Spectrum volume 8(2)

SPECTRUM Journal of Student Research at Saint Francis University

Abstracts of the Seventh Annual Saint Francis University Research Day

Volume 8 (2) Fall 2017

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SPECTRUM Journal of Student Research at Saint Francis University Fall 2017 Volume 8 (2) SEVENTH ANNUAL SAINT FRANCIS UNIVERSITY RESEARCH DAY ABSTRACTS November 16, 2017 John F. Kennedy Student Center

Schedule 12:30 pm – 2:00 pm

Poster session A (Odd Abstract Numbers)

1:30 pm – 3:00 pm

Poster session B (Even Abstract Numbers)

3:00 pm – 4:00 pm

Lecture session

Cover photo by Magdolna Hargittai

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POSTER PRESENTATIONS P1

Geiger, Christine; Flaisher-Grinberg, Shlomit Utilizing Instrumental Conditioning to Discriminate Between Scents in Canines Learning, one of the fundamental fields of psychology, involves the investigation of why and how animals interact with their surroundings. One method which aids in learning of behaviors is instrumental conditioning. In this process, animals learn that their behavior has the ability to control the outcome of an event. Canines are extremely intelligent animals which comprehend this subject very quickly. Their intelligence has been combined with their enhanced olfactory senses; these two features have been paired and used to efficiently sniff out landmines and explosives. They are also used to locate autistic children that have wandered from their families. The study conducted was done in attempt to evoke the similar qualities from the Pitbull named Athena as she learned to discriminate between scents using instrumental conditioning. Athena was trained to recognize and acknowledge an important scent and ignore the scent that was of least importance. Various methods were used to achieve this including establishing the desired scent as a conditioned stimulus using positive reinforcement and negative punishment. Once Athena moved toward the targeted scent, positive reinforcement in the form of a dog treat were given to mark the good behavior. Once she learned, treats were no longer given until she was able to display new behaviors that progressed toward the correct scent. Negative punishment was used by ignoring all behaviors that led her to the non-targeted scent. The results concluded that the canine Athena was able to discriminate between a target scent which produced a reward and distinguished it from others that did not produce a reward. Future studies may further analyze this learning method by testing canines’ abilities to detect a human companion with autism from regular people, which could be applicable and beneficial in the real world.

P2

Romeo, Alexander; Flaisher-Grinberg, Shlomit

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A Hugging Dog The human-animal bond is something that is stronger than people think. The nature and quality of biophillia are believed to be indicative of the level of societal compassion and respect for life and nature, as well as a source of inner peace for the individual (Schaefer, K, 2002). Research has been conducted in the field on how animals can assist those who are struggling to get through everyday life. Our question: if forward chaining along with affection and attention as the only positive reinforcement being used, will result in Athena learning how to “hug”/climb on someone calmly and let them pet and hug her. Athena is a black lab, pitbull mix that is very energetic, intelligent and silly. We used a chair and staircase to see which one she would rather climb on and “hug” an individual. The time of how long she is hugging someone was recorded at the beginning of the moment we determined she began hugging someone.

Forward chaining was the guideline to this project. The goal was to get her to come up to someone while they are sitting in a chair or on a staircase, the individual pats their thighs and she knows that that is the signal to climb up on the individual and hug. It was found and hypothesized that Athena will hug an individual longer than a minute if attention and affection are the only reinforcement being used. If she can recognize when to hug someone in a chair, on a staircase and even a couch, could she later on go to rehabilitation centers and hug an individual in a wheelchair? With our results, future projects using “hugging” to see if there is an increase of mood in individual with disabilities or mood disorders.

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Tedjasukmana, Natalie; Flaisher-Grinberg, Shlomit Canine Learning and Behavior: Can pugs learn behaviors that Agriculture dogs know?

The field of learning psychology, which includes animal behavioral studies, has been found to facilitate the understanding of organisms’ development, knowledge and skills. These studies have also been used to benefit animals and humans alike. For example, agriculture dogs benefit Americans by screening out luggage and carry-on items at airports, protecting American agriculture from pests and agricultural diseases that could enter the country. While beagles/beagle mixes work in airports as agriculture dogs due to their keen sense of smell, non-threatening size, food-driven behavior, and gentle disposition, it is yet unknown if additional breeds can serve as agriculture dogs. The current experiment was designed to explore whether pugs can be trained to become agriculture dogs. Methods includes the sensitization of the subject, a pug, to the smell of a banana, classical conditioning (associating the banana with positive reinforcement), and operant conditioning, in which the subject learned to produce a passive or active response to indicate the location of the banana. Discrimination procedures required the subject to choose the correct location of the banana among two boxes. A baseline assessment counted the number of errors that occurred in ten trials. Additional trials quantified the number of errors conducted with the boxes facing up (banana out of sight) or sideways (banana can be seen). Results demonstrated that the subject learned to locate the banana by sight, but failed to identify its location by smell, thus suggesting that the pug breed cannot learn the same behavior as agriculture dogs. Because the subject experienced a hardship when searching for the banana by using smell, future research on this topic can be adjusted so that factors such as smell masking can be eliminated.

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Scott, Gabriella D.; Chverchko, Jessica J.; Wolf, Irene M. Does HSP90 Gene Expression Vary in Seasonal Dragonflies?

The Autumn Meadowhawk (Sympetrum vicinum) is a species of dragonfly that is part of the Libellulidae family. Autumn Meadowhawks survive the first frost while all other dragonfly species die. Autumn Meadowhawks are able to survive the cold temperatures while others cannot. This also means that all other species of dragonflies are thermoregulators, meaning that they are able to survive in warm weather but die in cold. The Autumn Meadowhawk may be able to survive winter because of some of the adaptive qualities that the dragonfly possesses. One of these qualities could be the presence of the HSP70 or HSP90 gene. HSP stands for Heat Shock Protein and this protein can allow the insects to be able to tolerate cold weather. There are 5 HSP genes and they can be found at 60, 70, 90,and 100 kDa, and the functions of these proteins are highly conserved meaning, it is not used unless it is absolutely necessary.

During winter, it was observed, that some insects who were able to survive after the first frost, have high levels of mRNA transcripts for the HSP genes. Our lab’s objective was to look at the presence of the HSP90 Gene by using a western blot assay. We wanted to see if there was an increase in the mRNA expression for the HSP genes or if there could also be multiple gene copies for this protein that allows the Autumn Meadowhawk to survive cold temperatures.

P5

Snyder, Sara E.; Cazan, Roxana L. Is Rape Culture Real? An Analysis of Media Popular Campus Sexual Assaults The focus of this project is to shed light on campus rape and sexual assault and to bring awareness to the issues that follow it. The main goal of this research is to demonstrate how much work feminist still have to do in order to make our criminal justice system fair. The second goal is to have a variety of voices on college campuses be heard in their opinions as they weigh in on the political consequences of rape. The third goal is to honor victims of rape and to work on cases of rape on college campuses where sexual abuse victims might be afraid to come out with their story. I performed research at the Library of Congress by looking at newspaper articles on the two cases at Stanford University and the University of

5 North Carolina. I also consulted a few feminist texts to define rape culture. My research found that rape culture is current in today's society through how the media depicts the perpetrators of the crime.

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Zelenky, Arlan J.; Gallagher, Ry P.; Li, Ying Sudoku Solutions in MuPAD Using Abstract Algebra and Algebraic Geometry Algebraic Geometry studies geometric objects that can be described as zero loci of polynomials. To further understand the structure of a system defined by polynomials, such as its dimension, singularities, intersections and unions, hence to obtain applicable solutions, it is essential to perform intensive computations using Computer Algebra Systems. MATLAB contains a Computer Algebra System that does computation in this subject area but there has not been much effort to utilize the Computer Algebra System that MATLAB has in applications. In this paper, the computational methods in Algebraic Geometry will be demonstrated using MuPAD. We also present a specific program that produces Gr\"obner basis calculations in order to calculate the ideals describing conditions of a shidoku (four-byfour puzzle) board or a sudoku (nine-by nine puzzle) board. This is implemented using three different strategies including: sum and product method, binary method, and integer field method. The paper concludes by proving the main theorem that guarantees the result of the integer field method that was employed.

