Modifying Textile and Design to Make a Modern Hijab

The hijab is a veil, covering the head and chest typically worn by Muslim women’s as a symbol of modesty and privacy around the world. Although it is usually only worn for short periods of time in Saudi Arabia, there are more dynamic situations they face in western countries where this attire can hinder everyday actions like navigating a fall thunderstorm, driving a car, and playing sports. A group of Muslim women in the US have thus modified the traditional hijab for comfort and fashion. Our guest today is Elham Maqsood who will describe her tremendous journey from Saudi Arabia to the US where she seeks to introduce these designs to other Muslims and help increase the quality of life of the next generation of Muslim women. Elham is entering the last year of her Ph.D. program in Design and Human Environment and will return to Saudi Arabia to become a university teacher to potentially start her own fashion line!

Tune in tonight at 7PM Pacific Time to 88.7FM KBVR Corvallis or stream the show live at http://kbvr.com/listen and hear how Elham is helping a new generation of Muslim women feel more comfortable in their own skin and how textile modification can make all the difference!

Bringing Humanities Back to the Hospital: Bioethics and Narrative Medicine

Tonight, at 7PM Pacific Time, tune in to Inspiration Dissemination to discover how Kate Swenson is connecting philosophy, story telling, and medicine. A recent graduate with a Philosophy degree from Oregon State, Kate came to OSU to complete a unique Medical Humanities certificate program as well as her pre-med program requirements. Studying underneath Doctors Anita Helle and Courtney Campbell while working on her undergraduate thesis in narrative medicine (itself a new and rare discipline), Kate focuses on how we relate to our bodies and wellness in and outside of the examination room, hoping to improve the medical experience for doctor and patient alike!

Set your dial to 88.7FM KBVR Corvallis or stream the show live at http://kbvr.com/listen tonight and hear Kate read some of her work, and to learn more about how story telling and literary technique can make for better bedside manner and better clinical technique!

Printing Parts for Planes and Hearts

From medical implants to aerospace engineering, Ali Davar Panah is working with new technology in incremental forming (similar to 3D printing) that might allow thermoplastics and biodegradable polymers to be customized and produced for a variety of applications. Similar to dissolving stitches, items made from biopolymers could be of great medical value. Once in the body they would serve their purpose and dissolve entirely with no surgical removal required. Biopolymer printing would also be valuable for producing any number of disposable plastic items (coffee lids or plastic silverware, for example) which would decompose completely if buried. Because this type of incremental forming is a a room temperature operation, it is also useful for producing complex geometric surfaces made from heat sensitive plastics, such as those used on the insides of airplanes or space shuttles.

Ali is a doctoral student working underneath Dr. Malhotra in the Advanced Manufacturing program here in OSU’s Mechanical Engineering department. Tonight, tune in to 88.7FM KBVR Corvallis at 7PM PST, or stream the show live online at http://kbvr.com/listen to learn more about Ali’s work and his story!

Yes, This is being recorded: Having a conversation about 21st century technology with 20th century tape recordings

In the 21st century, the advent of cell phone video recordings and social media has made it easier for the voices of protesters to be heard. From the Arab Spring to the Ferguson protests, new technology has been instrumental in showing the world an unfiltered glimpse into the events as they happened. This method of communication did not exist before, but it had influences.

Tonight at 7PM PST, we speak with Rich Collins, a Masters student in the School of Writing, Literature, and Film about the influence of Zora Neale Hurston, Hunter S. Thompson, and gonzo journalism on the documentation of 21st century protests. We’ll walk through Collins’ journey about how his passion and deep interest for gonzo journalism has lead him to trying to studying literature and culture here at Oregon State University.

Tune in on 88.7FM in Corvallis at 7PM PST or you can stream it live online at http://kbvr.com/listen

Can Trees Take the Heat? Climate Tolerance in Conifers and Coffee

As the average temperatures all over the world steadily increase year by year, there may be detrimental effects to economically valuable plant species. Although we here in Oregon are far from the equator and enjoy a generally temperate climate, shrinking habitat ranges and the physiological effect of heat stress on plants are a global concern. Joining us tonight on the show is Danielle Marias, a PhD student at Oregon State University studying underneath Rick Meinzer in the Department of Forest Ecosystems and Society. Danielle’s research examines the influence of environmental stress from climate phenomenon such as drought on plants. Specifically, she studied the importance of heat alone in coffee plants and conifer seedlings.

