Undergraduate Research Posters

Poster presentations from the annual Undergraduate Poster Symposium, organized by the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP) and part of VCU Research Week.

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Ketamine, a Brighter Future for Those in Darkness

Matthew D. Gayhart

Millions of people around the world suffer from Major Depressive Disorder, and many of these people are given drugs to help treat this potentially devastating disease. For many, the first treatment is successful, and if not, certainly the second treatment gives them the relief they so desperately need. Others, however, are not so lucky, people with treatment resistant depression undergo numerous treatments, some of which are more aggressive than others, but still nothing helps alleviate their depression. Recently an older anesthetic, the drug Ketamine, has been making some news as a new depression treatment. This paper will compare Ketamine to the traditional approved methods for treating depression, as well as discuss the next steps in making this drug more widely available. By reviewing scholarship on the subject of antidepressants, as well as available research on Ketamine, and by interviewing a patient who recently underwent a Ketamine treatment, this research highlights the positive results of Ketamine while acknowledging the setbacks that still currently exist, and advocates for the use of Ketamine as a treatment for depression.
Cosmetics Use and Self-Image Among Contemporary American Women

Alexis A. George

People have been using cosmetics for thousands of years. In fact, certain forms of makeup such as kohl eyeliner which can still be found and used today, were even once used by the ancient Egyptians. Even today, cosmetics use is extremely widespread, perhaps even more so now than before. After conducting extensive research, I decided to argue that the use of cosmetics has negatively influenced the self-image of modern American women in a research project. I chose to argue this because doing makeup has been an interesting hobby to me for about 4 years now and I thought that arguing against the positive effects of the use of makeup would be more of a challenge for me and something I was interested in learning more about. This research project required me to write a 1,250-1,750 word researched essay in which I had to make an ethical argument about this topic. I also learned various new concepts and ideas which I employed in my writing and other relevant assignments, such as addressing and refuting counter arguments, making a video to visually illustrate my points, and intertwining my personal experiences with makeup with other research.
Exploring the Relationships Between Mindfulness and Biobehavioral Factors Associated with CVD in Women

Susan Ghodrat and Jo Lynne W. Robins

Purpose: This study examined the relationship between mindfulness and specific biobehavioral factors associated with increased cardiovascular disease risk in women. Design: A secondary data analysis was conducted on baseline data collected in a larger study examining the effects of tai chi on cardiovascular disease risk in women. Subjects: 96 women aged 35-50 years with increased waist circumference and a family history of cardiovascular disease. Measures: Biological measures included: fasting glucose, insulin and lipids, as well as C-reactive protein and cytokines. Behavioral measures included: mindfulness, fatigue, perceived stress, depressive symptoms, social support, self-compassion and spiritual thoughts and behaviors. Results: Mindfulness was significantly correlated with perceived stress and depressive symptoms. Conclusion: Though mindfulness was not significantly correlated with the biological factors measured, it was significantly associated with several behavioral factors and may therefore provide opportunities for clinical practice and future research examining the role of mindfulness practice to decrease perceived stress and depressive symptoms and ultimately decrease cardiovascular disease risk in women.
Addressing the challenges of computer literacy among young Haitian adults

Siobhan A. Gray

The objective of the research study was to identify and address challenges of capacity building required to facilitate technological competency among school students, young adults and teachers in Haiti through, a two-phase research plan. The first phase utilizes a citizen centric framework for Information and Communication Technologies for Education (ICTE) capacity development that integrates stakeholder needs, prototype development, capacity building, training, and evaluation. They include a sustainable computing platform, Computer on a Stick (COS), and teacher workstation with Internet in a Box (IIAB). The ICTE solutions are installed at six different sites in the impoverished Central Hinche province. The citizen-centric approach presented in this paper may be utilized to develop ICT solution in other countries that face similar barriers of infrastructure and financial resources. The study is planned in two phases. The research outline framework provides a systematic approach to identify immediate and obvious needs of the users, gather feedback for improvement, and incorporate incremental improvements for the engineering of artifacts. In phase 1 of the study, we adapt the citizen-centric approach for developing locally relevant ICTE capacity. The ICTE artifacts developed in this phase leverages low-cost open source solutions to facilitate the acquisition of basic technology skills and computer literary.

