Digital Commons Network^™

View From The Editor's Chair, Stephen Daniells

Oxford ICSB

With the pandemic fading in the minds of most Americans and a return to something we can all recognize as ‘normality’, there is a slight reset happening in US dietary supplements industry. Consumers who flocked to the industry in record numbers are still there, but spending habits have changed and hot categories like immune support are evolving. We're also seeing technology being leveraged in the search for the next hot ingredient, from artificial intelligence to synthetic biology, and this has implications for the botanicals trade. We also have an industry at odds with itself, with trade associations working against each …

Extract Of Artemisia Dracunculus L. Modulates The Proliferation And Activity Of Osteoblasts, Matthew C. Scott

Oxford ICSB

Thiazolidinedione (TZD) treatment significantly improves insulin sensitivity and lowers blood glucose via action on adipocytes. Unfortunately, the pro-adipogenic property of TZDs is also associated with bone degradation by inhibiting the action of bone forming cells, or osteoblasts. An ethanol extract of Artemisia dracunculus L., termed PMI 5011, improves blood glucose and insulin sensitivity via action on muscle cells, rather than fat, and may therefore spare bone while lowering blood glucose levels. Here we examine in vitro the effects of PMI 5011 on a pre-osteoblast cell line, MC3T3-E1 cells, during osteogenic differentiation. We hypothesized that PMI 5011 will not inhibit osteogenesis, …

New Dietary Supplement Reference Material Resources From The Nih Ods Analytical Methods And Reference Materials Program, Adam J. Kuszak

Oxford ICSB

The NIH Office of Dietary Supplements (ODS) Analytical Methods and Reference Materials (AMRM) Program supports the development of tools that promote quantitative determinations of dietary supplement identity, composition, and purity, as well as assessments of authenticity and contamination of botanical raw materials and finished products. AMRM goals are accomplished through funding and collaboration in three program areas: formal validation of quantitative and qualitative methods, production of certified reference materials (CRMs), and support of dietary supplement focused laboratory quality assurance programs. This presentation will provide updates on recent AMRM activities and highlight newly available resources that should benefit natural product researchers …

Leadership Education And Otherism, Jim Mohr, Kristine Hoover

International Conference on Hate Studies

Othering is often an overlooked ethical and theoretical issue in the field of Leadership Studies. The need for greater inclusion in our organizations and in our communities is more important than ever given the structural disparities in access to health care and education, in criminal justice sentencing, and in fulfillment of leadership roles themselves. People in positions of power have a responsibility to understand othering processes and their impacts in organizations (Palfreyman, 2005). Leadership education can help to form leaders who are more aware of the importance of the quality of their relationships with the Other, grounded in values of …

Bias Against Asians, Black People, Hispanics/Latines, Jews, And Muslims On Twitter In 2020 And 2021, Gunther Jikeli

International Conference on Hate Studies

Hate speech on social media has been identified as a social problem. However, it is difficult to quantify how widespread hate speech is. We looked at conversations on Twitter about Asians, Black people, Jews, Hispanic/Latino people, and Muslims by manually annotating representative samples of tweets from 2020 and 2021 with the keywords “Asians, Blacks, Jews, Latinos, and Muslims.”

We found between 5 and 17 percent tweets were biased, depending on the keyword and year. This results in an estimated 8.3 million biased tweets during that period. However, there were even more tweets calling out bias against these minority groups, between …

Occupational Therapy, Nadia Castagna, Leah Gregoire

ABLE Assembly Conference Session Materials

No abstract provided.

Internship At "The Japan America Society Of Chicago", Shirin Smatova

Undergraduate Research and Engagement Symposium

This portfolio tells the story of the semester I interned at “The Japan America Society of Chicago” As an intern there,I was fortunate to have this unique experience and learned a lot while working with this organization. I am thrilled to be able to share my experience through the support of the Center for Engaged Learning, Teaching & Scholarships. In this presentation I will be talking about my learning experience with JASC and CELTS, as well as my professional development, and the engaged learning class that accompanied my internship.

Cal-Maine Foods Investment Pitch, Nayat Marie Yacaman Juha

Undergraduate Research and Engagement Symposium

The presentation gives insights and valuations on why Cal-Maine Foods stock is a buy option.

Cisco Presentation, Armando Menendez Jr.