All pictures courtesy Danielle Marias, OSU Forest Ecosystems and Society, 7.25.2015

Danielle grew up in Connecticut, and didn’t always know that she wanted to study plant physiology and ecology, but she new that she was interested in applying her undergraduate work on the subject to something with a large impact related to current issues. As a first generation college student, Danielle knows well (as many students do) how complicated it can be to find your way in the world of higher education. She participates in a blog called GradHacker which features the stories of graduate students from many different schools, sharing in their successes and their struggles. The blog is a great resource for any graduate student looking for ideas as to how to advance their academic career, or to get a simple reminder that you aren’t alone, which is sometimes crucial to maintaining your sanity in grad school! The blog is also a great resource for undergraduates who might be trying to find out more about what grad school is like, or how to best prepare for and be successful in higher education.

Tune in tonight at 7pm on 88.7 KBVR Corvallis, or stream live online to hear more about Danielle’s research on climate tolerance in coffee and conifers, and her unique personal journey!

The way you(r medicine) move(s through you)

When you take medicine for a headache, it goes through your stomach into your bloodstream. The blood with the medicine eventually goes to your head, relieving you of your pain. Of course, on the way to the brain, the medicine also has to move through other organs including your liver and your heart. How is this medicine affecting your body? How is your body affecting the medicine on its journey? How long does the medicine linger in the other parts of your body? These are the questions that Oregon State University graduate student Wenjing Li is trying to answer. Her research combines pharmacology and statistics to create a mathematical model of how medicine travels through the body.

Tonight, at 7PM PST, Wenjing Li will talk about her journey combining her love of math and background in pharmacology to studying pharmacokinetics here at Oregon State University. On the way, we will discuss the opportunities she has encountered and the many challenges she has faced as an international student from China. Listen to the conversation on 88.7FM in Corvallis or stream live at http://kbvr.com/listen

Adélie Penguins and the fight for survival on the final frontier

There are very few places on the earth’s oceans that have not felt human impact. In Antarctica, just south of New Zealand, the Ross Sea is one of the most pristine marine ecosystems, host to a vast array of marine life including sea stars, jellies, Orca whales, and Adélie penguins. This final frontier, away from human influence, makes it the perfect place to study the impacts of climate change.

Adiéle penguin jumping on to an ice sheet.

http://ocean.si.edu/slideshow/trip-south-antarctica%E2%80%99s-ross-sea (4th image) Photo Credit: John Weller

On Sunday, July 12, 2015 at 7PM (PST), Peter Kappes of the department of Fisheries and Wildlife will tell us about his journey that lead him to studying Adélie penguins on the Ross Sea. From endangered suckers in the Klamath to seabirds on remote islands in the pacific, we will learn how his >10 year journey led him to his research on how the change in sea ice levels might affect the breeding success of Adiéle penguins. In Antarctica, the land is protected, but the sea is not. This research has the potential to change that.

Be sure to tune in at 7PM (PST) on 88.7FM in Corvallis or stream us on the web at http://kbvr.com/listen.

Rise of the Robots

Image from: http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/2403589/Artificial-intelligence-the-future-of-robots

Tonight at 7pm Aswin Raghavan will join us on Inspiration Dissemination. Tune in at 88.7 KBVR Corvallis or stream live here to learn about his project preparing for the robotic revolution (imagine household robots and self-driving cars)! Aswin isn’t worried about these machines coming to conquer humanity, in fact he’s hoping that increased use of Artificial Intelligence can make many aspects of human society more efficient.

As a fifth year PhD student in computer science working under Dr. Tadepalli, Aswin doesn’t build robots or focus much on what the specific application of his A.I. will be- he works on ‘automated planning’. This means that Aswin develops algorithms used by computers in decision making processes. Computers running these decision making programs can more efficiently manage many human affairs, everything from coordinating traffic lights in your home town to running a loading dock full of multiple automated cranes.

