Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Digital Commons Network™

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Nova Southeastern University

Discipline
Keyword
Publication Year
Publication
Publication Type
File Type

Articles 3601 - 3630 of 7452

Full-Text Articles in Entire DC Network

Defining Success: Developing An Effective Grassroots Mobilization Strategy, Nucleus Shelton Apr 2016

Defining Success: Developing An Effective Grassroots Mobilization Strategy, Nucleus Shelton

Undergraduate Student Symposium

The ability of citizens to petition elected officials for the purpose of redressing grievances are essential tenets to any functioning democracy. This research focuses on examining the divergent political outcomes of the Taxed Enough Already (TEA) Party and the Occupy Wall Street movement. The research seeks to understand why was one able to produce viable political candidates and gain considerable influence over the American political system, while the other withered away into the history of American politics. The researcher emphasizes different aspects of grassroots politics including framing, organizational structure, and resource mobilization. The research is conducted as a qualitative empirical …

Go to article

Detection Of Lagenidium Giganteum In Plant Axil Metagenomes, Paula Leoro Garzon, Andrew Gonedes, Gregory Edwards, Isabel Olivera Apr 2016

Detection Of Lagenidium Giganteum In Plant Axil Metagenomes, Paula Leoro Garzon, Andrew Gonedes, Gregory Edwards, Isabel Olivera

Undergraduate Student Symposium

The entomopathogenic oomycete Lagenidium giganteum is known to infect and kill mosquito larvae and therefore has been seen as a potential biological control agent against disease vector mosquitoes. Phylogenetic analyses have consistently demonstrated that L. giganteum is a close relative to plant pathogens (Phytophthora and Pythium spp.). In addition, a recent transcriptome analysis showed that L. giganteum expresses oomycete genes that have been associated with plant infection. These observations suggest that L. giganteum might have evolved from a plant pathogen to an invertebrate pathogen, and have retained the ability to establish symbiotic or pathogenic interactions with plant tissues. To …

Go to article

Development Of A Library Of Synthetic Compounds With Multiple Pharmacophores, Alissa Svedberg, Zachary Galloway, Akshay Naraine Apr 2016

Development Of A Library Of Synthetic Compounds With Multiple Pharmacophores, Alissa Svedberg, Zachary Galloway, Akshay Naraine

Undergraduate Student Symposium

It is known that chalcones and pyrazolines possess antibacterial and antifungal activity; the overall goal of this project was the development of a library by synthesizing novel hybrids containing both chalcones and pyrazolines. The hybrids may show antibacterial efficiency against S. aureus, E. coli, and Candida albicans. Oxindole derivatives have shown previous biological activity in combating bacteria such as S. aureus and E. coli, but using N-alkylation, the novel derivative may be further reacted using various aldehydes yielding a library of hybrids that may have antimalarial, antitubercular, and cytotoxic effects.

Go to article

Development Of A Method To Analyze Electronic Cigarette Liquid Solutions, Bendik Stenersen, Rebecca Nosal Apr 2016

Development Of A Method To Analyze Electronic Cigarette Liquid Solutions, Bendik Stenersen, Rebecca Nosal

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Electronic cigarettes have become increasingly popular in the last decade although there is minimal evidence to support their safety. The goal of this study is to develop a method to separate and analyze the contents of electronic cigarette liquid solutions. Various solutions of different nicotine concentrations were obtained from a commercial distributor. The e-liquid solutions were diluted to optimize analysis and separation. A method was established to separate the components of the solutions, and multiple chemical analysis tools were employed to collect and analyze the data.

