4210 research outputs found
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Emerging Adults’ Perceptions of Varying Parenting Styles as it Pertains to Gender Roles
No full textA Research Seminar Project supervised by Dr. Mindy Erchull (Fall 2021)
The Portrayal of Schizophrenia in the Media
No full textA video talk for Abnormal Psychology with Dr. Liss (Fall 2021)
Game Chromatic Number on Segmented Caterpillars
Get PDFGraph theory is the study of sets vertices connected by known as edges, which are depicted as lines. The graph coloring game is a game played on a graph with two players, Alice and Bob, such that they alternate to properly color a graph, meaning no adjacent vertices are the same color. Alice wins if every vertex is properly colored with n colors, otherwise Bob wins when a vertex cannot be colored using n colors. While strategies for winning this game may seem helpful, more interesting is the least number of colors needed for Alice to have a winning strategy, which is called the game chromatic number. We classified a specific tree graph noted as segmented caterpillar graphs that have vertices of degree 2, 3, and 4, for which the game chromatic number have not yet been explored
The Role of Verbal Behavior in Patient-Provider Interactions
Get PDFThe central aspect of any physician-patient interaction is the medical interview. While many studies have investigated these interactions, few have acknowledged the role played by the histories of both patient and physician. The three-term contingency (i.e., antecedent-behavior-consequences; Skinner, 1953) establishes the functional relations between critical events, and is central to the investigation of both verbal and nonverbal behavior. Verbal behavior comprises those actions reinforced through the mediation of others in one’s verbal community. This paper suggests that an analysis of behavior pertaining to the role of verbal behavior in patient-physician interactions more precisely describes relationships between the medical interview and health outcomes. It may also suggest barriers preventing effective patient-physician interactions including the use of medical jargon, the multiple causation of behavior, and the lack of consensus regarding measures for evaluating interactions. This analysis may provide means for effective training of physicians to eliminate health disparities and the poor health outcomes that result from differences between the verbal communities of the patient and the physician.
Keywords: Contingency, verbal behavior, verbal community, health disparities, medical jargon, multiple causatio
Assessing the Presence and Concentration of Microplastics in the Gizzards of Virginia Waterfowl
Get PDFMicroplastics are defined as plastics smaller than 5mm which originate from sources such as manufactured pellets, personal care products, and the breakdown of larger plastic items. They have become a ubiquitous water pollutant, and while a substantial amount of research on their impacts on marine ecosystems has been conducted, the presence of microplastics in freshwater systems and organisms remains less understood. In this study, we assessed the presence and concentrations of microplastic particles in the gizzards of the Canada Goose (Branta canadensis), Longtailed Duck (Clangula hyemalis), Ringneck Duck (Aythya collaris), Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos), and Goldeneye Duck (Bucephala clangula) hunted in the Piedmont and Coastal Plain of Virginia. Gizzards were bisected, then their contents were removed for analysis. Internal gizzard contents were digested in 30% hydrogen peroxide with an iron catalyst, then were density separated in a NaCl saline solution to isolate microplastics. Samples were then visually inspected under a dissecting microscope. After laboratory contamination was taken into account, 53.6% of gizzards contained microplastics. Samples ranged in concentration from 0 to 1.75 plastics/gram of gizzard material. While concentrations did not differ between sex and location, diving ducks had significantly higher microplastic concentrations than Canada Geese. The raw number of microplastics between the two groups was the same. These results provide evidence that freshwater species of waterfowl not only consume microplastics, but also retain them in their digestive tracts. As microplastics continue to release into the environment, more organisms, such as these waterfowl, will consume these plastics and potentially suffer toxicological consequences
Climate Change, Paris Accord, and Challenges for the Fashion Industry
No full textThe case study examines the Paris Agreement’s climate change mitigation efforts and the fashion industry’s global carbon footprint. To lessen its greenhouse gas emissions, the retail industry has partnered with the United Nations to develop the Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Action. The action plan encompasses emissions reduction targets for the fashion industry that support the temperature goals of the Paris Agreement. Additionally, tactics of leading fashion companies are evaluated to bring awareness to the environmental impact of the fashion industry
Apoptosis in Crithidia fasciculata
Get PDFCrithidia fasciculata belongs to a group of parasites called kinetoplastids that comprise many important human pathogens. Evidence of apoptosis has been found in these parasites with pathways that appear to be different than in mammalian cells. Therefore, careful characterization of these pathways can provide ways to manipulate parasite infection which could be used to create better treatments for these diseases. In this study, potential apoptosis genes conserved across all kinetoplastid parasites were identified using gene prediction programs in Tri-TrypDB and BLAST searches. Homologous genes were identified in C. fasciculata and a comprehensive q-PCR analysis showed differential upregulation upon induction of apoptosis. One of the genes significantly changed was Bax1 inhibitory gene (Bax1i), an inhibitor of the putative apoptosis promoting Bax1. In order to characterize this gene further we made gene modification constructs for tagging and gene deletion using the CRISPR-Cas-9 system. A homologous repair template was created for Bax1i using 500 bp homology arms and a drug resistance gene using a fusion PCR protocol. Constructs were made using both Puromycin and Blasticidin resistance genes. We have successfully created and optimized the fusion PCR protocol for generation of 3.5Kb drug repair cassettes. The same process was repeated for Phosphoglycerate mutase family member 5 (PGAM5). Drug selection trials using Puromycin found the optimum concentration of drug is 50 µg/mL. Blasticidin trials are still being performed. The optimization of the fusion PCR protocol and drug selection procedure, along with the identification of genes done in this project will be important for continuing work
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
Get PDFThe COVID-19 Pandemic has caused the worst economic decline since the Great Depression. Both President Trump and Biden have passed stimulus packages to get the economy to recovery as quickly as possible. Since these packages have just been implemented there is no way to know the possible long term impacts they will have on the economy. The ARRA stimulus package that was implemented in 2009 was the last stimulus package to be passed by the US Government before the COVID-19 pandemic. This makes it the best comparison point for the most recent stimulus packages. This paper aims to find out the effectiveness of the ARRA stimulus using two approaches. One uses simulations of increasing government spending to see the impact of increasing all of the stimulus while the other looks at the estimated economic impact of each program funded by the ARRA. The first approach found that if the stimulus was five times greater then the economy would have recovered by 2012. The second approach found putting more funding into programs with a higher chance of increasing economic activity could have closed the worst part of the recession only if all of the funding was used at once. These approaches help to give insight to what can make a stimulus more effective at setting the economy on a course for recovery