There were three different computer solutions that we created for the Haitian community based on their needs. They are described individually as follows:
- Internet in a Box (IIAB): is an open source project that consolidates approximately a terabyte of world’s free information in an inexpensive device that can be connected to workstations using local area network (LAN) or using wireless. IIAB provides access to essential internet based free information and operates without any internet connection, domain name services, or internet server configurations. The IIAB content includes more than five hundreds hours of instructional videos on topics such as science, math, art, history, and literature from the Khan academy, Wikipedia in 37 languages include Creole, MIT-Haiti STEM classroom initiative content, a library of 40,000 e- books from the Project Gutenberg archives (Gutenberg, 2014), detailed world map down to street level, and a repository of open source educational software.
- Dafturn Ofris: Due to the shortage of readily available qualified technology support professionals, the computers have to be configured to prevent intentional or unintentional damage to the operating system and software environment. To ensure the stability of the operating system and file system, the laptops are configured with Dafturn Ofris open source software prior to their deployment in the computer labs. This configuration allows student to log on and use the laptop without impacting the computer configuration and application settings. Restarting the computer simply returns the system to its original state.
- Computer on Stick (COS): COS is a complete computer system that boots from the USB port on a computer. The Edubuntu operating system with persistent storage capability is implemented on the COS. It is a mature computing environment that will also enable the users to store their personal files, applications, books, music and movies on the lightweight low profile USB thumb drive-based computer operating system.
- Internet in a Box (IIAB): is an open source project that consolidates approximately a terabyte of world’s free information in an inexpensive device that can be connected to workstations using local area network (LAN) or using wireless. IIAB provides access to essential internet based free information and operates without any internet connection, domain name services, or internet server configurations. The IIAB content includes more than five hundreds hours of instructional videos on topics such as science, math, art, history, and literature from the Khan academy, Wikipedia in 37 languages include Creole, MIT-Haiti STEM classroom initiative content, a library of 40,000 e- books from the Project Gutenberg archives (Gutenberg, 2014), detailed world map down to street level, and a repository of open source educational software.
The target audience for this research is the students, teachers, young adults, and school administrators. Laptops and COS’s were built for the target children and set up in six sites in Central Hinche. Students will learn basic computer skills from the teachers after proper training. Once in Haiti, we saw that access to technology and digital information content remains a desire for a vast majority of the Haitian youth. Although ICT may serve as an enhancer of capabilities, and producer of opportunities, the country will remain stagnant unless the doors are opened for the Haitian youth to access technology and information. What we have given the children in these sites is temporary, until better training solutions and access to technology can be provided to Haitian youth.
Narco Trafficking, Corruption, and Perpetuated Violence in Guatemala

Ima T. Haque

ABSTRACT: Narco-trafficking and Perpetuated Violence in Guatemala

Over the years drug cartels have made their way into Guatemala through their borders. Drug trafficking is the main reason why the border between Guatemala and Honduras is one of the most violent locations in Central America. Due to lawlessness and corruption, wealthy drug traffickers assume an authoritative role in the region (Crisis Group, 2014). A 2010 report done by U.S. International Narcotics Control Strategy says that “Guatamala is the epicenter of the drug threat.” (Brice, CNN, 2011). However, the increase in drug related violence is due to Zetas, a Mexican drug cartel. The criminal gangs from Zetas have so much power that their permission is required to enter and leave certain neighborhoods and streets in Guatemala. Narco-trafficking related crimes also includes kidnapping. The amount of missing persons has increased to 207 percent from 2009 to 2013 (OASC, 2014). Kidnapping occurs so that drug traffickers can demand ransom and they have a reputation of killing the victim even after a ransom has been paid.

A recommendation to solve the drug trafficking problem in Guatemala would be to fix the corruption which permeates throughout the Guatemalan government, including the police forces. After dealing with governmental and political corruption, there will be a better chance to properly train and equip the police forces in order to prevent gangsters and traffickers from having power in the streets. Drug trafficking is the gateway to many other crimes in Guatemala and is the core reason why there is so much violence and unease in the State. Fixing up the government is necessary for the livelihood of the Guatemalan people.
Creation of an Annotated Library on FDA Approved Nanomedicines

Marley R. Hodson, Tanin Izadi, Nastassja Lewinski Ph.D, and Bridget T. McInnes Ph.D

