Differential Gene Expression of Piccolo (PCLO) in Mouse and Zebrafish Brain
Development
Lindsey
Knapp
Student’s
Major: Biology
Faculty
Sponsor: Steven Fenster, Biology/Toxicology
Piccolo is a multidomain protein
localized to synapses, cellular structures that allow for efficient
communication between neurons. Formation
of synapses is critical during neuronal development. Alterations in synaptic signaling can lead to
neurological disorders such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorders, and major
depressive disorder (MDD). Using a genome-wide analysis of genes
differentially expressed in the brains of MDD patients, recent studies have
identified a number of genetic variations called single nucleotide polymorphisms
(SNPs) in the human gene PCLO that are strongly correlated with
increased risk for MDD. A specific SNP maps to the C2A domain of piccolo,
a region associated with calcium binding domain that regulates the frequency of
synaptic signaling. In mammals, there
are two major splice variants of the PCLO
gene: a shorter transcript (variant2) that contains only the C2A domain and a
longer one (variant1) that contains an additional C2B domain. Previously, we demonstrated that variant1 is
expressed at higher levels than variant2 in mice throughout brain development. To gain a better understanding of the
conserved expression and splicing patterns of the PCLO in vertebrates, we examined difference in expression patterns
of variant1 versus variant2 in zebrafish.
Our data demonstrate that an ortholog for PCLO is present in zebrafish.
Further examination of the coding sequence for zebrafish piccolo showed
high degree of similarity with mammalian piccolo especially in the 3’ end that
encodes the C2A and C2B domains. Further
studies will focus on determining the level of expression of variant1 and
variant2 during zebrafish brain development.
Mozart’s Methods of Characterization in Le Nozze di Figaro and Don Giovanni
Bret Cowden
Student’s Major: Applied Music
Faculty Sponsor: Christina Fuhrmann, Music
Almost everyone is
familiar with the four main voice parts, soprano, alto, tenor and bass, and
many know additional divisions such as mezzo-soprano and baritone. Few,
however, are familiar with the myriad of fachs, or specific categories into
which voices can be further divided. These include the buffo bass and lyric
baritone, the two fachs my research has covered more particularly. Composers
use the difference between fachs to emphasize individual character traits, but
few composers write such dissimilar characters in adjacent fachs as Mozart. My
research is a study of the similarities between Mozart’s character types and
specific fachs; often, this was because of the particular singers cast for the
roles. I will be comparing two lyric baritones, Count Almaviva from Le Nozze di Figaro and Don Giovanni from
Don Giovanni as well as two buffo
basses, the role of Figaro from Le Nozze
di Figaro and Leporello from Don
Giovanni. Although these four characters are all considered bass-baritones,
they can more accurately be categorized into their own fachs. I will discuss
not only the original singers but also how modern singers interpret these roles
and the possibility of a singer performing all four roles over the course of
his career. After the lecture, I will demonstrate this by performing
contrasting arias from both operas.
Sarah Guarino
Student’s Major: Psychology
Faculty Sponsor: Brent Mattingly, Psychology
Intrinsically
motivated behaviors fulfill innate psychological needs of competence, autonomy,
and relatedness (Ryan & Deci, 2000). Although experiments exist that
explore different areas of intrinsic motivation, few investigations of how
direct ostracism and neglect influence intrinsic motivation have been done.
This research is a combination of three separate experiments: the first two
examining neglect through the absence of the researcher in the study room, and
a third that explores ostracism through giving participants “the cold
shoulder.” In all three experiments, participants completed an initial measure
of affect, a puzzle task, a measure of intrinsic motivation, and a short
questionnaire. As the manipulation of neglect in Experiments 1 and 2, participants
in the neglect condition were left alone in the study room during the puzzle
task. A total of 116 undergraduate students participated in the first two
experiments. I
hypothesized that participants who were neglected/ostracized in each experiment
would report lower intrinsic motivation than those in the control groups. T-tests in Experiments 1 and 2 revealed that participants
did not report lower intrinsic motivation when neglected, t(51)=.862, p=.393
(Experiment 1) and t(61) =1.245, p=.218 (Experiment 2). Thus far,
results from the first two experiments were non-significant (all ps > .05), indicating that intrinsic
motivation did not differ greatly between the neglect and control groups. In
Experiment 3, I predict that participants will feel a stronger sense of
ostracism, which will thwart relatedness and reduce intrinsic motivation.
Erin Sutter
Student’s Major: History and Political Science
Faculty Sponsor: Michael Schwarz, History/Political Science
In
November 1859, less than two years before the start of the Civil War, Charles
Darwin published On the Origin of Species.
The theories and ideas articulated in this work would transcend natural science
and exert a powerful influence on American social and political thought in the
years following the war. Having learned of Isaac Newton’s impact on social and
political thought in the Enlightenment era of the eighteenth century, and
having read about the Social Darwinism of the nineteenth, I grew curious about
why people come to accept certain scientific theories for their explanatory
value beyond science. In my senior
thesis, therefore, I set out to discover why, after the Civil War, so many
Americans embraced evolution not only as a scientific theory but as something
broadly applicable to society and politics. I have used a number of primary
sources, including the writings of men such as William Graham Sumner, Theodore
Roosevelt, Edward Bellamy, and Herbert Croly. I also have drawn on secondary
sources for context. My talk will consist of a summary of my findings. I will
argue that the Civil War played an important role in preparing the way for the
acceptance of evolution as a theory broad enough to explain not only natural
phenomena but how human beings relate to one another, how they should govern
and be governed, etc. I will also argue that the both the Progressive movement
and Social Darwinism found their roots in the theory of evolution.
Implicit
Racial Associations and Their Limited Malleability
Jessica Istanich & Bethanee Burden
Students’ Majors: Psychology (Istanich);
Psychology and Social Work (Burden)
Faculty Sponsor: Brent Mattingly, Psychology
Implicit associations operate outside of
conscious awareness, even when individuals explicitly endorse oppositional
attitudes (Stanley, Sokol-Hessner, Banaji, & Phelps, 2011). Racial implicit attitudes begin as early as
age 3 and tend to be stable throughout the lifetime (Baron & Banaji,
2006). The purpose of this study was to
determine the malleability of implicit racial attitudes using priming. Participants were primed with either smiling
African American faces and neutral Caucasian faces (experimental condition) or
neutral images (control condition). The
intent of the prime was for participants to subconsciously absorb positive
reactions toward African Americans thus swaying their implicit cognitions
toward that minority population in hopes that their Implicit Association Test
would show little to no biases toward Caucasians, which is generally the case;
explicitly endorsed attitudes have decreased dramatically from the 1970s to
today yet implicit racial attitudes still persist (Schmidt & Nosek, 2009). Following the manipulation, participants
completed the Implicit Association Test (IAT), which assesses implicit racial
attitudes. Participants primed with
African American and Caucasian faces showed no difference in their implicit
preference for Caucasians than did the control group. An independent samples t-test revealed no
significant difference from neutral images group (M = 2.93, SD = 1.32) and the ‘smiling/Black’ faces
and ‘neutral/White’ faces matching group (M = 2.59, SD = 1.34) t(94) = -1.25,
p = .215. In the current study, limitations to finding
malleability may be due to lack of enough exposure time to prime.
Minimizing the Number of Two-step Paths
in a Graph
Anna
Payne
Student’s
Major: Mathematics
Faculty
Sponsor: Christopher Swanson, Mathematics/Computer Science
In
the mathematical field of Graph Theory, a graph is thought of as a set of
vertices that are connected by edges. For this research project, we worked with
tournaments, or graphs in which every
pair of vertices is connected by a single directed edge. We took these
tournaments and compared them to undirected graphs on the same number of
vertices. We analyzed a type of tournament called a transitive tournament, where if there is an edge directed from
vertex a to vertex b, and one directed from vertex b to vertex c, then there is an edge from a
to c. We defined a cost of an edge in
the undirected graph as the number of two-step paths between its two endpoints
in the tournament. The total cost
of a graph is the sum of the cost of its edges. The goal of this
research was to prove a conjecture given by mathematicians M.J. Pelsmajer, M.
