UNIVERSIDAD METROPOLITANA (UMET) PROFILE

Transcription

THE
ANA G. MÉNDEZ UNIVERSITY SYSTEM (AGMUS)
AND THE
STUDENT RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT CENTER (SRDC)
AGMUS INSTITUTE OF MATHEMATICS
CARIBBEAN COMPUTING CENTER FOR EXCELLENCE
ARE PROUD TO HOST THE
SPRING 2010 PRE-COLLEGE
RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM
SHOWCASING MINORITY HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS’ MENTORED RESEARCH
Leadership at SUAGM Vice Presidency for Planning and Academic Affairs
Mr. Jorge L. Crespo Armáiz
Vice President for Planning and Academic Affairs
Juan F. Arratia, Ph. D.
Student Research Development Center
Executive Director
CONRAD SAN JUAN CONDADO PLAZA HOTEL
SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO
May 29, 2010
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Table of Contents………………………………………………………………….
2
Ana G. Méndez University System (AGMUS) Profile …………………………..
3
Conference at a Glance ……………………………………………………………
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Message from the Vice President for Planning and Academic Affairs
Mr. Jorge Crespo……………………………………………………………
Message from the Chancellor of Universidad Metropolitana
Dr. Federico Matheu ……………………………………………………….
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Message from the Chancellor of Universidad del Turabo
Dr. Dennis Alicea…………………………………………………………..
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Message from the Chancellor of Universidad del Este
Lic. Alberto Maldonado…………………………………………………….
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Message from the President of the Polytechnic University
Mr. Ernesto Vázquez-Barquet………………………………………………
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Message from the Director and Principal Investigator
Dr. Juan F. Arratia …………………………………………………………
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Prologue……………………………………………………………………………
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Keynote Speakers…………………………………………………………………..
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Research Mentors………………………………………………………………….
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AGMUS Institute of Mathematics…………………………………………………
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Caribbean Computing Center for Excellence (CCCE) Allinace……………………
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Schedule of Events ………………………………………………………………..
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Abstracts:
Biological Sciences………………………………………………………...
Computer Sciences…………………………………………………………
Applied Mathematics………………………………………………………
Atmospheric Sciences………………………………………………………
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Acknowledgments …………………………………………………………………
84
Index of Presenters ………………………………………………………………...
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Ana G. Méndez University System
AGMUS Institute of Mathematics
Caribbean Computing Center for Excellence
MISSION
The Model Institutions for Excellence (MIE) award granted by the National Science Foundation
helped transform Universidad Metropolitana (UMET) into a nationally recognized undergraduate
research institution, and a model in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
Mentoring of undergraduates and pre-college students by research mentors was the cornerstone
of the MIE Project. We believe that creative research is one of the best ways to prepare students
to become persistent and successful in graduate school and professional careers. Today, the
Student Research Development Center (SRDC), which is part of the Ana G. Méndez University
System, is the entity that continues the MIE strategy by impacting students from the AGMUS
and universities across the nation, as well as pre-college students from the Puerto Rico
Educational System. Two NSF grants, the AGMUS Institute of Mathematics and the Caribbean
Computing Center for Excellence are the funding tools to implement the mission of the Student
Research Development Center in Puerto Rico.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Model Institutions for Excellence ended in 2009. It was a cooperative agreement between
the National Science Foundation and UMET. The primary goal of the cooperative agreement was
to increase the number of BS degrees granted to underrepresented students in STEM fields at
Universidad Metropolitana. In order to increase the number of BS degrees transferred to graduate
school, we will continue with the strategy of an early undergraduate research program and
partnership with key research institutions in the US mainland, Puerto Rico and abroad. Research
mentoring will be the central component of the knowledge transfer and creative thinking
activities at AGMUS. Cooperative and collaborative learning strategies, presentations at
scientific conferences, scientific writing and co-authorship, technology literacy, and preparation
for graduate school are activities that are transforming the philosophy of the institution. Now,
with the NSF grants, the AGMUS Institute of Mathematics and the Caribbean Computing Center
for Excellence, the MIE goals are reaching institutions outside the AGMUS campuses in Puerto
Rico and the US Virgin Islands.
GOALS
The main goal of the Pre-College Research Symposium is to: encourage pre-college research
with research mentors; develop students’ written and oral communication skills; provide a forum
in the Caribbean for students to foster interest in undergraduate education, particularly in STEM
fields; and set national research standards for pre-college research presentations.
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ANA G. MENDEZ UNIVERSITY SYSTEM
STUDENT RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT CENTER
AGMUS INSTITUTE OF MATHEMATICS
CARIBBEAN COMPUTING CENTER FOR EXCELLENCE
SPRING 2010 PRE-COLLEGE
RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM
CONFERENCE AT A GLANCE
SATURDAY, MAY 29, 2010
8:00 – 9:00 a.m.
Poster Session Set-Up
Ponce de León Ballroom B
and Ponce de León Foyer
Ponce de León Ballroom A
Ponce de León Foyer
Breakfast
Registration 9:00 – 9:30 a.m.
Opening Ceremony
Keynote Speaker: Dr. Carlos Castillo-Chávez, Arizona State University
9:30 – 11:30 a.m.
Poster Session -
11:30 – 11:45 a.m. Coffee Break
11:45 – 1:15 p.m.
Oral Research Presentations
1:30 – 3:00 p.m.
Lunch
Speaker: Dr. Dave Touretzky, Carnegie Mellon University
2:00 – 4:00p.m.
Session I-Ponce de León Ballroom A
Session II-Ponce de León Ballroom C
Session III-Almendros Conference Room
WORKSHOPS FOR SCIENCE AND MATH TEACHERS
“Mathematics for a Modern Society”
Almendros Conference Room
Dr. Carlos Castillo Chávez, Arizona State University-Tempe, Arizona
2:00 – 4:00p.m.
“Introduction to Robotics Programming”
Horizontes Conference Room
Dr. Dave Touretzky, Carnegie Mellon University-Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
3:00 – 4:00 p.m.
Award Ceremony and Closing Remarks
4:00 p.m.
Symposium Adjourns
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Developing Minds Through
Research Experiences
May 29, 2010
Dear Pre-College Students:
The Spring 2010 Pre-College Research Symposium is the culmination of the activities and dissemination
process of the Saturday Academy Program of the Ana G. Méndez University System (AGMUS). For a
period of four months, since January 2010, all of you, more than one-hundred six pre-college students
from thirty-four private and public high schools in Puerto Rico worked long hours in the research
laboratories of the Departments of Science and Technology at UMET with the guidance and mentorship
of six college professors and student research mentors in ninety-nine research projects in the areas of
biological sciences, applied mathematics, computer sciences and atmospheric sciences.
One of the objectives of the Spring 2010 Pre-College Research Symposium is to offer young motivated
high school researchers the opportunity to learn and to practice their communication skills in a formal
professional scientific meeting. A second objective is to give high school students of Puerto Rico a forum
for the presentation of the results and findings of their research projects to teachers, research mentors,
family members, and the university community at large.
The Ana G. Méndez University and the Student Research Development Center are proud of the results
obtained by the pre-college students and their mentors in the Spring 2010 Saturday Academy Program
and the Spring 2010 Pre-College Research Symposium. I hope your experience inspires you and your
peers to select science, technology, engineering or mathematics as your field of study in the near future.
My sincere appreciation goes to the Student Research Development Center staff, student research mentors
and faculty from Arizona State University, the New Jersey Institute of Technology, and the Spanish
Research Council (CSIC) for their effort and commitment to implement the Spring 2010 Saturday
Academy Program and the Spring 2010 Pre-College Research Symposium. This event would not have
been possible without the ongoing support of the National Science Foundation and the NASA Puerto Rico
Space Grant Consortium.
Sincerely yours,
Juan F. Arratia, Ph. D.
Executive Director and Principal Investigator
PO Box 21150
San Juan, Puerto Rico 00928-1150
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Tel: 787.766.1717 x.6000
Fax: 787.751.5386
Web: http://srdc.suagm.edu
ANA G. MÉNDEZ UNIVERSITY SYSTEM (AGMUS)
As an Educational Institution
The Ana G. Méndez University System (AGMUS) is home to approximately 42,620 undergraduate and graduate students who
are mainly underrepresented low-income minority students from the Metropolitan San Juan area in Puerto Rico. Three
institutions form the AGMUS University System: Universidad Metropolitana (UMET), Universidad del Este (UNE), and
Universidad del Turabo (UT). UMET has been a teaching institution since its foundation in 1948. Today, however, its
philosophy has been changing to address the students’ study needs and the requirements of society. Our President, Dr. José F.
Méndez, has set the agenda to have it become the best undergraduate research institution in Puerto Rico. Additionally, the
President has set the goal to implement the MIE best practices at UNE and UT and transform AGMUS into a leading
undergraduate research institution through the Student Development Center at the Vice Presidency for Planning and Academic
Affairs. The Executive Director of the Student Research Development Center is Dr. Juan F. Arratia, who has set to accomplish
this goal by 2010.
As an Undergraduate Research Institution
In 1995, UMET was selected by the National Science Foundation as a Model Institution for Excellence (MIE) school. At that
time, a five-year Cooperative Agreement for more than $11 million was signed between UMET and the NSF. A second
Cooperative Agreement was signed on October 1, 2000 for an additional three years and for $7.5 million. The third phase of the
MIE grant for $2.5 million for three additional years was awarded on October 1, 2003. The main objective of the relationship
with NSF has been to transform UMET into a model for Hispanic Serving Institutions in the nation. Our major goal has been to
increase the number of BS degrees granted by UMET, to transfer a significant number of science students to graduate school, and
to enroll them in Ph. D. programs to fulfill the goals and aspirations of a greater participation of minorities in the science,
mathematics, and engineering fields. After 13 years of funding, UMET has been transformed through the MIE activities by
producing an effective pipeline from pre-college to undergraduate, and from undergraduate to graduate school for hundreds of
underrepresented minorities from Puerto Rico. It has also been transformed with faculty research mentors who are helping
science students create knowledge and disseminate creative thinking among the members of the university and pre-college
community. Our undergraduate and pre-college research program, sponsored by the National Science Foundation and NASA,
are paving the way for research-oriented activities for the benefit of Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands students.
PROLOGUE
The sponsorship of the National Science Foundation has been fundamental for the implementation of the Pre-College Program at
the Ana G. Méndez University System at Universidad Metropolitana. For thirteen years, the Model Institutions for Excellence
(MIE) Project organized the Saturday Academy Program. In 2006, a new dimension was established with the dissemination of
the MIE best practices into Universidad del Turabo and Universidad del Este (UNE) under the Student Research Development
Center. The main goal of this program is to motivate high school students to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering
and mathematics at the BS and graduate levels. The Saturday Academy Program usually extends for sixteen weeks during the
months of August through December. Students from public and private schools, enrolled in grades 10, 11 and 12, conduct
research under the mentorship of faculty and student research mentors from AGMUS and institutions in the US mainland and
abroad. More than two thousand pre-college students have learned the fundamentals of scientific research through their
participation in the Saturday Academy Program at AGMUS. For the last six years, a symposium has been organized to present
the results of this activity to the university community and to motivate other Puerto Rican students to engage in scientific
research.
The Spring 2010 Pre-College Research Symposium held at Conrad San Juan Condado Plaza Hotel on May 29, 2010, showcases
the research experiences of fifty-three (53) pre-college students from fourteen high schools in Puerto Rico. Forty-six research
projects are presented at the Symposium in the form of posters and oral presentations. The mentorship of faculty and
undergraduate research mentors from Arizona State University, New Jersey Institute of Technology, and institutions participating
in the Caribbean Computing Center for Excellence across Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands made possible the
concretization of the research projects. Their results are documented in the pages of these proceedings.
The National Science Foundation, NASA/Puerto Rico Space Grant Consortium, the Ana G. Méndez University System, the
Student Research Development Center and institutions of the Caribbean Computing Center for Excellence across Puerto Rico and
the US Virgin Islands are proud of the research work conducted by the Saturday Academy Spring 2010 participants. We hope
this Symposium will be a vehicle by which the scientific productivity of high school students from Puerto Rico and the US
Virgin Islands will be disseminated in future years.
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KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
Dr. Carlos Castillo-Chávez
Dr. Carlos Castillo-Chavez is a Regents Professor and Joaquin Bustoz Jr. Professor of Mathematical Biology at
Arizona State University (ASU). His research program is carried out at the interface of the mathematical and natural
and social sciences. On July 1st, 2008, Dr. Castillo-Chavez became the founding director of the Mathematical,
Computational and Modeling Sciences Center as well as the founding director of the graduate field in applied
mathematics in the life and social sciences at ASU and the founder and director of the undergraduate bachelor of
sciences degree in applied mathematics in the life and social sciences. He is also the Executive Director of two
institutes: the Mathematical and Theoretical Biology Institute (MTBI) which focuses on providing research
opportunities at the interface of the biological, computational and mathematical sciences from the undergraduate to
the graduate and postdoctoral levels and The Institute for Strengthening the Understanding of Mathematics and
Science, which focuses on providing college opportunities for high school students. Dr. Carlos Castillo-Chavez’
undergraduate/graduate summer program was established in 1996. This program has been held at Cornell
University, Los Alamos National Laboratory, and Arizona State University (ASU). The American Mathematical
Society recognized MTBI’s program as a “Mathematics Program that Makes a Difference” in 2007. SUMS’ efforts
were also recognized with a Presidential Mentorship Award in 2002. Under his leadership the David Blackwell and
Richard Tapia Distinguished Lecture Series was established in 2000. He spent 18 years at Cornell University
(1985-2003) where he held joint professorships in the departments of Biological Statistics and Computational
Biology (BSCB) and Theoretical and Applied Mechanics (TAM). Castillo-Chavez has received numerous awards
including two White House Awards: a Presidential Faculty Fellowship Award in 1992 and a Presidential Award for
Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring in 1997; the 2002 Society for the Advancement of
Chicanos and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS) Distinguished Scientist Award and the 2003 Richard Tapia
Award. In 2003, he held the position Stanislaw M. Ulam Distinguished Scholar at the Center for Nonlinear Studies
or CNLS at Los Alamos National Laboratory. In 2004, he was named honorary professor at Xi'an Jiaotong
University in China. He has been elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
(AAAS) and is the recipient of the 2007 AAAS Mentor Award. Carlos Castillo-Chavez was a member of the
Arizona Governor’s P-20 Council’s Mathematics Alignment Team in 2008-09. Castillo-Chavez is currently a
member of three scientific mathematical sciences advisory boards two in the US and one in Canada, and a member
of National Research Council’s Board of Higher Education and Workforce (2009-2011). He is the 12th recipient of
the American Mathematical Society Distinguished Public Service Award; and has been elected Fellow of the
Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics.
Dr. David S. Touretzky
Dr. David S. Touretzky is a Research Professor of Computer Science and co-director of the graduate training
program of the Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA. Since
2003 he has been developing the Tekkotsu software framework for teaching undergraduates to program
sophisticated mobile robots. In collaboration with Professor Andrew Williams of Spelman College, he formed the
ARTSI Alliance, a consortium of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and major research
universities, funded by the National Science Foundation, that promotes robotics education for African Americans.
In 2006 Touretzky was named a Distinguished Scientist by the Association for Computing Machinery.
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RESEARCH MENTORS
Dr. Juan F. Arratia
Executive Director
Principal Investigator
AGMUS Institute of Mathematics
Caribbean Computing Center for Excellence
Universidad Metropolitana
Dr. Juan F. Arratia was born in Pomaire, Chile. He graduated from Universidad Técnica del Estado with a BS in
Electrical Engineering in 1973. He was awarded an MSc in Engineering from Louisiana Tech University, Ruston,
Louisiana, in 1979 and a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri in 1985.
He has taught and conducted research at universities in Chile (Universidad Técnica del Estado and Universidad
Austral de Chile), Puerto Rico (Universidad Interamericana de Puerto Rico and the University of Puerto RicoMayaguez), and in the US mainland at Washington University, St. Louis, and Louisiana Tech University, Ruston,
Louisiana. He has lectured and given conferences on advanced automation, robotics, vision systems, artificial
intelligence, total quality management and science and engineering education in Chile, Bolivia, Ecuador,
Guatemala, Panama, Mexico, Brazil, Nicaragua, Perú, Canada, Spain, the Netherlands, Turkey, Japan, Philippines,
Singapore, Australia, China, Puerto Rico and in the US mainland. He was the Advanced Manufacturing Manager for
Medtronic, Inc., a leading pacemaker company, and is a consultant in advanced automation for pharmaceutical and
medical devices companies in Puerto Rico. From 1998 to 2006, he was the Director and Principal Investigator of the
Model Institutions for Excellence (MIE) Project, a National Science Foundation sponsored program based at
Universidad Metropolitana in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Since 2007, he has been the Executive Director of the Ana G.
Méndez University System (AGMUS) Student Research Development Center, designed to disseminate MIE best
practices at Universidad del Turabo and Universidad del Este. In November 2007 he was awarded the Presidential
Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring at a ceremony in the White House in
Washington DC.
Yvonne Avilés
Yvonne Avilés has a B.S in Computer Engineering and a M.S. in Computer Engineering, both from the University
of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez Campus. In 2000 she started her career as a Software Engineer in the Research and
Development Group for Lucent Technologies in North Andover, MA. Within Lucent she also worked in the
hardware division as a Verification Engineer. Later, fond to an academic environment she pursued a teaching career
at the Inter American University of Puerto Rico at San Germán, as a Computer Science Professor. Yvonne teaches
computer programming, computer graphics, and discrete mathematics at the undergraduate level.
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Cesar Banderas, Ph.D.
New Jersey Institute of Technology
Bandemar Networks, Inc.
Dr. César Banderas studied his Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in Electrical Engineer at the University of Buffalo
in New York and was certified in Executive Development at the Harvard School of Management in Boston,
Massachusetts. He is the President of BanDeMar Networks, a minority owned small company specializing in
advanced video solutions for e-learning markets. Dr. Banderas’ technical background is in active perception, which
combines real-time computer vision and other sensor modalities with machine learning and behavioral control. He is
interested in all aspects of active vision, including algorithms for signal processing and control, sensor VLSI, and
multiprocessing architectures. His experience in active perception comes largely from his work in foveal vision,
which exploits in the machine setting the multiacuity properties prevalent in vertebrate vision. Dr. Banderas has
been active in the field of pervasive rich media, which endeavors to provide spatiotemporally coordinated
multimodal streams to an audience with diverse demographics, player platforms and channel access (e.g.,
broadband-connected PCs, wireless PDAs, set-top boxes). In 1990, Dr. Banderas formed a research department at
Amherst Systems dedicated to the development and application of active vision. This work yielded operational
platforms with algorithms for video understanding and automaton behavior control, matching multiprocessor
architectures, and smart VLSI imaging sensors (imagers with monolithic signal processing). He has had profit/loss
responsibility, and was able to secure external funding for all R&D (over twenty customer grants and contracts)
while exceeding growth and profit estimates. To date, this active vision research has yielded six Ph.D. and four M.S.
degrees, several patents, highest distinction in the Air Force Small Business Innovative Research Accomplishments
Report to the U.S. Congress, a Small Business of the Year nomination from Rome Lab, and the 1999 NASA Space
Act award from Johnson Space Center. In 2001, he formed a research department at Manhattan-based Sorceron
(now BanDeMar) dedicated to the synthesis and delivery of object-oriented rich media. As CTO, Dr. Banderas is
member of the Association for Computing Machinery, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, and the
International Society for Optical Engineering.
Franklyn Colmenares
Franklyn Colmenares has a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the Polytechnic University of Puerto Rico
(PUPR). He is the Chief Technician for the Advanced Plasma Engineer Laboratory at the same University. In his
third year of college he was granted an internship with the Nuclear Department of the University of MissouriColumbia. Since then, he started working as an Undergraduate Student Researcher sponsored by the NASA Puerto
Rico Space Grant at the PUPR Plasma Laboratory. He has an international publication for his work in plasma
applications and multiple presentations, and has used that experience to encourage current undergraduate students to
pursue an internship or research in science. Before and after graduating, Franklyn has being helping students with
plasma investigations as well as mentoring them on the opportunities for internships and graduate school.
Prof. Guillermo Mejía
Assistant Professor (full time) since 1976, with areas of expertise in C#, Visual Basic, ASP.NET, Intel Assembly
Language, Visual C++, and Object-oriented programming. Teaching interest in Electronics, later changed his
attention to Networks and multiprogramming, accepted a job teaching computer programming at Inter American
University in Puerto Rico since 1985, always working with students interested in Computer Science careers.
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Raúl Navedo
Raúl M. Navedo was accepted in the Pre-Veterinary Program at the University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez, Puerto
Rico, where he studied Pre-Veterinary and Industrial Microbiology. Later, he started a new university career in
electrical engineering, where he is still a student. In the summer of 2009, he was selected to participate in a summer
internship in the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University. At the time, he became part of the student and
research development center in where he is one of the research mentors of the research academy mentoring at the
Evolutionary Genetic Project at Universidad del Turabo in Gurabo, Puerto Rico. As part of the students working
with the Student Reserch Development Center, he has worked in the design of an electronic circuit for a laser beam
located in the Arecibo Observatory in Arecibo, Puerto Rico.
