Undergraduate Research Posters

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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.

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  Making a Point!

  Sarah Perdue

  There are a great number of chipped stone artifacts in the archaeological record and the Virtual Curation Laboratory (VCL) at Virginia Commonwealth University is one place that stores and categorizes them through digital means. As an Intern with the VCL, I help add to the existing data collection of chipped stone artifacts along with the virtual curation of these artifacts. The VCL uses the NextEngine Desktop 3D scanner for digitally archiving each of the chipped stone artifacts. Besides providing a digital archive, the VCL also prints out plastic replicas of the artifacts by using a Makerbot Replicator. This digital way of archiving allows for further analysis and conservation that one might not have been able to achieve because of a lack of funds. Another benefit is that the archaeological record can be made more accessible to the public as many artifacts cannot be handled personally.

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  GABRA2 and frequency of alcohol consumption in a college population

  Marcus-David Peters

  Spit for Science: the VCU Student Survey aims to understand how genes and the environment come together to influence substance use and emotional health. Many studies have investigated the potential relationship between genetic variants in the GABRA2 gene and an individual’s subjective level of response to alcohol. Evidence suggests that individuals with specific GABRA2 variants have a lower subjective level of response to alcohol thus causing them to drink more, which in turn increases their risk for becoming alcohol dependent. The goal of the current study was to investigate the association between specific GABRA2 variants and alcohol use frequency in a sample of college students. VCU freshman in the 2011 fall semester were given the opportunity to complete the Spit for Science survey and provide a DNA sample. Linear regression was used to test the relationship between alcohol use frequency and GABRA2 variation. We also investigated the possible moderating effect of peer deviance on this relationship. The proposed questions addressed in this study are highly important because they may provide us with information on how to potentially help young adults from developing alcohol dependence.

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  Advertisements Effects on Childhood Obesity

  Sarah Peters

  Junk food advertisers spend billions of dollars every year on advertising aimed at children. These foods are known to be major contributors to the obesity epidemic, a growing problem around the world. Food advertising should be regulated to exclude advertisements that appeal to those under twelve as these children do not have fully developed cognitive defenses. This paper investigates the effects of cartoon characters, packaging, and branding in television advertisements on childhood obesity by analyzing various pieces of literature related to obesity, cognitive defenses, home environments, and advertisements. Advertising and branding overcome children’s cognitive defenses and thus negatively influence childhood obesity and the adiposity levels of children. There are many factors that determine the cognitive defense level of the children including the food environment created by the family, family situation, and modeled behavior. Children respond to advertisements differently than adults and are more susceptible to food branding and advertisements due to their low level of cognitive defense. Children’s cognitive defenses are not fully developed, even at the ages of seven or eight, and thus they cannot evaluate advertisements like adults can. Children create food brand bonds at incredibly early ages and are drawn in for life, creating a cycle of bonding that is hard to break. Various factors influence children’s defenses and response to advertisements including the effects of food environments created by parents on food behaviors. Overweight children may also have lower cognitive defenses than children at a healthy weight level and are thus more vulnerable to the advertising and branding targeted at them. Parents may not be aware of the effects their behaviors have on their children’s eating habits and often do not discuss critical thinking with their children. Advertisements aimed at children take advantage of these low levels of cognitive defense and the factors that lead to these low levels of cognitive defenses and should thus be regulated.

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  Comparative Analysis of Ancient Ritual Sacrifice

  Alexandra Price

  I am studying ritual human and animal sacrifice using Winkleman’s 1998 Standard Cross Cultural Sample method because I want to analyze similarities between cultures with sacrifice in order to help my reader understand why ritual sacrifice developed in civilization’s that had little to no contact with each other.

