COVID-19 and Collaboration: How Maryland Expanded its EITC
The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is one of the most important anti-poverty programs. Yet, eligibility for the federal EITC is dependent upon filing taxes with a Social Security Number. This means that people who file taxes with an Individual Tax Identification Number (ITIN), a group which largely consists of noncitizens, are ineligible for this benefit. However, several states have recently extended eligibility for state EITC benefits to ITIN filers. Drawing upon exploratory research in Maryland, which expanded EITC eligibility to ITIN filers in 2021 through passage of SB0218, I set out to understand the process, intentions, and effects of extension of state welfare programs to noncitizens. For this research, I conducted eight semi-structured interviews with policymakers and members of advocacy organizations that were involved in the expansion of the EITC. Based on this research, I argue that the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and collaboration between invested individuals and groups both heightened and highlighted the need for ITIN filers to be included in the Maryland EITC. The context of the pandemic created a necessary sense of urgency for politicians to get a bill passed. However, what ultimately caused the bill’s success was the strategic collaborations between policymakers, advocacy organizations, and different caucuses which took advantage of the pandemic context. The information learned here can help in future studies looking at the policy processes in other states and understanding if it is replicable in states that have not yet expanded EITC eligibility to ITIN filers.

Continue reading Dora Kreitzer »

Title: Using Electrospray Technique to Fabricate Coatings that can Achieve Controlled Release

Abstract: The objective of our study is to use biodegradable materials to design coatings, via the electrospray technique, that can achieve controlled release. Controlled drug release is a beneficial and powerful tool to achieve reduced frequency of dosing, reduced side effects, and better control of drug concentrations in human bodies(Nokhdchi, 2012). These benefits result in an improvement in both the drug’s treatment effect and patients’ compliance with the treatment(Maderuelo et al. 2011). Additionally, using the electrospray technique, it is possible to fabricate polymer coatings on medical devices, such as stents, to be able to modulate their integration with surrounding tissues(Guo, 2015). There are many ways to manipulate a coating’s properties to achieve controlled release. In our study, we are interested in how the thickness of the coating will affect the release profile of the drug. Rhodamine B(a pink dye) is used to simulate the drug, and PVAc(a biodegradable polymer) is used as the polymer substrate of the coating. Coatings were made with different thicknesses, and the Scanning Electron Microscope(SEM) is used to measure the thickness of the coating. The desired coating, resulting from a successful electrospray experiment, has a shiny, smooth surface with a dark pink color. The SEM is used to examine the coating’s surface. After the coatings are made, a diffusion study is conducted by putting the coatings into the PBS solution. The dye releases over time into the solution, and absorbance values are measured regularly using UV Spectrometry and are converted to cumulative percent release. In the end, a percent release versus time graph is plotted for each thickness.

Continue reading Jonathan Lei »

Characterizing Muscle Fatigue with Topological Data Analysis

Half of stroke survivors require long-term rehabilitative care, which is often complicated by a high degree of deficit variability. One debilitating effect of a stroke is muscle fatigue caused by muscle weakness. Identifying fatigued muscles can allow for targeted treatment plans and quicker rehabilitation; however, such a strategy has been hampered by difficulties in accurately characterizing fatigue.

Various linear and nonlinear signal processing methods have been used to characterize muscle fatigue from surface electromyography (sEMG) data, but they only characterize the frequency domain. Efforts to capitalize on the topological properties of sEMG, which include frequency and amplitude information, are in their incipient stages.

My research explores using topological data analysis as a robust measure of muscle fatigue. I constructed a custom device that stabilizes the hand and processed the data using a frequency-based Fourier transform. Leveraging techniques from Chutani, my team and I extracted a topological property (number of simplices) from the raw sEMG data. I compared the results of the two analyses and determined that the number of simplices is a more accurate indicator of fatigue than the traditional process, laying the framework for a new method of fatigue detection that could have meaningful implications for rehabilitation and sports sciences.