Hazel Ozuna
Hazel Ozuna was born in the Bronx, New York. Her hobbies include reading drama and science fiction books and
playing tennis. She entered Universidad Metropolitana In the fall of 2005, and was awarded the Model Institutions
for Excellence (MIE) scholarship and later, in the fall of 2005 and the spring of 2007, was included in the Honor
Excellence List.. She worked with Dr. Victor Rodriguez, a physics professor, in a research that consisted of
explaining the molecular evolution of the species with mathematical models. In the summer of 2006, she went to
Arizona State University and worked at the Polytechnic Campus in the research “Developing Java Applications for
Limited and Mobile Devices.” In the summer of 2007 she went to the University of Colorado and participated in the
research “Compositional trends might improve RNA secondary structure.” In the summer of 2008, she went to the
University of Michigan at Ann Arbor and worked in the project “Alternative mRNA splicing of RAD 5 of mouse
tissues”. Finally, in the summer of 2009, she participated in the project “Validation of a fluorescent probe for the
detection of an oral bacterium found in environmental sites”. At present , she is part of the research “Proteases in
the ectodomain shedding of EGFR” at the University of Puerto Rico, Medical Sciences Campus, with her mentor
and professor Dr. Luis E. Vazquez-Quinones. The focus of the research is on the epidermal growth factor receptor
(EGFR) in breast tumor cells, working with the ectodomain shedding of EGFR, the enzyme engaged in the shedding
and the development of therapy that target the shedding of EGFR in tumors that express high levels of this receptor.
This coming June she will be completing her Cellular Molecular Biology Bachelor’s Degree with a minor in
Mathematics. She has been admitted in the Microbiology Program of the Molecular and Cellular Biology
Department of the Graduate College of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and was awarded the
Graduate College Fellowship for Underrepresented Minority Students.
Joel Rivera Montes
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Joel Rivera Montes is a Security and Privacy Officer at Medical Card System (MCS). Joel at MCS is responsible of
maintaining and updating privacy policies, management of publications and privacy authorizations, and
implementation of privacy projects. He ensures the compliance of state and federal regulations with HIPAA, DACO,
and the Insurance Commissioner among others. He is in charge of conducting investigations on privacy and security
breaches within the company. Joel has a Bachelor Degree in Computer Science from Metropolitan University of
Puerto Rico, and completing a Masters Degree in Networks and Telecommunications in Turabo University of Puerto
Rico. In the course of his career he has been working in the Information and Technology industry for more than 13
years and specializing in Information and Technology Security for more than 6 years. Joel has obtained CompTIA
Network+ and Ethical Hacker certifications in his professional career. As an IT Specialist had done some consulting
and given lectures about the Internet, Computer Basics, and IT Security. From 1999 to 2003, worked for the
Metropolitan University of Puerto Rico has a Programmer, Network Administrator, and IT Specialist. In 2003 to
2009, was given the opportunity to work for the new Information and Technology Security Office at Ana G. Mendez
University System (AGMUS) Central Administration has an Information Security Analyst. In December 2009 a
great opportunity came to join MCS in the private Health sector.
Dr. Noemí Soto Nieves
Noemí Soto Nieves has a B.S. in Industrial Biotechnology from the University of Puerto Rico in Mayaguez. She
completed her Ph.D. in biomedical sciences with specialty in immunology, molecular genetics and molecular
biology in September of 2007 from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University in New York.
During her graduate education she studied transcription factors involved in the inhibition of self-reactive T cells that
cause autoimmune diseases. Since January 2010 she is an Assistant Professor of the Biology Department at the the
University of Puerto Rico in Humacao. She teaches a variety of courses such as genetics, general microbiology,
human anatomy and physiology, general biology, biological sciences, among others, and provides many of the
biotechnology seminars. She participates actively in university academic committees and is the coordinator (link) of
technology and industrial alliances at University of Puerto Rico in Humacao. Currently, she collaborates with her
colleagues in research projects and is in the process of developing her own research lab.
Dr. David S. Touretzky
Dr. David S. Touretzky is a Research Professor of Computer Science and co-director of the graduate
training program of the Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition at Carnegie Mellon University in
Pittsburgh, PA. Since 2003, he has been developing the Tekkotsu software framework for teaching
undergraduates to program sophisticated mobile robots. In collaboration with Professor Andrew
Williams of Spelman College, he formed the ARTSI Alliance, a consortium of Historically Black
Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and major research universities, funded by the National Science Foundation,
that promote robotics education for African Americans. In 2006 Touretzky was named a Distinguished Scientist by
the Association for Computing Machinery.
Jonahtan Vargas Rodríguez
Jonathan Vargas-Rodríguez is currently pursuing a B.S. in Computer Engineering at Universidad del Turabo. He is
currently in his third year of studies. Jonathan has experience programming in C/C++, Java, UNIX-like operating
systems handling and web programming components such as HTML, XHTML, CSS, JavaScript, JavaServer Pages
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& Servlets. In 2009, Jonathan attended a two-week training focused on materials engineering research at the Center
for Materials Science and Engineering (CMSE) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and continued
to work over the summer at the Engineering Research Center for Collaborative Adaptive Sensing of the Atmosphere
(CASA) at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, where he worked with graduate student Rafael Medina
designing and troubleshooting a graphical user interface to control T/R modules over computer commands. In
January 2010, Jonathan joined the Caribbean Computing Center for Excellence (CCCE) and started working with
high school students in engineering-related fields and modeling analysis in computer programs.
Dr. Osvaldo Cox, Internal Evaluator
He was born in Naguabo, Puerto Rico where he completed his elementary, middle and high school education. In
1958 he received a B. Sc. Degree in Chemistry from the University of Puerto Rico in Rio Piedras (UPR-R). After
serving in the US Army as an infantry officer, he returned to the UPR-R and completed his M.Sc. in Organic
Chemistry in 1964. That same year he traveled to Columbus Ohio to pursue graduate studies under the supervision
of Professor Leo A. Paquette at Ohio State University, where he received a PhD Degree with major in Organic
Chemistry in 1968. His PhD dissertation produced six peer-reviewed articles in Chemistry journals. While at Ohio
State, he was awarded an ESSO Research and Engineering and a Lubrizol fellowship, and was elected to the
Gamma Alpha Honorary Chemical Society. In September of 1968 he joined the Department of Chemistry of the
UPR-R as a tenure track Assistant Professor. Then he was awarded tenure and was promoted to Professor in 1982.
For several years he was the Coordinator of the Organic Chemistry area of the Department, and served in various
committees including the Graduate Admissions Committee (President), the Graduate Advisory Committee,
President of the Search Committee for a Director of the Environmental Science Program, elected as a member
Academic Senate and member of the UPR-R Honors Program Committee. He supervised ten Master’s theses and
Ph.D dissertations, and mentored more than two hundred undergraduates in chemical research. After thirty years of
service at the Chemistry Department at UPR-R, he retired in 1998 and joined the School of Science and Technology
at Universidad Metropolitana (UMET) where he served as Coordinator of the Chemistry Area and Professor of
Chemistry. He helped to develop the Bachelor’s Degree Program at UMET. He also served as an Academic
Consultant to the Model Institutions for Excellence (MIE) Program sponsored by the National Science Foundation,
where he collaborated with the Principal Investigator in the development and implementation of most of the current
undergraduate research, bridge to graduate school, and summer research internship activities at UMET. He was
appointed on two occasions by the governor of Puerto Rico to serve in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico Board of
Examiners of Chemists. He did consultation work for the Commonwealth Environmental Quality Board in a high
profile environmental case. He has produced two US Patents (U.S. Patent 4,590,275, 1986 and US Patent
Application 12/416,962, US Filling date April 1 st 2009) and has published more than forty papers in peer-reviewed
journals and given numerous presentations in local, national and international meetings. He is a member of the
American Chemical Society and the International Society of Heterocyclic Chemistry. At present he is a Research
Professor at the School of Environmental Affairs at UMET.
17
The history of the AGMUS Institute of Mathematics began on September 1, 2008 when the National Science
Foundation awarded UMET a five-year grant for $2,100,000 to implement a program to enhance bio mathematics
at the Ana G. Méndez University System. The grant created a BS in Bio-Mathematics with scholarship
opportunities for students with a GPA of 3.00 or higher and a commitment to pursue graduate studies in partner
institutions in the US mainland. During the summer, math scholars will travel to research institutions in the US
mainland to work in research for a period of 8-10 weeks. A pre-college research agenda will be implemented on
Saturdays under the Saturday Academy of the Student Research Development Center (SRDC) of the VicePresidency for Planning and Academic Affairs. Scholars of the AGMUS Institute of Mathematics will present
research outcomes in symposia at the pre-college and undergraduate levels
SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM
· Scholarship for the cost of Registration*
· Stipend of $400*
*This stipend is computed according to the student GPA and is subject to renovation is accordance with
academic progress.
ELIGIBILITY
· Be admitted at the Department of Science and Technology at UMET in the Bachelor Degree in Bio-Mathematics.
New Students
· Have a general high school average (GPA) of 3.00 or higher
- Score of 600 or higher in the math section of the College Board Exam.
Transferred Students
· Have a general high school average (GPA) of 3.00
For more information contact :
Wanda I. Rodríguez Lugo
Coordinator of Institute of Mathematics
Tel: (787) 766-1717 x6009
Fax: (787)751-5386
Email. [email protected]
[email protected]
18
ANA G. MENDEZ UNIVERSITY SYSTEM
STUDENT RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT CENTER
“Developing Minds through Research Experiences”
 CCCE Stipend for Undergraduate ($1,600) and Graduate
Students ($2,000) /ten months
 Summer Research Experiences in the US mainland
and abroad.
 Bridge to Graduate School.
 Scientific conferences during the semester
 English Language Workshops
 Pre-College Research Program
For more information contact: Luis F. Font, CCCE Coordinator
(787)766-1717 ext. 6945, [email protected]
19
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
SATURDAY, MAY 29, 2010
8:00 – 9:00 a.m.
POSTER SESSION SET-UP
BREAKFAST
REGISTRATION
9:00 – 9:30 a.m.
OPENING CEREMONY
Keynote Speaker: Dr. Carlos Castillo-Chávez
Arizona State University
9:30 – 11:30 a.m.
POSTER SESSION
BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
COMPUTER SCIENCES
APPLIED MATHEMATICS
ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCES
Chairperson: Dr. Juan F. Arratia
Executive Director and Principal Investigator
BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
Gregory Almena, José Gautier Benítez School, Caguas
Puerto Rico.
(1)
Evolutionary Analysis of Disease AssociateD Mutations in
the Homo Ssapiens phenylalanine hydroxylase,
PAH, phenylketonuria disorder, NM_000277
Yanisse M. Aponte, María Auxiliadora School,
San Juan, Puerto Rico.
(2)
Bioinformatic Study of Housekeeping Gene
Cytochrome C
Leila Ayala, Santa María del Camino School,
Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico.
Determination of Conservation of Amino Acids in
Eukaryotic Translation Initiation Factor 4ª-II (EIF4A2)
20
(3)
Angélica M. Cardona, Santa María del Camino
School, Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico.
(4)
Tetracycline Protein Analysis by Genedoc and
MEGA 4
Valeria M. Correa, Santa María del Camino School,
(5)
Analysis of Evolutionary Changes and Conservation of
Glyceraldehyde-3-Phosphate Dehydrogenase (GADPH)
Between Homolog Species
Rosana C. Feliciano, PORFOR Educational Service
School, Carolina, Puerto Rico.
(6)
The Homo Sapiens Polycystic Kidney Disease 1
Like 2 (PXD1L2)
(7)
Yarimar Figueroa, Santa María del Camino School,
Study of the Physical and Chemical Characteristics
of Strettomyces 6-Kinase Using Bioinformatic Tools
Andrea Flores, Santa María del Camino School
(8)
Study of the Percentage of Amino Acid Conservation
and Evolutionary Changes in Alpha Tubulin 1A
Angélica González, Carvin School, Carolina
Puerto Rico.
(9)
Study of the Percentage of Amino Acid Conservation
and Evolutionary Changes of DNA Topoisomerase
Stephanie Hall, Carvin School, Carolina, Puerto Rico.
(10)
Mutations in the Heparan Sulfate Proteoglycan 2 Gene
Natalie M. Jiménez, María Auxiliadora School,
Determination of Physical and Chemical Characteristics
of the Housekeeping Gene Succinate Dehydrogenase
21
(11)
Natalia C. López, Carvin School, Carolina, Puerto Rico.
(12)
Amino Acid Changes in the Homo Sapiens Gene
Nebulin (NEB) and the Mutations Associated with
the Disease Nemaline Myopathy
Jaynee Mendoza, Bautista de Caguas School, Caguas,
Puerto Rico.
(13)
Evolutionary Analysis of Disease AssociateD Mutations in
the homo sapiens fibrilin 1 (FBN1), NM_000138
Alexander P. Molina, Bautista de Caguas Academy,
Caguas, Puerto Rico.
(14)
Evolutionary Analysis of Disease Associated Mutations
in Homo Sapiens Calcium-Sensing Receptor, (CASR),
NM_000388
Karina Pérez, Santa María del Camino School,
(15)
Structure Analysis of C-SRC Tyrosine Kinase
Gina M. Robles, Bilingüe Padre Rufo School,
Carolina, Puerto Rico.
(16)
PSEN1 Gene Can Induce the Alzheimer Disease
Rebecca E. Rosado, José Aponte de la Torre School,
(17)
Analysis of the Amino Acid Changes in the PADI4
Gene (Peptidyl Arginine Deiminase Type 4)
COMPUTER SCIENCES
Gabriela Acebal, Wendy Figueroa,
Clarianne Moscoso, Commonwealth-Parkville
High School, San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Orlando Torres, Espíritu Santo School, San Juan,
Puerto Rico.
(18)
Electrode Shape Design for Uniform Glow Discharge
Confinement
Stefan G. Acevedo, Interamerican School, San Germán,
Puerto Rico.
Binary Trees
22
(19)
Pablo Álvarez, Interamerican School, San Germán,
Puerto Rico.
(20)
Architectural Forms from Fractals
Amarilis Araya, José E. Aponte de la Torre School,
(21)
A Software Programming Version of the Classic
“Hangman Game”
Héctor L. Avilés, Interamerican School, San Germán,
Puerto Rico.
(22)
Suns Designs from Fractals
Daniel Ayala, Interamerican School, San Germán,
Puerto Rico.
(23)
Exploring Planet X
Cristian Bradley, San Jorge Academy, San Juan,
Puerto Rico.
Othoniel J. Rodríguez, Bautista de Puerto Nuevo
Academy, San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Alejandro Sánchez, Commonwealth High School,
(24)
Computer Forensics Validation Spring 2010
Christopher J. Cancel, Interamerican School, San
Germán, Puerto Rico.
(25)
Walking on the Moon
Ubec Carambot, Manuel Mangual, José E. Aponte de
La Torre School, Carolina, Puerto Rico.
(26)
Robotic Model for the Reduction of Landfills to
Improve the Environment
Odemaris Carrasquillo, Laura Roldán, José E. Aponte
de la Torre School, Carolina, Puerto Rico.
Robotics Solution for Water Sampling at Difficult
Access Locations
23
(27)
Ana Castro, Carlos Morales, Petra Mercado School,
Humacao, Puerto Rico.
(28)
Using Cluster Analysis to Discover Elements in
Hyperspectral Digital Images
Mei-Ling Chang, Patricia Rosario, Luterano
Resurrección School, Carolina, Puerto Rico.
(29)
Evaluating Methods for Recovering and Destroying
Valuable Data
Enid M. Colón, Nuestra Señora de Belén School,
Guaynabo, Puerto Rico.
(30)
Fuel Cells Mathematical Model
Antoine Cotto, Ángel Figueroa, Christian Orta,
José E. Aponte de la Torre School, Carolina,
Puerto Rico.
(31)
Model of an Assistive Robot for the Treatment of
Patients with Back Pain Conditions
Alexis Figueroa, Santa María del Camino School,
(32)
The Understanding, the Protection, and the Future of
Bluetooth Technology
Yaritza Flecha, Petra Mercado School, Humacao,
Puerto Rico.
Kenneth Padró, San Antonio Abad Schoo, Humacao,
Puerto Rico.
(33)
Using Machine Learning Techniques for Classification
and Identification of Elements in Hyper Spectral Images
Natalie Fuentes, José Gautier Benítez School, Caguas,
Puerto Rico.
(34)
Evolutionary Analysis of Disease Associated Mutations in
the Homo Sapiens Notch Homolog, Notch3 (Cadasil
Syndrome), nm_000435
Dinotchka M. García, Ireniamarel Morales, Petra
Mercado School, Humacao, Puerto Rico.
The Presence of Mangroves and the Decrease of Turbidity
in the Water
24
(35)
Ricardo García, Nuestra Señora de Belén School,
(36)
Mathematical Model of Levitation with Electromagnetic
Suspension (EMS)
Thalía Gómez, Josefa Pastrana School, Aguas Buenas,
Puerto Rico.
(37)
Evolutionary Analysis of Disease Associated Mutations
in the Homo Sapiens Presenilin 1 (PSEN1), Transcript
Variant 1, NM_000021
Brianna M. González, Elizabeth Torres, San Antonio
Abad School, Humacao, Puerto Rico.
(38)
Does Electrical Conductivity Affect Water Flow?
José A. González, José Aponte de la Torre School,
(39)
Physics and Engineering Units Converter
Katherine A. Hernández, Interamerican School,
San Germán, Puerto Rico.
(40)
Fractals in a Geometry Way
Jean P. Irizarry, Interamerican School,
(41)
Iterations of Simple Forms
Edwin R. Jiménez, Eduardo García Carrillo School,
Canóvanas, Puerto Rico.
Alejandro Ramos, Barbara Ann Roessler Academy,
(42)
Which Programming Language has a Better Readability
for a New Computer Science Student?
Jesús O. Martínez, Interamerican School, San
Drawing Geometric Stars with Small Basic
25
(43)
Rocío del M. Méndez, Jean M. Rosado, Elvin Torres,
Bautista de Caguas Academy, Caguas, Puerto Rico.
(44)
Mindstorms NXT Trailer Pull Design Improvement and
Dynamic Analysis
Carlos Molina, Bilingue Padre Rufo School,
(45)
Coffee-Harvesting Robot
Cristina Morales, Ernesto Ramos Antonini School,
Nicole López, María Teresa Piñeiro School,
Toa Baja, Puerto Rico.
(46)
Which IDE is Easier to Use for a New Computer
Science Student?
Christian J. Ortiz, Petra Mercado School,
David Pacheco, San Antonio Abad School,
(47)
Determining Areas in Biological Images Using
Techniques of Digital Images Processing
Casandra I. Pérez, Inter American School, San
(48)
Shortest Path in a Graph
Ingrid G. Ramírez, Interamerican School, San Germán,
Puerto Rico.
(49)
Global Warming
Joyce A. Rivera, Petra Mercado School, Humacao
Puerto Rico.
(50)
Effects of Photosynthetic Plants in the Amount of
Dissolved Oxygen in the Water
Tiffany Rohena, José Aponte de la Torre School,
The Software Program for the “Scramble Words” Game
26
(51)
Andrea Román, José E. Aponte de la Torre School,
(52)
The Astrological GUI
Alex Sánchez, Bárbara Ann Roessler Academy
Samuel Urrutia, Santa María del Camino School,
(53)
How Secure is a Personal Computer and the Threats
it Faces Daily
Christopher Sepúlveda, Interamerican School, San
(54)
A Realistic Paddle Game
Jean Paul Toledo, Santa María del Camino School,
(55)
Why a Person’s Identity is More Valuable than Money
and How Easily it can be Obtained
Stephanie Torres, José E. Aponte de la Torre School,
(56)
Expert Balance Nutrition System, “E.B.N.S”
Krystal C. Vega, Interamerican School, San
(57)
Fractals from Small Symmetry Breaking
Nathalie C. Velázquez, Interamerican School,
(58)
Graphs as Information Structures
Brandon Vélez, Interamerican School, San Germán,
Puerto Rico.
Construction of Fractals
27
(59)
APPLIED MATHEMATICS
Dinorah Carrión, Thomas Alva Edison School,
(60)
The Use of Bioinformatics Tools to Build a Protein
Database for APOE4
Juan Espinal, María Teresa Piñeiro School, San Juan,
Puerto Rico.
(61)
Analyzing and Comprehending the SIR Model
Emanuel García, Bárbara Ann Roessler Academy,
(62)
iRobot Create: State Machine and Behaviors
Gilmarie González, University Gardens School,
(63)
Household Chemical Compounds Effects Over
Bacteria Colonies
Carlos Oliveras, Bárbara Ann Roessler Academy,
(64)
Presence of Coliforms in Different Bodies of Water
José Ortega, Luterano Resurrección School,
(65)
iRobot Create
Enrique Pérez, Thomas Alva Edison School,
(66)
The Hawksbill Turtle Nesting in Puerto Rico
Luis A. Reyes, Petra Zenón de Fabery Vocational
(67)
iRobot Create: Programming
Luis R. Santos, Notre Dame School, Caguas,
Puerto Rico.
(68)
iRobot Create: Anatomy
Kermit J. Toro, Petra Zenón de Fabery Vocational
28
(69)
A State Machine for the iRobot
David R. Díaz, Luis F. González, Juan Quirindongo
Morell School, Vega Baja, Puerto Rico.
(70)
Spherical Display of RSS Data
Pablo G. Díaz, Jonathan O. Espada, Carmen Sol School
(71)
Rising Water Levels
Wilma D. López, Alfredo Cabrera, Juan Quirindongo
(72)
Bounding Box Morphing
Michelle M. Mounier, Carvin School, Carolina,
Puerto Rico.
(73)
The Role of Major Importance of Freshwater Fungi in
Stream Ecosystems
Edwin Rodríguez, Nuestra Señora de Belén School,
(74)
Soil and Water Quality Analysis in Urban Streams at the
Puerto Nuevo Basin
Grace M. Russe, Kevin M. Otero, Juan Quirindongo
Ana M. Ortiz, Santa María del Camino School,
(75)
Early Warning Catastrophe Alert System
Natalia Santiago, Manuela Toro Morice School,
Maxine González, Bautista de Puerto Nuevo Academy
Comparison of Phosphorus and Macroinvertebrates in Two
Streams Surrounded by Residential and Commercial Areas
29
(76)
Tatiana Zambrano, Miguel Such Vocational School, San
Juan,
Puerto Rico.
