Celebration of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity (CURCA)

Background: Alcohol use disorders (AUD), which are on the rise among women in recent years, have been associated with adverse childhood experiences (ACES), intimate partner violence, and post-traumatic stress disorder among women.  While the United States is becoming increasingly more racially/ethnically diverse, it is unclear whether these correlates of AUD that have been reported among mixed racial/ethnic samples of women generalize to specific racial/ethnic groups of women.  Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine associations between ACEs, intimate partner violence, and post-traumatic stress disorder with AUD separately among White, Hispanic, and non-Hispanic Black women using data from wave 2 of the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC).

Results: In the adjusted models that controlled to other variables, only adult intimate partner violence was associated with past year AUD for all three racial/ethnic groups of women.  In the adjusted models, childhood physical abuse and living with a household member with a substance abuse problem before age 18 were associated with AUD among White and non-Hispanic Black women, childhood sexual abuse was associated with AUD for White women, living with a household member who was incarcerated before age 18 was associated with AUD for Hispanic women, and past year post-traumatic stress disorder was associated with AUD for non-Hispanic Black women.

Discussion: These findings suggest more differential than universal correlates of AUD among white, Hispanic, and non-Hispanic Black women.  More studies are needed to examine whether findings reported in mixed racial/ethnic groups of women generalize to specific racial/ethnic groups of women in order to develop an evidence base of information for diverse populations of women.  Given the uniform association between intimate partner violence and AUD, it is unfortunate that wave 3 of the NESARC does not assess intimate partner violence.  Future waves of the NESARC should resume assessing intimate partner violence in order to further understand how this type of violence is associated with women’s AUD and effectively treat these co-occurring problems among women.

 The elemental content of living organisms (carbon, nitrogen and phosphorous) shapes ecological systems in a variety of ways such as consumer-resource interactions and nutrient cycling (Sterner & Elser 2002, Vanni et al. 2002, Hall 2009, Vanni & McIntyre 2016). Studies have shown that there is a large amount of variation in the elemental content of plants that is associated with changes in nutrient availability and temperature across large spatial scales (Reich & Oleksyn 2004, Borer et al. 2013). Furthermore, plant elemental content exhibits a strong relationship between nitrogen and phosphorus because of their tight physiological link (Borer et al. 2013). Despite what we know about plants in this regard, very little is known about vertebrates and the effect of latitude on the elemental composition of their bodies.

Knowledge about the elemental content of living organisms along latitudinal gradients can potentially help in predicting plant and animal responses to global environmental change. This project will address three questions: First, do nitrogen (N) and phosphorous (P) contents (and N:P) of vertebrates somehow mirror the latitudinal trends observed in the stoichiometry of primary producers (leaves and roots)? Second, do vertebrates show similar N and P scaling relationships to those found in plant tissue? If so, what is the slope of this relationship and how does it relate to theoretical expectations? Third, are there any consistent patterns of variation in the stoichiometry of vertebrates as a function of trophic level?

This research involves searching for data on peer-reviewed papers using keywords such as elemental content, stoichiometry, fish, amphibians, etc., extract data, and analyze data using programs such as R Project for Statistical Computing. The database consist of numerical and text data describing features of vertebrates such as their C, N, P content, body sizes, type of habitat, geographic location, among others. To test for elemental content-latitude relationships and the relationship between body N and P contents we will use general linear models, whereas to test for differences in the elemental content among trophic groups we will use analyses of variance (ANOVA).

 Microaggressions come in varied formats and stand as communications that are presented consciously, but most likely unconsciously, to the student body in various forms. The goal of this presentation is to draw attention to the harmful effects of these occurrences, with a focus on race, first-generation status, sexual orientation, and gender identity. The researchers in this presentation will show various instances of how these communications come through and affect those at the receiving end of them. Through a breakdown of the myriad of ways these microaggressions can occur, one hopes to find a way to bring light to a subject that can otherwise be dismissed as a non-harmful communication.

