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Predictors of Willingness to Reduce Carbon Footprint and Effects of Survey Question Phrasing | https://www.jsr.org/hs/index.php/path/article/view/1219 | Nikol Miojevic, Simone Robson; Renata Ivanek Miojevic | 11-20-2020 | To minimize and prevent the many negative effects associated with climate change people must reduce their carbon footprints. Our objectives were to determine whether a person’s likelihood to take political action against climate change, perceptions about fracking, and education level affect their willingness to reduce carbon footprint, and whether phrasing of a survey question affects how people respond. To this end, participants’ responses were used from the publicly available nationally representative 2015 Cornell National Social Survey (CNSS) of 1,000 United States adults. Statistical analysis involved estimation and comparison of odds ratios (ORs) and the associated 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs). Findings indicated that willingness to reduce carbon footprint was positively associated with being likely to take political action against climate change (OR=6.53, 95% CI: 4.63-9.20) and with having gone to college (OR=1.43, 95% CI: 1.06-1.94). Conversely, support for fracking had a negative association with willingness to reduce carbon footprint (OR=0.42, 95% CI: 0.31-0.56). In CNSS, the question about carbon footprint was phrased in five different ways that either mentioned the danger from climate change or the benefit from reducing climate change, and linked the benefit or danger to humans or birds. It was discovered that how the question is asked matters. Participants appeared more affected by mention of humans than animals, though reactions to benefit and danger were not consistent. These findings will aid education efforts about climate change and carbon footprint and also help in the design of future surveys on the topic. |
Coronavirus & the Heart - Acute Heart Attack and Coronary Artery Disease - Pathophysiology | https://www.jsr.org/hs/index.php/path/article/view/1167 | Tanay Subramanian; Dr. James Patel | 11-20-2020 | Research supports a direct correlation between the coronavirus and acute myocardial injuries from the inflammation of the myocardium and its surrounding blood vessels. The pathophysiology of the coronavirus causes cardiac injuries through viral Vasculitis, which releases troponins I and T into the bloodstream to cause a plethora of cardiac problems including acute heart attack, heart failure, hypertension, and arrhythmia. Due to multi-organ failure from the body’s inflammatory response following exposure to the virus, the lungs, kidneys, and brain can become adversely impacted as well. While hydroxychloroquine should only be used to treat hospitalized patients, compassionate use of Remdesivir and Methotrexate can be used for non-hospitalized patients as well, if it is deemed effective and safe for public use through further testing and research. |
A Mathematical Approach to Modeling Physics for the Vertical Position in Synchronized Swimming | https://www.jsr.org/hs/index.php/path/article/view/1249 | Devin Johnson; Benjamin Simonds | 11-20-2020 | In Synchronized Swimming, arguably the most demanding sport known to man, one of the most basic positions is called a vertical. In this position a swimmer’s upper body is submerged in water and their legs are held above the surface while their body is kept in a straight line. Along with the buoyancy forces of the surrounding water and the air in the lungs, swimmers must also support themselves by making movements called sculls with their arms that propel them upwards. This additional force is the applied force. The goal of this research is to use physics principles to create a mathematical model that will help assist synchronized swimmers in maximizing their scores for the vertical position. The math done in this model confirmed that the amount of applied force inversely correlates with the buoyancy force needed to lift the synchronized swimmer out of the water. Additionally, the total force pushing the synchronized swimmer upwards is the same at each level. When the collected data is fitted to a second-order polynomial comparing applied sculling force to desired score, the graph shows that the data had an R2 fit of 0.984. This knowledge could ultimately inform athletes about how to use buoyancy and other forces to their advantage which could increase their performance levels. |
Economic Forces and their Effect on Civic Participation Throughout United States History | https://www.jsr.org/hs/index.php/path/article/view/1075 | Anant Gupta; Mr. Coe | 11-20-2020 | Throughout U.S. history, Economic events and legislation have led to civic activism in the form of protesting and political disruption and have had long term social effects that are seen in the present. The economic history of the United States has been one of unprecedented success and unparalleled growth. At the founding of our country, Alexander Hamilton envisioned a financial structure that would prioritize the well-being of the populace and ensure the stability of the United States economy. However, he could have never envisioned the effect that economic events and fiscal legislation would have on the common people in terms of civic activism. The economy is so interwoven into the fabric of society that any change in it has the potential to create a social revolution, and it has. The nature of economics and its pervasiveness throughout society makes it a potent catalyzer for change. In this paper, two major events were explored. First, the causes of The Panic of 1873, the United States' transition to the Gold Standard, and their implications. Additionally, The social effect which manifested itself through the Free Silver Movement and William Jennings Bryan is dissected. Second, the 2008 Financial Crisis is explained, including the systematic failures that allowed it to occur, and the creation of the Occupy Wall Street Movement. Lastly, an intriguing take on 21st-century civic activism is explored, with Social media and digital presence illustrated as champions for modern social cum political change |
