Digital Commons Network^™

Evaluting Practical Limitations Of Signal Detection Theory In Clinical Behavioral Research, Xinlei Zhang, Prarthana Harikrishnan

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Deficits in inhibitory control - the ability to suppress automatic, impulsive responses - has been widely considered as a potential biomarker for mental health disorders. Signal Detection Theory (SDT) has provided a systematic measurement method for inhibitory control in clinical behavioral assessment. To evaluate the feasibility of inhibitory control as a biomarker, researchers have used meta-analysis to examine its effect size (Hedge's g) in differentiating between individuals with mental health disorders and healthy controls. Values of g>0.8 indicate that inhibitory control may serve as a clinically useful biomarker for distinguishing patients from healthy individuals, whereas g<0.8 suggests limited clinical utility. However, our study found that a limitation of SDT - its lack of reliability when participants show perfect performance - would lead to distorted and misleading results when evaluating the efficacy of inhibitory control as a biomarker. In our computational simulation, we found that when applying SDT to a clinically useful biomarker (for example, true effect size g = …

Sexual Dimorphism In Physiological, Metabolic, And Hypothalamic Alterations In The Tg-Swdi Mouse Model Of Alzheimer's Disease, Yingying Zhu, Ariana Hernandez, Natalia Noto, Victoria Pulido-Correa, Chana Vogel, Julianna Bonetti

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder affecting 55 million people worldwide. Cognitive disruptions, linked to pathology in the hippocampus and cortical areas, are frequently observed in individuals with late manifestation of AD; however, non-cognitive dysfunctions, which contribute to poor quality of life and survival, are often overlooked. The hypothalamus plays a role in regulating homeostatic functions such as hunger, thirst, sleep, and blood pressure. The coordinated activity of hypothalamic regions such as the paraventricular nucleus, arcuate nucleus, ventromedial nucleus, dorsomedial nucleus, and lateral hypothalamus are crucial in maintaining metabolic homeostasis and neuroendocrine processes. Dysregulation of these processes has been …

Discovery And Genome Annotation Of Tuti And Charminar: Two Newly Discovered Gordonia Rubripertincta Bacteriophages, Tracey Alexis, Melissa Bassily, Jayden Courtney, Tamanna Dipen Shah, Javier Estepa, Malak Gadelkarim, Wayne Jean-Baptiste, Elias Leyes, Anushka Malay, Mackenzie Nezat, Mahisvi Vemulapalli

Undergraduate Student Symposium

As the most abundant organisms, bacteria are both beneficial and harmful, highlighting the significance of regulating their growth. Bacteriophages (phages) are ubiquitous viruses that require a host bacterial organism for replication, making them an essential component of the microbial ecosystem and used as tools for killing bacteria. Since their discovery in 1915, phages have been used in real-world applications including alternatives to antibiotics, diagnostic agents, pest control in agriculture, wastewater treatment, and bioremediation. Since bacteriophages remain mostly undiscovered, continued isolation and genetic characterization of novel phages are essential for advancing scientific knowledge and potential applications. Through Nova Southeastern University's SEA-PHAGES …

Repetitive Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Exacerbates Cognitive Deficits In A Mouse Model Of Cerebral Amyloid Angiopathy, Lauren Rosenberg, Victoria Pullido-Correa, Ariana Hernandez, Chana Vogel, Bianca Echeverria, Iliana Uribe

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) affects around 69 million people each year, with mild TBIs (mTBIs) making up the majority of cases. These injuries, often sustained during contact sports, military service, or incidents of domestic violence, typically involve brief or no loss of consciousness and few immediate symptoms. However, repeated occurrences significantly elevate the risk for long-term complications, including dementia. While repetitive in mTBI is strongly linked to chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) and Alzheimer's disease (AD), the relationship with cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA), characterized by the accumulation of amyloid peptides in the cerebral vasculature, remains understudied. Given that CAA significantly contributes …

Addressing Burnout In Medical Education: A Meta-Analysis Of Florida Medical School, Riddhi Banjeree

