United States

Portable prototype design of a mid-infrared laser-based methane sensor Andrew Horne, Yvens Louis, Abdullah Al-Rubaye, Marwan Rasamny and Mohammad A. Khan Division of Physics, Engineering, Mathematics, and Computer Science Optical Center for Applied Research, Delaware State University, Dover, DE It is estimated that about 60 percent of total global methane emissions are from anthropogenic sources and about 40 percent from natural sources. Anthropogenic sources encompass a wide range of human activities, including food and energy production and waste disposal. Atmospheric methane, a greenhouse gas, is 25 times more effective at trapping heat than carbon dioxide. This project aims to enhance our understanding of spatiotemporal profiles of methane concentrations in the state of Delaware. To this end, we show the portability and performance of a mid-infrared laser-based prototype methane sensor that is field deployable at multiple sites across the state. We will also investigate the impact of thermal effects on molecular density due to sensors surface effects using a combination of a 2D-sonic anemometer and a thermal anemometer. During the calibration of the sensor purged using 1790 ppbv of certified methane, the current signal-to-noise ratio is 12 that accounts for a 180 ppbv detection limit at 1-second averaging timescales. Funder Acknowledgement: We acknowledge the Optical Science Center for Applied Research (OSCAR), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA MIRO grant # NNX15AP84A). We also acknowledge support from NSF grant 2011728, and, Department of Defense grant (ARO) W911NF-20-1-0316.

DSU Summer Research Symposium 2021

Portable prototype design of a mid-infrared laser-based methane sensor

We are pleased to announce the Fortieth AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence (AAAI-26), which will be held in Singapore EXPO from January 20 to January 27, 2026.

The purpose of the AAAI conference series is to promote research in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and foster scientific exchange between researchers, practitioners, scientists, students, and engineers across the entirety of AI and its affiliated disciplines. AAAI-26 will feature technical paper presentations, special tracks, invited speakers, workshops, tutorials, poster sessions, senior member presentations, competitions, and exhibit programs, and a range of other activities to be announced.

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AAAI 2026

We are pleased to announce the Fortieth AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence (AAAI-26), which will be held in Singapore EXPO from January 20 to January 27, 2026.

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Welcome to Delaware State University’s Annual Summer Research Symposium, and thank you for attending! Our symposium represents the culmination of students’ summer experiences in research at Delaware State University. This event showcases the work of college students working on faculty-led research projects, as well as middle and high school students experiencing research for the first time working in research groups. Whatever the case, this summer has been a unique experience for the students, and we hope a transformative one. Even for students who are not planning a career in scientific research, their summer experience has given them skills they will draw on for years to come. 
 Please join us on the mainstage and in Gather for the live event, and visit the recorded poster presentations any time.
 The student participants and organizers of the various summer programs at DSU would like to thank all of the research mentors who guided our summer program participants. There were many DSU faculty, graduate students, and other research and program staff who gave their time and energy to help our students have a fun and educational summer experience. Without their generosity and patience these summer programs would not be possible.
 For the research participants, we hope that you will maintain contact with your research mentors and colleagues. Science is a relatively small community made up of disciplinary “neighborhoods”. If you continue to work in a discipline, the other folks in that discipline will be like your neighbors that you run into regularly. Staying in contact with them will help you keep up with the news of the neighborhood, and open doors to educational and career opportunities. Whether you continue in science or take a different career path, for this summer you have been part of the world of research, and you will benefit from that perspective for the rest of your life.

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Welcome to Delaware State University’s Annual Summer Research Symposium, and thank you for attending!