Schaefer, and D. Stefankovic that a transitive tournament gives the minimum
cost for any undirected graph on the same number of vertices. Though we could
neither disprove the conjecture nor generalize our results to all types of
graphs, we were able to prove, through methods of Direct Proof, Mathematical
Induction, Optimization, and the Pigeon-hole Principle, that this conjecture is
true for complete graphs, nearly complete graphs, paths, cycles, and star
graphs.
The
Role of the Church in a Segregated Society: A Case Study of Shelby, Ohio
James Robinson
Student’s Majors: Religion and
Psychology
Faculty Sponsor: Peter Slade, Religion
Shelby, Ohio is a small city of 9,424
residents. According to the 2010 census 98.2% are white and only 0.2% are
African American. In my research I sought to understand: 1) the significance of
these demographic statistics in the context of central Ohio; 2) the history of
race in Shelby; 3) the role that churches played and can play in this story. A
disturbing finding is that statistical evidence gathered using the Index of
Dissimilarity (Index that compares the evenness of races living within a
community), shows that Shelby is not just segregated but “hypersegregated.” In
order to understand the history of race in Shelby, I researched the history of
employment and churches in the town through documents and photographs in the
local library as well as conducting oral history interviews with citizens and
pastors within the community. The historical research revealed the ways that
the institutions of the town--churches, schools, factories--worked to keep
Shelby white. Finally, as a minister serving in Shelby, I researched ways that
churches might start addressing some of the issues of segregation and racism so
present in the community. After considering the implications of my research, I
began working with one other local pastor to establish a prayer breakfast
program including members of both the white churches in Shelby, and African
American churches from other communities.
Jacob
Ewing
Student’s
Major: English
Faculty
Sponsor: Joe Mackall, English
In the summer of
2011, I traveled to the Louvre Museum in Paris, France. Here, in the most
famous museum in the world, hangs Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, surrounded by a frantic crowd of gawkers—a crowd of
which I was a member during my visit. While attempting to see Da Vinci’s
masterpiece was an experience in itself, I discovered something in this museum
that far transcended Mona Lisa. On
the opposite wall of the same room rests a massive painting entitled The Wedding at Cana, Paolo Veronese’s
renaissance-era depiction of Christ’s first miracle. The piece somehow towers
over the entire room and goes wholly unnoticed by many of the Mona Lisa’s visitors. In my essay
entitled “Mona Lisa and a Midwest
Kid,” I discuss how these two vastly different paintings affected me—a kid
raised in a small Midwestern town, far from the sophistication of high society
that the Louvre so fully represents. I explore the sensation of being thousands
of miles away from the small town I grew up in, the pull toward a rural home
coupled with the deep, existential need to see just what else lies beyond the
familiarity of the place.
Isolation
and Characterization of a Suspected Phytoalexin from Acer rubrum L.
Jared
Baisden
Student’s
Majors: Biology and Biochemistry
Faculty
Sponsor: Jeff Weidenhamer, Chemistry/Geology/Physics
Wilted red maple leaves are toxic to horses, causing
death by oxidation of hemoglobin and inducing anemia. Gallic acid derivatives
have been identified as the main oxidants present in the leaves. However, our
work has found that a previously unknown phytoalexin is produced by wilting red
maple leaves. Phytoalexins are defensive compounds produced by plants in
response to fungal attack. These compounds often have a range of biological
activities. The unidentified compound from red maple, which fluoresces blue in
certain TLC systems, is present only after wilting. The objective of this study
is to identify and characterize this compound so that its toxicity can be
determined. Wilted leaves were collected, dried, and extracted with methanol.
Leaf extracts have been purified through repeated thin layer chromatography and
column chromatography. After successful purification, the structure of the
compound will be confirmed by NMR and mass spectral analysis. This research
will provide insight regarding the mechanism of fungal defense in Acer
rubrum and may also be relevant to the known toxicity of wilted red maple
leaves to horses.
Family
Caregivers of Loved Ones with Aphasia:
How They Are Affected and How We Can Help
Lauren Goossens
Student’s Major: Psychology
Faculty Sponsor: Alinde Moore, Psychology
In the case of aphasia, which is a
speech deficit in production and/or comprehension often caused by brain trauma,
the lives of the family caregivers of the person with aphasia are drastically
changed. An exploratory qualitative
study was conducted by interviewing six family members who are the caregivers
of people with aphasia to see how they are affected by having a loved one with
aphasia and how they can be helped. The
findings indicate that many family caregivers had to deal with much more than
just aphasia, as most of their loved ones suffered from multiple health
problems. Participants had a lack of
knowledge about aphasia and their loved one’s condition, and many would have
liked to have been given more opportunities to attend support groups and
educational groups. Having a loved one
with aphasia also had an effect on the stress levels of the family members who
are the caregiver. With this study, it
is hoped that the effects on family caregivers will be more apparent, and that
suggestions of how to best help family members will be discovered.
Conscious
Surrealism
Pablo Mauricio Uranga
Student’s Major: Fine Arts and
Commercial Arts
Faculty Sponsor: Charles Caldemeyer, Art
My
paintings are creations of my conscious mind inspired by subconscious ideas.
Each painting is a scene from the movie of my life. I select ideas that form
part of who I am; for example, where I have lived and traveled to, how my
swimming career started, the process of how I solve problems, how I learn and
pass new skills, etc. After I decide the idea I want to illustrate through
painting, the process becomes that of a lucid dream, which is subconscious
creation controlled by a conscious mind. After putting the basic ideas into the
equation, the result is a self-evolving process. The background and the
surrounding elements generate themselves inside my mind faster than I can
paint. The ideas quickly become symbols as I place them in these windows of an
impossible world. Water, geometric shapes, precious stones, the moon and other
symbols are all important and gain more significance as they reappear in my
other paintings, whether I consciously place them there or not. The result is a
combination of intentional and unintentional elements that I call
"conscious surrealism.” Because viewers have memories from their own
experiences, they will all have different interpretations of the reasoning
behind the symbols. They can create their own narrative using the paintings as
starting thoughts. My talk will focus on how I manipulate symbols, light,
colors and the compositions of the paintings to create a story in a viewer’s
mind.
Mackenzie
Lake
Student’s
Majors: Political Science and Religion
Faculty
Sponsor: Rene Paddags, History/Political Science
In this paper, I argue that the protestant church in the
German Democratic Republic was an essential institution for the peaceful
revolution from Communism. This view was undisputed in 1990 immediately
following the collapse of the regime, but only a couple years later, especially
after the files of the State Security Ministry (Stasi) became available to the
public, this view became controversial. Claims such as that of Richard John
argue that the church was merely the puppet of the state. In order to refute
this argument I looked at the debates between the Lutheran Church and
the Communist state, as well as the debates within the Lutheran church. These
debates demonstrate how the church used Luther’s original argument for the
division of church and state, refusing to side entirely with the regime or to
openly condemn it. This allowed the Lutheran Church, despite fundamental
differences with the ideologies of the communist state to retain some
independence. The state saw the church as a means of obtaining international
recognition and the church-based social welfare institutions were essential to
the large-scale welfare programs of the state. The state also believed that this
would be only temporary because the achievement of true Communism would result
in the death of religion. Because of this stance, the church could become a
refuge for opposition groups pushing for a reformed socialism. When the state
refused to make the desired reforms, the opposition groups under the leadership
of the church made the peaceful revolution against Communism.
