Digital Commons Network^™

Dna Fingerprinting And Whole Genome Replication For The Identification Of Bacteria, Justin Piacentino, Shilpa Kailas

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Prokaryotes are typically clonal in nature due to their rapid reproduction by binary fission, but some molecular genetics methods exist to differentiate various bacterial species. In this experiment, common bacteria were grown in nutrient broth before their DNA was extracted. Repetitive DNA sequences that are universal to a variety of bacteria were then targeted in the polymerase chain reaction (REP-PCR) using ERIC primers.The bacterial DNA was then quantified using gel electrophoresis to form a ―fingerprint‖of distinct bands for each bacterial species. The Repli-g procedure was then performed to amplify the amount of DNA going into the REP-PCR replication, while testing …

Coral Cover Of Diaseris Distorta And Porites Sverdrupi At Isla Catalana, Gulf Of California, Mary Crider

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Diaseris distorta is a free-living, solitary fungiid coral that mostly inhabits sand or mud habitats surrounding coral reefs. It is distributed throughout the tropical waters of the Red Sea, Indian Ocean, and Pacific Ocean. Data on this species' population densityand surface area was collected at its northern-most limit of distribution in the Eastern Pacific off the coast of Isla Catalana in the Gulf of California. Thirty randomly located 0.25m² photo quadrats (7.5m² total area) were analyzed using CPCe software. The mean surface area of Diaseris distorta was 1.6cm² ± 0.4 s.d. per individual, and the mean number …

Comparisons Of Nearshore Artificial And Natural Reef Fish Assemblages In Southeast Florida Using Three Visual Census Methods With Snorkel Gear, Benedict Z. Choi, Kelly Kostner, Tandace L. Burkhart

Undergraduate Student Symposium

The nearshore environment of Broward and Palm Beach counties are characterized by the presence of both natural and artificial reefs. The natural reef area surveyed in this experiment is located in northern Broward County just south of Commercial Blvd. The natural reef is a composed of a mix of hardbottom and sabellarid worm rock habitats. The artificial reef surveyed in this experiment is located in southern Palm Beach County, immediately south of Boca Raton Inlet. This reef consists of large, concrete boulders scattered over an area of a tenth of a mile. The two goals of this study were to …

Cultural Diversity, Erica Falk

Undergraduate Student Symposium

A collaboration of a myriad of short poetry on the beautiful surroundings of cultural diversity will be discussed and further articulated. The style will be written in couplet format and have an appropriate ab rhyme scheme. It will also introduce the wonderful work of artists both painters and writers who utilized cultural diversity in the theme of their work. Cultural diversity is a prominent issue in the twenty-first century and has become a critical issue of our nation. The luxury and great appreciation of diverse multitudes of race, religion, and ethnicity help to paint a world full of vibrant colors. …

Bohemian Classicism: An Analysis And Performance Of Jiri Georg Benda’S Piano Sonatina In A Minor, Michelle Mi-Le Kim

Undergraduate Student Symposium

The piano sonatinas of Bohemian composer Jiri Georg Benda occupy animportant place in Benda‘s compositional output. This poster will explore theessential parts of sonatina form and include an analysis that shows the unique way in which Benda‘s sonatina in A minor exemplifies the form. This presentation willinclude a recording of the author‘s performance of the piece as informed by her theoretical analysis.

Blockage Of Vegf-Induced Angiogenesis With A Novel Anti-Angiogenic (Jfd) Drug, Crystal Romero

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) is frequently expressed in several pathological tissues and is known to promote angiogenesis and vasculogenesis in highly metastatic cancers. The purpose of this experiment was to re-evaluate the efficiency of JFD drug, in varying concentrations, on the capillary formation by HUVEC cells. To accomplish the intended purpose an In-Vitro Angiogenesis assay kit was utilized to examine capillary formation by HUVEC cells. Approximately 5 x 10³ HUVEC cells were seeded into matrigel, which simulates an endothelial cell matrix, on a Petri- dish. To these plates different concentrations (0.1μM, 0.25 μM, 0.5 μM, 2.5 μM, and …

An Examination Of The Specific Functions Of Three Cancer Drugs (Methotrexate, Fluorouracil, And Taxol) And Their Expected Effects On Gene Expression, Neena Chandrasekaran

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Cancer is a term used to define many diseases in which a group of cells exhibit uncontrolled growth, invasion, and sometimes metastasis. In this literature review project, the mechanisms of action for three drugs used to treat cancer by inhibiting cell division: Ledertrexate (methotrexate), Fluorouracil (adrucil), and Paclitaxel (taxol) are examined. Methotrexate inhibits an enzyme called dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) that catalyses the conversion of dihydrofolate to folic acid, needed for the synthesis of the nucleoside thymidine, and also purines which are required for DNA synthesis. Fluorouracil functions as a thymidylate synthase inhibitor by stopping the synthesis of the pyrimidine, thymidine, …

