Digital Commons Network^™

Comparative Analysis Of Lower-Extremity Musculoskeletal Injuries In Ice Hockey Players And Figure Skaters – A Level 4 Case Study, Emma Rivas

Liberty University Research Week

Background – (Patient Populations): Although ice hockey players and figure skaters often share the same training environment, the biomechanical demands of their sports differ substantially. These sports-specific movement patterns may contribute to distinct lower-extremity musculoskeletal asymmetries and injury risk.

Differential Diagnosis – (Purpose – Objective): To examine the kinematic differences between ice hockey skating stride mechanics and figure skating jumping mechanics, and to identify how these sport-specific demands influence susceptibility to lower-extremity overuse injuries.

Treatment – (Data sources): A comprehensive literature review was conducted to evaluate existing research on biomechanical loading patterns, muscle activation profiles, and injury prevalence among ice …

Environmental Limitations Of A Low-Cost, Cots Lora Meshcore Node Network, Robert Thompson, Alexander Weir, David Zelinsky, Hannah Murai, Judah Sotomayor

Liberty University Research Week

During catastrophic emergencies, when the existing cellular infrastructure is rendered unusable, reliable off-grid communication equipment can save lives. This study aims to investigate the effectiveness of low-cost consumer radio hardware utilizing LoRa wireless technology in an emergency communications scenario. During catastrophic emergencies, when the existing cellular infrastructure is rendered unusable, reliable off-grid communication equipment can save lives. LoRa is a wireless communication technology that can be easily deployed with low-cost radio hardware. Due to its low power consumption, flexible deployment, and wide range, LoRa modules are well-suited for setting up a network in an emergency response scenario when traditional communication …

Preparatory Mixed-Methods Evaluation Of Ipc Infrastructure Vulnerability After Elc Funding Retrenchment: A Pilot Study Protocol, Komal Jessica Arsin, Ifeoluwanimi Shobayo, Prince Osei Sarpong, Robyn Anderson

Liberty University Research Week

Background: Infection prevention and control (IPC) is essential for preventing healthcare-associated infections and strengthening healthcare system preparedness. Long-term care facilities (LTCFs) are particularly vulnerable to infectious disease outbreaks due to high-risk resident populations and shared care environments. Federal programs such as the Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity (ELC) initiative have supported IPC workforce development and surveillance systems, but reductions in emergency funding may expose vulnerabilities in IPC infrastructure.

Objective: To assess the feasibility of conducting a mixed-methods evaluation of IPC infrastructure vulnerability among long-term care facilities in Southwest Virginia following ELC funding retrenchment.

Methods: A preparatory mixed-methods pilot study will collect …

Detection Of 17Α Ethynylestradiol And 17Β Estradiol In Wastewater, Kezia J. Lemke

Research & Creative Achievement Day

Environmental estrogens act as endocrine disrupting chemicals, thereby affecting the metabolism, synthesis, and receptors of hormones. For this reason, estrogens can have serious health consequences for aquatic wildlife by negatively affecting their reproductive abilities. Synthetic estrogens, such as 17α ethynylestradiol, the synthetic analog of 17β estradiol, are particularly potent, and are shown to have more harmful effects at lower concentrations. This illustrates the importance of developing sensitive and efficient methods for 17α ethynylestradiol and 17β estradiol detection, so that areas of high concentration can be recognized and methods to decrease the estrogen concentrations can be put in place. To this …

Computational Investigation Of Ruthenium Complex Interactions With Dna For Anticancer Applications, Mikayla A. Ertz

Research & Creative Achievement Day

Ruthenium complexes are being studied as potential alternatives to platinum-based cancer drugs because they are often less toxic and more selective for cancer cells. This project uses computational modeling to investigate how a ruthenium complex interacts with DNA, which is an important target for anticancer activity. All simulations were performed using the MSI Agate supercomputing system through Termius. The complex was first tested in the major groove of DNA with and without a leaving group, followed by the same set of simulations in the minor groove. Binding energies were analyzed to compare interaction strength and determine how groove position and …

My Internship At Family & Children’S Center In Winona, Minnesota, Mackenzie A. Casper

Research & Creative Achievement Day

This is a reflective project demonstrating my experiences that I gained from my internship at the Family & Children’s Center in Winona, MN. The poster includes important learning opportunities, the activities and responsibilities at the internship site, the personal philosophy of the internship site, and how the internship experiences can be applied to the Thomas-Kilmann conflict mode model.

