Digital Commons Network^™

Pollution Tolerance Of Crayfish Ectosymbionts (Branchiobdellidans), Megan Pizzo, Zachary Youngbar, Mackenzie Lecher

Liberty University Research Week

Undergraduate

Basic

A Trinitarian Theology Of Hell, Seth Pryor

Liberty University Research Week

Graduate

Textual or Investigative

The Effect Of Expressive Writing On The Math Anxiety Scores Of Middle School Students Enrolled In A Public School In East Texas, Angela Ruark

Liberty University Research Week

Graduate

Applied

Gang Formation: Female Juveniles, Madison Koppold

Liberty University Research Week

Undergraduate

Textual or Investigative

A Phenomenological Study Of The Experiences Of Middle School Teachers Working With Girls With High Functioning Autism, Kelly Alves

Liberty University Research Week

Graduate

Applied

The Birth Of Costumbrismo: The Causes And Effects Of Spain’S Changing Social Culture, Mikayla Hudson

Liberty University Research Week

Undergraduate

Textual or Investigative

Return Of Aflatoxin Production In Aspergillus Flavus And Aspergillus Parasiticus After Serial Passaging, Reagan Treadwell

Liberty University Research Week

Undergraduate

Theoretical Proposal

Limiting Plaintiffs Damages: A Review Of Southern States Collateral Source Rule And Constitutional Challenges To Caps On Damages, Allison Hotz

Lincoln Memorial University Law Review Archive

During the 1970s and 1980s, the insurance industry experienced high losses from “deep-pocket defendants” with disproportionately high jury awards. These “deep-pocket defendants” were often medical doctors and big businesses. The industry responded to the losses by increasing premiums or refusing to renew existing high-risk premiums. The industry feared it would go under as a result of closing businesses and the relocation of doctors to areas with lower premiums. In response to this self-labeled “crisis,” laws were implemented which restricted a plaintiff’s rights to a full recovery in hopes of reducing insurance premiums; however, this result has not always been achieved. …

Effects Of Climate Change On Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever And Public Health Implications In Western Montana, Ella B. Baumgarten, Maxwell Enger, Benjamin V. Hickey, Ronan Kennedy, Tiffany Matthews, Sydney Qualls

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

As climate change progresses, vector-borne diseases will spatially spread to novel environmental niches. Among those vector-borne diseases is Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever (RMSF), a tick-borne disease (TBD) that is caused by the bacteria Rickettsia Rickettsii. To predict the spread of RMSF, we modeled future climate scenarios using environmental variables from western Montana. Using this model, we have designed a protocol to enable and promote public awareness of vector-borne diseases. These interventional measures aim to anticipate and decrease disease prevalence through distribution of information about risk factors, symptoms, and treatment options. Our health promotion strategy encompasses two crucial aspects in outreach: …

Establishing Groundwater Nitrate/Nitrite Levels In Hamilton, Montana & Local Area, March 2019, Qwinn T. Lulis

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

No abstract provided.

Assessing The Predictive Validity Of Actical® Accelerometers For Individuals With Impaired Gait, Selene Y. Tobin

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

Accelerometers are movement devices that have been proven to be great tools to assess physical activity levels, determine intensity of activities, and measure energy expenditure in the majority of the population. However, these devices may not accurately assess energy expenditure in individuals with altered gait patterns. In order to better understand this discrepancy we are measuring energy costs of low to vigorous Physical Activity (PA) in individuals with altered gait while monitoring omni-directional ambulatory movement using a Actical® Accelerometer (Philips Respironics, Bend, OR) monitoring system to develop a generalizable, useful equation that can better predict energy expenditure. Participants will be …

Fire On The Mountain: Impacts Of First-Year Burned Habitat On Wildlife Occupancy, Dakota Vaccaro

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

Wildfires occur on a worldwide scale in a range of different environments and with varying levels of severity. Currently, wildfires are occurring on a higher frequency than in the past partly due to climate change. Fire ecology studies provide valuable management information that can be used to inform decisions. However, very few of these studies have been conducted on the impacts fire has on wildlife the year following a burn. Wildlife play an important role in keeping ecosystems healthy and functioning, therefore it is important to understand how they will react with increasing fire prevalence. This study focuses on wildlife …

Behavioral Impacts Of The Gut Microbiome On Drosophila Melanogaster, Ashley M. Bielawski

