Digital Commons Network^™

The Effects Of Various Factors On The Prevalence Of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Behaviors In Undergraduate College Students, Nicole Hook, Lori Pantaleao, Ana Rodriguez, Vanessa Russo

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is an anxiety disorder characterized by intrusive and distressing thoughts, urges, and images, as well as repetitive behaviors aimed at decreasing the discomfort caused by these obsessive thoughts. (Anthony, Rachman, Richter, & Swinson, 1998). OCD is estimated to be the second most common psychiatric disorder in both children and adults. (Dell-Osso, Marazziti, Planner, & Presta, et al. 2003). The age of onset in within the college years, yet not many studies have focused on college age students. The study looks at the characteristics of OCD in undergraduate college students. We break the study down into four …

The Note: From A Child’S Heart, Angel Polk

Undergraduate Student Symposium

He passed her the note at recess. It took him a week just to write down exactly how he felt about her. How his knees weakened every time he saw her. How her mama knew exactly how much blue magic grease to put in her head without makin’ her hair all nasty lookin’. To him, that was amazing. Everyone noticed that about her, she was the only girl in Mrs. Johnson’s class not to have a head full of lint, or a face shining like fatback when the sun got hot. Dang she was pretty too. You can always tell …

The Catalytic Conversion Of Saccharides To 5-Hydroxymethyl-2- Furaldehyde (Hmf) – A Petroleum Source: A Comprehensive Study Into Understanding The Binding Of Model Saccharides With Lanthanum And Yttrium Complexes, Raquel Appa, Elaine Hammil

Undergraduate Student Symposium

There is a burgeoning interest to find new sources of petroleum, as this can alleviate oil prices and fossil fuel shortage concerns. Innovation can be focused on possibly converting wood to fuels, or chemical and industrial products. Saccharides have acquired significance industrially as a promising, suitable, and versatile carbon source for substituting petroleum; particularly, the catalytic conversion of saccharides to 5- hydroxymethyl-2-furaldehyde (HMF). Lanthanide (III) ions, (strong Lewis acids), are active catalysts for converting saccharides to HMF:

See full text PDF for molecular illustration.

Proficient lanthanide-catalysts that convert saccharides to HMF have potential impacts on energy and the environment. Consequently, …

Tetrahydrobiopterin: Potential Role In Treatment Of Phenylketonuria, Brianna Woods

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Phenylketonuria (PKU) is an autosomal recessive metabolic disease caused by a genetic mutation that inhibits the conversion of the amino acid phenylalanine (Phe) into tyrosine. PKU diagnosis is based on detection of high concentrations of Phe in the blood serum. When blood levels of Phe are too high (hyperphenylalaninemia), the condition is toxic and could lead to mental retardation, epilepsy or other neurological abnormalities. Some patients diagnosed with PKU are also defective in the production of or lack the ability to produce tetrahydrobiopterin (BH4) due to a genetic defect. BH4 is the cofactor for the enzyme phenylalanine hydroxylase (PAH), which …

National Or Private Health Care – What Is Best For The U.S., Stephanie Blair

Undergraduate Student Symposium

This paper discusses the differences between public and private health care and the outcomes each would have and has on the U.S. This paper also discusses the United States current health insurance system as well as the trends and where we may be headed in the future of health insurance. It observes the past, present and future of health insurance in the U.S. Currently the U.S. has a private healthcare system in which its citizens purchase insurance through a provider or if they cannot afford it or choose to not purchase it then they are uninsured. This paper also includes …

Primary Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension, Sally Caridi

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Primary Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PPAH) is a rare and progressive intrinsic disease of the pulmonary vascular smooth muscle and endothelial cells. PPAH is generated from a combination of abnormalities interacting at the cellular and molecular level. Since the ability of blood circulating through the lungs to pick up oxygen decreases, the patient experiences shortness of breath, fatigue, chest pain, dizzy spells, fainting, and even death if undiagnosed or untreated. Common abnormalities that can trigger PPAH involve endothelial cell dysfunction that disrupt a balance between vasoconstrictors and vasodilators, mutations in BMP/TGF-β protein structure that lead to cellular dysfunctions, and the interaction …

