Digital Commons Network^™

Austen’S Male Subordinates: Equality By Imbalance, Ryan Frabizio

Undergraduate Student Symposium

In Jane Austen’s novels, the female characters are often the focus of critical study. This essay instead examines several minor male characters in her novels, such as Henry Crawford, Mr. Woodhouse, and Sir Walter Elliot, who deviate from conventional ideas of men in early eighteenth-century English society. The male characters studied lack independence or personal strength, and even lack dominance over female characters. However, they are still significant characters because they serve integral roles in the plot, and serve as vehicles for Austen’s ideas. The imbalances of power between Austen’s characters, even to the point of bringing male characters into …

Rapid Polymerase Chain Reaction Based Assay For The Identification Of The Highly Endangered Small Tooth Sawfish (Pristis Pectinata), Hayley Oligane, Vince Richards

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Globally, populations of sawfish (family: Pristidae) have become highly endangered to the point of extinction, and have suffered a decline grater than 90% over the last century. The principal threat to sawfish is fishing and habitat degradation. In the United States most Pristidae species have become completely exasperated. Previously, only two species were reported in US waters (Pristis pectinata and Pristis perotteti), and it’s now believed that Pristis perotteti is virtually extinct. Furthermore, the range of Pristis Pectinata has now been reduced to South Florida and has declined to 5 percent of its original population size. In 2007, …

Fear Of Change: The Salem Witch-Hunt Of 1692, Melanie Cucurullo

Undergraduate Student Symposium

This paper examines the fears that sparked the witchcraft accusations in late- seventeenth century Salem, Massachusetts. Historians writing about the witch-hunt in colonial New England have suggested these “witches” challenged social traditions and orthodox ways of thinking.

Eighty percent of accused “witches” were women, which suggest that gender played an important role in allegations of witchcraft. A close look at historical records shows that the behavior displayed by Bridget Bishop, Sarah Good, and Anne Hutchinson convinced New Englanders that these women were a threat to society. The problem was not just a new way of thinking but rather the way …

Effects Of Colored Words On Memory Retention, Adriana Gutierrez

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Color seems to have an impact in our everyday lives. Memory color is a phenomenon in which an object's characteristic color enhances our memory retention. The objective of the present study is to examine which color can best facilitate memory retention. A sample of 30 participants (15 males and 15 females) were recruited from Nova Southeastern University. The participants were tested on their ability to recall a list of 20 words in the colors blue, green, orange, and red. Participants were also tested to determine what color they would be able to best recall. The list of 20 words included …

Dehumanization Results In Atrocities, Raquel Sanchez, Marina Dunn

Undergraduate Student Symposium

This study attempts to explain how dehumanization is the main factor in the acceptance of atrocities towards stigmatized groups in American society today, by implementing Daniel Goldhagen’s Theory in our research design. The premise of Daniel Goldhagen’s theory is about the dehumanization of Jewish people during the Holocaust in which ordinary Germans became Hitler’s aids. This study will measure the acceptance of atrocities towards African Americans and Arabs from the undergraduate student body at Nova Southeastern University. Based on Stanley Milgram’s famous obedience study, this study will use a video reenactment in combination with a follow-up questionnaire to measure the …

The Wonderful World Of Mathematica, Latisha Gaither

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Mathematica is computer software that can be used to perform a variety of functions. These functions include: mathematics and algorithms, system interface and deployment, visualization and graphics, dynamic interactivity, and several other functions. The initial idea came from a man by the name of Stephen Wolfram. It was further developed by a team of mathematicians, and first released in 1988. This computer software was originally developed for the fields of math and science. Mathematica has been used in many disciplines which include physical science, engineering, financial modeling, accounting, research, and many more. However, this software has been transformed and is …

Comparison Of The Assignment Testing Capabilities Of The Population Structure Programs Baps And Structure Using Microsatellite Data From Tiger Sharks, Justin Chambers

