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Modeling The Extended Low And Sudden High Periods Of Activity In Infectious Diseases, Dana Strong

Student Research Symposium

This research explores how the aggregation of individuals during disease spread may, in conjunction with noise, explain how some diseases’ trajectories spend some time at low numbers after which there is a sudden outbreak.

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Pest Houses, Quarantine, And Smallpox: Utah Newspapers Reporting On Quarantine In The Early 1900s, Ericka Stone

Student Research Symposium

This presentation focuses on the methods and rhetoric newspapers used to report on smallpox quarantines in the early 1900s. Newspapers from throughout Utah are examined, with special attention given to articles published within or written about the Cache Valley area. The goal of this presentation is to highlight the ways in which newspapers established quarantine regulations, reported on smallpox cases and negligence, and dealt with rumors and misinformation. Overall, it is concluded that newspapers were a valuable source of information and mass communication during the smallpox epidemic in the early 20th century.

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Rural Nonprofit Fundraising Capacity: What Can We Learn From Current Practices?, Janice Snow

Student Research Symposium

Rural nonprofits in the U.S. strive to maintain and improve the quality of life in rural communities, but in many cases are lacking the resources to be effective. Rural nonprofits often have larger services areas while operating with less funding. Little is known about rural nonprofit fundraising and grant writing capacity because previous research has focused on nonprofits in general or urban nonprofits. With differences in organization size, community demographics, and geographical contextual issues, rural nonprofits may need to use different strategies to achieve financial health and stability. Further, rural communities in the U.S. were differentially affected by the COVID-19 …

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Purity Culture And Its Effects On Women, Faith Beasterfield

Student Research Symposium

The purity movement, which stems from evangelical circles in the 1980s, is dedicated to keeping teens and unmarried adults from becoming sexually active before marriage. Although this message is encouraged for both men and women, this research project seeks to investigate the specific impact that purity culture has had on the lives of women. The research was done using online materials, which include primary and secondary sources, with an emphasis on first-hand accounts of women within the movement. The results indicate that purity culture has had a major impact on how society views the worth of women who do not …

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Pet Therapy On College Campuses: Putting The “Paw” In Pawsitive Mental Health, Tyler Cook

Student Research Symposium

College students often are not able to receive the help they need when they have mental health problems. Research has shown that pet therapy is a very effective and practical solution to this shortage of resources. It has been used to help students who suffer from common concerns such as depression, stress, anxiety, and loneliness. The research and accounts in this essay communicates how this therapy works and why it works. By using online databases, I collected primary sources and diverse statistics to evaluate the topic. As I analyzed the data I found that pet therapy is highly-favored by college …

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Living In Killer Corsets: The Body's Response To Victorian Era Corsets, Rachel Walker

Student Research Symposium

Lasting narratives surrounding the role of corsets in the lives of nineteenth-century women tend toward opposing extremes; few dress reformers who completely denounced corsets and a minority of upper-class women who used corsets to achieve the smallest possible waist even if detrimental to their health. The spectrum of nineteenth-century corset opinions was wide. Valerie Steele’s monumental work on the history of corsetry explains that most people at the time fell somewhere in the middle. (Steele 2001) Women of all social classes wore corsets daily and most worked labor-intensive jobs, enjoyed recreational activities outdoors, and sports increasingly so towards the late …

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Music And Mental Health Disorders, Caroline Schaner

Student Research Symposium

My research outlines the preventative measures that music can have on depression and similar disorders. I cover several neurotransmitters, but focus primarily on Dopamine and Serotonin. The goal of my research is to educate teens and young adults on how music can be used as a preventative measure to delay or eliminate the onset of major depressive disorder.

