COVER PAGE HERE:
CAMPUS MAP THIS PAGE:
1
Symposium Location:
Campus Readiness Center, USC Upstate, Spartanburg, SC. 29303
Emergency Contact Information:
University Police: (864) 503-5911
Map: Please refer to the map of the USC Upstate Campus on the previous page.
NOTE: Construction is continuing at the campus entrance, to view current street
closings and driving routes as the result of the continuing construction visit
http://www.uscupstate.edu/about_upstate/map/directions.asp.
Driving directions to USC Upstate:
From U.S. 176: Use Exit 22, Valley Falls Road. At the top of the ramp turn LEFT onto Valley Falls
Road. Proceed to University Way or North Campus Boulevard. Turn right on to either of these streets.
From Business I-85 North: Use Exit 5-B, Milliken Road. Proceed along the frontage road to the
Milliken Bridge over Business I-85, and turn left crossing over Business I-85. At the four-way STOP at
the end of the bridge, continue straight on North Campus Boulevard.
From Business I-85 South: Use Exit 6, SC 9. Proceed along the frontage road for about ½ mile being
careful not to re-enter Business 85. Turn right at the Milliken Bridge and follow North Campus Boulevard
to the campus.
From I-85: Use Exit 72 onto U.S. 176 towards Spartanburg. Then use Exit 22 to Valley Falls Road as
above.
When exiting the campus, follow the reverse.
Road Construction Notice
The creation of a new highway infrastructure around and through the University of South Carolina
Upstate campus is the single biggest event in the University's recent history and it certainly parallels the
enormous growth of this institution. This $60 million project is creating a highly visible entrance to
campus, providing easier, faster and safer accessibility to campus, improving traffic flow, expanding
existing roads, and creating new roads. To view current street closings and driving routes as the result of
the continuing construction visit http://www.uscupstate.edu/about_upstate/map/directions.asp.
2
Symposium Schedule
Poster Set Up and Opening Remarks:
7:30-8:00
Poster Set-up (Readiness Center Lobby)
8:00-8:30
Sign in, Name tags, Poster Viewing (Readiness Center Lobby)
8:30-8:45
Welcome/Greetings
History/Rules/Procedures
Dr. Reginald Avery, Vice Chancellor, USC Upstate
Dr. Vince Connors, Director, Center for Undergraduate
Research and Scholarship
Paper Presentations (Readiness Center Hall):
* = Student presenter
† = Research Sponsored by USC Upstate Center for Undergraduate Research and Scholarship (CURS)
8:45-9:00
1. Sebastian van Delden. A Visually Guided Robotic Part-Grasping System.
9:00-9:15
2. Melissa Williams*†, Lizabeth Zack. Generation Fat: The Role of School and
Childhood Obesity.
9:15-9:30
3. Angelina A. Tzacheva. Action Rules Mining and Feasibility.
9:30-9:45
4. Roshele Robinson*, Wally Peters. Stuttering: Why Me?
9:45-10:00
5. Stephanie Walsh. Perceptions of Experienced Child Abuse As Indicators of Current
Self-formed Definitions of Child Maltreatment.
10:00-10:15
6. Brandon Steelman*†, George Yu. Attempted de novo generation of Proteinase-K
resistant protein.
10:15 – 10:30 7. Jeannie Chapman. The Role of DRA, a Colonic Anion Transporter, in Growth
Control.
10:30-11:00
Break; Poster Viewing (Readiness Center Lobby)
11:00-11:15
8. Andrea Franco*, Jack Turner. Determining the settlement rate of Escherichia coli in a
water column.
11:15-11:30
9. Vincent Connors, Brandon Steelman*, Matthew Fowler*, Rene Eslick*, Leanna
Ledford*, Tiffany Kimbrell*. Development of the Biomphalaria glabrata
embryonic cell line as a model for the human schistosome-snail parasite host
interaction.
11:30-11:45
10. Bobby Stokes*†, Andrew Myers. Misleading our Youth: Historical Interpretation
of Reconstruction in Public School Textbooks.
11:45-12:00
11. Chioma Ugochukwu. Rethinking Cultural Imperialism: Cultural Resistance and
Resilience amid Imported TV Programming in Nigeria.
3
12:00-12:15
12:15-12:30
12. Lisa Anderson. How is design permeating our society?
Closing Remarks:
Cindy Jennings: Associate Vice Chancellor, Academic Affairs
12:30-1:00
Poster Viewing (Readiness Center Lobby)
1:00-1:15
Poster Breakdown
Poster Presentations (Readiness Center Lobby):
13. Steven Caldwell, Andre Dorsey*, Lindsay Ledford*, Julia Blandin*. Investigating USC Upstate
as Brand
14. Sarah Coles*†, Jan Griffin Yancy McDougal. Rejection of retained children: Not my child's
playmate.
15. Billy Lunsford*†, Judy Kizer, Yancy McDougal. Failure to recognize the negative effects of
grade retention.
