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Expression Levels Of Various Proteins In Wild-Type And Transfected Lncap Prostate Cancer Cells, Rebecca Zeller Apr 2013

Expression Levels Of Various Proteins In Wild-Type And Transfected Lncap Prostate Cancer Cells, Rebecca Zeller

Undergraduate Student Symposium

The MDM2 oncogene has become one of the major fields of cancer research since this oncogenic protein is expressed in several common human cancers including prostate cancer. MDM2 interacts with many proteins in the cells such as p53 and leads to over expression of PI3K, HIF-1α, VEGF. Hence exploring the role of alterations associated with these genes at the transcription level has become a major part of our prostate cancer research. LNCaP cells that have been transfected (LNCaP-MSI) with a gene silencer specific for MDM2 was speculated to become a good model for some of our advanced studies in prostate …

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Feminist Activism: Using Technology To Raise Awareness About Domestic Violence, Nadine Grifoni, Morgan Sanchez Apr 2013

Feminist Activism: Using Technology To Raise Awareness About Domestic Violence, Nadine Grifoni, Morgan Sanchez

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Our project will visually represent a community-based study we conducted on domestic violence and its relationship to college students. In this poster presentation, we will assess the relationships between sites of activism for college students, as well as the effectiveness of community resources for survivors of dating and domestic violence. We will reflect on two parts of our research: firsthand experience at a College Bride’s Walk (a community-based initiative to create solidarity amongst neighboring university institutions) and interviews with domestic violence survivors at a local domestic violence shelter.

Our purpose will be to use our primary research to engage in …

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Ferling,' The Brightest City Light, Sasha Strelitz Apr 2013

Ferling,' The Brightest City Light, Sasha Strelitz

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Lawrence Ferlinghetti, owner of the famed City Lights Bookstore, is not only considered as the premiere publisher of Beat literature, but he is also an accomplished Beat writer himself. This project will explore the fact that Ferlinghetti’s works mirror themes and stylistic nuances typical of the literature of the Beat Generation. These include: Eastern religious influences, a modernist American perspective, creatively unique poetic alignment, elements of jazz composition and drug experimentation that Beatniks are notorious for, and lastly, methodology that is visibly a legacy of Walt Whitman – for instance, cataloging, eclectic internal rhyme, and a like-minded, all-encompassing moral consciousness. …

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Halo Or Noose?, Arielle Mejia-Garcia Apr 2013

Halo Or Noose?, Arielle Mejia-Garcia

Undergraduate Student Symposium

This paper analyzes Coventry Patmore’s “The Angel in the House,” John Ruskin’s “Of Queens’ Gardens,” and Virginia Woolf’s “Professions for Women.” The role of women in the Victorian age was a major issue of dissention which inspired many literary works reflecting divergent viewpoints. The expectations of women are very clearly defined in Ruskin’s essay “Of Queens’ Gardens,” in which he discusses the specific differences and varying capabilities of men and women. Patmore’s poem “The Angel in the House” epitomizes the “ideal” woman and wife, portraying the oppressive standards inflicted upon women of that era. Virginia Woolf's essay, “Professions for Women,” …

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Happy Me, Miranda Schumes, Malischa Oge Apr 2013

Happy Me, Miranda Schumes, Malischa Oge

Undergraduate Student Symposium

“Happy Me” is a short documentary film about the lives of four different homosexual students – specifically, how they dealt with their various situations in the past, and how they adapt to life now as college students. The film takes an intimate look at what these people decide to share, and how they are “Happy” as themselves. The film is directed by Miranda Schumes and Malischa Oge.