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The Development Of Controlled Attention, Lexie Scott, Katelin Pyfer

Student Research Symposium

The ability to maintain items of information within working memory is depending on the ability to allocate attention to items within WM. Individual differences in WM capacity may bedependent on the amount of information that can be held and maintained in the focus of attention. A basic question in cognitive development is whether individuals increase the capacity of the focus of attention or the efficiency with which they can process information. We examined the differences in typically developing children versus adults in the capacity and efficiency of attention control. In our study, children and young adults completed a dichotic attention …

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Vital Change Needed In Shift Of Focus In Mental Institutions, Emma Carver

Student Research Symposium

Mental Illnesses and disorders are at an all time high in American history with little being done to try and aid such an epidemic. Mental Institutions that focus solely on the short term solution need to shift their focus to long term care to prevent issues such as; mental, emotional and financial stresses on the family or individual felt from caring for struggling individuals. To conduct my research, I used library and internet resources to gather primary and secondary sources all focused on mental illness and mental institutions. I used sources by underrepresented scholars concerning different first hand experiences with …

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Changes In The Female Athlete Triad Knowledge After Educational Intervention: A Pilot Study, Kate Buckley

Student Research Symposium

A 10-Minute educational intervention, investigating knowledge of the Female Athlete Triad among USU Female athletes. Knowledge was assessed using a 7 question survey both before the educational intervention and after to compare knowledge scores.

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Evolution Of Floral Microbes And The Resulting Effects On Pollinator Preferences, Hailey Hatch

Student Research Symposium

Floral microbes are an overlooked aspect of the extended floral phenotype. They mediate interactions between flowers, pollinators, and other floral microbes that have significant implications for pollinator and plant health by altering floral nectar chemistry. The interactions between floral microbes and pollinators are critically important to understand as pollinators have a key role in both the crop and natural ecosystem world. Our aim is to explore how floral nectar traits may affect evolution and competition within the floral yeast Metchnikowia reukaufii, the floral bacteria Bacillus subtilis, and other microbes isolated from Brassica rapa nectar. To address this, we are conducting …

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Discrimination Help Center, Emily Neil

Student Research Symposium

Race and ethnicity have been and still is at the heart of South African history, politics, society and economy since the European colonization. South Africa remains a complex mix of different races, cultural identities, languages and ethnic bonds. Discrimination Help Center (in the Afrikaan language, Diskriminasie Hulp Sentrum) in Cape Town, South Africa is a place for the Black Community to feel safe and get any help they may need. On site, there are lawyers, mental health help, therapy, career resources, help finding an education and housing, financial help, a cafeteria/food bank, and a healing garden.

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Simultaneous Simulation Of Microgravity And Ionizing Radiation In A Laboratory Environment, Achal Duhoon

Student Research Symposium

A novel system was developed to simulate the combined effects of reduced gravity and ionizing radiation present during spaceflight on biological and particulate samples. The miniature rotary cell culture system (mRCCS) was designed to synchronously rotate up to five independent vessels containing particulate samples suspended in fluid media, constructed using radiation tolerant, biocompatible, and vacuum compatible materials. Reduced gravity conditions were achieved when suspended particles (e.g., 200 μm polystyrene microcarrier beads with or without adhered cell clusters) were suspended inside the vessels moving near terminal velocity in viscous neutral-buoyant fluid media with densities matched to the suspended particles to achieve …

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The Societal Impacts Of Alcohol Dependence And Elective Sobriety, Jillian Poll

Student Research Symposium

This project's aim is to extrapolate the role that design and advertising plays in cultural perception of alcohol consumption & patterns. As such, the research process was designed to quantify each of the factors that influence the development of an Alcohol Use Disorder, then determine solutions to target the root issues that citizens face. Common issues include underage consumption, alcohol addiction, and coerced consumption. The quantifiable research portion of this project answers these questions: 1) What genetic, social, and psychological causes contribute to alcohol addiction?; 2) How does culture affect alcohol consumption?; 3) What are the social and societal repercussions …

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Depression, Event Load, And Personal Vulnerability In Mothers Of Young Children, Matthew Cook, Kamilah Mauldin, Makenzy Turner

