Bilateral Symmetry Of Tibial Loads During A 5-Week Training Block In Dancers, Kaitlin Broyles

Academic Festival

INTRODUCTION: The relationship between tibial acceleration and dance is a limited field of study. Injuries, both from overuse and asymmetry, are prevalent in the dance world, especially towards a dancer’s dominant leg.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to determine the presence of asymmetry among contemporary and ballet dancers in their typical classes.

METHODS: Two experienced female dancers (22/22 years of age, 177.8/160cm, 83.9/55kg, 13/19 years experience) participated in the study and wore tibia-mounted IMU devices bilaterally during five routine dance classes (one ballet, one contemporary). A custom Python script filtered tri-axial accelerations collected at 1600Hz, computed resultant acceleration …

The Marijuana Dilemma, Michael Salvo

Academic Festival

After a long day of work or school, it is the human response to want to go relax and relieve some of the stress they have. People achieve this in many ways by exercising, watching television, having a drink, or more common in recent times; smoking marijuana. With an increase in the legalization of the drug, it is important to see if this is the right decision. Are the effects worth the long-term effects that it could be causing? That is something often overlooked by many people while looking for a quick way to achieve relaxation.

Consuming marijuana has become …

Optimization Of A Dna Extraction Protocol For Meiofaunal Identification, Joanna Coreno, Lilly Bove

Academic Festival

Meiofauna are a diverse group of benthic invertebrates that range between 0.04 mm and 1mm in size. They represent 24 of the 35 animal phyla and are ideal for biomonitoring. Their fast population turnover means that community composition can indicate anthropogenic influence and environmental health. The long-term goal of this project is to determine if visual identification of meiofauna at the level of phyla is sufficient to investigate community changes along a disturbed shoreline (Seaside Park; Bridgeport, CT); or if it is necessary to identify lower taxonomic levels via DNA metabarcoding. The latter would allow for the identification of taxa …

The Inclusion Of Transgender Athletes In Higher Level Athletics, Sydney Abitanto

Academic Festival

In recent years, the presence of the transgender community has increased in our society. Although identifying as a transgender person has become more supported and normalized, transgender athletes are still struggling in the participation of sports. The issue of transgender participation in sports is becoming a more widely recognized and discussed topic in the media as well as within many different sports organizations. Specifically with transgender females competing in cisgender female sports; many believe transgender females have a physiological advantage. The NCAA recently updated the transgender participation policy by supporting a sport-by-sport approach which appears to be the best current …

Black Women's Journey To Self-Worth, Shikeda Paucar

Academic Festival

The purpose of this study is to explore Black women's societal standards and upbringing within their community, and how it impacts their mental health awareness and self-esteem.

Research has supported the hypothesis that Black women live up to impossible standards set up by a society that has been built off racism. Overall, not being themselves have begun to take a toll on this marginalized community. Because of this the self-love/ self-worth in Black women particularly dark skin women has been sustained. "Dark skin females remember the terms White, you’re right, if you’re yellow, you’re mellow, if you’re brown, stick around, …

Jail Reform: An Examination Of United States Justice System, Dominick Scardigno

Academic Festival

1 in 100. Those are the approximate odds of a U.S. citizen being incarcerated during their lifetime. This statistic alone is enough to prompt discussion regarding the efficiency of the United States criminal justice System. According to the National Institute of justice, an estimated 44% people that have been arrested in the United States are arrested again within the span of a single year and 77% are arrested again within 5 years. These statistics provoke conversations on a global level as to what the actual goals of a criminal justice system should be. It seems nearly impossible to declare an …

Enhancing Health & Performance: The Benefits Of Ped Use In Pro Sports, Greg Aldrich

Academic Festival

Thesis: It would take just one open minded executive in a pro sports league to introduce a new era of sports where medically supervised performance enhancing drug use would be allowed for health benefits of the athletes.

Individualized Exercise Prescription, Olivia Vadas, Patrick O'Neil

Academic Festival

Individualized exercise program designed for a 45 year old woman on medication for high blood pressure, has had two knee surgeries, diagnosed with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (causes weight gain), and exercises as much as possible around her children's schedule.

The desired outcome of program is to increase mobility, flexibility, and weight loss to keep up with children.

