Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Influence Of Social Expectations On Muscle Dysmorphia In College-Age Males Studying Exercise Science, Quinten Garver

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

PURPOSE: To investigate the correlation between the risk of an individual developing MD and the presence of unrealistic social expectations. The research question is “How do unrealistic social expectations influence the development of muscle dysmorphia in college-age males studying exercise science?”. METHODS: An electronic survey was distributed to all exercise science students at The University of Akron. This survey was targeted exclusively at male students; any responses received by females were not analyzed. The survey consisted of 20 questions that were aimed at determining the individual’s risk of developing muscle dysmorphia and determining how likely the individual is to have …

Comparison Of External Load Patterns Over A Season In Collegiate Soccer Players, Colton Dowd

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Soccer (football) is the most played sport in the world. In turn, soccer also accounts for a considerable number of injuries at all levels. Injuries in soccer are not only detrimental to team performance, but they can also place financial burden on organizations, in addition to causing harm to players health down the line. As such, it is important that these injuries are limited and managed to avoid the various consequences that accompany serious injury. PURPOSE: This study attempted to quantify the external loads of NCAA DI soccer athletes over the course of a Fall season. These external load values …

Intuitive Eating Behaviors Among A Sample Of Food Secure And Food Insecure College Students, Morgan Stocker, Christin Seher Phd, Rdn, Ld

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Intuitive Eating (IE) is a food mindset focusing on honoring hunger and fullness, while rejecting the diet mentality. Research demonstrates a clear link between IE and health outcomes across many populations, including college students. Despite a growing body of literature, we still know very little about what complexities food insecurity may present for individuals trying to adopt IE behaviors. This study builds off prior research to investigate IE behaviors in food insecure and food secure students through a Qualtrics survey utilizing the Intuitive Eating Scale-2 (IES-2) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Six-Item Short Form to determine food …

Sand & Swim Leg, Victoria Mclaughlin, Allison Testa, Chloe Davidson, Reagan Lindsay, Jessica Galford

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Sand and Swim Leg, is addressing the clinical need of limited options for lower-limb amputees to participate in water activities. We will follow the FDA Medical Device Design Process throughout our two semester course. Initially, we created our team agreement and delegated team roles and responsibilities. Then, we conducted background research on the clinical need, competitive products, and existing patents. After compiling and discussing research amongst our team, we contacted stakeholders that would be affected by our product. Our stakeholders include our below-the-knee amputee client, an above-the-knee amputee, pediatric prosthetists, and our client’s prosthetists. We conducted interviews with our stakeholders …

The Patterns And Prevalence Of Vestibular Disorders In Relation To Pediatric Concussions, Emma Vosniak

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

INTRODUCTION: Concussions are a movement of the brain that can cause damage to the cells of the brain and any surrounding structures. One of the closest structures is the vestibular system, a part of the inner ear, controlling our balance and bodily movement. Though it is known that vestibular disorders and related symptoms are common after a concussion, there remains limited research regarding approaches to better address these disorders. STUDY AIM: The purpose of this study is to identify patterns regarding the prevalence, assessment, and treatment of vestibular disorders in pediatric patients who have sustained past concussions. METHODOLOGY: An online …

Auto- Ethnography With A Deep Dive Into Changes Mental Health During The Pandemic And A Look Into The Way The Pandemic Has Shaped Nursing Protocols For Recent Nursing College Graduates, Audrey Shaffer, Sarah Bereznay

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

In this project we completed a deep dive into how the Covid-19 pandemic reshaped our mental health and has affected our preparation for careers as registered nurses through a series of auto- ethnographic narrative journals using scholarly articles to support this idea. By utilizing personal narratives, we analyzed and reflected upon the cognitive and mental changes we experienced throughout this pandemic. We fulfilled this by comprising two personal narratives with inquiries pertaining to each shared narrative by utilizing the common themes of being nursing students and living through a pandemic. Within these personal narratives, we discussed how the pandemic influenced …

Familial Hypercholesterolemia And Treatments, Alexis Steer

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

My project will be a literature review regarding the genetic mutations associated with

familial hypercholesterolemia and the current available treatments.

