Pittsburgh Undergraduate Review

A Rubik's Fantasy

2024-10-05T14:53:24-04:00

The Rubik’s Cube is a 3-dimensional puzzle that contains 6 sides known as a face) and nine facets per face. There are 54! possible combinations of rearranging the facets, however, not all rearrangements are types of movements of a Rubik’s cube. The total number of possible movements in the Rubik’s cube is over 43 quintillion [2]. Due to the cube’s nature, many individuals find it challenging to solve. In this paper, we use a 3x3 Rubik’s cube to describe and introduce the concept of permutations. Although permutations are a topic of abstract algebra (or an advanced level of mathematics), they are described in a way accessible to everyone regardless of their mathematical background.

Protocol Development of the Racial Equity Awareness Database (READ) to Combat Systemic Racism on a Global Scale

2024-10-05T11:10:38-04:00

The Racial Equity Consciousness Database (RECD) initiative aims to address systemic racism by providing a comprehensive platform for accessing resources dedicated to advancing racial equity. In response to the pervasive nature of systemic racism across various sectors, RECD collaborates with institutions such as the United Nations Permanent Forum on People of African Descent (UNPFPAD) to establish a centralized database. This initiative recognizes the need to address racial disparities across social systems including education, healthcare, housing, and criminal justice. Systemic racism, defined as the institutionalization of inequity within society's fundamental structures, underscores the necessity of a collective effort to combat it. The goal of this paper is to outline the methodology employed in creating RECD and aligning its resources with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). By systematically categorizing and organizing racial equity resources, RECD seeks to empower communities to confront systemic racism effectively. The objectives of this database planning process include efficiently identifying and assessing racial equity resources available in Pittsburgh and beyond, to create a solution-based approach for achieving racial equity. Additionally, this paper aims to highlight the significance of representation at the United Nations Permanent Forum for People of African Descent and articulate the intended impact of aligning resources with United Nations goals. Through this initiative, RECD endeavors to foster collaboration, raise awareness, and facilitate meaningful social change towards achieving racial equity globally.

Comparative Analysis of Fixed-Length and Dynamic Segmentation for Feature Extraction from Non-Stationary Spatial Data

2025-02-15T16:48:58-05:00

This research presents a comparative analysis of non-stationary spatial data segmentation techniques such as fixed-length and dynamic segmentation based feature extraction efficiency. The study utilizes 5 miles of railway track geometry data, a non-stationary spatial dataset, to assess the effectiveness of both segmentation approaches. The profile (vertical alignment) of the track geometry is used for this purpose. For fixed-length segmentation, the track data is divided into segments of 264 feet (1/20th of a mile), resulting in about 102 segments. Dynamic segmentation is performed using an "l2" model-based change point detection algorithm, which adapts to natural variations in the signal. Key features such as standard deviation, kurtosis, and energy are extracted from both segmentation methods. Performance is evaluated based on multiple criteria, including the discriminative power of the features for classifying track safety and ride-quality conditions using statistical tests such as the f-test and Fisher score, consistency or signal quality across segments, measured using the variance of the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), computational efficiency in terms of run-time and memory usage. Results indicate that, features from fixed-length segments have demonstrated better discriminative power between safety and ride quality classes, with higher Fisher scores and f-values showing strong statistical significance (p < 0.05). Additionally, fixed-length segmentation has shown a better performance with lower run-time and stable signal power across segments.

TikTok’s “What I Eat In A Day”: Controlling the Female Body Through Media

2024-10-01T15:15:26-04:00

The following essay centers around the TikTok #WhatIEatInADay trend. It is a historical and cultural analysis of the ways that the trend perpetuates diet culture messages from past mediums while introducing new trends that are unique to the digital age. The scope of research is American mass media targeting women from the early twentieth century to the present-day. Etiquette books, newspaper articles, advertisements, and magazines were used for the historical portion of the essay. TikTok was used to gather trend analytics and to provide details about user engagement. The purpose of the research is to expose the ways that diet culture messages in mass media have evolved over the past century, influencing the way that women engage with the content.

Barreling Towards “Significant Misalignment”: A Comparative Examination of AI Regulation In The European Union And United States

2025-02-03T14:32:46-05:00

As artificial intelligence technologies threaten drastic change, governments around the world have implemented different strategies regarding their regulation. Despite the European Union and United States’ strong diplomatic and military alliance, dynamic trade relationship, and broadly aligned commitment to liberal democracy, the two powers have taken drastically different regulatory approaches to AI. In this paper, I conduct a comparative qualitative analysis of the defining characteristics of each government’s AI policies and how their actions reflect different strategies to become a global leader in the AI revolution. In general, the EU emphasizes regulation, while the U.S. emphasizes innovation and military action as means to grow and wield global influence. While the EU takes a heavy-handed approach through comprehensive and binding legislation, aiming to lead the world in laying down AI law, the U.S. has not passed equivalent federal legislation, opting for a hands-off approach and emphasizing investment in innovation to assert dominance. Both governments’ policies suffer from fragmentation along different dimensions. I will consider the possible explanations for why these records differ, including differences in the actors’ 1) fundamental approaches to regulation and strategies for global leadership on AI; 2) regulatory capacities; and 3) legislative agenda-setting, political polarization, and gridlock. Ultimately, considering the EU and U.S. predominance on the global stage, the direction of their strategies and level of cooperation could shape the future of AI.

