Symposium for Student Innovation, Research, and Creative Activities 2023

Permanent URI for this communityhttps://hdl.handle.net/1969.6/97194

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A fine-tuned large language model for improved click-bait title detection
(2023-08-29) Vuppala, Pavan Sai; Sekharan, Chandra N.
The internet has experienced a widespread phenomenon of clickbait, especially on social media platforms and news websites. Clickbait headlines and descriptions attract clicks and generate ad revenue by using exaggerated, sensational, or misleading language. Clickbait can harm online users by wasting their time, spreading misinformation, damaging reputations, or even exposing them to malware or phishing attacks. Detecting clickbait manually is subjective and time-consuming since different people may have different opinions on what constitutes clickbait. Rule-based approaches, machine learning models[8], deep learning models[9] and natural language processing techniques are some of the existing methods for clickbait detection. However, clickbait detection remains a challenging task due to the diversity and complexity of clickbait content, as well as the constantly evolving strategies used by clickbait creators. In this research, we employed a methodology to detect clickbait titles using a fine-tuned large language model (LLM) that was trained on a limited dataset of clickbait titles.
A look into the diversity of culturable bacterial root endophytes in Batis maritima
(2023-08-30) Rush, Grace I.; Lumibao, Candice
Coastal ecosystems face increased anthropogenic and climatic-related stressors. Batis maritima dominates coastal marshes. Known for its high salinity tolerance.
A mental health literacy intervention to improve psychological treatment-seeking attitudes and intentions in African Americans
(2023-08-29) Gipson-Washington, Raven K.; Houlihan, Amy E.
Systemic-Level Barriers: The ineligibility of services, treatment disparities, limited access to treatment facilities, and the lack of culturally-relevant care Cultural Barriers: Spiritual beliefs and community stigma Individual-Level Barriers: Limited finances, lack of insurance coverage, lack of transportation, childcare, lack of social support, the fear of being locked away, the fear of losing one’s children, and negative experiences with the mental healthcare system (personal experiences or learning of others’ experiences) Psychological Barriers: The inability to recognize symptoms of mental illness, the perceived insusceptibility to mental illness, the belief that there is no need for treatment, internalized stigma, and the Black strength schema. African Americans are disproportionately less likely to receive treatment for their mental illness(es) (39.4%) than their European American counterparts (52.4%; Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2021). This is a public health problem. To confront this problem, it is necessary to address the issue of treatment-seeking. Typically, the first step in the treatment life-cycle is to decide to seek psychological treatment. For African Americans, this decision is often complicated by a significant number of barriers to treatment, unique to the Black experience (Bryant et al., 2013; Conner et al., 2010; Davis et al., 2008; Haynes et al., 2017; Jegede et al., 2021; Redmond et al., 2019; Sonik et al., 2020; Ward et al., 2009; Williams et al., 2012): The present study will address the psychological barriers. The primary aim of the study is to increase formal psychological treatment-seeking attitudes and intentions by increasing mental health literacy, reducing internalized stigma, and redefining the Black strength schema. To do this, a single-session, online mental health literacy intervention, has been developed specifically for African Americans: The Black Mental Health Education Program - Anxiety and Depression (BMHE-AD).
Alkane composition of the microlayer in Corpus Christi Bay: Implications of HAB formation
(2023-08-29) Hodge, Wayne; Silliman, James
Short-chain n-alkanes (n-pentadecane, n-heptadecane, and n-nonadecane) stem primarily from algae. Long-chain n-alkanes (n-heptacosane, n-noncosane, and n-hentriacontane) originate from terrigenous/land plants and are introduced to coastal waters by runoff. Since alkanes are hydrophobic compounds, they tend to concentrate in the microlayer (air-water interface). This study strives to ascertain the efficacy of using the aquatic-terrigenous ratio (ATR) as a precursor to harmful algal bloom (HAB) formation. Since the ATR is a new HAB parameter, it may further our understanding of HAB formation. Corpus Christi Bay microlayer samples have been collected via the glass plate method. Although algal and terrigenous n-alkanes have been detected in these samples using a gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), they are present in lower concentrations than expected. As a result, new microlayer samples are currently being collected at larger volumes to increase their n-alkane concentrations. Once adequate concentrations have been achieved, ATRs will be calculated in order to establish a range in baseline values for Corpus Christi Bay. ATR values are expected to increase prior to and during HAB events.