Nanomedicine is a type of nanotechnology used in the medical field to limit the dosage amount and target drug delivery to specific cells. Nanomedicines that are approved and used tend to be extremely successful; however despite over a decade of research, only a limited number of nanomedicines have advanced for clinical use. A possible reason for the numerous nanomedicine failures is lack of easily accessible information and research on previous nanomedicines. In this project, we have compiled nanomedicine labeling information from the Drugs@FDA website. We have extracted phrases/sentences from labels relating to keywords on nanomaterial properties and drug profile characteristics. In the future, we plan to incorporate discontinued nanomedicines, nanomedicines on the market, and nanomedicines in different clinical trial phases. By compiling the descriptions and contents of a set of specific nanomedicines, a machine learning program could be developed to comb through literature and automatically identify similar nanomedicine related entities. Our research works to provide an easier and quicker method to obtain specific information on approved nanomedicines.
Don't Walk Alone

Sarah Hughes

Dont walk alone: The effect of the widely accepted behavior of street harassment on women’s mobility

Sarah Hughes, School of Humanities and Life Sciences. Mentor: Bonnie Boaz

ABSTRACT

Women are continuously exposed to street harassment in their daily lives, however this issue lacks the recognition that it deserves as a societal problem. This paper explores to what extent men control public space and the effect that street harassment has on women both psychologically and physically. Data has been collected from scholarly articles as well as published studies. Unfortunately the research finds that society accepts the mistreatment of women through street harassment as a social norm due to the presence of male dominated institutions. Consequently women are forced to alter their behavior in order to accommodate the ideal of a male dominated public space. Women also face a diminished sense of self worth when exposed to continual harassment in public. In order to address the issue of street harassment society needs to develop a vocabulary to describe instances of street harassment in order to shed light on an issue that lacks recognition.
Design and Creation of a Device to Induce Vergence Eye Movements

Jacob B. Jaminet and Paul A. Wetzel

Automated eye-tracking systems can detect and analyze eye movements as a means to accurately diagnose more than 20 neurological diseases including mild traumatic brain injury. Mild traumatic brain injury is an occurrence of injury to the head resulting from blunt trauma or from acceleration or deceleration forces. Eye movement refers to the voluntary or involuntary movement of the eyes, helping in acquiring, fixating and tracking visual stimuli. There are three types of voluntary eye movement to track objects: smooth pursuit, vergence shifts and saccades. Vergence shifts are eye movements where the eyes move in opposite directions: moving to the midline in convergence or moving away in divergence. This project focused on creating a device to induce vergence eye movements via a laser source and a mirror galvanometer. The laser pointer is directed at the mirror galvanometer which then projects the laser point onto a screen that lies horizontally in front of the observer. As the laser dot moves back and forth from the viewer, the eyes converge as the dot moves toward the viewer and diverge as the dot moves away. The device will be used to develop a baseline of control data that can eventually be used to diagnose mild traumatic brain injury. Different eye trackers will be tested to determine the optimum technique for gathering vergence eye movement data.
ICP-OES Analysis of the Chemical Composition of Hypergolic Mixtures

Monique Jones

Hypergolic mixtures involve a chemical reaction between an oxidant and a fuel source. These reactions are self-igniting and can be performed using common household materials. The ease of access to the reactants, and delayed ignition have increased the occurrence of hypergolic mixtures in arson-related crimes and incendiary devices. Currently, few chemical signatures exist to link hypergolic residues to a perpetrator. This makes it difficult to obtain forensically relevant information from evidence during an investigation. A hypergolic reaction of interest to forensic laboratories involves combustion between a glycol-based fuel source and potassium permanganate. Past studies have determined that one can distinguish between the oxidant and fuel used in a reaction based upon the composition of the residues or the extent of the reaction. The aim of this study is to determine the forensic signatures of reactions involving varying glycol fuel sources: brake fluid and antifreeze. Elemental profiles of residues were created using Inductively Coupled Plasma-Optical Emission Spectroscopy. Results showed that the metal composition of a residue sample was valuable in distinguishing between possible glycol fuel sources in hypergolic reactions, and that the ratio of oxidant to fuel source had minimal effect on the metal composition.
Reducing Childhood Obesity in America through National Legislation

Sailee A. Joshi

According to the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, the American childhood obesity rate has increased threefold within the past 25 years, a trend accompanied by increasing rates of hypertension, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, certain types of cancer, and even mortality. Obesity has grown so prevalent, in fact, that Centers for Disease Control estimate that one in three American children is obese. According to the Chan School of Public Health, unless legislation directly targeting America’s spiraling obesity rate is passed, the trend shows no signs of slowing or reversing.