Information Technology Outsourcing: An Overview, Gisella Garcia

Undergraduate Student Symposium

This research project is to understand the different aspects about Information Technology (IT) Outsourcing and to become informed about the engine that drives the modern organization. The information technology outsourcing trend has become increasingly popular and heavily documented and studied in Europe and the US. The goal of this review is to address the different determinants of this issue, which are business competence causing major controversy during the past years. In addition, this paper provides with future visions on where IT outsourcing is heading.

Obesity And The U.S. Health Care System, Stephanie Rapaci

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Awareness of the impact of obesity on the individual as well as on the health care system has become a major topic of debate in recent years. Nearly two thirds of all American adults are overweight and over 30% are considered obese according to data from the 1999-2000 National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey. This same survey has estimated that the total costs of obesity are as high $117 billion with direct costs of $61 billion and indirect costs of $56 billion. Recent studies (2002) indicate that the direct costs of obesity have risen to $92.5 billion, which represents 9.1% …

Getting Into The Video Game Industry, Thomas Brown

Undergraduate Student Symposium

This research project was made to give high school students, or any one interested, information about getting into the Video Games Industry. The project is composed in website format and translated into three languages, to make it easy for high school students to access the information. While today we know more about the Video Game Industry, what it takes to make games, and what some of the jobs are in the gaming industry, there is still a lot of mystery about what it takes to get into the Video Game Industry. The researcher website reveals the mystery and shows high …

Cultural Perceptions Of Alcohol Use In Children And Adolescents, Dujon Chang

Undergraduate Student Symposium

The proposed project investigates how people’s attitudes toward alcohol consumption vary across ethnic groups. Previous research has clearly shown that patterns of alcohol use are influenced by a group’s norms and attitudes regarding alcohol use. Groups with more liberal attitudes toward alcohol consumption are more likely to have frequent heavy drinkers than groups with more conservative norms and attitudes (Caetano & Clark, 1999). The current study investigates how a group’s norms toward alcohol use extend and apply to the use of alcohol in children and adolescents. We designed a 30-item questionnaire on various eating and drinking habits in adults, adolescents …

A Cross-Cultural Perspective Of Cohabitation In Young Adults, Micaela Mercado

Undergraduate Student Symposium

The purpose of this study was to examine different perceptions, attitudes and values about cohabitation as present in male and female college students in two culturally different settings: South Florida and Bolivia. Cohabitation is defined as a couple living together in an intimate heterosexual union without being married. Most of the extant research examines attitudes toward cohabitation in middle-aged or elder adults after they have been in a cohabitating relationship for a few years. The present study investigates how young adults perceive cohabitation prior to entering a long-term relationship. The data was collected in both Florida and La Paz, Bolivia. …

Social Security, How Do We Make It Secure Now And For Generations To Come, Cheryl Clayton

Undergraduate Student Symposium

What is the purpose of Social Security? According to the testimony of Robert Greenstein, Executive Director, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities before the Senate finance Committee on February 9, 1999, “...the Treasury takes the surplus payroll tax revenues the Social Security Trust Fund is receiving each year and provides the trust fund with Treasury bonds in return. The third problem threatening the future of Social Security, as the 2004 Social Security Administration Trustees report tells us, is that the interest return on these bonds, is a mere 6 percent. In his February 12, 2005 radio address, the President states …

Saving Cranes, Cheryl Clayton

Undergraduate Student Symposium

I am the stuff magic is made of. I am as old as the hills. My home spans from the Arctic Tundra to the South African Veld and I, I am over sixty million years old. My whistles bring courage to the Crow and Cheyenne warriors of North America and my dance is the dance of the tribes of Australia and Siberia. I am the illustrious Crane whose size and looks have inspired humans for thousands of years. (Crane Music, Paul A. Johnsgard)

The Whooping Crane is the rarest of the world’s 15 Crane species. As of August …

Rethinking Turner’S Thesis, Vien Tran

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Turner’s Thesis is a theory that explains various aspects of contemporary American society with respect to the development of the Western frontier. This paper highlights some major ideas in Turner’s Thesis, such as how Americans evolved from their European ancestors, how some of them acquired their rugged individualism, and how democracy was preserved etc. within the context of life in the West. This paper also examines the challenges to Turner’s Thesis posed by modern historians based on new interpretations of historical events.

