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The Invasion of Sea Lamprey in the Great Lakes
No full textThe sea lamprey is an invasive species that had been introduced to the Great Lakes. The sea lamprey feeds upon the native fish, by attaching itself to the fish with its hinge-less jaw having many rows of teeth, and feeding on the fish’s blood. This has had a dramatic effect on the numbers of fish in the Great Lakes, since the sea lamprey has no predators in the Great Lakes areas. This project looks into the numbers of sea lamprey in Lake Michigan, Lake Huron, and Lake Superior from the year 2009 to 2015. Using data from the Great Lakes Fishery Commission and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, statistical tests of two means, multiple proportions, and multiple means were performed using the Hope College’s applet resource. The tests concluded that the northern areas of Lake Michigan and Huron had greater amounts of sea lamprey than the southern areas, that Lake Huron and Lake Michigan had larger amounts of sea lamprey than Lake Superior, and that Lake Huron had a greater number of sea lamprey than Lake Michigan
Toward Understanding Keratan Sulfate Biosynthesis in the Chick Embryonic Cornea
No full textThe cornea, the most densely innervated tissue on the surface of the body, becomes innervated by sensory trigeminal nerves in a highly coordinated fashion. In the embryonic chicken eye, trigeminal growth cones arrive at the corneal periphery on the fifth day of embryonic development (E5). The nerves then form a ring around the cornea; the cornea does not become permissive to nerve growth until E10. Upon entering the cornea at E10-11, trigeminal axons are restricted to the anterior half of the corneal stroma and defasciculate extensively from the main nerve bundles. The mechanisms behind the precise control of these growth cone guidance cues remain unclear. It is known that extracellular matrix glycosaminoglycans (ECM-GAGs) polymerize in developing eyefronts. The purpose of this study was to determine if keratan sulfate (KS), an ECM-GAG, may provide guidance cues to nerves during cornea innervation. Immunostaining using antineuron-specific-β-tubulin and monoclonal antibodies for KS was performed on embryonic chicken eyefronts from E9 to E14 and staining was visualized by fluorescence microscopy
Understanding Pain through the Lens of Merleau-Pontian Phenomenology: How it Applies to Prehabilitation and Rehabilitation
No full textPain plays an enlightening role in the process of rehabilitation. Phenomenological views of pain strive to contextualize the effect and experience of pain on the individual. Pain is a fundamental part of an individual\u27s experience that represents limitations of oneself. A 20th-century continental philosopher Maurice Merleau-Ponty provides a framework of phenomenology that current physical therapists, nurses, and even neuroscientists utilize to comprehend pain. Previous articles and studies have demonstrated the importance of understanding pain as a phenomenon that affects one\u27s perception of reality rather than a glitch or breakdown of the body. In this project, I will apply Merleau-Pontian phenomenology to our understanding of pain. In doing so, I will show that characteristics of pain in prehabilitation movement settings can enhance physical therapy and rehabilitation practices. CrossFit presents a unique training model that embodies pain with variance and togetherness from which the field of physical therapy can learn and adopt. The element of variance—being exposed to non-repetitive set of exercises—and togetherness—exercising with others—equips patients and therapists with the ability to address pain
What Factors Enabled Passage of the LIFE Act and Failure of the DREAM Act?
No full textLight has been shed on the topic of America’s broken immigration system because of the upcoming 2016 elections. This has made candidates and all Americans wonder: if we have had a broken immigration system for this long, are there any ways to fix the issue, and have Congress and the President worked together to find a solution? My presentation offers a comparative analysis of the successful Legal Immigration Family Equity (LIFE) Act of 2000 (Pub. L. 106-553 and -554), and the unsuccessful Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act (H.R.1842 ) of 2011. Through the policies’ evaluation, the reasons and corresponding factors for each bill were determined and examined. The results then contributed to a personal reformed proposal that would allow for Congress and the President to aid America’s broken immigration system
Why Women are Failing to be Elected to Higher Political Offices
No full textPrevious research firmly establishes an array of factors that contribute to the success or failure of female candidates running for a political office. For example, a women’s appearance consistently proves to take precedence over the policies that female candidates hold. There is a gap, however, in this research that specifically focuses on women who run for the executive branch. Do the same factors influence the likelihood of success for women seeking the presidency? I examine what factors contribute to the failure of women candidates being elected to such higher political offices. It seems that more than any other factors, stereotypes and beliefs about of the existence of ‘feminine issues versus masculine issues’ stand as barriers to female success in earning high-level political office. Stereotypes and beliefs about what issues a woman should deal with frame all other factors that influence female electability. Thus, this research explores public beliefs and attitudes about female candidates and how such beliefs affect women’s election to higher political offices
Effect of Homocysteic Acid Exposure on NMDA Receptor Expression in Developing Rat Pups
