Digital Commons Network^™

Particle Boards Created From Modified Lignin, Robbie Kazen

GS4 Student Scholars Symposium

My name is Robert Kazen, a student directed under Dr. Rafael Quirino currently working on the Lignin Modification project. The research project involves the isolation of lignin from black liquor, a byproduct produced by the paper pulping industry. Isolated chemically the lignin was then modified using two methods, (1) acrylation acid and (2) transesterification with tung oil modifications. The black liquor obtained was sent by the Arizona Chemical and Herty Advanced Materials Development Center. Currently the tung oil modification gives the most valuable product physically and its products will be mainly used for particle board creation and testing. The tung …

Psychopathy, Empathy, And Prosocial Helping: Can You Increase Altruistic Helping For Individuals High In Psychopathy?, Courtney Beussink

GS4 Student Scholars Symposium

Psychopathy is a disorder encompassing a distinct set of interpersonal, affective, and behavioral traits including lack of empathy and remorse, manipulativeness, callousness, selfishness, antisocial lifestyle, impulsivity, aggressiveness, and social deviance. It is estimated that approximately 15-25% of incarcerated individuals and 0.6-1% of individuals within the community are high in psychopathy (Coid, Yang, Ullrich, Roberts, & Hare, 2009; Hare, 2003). Since psychopathic traits are linked with deviant behavioral outcomes and the prevalence rates are relatively high within forensic and community populations, interventions designed to target the core personality deficits and reduce psychopathic tendencies are needed. The current study seeks to induce …

Accelerated Insulation Recycling System (Airs), Debalina Ghosh

GS4 Student Scholars Symposium

Construction and demolition waste accounts for 52 % of the total landfilled space. While many advances in disassembly sequencing in buildings have been proposed to recycle concrete, steel, and tile associated with construction and demolition waste, the insulation contained within every building persists as a significant environmental challenge to recycle and reuse. Adding to this problem is the fact that when petroleum based foams are incinerated, it emits carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, isocyanine, acrylonitrile, and hydrogen cyanide in levels exceeding those allowed by the EPA, posing a significant threat to the environment and human health. Design for Disassembly (DfD) approach …

Investigating The Role Of Itga6 In Tumor Development, Shauntell Luke

GS4 Student Scholars Symposium

Cancer research is a large topic in science, because over 14 million people are diagnosed worldwide, and of those, 8 million will die annually. Traditional therapies are the mainstays of treatment strategies, but a cure less invasive or with less side effects have not yet been identified. In order to develop a better cure, we need to understand the tumor and molecules present in its tissues. Integrins, cell surface proteins that aid in cell communication, have been found in the tumor tissues of several types of cancers, including prostate and neuroblastomas. Integrin alpha-6 (ITGA6), in particular, has been found to …

Developing Molecular Tools For Diagnosis Of Human Ehrlichiosis, Megan Mears

GS4 Student Scholars Symposium

Background: Ehrlichia chaffeensis, E. ewingii, E. muris and E. canis are known to cause febrile illnesses in humans and dogs. These pathogens are transmitted by ticks, and infection is established following invasion of the human or dog white blood cells. Ehrlichia chaffeensis infections of humans have a fatality rate up to 5%. Ehrlichia ewingii displays antigenic cross-reactivity with E. chaffeensis; however, laboratory case confirmation is difficult because E. ewingii is not cultivable so antigens and genetic data are hard to acquire. Our project will develop approaches and tools to characterize E. ewingii surface protein gene homologous to the major 120 …

Analysis Of Relapse In Leukemia Patients With Missing Data Using An Extension Of The Em Algorithm, Braydon Schaible

GS4 Student Scholars Symposium

Introduction: Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) are two types of acute leukemia. When complete remission of leukemia has not been achieved or the disease refracts to its stage in initial chemotherapy, relapse occurs. Leukemia has poor prognosis for patients with relapse. This sample included AML and ALL patients. The purpose of this study was to use and extension of the Expectation-Maximization (EM) algorithm in order to find significant factors that affect the occurrence of relapse in leukemia patients with missing data.

