Digital Commons Network^™

Measuring The Effect Of Methionine Deprivation In Genome Methylation Of Ccp Genes Within The Prolaris Molecular Score Along Prostate Cancer Cell Lines, Yatin Srinivash Ramesh Babu, Trevor Fuhriman Oms 2, Andy Aleman Espino Oms 2

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Impairment of physiological metabolism is the trademark of various cancers and cancer cells as a component of their mechanism which ultimately bolsters survival. While normal cells are highly regulated and follow a sophisticated mechanism of cellular metabolism to achieve their goals of survival, cancer cells take the dysregulated path for survival, ultimately robbing the overall vital energies of the entire organism. Unfortunately, only a limited number of uniform ways exist that permit for a complete cure of various presentations of cancers. The PC3 cell line has been reported to be dependent upon exogenous pools of methionine, whereas the DU-145 cell …

Metanalysis Of Genome Editing Using Crispr/Cas9 Technology Towards Hiv-1 Treatment, Nitya Alaparthy

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Genome editing, also called gene editing is a new branch of research that aims to explore means to modify genes of living organisms. Genome editing appears to have a promising future for researchers as it will further help to understand the gene function and develop ways to treat genetic or acquired diseases. Moreover, gene editing such as CRISPR/Cas9 technology can aid in manipulating the genome sequence, thereby, advancing treatments that will improve patients’ life span and quality of life. CRISPR/Cas9 technology supports three main mechanisms for genome editing, including plasmids-based methods, the direct intracellular distribution of the Cas9 mRNA, and …

Molecular Biomarkers Of Ptsd: A Case For Measuring Psychotherapy Efficacy And Mtdna Cn Involvement, Ariana Ali, Aidan Kunju

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a psychiatric disorder that occurs in individuals who witness or experience a traumatic event. Many PTSD treatments have a focus on direct alterations of emotion and thought responses due to trauma. Some of the leading psychotherapy treatments for ptsd include Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT), and Prolonged Exposure (PE). Eye Movement Desensitization and Realization (EMDR) Therapy has greater focus on altering memory storage in the brain. EMDR differs from other psychotherapies in that the reprocessing of trauma engages both hemispheres of the brain via bilateral stimulation. EMDR along with other psychotherapies …

Physiological Mechanisms Of Pregnancy: How The Kidneys And The Renin-Angiotensin System Protect The Fetus, Raghavi Vuppala, Crystal West

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Physiological changes concurrent with pregnancy include plasma volume expansion with increased sodium retention to enable normal development of the fetus. Expansion of plasma volume and sodium reabsorption are adaptive mechanisms that occur in response to the altered physiological state of pregnancy. These adaptations are mediated by the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) and its primary hormone, angiotensin (Ang) II, acting on the kidney. The role of Ang II in the kidney also involves stimulation of aldosterone release from the adrenal gland, which promotes sodium retention by the kidney. Ang II activates its two main receptors in the kidneys: AT1 and AT2. The …

Raising Awareness About Recognizing Pediatric Obstructive Sleep Apnea Associated With Down Syndrome: Developing A Health Education Program, Mahima Dave

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Down syndrome (DS) is the most prevalent chromosomal disorder in which an extra copy of chromosome-21 disrupts the development of intellectual abilities. Unique physical manifestations places children with DS at high risk for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in which repeated blockages of the upper airway cause difficulty breathing during sleep. 80% of children with DS are afflicted with OSA compared to only 2-5% of the general pediatric population. OSA increases incidences of nocturnal sudden cardiac arrest by 2.57-fold compared to the general population. Common signs of OSA include snoring, restlessness during sleep, night waking, and daytime tiredness. Manifestations of OSA, …

Re-Discovery Of Microatolls In The Galapagos Islands, Ecuador, Amber Orr

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Microatolls are coral colonies with a signature ring-like shape. They form in shallow water where depth limits vertical growth, allowing them to be utilized as indicators of current and past sea level. Additional contributors to their formation include accumulation of sediment on the colonies which smothers corallites in the center of the structure, overgrowth by algae, and upper surface abrasion by bioeroding organisms. Microatolls occur at numerous locations in the Indo-West Pacific, however, they are reported at only two known locations in the tropical eastern Pacific: Caño Island, Costa Rica and the Galápagos Islands, Ecuador. More than 50 Porites lobata …