The
Influence of the Color Red on Aggression Levels
Samantha Diemer & Jessica Gross
Students’ Majors: Psychology and
Criminal Justice (Diemer); Psychology and Criminal Justice (Gross)
Faculty Sponsor: Brent Mattingly, Psychology
Many psychological experiments have
examined the effects of color on certain cognitive processes. Aggression and
color, however, have not been studied thoroughly in the science of psychology.
This study examined the effects of the color red on the perception of aggression
in others. We hypothesized people would judge a target as more aggressive if he
was wearing a red shirt in a mug shot than if he was wearing a white shirt. Participants
were asked to read a story about a man, the target, and were shown a picture of
him wearing either a white shirt or a red shirt. Participants were asked
questions about the target’s aggressiveness and the possibility of conviction
of the target. Although the results were not statistically significant, the
findings were trending toward supporting our hypothesis. The independent samples
t-test revealed that participants viewing the red shirt (M = 4.54, SD =. 970) were
not viewing the target as more aggressive than those participants viewing the
white shirt (M = 4.27, SD = .794), t(75) = -1.309, p = .194.
Amanda
Mosley & Ben Bukovec
Students’
Majors: Psychology (Mosley); Psychology and Business Administration (Bukovec)
Faculty
Sponsor: Dr. Brent Mattingly, Psychology
Embodied
cognition is the theory that there is a strong connection between physical and
psychological states, and experiencing physical states can activate the
associated mental constructs. For instance, holding a warm cup of coffee
influences individuals to interpret others as having “warm” personalities
(Williams & Bargh, 2008). However, no research has yet examined this
phenomenon in a relationship context. We hypothesized that individuals who
chewed cinnamon gum (creating a sense of “hot”) would be more likely to rate
others as more physically attractive. Participants were randomly assigned to
chew cinnamon gum (experimental condition), mint gum (experimental condition),
or no gum (control condition). Individuals then rated a male and female photo
on the following items: attractiveness, warmth, kindness, intelligence, fun,
seriousness, and trustworthiness. When assessing ratings of the female photo
using planned contrasts via one-way ANOVA, cinnamon gum participants rated the
photos as more attractive (M =4.42, SD =0.83) than mint gum participants (M =3.15, SD =1.95) and no gum participants (M =3.85, SD =1.59), t(73) =2.40, p =.019. When examining the effects of gum on warmth, those in the
cinnamon condition rated the female in the photo as warmer (M =5.63, SD =0.65) than the no gum (M =4.92,
SD =0.80) and mint gum conditions (M =5.08, SD =1.20), t(73) =2.76, p =.007. All other tests on
characteristics for females and males were insignificant (p>0.05). These
results suggest that experiencing physical warmth affects individuals’ ratings
of physical attractiveness of others.
Lindsey Richey
Student’s
Majors: Political Science and History
The
understanding of Islam in today’s world can be incomplete and baffling at
times. Much of this confusion can be traced back to the 11th Century with the
Islamic thinker, Al-Ghazali, who wrote a rejection of philosophy and reason.
While the idea of a refutation of reason and philosophy is foreign concept in
the Western world, the ideals and publications of Al-Ghazali spread throughout
the Muslim world to the extent that Hellenistic philosophy never recovered.
Some scholars in recent years have begun to champion a new understanding of
Al-Ghazali, claiming he did not write or believe in the incompatibility of
Islam and falsafa meaning philosophy but including logic, mathematics and
physics. Rather, scholars argue, Al-Ghazali attempted to allow the inquiry of
philosophy and logic to be separate from the inquiry of mathematics and
physics, essentially proving the incoherence of combining such different
sciences into one subject. A first reading of Al-Ghazali’s best known work, the Deliverance from Error and the Mystical
Union with the Almighty, seems to show his refutation of philosophy, and
thereby reason, as well as the Shi’a Islam. Al-Ghazali attempts to restore the
faith of Muslims, meaning adherence to Sharia Law, and to bring about the
acceptance of Mysticism into mainstream Islam. However, through a proper
examination of Al-Ghazali’s work, I reached the conclusion that Al-Ghazali does
not refute philosophy and Shi’a Islam. Therefore, the pursuit of truth either
though Shi’a Islam or through philosophy remains open, contrary to popular
arguments about the hermeneutical closing of Islam.
The Art of Selling
Yourself
Johanna
Regan
Student’s
Major: Theatre
Faculty
Sponsor: Fabio Polanco, Theatre
In
the world of musical theatre actors are categorized by a specific “type.” An actor’s type is determined through a
combination of their personality, appearance, style, behavior, and humor. Through these factors an actor is placed into
a certain character category. Some
people are better suited to play ingénues, while others are better suited to
play comedic character roles. Through
classes and self-examination I have been typed as a mature, fun, upper class,
character actor. But what happens when
an actor wants to break the norm? What
if I wanted to be considered for a completely different type of role? At the end of November, I performed a musical
revue where I sang musical theatre songs originally written for male characters
and/or African-American characters. I
wove the songs together into a narrative, which took a look at the theatre
world from the view of a struggling actor trying to show the world that she can
play any role regardless of gender or skin color. I implemented tools I have learned through
acting classes, private voice lessons, and individual research to create a
character, write a story, and to sing using a variety of healthy techniques. I began developing
the revue hoping to stretch myself and discovered unexpected challenges and
abilities. During my session I
will perform a scene and discuss my goals, process, and outcomes.
Lindsey Grudnicki
Student’s Majors:
History and English
Faculty Sponsor: Michael
Schwarz, History/Political Science
My presentation will focus on
Tadeusz Kosciuszko and his legacy as the purest “son of liberty.” A sadly
forgotten member of the revolutionary generation of the late eighteenth
century, Kosciuszko has been recognized as one of the great liberators of
mankind, a Cincinnatus-like figure, and one of the most vocal critics of
European serfdom and American slavery. I plan to explore Kosciuszko’s life and
character by looking at four different periods of the general’s life: his
participation in the American Revolution, the Kosciuszko Uprising in Poland,
his portrayal in British Romantic poetry, and his correspondence with Thomas
Jefferson at the end of his life. The writings of those who served with the
Pole in America, Kosciuszko’s own proclamations and actions as
commander-in-chief of Poland, the symbol his name became in British verse, and
the intimate letters he wrote to the Virginian reveal a rare degree of
republican virtue and human kindness. I hope to show how even though
Kosciuszko’s noblest endeavors – Polish independence, the spread of republicanism,
the abolition of serfdom, and the freeing of Jefferson’s slaves – met with
failure, his example is worthy of imitation.
Detecting Deceptive Communication through
Computer Mediated Technology: Applying Interpersonal Deception Theory to Texting
Behavior
Megan Wise
Student’s Majors: Speech Communication
and Broadcast Communication
Faculty Sponsor: Theodore Avtgis, Communication
Studies
Interpersonal Deception Theory (I.D.T)
argues that deception is an interpersonal action, where people employ
communication tactics to achieve various goals. Deception is a global concept,
thus much investigation has been conducted to determine its roots. Since
computer mediated communication technology has proliferated, scholars are now
investigating traditional face to face interpersonal constructs and applying
them to the mediated environment. Deception that occurs in computer mediated
communication is referred to digital deception. The deception takes place in a
technologically mediated environment, thus messages must be sent in a medium
other than face to face. The present study was conducted to determine the
degree to which undergraduate students engage in deceptive behavior via
computer mediated communication technology. One-hundred and sixty undergraduate
students completed a survey about their deceptive texting behaviors and level
of detection in text messaging (e.g., Have you ever lied via text message when
conducting business or other professionally-related work?). Results indicate
that deceptive text messaging is an interpersonal form of communication which
is primarily restricted to family and friends and much less prevalent in the
workplace. Furthermore, respondents reported being successful at deceiving
others yet rated themselves high on detecting when others are trying to deceive
them. Theoretical implications for I.D.T. in the computer mediated environment
are discussed.