Validity Of A Computer Vision System To Determine Bar Displacement And Velocity, Padraig Francis

Academic Festival

This study examined the validity of a video-based phone application (VBA) to determine bar speed and velocity. Analysis of the data revealed that for fast and slow repetitions of the bench press, back squat, and deadlift, the VBA is valid alongside motion capture software for the measurement of bar displacement and velocity. This provides a low cost option for coaches to monitor common barbell exercises during training.

Dance Class Intensity And Tibial Load Fluctuations During A 5-Week Training Block In Dancers, Stephanie Svede

Academic Festival

INTRODUCTION: Dancers experience high training loads in training and do not currently have a viable method of measuring external load. Dancers often experience symptoms of overuse as well as an increase in musculoskeletal pain with higher training loads. Previously, PlayerLoad (PL), from an inertial measurement unit (IMU) worn on the upper back, has been observed to increase as intensity and RPE increase in dancers.

PURPOSE: To measure tibial load and load fluctuations during a period of standard dance classes classes as well as assess how PL and RPE relate to these measures.

METHODS: A wearable IMU was secured on both …

Correlates Of Timed-Up-And-Go Temporal Metrics With Cognitive Status In Individuals With Parkinson Disease, Hannah Alexanian

Academic Festival

INTRODUCTION: Parkinson Disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disease, affecting 1-3% of the population over the age of 601, increasing 2.5-fold in prevalence over the last generation.2 The Timed Up-and-Go (TUG) Test is a common screening tool used for lower extremity function, mobility, and fall-risk. The assessments requires an individual to complete a sit-stand movement, initiate gait, walk three meters, turn 180 degrees, walk three meters back, and sit down.8A completion time > 12 seconds is associated with an increased risk of falling.

PURPOSE: Assess the correlation between cognitive status and total time and phase time of the TUG …

How Does Polarization Affect The United States Supreme Court Decisions Concerning The Issue Of Birth Control Since Griswold V. Connecticut?, Jillian Pusateri

Academic Festival

While the original intent of the United States Supreme Court was to remain as a nonpartisan branch of government, partisanship has found its way into the system. The goal of this study was to identify the patterns of supreme court nomination, as well as decisions due to party politics concerning the highly debated issue of birth control, specifically abortion. Court case analysis from the Supreme Court will used in this study. The study will specifically analysis court cases on birth control and abortion. We expect to find that there is a noticeable split between two sides concerning the issue and …

Cannabis Use Risk Level And Expected Positive Impacts Of Changing Use Among College Students Who Completed A Digital Form Of Screening, Brief Intervention, And Referral To Treatment (Sbirt), Katherine Anderson, Jessica Samuolis, Gianna Fucci, Kelly Sgombick

Academic Festival

Cannabis (also called marijuana) use is prevalent and increasing among college students and use is associated with a number of short-term and long-term consequences. Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) is one substance use prevention approach commonly used in campus counseling/health centers. Digital versions of SBIRT have been developed, such as ScreenU Cannabis, that allow for dissemination campus-wide. Although ScreenU Cannabis focuses on assessing risk and providing brief intervention and referral to treatment based on the risk level assessed, students’ qualitative responses within the screening may provide valuable insight regarding reasons to change use and expectations of benefits …

Negative Alcohol-Related Consequences And Triggers To Change Alcohol Use Among College Students, Isabelle Kovacs, Andrius Kulbis-Marino

Academic Festival

Alcohol misuse is prevalent among college students and is associated with a range of negative consequences. Although a large body of research exists focused on alcohol misuse among college students, less is known about triggers to change alcohol use. The current study examined students’ qualitative responses regarding readiness to change use that was asked as part of an online alcohol misuse screening. Students’ responses were coded and themes were identified. Additionally, the extent and co-occurrence of four common negative alcohol-related consequences, also asked in the screening, were examined.

