Digital Commons Network^™

“Adulting” The Life Transition Program For The Typically Developed Highschool Population, Gabriella Bologna

Department of Occupational Therapy Entry-Level Capstone Projects

No abstract provided.

Navigating Conversations Of Environmentalism On Social Media: From The Apocalyptic To The Aesthetic, Megan Provenzale

All HCAS Student Capstones, Theses, and Dissertations

This project examines environmental discourse and rhetorical appeals used on Instagram by environmental influencers and addresses the lack of scholarship about social mobile commerce, Instagram, and the popularity of “eco-influencers.” My research applies post-composition studies, circulation, and visual rhetoric to two eco-influencers, Greta Thunberg (@gretathunbeerg) and Jessica Clifton (@impactforgood). I argue that Thunberg and Clifton employ aesthetic and apocalyptic rhetoric to educate and communicate with their following about reducing their carbon footprint and reversing climate change. By collecting three months of Instagram posts employed by each influencer, I identify patterns related to environmentalism, stylistic choices in captions, and presentation of …

Elemental Distribution And Offloading In Peruvian Pinnipeds, Catherine Kooyomjian

All HCAS Student Capstones, Theses, and Dissertations

Two sympatric pinniped species, Peruvian fur seals (PFS; Arctocephalus australis unnamed ssp.) and South American sea lions (SASL; Otaria byronia), reside in highly productive waters off the coast of Peru. These apex predators have experienced dramatic population fluctuations linked to both natural and anthropogenic events. As Peru’s mining and agriculture industry increase, it is important to monitor potential effects on the vulnerable ecosystem. Fifteen trace elements in PFS and SASL vibrissae (whiskers), serum, and milk collected between 2009 and 2019 were analyzed via inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy (ICP-MS): aluminum (Al), arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), cobalt (Co), …

Doctoral Capstone Experience- Exercise, The Obesity Epidemic, And The Pediatric Population, Jessie L. Fontenault

Department of Occupational Therapy Entry-Level Capstone Projects

No abstract provided.

Doctoral Capstone Experience With A Neurological Population, Courtney E. Groce

Department of Occupational Therapy Entry-Level Capstone Projects

Through the completion of a doctoral capstone experience, an entry-level occupational therapy doctoral student is able to further develop advanced skills. The doctoral capstone experience is during the student’s last semester in the program and is 16 weeks long. The doctoral capstone experience consists of both a culminating project and the experience itself. The capstone project is “comprised of a literature review, needs assessment, goals/objectives, and an evaluation plan based on specific focus areas” (ACOTE, 2020). The Nova Southeastern University Entry-Level Doctor of Occupational Therapy Doctoral Capstone Manual states that “the goal of the doctoral capstone project and experience is …

Final Culminating Project: Program Development, Erin Helms

Department of Occupational Therapy Entry-Level Capstone Projects

This 16-week capstone project was completed at Parker Place, a children’s health, and wellness center, with a focus on program development and advocacy with additional work related to leadership and administration. The overall goal of the capstone project was to determine the benefit of using an occupation-based approach to enhance health outcomes for the patients at Parker Place. The capstone student provided education about the role of occupational therapy in a non-traditional setting, created a program to help patients acquire sustainable healthy habits, developed a workshop for families struggling to maintain a healthy lifestyle, and provided resources about picky eating …

Doctoral Capstone Experience In Program And Policy Development- Selah Freedom, Ashley N. Jones

Department of Occupational Therapy Entry-Level Capstone Projects

Child trafficking has been reported in all 50 states and affects more than 2 million children each year (Guardian Group, 2021). Involvement in human trafficking at a young age induces trauma that has a lasting effect on the victim’s personality and coping skills. A review of literature confirmed a need for more support of the use of occupational therapy with sex trafficking survivors. Despite support for the implementation of occupational therapy in similar trauma populations like domestic violence, homelessness, post-traumatic stress disorder, and disaster survivors, there is limited literature supporting the use of OT with human trafficking survivors (Gorman & …

