This research is building on the dynamical analysis done on Optomechanical Self-Stability of Freestanding Photonic Metasurfaces here at the University of Minnesota by a team of researchers in the Laboratory for Nano-Optics and Mechanics. Models of self-stabilizing nano-patterned objects have not yet taken the damping effects of friction into account. To build a more realistic theoretical framework, the damping must be included in the equations of motion.
Minnesota prairie ecosystems have been greatly impacted by habitat fragmentation, with only 1% of native prairie remaining. Habitat fragmentation isolates populations, and in plant species reliant on pollinators for reproduction and dispersal, this is especially harmful. Smaller, fragmented flora populations have a higher likelihood of mating between relatives. Mating between relatives increases threats of genetic drift and inbreeding, which can result in weaker progeny, reducing mean population fitness and potentially increasing extinction rates.
From 1860 to 1978 entire generations of Native American children were removed from their families and placed in government or church-run boarding schools. Through an anonymous survey, boarding school survivors, descendants of boarding school survivors, and foster care survivors or adoptees were able to share their stories of child removal and it’s lasting effects. This is the first broad-based survey that provides boarding school survivors and their descendants the opportunity to document the intergenerational impacts of their experiences.
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) is an effective intervention for depression and OCD and a promising tool for treating other psychiatric conditions. TMS clinical outcomes are known to differ across patients, with one likely source of variability being individual differences in brain connectivity. Here we propose a methodology to identify personalized targets for stimulation using resting state functional connectivity using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI).
Microfluidic devices are excellent tools for fabricating polymer microcapsules. With a liquid core and a polymer shell, microcapsules are excellent vehicles for delivering drugs to target cells and tissues in the body with temporal control. Drugs with high water solubility can be loaded in the liquid core of microcapsules. The rate of drug release can be modulated by changing the chemical composition and thickness of the polymer shell.
Affordable lab equipment used for dendrochronology research is being developed using common off-the-shelf parts and an Arduino. It is a device that automates the process of taking gigapixel-scale images of tree core samples. A professional camera such as a Canon is controlled through a GUI which manages the focus of the lense. This GUI interface also allows the user to control a couple of servos that pan the camera horizontally and vertically.
The murder of George Floyd, the riots, protests, and the rise of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement brought attention to race, culture, and discrimination in recent years. For Black teens in the United States, evidence of racism in their environment is part of the context of social and identity development. This research examines whether youth who report higher levels of perceived discrimination are more likely to have a changed mindset regarding their thinking about race during 2020-2021.
Iron Deficiency Chlorosis (IDC) is a nutritional stress exhibited by soybean plants that do not uptake enough soluble ferrous iron (Fe2+). Symptoms of this stress appear as interveinal chlorosis of leaves and stunting. IDC causes yield loss and is a prevalent issue in calcareous and alkaline soil conditions which makes iron unavailable for plant uptake. There is some genetic variation in plants' response to IDC. Some genotypes are resistant to IDC, and efforts are being made to characterize and map this resistance.
Climate change will impact Minnesota’s nature-based tourism industry, but details on how it will change remain absent.To address the knowledge gap, a modified Mieczkowski’s Tourism Climate Index (TCI) was applied at three Minnesota state parks to provide insight on potential visitation changes. Ideal summer tourism climate conditions were hypothesized to diminish. Data were collected for the 2019 summer climate at Sibley, Whitewater, and Jay Cooke State Parks and TCIs calculated.