Undergraduate Research and Engagement Symposium

My presentation was an analysis on Cisco Systems and researching various factors that would influence an investors decision on investing in the company. I was able to analyze the industry, internal and external business process, financial records, valuations, and risks associated with the company.

Marathon Petroleum Corp. (Mpc) Investment Pitch, Claudio Sejdini

Undergraduate Research and Engagement Symposium

This presentation is an investment pitch for a company called Marathon Petroleum Corporation and why I want someone to invest into the company based on my research. It goes over my investment thesis, business description, industry analysis, financial analysis, valuations, and investment risks for the company.

Mckesson Report, Anthony Paul

Undergraduate Research and Engagement Symposium

My presentation covers my investment thesis on McKesson Inc.

Joseph Patton Spring 2023 Finc356ew Cignagroup Investment Pitch, Joseph Patton

Undergraduate Research and Engagement Symposium

The submitted presentation is essentially the result of the equity research that I completed for my FINC356EW class I am enrolled in this spring. It is the rationale behind my issuance of a buy recommendation for the publicly traded company that is The Cigna Corporation. Said rationale includes extensive company overview, business description, industry analysis, competitors, and valuation through financial modeling.

Overlap Of Cognates In The Bilingual Mental Lexicon: A Cognate Continuum Model, Ashlynn Everett, Juhi Singh, Mila Tasseva-Kurkchieva

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

Purpose: Cognates (i.e., words that share meanings and pronunciations in more than one language) are uniquely suited to provide insight into the bilingual mental lexicon due to their overlapping nature. Previous researchers have used a cognate/non-cognate distinction (Dijkstra & Van Heuven, 2002) or measurements of orthographic changes in words (Peeters et. al, 2013) to evaluate this overlap. By comparison, this study aimed to examine how phonological and syntactic differences between cognates impact language processing in bilinguals.

Methods: Researchers categorized cognates by level of phonological overlap as identified by listeners’ ratings of similarity. These categories were described as 1) true cognates …

How Does Midwinter Rain Affect Western Montana’S Mountain Snowpack?, Gus B. Kauffman

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

A high-confidence effect of anthropogenic climate change is an increase in the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events. One type of these events which is important to western Montana is midwinter rain, or rain on snow. In coastal states, where the mountain snowpack sits near the melting point, rain on snow can cause massive melt and flooding and diminish the snowpack residents rely on for drinking water and hydroelectric power when it melts in the spring. In Montana, however, the snowpack is typically much colder and more resistant to the devastating effects of these events. The purpose of this …

My Internship Experience With Churches For Middle East Peace, Ethan Schneider

Undergraduate Research and Engagement Symposium

A presentation detailing my experience as an Advocacy Intern for Churches for Middle East Peace, and my further experience in Loyola's Washington, D.C. program.

Postpartum Depression Screening In Federally Qualified Health Centers (Fqhcs), Gabrielle Borkorm, Sandi Tenfelde

Undergraduate Research and Engagement Symposium

For new parents, postpartum depression can be a significant problem. Patients at risk for postpartum depression are typically assessed using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression scale, which is among the most accurate ways of identifying them. In recent years, there has been concern about the frequency with which birthing persons should undergo postpartum depression evaluations, as well as whether these evaluations are conducted in a culturally appropriate manner, considering that there are birthing persons of all races and ethnicities. This study is a secondary data analysis of clinic level data that was collected from 2012-2017. The data refers to 31,435 birthing …

Analysis Of The Babies Antibiotic Stewardship Improvement Collaborative (Basic) Initiative Launched By Ilpqc, Faiza Sheikha

Undergraduate Research and Engagement Symposium

My presentation revolves around a health initiative launched by Illinois Perinatal Quality Collaborative (ILPQC), which is a nationally recognized statewide network of hospital teams, perinatal clinicians, patients, public health leaders, and policymakers committed to improving health care and outcomes for mothers and babies across Illinois. The initiative I am analyzing is called Babies Antibiotic Stewardship Improvement Collaborative (BASIC) aimed to provide appropriate antibiotics, to appropriate newborns, for the appropriate length of time. My presentation is focused on analyzing the improvement of specific hospital measures such as urbanization, race, and Medicaid patients as a result of this initiative.