Continue reading Allyson Clarke »

Title: Modeling the Effects of Femoral Anteversion and Miserable Malalignment on the Hip

Introduction: Excessive pathological torsion of the lower limbs can cause gait impairment, joint pain, and in extreme cases is treated with surgery. These torsional profiles can present in conditions such as high, femoral anteversion and miserable malalignment. Motion analysis and musculoskeletal modeling enable the analysis of
human movement to determine joint loads. Thus, the goal of this project was to use musculoskeletal modeling to determine the impact of varying degrees of femoral anteversion and miserable malalignment on the joint loads of the hip.
Materials and Methods: To begin the modeling process, the Rajagopal full body model and freely available experimental data were used as baselines. The Modenese bone deformation tool was then applied through MATLAB and OpenSim to alter the geometry of the baseline model and create one set of models with increased femoral anteversion and one set of models with miserable malalignment. OpenSim Moco –an optimal control
tool- was used to generate kinematics with actuator driven tracking problems and hip joint loads with muscle driven inverse problems. The simulations tracked the force throughout the stance phase of gait, by determining the root mean square (RMS) value of the joint loads.
Results and Discussion: The results of the simulations showed an increase in hip joint loads in both femoral anteversion and miserable malalignment models in the anterior-posterior and superior-inferior plane directions. Hip joint load increases were larger for models with increased femoral anteversion only in comparison to models with miserable malalignment.

Continue reading Marianne Voigt »

A Study of an Ancient Oil Lamp: Iconography, Glazing and a Human Connection
In 2019, late emeritus Professor James Turnure (Samuel H. Kress Professor of Art History) donated a sizable collection of ancient artifacts, including seventeen ancient oil lamps. These lamps were unstudied prior to their donation, and the overall long-term research goal of this project is to properly publish the artifacts and make their data accessible to the international archaeology community. Oil lamps were widely used in the Ancient Mediterranean world, and since they were often used by those who were not well represented in the written records we have from their time, oil lamps and other ordinary objects can shed light on the daily life on underrepresented people. One of Turnure’s donated lamps, which is the focus of this study, has two nozzles and plant imagery on its discus. This lamp was drawn, measured, photographed, and described. Such careful examination and documentation of the physical characteristics of this lamp and looking through the records of documented collections of ancient oil lamps allow for conclusions about the lamp’s creation, including estimates of the lamp’s age and region of origin. Studying the iconography on the lamp can connect it to other ancient pieces of pottery. Details like the lamp’s imperfect glazing and the marks of fingerprints left on the lamp’s walls also give the lamp a human element. This kind of connection to the people who created or used an artifact is perhaps most easily seen through once mundane, small objects like oil lamps.

Continue reading Clare Bassano »

Defining Feminism

Who gets to decide what is “feminist” and what is not? How would the world look if the word “feminist” wasn’t so stigmatized? Does feminism even matter? These are all questions that will be pondered in this presentation by comparing feminists of the Young Lords, a Puerto Rican activist group from the late 1960s and early 1970s to the modern conservative feminist movement, two starkly different groups in ideology and time period. In this presentation, I will examine how it is that these differences shape ideologically different definitions of feminism. I will also argue that in order to understand feminism and all of its intricacies, we must first be able to establish a definition of feminism that most people can agree with. In this comparative presentation, I will provide some history of the Young Lords, introduce the modern-day conservative feminist movement, and use these comparisons to draw up some potential answers to the longstanding and pressing question of what feminism ought to mean. Comparing women’s issues in the 1970s with women’s issues in the 2020s along with comparing the motivations of particular women from different time periods are integral components in answering these questions. In this presentation, I hope to be able to draw out a definition of feminism that is best for all women, not just women who find themselves at the intersections of privilege.

