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Item A Comparative Analysis of the Commensal Diversity of Two Gopher Tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus) Populations in Central Florida(Florida Southern College, 2017-12) Martinet, Kristen; Langford, Gabriel J.Gopher tortoises (Gopherus polyphemus) are extremely important to Florida’s environments and have been called a keystone species. Gopher tortoises have earned this distinction because their burrows serve as shelter and foraging space for a plethora of different animals, also known as commensals, including invertebrates, reptiles, amphibians, mammals, and birds. Interestingly, the commensals that live in different areas may be different depending on the location and age of the gopher tortoise community. To determine the difference in commensal diversity between gopher tortoise populations, this study surveyed the commensals present in Circle B Bar Reserve, which has a relocated gopher tortoise population, and Lakeland Highland Scrubs, which has a natural, undisturbed population. Pit fall traps, motion-activated field cameras, and a burrow camera were used to survey the commensals that live among the gopher tortoises in both sites, and the diversity of each site’s commensals was analyzed. The two sites ultimately did not have significantly different commensal diversity, even though their gopher tortoise populations were present in their environments for very different lengths of time.Item A Survey of Parasites from Anolis Lizards on Andros Island, Bahamas: Do Ecomorphs Host Similar Parasite Assemblages?(Florida Southern College, 2018-04) Brittain, Kaitlin; Langford, Gabriel J.The Anolis lizard ecomorphs of the Caribbean and Bahamian islands are a well-established example of both adaptive radiation and convergent evolution. However, due to a lack of parasite biodiversity surveys on these islands, it is unclear if the parasite fauna hosted by these lizards follow similar evolutionary pathways. This study attempts to determine if the parasites hosted by Anolis spp. display strict host specificity, which would indicate speciation events in-step with their hosts, or if the parasites have little specificity and are broadly distributed among the various lizard species. In 2015 and 2017, lizards were captured by hand and dissected as soon as possible after capture in three locations on Andros Island, Bahamas. First, an external exam was conducted to look for ticks and mites, then blood smears and fecal samples were taken to search for blood protozoans. Parasites and hosts were preserved and brought back to the Parasitology Lab at Florida Southern College. Preliminary results found the ground-trunk lizard, Anolis sagrei, to host nearly all species of parasites found in this study, whereas the treetop lizard, Anolis smaragdinus, hosted relatively few parasite species. We propose that this pattern is due to the parasites intermediate hosts being ground-dwelling insects which would be more likely to consumed by ground-trunk lizards. Overall, our findings suggest that the parasites of Anolis display moderate levels of host specificity, thus some species may have speciated with their hosts, while others are generalists.Item Age and Growth of Rhizoprionodon terraenovae and the Benefits of Age and Growth Studies on Conservation Policies(Florida Southern College, 2017-05) Karr, JennaAge and growth estimates for shark species may be determined through examination of annuli seen in the vertebral cartilage. Age estimates were made for seven male Atlantic sharpnose sharks (Rhizoprionodon terraenovae) caught in 2014 that ranged in length from 58.5 - 90.8 TL. Vertebrae were analyzed for clear band patterns in order to estimate shark ages and compared to ages calculated using the von Bertalanffy growth equation. A comparison of the calculated and observed age found that there was no significant relationship between the two. A better understanding of the rate of growth within cartilaginous fish species such as Rhizoprionodon terraenovae allow for an increased understanding on the potential impacts on population dynamics. As many shark species have an overall slow growth pattern, populations may be unable to recover from detrimental impacts such as overfishing or coastal development. Continuing age and growth studies with shark species will aid in conservation efforts by supporting shark fishing guidelines that would allow healthy population numbers to be maintained based on the growth rate of individuals.Item “All that's important is that you were honest with yourself”: Fictional Responsibility and Morality in Self-Involving Interactive Fictions(Florida Southern College, 2021-12-02) Handley, Megan; Moffitt, Jennifer LeighVideo games have seen an ever-increasing amount of academic attention in recent years, though most of that has attempted to classify them as something apart from pre-existing foundations. However, I argue that video games belong to an already established, but under-investigated, class of fictions: Self-Involving Interactive Fictions (SIIFs). These fictions are those that make statements in a piece of fiction true of the person participating. According to Jon Robson and Aaron Meskin, SIIFs are concerned with the participant, and “...what your actions say about who you are choosing to be in the story world.” These uniquely personal fictions occupy an interesting junction where story-telling and narrative devices meet with moral responsibility. SIIFs demand more attention on account of their philosophical and literary merits. While not the whole of the genre, some of the most popular and recognizable examples of SIIFs are video games. Therefore, I utilize 2K Games’ BioShock (2007), Toby Fox's Undertale (2015), and Obsidian Entertainment's The Outer Worlds (2019) as case studies designed to test and expand the application of the theories compiled in this paper.Item Analysis of Gene Expression Patterns of Evolutionarily Conserved Annexin Proteins(Florida Southern College, 2020-12-03) Robinson, ShealynItem embargoed on 10-24-2021Item Analysis of Metal-Organic Framework Stability, Antimicrobial Properties, and Dental Applications(Florida Southern College, 2022-05) Marusko, Benjamin; Eubank, Jarrod F.; Langford, Melanie L.The development of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), an analysis of their properties, and exploration of their potential biomedical applications, specifically dental, are areas of modern biochemical interest focus on through this study. Previous research has shown these frameworks (and/or their components) have the potential