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Investigating Mercury Contamination in Urban Fish: Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy and Histological Analysis for Environmental and Human Health
Get PDFMercury contamination in aquatic ecosystems is a pressing environmental and public health concern, particularly in urban areas where industrial runoff and wastewater contribute to heavy metal accumulation. This study investigates mercury presence in fish from Richland Creek in Nashville, TN, by analyzing histological changes in liver and muscle tissues. Mercury bioaccumulates in aquatic food chains, potentially leading to physiological damage in fish and posing health risks to humans who consume contaminated seafood. While prior research has established mercury’s toxic effects, there is a need for localized studies assessing its presence in urban waterways. The hope is to find histological abnormalities in liver and muscle tissues, such as cellular degeneration and inflammation, indicative of mercury toxicity. Future analysis using atomic absorption spectroscopy is expected to confirm measurable levels of mercury in these tissues, correlating with observed damage. By identifying contamination patterns and potential health risks, this study aims to contribute to ongoing efforts in pollution management and environmental conservation
The TikTok Fallacy
No full textIn the past few years, TikTok has become one of the most popular platforms for short video content. This study explores the Phenomenon of “The TikTok Fallacy”, a cognitive bias similar to the gambler’s fallacy or the hot hand fallacy. Where users develop a sense that the next video that they encounter will be humorous, interesting, or entertaining, despite past outcomes when scrolling. This research aims to examine how the TikTok algorithm and users\u27 behavior create this pattern of thinking to continuously engage with content in search of the next hit.” Through a survey done by university students
ITD Senior Thesis - Research
No full textThe intent of this design is to create a sacred sanctuary that guides individuals on a transformative journey through the abstractions of love, time, and death. The design draws upon sacred geometry and natural elements to symbolize life\u27s cycles, encouraging reflection, renewal, and connection. Rooted in the rouleaux\u27s triangle and the golden ratio, each space embodies one abstraction: fostering love through connection, embracing time as a force of change, and honoring death as an opportunity for renewal. This sanctuary offers a refuge for the people of Nashville, promoting healing, resilience, and an appreciation of life\u27s collateral beauty
The Effects of Texture on Emotion
No full textThe present study explores the emotional effects of texture on decision making. Existing research indicates that there are significant distinctions in the type of emotion and intensity of emotion between various textures during touch (Losifyan & Korolkova, 2019). Along with this, previous research has incorporated the use of a sliding scale to rate pleasant or unpleasant emotional reactions to different textures during touch (Bertheaux et al., 2019). Researchers have also found that soft textures (i.e., fleece and velvet) can stimulate positive emotions and vice versa (Zeng et al., 2024). Furthermore, existing research has worked to provide evidence that anxiety affects a person’s decision-making process (Bishop & Gagne, 2018), though more research is required to fully understand its effects (Hartley & Phelps, 2012). Thus, the purpose of the current project is to explore the relationships between texture and emotion, specifically anxiety and comfort, as well as the effects that these textures and emotions may have on the participant’s decision-making process. Building on this literature, we hypothesize that through this study, participants will make more rational decisions after feeling more soft textures like silk, and will make more irrational decisions after feeling more rough textures like sandpaper. Our hypotheses will be tested through a blind experiment where participants will feel the chosen textures in a box. After feeling each material, the participants answered chosen scenarios where they must make a decision based on the context. The anticipated results from the study are that rational decisions will be made by the group of participants that feel the softer textures, and those who feel the rougher textures will make less thought-out, more rational decisions
Power of Play
Get PDFThis presentation explores the Power of Play in speech therapy, focusing on how games and storytelling enhance language development. By incorporating familiar stories and pretend play, speech-language pathologists can spark greater engagement and expression in students. Drawing on research that highlights the cognitive and communicative benefits of play-based learning, this study is supported by observations of a middle school child working with a speech pathologist. The findings suggest that integrating playful, narrative-driven activities can significantly support language growth and confidence in young learners
Exploring the Synergistic Effects of Cisplatin and Curcumin in Osteosarcoma Cells
