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Female Caregivers Of Male Glioblastoma Patients Experience Ptsd, Emily E. Burke

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

Female Caregivers of Male Glioblastoma Patients Experience PTSD

Authors: Burke, Emily E.; Minns, Laurie A.

Abstract

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD is most frequent among women, but perhaps even more so in female caregivers of male Glioblastoma patients. Glioblastoma itself is a seriously neuro-debilitating disease; an invasive brain cancer that offers poor prognosis and a lifetime’s worth of trauma for not only the patient, but caregiver as well. Due to the patient’s inability to function, the caregiver takes on the pressure of standing in for the mental processes of their loved ones, while juggling their own health. Most prominent among …

Psychological Disparities Contribute To Emotional Burden For Caregivers Of Glioblastoma Patients, Markus R. Hirschfelder

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM) is an aggressive brain cancer that weakens brain function to the point where patients usually rely heavily on a caregiver. Oftentimes, the caregiver is a female spouse who is caring for her husband with GBM. However, few studies are specific to this caregiver’s emotional burden—in fact, they are typically adapted from studies of slower-progressing diseases like Alzheimer’s and dementia. GBM has a much shorter median survival time. The stress on caregivers in that generally shorter period is high. Mitigating the emotional burden may significantly contribute to longer, better survival outcomes for the GBM patient. For content analysis, …

Glioblastoma Multiforme Caregiver Burden With Family And Friends Present, Molly Christine Massman

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

Purpose: Female caregivers of patients with Glioblastoma Multiform suffer significant emotional, physical and financial burden. Additionally, these caregivers are not well educated or equipped to care for the high demands of a brain cancer patient whose condition declines rapidly and have inadequate support systems. In this study, solutions for particular caregiver burden issues are discussed and highlighted specifically to inform family members and friends ways to which they could provide better support systems for caregivers of GBM patients. Methods: Within this study, 102 letters were analyzed from female caregivers regarding their experiences with the various hardships associated with …

Brain Cancer Caregivers Experience High Emotional Distress, Sunny Mathaun

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

Sunny Mathaun, Dr. Laurie Minns

Brain Cancer Caregivers Experience High Emotional Distress

Glioblastoma multiforme grade 4 is a type of highly malignant tumor that has an extremely poor prognosis, which leads to major emotional challenges such as heavy and unhealthy burden on caregivers. Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is one of the most severe types of cancer with an average prognosis of 15 months. Due to its high mortality rate, GBM creates major health challenges for patients in a fast rate, but also significantly impacts the caregivers who are caring for these patients. Caregivers can be categorized in a formal and informal …

Internal And External Analysis Of Atlassian, Ryan T. Sandau

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

Atlassian is an Australian software company that specializes in the production of team management and organizational software. The software industry is currently a rapidly growing sector where many people are looking to find work, making an in-depth analysis of the industry and of a specific company within the industry incredibly valuable. This analysis will focus on both an internal analysis of Atlassian and an external analysis of the software industry for the sake of context. Looking to financial records from both Atlassian and the wider industry, preexisting reports on industry performance and expert analysis of the industry this report seeks …

Supporting Middle-Elementary-Age, Second-Language English Speakers: The Effects Of Student-Centered Learning And Scaffolding, Madison Baroch

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

English language learners (ELLs) are the fastest-growing demographic in K-12 classrooms across the United States (National Education Association, 2020). Often, due to a lack of specialized ESL (English as a second language) programs, ELL students are directly placed into a mainstream classroom with no additional support. This tasks teachers with attending to ELLs’ unique needs while also instructing the entire class. Scaffolding is a teaching method that utilizes a student-centered learning (SCL) approach, and it has been increasingly incorporated by educators to enhance student engagement and performance. While positive effects of scaffolding have been reported, its effectiveness when utilized with …

Determining The Scale Of The Heliosphere Using Ibex And Solar Wind Data, Joseph D. Kelly

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

The heliosphere is a vast region of space which surrounds the solar system and is created by the magnetic field of the Sun. The region inside the termination shock is a cavity in the magnetic field of the interstellar medium present outside the solar system, and has a “nose” and “tail” caused by the flow direction of the interstellar medium with respect to the Sun. Solar wind is the continuous flow of charged particles, produced by the Sun, which emanate outwards along the Sun’s magnetic field lines. When the solar wind reaches the termination shock, solar wind ions that neutralize …