A Comparative Study on the Center-based Iterative Hough Transform | https://www.jsr.org/hs/index.php/path/article/view/1206 | Joshua Park; Young-Woo Lee | 11-20-2020 | Circle detection is one of the most critical aspects of computer vision and has been widely studied and developed in a variety of ways. The Center-based Iterative Hough Transform (CBIHT) is a method for unassisted multiple circle detection, based upon iterative uses of a center-based voting process to determine the circle’s center coordinate. This paper gives a thorough analysis of the CBIHT as well as a comparison with the Standard Hough Transform (SHT) and its well-known variants including the Generalized Hough Transform (GHT) and the Adaptive Hough Transform (AHT). When applied to synthetic and real-life circular images, our accuracy and performance comparison studies show that (i) the CBIHT is more computationally efficient than the SHT’s brute-force algorithm; (ii) the CBIHT’s center-based voting method has greater resilience to noise than the GHT and AHT’s gradient information method; and (iii) the CBIHT’s iterative process provides an adaptability and speed in unassisted multiple circle detection similar to that of the AHT; (iv) yet, the CBIHT requires no parameters for circle detection unlike the GHT and the AHT. All in all, a comparison with other methods highlights the aforementioned merit of the CBIHT, proving the CBIHT to be an excellent choice in detecting the circles with noise in real-life images. |
I Want It, Too: A Correlational Study on the Link Between Youth Celebrity Idolization and Materialism | https://www.jsr.org/hs/index.php/path/article/view/1139 | Alanna Zhang; Jamie Kennedy | 11-20-2020 | Online social media usage among youth has been on the rise, and concerns about its impact have accompanied it (O'Keeffe & Clarke-Pearson, 2011; Rideout, 2018). Upon reviewing the existing literature, it appears that a multitude of studies detail the negative internal and interpersonal effects of materialism, and others assert that advertising viewing is positively correlated with materialism. However, few studies directly focus on advertisements with celebrity product endorsement in particular. This study attempted to bridge these various gaps through the following research question: In 2020, how does the viewing of Instagram celebrity product endorsement correspond with levels of materialism (with a focus on its relationship to well-being and generosity) in middle schoolers in Southern California? Quantitative data from a cross-sectional survey led to the conclusion that the level of celebrity idolization was the most conclusive factor in determining the middle schooler’s final level of materialism. And the more time spent on Instagram–and likely, the more exposure to this type of advertising–the more materialistic and less generous students were. Thus, students feeling particularly detached from their values may consider scrutinizing their list of followed celebrities on social media. The discouragement of celebrity idolization is expected to decrease materialism. |
Impact of Biosynthesized Silver Nanoparticles on Bacterial Growth | https://www.jsr.org/hs/index.php/path/article/view/1234 | Jishnu Basu; Tiffany Grimes | 11-20-2020 | Cystic Fibrosis is a genetic disease which causes the production of viscous mucus in airways which limits airflow and creates the perfect conditions for bacterial growth. Unfortunately, deaths due to bacterial infections in Cystic Fibrosis patients have increased as bacterial strains have developed antibiotic resistance. Researchers have found that silver nanoparticles offer a solution to growing antibiotic resistance due to how no resistance has been developed to them in clinical trials. Current research is focusing on the bio-synthesis of silver nanoparticles which does not produce the harmful waste products seen with the industrial production of silver nanoparticles. However, there is a lack of comparative research concerning the effectiveness of silver nanoparticles produced by different microorganisms, which is what the researcher’s work addressed. The researcher’s work primarily focused on determining how effective silver nanoparticles produced by different bacterial species were at inhibiting bacterial growth. Through the collection of nanoparticles via extracellular synthesis, antimicrobial assays were conducted to determine the efficacy of silver nanoparticles produced by different microorganisms. The results indicated that silver nanoparticles produced by B. subtilis were the most effective in inhibiting bacterial growth. This provides a crucial as research in the field should increasingly focus on bacteria which utilize assimilatory nitrate reduction like B. subtilis because of the increased efficacy of silver nanoparticles produced by this method in inhibiting bacterial growth in aerobic conditions. Advances in this area could increase the efficiency of nanoparticle production and make it viable for industrial production. |
Plants are More Effective in Absorbing Volatile Organic Compounds from the Atmosphere than Air Purifiers | https://www.jsr.org/hs/index.php/path/article/view/1047 | Aryaman Sokhal; Uttamesh Narayan | 11-20-2020 | Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) have proved hazardous towards human health, especially Benzene and Formaldehyde. The research focussed on comparing the effectiveness of plants and air purifiers in absorbing VOCs from the atmosphere. The latter solution contains HEPA filters and activated carbon filters, both of which are known to absorb VOCs. Two variables were tested, which included the level of Formaldehyde (HCHO) and the level of Total Volatile Organic Compounds (TVOC). The test was carried out by spraying equal amounts of deodorant in each room, one with the plant and one with the air purifier, to increase the amount of VOCs in the rooms in order to check how much was absorbed by the two levels of solutions. A pollution monitor was used to measure the VOC concentrations. After carrying out statistical analysis (paired sample t-tests) at the 95% confidence level on a software called JASP, it was shown that the plant used, Sansevieria Trifasciata, absorbed VOCs, especially Formaldehyde, more effectively than the air purifier. |