Growing Large Single And Multi-Crystals From Alum Powder, Owen Paulson, Mayra G. Aguilar, Owen T. Maloney, Kole C. Koehler

Research & Creative Achievement Day

Crystal growth science is used to replicate the growth of crystals that form in nature. Channels of hot fluid with concentrations of minerals created the crystals found as gemstones. At low concentrations, no crystal grows. At high concentrations, a multitude of crystals grow. At the ideal concentration, a single, clear crystal grows. Four solution concentrations were used to create seed crystals. Those Alum seed crystals were attached to a string and suspended in various concentrations of Alum solution to find concentrations that create no crystal, a single crystal, and a multi-crystal.

Characterization Of Bacteria In Cattle Specimens, Jacob D. Hanson, Josie M. Tieskoetter

Research & Creative Achievement Day

Cattle nasal cavities provide a favorable environment for microbial colonization and can habit a wide population of bacteria, including opportunistic and pathogenic species. The objective of this research was to isolate, characterize, and identify bacteria present is nasal swap specimen collected from multiple calves. Samples were cultured and analyzed using selective and differential media, Gram staining, spore staining, and a range of biochemical assays. Several bacterial species were identified including the genus Corynebacterium and Streptococcus while some isolates could not be identified using classical biochemical methods alone. These results demonstrate that calf nasal specimens commonly contain diverse bacterial populations, some …

Gupi, Sustainable Craft Kits, Thea Mcadams

Research & Creative Achievement Day

Gupi is my senior capstone project where I created a sustainable, interactive product that challenges overconsumption. The project centers around Gupi Craft Kits which are DIY keychain kits made from repurposed fabric. They are designed to offer a more thoughtful and engaging alternative to fast, disposable products. At its core, Gupi is about sustainability and intentional making. Each kit uses recycled materials, transforming old fabric into something new and meaningful. Rather than contributing to waste, the project encourages reuse and creativity, allowing users to take part in the process of making their own object. This shift away from consuming and …

Effects Of Parental Communication On Alcohol Use And Self-Esteem As A Mediating Variable, Alanna Hartman

Research & Creative Achievement Day

Alcohol abuse has become a problematic phenomenon among young adults. Previous studies have found that parental communication with low warmth leads to greater risk for alcohol abuse later in life. We predict there is going to be a positive correlation between negative parental communication and alcohol abuse. Self-esteem has also been shown to have a relationship with alcohol abuse in previous research. We hypothesize that self-esteem would negatively correlate with alcohol abuse in the current study. Additionally, the literature suggests a relationship between self-esteem and parental communication. Given the relationships among these variables, we predict that self-esteem would partially or …

Beyond Caseloads And Calendars: Measuring Staff Satisfaction In Treatment Court, Ariana R. Huntington

Research & Creative Achievement Day

Background and Purpose: Treatment courts are specialized programs designed to divert individuals from incarceration while supporting recovery and rehabilitation. With more than 4,000 treatment courts operating nationwide and serving over 150,000 individuals annually, they represent a critical component of the criminal justice system. Treatment court staff may be particularly vulnerable to stress due to sustained exposure to complex substance use cases and systemic, administrative, and team-related demands. Assessing staff well-being is therefore essential, as it has implications for court effectiveness, workforce stability, and overall system functioning. Despite this importance, limited research has examined the experiences of treatment court professionals. The …

