Strain Honors College

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ScholarWorks published through Strain Honor College

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1. Bringing the World to UIndy Through Fair Trade

Title Tesim:
Bringing the World to UIndy Through Fair Trade
Creator:
Budd, Kathleen
Contributor:
Saksena, Jyotika
Description:
Fair trade is a practice that encourages socially and environmentally ethical business practices, and ensures an affordable livelihood for small scale artisans. Global Gifts, a fair trade organization, is attempting to enter into a business partnership with Follett bookstores to bring fair trade products to university campuses. This project was an attempt to explore and establish this partnership through research into fair trade and the two organizations. This initiative was also tested through a sale of Global Gifts fair trade products at a representative university campus. The sale was not only useful as a gauge of interest in fair trade products as an option on campus, but also as a platform to inform the university community about fair trade and Global Gifts. This paper will explain the methods and purposes of the project, as well as examine the effectiveness of fair trade efforts.
Rights statement:
http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
License Tesim:
http://www.europeana.eu/portal/rights/rr-r.html
Language:
en
Publisher:
University of Indianapolis
Identifier:
Budd_Kathleen_Final Honors Project .pdf
Keyword:
Strain Honors College
Date Created:
2017-05-05

2. Coal Railway Heavy Metal Contamination

Title Tesim:
Coal Railway Heavy Metal Contamination
Creator:
Joyal, Lauren
Contributor:
Mielke, Levi
Description:
The Harding Street Generation Station near downtown Indianapolis is a coal-powered energy plant that could have adverse effects on the surrounding air and soil resulting from coal dust and ash. In particular, properties adjacent to the plant, such as the sampling site, could be at high risk for contamination. Dr. Mielke and I had concerns about possibly dangerous levels of heavy metals such as chromium, lead, or arsenic in soil, root, and plants. To determine the levels of heavy metals, soil, root, and plant body samples were taken in transects to quantify heavy metals and determine if these could be considered toxic. Soils were expected to have higher levels of heavy metals, while the roots of the plants, as well as the bodies, were expected to absorb a portion of the heavy metals from the soil and contain them for evaluation. Transects were predicted to contain higher concentrations of metals closest to the railroad carrying coal into the power plant, decreasing in concentration with distance. Heavy metals were examined by measuring their fluorescence using microwave-plasma atomic emission spectrometry after their digestion in strong acids as per the EPA Method 3050B. The analysis demonstrated no metals exceeding regulatory limits set by the EPA. In addition, samples did not have decreasing quantities moving away from the railroad track. Although, soil presented with the largest concentration of metals, followed by roots, and lastly, plant bodies.
Rights statement:
http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
License Tesim:
http://www.europeana.eu/portal/rights/rr-r.html
Language:
en
Publisher:
University of Indianapolis
Identifier:
Joyal, L. Coal Railway Contamination.pdf
Keyword:
Baccalaureate 'with distinction' and Strain Honors College
Date Created:
2016-02-12

3. Comics and Curricula: Multimodal Literature in the Modern Classroom

Title Tesim:
Comics and Curricula: Multimodal Literature in the Modern Classroom
Abstract Tesim:
For my Honors Project, I created a course curriculum for an eleventh- and twelfth-grade high school English Language Arts class that uses comic books to teach students how to read and analyze multimodal texts through a variety of theoretical lenses, including historical, postcolonial, and feminist approaches. Multimodal texts utilize multiple modalities—forms of expression such as dialogue, images, text, etc.—to communicate messages to readers. Recently, educators have begun expanding the traditional literary canon used in English Language Arts classrooms to be more inclusive. My project explores the potential of expanding that canon to include multimodal texts, specifically comic books. The main texts in my curriculum are a variety of Marvel Comics starring the heroes Captain America, Black Panther, and Captain Marvel. These comic books serve as important subjects of literary analysis because they provide significant examples of multimodal literary devices and thematic development that students would benefit from studying. In addition, the popularity of these comics and the Marvel Cinematic Universe can ensure increased student engagement in course concepts.
Creator:
Rebeka Wilder
Date:
2020-05
Rights statement:
http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Type:
Research Paper
Keyword:
honors, course curriculum , multimodal literature, and teaching
Date Created:
2020-05

