Office of Undergraduate Research
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Emphasizing equitable and inclusive access to research opportunities, the University of Maryland's Office of Undergraduate Research (OUR) empowers undergraduates and faculty to engage and succeed in inquiry, creative activity, and scholarship. This collection includes materials shared by undergraduate researchers during OUR events. It also encompasses materials from Undergraduate Research Day 2020, Undergraduate Research Day 2021, and Undergraduate Research Day 2022, which were organized by the Maryland Center for Undergraduate Research.
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Item A Balancing Act: An Empirical Analysis of Unions and Monopsony Power in US Labor Markets(2024) Delavan-Hoover, Logan; Kaplan, EthanThis paper empirically examines the intersection of recent literature regarding the effect on wages of both labor market concentration and unionization, using a fixed-effects model controlling for both occupation and geographical area, applied to a combination of 2016 Current Population Survey data and labor market concentration data derived from the universe of online job postings in the United States. This paper found a positive effect of the interaction of unionization and concentration on wages in most model specifications, consistent with similar literature in other countries, but failed to produce significant results in the most granular model, likely due to attenuation bias exacerbated by large double fixed effects.Item Addressing Health Disparities in Neurorehabilitation: Aphasia Assessment for Spanish-English Bilingual Speakers(2024) Morales Contreras, Marcia; Choi, Da Yeon; Lopez, Camila; Faroqi-Shah, YasmeenThis study addresses the need for accurate language assessment of Spanish-English bilingual speakers with aphasia. Aphasia is a condition of language impairment due to brain injury (stroke or neurodegeneration), causing challenges in understanding and speaking and impacting brain representations for words (lexicosemantics) or grammar (morphosyntax). There are only normed aphasia diagnostic assessments for monolingual speakers, not bilingual speakers. Since ⅕ of the U.S. population is bilingual, with Spanish-English as the largest proportion, improper diagnosis of bilinguals with aphasia causes a health disparity in neurorehabilitation for Hispanics/Latinos. We test 4 aims to address limitations in current assessments: (1) adequately detect aphasia, (2) detect morphosyntax (grammar) deficits, (3) detect lexicosemantic (words) deficits in Spanish-English speakers with aphasia, and (4) verify if the Quick Aphasia Battery (QAB) will identify those at risk for word level and grammatical level difficulties. Participants were tested on Spanish and English language tasks over Zoom for 5 hours. 115 neurotypical and 18 aphasic speakers’ scores were compared. The mean % accuracy of neurotypical speakers was more than that of aphasic speakers for all three batteries indicating that the assessments are sensitive to the effect of brain injury on language abilities. Aphasic participants’ QAB scores correlated with morphosyntax and lexicosemantic task scores were moderately strong. We will determine cut-off scores for aphasia diagnosis stratified by language proficiency, sensitivity/specificity, item difficulty, and the influence of cognates. We hope to test classification accuracy for bilinguals with primary progressive aphasia and make a computer-based adaptive language assessment in English with equity for bilinguals.Item Adolescents' knowledge of JUUL policies and perceptions of enforcement(2020) Nketia, Bryanna; Borzekowski, DinaJUUL is a PAX labs electronic nicotine delivery system (ENDS) product that entered the e-cigarette market in late 2015 and accounted for 40% of the market share in 2017 (Willet et al., 2018; Huang et al., 2019). This study seeks to understand adolescents’ knowledge of JUUL policies, perceptions of policy enforcement, and intentions to use JUUL based on perceptions of policy enforcement. 300 middle and high school students from both private and public schools in Howard County, Maryland will be surveyed. Data will be analyzed using univariate and bivariate analyses. Understanding what adolescents know, think, and do in response to policies is helpful in strengthening policies and curtailing underage JUUL use.Item Age-related Differences Regarding Spontaneous Reasoning about Social Exclusion(2024) Moore, Sophia V.; Holloway, Hannah J.; Rumberger, Jonquil; Forbes, Marley B.; Kilby, Elena; Killen, MelanieDevelopmental science research has demonstrated age-related changes in children’s use of social and moral reasoning in contexts of intergroup social exclusion. Intergroup social exclusion refers to rejecting someone because of their group identity such as gender, race, and SES. Prior research has identified these patterns by individually interviewing children about their evaluations of different forms of social exclusion. What has not yet been examined is how children spontaneously reason about intergroup social exclusion in classroom-wide discussions. The present study addressed this gap by audio-recording teacher-facilitated classroom discussions that followed the use of an online tool depicting hypothetical intergroup exclusion scenarios once a week for eight weeks. Participants were ethnically and racially diverse 