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Histological Techniques Investigating The Occurrence Of Metaplasia In Crassostrea Virginica, Rina Bhalani, Timothy Chung Apr 2013

Histological Techniques Investigating The Occurrence Of Metaplasia In Crassostrea Virginica, Rina Bhalani, Timothy Chung

Undergraduate Student Symposium

The Macondo oil spill occurred in Louisiana bay in 2010. It was caused by the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig. Approximately 4.9 million barrels of oil were spilled into the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Although immediate environmental effects were easily observed, studies are now underway investigating the long- term effects of the disaster. This study focuses on the effects on shellfish, in particular the Eastern oyster Crassostrea virginica. It is hypothesized that oysters might have undergone metaplasia in their gills. Metaplasia is the replacement of one cell type with another. Since oysters are filter feeders, …

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How Quorum-Sensing Based Synthetic Circuits Have Revolutionized Our Understanding Of Evolutionary Dynamics, Lauren Boudreau Apr 2013

How Quorum-Sensing Based Synthetic Circuits Have Revolutionized Our Understanding Of Evolutionary Dynamics, Lauren Boudreau

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Synthetic biology uses gene circuits to explore and answer fundamental questions in biology. A gene circuit consists of a rationally engineered series of genetic elements all of which interact leading to a novel behavior in a cell. One genetic element that has revolutionized our ability to control cell behavior is quorum sensing, defined as the ability of cells to communicate using small diffusible molecules. Implementation of genetic elements that allow quorum sensing has led to the engineering of gene circuits that have addressed important evolutionary questions in areas such as altruistic cell death, predator-prey growth dynamics, the evolutionary benefits of …

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Implicit Attitudes Toward Gay Adoption Through Public Policy Recommendations, Scott Earley Apr 2013

Implicit Attitudes Toward Gay Adoption Through Public Policy Recommendations, Scott Earley

Undergraduate Student Symposium

In the current study, we sought to measure people’s implicit attitudes towards gay adoption. As of today, the review of the scientific literature has revealed little to no effect of parents’ sexual orientation on the long-term psychological well-being of their adoptive children. The belief that straight couples are much better at raising children is therefore likely to be derived from ideology rather than the best available evidence. We investigated people’s feelings on gay adoption. To minimize social desirability bias in participants’ response, the purpose of the study was obscured by distractor questions about other public policy issues and by using …

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Increasing Crop Yield By Stimulating Bacterial Respiration With Agricom, An Agricultural Stimulant, Noemi Bermudez, Faria Fatmi Apr 2013

Increasing Crop Yield By Stimulating Bacterial Respiration With Agricom, An Agricultural Stimulant, Noemi Bermudez, Faria Fatmi

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Nitrogen fixation is an essential process by which plants take in nitrogen from the atmosphere and convert it into usable inorganic nutrients. More than ninety-percent of all nitrogen fixation is carried out by nitrogen-fixing bacteria; therefore, it is hypothesized that increasing the growth of N2 fixing bacteria will ultimately increase the rate of plant development. The purpose of the first part of the experiment was to determine the appropriate concentrations of the active ingredients that constitute the proprietary, commercial growth stimulant (Agricom) that optimized bacterial respiration. A respirometer was utilized to measure bacterial respiration, which indicates levels of bacterial …

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Individual Differences In Working Memory Capacity And Eyewitness Identification, Rachel Berger Apr 2013

Individual Differences In Working Memory Capacity And Eyewitness Identification, Rachel Berger

Undergraduate Student Symposium

A number of studies have examined the association between individual differences in working memory capacity and the production of false memories. However, the relationship between individual differences in working memory capacity and the ability to accurately identify a perpetrator out of a lineup has never been studied. The current study measures participants’ working memory capacity, sustained attention, and speed of processing in order to determine if it has an effect on people’s ability to identify a man out of a lineup. In the study, participants are placed in either a “warning” or “no warning” condition before watching a short video. …

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Individual Fms™ Tests Differ Between Collegiate Women Rowers And Soccer Players Despite Similar Total Scores, Lorena Platero, Isaac Pardo Apr 2013

Individual Fms™ Tests Differ Between Collegiate Women Rowers And Soccer Players Despite Similar Total Scores, Lorena Platero, Isaac Pardo

