Recent ucr_undergrad_research_journal items

Front Matter 2025

Fri, 22 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000

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Anxiety Effects on Decsion Making with College Students

Fri, 22 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000

With rising levels of anxiety among college students, understanding its effects on decision-making is crucial, such as whether to enter the workforce or attend graduate school. In two studies with undergraduate business students, we examined the correlation between anxiety and decision making (Study 1; N = 204) and experimentally induced anxiety to test for causality (Study 2; N = 249). We assessed decision-making using a hypothetical choice scenario between an entry-level job offer versus an MBA program, as well as standard measures of decision-making traits: time preference, risk aversion, and loss aversion. We hypothesized that higher anxiety levels would lead to greater preference for immediate rewards, greater risk and loss aversion, and thus greater preference for the job over the MBA. Counter to our hypotheses, neither study found a significant relationship between either measured or induced anxiety and participants’ decision between the job and the MBA. In addition,...

Beyond One Hand: Exploring Underlying Mechanisms of Bimanual Haptic Search

Mon, 11 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000

In daily life, we frequently feel for objects without vision using our sense called Haptics. Much of the research that has been done focused on single-handed searches with no agreed-upon conclusion on whether two hands are better than one. Here, we asked if there is a clear advantage, disadvantage, or no difference in simultaneous bimanual compared to sequential unimanual search. Participants felt for a unique target amongst uniformed distractors with their left hand only, right hand only, and with both hands simultaneously. Additionally, we asked how performance might vary when the distinguishing feature of the unique target was the same or different between the hands. Simultaneous bimanual search showed significantly more efficient search than the sequential unimanual search. Surprisingly, there was no appreciable difference between performance when searching for targets with the same and different features. This suggests that the advantage of searching bimanually isn’t due...

Voces que importan: A systematic literature review of the experiences of Latinx community college transfer students

Mon, 11 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Latinx students often enroll in community colleges as a pathway to transfer to four-year institutions and earn their bachelor's degrees. However, data reflects disparate rates at which Latinx community college students are transferring to four-year institutions. In this systematic literature review I use a thematic analysis approach to identify and synthesize common challenges and barriers faced by Latinx community college transfer students. Specifically, I focus on the experiences of these students during their time at community college and after they transfer to a four-year institution. The findings showed students experienced challenges that can be described as nonacademic, academic, and institutional and highlight the need for equity driven programs, policies, and practices that can help foster success among Latinx community college transfer students at both the sending and receiving institutions. Additionally, this systematic literature review on the transfer experiences...

Evaluating Light-Dependent Olfactory Responses in Adult Black Soldier Flies for Improved Rearing Practices

Mon, 11 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Black soldier flies (BSF; Hermetia illucens) are insects known for their ability to upcycle food waste into useful agricultural products such as fertilizers, soil amendments, proteins, fats, and chitin. These qualities make BSF larvae pivotal in the food waste recycling industry. Consequently, significant research has been dedicated to optimizing larval growth conditions, while adult BSF behavior remains largely unexplored. This gap may impede further improvements in rearing operations and overall production. To address this, we tested BSF adults using a Y-tube olfactometer—a robust assay for olfaction—to evaluate the olfactory preferences of adult BSF. We compared the response rate of adult BSF to a known attractant and a negative control. Our experimental setup involves varied light conditions ranging from no light, fluorescent lamps, and a custom-made UV full spectrum light to simulate outdoor conditions. Our preliminary results suggest that BSF adults exhibit a higher response...

Progesterone and estrogen influence baseline breathing parameters and chemoreflexes in menstruating women

Mon, 11 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The hypoxic and hypercapnic ventilatory responses (HVR, HCVR, respectively) are the reflex increases in breathing in response to decreases in arterial oxygen or increases in arterial carbon dioxide partial pressures. These reflexes are highly variable both within individuals because of pathologies or environmental exposures, as well as across populations. However, the mechanisms underlying individual variation in these responses are still under investigation. Despite decades of research examining the effects of sex hormones progesterone and estrogen on ventilatory chemoreflexes, there remains no strong consensus and data are conflicting. Some studies have reported differences in the HVR in menstruating women compared to men and postmenopausal women, but few studies investigate this link further, and data within menstruating non-pregnant women are less conclusive. We directly measured plasma progesterone and estradiol levels and the HVR and HCVR using the Duffin modified rebreathing...

Enhancing Career Readiness in Introduction to Psychology

Mon, 11 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Even though most undergraduate psychology students enter the workforce directly after graduation, psychology programs often lack adequate career preparation components. The American Psychological Association (APA) recognized this deficiency in their 2023 Guidelines for the Undergraduate Psychology Major, which emphasizes the critical need to develop transferable skills for career success. The current study uses a pre- and post-survey design to examine the effect of career readiness activities on student career readiness in an Introduction to Psychology course. The goals are twofold: to identify techniques to fill the gap identified by the APA by preparing undergraduate students for the workforce, and to contribute to the literature on the Scholarship of teaching and learning by examining teaching practices in large courses. Students were presented with four recorded workshops from the UC Riverside Career Center throughout the span of 10 weeks and engaged in related activities...

Social Perceptions of Fashion

Mon, 11 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The present study examined people’s perceptions of others as a function of fashion choices, specifically Western wedding dresses. A total of 250 UC Riverside undergraduate participants viewed a series of pictures of the model’s silhouettes wearing Western-style wedding dresses and reported their perceptions (e.g., confident, original, shy, vain, fun) of the model in each picture. The wedding dresses varied in neckline (i.e., Sweetheart, V-Neck, Halter, High Neck) and silhouette (i.e., A-line, Mermaid, Fit and Flare, Ballgown). We found significant, reliable differences in how participants perceived the models as a function of dress silhouette and neckline. Specifically, participants perceived the models wearing the Fit and Flare silhouette to be especially confident, original, fun, and vain, but the models wearing the A-line silhouette to be the least confident, original, and fun. Furthermore, participants perceived the models wearing the V-neck neckline to be especially confident...

Indigenous (Mis)Representation in Emerging LLM Research Methodologies

Mon, 11 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The American road towards the present has been one that has been predominated by injustice, massacre, and genocide — a past which is often mythologized and whitewashed for patriotism and ongoing racial discrimination. This is especially relevant regarding the American invasion of western Indigenous territories and the ongoing genocides of their peoples. This study examines this historical misrepresentation through cinematic portrayals of Indigenous Americans, and the reemerging accessibility of these portrayals through conversations with Large Language Models (LLMs) and related forms of layman’s historical research. Fifty-two progressive Western films were compiled by prompting OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini and AI Studio, in addition to scraping the top Wikipedia results on Google’s search engine. These films were then analyzed on various aspects of positive and negative representation (and nonrepresentation). Through this analysis, the inadequacies of LLM’s in understanding...

Trouble in East Los Angeles: Los Angeles' Model City Program, 1969-1973

Mon, 11 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The Model Cities Program was launched as a part of President Lyndon B. Johnson's War on Poverty in 1968; its purpose was to provide increased financial resources and improve living conditions to urban communities. The Model Cities Program intended to bring city officials and local communities together to discuss unresolved issues that had been affecting city neighborhoods. Los Angeles became a participant of the program, particularly its eastern neighborhoods that contained a significant Latinx/Hispanic population. However, the efforts to improve East Los Angeles’s Latinx neighborhoods failed due to the poor organization and lack of centralization in leadership. Public projects were not completed and never received the entirety of proposed funding grants. My research intends to explore the progression of the Model Cities Program in East Los Angeles in the years 1969 to 1973. In particular, I will analyze the consequences of its flawed organization and local community members'...