An analysis of the El Nino Southern Oscillation's effects on tropical cyclones
(2023-08-30) Lilljedahl, Madalyn; Liu, Chuntao; Lavigne, Thomas
In the 20 years, 2,023 tropical cyclones provide us a robust sample size to study the impact of the El Nino Southern Oscillation on tropical cyclone with respect to precipitation on a global scale. It is clear that the El Nino Southern Oscillation does play a significant role in the intensity, location and magnitude of tropical cyclones. We also found that the depending on which phase of ENSO and whether it’s a major or minor tropical cyclone, different parts of the globe have experienced more or less precipitation that can be attributed to tropical cyclone. How does ENSO influence frequency of tropical cyclones globally? What is the global precipitation contribution from tropical cyclones? How does ENSO influence global precipitation that is contributed by minor and major hurricanes?
Analyzing the disparity between those that show need for mental health services and those that utilize mental health services in Nueces County
(2023-09-19) Burks, Cherish; Gonzales, Dr. E
In 2020, a comprehensive behavioral health community assessment showed that Nueces County had an odd disparity between residents who utilized community mental health resources and residents who had need for mental health resources. This project proposes a descriptive cross-sectional survey of the residents of Nueces County to gather information on the community’s understanding and utilization of behavioral health services. understanding and utilization of behavioral health services. In the short-term, we aim to identify if social determinants of health, such as age, gender, race/ethnicity, access to health insurance, and annual income, impact understanding and/or utilization of behavioral health services. In the long-term, the goal of the project is to obtain information that can be utilized by stakeholders engaged in behavioral health for improving access and utilization of services. The survey was offered in high-traffic areas including, but limited to, health fairs, churches, community events, and on-campus events at TAMUCC and Del Mar. The data showed that it was more a lack of information that caused the need/usage disparity. With that in mind, the best course of action to reducing the need/usage disparity is making the local services offered in Nueces County more well-known and better available.
Are you truly monolingual?
(2023-08-29) Mings, Sofia; Moreno, Miguel
Raise your hand if this sounds English, Which language is this? How did you guess that?
Autonomous GPS ground vehicle navigation
(2023-08-30) Mathew, Mohit
Automation is a major part of today’s world, automation can potentially save both time and resources in this fast paced world. It took a while for automation to become a mainstream part of everyday life, and there were many small steps made towards this goal. Incremental step that we have made towards automating small tasks is a GPS guided unmanned ground vehicle that can eventually be the groundwork for automating many small monotonous tasks. Small ground vehicles can be an extremely dynamic tool in terms of automation. They can assist in hauling, gardening, gathering information, and etc.. There is a nearly limitless amount of tasks that a ground based drone can perform. There are a few setbacks though, how accurate the location system is, what algorithm it uses to move, and battery life. This study will test the accuracy of the drone as well as which algorithm works the best for a real drone. The goal of this paper is to find which algorithm works the best and how accurate is possible within these hardware limitations. The secondary goal is to be employed in farms as a small field hand noting occurrences in the fields. Eventually being outfitted with machine learning and a possible limb to allow for manipulation of its surroundings to allow for the drone to do tasks.
Autonomous UAVs navigation considering fixed/moving obstacles and no-fly-zones
(2023-08-29) Izzat Ullah, Syed
Drones Everywhere..!!!, Background - Drones Control, Single-Drone, Autopilot System: Drones fly autonomously through the programmed route, operator monitoring the drone during the flight time, no knowledge of other drones --> Hence most susceptible to collisions!
