Simon Brooks: Developing Multi-Frequency Movement in Tuned Rolling Cylinder Dampers for Offshore Wind Turbines

The vibrational impact of wind and waves on offshore wind turbine towers damage their structural integrity, impacting the lifespan of the tower and creating potential for system failure. Tuned Mass Dampers (TMDs) are structural control devices tuned to the natural frequency of the turbine structure and designed to mitigate vibrations. When external forces cause oscillatory movement of the turbine, Tuned Mass Dampers absorb the resulting vibrational energy. The Tuned Rolling Cylinder Damper (TRCD) is a specific type of TMD that uses a 2D track and a cylindrical mass to achieve pure 2D rolling motion. Energy mitigation is achieved through the contact rolling friction between the cylinder and track. TRCDs are simple in design and have favorable weight characteristics that allow for easy implementation. Currently, Tuned Rolling Cylinder Dampers are only able to be tuned to one natural frequency. However, the natural frequency of turbines changes as a result of varying environmental conditions. This project introduces control methods that allow TRCDs to adjust to a range of frequencies. Altering the track radius changes the frequency of the TRCD. TRCD designs with varying track radii are achieved through two methods: 1) mechanisms that can alter track radius remotely and 2) unique geometries that enable the track to produce two frequencies simultaneously. Designs were simulated in MATLAB and tested in a practical setting using additive manufacturing to create scaled down models. By creating designs with track radius variability, a Tuned Rolling Cylinder Damper design with multiple frequencies is achievable.

Ruby Donnelly: Youth Led Organizing: Community Care in Public Schools

The punitive and high stakes setup for public education in this country leave students feeling unconnected, pitted against each other, and excluded from community. Since public school is a microcosm for the wider US culture, polices entrenched with whiteness, individualism, and competition are ingrained and practiced in schools, and students are then prepared to enter those systems and reproduce them. In the face of this harsh reality, school districts and community organizations have turned towards Restorative Practices (RP), and Restorative Justice (RJ) as interventions or paradigm shifts in school climate and disciplinary practices. However, there are discrepancies as to whether these efforts should be led by administration vs group centered parallel practicing. Circle process, which is a core part of RP, is deeply rooted in Indigenous practice. This can create challenges with regard to wanting to be in the right relationship without further erasure, yet also recognizing the capacity of local tribes is often low, further evidence of the legacy of colonization. The youth-led group Youth for Equity and Action (YEA) in Northampton High School provides a vibrant model of youth-led, community and connection based practices to provide a framework of resistance against the harm school causes. In this presentation, I will be presenting on the work of YEA. Through Restorative Practices, intentional connection, student led projects, mutual trust, and deep care for one another, YEA builds the better world we wish to see. It is only through community based care work, centered in love, can we see a path forward for public education, and also the world.

Sophie Boucher: Public Relations: Intergenerational Relationships Working Together

Intergenerational dynamics in the workplace present both challenges and opportunities, particularly within industries that rely on communication and collaboration. In public relations firms, the structure and policies of the organization play an important role in shaping relationships between employees of different generations. The study explores the influence of organizational structure and policies on intergenerational workplace relationships within the public relations industry. As the workforce becomes more age-diverse, creating effective teamwork across generations is increasingly important. The research uses a mixed-methods approach, using a survey comprised of both quantitative data and open-ended questions to gather thoughts and opinions from public relations executives, managers, and department heads to identify patterns in workplace dynamics. This study investigates how these structures and policies influence workplace interactions across generations. It also examines how leadership, mentorship programs, and workplace policies can either help or hurt these relationships. The study's hypotheses suggest that supportive organizational structures and policies can improve intergenerational relationships and reduce conflict in public relations firms. This research aims to offer a better understanding of intergenerational dynamics and provide recommendations for public relations firms to build stronger, more flexible teams. By addressing these challenges, firms can create more effective and resilient teams in a constantly changing industry

