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2012

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Honors Research Day [Program] April 14, 2012, University Of Northern Iowa Apr 2012

Honors Research Day [Program] April 14, 2012, University Of Northern Iowa

Honors Research Day Programs

No abstract provided.

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Development Of The Removal Of Polyphosphate Kinase Gene In Yersinia Enterocolitica, Travis Thomas Apr 2012

Development Of The Removal Of Polyphosphate Kinase Gene In Yersinia Enterocolitica, Travis Thomas

Undergraduate Student Symposium

The aim of the experiment was to delete the polyphosphate kinase (PPK) gene of the bacteria, Yersinia enterocolitica. Y. enterocolitica is one of three Yersinia spp. that are pathogenic to humans. Y. enterocolitica secretes toxic proteins out of needle-like structures found on its cell surface; these structures and the flagella of the bacteria are assembled by the same process. Diseases caused by pathogenic Yersinia spp. range from gastrointestinal diseases to bubonic plaque; Y. enterocolitica is the causative agent of gastrointestinal diseases. PPK is a ubiquitous enzyme that has been identified as a factor in the motility and virulence of …

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Gone, Gregory Hinds Apr 2012

Gone, Gregory Hinds

Undergraduate Student Symposium

“Gone” is a short film about a young college student, Jason Love (AKA “J-Love”), whose younger brother Darius is killed. Jason seeks revenge on the people responsible for Darius’ death. Eventually Jason must learn to overcome his grief and find love. The film is directed by Gregory Hinds.

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Temperature Effect On Florida Manatee Abundance In The Port Everglades, Ashlyn Chazhikat Apr 2012

Temperature Effect On Florida Manatee Abundance In The Port Everglades, Ashlyn Chazhikat

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Florida Manatees (Trichechus manatus latirostris), can be found in Port Everglades, which is located near Nova Southeastern University’s Oceanographic Center. Manatees can be found here during the winter because they thrive in the warm-water habitat created by the discharge of warm water from the FPL Power Plant. The data that were used in this study was obtained during weekly trips from the Oceanographic Center through Port Everglades. The trips were taken on a biweekly basis during the summer and early fall months and on a weekly basis during the winter months. During the boat trips in the Port, …

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A Holy Twist, Haydeli Ko Apr 2012

A Holy Twist, Haydeli Ko

Undergraduate Student Symposium

“A Holy Twist” is a short film about a soon-to-be-priest named Paul who has a day to himself before officially completing his seminaries, so he decides to visit his parents. Paul reunites with some old friends and takes a leap of faith into a night that he will never forget – though he also won’t remember all of it. This film is directed by Haydeli Ko.

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Adhesion Of Albumin To Fda Type Ii Soft Contact Lenses, Youstina Harkas, Maryam Harkas, Danielle Cooper, Jessica Nichols Apr 2012

Adhesion Of Albumin To Fda Type Ii Soft Contact Lenses, Youstina Harkas, Maryam Harkas, Danielle Cooper, Jessica Nichols

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Human tears have over 60 different proteins that deposit on contact lenses. Protein deposits on contact lenses can cause conjunctival irritation and bacterial infection. The adhesion of albumin to omafilcon and hilafilcon soft contact lenses was examined. Lenses were incubated for 1 - 4 days in a 2.0 mg/dl albumin solution. The protein concentration in the incubation vials and protein deposition on the lenses was determined each day by bicinchoninic acid assay. Albumin deposited on the omafilcon lenses in a steadily increasing fashion, while the albumin concentration in the incubation solution decreased. Albumin deposited on the hilafilcon lenses in a …

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Angiotensin Iii Induced Stat3 Phosphorylation In Cultured Rat Astrocytes, Nancy Sarmiento Apr 2012

Angiotensin Iii Induced Stat3 Phosphorylation In Cultured Rat Astrocytes, Nancy Sarmiento

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Angiotensin (Ang) III is a biologically active metabolite of Ang II with similar effects and receptor binding properties as Ang II. Most Ang III studies delineate physiological effects of the peptide but, the intracellular pathways leading to the actions are unknown and are a focus of ongoing studies in the laboratory. Recently, we showed that Ang III induces mitogen activated protein kinases and astrocyte growth in a similar manner as Ang II. In these studies, we investigated in cultured brainstem rat astrocytes whether Ang III stimulates signal transducer and activators of transcription (STAT) 3. STAT3 is an important link between …