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Burnout and mental health issues in medical students in the United States have become increasingly prominent -- posing challenges for student well-being, patient care, and the future of the physician workforce. Burnout is characterized by emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and a loss of personal accomplishment. These traits can develop early in med school, perpetuate throughout their training years, and are reinforced by demanding academic workloads, competitive exams, and emotionally taxing clinical experiences. The purpose of this project is to examine mental health, counseling, and wellness resources offered across eight medical schools in Florida - U Miami, UCF, UF, USF, FAU, FIU, …

Virtual Reefscapes: Modeling Fish Abundance On Artificial And Natural Reefs In Broward County, Jesse Caruana Snachkus

Undergraduate Student Symposium

This project involved constructing a VR simulation of fish abundance on artificial and natural reefs in Broward County. Two environments, SS Tracey, and a section of the Florida Reef Tract, were created to highlight ecological differences between artificial and natural reef habitats. All environments and species models were designed in Blender, a 3D modeling software, and each fish species was animated to showcase naturalistic behavior. The completed assets were then assembled in VR using the Open Brush application. This project integrates art, technology, and ecology to make marine environments more accessible and engaging for a wide audience. A combination of …

Gathering College Students' Interests In Bone Health By Promoting Vitamin K2 Consumption, Nida Haider

Undergraduate Student Symposium

The human skeleton requires constant sources of nutrients (calcium, vitamin D3, vitamin K) for bone remodeling, maintaining bone mass, and bone density. While there is existing evidence regarding the benefits of calcium and vitamin D3 on bone health, there have been recent studies of the effects of vitamin K derivatives (vitamins K1 and K2) on bone maintenance. The growing popularity of the new over-the-counter supplement named "Vitamin D3 + K2" has initiated our interest in a deeper understanding of the mechanisms of the vitamin K derivatives' roles in bone health regulation. Vitamin K is a fat-soluble vitamin that naturally exists …

Investigating The Structural And Functional Roles Of Transcriptionally Active Rice Transposons, Eimaan Admad

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Transposable elements (TEs) are crucial contributors to genome dynamics, evolution, gene structure, and regulation of gene expression. Once considered "junk DNA," TEs are now recognized for their significant roles in genome function and organization. TEs are epigenetically regulated through chromatin modifications, genomic imprinting, and the production of small RNAs and long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), which in turn can influence gene expression. Despite a wealth of data from sequencing projects advancing TE research, their large size—often exceeding the read lengths of many sequencing platforms—has limited comprehensive analysis. Moreover, the high copy number and sequence similarity (often >80%) within TE families can …

Environmental Exposure And Neighborhood Change: A Longitudinal Study Of Little Haiti, Miami, Joshua Dumond

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Urban development trends in coastal cities are increasingly impacted by environmental characteristics like elevation. As individuals and businesses residing near the coast move inland to escape rising sea levels, climate-resilient communities may begin to experience increased housing market trends and real estate investment. This longitudinal, retrospective study investigates how elevation influences the housing market in higher-ground communities, with a focus on the Little Haiti neighborhood in Miami, Florida, while also describing changes in demographic characteristics over time. Census tracts within Little Haiti were used as the unit of analysis for this study while using the U.S. Geological Survey Data to …

Evaluating Item Discrimination And Gender-Based Differential Item Functioning In Safe Sex Behavior Questionnaire (Ssbq), Prarthana Harikrishnan, Xinlei Zhang, Hannah Scheffer

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Risky sexual behavior can increase rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), posing a danger to the health of young adults. The Safe Sex Behavior Questionnaire (SSBQ; Dilorio et al., 1992) is a widely used measure to assess risky sexual behaviors among young adults. However, few studies have evaluated the psychometric properties of the SSBQ, such as how well the survey items discriminate between individuals who engage in safer versus riskier sexual behaviors (discrimination), and whether the items function equivalently for men versus women (differential item functioning). In the current study, we applied psychometric modeling to a dataset of 1,094 young …

Ketone Bodies As Regulators Of Cardiac Energy Metabolism And Cardiovascular Signaling, Eera Mehrota, Anika Singh, Meghana Divi, Cynthia Chamoun, Samiksha Chemukula

