Digital Commons Network^™

I'Ll Give This A Try., Morgan Will

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Arothron meleagris is an obligate corallivorous pufferfish that scrapes tissue off the coral skeleton with its parrot-like beak. It is a common member of coral communities in the Galápagos Islands where it predominantly feeds on zooxanthellate scleractinian corals. The purpose of this study was to determine if there is a relationship between frequency of Arothron meleagris bite marks and location on ridged vs. smooth portions of massive Porites lobata colonies. Differences may then be related to greater feeding efficiency. Images of coral colonies that have A. meleagris bites were taken off of Darwin Island, Galápagos, Ecuador in 2012. These images …

Relationship Of Reactive Strength To Body Composition Measures In Elite American Football Players, Christopher Horn, Daniel Klahr

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Reactive strength (RS) represents function of a muscle’s stretch shortening cycle, or the ability torapidly change from an eccentric contraction to a concentric contraction. RS is important in sports requiring explosive movements such as cutting, jumping, sprinting, and is commonly a focus of strength and conditioning programs. RS may be influenced by body composition as lighter mass basketball players have shown superior RS over higher mass players. This relationship in elite American football players in unknown. Therefore, the purpose of the study was to determine if body mass (BM), lean body mass percent, (LBM), or fat mass percent (FM) were …

Screening For Type Iii Secretion System Inhibitors, Samir Nacer, Michael Mcdonough

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Commonly used antibiotics are becoming less effective since overuse creates a selective pressure forbacteria to become resistant, leading to the formation of “super bugs”. Some of these pathogenicbacteria include E. coli, Salmonella, Chlamydia and Yersinia species. These species utilize a type III secretion system (T3SS), which are needle-like structures on their surface used to inject host cells with toxins to evade our immune system and cause infection. The goal of this research was to screen for antimicrobials produced by soil bacteria that may target T3SSs. Many species of bacteria found in soil produce antimicrobials to compete for nutrients and space. …

Power Profiles Of Vertical And Drop Jumps In Elite American Football Players By Position, Daniel Klahr, Christopher Horn

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Athletes seeking to be drafted by the NFL must demonstrate peak performance on a test battery that includes jumping. Jumping is modulated by rate of force development, air-time, and time from initiating the jump to take-off, and indicates an athlete’s ability to produce power. Despite providing insightallowing for diagnosing jumping inefficiencies and/or to monitor training progressions, published data from NFL combine hopefuls is rare. Therefore, this descriptive study aims to present power components of selected jumping tasks in elite American football players training for the NFL combine. Thirty-one males (age, 22.5+0.8 yrs; ht, 1.86+0.08m; mass, 100.81+14.04kg) performed the following tests …

College Vitality As Measured By The Sehs-He And A Behavior Checklist Predicts Success In Diverse First-Year College Students, Sravya Emmadi, Tianna Harris

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Academic competence is tightly linked to social and emotional competence in first-year college students (Wyatt & Bloemker, 2013). The Social Emotional Health Survey, or SEHS-HE, assesses emotional intelligence as a measure of co-vitality, which is made up of four aspects: belief-in-self, belief-in-others, emotional competence, and engaged living (Furlong, You, Shishim & Dowdy, 2016). Emotional intelligence factors such as these have been shown to be essential for understanding the successful transition from high school to college, especially for ethnically diverse students (Brackett, Rivers, & Salovey, 2011). Persistence, retention, and academic achievement are all reliant on emotional intelligence skills and the SEHS-HE …

Bilingualism And Wandering Thoughts: Does Bilingualism Protect Against Mind Wandering?, Maria Morales, Jordana Arauz, Alejandra Quintero, Abraham Yacaman

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Previous research demonstrates that the benefits of speaking two languages extend beyond verbal communication to non-linguistic, executive function (EF) abilities. One component of EF, the ability to inhibit or ignore distracting information, has been shown to be better developed in bilinguals relative to monolinguals. However, little is known whether speaking two languages also enhances the ability to inhibit unwanted or intrusive thoughts. These intrusive thoughts, or mind wandering, have been shown to negatively impact performance on tasks of EF. Thus, the purpose of our study was to compare monolinguals and bilinguals on a self-report measure of mind wandering and performance …

Investigation And Characterization Of Metabolic Rates Of Angiotensin Ii And Associated Bioactive Derivatives In The Renin-Angiotensin System, Chelsea Mathews

