2010 Diamond Research Scholars
Several 2010 Diamond Scholars have presented their work at regional and national conferences: Regina Baglia at the American Chemical Society National Meeting, Jenna Fox at the American Medical Student Association National Convention, Indhu Prabhakaran at the Society of Gynecological Investigation Annual Meeting, Jackee Sadicario at the Geis Student Research on Women Conference, Korin Tangtrakul at the Association of American Geographers Annual Meeting.
The following Diamond Scholars received national recognition in part for their work accomplished as part the program: Emily Kinsel, Udall Scholarship & French Government ETA; Adam Ledford, Windgate Fellowship; Korin Tangtrakul, Fulbright Scholarship.
Daniel Assaraf
Political Science, Economics
College of Liberal Arts
Mentor: Sandra Suarez
Department of Political Science
Project Title: Legislative History of the Commodity Futures Modernization Act and Derivatives Deregulation
I propose to comparatively study the business interest group practices in the United States and European Union to understand how different federalist political institutions affect business groups' capacity as political actors and lead to different policy outcomes. I will also compare the US and EU's interest groups themselves, how they are organized, what lobbying mechanisms they use, and how they aggregate the interests of their members, and I will try to explain these differences and their effects on policy. I plan to test the explanatory power of public choice theory, neo-pluralism, new institutionalism, and path-dependency as they relates to these questions, and analyze the principal-agent relationship between the businesses and the interest groups that represent them. This project will provide insight into America's federalist system, European integration, the role of lobbying in both systems, and the implications for economic policy.
Regina Baglia
Chemistry
College of Science and Technology
Mentor: Michael Zdilla
Department of Chemistry
Project Title: Synthesis of Novel Imido-Analogues of the Oxygen Evolving Complex
The oxygen evolving complex (OEC) of Photosystem II catalyzes the splitting of water into molecular oxygen and hydrogen during photosynthesis. The use of light by Photosystem II and the OEC to provide the energy to split water has resulted in the motivation to harness light for solar-powered hydrogen production in pursuit of alternative renewable energy sources. While photosynthesis is well studied, much is still unknown about the mechanism of the OEC. The OEC consists of a metallocluster containing four low-coordinate manganese ions in high oxidation states . Current models consist of manganese metalloclusters in high oxidation states with 6-coordinate ligation, leaving no room for water ligands. While the OEC contains Mn atoms bridged by oxides, this research uses imides as bridging ligands due to their ease of steric group modification. The protolysis of secondary amides by primary amines on compounds such as [Mn(NR2)2] (R=SiMe3) (1) results in dinuclear complexes with bridging amide ligands. Further oxidation to imido-clusters is the current goal.
The reaction of 1 with aniline produced bis[μ-phenylamidotetrahydrofuran bis(trimethylsilyl)amido manganese(II)] (2). Several oxidation methods have been employed with promising results; characterization of the resulting putative Mn(III)-imide products will be discussed. Additionally, 2 has been identified as an intermediate in a reaction consisting of 1 with N,N'-diphenylhydrazine that results in an amido-cluster, Mn4(μ3-N2Ph2)2(μ-N2Ph2)(μ-HNPh2)2(THF)4 (3). This novel entry into low-coordinate clusters provides new possibility for development of a new class of low-coordinate biomimetic models of the OEC.
1) Evoy, J. P.; Brudvig, G. W. Chem. Rev. 2006, 106, 4455
2) Ferriera, K. N.; Iverson, T. M.; Maghlaoui, K.; Barber, J.; Iwata, S. Science. 2004, 303, 1831
3) Bürger, H.; Wannagat, U. Monatsh. 1964, 95, 1099
Alexander Barclay
Biochemistry
College of Science and Technology
Mentor: Benoit Van Aken
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Project Title: Effect of a Group of Pharmaceuticals on the Common Degrader, Ralstonia eutropha H16: Gene Expression and Catabolic Capability
The occurrence of pharmaceuticals in water bodies has raised serious concerns about their potential effects on the environment and human health. Because wastewater treatment plants are identified as the major points of entry of pharmaceuticals in the environment, biodegradation studies have been conducted mostly on heterotrophic bacteria in activated sludge systems. Although pharmaceuticals are biologically active compounds that are expected to have significant effects at very low doses, most studies have been conducted with high concentrations that are unlikely to be found in the environment.