8- to 11-year-old elementary school students attending U.S. public schools in the Mid-Atlantic region, N = 522, N = 30 classrooms. The present study uses a smaller subset of the original sample, N = 6 classrooms. Three reasoning categories were analyzed for this project: moral (fairness, equity), group identity (ingroup preferences, group functioning) and psychological (personal choice). Preliminary analyses suggest age-related differences in children’s reasoning during discussions about race-based exclusion. Fifth graders referenced psychological reasons more often than third graders, who referenced mostly moral reasons. Quantitative analyses will elaborate further on these findings in the poster. These novel findings have broader implications for reducing prejudice and improving intergroup relations in childhood using school-based interventions.Item AI and Ted Bundy: Exploring Artificial Intelligence usage in criminal profiling(2024) Mor, Abigail; Tomlinson, Tracy; Ellenberg, MollyWe have seen a meteoric rise in Artificial Intelligence (AI) creation and usage; yet little attention has been paid to using AI for societal benefits. To leverage AI in new ways, this study focused on integrating AI in criminal profiling. We assessed the accuracy of AI-generated profiles by modifying well-documented criminal cases with a known, and convicted, perpetrator to compare to published perpetrator data created by (human) experts. Using profiling inputs from the crimes of infamous serial killer Theodore ‘Ted’ Bundy, we prompted ChatGPT 3.5 to create profiles for the first eight attacks Bundy committed and compared the accuracy of the outputs to the known information. Initial results show AI creates vague but detailed, and fairly accurate, profiles compared to known information from cases and can find patterns between crimes. But, these profiles were created with specific prompts and the prompt type impacted accuracy. Our findings suggest that using AI in profiling warrants further research and consideration in ongoing investigations, potentially saving time and lives. Caution is advised given the limitations regarding specificity of details and we do not yet know if human-generated profiles are more accurate as we only compared the AI profiles to known information. Future research should compare AI-generated profiles with human-generated profiles and explore paid versions of AI that might reveal further capabilities which might be useful in law enforcement, where costs of using AI may be nominal, especially in relation to the savings of lives and in manpower hours.Item Alterations in Retinal Blood Flow Autoregulation in Human Subjects with Early Glaucoma as measured with Laser Speckle Imaging (2024) Porwal, Yash; Gill, Amrik; Ventimiglia, Mary; Mansoor, Shaiza; Sinha, Avigyan; Rege, Abhishek; Saeedi, OsamahItem Amygdala Volume and Social Reward in Children with and without Autism Spectrum Disorder(2020) Kiely, Matthew; Yarger, Heather; Merchant, Junaid; Redcay, Elizabeth; Redcay, Elizabeth; Yarger, HeatherSocial interaction is a vital part of our everyday life and while there have been many studies that have helped elucidate both the neural components and extrinsic factors of these processes, it is still something that is not completely understood. This is especially relevant to those with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), as they are often characterized as having social processing deficits. Social cognition is one of the many functions associated with the limbic system, along with reward and emotion processing. Previous studies have shown that social interaction is rewarding and has been shown to activate regions in the limbic system (Warnell et al., 2017). The amygdala is a region included in social/reward circuitry within the limbic system, such that larger amygdala volumes have been associated with higher connectivity within these regions (Bickart et al., 2012). There have not been previous studies to our knowledge assessing how amygdala volume and social reward sensitivity may vary together, motivating the current study. Therefore, this study aims to assess how social reward relates to amygdala volume in 49 children (ASD = 21, TD = 31) aged 8 to 14 with and without a diagnosis of ASD. Social reward will be assessed using the Prosocial Interactions and Sociability subscales of the Social Reward Questionnaire (SRQ; Foulkes et al., 2014). Amygdala volumes were extracted using MRICloud (Mori et al., 2016). Amygdala size and SRQ subscale differences between groups will be analyzed using an analysis of covariance (controlling for total gray matter) and an independent samples t-test, respectively. A regression analysis will be conducted in order to examine amygdala and SRQ associations.Item An observational study on the impact of caffeine and anxiety in college students.