 This study explores how textual objects influence other forms of media. The two artifacts we studied were Hasbro’s 1960s toy, the Think-a-tron, and The Book of Knowledge: The Children’s Encyclopedia by Arthur Mee, on which the toy is based. The Think-a-tron was marketed as an educational game that allowed children to insert punch cards into a computer-like machine and receive answers to trivia questions. By using a comparative textual media approach to study these two objects, we were able to discover firsthand how toys and books are intertwined. To begin our research, we first wanted to determine how the toy “reads” the punch cards. We took apart a broken Think-a-Tron and put it back together multiple times, but we were unable to get it working. The process of trying to fix the machine led us to ask whether we could determine the answer to a trivia question by looking at the shape of the card and how it is constructed. What we determined is that the toy is not necessary to play the trivia game, and the user can determine the answer just by looking at the notches on the card. This led us to believe that the computer like appearance of the toy was purely for marketing purposes and has no practical use. This implication suggests that the toy was made in this way in order to make an educational book more interesting to children. On the other hand, the creators used a book, a stable piece of history, to give the Think-a-tron merit and make it marketable as an educational toy. This shows how children’s toys and book markets benefit each other. Eventually, we modified our Think-a-tron, and it now functions with the help of a user’s cell phone. Just as the creation of the Think-a-tron shows a book blending with a new technology, to fix the toy we had to blend the old with the new.

Polyploidy serves different functions in cells, including amplification of genes for unique functions (i.e. energy, structural proteins).  To maintain the blood-brain barrier, epithelial cells engulfing the brain do not divide, they rather become stretched and polyploid.  However, polyploidy and the mechanisms behind multi-nucleation remain relatively unknown.  Here, using the Drosophila egg as a model system, we aim to study the dynamics of stretched cells formation over the nurse cells at the anterior of the egg.  Like the cells around the brain, these cells are stretched and polyploid.  Using computational and experimental approaches, we aim to understand the karyoplasmic ratio of cell size to nuclei number, nuclei position relative to neighboring cells, and the mechanisms underlying which cells undergo a multi-nuclear fate.  We will extend this study to other Drosophila species to test whether what we found in D. melanogaster is conserved.

 The purpose of this study is to see if males and females perceive specific acts or behaviors differently in another type of environment such as a bar or club while on a date with a friend or stranger. The approach taken for this study was to randomly select participants to fill out a survey anonymously. The individuals are to answer honestly about what acts they classify as acceptable behavior or as sexual harassment in a certain setting. A common theme found in research is the different perceptions between men and women on acts or behaviors pertaining to sexual harassment in the work place. Although sexual harassment is not limited to the workplace there is a substantial amount of literature focusing on sexual harassment in the work environment. Our results showed that the percentage of selected behaviors found acceptable by a female while on a date with a friend was 28%. Whereas the percentage for selected behaviors found acceptable by males was 46%. Both the percentages for the selected unacceptable behavior with a friend was close to the percentages for acceptable behavior. For females it was 29% and for males it was 52%. The results for behaviors found acceptable and unacceptable while on a date with a stranger followed a similar pattern. Overall, the results of the survey indicate that there are differences in the perception of sexual harassment in males and females.

 The gel-rehydration method represents an advantageous tool for the self-assembly of amphiphilic di-block copolymers into spherical vesicles known as polymersomes. In this method, a polymer solution is deposited onto a thin film of agarose. Upon the addition of rehydration buffer, the agarose swells forming a gel, facilitating polymer budding from the substrate. Our lab utilizes this method to prepare nanoparticle-loaded polymersomes where the nanoparticles serve as photosensitizers that initiate membrane disruption upon laser irradiation. This system is promising for applications in drug delivery where spatiotemporal control over cargo release is important. Our mechanistic studies focus on investigating giant (micron) sized polymersomes where the formation of vesicles with consistent morphology is paramount. This work seeks to determine the factors governing final polymersome size, such as rehydration time and temperature as well as surface roughness.

 The aggregation of tau protein is one of the principle caused of Alzheimer’s disease, chronic traumatic encephalopathy typical of athletes and is associated with multiple forms of dementia. The impossibility of early stage diagnosis and the lack of a cure for Alzheimer’s disease have made it imperative to study the pathways of tau aggregation.  Oxidative stress, crowding effects, mutations and posttranslational modifications are known to increase the deposition of tau fibrils, the aggregated form of tau.  Since tau is an intrinsically disordered protein it is difficult to study these changes using experimental techniques such as NMR and X-ray diffraction. Thus, in this project, we use molecular dynamics simulations to characterize the conditions under which tau aggregation is triggered. We will discuss the latest findings on the effects of point mutations and ionizing radiation on the aggregation pathway of tau.

Using Arduino based technology, this device will have an efficient way of determining air pollutants and air quality. The main idea is that the device will be able to detect pollutants every 30 minutes and report them to the community. Using this device will allow me to detect which areas across the university have high levels of pollution, and at what times those areas are prone to high pollution.

 Creating a Crewdson: Crewdson Reinterpreted is a narrative photo series, taking inspiration from photographer Gregory Crewdson.  Over the course of one year I have created my own narrative through the medium of photography.  I researched locations for possible scenes, worked on a storyboard, and collaborated with other creatives to achieve my goal, which is to understand how to translate a scene, typically from a movie or play, into a single photograph.  I only know of one photographer that has successfully done this, and I used his work as a starting point. 