(77)
Phosphorus Concentration in Urban Streams at the Puerto
Nuevo Basin
11:10 a.m. – 11:20 a.m.
COFFEE BREAK
30
PONCE DE LEÓN FOYER
11:45 a.m. – 1:15 p.m.
ORAL PRESENTATIONS
SESSION I BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
PONCE DE LEÓN BALLROOM C
Chairperson: Dr. Ángel Arcelay, Universidad del Este
BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
11:45 – 11:55 a.m.
Tahiré Carrasquillo, José Aponte de la Torre School, Carolina,
Puerto Rico.
The SIFT Analysis of the Homo Sapiens Triadin
11:55 – 12:05 m.
Brianna M. Coriano, María Auxiliadora School, Carolina,
Puerto Rico.
Analysis of the Mutation in the BMP4 Gene Which Generates the
Disease Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva
12:05 – 12:15 m.
Jennifer L. Delfaus, Notre Dame School, Caguas, Puerto Rico.
Evolutionary Analysis of Disease AssociateD Mutations in the homo
sapiens Collagen type I, alpha 2 (COL1A2), NM_000089
12:15 – 12:25 m.
Elvin A. Méndez, José Aponte de la Torre School, Carolina, Puerto
Rico.
Evolutional Study of Amino Acid Changes of PTPRB
12:25 – 12:35 m.
Frances C. Negrón, Bautista de Levittown Academy,
Analysis of Comparison and Protein Conservation in the
Telomerase
12:35 – 12:45 m.
Alvin A. Peralta, José Aponte de la Torre School, Carolina, Puerto
Rico.
Computational Study of Amino Acid Changes with Gene ECH1
12:45 – 12:55 m.
Isamar Rivera, José Aponte de la Torre School, Carolina,
Puerto Rico.
Study of AA Changes of Homo Sapiens Fanconi Anemia (FANCA)
31
12:55 – 1:05 p.m.
Nicolle A. Rosa, Bautista de Levittown Academy, Toa Baja,
Puerto Rico.
Comparative Analysis of Amino Acid Sequence in ATP5B and
NA, K-ATPASE Proteins
1:05 – 1:15 p.m.
Edgardo Vázquez, José Aponte de la Torre School, Carolina,
Puerto Rico.
A Computational Study of Amino Acid Substitution in the Rasal 1
Gene
32
11:45 a.m. – 1:15 m.
ORAL PRESENTATIONS
SESSION II COMPUTER SCIENCES
PONCE DE LEÓN BALLROOM A
Chairperson: Dr. Marlio Paredes, Universidad del Turabo
11:45 – 11:55 a.m.
Isardo Braverman, José García, Stephan Remy, José Aponte
De la Torre School, Carolina, Puerto Rico.
Wireless Communication Network to Help on the Treatment
of Diabetes
11:55 – 12:05 m.
Michael G. Carmona, Néstor D. Carrasco, Petra Mercado
School, Humacao, Puerto Rico.
High Temperature Decreases the Amount of Disolved Oxygen in
the Water
12:05 – 12:15 m.
Carlimar Collazo, Interamerican School, San Germán,
Puerto Rico.
Airplane Flight Simulation
12:15 – 12:25 m.
Kevin Estrada, Bárbara Ann Roessler Academy, San Juan,
Puerto Rico.
Exploring the Wireless Network and Why Security is Required
12:25 – 12:35 m.
Sergio L. Hernández, Bautista de Levittown School, Toa Baja,
Puerto Rico.
Nicole Massa, Luterano Resurrección School, Carolina,
Puerto Rico.
Sensitive Data and the Importance of Keeping it Highly Secured
12:35 – 12:45 m.
Steven Lugo, Interamerican School, San Germán,
Puerto Rico.
Construction of Fractals by Small Changes in Size
and Rotation
12:45 – 12:55 m.
Gilberto Robles, Bautista de Levittown Academy, Toa Baja,
Puerto Rico.
Albert Santiago, María Teresa Piñeiro School, Toa Baja, Puerto
Rico.
What Programming Language is Easier to Learn for New
Computer Science Students?
33
12:55 – 1:05 p.m.
Alex D. Santos, Carlos E. Sánchez, University Gardens School,
The Reliability of JAVA, C++ & PYTHON Programming
Languages
1:05 – 1:15 p.m.
Melinda Vargas, San Antonio Abad School, Humacao,
Puerto Rico.
Jorge O. Méndez, Petra Mercado School, Humacao, Puerto Rico.
The True Effects of How Air Temperature Affects Water
Temperature
34
11:20 a.m. – 12:35 p.m.
ORAL PRESENTATIONS
SESSION III APPLIED MATHEMATICS
ALMENDROS
CONFERENCE ROOM
Chairperson: Dr. Carlos Castillo, Arizona State University
APPLIED MATHEMATICS
11:45 – 11:55 a.m.
Sarah Matos, Bárbara Ann Roessler Academy, San Juan,
Puerto Rico.
Do Disinfectants Kill 99% of Bacteria?
11:55 – 12:05 m.
Damarys Ramos, Bárbara Ann Roessler Academy, San Juan,
Puerto Rico.
Efficiency of Toothpaste Against Normal Human Oral Flora
12:05 – 12:15 a.m.
Eric Santos, University of Puerto Rico High School, San Juan,
Puerto Rico.
MATLAB: Simulating Mass Spring Damper System
12:15 – 12:25 m.
José G. Curcio, Carvin School, Inc., Carolina, Puerto Rico.
Relationships Between Stream Quality and Freshwater Fish
12:25 – 12:35 m.
Camila del Mar Rodríguez, Puertorriqueño de Niñas,
Tolerance of the Cyan-Bacteria Chroococcus to Changes in the
PH of Water
1:30 – 3:00 p.m.
LUNCH
Speaker: Dr. Dave Touretzky
Carnegie Mellon University
3:00 – 4:00 p.m.
AWARD CEREMONY AND
CLOSING REMARKS
4:00 p.m.
SYMPOSIUM ADJOURNS
35
ABSTRACTS
BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
EVOLUTIONARY ANALYSIS OF DISEASE ASSOCIATED MUTATIONS IN THE HOMO
SAPIENS PHENYLALANINE HYDROXYLASE, PAH, PHENYLKETONURIA DISORDER,
NM_000277
Gregory Almena, José Gautier Benítez School, Caguas, Puerto Rico.
Research Mentor: Raúl M. Navedo, Universidad del Turabo, Gurabo, Puerto Rico.
Research Assistant: Karen L. Burgos, Universidad del Turabo, Gurabo, Puerto Rico.
Genetic diseases are caused by mutations in specific amino acid sites that encode important proteins and
human development processes. In this project, the amino acid sites that have been changed along species
that share a lineal evolutive history were studied. In this case, mutations in amino acid sites of human
diseases associated genes were studied. The purpose of this project was to determine patterns in variations
and differences of the amino acid sites that have been identified as Disease Associated Mutations and the
Non-Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms. This amino acid sequences was obtained from the UCSC
Genome Browser and then submitted to the Fitch program. Fitch program outputs the evolutionary rates
for these amino acid sites in the entire gene along multiple vertebrates species. The evolutionary test
shows that the low areas of evolutionary rates, between 0.0 and 1.5, have the greater concentration of
DAMs which reveals the importance of these sites for the vertebrate species. The nSNPs, in contrast, are
found at greater levels of the evolutionary rate scale which means that there is a lack of importance if they
are analyzed in terms of the change frequency. Another test is the Polyphen diagnostic tool that shows a
26 % difference for the DAM’s and a 31 % difference for the nSNPs. The PolyPhen test is important
because it can be used to improve this tool for future experiments.
BIOINFORMATIC STUDY OF HOUSEKEEPING GENE CYTOCHROME C
Yanisse M. Aponte, María Auxiliadora School, San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Student Research Mentor: Krizia L. Cabrera, Universidad Metropolitana, San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Student Research Assistant: Dorielys Valentin, Universidad Metropolitana, San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Cytochrome c is a small heme protein found loosely associated with the inner membrane of the
mitochondrion. It belongs to the cytochrome c family of proteins. Cytochrome c is a highly soluble
protein, unlike other cytochromes, and is an essential component of the electron transport chain. It is
capable of undergoing oxidation and reduction, but does not bind oxygen. It transfers electrons between
Complexes III and IV. It is also a highly conserved protein across the spectrum of species. Its primary
structure consists of a chain of about 100 amino acids. Cytochrome c can catalyze several reactions such
as hydroxylation and aromatic oxidation. The purpose of this research is to evaluate cytochrome c by
means of bioinformatics tools. Molecular Evolutionary Genomic Analysis (MEGA 4) is a program that
compares the sequence of homologous genes and proteins of different species. With MEGA4, two
phylogenetic trees were created; the minimum (comparison of the proteins between species) and the
maximun (comparison between species). In the minimum phylogenetic tree, the most similar species were
Equus caballus and Bos Taurus, while the least similar was Oryctolagus cuniculus. In the maximum the
most similar were Sus scrofa and Bos Taurus, while the least similar was Rattus norvegicu. Genedoc, a
multiple sequence editor was used to determine the conservation of amino acids in the Cytochrome c and
which are non-polar and polar. According to Genedoc, the most present amino acid in all the sequences
was leucine. With Genedoc, it was determined that the Cytochrome c sequence of amino acids is 65.40%
conserved in the species studied, in which there are 149 polar and 422 non-polar. In conclusion, the
results may suggest that there are certain conserved amino acids because they may be important for the
function of Cytochrome c, and that there are various evolutionary differences between species.
36
DETERMINATION OF CONSERVATION OF AMINO
TRANSLATION INITIATION FACTOR 4A-II (EIF4A2)
ACIDS
IN
EUKARYOTIC
Leila Ayala, Santa María del Camino School, Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico.
The eukaryotic translation is the process by which messenger RNA is translated into proteins in
eukaryotes. EIF4A2, meaning eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4A, contains 1 helicase C-terminal
domain and 1 helicase ATP-binding domain. The EIF4A2 (eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4A) can
be found in human, mouse, rat, dog, among other eukaryotes. The goal for this research was to determine
evolutionary changes in EIF4A2 in the selected organisms and determine the percentage of conservation
between evaluated species. Certain programs were used in this research, BLAST for finding regions of
similarity between biological sequences and TCOFFE for evaluating and manipulating multiple
alignments of proteins sequences. However, the programs used for analyzing the data were GeneDoc, a
program used for a full featured multiple sequence alignment editor and the MEGA4 -Molecular
Evolutionary Genetics Analysis- an integrated tool for conducting automatic and manual sequence
alignment, inferring phylogenetic trees, mining web-based databases, estimating rates of molecular
evolution. The results may suggest that the EIF4A2 percentage of conservation between was 82%. Of the
total amino acids present in the sequence, 443 were conserved. Of those conserved, 238 were polar and
206 were non-polar. Two phylogenetic trees were made, one that showed the comparison between species
(maximum) and a comparison between proteins (minimum). In the maximum, the species more related
were Monodelphis domestica and Pan troglodytes, while the least was Canis familiaris. In terms of
protein, Pongo abelli and Homo sapiens were the most similar and Pan troglodytes the least. In
conclusion, the objectives established were reached. This may help in gaining more insight into
translation factor proteins and their evolution among organisms.
TETRACYCLINE PROTEIN ANALYSIS BY GENEDOC AND MEGA4
Angélica M. Cardona, Santa María del Camino School, Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico.
Tetracycline is used to treat certain infections and also to help control acne. This medicine will not work
for colds, flu or other virus infections. It is active against gram-positive bacteria, gram-negative aerobic
and anaerobic conditions. Tetracycline accumulates in bone and teeth causing them to become a yellowgray. To reach its target site tetracycline has to penetrate the cell wall through pores or by a transport
process. The purpose of this research was to determine evolutionary changes in the selected microbes and
to determine the percentage of evaluated species to gain more insight into tetracycline proteins. To
determine evolutionary changes in the species, the MEGA4 (Molecular Genetics Analysis) program was
used, which compares DNA or protein sequences through the use of phylogenetic trees. There are two
types of phylogenetic trees, the maximum and minimum. The maximum makes a comparison between
species, while the minimum compares the sequence of the protein between the species. In both trees, the
most similar species were Rhizobium leguminosarum and Rhizobium etli, while the least similar was
Streptomyces scabiei. GeneDoc is a powerful editor, which allows to manually edit and add a wide range
of attributes to multi-sequence alignments. The tetracycline sequences were analyzed with this program
and it showed that Alanine (A) was the amino acid with the highest abundance. GeneDoc also indicated
the percentage of conserved amino acids in the sequence, which was 47%. With these results it can be
said that the sequence of amino acids is not very conserved so it can be concluded that this protein can
vary among species. In addition, the results in the maximum and minimum phylogenetic trees are
extremely similar according to the MEGA4 analysis, which may indicate similarities between species
while showing possible evolutionary changes.
37
THE SIFT ANALYSIS OF THE HOMO SAPIENS TRIADIN
Tahiré Carrasquillo, José Aponte de la Torre, Carolina, Puerto Rico.
Research Mentor: Dr. Ángel R. Arcelay, Universidad del Este, School of Science and Technology,
Student Research Mentor Assistant: Carol J. Díaz, Universidad del Este, School of Science and
Technology, Carolina, Puerto Rico.
Student Research Mentor Assistant: Amir M. Rodríguez, Universidad Interamericana, San Juan, Puerto
Rico.
TRDN gene is a human gene associated with the release of calcium ions from the sarcoplasmic reticulum
triggering muscular contraction through calcium-induced calcium release. Triadin is a multiple protein
family, some isoforms being involved in muscle excitation-contraction coupling, and some are still
having unknown functions. It can be located at chromosome: 6; Location: 6q22-q23. Functionally, the
gene has been tested for association to the Cardiomegaly disease. Cardiomegaly is a condition where the
heart enlarges in a cardiothoracic ratio of more than 0.50. It can be attributed to a lot of causes, but mostly
it is because of low heart output, otherwise referred to as a cardiac failure. This condition is very common
to people who have chronic systolic heart failure or cardiomyopathies. It is believed that most athletes
have enlarged hearts, but in this case, theirs is not considered to be a medical condition at all. In essence,
cardiomegaly is not always bad, at least not for sports people. SIFT prediction has led to the conclusion
that 37% of mutations in TRDN are intolerant, proving that this gene is highly tolerant of towards
substitutions.
ANALYSIS OF THE MUTATION IN THE BMP4 GENE WHICH GENERATES THE DISEASE
FIBRODYSPLASIA OSSIFICANS PROGRESSIVA
Brianna M. Coriano, María Auxiliadora School, Carolina, Puerto Rico.
Rico.
The homo sapiens bone morphogenetic protein 4 gene found in chromosome 14 causes the disease
Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva. The protein encoded by this gene is a member of the bone
morphogenetic protein family which is part of the transforming growth factor-beta super family. This
disease arises from a mutation in BMP4 gene. FOP causes bone to form in muscle, tendons and
ligaments. Bone forms in the same way as when it heals after a fracture. Through the years it
progressively restricts movements and forms bone outside of the skeleton. There are no effective
treatments and surgery for the disease; for that reason, it worsen as a person ages. With the use of the
program SIFT, Sorting Intolerant from Tolerant, 20 changes in positions were studied randomly. The
result from the program was 0.05% or less intolerant. Beyond 0.05% change was tolerant to the amino
acid change. The result revealed a 39.75% intolerant; which means that it will resist the changes.
38
ANALYSIS
OF
EVOLUTIONARY
CHANGES
AND
CONSERVATION
OF
GLYCERALDEHYDE-3-PHOSPHATE DEHYDROGENASE (GADPH) BETWEEN HOMOLOG
SPECIES
Valeria M. Correa, Santa María del Camino School, Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico.
Glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GADPH) is a housekeeping gene that catalyzes the NADmediated oxidative phosphorylation of its substrate to D-1,3-diphosphoglyceric acid. The enzyme exists
as a tetramer of identical subunits. GAPDH displays diverse non-glycolytic functions as well, its role
depending upon its sub cellular location. The program BLAST (Basic Local Alignment Search Tool) was
used to find regions of local similarity between sequences. It compares nucleotide or protein sequences to
sequence databases and calculates the statistical significance of matches. The program TCOFFEE was
used to create a multiple sequence alignment. In order to determine evolutionary changes in the GAPDH,
the percentage of conservation between evaluated species and to determine conserved amino acids with
their corresponding position, GeneDoc was used, a Full Featured Multiple Sequence Alignment Editor,
and MEGA4 (Molecular Evolutionary Genetic Analysis) an integrated tool for conducting automatic and
manual sequence alignment by inferring phylogenetic trees and mining web-based databases. The results
in GeneDoc showed that 57% of the amino acids were conserved. The results in MEGA 4 showed that in
the max phylogenetic tree the most related species were Pinus sylvestris with Marchantia polymorpha,
and the least related is Physcomitrella patens; and in the minimum phylogenetic tree the most related are
Sorghum bicolor with Zea mays, and the least related are Pinus sylvestris with Marchantia polymorpha.
The results of this research suggest that the species studied had suffered changes because the amino acids
were not conserved. This may be due to evolutionary changes.
EVOLUTIONARY ANALYSIS OF DISEASE ASSOCIATED MUTATIONS IN THE
HOMO SAPIENS COLLAGEN TYPE I, ALPHA 2 (COL1A2), NM_000089
Jeniffer L. Delfaus, Notre Dame School, Caguas, Puerto Rico.
The purpose of this project was to determine differences in evolutionary patterns of amino acid positions
associated to mutations in the COL1A2 Gene, previously classified in disease associated mutations and
non-single nucleotide polymorphisms. To achieve this, it was necessary to apply an evolutionary analysis
using the Fitch program that outputs evolutionary rates for the mutations on the gene. The results are
presented in a histogram that shows the frequency of amino acids positions based on their evolutionary
rates in scale. The mutations that have been identified as possible DAMs show o remarkable difference
when compared with the nSNPs positions. Most of DAM positions are under the 1.0 and most of the
nSNPs are above that point in the evolutionary scale. The differences observed between positions can be
explained in terms of evolutionary importance of certain amino acid positions over others of less
importance to be maintained in the evolutionary history because they are extremely necessary to life as as
it is known at present. Another analytical tool, the PolyPhen, was applied to the sequences to determine
the precision of this tool on mutations analysis. The result for this gene shows a 22% of error for the
DAMs and a 55% of error for the nSNPs. The error present for the nSNPs positions is acceptable
considering that the number of nSNPs is too small for statistical consideration in this gene.
39
THE HOMO SAPIENS POLYCYSTIC KIDNEY DISEASE 1 LIKE 2 (PXD1L2)
Rosana C. Feliciano, PORFOR Educational Service School, Carolina, Puerto Rico.
Rico.
This research will study the mutations related to PKD1, PKD2 genes. These genes are located in
chromosome 4. PKD1 and PKD2 encode a member of the polycystic family, that is polycystin-1 is a
protein that in humans is encoded by the PKD1 gene. Mutations in the PKD1, PKD2, AND PKHD1 cause
the autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease. They can also lead the PKD1 or PKD2 gene to the
formation of thousands of cysts, which disrupt the normal functions of the kidneys and other organs.
People with mutations in the PKD2 gene, particularly women, typically have a less severe form of the
disease than people with PKD1 mutations. In this research, the changes of the amino acids in the proteins
were studied, with 20 positions picked randomly. For this research, a SIFT program that can predict if
amino acids changes are tolerant or intolerant was used. SIFT results predicted that this gene is 50.5%
intolerant and 49.5% tolerant.
STUDY OF THE PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF STRETTOMYCES 6KINASE USING BIOINFORMATIC TOOLS
Yarimar Figueroa, Santa María del Camino School, Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico.
Streptomyces 6 kinase is an enzyme that catalyzes the chemical reactions and belongs to the family of
tranferases. This enzyme participates in streptomycin biosynthesis. Streptomycin is an antibiotic drug, the
first of a class of drugs called aminoglycosides to be discovered and was the first antibiotic remedy for
tuberculosis. The purpose of this research was to determine evolutionary changes, and the percentage of
conservation between evaluated species in the streptomyces 6 kinase ptotein. BLAST finds regions of
similarity between biological sequences while TCOFFE was used to do multiple alignments. GeneDoc
was used to find conserved amino acids and their respective positions and determine their percentage of
conservation. The Molecular Evolutionary Genetics Analysis (MEGA) version 4.0, was used to determine
evolutionary changes by means of phylogenetic trees. The amount of polar and non-polar amino acids and
the percentage of conservation were determined using GENEDOC. They indicated 48 of the amino acids
polar and 83 non-polar leaving a 0.3% of conservation. In the phylogenetic tree of streptomyces protein
comparison between species, similarity between Streptomyces griseus and Streptomyces roseosporus can
be seen while the least related are Streptomyces albulus and Streptomyces cinnamoneus. In the
phylogenetic tree of species comparison, the Streptomyces albulus and Streptomyces cinnamoneus are
more related while Streptomyces platensis is the least similar between species. These results suggest they
have suffered change due to low conservation in amino acids, implying that the Streptomyces 6 kinase
may vary in sequence with time.
40
STUDY OF THE PERCENTAGE OF AMINO ACID CONSERVATION AND EVOLUTIONARY
CHANGES IN ALPHA TUBULIN 1A
Andrea Flores, Santa María Del Camino School, Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico.
Student Research Mentor: Krizia L. Cabrera, Universidad Metropolitana, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Alpha Tubulin 1a is a globular protein with the designated names of alpha, beta and gamma Tubulin.
Together they form the major component of microtubules, which are often cell-type specific.