(2024) Williams, Stephanie; Tomlinson, Tracy; Johnson, SamanthaObserving students on a college campus, it is not hard to see signs of anxiety in students. College students’ have the compounded stress of numerous classes, assignments, jobs, and maintaining relationships, which may lead to losing sleep and turning to caffeine to help. Caffeine is a substance commonly used in an attempt to alleviate anxiety and exhaustion, particularly in young adults (Hughes, 1996). However, some side effects of caffeine can mimic or amplify the symptoms of anxiety (Sawyer et al., 1982). The goal of this research was to assess if there is a positive correlation between observed caffeine intake and anxious behaviors. This study was conducted through a naturalistic observational design where participants (N = 60) were observed in the Adele H. Stamp Student Union and McKeldin Library. Participants were coded on the seconds spent drinking from their caffeinated beverage and seconds spent exhibiting an anxious behavior such as leg bouncing, playing with hair, and zoning out. We found that students exhibited significantly greater amounts of anxious behavior when their time spent drinking caffeine increased. These findings indicate that students may benefit from being made aware of this negative effect of caffeine consumption and educated on caffeine alternatives, such as adequate sleep, hydration, or meditation instead. However, keeping in mind this was an observational study, we can not assess causation and this was an observational design that had a limited definition of caffeine consumption and anxious behaviors. To better assess these effects, future research should assess participants in an experimental environment.Item Analysis of animal use of "4-Poster", a commercial host-targeted tick control device(2020) Pineda Hernandez, Estefany; Li, Andrew; Mullinax, JenniferIn the mid-1800s there were 500,000 white-tailed deer. By 1992, the deer population rebounded to an estimated 18 million. The expanded deer population has facilitated black-legged tick expansion throughout the northeast of the United States which has resulted in an increased incidence of Lyme Disease. The main objective of the USDA-ARS Area-wide Tick Control Project is to manage deer and tick populations, as an effort to reduce the number of ticks, thus decreasing Lyme disease transmission potentials. The “4-Poster” is a host targeted tick control device used in USDA's Areawide Tick Control project in Howard County, Maryland. The device has a bait dispenser surrounded by paint rollers coated with permethrin- based “Tickicide” solution. While feeding, deer will brush against the rollers applying permethrin to their ears and neck. The objective of this project is to help evaluate the use of the "4-Poster" device by deer and non-target animals.Item Analysis of animal use of "4-Poster", a commercial host-targeted tick control device(2020) Pineda Hernandez, Estefany; Mullinax, Jennifer; Li, AndrewIn the mid-1800s there were 500,000 white-tailed deer. By 1992, the deer population rebounded to an estimated 18 million. The expanded deer population has facilitated black-legged tick expansion throughout the northeast of the United States which has resulted in an increased incidence of Lyme Disease. The main objective of the USDA-ARS Area-wide Tick Control Project is to manage deer and tick populations, as an effort to reduce the number of ticks, thus decreasing Lyme disease transmission potentials. The “4-Poster” is a host targeted tick control device used in USDA's Areawide Tick Control project in Howard County, Maryland. The device has a bait dispenser surrounded by paint rollers coated with permethrin- based “Tickicide” solution. While feeding, deer will brush against the rollers applying permethrin to their ears and neck. The objective of this project is to help evaluate the use of the "4-Poster" device by deer and non-target animals.Item Analysis of animal use of "4-Poster", a commercial host-targeted tick control device(2020) Pineda Hernandez, Estefany; Li, Andrew; Mullinax, JenniferIn the mid-1800s there were 500,000 white-tailed deer. By 1992, the deer population rebounded to an estimated 18 million. The expanded deer population has facilitated black-legged tick expansion throughout the northeast of the United States which has resulted in an increased incidence of Lyme Disease. The main objective of the USDA-ARS Area-wide Tick Control Project is to manage deer and tick populations, as an effort to reduce the number of ticks, thus decreasing Lyme disease transmission potentials. The “4-Poster” is a host targeted tick control device used in USDA's Areawide Tick Control project in Howard County, Maryland. The device has a bait dispenser surrounded by paint rollers coated with permethrin- based “Tickicide” solution. While feeding, deer will brush against the rollers applying permethrin to their ears and neck. The objective of this project is to help evaluate the use of the "4-Poster" device by deer and non-target animals.Item Analysis of RNA Concentration of Influenza and other Respiratory Viruses from Dormitory Air Sampling(2020) Khan, Razeen; Bueno de Mesquita, Jacob; Milton, DonaldMaking accurate exposure assessments of airborne disease transmission is an integral part of a proactive response to outbreak events and can help track the pathway of transmission. This study aimed to assess the use of the rebreathed air equation in a dorm room setting and compare the expected exposure provided by the equation with actual viral collection determined by sampling. The study involved quantifying viral aerosol levels in the dormitory rooms of college students infected with influenza and other respiratory infections. NIOSH bioaerosol samplers collected dorm room air overnight and the viral concentration from these samples were compared against the calculated exposure value provided by the rebreathed air equation informed by direct measurements of viral shedding rates from the infected dorm