A Study Of New Porous Molecular Frameworks And Their Adsorption And Desorption Properties, Sam Aminov, Jennifer Tejada

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Metal-organic Frameworks (MOF‘s) are porous materials comprised of organic buildingblocks bound to metal atoms. These compounds are finding applications in various fields of study including gas absorption, catalysis of specific reactions, and in drug delivery among others. Our emphasis has been placed on synthesizing and characterizing new frameworks with the use of bisl(arylimino)isoindolines (BAII‘s) as building blocks. Oneof these, NBAII(CuOAc), produced by reaction of NBAII with copper acetate, was analyzed for small molecular absorption and desorption. This particular framework was successful in the absorption of carbon tetrachloride and chloroform but failed to absorb pentane and toluene, while other organic solvents …

Acid Rain: Adversity On Atmospheric Carbon, Andrew Lister, Hannah Bromberg, Kayla Mancuso

Undergraduate Student Symposium

―Acid Rain is the deposition of wet and dry acidic pollutants that have been shown tocause damage to the environment. Dissolved atmospheric carbon dioxide in clouds and rain undergoes a chemical reaction with water to form carbonic acid, thereby changing the pH of unpolluted rain water from 7.0 to 5.7. When unpolluted rain acquires additional acidity through the reactions of air pollutants with water, stronger acids are formed. Deposits from acid rain on the earth‘s surface have adverse effects on oceans,forests, soils, organisms, buildings and mankind. Acid rain clearly has an adverse affect on the carbon cycle of the atmosphere.

Modeling Health Care Data Using Regression Analysis, Giovanna Revano, Diana Jablansky

Undergraduate Student Symposium

In this presentation, we use a multiple regression analysis technique to build a regression model to predict body mass index (BMI) for a person given some predictors like age, height, weight, waist, gender, etc. Data from the U.S department of health and human services, national center for health statistics, third national health and nutrition examination survey will be used to build the regression model. We will use the method of least squares to fit the data and get estimates of the parameters. Predictors will be tested for significance, model assumptions will be checked, and model diagnostics will be used to …

Trashing The Past: Butch And Femme Labels In The Lesbian Community, Nicole Donia

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Since the 1970‘s, there has been an ongoing argument within the lesbian community over whether the genders butch and femme should be rejected or embraced. Some lesbian feminists and now queer theorists have gone to great lengths to convince lesbians to reject the labels of butch and femme. They claim that lesbians of the past were forced into these gender roles because of the necessity to conform to a heterosexist society. On the other hand, scholars of gay and lesbian cultural studies oppose the rejection of these genders based on the importance they have played in lesbian history. After a …

Making The Nsu Film Symposium, Philip Ortiz

Undergraduate Student Symposium

"Making the NSU Film Symposium" is a short documentary film about the students who participate in the production of short films. This documentary is directed by Philip Ortiz. Other crew members include Adam Walters, Michael McGregor, and Japheth Pizarro. This documentary will feature interviews with past and present student participants in the NSU Film Symposium. There will also be short clips from instructional workshop presentations.

The Effects Of Laughter On Attention, Sabrina Smith

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Laughter is a fundamental element of human behavior. Although numerous studies have demonstrated the benefits of laughter, the effect of laughter on attention is currently unknown. Attentional resources are required to provoke the reaction of laughter, therefore, in instances where a cognitive task occurs in parallel with humorous stimuli (i.e. attention is dually allocated), there is potentially a competition for attentional resources. This competition may result in reduced cognitive abilities during laughter. This study will utilize brain electroencephalographic (EEG) event related potentials (ERPs) to measure attentional processing during concomitant humorous exposure or nonhumorous exposure. Specifically, we will utilize two videos …

A Study Of Lifespan In The United States, Jacqueline Carrion

Undergraduate Student Symposium

In this project, a regression analysis study is conducted to see if the average lifespan (LIFE) in the United States is related to the following six characteristics: MALE, the ratio of male to female in percentage, BIRTH, the birth rate per 1000 population, DIVORCE, the divorce rate per 1000 population, BEDS, the hospital beds per 100,000 population, EDUCATION, the percentage of population 25 years or older having completed 16 years of school, and INCOME, the per capita income. In this study, the outliers and the influential observations will be identified by looking at various statistics, such as RESIDUAL, STUDENTIZED RESIDUALS, …