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Antibacterial Properties Of Meso-Substituted Cationic And Anionic Porphyrins, Mohamad Elchurafa Apr 2012

Antibacterial Properties Of Meso-Substituted Cationic And Anionic Porphyrins, Mohamad Elchurafa

Undergraduate Student Symposium

In the conducted research work we tested various synthetic meso-substituted cationic and anionic porphyrin’s antibacterial properties on gram positive and gram negative bacterial strains. Previous in vitro studies suggest that meso-substituted cationic porphyrins demonstrate effective antibacterial properties on gram negative strains; in contrast, anionic meso-substitued porphyrins prove to be efficient antibacterial agents with gram positive strains. Evidence suggests that the porphyrin’s charge predisposes its reactivity on the bacteria’s cell membrane, thus immobilizes reproduction at the site of administration. An antibiogram test was coordinated by way of diffusimetric method. Filter paper disks were impregnated with a specific metallated porphyrin and dispensed …

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Because You're A Good Man... Right?: A Deconstructive Analysis Of Flannery O'Connor's "A Good Man Is Hard To Find", Dan Abella Apr 2012

Because You're A Good Man... Right?: A Deconstructive Analysis Of Flannery O'Connor's "A Good Man Is Hard To Find", Dan Abella

Undergraduate Student Symposium

The meaning and “correct” use of semantic opposites––up:down, male:female, black:white, and good:evil, for example––seem obvious and uncontested in casual speech. Yet the understanding of such pairs remains anything but simple according to deconstructionist critical theory. Founded by French philosopher Jacques Derrida, deconstruction, employed as a literary and linguistic analysis, revels in the uncertainty of language, especially in the dynamic “play” of binary opposites. Hence, Derrida's theories broaden the possibilities of meaning in speech and writing by refusing to ascribe absolute referents to words. Flannery O'Connor's landmark short story “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” thoroughly meditates on …

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Bridget Jones: Post Feminist, Or Frantically Fawning?, Alison Parente Apr 2012

Bridget Jones: Post Feminist, Or Frantically Fawning?, Alison Parente

Undergraduate Student Symposium

This essay contrasts Helen Fielding’s ‘Bridget Jones’s Diary’ to Jane Austen’s ‘Pride and Prejudice’ on the feminist aspects of both works. The piece argues that Austen’s protagonist Elizabeth Bennet is ironically more forward thinking in challenging gender stereotypes than Fielding’s Bridget Jones, though Elizabeth Bennet lived during a period of discrimination against women that imposed severe restrictions upon female lives.

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Cholera Outbreak Along The Congo River In Relation To Climatic And Environmental Changes, Anazilta Edward Apr 2012

Cholera Outbreak Along The Congo River In Relation To Climatic And Environmental Changes, Anazilta Edward

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Approximately five million cholera cases and one hundred and twenty thousand resulting deaths are reported annually. Past and present trends in cholera outbreaks along the Congo have led to great speculation about the influence of climate change on public health in that region. Thus, the research conducted sought to examine recent and past weather changes in relation to cholera outbreaks along the Congo River. Recent literature and correlation studies were used to associate the abundance and distribution of Vibrio cholerae with sea surface temperature, ocean currents, and weather changes. It was found that in several countries such as Peru, Mexico, …

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Effect Of Retinoic Acid On Osteogenesis Of Human Umbilical-Cord Stem Cells, Stephanie Chery Apr 2012

Effect Of Retinoic Acid On Osteogenesis Of Human Umbilical-Cord Stem Cells, Stephanie Chery

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are currently being used as a promising tool for bone tissue engineering. The application of these stem cells to bone tissue engineering requires inducing in vitro differentiation of these cells to bone forming cells; osteoblasts. Retinoic acid (RA), a metabolite of vitamin A, is involved in many cell functions including osteogenic differentiation. The objective of this study was to investigate the potential role of retinoic acid as an inducer of osteogenic differentiation in human umbilical cord derived mesenchymal stem cells (hUMSCs).This was done by exploring its applications in bone tissue engineering, specifically for the repair and …

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Effectiveness Of A Biocontrol Agent On Aphid Infestations, Saamia Shaikh, Darshan Solanki Apr 2012

Effectiveness Of A Biocontrol Agent On Aphid Infestations, Saamia Shaikh, Darshan Solanki