Torsional Strength in Fused Filament Fabrication 3D Printing | https://www.jsr.org/hs/index.php/path/article/view/1204 | Nathan Ng; Kate Flowers | 11-20-2020 | Among robotics enthusiasts, fused filament fabrication (FFF) 3D printing has exploded in popularity. The ability to manufacture custom parts allows for a greater degree of freedom during the design phase. For example, mechanisms like the drivetrain, a hotbed of torsion forces, can be easily compressed to make room for additional functionality. However, such specific components are often unavailable for purchase. Therefore, the ability to manufacture custom torsionally resistant parts in an inexpensive manner is essential. The objective of this study is to determine the FFF 3D printer settings that contribute significantly to a part’s torsional strength. This will be accomplished by altering either infill percentage or wall line count during printing while keeping all other settings constant among 30 individual test parts. Each part will be tested in a custom testing machine that applies a 9:1 gear reduction to simulate the maximum output torque of most hobbyist drivetrains. By measuring the amount of time each test part lasts before snapping, the setting granting the greatest increase in torsional strength can be determined. |
A Violation of “One Country, Two Systems:” Chinese Encroachment on Hong Kong’s Democratic Autonomy | https://www.jsr.org/hs/index.php/path/article/view/1103 | Ryan Selig, Bridget Gagne, Nick MacDonald | 11-20-2020 | Since 1997 Hong Kong has operated as a Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the People’s Republic of China under a policy known as “One Country, Two Systems.” An analysis of the critical period of 1997-2020 (which came to a close with the 2020 National Security Law) demonstrates the ways in which the People’s Republic of China has used its influence to limit the democratic autonomy and ideological independence of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. By breaking down China’s actions into three distinct sections of politics, media, and education this review addresses the many layers and facets of Chinese encroachment on the freedoms of the people of Hong Kong. In the political sector, China has worked to limit democratic representation in Hong Kong via interference in the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of Hong Kong’s government. In the field of media, China has used direct and indirect editorial action as well as economic influence to limit negative perceptions of Beijing. In the education system, China has taken a top-down approach to instill Chinese patriotism in Hong Kong’s curriculum to expand the support for China in Hong Kong’s youth. Tracking these violations of Hong Kong’s autonomy and also the people’s response demonstrates that although China continues to push the “One Country” aspect of the “One Country, Two Systems” policy, the people of Hong Kong will continue to fight for their freedoms as long as they have a voice. |
A Novel Music Therapy Intervention Utilizing Pop Music to Reduce Adolescent Anxiety and Depression | https://www.jsr.org/hs/index.php/path/article/view/1227 | Zhixing Huang; Natasha Duell | 11-20-2020 | The prevalence of adolescents' mental disorders, especially anxiety and depression, has become a critical social issue that needs to be addressed. Conventional music therapy could be a useful tool to help teens manage their symptoms. However, few kinds of research have explored the potential function of listening to pop music to improve adolescents’ mental state. This paper explored a pivotal approach to whether scientifically proven pop music can help prevent anxiety and depression. The paper developed a criterion that is used for selecting pop music with mentally beneficial elements and created a playlist with songs selected under the criterion. Two survey-based studies, containing a professional diagnosis scale and various questions, qualitatively and quantitatively examined the playlist’s emotional impact. In Study 1, results indicated that the playlist could relieve anxiety symptoms, with less influence in depression. In Study 2, regular control measures and qualitative questions proved that the selected music exerted its intended positive emotional effects onto the listener and indicated that listening to the music on a daily basis may be useful in improving and maintaining one’s healthy mental state. The results were promising and suggested great potential in future research. The scientific use of pop music as a self-help method beneficial in tackling anxiety and depression among teenagers could be a prospective field of study. |
COVID-19: An Emotional Analysis | https://www.jsr.org/hs/index.php/path/article/view/1185 | Udit Khattar; Mukesh Kumar | 11-20-2020 | In 2019, the Coronavirus (COVID-19) spread throughout the world. It was soon declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO). Following the declaration, many countries imposed lockdowns and various other restrictions on their citizens. Therefore, the aim of this study was to identify the differences in the emotional responses of the people, living in different countries, towards the lockdown. This was done by conducting an emotional analysis of the tweets of the citizens of Singapore, Italy, and USA after their respective governments’ announcement of the lockdown by using an emotion-analyzing software. The results showed that there were significant differences between the three selected countries in terms of several emotional responses measured. The study revealed that the differences were influenced by sociocultural differences of the respective societies, the citizens’ experience of the pandemic, and the efficacy of the government’s response. |
Causal Inference with Mendelian Randomization to Explore Risk Factors of Diabetes | https://www.jsr.org/hs/index.php/path/article/view/1087 | Amulya Agrawal | 11-20-2020 | Abstract—Since the dawn of time, health conditions have dictated life around the world. Gradually, through the advancement of medicine and technology, more and more treatments have been discovered to combat these conditions. One of these conditions is a disease known as diabetes. Even with a plethora of treatments being utilized by individuals internationally, diabetes continues to be the one of the leading causes of death worldwide [1]. Caused by a deficiency of insulin, a hormone created and released by the pancreas, diabetes renders individuals unable to effectively utilize glucose. With low amounts of insulin, cells cannot allow glucose to enter them and be used as energy for the body, leaving high amounts of glucose to build up in the bloodstream. Several factors have been suggested as a link to causing this insulin deficiency, resulting in diabetes. However, it is important to remember that there are two types of diabetes present, Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. This report uses Mendelian Randomization to analyze contributing factors of Type 1 and 2 diabetes and explain the roles of confounds and genetics in the pathogenesis of the disease. |
