Digital Commons Network^™

Comparison Of Hypothalamic And Hippocampal Neurogenesis Across Sexes And Ages Of Mice, Chloe Jensen, Madison Reynolds, Rebecca Kinyon

Liberty University Research Week

Background: The hippocampus is primarily known for its function in learning and memory; thus, it makes sense that this is a well-established highly neurogenic zone. Recent studies have demonstrated that the hypothalamus also has neurogenic properties where there were once believed to be none. Because of these recent findings, our study aims to provide baseline data pertaining to rates of neurogenesis in the hypothalamus in comparison to the hippocampus along with distinguishing differences in these rates between males and females. Methods: Using four mice, three young and one aged female, we cryosectioned the brain to image the hippocampal and hypothalamic …

Allosteric Modulation Of Faah By Tocopherols, Beatrice Pyles

Liberty University Research Week

No abstract provided.

Enzyme Kinetics Of Faah, Susanna Stell, Emma Hooks

Liberty University Research Week

Anandamide (AEA) is an endogenous ethanolamide that functions as a signaling molecule within the endocannabinoid system, a regulatory network processes including pain perception, mood regulation, appetite, and neural signaling. AEA belongs to a broader class of fatty acid ethanolamides naturally present in the body, which also includes palmitoylethanolamide (PEA) and oleoylethanolamide (OEA). The activity of AEA is tightly regulated through enzymatic degradation by fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH), which hydrolyzes AEA into arachidonic acid and ethanolamine, thereby terminating its signaling activity. The purpose of this study is to investigate the rate at which AEA is hydrolyzed by the FAAH enzyme …

Pilot Study: Black Tea Extract And Theaflavin Polyphenols Effects On L6 Myotubes, Elizabeth Allen

Liberty University Research Week

This research investigates bioactive polyphenol group theaflavins found in black tea and how they affect Akt signaling in skeletal muscle. The black tea polyphenols are a collection of innate compounds in Camillia sinensis, among them being the theaflavin group which is comprised of four compounds: theaflavin (TF1), theaflavin 3-gallate (TF2A), theaflavin 3’-gallate (TF2B), and theaflavin 3,3’ digallate (TF3) (He, 2017). The theaflavins group has been described as bioactive in a variety of different cellular pathways such as apoptosis, cellular division, gene expression and nutrient regulation (Li et al., 2021)(He, 2017)(Lin et al., 2007).

Previous work by Nagano et al., demonstrated …

M.E. Bradford And American Conservatism, Avery White

Liberty University Research Week

M.E. Bradford is an often overlooked figure in American Conservatism and his unique brand of Southern traditionalist political thought should be analyzed and understood better.

Not Allowed To Say Goodbye: The German Civilian's Perception Of Aktion T4, 1939 - 1941, Dylan Cumbo

Liberty University Research Week

Despite the public pushback during the sterilization program, little stopped it from continuing. Nazi officials had desired for the program to expand during the early stages of sterilization, their chance coming with the death of a child and the outbreak of World War II. Six centers were designated as the main euthanasia centers along with several other locations used to support it. Gas, lethal injections, and starvations were used to kill the disabled on mass. Despite attempts to keep the program secret, they failed as clues became increasingly apparent. Documented civilian responses were largely antagonistic and actions committed were passive …

Synthesis And Characterization Of Group 7 Tricarbonyl Fluoromethyl Substituted Aromatics, Christopher Roylance

Liberty University Research Week

Organometallic compounds are chemical species containing at least one direct bond between a carbon atom of an organic molecule and a metal atom. These compounds have a wide variety of uses, including OLEDs, semiconductors, reagents, catalysts, and pharmaceuticals. The compounds synthesized in this report are similar to the compounds used in the production of OLEDs and semiconductors.This research focuses on the synthesis and characterization of fluoromethyl-substituted aromatic tricarbonyl complexes employing Group 7 metal centers. Group 7 tricarbonyls have several applications that include hydrodesulfurization, medicine, and electronic materials. These complexes have been shown to be quite stable towards O2 and H2O …

Music Enhances Theta Brainwave Activity Regardless Of Tuning Frequency, Robert Somerville, Davis Raz, Ersilia Mirabelli, Jettson Yarborough, Luc-Shalom Kouame

Liberty University Research Week

No abstract provided.