The objective of this study is to determine the effects of a mixture of ten pharmaceuticals applied at environmental concentration on the bacterial activity in municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTP). Our experimental approach involves laboratory-scale experiments using a pure culture of Ralstonia eutropha H16, a well characterized heterotrophic bacterium isolated from wastewater treatment plant and known for its biodegradation capabilities. R. eutropha H16 is exposed to increasing concentrations of the ten pharmaceuticals and the effect on microbial growth and viability are determined.
The threshold concentration necessary to induce gene expression will also be determined using DNA microarray technology, and was determined to be on the magnitude of 100X greater than that of the WWTP using a growth test with the model organism, Escherichia coli strain DH5-, and was confirmed using R. eutropha H16.
The micraoarray will also be used to determine if there is an effect of low concentration at the transcriptional level, which would be the starting point for further studies.
Current results show evidence for biodegradation of the compounds by R. eutropha H16. Analysis of the growth media containing pharmaceuticals and/or metabolites will be analyzed by HPLC-UV analysis. If the hypothesis proves to be true, this bacterium could potentially serve as a viable candidate for industrial use by wastewater treatment plants in the foreseeable future.
Gal Bordo
Neuroscience
College of Liberal Arts
Mentor: Jennifer Orlet Fisher
Department of Public Health
Project Title: High-Risk Genes and Family Environments for Obesity in African American Children
Obesity among children is caused by a fundamental imbalance between energy intake and expenditure. Both genes and environmental pressures are believed to contribute but their exact contribution is unknown. My research focused on genetic and parenting contributions to child obesity as part of a larger, ongoing NIH-funded observational study on appetite regulation among low-income African American children. My objective was to determine the association of child obesity with high risk variants of the Fat Mass and Obesity Associated gene (FTO) gene as well as parental feeding styles in a preliminary subset of 29 normal weight and obese low-income African American children. Feeding styles were measured by maternal self-report. The rs9939609, rs8050136, rs3751812 FTO single-nucleotide polymorphisms were genotyped by extracting DNA from saliva. Child obesity was defined based on BMI-for-age percentiles (>95th) based on measured heights and weights. Results showed interesting trends of association of childhood obesity with FTO risk alleles or parental feeding styles, but none of the associations were statistically significant. This may be partly due to the small number of recruited participants. In conclusion, the association of childhood obesity with parental feeding styles and variants of the FTO gene remains minimally understood and needs to be further analyzed.
Dianne Choi
Biology with Teaching and Chemistry with Teaching
College of Science and Technology
Mentor: Matteo Castronovo
Department of Biology
Tuning Enzymes Functions with Molecular Crowding in Laterally Confined DNA Monolayers
Cellular functions emerge from biochemical reactions that occur within rather crowded cellular compartments while, on the contrary, standard in vitro techniques do not allow to study how biomolecules work at such high concentrations.
Nanotechnology allow to confine biomolecules into packed systems where the level of crowding is closer to the one in cells, and provide analytical methods to investigate the effect of crowding on biomolecular functions.
In our experiments we studied the mechanism by which restriction enzymes work inside brushes of short double stranded (ds)DNA molecules, consisting of patches of dsDNA monolayers on ultra-flat gold surfaces, immobilized by using nanografting, an atomic force microscopy (AFM) based nanolithography method. dsDNA molecules have a restriction site at half height where the enzyme cleave. In turn, successful restriction reactions lead to a 50% decrease of the brush height with respect to the surrounding surface, that we measure by AFM.