4. Dihydroflavonol 4-reductase gene expression and color change in the protandrous flowers of Saponaria officinalis

Title Tesim:
Dihydroflavonol 4-reductase gene expression and color change in the protandrous flowers of Saponaria officinalis
Abstract Tesim:
Flowers of Saponaria officinalis exhibit protandry and floral color change: in early stages of anthesis, flowers bloom white and are male, then the petals turn pink as they transition to female. The depth of pinkness is determined by genetic and environmental factors. The pink color is due to the accumulation of anthocyanidin pigments, which are created through a biochemical pathway, each step catalyzed by enzymes, whose production is controlled by genes. Variation among plants in expression of these genes may lead to differences in final color or the rate that color change occurs. If these morphological differences result in fitness variation among individuals, the differences in gene expression may be subject to natural selection. Therefore, the pattern and extent of gene expression may represent an adaptive trait. This experiment quantified Dihydroflavonol 4-reductase gene (DFR) expression using quantitative polymerase chain reaction. First, gene expression was measured in samples obtained from previously collected late-stage female flowers, all which had their color quantified. Next, DFR expression was measured in flowers collected at five different life stages from ten different plants. We found DFR expression has no significant correlation with the level of pinkness reached in the female stage flower but does significantly increase as plants change from male to female.
Creator:
Taylor Renee York
Date:
2020-05
Rights statement:
http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Type:
Research Paper
Keyword:
honors, protandrous, saponaria officinalis, dihydroflavonol 4-reductase, gene expression, and color change
Date Created:
2020-05

5. The Effect of Fish-Extracted Collagen on the Growth of Malignant Cells

Title Tesim:
The Effect of Fish-Extracted Collagen on the Growth of Malignant Cells
Abstract Tesim:
Collagen, the protein that makes up the majority of extracellular matrix structure, is essential in cell communication and proliferation. Research has found that collagen is also responsible for promoting many types of cancer growth because it both provides the infrastructure needed for the cells to expand, and it lessens the need for cell-cell interactions, therefore promoting cell motility. Clinically, collagen is used to treat severe burn victims as it assists in regenerating skin—this therapy typically involves bovine collagen or synthetic collagen. While these forms of collagen are readily available to clinicians, they are expensive, and it would be extremely useful to identify lower-cost alternatives. Recently, it has been discovered that tilapia, a fish popular for dietary consumption, and is now farmed all over the world, possesses high concentrations of collagen in its skin that can be easily extracted. Our hypothesis is that tilapia collagen could serve as a substitute to collagen derived from other sources in cell culture. By examining how malignant cells respond to tilapia collagen, we can determine if adding collagen to the media and/or as a coating on the surface of the tissue culture flasks in which these cells are grown on, creates a more “authentic” environment for the cells to grow in, better mimicking what cells would encounter in vivo. Firstly, we employ a cell-proliferation assay, comparing the impact that tilapia-derived collagen has on cell proliferation rate, with the findings providing insight into both cell growth and wound healing. We also utilized colony-forming assays to determine whether cancer cells respond differently to cancer drugs in the presence of collagen. This would give insight into the feasibility of using tilapia collagen in further cancer research without significant changes to traditional cell culture.
Creator:
Katherine May
Date:
2020-05
Rights statement:
http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Type:
Research Paper
Keyword:
honors, fish-extracted collagen, malignant cells, tilapia collagen, cancer, and oncology
Date Created:
2020-05

