Digital Commons Network^™

Letters Revealed A Literary Analysis Of Jane Austen’S Pride And Prejudice And Persuasion, Linnette Dobbs-Fuller

Undergraduate Student Symposium

This project is a literary analysis of two of Jane Austen’s novels: Pride and Prejudice and Persuasion. The paper is an attempt to reveal how Austen uses letters to establish and to maintain a link between her readers and her characters. The focus of this analysis is on the use of letters to maintain connections between characters over time and distances, to show growth or change in consciousness, and finally, to reveal the character of the person writing the letter.

Amber’S Crush, Afroza Khan, Titina Gist, Elizabeth Gist

Undergraduate Student Symposium

“Amber’s Crush" is a comedic short film about a girl who has a condition called dyspraxia. At the mere age of seven Amber was in a traumatic accident resulting in a fatal injury to her head. Due to the traumatic head injury, Amber was diagnosed with a condition known as Dyspraxia. Dyspraxia is the inability to perform coordinated movements. After years of therapy and home schooling, Amber decides to return to real world and start college. But her past comes back to haunt her when she realizes that she can’t hide from her true self.

Determining The Impact Of Mineral Carbonation On Decreasing The Harmful Effects Of Global Warming, Myra Rafi, Sarah Silverstein, Nergess Taheri

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Global warming is a major dilemma that our environment is currently facing. This research presents mineral carbonation as one innovative solution in alleviating this issue. The purpose of mineral carbonation is to lessen the harmful effects of global warming. This is done by combining carbon dioxide with magnesium or calcium silicate minerals through a chemical reaction. This process converts carbon dioxide gas into a solid carbonate compound. The reactions aim is to decrease the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere in turn lessening its negative effects. Mineral carbonation appears to be an effective method to decrease the harmful effects …

Conservation Of Porbeagle Sharks (Lamna Nasus) Worldwide By Species And Population Dna Forensic Testing, Lara Murphy

Undergraduate Student Symposium

The porbeagle shark (Lamna nasus) is an oceanic species inhabiting the temperate North Atlantic and most of the southern oceans. The high commercial value of its fins has led to severe population depletion in the North Atlantic from overfishing. The population status of southern hemisphere porbeagles, however, is unknown due to lack of fisheries monitoring. Due to mounting concerns about fishing impacts, this shark was placed on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species in 2007. However, an international petition to get porbeagle sharks listed on CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) to require worldwide monitoring …

A Political Analysis Of The Jungle, Michael Bergbauer

Undergraduate Student Symposium

One may surmise that Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle is a political text disguised as a novel. Its anti-capitalist agenda is not hidden and appears at every opportunity in the text. However, it does an effective job of accomplishing its goals through its stark realism in its portrayal of the downfall of one immigrant family. Sinclair’s book The Jungle confirms Marxist political critical theory: capitalism is a morally and economically flawed system, which is better replaced with socialism. However, although The Jungle enacted a lot of change for its time, a re-read in the present would not spark any new change. …

The Effect Of Thimerosal On Gene Expression In Saccharomyces Cerevisiae: An Application Of Microarray Technology, Christie Rubio

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Thimerosal is a preservative and anti-fungal used in many vaccines which is metabolized to ethylmercury (about 50% by weight) and thiosalicylate (used as an analgesic agent). In 1999, thimerosal was removed from vaccines (or left only in trace amounts) as a public health precaution. In 2007, the average human will receive a concentration of 0.01% thimerosal per vaccine. This is equivalent to 50μg thimerosal per 0.5mL dose. According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the maximum amount of thimerosal that a two-year old, fully-vaccinated child could possibly receive is 106.4μg, which is equivalent to 53.2μg of mercury. This reflects …

An Application For A State Designated, Federally Approved No Discharge Area For Boston Harbor, Ma, City Of Boston Environment Department, City Of Quincy Harbormaster, Urban Harbors Institute, University Of Massachusetts Boston, Charles River Watershed Association

Urban Harbors Institute Publications

The municipalities surrounding Boston Harbor are requesting that the Commonwealth of Massachusetts designate the waters of Boston Harbor as a No Discharge Area (NDA) pursuant to the Clean Water Act, Section 312(f)(3). An NDA is a body of water in which the discharge of vessel sewage, whether treated or not, is prohibited. The No Discharge Area would be called the Boston Harbor No Discharge Area.