Optimization Of Grow-Out Of Bouldering Coral Microfragments: Land Vs. Offshore Nursery, Ashlee A. Steinberg

All HCAS Student Capstones, Theses, and Dissertations

Corals along the Florida Reef Tract and the wider Caribbean have been declining for decades. Low densities of adult colonies hinder the ability of corals to replenish themselves through sexual reproduction, thus reef managers are focusing on restoration actions that increase coral biomass. Microfragmentation is a way to quickly increase the biomass of bouldering corals by cutting the coral into small pieces which forces the coral to allocate its resources away from reproduction and back into growth, increasing its growth rate. This study assessed the optimal location for grow-out (land vs. offshore nursery) and its synergy with size of fragment …

Doctoral Capstone Experience In Academia And Policy Development: Nova Southeastern University, Melanie Mariani

Department of Occupational Therapy Entry-Level Capstone Projects

An exceptional amount of literature points to the benefits of hands-on learning experiences for students enrolled in healthcare programs (Coker, 2009; Doucet, 2012; Thomas et al., 2017 & Velde, 2009). Goals of my doctoral capstone experience (DCE) included: 1) Develop the foundational requirements for Nova Southeastern University (NSU) to increase hands-on experiential student learning and potentially develop an on-site clinic in the future, and 2) Create and deploy educational materials for the students in the class of 2022 to increase their hands-on learning while taking the course virtually. The results include the creation of three sets of clinical reasoning guides …

Journey Into Midnight: Population Dynamics, Vertical Distribution, And Trophic Ecology Of Whalefishes (Cetomimidae) In The Bathypelagic Gulf Of Mexico, Rachel Eckley

All HCAS Student Capstones, Theses, and Dissertations

Despite comprising the largest biome on Earth, the bathypelagic zone inhabitants represent a “black hole” in the understanding of deep-oceanic functioning due to physical and monetary limitations. The characteristics of the global bathypelagic realm create a limiting environment only inhabitable by specially adapted fauna. These include whalefishes (Stephanoberycoidei: Cetomimidae), which are a taxonomically and systematically challenging group of primarily bathypelagic fishes.

Cetomimids were collected in the Gulf of Mexico using high-speed rope trawls and a multiple-opening-and-closing net system. Population dynamics were described using morphometric analysis. Vertical distributions, including diel variation, were described using a modified boxplot of abundance standardized by …

A New Observation Of Microatolls In The Galapagos Isalnds, Ecuador, Amber Orr

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Microatolls are shallow water coral colonies that develop their signature ring-like atoll shape from water depth limitations that prevent living tissue from growing any higher, encouraging outward growth instead. A secondary contributor to formation is the accumulation of sediment on the top of growing colonies, smothering upper surface polyps. Microatolls are described from numerous locations and form from several species in the Indo-West Pacific. However, microatolls occur at only three known regions in the tropical eastern Pacific and form from one species, Porites lobata. In the Galápagos Islands early researchers (1970s-1980s) observed microatolls at 2 sites, however they are …

A Statistical Comparison Of Democratic Liberties, Socioeconomic Development, And Effectiveness Of Covid-19 Pandemic Response In Countries Around The World, Angel Vasquez

Undergraduate Student Symposium

The COVID-19 pandemic has shown in full display that state capacity to respond to crises is variable among countries. In this study, the relative performance of 165 countries in containing the pandemic within their borders is assessed and compared with their individual scores on the Freedom Index (FI) and the Human Development Index (HDI) to understand whether the indicators that these indices represent (political freedoms and socioeconomic development) explain the effectiveness of each country’s response to the pandemic. A pandemic performance coefficient (PPPC) was created to quantify their individual performance and treated as the independent variable. Bivariate correlation analyses and …

Advocating For Period Dignity: A Survey Of Menstruation's Impact On Class Attendance Among Women At Nova Southeastern University, Lauren Guedj, Tanha Rahman, Sofia Garcia Austt, Jessie Mandy

