Research journal 2012revised

Journal of

Research Projects

Upward Bound Math Science Center August 2012 Volume 15, Issue 1 PREPARING FOR PURPOSE mission: to educate students in studies related to science, technology, engineering and math; to stimulate and sustain interest in stem studies and to motivate students to realistically obtain a stem degree.

Upward Bound Math and Science Regional Center at Wichita State University

Journal of Research Projects Summer 2012 Volume 15 Project Editor V. Kaye Monk-Morgan, Director Consulting Editor Maya Rolfe, Writing for the Sciences Instructor DeMarcco Owens, Writing for the Sciences Instructor Acknowledgments The editors wish to thank the students, instructors, and administrative staff of the Upward Bound Math and Science Regional Center for their hard work and dedication. Without their commitment to academic excellence, the creation of this journal would not have been possible.

Publisher Upward Bound Math and Science Regional Center Wichita State University, 1845 N. Fairmount, Campus Box 156 Wichita, KS 67260-0156 The UBMS Journal of Research Projects was inspired by the Research Journal of the Morehouse College Summer Southwestern Regional Math & Science Upward Bound Program.

Preface The Upward Bound Regional Math-Science Center is federally funded and hosted by Wichita State University (WSU) in Wichita, Kansas. With the support of WSU and the cooperation of schools throughout Kansas, the program is designed to serve fifty disadvantaged high school students who have the potential to be the first in their family to attend college and earn a four year degree, preferably in a science or mathematics field.

The curriculum of the “Galaxy Experience” is developed to provide students with the opportunity for academic enrichment in a college setting. While living on campus for six weeks, students attend a variety of classes located on the WSU campus specifically designed to expand their knowledge and stimulate their interests. Classes simulate actual college courses that address topics that are not usually taught at their high schools.

Some of the courses offered in 2012 included: Biology, Physics, Engineering, Nanotechnology, Anthropology, Anatomy and Physiology, Chemistry, Environmental Sciences, Writing for the Sciences, and many more. Moreover, each student’s academic enrichment is supplemented with cultural awareness activities, field trips, academic and career counseling, guest speakers, and tutoring. UBMS students also have access to Wichita State University’s computer, chemistry, physics, and biological sciences labs, Ablah Library, and the Heskett Center for physical fitness activities.

The crowning achievement of the student’s experience each summer is their production and presentation of research projects.

The projects are a culmination of what each team has investigated, researched, experimented and/or discovered during the six-week summer session. This journal serves as a record and a celebration of the hard work and commitment put forth by the students of the 2012 summer experience. Each project was presented at the annual UBMS Research Symposium, and the written report is printed in this journal in its original form, therefore allowing the talent and achievement of our students to genuinely shine through.

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TRIO UBMS Purpose Statement “The purpose of the Upward Bound Math Science Regional Center, the “Galaxy Experience,” is to stimulate and advance interest in mathematics, science, and computer technology, challenge students to perform to the best of their ability, provide a unique residential, academic, exploratory, hands-on experience, and encourage high school students to realistically consider the attainment of a post-secondary degree in mathematics or the sciences.”

TRIO UBMS Center Vision Statement: We are a nationally recognized, intentionally-minded college access program that prepares students for purposeful lives and meaningful careers. We are a leader in empowering students to conscientiously impact the world in which they live.

TRIO UBMS Center Mission Statement: It is the mission of the TRIO Upward Bound Math Science Regional Center to:   

Educate students with the propensity for study in STEM areas for post-secondary Stimulate and sustain interest in STEM careers, and Motivate low-income and potential first-generation college students to realistically consider the attainment of a postsecondary degree.

TRIO UBMS Center Guiding Principles The following list of Principles (CD-DIP) were developed and adopted by the 2010 participants.

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    

Conscientious - I make informed decisions, and I accept responsibility for the decisions I make.

Dedicated - I strive for excellence in all aspects of my life.

Discerning - I use my imagination, creativity, and my cognitive skills to set and achieve my goals.

Intentional - I use my given talents and skills to better my life and the lives of others.

Purposeful - I continually pursue personal success and development.

TRIO UBMS Center Guiding Principles (Staff): UBMS staff members shall work to uphold and model the following principles: 



 



Staff will be conscientious with students and service provision, understanding that their work can be lifechanging for students when done well.

Staff will strive to be discerning when evaluating student behaviors and academic abilities, believing that every kid can learn if we take the time to teach them.

Staff will dedicate themselves to the concepts of continuous improvement and constant evolution.

Staff will plan and implement program services with intention, focused on getting end results and meeting student needs.

Staff will commit to helping each UBMS student and alumni find their ultimate purpose, including, but not limited, to vocation.

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Contents Preface........................................................................................... 3 TRIO UBMS Purpose Statement ................................................... 4 TRIO UBMS Center Vision Statement: .......................................... 4 TRIO UBMS Center Mission Statement: ....................................... 4 TRIO UBMS Center Guiding Principles ......................................... 4 TRIO UBMS Center Guiding Principles (Staff): ............................. 5 CHAPTER ONE – Literature Reviews/Lab Reprts ........................ 7 A Rose by any Other Color ............................................................ 8 Osteology: Bone Remodeling ...................................................... 12 How Does Caffeine Affect the Body ............................................ 15 Chemicals that Cause Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PSTD) . 17 Family Dynamics of American and Japanese People ................. 20 CHAPTER TWO –Research Reports .......................................... 25 Diabetes ....................................................................................... 26 Dye Sensitized Solar Cells: Investigating the Efficiency of Dye Sensitized Solar Cells Using Different Dyes ................................ 33 How Does your Brain Feel Today? .............................................. 46 Which Effects Heart Rate More? Illicit or Prescription Drugs ...... 52 Organic v. Non-Organic: Which is better for your Bucks? ........... 57 Biological Impact of Nonionizing Radiation on Humans: A case study on the dangers of continuous use of cell phones. ....................... 64 What’s The Word? The effects of Dehydration on Short term Memory loss ............................................................................................... 76

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CHAPTER ONE – Literature Reviews/Lab Reprts

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A Rose by any Other Color Payton Morgan, Glenda Mensah-Sarbah, Leah Otoo, Veronica Nichols Mentor: Ms. Christina Bower ABSTRACT During our research, we discovered that the color red rose, especially of the red variety is due to the main pigment, a chemical known as anthocyanin, cyaniding 3, 5 – diglucide.

We also found through experimenting, that one can change a rose’s color many different ways, like food coloring and different levels of chemicals such as Nitrogen and Potassium.

We discovered that the fastest way to change a roses color was with food dye. In the end, both Potassium and Nitrogen made each rose’s color become lighter than the original color.

Introduction Roses come in many different shapes and colors. But some of these colors are unnatural. Have you ever heard of or seen a black, green, blue, yellow, or purple rose? Well they exist, and our group found out how. In our experiment we tested how different levels and amounts of food dye, nitrogen, and potassium affected the color of red and pink roses. Our hypothesis is that we think that if we change the temperature; add nitrogen, potassium, or food coloring to the water, the color of the rose’s petals will change. The independent variables are the rose’s color, soil, Nitrogen levels, Potassium levels, and chemicals. The dependent variables are the brightness of the red and white roses, Nitrogen levels, and Potassium levels. The control was the pot and water. The main pigment in each of these flowers is anthocyanin, cyanidin 3, 5 – diglucide. Although we cannot change this chemical, there are other environmental things which could lead to changes in the color of the flowers.

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Literature Review Throughout our research we found out an excessive amount of data. We theorized that roses don’t naturally change color, after they bloom. Also the main pigment in red roses is anthocyanin, cyanidin 3, 5 – diglucide (Science 1663).

Anthocyanin is a group of pigments that create the colors red, purple, and blue. The pigment is dissolved in the sap of plant cells. Anthocyanin also is in fruits such as apples, plums, and strawberries (Johnson26).

Materials/Methods In our experiment we used many items to help and aid us. They were roses, water with nitrogen or potassium added, food coloring, cups, pan for potted roses, tap water, measuring cup, jug, and thermometer. Each of the items helped the experiment. The rose’s color was the independent variable and was the main point of the experiment. The special water was infused with Nitrogen and another was infused with Potassium. We used the water to get the chemicals down into the roots and change the roses color. The food coloring was also used to change the roses color, but instead of the roots absorbing it we just put the plants into a cup of water with 10 drops of food coloring. The two chemicals were used to mix with the water and then later used to refill the jugs. The cups held the water with food coloring and changed the rose’s color the fastest. The pan was to hold the water that came out of the pot so it didn’t spill everywhere. The regular water was used for the control group. The measuring cup was used to measure the amount we put in the cups and how much to water to give the rose. The jug was used to hold extra water.

The thermometer was used to measure the temperature change to the room to affect the roses.

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Results In the end, all experiments worked, except the temperature one, we threw that one out. We could not conduct that experiment because we ran out of time. After about a day the roses with the food dye started to show drastic color change in the petals. Then, after another two days, the roses had completely changed from white to blue and green. The roses with water infused nitrogen and potassium we started to water about twelve days ago and started to change color about six days ago. Right now the petals are showing color change from pink to a lighter pink in both nitrogen and potassium flowers.

CONCLUSION After about 2-3 weeks, the experiment concluded and we have gathered the data. The fastest way to change a rose’s color would be to use food coloring. Alternatively by using Nitrogen and potassium you can change a rose’s radiance and shade. In the end our hypothesis was correct in the way that you can change rose’s color unnaturally with food dye, nitrogen, and potassium.

Works Cited ohnson, ylvia A., at , and at . Roses Red, Violets Blue: Why Flowers Have Colors. Minneapolis, MN: Lerner, 1991. Print Lindstorm, R. S., and P. Markakis. "Nitrogen and Potassium Effect on the Color of Red Roses." Science.

American Association for the Advancement of Science, n.d.

Web. 18 June 2012. <http://www.jstor.org?stable/1712109>.

Muraoka, Robert. "American Rose Society." Consulting Rosarian. N.P., n.d. Web. 18 June 2012. <www.ars.org>.

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Neff, M. S. "Effects of Storage Conditions on Cut Roses." Chicago Journals. The University of Chicago Press, n.d.

Web. 22 June 2016. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/2471948>.

Thornton, Norwood C. "The Use of Carbon Dioxide for Prolonging the Life of Cut Flowers, with Special Reference to Roses." American Journal of Botany. Botanical Society of America, n.d.

Web. 20 June 2012. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/24350704>.

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Osteology: Bone Remodeling Steven Robertson, Allen Thach, Ron Lam, Gabriel Palacio Mentor: Ms. Shannon Arney & Ms. Christina Bower Abstract: Forensic physical anthropologist specializes in research that determines the age at death, sex, population affinity, stature, abnormalities, and or pathology. They use a wide variety of techniques to determine not only what the s eleton classifies as, but if itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s human in the first place.

Forensic Anthropologists are usually contacted by officers of the common and federal law to determine if a skeleton found is indeed a human being, and if that person died in a struggle or of regular causes (such as heart attack or stroke). This project will look deeper to determine if a skeletonized body found was found in a fractured state, how a living body for heals a fracture from the skull or a different type of long bone, and how long one of these fractures take to heal. This paper will also speak a little of the forensic anthropologists line of work and how forensic anthropologists can use this as a reference tool.

Introduction: Imagine a family is trying to find closure by having detectives find the body of a good family friend. The detectives look all over until they find him. He has been badly wounded and the detectives are trying to find out if the case was a homicide. This is where a forensic anthropologistâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s field of study is necessary. The anthropologists come in and deeply examine the body. During the analysis, they find multiple fractures on the long bones and on the skull inside the body that had already started to heal. The anthropologists want to find out (for their own personal interest) if there is any correlation of the healing times that the skull and long bones share, so they can use this information in future research.

