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A Review of the Utilization of Comics in Research and the Potential for Graphic Medicine Integration in Health Science Communication
Full text linkCommunication is a vital part of research, both during its conduction and the dissemination of its findings. This can be difficult to achieve due to factors like knowledge disparity, technical jargon, and differing backgrounds. This narrative literature review draws from databases like PubMed, ScienceDirect, and others to examine the current utilization of graphic medicine in research and its effects on health research communication. This review found that the integration of graphic medicine can help alleviate those issues by simplifying complex topics into engaging visual narratives or comics for consumption by research participants and the public. Additionally, the use of graphic medicine as research data provides new interdisciplinary and humanistic perspectives through which to produce and interpret research findings. By improving communication in health research, graphic medicine integration was found to potentially improve health literacy in the public and further integrate research participants into the research process
Investigating the Effect of Artificial Sweeteners on Fitness and Metastasis in Drosophila melanogaster
Full text linkArtificial sweeteners are widely used sugar substitutes, yet their potential effects on health remain poorly understood. For example, more evidence suggests that frequent consumers of sugar substitutes may also be at increased risk of excessive weight gain, metabolic syndrome, and type 2 diabetes, which contradicts the original purpose of artificial sweeteners. This thesis investigates the impact of artificial sweeteners on health using Drosophila melanogaster as a model organism, focusing on three key areas: viability, excretion, and cancer metastasis. Viability assays revealed that flies exposed to artificial sweeteners exhibited a decrease in progeny, with some concentrations increasing progeny but most decreasing it, the most extreme being -51% viability, suggesting a potential toxic effect. This decline in viability was not dose- dependent but was observed across various concentrations of artificial sweeteners. Excretion studies demonstrated that flies exposed to artificial sweeteners produced a higher volume of excreta, the most extreme case being a 75% increase in excreta, indicating potential alterations in metabolic processing or gut physiology. Given the role of waste excretion in systemic homeostasis, these findings suggest that artificial sweeteners may influence key physiological processes beyond nutrition. The metastasis investigation showed increased intensity and spread of fluorescently labeled cancer cells in the flies put on AS food, but more quantitative measurements and mechanism analysis are necessary.
These findings contribute to the growing body of research on artificial sweeteners and their potential implications for cancer biology. Future studies will aim to determine the molecular mechanisms underlying these effects and their relevance to human health
Community Music, Counter-stories, and Social Inequality in Central Florida\u27s Music Spaces
Full text linkBlack working-class musicians have shaped American popular culture for centuries. Despite their contributions, they have faced decades of marginalization and exploitation by record companies, executives, and consumers. While systems of exploitation affect musicians of all backgrounds, Black working-class musicians are in a double bind, susceptible to both economic and social exploitation. Musicians who live within the subdominant groups of race, gender, and class frequently face obstacles that place them at a disadvantage. Through semi-structured interviews, the research draws on the lived experiences of Black working-class musicians in Central Florida. I argue that community music serves as a vital resource, offering Black working-class musicians access to opportunities that help mitigate social inequalities prevalent in the music industry. The following research questions are explored: (1) How do Black working-class musicians use community music to navigate systems of inequality in music spaces and the music industry? (2) What are the measurable levels of impact that community music has on Black-working class musicians? (3) How can local institutions, organizations, or communities use community music as a tool for social mobility and/or community development? Community music is an act of resistance against the institutionalization and privatization of music-making. Black working-class musicians have thrived when participating in community-based structures. By harnessing the potential of community music as an organizational tool, we empower musicians to navigate these structures while extending access to resources for marginalized Black populations. This approach represents a powerful response to the pressing issue of social inequality in the world of music
Polarization On Campus: How Social Media Shapes College Students\u27 Opinions on the Israel Hamas War
Full text linkThis study examines the impact of social media on the polarization of opinions regarding the Israel-Hamas war, particularly among U.S. college students. Following the outbreak of the war in October 2023, social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, X, and TikTok have facilitated the spread of highly partisan narratives, fueling ideological divides. The study highlights how social media contributes to the increase in antisemitic and Islamophobic sentiments, exacerbating societal tensions. Through 25 structured qualitative interviews with college students, the research explores how social media algorithms shape perceptions by reinforcing preexisting beliefs through echo chambers and filter bubbles. Taken as a whole, participants reported frequent exposure to ideologically aligned content, leading to selective engagement with information that supports their viewpoints while disregarding opposing perspectives. This phenomenon intensifies political polarization and influences campus activism, as social media serves both as an organizing tool and a medium for ideological reinforcement. The study mostly draws from theories of the networked public sphere, cyberbalkanization, and social movement theory (SMT) to analyze the fragmented discourse surrounding the war. The findings suggest that while social media provides quick access to information, its algorithmic design fosters ideological divisions, limiting exposure to diverse perspectives and complicating efforts to foster critical thinking and informed decision-making
Site-Directed Mutagenesis of the Chlamydia Tarp Effector