Increasing Fatigue Life: Position And Energy Controlled Surface Mechanical Attrition Treatment, Joseph Holt

Liberty University Research Week

Metal structures in engineering are limited by mechanical fatigue. When a material is repeatedly stressed, even beneath its ultimate strength, it slowly develops nano-fractures that propagate and eventually cause the material to suddenly fracture or fail. When this occurs in high-precision, cyclically stressed applications, such as commercial airliners, unchecked material fatigue is catastrophic. This study has shown promising increases in weld-site material fatigue life through a newly developed processing method. Researchers at Liberty University’s Center for Engineering Research and Education (CERE) custom-built a machine to perform position and energy controlled surface mechanical attrition treatment (PECSMAT), which harnesses the advantages of …

Differential Effects Of Curcumin And C646 On Mitogenic And Metabolic Signaling In Insulin-Stimulated Hepg2 Cells, Davis Raz, Rachael De Klerk

Liberty University Research Week

Curcumin and C646 both inhibit p300/CBP histone acetyltransferase (HAT) activity, but they differ markedly in their mechanisms, potency, and effects on cellular function. Both compounds have been investigated as modulators of the insulin-signaling pathway and have shown potential for improving insulin-signaling–related defects in experimental models. Our previous findings showed that curcumin positively impacted a metabolic pathway by reducing IRS-1 phosphorylation at S1101, a negative regulatory site, while maintaining downstream PRAS40 and RPS6 phosphorylation. Although C646 also reduced IRS-1 S1101 phosphorylation, it did not preserve downstream insulin signaling as effectively as curcumin. We hypothesized that target proteins within the mitogenic pathway, …

Authentic Vs. Artificial Intelligence: The Effect Of Generative Ai On Users’ Brains, Ivy Rath

Liberty University Research Week

Currently, research on generative AI's effect on the brains of those who use it is sparse. However, cognitive offloading, or the outsourcing of intellectual processes to technology or other people, is a well-known neurological phenomenon, and it is through cognitive offloading that we may begin to understand how generative AI affects mental processes. Cognitive offloading occurs frequently, and common examples include using a calculator, GPS, or driver-assist functions. Now, generative AI offers users a far more pervasive kind of cognitive offloading, in that entire mental processes once unique to human minds (such as problem-solving) may now be replicated and supplanted …

Playing The Past: Girls, Dolls, And Entrepreneurs, Taylor Schmalz

Liberty University Research Week

Mattel, Inc. is a toy company located in California and sells some of the most iconic children’s toys across gender lines. From Hot Wheels, Barbie, Fisher-Price, and over a hundred more toy brands, Mattel, Inc. has touched millions of lives since its creation in 1945. Two of the most famous being American Girl Dolls and the Barbie Doll. Each doll was created by female entrepreneurs and was made to empower little girls in America. While the dolls were created to empower girls, teach feminist ideas, and share women’s history, the dolls face backlash for not being feminist enough, too grown …

The Impact Of Maternal Western-Style Diet On Ovarian Anti-Müllerian Hormone Expression And Localization In Mouse Offspring, Kati Platt, Chase Shinabery, Jackson Mellish, Madison Howard, Soriya Scott

Liberty University Research Week

The Western diet, characterized by high saturated fat and sucrose intake, has become increasingly prevalent in the United States and globally, yet its effects on female reproductive health across life stages remain insufficiently understood. In adult human females, consumption of a Western-style diet has been linked to an increase in premenstrual symptoms, higher rates of depression, and elevated free estradiol levels, contributing to an increased risk of breast cancer, particularly in postmenopausal women. In human female children, Western diet consumption has been linked to an early onset of secondary sexual characteristics and premature menarche. Maternal consumption of this diet during …

Effect Of In-Utero Exposure To A Western-Style Diet On Testis Development, Alexa Ashby, Colton Fitzgerald, Kaylee Vis, Madison Ashby, Marisa Halsey, Nathan Malina, Ryan Anderson

Liberty University Research Week

The increase in western-style dietary patterns has led to an increase in obesity prevalence and its associated comorbidities. Specifically, researchers have found that obesity due to western-style diet (WSD) is negatively correlated with reproductive health in men. This study investigated the effects of inutero exposure to a WSD on testis development, specifically of 12- week-old mice (young adult C57Bl/6J). We hypothesized that in-utero exposure to a WSD would negatively impact testis development and function in male offspring. Using histological hematoxylin and eosin staining and immunohistochemistry method, we examined spermatogenesis in seminiferous tubules, anti-Mullerian hormone (AMH) production by Sertoli cells, and …

Quantifying Neuropathy With Von Frey Filaments In Mice: Novel Neuropathic Pain Animal Model, Maggie Milhorne

Liberty University Research Week

Neuropathic pain is a chronic pain condition resulting from damage to the nervous system which does not respond to current pharmacological treatments. Previous research in rats has demonstrated that formalin injections can induce chronic pain states and molecular changes within the spinal cord comparable to those of the spinal nerve ligation (SNL), an established surgical model of neuropathic pain. This study aimed to determine whether a subcutaneous injection of 5% formalin is sufficient to induce chronic pain in mice, providing a simple and less invasive model to study chronic pain mechanisms. Mechanical pain sensitivity is assessed using the von Frey …

