Digital Commons Network^™

Prevalence Of False Step Starting Preference In Track & Field Middle Distance Runners, Kayla Perez

Academic Festival

Middle distance track & field runners start from a non-parallel, staggered foot stance utilizing either a forward- or false-step technique. Previous studies have investigated these starting techniques with most investigations determining that the false step is both preferred and faster, however, it is currently unknown which technique is commonly performed within the 800-meter race.

Purpose: Determine starting type prevalence rates (forward, false step) in high school (HS), collegiate (C), and senior (S) runners competing in the 800-meter race distance. Additionally, to classify variants of false step within this same population.

Methods: This cross-sectional, observational study evaluated publicly available YouTube videos …

The Prevention Of Pressure Injuries In Pediatric Patients Through The Implementation Of A Uniform Turning Schedule., Ailie Daley

Academic Festival

This project involves the implementation of a uniform turning schedule, in the form of a clock denoting which position (right lying, left lying, supine) a patient should be in at certain times, with the goal to decrease the incidence of pressure injuries on a pediatric medical-surgical unit.

Breaking The Stigma And Raising Awareness: The Grisly Effects Developmental Trauma Has On Early Adulthood And How To Put A Stop To This Monstrosity, Grace Fleishman

Academic Festival

I lived a great childhood, and I mean really great. I had a seemingly stable home life and the world was full of colors and endless possibilities. Then suddenly, on my twentieth birthday, I found myself locked in a psych ward not wanting to be alive. Imagine growing up in a world full of colors. Everything is bright and happy and you live in a house full of love, safety, and security. Then, once you hit early adulthood, the world goes gray.

Sometimes, you cannot always describe why you feel a certain way or why things are the way that …

The Effects Of Social Media On The Women Of Generation Z, Maren Hubler

Academic Festival

This paper provides a thorough examination of the multifaceted influence of social media on the lives of young women from Generation Z. It begins by contextualizing social media as a pervasive force in contemporary society, defining its various functions and highlighting generational differences in usage. Through a balanced exploration of both positive and negative effects, the paper elucidates the complex relationship between social media and the development of young women.

Positive aspects include increased connectivity, heightened awareness of social issues, and greater access to information. However, the paper also delves into negative consequences such as the pressure to maintain a …

The Effects Of Semantic Priming On Cultural Vs. Non-Cultural Words In Individuals With Semantic Dementia, Lila Armstrong, Morgan Craig, Erica Santangeli, Kathleen Vergnolle

Academic Festival

Semantic dementia (SD) is a frontal lobe dementia variant characterized by poor semantic memory and impairments in lexical access (Paplikar et al., 2022, Roelofs, 2023). It has been hypothesized that cultural words may be easier to retrieve from memory than non-cultural words because they include personal significance. This project proposes a semantic priming study to evaluate the speed and accuracy of lexical access between cultural and non-cultural words in individuals with SD. Participants will be presented with a word-picture pair and then a target picture. The target picture will be 1) culturally significant or 2) culturally neutral. The word-picture pair …

Breast Cancer Prevalence In Obese Women In The United States, Macie Phillips, Kaitlyn Purdy, Alexandra Piehler

Academic Festival

No abstract provided.

The Impact Of Frequent Repositioning In The Prevention Of Pressure Ulcers, Madison Angelico

Academic Festival

Pressure ulcers are a common complication of immobility, most frequently occurring in hospitalized patients who are restricted to bed. According to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (2023), more than 2.5 million people in the United States develop pressure ulcers each year. Pressure ulcers develop as a result of sustained pressure on the body; this causes a restriction in blood flow and deprivation of oxygen to the tissue. Pressure ulcers may be partial or full-thickness wounds and are categorized into four stages depending on their severity. Pressure ulcers have non-blanchable skin and may appear reddened or discolored. Pressure ulcers …

Impact Of A 30-45° Head Of Bed Elevation On Incidence Of Vap​, Victoria Thurley

Academic Festival

Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is a serious lung infection that can occur in patients who require mechanical ventilation. It can lead to increased hospital stays, costs, and mortality rates. Maintaining a 30-45° head-of-bed (HOB) elevation is a recommended practice to help prevent VAP in adult patients. This poster utilizes a systematic review and a randomized control trial to explore the research question: how does elevating the bed to 30-45° compared to the standard of care of an elevation less than 30° reduce the incidence of VAP in adult hospitalized patients?

Comedy's Power To Transcend Controversy In Some Like It Hot, Jessica Balogh

Academic Festival

The film made in 1959, "Some Like It Hot," focused on two jazz musicians Joe and Jerry who after a confrontation with the mob, escape by masquerading as women in an all-female band. The film as a whole, with an emphasis on men masquerading as women, was deemed controversial but through the power of farce, comedy outweighed its more negative perception making it the iconic movie that it is still today.

