Essential Studies UNDergraduate Showcase

The UNDergraduate Showcase gives undergraduate students the opportunity to showcase their research via posters and oral presentations. The posters included in the collection have been recognized for their quality and preserved for future use. Students and faculty interested in participating in future showcases can find more information on the UNDergraduate Showcase website.

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Implementing Standardized Test Results in the Classroom

Nicole Barthel

Students take multiple standardized tests throughout the year, which can have a tremendous impact on the school and students in positive and negative ways. Since this topic is controversial, this study will be exploring both the positive and negative impacts that standardized testing could have on schools and students. The basis of the research will be focusing on two 7th grade students at Valley Middle School in Grand Forks, North Dakota. The study will evaluate and analyze the two student’s progress using various representations obtained from the results of the standardized tests. This data will be used to observe first-hand how teachers and administrators positively use the information to implement changes in the classroom. As a result of this, teachers can utilize this data to formulate an action plan to implement into the classroom to support not only the two students, but the classroom as a whole.

Course: Math 488 – Senior Capstone
The Cancer Immunotherapy Armamentarium: Assessing Applications, Ambitions, and Amplitude

Natisha J. Corum

Given the high, and rapidly increasing, incidence of cancer coupled with the enormous cost burden associated with the disease, it has been, and will continue to be, an area of intense focus in biomedical, translational, and clinical research. Research steered towards targeting and manipulating the body’s own immune function to fight cancer has accompanied a paradigm shift in treatment modalities that aims to include more precision/personalized medicine. The positive initial findings and clinical results of recent immunotherapies has precipitated a wave of attention and interest into the field, both in the general public and within the biomedical community. While there have been promising results, harnessing and augmenting the immune system’s ability to recognize and fight cancer has not come without challenges and controversies. In terms of etiology and pathophysiology cancer is incredibly diverse and consequently will likely always require an equally diverse battery of treatment modalities. Combining existing and novel immunotherapies with classical therapeutic approaches will continue to be needed. Where combination therapies are employed caution must be taken to mitigate the potential for increased toxicity and financial burden. The challenge faced will be to work towards rational synergistic approaches with attainable applications and intelligent clinical designs. Coordination and cooperation within the biomedical and translational research communities, as well as with governmental and non-profit organizations to divide attention, funding, and further research into improving all existing and developing strategies remains imperative to be most successful in elucidating and developing the best arsenal against cancer.
Carbohydrate Extraction from the Chorella Vulgaris Microalgae Strain

William Hammann, Wayne Seames, and Andrew Ross

The cultivation and exploitation of microalgae biomass as a source of renewable fuels and other chemicals has been an active area of research due to microalgae’s high productivity and the relatively high concentrations of valuable intracellular components, like lipids (fatty acid-based oils), proteins, and polysaccharides. Commercialization of this technology will help mitigate global climate change by reducing fossil-derived products by producing analog renewable fuels and chemicals. Traditionally, the main focus of microalgae-based fuels/chemicals research and development has been on the lipids that many strains generate, but current research shows that solely recovering the oils may not be cost competitive with fossil-derived processes. However, if the polysaccharides can also be recovered and ultimately converted into useful chemical intermediates, this may improve the economics for microalgae-based sustainable product technologies.

In this study, previously developed methods for carbohydrate extraction by microwave assisted hydrolysis were further investigated to optimize extraction conditions from Chlorella Vulgaris microalgae. The optimized microwave-assisted hydrolysis conditions resulted in the carbohydrate extraction of greater than 30% of dry Chlorella biomass, which is higher than traditional extraction methods by an autoclave. It was concluded that the microwave increased cell wall rupture compared to an autoclave and thus released more of the sugars contained in the cell wall. Using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with a refractive index detector, I was able to identify that 98% of the total carbohydrates in the extracted fluids were a combination of glucose, galactose and mannose which is crucial because they do not require further hydrolysis prior to biofuel production.