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Although the practice of shark finning has been banned in multiple oceans worldwide, the practice continues to proliferate, with as many as 73 million sharks being killed each year for their fins. Since the legality of shark finning varies from ocean to ocean, methods to accurately determine not only the species of shark, but also the origin, need to be developed to help curtail this practice. This problem can be addressed through assignment testing—statistical methods that utilize genetic information to determine the population origin of individuals. Various software programs have been developed for population structure analysis. The goal of this …

Effectiveness Analysis Of Email Marketing Campaigns, Kiyo Walker

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Businesses usually spend significant time, effort and money on e-mail marketing campaigns. They are interested in evaluating the effectiveness of their campaigns, so that future campaigns can be optimized. In this project, we analyze e-mail based advertisement campaign or a specific business. We investigate the relationship between the number of links and the number of clicks in each e-mail campaign using the Pearson and Spearman statistical tests. We show that adding more links in a given e-mail campaign does not increase the user’s interest. We also calculate summary statistics for the number of links and clicks.

The Truth About Deception, Natalia Carrillo

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Deception is a prevalent form of communication. This paper explores, based on research taken from deception theorists, the many different types of deception, the strategies and motives in mind used by individuals while performing deception, and the positive and negative consequences of deception. Understanding why individuals rely on personal relationships is crucial to understanding the types of closeness they can develop with others and why deception takes place in these types of relationships. The paper then applies these factors by utilizing a television episode of King of Queens as an illustration of deception in a married couple’s life.

The Real Antagonist In Jane Austen’S Northanger Abbey, Trevor Borg

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Northanger Abbey is so loaded with irony that its main antagonist is someone we would never suspect. This hidden adversary maneuvers Catherine Morland into a conflict. The conflict seems a creation of the protagonist’s overactive imagination. However, the novel drops enough clues to indicate Henry Tilney willfully manipulates Catherine to produce the conflict. Finally, several hints in the novel suggest this same person also narrates it, thus sealing the novel’s irony.

Synthesis Of New Ruthenium (Ii) Complex, [Ru(Bipycn)2]2+ And Its Interactions With Dna, Terry-Ann Dawes

Undergraduate Student Symposium

A new Ru(II) complex, [Ru(bipyCN)₂]²⁺ (where bpyCN is 4,4'-Bis(cyanomethyl)- 2,2'-bipyridine), was synthesized and characterized, and the effect on the emission spectra of the complex was studied. The interaction of the complex with DNA was investigated by UV–visible and emission spectroscopy.

The Real World: Differential Equations, Tania Lopez, Brandy Shafer, Bryan Candela, Gerardo Davila, Andrew Dweck

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Mathematics can be used, and is used, to describe the physical phenomena of the world we live in. Differential equations are an application of the ideas of calculus to our everyday lives. In differential equations we seek to model real-life situations in Mathematical terms. Thus, differential equations are used for scientific modeling to describe the dynamics of diverse state variables, such as daily temperature, proportion of a population infected by influenza, chemical concentration in a tank, or stock prices by observing real-time data. Once the model is created it is used as a representation of the real-world system and predictions …

The Effects Of Laughter On Attention, Raquel Sanchez, Marcia Garcia

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Laughter is a cardinal part of human behavior: it is rooted within personality, functions within social dynamics, and is mediated through a species physiological form. Numerous studies have depicted the benefits of laughter (Martin, 2002; Kimata, 2007), but none have thoroughly analyzed its role within cognition. Cognition is required to incite laughter in the instances where humor appreciation must be delineated. Accordingly, in instances where a cognitive task occurs concurrently with humorous stimuli, there is potentially a competition for attentional resources, thereby reducing cognitive abilities during humor processing. The primary goal of the current proposal is to utilize brain electroencephalographic …