The Early Bird: How Twitter Has Created the
Perpetual Media Race
Tyler
Remmel
Student’s
Majors: Journalism and Sport Communication
Faculty
Sponsor: Matt Tullis, Journalism & Digital Media
This capstone thesis for the Ashland
University Honors Program examines the use of Twitter by media outlets as a
means to quickly disseminate information to a wide audience of varying demographics.
In particular, it strives to satisfy the over-arching research question: are
media entities today more concerned with the speed at which they disseminate or
the accuracy of the information that is disseminated? I will answer this
question by sharing the three types of research conducted. First, I will offer
a summary of literature that looks at ways in which the media use Twitter.
Second, I will share the results of a case study focusing on the CNN and FOX
News coverage of the June 2012 Supreme Court health care mandate ruling.
Thirdly, I will discuss a study that I did looking at media tweets. To conduct
this study, a Twitter list was created to follow the tweets of 14 media
accounts that satisfied specified criteria for the number of account followers,
type of media (TV, network, internet-based, etc.) and the primary publics
served. Tweets were analyzed from a one-day period and logged, noting
information like speed (news mention compared to similar mentions from other
accounts being studied), number of retweets and number of favorites. The
results of the study were inconclusive, likely due to its broad nature and the
inclusion of such a large number of accounts. Recommendations for further
research and deeper conversation about why the study had no significant
findings will be discussed during the presentation.
The Romans Deify Augustus: A Mutual Understanding between the Emperor
and His People
Danielle
Sunnucks
Student’s
Major: History and Political Science
Faculty
Sponsor: Edith Foster, History/Political Science
I
have been researching how Augustus, the first emperor of Rome, came to be
worshipped as a god. In particular, I am interested in why the Romans, who had
not worshipped human beings before, would now do this. The purpose of this talk
will be to show how Augustus’ public image reflected both what the Roman people
wanted to see, and also what Augustus wanted them to see. In order to find out
about both sides, I have been reading Cicero, Vergil, Augustus’ own synopsis of
his achievements, called the res gestae, and a large variety of secondary
works. These sources show that after the destructive civil wars and the breakdown
of political and religious order at Rome in the first century before Christ,
the Roman people looked for a stable and powerful leader, who would not only
restore the state, but also restore the divine order that upheld Roman society.
Augustus’ religious and priestly public image responded to this need. Augustus
was not only emperor, but pontifex maximus, and a priest of many different
priestly colleges. Moreover, Augustus responded in many other ways; for
instance, by restoring and building temples, instituting festivals, and
associating himself to particular gods. This activity resulted in his eventual
deification, which the Roman people enthusiastically supported, even demanded.
My research has identified the motivations of the Roman people for supporting
the deification of Augustus, and elucidates how he used the People's desires in
order to become more powerful.
The
Effect of Scent on Self-Esteem and Self-Confidence
Lacie Bray-Akers & Amanda Rae Martin
Students’ Majors: Psychology
(Bray-Akers); Psychology (Martin)
Faculty Sponsor: Brent Mattingly, Psychology
Johnson (2011) has proposed four
theories as to why scent may affect psychological processes like self-esteem
and self-confidence, one of them being that the components might enter the
system and from there it impacts cognition. The present study examines the
effect of a scent (Bath and Body Works’ Japanese Cherry Blossom) on five
dependent variables: self-esteem, self-confidence, emotional empathy, the
likability of the scent, and the self-confidence of the participants when
wearing the scent. Forty-six women were recruited and randomly assigned into
one of two groups: scent (experimental group) or water (control group).
Participants in the scent condition were sprayed with the scent and then given
a questionnaire to complete. Participants in the water condition were sprayed
with water and then given the same questionnaire. There was a significant
difference between the experimental (M
= 3.74) and control (M= 2.35)
conditions on the likability of the scent, t(44)
= 5.10, p < .001. There was also a
significant difference between the experimental (M = 3.78) and the control (M
= 3.00) conditions concerning the self-confidence of the participants while
wearing the scent, t(44)=2.72, p = .009. No significant difference was
found between the two conditions for the other three dependent variables:
emotional empathy (p = .699), general
self-confidence (p = 0.62), and
self-esteem (p = 0.48). This means
that the scent had no direct effect on any of these three constructs.
Synthesis, Characterization, and
Degradation of Multi-armed Calixarene-core Star Polylactides
Anna
Falls
Student’s
Major: Biochemistry
Faculty
Sponsor: Perry Corbin, Chemistry/Geology/Physics
Polylactide
(PLA) and related polyesters have been employed in biomedical applications and
are becoming more prominently used in commercial packaging materials. One
potential method of expanding the properties of this class of renewable,
biodegradable plastics is to prepare PLAs with varied architectures and with
cores that can be further functionalized.
To address this issue, my research has focused on the original synthesis
of eight-armed calixarene-core star L-PLAs. The synthesis was accomplished by
preparing a calixarene initiator with eight alcohol functional groups. Polymers
with varying numbers of repeat units per arm were then synthesized in solution
by Sn(II)-catalyzed ring-opening polymerizations of L-lactide using the macrocyclic initiator. The star PLAs were characterized by gel
permeation chromatography and were found to have low polydispersity indices and
number average molecular weights (Mn’s)
close to those targeted. Moreover,
end-group analysis by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy supported star
polymer production. Differential
scanning calorimetry studies have, in turn, revealed that the crystallization
rates of lower Mn
calixarene-core PLAs are slower than their linear counterparts and that the
percent crystallinity can be finely adjusted with annealing. This observation also suggests that the
degradation rates of the lower Mn
PLAs might be readily tuned, which is important for potential biomedical
applications. Along these lines, the
degradation of low Mn eight-armed PLAs and previously prepared
four- and six-armed calixarene-core PLAs were studied in basic solution. This resulted in rapid surface degradation
that depended upon the initial crystallinity of the PLAs. Further degradation studies under
physiological conditions are in progress.
Caitlin Duncan
Student’s Major: Biology
Faculty Sponsor: Merrill Tawse, Biology/Toxicology
In the Eastern United States, White-nose
Syndrome is devastating populations of bats in their winter hibernacula. Indications are that such hibernacula may be
present in the Mohican Forest. A fall
acoustic survey was conducted to monitor swarming sites and areas of
concentrated activity of insectivorous bats, mainly Myotis lucifugus, little brown bats, in the Mohican State Forest in
order to try to determine from where the bats were emerging to come to those
areas. Due to the fact that the bats are
active in concentrated areas late into the year, and that the bats have been
mist-netted and found to have dried mud on their fur, it is believed that the
bats are hibernating underground in or near the Mohican State Forest. Monitoring areas of concentrated bat activity
in the Mohican State Forest will hopefully lead to the discovery of hibernacula. This study is important because it is
essential to know where the bats are spending their time hibernating, which is
when and where they come into contact with Geomyces
destructans, the fungus that causes White-nose Syndrome. The exact locations of the site where the
bats were emerging from at night were not determined, and no hibernacula were
discovered. From this study we were able
to eliminate areas that were previously thought to contain hibernacula and to
confirm areas of high activity that were previously unknown. Future studies will focus on acoustic
monitoring of new areas in the Mohican State Forest and further monitoring of
the areas that were discovered to have concentrated bat activity.
Progress
Towards the Synthesis of Resorcinarene-Core Polylactide/Polyethylene Glycol
Star Block Copolymers Using Click Chemistry
Aaron
Tipton
Student’s
Major: Biochemistry
Faculty
Sponsor: Perry Corbin, Chemistry/Geology/Physics
With
an increased interest in developing new medicines, there is also an interest in
new drug-delivery vehicles. Along this line, our research efforts have focused
on the chemical synthesis of resorcinarene-core polylactide (PLA)/polyethylene
(PEG) glycol star block copolymers, which upon self-organization have the
potential to serve as polymeric micelle drug carriers. To prepare the polymers,
an appropriate tetra-functional resorcinarene initiator was first synthesized.
