Student Presentations - 2006 TAMUS Pathways Student Research Symposium
Monty Young. "Comparative Advantage of U.S. Upland Cotton Production in 2000-2005"
Graduate Student; College of Agriculture. Mentors: Dr. Mark Yu and Dr. Frank Ewell
In the United States, there are seventeen states that produce cotton. The production practices and advantages in these states vary greatly. There are significant differences in yield and production costs. Many factors, such as weather, water, soil, input costs, etc., have effects on disparities among different regions. The primary objective of this study is to evaluate the comparative advantage of upland cotton production in different states within the U.S. from 2000-2005. This study will quantify the comparative advantage of upland cotton production by comparing different states in the U.S. using three different indices: Efficiency Advantage Indices (EAI), Scale Advantage Indices (SAI) and Aggregate Advantage Indices (AAI). Expected results are that the study will reveal the changes in efficiency, scale, and overall advantages among states in upland cotton production in 2000-2005. This will help to understand the performance and advantages of cotton production in different regions.
Prashant Amatya. "Economic Analysis of Optimal Nitrogen Application in U.S. Corn Production"
Graduate Student; College of Agriculture. Mentors: Dr. Mark Yu and Dr. Frank Ewell
Identifying crop fertilizer-output relationship is an important tool for determining optimal rate of fertilization and profit maximization level for producers. Proper nutrient management also minimizes environmental degradation. A mathematical model will be used to forecast the production relationship. Project objectives include (1) to estimate the maximum potential yield of corn, (2) to estimate economically optimal rate of nutrient fertilization, and (3) to evaluate sensitivity for optimal rates of nitrogen fertilization and the profit for changes in input-output price. An empirical production function will be estimated by using 33 years of corn production data from the U.S. corn belt. The optimal level of nitrogen fertilization is obtained by maximizing the profit function based on current input-output price ratio. The result indicates current level of corn production in the U.S. corn belt is below the optimal. Increasing the present level of nitrogen use from 143.22 to 153.35 lbs/acre can improve profit level.
Andrew Foote. "Effect of Carbohydrate and Protein Supplements on Ruminal In Situ Disappearance of Coastal Bermuda-Grass Hay in Goats"
Undergraduate Student; College of Agriculture. Mentor: Dr. Barry Lambert
Research indicates that carbohydrate (CHO) and/or protein (PRO) supplements can increase digestibility and feed intake by cattle on forage-based diets. Limited information is available that explains the effect of supplements on goats consuming Coastal Bermuda-grass hay (CO). The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of CHO and PRO supplements on ruminal degradation of dry matter (DM) and fiber (ADF and NDF fractions) in goats consuming CO. Four ruminally cannulated goats were used in a 4x4 Latin Square design. Treatments, consisting of starch (o.15% BW), dextrose (0.15% BW) or casein (0.122% BW) were administered into the rumen daily. In situ samples are being analyzed for DM and fiber disappearance after 0, 2, 4, 8, 16, 24, 48 and 72 hours of ruminal incubation. The experiment is ongoing.
Beatrix Haggard, Amanda McWhirt and Amber Wooten. "Correlation of X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) Spectrometry and Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-AES) for Elemental Determination in Composted Products"
Undergraduate Students; College of Agriculture. Mentor: Dr. David Weindorf
Though the benefits of compost are widely recognized, methodologies for elemental determination set forth in Test Methods for the Examination of Composts and Composting (TMECC) frequently employ the use of inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES). This technique is highly accurate, but extensive laboratory preparatory work (digestions, filtration, etc.) is required. With the advent of field portable x-ray fluorescence (XRF) technology, elemental determinations now are possible in the field. The application of this technology has been studied for use in metallurgy, soil science, etc. However, little work has been done to ascertain the potential uses of XRF in compost analysis. To that end, 75 compost samples were collected and analyzed with ICP-AES and field-portable XRF technology. The authors hypothesize that the XRF-ICP correlation will be strong for heavy metals below EPA-mandated environmental thresholds, but that lighter elements (plant essential nutrients) will show a less robust correlation.
Aju Jayapalan. "Shannon Weiner Index Applied to Mutual Funds"
Graduate Student. Mentors: Dr. Sankar Sundarrajan and Ms. Credence Baker
A Mutual Fund is a form of collective investment managed by professionals who purchase a diverse portfolio of investments with the money received from many people. Investing in a mutual fund gives the investor an interest in a wide range of stocks, bonds and other investments. The diverse nature of funds and the large number of holdings help to reduce the risk. The Shannon Weiner index is a summary statistic commonly used to measure and compare diversity between different species of nature. Its results are a value of diversity based on the presence and abundance of species. In this research study, we apply the Shannon Weiner method of measuring diversity to mutual funds. The result obtained by this method will allow the investor to view a graphical comparison of the diversity of different mutual funds.