Methods: The EM logistic model consists of three steps. First, the initial logistic regression intercept …

Association Between Fruit And Vegetable Consumption And Sleep Quantity In Pregnant Women, Kassandra Snook

GS4 Student Scholars Symposium

The National Sleep Foundation recommends an average sleep time duration of 7-9 hours per day for adults aged 18-64 years old. Unfortunately, women are prone to encounter sleep disruptions during pregnancy that can prevent them from the recommended amount of sleep. Poor sleep during pregnancy is associated with an increased risk for birth complications, including low birth weight and stillbirth. Studies have found that sleeping less and poor sleep quality is associated with lower consumption of fruits and vegetables and good sleep quality/adequate sleep is associated with increased fruit and vegetable consumption. The objective of this study was to determine …

Airborne Bacterial Exposure At Workers' Breathing Height In An Organic Farm Of Rural Georgia, Tedd Gandy, Nabanita Mukherjee, Bushra Shah, Subhrajit K. Saha, Pratik Banerjee, Atin Adhikari

GS4 Student Scholars Symposium

Organic farming has potentials to contribute substantially to future sustainable agricultural production by improving soil quality, pest control, and reduction of adverse environmental impacts in rural agricultural communities. On the other hand, application of natural farmyard manure may increase the microbial biomass in this environment and consequently microbial exposure levels among workers could be increased. To explore this possibility of excess exposure, particularly to airborne bacteria, we conducted air sampling at the vicinity of poultry and dairy sections of a large organic farm in a rural Georgia location. For air sampling, a Biostage viable cascade impactor was utilized, which comprises …

Effect Of Natural Products On Overall Microbial Activity In Household Items, Teyaijah Givens, Nosa Lloyd Nwaonumah, Brittany Loadholt, Bushra Shah, Atin Adhikari

GS4 Student Scholars Symposium

Indoor contamination from microorganisms is an important health hazard issue (e.g., respiratory allergy, infections, and food contamination). Particularly, growth of molds and bacteria in damp environmental conditions could be hazardous for the occupants susceptible to microbial allergens. The growing awareness concerning the adverse effects of chlorine bleach and cleaning chemicals calls for field-testing new natural ingredients with functional properties against microorganisms. Essential oils possess a wide spectrum of antimicrobial activity, which may be of great importance for controlling indoor microbial exposure. The objective of this study was to investigate how microbial growth in different surfaces of homes reacted to the …

Up-Conversion Emissions Of Er3 Doped Gd2(Wo4)3 Phosphors, Grayson Wiggins

GS4 Student Scholars Symposium

Photon up-conversion is a luminescent process which changes incoming low energy light into a higher energy form of light, such as infrared into visible light. This process is very popular and applicable to TV displays, bio-labels, and solar cells. The work to be presented is about erbium's ability to convert infrared laser light in green light by photon up-conversion. The trivalent erbium is doped into gadolinium tungstate in order to research the efficiency and mechanisms involved in the up-conversion process. Although still currently being research, it has already shown promising results including low photon energies, economic synthesis, and naked-eye up-conversion, …

Effects Of Rapid Ph And Salinity Change On The Physiology Of A Local Estuarine Fish Species, Fundulus Heteroclitus, Shauna Tietze

GS4 Student Scholars Symposium

Coastal Georgia offers a wide variety of unique aquatic environments, one of the most variable of these environments are salt marshes. Sapelo Island, Georgia, is a pristine environment that is home to many variable salt marshes. Throughout marshes, salinity ranges from freshwater to full strength sea water and acidity levels range from neutral (pH 7) to low pH (pH < 4.5). Fundulus heteroclitus (Atlantic killifish) is an example of an organism that has evolved coping strategies to withstand such a variable environment. Many laboratory studies have shown that F. heteroclitus exhibit a broad tolerance range of single stressors, however few have studied their ability to handle multiple stressors simultaneously. Our goal is to determine if exposure to low salinity and low pH combined is more stressful to F. heteroclitus than individual exposure to low salinity or low pH. To address this area of interest a laboratory experiment was designed. F. heteroclitus were captured from a site with neutral pH (6.8) and mid-range salinity (16 ppt) and held in the laboratory for one month at the same water conditions. The water conditions of the capture site represents similar conditions to where the fish were most commonly found on the island. Fish were then placed in tanks with four different water treatments; low salinity, low pH, low salinity and low pH combined, and a control and held at these conditions for one week. Six fish were sampled from each treatment group at 24 hours, 5 days, and 7 days post transfer. During sampling fish were euthanized, the gills were taken for gene expression analysis and the rest of the body was used for cortisol analysis. Changes in the mRNA expression levels of Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane Conductance Regulator and Na /K -ATPase were compared between treatments using qRT-PCR analysis. These genes have been shown to play an important role in ion regulation in the gills by altering cell volume and ion movement in the sodium/potassium pump. Cortisol was also analyzed using an ELISA kit (Neogen) as a general stress response measure. I hypothesize that results from gene expression and cortisol analysis will show that F. heteroclitus challenged with low salinity and low pH combined experience a higher level of stress compared to fish challenged with only low salinity or low pH, exhibited by an increase in cortisol levels and increased expression of genes responsible for ion balance The information gained from this project will provide a better understanding of the stress this species exhibits due to rapid pH and salinity change. As well as, whether fish can rapidly adapt to changing conditions. Given the ubiquity of the common killifish and its importance in estuarine food webs, these data may provide insight into how we can manage and maintain diverse fish populations and support ecosystem functioning.