16. Kara Hames*†, Jennifer S. Parker. Personality and Social Correlates of Smoking among College
Students.
17. Sam Subramanian*†, Jeanne Kowalczyk. Effects of Obesity and Mitogens on the Growth of
Vascular Smooth Muscle.
18. Jeanne Kowalczyk, Jessica Clark*†, Tara di Marco*†, Andrea Franco*†, Meri Gerges*†,
Tiffany Kemp*†, Sam Subramanian*†, Nick White*†. Diabetes and Obesity in the Etiology of
Cardiovascular Disease: the Role of PARP-1.
19. Latasha McDowell*†, Theresa Ricke-Kiely. Leaders in Nonprofit Organizations in South
Carolina.
20. Sam Subramanian*†, Jeanne Kowalczyk. The Effects of Benzamide (a PARP-1 Inhibitor) on
Growth Rates of Cultured Aortic Smooth Muscle.
21. Rochelle Ladson, Theresa Ricke-Kiely. Leaders in NonProfit organizations in South Carolina.
22. Tara di Marco*†, Nick White*†, Jessica Clark*†, Jeanne Kowalczyk. A Study of the PARP-1
Inhibiitor, 4-amino-1.8-naphthalamide, on Cultured Aortic Smooth Muscle Cells.
23. William Bittle, Sayed Shahabi, Ashley Bryant, Sebastian van Delden. WOODBURNER: An
Automated Robotic Character Etching System.
24. Tiffany Kemp*†, Meri Gerges*†, Jeanne Kowalczyk. The Effects of 3-aminobenzamide on the
Growth of Cultured Aortic Smooth Muscle.
4
25. Andrea Franco*†, Jeanne Kowalczyk. The Effects PARP-1 Inhibitors have on the Growth of
Cultured Aortic Smooth Muscle.
26. January Gosnell, Kim Purdy. The effect of vocal and non vocal music on recall.
27. Patricia Gibson, Sarah Campbell, Lyle Campbell. Marine Fauna from Canopus Bank, Northern
Brazil:a Preliminary Report.
28. Nicole Welsh, Holly Pae. Attitudes and Perceptions of Teachers on Inclusion.
29. LeAnna Ledford*†, Tiffany Kimbrell*†, Vincent A. Connors. Use of Polymerase Chain
Reaction to detect the actin gene in Biompharia glabrata embryonic cells.
30. Chakrya San*†, Donna Jenkins*†, Veena Khandke. Cross-cultural identity issues in immigrants
of Asian descent.
5
has mostly been focused on techniques for generating rules
from datasets. The rules discovered by data mining
algorithm are large and we want a subset of rules, which
are interesting, because these algorithms discover accurate
rules rather than interesting rules. There are two aspects of
rules’ interestingness that have been studied in data mining
literature: objective and subjective measures. Subjective
measures are based on the subjectivity of the user who
examines the patterns such as actionability and
unexpectedness. This work studies the subjective
interestingness. We assume that the objective measures
have already been performed to remove uninteresting
rules. The actionability measure is based on the rules’
benefit to the user, that is, the user can do something to
his/her interest with the rule. This measure is very
important for the rules to be interesting in the sense that
the users always are looking for patterns to improve their
performance and establishing better work. The practical
implication of getting information is to improve the
business, that is, the information must ensure the success
of business for decision-making. Actions can be performed
to make the business succeed. Actionable rule mining
deals with profit-driven actions required by business
decision making . Rules are unexpected if they "surprise"
the user, and rules are actionable if the user can do
something with them to his/her advantage. For example, a
user may be able to change the nondesirable/non-profitable
patterns to desirable/profitable patterns.
PROGRAM ABSTRACTS
1. Sebastian van Delden. A Visually Guided Robotic
Part-Grasping System
A novel approach to grasping and recognizing parts in an
industrial robotic work cell is presented. The centroid,
orientation, and length of elongated parts lying on a flat
work area are estimated by a sequence of relatively simple
algorithms. Off-the-shelf components and freely
downloadable software APIs make this system inexpensive
and easily implemented. The approach has been
implemented and tested with a Staubli RX60 manipulator.
Results and future research are presented.
2. Melissa Williams, Lizabeth Zack. Generation Fat:
The role of School and Childhood Obesity.
What policies are school officials implementing to control
the rise of child obesity? Researchers point to factors such
as: marketing, socio-economic status of the parents,
television consumption, fast food intake, and the family’s
attitude. This project looks closely at the role of the school
and how the schools are dealing with the problem. In this
project I conducted an in-depth qualitative analysis on a
few schools in Spartanburg, South Carolina. I conducted
interviews with school officials, school nurses, and the
cafeteria staff. Also, I observed the settings of the lunch
room and the playground area. After conducting this
research, I found that schools have begun to adopt three
different approaches to solve the problem of child obesity
which includes: more parent involvement, more time for
physical activity and physical education, and keeping
school parties at a minimum to eliminate the amount of
sugar intake. This research will hopefully help parents and
schools find solutions to keeping child obesity at a lower
rate in there schools and households.
