Digital Commons Network^™

Project X: The Design And Development Of An Amateur Rocket, Jason Fraser, Dennis O'Leary, Erin Ostroff

Undergraduate Student Symposium

The goal of this project is to research, design, and develop a launch vehicle capable of lifting three eggs to over 150 meters and return them intact to earth using commercially available, non-certified rocket engines, namely, A-G class engines whose total integrated impulse does not exceed 160 Newton-seconds. The construction of the vehicle conforms to the safety code of the National Association of Rocketry (NAR).

L-Selectin And Its Probable Effects On Embryonic Development, Nancy Phillipe

Undergraduate Student Symposium

The intent of this literature review project is to summarize research that provides a new way to look at properties which dominate and regulate the molecular mechanisms that determine whether an embryo will implant itself or not. The main quest of this research was to determine if L-selectin is used by the trophoblast as an adhesion factor at the beginning of embryonic implantation. Maternal uterine epithelia was examined further to see if it produces L-selectin ligand during the same time period at which the trophoblast exhibits the L-selectins. The primary role of selectins is to promote the rolling and adhesion …

Exploring The Self-Esteem Of Dually-Diagnosed Homeless, Nicole Russo

Undergraduate Student Symposium

According to the 1997-1998 annual report from the United States Department of Children and Family Services the steady increase of homelessness in our nation is astonishing (U.S. Dept. of Children & Families, 1997-1998). Among the homeless population, 26% are mentally ill as well as substance abuse problems and they are classified as dually- diagnosed. Dually-Diagnosed Homeless Individuals are an extremely vulnerable subgroup with poorly understood needs (Drake, Osher, & Wallach, 1991). There has been paucity in research focusing on personality characteristics on dually-diagnosed homeless, especially in the area of self-esteem. The implications of a dually-diagnosed homeless individuals' self-esteem and how …

Doing Math With Mathematica, Bini Anchery

Undergraduate Student Symposium

The purpose of the poster will be to introduce Mathematica to those who are unaware of the topic and explain its capabilities.

It is a powerful tool that combines graphics, programming language, numeric and symbolic computations to other applications. It has a wide range of uses such as handling complex calculations that involve thousands of terms, giving technical presentations and seminars and doing numerical simulations that range from finding the derivative to chemical reactions.

As the individual works through the problems, a notebook keeps a complete report of the input and output, etc.

Symbolic programming is the basis for Mathematica. …

Discovering And Analyzing The Patterns Of Tripepetides, Jessica Jirani, Yuliya Poberezhnyak

Undergraduate Student Symposium

A tripeptide is a peptide containing three amino acids. Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins. Like DNA and RNA, proteins are synthesized as linear polymers (chains) composed of smaller molecules, in this case amino acids. Unlike DNA and RNA, in which there are four nucleotides from which to choose, proteins are constructed from at least 20 amino acids having a variety of sizes, shapes, and chemical properties. Each amino acid has a backbone consisting of an amino (NH₂) group, an alpha carbon, and a carboxylic acid (COOH) group.

The order of the amino acids in a …

Adhesion Of Transferrin To Fda Group I Contact Lenses, Eun (Tina) Baek, Tehsin Siddiqui

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Contact lenses are widely used to correct vision. The adhesion of tear proteins to contact lenses contributes to lens deterioration, and may lead to vision problems and ocular pathology. Tears contain a large number of proteins, among them being lysozyme, albumin, transferrin, lactoferrin, immunoglobulins and tear lipocalin. Here we report studies of the adhesion of transferrin to FDA group I (low water non-ionic polymer) contact lenses. Lenses were incubated in a solution of transferrin for 1, 2, 3, and 4 days, and transferrin adhesion was determined using the bicinchoninic acid (BCA) assay. Transferrin adsorbed to the Group I lenses in …

A Researched Review On Cooperative Learning And Jigsaw, Amanda Bergamasco, Ann Marie Hernandez, Sharon Vizcaino

