Undergraduate Research Posters

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  Reducing the Risk of Police Corruption in Guatemala

  Adrian Jenkins

  The country of Guatemala has always been plagued by political, security, and socio-economic conditions. These issues have contributed to the country having one of the highest violent crime rates in Central America and being ranked as the third most murderous country in the entire world (Grann, D.). This project will examine one of the factors believed to be most prominent in the country’s security problem, police corruption. The Guatemalan National Civil Police (PNC) officers are confronted with institutional corruption, a homicide rate over five times the world average, insufficient resources, poor training, and distrust from the civilian population (ghrc-usa, 2014). “The U.S. State Department 2077 Guatemala Country Report on Human Rights Practices states that “Members of the police force committed a number of unlawful killings. Corruption, intimidation, and ineffectiveness within the police department and other institutions prevented adequate investigation of many such killings, as well as the arrest and successful prosecution of perpetrators.” (ghrc-usa, 2014). Another challenge for the PNC is drug trafficking. Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom blames the drug traffickers for the corruption plaguing the PNC. Drug traffickers have been able to corrupt many PNC officers and chiefs because they have the ability to pay more than the monthly salaries these people receive. Mexican drug cartels such as the Los Zetas and the Mara Salvatrucha actively operate throughout the country. In addition, Guatemala’s geographical location makes it a key country for trafficking in cocaine and heroin from South America en route to the U.S. and Europe

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  Factors influencing personality in Prothonotary Warbler nestlings?

  Jenna Dodson

  Animal personality is defined as consistent expressions of an individual’s behavior when exposed to stressful conditions. Avian nestling personality traits can be determined through simple stress handling tests that measure breath rate and docility. Individuals with lower measures tend to be more bold and aggressive adults, traits that are correlated with increased fitness. Other developmental factors that correlate with increased fitness include egg size, parental provisioning rates, and body condition. The objective of this project was to determine if there is a relationship between handling stress and: egg size and parental provisioning in the migratory songbird, Prothonotary warbler (PROW). This research focused on a long-term study of a prothonotary warbler population nesting in boxes along the Lower James River. Detailed morphometric data were collected for the eggs and nestlings throughout the breeding season with regular nest checks. Nestlings were weighed and banded when they were 5-6 days old. Just prior to banding, simple docility and breathing rate stress tests were conducted. Video recordings of parental provisioning were completed and used to determine the feeding rate of each nest. No relationship was found between egg mass and the breath rate or docility stress measures. There was also no relationship between rate of provisioning and stress measures. However, there was a relationship between nestling body condition (nestling mass adjusted for age) and breath rate. It is known that larger nestlings have higher survival probabilities, and our results suggest that this relationship may not only be the result of higher body condition, but also of underlying personality differences.

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  Cytoplasmic Polyadenylation Element Binding (CPEB) Protein 2 splice variants CPEB2A and CPEB2B affect the hypoxic response and triple-negative breast cancer metastasis

  Ryan Johnson

  Triple-negative breast cancers (TNBCs) are tumors that lack the estrogen-receptor (ER), the progesterone-receptor (PR), and the epithelial growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) and are responsible for 15-20% of all breast cancer. TNBCs provide poor prognoses and higher rates for metastases compared to other breast cancers. We have found that cytoplasmic polyadenylation element binding protein 2 (CPEB2) mRNA splicing is dysregulated in cells that display resistance to anoikis (attachment-dependent cell death). Importantly, CPEB2A:B ratio decreases in patient-matched tumor tissue when compared to normal control tissue. Furthermore, downregulation of each isoform produced opposing effects on both AnR and HIF1alpha and TWIST1 levels (molecules that are downstream of CPEB2). Taken together, our results indicate that CPEB2 is involved in the development of anoikis-resistance in cancer cells and may be heavily involved in TNBC cancer progression. Additional studies of alternative splicing in TNBC may lead to both understanding of the molecular pathways leading to TNBC metastasis and the development of rationally designed treatments for TNBC.

