Digital Commons Network^™

Treatment Of Multiple Sclerosis With Oral Cannabinoids, Alberto Panero

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is an inflammatory disease of the central nervous system (CNS) which includes the brain and spinal cord. Primarily, MS is a disease of the “white matter” tissue. In people affected by MS, patches of damage called plaques or lesions appear in random areas of the CNS white matter. At the site of a lesion, a nerve insulating material, called myelin is lost. Clinically, MS is a difficult condition to characterize because it is unpredictable and variable. Depending on which areas of the CNS are affected and how badly they are damaged, there is a great variety in …

Using Genetic Sampling Of Hair To Confirm Origin And Identify Florida Panthers, Julia M. Rabolli

Undergraduate Student Symposium

This project investigates the origin of a puma currently living in a zoo in Ecuador. Although this particular puma (named Sasha) is assumed to be of South American origin there is some speculation that she was brought to South America from Florida in the early 1980s. In order to determine Sasha’s most likely geographical origin and subspecies, DNA was extracted from hair from three known Florida panthers as well as from one of Sasha’s cubs. The target gene for this research is the mitochondrial NADH-5 (ND5) gene that is passed on from the maternal parent. Several variations (haplotypes) in this …

Substance Abuse And The Rave Scene, Melissa Gonzalez, Kassandra Landrian, Brannecha Campbell

Undergraduate Student Symposium

This research study deals with substance abuse in the rave scene. A “Rave” is an all night party, usually featuring electronic music as the primary type of music. Basically, there is an enormous amount of controversy surrounding these parties because of the reputation espoused by the media and some government agencies. According to reports from the mass media, drug use by rave party attendees in previous years was extremely high and the prevalence of individuals taking controlled substances at these parties was overwhelming. This study addressed issues pertaining to the prevalence of drug use during raves and how many individuals …

Self-Esteem, Family Relations And Suicide Among College Students, Andrea Boucher, Katerina Sovanova, Isaura Orozco, Alyssa Persaud, Avinash Persad

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Suicide is the ninth leading cause of death in the U.S. claiming 29,350 lives per year. Suicide rates among youth (ages 15-24) have increased more than 200% in the last fifty years. However, it is higher for the elderly (ages 85+) than for any other age group. Suicide can be prevented, but many people are just unable to see any other alternatives to their problems. It is noted that suicidal people often give various warning, but others are often unaware of the significance of these warnings or unsure of what to do about them. It was once thought that just …

The Living Wage, Jenan Hadrous

Undergraduate Student Symposium

While the U.S. economy experienced unprecedented growth in income and wealth during the 1990's a significant portion of the working age population did not share in these gains. Specifically, those full time workers earning minimum wage fell behind as any gains in the minimum wage were more than offset by increases in the cost of living. It is not unusual for the family income of minimum wage workers to fall below the poverty level of income. To address this issue many local governments are now evaluating the possibility of requiring vendors who do business with the local government to pay …

The Effects Of Religious Upbringing On The Sexual Behavior Of College Students, Marissa S. Dass

Undergraduate Student Symposium

The purpose of this study is to determine the effects of religious upbringing on the sexual behavior of college students and their willingness to engage in drug or alcohol usage. A comprehensive questionnaire was composed and filled out by a total of fifty students on the main campuses of Nova Southeastern University and Florida Atlantic University. The questionnaire asked a series of questions ranging from age and ethnicity to type of religious upbringing and influence of religious upbringing on the individual’s sexual practices. The results of the survey were quantified to either prove or disprove the hypothesis. Analysis of the …

Rocket And Egg Drop Project, Rezwan Alam, Andrew Barry, Nika Ferdowski, Adam Finkelstein, Fahd Sattar

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Our project is to use our knowledge of kinetic energy, aerodynamics, and shock absorption to build our own rocket. These aspects of mechanical physics will determine the height of our launch and the physical strain on the rocket’s structure. In order to measure the effects of these acting forces, we will design, build and launch a rocket without the aid of a modeling kit.

