College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Chemistry

11855

Assessing Attitudes toward Nicotine Replacement Therapy for Adolescent Tobacco Cessation

"I have two posters and a paper at this conference. This is the primary poster.

Tobacco use among adolescents remains at 14% in the US, despite decades of preventive efforts. Part of this is due to a lack of best practice for helping young people quit. Nicotine Replacement Therapies (patches, gum, lozenge) have been found safe for adolescent use yet are not widely recommended. In order for Nicotine Replacement Therapies to be widely recommended, researchers need to address the issue of adherence among adolescents (ie why aren't these products appealing to youth). This study looked at attitudes of adolescents towards Nicotine Replacement Therapies as a mechanism for adolescent tobacco cessation. We created a 17-item survey on perception of harm of nicotine, e-cigarettes, and chewing tobacco, knowing someone who used NRT, tobacco, or e-cigarettes, and perception of medication use, and distributed it to middle and high school students (n=198). Data collected highlight misconceptions regarding tobacco and nicotine that might play a role in attitudes toward NRT for adolescent tobacco cessation. Further research in this area remains a priority.

I will also be accepting an award for best Graduate Student Research Paper for a paper on a tobacco cessation intervention for people with disabilities and presenting another poster on lessons learned from asset mapping a Title 1 school. (Flesh-Kincaid Grade Level: 14.1)"

11849

Effect of Spinal Manipulations and Body-based Interventions in a Model of Experimentally Induced Low Back Pain

This study investigated the effect of manual therapy on the spine in people with back pain. Sixty people without pain were part of the study. During the study, people were tested 6 times. During the third day of testing; participants exercised vigorously their low back muscles to produce pain that would begin 48 hours later. On the day that participants had pain, they were treated with manual therapy. Participants were tested for pain to pressure. They were also asked to say how much pain they had on a scale of 0 to 100, where 0 is no pain and 100 is the worst pain ever. Participants also drew the area of the body where they had pain. Results show that pain was developed after hard exercise. Results also show that after applying one of the manual therapy chosen for this study, the pain decreased in intensity, and also decreased in the size of the body area they had initially drew. Participants also had less pain to pressure. These changes in pain report were seen immediately after treatment and two days later after the treatment. Therefore, patients with low back pain should be treated with manual therapy to decrease their pain. (Flesh-Kincaid Grade Level: 8.9)

11845

A Historical Perspective of Land Cover and Land Use Change in Kafue National Park and Surrounding Landscape Covering a surface area of approximately 22,000 km square, Kafue National Park is the oldest and largest national park in Zambia. It is also known as one of the richest parks in biodiversity in terms of flora and fauna in southern Africa. Although historically human existence and land use spotted within the park boundaries, today it is mostly abandoned. However, land cover around Kafue National Park has been significantly affected by increased settlement in the past three decades. These changes are mostly associated with a rapidly growing population and as a consequence, their agricultural activities, which occur throughout the neighboring Game Management Areas , located around the park’s boundaries. Despite the significant amount of wildlife in the park, its resources largely remain undocumented. Vegetation and habitat changes over time, soil patterns, geological formations, and biodiversity are just some of the research areas that need to be undertaken. In this study we analyze spatiotemporal change of land cover and vegetation patterns within Kafue National Park and the surrounding Game Management Areas from the 1980’s through 2014 mainly using Landsat 5 satellite imagery data. The objective of this research was to create an accurate classification of land cover classes of Kafue National Park and surrounding landscape and to link to the significant socio-economic developments occurring across the landscape. The integration of satellite remote sensing vegetation indices, land cover classifications, and change analyses using the random forest algorithm in association with detailed field data for vegetation type and structure classes, will allow us for a more detailed representation of the land cover of the park and surrounding landscape. (Flesh-Kincaid Grade Level: 17.3)

11844

College of Pharmacy - Pharmaceutical Sciences (Pharmacodynamics)