Undergraduate Student Symposium

The topic of this literature review is to understand the effectiveness of the cooperative learning model and one strategy, jigsaw. The goals of the review are to identify the population for which the model and strategy are used, whether or not the use of this model is successful in the classroom, and to understand what successful outcomes are possible with the model and strategy. Additionally, the instructional cycle for cooperative learning and jigsaw are explored. Our review concludes that the use of cooperative learning and jigsaw can be used with varying age groups successfully. Proper teacher planning, instructing, monitoring, and …

Inverse Correlation Between Water Temperature And The Presence Of Florida Manatees (Trichechus Manatus Latirostris) At Port Everglades, Fl., Lindsey Fulcher

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Florida manatees are known to be intolerant of cold water. Prolonged exposure to cold water will cause a pathological cold stress syndrome. For this reason, during the winter months, manatees tend to aggregate at sources of warm water, such as springs and power plants, or to migrate south to find warmer waters. Port Everglades, the port of Fort Lauderdale, FL, is a well-established manatee refuge during the cold weather months. The presence of manatees and the temperature of the water near the Florida Power and Light electricity generating plant were monitored for calendar 2003. Water temperatures in other parts of …

Microarray Analysis Of Saccharomyces Cerevisiae Exposed To Various Conditions, Michelle Jaffe, Stephen Berkowitz, Daveda Maharaj, Gelin Fils-Amie Jr, Roxana Ruyani

Undergraduate Student Symposium

DNA microarrays offer the ability to produce genome-wide gene expression profiles, which can be used to identify genes that may play an active role in various biological processes. The well-studied organism Saccharomyces cerevisiae was used in an attempt to utilize DNA microarrays in order to examine the gene expression profiles of yeast exposed to varying conditions: aerobic versus anaerobic environments, glucose versus lactose media, weak versus dense cell cultures, and non-UV-C versus UV-C light exposure. After growth reached an optimum optical density, yeast cells in each culture were lysed and the RNA was isolated and transformed to cDNA. Finally, the …

Friendships Across The Lifespan, Jennifer Haselberger, Greta P. Zuniga, Jennifer Odige

Undergraduate Student Symposium

During infancy we begin to develop social skills and learn how to deal with the people around us, especially family and friends. During infancy, we develop different types of attachment styles. Studies show that about 70% of infants acquire a secure attachment style, in which the infant uses the mother as a secure base, but ventures off to explore the surroundings. About 10% develop a resistant style, in which the infant remains near their mother but resists physical contact with her and may even hit or kick her. This infant is wary of strangers. Another 15% develop an avoidant style, …

Dna Microarrays And Pharmacogenomics, Daveda Maharaj

Undergraduate Student Symposium

DNA microarray technology applied to the field of pharmacogenomics will provide for a better analysis of drug responses and drug efficacy in treating individuals with varying genotypes. DNA microarray technology is useful in the detection of various Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) that have a propensity to inhibit or complement drug efficacy in individuals using particular medications. Since microarrays allow for the study of groups of genes expressed or repressed among various environments, this technology has allowed for the fields of pharmacogenetics as well as pharmacogenomics to flourish by studying individuals administered medications for their particular illness. While the field of …

Caffeine Effects On The Predatory Behavior Of The Orb-Weaving Spider, Argiope Argentata, Regina L. Vesci, Nicole J. Russo

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Argiope argentata are orb-weaving spiders--meaning that their webs are a sticky spiral wound around radii extending from a central hub. A. argentata have poor vision and depend on vibrations in their web for detection of prey. A. argentata are large spiders; the female is 25mm and the male is 10 mm. They build webs that are approximately 80cm across. Research thus far on spiders and drugs have focused on web-building behavior after depressants or hallucinatory substances have been administered. Research on stimulants and predatory behavior has not been addressed. The proposed research is an exploratory study investigating the effects of …

Application Of Openmosix Computer Clusters For Acceleration Of Distributed And Parallel Computational, Denis Voitenko

Undergraduate Student Symposium

The openMosix is an Open Source extension to the Linux kernel. This kernel extension turns a network of ordinary computers into a supercomputer for Linux applications. Such cluster has proven to be extremely low maintenance yet very useful in solving computational problems in the areas of distributed and parallel computing such as compression, cryptography, mapping and neural network algorithms. The presentation will attempt to explain the basic configuration and the inner workings of such cluster.