Take Back The Night, Danielle Garcia

Undergraduate Student Symposium

A newspaper article covering the emotional Take Back The Night, an event from Unity Week, at Nova Southeastern University. Take Back The Night united students in an effort to educate each other about violent acts against humanity. The article covers all the important guest speakers and traditions that take place during Take Back The Night. The rally included an informatal session, an open mic piece, and a campus march where students were able to shout out their feelings. The article itself tries to capture the strength of the rally and uses photographs to promote the message.

One Night In Mexico, Alaina Siminovsky

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Suspense is uniquely utilized in this short story. You may think one this is occurring, but the opposite may too be in the works. A man and a woman are both in Mexico for Halloween. Festivities surround them as he slowly moves toward where she is, plotting in his mind. She waits, unknowing what is about to unfold. What is? Don’t be fooled by the unconventional use of words.

Perpetuating Pre-Feminist Ideals, Alaina Siminovsky

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Society escapes the drudge of everyday through film. Young girls often attempt to emulate what they see on the big screen. Everyday films that are geared toward the younger female audience often champion pre-feminist ideals. Even films that are meant to empower women do so only by reaffirming a stereotypical feminine character or by allowing them to achieve something in the context of winning acceptance from a man, typically a father figure. This sort of story line reinforces the necessity of male acceptance and entirely disregards feminism. With the plethora of films being released on this subject, the writer sought …

Quien Eres?, Emily Tolzien

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Soy un estudiante

por diez y seis anos,

way too long!

I’ve stayed up

muchas noches

para tomar una nota Buena

en la clase de espanol,

but still I’m not bilingual.

Spanish Class Play, Nika Ferdowsi, Sheree Leger, Tatiana Fabricio, Danielle Garcia, Taylor Liput, Diane Klein, Juliet Tamez, Keith Dixon

Undergraduate Student Symposium

A spanglish motivated play that will have a humorous as well as a critical taste to obesity. The setting of the play will be an exercise class, and the protagonists will be the obese.

Spanish Play, Medha Gandhi, Keith Dixon, Megan Chin

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Bilingual Presentation

My Vagina Was My Village, Jaymie Brooks

Undergraduate Student Symposium

For literary performance presentations, I will be performing an excerpt from theVagina Monologues called “My Vagina Was My Village.” This monologue piece is about a Bohemian woman representing all the Bohemian women who were allowed to be sexually assaulted, or raped by the enemy soldiers as a tactic of war. This is one woman’s story on her experience when she was interviewed by the author of the Vagina Monologues Eva Ensler.

Introspective Narcissist, Alaina Siminovsky

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Through the heavy use of descriptions this story traces the internal conflict of a concerned protagonist. Self-discovery and realization are themes throughout. Attempted withdrawal from society and the creation of a self pariah based on sever disillusionment strike the antagonist and the protagonist expressed concern. Resolution occurs in an unexpected fashion at the story’s close.

Depth Of A Darkened Soul, Earl Tinsley

Undergraduate Student Symposium

This poetic piece describes the feelings and actions associated with one of the most challenging emotions in any human beings’ life - loneliness. This selection goes into great detail about the epicenter of the author’s loneliness and how it takes the joy out of commitments that are otherwise maintained to occupy time not spent wallowing in their own self despair. It also explains how this feeling of loneliness takes over your overall demeanor, distorting your eyes, your voice, your mind and your very soul. Like the selection reads, “Loneliness is a reality that grows and increases with age.” In fact, …

Shock Collar: Love Hurts?, Vien Tran

Undergraduate Student Symposium

This is a persuasive policy speech aiming at reducing the usage of shock collar, an electronic device to stop dogs from barking. The problem with shock collar is that it produces undesirable results, such as instilling fear in the animals or increasing their aggressive behaviors. This speech calls for moderate intervention from the state government, like requiring a license for possessing shock collars, and attempts to persuade the audience to help by keeping the public informed about the ineffectiveness of shock collars.