Four-armed, resorcinarene-core star PLAs were then prepared by
Sn(II)-catalyzed, ring-opening polymerization of lactide. Subsequently, the
homopolymer end groups have been reacted with a suitable anhydride to provide
PLA's with terminal alkyne end-groups. Attempts have been made to prepare the
aforementioned star block copolymers by coupling an azido-functionalized PEG to
the alkynyl-functionalized star PLAs via Huisgen dipolar cycloaddition—while
minimizing PLA degradation. To date,
results have shown that these difficult coupling reactions proceed and reach a
maximum degree of coupling of about 81% in approximately one hour, as indicated
by product analysis using gel-permeation chromatography and nuclear magnetic
resonance spectroscopy. These efforts
will be described in detail and compared to alternative approaches that are
being investigated for preparing resorcinarene-core, PLA-PEG star block
copolymers.
Sibling
Adjustment to Child’s Chronic Illness
Jessica Bates
Student’s Major: Child and Family
Studies
Faculty Sponsor: Cindy Moseman, Family
& Consumer Sciences
Previous research has shown that the experience of having a
sibling with a chronic illness can be a stressful and challenging time for a
healthy child. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship
between a child’s understanding of his or her brother or sister’s chronic
illness and the emotional and social adjustment of that child. Fifty-two family
sets (one parent and one sibling of a child with a chronic illness)
participated in this study. Participants came from The Children’s Medical Center
of Dayton and also from support groups on Facebook for parents of children with
chronic illnesses. A parent survey and sibling survey were given to each
family, with questions regarding frequency and source of communication about
the sibling’s illness and how the healthy sibling is affected emotionally and
socially from the illness. Findings showed a negative correlation (r(50) = -.399, p = .03) between the education a child receives on his or her
sibling’s chronic illness and the amount of problems in adjustment he or she
experiences. In other words, children who received more education reported
fewer symptoms of adjustment problems. Out of five chronic illness groups, the
children who had a sibling with cancer tended to have a higher level of
education about the illness than children with siblings who have other
illnesses. Although this study was limited by small sample size, the trends in
the data suggest a relationship between illness education and adjustment of a
healthy sibling.
Characterizing
Enterococcus faecalis Bacteriophage
VD13
Carly Young
Student’s Major: Biology
Faculty Sponsor: Paul Hyman, Biology/Toxicology
The bacterium Enterococcus faecalis is found in plants, soil, water, and the
intestinal tracts of humans and animals. In humans, it can cause urinary tract
infections, meningitis, and other infections. The purpose of my research was to
characterize the virus VD13, which infects the bacterium E. faecalis. These viruses, which infect the cells of bacteria, are
called bacteriophage. I first tested how stable this bacteriophage is when not
infecting cells. A heat stability test showed that VD13 is stable up to about
60°C. A pH stability test was also performed, and showed that VD13 is stable
from a pH of 4 all the way up to a pH of 11. I next studied the growth of the
bacteriophage in bacterial cells. I used a lysis test to determine when the
bacteriophage broke open (lysed) cells to release new progeny both at 37°C and
at room temperature. At 37°C, the virus began to lyse the bacteria cells at
about 70 minutes. At room temperature, the virus began to lyse the bacteria
cells at about 105 minutes. I used a one-step growth curve assay to measure how
many progeny virus were made during infection. I also isolated DNA from the
bacteriophage. Various restriction digests were performed to find which enzymes
cut the DNA of VD13. The next step in my research is to obtain a very highly
concentrated stock of VD13 so that it may be used for protein gels and VD13 DNA
will also be sent in for DNA sequencing.
Programming
Techniques in Dark GDK
Chris Yocum & Ben Bushong
Students’ Majors: Computer Science
(Yocum); Computer Science (Bushong)
Faculty Sponsor: Paul Cao, Mathematics/Computer
Science
USS:2101 is a 2 dimensional game created
by Christopher Yocum and Ben Bushong. It was created using the C++ programming
language in Visual Studio 2008, a programming compiler, and DarkGDK, a game design
package suited for both C++ and Visual Studio 2008. USS:2101 is a 2 dimensional
space-shooter, intended to be a new spin on a mixture of some older arcade
classics while adding some new features that were not available in the arcade
generation such as video settings, volume control, and several control scheme
options. USS:2101 uses a simplistic programming approach to develop an advanced
array of options for the players that include multiplayer capabilities, special
collision functions, and customization options. The process of creating this
game involved selecting complex, specific needs for the game, and breaking them
down into simple commands for an easier algorithm that allowed the
building-upon of more advanced features easily. The first steps included object
placement, followed by object movement and player controls, then collisions.
This evolved to include projectiles with their own collision functions, varied
enemy movements, and a final encounter sequence. To be included in the future
are sprite variations and upgrade options, with potential cross-network
options.
Assessing the Zebrafish as an Efficient Model for Analyzing Mammalian
a-crystallin Gene
Regulation
Zachary
Haley
Student’s
Major: Biology
Faculty
Sponsor: Mason Posner, Biology/Toxicology
Alpha
crystallins are a group of small heat shock proteins that protect cells from
damage during times of stress. Mutations
in a-crystallins
can lead to heart disorders and cataracts in the lens of the eye, and their
expression increases in neurological disorders such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s
and multiple sclerosis. Changes in a-crystallin
levels are also linked to numerous cancers.
The purpose of this study is to determine whether the zebrafish can
serve as an efficient model for the study of how mammalian a-crystallin
expression is regulated. Three different
lengths of the mouse αB-crystallin promoter, which controls the gene’s
expression, and a complete mouse αA-crystallin promoter were linked to the gene
for green fluorescent protein (GFP).
These α-crystallin promoter constructs were injected individually into
single celled zebrafish embryos that were then analyzed after 1-6 days of
development by fluorescent microscopy to determine where the promoters where
producing GFP expression. Injection of
the mouse aA-crystallin
promoter produced GFP expression in the lens similar to native expression in
the mouse. However, our 0.8 and 1.4 kb
mouse aB-crystallin
promoter regions did not produce the expected expression in the lens, but
instead drove GFP expression in the notochord. These results show that mouse
αA-crystallin promoter activity can be replicated in zebrafish embryos,
suggesting that the zebrafish is a viable model for testing mammalian
αA-crystallin promoter function.
However, while the genomic organization of mouse αB- and zebrafish
αBb-crystallin is evolutionarily conserved, their gene regulatory mechanisms
have apparently diverged.
Measuring Halogenated Flame Retardants by Silicone Tubing
Microextraction
Megan Liggett
Student’s Major:
Biochemistry
Faculty
Sponsors: Brian Mohney & Jeff Weidenhamer, Chemistry/Geology/Physics
Silicone tubing
microextraction (STME) was used to extract and concentrate brominated and
chlorinated flame retardants from environmental samples. Due to the lipophilic nature of these
compounds silicone tube microextraction is ideal for extracting flame
retardants from soil and water. Flame
retardants are a category of commercially produced chemicals that have been
added to many synthetic products including computers, plastics, and
fabrics. These compounds are known to
accumulate in the environment, leading to bioaccumulation of compounds in the
human body and various aquatic species producing potential adverse health
effects. Our goal was to develop a
method of quantification of flame retardants initially using standards, and
then use this technique to quantify these compounds in environmental
samples. This project provides a new
analytical approach to understanding the environmental and public health issues
resulting from the widespread exposure to these compounds. The specific flame retardant used in this
analysis was tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA).