Student Research Symposium

Social support has been shown as a protective factor for parental mental health and for parents’ ability to deal with daily stressful events. Parenting stress and mental health can negatively impact child outcomes. The current study examines the role of social support in mental health, stressful events, and family interactions of mothers who are students at USU. Data from 38 student-parent mothers were collected as part of the Childcare Access Means Parents in School grant. Mothers completed various surveys and questionnaires via Qualtrics that were related to social support, mental health, stressful events, and family interactions. Results indicate negative associations …

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How Childhood Emotional And Verbal Abuse Influences Future Adult Relationships, Kinlee Meade

Student Research Symposium

Abuse is a societal issue all around the globe especially emotional and verbal abuse whereas it has the least amount of awareness and no clear definition. My research had the sole purpose of studying how childhood emotional and verbal abuse affects the victims' future adult relationships. My research looked into the long term effects abuse has on the psyche and behavior, including various primary source studies that applied the concepts into environmental situations, and how they influence relationships. It has been discovered that emotional and verbal abuse received during childhood create or worsen pre existing mental health conditions such as; …

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A Proposed Change To The Beautiful Game's Most Important Event, Carson Clark

Student Research Symposium

FIFA is proposing and researching the feasibility for a biennial World Cup instead of the four year intervals that are currently in place. They are doing so to hopefully involve more countries into the tournament and gain more revenue to further development of international soccer. This study is to investigate whether or not this change in frequency of the World Cup would be better or worse for the tournament and all those that would be affected. Research was conducted by gathering information using a library database and reading primary sources along with other articles by those with different perspectives and …

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Investigating Student Learning About Disease Spread And Prevention In The Context Of Agent-Based Computational Modeling, Siyu Wu

Student Research Symposium

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted a need to help students learn about public health issues, including the transmission of disease and methods for the prevention of epidemics. This study presents data from a project aimed at developing a computational modeling microworld to help middle school students learn about the spread of disease. The microworld is meant to help students model and test their ideas about how a disease spreads through a population and how an epidemic can be prevented. I employed a lab-based case study approach to conduct one-on-one 1.5-hour interviews through Zoom with four middle school students (ages 12-14). …

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Say Gay, Miranda Wiener

Student Research Symposium

On February 8th, 2022, Republican Representative Joe Harding of Florida proposed the “Parental Rights in Education Bill''. Under this Bill, classroom discussion from grades k-3rd grade will be exclusively heterosexual and will limit how much teacher’s can say in regards to the LGBTQ community in those grades. The bill states that a school “may not encourage classroom discussion about sexual orientation or gender identity in primary grade levels or in a manner that is not age-appropriate”. Within the LGBTQ community, mental health is at a staggering low. Thoughts of guilt, self-hatred and fear lead to thoughts or acts of suicide …

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Social Media's Effect On Our Mental Health, Ell Sarah Mortensen

Student Research Symposium

This research project presents information on how social media effects our mental health. Key topics include how social media correlates with depression, anxiety and other forms of mental health issues.

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The Importance Of Sleep, Julio Arronte

Student Research Symposium

Many people nowadays struggle with sleep. Research has shown that 22% of people struggle with sleepand out of those, 66% have a sleep disorder. This shows how complicated the sleep process is for the vast majority of people. My research was organized in many stages, first I wrote down what I already knew about sleep (which was nothing compared to the amount of things I found after my research). Secondly, I started looking at a lot of research projects led by the best scientists and organizations about sleep. I found that sleep is divided into many sections and what happens …

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Preparation And Characterization Of Highly Insulating Granular Samples For Electron Yield Measurement, Heather Allen

Student Research Symposium

This experiment focuses primarily on the preparation and characterization of granular samples for the eventual purpose of electron yield measurements. Highly insulating granular samples are notoriously difficult to prepare and present a myriad ofcomplications from both experimental and practical frameworks. A famous example of this was during the 1969 Apollo 11 mission when electrostatically adhered lunar dust damaged the equipment and astronauts suits and led to purported health effects. The electrical properties of this dust for charging and discharge is essential to preventing these effects. In this study, particles of varying size, shape, and composition are used to create multilayered …

