Digital Commons Network^™

Screening For Type Iii Secretion System Inhibitors, Samir Nacer, Michael Mcdonough

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Commonly used antibiotics are becoming less effective since overuse creates a selective pressure forbacteria to become resistant, leading to the formation of “super bugs”. Some of these pathogenicbacteria include E. coli, Salmonella, Chlamydia and Yersinia species. These species utilize a type III secretion system (T3SS), which are needle-like structures on their surface used to inject host cells with toxins to evade our immune system and cause infection. The goal of this research was to screen for antimicrobials produced by soil bacteria that may target T3SSs. Many species of bacteria found in soil produce antimicrobials to compete for nutrients and space. …

A Search For Type Iii Secretion System Inhibitors Produced By Soil Bacteria, Miguel Portales Guemes

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Due to the misuse of antibiotics, antibiotic resistant bacteria have become prevalent in modern day. To circumvent this, instead of directly affecting bacterial growth with antibiotics, the virulence factors can be targeted. Type III secretion system (T3SS) pathogens exude toxins through needle-like protrusions found on their cell membrane. If the secretion of these toxins is inhibited, then the severity of the illness will be reduced. The purpose of this research is to find a T3SS inhibitor for pathogens through the analysis of soil bacteria. While T3SS pathogens are known to target humans, many are soil-dwelling plant pathogens. By studying the …

Investigating The Anti-Parasitic Veterinary Drug, Imizol, And Its Potential Use For Treatment Of Bacterial Infections, Michael Mcdonough

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Imizol is a veterinary drug used to treat protozoan, mainly Babesia spp., parasitic infections found in both horses and dogs. The active ingredient in this medicine is imidocarb dipropionate. This compound has traditionally been used in the veterinary field for treating parasitic infections; however, it has also been shown to inhibit the Yersinia pestis type III secretion system (T3SS) and therefore may have a dual-purpose as an antibacterial drug. T3SSs are found in several pathogenic bacteria and function as adefense against the host’s immune response. Although dipropionate is a known T3SS inhibitor, the exactmechanism it uses to inhibit the T3SS …

Impact Of Mdm2 Oncogene On Epithelial–Mesenchymal Transition And Metastasis Of Prostate Cancer Cells, Simran Agarwal, Deepthi Gangaram, Priya Dondapati

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Murine Double Minute 2 (MDM2) gene containing E3 ubiquitin ligase is overexpressed in nearly 40- 80% of late-stage metastatic cancers. MDM2 acts as a negative regulator of p53 by inhibiting its transcriptional activation and inducing proteasomal degradation by ubiquitination. Hence, MDM2 overexpression is often associated with increased Tumor Angiogenesis, Epithelial to Mesenchymal Transition (EMT), drug resistance, and aggressiveness. EMT is a morphologic cellular program simply defined as the phenotypic transition from an epithelial to a mesenchymal state, including gain of invasive and migratory properties, and thus, is critical for the conversion of early-stage tumors into metastatic malignancies. The primary focus …

Identifying Neuronal Damage Biomarkers In Bortezomib-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy (Bipn), Vineela Nagamalla, Jay Patel

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Multiple myeloma is the second most common hematological cancer of plasma cells. Bortezomib (BTZ) is a proteasome complex inhibitor commonly used as a chemotherapeutic agent to treat multiple myeloma patients. However, it also known to cause a dose-limiting toxicity known as BTZ-induced peripheral neuropathy (BIPN). The aim of this study is to determine the BTZ-induced neuronal damage, identifying biomarkers of neurotoxicity, and testing novel strategies for its prevention or reversal. In our preliminary studies, we utilized PC12 cells as the in vitro neuronal model. These studies included culturing and differentiating PC12 cells using nerve growth factor (NGF) at 100 ng/ml …

Examining The Effects Of Blue Light On Melatonin, Mood, And Neurobehavioral Performance, Reaghan May

