100
The Impact of Challenge and Hindrance Demands on Multi-faceted Salesperson Burnout
Lucy Matthews, Faculty, Marketing; Brian Rutherford, Non-MTSU university faculty
collaborator, Marketing
This study seeks to expand the existing body of knowledge as it relates to the antecedents
of salesperson burnout rather than the extant research focus on the impact to sales job
outcomes. Drawing on transactional theories of stress, employees can perceive job
demands as either a challenge or a hindrance. This study examines how the demands
associated with the stages of the customer relationship management (CRM) process
(customer selection, prioritization, solution selling and termination) are interpreted by the
salesperson as either challenge or hindrance demands on the job. Additionally, the
variety and level of skills required to perform the job are considered.
The results indicate that the initial stages of the CRM process (not termination) are
viewed as challenge demands and have a positive impact on salesperson personal
accomplishment. Additionally, task variety and high levels of skill and creativity on the
job (skill discrepancy) also play a positive role in increasing personal accomplishment
and ultimately increase salesperson job satisfaction. On the other hand, the stages of the
CRM process can be viewed as a hindrance which increases depersonalization and
decreases personal accomplishment. Although depersonalization and personal
accomplishments have a significant relationship with emotional exhaustion, the impact
from depersonalization is much greater. Ultimately, the negative impact of emotional
exhaustion on job satisfaction is comparable to the positive impact of personal
accomplishment to job satisfaction. This study provides valuable insight about how the
customer selection, prioritization and solution selling stages of the CRM process can be
viewed as a challenge to the salesperson, ultimately having a positive impact. However,
all the stages can be viewed as a hindrance demand. By adding creativity and variety to
the job, managers can help alleviate the salesperson’s feeling of accomplishment and
ultimately helping to offset the impact of emotional exhaustion on job satisfaction.
101
Inferred Paleozoic Reactivation of Precambrian Basement Faults within the Nashville
Dome, central Tennessee
Mark Abolins, Faculty, Geosciences; Shaunna Young, High school teacher; Joe Camacho,
Graduate student, Geosciences; Mark Trexler, Industry collaborator; Alex Ward,
Graduate student, Geosciences; Amber Han, High school teacher; Jonathan Flores,
Undergraduate student, Geosciences; Matt Cooley, Industry collaborator
The investigators examined a largely aseismic area on the Nashville dome where no
macroscale faults appear on published geologic and geophysical maps. To search for
folds related to inactive subsurface faults, they scanned and georeferenced 7.5 min.
quadrangle maps, digitized contacts between Ordovician formations, and used the
National Elevation Dataset (NED) to assign elevations to points on these contacts.
Elevation variations and field investigations of mesoscale structures revealed six
synclines interpreted by the investigators as having formed through the movement of
subsurface normal faults. These inferred faults are approx. 1.0-16.3 km long and displace
strata by 9-31 m down dip based on structural relief and assumed dips of 60º. As would
be expected for faults, displacement (d) increases with length (L): d=10-2.5L with r2=0.86.
The investigators think these faults are Precambrian basement structures which
reactivated when the lithosphere flexed during Paleozoic orogenic loading of the
Laurentian margin.
102
Are Bilateral and Multilateral Aid for Trade Complementary? Accounts from Africa
Bichaka Fayissa, Faculty, Economics and Finance; Bedassa Tadesse, Faculty,
Department of Economics, University of Minnesota-Duluth; Elias Shukralla, Faculty,
Department of Finance and Economics, Qatar University
We examine the impact of aid for trade (AFT) on bilateral trade costs of African Nations.
Using a comprehensive bilateral trade cost data from Arvis et al. (2013) and focusing on
AFT recipients in Africa spanning the years 2002-2010, we show that increased AFT
reduces bilateral trading costs, more so for the recipient’s trade with each other than
recipients’ trade with their donors. Despite differences in the magnitudes of the observed
effects across recipients and the economic sectors considered, the trade costs reduction
effect of AFT from bilateral and multilateral sources rises with increases in the amount of
AFT from either sources, indicating complementarity in the effects.
103
Remote Sensing of Agricultural Crops in Argentina Using UAS Technology
Tony Johnston, Faculty, Agribusiness and Agriscience; Douglas Campbell, Faculty,
Aerospace
Remote sensing of agricultural crops, prior to the development of UAS technologies, was
limited to aircraft flying at altitudes above 500 feet and satellite systems. UAS systems
provide opportunities to fly at significantly slower speeds and closer to the ground.
Implementing UAS technologies in agriculture is at the cutting edge of agricultural
development today and is revolutionizing how we approach crop assessment. US law
and FAA regulations have lagged behind the development and availability of UAS
systems, but the laws in certain other countries currently allow for the use of UAS
systems. In the meantime the development of multispectral cameras and other
specialized equipment designed to be flown on UAS systems has dramatically advanced.
This poster discusses the pros and cons of UAS technology use in Agriculture and the
educational value of exposing both Agriculture and Aerospace students to them,
especially in a study abroad environment.
104
Energy Harvesting Materials and Devices Laboratories and Instructional Facility
Vishwas Bedekar, Faculty, Engineering Technology
Recent advancements in the field of wireless sensor networks have resulted in increasing
demand for self-powering techniques that reduces the dependence on batteries. In order
to address this problem, there has been significant effort on generating small electrical
power locally by harvesting energy from freely available environmental sources such as
mechanical vibrations, wind, and stray magnetic field. Further, there is need for inventing
new sensing techniques to reduce the overall power consumption. The road for reaching
the destination of self-powered sensor networks requires cooperative progress in
reduction in sensor power consumption by developing new sensing mechanisms and local
generation of power by developing high efficiency energy harvesters. In this talk,
vibration energy harvesting using multiple mechanisms will be discussed along with
magnetoelectric and piezoelectric sensors.
105
Civic Engagement as Experiential Learning in a General Education Course
Melicent Homan, Faculty, Communication Studies and Organizational Communication;
Jennifer Jackson, Non-MTSU university faculty collaborator, Communication Studies
and Organizational Communication
Strategies for capturing and sustaining student interest and intellectual growth is
examined in this research study to address the problem of low student engagement. This
IRB approved project explores whether or not significant differences in learning persist
with student exposure to meaningful civic learning opportunities in a general education
course. Learning improvement is expected in demographic categories of race and gender.
The research employs a survey pretest that gauges student knowledge and engagement
before exposure to a First Amendment student driven research project and presentation,
and posttest upon completion of the presentation. Experimental and control groups are
organized in a quasi-experimental setting where N=442.
Grounding the research concept is Saltmarsh, Janke, and Clayton’s (2015) definition of
civic engagement as a process that encapsulates service and experiential learning in
higher education toward institutional campus engagement with a democratic emphasis. A
First Amendment news and policy application for students in the experimental group is
intended to engage social and emotional needs and access cognitive structures. The
research definition of social and emotional learning and its application to developing
cognitive structures is guided by Elias et al (1997) in Promoting Social and Emotional
Learning.
106
The Mendelian Monohybrid Cross: An Animated Film
Kevin McNulty, Faculty, Electronic Media Communication; Bruce Cahoon, Non-MTSU
university faculty collaborator, Biology
Bruce Cahoon, formerly of the MTSU Biology Department, and Animation professor,
Kevin McNulty, collaborated to create an animated short film explaining the basic
patterns of inheritance collectively known as “Mendelian” or “Transmission” genetics.
This is just the first of a potential series of animated shorts. This film focuses on and
illustrates the Mendelian Monohybrid Cross. https://vimeo.com/137758717
The intent is to make this film and potentially other films freely accessible through the
World Wide Web so they will be easily available to MTSU biology faculty and students
as well as the greater community of scholars. The intended audience is college level
students of genetics but some of the other potential films will cover basic patterns of
inheritance that will be useful to college students in introductory biology or high school
AP students and instructors. The film is designed so that more advanced students can
review an individual topic to help them with a current class or review for standardized
exams required for entrance to professional schools (e.g. MCAT, PCAT, GRE). This
film could be used by instructors to augment textbook and lecture assignments and
should help aid the pedagogical process known as classroom flipping.
Bruce Cahoon wrote and directed the film. Kevin McNulty created all the graphics and
animation as well as edited the video and mixed the sound. Graduate student Xixi Lu
recorded the narration provided by EMC faculty member, Roger Heinrich. This film was
partially funded by an Instructional Technology Development Grant co-authored by
Bruce Cahoon and Kevin McNulty.
200
How Color Affects Taste: Citrus Models
Katelyn Walls, High school student, Psychology; John Pennington (Faculty sponsor),
Psychology
Our world is filled with foods of every color imaginable, but which colors are most
appealing to our senses, and how do we judge if our food tastes good? One way
industries manipulate taste is with colors. Do you have orange juice every morning? It
may be that your brain has been conditioned to deduce an orange beverage as that same
orange juice. Perhaps there is a difference between how subjects taste citrus compared to
non-citrus. This experiment was designed to determine the individual's capability of
discerning taste based on color. Participants in this investigation include Middle
Tennessee State University’s subject pool. The experiment utilizes three store bought
brands, which include: Simply Lemonade, Simply Limeade, and Welch’s White grape
juice. Each of the beverages is artificially colored orange to mimic orange juice. I
hypothesize the participants will interpret the artificially colored citrus juice’s identity as
orange juice, while the non-citrus juice’s identity will remain the same.
201
Self-fulfilling Prophecy in Response to Horoscopes
Emma Kruse, High school student, Psychology; Nathan Smith, High school student,
Psychology; Gene Cowart (Faculty sponsor), Central Magnet School
In social media today, horoscopes are growing in popularity, especially among high
school students who are more likely to fall victim to the Barnum effect, a phenomenon in
which vague and worthless information is readily accepted. These daily predictions
dictate how one’s day will occur, according to birthdates. The advice in horoscopes can
vary among topics such as love, money, and luck, and their specific connotation. In wake
of their growing popularity and the substantial credibility that teenagers assume of them,
this study tests the effect a horoscope’s connotation has on students’ standardized test
scores as a reaction to self-fulfilling prophecy. Subjects were given vague horoscopes
with defined connotations before taking a standardized test based on their level of
schooling. The significance of these findings could not only reveal unexpected
consequences or benefits in daily horoscopes, but also widen the perspective of selffulfilling prophecy in one’s daily life. In doing so, this study more accurately defines
potential relationships between daily events and the self- fulfilling prophecy originating
from an average person’s positively or negatively connotated horoscope.
202
The Informational Conformity of Waiting Lines
Rebecca Halliburton, High school student, Psychology; Gene Cowart (Faculty sponsor),
Central Magnet School
Informational conformity is a type of social conformity that occurs in peoples’ everyday
lives. This conformity usually occurs in ambiguous social situations because one may
assume that because a group is behaving in a certain manner, that manner must be
“correct”. Sometimes people conform in this way unconsciously. This experiment was
designed to test informational conformity rates to visibly established group norms in the
form of a waiting line and the frequency of conscious thought on the matter. The test
also sought to contribute to scientific literature on the subject of possible reasons for
conformity in this situation as perceived and evaluated by the participants themselves.
The testing occurred at a large business conference in Murfreesboro, Tennessee with
approximately 70-80 adults ranging in age. A “false” line was formed at an arbitrary
point in the hotel ballroom using confederates for a short period of time, and the number
of people who joined the line or interacted with it was counted. At the end, some adults
elected to take part in an additional survey that provided complementary information to
the experiment. The data was then evaluated. The results obtained are important for the
average person who interacts with groups of people on a daily basis. Even if peoples’
perceptions of their motives for conformity are inaccurate, their interpretations could
provide valuable insight into the rationalization and acceptance of group norms.
203
The Effect of Parenting Style on Adolescent Self-Esteem
Claudia DiVincenzo, High school student, Psychology; Gene Cowart (Faculty sponsor),
Central Magnet School
A teenager’s sense of responsibility, social skills, and academic motivation is often seen
as a reflection of his or her upbringing. My research focuses on how self-esteem in
adolescents is affected by his or her parent’s style of upbringing. Information about selfesteem and parenting style was gathered using an online self-assessment that included
voluntary participants in grades 7-12. The questions were geared to assess the parenting
style of both the mother and father separately in order to better understand what types of
parenting each adolescent was exposed to. Psychologists studying child development and
parent-child relationships would be interested in my research as well as parents
wondering how their style of parenting may have affected their adolescents’ self-esteem
levels.
204
The Association of Personality Traits to the Selection of Clothing through Color and
Comfort
Margaret Stubblefield, High school student, Psychology; Gene Cowart (Faculty sponsor),
Central Magnet School
Do people pick clothing with specific colors and comfort levels based on their personality
type? Through personality typing, discovering more about people and how they relate to
others can lead to better connections. For this study, the Myers-Briggs Personality Type
was used in conjunction with surveys in order to determine its contribution to comfort
and color choice in clothing. An experiment was conducted using the Myers Briggs
Personality Type because it involves temperaments which include traits of introverts and
extroverts. Through a survey, students at Central Magnet School were asked questions
about their Myers-Briggs Personality Type and the colors they wear most often and how
important comfort is in their clothing. The study wanted to identify if participants who
are extroverted would wear warmer colors such as red, orange and yellow and rank
comfort lower than introverts, while introverts of will favor cooler colors and rate
comfort higher than extroverts.
205
Music Education and Reading Comprehension
Amelia Harrison, High school student, Psychology; Kirstin Taylor, High school student,
Psychology; Gene Cowart (Faculty sponsor), Central Magnet School
As research has progressed, neuroscientists have discovered a similarity in the way music
and language are processed; students who participate in musical activities may show
greater fluency in linguistic comprehension because of this connection. To test this theory,
we are looking for a positive correlation between ACT reading scores and musical
aptitude in high school juniors and seniors. The ACT reading test evaluates reading
comprehension skills, and the Montreal Battery of Evaluation of Amusia (MBEA)
assesses the ability to distinguish between pitches, rhythms, and meter and recall
melodies to determine musical aptitude. If significant, this research has the power to
revolutionize elementary music education.
300
Rhonda Rousey: Why a Woman Who Wins Can Never Truly Win
John Westmoreland, Undergraduate student, Political Science; Patrick Richey (Faculty
sponsor), Communication Studies and Organizational Communication
The octagon is only the beginning of Rhonda “Rowdy” Rousey’s fight in her path to
success, but more importantly, her demand for respect. Respect from her peers and fellow
fighters is as simple as a knockout in the ring, but garnering respect from a society
heavily injected with heteronormativity has proven to be a much more complex fight than
what she is usually matched up with. As recently mentioned, heteronormativity is an
ideal historically thrust onto American citizens from the day they take their first breath,
and even arguably on most people throughout the world. To praise a woman like Rhonda
Rousey for her performances in the ring, who has actively acted against typical gendernormative roles of women, is to essentially refute an important aspect of
heteronormativity. Some argue her presence in magazines and commercials replace the
very barriers she is simultaneously breaking down. A woman known for such tenacity
and ferocity posing for cameras seems to be somewhat of a “relapse” in the eyes of some.
A mere embrace, regardless of how fleeting, of her femininity polarizes her fan base and
arms critics with typical slander. While some praise her yet again for being multifaceted,
both “fierce” and “beautiful”, others condemn her for blatant disregard of her cause
through sexual objectification. The purpose of this paper is designed to critique the
rhetoric, or power more appropriately so, of heteronormativity, through the examination
of Rhonda Rousey.
301
Gun-Related Homicide in America: Why the Rates Differ From State-to-State
John Westmoreland, Undergraduate student, Political Science; Patrick Richey (Faculty
sponsor), Communication Studies and Organizational Communication
Using quantitative data from all 50 states in the United States of America, this research
project seeks to determine why the homicide rates differ state by state. Methods of
regression are utilized with the factors of income, education, firearm availability, and
firearm prevalence throughout the states in a quantitative analysis of the respective
homicide rates. Correlation coefficients are noted by measures of significance, and
discussed in terms of relevance to their effects on the homicide rates within the states.
302
Investigating the Ability of a Folate Biosynthesis Mutant to Affect Lifespan in Budding
Yeast
Muhammad Osama Ali, Undergraduate student, Biology; Muhammad Fariz Ali,
Undergraduate student, Biology; Rebecca Seipelt-Thiemann (Faculty sponsor), Biology
Folate levels have been shown to affect lifespan in the model organism, the nematode, C.
elegans. Nematodes that were either fed folate-deficient bacteria or were chemically
blocked from utilizing folate lived longer. Budding yeast, another eukaryotic model
organism, has the ability to synthesize folate. Five genes are involved in the folate
biosynthesis pathway, including the gene MIS1. The hypothesis of this study was that
yeast carrying a mutant MIS1 gene will have a significant different lifespan compared to
wildtype in growth in rich and folate deprived media. The null hypothesis was that the
MIS1 mutant strain will not differ from the wildtype strain. To test this, yeast with the
mutated gene and the wildtype yeast were aged for 6 weeks in static liquid cultures.
Samples were analyzed each successive week for their ability to support new growth.
There were significant differences when each strain was analyzed over time (i.e. as they
aged), as would be expected. However, no significant difference was observed between
the MIS1 mutant strain and wildtype grown in either folate-deficient or rich medium.
Therefore, the null hypothesis was not rejected. Therefore, this study does not support
that folate deficiency or reduction in folate levels is an appropriate mechanism for
extending chronological lifespan in budding yeast. This also provides evidence that this
life extension mechanism may not be true for all organisms, including humans.
303
Properties of an MTSU Blue Donor-pi-Acceptor Polyene Dye
John Lasseter, Undergraduate student, Chemistry; Mohammed Ali, Undergraduate
student, Chemistry; Donnan Keith, Undergraduate student, Chemistry; Eric Reinheimer,
Industry collaborator, Rigaku Americas; Andrienne Friedli, Faculty, Chemistry;
Andrienne Friedli (Faculty sponsor), Chemistry
Donor-pi-acceptor (D-pi-A) polyene dyes are model compounds for the systematic study
of nonlinear photophysical processes and are used in photoactive materials. Here we
report the properties of a fluorescent and highly soluble dye (1). Synthesis of 1 required
1,5-dibromo-3-pentylpentane (2), which was synthesized in five classic synthetic steps
requiring large-scale synthetic techniques (reported here). Intramolecular dialkylation of
4-bromoaniline with 2 resulted in 1-(4-bromophenyl)-4-pentylpiperidine (3). Lithiumhalogen exchange in 3, followed by reaction with 5-(N,N-diethyl)pentadienal gave 4pentyl-(4-piperidinylphenyl)-2,4-pentadienal (4). Knoevenagel condensation of 4 with
1,3-diethyl thiobarbituric acid gave 1. Compound 1 has UV and NMR solvatochromic
properties, indicating polar ground and excited states. The crystal structure of 1 and
related compounds showed close centrosymmetric packing that could template
photoreactions in the solid state. UV irradiation at 254 nm was performed in air or in the
absence of oxygen on a fine powder or dispersed on filter paper. Colorless photoproducts
were analyzed using NMR spectroscopy.
304
A Synthetic Approach to a Series of Boron-Cluster Based Liquid Crystals
John Lasseter, Undergraduate student, Chemistry; Pawel Tokarz, Visiting scholar,
Chemistry; Jacek Pecyna, Postdoctoral fellow, Chemistry; Piotr Kaszynski, Faculty,
Chemistry; Andrienne Friedli, Faculty, Chemistry; Andrienne Friedli (Faculty sponsor),
Chemistry
Sequential regioselective substitution of the [closo-B12H12]2- cluster with onium
fragments yields highly quadrupolar 1,12-derivatives. This class of compounds may have
applications in liquid crystal display technology because they exhibit nematic phases.
Treatment of a previously reported sulfonium derivative of [closo-B12H12]2- with pmethoxyphenyliodonium diacetate led to a mixture of 1,7- and 1,12-substituted [closoB12H12]2- iodonium intermediates. Reaction of this isomer mixture with pmethoxypyridine as a nucleophile gave the p-methoxypyridinium derivatives. The
isomers were separated by column chromatography and the 1,12 isomer exhibited
fluorescence. Subsequent dealkylation with LiCl/DMF gave the two corresponding
pyridones, which were then O-alkylated with two different alkyl triflates, yielding four
quadrupolar derivatives. In this presentation we will report further details about the
synthesis and characterization of the new compounds.
305
Urban Sprawl and Environmentally Safe Alternatives
Brittnie Hall, Undergraduate student, Psychology; Eli Phipps, Undergraduate student,
Liberal Arts; Christopher Sharp, Undergraduate student, Integrated Studies; Sandra
Cavender (Faculty sponsor), English
A critical issue that faces many places all over the world is urban sprawl. This issue
affects overpopulated and underpopulated regions alike, and is detrimental to both the
people and the communities that it touches. Using various online reports, articles and
graphs, we are attempting to better educate our community on urban sprawl as well as
propose ways to decrease it, and its impact on our communities, cities, and planet. Our
research was done in November, 2015, and we hope that the results of said research and
proposal of possible solutions will influence the community in the future to strive to
create laws, new procedures, or limitations for the mitigation, or perhaps eventually the
total elimination of urban sprawl. Our goal is to bring urban sprawl into the spotlight, and
help start conversations that could lead to more ideas to do something about the problem.
306
Carbon Footprint
Amber Underwood, Undergraduate student, Elementary and Special Education; Tifini
Marino, Undergraduate student, Entrepreneurship; Aya Shanoun, Undergraduate student,
Professional Science; Sandra Cavender (Faculty sponsor), English
Our project is about the carbon footprint we have made on the earth. We are trying to
make people aware of the things they do everyday that takes a toll on the environment,
and what it is going to eventually cause. We make sure to explain what a carbon footprint
is and include some ways people can change and things they can do to help with the evergrowing problem we are causing. We also mention a huge way Nashville is planning on
bettering the environment with the Regional Transportation Plan. Nashville plans to make
public transportation, bicycling, and walking more viable transportation options. By
doing this, people will be contributing less to the carbon footprint, and things like global
warming become one step further away from happening. Our project is very important to
us, because we feel, considering that the United States is number two in the top ten worst
countries for the environment, that we need to do whatever we can to reverse the damage
we have done.
307
National Park Endangerment
Sandra Spain, Undergraduate student, Communication Studies and Organizational
Communication; Christy Hume, Undergraduate student, Computer Science; Jessica
Hargrove, Undergraduate student, Professional Science; Marcella McBride,
Undergraduate student, Psychology; Sandra e (Faculty sponsor), English
Across the nation, parks providing natural beauty are threatened and endangered. Various
reasons like invasive species, climate change, and human activity, are sending national
parks on a slippery slope to becoming nonexistent. As the numbers of invasive species
rise, mainly plant species, native biodiversity is suffering. Usually, native biodiversity is
was attracts tourism to a specific park, therefore promoting funding for that park. Adding
to park endangerment would be global warming, which has noticeably increased average
temperatures in regions across the United States. Temperature increase greatly derives
from the industrial activities humans have developed, like factories that emit pollution.
With these dangers contributing to National park endangerment, they are in dire need of
the rising generation's attention. Through education, we can spread awareness on the
status of our national parks. Scientific research for future developments in many
educational fields can be done inside national park establishments. Funding is needed to
keep parks thriving, clean, and safe. Our posterboard will thoroughly and accurately
display the endangered state of which National Parks are in. By highlighting a few key
issues that are currently consuming national parks, our mission is to spread awareness
through educational means.
308
The Effects of Fishing
Breana Jolly, Undergraduate student, English; Sandra Cavender (Faculty sponsor),
English
My project is about the effects of fishing. It provides and explanation of overfishing and
under fishing, and how it effects the environment we live in. It also gives a solution to the
issue, government regulation, as well as surprising facts. Overfishing causes the depletion
of entire species, and the loss of a valuable food source for humans. Under fishing has
more of an effect on our economy. Not fishing enough can be compared to leaving
millions of dollars floating out into the ocean. In turn the money is not being stimulated
through our economy. It will take government regulation in order to gain control over the
fishing problem. The government must regulate how much fisherman fish all the while
making sure they are fishing enough. It will take a lot of policies and content changes to
those policies to insure that we keep our economy thriving and our fish and food source.
309
Controlling Manufacturing Pollution
Abigail Jones, Undergraduate student, Psychology; Derek Bennett, Undergraduate
student, Management; Sandra Cavender (Faculty sponsor), English
Our project addresses the issues behind and possible solutions to industrial pollution. It
gives a list of a few effects that are caused by industrial pollution, which includes the
pollution of our soil, air, and water, the increasing rates of global warming, the creation
of acid rain, and the increasing extinction of our wildlife. The presentation gives a
description of why action is necessary, showing that whatever we do to our surrounding
environment is what we are ultimately doing to ourselves in the long run. Our project
proposes a few solutions, which include the ideas of reducing the use of pollutants,
regulation of the processes that would be necessary in order to sanitize wastes before
being dumped into our ecosystems and the government enforcing regulations more
strictly in order to truly better the future of our environment and our world. Included are a
couple of graphics that show the claim that everything we do to our environment, we are
also doing to ourselves.
310
One Person's Trash is Another Person's Treasure
Brooke Burns, Undergraduate student, Leisure Sport and Tourism Studies; Austin Morris,
Undergraduate student, Criminal Justice; Kendra Lawrence, Undergraduate student,
Early Childhood Education; Brittney Spencer, Undergraduate student, Recording
Industry; Sandra Cavender (Faculty sponsor), English
Our project is about reducing, reusing and recycling garbage. The United States as a
whole is very wasteful. So we would like to propose different ideas that we could help
reduce the amount of garbage that Americans dispose of each day. One of the ways we'd
like to help solve this problem is by bringing mass awareness to various tools, such as
websites like Pintrest, to help educate Americans on ways to decrease the amount of
garbage that is taken to landfills. We would also like to provide interesting facts of how
other countries reduce and reuse their garbage. It is very critical that we inform
Americans of how much we are wasting so that we can start doing something about it.
The biggest challenge is getting the word out. Most people are really oblivious to the
amount of waste we unknowingly produce, not realizing that all it takes is to simply put a
bottle in a recycling bin instead of a waste bin. Recycling white paper is very useful as
well because it makes more paper, which means fewer trees that are getting cut down.
We would like to use our project to educate and inform the general public on the many
ways American's can start being smarter about the disposal of garbage.
311
What is Light Pollution and Why Does it Matter?
Adam Hensley, Undergraduate student, English; Damien Malone, Undergraduate student,
English; Sandra Cavender (Faculty sponsor), English
We have set out to inform people of a less recognized pollutant; excess artificial light.
Light is not as widely recognized as a pollutant as easily as toxic waste, for example.
Because of this, we needed to define what light pollution is and how it effects people. It
is the byproduct of the excess light emitted to light our homes, streets, and places of
business and commerce. As with all things, excess creates a problem. This problem is one
that has wide reaching consequences as the excess light interferes with human biological
processes. These consequences extend into the environment around humans as well. The
patterns of nocturnal wildlife are disturbed by the use of widespread artificial light. Light
pollution can be easily remedied because, unlike toxic waste, light can be contained or
shut off instantly. The ease of which we can improve our environment provides an
opportunity for people to affect change with greater success.
312
What are Factors that Possibly Determine A State's Infrastructure Expenditures?
Justin DeMello, Undergraduate student, Political Science; David Carleton (Faculty
sponsor), Political Science
Infrastructure investment is an integral component of any state's budget. Yet there are
wide disparities between countries over how much is spent, and it is fair to say that the
issue is not a pressing one for the public at large. The objective of this research is to
identify a number of proposed determinants for high infrastructure investment, and
evaluate them for plausibility. The three hypotheses were as follows: 1) A positive trend
in GDP fuels a positive trend in infrastructure investment; 2) Higher numbers for
"Political Constraint" translate to high infrastructure investment; 3) More climatefriendly legislation implemented leads to an increase in infrastructure investment. For the
research's cases, Switzerland, Norway, and Luxembourg were chosen for high-spending
states and Poland, Finland, and Hungary were chosen for low-spending states. The results
were as follows. The first variable was examined by comparing GDP Per Capita figures
for the six cases to their infrastructure investment profiles. All the high-spending states
met the expectations for high GDP and the low-spending states registered low GDP
figures, as the hypothesis had argued. The hypothesis thus, can be accepted. The second
variable was tested by posting the "political constraint" figures for the six countries and
comparing them. As the research showed, not all the high-spending states did better in the
comparison than low-spending states, so the hypothesis can be rejected. The third
variable was tested through use of the Climate Change Performance Index (2015), which
ranks countries based on their policy stands on climate change priorities. Comparison of
the six yielded the discovery of no discernible pattern, as high-spending states did not
always rank higher than low-spending ones, so rejection of the hypothesis. Summarizing
the results, it is clear that more research ought to be done, and countries and their citizens
must take future findings into account.
313
Optimizing the Beam Length Pattern to Increase Beam Power for the Spallation Neutron
Source
Josie Lyon, Undergraduate student, Physics and Astronomy; Sarah Cousineau (Faculty
sponsor), Physics and Astronomy
This project uses an open source software for particle accelerator physics, PyORBIT, to
simulate the varying proton beam length in the accumulator ring of Oak Ridge National
Laboratory’s Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) facility. SNS plans to add a second target
station, but to make this new station operational, the beam power will need to be
increased. Our project focused on one method that will enable the use of a larger fraction
of the ion source current than is now used. The method involves making more efficient
use of the chopper, located at the front end of the linear accelerator. The chopper
controls the length of the proton beam, a feature referred to as pattern width (PW).
Currently, the chopper ‘”chops” the beam at a constant PW. Our project focused on the
possibility of changing the PW through time. The advantage of time-varying the PW is
that it can increase net beam power. We achieved such net increase in our simulations by
“painting” a longer PW for the beginning of the simulation and steadily decreasing the
PW thereafter. By the last turn of storage, the accumulator ring must have a “clean” gap
in beam; this gap provides time for the equipment to switch the beam-path from the ring
to the target. A clean gap length is made possible by specialized bunching cavities in the
accumulator ring. During storage, these cavities manage beam length by bunching the
particles towards the center of the beam. The bunching action allows SNS operators to
inject a long beam into the ring and then shorten it over successive turns. We used
existing and future beam parameters in simulations to optimize the PW painting. Our
results suggest a 4.6% maximum possible increase in beam power while preserving the
clean gap limit on the last turn of storage.
314
Why Are Some Sub-Saharan African Countries So Much More Unstable than Others?
Greg Mayfield, Undergraduate student, Political Science; David Carleton (Faculty
sponsor), Political Science
With my project I wanted to look at the region of Sub-Saharan Africa to compare
different factors between countries of varying stability to see if there is any correlation
between those factors and a country's overall stability. I used several past research
projects as sources to figure out which variables may be the best to look at. To pick the
cases analyzed, I found an already established, reliable statistical source to use as my Yvariable, stability, in the form of the 2014 Fragile States Index. The scores given in it
reflect all areas of a countries stability, with a higher score meaning more instability. This
made it easy to pick my cases because I just picked three countries in the region with
high FSI scores and three with low FSI scores to help with correlative evidence being
clearer. I ended up using four variables, all of which being factors that I thought would
have an impact on stability. The variables were religious diversity, ethnic diversity, GDP
per person, and level of freedom, as quantified by Freedom House. GDP and level of
freedom were simple enough to quantify and graph, but I had to be a little more
complicated with religious and ethnic diversity. I ended up taking the percent of the
largest ethnic/religious group, the majority, and subtracting it from 100 while adding 5
points to the score for every religious/ethnic minority than consisted of at least 3% of the
population. Basically, a higher score means more diversity in a country. I thought this
was the best way to reflect diversity.
315
Why Are Some Nations More Susceptible to Terrorism than Others?
Kayo Beshir, Undergraduate student, Political Science; David Carleton (Faculty sponsor),
Political Science
Terrorism is not a new idea, and in today’s world, it is continuing to have a negative
impact on the global community. During my research, I tested three hypotheses that I
believe could or could not lead to terrorism in a given country. Looking at the years from
2004-2014, I have selected the Middle Eastern countries of Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Qatar,
Kuwait, and Oman as case studies. I have three hypotheses that I tested. My first
hypothesis, an increase of political rights in a state decreases terrorism can be validated,
using the Freedom House Political average index. Syria, Iraq and Yemen all scored 6 and
7 and were highly impacted by terrorism over the researched time period, perhaps due to
restrictive authoritarian governments that limited rights and forced the population to seek
unconventional methods. The countries of Qatar, Kuwait and Oman each averaged a
score of 5, due to the political stability throughout the 2000’s, yet saw no notable protest
from their citizens. concluding that an increase of political rights of a state does indeed
decrease terrorism, I therefore, accept this hypothesis.