Passing effective legislation requires a both an understanding of the causes of obesity and the current efforts in effect taken to reduce it. Currently, legislation aiming to reduce certain factors of obesity has been passed at the state and local levels. However, very few laws have been implemented nationally. Thus, millions of children live in an environment conducive to overweight and obesity.

To combat this, certain strategies can be used. For example, taxing unhealthy foods, revamping national and state regulations for school nutrition and physical education, and even beautifying communities could encourage Americans to lead more healthful lives. Essentially, national legislation to improve physical activity, quality of accessible food, and America’s increasingly sedentary lifestyle will reduce America’s climbing child obesity rate.
The relationship between stressful life events and risky sexual behavior

Hassan Khuram

This study seeks to examine the relationship between stressful life events and risky sexual behavior in Spit for Science: the VCU Student Survey. Research has shown that when facing a stressful life event, an individual can experience negative and lasting consequences long after the event is over. All subjects used in this study were VCU juniors who entered VCU in the fall of 2011 (n=970). Participants were asked about exposure to different types of traumatic life events (natural disaster, transportation accident or assault). Stressful life events were also measured by creating a sum score based on the total number of stressful life events a person experienced. Risky sexual behavior was measured with a sum score of up to 5 possible different types of risky sexual behavior a person could engage in (e.g., unprotected sex in the last 3 months). Linear regressions were used to test the effect of stressful life events on risky sexual behavior. Results showed that there was a significant relationship between stressful life events and risky sexual behavior: the average risky sexual behavior sum score was higher in those participants who had experienced stressful life event. The possibility of a dose-response relationship also exists wherein more stressful life events could result in more risky sexual behavior. These results suggest that those who have faced significant stressful life events may benefit from sex education training.
Factors Involved in the Successful Transition to and Subsequent use of Electronic Health Records (EHRs) Systems by Individual and Group-Practice Physicians

Naveen Chandra Kotha

The use of Electronic Health Records (EHRs) by healthcare professionals has been recommended as a way of improving healthcare quality, patient safety, and workflow efficiency, and lowering costs in the long run. While large hospital systems integrate EHRs into their services, individual and group practice-owning physicians, especially those of specialties and subspecialties, are often left wondering whether they should follow the trend and whether the transition from traditional, paper-chart systems or older EHRs to newer, commercial ones will truly benefit their patients and their practice as a whole. These physicians also often wonder whether benefits such as electronic-prescribing, clinical decision support, and patient results tracking outweigh obstacles such as initial costs, reliability, and user adaptability. This investigation sought to provide a more informed perspective in considering the decision to either transition to an Electronic Health Records system or maintain a traditional paper-chart style system. A number of studies examining care quality improvement and physician satisfaction in regards to transitions to EHRs under various conditions, such as specialty type, previous EHR-experience, and difficulty of transition, among others, were investigated to form this perspective. The improvement of care quality and physician satisfaction as a result of adopting EHRs relies heavily on both the efficiency and completeness of the transition and the EHR's degree of customization towards a practice’s specific needs. Since EHRs are continuously being developed and improved, the transition to an EHR system and its subsequent use can be successful with proper preparation for the transition, extended clinician training, and choosing one that is well-tailored to the needs of the specialty and its patients’ medical conditions.
Use of Oxytocin as a Preventative Treatment for PTSD

Laurel V. Kovalchick

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental health disorder triggered by experiencing a traumatic event. PTSD causes recurrent flashbacks of traumatic memories that lead to over-consolidation. Memory over-consolidation prevents extinction of emotional and physiological responses to the memory. Because individuals can respond differently to stress and frightening experiences, no measures are currently practiced to prevent PTSD. By studying the changes in the brain during PTSD and after stress, it can be hypothesized that treatments that regulated HPA axis activity may prevent PTSD symptoms if applied soon after stress. Risk of developing PTSD is associated with abnormal cortisol and norepinephrine levels and altered hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis functioning after trauma. New research on how stress alters the HPA axis over time has opened up the opportunity to prevent PTSD in high-risk patients. Oxytocin has been shown to regulate the HPA axis by inhibiting amygdala activity and the fear response. Oxytocin may also reduce stress by increasing the benefit individuals receive from social support. After reviewing previous studies on oxytocin, PTSD, and the HPA axis, it was concluded that regulation of the HPA axis by oxytocin could prevent PTSD by inhibiting memory over-consolidation and by reducing physical damage to the brain caused by abnormal cortisol and norepinephrine levels. This neurotransmitter is suitable for pharmacological studies because oxytocin can reach the central nervous system safely and effectively through intranasal spray application with minimal side effects. Intranasal oxytocin’s anxiolytic qualities and ability to alter HPA axis function call for more research to evaluate its potential pharmacological applications. More research is needed on regulation of the HPA axis to prevent PTSD and the duration and dosage of oxytocin treatments necessary to achieve sufficient HPA regulation.
How Breastfeeding Affects Postpartum Depression