Chaperoning Disease Treatment Into The 21st Century, Maria Farrell

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Chaperones function as the cell’s quality control system in a number of different ways. Simply put they are protein complexes that help fold new proteins into their working form, refold proteins that have been damaged, protect against protein aggregation, and tag severely damaged proteins for degradation. Because they most notably respond to damaged proteins caused by cellular environmental stresses such as proteotoxic heat shock, they are often called heat-shock or stress proteins and are classified by their molecular size, cellular compartment and function (e.g. Hsp 90). The chaperones are ligand specific, cylindrical protein complexes that make life and death decisions …

Adhesion Of Transferrin To Fda Group Iv Contact Lenses, Po-Jui (Bryan) Lin, Tehsin Siddiqui

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Contact lenses are widely used as a replacement for eyeglasses to correct vision. The adhesion of tear proteins to contact lenses contributes to lens deterioration, and may lead to vision problems and ocular pathology. Tears contain a large number of proteins, among them being lysozyme, albumin, transferrin, lactoferrin, immunoglobulins and tear lipocalin. Here we report studies of the adhesion of transferrin to FDA group IV (high water ionic polymer) contact lenses. Lenses were incubated in a solution of transferrin for 1, 2, 3, and 4 days, and transferrin adhesion was determined using the bicinchoninic acid (BCA) assay. Transferrin adsorbed to …

Spring 2004, Nsu Oceanographic Center

Currents

No abstract provided.

Patterns Of Feline Immunodeficiency Virus Multiple Infection And Genome Divergence In A Free-Ranging Population Of African Lions, Jennifer L. Troyer, Jill Pecon-Slattery, Melody E. Roelke, Lori Black, Craig Packer, Stephen J. O'Brien

Biology Faculty Articles

Feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) is a lentivirus that causes AIDS-like immunodeficiency disease in domestic cats. Free-ranging lions, Panthera leo, carry a chronic species-specific strain of FIV, FIV-Ple, which so far has not been convincingly connected with immune pathology or mortality. FIV-Ple, harboring the three distinct strains A, B, and C defined by pol gene sequence divergences, is endemic in the large outbred population of lions in the Serengeti ecosystem in Tanzania. Here we describe the pattern of variation in the three FIV genes gag, pol-RT, and pol-RNase among lions within 13 prides to assess the occurrence of FIV infection and …

Genomically Intact Endogenous Feline Leukemia Viruses Of Recent Origin, Alfred L. Roca, Jill Pecon-Slattery, Stephen J. O'Brien

Biology Faculty Articles

We isolated and sequenced two complete endogenous feline leukemia viruses (enFeLVs), designated enFeLV-AGTT and enFeLV-GGAG. In enFeLV-AGTT, the open reading frames are reminiscent of a functioning FeLV genome, and the 5′ and 3′ long terminal repeat sequences are identical. Neither endogenous provirus is genetically fixed in cats but polymorphic, with 8.9 and 15.2% prevalence for enFeLV-AGTT and enFeLV-GGAG, respectively, among a survey of domestic cats. Neither provirus was found in the genomes of related species of the Felis genus, previously shown to harbor enFeLVs. The absence of mutational divergence, polymorphic incidence in cats, and absence in related species suggest that …

Development Of A Prototype Computer-Based Instruction Module: Foundational Neuroscience For Physical Therapy Students, Gilbert M. Willett

Internet Journal of Allied Health Sciences and Practice

This paper details one faculty members approach to developing a prototype module for a computer based instruction (CBI) course in foundational neuroscience for physical therapy students. The process was based on the generic instructional systems design model, ADDIE. ADDIE is an acronym for Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, and Evaluation. Each step has an outcome that feeds the subsequent step or results in modification of the prior step in order to reach the desired outcome. The analysis section summarizes the state of the global academic environment in health professions education and the environment at the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) …

Medical Education Digest, Vol. 6 No. 2 (March 15, 2004), Nova Southeastern University

Medical Education Digest

No abstract provided.

