Digital Commons Network^™

The Impact Of A Healthy Intervention And Psychotherapy On Cardiovascular Disease In Ptsd Individuals, Radiah Patwary

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Significant research indicates a relationship between post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. Those affected with PTSD have been found to show higher patterns of CVD risk earlier in life compared to the general population. Interventions need to be developed to reduce the risk of CVD in PTSD individuals. Although there has been research regarding the elevated CVD risk in PTSD, little research has been done addressing CVD risk reduction in the same population. To tackle this issue, adjunctive treatments, such as health behavior interventions, may be required in addition to traditional psychotherapy for PTSD to reduce overall …

Trends And Disparities In Preventative Oral Health Across Demographics: Unveiling And Analyzing 24 Years Of Data In The Us (1999-2023), Tania Anousheh

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Oral health is a fundamental component of our overall well-being. Not only can it greatly influence our physical health but also the emotional, psychological, and socioeconomic aspects of our lives. Despite advancements in dental care, we have noted that there is limited research on how demographic factors impact our oral health behaviors, with underrepresented populations often excluded from large-scale studies. Recognizing this critical gap, we will examine trends in oral health preventive behaviors in the United States from 1999 through 2023, using data from over 106,289 surveys in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). We will use RStudio …

The Role Of Attachment And Self-Esteem In Identity Development Among Emerging Adults, Akhila Nalluri, Preetham Gopu, Charvi Thumati

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Emerging adulthood, a transitive period between 18 and 25 years, is widely considered a period marked by change, experimentation, exploration, and development. Attachment theory postulates that relationships between children and their caregivers are crucial for the organization/representation of the self. Extant research indicates that secure parent-child-relationships and identity-development co-exist during emerging-adulthood. Self-esteem has also been associated with secure identity-formation. While there is considerable research on the associations between parent-child relationships and identity formation, as well as self-esteem and identity-formation, relatively little is known about the combined effects of parent-child relationships and self-esteem on identity-development during emerging-adulthood.

The present study explores …

Adoptive Transfer Of B10 Cells Promotes Resolution Of Periodontal Inflammation, Jayant Ari

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Regulatory B cells (Bregs) play a crucial role in reducing the inflammation of periodontitis. It has been shown that specialized pro-resolving mediator (SPM) synthesis and production mediate the resolution of periodontitis inflammation and alleviate bone resorption. Bregs has been reported alleviate the inflammation in periodontitis, but little is known about their function in SPM production. The present study aims to investigate whether IL-10 expressing regulatory B cells (B10) can inhibit periodontitis progression by promoting the production of SPMs. Experimental periodontitis models were established in mice by ligation combined with periodontal pathogen P. gingivalis bacteria inoculation for 14 days, and B10 …

Eat-26 As A Stable Measure Of American College Athletes: Diet, Food, Preoccupancy, And Calorie Counting As Predictors Of Health, Simrin Raju

Undergraduate Student Symposium

This study examines the structure and reliability of the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-26) in a sample of 144 college athletes. The EAT-26 is commonly used to measure eating attitudes but is not intended to diagnose eating disorders. The study aims to confirm if the test's factor structure, which has been stable since its development in 1979, remains consistent in this new group. The results show that the EAT-26 continues to reflect three main factors—Dieting, Preoccupation with Food (Others Notice) and Calorie Counting (Oral Control). These factors accounted for the majority of the variation in responses, with "Dieting" being the most …

Identifying Key Characteristics In Aspiring Healthcare Professionals: A Strengths And Preference Profile Analysis On Emotional Intelligence, Abbygail Salcido, Emily Young

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Topic: As undergraduate students in a pre-health path or an advisor for these students, understanding one's priorities, strengths, and motivations is crucial for self-awareness and career clarity. This understanding is pivotal in guiding students toward a fulfilling and appropriate career choice. Purpose: Our study aims to identify the characteristics of students with the potential to excel as Optometrists - a profession known for its emphasis on patient care, attention to detail, and creative intuition. In our current investigation, we assessed 125 students aspiring to become Optometrists. Each participant completed a strengths inventory and a positive psychology-based personal preference test. According …