Rna Analysis Prior To Use In Microarrays, Zakiat Darojat

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Extracting RNA from an organism and isolation of mRNA is an intermediate step done prior to its use in further applications. Therefore, assessment of RNA presence, including its quality is important. There are many techniques that are currently available; however, they can be time consuming or sample consuming. The purpose of this experiment was to determine an efficient way to assess RNA prior to using the sample in a microarray-based study. Twenty hours after Saccharomyces cerevisiae was plated on YEPD media, RNA was extracted using Ambion’s RiboPure Yeast Kit. Different protocols were examined to determine an efficient way to analyze …

Cosmic Ray Telescope, Andrew Barry, Rezwan Alam, Adriana Ardeljan, Moataz Behairy, Fahd Sattar, Sally Gaertner, Shweta Shah

Undergraduate Student Symposium

The purpose of this project was to construct an apparatus known as a “Cosmic Ray Telescope” and use it to detect cosmic ray activity by detecting the frequency and intensity of muon emittance by these cosmic rays. Muons are subatomic particles that travel at relativistic speeds and contribute to a harmless amount of “background radiation” originating from outer space. The presence of this radiation was first recorded in 1911 by Austrian physicist Victor Hess during a series of experiments with a Geiger counter in a hot air balloon to detect the radiation at that elevation level. This project has similar …

Do Cells Grown In The Same Environment At The Same Time Express The Same Genes: Got Cdna?, Maria Farrell

Undergraduate Student Symposium

An innovative and powerful tool for analyzing gene expression is the microarray. In this experiment, Saccharomyces cerevisiae (yeast cells) were examined to determine whether gene expression would be similar for two samples grown in the same environment. RNA was extracted and its quality and quantity was assessed. cDNA was made from the mRNA (taken from the total RNA sample) and its subsequent presence was verified by amplifying a known gene that should always be expressed, TDH1, and visualizing it on an agarose gel. The cDNA samples were labeled with the appropriate fluorescent dyes and hybridized to the array. The slide …

The Roaring Twenties?, Tahira Omphroy

Undergraduate Student Symposium

The “roaring twenties” is remembered as an era of good times and prosperity. While this is true, there were serious problems under the surface. Prohibition, an attempt to end vice in society, led to the rise of organized crime in America. The National Origins Act of 1924 sought to curb immigration trends and further Nativist attitudes. Both actions served as a contrast to the positive feeling of the 1920s.

Application Of Culture Manipulation To Investigate Life Histories, Diversity And Ubiquity Of Naked Amoebae From Mangroves, Justine Ben-Hain, Sophie Buzgon, Tatianna Vassilopoulos

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Three high school students from the University School of NSU manipulated cultures of mangrove amoebae to investigate the hypothesis that naked filose amoebae are actually stages in the life cycle of dinoflagellates. As these protists have been implicated in harmful algal blooms, any new information concerning their life histories would help to develop successful models for predicting bloom events. Additional objectives of the culture manipulation trials include the identification of emerging species, naming and describing of novel species, and enumeration of the diversity of species found under a variety of culture conditions. This final aspect addresses the hypothesis that most, …

American History Between The Civil War And World War Ii, Marco Meier

Undergraduate Student Symposium

This historical analysis will describe historical events between the end of the Civil War in 1865 and the beginning of World War II. Social as well as economic changes revolutionized America significantly. This paper is a journey from the end of slavery and domestic Reconstruction to a country that enters major wars in order to fight for freedom throughout the entire world.