Gender Differences in How Catholic Latino Parents Pray with Their Children

Mon, 11 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Latino families, one of the largest demographics in Southern California, remain underrepresented in developmental science and are often described as culturally disadvantaged or lacking resources (Fuller & Garcia Coll, 2010). However, to understand child development, researchers need to be informed of the activities children engage in within the cultural contexts they navigate (Rogoff et al., 2018). One prominent activity in early childhood is engagement in religious practices that involve learning how to communicate with God. The current study aims to shed light on this salient practice (e.g., parent-child conversations with God) in which many Latino-Catholic children engage, and to investigate how gender informs the ways parents socialize their children’s prayer engagement.

Parents (N = 30; 96.7% Female) between the ages of 23 to 48 years old (M = 31.90, SD = 5.833) were interviewed, and all identified both themselves and their children as Latinos and Catholic....

Evaluating the Impact of Parental Praise on Children’s Problem-Solving Persistence

Mon, 11 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Child-directed praise is commonly seen as a form of positive parenting that promotes child development. However, the impact of praise on child development can differ based on the specific type of praise used. This study examined 250 parent-child dyads to investigate the impact of three forms of parental praise (i.e., process, person, and ambiguous) received at age 4 on children’s later problem-solving persistence at age 8. We hypothesized that process praise, highlighting child effort, would foster persistence, whereas person praise, emphasizing child characteristics, would undermine child persistence. Independent coders rated child-directed praise across a series of challenging parent-child tasks during a laboratory assessment at age 4. Children’s problem-solving persistence was assessed by separate sets of coders during these same tasks at age 4 and a set of similar parent-child interaction tasks at age 8. A linear regression analysis, which controlled for child sex,...

Post-Gender Posthumans in Ghost in the Shell and Serial Experiments Lain

Mon, 11 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Ghost in the Shell (1995) and Serial Experiments Lain (1999) are influential works in the cyberpunk genre that explore themes of gender and identity intersecting with technology. In the former, protagonist Major Motoko Kusanagi grapples with her cyborg existence and its meaning as the lines between humanity and technology blur when a sentient artificial intelligence with the ability to reprogram souls and memories emerges. A world so far ahead in its definitions of humanity may seem to be beyond gender as well, with Kusanagi seemingly fitting the definition of a post-gender cyborg in the manner of Donna Haraway’s A Cyborg Manifesto, but a closer examination using a Deleuzian lens suggests otherwise. In actuality, Kusanagi, comfortably, never challenges the audiences’ perceptions of gender the same way it may question humanity and technology. In contrast, a cyborg identity character that does question these norms is protagonist Lain Iwakura, of Serial Experiments Lain, by almost...

Exploring the Chemical Indole’s Effect on Black Soldier Fly Attraction and Oviposition Behavior

Mon, 11 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Black soldier fly (BSF) larvae are used worldwide for their ability to convert organic food scraps into valuable insect biomass and a digestate that can be used as a fertilizer and soil amendment. As such, BSF larvae are instrumental in the waste recycling industry. However, while there is considerable research dedicated to optimizing rearing of BSF larvae, very little is known about adult BSF behavior. Understanding adult behavior is valuable because it could improve adult mating and egg laying in rearing operations, ultimately leading to increased BSF production and more waste recycling. In this study, we tested whether addition of an attractive compound (indole) to an egg laying substrate would increase adult fly oviposition. We used a cage assay to measure BSF oviposition and landing rates when nearby indole. We documented the frequency that the BSF landed on wooden cutouts treated with indole and weighed the eggs left in those cutouts. Analysis of the results revealed...

FRET-based Synthetic Biology Approach for SUMOylation Cascade in Bacterial Cell and Interaction with Influenza A Virus

Mon, 11 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Post-translational modifications, SUMOylation, and Ubiquitination are critical in protein activities and half-life regulations in physiological and pathological processes, such as cancers, immune responses, and virus infections. SUMOylation requires an activating enzyme E1, conjugating enzyme E2, and E3 ligase to catalyze the attachment of SUMO peptide to substrates. Using synthetic biology techniques, we reconstituted the SUMOylation cascade in bacterial cells, aiding future research to be more efficient. We determine the activities of the SUMOylation enzymes expressed in the polycistronic SUMO construct using the quantitative FRET assay developed in our lab for CyPet-SUMO1 conjugation to substrate YPet fused-influenza A virus (IAV) M1 protein. In this project, we screened the CyPet protein expression of Polycistronic SUMO in 13 E.Coli strains to determine optimal bacteria for the assay. From the best performing strain, BL21 (DE3) PlysS, we performed double transformation...

Exploitation of Women in the Nineteenth-Century French Department Store: Labor, Advertisements, and Surveillance in Émile Zola’s Au Bonheur des Dames

Mon, 11 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This paper investigates the exploitation of women which became increasingly prevalent with the rise of newer models of commerce and the introduction of department stores in society. Émile Zola’s 1883 novel Au Bonheur des Dames focuses on key themes about capitalism, the mistreatment of lower class workers, and the inherent sexism women faced in nineteenth-century France. By focusing on the new modes of retail shopping that emerged in the late 1800s, Zola presents problems created by a consumer-focused society. The introduction of women into the job market established more boundaries for them to overcome, as women were no longer just competing with men in the workplace, but were also directly competing with each other due to low base salaries and commission-based bonuses. However, a theme that has not been analyzed by scholars of Zola is the prominence of surveillance as a theme in the novel. Department store owners crafted brand-new advertising campaigns specifically targeting...

Hypoxia Impacts Histone Modifications in Immune Cells

Mon, 11 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Hypoxia, or reduced oxygen availability, influences immune cell function and contributes to pathologies such as cancer and lung disease. This study investigates how hypoxia impacts global histone modification patterns and the expression of histone-modifying enzymes in peripheral immune cells. Histone modifications, including methylation and acetylation, play a key role in rapid cellular responses to stress by regulating rates of gene expression. Therefore, we hypothesized that hypoxic stress induces (1) differential expression of histone-modifying enzyme genes and (2) significant changes in global histone modification levels, particularly those linked to transcriptional repression for energy conservation. Using RNA-sequencing, [1] [2] we analyzed blood samples from 15 healthy individuals at sea level and during 3 days of high-altitude hypoxia (3800 m). We identified significant changes in histone-modifying enzyme gene expression, including decreased HDAC1 (HA1: -0.29; HA3:...

Associations Between Community Violence Exposure and Neurological and Behavioral Indices of Extinction Recall in Preadolescent Latina Youth

Mon, 11 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Community violence exposure increases risk for fear-based disorders, such as anxiety, potentially due to disrupted recall of extinguished fear, whereby stimuli previously associated with threat continue to produce a fear response long after they have been deemed safe. However, this emerging work lacks adequate representation of youth from historically marginalized groups, despite their disproportionate exposure to community violence. As such, this study investigates whether such exposure is associated with neurological and behavioral indices of extinction recall in a sample of preadolescent Latina girls.

Thirty-five predominantly Mexican-heritage Latina girls (MAge = 10.04, SD = 1.23, range = 8-12 years) underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while completing an extinction recall task assessing their ability to retrieve related but competing memories of previously conditioned and extinguished threats. Following the fMRI scan, participants self-reported...