Second hypothesis is that an increase of Sunni vs. Shia conflict increases terrorism, this is
mainly due to the sectarian conflict among the two branches of Islam. Third hypothesis
civil war increases, due to displacement of citizens in a state. Summarizing the results, it
is clear that more research ought to be done. The global threat increase of terrorism in the
world will continue to increase and by eliminating some of the factors above we will be
able in the future to track how terror operates. This is significant because it will help
shape the perspectives of policy makers when addressing major issues of this nature not
only in the Middle East, but around the world.
316 WITHDRAWN
Why Are Some State-to-State Conflicts Resolved Through Acts of Violence, While
Others Are Resolved Through Negotiation?
Casey Brinegar, Undergraduate student, Political Science; David Carleton (Faculty
sponsor), Political Science
Conflicts occur throughout the world every day. There are many methods of resolution.
Some choose to fight until there is a winner, while others see value in the other and
decide to negotiate a solution. A resolved conflict is after relationships have been reexamined and realigned. An ideal resolution would be a win-win situation for both sides,
however, this rarely happens. No two countries are alike, and each one could find
something to fight about with another. There are many deciding factors as to how
countries deal with their differences.
The independent variables I am looking at for this project are: the styles of government
within the countries, the countries commonalities and differences, and their percentage of
economic interdependence with each other. For this project I chose at random, four
different conflicts/wars, two of which were resolved through a winner-takes-all option,
and two that were resolved through peaceful negotiations.
My first hypothesis was accepted, in that a conflict between different government styles
leads to violence. My second hypothesis was accepted as well, because similarities and
differences between countries leads to violence. Lastly, my third hypothesis was rejected
when the percentages of the country's economic interdependence with each other didn't
come to a definite conclusion.
In conclusion, there are many variables that come into play when resolving a conflict, and
they vary country to country.
317 WITHDRAWN
Why Do Some European Countries Have More Economic Success than Others?
Emily Lupo, Undergraduate student, Economics and Finance; David Carleton (Faculty
sponsor), Political Science
I have always had a keen interest in comparative politics and economics, thus I decided to
combine the two in a political science research project I completed in the fall of 2015. I
gathered research within four months, and received feedback that led me to apply for
Scholar’s Week! My entire research is based around the question, “Why do some
countries have more economics success than others?” I picked six countries—the three
lowest and highest GDP’s within the European region—to give a variety to my analysis:
Armenia, Luxembourg, Norway, Switzerland, Ukraine, and the Republic of Moldova. I
began doing literature reviews to gain some ideas on what independent variables I should
utilize, and found three: terrorism, human development factors, and foreign direct
investment. These three variables led me to further investigation using credible sources
from academic journals, encyclopedias, and even graphs from the world renowned
economist, Hans Rosling.
Before beginning more in-depth research, I formed three hypotheses correlating to each
independent variable. I thought terrorism would have a negative impact on GDP, foreign
direct investment would have a positive effect, and human development factors would
have a qpositive impact. I used a quantitative analysis approach using graphs from
GapMinder. Thus, I came to the conclusion that terrorism did have a negative impact on
GDP, specifically international terrorism. Foreign direct investment had both a positive
and negative affect on GDP, depending on the country's trade, health, and overall
performance the past few years. Finally, human development factors had a positive
impact on GDP, specifically health.
318
The Acceptance of Women in Leadership Roles: A Study of Latin American National
Legislatures
Olivia Nodine, Undergraduate student, Political Science; David Carleton (Faculty
sponsor), Political Science
Throughout the world, women are vastly underrepresented in national political leadership
roles. Many industrialized, progressive nations have never seen a female head of state,
and many national legislatures see a very small percentage of women in their Congresses
or Parliaments. Through this study, I examined the possible factors that could explain
why there is such a large gap between females and their male counterparts in national
legislatures. I chose to look at the percentage of female representation in six Latin
American countries that share similar government forms: Argentina, Belize, Bolivia,
Brazil, Chile, and Mexico.
319
Why Do Some Border Conflicts Resolve in Violence?
Ashley Martinez, Undergraduate student, Political Science; David Carleton (Faculty
sponsor), Political Science
Interstate border conflicts have been a leading factor in many violent altercations and
wars, however not all border conflicts end in violence, some are resolved through
peaceful means and diplomacy. So what leads interstate border conflicts to violence?
This question has become extremely relevant in recent years and it is important for
students, and citizens in general, to understand the gravity of how these violent
altercations can affect the international system. In order to try and understand why border
conflicts may escalate to violence my project has researched six cases of border conflict,
three resolved peacefully and three resolved in violence, and tested them over several
variables to try and form a relationship between violence and certain characteristics of the
states involved. The cases were all selected from the past twenty years to help understand
more recent issues in the subject and the three variables tested in the research were
Levels of Freedom, Gross Domestic Product and an Increase in Foreign Direct
Investment. This research has culminated very interesting results while also provoking
further questions on the subject.
320
Rockin’ Raider Robots are Increasing Middle School Girls’ Interests in STEM
Jessica Earls, Undergraduate student, Biology; Lena Anderkin, Undergraduate student,
Chemistry; Judith Iriarte-Gross, Faculty, Chemistry; Judith Iriarte-Gross (Faculty
sponsor), Chemistry
Expanding Your Horizons (EYH) is a Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math
(STEM) conference offered to girls in middle and high school. The MTSU EYH
conference which began in 1997, includes hands-on workshops led by STEM role models.
In 2015, the Rockin’ Raider Robots workshop was introduced to the middle school girls
with great success. The workshop was taught by a Biologist (Earls) and a Chemist
(Anderkin) from the MTeach program at MTSU. The girls who attended the Rockin’
Raider Robots session were engaged in learning about how robots are used in STEM
careers. However, the girls had the most fun “playing” with the robots. Rockin’ Raider
Robots is an exciting approach to interest girls in STEM careers that use robotics in the
“helping” disciplines such as biology, chemistry and medicine. Evaluation data and
comments from the girls will be shared along with a discussion of the workshop’s agenda.
321
Why Is Poverty More Prevalent in Some North African Countries than Others?
Amanda Freuler, Undergraduate student, Journalism; David Carleton (Faculty sponsor),
Political Science
Africa is home to stark, and perplexing variations of poverty. For example, in North
Africa, the costal countries such as Algeria, Morocco, and Egypt are significantly more
economically stable than countries immediately south of them, which are Mali, Niger,
and Chad. The goal of my project was to research why these countries share borders, but
have little commonality in their economic status, and to discover what factors impact
their economies enough to create this divide. After comparing each country's gross
domestic product per capita to confirm the financial gap, I investigated the countries'
rates of income inequality, incoming flow of international remittances, and their
economic dependence on natural resources. Through my research and the use of
numerous data sources, I discovered that all three independent variables significantly
impact poverty rates in Mali, Niger, and Chad, and even contributed to the prosperity of
Algeria, Morocco, and Egypt. I found that income inequality and economic dependence
on natural resources both have positive relationships with poverty, where the more
income inequality and natural resource dependence these countries have, the more
impoverished they become. In contrast, international remittances had a negative
relationship with poverty in the African countries I researched. The more international
remittances were flowing into these countries, the better their economies were. More
importantly, my research and results proved that there are ways that the international
community, and these individual countries, can possibly decrease the amount of poverty
in Sub-Saharan Africa
322
Folate Effects on Lifespan of Saccharomyces cerevisiae
Alesha Hicks, Undergraduate student, Biology; Kayla O'Connell, Undergraduate student,
Biology; Rebecca Seipelt-Thiemann (Faculty sponsor), Biology
Dietary effects on lifespan have been studied for many years. The most well-known is
that calorie restriction can increase longevity in many species. Previous research has also
implicated restriction of certain nutrients in increasing lifespan. Reduction of folate has
increased lifespan in C. elegans, both by feeding worms folate-deficient diets and
biochemically inhibiting folate synthesis. Based on this research, it was hypothesized
that budding yeast that are genetically deficient in the folate biosynthesis pathway would
have a greater longevity than the wild type yeast. To test this hypothesis, wild type and
yeast mutant in one folate biosynthesis gene, ABZ1, were aged for six consecutive weeks
in rich (folate-containing) and folate-deficient media and tested for chronological lifespan
using a growth assay. Final results were compared by t test to detect differences in
average growth. Overall, there was no difference in growth between the wild type and
mutant, rejecting our hypothesis that the ABZ1 mutant strain would have greater
longevity. In addition, both yeast strains grew equally well in rich and folate-deficient
media, rejecting our hypothesis that the SC medium would allow greater longevity in
both yeast species. Therefore, our results did not support those from previous research in
C. elegans, which indicated that reduction of folate biosynthesis has increased lifespan.
As these long growth assays can be subject to contamination, it will be absolutely
necessary to replicate the experiment to confirm these results.
323
Pathogen Detection in Foods by Multiplex Polymerase Chain Reaction
James Dean, Undergraduate student, Biology; Mustafa Alwan, Undergraduate student,
Chemistry; Rebecca Seipelt (Faculty sponsor), Biology
Many different types of bacteria can be found in the American food supply today. Some
of these bacteria are non-harmful or even beneficial, while others can cause illness. The
goal of the research was to determine if E. coli O157, Salmonella species, and Listeria
species were detectable in the local food supply using a very sensitive, DNA-based
approach: polymerase chain reaction. Primers specific for the Tox B plasmid (E. coli
O157) or a specific region of the genome (Salmonella and Listeria) were designed using
primer-BLAST. DNAs were isolated from a variety of foods including fruits, vegetables,
dairy, and meats from a variety of local sources for testing. DNAs were subjected to
polymerase chain reaction followed by agarose gel electrophoresis. Most foods showed
positive results for at least one pathogenic bacterium. E.coli was detectable in green
apple, green bean, jalapeno, spinach, pork, cabbage, and egg shell. Salmonella was
detectable in jalapeno and possibly potato. Listeria was detectable in green apple, green
bean, jalapeno, pork, cabbage, pepper, egg white, egg shell, and possibly spinach. Both
positive and negative controls were included to show that detection was possible and was
not due to false positives. These results suggest that care should be taken to wash foods
prior to consumption. It would be beneficial to further this research by testing which
washing/handling procedures would be best to reduce or eliminate these pathogens on
foods.
324
Pollution Retention Capabilities of Pervious Concrete Augmented with Microbial and
Algal Communities
Megan Schulz, Undergraduate student, Chemistry; Robert Miller, Undergraduate student,
Business; McKayla King, Undergraduate student, Chemistry; Martha Fonseca,
Undergraduate student, Biology; Kayla Cowan, Undergraduate student, Nursing; Sophia
Britt, Undergraduate student, Chemistry; John Divincenzo (Faculty sponsor), Chemistry
Porous pavements such as pervious concrete support best management practices for
handling storm water runoff, flood irrigation, and ground water regeneration. They have
the potential to filter and retain various nutrient pollutants, such as nitrates and
phosphates. This project established, monitored, and studied the pollution retention
capabilities of microbial and algal communities within pervious concrete to determine if
pollutant retention is possible for environmental control in pervious concrete augmented
with microbial and algal communities. Bacterial cultures were collected from a pervious
concrete runoff reservoir in order to mimic the natural flora that would most likely
inhabit the concrete. The algal cultures were grown using the same water from the runoff
reservoir, and a nutrient solution. In a laboratory setting, these cultures were established
in blocks of pervious concrete. Once a healthy biofilm was established, pollution
retention was tested, using infrared spectrophotometry and ion chromatography, against
that of a block with no biofilm.
We found that the phosphates are absorbed well by pervious concrete, but nitrates are
extremely mobile, and not significantly retained. There was plated evidence of some
growth in the test blocks. In future research, we would like to establish a stronger algal
culture to retain nitrates more effectively.
325
Distinguishing Between Morphologically Similar Lichens by Sterol Composition
Hannah Houle, Undergraduate student, Biology; Channell Davis, Undergraduate student,
Biology; Alexis Johnson, Undergraduate student, Biology; Arol Zague, Undergraduate
student, Biology; Chris Adereti, Undergraduate student, Biology; Justice Adewumi,
Undergraduate student, Biology; Doha Ahmed, Undergraduate student, Biology; Mary
Botros, Undergraduate student, Biology; Wesley Kirkland, Undergraduate student,
Biology; Brittnie Miles, Undergraduate student, Biology; et al.; Jeff Leblond (Faculty
sponsor), Biology
The forested areas of middle Tennessee are home to a variety of lichen species, some of
which are found throughout forested areas of the eastern United States and some of which
are endemic to middle Tennessee. Lichens are important members of the biota of a
variety of ecosystems, ranging from arid desert areas to moist hardwood forests.
Although there are dozens of species found throughout middle Tennessee, certain lichens
found in middle Tennessee, such as Cladina and Cladonia spp., are very difficult to
differentiate via morphological characteristics alone.
The goal of this study was to perform a survey of the sterol composition of
morphologically similar lichens with the intent of determining whether differences in
sterol composition can be used to distinguish species. Sterols are ringed lipids produced
by most eukaryotes, including the fungal symbiont that houses the photosynthetic partner
in a lichen symbiosis. In eukaryotes, sterols are important for their role in reinforcing
cytoplasmic membrane integrity. There are approximately one hundred different types of
sterols, many of which have chemotaxonomic utility in species identification in that
certain eukaryotes produce unique sterols not found in other organisms.
We carried out this process by first extracting lipids from collected lichens using a
standard chloroform/methanol/phosphate buffer extraction, and sterols (i.e. a component
of the total lipid extract) were further processed by saponification and formation of
trimethylsilyl ether (TMS) derivatives. The sterol-TMS derivatives were then subjected
to analysis via gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) as a means of clarifying
their structures.
The two genera, Cladina and Cladonia spp., have very similar sterol profiles that match
their morphological and phylogenetic similarities. Ergosterol is found to be the dominant
sterol (90% or more) in both genera. Overall, the sterol profiles are identical between
Cladina and Cladonia spp.
326
Motion and Stability Improvement of a Rostock Geometry Delta Robot
Boston Weisgerber, Undergraduate student, Engineering Technology; Donte Kirk,
Undergraduate student, Engineering Technology; James Boyce, Undergraduate student,
Engineering Technology; Ahad Nasab (Faculty sponsor), Engineering Technology
Rostock Geometry Parallel Delta Robots are predominantly used as the main platform for
3D printing. Our research created a scaled-down version of the Rostock Geometry
Parallel Delta Robot that could easily be moved and was very cost efficient given the
parameters of the project. The goal of this project was to build a cost effective version of
this printer from scratch that improved the performance of the Rostock Geometry Parallel
Delta Robot by minimizing the friction forces along the linear guides and maximize its
stability during the printers’ high-speed motions and direction changes. After studying
the current rail motion techniques, we were able to design a unique carriage component
that takes advantage of the negative space of the extruded aluminum rails. The new
design reduced the friction along the rails by 48%. Moreover, it eliminated the need for
bearings, bushings, and rollers along the rails, hence improving its reliability. The
required torque to move the carriage at a prescribed speed along the rails was used to
measure the corresponding magnitude of friction.
A three-tier platform system was designed to connect the rails, provide a printing
platform for the end effector, and house the motors, pulleys, belts, and the electronic
boards. The design of the platforms used as the base, printing plate, and tops plate took
advantage of the extruded aluminum rails to provide a multi-node connection system,
which enhanced the stability of the detailed structural design analysis and the vibration
measurements of the new systems components. The next step to optimize the Rostock
printers’ stability would be to minimize the vibration of the printer and make the
movements of the printer more controlled and smooth. The vibration problems could be
solved by adding rubber tabs to the bottom of each piece of extruded aluminum that
would absorb the vibrations.
327
Determining Conformation and Geometry of Specific Residues in Model Peptide by 13C
Isotope-Edited ATR-FTIR in H2O
Cuauhtemoc Gonzalez, Undergraduate student, Chemistry; Chengshan Wang (Faculty
sponsor), Chemistry
In biological systems, proteins and peptides play an important role in cell regulation. The
structure of proteins/peptides can vary depending on temperature, pH, sequence, and
other factors. Peptides/proteins are able to form secondary structures such as α-helices, βsheets, or stay in unstructured conformation. Currently, the conformation of a peptide can
be measured by the amide I band spectra using FTIR (Fourier Transform Infrared
Spectroscopy). The problem with FTIR is that it cannot be applied in H2O biological
systems with traditional transmission cells with large path lengths. The H2O absorption is
around 1620 cm-1, interfering with the amide I band, therefore, D2O (deuterium oxide) is
used in order to prevent spectrum interference. The focus of this research is to obtain
absorption of the amide I band in H2O, in order to simulate the aqueous conditions in
biological systems. This research used ATR (attenuated total reflection) to determine the
FTIR spectra of peptides/proteins in H2O.
328
Rising from the Depths of Despair: The Healing Arts of Lady Philosophy in Boethius’s
The Consolation of Philosophy
Nausheen Qureshi, Undergraduate student, Human Sciences; Philip Phillips (Faculty
sponsor), English
Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius was a government official and philosopher, who is
best known for his work The Consolation of Philosophy, which remains one of the most
influential works of Late Antiquity. The Consolation of Philosophy is structured as a
dialogue that takes place between the two main characters, Lady Philosophy and
Boethius. It is a consolation, which participates in the Graeco-Roman lamantio/consolatio
tradition, and its primary purpose is to provide healing to Boethius by Lady Philosophy.
The physician-patient relationship established between the two is the foundation upon
which Boethius is able to recover from his lethargy. Lethargy in this case has similar
symptoms as to what we consider today to be depression, such as sadness, lack of
reasoning, and heavy sleep. Lady Philosophy as the physician prescribes two types of
remedies so that the patient can at first be soothed and brought out slowly from his
lethargy by the “weaker remedy,” and then be healed completely by the powerful logic
and reasoning of the “stronger remedy” that is required to bring one out from the stupor
of lethargy.
The Consolation of Philosophy implies the possibility of philosophical healing and selfhealing, all with the aid of a physician and the power of reasoning. My study illustrates
the present-day applications of Lady Philosophy’s medical methods since this line of
thinking demonstrates the significance of physicians’ abilities to connect to their patients
on a deeper level. Just as Lady Philosophy uses various strategies to reach out and
console her patient, so must modern physicians employ more compassionate demeanors
and comforting bedside manners. Only through such practices can physicians truly begin
to heal their patients inside and out.
329
Alternative mRNA Splicing Analysis of DAF-2 During Hydrogen Peroxide Stress
Mahmuda Akter, Undergraduate student, Chemistry; Paige Davis-Farrow, Undergraduate
student, Biology; Rebecca Seipelt-Thiemann, Faculty, Biology; Rebecca SeipeltThiemann (Faculty sponsor), Biology
Alternative mRNA splicing is a mechanism of regulating gene expression accomplished
by varying which protein-coding sequences are included in the mature mRNA.
Knowingly, various stresses influence alternative splicing. Thus, the concentration,
variety, and functionality of proteins produced in a cell and organism. DAF-2 gene
produces protein that functions in the insulin pathway in many organisms including the
nematode, C. elegans. This pathway is known to be altered during the stress response.
Our hypothesis was that nematodes will alternatively splice DAF-2 mRNA in the region
encoding the tyrosine kinase domain (exons 10-13) upon exposure to the environmental
stressor, hydrogen peroxide. To test this hypothesis, nematodes were grown under
standard conditions, isolated, and exposed to either 20 mM H2O2 or diluent only. RNA
was isolated and analyzed by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. The results
were visualized following agarose gel electrophoresis. Four distinct and specific cDNA
fragments were observed in the control sample indicating that the mRNA was spliced in
four different ways. Only one of these distinct and specific cDNA fragments was
observed in stressed worms. This clearly indicated that alternative splicing had occurred
due to the peroxide stress. The largest cDNA fragment is the size expected if all exons
were included thus the tyrosine kinase domain would be encoded. The smallest cDNA
fragment is the size expected if exons 11 and 12 were skipped hence the tyrosine kinase
domain would be absent from the DAF-2 protein. The two middle size fragments were
not predicted. These may represent skipping of exons 11 and 12 individually. Cloning
and sequencing of the fragments should be done to confirm the identity of these
assumptions. In addition, the experiment should also be performed with different
peroxide concentrations and for varying times to analyze the kinetics and timing of
alternative splicing in response to this stressor.
330
Creating a Better World for Preschool Children by Listening Globally
Calla Sharp, Undergraduate student, Elementary and Special Education; Emily Tinch,
Graduate student, Elementary and Special Education; Jane Lim (Faculty sponsor),
Elementary and Special Education
The purpose of this study, on a global scale, was to understand what preschool children
think and feel about their school environment and home life across the world. This study
was first implemented in Singapore from October 2012 to October 2013 with 43
preschool children. Locally, the researchers wanted to add to this initiative by
interviewing and collecting data from five and six year old Tennessee children about their
childhood through oral interviews and drawings. This study endeavors to create
purposeful learning environments and experiences by highlighting the importance of
children’s voices and opinions about their education. The researchers wanted to know
what children think about their childhood, who is important to them, and what they do
and want to do in school and at home.
Through qualitative methodology, this study was conducted in Murfreesboro, Tennessee
in Fall 2015 with 16 preschool children in an elementary school. Results indicated the
importance of play especially outdoor play. This research was compared across the globe
with children in Louisiana, United States (N=31); Jamaica (N=12) and Singapore (N=58).
The concluding results indicated the importance of play across the globe.
331
Retracing the Birth of Aviation: A Creative Project
Collin McDonald, Undergraduate student, Aerospace; Paul Craig (Faculty sponsor),
Aerospace
Aviation has evolved significantly over its century of existence. After the Wright
Brother’s invention of the aircraft, aviation was considered impractical due to its
unproven ability. It was not until Cal Rodger successfully flew from coast to coast that
the nation realized the significance of the airplane. This project examines one of the
major milestones of aviation by retracing that first transcontinental flight flown in 1911.
The first part of the project is researching the original flight finding the location of each
landing Rodgers made while flying from New York to Los Angeles. The second part of
the project is to actually fly the route allowing the proposer to experience first had the
challenges and triumphs that Rodgers experience over 100 years ago. The purpose of this
project will be to promote General Aviation (aviation other than airlines) to the next
generation by showing the feasibility and practicality of aviation just as Rodgers showed
the world the airplane could become a major form of transportation. General Aviation has
dropped off more than 20% in as many years predicting a fatal future for the individual
who simply wants to learn to fly for pleasure or personal use. This project should help to
show the general public but primarily young people the accessibility of aviation. The
planning portion of this project has already begun and the flight is scheduled to begin in
May of this year.
332
Raspberry PI Controlled Autonomous Robots
Jonathan Bogasky, Undergraduate student, Engineering Technology; Lei Miao (Faculty
sponsor), Engineering Technology
With the advances of wireless communications, embedded systems, and control, robotics
has emerged from science fiction to reality. It is such an important and exciting field
nowadays and has great potential to make a significant impact to health care, automobile
industry, manufacturing, military missions, space programs, etc. In this project, we build
autonomous robots with sensing, wireless communication, and computing capabilities.
The battery-powered robots with mobility are designed by students in Mechatronics
Engineering at MTSU and are also equipped with Raspberry PI, embedded Linux, Wi-Fi,
and various sensors such as ultrasonic sensors and gyroscopes. These robots serve two
purposes: (i) they are used in the course project of a Controls and Optimization course, in
which students compete in a Bocce robot game and (ii) they are used in various
collaborative sensing and control research projects. Detailed mechanical and electrical
design of the robots is shown in the poster. Also included is the bill of materials of the
robot.
333
Analysis of a Lighter, Faster Lunar Rover
Merna Zaref, Undergraduate student, Biology; Timothy Brown, Undergraduate student,
Engineering Technology; Sean Sibrel, Undergraduate student, Engineering Technology;
Tavaris Plymouth, Undergraduate student, Engineering Technology; Saeed Foroudastan
(Faculty sponsor), Engineering Technology
Each year NASA hosts a competition designed where high school and college students
design an inventive and efficient lunar rover that overcomes real-word problems that
NASA engineers experience when creating space exploration crafts. MTSU has been
participating in the competition since 2004, claiming 1st in the U.S. division in 2013 and
2015, and the Neil Armstrong Best Design award in 2014. Our current lunar rover has
won 1st place nationally and 3rd place internationally, and the next goal is to design a
new one to be 1st internationally in 2016. Our research focused on how the current lunar
rover can be designed to be lighter and faster. Researching all the possible elements that
could be involved in order to give the frame a lighter weight included first studying
mechanical and electrical theories. Yield strength (the stress at which a material begins to
deform), ultimate tensile strength (the maximum stress that a material can withstand
while being stretched before breaking) and the shear module were used to compare
materials from which to make the wheel. Next, manufacturing practices including 3D
modeling, laser etching and cutting, and 3D printing using thermoplastics were explored.
First, in the place of thicker steel tubes, thinner chromoly steel is the material of choice to
be used for the new frame design due to its light and extremely strong strength. Second,
an aluminum base will be used in place of the ABS plastic inserts for the non-pneumatic
tires. The next steps include producing the new wheels. They are being developed at this
time. Once the wheels are made the speed and efficiency will be evaluated. It is
hypothesized that the MTSU lunar rover will be faster than the current lunar rover and
hopefully the fastest and most durable internationally.
334
Evaluating Gene Expression in Rainbow Trout Using RNA-Sequencing
Jasmine McCroskey, Undergraduate student, Biology; India Mathis, Undergraduate
student, Chemistry; Vanessa Ndongala, Undergraduate student, Chemistry; Taylor
Kelsey, Undergraduate student, Computer Science; Caitlyn Midgett, Undergraduate
student, Biology; Mia Krout, Undergraduate student, Biology; Ali Ali, Undergraduate
student, Biology; Mohamed Salem (Faculty sponsor), Biology
Bacterial Cold Water Disease (BCWD) is caused by the pathogen Flavobacterium
Psychrophillum that affects 2 - 30% of the population of rainbow trout and causes fin rot,
tail rot, and trout fry mortality syndrome. The disease was once isolated in North
America, specifically in Washington State, but now is becoming a problem worldwide.
Furthermore, there is not a vaccine for the disease that is commercially available. Our
goal was to find out which genes in North American rainbow trout make them more
susceptible or resistant to Bacteria Cold Water Disease and therefore to ultimately be able
to prevent further infection.
To raise fish resistant to Bacterial Cold Water Disease, it is necessary to understand the
molecular mechanisms underlining rainbow trout resistance to BCWD. In this study, we
performed RNA-sequencing analyses with two lines of rainbow trout DNA to discover
whether the line was resistant or susceptible to Flavobacterium Psychrophilum. Then at
day five of the infection, we compared the levels of gene expression, using software that
are available through the iPlant Discovery Environment. We identified many
differentially expressed genes. We used Quantitative Real-time Polymerase Chain
Reaction (QPCR) and gel electrophoresis to validate expression of some of the
potentially expressed genes.
In particular, we identified col1a1a and col1a2 genes as more being more expressed when
infected by Flavobacterium Psychrophillum. Knowing the genes susceptible to this
pathogen could be used in selective mating to determine parents with desirable genotypes
to be passed on to the next generation for a higher survival rate. This research will
ultimately be beneficial to improve America’s fish trade deficit. Next, we plan to
pinpoint the exact gene that is being affected by this pathogen, which will potentially
provide substantial economic benefits because we would be better able to sell healthy
rainbow trout to other countries
335
A Survey of Wounding Frequency among Trees Found in Urban and Forest
Environments
Lee Rumble, Undergraduate student, Agribusiness and Agriscience; Melanie Heckman,
Non-MTSU university faculty collaborator; Drew Sieg, Faculty, Biology; Drew Sieg
(Faculty sponsor), Biology
Trees are long-lived, photosynthetic organisms that provide a wealth of environmental,
ecological, and economic benefits. They provide habitats to a variety of taxa including
insects, birds, mammals, fungi, lichen, and mosses. Yet, trees are exposed to a variety of
natural and/or anthropogenic factors that create open wounds, exposing internal wood to
the external environment resulting in decay and tree failure. Urban trees are regularly
exposed to improper landscaping practices, pruning cuts, soil contamination, and even
vandalism leading to shorter life spans when compared to forest trees. Forest trees are
less impacted by anthropogenic activities, but are still susceptible to physical wounding
and weather-and pathogen-related damages. To compare wounding frequencies among
these two environments, we measured seven types of wounds on the lower 3m trunk
section of five common tree genera: maple (Acer), hackberry (Celtis), ash (Fraxinus), oak
(Quercus), and elm (Ulmus). Urban environments surveyed included college campuses
and industrial plazas; forest environments included city and state parks. After surveying
more than 17,000 wounds on 600 trees, we found: (1) urban trees exhibited a higher
frequency of wounding compared to forest conspecifics; (2) interspecific variation in the
total number of open wounds, wounds <2cm2, closed wounds, girdling roots, pruning
cuts, fungal conks, root wounds, and overall tree health. We uncovered that not all trees
are wounded the same way and trees vary in their tolerance, susceptibility, and
survivability to different types of wounding. While urban forests are complex ecosystems
that increase biodiversity and promote sociological well-being, once wounded, urban
trees pose a greater threat to humans and property. This study highlights the need for a reevaluation of arboricultural management practices in urban environments.
336
Characterization of Aurone X as a Potential Drug Candidate Against Cryptococcus
neoformans
Yusra Mohammed, Undergraduate student, Biology; Danielle Araujo, Undergraduate
student, Biology; Erin McClelland, Faculty, Biology; Erin McClelland (Faculty sponsor),
Biology
Background: Cryptococcus neoformans is an opportunistic, fungal pathogen that can
spread from the lungs to the central nervous system and cause life-threatening meningitis,
most commonly in immune depressed individuals. Amphotericin B and Fluconazole are
the standard treatment; however, this has resulted in renal toxicity and resistant strains.
The lack of safe, effective medication for dealing with cryptococcal meningitis was the
area of interest for this research project.
Methods: We screened an aurone library and a library of plant extracts from the Guanxi
Botanical Garden for inhibition of C. neoformans using the A27-M2 CLSI standard
micro-dilution method. The compounds that showed inhibition were further tested for the
minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC). Toxicity assays of these compounds were also
conducted on human THP1 macrophages. Aurone X was selected for further testing to
characterize the flavonoid’s inhibition in different medias, at higher cell concentrations,
with various strains and serotypes of C. neoformans and C. gattii, as well as determining
if any synergy exists with existing drugs.
Results: Over 40 compounds showed >90% inhibition of C. neoformans at 100 µM.
Aurone X was selected for further characterization based on its low MIC and its low
toxicity to L6 rat fibroblasts (>100 µM). The MIC in RPMI+MOPS and asparagine was
25 µg/mL. Cell concentrations of 103, 104 , and 105 had MIC’s of 25, 50, and 100
µg/mL respectively. 88.9% of the serotype A, D, and C. gattii strains tested had MIC’s of
25 µg/mL, while the remaining 11.1% displayed an MIC of 12.5 µg/mL. Aurone X also
demonstrated synergy with Fluconazole, Flucytosine, and Amphotericin B.
Conclusions: Due to the low toxicity and potential effectiveness at low dosages, aurone X
could be a possible drug candidate against C. neoformans infections. Further tests are
being done to determine its effect in mice.
337
Comparison of Equine Packed Cell Volume (PCV) Determined by Centrifugation in a
Microhematocrit Tube to Gravitational Settling of Whole Blood in a 12 mL Syringe
Emily Anne Carol Smith, Undergraduate student, Agribusiness and Agriscience; John
Haffner (Faculty sponsor), Agribusiness and Agriscience
Introduction. It has been suggested that the Packed Cell Volume (PCV) of a horse can be
estimated by drawing 10 mL blood into a 12 mL syringe and reading the RBC level after
15 minutes. This would be a useful practice for ambulatory equine veterinarians to help
assess the need for fluid therapy if it is repeatable and correlated to the actual PCV. A
study was performed to compare the described method to a PCV determined by routine
lab practice of microhematocrit centrifugation.
Materials and Methods: Ten horses were used in this study. Three 10 mL samples of
blood were drawn from each horse into a 12 mL syringe. The syringe was positioned
vertically onto a Styrofoam block and the blood was allowed to settle at 4°C, 22°C, and
37°C to estimate the PCV. The line of separation between the serum and the settled
RBC’s was read on the syringe scale at 15 minutes. A spun PCV was performed on a
blood sample from each horse to establish the actual PCV. The percent difference
between the syringe PCV and the spun PCV was determined.