Inhibitory Effects Of Vinegar And Plant Essential Oils Against Airborne Molds Collected Near A Dairy Farm, Nosa Lloyd Nwaonumah, Tedd Gandy, Teyaijah Givens, Atin Adhikari

GS4 Student Scholars Symposium

Mold growths are common in damp areas of a dairy farm and airborne mold spores and mold toxins could be hazardous for workers and animals. Mold growth often returns after remediation. The cleaning of molds in these situations by farm owners requires some mold cleaners such as bleach or other chemical solutions. However, researchers are now concerned about adverse side effects of these chemical solutions and their use in an organic farm is not desirable. Plant based products such as grape fruit seed extracts and tea tree oil have demonstrated promising effect against growth of mold pure cultures in our …

Eagle Football Presented With Godaddy Bowl Championship Rings, Georgia Southern University

Athletics: News & Publications

• Eagle Football Presented with GoDaddy Bowl Championship Rings
• The special jewelry commemorates Georgia Southern’s first bowl win

Eagles Come Up Short In Two Conference Matches, Georgia Southern University

Athletics: News & Publications

• Eagles Come up Short in Two Conference Matches
• Men's tennis loses two close ones against Georgia State and App State

Track And Field Wins Four Events, Tallies 26 Top 10 Finishes, Georgia Southern University

Athletics: News & Publications

• Track and Field Wins Four Events, Tallies 26 Top 10 Finishes
• The Eagles show off hard work at the Lowcountry Invitational

White Tops Blue In Football Spring Game, Georgia Southern University

Athletics: News & Publications

• White Tops Blue in Football Spring Game
• The Eagles competed on the new turf in Paulson Stadium

Eagles Sweep Saturday Doubleheader Over Ut Arlington, Georgia Southern University

Athletics: News & Publications

• Eagles Sweep Saturday Doubleheader over UT Arlington
• Georgia Southern takes two victories to win the weekend series

Eagle Nation Gets First-Hand Look At Squad, Georgia Southern University

Athletics: News & Publications

• Eagle Nation Gets First-Hand Look At Squad
• Slew of activities surround Spring Game

Eagles Fall To Jaguars In Sun Belt Conference Doubleheader, Georgia Southern University

Athletics: News & Publications

• Eagles Fall to Jaguars in Sun Belt Conference Doubleheader
• GS and USA will close out the three-game series on Sunday with a 1 p.m. single game

Women’S Golf Primed For First Sun Belt Championship, Georgia Southern University

Athletics: News & Publications

• Women’s Golf Primed for First Sun Belt Championship
• The tournament runs from April 17-19 in Destin, Fla.

Spring Game Roster Card, Map Now Available, Georgia Southern University

Athletics: News & Publications

• Spring Game Roster Card, Map Now Available
• Fans can print it out at home and bring to game

Eagles Blanked By Ut Arlington, 4-0, In Series Opener, Georgia Southern University

Athletics: News & Publications

• Eagles Blanked by UT Arlington, 4-0, in Series Opener
• Saturday doubleheader will close out the three-game set

Go Inside Practice With Tyson Summers, Georgia Southern University

Athletics: News & Publications

• Go Inside Practice With Tyson Summers
• Head coach is mic'd up for practice

Softball Alumni Return To Eagle Field For Alumni Day, Georgia Southern University

Athletics: News & Publications

• Softball Alumni Return to Eagle Field for Alumni Day
• Former Eagles took in last Saturday’s doubleheader sweep over longtime rival App State

Biostatistics News, Georgia Southern University

Biostatistics, Epidemiology & Environmental Health Sciences: News & Publications (2011-2018)

• Georgia Southern Compares Efficiencies of Diagnostic Odds Ratio

Writing & Linguistics News, Georgia Southern University

Writing & Linguistics News (2012-2022)

• Recent student & faculty news

Health Policy & Management News, Georgia Southern University

Health Policy & Community Health: News & Publications (2011-2018)

• Health Care Supply Chain Management: Elements, Operations and Strategies

Sbal Preview: Eagles Host South Alabama In Weekend Sun Belt Series, Georgia Southern University

Athletics: News & Publications

• SBAL Preview: Eagles Host South Alabama in Weekend Sun Belt Series
• GS and USA will play a 3 p.m. doubleheader Saturday, 1 p.m. single game Sunday

Bfs News Online, Georgia Southern University

Art: News & Publications (2008-2023)

• Call for Entries: ‘Trifecta’ MFA Exhibition at Augusta University

Newsroom, Georgia Southern University

Newsroom (2006-2023)

• Institute for Coastal Plain Science Awards Summer Graduate Student Research Assistantships
• Martha Abell, Ph.D., wins award from the Mathematical Association of America (MAA)