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Boyd, Hannah E.; Hargittai, Balazs The Comparison of a-Cystallin and Caffeine in the Prevention of Cataracts in Bovine Lenses For many individuals, cataracts can cause severe vision loss, which leads to unforeseen medical expenses and decreased quality of life. Recent studies have focused on the development of prevention programs in order to reduce the instances of cataract formation in adults. Cataracts form through the aggregation of misfolded peptides, which are the result of oxidation reactions. Naturally, α-crystallin proteins act as a chaperone and prevent these reactions. However, the amount of α-crystallin proteins present in the body is limited. Likewise, antioxidants such as caffeine also halt oxidation reactions, and could potentially prevent cataract formation. In order to determine possible compounds which could prevent the development of cataracts in lenses, the preventative effectiveness of α-crystallin and caffeine was compared. This was achieved by obtaining lenses from cow eyes, which were treated with solutions of either caffeine, α-crystallin, or deionized water. These lenses were exposed to a sodium selenite solution in order to expedite the formation of cataracts. The exposure to selenite and treatment with caffeine or αcrystallin solutions was repeated for several weeks. After 20 days, the development of cataracts was analyzed qualitatively through observations, and quantitatively through measuring the concentration of calcium in digested lenses. Calcium concentrations were determined by analyzing each supernatant via a Thermo S Series Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrometer, since previous research has suggested that higher concentrations of calcium indicate less cataract formation. However, statistical analysis of the measured calcium concentrations in the lenses showed that no conclusive evidence about the formation of cataracts was obtained. Therefore, the test is being repeated in order to increase the sample size and to obtain conclusive evidence.

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Boyd, Hannah E.; Hargittai, Balazs Comparing the Microwave Assisted Synthesis of Tripeptides to Traditional Peptide Synthesis Methods Typically, each coupling reaction involved in a traditional peptide synthesis takes several hours to complete. However, the use of a microwave has been shown to shorten the reaction times to under an hour. Therefore, it is possible to synthesize tripeptides in a single day which would originally take several days to complete. By rotating the molecules, microwaves increase the frequency with which reactions

6 occur. This not only saves time and increases yield, but also saves money and reagents, thus promoting the principles of green chemistry. The goal of this study was to develop and improve a “green” procedure for the synthesis of tripeptides which were needed for other investigations within the chemistry department. Though the use of a CEM microwave, the reaction time for each coupling step was decreased, with the hope that the percent yield and the effectiveness of the peptide would also improve.

Several peptides were made both using the traditional procedure proposed by R.B. Merrifield and an altered synthesis method making use of a CEM microwave to expedite the coupling reactions. The final masses of these peptides were recorded and compared to their theoretical yields in order to evaluate the overall efficiency of the altered synthesis method when compared to traditional methods. From the data collected, it was determined that there was no statistical difference in the efficiency of the traditional synthesis pathway and the microwave-assisted synthesis. However, a very large sample size was used, suggesting that more peptides need to be analyzed before a definitive conclusion can be made.

P9

Bailey, Grace E.; Wagner, Rachel C. Joule Thief Exploration and MFC Application Although the Joule Thief is a relatively simple circuit that amateurs can replicate, not much study has been done on optimization. The toroid core can have variations in the number of coils, wire gauge, core size, and core type. A toroid is a thick metallic ring that two wires are wrapped around. The Joule Thief circuit is capable of using relatively low voltages and putting out higher voltages in quick bursts. Due to the miniscule time it takes the circuit to oscillate, the result is the impression that the power is constantly flowing at the higher voltage. Different cores were tested in an attempt to better understand how they behave with various attributes. The Joule Thief circuit could be ideal for utilizing the low voltages produced by microbial fuel cells.

P10

Feather, Maddison J.; Hoch, Anna R.; Lynch, Mark T.

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The Clery Act In order to increase the knowledge of faculty, staff and police on College campuses, regarding the Clery Act, the development of an online survey occurred. The survey link electronically dispersed to selected individuals and campuses, chosen through a convenience sample, created by Dr. Mark Lynch. The survey consisted of 20 questions, to test the overall knowledge and implementation of the Clery Act that the faculty, staff and police were aware of. Following the completion of the survey, individual results collected anonymously within. After surveymonkey.com collected the results of all whom participated, a multitude of graphs were created by the researchers, to test the three hypotheses. The results of the research concluded that a majority of faculty, staff and campus police are aware of the Clery Act and their duties to attend such trainings.

P11

Winschel, Timothy R.; Burge, McKenzie J.; Wolf, Irene M. Is the Sport Supplement Deer Velvet Antler Effective for Injury Repair?

Supplements such as insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) and deer velvet antler (DVA) have been used by many athletes to improve performance and increase recovery time from an injury. Many supplement brands claim that DVA can increase cell growth and repair, however there is little research backing these claims. The goal of this project is to measure cellular proliferation of mouse fibroblasts when treated with DVA. The effects of DVA on cell proliferation were tested using MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5diphenyltetrazolium bromide) and wound healing assays. Cells were treated with 50ng/ml IGF-1 for a positive control, 1.25 µl/ml DVA, and 5.0 µl/ml DVA, or left untreated. All cells were grown in Dulbecco Modified Eagle Medium absent of serum. Following 12 hours of treatment, an MTT assay was performed. Wound healing assays were used to strengthen proliferation results. 3T3 cells were grown on

7 collagen treated 6-well plates and scratched after 24 hours of growth. Cells were then treated with the same doses as the MTT assay. Measurements of the scratches were taken at 24 and 48 hour using an Olympus inverted microscope and Infinity Analyze software. Our results thus far demonstrated that DVA at a concentration of 1.25 µL/mL, and IGF-1 at a concentration of 50 ng/mL causes a significant increase in cellular proliferation, p=0.039 and p=0.035 respectively. DVA at a higher concentration failed to show a significant increase in cell number. A low dose of deer velvet antler can increase cell proliferation equal to the growth exhibited by insulin-like growth factor 1.

P12

McCracken, Zachary W.; Scanlan, Andrew M. Saddle Pufferfish Behaviors in Relation to Different Colors Puffer fish are one of the more popular fish known in the world due to their recognizable inflation they can perform when startled. The puffer fish use this inflation as a defense mechanism to make themselves look bigger, and to make it harder for predators to eat them. This research was conducted on a saddle puffer, Canthigaster coronata. We wanted to to see if different colors triggered different reactions in the fish. Red, blue, yellow, and green balloons were used and placed into the middle of the tank for the fish to see and interact. We hypothesized the red balloon would initiate an inflation response. This was because the color red is more vivid and brighter then the other colors and would simulate a danger that fish would encounter on the reef. When the balloons were placed into the tank, the fish never inflated. The fish become either became curious and examined the balloons, or ignored them all together.

P13

Brennan, Kayla E.; Fitzgerald, Patricia I.; Wisniewski, Kristofer S. Evaluation of the Accuracy of the ACSM Walking Metabolic Equations During the Bruce Protocol The metabolic equations from the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) are used to determine energy expenditure during exercise. However, the equations have been shown to overestimate the measured value of oxygen uptake (VO2). The purpose of this study is to determine the validity of the ACSM walking metabolic equations in predicting the VO2 during stages 1-3 of the Bruce Protocol Treadmill Test. 48 subjects (24 males, 24 females) aged 31.7 ± 13.3 years and BMI of 25.1 ± 3.3 kg/m 2 completed a maximal treadmill test using the Bruce Protocol. A Parvo Medics TruOne 2400 system was calibrated before each test and used to collect and measure VO 2. Steady state, defined as a heart rate ± 5 bpm for the last 2 minutes of each stage, was attained in all subjects. The measured VO2 values during the last minute of each stage were compared to predicted values calculated using the ACSM walking metabolic equation. Dependent t-tests were used to compare predicted against measured VO 2 values for each stage. Predicted and mean measured values ± SD of stages 1-3 were 16.3 ml/kg/min and 15.4 ± 1.7 ml/kg/min (p = 0.0001), 24.7 ml/kg/min and 22.1 ± 2.1 ml/kg/min (p = 0.0001), and 35.6 ml/kg/min and 31.8 ± 4.1 ml/kg/min (p = 0.0001), respectively. The equation overestimated VO 2 during stages 1-3 in 37 (77.1%), 46 (95.8%), and 43 (89.6%) subjects, respectively. The ACSM walking metabolic equation consistently overestimated the measured VO2 for all three stages. The ACSM states the metabolic equations can have up to 7% error. However, the predicted VO2 for stages 2 and 3 were both 12% greater than the measured. Due to the variability between the predicted and measured VO 2 values, caution should be taken when using the ACSM walking metabolic equation to estimate VO 2 during stages 1-3 of the Bruce protocol.

P14

Karpinsky, Michelle M.; Gibson, Alex; Stasik, Melanie; Vassalotti, Anthony; Zovinka, Edward Effect of Nitric Acid (pH=3.2) on Calcite Surface Morphology using AFM Open limestone channels (OLC) have been used to remediate Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) water, a concern has been whether armoring of the limestone with metal precipitate adversely affects the ability of the limestone to neutralize the acid. Armoring occurs when metals precipitate out of solution and onto the

8 limestone, rendering it ineffective. In order to observe if an armoring is taking place in limestone channels, limestone is being reacted with metal solutions at low pH (~3.2), simulating AMD. Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) is a tool that scans surfaces on the nanometer scale using intermolecular forces, such as; Van Der Waals, magnetic forces, electrical forces, and thermal forces. By comparing raw calcite surfaces to a control experiment of calcite in a metal solution of pH 3.2, the comparison will reveal whether or not the armoring effect is taking place at these sites.