2004 Nsu Fact Book, Nova Southeastern University

NSU Fact Book

This 12th edition of the Nova Southeastern University Fact Book reflects expanding body of data and information that provides perspective on the university's character, growth, and accomplishments. The 2004 Fact Book continues to provide narrative, numeric, and graphic representation of the university, including history, characteristics, and developments of the institution, Data are presented in both tabular and graphic formats tp provide pertinent detail, and general trends highlighted.

Cultivation Of Wrack Collected Seagrasses, Irene Arpayoglou

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Seroprevalence Of Bartonella Infection In American Free-Ranging And Captive Pumas (Felis Concolor) And Bobcats (Lynx Rufus), Bruno B. Chomel, Yoko Kikuchi, Janice S. Martenson, Melodie E. Roelke-Parker, Chao Chin Chang, Rickie W. Kasten, Janet E. Foley, John Laudre, Kerry Murphy, Pamela K. Swift, Vicki L. Kramer, Stephen J. O'Brien

Biology Faculty Articles

Bartonella henselae is the main agent of cat scratch disease in humans and domestic cats are the main reservoir of this bacterium. We conducted a serosurvey to investigate the role of American wild felids as a potential reservoir of Bartonella species. A total of 479 samples (439 serum samples and 40 Nobuto strips) collected between 1984 and 1999 from pumas (Felis concolor) and 91 samples (58 serum samples and 33 Nobuto strips) collected from bobcats (Lynx rufus) in North America, Central America and South America were screened for B. henselae antibodies. The overall prevalence of B. henselae antibodies was respectively …

Combining Causal Model And Focus Group Discussions: Experiences Learned From A Socio-Anthropological Research On The Differing Perceptions Of Caretakers And Health Professionals On Children's Health (Bolivia/Peru), Pierre Lefèvre, Charles-Édouard De Suremain, Emma Rubín De Celis, Edgar Sejas

The Qualitative Report

During the summer of 2002, thirty-one medieval frescoes went on display at the Museum of Texas Tech University, the only venue in the world for this extraordinary exhibition. This paper summarizes a qualitative research study that focused on the experiences of three visitors to the Medieval Frescoes from the Vatican Museums Collection exhibition. The study applied Gadamers (1993) idea of horizons to both the visitor-participants and the frescoes to illuminate the interpretive event, the meeting of horizons, and to uncover any obstacles that might hinder the fusion of horizons. The findings of the study are presented in a readers theatre …

Mission Drift In Qualitative Research, Or Moving Toward A Systematic Review Of Qualitative Studies, Moving Back To A More Systematic Narrative Review, Kip Jones

The Qualitative Report

The paper argues that the systematic review of qualitative research is best served by reliance upon qualitative methods themselves. A case is made for strengthening the narrative literature review and using narrative itself as a method of review. A technique is proposed that builds upon recent developments in qualitative systematic review by the use of a narrative inductive method of analysis. The essence of qualitative work is described. The natural ability for issues of ethnicity and diversity to be investigated through a qualitative approach is elaborated. Recent developments in systematic review are delineated, including the Delphi and Signal and Noise …

Racial Identity And The Development Of Body Image Issues Among African American Adolescent Girls, Sharlene Nagy Hesse-Biber, Stephanie A. Howling, Patricia Leavy, Meg Lovejoy