Reducing Inoculum Effect By Modulating Growth Productivity Through The Superpathway Of Purine, Pyrimidine And Histidine Synthesis In Escherichia Coli, Ruth Thomas, Daniella M. Hernandez, Melissa Marzouk

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Antibiotic overuse has driven the evolution of multiple antibiotic-resistant bacteria that complicate infections that were once easily treatable. While mechanisms by which individual bacterium resist or tolerate antibiotics are well explored, less studied are the mechanisms by which populations of bacteria tolerate antibiotics as a collective. One such mechanism bacteria employ to tolerate antibiotic treatment as a collective is the inoculum effect (IE). We recently discovered that growth productivity, which describes the relationship between ATP production and growth rate, can account for IE for multiple antibiotics and pathogens. However, the underlying pathways for determining growth productivity have yet to be …

Covid-19 Vaccine Hesitancy In Pregnant Women From Marginalized Communities, Leona Markose

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Vaccination is known to be one of the most successful public health measures currently available that decreases numbers of mortality and morbidity of various diseases across the globe. Despite the success that has been found in controlling infectious disease through herd immunity from vaccinations, a study published in 2021 in Nature Medicine shows willingness to get a COVID-19 vaccine is higher in developing countries (80% of respondents) than in the US (65% of respondents). This demonstrates a rising problem especially prevalent among developed countries of a voluntarily under vaccinated population that do not believe vaccination is a method that is …

Research In Anatomy And Physiology During Covid-19: Global Lessons Learnt And Future Recommendations, Jeet Patel, Harsh Chheda

Undergraduate Student Symposium

The persistent Coronavirus Infectious Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused significant disruptions of research studies within the fields of Anatomy and Physiology. As the pandemic resulted in many governmental and institutional restrictions, it became increasingly challenging to pursue research in general. Disciplines like Anatomy and Physiology that require kinesthetic/tactile application of concepts or testing hypotheses through hands-on active engagement were either halted or slowed down, as the new social guidelines and risks to certain groups of people hindered up-to-date researchdata collection. This called for the design and adoption of innovative scientific and technological research tools and protocols. An effort to help …

Implications Of Covid-19 In Global Anatomy And Physiology Education: A Comprehensive Analysis, Sneh Patel, Sean Mahajan

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Owing to the Coronavirus Infectious Disease 2019 (COVID-19), the higher education sector worldwide saw a significant disruption in several disciplines – especially the ones in STEM and healthcare sciences that require active, experiential learning via practical application of concepts centering around Anatomy and Physiology. Dynamic instructional and technological interventions took place rapidly in an effort to minimize the adverse repercussions of moving away from traditional means of education in these critical scientific fields. COVID-19 necessitated administrators, faculty, students, and interns at colleges, universities, medical/healthcare science programs and residencies to pursue teaching, learning, and assessment of Anatomy and Physiology courses/curricula through …

A Computational Analysis Of Structural Analogs Of Colchicineas Potential Microtubule Polymerization Inhibitors, Isadora Rocha De Abreu, Allison Barkdull

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Microtubules are structures important for cell survival and cell function. They are responsible for the formation of the cytoskeleton and mitotic spindles, they aid in cell movement, intracellular transport, amongst other functions. Microtubules are composed of the tubulin protein made of alpha-beta dimer proteins. During polymerization tubulin proteins experience phases of dynamic instability, characterized by microtubule growth and shrinkage at varying rates. Microtubule growth can be inhibited by compounds such as colchicine, a known microtubule destabilizing agent, that binds to tubulin inhibiting microtubule polymerization. Colchicine has limited clinical use due to its toxicity and low solubility. In this study we …

A Mathematical And Ergonomic Analysis Of Fundamental Laparoscopic Surgery Tools And Techniques, Joshua Bennett, Anneleissa Lugay, Daniel Celestino, Paula Veras

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Laparoscopic surgery is a means to perform procedures in a minimally invasive manner. For surgeons, this requires further training due to increased complexity and fatigue. The goal of these experiments was to study the ergonomics of laparoscopic tools and the physical and cognitive requirements of the Fundamentals of Laparoscopic Surgery (FLS) tasks.

