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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Assessment of the Neighborhood Environment and its Association with Gestational Age at Birth

Brittaney A. Castro

Preterm birth is one of the most persistent of health disparities and accounts for five times more African American versus European American infant death. The preterm birth rate in African American is nearly twice as high compared to European Americans. Recent studies have shown that a major contributor to this disparity is accounted for by the greater environmental heterogeneity seen in African American populations. The purpose of this study is to examine how the measured neighborhood environment influences race-specific preterm birth rates by: 1) assessing the degree of neighborhood heterogeneity that exists between self-identified race; 2) estimate the extent these sources influence preterm birth rates and; 3) compare the measured neighborhood environment (Neighborhood Inventory for Environmental Typology (NIfETy)) with a self-assessment of neighborhood quality (Neighborhood Environmental Survey (NES)). This presentation will show results that the NIfETy and NES are highly correlated and predict the occurrence of preterm birth. Additionally, results will provide support for our primary hypothesis that women who score higher in perceiving their neighborhood environment as safe/positive, were less likely have a preterm birth. Finally, I will summarize my practical research experience as part of my PSYC 494 internship recording field data for the NIfETy in an urban setting.
Can You Please Put Your Phone Away? Examining how the FOMO phenomenon and mobile phone addiction affect human relationships

Laila A. Chaudhry

This study attempts to identify how attachment to social media as well as attachment to other forms of communication technology can lead to addiction to mobile devices and affect non-virtual interpersonal communication. I examined the phenomenon known as the fear of missing out, or FOMO, which can be defined as apprehension that others might be having rewarding experiences from which one is absent. Experiencing FOMO can lead to overuse of and even addiction to social media, another category I examined, because addicted individuals want to stay more up-to-date with social networks and social media is the most efficient way to do so. This, by default, also connects to overuse of mobile devices due to ease of access with mobile social networking applications. This addiction is linked to loneliness and depression in and of itself, but the general overuse of mobile devices also has negative effects on interpersonal face-to-face communication, the final category that I researched. Numerous studies showed that the use or even mere presence of a mobile phone decreased interpersonal trust in conversation partners. Therefore it can be inferred that excessive social media use can lead to loss of non-virtual connections. Further research into the psychological impact of virtual communication addiction is needed to explore these incredibly new phenomena and help to prevent addiction and negative associations with new technologies.
Post Traumatic Stress and Externalizing Behaviors in At Risk Urban Adolescents: A Prospective Study

Angela Chung, Lauren Guerra, Jerry L. Mize II, Lena Jaggi, and Wendy Kliewer

Adolescents in in urban areas are at a higher risk for experiencing direct victimization as well as witnessing violence directed towards others, which increases the amount of post-traumatic stress (PTS) they face (Joseph, S., Mynard, H., & Mayall, M. 2000). Experiencing Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) has been associated with a number of negative externalizing behaviors, such as increased delinquency, drug use and aggressive behavior in adolescents (Dierkhising, C. B., Ko, S. J., Woods-Jaeger, B., Briggs, E. C., Lee, R., & Pynoos, R. S. 2013). This association is especially relevant, as adolescence is a stage where youth are beginning to experiment and form life-long habits to manage life stressors. However, previous research has been limited regarding gender differences in PTS as males and females often have different ways of coping with traumatic events (Stevens, Murphy, & McKnight, 2003). This study closes this gap by investigating the connection between PTS and externalizing behaviors in the form of delinquency, drug use, and aggression in a sample of urban, predominantly African American adolescents. Data for this study comes from the first two waves of Project COPE, a four-year longitudinal study on violence exposure, stress responses and adjustment who were recruited from low SES neighborhoods in Richmond, Virginia. The sample included 166 males (46.4%) and 192 females (53.6%), all of whom were in grades five or eight and between the ages of nine and sixteen (M=12.13, SD=1.62) at wave 1 of the study. The participants consisted primarily of African Americans (91%). During annual in home interviews, participants provided assessments of PTS using the Trauma Symptom Checklist for Children (TSCC) scale, and delinquency, aggressive behavior and drug use were assessed using the Problem Behavior Frequency Scales (PBFS). Linear regression analyses were conducted with and without gender as moderator. Results from this sample found no significant relationship between PTS and Delinquency (Beta=.074, p>.05) or Drug use (Beta=.035, p>.05) one year later. However, a significant relationship was found between PTS and aggressive behavior at year two (Beta=.185, p<.05). Interactions with gender revealed that the patterns of association between PTS and aggressive behavior were similar for males and females. Contrary to previous research, our results show no increased risk of drug use or rule-breaking behavior in this sample of adolescents from high violence neighborhoods, for either males or females. It is possible that the effects were short-term in this case rather than lasting. However, the significant relationship of PTS with increased physical aggression for all youth sheds light on possible long-term consequences of PTS and underscores a need to address this specific risk in low SES, urban samples with high prevalence of PTS. The data from our research further adds to the existing consensus suggesting that low SES, urban adolescents, due to unavailable resources, has the possibility of behaviors reemerging as delinquent behaviors.
Heterosexism Faced by Adolescents in the Rural United States: A Case for Implementing Student-Made LGBT Programs

