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Fuel For Motivation: The Impact Of Empathy In An Educational Setting, Meghan Cosby, Jen Ross, Andrea Arikawa, Kristen Hicks-Roof

Showcase of Osprey Advancements in Research and Scholarship (SOARS)

Honorable Mention Winner

According to Merriam Webster, empathy is defined as “the action of or capacity for understanding, being aware of, being sensitive to, and vicariously experiencing the feelings, thoughts, and experiences of another.” While research related to empathy has mainly focused on the importance of teaching empathy to students, little is known about the relationship between instructor empathy and student outcomes. The aim of this study was to explore the impact of empathy on motivation and student outcomes in a sample of undergraduate and graduate students at the University of North Florida. Focus groups were conducted via zoom to …

Experiences Of Health Care Providers Using Information And Communications Technology For Maternal And Child Health Care In Selected Health Facilities In Nigeria, Obasola Ireti Obasola

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Reducing maternal and infant mortality in the sub-Sahara Africa, especially Nigeria remains a serious health challenge. Information and communication technology (ICT) interventions offer an effective approach to alleviating the health challenge, as well as improving health outcomes. To harness the value of ICT and facilitate its practicability for maternal and child health (MCH) care, it is important to explore the experiences of health care providers’ who are at the forefront of the Nigerian health system deploying ICT tools for MCH care.

Methods: The exploratory study design interviewed nine health care providers involved in ICT-based interventions for MCH in selected …

Dietary Intake Is Associated With Neuropsychological Impairment In Women With Hiv, Leah H. Rubin, Deborah R. Gustafson, Lakshmi Warrior, Lila Sheira, Kathryn C. Fitzgerald, Raha Dastgheyb, Kathleen M. Weber, Phyllis C. Tien, Audrey French, Amanda B. Spence, Anjali Sharma, Dionna W. Williams, Cory J. White, Eric C. Seaberg, Edward A. Frongillo Jr., Sheri D. Weiser

Faculty Publications

Background

Diet is a modifiable risk factor that may influence cognition in people with HIV.

Objectives

We examined the association between dietary intake and cognition in women with HIV (WWH) and HIV-seronegative women.

Methods

An 18-item dietary National Cancer Institute screener was completed by 729 WWH and 346 HIV-seronegative Women's Interagency HIV Study participants. Daily intake frequencies of processed meats, sweet beverages, fish, whole milk, and vegetables were calculated. Participants completed biennial neuropsychological (NP) testing. NP domains included attention/working memory, executive function, processing speed, memory, learning, fluency, and motor function. NP impairment was defined as demographically adjusted T-scores (mean = …

Investigating The Economic Effects Of Food Affordability, Food Access, And Education On Obesity Rates In Mississippi Counties, Youssef Osman

Honors Theses

The growing rate of obesity across the United States is a topic of great concern considering both the health and financial costs associated with the disease. Many researchers have sought to determine the major causes of obesity so that policy suggestions can be made to reduce its occurrence. Some of the referenced drivers of obesity include high food costs, poor access to healthy food, and a lack of knowledge regarding nutrition. This thesis seeks to find the effects of county-level food prices, income, food access, and education level on obesity rates in Mississippi counties. The analysis uses cross-sectional data from …

Heart Health: Lifestyle Factors That Influence Cardiovascular Well-Being, Holly K. Sawyer

Honors College Theses

Each year, one in every four deaths in the United States is a result of heart disease. As the leading cause of death among women and men from various ethnicities, heart disease may be overlooked when making everyday life decisions. As a group of genetic and behavioral conditions, heart disease is the number one killer of Americans. This may be due to the typical Western diet and daily life choices such as drinking alcohol or smoking tobacco. Heart diseases including atherosclerosis and coronary artery disease kill ten times more women than breast cancer (Lewis, et al., 2017). White men have …

Uk Dietitians’ Views On Communication Skills For Behaviour Change: A 10 Year Follow Up Survey, Kirsten Whitehead, Tracey Parkin

School of Health Professions

No abstract provided.