 Functional trait variation among individuals in a community has become a fundamental component to understand how ecological communities are structured and function (McGill et al., 2006). Functional traits are morphological, physiological, behavioral characteristics measured on organisms that play fundamental roles in an organism’s performance (Violle et al., 2014). These traits respond to varying environmental conditions and also determine the influence that organisms have on ecosystem function (Violle et al., 2014). Functional trait variation is highly relevant to evaluate the community-level responses to changes in environmental conditions across spatial scales from local to global (Messier et al., 2017; VilàCabrera et al., 2015) Among these functional traits, the elemental composition of living organisms (i.e., carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus) relates and responds to its environment, playing a key role in determining community structure and biogeochemical processes (Sterner and Elser, 2002; Jeyasingh et al., 2014; González et al., 2017; Leal et al., 2017; Meunier et al., 2017). Despite these main ecological roles, stoichiometric traits have rarely been analyzed from a functional trait approach (see González et al., 2017). The aim of this study is to assess the stoichiometric trait distribution and diversity of aquatic macroinvertebrates across spatial scales, from local to regional. To do this, we will use the aquatic communities of invertebrates inhabiting pitcher plants (Sarracenia purpurea). These plants are distributed across Canada and the USA and present an ideal model to study trait variation in ecological communities. We will assess variation in stoichiometric traits across three hierarchical ecological scales: (1) among pitchers within a plant; (2) between plants within a bog; (3) among bogs within an area; (4) between areas (Vermont & NJ). Specifically, we will address the following two questions: (1) what is the range of trait variation across the range of ecological scales? and (2) to what extent does the functional trait structure of different communities change along environmental conditions? This study will help understand how organismal traits may respond to environmental changes and affect the structure and functioning of ecological communities.

Every January, the Department of Housing and Urban Development administers a survey called the Point in Time (PIT) count, in an attempt to count every single person experiencing homelessness in the state of New Jersey. While this survey does help local and state governments and organizations to get a grasp on how many people are experiencing homelessness, it is never a fully accurate count. The Southern New Jersey Continuum of Care (SNJCoC) approached our Housing Policy class to help them find a way to make the PIT more effective.

Our group created an additional set of questions, geared toward the chronically homeless, that would be placed on a supplemental survey to be administered along with the PIT count. The questions that were asked were designed to fill the gaps in where the PIT survey were lacking. We visited two homeless shelters in Camden to administer a mock survey to people who are currently experiencing homelessness. Prior to our mock survey we reviewed the current trends in homelessness in New Jersey as well as nationally to see what areas the survey needed to be focused on.

Through their responses, we were able to create an effective addition to the PIT Survey that the SNJCoC could use in the future, along with recommendations for improving homeless shelters in southern New Jersey.

 Conidiation is a key developmental process for fungal survival. These conidia, or asexual spores, can spread disease to humans and plants upon dispersal. In unfavorable environments, conidia that have been dispersed to more favorable habitats have a better chance of surviving. Therefore, understanding the genetic mechanisms underlying the process is integral in intervening with the spread of fungal diseases. Looking at a population of fungi, including the parents, there is considerable variation in the number of conidia produced by each strain. This variation among the progenies and parent strains allows a quantitative trait loci (QTL) study to be performed to link the genotype and region of the chromosome to the phenotypic trait of number of conidia. Because an F1 generation could result in a large chromosomal region with many possible genes, backcrossing is necessary to preserve the QTL allele while eliminating background. Molecular techniques can be used for genotyping the backcross population to determine at a given marker which parental genotype the progeny possesses. One technique is the CAPS assay, or cleaved amplified polymorphic sequences. This assay involves PCR amplified DNA products from our locus of interest being digested by restriction enzymes and fractionated on a gel. In order to visualize which parental genotype the strain has, there must be a SNP present in only one parent within the enzyme recognition site so that the enzyme will only cut in strains with the parental genotype that has the recognition site intact. Ideally, half of the progenies would possess the father allele while the other half would possess the mother allele at a given CAPS marker. There would also be an expected variation in the phenotype, with some strains out performing others in the number of conidia they can produce. We test the phenotype through cell counting, which utilizes acridine orange dye to identify live spores in a sample. We currently have generated two backcross populations and are analyzing both genotype and phenotype to observe trends regarding which area of the QTL region is most significant. We have narrowed down the region to about 500,000 base pairs and are designing more CAPS markers in this region to confirm what gene in this area could be underlying the allelic variation we see in the trait of conidiation.