Yersiniae Virulence Factors: Type Iii Secretion System, Jessica Blanco

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Several Gram-negative pathogenic bacteria have evolved a complex protein secretion system termed the Type Three Secretion System (TTSS) to deliver bacterial effector proteins into host cells that then modulate host cellular functions. These bacterial devices are evolutionarily related to the flagellar apparatus. Although the TTSSs are substantially conserved among different species, the effector molecules they deliver are species unique. There exist three human pathogenic Yersiniae. Yersinia enterocolitica and Yersinia pseudotuberculosis cause self-limiting gastro-enteric diseases and infect mesenteric lymph nodes, while Yersinia pestis is transmitted by fleas and can be aerosolized, causing the lethal disease known as plague (also know …

A Cost-Benefit Analysis Of Possible Alternatives For The Chemical Triclosan, Besty Jacob

Undergraduate Student Symposium

The chemical Triclosan is currently being used in a variety of household products. Soap, shampoo, dishwashing solution, detergents, cosmetics and lotions all utilize this product. These and other similar products market Triclosan as a bactericide. However Triclosan may not be as effective at killing bacteria when combined with these commercial products as advertised. There may potentially be safer and more effective alternatives. A potential problem with the overuse of Triclosan, is current and potential bacterial resistance. For instance, some strains of MRSA (Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Auereus) have already developed resistance to this chemical. On the other hand, there are …

Magical Math: Debunking A Web-Posed Prestidigitation, Case Warshall

Undergraduate Student Symposium

The website Mystical Ball.com (http://www.mysticalball.com/) presents a compelling and mysterious “magic trick” that appears to read our mind every time we engage in the “trick”: “Choose any two digit number, add together both digits then subtract the total from your original number. When you have the final number look it up on the chart and find the relevant symbol. Concentrate on the symbol and when you have it clearly in your mind click on the crystal ball and it will show you the symbol you are thinking of... .” The trick appears to work every time the user participates. This …

Biodegradation And Partitioning Of Triclosan From A Model Municipal Waste Water Treatment Plant, Besty Jacob

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Triclosan is the commercial name of 5-chloro-2-(2,4-dichlorophenoxy)phenol), an antibacterial and antifungal compound used in a variety of household products. Even at low levels, 0.03 to 0.15% by weight, Triclosan is effective at killing bacteria. Products include soaps, toothpaste, shampoos, tissue paper, and cosmetics. There is a growing trend among manufacturers of diverse products to add the antimicrobial as a marketing edge regardless of its utility. Recent studies indicate triclosan is more persistent in the environment than initially reported. In order to study the effectiveness of wastewater treatment on the degradation of triclosan, a small scale water treatment process was duplicated. …

Characterization Of Polynucleotide Phosphorylase (Pnpase) And The Virulence Of Streptococcus Pyogenes, Jessica Blanco, Nick Rocco

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Polynucleotide phosphorylase (PNPase) is a 3’-5’ exoribonuclease that phosphorylyticly degrades mRNA molecules in bacteria and in eukaryotic organelles. Streptococcus pyogenes (a group A streptococcus [GAS]) is a Gram-positive human pathogen responsible for a plethora of syndromes ranging from the less-invasive pharyngitis (a.k.a strep throat) to severely invasive cases such as necrotizing fascitis and streptococcal toxic shock syndrome. Recently, PNPase was shown to be required for the decay of 2 S. pyogenes transcripts during late exponential growth: sagA and sda. The aforementioned transcripts were found to be stabilized (more abundant) in a pnpA mutant strain. Furthermore, the pnpA transcript was …

Antimicrobial Properties Of A Recently Patented Formulation, Nick Rocco, Richard Wheeler

Undergraduate Student Symposium

The threat posed by bacteria to human health is more unique today than ever. Multiple drug resistant strains of bacterial pathogens are quite common and lurk in a plethora of environments. To prevent transmission of these microbes, numerous hand gels, primarily alcohol based, have been designed to kill transient flora acquired through fomites. Because of the need for a more rapid and sustained microbial killing of certain exposed surfaces, an antimicrobial formulation has been developed that relies on short chain surfactants. We sought to evaluate the antimicrobial activity of this formulation on known surrogates of clinical significance. Bacteria or B. …

A Dream, Amy Harvey

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Written by Amy Harvey in 1999, the poem was inspired by the concept of the author’s image of an angel. The author’s hope is that it evokes interest in the ongoing question: “Do angels exist?”