Amelia Talluri: Dual-Action-Only PROTACs for Precision Targeting in Cancer

Proteolysis targeting chimera (PROTAC) based protein degraders has been a rapidly growing area of research, with a few PROTAC models in clinical trials for numerous diseases. These heterobifunctional molecules consist of two ligands connected by a chemical linker with one ligand binding E3 ubiquitin ligase and the other a protein of interest, thus inducing a gain of function pharmacology when bound to both. However, despite their promise, many PROTACs exhibit off-target effects that can lead to unintended toxicity. This study investigates if modifying PROTAC can specifically target cancer cells while reducing toxicity to healthy cells. The hypothesis posits that modified PROTAC will be active only in cancer environments, requiring two specific stimuli for protein degradation, such as a Dual-Action-Only PROTAC (DAO-PROTAC). The methods include the design and synthesis of DAO-PROTAC followed by in-vitro biological assays to evaluate protein degradation and cell toxicity. Results showed that protein degradation only occurred in the presence of both stimuli; when only one stimulus was present, toxicity was observed due to one ligand becoming active and inhibiting its target. The results demonstrate the potential advantages of DAO-PROTAC in creating a specific targeted therapy for cancer and the need for further adjustments to eliminate the risk of free ligands causing harm to healthy cells.

David Dagenais: Investigating the Molecular Basis of Cytochrome P450 Regiospecificity in Medicago truncatula

Sesquiterpenes, specialized plant chemicals that are members of the terpene family, are key drivers of plant evolution, diversity, and speciation. These compounds are common substrates for cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes, which selectively interact with specific sesquiterpenes and catalyze structural changes. The structural diversity of sesquiterpenes that is observed in nature is a result of these CYP-mediated reactions.CYP71D81 and CYP71D82 are two tandem duplicated P450s with a high identity of ninety percent. Coexpression of these CYPs with their native substrate, himachalol, resulted in the formation of oxygenated intermediates in a regiospecific manner. The objective of this research is to investigate the molecular basis of CYP’s regiospecificity in these closely related enzymes. Select amino acids were mutated through site directed mutagenesis and subsequently coexpressed with himachalol in a modular metabolic engineering system. Using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), the mutated CYP’s reaction with himachalol is then compared with that of a wild type, revealing the effect of the mutational change on CYP function. It is anticipated that some amino acid mutations in the CYPs will impact their reaction with himachalol. Results will provide insight into CYP functional diversification, revealing molecular evolutionary relationships of these closely related CYPs.

Owen Woodward: The Impact of Overtraining on a Declarative Memory Task on Sleep Dependent Memory Consolidation in Older Adults

Sleep enhances memory recall in multiple types of memory through sleep-dependent memory consolidation (SDC). While SDC for declarative memories is preserved in older adults, it may be reduced and different relative to young adults. To understand this inconsistency, studying the interaction between SDC and memory encoding, or how memories initially form, is important. Encoding strength decreases as we age, which negatively impacts SDC. I hypothesize that additional practice will strengthen memory encoding in older adults. This study tests the effects of enhanced encoding via overtraining (OT) on SDC on a declarative memory task in healthy older adults. Participants are divided into three categories: young adults, trained older adults, and overtrained older adults. They complete a word-pair task before and after an interval of wake and an interval of sleep. Visits take place a week apart and are counterbalanced. Participants sleep in the lab overnight with polysomnography (PSG) applied. The primary outcome measure is the change in accuracy between immediate and delayed tests. A 2-way mixed ANOVA will test associations between conditions (wake and sleep) and the three groups. I will analyze the relation between the proportion of slow-wave sleep and performance in groups that show a sleep benefit. I predict that younger adults will show a sleep benefit, OT will result in improved SDC compared to standard training, and non-REM stage three sleep will be associated with SDC.