P15

Salek, Zachery M.; Farabaugh, Patrick G. How is YouTube Affecting Millennials’ TV Viewing Habits?

According to a July 2017 New York Times’ article, 1.5 billion people go to YouTube every month to specifically watch videos. YouTube mobile viewers watch, on average, more than an hour of programming on the site per day. Given this traffic volume, there is no doubt that this social media giant is siphoning off advertising revenue from television. This study seeks to analyze the effects of YouTube’s popularity on TV viewership, specifically among millennials. In this study, Saint Francis students were surveyed to explore their video consumption habits on YouTube and other social media platforms, compared to their consumption of television programming. Faculty members’ video consumption habits were also explored in order to compare today’s social media video consumption across generations.

P16

Howell, Abijah; Farabaugh, Patrick G. Does Social Media Use Impact Student-Athletes’ Performances on the Field?

Twitter reported in July of 2017 that its user base in the United States is approximately 68 million, with a global user base of 328 million. It is especially popular among U.S. millennials. The Pew Research Center reported in January of this year that 36 percent of Americans ages 18-29 use Twitter. While many researchers have sought to determine the impact of social media use on students’ academic performance, the impact of social media use on students’ athletic performance is an underexplored area. In this study, the author monitored the Twitter activity of six Saint Francis football players for two weeks in order to see if the amount of Twitter activity by each player in the week leading up to a game had any correlation with his performance on the field at the end of that week.

P17

Wolford, Andre C.; Farabaugh, Patrick G. Should I Go To Class or Fire Up My Xbox? The Release of NBA 2K18 and its Impact on Students’ Academic Performance When 2K Sports released NBA 2K18 – the 19th installment in the NBA 2K franchise - on Sept. 18, 2017, gamers around the world downloaded the much-anticipated game or flocked to WalMarts and GameStops to purchase disk versions. With 4K resolution, action delivered at 60 frames per second, and physics-based player motion, the game has been described as a “technical showcase.” Sales of the game approached record levels for the franchise. In this study, the author surveyed Saint Francis students who purchased NBA 2K18 to discover if the time they spent playing the game in the week following its release altered their typical day-to-day activities and/or affected their academic performance.

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Kinard, Hakeem; Farabaugh, Patrick G. How Do Media Portrayals Affect Americans’ Perceptions of NFL Players’ National Anthem Protests?

National Football League players across the country demonstrated during the national anthem on Sept. 24, 2017, in a show of solidarity following comments made by President Trump. Two days earlier, the president said at a rally in Huntsville, Alabama, that anyone who doesn’t stand during the anthem should be fired. Trump’s comments and the players’ protests sparked a firestorm in the mainstream media and among social media users, raising once again the question of the effects of the media on its consumers. In this experiment, the author showed one group a video commentary of a reporter strongly supporting the players’ protests. Another group viewed a segment in which a journalist sharply criticized the protests. A third group did not view anything. Each of the three groups then completed a short questionnaire designed to measure their feelings regarding the anthem protests.

P19

Bowen, Shelby J.; Farabaugh, Patrick G. Portrayals of Relationships Between Men and Women in TV Comedies Over the Last Half Century Portrayals of women on television have evolved in many ways since “I Love Lucy’s” six-year run on CBS 60 years ago (1951-57). In this content analysis, the author examined the relationships between men and women in televised situational comedies over the last five decades. The author viewed several episodes of two popular comedies from each of the last five decades (1970, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s) that featured at least one prominent female character, paying close attention to how these actresses’ roles and relationships with their male counterparts have changed. The author also explored the role that race played in relationships between the actors and actresses in these situational comedies – specific programs were chosen for analysis so that characters of different races and ethnicities were included.

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Palguta, Dominick A.; Farabaugh, Patrick G. The Influence of the News Media on Students’ Perceptions of Police Brutality Against AfricanAmericans A number of right-leaning news outlets have accused the “mainstream media” of stoking the flames of racial tension nationwide by exaggerating the seriousness and frequency of police violence against African-Americans in recent years. “It’s hard to recall,” wrote David French of the National Review in August of 2016, “a political movement built on more verifiable lies and misinformation than Black Lives Matter, which exists to advance that notion that America is in the midst of a race-motivated epidemic of police shootings.” In this study, the authored surveyed Saint Francis students in order to explore the extent to which their views of police brutality against African-Americans are shaped by the news they consume.

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Baker, Deon J.; Farabaugh, Patrick G. Show Me the Money: College Sports, the Mass Media and Cold, Hard Cash In 2016-17, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) raked in more than $1 billion in revenue from media rights fees, ticket sales, corporate sponsorships and TV advertisements from it threeweek March Madness men’s basketball tournament alone. From shoe deals to endorsements to conference television networks, it seems like there is more than enough money to go around at the highest levels of NCAA Division I Athletics. In this study, the author explored the streams of revenue that the NCAA collects from its various deals with television networks, internet sites, social media companies and other media organizations.

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Olafsen, Harry J.; Cadwallader, Robin L. “He’s Not the Only One Who Had a Secret to Hide”: A Feminist Approach to Revenge in Carrie Underwood’s Hit Songs In the past, women were expected to be everything: the perfect mother, the perfect wife, and even the perfect mistress. This idea of perfection takes a major toll on people, and, many times, the women snapped. However, the men never really received any of the blame for the pressures they placed on women, and they were simply labeled as crazy. These women would have to suffer through abuse, anger, rage, and emotional distress, usually brought on by their husbands. Unfortunately, they usually apathetically dealt with what was happening to them, and they rarely took control of their situation. All of this trauma left the women powerless, especially since nobody usually believed their stories. Currently, new music, particularly by Carrie Underwood, is being released that finally allows the woman to get revenge on the man who wronged her. Whether the topic is destruction, cheating, abuse, or even murder, Underwood is able to transcend typical ideas of country music and produce songs that give the woman’s story credibility, thus providing her with a sense of agency over her own life. Before each woman seeks revenge, they always have a developed backstory that gives insight as to why they need to get even.

Through her music, Underwood is able to give a new voice to these abused women by proving that a woman is just as capable at getting blatant revenge, especially when a man forces her into an oppressive, destructive situation.

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Beck, Gabrielle M.; DeSalve, Dayna S.; Furman, Blake D.; Gabler, Josie G.; Johnston, Madaline G.; Karpinsky, Michelle M.; Novak, Melinda M.; Potopa, Andrew J.; Samuel, Katie E.; Scott, Gabriella D.; Spahr, Douglas P.; Surma, Renee N.; Wagner, Lucy C.; Winschel, Timothy R.; Gleason, Jane L.; Hargittai, Michele R. Determining the most appropriate recrystallizing agent for benzoic acid The purity of synthesized compounds is very important, as impurities can cause compounds to behave differently. In the pharmaceutical industry, where lives depend on the integrity and reliability of products, purity is crucial. Recrystallization can purify a compound by allowing impurities to wash away with the solvent, leaving behind purified crystals. In choosing a solvent for recrystallization, especially for use on a large scale such as in the pharmaceutical industry, efficiency, safety, and green chemistry are important considerations. In this experiment, the suitability of water and hexane as solvents for recrystallization in respect to these considerations was tested. Benzoic acid was dissolved in each of the solvents and was allowed to recrystallize, and the percent yield was calculated. Water was chosen as the better solvent because it gave the highest percent yield and the lowest standard deviation. Water was also more compliant with green chemistry because it was cheaper, safer to work with, and disposed of more easily.

P24

Slovikosky, Debbie M.; Potopa, Andrew J.; Hugo, Justin J.; Madison, Logan F.; McKnight, Nicholas P.; Llanos, Freddy; Goodwill, Joseph; Strosnider, William H.J. Continued Assessment of Acid Mine Drainage The mines in the Greater Kumurana Valley in Bolivia have been treated for acid mine drainage for several years. The scope of this research is to assess the quality and functionality of the treatment systems that were put into place. Alkalinity, pH, temperature, and specific conductivity were recorded in the field. In addition, samples were collected, preserved,and then analyzed for dissolved metals. This data was collected and compiled with data collected in previous years. The results of experimentation showed that the treatment over time has worked to reduce the acidity and specific conductivity at the treated mine sites. In addition, as the treated waters meet with untreated waters at the bridge of Belen the water quality overall is better than expected. The treatment sites will need to be continuously maintained to ensure that

11 the water quality meets the standards. Work must still be done to put further treatment systems in place to improve the quality of water for communities downstream.