Microtubules tend to be functionally distinct and are involved in various biological processes like in a
non-neuronal cell process formation and in neurite outgrowth. In addition to this, Alpha Tubulin 1a forms
a soluble multi-protein particle with several others proteins. The goal of this research was to determine
evolutionary changes and the percentage of conservation between different species in the Alpha Tubulin
1a protein. To carry out the research, certain programs were used such as: GeneDoc, a full featured
multiple sequence alignment editor, analyzer and shading. Furthermore, MEGA 4 (Molecular
Evolutionary Genetics Analysis) was used to conduct automatic and manual sequence alignment and
inferring phylogenetic trees. The program MEGA4 provides two types of phylogenetic trees, the
maximum and the minimum. The phylogenetic tree compares between species, while the minimum
provides a protein comparison. The minimum phylogenetic tree indicated that the most related were
Oncorhynchus nerka with Danio rerio and the least related are Cricetulus griseus with Equus caballus. In
the maximum phylogenetic tree, the most related were Oncorhynchus nerka with Danio rerio and the
least related are Cricetulus griseus with Equus caballus, just as seen in the previous phylogenetic tree.
The conservation of percentage of amino acids was provided by the GeneDoc program. The result of
conservation was 91% and the most common amino acids were E (Glutamic Acid), G (Glycine) and A
(Alanine). These results suggest that any alteration in the sequence of Tubulin alpha 1a may affect its
structure and function.
HOMO SAPIENS NOTCH HOMOLOG, NOTCH3 (CADASIL SYNDROME),
NM_000435
Nathalie Fuentes, José Gautier Benítez School, Caguas, Puerto Rico.
The comparative genomics project focuses on the research of gene mutations and their effects on humans
in terms of health. There are two types of mutations: disease associated mutations (DAM's) and
associated single nucleotide Polymorphism (nSNPs). The evolutionary rates of amino acid positions play
a crucial role in determining whether a mutation is a harmful one, which occurs on low evolutionary rates
positions or simply irrelevant; meaning that it provokes the development of disease phenotypes. The latter
are usually present on high evolutionary rates. This project focused on the evolutionary rates of DAMs
and nSNPs, their role, and how they affect the NM_000435 (NOTCH3) gene in contrast with other genes.
This gene mutates and causes CADASIL (Cerebral Autosomal Dominant Arteriopathy with Subcortical
Infarcts and Leukoencephalopathy), the most common form of hereditary stroke disorder. In order to
obtain the evolutionary rates of the gene, computational tools are needed. The gene bank offers the data
necessary to calculate the evolutionary rates of a gene in several species. Polyphen is the most widely
used method for estimating potential lethal effects of amino acid mutations. During this research, not only
the gene's variation in Homo sapiens are being investigated, but also forty-one species. As more
information is collected, the computational tools become more efficient in understanding the mutations
that occur in genes and how they affect health. This can possibly revolutionize how these rare inherited
diseases are treated. To determine the difference between observed and expected values for DAMs, the pvalue is crucial.
41
HOMO SAPIENS PRESENILIN 1 (PSEN1), TRANSCRIPT VARIANT 1, NM_000021
Thalía Gómez, Josefa Pastrana School, Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico.
This project was focused on determining evolutive patterns in amino acid positions of the PSEN1. The
amino acid positions are classified into DAM’s or nSNPs to determine the differences that help to collect
more data related to the amino acid changes that cause a Human disease. The sequences are obtained from
the UCSC data bank and then edited to be analyzed with the Fitch program which brings a histogram of
frequencies of amino acid mutations in the whole gene based on its evolutionary rate using sequences of
the same gene in vertebrates that preceded humans in the evolutionary history. The patterns observed
reflect that most of mutations that have been previously identified as disease associated mutations show
an evolutionary rate between 0.0 and 1.0. By contrast the non-single polymorphism mutations are
between 1.0 and 2.5 which is a considerable difference between these mutations in the gene if these are
analysed in an evolutionary rate context. Based on the results of this test, it assumed that the aa positions
with low evolutionary rate are essential to the development of life as it is known and the other positions
are lack of importance based on the high evolutionary rate. The sequences have been submitted to the
PolyPhen diagnostic tool to determine the probabilities of damage in each position based on the domains
of the test. The PolyPhen test results in a 36 % of error for the DAMs and a 26% of error for the nSNPs.
The results are submitted to future experiments with different statistical tools for new conclusions.
STUDY OF THE PERCENTAGE OF AMINO ACID CONSERVATION AND EVOLUTIONARY
CHANGES OF DNA TOPOISOMERASE
Angélica González, Carvin School, Carolina, Puerto Rico.
DNA topoisomerase is an enzyme responsible for uncoiling DNA which is the relaxation and the
extension of the DNA molecule. There are two types of topoisomerases, type I and type II. Type I cuts
only one strand of the DNA while the type II cuts both DNA strands. DNA topoisomerase helps in
different cellular processes such as transcription and replication of the DNA. The objectives in this
research were to determine the percentage of conserved amino acids and determine evolutionary changes
by means of a phylogenetic tree. Molecular Evolutionary Genetic Analysis (MEGA4) is an integrated tool
for conducting automatic and manual sequence alignment, inferring phylogenetic trees. To find the
percentage of conserved amino acids Genedoc was used, a full featured multiple sequence alignment
editor, analyzer and shading utility. There are two types of phylogenetic trees: the maximum and the
minimum. The maximum is a comparison between species and the minimum is a comparison in the
proteins between the species. In the minimum, the most similar species were Shigella dysenteriae and
Escherichia coli, while the least similar was Edwardsiella tarda. Similar to the minimum, the species
that were more alike in the maximum were Escherichia coli and Shigella dysenteriae but the least similar
was Erwinia amylovora. The percentage of conservation was determined by the use of Genedoc which
was 68% of conservation. These results may suggest that there have been changes in the amino acid
sequence but the ones that are conserved are there because they might be important to the structure and
function of the protein.
42
MUTATIONS IN THE HEPARAN SULFATE PROTEOGLYCAN 2 GENE
Stephanie Hall, Carvin School, Carolina, Puerto Rico.
Rico.
The heparin sulfate proteoglycan 2 is the gene that codifies for the perlecan protein, and it is located in
chromosome 1. This protein is expressed on different membranes and in vascular extracellular matrix
structures. The main function is to maintain vascular homeostasis and regulate growth factors, such as
bone development. Mutations in this gene cause the Schwartz-Jampel Syndrome Type 1 (SJS type 1)
disease and the Silverman-Handmaker, which is a type of Dyssegmental dysplasia (DDSH). The SJS
disease is associated with the nervous system, and it causes muscle spasm, skeletal dysplasia, and growth
retardation. The DDSH disease is associated with the cartilage structures, and it causes malformations and
deformations of skeletal structures at birth, such as a small chest, flat face and reduced joint mobility.
These mutations result in changes in the amino acids that compose the perlecan protein. The SIFT
(Sorting Intolerant from Tolerant) program predicts if substitutions of amino acids affect the protein’s
functions. Twenty different positions of the gene were chosen randomly, and they were visually graphed
so that the percentages of intolerant amino acids changes could be obtained. Results of this investigation
were that 78% of the amino acids changes are intolerant, meaning that the majority of the mutations affect
the perlecan protein. This information is useful for future references to manipulate the function of the
protein, so that it can adapt to new changes in the environment. This stimulates the evolution of
organisms in a way that they can survive and maintain their species in the circle of life.
43
DETERMINATION OF PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE
HOUSEKEEPING GENE SUCCINATE DEHYDROGENASE
Natalie M. Jiménez, María Auxiliadora School, San Juan, Puerto Rico.
A housekeeping gene is always expressed and encodes for proteins that are constantly required by the
cell, therefore, are essential to a cell and are always present in any condition. The encoded protein is
generally involved in basic functions and needed for maintenance in the cell. One housekeeping gene,
Succinate Dehydrogenase is a flavoprotein containing oxidoreductase that catalyzes the dehydrogenation
of succinate to fumarate. In most eukaryotic organisms, this enzyme is a component of complex II
electron transport of mitochondria and involved in the Krebs cycle and the electron transport chain and
contains FAD (flavin adenine dinucleotide) covalently. It catalyzes the oxidation of succinate to
fumarate, and is the only enzyme in the tricarboxylic acid cycle that is not free in the matrix
mitochondrial. The purpose of this work was to determine the percentage of conservation and
evolutionary changes of this housekeeping gene. Two programs used were: MEGA4 and GeneDoC. The
Molecular Evolutionary Genetics Analysis (MEGA) is a software application designed for comparative
analysis of homologous gene sequences. It was used to compare the housekeeping gene Succinate
Dehydrogenase using the following species: Escherichia coli, Shigella flexneri, Salmonella enterica,
Klebsiella pneumonia, Citrobacter koseri, Cronobacter sakazakii, Cronobacter turicensis, Dickey
dadantii, Pectobacterium carotovorum,and Vibrio coralliilyticus. In the minimum phylogentic tree, the
most similar species are Escherichia coli and Shigella flexneri and the least similar is Vibrio
coralliilyticus. In the maximum phylogentic tree, the most similar species are Escherichia Coli and
Shigella flexneri while the least similar is Vibrio coralliilyticus. Genedoc is a program used to determine
the percentage of amino acid conservation and non-polar and polar amino acids. According to GeneDoc,
all the species share amino acids that were conserved giving a 87.8% of conservation. Also, the
conserved amino acids were evaluated to determine which are polar and non-polar. It was determined that
there are 270 non-polar and 245 polar amino acids. In conclusion, the gene can tolerate some change, yet
other amino acids may be essential to the function or structure of the protein, hence this may be due to
evolutionary changes that the Succinate Dehydrogenase may have suffered.
44
AMINO ACIDS CHANGES IN THE HOMO SAPIENS GENE NEBULIN (NEB) AND THE
MUTATIONS ASSOCIATED WITH THE DISEASE NEMALINE MYOPATHY
Natalia C. López, Carvin School, Inc., Carolina, Puerto Rico.
Rico.
The objective of this work was to analyze amino acids changes of NEB using the SIFT program. The
NEB gene is located in chromosome 2 and has a locus of 20632 bp. This gene encodes the protein
nebulin, which is the major component of the cytoskeletal matrix. In most vertebrates, nebulin accounts
for 3 to 4% of the total myofibrillar protein. Mutations on this gene are associated with recessive
Nemaline Myopathy (NM). NM is a disorder which presents skeletal muscle weakness, hypotonia
(decreased the amount of tension or resistance to movement in a muscle), and absent deep tendon
reflexes. The diagnosis of this disease is confirmed by identification of nemaline bodies in affected
muscles. In this study, the amino acids changes of NEB were analyzed using the program SIFT (Sorting
Intolerant from Tolerant). This program predicts which change in amino acids is tolerant or intolerant.
Twenty positions of amino acids sequences were chosen randomly to analyze them. From those positions,
46.25 % were tolerant and the 53.75 % were intolerant.
EVOLUTIONAL STUDY OF AMINO ACID CHANGES ON PTPRB
Elvin A. Méndez, José Aponte de la Torre School, Carolina, Puerto Rico.
Rico.
Protein tyrosine phosphatase, receptor type B is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by
the PTPRB gene. The protein encoded by this gene is member of the protein tyrosine phosphatase family.
Protein tyrosine phosphatases are known to be molecules that regulate a variety of cellular processes
including cell growth, differentiation, mitotic cycle, and oncogenic transformation. This gene has been
tested for association to kidney cancer. The objective of this research was to examine changes on the
amino acids using SIFT, which predicts whether an amino acid substitution can affect protein function. It
also determines the tolerance and intolerance level on amino acids changes. Twenty positions of the gene
were taken randomly to observe the levels of intolerance, concluding that an average of 67% amino acids
from this gene were intolerant meaning that a high percent of amino acids did not resist the changes in
amino acid which caused the mutation.
45
HOMO SAPIENS FIBRILIN 1 (FBN1), NM_000138
Jaynee Mendoza, Bautista de Caguas Academy, Caguas, Puerto Rico.
This project is focused on investigating the differences between mutated amino acid sites of a disease
associate human gene. To achieve this work, it was necessary to make an evolutive comparative analysis
of these mutated amino acid sites in several sequences from the same gene in about thirty vertebrate
species, including the Human gene associated to the FBN1. The sequences are obtained from the UCSC
Genome Browser and analyzed by a parsimony program created in the Evolutionary Functional Genomics
Center at Biodesign Institute, Arizona State University. The program outputs the rates necessary to the
Histogram that show the frequencies for an evolutionary rate scale. The results for the DAM in the graph
show a considerable concentration of mutated sites at low evolutionary rates and high concentrations of
nSNPs at evolutionary rate between the 1.5 and the 2.5 units. The PolyPhen test was another tool used in
this project to measure the accuracy of the diagnostic tool with the information obtained from the EFG
lab. This tool shows a 25 % of difference for the DAMs and a 40 % percent of difference for the nSNPs .
EVOLUTIONARY ANALYSIS OF DISEASE ASSOCIATED MUTATIONS IN HOMO
SAPIENS CALCIUM-SENSING RECEPTOR, (CASR), NM_000388
Alexander P. Molina, Bautista de Caguas Academy, Caguas, Puerto Rico.
The most important issue in the analysis of molecular evolutionary patterns using genome sequence
projects is to make a good structure based on factors of the evolution of genetically-based diseases. The
analysis of evolution rates in amino acid positions between clinical and population genetics can help to
understand the phenotypes caused by disease mutations using computational tools. This investigation
allows for the understanding of the difference between DAMs and nSNPs in the evolutionary rates of
diseases. To present and compare the position of both, the evolutionary rates needed to be calculated. The
gene calcium-sensing receptor (CASR) is located on chromosome three. The protein encoded by this gene
is a G protein-coupled receptor that is expressed in the parathyroid hormone (PTH)-producing chief cells
of the parathyroid gland, and the cells lining the kidney tubule. It senses small changes in circulating
calcium concentration and couples this information to intracellular signaling pathways that modify PTH
secretion or renal caution handling, thus this protein plays an essential role in maintaining mineral ion
homeostasis. The nSNPs observed and expected are too few for a statistical significance. Meanwhile, the
p-value of DAMs is 1.55E-6, which establishes a difference between them. The results for evolutionary
rates for DAMs are expected in low rate levels and reveal the evolutionary frequency levels. The number
of nNSPs is so small that they are not significant; on the other hand, the DAMS in calcium-sensing
receptor genes have 29.4% of error. Diagnosis tools are based on structure and chemical composition and
their predictable accuracy is an important goal to clinical advances.
46
ANALYSIS OF COMPARISON AND PROTEIN CONSERVATION IN THE TELOMERASE
Frances C. Negrón, Bautista de Levittown Academy, Toa Baja, Puerto Rico.
Student Research Mentor: Krizia Cabrera, Universidad Metropolitana, San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Student Research Mentor Assistant: Dorielys Valentin, Universidad Metropolitana, San Juan, Puerto
Rico.
The telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) is a protein-coding gene located in chromosome 5. This
enzyme is a reverse transcriptase that carries its own RNA molecule, which is used as a template when it
elongates telomeres, which are shortened after each replication cycle. The telomeres are the ends of the
eukaryotic chromosome and are specialized chromatin structures; this is a region of repetitive DNA at the
end of the chromosome. The objectives in this research are to determine the evolutionary changes in the
TERT gene, percentage of conservation between evaluated species, and conserved amino acids. The
programs that were used in the research were GeneDoc and MEGA4. GenDoc is a program used for the
comparison, visualization and alignments of the species that edits the alignments of the sequence. The
Molecular Evolutionary Genetics Analysis (MEGA) version 4.0 is software that compares DNA or
protein sequences of homolog species to estimate evolutionary rates using phylogenetic trees. There are
two types of phylogenetic trees, the maximum and the minimum. In the maximum there is a comparison
in the species; and the minimum is a protein comparison between the chosen species. GeneDoc showed
that the percentage of conservation between evaluated species was 37.13%. In MEGA4, the maximum
phylogenetic tree showed that Rattus norvegicus and Mus musculus are the most similar, and Cotumix
japonica is the farthest one that does not relate much with the other ones. The results in the minimum
phylogenetic tree were that Rattus norvegicus and Mus musculus are very related, while Cotumix japonica
is more related between them. In conclusion, GenDoc presents a low percentage of conservation
suggesting that the TERT protein can tolerate changes in its structure. MEGA4 shows that the relation
between each species and the protein is similar. Theses results may give more insight into TERT proteins.
COMPUTATIONAL STUDY OF AMINO ACID CHANGES WITH GENE ECH1
Alvin A. Peralta, José Aponte de la Torre School, Carolina, Puerto Rico.
Rico.
The gene ECH1 was analyzed with amino acid changes with the program SIFT. The gene’s full name is
Homo sapiens enoyl Coenzyme A hydratases 1, peroxisomal and it codifies the enzyme enoyl-coenzyme
A hydratase. This is an enzyme that reversibly catalyzes the hydration of unsaturated fatty acyl-CoA to
produce beta-hydroxyacyl-CoA. It plays an important role in the oxidation of fatty acids and in
mitochondrial fatty acid synthesis. This gene is believed to play a major role in the formation of
malignant and non-malignant pancreatic neoplasms (pancreatic cancer). The SIFT program, designed for
this type of research, was used to elaborate predictions for changes in amino acid positions. A 0.05 mark
indicates tolerance and intolerance; that is, if they can withstand the amino acid substitution or not. If a
prediction was below this level, it was intolerant; if not, it was tolerant. Results showed that 63% of
amino acid substitutions were intolerant towards the changes in the positions since they were below the
indicating value. Due to high intolerance levels, an apparent mutation (modified or abnormal expression
of amino acids) is made and negatively affected protein function in the majority of cases. This gene could
in return induce effects such as the development of possible diseases because of mutations.
47
STRUCTURE ANALYSIS OF C-SRC TYROSINE KINASE
Karina Pérez, Santa María del Camino School, Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico.
A housekeeping gene is a gene involved in basic functions needed for the sustenance of the cell.
Housekeeping genes are constitutively expressed, always turned on. One housekeeping gene, C- src
tyrosine kinase (Csk), is a human protein tyrosine kinases that plays a critical role in signal transduction
downstream of growth factor receptors, integrins and G protein-coupled receptors. Protein tyrosine
kinases (PTKs) modulate a wide variety of cellular events, including differentiation, growth, metabolism
and apoptosis. A tyrosine kinase is an enzyme that can transfer a phosphate group from ATP to a tyrosine
residue in a protein. The goal of this research was to evaluate the structure properties of the C-src
tyrosine kinase to determine the percentage of conservation and evolutionary changes. BLAST and Tcoffee were used to infer functional and evolutionary relationships between sequences as well as to help
identify members of gene families and to align sequences of the alignment methods into one unique
alignment. To evaluate the percentage of conservation in the amino acid sequence, a multiple sequence
alignment editor- GeneDoc- was used. The determination of evolutionary changes was done by MEGA 4
(Molecular Evolutionary Gentics Analysis 4), a software used for conducing automatic and manual
sequence alignment by inferring in phylogenetic trees. MEGA gave two phylogenetic trees: minimum
(comparison between proteins) and maximum (comparison between species). The results from MEGA
show in the maximum phylogenetic tree that the species Bos taurus and Ailuporoda melanoleuca are the
most related; while the species Xenopus laevis is the least related. In the minimum phylogenetic tree the
species Bos taurus and Ailuporoda melanoleuca are the most related and the Tetraodon nigroviridis is the
least related. In conclusion, the objectives were achieved given possible knowledge of the C-src tyrosine
kinases.
STUDY OF AA CHANGES ON HOMO SAPIENS FANCONI ANEMIA (FANCA)
Isamar Rivera, José Aponte de la Torre School, Carolina, Puerto Rico.
Rico.
The objective of this project was to analyze the appearance of mutations in the FANCA gene by the
change of amino acid. This gene is characterized by the cytogenetic instability, DNA repair and the
expansion of chromosomal fracture. The analysis is based on amino acid change that will cause a problem
in protein function with a result of tolerance or intolerant. Intolerance means that a mutation will be
created. Fanconi Anemia is the disease that causes the disappearance of blood cells. Some disease
symptoms are abnormal heart, bone problems, short height, small head and in some cases small testicles
and genital changes. Generally it is diagnosed on children with ages from 2 thru 15. A certain solution is a
bone marrow transplant. A family member is needed for the transplant, because it is compatible. To
analyze the amino acid changes, SIFTY was used. Sorting to Intolerant from Tolerant (SIFT), is a
program that provides some predictions of amino acids changes and if an effect occurs, it determines how
tolerant or intolerant the amino acids changes are. An average of 64% amino acid changes on this gene
were tolerant and an average of only 36% amino acids were intolerant.
48
PSEN1 GENE CAN INDUCE THE ALZHEIMER DISEASE
Gira M. Robles, Bilingüe Padre Rufo School, Carolina, Puerto Rico.
Rico.
The Alzheimer disease has a great impact on advanced age people. People that suffer this disease cannot
enjoy a normal life. The conditions from this disease are memory loss that impacts a normal life and
makes it different. The gene is associated with this disease is Presinilin 1 (PSEN1). This gene encodes the
protein presinillin for brain development and spinal cord. It is located in chromosome 14. The purpose of
this work is use the SIFT program to study the amino acid changes of the protein. The SIFT predictors for
mutation in the PSEN1 gene are related to the Alzheimer disease. The SIFT program has been used to
predict tolerant and intolerance in amino acid changes. For this study, 20 positions were chosen randomly
and evaluated in SIFT. The SIFT prediction showed some of the percents of this investigation. This result
showed that there are more tolerants than intolerants and it implies that the gene can resist changes.
Alzheimer is not a part of the aging process and it is not hereditary, but it may have some factors
producing the disease.
COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF AMINO ACID SEQUENCE IN ATP5B AND NA, K-ATPASE
PROTEINS
Nicolle A. Rosa, Bautista de Levittown Academy, Toa Baja, Puerto Rico.