 This study sought to determine whether students with a criminal justice and/or psychology major or minor in college perceived criminals and crimes different than people who did not have a background in criminal justice or psychology. Participants were given a link to a survey made specifically for this study where they were asked to match an altered media headline to a mugshot of a criminal who they believed best fit the crime committed. Some headlines were made to lead participants to certain mugshots in order to determine whether participants would be un-biased in their response. Of the 101 responses to the survey, three were removed due to lack of completion, leaving 98 recorded responses for data analysis. Results showed that criminal justice and psychology students actually responded incorrectly more often than non-criminal justice and psychology students. This is to say that criminal justice and psychology students are more biased when reading media headlines than the general population. As many law enforcement officials are required to take college courses in criminal justice and psychology in order to move up in their ranks, it is important that more training in these courses is done in order to reduce bias in these fields. Further research is needed in order to determine what kind of bias training can be done in order to readjust the way that the world perceives crime and criminals.

My research will involve the photographing and presentation of three portraits. I will showcase three different portraits based on age: one adult, one teenager, and one child. Each portrait will be presented in four distinct ways including metal, wood, and glass image transfers, along with a traditionally matted and framed version.  Each of these images will correspond to their intended populations; adults, teenagers, and children, to discover which medium is more or less appealing to each age group and why. These results will also document reactions and preferences based on gender within each population. Each participant will be asked which image is atheistically more pleasing and also which is more of an art form compared to the others and why. The research hopes to find clues as to how different age groups and genders perceive what art is and what it is not, and how the altering of the presentation of artwork (particularly photographic work) can impact those perceptions

What I expect to discover from this research is that the presentation of photographic imagery can drastically affect an individual’s aesthetical views as well as their willingness to accept something as art-worthy even when the content of the images is identical.

 Rutgers University–Camden has increasingly been initiating and participating in service learning efforts within the City of Camden.  The Fall 2017 Housing Policy course at Rutgers–Camden employed a service learning pedagogy model.  Rutgers–Camden and the Parkside Business & Community in Partnership (PBCIP) collaboration afforded us the opportunity to gain a real-world, hands-on experience in the field of community development.  For PBCIP implementation purposes we have prepared a potential Tenant-Landlord Coalition (TLC) framework.  These sound recommendations are based on a semester of research for a TLC ideal structure, best practices, programmatic implementation, and operations.

 Laughter is the best medicine. There has been burgeoning scientific research examining medical clowns and their extensive use in pediatric care, worldwide. This project closely examines over 180 published studies including randomized controlled experiments, interviews, observations, surveys, and ethnographies from 1986 to the present. Our analysis summarizes and integrates the extensive literature on hospital clowns, identifying and correlating overarching themes in pediatric care with scientific research.

Spouses may be involved in their partners’ diabetic diet through four distinct (but related) processes.  Specifically, spouses may have an impact on their partners’ eating behaviors by engaging in collaborative (dyadic) coping, diet-specific social support, and (both positive and negative forms of) diet-specific social control.  Given the inconsistent findings in the literature on the correlates of social control, in particular, more research is needed to understand how this type of social influence compares to other types of spousal involvement, and whether spousal involvement in this form is potentially beneficial or detrimental for the patient.  The current study sought to add to the literature by examining the dietary and emotional correlates of these specific social relationship processes among patients with type 2 diabetes.  We examined data from an in-person interview and self-report questionnaire from 66 married/partnered patients from a diverse community sample of patients with type 2 diabetes.  Results suggest that spousal involvement in a partner’s diabetic diet is common; in the past month 87.9% reported diet-related support, 83.3% reported collaborative coping and positive forms of diet-related control, and 74.2% reported negative forms of diet-related control.  Male patients reported their wives engaged in collaborative coping more than female patients’ husbands engaged in such efforts (d = .59).  Male patients also reported receiving more negative forms of social control from their wives than female patients received from their husbands (d = .72).  Multivariable regression analyses that included sex as a covariate revealed that collaborative coping and diet-specific support were related to diabetic dietary adherence and feeling appreciative/pleased (R² range from .10-.15).  We also found that diet-specific support was related to healthy eating behaviors in general (R² = .09).  Diet-related social control was unrelated to dietary adherence or healthy eating behaviors, but negative forms of control (pressure) were related to guilty and resentment (both R² = .11).  Interactions with sex and marital quality were examined but were largely non-significant.  This study will contribute to a further understanding of the specific social relationship processes that may have an impact on couples’ chronic disease management.   