Reducing Carbon Dioxide Levels Through Carbon Sequestration, Mari Holderby, Hira Hussain, Sebastian Jofre, Aurea Mendez

Undergraduate Student Symposium

There has been a growing interest as to what is identified as global warming over the past five years. Studies have demonstrated that the earth’s atmosphere has become warmer thanks to the increasing levels of carbon dioxide, which trap heat that would normally exit into outer space. Much focus has additionally been placed on the causes of this phenomenon, such as the burning of fossil fuels, using coal-fired power plants, and deforestation. The purpose of this research is to discuss how carbon dioxide emissions can be reduced by the use of carbon sequestration. The significant challenge being addressed by this …

The Meaningless Of Life, Michael Bergbauer

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Humankind has traditionally, throughout the ages, attempted to apply a meaning to its existence and believed that existence in and of itself, is a beautiful thing. In the spirit of Modernism, Beckett breaks with this tradition by asserting that existence is a bleak and squalid thing that has no meaning through his plays Waiting for Godot and Endgame. An analysis of these two plays reveals that life is inherently meaningless, but value in life is created by man by affirming it and practicing it. The reason the characters in Beckett’s plays are so miserable is because they take no …

Emotional Influences On Cognitive Processing In Hiv-Infected Women, Kristen Dealmeida, Lara Murphy

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Although emotional impairment and cognitive decline are both commonly observed in HIV positive individuals, it is currently unclear how these two states influence each other. Poor performance on a cognitive task is often attributed to cognitive deficits when the root problem lies in emotional disturbances, particularly for HIV-infected women. Here, we propose to begin to untangle this complex relationship by assessing cognitive functioning while we simultaneously manipulate emotional state through the use of emotionally negative or neutral pictures. We will use electroencephalographic (EEG) event related brain potentials (ERPs) as the primary index of the influence of emotional processing on cognitive …

Shipping Out: The Effects Of Outsourcing, Kristen Franchy, Morgan Mcwhorter, Caroling Lugg, Vanessa Palacios

Undergraduate Student Symposium

The purpose of this research was to define and explain the process of outsourcing by providing examples and focusing on the pros and cons as well as the short and long term effects. Possible solutions and the role of outsourcing in the future were also discussed. Outsourcing is when a company would rather hire workers from an external source to perform certain tasks in order to achieve full benefit of their capital. Businesses that outsource save money by hiring workers that will work for lower pay. These new workers may be less skilled and are able to perform the simpler …

Cbap Chronicle - Vol. 2, No. 3, Nova Southeastern University College Of Osteopathic Medicine

IDEP Newsletters

No abstract provided.

The Current Volume 18: Issue 21, Nova Southeastern University

Student Newspapers

No abstract provided.

The Current Volume 18: Issue 20, Nova Southeastern University

Student Newspapers

No abstract provided.

2008 Nsu Fact Book, Nova Southeastern University

NSU Fact Book

This 16th edition of the Nova Southeastern University Fact Book reflects expanding body of data and information that provides perspective on the university's character, growth, and accomplishments. The 2008 Fact Book continues to provide narrative, numeric, and graphic representation of the university, including history, characteristics, and developments of the institution, Data are presented in both tabular and graphic formats tp provide pertinent detail, and general trends highlighted.

When The Medium Illustrates The Content: Exploiting The Unique Features Of Online Communication , Julie Foertsch, Morton Ann Gernsbacher

Innovate: Journal of Online Education

No abstract provided.

V-Learning: How Gaming And Avatars Are Engaging Online Students , Len Annetta, Marta Klesath, Shawn Holmes

Innovate: Journal of Online Education

No abstract provided.