No full textChlamydia trachomatis is the leading cause of preventable blindness and the most common sexually transmitted bacterial infection (STI) worldwide. As an obligate intracellular bacterium, it relies entirely on the host’s cellular environment for survival and replication. Chlamydia utilizes a collection of bacterial proteins called effectors to hijack a multitude of host functions to promote chlamydial survival. A key chlamydial effector in this process is the Translocated Actin Recruiting Phosphoprotein (Tarp), which promotes bacterial entry by reorganizing the host cell’s actin cytoskeleton through C-terminal actin binding domains. While the Tarp effector is not essential for bacterial growth, a C. trachomatis deletion mutant (ΔtarP) is attenuated in both in vitro tissue culture and in vivo infection models. In addition to actin binding domains, Tarp contains six tandem tyrosine-rich repeats, each of which can be phosphorylated by host tyrosine kinases. The role of Tarp phosphorylation in infection is not well understood but appears to be distinct from its control of the actin cytoskeleton. This study aims to create a non-phosphorylatable version of Tarp by introducing point mutations at the tyrosine residues within these repeats. We hypothesize that mutating these residues will prevent phosphorylation and help us better understand Tarp’s role in Chlamydia pathogenesis. Using site-directed mutagenesis, we designed primers to introduce tyrosine-to-phenylalanine substitutions at all six repeat sites. The resulting mutant constructs were expressed in E. coli, with protein expression confirmed by western blotting. Tarp’s phosphorylated state will be evaluated using anti-phosphotyrosine antibodies. We anticipate that non-phosphorylatable Tarp mutants will ultimately help to reveal the functional consequences of phosphorylation on Chlamydia-host interactions, providing insights into its infection mechanisms and identifying potential therapeutic targets
Mitigating and Preparing for Disasters at The Organizational Level: A Global Systematic Literature Review
Full text linkOrganizations play significant roles in society by providing goods and services and contributing to the economies of communities, globally. Amid the predicted increase in the frequency and impact of disasters, which will invariably lead to higher disaster costs, there is an urgent need to ameliorate disaster impact on society and organizations. Disaster mitigation and preparedness are strategies for stemming disaster impact and losses within organizations. Cognizant of the importance of disaster mitigation and preparedness, researchers have conducted a myriad of studies on both concepts at the organizational level. To advance knowledge on this topic, this study conducted a comprehensive systematic literature review by examining the global trends in disaster mitigation and preparedness research at the organizational level, identifying research gaps in methodological dimensions, and recommending future research topics based on gaps in the literature. The authors searched three databases—Web of Science, EBSCO-ProQuest, and ABIinform—for keywords related to the topic and conducted a reverse citation search of the identified studies from the initial search, resulting in a final list of 123 studies. The findings indicate that research on this topic is relatively young and tends to mostly occur in collaborative environments. Additionally, most studies are quantitative and empirical in nature, and much of the research is on North America and Asia. Furthermore, while three-quarters of the studies do not specify a particular hazard type, among those that do, most focus on earthquakes and terrorist attacks in Asia and North America respectively, among other hazard types. This study concluded by recommending areas for future research
Open Ed Live Opening [Day 2] and Supersize Your OER Initiative with ZTC Pathways!
No full textSuper-size your OER initiative by developing a complete degree or certificate pathway utilizing OER! These programs are known as Zero Textbook Cost pathways or ZTCs. In this session, you’ll learn about the challenges and benefits of developing a ZTC pathway, consider the elements to include when planning a ZTC, and review examples of ZTC programs across the US and Canada
Florida Frontiers Radio Program #578
No full textSEGMENTS | Orange County Regional History Center | Splendid China | Tampa Public Librar
The Weight of Waking: The Relationship Between Postpartum Mental Health and Infant Sleep
No full textThis study explored which factors act alongside maternal mental health to predict how often their infants awoke at night. More specifically, this project aimed to determine if education level interacted with postpartum mental health symptoms to predict awakenings. A multiple linear regression model was developed using a dataset on 410 new mothers from Switzerland. The data contained information on the mothers’ recent symptoms of several mental health conditions as well as their infants’ sleep quality. Despite finding a statistically significant model, it did not account for much of the pattern in infant sleep awakenings. Future research should include mothers from countries with more pronounced socioeconomic inequality to gain a more diverse perspective on the effects of socioeconomic status on maternal mental health and infant sleep. Through this project, I learned more about how complex human behavior is and the limitations of using linear models.https://stars.library.ucf.edu/hip-2025spring/1050/thumbnail.jp
HISS, RIBBIT, VROOM: An Examination of Herpetofaunal Abundance in an Area Surrounded by Anthropogenic Noise
Full text linkHuman population is increasing and will continue to do so, which means more wild habitat is altered. Even areas that are designated for preservation or conservation may still experience indirect alteration, such as anthropogenic noise and road mortality. Anthropogenic noise, or noise from people, becomes noise pollution when it disrupts an ecosystem’s functioning. The objective of this experiment was to determine the influence of road noise pollution on the abundance of reptiles and amphibians on a UCF campus wetland. Between the months of January and April of 2025, we performed basic trapping and dipnetting as well as walked transects to test decibels at specified points. We found that there was no significant change with the number of species nor individuals depending on the weather, nor with changes in decibel readings. There was no significant variation in noise, but it could be due to a variety of reasons not experimentally tested. The recorded species in the wetland primarily included generalists and invasive species which are able to thrive in a variety of habitats. However, there was still plenty of non-herpetofauna activity in the area, meaning it is still productive. We suggest that this topic be further explored in a more intensive way in the future, either during a season where there would be quiet hours, or in comparison with a remote but ecologically similar site.https://stars.library.ucf.edu/hip-2025spring/1037/thumbnail.jp