Positive Psychological Well‐Being And Cardiovascular Disease: Exploring Mechanistic And Developmental Pathways, Julia K. Boehm

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Empirical research regarding the health benefits of positive psychological well‐being (e.g., positive emotions, life satisfaction, purpose in life, and optimism) has flourished in recent years, particularly with regard to cardiovascular disease. This paper reviews the state of evidence for well‐being's association with cardiovascular disease in both healthy individuals and those diagnosed with a disease. Prospective studies consistently indicate well‐being reduces cardiovascular events in healthy and, to a lesser extent, patient populations. Potential pathways that link well‐being with cardiovascular disease are discussed (including health behaviors, physiological processes, and stress buffering), although the existing evidence is mostly cross‐sectional which limits conclusions about …

A New Observation Of Microatolls In The Galapagos Isalnds, Ecuador, Amber Orr

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Microatolls are shallow water coral colonies that develop their signature ring-like atoll shape from water depth limitations that prevent living tissue from growing any higher, encouraging outward growth instead. A secondary contributor to formation is the accumulation of sediment on the top of growing colonies, smothering upper surface polyps. Microatolls are described from numerous locations and form from several species in the Indo-West Pacific. However, microatolls occur at only three known regions in the tropical eastern Pacific and form from one species, Porites lobata. In the Galápagos Islands early researchers (1970s-1980s) observed microatolls at 2 sites, however they are …

Demystifying Hospital Charges For Hospital Readmissions In 2017 In The United States For Psychoses (Drg = 885), Japjot Singh

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Existing research on hospital charges is focused on hospital admissions, but not on hospital readmissions. Literature review on hospital charges identifies several patient-specific, disease-specific, and hospital-specific variables as determinants of hospital charges. Given that there is a relative dearth of similar research focused on hospital readmissions, a federal agency – The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) has recognized this gap and developed the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) in 2015 which contains information on hospital readmissions data. “This database addresses a large gap in healthcare data - the lack of nationally representative information on hospital readmissions.” We …

English Language Proficiency And Overall Verbal Ability: A Comparison Between Bilingual And Monolingual College Students, Samruddhi Ayachit, Erika Cabrera Ranaldi

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Assessment of linguistic abilities of non-native English speakers reveals that Spanish/English bilinguals do not perform as well as English monolinguals on tests that require naming of common objects. Similarly, tests of English language proficiency reveal weaker performance in Spanish/English bilingual groups relative to monolinguals. One important limitation of some of these studies is that the language groups are different on educational attainment, which impacts linguistic abilities. Moreover, there are few studies evaluating overall verbal ability in these linguistically diverse groups. To fill these gaps in the research, we tested English monolingual (n=109) and Spanish/English bilingual (n=152) college students with similar …

Restricted, Caitlyn Khan

Undergraduate Student Symposium

“Restricted” is a short film about a daughter who is struggling through her daily life due to the acts of overbearing parents. Trying her best to keep all the pieces of her life together, the daughter succumbs to the pressures surrounding her. The film is directed by Caitlyn Khan. Other crew members and actors include Sebastian Stam, Chantal Nosievici, Lisa Arneaud, and Marcus Arneaud.

Use Of Social Media In Non-Profit Organizations: Objectives, Key Predominance Indicators And Metrics, Cassidy Campanella

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Although social media is a universal, accessible social networking application, there’s little evidence regarding the role of nonprofit and public health organizations on how to measure successes, challenges and outcomes. Broward Regional Health Planning Council (BRHPC) located in Hollywood, Florida, identified how social media and public health can structure community engagement, education and awareness. BRHPC’s social media journey began with Facebook and Twitter and adopting Instagram and Linkedin during their 2018/2019 fiscal year. BRHPC’s social media key performance indicators (KPI’s) are evaluated monthly to identify a diverse audience and foster a public health presence. BRHPC evaluates its social media channels …

Analysis Of The Effects Of Saha On Cancer Stem Cell Markers In Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Cells, David Babos, Jay-Quan Dill