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Aphids, insects in family Aphididae, are common, minute organisms (~ 5mm) that thrive in agricultural settings by sucking phloem sap via stylets that penetrate the plants vascular tissue. Past research has demonstrated the effectiveness of pesticide treatments to eradicate these destructive insects, however many of the most commonly used pesticides are highly toxic synthetic compounds. In our previous research we examined the effectiveness of synthetic, organic, and insecticidal soap pesticides on aphid infestations. This current study aims to determine the effectiveness of another alternative, known as biological control, for treating aphid problems. The biocontrol agent used in this study was …

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Evaluation Of Fluoride And Fluorosis, Jessica Bouzo Apr 2012

Evaluation Of Fluoride And Fluorosis, Jessica Bouzo

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Fluoride consumption has been linked to dental and skeletal fluorosis as well as osteosclerosis, cancer, renal failure, fertility problems and cognitive effects for years. In this research, the fluoride concentrations of different mouthwashes, teas, toothpastes and water were evaluated. The results showed a broad spectrum of values but none of the values exceeded the average daily intake maximum (0.05-0.07 mg per kilograms per day) for adults. Considering that all the counties in the United States have their fluoride concentration in water at two parts per million (secondary drinking water standard) a person that drinks 64 oz of water every day …

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Exploring A Potential Pathway For Secondary Organic Aerosol Formation In Urban Atmosphere By Laboratory Experiments, Melanie Campbell, Elizabeth Mortazavi Apr 2012

Exploring A Potential Pathway For Secondary Organic Aerosol Formation In Urban Atmosphere By Laboratory Experiments, Melanie Campbell, Elizabeth Mortazavi

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Formaldehyde, other carbonyl compounds and amines are common atmospheric pollutants emitted from industrial sources in urban areas. These compounds have been proposed to contribute to secondary organic aerosol formation, thus urban air pollution, through a process known as the Mannich reaction. Here we report a laboratory study of the reactions among carbonyl and amine precursor compounds in the bulk phase to determine if the anticipated Mannich-type products form. The reactions are performed under various temperatures ranging from 0°C to 55°C using low concentrations of inorganic or organic acids as the catalyst. The products are characterized by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GCMS) …

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Forever In My Heart, Vittoria Santini Apr 2012

Forever In My Heart, Vittoria Santini

Undergraduate Student Symposium

“Forever in My Heart” is a coming-of-age dramatic short film about an 18-year-old university student, Jackie, who was drugged and raped at a party. Shortly after this incident, Jackie discovers that she is pregnant, and she must decide whether to have the baby or get an abortion. The film is directed by Vittoria Santini. Other crew members and actors include Victoria Rajkumar, Davis Yahn, Esther Swilley, Maggy Klingberg, Anthony Anania, and Joseph Anania.

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Lemuel, The Egocentric Human, Sasha Strelitz Apr 2012

Lemuel, The Egocentric Human, Sasha Strelitz

Undergraduate Student Symposium

This essay investigates Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels, spotlighting a central message of his, warning humankind against the folly of vanity. Following his protagonist, Lemuel Gulliver, through four fantastical worlds, one begins to see a pattern of unwinding humanity. Before arriving in Lilliput (the first whimsical land), Gulliver is a typical human being, with typical hard-wired narcissism. After years of voyaging, and after a memorable stay with the Yahoos, Gulliver rejects his humanity as being brutish, vain, and egocentric. However, banished from Houyhnhnm Land, he finds solace and sanity in horse stables. Perhaps this seems excessive, but this reader attributes …

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Loop Hole, Esther Swilley Apr 2012

Loop Hole, Esther Swilley

Undergraduate Student Symposium

"Loop Hole" is a short film about two lifelong friends who have found themselves failing their first semester of college. Kathy and Heather desperately attempt to find a loophole which will allow them to pass their classes. The film is directed by Esther Swilley. Other crew members include Davis Yahn, Victoria Rajkumar and Vittoria Santini.