Results: The syringe PCV of all horses averaged 56 (range 39-72). The spun PCV
averaged 40 (range 34-44). A coefficient of 0.72 was calculated. The coefficient
multiplied by the syringe PCV provided an estimated PCV that ranged from 93% to
123% of the actual PCV.
Discussion: It was found that a horse’s PCV can be estimated after a syringe of 10 mL of
blood has settled for 15 minutes. Similar results obtained at different temperatures
indicate that PCV levels are not influenced by different ambient temperatures. This
information can be useful to help evaluate a horse for dehydration and the need for fluid
therapy.
338
Holographic Reduced Representations for Working Memory Concept Encoding
Grayson Dubois, Undergraduate student, Computer Science; Joshua Phillips (Faculty
sponsor), Computer Science
Artificial neural networks (ANNs) utilize the biological principles of neural computation
to solve many engineering problems, but ANNs also serve as formal, testable hypotheses
of brain function and learning in the cognitive sciences. However, since ANN models
often employ distributed encoding (DE) of conceptual information, most have limited
application in other areas of artificial intelligence where symbolic encoding (SE) is the
norm (eg. robotics, games, theorem proving). A working memory toolkit (WMtk) was
developed to aid the integration of an ANN-based cognitive neuroscience model of
working memory into robotic systems by mitigating the details of ANN design and
providing a simple DE interface. The WMtk can solve common tests of working memory
performance, but DE/SE conversion needs to be programmed directly by the user and
tuned specifically to each learning task. We propose that a technique called holographic
reduced representation (HRR) can be used to overcome this limitation since HRRs
provide a framework for manipulating concepts using a hybrid DE/SE formalism that is
compatible with ANNs. We describe our current progress towards the development,
integration, and testing of an HRR engine for the WMtk which automates the process of
DE/SE conversion for the user and seamlessly provides additional cognitive capabilities
to the WMtk such as cross-task generalization and concept chunking.
339
Synthesis of Analogs of the Proteasome Inhibitor Belactosin A.
Ariel Stephenson, Undergraduate student, Chemistry; Zack Fitzsimonds, Undergraduate
student, Chemistry; Norma Dunlap, Faculty, Chemistry; Norma Dunlap (Faculty sponsor),
Chemistry
Belactosin A is a naturally occurring proteasome inhibitor with potent anti-tumor activity.
Key structural features include a cyclopropane ring, as well as a terminal beta-lactone,
and activity is conferred by acylation of the beta-lactone with threonine 1 of the
proteasome. Several syntheses have been reported, however only a few analogs have
been prepared. An approach to the synthesis of novel analogs is reported here, with the
key step being the cyclopropanation of an amino-acid derived enone to access both
nitrocyclopropyl and estercyclopropyl peptidomimetics. Efforts to improve
stereoselectivity in the cyclopropanation using quinine-based catalysts are reported, as
well as coupling of the cyclopropyl peptidomimetic core to beta-lactams as alternates to
the beta-lactone. The use of phenylalanine, leucine, isoleucine and valine as starting
materials leads to benzyl, isobutyl, sec-butyl and isopropyl analogs of the natural product.
340
Toxicant Destruction Efficiency of Chlorine Dioxide and Ozone
Zenbyn Chong, Undergraduate student, Chemistry; Beng Ooi (Faculty sponsor),
Chemistry
Pentobarbital, a barbiturate that decreases the activity of the central nervous system, is
commonly used in euthanasia of animals. Improper disposal of euthanized animals can
cause pentobarbital to be released to the environment and pose a risk to wildlife and
scavengers that accidentally ingest the dangerous chemical. This study investigates the
efficiency of ozone and chlorine dioxide and possible synergistic use of both oxidants in
the degradation of pentobarbital and other selected toxic chemicals in order to prevent
human exposure to these compounds. Pentobarbital exposed to chlorine dioxide for
various time periods followed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis
showed a significant decrease of pentobarbital after 16 hours of treatment and complete
degradation after 48 hours of treatment. Likewise, 4,4-dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane
(DDT) was completely degraded after 48 hours of treatment with chlorine dioxide. Hence,
chlorine dioxide can be used for the degradation of pentobarbital and DDT. Ozone was
more effective in degrading pentobarbital and DDT. Treatment with 500 mg/hour of
ozone can degrade almost all of the 100 ppm DDT by 20 minutes.
341
What is an Effective Way to Rehabilitate a Deteriorating Coral Reef System in the
Dominican Republic?
Roger Insyxiengmay, Undergraduate student, Concrete Industry Management; Katie Poss,
Undergraduate student, Concrete Industry Management; Jon Huddleston (Faculty
sponsor), Concrete Industry Management
The decline of coral reef systems in the coastal areas of the Dominican Republic has
contributed to a significant decrease in reef-dependent fisheries, a decrease in tourism,
and a negative impact on the biodiversity of these reef systems. By installing artificial
reef systems in the impacted areas, our hope is that new coral will grow on the artificial
systems and provide an expanded habitat for the declining wildlife population. During the
summer, our group of 10 students constructed 19 fiber reinforced and 11 concrete prisms
in Sosua, Dominican Republic. The group evaluated various form options and opted to
build our own rectangular forms using plywood. By doing so, we were able to cut our
form material costs by 25%. Another advantage to this form, the shape allows the prisms
to be stacked into a pyramid, creating more interior space for the wildlife to inhabit.
Since installing these prisms, we have observed a variety of wildlife occupying the
interior of our artificial reef system. Underwater photos and videos will continue to be
taken in order to observe how the wildlife and coral are reacting to their new environment.
342
Sorority Hookups: The New Way to Wear the Scarlet “A”
Tawny Helton, Undergraduate student, Communication Studies and Organizational
Communication; Jessica Kratzer (Faculty sponsor), Communication Studies and
Organizational Communication
Sorority women are stigmatized by the culture that has been pinned to them. Assumptions
such as being promiscuous and partying all the time are two of the biggest roles that
sorority women are generalized by. Generally, outsiders pin every sorority woman with a
scarlet “A”. With my research here, I was able to take a glance into the truths behind
sorority hookups and what factors play a role in that. This research takes data analysis
from interviews of southern sorority women. These women are in their early twenties and
are active members in their sorority at a southern university. These women participate,
have once participated, or know someone close to them that has participated in the
hookup culture among sorority women. By engaging these women in interviews, I am
able to analyze specific themes that are prominent in the hookup culture among these
sorority women. The information I have gathered for this research enables me to discuss
and defend that the influences of alcohol, social stigmas, and the means by which a
hookup takes place, play an important role in forming these hookups.
343
Single Breast Cancer Cell Ionization by Laser Trap for Accurate Radiotherapy
Michele Kelley, Undergraduate student, Physics and Astronomy; Daniel Erenso, Iris Gao
(Faculty sponsors), Physics and Astronomy, Biology
In this work, a high intensity gradient laser was used to study the ionization of BT20
breast cancer cells. With the laser trap serving as an infrared radiation source, the cells
underwent dielectric breakdown of the membrane. When this process occurs, the cell is
damaged irreparably. Thus there is a relationship between the amount of charge
developed on the cell due to the polarization of the cell’s dielectric fluid and the energy
of the radiation required to effectively kill the cell. It is at this critical point whereas the
cell will be ejected from the laser trap. Using Newton’s equations of motion, the net
forces acting on the cell, which include the electric force from the laser, the gradient
force of the laser trap, and the drag force, a cell’s trajectory of ejection can be analyzed.
The energy of the absorbed radiation can be found using the cross sectional area of the
cell and the incident power from the laser trap. A relation was thus found between the
energy of the charge of the ionized cell to the energy of the absorbed radiation. Having a
very precise measurement of the energy needed to ionize the cancerous cells determined
at the cellular level will vastly improve the accuracy of radiation dosage. A more accurate
therapeutic ratio could help eliminate radiation-induced tissue toxicity and improve the
sterilization of the cancerous cells.
344
Laser Trapping Ionization of Single Red Blood Cells with AA and AS Hemoglobin
Types
Marisa Pasquerilla, Undergraduate student, Physics and Astronomy; Daniel Erenso
(Faculty sponsor), Physics and Astronomy
Sickle cell anemia is the result of a mutated form of hemoglobin, termed hemoglobin
type S (HbS). All hemoglobin types have a variable net negative charge, which may
cause normal and sickle cell red blood cells to have different mechanical properties.
Optical tweezers are a tool that allows the manipulation of cells and measurement of
mechanical properties. For this project, this tool has been used to hold red blood cells and
continuously ionize them until the cell’s membrane breaks and is ejected from the optical
trap. A software program is used to analyze variables of mass, displacement, and time of
each test which are used to determine the forces acting on the cell with the help of
Newton’s second law. The objective of the project is to build a better theoretical model of
the forces acting on red blood cells while entering, trapped, and ejected from the optical
trap. The data collected by this project will allow comparison of how the different
magnitudes of negative charge of type AA (normal) hemoglobin and type AS (sickle cell)
hemoglobin affect the cells’ interactions with the optical trap and the forces the cells
experience. By better understanding these forces and how the mechanical properties of
type AA and AS differ, a stronger foundation can be built for developing efficient
techniques that utilize these differences for methods of sickle cell anemia treatments.
345
Determination of a Protocol for Achieving Endophyte-Free Tissue Callus of Vitis
aestivalis ‘Norton/Cynthiana.’
Aimee Wilson, Undergraduate student, Biology; John DuBois, Faculty, Biology; John
DuBois (Faculty sponsor), Biology
The grape vine Vitis aestivalis ‘Norton/Cynthiana’ has many favorable traits, such as its
hardy and disease-resistant nature, that are preserved through propagation using cuttings.
However, the plant has a low propagation rate when traditional cutting techniques are
performed. Previous attempts at micropropagation have not been successful due to the
fungal endophyte that exists in the plant. We hypothesized that a protocol using
antifungal selection pressures would promote successful tissue culture initiation. The
purpose of this research was to determine a protocol that would successfully establish
Vitis aestivalis tissue callus free of the endophyte. Protocols for tissue sterilization were
employed using tissues from both vineyard and growth chamber plants. Tissues were
plated on media with and without antifungal selection pressure. The results show that
tissue samples taken from growth chamber-grown plants, sterilized using alcohol, bleach,
and chlorine dioxide gas, and plated on a selection medium containing an anti-fungal
agent, successfully produced endophyte-free callus. In addition, tissue samples taken
from vineyard-grown plants and treated with the same protocol also show success in
producing endophyte-free callus. Results support the hypothesis that antifungal selection
pressures improve the success rate of tissue culture initiation in this species, allowing for
plant tissue callus to be produced for further scientific research and propagation methods.
This protocol will now allow for the genetic analysis of Vitis aestivalis, free of its
endophyte, and create a better way to commercially micropropagate this grape and other
plants that harbor fungal endophytes.
346
Detection of Photons from Type I Spontaneous Parametric Down-Conversion
Andy Black, Undergraduate student, Physics and Astronomy; Daniel Erenso, Faculty,
Physics and Astronomy; Daniel Erenso (Faculty sponsor), Physics and Astronomy
Quantum mechanics predicts some odd but very useful behavior in particles on the
femtometer scale. Entanglement is one of the odd features of quantum mechanics that
can lend itself to uses in the field of information technology. Indeed, quantum
information processing is a next step in the technological advancement of mankind.
Obtaining entangled states of light is central to carrying out quantum information
processing schemes. Further, it is important that the entangled particles remain entangled
as operations are performed on them. Entangled states of light suffer less from loss of
entanglement due to their inherently non-interacting nature. We sought to create
entangled photons using type I spontaneous parametric down-conversion in a beta barium
borate crystal and detect them. We present a background into the construction of the
experiment to detect down-converted photons as well as the background for
understanding the design of the experiment. We measured the fringe visibility of the
coincidences at two detectors to determine if we were detecting photons resulting from
the down-conversion process and to quantify the level of entangled photons. We
obtained a fringe visibility 70.1 ± 1.4% when we selected the polarization of the path
leading from the output of the down-converted crystal to the detectors. This indicated
that we are observing photons that are the product of the down-conversion process, but it
also indicates that further experimentation must be performed to achieve a fringe
visibility of 100%, which is indicative of a perfectly entangled state.
347
Analysis of Color Powders to Determine Possible Health Risks from Hazardous Trace
Elements
Jazzmine Navarro, Undergraduate student, Forensic Science; Ngee-Sing Chong (Faculty
sponsor), Chemistry
Color powders have been an increasingly used item in many activities such as 5-km races,
recreational nightlife and cultural celebrations. The color powders are used to cover the
crowds, showering them with the colors by throwing the powder by hand or using
spraying equipment. The powders are said to be non-toxic using cornstarch or pancake
mix and food-coloring dyes to provide a bright pigment. However, some color powders
that have been analyzed have been found to contain trace amounts of harmful chemicals
such as aromatic amines that may be carcinogenic. Furthermore, the detection of aniline
was detected in one of the samples of the color powders. While there are many brands of
colored powders, the focus of our analysis will be on samples from India and the United
States. In order to determine the presence of harmful chemicals in the color powders, gas
chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), Fourier Transform infrared spectrometry
(FTIR), Raman spectrometry and XRF spectrometry instrumentation are used for sample
analysis. The spectra from both FTIR and Raman are searched against a spectral database
of compounds. The powders are found to contain starch or pancake mix coated with color
dyes. The XRF spectrometry data have revealed the presence of several transition metals.
Besides dyes based on aromatic amines, the GC-MS data also shows the presence of
solvents, which have been linked to fire incidents when the powders were used.
348
Measuring Glucocorticoid Metabolite Levels, Behavioral Profiles, and Weight Gain in
Two, Hand-reared, Captive Clouded Leopards (Neofelis nebulosa): A Preliminary
Assessment
Logan Whiles, Undergraduate student, Biology; Brian Miller (Faculty sponsor), Biology
Clouded leopards, arguably the most distinct Pantherinae, or “big cat,” species, are
currently threatened by population decline in situ and ex situ. What little is known about
this cat’s behavior comes from captive studies. Modern research is focused on defining
optimal rearing and mate-pairing protocols to mitigate severe mate incompatibility in this
species. Evaluating the welfare of captive clouded leopards commonly entails the noninvasive measurements of behavioral ratings from the animals’ keepers and
glucocorticoid (“stress” hormone) metabolite concentrations in feces (fGMs). I assessed
the welfare of two juvenile females born and hand-reared at Nashville Zoo at Grassmere
by examining corticosterone (type of glucocorticoid) metabolite concentrations, weight
gain, and behavioral ratings. A three-month period of fecal collections revealed baseline
concentrations of 292.30 [± 91.0679 SD] and 314.30 [±72.7077 SD] nanograms of
corticosterone metabolites per gram of fecal mass for these cubs, Sip Saam and Natida,
respectively. Behavioral ratings did not differ significantly; each received a mean score
of approximately 4.5 out of 5. Growth rate (weight gain/days) was similar between
individuals (y = 0.0452x, y = 0.0462x, R2 = 0.99). Baseline fGM levels were higher than
most data reported for adult clouded leopards. This study reports the first investigation of
a relationship between weight gain and fGM concentration in juvenile clouded leopards,
of which I found no correlation. My data will be presented to the Association of Zoos and
Aquariums’ Clouded Leopard Species Survival Plan® to assist with future pairing
recommendations. These data can also be used in future studies with these two
individuals to investigate the consistency of fGM baseline levels throughout their lifespan.
349
Inhibition of Cryptococcus neoformans by Extract 23B
Kayla Conner, Undergraduate student, Biology; Erin McClelland, Faculty, Biology; Scott
Handy, Faculty, Chemistry; Erin McClelland (Faculty sponsor), Biology
Background: Cryptococcus neoformans (Cn) is an opportunistic fungal pathogen, which
causes life-threatening cryptococcosis after spreading through the central nervous system
(CNS) of its host. Many affected by cryptococcosis have weakened immune function
resulting from factors such as infection with HIV/AIDS. Yearly, there are an estimated
one million cases of cryptococcosis among HIV/AIDS patients, resulting in an estimated
625,000 deaths. Thus, the lack of safe, effective treatment options for cryptococcosis is a
growing problem. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) shows promise in the treatment
of cryptococcosis. Extract 23B, an extract from a plant historically used in TCM, showed
inhibition against Cn in preliminary screenings. This extract has been screened further to
isolate active compounds that are responsible for the inhibitory response in Cn in hopes
that a safer, more effective antifungal treatment for cryptococcosis may be developed.
Methods: The first phase of our project consisted of alternating chromatography
fractionation of extract 23B and subsequent microbiological assays to determine which
fractions are active. Results: After two rounds of rough fractionation and elimination of
inactive fractions through microbiological assay, gas chromatography/mass spectrometry
(GC/MS) was performed on active fractions to determine approximately how many
compounds may be responsible for the biological activity. Current data suggests that
three compounds are spread across all active fractions. Conclusions: We hypothesize that
one of these fractions is responsible for the observed inhibition of Cn. Once isolated, we
plan to assign structures to the active compound(s) using nuclear magnetic resonance
(NMR) spectroscopy, GC/MS and, if solids, x-ray crystallography. We will then continue
with further testing to determine any active compounds’ mechanism of action against Cn
by performing a minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) test for synergy with current
treatments for cryptococcosis by testing the compound(s) in combination with
amphotericin B, fluconazole, or flucytosine.
350
High Throughput Screening to Identify Traditional Chinese Medicine Plant Extracts with
Activity Against Trichomonas vaginalis
Charlie Boyle, Undergraduate student, Biology; Jeannie Stubblefield, Graduate student,
Molecular Biosciences; Anthony Newsome, Faculty, Biology; Anthony Newsome
(Faculty sponsor), Biology
Trichomoniasis is the most common non-viral sexually transmitted infection in the world,
with an estimated 276 million new cases each year. While infection with Trichomonas
vaginalis is most commonly asymptomatic, the disease may cause serious complications
including preterm births, low birthweights, and miscarriages. Infection with T. vaginalis
has also been associated with increased HIV transmission rates, cervical neoplasia, and
advanced stage metastatic prostate cancer. Metronidazole is the current treatment for T.
vaginalis; however, the World Health Organization has growing concerns about the
increase in resistant cases and no new drugs have been placed on the market to treat
trichomoniasis since 1998. In the current study extracts derived from plants used
traditional Chinese medicine were screened for inhibitory activity against T. vaginalis in
a 48 hour in vitro assay. Extracts with high selectivity (high parasite inhibition and low
mammalian cell toxicity) were prioritized for bioassay guided fractionation to identify the
active compound(s) for future drug development.
351
An Examination of Gaussian Basis Sets Using a Pseudopotential
Justin Cousineau, Undergraduate student, Physics and Astronomy; Jing Kong, Faculty,
Chemistry; Jing Kong (Faculty sponsor), Chemistry
Since the beginnings of chemistry, scientists have long sought a “black box” that, with a
few inputs and parameters, would give you any properties (such as energy, electron
affinity, and ionization potential) you would need to know about a specific atom or
molecule. The purpose of this research is to create a better, more efficient method to
calculate energies and potentials associated with an atom or molecule. To generate
accurate calculations with Gaussian basis sets, the sets themselves often become very
large and computationally expensive. However, with this project advised by Dr. Kong,
we would be modifying the potential portion of the Schrodinger equation. A
pseudopotential is employed to remove the cusp at the origin in the hydrogen
wavefunction. Utilizing this pseudopotential, different wavefunction basis sets are
examined in an attempt to reduce their size and make them more computationally
efficient. The hypothesis is this pseudopotential will cut down the size and computational
cost of our basis set calculations while retaining comparable accuracy.
352
The Relationship Between Age of Initiation of Cigarettes and Substance Abuse Among
Tennessee High School Students
Miranda Givens, Undergraduate student, Health and Human Performance; Andrew
Owusu (Faculty sponsor), Health and Human Performance
Purpose: Existing studies indicate that there is a correlation between the Age of Initiation
of Cigarette (AIC) and substance abuse. This study assessed the relationship between age
of initiation and substance abuse among high school students in Tennessee during 2011.
Methods: Using data from the self-administered 2011 Tennessee Youth Risk Behavior
Survey. The selected independent variable was age of initiation. The dependent variables
were; current marijuana use, cocaine, meth, ecstasy, prescription abuse.
Results: Odds ratios were calculated for 2 X 2 cross-tabulations. Significant relationships
included that between AIC use and current marijuana use, (OR= 4.9 [3.2-7.6]), AIC and
current cocaine use, (OR= 10.5 [6.27-17.4]), AIC and lifetime meth use, (OR= 10 [8.610.9]), AIC and lifetime ecstasy, (OR=8.2 [7.1-9.5]), AIC and prescription abuse, (OR=
4.9 [4-6.2].
Conclusions: The notable relationship between high school students who report AIC and
the selected forms of substance abuse variables indicate a need for more in-depth study to
better understand the issue among this population. From a programmatic perspective,
AIC intervention program planners need to consider the likelihood of substance abuse
among people with an earlier AIC. More programs based around the prevention of
substance abuse and subsequent co-treatment during AIC intervention represent a more
holistic approach to dealing with AIC thus increasing the likelihood of success among
such programs.
353
Cation Exchange in Quantum Dots: Lessons from the Zn/Pb System
Ryan Tilluck, Undergraduate student, Chemistry; Alexander Morris, Graduate student,
Chemistry; Paul Greg Van Patten, Faculty, Chemistry; Paul Van Patten (Faculty sponsor),
Chemistry
Cation exchange in semiconductor quantum dots provides a route to new
nanoheterostructures with novel properties. In PbS quantum dots, many examples of
exchange with Cd ions have previously been reported; however, exchange with other
metal ions has proven elusive. We report here on methods that permit exchange with Zn
ions and discuss the key principles that govern the success of the process. The ionexchanged particles are characterized via electronic spectroscopy, x-ray fluorescence, xray diffraction, and transmission electron microscopy. The effects of Zn introduction on
particle morphology, optical properties, and chemical/thermal stability are discussed.
354
Sinclair Lewis and the F-word: Can Men Be Feminists?
Shelbey Conklin, Undergraduate student, English; Sydney Russell, Undergraduate
student, English; Laura Dubek (Faculty sponsor), English
In 1930, Sinclair Lewis became the first American writer to win the Nobel Prize in
Literature. Known primarily for his satires of small town life (Main Street), business
(Babbitt), and religion (Elmer Gantry), Lewis also wrote novels that could be considered
feminist. By drawing attention to one of his lesser-known novels, The Job (1917), and
engaging in biographical and historical research, we will compare Lewis’s brand of
literary feminism in the 1920’s and 1930’s to the popular portrayal of women in today’s
society. We are interested in (1) what motivated Sinclair Lewis’s feminism, (2) what
being a “feminist” meant in the early 20th century, (3) whether other celebrated male
writers could be considered feminists, and (4) what being a “feminist” means today. Our
primary method will therefore be compare/contrast. To date, we have started literary
analysis of The Job, watched a biographical documentary film, read his biography, and
researched male feminist writers of today. The audience for our project includes readers
interested in 20th century American literature, in Sinclair Lewis, in feminist literature,
and in definitions of feminism/feminist for the last 100 years.
355
An Evolutionary Analysis of Membrane-Associated Guanylate-Kinase Protein Family
Ryan Carr, Undergraduate student, Biology; Heather Deal, Undergraduate student,
Biology; Rebecca Seipelt-Thiemann, Faculty, Biology; Rebecca Seipelt-Thiemann
(Faculty sponsor), Biology
Gene families come into being through gene and/or genome duplication followed by
mutation over time which results in the evolutionarily-related genes having somewhat
different nucleotides, amino acids, gene structure, and functions. The membraneassociated guanylate kinase protein family has twelve members in humans: DLG 1,
DLG2, DLG3, DLG4, CASK, MPP1, MPP2, MPP3, MPP4, MPP5, MPP6, and MPP7.
This gene/protein family is characterized by the presence of three specific protein
domains: PDZ, SH3, and GUK, all of which aid in protein-protein interactions. These
proteins are known to interact with cytoskeletal proteins and also are involved in signal
transduction. A characteristic member of this family is the DLG3 gene, is responsible for
encoding a synapse associated protein (SAP102). The goal of this study was to better
understand the evolutionary relationships among the protein/gene family members. To
attain this goal, two evolutionary investigations were undertaken. First, phylogenetic
trees, which are the traditional method of analysis, were constructed using the amino
acids. This analysis indicated evidence for three distinct sub-groups: group A contained
CASK, MPP1, MPP2, MPP6; group B contained MPP3, MPP4, MPP5, MPP7; and group
C contained DLG 1, DLG2, DLG3, DLG4. Next, the phylogenetic relationship based on
the exon structure was undertaken. Briefly, multiple alignments were combined exon
boundary information to generate a visual map of similarities and differences in exon
structure among the gene family members. This visualization and its comparison to the
traditional phylogenetic analysis will be presented.
356
Synthesis of Fe Complex with Metal-Ligand Cooperativities
David Tyer, Undergraduate student, Chemistry; Keying Ding (Faculty sponsor),
Chemistry
Research on synthesis of amines, amides and imines has seen explosive growth over the
past decade due to the increasing needs in the areas of pharmacy, biotechnology and
green engineering. Among them, homogeneous acceptorless catalytic dehydrogenative
coupling of alcohols and amines has gained particular attention due to its ability to form
imines, amines or amides directly, which does not use hazardous stoichiometric oxidants
or sacrificial hydrogen acceptors, with H2O and/or H2 as the only by-products. We
propose to design, synthesize and characterize a novel, well defined and easily tuned Fe
complex with metal-ligand cooperativities (MLC) to catalyze alcohol amine coupling
reaction at mild conditions, to examine the efficiency and scope of catalyst, and to
explore the mechanism of the reaction. For this recently funded NSF project, we have so
far (1) synthesized the specifically designed phosphine ligand with NH linker and (2)
synthesized an iron complex with this ligand. We hereby report these preliminary results
and future work is also discussed.
357
Radio Observations of the Sun, Earth, and Jupiter
Joshua Vaughn, Undergraduate student, Physics and Astronomy; Jacques Beasley,
Undergraduate student, Physics and Astronomy; John Jackson, Undergraduate student,
Physics and Astronomy; Charles Higgins (Faculty sponsor), Physics and Astronomy
Our setup involves three main components: a terminated folded dipole antenna array for
signal detection, a 15—30 MHz bandwidth spectrograph receiver for signal processing,
and a laptop computer with spectrograph software for signal analysis. Our primary
objectives include integrating the spectrograph into our system, recording Jupiter and
solar spectra for data analysis, and reducing radio frequency interference (RFI). The data
we gather can be used to learn about the Jovian and solar magnetosphere and Earth’s
ionosphere. With the data collated, we can support the Juno mission to Jupiter with
ground-based radio observations and the NASA Radio Jove program with outreach.
Furthermore, the data collected will be added to a public access database facilitated by
the Spectrograph Users Group through the Radio Jove website.
358
In Situ Rumen Degradation Rate of Honey Locust (Gleditisia triacanthos) Seed Pods in
the Bovine as a Model for Their Use in Captive Giraffe Diets
Caitlin Chase, Undergraduate student, Agribusiness and Agriscience; Kevin Downs,
Faculty, Agribusiness and Agriscience; Kevin Downs (Faculty sponsor), Agribusiness
and Agriscience
The Nashville Zoo began investigating honey locust seed pods as a suitable treat for
giraffes. The zoo conducted a nutritional analysis of the seedpods, but little research was
previously done concerning the rate at which they degrade in the rumen. The bovine, like
the giraffe, is a ruminant. For this study, a fistulated steer was used to model the giraffe
rumen. The steer’s cannula allowed samples to be placed directly in the rumen, incubated,
and removed. To determine the rumen degradation rate of the pods, a 5 g ground (2mm
particle size) sample was placed in nylon digestion bags for each of the following
incubation times: 0, 0.25, 1, 12, 24, 36, 48, 60, and 72 hours. After the appropriate
incubation time, the bags were removed and analyzed to determine rumen degradation
rate. The average dry matter disappearance was found to be 36.50% at 0 hours, 48.73% at
0.25 hours, 49.04% at 1 hour, 58.92% at 12 hours, 61.64% at 24 hours, 64.03% at 36
hours, 66.72% at 48 hours, 67.38% at 60 hours, and 70.10% at 72 hours. Previous work
found the dry matter disappearance of alfalfa hay to be 50.8% at 24 hours, 62.8% at 48
hours, and 63.9% at 72 hours. Taking this into consideration, honey locust seedpods are
of relatively high quality when dry matter disappearance alone is considered. The results
of this study are important to validate the merit of honey locust seedpods as treats for
giraffes and other exotic ruminants.
359 WITHDRAWN
Comparing Paper and Computerized Assessments for Working Memory and Executive
Functioning
Andrea Meggison, Undergraduate student, Psychology; Michael Hein, (Faculty sponsor),
Psychology
A deeper understanding is needed of working memory and executive functioning and if
these closely-related constructs can be used as predictors of work performance and
perhaps even as a selection tool by employers (Gelineau, 2015). There is a study
currently being conducted by Josh Gelineau, at Middle Tennessee State University, to try
and help answer this question. As part of that study, computerized tests are being
administered to measure working memory (WM) and executive functioning (EF), which
take about two hours to complete. There is a widely-used paper and pencil self-report
assessment (the BRIEF®-A), which measures both WM and EF, and only takes thirty
minutes to complete. As an addition to Gelineau’s study, the BRIEF®-A will be
administered to determine if it measures the same constructs as the computerized tests.
The BRIEF®-A could represent significant time savings for studies going forward. If a
difference is found we can begin to examine that which is being measured. Though work
performance cannot be measured with students in a university setting, there are other
factors, which effect employee work performance and can be examined in regards to their
relationship with working memory and executive functioning. To address this, this study
will analyze sleep patterns, grit and internet addiction. While it may seem that these
factors are unrelated, they each incorporate one or more aspects of WM and EF such as
impulse control, planning, organizing or performance on sustained tasks.
360
The Pilgrimage of a Burner: Motivations behind the Global Trek to the Nevada
Wasteland
Olivia Thompson, Undergraduate student, Sociology and Anthropology; Jenna GrayHildenbrand (Faculty sponsor), Philosophy
While Burners themselves do not label the Burning Man site as a religious pilgrimage, I
argue Burners have many motivations to traverse this desolate location in the Nevada
desert from a religious and anthropological studies’ perspective. By conducting research
on this unique, sacred journey, I examine humans’ main motivations to travel across the
U.S. and the globe to this site. Do they travel for religious or spiritual purposes,
individual interpretation or communal dependence/unity, admiration for intricate art
sculptures and creativity, or has Burning Man become an outlet for the ultimate partier? I
decipher the complexities that constitute the Burning Man experience and foster
understanding for why Burners migrate to this dusty wasteland. I examine three
prominent religious studies’ theorists, focused on pilgrimage, and compare their theories
to three recent pilgrimage scholars who studied Burning Man as a pilgrimage site. In
concluding my argument, I apply the anthropological method of ethnography by using
my cousin’s personal account of working and journeying to Burning Man to support my
thesis. My audience is primarily those interested in pilgrimage studies, anthropology, and
sociology, but is not limited to these fields. By examining Burning Man, I contribute to
the field of religious-pilgrimage studies and social sciences by stating that pilgrimage can
exist by functioning and manifesting outside the constraints of organized religious
movements, expanding the view of religious pilgrimages. Pilgrimage studies are
applicable outside major religious pilgrimage sites for structured belief systems. I seek to
understand from an anthropological view why Burners, a distinct and diverse group,
journey to this site and create a temporary city only to destroy it and return to that locale
yearly. My research is a more holistic interpretation of the Burning Man pilgrimage site,
proving that social scientists can study through multiple lenses.
361 WITHDRAWN
Echando la Culpa: Challenges to Climate Change Adaptation in the Rio Santa Basin,
Ancash, Peru
Samuel Hulsey, Undergraduate student, Global Studies; Doug Heffington (Faculty
sponsor), Global Studies
Climate change affects a variety of natural resources, but its impact on water availability
warrants the most concern. This issue draws attention to the fact that our planet is
changing and more importantly reveals that the systems we have developed to allocate
water resources have a low capacity to adapt. Nowhere is this issue more pressing than in
the Rio Santa basin of northern Peru where subsistence agriculture, hydroelectric projects,
and coastal commercial farms compete for seemingly dwindling water resources provided
by high-altitude glaciers. Although hydrological systems are changing in the Andean
region, is the claim that there exists a water deficit valid? How do perceptions of what
truly drives a water deficit impede adaptation action and to what extent can climate
change be used as a scapegoat to avoid addressing internal issues? Through the use of
qualitative interviews with actors in the Santa basin water governance network, I
compare the various perspectives of how climate change is impacting water resources. I
rely on discourse analysis to identify reoccurring themes that serve as the foundation of
emerging discourse coalitions. I then demonstrate how inconsistencies in these
perspectives of the role of climate change in water availability impede adaptation by
failing to address root systemic issues. As climate change highlights problems within
infrastructure and policy, it becomes clear that a deficiency is not necessarily a function
of climatic change, but rather, internal systemic weaknesses. This study would be of
interest for a range of scholars including, but not limited to environmental science,
geography, political science, and anthropology.