5. Stephanie Walsh. Perceptions of Experienced Child
Abuse As Indicators of Current Self-formed Definitions of
Child Maltreatment.
Child abuse perpetration and victimization have been
widely explored within the literature during the previous
thirty years. A substantial amount of these efforts have
examined child maltreatment and its impact on adults’
abilities to subsequently parent their own children, and
thus limit their focus to parental perpetration. The
theoretical foundation of the present study is consistent
with this traditional cycle of violence hypothesis, while
adding the unique feature of operationalizing “parenting”
to include the environmental conditions in which parents
place their children. These environments consist of
“abusive” versus “non-abusive” conditions, while
perpetration is expanded to include caregivers in addition
to parents (other relatives, close friends, acquaintances and
strangers). An additional aim of the present study is to use
selected attitudes as dependent variables, and build a
theoretical base that childhood experience as a victim,
knowing a close child victim (such as a family member),
having a parent as a child victim, etc., affects certain
attitudes. Attitudinal variables include such things as: what
should be done with someone who abuses a child, what
causes someone to abuse a child (physically, sexually,
emotionally), what constitutes child maltreatment
(physical, sexual and emotional abuse, and neglect), and,
the extent to which corporal punishment is viewed as an
acceptable form of discipline. Finally, this study examines
3. Roshele Robinson, Wally Peters. Stuttering: Why
Me?
Stuttering has been an on going problem for many children
growing up. The purpose of my research is to find the
causes, effects, and possible treatments of childhood
stuttering. An informative resource will be compiled, upon
completion of the research, for parents and teachers who
may have children and/or students suffering with this
problem.
4. Angelina A. Tzacheva. Action Rules Mining and
Feasibility.
Knowledge Discovery of Databases (KDD) is a new area
of research that combines many algorithms and techniques
used in artificial intelligence, statistics, databases, machine
learning, etc. KDD is the process of extracting previously
unknown, not obvious, new, and interesting information
from huge amount of data. Past research on data mining
6
perceptions as indicators of contemporary self-formed
definitions of abusive behaviors. The data utilized for the
preceding analyses were obtained through two self-report,
statewide mail surveys, administered five years apart.
maltose we observed the rate of 0.2 cm/sec and as we
changed the density the rate became correspondingly
slower. Preliminary data suggest that the presence of sand,
silt or clay will also change the sedimentation rate of E.
coli.
6. Brandon Steelman, George Yu. Attempted de novo
generation of Proteinase-K resistant protein.
9. Vincent Connors, Brandon Steelman, Matthew
Fowler, Rene Eslick, Leanna Ledford, Tiffany
Kimbrell. Development of the Biomphalaria glabrata
embryonic cell line as a model for the human schistosomesnail parasite host interaction.
Resistance to degradation by Proteinase-K (PK) is rare
among proteins and is limited to PK itself, among others.
PK resistance by a particular protein is a marker of
Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies (TSEs).
Further, it is widely believed that the infectious agent
responsible for these encephalopathies is the PK resistant
protein itself. I (Steelman) have proposed a contradicting
hypothesis: that the generation of PK resistance is a byproduct of another infectious agent, and a PK resistant
protein is not the infectious agent itself. Generation of PK
resistance is difficult and unlikely prior to this
presentation, but doing so in the absence of the infectious
agent would provide an interesting clue as to the
mechanism of PK resistance generation.
7. Jeannie Chapman. The Role of DRA, a Colonic Anion
Transporter, in Growth Control.
DRA (for down-regulated in adenoma) is an anion exchanger
expressed in the normal colon epithelium. Mutations in this
gene are responsible for the genetic disorder known as
congenital chloride diarrhea. DRA was found to be downregulated or lost altogether in colon polyps and tumors when
compared to matched normal samples. This prompted an
investigation into its possible role as a tumor suppressor.
Transfection studies with full-length DRA revealed that it
suppressed colony formation in various cell lines (DLD-1, HT29, HCT-15, SW837, SW480, MCF-7, and NIH3T3) compared
to vector control. We found further evidence of growth
suppression when DRA was expressed in an inducible manner
in DLD-1 cells. Upon induction, cells exhibited a reduced
growth rate compared to uninduced cells. Furthermore, we
determined that the cytoplasmic C-terminus of DRA is
necessary for DRA-induced growth suppression through the
use of deletion mutants in colony suppression assays.
Infecting nearly 100 million people world wide, the
devastating human blood fluke Schistosoma mansoni is
considered to be the second most significant killer of
humans on the planet. This water borne disease is acquired
following penetration of infective larvae developed in and
released from the invertebrate snail vector, Biomphalaria
glabrata, following contact with “infected” waters.