Beau W. Coggsdale

GSAs, Gay-Straight Alliances, influence the heterosexist environment within a school system, especially rural schools. The data was collected from various journals documenting suicide rates and levels of self-esteem in rural environments. A lot of the data was collected was cross-referenced because of the lack of research into LGBT youth in rural environments. Much of the research that was conducted was focused on ameliorating internalized homophobia of urban LGBT youth instead of rural LGBT youth, so research into LGBT urban youth was applied to those in a rural environment. Heterosexism exists in school systems because of the lack of support for LGBT students in high school. Heterosexism is very damaging to the mental health of LGBT adolescents because it establishes homosexuality as being outside the norm, which leads to internalized homophobia. Harassment linked to adolescents’ perceived or actual sexual orientation can lead to anxiety, decreased self-esteem, lack of academic interest, a feeling of isolation, depression, and suicidal ideation. The aforementioned consequences of harassment often lead into adulthood. Also, there is a negative correlation between schools with an active GSA and the harassment experienced by the student. As the level of activity in the GSA increases, the amount of harassment decreases. The heterosexism results in students attempting to conform to heterosexual expectations, which results in students covering their actual sexual orientation and their gender identity.
Realistic Spiking Neuron Statistics in a Population are Described by a Single Parametric Distribution

Lauren Crow 9370373

The spiking of activity of neurons throughout the cortex is random and complicated. This complicated activity requires theoretical formulations in order to understand the underlying principles of neural processing. A key aspect of theoretical investigations is characterizing the probability distribution of spiking activity. This study aims to better understand the statistics of the time between spikes, or interspike interval, in both real data and a spiking model with many time scales. Exploration of the interspike intervals of neural network activity can provide a better understanding of neural responses to different stimuli. We consider different parametric distribution fitting techniques to characterize the random spike times of a population of neurons in the visual cortex of a mammal. Five different probability distribution functions were considered, including three mixture models, and their goodness of fit was determined through two criteria: maximum likelihood and Akaike Information Criteria. Despite being largely heterogeneous, both criteria indicated that one distribution, although different for each criteria, was the best fitting for all of the neurons in the data set. The Gamma-Gamma mixture distribution was the best according to maximum likelihood and the Exponential distribution was the best according to AIC. The statistical methodology applied to a burst model yielded the same results, and the AIC formula was further investigated to better understand its consistent selection of the same parametric distribution. We find that complicated neural spiking activity can sometimes be described by a single parametric distribution, which is hopefully comforting for theorists.
Trends in Chamber Music Composed by European Composers Who Became Deaf in the Romantic Era