Undergraduate Student Symposium

In the United States, lung cancer is the third most common form of cancer and shows the highest mortality rate. The most prevalent form is Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC), accounting for 84% of cases. Similar to other solid tumors, several putative surface markers for lung cancer stem cells have been identified, including CD44 and CD133. Cancer stem cells (CSC), with their self-renewal ability and multilineage differentiation potential, are a critical subpopulation of tumor cells that can drive cancer initiation, growth, and resistance to therapy. Reports showed that Hedgehog (HH), Notch, JAK/STAT, PI3K/Akt/mTOR, and Wnt/β-catenin pathways are regulating the transformation …

Assessment Of Gopher Tortoise (Gopherus Polyphemus) Activity And Faunal Diversity Associated With Tortoise Burrows Using Trail Cameras At Two South Florida Natural Areas, Katarina Lee, Adrianna Coican

Undergraduate Student Symposium

The gopher tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus) is an ecologically important organism distributed throughout the southeastern United States. Gopher tortoises are a keystone species due to the burrows they create. These excavated habitats provide shelter for hundreds of commensal species that escape from wildfires and extreme heat during summer months. Six trail cameras (three at each site) were deployed at the entrance of gopher tortoise burrows in two natural areas (Fern Forest and Military Trail) in Broward County. Motion-activated cameras took pictures of animals at the burrow entrance over a 21-month period. Cameras were left in the field between 5-14 …

Bacteria Unearthed, Vijay Patel, Aysha Patel

Undergraduate Student Symposium

With the era of antibiotics coming to a close, new sources of antibiotics need to be found to combat antibiotic resistance. The rise of infectious bacteria resistant to our drugs is creating an uphill battle in the fight against disease. In the search for new antibiotics, bacteria remain an effective and viable source. Programs, like Tiny Earth, aid researchers in looking for new strains of bacteria to determine if they can be harnessed for antibiotic discovery. A global community of researchers collaborate to collect and study bacteria from local soil samples. Our collegiate group obtained a soil sample from local …

Characterizing The Mechanism Of Inhibition Displayed By Imidocarb Dipropionate On Yersinia Pestis, Sukriti Prashar

Undergraduate Student Symposium

With the growing antibiotic resistance crisis, there is a need for development of new antibiotics. Several antibiotic resistant, gram-negative bacteria employ a type III secretion system (T3SS) making it an attractive target for new drugs. The T3SS is a multi-protein complex organized in a needle-like structure used to inject host cells with effector proteins to cause infection. Imidocarb dipropionate is a known inhibitor of the T3SS of Yersinia pestis, the causative agent of the bubonic plague, however its mechanism of inhibition is unclear. The purpose of this research was to determine which protein of the T3SS of Y. pestis …

Coral Cover And Colony Count Of Porites Lobata At Devil's Crown, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador, Bailey Daniels

Undergraduate Student Symposium

The reef-building mounding coral (Porites lobata) forms structures throughout the Galápagos Islands that provide habitat for numerous benthic marine species. Galápagos corals are impacted by aperiodic El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events that raise ambient water temperature and can cause massmortalities. This study focuses on an aggregation of Porites lobata located in Devil’s Crown, Floreana Island using data collected from 1993-2019. Over the 26-year period, the aggregation was impacted by El Niño events in 1992-93 and 1997-98 both of which left most of the colonies bleached (loss of zooxanthellae) but without mortality. Colonies recovered over several years following each …

Diet Analysis Of Offshore Istiophorid Billfishes In The Western Atlantic, Emily Salonia

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Istiophorid billfishes are apex predators found in epipelagic tropical and temperate waters worldwide. Managed internationally following population declines due to overfishing, these fishes continue to be targeted by recreational anglers and are caught as bycatch by offshore commercial fisheries targeting tunas, resulting in a slow population recovery. Despite their ecological importance, knowledge of Western Atlantic billfish diets is lacking; no information exists regarding roundscale spearfish (Tetrapturus georgii), for white marlin (Kajikia albida) information is extremely limited, and the last Western Atlantic sailfish (Istiophorus platypterus) diet study was in 1977. To address this knowledge gap, Istiophorid diets …

