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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons™

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

University of Tennessee, Knoxville

EURēCA: Exhibition of Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement

2019

Articles 1 - 6 of 6

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

The Effects Of Relationships On Ans Function And Wellness, Olivia M. Maples Apr 2019

The Effects Of Relationships On Ans Function And Wellness, Olivia M. Maples

EURēCA: Exhibition of Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement

The quality of relationships and social networks plays a vital role on well-being (Feeney & Collins, 2015). Social support is linked to positive biological profiles in that social support protects against the negative effects of changes in cardiovascular, neuroendocrine, and immune function. Furthermore, when exploring Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) function, higher heart rate variability has been shown to reflect a psychophysiological state compatible with social interaction (Quintana, Guastella, Outhred, Hickie, & Kemp, 2012). Social support has been shown to buffer against the negative effects of life stressors (Cohen & Wills, 1985), and ultimately, mortality (Holt-Lunstad, Smith, & Layton, 2010). In …

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Disneyfication And Education, Reagan A Yessler Apr 2019

Disneyfication And Education, Reagan A Yessler

EURēCA: Exhibition of Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement

Disneyfication in theater means the increase in popularity of Disney plays and the resulting reshaping of modern plays to more resemble those of Walt Disney, in order to gain viewership. In most cases, this means a shift to a musical format featuring upbeat ballads and gaudy but family-friendly costumes. While many theatre elitists frown upon such trends, this project shows how Disneyfication fosters renewed interest and enjoyment in theatre across age groups. A case study of the Knox and Sevier County school systems in Tennessee examines patterns of interest and enjoyment in the nation’s most popular plays via snowball method …

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Identifying Cystic Fibrosis (Cf) Skeletally: A Proposed Differential Diagnosis, Clare Remy Apr 2019

Identifying Cystic Fibrosis (Cf) Skeletally: A Proposed Differential Diagnosis, Clare Remy

EURēCA: Exhibition of Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is an inherited disorder that affects the mucosal lining of the lungs and digestive system due to a defective gene that causes blockages of tubes, ducts, and passageways. The type of mutation correlates with the severity of the condition, but with modern medicine individuals can live into their 50s. We propose a differential diagnosis for identifying CF in the skeleton based on bony pathologies that occur in higher frequency in CF patients. CF patients exhibit chronic sinusitis, clubbing of hands and feet, vertebral fractures/collapse and abnormal curvature, significantly shorter stature, lower bone density, rib fractures, and an …

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Modern Chinese Development Of Latin America, Alexander Tripp Apr 2019

Modern Chinese Development Of Latin America, Alexander Tripp

EURēCA: Exhibition of Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement

China, a rising global hegemon, has become increasingly interested in close economic and political relations with Latin America since the turn of the century. These relationships have been centered around two traits, foreign direct investment (FDI) and the export of raw materials. China has fully invested itself into the region in order to develop and maintain the production of certain goods necessary for upkeep of its massive population and industrializing economy. I test the significance of four prominent raw materials in Chinese trade with Latin America to determine their impact on Chinese FDI. Using this method, I gather and gauge …

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The Effects Of Stress And Anxiety On A Cued Attention Task, Catalina L. Gonzalez Apr 2019

The Effects Of Stress And Anxiety On A Cued Attention Task, Catalina L. Gonzalez

EURēCA: Exhibition of Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement

Previous research has shown visual attention tasks like the Infant Orienting With Attention (IOWA) Task are effective in identifying individual differences in spatial attention (Ross-Sheehy et al., 2015). Given visual attention is influenced by factors like stress/anxiety (Grillon et al, 2016) it may be possible to use attention tasks to identify participants high in stress and/or anxiety. Fifty-four adults completed a modified version of the IOWA task. Participants then completed the Perceived Stress Scale and Beck Anxiety Inventory, and were divided into three groups: Low_Stress/Low_Anxiety (LSLA), High_Stress/Low_Anxiety (HSLA), and High_Stress/High_Anxiety (HSHA). A Condition x Stress Group ANOVA revealed only a …

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Acute Social Defeat-Induced Neuroinflammation In The Vmpfc Of Syrian Hamsters Via Microglial Activation, Thomas Clarity Apr 2019

Acute Social Defeat-Induced Neuroinflammation In The Vmpfc Of Syrian Hamsters Via Microglial Activation, Thomas Clarity

EURēCA: Exhibition of Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement

Research suggests causal relationships between neuroinflammation and stress-related psychopathologies. Exposure to moderate or chronic psychological stress in rodents leads to increased activation of microglia, the brain’s resident immune cells. The ventral medial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) is a key limbic region involved in top-down regulation of psychological stress and mediates the deleterious effects of microglial activity following prolonged restraint stress. While there is a growing body of literature indicating that chronic social defeat increases microglial activity in the vmPFC, there has been little research investigating the effects of acute social defeat stress. Here, we used an acute social defeat paradigm in …

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