Undergraduate Student Symposium

The heart has a high and continuous energy demand and depends on metabolic flexibility to maintain function under both physiological and pathological conditions. Ketone bodies, particularly β-hydroxybutyrate, have emerged as important alternative fuels for the myocardium and as biologically active signaling molecules. This review examines how ketone bodies support cardiac energy metabolism and regulate vascular and myocardial biology through intracellular signaling pathways. A narrative synthesis of peer-reviewed literature was conducted, focusing on ketone utilization in healthy and diseased hearts, metabolic remodeling in heart failure, and the non-energetic signaling roles of ketone bodies in cardiovascular tissues. Evidence indicates that ketone bodies …

The Halmos Pulse, Spring 2026, Dahlilah Bernstein

The Halmos Pulse

No abstract provided.

Streptococcus Mutans And The Plaque Microbiome: Implications For Targeted Therapies For Dental Caries, Cooper Barton, Navi Gill Dhillon

Bioinformatics

Abstract:

Dental caries is a highly prevalent, biofilm-mediated disease driven by dysbiosis within the supragingival plaque microbiome. Although Streptococcus mutans has traditionally been regarded as a primary cariogenic pathogen, advances in microbiome research underscore the importance of community-level interactions and collective metabolic activity in disease progression. This literature review synthesizes current evidence on the ecological role of S. mutans, the functional dynamics of plaque biofilms, and emerging therapeutic strategies targeting cariogenic microbiomes. Metagenomic and metatranscriptomic analyses indicate that caries is characterized by reduced microbial diversity and a shift toward acidogenic and aciduric metabolic pathways across the microbial community. Furthermore, …

Sharksrx Newsletter Spring 2026, Nova Southeastern University

NSU Sharks Rx

No abstract provided.

Targeting The Metabolic-Neurodegenerative Axis: In Silico Repurposing Of Fda-Approved Pleiotropic Metabolic Modulators For Alzheimer's Tau Protein, Maanya Chitrapu, Juhi Vora

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Extensive research has established a link between insulin deficiency and insulin resistance and Alzheimer's Disease (AD) type-neurodegeneration, coining it "Type 3 Diabetes". While research typically focuses on glucose regulation, the comparative structural efficacy of broader metabolic agents against neuropathology remains distinctively underexplored. This study addresses this gap by performing a novel in silico comparison of three drug classes (Glucose, Lipid, and Cardio-Metabolic regulators) to identify superior scaffolds for obstructing the pathological Tau protein, which plays a major role in causing AD through its hyperphosphorylation. The Tau paired helical filament (PDB ID: 5O3L) was retrieved from the RCSB Protein Data Bank. …

Genetic Diversity Of Invasive Grey-Headed Swamphens In Florida Compared To Native Gallinules, Monica Maurer

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Invasive species outcompete native ones and threaten ecosystem stability. The grey-headed swamphen (Porphyrio poliocephalus), established in southeast Florida since 1996, continues to expand into the northern Everglades and Lake Okeechobee despite prior eradication attempts. This study is comparing the genetic diversity of invasive grey-headed swamphens to the genetic diversity of native purple (P. martinica) and common (Gallinula galeata) gallinules to better understand invasion history, competitive potential, and ecosystem impacts. Muscle tissue samples of P. porphyrio collected by the Florida Museum of Natural History from 1999-2023 and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) …

University Oral Hygiene Behaviors Compared To The National Population, Noura Naami, Jordan Monteiro, Trisha Jois

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Maintaining optimal oral health is essential for preventing dental caries, periodontal disease, and systemic complications. However, the combined effects of brushing, flossing, and mouthwash, which are common oral practices, remain incompletely understood. While each practice has been studied individually, there is limited data existing that evaluates how different brands and the frequency of use interact to influence the oral environment. In this study, we use a cohort of 40 university aged individuals to examine oral hygiene behaviors compared to the general U.S. population. In regard to flossing, national data suggests that this behavior is the least consistently utilized method of …

The Effects Of Gender Crime Congruency On Jurors' Decisions And Confidence, Elizabeth Avila