We unequivocally showed that the function of a structurally known restriction enzyme - BamHI - is quantifiably altered by the confinement in these brushes.
Selectively, we demonstrated that when the dsDNA density is sufficiently high, BamHI successfully cleaves a site (i.e. 5'-GATC-3') that differs from its specific site (i.e. 5'-GGATCC-3'), which is known from restriction reactions of the same enzyme on dsDNA molecules in solution.
One possible interpretation of this surprising result is that the binding of enzymes on dsDNA molecules is increased at higher dsDNA density, likely being a consequence of the reduced degrees of freedom of dsDNA molecules (and the consequent reduce entropy of the system).
In a previous work we demonstrated that these enzyme molecules do not access to the dsDNA brush directly from the solution, but exclusively access at the brush sides where the accessibility of the dsDNA backbones is maximum, and, once inside, diffuse in a two-dimensional fashion. We also demonstrated that the two-dimensional enzyme diffusion is arrested if the DNA density reaches a certain critical threshold. In turn, another possible interpretation of the finding of the present work is that, at relatively high dsDNA density, the enzyme diffusion slows down enough to facilitate the occurrence of reaction pathways that are unlikely to occur in normal conditions.
Our findings demonstrate that, in crowded systems, enzyme may work very differently than in diluted solutions. These findings may have broad implications on the development of in vitro approaches to investigate the effect of crowding on biochemical reactions to improve the understanding of molecular mechanisms in cells.
Beth Cozzolino
Political Science, Sociology
College of Liberal Arts
Mentor: Barbara Ferman
Department of Political Science
Project Title: Race and Hysteria in the News: The Case of Philadelphia "Flash Mobs"
According to the press, the city of Philadelphia has been ravaged by a series of at least four "flash mobs" between May 2009 and March 2010. During these incidents, groups of largely African American teenagers would congregate en masse at public locations with the help of social networking sites and text messages. These gatherings often got out of hand and resulted in vandalism, minor property damage, and occasional assault. This project seeks to explore the coverage of these "flash mobs" in three local newspapers: The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Philadelphia Daily News, and The Philadelphia Tribune. I will use the moral panic framework developed by Goode & Ben-Yehuda (1994) to analyze the media response to this phenomenon, and to illustrate how the flash mob story fulfills the framework's criteria of concern, consensus, hostility, disproportionality, and volatility. Understanding the flash mob story in terms of a moral panic will illuminate the racial and generational anxieties present in contemporary American society.
Daniel Dench
Mathematical Economics
College of Liberal Arts
Mentor: William J. Stull
Department of Economics
Project Title: Parents' Child Care Expenditure Decisions in the Presence of an Employment Related Subsidy
In the wake of President Clinton's Welfare to Work reform, concern about the quality of child care and how it affects the outcomes of children and primary caregivers of low income individuals has become a key area of interest for researchers, policymakers, and educators. The consensus is that high quality care has a significant positive impact on educational outcomes of the children involved. Subsidies are intended to increase the quality of care by increasing overall expenditure while simultaneously increasing the employment outlook for primary caregivers. This paper examines how expenditure relates to the subsidization process, as well as a number of family characteristics including age, income, and area of residence. The research is based on a sample of 658 low income families in Philadelphia who recently left welfare. Results indicate that the subsidy may increase overall expenditure on childcare but not by the full size of the subsidy because it decreases out of pocket expenditure.
Sonam Dhiman
Biology
College of Science and Technology
Mentor: Sandeep Kondaveeti
Department of Chemistry
Project Title: Is Bollywood an Accurate Study of Indian Culture?
The purpose of my project was to understand how accurate of a reflection of Indian culture Bollywood is. This is important because as India is becoming more influential globally, especially due to the success of its film industry, people are taking a deeper interest in the culture itself. I found that the backbones of most films do retain their "Indian" elements. However, as Bollywood has progressed from its earlier films, it is losing its "Indian" elements and incorporating ones that are more modern and global. Furthermore, Bollywood is becoming a culture of its own.