The Qualitative Report

As readers, children with dyslexia are vulnerable to becoming academically, socially, and emotionally detached from education. Traditional educational practices tend to use quantitative measures to diagnose children to better serve their needs and researchers, who study students with special needs often focus on a deficit model that quantify just how far a child is from the norm. This practice, while full of good intentions, often creates emotional scars and feelings of inferiority in a child. This reductionist view of a disability is most likely different from the lived experience of the person with the disability. To get a complete picture, …

New Species Of Eustomias (Teleostei: Stomiidae) From The Western North Atlantic, With A Review Of The Subgenus Neostomias, Tracey Sutton, Karsten E. Hartel

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

A new species of the deep-sea dragonfish genus Eustomias is described from 14 specimens from the western North Atlantic. This species belongs to the subgenus Neostomias, which is defined principally by the presence of a single pectoral ray, plus one small rudimentary ray. It is unique among members of the subgenus in having a combination of characters that includes a short mental barbel, multiple proximal bulbs on the barbel main stem, and a unique terminal bulb morphology. Analysis of similar species warrants resurrection of Eustomias monodactylus, previously placed in synonymy with Eustomias filifer. A revised key to …

Trophic Ecology Of The Deep-Sea Fish Malacosteus Niger (Pisces: Stomiidae): An Enigmatic Feeding Ecology To Facilitate A Unique Visual System?, Tracey Sutton

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Proceedings, Presentations, Speeches, Lectures

The ‘dragonfishes’ and their relatives (family Stomiidae) are among the top predators of the mesopelagic zone of the open ocean. Based on feeding morphology (e.g., large gape, long fangs, and no gill-rakers or ethmoid membrane), the meso/bathypelagic fish Malacosteus niger would also be expected to be a large-item predator, as are the other members of its family. However, analysis of specimens from different ocean basins revealed that the most common prey items are calanoid copepods, despite an apparent inability to handle such small prey. Malacosteus niger is considered advanced within the Stomiidae, so this feeding mode represents a secondary reversion …

Predicting Biodiversity Patterns In Deep Water Coral Ecosystems: Lessons From Phylogenetic Studies Of Shallow Water Coral Reef Crustacea, James Darwin Thomas

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Proceedings, Presentations, Speeches, Lectures

Comprehensive studies of coral reef biodiversity suggest that diversity patterns may be more congruent with geotectonic events than with the reigning paradigms of dispersal, center of origin, and vicariance. Geotectonic processes slowly accumulate taxa in areas exemplified by the presence of composite or lineage-based evolutionary diversity. This process-pattern model can suggest additional areas where similar patterns are likely to occur. Information on types and levels of diversity should be a primary concern in emerging conservation efforts for deepwater coral ecosystems. Current marine conservation efforts in shallow reef systems rely primarily on identifying “hotspots” that reflect measures of species richness and …

Interactions Between Zooplankton And Karenia Brevis In The Gulf Of Mexico., Kristen M. Lester, Gabriel A. Vargo, John J. Walsh, Cynthia A. Heil, Mary B. Neely, Danylle N. Spence, Susan Murasko, Tracey Sutton, Scott E. Burghart, Andrew Remsen, T. L. Hopkins, Richard N. Bohrer

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Proceedings, Presentations, Speeches, Lectures

Blooms of the toxic dinoflagellate K. brevis are common in the Gulf of Mexico, yet no in situ studies of the interactions between zooplankton and K. brevis in the Gulf of Mexico have been conducted. Zooplankton numerical abundance, biomass and taxonomic composition of nonbloom and K. brevis bloom stations within the ECOHAB study area were compared. At nonbloom stations, the most important determinant species were Parvolcalanus crassirostris, Oithona colcarva and Paracalanus quasimodo at the 5-m isobath and P. quasimodo, O. colcarva and Oikopleura dioka at the 25-m isobath. There was considerable overlap between the 5 and 25-m isobaths, with …