Undergraduate Student Symposium

To maintain homeostasis, the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) works to regulate the cardiovascular, renal, respiratory, and neurological systems of the body through activation of both the vasoconstrictive and proliferative arm of ACE/Ang II/AT1R and the vasodilative and antiproliferative arm of ACE- 2/Ang(1-7)/Mas axis. To better understand their interaction, the components of the alternate RAS and the classical RAS in the homeostatic systems of the body are researched and analyzed. One of the significant constituents of the classical pathway is the octapeptide hormone angiotensin II (Ang II). It is a major contributor to vasoconstriction and peripheral vascular resistance through the activation of …

Investigating The Anti-Parasitic Veterinary Drug, Imizol, And Its Potential Use For Treatment Of Bacterial Infections, Michael Mcdonough

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Imizol is a veterinary drug used to treat protozoan, mainly Babesia spp., parasitic infections found in both horses and dogs. The active ingredient in this medicine is imidocarb dipropionate. This compound has traditionally been used in the veterinary field for treating parasitic infections; however, it has also been shown to inhibit the Yersinia pestis type III secretion system (T3SS) and therefore may have a dual-purpose as an antibacterial drug. T3SSs are found in several pathogenic bacteria and function as adefense against the host’s immune response. Although dipropionate is a known T3SS inhibitor, the exactmechanism it uses to inhibit the T3SS …

Impact Of Mdm2 Oncogene On Epithelial–Mesenchymal Transition And Metastasis Of Prostate Cancer Cells, Simran Agarwal, Deepthi Gangaram, Priya Dondapati

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Murine Double Minute 2 (MDM2) gene containing E3 ubiquitin ligase is overexpressed in nearly 40- 80% of late-stage metastatic cancers. MDM2 acts as a negative regulator of p53 by inhibiting its transcriptional activation and inducing proteasomal degradation by ubiquitination. Hence, MDM2 overexpression is often associated with increased Tumor Angiogenesis, Epithelial to Mesenchymal Transition (EMT), drug resistance, and aggressiveness. EMT is a morphologic cellular program simply defined as the phenotypic transition from an epithelial to a mesenchymal state, including gain of invasive and migratory properties, and thus, is critical for the conversion of early-stage tumors into metastatic malignancies. The primary focus …

Identifying Neuronal Damage Biomarkers In Bortezomib-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy (Bipn), Vineela Nagamalla, Jay Patel

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Multiple myeloma is the second most common hematological cancer of plasma cells. Bortezomib (BTZ) is a proteasome complex inhibitor commonly used as a chemotherapeutic agent to treat multiple myeloma patients. However, it also known to cause a dose-limiting toxicity known as BTZ-induced peripheral neuropathy (BIPN). The aim of this study is to determine the BTZ-induced neuronal damage, identifying biomarkers of neurotoxicity, and testing novel strategies for its prevention or reversal. In our preliminary studies, we utilized PC12 cells as the in vitro neuronal model. These studies included culturing and differentiating PC12 cells using nerve growth factor (NGF) at 100 ng/ml …

Examining The Effects Of Blue Light On Melatonin, Mood, And Neurobehavioral Performance, Reaghan May

Undergraduate Student Symposium

The pineal hormone melatonin can become dysregulated with evening light exposure and changes in sleep/wake behavior. Dysregulated melatonin is associated with impaired mood and cognitive performance. This study examines the effects of modifying short-wavelength (blue) light exposure on evening melatonin levels, sleep disturbances and self-reported mood. To that end, we are testing the effect of blocking blue light during the evening on salivary melatonin, sleep quality, cognitive performance, and mood. Participants undergo one control and one experimental condition involving the use of filtered glasses to attenuate blue wavelength light using a repeated measures, randomized crossover design. The control and experimental …

Effectiveness Of A Functional Movement Screen® Corrective Exercise Program As A Means Of Preventing Injury In Collegiate Swimmers, Lindsay Nicole Tactac

Undergraduate Student Symposium

The Functional Movement Screen® (FMS) is a test designed to identify asymmetries and dysfunctions in movement patterns with the goal of injury risk prevention. This screen and its subsequent corrective programming have potential to benefit collegiate swimmers in reducing the frequency of injuries. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of implementation of an FMS-basedcorrective exercise program on injury reduction in collegiate swimmers. 62 NCAA Division II male and female swimmers underwent FMS testing at their pre-participation examination in 8/2017. A significant interaction was found (χ2(1)=4.38, p=.036). 22.9% of 2016 swimmers (no corrective exercises) sustained an …