 This project is focusing on how the new technology of social media is influencing the trends in photography and how photography will be affected by social media in the future. Research shows that in 2015 approximately 24 billion selfies were uploaded to social media. There was also the estimate that millennials are expected to take over 25,000 selfies in their lifetime. With all of these selfies being taken surely it must affect the way we interact with fine art portraits and studio portraits. My project is focusing on different types of portraits that I take and how the world of social media reacts with them. For instance, will people on social media be instantly drawn to selfies over a studio or fine art portrait because they relate better to a selfie, or will they be drawn more to a fine art portrait because they may not necessarily be able to obtain those types of photographs themselves?

The outcome I am looking to seek is what drove these changes to happen over the years and when different types of portrait styles are posted to modern day social media how does the public react. I also want to gain more experience in shooting in different ways to see how each type of photograph changes the way the photographer approaches it. This project will not only allow me to gain more knowledge in my field but will give us an idea perhaps on where portrait photography is headed based on social media interactions. Will a two second selfie get more interactions then a well composed planned out photograph? Will modern day portraits become just selfies or is there in interest in fine art style portraits? These are only a few of the questions that will be answered by involving social media platforms into my project.

I designed this project to explore how digital platforms shape content and audiences’ individual reading experiences. Internet users increasingly engage with – and perhaps even expect – layers of multimedia and interactivity, so I decided to track the unique characteristics and/or limitations of three distinct text-based platforms.

I used a short story of my own creation, entitled Things Left Unsaid, as the base text for the platform study. I selected this story, about a man in a small village who communicates with sign language, because I felt that the content would permit visual creativity and flexibility. I also wanted to explore the possibility of crafting a fictional narrative on applications designed primarily for nonfiction.

My research methods combined experimentation and planning. Before starting with each platform, I created a rough plan of how I would divide the virtual pages. After importing the text, I investigated the platform’s capability for implementing multimedia.

The first platform, Atavist, was the best tool for providing realism. The text itself is the focal point, but authors can add charts, graphs, and videos in small “blocks” that appear as users scroll through the article or essay. I created fictional charts and video footage to make the story’s imaginary town seem more “real.”

The second platform, Shorthand, was an ideal platform for providing immersion. Users scroll through a long, continuous document and view various cinematic effects – such as fades and transitions – as they read the story.

The final platform, iBooks, was initially difficult to use. However, I converted my original idea (a picture book) into a scrapbook, intended to exist within the universe of the story. This allowed me to place additional details on each page, such as a fictional business card, brochure, and poster.

Ultimately, this project showed me that while some digital tools appear limited on the surface, they can always be utilized in unexpected ways to the audience’s benefit. Multimedia storytelling allows creators to leave their personal mark, but the end results are always shaped in some way by the chosen platform.

Roseman (2013) proposed that an appraisal of Problem Type influences which emotions are elicited by motive-inconsistent events.  We tested this via questionnaires measuring appraisals and emotions. As predicted, frustration, anger, and guilt were rated as involving relatively instrumental problems; disgust, contempt, and shame as relatively intrinsic problems.  However only the frustration vs. disgust comparison reached significance.  Participants rated guilt experiences higher in controllability than shame experiences.  Functional theories of appraisal-emotion linkages may explain observed relationships.

Background: Camden, NJ is recognized by the US Census Bureau as one of the most impoverished and socioeconomically disadvantaged cities in the country. Despite attempts at rehabilitation, Camden remains a public health concern.

Objectives: The first objective is to explain the process to mobilize a socio-economically underprivileged community. Secondly, to demonstrate the approach it took to develop a series of health interventions and to evaluate the impact of health interventions on emergency room visits and hospital admissions by conducting a cost effectiveness analysis.

Methodology: The Northgate II project was developed by a non-profit housing agent, Fair Share Housing Development (FSHD), which was intended to revitalize the neighborhood by offering a safe living environment. It consists of 308 apartments with approximately 600 residents ages 25 and older (F=40%; M=60%). Among those, 83% are elderly and the majority have a disability. African Americans and Hispanics make up 97% of these older residents. FSHD partnered with the Camden Coalition of Healthcare Providers by conducting focus groups with residents, in which the community’s key characteristics, values, needs, attitudes, social norms, health behaviors, and priorities were identified. This confirmed the need to develop more robust onsite social services. The project then adopted a population health management approach which encouraged social services staff to engage more proactively with residents, bringing multiple interventions including service coordination/care management, wellness programming, nutrition, and mental health programming.

Data: A cross-sectional survey was administrated by the trained staff after the intervention. The data contained demographic variables, healthcare service use, health status, and risky health behaviors. Ordinary-least-squares analysis with cost-effective evaluation was conducted.

