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.
Cover crops (CC) improve soil quality, including soil microbial enzymatic activities and soil chemical parameters. Scientific studies conducted in research centers have shown positive effects of CC on soil enzymatic activities; however, studies conducted in farmer fields are lacking in the literature. The objective of this study was to quantify CC effects on soil microbial enzymatic activities (β-glucosidase, β-glucosaminidase, fluorescein diacetate hydrolase, and dehydrogenase) under a corn (Zea mays L.)–soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) rotation. The study was conducted in 2016 and 2018 in Chariton County, Missouri, where CC were first established in 2012. All tested soil enzyme levels were significantly different between 2016 and 2018
... Show MoreIn the resent years, there is a robust scientific interest in discovery of new anti-septic and anti-oxidant naturally products with no/or limited side effects. The current study aimed to investigate the protective role of the quercetin on inflammations induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in male mice A number of criteria included i.e. liver and spleen index and IL-6 and IL1-β cytokines level in spleen homogenate were considered. Sixty male mice (8-9 week age) was divided into six groups and treated for 5 days as the following: the first group represented control, the second and third group were injected with 5, 10 mg/kg b.w doses of quercetin respectively. While the fourth and fifth groups were co-treatment with (5, 10 mg/kg b.w.) intraper
... Show MoreRicinus communis L. is an important medical plant hence it contains many active compounds. The aim of this research is to study the effect of plant growth regulators on callus induction and Rutin concentration. A combination of Benzyle adenine (BA) and Indol Acetic acid (IAA) at (0.0,1.0,2.0) mg/L was added to the media, the highest fresh weight of the induced callus from stem explant was (4.97) gr . at (1.0,1.0) mg/L BA and IAA consenquently the same combination gave the highest dry weight of callus (0.42) gr. while the combination at (2.0,1.0) mg/L BA and IAA gave the highest fresh weight of induced callus from Leaves explant (5.28) gr., then (2.0,1.0) mg/L BA and IAA gave the highest dry weight for callus induced from leaves at (0.55
... Show MoreThis study was conducted at the poultry farm of the Department of Animal Production/College of Agriculture/University of Baghdad/Abu Ghraib, on 252 birds (180 females and 72 males). This study aims to observe the effect of melatonin implantation and exposure to different light colors and their interaction on characteristics of fertility and hatching of local Iraqi chickens. The birds were divided into three sections (white, red and green) each section contains two lines, one of which has been planted melatonin under the skin of the neck of birds and the other has not been planted hormones. The results showed that melatonin implantation and exposure to different light colors did not significantly affect the hatching rate of fertilized eggs a
... Show MoreIn this study forty mature albino rats were used wich were randomly divided into five groups ,four groups were adminstrated Phoenix dactylifera pollen grains suspension at concertenrations (18,54,108,and 216)mg/ kg body weight by oral administration while the fifth group was considered as a control group.Experiment continued for 40 days then rats were sacrificed and samples of blood were collected for determination of some biochemical parameters (total protein ,total cholesterol ,LDLc and HDLc).Testis were removed for preparation histological sections to measures the diameters of seminferous tubules ,thickness of seminiferous epithelium and the numbers of spermatogenic cells.
... Show MoreThe current study included the separation of three alkaloid compounds from Anastatica Hierochuntica and studied the effect of the these compounds on cancerous cells , specifically liver cancer it was found that compound number one is the most influential or inhibiting at 50 percent followed by compound number three when using concentration of 400 μg/mL.
This study was carried out in Plant Tissue Culture Labs, College of Agricultural Engineering Sciences, University of Baghdad from November 2018 to June 2019. Fresh stem cuttings, 5 cm long were selected from 6-month old C-35 Citrange rootstock. Five concentrations of BA (0, 1, 1.5, 2 and 2.5 mg.L-1) were studied and addition of meta-Topolin (mT) at four concentrations (0, 1, 5 and 10 mg.L-1) was also studied to find out its effect individually on shoot number and shoot length in multiplication stage. Rooting media supplemented with four concentrations of IBA (0, 1, 2 and 3 mg.L-1) was also studied to find out its effect on rooting percentage, root number and root length. Results showed that BA as concentration of 2.5mg.L-1 significantly gav
... Show MoreWhen the number of confirmed coronavirus disease cases rose in Iraq in the middle of February 2021, the Iraqi government performed a closure approach to constrain mobility and factory operations and enforce social distancing. In this research, the concentrations of air components (PM2.5, PM10, nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and ozone (O3)), which represent herein the degree of air quality index, were recorded, drawn and evaluated over central (Baghdad, the capital), northern (Kirkuk Province) and southern (Basra Province) Iraq before and during the closure. The experimental duration of this research was 6 months (from 1 January 2021 to 30 June 2021), which
... Show MoreVehicular Ad Hoc Networks (VANETs) are integral to Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), enabling real-time communication between vehicles and infrastructure to enhance traffic flow, road safety, and passenger experience. However, the open and dynamic nature of VANETs presents significant privacy and security challenges, including data eavesdropping, message manipulation, and unauthorized access. This study addresses these concerns by leveraging advancements in Fog Computing (FC), which offers lowlatency, distributed data processing near-end devices to enhance the resilience and security of VANET communications. The paper comprehensively analyzes the security frameworks for fog-enabled VANETs, introducing a novel taxonomy that c
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