The broad aim of our research is to understand the mechanisms behind why we crave for a bag of salty chips or fries when we are stressed out. In particular, we are interested in dissecting the local interaction within a brain region called hypothalamus that is responsible for regulating the stress response of an individual and how elevated salt levels can reduce anxiety. Elevated sodium level (salt’s main constituent) stimulates the activity of oxytocin, the so-called ‘love hormone’ which acts as a powerful anti-stress agent. We believe that oxytocin directly acts on cells in the brain that normally release stress hormone called corticosterone to relieve stress and anxiety. In the present study, we used genetically engineered mice to record from these stress cells and show how they are regulated by oxytocin. The mice were divided into two groups: control and the salt group. We prepared brain slices from both the groups and used pharmacological approaches to shed light on the cellular mechanisms behind this crosstalk between salt and stress. Our data suggest that oxytocin released within the brain following increase in blood sodium levels directly inhibit corticosterone releasing cells to curb stress responsiveness. This reveals a novel pathway by which oxytocin can alter stress and promote prosocial behavior. (Flesh-Kincaid Grade Level: 15.5) 11837

College of Liberal Arts and Sciences - Geology Organic Carbon Preserved by Reactive Iron Phases in Developing Deltaic Soils River deltas, like the Mississippi River Delta, are sites of significant organic carbon burial, as evident by the stocks of fossil fuel in these regions. These carbon sinks help regulate the carbon cycle by preventing it from reentering the atmosphere as CO2, a significant greenhouse gas. Our understanding of carbon burial in these systems is based on studies of mature and ancient delta deposits. However, the processes driving organic carbon preservation and burial during early delta growth are not well understood. Reactive iron phases are believed to play an important role in stabilizing organic carbon throughout many environments, including lake and marine sediments. Here, I present data looking into the role of iron in preserving organic carbon within sediments and soils of the Wax Lake Delta, Louisiana. This prograding delta has become the modern model for understanding how deltas form during the early, active growth period. We found that over 20% of the organic carbon in the Wax Lake Delta is associated with reactive iron phases. This is in agreement with previous research showing 21.5 ± 8.6 percent of the organic carbon in marine sediments is preserved by iron association. Considering that deltas are responsible for ~39% of the organic matter deposited in marine sediments, reactive iron in deltaic sediments must play a significant role in the global carbon cycle. (Flesh-Kincaid Grade Level: 13.7)

11835

Answers to Questions We Haven't Asked: Prediction within Alternate Reality Fiction

"This paper will examine science fiction that refers to quantum states, where particles exist in two locations at the same time and produce two possible realities. I will discuss future fiction that engages with quantum ideas directly, the quantum implications of near-future predictions that actually come true, and the dichotomy between works of fiction and reports of scientific advancement. Science fiction postulates technology that does not yet exist to propel its plot, but the postulation creates a story that exists in a state of superposition: that which could eventually but does not yet exist.

My question, therefore, is how do certain science fiction stories use potential solutions to imagine and create suitable problems within their narratives? In a quantum interpretation, each problem could produce a different reality, in which the superposition comes to a conflicting final confusion.

Alternate reality in science fiction creates a state of multiple worlds that can affect the present, the future, and the past in the right circumstances. By reading predictions in future narratives, a reader engages in the quantum state of imagining the future, living in the present, and directly interacting with the narrative, all at the same time. Science fiction stories deny that necessity, allowing an observer to remain, to imagine a world substantially different from our own, and to work to make that future better than it is today. (Flesh-Kincaid Grade Level: 19.1)"

11818

"'What Does it Signify?': Women’s Adornment Practices, Social Class, and Morality in Ellen Wood’s East Lynne"

"As a Victorianist completing my final year in the University of Florida’s English PhD program, it is very important that I attend the VSAWC’s 2015 conference. The conference theme, “Victorian Bodies,” directly relates to my dissertation, which is entitled “Reading the Body: Physiognomy, Disfigurement, and Disguise in the British Sensation Novel of the 1860s and 1870s.” My paper has already been accepted by the conference submissions advisory board. I am scheduled to present it as part of the conference’s panel on “Beauty and Adornment.”