This rocket will be used in an experiment to test the limits of its performance with respect to its passengers. Our rocket will launch with three eggs inside of it. These eggs will act as a …

Teenage Pregnancy: Prevention, Abortion, And Help, Leslie Ramirez, Maite Bilbao

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Sexual activity among the teenage population has become the norm rather than the exception. The problem not only concerns individual teenagers but their babies and their families, as well. This project seeks to provide information regarding teen pregnancies and to evaluate programs and policies that could help prevent teenage pregnancy by informing teens of the choices they can make. The importance of education and contraceptive use to prevent teen pregnancy is stressed. Statistics will help place the problem in perspective. For example, each year, almost 1 million teenage women--10% of all women aged 15-19 and 19% of those who have …

The Nsu Technology Student Help Site: Ideas To Actions, Angela Quintero, Jennifer Shaw, Jason Mcgwire, Lisa Barnes, Donna Cooper

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Technology students at NSU have many resources, but there are none that are made by students, for students. With this project, current technology students pass on their knowledge and research to new students, creating a network of help and support within the student body, not to mention within the University as a whole. The project uses an annotated format to list web sites that were academically relevant and useful for students. These annotations were categorized according to department (Technology), course (such as TECH 4900), and subject divisions within the course. Within these categorizations were listings of web sites that students …

Rhetorical Criticism As A Method Of Understanding History And The Art Of Persuasion, Cammie Cacace, Theodore Chamberlain

Undergraduate Student Symposium

U.S. history has been shaped by the speeches of great individuals. Democracy is built upon freedom of speech, which allows even the least privileged to speak the truth and their concerns to those in power. Those of privilege have given many of the great speeches in our history. However, some of the best have been delivered on behalf of all people in this country, and in the world. It is important that these archives of freedom and democracy be studied not only so we can understand the power of political rhetoric, but so that we can understand the events that …

Radio Telescope Project, Andrew Barry, Jessica Davis, Jordan Gularek, Po-Jui (Bryan) Lin, Dennis O'Leary, Erin Ostroff, Graham Rasenen, Kareem Shaker

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Burke and Franklin discovered that Jupiter emits radio waves through the construction on antenna much like Radio JOVE project. Jupiter has an extremely large magnetosphere, which allows Jupiter to emit radio signals that can be received on earth. The moon Io leaves behind large clouds of charged particles as it orbits Jupiter due to its volcanic atmosphere, which interacts with Jupiter’s magnetosphere causing radio storms. The position of the sun can have a large effect on the incoming radio signals to Earth because the sun ionizes Earth's magnetosphere causing the absorption of radio waves. The position of Jupiter is also …

Microarray Technology: New Strategies In The Discovery Of The Etiology Of Schizophrenia, Roxana A. Ruyani

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Schizophrenia is a complex trait disorder attributed to polygenic and epigenic factors linked to over ten chromosomal loci that are responsible for symptoms reflecting multiple mental processes such as hallucinations, delusions, and disorganized speech and behavior. Numerous studies implicate the profound effects of both genetic and environmental factors on neurodevelopmental processes to conclude that the function of the nervous system is highly dependent on gene expression. The objective of this literature research project is to summarize the application and major conclusions of two DNA microarray research procedures executed in an attempt to identify the causes and genes attributed to Schizophrenia. …

Obesity In Immigrants, Ana Rodriguez

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Obesity is one of the main health problems in the United States. The number of immigrants is increasing dramatically over the years. (Satia-Abouta, Patterson, Neuhouser, Elder, 2002). Immigrants to the U.S. often acquire new eating patterns as they become accustomed to the American products, fast-food culture and sedentary lifestyle. The acculturation to the American lifestyle places immigrants at risk for obesity. (Thompson, Coronado, Solomon, 2004). The purpose of this research is to create an awareness of the problem immigrants are having when immigrating to the U.S. Since this problem could be the cause of more health problems such as hypertension, …

Orientation Preferences In Birds, Lessette Magnotta

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Most bird species have a dark dorsum and lighter ventrum. A possible explanation for such a color pattern could be countershading, which makes a bird less conspicuous to predators. The level of conspicuousness depends on the orientation of the bird with respect to the sun. In order for the bird to successfully camouflage itself, it must face its dorsum towards the sun when the sun is at low elevation. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether countershaded and non-countershaded birds do in fact orient with respect to the sun. A goniometer was used to measure angles of perches …

Why Northern Mockingbirds (Mimus Polyglottos) Face The Sun: An Evaluation Of Thermoregulation And Countershading Explanations Using Orientation During Overcast Conditions, Nicole Russo

Undergraduate Student Symposium

When the sun is near the horizon, Northern Mockingbirds (Mimus polyglottos) show a strong tendency to orient their lighter-colored ventral surfaces toward the sun. It is unclear whether the function of this orientation is visual conspicuousness, thermoregulation, or regulation of exposure to ultraviolet radiation. However, all three of these potential functions would not apply when sunlight is blocked by dense cloud cover. Thus, mockingbird orientation during overcast conditions should be random. To test this prediction, 50 mockingbirds were found during overcast but otherwise calm conditions and the compass orientations of their ventra were recorded. Compass orientations were strongly …

