Digital Commons Network^™

The Relationship Between Race And Factors Related To Poor Mental Health And Suicide Ideation Among High School Students: An Analysis Using 2019 Yrbss & Samhda Data, Brandi Rado, Pranav Iyer, Alex Worts

Undergraduate Student Symposium

The correlation between age and mental illness among adolescents is relatively high. There is a noteworthy amount of research into the prevalence of suicidal ideation, and attempted suicide within this age group, however, there is a need for research into the relationship between suicidal indicators, display of symptoms, and actual diagnoses of mental illness. Previous research show trends between minorities and females leading to higher rates of mental disorders and suicide, but there is little evidence to make a prediction about differences in regard to specific race and suicidal indicators. This study aims to analyze the correlation between race in …

A Review Of Treatment Options For Women Facing Hereditary Breast Cancer, Ilan Nedjar, Rathika Manikandan

Undergraduate Student Symposium

BRCA1 and BRCA2 are tumor suppressor genes, which produce proteins that aid repair damaged DNA. Women who carry a pathogenic mutation in BRCA1/BRCA2 genes have an increased risk of developing breast cancer. Furthermore, BRCA1/BRCA2 pathogenic mutations are associated with more aggressive breast cancer types (i.e., triple negative) and higher recurrence rates (10.5%) than for breast cancer of non-carrier patients. Consequently, BRCA1+/BRCA2+ breast cancer patients require a specialized treatment approach. The objective of this literature review is to summarize the various treatment options offered to BRCA1+/BRCA2+ breast cancer patients. Peer reviewed articles were found through multiple databases such as PubMed and …

An Examination Of The Social Reponse Of Children With Autism, Shriya Reddy, Shreeya Patel

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) lack the ability to engage with others and make correct social predictions. Therefore, they misinterpret cues and exhibit incorrect social responses. The study’s aim was to compare the response of children with neurotypical development and children with ASD when presented with a friendly social interaction stimulus. Neurotypical children and children with ASD were recruited from public events and educational programs. Data were collected using Tobii Pro Nano eye-tracking device to measure eye movement while children’s autism risk was assessed with the MCHAT tool. Eye-tracking data were analyzed using Tobii Pro lab and statistical data …

An Impartial Supreme Court? Evaluating The Role Of Public Opinion In Supreme Court Rulings, Alexis Lass

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Susceptibility to public opinion is a phenomena faced by most political leaders, whether that be in City Halls or the United States’ Senate. Regardless, when separation of powers was conceptualized and the Supreme Court of the United States was created, the intent was to have a particular branch that didn’t make the law, but interpreted it, impartially, with a lack of partisanship opinion. In recent years, researchers have noticed a pattern of Supreme Court rulings aligning perfectly with public opinion, making field experts and citizens alike, question the integrity of the institution. The current study seeks to better understand the …

Associations Between Parent Country Of Origin And Mental Health Help-Seeking, Samhita Doranala, Shannon Parma, Zahra Aziz, Ariana Ali

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Mental health stigma is a barrier to help-seeking behaviors. Cultural attitudes and beliefs and about mental health can both influence and perpetuate that stigma. Research suggests that a family ethnic origin may contribute to mental health stigma. This study aims to investigate the relationship between parent country of origin and mental health help-seeking knowledge, attitudes, skills, and behavior.

A cross-sectional study was conducted as part of a mental health literacy pilot project at private university in South Florida. Parent country of origin (U.S. vs. non-U.S.) was used to examine the likelihood of participants (n=246) to report on seven attributes related …

Characterizing The Types Of Representations Subject To Research Studies And Interventions Centered Around The Representational Competence Framework Within Chemistry Education, Nabiha Atiquzzaman

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Since its introduction, the Representational Competence Framework by Kozma and Russell has captured the attention of many researchers and practitioners in science education. According to this framework, representational competence is a set of skills and practices that allow a person to reflectively use representations, singly or together, to think about, communicate and act on chemical phenomena. Furthermore, developing representations has been suggested to be essential for developing expertise in subjects like Chemistry. Thus, as part of a large collaborative project among three universities, we have been working on reviewing the literature on the use and incorporation of the Representational Competence …

Closing The Racial Academic Achievement Gap In The United States Through Culturally Responsive/Relevant And Social Justice Pedagogical Practices In Mathematics Education, Travis Roberson

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Due to the lingering effects of the United States' centuries-long state-sanctioned oppression and segregation of African Americans, African Americans and other minorities have consistently underperformed academically compared to white students, also known as the “racial academic achievement gap.” Research suggests that culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP), a relatively new theory in education, has been known to increase participation, engagement, and academic achievement in classrooms, especially in mathematics classrooms. The purpose of this literature review is to synthesize connections between CRP and the racial academic achievement gap to discover whether utilizing CRP in the classroom on a nationwide basis is a viable …