Skill Position Football Players Have Greater Vertical Jump Kinetic Asymmetry But Better Performance Than Big Skill And Big Position Players, Ashley Mcdonough, Ayoub Ziani

Undergraduate Student Symposium

The vertical jump (VJ) assesses lower limb power and is tested in players entering the National Football League’s (NFL) draft. Limb asymmetry of ≥10% has been linked to injury and poor performance. Assessing VJ performance and kinetic asymmetry by player position may guide group-based training programs. We sought to determine if VJ performance and kinetic asymmetries were different between football position groups, Skill Players (SP), Big Skill Players (BS), and Big Players (BP). Sixty participants (age, 22.7 1.1yrs;± ht, 186.4±6.8cm; mass, 103.6±21.2kg) training for the NFL draft performed VJ on dual uniaxial force plates. Performance variables of reactive strength (RSI-mod) …

Social Vulnerability And Adult Obesity In The State Of Florida, Shreeya Patel

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Introduction: Socioeconomic and racial disparities are prevalent regarding obesity rates, where race, income, and education are predictors of obesity. Social vulnerability, or a community's ability to respond to stressors on health, may be one explanation for these disparities. The purpose of this study is to examine the associations between social vulnerability and obesity among Florida counties. Methods: We conducted an ecological cross-sectional study among 67 Florida counties. To measure county-level social vulnerability, we utilized the CDC Social Vulnerability Index (SVI), which is composed of four themes. County-level adult obesity prevalence in 2017 was obtained from the UWPHI’s County Health Rankings. …

Structural Identification Of Secondary Metabolites From Bacteria, Vijay Patel, Mark Sourial, Alana Bertrand

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Chronic misuse and abuse of antibiotics over the last century has led to an end of the golden age of antibiotics. However, we could turn to bacteria to find a solution to the current antibiotic resistance crisis. Bacteria are engaged in an endless arms race against each other, and humans can use the compounds bacteria produce as antibiotics. Our team isolated bacteria from local soil samples and aimed to identify and characterize these microbes. The two bacterial strains we were able to identify were Pseudomonas fulva and Plesiomonas shigelloides. P. fulva is an aerobic proteobacterium which produces secondary metabolites …

Survival And Development Of Zebra Longwing, Heliconius Charithonia, On Native And Non-Native Passion Vines, Passiflora Sp., In South Florida, Cassidy Loucks, Celina Nelson-Jordan

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Zebra longwing butterflies (Heliconius charithonia) are distributed throughout Central and South America, and the southernmost regions of the United States, including Florida. These heliconian butterflies not only consume nectar, but are also known to feed on pollen, resulting in a longer lifespan than most butterflies. In their larval stage, H. charithonia feed exclusively on Passiflora spp, however preferred host species for H. charithonia eggs and overall larval performance across Passion vine species is not well documented. We examined these criteria of zebra longwings from egg to adulthood on two native passion vines to Florida, corky stem (Passiflora …

The Effect Of Fluorinated Substitution Of Meso Phenyl Porphyrins On Porphyrin Basicity, Harsh Chheda, Rushi Patel

Undergraduate Student Symposium

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of fluorinated substitution of meso phenyl porphyrins on porphyrin basicity. The protonation of meso-Tetra(2,3,4-trifluoromethylphenyl) porphyrin (TF) and meso-Tetra(pentafluorophenyl) porphyrin (PF) will be studied through UV vis spectroscopy. Protonation is achieved by titration of each porphyrin in toluene with trifluoroacetic acid (TFA). The presence of a wavelength shift from the free base Soret to the protonated Soret will indicate the formation of a dication. The data from the UV spectra will be used to calculate the pK_a values associated with each porphyrin. Based on the results, the average pK_{a …}

The Effects Of Herbal Products In Cartilage Healing And Reducing The Progression Of Osteoarthritis, Mariya Baig

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Treatment for osteoarthritis (OA) is primarily aimed at symptom management and is generally limited with emphasis placed on therapy and drugs such as NSAIDs, opioids, and acetaminophen. However, these drugs pose health risks for long-term use including contraindications, gastrointestinal, and cardiovascular issues. Thus, this systematic review of literature was conducted to evaluate the impact of the herbal products, turmeric and ginger, on reducing the progression of OA when utilized on both a short-term and long-term basis. After evaluating the content of several scholarly journals, it was found that turmeric and ginger can aid in symptom management of OA and promote …