Surface electromyography (sEMG) was used to measure muscle fatigue on the left and right trapezius and electroencephalogram (EEG) was used to record brain waves of the participants. The percent maximum voluntary contraction (%MVC) concept was used to measure fatigue levels. Mean power spectral density was used to categorize …

A Novel Tcr Clustering Method For Sars-Cov-2 Epitopes, Naziba Akther Nuha

Undergraduate Student Symposium

T-cell epitopes are peptides generated from antigens that are presented by MHC class I and class II molecules to T-cells. These epitopes are usually identified by T-cell receptors (TCRs) of CD4 T-cells which then causes transformation of CD4 T-cells to helper or regulatory T cells. In this project, we look at the different TCR sequences of the same length that are activated by two different epitopes for the SARS-COV-2. Building on previous work using Principal component analysis to analyze twenty different physiochemical properties of amino acids, we convert the amino acids in the TCR sequences to numerical strings. We then …

An Episodic Study Of Hospital Charges For Hospital Admissions And Readmissions In 2017 In The United States For Degenerative Nerve Systems Disorders (Drg = 056), Esha Sultana

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Understanding hospital charges upon admission as well as readmissions is critical for value-based care. The extant literature focuses on patient-specific, disease-specific, and hospital-specific factors to explain the variance in hospital charges across the United States. Studies have mainly examined hospital charges upon admissions but there has been lack of empirical research on examining hospital charges upon readmissions. This has resulted in ambiguity in understanding the primary determinants of hospital charges upon readmissions. To address this gap, the federal agency AHRQ developed the HCUP hospital readmissions database that produces nationally representative information about hospital readmissions. This study utilizes the AHRQ 2017 …

Analysis Of Errors In Ecgs Data Captured By Patients Using At-Home Device Compared To Qualified Healthcare Professionals, Colin Pulickathadam

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Cardiovascular Diseases (CVDs) are a leading cause of death worldwide, accounting for 17.3 million deaths per year. General at-home care has been proven to improve patient outcomes and decrease hospitalization rates. The purpose of this presentation is to present preliminary results from a research study comparing the electrocardiograms (ECG) readability from patients and their caregivers, who conducted at-home ECGs in the experimental group, versus data on ECG readability from patients living in assisted living, nursing home facilities, and routine office visits, where a qualified healthcare professional takes the ECG readings as the control group. This research study will also evaluate …

Benefits Of Stem Mentorship: Introducing Microbiology Research To High School Students, Tassnime Sebaei, Katrina Maktaz, Varsha Chigurupati

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Bacteria Unearthed is an NSU initiative to bring together high school and college students to participate in Tiny Earth: an international consortia of researchers searching for novel microorganisms and antibiotics to combat antibiotic drug resistance. Our group developed a STEM mentor program as a catalyst for students to significantly increase academic performance. The program allows high schoolers to become part of the global research community. These high school students enrolled in their microbiology classes are supported by undergraduate students who have experience working with Tiny Earth. Through this experiential learning, it is expected that there will be improvements in …

Bilinguals Demonstrate Stronger Inhibitory Response Bias In Tasks Of Executive Function, Samruddhi Ayachit, Erika Cabrera Ranaldi

Undergraduate Student Symposium

From switching from one task to another or quickly memorizing a number to call, people use executive function daily. Executive function is thought to be controlled by frontal lobe inhibitory processes. Reportedly, people who speak more than one language also use the same frontal lobe processes to switch between languages. It is therefore believed that these inhibitory processes are more prominent in bilinguals because of the experience of controlling multiple languages. To test this theory, bilinguals and monolinguals were compared on executive function tasks. Participants were matched on demographic variables and fluid intelligence. To examine inhibition, participants were tested with …

Bioremediation Of Algae-Based Water Treatment: Analysis Of Algae Adsorption Of Heavy Metals Based On Ion Size And Covalent Indices, Samir Sakaria, Rebecca Mathew, Amelia Figueroa