They make a common hypothesis saying if the long bones 12

heal in a few weeks, then the skull would heal in a few weeks as well.

Background Information: Bone fractures are very common, and can happen to anyone. Bone fractures are when your bones crack or break.

Factures can happen by gunshot wounds, physical damage (for an example falling off a cliff, jumping off a bridge ETC).

There are many bones fractures such as transverse, Oblique, Spiral, Comminuted, and Greenstick. Broken bones can be healed by cells which is basically classified modeling and remodeling. Depending on the fracture it can take some couple months to heal (Example: greenstick 3-4 weeks, Oblique takes 5-7 weeks). But after those weeks are done it can be fresh as new bones. Overall fracture bones can be dangerous, but heal over time depending on the right circumstances. For instance if the fractured bone is held in place together with a cast than there is a better chance that the bone will heal correctly.

When remodeling and modeling, the osteoclasts (things that tear away excess broken bone) dissolve bone tissues so that the osteoblasts can go and model the bone.

When the osteoclasts travels and remodels, it creates a micro environment which is called the sealed zone. During the time osteoclast travels, an acidic environmental comes and it tears away bone tissues. When it starts to tear away the osteoblasts (things that heal broken bone) comes in and repairs the bones. Some active osteoblasts become trapped in the matrix which they turn into osteocytes (advanced osteoblasts).

Others might revert to lining cells. Sometimes the osteocytes trigger and they can order activity to the osteoblasts to increase bone density to make bone stronger so the fracture doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t happen again.

The bone healing process has three overlapping stages inflammation, bone production, and bone remodeling.

Even though all bones heal the same, they all can take a dramatically different rate of healing time. For instance cranial healing takes up a larger period of time than long bones. A 13

cranial fracture usually takes around 4-8 years to heal. To give you an accurate comparison, a long bone usually takes 6-8 weeks depending on the type of fracture ad how severe it is.

One must remember not to smoke or drink heavily at all during these times lest they want a delayed healing time.

Conclusion: In conclusion, our hypothesis, if a long bone takes a few weeks to heal, then the skull would take the same amount of time as well, was proven false. After analyzing the paper, we found out that the skull and long bones were made of the same material, but the skull contained more pieces. Therefore a fracture in the skull would be much more serious (due to the many pieces that are included in the skull). This project was made to help forensic anthropologists solve personal questions easier. This paper will help many people (like law enforcement and many civilians) in the near future.

Works cited: Michelle S.M. Drapeau1* and Margaret A. Streeter, Modeling and Remodeling Responses to Normal Loading in the Human Lower Limb, AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY

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How Does Caffeine Affect the Body Cortez Grayson, Chris Childs, Jordan Winston Mentor: Mrs. Lara Gossage Lab Report The difference of individuals and how react to it. Before our first participants could do our experiment they couldn’t continue with our test until their parent had to sign consent.

Kid 1 blood pressure and pulse rate were normal, but after she drank the solution A she completely lost it. Her BP (blood pressure) and PR (Pulse Rate) sky rocketed. You can see in the experiment she has more wrong answers due to sloppy and quickness. This also occurred after she drank solution B. later on her affects were crying stomach pains and headaches. Kid 2 was very calm during his test. He was very cautious while playing the memory game. But later he did have some effects due to the dinking of the solutions, like Bio movements. Our second set of groups, which were teenagers, was our next participants. Both subjects were both calm before we performed our test on them. The participants were the same sex which was females. Aged played a small a part in the test due the maturity level. Subject 1 seemed jittery after she drank the first solution. When we had our participant to play the memory game, she wasn’t thin ing while she was selecting the cards and memorizing each one she selected.

Her blood pressure began rise and also her pulse rate.

Solution B was drank by Teen 1 and most of the same results began show but her head began to hurt. About 30 minutes later participant1 was still hype off of the solution still then 2 minutes later she collapses and she was eventually rushed to a local medical facility. Teenager 2 was mostly calm throughout her process. But she said was having stomach pains and she used the ladies room many times. And finally we used Adults as our final participants. They were also the same sex (two males). Their ages were nearly identical but that didn’t play a part in the experiment. Adult 1 was mostly energized throughout the whole test. His blood pressure

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dropped then later on it made an increase. Some of the effects were stomach pains and headaches. Adult 2 was inaccurate.

His blood pressures and pulse rate was almost a steady constant. One of the reason why was is, adult 2 takes caffeine pills, so therefore the placebo and caffeine didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t affect him one bit. His reactions to the memory were quick, and mostly got some the pairs or answer right. During the time we tested them we had our participants to take surveys to see what kind of energy drinks they would like to drink or they even drink energy drinks. We also played memory games and stopped every 5 to 7 minutes and then took their BP and PR. Our whole point of this experiment was to see what was their reaction would be after drank both solutions (placebo and caffeine). Most of our participants were the same but again some were inaccurate due to time layover we had with some of the participants.

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Chemicals that Cause Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PSTD) Theodora Thach, Sarah Gonzalez, and Catie Miskiewicz Mentor: Mrs. Lara Gossage & Ms. Janine Keeler

Our experiment was about PTSD, or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, PTSD is a mental health condition that is triggered by a terrifying event. Symptoms may include flashbacks, nightmares and severe anxiety, as well as uncontrollable thoughts about the event. The reason our group had decided to do this experiment was because a former member of our team had a grandfather who was in the war and when he had come back from the war he showed symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, so she kind of persuaded us to do this topic. We decided to test on worms because our mentor had given us the suggestions and we thought it would be more easygoing.

We did a chemical and physical reaction. For our chemical, we tested twelve earthworms; we selected these worms through random selection by taking the bait shop container. We were trying to figure out if nicotine had an effect similar on worms to that post-traumatic stress disorder has on humans. We used nicotine as a substitute for neurotransmitters, and neurotransmitters are the chemicals which allow the transmission of signals from one neuron to the next across synapses. For our physical, we interview a faculty member of Wichita State University and asked the faculty member questions about how it was like to deal with hurricane Katrina.

Materials The materials needed to perform the chemical experiment, included: 3 beakers to hold the various substances, one cigarette to soak in water to make the solutions, a small round container to hold the worm that are 17

being exposed to the solution at that time, a notebook to record data in, pipettes to use to put the solution onto the worms, paper towels to hold the worms while their not in use, 12 worms to experiment on, and a plate to put the worms on while were gauging there second reaction.

Procedures To start the experiment, first get out all of the materials.

Take the tobacco out of the cigarette, and then soak the tobacco in 50ml of distilled water for two hours. Next get out the three beakers and create 3 solutions, put the 1st solution, which is the stock solution in a beaker, next you make the medium solution, put this one in a beaker also and it should be diluted 1:3 with water, the next solution is the low solution and its 1:10 water. Now get out the worms and prepare to apply the various solutions, have paper towels moistened with distilled water ready to put them on after you apply the solutions. Get out three worms each for the stock, medium, low and water solutions. Put each worm one by one into the small round container, get a pipette full of the stock solution and squeeze it out all along the worms body, make a chart and gauge its reaction four minutes later on a scale of one to five, one being no reaction five being an extreme reaction Repeat this exact step with 2 more worms, and then follow the same procedure with the medium and low solutions on three other worms each individually. Remember to record the data.

The objective of our experiment was to find out whether or not nicotine affected worms in a similar way to how PTSD affects humans. The way in which we gauged their reaction could have been effect by our by our expectation of what we thought was going to happen, to fixed this error we could have used a stethoscope to record their heart rates and see if the nicotine affected that instead of observing the worms reactions. We could list many ways of how we can modify our experiment but that is going to take forever so we just listed some examples about

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Conclusion We concluded from the data that the worms reaction to the nicotine is usually delayed. At first they seem to be calm and then after 3-4 minutes the nicotine started taking effect and you could see there signs of stress. During the interview with the faculty member, the faculty member never stated that they had any disorder or disability, we asked the faculty member how they had dealt with all the stress over that particular year and they had stated that my faith gets me through it, even though the faculty member never stated that they had PTSD, the faculty member showed symptoms of PTSD for example the voice of the faculty member would rise and you could see with the looks in their eyes. The experiment has proven to be a success and our hypothesis was correct.

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Family Dynamics of American and Japanese People Andie Burch, Zainab Dafalla, Skyler Barnes, Michael Siameh Mentor: Ms. Shannon Arney & Ms. Christina Bower Abstract This study was conducted in order to ascertain the similarities and differences of American and Japanese families. Through distributing surveys and reviewing scholarly literature the information conclude that there are many differences between the two cultures, but also some rising similarities. This study focused on the practices and believes associated with the cultures. While reading this report, the differences and similarities of the two cultures will become apparent.

Introduction This study compared and contrasted the family dynamics of these two cultures. The hypothesis states that Japanese peoples will be more family centered when compared to most American families. The researchers handed a survey to 19 students from 14-19 years of age attending a college preparation camp in Wichita, Kansas. The survey contained several questions, asking them of their lives at home. This project combined the survey with information found about the Japanese family dynamics, the study allows incite in how Americans and the Japanese compare and contrast in different aspects of family life.

Literature Review Cultural Anthropology a contemporary perspective (Keesing, Roger. 1998) stated that kinship is found everywhere, even in indigenous places, family is present. It might come in different forms from what most people thin of as the â&#x20AC;&#x153;family (mother 20

father children aunts uncles grandparents, etcetera) but some form of kinship is always present in all cultures.

Family Change and the life course of Japan(Long ,Susan.1987) included information about how in Ancient Japan the male had the absolute dominant role in the household, which would include bringing in all the money, disciplining the children and having the final say in everything associated with the family. In todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s society, the womanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s role is also becoming equal in the sense of single parent households, making the most money, disciplining the children and having jobs of their own. According to the Ms. Long the family dynamics in Japan are becoming a more equal partnership between the mothers and fathers in relationship to the children. It also stated that Japanese neighborhoods have low crime rates.

Methods The survey was given to low income high school students attending a college preparatory program. The surveys were handed out to everyone (42 students) in the program excluding the students visiting from Ghana, Africa.

Unfortunately, only 19 surveys were completed and handed in.

Surveys were passed out to students voluntarily. With the help of Wichita State Anthropologist Shannon Arney and Biologist Christina Bower, surveys were distributed that consisted of questions asking the individuals beliefs about religion, day-today life, and family structure. The survey was composed of sixteen questions, stating that the answers were to be held in confidentiality and names were not to be used. The questions were made to help aid the differences between American and apanese people. The surveyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s answers were loo ed over and graphed into qualitative and quantitative data. The data was then compared and contrasted with the information found about the Japanese.

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Results Surprisingly, out of 19 surveys received, 47% said that just their mother worked, while 26% said just their father worked, and another 26% said both worked. When asked who brought in the most money in their families 36% said their mothers, 42% said their fathers and 5% said other. Similarly,63% said that they live in an urban area, like the Japanese, however 10% said rural and 5% in suburban areas in both cultures.

Another thing that might affect families is their neighborhood safety level. According to Ms. Long the Japanese have a very low crime rate, while Americans a higher crime rate. Two reasons this might be is a system the Japanese use called the Koban, which are two to four police officers patrolling one or two neighborhoods. To see how the participants felt in their neighborhood the question of do you feel safe in y.our neighborhood was put on the survey, 68% of participants said they felt safe in their neighborhoods, 10% of the survived said no they did not feel safe in their neighborhoods and 5% replied not exactly did they feel safe in their neighborhood.

The Japanese usually have the extended family living with the intermediate family, or at least down the street.

However, the American families are centered on the nuclear family, which means two adults and their kids. Even though sometimes, Americans donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have the â&#x20AC;&#x153;completeâ&#x20AC;? nuclear family. When asked who primarily raises the children in the participants families 68% said their mothers, 36% said their fathers and 5% said their sisters. Also asked was who primarily enforces the rules at home 52% said their mothers,5% said their fathers,26% said both their mothers and fathers and 15% said other.