Beyond the writing: Students' perspectives of the CASA writing center
(2023-08-30) Riojas, Brenda
Graduate assistant experience, Dr. Murphy’s, “’Just Chuck It: I Mean, Don't Get Fixed On It’: Self Presentation in Writing Center Discourse”, Student confessions
Changes in blood cell morphology associated with HBA1c levels in diabetes mellitus
(2023-08-30) Flores, Gabriel; Nguyen, Arthur; Chessher III, David; Sparks, Jean; Omoruyi, Felix
Diabetes mellitus is a group of metabolic diseases characterized by impaired glucose utilization leading to chronic hyperglycemia. It is an endocrine disorder that presents severe clinical and public health problems worldwide, including in South Texas. Blood glucose levels are commonly used in the diagnosis of diabetes. Microvascular and macrovascular complications are common in patients with uncontrolled diabetes. However, HbA1c is a simple blood test that measures the average blood glucose levels over the past 2 to 3 months and is used to diagnose and effectively manage diabetes mellitus to prevent diabetic complications. In this study, we evaluated changes in red blood cell morphology with varying HbA1c levels in diabetic patients versus nondiabetic patients. Blood samples were collected from Driscoll and Shoreline Hospital labs in Corpus Christi, Texas. Sample collections are still ongoing at clinical sites. Peripheral blood smears were prepared from the unidentified patients’ blood samples and examined under the microscope for the number and kinds of cells present and other morphologic abnormalities. The collected blood samples were categorized based on HbA1c levels - group 1 (< 5.7% - nondiabetic); group 2 (5.7 - 6.4% - prediabetic); group 3 (>6.5% - diabetic) and by pediatric and adult groups. The pediatric control group indicated the highest number of ovalocytes (94%), anisocytosis (78%), and echinocytes (76%), the prediabetic group (80%, 90%, 60% respectively) and the diabetic group (83%, 83%, 67% respectively). The adult control group showed 53% ovalocytes, 58% anisocytosis, and 83% echinocytes, the prediabetic group showed 75%, 0%, 75% respectively, and the diabetic group showed 67%, 43%, 65% respectively. Surprisingly, the adults with the highest HbA1cs showed few morphological alterations. Overall, the numbers of anisocytosis, echinocytes, and ovalocytes in both pediatric and adult diabetic samples did not correlate with HbA1c levels, the observed few morphological changes may be attributable to the clinical care.
Conference Proceedings: 2023 Symposium for Student Innovation, Research, and Creative Activities
(Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, 2023)
The 2023 Symposium for Student Innovation, Research, and Creative Activities (SSIRCA) was sponsored by the Division of Research and Innovation, in collaboration with the College of Education and Human Development, the College of Engineering, the College of Liberal Arts, the College of Nursing and Health Sciences, the College of Science, and the Mary and Jeff Bell Library. SSIRCA was additionally supported by the Honors Program, the McNair Scholars Program, and Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation Program. Students from all colleges at TAMU-CC were invited to give presentations, and their faculty members were encouraged to participate by helping to review presentation proposals and evaluate presentations.
Connecting Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients to resources at the farmers' market
(2023-08-29) Stinson, Julia
This project aims to examine the issue of poverty and food insecurities on individuals' nutrition in Corpus Christi, Texas- a city where 17% of the population falls below the poverty line (U.S. Census Bureau, n.d.). To address this, I have worked at the Grow Local Farmers' Market to increase access to fresh, nutritious food for SNAP recipients and provide education on its utilization.
Development of a machine learning system for detection of the atmospheric potential of wildfire-driven thunderstorms
(2023-08-30) Krell, Evan; Nguyen, Chuyen; Nachamkin, Jason; Peterson, David; Hyer, Edward; King, Scott A.; Tissot, Philippe; Estrada, Beto; Tory, Kevin J.; Campbell, James
Machine Learning Pipeline: Align pyroCbs to satellite fires > Remove weaker fires > Add engineered features > For valid dataset, drop either fire features or unaligned pyroCbs > K-Best Feature Selection > Data balancing techniques > Train & Evaluate models
Don't blame the siblings! Social experiences of gender non-conformity: Does a higher proportion of male siblings and negative feedback affect masculinity among sexual minority men?
(2023-08-30) Cowan, Alisha R.; Seidel, Steven
Social role theory Eagly et al. 2004 ; Eagly , 1987) suggests that individuals who conform strongly to traditional gender roles promote the hegemonic male's hierarchy a model of power, status, and strength to receive the benefits of social inclusion For sexual minority men, however, violating these gender roles can lead to negative consequences such as social exclusion, physical violence , and suicidal thoughts Fiske et al. 2002; Vaughn et al. 2017). As a result , sexual minority men may feel pressure to conform to traditional masculinity standards to gain social approval (Taywaditep , 2002; Research has often neglected to consider the significance of sibling relationships from the perspective of sexual minority men. Although sibling relationships are viewed as a normative part of growing up, they can have a significant impact on one's emotional and behavioral development. Positive sibling relationships may serve as protective factors against mental and physical health risks faced by individuals who experience prejudice based on their sexual orientation (Hilton & Szymanski, 2014). Therefore, it is important to investigate the role of sibling relationships in the developmental trajectories of sexual minority men. This study aimed to explore the relationship between a sexual minority man’s experiences with their sibling’s social feedback about their gender nonconforming behavior and his subsequent levels of masculinity. Specifically, does negative feedback from brothers or sisters because of their gender nonconformity in childhood affect a sexual minority man's schema of masculinity and adherence to traditional gender roles in adulthood?