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

Many recent studies suggest that changes in the gut microbiome might lead to long-term behavioral changes including increased aggression. The gut of an organism is home to a complex community of bacteria, fungi and viruses that collectively make up the gut microbiome. The prevailing hypothesis is that changes in the microbiome are communicated to the brain and subsequently impact behavior. Work in the Certel lab focuses on the role of octopamine in the model system Drosophila Melanogaster. Octopamine(OA) is a neurotransmitter and neuromodulator expressed in the nervous system of invertebrates. We recently determined that a separate subset of OA neurons …

Size And Shape Of Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubules Influences Exposure-Induced Airway Inflammation And Tissue Fibrosis In A Mouse Model, Shannon Lee Bolten

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

Purpose: Multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) are nano-scale fibrous particles that are increasing in use for a variety of common consumer products. These materials have unique properties that offer major technological benefits, but can also pose an immense public health risk; especially in occupational settings. As new materials, the toxicological impacts of MWCNTs are still widely unknown, however, the nature of these materials has been identified as similar to asbestos in terms of respiratory harm potential. After particle-induced lung injury, a series of pro-inflammatory and fibrotic events occur in an attempt to heal damaged tissue, however, this exposure can lead to …

Investigating Ocean Tidal Models, Bodhi Landry-Stahl

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

Two factors govern Earth's elastic response to the periodic redistribution of ocean tides: the properties of the crust and upper mantle and the weight of the ocean water loading the surface. Using models for Earth structure and the ocean tides, it is possible to predict surface displacements caused by the tides. I hypothesize that the world's ocean-tide models agree well with one another in the open ocean but disagree at locations with complex coastlines and bathymetry. Tidal models for the open ocean generally have better empirical constraints from satellite altimetry compared to a coastal environment. To test my hypothesis, different …

Acquisition Of Differential Object Marking In Argentine Spanish, Laura Cornelisse, Pablo E. Requena

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

Acquisition of Differential Object Marking in Argentine Spanish

Humanities, Department of Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures

Variation is ubiquitous to language. For example, Spanish marks animate and specific direct objects (DO) with “a” (as in: Vi a un niño ‘I saw a boy’ vs. Vi un carro ‘I saw a car’), a phenomenon known as Differential Object Marking (DOM). DOM has been shown to be probabilistically constrained by a number of linguistic factors the speech of Spanish-speaking adults. The only study on first language acquisition of DOM to date, however, has concentrated only on contexts considered categorical …

Higher Education And Nation Building In Southeastern Africa, International Student Organization

Bryant REDay (Research and Engagement Day)

No abstract provided.

Focused Ultrasonication-Assisted Preparation Of Aqueous Nanodispersions For Selected Novel C-Type Lectin Receptor Ligands, Alexander Riffey, Walid Abdelwahab, Cassandra Buhl, Craig Johnson, George Ettenger, Kendal Ryter, Jay Evans, David Burkhart

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

Purpose: Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), the causative pathogen of tuberculosis (TB), is a global pathogenic threat. In 2017, 10 million people were affected by TB infections, resulting in 1.6 million deaths worldwide. With about one-quarter of the global population infected with latent TB, tuberculosis remains one of the top ten causes of death worldwide according to a 2018 World Health Organization report. Despite the availability of a TB vaccine, new cases of multidrug-resistant TB arise yearly, threatening the efficacy of traditional treatments used to combat this disease. Recent evidence has suggested Th17 response may be protective, but no Th17 adjuvants are …

Controlling Gene Function With Dual-Coding Exons: Exploring Patterns Of Conservation And Expression, Sarah Walling

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

Genes are comprised of exons, which are encoded in groups of three called codons. Each codon corresponds to a particular amino acid, and the chain of amino acids makes a protein product. Genes can encode different protein products through a mechanism called alternative splicing, which typically uses different subsets of those exons. Alternative splicing impacts the proteins that are produced in different tissues or developmental timepoints; changes to an exon can cause errors in a subset of these proteins, which is the source of some genetic diseases and cancers. The research here investigates a relatively unrecognized form of alternative splicing …

Loneliness And The Aging Population, Nelson W. Weaver

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

Previous research has shown social isolation and loneliness contribute to decreased quality of life, as well as compromised psychological and physical health among older adults. This represents a public health crisis in the context of a growing aging population anticipated to cost the United States over 126 billion dollars. The purpose of this research review is to build the case for conducting an effectiveness study aimed to reduce feelings of loneliness and social isolation in the aging population. To achieve this aim, I review the various characteristics of the aging population, the social and financial ramifications associated with social isolation …

Effect Of Perception Biases On Associated Value Of Stimuli, Jordan Broussard

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

Negative and positive stimuli appear to have their own unique effects on mood, behavior, and even underlying perceptions. Previous experiments have shown that people have the tendency to focus more on negative stimuli than positive; this phenomenon is often explained through a lens of evolutionary psychology, as it appears that it was once more necessary for survival to focus on negative characteristics of the environment. This is referred to as the “negativity effect”. The present study examined this bias, as well as the level of truth that people associate with positive or negative stimuli. In this experiment, 43 University of …