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Feminine hygiene products are essential in the life of every woman during their menstruation years. However, 86% of women in the US have experienced starting menstruation in public without having access to supplies. Lack of proper hygiene products on campus subjects an enormous burden on women, creating significant stress. In this study, a survey of NSU students and faculty indicated 90% of the respondents had been caught on campus with no access to feminine hygiene products. 24% of those individuals choose to leave campus during this menstrual period emergency causing them to miss class time and 58% of them choose …

Analysis Of The Effects Of Saha On Cancer Stem Cell Markers In Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Cells, David Babos, Jay-Quan Dill

Undergraduate Student Symposium

In the United States, lung cancer is the third most common form of cancer and shows the highest mortality rate. The most prevalent form is Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC), accounting for 84% of cases. Similar to other solid tumors, several putative surface markers for lung cancer stem cells have been identified, including CD44 and CD133. Cancer stem cells (CSC), with their self-renewal ability and multilineage differentiation potential, are a critical subpopulation of tumor cells that can drive cancer initiation, growth, and resistance to therapy. Reports showed that Hedgehog (HH), Notch, JAK/STAT, PI3K/Akt/mTOR, and Wnt/β-catenin pathways are regulating the transformation …

Angel, Siena Berardi, Julian Glasthal, Jada Johnson, Samantha Langmaack

Undergraduate Student Symposium

In order to cope with the death of her boyfriend, a young girl seeks comfort in a pet that she believes to be her deceased counterpart. Her reality soon becomes distorted and she finds herself coping in an unconventional way, that is, of course, until it catches up to her. Directed by Siena Berardi, Jada Johnson, and Samantha Langmaack and produced by Julian Glasthal. Inspired by Wes Anderson, Greta Gerwig, Bong Joon-ho and Spike Lee.

Assessment Of Gopher Tortoise (Gopherus Polyphemus) Activity And Faunal Diversity Associated With Tortoise Burrows Using Trail Cameras At Two South Florida Natural Areas, Katarina Lee, Adrianna Coican

Undergraduate Student Symposium

The gopher tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus) is an ecologically important organism distributed throughout the southeastern United States. Gopher tortoises are a keystone species due to the burrows they create. These excavated habitats provide shelter for hundreds of commensal species that escape from wildfires and extreme heat during summer months. Six trail cameras (three at each site) were deployed at the entrance of gopher tortoise burrows in two natural areas (Fern Forest and Military Trail) in Broward County. Motion-activated cameras took pictures of animals at the burrow entrance over a 21-month period. Cameras were left in the field between 5-14 …

Assessment Of Student Mastery Of Anticipated Learning Outcomes During A Blendflex Stem Cure Using A Combination Of Self-Reported And Empirical Analysis, Niraj Pathak, Ambika Kapil

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, institutions across the world have had to make modifications to existing curricula throughout the university. Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs) are emerging as an effective way to offer research opportunities for students traditionally underrepresented in STEM. These types of courses face the unique task of adapting scientific conceptual and research process concepts to the distance learning format. Biochemistry Authentic Student Inquiry Lab (BASIL) is a freely available, modular CURE. This project showcases a two-pronged approach which combines student self-reported mastery and objective evaluation of lab report responses, both aligned with established Anticipated Learning Outcomes …

Association Between Nutritional Status And Hypertension In A Rural Communty In Dang District, Gujarat, India, Sneh Shah

Undergraduate Student Symposium

The relationship between overweight-obesity status and hypertension is well-known throughout the world, especially in low socioeconomic communities and developing countries. Both high blood pressure and obesity are preventable risk factors for noncommunicable disease, death, and disability. The prevalence of obesity-overweight status in India is increasing faster than the global average and diabetes in Southeast Asia has surged over the past few decades. There have been few systematic studies focusing on the public health development in rural communities of India like the Dang District. The objectives of this cross-sectional study are to examine the prevalence of hypertension and nutritional status among …