Front Matter 2024

Mon, 2 Dec 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Interpreting Crowding Effects on FRET Signals for Protein Kinetics Analysis

Wed, 27 Nov 2024 00:00:00 +0000

In biological studies in vitro and in vivo, techniques involving Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) and FRET quantification use the interaction of CyPet-SUMO1 and its E2 ligase, YPet-Ubc9, to determine the dissociation constant (KD). Dipole-dipole resonance interactions, where energy transfers from an excited donor to an acceptor chromophore, allow the detection of molecular interactions to elucidate protein interactions in many regulatory cascades spanning signal transduction, medical diagnostics, and optical imaging. This study was aimed to explore how protein-protein interactions are affected by the crowded environment typically found within cells using FRET signals. An in vitro assay using a 96-well plate was conducted using varying concentrations of bovine serum albumin (BSA) to simulate crowded conditions and determine their effect on KD values. FRET measurements were conducted in a solution phase to mimic the protein interaction affinity in living cells. In contrast,...

Pacing - Slowing Phenomenon in Varying Length Tasks

Wed, 27 Nov 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Pacing is a critical mechanism for sustaining performance. When making decisions, people must consider the demands of a task to pace themselves accordingly. Compared to sports literature, this project looks at pacing and how it manifests in an everyday work environment - an area of research that is surprisingly little studied. The team sought to study pacing, by comparing performance over successively longer distances, like sprints compared to marathons. In two preliminary experiments, undergraduate students pressed the enter key some varying number of times, N = [8 16 32 64]. Additionally, students were told to exceed N just as runners run through the finish line of a race. The main question was if participants would tap slower when N was large compared to when N was small, just like runners. Surprisingly, participants did not change their performance based on N and participants slowed dramatically as they approached N, despite being instructed not to. Our main method of measurement...

Isometric Hamstrings:Quadriceps Strength Ratio, Flexibility, and Gait Pattern as Predictors of Knee Health

Wed, 27 Nov 2024 00:00:00 +0000

The knee joint faces daily stresses that cause its overall health to degrade and pathologies to develop. I hypothesized that increased stress on the knee joint and imbalance in thigh musculature would positively correlate with increased acoustic emissions from the knee joint, a biomarker of inflammation in the joint. We tested this hypothesis by selecting a cohort of healthy, moderately active individuals aged 18-32 across a range of BMIs. We collected baseline knee acoustic measurements and measured quadricep and hamstring flexibility, hamstring and quadricep maximum voluntary isometric contraction, and heel strike angle during self-selected walking gait. Heel strike angle does not correlate with increased acoustic emissions from the knee, but BMI negatively correlates with the hamstrings:quadriceps strength ratio. Furthermore, left hamstring flexibility positively correlates with left heel strike angle. Finally, we found that right quadricep flexibility had a positive correlation...

A computational model for individual epithelial cells captures how shape dynamics depend on cell size

Wed, 27 Nov 2024 00:00:00 +0000

The dynamics of epithelial cells during wound healing exhibit significant complexity, notably in their size-dependent behavior. This work aims to depict a fundamental mechanism underlying this size dependence in cellular dynamics by developing a computational model. Our research question investigates how the physical size of epithelial cells influences their motility and behavior patterns, specifically during the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition critical for wound healing. Thus, we propose a model where the key mechanism involves a field of spatially coupled forces acting on the cell membrane, driven by the dynamics of actin monomers. These monomers, randomly distributed within the cell, become focal points for membrane protrusions, thus influencing cell behavior. Our model succinctly captures the essence of size-dependent cellular dynamics without resorting to changes in gene expression patterns, offering new insights into the variations in cell behavior. Through...

The impact of a QTPOC-serving student organization in combating food insecurity and mental health disparities

Wed, 27 Nov 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Despite increased institutional awareness toward diversity, equity, and inclusion on college campuses, LGBTQ+ students–and especially LGBTQ+ students of color–continue to experience disproportionate mental and behavioral health burdens and food insecurity compared to their cisgender and heterosexual peers. To address this issue, QTPOC (Queer and Trans People of Color) is a student organization that supports students at the intersection of oppression based on race, gender, and/or sexuality on campus. This study aims to evaluate how well our organization serves QTPoC students and how student organizations can better serve QTPoC students in general. Specifically, we study the impact our programming model–which integrates educational elements with incentives to attend events including food and crafts–has on QTPoC's well-being and knowledge of mental health resources on campus in order to both understand the factors contributing to mental health disparities and to evaluate strategies...

Exploring the World by Touch: Guidance in Bimanual Haptic Search

Wed, 27 Nov 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Haptic attention is an integral facet of everyday life, often arising in everyday activities like feeling for a pencil in a backpack or searching for keys in one’s pockets. We sought to understand how proprioception and features in objects contribute to the efficiency of bimanual haptic search in an unrestrained environment. The haptic task required participants to search for a target item among a set of distractor items without the use of vision, either in a single container, using hands together, or in separate containers with hands apart. We investigated whether the use of two hands enhanced or impeded search efficiency. The items to be felt were cylinders of varying length and volume. We found that bimanual search in one container was not appreciably different from bimanual search in two containers. We also found that there was an additive effect of diameter discrimination and length discrimination on search efficiency.

A Genome-wide Search for Essential SUMOylation E3 ligase for Influenza A Virus through qFRET Technology

Wed, 27 Nov 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Influenza is one of the most prevalent viruses that has plagued millions worldwide. Every year health organizations encourage the public to get their flu vaccines to combat the flu season. Although the flu vaccines and medicines are widely available, it is estimated that flu viruses still cause 20,000-50,000 deaths every year. The two most common influenza virus strains are influenza A and B viruses, or IAV and IBV, respectively. It has been discovered that drug resistance develops very soon after a new drug is launched. It is highly demanded that anti-flu virus drugs with novel mechanisms be developed. Our lab has discovered that SUMOylation, a post-translational modification, is essential to the viral IAV and IBV life cycle. In this study, we have screened all the E3 ligases in the human genome to discover the SUMO E3 ligase responsible for the essential SUMOylation of IAV M1 protein using our Quantitative Fluorescence Energy Transfer(qFRET). We first determined the FRET...

Antecedents of Procrastination-Examining the Role of Academic Identity, and Self-Esteem

Wed, 6 Nov 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Procrastination is a widespread problem among students, yet feasible solutions have remained elusive. Recognizing the detrimental impact of procrastination on students’ potential, this study aims to investigate the underlying factors contributing to this problem. Specifically, this study explores the associations between academic identity, self-esteem, and procrastination in both male and female participants. Previous research suggests a negative relationship between self-esteem and procrastination. There has been substantially less research examining the relationship between academic identity types (i.e., achieved, foreclosed, moratorium, and diffused academic identity) and procrastination. The current study surveyed 244 college students about their personality habits, academic identity, and self-esteem. It was hypothesized that self-esteem would moderate the relationship between achieved academic identity and procrastination. Regression analyses support this hypothesis, indicating...