P25

Fox, Amelia L.; Kopriva, Frank B.; Fitzgerald, Patricia I. Exercising the Brain Current statistics (Brain Injury Association of Pennsylvania) indicate that more than 250,000 people are living with traumatic brain injuries (TBI). More than 8,000 Pennsylvanians sustain long term or life-long disabilities from TBI annually. TBIs can cause immediate complications, many resulting in permanent brain damage. Alterations in cognition and behavior, impaired motor control and performance, postural control and balance, and decreased endurance are common sequelae. The purpose of this project was to describe the benefits of weekly, structured exercise sessions in clients with TBI. Eight community dwelling individuals with TBI volunteered to participate in a 35 minute, weekly community exercise program initiated by YMCA staff. The program subsequently became part of the internship responsibilities of an exercise physiology intern. Eight participants initialed the program with four dropping out for varying reasons. Written informed consent was obtained from the remaining four participants. Participants included 3 males and 1 female with a mean + SD age of 50.3 ± 7.6 years and an average time + SD since TBI of 52.8 ± 16.1 months. The exercise intervention consisted of a weekly, thirty-five minute session that included a warm-up, seated and standing exercises, and a cool down. The volunteers participated in this intervention for an average of 11.3 ± 2.9 months. A brief questionnaire was utilized to gather self-reported data on perceived effects of participation. Mean + SD number of months participation was 11.3 ± 2.9 with an average + SD volume of 393.8 ± 100.5 minutes. 100% of participants reported positive benefits of participation. Participants reported improved cognitive function, decreased brain “fog”, and improvements in endurance and physical task performance. In conclusion, participation in a community exercise program did not appear to have any adverse effects on participants. Practical Application: Health professionals can utilize supervised exercise sessions in community dwelling individuals post TBI.

P26

Hildebrand, Ashley M.; Keiper, Taylor L.; Merry, Justin W. How do human mate preferences vary based on sex, family background and career goals?

Psychological development is the result of a mixture of evolutionary and environmental influences. Prior studies (e.g. Li et al. 2002) have found differences in what males versus females emphasize in potential mates. This study tested whether human mate preferences are primarily shaped by evolutionary history, maximizing personal gain based on a person’s situation, or a tendency to seek similar characteristics one’s own. It was tested whether a person’s circumstances, career goals, and expected income would shape their mate preferences in the categories of income, intelligence, kindness, liveliness, and physical attractiveness. The method of testing was a “mate dollar” survey that contained background information to classify the participants, an activity in which individuals allocate a mate dollar “budget” towards different desirable mate characteristics, and a self-rating section in which the subjects rated themselves on personal qualities. Consistent with prior studies, males invested more physical attractiveness as more important than females, while females invested more in their mate’s income. We did not find the predicted relationship between expected income and desired income, which is consistent with the hypothesis that mate preferences are dictated primarily by evolutionary history. A positive relationship between self-ratings of physical attractiveness and desired attractiveness in their partners was found, which indicates that individuals who perceive themselves as being less attractive have a lower mating threshold than individuals who perceive themselves as attractive. We also found an unexpected difference in desired kindness levels between the sexes (females desired more kind partners than males), and individuals that rated themselves as less kind had a weaker preference for kind partners. Further studies

12 could include a more diverse sample with varying career goals that do not all include a collegiate degree, because the present study was exclusively conducted on college students.

P27

Snider, Megan V.; Fry, Cathleen M.; Blake, Sabrina J.; Bailey, Jenna M.; Hargittai, Balazs Synthesis and Clinical Use of LS-2616, a Drug Used to Treat Ocular Cancer Ocular melanoma (OM) is the most common eye cancer in adults. Between 2,500 and 3,000 adults are diagnosed with this type of cancer every year in the United States. Within the past year, there have been over 2,600 cases - with an equal distribution between men and women. The purpose of the research project is to propose a green, organic synthesis of LS-2616, an antibiotic substance with immunomodulating properties that has the possibility to treat ocular cancer. A novel multi-step synthesis using reactions discussed in sophomore level organic chemistry classes is proposed and reaction conditions are tested for each step of the proposed synthesis.

P28

Miller, Nicholas J.; Martino, Amanda J. Subsea Floor Microbe Assembly The ocean holds millions of organisms that are yet to be discovered by mankind. Among those are microbes that dwell at deep depths and even below the seafloor. Extremophiles such as the subsea floor microbes have little information available due to the lack of research and inability to replicate growth conditions in the lab. Because of this we must rely on genomic information to learn more. Dr. Martino and her associates at the University of Delaware collected subsea floor microbes from off the coast of Costa Rica and labeled various data sets of genomic information. This research took those data sets and used sequencing software to separate, clean, and sort the genomic data sets. These sets will be visualized and compared to other microbes in order to attempt to ascertain the phylogeny of the microbe samples.

Additionally, this research will take a look at specific genes in known extremophiles and attempt to identify any similar genes in the samples that have been collected in an effort to explain how an organism can prosper under such extreme conditions.

P29

Turnbaugh, Cody; Myers, Sarah E.; Bose, Aniruddha Too Much for Human Endurance: The Physical and Psychological Effects of Soldiers in the American Civil War In a war that lasted four bloody years (1861-1865), over 620,000 men would fall as casualties of thousands of different battles. The public’s memory of the war is often relegated to prominent leaders and famous battlefields. These narratives offer a limited perspective that only tell part of the story. Facts and statistics are not enough to truly understand the American Civil War: the sensory history and the experiences of individuals who suffered physically and psychologically throughout the war tell a more nuanced story. As Mark M. Smith argues The Smell of Battle, The Taste of Siege: A Sensory History of the Civil War, the sensory experiences provide a more in-depth understanding of the actual history behind the war. While Smith uses the five senses to tell the story of the American Civil War, this paper will examine the physical and psychological effects of the war on soldiers and the relatives they left behind.

Thousands of men, like Union Lieutenant Alonzo H. Cushing, suffered on the battlefield. Cushing endured enemy fire before he was killed while serving during the battle of Gettysburg and left behind a mourning mother. Soldiers on the battlefields faced were forced to deal with a variety of wounds, the majority of which came from bullets, artillery, and edged weapons, and the emotional distress of being under fire. After a soldier was injured on the battlefield, they would typically be taken to a field hospital, where soldiers and doctors faced extreme physical and mental effects, including amputations, infections, exhaustion, and signs of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. In the end, a sick combination of improved technology, such as the MiniĂŠ ball and the rifled musket, mixed with outdated tactics of Napoleonic

13 warfare produced a horrific number of dead and wounded in just four years of fighting. The devastation of each Civil War battle was carried by the individual soldier from the battlefield to the field hospitals, and ultimately to the homes of millions of mourning and recovering Americans.

P30

Hawkins, Alayna K; Kirkpatrick, Shelley A. Effects of Sea Temperature Rise on Biomass of the Fissiparous Sea Star Aquilonastra burtoni: A Model for Global Climate Change The environmental issue of global climate change was modeled via varying temperatures in four experimental aquaria. The current average sea temperature of the Mediterranean Sea was used as a control, while two degrees below the normal temperature represented a negative control. A 50-year projection and 100-year projection of average sea temperatures were modeled based on current predicted trends of sea temperature increase. The biomass of Aquilonastra is a direct relation to reproductive rate, and therefore can be used to determine the reproductive success of the species in each experimental condition. It is predicted that Aquilonastra will thrive in the face of increased sea temperature due to an abundance of algae as a food source. This experiment serves as a model to predict future oceanic health and possible ecological implications as a direct result of global climate change.

P31

Brennan, Gabrielle M.; Baker, Stephen H.; LoRusso, Stephen M.; Mulligan, Ivan J. The Effect of Cancer-Related Fatigue on Cognitive Functioning in Rural Breast Cancer Survivors As the largest growing area of new cancer cases, and the second overall leading cause of mortality in females in the United States, breast cancer threatens the lives of many individuals today (â&#x20AC;&#x153;Cancer Facts and Figures 2016,â&#x20AC;? 2017). High-risk populations include aging females living in a rural population with limited access to proper healthcare. As treatments advance, the rate of survival has increased, but side effects remain. Commonly observed in a normal aging population, a cancer population remains at a heightened risk of increased fatigue and cognitive decline. This study was a small, single-site, secondary analysis of data. Twelve breast cancer survivors, sampled from a larger study of rural cancer survivors, across six counties in rural Pennsylvania, were surveyed to determine the relationship between fatigue values on the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy (FACIT)-fatigue (F) questionnaire and values of perceived cognitive impairment using the Functional Assessment of Cancer (FACT)-Cognition (Cog) questionnaire. A significant positive correlation, r (10) = .902, p < .01 was discovered between the FACIT-F and FACT-Cog values. The results validated the hypothesis that if rural Pennsylvanian breast cancer survivors displayed lower fatigue values on the FACIT-F questionnaire, then a direct relationship will occur with the perceived cognitive impairment values using the FACT-Cog questionnaire. Therefore, a complex relationship exists between cancer, fatigue, and cognition that needs further investigation.