A Gluten-Free, Casein-Free Diet As An Alternative Therapy For Autism And Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Literature Review, Christie Rubio

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Autism is a disorder of social interaction and communication. It is a collection of behavioral symptoms causing the person to be easily disturbed by a lack of routine and organization of daily activities. The disorder becomes apparent within the first three years of life. Though the cause of the disorder is unknown, there has been feverish research to determine the cause and develop a treatment. Several clinical studies have found that children with autism have a range of gastrointestinal symptoms including inflammation, decreased digestive enzyme activity and permeability of the intestines to pathologies. Children with autism also have abnormal levels …

Surface Bacteria Distribution On Campus And The Potential Health Impacts Of Exposure, Rachel Sewnarine, Yusra Quadri, Sonya Chacko

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Have you ever wondered what's in the air we breathe, on the tables we touch or on the things that help keep us clean? A previous pilot study conducted last year at NSU provided a glimpse into the presence of bacteria on campus. The goal of this study was to provide additional data on this important topic by increasing the number of sites sampled, the total number of replicates, as well as provide insight into the types of bacteria that are sampled. Gram staining procedures, as well as specific identification kits are planned on pure bacterial cultures to aid in …

Social Support And Psychosocial Health Among Hiv-Seropositive Individuals, Lydia Malcolm, Maria Marcoulli, Dyona Augustin, Vera Lopez

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Existing literature has documented a positive correlation between social support and adjustment to illness among HIV/AIDS. However, there is limited research focusing exclusively on the influence of family support on psychosocial health in this population. This study sought to examine the influence of family support on psychosocial health among substance users with HIV/AIDS. Thirty-one African-American HIV-positive substance users (M ± SD age = 41 ± 8; 55% women) were recruited from clinics. Demographic, psychosocial, and behavioral data were collected via face-to-face interviews. The independent variable was family support. The dependent variables were HIV/AIDS knowledge, HIV attitude, HIV related physical …

Metagenomic Analysis To Determine Habitat And Abundance Of Helicosporidium, Christian Benitez, Alyssa Fernandez

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Helicosporidium are parasitic, non-photosynthetic green algae shown to have potential in providing biological control against mosquito larvae. By determining where Helicosporidium resides, this organism can be more abundantly studied to gain a better understanding of its life cycle, transmission, and potential effects as biological control agents. Therefore, the isolation and study of Helicosporidium shows promise in the fields of biology and environmental science. In this research project, environmental water samples were obtained and analyzed to determine if any Helicosporidium inhabited the sample. Using a metagenomics approach, DNA extraction of all the microorganisms residing in the water samples were conducted followed …

Math And Politics: Analyzing Political Polling In 2008, Kelly Koziol

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Political polling was a hot topic in 2008 with an extended presidential primary election season and a historical presidential election in November. This research examines the quality of political polling during the presidential primary election season in an effort to predict which political polls would be most accurate in the general presidential election. This analysis was done using thousands of political polls from across the United States that were released to the public from a variety of sources. The statewide primary election polls themselves differed in a variety of ways and the data was stratified by many factors including: which …

Mechanisms Of Vancomycin Resistance In Mixed Species Biofilms, Lina Alsad, Leslie Nevarez

Undergraduate Student Symposium

The studies conducted are aimed at determining the interactions between Candida albicans and Staphylococcus aureus in a mixed biofilm. Microbes generally prefer to grow as part of a biofilm, as opposed to individual planktonic cells, in order to communicate, share nutrients, and gain protection from environmental stresses. The bacterium Staphylococcus aureus and the fungus Candida albicans are the most common microbes found to grow within biofilms in humans and are among the leading causes of infectious disease. Previous research in our lab has indicated that S. aureus is less susceptible to the antibiotic vancomycin when grown in a mixed biofilm. …

Lament, Michael Mcgregor

Undergraduate Student Symposium

"Lament" is a story of one brother's journey to grow and let go of a battle between him and his brother. After he discovers the passing of his brother, he begins to look back at their relationship. It's a story that shows that family is stronger than anything, and although his older brother is homosexual, it doesn't change the fact that they are brothers. The film is directed by Mike McGregor. Other crew members include Philip Ortiz and Adam Walters.