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  Examining the Relationship between GABRA2 & Alcohol Drinking Frequency

  Jessica Joseph

  Past research has shown that an individual’s level of alcohol use may depend on various factors, both genetic and environmental, along with the interaction between them. Several studies have found that certain variants within the GABRA2 gene may be associated with elevated levels of alcohol use. This issue is of particular concern in college campuses, where social pressure becomes an important environmental factor. To better understand how genetic and environmental factors come together to influence substance use and emotional health, a group of students attending Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, VA submitted DNA samples and answered survey questions as part of the Spit for Science research project. The cohort entered college in the fall of 2011 and took follow-up surveys during the spring of their freshman and sophomore years. A total of one thousand and four participants who reported that they have previously consumed alcohol were asked about the frequency of their alcohol use. Regression analysis was used to examine associations between GABRA2 genotype, peer deviance, and alcohol consumption. We hypothesized that high levels of peer deviance and specific variants within GABRA2 correspond to increased levels of alcohol use. The conclusions of this study can be used to create specific techniques for decreasing alcohol abuse among college students and lead to better understanding of how to create effective treatment and prevention strategies.

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  GABRA2, Peer Deviance and Illicit Drug Use in College-Aged Students

  Justin Joseph

  Recent studies have shown that single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the GABRA2 gene may influence one’s susceptibility to illicit drug use. In order to determine whether an association is present in young adults, we will be performing a study within the Spit for Science research project at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia. The Spit for Science project aims to understand how genetic and environmental factors come together to influence substance use and emotional health. A cohort of 1523 incoming freshman donated a saliva sample in the fall of 2011 and answered surveys regarding their use of the following categories of drugs: cannabis, sedatives, stimulants, cocaine, or opioids. Follow-up surveys were given during the spring of their freshman year and the spring of their sophomore year. Data on drug abuse was converted to a numerical score between zero and five, depending on how many of the five categories of drugs the respondent had ever tried. We will also be using survey responses to measure the moderating variable of peer deviance. The saliva samples were processed and genotyped for 8 SNPs in the GABRA2 gene. Specific associations will be determined through use of regression analysis. It is hypothesized that the study will show an association between GABRA2 SNPs, illicit drug use, and the additional influence of peer deviance. These findings can be used to improve strategies that aim to decrease drug use among college students and allow them to successfully recover.

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  Heteronormative Stereotypes in Children's Animated Television

  Nora Kavaldjian

  The socializing effect that television has on child viewers is incredibly important to childhood development – research shows that children can model roles and behaviors that they observe on television – and this power to condition children’s minds to a television-based view of reality can influence children’s conceptions of gender, stereotype, and diversity. Children exposed to television media will base their conceptions of the world on what they’ve seen, usually animated cartoon shows with highly stereotyped characters in fairly set roles (Barcus 1983, Bandura, 2002). The purpose of this paper is to review research on the subject of gender roles in animated children’s media and, using this research, to gauge whether or not animated children’s television programming consistently portrays heteronormative gender stereotypes as “normal” as well as whether or not children may mimic or model the stereotypical behavior (in regards to gender roles and expression) that they have observed. I have examined eight sources so far; two examine the nature of the television industry and the modern animation industry, two are analyses of previous research done on the subject of TV affecting socialization, three are original research articles which survey the content of animated children’s TV shows (with one describing adult reactions to the show being researched), and one article which surveys the history of a more educational animated show and its influence. The results so far indicate that animated TV shows definitely show gender stereotypes and stereotypical behavior (Bresnahan et al., 2003); coupled with the years of research that show how children react to television at different ages (Kirkorian et al., 2008), there is an obvious missing link of research between the two which will show how children actually react to said gender stereotypes and heteronormative behaviors. More research will be needed, but I am sure that there are articles available that specifically track children’s reactions to gender stereotypes in animated media – and will likely indicate that children will end up mimicking and modeling the behavior they’ve seen on TV. With this research in mind, the heads of the television industry could thus initiate changes – either in regulation or in choices made in hiring/etc. – to change what may be harmful stereotypes present in their products, to make cartoon shows more applicable to real life and more well-rounded so that the children influenced by them will not end up with harmful misconceptions about gender and gender representation.