6. Effects of Gender and ASD Diagnosis on Perceived Personality and Job Capability in Interviews

Title Tesim:
Effects of Gender and ASD Diagnosis on Perceived Personality and Job Capability in Interviews
Abstract Tesim:
Gender and disabilities have long been identified as factors that contribute to discrimination in society today. The current study explores the interaction between these two factors in the specific context of a hiring situation. In this study, participants were asked to read a resume and job interview notes and then answer questions regarding perception of social skill, job capability, and personality. The resume and job interview notes were identical except two were male and two were female, and one of each gender had a stated diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). There were 116 total participants (mean age=36.32, SD=10.94), of which 65.5% were male. No significant interaction effects were found; however, the results revealed a number of interesting main effects within the constructs studied, including the factors hiring recommendation, overall performance, absenteeism, ‘bad’ other characteristics, and job fit. Despite the lack of interaction effects, future research exploring the significant main effects observed in this study would likely contribute to the growing body of ASD literature by providing further avenues of research and insights into possible limitations that are found when studying this population in this regard.
Creator:
Darian J. Murray
Date:
2020-05
Rights statement:
http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Type:
Research Paper
Keyword:
honors, autism spectrum disorder, ASD, discrimination, job interviews, perception, and gender
Date Created:
2020-05

7. The Effects of Gender on Perceptions of Nurses Addicted to Opioids

Title Tesim:
The Effects of Gender on Perceptions of Nurses Addicted to Opioids
Abstract Tesim:
The purpose of this study is to understand the perceptions of future healthcare workers and perceptions of the general public on nurses who become addicted to opioids while working. Participants in the study read one of two vignettes that tell the same story but have different main characters (one male nurse and one female nurse) who become addicted to opioids while at work. The perceptions of the reader were then measured to determine the level of stigma regarding addiction, perception of addiction, and perception of the addicted nurse. A sample size of 32 future healthcare workers participated in Part A and 93 individuals from the general community completed Part B. A series of independent sample t-tests were run to analyze differences between groups based upon their responses to the survey questions. The results of Part A of the study revealed that there were significant differences between conditions on the Stigma Scale and Factor 4 of The Perceptions of Nursing Impairment Inventory (PNII) among future nurses. Part B of the study revealed that there were no significant differences observed between conditions when testing the general population. These findings suggest that among nursing students the gender of the nurse that engaged in opioid diversion influenced the level of stigma and awareness of peers who engage in opioid diversion that participants felt towards the nurse in the vignette.
Creator:
Mark Anthony Jones II
Date:
2020-05
Rights statement:
http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Type:
Research Paper
Keyword:
honors, perceptions, healthcare workers, nurses, and opioids
Date Created:
2020-05

8. The Effects of Hair Color and Gender on Judgments of Warmth and Competence

Title Tesim:
The Effects of Hair Color and Gender on Judgments of Warmth and Competence
Creator:
Welch, Taylor
Contributor:
Boucher, Kathryn
Description:
Hair color and gender are two factors that are seldom studied together in snap judgment research of impressions of others. However, past research suggests that women are more frequently stereotyped in regards to their hair color. Some of these stereotypes include the "dumb blonde" and "fiery redhead" stereotypes. In a mixed model design study, I expected there to be a difference between judgments of warmth and competence based on these gender stereotypes. While I expected warmth and competence differences between hair colors across genders, I expected these warmth and competence differences to be greater for pictured women than pictured men. I also predicted that judgments would be influenced by participants' own gender such that males would be more likely to judge according to stereotypes than females. To test these hypotheses, I presented participants with pictures of novel people of varying hair colors and different genders, and these individuals are people that the participants have never seen before and would likely never interact with. Participants gave their judgments of them. The results of this study show that gender and hair color do have an effect on people's judgments of warmth and competence, as well as intended behaviors toward individuals. Red-haired females were judged as warmer and more competent than the other hair colors. Males were overall judged significantly lower than females in terms of warmth, competence, and intended behaviors. All significant interactions between target hair color and target gender were driven by the red-haired group. Future research should look more closely at the differences between males and female participants' judgments.
Rights statement:
http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
License Tesim:
http://www.europeana.eu/portal/rights/rr-r.html
Language:
en
Publisher:
University of Indianapolis
Identifier:
Welch_Taylor_Final Honors Project .pdf
Keyword:
Baccalaureate 'with distinction' and Strain Honors College
Date Created:
2017-04-24

