All Abstracts

Myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs) are a group of bone marrow derived leukemia’s defined by overproduction of one or more myeloid blood cell lineages. MPNs contain genetic alterations which “clonally emerge” or arise as the disease progresses, resulting in a mixed pool of different clones. This makes identification of mutational hierarchy an...

According to a 2017 Atlanta Journal Consitution article, "The Atlanta area is the 9th largest statistical area in the country. The region grew by 1.6% from 2015-2016..." This project examines the impact of that growth on the environment. The results of the a previous project showed that urbanization of the Metropolitian Atlanta area has led to defo...

This study examines the role of biomedical informatics in the development of vaccines. The American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) defines biomedical informatics as an "interdisciplinary field that studies and pursues the effective uses of biomedical data, information, and knowledge for scientific inquiry, problem solving, and decision maki...

Tutoring programs yield positive academic outcomes for diverse students (Gordon, Downey, & Bangert 2013). This mixed methods project examines the effectiveness of tutoring programs on low-income and minority middle school student’s perceptions and achievement. The case study is a STEM tutoring program, which utilizes minority instructors. Par...

Ovarian cancer is the leading cause of death from gynecological cancers in the United States. High grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSOC) histotype accounts for 70% of all the diagnoses. This histotype is the most deadly because it is found in the later stages because symptoms are very general and there are no screening methods. Research has shown tha...

On nearly every surface and inside almost every organism, there are millions of tiny microbes that are invisible to the naked eye. Some of these microbes, known as symbionts, live in symbiosis or within other organisms. These tiny microbes include bacteria, fungi, and viruses. Honeybees (Apis mellifera), like most insects, host symbionts in their g...

This project examines the ancient Chinese courtesans of the Qing Dynasty. Courtesans are women who are professionally trained in the arts of music, dance, poetry, painting, etc. Chinese courtesans were highly respected entertainers of their time. The highly esteemed women usually entertained men of high status, often becoming their mistresses or co...

I will contextualize my thesis collection within the literature on psycholigical responses to color, specifically the impact of color on mood. Psychological responses should not be confused with emotional responses or color symbolism. Color, along with sound and light, can be used in art as a vehicle to explore the relationship between cause and ef...

Phenology is the study of seasonal natural phenomena. Leaf-out is the specific time a tree’s leaves bud. Shifts in climate change can impact leaf-out timing and other ecological aspects. Instability within the ecosystem can cause issues for other organisms. It is believed that climate change can directly affect leaf-out times because many plant s...

Cochliopodium species are difficult to identify based on morphological characters due to cryptic diversity. Recent molecular analyses (DNA sequence data) of barcoding markers such as COI have begun to reveal the true diversity of this genus. We present morphological (light microscope) and molecular data (COI) for two new Cochliopodium species, comm...

Environmental Justice (EJ) highlights the unbalanced exposure to environmental hazards vs environmental amenities or benefits. It is important to include social and economic issues in environmental research. In this project, spatial accessibility measured by GIS is used as an indicator of environmental inequities for all counties of Georgia. EJ is ...

Beauty and Reason is a collection of seven mixed-media sculptures in the form of a uterus. I use the form of the uterus because of the theme of my work is women.Each uterus has its own theme and thought-provoking imagery about the decisions we make in our daily lives to achieve our desires. The work reflects on personal and societal ideas...

Informed by conflict theory, Kimberlé Crenshaw’s concept of intersectionality, Peggy McIntosh’s theory of White Privilege, W.E.B. DuBois' notion of double-conciousness and William Cross’ model of racial identity development, this qualitative and quantitative research project seeks to investigate how boarding schools in the American South inf...

Reproductive justice, a term coined by Loretta Ross, means the right for women not to have children, and the right for women to have children. Inspired by Loretta Ross’ term, I will examine how women’s right to have children may be violated. In my study, I center black women with infertility in the United States and compare their rates of infer...

Neisseria gonorrhoeae, a pathogenic sexually-transmitted bacterium, is becoming untreatable due to increased antibiotic resistance (AR). Related commensal Neisseria bacteria are non-pathogenic and are often found in the human oral and nasopharynx, but they are rarely studied. We seek (1) to characterize the intrinsic antibiotic resistance (AR) prof...