An Uncanny Partnership: Impact of Increased Awareness on Receptivity of Indian High Schoolers to Robot Teachers | https://www.jsr.org/hs/index.php/path/article/view/1222 | Divyam Arora | 11-20-2020 | Robots have become an increasingly important part of our lives. They have been introduced in the education sector in the form of social robots with humanoid features that allow them to deliver lessons and interact with students. Despite the fact that research has shown that students aged 12 and below improve their learning when taught by robots and enjoy interacting with them, there are lingering concerns about their widespread use. The concerns include the lack of accountability, the impact of robots on normal socio-emotional development, and the dependence of robots on outside support. This research study aimed to assess the impact of increased awareness of the role of an assistant robot teacher in the classroom on the receptivity of high school students towards the inclusion of assistant robot teachers in the classroom. Specifically, the respondents were asked to rate their perceptions of the potential benefits of having an assistant robot teacher in the classroom before and after watching an informational video clip about an assistant robot teacher. The video clip features an Indian international school’s advocacy for the deployment of an assistant robot teacher. The results showed that the video clearly had a statistically positive impact on increasing the respondents’ receptivity towards having an assistant robot teacher. Based on the respondents’ responses, it is evident that they were clear about the strengths (vast knowledge repository, animation, graphics) and limitations (contextual response) of the robots. |
The Effect of Temperature on the Spread of COVID-19 | https://www.jsr.org/hs/index.php/path/article/view/1172 | Shubh Goyal; Melanie Malinas | 11-20-2020 | This study analyzes the findings about the spread of COVID-19 in regions of varying temperatures. This paper will use the analysis of public data to conclude how impactful temperature is in determining the spread of COVID-19. In addition, this paper will shed light on some trends and some historical relevance to other pandemics similar in genetic makeup and growth. There have been numerous claims that higher temperatures will cause COVID-19 to diminish quickly and die out during the summer months. Other viruses like the flu and influenza are more common, and they display signs of seasonality. For example, the flu occurs in the Fall and Winter months which is why people get vaccines or flu shots in the preceding months. The conclusion about temperature’s significance could also highlight the stage of severity of the virus. If the cases, start to drop for example, one could conclude that the virus is past its peak and will die out soon. Several states from the United States were monitored for their daily cases and temperature before being averaged into three-day intervals to depict a smoother trend. Both variables are public and accessible to all. The states were divided into colder states(New York, Pennsylvania, and Illinois) and hotter states(Texas, California, and Georgia). The results varied and displayed different trends. The colder states seemed to have gone past their peak and displayed a downward parabolic form. The temperature and cases displayed an inversely proportional relationship. The hotter states showed a constantly increasing case count with the graph showing a spike around the same time. The hotter states displayed an exponential trend and it is hard to predict when and how much they will peak. These two differing trends suggest that the effect temperature can have is not obvious across numerous areas. Therefore, temperature does not appear as a significantly impactful determinant in the growth of COVID-19. |
Reactivity-guided de novo molecular design and high throughput virtual screening of a targeted library of peptidomimetic compounds reveals charge-based structure-activity relationship of potential covalent inhibitors of the main protease of SARS-CoV-2 | https://www.jsr.org/hs/index.php/path/article/view/1082 | Stephanie Sun, Kavya Anand , Ishani Ashok, Bhavesh Ashok, Ayush Bajaj, Varsha Beldona , Kushal Chattopadhyay, Audrey Kwan, Karankumar Mageswaran, Anvi Surapaneni, Atri Surapaneni, Pranjal Verma, Allen Chen, Ria Kolala, Andrew Liang, Ayeeshi Poosarla, Krithikaa Premnath, Karthikha Sri Indran, Jeslyn Wu, Aishwarya Yuvaraj, Harsha Raj, Tanish Sathish, Aashi Shah, Sarah Su, Kara Tran, Edward Njoo | 11-20-2020 | In December of 2019, a novel coronavirus was first identified in Wuhan, China, and has since spread around the world, leaving a largely unsolved biomedical problem in its wake. Upon entry into host cells, the main protease is essential for the replication of viral RNA, which is what allows the virus to replicate inside humans. Inhibition of the main protease has been investigated as a potential strategy for inhibition of the viral replication cycle. Here, we designed a combinatorial library of small molecules and performed high-throughput virtual screening to identify a series of hit compounds that may serve as potential inhibitors of the main protease. In our design of covalent inhibitors of the coronavirus protease, we modeled a library of 361 peptidomimetic Michael acceptor small molecules, which are designed to engage the nucleophilic cysteine residue in the active site of the protease in an irreversible 1,4-conjugate addition. We then employed a variety of computational tools to determine the binding affinity of our designed compounds when bound to the protease active site, where we determined that cationic side chains are potentially beneficial for inhibition of SARS-CoV-2. |