Less is Less: Fast Ad Delivery Undermines Impact

Mon, 2 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0000

In the digital media age, video advertisements are ubiquitous, including on plat- forms such as YouTube and TikTok. People generally do not like advertisements, especially non-skippable ones, and may prefer to do something else while an ad plays. Following recent research suggesting that faster speeds may increase engage- ment with videos, we examine if speeding up video advertisements will increase people’s attention when watching non-skippable ads as well as improve ad expe- rience and memory. In two experiments, college participants were randomly as- signed to watch an ad (Vrbo in Study 1, Five Star Notebooks in Study 2) at either normal or 25% faster (1.25x) speed. We did not find significant effects of play- back speed in Study 1, perhaps because the ad did not have much informational content. However, in Study 2, we found that participants who watched the ad at 1.25x speed enjoyed it less, remembered it less well, and had lower brand sentiment than those who watched it at...

Undergraduate Research Journal 17th Edition

Mon, 2 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Undergraduate Research Journal 17th Edition

Dressing Up the Revolution: The American Revolution in French Style, 1776-1789

Fri, 29 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0000

At the time of the American Revolution, French culture developed a fas- cination with America. This trend was expressed in many forms, including fashion, artwork, and architecture, all con-tributing to French narratives about the United States and the American Revolution. The fore-most of these nar- ratives were the portrayals of America as a neoclassical, republican idyll and as a rustic, pastoral return to the romantic concept of nature. French figures who donned the “American” style played a large and often conscious role in crafting such cultural narratives. From 1776 to 1789, the “American” style in France took on a variety of contradictory meanings in French culture and politics. French figures like the Marquis de Lafayette, the Duchesse de la Tour du Pin, and the Marquis de Condorcet took on a French-American identity and styled themselves as “Americans” to express different political views. By analyzing these individuals’ political views and sartorial styling, this...

Identification of Alternatively Spliced Genes in Metabolic Disease Pathways

Fri, 29 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0000

As of 2022, one-third of US adults experience metabolic diseases. Current therapies treat symptoms but do not address disruptions in signaling pathways of the liver that lead to the development of metabolic diseases. It is now recognized that many genes involved in metabolic disease pathways are alternatively spliced. This research aims to identify real alternative splicing events at genes that can serve as therapeutic targets. Alternative splicing is a critical process by which exons within pre-mRNA are either in- cluded or removed to generate diverse mRNAs and proteins. Transcriptomic data from the livers of both male and female mice under several different conditions–fed versus fasted, wildtype, and ɑ7HMZ mice were analyzed for splicing events using an RNA- seq program, DEXSeq. ɑ7HMZ mice express an alternative form of the transcription factor HNF4a, a critical liver and metabolism regulator. Current RNA-seq programs cannot distinguish alternative splicing from other activity...

Change in protease gene expression in an insect pest to plants in the potato/tomato family (Solanaceae)

Fri, 29 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Lineage-specific gene expansions may allow insects to adapt and diverge functional traits. The Hansen lab’s chromosomal assembly of the sap-sucking potato psyllid (Bactericera cockerelli) previously identified three rapidly evolving genes associated with protease expression. The current study further analyzed whether or not plant diet and insect life stage might impact protease expression. We fed insects differ- ent plant diets of either potato or tomato at two insect life stages (2nd instar and young adult) to test for differences in insect protease gene expression. First, RNA extractions were conducted, followed by quantitative PCR (qPCR). The study used the Δ-Δ Ct method to analyze the relative comparison of gene expression between two genes and the ANOVA test to determine if there is a relationship between the changes in gene expression. Preliminary data revealed a significant difference between the host plant diets potato and tomato for 2nd instar nymphs for two of the three...

Validation of a Virtual Reality Flanker Task

Fri, 29 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0000

The Flanker task is a neuropsychological test designed to measure inhibitory control–the ability to ignore automatic responses in order to reach higher goals. The traditional, tablet form of the Flanker task is widely used and well-cited. Recently, the UCR Brain Game Center has developed a Virtual Reality (VR) Flanker game. After the project is created, the next step is to validate its usefulness with a pilot study, which is the focus of this research paper. This pilot study addressed two central research questions. The first research question was: would the newly developed VR Flanker task measure inhibitory control as well as the traditional, tablet Flanker task? In Pilot Study 1, participants were first randomly assigned to either the VR or computer form of the Flanker task, and then utilized the alternative platform in the second session. The second research question was: would different versions of the VR Flanker task yield different measurements of inhibitory control? In...

Three Classical Theorems on Interchanging Limits With Integrals in Calculus

Fri, 29 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0000

The interchange of the ‘limit of an integral’ with the ‘integral of a limit’ for sequenc- es of functions is crucial in relevant applications, such as Fourier series for decom- posing periodic functions into sinusoidal components, and Fubini’s theorem for changing the order of integration of multivariable functions. This expository paper reviews three classical results in real analysis for cases where the limit of an integral of a sequence of functions equals the integral of the limiting function: (1) Mono- tone Convergence Theorem, (2) Uniform Convergence Theorem, and the broad- est result, (3) Dominated Convergence Theorem. While proofs of (2) are typically studied in undergraduate analysis, the proofs of (1) and (3) are usually reserved for graduate-level measure theory, where they are taught in a more general context. The purpose of this paper is to summarize and adapt W. A. J. Luxembourg’s un- dergraduate-friendly proof [7] of (3) Arzel`a’s Dominated Convergence Theorem,...

front matter

Fri, 29 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0000

front matter

Behavioral Effects of Administering CTEP Treatment in a Mouse Model of Fragile X Syndrome

Fri, 29 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Fragile X Syndrome (FXS) is a genetic neurodevelopmental disorder that causes autism and intellectual disabilities: exhibiting hyperactivity, elevated anxiety, and impaired cognitive/sensory processing. These deficits result from mutations in the X-linked gene Fragile X messenger ribonucleoprotein 1 (Fmr1). Fmr1-knock- out (KO) mouse models have shown consistency with observations in humans, displaying seizures and sensory processing deficits. Utilizing Fmr1-KO mice to identify a potential treatment for these symptoms, we administered a drug called 2-chloro-4-((2,5-dimethyl-1-(4-trifluoromethoxy)phenyl)-1H-imidazole-4-yl) ethynyl)pyridine (CTEP) to KO mice and measured behavioral changes. CTEP in- hibits metabotropic glutamate receptor pathways, which are upregulated in FXS. Two types of experiments were run: open field test (OFT) and elevated plus maze (EPM), commonly used to study anxiety and hyperactivity. Experimental mice with higher anxiety depict decreased exploration and...

Patriot Pirates? A Reassessment of American Privateers in the Revolutionary War

Fri, 29 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0000

All major combatants of the American Revolutionary War (1776-1783) deployed privateers to disrupt shipping in the Atlantic Ocean. American privateers uniquely experienced the war as they broke the British blockade of North America, raided British territory, and disrupted international trade. American privateers are often depicted as legalized pirates or profiteers. How- ever, the reality of privateering is much more complex. This article analyzes primary sources, including memoirs, correspondence, and secondary historio- graphical texts to explore how privateers have been misrepresented in history. These sources reveal a legally and personally complicated affair that does not align with existing understandings of the topic. This article posits that previ- ous understandings of privateering, featured in select primary and secondary sources, are inaccurate and deny historians valuable information. This article seeks to recover privateers’ place in the broader history of the American...