Pronunciation of Novel Phonemes in Mandarin Chinese for L2 Speakers

2025-02-12T10:54:26-05:00

Taking on any second language (L2) can be a challenge as learners are faced with the task of learning new vocabulary, structures, and even sounds. Pronunciation specifically can cause issues for learners when they encounter sounds (i.e., phonemes) that do not exist in their first language(s) (L1). The Perceptual Assimilation Model states that speakers will assimilate unfamiliar phonemes to those they are more familiar with in their L1, and the Revised Speech Learning Model states that speakers have the ability to create new phonetic categories for unfamiliar phonemes in an L2, just as they do when learning an L1 in childhood. For this study, L1 speakers of English learning L2 Mandarin Chinese were asked to pronounce phonemes that do not occur in English to determine whether these learners replace these phonemes with ones that occur in English, or if they accommodate their production to the standard Mandarin pronunciation by adding a new phonetic category. By analyzing formant data from intermediate-level Mandarin Chinese speakers' speech, multiple compensation strategies were displayed, employing tactics from multiple documented models of phonological acquisition.

Cold Yet Another Night, In Death’s Embrace

2025-02-07T16:37:30-05:00

A short creative scary story, inspired by one of the Pittsburgh's most notabel graveyard structures. Telling a fictional tale of Lucille and her destructive marriage with an aging delusional man.

Achieving a Balanced Patient-Physician Relationship: A Multi-Perspective Analysis

2025-02-03T14:39:09-05:00

Despite the many advancements in the field of medicine, the delivery of quality, personalized care for patients is seldom consistently achieved. In a field where excellence of patient care is a focal point, patient dissatisfaction continues to be a paramount symptom of a poor, fragmented patient-physician relationship. What can physicians do to achieve a stronger, balanced relationship with their patients and improve the quality of care they provide? Through a critical examination of the perspectives of physician authors of several texts, including Dr. Paul Kalanithi’s When Breath Becomes Air, Dr. Danielle Ofri’s What Patients Say, What Doctors Hear, Dr. Oliver Sacks’ The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hate and Other Clinical Tales, Dr. Damon Tweedy’s Black Man in a White Coat, and Dr. Ian Williams et al.’s Graphic Medicine Manifesto, this paper discusses, synthesizes, and evaluates such current published insight in order to achieve a balanced, patient-physician relationship. By exploring and critiquing these viewpoints, an overall plan for patient care is proposed; the resulting need for communication and restrained empathy serves as a takeaway in patient care for both current and aspiring healthcare professionals.

The Intersectionality of Religion and Medicine in the Health Humanities: A Literature Review on Trends and Trajectories of the Two

2025-02-12T09:32:09-05:00

Introduction: This research focuses on determining the intersectionality of religion and medicine/health throughout the years through a literature review completed under the Health Humanities Undergraduate Research Program in the Department of English. The two have impacted each other greatly, contributing to new findings in the field of medicine and the founding of new religious sects. While originally very religious, medicine has become more secular as the years have passed. This research begins with Ancient Medicine and continues through to modern-day practices, tracing the influences of religion on medicine and its applications in the field of health. Literature Review: Ancient Medicine (450 BCE - 1600 CE) focuses on the major influences such as Hippocrates, Galen, and Asclepius. Additionally, various historical events impacted the development of medicine including the emergence of hospitals, the 4th Lateran Council. A focus on gender has also been determined during this period, involving the decreased importance and involvement of women in the process of healing. Development of Modern Medicine (1600-1950) involves topics such as mood disorders, ethnomedicine, and the development of religious sects through the alignment of religion and medicine. The focus of this section is largely based on Burton’s Anatomy of Melancholy, a text referencing mental afflictions we now define as depression and anxiety. Various ethnic practices are also identified and researched, such as the presence of secret doctors in African American communities, rising largely from slavery in the United States. Modern Medicine (1950-Present) focuses on concepts that are prominent in today’s field of healthcare including cultural competency, the treatment of women, the intersection of religion and mental health, and the secular perspective. Topics researched during this section emphasize the focus on mental health through a religious lens and the idea of westernized medicine versus eastern practices potentially causing a rift during patient care. Conclusion: This research reflects an overall change in the practice of medicine from being solely religious to largely secular and is illustrated through the three distinct periods in time. The latter end of the Development of Modern Medicine period reveals the biggest shift. By the time the Modern Medicine era arrives, secular medicine is practiced heavily, especially in Westernized locales. Modern-day concepts such as cultural competency have grown as Westernized medicine has interacted at greater levels with Eastern practices. These results exhibit a definite change in the application and practice of religion in the field of medicine in the modern-day as compared to ancient times.