Denis Dumas
English
College of Liberal Arts
Mentor: John Raines
Department of Religion
Project Title: "What's in a name? Trail monikers and identity within North American trekking culture"
My project is a collection, analysis, and discussion of trail monikers used by thru-hikers on America's long distance hiking trails. I completed a 500 mile trek of the Colorado trail, earned a trail name myself, and succeeded in collecting nearly a hundred first or second hand names and stories. As I worked to produce my written piece, elements of naming like gender, age, purpose, and self-awareness became increasingly significant.
Geneve Dupuy
Sociology
College of Liberal Arts
Mentor: Sherri Grasmuck
Department of Sociology
Project Title: Hyphenated- Americans: Understanding the Social Experience of Contemporary Second Generation Haitian and Korean Immigrants
Unlike previous generations, the majority of contemporary immigrants to the United States are non-white. Therefore the assimilation patters of these newcomers and their children will likely differ from those of earlier immigrant groups. An understanding of these assimilation patterns will prove increasingly important to understanding the ever changing role of ethnicity in American society. Diverse college campuses provide an opportunity to examine the socializing practices of a reasonably representative cross-section of America's young adult population. Through interviews with 1.5 and 2nd generation Korean and Haitian immigrants, at one such diverse university, I analyzed how students characterized their biculturalism. I explored how experiencing two different cultures has affected the development of their values and beliefs. In addition I examined how biculturalism has affected their lives in terms of their friendship networks and their views on interracial relationships. I found that despite their parents strong ethnic ties and the influences of a multicultural society, formation of an ethnic identity is an active process for members the 2nd generation. I also found in many cases that mixed friendship networks were not an indication that an individual's immigrant culture was not important to them. There was also evidence for the opposite, homogeneous social mixing is not necessarily an indicator of a salient immigrant culture.
Jenna Fox
Biology
College of Science and Technology
Mentor: Neida Perez
Office of Pre-Professional Health Studies
Project Title: A Health Literacy Initiative for the Latino Patient Population of North Philadelphia
This project was inspired by my interest in medicine and my interest in the Latin American population residing in both small towns and big cities in the United States. The project began with the identification of top health concerns facing the target Spanish-speaking population of North Philadelphia. The Maria de los Santos Health Center was selected as the site for this new student-run health literacy campaign. Patients have begun receiving education concerning nutrition, childhood obesity, and diabetes as they wait for their scheduled appointments. Educational handouts and posters addressing these subjects (in both English and Spanish) have been used to jumpstart conversations leading to an increase in patient population knowledge. Future topics to be presented may include cancer screenings, HIV, heart disease (including stroke and hypertension), smoking cessation, respiratory conditions, liver disease, and prenatal care. The project will expand to include a larger number of student volunteers over the Spring 2011 semester, and it is hoped that the health literacy effort will continue into the future as a staple volunteer opportunity for Temple pre-health students.
Mengjia Gu
Accounting
Fox School of Business and Management
Mentor: Steven Balsam
Department of Accounting
Project Title:
In late 2009, in response to political pressure resulting from the financial crisis, some large financial institutions substituted equity (stock) compensation for cash bonuses. This substitution had an impact on accounting earnings, as while cash bonuses awarded in early 2010 would have decreased 2009 accounting earnings, equity compensation awarded in 2010 did not impact 2009 accounting earnings at all. Consequently accounting earnings were higher because of this action. Our research question is whether market analysts and investors anticipated this increase in accounting earnings.
In this case we focus on Goldman Sachs. In December of 2009 Goldman Sachs publicly announced that their top 30 executives would not receive a cash bonus for 2009, but rather would receive restricted stock that would vest over the subsequent five years. This announcement was reported in the financial press and hence should have been well known to market participants. Thus it was somewhat surprising that when Goldman Sachs announced their fourth quarter 2009 earnings in January of 2010, that amount far exceeded the consensus analyst forecast for fourth quarter earnings, with the difference being primarily attributed to this change in compensation. Consequently it appears that analysts, market intermediaries, who are supposed to be knowledgeable about the companies they follow, were fooled by the change. In contrast the stock market price barely moved in response to this "earnings surprise", indicating that investors had either (a) anticipated the higher earnings numbers or (b) did not anticipate the higher earnings, but quickly discerned the earnings surprise was merely due to a shift in form of compensation.