Significantly, the parasite cannot develop in all B. glabrata
and many are killed before development in snails that are
“resistant” to the parasite. Work in our and other
laboratories has focused on determining the
immunological mechanisms involved in the resistant
snail’s killing of the parasite, with the ultimate goal being
the development of a transgenic snail capable of
preventing parasite development and human infection in
the wild. Because of the difficulty of rearing snails in
captivity in order to study the snail’s immunological
system, we have recently focused our efforts on the
development and use of an embryonic cell line from the
snail as a surrogate model for the schistosome-snail
interaction. Studies of the cell line at USCUpstate indicate
that they can be upregulated to move and phagocytose in
response to the addition of the cytokine, Interluekin-1-beta
(IL-1b) in a manner similar to the snail’s primary
immunologic blood cells (hemocytes), which are known to
be responsible for killing the parasite in resistant snails.
Herein we report the results of these and other studies in
the laboratory focused on the upregulation of reactive
oxygen killing mechanisms in the cell line in response to
IL-1b.
8. Andrea Franco, Jack Turner. Determining the
settlement rate of Escherichia coli in a water column.
10. Bobby Stokes, Andrew Myers. Misleading our
Youth: Historical Interpretation of Reconstruction in
Public School Textbooks.
The presence of large number of fecal coliforms in the
sediments has been noted. It has been suggested that these
organisms, which primarily come with stormwater runoff,
are transferred to the sediment through flocculation and
sedimentation. The fecal coliform bacteria have been
shown to survive and to even grow in sediments. The
purpose of this study is to determine the rate at which
Escherichia coli as a representative of fecal coliforms
settles in a water column. The sedimentation rate of the
bacteria was compared using pure water, waters of
different densities and water containing varying amounts
of sand, silt, and clay. It was observed that E. coli settles at
the rate of 2.4 cm/sec in pure water but in water with 1%
This project is researching the differences between 8th
grade textbooks between South Carolina, North Carolina,
and California to show how a specific period, in this case
the American Civil War and Reconstruction, is presented
in each. The purpose of this research is to see how each
state differs in its approach and to see if this is to the
detriment of the pupils, as the books may gloss over some
aspects of the period while emphasizing others. My
interest was piqued in this topic after one of my class’s
under Dr. Myers examined a South Carolina history
textbook for inaccuracies and how the specified time was
interpreted as compared to the greater historical
understanding of the topic. Currently we are researching
7
the major historian’s views on Reconstruction, and
thoroughly looking at what influenced their thinking, such
as the time in which they wrote and what was happening in
the world at that time. Also at this time, we are examining
the textbooks from the respective states and seeing which
interpretations their arguments come from. The completed
project will see how the textbooks misrepresent the history
they teach, and see the ways in which this affects our
youth. It will also offer suggestions on how to improve the
textbooks, and how to choose texts that present a more
balanced view of history.
theoretically, aspired to by everyone,” Designers are
responding to this appeal to recreate the past as well as
meet the demand for really "Good" Design.
13. Steven Caldwell, Andre Dorsey, Lindsay Ledford,
Julia Blandin. Investigating USC Upstate as Brand
The students of the Fall 2005 Consumer Behavior class
were asked as a class project to survey a variety of people
within the Upstate of South Carolina in order to analyze
several aspects of USC Upstate as a brand and develop
marketing strategies accordingly. Data was collected at
high schools, malls, restaurants, and places of business. In
all, 1941 people were asked a few basic questions about
the value of college education in general and USC Upstate
in particular. Data was collected on some basic
demographics by surveyor observation (age and sex) and
direct questioning about their current status relative to
college, along with questions about the value of a college
education relative to the cost and to other venues available
to help get a better job (e.g., tech schools). There was a
question on brand awareness of USC Upstate and
questions as to the role of parents and grandparents in
financing students’ education do better determine brand
purchaser characteristics. Questions were also asked to
evaluate overall competitive position of the quality of
education at USC Upstate relative to Clemson, Wofford,
and USC Columbia. Results of the sample were compiled
and students developed brand strategies based on the
findings. The findings and implications for USC Upstate
will be presented by three students who participated in the
project.
11. Chioma Ugochukwu. Rethinking Cultural
Imperialism: Cultural Resistance and Resilience amid
Imported TV Programming in Nigeria.
This experimental study investigated the effects of
American-produced entertainment programs on Nigerian
audiences' knowledge, beliefs, behaviors, attitudes, and
values, using the cultural imperialism theory as a
framework. The subject pool for the experiment consisted
of 482 high school boys and girls from Nigeria, who are
representatives of the three major ethnic/religious groups
in the country. Participants in the experimental condition
were exposed to several days of American TV programs,
while participants in the control group were exposed to
Nigerian programs only. The results showed that exposure
to American TV programs affected the participants'
knowledge, even though, their behaviors, beliefs, values
and attitudes remained unaffected. The interaction between
certain covariates and the experimental conditions on
knowledge was plotted to determine if the effects of
exposure to foreign TV was dependent on levels of gender,
ethnicity, religion, region, or SES. Results showed no
interaction effects between knowledge and many of the
covariates including gender, religion, and SES.