Undergraduate Student Symposium

The pineal hormone melatonin can become dysregulated with evening light exposure and changes in sleep/wake behavior. Dysregulated melatonin is associated with impaired mood and cognitive performance. This study examines the effects of modifying short-wavelength (blue) light exposure on evening melatonin levels, sleep disturbances and self-reported mood. To that end, we are testing the effect of blocking blue light during the evening on salivary melatonin, sleep quality, cognitive performance, and mood. Participants undergo one control and one experimental condition involving the use of filtered glasses to attenuate blue wavelength light using a repeated measures, randomized crossover design. The control and experimental …

Effectiveness Of A Functional Movement Screen® Corrective Exercise Program As A Means Of Preventing Injury In Collegiate Swimmers, Lindsay Nicole Tactac

Undergraduate Student Symposium

The Functional Movement Screen® (FMS) is a test designed to identify asymmetries and dysfunctions in movement patterns with the goal of injury risk prevention. This screen and its subsequent corrective programming have potential to benefit collegiate swimmers in reducing the frequency of injuries. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of implementation of an FMS-basedcorrective exercise program on injury reduction in collegiate swimmers. 62 NCAA Division II male and female swimmers underwent FMS testing at their pre-participation examination in 8/2017. A significant interaction was found (χ2(1)=4.38, p=.036). 22.9% of 2016 swimmers (no corrective exercises) sustained an …

Developing A Molecular Model To Explain The Role Of O-Glcnac Transferase (Ogt) In O- Glcnacylation, Viviana Perez Hernandez, Sophia Nguyen, Alesa Chabbra

Undergraduate Student Symposium

O-GlcNAcylation is a post-translational modification similar in importance to the mechanism of phosphorylation in its ability to affect signal transduction. This process is mediated by the enzyme, O- GlcNAc transferase (OGT). OGT catalyzes the addition of the sugar, N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) from the carrier molecule uridine diphosphate N-acetylglucosamine (UDP-GlcNAc) to certain serine or threonine residues in more than a thousand target substrate proteins. The TAB1 (transforming growth factor-beta-activated kinase 1 binding protein) substrate was fused to OGT. GlcNAc was shown binding to three serine residues in TAB1. Six tetratricopeptide (TPR) repeats were identified. These alpha helical paired repeats fold together to …

Death Related Thoughts: A Mortality Salience Study, Eddie Zacka, Alyssa Garcia, Chethani Chitraacharige, Kelsea Marchasll

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Being conscious of one’s inescapable death is a fundamental attribute of humankind; it is what separatesus from other species. Salience of our own mortality motivates individuals to behave in ways matching accepted cultural standards (Landau et al., 2004). Since mortality salience usually arouses anxiety, it has been suggested that individuals either suppress death-related thoughts following reminders of mortality or individuals increase thoughts not related to death to distract from death-related thoughts (Pyszczynski, Greenberg, & Solomon, 1999). To date, no study has tested this hypothesis. To examine this hypothesis, the current study randomly assigned participants to a mortality salience, negative life …

Multi-Decadal Assessment Of Heavy Metals In Body Tissue And Vibrissae Of Select North Pacific Marine Mammals, Tanya Juneja, Emily Pope

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Since the 1970s, marine mammal populations, including harbor seals (Phoca vitulina), northern fur seals (Callorhinus ursinus), Steller sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus) and northern sea otters (Enhydra lutris) in the northwest Pacific Ocean have undergone significant population changes. The effects of environmental contamination on marine mammal health are of concern related to population dynamics, yet limited information is available on heavy metal concentrations for these species. Archived vibrissae (whiskers) and body tissues from these four species were collected from the Bering Sea and throughout the Gulf of Alaska from 1990 to 2013. The concentrations of heavy metals (As, Cd, Cr, Co, …

Quantitative Measurement Of Aversive Learning And Intoxication Rates In Caenorhabditis Elegans In Response To An Engineered Nematicidal Bacterium, Pallavi Velagapudi, Krunal Patel, Ashleigh Riddell

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Despite their global prevalence, there are very few strategies to prevent infections due to parasitic nematodes. Recent studies have shown that bacteria engineered using the principles of synthetic biology may serve as an alternative approach to intoxicating nematodes. While these engineered bacteria were initially shown to be relatively efficacious in intoxicating the model nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, the nematodes quickly learned to avoid the engineered bacteria through aversive associative learning. In this study, we sought to understand how associative aversive learning affects intoxication of C. elegansusing our engineered nematicidal bacteria. Towards this end, we tuned the rate of attractant production and …

Snap, Aidan Rivas, Michael Lynn

Undergraduate Student Symposium

The short film we are producing will be a narrative short film. The film follows the story of college student whose life deteriorates rapidly over the course of a week. The culmination of multiple conflicts causes prospective fear, anxiety, and despair. This leads him down a path of self-destruction, causing him to have epiphanies of what could have been had he corrected his course earlier. These bring about the anticipation of life change, but the end result is left to interpretation.