Go to article

Digit Recognition Through Machine Learning, Patrick Alexis Apr 2016

Digit Recognition Through Machine Learning, Patrick Alexis

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Handwriting recognition finds itself in many domains. Developing improved methods for handwriting recognition is an open research challenge. I will focus on the sub problem of digit recognition. By using the MNIST dataset provided by Kaggle, I will use the Random Forest approach to train and test a digit recognition system. Random Forest is a learning technique that uses an ensemble of decision trees. An ensemble of classifiers has better classification performance than individual classifiers and is more resilient to noise. Thereafter, I shall compare the results with the Random Forest approach with those obtained using Support Vector Machines. Through …

Go to article

Does Fidgeting Affect Cognition?, Ashley Lonergan, Alexis Koob Apr 2016

Does Fidgeting Affect Cognition?, Ashley Lonergan, Alexis Koob

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Fidgeting is defined as small movements particularly in the hands and feet. It includes tapping feet and fingernails, shaking legs, readjusting one's position, or one's clothing. Fidgeting can arise in individuals for various reasons like boredom, stress, or anxiety. It may be that fidgeting behavior can be helpful with increasing attention span. However, inhibiting fidgeting may also lead individuals to pay attention to nothing else but the inhibition of fidgeting. This study was conducted to see if fidgeting, while performing vigilant oriented tasks, lead to better performances on such tasks. All participants wore pedometers on both their wrists and ankles …

Go to article

Effects And Success Of The Americans With Disabilities Act Of 1990 (Ada), Emily Lowry Apr 2016

Effects And Success Of The Americans With Disabilities Act Of 1990 (Ada), Emily Lowry

Undergraduate Student Symposium

On July 26, 1990, the Americans with Disabilities Act was signed by George H.W. Bush with the intent of prohibiting discrimination based on disability. It affects access to employment, state and local government programs and services; access to places of public accommodation such as businesses, transportation, and non-profit service providers, and telecommunications. This act was implemented to protect the rights and equality of the vast amount of disabled citizens in America. According to the Census Bureau, About 56.7 million people — 19 percent of the population — had a disability in 2010, according to a broad definition of disability. During …

Go to article

Efficiency Of An Electrostatic Sprayer In The Application Of Disinfectant, Karan Patel, Leonor Sarria, Antonia Bukatevych Apr 2016

Efficiency Of An Electrostatic Sprayer In The Application Of Disinfectant, Karan Patel, Leonor Sarria, Antonia Bukatevych

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Continuing research and development has led to new advancements in sanitation technology which allows for better preventative techniques against disease and illnesses. A total solutions company, ByoPlanet, developed an electrostatic sprayer that applies a negative charge to a disinfectant. This permits a stronger attraction to the environment as objects are naturally positively charged. Our goal was to determine if the electrostatic sprayer was able to treat objects that are not in the direct line of contact with the spray. The treatment was Clorox Hydrogen Peroxide and water was used as a control. The electrostatic sprayer was placed three feet from …

Go to article

Evaluation Of The Cytotoxic Profile Of Metformin And Y15 In Platinum Resistance Ovarian Cancer Cells, Keerthi Thallapureddy, Sam Batko, Zara Khan Apr 2016

Evaluation Of The Cytotoxic Profile Of Metformin And Y15 In Platinum Resistance Ovarian Cancer Cells, Keerthi Thallapureddy, Sam Batko, Zara Khan

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Metformin, an antidiabetic drug, has been previously shown to induce cytotoxicity in platinum resistant ovarian cancer cells and increase phosphorylation of Focal Adhesion Kinase (FAK), a tyrosine kinase implicated in the development of this platinum resistance. Therefore, we evaluated the combined cytotoxic efficacy of Metformin and the focal adhesion kinase inhibitor 1,2,4,5-Benzene Tetra amine tetra hydrochloride (Y15) in platinum resistant OVCAR 3 ovarian cancer cells. The cells were treated with concentrations of Y15 and Metformin to determine IC50 values, which were then used to treat cells with Y15 and Metformin separately and in combination. DNA fragmentation and poly ADP …

Go to article

Frozen Brain Atlas: Individualized Brain Mapping For Receptor Autoradiography Analysis, Samantha Bergoine Apr 2016

