live animals while RGB cameras provide detailed view of the animals. By feeding the live images into an object recognition algorithm, animals in ranch can be classified and detected. This paper presents an application of dual camera set-up on an UAV with object recognition algorithm for cattle and tick-carrier identification. Post processing object classification algorithm, YOLO, is applied to the captured data to determine the animals in the scene. Preliminary results suggest that UAV equipped with dual camera and object recognition algorithm can potentially be used to help farmers identify living objects in farms. The final goal of this research is to create an autonomous vehicle, capable of automatically identifying and providing real time data of cattle and any other tick carrier animal in one area.

Quantifying microplastic debris

Abstract Not Available

Synthesis of Fluorescent Ligands in Humid Conditions for the Purpose of a Biosensor

Abstract Not Available

From the New Look to the Edge of Second Wave Feminism

This research examines the role of women’s fashion advertisements from The New Yorker during the years of 1947-1972. Data was collected from August and February editions of the magazine and used to make assertions about gender roles of the time period. The article makes arguments regarding the gender roles that emerged due to the relationship between fashion and advertisements in mid-century America.

Children's perceptions of lie-telling in modesty context

Abstract Not Available

The liminality of identity in Almost Maine

Abstract Not Available

Infant Safe Sleeping

Abstract Not Available

The Impact of a Nurse Practitioner in Emergency Department Triage

This project explores the impact of placing a nurse practitioner (NP) in emergency department (ED) triage. Emergency departments are faced with a growing volume of patients and improvements are being made to increase the efficiency of the ED. Many EDs are looking to the beginning of a patient’s care in the ED to create a more efficient process. This includes the implementation of nurse practitioners in triage to perform the medical screening exam (MSE) and begin placing orders for patients. Three local emergency departments have implemented the use of a nurse practitioner in triage and their data is being compared against the literature. The data collected from these EDs included the time-to-triage, door-to-provider, left without being seen (LWBS), and length of stay. After comparing the data collected to the literature, it was shown that the use of a nurse practitioner in triage is effective in improving the triage process and the patient’s stay in the emergency department.