An inspiration for this project was the film The Graduate (1967) - The ending scene from this movie isthe …

A Simple Fixed–End Kundt’S Tube To Measure The Speed Of Sound In Air, Marquis Chapman

Undergraduate Student Symposium

We designed, developed, and tested a simple, yet robust, device to measure the speed of sound in air.The apparatus is based on modified Kundt’s tube that maintains a fixed length, in which the frequencyof standing sound waves is to be determined electronically using a microcontroller board (Arduino). The system works by emitting sound waves, at different frequencies, that are to be detected at the opposite end of the tube. Resonance is detected by measuring the phase difference between the emitted and received waves. To improve the accuracy of the calculations, the frequency of the sound waves is varied several times. …

Are Some Thoughts “Stickier” Than Others? Examining Emotionally Valenced Mind Wandering, Lindsay Craig, Biranna Thompson, Amanda Holtzman

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Mind wandering is when our thoughts drift away from the current task. These task unrelated thoughts (TUTs) may consume up to 50% of our waking hours (Killingsworth & Gilbert, 2010). The occurrence of TUTs results in poorer cognitive functioning and performance (Banks & Boals, 2016). However, the consequences of mind wandering are moderated by the emotional valence of the TUT, such that negatively valenced TUTs, but not positively valenced TUTs, predict poorer cognitive performance (Banks, Welhaf, Hood, Boals, & Tartar, 2016). One possible reason for the impact of negative TUTs isthat they are “stickier” than positively valenced TUTs. A cyclical …

Behavior Of Eastern Mosquitofish From Areas Of Varying Hydroperiod In The Everglades Ecosystem, Alexandra Cabanelas Bermudez

Undergraduate Student Symposium

We explored fish behavior and migration in the Everglades. During the wet season, most areas are inundated with water. However, during dry season many areas dry out forcing fish to locations with more permanent water. If the fish do not migrate to deeper areas they die by getting stranded or are eaten by birds. We were interested in understanding how the behavior of mosquitofish varies between different sites of varying hydroperiod. We hypothesized that fish from areas that dry annually would have adaptations increasing their likelihood of surviving the drydown. Lake Okeechobee does not dry out therefore we predicted that …

Just Like You: The Reality Of Arab American Stereotypes, Maha Barakat

Undergraduate Student Symposium

This is a documentary short film which focuses on stereotypes surrounding the Arab community. Three different interviewees express their feelings and experiences on the matter. Popular opinions on topics such as religious terrorism, home life, and more are touched upon in this piece. In addition, the subjects go into detail on their personal beliefs and practices when it comes to their culture and religion. Home videos and candid shots are strung together to form an in-depth view of what it is really like to be a part of the Arab community.

Improvements In Test-Retest Variability Of Visual Field Testing By Censoring Results With Low Sensitivity In Retinitis Pigmentosa Patients, Anushka Mistry, Rakin Khan

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Purpose: Variability of visual field data in ocular disease patients is a significant challenge when monitoring for vision changes. Omitting points in severely damaged areas in glaucoma patients reduced test-retest variability. We tested whether this approach would yield similar findings in retinitis pigmentosa (RP) patients. Methods: 40 eyes of 20 RP patients with vision worse than 20/70 completed Humphrey visual fields, twice per visit, on 3 separate visits (6 fields per eye), with threshold values determined for 76 test points. 95% coefficients of repeatability (CR) were calculated for each eye for all threshold values (uncensored), and for points that only …

Impact Of Tas2r38 Gene And Taster Status On Adiposity And Dietary Behaviors, Kendall Jordan