362
The Meaning and Movement Behind the Black Power Fist
Jordan Dickerson, Undergraduate student, Communication Studies and Organizational
Communication; Patrick Richey (Faculty sponsor), Communication Studies and
Organizational Communication
Symbols have the power to start a war or alter the way a person lives. Not only is the
meaning behind the symbol important, but also the weight the public gives to that symbol.
The black power fist was designed to bring attention to the civil rights movement in the
United States. However, it has been transformed into something so much more important
than that. This poster will discuss the origins and meaning behind this powerful symbol,
as well as talk about how it has shaped and impacted not just that time period but current
movements. Two key concepts connect the symbol with its modern meaning and motives.
They are the critical use of social movement theory and public memory theory with
regard to the black power first.
363
The Ascent of Mount Kilimanjaro: A Journey Into the Mind of Hemingway
Mary Claire Bennett, Undergraduate student, English; Laura Dubek (Faculty sponsor),
English
Ernest Hemingway is an author known for transparency in his life and in his art. The
characters he creates can be so closely linked to himself that his novels can be interpreted
autobiographically, especially The Snows of Kilimanjaro, and this provides for a
psychological interpretation of his works. The story is a vivid and autobiographical
representation social issues including racial discrimination and gender differences that
provokes thought about the mind of the author and its influence in the work. An
investigation into the psychology of Hemingway and this specific work can be applied
not only to his own life and career but also to issues that plague our twenty-first century
life. The purpose of my project is to do just that; my trifold poster will be designed to
educate the audience about Hemingway’s life and career, the literary and psychological
elements in The Snows of Kilimanjaro, and the ways psychology can be applied to social
issues in the world today. At this point, I have researched biographical information about
Hemingway and have read multiple summaries of the book, which I will continue to read
closely. I have also done some preliminary research on the various themes, imagery, and
other elements in the story. My psychology classes have equipped me to critique the book
from a psychological perspective. The last step in my research will be to find current
social issues that relate to Hemingway and The Snows of Kilimanjaro. By incorporating
methods of close reading, comparison, and psychological analysis, this project will
combine the fields of English, history, and psychology in order to critique social issues
found in literature and everyday life, but it will be of interest to anyone who recognizes
and questions social issues, either in literature or in life.
364
People's Decade for Nuclear Abolition: A Social Movement
Stephanie Torbit, Undergraduate student, Recording Industry; Patrick Richey (Faculty
sponsor), Communication Studies and Organizational Communication
I will critically analyze the People’s Decade for Nuclear Abolition (PDNA) through a
social movement lens. Specifically, the essay will examine PDNA and the Nichiren
Buddhists’ Sokka Gakkai International (SGI) 2007 ad campaign. Both organizations
worked together to create an exhibition called “Everything You Treasure – For a world
free from nuclear weapons,” slide presentation. The presentation is twenty panels
showcasing various locations such as colleges, culture centers and national assemblies in
different countries. The goal of this organization is start a movement within society to
call for a ban of all nuclear weapons. The exhibition discusses what humans’ treasure,
educating people about nuclear weapons, and nuclear weapons’ devastating effects on the
world in the past century. In addition, SGI and the International Campaign to Abolish
Nuclear Weapons explain their plan of action to educate the general public and inspire
countries to start a movement on nuclear reduction/abolition. This movement is a
revolutionary social movement because the People’s Decade wants to not only change
society’s views on nuclear weapons but to change laws in numerous countries to ban the
use and creation of nuclear weapons.
365
The Good Wife? : Pearl S. Buck’s Feminist Critique
Lusha Li, Undergraduate student, English; Jiaying Du, Undergraduate student, English;
Laura Dubek (Faculty sponsor), English
Set in early twentieth century China, the novel The Good Earth won the Pulitzer Prize in
1932. Its author, Pearl S. Buck, became the first American woman writer to win the
Nobel Prize for Literature in 1938. Our project explores women and marriage during the
early twentieth century in China by analyzing specific scenes, quotes, and characters in
The Good Earth. Although our primary method is literary analysis, our larger purpose is
to address the novel’s (and novelist’s) feminism by discussing O-Lan, the female
protagonist and “good wife,” within the context of China’s ever-changing birth control
policy. In this way, we will draw attention to gender issues in China. Buck understood
these issues quite well, having lived the majority of her life in China. Our main sources
will be Buck’s biography and novel, selected scholars’ comments on her work, and
reports of China’s birth control policy as well. We will highlight the parallels between
life and art in a timeline that features relevant events in the history of early 20th century
China and in the biography of Pearl S. Buck. The audience for our project includes
anyone interested in women’s history, China, American literature, or Pearl S. Buck.
366
Relationship between Schizotypy and Self-Talk
Taylor Webb, Undergraduate student, Psychology; Tom Brinthaupt (Faculty sponsor),
Psychology
The goal of this study is to see if there is any type of relationship between schizotypy and
self-talk. Participants ages 18 and up were given questionnaires that measured these items.
For schizotypy, the SPQ-B is used and the three factors that are measured are CognitivePerceptual Deficits (meaning magical thinking), Interpersonal Deficits (having social
anxiety and not having many friends) and Disorganization (having some odd behaviors).
An example of one of the questions would be "Sometimes people find me aloof and
distant". For measuring the self-talk, the Self-Talk Scale was used. This scale measures
inner and private speech. An example would be "I am more likely to talk to myself to
prepare what I am going to say to someone". One hypothesis is that people who are
disorganized and have higher schizotypy levels are more likely to talk to themselves.
367 WITHDRAWN
Hydrogen Peroxide Sensing with Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes Modified with Zinc
Oxide Nanoparticles and Enzymes
Robert Baltz, Undergraduate student, Chemistry; Charles Chusuei (Faculty sponsor),
Chemistry
High levels of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is hazardous to living organisms in the
environment. In the body, H2O2 can cause damage to DNA and proteins if the
concentration becomes too high. This can lead to mutations that may be harmful. Also,
increased concentrations of H2O2 in the body is an indicator of disease due to oxidative
stress. Health professionals need a quick and easy way to measure the H2O2
concentrations in the bloodstream, saving both patient and doctor time and money.
Carbon nanotubes were applied to glassy carbon electrodes to detect H2O2. Carboxylic
acid-functionalized multi-walled nanotubes (COOH-MWNT) will allow metal oxides and
enzymes to bind with them onto the glassy carbon electrode (GCE) surface. ZnO was
used to bind to the surface using varied sonication times. We hypothesize that the
incorporation of enzyme would further enhance electrochemical sensing performance.
The mixture was sonicated for 60 minutes to give a ZnO/COOH-MWNT/GCE.
Sonication time was reduced to 30 minutes to leave half of the binding sights open for
Cytochrome C, an enzyme, to bind using Coulombic attraction to increase sensitivity.
The effect of the enzyme to increase in sensitivity and selectivity for H2O2 detection was
analyzed. Experiments are underway to prove this hypothesis.
368
Seasonal Variation of Terpene Emission Profile in Plants
Ashley Caldwell, Undergraduate student, Chemistry; Beng Ooi (Faculty sponsor),
Chemistry
Terpenes, which are known for their fragrances, are a group of volatile hydrocarbons
found in the essential oils of plants. They are emitted as a defense mechanism against
predators and in response to stresses due to high temperature. The objective of this
project is to determine the types of terpenes released from Cedar, Redbud, and Pine trees
using Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis. A branch from each
plant is placed in separate flasks connected to an air sampling canister. The setup was
placed in sunlight and samples collected during the hottest time of the day. Terpenes such
as limonene, camphene, thujone, �-phellandrene, α-pinene, and γ-terpinene were
detected in the emission profile of Cedar. No terpenes were detected in the sample from
Redbud, probably due to the fact that the Redbud is about to shed its leaves in the fall
season. In general, the types and amounts of terpenes emitted are dependent on the plant,
temperature, and season.
369
Assessment of Anti Herpes Activity in Bidens biternata
Darcy Tabotabo, Undergraduate student, Biology; Stephen Wright (Faculty sponsor),
Biology
The disease commonly known as herpes, caused by herpes simplex virus (HSV), is a
common infection that most often results in lesions on the mouth or genitals. HSV-1 may
also be responsible for more serious, life-threatening diseases such as
meningoencephalitis and neonatal infection and cause severe infections in
immunocompromised patients. At least half of the population of the United States has
experienced infection by HSV-1. There is presently no preventative vaccine for HSV-1,
and resistance to acyclovir, the only currently available therapy, is increasing. This
signals a great need to find other chemotherapeutic agents that could be used to treat
herpes infection in place of or in complement with acyclovir. This research is evaluating
Bidens biternata, a traditional Chinese Medicine, for its potential anti herpes properties.
In a previous study, a crude plant extract has shown 96% inhibition of HSV-1.
Purification and fractionation of extracts is being done in concurrence with evaluation of
these extracts and fractions in the Chemistry and Biology departments at MTSU. The
ultimate goal is to isolate the anti viral compound from Bidens biternata.
370
Sleepy Hollow in the 21st Century
Logan Varnell, Undergraduate student, English; Tyler Gattie, Undergraduate student,
English; Alexis Arriaga, Undergraduate student, English; Jesse Williams (Faculty
sponsor), English
The problem in today’s world that is also addressed in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is
social class and the judgment of different kinds of people. That not everyone is treated
equally or thought of as equal like some people believe. In this short story, Ichabod Crane
moves to Sleepy Hollow, New York from Connecticut and eventually gets ran out of
town by the “Headless Horseman” and is never seen again. All of the people in Sleepy
Hollow were mainly descendants from the original Dutch settlers, which could explain
the seclusion around Sleepy Hollow. This would single out Ichabod because his family is
not a descendant from the Dutch. This type of thing still happens to this day. It may not
be in the same way as Crane’s experience, but it’s not uncommon to see someone get ran
out of town by the neighborhood bully because they’re a little different, or just because
they’re not a part of a specific social class. This could happen to some kid being bullied
in school, or an adult who is being threatened by someone else to leave an area and never
return. Our poster will analyze the separation in social class throughout the last couple of
centuries in Washington Irving’s original Legend of Sleepy Hollow (1820) along with
Disney’s 1949 film of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Tim Burton’s Sleepy Hollow
(1999), and the TV series Sleepy Hollow (2013). The poster will also demonstrate the
changes throughout the years on how and why people have been forced out of town
because of certain differences.
371
Development of an e-Cookbook for Preadolescent Children
Mabel Rodriguez, Undergraduate student, Human Sciences; Janet Colson (Faculty
sponsor), Human Sciences
The lack of electronic cookbooks for the school age children motivated me to create an
electronic cookbook targeting preadolescence children ages 9-12, in order to add more
children’s e-cookbooks to the market. The creation of an e-cookbook provides an ageappropriate electronic cookbook that is appealing and educational for preadolescent
children. My final outcome is an electronic cookbook with five chapters. The chapters
cover breakfast, smoothies, snacks, lunch or dinner, and desserts. The recipes contain
healthy ingredients such as Greek yogurt, fruits and vegetables, whole wheat, and nuts.
The title for the electronic cookbook is Healthy Bites. In summary, a step by step
electronic cookbook, written at a grade appropriate reading level, will encourage
preadolescent children to make their own food. Cooking on their own can benefit their
future by creating a basis for being comfortable in the kitchen allowing them to make
healthier choices now and in the future. The step-by-step e-cookbook will allow
preadolescent children to become accustomed to cooking and baking using healthy
ingredients. By introducing them to healthier meals and snack ideas they will begin to
make healthier choices to help them mold a healthier future.
372
What Does BCAT Do in Cryptococcus neoformans?
Kathryn Brittain, Undergraduate student, Biology; Erin McClelland, Faculty, Biology;
Erin McClelland (Faculty sponsor), Biology
Background: Cryptococcus neoformans is a pathogenic yeast with a polysaccharide
capsule, making it difficult for macrophages to digest it. Thus, it is a primary cause of
fungal meningitis in immunocompromised people. A comparison of microarray data from
high- and low-virulent strains of C. neoformans identified a branched chain amino
transferase (bcat) gene, suggesting BCAT may be involved in pathogenesis. The bcat
gene is involved in metabolism through the catabolism of branched chain amino acids.
Thus, we hypothesize that bcat is involved in the virulence of C. neoformans because of
its ability to affect energy production in this pathogenic yeast. Methods: To test this
hypothesis, we a constructed a strain of C. neoformans lacking the bcat gene. A DNA
construct was created using overlap PCR, where the noursethricin antibiotic marker was
used to replace the bcat gene. The construct was sequenced for verification and then
cloned into a bacterial plasmid. Using biolistic transformation, the DNA construct was
transformed into the wild type strain of C. neoformans. The resulting transformants were
tested and found to have successfully deleted the bcat gene from the genome. We are
currently working to insert the gene back into the knock out strain to create the
reconstituted strain, using similar techniques. Results: Two strains of C. neoformans
lacking the bcat gene were verified for correctness of the insert using Sothern Blot
Analysis. We will repeat this test when the reconstituted strain has been created.
Conclusions: Once the bcat reconstituted strain has been created we will compare the
virulence phenotypes of the two strains. If the knockout strain has a slower growth rate
due to a possible defect in energy production, we will infect waxworms, Galleria
mellonella, with both strains to determine if bcat plays a role in virulence of C.
neoformans.
373
Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God: The Myth of American Exceptionalism
Daniel Vincent, Undergraduate student, Aerospace; Austin Buffalo, Undergraduate
student; Ryan Essary, Undergraduate student, Aerospace; Jesse Williams (Faculty
sponsor), English
America's historical backbone of being pioneers, adventurers, and 'pull yourself up by
your bootstraps' kinds of people has led to an almost invincible mentality that many
Americans hold. This 'exceptionalism' is one of many myths woven into America's rich
culture. In Jonathan Edwards’s sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,”
Edwards portrays to his congregation that they are sinners, and that through
predestination everyone is predetermined whether or not they are getting into heaven.
This means that you have to work diligently during this life and be free from sin, so you
can at least know that you should be eligible to enter heaven. Looking from a broader
view, Edwards’ sermon can be viewed by historians and literacy critics as an allusion to
the congregation as being the American people as a whole, in which they are the new
“chosen people” to be the Christian standard. This leads to the exposure of the myth of
American exceptionalism. The sermon convinced many that they were of a special breed,
and that no other culture or theology would be as holy as their own.
374
More Missing: Expanding Content Analysis in Social Work Journals to Include NonBinary Orientations and Gender Identities
Sana Marie Wilson, Undergraduate student, Social Work; Kathleen Darby (Faculty
sponsor), Social Work
In 2002, Van Voorhis and Wagner published “Among the Missing: Content on Lesbian
and Gay People in Social Work Journals”. This study was a content analysis of four
significant social work journals for the years 1988 – 1997, which identified articles that
covered gay and lesbian issues and provided an overview of the themes and focuses of
these articles. Pelts, Rolbiecki, and Albright repeated this study and analyzed the same
journals (using similar criteria and additional analysis) covering the years 1998 – 2012.
As of 2015, there was no comparable analysis of social work journals that looked at
content applicable to orientations that are not specifically straight, gay, or lesbian, or
gender identities that are not cis male or cis female. This purpose of this project was to
find out the material available to social work students and professionals regarding this
significant and underserved population.
This project looked at the same significant social work journals as previous studies,
covering the years 1998 - 2013, to identify articles that pertain to non-binary orientations
and gender identities and to compile an overview of themes, focuses, and language in
these articles. By establishing what material is available in current primary material we
can define the extent of the existing literature gap and design research to fill in the
missing pieces.
375
Isolation and Identification of Medicinal Metabolites from Cichorium intybus
Chelsea Harmon, Undergraduate student, Chemistry; Norma Dunlap (Faculty sponsor),
Chemistry
Cichorium intybus (Chicory) has been used medicinally in a variety of cultures dating
back thousands of years. Historically, it has been most commonly used as a diuretic, a
hepatoprotective agent, and an anti-inflammatory agent. Some of the compounds linked
to the observed medicinal properties of chicory are β-sitosterol (wound-healing), 8deoxylactucin (anthelmintic and anti-inflammatory), and cichoric acid (anti-viral).
Chicory samples were collected in Johnson City, TN and the medicinal components were
further investigated for activity against Trypanosoma brucei, Herpes Simplex Virus
Type-1, and inflammation. Utilizing a bioassay-guided fractionation approach, two
sesquiterpene lactones, 8-deoxylactucin and lactupicrin, were isolated and identified as
the active components against T. brucei. A third compound (11,13-dihydrolactucin) was
also identified but not isolated. An extraction procedure was also developed to optimize
the extraction of crude plant material. More work is needed to isolate the other active
components and to further quantify the optimized extraction procedure.
376
Discrepancies in the Size of the Polysaccharide Capsule of Cryptococcus neoformans
Contingent upon Host Gender
Pel Doski, Undergraduate student, Biology; Erin McClelland (Faculty sponsor), Biology
Background: Cryptococcus neoformans (Cn) is an opportunist, parasitic yeast that is
commonly found in the soil. Studies show that when comparing male and female patients
who are infected with the yeast, male patients have a higher infection rate and, ultimately,
higher mortality rate than their female counterparts. Since the main virulence factor of the
yeast is its polysaccharide capsule, it is possible that when exposed to different
environments (male versus female host) the yeast is able to change its capsule to its
advantage. A recent study found that fractions of the main polysaccharide in the yeast
capsule, glucuronoxylomannan (GXM), of different molecular masses may have different
functional ability. Thus, we hypothesize that the male host environment can induce the
yeast to develop different sized polysaccharides whereas the female host environment
may inhibit this differentiation to a certain degree. Methods: In order to further study this,
28 clinical isolates from HIV+ Botswana patients infected with Cn (12 males and 16
females) were grown to isolate their large capsules. These capsules were then separated
from the yeast and purified before being measured with a dynamic light-scattering
machine. Results: This research is still ongoing; however, we expect to see differences in
the size distribution of GXM, between strains isolated from males and strains isolated
from females. Conclusions: From this we hope to show that the strain is capable of
changing its capsule depending on its host gender environment, which may partly explain
the increased disease observed in male patients.
377
Elucidating the Chemisorption Phenomena in SERS Studies via Computational Modeling
Yvonne Ejorh, Undergraduate student, Chemistry; Beng Ooi, Faculty, Chemistry;
William Ilsley, Faculty, Chemistry; Beng Ooi (Faculty sponsor), Chemistry
Nitroanilines are used as chemical intermediates in the manufacturing of dyes, pesticides,
gasoline, and specific pharmaceuticals. These chemicals can cause severe human health
issues via the contamination of groundwater, soil, and air. The three isomeric forms of
nitroaniline, namely 2-nitroaniline, 3-nitroaniline, and 4-nitroaniline, are distinguishable
by Raman spectroscopy. The sensitivity of Raman measurement of nitroanilines can be
increased by the use of gold or silver nanoparticles in a technique known as Surface
Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS). In this project, colloidal gold nanostars and
Klarite™ substrates based on the nanoscale patterning of a gold-coated silicon surface
were used for SERS analysis of the three isomers. Even though the three nitroaniline
isomers have similar structures, their SERS spectra were readily distinguishable from one
another and from aniline and nitrobenzene. The degree of Raman signal enhancement
was of the order of 2-nitroaniline > 3-nitroaniline > 4-nitroaniline for the colloidal gold.
Klarite™ signal enhancement of the analytes was 10 to 100 fold that of gold colloid. The
Klarite™ technique is also more sensitive, requiring only 1 microliter of sample.
Computational modeling based on Density Functional Theory (DFT) was also conducted
to study the adsorption characteristics of the analytes on gold colloid and Klarite™
substrates.
378
Reading Between the Lines: Race and Racism in The Hairy Ape
Heather LaFever, Undergraduate student, English; Laura Dubek (Faculty sponsor),
English
Toni Morrison, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature (1993), published a slim but
powerful book of literary criticism in 1992 called Playing in the Dark: Whiteness and the
American Literary Imagination. In that book, Morrison argued that while racism, or what
she called “an Africanist presence,” may not be explicit in literary texts, you can find it if
you read between the lines. My project involves testing this assertion by focusing on one
play by Eugene O’Neil, another Nobel-Prize winning writer. O’Neil’s play The Hairy
Ape (1922) features a main character, Yank, who is specified as white, and yet there are
many indications hidden within and between the lines of the play that imply his
“blackness.” I will historicize my reading of The Hairy Ape with the astonishing events
described in journalist Pamela Newkirk’s Spectacle: The Astonishing Life of Ota Benga
(2015). In 1906, Ota Benga (a Congolese man) was displayed in the monkey cage of the
Bronx Zoo in New York, the setting for O’Neill’s play. My sources will thus include
Morrison’s literary criticism, Eugene O’Neill’s biography, The Hairy Ape, and Spectacle,
as well as current examples of racism that have become media spectacles. My purpose is
to demonstrate the unfortunate endurance of race in American literature and life. My
audience is anyone interested in race studies, American literature, American history, and
Eugene O’Neill.
379
Rip Van Winkle and of American Identity
Brandon Cartright, Undergraduate student, Art; Dylan Russell, Undergraduate student,
Music; Taylor Eaton, Undergraduate student, Psychology; Jesse Williams (Faculty
sponsor), English
Washington Irving’s “Rip Van Winkle” is a classic short story set in the years before and
after the American Revolutionary War. The story is about a simple man who wonders
into the Catskill mountains to go hunting, meets a group of men playing nine-pin, drinks
a funny drink, and wakes up 20 years later to a life where everything has changed. While
most read this story as a nascent on American identity, we believe that Irving’s writings
were critical to establishing American identity. The biggest plot twist was the discovery
of the Catskill Mountain gnomes. Upon further inspection we realized that the Catskill
Mountain gnomes are actually derived from Native American folklore. Irving is known to
use his writing to establish American Identity through storytelling. This in turn begs the
question, is American culture is original, or is it created from the mythologies and
folklore brought to America by our immigrant or native ancestors. By researching other
American mythologies and their origins we feel confident we can determine that America
does not have an original identity. This is relevant to all Americans and those who
believe we should “Make America Great Again” when we question whether it was in the
first place, or if American Greatness was a literary invention.
380
Development of Multi-well, Solid-Supported Synthesis Technique for Aurones
Evan Conley, Undergraduate student, Chemistry; Scott Handy (Faculty sponsor),
Chemistry
This technique development is a new approach to the synthesis of aurones, a class of
biologically active compounds with medical potential. Through the use of a solid support
and combinatorial chemistry, we hope to discover the perfect conditions under which we
can synthesize up to 96 aurones at once, rather than synthesizing and purifying them one
at a time as we do now. Discovering a method that will work has taken a great deal of
trial and error, and as of now, we have attempted to use over six different types of
reactions in order to combine either only purified aurone to a solid support bead, or all of
the impurities that can result from the reactions that are used to create an aurone. By
binding the aurone or impurities to a solid support bead, we can significantly decrease the
time it takes to produce pure aurones for biological assaying, as in the current method of
aurone synthesis, purification is the most time consuming step in the development of new
aurones. By increasing the speed at which we can synthesize new aurones, we can move
much more quickly towards discovering the aurone with the most potential as a medical
compound.
381
Antibacterial Properties of Plant Extracts Used in Traditional Chinese Medicine for
Streptococcus pneumoniae and Neisseria gonorrhoeae
Kelly Saine, Undergraduate student, Chemistry; Mary Farone (Faculty sponsor), Biology
The overuse of antibiotics has led to multi-drug resistant (MDR) organisms for which no
antibiotics can kill. Due to the need for novel antibiotics, pharmaceutical developers are
looking at ancient homeopathic remedies for answers. A total of 120 extracts used in
traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) from Guangxi Botanical Garden of Medicinal Plants
(GBGMP) in Nanning, China were assayed against Streptococcus pneumoniae and
Neisseria gonorrhoeae. This was done following CLSI guidelines for aerobacteria using
the broth microdilution assay and the disk diffusion assay, respectively. The broth
microdilution assayed revealed the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and the
MIC50. Select extracts exhibiting greater than 80% inhibition and less than 10% toxicity
underwent a dose response to determine the minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC).
Three extracts were determined to be bactericidal and 21 extracts were found to be
bacteriostatic against S. pneumoniae. Of the 120 extracts assayed, none of the extracts
inhibited N. gonorrhoeae. Further testing is needed to identify pure compounds from the
extracts.
382
A Comparative Thematic Analysis of Fraternity Men’s and Sorority Women’s
Perspectives on Hooking Up
Samantha Crossland, Undergraduate student, Communication Studies and Organizational
Communication; Jessica Kratzer (Faculty sponsor), Communication Studies and
Organizational Communication
This study examines the hook up culture among fraternity men and sorority women
actively involved in Greek life at a southern university. Our participants, consisting of 33
fraternity men and 23 sorority women, were questioned about their involvement and
opinions of the hookup culture within Greek life. The following is a comparative
thematic analysis, focusing specifically on the concept of consent within the hookup
culture. Two major subthemes within the topic include fraternity men and sorority
women think alcohol has/does not have an effect on consent and the infrequent use of
verbal consent versus the more normalized use of nonverbal consent while hooking up,
focusing on what those two concepts actually mean in comparison to what our
participants thought they meant. After analyzing the qualitative data collected, this study
will explore the implications the perception of consent versus the accepted legal term,
which could indicate that university Greek organizations should reevaluate how they
educate members on the concept of consent.
383
Examining Archaeobotanical Remains at the Mayan site of El Pilar
Jessica O'Neill, Undergraduate student, Sociology and Anthropology; Andrew Wyatt
(Faculty sponsor), Sociology and Anthropology
Farming and gardening techniques have long been examined and under question at
Mayan sites, as the Maya thrived in the midst of dense rainforest, known for its poor soil
quality and contrary to predisposed ideas of the nature of civilizations to arise from river
valley systems. The Maya, then, set a precedence for reexamination of the ability for
humans to build large civilizations within rain forests and forced scholars to question to
what extent Western farming and gardening techniques were typical and sustainable.
Through my research of plant remains at archaeological sites (archaeobotanical remains),
I argue that the Maya civilization maintained a mutually beneficial, symbiotic, and
sustainable relationship with the rainforest through a broad mosaic of farming and
gardening techniques which include milpa (slash-and-burn), reclaimed swamplands,
household gardening, terracing, and forest gardening (which I argue also includes their
utilization of semi to non-domesticated plants). This mosaic of agriculture led to a
strongly developed system of interdependence with the Mayan natural ecosystems and
helped maintain a more sustainable system. By understanding the Maya system of
farming and gardening, modern societies may better emulate it to simulate natural
environments and become more sustainable.
384
Wireless Indoor Localization
Joe Beck, Undergraduate student, Engineering Technology; Lei Miao (Faculty sponsor),
Engineering Technology
Indoor localization is an exciting and important research topic and can significantly
change the way people navigate indoor environments. Applications include keeping track
of young children and elderly people in homes, providing turn-by-turn navigation in large
shopping malls, and guiding robots on factory floors. Unlike outdoor localization, which
has been achieved with great accuracy using the GPS technology, indoor localization has
to rely on some other technologies, due to the fact that GPS does not work well indoors.
Various methods have been proposed in the literature to achieve indoor localization.
However, many of these techniques require either special equipment or costly changes to
the infrastructure of the indoor environment. In this research, we use off-the-shelf Wi-Fi
modules, which are available in smart phones, tablets, etc., and existing Wi-Fi signals to
achieve accurate indoor localization. In particular, we use a process known as
“fingerprinting” and the RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indicator) values between a
wireless device and nearby wireless access points to identify the location of the wireless
device. In this poster, we show the experimental testbed we build in Voorhies
Engineering Technologies building at MTSU. We also discuss future work that may
further improve the accuracy of wireless indoor localization.
385
Mental Illness and Small-Mindedness in John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men
Richard Carman, Undergraduate student, English; Matthew Dossett, Undergraduate
student, English; Laura Dubek (Faculty sponsor), English
John Steinbeck was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1962. His novels,
particularly Of Mice and Men (1937), reflect his belief that the purpose of writing is to try
to understand other people. More understanding, Steinbeck argued, would lead to more
kindness. Our project seeks to understand Lennie Small, a character in Of Mice and Men
who is mentally disabled and ends up being shot and killed by his best friend and
protector, George. Steinbeck claims to have based Small’s character on a real person he
knew and worked beside. Our research will focus on mental illness in 1930s America,
especially society’s attitudes toward it, in order to assess whether and how Steinbeck
promoted understanding of the mentally disabled through his writing. Our sources for this
interdisciplinary project will thus be literary, medical, and historical. The audience for
our research includes anyone interested in American literature, John Steinbeck, the 1930s,
and attitudes about mental illness then and now.
386
“The Myth of Masculinity”: Social Construction of Masculinity in Early American
Literature
Veronica Placeres, Undergraduate student, Aerospace; Landon Reid, Undergraduate
student, Theatre; Tyler Hunt, Undergraduate student, Music; Jesse Williams (Faculty
sponsor), English
In the 1787 play “The Contrast” by Royall Tyler, the contrasts between the British and
the Americans during that time were shockingly different. In today’s society, it is of great
importance to understand exactly how man has changed the meaning of masculinity.
Tyler compares the dissimilarity in what was considered masculine post-revolutionary
war and how it changed from “Dandyism” to “The Rugged Individual.” But in modern
times, it seems as if our perspective of masculinity is regressing in a way. What was once
considered masculine, for example, were the characteristics of Colonel Manly, a
character in Tyler’s play. He is the spitting image of “The Rugged Individual”, a
phlegmatic war hero who is apathetic towards others’ sentiments of him, such as his
appearance. He regards his rugged appearance as confirmation of his war efforts. He is an
example of the early Nationalism in America and of how the British viewed Americans.
Mr. Dimple, on the contrary, is a Dandy, a man who cares more about his appearance and
good name over everything else. He is a gentler soul than Manly in more ways than one.
Mr. Dimple is a portrayal of the English, but also a delineation of modern masculinity.
Similar to the change in definition of masculinity during that era, a transmutation of the
modern definition of masculinity has occurred. We have gone from a “rugged” masculine
to a softer, gentler masculine.
387
Evaluating the Acceptance of an Original Layered Taco Recipe to Elementary Students
While Adhering to the School Nutrition Guidelines
Stacy Edwards, Undergraduate student, Human Sciences; Lita Clark, Undergraduate
student, Human Sciences; Lisa Sheehan-Smith (Faculty sponsor), Human Sciences
Children struggle to make healthy food choices, contributing to our nation’s childhood
obesity problem. The purpose of this study was to develop a recipe that met the 2012
School Nutrition Guidelines that resulted in a cost efficient and appealing entrée to
elementary-aged children. A layered taco casserole was prepared and served to fourth
grade students (n=40) at an elementary school in Murfreesboro, TN. A portion size of
5.34 ounces was determined for fourth grade students. The students completed a 5-point
hedonic rating scale (5=really like, 1=really dislike) while sampling the casserole. The
hedonic scale rated visual appeal, taste, aroma, and overall acceptability of the sample.
The results showed that four of the 40 students would not choose this recipe if served on
the lunch line, while the other thirty-four would choose the layered taco recipe. The mean
participant rated visual appeal as a 3.4/5.0, taste as a 4.3/5.0, and aroma as a 4.6/5.0. The
entrée cost was $0.57; the recommended lunch entrée cost at Barfield Elementary is
$0.75. The Nutrient Analysis results yielded a low calorie count, zero trans-fat, a low
amount of sodium, and high saturated fat percent daily value. The entrée met the School
Nutrition Guidelines for calorie, trans-fat, and sodium requirements but did not meet the
requirements for saturated fat. The research study demonstrated the ability to use
available resources to create a new menu entrée that has the potential to meet the School
Nutrition Guidelines and preferences of elementary students.
388
Observational Study of the Paris Attacks Regarding Social Media
Malondria Hooker, Undergraduate student, Health and Human Performance; Marquinta
Harvey, Graduate student, Health and Human Performance; Amber Dorsey, Graduate
student, Health and Human Performance; Denise Bates, Faculty, Health and Human
Performance; Denise Bates (Faculty sponsor), Health and Human Performance
Introduction. The Paris Terrorist Attacks occurring on November 15, 2015 brought
serious attention to the Syrian refugee crisis that subsequently ignited fear responses
towards Syrian refugees. As a result, various grassroots social media groups have been
created to help Syrian refugees. A Facebook group called Volunteers Coordination Team
was created to allow communication between members and to keep up with important
events, fundraising and urgent need for volunteers for refugees fleeing to Lesvos Greece.