Elisabeth Lamas

According to the 2008 CDC report, nearly one out of every eight women are affected by postpartum depression at one point or another in their lives. The purpose of my research was to study the potential effects of breastfeeding on postpartum depression. The objective was to study how breastfeeding affects the occurrence of postpartum depression in mothers in the United States. To understand the relationship between postpartum depression and breastfeeding, I read science journal articles describing the biological background behind breastfeeding and postpartum depression. I read psychology and biology journal articles dealing with possible forms of treatment for postpartum depression and how they may be affected by breastfeeding. Also, I read science journal articles dealing with the cause and effect relationship between the two. From my research, I came to multiple conclusions. First, breastfeeding does help to prevent and reduce the occurrence of postpartum depression. Although this is true, the cause and effect relationship between postpartum depression and breastfeeding depends on the situation. For example, for some individuals, lack of breastfeeding may cause the occurrence of postpartum depression. In other cases postpartum depression may cause the early cessation of breastfeeding. There is no definitive answer. After gathering all my research, there is still much research that needs to be conducted in this field.
The Biology of fun: Do birds just want to have a good time?

Carley J. Langley and Jonathan R. Moore

The intention of this research project was to delve into the ecological study of playfulness and what appears to be fun in a broad range of bird species. (1) Do all birds exhibit playfulness and use fun? And if so, (2) how have these behaviors contributed to their evolutionary success? Past research has already been underway to biological define what constitutes both “fun” and “play” in animal species. In the past the majority of all test subjects have been mammals, however in the past decade (and especially in the past five years) other vertebrate species such as birds are beginning to be observed as well. The research is still in progress but it seems very obvious from studies so far have concluded that various aviary species do in fact exhibit playful behavior and have fun. Recent hypotheses regarding play in birds, how common it is among various species, and what species have yet to be studied were topics covered in the research. In essence a variety of species of birds are already confirmed to exhibit play behaviors and are used primarily to establish social connects, social hierarchies, and hone predatory and other survival skills.
Greek Involvement and Personality

Sara Lee, Nikita Amin, Sabbu Bajimaya, and Brandon Love

Many young college students participate in Greek life to involve themselves with a group of people similar to themselves and to engage in life on campus. The intent of this research is to measure the relationship between Greek membership and/or involvement and personality. Data from Spit for Science: the VCU Student Survey will be examined to analyze this relationship. The participants included freshman fall and sophomore spring survey participants from the 2012 Spit for Science cohort. The measures for the study were the Big Five Inventory (BFI) and the UPPS impulsive behavior scales.

The BFI includes the personality traits of agreeableness, conscientiousness, extraversion, neuroticism, and openness. The UPPS scales include the domains of lack of perseverance, lack of premeditation, negative urgency, positive urgency, and sensation seeking. Results indicated that individuals who scored higher on traits of extraversion (r = 0.209), sensation seeking (r = 0.108), and conscientiousness (r = 0.098) spent more time involved in fraternity or sorority parties and events. Additionally, individuals who are members of Greek life scored higher on traits of extraversion (r = 0.098) and conscientiousness (r = 0.067), but lower on agreeableness (r = -0.062). We found that personality traits are associated with membership and involvement in Greek organizations. This study provides insight on personality characteristics correlated with the Greek system involvement and highlights areas of research potentially related to previous findings on alcohol consumption in Greek life.
The Metabolism of Alcohol: Risk and Protective Factors

Sydney E. Levan, Amy Adkins, Danielle Dick, and Karen G. Chartier

Purpose: Abstract for poster submission to VCU Poster Symposium for

Undergraduate Research and Creativity

Title: The Metabolism of Alcohol: Risk and Protective Factors

Background: In 2002, it was reported by the National Institutes of Health that

60.3% of college aged students (18-22) drank alcohol in the past month of being

asked, as compared to 51.9% of those not in college. They also found that 20% of

college students met the criteria for at least one alcohol use disorder (AUDs)1.