Childhood Emotional Abuse, Caregiver Attachments, & Self- Worth: Mechanisms in the Cycle of Violence

Fri, 29 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0000

The cycle of violence hypothesis holds that experiencing abuse in childhood increases the risk of perpetrating or experiencing violence, particularly in young adulthood. Research sug- gests that childhood maltreatment can increase children’s risk for later violence, particularly in intimate relationships, by weakening their attachments to primary caregivers and lower- ing their sense of self-worth. Extant research has focused primarily on childhood physical abuse and exposure to intimate partner violence (IPV), leaving a gap in our understanding of if and how childhood emotional abuse (CEA) contributes to later violence. This study sought to fill that gap by evaluating if CEA predicted young adult IPV perpetration and vic- timization via compromised attachment to caregivers and self-worth. The current sample of 1,091 college students (Mage = 19.23, SD = 1.65; 68.4% female sex assigned at birth) was ethnically and racially diverse (i.e., 41.9% Asian, 26.5% Latine, 15.9% White,...

Does Children’s Negative Emotion Differentiation Relate to Emotion Regulation and Psychopathology?

Fri, 29 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Negative emotion differentiation (NED) refers to experiencing negative emotions as being different from each other (e.g., sadness vs. fear). Prior literature has linked emotion regulation (ER) to internalizing psychopathology. The current study in- vestigates how NED among pre-adolescent youth may moderate this relationship. Participants include 106 youth ranging from ages 7 to 11 (55.6% male, Mage = 9.3 years). NED scores were computed as the variance in self-reports of nega- tive emotions across multiple time points. ER processes were measured using autobiographical emotion interviews and resting respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) during a baseline task. Children’s anxiety and depression symptoms were evaluated using validated measures. NED is expected to (1) relate to depressive symptoms, (2) moderate the effectiveness and selection of both adaptive and maladaptive ER strategies, and (3) moderate the relationship between RSA and psychopathology. Initial correlational and independent...

The Mahsa Amini Revolution

Fri, 29 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0000

The objective of this paper is to explore what occurred during the 2022 Iranian revolution by comparing how the event is portrayed by American media sources and the testimony of an Iranian American Woman. The paper then explores the relation between women’s bodily autonomy and state governments such as the Iranian and French governments who either enforce or suppress the practice of veiling through law. This paper concludes that American Media portrays the 2022 Iranian revolution from an Islamophobic perspective. This paper offers alterna- tive views in which the practice of veiling and the topic of women’s bodily au- tonomy can be viewed in relation to Islam. Additionally, this paper claims that in addition to Iran, Western countries also inhibit the bodily autonomy of women.

Food Justice is Health Justice: Benefits and Barriers to Connecting Student-Run Free Clinics with Student-Run Organic Gardens

Fri, 29 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Food deserts in low-income and underserved communities pose a significant challenge to ac- cessing healthy, affordable food, leading to poor health outcomes for residents. This project aimed to address this issue by examining the benefits and barriers that arise from connect- ing a student-run community garden (SRCG) with student-run free health clinics (SRFCs) to provide low-income patients with access to sustainable food and nutritional education. Using a case study research model, the study focused on investigating the organizational structure and potential mismatches between the two kinds of student-run systems. Birnbaum’s Higher Education Organization Framework (1992) was utilized to analyze how loosely and tightly coupled organizations can affect the success of collaboration. Vignettes were developed based on participants' observational experiences, and lessons were derived from fields and discussions with participants. The study identified several organizational barriers...

Effects of Acute Stress on Parental Behavior in Reproductively Naïve Male California Mice

Fri, 29 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0000

In many biparental mammalian species, such as California mice (Peromyscus cali- fornicus), new fathers exhibit affiliative behavior toward unfamiliar infants, whereas reproductively naïve males show highly variable behavioral responses to infants. The sources of this variation are unknown. We investigated the effects of acute stress on pup-directed behavior in reproductively naïve male California mice. Each mouse underwent three 10-minute tests with an unfamiliar pup at 48-hour intervals. Males in the stressed group (N=22) were stressed using subcutane- ous oil injections, a common experimental stressor used in rodents, immediate- ly before each of the first two tests. The controls (N=22) were left undisturbed to avoid any experimentally induced stress. Compared to controls, stressed mice spent significantly less time performing paternal behavior in tests 1 and 2, while only marginal differences were seen in test 3. In tests 2 and 3, signifi- cantly fewer stressed mice interacted...

Transborder Realities: Its Effect on Bordertown Students Pursuing a Higher Education

Fri, 2 Sep 2022 00:00:00 +0000

In this research I dive into the testimonies of five border town students who live on the U.S.-Mexico border in the transborder community composed of sister-cities, Calexico, California, and Mexicali, Baja California Mexico. The goal of this study is to use testimonials to help us understand the flaws within the educational site of Calexico High school as well as the limitations it imposes on transborder border town students. Transborder Realities is a new type of journalism focusing on the stories of individuals as a way to bring forward the realities of many. This study unveils the intersectionality between social class, residency, and economic status that lead to social hierarchies in school, creating a division between students of different backgrounds. Each of the participants share personal experiences that greatly impacted them academically as transborder students, encounters that have not only led to struggles with their language, mental health, and career and educational...

Evaluating Poly(anhydride-ester) Encapsulation Characteristics for Delivery of Hydrophobic Small Molecules

Fri, 2 Sep 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Biodegradable salicylic acid-based poly(anhydride-ester)s (SAPAE) have proven to be effective in many biomedical applications including controlling inflammation, promoting bone growth, and preventing biofilm formation due to the release of salicylic acid upon hydrolysis of the polymer anhydride and ester bonds. Microspheres of SAPAE polymer are one fabrication option available for the encapsulation and controlled release of hydrophobic small molecules. This project aims to evaluate and characterize the ability for SAPAE microspheres to encapsulate, protect, and deliver retinol, a small hydrophobic molecule which is highly used in dermatological and cosmetic products for anti-aging purposes. The SAPAE of interest is a copolymer of salicylic acid (SA), adipic acid, and a diphenylene acetic acid (PAA). Due to supply chain limitations, the polymers used to form microspheres were of two variations, low molecular weight and high molecular weight. Nonetheless, this allowed for comparison...

Sexualizing Señoritas: Portrayals of Mexican Women during World War I

Fri, 2 Sep 2022 00:00:00 +0000

The obstacles that white women had to face during WWI have been widely documented in books such as Elizabeth Cobbs’, Hello Girls and Diane North’s California at War: The State and People During World War I. However, less attention has been paid to the obstacles faced by Mexican women. My paper draws on newspaper articles, fictionalized accounts, and recent scholarly work to examine how Mexican women were portrayed in contrast to portrayals of white women during this period. The portrayal of Mexican women in the media as illiterate, ignorant, and in need of white saviors, reinforced the stereotype of a hypersexualized damsel in distress. These portrayals of Mexican women reflected existing racism, sexism, and classism by neglecting/diminishing their accomplishments. Recovering the contributions and lived experiences of Mexican American women during this time are crucial to understanding California history in World War I.

Dissecting Human and Influenza Virus Interaction with qFRET Technology

Fri, 2 Sep 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Influenza viruses cause seasonal epidemics and occasional pandemics around the world. During each flu season, IAV and IBV viruses are circulated widely in the community, with IAV being the dominant circulating virus and IBV accounting for 25% of all flu cases on average. Due to the significant threat posed by the flu virus, international organizations, including the World Health Organization (WHO), have risen to prominence in limiting its global effect. Despite the vaccinations and anti-flu medications that have been develop to combat influenza, drug resistance development highlights the necessity of further studies for influenzas virus pathogenesis and new therapeutic development. Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) is a technique for detecting protein interactions in vitro and in vivo that is widely employed in biological and biomedical research. Here we report that the IBV M1 protein has a high affinity with human SUMOylation enzymes, the conjugating enzyme UBC9...