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Total scores of < 14 on the Functional Movement Screen™ (FMS) have been associated with injury risk in athletes and healthy adults. The 7 individual tests compromising the FMS (deep squat, inline lunge, hurdle step, shoulder mobility, trunk stability push-up, active straight leg raise, and rotary stability) are scored from 0 to 3, and provide information on movement pattern performance that can be use to program corrective exercises. The purpose of the study was to examine total and individual test scores between intercollegiate rowers (ROW) and soccer players (SOC). Samples of convenience were utilized; 56 female participants (27 ROW, 29 SOC), aged 17-22, with no recent history of musculoskeletal injury performed the FMS according to protocol. An independent T-test and Mann-Whitney U test were used to examine mean differences in total and individual scores, respectively. Mean total FMS scores were 15.86±2.07 and 15.83±1.91 for the ROW and SOC, respectively. 7 ROW (26%) and 9 SOC (31%) had total scores of ≤ 14. Scores were similar, p≥.05, for all 7 individual tests except rotary instability (ROW 2.33±0.48; SOC 2.10±0.31; p=0.38). We conclude that ROW and SOC performed similarly on the FMS™. However, more individual SOC were at risk for injury and scored lower on the rotary instability test indicating more a deeper dysfunction in reflex stabilization of the core musculature.

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Landslide Hazards Mapping, Badlands National Park, South Dakota: Applications In Gis, Shari Blaker Apr 2013

Landslide Hazards Mapping, Badlands National Park, South Dakota: Applications In Gis, Shari Blaker

Undergraduate Student Symposium

The goal of this project is to create an interactive hazards map that can be rapidly updated, and used to analyze emerging landslide hazards in Badlands National Park, South Dakota. Digital map technology is a dramatic improvement on the analytical and predictive power of traditional paper maps, allowing us to integrate photographs, digital maps, investigator data and commentary with GIS modeling and analysis. We believe that the Norbeck Ridge Slide, which is approximately 814 meters and is adjacent to State Route 240, the main road into the Badlands National Park, is an intermittently active, slump-induced slide with destructive potential. Ephemeral …

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Lord British Is Dead: An Analysis Of The Execution And Consequences Of Emergent Gameplay Within Massively Multiplayer Online Video-Game Communities, Joseph Cirino Apr 2013

Lord British Is Dead: An Analysis Of The Execution And Consequences Of Emergent Gameplay Within Massively Multiplayer Online Video-Game Communities, Joseph Cirino

Undergraduate Student Symposium

It is a common perception that video-games contain rules and restrictions that force players to react in specific ways to a variety of situations. The milieu of games are rightfully believed to put a limit on player responses as intended by the developers of such games, for video-games are simply graphical representations of programmed environments. While video-games provide an accepted form of social interaction and traditional problem-solving based on pre-created environments of game design, it also creates unprecedented opportunities for players to create revolutionary new forms of play that are not expected by the developers of the game.

The patterns …

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Madness: Sense, Consequence, And Freedom, Melissa Villalobos Apr 2013

Madness: Sense, Consequence, And Freedom, Melissa Villalobos

Undergraduate Student Symposium

This essay analyzes the shared plight of Bertha Mason, from Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre, and the protagonist from Charlotte Perkins Gillman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” against the backdrop of prevailing gender and societal attitudes in the mid and late 19th century. The paper argues that in spite of gender roles advocating male dominance and female submissiveness that imprison them, both “madwomen” find enlightenment and qualified autonomy in their attic of seclusion, consistent with the ethos of the time in which each author wrote.

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Model System For Design Of A Medical Diagnostic Device: Hemoglobin A1c, Jose Cabrera, Ifaz Parvez, Natalie Buzaglo, Oliver Moreira Apr 2013

Model System For Design Of A Medical Diagnostic Device: Hemoglobin A1c, Jose Cabrera, Ifaz Parvez, Natalie Buzaglo, Oliver Moreira

Undergraduate Student Symposium

The country is experiencing a dramatic increase in the incidence of Diabetes Type II. In an effort to develop a medical device to both screen and monitor for Diabetes, we commenced a research project that embraced a team approach.