Frozen Brain Atlas: Individualized Brain Mapping For Receptor Autoradiography Analysis, Samantha Bergoine

Undergraduate Student Symposium

The Frozen Brain Atlas provides students, educators, and scientists with a tool to further explore the architecture of the brain. Current brain atlases allow users to navigate sectioned brain tissue using histological staining; however, they fail to capture naturally visible structures post sectioning. Through immediate post sectioning image collection, the natural contrast of the brain reveals unique structural details that are rarely seen by traditional staining procedures. By utilizing indexing and interactive labeling, the Nova Southeastern University Frozen Brain Atlas will allow identification of brain regions when used as a correlative tool for modalities including receptor autoradiography, immunofluorescence, and other …

Go to article

How To Get The Word Out, Kathleen Bowman Apr 2016

How To Get The Word Out, Kathleen Bowman

Undergraduate Student Symposium

The survey, “How to get the Word Out”, was taken by 185 students of the NSU community at the end of April 2015. This survey was handed out as well as taken online. Thirty-six students took the online survey, while the other 149 students took the handout version. The surveys were collected from Parker, the UC, Flight Deck, and the Library Deli. The goal was to make sure to get a variety of different people represented in this data.

The purpose of this survey was to figure out a better way for student organizations to advertise on campus. The questions …

Go to article

Identification And Quantification Of Lipid Content In Oysters Using Gc Mass Spectrometry, Isabel Olivera Apr 2016

Identification And Quantification Of Lipid Content In Oysters Using Gc Mass Spectrometry, Isabel Olivera

Undergraduate Student Symposium

The purpose of this research was to identify and quantify lipids in the eastern oyster, Crassostrea virginica. Gas chromatography was used to separate the lipids found in the oyster samples, while mass spectrometry was used for analysis. Retention times of the sample were compared to known lipid standard retention times in order to identify the lipids. The lipids were quantified utilizing a lipid standard that is not present in the oyster. Using this same technique, oysters from various locations can be analyzed to see if there are any differences in the types of lipids or the quantity of lipid. …

Go to article

Improving Mental Fitness: The Impact Of Mindfulness Meditation Training On Sustained Attention And Working Memory, Turi Castro Flach, Haley Hickey, Lauren Gispert Apr 2016

Improving Mental Fitness: The Impact Of Mindfulness Meditation Training On Sustained Attention And Working Memory, Turi Castro Flach, Haley Hickey, Lauren Gispert

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Mindfulness meditation has received a great deal of scientific interest in recent years. Of interest to the current study, mindfulness meditation training has been shown to improve sustained attention (Morrison, Gooldarran, Rogers, & Jha, 2014), decision making (Hafenbrack, Kinias, & Barsade, 2014), working memory (Mzarek, Franklin, Phillips, Baird, & Schooler, 2013) and reduce the impact of stress on working memory performance (Banks, Welhaf, & Srour, 2015; Jha, Stanley, Kiyonaga, Wong, & Gelfand, 2010). The improvement in working memory performance is important due to the relationship between working memory and fluid intelligence (Conway, Kane, & Engle, 2003), reasoning (Kyllonen & Christal, …

Go to article

Late, Stephen Rafferty Apr 2016

Late, Stephen Rafferty

Undergraduate Student Symposium

“Late” is a short comedic film about a day in the life of college student Curtis Randolph, an obsessivecompulsive perfectionist turned bumbling klutz, as the wrong setting on his alarm clock causes Curtis to oversleep on the day of his final class presentation. It is up to Curtis to get to the class before he fails his presentation. The film is directed by Stephen Rafferty.

Go to article

Love Yourself, Jackie Garcia Apr 2016

Love Yourself, Jackie Garcia

Undergraduate Student Symposium

“Love Yourself” is a short film about a young girl named Sydney who is struggling to feel confident during her first semester as a college student. She wants to fit in with a particular sorority on campus. After being invited by one of the sisters to an ANAD banquet, Sydney realizes her inner beauty and builds enough self-confidence to rush the sorority she had wanted to join since the start of the semester. The film is directed by Jackie Garcia. Other crew members and actors include Janette Garcia and Tatiana Munoz.