Detection of Toxoplasma gondii in Meat Goats at Hickory Hill Farm Odell Ozbay1 , Mariline Hilaire2 , Kwame Matthews, Ph.D.2 1 Smyrna High School, Smyrna DE 19938 2Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Delaware State University, Dover, DE 19901 Toxoplasma gondii is a parasitic protozoan found in animals and is the cause of the infection known toxoplasmosis. Toxoplasmosis is highly transmissible and affects a variety of animals from birds to cattle, sheep, goats and even humans. This disease causes symptoms such as blindness, abortion, mumification, pneumonia, severe body pain, headache, and damage to the nervous system. It is important to detect T. gondii early on so it can be treated or controlled to reduce farm production losses. The goal of this project was to test for Toxoplasma gondii in goats found on Delaware State University’s Hickory Hill farm. To identify T. gondii, whole blood samples were collected individual from 15 goats and the white blood cells separated from red blood cells, isolated and stored at –80 oC. Secondly, deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) was extracted from the white blood cells of each goat to conduct polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Thirdly, PCR was conducted using a surface antigen one (SAG-1) gene specific forward and reverse primer to amplify the T. gondii gene. Lastly, gel electrophoresis was conducted to separate the gene of interest by size and allow for visualization under UV light. Data indicated that none of the 15 goats tested were positive for T. gondii as the SAG-1 gene was not present. Under the conditions of this study, it can be concluded that PCR was an accurate method for the detection of T. gondii parasites and none of the goats tested were positive for the parasite. Keywords: Toxoplasma gondii, goat, abortion, white blood cell, PCR, SAG-1 gene Acknowledgements: We acknowledge CIBER Center for funding my internship and the Project Director, Dr. Venu Kalavacharla for providing this internship opportunity. Additionally, we acknowledge the Northeast Sustainable Agriculture, Research and Education Partnership Grant for funding the supplies used for this project.

Detection of Toxoplasma gondii in meat goats at Hickory Hill Farm

We report the thermoelectric properties of 2-dimensional (2D) materials. 2D materials are materials that have width and length but they are single or a few layers thick. Their thermoelectric properties are determined by their efficacy in converting heat into electricity. In this report, we studied the thermoelectric properties of graphene, transition metal dichalcogenides, hexagonal boron nitride, phospherene, stanene, and germanene. Different atomic structures of each material were observed and ranked based on compatibility with thermoelectricity. Thermal conductivity and electrical conductivity are also observed separately in each material and compared. High thermal conductivity in materials reduces thermoelectric conductivity of materials. High electrical conductivity improves thermoelectric conductivity. Some materials demonstrate extremities of both forms of conductivity, and others contain a disproportionate amount of either form of conductivity. An ideal material for thermoelectricity contains low ther

Thermoelectric Properties of 2 Dimensional Materials

Gestational age (GA), period of time between conception and birth, is directly related with fetal maturity at birth. There is a developmental sequence of organ systems and functions in utero. Therefore, children born at different GAs generally possess varying health status at birth and later in life. Both pre-term (GA < 37 weeks) and post-term (GA ≥ 42 weeks) births have been reported to be associated with elevated prevalence of adverse health outcomes affecting organ systems and functional domains. Many studies investigated prevalence of specific diseases over gestational terms. No published studies examined how different GA terms are associated with any kind of diseases. In this study, we have investigated the prevalence of diseases (ICD 9 code-based individual- and group-health conditions) during the first 5 years of life over GA categories. We have used electronic health records to retrospectively follow the first five years of life of 2772 children who made clinic visits to Nemours Children Health Systems. A total of 2007 unique diseases occurred during the first five years of 2772 children. More commonly occurred (>100) disease conditions were selected for formal examination. We have identified diseases with varying prevalence over GA categories. Findings of the study could be informative for streamlining the resources of public health surveillance and prevention services targeting those who most need it.

Association of gestational age (GA) and early childhood diseases

Clean water is essential to life on earth. An average person uses 80-100 gallons of water each day. However, much of the earth is covered by salty and even polluted water. Water remediation becomes important in preparing fresh and potable water. It ensures access to clean water and avoids contamination of rivers and seas. Water filtration is an important step in the water remediation process. In this middle school science project, under the supervision of Dr. Kimberly Milligan, students build a water filter using common household items. Different filter materials are tested for the filtering quality.