Effects of Parenthood on Neural Responses to Pup-Related Cues

Tue, 30 Aug 2022 00:00:00 +0000

The onset of parental care in female mammals is associated with plasticity in neural processing of infant-related sensory stimuli, which enhances mothers’ ability to detect and care for their offspring; however, little is known about sensory plasticity in fathers. We tested the hypothesis that parenthood alters neural responses to olfactory and auditory stimuli from infants in male and female California mice (Peromyscus californicus), a biparental rodent. Virgins and new parents of both sexes were exposed to a combination of a chemosensory stimulus (pup-scented or unscented cotton [control]) and an auditory stimulus (pup vocalizations or white noise [control]). Brains were collected one hour later and stained immunohistochemically for Fos, an index of neural activity. We quantified Fos in the main olfactory bulbs (MOB), a region essential to receiving olfactory information, and medial preoptic area (MPOA), a region critical for parental behavior. We predicted that Fos in MOB and...

Front Matter

Tue, 30 Aug 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Front Matter

Has Anybody Asked How People Change Their Minds? Pre-crastination and Its Underlying Basis in Decision-Making

Tue, 30 Aug 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Procrastination is much too familiar to us, a derogatory term taught to students as something to avoid, which, to teachers’ despair, counterproductively encourages students to take up procrastination as a challenge. The opposite of procrastination, pre-crastination describes the likelihood of completing tasks early at the expense of extra effort, and may be a phenomenon as common as procrastination (Rosenbaum et al., 2014). We hypothesize that fundamentally, pre-crastination is cognitively driven, given that participants offload cognitive tasks before determining the course of action. This study took place over three experiments. Our pool of UCR undergraduate participants (N=89) made two forced yes/no responses pertaining to the same stimulus in each trial. The stimuli in the first experiment was determining chronology of number sequences while the stimuli in the subsequent two experiments was determining digit-matching. The most significant alteration was made in the third experiment,...

Evaluating Imatinib's Affinities and Specificities for Tyrosine Kinases Using Molecular Dynamics Simulations

Tue, 30 Aug 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Computational chemistry lets us model intermolecular interactions in ways assays cannot. My project focuses on the multi-kinase interactions of the cancer drug, imatinib. Most cancer drugs target one kinase, but some affect multiple kinases. Imatinib treats chronic myeloid leukemia by targeting ABL kinase. Proteomics data reveals it can interact with other kinases, such as KIT to treat gastrointestinal stromal tumors, but the mechanisms are unknown. Imatinib has different affinities for similar kinases, such as a 3000x difference between ABL and SRC, despite sharing 50% structural homology. Here, I investigate the conformational differences between free and imatinib-bound ABL, KIT, and SRC using Molecular Dynamics simulations to understand the key imatinib-kinase interactions. The alignment analysis shows the docked conformations are similar to co-crystal structures in the Protein Data Bank. Root-mean-square-deviation and fluctuation (RMSD and RMSF) analysis show that all simulations...

Undergraduate Research Journal 16th Edition

Tue, 30 Aug 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Undergraduate Research Journal 16th Edition

Front Matter

Sat, 23 Oct 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Front Matter

Undergraduate Research Journal 15th Edition

Sat, 23 Oct 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Undergraduate Research Journal 15th Edition

Acculturation and Its Implications for the Academic Achievement and Subjective Well-Being of East Asian International Students

Fri, 22 Oct 2021 00:00:00 +0000

The U.S. higher education system hosts a wide range of international students with the majority from East Asian countries. East Asian international students may have particular difficulty with acculturating into a novel environment given their predominant interdependent self-construal, which contrasts with the largely independent cultural imperative of the West. The present study investigates the potential associations between international students’ acculturation, self-construal (SC), and their academic and psychological adjustment (e.g., achievement goals, academic achievement, subjective well-being) to shed light on how East Asian international students can best adapt to a new culture. Participants included a total of 48 East Asian international students (25 male, 23 female; age range: 18 to 23). Results from a series of correlation analyses indicated that there were no significant correlations between acculturation strategy and self-construal. However, there was a significant...

Virus discovery in winter-growing perennial plants of southern California sage scrub habitat

Fri, 22 Oct 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Plant viruses cause serious disease and losses in domesticated crops. However, we know little about plant viruses outside of agriculture. One reason for this is the lack of symptoms of virus infection in wild plants to promptly diagnose and identify with targeted methods. This is now changing with the availability of untargeted “next-generation” sequencing technologies to analyze the viromes of asymptomatic wild plants and study virus impacts on plant health. In this study, we determined whether key winter-growing perennials in local reserves are infected with crop-associated viruses. A previous study in the same locations found that summer-growing perennials host co-infections by multiple crop-associated viruses, but winter-growing plants have not been explored. To enrich for virus sequences, we extracted doubled-stranded RNA, a unique feature of virus replication. We sequenced this material using the Illumina NextSeq platform, then assembled and identified viruses using Galaxy...

Psychological Experiences with Gambling

Fri, 22 Oct 2021 00:00:00 +0000

According to the 2021 Worldwide Gambling Statistics website, more than a quarter of the population gambles, which means literally billions of people gamble at least once a year (Casino.org, 2021). However, despite the vast number of people gambling per year, there is a lack of research on how emotion regulation affects their perceptions and experiences of gambling. Thus, the aim of this study was to better understand the role of emotion regulation deficits in gambling. A survey was conducted to assess the relationship between frequency and type of gambling behavior and emotion regulation difficulties. The participants were gathered from the UCR Psychology Subject Pool (N = 195; after attention checks, N = 162). These participants were directed to a survey that assessed personal experiences and beliefs about gambling and their emotion regulation strategies and difficulties. Results from correlational analyses indicated that people who tend to use cognitive reappraisal (thinking...

What Does Your Musical Instrument Say About You: Analyzing Musical Instrument Preference And the Big 5 Personality Traits

Fri, 22 Oct 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Personality traits have unique abilities to shine through every action, thought, and belief that an individual engages in. These traits, in addition to other influential life experiences, shape all expressions of personality. Past publications in psychomusicology suggest that music listening preferences can be measured and predicted by personality traits. The present study expands on these discoveries by asking the question: What correlations exist between the Big Five personality traits (Openness to Experience, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Negative Emotionality) and musical instrument listening preferences? 202 participants recruited from Amazon’s Mechanical Turk completed a survey on Qualtrics measuring personality traits through the Big Five Inventory-2, as well as musical instrument and genre preferences. First, results revealed that individuals who prefer to listen to traditionally melodic instruments (such as guitar and piano) tend to have higher Agreeableness...

Skeptics and Believers: Examining the Role of Extroversion and Skepticism in Paranormal Beliefs

Fri, 22 Oct 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Prior research has identified inconsistencies in relations between extroversion and paranormal beliefs, particularly in the context of a direct association between skepticism and paranormal beliefs. Thus, the current study investigates the role of skepticism and extroversion on the paranormal beliefs of individuals. Participants were 384 students from an accredited postsecondary minority institution enrolled in a Skepticism and Pseudoscience Psychology class. All participants completed a set of online questionnaires that examined their personality traits (i.e., extroversion and neuroticism), skepticism, and paranormal beliefs. A 2x2 analysis of variance indicated that extroverted individuals exhibited greater belief in the paranormal than their less extroverted counterparts. No association was found between skepticism and paranormal beliefs. However, for less extroverted individuals, belief in the paranormal was higher for those with high skepticism relative to those with low...