Approaching Stock Market Trading with Echo State Networks | https://www.jsr.org/hs/index.php/path/article/view/1211 | Dev Patel, Krish Patel; Charles Dela Cuesta | 11-20-2020 | The US stock market is an integral part of modern society. Nearly 55% of Americans own corporate shares in the US stock market (What Percentage of Americans Own Stock?, 2019), and as of June 30th, 2020, the total value of the US stock market was over 35 trillion USD (Total Market Value of U.S. Stock Market, 2020). The stock market is also extremely volatile, and many people have gone bankrupt from poor investments. To minimize the risk and capitalize off the massive amounts of data on corporations and share prices present in the world, algorithmic trading began to rise. Trading algorithms have the potential for huge returns, and while many algorithms employ strategies like Long-Short Equity, very few attempt to use machine learning due to the unpredictable nature of the stock market. Many time series prediction models like autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA), and even neural networks like long short term memory (LSTMs) often fail when predicting stock market data, because unlike other time series data, the stock market is almost never univariate, or follows seasonal trends. However, where other models come short, echo state networks (ESNs) excel, due to their reservoir like computing model, which allows them to perform better on messy, non traditional time series data. Using a combination of ESNs to predict prices, and clustering we created an algorithm model that can predict trends with over 95% confidence, but had mixed results accurately predicting returns. |
The Role of Public Defenders Within the American Justice System | https://www.jsr.org/hs/index.php/path/article/view/1286 | Brianna Fisher; Patti Thompson | 05-18-2020 | This paper examines the inner workings of the legal system in connection with public defenders and their duties. The factors of total caseload, plea deals, waivers, and bench verdicts were implemented to create a comprehensive means of measuring work ethic, due to their significant presence in the everyday workings of public defenders. Through a meta-analysis of the five most densely populated African American cities within the state of Michigan, the combined and individual weighted mean effect sizes were calculated to determine if there was a strong positive or negative effect of the four factors mentioned above on work ethic. Additionally, both the upper and lower credibility levels were calculated to analyze their proximity to the weighted means. For all four factors tested, the weighted mean effect sizes relate a positive effect of the factors on work ethic, with all means falling closer to their upper credibility levels. These results confirm that the factors of total caseload, plea deals, waivers, and bench verdicts affect how cases are being handled and how clients are being treated. |
A Colorful Impact: The Psychological Impact of Colors | https://www.jsr.org/hs/index.php/path/article/view/1287 | Barbie West; Joshua Silberman | 05-18-2020 | This paper offers an analysis of research done by professionals and studies of said professionals recreated by an undergraduate student. The goal of this research was to identify a connection between colors and emotions. Through tests and surveys, there was a connection indication; however, it is still unknown the exact connection. |
The Relationship Between Acidity and Short-Term Student Performance on Exams | https://www.jsr.org/hs/index.php/path/article/view/739 | Justin Raymond Croyle, Patricia Talarczyk | 02-04-2020 | All students have to take exams at some point in their schooling careers and often in overwhelming amounts. With tests carrying great importance, students try to optimize their performance on these tests in a variety of ways. A widely-practiced strategy is eating peppermint or candy during the test in hopes of boosting brain performance. Peppermint has been known to stimulate olfactory receptors in humans. Similarly, acidity is an alternative powerful taste stimulant. Although acidity stimulates taste receptors and not olfactory receptors, taste and smell are very closely related which makes peppermint and acidity have similar overall effects. Since peppermint has shown improved memory and cognition in students, this study will now examine how acidity effects brain performance. This inquiry was investigated by giving 84 local high school students beverages of ranging acidity levels and soon after having them complete a timed, four-function math exam to test their brain performance. With average test scores of 38.62, 36.05, and 40.02 for the highest acidity, medium acidity, and lowest acidity beverage respectively with a control (no drink) average of 39.33, acidity does not appear to have an effect on student brain stimulation (p=.53). In conclusion, there was no statistically significant correlation between acidity and student brain function, but this was only a preliminary study and similar concepts should be further explored in the future. |
The Effect of Antibiotics on the Respiration of Microorganism in Northern Ohio Rivers | https://www.jsr.org/hs/index.php/path/article/view/740 | David Patrick Gonia, Patricia Talarczyk | 02-04-2020 | This experiment was conducted for the purpose of inquiring how the concentration of antibiotics, specifically Amoxicillin and Cephalexin, would affect the productivity of aquatic microorganisms within Northeastern Ohio rivers. In acknowledgment of the growing concerns over agricultural pollution, the study was devised to increase current knowledge of how the presence of antibiotics could affect aquatic microorganisms other the well-documented creation of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. In order to achieve the research goal, water was collected from a Northeastern Ohio river and then tested with various amounts of antibiotics. Over the following five days, the concentration of dissolved oxygen was measured which was used to calculate the overall rate of respiration of the sample. The overall respiration rates of the samples with Amoxicillin were 0.0369 mg/L·hr (milligram per liter per hour) with no antibiotics, 0.835 mg/L·hr with 250 mg, 1.16 mg/L·hr with 500 mg, and 0.951 mg/L·hr with 750 mg. The samples with Cephalexin yielded rates of 0.963 mg/L·hr with 250 mg, 0. mg/L·hr with 500 mg, mg/L·hr with 750 mg. These yielded R-values of 0.694 and 0.788 respectively.. This means that the null hypothesis was rejected, thus showing a statistically significant correlation. However, the alternate hypothesis was not supported as a positive correlation between the respiration rate and antibiotic concentration was shown. |
