Undergraduate Research Posters 2017

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  Decreasing Stress Levels through Animal Interaction

  Cyna Abid

  The purpose of this qualitative study is to examine college students' feelings after playing with a support dog during a stressful time such as midterm exams and final exams. The goal of the research is to determine how effective the students perceive playing with pets has on decreasing their stress levels during stressful times. The reason this study is being conducted is to focus on the students' experiences and the thoughts and feelings that are occurring within themselves personally during the interaction with the dogs. It is based on their ... Read More

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  Exploration of Nanomaterials-based electrochemical sensors for peroxynitrite detection

  Ousama Al-Mahmoud and Haitham Kalil

  Peroxynitrite (PON, ONOO-) plays an essential role in several cardiovascular dysfunctions and other diseases triggered by oxidative stress. The precise detection of this analyte in biological systems is of paramount importance not only to understand the genesis and development of diseases, but also to design and assess efficient therapies. We fabricated highly sensitive and selective electrochemical sensors based on transition metal-decorated graphene nanocomposites as catalytic interfaces for peroxynitrite quantification. The interfaces of metal-decorated graphene nanostructures were immobilized on carbon electrodes by electro-grafting, electro- depositing, and drop-casting techniques. The morphology and ... Read More

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  P2: DIFFERENTIAL EFFECTS OF ADJACENT-LETTER AND OPEN FLANKING BIGRAMS ON LEXICAL DECISION PERFORMANCE

  Lea G. Araya and Nicole M. Russo

  Some models of word identification hypotheses units responsive to bigrams—letter pairs—that may not be adjacent in a letter-string stimulus. Grainger, Mathot, and Vitu (2014) and Palinski (2016) found, for words, responding was more efficient when flanking bigrams contained target-string letters than when they did not. They also found that responding was more efficient when flanking bigrams contained letters ordered as in the target than switched but whether flanking bigrams were ordered as in the target did not affect performance. Palinski (2016) replicated the results of Grainger et al. (2014) and ... Read More

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  An Investigation into the Effectiveness of Brief Guided Meditation

  Karen Barrientos, Samantha Butterbaugh, Nicholas Chambers, Jamie VanDewerker, and Jessica White

  Meditation has many benefits for reducing stress and anxiety, by inducing a relaxation response. It is unclear how guided meditation compares to other forms of relaxation. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to determine if a guided meditation mp3 is as effective as other methods of relaxation. METHODS: Skin conductance and breaths per minute were measured on 30 male and female adults while reading, meditating, and watching a video, each on three different occasions. Prior to the study each participant rated their psychological state of being using questionnaire styled ... Read More

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  Cardiorespiratory Responses and Gender Differences Between Exercising on the Simply Fit Board and the Ab Rocket Twister

  Karen Barrientos, Samantha Butterbaugh, Nicholas Chambers, Jamie VanDewerker, and Jessica White

  One of the biggest problems in fitness is finding a workout method that is effective yet enjoyable. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to compare the Simply Fit Board and Ab Rocket Twister across genders and ultimately to determine which product is more enjoyable. METHODS: Heart rate, Rate of Perceived Exertion, ventilation, oxygen consumption, and total kilocalories were all measured on 21 males and 20 females while using the Simply Fit Board and Ab Rocket Twister for 10 minutes at 75% of their age predicted maximal heart rates. At ... Read More

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  Go Skate!: The Physiological Responses and Perception of Training on Inline Skates

  Karen Barrientos, Samantha Butterbaugh, Nicholas Chambers, Jamie VanDewerker, and Jessica White

  It is unclear how inline skate training affects the performance and enjoyment of other modes of exercises. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to determine if inline skating is an effective and enjoyable alternative method of exercise when compared to running and using the elliptical. METHODS: Each participant's functional movement, body composition, and efficiency in running, skating, and using the elliptical was assessed before and after the skate training program at 80% of each participant's age-predicted heart rate. The skate training program consisted of three 45-minute training sessions for ... Read More

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  P2: Reconciling Linear Measurements of Fractal Cloud Structures

  Nicholas Barron

  Clouds are a large unknown in meteorological predictions. Most of the issue can be derived from the odd shape of clouds. So, in order to correct the measurements of clouds, a thorough investigation of fractal cloud structures must be performed. Using the results from this study, a reconciliation method can then be constructed and applied to linear measurements of clouds.

  ... Read More
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  P1: Can't Shake the Blues: Do Worry and Attention Flexibility Enervate Cognitive Emotion Regulation Outcomes

  Evan Basting

  Depression is a mood disorder that is characterized by enduring feelings of sadness that are often accompanied by psychovegetative symptoms and attentional deficits that result in functional impairment. Depression is often hallmarked by biased attention towards negative information that once activated, remains in depressed persons conscious awareness. Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) often co-occurs with depression, and is also characterized by enduring negative information processing in the form of worry that consumes a significant amount of an individual's thought processes. Both disorders are marked by emotion regulation deficits in the form ... Read More

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  Validating The Rate of Perceived Stability Scale To Gauge Balance Training Difficulty