Background: The characteristics of risk factors for breast cancer may vary among countries. A better understanding of behavioral risk factors would help in planning effective intervention strategies for breast cancer prevention.

Objectives: This study is to empirically identify sociodemographic diversities, psycho-economic disparities, and accessibility of healthcare services for women in the USA and Japan. It also aims to determine culturally appropriate educational intervention that might be useful for breast cancer prevention.

Methodology: The 2013 US BRFSS was adopted for the data analysis. The Global Centers of Excellence (COE) Survey [about 5.5 thousand samples] conducted in 2011 by Osaka University in Japan; A bi-variate Logistic model was performed to investigate behavioral differences that are associated with health outcomes.

Findings/Results: A relative increase in health literacy among women in the U.S. shows clear-cut positive influences on preventive care and a decrease in risky health behaviors. Income and health disparities for women in the U.S. and Japan are positively associated with preventive care. Age, educational level, and health awareness are highly associated with complying with preventive care.

Conclusions/Recommendations: Strategies that reduce sociodemographic diversities and psycho-economic disparities are important for breast care prevention. Planning locally tailored interventions are needed to produce successful health outcomes.

 G-quadruplex is a nucleic acid (DNA) structure that forms from overlapping G-tetrads stabilized by a metal cation, especially potassium. G-quadruplex naturally form in the telomeres of chromosomes, and once bound with the hemin cofactor form a unique DNAzyme capable of peroxidase-mimicking activity. Understanding more about G-quadruplex can give a deeper insight into telomeres and, ultimately give more insight into cancer development. It is observed that the G-quadruplex/hemin DNAzyme reaction with ABTS substrate is prematurely inhibited. UV-Vis absorbance spectra were used to measure the enzyme kinetics of G-quadruplex/hemin DNAzyme with ABTS substrate at 420nm. Experimental results showed that the G-quadruplex/hemin complex exhibited peroxidase activity under basic conditions (pHs 7-10). However, the reaction of the G-quad/hemin complex with ABTS prematurely plateaus at ~10-20 minutes, compared to the reaction with a different substrate (Amplex Red) and the positive control, HRP (horseradish peroxidase). We believe that ABTS is participating in an unaccounted-for reaction, most likely self-oxidation or a reaction with the buffer itself.

 The incorporation of nanoparticles has proven to be beneficial in a number of systems spanning from drug-delivering vesicles to water-splitting photocatalytic surfaces. This study takes advantage of a newly acquired microscope system integrated with an ultra-fast laser to investigate how nanoparticles restructure under intense laser pulses. The experimental aspect of the study involves a transparent substrate with gold nanoparticles, 80nm or larger, and then they are placed in a liquid environment where single particles are singled out using darkfield microscopy and irradiated by laser pulse. Visible light spectra will be taken before and after irradiation. Particle shape and size will be determined by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results attained will be useful for determining intensity limits for in-vivo drug delivery and for laser fusion of nanoparticles on surfaces.

 The impact of a mutualism on its community can vary depending on the partners who participate in the mutualism. When one of the partners is an invasive species, this mutualism can have a large effect on the biodiversity of its surrounding community. This particular mutualism with an invasive species is uncoupled from evolution in the sense that there are no natural predators of the invasive ant, allowing the population to grow rapidly and become much more aggressive than less invasive ants. We predict that when the invasive ant Anoplolepis gracilipes becomes the dominant ant species in a mutualism with the plant Morinda citrifolia, diversity will decrease in the less-invasive ant species and other arthropods within the community.

 In early 2017, construction workers began digging up bones on Arch Street in Philadelphia, PA. Unsure of what to do, one of the workers went to the news to try and get help. Help was received in the way of the Mütter Institute, Associate Teaching Professor Kimberlee Moran, and several of her colleagues. After some research, it was found that the construction site was once a cemetery that belonged to the First Baptist Church, which formed in 1707. The cemetery was supposed to have been relocated in 1859 to Mount Moriah Cemetery. Two sets of skeletal remains from Arch Street were chosen for this study. A biological profile was constructed which included determining age at death, stature, sex, and ancestry. Upon initial investigation, one of the remains is that of an elderly woman and the other is of a juvenile. These remains were excavated during the beginning of the project meaning that they were some of the more recent burials.

 This project is an exploration of how (video)gaming functions as a form of expression.  Specifically, we look at the interactions players have with their controller while playing the video game Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo Wii U.