Many genes have been linked to an increased risk for AUDs and how individuals

with various ethnic backgrounds respond to alcohol. Genes that metabolize alcohol

are obvious candidate genes for alcohol-related phenotypes. The purpose of this

presentation is to synthesize information about the key genes involved in alcohol

metabolism, as documented in the literature.

Methods: The information about each gene was found through a literature search

using databases including PubMed, Google Scholar, and cited references from

relevant papers. For database searches, the names of the genes were used as well as

terms such as AUDs, alcohol metabolism, and alcohol and aldehyde dehydrogenase.

The focus of the presentation will be relevant to college-aged students, but rely on

research done in college and adult populations due to a lack of sufficient college-

aged gene-based studies in this area.

Results: Alcohol metabolism genes affect how individuals process and respond to

alcohol. The main genes that have been studied are alcohol and aldehyde

dehydrogenase genes. Alcohol dehydrogenase genes, like ADH1B and ADH1C, first

metabolize ethanol (alcohol) into the by-product acetaldehyde and acetaldehyde is

then metabolized by aldehyde dehydrogenase genes, like ALDH2, into the waste

product acetate2. Many of the adverse effects associated with alcohol consumption

are due to the build up of acetaldehyde. Some of these effects include facial blushing,

nausea, headaches, and other similar alcohol sensitivity symptoms3,6. Acetaldehyde

builds up in an individuals body after alcohol consumption if he or she has a super-

active isoenzyme from the ADH1B and/or ADH1C genes and/or a slow ALDH2

enzyme. Individuals with the super-active alcohol dehydrogenase isoenzyme and

slow aldehyde dehydrogenase enzyme are less likely to develop AUDs due to the

negative effects from excess acetaldehyde in the body4,5,6. However, this also implies

that individuals who do not exhibit the described protective phenotype are more

likely to endorse increased drinking behaviors and AUDs. Spit for Science: the VCU

Student Survey is currently investigating these genes and their association with

alcohol consumption and alcohol use disorder symptoms. Due to the diverse nature

of the sample, the researchers are able to explore ethnic differences in these alcohol

metabolism genes and their effects.

Implications: In general, the more public knowledge about these genes and

research findings, the more at-risk individuals can get help and diagnosis. A better

understanding of aggregate effects of alcohol metabolism genes, as well as more

information regarding ethnic differences in the distribution of genetic variants

which impact alcohol processing, will assist researchers and health professionals

working with those at risk for AUDs.
Analysis of treatments used for individuals with Rett Syndrome who experience seizures

Harshita Nangunuri

Rett Syndrome (RTT) is a severe Autism Spectrum disorder affecting one in ten thousand females. Seizures are a common symptom associated with RTT, as up to eighty percent of individuals with RTT have seizures. Most of these individuals are treated for these seizures with antiepileptic drugs (AEDs). However, AEDs are not very effective for treating seizures in all cases, have many side effects such as increasing the risk of vitamin D deficiency for individuals with RTT and do not help with any other symptoms associated with RTT. Because of these problems associated with AEDs, two additional treatments to treat seizures in individuals with RTT are proposed from analyzing and synthesizing the results and conclusions of relevant research articles. A diagnostic tool to identify the effectiveness of the two additional treatments mentioned was created and utilized.

RTT is caused by a mutated methyl CpG binding protein 2 (MeCP2) gene, which produces the MeCP2 protein. The MeCP2 protein regulates the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) gene and hence the BDNF protein, which also plays a role in RTT. The mutation in the MeCP2 gene results in decreased amounts of the MeCP2 protein and hence decreased amounts of the BDNF protein in the brains of individuals with Ret Syndrome. Increasing the amount of BDNF present in the brain and increasing the amount of MeCP2 present in the brain can be more effective for treating seizures in individuals with RTT. These two proposed treatments can potentially be given to individuals with RTT before symptoms such as seizures appear and help halt these symptoms from occurring. By using different treatment options or by developing treatments that can potentially halt the symptoms from becoming present can be extremely beneficial to individuals with RTT who also experience seizures.
The Increase on Nonconsensual Bride Kidnapping in Kyrgyzstan

Amna Nawaz

Since the fall of the Soviet Union, the country of Kyrgyzstan has had an unprecedented jump in bride kidnapping. The number of occurrences has skyrocketed and with that so has the severity of the violence. In this time women are taken, with no prior indication of when or how, and forced to marry their kidnappers. This non-consensual practice has morphed for reasons unknown. To stop the increasingly abysmal state of women’s rights in Kyrgyzstan, and in countries all of over the world, we must discover why people turned towards violence and lack of consent in the 1990’s.