The Relationship between Hamstring Flexibility and Level of Competitive Irish Dancers | https://www.jsr.org/hs/index.php/path/article/view/751 | Rosalia Motta, Patricia Talarczyk | 01-07-2020 | The purpose of this study was to investigate the potential relationship between hamstring flexibility and competitive level of Irish dancers. Since the premier of Riverdance in 1994, Irish dance has grown in population and has geologically spread to locations previously unassociated with Irish culture. Resulting from these changes has been the establishment of more and larger competitions, as well as increased athleticism in the dance form. This study followed a quasi-experimental approach, and dancers volunteered to participate. Participants were first asked verbal questions for secondary data collection and data on performance level. Hamstring flexibility was then measured using the Straight Leg Raise (SLR) test for analysis. The data support the conclusion that higher level Irish dancers have higher hamstring flexibility than lower level dancers. Irish dancers seeking to advance into higher competition levels may use this information to incorporate more flexibility building into their training. Likewise, Irish dance instructors may devote more instruction time to assisting their students in building their hamstring flexibility efficiently and properly. Future researchers may investigate similar studies with other physical aspects, such as flexibility in the quadriceps. Alternatively, researchers may investigate the extent to which Irish dance adjudicators seek out high hamstring flexibility in the dancers they judge in comparison to more traditional aspects of Irish dance. |
Relationship Between Primary Guardians Marital Status and MBTI Results | https://www.jsr.org/hs/index.php/path/article/view/744 | Mercedes Lyn Stanek, Patricia Talarczyk | 01-07-2020 | The goal of this research was to explore the potential relationship between a primary guardian’s marital status and the child resulting from that relationship’s MBTI personality type. Given that personality types are often linked to environmental factors, these two factor appeared to be linked psychologically. The relationship between the five main marital statuses, married, divorced, separated, widowed, and single mother/father, and the results of MBTI tests was explored in this study. To explore the possible relationship, a mixed method approach was employed to high school students ranging from grades nine to twelve. The participants were asked to participate in an MBTI personality test which was followed by a survey asking questions about the participant’s primary guardians. The marital status was found to have no impact on the personality types of the participants; all groups were found to tend to be more introverted than extroverted. |
The Effects of Different Musical Auditory Backgrounds on a High School Student’s Comprehension Performance | https://www.jsr.org/hs/index.php/path/article/view/731 | Kaitlyn M Chrosniak, Patricia Talarczyk | 12-30-2019 | The Mozart Effect is a phenomenon where it is believed that students benefit from listening to classical music while studying or completing a class task. Studies released about the Mozart Effect have proven to not be the most reliable or replicable of studies. Similarly, very few studies have been released using music other than classical to see how all genres of music impact a students performance in the classroom. This research study began with a pre-assessment survey to determine characteristics of the population sample, 79 students varying from grades 10-12 in both Advanced Placement and College Prep English courses. The next part of the study included an experiment where students were to complete a portion of a released ACT reading excerpt. Students were to perform the task in silence, listening to a Mozart Sonata, or while listening to one of five pieces deemed to be the most popular of the year 2018. Upon completion, students were to complete a post-assessment survey in which they reviewed how they felt about the experience. Through an ANOVA, the scores from all students in the silent group, the classical group, and the popular group were compared in order to determine if any one treatment group performed significantly better or worse than others in terms of accuracy, as well as to see if different auditory factors were to blame. The results proved to be insignificant, showing how students do not perform better or worse on comprehension tasks when different auditory backgrounds are applied. |
The Effects of Heat Wave Temperature Patterns on Arabidopsis Thaliana | https://www.jsr.org/hs/index.php/path/article/view/742 | Sara Ramaiah, Patricia Talarczyk | 12-30-2019 | Arabidopsis thaliana ecotype Col-0, a model organism in plant physiology, was studied in conjunction with heat wave temperature patterns, here defined as a multi-day pattern of oscillating high maximum daily temperatures and normal temperatures. The study was run with an experimental design, involving the construction of two plant growth chambers, of which one was set to maintain a constant temperature around 23º Celsius. The other was set to vary in maximum temperature according to a heat wave definition based upon climate data from Columbia, Missouri, the native region of the studied ecotype of A. thaliana. Seeds were placed on fertilized soil and watered daily throughout the process of their growth, and they were moved into the growth chambers after sprouting under sunlight. Data was collected regarding each plant's developmental stage throughout plant growth, and biomass data was collected at the end of each individual's growth. Overall, an effect on the plants was found when the control and experimental groups were compared. The experimental group showed increased plant mortality and slowed plant development. This study has implications for the field of environmental science, climate research, and biology in that it may impact both the study of plant growth and planting seasons in agriculture. These results suggest potential for future studies into the genetic differences between plants that thrive under each set of conditions. These results are in agreement with other evidence of the negative effects of climate change on ecosystems. |