The ATP5B and Na, K-ATPase are both involved with ATP synthase. ATP is crucial in all organisms
because it provides energy for the cell. ATP5B encodes the beta subunit of the ATP synthase complex.
Na, K-ATPase is the sodium and potassium pump of the cells, which moves them from areas of low
concentration to areas of high concentration. The purpose of this research was to determine the percentage
of conservation between the homolog proteins and to evaluate the evolutionary changes in the ATP5B
and Na, K-ATPase proteins. The analysis of the amino acid sequence in these proteins was studied
through MEGA4, which constructs the phylogenic trees, and through Genedoc, a multiple alignment
visualization tool used to determine conserved amino acids in protein sequences. The results obtained
from these analyses showed that the ATP5B amino acid sequence is 81% conserved. From these
conserved amino acids, 37% were polar and 63% were nonpolar. According to the phylogenetic tree of
the ATPB protein, Ailuropoda melanoleuca and Sus scrofa were the most similar and Gillichthys seta the
least similar, while in terms of amino acid sequence, Rattus norvegicus and Mus musculus were the most
similar and Gillichthys seta the least similar. The sequence analysis on Na, K-ATPase revealed that 85%
of the amino acids were conserved from which 35% are polar and 65% are nonpolar. The phylogenetic
tree implies that the most similar of the compared species for the protein Na, K-ATPase were
Monodelphis domestica and Macaca mulata while Bos Taurus was the least similar. In terms of
comparison between proteins, the phylogenetic tree alignment shows that Xenopus laevis and Xenopus
tropicalis are most similar whereas Monodelphis domestica was least similar. The results of this study
imply that the two proteins have conserved the majority of the amino acids in all the evaluated species as
seen in Genedoc, yet some changes has occurred as seen in the phylogenetic trees.
49
ANALYSIS OF THE AMINO ACIDS CHANGES IN THE PADI4 GENE (PEPTIDYL ARGININE
DEIMINASE TYPE 4)
Rebecca E. Rosado, José Aponte de la Torre, Carolina, Puerto Rico.
Rico.
The gene PADI4 (Peptidyl Arginine Deiminase Type 4) is responsible of the formation of the amino acid
citrulline. Citrulline is not normally present in the proteins and its function is to convert ornithine to
arginine in a metabolic pathway called the urea cycle. Mutations for this gene cause antibodies to attack
joints causing inflammation. The disease associated with this gene is Rheumatoid Arthritis. This disease
is more common in women and the world-wide range of mortality is of 90 cases for each 100,000
habitants each year. The treatment for this condition is to take medicines or to have surgery. In this study
the changes in amino acids positions were analyzed. The SIFT program was used for this analysis. SIFT
is a program that predicts the changes in the positions of amino acids and infers if the changes are tolerant
or intolerant. SIFT uses a margin that indicates that below 0.05 is intolerant. Twenty (20) positions were
chosen randomly for the SIFT program. The predictions revealed that there were 57.5% tolerant and
42.5% intolerant. For future research, this will be useful to establish an evolutionary analysis of the gene
and the diseases associated with it.
A COMPUTATIONAL STUDY OF AMINO ACID SUBSTITUTION IN THE RASAL 1 GENE
Edgardo Vázquez, José Aponte de la Torre School, Carolina, Puerto Rico.
Rico.
The Ras activating protein activator, like 1, is a gene located in chromosome 12. It has a base pair size of
3148 and is a member of the GAP1 family. The protein encoded in the gene is in charge of stimulating
Gtpase activity of Rasp21. Acting as a suppressor, it enhances weak intrinsic activity that results in an
inactive GDP-bound form of RAS, thereby allowing control of cellular proliferation (increase in tumor
cell number) and differentiation (expressed on specific cell type). Based on past studies, Rasal 1 is
associated to colorectal cancer (2009, Ohta M et.al). Colorectal (or colon) cancer is the fourth most
common cancer in the United States on men and women over 50 years old. Symptoms include blood in
the stool, narrower stools, change in bowel habits and general stomach discomfort. This cancer can be
detected by tests that diagnose it, tests such as a colonoscopy and the sigmoidoscopy. Surgery is the most
common treatment for colorectal cancer. SIFT (Sorting Intolerant From Tolerant) is a program that
predicts whether an amino acid substitution affects protein function so that users can prioritize
substitutions for further study. The aim of the study was to determine whether the predictions presented
by SIFT are links to the mutation of this gene. Twenty different positions within the gene were chosen
from SIFT predictions which concluded that 57% of the changed amino acids were intolerant to the
substitution.
50
COMPUTER SCIENCES
ELECTRODE SHAPE DESIGN FOR UNIFORM GLOW DISCHARGE CONFINEMENT
Gabriela Acebal, Wendy Figueroa, Clarianne Moscoso, Commonwealth-Parkville High School, San
Juan, Puerto Rico.
Orlando Torres, Espíritu Santo School, San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Research Mentor: Eng. Franklyn Colmenares, Polytechnic University, San Juan, Puerto Rico.
The Polytechnic University of Puerto Rico (PUPR) plasma machine is used to form glow discharge. This
machine creates the fourth state of matter, plasma, by means of a high voltage source. When matter is in
the plasma state, it is composed of an ionized gas in which the nucleus and the electrons break from their
attractions and exist freely. Glow Discharge occurs when a gas has sufficient energy input to start
releasing energy in the form of light. The main purpose of this experiment was to design a stainless steel
shape that would best confine plasma in a uniform way. In order to complete the goal, stainless steel was
molded into different shapes. The shapes were chosen by preference, taking into consideration the
machine’s geometric restrictions; they had to be less than 3 inches in diameter and needed to be threedimensional. The ideas of the different shapes consisted of a pyramid, an atom, and a cube. The shapes
were placed in a fixed low pressure of 9x10-3 Torr Nitrogen gas and applied a negative high voltage
between -500volts to -2,000volts to form the plasma. After testing them all out, the cube harnessed the
best plasma, having begun glow discharge at -500 volts. The cube was the most efficient shape because it
required less energy input, and had the largest volume. A design of a rectangular-prism shape with the
dimensions 2”x5.5” was made in order to test if a shape with a greater volume and less open endings
would be more efficient. It was more efficient; although glow discharge began at -550v, the plasma was
more uniform and there were larger amounts of it, concentrating in the center. The outcome of this
research may indicate that the most efficient shape would be one with a large volume and a minimal
amount of open endings.
BINARY TREES
Stefan G. Acevedo, Interamerican School, San Germán, Puerto Rico.
Research Mentor: Guillermo Mejía, Inter-American University, San Germán, Puerto Rico.
Organizing data has been always one of the most common and difficult aspects of computation. The
binary tree structure is a construction similar to a family tree. Every data entry is considered as a node
which can have up to two branches or children, which are called left and right. In this project, I study the
properties of binary tree as information structures, how to search information stored in a binary tree
structure, to modify it adding more information or editing the previous one, using the computer language
Microsoft Small Basic. With this elegant structure, everyone can organize information in a more efficient
and simple way.
51
ARCHITECTURAL FORMS FROM FRACTALS
Pablo Álvarez, Interamerican School, San Germán, Puerto Rico.
Architects are always exploring new forms to make living spaces more enjoyable and useful. Fractals are
very complex but highly attractive geometric forms that appear often in nature. The purpose of this
investigation is to present how fractals can be useful in daily life, especially in architecture. Even they
appear complex; fractals can be easily created as decorations or as part of the architectural structures.
With a computer program I follow some possibilities and device a method to analyze new ones.
SUNS DESIGNS FROM FRACTALS
Héctor Luis Avilés, Interamerican School, San Germán, Puerto Rico.
Approximate fractals are easily found often in nature. A fractal is a geometric shape that can be
fragmented into simple shape polygons that fill objects similar to figures, shapes and drawings after
simple geometric operations. Using Small Basic, I have developed a program that constructs fractal
figures with a lot of mystery, resembling suns or black holes. Solving the figures in simple shapes may
sound as an easy task, but it is actually not trivial, as it takes a solid understanding of their geometry.
Mathematics and the computer are very useful to expand the imagination well beyond the usual
experience.
EXPLORING PLANET X
Daniel Ayala, Inter American School, San Germán, Puerto Rico.
Research Mentor: Yvonne Avilés, Inter American University, San Germán, Puerto Rico.
The inquiry of whether there is life in other planets has always intrigued humanity. This project creates a
virtual world where an astronaut arrives at planet X, and through some exploration encounters proof that
he/she has not been the first to visit the planet. Fearful of what might be discovered, the astronaut decides
to take samples of the findings and head back home. Storyboards in Alice allow creating virtual worlds,
where through a sequence of actions, known as algorithms, there will be interactions of the objects in the
world based on the programmers’ design. Furthermore, new stories may be created from the original
story if for one event, some condition changes or an assumption is made, which may then trigger a new
set of events. This program may help other beginners understand the essentials of computer programming
by showing them that programming may be viewed as decomposing a problem as a sequence of events
where each event may be a simple action or may be viewed as another set of events.
52
A SOFTWARE PROGRAMMING VERSION OF THE CLASSIC “HANGMAN GAME”
Amarilis Araya, José E. Aponte de la Torre School, Carolina, Puerto Rico.
Research Mentor: Isis Laham, Department of Engineering, Universidad del Este.
Research Mentor Assistant: María De León-Curet, School of Science, Math, Technology and Languages,
Computers have become part of everyday life. Activities such as: word processing, information research,
communication via e-mail, bill payment, school work, listening to music, watching movies, and playing
games can be done with a computer. In this project, a prototype program of the classic Hangman game
that for many years has been played using a piece of paper and a pen was developed. The requirements,
design, and coding of the software program were established using Visual Basic 2008. All the steps of the
software development life cycle process were learned and applied.
COMPUTER FORENSICS VALIDATION SPRING 2010
Cristian Bradley, San Jorge Academy, San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Othoniel J. Rodríguez, Bautista de Puerto Nuevo Academy, San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Alejandro Sánchez, Commonwealth High School, San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Research Mentor: Eng. Joaquín Rivera, Polytechnic University, San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Foremost is a program used to find files, transfer them and find coding inside of them. Depending on the
type of file you want to find, you input the information, run the program, and the foremost will create an
output file with the results the types of files you want to find. Foremost uses the Hexadecimal base to find
the header and footer of any kind of file. Foremost can work in Parallel mode with other computers to
divide the loads, therefore this process is faster than linear mode. It can also run in linear mode which
uses only one computer for the processing of the files. The prupose of this project was to validate the
programming using the established methodology of the National Institute of Standards and Technology
applied to the improvement of the Foremost Application. With this approach, the quality and
conformance testing to ensure that the forensics tools work appropriately will be established.
53
WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORK TO HELP WITH THE TREATMENT OF
DIABETES
Isardo Braverman, José García, Stephan Remy, José Aponte de la Torre, Carolina, Puerto Rico.
Research Mentor: Lorna Salamán, Universidad del Este, Carolina, Puerto Rico.
Diabetes is a very serious medical condition that affects the lives of about 23.6 million of children and
adults. One of the most important aspects of its treatment is the monitoring of blood glucose levels, which
has to be performed periodically and following the indicated doctor’s instructions. The main tool to
measure blood glucose levels are glucometer devices. In recent years, their technology includes digital
devices to accurately register and save the data acquired. This research project took blood glucose level
monitoring one step forward. The proposal included the development of a wireless communication
network to help with the treatment of diabetes. Its objective was to connect a digital glucometer to a
wireless communication device (i.e. “smartphone”) that, using commercial wireless networks, could send
the gathered data to a web application to save, analyze, and display the results. The information could be
used by health professionals, caregivers, and patients to determine if treatment instructions were followed,
if they required modifications, and steps tobe taken in case of an emergency. Proper interaction and
behavior of the network could remind patients to take their medication or inject the insulin doses, and
give health professionals and caregivers important information about the patient’s treatment. For this
initial phase, a preliminary physical model of the digital glucometer attached to the wireless network
device (using existent commercial models) were developed, as well as a diagram and flowchart of the
network, and basic HTML pages exemplifying the web application features. Also, in-depth interviews
were made to a health professional, a caregiver, and a patient to receive feedback on their general
impression and recommendations for the next phases of the development of this wireless network.
WALKING ON THE MOON
Christopher J. Cancel, Interamerican School, San Germán, Puerto Rico.
A great dream of humanity since last century has been to conquer outer space. This project creates a
virtual world through a series of scenarios and textual story boards where an astronaut and an alien
encounter each other on the moon, and exchange of information between them. The visual scenes in
Alice aloud to create objects in a virtual world and put them to interact according to prescribed actions
designed by the programmer. My interest for creating the scenario stems from the acknowledge that
programming may be thought as series of small steps according to a story, even if it is called algorithm or
other scientific name. I think this program can help other beginners by showing them that programming is
essentially very simple; the complications are in the details.
54
ROBOTIC MODEL FOR THE REDUCTION OF LANDFILLS TO IMPROVE THE
ENVIRONMENT
Ubec Carambot, Manuel Mangual, José E. Aponte de la Torre School, Carolina, Puerto Rico
Landfills are very harmful areas to the environment. They are not the safest way and place to dispose of
solid wastes. Robots can help to enter dangerous areas in landfills to extract waste and other materials,
which will later be taken to recycling and soil processing facilities. A low-level invasive process leaves
the area cleaner, facilitating the conservation of natural resources and improving peoples’ health. This
proposed robotic model could be used to enter the landfill and extract hazardous materials by using
specialized technologies such as GPS, GIS, and different types of sensors (i.e. temperature, gas, and
image). The robot would be able to identify the position of waste and other materials located in the
landfill, extract them and by using calculated estimates manage them adequately. The robot would deposit
the materials in a conveyor which would lead them to the trucks that would take the material to the
respective waste management facilities; or the conveyor itself could lead them directly towards the plants.
For this phase, a scaled physical prototype was developed and assembled using the VEX Robotic System
including simulated GPS, GIS, and sensors. Also, the algorithm the robot would follow during the waste
management process was developed. In conclusion, the robot model for the management of solid wastes
was developed to facilitate the reuse of many materials which if left in landfills would take thousands of
years to decay.
HIGH TEMPERATURE DECREASES THE AMOUNT OF DISSOLVED OXYGEN IN THE
WATER
Michael G. Carmona, Néstor D. Carrasco, Petra Mercado School, Humacao, Puerto Rico.
Research Mentor: Dr. Noemí Soto Nieves, University of Puerto Rico, Humacao, Puerto Rico.
Dissolved Oxygen (DO) is the amount of oxygen that is dissolved in water that is very essential for
healthy small rivers and lakes. The level of dissolved oxygen can be an indicator of how much
contamination there is in the water. It also indicates if the water has sufficient oxygen to support the
vegetable and animal life. Temperature is the measure of heat or thermal energy of the particles in a
substance. Since what is measured is only medium movements, the temperature no longer depends on the
number of particles in an object and does not depend on size. Data of the temperature and DO from Bahía
Jobos in Salinas, Puerto Rico, was downloaded from the Centralized Data Management Office of the
National Estuarine Research Reserve System. By means of observations the following problem was
brought up: How does the temperature affect the dissolved oxygen in the water? It was hypothesized that
the quantity of dissolve oxygen decreases at high temperatures. The analysis of the data from Bahia
Jobos was done making correlations of the temperature and DO using computer software such as
Microsoft Excel. The data showed that at higher temperatures the amount of DO is less, which correlates
with the hypothesis of this study. Future studies with more data and including other variables will be
necessary to validate these results.
55
ROBOTICS SOLUTION FOR WATER SAMPLING AT DIFFICULT ACCESS LOCATIONS
Odemaris Carrasquillo, Laura Roldán, José Aponte de la Torre, Carolina, Puerto Rico.
Conservation of natural resources is very important, especially during these days when global warming
causes unexpected climate changes and uncertain damages. Water as an essential resource needs to be
preserved. To achieve this goal, water sampling is fundamental for the experimental processes that will
help on the mentioned objective. Monitoring water provides vital information for resolving or decreasing
water pollution problems. However, experience shows how difficult monitoring and reporting on the
advancements of individual programs is. During the taking of the sample and testing chemical, physical
and biological water conditions, people have difficulty accessing some monitoring areas and can be
exposed to water pollution. A robotic monitoring system will be used to measure physical-chemical
parameters with the purpose of identifying any changes in water quality and increase the understanding
and reliability of the information. This system may prevent any physical contact between the researchers
and the possible contaminated water during the monitoring, which contribute to obtaining more precise
and accurate results. The hardware of the robot was built using VEX Robotics System materials for a
better understanding of the system and to demonstrate its efficiency.
USING CLUSTER ANALYSIS TO DISCOVER ELEMENTS IN HYPERSPECTRAL DIGITAL
IMAGES
Ana Castro, Carlos Morales, Petra Mercado School, Humacao, Puerto Rico.
Research Mentor: Prof. Luis Gabriel Jaimes, University of Puerto Rico, Humacao, Puerto Rico.
This project used cluster analysis algorithms in order to separate and distinguish among different classes
inside of hyper spectral digital images taken by satellites. When nothing is known about the items in the
image, one of the first things that needs to be done is to determine the number of these. One of the most
well known classification techniques for this kind of task are the unsupersided methods or cluster analysis
techniques. Theses techniques are widely used in different fields of science and engineering. The
ISODATA algorithm was used in order to carry out this task. In a general way the algorithm tried to
group similar elements in the same cluster and dissimilar elements in different clusters, and the grade of
similarity. It is determined for distance measures which is called Euclidean distance. After executing
several times the programs with different values of the number of cluster parameters, five different
elements were found, that later by means of supervised classification techniques were identify as three
diferent types- vegetation, water and sand.
56
EVALUATING METHODS FOR RECOVERING AND DESTROYING VALUABLE DATA
Mei-Ling Chang, Patricia Rosario, Luterano Resurrección School, Carolina, Puerto Rico.
Research Mentor: Joel Rivera, Universidad Metropolitana, San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Corporate users and regular users are increasingly storing vital information on their computer hard drives.
The data stored in a hard drive may contain financial, health, and personal information that can include
address, social security numbers, etc. that can be used for identity theft or fraud. Many organizations and
people are employing various countermeasures often at a considerable cost to protect their information.
However, evidence would suggest that these assets are disposed poorly and by using simple forensic
recovery techniques they can be retrievable. Data recovery is the result of applying extraordinary
measures to extract information from locations in which it is known to reside even thought the user might
think it was deleted completely from the hard drive. Destroying data or data wiping are methods used to
certify that the sensible data stored on hard drives is not recoverable. This research will give an overview
and methods of recovering and destroying valuable data. It will demonstrate what information can be
recovered without its proper removal that may cause possible identity theft. It will show types of
information required to commit fraud found in a series of disposed personal computer hard disk drives
and demonstrate the proper methods to secure disposal.
AIRPLANE FLIGHT SIMULATION
Carlimar Collazo, Interamerican School, San Germán, Puerto Rico.
Research Mentor: Ivonne Avilés, Inter-American University, San Germán, Puerto Rico.
This project recreates the first flight of a pilot and the joy of reaching her destination on the computer
screen. The programming environment of Alice, a Java based language, allows the user to create virtual
worlds with the computer, converting her story boards directly in animated scenes on the screen. I decided
to recreate a flight experience to explore my keen interest in aviation. Other people can use my flight
simulation as a game or to make their personal changes and create other simulations expanding their
knowledge and imagination through an almost real virtual experience.
FUEL CELLS MATHEMATICAL MODEL
Enid M. Colón, Nuestra Sra. De Belén School, Guaynabo, Puerto Rico.
Research Mentor: Isis Laham, Department of Engineering, Universidad del Este, Carolina, Puerto Rico.
Research Assistant: María De León-Curet, School of Science, Math, Technology and Languages,
The purpose of this project was to find alternatives to reduce environmental pollution. A consequence of
all energy production involves pollution or heavy contamination of water and soil. Fuel cells are an
alternative to substitute some of the sources that are highly hazardous. This investigation focused in the
evaluation of the efficiency of fuel cells, electrochemical cells that convert water to electricity via the
electrolysis process. The electrolysis process is the decomposition of water in oxygen and hydrogen, by
applying an electrical current to water. In this project, four different PEM Fuel Cells were compared to
show the electrical differences and performance.
57
MODEL OF AN ASSISTIVE ROBOT FOR THE TREATMENT OF PATIENTS WITH BACK
PAIN CONDITIONS
Antoine Cotto, Ángel Figueroa, Christian Orta, José E. Aponte de la Torre School, Carolina, Puerto
Rico.
Back pain conditions are one of the most common health problems experienced by people. Their
treatment is very complex and the prognosis is usually poor. To improve it, a model of a robot that can
assist patients on performing basic daily tasks is proposed. This project is based on the possibility of
applying robotics as a solution to assist patients with back pain conditions. Using the VEX Robotic
System, a scaled physical prototype of a robot to perform simple daily tasks (i.e. pick and lift objects) we
developed. As part of the research project, patients from various age levels were interviewed to consider
their opinion about the existence of such robot. For the experiment, persons with various types of back
conditions were used and a simulation was made of the process of picking and lifting a small box from
the floor. Parameters used during the experiment were force, resistance, height and distance traveled,
which are important to measure the efficiency of the proposed robotic model. Then, the results were
analyzed to determine if the robot helped patients to improve their health by making easier the
performance of those tasks. The analysis of results demonstrated that this kind of robotic model can help
people with back conditions perform daily tasks more efficiently and improve their general health.
EXPLORING THE WIRELESS NETWORK AND WHY SECURITY IS REQUIRED
Kevin Estrada, Bárbara Ann Roessler Academy, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Wireless networks have become a big part of the daily life of most people. They also hold important data.
Since wireless networks are available to almost anybody, there is always someone who wants to exploit it.