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  How Diagnostic Terms may Catalyze or Extend the Duration of Anorexia Nervosa

  Leslie Pyo

  Anorexia nervosa (AN) predominantly affects adolescent females and has the highest rate of mortality among psychiatric disorders. It is categorized as an Axis 1 Clinical Disorder in the DSM-IV and a Mental/Behavioural Disorder in the ICD-9. No research, however, has been conducted on how the diagnostic terms and linguistic categorization of AN may psychologically and neurobiologically contribute to the etiology or duration of AN. Peer-reviewed scientific articles, case studies, and books were used to investigate this relationship. Medical terminology loses its original context when used in non-medical society, gaining the power a label that may catalyze the development of AN in individuals who are diagnosed early, or extend the duration of AN in established patients. Three related factors make patients with AN uniquely susceptible to the impact of language: body image disturbance, information processing bias, and hyper reactive amygdala function. Due to body image disturbance (BID), which is one of AN’s four diagnostic criteria, patients with AN are fundamentally unable to create a stable self-image. This results in a body image that fluctuates with external stimuli, particularly language. Testing using the modified Stroop test and the dot-probe methods has found that patients with AN demonstrate a hypersensitivity to AN-related words, indicating an information processing bias that increases their susceptibility to language-induced body image fluctuations. Patients with AN also demonstrate hyper reactive amygdala function. This area of the brain coordinates and initiates responses to perceived threats. In individuals with AN, the hyper reactive amygdala catalyzes AN tendencies in response to the perceived threat of negative evaluation by others, a fear that is perpetuated by labels like “disordered” and “diseased”. These AN tendencies are catalyzed because patients view thinness as a positive factor that will induce positive feedback; ironically, their thinness is what brings the label of "disordered" in the first place, resulting in a self-perpetuating cycle. Though diagnostic labels are necessary, more research on the linguistic etiological component of AN is necessary so that future treatment methods for AN may address and work to prevent the patients' negative response to the language of diagnoses.

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  Receptor of Advanced Glycation Endproducts (RAGE) is Positively Correlated with Tumor Necrosis Factor-α in Adolescents with Obesity

  Tasnim Rahman, Daniel H. Conrad, and Anshu Gupta

  Introduction: Obesity in childhood is associated with an increased prevalence of diabetes and other traditional cardiometabolic risk factors, suggesting an epidemic of premature cardiovascular disease among today’s youth. Glycotoxins, known as advanced glycationend products (AGE’s), activating via the membrane-bound receptors (mRAGE), have been implicated in the pathophysiology of inflammation, (increased tumor necrosis factor-α [TNF-α ]), insulin resistance and vascular dysfunction in adults, but the role of RAGE in the early stages of metabolic disorders is unknown. In this study, we assessed relationship of cardiometabolicrisk factors, mRNA expression of TNF-α and RAGE in peripheral monocytes in adolescents with obesity.

  Methods: Thirty three adolescents,11-16 years of age, with body mass index (BMI) Z-score≥2 were admitted following a 12-hour overnight fast for anthropometrics, lipid profile , fasting peripheral blood sample collection, and a 2-hour 75 gm, oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMNC) positive for CD14 were isolated from blood. Cells were further analyzed by quantitative PCR for mRNA expression of RAGE and TNF-α. Pearson's coefficients were calculated to assess the associations between RAGE mRNA and cardiometabolicrisk factors as well as TNF-α mRNA levels.

  Results: The participants had a mean age of 12.7±1.41 years and BMI-Z score 2.32±0.35 SD with 81 % participants being female; 62 % were Black, 28% Caucasian, 10% were Hispanic. We observed a positive correlation between mRNA levels of RAGE and TNF-α in CD14+ monocytes in blood (r=0.62, p<0.01). However, we did not observe a correlation of BMI, cholesterol or triglyceride with RAGE mRNA levels.

  Conclusion: The positive relationship between the monocyte mRNA levels of RAGE and TNF-α suggest involvement of AGE-RAGE axis in obesity-associated inflammation and needs to be further investigated with larger sample size as well as studies in healthy adolescents.

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  A Performance Effectiveness Model for the Assessment of Anxiety's Effect on Muscle Activation in Trumpet Players

  Hannah Rumsey, Sahil Aggarwal, Erin Hobson, and Jeeyun Park

  The purpose of this research study is to analyze the relationship between anxiety and muscle activation in undergraduate trumpet players. sEMG will be used to measure three muscle groups: the upper trapezius, sternoclidomatoid, and masseter. This data will be analyzed along with State Trait Anxiety Inventory anxiety reports of each subject, and with VAS data of perceived anxiety after performing the repeated playing trials. Through covariate data obtained from the anxiety reports and an anxiety-induction experimental protocol, we hope to discover what effect anxiety will have on general muscle activation and fatigue in trumpet players. We hypothesize that subjects with higher anxiety levels will display greater levels of muscle activation and fatigue over the course of playing the trumpet as compared to subjects with lower anxiety levels. Preliminary data analysis has shown that there is no significant difference in VAS scales between the anxiety-induced group and the control group; the rest of the data analysis is still in progress.

