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The thesis of this paper is that the age an individual develops financial literacy will positively impact one's wealth over their lifetime. Aditya surveyed roughly 100 people, gathering data on personal income, spending habits, investing habits, and the age they became financially knowledgeable. His data contradicts his thesis and shows that one's age is not a strong factor in financial responsibility. However, Aditya gained several valuable insights from his research to help government and academic institutions employ socially beneficial policies.

Investments and Program Management

Investigating the impact of financial literacy on an individual

Anything finance related, it's my passion. I would love to get more people interested in investing and business development.

Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common form of arthritis which is a degenerative joint disease causing joints to begin to break down and underlying bones to change. This “wear and tear” most frequently affects hands, hips and knees. This is important because OA pain is considered to be a leading cause of mobility impairment in older adults, with hip and knee OA ranked 11th highest contributors to global disability. Cartilage tissue engineering utilizing polymer scaffolds and hydrogels is an emerging field for treating osteoarthritis. The goal of this project is to address the problem of osteoarthritis and its association with mobility impairment. Through the utilization of polymer scaffolds and hydrogels, this paper creates a hybrid material using PCL scaffolds and GelMa/PEGDA hydrogels that can better withstand physiological and mechanical demands and provide a more controlled environment for drug and nutrient delivery. The scaffolds will provide a three-dimensional structure for tissue growth and the hydrogels will be used to deliver drugs and growth factors. The combination of the two materials can then be utilized to reconstruct healthy, simulated tissue on deficient applicants, reducing the pain and mobility impairment associated with osteoarthritis at a lower cost.

Cell & Tissue Engineering, Cancer (Immuno Oncology), IF Imaging, Digital Pathology, Immunology, Pharmacology, Bioluminescence, Surgical Imaging Technologies, Medical Technologies

Scaffold-Hydrogel Composite for Cartilage Regeneration in Osteoarthritis Applications

Differences between marketing strategies in the US and India. Sources include reports and publications written about apples success in branding and in developing technology. There may be a comparison of Apple vs. Android devices how this competition may influence Apple's marketing strategies. The channels Apple uses in marketing, and strategies within those channels will be compared. 

Preparation for Pre-Med or STEM Undergraduate studies. Entrepreneurship and Business. Scientific Research. Data Science and Analytics.

Comparison of Apples Marketing Strategies in the US vs. India

My project was on the legacy of Alexander the Great. It goes into great detail how the individuals who inspired him help shape a legacy not seen for thousands of years. Another point which I will be going into is in what sectors he influences like trade, art etc. Finally, I will mention some counterclaims for his "legacy".

History, mythology, maritime studies, piracy, music history, aviation history, women's and gender history.

How did Alexander facilitate Cultural Exchange within the Ancient World?

In recent years, end to end steering prediction has grown into a large area of research. The main method of accomplishing end-to-end steering was to use computer vision models on a live feed of video data. In addition, to increase accuracy, many companies added data from a LiDAR and or radar sensor through use of sensor fusion. However, this comes at a large detriment to the financial cost. In this paper, we address this issue by instead adding CAN bus data through the use of sensor fusion to improve the accuracy when compared to a sole computer vision while keeping the cost relatively similar. To collect the data, we drove a car around with a dashboard mounted camera and a computer hooked up to the OBD-II port. We then trained resnet 50 on the video data and CAN bus data and compared this model to one trained without CAN bus data. The metric we choose for measuring success in our experiment is through the Mean Absolute Error (MAE). When we trained the model without CAN bus data we obtained an MAE of x.xx while the model trained with the CAN bus we got an MAE of y.yy. We were able to break which parts of the CAN bus data had the most effect on the accuracy. We did find that the air pressure had an MAE of z.zz which was intriguing since it was very close to zero. As our results are high with the CAN bus data included, it shows that CAN bus data can improve the accuracy while keeping the same financial costs.


vehicle security, vehicle reliability, cybersecurity, applied machine learning, Computer Science, Operating System Security

Problem: how does accuracy of end-to-end steering prediction of autonomous vehicles change when combining image and CAN bus data?

This paper will try to predict emotions in audio data. The best accuracy achieved was 82%.

