The impact of undergraduate research experiences on students' academic development and retention in STEM fields is significant. Students' success in STEM fields is based on developing strong research and critical thinking skills that make it essential for students to engage in research activities throughout their academic programs. This work evaluates the effectiveness of undergraduate research experiences with respect to its influence on student retention and academic development. The cases presented are based on years of experience implementing undergraduate research programs in various STEM fields at Colorado State University Pueblo (CSU Pueblo) funded by HSI STEM Grants. The study seeks to establish a correlation between students' retention rates and academic development and students' involvement in undergraduate research experiences and programs during their academic journey. The work also delves into different mentoring approaches, including group-based and mentoring by individual faculty. This study provides the engineering and STEM education community with a deeper understanding of the advantages of undergraduate research experiences in enriching STEM and mentoring practices that can increase students' participation and mold their academic and professional character.
Background: Alum has been used as a treatment medication in cases of oral and gingival ulcers, and also as antiseptic mouthwash. This study aimed to examine the effects of different concentrations of Alum on inhibition zone, viability counts and adherence ability of Mutans streptococci compared with deionized water and chlorhexidine gluconate in vitro. Materials and methods: The study dealt with an in vitro study to establish a concentration of Alum mouthrinse that would have the minimum inhibitory concentration and minimum bacteriocidal concentration. The second part evaluated the anti-adherence ability of the experimental agents. Results: This study found that the antibacterial effect of Alum increases with its concentration from 50 to 1
... Show MoreThe Karolinka earth-fill dam was constructed between 1977 and 1984 on the Stanovnice river above the town of Karolinka in the region of Vsetínsko in Czech Republic. Because of leakage on the downstream dam face due to technological indiscipline when filling dam layers during the dam construction stage, there were some steps to improve state dam safety. The final rehabilitation is to construct the diaphragm walls from self-hardening cement-bentonite suspension along the length of the dam. In addition to connecting the gallery and abutment (2 × 25 m long) by using jet piles. The article presents numerical modeling of safety factor evaluation associated with the state of the dam body and foundation; before, and after seal
... Show MoreThe tunnel’s stability during construction is a very important matter. Some methods have been proposed for stability evaluation, but the hazard warning levels (HWLs) are more applicable among these methods. Despite monitoring and applying HWLs, several collapses in Shibli twin tunnels in Iran have cast doubts on the accuracy of this criterion in the presence of water. In this study, the critical strains under different water contents were measured through uniaxial compressive strength tests on 11 different shale and marl samples. A comparison of laboratory tests and numerical results shows that the influence of the moisture content on the critical strain is negligible. In addition, the results show that there is no dir
... Show MoreSoil is considered one of the main factors of subsidence phenomena which
became continually happen in Baghdad (Ghazalia, Ameria, and Hay al-Amyl)
causing bad effects as shortage of drinking water, traffic jam and formation
swamps.
This thesis depends on soil study to a depth 15 meters, due to its
importance in subsidence. This done through specifying its chemical physical
properties.
Soil within Iraq climate, in case of water stopping for any reason it contract
and shrink away especially when it exposed to high pressure these factors
finally caused subsidence. In case of leakage underground water or that of
damaged water pipes this will contribute to chemical reactions which damage soil
structure and incr
In this work semi–empirical method (PM3) calculations are carried out by (MOPAC) computational packages have been employed to calculate the molecular orbital's energies for some organic pollutants. The long– chain quaternary ammonium cations called Iraqi Clays (Bentonite – modified) are used to remove these organic pollutants from water, by adding a small cationic surfactant so as to result in floes which are agglomerates of organobentonite to remove organic pollutants. This calculation which suggests the best surface active material, can be used to modify the adsorption efficiency of aniline , phenol, phenol deriviatives, Tri methyl glycine, ester and pecticides , on Iraqi Clay (bentonite) by comparing the theoretical results w
... Show MorePVA, Starch/PVA, and Starch/PVA/sugar samples of different
concentrations (10, 20, 30 and 40 % wt/wt) were prepared by casting
method. DSC analysis was carried; the results showed only one glass
transition temperature (Tg) for the samples involved, which suggest
that starch/PVA and starch/PVA/sugar blends are miscible. The
miscibility is attributed to the hydrogen bonds between PVA and
starch. This is in a good agreement with (FTIR) results. Tg and Tm
decrease with starch and sugar content compared with that for
(PVA). Systematic decrease in ultimate strength, due to starch and
sugar ratio increase, is attributed to (PVA), which has more hydroxyl
groups that made its ultimate strength higher than that for
Background: Apicoectomy and retrograde filling is indicated when conventional endodontic treatment is impossible or failed to achieve apical seal. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of ER: YAG laser on apical microleakage. Materials and Methods: Sixty extracted single-rooted teeth were used in this study. The roots were divided into six groups. Group 1: apicoectomy by fissure bur, and apical cavities prepared by round bur, then cavities were filled with MTA. Group 2: the roots preparations and fillings were the same as group 1, then the apical areas were treated by Er:YAG Laser. Group 3: apicoectomy by fissure bur, and apical cavities prepared by ultrasound retrotip and cavities were filled with MTA. Group 4: the roots prepara
... Show MoreSpent catalysts for sulfuric acid production have large amount of vanadium and due to environmental authority it is required to reduce the vanadium contain of the spent catalyst. Experimental investigation was conducted to study the vanadium recovery from spent catalyst via leaching process using sodium hydroxide to study the effect of process variables (temperatures, sodium hydroxide molarities, leaching time and particle size) on vanadium recovery. The effect of process variables (temperature, particle size,molarities of sodium hydroxide and leaching time) on the percentages of vanadium recovery were investigated and discussed .It was found that the percentage of vanadium recovery increased with increasing temperature up to 100 , incre
... Show MoreFlaxseed from the flax plant (Linum usitatissimum), which has been cultivated for domestic use since prehistoric times. This study aims to investigate presence of antibacterial effect of flaxseed extract against selected oral pathogen in-vitro.