Decoding Phages: Complete Genome Sequence Analysis Of Two Novel Bacteriophages, Alyssamiracle And Fribs8, Mansi N. Gandhi, Bianca A. Gonzalez, Anjaly Kappen, Samantha Lopez, Elisabeth Loranger, Oren Gaston Nedjar, Alyssa Ortiza, Shivani K. Patel, Vir J. Patel, Narindra Ramnath-Manohar, Joel A. Sanchez, Bhavya Soni, Autumn Taylor, Sadhika Uppalapati, Sarah Ballarin, Naitik K. Patel

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Bacteriophages (phage) are viruses that infect bacteria and are considered the most abundant biological entity in the world. Recently, phage has been utilized in biotechnological applications including their use as biocontrol agents in food preservation, sanitizers, wastewater treatment, bioremediation of oil spills, and combating antibiotic resistance. Therefore, decoding and analyzing the genetic composition of novel bacteriophages is critical to their potential use in these emerging applications. Through the SEAPHAGES (Science Education Alliance-Phage Hunters Advancing Genomics and Evolutionary Science) program at NSU, our goal was to analyze the genomes of two recently discovered bacteriophages, Alyssamiracle and Fribs8. These phages infect Gordonia …

Differentiation Of Stress Response In Children With Autism, Devanshi Patel

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) process stressors differently than children with neurotypical development and have a poor response to stress. Furthermore, it is not clear if children with ASD are able to regulate appropriately in order to bounce back from a stressful experience. As such this study appraised results from big data in order to examine the stress response of children with neurotypical development compared to children with ASD. Data from a previous study in which neurotypical children and children with ASD were recruited from public events and from educational programs were analyzed using machine learning methods as a …

Exercise As A Natural Kappa Opioid Receptor Antagonist To Treat Binge Drinking Withdrawal, Eleanor Wind

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Binge drinking is a serious public health problem in the United States that is especially prevalent among college students. The results of a national survey reported 33% of full-time college students aged 18-22 engaged in binge drinking during the previous month. Positive results have been demonstrated in clinical trials that treated alcohol abuse with aerobic exercise. Research in animal models aims to answer remaining questions regarding implementation across sexes and age groups by studying underlying neurobiological mechanisms. One such mechanism is the kappa opioid receptor (KOR) of the endogenous brain opioid system. In animal models, administration of a KOR antagonist …

Mathematics Models For Aedes Albopictus Population Pattern In Miami-Dade, Triet Doranala

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Miami-Dade’s humid tropical climate is conducive to an outbreak of vector transmission diseases. To protect their residents, cities in those areas enforce spraying schemes to keep the mosquito population under control. However, collecting data from mosquito traps alone cannot provide sufficient information for an effective and efficient spraying system. Hence, this research seeks to find mathematical models that reflect a dominant mosquito Aedes Albopictus population in South Florida’s areas. We determined the parameter of life span, oviposition, juvenile survival, and development rate models driven by the temperature using computer simulation. For further study, we compared Aedes Albopictus and Aedes Aegypti. …

Minimum Blockers Of 123-Avoiding Permutation Matrices, Megan Bennett

Undergraduate Student Symposium

A blocker of �� × �� permutation matrices is a set of positions in an �� × �� matrix that intersects each permutation matrix at least once. A blocker is minimum if removing any position makes it no longer a blocker. The Hankel cyclic decomposition implies that each minimum blocker of 123-avoiding permutation matrices must have a cardinality of at least ��, and minimum blockers containing exactly �� positions are called minimal blockers. The well-known Frobenius-König theorem characterizes the minimal blockers of permutation matrices: any �� × �� submatrix is a minimal blocker of all permutation matrices if and only …

Repeated Mild Traumatic Brain Injuries And Increased Dementia Risk: A Pilot Study Investigating Cerebral Amyloid Angiopathy As A Mechanistic Link, Nikhila Paleati, Nika Kozar Yazmin Restrepo, Nitish Dundigalla, Aishwarya Muppoor, Natalia Noto, Blanche Tamiya, Roshini Bodicherla

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is estimated to affect ~69 million people worldwide each year. Mild TBI’s are the most common form of brain injury, characterized by little-to-no time unconscious and minimal observable deficits immediately post-injury. Mild brain injuries are commonly attributed to participation in contact sports and military service. Even mild TBIs, especially repeated injuries, have devastating long-term consequences, including an increased risk of stroke and dementia. Therefore, it is of great interest to determine the mechanisms that drive the relationship between different types of TBIs and various aspects of dementia-associated neuropathology, so that targets for intervention may be identified. …