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  The Role of Television on Early Onset Puberty

  Salman Salman

  The trend of early onset puberty has been increasing in recent years. As several studies have shown, a strong link between diet and puberty has been established in animals as well as in humans. However, not much attention has been paid to the cultural influences that have emerged recently such as television, computers, and gaming devices. Several different aspects of this trend were carefully studied and analyzed such as television and diet habits, children with early onset puberty, hormonal changes in children with early onset puberty, as well as the methodology of administering treatment. By connecting television to early onset puberty, pediatricians can reconsider treatment options for children maturing at a faster-than-normal rate and the harmful effects of early puberty (i.e. increased risk for breast/testicular cancer, insulin rejection, etc.) can be better averted. After careful analysis of reports from a wide range of persons all over the world, increased television viewing time was shown to be associated with a higher intake of fatty foods, a higher BMI, and in turn higher leptin levels. These high leptin levels predisposed the child to early puberty and the most effective way to treat this proved to be providing a detailed prescription outlining how to cut down on television and poor food habits in order to maintain healthy growth.

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  Le Corbusier’s Urban Planning and its Lasting Effects on City Design in Colonized Countries Abroad

  Davis Scherer

  In the both the periods between and after the World Wars, the French government expressed an increased interest in redeveloping Paris and the surrounding suburbs. It was during this push to renovate the wreckage and to improve the living situation of the impoverished that modernist sentiment first flourished in the country. This paper examines not only the effects of modernism’s rise in France, as well as Le Corbusier’s urban planning efforts therein, but also the diffusion of modernist principles into colonial holdings of major European powers touched by modernism. Using both analyses of Le Corbusier’s work and case studies of modernism in countries such as India, Brazil, Mexico, and China, and iterations both in and outside of France, I have come to the conclusion that as modernism was absorbed into the architectural vernacular of countries such as this, it took on new ideologies based on cultural values. This adaption, often necessary growths in order to promote the acceptance thereof in each country, created distinct forms of architecture and urban planning unique to the cultural context they promulgated in.

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  Biological Feasibility of Interstellar Travel

  Matthew B. Schneck

  Exposure to the space environment has resulted in numerous alterations to homeostatic mechanisms within the human body. Immune suppression, musculoskeletal degradation, decreased cardiac output and fluid redistribution have all been reported throughout short and long term space flight. The goal of this review is to discover if long term interstellar travel is biologically possible for humans. The relative influence of cosmic radiation, microgravity, and high velocity travel on homeostasis has not been previously established for interstellar space travel. Real-time space flight data and ground-based studies were compiled from other researchers. This data was analyzed with the goal of establishing the relationship between the aforementioned environmental pressures and the corresponding homeostatic consequences. Meta-analysis revealed that the predicted homeostatic consequences of interstellar space flight do not significantly inhibit the body’s ability to function in the space environment. Although interstellar travel is mechanically restricted, it is biologically plausible provided proper defense mechanisms are applied. Further research must be directed towards eliminating mechanical restrictions including but not limited to propulsion mechanisms, circular sustainment systems, environmental protection and interstellar communication.

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  Aftermath of the Hobby Lobby Decision: Implications for Women in the Workforce

  Hirsh Shah

  Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. is a landmark Supreme Court case in which it was ruled that the contraceptive mandate from the Affordable Care Act was an unnecessary and substantial burden on Hobby Lobby’s corporate exercise of religious freedom. This is the latest of many court cases that have expanded corporation’s rights to equal those of humans, giving them individual status without the responsibilities that come along with it. By citing religious liberty rights, closely held corporations such as Hobby Lobby can impose their religious viewpoints on their employees, specifically by not providing certain contraceptive care coverage. Other corporations are forcing women to choose between careers and families by imposing certain preventative care guidelines, such as egg-freezing methods among others. In order to determine the future implications of this case, I researched the history of corporate personhood, women and usage of contraceptive care, and gender-based workplace discrimination. My research shows that by not supporting female employees who have different health needs, Hobby Lobby sets up a model for corporations to be discriminatory towards women by portraying the idea of an anti-family and unsupportive workforce environment. In addition, the Hobby Lobby case has broader implications, with increasing corporate power causing economic and political ripples. Solutions can be found outside the US, by looking at European guidelines concerning women preventative services as a template. On the home front, the US Government should stand its on ground on the Affordable Care Act mandate concerning women care, by requiring all corporations to adhere to those rules through mandatory legislation, and the American Medical Community should properly inform physicians and patients of all contraceptive options, including Long-acting reversible contraception. This will allow women to be rightfully given access to the full range of preventative care services and a supportive and nurturing environment, and will also keep corporate power in check, preventing future possible cases of workplace discrimination.