In essence, Super Smash Bros. is a fighting game, where two players compete for a single objective: to be the last one standing.  While this objective is pretty straightforward, every player has a different approach to fulfilling it, and the approach, or playstyle, a player decides to take is dependent on a multitude of factors, including their individual mentality, strategies, and emotions, as well as stimuli from the person against whom they are competing.  Consequently, every person plays uniquely.  To a person who spectates Super Smash Bros. without much technical knowledge of the game, it may be difficult to identify the nuances in a player’s playstyle that are expressive of what they are feeling, be it courage, nervousness, humor, frustration, or some other state of mind.  For this reason, this project was created as a means of translating the visual language of this video game to a medium that can be easily perceived and interpreted by laypeople.

Physically, a person’s playstyle is reflected through the way they use their controller, as they use various buttons in various sequences at various frequencies.  By linking the controller to both the video game console and a computer, it is possible to record and monitor the player’s controller inputs in real-time.  The inputs are immediately processed through a program called Max 7 and outputted as sound.  With each player creating a unique piece of music, it possible to perceive the art in this competition.

 The study of polymeric vesicles has received much attention due to their versatile nature and ability to encapsulate a variety of cargo.  Stimuli-responsive polymersomes allow for the structural integrity of the polymersome membrane to be diminished on-demand.  To render polymersomes photoresponsive, plasmonic nanoparticles can be incorporated into the hydrophobic region of the membrane.  Upon ultrafast, single-pulse irradiation at a wavelength congruent with the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) of the nanoparticle, we observe complete vesicle rupture or poration.  This system has many implications in drug delivery and usage as microreactors due to the ability to achieve spatiotemporal resolution over cargo release.  Our initial studies have incorporated gold nanoparticles as a single concentration; however, in this study we seek to identify the relationship between nanoparticle concentration and rupture threshold.  Preliminary results indicated that increased nanoparticle loading alters vesicle size and formation, thus, considerations must be taken into account to address these changes.

 The goal of this project is to develop robust nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) techniques and experiments that can be used in undergraduate Chemistry teaching labs, and which will also be submitted for publication in journals such as the Journal of Chemical Education. Such experiments are essential to a modern Chemistry education, but are lacking from the current offerings on this campus.

Modern NMR techniques (¹⁹F and ¹⁹F{¹H}; ¹H and ¹H{¹⁹F}; ¹⁹F-¹H HETCOR and HOESY NMRs)¹ will be used to identify each Hydrogen and Fluorine atom in a series of small molecules which will then allow us to probe their 3D structure and chemical reactivity. An extension of the methodology which probes atomic proximity will allow for investigations into binding interactions and other inter-molecular interactions (e.g. drug/receptor, or enzyme/substrate interaction, etc.).

Optimization of NMR experiments means that they can be run quicker (ideally under 10 minutes), and produce clearer results. Any of these newer experiments that become optimized will get added to the current NMR teaching lab experiments, replacing the existing and outdated current experiments.

 Python Poetry is about writing poetry and other nontraditional genres in a computer language. Poems, recipes, quizzes and Mab Libs are all written in an invented form of Python. Python Poetry changes the function of a computer language to a ‘human’ language; instead of communicating with computers, it is used to communicate with people. It combines my short-lived pursuit in computer science with writing, my actual degree and interest. Others who have combined programming and poetry mainly use Python to create programs that generate poetry. My version is not meant to be functional, and it favors the rules of English rather than Python.

In order to use Python for something other than its intended purpose, I had to invent my own rules, which ultimately made Python Poetry a translation piece. I mainly used conditional and comparison statements from Python to express the idea that was in each line of the poem. I decided to make it a printed book instead of an eBook because my love for physical books and to further the idea of translation by taking Python from the screen to a printed page. There are parts of the book where it is meant to be written in and requires ‘input’ from the reader. It is as if the computer part of the interaction is replaced with a book. The book is interactive like a computer, especially for quizzes and Mad Libs.

 The project Comparative genome analysis of polar and brown bears is being completed by identifying the structural variants (SVs) and indels. SVs and indels have been detected using the GROM algorithm [1], created by Dr. Andrey Grigoriev’s team. I annotated and further analyzed through literature research the bear genes affected by these variants. The functions of the genes are drastically varied. One gene synthesizes cyclic ADP-ribose and nicotinate-adenine dinucleotide phosphate that has been associated with Plica syndrome; Plica syndrome is commonly referred to as chronic fatigue syndrome. A gene of interest is responsible for the encoding of a selenoprotein; it has relation to impaired growth, male fertility, and excessive mortality. This project is to grasp an understanding on the genomic differences that separate polar bears and brown bears and the underlying evolutionary processes. The project is focused on the structural variants and indels because previous papers explored the topic of genomic population analysis of bears only through single nucleotide polymorphisms [2]. Comparative genome analysis of polar and brown bears explores an ignored area in the world of the Ursus genus and genomics.