From helping your local fire station more efficiently dispatch vehicle to “smart cities” that manage the provision of utilities to millions, artificial intelligence is on the rise! Join us tonight to find out how!

The Personal Computer and the Pharmacy Counter: Statistics Helps Clinical Trials Bring New Medicines and Therapies to the Market

A pharmacist counts pills into a tray as she fills a patient’s prescription. Image from Maryland Pharmacy.gov.

In the world of health care things are always changing. When you go to pick up your prescription or visit your doctor for treatment, you are relying on the work of researchers who are constantly determining new and better treatments and drugs, and testing the efficacy of those that already exist. Clinical trials that bring new drugs and therapies to the market usually involve hundreds of people and require many repeated experiments, but one Oregon State graduate student is learning how to use statistical analysis to make this process more efficient.

Statistical Analysis used in Experimental Design. Image from: http://www.specialty-tc.com/laboratory_eds.html

Joining us tonight on Inspiration Dissemination is Tim Skalland, PhD in Statistics. Tim is advised by Sarah Emerson and Paul Murtaugh in the College of Science, and he studies the design and analysis of experiments; specifically those used in the clinical trials which are required to bring new drugs and treatments to the market. Accurate statistical analysis and efficient experimental design are doubly important. By using statistical analysis during a series of experiments Tim aims to determine whether or not a drug or treatment is effective or promising. If the answer is no, then researchers can end clinical trials early, saving money and reducing costs to the health care system overall. On the other hand, Tim might also discover during the experimental process that the benefit of a drug or treatment is already obvious, and no further clinical trials are required. This allows helpful medicines and therapies to reach the pharmacy counter faster than if the trials proceeded in the traditional way.

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Image from: http://www.sodahead.com/living/would-you-rather-dance-the-night-away-to-a-dj-or-a-live-band/question-3811753/

Tim wasn’t always interested in statistics, or in medicine, but comes from a background in physics at William Jewell College, Missouri. Tim is also a fellow DJ here at KBVR and has produced his own dance music in California as DJ Timid. Join us tonight at 7pm at 88.7 KBVR Corvallis to learn more about Tim’s research, and to listen in as he treats us to a special set in the studio!

From Records in the Reef to Stories in the Snow: One Student’s Journey from Florida to Antarctica to Study the Geological History of the Earth

Tonight at 7 pm Pacific time Nilo Bill joins the hosts of Inspiration Dissemination to discuss his research in the Geology Program of the College of Earth Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences. Tune in to 88.7 FM KBVR Corvallis, or stream the show live, here!

Working underneath Peter U. Clark, Nilo studies paleoclimate, the ancient climate of the Earth. By examining erratic boulders in the West Antarctic Ice Sheet moved by glacial decay between 10 and 20 thousand years ago Nilo tries to understand when and why the Antarctic ice sheets began to recede. For example: How much of this change can be attributed to CO2 increases in the atmosphere? When the sea levels rose after the last ice age, what glaciers did most of the water come from?

The West Antarctic Ice Sheet. Image from: http://learningfromdogs.com/tag/west-antarctic-ice-sheet/

Nilo became interested in the question of ancient climate and sea level rise far from Oregon State or any ice sheets, in the geomicrobiology lab at University of Miami, where he studied coral reefs to learn how much water levels rose 10 to 20 thousand years ago during the last large scale glacial melt.

Nilo’s work on ancient climate allows us not only to better understand the history of the world, but also where we are headed, as we continue to contribute to increasing atmospheric CO2 levels. Increases in atmospheric CO2 that have been linked to global climate changes and glacial melt in the past are being seen again in our own time, but at much faster rates. Whereas in the past these changes occurred over a span of nine to ten thousand years, humans have artificially increased global CO2 by comparative levels in only one hundred years.

By understanding how the earth has behaved under similar circumstances in the past, Nilo hopes that we might better predict what will occur in our own future.