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  The Relationship between GABRA 2 and Illicit Substance Use

  Hassan Khuram

  Spit for Science: the VCU Student Survey aims to understand how genetic and environmental factors come together to influence substance use and emotional health. Previous studies in the literature have shown a relationship between variation in GABRA2 and substance use. It is of great interest to find out whether or not variations in the GABRA2 gene are associated with illicit drug use in this sample. It is hypothesized that polymorphisms in GABRA2 will have an association with increased use of illicit substances. In the fall of 2011, incoming VCU freshman had a chance to take the Spit for Science survey and provide a saliva sample. Survey responses regarding substance used were combined into a sum score based on how many categories of illicit drugs the student reported trying at least once. We will specifically look at nine single nucleotide polymorphisms in GABRA2. Linear regression will be used to determine an outcome. Other environment conditions such as peer deviance may also be potential moderation variables and will also be examined Results from this study can greatly help people in rehabilitation facilities and help them overcome addiction.

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  Synergy of Bosutinib and Chk-1 Inhibitor (PF) in Chemotherapy

  Akhil Kolluri

  Chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) is a cancer described by uncontrolled proliferation of bone marrow cells that develop into the cells of the blood (Chen, 2014). In this study, the synergy of two drugs, bosutinib and a PF were tested for their efficacy in chemotherapy. Bosutinib is a kinase inhibitor that blocks phosphorylation of key proteins in the cell cycle of CML cells that allow them to proliferate (Boschelli et al., 2010). PF is an inhibitor of the Chk-1 protein that regulates many of the cell cycle checkpoints (Zhang et al., 2009). Two cell lines from CML were used in this experiment, BAF3/T315I and Adult/T315I. Both of these cell lines had the T315I mutation that provides resistance to the common CML chemotherapy drug imatinib (Gleevec). The cultured cells were treated with both bosutinib at 0.3 – 0.4 μM and PF at 1 – 1.2 μM individually as well as simultaneously. Results showed that the combined treatment of bosutinib and PF caused a large increase in cell apoptosis. These results show the possibility of a novel and effective chemotherapy combination for CML.

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  Mindfulness Buffers Exclusion-Related Social Distress

  Ami A. Kumar

  Social rejection is one of the more “painful” experiences humans can endure, affecting long term physical and emotional health (Eisenberger, 2012). Perceiving social rejection can create psychological and social distress (Leary, 2004). A number of studies have sought to understand for whom and under what conditions social rejection would be more, or less impactful. Building on this research, the present study targeted mindfulness—a psychological state that entails receptive attention to one’s present experience (Brown & Ryan, 2003)—as a potential buffer to rejection-induced social distress. Consistent with this, mindfulness is associated with reduced psychological, neuroendocrine and electrophysiological indices of social distress in evocative social situations (see Brown, Ryan, Creswell, & Niemiec, 2008 for review). Study one was a correlational study examining the effects of trait mindfulness on social distress induced by Cyberball (V4.0 Williams, Chung & Choi, 2000). Cyberball is a software-based ball-tossing game, wherein ostensible players are programmed to exclude the participant. Measures of social distress were taken immediately after the exclusion, and two measures of trait mindfulness were associated with decreased social distress following exclusion (Ps < .01). In study two we manipulated mindfulness by randomly assigning participants to listen to a brief mindfulness audio induction (MI) or a control induction (CI). As in study 1, participants were excluded via Cyberball and then filled out self-report measures of social distress. MI participants experienced less social distress, relative to controls, t = 4.632, p < .001. This study speaks to the potential for mindfulness to buffer distress during social rejection.

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  Relationship between high school antisocial behavior and the GABRA2 gene as moderated by peer deviance

  Sydney Levan

  Spit for Science: the VCU Student Survey (S4S) is a university-wide project that aims to understand how genetic and environmental factors come together to influence substance use and emotional health. We investigated the association between GABRA2 and high school antisocial behavior as well as the potential moderating influence of peer deviance. 1,474 undergraduate students from the 2011 S4S cohort were genotyped at 8 SNPs in the GABRA2 gene and individual sum scores for both high school antisocial behavior and high school peers’ deviance were calculated. This study could strengthen known association findings between GABRA2 and related variables in the literature.