Go to article

Molecular Chlorination Of Sucrose And Possible Growth Effects On Human Gut Microbiota, Kristi Njaravelil, Avidor Gerstenfeld Apr 2016

Molecular Chlorination Of Sucrose And Possible Growth Effects On Human Gut Microbiota, Kristi Njaravelil, Avidor Gerstenfeld

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Bacteria in our gut, are responsible for facilitating a variety of functions from metabolism to maintaining immunological homeostasis. The gut microbiota have also been shown to be affected by diet. Sucralose, a minimally metabolized, non-nutritive, and non-caloric sweetener, is found in a variety of food and drinks marketed to diabetics and health conscious individuals. Sucralose is chlorinated sucrose (common table sugar). Indicators suggest that sucralose may have a deleterious effect on gut microbiota, possibly leading to health conditions such as Crohn’s disease. Although there are likely several mechanisms involved, the purpose of this experiment is to focus on the effects …

Go to article

Organizational Diversity Audit Of Teachers And Staff In Broward School Board, Ashley Allahand Apr 2016

Organizational Diversity Audit Of Teachers And Staff In Broward School Board, Ashley Allahand

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Today’s teachers and students in Broward County and other regions in and outside of Florida are growing to become more diverse than ever before. As such, organizations and managers must be prepared to make changes to accompany diversity within the workplace and understand the needs, wants, and changing values of teachers and students throughout. This paper discusses the diversity within Broward County and administers an audit of the cultural, ethnic, and background differences of teachers in the area. Methodology and findings are recorded and the diversity auditing literature is thoroughly discussed. Finally, relevant implementation and recommendations are provided for the …

Go to article

Quantitative Measurement Of Learning And Memory In Caenorhabditis Elegans In Response To An Engineered Nematicidal Bacterium, Krunal Patel, Natalie Neves Apr 2016

Quantitative Measurement Of Learning And Memory In Caenorhabditis Elegans In Response To An Engineered Nematicidal Bacterium, Krunal Patel, Natalie Neves

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, rendering them less effective as biocontrols. In this study, we sought to quantify the rate at which C. elegans learns to avoid the engineered nematicidal bacteria. Using nematode learning assays, …

Go to article

R&R, Nathalie Moreau Apr 2016

R&R, Nathalie Moreau

Undergraduate Student Symposium

“R&R” is a music video that has been entered in the Undergraduate Film Festival. The video brings up the topic of this generation’s current views on relationships, using one dancer as the main character. The video focuses on the new norm of non-commitment-based relationships, but also shows the other side – i.e., monogamous relationships. Using music and commentary, we tell the story of what it means to be in a relationship in the year 2016. The video is directed by Nathalie Moreau. Other crew members and actors include Alonzo Williams and Grisel Vazquez.

Go to article

Reactive Oxygen Species Production During Oxidative Stress In Lymphoblastoid Cell Lines From Autistic Children, Hannah Mathew Apr 2016

Reactive Oxygen Species Production During Oxidative Stress In Lymphoblastoid Cell Lines From Autistic Children, Hannah Mathew

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder that is characterized by deficits in social interaction, communication and repetitive behaviors. As the prevalence of the disorder increases, the need to understand the cause to account for its treatment increases. Besides the genetic factors that attribute to the cause, studies have examined other environmental factors that may lead to a diagnosis of autism. Children with autism are thought to be more susceptible to oxidative stress, which may contribute to the pathological nature of the disorder. Studies have shown nearly 35% of autistic children have low glutathione levels. Glutathione is an antioxidant that the body …

Go to article

Science And Activism: Overcoming Stereotypes, Alexis Good, Kathleen Taylor Apr 2016