A big part of family dynamics includes religion.

According to the survey 57% of the participants identify themselves as Christians, 5% identify themselves as Catholic, 21% identify themselves as Buddhist and 10% identify themselves as Agnostic or other, while the Japanese majority religion is Buddhism and Shinto.

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Conclusion The research showed that the typical Japanese family is more family centered than American Families in the aspects including having a male dominated household but in other areas of life Americans are just as family centered in the ways they connect and think about their families. The results from the survey showed that, occasionally, the father was not present or as active in the survey takers lives, when asked if they could change anything about their families those participants said they wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t change anything this suggest this means that most people are happy with their â&#x20AC;&#x153;dysfunctional familiesâ&#x20AC;?. The apanese might have a more traditional family where both parents are present but the Americans are just as family centered in single parent households.

This study was done as unbiased as could be managed by the researchers. Some of the things that could have affected the survey results could have been the way it was handed out or the times. The surveys were handed out during free times when most participants had the time to thoroughly think about the answers they gave. One other thing that might have affected the study is that it was given to low income students which could have affected the aspect of where they come from and what they value. All of these aspects could have affected the results of the survey. This survey bridges the gap between Americans and the Japanese in terms of culture which is important because as fast moving technology arises the need for understanding also does.

References Facts About Japan." Interesting. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 July 2012. <http://www.facts-about-japan.com/interesting.html>.

"Strained Life of the Nonstop American Family."

Msnbc.msn.com.

Msnbc, 21 Mar. 2005.

Web.

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<http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7184763/ns/healthmental_health/t/strained-life-nonstop-american-family/>.

"American Culture." American Culture. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 June 2012. <http://www.zompist.com/amercult.html>.

LIU, XUEXIN. N.p.: Spelman College(Underlined work above comes from Liu Xuexix and Spelman college) Muragishi, Gregg. "Japanese Family Structure: Ideal vs.

Modern Reality." Learn Japanese Language Online.

Http://japanese.lingualift.com/blog/japanese-family-traditionalvs-modern/, 5 July 2011. Web. 27 June 2012. <http://japanese.lingualift.com/blog/japanese-family-traditionalvs-modern/>.

"Facts About Japan." Interesting. Http://www.facts-aboutjapan.com/, n.d. Web. 09 July 2012. <http://www.facts-aboutjapan.com/interesting.html>.

Braver, Rita. "Defining The American Family." CBSNews. CBS Interactive, 11 Feb. 2009. Web. 20 June 2012. <http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-3445_162-147206.html>.

"Central Intelligence Agency." CIA. CIA, 20 June 2012. Web. 29 June 2012. <https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/theworld-factbook/geos/ja.html>.

Long, Susan Orpett. Family Change and the Life Course in Japan. Ithaca, NY: China-Japan Program, Cornell University, 1987. Print.

Munhall, Patricia L. The Emergence of Family into the 21st Century. Sudbury: Jones and Bartlett, 2001. Web. Keesing, Roger M., and Andrew J. . Strathern. Cultural Anthropology: A Contemporary Perspective. Belmont, CA: Thomson/Wadsworth, 1998. Print.

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CHAPTER TWO –Research Reports

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Diabetes Katie Boschman and Jerrica Allen Mentor: Mrs. Lara Gossage Introduction â&#x20AC;&#x153;Do you want a candy bar? It has extra chocolate!â&#x20AC;?

What if you have diabetes, would you still want one? You would probably want one, but your body does not want it if you have diabetes, a disorder where your pancreas, depending on the type of diabetes, either produces too much insulin or not enough. In our study, we researched some of the differences between the two types and conducted a survey. We also experimented, using the various blood sugar levels in a 2-3 hour time frame of a diabetic and non-diabetic adult. Our hypothesis is if you compare diabetic and non-diabetic people after eating a meal the blood sugar should be in a normal range for both, a normal blood sugar range is 100-140. This is a null hypothesis, which is where there is no change expected.

Literature Review There are two different types of diabetes, Type 1 (Juvenile) and Type 2 (late onset). Type 1 diabetes is when the immune system destroys the beta (insulin producing) cells of the pancreas. For unknown causes, the immune system will attack various cells in the body. As this happens, it is creating a deficiency of the insulin hormone. Most cases of Type 1 diabetes are diagnosed when a child is born, but there are some cases that children are diagnosed when they are no longer a newborn. Type 2 diabetes (non-insulin dependent diabetes) is the most common diagnosed. People with Type 2 actually produce insulin, unlike Type 1. But their pancreas either does not produce enough insulin or the body cannot deploy insulin properly, which is called insulin resistance. The body cells are not able to properly work when glucose, or sugar, cannot get into cells. Type 2 used to be more common

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in adults, but Type 2 has recently been diagnosed in children continuously. We have theorized that this increase in the not only the elderly but also the recent marked increases in children, this happens because of parents always feeding their children junk food and not healthy.

Statistics show that there are a total of 25.8 million children and adults in the United States have diabetes, which is 8.3% of the population. There are 18.8 million people who have been diagnosed, 7 million people who have been undiagnosed, and 79 million people who have pre-diabetes.

215,000 people under the age of 20 have diabetes, which means about 1 in every 400 children and teenagers has diabetes. 25.6 million people older 20 year of age and older have diabetes. 10.9 million people 65 or older have diabetes.

Out of all the men that are 20+ in the world, 13 million of them have diabetes, and for women the statistics are 12.6 million.

Other studies have shown that there are 7.1% non-Hispanic whites, 8.4% Asian Americans, 12.6% non-Hispanic blacks, and 11.8% Hispanics have diabetes. The Hispanic rate for diabetes is 7.6% Cubans, 13.3% Mexican Americans, and 13.8% Puerto Ricans. Diabetes has caused a total of 231,404 deaths in the world, and that number is slowly rising every year. (http://www.diabetes.org/diabetes-basics/diabetesstatistics/)

Hypothesis Our hypothesis was if you compare diabetic and nondiabetic people after fasting, than the blood sugar should be in a normal range for both. Normal blood sugar range should be between 100 and 140.

Variables The independent variable was the participants, diabetic vs. non-diabetic. The dependent variables were the blood sugar levels, the ways of fasting, and the demographics of our survey takers.

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Materials ● ● ● ●

Glucose Solution(150 grams) Blood Glucose Monitoring System(Glucometer) Test Strips Lancets

Procedures ● Step 1: Double check that you have materials. ● Step 2: Open glucometer box and take materials our and read manual.

● Step 3: Make sure battery is good and rest of the ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

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glucometer is working.

Step 4: Activate glucometer and take a test strip out of the box.

Step 5: Setup lancing device. ○ Never use lancet when cap is missing Step 6: By following directions of the box and manual, lance the person’s finger and test for getting the blood sugar level of fasting subject and record data.

Step 7: Get another test strip and reset glucometer and lancing device.

Step 8: Have subject drink glucose solution.

Step 9: Take glucose a 2nd time- at 20 minutes after the person has drank the solution, and record data.

Step 10: Take blood glucose levels by following the above procedures at 30 minutes, 1 hour, and 2 hours after drinking the solution.

Results Diabetic/Non-diabetic

Diabetic Vs. Nondiabetic Blood Sugar Levels

250 200 150 Diabetic

100

Nondiabetic

50 0 0.00

0.2

0.3

1

2

Time

Survey: Diet

Survey: Diet 6000

Calories

5000 4000

1

3000

2

2000

3

1000

4

0

5 1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Participants

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Surveys (Cont.)

Breakfast 1 Nothing

2 3

Egg Meat Potatoes Fruit

1

3

Milk

Lunch Pizza

1 1

1

Fries

1

Burger

2

Fruit

3

2

Veggies Sandwich Milk

2

5

Chips Cookies Pop

30

Dinner

Burger Fries Fruit Veggies Tacos Milk Sugar

Analysis We found that a non-diabetic’s blood sugar level went higher than a diabetic’s blood sugar after fasting. The diabetic’s blood sugar stayed in between 100 and 150, while the non-diabetic’s blood sugar level was in between 100 and 200, which is really high for someone who doesn’t have diabetes.

From our graphs we found that what people mostly eat, is burgers and fries. Mostly things that is either high in protein or high in fat. Fruit was another big thing that was consumed.

It was the highest number consumed, but not as frequently as burgers and fries.

Conclusions We concluded that our hypothesis was wrong. The levels of the diabetic and non-diabetic were not both in a

31

normal range. The non-diabeticâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s blood sugar levels were almost to 200 which is really high and not normal for a nondiabetic. The glucose solution had a reaction with the regular blood sugar, the level was supposed to go up a little bit but not shoot up like it did.

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Dye Sensitized Solar Cells: Investigating the Efficiency of Dye Sensitized Solar Cells Using Different Dyes Vy Lam, Jeney Do, Ramar Rhodes Mentor: Mr. Kimal Djam Keywords Anthocyanin is the pigment that is responsible for the red or blue coloring of the flowers or other parts of the plant.

Catalyst is a substance that increases the rate of a reaction without being consumed in the reaction. Colloidal suspension is a collection of tiny particles in a liquid, gas, or solid which may take a long time to settle out. Counter electrode is the electrode at which the electrochemical circuit is complete.

Current is the rate of supply charge, and it is measured in amperes (A). Dye is a chemical pigment molecule or compound that will absorb light. Electrode is a solid that makes contact with the electrolyte in an electrochemical cell so that the current may flow. Surfactant is a molecule that has a hydrophilic and a hydrophobic part. Suspension is a dispersion of small particles uniform on a macroscopic scale, but not on a macroscopic scale. [1]

Abstract The purpose of this research is to determine the effectiveness of different vegetables and fruits for use in dye sensitized solar cells. We hypothesized that blackberries anthocyanin dye are more efficient than raspberry anthocyanin dye due to its dark colour and absorption spectrum. Dyesensitized solar cell mimics the process of photosynthesis just

33

like plants to harvest sunlight energy for the solar cells [1]. It offers great ability to harness solar energy, and in the field of nanotechnology it continue to be one of the most exhilarating and widespread research [1 - 4]. The amount of solar energy in one hour is greater than the amount of energy consume a year of the entire human race. Our research findings showed that raspberries anthocyanin dye produced more maximum voltage, and it is more efficient than using blackberries as the anthocyanin dye.

Introduction Dye sensitized solar cells offers great promise to the harnessing of solar energy [1,2,3,4] and has continued to be one of the most exciting and popular research areas in the field of nanotechnology[ 5,6,7]. Just like plants use the process of photosynthesis to convert light energy to chemical energy, dye-sensitized solar cell converts light energy to electrical energy. In photosynthesis, plants capture light energy using an organic pigment called chlorophyll to produce organic compounds from carbon dioxide (CO2) and water, H2O, for their growth [1]; dye-sensitized solar cell uses dyesensitizer to harvest sunlight energy for cells.

The basic structure of the dye-sensitized solar cells, known (DSSC), composed of three different components. The solar cell is composed of two transparent electrodes, one of which contains the coating of titanium dioxide, TiO2, and stained with dye. The transparent electrodes contained the TiO2 and dye is also known as the anode. The second electrode is transparent coated with platinum, Pt, and also known as cathode. The electrolyte is located between the two electrodes. The process of the dye-sensitized solar cells begins with the absorption of light onto the top of the anode and comes in to contact of the dye that is located on top of the TiO2, and helps excite the electrons within the dye giving enough energy to help travel in the electrode coated with TiO2.

The electrons travel to the titanium dioxide and reach the transparent electrode [2]. The dye molecule has lost an electron and will be decompose if it cannot obtain an electron.