That may result in data loss and identity theft. To counter this, secure wireless networks need to be
established. The Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) is one type of security. WEP was supposed to bring the
same security level of a wired network. But it had a weakness, and the Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA)
replaced it because it is an encryption that is constantly changing and it is not easy to crack. The question
that many have asked themselves is how do they secure themselves against that when others attack and
bypass those securities. The result of this research it to learn and be fluent in the field of wireless
networks and teach anyone who is willing to learn.
58
THE UNDERSTANDING, THE PROTECTION, AND THE FUTURE OF BLUETOOTH
TECHNOLOGY
Alexis Figueroa, Santa María del Camino School, Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico.
Bluetooth is a wireless technology for short-range networking. It is relatively robust, operates on low
power, and is a low cost technology. In almost all cases, Bluetooth users can establish "trusted devices"
that can exchange data without asking permission. However, this growing technology that exchanges data
information brings a big security concern. Security threats like "bluejacking," "bluebugging" and "Car
Whisperer" have turned up as Bluetooth-specific security issues. Prior to Bluetooth v2.1, encryption was
not required and could be turned off at any time. Moreover, the encryption key is only good for
approximately 23.5 hours; using a single encryption key longer than this time allows for simple XOR
attacks to retrieve the encryption key. Bluetooth implements confidentiality, authentication and key
derivation with custom algorithms based on the SAFER+ block cipher. In the beginning, Bluetooth
started with version 1.0, and then gradually moved from there. The current version is 2.0+EDR, with
another version currently in development. In the future, you can expect the technology behind Bluetooth
to get better. Bluetooth has proven to be the wireless standard of the future, offering wireless connectivity
for hundreds of different devices. For cell phones or other forms of wireless connections, Bluetooth is the
one technology that you do not want to find yourself without but security is something researchers must
work on.
USING
MACHINE
LEARNING
TECHNIQUES
FOR
CLASSIFICATION
IDENTIFICATION OF ELEMENTS IN HYPER SPECTRAL IMAGES
AND
Yaritza Flecha, Petra Mercado School, Humacao, Puerto Rico.
Kenneth Padró, San Antonio Abad School, Humacao, Puerto Rico.
Research Mentor: Prof. Luis Gabriel Jaimes, University of Puerto Rico, Humacao, Puerto Rico.
The main goal in this project was to identify the different objects or elements inside of satellital images of
earth, these elements are not easy to identify by simple observation, much of them cannot be detected by
the human eye. However, advantage of the spectral signature of each element was taken, by means of
these signatures, and a sample of some known elements inside the image was possible to build a training
set that along with techniques of supervised classification allowed for the identification of the areas of the
images that corresponded with the elements. For classification purpose, the method of Maximum
likelihood was used. The experiments were developed using the MutiSpect project (©Purdue Research
Foundation) and the R-project. These experiments allowed for the identification of three different kinds of
vegetation, water and sand.
59
THE PRESENCE OF MANGROVES AND THE DECREASE OF TURBIDITY IN THE WATER
Dinotchka M. García, Ireniamarel Morales, Petra Mercado School, Humacao, Puerto Rico.
Water contains many suspended materials that make it look cloudy. The measure of the light scattered
and absorbed by water due to the suspended matter in the water is called turbidity. Near the coast line
there are mangroves, a group of trees that have several adaptations that provide the advantages of growing
in salty areas. They provide a shelter for many species and accumulate sediments that come from water
flow. It was hypothesized that turbidity decreases with the presence of mangroves. Two areas at Bahía de
Jobos in Salinas, Puerto Rico, that were either rich in mangroves or poor in mangroves were identified.
Data was collected from two stations at these locations and analyzed using Microsoft Excel software. The
data showed that the turbidity increases with the presence of mangroves. Further studies using data from
other places are necessary to validate these results. It is very likely that the presence of mangroves
interferes with the materials movements.
MATHEMATICAL MODEL OF LEVITATION WITH ELECTROMAGNETIC SUSPENSION
(EMS)
Ricardo García, Nuestra Señora de Belén School, Guaynabo, Puerto Rico.
This project presents a mathematical model for magnetic levitation using electromagnetic suspension.
Magnetic levitation is a method by which an object is suspended with no support other than magnetic
fields. Magnetic levitation combined with electricity is called electromagnetic suspension, and it is
achieved by constantly varying the strength of a magnetic field produced by electromagnets. In this
investigation a mathematical model of the levitator composed of a fixed electromagnet and a levitating
object located under it were studied. A plot of the graphs for inductance as a function of distance between
the object and the electromagnet was made in Matlab as well as the graph for the current required to
maintain equilibrium at every distance point. It was concluded that the closer distance from the
electromagnet, the larger the inductance of the coil and less current is needed to stabilize it. By knowing
the behavior of this phenomenon, a larger scale levitation system may be designed.
60
DOES ELECTRICAL CONDUCTIVITY AFFECT WATER FLOW?
Brianna M. González, Elizabeth Torres, San Antonio Abad School, Humacao, Puerto Rico.
Electrical conductivity is the property of water to conduct electricity from an area of high electric field to
an area of low electric field through the help of dissolved ions that act as conductors. Saline water
conducts electricity much more effectively and more readily than pure water. This is because the
dissolved ions enhance salinity, as well as increase conductivity. Furthermore, various sub-factors, such
as geology, soil, land use and flow of water also affect the salinity of water, thus influencing electrical
conductivity. It was hypothesized that the conductivity in places with smaller flow of water is greater than
in places with greater flow of water. This phenomenon was studied in Bahia Jobos in Salinas, Puerto
Rico. The conductivity data of places with small and high flow of water were downloaded from the
website of the National Estuarine Research Reserve System. The readings of the two places were
compared by making several graphs. The results showed that water with a small flow has a higher
conductivity when compared to water with a higher flow. At present, data is being subdivided by months
and analyzed to establish differences in the conductivity of the water at different seasons of the year.
PHYSICS AND ENGINEERING UNITS CONVERTER
José A. González, José Aponte de la Torre School, Carolina, Puerto Rico.
There are many tools for engineers and physicists to assist in the solution of problems, but the most
valuable is mathematics. Intrinsically, engineering and physics involve analysis, evaluation, and
expression of quantities of materials and forces of nature. To solve these problems, it is necessary to
describe and characterize the material world in terms of dimensions. There are fundamental dimensions
and derived dimensions. There are several systems: English System, metrics system (old) and the
international system of units (SSI). On many occasions, it is required to convert from one system to
another to express a mathematical result. In this project, a computer program was developed to convert
quantities from one system to another. The project involved: requirements definition, design of the
algorithm, flowcharts and screen and the development of the software program in Visual Basic.
FRACTALS IN A GEOMETRIC WAY
Katherine A. Hernández, Interamerican School, San Germán, Puerto Rico.
Most forms in nature appear very complex but highly symmetric. A fractal is a mathematical figure that
displays self-similarity on all scales. This is achieved because it does not exhibit exactly the same
structure at all scales, but the same “type” of structure with some small changes. In this project a version
of a fractal was explored where modifications were included such as small rotations and dilations (a
transformation that produces an image that is the same shape as the original, but has a different size)
combined with metallic colors, to make interesting and colorful images. In order to create it, a computer
program was written matching a given but with a slight modifications. In this way the regular geometric
figures, even the most bizarre forms, were decomposed and analyzed.
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SENSITIVE DATA AND THE IMPORTANCE OF KEEPING IT HIGHLY SECURED
Sergio L. Hernández, Bautista de Levittown Academy, Toa Baja, Puerto Rico.
Nicole Massa, Luterano Resurrección Inc. School, Carolina, Puerto Rico.
In cryptography, encryption is the process of transforming information using an algorithm to make it
unreadable to anyone except those possessing special knowledge, usually referred to as a key. The result
of the process is encrypted information. In many contexts, the word encryption also implicitly refers to
the reverse process, decryption, to make the encrypted information readable again to make it unencrypted.
People can steal important information such as numbers of bank accounts, social security, credit card
numbesr and private information between companies. For this study, the programs Encryption,
Decryption and TrueCrypt were used. The program Encryption and Decryption encrypted the message in
3 minutes and decrypted it in 3 minutes. The programs use AES 256-bit key encryption. This program
was faster than TrueCrypt. Further research to learn how encryption works and the importance of using it
are needed.
ITERATIONS OF SIMPLE FORMS
Jean Paul Irizarry, Interamerican School, San Germán, Puerto Rico.
Everything has symmetry on this world so it can function well. Symmetry is like a balance or quality that
an object possesses, for example a star figure. This project included learning how to create stars in the
computer using the language Small Basic. When drawing a star, for example the so called Solomon Star
with five points, you draw lines with different angles that close after some repetitions, 5 for the five
points star. Other stars are obtained if the required number of iterations is larger. The lines can even not
close exactly. You get the control of the final figure through the angle and size of the elementary line.
The final symmetry is a reflex of these basic elements.
WHICH PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE HAS A BETTER READABILITY FOR A NEW
COMPUTER SCIENCE STUDENT?
Edwin R. Jiménez, Eduardo García Carrillo School, Canóvanas, Puerto Rico.
Alejandro Ramos, Barbara Ann Roessler Academy, San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Student Research Mentor: Eduardo E. Villalba, Universidad Metropolitana, San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Student Research Mentor Assistant: Jesse R. Jiménez, Universidad Metropolitana, San Juan, Puerto Rico.
The programming language is very important when working with computers. In most cases, the reading
of programming languages can be very difficult and complicated. This investigation consists of which
programming language has better readability, or easy reading. Readability includes more than just
programming style. Many factors which have little or nothing to do with the ability of the computer to
efficiently compile and execute the code contribute to readability. Some of these factors include:
Different indentation styles, comments, decomposition, naming conventions for objects such as variables.
During the research, programming languages such as C++, Java and Python were compared to one
another. These languages provide the opportunity to work on small applications to compare the
readability, from making simple calculators to doing a program that puts numbers in order. Each program
has logic operators that make the program more simple or other times can make it more complicated to
read. The research also reveals that experienced computer programmers believe that Python has more
readability since that language is English based. This fact helps the computer programmer or a total
beginner to understand most at the Python Syntax.
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CONSTRUCTION OF FRACTALS BY SMALL CHANGES IN SIZE AND ROTATION
Steven Lugo, Interamerican School, San Germán, Puerto Rico.
Inventing new shapes like fractals is a very interesting art. With a computer and short program in Small
Basic, new shapes can be seen growing in the computer screen. To understand how to create these
figures, it is necessary to understand the basic commands to build the lines that form each one, and how
they are changed step by step. In this project new fractals were generated by a small increase in size and
angle of a line traced on the computer screen. If a random accident appeared every few repetitions the
pattern was almost regular, but unpredictable. In this way, the regular shape was distorted like a living
thing.
DRAWING GEOMETRIC STARS WITH SMALL BASIC
Jesús O. Martínez, Interamerican School, San Germán, Puerto Rico.
It has always been said that computer programming is a very bored and difficult task. In this project
simple but useful programs are worked with using with Microsoft Small Basic, a simplified variant of the
BASIC programming language. With a bare minimum of concepts, only 15 keywords, and the friendly
straight-forward interface, everyone can enjoy the art and pleasure of creating his owns programs. As an
example, figures that look like geometrical stars were made by repletion of lines that work together and
form this geometrical figure. It was found how the complexity of programming stays not on the language,
but in the organization of actions, that need to follow a specific sequence.
MINDSTORMS NXT TRAILER PULL DESIGN IMPROVEMENT AND DYNAMIC ANALYSIS
Rocío del Mar Méndez, Jean Rosado, Elvin Torres, Bautista de Caguas Academy, Caguas, Puerto
Rico.
Research Mentor: Jonathan Vargas, Universidad del Turabo, Gurabo, Puerto Rico.
The Lego Mindstorms NXT is a programmable robotics kit famous for its capacity to create many
different models such as sensor systems, mechanical systems and voice-controlled systems. One of the
famous models is the trailer pull model which can pull up to 20 times its own weight. If the area of the
trailer is increased, so does the capacity of weight it can carry. The object of this research was to apply a
dynamic kinetic study to a modified trailer pull model to determine if there were any significant
improvements over the original design.
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COFFEE-HARVESTING ROBOT
Carlos Molina, Bilingüe Padre Rufo School, San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Robots are autonomous devices constructed to perform difficult or inadequate tasks which are repetitive
and boring for human beings. A robot assembly is composed of software and hardware. The hardware
performs the actions of the robot, while the software directs the actions to be performed. The primary
objective of this research was to develop a coffee harvesting robot, because the local agriculture in Puerto
Rico has been affected by the lack of workforce in the rural areas, resulting in the loss of crops for
farmers. The first part of the project included the design of the algorithm that would define the
identification and selection process of the robot. This robot would identify the mature coffee beans
through color identifying sensors (since the mature coffee beans are red). Then it would activate a robotic
arm to cut and collect the mature coffee beans. To implement this algorithm, LEJOS, a Java programming
language version for the Lego Mindstorm was used.
DETERMINING AREAS IN BIOLOGICAL IMAGES USING TECHNIQUES OF DIGITAL
IMAGES PROCESSING
Christian J. Ortiz, Petra Mercado School, Humacao, Puerto Rico.
David Pacheco, San Antonio Abad School, Humacao, Puerto Rico.
Research Mentor: Prof. Luis Gabriel Jaimes, University of Puerto Rico, Humacao, Puerto Rico
The purpose of this project was to propose a method to calculate the proportion of cells in biological and
medical images using a computational approach. Techniques of digital images processing were used in
order to carry out this calculations. Specifically, the problem using the method of intensity image (gray
scale image) was addressed, where an image is represented as a matrix where every element has a value
corresponding to how bright/dark the pixel at the corresponding position should be colored. The different
values of gray are represented by values from 0 to 255 where 0 corresponds to black and 255 to white. To
calculate the proportion of cells inside the pictures, several programs were developed in MATLAB after
running our programs with different values of the gray value parameter several times. The experiments
showed that just between the 12-14% of the image corresponded to cells.
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WHICH IDE IS EASIER TO USE FOR A NEW COMPUTER SCIENCE STUDENT?
Cristina Morales, Ernesto Ramos Antonini School, San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Nicole López, María Teresa Piñeiro School, Toa Baja, Puerto Rico.
The importance of computers has changed over the years. Nowadays, computers are everywhere and are
used in everything. With the increased use of computers, more people are opting to learn about
programming languages. Each generation creates new languages, but at present there are programs that
provide the tools to make the process easier. These are called Integrated Design Environments or IDEs.
Each programming language uses a different IDE. Most IDEs are similar to each other, but they have
different options. For example, some IDEs provide the option to change the aesthetic aspects of the
program from the main screen using especially formatted tools while in another, the programmer has to
write a specific bit of code that changes the program’s aesthetic interface. Different IDEs have been
created but the question is, in this fast-growing computer environment, which IDE is easier and more
appealing to new programming students of this generation? The three programs being used for
comparison are Java, C++, and Python; therefore, providing three different IDE’s. These are: NetBeans,
Visual Studios and the Python module. To help solve the mystery at hand, different programs were
created using a different environment in order to solve the problems. As a result, the IDE that was most
appealing at first sight was NetBeans because of its visual components. That makes it the best for firsttime programmer. After learning how to use NetBeans successfully, programmers may find Visual
Studios as the IDE that is most useful.
SHORTEST PATH IN A GRAPH
Casandra Isabel Pérez, Inter American School, San Germán, Puerto Rico.
Graphs are composed of a set of points, called nodes, and other of lines, called edges, connecting the
nodes. Initially they give the possibility to represent places with some roads or ways of linking them. But
they are useful for any kind of communication or relation of structures such as network connections,
airplanes, trains, etc. A usual problem when there are many ways to go from one place to another is to
find the shortest, or the cheapest. This is interpreted in graph theory as the shortest path problem. In this
project, the algorithm to find the shortest path in a graph, such as the cities of Puerto Rico with their main
highways, was studied. Creating a computer program is the shortest distance efficiently found in any
graph. Graphs were implemented in the computer by a matrix, and they were manipulated in order to to
do the calculations. This algorithm is very valuable for all kinds of human enterprises.
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GLOBAL WARMING
Ingrid G. Ramírez, Interamerican School, San Germán, Puerto Rico.
Research Mentor: Ivonne Avilés, Inter-American University, San Germán, Puerto Rico.
Global warming is one of the major challenges of this century. Every effort to create awareness among
the young people is worthwhile to avoid or diminish the possible catastrophes that can happen as their
consequences. This project presents a scenario of the effects of human pollution and how it impacts
nature, especially the earth’s poles, by recreating in the computer a virtual story based on currently known
scientific facts. Through the four steps of the Alice programming language, the storyboards were
translated to programming code in Alice, creating a virtual world in which the effects of global warming
can be more closely studied. Scientists create similar models using precise computer programs to test
hypotheses that help improve the environment. Thus, this global warming simulation not only portrays
the dire consequences of the melting poles, but illustrates how Alice can be used as a tool for scientist and
other students to study effective solutions.
EFFECTS OF PHOTOSYNTHETIC PLANTS IN THE AMOUNT OF DISSOLVED OXYGEN IN
THE WATER
Joyce A. Rivera, Petra Mercado School, Humacao, Puerto Rico.
Water contains many substances such as nutrients and dissolved oxygen. Dissolved oxygen (DO) is a
measure of the amount of gaseous oxygen dissolved in water. The oxygen in the water comes from the
process of diffusion from air, the rapid movements in the water, and photosynthesis of aquatic plants.
The purpose of this study was to understand the contribution of the photosynthetic plants to the amount of
DO of the water. Photosynthesis is a process that converts carbon dioxide into organic compounds,
especially sugars, using the energy from sunlight. It was hypothesized that since plants are photosynthetic
organisms, the presence of plants increases the concentration of oxygen. Two areas were first identified in
Bahia Jobos in Salinas, Puerto Rico, that did not have aquatic plants or were very loaded in aquatic plants.
The data was collected in 2010 from the National Estuarine Research Reserve System of Bahia Jobos and
the differences in DO of the two different areas were analyzed using Microsoft Excel. The results showed
no significant differences in the DO between the areas with or without plants. Probably other variables are
affecting the amount of DO and further studies are necessary to explain these results.
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WHAT PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE IS EASIER TO LEARN FOR A NEW COMPUTER
SCIENCE STUDENT?
Gilberto Robles, Bautista de Levittown Academy, Toa Baja, Puerto Rico.
Albert Santiago, María Teresa Piñeiro School, Toa Baja, Puerto Rico.
Computer programming is a very useful tool in this informatics era. In the world of programming, there
are numerous programming languages. This research worked with three programming languages. These
are Java, C++ and Python. This research will provide information and a comparison of the three
programming languages. One of the topics is the difficulty of the program’s syntax. The prupose is to
show which of these programming languages is easier to learn and handle for a new computer
programming student. Both Java and C++ have an extended syntax and for a new computer programming
student it will be hard at the beginning. Python itself has easier syntax and is simpler. On the other hand,
Java is appealing and has easier to use GUI tools. C++ is more practical for mathematics projects, such as
ordering numbers or using a calculator. Python, however, uses simple text and syntax for every program
made, but with Java and C++ more impressive and presentable programming can be made and they
consist of further applications as well as useful tools when it comes to programming.
THE SOFTWARE PROGRAM FOR “SCRAMBLE WORDS” GAME
Tiffany Rohena, María Auxiliadora School, Carolina, Puerto Rico.
Scramble words is a game commonly used to learn new words. The game starts when the players are
assigned a group of letters, and they have to start building words (grammatically correct) in a given period
of time (2 minutes). Every time a player writes a word, the computer program checks for its correctness.
If the word is correct, a number of points are added to the player’s score. If the word is incorrect, 2 points
are subtracted from the score. At the end of the two-minute period, the program presents the final score
for the player. Using the steps from the Software Development Cycle, the design and prototype version
of this game were developed.
THE ASTROLOGICAL GUI
Andrea Román, María Auxiliadora School, Carolina, Puerto Rico.
Astrology is the science that studies the influence of the stars and constellations on what happens to
people on earth. Many people utilize astrology as an entertainment, and search in the newspaper and
magazines for the information that pertains to their zodiacal sign. This software program was designed to
provide information to the user about the zodiacal sign, and also to calculate how long the person has
lived (in terms of days, hours, minutes or seconds). This program was developed using the software
development cycle, starting with the definition of the requirements of the program, the design of the
content of the GUI, and through the implementation the GUI using Visual Basic 2008.
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HOW SECURE IS A PERSONAL COMPUTER AND THE THREATS IT FACES DAILY
Alex Sánchez, Bárbara Ann Roessler Academy, San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Samuel Urrutia, Santa María del Camino School, Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico.
A computer threat is an attack on a computer. If not taken into consideration, it might begin to endanger a
person’s life. A computer virus is one of the most common threats. A virus is a program with given
instructions to perform a task. Nowadays, everybody who has a computer needs to be protected because
there are all sorts of viruses and programs that are created to harm or destroy it. In the last couple of
years, the viruses have evolved into cyber crimes. The current problem is that people depend mostly on
computers and there is always someone that wants to steal their personal sensitive information. Some
research and programs provided information on how a hacker could get into a secure computer. Parallel to
this research, there was information on how to detect them and how to stop them. With all this
information gathered, individuals are able to learn how to keep a computer safe from unwanted viruses
and hackers.
THE RELIABILITY OF JAVA, C++ & PYTHON PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES
Alex D. Santos, Carlos E. Sánchez, University Gardens School, San Juan, Puerto Rico.
The Ariane-5 was a reusable space vehicle designed and manufactured in Europe. On its maidenflight, the
vehicle was destroyed in the launch phase, due to a software error. An unhandled floating-point overflow
was the problem.Software errors have also killed innocent people. For example, a computer that
controlled the X-ray dosage in a medical machine used to treat cancer patients. A programming error
caused the machine to give lethal doses during radiation treatment, instead of the much smaller doses that
were actually prescribed. Unfortunately, the lethality of the doses was not immediately detected and
several patients were affected. These problems could have possibly been prevented by using a more
reliable programming language. Reliability in a programming language is easily defined as which
language functions best with the least probability for errors in typing. Reliability is not only determined
by the number of errors to be expected, but also by its behavior in error situations. By determining which
language has the best percentage of reliability, many simple errors like these that have drastic
consequences could be prevented in the future simply by the programmers switching their programming
language of choice. This study determined whether Java, C++ or Python have the best reliability.