9. Enhancement of Anti-Cancer Efficacy through Combination Chemotherapy of Ciprofloxacin with either 5-Fluorouracil or Gemcitabine

Title Tesim:
Enhancement of Anti-Cancer Efficacy through Combination Chemotherapy of Ciprofloxacin with either 5-Fluorouracil or Gemcitabine
Creator:
Beverley, Katie M.
Contributor:
Wiseman, Dean A.
Description:
Pancreatic cancer is one of the most lethal cancers, with most patients dying within the first 5 years after diagnosis. Frequently it arises from cells in the pancreatic ducts (pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma) and often fails to be diagnosed until it has already metastasized to other organs and tissues in the body, and thus is significantly harder to treat. For these reasons, alternative therapy options should be investigated. Previously, we observed in our hands that ciprofloxacin selectively kills pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma cells but not non-malignant human cells. 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) is a commonly used chemotherapeutic agent for pancreatic cancer which inhibits DNA replication in the S-phase of the mitotic cell cycle. Another front-line chemotherapeutic is the nucleotide analog gemcitabine (dFdC) which functions in a similar manner to 5-FU. Given that all three of these drugs appear to have both anti-cancer activity and act in the same cell cycle phase, we hypothesized ciprofloxacin would augment the cytostatic and/or cytotoxic effect of either 5-FU or dFdC. To test this hypothesis, MIA PaCa-2 human ductal adenocarcinoma cells were cultured and treated singly with 5-FU, or dFdC, or Cipro, or in simultaneous combination (either 5-FU or dFdC with Cipro) for 24 hour periods of time. As a result, we found that Cipro could significantly (p ? 0.05) and in dose-dependent fashion enhance the activity of both 5-FU and dFdC. We conclude that Cipro is a valid candidate as an adjuvant to standard forms of chemotherapy which involve use of 5-FU and/or dFdC. Furthermore, we propose that additional studies be conducted to further assess the validity of such combinations for human patients in the future.
Rights statement:
http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
License Tesim:
http://www.europeana.eu/portal/rights/rr-r.html
Language:
en
Publisher:
University of Indianapolis
Identifier:
Beverley, K. Final.pdf
Keyword:
Baccalaureate 'with distinction' and Strain Honors College
Date Created:
2016-03-13

10. Examining the Acute Effects of Weighted Vest Post-Activation Potentiation in Division II Track and Field Athletes for Competitive Application

Title Tesim:
Examining the Acute Effects of Weighted Vest Post-Activation Potentiation in Division II Track and Field Athletes for Competitive Application
Creator:
Wieland, Chelsea
Contributor:
Robinson, Richard
Description:
Recent studies have shown potential for acutely improving athletic performance utilizing post-activation potentiation (PAP) activities. When sets, repetitions, recovery, and intensity are specified, PAP may result in more successful force production by affecting the contractile history of the active muscle fibers. Though research has been performed testing these mechanisms, few protocols have paired practical warm-ups with a competitive simulation. The purpose of the current study was to examine the effects of warm-up strides (relaxed sprints), with and without a weighted vest, on 15 meter dash performance in Division II Track and Field Athletes. Though the results were not significant, there was a trend towards the non-weighted vest protocol eliciting a quicker sprint time. It is possible that the repetitions performed with the vest could have led to fatigue instead of potentiation. However, rest time and intensity (amount of weight/effort given) could also have caused the results to differ from previous PAP studies. The physiological difference of individual athletes should also be considered with the understanding that one certain warm-up procedure may not benefit all. Further research should be conducted altering the different variables that affect PAP in order to identify a protocol that supports optimal performance.
Rights statement:
http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
License Tesim:
http://www.europeana.eu/portal/rights/rr-r.html
Language:
en
Publisher:
University of Indianapolis
Identifier:
Wieland_Chelsea_Final Honors Project.pdf
Keyword:
Baccalaureate 'with distinction' and Strain Honors College
Date Created:
2017-03-20