Sex-Specific Differences Resulting From High Fat Diet Observed In Microglial Responses Across Varying Brain Regions, Divya Komandooru, Divya Papaiya, Anshika Motiani, Shalet James, Zachary Lawrence

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Microglia are the resident immune cells in the nervous system, as they activate and release cytokines in response to immune challenges and maintain brain homeostasis. Consumption of a high fat diet and resulting metabolic disease (e.g. obesity and type 2 diabetes) alters microglial activity; however, studies have yet to explore sex differences in the effects of high fat diet/metabolic disease on microglia across several brain areas concurrently. This is vital given the heterogeneity of microglial distribution, morphology, and function across various pathological states. Male and female C57Bl/6J mice were fed either a low fat (LF; 10% fat) or high fat …

Social Vulnerability, Built Environments Conducive To Physical Activity, And Adult Obesity Int He State Of Florida, 2021, Shreeya Patel

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Social vulnerability, or a community’s ability to respond to stressors on health, might contribute to disparities in obesity rates. For officials to better target anti-obesity efforts, it is also important to understand the contextual factors surrounding social vulnerability from an environmental justice perspective. This study’s purpose is to investigate the role of social vulnerability and environments not conducive to physical activity on adult obesity at the county level in Florida. We conducted an ecological, cross-sectional study among the 67 Florida counties. To measure county-level social vulnerability, we utilized the 2020 CDC Social Vulnerability Index (SVI). Environments not conducive to physical …

Students' Perceptions Of Campus Safety At Nova Southeastern University, Kamalika Reddy Pothapu

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Sexual assaults continue to be a significant problem on college campuses. Research suggests that students who do not feel safe on campus tend to suffer levels of anxiety and depression that can interfere with their academic success and positive social experiences. Though Nova Southeastern University’s Fort Lauderdale/Davie campus appears to be a safe campus, students’ perceptions of safety are not clear. The purpose of this presentation is to present an analysis of student perceptions of safety and the risks of being a victim of violence. Data will be collected using a survey that asks students a series of questions analyzing …

Synthesis Of Amino-Functionalized Methacrylamide And Methacrylate Monomers, David Kurian, Rehan Contractor, Naga Ganti, Saipranavi Reddy Kethireddy

Undergraduate Student Symposium

Amino-functionalized monomers have versatile applications in the field of medicine. Their current applications include enhanced nucleic-acid based drug delivery as well as the formation of polyplexes for non-viral gene delivery. The cationic amino group in these monomers conjugates with negatively charged amino acids and DNA. One of the most common amino-functionalized monomers is 2- aminoethyl methacrylamide (AEMA). To synthesize the methacrylamide, ethylene diamine is reacted with methacrylic anhydride (or methacryloyl chloride) via nucleophilic acyl substitution. The most prevalent synthesis involves the use of a tert-butyloxycarbonyl (Boc) protection group to ensure that only one of the amino groups is functionalized. This …

Evaluation Of Birth By Cesarean Delivery And Development Of Early-Onset Colorectal Cancer, Yin Cao, Long H Nguyen, Stefani Tica, Ebunoluwa Otegbeye, Xiaoyu Zong, Bjorn Roelstraete, Andrew T Chan, Barbara B Warner, Olof Stephansson, Jonas F Ludvigsson

2020-Current year OA Pubs

IMPORTANCE: The incidence of early-onset colorectal cancer (CRC), diagnosed younger than 50 years of age, has increased worldwide. Gut dysbiosis throughout the life course is hypothesized as a leading mechanism, yet epidemiologic data are limited.

OBJECTIVE: To prospectively examine the association between birth by cesarean delivery and early-onset CRC among offspring.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: In this population-based, nationwide case-control study in Sweden, adults diagnosed with CRC between 18 and 49 years of age from 1991 to 2017 were identified through the Epidemiology Strengthened by Histopathology Reports in Sweden (ESPRESSO) cohort. Up to 5 general population control individuals without CRC …

Scale-Dependent Spatial Ecology Of Paleotropical Leaf Litter Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), Lillian Germeroth, Theodore Sumnicht, Robin M. Verble