However, reliability also depends on the people writing the program’s code, because it is up to how many
errors that person commits while writing in a certain language. Up to now, the language that has best
presented itself with the least probability for errors has been the C++ programming language. The study
has found so far that compared with Java & Python languages, C++ it has shown fewer errors in code
than the other languages.
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A REALISTIC PADDLE GAME
Christopher Sepúlveda, Interamerican School, San Germán, Puerto Rico.
Paddle Game is probably the most traditional computer game, taking a lot of skills that can be compared
with tennis in real life. It is a kind of tennis game, although in real tennis, depending on the place where
you hit the ball with the paddle or racket, the ball goes out with different speeds. The ball also loses
about half of its energy when it hits the walls. The program of traditional paddle game was modified to
take into account some these facts. In this way a variant of the paddle game was obtained which was more
interesting that the original, and nearer to real tennis.
WHY A PERSON IDENTITY IS MORE VALUABLE THAN MONEY AND HOW EASILY IT
CAN BE OBTAINED
Jean Paul Toledo, Santa María del Camino School, Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico.
According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), since 2003, more than 10 million people have been
victims of identity theft annually. Identity theft happens when a person steals any of personal information
(including name, a credit card number or Social Security number) from another individual and pretends to
be that person. Once an identity thieves have the personal information, they can use it to do a number of
things, including opening a credit card in their name and going on a spending spree without ever paying
the bill; opening a bank account and writing bad checks; withdrawing funds from a bank account; or
giving false information to police officers during an arrest, which will lead to a warrant for the real
owner’s arrest when that person fails to appear in court. Because the possibilities for an identity thief are
endless, it could take years to reclaim an identity and repair the damage done. Identity theft has been a
problem for decades, but as the Internet becomes more and more commonplace, Internet identity theft has
become a problem of pandemic proportions. Also, data entered in social networking sites or information
shared on instant messaging chats are an easy target for an Internet identity thief to collect enough
information and steal an identity. Identity theft may be used to facilitate or fund other crimes including
illegal immigration, terrorism, and espionage. Identity thieves occasionally impersonate others for nonfinancial reasons. Knowing how, what, and where to protect the sensitive information against identity
theft is a crucial dilemma many do not realize.
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EXPERT BALANCE NUTRITION SYSTEM, “E.B.N.S”
Stephanie Torres, Bautista de Carolina Academy, Carolina, Puerto Rico.
Research Mentor Assistant: María De León-Curet, School of Science, Math, Technology and Languages,
Proper nutrition for teenagers is not easily obtained due to physiological activities of the body. The way
individuals decide to deal with their nutrition habits will make a big difference, not taking into account
how they feel at the present time, but how they will feel in the future. The major accomplishment of the
software program developed was to educate on proper nutrition and to recognize the importance of
nutrition in teenagers ages 12 to 18. This project started with the definition of requirements, design of the
algorithm and development of the flowchart and skeleton of the window using Visual Basic. To produce
the needed information, the user inputs height, weight, physical activity and gender, and based on this
information the software program will calculate the number of calories that should be consumed on a
daily basis to ensure proper nutrition.
THE TRUE EFFECTS ON HOW AIR TEMPERATURE AFFECTS WATER TEMPERATURE
Melinda Vargas, San Antonio Abad School, Humacao, Puerto Rico.
Jorge O. Méndez, Petra Mercado School, Humacao, Puerto Rico.
Temperature is one of the environment components. Temperature is defined as the degree of hotness or
coldness measured on a definite scale. There are many temperature scales such as Kelvin (K), Celsius
(⁰C) and Fahrenheit (⁰F). The purpose of this study was to find out how the air temperature affects the
water temperature at the beach. It was hypothesized that an increase in air temperature causes water
temperature to rise. Data was obtained from the meteorological weather station and water temperature
monitoring at Bahía de Jobos in Salinas, Puerto Rico. Two-year seasons, the summer of 2009 and the
winter of 2010, were chosen. The data will be used to design a model to predict the water temperature by
entering the air temperature into a computer modeling software.
FRACTALS FROM SMALL SYMMETRY BREAKING
Krystal Celeste Vega, Interamerican School, San Germán, Puerto Rico.
A fractal is a geometric shape that can be split into simple parts that repeat with small variations across
the figure. In this investigation several fractals were constructed using the programming language Small
Basic. A basic triangle was rotated and augmented by small steps, creating fascinating figures. Working
on the color, size, plus other characteristics, very interesting forms resembling flowers, stars, and surreal,
almost dreamlike figures were discovered.
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GRAPHS AS INFORMATION STRUCTURES
Nathalie Cristine Velázquez , Interamerican School, San Germán, Puerto Rico.
Graphs are an abstract representation of a set of objects or points that connect to each other by links.
Many kind of information can be represented by means of a graph. . In this project, an analysis was made
of how one can get to a location faster, by taking different routes to get the destination. The time of travel
usually depends on changing factors like the hour of the day one is traveling to the location. Having a
graph structure updated every few minutes with the real report of traffic can be useful to help people to
decide which one is the shortest path between two points according to the situation.
CONSTRUCTION OF FRACTALS
Brandon Vélez, Inter American School, San Germán, Puerto Rico.
Research Mentor: Guillermo Mejía, Inter American University, San Germán, Puerto Rico.
Fractals are fragmented geometric shapes where each part of is (at least approximately) a reduced-size
copy of the whole. They appear in many natural objects, from snowflakes to mountains and coastlines.
They are created by iterating some mathematical procedure that gives them their self regularity. In this
investigation, an analysis was made of the different characteristics that can change a given fractal, from
the mathematical definition of the form to the color. Using a computer program, the conditions under
which a fractal is obtained, with from modifications from a model, were obtained. The use of fractals
helps in studying the mechanism of natural phenomena.
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APPLIED MATHEMATICS
THE USE OF BIOINFORMATICS TOOLS TO BUILD A PROTEIN DATABASE FOR APOE4
Dinorah Carrión, Thomas Alva Edison School, Caguas, Puerto Rico.
Student Research Mentor: Hazel Ozuna, Universidad Metropolitana, San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Student Research Mentor Assistant: Eduan Martínez, Universidad Metropolitana, San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive brain disorder that affects over 5.3 million of Americans over the age
of sixty. This brain disorder causes the loss of nerve cells and pathways in areas of the brain that are vital
to memory and other mental abilities such as language. There are two types of Alzheimer’s disease:
early-onset which develops in people ages 30 to 60 and late-onset which develops after 60. Alzheimer’s
disease is still a mystery for the scientific community. It is not yet known what causes this disease and
how to cure it. The objective of this investigation was to be able to build a protein database of different
species of the APOE4 protein. This database was used to see how the protein APOE4 influences the
possibilities of inheriting Alzheimer's disease. Ten organisms with their sequences were selected using
UniProt and then the sequences were aligned with TCoffee. The motifs were located with MEME and the
conserved residues are going to be located. The results will help to show how the APOE4 protein affects
the chances of inheriting Alzheimer’s disease.
ANALYZING AND COMPREHENDING THE SIR MODEL: DENGUE
Juan Espinal, María Teresa Piñeiro School, Toa Baja, Puerto Rico.
The S-I-R Model explains a process of the possibilities of getting sick with a spreader sickness and to get
cured by a series of equations. The letter represents a process, the letter S (susceptible) to the letter I
(infected) and to the letter R (removed). One of the illnesses that can be studied with SIR is Dengue
because it is transmitted by a mosquito bite. Patients are usually infective for mosquitoes from shortly
before to the end of the febrile period, an average of about 6-7 days. Dengue varies with the rain season.
A high season for Dengue is when it rains for months. This project has the objective of modeling how the
virus of Dengue behaves during different seasons. MATLAB, a numerical computing environment and
fourth-generation programming language, was used. MATLAB is a good program to explain how S-I-R
would behave. The sample population consisted of individuals between 13 to 21 years old, all from
Puerto Rico. The results showed that cases with Dengue depend on the season. High Dengue seasons will
be those were there is rain during long periods of time. The highest peak of the graph was in the highest
rain season on the island. The season of highest cases of Dengue was within the months of April to June,
which is the highest rain season on the island.
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IROBOT CREATE: STATE MACHINE AND BEHAVIORS
Emanuel García, Bárbara Ann Roessler Academy, San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Student Research Mentor Assistant: Raúl O. Colon, Universidad Metropolitana, San Juan, Puerto Rico.
The iRobot Create is a product for new users of robots. iRobot Create is just a typical robot with its
capabilities of moving, three wheels, two sensors on the front attached to the bumpers and a control panel
on top of the robot for forwarding or rewinding types of functions or demos. Also, other different types of
attachments can be added to the iRobot Create. This project had the purpose of presenting how to add
certain types of functions onto the robot and making different types of State Machines, which is the
common approach to implementing complex robot behaviors. The methods that were followed were first
making a diagram of a State Machine and then learning the basic behaviors and how to implement them
onto the robot for specific functions. Ubuntu software was used for adding types of behaviors that are
shown in Tekkotsu. The Controller GUI tool is the tool that was used to make the different types of
functions and different demos to start and to stop them. It is expected that the iRobot would perform the
programmed task successfully in a built scenario.
HOUSEHOLD CHEMICAL COMPOUNDS EFFECTS OVER BACTERIA COLONIES
Gilmarie González, University Gardens School, San Juan, Puerto Rico.
The objective of household products was to create a trustable atmosphere in which customers believe in
the product. The most attacked point in their goals is to kill 99.9% of germs and bacteria in the most
infected areas around the house. Germs and bacteria need a warm and moisture environment to grow and
reproduce. The kitchen and the bathroom are two places where many kinds of germs, viruses and colonies
of bacteria live such as Escherichia coli, Salmonella enterica, Staphylococcus aureus, among others. The
purpose of the project was to see how well household products protect from those bacteria. Samples were
taken from the surface near the sink of the kitchen and the surface of the bathroom sink before and after
the use of the household compounds. The surfaces were cleaned following the directions given in the
household compounds. The samples were cultivated on petri-dishes over a period of five days,
observations were taken, and growth was plotted into a graph using MATLAB. MATLAB facilitates
computationally intensive tasks better than traditional programming languages. The culture of the samples
taken after using the compound shown a slower colony growth compared with the sample taken before
using the kitchen compound. The cultures of the bathroom samples were contaminated. The culture of
the sample taken after using the bathroom compound grew faster than the culture of the sample taken
before using the compound. As a conclusion, the compound used in the kitchen samples is truly efficient.
As for the bathroom cultures, these could have been contaminated due to the orientation of the place, as
for example; sink near the toilet or the trash can near the kitchen sink.
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DO DISINFECTANTS KILL 99% OF BACTERIA?
Sarah Matos, Barbara Ann Roessler Academy, San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Humans are exposed to bacteria on a daily basis. Some of these bacteria are harmful and may cause
illnesses; therefore, manufacturers have created products such as hand sanitizers and cleaning agents to
help reduce the risk of individuals being infected by any harmful bacteria. However, the form in which
the products are tested in the manufacturer's laboratories may not be very similar to the way that the
products will work in the real world. The purpose of this project was to corroborate how effective a
common hand sanitizer and a kitchen disinfectant really are in protecting from the harmful, naturally
occurring germs that are encountered every day. To accomplish this objective, a comparison was made
between a culture before using the disinfectant and one after using the disinfectant. Samples for cultures
were taken from a child’s hand and a kitchen countertop. The bacteria were grown in individual petridishes at room temperature. The number of colonies were observed during a period of 48 hours and
plotted into a graph using MATLAB. MATLAB facilitates computationally intensive tasks better than
traditional programming languages. The obtained results showed that during the first 12 hours there were
a few colonies present on both experiments. These bacteria colonies increased over time until they were
too many to count. As a conclusion, these results demonstrate that disinfectants protect for a short period
of time and need to be applied constantly. This does not seem a problem when the bacteria are not very
harmful but it may be when is a pathogen can cause common diseases.
PRESENCE OF COLIFORMS IN DIFFERENT BODIES OF WATER
Carlos Oliveras, Bárbara Ann Roessler Academy, San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Many people like to go to the beach and have fun, but sometimes beaches are not clean. People use the
plumbing water for drinking and they do not think it is dangerous, but many pathogenic microorganisms
can be present. Five different bodies of water were tested looking for the presence of coliforms, which are
a broad class of bacteria found in the environment, including human feces and other warm-blooded
animals. The presence of coliform bacteria in water serves as an indicator of disease-causing organisms.
The purpose of this project was to identify which body of water had a lower and which had a higher
presence of coliforms. The methodology used consisted of taking five samples of different bodies of
water: the beach besides the petrochemical plant in, Cataño,; Rio Mar Beach in Rio Grande; Dorado
Beach, plumbing water and distilled water, all in Puerto Rico. Analysis of the cultures of the bacteria
presence in each sample of water was made. The results are presented in a graph that shows the presence
and growth of bacteria and the MatLAB program was used for such pruposes. The expected results are
that Dorado Beach had the highest presence of coliforms because it is a beach frequented by humans.
The distilled drinking water will be the water without any presence of coliforms or less coliforms since
this water has passed a series of treatments.
74
IROBOT CREATE
José Ortega, Luterano Resurrección School, Carolina, Puerto Rico.
Student Research Mentor Assistant: Raúl O. Colón, Universidad Metropolitana, San Juan, Puerto Rico.
iRobot Create is a complete robot development kit that allows you to program new robot behaviors
without having to worry about mechanical assembly and low-level code. With iRobot Create new
behaviors can be developed and third party electronics may be added, all without having to worry about
mechanical robustness or low-level control. The objective of this project was to construct a state
machine, which would be used to create a simple code using a text editor under the operating system
UBUNTU OS. The state machine was created for the robot to perform a series of simple behaviors to
give an example of how the robot works. This state machine was sucessfully completed by the robot.
THE HAWKSBILL TURTLE NESTING IN PUERTO RICO
Enrique Pérez, Thomas Alva Edison School, Caguas, Puerto Rico.
Turtle nesting has been decreasing throughout the last few years all across the Caribbean and Central
America. This pattern has been present on all of the islands with the exception of Mona Island in the
archipelago of Puerto Rico. Mona Island, even though it is very small, has been classified as the third
place in America to have the biggest turtle reproduction percentage. The scientific name for the Hawksbill
Turtle is Eretmochelys imbricata. It is important to recognize the factors that have helped the island of
Mona increase the amount of hawksbill turtle nesting in order to be able to increase it in other locations.
Once the vital changes made to the beaches are known, it is easier to imitate them in other beaches to
increase the turtle reproduction rate. The study will be focused mainly on the hawksbill turtle
reproduction throughout two beaches in the island of Puerto Rico: Condado Beach (behind the Concha
Hotel) and Dorado Beach. A comparison between the beaches in Puerto Rico and Mona, were made using
MATLAB. The factors to be compared when studying their nesting habitats included: the amount of
human interaction these areas receive, the amount of pollution in the area, the behavior of the weather
during the investigation and the amount of wild animal predation. The expected results are that the
beaches of Mona show a smaller amount of factors and the beaches of Puerto Rico have too many factors,
mostly human, affecting the turtle nesting percentages.
75
EFFICIENCY OF TOOTHPASTE AGAINST NORMAL HUMAN ORAL FLORA
Damarys Ramos, Bárbara Ann Roessler Academy, San Juan, Puerto Rico.
The human mouth has a very extensive bacteria community. The amount and type of bacteria are
determined by the absence or presence of teeth, tooth decay, gum disease and most importantly, hygienic
practices. However, saliva guarantees the prevention because it contains enzymes that fight these
organisms. An example of bacteria found in the human mouth are Streptococcus sp., Staphylococci sp.
and Neisseria sp. These bacteria can cause harm to its host when in the mouth but if they travel to other
locations in the human body they can be lethal. Brushing teeth with the appropriate toothpaste is
important to destroy these types of bacteria. Toothpaste helps fight tooth decay by removing food
particles and plaque from teeth and providing other decay preventing substances such as fluoride, which
helps whiten teeth and maintain them strong. The purpose of this project was to test the efficiency of
toothpastes with different ingredients, and ascertain which is better to maintain a mouth clean. The
methodology used to accomplish the purpose of the project consisted of comparing two toothpastes and
four toothbrushes, an experiment that lasted a period of two weeks. The toothbrushes were divided by
colors: pink toothbrush for toothpaste A, blue toothbrush for toothpaste B, a green toothbrush was used
before brushing with the toothpaste and an orange toothbrush was the negative control. A sample from
each toothbrush was taken and grown in a petri dish with the nutrient soy agar. Results were obtained and
the number of colonies were plotted into a graph using MATLAB. MATLAB facilitate computationally
intensive tasks better than traditional programming languages. MATLAB have many applications such as
numerical computations with matrices and vectors and have the information displayed graphically.
STATE MACHINE “IDENTIFY LARGEST RED OBJECT” IN THE IROBOT CREATE
Luis A. Reyes, Petra Zenón de Fabery Vocational School, Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico.
iRobot is a programmable robot that is used for entertainment and education. It allows you to program
robot behaviors without worrying about mechanical assembly. A State Machine can be defined as a set of
possible input events. The objective was to create a state machine that will incorporate a visual behavior
in the robot to find the largest red object in a cardboard. This will be achieved by using the UBUNTU OS,
G-edit and TEKKOTSU. The result was that the state machine cleared the robot’s image memory, take a
new picture, segment the picture in colors only, grays out all colors that are not red, colors mask the
remaining red objects, puts a label on the remaining red parts, eliminates the smallest red parts and finally
says “largest Red Object found.”
76
MATLAB: SIMULATING MASS SPRING DAMPER SYSTEM
Eric Santos, University of Puerto Rico High School, San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Student Research Mentor Assistant: Raul O. Colon, Universidad Metropolitana, San Juan, Puerto Rico.
The Mass Spring Damper System can be described using algebraic equations derivates of the Differential
Equation of Motion used on the Laplace Transformation Equation, which transforms the domain from
frequency to time. This work consisted on understanding and simplifying these equations by hand, then
using MATLAB. MATLAB is a computing software that can be used to describe equations that seem to
be abstract, but can be described in different situations. This project tried to simulate the Mass Spring
Damper System and compare the simulation to the graphs made from personal notes. The question asked
was: How can the Mass Spring Damper System be simulated based on the Differential Equation of
Motion, the Laplace Transformation Equation and the Algebraic Equations derivate from these equations?
The objective of this project was to understand and simplify the Algebraic Equations of Motion and its
origins, find the way of simulating the simplified equations in MATLAB and comparing them to the
graphs in the reference in order to prove the a Mass Spring Damper System can be simulated with
MATLAB. In order to fulfill this objective, basic Differential Calculus was studied to understand the
origin of the Algebraic Equations of Motion, and knowledge of MATLAB was necessary in order to
graph the equations and simulate the Mass Spring Damper System and finally compare them with the
graph in the personal notes. The results revealed that the Mass Spring Damper System can be simulated in
MATLAB with a lot of effort and dedication to learn.
IROBOT CREATE: ANATOMY
Luis R. Santos, Notre Dame School, Caguas, Puerto Rico.
A robot is an automatically guided machine, able to do tasks on its own when programmed. Another
common characteristic is that by its appearance or movements, a robot often conveys a sense that it has
intent or agency of its own. Tekkotsu means 'iron bones' in Japanese, often used in the context of
building a structural framework. Similarly, this software package aims to give a structure on which to
build, handling routine tasks so that one can focus on higher level programming. The Tekkotsu program
gives the robot certain codes that will make it behave differently. The iRobot Create is a dependable,
rugged and versatile robot base that can be used for uncounted robotics hobby and research applications.
It has many features that can be used, some of there are: camera, infrared detector, sensors, sound, etc. A
state machine was created for the robot to perform. This state machine was sucessfully completed by the
robot.
77
A STATE MACHINE FOR THE IROBOT
Kermit J. Toro, Petra Zenón de Fabery Vocational School, Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico.
iRobot Create is a robot that is used for both entertainment and education. It allows to program robot
behaviors without having to worry about mechanical assembly. It also comes equipped with its own
Wheel Clips that hold its main wheels in retracted position. The objective of this project was creating a
custom-made behavior for the iRobot. iRobot Create comes with ten built-in demos to provide
inspiration for one’s programming. A state machine was designed and the program was written using Gedit under the Ubuntu operating system and using the Tekkotsu documentation. The state machine created
will work fluently with the iRobot. The results revealed that once the robot was programmed with the
state machine, the robot did everything as programmed without making any mistakes.
78
RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN STREAM QUALITY AND FRESHWATER FISH
José G. Curcio, Carvin School Inc., Carolina, Puerto Rico.
Student Research Mentor: Ángel García, Universidad Metropolitana, San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Student Research Mentor Assistant: Raquel Castañeda, Universidad Metropolitana, San Juan, Puerto
Rico.
Fish need good water quality to survive on streams. If the water quality isn’t good enough the fish
population will decrease. Also bad water quality could cause reproductive problems. Could cause
infertility and/or mutations on the offspring. Taking samples of the surface of the water on a stream
checked water quality. Samples were taken each 10meters of the stream. If there are any chemicals on
the stream it could cause other problems on the fish. Selenium can cause reproductive problems and even
offspring mutations. The water quality of the streams is expected to be fine, but there are very little fish
living on the streams. Which says that maybe the water quality isn’t the best on those streams. On the
both the streams there was no sign of fish. That is a good sign that water quality isn’t the best. The
Señorial Stream is a natural place. Has plenty of vegetation, but was kind of dirty and murky. The
Rivera Stream had a lot of insect faun and had a lot of humidity in the air. Both streams were natural and
vegetated. Still there was no sign of fish. Also the weather is highly important on the streams. With
global warming now the fish species could be threatened by this. Also the climate could have a change in
the supply and freshwater distribution. The objective of this research is to demonstrate water quality of
streams and to show people the serious effects that contamination could do to fish and freshwater regions.