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  Rap and Fashion

  Talia Levinas

  The presence of rap culture in fashion demonstrates a trend in marketing, bringing cultural niches into the mainstream. This work examines the transition of rap fashion into popular culture, using hip-hop as a muse for the high-end. Specifically, I look at how rappers are beginning to create their own fashion lines and how high-fashion and urban street style incorporate hip-hop characteristics. Rappers use fashion as a way to show off wealth and success, flaunting designer names and labels in music videos, lyrics, and styling. In turn, high-fashion and street style brands use rap figures as guest designers and samplings of hip-hop statements in looks, blurring the elite fashion industry and urbanized rap culture. In my work I looked at articles on hip-hop fashion and primary sources of rappers in the fashion industry to discover the blend of rap in fashion found in popular culture. I discovered that many rap artists highly value fashion and use their success to create rap-inspired clothing brands, both luxury and streetwear. Further in my research I found that rappers use fashion as a tool to boast their wealth and success. Using ostentatious jewelry and designer labels, rappers publicize their knowledge of elite fashion labels as a representation of their status. Rappers advertise their familiarity with designer fashions in their lyrics and music videos as well as in clothing that broadcasts labels. Fashion has begun to incorporate what is typically viewed as black culture bringing it to the forefront of trends and questioning its appropriation. This transition marks the integral marketing strategies and importance of streetwear’s influence on the high-end styles. The blur in influences shifts fashion’s stereotypically elitist industry to value street style and produce collections that are more relevant to popular culture and minority groups.

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  PETA's Objectification of Women

  Abir Malik

  Over the last few decades, advertisements have objectified and sexualized women as a tactic to attract men into supporting causes and buying products. This research project focuses on the advertisements published by the animal rights group, PETA, People for the Ethical Treatments of Animals, and its deliberate use of degrading images of women to support its cause. PETA advertisements juxtapose barely clad women with animals or animal references, making the viewer see women as animalistic, out of control, and in need of taming or saving. Research shows that the results of such negative advertising tactics are correlated with increased aggression in male viewers, as well as increased acceptance of rape attitudes among men. Sexualized and objectified images take away from the purpose of the animal rights movement, making the audience reluctant to support the cause. Furthermore, these advertisements seriously jeopardize and undermine the women's fight for equality in our culture.

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  The Tuskegee Syphilis Study and Other Barriers to African American Participation in AIDS Clinical Trials

  Madeleine Mashon

  Despite African Americans composing 13% of the US population, they account for 51% of all reported AIDS cases between 1985 and 2002. Yet, due to a variety of sociocultural, structural and economic factors, many African Americans are uneducated about or distrustful of HIV/AIDS research methods and research-related procedures and terms in general. Researchers are struggling to find African Americans for screening and enrollment in AIDS Clinical Trials, which is critical to the development of new antiretroviral medications. “Without adequate representation of racial and ethnic minorities it is difficult to assess the ramifications, if any, of race and gender on HIV treatment regimens” (Cargill and Stone 906). Understanding these barriers to enrollment and developing strategies to combat them are essential to forming more successful minority recruitment methods in HIV/AIDS research. To establish this link, I examined numerous focus group studies, surveys and questionnaires that evaluated the willingness of African American populations to participate in health research and the obstacles impeding their enrollment, as well outlined methods to increase their participation. The studies revealed distrust rooted in the Tuskegee Syphilis Study and other historical events, poor or inadequate knowledge of healthcare procedures and terminology, and other various structural issues as major barriers to minority enrollment. However, although the Tuskegee Syphilis Study has discouraged some African Americans from participating in health, specifically HIV/AIDS-related, research, a combination of other sociocultural factors has played a greater role in their decisions to participate. It is crucial for healthcare professionals to educate minority populations about the benefits and drawbacks of health research, form trusting patient-provider relationships, and provide culturally sensitive recruitment strategies such as peer-driven intervention. Increasing African American participation in AIDS Clinical Trials is the only way to treat these issues, and it is imperative that health professionals take the necessary steps to do so.