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Short Term Stability Of The Electrical Stapedial Reflex, Emilee Harris

Student Research Symposium

Electrical stapedial reflex threshold (eSRT) is an objective measurement of the stapedial reflex triggering in response to loud electrical stimulation through the CI electrode. eSRT has been a valuable clinical tool in mapping the Cochlear Implant (CI) electrodes upper limits. The main objective of this study is to validate the changes in the eSRT within and across CI patients over one year post activation. In this study retrospective clinical data were analyzed from 44 patients ranging in age from 1-88 years, with a total of 29 left ear devices and 31 right ear devices activated in the years 2013-2020 with …

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Effects Of Life-Extension Biotechnology On Global Society, David Suisse

Student Research Symposium

For much of human history, diseases and disorders ranging from tuberculosis and the flu to cancer and Alzheimer’s have appeared inevitable and unstoppable. Yet modern medicine offers remedies to many illnesses that used to be fatal and continues to make astounding steps against other disorders that experts now understand to be treatable. In the last 10 years, scientists have made remarkable progress regarding the causes of aging itself, and current trends in technological, medical, and genetic research indicate that groundbreaking lifespan-extending and vitality-extending biotechnologies will soon be developed and may be implemented within decades. Some experts suggest that “curing” aging …

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Designing For Adhd: Home For The Neurodiverse, Makenna Murray

Student Research Symposium

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurological condition that is marked by differences in the brain associated with attention, impulsivity, and hyperactivity. There are key differences between people with ADHD and people without ADHD. These differences include brain structure, brain function, and brain development. People with ADHD have unique challenges. A personalized and strategic approach is required to manage ADHD. Modern residential interiors may work for much of the population; however, they can make life difficult for people with ADHD. A few of concepts that may have a negative impact on people with ADHD include open floor plans, multiuse …

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Esports Course Design: Balancing Multiplayer Gameplay Within Structured Curriculum, Daelynn Hunter

Student Research Symposium

There is a noticeably large interest growing across the globe for Esports expansion. Esports has grown to become an affinity space for competitive ambition/growth and a discipline of enormously varied learning techniques. Techniques to build esports into education often follow a 3 credit format, where esports can be studied in various areas (e.g., business, psychology, media/production). However, there’s been an absence in courses that are focused solely in gameplay. Traditionally, gaming has been observed to be a distraction over opportunity for growth. The course is currently centered to target said assumptions by utilizing student discipline techniques. Assignments are centered around …

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Digital Beauty: Social Media And Body Image, Dulce Tena

Student Research Symposium

Social media has created unrealistic standards of what a woman should look like through posts, videos, or ads. Research has shown that social media influences body image and poor self-esteem. Social media is known for being a platform where you can share posts that can include photos of yourself. The problem: Since women are affected by body image because of social media, they don’t feel confident in being able to share photos of themselves. Instead, they resort to long periods of scrolling through other posts and fall victim to social comparison. This project seeks to answer the question as to …

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Youth And Psychological Disorders, Charles Dvorak

Student Research Symposium

Youth under the age of 16 are underrepresented when it comes to psychological disorders and treatment. Adults tend to associate their problems with just factors of life and/puberty, and this can lead to even more problems. Recently I noticed my own mental health taking a toll from my childhood, as well as since I moved away from college, I am now an outsider to my friends who are still in high school. The problem is not that the youth do suffer from psychological disorders, it’s that people do not accept that fact and therefore, don’t give them the time of …

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Working Memory Capactiy And Speech Perception With Hearing Aids, Ethan Watson

Student Research Symposium

This presentation covers an ongoing literature review that is asessing the relationship between working memory capcity and speech percpetion with hearing aids. It will provide a brief overview of the ELU model and how hearing aids create mismatch in our neural coding process of speech. Current results of what hearing aid signal stratgies relate to WMC will be provided.

