Current Research
The Journal of Undergraduate Research at the University of Rochester is dedicated to providing students with intellectual perspectives from various academic disciplines. The JUR carefully curates, selects, and edits research that we believe to be of the highest academic quality. Read about what current students have been working on below!
A Fringe Definition of Knowledge and its Implications for the Unity of Science
Author: Fletcher Seymour
​This paper explores how philosophers and scientists conceptualize Knowledge. It introduces a “fringe” definition of Knowledge, inspired by physicist-philosopher David Deutsch, and uses it to identify a common pattern that underlies evolution, behavior, cognition and the scientific endeavor. Included also is a discussion of the philosophical concept of “kinds” and the prevalence of "kinds" in cognitive and scientific models.
Effects of Ocean Acidification on Fish and Possibilities for Adaptation
By: Ella Croyle
Ocean acidification is the increase in oceanic CO2, which causes an increase in H+ and a decrease in available carbonate. Fish undergo behavioral and physiological changes due to elevated CO2 concentrations and temperature, with severe disruption of lateralization, olfactory sensitivity, and mineralization – and these effects are more severe with early exposure. Ocean acidification as a selective pressure will drive the contemporary evolution of many genes, but it is uncertain how intra and interspecific variation could affect developmental and transgenerational acclimation.
The Essence of the Twin Primes Conjecture
By: Sid Seenivasa
This article delves into different branches of mathematics, namely probability theory and numerical analysis to craft tools, which can be used to prove that there exists an infinitude of primes that are at most 2 numbers apart. For instance, consider the primes 3 and 5, 5 and 7, 11 and 13, and so on. We would like to prove this phenomenon occurs infinitely often, and we will be exploring it through past results and abstract techniques to reach a consensus.
Parental Behavior and Friendship Quality in College Students
By: Emily Han
This study investigated the relationship between parental behavior and friendship quality in college students using an online survey. Contrary to the hypotheses, multiple regression analyses showed that parental monitoring led to greater peer communication and fewer peer alienation. In addition, moderation results indicated that parental monitoring had a greater effect on peer communication for male participants. Therefore, this study shows that parental monitoring may actually be useful for college students in developing better peer communication, especially for male college students.
Asherah's Decline: The Burning of Sacred Poles
By: Casey Logan A’Hearn
This article seeks to explore the figure of the goddess Asherah in the Hebrew Bible and the Keilalphabetische Texte aus Ugarit (KTU) to deconstruct the ways in which the Deuteronomistic Historian censured her worship in favor of the worship of Yahweh alone. Additionally, this article questions the motives of early biblical scholars, who elevated the theological opinions of the Deuteronomist Historian, making it difficult to study the goddess. Finally, the paper restores Asherah to the narrative provided within the KTU.
Investigating the Relationship Between Select Emergency Department Patient Characteristics and the Disposition of Emergency Department Patients
By: Alan Ardelean
Worldwide, the utilization of emergency departments is increasing. Despite differences in the standard and quality of emergency care by country, higher demands place unprecedented pressure on clinicians who face the mounting responsibility of timely intervention and appropriate care. This investigation included select ED patient characteristics in a multivariate model to determine which characteristics are correlated with a patient's disposition and to suggest which should be considered at the beginning of the care timeline. Results from this study carry practical implications for ED providers; they show that a patient's sex, injury status, and systolic blood pressure are significantly associated with their disposition.
Investigating the Effect of Early Reperfusion Conditions in Reactive Oxygen Species Generation by Reverse Electron Transfer in Mitochondrial Complex I, Using a Mitochondrial Model
By: Caio Tabata Fukushima
One of the main sources of damage during ischemia-reperfusion (a.k.a. heart attack) is reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation. It has been proposed that reverse electron transfer (RET) in Complex I of the electron transport chain of mitochondria is the main source of ROS generation upon reperfusion; however, this is based on mitochondrial models where many conditions of reperfusion were not considered. In this paper, I evaluated how conditions predicted to be present in reperfusion affect the contribution of RET to total ROS using mouse heart mitochondria.