Continue reading Sophie Cooksey »

Solid-State Shear Pulverization (SSSP):
An Investigation into Thermoplastic Types and Properties

Solid-state shear pulverization (SSSP) is an alternative polymer processing technique based on twin screw extrusion with a continuous cooling system. In SSSP, low temperature- mechanochemistry modifies the macromolecular architecture and morphology, which in turn leads to physical property changes in the material. While a wide range of homopolymers, polymer blends, and polymer (nano)composites have been previously developed with SSSP, fundamental understanding of how the mechanochemistry affects polymer chain architecture and structure, and in turn, material properties, have not been elucidated. This paper conducts a systematic, processing-structure-property relationship investigation of ten thermoplastic polymers with varying properties, as they are subjected to consistent SSSP mechanochemical pulverization and nanocomposite compounding. Structural, mechanical, and thermal characteristics of the neat polymers are correlated to their response to SSSP, by way of process covariants. Further, the multiple processing SSSP parameters dictate structural changes such as molecular weight reduction and filler dispersion level, which in turn dictate system properties like melt viscosity and thermal stability.

Continue reading Tyler Will »

Design and fabrication of a caterpillar-inspired soft robot by 3D print method
Soft crawling robots can potentially access locations that are unreachable by humans and traditional rigid robots. And their delicate body parts prevent them from damaging the environment and themselves when falling. In this case, the soft crawling robots play a crucial role in conducting the missions like observing, monitoring, and even rescuing. During the summer, we developed a soft robot inspired by the crawling mechanisms used by the caterpillars. The robot is constructed by 3D printed parts and actuated by motors and strings attached to it. The uniformity between each segment makes modifying and manufacturing the robot easy. And its simple structure provides it the feasibility to adapt to and move in the complex 3D environment. Experimental results show that the 3D print soft parts can store and release elastic energy, and the designed structure allows the robot to mimic the motion of the caterpillars.

Continue reading Harry Shi »

Experimental modal analysis for dynamic parameter identification

This summer during Research I learned a ton of skills that can be used in my field as well as many life skills that will be so useful for my professional life after college. My biggest takeaways from the project is I have a deep understanding of how to use Crystal Instruments Spider80XI software as well as SAP2000 software. These programs enabled me to gather actual data from our structure to use in comparisons and to visualize what is occurring in my cantilever experimental structure. I learned that 1-support cantilevers behave much differently than 2-support cantilevers especially when the 2nd support is hard to understand with what degrees of freedom it is truly restraining and I learned that structures don’t change very much from dynamic excitation over years and it is possible to reproduce results from many years earlier. I learned these through experimental analysis by moving support conditions around and altering the mass the electrodynamic excitation would send through the structure. Every change would have a substantial impact on the frequency the structure experienced in each mode. SAP was super helpful in this phase too because it enabled me to theoretically see when the frequency should be for each mode based on my configuration and can use that visualization to tweak my structure to be as close as possible to what is theoretically expected. When the two matched up closely I was able to determine my structure is acting how it would be expected.

Continue reading Kurt Phipps »

Developing a low-cost turbidity sensor using synchronous detection

Turbidity is an essential measurement to assess water quality. Turbidity optically quantifies the cloudiness of a liquid and is commonly measured in Formazin Nephelometric Units (FNU). Commercial turbidity sensors are expensive, and previous work has developed numerous low-cost turbidity sensor designs. However, these designs face numerous challenges, causing inaccuracy in measurement, such as ambient light and bubbles in the liquid. This research developed an improved low-cost turbidity sensor that lessens the error caused by these challenges by adapting a colorimeter evaluation board, equipped with an analog-to-digital converter that reads the raw voltage output from a photodiode. The lock-in amplifier minimizes the effect of ambient light on the turbidity measurement by differentiating the light emitted from the LED and any ambient light. In lab tests, the developed continuous turbidity sensor was within 0.4 FNU from the actual turbidity more than 80% of the time, and nearly all of the readings fell within 1 FNU from the actual turbidity. Furthermore, analysis of the collected data revealed that the model can be accurately calibrated from only two distant turbidity measurements.

Continue reading Tsugunobu Miyake »