Developing A Molecular Model To Explain The Role Of O-Glcnac Transferase (Ogt) In O- Glcnacylation, Viviana Perez Hernandez, Sophia Nguyen, Alesa Chabbra

Undergraduate Student Symposium

O-GlcNAcylation is a post-translational modification similar in importance to the mechanism of phosphorylation in its ability to affect signal transduction. This process is mediated by the enzyme, O- GlcNAc transferase (OGT). OGT catalyzes the addition of the sugar, N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) from the carrier molecule uridine diphosphate N-acetylglucosamine (UDP-GlcNAc) to certain serine or threonine residues in more than a thousand target substrate proteins. The TAB1 (transforming growth factor-beta-activated kinase 1 binding protein) substrate was fused to OGT. GlcNAc was shown binding to three serine residues in TAB1. Six tetratricopeptide (TPR) repeats were identified. These alpha helical paired repeats fold together to …

Computational Flow Study Of A Simon Nitinol® Inferior Vena Cava Filter, Cheyenne Doyle, Kaija Ranglin, Felipe Souza, Nicole Staley

Undergraduate Student Symposium

More than 60,000 people die from pulmonary embolism every year in the US. Conventional treatments for embolisms include anti-coagulant drugs (Warfarin® or Heparin®), clot anti-thrombotic therapy (streptokinase®), bypass surgery, and thrombo-aspiration. In cases where the patient shows contraindication, failure or complication to anticoagulation drugs, the patient usually receives an inferior vena cava filter (IVCF). 8. Despite its increase in popularity, complete and exhaustive blood flow analysis need to be performed for scenarios that can lead to IVCFs failure. Such scenarios include basket over-filling and filter tilting, among others. In this study, we wanted to compare the behavior of blood flow …

Coupling Methods For 2,2’-Bipyridines As Precursors For Novel Ru-Bipyridine Complexes, Ava Pasnon, Sabrina Vasquez

Undergraduate Student Symposium

The project aims to streamline the synthesis of 2,2’-bipyridine adducts, so they can be quickly and conveniently synthesized as precursors for ligands in novel organometallic ruthenium complexes. Specifically, the compounds being synthesized are 4,4’-methylated and 5,5’-methylated, 2,2’- bipyridines. The synthesis requires the homocoupling of brominated pyridines in the presence of an air sensitive nickel catalyst. The methodology has been developed as to ensure an air-free environment by assembling the closed reaction chamber in a nitrogen glovebox. Additionally, the prior literature reported an equimolar, in situ generation of the nickel catalyst, but the efficacy of the catalyst has been increased by …

Death Related Thoughts: A Mortality Salience Study, Eddie Zacka, Alyssa Garcia, Chethani Chitraacharige, Kelsea Marchasll

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Being conscious of one’s inescapable death is a fundamental attribute of humankind; it is what separatesus from other species. Salience of our own mortality motivates individuals to behave in ways matching accepted cultural standards (Landau et al., 2004). Since mortality salience usually arouses anxiety, it has been suggested that individuals either suppress death-related thoughts following reminders of mortality or individuals increase thoughts not related to death to distract from death-related thoughts (Pyszczynski, Greenberg, & Solomon, 1999). To date, no study has tested this hypothesis. To examine this hypothesis, the current study randomly assigned participants to a mortality salience, negative life …

Mdm2 Inhibitors As Potential Anti-Cancer Agents For Treating Osteosarcoma, Veerkaran Banga, Roshan George

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Osteosarcoma (OS) is the most common type of bone cancer that affects thousands of young adults every year and requires immediate attention. One major regulatory pathway that is activated in cancer cells is the inhibitory interaction between Murine Double Minute 2 (MDM2)-p53 tumor suppressor gene. Hence, blocking the MDM2-p53 interaction has long been considered to offer a broad range of cancer therapeutic strategy. In this study, we determined the differential mechanism of apoptosis induced by the two small-molecule inhibitors of MDM2, RG-7388, and Nutlin-3, in SJSA-1 Osteosarcoma cells. Interestingly, RG-7388 was able to enhance the phosphorylation of anti-apoptotic protein Mcl-1 …

Multi-Decadal Assessment Of Heavy Metals In Body Tissue And Vibrissae Of Select North Pacific Marine Mammals, Tanya Juneja, Emily Pope