Undergraduate Student Symposium

A basic principle of the U.S. court system is that every individual has the right to a fair and unbiased trial. While this is the ideal, it is not always reality. Jurors come in with their own beliefs and attitudes before the trial starts. These preconceived beliefs can jeopardize the integrity of the trial. An example of these beliefs is gender stereotypes. Gender stereotypes can influence a juror's attitude towards a defendant, to either have a more negative or positive view on whether the defendant's gender matched the nature of their crime. This is called gender crime congruency. In this …

Discovery And Genome Annotation Of Tuti And Charminar: Two Newly Discovered Gordonia Rubripertincta Bacteriophages

Undergraduate Student Symposium

As the most abundant organisms, bacteria are both beneficial and harmful, highlighting the significance of regulating their growth. Bacteriophages (phages) are ubiquitous viruses that require a host bacterial organism for replication, making them an essential component of the microbial ecosystem and used as tools for killing bacteria. Since their discovery in 1915, phages have been used in real-world applications including alternatives to antibiotics, diagnostic agents, pest control in agriculture, wastewater treatment, and bioremediation. Since bacteriophages remain mostly undiscovered, continued isolation and genetic characterization of novel phages are essential for advancing scientific knowledge and potential applications. Through Nova Southeastern University's SEA-PHAGES …

Exercise As An Intervention Against Neuroinflammation During Binge Drinking Withdrawal, Shaina Binu, Ellie Wind, Ariana Hernandez, Iliana Uribe, Victoria Pulido-Correa

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Binge drinking, a public health concern in the United States, is associated with negative emotional and cognitive effects during alcohol withdrawal. These effects are believed to result from changes in brain regions involved in stress regulation, emotion, and decision-making, including the prefrontal cortex, amygdala, and hippocampus. Alcohol exposure has been shown to increase neuroinflammation in these regions, which may contribute to anxiety-like behaviors and difficulty regulating emotions during withdrawal. In contrast, aerobic exercise is a promising non-pharmacological intervention that has been shown to reduce anxiety and support brain health. This project investigates how exercise can reduce withdrawal-related anxiety-like behaviors, following …

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation For Substance Use Disorder, Sarah Defrant

Undergraduate Student Symposium

This review evaluates transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) as a supplemental intervention for decreasing substance use disorder (SUD) relapse rates by synthesizing understandings of neurobiological mechanisms and clinical outcomes. TMS stimulates the activity of neural cells in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), a small portion of the prefrontal cortex that houses impulse control and decision-making skills. This leads to improved neuroplasticity and dopamine regulation, both of which are disrupted by unregulated substance use. Although TMS is not FDA-approved for substance use disorder, the neurobiological similarities between SUD and its comorbidities like major depressive disorder or anxiety highlight TMS's theoretical potential to …

Proximal Power Gains In Football: Position-Specific Adaptations Revealed Through Compositional Data Analysis, Isabella Estrada Hernandez, Alyana Andal

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Training-induced adaptations in joint power distribution during speed running may enhance performance, but how these changes manifest across different American football position groups remains poorly understood. We investigated the influence of training and player position on joint power composition among players training for the National Football League draft. Forty-eight draft-eligible players performed pre- and post-training camp running trials at 23.4 km/h. We used motion capture software and MATLAB to calculate bilateral peak hip, knee, and ankle joint power. Compositional data analysis (CoDA) was used, in which positive/generated and negative/absorbed power compositions were expressed as isometric log-rations: hip versus knee + …

Baseline Emotional Valence Predicts Subsequent Executive Function Task Performance, Andrea Fajardo Aguilar, Alyssa Harris, Isidora Varas-Sanchez, Julia Ribeiro, Dylan Kuni

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Executive functioning (EF) supports goal-directed behavior and is influenced by affective state. While prior research has largely focused on the effects of emotional valence during task performance, less is known about the influence of pre-task self-reported valence on subsequent EF performance. Our ongoing study will examine whether self-reported ratings of emotional valence assessed prior to the start of a task will predict performance. Participants will report valence ratings during a resting baseline period before performing two EF tasks: the Vertical Stroop and the Go/No-Go. Performance will be assessed using reaction time and accuracy. Regression analyses will be conducted to …