Impact Of Race On Trust In Government, Nevaeh Johnson

Research & Creative Achievement Day

Past research consistently finds racial differences in federal political trust. Studies using data from the ANES, NAES, GSS and SCCBS surveys show that Black Americans often report lower levels of trust in federal government than White Americans. However, these effects are often reduced when controlling for factors such as partisanship, socioeconomic status, age, religion, and even experiences with discrimination. While past literature highlights the importance of race, the use of control variables makes it harder to isolate races direct impact on trust in federal government. Guided by a deductive theory, this study examines the direct, observational relationship and trust in …

Implementation Of Education Regarding Trafficking Among Healthcare Staff And Community Organizations, Anna M. Peterson, Kate E. Arndorfer

Research & Creative Achievement Day

Background: Over the past two decades, human trafficking has received increasing media attention and public awareness efforts. Despite this, significant gaps remain in the knowledge and preparedness of healthcare professionals, specifically nursing staff, to identify and respond to trafficking victims. Human trafficking includes the exploitation of individuals through the use of force, fraud, or coercion for labor or sexual acts. Survivors often experience acute injuries, chronic illness, psychological trauma, and long-term health complications. Healthcare settings, particularly emergency departments, may be one of the few opportunities for victims to have contact with professionals outside of trafficking situations. However, there is a …

The Impact Of Early Skin-To-Skin Contact On Neurodevelopmental Outcomes In Preterm Infants, Ashia Meister

Research & Creative Achievement Day

Preterm infants face significant neurodevelopmental risks due to the interruption of late gestation brain maturation. Early skin to skin contact has emerged as a low cost intervention that supports sensory regulation, physiological stability, and neural development. This honors project synthesizes current evidence on how early skin to skin contact influences cognitive, motor, language, and socio emotional outcomes in preterm infants and translates these findings into an educational presentation for pre licensure nursing students. Across studies, early and sustained skin to skin contact is associated with improved brain activity, behavioral organization, and developmental scores in infancy, with additional evidence of structural …

Analysis Of Ovarian Structure And Cell Health In Drosophila Melanogaster After Toxic Metal Treatment, Brooke E. Helling

Research & Creative Achievement Day

This project examines how the application of multiple histological and fluorescent stains can be used to visualize the structure of fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) ovaries, including how toxic metal exposure may affect ovarian tissue. Ovaries were dissected from adult female flies, and some flies were first treated with toxic metals to observe possible changes in cell structure. The samples were stained with DAPI to label nuclei, antibody stains to detect specific proteins within the ovary, and apoptosis stains to identify cells undergoing programmed cell death. After staining, the ovaries were imaged using a fluorescence microscope to compare how healthy and …

Woven Waste, Alison E. Buck

Research & Creative Achievement Day

Woven Waste is the final product of my senior capstone, where we were challenged to fully develop a design project that aligns with our I–Design concentration. My concentration is sustainable applications, so I wanted to have a project that supports sustainable practices. Woven Waste is a craft book that instructs readers how to make crafting projects using plastic bags. This allows people to creatively and sustainably extend the life of their single-use plastic bags.

The core idea behind woven waste was to find ways to get people to upcycle, specifically with plastic bags. The process behind this project was first …

Photocatalysis Of Methyl Red Using Iron Oxide Nanoparticles, Mikayla A. Ertz, Bonnie Ni, Conner J. Lehner, Henry S. Gramann

Research & Creative Achievement Day

This study investigated the photodegradation of methyl red, an azo dye commonly used as a pH indicator and a known environmental pollutant, using synthesized Fe3O4 nanoparticles. Methyl red is resistant to degradation from simple environmental conditions such as heat and light. The goal of this project was to determine whether Fe3O4 nanoparticles could act as an effective catalyst for dye degradation under UV light and to analyze the reaction kinetics using UV-Vis spectroscopy. The Fe3O4 nanoparticles were synthesized, then confirmed to be magnetic and further characterized using IR spectroscopy. Photodegradation experiments were conducted by exposing 50 ppm methyl red solutions, …