Anonymous: Barriers & Facilitators to Offering Medication Abortion in University Health Centers

A growing body of literature outlines the need for medication abortion (MAB) in university student health centers (USHCs); however, there is little published about the experience of implementing the service into practice, including the barriers and facilitators of doing so. This research aims to contribute to existing reproductive health literature by highlighting the barriers and facilitators of implementing a MAB program at Massachusetts USHCs and offering recommendations to mitigate prominent barriers. In this session, I will present the preliminary results of a qualitative study that will address these questions. Data collection consists of 10-20 semi-structured interviews with medical providers and healthcare staff working at USHCs. Purposive and snowball sampling ensure a well-rounded sample, and providers at universities that both offer and do not offer MAB are invited to participate. Rapid analysis of each interview transcript will underscore major themes amongst the data, and recommendations will be deduced from these findings. The following barriers and facilitators are anticipated to arise in interviews by the end of data collection: student engagement with reproductive justice initiatives (e.g., student advocacy groups), funding, practice-specific champions, legislative guidance, staff and leadership capacity, and institutional values. The Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research will be used to categorize and present the themes. Access to healthcare remains a leading issue in the U.S., and this research aims to inspire improvements to college students’ access to reproductive healthcare by identifying the most prevalent barriers and facilitators to implementing a MAB program at Massachusetts USHCs.

Adeline Beckert: Gauging Students' Understanding of and Attitudes Towards the Social Cost of Carbon (SCC): Perceptions Across Academic Disciplines

With climate change as one of the most pervasive issues of contemporary times, literacy in climate topics is crucial for decision-makers in all professional fields. Undergraduate students, poised to enter the workforce, serve as the leaders of tomorrow, making climate knowledge an essential part of the required toolkit for impactful decision making. Despite the need for climate literate students, little is known about how well students grasp important climate concepts, such as the Social Cost of Carbon (SCC). Carbon dioxide is the main driver of climate change, and the SCC is a way to monetize the economic damages of emitting one additional ton of CO2 into the atmosphere. The SCC serves as a way to measure the costs and benefits of either reducing or increasing carbon emissions; it is the cornerstone of responsible decision-making in the context of the climate crisis. This thesis seeks to understand how well students across academic disciplines understand the SCC, as well as their attitudes towards its implications and importance. Undergraduate students enrolled at UMass Amherst were invited to participate in a Qualtrics survey. The survey asked students to share their academic backgrounds and knowledge and opinions on the SCC. Survey results were analyzed to gauge student perceptions and valuations of the cost of carbon emissions, in order to gain insight into overarching climate literacy levels in undergraduate students across academic disciplines. The results of this thesis can be used to inform future curriculum enhancements in an effort to create more informed future leaders.

JD Hairston: Auditory Brainstem Responses to Sounds from Real and Virtual Locations Auditory localization requires complex neural calculations. That complexity is even greater in reverberant environments where sound, in addition to traveling directly from the source to the ears, also reflects off surfaces and reaches the ears from other directions a few milliseconds later. Yet listeners can localize sound in reverberant environments and rely on auditory localization in many real-world circumstances. For example, auditory localization is important for being able to understand one person talking in a room where many people are talking. The current study investigates subcortical responses to a speech sound under four spatial conditions. In two of those conditions, a 40 ms /da/ syllable is presented from a loudspeaker in front of the participant or 70 degrees to the right of the participant (Free-Field conditions). In the other two conditions, the syllable is presented from both the central and right loudspeaker, but with the sound starting from one location 4 ms before the other location (Precedence Effect conditions). The Precedence Effect describes the fact that listeners localize a sound presented from multiple locations based mostly on the lead location. By recording Auditory Brainstem Responses (ABRs) to thousands of repetitions of the syllable in each condition, we were able to identify differences in early auditory processing of Free-Field and Precedence Effect localization. These results contribute to an understanding of neural mechanisms involved in real-world sound localization, and suggest intervention directions for listeners who struggle to understand speech in noisy conditions.