Generational Status and Academic Performance

Fri, 22 Oct 2021 00:00:00 +0000

This paper examines the relationship between students’ generational status (i.e., first-generation immigrant students compared to second and third-generation students) and academic achievement. Specifically, it explores the role of identity variables including self-concept clarity (an individual’s degree of awareness regarding their personal attributes) and academic identity (a student’s choice to adopt and commit to a set of academic values throughout their academic career). Self-concept clarity was investigated for mediation effects between the generational status of Latinx and Asian students and their GPA (both overall and major-specific). Lastly, generational status was examined as a moderator of the relationship between GPA and the four types of academic identity statuses (achieved, foreclosure, moratorium, and diffusion). The participants were 857 undergraduate students from a southern California university. The results indicate that self-concept clarity did not mediate...

Beyond an OSN Post: Looking at Emotional Valence and Request of Support/Information

Fri, 22 Oct 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic autoimmune disease that does not have a cure. Therefore, it is important for patients to receive support, which would allow them to ask questions and express their feelings. This study examined online social networks for patients with rheumatoid arthritis to better understand the emotional valence of their initial posts and whether there was an association between posts with negative emotional valence and requesting support/information. We hypothesized that the majority (more than 50%) of the emotional valence of initial posts would be negative, and that there would be an association between negative emotional valence and support/information. Nine hundred eighty-six initial posts from a rheumatoid arthritis online social network via Reddit were coded as either positive, negative, neutral, or mixed. In addition, the initial posts were coded as either requesting support/information, offering support/information, neither requesting nor offering support/information,...

Neuroticism predicts increased sensitivity in identifying negative facial affect in young adults

Fri, 22 Oct 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Our personalities color how we interpret others’ emotions. Some people have an increased tendency to identify others’ facial affect as negative or threatening, which may lead to the misinterpretation of social cues, poor responses in social settings, and could exacerbate feelings of stress or anxiety in social situations. Yet, studies linking personality traits on the Big Five Inventory (BFI), specifically neuroticism, to emotion recognition are mixed (Cunningham, 1977; Matsumoto et al., 2000). This study investigated the effect of neuroticism on people’s discriminability and speed when identifying others’ facial emotions. Participants (n = 37) judged the emotion of faces that were morphed along two emotion spectra: happiness to fear and happiness to anger. Responses determined participants’ negativity threshold, or the point on the spectrum where their judgment switched from happy to angry or fearful. We tested the hypothesis that people who scored high on the neuroticism scale...

Well-Being in the Age of COVID-19: The Role of Social Distancing

Fri, 22 Oct 2021 00:00:00 +0000

In March of 2020, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 an international public health emergency. In an attempt to slow the spread of COVID-19, the CDC recommended implementing social distancing practices. In this study (N = 732), we examined self-reported indicators of social distancing (e.g., avoiding physical contact, declining social gatherings), duration of social distancing (in days), and the number of times participants went outside in the past week as simultaneous predictors of various measures of well-being (i.e., loneliness, emotional states). When controlling for overall satisfaction of life, findings suggested that individuals who reported higher levels of social distancing also reported more negative emotions, less positive emotions, and more anxiety symptoms. Surprisingly, individuals who reported higher levels of social distancing reported less loneliness. Individuals who reported going outside more often also indicated less loneliness, fewer depressive...

The Effect Of Shame And Guilt On Students Writing Habits

Wed, 29 Jul 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Individuals strive to assuage negative emotions through a myriad of mechanisms, some of which are adaptive while others are not. In the current study, we focus on shame and guilt. Previous research suggests that shame is more associated with defensiveness and the tendency to project negative feelings outward. However, guilt can be an adaptive emotion and is associated with the tendency to take responsibility. The current study explores how such negative emotionality can affect students’ perceived and actual work habits by utilizing Google Docs, which keeps a time-stamped record of workers’ activity that is accurate to the millisecond. Participants (n = 178) were asked to write an essay into Google Docs. Participants also completed self-reported procrastination scales and the Test of Self-Conscious Affect (TOSCA). Therefore, we can compare participants’ self-reported levels of shame and guilt with both their self-reported procrastination and their actual work activity (measured...

Blazing Beetles: The Effect Of Temperature On The Locomotion of A Namib Dune Beetle

Wed, 29 Jul 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Deserts represent some of the harshest ecosystems for life to survive in. In order to thrive, species must find novel adaptations either through behavioral or physiological modulation. The Namib desert of Southern Africa is no exception. In the Namib, temperatures can swing from 10 to 30°C throughout the day. Previous studies have indicated that there is temperature dependence in muscle power output in ectotherms. With the Namib being an understudied ecosystem, the present study aimed to investigate if invertebrate muscle output is affected by wild temperature fluctuations. Onmyacris plana, a Tenebrionid beetle endemic to the dunes of the Namib, was chosen due to being dorsally flattened, which results in low heat storage capacity. Although the thermoregulatory strategies, running ability, size and metabolic needs of O. plana have been studied, there have been no studies on the effect of temperature on the running performance of O. plana. We collected 8 beetles from the dunes...

Analysis of Pulmonary Complement Protein Expression Following Organic Dust Exposure

Wed, 29 Jul 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Organic dust, as found in agricultural farm work, is ranked among the highest occupational exposure hazards by the CDC. Agricultural dust containing endotoxins, pesticides, mold, and other chemicals, contributes to increased rates of respiratory diseases among these workers. Human bronchial epithelial cells (HBEC), which line upper airways, are frequently exposed to pathogens. Understanding the role of HBEC in inflammation following dust exposure (DE) is necessary to understand the mechanisms underlying inflammatory diseases. The complement system, a nonspecific and non-adaptable defense mechanism, is composed of circulating proteins that promote inflammation by attacking the cell membranes of pathogens and recruiting immune cells that secrete mediators of inflammation. We characterized complement protein expression in DE-treated HBEC using previously generated SWATH proteomics data and Western blotting. Western blotting identified that DE treatment in HBEC mediates the release...

Development Of Quantitative Förster Resonance Energy Transfer (QFRET) Based High Throughput (HTS) Screening For PD-1/PD-L1 Immune-Checkpoint Assay

Wed, 29 Jul 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) and programmed cell death 1 - ligand 1 (PD-L1) are immune-checkpoint proteins that play an important part in cancer immunity. PD-1 is a protein on the surface of cells that down-regulates the immune system1 while PD-L1 is a protein on some normal and cancer cells. The interaction of these proteins play a major role in tumor immune escape, inhibiting T lymphocyte proliferation and survival functions. To combat this issue, targeting these immune checkpoint proteins with monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) has become the turning point in cancer treatment. However, limitations were found using mAbs such as the cost of administration, its high molecular weight, and its lack of clinical efficacy. Recently, researchers are investigating small molecule inhibitors to target the PD-1/PD-L1 mechanism instead. With CA-170 as the only small-molecule modulator in clinical trials targeting PD-1, it is essential to research options that can contribute to cancer...