Natural Language Processing, Computer Vision, Deep Learning

Emotion Detection in audio data

Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) in which several fluid filled sacs (known as cysts) form in the ovaries. The hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis is responsible for regulating hormonal activity in the reproductive system. A dysregulation in this axis can lead to an imbalance of hormones which results in PCOS. Hormones known to be involved in the etiology of PCOS include the Luteinising hormone (LH) and Follicle Stimulating hormone (FSH) , Insulin and Androgen. There are multiple different methods used to diagnose PCOS including blood tests to detect high levels of androgen in the blood and ultrasounds to identify numerous visible follicles in the ovaries. This paper aims to review the hormone mechanisms that result in PCOS and how these abnormalities can be used to create a diagnosis.

cancer biology, reproductive science, medicine, ovarian biology,

How do hormonal aberrations play a role in the etiology and diagnosis of PCOS?

Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative dual proteinopathy that is traditionally described by a cascade of neuronal death. More recently, however, non-neuronal cells have emerged as key players in AD pathology. Specifically, oligodendrocytes, which are the most prevalent cell type in the CNS, are implicated in dysfunction. My paper proposes a three-pronged model for this oligodendrocyte disruption. Firstly, myelinating oligodendrocytes are disrupted by cytotoxic protein aggregates, which leads to demyelination. Second, oxidative stress inhibits oligodendrocyte precursor cell (OPC) differentiation into mature oligodendrocytes. Lastly, OPC proliferation is significantly decreased, leading to a reduction in population size. Additionally, myelin breakdown facilitates amyloid-beta (Aβ) aggregation, which further causes myelin breakdown. My paper, therefore, proposes a cyclical model for Aβ interaction with myelin as well as potential therapeutic avenues and areas for further investigation.

Neuroscience, Biology, Engineering, Genetics, Data Science

The Emerging Role of Oligodendrocytes in Neurodegenerative Disease

I aim to see how humans have impacted the processes of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi (AMF), through climate change, habitat destruction, and other forms of environmental degradation. I will look at the way that AMF community structure has reacted to human disturbance worldwide using a meta-analysis approach, and put forth various solutions to best positively impact the AMF population sustainably.

Biogeochemistry, geology, environmental science, microbiology, marine biology, ecology, plant ecology, ecosystems ecology

Anthropogenic Disturbance on Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi Community Structure

Vaccines are a biological substance that are used to protect against many viruses. Vaccinations play an important role in public health and society because they prevent the spread of infectious and even deadly diseases. There are many factors that can influence vaccine responses. In this research review, I will be discussing two universal factors that play a role in vaccine efficacy—age and biological sex. Specifically, I will cover how these topics influence public health policies and side effects. By gaining a better understanding of how age and biological sex can affect vaccination, we can improve the effectiveness of vaccine development and reach herd immunity.

structural biology - cryo-electron microscopy; immunology - adaptive immune system, antibodies; virology - HIV, SARS-CoV-2, influenza; protein engineering - vaccine design

How do age and biological sex influence vaccine responses and public health guidelines?

There is much literature, both previous and ongoing, surrounding how the aggregation of amyloid-β can induce cognitive impairment, neuronal loss, and the overall pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease through its interactions with glutamate receptors, microglia, tau proteins, and lipid rafts. Through these mechanisms of action, amyloid-β can induce synaptic dysfunction, neuroinflammation, neurotoxicity, impaired synaptic plasticity, and other issues associated with neurodegeneration in Alzheimer’s disease. Multiple preclinical studies have been conducted to better understand these mechanisms as potential targets for therapeutic intervention. Unfortunately, when tested in clinical trials, drugs targeting amyloid-β have consistently failed. However, there is still hope for various ongoing clinical trials targeted at dissolving amyloid-β deposits and preventing amyloid-β production and aggregation, specifically: passive vaccination, monoclonal antibodies, beta-site amyloid protein cleaving enzyme inhibitors, and 𝛾-secretase inhibitors. Monoclonal antibodies, in particular, have proven to be most promising. This review aims to highlight some of the most novel and recent studies, their implications for the future of the field, the most promising forms of therapeutic intervention, and limitations and future prospects of targeting amyloid-β to slow the progression of Alzheimer’s disease.

