Series
Undergraduate Research Kaleidoscope

Series Type
Event Series
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Associated Organization(s)
Associated Organization(s)

Publication Search Results

Now showing 1 - 10 of 22
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    Inducing a thermogenic response to cold shock in Escherichia coli
    (Georgia Institute of Technology, 2010-11-18) Graves,Christina ; Holmes, Scott
    Microorganisms respond to environmental stress through several means for survival. This research project aims to engineer Escherichia coli cells to generate heat in response to a cold-shock. Altering a cell’s reaction to external variations prolongs its a
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    Correlations Between Company’s Investment in IT and Other Business Factors
    (Georgia Institute of Technology, 2010-11-18) Hill, Keegan
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    WREK Radio and You
    (Georgia Institute of Technology, 2010-11-18) Walker, Jonathan
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    RNA Secondary Structure Prediction
    (Georgia Institute of Technology, 2010-11-18) Anderson, Johshua ; Ash, Andrew
    Our task has been to calculate the probability of any two nucleotides pairing in an RNA molecule. When RNA goes into the cytoplasm of a cell, the RNA folds in on itself to a thermodynamically stable state, since unpaired nucleotides are chemically unstable. We predict this behavior by a couple of dynamic programming algorithms using some statistical methods derived from the physics of ideal gasses. In order to find base pair probabilities we must first find the partition function for all continuous substrings in the strand. The partition function is a measure of the possible combinations of foldings weighted by the stability of these foldings. We will also describe finding the minimum free energy structure, currently implemented in gtfold, and its relation to the partition function via something we have come to call "tropicalization." Both the minimum free energy and the partition function problems are solved in a reasonable (O(n³)) amount of time by dynamic programming algorithms.
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    Study of Shear Induced Blood Damage in a Bileaflet Mechanical Heart Valve
    (Georgia Institute of Technology, 2010-11-18) Bandari, Sahaja
    Approximately 225,000 prosthetic heart valves are implanted each year worldwide, and about 50% of these are mechanical heart valves (MHVs). It is well established that present day MHVs are associated with a certain level of blood element trauma. The bileaflet mechanical heart valve (BMHV) design is one of the least thrombogenic MHV designs, but they are still known to cause patient mortality due to valvular thrombosis. Given that thromboembolic complications exist primarily due to high mechanical stresses experienced by blood elements, it appears that reduction of these mechanical stresses would lessen the increased risk of blood damage and thromboembolism. Previous studies in our lab have shown that passive flow control in the form of vortex generators (VG) mounted on BMHV leaflet surfaces can effectively diminish turbulent stresses. In this study, we hope to find the VG design with the least blood damage using a well-reviewed protocol to quantify blood damage, due by shear stress, caused by BMHV.
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    Hemodynamic Assessment of Bicuspid Aortic Valves as a Clinical Diagnostic Tool
    (Georgia Institute of Technology, 2010-11-18) Gupta, Shabnam
    Bicuspid Aortic Valves (BAV) is the most common congenital cardiac defect occurring in approximately 1-2% of the newborn population in the USA. This defect results from the presence of two leaflets, typically unequal-sized, rather than the normal three leaflets of equal size present in tricuspid aortic valves. A BAV poses significant complications for the afflicted patient, including ascending aortic dilation and aneurysms, aortic valve calcification, aortic regurgitation, and aortic stenosis. The inspiration for this project stems from a need for clinicians to better analyze and diagnose BAV complications, which are often left unnoticed and untreated until such advanced stages that surgery is the only alternative. Developing a model for BAVs is essential for systematically assessing the effect of varying valve morphologies on patient hemodynamics. The specific morphology of each patient BAV is wide-ranging, and it is important to take these unique morphologies into account. Consequently, an in vitro approach is beneficial for recreating distinct morphologies from existing patient data. Clinical approaches focus primarily on in vivo Echocardiography and Phase Contrast-MRI (PC-MRI) scan techniques. While beneficial because of their non-invasive approach and absence of radiation, these procedures have reduced spatial resolution resulting from limited scan times, and lack the ability to accurately measure individual pressures and hemodynamic characteristics surrounding the diseased valve. By using an in vitro approach with the same clinical equipment, it is possible to collect these measurements more accurately, establishing a valuable tool for clinical use in analyzing and diagnosing potential BAV complications before they arise.
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    The Undergraduate Research Kaleidoscope Fall 2010
    (Georgia Institute of Technology, 2010-11-18) Chen, Michael
    Individuals suffering from Friedrich’s ataxia, a neuromuscular hereditary disease, have expansions of the DNA triplet repeat GAA/TTC in their genomic DNA. Preliminary investigations into the disease point to the ability of triplet repeats to adopt unusual DNA structures, such as matched and mismatched triplexes. This paper presents a novel method to probe the secondary structure of nucleic acids with the binding specificity of ligands called intercalators. In previous studies, the type of nucleic acid structure an intercalator binds to is dependent on the chemical identity and molecular shape of the intercalator. Using this selectivity, azacyanines “shown to target the in vivo structure that GAA/TTC triplet repeats form” will be combined with nucleic acids of various known structures. The nucleic acid structure that azacyanine has the highest affinity for will most likely be the structure of the GAA/TTC triplet repeat. The discovery of the structure that causes DNA triplet repeat disorders could lead to the development of novel therapeutic treatments.
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    Experimental Plasmatron Heat Flux Measuring Techniques Study
    (Georgia Institute of Technology, 2009-11-09) Vaden, Sarah
    Ground testing for hypersonic re-entry vehicles is an invaluable methodology to vehicle conception. The Von Karman Institute plasmatron is a facility that can duplicate the localized aerothermodynamic properties and conditions experienced on atmospheric reentry. Because of its relevance to design oriented testing activities, accurate heat flux measurements are crucial. Therefore this study addressed the heat flux measuring capabilities of two different temperature sensors. Experimentally, two calorimeters, (one with type K thermocouple only and the other with both thermocouple and PT100), were tested under a range of typical Plasmatron operating conditions. An inversion of the calorimeters was also performed for comparison and cross checking within the facility. Namely increased air mass flow had a thinning effect on the error differences between the two sensors. Further, there were no systematic differences between the two calorimeters (i.e. thermocouple heat flux from calorimeter A compared to calorimeter B). For the main experiment, thermocouple heat flux measurements were always higher than PT100. The inversion of the two calorimeters, however, showed a reversal of heat flux ordering as a result of aggravated the inlet thermocouple sensor readings. A case study was performed to test for grounding effects on sensor behavior, concluding that direct sensor grounding is not a source of increased temperature readings
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    Improvisation and Technical Innovation
    (Georgia Institute of Technology, 2009-11-09) Lefton, Lew
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    Building the House: Physical Implementation of Wood Working
    (Georgia Institute of Technology, 2009-11-09) Marlatt, Drew