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The dye molecule will obtain an electron from the electrolyte containing a chemical known as iodide. The electrons then will flow through the electrical circuit, and to the counter electrode that is coated with platinum. The iodide in the electrolyte will transfer the electrons back to the dye molecule from the counter electrode, and that oxidized into iodide ions. The dye molecules will continue to emit electrons as long as they are being exposed to light. The electrons will continue to be supplied by the iodide from the electrolyte. This process will create a cycle for generating electricity within the dyesensitized solar cell [3].

Sources: Bailey M., Par , ., Dhirani, A. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Natural Dye- ensitized Nanocrystalline olar Cellâ&#x20AC;?

There are many advantages and disadvantages that associated with developing new technologies or to improve different products during the past centuries. Using dyesensitized solar cells also have its advantages and disadvantages. The DSSC are more costs effective, less effective, than the current silicon solar cells (p-n junction). The silicon solar cell is more difficult to produce than the dyesensitized solar cell which can be produce using layered of 35

coatings on glass, and the DSSC may be able to produce on flexible substrates [4]. Another advantage that dye-sensitized solar cells trump traditional solar cells is that the direct of injection of photon into nanocrystalline metal oxide layer and avoid the possibility of an electron recombining with a hole.

This will prevent the problem of no current being generated when recombination occurs. They will work in low light conditions, such as cloudy skies and indirect sunlight, and it has been suggested to use the dye-sensitized solar cell indoors. The DSSC have higher efficiencies at higher temperature, and they can radiate heat away more efficiently than the current silicon solar cells. They are also able to operate at lower internal temperatures because they mostly built with a thin layer of conductive plastic on the front layer, and the silicon solar cells was usually built with more insulating glass box. The major advantages that associated with the DSSC are the liquid electrolyte in the dye-sensitized solar cell is temperature sensitive. The DSSC can become completely unstable when the electrolyte freezes at low temperatures, and the sealing of the solar panels can become a major problem due to the liquid electrolyte expanding at high temperature. Using liquid electrolyte can also lead to additional problems such as potential instability, limiting the maximum operation temperature, the danger of evaporation, and additional costs to form electrical series connection [5].

The efficiency of dye-sensitized solar cell based on TiO2 films has been further increased to 11.04% [6,7]. The TiO2 film does not have a large enough barrier between the interface of the films and the electrolytes causing the existence of electrons to be trapped between the surface states. The organic materials in the dye-sensitized solar cell may decomposed when using it outdoor because of the high photo-catalytic activity of TiO2 under the UV light pose as a problem for the conversion of efficiency [6,8]. In this paper, we seek to investigate the best organic dyes for dye sensitizers in dye-sensitized solar cell to harvest sunlight efficiently. The photo conversion efficiency of a DSSC is given by

36

VOC Where  is the photo- conversion p IN . efficiency, FF is the fill factor, J SC is the short circuit   FF x JSC x

photocurrent density, VOC is the open circuit voltage and p IN is the incident power [6 - 11]. The short circuit photocurrent density is given

by JSC  qF() 1  r     IPCE    d .

Where q is the electron charge, r    is the incident light loss



in the light absorption and reflection by the conducting glass and IPCE    is the incident photon to current efficiency of the dye sensitizer [9, 10].

Experimental Design and Methods Preparing the TiO2 Suspension First, added 6 g TiO2 powder in mortar and pestle, and then slowly added 9 mL of nitric or acetic acid solution in a 1 mL increment while grinding, and then add 1 mL addition of dilute acid solution only when the TiO2 mixture produced a uniform and lump-free suspension with consistency of thick paint, and look like paste. This process requires approximately 30 minutes, and should be performed in a ventilated hood.

Next, add drop of dish detergent and this will act as a surfactant, a molecule that has hydrophilic and hydrophobic parts because act on surface Figure 1: Figure I: Preparation of

of another substance, in 1 mL of water, but do not grind or the solution will form bubbles. Then, store the TiO2 suspension by pouring it into a dropper bottle using a funnel, and allowed it to TiO2 paste for staining with anthocyanin dye

37

equilibrate for at least 15 minutes to obtain the best results [1].

Disposition of the TiO2 Film Next, cleaned two conductive glass slides using ethanol and gently rinsed them with a soft tissue.

Checked which side of the glass slides are conductive using a multimeter that was set to ohms; the reading should be between 10-30 ohms. Positioned both of the glass slide with the conductive side up, and applied two 6-7 cm pieces of Scotch transparent tape to the three edges of the glass slides to mask a strip of not more 1mm wide, and applied another piece Figure 2: Figure II: Disposition of the of tape on the remaining TiO2 Film side to be coated to mask a strip not more than 4-5 mm wide to the two conductive glass slides. The pieces of tape should extend to the edge of the glass to the table to help secure the slides. Applied the TiO2 suspension approximately ÂľL/cm2 uniformly to the edge of the two slide with the conductive side facing up using a dropper bottle or a pipet. Then, distributed the TiO2 suspension as evenly and quickly as possible on the glass slide by holding a glass stirring rod in a horizontal position over the slide, and use a quick motion to rolled the rod towards the bottom and back towards the top of the slides. Now, remove the tape carefully, and placed the two slides covered in TiO2 suspension in the petri dish and covered it. Allow the TiO2 film to dry for 1 minute.

The hotplate must be able to reach a temperature of approximately 450 degrees Celsius before heated the TiO2 film on the conductive glass. This process must perform in a ventilated hood. Set the hotplate on high, 38

placed the two glass slides with TiO2 film up on top of hotplate, and heated for 10-20 minutes. The TiO2 film will turn purplish-brown as it heats, and back to white when it finished annealing. Turned the hotplate off, and allowed the slide to cool down. The films may turn brown and then back to white during the heating process. Allowed the conductive glass slide with coated TiO2 to cool completely to 30 degrees Celsius after the annealing is complete for about 15 minutes to prevent thermal stress and cracking of the glass, or peeling off of the TiO2 film [1].

Staining the TiO2 with Anthocyanin Dye Crushed five to six fresh raspberries, and poured in 2 mL of deionized water, and filter. The filtered solution is an anthocyanin, which is a pigment responsible for red or blue coloring in flowers and other areas of the plant. Placed one of the TiO2 film face down on top of the filtered crushed strawberries, and moved the TiO2 coated slide around until all of the white film is coated with juice. Place the anthocyanin solution in beaker or petri dish, and placed the TiO2 coated film in solution face down without the strawberries. The glass slide with the coated TiO2 film should be soaked in the anthocyanin dye for approximately 10 minutes in the filtered strawberries solution. Then, washed the film in water and then in ethanol, and dried the TiO2 film gently with white tissue. The anthocyanin stained electrode should be stored in acidified deionized water inside a closed and dark-colored bottle if not used immediately. Repeat these steps to Figure 3: Figure III: Staining stain the second glass slides that the TiO2 with Anthocyanin Dye have been coated with TiO2 suspension in the anthocyanin dye using blackberries [1].

39

Carbon Coating the Counter Electrode First, hold the conductive glass slide by the edges, and applied a light carbon film to entire conductive side of the slide using a graphite, or carbon pencil. Be careful not to miss any spots. Catalyst, a substance that increases the rate of reaction without being consumed in the reaction, coated on the counter electrode should not be touches, rub, or slid against the TiO2 electrode or any other surface [1].

Assembling the Solar Cell Device Removed the stained TiO2 glass slide with raspberries anthocyanin dye from the storage bottle, and carefully rinsed it with water. Gently dried the slides with a piece of tissue paper gently, and place the dried electrode on a flat surface with the side of the TiO2 film is facing up. Within a minute placed the catalyst-coated counter electrode on top of the TiO2 film slide, so that the conductive slide of the counter electrode faces the TiO2 film. Lifted the counter electrode and offset the two slides gently, so that all of the TiO2 film covered by the carboncoated counter electrode faced the TiO2 film; approximately 4-5 mm of each slide exposed at each end.

Placed the two binder clips on the longer edges to hold the slides together while they are still in this orientation. Carefully place on or two drops of the iodide electrolyte Figure 4: Figure IV: Assembled the Solar Cell solution, 0.5 M potassium iodide Device mixed with 0.05 M iodide in organic solvent, at one of the exposed edges of the slide. Opened and closed each side of solar cell by releasing and returning the binder clips for the liquid to flow into the space between the two electrodes by capillary action, and wets the stained TiO2 film. The researcher should use cotton swabs to clean off the excess electrolyte from the exposed areas of the solar cell device. Fastened the alligator clips to the two exposed areas of the solar cell device to make electrical contact to the finished device. Assembled a second cell device using the coated TiO2 suspension slides that had

40

been stained with anthocyanin dye using blackberries by repeated the steps [1].

Measures and Measurement Devices Measuring the Electrical Output Characteristics: Attach the black, negative wire of the meter to the TiO 2 coated glass, and the red, positive wire to the counter electrode. Connect the solar cell directly to the multimeter which is set to Volts to measure the maximum voltage of the assembled solar cell [1].

Results Table 1: Voltage Produced by Product

Types of Organic Fruits Blackberries Raspberries Differences

Max. Voltage Produces (V) 1.12 1.43 0.31

41

Max. Voltage Produces (V)

Blackberries vs.

Raspberries 1.5 1.4 1.3 1.2 1.1 1 0.9 0.8 0.7 0.6 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 0

1.43 1.12

Types of Organic Fruits Figure 5: Voltage by Fruit

The raspberries and blackberries maximum voltage was measured by connecting the wire of the multimeter directly to the finish assembled solar cell device. According to Figure 2.1, the raspberries were 0.31V higher than blackberries.

Discussion and conclusion We hypothesize the raspberries anthocyanin dye are more efficient than the blackberries anthocyanin dye due to the absorption spectrum. According to Figure 2.1, the absorption spectrum for blackberry peak around 539-540 nm and its absorbency is 0.546 while the absorption spectrum for 42

raspberry is only 534 nm and its absorbency is only 0.46. Our hypothesis was proven incorrect because our research proves that raspberry dye is more efficient than blackberry dye. The efficiency of the dye depends on the concentration of the anthocyanin juice in the dye, the viscosity of the dye, and how well the dye stick to the TiO2 coated [12]. The amount of light absorb in the dye-sensitized solar cell by the given fruits dye depends on the concentration of anthocyanin. The fruits that contain higher concentration of anthocyanin will absorb more light and is more efficient than the fruits that contain a low amount of concentration of anthocyanin. The anthocyanin for raspberry is 300-400 mg/100 g fresh weight [Timberlake, 1988] whiles the anthocyanin for blackberry is only 83-326 mg/100 g fresh weight [Mazza and Miniati, 1993] [14].

Figure 6: Absorption Spectrum for Blackberry (peak around 539-540 nm, absorbency = 0.546) [13]

Figure 7: Absorption Spectrum for Raspberry (peak at 534 with an absorbency of 0.46) [13]

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Acknowledgements Thank you Mrs Morgan, Ms Bower, and Ms Santiago for giving us the opportunity and providing the materials that we needed to complete our research, and obtain the data that we needed. We would also like to thank you guys for the encouragement and advices that you all have given us during this time. We would like to thank our Physic and Nanotechnology teacher, Mr Kimal Djam, for giving us the opportunity to know more about his current research of DyeSensitized Solar Cells by allowing us to conduct the research of our own. Professor Ramazan Asmatulu for granting permission to use the nanotechnology research laboratory at Wichita State University.

References ● "Nanocrystalline Solar Cell Kit Recreating Photosynthesis."

● ●

● ● ●

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Http://www.ice.chem.wisc.edu. Institute for Chemical Education, n.d.

Web. 22 June 2012. <http://ice.chem.wisc.edu/KitComponents/SolarCell_Suppli esList031411.pdf>.

Bailey M., Par , ., Dhirani, A. “Natural Dye-Sensitized Nanocrystalline olar Cell” "Sony Global - Technology - Dye-sensitized Solar Cells."