Biological Sciences Faculty Research & Creative Works

The Grain for Which an Observer Conducts a Study is an Important Determinant of its Outcome. Studies of Ants Have Considered Spatial Grains Spanning from Single Meters to Entire Forest Ecosystems and Found Patterns Related to Nutrient Availability, Leaf Litter Depth, Disturbance, and Forest Composition. Here, We Examine a Bornean Leaf Litter Ant Community at Small (1–4 M) and Large (50–250 M) Spatial Scales and Consider the Differences in Community Structure using Structured 1 M2 Quadrats Sampled Via Leaf Litter Sifting and Berlese Extraction. We Found that Small-Scale Patterns in Ant Abundance and Richness Did Not Spatially Auto correlate within …

Factors Associated With Sun Protection Behaviors Among Childhood Cancer Survivors, Melissa Fluehr, Gary Kwok, Jerod L. Stapleton, Margaret Masterson, Katie A. Devine

UK CARES Faculty Publications

Background: Childhood cancer survivors (CCS) are at increased risk of developing skin cancer. Engaging in sun-protective behaviors may ameliorate that risk, but prior work shows that survivors engage in suboptimal levels of sun-protective behaviors. Guided by the Health Belief Model (HBM), this study evaluated factors associated with sun-protective behavior among CCS.

Methods: This is a secondary analysis of a survey study of 94 adult survivors of childhood cancer recruited from a long-term follow-up clinic. Participants reported their sun protection habits, skin type/ sensitivity, barriers to sun protection, and perceived severity and susceptibility of getting skin cancer. Descriptive statistics were used …

Along Party Lines: Examining The Gubernatorial Party Difference In Covid-19 Mortality Rates In U.S. Counties, Aparna Lhila, Fares Alghanem

Anesthesiology Articles

Drawing upon the literatures on risk factors for COVID-19 and the roles of political party and political partisanship in COVID-19 policies and outcomes, this study quantifies the extent to which differences in Republican- and Democrat-governed counties' observable characteristics explain the Republican - Democrat gap in COVID-19 mortality rate in the United States. We analyze the county COVID-19 mortality rate between February 1 and December 31, 2020 and employ the Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition method. We estimate the extent to which differences in county characteristics - demographic, socioeconomic, employment, health status, healthcare access, area geography, and Republican vote share, explain the difference in …

Agroforestry For The Future: Motivations Behind Tasmanian Farmers Planting Trees, Josh Lipp

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Agroforestry is the act of combining farming and tree planting, and many Tasmanian farmers are starting to plant trees on their properties for multiple reasons. Through conducting 9 interviews with farmers and researchers and visiting field sites, 3 main themes were identified to answer the question: why are Tasmanian farmers planting trees, and what are the benefits and downsides to agroforestry? Interviews help us understand farmers’ perceptions of agroforestry, and field data collection will prove the benefits of agroforestry in the future. Tasmania was chosen as the location of study as it is a state in Australia that largely focuses …

Relationships Between Residence Characteristics And Nursing Home Compare Database Quality Measures, Brian J. Puckett, Erica E. Ryherd, Natalie Manley, Carey S. Ryan

Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction: Faculty Publications

Objective: This study evaluated relationships between physical characteristics of nursing home residences and quality-of-care measures.

Design: This was a cross-sectional ecologic study. The dependent variables were 5 Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Nursing Home Compare database long-stay quality measures (QMs) during 2019: percentage of residents who displayed depressive symptoms, percentage of residents who were physically restrained, percentage of residents who experienced 1 or more falls resulting in injury, percentage of residents who received antipsychotic medication, and percentage of residents who received anti-anxiety medication. The independent variables were 4 residence characteristics: ownership type, size, occupancy, and region …

Regional Variation In Feeding Patterns Of Sheepshead (Archosargus Probatocephalus) In The Northwest Gulf Of Mexico, Elsa M. Gutierrez, Jeffrey D. Plumlee, Derek G. Bolser, Brad E. Erisman, R. J.David Wells

Faculty Publications

Feeding patterns of sheepshead, Archosargus probatocephalus, in the northwest Gulf of Mexico were examined from samples collected at two locations in Texas, USA; Galveston and Port Aransas. A total of 53 sheepshead stomachs (Galveston, n = 35; Port Aransas, n = 18) had their contents analyzed along with tissue samples from the muscle and liver for a stable isotope analysis (δ13C, δ15N, and δ34S) because they provide a contrast between short-term (liver) and long-term (muscle) measurements. Multiple species of amphipods made up the majority of the prey items in sheepshead from Galveston (%IRI = 61.79), whereas barnacles were the primary …

Ecophysiology And Genomics Of The Brackish Water Adapted Sar11 Subclade Iiia, V. Celeste Lanclos, Anna N. Rasmussen, Conner Y. Kojima, Chuankai Cheng, Michael W. Henson, Brant C. Faircloth, Christopher A. Francis, J. Cameron Thrash