  Lorenzo Bianco and Preston Groft

  An effective way of measuring balance training difficulty is needed to properly conduct balance training. The instructor must ensure that the subject is partaking in the proper balance training difficulty. If the difficulty of the training is too hard, the subject may be at higher risk for injury. If the difficulty is too low, the subject may not receive all the benefits of the program. The purpose of the research study was to validate the Rate of Perceived Stability (RPS) scale. We recruited 25 subjects over the age of 50. ... Read More

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  Heritage Language and Culture: The Cleveland Slovenian Experience

  Kristen Burns, Lacey DiFranco, Sam Paskert, Joe Peal, and Dallas Turner

  Slovenians have played an important role in the history of Cleveland. From their origins being centered around St. Clair Avenue to their more dispersed state today, Cleveland is home to the largest population of Slovenians outside of Slovenia itself. Our study sought to explore the differences and similarities between native and heritage Slovenians. For data collection we used the picture word recognition test, sentence acceptability judgements test, and the cultural questionnaire. We designed these tests to study the Slovenian Clevelander community and shed on the understudied subjects of “heritage linguistics” ... Read More

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  P2: Implementation of groove based designs for engineering fluid flow in micromixers

  Tahir Butt

  Mixing on microscale is important for the development of miniaturized chemical reactors that use small quantities of reactants and allow better control over the reaction conditions and products. Nevertheless, achieving rapid mixing in this type of micro-reactors is challenging due to the lack of turbulence and slow diffusion on the microscale. In this work we implement micromixers designs based on surface groove/ridge patterns targeted at inducing cross-sectional flows that both extend the interface between the different reactants, as well as induce chaotic advection. We discuss the fabrication of these structures ... Read More

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  P3: What Determines the Shape of a Cloud?

  William Calabrase

  Current climate models and weather forecasts suffer due to an uncertainty associated with the behavior of clouds, which directly impact the energy exchange between the earth and the Sun. This impact is determined in part by the shape of the clouds, thereby making the study of what affects cloud shape an area of interest. To characterize the shape of cumulus clouds we study the behavior of the cloud overlap ratio, or the ratio between the average cloud fraction and projected cloud cover. In this study, we used a high resolution ... Read More

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  P1: Using Modified Dean Flow designs to Increase Mixing Performance

  Joshua Clark

  We are using numerical solutions for the Navier-Stokes equations and the concentration - diffusion equation to model fluid flow and reactant distribution in serpentine type channels for micromixers/microreactors development. These mixers exploit centripetal forces on the fluid to induce cross-sectional fluid mixing, aka Dean flows. Various modifications are used to increase the mixing character of these crosssectional flows. We found that the performance of these mixers exceeds that of unmodified channels and we currently assess their performance relative to other state of the art methodologies used to induce mixing on ... Read More

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  Purification and Crystallization Trials of the Dihydroorotase from Methanococcus jannaschii

  Amy K. Dadisman

  Dihydroorotase is the enzyme that catalyzes the third step of the de novo biosynthesis of pyrimidines. M. jannaschii is a hyperthermophillic archaeon that can serve as a model organism for research purposes. This experiment is a first step toward elucidating the structure of the dihydroorotase in M. jannaschii. The enzyme was purified by salting out and heating the solution and then putting the supernatant through cation exchange chromatography and hydrophobic interaction chromatography. Twenty-four conditions were tested to determine if a crystal of dihydroorotase could be formed. Two of these conditions ... Read More

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  Moving multi-directional harnessed balance training from the clinic to the community: harnesses in a community garden

  John DeMarco and Hannah Simon

  Individuals such as the elderly and disabled frequently have trouble balancing, and therefore have a higher fall risk. A fear of falling can significantly impact mobility, thereby limiting participation in life activities. Balance training programs are often ineffective, because they are not intense enough or related to real life. Our lab has developed a clinic-based intense, engaging multi-directional harnessed balance training program that addresses these concerns. This work describes the process of transitioning the clinic-based training program into a community setting, specifically community gardening. We developed a harness system for ... Read More

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  Morphological study and biochemical characterization of the Alveolate flagellate Colpodella sp. (Apicomplexa) in a diprotist culture with Bodo caudatus

  Lauren Dulik and Raghavendra Yadavalli

  Plasmodium falciparum, the causative agent of severe human malaria shares the presence of apical complex organelles with the free-living predatory alveolate, Colpodella sp. In this study we investigated morphological, biochemical and molecular characteristics of Colpodella sp. in a diprotist culture containing Bodo caudatus as prey. Colpodella attaches to its prey using the apical end. Attachment lasted for approximately 20 minutes while the cytoplasmic contents of the prey were aspirated into the posterior food vacuole of Colpodella in a process known as myzocytosis. Indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA) using P. falciparum rhoptry ... Read More

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  Effects of Task Requirements on Choice of Upper Extremity Use in Subjects Chronic Post-stroke

  Trevor Foster, Andrea Matanovic, and Amanda Videmsek

  Purpose: To explore how task requirements influence reaching in people post-stroke. Subjects: Eleven subjects chronic post-stroke with mild to moderate stroke severity Methods: Participants performed sitting reaching tasks under six conditions: object size (small or large), object location (Right or Left) and speed (slow or fast). Subjects were not instructed how to reach. The number of hands used, arm choice (paretic (P) or nonparetic (NP)), and if they reached contralaterally were recorded. Qualitative self-efficacy data was also collected. Data Analysis: A general estimating equation model was used to calculate odds ... Read More