Sony Global - Technology - Dye-sensitized Solar Cells.

N.p., n.d.

Web. 19 June 2012. <http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/technology/technology/the me/solar_01.html>.

Sorge, JD. "Dye Sensitized Solar Cells (DSSC)." (2004): 118. Print.

"Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells." Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells.

N.p., n.d.

Web. 19 June 2012. <http://large.stanford.edu/courses/2010/ph240/luk>.

Longyue, Zeng, Dai Songyuan, Xu Weiwei, and Wang Kongjia. "Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells Based on ZnO Films." Plasma Science and Technology 8.2 (2006): 172-75. Print.

● Nazeeruddin M K, Peter P, Grtazel M, et al. J Am. Chem. Soc., 2001, 123: 1613

● Wang, Zhong-Sheng, Takeshi Yamaguchi, Hideki

●

●

●

●

●

Sugihara, and Hironori Arakawa. "Significant Efficiency Improvement of the Black DyeSensitized Solar Cell through Protonation of TiOFilms." Langmuir 21.10 (2005): 4272-276. Print.

Chiba, Yasuo, Ashraful Islam, Yuki Watanabe, Ryoichi Komiya, Naoki Koide, and Liyuan Han. "Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells with Conversion Efficiency of 11.1%."

Japanese Journal of Applied Physics 45.No. 25 (2006): L638-640. Print.

Park, Nam Gyu. "Methods to Improve Light Harvesting Efficiency in Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells." Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology 1.2 (2010): 6974. Print.

Ito, ., . M. Za eeruddin, R. Humphry-Baker, P. Liska, R. Charvet, P. Comte, M. K. Nazeeruddin, P. Péchy, M. Takata, H. Miura, S. Uchida, and M. Grätzel. "HighEfficiency Organic-Dye- Sensitized Solar Cells Controlled

by Nanocrystalline-TiO2 Electrode Thickness." Advanced Materials 18.9 (2006): 1202-205. Print.

Mandalapu, Aniruddh. "Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells: Lighting the Path to Our Future." CALIFORNIA STATE SCIENCE FAIR. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 July 2012. <http://www.usc.edu/CSSF/Current/Projects/32433.pd>. http://teachers.usd497.org/agleue/Gratzel_solar_cell%20a ssets/data%20and%20results%20and%20UVVis%20spectroscopy%20of%20the%20dyes.htm

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How Does your Brain Feel Today?

Marcus Munoz, Shylee Johnson, Sophavey Nhem, Tori Carlson Mentors: Ms. Shannon Arney & Ms. Christina Bower Introduction Emotions are mental stimulations in the brain that determines your behavior. We chose this topic because we had a question on the Theory of Emotions, founded by John William and Carl Lange. They stated that the four basic feelings were happiness, sadness, fear, and anger. But they did not say located. So after one day of research, we made a hypothesis stating â&#x20AC;&#x153;If you are feeling happiness, sadness, fear, or anger then your Amygdala has been triggered.â&#x20AC;? We chose this hypothesis because the Amygdala is the place mostly noticeable in MRI scan. But we shall soon figure out that we overlooked places in the MRI.

Happiness Happiness is a mental or emotional state of well-being characterized by positive or pleasant emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy. A variety of biological, psychological, religious, and philosophical approaches have striven to define happiness and identify its sources. There are various researches to answer questions about what happiness is, and how we might attain it. Philosophers and religious thinkers often define happiness in terms of living a good life, rather than simply as an emotion. Happiness in this sense was used to translate the Greek Eudemonia, and is still used in virtue ethics.

The Chemical causes of happiness are dopamine and serotonin. Dopamine plays in a role in regulation of behavior, voluntary movement, cognition, motivation, reward, attention, learning, and mood and inhibits production of prolactin, a hormone responsible for lactation, in the hypothalamus.

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Serotonin plays a role in regulation of mood, appetite, sleep, memory and learning and in the gastrointestinal tract; it stimulates metabolism, cellular growth and digestion.

Approximately 90% of the human body’s total serotonin is located in the enterochromaffin cells in the gut (alimentary canal), where it is used to regulate intestinal movements.

Signs of happiness are sometimes very visible and easy to notice. Some signs include smiling, laughing, and having an exited or joyful tone in voice. Studies actually Show that in America, the people who are the happiest are children ages 2-6. “I’m not surprised,” said Linda A. Peoples from the University Of an Diego, California. “Children at that age tend to be memorized and amused by their surroundings. Older children tend to question them, making them less fun and happy.”

Sadness There are three basic triggers to sadness; separation, death of a loved one, and disappointment. Not being aware of or someone not being aware of you places a big role in depression. (Bec , 1967). It’s important to be able to put yourself in another’s shoes and to get there perspective of a situation.

Neuroscientist has shown that there are lots of neuronal, chemical, and physiological mechanisms involved in emotions (Puig-Antich, 1986). Evidence of a genetic predisposing to depression (nurnberger and gershon, 1984) disorder when the key emotion is sadness. Sadness causes you to feel; blue, down hearted and discouraged. It makes your face; chest, arms, legs, and even whole body feel heavy.

As if the weight of the whole world rest on your shoulders.

According to The New York Times, The Brain Manages Happiness And Sadness in Different Centers, not all the emotions are located in the same place. The brain does not have just a single emotional center. Happiness and Sadness involve separate brain areas. “When you’re Sad the brain shows increased activity in the structures of the limbic system near the face, and more activity in the left prefrontal cortex 47

than in the right,â&#x20AC;? said Dr. Mar George, a psychiatrist and neurologist at the National Institute of Mental Health.

The amygdala is a pair of almond-shaped structures in the limbic system. The Amygdala "activates during sadness," Dr. George said. "The left amygdala seems to shut down a bit, while the right goes up," he said. "Sadness and depression seem to involve the same brain region, the left prefrontal cortex, in different ways. It gets more active during ordinary sadness, but shuts down in people with clinical depression.â&#x20AC;?

Many people with severe depression no longer feel sadness or any other emotion. "They're emotionally numb," said Dr. George.

Fear Fear is one of the 4 main emotions in the brain. It can lead to many things such as paranoia, distrust, and insanity.

Fear is located in the amygdale, a brain structure that controls our emotions. Fear can be experienced at a very young age, most likely starting at the age of 2. This one emotion can certainly ruin peoples' lives when it comes to activities they're too afraid to participate in. Many phobias are most likely making peoples' lives a bit dull, but then again, it can make their lives the best life they'll think to ever have, such as the phobia of heights, acrophobia. When it comes to jumping from tall heights, people with this phobia will be too shocked in fear, but when they realize that they just can't be locked up in their bodies giving in to their fear, they'll want to jump and conquer their fear and be having the time of their life.

Anger The feeling of anger may differ from person to person; women, for example, are more likely to describe anger slowly building through the body rate, while men describe it as a fire or a flood raging within them (Molly Edmonds, How stuff works). Chemicals surge through your body like adrenaline and depending on the person flares anger and aggression. In 48

the Brain the amygdala flares out of control. Also blood is being pumped throughout your body. Specifically toward an area above your right eye.

This is how you notice anger on a person; Unconscious tensing of muscles, breathing increase, sweating, Heat gain and loss, etcetera. By recognizing the physiological signs of anger, we can attune ourselves to know when it is time to take measures to make sure that our level of anger does not get out of control (Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/58598). It’s important to notice these beforehand. You could seriously hurt people and or yourself.

The hypothalamus is responsible for regulating your hunger, thirst, response to pain, levels of pleasure, sexual satisfaction, anger and aggressive behavior, and more. It also regulates the functioning of the autonomic nervous system (see below), which in turn means it regulates things like pulse, blood pressure, breathing, and arousal in response to emotional circumstances.(http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/limbicsystem. html). The Hypothalamus is located just under the third thalamus on both sides of the third ventricle.

Results We found that only Fear and sadness in the amygdala.

Happiness is found in the rights side of the Prefrontal Cortex and Anger is found In the Hypothalmus. Therefore, our hypothesis was proven wrong. But in the end we did gain knowledge about a lot concerning these emotions their locations and lots of things each has in common. This is very important to know because if someone is acting a certain way you must know how to fix it and possible ways that caused it.

Conclusion In the end our hypothesis “If you are feeling happiness, sadness, fear, or anger then your Amygdala has been triggered.” was proven wrong. Though these emotions are still the basic four it’s not just the amygdala affected and triggered 49

when these emotions come about. Emotions affect multitudes of areas in your brain. There are specific points but can have a long term effect on your body. Watch for what makes you feel a certain way it just might kill you.

Citations Izard, Carroll. “Human Emotions”. New York City: Plenum Press, 1977.

Izard, Carroll. “The Face of Emotions”. New York City: ACC, 1971.

Leon, Michael. "Serotonin." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 07 Sept. 2011. Web. 09 July 2012. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serotonin Web.http://nativemedies.com/ailment/overcoming-fearsinfo.html “ThePhobia List.” ThePhobia List. N.P., n.d. Web. 12 July 2012 http://phobialist.com "The Psychology Of Emotions / Edition 1 by Carroll E. Izard."

Barnes & Noble. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 July 2012. http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Psychology-OfEmotions/Carroll-E-Izard/e/9780306438653 “My Webspace Files.” My Webspace Files. N.pp., n.d. Web. July12, 2012 http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/limbicsystem.html Lu, Christian. "What Causes Anger." What Causes Anger?

N.p., n.d. Web. <"The Psychology Of Emotions / Edition 1 by Carroll E. Izard." Barnes & Noble. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 July 2012. http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Psychology-OfEmotions/Carroll-E-Izard/e/9780306438653 "Do You Know Your Anger Triggers?" Do You Know Your Anger Triggers? N.p., n.d. Web. 12 July 2012.

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http://lakesideconnect.com/anger-and-violence/do-you-knowyour-anger-triggers/ How Stuff Works. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 July 2012. http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/life/humanbiology/anger2.html

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Which Effects Heart Rate More? Illicit or Prescription Drugs Nikki Allums, Damian Reed, Dovie El, William Wallace Mentor: Mrs. Lara Gossage Abstract This experiment was done to express and demonstrate the effects that various drugs, rather being illicit or prescription, have on the body. In this experiment, we tested different drugs on small water fleas called Daphnia. We found that within the drugs, the illicit ones tended to lower heart rate, while the prescription drugs increased the heart rate greatly.

We concluded that the illicit drugs we used (Nicotine and Alcohol) were depressants, and the prescription drugs we used (Ibuprofen, and Acetaminophen) were stimulants.

Literature Review According to Cathleen F. Morrison and Jane A. Stephenson in their experiment titled The Occurrence Of Tolerance To a Central Depressant Effect Of Nicotine, rats were tested with Amphetamine and Nicotine, and in this experiment, the rats responded slowly at first due to nausea, then after a few injections of nicotine, the rats began to act like the other rate injected with Amphetamine seemed to create a tolerance to the nicotine. According to UNDOC.COM, illicit drugs are used to describe drugs which are under international control (and which may or may not have licit medical purposes) but which are produced, trafficked and/or consumed illicitly. According to hempfood.com, an illicit or illegal drug is any drug that is used improperly, therefore Alcohol and nicotine are considered illicit in this experiment. According to sciencebuddies.com, the heart of the daphnia can be found on its back, which is why they were chosen for this experiment.

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Introduction A Daphnia is a tiny, transparent crustacean (related to shrimp) that has a clear outside skeleton carapace and jointed legs. Like other arthropods, its heart is on its back(science buddies 1). Chemicals which enter their bodies can change their heart rate by interfering with the chemicals that their nerves use to transmit signals. Chemicals that speed up heart rate are known as stimulants, and chemicals that slow down the heart rate are known as depressants (Hempnut 1). In this experiment, we will test the heart rates of Daphnia’s with various chemicals. Our Hypothesis is: If we test the heart rates of Daphnia with different illicit and prescription drugs, such as Nicotine, Aspirin, Alcohol, and Ibuprofen, then the Heart Rates of the Daphnia will increase with the prescription drugs and decrease with the illicit drugs. The independent variables were the solutions. And the dependent variables were the heart rates of the daphnia.