While the waters of Boston Harbor are under the jurisdiction of a number of different municipalities, water quality issues affect the harbor as a whole. Past efforts to clean up the harbor have occurred across …

The Effects Of The Herbal Enzyme Bromelain Against Breast Cancer Cell Line Gi101a, Alexandra Paroulek

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Bromelain is a proteinase derived from the stem of pineapple and has been studied for its anti-inflammatory, antithrombotic, and antimetastatic properties. Bromelain has also been known to significantly reduce local tumor growth and to raise the impaired cytotoxicity of monocytes in the immune system against tumor cells. The goal of this project is to advance the mechanistic knowledge of herbal remedies and to confirm the already known antimetastatic properties of Bromelain. Standardization of MTS assay to check the cell viability is in progress. To test the cytotoxic effects of Bromelain, GI101A breast cancer cells cultured to the required confluency of …

The Murray Ledger And Times, April 4, 2008, The Murray Ledger And Times

The Murray Ledger & Times

No abstract provided.

Quebrada Communities In The Palmarejo Valley, Northwest Honduras, William A. Klinger

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The spatial relationships that exist between ancient and modern settlement and natural resources have the potential to suggest ways in which humans organized themselves into communities. This study evaluates the applicability of the concept, "quebrada community," for understanding human-environmental relationships in northwest Honduras during the Late Classic period (AD 650-900). Existing archaeological, quantitative, and geological evidence for quebrada communities are linked with spatial data on two contemporary local communities, Palmarejo and Palos Blancos. A geographic information system (GIS) is constructed and implemented in order to achieve this goal. It is argued that there are specific relationships that exist between ancient …

What You Can’T See Can Hurt You! Bacterial Invasion At Nsu, Samarah Al-Jamali

Undergraduate Student Symposium

College campuses are typically areas where large numbers of students from diverse geographical areas converge. Close contact in public places such as classrooms, restrooms, and computer labs is common. Illnesses quickly spread through a college campuses population. Many germs are spread via respiratory droplets which can survive on surfaces for hours and even days. I sampled 14 separate locations at NSU to see which surfaces harbored the most bacteria. Bacterial samples were collected using sterile Q-tips which were swabbed over a one square inch area for approximately 10 seconds. The Q- tips were then used to transfer any bacteria present …

The Relationship Between The Maze Coral (Meandrina Meandrites) Autumnal Bleaching Cycle And Seawater Temperature, Gulf Stream Reef, Boynton Beach, Florida, Naoko Kurata

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Seasonal coral bleaching has been observed and studied in tropical waters around the world. These studies have demonstrated that there is a strong correlation between anomalously elevated sea water temperature and coral bleaching events, however few studies have been performed on healthy corals during periods of normal sea water temperature fluctuation. Visible changes of pigmentation were used as a proxy measure of dinoflagellate densities in the maze coral Meandrina meandrites inhabiting the Gulfstream reef off Boynton Beach, Florida on 15 observations from mid-August 2007 to mid-January 2008. Unlike previous studies at this location, submersible temperature recorders were deployed, which provided …

The Effects Of Zinc On Gene Expression In Saccharomyces Cerevisiae Using Polymerase Chain Reaction (Pcr) For Six Candidate Genes, Quratulain Hayat

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Zinc (Zn) is one of the principle trace elements required in biological systems, with structural or enzymatical roles in hundreds of proteins. In humans, zinc deficiency has gradually come to be recognized as a clinically significant and common form of malnutrition, particularly in chronically ill patients. The clinical manifestations of zinc deficiency are diverse with effects on the immune system, appetite, and embryonic development. The regulation of zinc distribution remains a critical, unanswered question. The manner in which zinc is released from its tight binding sites in proteins and its transfer from one site to another are also unknown. In …

The Development Of United States Special Forces In Response To The Perceived Cold War Threat, Michael E. Rosenzweig

Undergraduate Student Symposium

In the early period of the Cold War, the United States felt compelled to develop a Special Warfare capability in response to a perceived Soviet aggression. This “Special Warfare” capability was combined with psychological, unconventional and guerrilla tactics to foment social, economic and political unrest in the Soviet Union and its satellite states. The battle for the third world influence and prevention of the domino principle was primary forum for these clandestine units to operate to spread American ideals across the world. My symposium is designed to address three specific topics. The first is to address the perception of the …

Synthesis Of A New Porphyrin Dendrimer And Its Potential Use As A Gadolinium Mri Agent, Karoline Korah

Undergraduate Student Symposium

A new porphyrin dendrimer was synthesized and characterized by reacting 4,4’,4’’,4’’’-(Porphine-5,10,15,20-tetrayl)tetrakis(benzoic acid) with a generation two (G2) dendrimer. Its coordination with lanthanides and gadolinium were investigated for its potential use as an MRI agent or as a new dendrimer-metalloporphyrin complex.