14. Sarah Coles, Jan Griffin, Yancy McDougal.
Rejection of retained children: Not my child's playmate.
We investigated possible stigma associated with grade
retention and whether or not gender affected the likelihood
of retention. Results showed that although participants
were more likely to recommend retention, they were more
likely to let their own child play with the promoted child .
12. Lisa Anderson. How is design permeating our
society?
How is design permeating our society more than ever
before? What products and packaging are influenced by
higher standards of design? Why the resurgence of
nostalgia-based design in advertising and media? I will
discuss the increase of choices and the affordability of
good quality design. In addition I will show how my work
(iilustration, graphic design and artist books) is influenced
by society's demand for better quality design combined
with a resurgence of more idealistic means of depiction
and form. Technology and advanced communication have
catapulted society into a world in which we converse and
conduct business more efficiently than ever before.
However, these advances have created an impersonal
society. Individuality seems to be available by purchase
only. As a result of this detachment from community,
visual ideals representing past cultural ideals are again
being embraced. Cheryl Dangel Cullen states her in book,
Then is Now, “The past can communicate trust, goodwill,
honesty, neighborliness, and family values–
Mayberryesque characteristics that are desired and at least
15. Billy Lunsford, Judy Kizer, Yancy McDougal.
Failure to recognize the negative effects of grade retention.
We investigated the effects of parental involvement and
status on perceptions of a student performing below grade
level. Potential outcomes for the student if retained or
promoted were also evaluated. Our participants recognized
the negative social consequences of retention but failed to
recognize the potentially negative academic consequences.
16. Kara Hames, Jennifer S. Parker. Personality and
Social Correlates of Smoking among College Students.
This study investigated risk factors in college students to
examine the link between personality variables and the
tendency to initiate cigarette smoking. One hundred
student participants were recruited in introductory
8
psychology classes. All participants were administered the
following measures: the NEO-Five-Factor Inventory
personality scale (NEO-FFI; Costa & McCrae, 1989;
2004), the Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART; Lejuez, et
al., 2002; Lejuez, et al., 2003), and a Demographics and
Social Influences Questionnaire. We hypothesized a
correlation between high levels of risk taking and a higher
tendency to smoke. Specifically, we hypothesized that 1)
Participants with high scores on extraversion,
agreeableness, and neuroticism will be more likely than
participants with lower scores to be smokers. 2)
Participants with high scores on openness and
conscientiousness will have a lower tendency to smoke. 3)
Participants with high scores on the BART will be more
likely to smoke than participants with lower BART scores.
We also expected to find links between risky behaviors,
social environment, and smoking behavior. The results of
this study may influence future prevention and intervention
treatments for cigarette users.
Disease: the Role of PARP-1.
Diabetes Type II occurs in eleven million Americans and
is a powerful risk factor in the development of
cardiovascular disease. Three concomitant conditions—
hyperglycemia, hypertension and obesity—are referred to
as Metabolic Syndrome in humans. The diabetic,
hypertensive, obese Zucker rat (OZR) is genetically
deficient in functional leptin—a fat cell derived hormone
which signals the brain concerning satiety. This rat strain
provides a useful animal model in which to study the
effects of Metabolic Syndrome on the function of vascular
smooth muscle using cultured cells of OZR and lean
Zucker rats (LZR) controls. Poly (ADP-ribose)
polymerase-1 (PARP-1) is an enzyme implicated in the
pathogenesis of several diseases, including diabetes,
stroke, and myocardial infarction—conditions relating to
vascular dysfunction. The levels of PARP-1 in in vitro cell
cultures of vascular smooth muscle from OZR and LZR
was assayed using colorimetric analysis in 96 well plates.
It is hypothesized that hyper-activation of PARP-1 occurs
in OZR smooth muscle cells, as an indicator of DNA
damage occurring in vascular smooth muscle during the
degenerative processes of Metabolic Syndrome.
Acknowledgement: Teaching and Productive Scholarship
Grant 17810, University of SC Upstate.
17. Sam Subramanian, Jeanne Kowalczyk. Effects of
Obesity and Mitogens on the Growth of Vascular Smooth
Muscle.