Studies in the future may further link advancements through prevention and rehabilitation therapies in the rural cancer population. One such study could look at the role of aerobic exercise in fatigue and cognition in post-chemotherapeutic rural cancer survivors.

P32

Baughman, Adam R.; Dellâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Eva, Arturo; Georgetson, Gabrielle M.; Henderson, Jessica L.; Lahart, Zachary E.; Maas, Brittany M.; Prince, Tyler J.; Thomas, Kaycee J.; Wiewiora, Craig J.; Williams, Kira A.; Yaswinski, Aubrey A.; Gleason, Jane L.; Hargittai, Michele R. Determination of an Ideal Solvent for the Dissolution and Recrystallization of Trans-Stilbene Recrystallization of trans-stilbene was performed using solvents that were determined to be the most ecologically friendly and gave the highest percent recovery. The solubility of trans-stilbene was tested in five different solvents: hexane, toluene, ethanol, acetone, and water. This study helped establish the most suitable solvents for the recrystallization of trans-stilbene. Hexane and ethanol were both determined to be the most suitable solvents due to their ability to completely dissolve trans-stilbene when heated, and to

14 allow recrystallization when the temperature was reduced. The method that was used in the experiment was a microscale single-solvent recrystallization. This method involved dissolving trans-stilbene, allowing the solution to cool, placing it in an ice bath for crystal formation, filtering and then vacuum drying the solution. Hexane produced an average percent yield of 64.19%. Ethanol produced an average percent yield of 79.22%. Therefore, it was concluded that ethanol was the ideal solvent for the dissolution and recrystallization of trans-stilbene. Knowing this allows the scientific community to help Industry find better ways to dissolve compounds that would normally require highly dangerous solvents.

P33

Bray, Jaci E.; Chverchko, Jessica J.; Do, Minh N.D.; Hogue, Mitchell E.; Jasper, Genell R.; Miller, Emily M.; Over, Lindsay B.; Schweizer, K. Grace; Vandiver, Marlo M.; Gleason, Jane L.; Hargittai, Michele R. Experimental solubility of benzil for the determination of efficient solvents for recrystallization In industrial production, the process of recrystallization is used to purify common products, such as salt, sugar, sodium sulfate, and urea. Recrystallization allows for purification of product, so it is important to determine the most efficient solvent for this process in order to achieve a greater product yield. Based on the experimental solubility of benzil in five solvents it was determined that ethanol and hexane would be the most suitable solvents for recrystallization. Benzil is insoluble to partly soluble at room temperature in hexane and ethanol and is soluble when the solvents were heated. Recrystallization and vacuum filtration were performed to recover benzil; the solvent hexane had a slightly higher percent yield than that of ethanol. However, after taking into account the standard deviations of hexane and ethanol, the two means were statistically similar. Thus, both ethanol and hexane can be used as an efficient solvent for the recrystallization of benzil.

P34

Hildebrand, Ashley M.; Kasunic, Paul T.; McCulley, James A.; Patterson, Kelsey S.; Sangrey, Griffin E.; Schulte, Jessica M.; Troxell, Kassidy L.; Radford, Samantha A. Concentration of Lead in Various Sources Around the Home Saint Francis Universityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Environmental Chemistry Class learned about the potential for lead concentrations to be found within homes in the Cresson area. This area is of interest due to the buildings being constructed before the 1987 lead-based paint ban. Soil, paint, and water samples were taken from households and the amount of lead present was determined. The results were then disclosed to participants along with steps for further protection from lead.

P35

Meador, Kayla B.; Regmi, Rojina; Moist, Marnie L. Working Memory in Cued Recall with Free and Sensory Word Association We may have a preference in how we recall information from our working memory. In order to test this hypothesis, we recruited thirty undergraduate students to test recall ability on various paired associates.

Sensory modality associates and free associates were competitively presented across several two part trials using visual and auditory stimuli. We found a difference in preference between the types of information that people recalled. Our brain has a way of remembering most things, but certain information is easier to remember. Free associates or words commonly and spontaneously associated with one another may be easier to recall than those that are associated by sensory modality. In order to gain a better understanding on working recall memory, it important to unveil a possible preference when individuals are given a divided attention task, with the two associates up against one another.

15 P36

Miller, Emily M.; Mills, Joshua; Drus, Gail M. Chemical Competition between Japanese Knotweed and Pumpkins: Evaluation of Root Interactions Fallopia japonica, commonly referred to as Japanese Knotweed, has overrun North America and Europe as an invasive species. Japanese Knotweed is very resilient: herbicides, cutting, and other weed removal techniques have failed to control the spread of the plant. Japanese Knotweed is a local problem in Cambria County, where dense populations can be found scattered across the region. This research project assessed chemical root competition among Japanese Knotweed and common pumpkin plants, which release cucurbitacin, an allelopathic compound used in competition among neighbors. Activated carbon was used to inhibit chemical competition and communication between individuals to access interaction among the roots that could indicate competition. The objective was to quantitatively assess competitive interactions among the roots of Japanese Knotweed (K) and pumpkins (P). Twelve root windows (six with activated carbon (AC) and six without) were set up with a pair of individuals in each. The combinations in each group were KK, KP, PP. Two groups were established in soil with 1.5% AC by mass and two groups in soil that was not treated with AC, for a total of 4 groups and 12 windows.

Transparencies were used to trace the root growth in each window once a week for 5 weeks using a different color for each individual in a pair, and Image J was used to analyze the root area of each individual by pixel color. The results showed that activated carbon reduced the interactions between Knotweed and pumpkin when interspecific competition was present. In situations where activated carbon was present, both individuals, regardless of species performed similarly in their root production.

However, when activated carbon was omitted from the system, individuals subjected to intraspecific competition performed similarly, while in interspecific parings root production was negatively affected.

This suggests that there is an interaction between Japanese Knotweed and pumpkins that negatively affects both individuals regardless of species. Thus neither species was a superior competitor in this experiment.

P37

Meurer, Katherine E.; Scanlan, Andrew M. The Effects of the Active Ingredient Oxybenzone Found in Sunscreen on the Hard Coral, Caulastrea curvata Coral reefs are one of the most important and diverse ecosystems on the planet. The necessity of coral reefs range from survival of thousands of marine species to the human population that relies on the reefs of food, water cycling, and jobs. Coral reefs have been estimated to provide billions of US dollars each year for these services. Tourism can be good for the economy, but unfortunately have a negative effect on corals due to large amount of sunscreen exposure. Oxybenzone is a primary component in sunscreen that has been linked to bleaching of the corals. Hypnotizes determined that at higher concentrations, oxybenzone presence in ocean water will make Trumpet Coral, Caulastrea curvata, will lose their color that is produced by small algae, zooxanthellae, that yield food for the organism. The coral will then begin to show signs of bleaching significantly more than coral that is not exposed to the oxybenzone chemical.

Understanding the stress this chemical has on corals could lead to better development of sunscreens that are safe people and corals.

P38

Augustine, Katherine A.; Canineu, Lucas O.; Chunko, Andrew J.; Dumm, Benjamin R.; Ferko, Andrew D.; Hoover, Taylor M.; Luna Lavidalie, Franz; Parry, Shaelyn L.; Schoeppner, Hannah M.; Wilke, Katherine; Gleason, Jane L.; Hargittai, Michele R. Solubility and recrystallization of 9-fluorenone Recrystallization, an experimental technique used to purify synthesized compounds, is a generally straightforward method, but crucial to many industries. For example, the manufacturing of substances such as table salt or sugar uses recrystallization in order to yield a pure product. It is important from an

16 economical standpoint, as well as the ability to comply with safety guidelines for human consumption.

For this experiment, the solubility of 9-fluorenone, a slightly polar aromatic compound, was tested in hexane, toluene, acetone, ethanol, and water in order to select the most suitable solvents for recrystallization. After testing the solute using solvents at both room and hot temperatures, hexane and ethanol were determined to be the most viable. 9-fluorenone was recrystallized using both solvents; vacuum filtration was then used to collect the product. Based upon the mass of the recovered crystals, the calculated percent yields for ethanol and hexane were an average of 36.29% Âą 28.83 and 46.25% Âą 7.90, respectively. Therefore, hexane was determined to be the most effective solvent due to the greater percent yield of 9-fluorenone.

P39

Tiberino, Alicia M.; Flaisher-Grinberg, Shlomit The Human-Animal Bond's Influence on Mood The Human-Animal Bond is defined as the mutually beneficial relationship between people and animals.