Points Of Consciousness, Iva Christina Marc

Undergraduate Student Symposium

The name of my poem is Points of Consciousness. The theme of Points of Consciousness is self love. The purpose of this poem is to celebrate the inner self and positive emotions when self love is present.

How To Create And Publish Your Own Music Videos Digitally, Adielle Silochan

Undergraduate Student Symposium

This project, completed in the form of an original website coded in HTML and JavaScript, focuses on informing music artists about the basics of creating and publishing their own music videos using digital media. My research covers these four areas: video recording devices, video editing software, music recording devices, and publishing music videos on the Web. Concerning video recording devices, I include information to assist with choosing a digital camcorder to meet one’s needs (whether a novice or expert) and tips to help with filming. Concerning video editing software, I suggest software options for novices and experts and provide editing …

Gentle Words Say Something Unbeautiful, Chana F. Dukes

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Gentle Words Say Something Unbeautiful came about when, in my creative writing class, we were given the assignment of using ugly words to say something pretty or pretty words to say something ugly. It has been through a couple of revisions since that original assignment, but that inspiration led me to create this pretty, melancholy poem which describes something abrupt and harsh; namely, a rape. The use of quatrains and the right alignment of the poem are intended to create the impression of repeated intrusion, D323wrongness, and grief.

Effects Of Beach Renourishment On Inshore Macroinfauna Off John U. Lloyd Beach State Park, Broward County, Fl, Jessica Boyd

Undergraduate Student Symposium

The marine benthic macrofauna at John U. Lloyd Beach State Park (Broward Co., FL) has been surveyed at intervals since 1987 to examine effects of periodic beach renourishments. The current study followed the most recent renourishment, which ran from May 2005 to February 2006. A total of 20 quantitative sediment core samples (926.667 cm³) were taken from four sites (5 replicates per site), ~100 m offshore at depths of 2-5 m in May 2007. Samples were fixed in 10% seawater formalin with Rose Bengal stain, and subsequently passed through a 0.5-mm-mesh sieve and transferred to 70% ethanol in …

Easy To Love, Benita Williams

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Easy To Love is a short film about two graduate students who are engaged to be married. The couple comes to a crossroads when they decide to get blood tests, which may show that one of them has HIV. The film is directed by BeNita Williams. Other crew members include Cheryl White, Adam Walters, and Manuel Cedeno. James Frei is the starring actor.

Drowned, Amy Carol Harvey

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Written by Amy Harvey in 2007, this poem offers more than meets the eye. The poem is actually an allegory. Its allegorical meaning is based on the true experiences of the author. Here the experience is given a different location, which aids indirectly to the poem's explanation. This poem was created for personal reflection and healing. In sharing it with others, it is the author's hope that those suffering from sexual abuse will find their voice and demand to be heard.

Consensual Sadomasochism, Briana O'Dowd

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Sadism, the desire to inflict pain, and masochism, the craving for pain, can be categorized as formal mental disorders, as per the DSMIV-TR, but only to the extent to which normal functioning is impaired by the acts and fantasies associated with them. Consensual sadomasochism carries with it a particular consideration as both participants desire to become the other’s erotic fantasy and indeed enjoy being in that role. Sadomasochism spans across nearly all demographics and time periods, having its origin around the emergence of philosophy, economics, and politics. Sadomasochism has been continuously looked down upon due to misunderstandings about the physiological …

Os Trigonum Syndrome In A High School Football Lineman, Tena Blackman

Undergraduate Student Symposium

During pre-season football practice a 15 year old, freshman, football lineman (mass 95.5kg, height 172.7cm) reported to the athletic training room complaining of right ankle/lower leg pain. Upon evaluation, the athlete reported generalized pain over the distal tibia and fibula, with isolated symptoms over the posterior calcaneous. The athlete reported insidious onset of pain, which was a 7/10 at rest and 9/10 during activity. No swelling/edema, deformity, tenderness, ecchymmosis or crepitus was evident and soft tissue and bony palpation was unremarkable. Fracture and ligamentous stress tests were normal; athlete presented with functional pes planus. Athlete was referred for X-rays and …

Purification Of Photosystem Proteins From Spinach Leaves, Anisa Andoni, Hai Pham, Priya Somnaran

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Photosystems are protein-pigment complexes responsible for the conversion of light energy into an electron flow in plants. There are two photosystems called photosystem I and photosystem II. Photosystem II is responsible for splitting water molecules into protons and oxygen. In this work, we have used a biochemical protocol to purify photosystems from spinach leaves by detergent solubilization and centrifugation. The photosystem II activity was measured using a Clarke-type oxygen electrode as an indicator for its intactness and purity. This protocol provides us a tool to compare the photosystem protein from spinach with other species.