SPHERICAL DISPLAY OF RSS DATA
David R. Díaz, Luis F. González, Juan Quirindongo Morell School, Vega Baja, Puerto Rico.
Research Mentor: Jonathan Otero, Universidad Metropolitana, San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Student Research Mentor: Karlo Meléndez, Universidad Metropolitana, San Juan, Puerto Rico.
The Internet holds vast amounts of information, knowledge that motivates individuals to develop
communication technology; it develops: countless websites, and terabytes of data. Often, looking through
that data is a daunting task. A solution is needed for what has become a common problem among Internet
users. The Really Simple Syndication (RSS) is a format of web feeds that includes text, audio, and video.
This format is normally used in blogs or other similar websites; that is, sites that are constantly updated.
An RSS reader is able to access this data, and manifest it within a program. Basically, time otherwise
spent searching the website for a bit of information is saved by a program that constantly searches for
updates in a list of websites, simplifying the process greatly. The aim of this project was the integration of
RSS into a system that benefits the user. Using Visual Basic, a program was developed which is capable
of doing just that. The user could freely add links to a list of websites, which would then be refreshed
periodically. This information would be then be presented as a text description or as the original page.
The program simplifies the process, makes it easier to use, and saves user time.
79
RISING WATER LEVELS
Pablo G. Díaz, Jonathan O. Espada, Carmen Sol School, Toa Baja, Puerto Rico.
The purpose of this project was to develop an idea of how the Earth may look like if the water levels rise
due to the effects global warming. Research was done on global warming and its causes and
consequences. Global warming is caused by greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide, water vapor and
methane. These gases destroy the ozone layer of the atmosphere, triggering the entrapment of the sunlight
within the Earth. The heat from this effect could cause the melting of the polar ice caps, causing an
increase in the Earth`s water levels. The research provided the necessary information of the Earth`s
future. Through the modification and work a video was created that exemplifies a view of what the future
holds. This video shows how the water levels may ascend as the polar ice caps melt. Although no one is
certain how the Earth will look like, the video created an approximation of the findings through the
research.
BOUNDING BOX MORPHING
Wilma D. López, Alfredo Cabrera, Juan Quirindongo Morell School, Vega Baja, Puerto Rico.
The main objective in this project was that the Global Microscope must be able to support virtual
windows that allow users to view and zoom into information with higher detail than that supported by the
global view in real time. The purpose was to develop a program that displays an image of the world to be
displayed on the Global Microscope, in which the user will be able to select the various countries and that
will prompt the program to display a close-up PIP of the area. The Picture-in-Picture to be displayed
might vary from the area selected and could display different degrees of information. The equivalent of
the picture-in-picture (PIP) concept of modern televisions for the Global Microscope was sought, with the
additional functionality that the user can direct where a window is to be positioned on the base image.
Due to the spherical nature of the display of the Global Microscope, each picture to be displayed as a PIP
must be distorted and morphed to appear rectangular before it is shown. It was expected that this
development will provide a greater degree of information and allow the user to experience the Global
Microscope’s view of the Earth in a new way.
80
THE ROLE OF MAJOR IMPORTANCE OF FRESHWATER FUNGI IN STREAM
ECOSYSTEMS
Michelle M. Mounier, Carvin School, Inc., Carolina, Puerto Rico.
Rico.
Freshwater fungi have always played an important role in a stream’s food web. Their dominance in
microorganisms is associated with the decomposition of leaf litter in stream ecosystems. The presence of
humans has affected herbaceous plants and reduced the speed of water currents, which increased the
amount of trapped water with organic materials, therefore increasing fungal species abundance. The
purpose of this project was to study streams fungi present at El Señorial and La Rivera at the Puerto
Nuevo Basin. Each stream is located on the northern part of the Iisland of Puerto Rico, which is
characterized with more humidity than the southern part of the Island. The goal of the project was to
present the importance of fungi in the streams and their interaction with the different macronutrients. The
expected results from this project are to understand the importance of the types of fungi, in the studied
streams, and their roles in the ecosystem.
TOLERANCE OF THE CYAN-BACTERIA CHROOCOCCUS TO CHANGES IN THE PH OF
WATER
Camila Del Mar Rodríguez, Puertorriqueño de Niñas School, Guaynabo, Puerto Rico.
Rico.
This research has two main focuses: the streams water quality and the pH, both of which work together to
determine the growth rate of the Cyan-Bacteria Chroococcus in natural conditions. This research has the
objective to identify the correlation between pH and Chroococcus in tropical streams. Streams are small
rivers that in a point of their course connect to the main rivers. The pH is the measure used to indicate the
alkalinity of a substance, in this case, water. This project studied two streams in the urban zone of San
Juan, Puerto Rico, El Señorial and the one in La Rivera. Both streams located in San Juan, Puerto Rico,
are specifically at the Puerto Nuevo Basin. At each stream, the pH levels of the water were analyzed with
the purpose of identifying the impact that the alteration of the water’s pH had on the growth of the
Chroococcus in the water. Chroococcus bacteria usually live in groups of two or four, and are always
protected by a mucous capsule that other than isolate them from possible predators and prevent its drying.
Although it shows an intense green coloring and may be confused with seaweed, it is not. It also is
possible to find the bacteria with either a yellow or brown coloring. To obtain the water samples, the
streams were visited three consecutive Saturdays in April 2010 and after that the water samples were
analyzed.
81
SOIL AND WATER QUALITY ANALYSIS IN URBAN STREAMS AT THE PUERTO NUEVO
BASIN
Edwin Rodríguez, Nuestra Señora de Belén School, Guaynabo, Puerto Rico.
Rico.
Fresh water streams are slowly depleting as the high needs of fresh clean water increases. Surface algae
can prevent incoming sunlight from reaching subsurface depths, which can affect benthic life. At the
same time, algae can transform a water source from oxygenized habitat to an anaerobic environment. The
literature explains that filtration of sediments from floodwaters is a normal function of riparian forests
and, depending on geomorphic position and natural characteristics of associated streams, it can end up in
an accumulation of sediment. Severe damage may affect the system of trapping sediments. Additionally,
excess nutrients, trace elements, and other hydrophobic contaminants may be present. The objective of
this research was to classify each stream by quality and study each stream as possible habitat for endemic
species. Two different streams at the Puerto Nuevo Basin in the north part of Puerto Rico were selected
for the study. Each stream is characterized by different environmental scenarios. La Rivera is next to a
residential/rural area, and El Señorial is surrounded by commercial sites. Each site was gridded in 3 parts,
for three weeks of collection. The use of a 250mL bottle was necessary for data collection. To take the
samples, a sketch was made and it was determined that the best way to take the samples was every 10
meters. One water sample and 3 soil were taken, for a total of 3 water and 9 soil samples. Soil samples
were taken at every bank to observe significant differences present at each stream.
"EARLY WARNING CATASTROPHE ALERT SYSTEM"
Grace M. Russe, Kevin M. Otero, Juan Quirindongo Morell School, Vega Baja, Puerto Rico.
Ana M. Ortiz, Santa María del Camino School, Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico.
The main objective in this study was to find different methods for multi-issue global alerts warning the
populations of natural disasters anywhere in the world. Then, to create a Visual Basic-based program that
emits different types of communication alerts and distributes them around the world. It is expected that
this will provide accessible and accurate information, prior to reports from other agencies. Because
natural disasters and catastrophes can occur unexpectedly, timely notification about these events can help
save lives and keep people informed about these events. The basis of the Early Warning Catastrophe
Alerts System is to bring clear, trusted and reliable information by keeping people informed of current
events around the world. Although similar alert systems already exist in television, radio and mobile
devices, these must often meet strict requirements in order to ensure accuracy and reliability for the
people. Because these events or disasters affect the Earth in general, it remains important for the media to
cover them. Providing a better knowledge about this in turn makes people more aware and lets them see
how it affects other countries in shocking and impressive ways, this helps them understand on how
important it is to be well informed because, in one way or another, it affects everyone equally. In this
study, a program capable of sending alerts in the form of SMS and email was created to warn the
population in case of natural disasters. This program will help prevent further tragedies and be able to
keep people informed of the events around them and throughout the world.
82
COMPARISON OF PHOSPHORUS AND MACROINVERTEBRATES IN TWO STREAMS
SURROUNDED BY RESIDENTIAL AND COMMERCIAL AREAS
Natalia Santiago, Manuela Toro Morice School, Caguas, Puerto Rico.
Maxine González, Bautista de Puerto Nuevo Academy, San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Rico.
When streams are surrounded by urbanization, sediments can alter the water dynamics, habitats, and
ecosystem in the stream. The development of the urbanization surrounding the stream can affect the
growth of the ecosystems in these; it can also change the dynamics of the water flow causing damages to
the macroinvertebrate habitat. This research is based on the study of the macroinvertebrates, phosphorus,
and Total Suspended Solids (TSS) present in the streams, located at the Puerto Nuevo basin on the north
side of Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico. The site streams selection was based by the surroundings of these; they
are classified into residential and commercial areas. There are various factors needed to be taken into
consideration when it comes to streams; for example, the polluting factors surrounding them and the
sediments carried. The samples were collected twice per month in the period from September to
November. There were around twenty water samples and macroinvertebrates. The sampling consisted of
two bottles of 125 mm (4 ounce) of phosphorus and two of TSS of each stream. Samples were sent to the
VT Streams Project at the University of Vermont. as a part of a great effort to identify the water quality of
New England, New York, and Puerto Rico streams. This research also had the objective of comparing by
modeling the different scenarios of every Streams Project teams.
PHOSPHORUS CONCENTRATION IN URBAN STREAMS AT THE PUERTO NUEVO BASIN
Tatiana Zambrano, Miguel Such Vocational School, San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Rico.
Maintaining a reasonable level of productivity in our lakes, rivers, and estuaries requires the presence of
modest levels of mineral nutrients. Phosphorus (P) is delivered to aquatic systems as a mixture of
dissolved and particulate inputs. This essential nutrient in natural water depends on a number of
catchment characteristics such as land use, fertilizer application rate, soil type and hydrological flow
pathways linking the stream with land. In the research we select to specific streams which can represent
different environments. Both streams are located at Puerto Nuevo Basin in urban area. Rivera stream
located on an urban area while the other one on a more residential/rural area, another one at commercial
site has the name of Señorial. The research objective is identify which scenario is a real point of
pollution. Water samples was extracted from each stream in a period of three consecutive Saturdays.
Each sample was analyzed and interpreted by statistical analysis.
83
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Faculty research mentoring is the main driving force behind the scientific products (posters and oral
presentations) presented in this symposium. Our greatest appreciation and gratitude to all the mentors
who took part in the Spring 2010 Pre-College Research Symposium by working and training the next
generation of scientists whose efforts are presented in this booklet, as well as to the many other faculty
members who support the Student Research Development Center and its goals and objectives. Our most
sincere thanks are also extended to the following individuals who helped to make this Spring 2010 PreCollege Research Symposium possible.
Keynote and Workshop Speakers:
Dr. Carlos Castillo-Chávez
Arizona State University
Dr. Dave Touretzky
Carnegie Mellon University
Judges and Session Chairmen:
Dr. Ángel Arcelay, UNE
Ms. Jeselyn Calderón, UMET
Dr. Osvaldo Cox, UPR-Humacao
Prof. Lisette Gaona, UT
Ms. Ashley González, UMET
Prof. Evelyn Haddock, Inter-American University-Metro
Ms. Karla Hernández, UMET
Ms. Ivis Y. Montalvo, Luterano Resurrección Inc. School
Ms. Kaisa Muller, UMET
Ms. Yiria E. Muñiz, José Aponte de la Torre School
Mr. David Nashi,
Prof. Ileana Rodrٕíguez, UPR-Humacao
Dr. Othoniel Rodríguez, Politechnic University
Prof. Belinda Rosario, UPR-Humacao
Ms. Natalia Sánchez, UMET
Ms. Cristina Tatis, UMET
Mr. José A. Vega, UMET
Research Mentors:
Dr. Juan F. Arratia, Ana G. Méndez University System
Prof. Ivonne Avilés, University of Puerto Rico-San Germán
Dr. César Banderas, New Jersey Institute of Technology
Dr. Carlos Castillo-Chávez, Arizona State University
Eng. Franklin Colmenares, Polytechnic University
Prof. Luis Gabriel Jaimes, University of Puerto Rico-Humacao
Prof. Isis Laham, Universidad del Este
Prof. Guillermo Hernández, University of Puerto Rico-San Germán
Eng. Joaquín Rivera, Polytechnic University
Prof. Noemí Soto University of Puerto Rico-Humacao
84
Research Mentor Assistants:
Prof. María de León Curet, School of Science, Math, Technology & Languages, Carolina
Student Research Mentors:
Ms. Krizia Cabrera, UMET
Ms. Carol Díaz, UNE
Mr. Ángel García, UMET
Mr. Raúl Navedo, UT
Mr. Jonathan Otero, UMET
Ms. Hazel Ozuna, UMET
Mr. Joel Rivera, UMET
Ms. Lorna Salamán, UNE
Mr. Jonathan Vargas, UT
Mr. Eduardo Villalba, UMET
Student Assistants:
Ms. Karen Burgos, UT
Ms. Raquel Castañeda, UMET
Mr. Jesse Jiménez, UMET
Mr. Eduan Martínez, UMET
Mr. Carlos Meléndez, UMET
Mr. Amir Rodríguez-UNE
Ms. Dorielys Valentín, UMET
Symposium Staff:
Dr. Gladys Bonilla, Professor and MIE Consultant
Ms. Thelma Graniela, MIE Project
Ms. Zulma Irizarry, MIE Project
Ms. Ivette Miranda, MIE Project
Symposium Coordinators:
Dr. Juan F. Arratia, Executive Director, Student Research Development Center
Mr. Luis F. Font, Coordinator Caribbean Computing Center for Excellence (CCCE)
Mrs. Wanda Rodríguez, Coordinator AGMUS Institute of Mathematics
85
INDEX OF PRESENTERS
NAME
Gabriela M. Acebal
Stefan G. Acevedo
Gregory Almena
Pablo Álvarez
Yanisse M. Aponte
Amarilis Araya
Héctor L. Avilés
Daniel Ayala
Leila Ayala
Cristian C. Bradley
Isardo Braverman
Alfredo Cabrera
Christopher J. Cancel
Ubec Y. Carambot
Angélica M. Cardona
Michael G. Carmona
Néstor D. Carrasco
Odemaris Carrasquillo
Tahiré Carrasquillo
Dinorah Carrión
Ana M. Castro
Mei-ling M. Chang
Carlimar Collazo
Enid M. Colón
Brianna M. Coriano
Valeria A. Correa Rodz.
Antoine Cotto
José G. Curcio
Jennifer L. Delfaus
David R. Díaz
Pablo G. Díaz
Jonathan O. Espada
Juan Espinal
Kevin Estrada
Rosana C. Feliciano
Alexis Figueroa
Ángel R. Figueroa
Wendy Figueroa
Yarimar Figueroa
Yaritza Flecha
Andrea Flores
Nathalie Fuentes
Dinotchka García
Emanuel García
José G. García
Ricardo García
Thalía Gómez
Angélica González
SCHOOL
Commonwealth High School, San Juan
Interamerican School, San Germán
José Gautier Benítez School, Caguas
María Auxiliadora School, San Juan
José Aponte de la Torre School, Carolina
Santa María del Camino School, Trujillo Alto
San Jorge Academy, San Juan
Juan Quirindongo Morell School, Vega Baja
Petra Mercado School, Humacao
Thomas Alva Edison School, Caguas
Luterano Resurrección Inc. School, Carolina
Nuestra Señora de Belén School, Carolina
María Auxiliadora School, Carolina
Bautista de Levittown Academy, Toa Baja
Carvin School, Inc., Carolina
Notre Dame School, Caguas
Carmen Sol Inc. School, Toa Baja
Carmen Sol Inc. School, Toa Baja
María Teresa Piñeiro, Toa Baja
Bárbara Ann Roessler Academy, San Juan
PORFOR Educationl Services School, Carolina
José Gautier Benítez School, Caguas
Josefa Pastrana School, Aguas Buenas
Carvin School, Carolina
86
PAGES
22, 51
22, 51
20, 36
23, 52
20, 36
23, 53
23, 52
23, 52
20, 37
23, 53
33, 54
29, 80
23, 54
23, 55
21, 37
33, 55
33, 55
23, 56
31, 38
28, 72
24, 56
24, 57
33, 57
24, 57
31, 38
21, 39
24, 58
35, 79
31, 39
29, 79
29, 80
29, 80
28, 72
33, 58
21, 40
24, 59
24, 58
22, 51
21, 40
24, 59
21, 41
24, 41
24, 60
28, 73
33, 54
25, 60
25, 42
21, 42
NAME
Brianna M. González
Gilmarie González
José A. González
Maxine González
Luis F. González
Stephanie Hall
Katherine A. Hernández
Sergio L. Hernández
Jean Paul Irizarry
Edwin R. Jiménez
Natalie M. Jiménez
Natalia C. López
Nicole R. López
Wilma D. López
Steven Lugo
Manuel Mangual
Jesús O. Martínez
Nicole M. Massa
Sarah Matos
Elvin A. Méndez
Jorge O. Méndez
Rocío del M. Méndez
Jaynee Mendoza
Alexander P. Molina
Carlos Molina
Carlos Morales
Cristina Morales
Ireniamarel Morales
Clarianne Moscoso
Michelle Mounier
Frances C. Negrón
Carlos Oliveras
Christian A. Orta
José Ortega
Ana M. Ortiz
Christian Ortiz
Kevin M. Otero
David Pacheco
Kenneth Padró
Enrique A. Pérez
Alvin A. Peralta
Karinabeth Pérez
Cassandra I. Pérez
Ingrid G. Ramírez
Alejandro Ramos
Damarys M. Ramos
Stephan Remy
Luis A. Reyes
Isamar Rivera
Joyce A. Rivera
Gilberto Robles
SCHOOL
San Antonio Abad School, Humacao
University Gardens School, San Juan
Bautista de Puerto Nuevo Academy, San Juan
Eduardo García Carrillo School, Canóvanas
María Auxiliadora School, San Juan
María Teresa Piñeiro School, Toa Baja
Bautista de Caguas Academy, Caguas
Bilingüe Padre Rufo School, Carolina
Ernesto Ramos Antonini School, San Juan
Carvin School Inc, Carolina
Luterano Resurrección School, Carolina
Santa María del Camino, Trujillo Alto
Thomas Alva Edison School, Caguas
Petra Zenón Vocational School, Trujillo Alto
87
PAGES
25, 61
28, 73
25, 61
29, 83
29, 79
21, 43
25, 61
33, 62
25, 62
25, 62
21, 44
22, 45
26, 65
29, 80
33, 63
23, 55
25, 63
33, 62
35, 74
31, 45
34, 70
26, 63
22, 46
22, 46
26, 64
24, 56
26, 65
24, 60
22, 51
29, 81
31, 47
28, 74
24, 58
28, 75
29, 82
26, 64
29, 82
26, 64
24, 59
28, 75
31, 47
22, 48
26, 65
26, 66
25, 62
35, 76
33, 54
28, 76
31, 48
26, 66
33, 67
NAME
Gira M. Robles
Camila del M.
Rodríguez
Edwin A. Rodríguez
Othoniel J. Rodríguez
Tiffany Rohena
Laura Roldán
Andrea C. Román
Nicolle A. Rosa
Jean M. Rosado
Rebecca E. Rosado
Patricia Rosario
Grace M. Russe
Alejandro Sánchez
Alex R. Sánchez
Carlos E. Sánchez
Albert Santiago
Natalia Santiago
Alex D. Santos
Eric D. Santos
Luis R. Santos
Christopher Sepúlveda
Jean P. Toledo
Kermit J. Toro
Elizabeth Torres
Elvin Torres
Orlando Torres
Stephanie Torres
Samuel Urrutia
Melinda Vargas
Edgardo Vázquez
Krystal C. Vega
Nathalie Velázquez
Tatiana C. Zambrano
SCHOOL
Bilingüe Padre Rufo School, Carolina
Puertorriqueño de Niñas School, Guaynabo
Nuestra Señora de Belén, Guaynabo
Bautista de Carolina Academy, Carolina
José Aponte de la Torre, Carolina
María Teresa Piñeiro School, Toa Baja
Manuela Toro Morice School, Caguas
University of Puerto Rico High School, San Juan
Notre Dame School, Caguas
Petra Zenón Vocational School, Trujillo Alto
San Antonio Abad, Humacao
Espíritu Santo School, San Juan
Miguel Such Vocational School, San Juan
88
PAGES
22, 49
35, 81
29, 82
23, 53
26, 67
23, 56
27, 67
32, 49
26, 63
22, 50
24, 57
29, 82
23, 53
27, 68
34, 68
33, 67
29, 83
34, 68
35, 77
28, 77
27, 69
27, 69
29, 78
25, 61
26, 63
22, 51
27, 70
27, 68
34, 70
32, 50
27, 70
27, 71
30, 83
We gratefully acknowledge the support and sponsorship of the
Spring 2010 Pre-College Research Symposium from:
National Science Foundation (NSF)
Puerto Rico Space Grant Consortium
Ana G. Méndez University System
Inter-American University-San Germán
Universidad del Este
Universidad del Turabo
Politechnic University of Puerto Rico
University of Puerto Rico-Humacao

UNIVERSIDAD METROPOLITANA (UMET) PROFILE

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