The overall objective was the design and development of a simple device that measures glycated hemoglobin, referred to as hemoglobin A1c, by electrochemical means. Patient blood can be accessed by finger prick, and after applying a drop of the blood to a device, lysis occurs by hemolyzing agents. Enzymatic activity will then perform the following steps: (a) digestion of the hemoglobin …

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Neural Stem Cells Proliferate In Vascular Niches In The Adult Mayan Cichlid Brain, Ahmed Ali, Jonathan P. Romanes, Sameed Ashfaq, Joseph V. Dellavecchia Apr 2013

Neural Stem Cells Proliferate In Vascular Niches In The Adult Mayan Cichlid Brain, Ahmed Ali, Jonathan P. Romanes, Sameed Ashfaq, Joseph V. Dellavecchia

Undergraduate Student Symposium

The birth of new neurons (neurogenesis) has been observed in all adult mammalian brains examined to date. Adult neural stem cells are located close to blood vessels in each of the two neurogenic regions observed in all mammals. A regulatory role for blood vessels has recently been suggested as a mechanism to regulate neurogenesis. In recent studies, postnatal neurogenesis has been reported in several regions of the fish brain including the olfactory bulb, dorsal zones of the telencephalon, hypothalamus, and divisions of the cerebellum. While fish brain is reported to contain more neurogenic regions than mammalian brain, little else is …

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New Findings And Characterizations Of Nbaii Complex May Hold Key To Drug Delivery, Nishant Patel, Kevin Shah Apr 2013

New Findings And Characterizations Of Nbaii Complex May Hold Key To Drug Delivery, Nishant Patel, Kevin Shah

Undergraduate Student Symposium

NBAii crystal complexes have been extensively studied and modified with the hopes of implementing them in the real world for extraordinary uses in the medical, optical, and electrical field. Our recent findings have demonstrated that the NBAii crystal not only has a porous configuration for retaining compounds within the dimerized structure but also to evacuate the compound with a given environmental cue. Through the university’s newly acquired thermogravometric analysis instrumentation, GC Mass-Spec as well as X-Ray crystallography we are further able to define and characterized the NBAii compound as well as sub compounds which can be made from similar NBAii …

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Nh-Tautomerism In Para-Substituted Tetraphenylporphyrin Derivatives, Biana Modilevsky Apr 2013

Nh-Tautomerism In Para-Substituted Tetraphenylporphyrin Derivatives, Biana Modilevsky

Undergraduate Student Symposium

The NH–tautomerism of meso–substituted porphyrins has been reported to decrease with porphyrin distortion by enhancing intramolecular hydrogen bonding of the NH protons. Electron withdrawing groups should deshield the internal hydrogen’s shifting the NH chemical shift spectra further up field by affecting the ring current, and the opposite effect is expected for electron donating substituents at the meso position of the porphyrin core. The effect of several substituents in the para positions of the phenyl group of meso–substituted porphyrins would be correlated to the NH–tautomerism in phenyl– substituted porphyrins.

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No Service, Lauren Mcgarrett Apr 2013

No Service, Lauren Mcgarrett

Undergraduate Student Symposium

“No Service” is a short film about a young college student named Katy, who is constantly dependent upon her technological devices. When her smartphone and laptop are suddenly stolen, her life is sent into chaos. How will she make it through the day when even the most basic of everyday activities become difficult for her? The film is directed by Lauren McGarrett.

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Nucleotide Excision Repair: A New Component In The Study Of Breast Cancer, Monica Azer Apr 2013

Nucleotide Excision Repair: A New Component In The Study Of Breast Cancer, Monica Azer

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Breast cancer is a prevalent cancer that occurs in many women and men today. There are many exogenous and endogenous causes of DNA damage as well as a multitude of repair mechanisms to fix the damage; however, if it is not fixed, the damage becomes a permanent mutation. A series of these mutations lead to cancer. Deficient Nucleotide Excision Repair (NER) is being studied as one of the main mechanisms of carcinogenesis. Deficient NER was found in stage I breast cancers as compared to normal breast epithelium and may be due to over-expression of microRNA. In order to verify this …