Positive Thinking: The Impact Of Positive Messages On Mood, Attitudes, Anxiety, Depression, And Self-Esteem, Denise Da Rosa

Undergraduate Student Symposium

The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between positive thinking and mood, attitudes, anxiety, depression, and self-esteem. The study will analyze the effect of positive messages sent via cell phone text messaging to participants. Twenty students will receive positive messages for three days such as “wonderful things will happen to me today.” The other twenty participants will not receive any type of messages. At the end of the study, the researcher hopes to find that participants receiving positive messages will show an improvement in their mood, attitudes, and self-esteem. They will also show a lower level of …

Measuring Gender Specific Perceptions Of Gender-Neutral Behavior, Bridget Haley, Bianca Basile

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Past research on breaking gender norms, descriptive and prescriptive gender norms, and gender specific sports have all neglected gender-neutral behavior. The objective of the study is to investigate perception of gender-neutral scenarios as gender specific. Forty participants (24 women and 16 men) were recruited in academic lobbies of Nova Southeastern University. In a survey, participants rated the masculinity, femininity, manliness, and gender equity of gender-neutral, sports-related scenarios performed by either a male or female actor. Both men and women rated gender-neutral acts as more masculine if a man was the actor and more feminine if a woman was the actor. …

Long Term Investment -Investing For A Better Future, Afroza Khan, Sonya Chacko

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Personal financial planning is an important factor in everyday life. Financial planning consists of two main aspects which are budgeting and investing. Budgeting is when an individual balances their expenses according to their earnings. Investing is when an individual uses a part of their earnings to increase their future income. As students we have researched on this subject and found that numerous amounts of students and business professionals lack understand in financial planning. The purpose of this project is to find the cause of lack in financial planning and to derive the solutions to overcome the problem. This will help …

Minimum Wage/Living Wage: History Of, Kenrick Raza, Neeketa Sheth, Aisha Syed

Undergraduate Student Symposium

The purpose of this research was to explain the concepts of living wage as well as minimum wage in the State of Florida. The history, purpose, effects, differences and comparisons with the poverty level, as well as pros and cons were discovered in the process. The research shows whether or not the living wage is sufficient to provide for the average American looking into standard living costs and expenses through out one year. The conclusion of the research suggests that the living wage is not sufficient for the average American in Florida, and even more so for the average American …

Linkage Of Restriction Site Polymorphisms At The Minisatellite D1s80 Locus In A Tamil Population From India, Nick Rocco

Undergraduate Student Symposium

In this study, we report the distribution of these polymorphisms in a Tamil population from India. SNP analysis was performed by RT-PCR utilizing a TaqMan® SNP Genotyping Assays kit from Applied Biosystems. Data was collected on a Corbett Rotor-Gene 3000. For most alleles analyzed, the restriction site haplotype polymorphisms were consistent with the assigned older allele types, allele 18 and 24. Appropriate restriction enzymes were used for restricting the PCR products which confirmed all SNP designations. The interesting finding in this study is that 98.5 % (197/200) of the alleles tested have a linkage of two specific polymorphisms. If an …

Global Warming - How Fluorescent Lights And Plug-In Hybrid Vehicles Can Make A Difference, Melissa Corrao, Legna Castaneda, Debbie Ali, Alexandra Timis

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Global warming is a world wide epidemic caused by anthropogenic factors that can be reduced or even eliminated to alleviate the fast paced progression of this harmful phenomenon. Society as a whole can make numerous lifestyle changes, two of which include the use of fluorescent light blubs and plug in hybrid cars. Fluorescent lights as opposed to incandescent, reduce the amount of heat emitted to the environment and the amount of electricity usage, which overall reduces CO₂ emission. Plug-in hybrid vehicles utilize a more fuel efficient battery thus minimizing the amount of harmful gases released into the atmosphere.