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Since the 1970s, marine mammal populations, including harbor seals (Phoca vitulina), northern fur seals (Callorhinus ursinus), Steller sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus) and northern sea otters (Enhydra lutris) in the northwest Pacific Ocean have undergone significant population changes. The effects of environmental contamination on marine mammal health are of concern related to population dynamics, yet limited information is available on heavy metal concentrations for these species. Archived vibrissae (whiskers) and body tissues from these four species were collected from the Bering Sea and throughout the Gulf of Alaska from 1990 to 2013. The concentrations of heavy metals (As, Cd, Cr, Co, …

Predicting Individual Differences In Thought Suppression, Wildline Nordelus, Mariana Brinkerhoff

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Thought suppression is the cognitive act of earnestly attempting to block out involuntary thoughts. Previous research has indicated that thought suppression is counterproductive and has negative mental and physical associations. The present research sought to examine the variables that may predict individual differences in trait levels of thought suppression. Specifically, we investigated whether trait level thought suppression could be predicted by mind wandering, religious faith (versus atheism/agnosticism), self-esteem, sex (male/female), socioeconomic status, and affect (positive/negative emotions). Participants included 203 NSU undergraduates (139 female), from 18 to 52 years of age (M = 19.9, SD = 4.42), who completed an online …

Pulmonary Embolism: Flow Analysis Of One-Degree Inferior Vena Cava Filters, Onesiphore Augustin, Ian Trotta, Keenan Kramer

Undergraduate Student Symposium

An estimated 200,000 deaths stem from pulmonary embolism (PE) annually, with most cases being caused by a condition known as deep vein thrombosis. Inferior Vena Cava Filters (IVCFs) were designed to reduce the risk of PE by hooking onto the IVC walls via surgical insertion and capturing the clot. In this project, we simulated and analyzed the average blood flow velocity of the IVCF containing a filter at different occlusion levels to determine any possible dangers and solutions associated with these levels. All simulations were performed using ANSYS CFX. The inlet’s normal velocity was set to5 cm/s. For the outlet, …

Quantitative Measurement Of Aversive Learning And Intoxication Rates In Caenorhabditis Elegans In Response To An Engineered Nematicidal Bacterium, Pallavi Velagapudi, Krunal Patel, Ashleigh Riddell

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Despite their global prevalence, there are very few strategies to prevent infections due to parasitic nematodes. Recent studies have shown that bacteria engineered using the principles of synthetic biology may serve as an alternative approach to intoxicating nematodes. While these engineered bacteria were initially shown to be relatively efficacious in intoxicating the model nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, the nematodes quickly learned to avoid the engineered bacteria through aversive associative learning. In this study, we sought to understand how associative aversive learning affects intoxication of C. elegansusing our engineered nematicidal bacteria. Towards this end, we tuned the rate of attractant production and …

Snap, Aidan Rivas, Michael Lynn

Undergraduate Student Symposium

The short film we are producing will be a narrative short film. The film follows the story of college student whose life deteriorates rapidly over the course of a week. The culmination of multiple conflicts causes prospective fear, anxiety, and despair. This leads him down a path of self-destruction, causing him to have epiphanies of what could have been had he corrected his course earlier. These bring about the anticipation of life change, but the end result is left to interpretation.

An inspiration for this project was the film The Graduate (1967) - The ending scene from this movie isthe …

Characterization Of Coastal Marina Fish Assemblages In South Florida Using An Observation- Class Rov, Louis-Pierre Rich

Undergraduate Student Symposium

The Florida Intracoastal Waterway is a highly trafficked system of canals connecting major ports to the interior of the state. Urban development along these canals has created manmade fish habitats such as pilings, walls, as well as floating docks and boats. Previous to development, these areas would have been natural estuarine habitats, such as mangrove thickets and seagrass beds. Estuarine fish assemblages in urbanized habitats have not been extensively studied in South Florida. Previous studies have used underwater visual surveys using SCUBA or snorkeling. However, this can be a hazardous undertaking in marinas due to boat traffic and the frequent …

A Simple Fixed–End Kundt’S Tube To Measure The Speed Of Sound In Air, Marquis Chapman