Obesity, hyperglycemia, hyperlipidemia and hypertension
compose Syndrome X in rats, which is similar to
Metabolic Syndrome in humans. An in-situ study was
made of the effects of obesity on the number of blood
vessels present in the heart, brain and pancreas of obese
Zucker rats (OZR), as compared with lean Zucker rats
(LZR) by analyzing paraffin H & E slides and classifying
and counting vessels. Slides were studied using light
microscopy and the Student t-test was used to compare
data. Preliminary results indicated significant differences
in the number of arteries—OZR having significantly fewer
arteries than LZR. The differences in the number of
arteries may partially explain the hypertension that
accompanies obesity. Further observation of brain tissue
slides showed that there were more nuclei in the second
granular layer of the cerebral cortex of OZR as compared
to LZR. Results from comparing heart tissues of OZR and
LZR indicated a significant difference in number of both
arteries and veins. Larger numbers of arteries and veins
were found in LZR compared to OZR. Results from
comparing pancreatic tissues of OZR and LZR indicated
no significant difference in the number of blood vessels. A
second experiment was an in-vitro study of growth curves
of cultured rat smooth muscle cells in response to various
growth factors (mitogens). The effects of varying levels of
Epidermal Growth Factor (EGF), Fibroblast Growth Factor
(FGF) and Insulin to stimulate growth of cultured aortic
smooth muscle cells from Sprague-Dawley rats were
studied. Acknowledgement: Center for Undergraduate
Research & Scholarship (CURS), USC Upstate,
Spartanburg, South Carolina.
19. Latasha McDowell, Theresa Ricke-Kiely. Leaders
in Nonprofit Organizations in South Carolina.
The purpose of this research is to focus on individuals in
leadership positions of nonprofit organizations in South
Carolina. The leadership surveys will be distributed to over
400 nonprofit organizations in South Carolina, having
more than a $25,000 income. The study takes a close look
to examine these leaders with respect to gender, race, age,
education, and salary. The executive directors and board
presidents of these nonprofits will be the focus of the
survey.
20. Sam Subramanian, Jeanne Kowalczyk. The
Effectis of Benzamide (a PARP-1 Inhibitor) on Growth
Rates of Cultured Aortic Smooth Muscle.
Vascular disease is a rapidly growing problem, causing
millions of fatalities per year. Type II diabetes is a
powerful risk factor in the development of cardiovascular
disease--combined with hypertension and obesity
constitutes the Metabolic Syndrome. PARP-1 is a nuclear
enzyme which appears to become elevated in certain
cardiovascular diseases. Inhibitors of this enzyme have
been proposed as therapeutic agents. The purpose of this
study was to determine whether the PARP-1 inhibitor,
benzamide, in serial dilutions, affected the rate of growth
of vascular smooth muscle cells using primary cultures of
cells from the aortas of obese and lean Zucker rats.
18. Jeanne Kowalczyk, Jeanne Kowalczyk, Jessica
Clark, Tara di Marco, Andrea Franco, Meri Gerges,
Tiffany Kemp, Sam Subramanian, Nick White.
Diabetes and Obesity in the Etiology of Cardiovascular
21. Rochelle Ladson, Theresa Ricke-Kiely. Leaders in
NonProfit organizations in South Carolina.
9
The purpose of this research is to focus on individuals in
leadership positions of nonprofit organizations in South
Carolina. The leadership surveys will be distributed to over
400 nonprofit organizations in South Carolina, having
more than a $25,000 income. The study takes a close look
to examine these leaders with respect to gender, race, age,
education, and salary. The executive directors and board
presidents of these nonprofits will be the focus of the
survey.
myocardial infarction, diabetes, and other conditions and
inflammatory responses. Based upon this information, it
has been proposed that inhibitors of PARP-1 could
potentially serve as therapeutic agents for such conditions.
A study was conducted to examine the effects PARP-1
inhibitors have on the growth of aortic smooth muscle
cultures from the lean Zucker rat (LZR) and the obese
Zucker rat (OZR). The study was carried out using primary
cultures of LZR and OZR aortic smooth muscle, grown on
DMEM culture media, and treated with serial dilutions of
3-aminobenzamide, a PARP-1 inhibitor.Growth curves of
LZR and OZR cultured, aortic smooth muscle were
assayed using trypan blue exclusion for the following
groups: OZR with inhibitor, OZR without inhibitor, LZR
with inhibitor, and LZR without inhibitor.
Acknowledgement: Center for Undergraduate Research &
Scholarship (CURS), USC Upstate, Spartanburg, SC.
22. Tara di Marco, Nick White, Jessica Clark, Jeanne
Kowalczyk. A Study of the PARP-1 Inhibiitor, 4-amino1.8-naphthalamide, on Cultured Aortic Smooth Muscle
Cells.
Poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase-1 (PARP-1) is an enzyme
implicated in vascular disease and regulation of cellular
processes. PARP-1 is important because it is activated by
DNA damage and plays a critical role in cellular survival
mechanisms. Over-activation of PARP-1, however, leads
to the depletion of NAD and necrotic cell death, as in cases
of ischemic injury. Over-activated PARP-1 is associated
with several vascular diseases, including diabetes,
myocardial infarction, and stroke. It is important to study
and perhaps limit PARP-1 in these conditions. Based upon
this information, it has been proposed that inhibitors of
PARP-1, such as 4-amino-1,8-naphthalamide, could be
employed as therapeutic agents in treatment of these
conditions. The purpose of this research was to study the
effects of serial dilutions of the proposed inhibitor on
growth rates of primary cultures of aortic smooth muscle
cells from lean and obese Zucker rats.