Can Dogs Detect A Surprising Event?, Emma Higley, Samantha Faeth, Nicole Alvira, Kaitlyn Borg, Marissa Colloca, Gabrielle Esposito

Academic Festival

Infants demonstrate object permanence understanding during violation of expectation tasks. These tasks consist of expected (e.g., ball stops at solid wall) and unexpected (e.g., ball rolls through solid wall) events. Infants look longer at the unexpected event as opposed to the expected event (Perez & Feigenson, 2021). Similarly, studies have shown that dogs present increased looking times during unexpected object permanence tasks (Pattison et al., 2010). In the current study, dogs participated in a violation of expectation task which investigated object permanence understanding. To conduct this study, dogs were positioned in front of a stage with a concealed opening in …

Low-Dose Drinking Water Bisphenol-A Does Not Alter Anxiety Or Cognitive Functioning In Adolescent Male Rats, Abigail Andre, Teresina Berni, Nicole Alvira, Lauren Maiolo, Alexandra Piasecki

Academic Festival

Bisphenol-A (BPA) is an endocrine disruptor that regulates the effects of estrogenic, androgenic, and antiandrogenic systems. BPA is extensively used in the manufacturing of hard plastics leading to detectable BPA levels in body fluids of humans and animals indicating that BPA exposure is ubiquitous and has potential health hazards. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of adolescent exposure to low-dose BPA via oral ingestion in water on behavior and neuronal morphology in intact adolescent male rats. The dose given, a concentration equivalent to 40/µg/kg/day, is lower than daily safe-dose levels set by the United States Environmental …

Optimization Of The Oxidation Of 1-Phenylethanol, Caroline Faraday

Academic Festival

Microwave Assisted Organic Synthesis (MAOS) decreases reaction time, potentially increases yield and is a more efficient, greener approach to organic synthesis. This research focuses on optimizing the MAOS reaction conditions for the oxidation of 1-Phenylethanol to Acetophenone using chromium trioxide resin as the oxidizing agent and dichloromethane as the solvent. Factorial Design methodology is used to design the experiments and statistical analysis will be used to determine which factor, time, temperature, or wattage has the greatest effect on yield.

Gender Differences In College Athletes Feelings Of Burnout, Coaching Treatment, And Well-Being, Erin Burgess

Academic Festival

If student-athlete perceives that the costs of their sport outweigh the benefits, they receive from it they tend to have increased burnout rates and stress (Dubuc-Charbonneau and Durand-Bush 2015). As student-athletes progress ages through college, female athletes are more likely to have increased stress-related burnout rates and a negative impact on their well-being (Purvanova 2010).

Women experience higher rates of stress and have more chronic stress than men (Purvanova 2010; Matud 2004). Stress and burnout are inversely related to well-being. Positive well-being helps athletes build positive relationships with their teammates and feel as though they are making more of an …

Identify Acoustic Predictors Of Gender Attribution Across Various Speech Tasks, Jonah Snapper

Academic Festival

Misattribution of gender occurs when the listener’s binary perception does not align with the speaker’s gender.

Gender dysphoria describes the psychological distress that results when sex assigned at birth and gender identity do not align.

Voice acoustics, word choice, and pragmatics guide perception, and intervention.

Anatomical, personal, and social factors influence voice acoustics.

Unguided modification of voice acoustics can lead to functional voice disorders.3

Visual Assessment Of A Meiofaunal Community, Ashley Guglielmi, Lilly Bove, James Moore

Academic Festival

Our goal was to determine if visual identifications of meiofauna to high taxonomic levels could be sufficient to document community changes, or if genetic identification would be required. Visual identification is cheaper, but a more time-consuming method.

Here, we used visual identification at higher taxonomic levels (e.g., phylum, class) to assess diversity, evenness, and the nematode to copepod ratio (N:C) at Seaside Park (Bridgeport, CT). Typically, diversity and evenness are expected to be high in a healthy community, and the N:C low. At Seaside Park we expect the diversity and evenness to be low and the N:C to be high …

Relationships Between Personality Factors, Stress And Gpa, Chloe Yagy, Madeleine Pralea, Kayla Fitzgerald, Joelys Morel, Jenna Vargas

Academic Festival

•Has undergraduate stress increased over the years? •Is Conscientiousness positively correlated with GPA? •Is Neuroticism positively correlated with stress? •Investigate the correlation between neuroticism and GPA. •Investigate correlations between other traits, GPA, and stress.