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Porphyrin Geometry- Associated Energy And Binding Conformation, Jessica Millar Apr 2013

Porphyrin Geometry- Associated Energy And Binding Conformation, Jessica Millar

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Meso substituted cationic porphyrins are large, naturally occurring macrocylces that are highly substituted, thereby giving them a wide variety of unique properties including the ability bind to DNA. The degree of distortion of these porphyrins caused by peripheral substitution can determine each molecules particular type of binding to DNA sequences. Previous studies have shown that highly substituted porphyrins with less planar conformations (such as saddle, ruffle, wave, etc.) often have a harder time binding to regions of DNA due to an increase in steric clashes and a larger destabilization of the strand. This experiment’s focus is the relationship between conformation …

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Repeatability Of Prebrush And Postbrush Plaque Measured Via Image Analysis, Nohora Duque Apr 2013

Repeatability Of Prebrush And Postbrush Plaque Measured Via Image Analysis, Nohora Duque

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Objective: This research used image analysis to evaluate the reproducibility of natural plaque accumulation and removal measured instrumentally.

Method: After institutional review and informed consent, healthy adults were enrolled in a study to assess the between-visit consistency of plaque measurement for overnight and post-brush plaque. At Day 1, subjects with overnight (unbrushed) plaque swished with a fluorescein rinse and expectorated, cheek retractors were inserted, and a single digital image was collected under standardized lighting conditions. After routine hygiene with a regular anticavity dentifrice (Crest® Cavity Protection) and standard manual toothbrush, disclosing and imaging were repeated. Approximately 1-week later, the imaging-brush-imagining …

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Side-Bridge Hold Times Are Not Related To Injury Prevalence In Female Rowers, Amber Morrell Apr 2013

Side-Bridge Hold Times Are Not Related To Injury Prevalence In Female Rowers, Amber Morrell

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Rowing injuries are primarily overuse related and occur commonly to the knee, lumbar spine and ribs. Core tests of strength, stability and/or endurance are used in clinical practice to predict injury. The side-bridge hold test (SBH) is a valid and reliable test of core endurance with female norms of 75±.32 and 78±.32 seconds for right and left sides. The purpose of this study was to determine if SBH performance can predict core injuries (ribs, lumbar spine, hip, knee) in intercollegiate female rowers (ROW). A sample of convenience was utilized; 33 ROW free of recent musculoskeletal injury performed the SBH on …

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Synthesis Of The Next Compound In A Homologous Series Of Metal-Organic Frameworks, Rachel Salveson Apr 2013

Synthesis Of The Next Compound In A Homologous Series Of Metal-Organic Frameworks, Rachel Salveson

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Porous compounds, clays and activated charcoal, have been used as adsorbents in a number of different settings such contrast for x-rays in the medical field. Unfortunately, these adsorbents are not very selective and adsorb just about everything. A new class of adsorbents known as MOF's have become of great interest because these materials are easily altered synthetically and thus offer the promise of improved control over selectivity.

Our interest has been in the derivatives of NBAII, shown below. Notice that structure A has one six membered ring in the backbone while structure B has two. When crystals of these molecules …

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The Effects Of Enriched Environments On Learning And Neurogenesis In Octopus Vulgaris, Jelileh Whitmore, Kory Evans, Divya Pandya Apr 2013

The Effects Of Enriched Environments On Learning And Neurogenesis In Octopus Vulgaris, Jelileh Whitmore, Kory Evans, Divya Pandya

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Cephalopods, particularly the octopus, have the largest and most complex invertebrate brains and are show markers of behavioral complexity. However, learning and possible concomitant neurogenesis have never been fully described in the octopus. In order to address this need, we will expose octopus vulgaris to an enriched environment and test for behavioral learning and neurogenesis. Specifically, octopuses will be placed in either an enriched or standard environment control condition and exposed to various problem-solving tasks and time trials over the course of 30 days. At the conclusion of the tasks, octopus vulgaris will be presented with a series of novel …