Ian Harding
Mathematics
College of Science and Technology
Mentor: Svetlana Neretina
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Project Title: Renewable Energy Lab: Cadmium Telluride Research
The technology of the current generation of solar panels is heavily dependent on nanotechnology; the material we work with, cadmium telluride (CdTe), is leading material for thin-film solar cells. We grow various forms of CdTe, all of which too small to analyze with the naked eye: thin films, various nanostructures, and nanowires. To optimize the performance of CdTe as a solar cell material we must understand the effects of variable growth conditions on different structures through the use of an Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM). While an electron microscope can clearly convey one direction of a sample, it is impossible due to unavoidable interference to see every angle. To fully understand a structure, I take the one-dimensional results from the microscope and make three-dimensional models thus creating a more useful representation for analysis.
Joshua Hummel
Chemistry
College of Science and Technology
Mentor: Franklin A. Davis
Department of Chemistry
Project Title: A Novel Methodology for the Asymmetric Synthesis of Cocaine Related Alkaloids
For centuries, the synthesis and biosynthesis of tropane alkaloids has been a subject of significant interest in the scientific community, due mainly to the associated biological and pharmacological properties of these compounds. However, abuse of cocaine has become an extensive problem in the United States, as well as an international concern. In light of their biological importance, cocaine related alkaloids have generated much interest in the development of novel methodologies for their asymmetric synthesis. In the past, the major difficulty in the asymmetric (or enantiomerically pure) synthesis of cocaine analogs is the problem of introducing substituents into the core or skeleton of the cocaine molecule. While many analogs of cocaine have been prepared from natural (R)-(-)-cocaine, the positions and types of substituents that can be introduced are extremely limited. Recently, we have extended this intellectual challenge to the search for therapeutically useful antagonists or partial agonists that may one day be used to treat cocaine addiction. To date, no therapeutically useful cocaine derivatives have been reported, however, with the synthetic route we have developed there may be light on the horizon. Tropane alkaloids share a common structural motif, the 8-azabicyclo[3.2.1]octane ring system. For the asymmetric synthesis of ring substituted tropinones (e.g. cocaine analogs), N-sulfinyl β-amino terminal alkene ketals have now been introduced. These novel sulfinimine-derived building blocks will then undergo olefin cross-metathesis (OCM) in the presence of a Grubbs-Hoveyda 2nd generation catalyst to afford the E-α-β-unsaturated N-sulfinyl amino ketals in only two steps. This newly developed synthetic methodology offers an easier alternative to a lengthier pathway, thereby offering a shorter and more efficient pathway to the first ever total asymmetric synthesis of C-1 substituted cocaine analogs from α-β-unsaturated N-sulfinyl amino ketals.
Emily Jennings
Piano Pedagogy
Boyer College of Music and Dance
Mentor: Maria del Pico Taylor
Department of Keyboard
Project Title: The Kabalevsky Project, A Studyin Musical Interpretation
Interpretation in Classical music is very subjective. What a person knows about a piece or composer shapes the way that piece is heard and performed. The object of this project is to consider what influences a performer's interpretation of a piece of classical music. The study I conducted was a personal one using Kabalevsky's Piano Sonata No. 3 in F major, Opus 46.
By conducting this study on myself, I could control the information I received and determine whether or not it affected my interpretation. The ultimate goal of stuyding the piece was my own performance of it in a senior recital, but the project itself is about the journey that leads to that performance.