Faculty Publications

The Order Pelagibacterales (SAR11) is the most abundant group of heterotrophic bacterioplankton in global oceans and comprises multiple subclades with unique spatiotemporal distributions. Subclade IIIa is the primary SAR11 group in brackish waters and shares a common ancestor with the dominant freshwater IIIb (LD12) subclade. Despite its dominance in brackish environments, subclade IIIa lacks systematic genomic or ecological studies. Here, we combine closed genomes from new IIIa isolates, new IIIa MAGS from San Francisco Bay (SFB), and 460 highly complete publicly available SAR11 genomes for the most comprehensive pangenomic study of subclade IIIa to date. Subclade IIIa represents a taxonomic …

Can Changing Neighborhoods Influence Mental Health? An Ecological Analysis Of Gentrification And Neighborhood-Level Serious Psychological Distress—New York City, 2002–2015, Karen A. Alroy, Haleigh Cavalier, Aldo Crossa, Shu Meir Wang, Sze Yan Liu, Christina Norman, Michael Sanderson, L. Hannah Gould, Sung Woo Lim

Department of Public Health Scholarship and Creative Works

Neighborhood conditions influence people’s health; sustaining healthy neighborhoods is a New York City (NYC) Health Department priority. Gentrification is characterized by rapid development in historically disinvested neighborhoods. The gentrification burden, including increased living expenses, and disrupted social networks, disproportionally impacts certain residents. To ultimately target health promotion interventions, we examined serious psychological distress time trends in gentrifying NYC neighborhoods to describe the association of gentrification and mental health overall and stratified by race and ethnicity. We categorized NYC neighborhoods as hypergentrifying, gentrifying, and not-gentrifying using a modified New York University Furman Center index. Neighborhoods with ≥100% rent growth were hypergentrifying; …

Mesopredator Occupancy And Passerine Richness Along An Urbanization Gradient In Central Coastal California, Matthew Mcgee

AES Theses

As anthropogenic activity such as urbanization and agriculture destroys and fragments wildlife habitat, some patches may grow too small or isolated to support apex predators, which may allow mesopredator populations to flourish in the absence of predation and competition pressure. In areas where mesopredator occupancy is high, increased predation pressure may be placed on mesopredator prey species such as songbirds, which are already experiencing declines due to habitat loss. Here I used camera traps to collect occupancy data of the region’s most commonly occurring apex predators (coyotes) and three mesopredator species (bobcats, gray foxes, and domestic cats) at 35 sites …

Diet Of A Threatened Rattlesnake (Eastern Massasauga) Revealed By Dna Metabarcoding, Alyssa Swinehart, Charlyn Partridge, Amy L. Russell, Arin Thacker, Jennifer Kovach, Jennifer A. Moore

Open Access Publishing Support Funded Articles

Characterizing the diet of imperiled species using minimally invasive methods is crucial to understanding their ecology and conservation requirements. Here, we apply a DNA metabarcoding approach to study the diet of the eastern massasauga rattlesnake (Sistrurus catenatus), a Federally Threatened snake found throughout the Great Lakes region. Eighty-three fecal samples collected across 10 different massasauga populations located in Michigan, USA, were sequenced, with 70 samples containing prey DNA. We used universal metazoan primers and developed a host-specific oligonucleotide blocker to characterize their diet. We identified at least 12 different prey species, with eastern massasaugas exhibiting opportunistic feeding and …

Antecedents Of Organizational Resilience After Covid-19: The Case Of Uae, Khadija Ali Mohammed Abdulrahman Al Ameri

All Works

The main purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between work stress, employee engagement, employee well-being, and employee and organizational resilience, in order to develop a model that can be used to investigate the effects of these variables on organization performance. A quantitative approach was used and structural equation modeling with AMOS 28 was applied to investigate the relationship between the variables in a convenient sample of 394 employees in the UAE. Based on the results of the study, it can be concluded that work-stress negatively impacts the resilience of organizations, while work engagement and employee resilience are …

Improving Species Distribution Models Of Continental Shelf Fishes Off California, Kinsey Matthews

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Species distribution models (SDMs) relate species occurrences, or abundances, with oceanographic or bathymetric data to predict species distributions. SDMs are used to forecast the effects of climate change on species distributions, evaluate existing protected areas and identify locations for future protected areas, estimate the effects of invasive species on a community, and determine how community assemblages change spatially or temporally. Articles describing marine SDMs are becoming increasingly common in the scientific literature; however, their efficacy for predicting the distribution and relative abundance of continental shelf fishes off California is not universally accepted. SDM performance can be affected by the inclusion …