Firewise Landscaping: Homeowner Knowledge, Behaviors And Educational Preferences, Kendal Beauvais, Rowan Grassi, Frederick Gleasman

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

Although wildfire is a natural process in fire-adapted forests, it poses growing socioeconomic and health threats. Urban development and expansion into the wildland-urban interface (WUI) has heightened wildfire exposure, putting tens of thousands of homes at risk in Montana alone. The Firewise USA program was created to reduce the risk of home ignition and loss in the WUI. The program encourages WUI homeowners to engage in mitigation efforts such as using Firewise landscaping strategies to create a defensible zone around their homes and using building materials that decrease overall ignition risk. Despite strong evidence that Firewise mitigation strategies are effective, …

Depictions Of Strikes On Social Media, Zachary D. Mangels

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

Social media provides a rich source for the study of social movements. Not only do movement organizations use social media as a platform to spread their message and organize, but users can also share their thoughts about a particular movement with ease. This project seeks to understand how the socioeconomic status and gender of a social movement’s participants affect the public’s reaction to their activities. This is done by studying how these movements are described on Twitter, and if these descriptions differ among different striking professions. The types of social movement I intend to study are all strikes which were …

Supporting Mental Health For Students Experiencing Climate Anxiety And Environmental Racism, Hunter Robbins, Hanan Abdillahi, Valeria Monreal, Stephanie Black, Selena Lynch

Undergraduate Research and Engagement Symposium

There has been growing discourse on climate anxiety and environmental racism. Minorities are disproportionately affected by climate change and we recognize the impacts that climate anxiety has on these populations. Our mission is to ensure every student feels supported in the advent of the climate crisis. We did so by inventorying resources at Loyola, building community engagement with these topics through surveys and interviews, and offering recommendations to faculty, staff, and administrators for how they can better support their students. We hope to persuade Loyola to offer more information and expand on resources for climate anxiety and environmental racism.

An Exploration Of Hatchery And Wild Chum Salmon Returns In Southeast Alaska, Kelsey L. Stansberry

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

Salmon enhancement programs are a common restoration practice to maintaining a sustainable commercial fishery, but there is concern on how hatchery straying impacts the overall fitness of wild salmon stocks. Several organizations in Prince William Sound and SE Alaska developed a partnership to cohesively research and analyze the impacts of hatchery chum and pink salmon stray rates on wild populations. The goals of this partnership are to (1) understand the regional genetic stock structure of pink and chum salmon, (2) examine the extent and annual variability in straying of hatchery pink salmon in Prince William Sound and chum salmon in …

Optimizing Whole Genome Sequencing From Fecal Samples In Snowshoe Hares, Jessica J. Powell, Cynthia K.S. Ulbing, Tim B. Wheeler, L. Scott Mills

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

Genomic analyses can provide powerful insights into important issues in conservation biology, including rapid estimates of overall genetic diversity and related population genetic parameters. Noninvasive DNA sampling, such as from fecal samples, is an affordable, efficient, and broadly applicable field collection method that has been utilized in many genetic analyses. However, the efficacy of whole genome sequencing from fecal samples collected under field conditions is relatively unexplored. Here, I will present initial results from an experiment designed to test the quantity and quality of genomic material obtained from snowshoe hare (Lepus americanus) fecal pellets. A collaborative research program at the …

Assessing Lipid Composition Of Cell Membranes In Escherichia Coli Under Aerobic And Anaerobic Conditions, Isabelle N. Johnson, Brynne Miller, Brett Sather

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

Although Escherichia coli is a well-studied bacteria in the world of microbiology, there are still unknowns about its metabolism. For example, global changes during the transition from aerobic to anaerobic respiration with respect to pathways outside central carbon metabolism are poorly documented. In this research, I investigated the change in cell membrane lipid composition when aerobic cultures of Escherichia coli were put under anaerobic conditions.