25. Andrea Franco, Jeanne Kowalczyk. The Effects
PARP-1 Inhibitors have on the Growth of Cultured Aortic
Smooth Muscle.
Pathogenesis of stroke, myocardial ischemia, diabetes,
diabetes-associated cardiovascular dysfunction, shock,
traumatic central nervous system injury, arthritis, colitis,
allergic encephalomyelitis and various other forms of
inflammation have shown elevated Poly(ADPRibose)polymerase (PARP) levels. PARP is an abundant
nuclear enzyme of eukaryotic cells with multiple
regulatory functions including gene repair. Overactivation
of PARP represents an important mechanism occurring in
tissue damage in various pathological conditions
associated with increased oxidative stress including
myocardial reperfusion injury, reperfusion injury after
heart transplantation, drug induced heart failure, stroke,
autoimmune beta-cell destructions, cardiovascular
dysfunction in diabetes and circulatory shock. Based upon
this information, it has been proposed that inhibitors of
PARP-1 could potentially serve as therapeutic agents for
suck conditions. A study was conducted to examine the
effect of PARP-1 inhibitor, 6(H5) Phenanthridinone on the
growth of aortic smooth muscle cultures from the lean
Zucker rat (LZR) and the obese Zucker rat (OZR). The
study was carried out using primary cultures of LZR and
OZR aortic smooth muscle, grown on DMEM culture
media, and treated with serial dilutions of the inhibitor.
Growth curves of LZR and OZR cultured, aortic smooth
muscle were assayed using trypan blue exclusion for the
following groups: OZR with inhibitor, OZR without
inhibitor, LZR with inhibitor, and LZR without inhibitor.
Acknowledgement: Center for Undergraduate Research &
Scholarship (CURS), USC Upstate, Spartanburg, SC.
23. William Bittle, Sayed Shahabi, Ashley Bryant, and
Sebastian van Delden. WOODBURNER: An Automated
Robotic Character Etching System.
We outline an automated robotic system that is designed to
burn alphabet characters into both sides of a wooden strip.
The system has been fully implemented and tested with a
Staubli RX60 manipulator in the USC Upstate Robotics
and Intelligent Systems Laboratory. An electric wood
burning tool is mounted to the robot's end effector. Once a
wooden strip has been position in a vice, the system
prompts the operator to enter three characters - for
example, a person's initials. The characters are then burned
into each side of the wood. This poster outlines: the
software that was developed for this system; the tool offset
calculations that were derived; practical difficulties
encountered during the implementation; and a discussion
of future work and improvements.
24. Tiffany Kemp, Meri Gerges, Jeanne Kowalczyk.
The Effects of 3-aminobenzamide on the Growth of
Cultured Aortic Smooth Muscle.
26. January Gosnell, Kim Purdy. The effect of vocal
and non vocal music on recall.
Poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase-1 is an enzyme that is an
inflammatory signaling molecule activated by DNA
damage. Althought PARP-1 mediates DNA repair,
overactivation of PARP-1 is associated with stroke,
Music is a commonly accepted mnemonic aid - a device
used to facilitate memory. Maute (1987) suggested that
music’s usefulness stems from three factors: rhyme,
rhythm, and repetition. Certainly, these three factors will
10
provide useful memory ‘hooks,’ but at least two important
elements are missing from this list: melody, and the
potential for emotion. The goal of this research is to
investigate these two factors. Does the nature of the
musical experience affect our emotional reaction and recall
ability? Specifically, will adding melody to the lyrics
affect subjects’ reaction to unfamiliar music? We will
measure emotional reactions and test recall for various
elements of the music immediately following exposure to
the music and one week later. This will allow us to
determine if a positive relationship exists between emotion
and recall, in addition to determining if music and lyrics
contribute equally to participants’ reactions to the music.
Participants will be recruited from the Psychology 101
Subject Pool. In the implicit task, subjects will be asked to
complete word-stem fragments after hearing lyrics only,
melody only, lyrics plus melody and after silence. Subjects
assigned to the explicit memory task will be presented with
a list of words and asked to indicate which words were
present in one of two conditions: lyrics only, and lyrics
plus music. In order to ensure that subjects are actively
listening they will be asked to create an image that reflects
their reaction to the music. These images will be scored as
a measure of the emotion associated with each condition.