Comparison Of Bacteria From Varied Soils With Potential Antimicrobial Activity, Nicole Nesterovitch, Nyobi Fleming, Andrew Sourial

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Antibiotic resistance is increasing at a rate that surpasses the discovery and development of new antimicrobial compounds, creating a widening resistance-innovation gap that poses a global public health concern. To address this need for new antibiotic-producing organisms, we partnered with Tiny Earth, a global initiative that engages students in antibiotic discovery through soil sample collection, bacterial isolation, and antimicrobial screening. We isolated bacteria from local soil in Davie, Florida as well as soil from the White River Badlands, South Dakota with the hypothesis that distinct soil conditions may yield different antimicrobial producers with varied activity and chemical profiles. 42 unique …

Assessing Recovery In Collegiate Swimmers Through Wearable Technology, Sara Quintero

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Collegiate swimmers face extreme physiological demands during high-intensity training phases like "Hell Week," a winter training intensive loading microcycle, that makes recovery monitoring critical for maintaining performance. This study investigated the relationship between sleep quality and recovery markers. Specifically, Heart Rate Variability (HRV) and Resting Heart Rate (RHR), in nine female collegiate swimmers (ages 19-23) across all collegiate years. Participants included sprinters, mid-distance, and distance swimmers, leading to varied total yardage across training groups. Over an eight-day period (seven training days and one rest day), data was collected via screenshots from Garmin (n=4) and WHOOP (n=5) wearable devices. Metrics included …

Developing New Digital Methods To Study And Improve Eyewitness Testimony, Isabella Ryan, Brianna Munoz, Adam Durnin, Tanya Schrader, Joana Vinagre

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Witnesses play a crucial role in criminal investigations. However, their ability to recall important details is influenced by cognitive processes such as memory. To improve eyewitness testimony, psychologists developed science-based interviewing techniques, such as the Cognitive Interview, which are used by police to elicit accurate accounts. We also created new retrieval strategies, namely the Category Clustering Recall (CCR), which has been implemented by agencies such as the Los Angeles Police Department. However, research supporting the use of these techniques predominantly used the mock-witness paradigm, where participants observed a mock-crime on a two-dimensional (2D) screen and recalled it in a controlled …

Group Differences In Conflict Processing Between Bilinguals And Monolinguals, Isidora Varas-Sanchez, Dylan Kuni, Julia Ribeiro, Andrea Fajardo Aguilar, Alyssa Harris

Undergraduate Student Symposium

There is an ongoing debate in the literature on the existence of a bilingual advantage on tests of attention. Hypothetically, bilinguals have an advantage over monolinguals on tests of attention because both attention and language control share the same inhibitory mechanism. Because bilinguals engage this mechanism more often than monolinguals, inhibitory control is believed to be stronger and confer an advantage. However, research findings on the bilingual advantage are inconsistent and attempts to reproduce prior results have sometimes failed. The argument is that studies may have failed to capture the important aspects of language linked to attention. Prior research from …

“Always Having To Dampen And Dilute My Essence In Order To Fit”: Intersectional Experiences Of Queer Scholars Of Color In Stem And Stem Education, Nuria Jaumot-Pascual, Lisette Torres-Gerald, Maria Ong

The Qualitative Report

This article examines the intersectional experiences of queer scholars of color in STEM and STEM education. Using arts-informed research methods, we conducted and analyzed five interviews and a focus group transcript that focused on the support and hurdles that five participants encountered and the strategies they utilized to navigate their work in STEM and STEM education. We identified that, against the backdrop of prevailing heteronormativity and normative whiteness in STEM, participants compartmentalized their STEM and social identities, felt compelled to negotiate the risks of coming out, and assumed the double burden and invisible work of students who were queer and/or …

The Current - Volume 36 Issue 8, Nova Southeastern University

Student Newspapers

No abstract provided.

Spiny Dogfish (Sqaulus Acanthias) Jaw, Courtney R. Schober, Sophia R. Oliveira, David W. Kerstetter

All Scans: Kerstetter Fisheries and Avian Ecology 3D Scan Series

No abstract provided.