Recently, Community Mental Health initiatives have been brought to the forefront due to China’s government health policies lagging on the professionalism, normalization, and effectiveness of mental health programs. The purpose of this study is to examine the current state of China’s Mental Health Reform with a focus on its impact on younger gen...

This research paper investigates the growing relationship between Africa and China. Although some of the West’s fears about the possibility of a Chinese imperialistic presence in Africa are well founded, many of them are influenced by Western paranoia and economic interests. This study reviews and analyzes current research on China’s Africa str...

It is known that plants have antibiotic resistance genes, which suggests that plants are exposed to antibiotics. Various microorganisms are found in soil including among those closely associated with plant roots. However, their ability to produce antibiotics has not been examined. We analyzed plant associated metagenomes for the presence of antibio...

Significantly high racial disparities in preterm birth rates exist between White and Black women, even when accounting for socioeconomic status and known risk factors. One potential explanation is epigenetics. Differentially methylated genes in Black women who had given birth prematurely have been identified. It was to be determined if the differen...

Reconiliation is an integral element in social relationships.  The purpose of this naturalistic observational study was to determine whether green monkeys (Chlorocebus sabaeus) engae in reconciliatory behavior. Focal data were collected on a group of free-ranging green monkeys in the Barbados Wildlife Reserve. There were 7 adult females and 2 ...

The study examines the emotional consequences of witnessing a coworker’s negative behavior in a multiracial work setting. Black female undergraduates read a scenario in which they imagined themselves as an African-American woman named Amanda who is at a training session for a new job. During a break, Amanda converses with two previously unacqua...

The US has been the world leader in incarceration rates for more than four decades and continues to populate prisons with more inmates each year. As sentencing laws have become harsher and more extensive, the prison population has reached unprecedented heights with no foresight of future decline. The rise in incarceration is accompanied with rising...

Within the “Talented Tenth,” Du Bois explores the means through which issues of racism, classism, and other systems/institutions of power can be effectively addressed. Du Bois argues that it is through the cultivation and sustainment of those deemed as the top ten percent most capable and gifted individuals within the black community that the N...

Black women are often underrepresented and marginalized in the workplace. Black women often deal with the double edged sword of both their race and gender, which can impact their work and their ability to move up the corporate ladder. There are currently no black women CEOs among the Fortune 500 companies, while there are four black men and thirty ...

Under ambient light and in normal cells, protection against apoptosis, namely cytoprotection, is mediated by nitric oxide induced (NO-induced) elevations in cGMP, which activate cGMP-dependent protein kinase I (PKGI) isozymes. PKGI phosphorylates BAD, preventing it from binding BCL-XL, thus leading to decreased apoptosis. Thus, if NO stimulates ant...

This project explores the differences between education systems in China and the  United States, including each system's advantages and disadvantages. The materials used to carry out this study include news articles and websites. By focusing on students' daily lives, I will show how and why there are faults and strengths in both countries' edu...

Spectroscopy is used to investigate how matter, such as atoms and molecules, interacts with light. Spectroscopy is also one of the most effective ways to study the behavior and structure of molecules. Conventional spectroscopy is able to gather information for most simple molecules. However, some molecules are difficult to analyze using conventiona...

Dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (DDE) is classified as a persistent organic pollutant that is a breakdown product of DDT. DDE is a highly fat-soluble compound that accumulates in the fatty tissues of insects, wildlife, and humans, particularly in adipose and brain tissues. In previous studies the genes TERT and HCK were found to be differentially ...

There is much misunderstanding about the evolutionary narrative of Amoebozoa. The phylogeny of amoeba has been understudied due to their complex life cycle.  Amoebozoa often switch from an active stage of amoeba in the trophozoite form to an inactive cyst stage. The amoeba examined in this study is an unknown freshwater amoeba designated the n...

Both male and female red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum, have a high mating rate. Male beetles demonstrate clear pre-copulatory mate choice. Males prefer mature females over callow females, virgin females over previously mated females, and younger females over older females. We hypothesize that male choice is affected by the environment and test...