Emily Kinsel
Environmental Studies, French
College of Liberal Arts
Mentor: Nadia Brouk-Redonnet
Department of French, German, Italian and Slavic
Project Title: The Organic Movement in France: Manifestations and Significance A Study of Organic Agriculture
This summer, with the aid of the Diamond Research Scholars Program, I traveled to France to study the nation's agricultural system and the role played by organic agriculture in this system. For two months I volunteered on four organic farms in different regions of France. Through daily farm work and observations of French supermarkets, village markets, and Community Supported Agriculture markets, I learned not only organic farming techniques but also about the history of France's agricultural system and the rising presence of the organic movement in France. This fall I used the knowledge I had gained in France about organic food and agriculture to create a children's book about eating healthy food. I intend to publish this book and share it with children in local schools in order to instruct them about the importance of good nutrition and the origins of their food.
Adam Ledford
Ceramics
Tyler School of Art
Mentor: Chad D. Curtis
Department of Crafts
Project Title: Large Ceramics
The scale of a piece of art determines its relationship to the viewer. Small objects are interacted with the hands, architecture completely dominates the viewer, but large objects are engaged through the whole body. I am interested in these objects whose size is such that there is tension between their physical presence and the viewers'. I will construct a series of large pots in an attempt to create this physical tension between the viewer and the object. The imagined space between the viewer and object excites me, and through making many different forms and investigating materials and arrangements I hope to create conflict in this space. Because this is the goal of the project, the method will be experimental. Building large ceramic objects is a daunting technical challenge, and addressing these construction problems will require considerable research into materials and the development of new clays and glazes. Contemporary ceramics focuses on small tabletop pottery; with the project I hope to spur interest in making large ceramic pots.
Kristen Mosbrucker
Journalism, Sociology
School of Communications and Theater
Mentor: David Allen
Department of Sociology
Project Title: Boundary lines between Kensington and Fishtown
The purpose of this project is to find what it means to live on either side of the borders of Kensington and Fishtown. This a part of the city that is unique in many ways and generally under represented in the media. I will contact and interview community organizations, local business owners, residents, and media outlets to understand who they are and where they stand on the issue. I bicycle so I will take an intimate street view of what this area of the city looks, smells, and feels like in order to draw in the audience to care about these boundaries and what it means for the future. I want the audience to step into the world Fishtown and Kensington as neighborhoods as defined by maps, news media, and residents in a multimedia project using videography, photography, and audio stories to explain these neighborhoods. The borders have been changing rapidly with construction of new housing, development, and community groups but media coverage of crime almost exclusively refers to Kensington as a whole that has labeled it as dangerous but Fishtown is seen as safe. The boundaries are actually mental manifestations but on the ground they seem to be concrete and segregated through real estate prices; minorities in Kensington and whites in Fishtown. In fact it seems that Fishtown is expanding because its name signifies a place where people want to buy a house, which many are. In Philadelphia, an iconic city of neighborhoods the shifting of boundary lines shapes communities through commercial and residential investment or lack thereof which can impact the quality of life for the citizens.
Elizabeth Myrtetus
Psychology
College of Liberal Arts
Mentor: Kim Curby
Department of Psychology
Project Title: Autism spectrum quotient scores predict visuospatial task performance
A core feature of autism spectrum disorders is a detail oriented perceptual processing style with such individuals tending to be more preoccupied with object features rather than wholes. Typically, individuals can more rapidly respond to the "big picture" or global aspects of a stimulus compared to the fine details or local features. This is referred to as global precedence. The current study investigated whether individuals with sub-clinical autistic traits, as measured by the Autism Spectrum Quotient, show a reduction in the global precedence. Participants completed a speeded letter task with Navon hierarchical stimuli and the Cambridge Memory Test for Faces.