Undergraduate Student Symposium

A previous published study completed at Nova Southeastern University determined that Neochloris alveolaris and Neochloris minuta algal strains which were grown in nitrogen-rich (+N) and nitrogen-depleted (-N) environments biosorbed Pb²⁺, Cd²⁺, Zn²⁺, Cu²⁺, and Ni²⁺ at varying concentrations. These algae biosorbed each metal differently based on their biomass composition (carbohydrates, fats, and lipids) and the type of hard or soft metal acids available, according to the Pearson theory of Hard Soft Acid Base (HSAB) definition. Given these promising findings, this study aimed to further analyze and determine the effect of hard …

Can Statins Mitigate Adverse Effects Of Hormone Replacement Therapy In Women?, Adhm Farid

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Heart disease is the leading cause of death for women in the United States. One possible overlooked risk factor for heart disease in women is hormone replacement therapy(HRT). HRT is most often used to treat certain kinds of breast cancer that depend on sex hormones to grow or to supplement estrogen to women over 60 or who have had a hysterectomy. HRT has been found to increase levels of C-reactive protein(CRP), which is the bio-inflammatory marker that best predicts cardiovascular risk. Statin therapy has been found to decrease levels of C-reactive protein. Currently, CRP is not taken into consideration when …

Caribbean Reef-Building Coral-Symbiodiniaceae Network: Identifying Symbioses Critical For System Stability In A Changing Climate, Mackenzie Magyar, Brady Estrada, Timothy Swain Ph.D.

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Coral reef bleaching events across the globe are increasing following intensifying marine heatwaves and higher ocean temperatures. The frequency and intensity of bleaching events are expected to rise over the next 100 years. An increase in coral mortality has been observed in the Caribbean between 1970-2012. Our objective is to produce a network of all Caribbean hermatypic coral-Symbiodiniaceae associations and analyze it in the context of increased temperatures and coral bleaching events. The available scientific literature was explored and inspected to evaluate whether these papers included relevant data for building the network, including the coral host, host depth, sample location, …

Deficits In Gait Biomechanics In Runners On A University Team: Implications For Preventative Sport Healthcare, W. Zachary Dean

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Sport healthcare providers in team-based settings conduct functional testing to identify injury risk. Results are used in team-based injury prevention programs. This process is different than care for a patient once they become injured. Gait analyses are a functional test for runners. Therefore, we aimed to describe the bilateral running biomechanics in a university cross country team with emphasis on variables linked to running-related injury (RRI). Twenty-seven male (n=10) and female (n=17) distance runners (age, 18-23yrs; height, 1.82±0.57m; mass, 58.4±6.8 kg) from a single university team participated in this descriptive study. Gait was assessed during a treadmill run at a …

Determinants Of Hospital Charges For Hospital Admissions And Readmissions In 2017 In The United States For Bronchitis And Asthma With Complications And Comorbidities (Drg = 202), Japjot Singh

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Understanding hospital charges in the U.S. healthcare system is vital for value-based care, recovery, and socio-economic wellbeing of the public. Hospital charges vary across hospitals regionally as well as nationally. As per the clinical history of hospital in-patient care, there are several determinants of hospital charges that are specific to the patient, disease, hospital, or the chargemaster. Empirical research on hospital in-patient care has bolstered the extant knowledge on the factors that determine the healthcare cost and utilization, but research is limited on how hospital readmissions impact hospital charges. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) has developed a …

Effect Of Gamma Irradiation On Vitamin D Stability In Salmon, Varun Natarajan

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Salmon and other finfish are one of the major dietary sources of vitamin D. However, the presence of pathogenic bacteria, such as vibrio sp and listeria sp, can lead to foodborne illnesses. In 2015, 18% of foodborne illnesses were attributed to finfish. Gamma irradiation can serve as an effective tool to minimize bioburden and thereby decrease the risk of foodborne illnesses. While gamma irradiation has been used on other types of food, including chicken and crustaceans, its effects on fresh finfish has not been studied. This project examines the effect of low dose gamma irradiation on the stability of vitamin …

Effect Of Periodontitis On Inducing Late Onset Alzheimer's Disease (Load) Pathology In Mice, Neha Gupta, Courtney Mai, Miguel Cuello