While this bond spans the physiological, psychological and behavioral well-being of both species, much of the current information is based on anecdotes or correlational studies. The current project aimed to investigate the effect of exposure to a dog on the lab-induced emotional state of SFU students. Twentyfour female College students at Saint Francis University were divided into 2 groups and watched either a sad movie or a neutral movie. Then, all students were exposed to a dog for 10 minutes, and allowed to play and interact with it. Mood questionnaires were delivered after the students watched the movie, and after the interaction with the dog. Preliminary results demonstrated that while exposure to sad movie indeed provoked lower mood scores compared to the neutral movie, exposure to a dog after a sad movie produced higher mood scores compared to exposure to a dog after a neutral movie. This effect was stronger in freshman students compared to sophomores, juniors and seniors. It can thus be suggested that the presence of a dog is especially important during emotional challenges, sadness and sorrow. Future research will examine the phenomena in additional populations.

P40

Hugo, Justin J.; Madison, Logan F.; Slovikosky, Debbie M.; McKnight, Nicholas P.; Potopa, Andrew J.; Strosnider, William H.J.; Goodwill, Joseph Bolivia Study Abroad; Designing a water catchment system for a rural town in Bolivia Yulo is a small town approximately 100 kilometers from Potosi, Bolivia. The community of Yulo and a private company designed and installed a drinking water collection system in the form of a low head damn less than fifteen years ago. This low head dam has several design flaws which makes it a constant struggle for the people of Yulo to maintain their water supply. The distribution pipe washes out during the rainy seasons, large amounts of sediment build up behind the dam, and water short circuits the system by leaking into the collection box at high flow periods. The current collection system fails to meet the needs of the community, so they reached out to engineers in action in Bolivia who employed a team from Saint Francis to assess and address the problem. Students and professors from Saint Francis traveled to Bolivia and got a firsthand look at the problem. A survey of the site was taken, and water quality samples of the site were analyzed. Using the collected data, a new catchment system was designed to be installed upstream of the current collection system.

P41

Tafesse, Rakeb Y.; Miller, Emily M.; Drus, Gail M. The Effect of Varying Concentrations of Glyphosate Herbicide on Root Starch Storage in Asexually and Sexually Propagated Japanese Knotweed Japanese knotweed (Fallopia japonica, Houtt.), is one of the most well-known invasive plant species in North America. The rapid growth and ready propagation of Japanese knotweed is causing a range of environmental problems such as creating dense canopy monocultures that restrict other plants from

17 growing in invaded areas, releasing chemicals that affect the availability of nutrients for other plants, destroying asphalts and inhibiting land drainage. Japanese Knotweed is very resistant to herbicides, cutting, and other weed removal methods. This research project evaluated plant stress caused by the application of varying concentrations of glyphosate herbicide on asexually and sexually propagated Japanese knotweed grown in the Saint Francis University Science Center Greenhouse. We expect sexually propagated plants to experience more stress than asexually propagated ones, as the primary means of reproduction and invasion is rhizomatous growth, and we expect starch content to decline with increasing herbicide concentration. Leaf area was used as an indirect estimate of stress and was estimated using an allometric equation developed by scanning leaves of a range of sizes and measuring leaf area with Image J. Reduced leaf area inhibits the starch storage capacity of plants and is an indicator of stress, thus root starch digestions were also employed to measure starch content. To test the viability of enzymatic root starch analysis for this project, 10 Japanese knotweed rhizomes were taken from the James Mayer Riverwalk trail in Johnstown; 5 were taken from an area shaded by native trees planted during a restoration project, and 5 were taken from full sunlight. Shading reduced the starch content in the roots of knotweed shaded by native trees. This technique will be applied to the plants in this project and we expect root starch percentage to decrease in plants exposed to higher concentrations of herbicide.

P42

Gaughan, John E.; Hugo, Justin J.; McKnight, Nicholas, P.; Whited, Morgan C. Seasonal Recovery of an Appalachian Stream Affected by Acid Mine Drainage and Municipal Wastewater Bradley Run is a 3rd order stream affected by acid mine drainage and poorly treated municipal wastewater. This study stems from a larger investigation into the chemical nature of co-treatment of the two pollutants to the stream. Water quality analysis along with a variation of EPAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s rapid bioassessment protocol was completed to analyze the extent of co treatment of acid mine drainage and municipal wastewater. Macroinvertebrates were collected, identified, and utilized as bioindicators of water quality.

P43

Patterson, Kelsey S.; Diehl, Kristin; Flarend, Geneva; Yost, Monica; Clark, Rose A. Electrochemical Response of Cytochrome c Adsorbed to Peptide Self-Assembled Monolayers Cytochrome c (cyt c) is a protein that transports electrons from cytochrome c reductase to cytochrome c oxidase found in the mitochondria of cells. The movement of electrons in the electron transport chain can be mimicked in vitro using cyt c adsorbed to self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) covalently bonded to evaporated gold. The terminal end of the SAM exposed to solution obtains a negative charge and attracts the positively charged lysine groups in the cytochrome c. Many studies have looked at alkanethiol carboxylic acid terminated SAMs. However, no studies have looked at a peptide SAM interaction with cytochrome c. The purpose of this research was to become more familiar with the interaction between peptide SAMs and cytochrome c. The data collected using electrochemistry was compared to past research using alkanethiol SAMs. Peptide SAMs were synthesized using two different procedures and compared. The resulting data show the peptide SAMs have a lower electron transport rate than the alkanethiol SAMs previously tested. However, there was no significant difference in electron transport rate between the two differently synthesized peptide SAMs. Further testing needs to be done in order to identify a possible difference between the two differently synthesized peptides and the peptide SAMs in general.

P44

Martino, Amanda J.; Lahart, Zachary E. Finding Metabolic Capabilities of Deep Sea Microorganisms There are roughly 15,000 to 18,000 species discovered each year. Most of these are single-celled organisms that are found in extreme conditions. In this study, we looked at bacteria that call the crushing

18 depths of the sea floor home, and examined how in fact they are able to live in a place as extreme as this. The Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) allows people to analyze these organisms by drilling sediment under the sea floor. Our bacteria came from expedition 334 in 2011 off of the coast of Costa Rica at the drill site 1379. The samples came from the depths of both 22.08 meters below sea floor (mbsf) and 45.38mbsf. The metagenomics sequence data was obtained from illumina sequencing of the samples completed in a previous project. For the current study, this data was processed for quality control to remove sequences and parts of sequences of low quality. After quality control, they were all assembled and binned according to similarities in their genomes. The bins were then assessed for completeness and purity and were further manually edited through bin visualizing software. Bins will be examined for taxonomy as well as metabolic capabilities of organisms. The two samples will then be compared to see if there are any similarities or differences in the microbial communities from the two different depths.

P45

Cavallaro, Marielle C.; Whisler, Timothy R. The Female Olympian: A Look Into How They Got There, What They Did, and Why They Succeeded This project focuses on the 1996 Summer Olympic Games which were held in Atlanta, Georgia. These were the most widely viewed games up to that point in history, but what was the reason? The increased technology of the time, a larger interest in sports, or the record amount of female athletes who would be participating? The women in those games, and in particular, the women representing the United States, were not just there to play; they were there to win. With incredible victories, the US Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s teams and individuals propelled a surge in interest in female athletes and their abilities on the court, in the pool, on the beam, on the field, and so much more. For the first time ever, women were being sponsored by big name athletic companies to advertise their goods â&#x20AC;&#x201C; they were featured in commercials, on the front pages of magazines and newspapers, and had their faces up on billboards. This project details the historical attributes to their success, their participation, and their popularity.

P46

Boles, Valerie M.; Martino, Amanda J. Genomics of subsurface bacteria from the Costa Rica Margin Previously believed to be uninhabitable, recent studies into the marine subsurface have revealed microbial communities in deep sediments all around the world. Little is known about these communities because of their lack of known close relatives and our inability to culture them. A way of obtaining information about the community composition and metabolic processes of these communities without the need for cultivation is by genomic analysis. In this study, genomic methods will be used to study the community composition and metabolic capabilities of microbial communities inhabiting the sub seafloor at one drill site (Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Expedition 334, site 1378) near the Costa Rica margin 2.88 meters below the sea floor. In previous studies of this sample, metagenomic sequence data was obtained.

This study processed the sequence data for quality control. Following this, the short sequence reads were assembled into larger fragments using assembly software. These larger fragments were then separated into bins representing individual genomes based on taxonomic properties. These bins were tested for purity and completeness and then manually cleaned using a bin visualizing program as needed. Following these results, the partial genomes will be annotated to reveal taxonomic and metabolic characteristics of the organisms, and the results will also compared to other subsea floor organisms from previous research studies.

P47

Lehman, Taylin M.; Ruis, Morgan A.; Loya, Lane J. Survey of larval odonates in the Lake Saint Francis watershed The purpose of this research project was to determine the diversity of odonates (dragonflies and damselflies) inhabiting the campus stream that feeds into Lake Saint Francis. Odonates were sampled in

19 late March, 2017 using a kick net. The collected specimens were taken to the laboratory and identified under the microscope using dichotomous keys. We determined that two different species of dragonfly larvae were common to the stream, the Northern Pygmy Clubtail (Lanthus parvulus), and the Tiger Spiketail (Cordulegaster erronea). The Tiger Spiketail has never been documented in this county, or adjacent areas, prior to this research. This rare species is considered of “special concern” in the state of Pennsylvania, so future research will be conducted to learn more about its natural history and conservation.