No full textHomocysteic acid (HCA), a NMDA receptor agonist, is an endogenous compound formed from the oxidation of homocysteine. Since hyperhomocysteinemia is a risk factor for several neuropsychiatric disorders, including bipolar disorder and major depressive disorder (MDD), we sought to test the hypothesis that elevated HCA levels in developing rats may induce alterations in NMDA receptor expression and the development of behaviors associated with MDD and/or bipolar disorder. Previously, postnatal male and female rats were injected daily with either HCA or saline from day P3 to P17. The female, HCA-treated rats displayed increased risk-taking behavior, reduced social behavior, novelty-induced hyperlocomotion, anhedonia, and reduced sensitivity to pain compared to control and male-HCA treated rats. Additionally, an increase in NMDAR2 expression was observed in the cortex and hippocampus of female rats. More recently we expanded the injection period from day P3 to P21. Both male and female rats exhibited decreased social interaction, increased anhedonia, and increased risk-taking behaviors. Also, male HCA-treated rats exhibited an increased motivational behavior in the Morris Water Maze and a reduction in food consumption. We did not observe a significant difference in the NMDAR2 expression in the cortex among the HCA-treated and control rats. We also did not observe a difference in receptor levels among males and females. There was a trend for female HCA treated rats to have decreased NMDAR2 expression. Currently, we are working to determine if these differences stem from regional differences of NMDA receptors in the cortex. We would like to acknowledge the students in the Introduction to Neuroscience course in the spring of 2015 for their work testing these rats
Math and Reading Skills Improvement Through-out an After-School Program
No full textThe Children’s After School Achievement (CASA) Program on Hope College’s campus works with at-risk elementary students from the Holland area. These elementary pupils are mentored by Hope College students and focus on improving reading and math skills. This study compared the growth of the CASA students’ math and reading after one year in the program. Students were given the Brigance Comprehensive Inventory of Basic Skills (CIBS II) subtests of word recognition, oral reading, reading comprehension, and math grade level placement. They were assessed in Fall 2014 and then again in Spring 2015. A paired T-test determined the significance of the change in students’ scores for the academic year. A one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted to determine if students’ improvement in the different areas of literacy significantly differed from one another. It was found that students improved significantly in all of the assessed areas. A limitation of our study was not being able to control for outside variables
Smoking as a Predictor of Teenage Pregnancy
No full textTeenage pregnancy is an ongoing social and economic issue because those who become pregnant as teenagers have additional academic, personal, and financial challenges throughout their lives. Determining the relevance of an individual’s time preference on the likelihood of becoming pregnant may identify helpful precautionary measures. A rational decision regarding sexual activity as a teenager involves benefits that are incurred more immediately, while the cost of sexual activity including possible pregnancy is delayed. This paper examines whether teenage smoking, as a proxy for time preference, is a significant predictor of teenage pregnancy. If teenagers who choose to smoke have a higher rate of time preference, then they might also weight more heavily the immediate benefits of sexual activity relative to the future costs. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, this paper separately identifies the effect of time preference from other determinants of teenage pregnancy by employing a school fixed effects model and controlling for individual and family characteristics. The results suggest that a female teenager’s decision to smoke regularly increases her likelihood of becoming pregnant by 3.85 percent. The results of the male regression models show there is no relationship between regularly smoking and getting someone pregnant, but smoking large quantities of cigarettes per month increased the probability of causing a pregnancy
The “Missing Women” and Gender Income Equality: Evidence from China’s One-Child Policy
No full textChina’s one-child policy limited all but 55 ethnic minorities in China to having one child during their lifetime. This policy dramatically reduced the total population in China but also skewed the sex ratio due to Chinese parents’ deeply rooted cultural preference for sons. Previous literature that examined the effects of the one-child policy mainly focused on the sex ratio, but little attention has been paid to some of the consequences. This paper discusses the phenomenon of the “Missing Women” and analyzes subsequent changes in the gender wage gap using data from the Chinese Household Income Project (CHIP) in 1988, 1995, 2002 and 2007. The theory of labor demand implies that if male and female labor are not close substitutes, a decrease in the supply of women workers could increase women’s wages and shrink the gender pay gap. Moreover, if an only daughter receives greater human capital investments than if a son was also born to the same family, a woman’s productivity may increase and consequently increase wages. These mechanisms may suggest the gender pay gap is subject to being narrowed under the influence of the one-child policy
The Impact of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative on U.S Travel to Mexico
No full textOn June 1, 2009 the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI) imposed new regulations on travel across U.S borders. These regulations required that all individuals crossing the U.S-Canada and U.S-Mexico borders present a valid passport or other accepted documentation. These requirements may discourage cross-border travel due to the additional monetary and time costs of obtaining a passport, increased border wait times, or intimidation due to the impression of increased security at the border. Studies find that the regulations of the WHTI caused a significant decline in travel across the U.S-Canada border (Bradbury, 2012), however no such study has examined the U.S-Mexico border. For decades, U.S residents have traveled to Mexico in greater numbers than to any other country (OTTI, 2015). Disruption of these travel flows may have extensive negative economic implications for the Mexican tourism industry. This paper employs data from the U.S Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) to test the hypothesis that the WHTI caused a decrease in U.S citizens’ demand for travel to Mexico, other factors held constant