Assessing The Prevalence Of Food Insecurity In College Student Veterans, Gabrielle A. Norconk

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

Food insecurity is the lack of a household’s physical and economic access to adequate amounts of nutritious, safe, and culturally appropriate foods. Food insecurity is considered a major public and health and nutrition problem in the United States. In 2019 the United States had a household food insecurity rate of 10.5% which represents a total of 35.2 million people. The COVID-19 pandemic is expected to increase the number of food-insecure individuals in the U.S. to 54.3 million (2020/21 projections). The connection between military service and increased vulnerability to food insecurity is currently inconclusive. Not only is there limited research on …

Aerobic Fitness Predicts Tibial Bone Loads During Field Exercises With Moderate Load Carriage, Marin Plemmons

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

Aerobic fitness predicts tibial bone loads during field exercises with moderate load carriage

Load carriage is expected of tactical athletes (soldiers and firefighters) and is thought to increase the risk of tibial bone stress fractures during basic combat training. Well-known predictors of tibial bone stress fractures are aerobic fitness and lower limb strength deficits. Traditionally, measurements of lower limb loading patterns that relate to tibial stress fracture are conducted in a laboratory setting; however, laboratory settings do not represent the loading demands tactical athletes experience in the field. Wearable devices may be useful in assessing lower limb loads, such as …

Predicting Knee And Achilles Tendon Forces For Injury Prevention, Alexis Doutt

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

Knee and Achilles tendon injuries are the most common injuries experienced by runners. New advances in wearable devices and simple, low cost force plates now allow for the estimation of impact forces and stride lengths during outdoor running or in clinical settings; Impact forces and stride lengths may be able to predict gold standard measures of knee and Achilles tendon forces. If so, the estimation of knee and Achilles tendon forces in by clinicians would be feasible using wearable devices, outside a laboratory setting. Thus, we hypothesized that impact forces and stride lengths (our two surrogate measures) would predict the …

Assessing Shrimp Farm Activity In The Gulf Of California And Modeling Potential For Restoration, Miles Scheuering

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

The estuaries of Sonora and Sinaloa on the Gulf of California in Mexico provide critical wintering and stopover sites for migratory waterbirds in the Pacific Flyway. Shrimp farms are the greatest threat to these areas and their full impact is not well understood. Once shrimp production has stopped, they are often abandoned. A significant portion of existing farms may be abandoned based on a disparity between active area reported by the Sonora and Sinaloa state commissions and observed area based on remote sensing. To quantify the area of shrimp farms I digitized and classified them by wetland characteristics using recent …

Understanding Caribou Population Cycles, Jack St. John

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

The complex population dynamics of caribou (Rangifer tarandus) are being studied to determine the patterns and processes driving their population cycles. It is well established, via previous archaeological research and indigenous knowledge, that large migrating caribou herds found in around the tundra at northern latitudes experience population boom and busts roughly every several decades. However, the processes driving the dynamics of these cycles are relatively unknown, which makes managing caribou herds for recreational and subsistence harvests difficult. It has been hypothesized that a combination of intrinsic and extrinsic factors shape these cycles, with birth rates, density-dependence, and climate …

Anatomy Students Perceptions Towards The Transition To Online Due To Covid 19., Drake C. Leonard

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

Anatomy students perceptions towards the transition to online due to COVID 19.

In the spring of 2020, the way students were presented information changed completely. As COVID spread around the world, students’ academic experiences were being shifted to an online platform. Although there have been some studies that have addressed this transition, the majority of the results from these studies showed a negative perception towards the transition and looked into what did and did not work. In this study we are looking anatomy students' perceptions of the transition from in-person classes to online classes due to COVID for students in …

Cuticular Hydrocarbon Profiles In A Population Of Taiwanese Rhinoceros Beetles, Devin J. Hunt, Chelsey N. Caldwell, Romain P. Boisseau, Patrick Krebs, Douglas J. Emlen

