Abstracts Archive

With nearly 250 million cases reported in 2022, malaria remains a significant global health challenge, with Anopheles mosquitoes as primary vectors. Their developing resistance to insecticides undermines control efforts. Advances in Next Generation Sequencing have made it possible to investigate mos...

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a pathogenic bacterium causing human infections. The bacterium relies heavily on D-2-hydroxyglutarate dehydrogenase for L-serine biosynthesis, making the enzyme a potential target for antibacterial strategies. PaD2HGDH, a Zn2+ and FAD-dependent enzyme, catalyzes the oxidati...

We introduce a screen-to-camera communication system that embeds data in real-world settings by leveraging temporal flicker fusion within the OKLAB color space. Through spatially adaptive flickering and encoding information in distinct pixel region shapes, Revelio achieves data embedding that is vis...

If schools and teachers are underprepared to support and empower the growing population of Latinx students, inequity may increase; students will experience a loss of cultural identity and potential discrimination, have lower grades, graduation rates, and college attendance rates, and face larger sys...

The “adultification” of Black girls, defined as the perception that Black girls as more mature and less innocent than their peers, is a pervasive issue that affects the lived experiences of Black girls. Studies show that Black girls are often seen as older than they are, resulting in harsher tre...

Chronic Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections are the hallmark of late-stage lung disease in individuals with cystic fibrosis. During chronic infection, P. aeruginosa becomes the dominant bacteria in the airway. Within-host adaptation of P. aeruginosa leads to vast phenotypic and genetic population hete...

Metastasis, the spread of cancer from a primary tumor to distant sites, is driven by coordinated cell behaviors within the tumor microenvironment. A key mechanism underlying metastasis is collective cancer cell migration, which significantly impacts cancer progression and patient outcomes. Experimen...

The purpose of this study is to replicate and extend prior research by Dhingra et al. on factors affecting moral disengagement in adjudicated juveniles. After replicating prior research, I then examine additional theoretical factors in the causes of moral disengagement, specifically the effects of s...

Australian Bat Lyssavirus (ABLV) is a highly pathogenic virus belonging to the family Rhabdoviridae, similar to the classic Rabies virus (RABV), which causes fatal encephalitis in mammals. Each year, RABV is responsible for over 55,000 deaths, with approximately 3 billion people at risk of infection...

The preoptic area (POA) of the hypothalamus is integral to regulating social behavior and emotional responses, acting as a central node within the brain’s social and emotional networks. Dopamine (DA) is key to social behaviors, though poorly studied in Amatitlania nigrofasciata, a monogamous speci...

Chemistry, specifically organic chemistry, often induces fear and anxiety among students, and has been shown to be a main factor that discourages students from pursuing medical fields. It is often perceived to be a class with a level of impenetrable difficulty and is often referred to as a “gateke...

Eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) is a chronic inflammatory condition that can negatively affect growth and nutritional status, especially in children. This study evaluates the effects of Dupixent (dupilumab), a biologic therapy approved for EoE, on growth metrics. We monitored the weight and height of...

Current HIV-1 treatments, primarily antiretroviral therapies, face significant challenges including resistance mutations and high costs, particularly in developing regions. Broadly neutralizing antibodies hold promise, but their potential is hindered by limitations in traditional approaches. While m...

In educational leadership research, the significance of Black principals, particularly Black women, cannot be overstated. This presentation seeks to delve into an underexplored area by examining the lived experiences of Black female school leaders in the immediate aftermath of the Brown v. Board of ...

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) continues to be the leading cause of death worldwide, accounting for nearly one-third of all fatalities and posing a significant public health challenge. In 2019, CVD was responsible for approximately 9.6 million deaths among men and 8.9 million among women globally, imp...

The increasing frequency and intensity of storm events have heightened concerns about their impact on public health, particularly infectious diseases like giardiasis, which are often associated with flooding. This study employs aspects of Thacker’s public health surveillance framework, focusing on...

Fluorescence imaging is a pivotal tool in modern biomedical research, offering non-invasive, real-time visualization of biological structures and processes with high resolution1. Among the various fluorophores, near-infrared (NIR) dyes are particularly valuable due to their deeper tissue penetration...

Movements in the Key of Kris is an immersive, multimodal art exhibit that explores the intricate landscapes of identity structured as a four-movement symphony. Drawing on themes of self-discovery, mental health, neurodivergence, and self-integration, the project delves into the layered experiences o...

Building on prior research, this study extends and improves an algorithm originally designed to identify flood-related ontology concepts, evaluating its applicability across multiple fields. The primary objectives are to: (1) demonstrate the algorithm's effectiveness in various domains (urban system...

INTRODUCTION: Older Black Americans are at a much higher risk for Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) than Caucasian counterparts, a difference which can only partially be explained by socioeconomic factors and other medical information. In this study, we investigated cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers and...

The study examines two naphthoquinone compounds with similar structures but differing toxicities, menadione and plumbagin. Menadione is a synthetic derivative of Vitamin K, while plumbagin is a plant-derived toxin used in homeopathic medicine for its beneficial qualities. Both compounds have demonst...

Elevated concentration of inorganic contaminants in urban streams is a widespread issue that must be addressed to ensure sustainable and equitable development. Heavy metals (HMs) are one such contaminant, typically sourced from the poor management of industrial and domestic waste. Past studies have ...

Background: Thoracic aortic aneurysm and dissection (TAAD) is a life-threatening vascular disease that remains challenging to manage and treat due to the lack of approved and effective pharmacotherapies. Growing reports show the therapeutic effects of ketone supplementation in several cardiovascular...

The future of education demands innovative tools that make learning engaging, personalized, and impactful. This project introduces a game-based educational platform powered by Unreal Engine, designed to teach topics through immersive visual novels. By merging storytelling with interactive gameplay, ...

Conjugated small molecules which can absorb and emit light in the near infrared (NIR) region have been used for several biomedical applications such as imaging different tissues and tumor cells, and cancer treatment. The NIR region is known as the therapeutic window and ideal region for bioimaging s...

Tissue engineering scaffolds consist of pores lined with cells through which a nutrient-filled fluid passes. Over time, cells consume the nutrients and proliferate, causing the pores to shrink until they completely fill with tissue. Existing literature has investigated the effects of nutrient flow r...

Molecular property prediction is pivotal in drug discovery, enabling accurate identification of potential compounds with desired characteristics. We introduce MolHyGAN, a novel hypergraph attention network model that captures higher-order molecular interactions for enhanced predictive capabilities. ...

In this performance, I explore the creative power of the body on a journey of discovery through the process of creativity. I am creative. This statement came about as a provocation in the Creativity Research course of the MACIEs Program. Throughout the semester, we were encouraged to adopt a weekly ...

Gordon Holmes Syndrome (GHS) is a neurodegenerative disorder associated with mutations in the E3 ubiquitin ligase RNF216, leading to a range of neuroendocrine, cognitive, and motor impairments. Disruptions in the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis have been identified in Rnf216 knockout (KO) mice, ...

Optoacoustic imaging is an emerging bioimaging technique that combines optical excitation and ultrasound detection to generate a signal. The signal is generated through the optoacoustic effect, and the signal generated can be tracked at multiple wavelengths by Multispectral optoacoustic tomography (...