Geiby George. "Performance of Foreign Investments - Dollar Cost Averaging Approach"
Graduate Student; College of Business. Mentor: Dr. Sankar Sundarrajan
Huge trade and budget deficits have turned the United States from a creditor to a debtor nation in the last ten years. The U.S. now is running current account deficits that exceed about 800 billion dollars. These trade deficits are expected to grow in coming years which in turn will allow for more U.S. assets to be held by foreign investors. This will put pressure on the U.S. dollar in years to come. With the growth of the Euro, foreign central banks are likely to shift more of their reserves from dollar to Euro denominated assets. This is likely to hurt the U.S. dollar with respect to other currencies in the coming years. Expansions in technology and globalization have made it easier for individuals to hold foreign assets in their portfolio. The pace of globalization and reduced transaction costs have allowed U.S. investors to hold foreign stocks for return and diversification processes. In this study, we look at how investments would help U.S. investors in various foreign markets through various vehicles like major mutual funds, index funds, etc. We use the technique of dollar cost averaging to determine how the investments in various foreign markets would have performed in comparison to U.S. investments.
Jose Camacho-Rivas. "Determinants of Uncompensated Health Care Costs in Micropolitan Counties of Texas"
Graduate Student; College of Business. Mentor: Dr. Hussain Jafri.
The United States spends $1.6 trillion or 14% of GDP on health care on an annual basis -- more than any country in the world. Yet 47 million or 16% of the U.S. population have no access to healthcare. In 2004, Texas hospitals incurred $9.2 billion in uncompensated costs representing 10% of the gross patient revenue. This study identifies and tests the statistical significance of the determinants of uncompensated health-care costs in the Micropolitan counties (less than 50,000 in population) of Texas. The possible list of determinants include per-capita income, poverty levels, unemployment rates, percentage of foreign-born and Hispanics, distance from the Mexican border, and the percentage of uninsured. Hospital data is obtained from the Texas Department of Health and the county-level data is derived from various files from the Bureau of the Census. Based on our results, we will suggest public policies to minimize the burden on hospitals and care givers.
Wei-Chih Tung. "Measuring User Satisfaction with the Smart Board Technology System."
Graduate Student; College of Business. Mentor: Dr. Stuart Warnock.
Measuring user satisfaction is one of the best ways to assess the success of an information technology system. Customer relationship management focuses on meeting customer expectations. In higher education, faculty and students are both customers, and their satisfaction is a good indicator of instructional technology system success. This paper examines the success of installing the Smart Board Technology System (SBTS) in a number of classrooms/labs in a College of Agriculture and Human Sciences at a medium size public university in the Southwest United States. Following formal training and use of the SBTS for a semester, user satisfaction with the SBTS was measured focusing on two constructs: (1) user satisfaction with the SBTS and (2) user satisfaction with training effectiveness. According to the results, faculty users are satisfied with the SBTS. Faculty users were positive in their reaction to training, but neither satisfied nor dissatisfied with skills gained through training.
Mahendra Arun. "Behavior-Based Robotics: A Wall-Following Behavior."
Undergraduate Student; Department of Computer Science.
Mentor: Dr. Mircea Agapie.
One of the most important areas of research in robotics is the emergence of complex behaviors from simpler ones. A robotic behavior of level of complexity N is designed in two steps: first it is decomposed into modules, which are simpler behaviors on level N-1. Then a control algorithm is designed which decides which lower level behavior is active at any given time. We develop a "wall following" behavior for the ActivMedia AmigoBot according to the general process described above. The novelty of our work is twofold: we mix traditional, threshold-based behaviors with behaviors "borrowed" from systems theory (the PID controller) and we include history as another input to the control algorithm. This provides a solution to the classical problem of aliasing and gives robustness to the emergent behavior, as proved by testing in various scenarios, using a simulator as well as the real robot.
Christopher Burress, Jerrod Hancock, and Jason Schulze. "A Study of the Effects of Internal Mold Release Agents on the Processing of Glass Reinforced Pultruded Products."
Undergraduate Students; Department of Manufacturing Engineering.
Mentor: Mr. Tom Smith
Internal mold release agents are added to resin formulations to reduce the pull force required to process pultruded composites. Recent research has shown the necessity of studying the effects of the internal mold release agents on other processing characteristics and mechanical properties of the finished product. For this study, pull force, resin kinetics, resin viscosity, paint adhesion, surface appearance and mechanical properties will be experimentally evaluated. The resin system will be an Isophthalic polyester resin with kaolin clay filler, low profile additives, Norox 600 initiator and an internal mold release agent. Six different mold release agents will be evaluated. Data for pull force will be obtained using Lab View 8 software and an Omega Engineering load cell.
Sam Kieschnick. "Genetic Diversity of Geomys Breviceps."
Graduate Student; Department of Biology. Mentor: Dr. Philip Sudman
Baird's pocket gopher (Geomys breviceps) is found in central and southeastern Texas eastward into western Louisiana and north into southwestern Arkansas and eastern Oklahoma. A recent study has indicated species-level divergence within this taxon based on analyses of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene. However, these conclusions were tentative due to both limited sample size and limited geographic sampling. Our goal is to examine the nuclear DNA of pocket gophers sampled from throughout the range of G. breviceps using the molecular technique of AFLP (amplified fragment length polymorphisms). We hypothesize that this study will help clarify patterns of genetic divergence across the distribution of G. breviceps and either support or refute the existence of a cryptic species as previously postulated.