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

Insects communicate using diverse mechanisms. From the classic chirping of crickets to the singing of beetles, the world of insect signaling is almost as diverse as the class itself. In addition to acoustic signaling, insects rely on communication through chemical signals embedded within their waxy cuticles. These signals, often long-chain hydrocarbons and alcohols, serve as chemical signals of body size, mate quality, and sex. Our group has previously reported evidence of sex differences in cuticular hydrocarbon (CHC) profiles in a population of the Japanese rhinoceros beetle, Trypoxylus dichotomus. Based on these analyses, we hypothesized that CHC profiles conveyed meaningful …

Covid-19 Team Based Learning In Cellular And Molecular Biology Enhances Student Engagement And Enthusiasm In Learning, Raegan B. Hauschildt

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

COVID-19 Team Based Learning In Cellular and Molecular Biology Enhances Student Engagement and Enthusiasm In Learning

Student perceptions of learning outcomes in team-based learning (TBL) situations were explored in the summer offering of BIOB 260: Cellular and Molecular Biology at the University of Montana. The TBL methods employed in this course were three active participation small group exercises with pre- and post-activity assignments and a final group project. This study looks to test how TBL is received by students and if these activities would lead to an increase in students’ perception of learning. To better understand team-based learning in Cell …

Enhancing The Public’S General Vaccine Knowledge Through A Comprehensive And User-Friendly Website., Bonnie Long

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

Less than a year since the World Health Organization first declared Covid-19 to be a global pandemic, The United States Food and Drug Administration has given authorization for the emergency use of three live-saving Covid-19 vaccines. With several vaccine candidates entering phase three clinical trials all over the world and more receiving approval for emergency use, questions continue to arise about how each vaccine works and what their effectiveness is at preventing Covid-19 illness. In fact, the pandemic has revealed a significant gap in the general public’s knowledge about the importance of all vaccines, not just the vaccines made to …

Consequences Of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi On Plant Drought Responses And Possible Mechanisms, Kian G.M. Speck, Ylva Lekberg

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

Purpose

Conyza canadensis is a ruderal annual that thrives under drought despite it lacking obvious xeromorphic traits, such as succulent leaves or deep roots. This plant is also highly colonized by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) making it an ideal candidate to study how mycorrhiza affects plant drought tolerance. The overarching objectives of this research were to determine whether 1) mycorrhizal Conyza plants are more drought tolerant than nonmycorrhizal Conyza plants under drought stress, and, if so 2) to gain insight concerning potential underlying mechanisms.

Methods

We used a 2x3 factorial design with two inoculation treatments (+AMF and -AMF) and three …

Effect Of Weather On Flight Speed Of California Condors, Sky Mae Gennette

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

Birds respond to variable environmental conditions by modulating aspects of their movement. Soaring birds use updrafts associated with surface terrain (i.e., orographic updrafts) and differential heating of the surface (thermal updrafts) to subsidize their flight, and they respond to other meteorological factors such as wind speed and air pressure. I evaluated how environmental factors influence one aspect of flight performance, flight speed, of a large obligate-soaring species, the California Condor (Gymnogyps californianus). Based on previous research, I expected that condors would fly faster in conditions conducive to formation of updrafts. I calculated flight speeds using GPS data collected …

The Bewitching Eye: Women As Basilisks In The Writing Of María De Zayas, Betta C. Lyon-Delsordo

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

A commonly referenced motif in Golden Age Spanish literature is the power of a woman’s gaze. For some, this female seductive power is something to be feared, and it is likened to the gaze of a basilisk, a monstrous serpent that can kill by locking eyes with its prey. One author who makes heavy use of this comparison is María de Zayas y Sotomayor (1590 - c. 1661), author of the Novelas amorosas y ejemplares and the Desengaños amorosos, two collections of short stories that bring to light the experiences of Spanish noblewomen in the 17th century. In the …

Les Chiques: The Addition Of A Third Gender-Neutral Option In The Spanish Language, Fiona Siobhan Bean

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

All nouns, determiners, and many adjectives in the Spanish language are grammatically designated as either masculine or feminine, and the default is always the masculine form. For example, “the tall boy” in Spanish is “el chico alto”, “the tall girl” is “la chica alta”, and if there is a group of tall children the plural form is the masculine “los chicos altos” even if there are females in the group. This binary gender division and masculine default can cause harm, however, when used in reference to women and non-binary people. This paper explores the recent movement to include a third …