Purpose. The purpose of this study is to identify the impact of the Paris Terrorist Attacks
on membership acquisition of the grassroots social media group, Volunteer Coordination
Team.
Methods. We will gather membership information from the Volunteers Coordination
Team Facebook page. Using ANOVA statistical techniques, we will determine if the
Paris Terrorist Attacks affected membership acquisition rates.
Results. We hypothesize that there will be an increased rate of membership during and
after the time of the bombings. Any known correlation between the recent Paris
bombings and the increased membership of such an impacted social group will determine
that membership was influenced by the Paris bombings.
Conclusion. The Paris Terrorist Attacks brought negative media attention to the Syrian
refugee crisis. After witnessing the public backlash geared towards this population, we
hypothesize that there can be an increase in the number of potential volunteer members to
provide supportive service to Syrian refugees.
389
High Throughput Screening of a Small Molecule Library for Potential to Treat
Leishmaniasis
Yucera Salman, Undergraduate student, Biology; Jeannie Moore Stubblefield, Graduate
student, Biology; Erin Herbstova, Undergraduate student, Biology; Anthony L. Newsome,
Faculty, Biology; Anthony Newsome (Faculty sponsor), Biology
Leishmaniasis is caused by a vector-borne protozoan parasite in the genus Leishmania.
The disease can be extremely disfiguring and even fatal without treatment. The most
common presentation of the disease, cutaneous leishmaniasis, affects an estimated 12
million individuals in the poorest, most under-resourced regions of the globe. Current
drugs utilized to treat leishmaniasis have significant issues with efficacy and toxicity, yet
there are few new drugs in the development pipeline. To address the growing need for
better and safer classes of drugs, a library of flavonoid-based compounds was evaluated
for anti-leishmanial effect using high dose (50 µM) in vitro assays. These results are
being used in structure activity relationship (SAR) analysis to guide structural
modifications that may optimize activity. This data was coupled with existing toxicity
data generated from studies with the mammalian toxicity cell model, L6. Compounds that
exhibited high selectivity (high activity against the parasite and low mammalian cell
toxicity) were prioritized for further study and development.
390
Evaluation of Traditional Chinese Medicine Plant Extracts for the Treatment of
Cutaneous Leishmaniasis
Erin Herbstova, Undergraduate student, Biology; Jeannie Moore Stubblefield, Graduate
student, Biology; Yucera Salman, Undergraduate student, Biology; Anthony L. Newsome,
Faculty, Biology; Anthony L. Newsome (Faculty sponsor), Biology
Leishmaniasis is a vector-borne disease caused by protozoan parasites in the genus
Leishmania. Leishmaniasis is contracted when a vertebrate host is bitten by an infected
sand fly. The most common presentation of the disease, cutaneous Leishmaniasis, affects
the skin and causes painful and disfiguring skin sores. The current drugs available to treat
cases of cutaneous Leishmaniasis can be very toxic to the patient and there are growing
concerns about the emergence of resistant strains. However, there are few new classes of
anti-leishmanial drugs in the development pipeline. Plant-based extracts have been shown
to be a promising source for mining new classes of anti-infectives. In this study, a
collection of extracts from plants that have been used in traditional Chinese medicine
were evaluated for activity against Leishmania amazonensis, one of the species that
causes cutaneous Leishmaniasis, using a high dose (50 µM), high throughput screening
assay. These data were then combined with toxicity data from the mammalian cell line,
L6. Extracts that produced high selectivity (high parasite inhibition with low mammalian
cell toxicity) have been prioritized for bioassay guided fractionation to determine the
active component(s).
391
Application of Data Mining Approach to Predict a Level of Achievement from Individual
Characteristics: Based on Decision Tree Algorithms
Jeeun Yi, Undergraduate student, Psychology; Richard Moffett (Faculty sponsor),
Psychology
Among data mining techniques, decision tree is easier to understand and offers an
acceptable level of accuracy and reliability (Chien & Chen, 2008). Decision tree also
helps professionals in the field of industry in making decisions (Jereb, Rajkovic &
Rajkovic, 2005). Wise (1975) presented the evidence of causality between a level of
academic achievement and an eventual job performance. In this study, a decision tree,
using the “Rattle” package in R, was employed to investigate critical factors for math
scores as an academic achievement. Non-confidential mathematic score data (N =
292,356) along with twenty-three survey questions were used (PISA, 2012). The survey
consisted of questions concerning students’ learning attitude and motivation. In result, the
top-level of the decision rule was “I do badly in mathematics whether or not I study for
my exams (MYes = 427.90, MNo = 494.30, t = 175.58, p < .0001, d = -0.70).” Under the
‘Yes’ node, students were further categorized by “I enjoy reading about mathematics
(MYes = 440.60, MNo = 403.30, t = 57.36, p < .0001, d = 0.42).” Students in the ‘No’ node
were classified by “I am prepared for my mathematics exams (MYes = 500.40, MNo =
477.2, t = -46.71, p < .0001, d = -0.23).” In the third level of the hierarchy, students were
split by “Family demands or other problems prevent me from putting a lot of time into
my mathematics work (MYes = 480.0, MNo = 506.6, t = 44.22, p < .0001, d = 0.27).” This
hierarchical decision rule helps educators and administrators to improve students’
academic achievement, which may predict a job performance later. In future study,
various subjects such as language arts and science need to be included as academic
performances.
392
Newcomer Adjustment Summary Report
Maria Saavedra, Undergraduate student, Psychology; Amanda Beaufore, Graduate
student, Psychology; Glenn Littlepage (Faculty sponsor), Psychology
Newcomer adjustment is a process experienced by individuals during the first year they
become part of an organization. Effective adjustment involves developing positive job
attitudes, an understanding of job requirements, and demonstrating effective task
performance (Klemme-Larson & Bell, 2013). This process is particularly challenging for
recent college graduates between the ages of 21 and 23 who have relatively limited work
history (Reicherts & Pihet, 2000; Justice & Dornan, 2001). Unsuccessful newcomer
adjustment affects organizations as well as individuals. Unsatisfied individuals do not
commit to the job which results in a decrease in performance and, ultimately, turnover
(Holton, 1995; Leibowitz, Schlossberg, & Shore, 1991). The cost of low productivity,
rehiring, and retraining can impede growth and profitability in organizations (Abbasi &
Hollman, 2000). Therefore, it is important to better understand factors related to
successful newcomer adjustment. The present study reports data collected from 25 recent
graduates of the MTSU Industrial/Organizational Psychology program. Various aspects
of newcomer adjustment were assessed: task performance, self-efficacy, organizational
knowledge, role clarity, social acceptance, turnover intentions, teamwork knowledge,
communication, coordination, and team efficacy. Responses were rated from 1 (strongly
disagree) to 6 (strongly agree). Most of the dimension means ranged between 4.20
(SD= .79) and 5.30 (SD=.54).The only factor with a mean score lower than 4.0 was
continuance intention (M=3.4, SD=1.8). Also, there was significant correlation between
role clarity and communication (r (24) = .81, p<.0001) as well as role clarity with social
acceptance (r (24) = .77, p<.0001).Another noticeable finding was that less than half
(44%) of the jobs were directly related to I/O psychology. Overall, the study reports
positive ratings among the newcomer adjustment variables. Following a more in-depth
analysis of research results, some recommendations for future studies will be presented.
393
Drag Analysis of Class-8 Trucks
Salman Rahmani, Undergraduate student, Aerospace; Nate Callender (Faculty sponsor),
Aerospace
As a Class-8 Truck accelerates, it creates a rift within the airstream that it is traveling
within. As the air particles separate around the front of the vehicle and re-attach at the
rear, it creates a region in which the air particles “tumble” and create a fundamental force
known as drag. This drag, also known as parasitic drag, hampers the vehicle’s ability to
heighten or maintain its desired velocity.
This experiment observes the magnitude of the drag at the rear of the Class-8 Truck.
Once the drag on the “traditional L-shape” trailer has been observed, efforts will be made
to then modify the edge of the trailer in an attempt to reduce the degree of the drag acting
upon the rear of the vehicle. These modifications include rotating cylindrical geometries
at the rear of the vehicle, as well as rounding (otherwise known as filleting) the sharp
edge of the trailer. Some of these modifications have been under observation by Nick
Myhre in a separate study that examines these modifications only on the trailer itself.
This project will be a continuation of his efforts, but the drag analysis includes the whole
vehicle instead of just the trailer. If satisfactory drag reduction is achieved, this project
may possess applications beyond just Class-8 Trucks and instead, shed some light on how
various factors all play a part in aerodynamic drag. The software utilized for these
simulations will be ANSYS-Fluent and funding for these trials was provided by URECA
at MTSU and carried out in the Aerospace Technology Laboratory.
394
Purification and Characterization of Recombinant Nucleoside Hydrolase from
Arabidopsis
Kimberley Warren, Undergraduate student, Chemistry; Paul Kline (Faculty sponsor),
Chemistry
Nucleoside hydrolase is an enzyme of the salvage pathway for nucleic acids. It catalyzes
the hydrolysis of nucleosides to the base and ribose. For example uridine is converted
into uracil and ribose. While a great deal is know about the enzyme from parasitic
protozoans, little is know about the enzyme from plants. To study the enzyme the gene
of the enzyme from Arabidopsis has been obtained. The gene was placed in an
expression plasmid that was used to transform E. coli. The protein was expressed and
purified from E. coli using a Ni affinity column. After purification the protein was
characterized with respect to structural parameters such as molecular weight, native
molecular weight, and number of subunits. The chemical and kinetic mechanism was also
studied with respect to substrate specificity and important aspects of the chemical
mechanism. The results were then used compare the plant enzyme to those isolated from
parasitic protozoans.
395
Queer Theory and Two Spirit People
Anne Gillcrist, Undergraduate student, Communication Studies and Organizational
Communication; Patrick Richey (Faculty sponsor), Forensic Science
Queer theory introduces the idea that social construction can be debunked. Norms of
society can be broken down. The powerful people who construct society are in fear of
losing control. The loss of this control can create room for change. The Native Youth
Sexual Health Network is a group that strives to support all individuals of different sexual
preferences, genders, and etcetera. Indigenous two spirit people from postcolonial times
are individuals who are accepted despite their divergent construct. Two spirits are
individuals who do not fit the male or female gender category. Two spirits embrace traits
of both male and female. The combination of these feminine and masculine attributes
makes two spirit people more eligible for certain roles in their tribes. The use of queer
theory to create growth and acceptance in American culture can create a feeling of
belonging for all individuals. The debunking of social construct would allow for more
safety opportunities. American culture scrutinizes individuals who do not fit particular
categories. This scrutiny is an example of societal norms that shape the society in which
we reside. It is abnormal to embrace such divergence. The Native Youth Sexual Health
Network helps to spread awareness and provide acceptance in divergence. This
acceptance works to accept change and evolution in society, as we know it.
396
Computational Analysis of Drag Reduction Methods for a Rearward Facing Step
Nick Myhre, Undergraduate student, Aerospace; Mark Callender (Faculty sponsor),
Aerospace
The rearward-facing step (RFS) is a classic flow separation study. In an RFS study, a
flow is directed over a right angle drop. This causes a recirculation region where the
boundary layer is “separated” from the fixed surface. In this region, the flow is highly
turbulent and will exhibit flow reversal. At some distance aft of the step, the boundary
layer “reattaches” to the surface and the turbulent recirculation region ends. This location
is known as the “reattachment point”.
Inevitably, the recirculation region carries with it a great deal of drag. This project
investigates various methods of reducing drag by eliminating or reducing the
recirculation region. Among those considered are rounding the corner of the step,
incorporation of a fillet to the bottom of the step, mounting of a rotating cylinder in the
corner of the step, and combinations of these with an emphasis on the effects of the
rotating cylinder. In order to cover the large number of proposed configurations of the
step, the experiments have been done computationally using the ANSYS Fluent software
package. If successful, the method could have applications in forms of transportation
such as trucking or railroads where poor aerodynamics similar to the RFS are the norm
due to spatial constraints.
This project has taken place in the Aerospace Technology Lab, and is being funded by a
URECA Scholar grant.
397
Improving the Detection Levels of Uric Acid
Marvin Marksberry, Undergraduate student, Chemistry; Charles Chusuei (Faculty
sponsor), Chemistry
Excess uric acid in humans can be an early warning sign for gout, lead poisoning, kidney
damage, and even diabetes. The detection of trace amounts of uric acid in raw grain and
cereal products could also be a more efficient tool for monitoring insect contamination in
the agricultural field. Although both of these possibilities are in far differing fields of
academia they both rely on the basic need of a reliable and cost effective method for the
detection of uric acid to be of any use. The goal of this research was therefore focused on
acquiring the lowest possible detection level for uric acid using the electroanalytical
method. The electroanalytical method being a relatively simple and cost effective
approach to the detection of uric acid. So far these techniques have proved useful for the
reliable detection of uric acid down to the ten to one hundred micro molar concentration
range. The hope of further research on this subject is to increase the detection levels
down to the nanomolar range.
398
Sound Reduction on Small Aircraft Propellers
Virginia Robinson, Undergraduate student, Aerospace; Braxton Harter, Undergraduate
student, Aerospace; Nate Callender (Faculty sponsor), Aerospace
The source of thrust on most small aircraft provide by from propellers, rotating at high
rpm. Propellers are durable and reliable; however, they produce high sound pressure
levels preventing of stealth operation. The noise levels present the very real problem of
noise pollution in populated areas. The purpose of this research is to find a way to
minimize the problem of propeller noise. Research will be conducted to identify a
propeller shape that will drastically reduce propeller sound pressure levels. The
modifications must not significantly reduce propeller thrust. Measurements of sound
pressure levels and thrust will be taken with equipment in MTSU's Aerospace
Technology laboratory. To collect sound pressure levels, an anechoic chamber has been
installed in house in which a digital sound pressure level meter in installed. An electric
motor mounted inside will rotate a propeller at fixed RPMs while the sound meter records
sound pressure levels. These measurements were collected by DataLogger computer
software. Several blade designs were found to drastically reduce sound pressure levels
emitted by the propeller while maintaining thrust. Research, designs, and testing continue
to be conducted in order to gather the most paramount propeller design.
399
Sinclair Lewis: Nobel Prize Winner and Literary Socialist
Delaney Dickey, Undergraduate student, English; Brandon Reed, Undergraduate student,
English; Laura Dubek (Faculty sponsor), English
What does literature have to do with politics? Our project will engage with this question
through a comparison of the life and work of Sinclair Lewis, the first American writer to
win the Nobel Prize for Literature (1930), and the political campaign of Senator Bernie
Sanders. Our focus will be on Sinclair Lewis’s political beliefs pertaining to socialism,
which includes his relationship to Eugene Debs and the early twentieth century labor
movement. Through an examination of (auto)biography, literary texts, history, and
statistics, we want to draw attention to Sinclair Lewis as a prolific and award-winning
American writer who, despite being wildly popular in his day, has fallen out of literary
fashion. We also want to shed light on socialism: our focus on Sinclair Lewis, Eugene
Debs, and Bernie Sanders will build a bridge between the 1930’s and 2016. Our target
audience is any person who is interested in learning more about literature and politics
during the different eras.
400
The Autobiographical Impulse in Faulkner and Hemingway
Jessica Howard, Undergraduate student, English; Laura Dubek (Faculty sponsor), English
Few American writers have achieved the critical acclaim of William Faulkner and Ernest
Hemingway. Faulkner won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1949 along with two Pulitzer
Prizes, for A Fable (1955) and The Reivers (1963). Hemingway won a Pulitzer Prize for
The Old Man and the Sea in 1953 and the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954. Both men
were prolific storytellers and extremely influential in the American literary tradition. My
interest, however, lies in the obstacles, primarily psychological, that these two men faced
during their writing careers. My research is thus interdisciplinary—at the intersection of
literary studies and psychology. My primary sources will be biographies of Faulkner and
Hemingway as well as scholarly articles that offer close analysis and reflections of their
lives. My intent is to produce profiles of each writer that highlight the common struggles
each faced—with relationships, with alcohol, with despair. My contention is that this
adversity fueled their art and constitutes the primary reason these writers should inspire
us all. My audience includes anyone interested in American literature, literary biography,
Faulkner, Hemingway, and the power of storytelling to exorcise ghosts and help us
endure.
500
Complicating the False Dichotomy of Gendered Archetypes for Victorian Women
Jacquelyn Hayak, Graduate student, English; Elvira Casal (Faculty sponsor), English
Any study of gendered archetypes will encounter the Madonna–whore dichotomy. In
Victorian England, this took the form of the “Angel of the House,” represented in
Coventry Patmore’s poem of that name, and the so called “Fallen Woman,” the subject of
writers like Lord Byron, Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, and Elizabeth Gaskell. Between the
two of them, the “Angel of the House” and the “Fallen Woman” represent the extremes
on the spectrum of standards in female behavior. Scholars like Nina Auerbach, Mary
Poovey, Deborah Gorham and Maria Carla Sanchez have performed readings and studies
of each extreme. All these considerations acknowledge that disparity exists between
these archetypes and that there is a wide space between them regarding Victorian woman
characterization.
In my study, I focus on that liminal space between extremes, and I define one possible
figure that exists there. The emergence of this third type exposes the false dichotomy of
the domestic Angel or the Fallen Woman. She is revealed as a phenomenon prevalent in
Victorian literature: the virtuous woman whose reputation has been compromised through
no fault of her own. Such a character, who suffers various dire fates, might justly be
called the “Shadowed” Woman in her liminality between the virtuous ideal and the
immoral fallen woman.
For illustration I use a well-known text from George Eliot, as well as her more obscure
contemporary, Catherine Hubback. Presently, few scholars have addressed Hubback, and
their works do not explore the ways that Hubback deconstructs gendered archetypes and
disproportionate repercussions of nonconformity within Victorian culture, specifically in
the area of reputation. This project begins to address this gap in scholarship and draws
attention to an undervalued Victorian author. In addition, it will expand the study of
gender archetypes and gender performance, introducing a new, nuanced reading of
elements in Victorian literature, culture, and society.
501
The Angry Audience: Examining Fan Discord and Modern Media
Hillary Yeager, Graduate student, English; Mischa Renfroe (Faculty sponsor), English
The most common scholarly examinations of audiences and anger generally stems from
research within the realm of sports fandom, where spectator outrage is well documented
(Keaton, et al). Historically, audience and fandom studies focus on fan engagement as
obsessive, dangerous, predatory, or overwhelmingly attached (see Abercrombie and
Longhurst's “Audiences”, Jenson's “Fandom as Pathology: The Consequences of
Characterization,” or Jenkins’ “Textual Poachers” as primary examples), but there is little
to no work examining the modern audience, fandom, and anger; nor is there any
published research on how that anger shapes cultural commentary and the creative output
of media producers in film, television, and literature. Today's audience is an emotional
beast at best, quick to effusive joy when a textual producer/creator does something right,
but equally speedy in their responses of anger when an audience perceives that they have
suffered a wrong. For a brief example, recall the widely reported audience outrage over
casting Ben Affleck as Batman in the forthcoming film, “Batman v Superman: Dawn of
Justice” (Palmeri).
The discussion of my research in this fascinating area of study will include the use of a
handout with key concepts, references, and resources, along with poster presentation. The
overarching goal of my work will involve providing insight into current audience
behavior in regard to anger, with an attempt to offer commentary on the relationship
between the modern fan and textual/media producers and theorize on the emerging
effects of the engaged, present audience on the creative process, with particular examples
taken from fan/audience engagement with “Doctor Who's” current showrunner, Steven
Moffat and Young Adult literature author Vanessa Roth.
502
Carson McCullers and the Modernist Aesthetic
Margaret Johnson, Graduate student, English; Will Brantley (Faculty sponsor), English
Thus far, only casual scholarly attention has been directed toward Carson McCullers’s
novels, short stories, plays, essays, and poetry, largely because McCullers’s works were
published during the heyday of New Criticism, and the academy’s proclivity for formalist
aesthetics centered almost solely on the symbolic and allegorical features in her writings,
neglecting the larger moral, sociopolitical, and ideological scope of her creations. By
concentrating chiefly on formalist matters, early scholars believed she had limited scope,
only dealing with themes of loneliness in individuals and existential crises of human
isolation. Many critics minimized her artistry by disdaining her autobiographical
elements, while some scholars, including Louis B. Rubin, argued that McCullers should
be categorized as adolescent literature, thus making them unworthy of scholarly attention.
She was also pigeonholed as a Southern Gothic writer. As such, critics have tended to
judge McCullers a minor literary figure.
These factors neglect her expertise as a writer who worked within, scrutinized, and
revealed the aesthetics of American Modernism. In her works, she presented the
complexities of modernity itself, such isolation, alienation, questions of “Truth,”
purposelessness, authentic identity, and the distance between self and “Other” after racial
and ethnic discrimination, particularly in the South. I argue that two of McCullers’s
works exemplify American Modernist aesthetics. Since no one has situated her literary
output within the various strains of American Modernism, my research will break new
ground in McCullers studies, particularly through elucidating her experimentalism, the
relation between her themes and modernity, and her erasure of space between “Others” in
socioeconomic and racial terms. This examination will reveal why Carson McCullers
should be considered a major American Modernist writer.
503
Non-Gaussian Penalized PARAFAC Analysis of fMRI Data
Jingsai Liang, Graduate student, Mathematics; Don Hong, Faculty, Mathematics; Don
Hong (Faculty sponsor), Mathematics
Independent Component Analysis (ICA) has been used successfully in fMRI data
analysis. As an extension of the ICA, Tensorial Probabilistic ICA (TPICA) is to
decompose the fMRI data into three-mode (subject, temporal, spatial). Parallel Factor
Analysis (PARAFAC) is another method to process three-mode data. While only the
spatial mode has the priority to be processed in TPICA, three modes are equally and
simultaneously processed in PARAFAC. One drawback of PARAFAC is that it will
converge to some degenerate solutions if the data does not meet the requirements of full
rank in three-mode matrices. Also TPICA cannot perform well in the presence of
overlapping of activation patterns in the spatial mode. So both of TPICA and PARAFAC
cannot process three-mode fMRI data perfectly. By adding a penalty term to PARAFAC,
we impose the constraint of the non-Gaussian character on spatial mode. This algorithm
can drive the spatial sources as non-Gaussian as possible to avoid the degenerate
solutions and does not need the independent constraint of the spatial sources. fMRI data
analysis examples show that the proposed method outperforms both the TPICA and
PARAFAC methods.
504
The Impact of Adolescence Employment on Welfare participation Later in Life
Fady Mansour, Graduate student, Economics and Finance; Joachim Zietz (Faculty
sponsor), Economics and Finance
This study is the first to employ welfare participation to investigate the impact of working
during the age of adolescence on later life outcomes. I use National Longitudinal Survey
of Youth (NLSY) 1997 to investigate the impact of the average worked hours during the
age of 14 through the age of 19 years old on both the welfare payment and the probability
of welfare participation during the twenties and thirties of the respondents’ life. I use a
variety of different model specifications, including instrumental variables and Heckman
selection models, to check the robustness of the results. The study shows that working
one extra full-time week per year for an average individual between the ages of 14 to 19
years old will reduce both the probability of receiving welfare in the twenties by 2.6
(10.8%) percentage points and the welfare payment received in the twenties by 6.3% per
year. The impact is generated mainly from the hours worked during the ages of 17, 18
and 19 years old.
505
Pilot Study: A Survey of Middle and High School Choral, Band, and Orchestra Directors
Regarding Professional Development of Musicianship Skills For Music Educators
Jessica Brown, Graduate student, Music; Dr. Jamila L. McWhirter, Faculty, Music; Dr.
Jamila L. McWhirter (Faculty sponsor), Music
Professional development is a key component of an educator’s journey in continuing to
strengthen their teaching. For music educators, maintaining personal musicianship skills
is vital for excellent instruction, yet there appears to be little professional development in
maintaining those skills. The purpose of this research is to discover what types of
professional development will benefit secondary music educator’s musicianship skills
and by whom and how often this type of professional development should be offered. A
brief online survey will be sent out to middle and high school music educators who are
members of either the Middle Tennessee Vocal Association or the Middle Tennessee
School Band and Orchestra Association. The survey consists of categorical ratings,
ranking questions, multiple choice questions, and open-ended questions. The data will be
reported through frequencies and percentages. The results may indicate the different
types of professional development in relation to the specific needs of music educators.
Recommendations will be provided which may assist those who create professional
development for music educators. From this data, we may discover the connection
between effective music teaching and the use of personal musicianship skills.
506
Vitality in Urban Streets
Fatemeh Dalilian, Graduate student, Engineering Technology; Vahid Khiabani (Faculty
sponsor), Engineering Technology
The factors and criteria of vitality in all the places and all the times are not steady and
fixed but change based on user’s needs. That is why the urban specialists do not have a
single definition of the vitality inducing factors.
The factors of vitality of urban streets sometimes are not determined by users’ needs and
by considering inappropriate factors, the unattractive and boring streets are created. This
issue has led to a decline of the feeling of belonging to a city, contribution, and pride of
habitation in that location. Similarly, city streets turn from vibrant social environments
into apathetic and cold atmospheres. Therefore, by forgetting the social life and liveliness
of the city, human beings are strangers in this confusing atmosphere.
The significance of this issue inspired me to study two different streets in Iran (Valie Asr
street and Enghelab street), which are both considered to be lively and vital, and survey
the differences and similarities on these two streets. I found that Enghelab street which
University of Tehran is located in is frequently used by students and people who have
come to buy books, so the bookstores and cheap restaurants are the central attraction. On
the other hand, boutiques, cafes, the cinema, and on the whole secondary needs have
made Valie Asr a vital street.
Furthermore, I suggested a plan for each of them to improve their quality for the users
based on the potential strengths that each of them have, and the information which I
gained from a questionnaire. The questionnaire that I designed is to see why people come
to that street and how often they use that specific location in order to see what people’s
needs are in that specific location.
507
Scanning Electron Microscopy Investigation of Fungal Contamination in Vitis aestivalis
‘Norton’
Shannon Smith, Graduate student, Molecular Biosciences; John DuBois, Faculty,
Biology; John DuBois (Faculty sponsor), Biology
Vitis aestivalis ‘Norton’ is a variety of grape native to the U.S. with properties of interest
to industry and academic research. Unfortunately, V. aestivalis has a low propagation rate
using traditional cultivation methods and attempts at tissue culture propagation often fail
due to fungal contamination. Typically in tissue culture, fungal contamination can be the
result of either insufficient surface sterilization or the presence of a fungal endophyte in
the explant material. This study investigated the possibility that fungal contamination in
V. aestivalis tissue culture results from endophyte presence and not incomplete surface
sterilization. Tissues were sourced from plants exhibiting no signs of pathogens
maintained in a growth chamber and then were surface sterilized. Explants were then
placed on callus-inducing tissue culture media and allowed to incubate at 25°C at 100%
humidity in the dark for 5 days to promote fungal growth. Fungal infected tissues were
then excised from the media and prepared for visualization via SEM protocols performed
in the MIMIC lab. Fungal growth and hyphae location were observed. Hyphae
originating from within the explant samples and erupting outward from the plant tissue
were detected. The fungal growth originating from within the explant tissue gives support
to the hypothesis that fungal contamination in V. aestivalis tissue culture is mostly the
result of an endophyte native to the explant source material when proper surface
sterilization protocols are performed. Therefore, explant preparation regimens should be
modified to compensate for such contamination sources when endophytes are known or
suspected, and investigators should not rely completely on surface sterilization only to
insure tissue sterility.
508
Micropropagation of American Ginseng (Panax quinquefolius) via Somatic
Embryogenesis Techniques
Matt Fuller, Graduate student, Professional Science; Shannon Smith, Graduate student,
Molecular Biosciences; Elliot Altman, Faculty, Biology; John DuBois (Faculty sponsor),
Biology
The medicinal herb, American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius), has historically been met
with large demand from Asian markets due to use of the plant’s taproots in herbal
medicine. Due to the long growing period and difficult cultivation requirements
associated with P. quinquefolius, the plant is often targeted by poachers. As a result, the
plant has been labeled as “special concern - commercially exploited” in the state of
Tennessee and is federally protected. Plant tissue culture offers a unique alternative to
traditional horticultural techniques, in that it uses plant physiological processes to
manipulate and multiply single cells and tissue sections instead of whole plants. Somatic
embryogenesis (the production of embryos from somatic plant tissues) is one such
process that can be used to generate many embryos from a single plant section. Embryos
can then develop to form whole plants which are clones of the original plant. The purpose
of this project was to develop a system to convert callus tissue (a type of de-differentiated,
disorganized parenchyma tissue) from P. quinquefolius into somatic embryos and
develop these embryos into whole plants in an efficient and reliable manner. To date, our
lab has been successful in the production of a number of embryogenic cultures that
continue to yield plantlets for research and cultivation. The knowledge and plantlet
products gained from this project are invaluable to research into compound production
and conservation efforts related to American ginseng and medicinal plant studies.
509
Not Another Meeting!
Joel Clements, Graduate student, Engineering Technology; Vahid Khiabani (Faculty
sponsor), Engineering Technology
A meeting should help an organization better accomplish its mission. Many times our
meetings do not achieve this goal. This does not have to be the case. Individuals and
organizations invest significant time and resources in meetings, but they can fall short of
the desired results. When meeting participants are not engaged, there is a real but
frequently hidden cost on both the entire organization and individuals. These costs can
include hard dollars due to wasted or misdirected efforts and soft dollar costs associated
with individual’s stress and morale.
Once an organization has an understanding of the cost and benefits associated with
meetings, there are many best practices that can be used to help achieve the results
needed. These practices are designed to “make it easy to do the right thing and hard to do
the wrong thing”. This research provides a prioritized list of best practices that can
improve the meeting experience, outcomes, and build organizational capabilities.
Prioritization is based on empirical data from literature references as well as limited
survey results and personal experiences.
510
The Capture and Creative Use of Acoustic Impulse Responses
Adam Townsell, Graduate student, Recording Industry; Michael Fleming (Faculty
sponsor), Recording Industry
This project explores the capture of acoustic impulse responses of real world spaces and
their potential for use in creative music production. An impulse response is a set of
measurements of how sound behaves in a certain space; the response of that space to an
impulse that is played back into it. Capturing these measurements allows the measured
space to be recreated in an audio production environment and put to practical and creative
use.
My focus on this project was to develop a method for capturing and processing these
measurements using equipment and software that other students, audio engineers, and
musicians could easily have access to and recreate. I also have built a library of fully
processed impulse responses that will be made available to future recording industry
students. After the capture and processing of several acoustic spaces, I have explored
their use in different audio production scenarios including simply adding echo to musical
source, creating the impression that a sound is coming from a specific location within the
room and allowing a sound to move convincingly around the listener's stereo field. A
selection of original music has also been recorded using these sounds and spaces as the
basis for their creation. Each selection illustrates a musical concept and provides a
unique listening experience.
511
The Parallel Programming Running on Condor-G Workflow Scheduler
KaiTe Tang, Graduate student, Computational Science; Yi Gu (Faculty sponsor),
Computational Science
Big data sciences feature complex DAG-structured workflows comprised of computing
modules with intricate inter-module dependencies. Supporting such scientific workflows
in wide-area networks, especially Grids and Cloud, and optimizing their performance are
crucial to the success of collaborative scientific discovery. We will construct analytical
cost models and formulate workflow mapping as optimization problems for minimum
end-to-end delay and maximum frame rate. We will implement and incorporate parallel
processing as well as a class of efficient workflow mapping schemes into the existing
Condor/DAGman management system for a better end-to-end performance based on
rigorous performance modeling and algorithm design. We will deploy a local testbed and
conduct an extensive set of experiments on real-life scientific workflows through
effective system implementation.
512
Authorship Prediction with CUDA-Accelerated N-gram and Feed-Forward Neural
Network Models
Taylor Harvin, Graduate student, Computer Science; Joshua Phillips (Faculty sponsor),
Computer Science
Authors of books, documents, and social media posts in recent times and history tend to
take credit for their work, but many others prefer to remain anonymous for a variety of
reasons. Anonymity is important, but when security issues arise or gaps in history
require the author's anonymity to be stripped away, accuracy and speed tend to be vital
for this process. Rather than manually sorting through documents and books by hand to
determine authorship of a given book or document, multiple methods exist to automate
this process. Two of the main methods are the n-gram and feed-forward neural network
models. The n-gram model looks at the probability of a word given a group of previous
words. The previous word group size considered depends on the n-gram method chosen.