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Mathematical Modeling, Simulation, And Compression Of Images, Jonathan Reyna Apr 2012

Mathematical Modeling, Simulation, And Compression Of Images, Jonathan Reyna

Undergraduate Student Symposium

This project builds a mathematical model that obtains parameters and statistical properties of residuals taken from a picture in JPEG format, to later simulate replicas of the original picture. The importance of this problem stems from the large amount of bandwidth required to transmit a high resolution picture over the Internet. The mathematical model built from this picture and its set of residuals has a much smaller magnitude than the original picture elements (pixels). This implies that if one were to transmit the parameters alone, a high compression rate would be achieved, thus saving bandwidth. In order to replicate the …

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Paleoceanographic Productivity Reconstructions Using Marine Mammal Bone Collagen, Jonathan H. Gomez Apr 2012

Paleoceanographic Productivity Reconstructions Using Marine Mammal Bone Collagen, Jonathan H. Gomez

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Changes in primary ocean productivity play a key role in determining the structure and biomass yield of the North Pacific ecosystem. Are recent dramatic fluctuations in marine ecosystem productivity a function primarily of industrial and other anthropogenically induced changes or part of larger ecosystem scale processes? Archaeofaunal remains of pinnipeds and cetaceans from the Aleutian Islands, Alaska are used as a proxy for marine productivity changes over decade, century and millennial scales throughout the Holocene. Marine vertebrate remains from several previously excavated well-dated archaeological deposits on Unalaska Island span the period AD 1912-5500 BP. Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios …

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Peeking Behind The Mask Of Tolerance: Investigating Implicit Views Towards Gay Adoption, Christine Harlow Apr 2012

Peeking Behind The Mask Of Tolerance: Investigating Implicit Views Towards Gay Adoption, Christine Harlow

Undergraduate Student Symposium

We examined implicit attitudes (Fazio & Olson, 2003) towards same-sex couples’ rights to adopt. Although there is no clear scientific evidence to suggest that gay couples are less capable of raising adopted children, those opposed to gay adoption argue, from intuition or ideology, that placing adopted children with same-sex parents is detrimental to the children’s well-being. If those opposed to gay adoption base their decision on the well-being of the child rather than the parents’ sexual orientation, it follows that they would also share concern for at-risk children adopted by heterosexual parents and that sexual orientation per se would not …

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Spartacus: Blood And Oil, Holly Buttach, Lisa De La Vega, Dean Gardner, Daniel Strien Apr 2012

Spartacus: Blood And Oil, Holly Buttach, Lisa De La Vega, Dean Gardner, Daniel Strien

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Population dynamics and socioeconomic factors are closely entwined and play a large role in shaping civilizations. Among the many factors influencing populations are resource production and allocation and the impact of violence, either predatory or retaliatory. Of the resources crucial to civilizations today, few are as important as oil, as oil is used in a variety of applications and is a finite resource. Differential equations can be used to model associations between oil production and various other elements of society in order to predict future events. It is by using such equations that we will examine the relationship between rates …

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The Function Of Sleep Disorders In Explaining Gender Differences In Adolescent Depression, Jaibel Makiyil Apr 2012

The Function Of Sleep Disorders In Explaining Gender Differences In Adolescent Depression, Jaibel Makiyil

Undergraduate Student Symposium

The purpose of this literature review is to discuss gender differences in adolescent depression, and the role of sleep disorders in this difference. There is an evidenced gender disparity in adolescent depression in that women are more than twice as likely to experience depression. Similarly, women have a greater preponderance for lower sleep quality, and certain sleep disorders such as insomnia.

Adolescent depression is the most widespread psychiatric disorder globally, and affects more than eighteen million Americans annually. The average age of adolescent onset has been progressively decreasing over the last thirty years. It is during adolescence that a “gender …

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The Influence Of Emotional Stimuli On Response Inhibition, Sarah Yassin Apr 2012

The Influence Of Emotional Stimuli On Response Inhibition, Sarah Yassin

Undergraduate Student Symposium

It has been shown in numerous studies that emotion affects cognition. This study looks at the interaction between emotion regulation and response inhibition. Specifically, it looks at how negative pictures impact one’s performance on a complex task that requires inhibition of an on-going response. This was tested by presenting negative and neutral pictures within the context of a stop signal task while measuring electroencephalograph (EEG) Event Related Potentials (ERPs). We found that there was an increase in the amplitude of an ERP measure of attention to emotional stimuli (the LPP) to negative pictures compared to neutral pictures. We further found …

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The Preparation Of Ultrapure Isolated Glycosylated Hemoglobin, Arash Nasajpour Apr 2012

The Preparation Of Ultrapure Isolated Glycosylated Hemoglobin, Arash Nasajpour

Undergraduate Student Symposium

One of the most important techniques of research is purification. The objective of the experiment was to collaborate with Veterinarian Scott Hay DVM and Roche Diagnostics to explore the use of purified horse hemoglobin as a model to research glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) in human disease diabetes mellitus types I and II. The international Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine have set global standard values for calibrators of HbA1c and the current targets for HbA1c are ~7%. Throughout the experiment horse hemoglobin was isolated by anionic exchange chromatography and glycosylated in-vitro. HbA1c is primarily used for quantification of average …