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Previous research has suggested that genetic variation in sensitivity towards bitterness may impact food preferences (diet) and susceptibility to certain diseases. The ability to taste bitterness has been theorized as an evolutionary advantage. Sensitivity to bitterness is thought to be influenced by a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) on the TAS2R38 taste receptor gene (rs713598), the number of fungiform papillae (taste buds). People can be categorized as nontasters, tasters, and supertasters based on the number of fungiform papillae which impacts their ability to taste bitterness. The aim of the current study is to examine whether the number of fungiform papillae, the …

In The Wings, Dekel Nahum, Lucia Minniti, Maha Barkat

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Based on a true story, “In the Wings” is a short film about a young theatre student who discovers that a fellow peer with nowhere to stay is residing in their school’s theatre. After this discovery, an unexpectedcompanionship begins to form. The film is directed by Maha Barakat, Lucia Minniti, and Dekel Nahum. Crew members are Maha Barakat, Lucia Minniti, and Dekel Nahum. Actors are Lucia Minniti and Dekel Nahum.

Identifying Snps Frequencies In Genetic Data Of De-Identified Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Patients For Potential Diagnostic Biomarker Establishment, Pallavi Samudrala, Melanie Perez

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) is a debilitating disease with unknown causes. It is known that Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) play an important role in gene expression. Changes to that can manifest as phenotypic changes. Prior to this ongoing study, there existed no known databases of SNPs in patients diagnosed with ME/CFS.Our objectives are to create and continually update a novel database of SNPs that are specific for ME/CFS patients, and to analyze the relative frequency significance in our cohort of specific SNPs. A genetic database was created on- site through the use of a secure user-friendly online platform, REDCap©, …

Masterpiece, Sarah Goltsman

Undergraduate Student Symposium

This film is about a spoken word poem by Sarah Goltsman titled "Masterpiece." The poem itself deals with the themes of women's rights and suffrage as well as the too-common occurrence of sexual harassment and abuse. The central concept is that a woman's body often stops being her own, especially on college campuses. Throughout the reading of this piece, artwork and voices of other women of Nova Southeastern University are shown to promote the idea that women are more than just their bodies. They are their minds, and that is not shaken by the hands of other people. With the …

Heavy Metal Concentration In Loggerhead (Caretta Caretta) And Green Sea Turtles (Chelonia Mydas) In Broward County, Jenna Klingsick

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Seven extant species of sea turtles are either threatened or endangered and one of the leading causes for their population decline is believed to be pollution. Heavy metals are a potential contaminant and their concentrations can be influenced by anthropogenic effects. An accumulation of non-essential heavy metals and an excessive amount of essential heavy metals can have life-threatening effects on these organisms. Concentrations of 9 heavy metal concentrations from loggerhead and green sea turtle eggshells turtles are used as a proxy for adult female turtles which nest along Broward County beaches. An Atomic Absorption spectrophotometer is used to test for …

Exploring How Cell Phones Influence Behavior Across Cultures, Aldana Foigel, Toussaint Campbell

Undergraduate Student Symposium

This film will explore how cell phone use has affected human interactions across select cultures by interviewing international students from different backgrounds. Smartphones, although relatively new, feel as if they have been around forever. While they allow people to be more productive and connected, they have also created a bubble that can separate people from their communities and environments. The impact of this phenomenon varies by culture.

Do Bilinguals Have An Advantage Over Monolinguals When It Comes To Executive Functions?, Stephanie Hernandez, Trixie Berthin, Morgan Musgrove

Undergraduate Student Symposium

The prefrontal cortex regulates processes necessary to support goal directed behaviors. These processes, known as executive functions (EF), include shifting ability, inhibitory control, and updating. Moreover, the prefrontal cortex is believed to be essential for language control in people who speak more than one language. That is, leading theorists propose non-target language is inhibited when a bilingual speaks. In support, prior research from our laboratory has shown differences favoring bilinguals over monolinguals in neural inhibitory control. In this study, we speculated that bilinguals would not only outperform monolinguals on tests of inhibition, but that a bilingual advantage would also extend …

The Clinical And Economic Costs And Benefits Of Continuous Glucose Monitoring, Mira Salama