Undergraduate Student Symposium

We designed, developed, and tested a simple, yet robust, device to measure the speed of sound in air.The apparatus is based on modified Kundt’s tube that maintains a fixed length, in which the frequencyof standing sound waves is to be determined electronically using a microcontroller board (Arduino). The system works by emitting sound waves, at different frequencies, that are to be detected at the opposite end of the tube. Resonance is detected by measuring the phase difference between the emitted and received waves. To improve the accuracy of the calculations, the frequency of the sound waves is varied several times. …

Are Some Thoughts “Stickier” Than Others? Examining Emotionally Valenced Mind Wandering, Lindsay Craig, Biranna Thompson, Amanda Holtzman

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Mind wandering is when our thoughts drift away from the current task. These task unrelated thoughts (TUTs) may consume up to 50% of our waking hours (Killingsworth & Gilbert, 2010). The occurrence of TUTs results in poorer cognitive functioning and performance (Banks & Boals, 2016). However, the consequences of mind wandering are moderated by the emotional valence of the TUT, such that negatively valenced TUTs, but not positively valenced TUTs, predict poorer cognitive performance (Banks, Welhaf, Hood, Boals, & Tartar, 2016). One possible reason for the impact of negative TUTs isthat they are “stickier” than positively valenced TUTs. A cyclical …

Behavior Of Eastern Mosquitofish From Areas Of Varying Hydroperiod In The Everglades Ecosystem, Alexandra Cabanelas Bermudez

Undergraduate Student Symposium

We explored fish behavior and migration in the Everglades. During the wet season, most areas are inundated with water. However, during dry season many areas dry out forcing fish to locations with more permanent water. If the fish do not migrate to deeper areas they die by getting stranded or are eaten by birds. We were interested in understanding how the behavior of mosquitofish varies between different sites of varying hydroperiod. We hypothesized that fish from areas that dry annually would have adaptations increasing their likelihood of surviving the drydown. Lake Okeechobee does not dry out therefore we predicted that …

Investigating The Microbiota Of Stormwater Treatment Areas, Romany Harkas

Undergraduate Student Symposium

One of the negative impacts of agriculture is the imbalance of nutrients in the environment. Such an imbalance of nutrients allows nonnative species of plants and organisms to thrive and native species become out-competed in their natural ecosystem. In an effort to maintain and protect the natural ecosystem the South Florida Water Management District has constructed Stormwater Treatment Areas (STAs). STAs are artificial wetlands that remove nutrients that are foreign to the natural ecosystem from water before the water is returned to the ecosystem by utilizing aquatic plants to cleanse contaminants from water. Microorganisms certainly play a role in the …

Just Like You: The Reality Of Arab American Stereotypes, Maha Barakat

Undergraduate Student Symposium

This is a documentary short film which focuses on stereotypes surrounding the Arab community. Three different interviewees express their feelings and experiences on the matter. Popular opinions on topics such as religious terrorism, home life, and more are touched upon in this piece. In addition, the subjects go into detail on their personal beliefs and practices when it comes to their culture and religion. Home videos and candid shots are strung together to form an in-depth view of what it is really like to be a part of the Arab community.

Improvements In Test-Retest Variability Of Visual Field Testing By Censoring Results With Low Sensitivity In Retinitis Pigmentosa Patients, Anushka Mistry, Rakin Khan

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Purpose: Variability of visual field data in ocular disease patients is a significant challenge when monitoring for vision changes. Omitting points in severely damaged areas in glaucoma patients reduced test-retest variability. We tested whether this approach would yield similar findings in retinitis pigmentosa (RP) patients. Methods: 40 eyes of 20 RP patients with vision worse than 20/70 completed Humphrey visual fields, twice per visit, on 3 separate visits (6 fields per eye), with threshold values determined for 76 test points. 95% coefficients of repeatability (CR) were calculated for each eye for all threshold values (uncensored), and for points that only …

Impact Of Tas2r38 Gene And Taster Status On Adiposity And Dietary Behaviors, Kendall Jordan

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Previous research has suggested that genetic variation in sensitivity towards bitterness may impact food preferences (diet) and susceptibility to certain diseases. The ability to taste bitterness has been theorized as an evolutionary advantage. Sensitivity to bitterness is thought to be influenced by a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) on the TAS2R38 taste receptor gene (rs713598), the number of fungiform papillae (taste buds). People can be categorized as nontasters, tasters, and supertasters based on the number of fungiform papillae which impacts their ability to taste bitterness. The aim of the current study is to examine whether the number of fungiform papillae, the …