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  Associations between Cultural Beliefs and Asthma Self-Efficacy in Pediatric Asthma

  Crystal McNair

  Cultural beliefs about medication effectiveness have been shown to differ by racial and ethnic backgrounds and can contribute to pediatric asthma disparities. Given that child asthma is managed within the family system, the caregiver beliefs about asthma medications may impact a child’s efficacy to manage their asthma. The purpose of this study was to examine associations between caregiver beliefs about asthma medications and child asthma self-efficacy.

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  The Electronic Election -- Web 2.0 Technology and Political Campaigns

  Kirby Miller

  The influence of Web 2.0 technologies has infiltrated the political realm, not only being used by members of each political party, but also in each level of civic engagement. The primary problem this paper assesses is the extent to which American presidential candidates have used Web 2.0 technologies as a political tool and how these technologies will affect the future of political activity. While Web 2.0 technologies have been widely used by candidates in the two recent presidential races, and while they will see an increased use as the millennial generation emerges in the political arena, the effective use of Web 2.0 technologies will be through supplemental use with traditional political tools and specified use among each form of Web 2.0 technology. The study looked at one article that analyzed data from the 2000 National Annenberg Election Survey, four articles that had a qualitative analysis of the Web 2.0 technologies used by presidential candidates in the 2008 election, an article was included that summarized the findings in a controlled lab experiment that studied young adults’ political use of Web 2.0 technologies, another article was an empirical study of candidate use of Twitter and its effect on candidate salience, and the last article used content analysis and survey research to find a correlation between online political groups and offline political participation. The primary belief is that Web 2.0 technology will be supplemental to traditional political tools. The extent to which they will be used and how they are used is contested among scholars. While some believe that universal, undifferentiated use of Web 2.0 technologies can be an effective political tool, each form of technology must be used differently to maximize political efficiency because each form of Web 2.0 technology melds effectively with a different traditional political tool. Candidate websites and Facebook have been found to enrich fundraising efforts, social media has been found to enhance grassroots campaigning and all Web 2.0 technologies have been found to improve communication and media. These findings show that future political candidates will need to adopt Web 2.0 technologies as a way to enrich their traditional political activities. Campaigns will need to use each Web 2.0 technology differently in the way that will most effectively aid their campaign. Many of these tools will be adopted and controlled by social media directors.

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  Counter Measures to Mitigate Cyberstalking Risks: A Value Focused Multiple Criteria Approach

  Safoorah Mughal

  A value focused multiple-criteria decision making approach is adopted to examine policies, procedures and technologies that can potentially reduce the risks of Cyberstalking. This research also has applicability for the broader field of cybercrime, any illegal action which uses electronic communication or devices or information systems containing the Internet, including identity theft, child abuse, sex crimes against minors, and online financial crimes (Legoze, 2012 p. 4). This research offers an overview of cybercrime and the principal objective is to examine Cyberstalking. Cyberstalking involves a pattern of threatening or aggressive behaviors that utilizes the Internet, email or other electronic correspondence (NCSL, 2013). Cyberstalking has disproportionately affected college students in the United States, yet also has been known to cause for ordinary citizens. This research provides general information about cybercrime and but mainly focuses on the deliberation of Cyberstalking in particular and provides useful guidelines for online users to avoid falling into victim-hood.

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  Exposure of Preadolescent Children to Nonnative Accents and its Effect on Linguistic Trajectory

  Gretchen Mull

  Children and adults are often put presented with accents that are outside their realm of familiarity. The purpose of this study was to examine how exposure of preadolescent children to nonnative accents during their linguistic development increases their linguistic flexibility in adulthood. By examining the processes of speech intake, the stages of linguistic development, and the role of experience versus perception, the research clarifies what elements most significantly alter a listener’s ability to interpret unfamiliar speech and during what periods a person is most developmentally available for a a streamline understanding of nonnative speech. This study challenges the argument that direct exposure is the only way to understand nonnative accents and the argument that all adults have the ability to decipher unfamiliar speech. Through exposure which leads to familiarity and the development of mechanisms to isolate essential and nonessential linguistic information, listeners increase their storage of context and speaker-specific characteristics and ability to navigate nonnative speech.