Investigating The Underlying Mechanisms Responsible For The Effectiveness Of Behavioral Cough Therapy, Sarah M. Popp

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

Chronic cough (CC), a cough that lasts more than eight weeks, is the number one complaint of adults seeking non-emergent medical care. An estimated 20% of patients with CC do not respond to medical treatment, and are said to have refractory chronic cough (RCC). Several studies provide evidence that RCC is caused by hypersensitivity of sensory protein receptors in the airway epithelium known to regulate cough. The primary sensory receptor is the transient receptor potential vanilloid (TRPV). These receptors can be found in the epithelial layer of the bronchus, larynx and nose. These receptors are very plastic; in other words …

Effect Of Pag1 On Src-Family Kinase Trafficking In Neuroblastoma Exosomes, Makenzie E. Mayfield

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

SRC-family kinases (SFKs) are important in regulating cell-fate in neuroblastoma cells. PAG1, binds SFKs and helps regulate their activity by directing their movement within the cell. To better understand the role of PAG1, we created a line of mutant SH-SY5Y cells, called PAG1^TM- cells, which express a truncated PAG1 protein, lacking a transmembrane domain. These cells still express high levels of mutant, cytosolic PAG1. We have found that PAG1^TM- cells express a hyper-cancerous phenotype, including increased proliferation, and display higher global levels of active phosphorylated SFKs (pSFKs). The activity of pSFKs in PAG1^TM- is still unknown. Protease …

"They Love God Even Though They Deny Him": Dorothy Day's Latin American Consciousness, 1927-1980, Tess Gallagher Clancy

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

No abstract provided.

Ikuzo Nihongo: Learning Japanese Through Reading Manga (Japanese Comics), Ryan R. Koski

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

For my UMCUR project, I've made a How-to-Speak-Japanese comic book. I incorporate story elements into Japanese lessons to make learning Japanese more fun and less intimidating.

Rates Of Water Loss And Absorption In Stick Insect Eggs, Garret K. Jolma

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

The thorny devil stick insect (Eurycantha calcarata) of New Guinea has eggs that take four months or more to develop—incredibly long for an insect. Long development times can be a challenge for eggs because of their finite resources, including nutrients, energy to support development, and water. I investigated the physiological mechanisms underlying long development times in stick insect eggs.

The first experiment examined rates of water loss and survival of eggs held in different experimental humidities (0, 75, or 100% RH). Eggs dried quickly in the 0% humidity “dry” container; and more slowly in the 75% humidity “intermediate” …

Identifying Ancient Conserved Non-Coding Dna Elements, Jeremiah Lee Gaiser

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

DNA is the genetic material at the root of all life, and serves as the 'instructions' for biomolecular mechanisms to shape the bodies and synthesize the chemicals that make up an organism. DNA mutations and the forces of natural selection drive the evolution that has resulted in the tremendous diversity of life on earth today. However, despite life's staggering diversity, there still exist many sequences of DNA that share remarkable similarity between organisms, even between species as different as humans and bacteria. This is called conservation. Most conserved DNA encodes genes that produce proteins or RNA that are crucial to …

Beetle Ballads, Ty R. Morgan

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

No abstract provided.

Physician Suicide: Healers Unable To Heal Themselves, Paighton H. Noel

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

Physicians die by suicide at over two times the rate of the general population. With national physician shortages and rates of suicide both on the rise within the United States, it is imperative to understand this tragic phenomenon and the multifaceted causes contributing to widespread physician depression and overall lack of well-being resulting in deaths of physicians meant to heal others. A comprehensive understanding of this complex problem is essential and the primary step that must be taken in order to initiate evidence-based prevention strategies. Utilizing governmental reports, case studies, and various peer-reviewed studies and articles, this review focuses on …

Finding Evidence For Competition In Moose, Deer, And Cougar Using Space To Event Model, Sierra Mcmurry

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

Predator prey interactions are essential relationships to understand in order to best manage communities for natural and healthy population abundances. I will be studying predator prey relationships between moose, deer, and cougars in North East Washington using camera trap data. To study predator prey dynamics within communities requires significant radio collar data and aerial surveillance. These methods can be expensive, time inefficient, and tend to be more difficult for illusive species. A new method for determining density estimates for predator and prey species called the Space to Event model (Moeller et al 2018) could eliminate the need for aerial surveys …