Autism spectrum disorders, brain organoids, stem cell biology, fetal and adolescent neurodevelopment, anxiety & depression, medical marijuana, STEM career exploration

Amyloid-β in Alzheimer’s Disease: Effects on Disease Pathogenesis and Recent Advances in Clinical Trials

Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) and Myocardial Infarction (MI) are the leading causes of mortality in the United States. Certain genes have been shown through bioinformatics analysis to be related to CAD and MI, but are not incorporated into USPSTF Guidelines. In this study, we aimed to create a model of diagnosis and prognosis in adult patients with coronary artery disease and myocardial infarction from 10 diverse datasets, and also aimed to identify biological pathways, immune cells, and drugs related to CAD and MI to improve biological understanding of these conditions. Using the R MetaIntegrator Package and multiple datasets including the Gene Expression Omnibus, Library of Integrated Network-Based Cellular Signatures, and Reactome, we analyzed data from 10 datasets and found a high predictive value in predicting patients with either CAD or MI. We also used the gene signatures generated through our original meta-analysis to identify significant biological pathways, which included oncogene induced senescence (p < 0.05) and neutrophil degranulation (p = 0.000275), significant drugs that could be potential treatments for CAD or MI, which included enzalutamide (r = -0.5464015, p = 3.043318e-08, FDR = 3.800495e-05) and ibutilide (r = -0.5209267, p = 1.663780e-07, FDR = 9.198588e-05), and significant immune cells using immune cell deconvolution, which included natural killer cells. We conclude that through these results, we have created a more biologically heterogeneous gene signature and meta-analysis to predict diagnosis and prognosis in patients with CAD and MI, and found new biological pathways, drugs, and immune cells that can be used to improve understanding of the conditions and treat them.

Bioinformatics, AI/ML, Genomics, Statistics

Comprehensive Bioinformatics Meta-Analysis of Coronary Artery Disease and Myocardial Infarction

Arun is investigating the impacts of heat waves and climate change on marine life. Specifically, Arun is interested in studying the impacts of heat waves on three taxonomic groups: invertebrates, marine mammals, and fish. Different topics of impact that might be researched are population levels fluctuating, food web disruptions, thermal disruptions, and habitat loss. These represent a diverse selection of organisms that fill important niches in their respective marine ecosystems. Arun's research is based on scientific literature, and he has read review papers and will begin reading non-review articles. Arun is considering writing a review paper or creating a multi-media final project (such as a documentary).

Ornithology, evolution, ecology, biology, physiology, climate change

How do marine heatwaves affect invertebrates, marine mammals, and fish?

There have been many technological innovations that make it possible to increase the longevity of individuals and change lives. The topic of muscle deterioration and recovery weaves right into the advancing world of medicine and technology. As one ages, the body begins to deteriorate, with many parts of the body losing their full functional capacity. Many of these motor functions include a decline in strength, processing speed, and spatial awareness.**** As an individual ages, the time required for muscle recovery increases, but this topic is infrequently discussed by practitioners in the field. Due to this gap in knowledge, there have been many strategies brought up in recent years to try and slow down the decreasing metabolism and muscle recovery time. The goal of the paper was to find specific nutrients or food groups that mitigates the deterioration of muscle recovery time that occurs with age. Using previous experimental data and clinical trials has been important in studying the effects of aging on muscle recovery and finding an overarching solution. This paper includes results from numerous lab studies and clinical trials to conclude that aging increases oxidative stress and inflammation within the body and the solution to this is to supplement the body with nutrients that trigger an anti-inflammatory response. Effective supplements include proteins, vitamins/antioxidants, and carbohydrates that help ameliorate the slowed recovery time that occurs with aging.**** These findings demonstrate that it is possible to slow down what the body perceives as aging and further advance the field of medicine and technology by showing that nutrients have a greater impact than most perceive. With society's increasing interest in modern diets, a thorough understanding of nutrient supplementation and muscle physiology is crucial for creating a well-balanced nutrition that will promote muscle growth and function.

Human anatomy, human physiology and pathophysiology, technological and pharmacological advancements in medicine, psychology of learning, use of technology in education, and techniques in pencil and digital drawing

How does aging affect muscle recovery time and are there specific nutrients that mitigate the metabolic decline associated with aging in order to enhance muscle recovery?

Utilizing tennis data on shot types as well as other match data for a player, we'll compile the data and use it to train a model to predict success. To be determined is if we want to look at predicting the outcome of a match or how many games a player wins or something else, such as classifying players.

Statistics, Data Visualization, Data Analytics, Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, Natural Language Processing, Public Health

Can tennis shot data predict a single player's success?