TBBPA has been identified as a highly effective flame retardant used in
circuit boards, certain foams, and acrylonitrile butadiene styrene
thermoplastics. TBBPA has been
identified as acutely toxic to fish at high concentrations (0.51mg/L – 3mg/L)
and has been detected in soils and sediments.
The STME technique we developed has been tested in sand, soil, and water
samples. Using high-performance liquid
chromatography (HPLC) to detect and quantify TBBPA from silicone tubing, we
have successfully detected TBBPA at concentrations down to 132 parts per
billion (ppb) in sand, and 32.8 ppb in water using 1.1 meter of silicone
tubing.
Bringing Wilde to the 21st Century: An In Depth Look at
the Costumes of Ashland University’s Production of The Importance of Being Earnest
Jensen Glick
Student’s Major: Theatre
Faculty Sponsor: Teresa Durbin-Ames, Theatre
In November 2012, the Ashland University
Theatre Department presented the comedy The
Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde.
Written in 1895, the play is a comment on the class divide in London’s
high society. In this production, the
director interpreted the play to show parallels between Victorian society and
today’s modern fascination with social media.
As a costume designer, it was my job to create a modern wardrobe for the
characters while giving nods to Victorian dress. For example, the trickster character Algernon
had a pair of plaid orange pants, as in the Victorian era plaid was considered
to be a fabric for con artists or swindlers.
I also wanted to assign each character a color to show the relationships
between the characters. For example, I
matched each couple with their complementary color and character. Jack, one of our lead males, was dressed in
red while his companion Gwendolen wore green.
I found the process as a costume designer is always developing; no
design is ever finished. I discovered
that as a designer I have to stand by my design while allowing my ideas to be
alterable and willing to mold with the collaboration with the ideas of the
other designers.
Divorce
and Perceptions of Conflict
Rachel E. A. Carson
Student’s Major: Psychology
Faculty Sponsor: Brent Mattingly, Psychology
This two-part study investigates the
relationship between thoughts related to divorce and subsequent perceptions of
relationship conflicts. Fifty percent of marriages end in divorce, and divorce
is one of the largest stressors that individuals can experience (Demo &
Fine, 2010; Binger, 2010). Children of divorce (vs. intact families) may view
relationships differently, which may affect subsequent stress and conflict. It was hypothesized that participants who have
experienced divorce (Study 1) or primed with thoughts of divorce (Study 2) will
perceive conflicts as more severe and less likely to reach a positive
resolution. In Study 1, participants read a scenario about a couple and a
recent conflict between the two (of which they are both at fault for at least
one aspect). After reading the story, each participant answered various
questions about their interpretation of the conflict and the couple (i.e.,
rating the severity of the conflict, likelihood of resolution, how happy the
couple is, and how committed the couple is). Participants also indicated if
they have experienced parental divorce. Study 1 revealed no significant
differences between the two groups of participants (divorce vs. no-divorce);
all p-values > .05. In Study 2, the same aspects of the conflict scenario
will be examined; however, prior to reading the story each participant engaged
in a priming task. Participants were given a “word comprehension task” which
consisted of them unscrambling sentences to either prime the concept of divorce
or a control concept (Slotter & Gardner, 2012). Data is currently being
collected for Study 2.
Shane Daugherty
Student’s Major: Toxicology
Faculty Sponsor: Andrew Trimble,
Biology/Toxicology
Many
products used to melt ice in the winter are formulations of highly
water-soluble salts that readily
dissolve in rainwater and snowmelt.
Runoff from suburban neighborhoods, highways and other non-point sources
frequently discharges complex mixtures of salts into surface water in the
environment, which can result in unpredictable toxic effects to aquatic
organisms. The objective of this research was to examine the effects of
mixtures of the common saline deicing agents sodium chloride (NaCl), calcium
chloride (CaCl2), and magnesium chloride (MgCl2) using
the model aquatic amphipod Hyalella
azteca. Specifically, 96-h
water-only toxicity tests were conducted with these saline toxicants in single
compound exposures, as well as in binary and tertiary mixtures. Potential deviations from additive toxicity
were assessed by comparing the experimental mixture dose-response curves to
those predicted by Concentration Addition (CA) and Independent Action (IA)
mathematical models. Single compound toxicity test LC50s were 4606 mg/L, 9404
mg/L, and 2852 mg/L for NaCl, CaCl2, and MgCl2, respectively.
The binary mixture toxicity test LC50 for the NaCl/CaCl2 mixture was
9348 mg/L. Model comparisons showed that
there is an antagonistic effect with mixtures of NaCl and CaCl2,
with the IA model providing better toxicity predictions than CA. Additional tests and model comparisons will
be conducted for the remaining binary and tertiary salt mixtures. Results of this study will help risk assessors
and water quality managers to more accurately determine the risk to aquatic
organisms that are exposed to these commonly-detected contaminants.
Stacee King, Anna Payne, Megan Raber,
Brad Sekas, Emma Vandenberg & Rob Woodward
Students’ Majors: Mathematics and
Integrated Mathematics (King); Mathematics (Payne); Mathematics and Integrated
Mathematics (Raber); Mathematics and Actuarial Science (Sekas); Mathematics and
Integrated Mathematics (Vandenberg); Mathematics (Woodward)
Faculty Sponsor: Gordon Swain, Mathematics/Computer
Science
The Ashland University Problem Solving
Group [PSG] meets bi-weekly to solve problems posed in the mathematics
journals. Because everyone sees problems from a slightly different perspective,
we are able to combine our ideas until we can come up with a successful method
of solution. The unique thing about the group is that it challenges us all to
think a little differently and use mathematical methods that may not be immediately
obvious when initially looking at the problem. For example, “find integers x such that
is
a perfect square” initially looked like an exhaustive search problem but ended
up using factorization and divisibility arguments, while “order
by
size” did involve direct calculations to find the pattern and a bit of calculus
to confirm it. Some
of the problems can be solved mainly using logic and trial-and-error, rather
than higher level mathematics, so it is fun and accessible for students of all
levels and majors. This poster presentation will include a few of the problems
PSG has looked at, a description of how we were able to solve the problems, and
our solutions.
The World Beneath Our Feet: Analysis of Bacterial Abundance and Species
Diversity in Various Soils
McKenzie Roth
Student’s Major:
Integrated Science Education
Faculty Sponsor: Andrew
Greene, Biology/Toxicology
Different soil types display a wide range of nutrient content,
microbial abundance and diversity. Many
of the microbes viable in soil have practical functions in the agricultural and
medical fields while others are pathogenic.
Garden topsoil, potting soil, forest soil, compost and manure were the
five soil types investigated in this study for bacterial abundance, species
diversity, and nutrient content. We
hypothesized that manure and compost would have the most nutrients and be
highest in number and diversity of bacteria.
Likewise, we hypothesized that potting soil would be low in all three
areas. Each soil sample was diluted,
plated on Plate Count Agar and incubated at 37oC for 2 days in order
to maximize the number of colonies able to grow on the media. The bacteria count was determined by plate
count assay and the microbial diversity by using 16S rDNA to sequence isolated
species and compare the number of genera present in each soil type. A qualitative nutrient analysis was conducted
to evaluate the relative nutrient content of each soil type. It was determined that the compost was
richest in nitrate, phosphorus and potassium, while the other soils were low in
all three. The manure exhibited the
highest bacterial count with an average abundance of 8.8x107
colonies per gram. Potting soil,
compost, garden topsoil and forest soil followed with statistically similar
abundances ranging from 3.27x106 to 2.2x107 colonies per
gram. Similarly, the manure represented
the greatest number of genera from the 16S rDNA sequencing than the other
samples.