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The Effects Of Pre Versus Post Exercise Consumption Of An Amino-Acid Based Nutritional Supplement: Effects On Body Composition And Performance, Anamaria Cretu, Sapphire Aragon Apr 2013

The Effects Of Pre Versus Post Exercise Consumption Of An Amino-Acid Based Nutritional Supplement: Effects On Body Composition And Performance, Anamaria Cretu, Sapphire Aragon

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Purpose: The role of nutrient timing in combination with heavy resistance is unclear. There is research to suggest that the consumption of protein pre- or post-exercise may enhance muscular size and strength. The purpose of this investigation was to ascertain the effects Pre versus Post exercise consumption of an amino-acid based supplement (NO Synthesize®) as it relates to the adaptive response to exercise.

Methods: Twenty healthy (n=20) well trained adult males and females (21.6 yrs ± 4.3, 67.9kg ± 9.8, 170.0cm ± 11) were recruited to participate in this 28 day intervention. Subjects were given informed consent and were subsequently …

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The Importance Of Neurolysin In The Renin-Angiotensin System Of The Mouse Brain, Eduardo Carrera, Catalina Breton, Andrea Linares Apr 2013

The Importance Of Neurolysin In The Renin-Angiotensin System Of The Mouse Brain, Eduardo Carrera, Catalina Breton, Andrea Linares

Undergraduate Student Symposium

The renin angiotensin system (RAS) plays a major role in cardiovascular disease. Novel metabolic pathways of the RAS offer new therapeutic targets for disease prevention. Recent studies demonstrated a novel binding site for the active hormone of the RAS: angiotensin II (Ang II). This binding site, now known to be the enzyme neurolysin, can metabolize Ang II into inactive fragments and act upon a precursor of Ang II (Ang I) to circumvent Ang II production. Radioligand binding and histological techniques were utilized to assay neurolysin and the primary receptors for Ang II (AT1, and AT2) in …

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The Influence Of Alcohol And Caffeine On Cockroach Motor Function, Isaac Chayo Apr 2013

The Influence Of Alcohol And Caffeine On Cockroach Motor Function, Isaac Chayo

Undergraduate Student Symposium

The cockroach has proven to be an excellent model for investigating the pharmacological effects of different substances on nervous system functionality. The increased vigilance and wakefulness associated with caffeine is primarily mediated by its interactions with monoamine neurotransmitters in addition to its role as an antagonist for adenosine receptors. In the case of alcohol, it is an agonist for the inhibitory neurotransmitter GABA, which partly explains its sedative properties and disruptive effects on motor function. In this experiment, we will examine the influence of caffeine and alcohol on motor function in Blaberus Discoidalis by designing an enclosed running strip marked …

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The Needs Of The Many, Nathaniel Dolan Apr 2013

The Needs Of The Many, Nathaniel Dolan

Undergraduate Student Symposium

The Great American Experiment began almost 250 years ago, not necessarily in pursuit of a new nation per say, but more on the grounds of courageous expedition into the unknown – a grand test-case for what a nation could be – and continues to be so courageous and experimental well into contemporary society; the experiment being whether unfettered personal autonomy can indeed exist congruently with social, cultural, and national security. Frankly, all available data suggests that such lofty ideals are ultimately not possible, and that Americans are left, nearly a quarter of a millennia after the fact, with the sobering …

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The Neurophysiology Of Attractiveness, Megan Thomas Apr 2013

The Neurophysiology Of Attractiveness, Megan Thomas

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Evolutionary theories of human mating suggest that both men and women are interested in the most attractive members of the opposite sex. However, men may be more likely than women to be motivated to act on these interests. The goal of this study is to investigate the neurophysiological correlates of these evolved psychological mechanisms relevant to human mate attraction. Electroencephalographic (EEG) event related brain potentials (ERPs) are used as the primary index of the influence of target facial attractiveness on neurobiological processing. Salivary testosterone levels are also assessed to determine the influence of mating-relevant hormones on these processes. Measures of …

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