Bacteria Unearthed, Vijay Patel, Aysha Patel

Undergraduate Student Symposium

With the era of antibiotics coming to a close, new sources of antibiotics need to be found to combat antibiotic resistance. The rise of infectious bacteria resistant to our drugs is creating an uphill battle in the fight against disease. In the search for new antibiotics, bacteria remain an effective and viable source. Programs, like Tiny Earth, aid researchers in looking for new strains of bacteria to determine if they can be harnessed for antibiotic discovery. A global community of researchers collaborate to collect and study bacteria from local soil samples. Our collegiate group obtained a soil sample from local …

Bilingualism Enhances Inhibitory Control, But Not Other Components Of Executive Functioning, Erika Cabrera Ranaldi, Maria Alejandra Chavez

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Humans effortlessly modify their behaviors to meet the ongoing demands of the environment. For instance, you are in the library reading a textbook and you receive an alert on your phone. You stop reading your textbook and shift your attention to your phone to read the alert. You then shift your attention back to the textbook and pick up where you left off. You don’t forget what you were doing or confuse the content of the alert with the content of the textbook. Similarly, people who speak more than one language switch between languages effortlessly and flawlessly to meet environmental …

Demystifying Hospital Charges For Hospital Readmissions In 2017 In The United States For Psychoses (Drg = 885), Japjot Singh

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Existing research on hospital charges is focused on hospital admissions, but not on hospital readmissions. Literature review on hospital charges identifies several patient-specific, disease-specific, and hospital-specific variables as determinants of hospital charges. Given that there is a relative dearth of similar research focused on hospital readmissions, a federal agency – The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) has recognized this gap and developed the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) in 2015 which contains information on hospital readmissions data. “This database addresses a large gap in healthcare data - the lack of nationally representative information on hospital readmissions.” We …

Diet Analysis Of Offshore Istiophorid Billfishes In The Western Atlantic, Emily Salonia

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Istiophorid billfishes are apex predators found in epipelagic tropical and temperate waters worldwide. Managed internationally following population declines due to overfishing, these fishes continue to be targeted by recreational anglers and are caught as bycatch by offshore commercial fisheries targeting tunas, resulting in a slow population recovery. Despite their ecological importance, knowledge of Western Atlantic billfish diets is lacking; no information exists regarding roundscale spearfish (Tetrapturus georgii), for white marlin (Kajikia albida) information is extremely limited, and the last Western Atlantic sailfish (Istiophorus platypterus) diet study was in 1977. To address this knowledge gap, Istiophorid diets …

Differences In Frontonasal Anomalies In Children With And Without An Autism, Matthew Arcona

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Symptoms of Autism Spectrum Disorders can vary by case; however, the core features consist of social and communication deficits, and restrictive or repetitive behaviors. Most research on the etiology of ASD focus on genetic factors and how chromosomal copy number variants (CNVs) affect neurocognitive development. There is much less research on how developmental disturbances could play a role in neurocognitive disorders, such as ASD. Research suggests that due to the synchronous and adjacent development of the frontonasal features and anterior brain, disturbances in one of these pathways affect the other. Frontonasal anomalies such as ear formation, forehead prominence, and eye …

Dreaming In Reverse, Arleene Perez-Sifontes, Schneider Camport Jean-Pierre, Jacob Meshel

Undergraduate Student Symposium

“Dreaming in Reverse” is a short film about a young woman who is dealing with a recurring dream. In this dream, she sees a man whom she believes is in danger. Despite many efforts to forget the dream, she convinces herself that she must be the one to save him. Upon finding the man, she realizes that the dream wasn’t quite how she envisioned it. The film is directed and written by Arleene Perez-Sifontes, Graciel Quezada, Schneider Camport Jean-Pierre, and Jacob Meshel. The film is edited by Schneider Camport Jean-Pierre.