Glaucoma Alters The Morphology Of Mouse Melanopsin-Containing Retinal Ganglion Cells, Kristin Keenan

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Melanopsin ganglion cells are intrinsically photosensitive ganglion cells in the mammalian retina. These cells mediate aspects of non-image forming vision to help regular circadian rhythm. Glaucoma is an eye disease involving an increase in intraocular pressure that has been linked to irregular circadian rhythm. This project will investigate the impact glaucoma has on these melanopsin ganglion cells at different pathological timepoints. This will be performed by using dissection, immunohistochemistry, and computer imaging methods to visualize, trace, and measure the cells’ morphologies in both control and glaucomatous retinas at different timepoints of disease to analyze if glaucoma has a significant effect …

Integrating Fema And Scouts For Local Community Hazard Preparedness, Megan Vocatura

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

My goal is to support the development of a comprehensive, evidence-based, plan to connect four counties in eastern Massachusetts with local Scouting resources to enhance preparedness efforts. The counties of Essex, Middlesex, Norfolk, and Suffolk comprise the geographic footprint of the Sprit of Adventure Scout Council (SoA). SoA’s newly established partnership with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) needs recommendations on where to stage preparedness and response efforts. My role will be to build a repository of evidence of current and anticipated hazards, vulnerabilities, and risks for the region and specific communities. This part of the project will consist of …

Perceptions Of Strength Training For Dancers At A Midwestern University, Abigail Boenig-Dombek

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The purpose of the research is to gain a deeper insight into the perceptions of strength training within the dance community. The research aimed to receive feedback from individuals over the age of 18 who are currently studying, practicing, or teaching dance. METHODS: The survey utilized was replicated among a convenience sample of adult dancers associated with The University of Akron’s dance program from the research of Farmer and Brouner (2021) in their scholarly article, “Perceptions of Strength Training in Dance.” The survey contained 14 questions requiring the individual to assess their personal involvement in strength training. The questions were …

Will Covid-19 Be Eradicated?, Matthew Kieke

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

In this paper I want to define the meaning of “eradication”, explain the history of various diseases that have been eradicated, and compare and contrast them to covid-19, to answer the question of “Will covid-19 be eradicated”?

Themes And Associations Concerning The Covid-19 Pandemic: Autoethnography, Amber Mcgannon, Ebunoluwa O. Adedeji

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Per the college of nursing, my proposed project will discuss living during uncertain times and unusual times of change. This APA formatted paper will be an autoethnography, meaning that we will review the perspectives of COVID through the lens of culture, research, and our own perspectives and experiences. Everyone has experienced changes during the COVID-19 pandemic due to self-isolation. Examples of change include changes in learning, working, thinking, teaching, and behaving. Using acquired nursing skills such as critical thinking, reflection, inquiry, and evidenced-based practice; my partner and I will dissect and discuss these changes and how they have affected ourselves, …

Tiger Woods' Alif Procedure: Causes And Results, Nathan Martin

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This project intends to use Tiger Woods as a case study to further study the physiological and biomechanical effects of a spinal fusion. In 2017, and at age 42, Woods received an Anterior Lumbar Interbody Fusion (ALIF) surgery. Less than two years later, Woods was able to return to professional golf. The goals for this research project are to; explain the medical issues that led Woods to receiving this surgery, describe in depth the surgical technique that was used, detail the recovery process that is associated with this procedure, and to examine the change in biomechanics of Tiger Woods’ golf …

The Impact Of The Covid-19 Pandemic On Special Education: A Case Study, Megan Cercone

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The purpose of this research project is to explore the possible impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on special education by evaluating the experiences of one child with disabilities who attends public schools. METHODS: A semi-structured interview was conducted with the two parents of the child, who has physical disabilities and an IEP through his school, meaning he receives special education services through intervention teachers, physical therapists, occupational therapists, and speech therapists. The interview was recorded and transcribed, and then interview transcripts were evaluated to identify themes in the subjects’ responses regarding their child’s experience with public education during the pandemic. …