Differences In Frontonasal Anomalies In Children With And Without An Autism, Matthew Arcona

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Symptoms of Autism Spectrum Disorders can vary by case; however, the core features consist of social and communication deficits, and restrictive or repetitive behaviors. Most research on the etiology of ASD focus on genetic factors and how chromosomal copy number variants (CNVs) affect neurocognitive development. There is much less research on how developmental disturbances could play a role in neurocognitive disorders, such as ASD. Research suggests that due to the synchronous and adjacent development of the frontonasal features and anterior brain, disturbances in one of these pathways affect the other. Frontonasal anomalies such as ear formation, forehead prominence, and eye …

Dreaming In Reverse, Arleene Perez-Sifontes, Schneider Camport Jean-Pierre, Jacob Meshel

Undergraduate Student Symposium

“Dreaming in Reverse” is a short film about a young woman who is dealing with a recurring dream. In this dream, she sees a man whom she believes is in danger. Despite many efforts to forget the dream, she convinces herself that she must be the one to save him. Upon finding the man, she realizes that the dream wasn’t quite how she envisioned it. The film is directed and written by Arleene Perez-Sifontes, Graciel Quezada, Schneider Camport Jean-Pierre, and Jacob Meshel. The film is edited by Schneider Camport Jean-Pierre.

Drunken Parasites: Morphological Distortions Associated With Chemical Fixatives In Two Monogenetic Flatworms, Wamika Shoukat

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Fixation is the first step in the identification of animal parasites: its primary purpose is to kill the parasite and prevent or delay decomposition via autolytic enzymes. In the lab, parasitologists typically use ethanol (primarily 70%), formalin, or combinations of the two (e.g. AFA: glacial acetic acid, formalin, and ethanol), but there is little consensus on which best preserves the morphological characters used for parasite identification. Furthermore, parasitologists working in the field and/or internationally are often constrained in their choice of fixative: for example, ethanol can be difficult to obtain in countries that prohibit the sale of alcohol. Instead, various …

Forces Affecting Genital Morphology Of Eastern Mosquitofish In The Everglades, Dyane Oliva, Rose Leeger, Caila Guzman Nunez

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Eastern Mosquitofish are abundant fish in the Everglades. Some of their populations make annual, long distance migrations into temporary wetlands that dry out every year. Past work indicates differences in migration ability among fish from wetlands of different hydroperiod. Eastern Mosquitofish internally fertilize with a modified fin that acts as a penis-like “gonopodium,” which has been shown in other mosquitofish species to respond to the presence or absence of predators via altered size and shape. Data collected in 2019 reveals variation in gonopodium size and shape for Eastern Mosquitofish in Everglades wetlands that dry annually when compared to those from …

Gotta Go Right Now: Assessing And Educating College Women About Utis, Nabiha Atiquzzaman

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Urinary tract infections (UTIs) affect 50% of women in their lifetime (Hhs.gov). The prevalence of UTIs increases with age, except for a spike seen in women aged 18-39 (Medina, 2019). UTIs cause significant psychological distress, financial impact, and scientific implications (Richtel, 2019). Previous studies have found support of UTI education enhancement interventions changing participants behavioral intention; a positive association between UTI knowledge and prevention practices was demonstrated. However, there are no studies investigating impact of educational programs on health behavior of university students and their knowledge of UTIs. The purpose of this study is to assess knowledge of UTIs among …

How Maternal Education Impacts Child Health In Food-Insecure Households In Peru, Sydney Sansone

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Children living in food-insecure homes in poor areas of Peru experience poor health outcomes at greater rates than their counterparts with higher socioeconomic status. The factors that contribute to poor health outcomes can be viewed through the levels of the Socioecological Model. At the interpersonal level, mothers play a unique role in determining the health outcomes of their child(ren). This systematic review aims to synthesize findings from mixed methods studies conducted in poor areas of Peru to determine how maternal education impacts child health. Using data from ten exemplar studies, the level of education of mothers, child health, resources readily …

Improving Health Communication About Recognizing Pediatric Obstructive Sleep Apnea Associated With Down Syndrome, Mahima Dave