Front Matter

Wed, 29 Jul 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Front Matter

Undergraduate Research Journal 14th Edition

Wed, 29 Jul 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Undergraduate Research Journal 14th Edition

Voicing Lyrical Dance: (Re)Considering Lyrical Dance And Dance Hierarchy

Wed, 29 Jul 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Lyrical dance intertwines fluid movement aesthetics, emotional narratives, and musicality within competition and commercial dance contexts. However, dance scholars tend to criticize lyrical dance, both directly and indirectly, perceiving it as over-the-top yet underdeveloped. When making such statements, they implicitly contrast lyrical dance with “high art” values that privilege a particular mode of “meaning-making” as rooted in the canon of concert dance forms, such as modern and ballet. However, lyrical dance does not prioritize elements of “high art,” meaning that these scholars critique lyr- ical dance more for what it is not. My research, in response, challenges such hierarchical biases by understanding lyrical dance from the perspectives of those who practice it. With IRB-approval, I conducted interviews with ten lyrically trained dancers from both private-sector, competition dance studios and collegiate dance departments in Southern California. My findings assess lyrical...

Shakespeare's Violent Women: A Feminist Analysis Of Lady Macbeth

Wed, 29 Jul 2020 00:00:00 +0000

There are numerous examples in which the female characters in William Shakespeare’s plays go against the era’s gender norms and enact violence. I argue that Lady Macbeth is one of these violent women whose violence defies gender roles, but this violence also simultaneously upholds traditional patriarchal modes of power. Lady Macbeth uses violence that stems from her feminine excess to advance patrilineage and her position within Scotland. In trying to understand her violence, I make use of a feminist analysis of Lady Macbeth by Cristina León Alfar and historical interpretations of the gender norms of the era. Lady Macbeth’s violence elucidates the dilemma of the prominence of Shakespeare’s female characters. While she has a significant role in the actions of the play, she still maintains hierarchical systems of power that are predicated on women’s subjection.

Role Of Perceived Support From Parents and On- And Off-Campus Friends In First- And Non-First-Generation College Students' Life Satisfaction

Wed, 29 Jul 2020 00:00:00 +0000

First-year college students, especially first-generation attendees (FGC; neither parent finished college), often have difficulties adjusting to school. The present study examines the social and instrumental support these students receive during their first year of college and its role in their life satisfaction, a dimension of psychological well-being (Jenkins et al., 2013). In this study, 244 first-year college students (107 FGC) completed an online survey that asked about their perceived support and instrumental help from parents and on- and off-campus friends, as well as the students’ overall life satisfaction. Results showed that, regardless of college-generation status, students reported feeling more social support than instrumental help from family and off-campus friends. For both FGC students and non-FGC students, there was a positive relationship between perceived social support and help from family and friends and student’s satisfaction with life. The findings suggest...

Undergraduate Research Journal 14th Edition

Wed, 29 Jul 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Undergraduate Research Journal 14th Edition

The Benefits Of Trait Mindfulness And Flow During A Period of Stressful Preparation

Wed, 29 Jul 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Preparing for an important performance such as a test or job interview can be quite stressful. Considerable evidence reveals that mindfulness meditation (a focus on the present moment) and flow (engaging in activities that fully capture one’s attention) are effective strategies for bolstering well-being in stressful situations, including the wait for uncertain news about a performance outcome. However, less research has examined whether mindfulness and flow buffer well-being while preparing for the performance. Ninety-four law graduates preparing to take the 2019 California bar exam completed a survey assessing trait mindfulness, trait flow, well-being, and coping strategies two weeks prior to the exam. Results revealed that trait mindfulness (controlling for flow) consistently predicted well-being as participants studied for the exam, whereas trait flow (controlling for mindfulness) consistently predicted reduced use of several coping strategies (e.g., bracing, proactive coping)....

Ethnic Differences In Perceptions of Mental Illness: Examining Intergroup Relations

Tue, 28 Jul 2020 00:00:00 +0000

People with mental illness are often stereotyped as dangerous, unstable, or unreliable, and these stereotypes perpetuate prejudice against those who are already vulnerable. However, many of these stereotypes are Eurocentric due to a lack of diversity within psychology. The present, pre-registered research investigates whether depictions of mental illness are idiosyncratic to various racial/ethnic groups, or if these perceptions generalize across groups. Participants reported their endorsement of a series of mental illness descriptions (e.g., “This person spontaneously explodes in outbursts of anger”) as they apply to African Americans, Asian Americans, Hispanic/Latinxs, Caucasians, as well as to individuals with unspecified race/ethnicity. Exploratory factor analyses of these descriptions revealed three factors that describe mentally ill people — ashamed, self-destructive, irresponsible — and participants’ perceptions of mental illness on these three factors varied by racial/ethnic...

The Power Of Words: How Are Depression Symptoms And Labile Self-Esteem Related To Word Use?

Tue, 28 Jul 2020 00:00:00 +0000

The way people talk about their emotional experiences can reveal information about how well they are functioning. Depression symptoms can include feelings of hopelessness and a saddened mood. Labile self-esteem is the fluctuations a person may experience in their self-esteem. Previous studies have found a relationship between self-esteem, depression symptoms, and word use; however, no research has yet examined the interaction between depression symptoms and labile self-esteem in predicting word use. The present study examines the main and interactive effects of depression symptoms and labile self-esteem in predicting the number of clout (language associated with confidence), achievement (goal-oriented language), and power (words related to superiority) words utilized to describe sad and happy emotional experiences. We predicted that the interaction between more depression symptoms and more labile self-esteem would relate to less use of clout, achievement, and power words when...

Evaluating Greenhouse Gas Emissions From Soil Application of Anaerobic Organic Digestive Compared With Conventional Manure

Sun, 26 Jul 2020 00:00:00 +0000

The state of California is investing in anaerobic digesters to reduce methane emissions from agriculture. However, little is known about the impact of anaerobic digesters on nitrous oxide (N2O) and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from soils after land application of digestate. The purpose of this study was to compare soil CO2 and N2O emission fluxes from anaerobic digestate treatment in conjunction with manure, manure treatment, and a control group without treatment on agricultural soils from two dairy farms. In addition to comparing treatments and sites, we tested the effects of temperature at either 23°C or 28°C to compare predicted future average temperatures. Soil samples were placed in mason jars with 18 jars per location: three manure treatments x 2, temperatures x 3 replications per treatment, and incubated for six weeks according to the temperature treatment. Soils were watered once a week to maintain 65% water holding capacity. Cavity ring-down spectrometers were used...

Fear Of Cancer Recurrence Among Black And White Mothers

Sun, 26 Jul 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Fear of cancer recurrence (FCR), often defined as fear, worry, or concern related to the possibility that cancer may return or progress, is frequently expressed by breast cancer survivors. Previous research on breast cancer survivors suggests that mothers tend to report greater FCR than non-mothers and that FCR differs by ethnicity. This existing body of research often treats motherhood and race as separate entities by which to examine levels of FCR. The purpose of the present study is to investigate the differences in FCR between Black and White mothers. Breast cancer survivors were recruited using Amazon’s MTurk service (n =138) and were asked to respond to self-report questionnaires regarding FCR and demographic information. An independent t-test revealed that black mothers (n = 37, M = 3.94, SD = 0.58) tended to report greater FCR levels than White mothers (n = 54, M = 3.54, SD = 0.92; t(88.46) = -2.55, p = 0.01). Our findings provide initial support for differences in FCR...

Undergraduate Research Journal 12th Edition

Mon, 4 Jun 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Undergraduate Research Journal 12th Edition

Psychoanalytic Feminism and the Depiction of Women in Surrealist Photography