A Case Study On Special Education And The Covid-19 Pandemic, Megan Cercone

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The purpose of this qualitative project is to explore the implications of online public schooling for a student with special needs, how this type of teaching impacted his individualized education plan (IEP), and investigate solutions to the consequences of the pandemic for special education. I am specifically interested in how the student's online education may have affected his progress in the physical, occupational, and speech therapy services he typically receives in school as required by his IEP. This project entails interviews of the parents and school-based occupational therapists of a child with special needs to examine the impact online schooling …

The Effect Of Virtual Learning As A Result Of Covid-19, Ann Redle Ms., Joel Mcmullen

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

In the early spring of 2020, the United States began to experience the effects of the question-inspiring, novel COVID-19 viral illness, with the onset of massive business, school, and entertainment closures, initiating a shift towards virtual learning, communication, and professional interactions. This paper is intended to identify the common experiences of two nursing students throughout the COVID-19 pandemic by utilizing a personal narrative, or autoethnographic approach, coupled with reviews of previously published literature relating to shared themes of the authors, including the rapid changes to an online environment from traditional classroom settings, the stressors that were experienced as a result …

More Than Physical: Covid-19'S Devastating Impact, Sadie Wood, Kathryn Pond

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Covid-19 has impacted our world in many ways. In this autoethnographic research paper, two college nursing students share their own unique perspective related to the topic. Through their journaling over the pandemic, they derive three main themes in their writing. These themes included vaccine hesitancy, burnout in healthcare professionals, and online schooling because of isolation protocols. Each theme is explored through research which includes personal experience, scholarly journals, website articles, blog posts, social media posts, and personal interviews. Vaccine hesitancy is explored, and research concludes that misinformation is widely to blame. Burnout in healthcare workers is shown to increase during …

The Effects Of Caffeine On Health And Perceived Bitterness, Chyann Farlin

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Caffeine is commonly consumed throughout the world in items such as coffee, chocolate, tea, energy drinks, and carbonated soft drinks. Consumers and food manufacturers benefit from discussion surrounding caffeine because consumers use information to drive their purchases. The purpose of this paper is to describe how caffeine effects health and perceived bitterness, and the ways that the food industry modifies bitter tastes in caffeine-containing products. Moderate caffeine intake is defined as 240-400 mg/day. Moderate intake of caffeine is not correlated to increased risk of premature death caused by disease or cancer. Excessive intake (>400mg/day) is neither protective nor harmful …

Effect Of Glaucoma On Melanopsin Retinal Ganglion Cells In Mice, Abigail Mcmullen

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Within the mammalian retina, there are melanopsin-containing ganglion cells. These intrinsically photoreceptive cells help control behavioral aspects of vision as well as to aid in circadian rhythms. In this project, it will be determined whether or not glaucoma has an effect on these cells, and what that effect is, from different points in the disease. Glaucoma is an eye disease that damages the retinal ganglion cells and eventually causes them to die, also it can be linked to irregular circadian rhythm. Many techniques will be used to prepare this project but computer imaging will be the primary method for determining …

The Influence Of Hydrogen Peroxide On The Enrichment Of Fe(Iii) Reducing Bacteria From Acid Mine Drainage, Susami Seth

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

It is hypothesized that the ocean of Europa, a Jupiter moon, hosts bacteria on its oceanic floor. Understanding how Fe(III) reducing bacteria (FeRB) from AMD utilize organic materials within its surrounding environment outlines how FeRB could thrive and tolerate extreme conditions. FeRB are known to tolerate metals and highly reactive oxidants species (ROS), but in this experiment, H₂O₂ was the experimental factor to further test FeRB tolerance. H₂O₂ is a common ROS and is damaging to living material such as proteins, DNA, and RNA. A range of H₂O₂ concentrations were fed …