Drone2Drone: A search and rescue framework for finding lost UAV swarm agents
(2023) Phadke, Abhishek; Medrano, Fernando Antonio
UAV swarms have seen widespread use in SAR (Search and Rescue operations). SAR missions are generally defined as exploration problems. Exploration approaches can be used in a wide range of applications [1]. Applications can include searching for an entity in danger or need of medical attention [2] or finding the spread of forest fires [3]. These approaches are labeled as application-specific SAR methods in UAV swarms. However, these do not contribute to the resiliency of the swarm itself.. Resiliency is defined as the ability of a system to withstand disruptions. As a part of multiobjective research toward increasing UAV swarm resiliency, an alternate approach is explored. Efforts towards the development of a Search and Rescue protocol that is directed towards the UAV agents that make up the swarm is underway.
Examining micropaleontology to gain insights into long-term processes in the Western Amundsen Sea, Antarctica
(2023-08-30) Szemak, Magkena
AIS is divided into two ice sheets, the .. (WAIS) and the east. AIS has exhibited rapid mass loss over the past two decades, with the most pronounced changes observed in the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (Shepherd et al., 2018). And because this is where my study site is located I’m going to focus there. WiAIS has a few unique physical characteristics, its much …Which make it highly vulnerable to changes in ocean currents or water temperature. The largest threat facing this region is Circumpolar Deep Water. As CDW is the greatest contributor of ice loss in this region, understanding the history of CDW movement and past deglaciation is critical to understanding the future!
Examining the effectiveness of the STEADY teen workbook for improving psychological health in adolescents
(2023-04-21) Zhang, Yunyun; Ikonomopoulos, James
Participants will learn about the impact depression has on youth and adolescents, Participants will learn about how The STEADY Teen Workbook was used for treating adolescents with depressive symptoms, Participants will learn about Single-Case Research Designs (SCRD), and how non-overlapping data analysis, visual trend analysis, statistical process control charting, percent improvement, and Tau-U effect size estimate were used for data analysis.
Financial literacy outreach to local high school students
(2023-08-29) Rogers, Paige; Alvarez, Diego
A lack of financial literacy can lead to significant barriers for students trying to access education (Chen, 1998). Our project aims to address this issue by engaging with local high school students in the Corpus Christi area to improve their financial literary. Through this initiative, we hope not only to empower students with the financial knowledge they need to succeed but also expand our own understanding of the finance world.
Fine-Scale genotypic diversity in the seagrass Halodule wrightii from Oso Bay
(2023-08-29) Burton, Amanda; Larkin, Patrick D.
Seagrasses are the only marine angiosperms in the world. They reproduce sexually and asexually through clonal growth. Seagrass beds are vital ecosystems that harbor the adult and larval stages of many marine animals, including fish, manatees, stingrays and many other vertebrates and invertebrates. Seagrass also play a vital role in carbon sequestration, protecting shorelines from wave energy, and maintaining the water quality of coastal bays. Seagrass beds around the world are declining at alarming rates, and conservation-related research is becoming increasingly important. Genetic variation in seagrass beds has been demonstrated to be positively correlated with productivity, resistance to, and recovery from environmental stress. While several studies have examined genetic diversity at fairly large (meter) scales, few have examined fine-scale (cm) genotypic diversity. Diversity at this scale could have important implications for biological and chemical processes such as pollination or toxin neutralization. This project focused on the seagrass Halodule wrightii, otherwise known as "shoal grass”, the most abundant species of seagrass on the Texas Gulf coast. Ninety six single rhizome fragments were collected from each of three, 60 x 90 cm quadrats placed in H. wrightii beds on the south side of Ward Island, Texas. Each sample was genotyped and genetic diversity estimates (genotypic richness, evenness, and architecture) were produced for each qaudrat. We found a fair amount of genotypic variation at this scale, that declined from east to west in the sampling region. We also found the presence of a very large clone that was present in all 3 quadrats. We conclude that H.wrightii has been present near Ward Island for at least a century, and that environmental and/or anthropogenic factors may be influencing H. wrightii reproduction in an, as yet, undetermined manner.

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