To set a baseline, my co-author and I incubated Escherichia coli in batches of 18, dividing the groups into 3 and taking UV-Vis measurements of colony growth at timepoints 3hrs, 4.5hrs, and 5hrs+. Half of …

Inhibitory Signaling From A Critical Hub Neuron Drives Behavior Selection And Frequency, Wyatt T. Ploot

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

Both animals and humans must constantly make decision in dynamic environments. Situational assessment and appropriate response selection are crucial processes that determine the ability of an organism to survive and thrive, or fail and die. Understanding how the signaling by neurons and circuits ultimately lead to behavioral decisions is a critical question that may lead to the identification of mechanisms that address out-of-context behaviors. To understand how neurons send important information that leads to a behavioral decision, I am using the powerful genetic model, Drosophila melanogaster, and the choice to engage in aggressive behavior between males. My focus is …

Effects Of Warming And Drying On The Survival And Performance Of Giant Salmonfly Nymphs (Pteronarcys Californica), Kailie Todd, Jackson Birrell

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

This study examines how warming and drying affect the performance and survival of giant salmonfly nymphs (Pteronarcys californica), which are important economically, ecologically, and culturally throughout the mountain west. My experiments were motivated by a dam malfunction that occurred in late November 2021 on the Madison River in Montana that caused the river to dry rapidly downstream of the dam and reduced flow by 70% for 50 hours. The effects of such events on aquatic insects are unknown, and my experiments were designed to assess how long salmonfly nymphs could survive in still water as well as in …

Cooking With A Conscience, Jonah Britton, Sonia Bornemann, Ashley Wilson, Mogran White, Brooke Deruwe, Hallee Olsen, Kennedy Delap, Aidan Potter

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

Cooking with a Conscience is a local and sustainable cookbook designed to facilitate more sustainable decisions and discussions concerning food in our community. Regarding the initial steps of the creation of the cookbook, our group is conducting a survey and multiple interviews both abroad and in Montana to determine what sustainability means and how sustainability is related to food consumption and production. Our research is also built around finding out people’s current eating habits as well common restrictions that often prevent our community from eating sustainably. We acquired the recipes by both asking local food producers, and by conducting individual …

Student-Athlete Mental Health: University Of Montana Case Study, Abigail M. Sherwood

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

Student-athletes at the collegiate level experience high levels of pressure that can impact their mental health. When athletes crack under this pressure, many wonder where to draw the line between healthy and excessive pressures. Despite international examples (e.g. Naomi Osaka withdrawing from the French Open in 2021, Simone Biles withdrawing from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, and many collegiate athletes taking their own lives), some backlash still remains towards athletes prioritizing their mental health. The athletic department at the University of Montana currently offers counseling sessions free to student-athletes. However, student-athletes have expressed mental health concerns; yet many of the sessions …

How Do Zooplankton Communities In Gravel Pit Ponds Respond To Restoration?, Meredith Claire Eiden

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

Zooplankton are microscopic organisms that are integral to food webs in aquatic environments, and their diversity and composition can serve as biological indicators of ecosystem condition and function. Studying zooplankton assemblages can provide a useful tool for practitioners working in restored ponds, yet they are often overlooked in restoration assessments. To examine zooplankton community recovery in gravel pit ponds, I first compared zooplankton communities in two gravel pit ponds near Fort Missoula while they were still owned by Knife River Construction (2015) and then after initial restoration actions were completed (2022). Second, I compared current zooplankton communities in these actively …

Barriers To Outdoor Recreation For Marginalized Communities At The University Of Mt, Beatrix A. Frissell

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

Exclusion from outdoor recreation reflects legacies of oppression of marginalized communities and makes access to the outdoors not equally available. In the United States approximately 38% of Black Americans and 48% of Hispanic Americans participated in outdoor recreation in 2020. This is compared to 55% participation among Caucasian Americans. Many other intersecting identities are actively excluded, including people with disabilities, fat populations, and members of the LGBTQIA2S+ community; furthermore, class-based hierarchies are shown through the restricted outdoor access of low income populations.

While numerous studies show lack of diversity in outdoor recreation, there has been little to no research conducted …

Alienation As A Global And Local Issue, Sequoia Gregorich, Cole Mathews, Daniel Ryan, Alexandra Berna, Olivia Kalvig

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

Title: Alienation as a Global and Local Issue

Purpose: We asked questions to determine if alienation is an issue that needs to be addressed and how to address it. With the help of our University of Montana campus and experts, we now better understand alienation as it exists and doesn’t exist on campus.

Methods: We analyzed data and responses collected from a survey advertised across campus, as well as conducted interviews with students and experts in the field of alienation.

Significance: Provide valuable information and data to empower our campus community to live in such a way that eradicates and …