Materials The Materials that we used were, Transfer pipette, Clean depression slides, 2 dissecting microscopes and a light source, A small container for “used” or “stressed” daphnia, 1 800 ml tablet of ibuprofen., 8 tablets of acetaminophen , 1 nicotine cigarette, 10ml of Alcohol, A gallon of distilled water , 4 600 Ml Beakers , Mortar and pestle. To make the ibuprofen solution, crush and ground one 800ml tablet and add to 300ml distilled water.

Procedure Solution Procedures: To make the Aspirin solution, crush and ground 8 tablets and add the powder to 300ml of distilled water. To make the Nicotine solution, soak a cigarette in distilled water for 2hrs, and add the leaves to 300ml of distilled water. To make the Alcohol solution, add 10ml of Alcohol into 300ml of distilled water. **keep the light on the

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microscope off as much as possible, to avoid overheating the daphnia**(Biology corner 1) Handling Daphnia Procedures: With a clean pipette, take one daphnia and put it into the clean side. (Keep the drop small so that the daphnia canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t swim out of your field of view).Place the slide under the microscope and focus on the daphnia so that you can see the beating heart. Count the number of heart beats that occur in 5 seconds,(you will want to do this quickly so that your daphnia does not become stressed in the small volume of water).Once you have found the the number of heart beats per 5 seconds and multiply that number by 12, then record that number. Repeat step #4 (with an unstressed daphnia) to get an accurate count. When you have finished recording the results, take the water from the daphniaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s depression slide, and add a drop of one of the solutions. Then continue step #6 for each of the solutions and record the data. This is the completion of I ONE TRIAL; continue until you have completed 4-7 Trials.

Results Daphnia 1 144

Daphnia 2 144

Daphnia 3 144

Daphnia 4 144

Ibuprofen

204

84

192

24

nicotine

120

108

96

72

Acetaminophen

240

144

108

60

Alcohol

144

168

48

108

Resting

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We found that the illicit drugs lowered the heart rate, and the prescription drugs increased the heart rates.

Conclusion/ Discussion The Prescription drugs caused the heart rates to increase by about 20 beats per minute. our data did support our hypothesis. The Prescription drugs increased the heart rate. We observed that when given the Nicotine solution, the daphnia’s heart rate would slow down, but after about 30 seconds it would increase greatly, so much that we could not count. And it also went into what loo ed li e a “Cardiac Arrest.” ome things we could have done to ma e our experiment more effective is; finding a different way to test each daphnia, such as using one daphnia for each solution.

An estimated 20.4 million people in the United States used some kind of illicit drug in the past 30 days, according to the latest government statistics. About 8.3 percent of all persons age 12 and over are involved in use of illegal drugs or the nonmedical use of prescription drugs.- The National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH).

Works cited "UNODC." Information about drugs. UNODC, 2012. Web. 25 Jun 2012. <http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/illicitdrugs/definitions/index.html>.

HempNut, R. R.. "The Hemp Nut Story." Illegal drugs. N.p., 2006.

Web. 25 Jun 2012. <http://www.hempfood.com/info/illegal-drugs.html>. http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fairprojects/project_ideas/Zoo_p048.shtml Comparing the health and psychological risks of alcohol, cannabis, nicotine and opiate useHall, W. D., Room, R and Bondy, S (1999).

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Comparing the health and psychological risks of alcohol, cannabis, nicotine and opiate use. In Harold Kalant, William Corrigall, Wayne Hall and Reginald Smart (Ed.), The health effects of cannabis (pp. 475-506) Toronto: Addiction Research Foundation. http://www.biologycorner.com/worksheets/daphnia_heartrate.h tml

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Organic v. Non-Organic: Which is better for your Bucks?

Gabrielle Owens and Heather Eddy Mentor: Mr. Trevor Hardy Introduction: Food is vital for every person to consume. It allows them to live from day to day. People cannot live without eating and drinking water, in fact they can only go a twenty four hours without food and a little longer without water. However what happens when food spoils and is consumed? It could potentially be dangerous to a person’s health, but then how do you know when a particular food is spoiled? Is it better to consume food that has no growth hormones or pesticides and if it is, is it worth the extra cost to pay for these organic foods?

Are they going to last the same amount of time as a nonorganic food would? Signs may start to appear on the food but consumers often disregard them, so then what is the pivotal point when people throw the food away due to spoilage?

Along with these questions, this topic brings up many more questions about organic vs. non-organic foods and which is more economical.

Background: Recently, there has been an increasing apprehension of pesticide risks to human health, natural environment and ecosystems. Organic food is a rapidly-growing category in the food industry, despite the fact that it can cost more than double the price of conventional foods (Organic food: is it worth the extra money). While speculation may say that organic food is a healthier option, even after washing the produce, the residual pesticide levels on some fruits and vegetables are much higher than other organic foods. For example, the Environmental Working Group constructed a list called the “Dirty Dozen” that contains 12 fruits and vegetables

57

that you should buy organic (Organic food: is it worth the extra money). Two of them being our testing products: the green bell pepper and the cucumber. Since our health is important to us and society is going through an economic downfall, it leads us to the question: which is more economically friendly: organic or non-organic food?

According to the FDA, there is actually no formal definition of organic. The US FDA says that consuming pesticides in low amounts is harmless, but some research shows a correlation between pesticides and health problems such as cancer, attention-deficit (hyperactivity) disorder and nervous system disorders (Pesticides and Produce). Some other definitions of organic we found are:  Animals have not been treated with: antibiotics, growth hormones, or feed made from animal byproducts.  Animals must have been fed organic feed for at least a year.  Animals must have access to the outdoors.  Food hasn't been genetically modified or irradiated.  Fertilizer does not contain sewage sludge or synthetic ingredients.  Produce hasn't been contaminated with synthetic chemicals used as pesticides. (Organic food: is it worth the extra money?)

So then if organic food does not have preservatives they would most likely not last as long as a food that has added preservatives which are, made to have food last longer.

Is there a major difference in how long organic food lasts against non-organic food? If there is, is the cost difference worth it?

According to Dillon’s produce manager, where we purchased our food, the food comes from all over. On the shelf they look for signs of spoilage, mold bruises etc. Most of the time they do not know where they get their food but the organic has a special sticker saying it is organic. Also with asking the produce guy questions we asked five families where they stored there food and how often they went shopping. This allowed us to know how far apart our trials needed to be and where to keep the food, whether it needed

58

to be refrigerated or kept on a counter. This gave the foundation for our project so we were allowed to start experimenting.

Hypothesis: When we compare organic foods and non-organic foods (Bell pepper, cucumber, cheese, bread, banana, tomato) and check for signs of spoilage (molding, softness, bad smells, brown spots, etc.) over two weeks of standard storage (refrigerated/room temperature), the organic food will produce more signs of spoilage before non-organic foods, thus making non-organic foods more efficient.

Variables:    

Independent: organic and non-organic foods Dependent: the rate of spoilage Constants: storage place, time lapse, observation time Control: harvest time through multiple trials

Materials:               

One organic loaf of whole wheat bread One medium sized organic green bell pepper One organic banana One organic medium sized cucumber One organic red tomato A block of organic cheese One non-organic loaf of whole wheat bread One medium sized non-organic green bell pepper One non-organic banana One medium sized non-organic cucumber One non-organic red tomato String Colby jack non- organic cheese Food scale Digital camera Plastic bags

Procedure: 1.

2. a. b.

Accumulate materials listed above Interview various families and ask the questions below How often do you shop?

What do you do with your cheese after the package has been open?

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c. d. e. f. g.

3. a. b. c. d.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

Where and how do you store your bell pepper?

Where and how do you store your bananas?

Where and how do you store your tomatoes?

Where and how do you store your bread?

Where and how do you store your cucumber?

Interview the produce guy that works at the store you are purchasing your food from and ask the following questions: What is the time lapse between harvest time and shelf time and from shelf time to throw away?

What signs of spoilage do you look for?

Where does the food come from?

Do you look for signs of spoilage or is there a certain time frame for how long the food stays on the shelf?

Place the food in its proper environment, such as a fridge if it needs to be refrigerated or a counter for room temperature, also place in a bowl or in a bag if that is what the majority of people do Observe the food organic/non-organic every day at 8:30 P.M. Write down all signs of spoilage in a log Take pictures of each item for visual comparison Weigh each item of food to see the difference in weight Do steps four through six for two weeks with the same food After the first week of trial one accumulate a second batch of food as listed above Repeat steps 4-9 After the first week of trial two through away trial one after making last observations Continue trial two for another week After the second week of trial two gather all logs, pictures, and data and analyze Draw conclusions to whether or not organic food is economically friendly

Results Trial 1: On day one, particularly the organic bell pepper immediately showed signs of distortion. There were visible signs of withering and softness. This brings up the topic of shelf life. Receiving the organic bell pepper in the condition it was in led us to believe that it was left on the produce shelf longer than expected. However, with our experiment, we did 60

not take into account how long the food was left on the shelf.

We only considered from the time we bought it at the store, to the time we disposed of it after the experiment. Day one of the organic banana, bread, cheese, tomato and cucumber showed no significant changes in the smell, shape or form. In the chart below, we documented which days the spoilage appeared first. From the checkmark on, the signs either enhanced or stayed persistent.

Day 14

Day 13

Day 12

Day 11

Day 10

Day 9

Day 8

Day 7

Day 6



Day 5

 

Day 4

Day 3

Day 2

Bread Bread Cucumber Cucumber Bell Pepper Bell Pepper Banana Banana Cheese Cheese Tomato Tomato

Day 1

Trial One

  

 

 



 

      

Results ORGANIC

   

Trial Trial2:1: 

NON-ORGANIC

Trial 2: 

On day one, particularly the organic cucumber immediately showed signs of distortion. The cucumber was slimy and soft.

Receiving the organic cucumber in the condition it was in led us to believe that it was left on the produce shelf longer than expected. . Day one of the organic banana, bread, cheese, tomato and bell pepper showed no significant changes in the smell, shape or form.

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Discussion/Conclusion: After we compared the prices of organic and nonorganic foods, we came to the conclusion that all the organic foods would cost you on average 24 cents more than the nonorganic. Buying the organic bread, banana and cheese would be cheaper than its non-organic counterparts. However, buying the organic bell pepper, tomato and cucumber would be more expensive than buying its non-organic counterparts.

Overall, buying conventional foods would be more economical because it is better to pay a few cents more for food that will last longer, versus ultimately wasting money, time and energy constantly buying organic food.

Bell pepper Cucumber Tomato Bread Banana Cheese

Organic $0.99 $1.09 $1.23 $2.89 $0.20 $4.49

Non-organic $0.58 $0.58 $0.91 $3.09 $0.24 $5.25

Annotated Bibliography: Bauer, Joy. "Organic Food: Is It worth the Extra Money?"

TODAY.com. Msnbc, 07 July 2006. Web. 10 July 2012. <http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/13737389/ns/todaytoday_health/t/organic-food-it-worth-extra-money/>.

Only certain foods still contain pesticides after washing them. Organic can be worth your money if you buy the foods that the pesticides don't wash off of.

Cezanne, Paul. "Food Democracy." Food Democracy. N.p., 24 Oct. 2007. Web. 10 July 2012. <http://fooddemocracy.wordpress.com/2007/10/24/top5-pesticides-found-in-food/>.

Talks about the use of pesticides being used still even when some of them are banned.

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"Eartheasy." Pesticides and Produce. Epa Water Sense Partner, 2012.