residents ascertained by the Gesundheit-II bioaerosol collector. This comparison was facilitated by the rebreathed-air equation. Air samples were collected from the dormitories of nineteen participants and three participants had influenza. No virus was detected in the NIOSH samples. Data obtained from GII collection on viral shedding was then used in the application of the rebreathed air equation to predict exposure and assess how close the estimate of viral particles was to the actual results. By sampling in the dormitories of students with acute respiratory infections, we can make exposure assessments for roommates of infected students and others living in the dorms with greater accuracy by comparing actual outcomes with theoretical estimates. This work also helps improve understanding of airborne pathogen transmission in dorms and other indoor environments. The outcome of this project and future research like this helps evaluate the use of the rebreathed-air equation in predicting exposure and transmission risk under the assumption of well-mixed air.Item Antibiotic Resistance Surveillance: Tracking the Global Threat(2024-04-14) Malhotra, Riya; Plenz, Uma; German, JenniferItem Antimicrobial Resistance in Urban Agriculture Environments(2024) Zeng, Qingyue; Lam, Kevin; Salcedo, Autumn; Konsen, Derek; Blaustein, Ryan; Blaustein, RyanBiological soil amendments of animal origin (BSAAOs) are widely used in urban agriculture to improve soil health. Although BSAAO use is regulated in the United States due to food safety risks, impacts on antimicrobial-resistant (AMR) bacteria are not well established. We aimed to explore impacts of BSAAOs, among other factors, on AMR bacteria in leafy vegetable production environments across urban farms and community gardens in the Washington D.C. area. Samples of leaf tissue (LT), root zone soil (RZS; amended soil in crop beds), and bulk soil (BS; soil along site perimeter) were collected and analyzed for concentrations of total heterotrophic bacteria (THB). Isolates of AMR strains and coliforms were further screened for multi-drug resistance (MDR) phenotypes. Across-site variation in AMR bacteria in RZS and LT samples broadly reflected land use history and crop management and within-site variation demonstrated effects of specific amendment sources, as well as vegetable type and variety. Overall, our findings demonstrate that promoting soil bacteria activity in the urban landscape has potential implications for managing AMR.Item An Archival Look at Being Alone Versus Being Lonely: Impact on Social Anxiety Posts on Reddit(2021) Lazo-Salmeron, Wilson; Follet, Lia; Tomlinson, TracyGiven the global COVID pandemic, people are isolating and reducing social contact in unprecedented ways. As individuals experience loneliness, they also may exhibit social anxiety, possibly due to a reduced sense of security while feeling vulnerable. (Hawkley & Cacioppo, 2016). However, despite this relationship, research is unclear if social anxiety is associated with being alone (i.e., absence of others) or the added condition of loneliness, otherwise defined as the perception of social needs not being fulfilled (Hawkley & Cacioppo, 2016). We conducted two naturalistic-observational designs to compare social anxiety posts of Reddit users who were responding to posts about loneliness or being alone. The first study compared lonely individuals to those with a more positive perception of being alone. Sixty participants (33.33% male, 18.33% female, 48.33% unknown) were sampled from Reddit, a forum-based community. Participants were coded as lonely if they responded to a Reddit page asking how to cope with loneliness, while individuals were coded as being alone if they responded to a Reddit page asking if alone time is healthy. The second study compared social anxiety amongst lonely individuals surrounded by others and lonely individuals while alone. Once again, 60 participants were sampled from Reddit. We coded participants as lonely with others if they responded to a page describing loneliness in the presence of others or lonely and alone based on a page detailing acceptance of the two. Social anxiety was coded based on the frequency of social anxiety symptoms (e.g., withdrawal, embarrassment, etc.) present in each sentence within each participant's comment. Study one results indicate a medium to large effect of loneliness (t(34.1) = 2.85, p < .05, d = .74), such that lonely individuals expressed greater social anxiety compared to alone participants. The results of the second study also found a medium effect of loneliness (t(58) = 2.07, p < .05, d = .53) as lonely individuals surrounded by others described more social anxiety comments than those who are lonely and alone. Overall, there is a medium effect size concerning both studies. Consequently, these findings are consistent with past research regarding loneliness being correlated with social anxiety (Acquah et al., 2016; Gallagher et al., 2014). Additionally, results are compatible with the theory that loneliness is associated with negative effects while being alone is a neutral state that can potentially lead to positive feelings (Buchholz & Catton, 1999). Future research may explore demographic traits that differ between individuals who are alone and lonely and how these potential personality traits relate back to social anxiety. Furthermore, research may investigate if there are more conscious