Vinh Dao

This study attempts to discover if there are trends among the composition style of composers from the Romantic Era who went deaf. To ascertain the true nature of deaf composition, 10 scores were analyzed –5 scores from composers who were hearing or were not deaf yet and 5 scores from composers who were completely deaf. The scores were examined rather than recordings of these pieces as modern string quartets, piano trios, violin and piano duet players would not be able to replicate the sound and style of music from the Romantic Era. In particular, this study found that deaf composers featured an increased number of fortes, fortissimos, sforzandos, and subito fortissimos, a higher number of crescendos and decrescendos, a smaller percentage of notes that had a frequency equal to or above G6, and a large number of repetitive passages that are doubled and/or tripled, which results in an unbalanced sound between the melody and the accompaniment. As these trends were observed within all of the deaf composers in the Romantic Era being studied, this study contends that these trends could be ubiquitous among deaf composers. In the future, an additional study should be conducted among different musical eras to conclude the nature of deaf composition.
Increasing Vaccination Rates in Children of Vaccine-Hesitant Parents

Keegan G. Edgar

In recent years, the number of parents who have declining vaccinations or instituting altered immunization schedules for their children has risen. This has caused an increased number of outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases. It has also threatened herd immunity, which provides a measure of protection for those who are susceptible to disease given enough people are vaccinated, as this hinders the spread of the disease. To combat this threat to herd immunity, it is becoming increasingly necessary to find a solution to the problem of increasing personal belief exemption.

I took a cause and effect approach in the way I researched the issue. I first analyzed the causes of vaccine-hesitancy. The overarching theme that emerged was that vaccine-hesitant parents believed that not enough attention was being paid to their child; doctors gave only general recommendations rather than specific ones. Then, I began exploring the way the problem was already being addressed. The two general methods were by incentivizing immunization or using tailored techniques. Incentivizing vaccination was found to be much less effective because it doesn’t address the concerns of the parents, and because most vaccine-hesitant parents are adamant in their beliefs. Tailoring information to give to parents is the more effective method because it alleviates the concerns of vaccine-hesitant parents, causing them to reevaluate their beliefs. However, in order for this method to be effective, healthcare workers must have greater education regarding vaccine risks and side effects as well as addressing these concerns in an effective manner.
The Subtle Role of Parenting in Gender Role Formation

Naomi S. Eitches

Despite the progressively modern trend towards gender equality, gender roles and gender stereotypes are still the underlying causes of numerous social problems. The prevalence of gender roles is evident from birth when the gender of the baby determines the treatment every child henceforth receives. This research analyzes how the parents or parent, unbeknownst to even themselves, subconsciously enforce gender roles on their offspring. By examining the dynamic between the parents and the interactions with their offspring, researchers have found evidence of latent parental behaviors and patterns that affect gender roles and gender stereotypes. The evidence illustrates a cycle of gender schemas that are passed from the parent to the child, this pattern is repeated continuously through the future generations. The research also indicates how this cycle, usually continued by the father, is an albatross to society as it also carries with it destructive behaviors, gender confusion, gender oppression and a gender binary. The cycle can only be stopped if the subliminal pressures attached to gender are eliminated. Until parents understand their involvement in enforcing strict gender binaries, they will continue to not only be a burden on their children, but also contribute to the struggles other children face as a result of gender stereotypes and confusion.
Proactive Conversation, 3D Printing, and an Old Nintendo

Tesha C. Ellis

Abstract

One hundred years from now, it would be a true historical treat to be able to showcase 20th and 21st century digital entertainment by presenting video game consoles in mint condition for interactive, educational, play. Arguably, it would be more enlightening and informative for future audiences to be able to physically engage with the electronic artifacts instead of simply observing them behind glass. With the use of 3D technology, components of video game systems can be preserved, and then printed as needed for repairs. It will help keep them functional for future researchers, educators, and enthusiasts.
Spatial Analysis of Nest Productivity and Predation in Prothonotary Warblers