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia; affecting approximately 50 million people worldwide. Recent evidence indicates poor dental hygiene may accelerate Alzheimer’s degeneration. Experimenters used a mouse model of periodontitis induced by P. gingivalis and investigated the implications of poor dental health on Alzheimer’s Disease and neuroinflammation, as well as memory skills, in relation to aging, gender, and condition. All the mice in the model were the same age, and a total of 8 mice with Alzheimer’s Disease and 8 mice who had Alzheimer’s Disease with inflammation with an equivalent number of males and females were utilized. Experimenters …

Effects Of Water Hyacinth Management On Fish Populations, Sara Schutt, Mary Hill, Melanie Vasquez

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Invasive water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) creates significant economic and ecological problems in Florida. Removal of this invader cost an estimated $4.19 million in the 2020 fiscal year. Water hyacinth has also been shown to alter water quality and chemistry and reduce fish populations. Current management strategies involve manual removal and the application of herbicide. New methods, including biological control, are being investigated to improve the efficiency of current management methods. Questions about the effects of these novel management strategies have emerged, including the response of fish populations to the new treatments. To answer these questions, we set up …

Emotional Resilience Of The Covid-19 Pandemic On A College Campus, Jenna Binaco

Undergraduate Student Symposium

The perceptions of people during the Covid-19 pandemic cannot always be true. This is due to a life of uncertainty and for many people, fear. Since the pandemic has been around for about two years, this is an excellent opportunity to see how this pandemic has impacted people’s mental health. A way that this information can be recorded is with The Emotional Resilience scale of the Covid-19 Pandemic on a College Campus. Emotional resilience was measured in 1704 American university students, staff, and faculty in October to November 2021 of the Covid-19 pandemic. This was a transitional period for people …

Examining The Impact Of Mind Wandering On Task Performance: Does Task Difficulty Matter?, Kortne Bajor, Jozef Cruz, Amulya Chowd Koritala, Gargee Pandya

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Mind wandering is a phenomenon in which an individual’s thoughts drift from the current task to a task unrelated thought (TUT). It is known to be affected by various factors such as state of mind, neuroticism, and boredom which may differ for each individual. Task difficulty appears to impact mind wandering rates, such that mind wandering increases on tasks with lower difficulty (Seli et al., 2018). However, prior work has not examined how emotionally valenced mind wandering impact task performance at different levels of task difficulty. Mind wandering typically predicts poorer ongoing task performance (McVay & Kane, 2010) and negatively …

Exploring The Prevalence Of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (Cts) Symptoms In College Students, Kyrah Maduro

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) causes functional impairments and is prevalent in occupations involving repetitive hand movements. Given the extensive use of electronic devices for coursework, college students may be at risk for CTS. The purpose of this study was twofold: to examine the symptomology of CTS in college students, and to determine treatment strategies used by occupational therapists (OT) who treat college students with CTS. We developed and administered a 17-question College Student CTS Experiences Survey for students. Participants were recruited via flyers posted on a university campus. Inclusion criteria for responding included being a college student experiencing pain, tingling, …

Firearm-Related Injuries Rates From 2014 To 2017 Among Floridian Children, Joel Marlapudi

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Purpose: To assess the prevalence of firearm-related injuries among pediatric patients in Florida by age, race, and ethnicity.

Method: The dataset from the Florida’s Agency for Health Care Administration from 2014-2017 was utilized for this analysis as well as the Florida Community Health Assessment and Resource Tool Set. The study included ambulatory ED-visits of Floridian patients (aged ≤ 19 years) who had firearm-related Principal Diagnosis coded using the International Classification of Diseases. Patients who reported race as White or Black and Ethnicity as Hispanic or non-Hispanics were included. Patients’ county was categorized into 11 regions defined by Florida Local Health …

Gadra's Allegory, Bianca Vucetich

Undergraduate Student Symposium

“Gadra’s Allegory” is a silent (with no dialogue, but music is utilized) short film that follows a modern day ‘prisoner’ who exemplifies how their society is chained to the screens that surrounds them. The film shows their journey from a repetitive, thoughtless, and disillusioned way of life, to a majestic awakening to the nature of reality. This film is based on and inspired by Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave,”; though the main character of the film is based off the chained prisoner of the allegory, this alternate version shows another path to their own enlightenment and expresses their own internal …