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  Gene Therapy Evolution: How Gene Therapy has Evolved Preventive Medicine

  Kayuri Shah

  Gene therapy technologies offers a prospect for preventive medicine; before the trait can harm the recipient, genetically engineered transgenes will either alter the genetic disorder beforehand, or allow for regeneration of the tissue. The basic goal in bone formation and regeneration is to find a quick, easy, and cost-effective method to help bone growth, formation, and regeneration where surgery may be impossible or too risky. Gene therapy provides that, whether as a technology or product. Cells have the ability to be engineered, or manipulated, within the recipient’s body, or by removal and reimplantation. While treatments such as surgery are available, sometimes it is extremely difficult for those methods to reach certain areas of the body. Not only that, preventive medicine has advanced to the stage where genetic bone disorders can be eliminated before it is passed down to offspring. By comparing scholarly sources regarding the different in vivo and ex vivo methods, researchers have shown how bone formation and regeneration can be done easily through gene therapy. Between the two methods, both viral and non-viral methods have been tested. Results show that in vivo methods have many safety implications, however, it is the less expensive method. Regardless, ex vivo has been tested and could be taken to clinical trial level, unlike the others that have yet to be taken beyond pre-clinical trail and animal testing. Currently, legislation only supports the use of gene therapy on somatic cells, but in the long run, gene therapy could solve the problem of chronic hereditary genetic disorders if the alterations could be made in gamete cells. Not only that, but there has been no final definition of gene therapy, and therefore there is no stopping someone from altering an unlikeable physical trait in comparison to an actual physical challenge. The only thing stopping gene therapy and therapeutic products from hitting the market is the red light on clinical trials. Several methods have yet to pass the pre-clinical trial stage, and be tested on large animal models. Until then, there will not be an actual advancement to the human stages of clinical trials, helping no one, let alone the role in preventive medicine advancement.

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  The Correlation of the Order Effect and Anxiety in Relation to the Carbon Dioxide Challenge and Screaming Lady Task

  Tulsi Shah

  In the current study, juvenile twins aged 9-13 were asked to perform two psychophysiological tasks, referred to as the carbon dioxide (CO2) challenge and the Screaming Lady task. In the CO2 challenge, participants were asked to breathe enriched air for eight minutes that contained 7.5% CO2 for. Subjective anxiety was assessed every two minutes during a baseline, CO2 inhalation, and recovery period using the subjective units of distress scale (SUDS). The Screaming Lady task was designed to assess a fear-potentiated startle response. Participants were exposed to a classical conditioning paradigm in which loud screams were paired with images of a woman’s face. Air puffs delivered to the forehead were used to induce a startle response, and participants were unaware of when either stimulus (scream or air puff) would be administered. A SUDS rating was taking before the Screaming Lady task began, after the acquisition period, and after the extinction period. Based on previous research, it has been shown that sustained inhalation of CO2 can trigger physical symptoms similar to those experienced during a panic attack (Blue, 2014). In the current study, the CO2 and Screaming Lady tasks were also administered one after the other though the order of what came first was randomized. It is hypothesized that the anxiety generated by the CO2 task could lead to greater distress and anxiety during the Screaming Lady task. This would be demonstrated by higher SUDS ratings during the Screaming Lady task by those who did the CO2 task first. The data was divided in two parts: one in which the carbon dioxide task was performed before the screaming lady task and one in which the screaming lady task was performed first. The SUDS ratings will be used to examine if indeed such an order effect exists for these tasks, and these analyses will be used to inform study procedures in the future.