Per Jonas Emanuel Olsson
International Business
Temple University Japan
Mentor: Keith Dinnie
Department of Business
Project Title: Nation Branding of Sweden within Japan
The focus of this project is to analyze the nation branding of Sweden within Japan. Over recent years it has become increasingly common for countries to adopt the techniques of commercial brand management in order to effectively manage the reputation of their nation on a global basis. Through their nation branding strategies, countries aspire to achieve key objectives in terms of increasing inward investment, boosting export sales, attracting tourists, and enhancing the country's influence on the world stage. The primary research for this project will consist of data-gathering amongst the diverse range of stakeholders with an interest in Sweden�s nation brand. Under the supervision of TUJ Faculty member Dr Keith Dinnie, a series of semi-structured interviews will be conducted amongst representatives of the Swedish Embassy in Tokyo, Swedish businesspeople, the Swedish national tourism organization, Swedish cultural organizations, and networks of Swedish citizens in Japan. The project's significance lies in its contribution both to the emerging theory base of nation branding literature as well as to the practical implications for countries that are engaged in nation branding activities within Japan, one of the world's largest markets and therefore a crucial region for nation branding goals such as export promotion, inward investment, and tourist attraction. The findings will be disseminated through public presentations of the research results at various forums within Japan; the presentation and publication of one conference paper; and the publication of one journal article in a peer-reviewed journal.
Indhu Prabhakaran
Biology
College of Science and Technology
Mentor: Ossie Geifman-Holtzman
Obstetrics and Gynecology, Temple University Hospital
Project Title: Noninvasive Prenatal Diagnosis of the RhD Gene
Rh negative women, or women without expression of the RhD gene, are likely to put their second pregnancy at risk after giving birth to an Rh positive baby. The first delivery will cause maternal immunity to the Rh antigen, which may trigger an immune response against an Rh positive fetus in a future pregnancy. Prenatal testing has been useful in determining presence of the RhD gene in fetal DNA, with amniotic fluid and chronic villus samples. While the collection methods of amniotic fluid and chronic villi are relatively safe, they are still considered to bring some risk in the pregnancy, and can cause discomfort in the mother. Our study encompasses a more non-invasive approach to determining the RhD gene by using maternal blood samples instead of the traditional approaches of testing. Our study group consists of Rh negative pregnant women who are receiving prenatal care at a Drexel or Temple University affiliated care center. Peripheral blood samples and finger pricks on Guthrie Cards were obtained from subjects and then processed to obtain DNA. The samples were assessed for presence of the RhD gene with Real-Time PCR, strictly focusing three out of the 10 parts of our target gene: Exons 4, 5 and 6. The PCR results from the peripheral samples and Guthrie Card blood spots will be compared to see if RhD detection is possible through maternal blood. The results from these two sample types will be compared to see if detection is possible with the least amount of blood.
Jaclyn Sadicario
Psychology, English
College of Liberal Arts
Mentor: Pattie McCarthy
Department of English
Project Title: Autobiographical Contemporary Women's Poetry: a means of understanding cultural context.
This paper utilizes five works of women' s contemporary poetry: Body Clock by Eleni Sikeleanos, Loba by Diane DiPrima, My Life by Lyn Heijinian, Bluets by Maggie Nelson, and Hecate Lochia by Hoa Nguyen. From these books, a clear understanding of a woman's place in society as subjugated, as well as a woman's perspective from within contemporary society from this relegated role, is recognized. Applying the work of contemporary feminist theorists, these books bring together common threads of a woman's perspective and demonstrate clearly that gender norms are even apparent in the autobiographical voices of female poets.