To determine the cause of the rise in bride kidnapping, I reviewed ten social science journal articles. These articles varied from topics on the bump in bride kidnapping to the nature of familial relations in Kyrgyzstan prior to and after the rise of the Soviet Union.

I found that after the Soviet Union fell from power, the Kyrgyz people sought to define and reclaim their Kyrgyz identity by clinging to practices they believed were inherently Kyrgyz. The Kyrgyz men believe bride kidnapping to be a traditional Kyrgyz practice that not only reaffirms their Kyrgyz background but also their masculinity as they impose their will over women. However, contrary to the beliefs of the Kyrgyz people, bride kidnapping has no substantial history of being a tradition of Kyrgyzstan. This means that the Kyrgyz people have defined their identity and committed crimes against their own women due to an incorrect assumption about their traditions. In order to reverse the trend of increasingly violent and non-consensual bride abduction, further research must be done on why the Kyrgyz people believe that kidnapping women for marriage maintains Kyrgyz heritage.
Women Surrealist Photographers and Their Response to the Objectification of Women in Male Surrealist Art

Lois X. Nguyen

Objectification of women in Male Surrealist art depicted the male gaze in its darkest form, through the ideas of the uncanny, fetish, and convulsive beauty. Women were treated as objects throughout Surrealist photography and painting instead of as human subjects. Their femininity and beauty were valued to the extent of held belief that a woman’s destiny is to be beautiful and be present for the male gaze. Women Surrealists have gained notoriety in the last sixty years for their presence in the Surrealist movement and for their diligence in providing the female perspective in opposition to the male perspective.

This study observes the photographic works of the Women Surrealists, Claude Cahun and Francesca Woodman, and their method of response to the objectification of women while also examining the political context of Claude Cahun’s involvement in the Surrealist movement and the influence of Andre Breton, Claude Cahun and other early surrealist artists on late surrealist artist Francesca Woodman. Photographs, surrealist texts, and journal entries are used as primary sources to approach and reason why these two artists chose the medium of photography as their method response, and how objectification, photography, and the self-portrait incited the modern artist-as-subject trend through Claude Cahun and Francesca Woodman.
Fluorescent Biosensors to Measure Endothelial Cell Responses to Fluid Shear Stress

Natalie Noll

The response of endothelial cells, innermost layer of blood vessels, to blood flow is thought to be critical in the initiation and progression of atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis in the human body is non-random and is highly correlated to vessel sites which experience oscillatory and reversing blood flow. Endothelial cells (ECs), the inner most cell layer of blood vessels are highly responsive to the drag force from blood flow, known as shear stress. To study endothelial cell responses to shear stress we used a parallel plate flow chamber in which we exposed endothelial cells to defined fluid shear stress. Using fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET)-based biosensors we examined both how zinc levels change in response to fluid shear stress, as well as the mechanical forces applied onto the nucleus. Previous work by the lab suggested that zinc levels were increased following exposure to 24 hours of fluid shear stress. To better understand these changes we utilized four zinc-FRET sensors specific to zinc levels in the nucleus, Golgi, endoplasmic reticulum, and cytoplasm. Although our control experiments indicated the sensors were working properly, we did not observe consistent changes in zinc levels in any of these four subcellular locations for ECs exposed to 24 hours fluid shear stress as compared to static controls. Next we investigated how fluid shear stress affects forces applied to the nucleus. Our laboratory recently developed a nesprin-2 force sensor that has provided the first direct evidence that the nucleus of a cell is subject to mechanical force. Additionally, the rare advanced aging disease Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria syndrome (HGPS), is associated with rapid onset of atherosclerosis despite the absence of standard risk factors (obesity, high cholesterol, etc). HGPS results from a mutation in lamin A that creates an altered nuclear shape. Therefore we hypothesize that forces on the nucleus are a critical mediator of the EC response to shear stress, and that HGPS cells may have altered mechanotransduction that promotes atherosclerosis. We have shown that HGPS cells grown in static culture have reduced mechanical force on the nucleus. Additionally we have shown that ECs expressing the HGPS mutant lamin A do not respond properly to shear stress. We are currently using the nesprin-2 tension sensor to measure mechanical forces on ECs subjected to shear stress.
The Role of Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan in the Breakdown of the USSR