Subjects in both the implicit and explicit memory groups
will be asked to return 7 days later to perform additional
trials of the word-stem completion and recognition tasks,
respectively.
whether teachers view inclusion as a successful way to
integrate students with disabilities in the general
classroom. The sample of this study consisted of special
education and general education teachers at a Spartanburg
District Six School. The data collection technique used
was a self-created thirteen question Liekert scale survey
and classroom observations. The following areas were
included in the survey to determine the teachers'
perceptions on inclusion: the benefit of inclusion for the
student, the teachers' ability to meet the needs of the
student, resistance toward inclusion, and parent
involvement. Based on the responses of these teachers,
most agreed that students benefited from the social
involvement of student with disabilities being included in
the general education classroom, while most were neutral
as to the academic benefits that a student might gain by
being included in this setting. Overall, teachers are open
and receptive to inclusion with 62.5 percent disagreeing
with the statement, "special education teachers are resistant
to inclusion at my school", and with the statement, "regular
education teachers are resistant to inclusion at my school".
Although inclusion is gaining popularity as the preferred
placement option for students with disabilities, teachers
still feel that there will always be a need for special
education settings.
29. LeAnna Ledford, Tiffany Kimbrell, Vincent A.
Connors. Use of Polymerase Chain Reaction to detect the
actin gene in Biompharia glabrata embryonic cells.
27. Patricia Gibson, Sarah Campbell, Lyle Campbell.
Marine Fauna from Canopus Bank, Northern Brazil:a
Preliminary Report.
Biomphalaria glabrata, a freshwater snail, is the
intermediate host in the life cycle of Schistosoma mansoni,
a trematode parasite that causes the disease,
schistosomiasis. Through a grant received from the Center
of Undergraduate Research, a protocol to detect the actin
gene in Biomphalaria glabrata embryonic cells (Bge cells)
was developed. DNA was extracted from the Bge cells and
quantified. Known actin primers were used to detect the
actin gene. The Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) was
used to isolate and amplify the actin gene. The results were
visualized by horizontal agarose gel electrophoresis. This
protocol could form the basis for detection of other genes,
such as interleukin-1, in Bge cells. Interleukin-1 (IL-1) is
known to function in the immune system of vertebrates,
and a similar molecule has been found in Biomphalaria
glabrata. Supported by USC Upstate.Center for
Undergraduate Research and Scholarship grants to LL and
TK.
A sample of sediment dredged in 260 meters of water, 120
miles off Fortaleza, Ceara State, Northern Brazil, is rich in
both pelagic and benthic species, including foraminifera,
silicious sponge, coral, bryozoan, brachiopod, mollusk,
arthropod, echinoderm, and vertebrate remains. The fauna
of this area well east of the mouth of the Amazon River is
relatively unknown, and contains a number of new species.
The environment appears to be a current-swept hardground
suitable for attaching species. Also present are fine quartz
sand and pteropod and Globigerina ooze. A growth series
documents ontogeny of an undescribed species of
Pedicularia, a snail symbiotic with a small colonial coral.
Malluvium, another symbiotic snail, is present in some
numbers. It lives attached to the spines of Cedaris sea
urchins. Urchin spines with Malluvium bases attached have
been recovered from the sample. Vertebrate remains
include shark and fish teeth, and common otolith fish ear
bones. Such vertebrate accumulations suggest a very low
sedimentation rate. Pelagic elements include numerous
species of pteropods (butterfly snails) and foraminifera.
30. Chakrya San, Donna Jenkins, and Veena
Khandke. Cross-cultural identity issues in immigrants of
Asian descent.
Acculturation is a process of maintaining one's identity
within one's culture of origin while adapting to the host
culture (Kakiya, 2000). For young adults born and brought
up in the United States to immigrant families this process
is particularly challenging as they seek to assimilate their
cultural identities (Sue & Sue, 1990). Throughout history
among families of Indian descent, the "family" has always
28. Nicole Welsh, Holly Pae. Attitudes and Perceptions
of Teachers on Inclusion.
The purpose of this study is to determine the attitudes and
perceptions of special education and general education
teachers on the topic of inclusion. I hope to determine
11
been the focus for an Indian adolescent’s cultural and
gender identity. Those who transgressed in thought, action
or behavior from the prescribed cultural expectations are
marked as too westernized or traitors to the community
(Agarwal as cited in Dasgupta 1998). These Indian values
that most families fall back on include strict gender roles at
home, and restrictions on socializing and outings for
teenage daughters. Sons in these families are usually not
subjected to all these restrictions. For the daughter or son
who has experienced the American values of
independence, self-determination, self-reliance and
individuality, adolescence becomes a difficult period to
maneuver. As defiance and rebellion are not tolerated in
Indian families, dating behavior is often done in secret and
without the knowledge of the parents (Kakiya, 2000).
These clashes of cultural values and gender identity result
in conflicts and emotional pain for both parent and child.
This study will explore the existence of these cultural
values and conflicts in 20 families of Indian descent in the
Upstate area of South Carolina. In depth interviews will be
conducted on target subjects who will range in age from
18-25, and at least one parent in each family. It is
hypothesized that the issues of conflict will vary
depending on the gender of the child with greater limits
and higher expectations being placed on female children.
12