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Social Media's Impact On Mental Health In Teenagers: Evaluating How Different Groups Are Affected, Maren Jacobsen

Student Research Symposium

There are patterns of discrimination and comparison on social media that contribute to minority groups and females having worse mental health. These teenagers are experiencing depressive symptoms and anxiety as well as body image issues and decreased self-worth. This project aims to evaluate which groups of teenagers have more severe mental health problems because of social media. Research was conducted using library and online databases and evaluating primary and secondary sources. I paid close attention to studies connecting mental health issues with social media use among different groups of teenagers. Through my research, I found that females, LGBTQ+ teens, teenagers …

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Full-Text Articles in Entire DC Network

Modeling The Extended Low And Sudden High Periods Of Activity In Infectious Diseases, Dana Strong

Student Research Symposium

Pest Houses, Quarantine, And Smallpox: Utah Newspapers Reporting On Quarantine In The Early 1900s, Ericka Stone

Student Research Symposium

Rural Nonprofit Fundraising Capacity: What Can We Learn From Current Practices?, Janice Snow

Student Research Symposium

Purity Culture And Its Effects On Women, Faith Beasterfield

Student Research Symposium

Pet Therapy On College Campuses: Putting The “Paw” In Pawsitive Mental Health, Tyler Cook

Student Research Symposium

Living In Killer Corsets: The Body's Response To Victorian Era Corsets, Rachel Walker

Student Research Symposium

Music And Mental Health Disorders, Caroline Schaner

Student Research Symposium

The Development Of Controlled Attention, Lexie Scott, Katelin Pyfer

Student Research Symposium

Vital Change Needed In Shift Of Focus In Mental Institutions, Emma Carver

Student Research Symposium

Changes In The Female Athlete Triad Knowledge After Educational Intervention: A Pilot Study, Kate Buckley

Student Research Symposium

Evolution Of Floral Microbes And The Resulting Effects On Pollinator Preferences, Hailey Hatch

Student Research Symposium

Discrimination Help Center, Emily Neil

Student Research Symposium

Simultaneous Simulation Of Microgravity And Ionizing Radiation In A Laboratory Environment, Achal Duhoon

Student Research Symposium

The Societal Impacts Of Alcohol Dependence And Elective Sobriety, Jillian Poll

Student Research Symposium

Depression, Event Load, And Personal Vulnerability In Mothers Of Young Children, Matthew Cook, Kamilah Mauldin, Makenzy Turner

Student Research Symposium

How Childhood Emotional And Verbal Abuse Influences Future Adult Relationships, Kinlee Meade

Student Research Symposium

A Proposed Change To The Beautiful Game's Most Important Event, Carson Clark

Student Research Symposium

Investigating Student Learning About Disease Spread And Prevention In The Context Of Agent-Based Computational Modeling, Siyu Wu

Student Research Symposium

Say Gay, Miranda Wiener

Student Research Symposium

Social Media's Effect On Our Mental Health, Ell Sarah Mortensen

Student Research Symposium

The Importance Of Sleep, Julio Arronte

Student Research Symposium

Preparation And Characterization Of Highly Insulating Granular Samples For Electron Yield Measurement, Heather Allen

Student Research Symposium

Short Term Stability Of The Electrical Stapedial Reflex, Emilee Harris

Student Research Symposium

Effects Of Life-Extension Biotechnology On Global Society, David Suisse

Student Research Symposium

Designing For Adhd: Home For The Neurodiverse, Makenna Murray

Student Research Symposium

Esports Course Design: Balancing Multiplayer Gameplay Within Structured Curriculum, Daelynn Hunter

Student Research Symposium

Digital Beauty: Social Media And Body Image, Dulce Tena

Student Research Symposium

Youth And Psychological Disorders, Charles Dvorak

Student Research Symposium

Working Memory Capactiy And Speech Perception With Hearing Aids, Ethan Watson

Student Research Symposium

Social Media's Impact On Mental Health In Teenagers: Evaluating How Different Groups Are Affected, Maren Jacobsen

Student Research Symposium