Course: IRES Program
Modeling the Spread of Disease

James Hollister

Mathematically modeling the spread of disease in a population is a focus among epidemiologists. Using an SIR model (susceptible, infected, and recovered), we can create a system of differential equations to help better understand how a disease spreads in a simple environment. However, if we are to create a more realistic environment, computer simulations may be necessary. We can use the results from these simulations to try and find ways to eradicate the disease as efficiently as possible. In this poster, we will present the SIR model, present a system of differential equations that describe the movement of disease in the SIR model, configure and analyze the results of a computer simulation which models and extends the SIR model to create a more realistic environment for the disease to spread, and discuss limitations and future research for this topic.

Class: Math 488 – Senior Capstone
How The ‘Abortion Miracle’ Motif In Medieval Irish Hagiographies Structured Gender Roles In Relation To Female Reproductivity And Sexual Sin

Lora Lynn Horner

Four Irish Saints are accredited to performing abortions, otherwise known as the ‘Abortion Miracle’ motif. These four Saints are St. Brigid of Kildare, Ciarán of Saigir, Áed mac Bricc, and Cainnech of Aghoboe. In each of these four Saints lives they share a similar motif in which they bless a mother’s womb resulting in the mother no longer being pregnant. These ‘abortion miracles’ created structured gender roles in which a masculine figure would partake in the intervention of a female and a female’s reproductivity. The intervention of the Saints would come when the women would start to become visually pregnant and would be seen as someone who had committed ‘sexual sin’.

Course: English 415 – Seminar in Literature
Masculinity Threat and Attitudes Toward Gay Men: A Replication

Madisen Lundebrek, McKenzie Peterson, Kristin Posthumus, and John Stennes

This study aims to replicate and reaffirm Peter Glick et al. (2007) in their research finding that when men’s masculinity is threated, they have an increased negative affect towards gay men; more specifically feminine gay men. It also aims to see how whether or not being involved in Greek life increases negative affect towards gay men as well. All participants first answered questions regarding demographics, and then answered 30 questions of the BEM Sex Role Inventory Test. After completing this, they received bogus feedback; either they had a feminine personality, or they had a masculine personality. Afterwards, all participants then answered 20 questions relating to attitudes of three different descriptions of men: one masculine gay man (MGM), one effeminate gay man (EGM), and one average heterosexual man (AHM). After analyzing 57 participants’ data using a repeated measures ANOVA with a between-subjects factor, there was no main effect for feedback, and no interaction, but there was a significant main effect for target description. Regardless of masculinity threat, it was found that both gay male descriptions were rated lower in favorability/likeability, with the feminine gay man description rated lowest, followed by the masculine gay man, and then the average heterosexual man rated highest. However there were not enough participants who said they were involved in Greek life so there not could be an analysis done on whether it further increased negative affect or not.

Course: Psychology 304 – Advanced Research Methods
Mathematical Modelling of English Coulee: Tanks in Series

Matthew Picklo

In the scope of the College of Arts and Science project: “Coulee Cleanway: Modelling and Analysis of the English Coulee Physiochemical Environment, UND Campus, Grand Forks”, a mathematical model attempting to describe the transportation of dissolved species within the English Coulee was developed based on “Tanks in Series”. By dividing the channel into discrete regions, a governing system of equations derived from conservation of mass equations and well-mixed assumptions is used to describe the spatial and temporal changes in concentration. The resulting system of differential equations was solved by a Runge-Kutta 4 numerical method, which allowed for the addition of probabilistic elements. Using the quick computation time of the numerical method, input parameters were selected from distributions of likely values and repeatedly ran, generating end-state distributions which could be used to determine likely outcomes. In applying the model to the English Coulee, incomplete sampling data from a Spring 2017 US Masters project was utilized in the model, with reasonable values chosen for unsampled parameters. The model was not able to be fully utilized owing to a lack of sampling information. Future work is suggested to obtain more sampling data, and create a more sophisticated model.
Forensic Entomology and the Order Coleoptera

Carrie Pratt

Medico-legal forensic entomology is the study of insects to aid in determining time, place, manner, and cause of death. Identification of the postmortem interval (PMI), or the time that has passed since a person has died, is arguably one of the most important pieces of information that forensic entomology can provide. The PMI can be found using either insect developmental rates or entomofaunal succession, the arrival of different insects at a body at different time points.