P48

Naeger, Colleen E.; Scanlan, Andrew M. Clownfish Habitat Usage in Response to Territorial Disputes and Threats Clownfish have been known to use a number of biotic and abiotic structures as habitats. In this study, clownfish habitat territorialism and competition were tested by providing them a habitat of live rock to be shared with up to two fish at a time. Throughout this experiment, clownfish were observed behaving as they would on a daily basis and in situations of stress. A fishing lure was utilized as the stressor. This lure acted as a simulated predator and competition and territory behavior were examined in both of these stressful and non-stressful environments. The purpose of this study was to examine the behavior among clownfish and determine if a change in environment stress can cause a change in fish behavior. The hypothesis being tested examined that if in times of stress, clownfish would focus less about defending their habitat from another fish and use their energy to work together to ward of the simulated predator.

P49

Hildebrand, Ashley M.; Keiper, Taylor L.; Weinzierl, Darrin J.; Wolf, Irene M. Does Amino 1000 cause cells to proliferate faster due to its cancer promoting properties?

Many products from GNC, such as GNC PRO PERFORMANCE® AMINO 1000, are not tested by the Federal Department of Agriculture. The claims made about this product are that it supports protein synthesis and mTOR activation, maintains positive nitrogen balance, and is a full spectrum anabolic amino formula. Amino 1000 is taken by the public to provide all of the amino acids necessary to stimulate muscle protein building. Amino acid supplements are consumed around the time of exercise to stimulate muscle protein synthesis and therefore to build muscle. When high concentrations of essential amino acids are present outside of the cell, muscle protein synthesis is stimulated. mTOR is a gene that promotes cell proliferation and growth. It controls production of cyclin D1, that when overexpressed causes unhealthy cells to make it past the G1-S checkpoint, which promotes cancerous cell proliferation. To study the effects of Amino 1000 on 3T3 cells, a fibroblast scratch assay was run on three separate 3T3 cell lines to measure cell growth. In a 6 well plate coated in diluted collagen, cells were grown to 80-95% confluency in and scratched with a pipette tip. Amino 1000 concentrations of 0.20% solution and 0.40% solution were tested on the cells along with a control group that received no Amino 1000. Measurements of the scratch were taken at 0, 6, and 9 hours until the scratch was no longer visible. The Rf values of each scratch were measured and analyzed. It was found that Amino 1000 did not have an effect on cell proliferation between 0.20% Amino 1000 solution and 0.40% Amino 1000. When both solutions were compared to the control group, the p-values were 0.065 and 0.065 respectively. Further studies may use varying concentrations of Amino 1000 or a different cell proliferation-measuring assay.

P50

Alemu, Tinsae S.; Boyer, Russell P.; Gallagher, Michelle M.; Wolf, Irene M. Does Rice Milk Inhibit the Growth of HeLA and 3T3 Mouse Cells?

About 30% of all cancer cases have been linked to poor diets. A plant-based diet is known to decrease the risk of developing cancer (Béliveau & Gingras, 2007). This is important because dairy products have been linked to cell proliferation of cancer cells in multiple studies. The non-dairy product used in this experiment is rice milk. It has low amounts of proteins, fats, dietary fibers, and Vitamin A when

20 compared to other dairy and non-dairy products. Our hypothesis is that the rice milkâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s anti-cancer agents will inhibit cell growth in both 3T3 mouse fibroblasts and HeLa cervical cancer cells. For the lethal dose curve, we will use 0%, 10%, 20%, and 30% rice milk. Cell death will be measured utilizing an MTT assay. Results from this lethal does curve will be used to determine a range of concentrations to further test.

P51

Dyer, Elizabeth M.; Ross, Benjamin J.; Stone, Jay P.; Wolfe, Anna E.; Wolf, Irene M. Effects of Gelatin on 3T3-L1 Fibroblast Proliferation This study investigated the effect of the addition of varying amounts of gelatin on the growth of 3T3 fibroblasts. Gelatin is a protein derived from the connective tissues of animals. Given the fact that a fibroblast is a type of cell that is incorporated in connective tissue, we believe that adding gelatin will increase the proliferation of 3T3 cells because it will enhance cell attachment.. Enhancing cell proliferation can be beneficial to regenerative medicine. It was hypothesized that the cells grown in 5% gelatin will show enhanced growth compared to the cells grown in other concentrations of gelatin, 2.5% and 10%. The study in which our hypothesis was based, Gelatin as a Source of Growth Promoting Sources for Bacteria by Stewart A. Koser, suggested that the concentration that maximized growth was 5% gelatin. Our experiment aims to test Koserâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s claims in relation to 3T3 fibroblasts. Three experimental groups of varying concentrations of gelatin in cell culture media were used in this study. These concentrations were 2.5%, 5%, and 10% gelatin. The control group was media with no additional gelatin or BCS added. The abundance of living cells was measured by performing an MTT assay. After three trials, the results were proved to be statistically insignificant, which refutes the hypothesis that 5% gelatin would enhance cell growth.

P52

Kestermont, Cari A.; Makin, Kayla M.; Schorr, Hannah C.; Wolf, Irene M. The Minimum Amount Pancrestic Enzyme the Kills HeLa Cells and Does Not Harm 3T3 Cells Pancreatic enzymes, or pancreatin, are marketed as an anticancer dietary supplement. To test the legitimacy of the claims, HeLa cervical cancer cells and 3T3 fibroblasts were introduced to varying concentrations of pancreatin. Cell viability was measured using an MTT assay (n=1). For 3T3 cells, wells containing concentrations of pancreatic enzymes (100%, 50%, 25%, and 12.5% pancreatin solutions) experienced an average of a 40% decrease in cell viability. For HeLa cervical cancer cells exposed to different concentrations of pancreatic enzymes (100%, 50%, 25%, and 12.5% pancreatin solutions) experienced an average of 23% decrease in cell viability respectively. The 3T3 fibroblasts had a greater susceptibility to pancreatin.

P53

Troxell, Kassidy L.; Schulte, Jessica M.; Vassalotti, Anthony; Stasik, Melanie; Madl, David M.; Youmbi, Perez B., Zovinka, Edward P. Continuation of Analysis of the Open Limestone Channel at the Klondike Coal Mine KL-2 site The open limestone channel (OLC) treatment system at the Klondike KL-2 abandoned coal mine was built to remediate Acid Mine Drainage (AMD). Over a two year period, the aluminum, iron, calcium, manganese, and pH levels have been measured. Data collected at the Klondike KL-2 AMD site show that site is functioning and is removing iron from the water stream. However, the Al level shows a slight increase, which is due to the low pH of the water run-off; the pH is too low to result in an observable decrease in Al concentration.

21 P54

Kraus, Hannah M.; Willcox, Maxwell H.; DeLullo, Alexis N.; Timmons, Edward Jamaican International Microloan Initiative (JIMI) Every year, the JIMI team goes to Jamaica with the objective of interacting with the community, meeting possible loan recipients, and working with them to hopefully distribute anywhere from 6-12 loans depending on the strength of applications. Our objective this year was to give out up to 10 loans ranging from $30,000-80,000 (Jamaica Dollars) in hopes of helping the recipients either start a new enterprise or expand an existing one. By doing so, we are hoping to build the economy in the area with better access to products and services that they would only normally have access to if they traveled to a city.

2017 Office of Student Research Grants Congratulations to the following students who received Office of Student Research Grants in 2017: Alexandra Anton Bartholomew Blair Shay Boisvert Valerie Boles Hannah Boyd* Alicia Brown McKenzie Burge Robert Caffey Dustin Carnell Jessica Caruso Lisa Casale Marielle Cavallaro (P45) Kyle DeAngelis Tyler Derhammer Sara Dieterich Clair DiNucci Minh Do Hayden Elliott Madison Feather (L4, P10) Katie Flynn Geoffrey Ford Tara Fritz

Michelle Gallagher Ry Gallagher (P6) John Gaughan (P42) Jenna Geary Christine Geiger Aleksia Gray John Hazenstab Bryan Hershberger Ashton Hite Anna Hoch Justin Hugo (P42) Michelle Karpinsky (P14) Annie Kisak Julia Kuehn James Lee Brittany Maas James Macek Emily Marcinowski Shannon McGinnis Angela McKnight Nicholas McKnight (P42) Kayla Meador

Amarisa Miles Madeline Nawrocki Nicole Nugent Lindsay Ohm Harry Olafsen (P22) Lauren Olek Shivani Patel Kelsey Patterson (P43) Hannah Pelger Desmand Phillips Adam Pillot Andrew Potopa Rojina Regmi Megan Replogle Zachary Rohland Jennifer Rosmus Kelsey Roush Hannah Schorr Jessica Schulte (P53) Gracie Schweizer Bailey Seib John Sheedley

Staci Shoemaker Danielle Shoenberger Debbie Slovikosky (P40) Camille Smithbauer Megan Snider (P27) Sara Snyder Thomas Somerville Amy Spangenberg Jan Vit Suntar Shannon Szymusiak Rakeb Tafesse (P41) Annie Theis Kyra Udziela Timothy Winschel (P11) Staci Wolfe Tanner Yawitz Perez Youmbi Arlan Zelenky (P6) Guofang Zheng

22

LECTURE SESSION PRESENTATIONS L1

Romeo, Alexander; Flaisher-Grinberg, Shlomit A Hugging Dog Please see abstract for Poster Presentation P2.