Ezoza Nomazova

The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 was one of the biggest historic events of XX century. Much like the Roman Empire, the USSR breakdown was due to an aggregate of factors, some internal, and some foreign. Unlike, the Roman Empire, the Soviet Empire collapsed suddenly. Among the reasons for the fall of the Union, the invasion of Afghanistan was one of the poorest decisions that was made by the Soviet government. What factors did this event contribute to the fall of the USSR?

The Russian invasion of Afghanistan had big impact on the attitude of the developing countries and third world against Russia. And for years the Soviets were preaching that they were supporting the developing countries to maintain their freedom. However, when the USSR invaded Afghanistan, people found that Russia was not a reliable ally. The same way Soviets invaded Afghanistan they could invade any country as well. The occupation of Afghanistan caused irreversible internal conflicts between the Soviet republics and the Soviet government. By the time Mikhail Gorbachev took position of general secretary in Community Party and ordered the Red Army to withdraw from Afghanistan, the economic and military resources for the invasion were drained.

Four following categories were identified as the effects of the war: domestic conflict, economic crisis, political situation, and military confrontation. The analysis exposed a number of issues and controversies relevant to the topic at hand, and the further study is required in order to figure out whether it could have been achieved to save the USSR.
Disproportion of Women in General Surgery and Obstetrics-Gynecology Professions

Nidhi H. Patel

An increasingly number of women have been enrolling in U.S. medical schools recently and the field of obstetrics-gynecology has become predominantly female, but the profession of general surgery still remains largely unequal between the two genders. There is an observable pattern of gender inequality in both of these specialties, which is a result of several different factors which affect all women regardless of their profession. I studied how the stark difference in the percentages of female surgeons versus the percentages of female obstetricians-gynecologists compared to men has been created due to the prescribed gender roles of women in society. I looked at articles in medical journals in the two individual specialties for articles dealing with the different factors, such as family, marriage, social trajectories, to existing stereotypes, that could influence a woman to choose a particular medical profession. I found that although more women have been enrolling in general surgery over the last couple of years, there is still a large difference in the number of women in general surgery and those in obstetrics-gynecology, due to certain factors which have not been publicly addressed. The decrease of women in general surgery has paralleled with an increase of women in obstetrics-gynecology in the same time span, due to the social factors that women are often forced to consider before entering a career field. Societal expectations about motherhood are often the main reason why women really venture into long, strenuous, and demanding careers like general surgery. However, there are other influences that women experience that deter them from general surgical training, such as the existing negative perceptions and stereotypes, gender-based discrimination, and the lack of motivation by same-sex mentors. Since there is a need to address the gender inequality in general surgery, actions need to be to be taken. Increasing the number of women in surgical faculty, providing flexibility with maternity leave, and adjusting rigorous residency curriculum are possible steps to help encourage women to pursue the career.
A National Scan of Psychiatric Involuntary Hold Policies

Evan D. Peters

Psychiatric involuntary holds are initiated when an individual suffering from mental illness is deemed a danger to themselves or others. Each state and the District of Columbia has its own legislation outlining the process for involuntary holds and the assessments that take place during a hold. A variety of individuals, professional and non-professional, can be involved in the process. Each state also sets a time limit during which a person can be held, and specific language that details the behavior of individuals that are eligible for psychiatric involuntary holds. This information was gathered by examining each states' codes involving psychiatric involuntary hold policy and tallying the number of appearance of certain categories of language. National trends in this important process within the American psychiatric system were recorded and visualized using maps.
Decreased Pain Severity and Differential Gene Expression Following Calmare Therapy

Jeffrey Petraco, Angela R. Starkweather, and Amy Heineman

We present the results of a double-blinded randomized sham-controlled research study of a non-pharmacologic low back pain intervention. Calmare therapy is an neurocutanous electrical stimulation approach for pain management. The intervention group received Calmare therapy and the other received sham. Differences in pain severity and interference scores, pain sensitivity measures and gene expression profiles are reported. Patterns of downregulated gene expression suggest that Calmare may alter proteins involved in pain transduction may have implications for the treatment of other chronic pain conditions.