The largest group of insects, the beetles, is the order Coleoptera, which contains 25% of all animal species. Members of this order are critical to the field of forensic entomology, predominantly necrophagous beetles that feed directly on the tissues of bodies, but also those that feed on the larvae of necrophagous insects. The family Silphidae, also known as carrion beetles, is an especially important group which employs both feeding strategies. Understanding both the order Coleoptera and the family Silphidae and how they relate to the field of forensic entomology is an important step in recognizing their importance and furthering research into necrophagous beetles.
A New Trend in Human Reproduction - Women in the USA

Abby Rokke

The control a woman is allowed to have over her own reproductive system has been a recent popular topic of debate. Since the 1950's, women have made up over half of the total United States population. With women making up the majority of the country's citizens, it would be quite the contradiction for them to not have the right to make decisions about their own bodies. Over the last two decades many contraceptive and medical advances have assisted in a woman's ability to make her own choice. An interesting trend in childbearing has occurred from this new wave of technologies. This project will dive in and explore some of the possible explanations of this current phenomenon.

Course: Math 488 – Senior Capstone
Equations of Motion in a Rotating Noninertial Reference Frame

Nicholas L. Sponsel

Measurement is an essential part of empirical research. As such, understanding whether the frame of reference in which a measurement occurs is inertial is essential for accurate data. As a rotating sphere, Earth is a non-inertial frame of reference and gives rise to fictitious forces. These forces are derived through vector algebra and further solved through matrix differential equations. The final solution for how velocity evolves over time results in sinusoidal functions with a period of 24 hours for Earth. To test the equations further, rational scenarios are proposed for different locations on the surface of Earth involving different initial velocities, resulting in expected behavior. It is also important to demonstrate that the complete set of solutions collapse into basic kinematic equations for an inertial frame of reference under gravity when rotation of the system is absent.

Course: Math 488 – Senior Capstone
Gender Differences in Attitude Toward Abortion in the Case of Rape

Rachael Steinke

I used feminist theory to analyze gender differences in response to “should a woman be allowed to obtain an abortion in the case of rape?”. I utilized the General Social Survey (N = 1824) data. I considered the role of gender, marital status, socioeconomic status, and level of education in shaping abortion attitudes. I used chi-squared/logistic regression to analyze the data, finding that gender was not a significant factor in whether an individual approves of abortion in the case of rape. Married individuals were less likely to indicate support, and as level of education increased, individuals were more likely to indicate support. Socioeconomic status was not found to be a statistically significant indicator of approval.

Course: Sociology 475 – Sociology Capstone
Four Derivations of Schrödinger’s Time Dependent Equation

Sydney Swanson

Physics and the natural world have been studied by humans since the first person wondered ‘Why?’ The Schrödinger equation is important because it attempts to describe a relatively new (to us) and unfamiliar part of our universe, behavior of subatomic particles, and helps modern scientists uncover secrets that have proven useful in technology and explaining our origins. The time dependent Schrödinger equation can be derived from various starting points in Classical such as the equation of a wave, the time independent Schrödinger equation, and Hamilton-Jacobi equations. Why Quantum mechanics exists, useful applications, and cases when it fails or is inaccurate are often not understood or even easy to explain to people uninvolved in physical studies. Not only do I hope for someone to be more educated on the topic after encountering this project, but I, myself, have learned a great deal more about the advanced topics I am interested in.

Class: Math 488 – Senior Capstone
Perpetua and Felicity: The Unofficial Lesbian Saints

Mari Tonsfeldt

The concept of homosexuality did not exist prior to the nineteenth century. In literature, this made lesbians a rarity. With the absence of women writers and even fewer lesbian writers, the question for historians became how to find our queer ancestors. Defining anyone in the Medieval Age as homosexual is anachronistic at but modern lesbians could hardly be the first.

