Alcohol abuse is one of the greatest problems facing the US population today and increased usage/availability of advertisements has only exacerbated the problem. In this age of technology we are surrounded and bombarded by advertisements. Corporations domestically and across the globe have found ways to put advertising in just about every facet of our daily […]
C34: Development of a Bacteria Biosensor for Herbicide Detection
Escherichia coli (E. coli) has been used as a biosensor for detection of a wide range of analytes such as TNT, insecticides or lead. Glyphosate is a widely-used herbicide in US agriculture that can pose harms to marine life, mammals and endangered species. Due to the structural similarities between glycine, an amino acid that has […]
C05: Evolutionary and Structural Adaptations in the Eye Lens of the Freeze-Tolerant North American Wood Frog (Rana sylvatica)
My general research area is evolutionary biology and bioinformatics. My project is working with the North American wood frog (Rana sylvatica) to study stability and adaptability in lens crystallin proteins. Instability and aggregation of lens crystallins can cause cataracts, which are the leading cause of blindness worldwide. The wood frog is a cold-adapted vertebrate that […]
C17: A Comprehensive Study of Mouse Lens Epithelial Explant Development
The lens is a useful tissue to study development because it is very simple, and self-containing. The lens is made of only two cell types; epithelial cells, and fiber cells. The epithelial cells are cuboidal and aligned in a single row along the anterior edge of the lens and they mature into the long transparent […]
B35: Sedimentation Trends in Acton Lake
Acton Lake is a reservoir in Hueston Woods State Park that was created in 1956 by the damming of Four-Mile Creek. Early on, high levels of erosion and agricultural runoff contributed to high sedimentation rates. In 1992, the USDA began encouraging farmers in the Acton Lake watershed to adopt conservation tillage. The goal of this […]
B04: How Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Principles Influence and are Implemented Within A Local Performing Arts Organization
Within the last decade, the entirety of society has seen a growing acknowledgement of the importance and subsequent lack of cultural equity in all areas of life. Nowhere is this more illustrated than in the not-for-profit arts sector. This case study of a local performing arts organization, the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, examines how principles of […]
A01: Anxiety Sensitivity and Blackouts: Exploring the Impact of Drinking Motives and Gender Experiences in College-Aged Students
Anxiety sensitivity is the fear that anxiety symptoms are indicative of greater harm, and is a risk factor for heavy alcohol use and substance use disorders. In existing research, there are gaps on the exact alcohol-related consequences and how anxiety sensitivity may be related to those consequences. One important gap is the link between anxiety […]
A02: Time to Be Real About College Students Posting Alcohol and Its Effects on Drinking Behaviors and FOMO
Approximately 67% of teens actively use TikTok, one of the top social media platforms. Also, approximately 40% of teens observe alcohol on social media in some capacity (Vogels, Gelles-Watnick, Maccarat, 2022). FOMO (fear of missing out) is a form of anxiety one experiences by not going to an event or feeling left out. People can […]
A03: What Does It Take to Change? Negative Drinking Consequences and Willingness to Change Drinking Behavior in College Students
College student alcohol consumption remains a serious health problem despite frequent intervention and research. Excessive alcohol consumption among college students has been linked to various negative outcomes such as missing class, unsafe sex, accidental injury, assaults, and death (Hingson et al., 2009; White & Hingson, 2014). In a study of college students, more than half […]
A04: Differential Expression of Cysteine Proteases in Carica papaya
Papain-Like Cysteine Proteases (PLCPs) are a family of protein degrading enzymes with similar structures and functions, thirty-three of which are found in Carica papaya (C. papaya). Papain, the namesake of the enzyme family, is extensively used in industry and harvested from the latex of un-ripened C. papaya fruits. In addition to its industrial importance, papain, […]