Web. 10 July 2012. <http://eartheasy.com/eat_pesticides_produce.htm>.

Food with high levels of pesticides may cause cancer, attention deficit disorder and nervous system disorders making a weak immune system.

"Fresh Foods." Dillons -. The Kroger Company, 2012. Web. 10 July 2012. <http://www.dillons.com/fresh_foods/Pages/dirt_on_or ganics.aspx>.

Dillions definition of organic where we purchased our food. Also found where they get their food and if they look for signs of spoilage while on the shelf.

Landa, Michael M. "About FDA." Does FDA Have a Definition for the Term "organic" on Food Labels? U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 18 Apr. 2012. Web. 10 July 2012. <http://www.fda.gov/AboutFDA/Transparency/Basics/u cm214869.htm>.

Gave our research group definitions that the FDA uses.

The FDA regulates foods and drugs and what they are allowed to contain and makes people label all their food and drugs with the content they contain.

Mifflin, Houghton. "Organic." The Free Dictionary. Farlex, 2009.

Web. 10 July 2012. <http://www.thefreedictionary.com/organic>.

Found one of many definitions of organic and other definitions for our research.

B., Dr. Robert. "Ă&#x201A; Describe Why Food Spoils." Food Safety Education. Clemson University, 2008. Web. 10 July 2012. <http://www.foodsafetysite.com/educators/competenci es/general/spoilage/spg1.html>.

Found a fact that states when food is spoiling it loses weight because it loses its water. Also states some signs of spoilage.

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Biological Impact of Nonionizing Radiation on Humans: A case study on the dangers of continuous use of cell phones.

Ellena Ignacio, Dominique Liddell, Ivan Saucedo Mentor: Mr. Kimal Djam Abstract As the world around you becomes more technologically advanced you are exposed to more nonionizing radiation throughout your life. Research has shown that non- ionizing radiation may potentially cause serious health risks with exposure over time. Non-ionizing radiation is emitted by all literary devices the most used in the world today are cell phones. In this experiment the level of non-ionizing radiation emitted by cell phones in different usages was measured, in order to find the safest and dangerous way to use your cell phone. Data showed that when your phone is charging it increases that amount of radiation your cell phone emits, however overall using speaker phone while charging emits the most radiation.

Introduction Technology has become integrated into our daily life and is a cultural norm. As a result we are being exposed to electromagnetic radiation from a young age. Electromagnetic radiation is a stream of energy bearing particles that travels outward from an electromagnetic source [1]. Electromagnetic radiation can be from a natural or a man-made source. A natural source for instance is the sun, which has both a positive and negative effect. Sunlight is good for the body because it aids in the skins absorption of vitamin D but with over exposer it can potentially cause sun burn and skin

64

cancer. Man-made sources include x-rays, radio waves, and microwaves.

There are two types of Electromagnetic radiation, ionizing and non-ionizing radiation. Ionizing radiation is a form of radiation that has enough energy to knock electrons out of atoms or molecules [2]. Non-ionizing radiation is a series of energy waves composed of oscillating electric and magnetic fields traveling at the speed of light [3]. On the electromagnetic spectrum non-ionizing radiation includes ultraviolet, visible light, microwave, visible light, radio frequency, infrared and low frequencies as shown in figure 1.

Figure 8: Electromagnetic Spectrum

Although many electronic devices emit different frequencies, according to the electromagnetic spectrum they all emit non-ionizing radiation. For example televisions and computers screens give of a variety of radiation but they are such low frequency that the government sees them as harmless. Concerns are still being raised in spite of it about the possible health problems associated with the use of the screens. On the other hand microwave ovens may produce high levels of microwave frequencies and with repeated use and exposure you may develop cataracts or damage the lenses of your eyes. Cell phone towers use radiofrequency and low levels of microwave frequencies, so does electrical power lines and wiring, all of these contribute to our exposure to non â&#x20AC;&#x201C;ionizing radiation[4].

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Over 5 billion people around the world use cell phones [5] and recently according to the World Health Organizationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s International Agency for Research on Cancer, cell phones have now been identified as carcinogenic to humans [6].

Though cell phones emit non-ionizing radiation that was once said to be harmless compared to ionizing radiation, research shows short term cell phone use causes cancer, a larger study was conducted showing that people who used cell phones for more than ten years on the same side of the head have a 40 percent higher risk of certain types of brain tumors [7-9].

Scientific teams in several other nations have also conducted studies that have shown a possible correlation between continuous cell phone use and serious health dangers. Ten studies connect cell phone radiation to diminished sperm count and sperm damage [10]. Others raise concerns such as altered brain metabolism, behavioral changes in children and sleep disturbance.

Electrical Hypersensitivity is also due to cell phone radiation. It is caused from exposer to common levels of electromagnetic fields from electrical sources. It is mostly unnoticed by users because people are uneducated on the types of symptoms hypersensitivity deals with. Doctors may miss diagnose it or pass it of as a minor cold. Symptoms involve skin rash, fibromyalgia, sleep disorders, nausea, chronic fatigue, memory loss, anxiety, tingling, numbness, muscle spasms, flulike symptoms and fever [11,12].

Tissues nearest to where the phone is held can absorb the radiofrequency energy from the phone which is why there is a big concern for peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s health. The heating from the phone may cause damage tissue which is a result of the bodyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s inability to cope with or dissipative the excessive heat [13]. A recent study done in 2009 by U.S. Food and Drug Administration demonstrated that brain tissues on the same side of the head as the phones antenna metabolized more glucose than did tissues on the opposite side of the brain.

However researchers have not found any health outcomes from the increase in glucose the findings still prove that cell phone radiation does have a biological effect on the human body. Children are most at risk because their nervous systems

66

are still developing and therefore are more vulnerable to factors that may cause cancer. They have a much longer exposure time period then adult do. They also have a greater proportional exposure to radiofrequency because their heads are much smaller than adults [14].

While investigating Effects of non-ionizing radiation to the cells in our body there was an expert by the name of Dr. Carl Blackman who has proven through extensive experiments have shown that calcium ion can escape from cells causing an overflow when exposed to electro-magnetic radiation, even at a low frequency can create an influx. Calcium ion influx is triggered by carrier frequencies, signal strengths and modulation frequencies. The overflow of calcium ion causes a change in the brain that affects your behavior and reaction time of a person. Since calcium ions escape from your cells it leaves little time for their purpose to come to effect, according to Dr. Blac man, “growth and development of cells in DNA synthesis and in the life and death of cells are affected.” The investigation has led to more findings of possible effects of EMR (electro-magnetic radiation) may link to neurological degeneration leading to Alzheimer’s and other neurological issues that come with age and possibly cancer and other health effects.

The Federal Communications Commission has set a required Specific Absorption Rate (SAR). Cell phone manufacturers have to comply with their objective limits for safe exposure. The FCC’s says that any cell phone below the SAR level of 1.6 watts per kilogram is legal [15]. The FCC does not specify how or under when they test the SAR levels of the cell phones, so different manufacturers have different methods for testing the SAR. Some may hold the phone 2cm away from the body or 25mm when testing their SAR. You can never get an accurate reading of SAR not just because of different processes but due to the constant fluctuation of the SAR depending on several factors [16].

Knowing that non-ionizing radiation can cause severe health risks over time we can conclude that when using your cell phone for long periods of time you are also endangering your health. So finding alternative ways to use your cell phone

67

is important because as the mobile market grows cell phones will remain to be the most used electronic device around the world. The different ways cell phones are used may contribute to the amount of radiation emitted such as talking, texting, picture taking, speaker phone and using while charging. This paper aims to investigate the safest and most dangerous ways to use your phone by determining the radiation output. We have hypothesized that using speaker phone while charging will emit more non-ionizing radiation which will then increase the risk of health problems over time.

Materials 1. 20 cell phones 2. Secluded area free of potential radiation interference 3. Tri-field 100EX Meter

Experimental Design and Methods The experiment was conducted in an isolated room free from electronic devices in order to prevent outside radiation interference emitted from surrounding electronic devices. A random design was used to collect 20 different cell phone brands from the Upward Bound Math and Science student. We needed a variety of cell phone brand so that we could gather a wide spectrum of data from old phones to the latest in the mobile market. For each cell phone we measured the radiation emitted using the Tri-field 100XE meter for eight different scenarios. The Tri-field 100XE meter is an instrument used to measure exposure to non-ionizing electromagnetism.

Do not cover the Electric Field Sensor or the Radio/Microwave Antenna while using the Tri-field 100XE meter.

The control variable was when the phone was charged and charging but not in use. The dependent variables were the six other scenarios charging and texting, charging and talking, charging and on speaker phone, charged and texting, charged and talking, and charged and on speaker phone. The Tri-field 100XE meters electric field sensor was placed directly in front of the phone so that it could pick up the frequencies emitted 68

from the phone. Based on the reading we recorded the number given by the gauge. When testing the different scenarios each phone sent three texts when charging and not, during the talking we called another phone from it and had that person hold a conversation for a minute. The same thing was done for charging while talking, charging while on speaker phone and just using speaker phone.

Data analysis

Talking/Charging while Talking 30 25 20 Level of Radiation 15 Emitted

Talking

10 5 0 1

3

5

7

9 11 13 15 17 19 Students

Figure 9: Radiation While Talking and Charging

69

40

Speakerphone/Charging while on Speakerphone

35 30 Speaker phone

25 Level of Radiation 20 Emitted 15 10 5 0 1

3

5

7

9

11 13 15 17 19

Students Figure 10: Radiation Emitted via Speakerphone While Charging

70

7

Charging/Charged

6 5 Char ging Char ged

4 Level of Radiaiton 3 Emitted 2 1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Students Figure 11: Radiation Emitted While Charging and When Charged

6

Texting/Charging while Texting

5 4 Level of Radiation 3 Emitted

Texting

2 1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Students Figure 12: Radiation Emitted When Texting While Charging

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Students 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Averages 3.5 6.4 2.0 3.8 2.3 3.4 11.8 3.0 3.9 2.3 1.5 2.4 2.0 5.0 2.1 2.1 7.3 2.5 4.3 2.0

Results

When analysing the collected data an overall correlation was made between using your cell phone while charging and using it just charged. Although there are some exceptions, the majority of the data showed a significantly greater nonionizing radiation emitted while charging your cell phone then not charging it. Most of the cell phones when not charging emitted no radiation However Figure 3 also shows a stark difference in levels of radiation emitted when charging. When comparing the general range of each graph for each scenario using while charging and not charging seems to emit the highest radiation.

When looking at the average non-ionizing radiation emitted from each students cell phone we found that all but one of the 20 participants cell phone emitted radiation above the Federal Communications Commissions required level of 1.6.

Discussion and Conclusion The results found prove that using speaker phone while charging emits the most non-ionizing radiation.

Therefore it may potential increase your risk of health problems such as cancer and tumours. Since we used a variety of different cell phone brands our data fluctuates and there may be deviations due to the difference of each

72

individual cell phone. When comparing the radiation data we looked at the general median that each cell phone emitted during specific usages. The average of each student showed that the Federal Communications Commissions required level of radiation is not accurate and that manufactures must not be measuring the radiation emitted accurately. They could measure from a greater distance then we did because we measured according to the direct contact you would have when in using the phone. We measured the average by taking each individual studentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s cell phone radiation emitted in each scenario and calculated it using the data we collected. This gave us a more accurate average because radiation emitted always fluctuates, so getting a reading for radiation emitted during different usages of the cell phone will help in calculating the average correctly. Our collected data has shown that using speaker phone while charging emits more radiation and from what research has been done on non-ionizing radiation may increase your risk of serious health problems over time with continuous exposure.