mechanisms that alone people employ to reduce loneliness. Consequently, this may be implemented in intervention across susceptible groups to loneliness, such as minorities, as they may perceive a social disconnect with others due to dissimilarity. More globally, intervention may examine how to combat the loneliness the COVID pandemic has forced upon individuals (Loades et al., 2020).Item Artificially Intelligent Medical Assistant Robot (AIMAR)(2020) Ronin, Dana; Horne, Nina; Daniel, Paulos; Jacobson, Ben; Kuo, Kevin; Marsandi, Michelle; Offenberg, Natalie; Utz, Ryan; Vandergriff, Johan; Deane, AnilHealthcare providers face financial, regulatory, and logistical obstacles in supplying quality care. Applying robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) to healthcare reduces demands on providers, increases accuracy by supplementing medical diagnoses, and improves patient outcomes. Team AIMAR (Artificially Intelligent Medical Assistant Robot) has constructed a modular robotic healthcare AI system, consisting of advanced diagnostic features as supplements to a generic base. The team focused on analyzing images with machine learning to identify skin conditions. The base robot can move around the home or hospital, pick up objects, and interact with patients and doctors. The patient can log in using face authentication so that patient data is secure, and interact verbally and visually through the user interface. New features can easily be added to the base robot's existing integrated features, making AIMAR adaptable for many desired contexts.Item Assassinations in the Philippines: Pre and Post Election of Rodrigo Duterte(2020) Goldstein, Ariel; Iacoviello, Julia; Arva, Bryan; Evans, BenjaminItem Assessing Life History Parameters of Trissolcus japonicus and Anastatus reduvii, Parasitoids of the Brown Marmorated Stink Bug(2020) Thomas, Namitha; Dabek, Elizabeth Z.; Shrewsbury, Paula M.; Hooks, Cerruti R. R.Item Assessing Porcine Gastric and Trachea Mucin Antimicrobial Activity Against Pseudomonas Aeruginosa(2024) Sokol, Zoe; Yang, Sydney; Duncan, GreggMucus is present throughout the human body, lining all wet epithelia, making it a native, familiar material to the innate immune system. The biocompatibility of mucus opens the possibility for therapeutic applications. Existing research has shown that exposure to mucus triggers the downregulation of virulence genes in some bacteria species and rapidly disintegrates biofilms. The aim of this project is to test the innate antimicrobial activity of porcine gastric mucin (PGM) and porcine trachea mucin (PTM) against Pseudomonas aeruginosa. We examined the antimicrobial activity of mucins by quantifying bacteria growth and viability at numerous time points after mucin treatment. To test this hypothesis, PAO1 cultures were grown in LB broth overnight. Mucin was added to the planktonic PAO1 cultures at various concentrations, 8%, 4%, 2%, 1%, and 0.5% w/v, with each concentration tested in triplicates. At the 3 hr, 6 hr, and 24 hr timepoints after mucin addition, samples were taken from each culture, diluted, and spot-plated. The plates were grown overnight and counted the next day to calculate the colony-forming units. Preliminary results suggest that increasing mucin concentration correlates with decreased bacterial growth, as hypothesized. Additionally, PGM possibly shows a greater degree of antimicrobial effect than PTM. This research has a great potential impact. Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic pathogen often developing antibiotic resistance making it extremely difficult to treat and a high priority for novel treatment development. Therefore, a novel treatment method against P. aeruginosa can have broad implications and improve bacterial infection treatments.Item Assessing the Need for Youth Spaces: Perspective from Baltimore City Public School Graduates(2024) Heydy, Herbert; Butler, JamesBaltimore City was one the first cities in the US to enact redlining policies, which restricted where certain minority groups could live. Ultimately, this led to the proliferation of vacant houses, uninhabitable due to abandonment or lack of owner investment that exerted a heavy cost on neighborhoods and the City as a whole. Importantly, there are significant public health costs associated with vacant properties such as lead poisoning, asthma (from mold, vermin, and droppings), and poor mental health outcomes. All of which have an enormous impact on the resident’s quality of life.Further, redlining has contributed to the unhoused crisis and a lack of youth empowerment via recreational centers within Baltimore City. As such, the active recreational centers are not up to date, and the ones that are privately owned, in most instances are located in areas that make it difficult for youth to attend. A possible solution for the issue of vacant properties and to improve community health is repurposing these vacant properties into youth spaces for Baltimore city students. Some of the services that these Baltimore City Youth Spaces (BYCS) would provide are extracurricular activities such as art, technology, gardening. Additional services would be tutoring and emotional/mental health support for youth who might need it. Before the establishment of BYCS, we will survey and interview current Baltimore City Public School alumni to assess their interest in and feedback on the components of youth spaces.