These statistics are generated across all of the given training and unknown authorship
pages from various books or documents and fed to the algorithm. Each training set
statistics of written work from different authors are compared to the given unknown
authorship pages, and the comparison with the lowest differences produces an authorship
prediction.
Next, the feed-forward neural network method simply takes in a word frequency count
from the given training pages into a neural network structure and outputs a guess of the
author. Most errors during training are corrected with the back-propagation algorithm.
After training, the same statistics can be fed into the model from unknown works and
result in a predicted author. Furthermore, both models will utilize Nvidia's CUDA API
for graphics processing unit acceleration and compared in authorship attribution accuracy
and speed during training and predicting. Overall, I anticipate a significant increase in
speed for both compared to the single threaded methods and better prediction accuracy
from the feed-forward neural network compared to the n-gram method.
513
The Art of Soundtrack Design
Aaron Trimble, Graduate student, Recording Industry; Dan Pfeifer (Faculty sponsor),
Recording Industry
While any music could potentially be used as a soundtrack in a movie, game, or other
visual media, there is a distinction between other music genres and the soundtrack genre.
The approach to composing a soundtrack requires at least some kind of visual, whether
specific or vague, finished or hypothetical. That is not to say that no other music derives
inspiration from visual stimulus nor that soundtrack music cannot be separated from a
visual component and enjoyed just as much on its own. However, soundtrack music
focuses on an end product, which is in some way connected with some kind of visual.
Composers like John Williams and Hans Zimmer score for locked picture. A soundtrack
may be for a project in progress or for no particular production but aimed at a film or
game genre (action, romance, horror, etc.). Companies like APM, VideoHelper, and
ProductionTrax create stock music, license free, while trailer music companies like E.S.
Posthumous and Two Steps From Hell aim for their music to be used in trailers via a sync
license.
My project has been the exploration of different types of soundtracks, including film
scores, trailers, games, e-books, library music, and soundtrack music as a commercial
genre like country and hip-hop. As a composer, I have endeavored to learn what defines
these different soundtracks, what separates them from one another, and create original
soundtrack music guided by my research. I have also implemented both real and virtual
instruments, studied 5.1 surround implications for film music, and written music in
multiple media genres, such as action, drama, comedy, scifi, and others. Though
especially insightful for aspiring soundtrack composers, anyone interested in sound for
media will find this research interesting and informative.
514
Reliability of Computerized Neurocognitive Tests for Concussion Assessment: A MetaAnalysis
James Farnsworth, Graduate student, Health and Human Performance; Lucas Dargo,
High school athletic trainer, Mount Vernon High School, Mount Vernon, Indiana; Brian
Ragan, Faculty, Health and Human Performance; Minsoo Kang, Faculty, Health and
Human Performance; Minsoo Kang (Faculty sponsor), Health and Human Performance
Review articles have criticized CNTs for their poor reliability. Critics argue however, that
the empirical quality of these reports was low and more likely the result of inappropriate
study designs. There is currently no consensus among experts regarding CNTs.
PURPOSE: To analyze reliability data for CNTs using meta-analysis and examine factors
that may influence reliability of CNT scores. METHODS: Systematic literature search
was conducted of electronic databases to identify relevant studies. Studies were included
if they met the following criteria: test-retest design; at least one CNT; sufficient statistical
data to allow for effect size (ES) calculation; and published in English. Each article was
investigated by two independent reviewers to assess inclusion status. A total of 18 studies
involving 2,250 participants were retained. Intra-class correlation coefficients were
extracted to calculate ES and determine the overall reliability of the outcome measures
for each CNT (ImPACT, ANAM, Headminder, CogSport and CNSVS). Fisher's Ztransformation was used to adjust for sampling error associated with averaging
correlations. Moderator analyses were conducted to evaluate the effects of test-retest
interval, CNT selection, and number of CNTs administered serially on reliability
coefficients for each CNT outcome. Heterogeneity was evaluated using Cochran's Q
statistic. RESULTS: Overall, adjusted reliability coefficients for CNT outcomes ranged
from low to moderate (0.44 - 0.76) indicating unacceptable reliability. Processing speed
was the most reliable outcome (0.76), though it still failed to meet the threshold for
acceptable reliability for psychomotor measures (>0.80). Moderator analyses indicated
that reliability for simple reaction time was significantly different depending on the CNT
selected (Q=12.355, p=.006). No other significant differences were found.
CONCLUSION: Clinicians should exercise caution when using CNTs because of the low
reliability associated with some outcomes, which could lead to incorrect clinical
decisions. Additional research is needed to investigate methods for improving CNT
reliability.
515
Development of a Model to Estimate Body Fat Percentage using Decision Tree Analysis
Junbae Mun, Graduate student, Health and Human Performance; James Farnsworth,
Graduate student, Health and Human Performance; Brian Ragan, Faculty, Health and
Human Performance; Minsoo Kang, Faculty, Health and Human Performance; Minsoo
Kang (Faculty sponsor), Health and Human Performance
Body fat percentage (BF%) prediction models based on anthropometric measurements
have been widely used because of their practicality and moderate accuracy; however,
most of the prediction models rely on complex equations that may be impractical for
everyday use. PURPOSE: To develop a user-friendly model to estimate BF% using
decision tree (DT) analysis from a national representative sample of adults. METHODS:
Data (age≥18 years; n=7,161; male=3,109) from the 2009 Korean National Health and
Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) were divided into 80% training and 20%
testing splits using a simple random sampling method. BF% was measured by dualenergy x-ray absorptiometry (DEXA), a criterion measure of BF%. Fifteen
anthropometrics and demographics related variables were considered as predictors.
Multiple DTs were constructed using chi-squared automatic interaction detection
(CHAID) and classification and regression trees (CART) methods using data from
training split. A parsimony DT with the lowest risk estimate was selected. The chosen DT
was further validated using data from testing split. The accuracy of the DT was evaluated
by R2 and root mean square error (RMSE) against BF% measured by DEXA. RESULTS:
Average age, body mass index (BMI), and BF% were 44.78±.38 years, 23.62±.05 kg/m2,
and 27.05±.16 %, respectively. The best model for estimation of BF% was a DT from
CART method, consisting of 5 levels and 4 predictors (risk estimate=13.98; # of terminal
nodes=21). BF% estimated by the DT accounted for 73% of the variation in criterionmeasured BF% with a RMSE of 4.03% in the data from testing split. CONCLUSION:
The new model using DT analysis to estimate BF% had moderate R2 and small RMSE in
a national representative sample of Korean adults. In addition, BF% can be estimated
much easier by following the DT map (i.e., flow chart) compared with other equation
models.
516
Compositional Data Analysis of Sedentary Behavior Patterns in Overweight and NonOverweight Adults
Heontae Kim, Graduate student, Health and Human Performance; Seungho Ryu,
Graduate student, Health and Human Performance; Junbae Mun, Graduate student,
Health and Human Performance; James Farnsworth, Graduate student, Health and
Human Performance; Brian Ragan, Faculty, Health and Human Performance; Minsoo
Kang, Faculty, Health and Human Performance; Minsoo Kang (Faculty sponsor), Health
and Human Performance
Sedentary behavior (SB) time data, which consists of several domains, such as work
related sitting, non-work related sitting, and lying down/reclining, is compositional in
nature. Analyzing the patterns of SB data with traditional analyses are not appropriate
because increased time in one of the domain forces the other domains decreased.
PURPOSE: To investigate SB patterns in overweight and non-overweight adults using
compositional data analysis. METHODS: Forty-nine adults (age>17 years; overweight
n=28) volunteered for this study. The Sedentary Behavior Record (SBR) instrument was
used to collet SB data. The SBR quantifies time spent in SB each day across three
domains (work related sitting, non-work related sitting, and lying down/reclining) in 15minute blocks. Participants completed the SBR by documenting the amount and type of
SB for 7-days. The three domains were converted into percentages of total SB time to
allow for compositional data analysis. Adults were classified as overweight (≥25kg/m2)
or non-overweight (<25kg/m2) using body mass index. Normality assumptions were
examined using Anderson-Darling, Cramer-won Mises, and Watson tests. Maximum
likelihood estimation (MLE) tests were examined to compare overweight and nonoverweight adults’ SB patterns. A ternary diagram was used to illustrate the
compositional pattern of the data. RESULTS: The data met the assumption of a logistic
normal distribution. The MLE tests indicated significant differences in SB patterns
between overweight and non-overweight adults (Likelihood: Mean and Covariances
equal=-139.61.31, p<.001; Means equal=-120.85, p=.04). The ternary diagram indicated
that overweight adults spent more time in non-work related sitting (overweight=57%;
non-overweight=52%) and work related sitting (overweight=35%; non-overweight=33%),
but less time in lying down/reclining (overweight=8%; non-overweight=15%) compared
to non-overweight adults. CONCLUSION: Overweight adults had significantly different
SB patterns compared with non-overweight adults. This information could be useful for
the development of intervention programs targeted at reducing SB in overweight adults.
517
Analysis of MTSU Student Retention Data
Danielle Baghernejad, Graduate student, Mathematics; Qiang Wu (Faculty sponsor),
Mathematics
Student retention is a challenging task in higher education, since in general more students
remaining in the university means better academic programs and higher revenue. Thus,
improving retention rates cannot only help current students achieve academic success, but
help future students as well. The objective of this research is to employ data mining and
predictive tools on student data to predict student retention among the freshman students.
In particular, we aim to identify freshman students who are more likely to drop out so
that the University can take preemptive actions. Through data analysis, relevant variables
are identified to incorporate into models for prediction. Missing values are taken into
consideration, and missing value imputation methods are explored.
518
Effect of Rest-Pause vs. Traditional Bench Press Training on Muscle Strength,
Electromyography and Lifting Volume
Adam Korak, Graduate student, Health and Human Performance; John Coons, Faculty,
Health and Human Performance; Dana Fuller, Faculty, Psychology; John Coons (Faculty
sponsor), Health and Human Performance
This study compared one repetition maximum (1RM), muscle activity (EMG), and
volume differences between rest-pause vs. traditional resistance training. Trained males
(N = 20) were randomly assigned to either a rest-pause or a traditional training group. Pre
and post 1RM testing was recorded. Training sessions were completed twice a week for
4-weeks and consisted of four sets of bench press to volitional fatigue at 80% of pretest
1RM with a 2-minute rest between sets. Total volume completed was recorded on each
training day. Muscle activity of the pectoralis major was measured on the first and last
training days. The RMS signals of the last repetition in the last set were normalized to the
RMS peak values of the first repetition in the first set for each participant during the 1st
and 8th training sessions. A 2-way repeated measures ANOVA indicated both groups
significantly increased their 1RMs following the 4-week training protocol (p < .05).
However, no significant differences were found in 1RM and muscle activity between the
two groups (p > .05). An independent samples t-test indicated total volume lifted was
significantly higher for the rest-pause group (56,778 lbs vs. 38,315 lbs; p < .05)
throughout the protocol and independently during weeks 2, 3, and 4. While strength and
muscle activity changes did not differ between groups, the rest-pause group achieved
greater increases in volume than the traditional group. If volume is the focus of training
(i.e., hypertrophy phases), the rest-pause resistance training method should be utilized.
519
Physician Views of Working with LGBT+ Patients in General Medicine
Tara Prairie, Graduate student, Health and Human Performance; Bethany Wrye, Faculty,
Health and Human Performance; Norman Weatherby, Faculty, Health and Human
Performance; Sharon Parente, Faculty, Library; Cynthia Bass-Thomas, Graduate student,
Health and Human Performance; Sarah Murfree, Graduate student, Health and Human
Performance; Bethany Wrye (Faculty sponsor), Health and Human Performance
Enacted stigma involves labeled individuals being treated differently from or denied
access to resources available to non-labeled individuals. This study examines to what
extent general practitioners recognize enacted stigma when treating lesbian, gay, bisexual,
transgender, questioning, intersex, and asexual (LGBT+) patients. We report preliminary
results from an ongoing, online survey with both quantitative and qualitative components.
Invitations to participate in the survey was sent to a random sample of 80 urban and 80
rural physicians obtained from the Tennessee Department of Health. Replies were
received from 23 participants thus far, the majority of which (70%) practice specifically
in rural areas. Out of the total number of respondents, 14 (70%) participants reported they
do not believe medical practitioners have the right to refuse treatment to LGBT+ patients.
However, 6 out of 9 physicians (66%) who do believe physicians have the right to deny
treatment to LGBT+ patients practice specifically in rural areas.
In a recent survey, 56% of lesbian, gay, and bisexual people reported they were denied
access, faced harsh language, or their sexual orientation was blamed as the cause of their
illness in a medical setting. We need to receive additional results to determine whether or
not general physician enacted stigma is an issue in Tennessee. The preliminary results
suggest that practicing in a rural area in itself is not a determinate of physician enacted
stigma. However, if a physician supports denial of services to LGBT+ patients, they are
likely to practice in a rural area. Because of a low response rate, Institutional Review
Board (IRB) approval was obtained to survey medical students and medical residents.
520
Broadcasting Live: Sports, News and Music
Jessica Ramsey, Graduate student, Recording Industry; Matt Foglia (Faculty sponsor),
Recording Industry
An often-overlooked area of the audio industry is television broadcast. The purpose of
this project was to delve into the world of live television broadcast audio with research
and hands on experience of the production processes and practices for three major areas
of broadcast: sports, news and music. Through my participation in sports broadcasting,
producing and directing, and post production courses in the College of Media and
Entertainment, as well as professional experience and shadowing of live music events,
this project will contribute a completed researched report and guide, learning outcome
and at least two mock sessions of work I’ve done over the past two semesters. These
sessions will include a video component as well as the audio necessary to successfully
mix for television broadcast. All of these materials will be made accessible for students
in the College of Media and Entertainment as an extra learning tool since there are
currently no regularly offered television broadcast audio courses available for audio
production students. This will allow those students interested in learning more about an
aspect of the audio industry that is often overlooked, but crucial to today’s entertainment
sector the opportunity to gain hands on mix practice, information and knowledge of
regulations and practices regarding the live broadcast audio field.
521
Towards the Molecular Identification of Afr2, A Gene Implicated in Liver Cancer
Zach Grimes, Graduate student, Biology; Rebecca Seipelt-Thiemann (Faculty sponsor),
Biology
The liver is the largest internal organ and performs a variety of functions. In humans,
liver cancer is the 5th leading cause of cancer death in men, and the 9th in women. 
fetoprotein (AFP) is a fetal protein that is active during liver development and
hepatocellular differentiation. After the development stage, AFP is transcriptionally
silenced due to the action of α-fetoprotein regulator 1 (Afr1). However, during liver
regeneration and tumorigenesis, AFP expression is reactivated by the action of αfetoprotein regulator 2 (Afr2). It is this observation that has led to the use of AFP levels
as a diagnostic marker for liver cancers. Two strains of mice differ in their ability to
acquire liver cancer. C3H/HeJ mice acquire liver cancer and express high AFP levels in
the regenerating liver while C57/BL6 do neither. Heterozygote mice express an
intermediate level of AFP and show reduced cancer. Recombination mapping showed
that Afr2 is located on chromosome 2, but this map was inaccurate. The purpose of this
study was to use a corrected genetic map and existing data to identify Afr2 candidate
genes. First, genetic differences between the strains for the selection region of
chromosome 2 were identified. Gene ontology and domain identification databases were
used to gain information about the 92 genes that showed variation between strains.
Several genes with the potential to regulate gene expression were identified. Further,
existing gene expression data is currently being analyzed to further refine the subset of
genes whose expression is consistent with the expected hypotheses for Afr2 expression.
Finally, a one hybrid analysis of candidate genes will be undertaken to confirm which
candidate gene is actually Afr2. Identification of Afr2 may lead to better therapeutics for
treatment of liver cancer due to its pivotal role in directing liver-specific gene expression.
522
Mapping Predictors of Team Performance
Megan Wertheimer, Graduate student, Psychology; Glenn Littlepage (Faculty sponsor),
Psychology
Organizations increasingly rely on work teams. Meta-analytic findings indicate that both
teamwork (Lepine et al., 2008) and shared cognitive states (DeChurch & MesmerMagnus (2010) are related to effective team performance. Teamwork theory (e.g. Salas,
2009) postulates that shared cognitive states provide the basis for effective teamwork. In
the current study, we examine the relationship between emergent cognitive states,
teamwork, and team performance. Specifically, we examine the potential mediating role
of teamwork between the predictor, emergent cognitive states, and team performance.
This research contributes to our understanding of how these variables interact to predict
team performance—with organizations relying more on self-managing teams this
information is crucial. Participants worked in teams in the MTSU NASA Flight
Operations Center Unified Simulation (FOCUS) Laboratory, a high fidelity team
performance simulation. The lab is modeled after a true airline operations center. We
measure their performance as a team and also obtain multiple measures of cognitive
states and teamwork behavior. Analyses for this project will include a correlation matrix
and regression analysis.
523
Analyzing Geospatial Coordinates in Twitter Data for Event Detection
Ashley Bizot, Graduate student, Computer Science; Joshua Phillips (Faculty sponsor),
Computer Science
Twitter is one of the most popular microblogging networks today. The sheer number of
Twitter users and their daily tweets have presented researchers with unique opportunities
of study such as detecting events in real time. In 2014 a major flood event occurred in
England and a study was done that collected and analyzed Twitter data from that region
during the flooding time period. I will replicate and expand that study by collecting the
sample twitter data from the study. I will then use a geocoding technique to determine
spatial coordinates for each of the tweets. I will then perform a K-means clustering
algorithm on the sampled data and determine the top regions that had the most flood
related tweets. I anticipate that the top regions collected will be the areas where more
flooding occurred and will verify this by comparing with ground truth obtained from
official meteorological data. Hopefully this project and the results obtained will show
how analyzing Twitter data in real time can spot disaster events as they are happening
which will be beneficial for deploying emergency resources more effectively.
524
Affordable Solar Cells
Muhammed Aljohani, Graduate student, Engineering Technology; Vahid Khiabani
(Faculty sponsor), Engineering Technology
Solar cells have been around for more than 100 years. Almost every single year, they
become more advanced and therefore more expensive. Some environment-loving people
have those solar cells on their house roofs without looking for the money return from
their investment just because they can afford such a high cost. Many other people,
however, are willing to do the same, but they don’t have the resources. Researchers at the
Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Research (ISE) were able to develop the technology
that would cut the cost in half. This will make solar cells more acceptable and affordable
among people with an average salary. Making solar cells requires a lot of time and energy,
which results in high cost. However, this new technology will save millions of dollars
that will reflect on customer’s pockets. For instance, silicon cost is about $18 per
kilogram and only $9 worth of silicon becomes a solar panel by the end of the process. In
this new technology, less heat will be used which will result in less cost. Moreover, since
crystalline does not grow randomly, it will reduce the silicon waste. Three years ago,
Fraunhofer Institute was able make the most efficient solar panel with 45% efficiency.
When these two technologies combine, we will be looking at the more efficient and
cheaper solar panel. If this is the case, people will be able to get their invested money
back within 5 years, which is a great result compared to 15-20 years of investment return
as of today.
525
Creation of a Drum Sample Library
Enrique Ferrer, Graduate student, Recording Industry; William Crabtree (Faculty
sponsor), Recording Industry
Modern music productions that associate drum kits as main rhythm elements are
characterized for presenting mixes that involve replacement of the original drums with
drum samples in order to augment their original sound and therefore obtain better tones
out of the drum tracks. Drum replacement is considered a standard practice and that is
why so many famous producers and audio engineers record their own samples creating
their own sample libraries that they can use on their productions.
This project is directly related to the creation of a drum sample library. The first part of
the project shows all of the theory behind drums and how they make sound, materials
they are made of, drum heads, tuning, muffling and recording techniques associated to
drums. The second part of the project basically presents a guide on how to create a drum
sample library step by step from the recording stage to the editing, processing, slicing and
exporting stages. The final product created from this project is a drum sample library
students can use for their audio mixing classes. The library will be delivered in the basic
“.wav” format that can be opened on any audio sampler as well as the Slate Trigger “.tci”
format that can be opened on Slate Trigger Drum Replacement plugin compatible with
most digital audio workstations.
526
Image Cryptography with Chaos: Testing the k-epsilon Turbulence Model as a Chaos
Generator
Gary Hammock, Graduate student, Computer Science; Joshua Phillips (Faculty sponsor),
Computer Science
Cryptography has uses in everyday applications ranging from e-commerce transactions to
military communications. Traditional approaches for encrypting images were performed
by processing an input image as a one-dimensional stream of bits before applying the
encryption algorithms. There is current research in manipulating images in their native
two-dimensional form rather than as a one-dimensional stream. To do this, deterministic
chaos maps have been explored for their use in providing the operations required to
transform a plaintext image into a ciphertext encrypted image and vice versa. Different
approaches for generating chaos maps have been explored ranging from cellular automata
to bio-inspired algorithms. This research aims to borrow a deterministic chaos technique
from the field of Computational Fluid Dynamics that is used to simulate turbulence in
fluid systems. The feasibility of using this technique as a chaos generator will be
quantitatively determined using cryptanalysis techniques including measuring the
luminance histograms, various image spectra, and pixel covariant dependence.
527
Artificial Intelligence is Progressing Exponentially in Directions Which Will Drastically
Change Our Way of Computing Forever
Trent Christian, Graduate student, Engineering Technology; David Gore (Faculty
sponsor), Engineering Technology
We are in the midst of an exponential growth in technology from robotics to
nanotechnologies, bio-technologies, bio-engineering, computing, and so forth. All of this
culminates with artificial intelligence as the command and control center. Professor
Stephen Hawking from Cambridge University, United Kingdom predicts artificial
intelligence will be the greatest discovery in the history of mankind. I believe Professor
Hawking is referring to achieving self-conscious or “living machines.” Artificial
intelligence (AI) will ultimately reshape the world as we know it by enabling computers
to organize, learn and perform assignments that require human intelligence. In cognitive
science, a thorough examination of the brain has provided the road map to model
computation from human neural function (HNF). AI and HNF are systematic information
processing platforms with predictable patterns of recognition in which complicated
functions are determined. Today the goal in artificial intelligence is to model
computations based on the human brain in order to carry out trillions of functions in the
same manner. The goal tomorrow and beyond must be graduation from simply
programming systems to querying multiple databases of information, two abilities that
accurately select the most intellectual solutions to questions posed by human inputs.
528
Natural Variability in Reference Site Mussel Samples: An Annual and Seasonal Analysis
Amber Hills, Graduate student, Biology; Dave McKinney, Government agency
collaborator, Biology; Susan Lanier, Government agency collaborator, Biology; Ryan
Otter (Faculty sponsor), Biology
Mussels are commonly used as bioindicators of environmental pollution in marine and
freshwater ecosystems. Natural variability exists in mussel populations, including those
in non-polluted systems. The objective of this study was to determine the inherent
variability that exists in three commercially relevant mussel species at reference
locations: Ebony (Fusconaia ebena), Monkeyface (Quadrula metanevra), Mapleleaf
(Quadrula quadrula). Mussels were sampled annually and seasonally at two sites:
Richland Creek and Diamond Island in the Tennessee River over a period of nine years,
1998-2007. Individual life history measurements of total mass, tissue mass, shell mass,
volume, age, and length were taken on at least 20 mussels per site per year. Tissue
density and percent tissue were calculated from these measurements. All eight variables
were analyzed for each species and site using regression models, ANOVAs, and t-tests.
Results showed that age was not significantly related to mussel size or density. Total
mass related to length showed the least variance in all species at both sites. Seasonal
differences were observed in all species and showed significant differences: mussels had
the highest tissue density and percent tissue mass during fall at Diamond Island and in
spring and fall at Richland Creek. Significant differences between years within the same
site were also observed. Results from this analysis show the inherent variability that
exists, even at reference locations, and how caution must to taken when comparing to
reference locations across seasons and years.
529
Academic Outcomes Associated with an Early Morning Physical Activity Program
Kristi Phillips, Graduate student, Health and Human Performance; Rudy Dunlap, Faculty,
Health and Human Performance; Rudy Dunlap (Faculty sponsor), Health and Human
Performance
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2011) recommends that children engage
in at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity daily. Underlying this
recommendation is a recognition that physical activity not only benefits physical fitness
and health, but that it positively affects children’s cognitive function and academic
achievement (Castelli et. al, 2007; Chaddock et al., 2012; Coe et al., 2006; Ratey &
Hagerman, 2008; Sibley & Etnier, 2003). With only one-half of American children
meeting the recommended guideline, the physical and cognitive effects of inactivity have
been widespread and detrimental.
With these findings in mind, the current study implemented a 5-week physical activity
program at an elementary school in Middle Tennessee. The purpose was to test whether
students’ participation in a sustained physical activity program would positively affect
their performance on standardized achievement tests as compared to students who did not
participate in such a program. The program was implemented during a ‘zero-hour’ period
prior to the beginning of the school day. Thirty participants engaged in an hour of
physical activity, 4 days a week, for five weeks in Fall 2015. The intent of the program
was to facilitate activities that would induce participants to maintain heart rates at 60% to
80% of their maximum heart rate.
Investigators collected raw scores for participants on measures of reading and math
achievement prior to and after the conclusion of the physical activity program. Two 2x2
repeated measure ANOVA analyses were conducted to compare participants’ scores preand post-program as well as to compare participants’ scores to a non-participant control
group. These analyses found no differences between pre- or post-test Reading and Math
scores. These findings suggest that perhaps a program of longer duration or heart rates
being more closely monitored might have led to a different outcome.
530
Extended School Day Hours and the Impact on Achievement Scores
Dazarae Higgs, Graduate student, Educational Leadership; Charles Milligan (Faculty
sponsor), Educational Leadership
This study examines the effect of the length of school days and achievement on scores
from an elementary setting with grades Kindergarten through 4th. Many of the schools
are falling into the bottom 5% performance scores statewide, which are leading many of
the schools in the district to being closed or taken over by the state and becoming Charter
Schools. This study focuses on using two schools from the urban area and their
kindergarten through 4th grade students and teachers to conduct the study. Using the data
driven assessments and test from Text Level Assessment (TLA), Aimsweb, and
TNREADY/TCAP, the research will base its findings off of scores calculated at the end
of the year. The researcher wants to know what steps each school is taking to ensure
mastery of the district goals set in place for each achievement test. The study focuses on
looking into the areas of teacher strategies and learning programs, tutors/volunteers
availability, parent support, and district funding. Keeping a log of educational programs
offered by the school, tutoring/volunteers available, and teacher trainings will help the
findings of the impact on the achievement scores for each school. By now, the researcher
has 2 data points both from the Aimsweb and TLA assessments taken during the fall and
winter testing period to begin comparing data. By the end of the summer, after all data is
entered into the system the public will be able to view findings from this data on the
schools district website to compare schools throughout the entire district area.
531
Compositional Data Analysis of Total Activity Patterns by Sex and Obesity Status
Seungho Ryu, Graduate student, Health and Human Performance; Heontae Kim,
Graduate student, Health and Human Performance; Junbae Mun, Graduate student,
Health and Human Performance; Brian Ragan, Faculty, Health and Human Performance;
Minsoo Kang, Faculty, Health and Human Performance; Minsoo Kang (Faculty sponsor),
Health and Human Performance
Activity time data, which includes sedentary behavior (SB), light physical activity (LPA),
and moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA), is compositional in nature. Because
of the dependent nature of compositional data, traditional analysis methods may not be
appropriate. PURPOSE: To examine total activity (TA) patterns by sex and obesity status
using compositional data analysis. METHODS: Data (388 adults ≥18 years; male=208;
obese=103) from the 2003-2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey were
analyzed for this study. Participants included in the analysis wore an accelerometer for a
minimum of seven valid days (i.e., wear-time ≥ 13 hours/day). Accelerometer (Actigraph
AM-7164) data were classified as SB (<100 counts per minute (cpm)), LPA (100 - 2019
cpm), or MVPA (≥2020 cpm) using previously established thresholds. Adults were
classified as obese (≥30kg/m2) or non-obese (<30kg/ m2) using body mass index.
Normality assumptions were examined using Anderson-Darling, Cramer-won Mises, and
Watson tests. A ternary diagram was used to illustrate TA patterns. Maximum likelihood
estimation tests were used to examine TA patterns by sex and obesity status. RESULTS:
The data met the assumption of a logistic normal distribution. Ternary diagrams
illustrated a difference in the composition of TA patterns by sex and obesity status. The
result of the maximum likelihood estimation test showed significant differences in TA
patterns by sex (likelihood statistic=336.38, p<.001, Means equal=391.70, p<.001) and
obesity status (likelihood statistic=359.42, p<.001, Means equal=390.27, p=.02). Males
engaged in more SB (male=60.41±11.03%, female=59.85±9.39%) and MVPA
(male=3.42±3.54%, female=2.22±2.71%), but less LPA (male=36.16±9.94%,
female=37.93±9.16%) compared with females. Obese adults engaged in more SB
(obese=62.50±9.28%, non-obese=59.35±10.52%), but less LPA (obese=35.07±9.34%,
non-obese=37.67±9.63%) and MVPA (obese=2.43±2.95%, non-obese=3.02±3.32%)
compared with non-obese adults. CONCLUSION: Obese adults and males were more
likely to engage in SB compared with non-obese adults and females, respectively.
Compositional data analysis is a promising technique for evaluating patterns in
compositional data.
532
The Relationship between Pill Sharing and Abuse of Opiate Pain Relievers
Cynthia Bass-Thomas, Graduate student, Health and Human Performance; Marquinta
Harvey, Graduate student, Health and Human Performance; Amber Dorsey, Graduate
student, Health and Human Performance; Dr. Norman Weatherby, Faculty, Health and
Human Performance; Dr. Andrew Owusu, Faculty, Health and Human Performance; Dr.
Norman Weatherby (Faculty sponsor), Health and Human Performance
Background. Every day, 44 people in the United States die from prescription painkiller
overdose and many more become addicted. The demand for opiate prescription drugs has
drastically increased over the last few decades. The ability of medical professionals to
recognize various disorders and manage symptoms of opiate misuse may be increasing.
However, prescription drugs are also obtained from other sources, and extended research
on opiate pill source is limited.
Objective. To examine whether a prescription drug abuser’s source or distributor
determines the number of pills used per month.
Methods. A sample of 1,462 opiate prescription abusers was drawn from the 67,804
participants who participated in the 2010 National Survey on Drug Use and Health
(NSDUH). The relationship between opiate prescription pill use and source of pills was
examined.
Results. People who use other sources such as the internet for obtaining opiate
prescription drugs (M = 10.11, SE = 0.55) have higher usage than the reference group
that gets opiates from physicians (M = 7.70, SE = 0.48). Opiate usage among people who
got their drugs from friends (M = 6.76, SE = 0.28) did not differ from that of the
reference group.
Conclusion. The study results add to current research surrounding sources of opiate pills
and could be used to design prevention and intervention educational models for program
implementation.
533
The Effect of Student SES Status on Test Items of Expository Text
Laura Clark Briggs, Graduate student, Literacy Studies; Jwa Kim, Faculty, Literacy
Studies; Jwa Kim (Faculty sponsor), Literacy Studies
Because of the great difficulty that many students in American public schools experience
navigating expository text, a significant and concerted effort has been made to increase
the amount of time that students spend reading expository (often referred to as
informational and also described as complex) text. Many states have adopted the
Common Core State Standards in an effort to insure that students have more exposure to
complex text that should prepare them for reading demands that they will encounter not
only postsecondary academic pursuits, but also in their future careers. A wide body of
research exists that shows the relationship between prior knowledge and performance on
reading comprehension; likewise, researchers have shown the examined how children’s
exposure to print material and access to vocabulary is quite varied depending on the
family’s socioeconomic (SES) status. This study examines student performance on test
items of expository text from 11th grade students taking English III classes in several
high schools throughout the southern part of the United States. A latent growth curve
analysis is used to examine student performance on reading comprehension tests
administered at three time points throughout the year. This research examines
performance of students based on their socioeconomic status to compare their how SES
and student scores correlate.
534
Classical Music and its Influence in Nowadays Popular Music
Paula Hernandez, Graduate student, Recording Industry; Joseph Akins (Faculty sponsor),
Recording Industry
In this project we will focus on the influence of classical music over some genres of
popular music. For this purpose we have selected the Baroque composer Johann
Sebastian Bach and his two volumes books The Well-Tempered Clavier; from this book
four Preludes and Fugues were selected to be arranged as follow:
- BMV 853 in E flat minor and D sharp minor: arranged as Gothic Metal.