L2

Brennan, Gabrielle M.; Piascik, Henry; Dieterich, Sara D.; Jegerski, Maura L.; Vainshelboim, Baruch; Wisniewski, Kristofer S. The Effectiveness of Individualized Exercise Programs on the Physical Fitness of Rural Cancer Survivors The race to determine the ultimate exercise program for cancer survivors continues, but is there only one answer? The purpose of this study is to examine the benefits of individualized exercise prescriptions for cancer survivors in rural Pennsylvania. Three female cancer survivors with an average age of 64.0 Âą 1.5 years from various cancer backgrounds were recruited to participate in a four-week program of 90-minute sessions twice per week. The program consisted of individually tailored resistance, aerobic, and flexibility training. Health and fitness testing occurred on a pre-test, post-test basis and included information on demographics, balance, body composition, cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), muscular fitness, functional ability, and flexibility. Paired sample ttests compared pre- versus post- testing results. CRF [peak VO2 (p=.042), peak power output (p=.020)], and muscular strength [handgrip (p=.044)] significantly improved following the individualized training program. Changes in % body fat (-2.1%), fat free weight (+1.3%), ventilatory threshold (VT) (+45.0%), Timed up and go (-17.2%), 30-second chair stand (+62.9%), and flexibility (+21.7%) also improved, but were not statistically significant (p > .05). The results suggest that individualized exercise programs benefitted survivors in CRF and muscular strength. Improvements also were observed in body composition, VT, functional ability, and flexibility. Thus, regardless of the stage of diagnosis, type of cancer, or number of recurrences of cancer, individualized exercise programs are highly beneficial to enhancing the physical fitness of rural cancer survivors.

L3

Derhammer, Taylor; Li, Ying; Wetklow, Daniel W. The efficiency of spanning trees There has always been a need to solve problems efficiently due to the finite computational capacity of technology. Low-Stretch spanning trees can be used to efficiently solve cases of linear systems and can be done so efficiently. Finding the spanning tree is a matter of reducing the matrix to a sparser version. This is done by repeatedly applying the method of star decomposition. Star decomposition reduces the graph into multiple sets that are connected to a center set by a single edge that is the shortest path between those sets. We further examine the use of star decomposition and the overall time complexity of finding lower-stretch spanning trees. Given that time complexities drop so many terms, we will also investigate the practical time complexity and compare it to more commonly used methods.

L4

Feather, Maddison J.; Hoch, Anna R.; Lynch, Mark T. The Clery Act Please see abstract for Poster Presentation P10.

23

AUTHOR INDEX (Saint Francis University student presenters in bold) Alemu, T.S. Augustine, K.A. Bailey, G.E. Bailey, J.M. Baker, D.J. Baker, S.H. Baughman, A.R. Beck, G.M. Blake, S.J. Boles, V.M. Bose, A. Bowen, S.J. Boyd, H.E. Boyer, R.P. Bray, J.E. Brennan, G.M. Brennan, K.E. Burge, M.J. Cadwallader, R.L. Canineu, L.O. Cavallaro, M.C. Cazan, R.L. Chunko, A.J. Chverchko, J.J. Clark, R.A. Dellâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Eva, A. DeLullo, A.N. Derhammer, T. DeSalve, D.S. Diehl, K. Dieterich, S.D. Do, M.N.D. Drus, G.M. Dumm, B.R. Dyer, E.M. Farabaugh, P.G. Feather, M.J. Ferko, A.D. Fitzgerald, P.I. Flaisher-Grinberg, S. Flarend, G. Fox, A.L. Fry, C.M. Furman, B.D. Gabler, J.G. Gallagher, M.M. Gallagher, R.P. Gaughan, J.E. Geiger, C. Georgetson, G.M. Gibson, A. Gleason, J.L. Goodwill, J. Hargittai, B. Hargittai, M.R.

P50 P38 P9 P27 P21 P31 P32 P23 P27 P46 P29 P19 P7, P8 P50 P33 L2, P31 P13 P11 P22 P38 P45 P5 P38 P4, P33 P43 P32 P54 L3 P23 P43 L2 P33 P36, P41 P38 P51 P15, P16, P17, P18, P19, P20, P21 L4, P10 P38 P13, P25 L1, P1, P2, P3, P39 P43 P25 P27 P23 P23 P50 P6 P42 P1 P32 P14 P23, P32, P33, P38 P24, P40 P7, P8, P27 P23, P32, P33, P38

Hawkins, A.K. Henderson, J.L. Hildebrand, A.M. Hoch, A.R. Hogue, M.E. Hoover, T.M. Howell, A. Hugo, J.J. Jasper, G.R. Jegerski, M.L. Johnston, M.G. Karpinsky, M.M. Kasunic, P.T. Keiper, T.L. Kestermont, C.A. Kinard, H. Kirkpatrick, S.A. Kopriva, F.B. Kraus, H.M. Lahart, Z.E. Lehman, T.M. Li, Y. Llanos, F. LoRusso, S.M. Loya, L.J. Luna Lavidalie, F. Lynch, M.T. Maas, B.M. Madison, L.F. Madl, D.M. Makin, K.M. Martino, A.J. McCracken, Z.W McCulley, J.A. McKnight, N.P. Meador, K.B. Merry, J.W. Meurer, K.E. Miller, E.M. Miller, N.J. Mills, J. Moist, M.L. Mulligan, I.J. Myers, S.E. Naeger, C.E. Novak, M.M. Olafsen, H.J. Over, L.B. Palguta, D.A. Parry, S.L. Patterson, K.S. Piascik, H. Potopa, A.J. Prince, T.J. Radford, S.A. Regmi, R.

P30 P32 P26, P34, P49 L4, P10 P33 P38 P16 P24, P40, P42 P33 L2 P23 P14, P23 P34 P26, P49 P52 P18 P30 P25 P54 P32, P44 P47 L3, P6 P24 P31 P47 P38 L4, P10 P32 P24, P40 P53 P52 P44, P46, P28 P12 P34 P24, P40, P42 P35 P26 P37 P33, P36, P41 P28 P36 P35 P31 P29 P48 P23 P22 P33 P20 P38 P34, P43 L2 P23, P24, P40 P32 P34 P35

24 Romeo, A. Ross, B.J. Ruis, M.A. Salek, Z.M. Samuel, K.E. Sangrey, G.E. Scanlan, A.M. Schoeppner, H.M. Schorr, H.C. Schulte, J.M. Schweizer, K.G. Scott, G.D. Slovikosky, D.M. Snider, M.V. Snyder, S.E. Spahr, D.P. Stasik, M. Stone, J.P. Strosnider, W.H.J. Surma, R.N. Tafesse, R.Y. Tedjasukmana, N. Thomas, K.J. Tiberino, A.M. Timmons, E. Troxell, K.L.

L1, P2 P51 P47 P15 P23 P34 P12, P37, P48 P38 P52 P34, P53 P33 P4, P23 P24, P40 P27 P5 P23 P14, P53 P51 P24, P40 P23 P41 P3 P32 P39 P54 P34, P53

Turnbaugh, C. Vainshelboim, B. Vandiver, M.M. Vassalotti, A. Wagner, L.C. Wagner, R.C. Weinzierl, D.J. Wetklow, D.W. Whisler, T.R. Whited, M.C. Wiewiora, C.J. Wilke, K. Willcox, M.H. Williams, K.A. Winschel, T.R. Wisniewski, K.S. Wolf, I.M.

P29 L2 P33 P14, P53 P23 P9 P49 L3 P45 P42 P32 P38 P54 P32 P11, P23 L2, P13 P4, P11, P49, P50 P51, P52

Wolfe, A.E. Wolford, A.C. Yaswinski, A.A. Yost, M. Youmbi, P.B. Zelenky, A.J. Zovinka, E.P.

P51 P17 P32 P43 P53 P6 P14, P53