DIY Water Filter

In the age of the COIVD-19 pandemic, a newfound importance has been placed on washing your hands . People use their hands to interact with the environment and their bodies. This leads to circumstances in which people can easily transfer bacteria from common surfaces to their eyes, mouths, noses and become sick. If people knew what kinds of bacteria are present on common surfaces, they would become more mindful of washing their hands more regularly. We cultured bacteria from various common surfaces and identified the bacteria found on them.

What’s That on Your Hand?: A Bacterial Scavenger Hunt to Identify Microbes on Common Surfaces

Chitosan, one of the most abundant biopolymers in nature, is derived from the exoskeleton of crustaceans such as crabs, shrimp, and lobsters as well as yeast and fungal walls of algae. Water is one of the world's foremost environmental stress concerns. Chitosan nanoparticles have functioned as novel sorbents in eliminating an array of aqueous pollutants and contaminants, including ionic metals and organic/inorganic pollutants from wastewater. In this study, students from Dover, Delaware Middle Schools prepared chitosan nanoparticles via ionotropic gelation at various chitosan concentrations to determine the efficacy of removing E.coli from wastewaters received from the Wilmington Wastewater Facility in Wilmington, DE.

Toilet to Tap: Using Chitosan Nanoparticles to Remove Bacteria from Wastewater

My research was about NV centers and the noise that forms on the service. We did research to get a better understanding of the noise. I learned that the surface roughness is bad the NV centers sensing . There are also different causes that produces surface roughness. I was assigned to research how Charge Density/ Trapped Charges causes noise. For future research we plan on using time dependent trapped charge density formal and noise spectrum equation to calculate the noise in surface.

Noise in Nitrogen-Vacency Centers Surface

Alkali atoms, like rubidium (Rb) are used in precision measurements of physical quantities such as time, electromagnetic field, rotation and acceleration etc. In my experiment, I have used two different spectroscopic techniques to study various possible optical transitions resulting from laser excitation in a rubidium cell containing a mixture of 85Rb and 87Rb isotopes. The two methods used were saturated absorption spectroscopy (SAS) and dichroic atomic vapor spectroscopy (DAVS). A pump-probe technique is used in SAS to obtain Doppler-free SAS spectra. A high magnetic field is applied along the cell axis to obtain the Doppler-broadened DAVS spectrum. In both cases, we have identified the spectral signatures of 85Rb and 87Rb isotopes. This study helps us in understanding the atomic structure of rubidium, and the effect of atomic motion on the spectra

The Doppler-Free and Doppler-Broadened Atomic Spectroscopy in Rubidium Vapor

Surface roughness noise of nitrogen vacancy center

Common Bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) provides protein, complex carbohydrates, and other valuable nutrients for more than 300 million people in the tropics and around the world. Common bean is particularly known for its ability to provide fiber, with some studies showing that it aids in the lowering of blood sugar. It is also used as a model species for more complex plant species, as it is easy to grow and make genetic crosses for studying gene linkage. In this project, the goal was to identify if there was a significant difference in the quality and quantity of DNA isolated from fresh versus frozen leaf tissue. Fresh, young, trifoliate leaves were directly collected from newly grown common bean plants for DNA isolation using CTAB (Cetyltrimethylammonium bromide) buffer to help break down leaf tissue. The same procedure was used with common bean leaf tissue that had been stored in the -80 degrees deep freezer for more than five years. Differences in color, texture, and ease of grinding the leaf tissues were some physiological comparisons identified between fresh and frozen tissue. Both isolated DNA were run on a gel electrophoresis to visualize results. Of two fresh and frozen samples each, the results indicate that the frozen samples were more concentrated by visualization as well as quantification with a Nanodrop. Ultimately, the frozen tissue provided higher concentrations of DNA. Keywords: Common bean, DNA, CTAB, Gel Electrophoresis, Nanodrop Acknowledgements: We acknowledge USDA NIFA Capacity Building Grant Awards# 2016-06642 and 2016-06476 for funding my internship and the project as part of the student experiential learning goal and the Project Director, Dr. Gulnihal Ozbay for providing this internship opportunity.

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Detection of Toxoplasma gondii in meat goats at Hickory Hill Farm

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