Sensory
Modality and Directed Forgetting: Similar Effects for Visual and Auditory
Stimuli
Amber Weaver
Student’s Major: Psychology
Faculty Sponsor: Mitchell Metzger, Psychology
Intentional forgetting occurs when
individuals consciously forget stimuli to which they have previously been
exposed. Greater knowledge of
intentional forgetting may improve understanding of forgetting processes
involved in traumatic experiences. There
is little research completed examining whether the sensory modality of stimulus
presentation can influence directed forgetting (DF), the primary method used to
measure intentional forgetting. To
address this question this experiment compared the DF effect for auditory and
visual stimuli, and also examined whether the emotional valence of words
affected the level of DF. The
participants were undergraduates enrolled in psychology courses at Ashland
University (15 males and 40 females with mean age of 18.6 years). They were presented with positive, negative,
and neutral words in an auditory or visual mode, and were instructed to
remember one-half of the words while forgetting one-half of the words. During the recognition test, participants
were told to remember all words, regardless of the cue they were followed by in
the study phase. Analysis revealed a
significant effect of cue, as words followed by the remember cue were
recognized at higher rates than words followed by the forget cue. Additionally, there was a significant effect
of emotion, as negative and positive words were recognized at higher
frequencies than neutral words. For
sensory modality, no significant effect between visual and auditory cues was
observed; however, sensory modality did have a significant effect on false
alarm scores. These data provide
additional information on DF processes and the influence of sensory modality on
motivated forgetting.
Mallorie Boron
Student’s Major: Biochemistry and
Forensic Chemistry
Faculty Sponsor: Jeff Weidenhamer, Chemistry/Geology/Physics
The US Consumer Product Safety
Commission (CPSC) recently accepted methods proposed by industry for testing
cadmium bioavailability in children’s jewelry.
The cadmium content of this jewelry is of concern because it
bioaccumulates in the body and can cause health problems later in life. These include osteotoxicity and kidney
damage. Compared to lead, which has been
the focus of concern in consumer products, cadmium is even more toxic. Samples
are extracted in saline solution (simulating mouthing) or 0.07 M hydrochloric
acid (simulating swallowing) to estimate cadmium release. One unanswered question is whether cadmium
release increases when electroplated coatings are damaged. Earlier tests identified several pieces for
which leaching increased as much as ten-fold when the item’s coating was
damaged. For this study, X-ray
fluorescence (XRF) was used to identify high-cadmium items with a range of zinc
content, because zinc appears to reduce cadmium bioavailability. Duplicate high-cadmium samples, one cut in
half and one left intact, were analyzed by the different extraction
methods. An alternate procedure using a
briefer extraction of ground material from each jewelry item is being compared
to the other test methods. Following
bioavailability testing, total cadmium and zinc content of all items is being
determined.
Mary Brown
Student’s Major: Forensic Biology
Faculty Sponsor: Mason Posner, Biology/Toxicology
Alpha A-crystallin is a lens specific
small heat shock protein (sHsp) that is found in a variety of species including
both zebrafish and humans. sHsps play an
essential role in protecting cells from stress by preventing protein
aggregation, which can cause diseases ranging from Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s
to lens cataracts, the leading cause of human blindness worldwide. Previous work in our lab has shown that
altering individual amino acids in the aA-crystallin
protein can increase its protective activity.
These previous experiments were done in
vitro (in the test tube). In this
present study I am taking the next step by looking at the effect of engineered
proteins with altered structures in vivo,
or in the zebrafish lens itself. I have
used a synthetic RNA molecule called a morpholino to suppress the production of
normal aA-crystallin
in the zebrafish lens. Analysis of lens
protein content showed that this technique successfully reduced aA-crystallin
expression to undetectable levels.
Altered versions of the aA-crystallin gene were
constructed using PCR techniques and linked to a human b-crystallin
promoter that will cause them to be expressed in the zebrafish lens. These various aA-crystallin
genes are currently being injected into one-cell stage zebrafish embryos to
determine whether they are expressed.
This would be the first time that the zebrafish has been used as a model
to assess the in vivo effects of
engineered sHsps with increased protective ability, which could provide insight
into possible future therapeutic roles.
Repressive
Copers vs. Defensive High Anxious Copers
Morgan Phillips
Student’s Major: Psychology
Faculty Sponsor: Diane Bonfiglio, Psychology
People who register high scores on a measure of
anxiety and also register high scores on a scale of socially desirable
responding are characterized as demonstrating a defensive high anxious
style. In comparison, people who
register low scores on a measure of anxiety and register a high score on a
scale of socially desirable responding are characterized as repressive
copers. Literature on coping has
suggested that those who are considered defensive high anxious use less
effective coping strategies than do those who are considered repressive
copers. This study examined differences
between defensive high anxious and repressive copers in their self-report of
the use of a cognitive avoidant coping strategies, which are ways that people
avoid threatening or upsetting thoughts or memories. 125 participants (68 females and 57 males;
mean age of 19.34 years) completed a packet of surveys which included an
anxiety measure and a measure of socially desirable responding for coping style
characterization and a measure of cognitive avoidant coping. Based on their responses to the measures of
anxiety and socially desirable responding, 21 participants were categorized as
defensive high anxious and 35 were categorized as repressive copers. Those categorized as defensive high anxious
had significantly higher overall scores on the measure of cognitive avoidant
coping (M = 72.95, SD = 19.06) than did those categorized
as repressive copers (M = 53.86, SD = 17.17; t(54) = 3.87, p <
.01). This result suggests that
defensive high anxious participants reported more use of cognitive avoidant
coping than did repressive copers.
Effects
of Color in Attention to fMRI Scan Images in Legal Settings
Jalessa Brown
Student’s Major: Criminal Justice
Faculty Sponsor: Diane Bonfiglio, Psychology
The use of functional magnetic resonance
imaging (fMRI) in court has raised questions about its utility and potential
consequence when it is presented as evidence. Previous research showed that
participants were more likely to notice that fMRI data contradicted expert
witness testimony when the fMRI data was presented in red, but less likely to
notice the same contradiction when the fMRI data was presented in blue. Our
experiment investigated whether variations in how fMRI is visually presented influenced
whether participants were likely to notice a contradiction between what an
“expert witness” says and what the fMRI presents. 320 participants were
assigned to one of four groups. Each group was given a fictional court
proceeding scenario to read. In the scenario a judge passed a sentence based on
physical evidence presented in court. On appeal, a different judge reduced the
sentence based off of expert testimony which contradicted the fMRI data.
Participants in the control group were not provided fMRI images, whereas
participants in the other three groups were provided with fMRI images presented
in red, blue, or yellow. The results of chi-square showed that the red
condition showed a consistent effect (χ2 (1, 77) = 10.646, p < .01, η =
.261) such that participants in that condition discerned that fMRI data
contradicted expert witness testimony. These data could have consequences for
litigators in how they present fMRI evidence.
The Healing of Hipsters: Ironic Living in 21st-Century
America
Jacob
Ewing
Student’s
Major: English
Faculty
Sponsor: Gary Levine, English
In November of
2012, The New York Times published an
opinion piece entitled “How to Live Without Irony.” Christy Wampole, a
professor at Princeton, argues that irony has become the dominant strand of
thought in contemporary America, citing the so-called “hipster movement” as an
example. Much of the article is spent discussing the dangers and repercussions
that Wampole sees associated with this dependence on irony. While she offers some insightful criticism of
the movement, she misunderstands the way it relates to irony. Nearly twenty
years ago, the late author David Foster Wallace offered his own understanding
of how irony has manifested itself in American culture in his 1993 essay “E
Unibus Pluram.” Wallace rightly predicts that as irony becomes more widespread
in American culture, there will come a point at which genuine sincerity
overtakes it as the dominant strand of thought. This brilliant description of
irony’s fierce hold on mainstream culture in the late 20th century
still holds true today and serves as an argument against Wampole’s criticism of
the hipster movement. My project interprets Wampole’s article in light of
Wallace’s essay, relating the differences in the two works and showing how
Wampole mischaracterizes the hipster movement by missing what Wallace was able
to foresee some twenty years ago.
