All Abstracts

Midwifery and birthing practices are topics that have been thoroughly discussed in the history of medicine. Less known is the story of the Southern Black midwife. Their role is often marginalized, even ignored, in the literature. Through the analysis of primary accounts of midwives and those who sup...

Using an intellectual property and human rights frame, this paper explores the global performance of the haka, a traditional and complex dance of the Māori people of New Zealand. My questions are: Does the use of haka by non-Māori constitute appropriation of the Māori culture, and if so, how? Is ...

It is common to find differential rates of methylation among various cancers. Previous studies suggest that exposure to organochlorines, a major component of pesticides, leads to differential methylation, and thus ultimately plays a role in the development of cancers. Previous analysis has shown tha...

Biofilm formation (BF), the aggregation of bacteria encased in an extracellular matrix, is an emerging scientific and health concern in many environments including hospitals, infrastructures, and industrial production sites. Pathogenic Neisseria species, N. meningitidis and N. gonorrhoeae, form biof...

Through the course of this research, we utilized the geometric mean to discover how it differs from the arithmetic mean. The geometric mean is found by taking the n-th root of the product of n numbers. The geometric mean can be used to determine growth rates, portfolio returns, and stock indices. ...

When sexual assaults occur, individuals who learn of the event may develop victim-blaming attitudes in which they attribute more guilt to the survivor than the perpetrator (Kelley, 1967). Previous research shows that complex factors like race, attitudes about rape, and endorsement of sexual stereoty...

Misinformation, or information initially accepted as fact until later corrected or retracted, can persist in memory and influence subsequent inferences and judgments. This phenomenon of continued reliance on false information is known as the continued influence effect (CIE). Previous research has in...

According to the Center of Disease Control, there were over 1,500,00 cases of chlamydia reported in the United States in 2016. Is this figure in line with the recent past or does it represent a rise on the incidence chlamydia? This project's aim is to look at the trend of chlamydia rates within the ...

Home interiors often allude to who inhabits them. Black home interiors include visual references as to the worldly understanding of its inhabitants. The walls are adorned with pictures and objects that seemingly constitute a black aesthetic and represent the materiality of black interiority. Focusin...

The field of cellular reprogramming has the potential open avenues for disease modeling and personalized medicine. Many protocols have been developed to differentiate embryonic stem cells or induced pluripotent stem cells into neurons, but a simple and efficient method for creating matured neurons i...

In 1981, the first case of AIDS was reported in the United States. Since then, over 700,000 cases of AIDS, and over 1.1 million cases of HIV been reported. Compared to other races/ethnicities, Blacks/African Americans account for a higher proportion of new HIV diagnoses, of those living with HIV, an...

Most angiosperms have nuclear endosperm, which consist of an initial syncytial phase and a cellularization phase. Before endosperm is fully cellularized, the embryo growth rate is relatively slow. Our work indicates that the expression of an Invertase inhibitor (InvINH1) during the syncytial phase c...

Mobile technology can be utilized both to encourage and to distract students from educational pursuits. This project examines cell-phone based learning methods in undergraduate chemistry classrooms. It is hypothesized that the use of cell phone applications and services stimulates learning in chemis...

The performing arts often fail to reflect the technologically advanced society we live in. Scientists and engineers rarely collaborate with the performing arts. In an attempt to encourage this collaboration, we have created wearable technology, programmed in concordance with the music and choreograp...

Economic prosperity, a better quality of life, and a hopeful future are key aspects that migrant individuals seek when coming to the United States. These migrants often send money back to their native countries in hopes of improving the lives of their families. Research has shown that migrant remitt...

Spring of 2011 brought the ban of the burqa (face covering-veil) in public spaces in France. The French government stressed that the law was implemented for security purposes, to help combat terrorism and promote homogenous attire for people in France. Others interpreted the ban as an attack against...

Ruby Hurley's moral agency in the NAACP consisted of advocacy for civil rights, increasing the orgainzation's membership, public speaking on race issues, and investigating racial incidents. As a Black woman serving as the Southeastern Regional Director for the NAACP from 1951 until 1978, Ruby Hurley...

For decades HIV and AIDS have remained a public health problem for the United States and many other countries. While great progress has been made in preventing and treating HIV, there is still much to do. Considering that the HIV virus can lead to Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) if not tr...

As of 2015, there are 29 independent nations where French is an official language, also known as francophone countries. Francophone countries are in five of the seven continents including Africa, America, Asia, Europe and Oceania. Out of the 29 francophone countries, only 3 of them are in the top 10...

Prostate cancer (PCa) is one of the most frequently diagnosed malignancies among men worldwide and the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States. In many cases, PCa develops slowly, but it can be more aggressive and metastasize to other parts of the body. Our recent studies ...

Sports documentaries offer an opportunity to see just how much race matters in America. In the past thirty years, there has been a significant rise in the production of sports documentaries as athletes have become world-wide celebrities. Within a number of these documentaries a specific narrative ha...

Blood-feeding is a trait that has evolved multiple times within flies (Diptera). The goal of this study is to compare gene expression between two blood-feeding flies, the blow-fly Protocalliphora sailia and mosquitos to identify conserved genes related to blood-feeding. This is interesting because t...

Factors pertaining to a child’s home environment, such as income, can impact learning outcomes. One outcome that has been found to be affected by a child’s family income is reading ability. Previous literature suggests that children's ability to read in primary school is linked to cognitive deve...

The works of Fabiola Jean-Louis, a contemporary artist and photographer, reflect a style that is historical, haunting, magical, and mysterious. Focusing on her “Madame Leroy,” this presentation highlights Jean-Louis’s recourse to history and fashion as vehicles for interpretation of the treatm...

Pathogenic Neisseria, N. meningitidis and N. gonorrhoeae that respectively cause meningitis and gonorrhea, form biofilms in vivo, and while in these structures, display increased resistance to antibiotics, compromising treatment. Biofilm formations (BF) are aggregates of microorganisms encased in an...

Previous research indicates that executive functioning, the ability to manipulate information through the use of focused attention, is an important predictor of math achievement. Some studies report that the direct effects of executive functioning seem especially strong for mathematics. The present ...

In the United States, household debt is often examined in relation to household spending, with minimal consideration for how other factors contribute to the likelihood of individuals incurring debt over their lifetime. Through an OLS regression analysis of cross-sectional data from the Panel Study o...

Tetrahydrobenzoxepines are seven-membered heterocyclic rings that are found in a variety of natural products and biologically active substances such as Forbaglin, a potent anticancer agent derivative. This project targets the synthesis of tetrahydrobenzoxepines from donor acceptor nitrocyclopropanes...

Neisseria meningitidis, an agent of bacterial meningitis, is carried by 70% of the healthy population, where it forms biofilms in the human oral and nasopharynx. A biofilm is an aggregate of surface-associated bacteria enclosed in an extracellular polymeric substance matrix, often associated with in...

In 1202, Fibonacci, an Italian mathematician, created a mathematical sequence to model the reproduction of rabbits. Fibonacci used his sequence to explore patterns found in multiple areas outside of mathematics such as: nature, art, and architecture. Additionally, the Fibonacci sequence can be found...