No full textOsteosarcoma (OS) is a highly aggressive bone cancer characterized by rapid metastasis, which drastically reduces patient survival rates from 70% in localized cases to 30% upon metastasis. Current treatments combining chemotherapy with cisplatin and surgical intervention are often ineffective against metastatic OS and are associated with significant side effects. Cisplatin targets cancer cells by binding to DNA, disrupting transcription and replication, and inducing apoptosis. To address the challenges associated with current treatments, this study investigates the potential of combining cisplatin with curcumin, the bioactive compound derived from turmeric, as a novel therapeutic approach. Curcumin has shown anticancer properties through the induction of oxidative stress, mitochondrial damage, and increased reactive oxygen species, leading to cell death. We treated OS cells with cisplatin and curcumin, both individually and in combination, to assess their effects on cell proliferation, migration, and apoptosis. Our results demonstrate that the combination therapy significantly decreases cell viability compared to either agent alone while potentially mitigating the adverse effects associated with traditional chemotherapy. These findings suggest that the synergistic effects of cisplatin and curcumin offer a promising new therapeutic strategy for improving outcomes in patients with OS
Combatting Nurse Burnout Through Improved Nurse Patient Ratios
Get PDFNurse burnout is an issue that affects all hospital systems in the US. It is due to a variety of factors including high stress work environment, staffing shortages, lack of sleep, lack of support, emotional strain, and more. When over half of the workers in a career are experiencing burnout, you know a change needs to take place. In many facilities, there are no practices in place to prevent this from occurring. Currently, a large contributing factor is high nurse to patient ratios. At Centennial Medical Center on floor 7T, ratios can get as high as 1:7. The plan that we are recommending is hospital implemented strict 1:4 patient ratios. The timeline for implementation would most likely look like training and education taking about 2 months to train managers and charge nurses on recognizing burnout, such as calling out and no call/no shows and nurses on being preceptors for new nurses. Then, policy enforcement would take another month to complete. In terms of cost, the most prevalent cost would be hiring more nurses, as we cannot cut down ratios unless we have the staffing to allow us to do so. Hiring/replacing nurses can cost anywhere between 58,400 and the amount of new hires depends on current staffing numbers of the floor. The expected outcome for our change proposal is to have the set nurse-patient ratio of 1-3, max 4, be set and implemented into medical-surgical units at Centennial Medical Center. Thus, preventing burnout from experiencing high patient-nurse ratios, further preventing the actions of calling out and high turnover rates. The plan for sustaining this change is by implementing a regular policy review to continue to evaluate and update improvements to nurse-to-patient ratio policies based on the reviews of the nurses. Also continuing to monitor data through turnover rates, patient outcomes/satisfaction and nurses\u27 well-being surveys will allow staff to track the outcomes of these policies and allow staff to optimize and refine their strategies. The future implications of this project would hopefully reduce nurse turnover. By implementing better working conditions hospitals could track the statistics of nurse turnover rates which will subsequently benefit the hospitals by reducing the cost of hiring and training new staff. Nurses would hopefully notice an improved workplace culture which can contribute to decreased turnover, improved job satisfaction, and promote teamwork which would ultimately benefit the patient
Exploring and Improving Generative AI Usage at Belmont University
Get PDFAbstract
The development of widely accessible generative AI tools such as ChatGPT has significantly impacted higher education. Professors and students alike now have the capability to synthesize information from across the whole internet in seconds, which gives rise to new methods of learning, teaching, and cheating. Through this project, we will form policy recommendations regarding both student use of and faculty instruction on generative AI at Belmont, with the goal of creating a more equitable and effective learning environment. The ways in which Belmont University chooses to handle this development will significantly impact the quality and equity of instruction and learning available
Methods
Throughout the project there will be three major components that will create the final deliverable policy recommendations. The first component is gaining an understanding of current industry use-cases of generative AI within different industries, which will be accomplished through further research on industry trends with generative AI. This will allow us to more directly tailor our recommendations to the industries most connected with the courses we seek to guide policy for. The second component is gaining an understanding of Belmont University’s student population’s understanding and usage of generative AI tools within the classroom setting, which will be accomplished through surveys. Surveys allow for quicker responses and results when compared to other methods like interviews, and will allow us to gain input from students across the entirety of Belmont University within the allotted time of this semester. The survey format also makes quantifying data much simpler through the use of likert scales, which will lead to easier data analysis. The third component is gaining an understanding of Belmont University’s faculty population’s understanding of usage of generative AI tools within the classroom setting, which will also be accomplished through surveys.
Conclusion
While there are a number of technical and ethical issues surrounding the use of generative AI, the technology cannot simply be ignored. We believe that, by crafting thoughtful and effective policies regarding the use of AI, Belmont University has the ability to limit issues like cheating, while also helping students develop valuable technical skills that will be extremely valuable as AI tools continue to develop
Illinois Biometric Privacy Act
No full textWe will be talking about the BIPA act and how it relates to businesses all around the United States. We will also discuss penalties and objectives of this privacy act