- BMV 887 in G sharp minor: arranged as Melodic Death Metal.
- BMV 879 in E minor: arranged as Pop.
- BMV 883 in F sharp minor: arranged as Electronic Body Music (EBM).
We will review some history in order to understand the techniques applied to compose
classical music and the ones for popular music, we will compare each of them and will
use some references and examples that will allow us to get to the next step which is the
analysis of popular music influences by classical. Some examples will be provided to
make the research clear.
With these arrangements we will analyze how the audience perceives the classical music
as a ""now become"" popular music; they will listen to these arrangements and will
compare with references provided. As a final step, the statistics will be provided.
535
Simulating Multispectral Imagery using Spectral Band Synthesis Technique and
Hyperspectral Dataset
Laura Trujillo, Graduate student, Geosciences; Henrique Momm (Faculty sponsor),
Geosciences
The utilization of simulated remotely sensed imagery allows for calibration, testing, and
evaluation of image’s overall quality and its applicability to specific field of studies prior
to the deployment of new sensors saving time and cost. High spectral and spatial
resolution sensors with known signal response curves can be used to simulate images of
lower resolutions. The spectral band synthesis is a well-recognized method in which the
spectral response of single wide-band is estimated through linear combination of a set of
narrow-bands that are Gaussian distributed. Coefficients are determined by multivariate
regression techniques. This method was implemented in R statistical software package
and evaluated using the AisaEagle hyperspectral sensor to simulate five Landsat 7 bands.
Multispectral bands were simulated using sets containing between 15 to 26 hyperspectral
bands. Spectral response curves of each hyperspectral band was estimated to be normally
distributed and fitted to band’s Full Width and Half Maximum values. Values from
characteristic spectral responses generated from simulated spectral bands were found to
be within the 95% confident interval (p-value<0.05) of multispectral bands. Evaluation
using Q-Q plot indicated residuals are normally distributed. Future efforts will focus on
simulating DESIS hyperspectral imagery. The spectral band synthesis provides a simple
and efficient way to simulate the spectral response of lower spectral resolution datasets
supporting image prototyping studies.
536
Deforestation And Its Effects
Syed Bukhari, Graduate student, Engineering Technology; Vahid Khiabani (Faculty
sponsor), Engineering Technology
Deforestation is removing the forests for several different purposes. The most common
purpose is to increase the land for cultivation and urbanization; other is to use the cut
down timber as fuel. Almost 30% of the earth is covered with trees that produce huge
amount of oxygen and absorb carbon dioxide. Unplanned massive removal of forests is
causing damage to quality of the land and environment. Deforestation is also inviting
natural disasters like land sliding and floods. Millions of animal species have lost
existence due to deforestation. Deforestation is also causing climate change and
greenhouse effect is resulting in global warming. Deforestation is contributing 15% of
green house gas emissions.
The most affected areas of the world are India and Brazil; these are the countries, which
have world’s largest population of flora and fauna. Brazil is making great effort to stop
cutting of trees by introducing new laws and force to stop illegal timber cutting, but the
statistics show that during the past year 5,831 square kilometers of land was cut down.
India stands 10th in the ranking of countries plagued by deforestation. The major causes
of deforestation in India are farming, illegal cutting of timber, urbanization, and
haphazard building of dams to produce hydroelectric power.
Purpose of this study is to analyze the facts and effects of deforestation. The best way to
stop deforestation is to make treaties and laws to prevent unplanned cutting of trees and
to stop illegal trade of timber, and also by recycling paper and stuff made of wood. Now
is the time to set well-defined goals and targets for forest conservation. UN is holding
talks with countries around the world to resolve the issue under REDD (Reducing
Emission from Deforestation and Degradation).
537
Creation of the RTA1 reconstituted strain in Cryptococcus neoformans
Emily Smith, Graduate student, Biology; Erin McClelland, Faculty, Biology;
Ronakkumar Patel, Non-MTSU university faculty collaborator, Biology; Erin
McClelland (Faculty sponsor), Biology
Background: Cryptococcus neoformans is a yeast-like fungal pathogen with a capsule
that is known to cause meningoencephalitis and occurs primarily in immunocompromised
patients such as those suffering from HIV. Researchers are working on how C.
neoformans causes disease in humans and the RTA1 gene has been identified as a
potential factor that affects virulence. Methods: A knockout strain was created and shows
a marked increase in sensitivity to 7-amino cholesterol, a longer doubling time, more
capsule released into the host cell, and lower urease production. The knockout strain was
created through overlap PCR, biolistic transformation, and Southern blot analysis. A
knockin strain is currently being made by cloning the three different pieces, the left and
right RTA1 pieces, as well as a neomycin resistance marker, into the pAllet plasmid.
Screening of transformants is done using colony PCR to check for the neomycin
resistance insert as well as for the construct of the left, right and neomycin pieces as a
whole. Results: Currently, a transformant thought to be correct is being sequenced to
ensure the correct pieces have been cloned. Once the construct is complete, we will
transform the construct into the knockout strain two independent times using biolistic
transformation. Transformants will then be screened by PCR analysis and Southern blot
to ensure homologous recombination occurred. We will then repeat the initial
experiments comparing both the knock out strains and the reconstituted strains to
determine how RTA1 affects virulence. Conclusions: We expect the reconstituted strains
to have a phenotype similar to the wild type phenotype. In addition, we expect RTA1 to
play a role in the virulence of this yeast.
538
Optimizing End-to-end Performance of Distributed Application Workflows in
Heterogeneous Computing Environment with Resource Sharing
Eti Aggarwal, Graduate student, Computer Science; Yi Gu (Faculty sponsor), Computer
Science
Next-generation computation-intensive applications in various fields of science and
engineering feature large-scale computing workflows with complex structures that are
often modeled as directed acyclic graphs and deployed in distributed network
environments. With limited computing resources, it is often unavoidable to map multiple
workflow modules to the same computer node with possible concurrent module
execution, which results in a resource contention among concurrently executing
independent modules. Considering the implications of such resource sharing in workflow
mapping algorithms can significantly improve the end-to-end performance of these
distributed applications that require a fast response.
We conduct a deep investigation into workflow execution dynamics under fair share and
priority based resource sharing techniques to propose Recursive Critical Path with Fair
Share (RCPFS) and Recursive Critical Path with Priority Resource Sharing (RCPRS)
algorithms which build upon the existing Recursive Critical Path- RCP mapping
algorithm and try to achieve a better mapping for the workflows. The performance of the
proposed approaches will be compared with the existing RCP algorithm by running each
algorithm over an extensive set of simulated data and comparing the minimum end-toend (MED) value obtained in each case.
539
A Silver Bullet for Bullwhip Effects: Minimizing Lead-Time
Soochan Choi, Graduate student, Management; Zhen Li (Faculty sponsor), Management
An impact of one percent of decreased internal cost is creating better profit than an
impact of one percent of increased sales. In this sense, we could say internal cost is
critical for companies to earn revenue. One of the biggest wastes of internal cost is
caused because of bullwhip effects. A key word of bullwhip effects is an “Information
distortion” that the distorted information among supply chain creates a waste of inventory.
Thus, it is a leading factor of waste on internal costs. In current literature, we can see
there are lots of great solutions to minimize bullwhip effects of four causes. However, it
is hard to apply every solution to minimize a bullwhip effects because of limited
resources and time shortage. Furthermore, it is not efficient to apply all suggested
movements to minimize bullwhip impacts. Because it creates more internal costs than
actual benefit results from decreased impacts of bullwhip effects. In this sense, I am
going to explain what the causes of bullwhip effects are, and find an effective solution, a
so-called silver bullet. One of the best silver bullets is minimizing lead time. We can see
decreased lead time will minimize four bullwhip effects causes at the same time. In this
sense, I am going to explain how decreased lead time could counterattack for four
bullwhip effects causes. In addition, I am going to provide practical methods to make
shorter lead time. Especially, one of the biggest retail companies Walmart is putting lots
of effort for locating distribution centers to make cost effective lead time. I will explain a
Geographic Information System application for locating distribution centers, with
Walmart as an example.
540
Gas Metal Arc Welding Parameter Development
Michael Thompson, Graduate student, Professional Science; Vahid Khiabani (Faculty
sponsor), Engineering Technology
The current state of the Gas Metal Arc Welding (GMAW) parameters being utilized is
resulting in an average burn-through rate of 0.4 burn-through occurrences per unit. A
burn-through occurs when there is too much energy put into the base material causing the
base material to melt through. The reason why this occurs on the weld being evaluated is
because of the variation of weld joint placement in relation to the weld path that is taught
for the robot. This variation cannot be eliminated so the way to reduce the amount of
burn-through occurrences is to adjust weld parameters. When a burn-through occurs, this
has to be repaired in the following station, which ties up manpower. The first step in
reducing the amount of burn-through occurrences is to develop base parameters that can
be manipulated further in a strategic way. This was done by utilizing suggested weld
parameters for Short-Circuit Transfer provided by Lincoln Electric and adjusting them to
get a stable arc with sufficient penetration. A trial robot program was used to run trials on
vehicles to measure how many times a weld had a burn-through issue at each adjustment
to the parameters. The major parameters that were adjusted in the trials were wire feed
speed and voltage. The goal of this research is to reduce the amount of burn-through
occurrences by manipulating weld parameters.
541
How People Think about Healthy and Unhealthy Behaviors
Kyle Long, Graduate student, Psychology; Tom Brinthaupt, Faculty, Psychology; Tom
Brinthaupt (Faculty sponsor), Psychology
When people engage in healthy behaviors, they may talk to themselves in a different
manner than when they have engaged in unhealthy behaviors. The purpose of this study
was to examine potential differences in the inner experiences of individuals who engage
in healthy vs. unhealthy behaviors. Currently, there is a lack of research that examines
the differences in how people who engage in more or less healthy behaviors talk to
themselves. Undergraduate students at MTSU completed assessment packets containing
the Self-Talk scale, the Health Promoting Lifestyle Profile II (HPLP II), and a
demographics questionnaire. It was hypothesized that participants who scored higher
overall on the HPLP-II would report engaging in self-reinforcing and self-management
self-talk more often than self-critical and social-assessment self-talk. Results did not
support the hypothesis, but a follow-up study including adjusted versions of the Self-Talk
scale is currently in progress in order to address limitations present in this study.
542
Exhibit Creation at Old Stone Fort Archaeological Park
Heather Scheurer, Graduate student, History; Katie McClurkin, Graduate student,
History; Brenden Martin (Faculty sponsor), History
Old Stone Fort Archaeological Park in Manchester, Tennessee, is a site of natural beauty
and rich history. Middle Woodland peoples constructed the site nearly 2,000 years ago as
a ceremonial gathering place. The mound walls and structural remnants of the enclosure
tell us much about how Native Americans and later peoples used the site. The Essentials
of Museum Management class is currently redesigning the exhibit space in the state
park’s visitor center to better reflect the multi-layered landscape of Old Stone Fort. The
previous museum exhibit did not convey a clear message to the visitor and was quite
dated. Twelve graduate students and Dr. Brenden Martin have worked this semester to
alter the theme of the museum, develop new text panels, design fresh displays, and create
educational materials for the park to use with local schools. To accomplish such a feat in
only one semester, students applied for positions on the exhibit team ranging from
director to exhibit fabricator to object curator. Each position requires the student to
complete an aspect of the project independently, while still collaborating with the team as
a whole. By the end of the semester, the class will have installed the new exhibit at Old
Stone Fort for all visitors to enjoy.
543
Investigating Acid Sphingomyelin Activity Changes in Niemann-Pick Disease and
Treatment
Snehal Sant, Graduate student, Professional Science; Matt Fuller, Graduate student,
Professional Science; Nicholas Chamberlain, Graduate student, Molecular Biosciences;
Rebecca Seipelt-Thiemann (Faculty sponsor), Biology
Niemann-Pick disease is a group of genetic disorders due to mutations in three genes.
Type A and B are caused by mutations SMPD1, while type C and D are caused by
mutations in NPC1 and NPC2. SMPD1 encodes a protein known as acid
sphingomyelinase (ASM) that catalyzes sphingomyelin into ceramide and also influences
cholesterol levels. Interestingly, human Niemann-Pick type C cells have been shown to
have a reduced level of ASM activity compared to wildtype cells. Currently, the drug
cyclodextrin (CD) is used to treat NP disease. The current study has two goals: 1) To
determine if changes in the SMPD1 mRNA steady–state level in human NPC cells may
be responsible for the reduction in ASM activity, and 2) to determine if cyclodextrin
treatment is able to alter the ASM activity level by altering the steady-state level of
SMPD1 mRNA in wildtype hamster cells. To test both of these hypotheses, SMPD1
mRNA levels are being quantified by quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain
reaction (qRT-PCR) in human wildtype and NP cells and in hamster cells treated with
CD or a control. First, primers for hamster SMPD1 and two hamster control genes, X
and Y, were designed. Next, end point gradient RT-PCR was performed on control
RNAs isolated from hamster cells to identify the appropriate annealing temperature and
the presence of a single product. Results show that the appropriate annealing temperature
range for all three genes is from 59.9-63°C and also confirmed the presence of a single
product at these temperatures. The next steps will involve designing and testing primers
for the human cell experiments and performing real time RT-PCR on RNA from hamster
cells treated with and without CD treatment and from wildtype and NP mutant human
cells.
544
Modeling, Simulation and Optimization of Piezoelectric Bimorph Transducer For
Broadband Vibration Energy Harvesting
Nan Chen, Graduate student, Engineering Technology; Vishwas Bedekar, Faculty,
Engineering Technology; Vishwas Bedekar (Faculty sponsor), Engineering Technology
The objective of this research is to design a millimeter scale broadband energy harvester
device through the use of a multi-cantilever beam approach with a non-linear geometry.
In this research, we use COMSOL finite element analysis software to design, simulate
and analyze the voltage and power characteristics under applied mechanical vibrations of
a piezoelectric cantilever beam. Two piezoelectric ceramic composition samples were
compared using series combinations of a bimorph energy harvester design vibrating at the
natural frequency of the beam. We propose a new design and geometry for bimorph
harvesters to capture energy at multiple frequencies in order to realize a broadband
vibration energy harvester.
545
Evaluation of the Welfare of the Lesson Horse Used for Equine Assisted Activities and
Therapies
Holly Nobbe, Graduate student, Agribusiness and Agriscience; Holly Spooner, Faculty,
Agribusiness and Agriscience; Sarah English, Faculty, Agribusiness and Agriscience;
Holly Spooner (Faculty sponsor), Agribusiness and Agriscience
The welfare of horses used in Equine Assisted Activities and Therapies (EAAT) has long
been misunderstood due to a lack of agreement in interpreting horse behavior,
specifically in response to stress factors and novel stimuli. This study was constructed to
analyze changes in the heart rate to determine if horses were experiencing identifiable
stress responses when used in an EAAT lesson program. We hypothesized heart rate
would remain unchanged from baseline, but that stress responses would be observed and
would increase with number of lessons per day, decrease with experience as an EAAT
lesson horse, but would not be different by age. Eight healthy, regularly working
therapeutic riding horses, (aged 10-25 y), were randomly selected and individually
monitored on two testing days. Horses wore telemetric monitors (Polar Electro Oy,
2012) to record heart rates (HR) for the duration of the testing day. Behavioral
observations were recorded during lessons for each subject noting behaviors categorized
as “stressful” or “relaxed.” Stress responses were not affected by the number of lessons
(P = 0.47) or the age of the horses (P = 0.60) when horses participated in two lessons in a
given day. Further, there was no difference according to lesson number (P = 0.30) or age
of horse (P = 0.38) on the number of relaxed responses for horses participating in two
lessons. Additionally, years in EAAT was not found to have an effect on the mean HR of
horses (P = 0.05) competing in a single lesson, nor did lesson duration, age, and years in
EAAT have an effect on stress responses or HR of horses participating in one or two
therapeutic riding lessons. Horses managed with proper care and well-being practices are
well suited to participate in at least two EAAT lessons daily, as minimal stress responses
were observed.
546
Influence of Long-Term Furosemide Use on Bone Mineral Content, Bone Metabolism
Markers, and Weight Loss in Horses
Abby Pritchard, Graduate student, Agribusiness and Agriscience; Holly Spooner, Faculty,
Agribusiness and Agriscience; Rhonda Hoffman, Faculty, Agribusiness and Agriscience;
John Haffner, Faculty, Agribusiness and Agriscience; Holly Spooner (Faculty sponsor),
Agribusiness and Agriscience
Furosemide is a diuretic commonly used to reduce the incidence of exercise induced
pulmonary hemorrhage (EIPH) in racehorses. Previous research suggests furosemide
negatively influences calcium balance for at least 72h post administration in horses, and
thus may have long-term implications for bone health. In this study, furosemide use was
evaluated over 56d for effect on bone mineral content (BMC), bone metabolism markers,
and weight loss post administration. Eleven healthy horses of mixed breed and age (17±4
years) were randomly assigned to control (CON, n=5) or treatment (FUR, n=6) groups.
Radiographs were taken on days -28, 0, 28, and 56, reflecting three 28d periods of
pasture turnout, stalling, and pasture turnout, respectively, for determination of BMC via
radiographic bone aluminum equivalency (RBAE). On day 0, 7, 14, 21, 28, 35, 42, and
49, FUR horses were administered IV furosemide at 1 mg/kg BW. All horses were
weighed before and at 2h, 4h, 8h, 24h, and 48h after administration to monitor weight
loss and recovery. Blood samples were collected analyzed for determination of plasma
osteocalcin (OC) and serum pyridinoline cross-links (PYD). No treatment effects were
observed for BMC, but there was a period effect across all bone cortices (p<0.0001) as a
result of stalling. OC showed no difference between groups (P=0.26) or days (P=0.25).
PYD tended to be lower in FUR (P=0.0584) and exhibited a day effect (P<0.0001)
reflecting stalling. Body weight change indicated day*time (P=0.0001), treatment*time
(P<0.0001), and day*treatment (P<0.0001) interactions, where FUR lost more weight
than CON at 2h, 4h, and 8h yet was unchanged by 24h and 48h. Both groups experienced
the greatest weight loss at 4h. While there was no treatment effect on BMC, the trend
toward lower PYD in FUR may warrant further investigation over a longer time period or
with more sensitive imaging techniques.
547
Granger Causality Effects on Exchange Rate, Interest Rate and Inflation Rate in U.S.A.
Pramita Saha, Graduate student, Economics and Finance; William C. McDowell (Faculty
sponsor), Management
Exchange rate, interest rate and inflation rates are common determinants in any economy.
They are influenced by each other. It is complicated to know which one causes the other.
Sometimes these variables have feedback relationship also. Granger causality test is a
useful statistical tool to determine whether one time series is useful to another. This study
investigates the granger causality effect and relationship among these three variables. 4
variables per factor are taken and in total 12 variables are used to determine the granger
causality effect. Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED) - St. Louis Federal Reserve has
been used as the source of data. After running econometrical package R, the acquired
results are given to understand the movement of these factors. The result indicates that
the exchange rate has a major effect on interest rate in comparison to other relationships.
548
Automated Website Testing Using JUnit Framework and REST Web Services
Swapnil Rajput, Graduate student, Computer Science; Joshua Phillips (Faculty sponsor),
Computer Science
Quality is always essential for any kind of product. In software development,
considerable focus is given to meeting the users' expectations of quality. Even though
there are many tools, resources and techniques available for website testing, many
industries still focus on manual testing because no company wants to lose the quality of
their websites. However, manual testing takes a tremendous amount of time and in
certain cases it is not at all a good idea. For example, even small code changes demand an
entire testing iteration, which requires huge manpower and time. Additionally, if any
requirement is changed then all the test cases also need to be rewritten. In this
presentation, I present an automated testing approach by collaborating the existing JUnit
testing framework and REST Web services. I anticipate this testing practice will give
better quality than manual testing and will target websites that were developed in J2EE. I
will also report a detailed summary of test results and analyze the efficiency of this
approach by comparing other existing testing mechanisms.
549
Infection of Macrophages with the Pathogenic Yeast, Cryptococcus neoformans Alters
Inflammatory NF-κB Signaling by Translational Interference
Linda Sircy, Graduate student, Biology; James Hayes, Graduate student, Biology; Lauren
Heusinkveld, Undergraduate student, Biology; Rachel Leander, Faculty, Mathematics;
Wandi Ding, Faculty, Mathematics; Erin McClelland, Faculty, Biology; David Nelson,
Faculty, Biology; David Nelson (Faculty sponsor), Biology
Cryptococcus neoformans (Cn) is a fungal pathogen with a polysaccharide capsule
predominantly composed of glucoronoxylomannan (GXM). During acute infection,
GXM shed by extracellular Cn has been shown to suppress macrophage NF-κB signaling
by binding to FcγRIIb cell surface receptors and activating SHIP1, which blocks TLR4mediated MyD88 recruitment and IκBα phosphorylation. However, Cn is also capable of
establishing long-lasting latent infections by residing within host macrophage
phagosomes but it is unclear whether intracellular Cn is also capable of modulating NFκB signaling. In contrast to the effects of extracellular Cn and GXM, our data show that
phagosomal Cn increases the amplitude and duration of TLR4-mediated NF-κB
activation. In order to predict mechanisms by which this occurred, we used computational
modeling to simulate the possible effects of intracellular Cn on the core NF-κB pathway.
The model indicated that decreasing the nuclear import rate of IκBα, the nuclear export
rate of NF-κB:IκBα complexes, or suppressing IκBα expression by ‘translational
interference’, could recapitulate our biological data. To test these model-generated
hypotheses we measured changes in protein translation in murine RAW 264.7
macrophages infected with live or heat-killed Cn using ribopuromycylation and ClickiT® Plus OPP-based assays. Both assays showed that cells infected with live but not
heat-killed Cn produced a significant reduction in translation compared to non-infected
cells. We also found that in Cn-infected macrophages that showed stable nuclear NF-κB,
these cells contained substantial nuclear IκBα, suggesting that nuclear export of NFκB:IκBα complexes was compromised, as predicted by the model. Furthermore, despite
the presence of nuclear NF-κB, these cells did not exhibit increased expression of iNOS
and TNFα, bona fide NF-κB-target genes that are involved in macrophage activation and
the inflammatory response to pathogens, respectively. These data indicate that Cn
employs different mechanisms to subvert host inflammatory signaling at different stages
of an infection.
550
Combining Latent Dirichlet Allocation and Model Trees with Point Process Modeling on
the Afghan War Diary
Cody Crawford, Graduate student, Computer Science; Joshua Phillips (Faculty sponsor),
Computer Science
Journalism today is dealing with so much data that better methods are needed to process
it. Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) is often used to sort text into topics. The Afghan
War Logs (AWL) were processed with LDA and model trees to ascertain fatality
numbers. The AWL was used in a separate study that analyzed the documents with point
process modeling to predict where conflicts would occur in space and time. We have
combined the two approaches in this study, hopeful that the results will allow us to
predict where and when conflicts occur and if the fatality numbers can also be obtained in
reference to that. We anticipate that our results will show that point process modeling
combined with LDA and model trees will give more useful results than using either of the
methods separately.
551
Simulation of Multiple Inheritance in Java
Sonal Swaroop, Graduate student, Computer Science; Joshua Phillips (Faculty sponsor),
Computer Science
Multiple inheritance is the ability of a single class to inherit from multiple classes. This
paradigm empower OOPs programming languages with benefits such as reusability
(using methods of parent class by child classes), extensibility (extending the parent class
logic as per business logic of the child class), data hiding (base class may keep some data
private so that it cannot be altered by the derived class), and lesser compilation time.
There is no consensus among researchers on the semantics of multiple inheritance in the
presence of method overriding and potential conflicts due to multiple definitions. James
Gosling quotes “JAVA omits many rarely used, poorly understood, confusing features of
C++ that in our experience bring more grief than benefit.” This primarily consists of
operator overloading and multiple inheritance. Java creators provided users with much
easier and robust alternative to multiple inheritance i.e. interfaces, composition and
abstract classes that alleviate problem during casting and constructor chaining. It’s an
intriguing study about why Java creators chose to abandon multiple inheritance when it
reserved a safe spot in languages such as C++ and Python. The primary objective of this
research study is to develop a trade-off between “multiple inheritance in C++” and
“substitution for multiple inheritance in Java” and conclude if multiple inheritance is
good programming technique and if Java should introduce direct implementation of
multiple inheritance. Java does relieve the users with classic multiple inheritance
challenge such as diamond problem but even with use of interfaces, it doesn’t make
absolute utilization of inheritance. The secondary objective is to introduce novel ways to
substitute multiple inheritance in Java such as “twin pattern” and “dynamic multiple
inheritance”, and conclude if such implementations may bring much easier and feasible
alternatives to “interfaces” which does take control away from the programmer.
552
A Goal-Oriented Evaluation of the Family Medicine Residency Program at the Saint
Louise Clinic
Sarah Murfree, Graduate student, Health and Human Performance; Norman L.
Weatherby, PhD, Faculty, Health and Human Performance; Christopher Dunlap, MD,
Program Director, University of Tennessee College of Medicine--Family Medicine
Residency Program; Pamela Singer, DO, Faculty, University of Tennessee College of
Medicine--Family Medicine Residency Program; Norman Weatherby (Faculty sponsor),
Health and Human Performance
Medical residency programs are faced with many challenges including cost, quality, and
physician shortages in rural areas. Residency programs need innovative methods to
control cost in a time of increased scrutiny of all healthcare cost. Residents must be welltrained for practice in a rapidly changing healthcare environment. Family medicine
residency programs provide training in specialty areas to ensure physicians have the
knowledge needed to treat the whole family. Program evaluations are needed to identify
challenges, areas for improvement, and successes in residency programs. The Family
Medicine Residency Program at the Saint Louise Clinic in Murfreesboro, TN, is a new
residency program formed by a partnership of the University of Tennessee Health
Sciences Center and Saint Thomas Health. The first class of eight family medicine
residents began work in July 2015.
The primary goals of this goal-oriented evaluation are to identify processes in place to
achieve the program’s mission to develop skilled, qualified, and compassionate family
medicine physicians, and to evaluate compliance with goals, target milestones, timelines,
and deliverables during the start-up and implementation phases of the residency program.
The evaluation will be guided by the CDC’s Framework for Program Evaluation. The
evaluation will begin with stakeholder interviews and preliminary findings are expected
by the end of March 2016. The program administrators will use the evaluation results to
focus on areas for improvement and the results may be generalizable to other similar
residency programs.
553
Integrated Analysis of lncRNA and mRNA Expression in Rainbow Trout Families
Showing Variation in Muscle Growth and Fillet Quality Traits
Ali Ali, Graduate student, Biology; Bam Paneru, Graduate student, Biology; Rafet AlTobasei, Graduate student, Computational Science; Timothy Leeds, Non-MTSU
university faculty collaborator, The National Center for Cool and Cold Water
Aquaculture, USDA Agricultural Research Service; Brett Kenney, Non-MTSU university
faculty collaborator, Biology; Mohamed Salem, Staff, Biology; Mohamed Salem (Faculty
sponsor), Biology
Fish muscle yield and quality are important traits for industry and consumers. Genetic
selection for these traits is difficult because they result from the interaction of multiple
factors. Additionally, quality may signify one or a combination of attributes such as
texture, color and composition. Importantly, these traits are polygenic or controlled by
many genes. To study the genetic architecture of these traits at the transcription level,
phenotypic characterization of total body weight, muscle yield, muscle fat content, shear
force and whiteness were measured in 500 fish representing 98 families (5 fish/family)
from a growth-selected line. RNA-Seq was used to sequence the muscle transcriptome of
different families showing divergent phenotypes (high versus low ranked families) for
each trait. Seventy-five differentially expressed protein-coding genes and 442 lncRNAs
were identified between fish families with contrasting phenotypes. Remarkably, the
expression of some differentially expressed protein-coding genes was correlated with that
of differentially expressed lncRNAs. Transcripts encoding stanniocalcin, connective
tissue growth factor-like isoform X1, large neutral amino acids small subunit 2-like
transporter, and Response gene to complement-32 protein (RGC-32) were positively
correlated with the following lncRNAs, respectively: Omy100092090 (R2=0.91),
Omy100115680 (R2=0.81), Omy400009923 (R2=0.93) & Omy200090267 (R2=0.88), and
Omy200080884 (R2=0.84). Interestingly, Omy200080884 was antisense (exonic) with
RGC-32. This study 1) defines muscle quality associated protein-coding and lncRNA
genes and 2) provides the first evidence of lncRNA involvement in regulating growth and
fillet quality traits in fish. This information enhances our understanding of molecular
mechanisms regulating economically important phenotypic traits in aquaculture species.
554
Genomic Analysis and Growth Characteristics of Three Strains of Gardnerella vaginalis.
Destaalem Kidane, Graduate student, Professional Science; Brock Arivett, Graduate
student, Molecular Biosciences; Mary Farone (Faculty sponsor), Biology
Gardnerella vaginalis is a clinically significant gram-positive, facultative anaerobic
bacterium that is associated with Bacterial Vaginosis (BV). BV is a vaginal inflammation
that commonly occurs in reproductive-age women and is characterized by the absence of
protective Lactobacillus spp. G. vaginalis is frequently isolated from vaginal secretions
of women with BV. Currently, very little is known about the growth characteristics,
physiology, and diversity of G. vaginalis. This study describes differences in the growth
of three strains of G. vaginalis (ATCC 14018, ATCC 14019 and ATCC 49145).
Differences in growth rate may be important in understanding the etiology of BV with
respect of G. vaginalis. This study also describes the genomic features of G. vaginalis
clinical isolate strain (ATCC 49145). Whole genome sequencing was done using
Illiumina® MiSeq sequencer. The sequence genome was assembled with CLC Genomics
Workbench.v3.6.5 and annotated with Prokka v1.11 using a reference genome model
strain (ATCC 14019) available at National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI)
GenBank database. Comparative genomic analysis of the assembly was performed
against the reference genome using various tools available in NCBI. Whole genome
information of this strain of G. vaginalis can be useful for further studies involving its
physiology and taxonomy. It can also be useful in generating accurate reference genome
for microbial identification and comparative genomic studies.
555
Determinants of Adoption of the SHEP Guidelines for Health Services Delivery in
Ghanaian Primary and Secondary Schools
Angela Bowman, Graduate student, Health and Human Performance; Andrew Owusu
(Faculty sponsor), Health and Human Performance
Introduction: Globally, school health programs seek to protect and improve the health
status of students while also enhancing learning outcomes. In Ghana, the “2012 School
Health Educational Programme (SHEP); Policy Guidelines” recommends a minimum
package for school level health services delivery while acknowledging availability of
district-level resources as a limiting factor. This study examines the extent to which
schools in Ghana meet the minimum requirements for health services delivery.
Methods: Using data from the first-ever Ghana Global School Health Policies and
Practices Survey (Ghana-GSHPPS), we identified questions assessing the 13 health
service delivery areas and sub-areas identified in the 2012 SHEP Policy Guidelines.
Complex sample tables and logistic regression were utilized to calculate prevalence
estimates and to examine the relationship between service delivery and school
characteristics.
Results: Overall, 63% of schools offer less than 50% of the recommended SHEP
minimum package. Schools with enrollment over 500 are more likely than smaller
schools to offer 50% or more of the recommended package, OR = 2.34, 95% CI [1.80,
3.04]. Additionally, among schools with enrollment over 500, schools with greater than
25 teachers are 15 times more likely to offer 50% or more of the SHEP minimum
package, Χ2 (1, N = 307) = 30.23, p < .001.
Conclusion and Policy Implications: This study demonstrates the extent of deficit present
among Ghanaian schools regarding minimum health services delivery. Results suggest
more emphasis should be placed on implementing health service delivery in schools with
lower enrollment and schools with a high student/teacher ratio.