Saints Perpetua and Felicity are commonly regarded among the LGBTQ community and members of the Catholic Church as the Patron Saints of Same-Sex Relationships but in St. Perpetua’s self-penned diary and martyr story, the two women have only one direct interaction and it isn’t sexual. In this research, the “lesbian-like” behavior of Sts. Perpetua and Felicity is examined to prove the plausibility of their lesbianism.

Course: English 415 – Seminar in Literature
Re-describing Surface Roughness

Vincent Wagner

The purpose of this project is to explore a non-traditional method of identifying and describing variance in data. The original goal was to provide a more useful description of surface roughness for use in calculating pressure loss due to pipe friction in the oil and gas industry. This approach uses simple trigonometric calculations to capture more information about the point to point variance of a given data set, as well as information related to the ratio of measured length vs total contact length. This method utilizes steps similar to the bootstrap method in statistics, however, rather than sampling a data set with replacement, this method uses the angles between every permutation of two ordered data points. This creates an extremely large sample of angles to provide an expected value and traditional variance of the angle between any ordered points. This arc value can be utilized to quickly identify trends and spread with very little understanding of statistical notation and methods. This trigonometric method also shows promise in many fields of study, including finance, biology, physics, geology, and many others.

Course: Math 488 – Senior Capstone
Concentric Contra-Rotating Dual Shaft Vertical Axis Wind Turbine

Emily Walz, Marcellin Zahui, Andrew Shires, and Carl Gilkeson

A typical vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT) consists of two or more airfoils all attached to a single central axis. The wind turbine style most commonly found in renewable energy is the horizontal axis wind turbine (HAWT) that have a high energy production efficiency in exchange for requiring large amounts of land and air space. Alternatively, a VAWT can function in low speeds and in smaller less typical locations. As a result, novel VAWT designs are researched to improve their energy efficiency. An example of a novel VAWT is the concentric counter-rotating VAWT investigated theoretically using the 2D computational fluid dynamic (CFD) software Ansys Fluent. A mesh sensitivity analysis is conducted to optimize resource usage during the simulations. Three mesh sizes were chosen for both geometries and tested at three different rotational velocities. The power generation of the double rotor system was shown to be greater than the single in all cases except for at 600 rpms where the single set produced 2.43 kW and the double rotor produced only 2.12 kW. Further investigation is necessary to improve upon the functioning CFD model to further improve the simulation accuracy. However, the interactions between energized air and shed low pressure vortices show a positive aerodynamic interaction between the two rotors and demonstrate the potential for the concentric counter-rotating VAWT to produce energy more efficiently.

Class: IRES Project
Gödel’s Incompleteness Theorem

Emma Buntrock

In 1931 Gödel released his Incompleteness Theorem. His theorem was the opposite of what other mathematicians at the time wanted, but it was very influential to realize there is no perfectly complete formal systems. The incompleteness theorem is based of the idea that in a consistent system there are pieces that can not be proved or disproved, causing for incompleteness. The second part of that idea is that such a system can not prove that itself is consistent, which also makes it incomplete. I will verify theses proofs using a series of logic problems that show how a system is incomplete.
Production of Extended Techniques on the Flute

Sarah Curtiss, Brianna Meissner, Mari Tonsfeldt, Alexis Schwinghamer, and Sierra Wenning

When most people think of the flute, the traditional, classical flute sound comes to mind. This research delved into the study of contemporary, non-traditional sounds (extended techniques) because of the number of advantages that the study of extended techniques can provide to all aspects of flute playing. For example, certain techniques can strengthen the flexibility and control of the facial muscles, which helps with tone production, while other techniques can help to develop better awareness and control of intonation. Many extended techniques require different levels of breath control and more comprehensive physical strength, as well. In researching extended techniques, it is valuable and informative to consider the acoustic, pedagogical, and sonic factors and results.
The Most Important Statistics in Football