From Failed Unity To Long-Term Division: The Impact Of Nineteenth-Century French Diplomacy On Haitian-Dominican Relations, Geneviève Chantal Volcy Céant

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Haiti and the Dominican Republic are sometimes referred to as two wings of the same bird. However, to Dominicans the island is Quisqueya while Haitians refer to it as Hispaniola. This distinction offers a symbolic illustration of their opposing attitudes, which are usually explained as cultural differences. In this paper, I take into consideration the historical roots of these difficulties and in particular the role of France during the post-colonial era. French diplomats invested in and exploited the island's political instability, driving the two populations apart. The research presented in this paper addresses the negative impact of nineteenth-century French diplomacy …

Effects Of Periodic Acceleration (Pgz) On Cardiovascular Health, Sam Aminov

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Heart disease is among the leading killers of both men and women in the United States. Periodic acceleration (pGz) is a promising non-invasive treatment that induces the expr ess io n o f mult ip le ca rd iop rotec t ive med ia tors t hat funct io n i n myocard ia l preservation, ischemia and reperfusion, and post-ischemic injuries. In this literature review the expression of nitric oxide synthase in endomyocardium and the implications of periodic acceleration on overall cardiovascular health were examined. Periodic acceleration increases pulsatile sheer stress on the vascular endothelium leading to the release …

Tax Havens: The Art Of Avoidance, Michael Rasmussen, Ryan Nicol

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Tax Havens: The Art of Avoidance is a symposium based on the essay: "Evasive Maneuvers: Tax Havens, Tax Evasion, Tax Avoidance, and the Future of Tax Law in America." Rarely do intriguing or titillating issues of tax law present themselves and tax havens are no exception. This symposium looks to change this perception; tax havens are interesting! The symposium has two objectives (1) discuss and define what tax havens are and (2) illustrate the struggle the United States has in dealing with them.

Reading The Pattern In "The Yellow Wallpaper", Sarah Silverstein

Undergraduate Student Symposium

This paper is a literary analysis of Charlotte Perkins Gilman‘s short story, "The Yellow Wallpaper." In the story the unnamed protagonist is diagnosed with a "nervous disease" and confined to a nursery/bedroom in "ancestral halls" (253). Ironically, it is through this nursery that serves as a prison cell for the captive and ill woman that she finds her voice and her freedom. This paper examines the symbolic devices and imagery that reflect her struggle and provide an escape route for women confined to an oppressive child-like status. Her diary entries are the mechanism whereby she records her observations and examines …

Examining Adhesion Of Lysozyme And Transferrin To Omafilcon A Contact Lenses, Neena Chandrasekaran, Shan Desai, Darshan Solanki

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Contact lenses induce the formation of human tears, which contain approximately 60 different proteins, when worn on the naked eye. We examined the adhesion of human transferrin to FDA Group II Omafilcon A contact lenses, fabricated from a biomimetic material whose interaction with tear proteins is not well understood. Furthermore, the consequences of protein accumulation are uncertain. Experimental procedure included incubation of Omafilcon A lenses in human transferrin for five days. Protein adhesion was determined by bicinchoninic acid colorimetry on a daily basis through spectrophotometry. As a result, transferrin adhered to the Omafilcon A lenses to a lesser extent (~10%) …

Dizzying Duplicity: Women's Dance Of Discord, Amanda Allen Thompson

Undergraduate Student Symposium

An examination of Dorothy Parker's "The Waltz" and Tillie Olsen's "Tell Me a Riddle " reveals a telling commonality: the cyclical redundancy that characterizes women's lives in early to mid-period twentieth century America.. Dorothy Parker's piece is an amusing allegorical short story in which the protagonist finds herself dancing with a partner with whom she secretly would prefer not to dance. However, such an option is unavailable to women in polite society. Parker's narrator/protagonist is internally impudent but externally compliant as her rebellion eventually dissipates and she dances her life and her autonomy away. Olson‘s "Tell Me a Riddle" tells …

Bending Under Pressure: "In-Vision" It’S Plain To See, Megan Oswald

Undergraduate Student Symposium

"It is not what you look at that matters, it is what you see." –Henry David Thoreau

Vision is key to the human experience. It is often the first sensation received for environmental navigation. While to the average eye images may be clear, ocular disorders can distort their production, making the study on ocular disorders essential. Glaucoma is characterized by damage to the optic nerve due to excessively high intraocular pressure (IOP). It is assumed that IOP is uniform throughout the eye. Therefore we can link glaucoma to the deformations of the cornea, which is the oculardisorder of astigmatism inhibiting …

Data Networking Lab Implementation Using Virtualization, Carolina Usbeck

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Conventional computer laboratory is expensive and it requires expensive cabling and routers to set up. It also requires careful hardware planning and implementation that can take weeks to implement. We are demonstrating an implementation of a computer- networking laboratory on a single machine that each student can implement on his or her own machine using virtualization. The laboratory is tested with sample networking experiments. The laboratory will be delivered as a software appliance that can be made available to all students in taking computer-networking courses. The implementation is done using completely free or open source software packages.