Undergraduate Student Symposium

The purpose of this study is to investigate the economic and clinical costs and benefits of continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) for type 1 and type 2 diabetic patients based on current literature. Continuous glucose monitoring is a new technology that allows patients to measure glucose levels in real-time throughout the day and night. A tiny electrode, called a glucose sensor, is inserted under the skin to measure glucose levels in tissue fluid; this sensor is connected to a transmitter that wirelessly sends blood glucose information to a monitoring device. Unlike a typical blood glucose monitor (BGM) which provides just a …

Feasibility Of Using Bluetooth Low Energy Beacon Sensors To Detect Magnifier Usage By Low Vision Patients, Rakin Khan

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Purpose: Bluetooth low energy beacons are an emerging technology involving sensors that record temperature and humidity, which we hypothesize could be used to collect data from low vision patients regarding their usage of optical magnification devices. This could help ascertain device abandonment in a timely manner to prompt a telerehabilitation session to resolve issues. We evaluated whether Bluetooth beacon data could indicate when low vision patients used hand-held optical magnifiers for reading.

Methods: We recorded temperature and/or humidity data from Estimote sticker and BlueMaestro Tempo DiscTM beacons attached to optical magnifiers used for reading by low vision patients in clinic …

Walkabout Cognition, Andrew Bowen

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Previous research has shown the benefits of exercise. The neurophysiological effects of exercise include angiogenesis, neurogenesis, and synaptogenesis in the brain. Exercise can also reduce anxiety and improve cognitive functioning. The aim of the current study was to determine the effects of exercisingindoors or outdoors on one’s anxiety and cognitive processing. We hypothesized that exercising leads to greater inhibitory control, especially when done outside. We also hypothesized that personality dimensions would impact measures of impulsivity. Participants either walked or sat (exercise condition) for twenty minutes. A stop-signal task used to measure inhibitory control allowed for the measurement of both stopping …

Power Profiles Of Vertical And Drop Jumps In Elite American Football Players By Position, Daniel Klahr, Christopher Horn

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Athletes seeking to be drafted by the NFL must demonstrate peak performance on a test battery that includes jumping. Jumping is modulated by rate of force development, air-time, and time from initiating the jump to take-off, and indicates an athlete’s ability to produce power. Despite providing insightallowing for diagnosing jumping inefficiencies and/or to monitor training progressions, published data from NFL combine hopefuls is rare. Therefore, this descriptive study aims to present power components of selected jumping tasks in elite American football players training for the NFL combine. Thirty-one males (age, 22.5+0.8 yrs; ht, 1.86+0.08m; mass, 100.81+14.04kg) performed the following tests …

College Vitality As Measured By The Sehs-He And A Behavior Checklist Predicts Success In Diverse First-Year College Students, Sravya Emmadi, Tianna Harris

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Academic competence is tightly linked to social and emotional competence in first-year college students (Wyatt & Bloemker, 2013). The Social Emotional Health Survey, or SEHS-HE, assesses emotional intelligence as a measure of co-vitality, which is made up of four aspects: belief-in-self, belief-in-others, emotional competence, and engaged living (Furlong, You, Shishim & Dowdy, 2016). Emotional intelligence factors such as these have been shown to be essential for understanding the successful transition from high school to college, especially for ethnically diverse students (Brackett, Rivers, & Salovey, 2011). Persistence, retention, and academic achievement are all reliant on emotional intelligence skills and the SEHS-HE …

Computational Flow Study Of A Simon Nitinol® Inferior Vena Cava Filter, Cheyenne Doyle, Kaija Ranglin, Felipe Souza, Nicole Staley

Undergraduate Student Symposium

More than 60,000 people die from pulmonary embolism every year in the US. Conventional treatments for embolisms include anti-coagulant drugs (Warfarin® or Heparin®), clot anti-thrombotic therapy (streptokinase®), bypass surgery, and thrombo-aspiration. In cases where the patient shows contraindication, failure or complication to anticoagulation drugs, the patient usually receives an inferior vena cava filter (IVCF). 8. Despite its increase in popularity, complete and exhaustive blood flow analysis need to be performed for scenarios that can lead to IVCFs failure. Such scenarios include basket over-filling and filter tilting, among others. In this study, we wanted to compare the behavior of blood flow …