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To Remove The Hook Or Not: Degradation Rates Of Fishing Hooks: Preliminary Results, John W. Coker, Jesse J. Secord Apr 2012

To Remove The Hook Or Not: Degradation Rates Of Fishing Hooks: Preliminary Results, John W. Coker, Jesse J. Secord

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Post-release survival is the foundation of sustainability upon which most management plans for Gulf and Atlantic finfish exist. An inherent assumption is that a substantial percentage of fish survive capture. We critically evaluate the merits of leaving hooks in released fish. The work examines the degradation of commonly used hooks in recreational and commercial fisheries. Ten separate hook types, 4 commercial and 6 recreational, were used to represent a variety of fishing applications. Acid solution testing was run for a period of 3 months. Saltwater testing was done for a period of 6 months. These data suggest that seawater may …

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Zendikar: The Cancerous Mathamagics, Abbiana Arenas, Megan Brewster, Sharbel Bousemaan, Evan Cavallini, Mark Glover Apr 2012

Zendikar: The Cancerous Mathamagics, Abbiana Arenas, Megan Brewster, Sharbel Bousemaan, Evan Cavallini, Mark Glover

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Mathematics grants us a wide variety of problem solving from simple arithmetic to the theoretical weight of the sun. The mathematics of differential equations is used to describe a relationship of continuous variables as time and space go on. Described as systems of functions, these equations are used to predict what will happen to the variables included within the functions. Real world applications of these functions attempt to correlate dynamic variables, and predict the outcome of those variables as different factors are slowly introduced to the model. In this project, we will state unique models that are manipulated over time …

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A B Cell Driven Model Of Antibody Response In An Immunocompromised System, Adam Abdulhafid Apr 2012

A B Cell Driven Model Of Antibody Response In An Immunocompromised System, Adam Abdulhafid

Undergraduate Student Symposium

There are many ways in which the body responds to infections. The collective response of the innate and adaptive immune responses is called the immune response. The adaptive response is more sophisticated, and therefore requires greater study to understand it. It is the adaptive response that controls infections and prevents recurring disease. One of the main adaptive responses is the antibody response that can bind to virions and prevent them from infecting cells. Most studies of infection are done based on a single infectious agent and how it interacts with the immune system. In many cases there are multiple infections …

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A Cytotoxic Investigation Of Urtica Dioica And Pumpkin Seed On Lncap Prostate Cancer Cell Line, Jackie Lynne Jornadal, Rajeswari Murugan, Yanira Quinonez Apr 2012

A Cytotoxic Investigation Of Urtica Dioica And Pumpkin Seed On Lncap Prostate Cancer Cell Line, Jackie Lynne Jornadal, Rajeswari Murugan, Yanira Quinonez

Undergraduate Student Symposium

This study compared the cytotoxic effects of Urtica dioica and pumpkin seed on the LNCaP prostate cancer cell line. Various studies have shown that Urtica dioica and pumpkin seed exert positive clinical effects in cases of benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH) through the inhibition of testosterone's conversion in dihydrotestosterone (DHT). Indeed, Utrica dioica has shown additional effects in lessening the symptoms of prostate cancer by increasing the urinary slow of affected men, and pumpkin seed has shown some supplementary effects in inflammatory prostatitis, including an increase in prostate secretions; this study hypothesized that Urtica dioica and pumpkin seed would inhibit prostate …

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A Tale Of Two Cities: Comparison Of Air Quality Between Los Angeles And Miami Metropolitan Areas, Raquel Prol, Enrique E. Serrano, Hung Pham Apr 2012

A Tale Of Two Cities: Comparison Of Air Quality Between Los Angeles And Miami Metropolitan Areas, Raquel Prol, Enrique E. Serrano, Hung Pham

Undergraduate Student Symposium

The quality of air we breathe is an important public health concern that is often overlooked unless an imminent threat such as a brush fire is present. This study aims to gain an in-depth understanding of the air quality of South Florida through a quantitative comparison to that of Southern California, two coastal, urban regions with distinctive demographic and geographic features. It is an attempt to understand not only the characteristic health hazards currently in both regions, but also the measures being taken to prevent and control air pollution. This task is performed by creating time-series profiles of air pollutants …

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