Science And Activism: Overcoming Stereotypes, Alexis Good, Kathleen Taylor

Undergraduate Student Symposium

There is a rift between environmentalists and environmental scientists brought on by societal stereotypes (Sissenwine). Environmentalists strive to advocate for environmental change; however, when they are defined by their stereotypes, their political movements are minimized by society so that they are no longer effective (Bashir). Environmental scientists often disengage from environmentalists because they do not want to obtain the associated stereotypes of these activists (Bashir). This is problematic because it prevents knowledgeable individuals from coming together in order to address the larger environmental problems in society (Castano, Paladino, et al). Therefore we will provide solutions that will allow environmentalists to …

Go to article

Selective Stimulation Of At2 Angiotensin Ii Receptor Subtype Increases Neural Stem Cell Proliferation, Nadia A. Siddiqi, Brigitte Blanco, Leena Couling Apr 2016

Selective Stimulation Of At2 Angiotensin Ii Receptor Subtype Increases Neural Stem Cell Proliferation, Nadia A. Siddiqi, Brigitte Blanco, Leena Couling

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Angiotensin II is a potent hormone in the renin-angiotensin system that regulates blood pressure through vasoconstriction. Altered levels of angiotensin II has been linked to several diseases, such as kidney disease and stroke. The angiotensin II receptors, AT1 and AT2, have a similar affinity for angiotensin II. The AT1 receptor is found in heart, blood vessels, kidneys, lungs, and brain. The AT2 receptor is abundant in the fetus and neonate, but has a controversial role in the adult. Recently, the AT1 and AT2 receptors were found to be expressed in neural stem cells. As neural stem cells have a demonstrated …

Go to article

The 'Triangle' Formula: A Role And Play Option Analysis Of The Triple-Post Offense, Tiffany Kelly Apr 2016

The 'Triangle' Formula: A Role And Play Option Analysis Of The Triple-Post Offense, Tiffany Kelly

Undergraduate Student Symposium

The triple-post offense, widely known as the triangle offense, has been accredited for producing 11 NBA championships, but has vanished from the league since the absence of all-time winningest coach, Phil Jackson, pre ‘14-‘15 season. With his return, there has been much interest in the offensive system and its functionality. However, there are more questions than answers surrounding the triangle offense when validating the reason for its success. Excluding the Golden State Warriors and New York Knicks in the current league season (’15-’16), the offense stands untouched by many teams due to the confusion in how it operates. This research …

Go to article

The Effect Of Financial Hardships On Mental Health, Nekoro Reid Apr 2016

The Effect Of Financial Hardships On Mental Health, Nekoro Reid

Undergraduate Student Symposium

This paper will explore the role of financial resources, or lack thereof, on mental health. Specifically, it will examine the relationship between family structure (single parent and two parent homes) and financial resources on parental mental health. The results of this paper will provide a better understanding of the impact of financial strain and hardship on single parents, especially single mothers. It will also assist in informing the relevant national agencies that strategies for debt resolution need to be implemented on a national level in order to provide single parents with the resources that they need to thrive financially. This …

Go to article

The Effect Of Y15 And Curcumin On The Ovarian Cancer Cell Line Ovcar3, Nicole Coelho, Amanda Ramnot Apr 2016

The Effect Of Y15 And Curcumin On The Ovarian Cancer Cell Line Ovcar3, Nicole Coelho, Amanda Ramnot

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Curcumin gives turmeric, a spice derived from Curcuma longa, its yellow color. Previous studies have reported that curcumin inhibits the proliferation of multiple cancer cell types, including ovarian, pulmonary, brain, and breast cancer through various pro-apoptotic mechanisms. In advanced ovarian cancer, focal adhesion kinase (FAK), a tyrosine kinase, is overexpressed and contributes to cancer aggression and resistance. 1,2,4,5-benzene tetraamine tetrahydrochloride (Y15) is an inhibitor of FAK and combining it with curcumin shows promise in reducing the FAK activity in ovarian cancer. Therefore, in the current study, the cytotoxic effect of Y15 and curcumin in combination and alone on the …