My paper provides a close reading of Ellen Wood’s bestselling novel East Lynne, in order to show how middle- and upper-class Victorian women used their clothing, jewelry, and other adornments to convey their morality and social class. While previous scholarship on this topic tends to present middle-class women imitating their social superiors’ adornment practices, I argue that, in East Lynne, a middle-class character consciously rejects the ostentatious adornment practices of the aristocracy, and instead embraces a new set of adornment practices aligned with the morality of the rising, professional middle class.

College of Health and Human Performance - Applied Physiology and Kinesiology Exertional vs. Passive Heat stroke: altered time course of cytokine expression in plasma and skeletal muscle Exertional heat stroke (EHS) is a life threatening pathology where individuals performing strenuous physical activity experience dangerous increases in core temperature and subsequent organ damage that is potentially followed by death. In the past research has focused on passive heat stroke (PHS), which is experienced while at rest usually in individuals with comorbidities or those that are immunocompromised. Findings from PHS have been arbitrarily applied to EHS. Our lab has developed a model of EHS and demonstrated that EHS has its own distinct pathology. We present data on the expression of cytokines (markers of inflammation and important in cell signaling)in the muscle of mice in order to better understand and potentially develop clinical interventions for this condition. We found that in EHS the cytokine response is blunted and initiated at an earlier time point in comparison to PHS. This highlights the role of exercise in hyperthermia and demonstrates the importance of studying this model separately from PHS. (Flesh-Kincaid Grade Level: 15.9)

11805

College of Liberal Arts and Sciences - English

"The popular American ‘Do it Yourself’ Mythology has an upgrade. Digital platforms enable individuals to log in, learn, and do, with multi-media demonstrations of house remodels, dance moves, or even investment analysis. Digital media’s open access format allows anyone, from amateur to expert, to become a ‘selfie’ made man. However, while technology helps democratize availability, the viral emphasis on sharing and circulating media establishes trends and reinforces a DIY rhetoric of success. Yet, the growth of ‘DIY Fails’ memes, tumblers, and websites reconfigure viral images or ‘perfect projects’ to spread media that challenges popular ideals. Can sites sharing failures offer alternatives to imitation? Can the open access format empower individuals to fail?

Looking at user generated content and mapping image circulation I evaluate how Pinterest fails parodies the Pinterest aesthetic and reenvisions success. I argue that Pinterest Fails opens up alternatives to ‘memetic production.’ Celebrating failure while still commodifying success, a satiric ‘Nailed It’ rhetoric pushes back against the optimistic perfectionism inherent in many DIY narratives.

Pinterest organizes digital collections of projects and interests, pulling from both the personal and popular to build archives of images. Copy and paste technology helps users envision an ideal – putting together wedding ideas, home improvements, or even recipes and crafts. Pinterest promotes a digital rhetoric of accessibility – a self-help narrative that privileges everyman do-it-yourself formulas for perfection. However, access is far from expertise and reproducing a Pinterest design does not always result in a perfect project. Pinterest fails democratize individual power alongside access, manipulating format to allow for individual expression. In circulating failure, popular culture helps build alternatives to institutionalized archives of success and perfection. Pinterest fails interrogates notions of success, crafting a cultural marketplace for new digital identities and narratives of the self-made man.

11800

11787

Plasmon-Driven CO Oxidation in Au-SrTiO3 Nanostructures at Room Temperature

This project details a unique strategy to address the issue of high thermal energy requirements in industrial catalytic reactions. Heterogeneous catalysts play a vital role in numerous industrial chemical manufacturing processes, yet these reactions often require high operational temperatures in order to achieve suitable reaction efficiencies. Moreover, high operational temperatures in nanoscale catalysts are known to destroy the reactive sites over time, reducing efficiency and catalyst lifetime. By coupling solar energy into chemical bonds, solar photocatalysis offers an attractive alternative approach to chemical fuel production while simultaneously reducing thermal requirements and improving catalyst durability. Here, we introduce a unique method to controllably manipulate the electronic structure of supported gold nanoparticles by irradiation with visible light. We have clearly demonstrated that the optical properties of gold nanoparticles can be exploited to alter the electron density of the gold surface and improve carbon monoxide oxidation while operating near room temperature. These results demonstrate that harnessing solar energy using gold nanoparticles is a potentially universal approach for enhancing photocatalytic activity and manipulating the electronic structure in metal-semiconductor catalysts. This technique has broad implications for heterogeneous catalysis in the chemical industry and the efficient use of Earth’s natural resources (specifically, solar energy), which is the central theme of this conference. (Flesh-Kincaid Grade Level: 23)