Using An Optimization Method To Determine The Parameters Of The Accommodative System Of The Eye, Yuliya Poberezhnyak

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Abnormal binocular vision occurs in a broad range of disorders including strabismus, amblyopia, heterophorias, large fixation disparities, and anomalous refractive conditions. The examination and treatment of these problems are the major tasks in optometry clinics. However, the concepts and parameters used in clinic are not closely related to the parameters in the interactive model of the accommodative and vergence systems (Hung and Semmlow, 1980; Jinag, 1997). In this study, we used a mathematical optimization method (Zheng, et al., 1978) to determine these parameters for patients with normal and abnormal binocular vision and compare the results in the estimated parameters to …

The Wonders Of Mathematica, Linda Sher, Claudia Cortes

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Mathematica is a powerful software that has the ability to solve small or large scale computations, graph, plot, analyze data, matrices, produced animated movies and much more. Matematica combines symbolic and numerical calculations into a unified, interactive environment easy to use for students, engineers, scientists and mathematicians. Mathematica is a calculator and a computer algebra software program that uses a high-level programming language. While working through math calculations, a notebook document keeps a report of : inputs, outputs, and graphics in an typeset form. You are able to edit, typeset equations that were entered in the notebook. Mathematica is copyright …

The Highly Active-Antiretroviral Thearpy (Haart) For Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (Aids), Raquel Appa

Undergraduate Student Symposium

The objective of this literature research project is to analyze how the highly active- antiretroviral therapy (HAART) for Acquired Immune Deficiency Disorder (AIDS) has decreased AIDS mortality by interfering with the reproduction of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) inside human cells, particularly helper T-cells. Once inside these cells HIV binds to CD4, the membrane protein characteristic of helper T- cells. Then the viral enzyme reverse transcriptase synthesizes a complementary strand of DNA. Once this DNA is incorporated into the cell’s genetic material the infected cell synthesizes viral protein. The HAART treatment uses a combination of three drugs (Protease Inhibitors, Nucleoside …

School Violence: Are There Ways To Prevent It?, Chad Nochimson, Michael Briante, David Landry

Undergraduate Student Symposium

School violence is reported in the media almost everyday. It occurs mainly at the middle and high school levels and covers a range of violent acts perpetrated by students against other students. Violent acts have run the gamut from bullying all the way to shootings and stabbings. Some of the major causes may include social status among peer relations, economic level of the family and inter-family relationships. Other factors that play a role in the increases in violent acts could include the principal’s role, school environment, and discipline. Moreover, it is often not the children who openly show signs of …

The “Silent Killer” And Its Accomplices In Lung Cancer, Abigail A. Williams

Undergraduate Student Symposium

The purpose of this literature review project is to examine some of the causes and molecular mechanisms associated with cancer, particularly lung cancer. Cancer, better known as “the silent killer”, occurs when the growth and differentiation of cells becomes uninhibited and unbalanced. While no two cancers are genetically identical even in the same tissue type, there are relatively few ways in which normal cell growth can be disturbed. One of the most common ways that cancer occurs is by the alteration of a gene, which ultimately stimulates hyperactive cell growth. This altered gene is known as an oncogene. The Ras …

Role Of Beta-Amyloid (Aβ) Protein In Alzheimer’S Disease, And The Controversy Surrounding Pib-Pet Imaging, Roselynn Bugayong

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a highly complexed, enigmatic disease that affects nearly 4 million Americans. Surprisingly, over 99% of those affected have sporadic or late-onset AD (SAD), whose causes are unknown. Unfortunately, Alzheimer’s disease has no clear cause-and-effect relationship: like unsolved murders, an enormous body of evidence must be collected that can trace steps in order to form hypotheses or to form a consensus in the medical community.

This literature review project focuses on describing recent scientific research into beta- amyloid (Aβ) plaques as a potential cause of AD and methods of observing these plaques in the living human brain. …

Racial Attitudes: The Effects Of Segregation On College Students, Micaela Mercado

Undergraduate Student Symposium

This study focused on racial segregation experienced in high school by college students and their subsequent attitudes toward race. Kenneth Clark in the landmark Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka clearly demonstrated that psychological inferiority as a result of segregation greatly affected children’s self-esteem and self-image. In the present study, differences in racial behaviors and attitudes in relation to gender, ethnicity, and level of segregation in high school were explored in 52 undergraduate college students. Findings indicated differences of racial attitudes among male and female students. In one comparison between the genders, females exhibited less racial discomfort in relation …

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 …