Jacob Holmen

This research is based on the Five Factors that were devised by Bill Connelly of SBNation. The Five Factors of football include Explosiveness, Efficiency, Field Position, Finishing Drives, and Turnovers. Each factor is composed of associated statistics that when put together make up the most important statistics in football. This research includes the analysis of all 857 FBS (the highest level of NCAA Division I football) games from the 2016 season. Data was analyzed through the use of an Excel spreadsheet. Five different statistics were looked at, each associated with one of the Five Factors. The statistics include Yards per Play, Success Rate, Average Starting Field Position, Points per Trip Inside the 40, and Turnover Margin. Game by game analysis of each statistic was conducted and the results were compiled together to help show the importance of each statistic and how each one impacted a team’s likelihood of winning. Trends were found that help show the impact that each statistic has on a football game; however, it is important to note that with so much variability in the game of football and how just about every statistic is dependent on other statistics, the results of this research will not always be consistent with individual game results.
Dynamic façades towards greener energy efficient buildings

Rayce Martin, Iraj Mamaghani, and Nikoloas Nikitas

Mitigating global climate change is a major contemporary topic of research and is of major interest to today’s societies. Developed countries the top contributors to the destruction of the climate with buildings in these countries being one of the reasons. Buildings in developed countries account for 20-40% of the total primary energy consumption. This high-energy consumption produces approximately 36% of the total CO2 emissions since fossil-fuels are the primary source of energy in almost all developed countries. To combat this, researchers have investigated wind energy harvesting technologies that produce electricity while also being considered “green”, or low carbon dioxide emitters. One of these technologies utilizes aeroelastic flutter to induce a current in conducting coil to produce electricity. This study examines a prototype that uses this principal with the intent to apply it in the built environment thus, offering a better alternative to conventional urban wind turbines.

From previous work in this area it was found that the inclination angle of these harvesters has not been evaluated. This study address this using a wind tunnel and a prototype while also attempting to characterize the motion of the fluttering membrane of the harvester. It is found that at non-perpendicular wind flows the voltage output of the conducting coils is decreased through all investigated windspeeds and is exaggerated in as speed increases. Analogies are discovered at Θ = -15° in which voltage dramatically decreases. It is also found that displacement and voltage increase as windspeed increases. Lower speeds produce more stable oscillations with higher speeds causing the oscillations to be unstable. The magnets tended to contact the conducting coil spool at higher windspeeds causing the instability.
Analytics and Baseball's New Generation

John Roche

Major League Baseball has been a catalyst for making decisions in sports and competition from a purely mathematical viewpoint. We have seen teams utilize unique on-field player alignments and roster-building strategies based on statistical observations and applications of math. This project examines the advantages Sabermetrics and analytics present within the sport. Untapped statistical categories that could further the success of teams in the future is also briefly discussed.
Improving the Problem with Problem Solving

Cole Thibert

As a prospective math educator who will be teaching in the near future, I was concerned with the idea of preparing my future students for college math courses. I decided to research the effects of teaching students how to appropriately use problem solving strategies in math. My research led me towards looking at the benefits of students becoming better problem solvers and how teachers can implement problem solving into their daily lessons.

When this implementation is successful, students can become more independent with their learning, they are able to work and persevere through challenging problems, and they have a greater chance of being prepared for college math courses. The goal of problem solving is to create "Independent Learners." After conducting my research and discovering these benefits, I hope to implement problem solving strategies into my future classroom.
Winning Strategy for Dice Game Farkle

Karlee Westrem

The dice game Farkle uses 6 six-sided dice and the objective of the game is to be the first person to score 10,000 points. The dice game involves rolling against the odds and possibly lose your running total points. Generating functions are used to determine the probability of various roll patterns and their expected values of points earned given the number of dice rolled. We are assuming the maximum Farkle score is attained for each roll for computations. The probability of rolling a Farkle for each case and the expected values are used as guidelines for decision-making during game play.