Improving
Cognitive Skills: An Application of a Computer Program
Alexandra Maus & Amanda Mayes
Students’ Majors: Psychology (Maus);
Psychology (Mayes)
Faculty Sponsor: Alinde Moore, Psychology
In the field of aging, much
attention has been focused on helping older adults to stay cognitively fit.
The purpose of this study is to help a 59 year old man regain memory
functioning that was lost after a heart attack in 2007. To do so, the
department purchased BrainHQ from Posit Science, an academically-based
organization that designs and tests computer software for use by older adults.
Many organizations including AARP have developed computer exercises and
games for that purpose but with little scientific evidence of their
effectiveness. While the initial intent of Posit Science was to produce
products for normal cognitive changes in older adults, their computer programs
were subsequently tested with individuals with brain damage from numerous
causes. The peer-reviewed studies of the programs found significant
improvement in some of the cognitive training tasks performed by their
participants (Fisk, Novack, Mennemeier, & Roenker, 2002; O’Conner, Hudak,
& Edwards, 2011; Rosen, Suqiura, Kramer, Whitfield-Gabrieli, &
Gabrieli, 2011). The participant in this study utilized BrainHQ in two
one-hour sessions per week for nine months, utilizing auditory and visual
cognitive tasks related to attention, brain speed, memory, and people skills.
His progress was tracked by the BrainHQ program, and he demonstrated
improvement in all cognitive tasks. Furthermore, the participant showed
improvement in memory and day to day functioning tasks.
Limitations in this study included the small (one participant)
sample size, limited time for using the BrainHQ program, and lack of control
for other life factors.
Constantine,
the Donatists, and the Arians: Creating Unity in a Divided Church
Kelsey Paramore
Student’s Major: History and Political
Science
Faculty Sponsor: Edith Foster, History/Political
Science
My
research focuses on the political implications of the emperor Constantine’s
involvement in the church. Constantine (272—337 AD) was the first Roman emperor
to favor Christianity, and his actions were influential both upon the church
and the later Roman Empire. Constantine was involved in church councils, he
made laws pertaining to the church, he promoted Christianity in the Roman army,
and he also favored the church with donations of money. The purpose of this talk
will be to focus on the main doctrinal disputes of the time – the Donatist
schism and the Arian heresy – and to show how Constantine worked through church
councils to try to control the progress of each dispute and create unity within
the church. In working with these two challenges to Christianity, Constantine
was encountering opposing types of forces. The Donatists could be compared to
fundamentalists, who want to establish strict rules for the church. By
contrast, the followers of Arian wanted a change in the church, since they
promoted a new doctrine of the Trinity. Constantine attempted to keep order and
unity in the church in each case.
Marc Zimmerman
Student’s Majors: Political Science and
Economics
Faculty Sponsors: Mark Nadler, Economics
& Steven Hayward, History/Political Science
My investigation seeks to explore the
relationship between political variables and their effects on GDP per capita
across over 100 nations. My analysis includes nine independent variables, which
range from secure property rights to access to basic public services. My thesis
is that these political variables play an important role in explaining GDP per
capita in nations across the world. Too often, the focus of trying to improve
third world economies and developing nations fails to address these variables,
instead focusing on such traditional economic variables as direct financial or
monetary assistance. This analysis seeks to provide valuable insight into the
factors that most affect GDP per capita across the world and to provide a
framework by which developed nations can better understand how to effectively
help developing nations. Initial results from the weighted least squares (WLS)
model indicate that public services, property rights, and financial freedom are
significant at the 1% level, while trade freedom is significant at the 10%
level. Moving forward, the data will also be subdivided into sub-categories in
order to see whether results from the initial analysis hold across various
subsets of data.
Not
Gone Yet: A Documentary about Miller Hall
Elizabeth Bucheit & Tyler Remmel
Students’ Majors: Journalism and Digital
Media (Bucheit); Journalism and Sport Communication (Remmel)
Faculty Sponsor: Dave McCoy, Journalism
& Digital Media
Throughout the years, Miller Hall gained
a special place in the hearts of faculty and students at Ashland University.
While the building is now gone, it has left behind an untold legacy. This
legacy, scattered around the current campus and community, gave us the
opportunity to bring the history of Miller Hall to life through a documentary.
The fondness is hidden, waiting for the right questions to bring it out. In our
research, we found that, as we began uncovering these seemingly forgotten
feelings, more and more of the same impressions kept coming up. Through over 20
pre-production interviews, we began to see a glimpse of just how widespread
these feelings of fondness were. Miller represented a period of rapid growth at
the university in which expansion was essential. Not only does this documentary
tell Miller’s history by presenting a moving sequence of photos and video, it
rekindles the emotions and shares them with the Ashland University students who
never had a chance to hear the clanking of the radiators during class or to see
the squirrels outside the windows. The research phase started with information
gathering for the newspaper story, “Below the surface.” Continued research was
conducted on previously interviewed sources. We also assembled a team with
diverse yet complimentary skill sets. During the presentation, we will describe
the extensive creative and research processes required to produce this
documentary as well as screening a few short clips.
Chris,
a Memoir: Loving the Deceased Through Story
Lindsay Cameron
Student’s Majors: Creative
Writing, Journalism, and Integrated Language Arts
Faculty Sponsor: Joe Mackall,
English
This
memoir is about the story’s ability to reinstate a life and reconnect family
members. The stories my family told me made me love my uncle Chris, who died in
a car accident in 1969. Though I have never met him, the stories have enabled
me to have a relationship with him. Through interviews, research, and
reporting, I have recorded and imagined their memories and pieced together his
life. The memoir is a product of factual
reporting, blending the tools of journalism with the craft of creative
nonfiction—using the tools of fiction to tell true stories—to create, on paper,
Chris’s world in 1969—a place and time of which I have no firsthand knowledge
or experience—and how, from my fascination and curiosity, that world coalesces
with my own. This story is about the
influence a person can have on earth, long after life, even though death
separates, wrestling with the question: How can I love someone I have never
met? And it answers that love is constant—it can overcome the grave—and
it is passed on through the people who are living, who first held the
love. As I grow closer to my uncle who I never knew, my seeking him
brings me closer to family I have always wanted to know better. My excerpt for the reading will explore the
struggles of the memoirist to understand her relationship to her uncle, and how
that relationship to the deceased can influence or change the living.
The
Relationship Between Students’ Financial Responsibility for College and Level
of Academic Motivation and Success
Amber Weaver
Student’s Major: Psychology
Faculty Sponsor: Diane Bonfiglio, Psychology
College students vary considerably with respect
to the amount of college expenses for which they are personally
responsible. The present study examines
whether a student’s personal responsibility in paying for college is related to
his or her academic motivation or performance in college. It was hypothesized that as a student’s
personal responsibility for college expenses increases, academic motivation and
success will also increase. Eighty-three
first year undergraduates enrolled in introductory psychology courses at a
Midwestern university participated in this study (63 women and 20 men, with a
mean age of 18.25.) Surveys were
completed detailing participants’ financial responsibility for college and
their high school academic background.
Participants also completed the Academic Motivation Scale and consented
to the researcher gathering their financial aid and GPA information from the
university. Statistical
analyses were conducted to measure the correlation between variables. The correlation between financial
responsibility and overall academic motivation, the main variable being
examined in this study, was not significant (r(81) = -.188, p =
.088). Results thus far do not point
toward a strong relationship between a student’s financial responsibility for
college and levels of academic motivation and success. The results of this study could have
important implications for the way families and our country overall handle
college expenses.
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