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  Cultural Exchange – The Creative Fusion of Cuban and Cleveland Artists

  Anne Gaeckle, Katie Parchem, Uliana Spiridinova, Rachel Torowski, and Eric Kish

  In Summer 2017, as part of The Cleveland Foundation's Creative Fusion Project, in partnership with DANCECleveland, the acclaimed Cuban dance company Malpaso visited Cleveland to perform and be the featured guest artists for the CSU Summer Dance Workshop. This project's purpose was to investigate, assimilate, and participate in the Cuban Contemporary technique class with Malpaso providing a unique opportunity for CSU dance students to experience the Cuban technique of modern dance, a fusion of North American Modern Dance, European ballet, and traditional Afro-Cuban dances and rhythms. The CSU dancers and ... Read More

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  Introducing delays between two lateral line stimuli alters choices by African clawed toads

  Kevin Goth and Austin Schaffer

  African clawed toads (Xenopus laevis) use their lateral line system to detect prey. The African clawed frog can determine the distance of the origin of a surface wave. This allows the frog to differentiate which stimulus is more important for prey capture. The African clawed toads were put into a glass basin which was filled with water. Above the water basin are four rods that are controlled through a computer program which allow the rods to touch the surface of the water. After recording, each frame was examined in the ... Read More

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  Development and Verification of a Mechanical Loading Device for Microfluidics

  Stefan Habean and Erin Tesny

  Establishing the role that mechanics play in nerve cell (e.g. neurons) function requires experimental testing. Microfluidic based experiments are commonly used to study neuron growth and function, and studies have found mechanics to play an important role in neuron health. External loads can be applied to a microfluidic device using a motor, which presumably influences the mechanical environment of the cells. While a motor can easily apply known displacements, a “load cell” is necessary to measure corresponding forces. In an existing prototype microfluidic loading device, a load cell was integrated ... Read More

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  The Stokes Brothers: The Advent of Black Political Power in America

  Ma'Taya Hammond

  Beginning in January of 2017, I conducted research alongside my mentor, Dr. Ronnie Dunn, commemorating the 50-year anniversary of Carl Stokes election as the first African-American mayor of a major US city, and his brother Louis, as the first African-American congressman from the state of Ohio. Our research and the commemoration focused on the political, civil rights, and public policy initiatives and contributions of the Stokes brothers. Our research concentrated specifically on policing during the late 1960's, a period in which many social commentators suggest mirror the racial tensions of ... Read More

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  P2: Image Analysis and Quantification of 3D Cancer Cell Migration

  Stephen Hong and Alexander Roth

  Metastatic tumors are known for their ability to migrate toward circulatory apparatus and detach from the primary tumor. Generally, metastasis is quantified in vitro using migration assays that are normally measured in two dimensions (2D). Threedimensional (3D) migration assays can better mimic cancers by providing similar microenvironments to those observed in vivo. Imaging 3D cell cultures requires multiple 2D images stacked along a Z-axis; however, imaged cells would be in-focus at varied z-positions at different time points due to the characteristics of cell migration. Our goal in this study was ... Read More

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  Methods to Increase Efficacy of Pro-Active Balance Training Among Older Adults

  Angelica Sierra Houston

  In the health care field, doctors and researchers rely on objective information to make conclusions about a person's health. However, concepts such as pain and balance rely on subjective information to properly assist a patient. The key innovations regarding the assessment of pain began in 1939, starting as a list of 44 words sorted into five groups. Now, the pain scale comes in many forms, from a numeric score ranging 0-10 (Numeric Rating scale or NRS), to a scale of faces with appropriate descriptors with it (Visual analog scale, or ... Read More

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  African Clawed Toads Response to the Distance Choice of Lateral Line Stimuli

  Casey Iyasere

  African Clawed Toads are a model organism for research on sensory integration due to their lateral line system that allows them to sense water movement. This study further investigates the choices made by toads when presented with two lateral line stimuli in the form of surface waves. When such stimuli are initiated simultaneously, toads tend to turn towards the more rostral stimulus or the nearer stimulus, waves from which arrive first. We introduced a delay between stimuli to allow the waves from the farther stimulus to arrive first. Toads were ... Read More

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  RNase L mediates the insulin signalling pathway

  Oroshay Kaiwan and Danting Liu

  Diabetes is characterized by hyperglycemia mainly due to defect in insulin secretion and/or action. Regulation of glucose transport and use by insulin is central to the maintenance of whole-body glucose homeostasis. One of the potential mechanisms associated with insulin sensitivity is the activation of insulin receptor (IR) and subsequently transduces the signal through phosphorylation of insulin receptor substrate1 (IRS1) and activation of the PI-3K/Akt pathway. RNase L, an interferon (IFN)-inducible enzyme, plays an important role in IFN functions against viral infection and cell proliferation. However, a direct link between RNase ... Read More