Benefits of Music Intervention for Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder | https://www.jsr.org/hs/index.php/path/article/view/511 | Finn Keith Hafting, Birdie Bezanson | 02-15-2019 | Current literature, (Gold, Wigram, & Elefant, 2006), (Wimpory & Chadwick, 1995), (NRC, 2001), suggests that there is insufficient evidence to predict long-term (P to Grade 12) benefits of music intervention for students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). To understand how music intervention can be employed in Nova Scotian schools, music teachers, music therapists, and staff of the Nova Scotia Department of Education and Early Childhood Development were interviewed. The primary needs of students with ASD were identified as, Expression of thoughts, Language, Motor skills, and Social skills. Music intervention was found to have substantial long-term and short-term benefits for students in all grade levels depending on their individual needs. However, to treat these needs, elements of music and music intervention must be considered during program planning meetings. |
Civic Engagement and Opinion of Politics at a High School Level | https://www.jsr.org/hs/index.php/path/article/view/457 | Diana Isabel Cruz, Brian Everson | 01-31-2019 | "At one point or another, young people will become the majority that can vote compared to baby boomers and other demographics. Therefore it is important to address the political efficacy and engagement of youth, because they will be-or already are- making change. However, this is by no means a new idea. There have been studies in the past, however, this in particular will be addressing the question of, “To what extent do ethnicity, participation in political organization, party affiliations, and civic engagement level factor into students opinions of politics and their civic engagement?”" After collecting 220 responses, students ethnicity, political affiliation, their level of civic engagement, and whether they were involved in a political organization was taken into account to determine the effect on their opinions of politics and how they interacted with government. It was found that involvement in a political organization was the greatest factor when looking at the data quantitatively and qualitatively. |
The Neuroscience Between Musical Stimulation and Enhancing Short Term Memory with Age | https://www.jsr.org/hs/index.php/path/article/view/497 | Maria Alexandra Fiorta, Patricia Talarczyk | 01-29-2019 | In the field of neuroscience, cognitive memory is at the center of biomedical research. Prior works in cognitive memory all suggest and show that as people age their short term memory slows down and becomes less effective from an accuracy standpoint. This especially becomes apparent in age related memory impairments such as Alzheimer’s. Using musical stimulation this study was focused on finding out if music has an effect on a musician’s short term memory speed and overall accuracy in both auditory and visual memory. Visual and auditory memory are the primary ways in which music is memorized. Along with visual memory motor memory is also tested in musicians as they use muscles when playing an instrument (Chua, 2014). Thus, these two were combined with the aim of finding out if music has an effect on the entire short term memory system. The study focused on all ages ranging from fourteen to the age bracket of sixty and over. Each participant was given the same conditions under which the study was conducted. Using a T-chart analysis the data showed that overall the speed of memory is enhanced with musical stimulation; however, accuracy was statistically insignificant. To avoid the distraction of future participants they should be evaluated one at a time.Key Words: cognitive memory, auditory, visual, musicians, motor memory |
The Integration of Color and the Retention of Text | https://www.jsr.org/hs/index.php/path/article/view/473 | Michelle Emily Lucic, Patricia R Talarczyk | 01-29-2019 | The following essay will present research that studies the interweaving of color and memory. The purpose of this research is to evaluate the effectiveness of different formats of color within a prose fiction text, and to show how color affects the retention of the information read. To perform the study, one passage made in three different formats – black and white throughout the text, colored font on random words, or highlighted text on random words – will be randomly assigned to Advanced Placement (AP) and College Prep (Regular) English class juniors, followed by a test based on accuracy. The results show that color has a more positive influence than normal black and white text in regards to retaining information. Moreover, women overall were seen to perform significantly better on the text with highlighted text compared to colored font, whereas men overall were seen to be more successful using colored font than highlight. One can conclude from this research that using color to study and remember information for a test or a job-related interview can improve one’s performance. Due to the positive influence of color, students should ask their teachers to promote a more color-coded study plan, present key parts in a slideshow using highlighting or colored font, or more, which could lead to higher student scores and steer attention towards the information being given. |
Isolating Exosomes Derived From Human Natural Killer Cells For Characterization | https://www.jsr.org/hs/index.php/path/article/view/471 | Wesley Huang, Jo Carmona | 12-31-2018 | Exosomes have been an area of great interest in the field of research, as they seem to participate in many essential cellular processes. However, current methods in isolating exosomes have many limitations. The aim of this study is to present a more effective, efficient, and simple method to isolate large quantities of natural killer (NK) cell-derived exosomes using the ÄKTA start system, centered around size-exclusion chromatography, and to characterize these exosomes. Using the ÄKTA system, we obtained a chromatogram of high resolution depicting the UV absorbance of exosomes. We confirmed the identity of the exosomes by probing for markers such as CD56 and CD81 and cytotoxic proteins such as granzyme B in the exosomes, whose cytotoxic properties against cancer cells were confirmed using luciferase assays. By incubating exosomes, cancer cells, and an array of inhibitors, we also found that NK exosomes may engage in cytotoxicity via different methods such as ligand-receptor interactions. |