11785

Liberti Ecclesiae: Episcopal Charity and Patrimony in Visigothic Spain

Starting in the fourth century bishops in Hispania, modern Spain and Portugal, gathered in councils to discuss issues related to their churches. Scholars most frequently utilize the canons or decisions from these meetings to examine issues of liturgy, doctrine and theology. Often overlooked is the fact that from the sixth century, the slaves of the church became a frequent topic of conversation. In the Roman world, the elite would demonstrate and maintain their social status through acts of public munificence, such as building a public bath complex or hosting games in the amphitheater. After the conversion of the emperor Constantine and the legalization of Christianity in the fourth century, it became more common to demonstrate benevolence through acts of charity, which would bring both earthly and heavenly rewards. Since manumitting one’s slaves was understood as such an act of Christian kindness, bishops in Hispania frequently chose to grant their slaves freedom. However, they were reprimanded for this at church councils because their fellow clergymen ruled that such acts were detrimental to the property of the church. This paper examines these rulings along with archaeological evidence for churches and civil law codes to better understand the relationship between the notion of Christian charity and the patrimony of the Church in the sixth and seventh centuries. In particular, I will demonstrate the way in which the bishops of Hispania used both civil law and church canons to develop a legal framework to protect church properties so that by the seventh century, Spanish bishops managed substantial numbers of slaves, controlled large plots of land and acted as local representatives of royal power. I also suggest that freedom for manumitted slaves of the church would come to have less and less meaning under canon law over the course of the seventh century. (Flesh-Kincaid Grade Level: 17.1)

11783

Division and Attraction: Negative Political Advertising and the Increased Popularity of Politically Opinionated Programming This study advances the argument that negative political advertising increases the popularity of programming on cable TV and radio with a partisan slant. People who see negative political ads become more polarized, and people who are more polarized then gravitate toward opinionated programming, which makes it more popular. In essence, these ads, which have become quite common in American campaigns, have an effect on the type of programming people choose. (Flesh-Kincaid Grade Level: 18)

11775

College of Liberal Arts and Sciences - Geology

Arctic frozen soil represents about 50% of the total belowground global carbon pool, and thus the fate of this pool, as it thaws in the wake of global warming, warrants close attention for producing significant amount of greenhouse gases. The Colville River is the largest North American Arctic River with a continuous frozen soil ground watershed. Colville River Delta, which receives particles from thawing frozen soil, should record the influence of warming on Alaska soil. Six sediment cores were collected from the river delta and nearby eastern lagoon in August of 2010. Cesium dating of these cores showed different sedimentation rate at different sites. To understand the impact of the river at different sites, we chose surface samples from last 50 years based on the dating data at the six sites. We did bulk organic carbon and biomarkers analysis, as well as compound specific isotope analysis (CSIA) of biomarkers to track the sources of those sediments. Our data showed that sites close to the river mouth have greater inputs of soil and litter derived from terrestrial materials, in 
addition to more pulsing events, than stations in the lagoon, which are further from the delta. The distal eastern region of the lagoon has greater inputs of peat from coastal erosion. CSIA of fatty acids at stations show decadal shifts in algal and terrestrial inputs, due to changes
in river inputs and variability of onsite phytoplankton abundance. We also found a potential biomarker for peat inputs in the Arctic. Based on the results, we will decide which core we are going to use for future downcore analysis to track the historical change of terrestrial inputs for studying Arctic soil thawing under global warming. (Flesh-Kincaid Grade Level: 13.9)