556
Analysis of Production Methods for Brazilian Pop Music
Gibran Sponchiado, Graduate student, Recording Industry; John Merchant (Faculty
sponsor), Recording Industry
Types of music procures can fit in several categories based on their skillsets and
backgrounds. Often they are composers, arrangers, instrumentalists, audio engineers or
consultants. The Brazilian pop music scene is very broad and is influenced by several
other genres, such as samba, bossa nova, sertanejo (Brazilian country music), rock and
EDM. Through this research I will be learning how to produce Brazilian pop music from
producers Juliano Cortuah and Eric Silver. Both of them are largely experienced in the
field and their strengths are composing, arranging and performing. I will be interviewing
them and watching their work to understand their processes and learn what skills are
needed to succeed as producer of Brazilian pop music. After the research component, I
will be recording and producing six songs for the Brazilian pop artist Lucas Brolese,
whose musical work is broad and transcends through several genres. I will be working to
seek the best of his musicality, by identifying his strengths and choosing a repertoire that
will satisfy his focused audience. The EP will be entitled “Pampa Mundi” and will be
interpreted both in Portuguese and English. The pre-production and recording process
will be split between MTSU studios and studios in Brazil. By producing this record I will
be able to apply the knowledge gained during my research as well as expand my portfolio
and professional work.
557
Passive Acquisition of Misinformation through Social Media Posts and Comments
Andrew Hunt, Graduate student, Psychology; Theresa Holcomb, Undergraduate student,
Psychology; Alan Musicant (Faculty sponsor), Psychology
While people generally monitor news-related posts and links on social media for
misinformation, they may not be as attentive when it comes to more banal, everyday
updates from people within their social networks. In this experiment, participants read
Facebook statuses that contained information about general world knowledge under the
pretense that they were participating in a study examining whether or not reading
different types of social media layouts affected spatial attention. Participants were told
that the posts had been taken from random Facebook profiles when the posts had, in fact,
been created using a cloning tool. Participants were each randomly assigned to one of
three conditions. Participants in the “Correct” condition read Facebook statuses that
contained correct facts. Participants in the “Neutral” condition read statuses that alluded
to the target facts but did not state them outright in order to establish a baseline. In the
“Misinformation” condition, participants read statuses identical to the “Correct”
condition with the only difference being that the target facts were replaced with incorrect
words or names. Following the readings, participants then took a spatial visualization test
in order to maintain the deception that the experiment was tied to visuospatial attention
and also to act as a time delay. Participants were then given a 50-question test of general
knowledge. The test contained questions related to the target facts from the posts in order
to assess whether or not participants would use information from potentially unreliable
sources to answer those questions. Participants did use information from the posts to
answer the questions and, despite having just read the information in the posts, many
believed that the information was something that they had “always known.”
558
A Comparison Study of Techniques for Procedural Content Generation for Games
Luke Rowell, Graduate student, Computer Science; Joshua Phillips (Faculty sponsor),
Computer Science
In recent years, as our aspirations for creating realistic worlds and environments in video
games grow, the need has arisen to generate content on the fly as the player experiences it.
This technique of generating game content dynamically is known as procedural
generation. As time goes on, and the worlds we create for games become larger and more
intricate, the need for more efficient and complex procedural generation algorithms will
arise. There are many approaches to procedural generation for games, with each having
certain advantages over others in regards to different metrics. The goal of this research is
to compare these methods, and examine which techniques are better for performing
certain tasks. The primary two methods that will be examined are fractal subdivision, and
an approach using software agents. These methods will be implemented within the Unity
engine, and their performance will be compared to one another based on the metrics
measured by the Unity profiler. This research also proposes a novel method to procedural
generation, which uses cellular automata in three dimensions, layered with other
techniques like Perlin noise and Voronoi diagrams, in order to generate terrain. The
efficiency of the novel approach will also be implemented and have its performance
evaluated within the Unity engine.
559
Deoxygenation of Aldehyde or Ketone to Their Saturated Compounds
Latifah Alhthlol, Graduate student, Chemistry; Evidence Nwangwa, Undergraduate
student, Chemistry; Keying Ding (Faculty sponsor), Chemistry
Deoxygenation of aldehyde or ketone to their saturated compounds has attracted large
attentions given its broad applications in biofuel production. Classical methods for the
deoxygenation of carbonyl compounds generally involve harsh reaction conditions, toxic
reagents and poor chemical selectivities. Thus, “greener” and more atom efficient
processes are generating major interest in both academia and industry. We recently
developed an earth abundant main-group metal catalytic system for hydrosilylation of
ketones and aldehydes to get alcohols. Surprisingly, we also discovered that some
ketones can be reduced to alkane products as well. We hereby report these preliminary
results and future study will also be discussed.
560
Effect of pH on gp120-CD4 Interaction in Founder and Chronic HIV Strains Using
Protein Modeling
Jonathan Howton, Graduate student, Computer Science; Joshua Phillips, Faculty,
Computer Science; Joshua Phillips (Faculty sponsor), Computer Science
Although the acquired immunodeficiency virus (AIDS) was discovered more than thirty
years ago, an effective vaccine against the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that
causes the disease has not yet been produced. This is potentially because most HIV
vaccine research has been performed with blood, which is slightly basic, while the
transmission event occurs at the mucosa, which is highly acidic. Furthermore, gp120,
which forms the interaction with CD4 on the target cell that is essential for transmission,
has been shown to assume a conformation that is better suited for binding CD4 under
acidic conditions. Since HIV mutates rapidly within the host, it is likely that early
transmission/founder strains are better at binding CD4 under low mucosal pH when
compared to chronic control strains because they are responsible for the initial
transmission event at the mucosa, while chronic control strains primarily replicate in the
blood. To evaluate this, we compared the binding energy of the gp120-CD4 interaction
between transmission/founder strains and chronic control strains over a range of pH
values. We first produced homology models of gp120 in both the CD4-bound and
unbound forms for a variety of transmission/founder and chronic control HIV strains.
These models were used to calculate the surface charge of the molecules over a
physiologically relevant pH range. The resulting models with charge data could then be
used to calculate the binding energy between CD4 and the different forms of gp120. We
anticipate that gp120 from transmission/founder strains will have a higher binding energy
at low mucosal pH values when compared to gp120 from chronic control strains.
561
An Electroencephalographic Neurophysiological Investigation of Meaning Threat
Micah D'Archangel, Graduate student, Psychology; Christof Fehrman, Graduate student,
Psychology; Tyler Hubbard, Non-MTSU university collaborator, Psychology; Cyrille
Magne, Faculty, Psychology; William Langston, Faculty, Psychology; Cyrille Magne
(Faculty sponsor), Psychology
N400 is a brainwave pattern that has been linked to spreading activation, recognition of
relatedness, and language processing. It has been investigated in multiple contexts such
as creativity, schizophrenia, and schizotypy. Individuals that are considered schizotypal
(i.e. score high on schizotypy scales) have a lower N400 amplitude when confronted with
unrelated word pairs compared to the average person. It has been suggested that this is
because schizotypal individuals find relationships between objects where others would
see no meaning. Similarly, another phenomenon known as Meaning Threat (MT) has
been postulated to cause non-schizotypal individuals to find relationships where they
otherwise would not. However, no studies to date have attempted to link schizotypy and
Meaning Threat. We hypothesized that individuals experiencing Meaning Threat would
have a lower N400 amplitude when confronted with unrelated word pairs compared to a
control group. We measured Event-related potentials (ERPs) from participants using
electroencephalography (EEG) while they performed a semantic judgment task on 68
visually presented word pairs. Half of the presented pairs (34) were semantically related,
while the second half were not. Participants in the Meaning Threat condition were given
a short story to read that has been found to induce Meaning Threat. In the control
condition, participants were given a modified version of the story that had a logical and
linear flow. All participants performed the EEG semantic judgement task both before and
after reading the story. In line with our hypothesis, the MT group had a significantly
lower N400 amplitude in the post-test, while there was no significant pre-vs-post
difference in the control group. This finding suggests that Meaning Threat causes
individuals to experience a schizotypal-like state.
562
Effects of Standing Martingale Use on Kinematics and Conflict Behavior in Jumping
Horses
Devin Lintzenich, Graduate student, Agribusiness and Agriscience; Holly Spooner,
Faculty, Agribusiness and Agriscience; Anne Brzezicki, Faculty, Agribusiness and
Agriscience; Holly Spooner (Faculty sponsor), Agribusiness and Agriscience
The use of standing martingales is a commonly accepted practice amongst hunter-seat
riders. Despite the widespread use of the standing martingale, no studies have been
conducted to evaluate its effect on the biomechanics of horses ridden over fences. We
hypothesized the use and adjustment of standing martingales would have an effect on the
kinematics of jumping horses, and an improperly adjusted martingale would cause
conflict behaviors in these horses. To test this, twelve horses accustomed to jumping
were videoed over a line of two jumps with three treatments in a replicated Latin-square
design: no martingale (NM), a correctly adjusted standing martingale (CM), and a tootight standing martingale (TM). Videos were analyzed using ONTRACK Equine
software to examine the kinematics of the jump, including poll position, neck position,
upper body position, croup position, frontlimb position, leading forelimb to trailing
hindlimb position, poll to obstacle distance, stride length, sternum to ground distance,
jump suspension distance, and conflict behaviors. No treatment effects were observed on
any of these parameters with the exception of hindlimb position (P=0.03); further
evaluation showed TM was different than CM (18.81 ± 1.86° and 12.99 ± 1.86°,
respectively), while NM (15.96 ± 1.86°) was not different than either TM or CM. Further,
no conflict behaviors were identified in any horse. It is interesting to note that no
differences were seen between NM and CM treatments, contraindicating the prevalent
belief that the use of standing martingales encourages a horse to maintain a more
desirable head carriage. It may also be that the well-trained horses utilized were able to
overcome any influence of the equipment to correctly complete the task as trained.
563
Evaluation of Fourteen Aurone Derivatives as Potential Anti-Cancer Agents
Gheda Alsaif, Graduate student, Biology; Nadin Almosnid, Graduate student, Biology;
Ying Gao (Faculty sponsor), Biology
Aurones are a subclass of flavonoids that provide the distinct yellow pigmentation for
some flowers and fruits. A series of aurone derivatives were successfully synthesized and
tested against various cancer and normal cells lines. Among fourteen aurone derivatives,
five of them (D, I, U, O and Z) demonstrated high inhibition rates (>50% inhibition at
100 µM) against lung and breast cancer cell lines (A549, BT20 and MCF7) but showed
no or little toxicity to normal cell lines, Human Peripheral Lung Epithelial Cell (HPL1A)
and Human Mammary Epithelial Cell (HMEC). Additionally, Z and O showed a
significant induction of apoptosis (P<0.05) at a lower dose (25 μg/ml) compared with
vehicle control. We analyzed the structure-activity relationship and concluded that aurone
derivatives with five-membered heteroaromatic rings showed the highest anti-cancer
activity with high selectivity against normal cell lines. The results suggest that aurone
derivatives could be potential therapeutic agents against cancer.
564
Cytotoxic Effects of Synthetic Aurones on the RBL-2H3 Mast Cell Line
Meagan Garrison, Graduate student, Biology; Hyo Park, Graduate student, Biology;
Anthony Farone, Faculty, Biology; Scott Handy, Faculty, Chemistry; Anthony Farone
(Faculty sponsor), Biology
Allergies are a growing concern in developed countries, with 6% to 10% of the pediatric
population suffering from food allergies in the United States. The most common of these
is hypersensitivity to peanut allergens, which is present in 0.6% of the U.S. population.
Anaphylaxis is a severe reaction that can be fatal. The current treatment and prevention
for these allergies are not safe and effective for all patients. Therefore, there is a need for
better alternatives. The goal of this research is to screen compounds for anti-allergic
effects. In order to do this, the inhibition of mast cell degranulation will be measured by
enzyme assay. In the present study, the compounds are screened for cytotoxicity in the
RBL-2H3 mast cell line. A total of 51 aurones were screened for cytotoxicity in the RBL2H3 mast cell line. The Presto Blue Cell Viability Assay is performed prior to the
enzyme assay to ensure that the compounds are not toxic to the cells. Presto Blue is a
resazurin-based reagent that is converted to resorufin when the cells are viable. The
compounds were first screened at 100µM and those that were less than 90% viable were
then screened at a lower concentration of 50µM. One compound remained toxic at 50µM
and proceeded to be screened at 25µM, in which the cells were 95% viable. The next step
in this study is the enzyme assay to determine the ability of the synthetic aurones to
inhibit mast cell degranulation. All compounds were non-toxic to the RBL-2H3 mast cell
line. There were seven compounds that had less than 90% viability at 100µM. 9057, 9058,
9076 9078, 9085, and 8001 were non-toxic at 50µM. 9067 was non-toxic at 25µM. Nontoxic concentrations of the 51 compounds screened for cytotoxicity will be used in the
mast cell degranulation inhibition assay.
565
The Construction of Gender Roles in American Culture during World War II in Norman
Rockwell's "Willie Gillis" series
Leah Bailey, Graduate student, Journalism; Jane Marcellus (Faculty sponsor), Journalism
This poster uses semiotic analysis to examine how American painter Norman Rockwell’s
“Willie Gillis” series, featured on Saturday Evening Post covers during World War II,
constructed gender. Focusing on three issues in which gender figured prominently, the
presentation argues that the series transmitted messages to the American public through
signs present in the covers that aided in defining the concept of gender roles during the
war. The presentation contends that Rockwell constructed the soldier as the All-American
boy while also clearly defining the role of women as either the mother figure or the love
interest of the soldier.
566
The Effect of Whole Body Vibration on Bone Density and Other Parameters in the
Exercising Horse
Kayleigh Maher, Graduate student, Agribusiness and Agriscience; Holly Spooner,
Faculty, Agribusiness and Agriscience; Rhonda Hoffman, Faculty, Agribusiness and
Agriscience; John Haffner, Faculty, Agribusiness and Agriscience; Holly Spooner
(Faculty sponsor), Agribusiness and Agriscience
Maintenance of bone density has implications in preventing catastrophic bone failure in
the horse. Research in our laboratory suggests whole body vibration (WBV) may aid in
maintaining bone mineral content (BMC) in stall-rested horses. No research exists on
influences of WBV on BMC in the exercising horse. Still, WBV is anecdotally reported
to reduce pain, potentially result in increased stride lengths, and to be well accepted,
which may be evidenced by lower heart rates during treatment. To test these suppositions,
eleven horses were randomly assigned into control (CON, n= 5) or WBV (VIB, n= 6).
Both groups exercised for 1 hr/d, 6 d/wk on a mechanical exerciser. VIB horses received
WBV treatment for 45min/d 5 d/wk at 50Hz. Radiographs of the third metacarpal were
taken at -28, 0, and 28 days, reflecting 28d background and treatment periods for
determination of BMC via radiographic bone aluminum equivalence (RBAE). Blood
samples were analyzed from days 0 and 28 for serum pyridinoline cross-links (PYD) and
plasma osteocalcin (OC), markers of bone metabolism. Heart rates (HR) were analyzed
during treatment on day 23 for 4 CON and 4 VIB horses, while stride length was
determined for all horses on days 0 and 28. Results indicated no influence of WBV on
RBAE of any bone cortices or PYD or OC. A period effect was observed for the lateral
cortex and a trend for period effect was seen in total density (P= 0.01, P= 0.05,
respectively) likely an effect of stalling. Change from baseline HR tended to be lower (P=
0.06) in VIB (-4.8±2.83 bmp) than CON (3.0±2.83 bmp). Stride length was not different
due to treatment (P= 0.88). The results suggest in normal exercising horses, WBV does
not further increase BMC, influence markers of bone metabolism, or increase stride
length.
567
GC-MS Analysis of Memphis Air Quality Using EPA TO-15 Method
Kiin Keith, Graduate student, Chemistry; Ebtsam Seteh, Graduate student, Chemistry;
Ngee Chong, Faculty, Chemistry; Ngee Chong (Faculty sponsor), Chemistry
Volatile organic compounds have been proven to be hazardous to the environment and its
inhabitants. The ability to determine volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the ambient
air provides the public with vital information. Air samples were gathered from various
locations around the Memphis metropolitan area using 6-liter canisters. These air
samples were analyzed using the EPA TO-15 method that involves cryogenic preconcentration of VOCs and analyte enrichment via a Tenax sorbent bed prior to the
VOCs being analyzed by gas chromatography mass spectrometry. The air monitoring
data show that at least 25 compounds that are not among the 71 target compounds listed
in the TO-15 method were detected at levels that may be potentially harmful to human
health. This list of non-TO-15 compounds includes cyclohexene and cyclohexanone.
Non-TO-15 compounds and their concentration levels represent the main focus of this
study and their potential sources of emission are investigated with the Toxics Release
Inventory compiled by Environmental Protection Agency.
568
Perceptions of Welfare Regulation at Stock-type Horse Shows
Andrea Rego, Graduate student, Agribusiness and Agriscience; Holly Spooner, Faculty,
Agribusiness and Agriscience; Rhonda Hoffman, Faculty, Agribusiness and Agriscience;
Anne Brzezicki, Faculty, Agribusiness and Agriscience; Holly Spooner (Faculty sponsor),
Agribusiness and Agriscience
Instances of inhumane treatment at horse shows has brought increased self-regulation
within the horse show industry. Member perception of welfare regulation is a concern to
the legitimacy and long-term sustainability of stock-type organizations. The purpose of
this study was to better understand beliefs surrounding current self-regulation practices
along with the impact of instruction from a professional on client awareness of welfare
issues at horse shows. We hypothesized riders with a trainer would have increased
approval of current welfare regulations, and association handbooks and guidelines would
be the primary reference regarding ethical practices. An online survey was administered
demographic information, rider membership, identification of competition level, along
with 6-pt Likert scale questions regarding current self-regulation effectiveness at stocktype horse shows, and beliefs surrounding inhumane practices. Of the 497 respondents
who completed the survey, 89% had over ten years of riding experience. Respondents
represented a wide variety of associations, including 63% who indicated membership in
the American Quarter Horse Association, the largest stock-type organization in the world.
Many (43%) respondents indicated their trainer as the strongest influence on decisions
regarding personal ethical practice at horse shows, while 88% were confident in their
trainer as a mentor on horse show welfare. When witnessing an instance of inhumane
treatment at shows, 69% of respondents would first consult show staff. Questions
pertaining to self-regulation showed a majority agreed current rules and regulations are
clearly outlined. However, 57% disagreed that repeated violators of proper horse show
welfare are being appropriately disciplined. Contrary to our hypothesis, 70% of
respondents indicated using online sources as a means for current welfare news. We can
conclude that further educational programming should be focused on education of
trainers and through online resources. Additionally, more severe consequences for
violations within associations may lead to more effective self-regulation of horse show
welfare.
569
The Effect of Grassroots Social Media Organizations on the Syrian Refugee Crisis
Marquinta Harvey, Graduate student, Health and Human Performance; Malondria
Hooker, Undergraduate student, Health and Human Performance; Nicole Leblanc,
Graduate student, Political Science; Denise Bates, Faculty, Health and Human
Performance; Denise Bates (Faculty sponsor), Health and Human Performance
Introduction. The recent Paris terrorist attacks sent shock waves throughout the world
causing worldwide panic and fear. The fear response had an impact on the acceptance of
Syrian refugees by other countries as well as allocated resources. Although various
governments and government organizations are active in aiding Syrian refugees, a large
number of grassroots social media organizations have been instrumental in helping this
population. Due to the large impact of grassroots social media organizations in aiding
Syrian refugees more information on how these efforts are organized would be helpful in
understanding the impact of these efforts.
Purpose. The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of the Paris terrorist attack on
human resources and the organization of grassroots social media organizations aiding
Syrian refugees.
Methods. We will examine data gathered from the Volunteers Coordination Team’s
FaceBook group to assess the membership acquisition rate and key influencers that drive
membership procurement. Social Network theory will be used to examine the effect of
egocentric networks in creating grassroots organizations.
Results. We hypothesize the Paris terrorist attacks had a positive impact on human
resources related to grassroots organizations and key influencers have an instrumental
role in increasing membership acquisition.
Conclusion. Understanding the organization and ability of grassroots social media
establishments will be beneficial as we move to a new way of organizing grassroots
volunteer response to refugee crises. Social Media platforms are allowing increased
participation and communication for volunteers looking to aid in various social justice
movements.
570
Determination and Detection of Pentobarbital Breakdown Rate in Various Soil Types
Anita Saha, Graduate student, Chemistry; Paul Kline (Faculty sponsor), Chemistry
A growing concern is the release of organic compounds and their breakdown products
into the environment. Pentobarbital is a short-acting barbiturate that is effective as a
sedative and hypnotic agent and is a common agent for euthanizing large farm animals
such as horses. Although euthanizing horses with pentobarbital appears humane, a
problem arises with the disposal of the carcass. An improperly disposed euthanized
carcass can be a source of contamination once it is buried because pentobarbital residue
remains in the animal's tissues after injection and may leach into the surrounding soil.
Experiments using LC-MS coupled to solid phase extraction were conducted to
determine the breakdown rate of pentobarbital adsorbed to different soil types.
Additionally, extraction efficiency, dispersion and decay rate of pentobarbital are also
under investigation. To facilitate bioremediation, a search was conducted for a microbe
strain possessing an enzyme capable of breaking down pentobarbital into its metabolites
that has leached into soil.
571
Kinetic Mechanism and Substrate Specificity of Purine Nucleoside Phosphorylase from
Bovine Liver
Brett Henry, Graduate student, Chemistry; Paul Kline (Faculty sponsor), Chemistry
Purine nucleoside phosphorylase (PNP) is an enzyme that plays a key role in nucleoside
metabolism in all organisms. Mammalian PNP typically catalyzes the phosphorolytic
cleavage of 6-oxo-purine nucleosides to yield the corresponding nitrogenous base and
ribose-1-phosphate. PNP has been purified and characterized from a multitude of
organisms, and one of the most studied forms of PNP was purified from calf spleen. A
possibly separate form of bovine PNP has been purified from bovine liver by a
combination of ammonium sulfate precipitation, ion exchange chromatography and size
exclusion chromatography. The active enzyme molecular weight and subunit molecular
weight have been determined by size exclusion chromatography and SDS polyacrylamide
gel electrophoresis respectively. The substrate specificity of this form of PNP has been
determined, and the kinetic parameters Km and turnover number have been determined
for all nucleoside substrates and orthophosphate. The kinetic mechanism of bovine liver
PNP has been determined using high performance liquid chromatography. The molecular
weights, kinetic parameters and kinetic mechanism measured will be compared to the
reported values given for calf spleen PNP, and used to determine if there are tissue
specific forms of PNP present in an organism.
572
Anti-trypanosomal Iridals Isolated from Iris Domestica
Anuradha Liyana Pathiranage, Graduate student, Chemistry; Jeannie Stubblefield,
Graduate student, Biology; Norma Dunlap, Faculty, Chemistry; Norma Dunlap (Faculty
sponsor), Chemistry
Treatments for trypanosomal diseases are extremely limited, and the investigation of
plant extracts has led to some active compounds, however none have been developed yet.
The petroleum ether extract of the whole plant of Iris domestica (Belamcanda chinensis)
exhibited anti-protozoal activity against Trypanosoma brucei with 100% inhibition value
at 50μg/ml. Although some active compounds have previously been reported as having
several types of bioactivity, there are no prior reports of trypanosomal activity of Iris
domestica. Bioassay-guided fractionation of petroleum ether extract of the whole plant of
Iris domestica led to the isolation of several types of iridals with previously unreported
anti-trypanosomal activity. Most isolated iridals were found to be non-toxic to rat muscle
L6 cells, with high selectivity. Although iridals have previously been reported from many
Iris species, there are no prior reports of trypanosomal activity. After isolation and
identification of the compounds, semi-synthetic derivatives were developed which
increased stability, efficacy and selectivity, as potential treatments to trypanosomal
diseases.
573
Fractionation of Botanical Polysaccharides Using Ion Exchange Chromatography and
Size Exclusion Chromatography
Rajarshi Ghosh, Graduate student, Chemistry; Paul Kline (Faculty sponsor), Chemistry
Polysaccharides from various medicinal plants have shown promising
immunomodulatory effects in both in vitro and in vivo studies. Due to their low toxicity,
these compounds offer an alternative to classical antibiotic treatments. However,
methodologies to purify and characterize polysaccharides are still in their developmental
stages. Characterization is essential in order to identify a structure and activity
relationship, which would lead to a better understanding of the mechanism of action of
these compounds. In the present research, Panax ginseng, a well-known medicinal plant
with broad spectrum bioactivity, was used to develop a robust methodology to fractionate
and purify botanical polysaccharides. Defatted and deproteinated crude polysaccharide
was extracted from 6 year old ginseng roots. The crude extract was first fractionated
using ion exchange chromatography (DEAE fast flow column). A stepwise gradient of
NaCl yielded 5 fractions, which were further subjected to size exclusion chromatography
using Superdex-100 column. The two-tier purification process yielded more than ten
fractions of polysaccharides. This method can be used in future studies to purify plant
polysaccharides.
574
Utilization of Artificial Intelligence Approaches in Education
Mayasir Aljohani, Graduate student, Computer Science; Joshua L. Phillips (Faculty
sponsor), Computer Science
For many years, scientists and researchers have been working on emerging technologies
with the education process to deliver higher level of understanding and richer learning
experience to students. That remarkable effort established the basic lines to transform the
traditional education process more toward information technology. The innovation of
technologies in education opened a new gate for innumerable interesting ways of learning.
Among these effective approaches in the previous years are those built on artificial
intelligence (A.I) concepts. To my knowledge, no study has been conducted to compare
the similarities and differences of AT and AL systems. Therefore, in my paper, we will
present an overview of the current role of AI in the education process and put an
emphasis on the differences between AT and AL systems. The objective of this project
will be delivered by accomplishing the following set of aims.
In this project we will we will analyze how artificial intelligence was utilized to help
enrich and enhance the educational process. In order to do that, we will form a historical
background to understand the most important aspects that helped in the emerging of
technology and education. in addition , we will structure a Comparison between the two
information communication technologies approaches (adaptive learning and automated
tutor) systems and understand the conditions that suit each of these approaches to deliver
the maximum level of benefits. We will also manage to achieve this aim by identifying
numbers of aspects to test when each one works the best and when it fails. We will use
“eTeacher” system as a case study to show a real life example that applied one of the two
predetermined approaches
575
Tweets Classification
Pooja Mohite, Graduate student, Computer Science; Joshua Phillips (Faculty sponsor),
Computational Science
Twitter is a popular social networking service available through web pages, desktop and
mobile applications. Twitter allows users to communicate through messages up to 140
characters on a one-to-one, specified group or global basis called as tweets. When the
user tweets are classified into different categories, predicting the user interest and
advertising him with his interested tweets will be well executed and also other user can
identify him as a promising user to follow. Opinion mining using tweets has been
executed using collected data corpus as training data. Analyzing tweets resulted in
categorizing the tweets into positive, negative and neutral sets. The data used for
sentiment analysis includes review sites, blogs, forums, social networking. Analysis can
also be based on contextual information as different location, times and users have
different emotion level. There are two well-known approaches “Bag of words” approach
for text classification and network based classification and network based classifier is
significantly better than text based classifier. We are implementing Support vector
machine (SVM) and Naïve Bayes (NB) classifiers using training dataset. SVM Light
software will be used to implement SVM classifier. Python programming language will
be used to implement NB classifier. Expecting for an appropriate classification of tweets
based on their category (Music, Sports, Technology and Politics). The outcome of both
the classifiers NB and SVM is compared for accuracy.
576
Fraud Detection in Credit Card System for Online Transactions Using Data Mining
Divyashree Shivalingappa, Graduate student, Computer Science; Joshua Phillips (Faculty
sponsor), Computer Science
As online transactions for variety of reasons like shopping, bill payments, and banking,
increase, they need not be always valid transactions. For every true side there exist a false
side, as a result there will be some Trudy who always want to interrupt the regular routine
in different ways like creating dummy website, making false transaction for true website,
etc. So here the main focus is on detecting these frauds on credit card for online
transactions. To model and simulate the fraud detection procedures we reuse UCSDFICO score for experiments. We will briefly discuss the implementation of Gaussian
mixture model and neural network model to detect fraud in credit card transaction for
UCSD-FICO score dataset. Both the systems are initially trained to calculate threshold
value independently for each system using 100000 transactions of dataset. Further 50000
transactions of test dataset is used to validate and test the systems. Gaussian Mixture
Model is tested individually to check its effectiveness and efficiency in fraud detection
for the given UCSD-FICO score test dataset. Similarly, the neural network model is
tested for its effectiveness and efficiency in detecting fraud for the given credit card
transaction in the UCSD-FICO score test dataset. Further both the models are compared
using precise recall and F1 score and determine which model is more effective and
efficient among the two.
577
Biodiversity of the Spider Genus Tetragnatha in Riparian Areas of Tennessee
Connor Olson, Graduate student, Biology; Ryan Otter (Faculty sponsor), Biology
Tetragnathid spiders (Aranae, Tetragnathidae) are a versatile and cost-efficient
bioindicator capable of identifying inorganic and organic contaminants in aquatic
ecosystems; however, because of the difficulties presented in identifying juvenile and
female spiders, their utilization has been limited. With the advent of genetic barcoding,
species level identification has become available for once difficult-to-identify species. To
test the diversity of riparian Tetragnatha in Tennessee, spiders were collected across
three sites and identified both genetically and morphologically (if possible). All spiders
were found to be of a single species, T. elongata. While the lack of diversity of riparian
Tetragntha could be due to sampling methodology, barcoding is still shown to be an
effective tool for identification of morphologically ambiguous Tetragnatha.
578
The Role of Cadherin-Mediated Cell Adhesion in Establishing Planar Cell Polarity
Dianna Prince, Graduate student, Molecular Biosciences; Jason Jessen, Faculty,
Molecular Biosciences; Jason Jessen (Faculty sponsor), Molecular Biosciences
Planar cell polarity (PCP) describes the polarized orientation of cells or cell structures
within the plane of a tissue and is a fundamental process of embryogenesis. For
zebrafish mesodermal cell populations engaged in directed migration, PCP is defined as
the elongation and mediolateral alignment of each cell with respect to the dorsal
embryonic axis. Loss of PCP protein function disrupts polarized membrane protrusive
activity, cell elongation, and orientation. As a result, zebrafish PCP mutants including
glypican4/knypek have a distinct phenotype characterized by a shortened and broadened
body axis. It has become clear that the collective cell movement of polarized cells
requires regulation of cell-cell adhesion. Rapid remodeling of cadherin-mediated cell
adhesion allows dynamic changes in cell coupling while maintaining coherent movement
of cell populations. However, though cadherins are required for collective movement,
their molecular relationship with PCP proteins is unclear. Previous work from the Jessen
Research Laboratory shows mRNA overexpression of N-cadherin in glypican4 mutants
stimulates Fibronectin assembly and glypican4 mutants have increased cell surface Ncadherin. The overarching goal of this project is to establish molecularly the role of
cadherin-mediated cell adhesion in establishing PCP. Current efforts include
characterizing the glypican4 mutant in regards to answering the following questions:
Does Glypican4 regulate one or both cell adhesion molecules (E and N-cadherin). Does
Glypican4 regulate endocytosis via Rab5c? We hypothesize that PCP signaling through
Frizzled/Dishevelled influences N-cadherin function to regulate membrane protrusive
activity and polarity underlying the collective cell migration of zebrafish gastrula cells.
579
Characterizing Cell-Matrix Interactions in Danio Rerio with the Defective Planar Cell
Polarity Protein Vangl2
Anna Love, Graduate student, Molecular Biosciences; Jason Jessen, Faculty, Molecular
Biosciences; Jason Jessen (Faculty sponsor), Molecular Biosciences
Integral to convergence and extension movements during development, the planar cell
polarity pathway is a non-canonical Wnt pathway that derives coordinated movement of
cells within a plane. In Danio rerio, defective planar cell polarity proteins such as Vangl2
result in failed convergence and extension during the gastrula stage of development.
Mutant embryos lacking Vangl2 have a distinct phenotype with shorter and broader body
axes than wild type Danio rerio. According to early work in the Jessen lab, cells lacking
Vangl2 in Danio rerio gastrulae do not follow the intended path of collective migration to
the dorsal axis for proper embryonic development and neural tube closure; instead these
cells lack directionality. Other previous work from the Jessen lab notes Danio rerio
embryos without Vangl2 have a decrease in fibronectin in their extracellular matrix and
an increase in inappropriate membrane protrusive activity. Using whole mount in situ
hybridization and confocal microscopy, our lab is characterizing the relationship between
cell matrix interactions and the planar cell polarity pathway. Integrins are transmembrane
receptors for many extracellular matrix proteins, including the most prevalent ECM
protein in the Danio rerio gastrula fibronectin. Integrins govern dynamic interactions
between the cell and its surrounding matrix. We propose that inappropriate membrane
protrusive activity in Danio rerio gastrulae with the defective planar cell polarity protein,
Vangl2, is a result of decreased cell matrix interactions, notably between integrins and
fibronectin.