Costco Wholesale's Dominance In The Market, Elliot Andrew Johnson

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

This report examines how Costco Wholesale is able to serve as the world’s premier wholesale store. The competitive and rapidly changing business environment is forcing companies to become more efficient in every level of their operations. The wholesale stores industry survives by maintaining a high inventory turnover ratio, achieving high customer retention and satisfaction, and managing costs through strict supply chain management. Of all the companies analyzed in this report, Costco has the best market penetration and the most bargaining power with suppliers – i.e., more people are familiar with Costco than with its competitors, and suppliers are willing to …

The Pedagogy Of James Baldwin; What Undergraduate Peer Educators Stand To Learn From Emancipatory Teaching Processes, Arwen Baxter

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

James Baldwin is known as a civil rights activist, novelist, and accomplished orator, his words reaching students across college campuses during the civil rights movement of the 1960’s and today. Not only was Baldwin a spokesman for civil rights, his body of work reflects a pedagogical stance of emancipatory education, encouraging active learning and visualizing the process of education as one of revolution divergent from societal expectations. Through close readings of the works of James Baldwin, reflections on my experiences as a University of Montana Undergraduate Learning Assistant, and a personal paradigm shift resulting from a semester of research study …

Integrated Education In Northern Ireland, Makayla O'Neil

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

In Northern Ireland, children are divided between Protestant and Catholic schools. As such, the path of integrated education there is slow and complicated.

Through research as well as interviews with experts and people directly affected, I hope to give an American audience an understanding of integrated education in Northern Ireland and draw connections between integration in the States and Northern Ireland.

Less than 10% of Northern Ireland’s students were enrolled in integrated schools during the 2019-2020 school year according to a study performed by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency.

Unlike in the United States, education and religion have …

Lobbying For Medicated Assisted Treatment In Montana, Asia Chhon, Mason Hutchinson, Taylor Hill, Alex Whaples, Kian Speck

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

Despite spending more than any other county on incarceration and reentry programs, the United States continues to have some of the highest rates of reincarceration. Programs designed to teach inmates job skills, GED programs, and new Medicaid measures have proved moderately successful for reducing recidivism among certain offenders, but one class continues to suffer high recidivism rates. People imprisoned for opioid drug use are more likely to reoffend than any other group, but very few governments in different countries around the world have allotted the resources to establish effective treatment facilities, creating a cycle very few can escape. This project …

Limelight: An Investigation Into Performance, Noelle Huser

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

The world's a stage and we are all its performers. We perform in the way we exist, in relationship to ourselves and others, both a byproduct and ingredient of conditioning and identity. Our gender identity, race, social status, all inform the way we behave in different settings. Our performance, whether we are conscious of it or not, is what makes us most animal and most human all at the same time.

“Limelight”is the choreographic work I will be presenting on, in which I will unpack the dance performance and the movement methodology used to create it. This lens that I …

Baxhud Pharmaceutical Workflow, Priyana Kumar, Sebastian Caceres, Shalaka Kollerkandy

Undergraduate Research and Engagement Symposium

The aim of the BaxHUD system is to aid pharmacy technicians reduce the need to leave the fume hood, optimize the workflow, save time, and increase compliance to sterility. This shall be done through the implementation of a projected workflow manager alongside the back wall of the fume hood that will be controlled via hand gesture commands as opposed to the traditional mouse and keyboard. This touch-free system has been created using MATLAB and it’s various tool boxes including the App Designer, Simulink, and Computer Vision.

Has The American Executive Evolved Due To Necessity Or Greed?, Faith Chudkowski, Aaron Van Allen

Liberty University Research Week

Undergraduate

Textual or Investigative

Mezuzahs In New London: Jewish Culture And Heritage In Central Virginia, Renee Thiele, Aleah Schrock, Abigail Coker, Donna Donald

Liberty University Research Week

Undergraduate

Textual or Investigative

The "Sweet" Efforts Of Hershey's Chocolate Corporation During Wwii, Maggie Mynhier, David Lindsey Snead

Liberty University Research Week

Undergraduate

Textual or Investigative

The Danish Exception: A Study Of Human Equality During The Holocaust, Larisa Neilson, Jerrod A. Boggs

Liberty University Research Week

Undergraduate

Textual or Investigative