Disaster Preparedness In Healthcare Workers, Helen Prow

Research & Creative Achievement Day

Disasters can negatively impact healthcare systems worldwide, with increased impacts on resource-limited communities. Nurses and other healthcare workers are often on the frontlines of disaster response; evidence shows that many healthcare workers worldwide are not adequately prepared to respond effectively. The purpose of this honors project is to analyze factors and interventions that influence healthcare workers, specifically nurses, in disaster preparedness in resource-limited settings globally. A review of peer-reviewed literature published within the past ten years was conducted using systems such as CINAHL, PubMed, Google Scholar, and Open Evidence. Articles were selected based on relevance to disaster preparedness among healthcare …

The Effect Of Early Sport Specialization On Psychological Burnout In Youth Athletes: A Critically Appraised Topic, Caitlynn Ybarra, Brylee Starling

Liberty University Research Week

Context: The prevalence of youth athletes specializing in a single sport prior to puberty has steadily increased, often driven by aspirations to achieve elite performance status and secure scholarships. Clinicians, however, have observed significant negative consequences associated with early specialization, including psychological burnout, premature retirement, amotivation, and exhaustion. Within youth athletics, how does single-sport specialization early on compare with multi-sport participation when looking at the impact it has on psychological burnout throughout growth and maturation?

Methods: Across the included studies, early single-sport specialization was consistent in having higher levels of psychological stress and burnout symptoms when compared to multi-sport youth …

Relationships Among Emotional Intelligence, Emotional Reactivity, And Heart Rate Variability, Miriam Bowser

Liberty University Research Week

Ability emotional intelligence (EI) and trait EI have been correlated with heart rate variability (HRV), suggesting adaptive regulation facilitated by the autonomic nervous system. Emotional reactivity (ER) is also positively correlated with EI, possibly because individuals with higher EI are more sensitive to emotional information. The current study utilizes a cross-sectional design (N = 71) to measure trait and ability EI, self-reported emotional reactivity, and HRV. The current study found no relationships among trait and ability EI, suggesting that they encompass distinct underlying constructs. EI did not have a relationship with HRV, which could be due to the study’s small …

Bitten: A Survey Of Tick-Borne Diseases, Maggie Milhorne, Sara Grant, Tristan Davis, Alan L. Gillen

Liberty University Research Week

Tick-borne diseases are becoming increasingly prevalent throughout the United States, particularly in the region of Central Virginia. Ticks carry parasites (Babesia), bacteria, viruses, and toxic sugars (alpha-gal) that can be transmitted during blood meals. Lyme disease, caused by the pathogen Borrelia burgdorferi, is the most common tick-borne disease in the Eastern United States. Symptoms are flu-like with a characteristic bullseye rash (erythema migrans). Recently, the prevalence of Alpha-gal syndrome has risen in Central Virginia, marked by an allergic response to the alpha-gal sugar molecule, which is present in red meat. Dr. Thomas Platts-Mills is credited with discovering Alpha-gal syndrome and …

Diagnostic Ultrasound Used For Post-Traumatic Scar Tissue: A Type 4 (Rare) Case Study, Savanna Martin

Liberty University Research Week

Background: Patient is an 18-year-old male who presented with a palpable, mobile mass on the anterior portion of the lower left leg. The patient reported that the mass had been present for approximately three years, following a run-in with the edge of metal bleachers while playing football. A small mass was noted the following day, but the patient was able to continue normal activity. His primary care physician recommended observation only, as the mass did not impact activities of daily living. Differential Diagnosis: Differential considerations included lipoma, synovial cyst, or non-calcified soft tissue mass.

Treatment: Diagnostic ultrasound confirmed the presence …

Co2 Washout Performance Of Single-Prong And Dual-Prong High-Velocity Therapy, Robert Kacinski

Liberty University Research Week

Computational models were used to investigate the flow in the upper airway during high-velocity therapy delivered via a single-prong or a dual-prong cannula geometry. A temporally varying boundary condition was used to apply a realistic breathing cycle to the base of the trachea. The patient mouth was “closed” to specific percentages by modifying the cross sectional area of a plane in the patient mouth. The total amount of CO2 inhaled, which should be minimized, was collected as a measure of therapy effectiveness. The mass CO2 inhaled was calculated by subtracting the mass of CO2 present in the airway at the …