Synthesis Of Chelating Polymers Via Raft For Metal Extraction, Agustin Olivares, Blake Naar

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Heavy metal contamination in drinking water is known to cause damage to multiple organs and is one of the major causes of cancer. The presence of heavy metals in water has the ability to cause lifethreatening conditions. The purpose of our study is to synthesize metal binding polymers and to determine their efficiency at extracting heavy metals from contaminated water. Poly pentafluorophenyl acrylate (PPFPA) was synthesized via the employment of reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization using pentafluorophenyl acrylate (PFPA) as the monomer to create linear and hyperbranched polymers. RAFT polymerization allows control over molecular weight and the molecular architecture …

The Halls Of Power, Janay Joseph, Graciel Quezada, Bianca Vucetich

Undergraduate Student Symposium

“The Halls of Power” is a documentary short film about the life and work of Elijah Manley, a young politician and activist in South Florida. The main story focuses on Elijah Manley’s life and political activism as the youngest person to ever run for the Florida State Legislature. The second storyline will follow other young activists and organizers within the community. The goal of the documentary is to inform the audience about this activist and demonstrate how one can get involved in politics. We hope to encourage the young demographic to be more engaged with their local politics. Because politics …

The Teacher, Amari Russell

Undergraduate Student Symposium

“The Teacher” is a short film about a professor who gets harassed by one of his former students. The film is directed by Amari Russell. Another crew member/actor includes Adam Deross.

The Universal Mass Function And Its Applicability To Organic Molecules, Gabrielle Biltgen-Morrissette

Undergraduate Student Symposium

The ability to predict the yield when synthesizing an organic molecule is a challenging issue in organic chemistry and a major obstacle when planning a multi-step organic synthesis. To choose the most time, money, and waste efficient way it will be beneficial to be able to predict the yield of the product. The Universal Mass Function (UMF) states that cosmic objects on all scales are in direct relation to each other. It shows that massive objects are much rarer than objects with lower masses. The following research aims to examine if the UMF theory is applicable to the field of …

Touch Sensitivity In College-Aged Adults, Hannah Laufenberg, Isabel De Angelis

Undergraduate Student Symposium

The present study aims to identify what factors influence pain perception. Previous studies have focused on the differences in pain tolerance between genders, but this difference could be due to differences in physiology. The COMT rs4680 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) has been implicated in stress and pain perception (Serrano et al., 2019, Hill et al., 2018). G/G/ allele carriers perform better under stressful conditions and perceive less pain relative to the A/- allele carriers. Here we examined how gender, body size, and genetic makeup influences pain intensity, pain threshold, and pain tolerance. Participants will be asked to passively drool into …

Understanding The Origin Of Mutations Using Ab Initio Molecular Dynamics, Supratik Pasupuleti, Anthony Bianco

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Proton transfer within DNA base pairs is a possible origin for mutations which can ultimately lead to cancer. To better understand this potential source of mutations we have modeled this process using Ab Initio molecular dynamics simulations of model systems for DNA base pairs in water. These simulations have provided insight into how often and when proton transfer occurs in these systems while also highlighting the relationship between the likelihood of a proton transfer event and the way the water molecules are coordinated around the model system for DNA. This in turn has allowed for a greater understanding of potential …

Understanding The Tradeoff Between Atp Metabolism And Growth In E. Coli, Naziba Nuha, Julia Gumirov, Ariane Kalifa

Undergraduate Student Symposium

The inoculum effect (IE) is a phenomenon in which the minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) of an antibiotic increases with the density of a bacterial population. IE has been observed for nearly all antibiotics, and has been shown to decrease antibiotic efficacy, prolong the recovery period and increase mortality rates. Despite its ubiquity in the clinic, a mechanism to explain IE for bacteria that expresses antibiotic resistant elements, such as β-lactamases, has yet to be identified. Interesting enough, recent work has shown that interactions between growth rate and metabolism, as determined through ATP production, affect IE for bacteria that lack a …

Who Stressed The Dogs Out: A Case For Studying Mitochondrial Dna As A Novel Biomarker For Stress In Canines, Aidan Kunju, Ariana Ali, Ritika Kothur, Olivia Singleton

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Canines transiting through animal shelters experience extreme stress that is subsequently ameliorated by adoption into loving (human) homes. These transitions provide exceptional opportunities to study links between social stress and physiological processes, and to develop biomarkers for stress and social bonding with applications in both animal welfare and human health. Here, we propose a novel approach to the study of shelter-related stress in dogs, and of stress reversals following adoption. Specifically, we will quantify mtDNA dynamics in buccal swabs sampled during shelter intakes of canines at the Broward County animal shelter, as well as samples collected after these animals’ adoptions …