Floral Renaissance For Moschino, Jenna Wolfe

Academic Festival

Given the task of developing a unique line with clear inspiration and realistic expectations of markets, "Floral Renaissance" for Moschino was born. Inspired by oil paintings of the Renaissance Era and the fluidity of ballet attire, the line was intended not only to be a work of art but to frame its possessor as one. Moschino, a brand known for its experimental taste in fashion, would present this line in the Autumn/Winter season of 2025 for Women's apparel and debut specifically on the runway. Outlined within the presentation are sales channels, pricing, design, history, and more. With Professor Loranger's guidance, …

Best Practices For The Treatment Of Agitated Adults In An Emergency Room Setting, Sarah Steffens

Academic Festival

The main purpose of this project is to remind nurses of the best practices for the de-escalation of agitated adults, beginning with verbal communication and ending with seclusion if necessary. Verbal de-escalation is a very useful tool that is being underused when it can really benefit the patients. Simply talking to the patient can make such a difference and can keep that verbal discontentment as only verbal and not physical. It is also addressed in this project the possible implementation of a Security Alert Response Team, which includes a physician, nurse, and security officer who are trained specifically in behavioral …

The Many Flavor Of Shu Saacs, Stephanie Campbell, Anthony Marsallo

Academic Festival

Sacred Heart University's student affiliate Chapter of the American Chemical Society is actively involved in connecting Sacred Heart with chemistry and promoting science to the community. Throughout the year our club has been involved in many activities like, making slime or pH indicators, participating in panels, playing chemistry Jeopardy, and decorating the science wing bulletin board. In honor of National Chemistry Week and National Mole Day, we held a Mole Bowl in collaboration with nearby colleges. We host exciting and educational science-related events on campus, such as giving out liquid nitrogen ice cream and guest speakers to engage students.

One Year Later: Development Of The Ageist Experiences Questionnaire, Ava K. Bjelka, Francesca L. Davenport, Angelina M. Wargo

Academic Festival

Ageism refers to the combined stereotypes, prejudice, and discriminatory behaviors based on someone’s presumed age. Oftentimes we see older adults being viewed with mixed (ambivalent) perceptions, such that they are viewed as being warm, but not very capable. Thus, there are multiple forms of ageism. Hostile ageism refers to overtly negative ageism, whereas benevolent ageism refers to the seemingly kind form of ageism that still reinforces negative stereotypes (e.g., giving your seat to someone, assuming they are fragile or weak). Most current research on ageism has referred to attitudes directed towards older adults and aging. This work has found that …

Poverty's Role In Shaping The Childhood Obesity Epidemic, Leah Demko, Megan Gaffney, Abby Hudson, Katherin Mazzarelli, Sabrina Palen

Academic Festival

Childhood obesity is a major healthcare concern, as millions of children are classified as overweight and obese. Socioeconomic status (SES) influences the prevalence of childhood obesity, especially individuals from low SES. A child's living environment, attending low income schools, parental education, and low family income all impact a child's risk of becoming obese. The National Survey of Children's Health 2021 data was used to observe the relationship between Federal Poverty Level (FPL) and identification of being overweight by a doctor. Family poverty level is significantly associated with obesity among children aged 5-12. This hypothesis was tested used cross-tabulation with chi-square …

How Poverty Affects Depression In Adults 25-65, Jillian Spindel, Stephanie Capito, Claudia Uva

Academic Festival

In this research we explore socioeconomic status and how it is related to depression rates. This is an important topic to study because economic status determines an individual's standing in life. Furthermore, as the transfer from childhood to adulthood occurs, finding a stable job that will support the individual becomes extremely important and without it moving into adulthood becomes much more difficult. This is an issue that impacts millions of Americans as 37.2 million people live in poverty (Bureau, U.C, 2021). The number of people living in poverty increased 11.4 percent from 2015 to 2020. Adults living in poverty are …

Community Composition Of Meiofauna In Bridgeport, Ct, Katie O'Riordan

Academic Festival

Meiofauna are small invertebrates (0.04-1mm) that live between sand grains in aquatic environments (Coull and Giere 1988; Fig. 1). They can indicate ecosystem health since they are short-lived and their community composition can rapidly change with environmental and anthropogenic factors (Kennedy and Jacoby 1999; Balsamo et al. 2012). This project aims to establish whether visual identification at high taxonomic levels (i.e., phylum, class, family) could adequately analyze community changes along a degraded marshland (Seaside Park, Bridgeport, CT) or if genetic analysis is required to accurately identify meiofauna at the levels of family, genus, or species. Samples were collected tri-annually in …

A Guide To Being Mentally, Academically And Financially Prepared For Study Abroad, Rachel Flaherty

Academic Festival

A culmination of my two-year Welch Scholar Project that details what I did each year and what I learned.