Miranda Foster and Lesley P. Bulluck

Generally, statistics are based off the assumption that observations are independent from each other in space. In larger ecological systems however, there can be spatial autocorrelation whereby data collected in nearby areas are not independent of one another which violates the assumption of most statistical tests. It is therefore becoming commonplace for ecological studies to study spatial autocorrelation to both eliminate error (accounting for a nuisance variable that could give false positives) and to better understand the spatial structure of their system of interest. Indeed, the mechanisms that lead to spatial autocorrelation are often associated with behaviors and/or intrinsic characteristics of our target species or community. In this study we investigated whether nest productivity and nest predation of the Prothonotary Warbler (Prothonotaria Citrea) were spatially autocorrelated at Deep Bottom Park along the lower James River, VA. Nest success and predation were measured at 66 different nest boxes over a period of four years (2009-2013). We found no spatial autocorrelation between these nest boxes when analyzing both reproductive success and nest predation events. This indicates that our observations are independent from each other in space, and spatial variables are not driving reproductive success or predation, rather individual bird quality is likely the main driver for these differences.
Using the Past to Restore the Future: Quantifying Historical Vegetation to Assist in Tidal Freshwater Wetland Restoration

Christopher D. Gatens

Wetlands have been providing humans with critical natural ecosystem services throughout our time on Earth. Nevertheless, these invaluable ecosystems have been habitually altered as a cost of human progression. Two of the most common alterations to wetlands are damming and filling. Both occurred along Kimages Creek in Charles City County, VA during the 19^th and 20^th centuries. In 2010 the Lake Charles dam was partially removed, restoring the creek’s tidal communication with the James River. Upon the recession of the body of water, numerous woody stumps were revealed. We studied these stump remnants in an attempt to assess the spatial structure and vegetative community of this forested freshwater tidal wetland before perturbation. We began by obtaining a geospatial coordinate for each stump, and every 10 stumps a cross-sectional wood sample was taken. These samples underwent taxonomic identification as well as aging in the lab. During this ongoing study, over 4,500 stumps have been geo-located and 413 samples have been processed. There were 15 unique species among 11 genera identified. The most abundant genus of trees was Fraxinus spp. (RD = 73.24%), and the next most abundant was Carya spp. (RD = 11.79%). The majority of the samples were of obligate or facultative wetland species (63.1%). We will soon compile the geospatial coordinates onto a GIS map and use the species data to better understand the native community. Recreating the natural historical vegetative community could help guide current restoration efforts in other locations in other mid-Atlantic formally impounded wetlands.
The Transition to Parenthood: The Role of Humility, Gratitude and Forgiveness

Charlene M. Gaw, Elisabeth Alison, and Azza Hussein

The transition to parenthood, while an exciting time to celebrate the life of their child, causes parents to face new challenges such as physical exhaustion (Petch & Halford, 2008), role overload (Perry-Jenkins, Goldberg, Pierce, & Sayer, 2007), and less time for themselves and their partners (Feeney, Hohaus, Noller, & Alexander, 2001). Today in the United States, 85% of women and 76% of men will have parented a child by the time they are forty (Roy, Schumm, & Britt, 2014), making this an important developmental transition to examine. Humility has been found to have numerous social benefits, among them the initiation and maintenance of romantic relationships (van Tongeren, Davis, & Hook, 2014). Prior studies have found that greater humility in romantic relationships increases relationship satisfaction and forgiveness (Farrell et al., 2015). Gratitude may also increase relationship satisfaction and commitment (Joel et al., 2013), and humility and gratitude may be related (Kruse et al., 2014). The current study sought to examine how humility is related to other virtues (i.e., gratitude and forgiveness) during the transition to parenthood.

Participants included 69 heterosexual married couples (N = 138) that were expecting their first child. 72% were Caucasian and ranged in age from 22 to 48 (M = 30.8, SD = 4.76). Relational humility was assessed through behavioral coding with three observers who were female undergraduate research assistants. Observers obtained 80% or higher in reliability. The Relational Humility Scale (RHS; Davis et al., 2011) was used to measure humility in relationship partners. Other measures included Trait Forgiveness Scale (Berry et al., 2005) and the Gratitude Questionnaire (McCullough et al., 2002).

Preliminary results examined correlations between study variables. Relational humility was positively correlated with forgiveness (r = 0.28) and gratitude (r = 0.33). A multiple regression analysis will be run to see if relational humility is associated with higher levels of forgiveness and gratitude. Additionally, analyses will be run to compare results according measurements of relational humility (i.e., self-report versus behavioral coding). Implications of this work would benefit new parents by promoting the virtues that support healthy and successful relationships during the transition to parenthood.
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.