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Student Research
Opening the Gates for Computer Programmers
Ma Sen holds a developmental circuit board in his hands, as if he is presenting it as a gift. Built on top of the green base are ports, switches, digital chips and connectors that comprise the hardware components of the board. Sen, a doctoral student in the Computer Systems Design Laboratory, points to a silicon chip called a field programmable gate array embedded on the board.
Putting the Squeeze on Pomace
The United States juice and wine industries produce 10 to 15 million tons of grape waste each year. This waste, known as pomace, is usually sent to landfills, fed to livestock or used to make a renewable biofuel. But a group of researchers at the Engineering Research Center and the department of food science think there may be a better use for the leftover grape skin, seeds and stems.
Going Cocoa
In the West African country of Ghana, millions of dollars are being poured in to train the government and farmers to help pull the country out of poverty. Thousands of miles away in Fayetteville, Ark., University of Arkansas student Mike Norton applies his skills and experiences to supporting programs to increase crop yields and improve lives. Norton, a junior in the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences, has recently been awarded a Student Undergraduate Research Fellowship grant to continue this research.
A Different View
Students on campus are working on projects covering a vast range of topics from trying to unlock the mysteries of the universe to prolonging the shelf life of meat. Elizabeth Phillips, a recent architecture graduate, worked on something closer to home and even closer to her heart.
Magnifying A Distinct Badge of Honor
Some research has torn down the walls surrounding the impact the war has had on soldiers. However, most of the research conducted has been centered on males and their specific ways of adaptation to trauma and physical disabilities.
Got Burgoni?
Animal science major Nathan Tapp has found that a Tahitian fruit could be the key to revolutionizing the meat packaging industry. His research shows that adding noni (Morinda citrifolia) pulp to ground beef patties prevents them from discoloring as quickly, which extends the shelf-life of the meat by about two days.
The Bare Bones
Anthropology major Amy Chancellor spent her summer working with the dead. As a freshman, Chancellor was the youngest team member on the university’s summer research trip to Tel el-Armana, Egypt, where they spent five weeks digging up and studying 3,500-year-old skeletons.
The Shape of Greens
Gwaltney began exploring the geometry of lettuce using the camera and mathematics. The Russellville native bought green leaf lettuce and cabbage at the grocery store, took it home and started shooting. At the same time, he began exploring the field of differential geometry, which combines aspects of geometry with calculus, to study the shape of both vegetables.
Researchers Use Fat to Fight Cancer
Despite medical advances, humans are not winning the war on cancer. Cancer will overtake heart disease as the world’s top killer by 2010, according to the World Health Organization. Cancer diagnoses will reach 12 million and deaths related to cancer are expected to reach 7 million this year.
Building Body Parts
On a Thursday morning, an 11-year-old girl in the Dominican Republic entered a medical clinic with the assistance of crutches, which had been a necessary part of her life as a foot amputee. On the following Friday afternoon she walked out of the clinic crutch-free, using a commercial-grade prosthetic foot from the United States brought to the clinic by doctors working for Physicians for Peace.
What is International in Higher Education?
When Karl Anderson set out to discover how globalism is affecting American higher education and what programs colleges and universities are implementing to internationalize their campuses, he was surprised to find an obvious gap in research on the subject.
Graduate Student Perches on Island to Aid Breeding Seabirds
For his birthday this year, Jeff Kimmons was most thankful for the small, motorized boat that transported him from Eastern Egg Rock off the coast of Maine to the U.S. mainland where he temporarily rejoined mainstream society and took advantage of some of its most basic provisions, including a hot shower.
Researcher Studies Proteins that Make Rice Flourish
Cell and molecular biology graduate student Tameka Bailey studies a particular set of proteins in rice in hopes of enhancing drought and salt tolerance and disease resistance.
Wall Art
For Hunter Riley, an honors college senior majoring in economics, political science, and international relations, sidewalks and city walls have become the best places to not only find art, but to observe a rebellious form of political self-expression com-monly known as graffiti.
The Great Migration
Shelly Kaufman’s travels have led her to pursue her passion for biochemistry in hopes of helping solve world health problems. Kaufman’s work in organic synthesis is part of a team effort to create new drugs.
World Traveler Finds Way to Help Through Biomedical Research
Shelly Kaufman’s travels have led her to pursue her passion for biochemistry in hopes of helping solve world health problems. Kaufman’s work in organic synthesis is part of a team effort to create new drugs.
Who Rocks the Vote?
Leslie Yingling worries that, when it comes to politics, her peers don’t worry enough, and her concern led her to examine youth voting patterns in the United States.
Eeew! Graduate Student Teases Out Traits of Disgust in Phobias
Graduate student Bunmi O. Olatunji delights in showing people pictures of creepy-crawly creatures, rotting food and gaping wounds, just to get a response out of them – all in the name of research.
Thinking about Thinking
Descartes said, “I think, therefore I am.” A more updated version of this quote might be something like, “I think about thinking; therefore I think better.” That is precisely what UA student Michael Pate discovered when he began conducting research into cognitive function and problem solving last autumn.
Birds of a Feather
Graduate student Sara Ress has transformed her love of birds into action. During her undergraduate years at Auburn University in Alabama, the zoology major and trained falconer worked in a raptor rehabilitation facility. During those years, she also spent a summer working at a zoo in Costa Rica. Now her interest in raptors has brought her to the University of Arkansas, where she pursues her passion through research.
Women Helping Women
Professors Barbara Hinton and Kit Brooks have conducted many needs assessments during their academic careers. When they took their skills to the Middle Atlas Mountains of Morocco, they became part of a research team of divergent cultural perspectives, united by the desire to create better opportunities for women globally.
Students Help Professor Further Research on Fat Metabolism Disorders
For some people, exercise brings more pain than pleasure in the form of muscle weakness, cramps and protein loss. These people suffer from a relatively rare fat metabolism disorder that affects the skeletal muscles and, perhaps, the heart. Kinesiology professor Charles Riggs and his students hope to contribute insights into how the fatty acid oxidation disorder works so that people who suffer from it might enjoy an improved lifestyle and the ability to exercise safely.
Struggle to prevent medical error takes law professor to Japan
To err is human, but when hospital personnel err, someone’s life, or health, can become endangered. Robert B. Leflar, the Arkansas Bar Foundation Professor of Law, studies how hospitals handle such errors both in the United States and Japan. He seeks to understand the effectiveness of both health care systems in preventing medical errors and in learning from previous mistakes.
Landscape Architects and UACDC are Making Historic Connections
Not far from the Arkansas State Capitol where Scipio Jones helped fight for 12 black men charged in the Elaine Race Riots, first-year landscape architecture students and University of Arkansas Community Design Center (UACDC) students are making vital long-term connections between an important historic space and the people who inhabit it.