Drunken Parasites: Morphological Distortions Associated With Chemical Fixatives In Two Monogenetic Flatworms, Wamika Shoukat

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Fixation is the first step in the identification of animal parasites: its primary purpose is to kill the parasite and prevent or delay decomposition via autolytic enzymes. In the lab, parasitologists typically use ethanol (primarily 70%), formalin, or combinations of the two (e.g. AFA: glacial acetic acid, formalin, and ethanol), but there is little consensus on which best preserves the morphological characters used for parasite identification. Furthermore, parasitologists working in the field and/or internationally are often constrained in their choice of fixative: for example, ethanol can be difficult to obtain in countries that prohibit the sale of alcohol. Instead, various …

Ecological Analyses Of Socio-Economic Food Deserts In Broward County, Annie Goyanes

Undergraduate Student Symposium

“Food desert” refers to an area where citizens lack access to fresh, affordable, nutritious food. Food deserts are generally in low-income urban neighborhoods or rural towns and can be considered environmental or economic injustice. South Florida and Broward County have been documented as having a high food insecurity rate, indicative of households having difficulty putting food on the table. Given the high rate of food insecurity, it was hypothesized that a lack of access to food and the presence of socio-economic food deserts was at least partially responsible. Data was collected by visiting three supermarkets in each of the 13 …

Effect Of Hdac Inhibitor On Mesenchymal To Epithelial Transition (Met) In Non-Small Lung Cancer Cells (Nsclc), Sanjana Mody, Grace Waldron

Undergraduate Student Symposium

The epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a highly dynamic process. It is also involved in enhancing the tumor invasiveness and metastasis of the cancer cells. Therefore, the generation of tumor cells with stem cell properties plays a significant role in developing resistance to cancer treatment. The reversal of EMT to MET (mesenchymal to epithelial transition) is poorly understood at the present time. Increased mesenchymal marker levels have been associated with increased lung cancer risk. We hypothesized that suberoyl-anilide hydroxamic acid (SAHA, also known as Vorinostat) might promote MET through epigenetic modification such as acetylation and methylation. We analyzed both …

Effect Of Saha And Uc2288 On Epithelial To Mesenchymal Transition In P53 Wild/Mutant Types Of Lung Cancer Cells, Tanha Rahman, Naziba Akther Nuha

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Lung cancer is one of the most lethal cancers and encompasses over 30% of cancer-related deaths among men and women globally. Cancer progression is marked by the downregulation of epithelial markers and upregulation of mesenchymal markers, which causes solid tumors to become malignant and increase their invasiveness and metastatic properties. The epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is facilitated through complex molecular pathways that include epigenetic and posttranslational modifications. In this regard, DNA as well as Histone methyltransferases are suspected to be involved within the EMT process. In our study, we analyzed the markers of EMT in H460 and HCC827 lung cancer cells …

English Language Proficiency And Overall Verbal Ability: A Comparison Between Bilingual And Monolingual College Students, Samruddhi Ayachit, Erika Cabrera Ranaldi

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Assessment of linguistic abilities of non-native English speakers reveals that Spanish/English bilinguals do not perform as well as English monolinguals on tests that require naming of common objects. Similarly, tests of English language proficiency reveal weaker performance in Spanish/English bilingual groups relative to monolinguals. One important limitation of some of these studies is that the language groups are different on educational attainment, which impacts linguistic abilities. Moreover, there are few studies evaluating overall verbal ability in these linguistically diverse groups. To fill these gaps in the research, we tested English monolingual (n=109) and Spanish/English bilingual (n=152) college students with similar …

Great Plains Prehistoric Megadrought Findings As Potential Indicators For Impending Climate Change-Related Catastrophes, Melanie Vasquez, Madelyn Rinka, Emma Hoffstein, Drew Tozer, Elena Kampian

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Determining details of extreme climate events on the environment is necessary to predict the future effects of global climate change. Researchers studying the northern Great Plains dune systems have found evidence of prolonged prehistoric droughts (megadroughts) that occurred due to climate anomalies. However, the timing, severity, and regional extent of these megadroughts remain controversial. Our previous work supports the interpretation that the White River Badlands (WRB) and the Nebraska Sand Hills (NSH) dune systems reactivated three times in the past 10,000 years in response to global climate change. This study investigates the hypothesis that these dune systems are linked, that …