A Golf Ball and A Bouncy Ball, Which Bounces Higher and Why | https://www.jsr.org/hs/index.php/path/article/view/422 | Kate Elizabeth Boydston, Cecil Ossa-Jaen, Anying Wang, Mengyao Zhao, Jim Centorino | 10-17-2018 | The AP Physics I class at Louisville High School takes a detailed look at the difference in elasticity between a golf ball and a dense bouncy rubber ball. |
Strategies for Grassroots Activism in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict | https://www.jsr.org/hs/index.php/path/article/view/407 | Riti Pathak, Alesia Williams | 06-17-2018 | The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is an ongoing crisis originating from the ethno-religious struggle between the Palestinian Arabs and Zionist Jews over the land of Palestine. There have been several attempts to create peace in this conflict, including foreign intervention and aid. However, one of the most overlooked methods is grassroots activism: civilian movements that work for social and political change on a local, regional, or international level. While there have been sociological analyses and other studies conducted on grassroots activism in the conflict, there has been a lack of comprehensive approaches analyzing these qualitative studies and the effectiveness of this activism. Thus, the purpose for this project was to find which strategies were most effective for grassroots movements that focus on creating peace in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. It was hypothesized that nonviolent activism would emerge as most effective. A mixed methods approach incorporating both a qualitative meta synthesis and a quantitative frequency analysis was conducted through a thematic synthesis. Line-by-line coding was completed on six journal articles obtained from JSTOR, Academic Search Complete, and Sociological Collection; descriptive and analytical themes based on strategies for grassroots activism were created based on this coding. A statistical analysis was completed displaying the frequency of each strategy coded as low, medium, or high success. Joint activism emerged as the most effective strategy based on the coding completed with 57% coding under high success: this suggests that joint activism should be utilized most often for conflict resolution in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. |
Relationship between vertical depth of the kickoff point of a fracking operation and methane concentrations in groundwater resources | https://www.jsr.org/hs/index.php/path/article/view/385 | Haley Dillon Acosta, J. Mike Courage, Serge Danielson-Francois | 12-31-2017 | There is a problem with hydraulic fracturing and water contamination. Despite Safe Drinking Water Act regulations, risk to water resources remains in areas of water acquisition, chemical mixing, well injection, produced water handling, and wastewater disposal and reuse. This problem has negatively impacted some relying on groundwater resources surrounding hydraulic fracturing operations because of inadequate information (e.g. unmapped faults, abandoned/unfilled wells, unknown mechanisms of risk, etc.). Perhaps a study which investigates the correlation between the vertical depth of the kickoff point (point at which fracking fluids are dispersed underground in vertical wells) and thermogenic methane concentrations in groundwater resources could remedy this situation by filling a gap in the research and identifying a potential risk to groundwater resources. The question: to what extent does the vertical depth of the kickoff point in a fracking operation correlate to thermogenic methane concentrations in groundwater resources? |
Divergent Co-mordibidites of Zika Virus and Microcephaly in Latin America | https://www.jsr.org/hs/index.php/path/article/view/398 | Victoria Ann Smerdon, J. Mike Courage, Serge Danielson-Francios | 12-31-2017 | Since 2015, a major problem in our society has been the spread of the Zika virus, formally known as ZIKV. ZIKV, originally of African origins, in recent years has spread its way across the Pacific with minor outbreaks before landing in Latin America. The most significant change in ZIKV from discovery is its increasing neurological effects, unique to this disease family. Data has suggested that a pregnant mother having been diagnosed with ZIKV that the child will be subject to congenital disorders as well as Guillain-Barre syndrome. Most notably has been the diagnosis of microcephaly, where a baby is born with an abnormally small head. Some data has suggested a significant increase of rates of microcephaly, but the limitation of small sample sizes and not all populations having been studied prevents a definite conclusion on the effect size of this diagnosis. Therefore, I decided to preform a meta-analysis on existing data sets to determine the likelihood that a child would develop microcephaly, hypothesizing a positive association. My odds ratio did result in a value confirming this confirmation, but because they were statistically insignificant, I had to reject the hypothesis that a pregnant mother’s child would develop microcephaly. I presented alternative hypotheses that there is no association because of genomic changes in the virus or not all of Latin American is feeling the effects of microcephaly at the same extent, with Brazil feeling the effects of the virus the strongest, skewing the data and making researchers overestimate the effects of microcephaly. I hypothesized that Brazil has been assumed to be hardest hit because of possible lack of evaluation on past rates of microcephaly, addition of a pesticide to the water, and the Brazilian population being more genetically susceptible to microcephaly. Further research should study genomic changes in the virus strain and testing the Brazilian population original risk of genetic microcephaly. |
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