Mickala Stratton: Developing a Protocol for Identifying Glochidia Using Genetics Freshwater mussels have a unique life history where they rely on host fishes for the metamorphosis of their parasitic larvae (glochidia) into juveniles. To determine which host fishes may act as a potential host for freshwater mussel species, glochidia can be collected from wildcaught fish hosts and identified; however, identifying mussel glochidia to species based on morphology alone can be challenging. Genetic methods for identifying mussel glochidia may provide a more accurate approach than morphometrics. We developed a protocol for extracting, quantifying, amplifying, and visualizing glochidia DNA. Glochidia samples (10) were collected from mussels of known species (Alasmidonta varicosa and Lampsilis cariosa) from three hatcheries. Mussel tissue samples (14) were collected from six known species (A. varicosa, A. undulata, L. cariosa, L. radiata, Elliptio complanata, and Utterbackiana implicata) from the Ware River (Massachusetts, USA) and a hatchery. Using a DNA mini-prep kit, DNA was extracted from individual and pooled glochidia and tissue samples (visceral swabs). DNA was amplified via PCR using three existing primers developed for freshwater mussels and visualized using gel electrophoresis. Primers targeted the mitochondrial loci cytochrome oxidase c subunit 1 (CO1) and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide dehydrogenase subunit 1 (ND1) gene regions. Since CO1 and ND1 are highly conserved across taxa but can be variable between species, we expect at least one primer to be effective for identifying species of freshwater mussels. This protocol will be used to identify multiple species of glochidia in samples collected from wild fishes for examining the host-mussel relationship in wild populations

Hannah Beckman: Evaluation of a Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Curriculum in a Low-Resourced Environment: An Assessment of Knowledge, Comfort, and Confidence at The University of Liberia Liberia is experiencing a shift from communicable to non-communicable diseases and an increase in ischemic heart disease burden. In response, cardiopulmonary (CPR) programs have surfaced to bolster CPR competency in healthcare providers. Despite structural deficiencies, improved health outcomes for cardiac arrest victims may be achieved through improved medical education.Objectives: Evaluate the effects of CPR training in improving knowledge, comfort, and self-efficacy among students at the University of Liberia’s School of Midwifery. Methods: In June 2024, a quasi-experimental (pre-post) study design was conducted at the University of Liberia in Monrovia. A basic CPR program for midwifery students based on the guidelines of the American Heart Association was developed and implemented. Each class included lectures and hands-on training with low-fidelity mannequins. Participants were evaluated on their self-efficacy teaching others CPR, comfort performing CPR themselves, confidence in their CPR knowledge, and objective knowledge of CPR before and after the intervention.Results : Fifty-four students completed the pre- and post-intervention test. All classes showed an increase in confidence, comfort, and objective knowledge post-intervention, with statistically significant results (p.Conclusion: CPR classes at UL were successful in significantly increasing the knowledge, comfort, and confidence of participants. Skill demonstrations, mannequin usage, and instantaneous correction all contributed to students’ success. Recommendations: Recommendations include scaling program up to other facilities with sufficient health-capacity, instilling this course within the Midwifery curriculum, and encouraging refresher courses at predetermined intervals. Limitations include small sample size, inconsistent explanation of exam answers prior to post-intervention test, and limited time availability.

Fiona Tanikonda: Using Storytelling and Visioning to Challenge the School-to-Prison Pipeline

Visioning and storytelling can be used to disrupt the school-to-prison pipeline by challenging the carceral logic that drives it. The foundation of the U.S. prison system relies on punitive measures, which negatively influences the criminal justice system and law enforcement. As a result, police disproportionately target Black and Brown people, especially within systems like public higher education. This project provides an opportunity for the wider UMass community to reflect on the ways they have been impacted by the police presence on campus, and relay their own visions for what a safe campus community looks like. An anonymous Google forms survey was used to gauge general campus feelings towards police presence. The prompts ask people to describe their personal experiences and what they wished would have happened instead. At the end of the form, they are encouraged to envision an alternate campus community, and describe what that would look and feel like to them. Through this project, it is clear that visioning and sharing stories are effective ways of challenging the carceral logic that exists on our own campus. By starting this conversation, people can collaborate to address the issues that exist with law enforcement, and frame themselves as having a meaningful role in their larger campus community.