Acknowledgements Mr. Djam Mrs. Morgan Ms. Bower

References 1. Ellis, Jessica. (2012, April 24). What is Electromagnetic Radiation?. Wise Geek. Retrieved June 19, 2012, from http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-electromagneticradiation.htm 2. HSS The Office of Health, Safety and Security. (2012, April 19). Retrieved June 19, 2012, from lhttp://www.hss.energy.gov/healthsafety/ohre/roadmap/ach re/intro_9_1.html 3. Radiation Protection. (2011, July 08). Retrieved June 19, 2012, from 73

http://www.epa.gov/radiatio.n/understand/ionize_nonionize .htm 4. American Cancer Society. (2010, March 29). Radiation Exposure & Cancer. Retrieved June 23, 2012, from American Cancer Society : http://www.cancer.org/Cancer/CancerCauses/OtherCarcin ogens/MedicalTreatments/radiation-exposure-and-cancer 5. http://phys.org/news185467439.html 6. Environment News Service. (2011). Retrieved June 19, 2012, from http://www.ensnewswire.com/ens/may2011/2011-05-31-01.html 7. Hopkins, Virginia. (2012). Cell Phones and Electromagnetic Radiation. Virginia Hopkins Test Kits.

Retrieved June 19, 2012, from http://www.virginiahopkinstestkits.com/cellphoneemfs.html 8. Environmental Working Group. (2012).Cell Phone Radiation Damages Sperm, Studies Show. Retrieved from Environmental Working Group: http://www.ewg.org/cellphoneradiation/sperm_damage 9. Havas, M. (2008). Dirty Electricity Elevates Blood Sugar Among Electrically Sensitive Diabetics and May explain Brittle Diabetes'. Electromagnetic Biology and Medicine, 135-146.

10. Health Physics Society. (2012, June 5). Radiation Answers. Retrieved from HPS Health Physics Society: http://www.radiationanswers.org/radiation-and-me/effectsof-radiation.html 11. Polston, C. a.(201).Ionizing & Non Ionizing Radiation.

Southwest Ghost Hunters Association, 1-2.

12. The Analyst.(2012, March 4).Electrical Hypersensitivity.

Retrieved from Diagnose Me.com: http://www.diagnoseme.com/cond/C599075.html 13. Hall, C. (2001, May 24). Sending text messages may damage your health. Retrieved from The Telegraph: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1331474/Sendin g-text-messages-may-damage-your-health.html 14. National Cancer Institute. (2012, June 18). National Cancer Institute FactSheet. Retrieved from National

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Cancer Institute at the National Insititutes of Health: http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Risk/cellpho nes 15. Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau . (n.d.). FCC Encyclopedia. Retrieved from Federal Communications Commission: http://www.fcc.gov/encyclopedia/specificabsorption-rate-sar-cellular-telephones 16. La, L. a. (2012, March 9). Cell Phone Radiation Levels.

Retrieved from CNet Reviews: http://reviews.cnet.com/cellphone-radiation-levels/ 17.

Dorothy. (1999, May 2). Cellphoone A Boon to Modern Society or a Threat to Human Health part 2. Retrieved July 8, 2012, from N. Zine: http://www.nzine.co.nz

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What’s The Word? The effects of Dehydration on Short term Memory loss Uriel Bailón & Angelina Banks and Sergio Ziad Mentor: Mr. DeMarcco Owens Introduction At times people feel unfocused, fatigued, and irritable.

These people could possibly be victims of dehydration. A person should drink at least 8 cups of water throughout their day to stay hydrated if any amount less than 8 cups of water are drun the chances are they’re dehydrated. Dehydration can be hindering their ability to learn and causing their body to take water out of areas that need water to function correctly, for example your brain and your blood vessels. A controlled experiment was undertaken to test the extent to which dehydration on the cognitive skills of a teenage female at different stages of hydration.

Students who live on campus have to walk to their classes every day, and most of the days are sunny and hot, which causes them to sweat and lose water stored in their bodies. This process of dehydration could lead them to feel tired, sleepy, and possibly confused during class. Students should be drinking water every day to make sure that they don’t suffer from dehydration and to eep them from having a visit to the hospital.

Background It is recommended that a person should drink 8-10 cups of water (1 cup = 8 oz) per day in order to remain hydrated. To be hydrated is to have enough water in the body for it to function correctly meaning dehydrated is the opposite, in which the body does not have enough water to function properly. Depending on what stage of dehydration a person can either experience a slight change in cognitive thinking (light dehydration), lack of focus and short term memory loss,

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headaches (mild dehydration) or certain symptoms such as diarrhea, fainting, vomiting, and loss of motor skills (extreme dehydration). Dehydration also affects a person’s mood causing the victim to experience fatigue, confusion, and crankiness. (Dehydration Affects Mood, Not Just Motor Skills) (Neuroscience and Education: Issues and Opportunities A Commentary by the Teaching and Learning Research Programme) The body’s natural reaction to dehydration is to feel thirsty which occurs when the body is at least 1% dehydrated, remember the human body is made up of 90% water at birth. It only ta es 2% dehydration to begin to affect a person’s short term memory. In a previous study, men and women who were roughly 25 years of age experimented with induced dehydration through exercise and then tested on their cognitive skills. The result showed that the females experienced fatigue, headaches, and difficulty concentrating and remembering things, while the males experienced fatigue, tension, anxiety, and had difficulty executing mental tasks involving vigilance and wor ing memory. Although the males’ symptoms varied more than the females, the females were affected by the symptoms substantially greater than the males.

(Mild Dehydration Can Have Serious Effects on Health) Dehydration not only affects brain by causing the cognitive and motor skills of a person, it also affects the rest of the internal organs as well, for example, blood, tissues, and organs such as the liver and idneys, that don’t get enough water cause a lack of energy. Some researchers believe that Alzheimer’s disease is a result of long term dehydration.

According to natural life scientist Peter Ragnar, a natural scientist, seventy-five percent of Americans are not taking in enough water to keep themselves hydrated. (You're Not Demented, Just Dehydrated)

Materials The experiment portion of this research did not consist of many materials. There were only four major materials needed for the experiment: a 32 oz. water bottle to help the 77

subject measure her water intake, 3 gallons of Great Value Spring Water (This was the only type of water the subject was allowed to drink during testing), 80 Notecards for the words that the subject would be tested over, and finally, the most important material, the subject herself.

Procedures Throughout our experiment, the subject had to follow specific procedures to ensure her safety, yet ensure clear results from the experiment. However, because of personal problems, some minor changes were made over the course of the study. The experiment began with receiving the materials needed (water bottle with measurements, 3 gallons of Great Value Spring water, and 80 blank index cards). On the first day of the experiment (see Table 1), the subject was allowed to drink 8 cups of water (64 oz.) throughout the day. By the end of the day, between 9:30 PM - 10:00 PM, the subjectâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s short term memory was tested (see graph 1 and 2). 10 notecards were taken from the 80, and 3-4 letter words (i.e. cat, bike, far) were written on the notecards.

Sunday

Mon.

Tues.

Wed.

Thurs.

Experiment begins. 8 cups

Fri. 6 cups

Sat. Break

Break day (personal problems interfered with experiment.)

4 cups

Break

2 cups

8 cups

6 cups

Break

4 cups

Break

2 cups Experiment ends.

Table 1: Experiment Schedule by Day

The subject had no more than 2 minutes to memorize the 10 words. After the 2 minutes, the subject was given 1 minute to recite as many of the 10 words as she could remember. The number of words recalled was then recorded.

The next day, the experiment was repeated with the subject drinking only 6 cups of water (48 oz.) instead of 8 cups.

Following the second day of the experiment, the subject was 78

given a “brea day” where she was allowed to drin as much water as she wanted. After this day, the subject was given another “brea day” because of personal problems.

Throughout the experiment, the subject was only given a break day after 6 cups and 4 cups of water.

Following each test day, the number of cups of water the subject was allowed to drink decreased by two, until the subject was only allowed to drink 2 cups of water. The day following the “brea day” after 2 cups, the process repeated and the subject was allowed to drink 8 cups of water. Each day the subject was tested, the words she was given to memorize were different. There were 8 different test days, making a total of 80 different words.

During the experiment, the subject was asked to record a journal to describe the color of her urine and stool (see graph 3 & graph 4). This was done to see if the subject’s stool or urine to further show that the subject was indeed dehydrated and to what degree she was dehydrated.

Results

Cups of Water (8oz per cup) 8 6 4 2

Results Chart Number of Words Memorized Trial 1 10 9 6 5

Number of Words Memorized Trial 2 10 7 7 5

After the experiment was conducted, the number of words memorized per cups of water was recorded. Another thing that was recorded was the number of times the subject had urinated that day. Using charts and graphs, the data collected can be seen below.

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Trial 1 10 Words memorized 0 8

6

4

2

Graph 1: Trial 1 Words Memorized

Trial 2 10 5

Words Memorized

0 8

6

4

2

Graph 2: Trial Two Words Memorized

Amount of Times Urinated 6

Color Rated 8 cups

4

6 cups 2

4 cups

0

2 cups 8 cups

6 cups

4 cups

Graph 3: Times Urinated for Trial 1

80

2 cups

Amount of Times Urinated

Colors Rated

4 3

8 cups 6 cups 4 cups 2 cups

2 1 0 8 cups

6 cups

4 cups

2 cups

Graph 4: Times Urinated for Trial 2 Data Analysis Within the process of the test, there was normality in the subject’s diet, but then as the amount of water intake began to decrease she began to crave fruits more and more. She would eat full plates of honeydew, cantaloupe, watermelon, or grapes. If there were no melon fruits then she would eat either an apple or an orange. She would also savor the water intake amount more when she had a greater amount, than when she had a lesser amount, because she would get thirsty faster.

She seemed to be outgoing and very energized when she received a more water. As her intake was diminished = the subject would try and get rest whenever she could; she would complain and be very moody the more dehydrated she was. he did not li e a lot of noise when she didn’t have water in her system and would easily receive huge migraines. She would just be really drained and complain and be a very raging type person. Her comments on things would be a little rude as if the person asking her the question should already know the answer. he wouldn’t ever remember what she had just told someone, or what she was going to do if she did not get there in a certain time. She would also repeat conversations moments after she had them. Her memory was very weak only memorizing a maximum of five words on the two cup days.

She would also use the restroom for stool more when she was 81

dehydrated, the subject more or less had diarrhea on the two cup days. She would use the restroom and urinate more on the days that she received a higher intake of water although it would be clearer on those days. Her stomach would tend to be queasier on days she had less intake of water.

Conclusion The data correlated with the hypothesis, meaning that the test subjectâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s dehydration caused her to remember fewer words. Since the memory was affected by having less water, it can also be inferred that the more water a person drinks, the better their memory will be. Of course they should also be weary of over-hydration because it can also affect the rest of their body as stated in the background research. The final conclusion is that students should drink the recommended amounts of water in order to remain focused, do better in school, and keep their short term memory from being lost.

Bibliography Bliss, Rosalie M. "Dehydration Affects Mood, Not Just Motor Skills / November 23, 2009 /News from the USDA Agricultural Research Service." Dehydration Affects Mood, Not Just Motor Skills / November 23, 2009 /News from the USDA Agricultural Research Service.

USDA, 23 Nov. 2009. Web. June-July 2012.

Raw, Michelle. "Mild Dehydration Can Have Serious Effects on Health." Mild Dehydration Can Have Serious Effects on Health. NaturalNews.com, 22 Feb. 2012. Web. June-July 2012.

Teaching and Learning Research Programme.

"Water." Neuroscience and Education: Issues and Opportunities A Commentary by the Teaching and Learning Research Programme. Vol. 4. London: Economic and Social Research Council, n.d. 11. Print.

TLRP Commentaries.

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"You're Not Demented, Just Dehydrated." You're Not Demented, Just Dehydrated. N.p., n.d. Web. June-July 2012. <http://www.enlightennext.org/magazine/j33/dehydrate d.asp>.

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