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Down syndrome (DS) is the most prevalent chromosomal disorder in which an extra copy of chromosome 21 disrupts the development of intellectual abilities. Every year, 6,000 babies in the United States are born with DS, which is approximately 1 in every 700 babies (Aagarwal et al., 2019). Their unique physical manifestations place them at high risk for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), a condition in which repeated blockage of the upper airway causes difficulty breathing during sleep (Olson et al., 2011). Nearly 80% of children with DS are afflicted with OSA compared to only 2-5% of the general pediatric population (Chamseddin …

Influence Of Growth Efficiency, Bacterial Density, And Metabolism On Antibiotic Resistance Across Different Drug Classes, Gabriela Diaz Tang, Estefania Marin Meneses

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Antibiotic resistance has become a prevailing issue in the health care system due to increased hospital costs and mortality. Moreover, the discovery of new antibiotics has slowed significantly. Thus, there is a dire need to understand the general mechanisms by which bacteria resist antibiotics towards extending the usefulness of existing drugs. Recently, the effect of metabolism on drug efficiency has revealed that when bacterial metabolism is more active, antibiotics become more lethal. Accordingly, we chose to study how the inoculum effect, where the initial density of bacteria determines the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of drug required, is impacted by bacterial …

Interlimb And Intralimb Coordination During Speed Running In American Football Players Training For The Nfl Draft, Emily Udvardy, Madison Allen

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Speed is integral to players seeking to be drafted into the National Football League (NFL). To increase speed, coaches promote running symmetry and coordination. Coordination during running is assessed by graphing the relative temporal and spatial patterns of the hip, knee, and ankle, and visually inspecting the resulting angle-angle plots for linearity (in-phase, anti-phase, decoupled). Though qualitative, this method is sophisticated as it examines movement patterns versus discrete points. Therefore, we sought to describe intralimb and interlimb coordination during speed running in elite American football players undergoing a 6-week NFL draft preparation camp. Twelve participants (age, 21.8±0.8 yrs; ht, 1.8±0.05 …

Investigating Differences In Eye-Movement Between Children With Asd And Children With Neurotypical Development, Sruthi Kundur

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) have deficits in social skills; nonetheless, research suggests that a pet can help reduce stress and negative outcomes. Evidence from the literature suggests that there is a correlation between the ability to demonstrate emotion and the ability to understand other’s intentions in order to make the correct assumptions. However, children with ASD lack the ability to understand social cues and make better predictions. This study investigates the eye movement of children with ASD in comparison to children with neurotypical development. Eye-tracking data, including heat maps and eye-movement time-lapses were collected from children with ASD …

Mindfulness Training During A Pandemic: Can Online Mindfulness Training Reduce Distress?, Aysha D. Patel, Catherine Weber, Mamiko Swanson, Sharan Sankar

Undergraduate Student Symposium

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a number of negative outcomes, including economic, psychological, and physical health concerns (Gruber et al., 2020; Fine, Reichle, & Lord, 2020). Levels of depressive symptoms and anxiety have appeared to be higher during the pandemic than they were prior to the pandemic (O’Connor et al. 2020). Mindfulness meditation training has been shown to reduce the impact of stress on cognitive functioning and anxiety. Reductions in depressive symptomatology have also been shown to occur following mindfulness training. Although mindfulness-based interventions often consist of eight weeks of training with one weekly in-person session, the current study …

Online Social Environment Impacts Feelings Of Social Connection In Older Adults During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Jade Kushner, Brittany Derynda, Mary Goodyear

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Evidence suggests that nearly one-third of older adults’ experience loneliness and/or social isolation; an increase in these rates during the current pandemic is anticipated. The Lifelong Learning Institute (LLI) at Nova Southeastern University (NSU) in South Florida has worked to engage seniors in fun learning activities and social opportunities since 1977. When “stay at home” orders went into effect in March 2020 the LLI moved to online program delivery via Zoom. To understand the implementation of zoom among LLI members, NSU students, researchers and LLI member advisory committee developed a cross-sectional research study using an online survey that was administered …