Self-Portraits For Social Change: Audience Response To A Photovoice Exhibition By Women With Disability, Diane Macdonald, Angela Dew, Karen Fisher Assoc Prof, Katherine Boydell

The Qualitative Report

Negative attitudes about and behaviours towards women with disability are harmful and exclusionary, contributing to poorer health, income, educational, and employment outcomes. Our study focused on what audiences learnt, felt, and did (what changed) after viewing self-portraits and stories by women with disability. We questioned whether a public exhibition of their artworks, created through photovoice methodology, could be an effective platform to provoke social change and increase inclusion for people with disability. We collected audience response to our exhibition to address a research gap and to provide an example for other photovoice researchers. We employed interpretive thematic analysis through a …

Full Issue

Digressions: Literary & Art Journal

No abstract provided.

Com Outlook (Winter/Spring 2022 - Volume 23 Number 1), Nova Southeastern University

COM Outlook

No abstract provided.

Latinx Internship Prepa: An Experiential Career Readiness And Preparation Program For Latinx, First-Generation Undergraduate College Students, Juan E. Armijo, Nerissa L. Gillum, Joshua Adams

Experiential Learning & Teaching in Higher Education

Access to higher education has increased within the last decades, particularly within historically underserved communities, but the challenges of navigating college for first-generation Latino/a/x students still show up in the disproportionate rates of retention, persistence, and graduation for this group (National Center for Education Statistics, 2019). High-impact practices have shown to promote student retention and help close the achievement gap for underrepresented students. More specifically, internships and experiential learning activities play an important role in aiding students' careers, academic major, and self-exploration. For first-generation college students, engaging with higher education institutions through these practices often leads to better academic outcomes …

Unlearning Your Colonial Course Description To Transform Your Learning Culture, Zen Parry

Experiential Learning & Teaching in Higher Education

Education has undergone multiple transformations with preset syllabi and modes of presentation to learners. Within the learning models utilized today, critical discussions on issues in higher education, social, economic, environmental, and racial justice settings have become important and at times, media headlines. Reading through course descriptions in an academic catalog or brochure will inform you about what the curriculum offers and what it does not. The course description wording brings into question two issues: whether the language used affects the understandability and relatability of the content by students of the course or, the course description represents the perspective of the …

On The Borders: A Multiaxial Pedagogical Approach To Community-Based Global Learning, Sara A. Williams

Experiential Learning & Teaching in Higher Education

This article introduces a multiaxial pedagogical approach intended to complement to the Community-Based Global Learning (CBGL) framework for globally-engaged experiential learning. This multiaxial approach emerged from a Spring 2019 course at Miami University titled “On the Border: Immigration Justice in Interfaith Perspective.” The article first offers a brief overview of CBGL, contextualizing its development in historical trajectories of global learning in higher education. It then outlines the multiaxial approach and suggests some contributions it can make to pedagogical design within the CBGL framework. Following this, the article describes how the multiaxial approach emerged from the course’s exploration and design. Finally, …

Editorial Board

Experiential Learning & Teaching in Higher Education

No abstract provided.

Advocating For Experiential Learning Programs As Change Agents In Higher Education: Imagining A Justice Orientation That Centers Students And Partners While Enriching Practice, Patrick M. Green, Theresa Castor, Dale J. Leyburn, Don Demaria, Andres Jaime

Experiential Learning & Teaching in Higher Education

Excerpt

The National Society for Experiential Education (NSEE) Fellows are academic professionals who engage in a community of practice and explore their practitioner-scholar identity through research and scholarly inquiry into experiential education. During some monthly meetings, the discussion focused on how to infuse equity, diversity, and inclusion in internship programs. The fellows ruminated on strategies to create quality internship programs and how to embed experiential learning opportunities into the curriculum so more students could access them. Collectively, these comments highlight what is not always stated but ever-present; that is, the fellows’ justice orientation. The monthly meeting of NSEE Fellows consistently …

Full Special Issue, Part Ii

Experiential Learning & Teaching in Higher Education

No abstract provided.

Sharksrx Newsletter Spring 2022, Nova Southeastern University

NSU Sharks Rx

No abstract provided.