Go to article

The Impact Of Gender Inequality On Earnings Of Women In Stem Fields: Historical Evidence And Possible Solutions, Matthew Hoy, Teodora Suciu Apr 2016

The Impact Of Gender Inequality On Earnings Of Women In Stem Fields: Historical Evidence And Possible Solutions, Matthew Hoy, Teodora Suciu

Undergraduate Student Symposium

This study examines the current gender inequality in STEM fields, as well as its causes and some possible solutions. STEM–also known as the areas of science, technology, engineering, and math–are heavily male-dominated fields. The matter of gender inequality in these fields begins with gender separation during childhood and continues to the issue of the pay gap during adulthood. It is proven that currently women generate less capital than males in the same position in STEM fields, leading to a harsh divide between genders. Recent and relevant studies describing the statistics and explaining the reasons behind these gender and pay gaps …

Go to article

The Impact Of Social Media On Small And Medium Businesses, Albert Baldoni Apr 2016

The Impact Of Social Media On Small And Medium Businesses, Albert Baldoni

Undergraduate Student Symposium

In the past few years, social media’s popularity has increased exponentially. Its fundamental uses were for entertainment, but as it evolved, it became a greater part of everyone’s lives; including businesses. This analysis takes a look at the impact of social media and networking on small and medium enterprises (SMEs). First the characteristics of businesses adopting social media will be analyzed to see what factors promote its adoption. These aspects are grouped into the three main categories of organizational, manager, and environmental. Then, the impact of social media adding value to a company through branding will be looked at. This …

Go to article

The Impact Of The Patient Protection And Affordable Care Act On Businesses And The American Workforce, Shona Joseph Apr 2016

The Impact Of The Patient Protection And Affordable Care Act On Businesses And The American Workforce, Shona Joseph

Undergraduate Student Symposium

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act or PPACA has caused many changes that have affected both businesses and employees. Many businesses have lost profits because they had to provide insurance for their workers. Thus, some businesses have changed their organization structures in order to combat mandates from the PPACA. First, businesses have cut down the number of employees working for their firm in order to have fewer than fifty workers. When a business is under fifty employees, it is considered a small business allowing it the right to legally not have to provide health insurance for its workers. Secondly, …

Go to article

The Linguistics Of Terrorism, Leigh-Ana Mumford Apr 2016

The Linguistics Of Terrorism, Leigh-Ana Mumford

Undergraduate Student Symposium

With the inequities present around the world, the nature of terrorism is both puzzling and ruinous. What remains irrefutable about terrorism is how its connotation translates into its accepted definition. Political rhetoric often utilizes “terrorism” to create a narrative, often to justify the use of state violence to preserve “national security.” This research investigates to what extent the definition of terrorism has been altered to serve as a mask for naked self-interest by the US state and political elites. Emphasis will be placed on spikes of anti-terrorism rhetoric in US foreign policy since the 1980’s. Three case studies display the …

Go to article

The Loss Of Modernism In Nazi Germany, Taylor Duggan Apr 2016

The Loss Of Modernism In Nazi Germany, Taylor Duggan

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Modernism in Germany was ultimately detested, ridiculed, and outlawed by Adolf Hitler in Nazi Germany but in turn was the movement that assured his position in power. In the year 1929, an opportunist and German Art Society organizer, Feistal-Rohmedar, designed the artistic revolution within Germany and first introduced the thought regarding the extermination of modern artwork. Between the years of 1933 and 1937, the Third Reich and the German Art Society were also on a mission to rid Germany of Modernism and it wasn’t until 1936 that Modernism was completely ruled out. The Third Reich believed that artistic manifestation and …

Go to article

First Prev Next Last