All Abstracts

Amylin is a protein that is co-secreted from pancreatic beta cells alongside insulin and has been shown to cross the blood-brain barrier and impact the formation of amyloid plaques. The normal function of amylin in the brain is directly correlated to metabolism because amylin is considered a satiety...

Poly N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAM) microgel particles are unique because they are able to change their volume in response to changes in temperature and pH. When co-polymerized with acrylic acid, they may be surface-functionalized with desired biomolecules and used as multi-functional biomaterials. I...

  Our research project is centered on observing how soil moisture at Spelman College changes over different seasons and different weather conditions. We plan to quantify the effects of changes in local weather conditions on soil hydrological processes and parameters. We hypothesize that extreme...

  Red light is known to inhibit apoptosis, however the underlying mechanisms are unknown. The ultimate goal of this experiment is to determine if red light can reduce the rate of apoptosis in cells treated with the apoptosis-inducer raptinol. However, the first step in that process is determining t...

Breast cancer incidence rates under age 40 and mortality rates at all ages are higher in Black women. Black women’s low participation rates in studies may help explain why genetic and environmental factors associated with their disease are not understood. The ongoing Understanding Breast Cancer Ca...

Teachers’ use of effective classroom management practices (e.g., effective use of rules) is critical to student success (McLeod et al., 2017; Simonson et al., 2009). One practice associated with low rates of disruptive behavior is teacher’s appropriate response to rule violations (Owen et al...

 Silent suffering is a never-ending epidemic that haunts societies across the world today. These mental health issues are often ignored and/ or trivialized. I refer to what can be known as silent diseases. They are the mental diseases with no easily diagnosable symptoms. Anxiety, depression, an...

Our research evaluated the conditions of California’s coastal sea surface temperature and ocean color between the years of 2002 to 2017 to understand the temporal and spatial variations and trends in California coastal regions. Sea surface temperature (SST) is heavily influential to climate chang...

According to research, socioeconomic status has an impact on student’s success and achievement (Gunnar, Frenn, Wewerka, & Van Ryzin, 2009). There are findings that suggest, students who come from low socioeconomic environments are performing lower academically than their counterparts in higher soc...

My body of work speaks about culture, economic status, and racial issues. I have incorporated stereotypical imagery of African Americans in the United States history and some of the unhealthy, and the popular lifestyles encouraged through the media that affect the Black community. I have created par...

Georgia has the lowest kidney transplant rates in the United States, and racial disparities in access to early steps in the kidney transplant process exist in the Southeast. The Southeastern Kidney Transplant Coalition developed the randomized, dialysis facility-level Reducing Disparities In Access ...

    Alcohol abuse and intimate partner violence (IPV) are major public health concerns. When assessed simultaneously, alcohol abuse has been significantly correlated to IPV victimization and perpetration across various samples. However, this link has been seldom analyzed among African American wom...

    Colorism, the attribution of privilege or advantage based on the lightness or darkness of one’s skin, is a form of discrimination that negatively impacts the lives of Black men and women. Few researchers have explored the relationship between skin color satisfaction (SCS) and colorism, and t...

In this project, the reaction between nitrocyclopropane (NCP) and various amines are explored under microwave heating conditions. The previously reported reaction of aniline and NCP included 17 hours of traditional heating using acetonitrile as the solvent. By altering both solvent and microwave irr...

Over the past decade, education technology has become increasingly available in elementary schools. Ideally, its purpose is to improve the learning environment and enhance a students ability to succeed. This research hopes to further the innovation of education technology and education based on tech...

  Cities around the world are facing massive challenges in managing rapid urbanization from ensuring adequate housing and infrastructure to support growing populations, to confronting the environmental impact of urban sprawl, and to reducing vulnerability to disasters. As the world becomes more dep...

The endosperm is one of the two fertilization products inside the seed of most flowering plants. It surrounds and nourishes the embryo by providing nutrients. In most flowering plants such as Arabidopsis, endosperm development is made of a syncytial phase and a cellularized phase. After endosperm ce...

  Computer Aided Geometric Design (CAGD) studies the construction and manipulation of curves and surfaces using polynomials or piecewise polynomials, and their rational function counterparts. Such geometric modeling is used in industrial design, such as aircraft and cars.   Spline functions are sm...

Suicide is a growing public health concern and the 10th leading cause of death in the United States (U.S.) Although African American women generally have the lowest suicide rates, studies have shown that these rates have rise for African American women. Further, African American women have the high...

In a quantitative study, Perold, Louw, and Kleynhans (2013) compared teacher’s knowledge in the following areas: general knowledge of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), knowledge of symptoms/diagnosis of ADHD, and knowledge of treatment for ADHD. The results revealed that teachers on...

Microgels are soft, colloidal hydrogel particles that are used in biological applications,. These gel particles are made of poly-n-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAM) and are capable of changing volume, in response to their environment. The microgel particles can also be copolymerized with acrylic acid (AAC...

  Microgel particles have use in drug delivery devices, cosmetics, and biosensors. When microgels are crosslinked to a surface, they are expected to spread according to their stiffness, which is tuned by modifying crosslinking agent concentration during synthesis. In this research, the extent of pa...

The purpose of this research is to uncover the experiences of queer Black girls during the first half of the twentieth century. At a time when Black people were defining, understanding, and questioning what it meant to be Black in America, I query what queer Black girlhood looked like during this ti...

Suicide is a major concern in the United States (U.S.), and is currently the 10th leading cause of death in U.S. and African Americans account for 5.5% of suicides. Historically, African American women have had some of the lowest suicide rates compared to African American men and women from other et...

Salmonella enterica is a member of the Enterobacteriaceae family of gram-negative, non-spore forming, rod bacteria that are found in soil, water, and animals. There are 6 subspecies and over 2,600 serotypes. Salmonella species can cause many different diseases with gastroenteritis being the most com...

Sexual reproduction is a tool used to increase genetic diversity amongst species. Trichosphaerium, a genus of amoeba, is understudied compared to other eukaryotic microbes. This genus was described as sexual consisting of two stages, a gamont (gamete-forming) and schizont (spicule-containing) stage...

The physical health of Americans has become an increasing concern within the last fifty years. Specifically, obesity is currently the second leading cause of preventable death. Two notable factors that help explain this are decrease in physical activity and lack of access to environments that encour...

Couple communication about contraceptive use has been shown to be strongly correlated with reproductive behavior. In Rwanda, where contraceptive use has increased dramatically over a short period, understanding the role of couple communication about family planning can help inform programs designed ...

Donor-acceptor cyclopropanes are generally used to produce five and six membered cyclic rings. This project investigated the possibility of forming novel seven-membered benzoxepines. This scaffold can be found in antibacterial, antioxidant, anticancer, anti-diabetic, and a host of other medicinal co...

When developmentally appropriate, educational based technology in classrooms can possess many benefits that can enhance student literacy and academic achievement (Alden, 2011). Often times, technology is avoided in classrooms because teachers’ may struggle finding appropriate ways to incorporate i...