Hargreaves Test On Formalin Injected Mice: A Neuropathic Pain Model, Caleb Mast

Liberty University Research Week

Neuropathic pain is a chronic condition resulting from nervous system injury or disease, commonly associated with multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injury and diabetes. Current mouse models rely on invasive surgical techniques such as spinal nerve ligation (SNL) or chronic constriction injury (CCI), which require specialized training, increase variability, and reduced accessibility. Previous studies in rats have shown that formalin injections can induce a persistent pain state and spinal molecular changes comparable to those observed in surgical models. This study investigated whether a single subcutaneous injection of 5% formalin is sufficient to produce neuropathic pain behaviors and nervous tissue changes CCI …

Fish Species And Diversity Database To Monitor Environmental Impacts Of Lake Hydaway Expansion, Lance Jones, Ella Mason, Sean Genota

Liberty University Research Week

Lake Hydaway’s recent expansion from 6 to 31 acres altered the habitat available for fish in the Opossum Creek watershed. This presents the opportunity to study the current fish populations and monitor changes in species composition and health over time. This long-term project seeks to create a standardized species database which will be used for various research purposes due to no such database or monitoring programs currently existing. Four representative sites of Opossum Creek were selected, two upstream and two downstream of Lake Hydaway. Each site was geolocated for reliable repeatability. Each site was sampled using backpack electrofishing following the …

Virginia Stream Condition Index Score Of Benthic Macroinvertebrates In Opossum Creek¿, Ella Mason, Lance Jones, Sean Genota

Liberty University Research Week

Recently, Lake Hydaway, an artificial lake in Lynchburg, Virginia, was expanded from 6 to 31 acres. The expansion project included the demolition of the old dam, excavation of the lakebed, construction of a new dam, and the removal of riparian vegetation directly downstream of the dam. Opossum Creek, a first-order stream and tributary flowing into and out of the lake, is at risk of being disturbed by the expansion, which has the potential to impact its freshwater ecosystem. Through observing communities of benthic macroinvertebrates, insights can be made into the health of aquatic environments. This research selected four sites along …

Exploring The Mandelbrot Set In Real Algebras, Shane Weimar

Liberty University Research Week

The Mandelbrot set is a fractal in the complex plane. Its boundary is chaotic, and very difficult to determine completely. In recent years, mathematicians have put considerable effort into understanding the Mandelbrot set, since understanding the Mandelbrot set would give insight into how fractals and chaos work in general. However, very little research has been conducted into the Mandelbrot set in abstract algebras. This research will categorize some of these algebras and compute the Mandelbrot set in them.

Prayer As A Predictor To God Attachment, Levi Morgan, Hampton Still

Liberty University Research Week

Attachment theory describes the innate desire for infants to form bonds with their caregivers, which impacts biopsychosocial functioning across the lifespan. Attachment theory has expanded to religious and spiritual contexts to describe the innate desire for individuals to form a relationship with God. One prominent religious practice is prayer, which is a relational tool performed by an individual or a group to communicate with and form a stronger relationship with God. Prayer has demonstrated relationships with various positive mental health outcomes and a stronger attachment to God. However, previous literature has yet to examine the relationship between various forms of …

Sensing Polar Vapors Associated With Food Spoilage Via The Photonic Crystals Of The Morpho Zephyritis Butterfly, Grace Bradley

Liberty University Research Week

No abstract provided.

Investigating Heavy Metal Interactions With Aged And Pristine Microplastics In Pool Water, Nicholas Germann

Liberty University Research Week

Microplastic (MP) accumulation has become a worldwide problem. However, it is unknown if and how they affect human health. In aquatic media, MPs serve as a vehicle for heavy metal (HM) transport. Therefore, there is a need to understand if and how these interactions are of importance to human health This research project focuses on investigating the question of whether different MP aging will result in different and/or more interactions with common HMs in a complex environment such as pool water. The experiments will be conducted with control and experimental groups of different combinations of aging methods, MPs, and HM …