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  Using Metabolic Engineering to Make Cheaper Biofuels

  Pooja Nanjannavar

  This paper attempts to find if metabolic engineering can be applied to more than one aspect of the biofuel production process and significantly reduce costs enough to make biofuels a viable replacement for petroleum. To explore this possibility, this paper analyzed three meta-analysis reviews on decreasing lignin in plant biomass, one meta-analysis on the prospects of changing the structure of lignin in plant biomass, two meta-analyses suggesting consolidated bioprocessing, and two experimental papers on increasing substrate range and efficiency. Based on these analyses, metabolic engineering can make biofuel production most cost effective by changing the biosynthetic pathways of the actual biomass to make it less lignin dense, to have more biomass, or to change the structure lignin to make it more easily broken down. It can also be achieved by altering the metabolic pathways of yeasts that convert cellulose in biomass to ethanol and other fuel sources. These findings show that it is possible to make lignocellulosic biofuel production less costly, but reveal that the extent of this cost reduction is largely unquantified and must be further researched to identify the viability of implementing these findings.

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  Using Classical Music to Increase Productivity in Elementary School Students with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

  Andrea Nguyen

  Currently, physicians use prescription medications to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children known to have low levels of the neurotransmitter dopamine. ADHD children commonly have low adherence to medications used to treat their condition because there is no known dosage to produce the optimal attention span for motivation and focus. The safest method of dopamine production is through natural techniques, which could reduce medication intake and thus side effects. Listening to classical music dominant in consonant sounds has been shown to increase dopamine levels in children with ADHD through the dopamine “reward” pathway in the brain. Because all children exhibit some increase in dopamine while listening to consonance-dominated classical music, educators can introduce this music into the classroom to improve overall academic performance and help treat ADHD children simultaneously. Instructors could rotate music playlists weekly to avoid memorization and monotony. Music could be played in quiet environments when focus is key—not during playtimes or group work. Music treatment is a cost-effective method that—with extant classroom technology—can increase overall focus and work production, proving a worthwhile investment. Physicians should turn to incorporating music in ADHD treatments rather than solely prescribing medications in order to expand the possibilities of discovering more efficient treatment plans. Though consonance dominated classical music is known to increase dopamine, further research should be conducted in order to better define appropriate ADHD treatment plans in the classroom.

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  Relationships Taught By Disney Princesses

  Alena Nolder

  The Disney princess film franchise has become a very popular topic within the last decade where parents and researchers argue that the females and their lives in the films are portrayed in an idealized manor that teach children incorrect standards about life. The research focuses on how the princess industry, which was created and expanded by Disney princess films, is an exponentially growing business that more and more children are being raised on during their prime developmental years. The Disney princess films consist of similar storylines: the princess and evil stepmother having a conflict, the prince sweeping the princess away, and everything ending with a happily ever after. Through this repetition, children pick up concepts, such as waiting for their prince charming or needing to be a perfect, loving princess for a boy, that may work as a reality in the films, but create false ideals in the real world. The research analyzes scholarly articles and personal observations done while working at a preschool to deliberate the affects that Disney princess films have on young girl’s relationships. Specifically on how the films teach girls wrong ideals about relationships with boys and women, and how these films affect the way girls treat each other.

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  The Death and Burial Practices of the Berawan

  Dorothy O'Boyle

  This research paper is about the small tribe of Berawan people, a subgroup of Kenyah, of Borneo, Indonesia. The Berawans live in an egalitarian and agricultural society in the rainforest very similar to the tribes they are derived from. These people have a distinct way of treating their dead that generations of people around the world have been intrigued by. Their treatment of the dead consists of "secondary treatment" or secondary burial of the body where the body is first placed in a clay jar on the corner of their slash-and-burn gardens to decompose into the earth; the second part of the burial occurs when the bones are dry and put into a decorative box/coffin for permanent burial with the ancestors. This poster will go over the death and burial practices and rituals of the Berawan people and briefly compare them to those of neighboring tribes.