Personality Correlations, Blake Stillman

Liberty University Research Week

For this research project, the focus was to conduct a survey of people and ask them what their Enneagram types were, what their Myers-Briggs personalities were, and how they correlated with one another. With that information, we were then going to see what their preferred communication style was and see if there was any kind of pattern, and then apply this to the world of communication to better understand how to communicate with different personalities of people. There have not been any studies done on this specific topic and how it relates to the field of communication. I wanted to …

Evaluation Of Cadaver Tissue Antigenicity As A Practical Teaching Tool For Immunohistochemistry, Shanice Rerrie, Jumana Rizk, Levon Shukrian, Maria Mendoza Lopez

Liberty University Research Week

Immunohistochemistry (IHC) is a core technique in biomedical research and is increasingly important for teaching at the undergraduate and graduate levels. However, teaching laboratories typically rely on animal-derived tissues because the access to fresh human specimens is restricted due to ethical concerns. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether cadaveric tissue can retain sufficient antigenicity for immunohistochemical analysis and thereby serve as an effective and ethical teaching resource. Liver lobe and renal cortex samples (approximately 1 cm³) were collected from an 88-year-old female donor. Target proteins were selected for their established roles in vitamin D metabolism and their …

When The Music Stops: How Removing The Musical Scores Changes The Message Of The Film, Natalie Dean, Caroline Breen

Liberty University Research Week

Music has always been an intricate part of film. Films like Jaws, Jurassic Park, Star Wars, Harry Potter, Avengers are not simply recognized by their logos and characters, but also popular scores and theme songs that are tailored specifically to those films. Character theme songs, opening musical scores and more are used to create a communicative connection between the film and the audience. Previous research has primarily evaluated cognitive data such as attention level, or explored altering the music itself, such as a change in tempo, rhythm, and pitch. This study investigates how a film’s overall messaging to its audience …

Single Step Cyanoacrylate Fumigation With Common Dyes, Abigail Proffitt, Jared Filegar

Liberty University Research Week

Cyanoacrylate fumigation is a widely used fingerprint development method to visualize latent fingerprints left on nonporous surfaces. This methodology relies on heating cyanoacrylate, otherwise known as superglue, to create vapors that polymerize onto fingerprints. These vapors react via biological components such as amino acids and other residues left from finger oils. This technique is very effective; however, once the polymer has completed its reaction the fingerprint is colorless resulting in the need for a secondary staining technique. The additional procedure increases processing time and introduces potentials for smearing or human error. This research aims to investigate a way to consolidate …

A Bloody Window To The Past: Str Analysis Of Dna From A Bloodstained Civil War Surgical Table, Nadia Walter

Liberty University Research Week

This study aimed to generate DNA profiles from the bloody Hillsman House surgical table via STR analysis while also determining the best method of sample collection and analysis from a wooden substrate. During the Battle at Sailor’s Creek in 1865, the historical Hillsman House served as a field hospital where hundreds of Civil War soldiers were treated. In 2016, Jones and McClintock collected and analyzed samples from bloodstains on the floorboards of the house, showing that historical DNA is still viable for profiling. During this process, marks on the floorboard were presumed to be from the surgical table, which was …

Regulation Of Glut5 Expression And Fructose Uptake By Heat Stress And Pro-Inflammatory Cytokines In Enterocytes, Landri Shope, Gretchka Mair

Liberty University Research Week

Diabetes is an escalating global health concern, affecting 11.1% of the adult population worldwide, with over 90% of cases classified as type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) (Facts & Figures., n.d.). T2DM is characterized by chronic fasting hyperglycemia and is increasingly associated with alterations in the gut microbiome. This study tests the hypothesis that heat stress, a gut dysbiosis-associated stressor, will upregulate the fructose transporter GLUT5 in enterocytes. Increased GLUT5 expression may enhance intestinal fructose uptake, thereby contributing to worsened glycemic control in T2DM. While the mechanism linking inflammation and impaired glucose homeostasis remains elusive, emerging evidence supports strong associations among …

Various Animal Species Microscopic Hair Analysis, Bryanna Smith

Liberty University Research Week

This research aims to determine whether animal hair characteristics can reliably differentiate various animal species, a study with potential forensic applications. Both human hair and animal hair are comprised of three key components: the cuticle (the outer coating composed of overlapping scales), the cortex (protein-rich structure that surrounds the medulla and contains pigments) and the medulla (the central core, which may be absent). The goal of this research project is to document data collected from microscopic analysis of a variety of non-domesticated animal hair/fur samples, such as bear, skunk, or wolf, to determine detailed similar and different characteristics between them …

Forensic Differentiation Of Canine Hair, Allison Kelley

Liberty University Research Week

The goal of this research is to determine whether the characteristics of dog hair can effectively differentiate between canine breeds, which is important for forensic applications. While there is extensive literature on human hair analysis, there is not much to be found on canine hair, although dogs are present at many crime scenes. This research ultimately aims to gather sufficient data on a wide range of dog breeds to compile a comprehensive database to identify differences in dog hair, contributing to the discipline of trace evidence hair analysis within forensic science. The central hypothesis in this study is that specific …

The 3-D Apparatus Of Local Ticks: A New Insight Into The Mechanism Of Sensing Hosts And Their Storage Of Pathogens, Sara Grant, Tristan Davis, Maggie Milhorne, Zipporah Nedlock, Jonathan Marks, Alan L. Gillen

Liberty University Research Week

No abstract provided.