How did opinions on nuclear power in the USA change between the 1960s and 1990s? In this paper, I argue that opinions on nuclear power will become more and more split as time goes on due to multiple incidents. Most supporters of nuclear power will tend to align with a certain political group, and most people against nuclear power will tend to align with an opposing political group. Nuclear power is defined as energy generated via use of the nucleus of an atom, either by splitting them apart (fission) or fusing them together (fusion). Nuclear power generates little to no pollution, it is incredibly long-lasting, it is very efficient, and it is cheaper long-term. However, it also has some drawbacks: it generates radioactive waste and it is a possible target for terrorism. Infrastructure for nuclear power is very costly and also time consuming to construct. Incidents regarding nuclear power—like Chernobyl and Three Mile Island—can have catastrophic consequences, and nuclear power takes far more maintenance than other power sources. Opinions on these issues will likely be affected by partisanship and political ideology. To conduct my research, I am going to utilize sources such as news articles, encyclopedia articles, scientific magazines, public polls, journal articles, and informational videos. Additionally, I plan to use archival research such as nuclear power diagrams, government policies surrounding nuclear power, and narratives from the survivors of nuclear incidents such as Chernobyl to explain the split in opinions on nuclear policy. This paper combines approaches from public policy, political behavior, and history.

Ethics and Public Policy; Political Theory; American Politics; Law

How did opinions on nuclear power in the USA change between the 1960s and 1990s?

Transracial adoption, which is commonly understood as the adoption of a child of a different race than their adopted parents, has been researched thoroughly in the context of international adoption, but little research has been conducted to investigate transracial adoptees’ experiences with their adoptive families. To understand more about transracial adoptees’ identity formation and create more ways to assess the adoption adjustment process, it is important to explore the factors that cause possible struggles in forming transracial adoptees’ identities. Using two films– Abandoned Adopted Here and Approved for Adoption – which center around the lived experiences of East Asian transracial adoptees, I explored the potential consequences on identity formation that transracial adoptees pose. This paper examines themes of “cultural frankensteins,” and the formation of cultural identity. In addition, this paper expands current understandings of the transracial adoptees’ experiences and potential struggles many transracial adoptees may face in everyday life regarding identity.

Sociology, Education, Social Psychology

Transracial East Asian Adoptees: Navigating Identity as Cultural Frankensteins

Given the recent economic recession in the United States following the COVID pandemic, different income brackets have their spending habits and financial instruments impacted in different manners. A change in the financial services needed and utilized by each income bracket during the recessionary period could be a potential outcome. My research aims to analyze the effects of an economic recession on the financial services used by low-income clients of Cash Republic, a financial technology firm that provides low-income individuals with a wide array of financial services. The target study group, "low-income", and the bracket that we aim to analyze among Cash Republic clients is clearly defined (to be determined). A survey of the study group to determine their financial service needs in a recessionary environment was performed. The survey contained a comprehensive list of services potentially consumed by the target group including checking accounts, debit and credit cards, prepaid cards, personal loans, auto loans, auto insurance, and international money transfer, allowing the respondents to select their demand and current use of each of the above services, and how these have changed . The survey allowed respondents to fill in demographic information along with the aforementioned information.

Economics, Math, Social Science, Performing Arts/Athletics

How does economic recession in the United States alter the financial services utilized and demanded by low-income migrant populations, studied through Cash Republic customers?

Ancient history, Projects that apply a wide array of systems engineering concepts, Visualization research, Company valuations, Optimization of supply chains, Projects that apply a broad usage of financial and or engineering concepts

The student will perform a systematic review to assess the efficacy of cannabinoids as a treatment for epilepsy. He will design a PICO question which will guide his review. While there has been one similar systematic review before, it was published over five years ago, with the research rapidly developing since then. This project will leverage the student's passions for neuroscience and epilepsy. It will provide insight on the risks and benefits of treating epilepsy with an increasingly popular treatment option. 

Increasing Value in Healthcare, Health Innovation, Public Speaking, Medicine, Health Disparities, Molecular Biology

The Evidence for Cannibinoids as a Treatment for Epilepsy 

The literature review will detail the history of the Atlantic cod fishery, cascading impacts to the surrounding ecosystem as a result of Atlantic cod population decline, and recommendations for effective management strategies to preserve current populations and rebuild future ones.

Conservation, biology, ecology and evolution, climate change and sustainability, genomics and genetics, science writing, fiction and non-fiction writing

Meet Polygence Scholars and explore their projects