 Discrete emotions can be conceptualized as being distinguishable by unique combinations of appraisal determinants and response components. Literature shows anger and contempt are distinct emotions associated with particular thoughts, feelings, expressions, behaviors, and goals.  But there is limited research on interpersonal dislike as a distinct emotion different from anger and contempt. This study aims to identify emotion-specific appraisals and response components, and to determine whether interpersonal dislike is a discrete emotion different from anger and contempt. To distinguish dislike as a discrete emotion, undergraduates at Rutgers and Amazon Mechanical Turk workers will be asked to (a) think of a current experience in which they feel a particular emotion toward another person, (b) answer questions about the causes of their emotion, and (c) answer questions about what they are currently feeling, thinking, feeling like doing, actually doing, and wanting.  If emotion-specific appraisals and response components are found to be significant only in experiences of dislike, results from this study may provide empirical support for interpersonal dislike as a discrete emotion different from anger and contempt. 

 The goal of this project is to compare connections between the government in Colombia and the use of power in the novel One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García-Márquez. For this project, a digital program was used to parallel important historical events which occurred in Latin America with similar events that were depicted in the novel. The program, Timeline.JS, was embedded into a Scalar page as an integrated part of a larger collaborative digital project I did for Dr. Giaudrone in her seminar last semester about the novel. This interactive tool supports visually rich displays of information—text, images, multimedia, hyperlinks, even geospatial data—using spatial arrangements, categories, and color schemes to convey meaning, which makes it an ideal tool for studying the theme of time and power in García Márquez’s novel.

García Márquez’s novel does not follow a regular timeline. From the repetition of names that return generation after generation to the repetition of personalities and events, time in One Hundred Years of Solitude resists a linear chronology. One of the purposes for the cyclical use of time is the repetitive nature that is a part of Latin American history, specifically the history of power in the region. Latin America is notorious for having numerous dictators and strongmen. The lack of a stable government throughout the novel reflects the general history of Latin America, more specifically using civil wars and interventions of foreign companies in the economy and politics. This is a parallel as, for example, the fictional town of Macondo goes through numerous governments led by military leaders as well as when Colonel Aureliano Buendia begins to take more and more military power in his revolutionary campaigns. Many of the events within in the novel, takes inspiration from the complex history from the beginnings of Latin America as well as represents much of the corruption that occurred throughout Latin America after gaining independence from Spain. By trying to make sense of the complex timeline of Macondo, it helps to show the influence that the history of Latin America within the novel.

 The goal of this project is to show that in specific spaces with minority languages in New York City, there exists close-knit communities that conserve Hispanic culture and heritages with the presence of a linguistic landscape. The meaning of ‘linguistic landscape’ refers to the relationship with different minority languages in specific spaces with an emphasis on the manifestations of multilingualism serving as ideological elements in a community. (Hult, 2013) It is important to see ‘the relevance of languages in commercial and public spaces in a territory or region’ in a linguistic landscape. (Dailey, Giles and Jansma, 2005)

New York City, being known as a ‘melting pot’ of different cultures and customs, has always been one of the most rapidly growing regions in the United States. Consisting of more than 8.5 million people and over 800 languages spoken in the region, it is easily to become influenced from cultures outside of one’s own. In the Latino community of New York City, there are different varieties and mixes of cultures and customs from different Hispanic countries and origins. According to Ricardo Otheguy, as of 2010, the Hispanic population of New York City makes up about 27.5% of the population, meaning a little over 2 million people. English, being the majority language of the United States, influences the use and representation of minority languages. There has been arguments and consequences about minority languages and how they become an unavoidable part of daily life for bilinguals and heritage speakers that form a part of their social and ethnolinguistic identity. (Hult, 2013)

This project will show how the amount of exposure of a minority language, Spanish in public spaces will influence how the outside community perceives them due to the representation of the Spanish language and Latino culture in New York City. It’s important to focus on how the cultural aspects of these communities are very close-knit but at the same time have social centers and landmarks that citizens outside of their community can come across to know more about the different types of Hispanic communities in New York City.

 “Elf on the Shelf” was intended to be about mischief.  The elf would sometimes engage in mischief while trying to prevent the children in the families from engaging in mischief themselves.  I created twelve categories to code the research into an order to analyze the phenomenon and look for any patterns in how the families give meaning to their elf/elves.  I also tried to find patterns in what roles the elf/elves played to the children in the families.