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  Cultural Factors Associated with Utilization of Antenatal Care Services in Rural India

  Anjali Om

  Despite vast economic growth in developing countries in the past few years, infant mortality continues to plague underdeveloped regions, particularly rural regions of India. Many of these deaths are caused by a lack of education and motivation in regard to utilization of antenatal and neonatal care services to prevent and treat consequences of unhygienic umbilical cord care.

  For years, high incidences of neonatal tetanus have plagued rural areas of India as a result of cultural practices that encourage topical applications of cow dung to cut umbilical stumps either directly or by using ghee heated with cow dung to warm umbilical dressings. In order to increase public awareness of the practical ineffectiveness of tetanus toxoid vaccinations in treating the consequences of unhygienic umbilical cord care, cultural aspects that contribute to mothers’ utilization of antenatal care services in rural India should be identified in order to understand sociological factors that affect neonatal mortality rates in rural India so that intervention efforts may be targeted appropriately to effectively eradicate neonatal tetanus. A variety of sociology and public health articles and journals that outline factors deeply engrained in Indian culture that inhibit mothers from accessing health care services hypothesize why legislations that promote availability of vaccines have proved rather ineffective in reducing mortality rates were reviewed. These sources generally attribute lack of utilization of health care services to predisposing variables (such as age, ethnicity, caste, education level, and occupation), enabling variations (distance to health facility, means of transport), and a lack of perceived need of care.

  An analysis of the reasons behind hesitation and reluctance to use antenatal and neonatal care services can help target intervention efforts to appropriately reach at-risk demographic groups. While immunization is understood as effective in treating the immediate effects of unhygienic umbilical cord care, education of young, uneducated and unemployed, lower caste, Hindu women before they get pregnant can encourage use of available health care resources. It is only by understanding embedded cultural factors that policies can be constructed to effectively reduce maternal and neonatal mortality rates in rural India.

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  Impacts of Urbanization on Dogwood Population Fitness

  Kaitlyn Parkman

  The phenomenon of urbanization occurs all over the world. In an attempt to find jobs and financial stability, people move to cities for more opportunities. Threats associated with urbanization can lead to habitat fragmentation and the loss of biodiversity; species can die and cease to exist in a habitat where they once flourished (Newman et al. 2013). It is very important to study the populations of species in the city, because they are a vital part of the ecosystem. We are studying the fitness of dogwood trees located in an urban neighborhood of Richmond, Virginia known as “the Fan.” The fitness of the trees is based on the reproductive output, or seed production. After locating, mapping, and sampling the individuals in the fan, we will use statistical analysis to see if there is a correlation between the reproductive output and the location of the tree within the urban environment. This study will allow us to measure a component of fitness that may be influenced by urban location, and to differentiate possible good and bad conditions for dogwoods within the city. Ultimately, we will gain a better understanding of how to manage our dogwood species, and how to maintain connectivity across the landscape so the dogwood population can flourish.

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  Examining Treatment Fidelity in Motivational Interviewing