How Did Maternal Influenza And Tdap Vaccination Coverage Among Pregnant Women In Mississippi Change From 2018–2021, And How Do Coverage Rates Differ By Race/Ethnicity?, Soala Esther Abere, Atika Ali, Fadzai Nyarugwe, Ifeoluwanimi Shobayo, Jalena Smith

Liberty University Research Week

Maternal vaccination is a critical component of preventive care, yet coverage in the United States remains inconsistent, with persistent racial and age-related disparities. This study examined maternal influenza and Tdap vaccination coverage among pregnant women in Mississippi from 2018–2021, a state with disproportionately high maternal and infant mortality. Using publicly available CDC surveillance data, a quantitative secondary data analysis was conducted to assess vaccination trends and differences by race/ethnicity and maternal age group. After excluding suppressed estimates, 48 observations were analyzed. Overall maternal vaccination coverage averaged 51.55% across all years and demographic groups, with influenza coverage ranging from 49–54% and …

Production, Isolation And Characterization Of Novel Peroxidases From Cucurbita Family, Rahel Mamo

Liberty University Research Week

Peroxidases are found throughout nature and are valuable biocatalysts due to their versatility in catalyzing oxidative reactions using hydrogen peroxide as a co-substrate. The peroxidase from horseradish root is widely used in diagnostics and synthetic applications, however, plant peroxidases from other plant sources remain underexplored. Recently, a peroxidase from the skin of Cucurbita maxima (PKS) was isolated and demonstrated promising biocatalytic properties related to the decomposition of a wide variety of fluorinated aromatic compounds. Purification and characterization of this enzyme revealed a protein sequence that was similar to the well characterized HRP, with some key amino acid substitutions. A second …

Investigating The Natural Communities And Flora Of Candler’S Mountain, Lydia Harris, Cyrus Harris, Tyler Knick

Liberty University Research Week

Candler’s Mountain is home to a variety of natural communities and flora. With more than 1200 vascular plant species documented in Campbell County, the identification and growing historical record of local flora will support short and long-term recognition of the importance of biodiverse natural communities in central Virginia. This project seeks to (1) document flora diversity in this region, (2) further establish an herbarium teaching and research collection of representative species, and (3) advance our understanding of the flora in relation to natural communities. Identified ecological groups and community types are based upon the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation …

Characterizing B1 B-Cells In Zebrafish (Danio Rerio), Alyssa Canelo, Victoria Pacheco

Liberty University Research Week

This project tests the hypothesis that developing antibodies specific to zebrafish CD5 and IgM will enable the reliable identification and characterization of B1 B-cells in zebrafish. B1 B-cells play a critical role in autoimmunity across species, yet their functions remain poorly characterized in zebrafish (Danio rerio). Zebrafish are widely used as a developmental and immunological model organism due to their genetic similarity to humans as well as their transparent embryos. The lack of species-specific antibodies has hindered the study of B1 B-cells in zebrafish.

This project seeks to develop and validate antibodies against zebrafish CD5 and IgM. This will be …

Characterization Of Peroxidase From Butternut Squash Skin: Potential Use In Bioremediation, Ava Witkowski

Liberty University Research Week

Peroxidases are present in many diverse plant species and catalyze chemical oxidations, some that may have significance in biotechnological areas like bioremediation. In several recent papers we characterizes a novel peroxidase from the skin of pumpkin that possessed desirable catalytic activities in relation to a class of environmental contaminants call fluorinated phenolics. In the course of these studies, we were able to do genomic analysis on a related plant species curcubita moscata (butternut squash) and identified a peroxidase with very similar sequence. The current study focusses on the characterization of that novel peroxidase in comparison with the pumpkin skin squash. …

Disability Studies In Historical Context: The Research Behind The Creative Writing Process, Annabelle Welch

Liberty University Research Week

This study examines the process of  writing a short story “The Shoes,” set in New Orleans during World War II, and creating a main character through the lens of research within the field of disability studies. This research is closely intertwined with my creative process of writing “The Shoes.” The first portion of the poster focuses on the city of New Orleans, Louisiana, during America’s involvement in World War II. My aim is to build a foundational understanding of the microculture in that region, especially as it was shaped and molded by the strong presence of soldiers, the heavy hand …