Optimization Of A Dna Extraction Protocol For Meiofaunal Identification, Lilly D. Bove, Joanna Coreno

Academic Festival

Meiofauna are a diverse group of benthic invertebrates that range between 0.04 mm and 1mm in size. They represent 24 of the 35 animal phyla and are ideal for biomonitoring. Their fast population turnover means that community composition can indicate anthropogenic influence and environmental health. The long-term goal of this project is to determine if visual identification of meiofauna at the level of phyla is sufficient to investigate community changes along a disturbed shoreline (Seaside Park; Bridgeport, CT); or if it is necessary to identify lower taxonomic levels via DNA metabarcoding. The latter would allow for the identification of taxa …

Child Maltreatment & Juvenile Delinquents, Victoria Demercurio

Academic Festival

The poster addresses the presence of child maltreatment in juvenile delinquents. It covers four types of maltreatment including neglect, physical abuse, emotional abuse, and sexual abuse. It offers statistics regarding the commonality of each type of maltreatment and the overall existence of child maltreatment in juvenile delinquents and prison inmates.

Is It Raining Over The Hill? Microclimate On The Dingle Peninsula, Charlotte Ribaudo, Ilona Farkas

Academic Festival

Investigations into the effects of land use and cover (LULC) on ecosystem function are important in areas stressed by human activity. The conjoined Feohanagh, Milltown, and Owenmore River basins of the Dingle Peninsula in Ireland are similar in size but vary but vary significantly in LULC. Our current work focuses on understanding the effects of differences in LULC on the river water quality. Anecdotally reported differences in microclimate between river basins could be a confounding variable in our investigations. In this experiment weather parameters (temperature, precipitation) were correlated with water quality measurements (dissolved oxygen (DO), and conductivity) in the three …

The Relationship Between Self-Protective Factors And Defensiveness, Maria Pandolfo, Abbygail R. Michel

Academic Festival

The current pilot study tested five hypothetical scenarios that were designed to induce defensiveness. We created high and low-threat hypothetical scenarios within these domains: academic, health, romantic, alcohol use, and friendship. Participants were randomly assigned to read and respond to one high-threat scenario and one low-threat scenario. This poster will focus on the participants who received the high-threat scenario first. Post-scenario questions included open-ended questions about how they feel and would respond to the hypothetical scenario and Likert-scale questions about their level of defensiveness and sense of responsibility. This poster presents the results for two individual differences (i.e., spontaneous self-affirmation …

Social Work Students Attitude Towards Using Computerized Cognitive Behavioral Therapy With Children And Adolescents, Peter Milner

Academic Festival

Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is the preferred treatment for children with anxiety. It is traditionally delivered in a provider's limiting accessibility. Delivery of computerized CBT (cCBT) by a licensed provider has been shown to be effective in treating anxiety in this population. However, little is known about social work student’s attitudes towards this method of delivery.

Roadkill, Kaitlyn Mangano, Jordan Carlucci, Mario Montuori, Jeppe Mogensen, Benjamin Agyemang, Brandon Maruri

Academic Festival

We designed a Formula SAE EV.

Room 1: Getting Started With Oer, Cheryl Cuillier

Open Educational Resources Symposium

Are you new to open educational resources and want to learn more? This webinar covers the basics:

• Why high textbook costs are a problem for students
• How OER differ from free resources
• How Creative Commons licenses work
• Where to find OER
• What resources are available for customizing OER
• How to incorporate open pedagogy into a class

Presenter Cheryl Cuillier shares a wealth of resources to help kick-start your adoption, adaptation, or creation of OER.

Room 1: Beginners Welcome!

Zoom Link: https://linnbenton.zoom.us/j/92808750724

Object Play In Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops Truncatus), Kayla Alvia, Alexandra Giuffra, Erin Sheehan, Carlie Williams

Academic Festival

The current study involves a detailed investigation of object play (OP) in bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus).

Medical Marijuana Efficacy: Cannabis In Treating Chronic Pain And Inflammation, Erin Keenan

Academic Festival

The ingredients in medical marijuana can act on different receptors to decrease sensitivity to pain and reduce inflammation. However, it's been shown to have negative consequences on the lungs, developing brain, and possible tolerance. There should be certain conditions/ requirements in which medical marijuana can be used.