The Relationship Between Self-Care And Stress In Nursing Students, Jacqueline Rattigan

Academic Festival

The Relationship Between Self-care and Stress in Nursing Students

Eight in ten college students experience frequent periods of stress. “Recent research concerning healthcare-related fields and stress has indicated that nursing students experience higher stress levels compared to other majors and that these levels are on the rise.” (Zheng YX, 2022). This could be from nursing students having a more intense course load, dealing with heavy content, clinical hours in conjunction with school hours, and the stress of dealing with human lives(Ribeiro, 2020). Many aspects lead to high stress in nursing students. Self-care is one way to decrease stress in nursing …

What Are The Effects Of Psychological Trauma On Nurses With Psychological Trauma, As Well As Their Care To Patients?, Abigail Marsh

Academic Festival

Nursing encompasses the promotion of health and prevention of illness, the care of the healthy, the physically ill, mentally ill, and disabled people of any age, in all health care and community settings. It is among one of the most sought-after professions, as well as a profession that will always be necessary. “Internationally, nurses are recognized as an integral part of healthcare with a number of reports highlighting the value of nursing and the importance of nurses being able to practice to their full potential” (Bragadóttir, H., Burmeister, E. A., et. al, 2020).

Historically, nurses have worked closely with doctors, …

Creating An Exercise Prescription Plan For A College Athlete, Jonathan Elliott

Academic Festival

No abstract provided.

Cognitive Copycats: An Eeg Study Of Imitative Behavior In Infants, Isabella Leva

Academic Festival

The neural mirroring system activates during action observation and execution. This overlap in activation may support various social cognitive functions (e.g., imitation)—however, associations between infants’ neural mirroring activity and imitation remain relatively unclear. The present study examines whether 6-month-old infants’ mu rhythm desynchronization (MRD; indicator of neural mirroring system activity) is associated with their imitation. We hypothesized that infants with stronger MRD during action observation would imitate more actions than infants with weaker MRD.

Social Identity Salience & Threat: Validating The Sitc Inventory, Christina Poirier, Katherine Dempsey

Academic Festival

Social identity threat refers to the fear that stigmatized groups often face about being mistreated, invalidated, or devalued for their social identification. All individuals have multiple intersecting social identities that influence how people are treated and perform. Complex discriminatory experiences of advantage and disadvantage often arise and persist. Past social identity threat measures have examined identity as singular rather than multifaceted, which fails to recognize intersectionality. We introduce the Social Identity Threat Concerns (SITC) Inventory–a novel tool for measuring social identity threat concerns that allows for an exploration of threats related to both singular social identities and their complex intersections. …

The Effectiveness Of Educational Interventions In The Prevention Of Central Line Associated Blood Stream Infections, Isabel Kittell

Academic Festival

Central-line associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs) pose a significant threat to patient safety and healthcare quality. This paper presents a thorough review of the effectiveness of educational interventions in mitigating CLABSIs. The primary objective is to assess the impact of various educational strategies on reducing CLABSI rates in adult intensive care units. This review aims to analyze the efficacy of educational interventions in preventing CLABSIs, encompassing diverse educational methods, both in combination and alone. A systematic search of relevant databases was conducted to identify peer-reviewed studies focusing on educational interventions aimed at preventing CLABSIs. Studies were included if they assessed the …

Effects Of Sleep On Academic Performance In College Students, Skyla Contarino

Academic Festival

No abstract provided.

Corporations That Implement Corporate Social Responsibility In Their Mission And Strategic Plan Will Benefit Both The Corporation And Society, William Pearce

Academic Festival

With the prevalence of global issues, the opportunity for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) to make a meaningful impact has never been greater. Additionally, with the changing demands of markets, the potential benefit to corporations from engaging in CSR has considerably increased. The power and resources of corporations have developed to a level that facilitates significant contribution to issues that pervade society and the environment. This paper will explore how quality CSR practices not only improve the world but also significantly benefit the corporation itself. It will also closely examine how corporations can best structure their governance to promote success, and …

Effectiveness Of Earlier Removal Of Urinary Catheters In Prevention Of Catheter Associated Urinary Tract Infections In Women With C-Sections, Sofia Mancinone

Academic Festival

No abstract provided.

The Effect Of Microbreaks In The Workplace, Olivia Mcgrath

Academic Festival

No abstract provided.

Air Pressure Mattresses Vs Static Air Mattresses In The Prevention Of Pressure Ulcers, Emily Hobbs

Academic Festival

No abstract provided.

How Older Men And Women Varied In Coping During Covid-19 Pandemic, Mateo Villarreal

Academic Festival

Due to the novelty experience posed by COVID-19, understanding how older adults coped is important and more so, if their coping strategies varied by sex. Research studies show that older adults differ in terms of comorbidity, with women mostly affected. Since COVID-19 poses unique challenges such as social distancing and quarantine, the present study seeks to understand COVID-19 coping related strategies among older adults, and variations in coping by sex. The present study recruited 68 older adults (39 females and 29 males), aged 55-69 (m=65.7 years) from the East Coast region of the United States to participate in interviews on …

Assessment Of Athlete Performance In Relation To Recovery And Stress, Brigid Mcmahon, Brittany Hang, Bethany Hazerjian, Victoria Lopinto

Academic Festival

No abstract provided.