  Akanksha Patel, Alexandra Sova, and Taylor Ihsane-Thomas

  Objective: Childhood obesity is a significant health concern, especially in lower income African Americans within the United States. Previous research suggests that programs developed to promote healthy eating and exercise habits have been effective in reducing childhood obesity. One strategy that has been impactful in facilitating those changes is Motivational Interviewing (MI), a brief, patient-centered counseling style used to explore and resolve ambivalence about behavior change. Recent studies have shown that MI has its advantages, such as increasing patients’ sense of control when making healthy choices and promoting overall wellness; however, less research examines treatment fidelity and its impact on program adherence which may limit the interpretation of the results. Treatment fidelity is defined as the methodological strategies used to monitor and enhance the reliability and validity of behavioral intervention. NOURISH+ is a parent-focused intervention for overweight children ages 5-11 years (Nourishing Our Understanding of Role-Modeling to Increase Support and Health: PI: Mazzeo). We are currently implementing an adjunctive, MI-based treatment to investigate if MI can improve treatment adherence and effectiveness of NOURISH+ (NOURISH+MI; PI: Bean). We describe treatment fidelity methods and preliminary feasibility data in the NOURISH+MI trial. Methods: Prior to study onset, raters were trained extensively on use of the MITI 3.1 (Motivational Interviewing Treatment Integrity Code), a validated coding system designed to measure adherence to MI. Satisfactory interrater reliabilities (determined using intraclass correlations; [ICC]) were established prior to study onset. Raters also used the MITI 3.1 to examine MI competency of study interventionists, to indicate readiness to begin treatment. Participants who consent to NOURISH+MI complete two MI sessions prior to the onset of the group-based treatment. Session 1 (T1) occurs over the telephone and Session 2 (T2) is in-person. All sessions are audio recorded and independently coded by two raters. ICCs are continually assessed throughout the study duration to identify rater drift and indicate areas in need of retraining. MITI ratings also determine interventionists’ competence and adherence to MI. Raters and interventionists attend bi-weekly to address. Results: To date, 80 MI sessions (T1=46, T2=34) have been conducted and coded using the MITI for MI adherence. Interventionists met or exceeded competency with a M of 100% MI adherence, 1.8 reflection to question ratio, and 4.8 Global spirit. Rater ICC’s ranged from 0.6 to 1.0 across MI global scores and behavior counts. Discussion: Interventionists met or exceeded competency thresholds, demonstrating excellent treatment fidelity. While overall ICCs were adequate, the limited response ranges for the global scores contributed to lower ICCs in those domains. Overall reliabilities were adequate suggesting high fidelity to the MITI 3.1 and reliable ratings among independent raters. Data suggest that the NOURISH+MI trial is being implemented with high treatment integrity. Thus, if study results suggest that MI is deemed effective, this intense protocol for establishing and maintaining treatment fidelity enhances confidence in treatment effects and furthers scientific research examining MI and pediatric obesity treatments.

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  Expressions of Grief and Change in the Poetry Projects of Bereaved VCU Students

  Michael Pease, Sarah Gilbert, Brittany Amber Holloway, and Lubna Zia-Uddin

  A large proportion of college students, (40%) have experienced the death of someone close to them (Holland, Currier, & Neimeyer, 2006), but little is known about how college students experience and cope with loss. Expressive writing has been posited as a method for dealing with traumatic experiences (Pennebaker, 1997), but its use with the bereaved has been called into question (Stroebe, Schut, & Stroebe, 2006). A stress management course at VCU allows students to complete loss-focused writing exercises, including acrostic “alphabet poems” for course credit. The current study aims to test the hypothesis that stages of grief (based on Rando’s (1993) popular “six R’s” theory) are expressed by college students in these writing exercises. A further hypothesis was that student would show progress through the stages from the beginning of their exercises to the end. Eighty undergraduate students completed a writing assignment. Students were allowed to focus their writing efforts on any type of loss experience, not just a loss due to the death of a loved one. Of these, 56 students (mean age: 21.9 years; 80% female; 33.9% African American, 32.1% Caucasian, 12.5% Asian and Latino, respectively) completed an end-of-semester feedback survey regarding the usefulness of these exercises (a 70% return rate), and 48 produced code-able alphabet poem writing projects. Two teams of two undergraduate students are independently coding the alphabet poems using a coding scheme based on Rando’s “six R’s” theory of grief. Rando’s theory suggests that the bereaved complete six processes while grieving: Recognizing the loss, reacting to it, recollecting/reexperiencing it, and finally relinquishing it, readjusting to the outside world, and reinvesting in new relationships. As we read through each poem, we analyze each line or set of lines and decide whether or not it represents one of the stages. We then compare our codes with our teammate for agreement, and have a graduate student supervisor act as tie-breaker. So far, we have found many examples emotions and of Rando’s six stages in each of the poems we have coded. Recognizing the loss, reacting to it (with negative and positive emotions) and recollecting the loss are the most common stages expressed in the poems coded so far. Most of the poems show some kind of a change in stage expression by the end of the poem. The last two stages showed up in several of the poems analyzed. We have also noted that poems tend to progress from showing the first few stages in the first half, and the last three stages in the second half of each poem. These findings suggest that qualitative analysis of expressive and creative writing processes can be a useful window into the college student grieving process. Future studies should examine how poems that progress through all or most of the stages differ from those that do not on outcomes such as grief severity.