Caroline Schmidt
English
College of Liberal Arts
Mentor: Vladislav Zubok
Department of History
Project Title: Avant Garde and Soviet State
In my research of the Soviet Avant-garde, I would like to engage with the following question: why was modernism so dangerous to the preservation of Bolshevik power? The proposition introduces a paradox of Russian cultural history: although the Russian vanguard of the early 20th century created a volatile cultural movement that opened the frontier to Bolshevik revolution, it was very quickly thereafter deemed a serious threat to communism, and was stifled by the government it helped to create. The resulting Bolshevik centralization of culture created a deep fissure in the cannon of a literary tradition that was steeped in the giants of Tolstoy and Dostoevsky, and had produced the early 20th century vanguard that became the roots of European Modernism. I will engage in an inquiry of the early, prolific Soviet cultural achievements, including the movements of Russian Constructivism, Formalism, and Futurism, with my main emphasis falling primarily on the literary works of Vladimir Mayakovsky, Viktor Shklovsky, Mikhail Bulgakov, Isaak Babel, and Boris Pasternak, among others. Additionally, I will support my literary research with an in depth study of the historical political contexts in which they were created. This research will yield to a more concise understanding of the cultural history of the Soviet Union, as well as serve as an inquiry into the theoretical grounds of European modernism.
Daniel Suraci
Strategic and Organizational Communication, Geography and Urban Studies
School of Communications and Theater
Mentor: Scott Gratson
Department of Strategic Communication
Project Title: Actualization vs. Affirmation: A Comparative Analysis of PlaNYC 2030 and Greenworks Philadelphia
From wide-scale urban farming in Detroit to unprecedented integration of bicycle infrastructure in Portland, cities across the United States have begun to integrate sustainable ideology into their daily practice and long-term planning. How this thinking is implemented varies tremendously from city to city. Even two cities in relative proximity to each other have different ideas about how to maximize efficiency. PlaNYC 2030 and Greenworks Philadelphia represent two such commitments to sustainable integration. From the initial goals down to the execution, both plans present very different visions of sustainable urban futures unique to each city. Where the plans differ is their tangibility, initial goals, and composition. Using these three criterion, this comparative analysis of the two sustainability plans examines the positive aspects of each plan and comments on overall effectiveness.
Korin Tangtrakul
Environmental Studies, Geography and Urban Studies
College of Liberal Arts
Mentor: Rob Mason
Department of Geography and Urban Studies
Project Title: Food Accessibility and Food Choice: A Comparative Analysis of Food Choice in Developed and Developing Populations
The literature surrounding nutrition and development in Sub-Saharan Africa often depicts the population as underfed, unable to acquire the proper nutrients to satisfy daily caloric requirement, and suffering from deficiency diseases such as Marasmus and Kwashiorkor. Meanwhile, most Americans meet caloric intake standards (and often surpass them) yet many suffer from diabetes and obesity. The prevalence of food deserts in low-income communities and their relation to malnutrition has been well researched in metro regions in America, while hunger and famine are pervasive themes in the literature of Sub-Saharan Africa. However, food choice in relation to accessibility is a smaller component of these studies.
This study draws parallels between malnutrition in two dramatically different contexts. Through first-hand qualitative research in the form of interviews and observations, both participatory and indirect, it compares the current trends of food choice in Malawi and Philadelphia, given moderate access to food. In Malawi, the 2 hectares of the typical family garden is 70% maize, and in Philadelphia, where community gardens and urban farms are continually increasing in popularity, the diet of most individuals consists mainly of processed and prepared foods, fueling the country's dependency on corn by-products. Through an investigation of the motives for certain crop selections or supermarket purchases, this study compares the choices people make in two extremely different places, and how the mono-cropping of corn has substantially affected agricultural systems in both.
Jeff Torchon
Jazz, Music Education
Boyer College of Music and Dance
Mentor: Rollo Dilworth
Department of Music Education
Project Title: An Ethnographic Study of Jorge Gomez: A Journey through the Cuban Music Education System
Although Cuban Folk music has been popular in the United States since the beginning of the twentieth century, many opportunities for the research surrounding this unique body of literature remain. Also, very little is known about the pedagogical principles and practices that guide Cuban music education. This ethnographic study examines the musical education of Jorge Gomez, a Cuban musician, who is a product of both formal classical conservatory training and the informal aural tradition of his culture. In addition, the author will provide transcriptions and analyses of Jorge's performing style to show how the combination of both formal and informal training in a Cuban culture has influenced his interpretation of American standard songs.