for antimicrobial properties, and we hypothesized that they may be used on dental implants to inhibit the growth of oral bacteria responsible for peri-implantitis. This project has consisted of the development and structural analysis of several different novel frameworks with a high potential for microbial inhibition. Through the incorporation of antimicrobial metal ions, bridging ligands, and possibly terminal ligands there is the potential for a synergistic antimicrobial effect greater than any of the individual components. Structural stability has been monitored under varying environmental conditions, such as humidity; changes have been recorded and analyzed for potential functional applications in biological conditions. A common characteristic of MOFs is the modularity of components, which could allow for the addition of drug compounds or ligands with higher antimicrobial effects for a stronger inhibition of bacterial growth. Key MOFs were selected for antimicrobial analysis through Kirby-Bauer inhibition tests on the common oral bacteria, Streptococcus mutans (S. mutans). The frameworks presenting significant bacterial inhibition were then tested for the potential of growth directly onto the titanium implants used in a majority of oral surgeries. Our research project has resulted in novel MOFs with antimicrobial properties that can be further functionalized and grown directly onto titanium implants for the prevention of infection immediately post oral surgery.Item Analysis of the Antibiotic Susceptibility and Culture Conditions of Helicobacter Cetorum, a Seaborne Gastric Pathogen(Florida Southern College, 2020-12-03) Bauman, SarahThe Helicobacter genus is a diverse group of bacteria with many species that typically cause gastrointestinal disease in a variety of mammalian hosts. Helicobacter pylori is a well-studied pathogen in humans, is highly prevalent in the population, and causes gastritis, gastric ulcers, and carcinomas. [...] To date, very few publications have been released with studies of H. cetorum in the lab; most studies have focused exclusively on diagnosing infection and determining tissue pathology. In this study, we aimed to expand the existing knowledge on H. cetorum. In addition to analyzing certain growth condition preferences, we performed a series of tests to determine its susceptibility to the three aforementioned antibiotics commonly used to treat H. pylori. The bacteria was found to be sensitive to clarithromycin and levofloxacin, but resistant to metronidazole. These results may have clinical significance, as in vitro antibiotic susceptibility is directly correlated with in vivo antibiotic susceptibility, and the results can be used by marine veterinarians to better treat these intelligent, beautiful animals.Item Analysis of the Stomach Tissue Microbiome within Florida Manatees, Trichechus manatus latirostris(Florida Southern College, 2020-04) Hamontree, SamanthaIdentification of the microbiome within marine mammals, including sirenians has been the focus of recent research. While previous work has identified the microbiome from the lower gastrointestinal tract (fecal samples) of manatees and dugongs, we sought to examine the microbiome of the upper gastrointestinal tract, specifically the stomach of Florida manatees, Trichechus manatus latirostris. We obtained two stomach tissue samples (one sample from the greater curvature of the stomach and the other from the lesser curvature of the stomach) from three recently deceased Florida manatees in collaboration with the Marine Mammal Pathobiology Laboratory in St. Petersburg, FL between 2013-2016. These samples were stored at -80C until processing, when DNA was extracted from the thawed stomach tissue using the Zymobiomics DNA miniprep kit. Samples were sent for metagenomics sequencing utilizing the V3 and V4 variable regions of 16S rRNA gene at Genewiz (New Jersey, USA). As expected, several species of fermenting microorganisms were found as well as cellulose degrading microorganisms. Statistical tests were implemented to compare bacterial abundance and diversity between manatees and the two tissue sections that were sampled. Here, we are the first to report the microbiome composition inhabiting the upper gastrointestinal tract within any sirenian. While this is the first study to describe the stomach microbiome of Florida manatees, our findings will be available for future studies as a baseline for the microbiome of the upper gastrointestinal tracts of sirenians. Since the composition of the microbiome has been linked to health in other mammals, this research project may provide important information to veterinary care providers.Item Apocalypse How? Exploring the Use of Graphic Novelization in Neuroscience Pedagogy(Florida Southern College, 2019-04) Howard, Jordan R.The use of graphic novelization is a great tool to aid classroom learning (e.g., Niebert, Marsch, & Treagust, 2012). There has been evidence to suggest that more biologically-oriented content may be difficult to grasp due to its complicated vocabulary, so the use of graphic novelization has been implemented as a pedagogical tool to assist students who have weaker backgrounds in the natural sciences (e.g., Aleixo, & Sumner, 2017; Hosler & Boomer, 2011). While previous work has shown that graphic novelization enhances such content, it is uncertain as to whether metaphors must be visually-based, as opposed to being word-based. In addition to exploring the effectiveness of metaphor types, this study looked at whether feedback from a short-term test influenced long-term retention, as well as the number of prior exposures to materials participants experienced. The current study incorporated the use of metaphors (in the form of a zombie apocalypse) to convey the progression of neurodegenerative diseases. Results demonstrated that there was a significant memory benefit of graphic novel materials over the control condition, especially when questions assessed materials seen twice. These results imply that graphic novelization seems to be a promising method of disseminating information about neurodegenerative disorders.Item Applied Ethics for Emergency Medical Services(Florida Southern College, 2020-12-03) Jaydon, GibbsIn this project, I will characterize major ethical frameworks and apply them to a series of ethical dilemmas encountered in prehospital emergency medicine, giving EMTs and Paramedics a toolbox for making moral judgements in the field. For this project to serve as both a tool for EMS providers and an academic application of ethical theory, I have structured it in such a way that it should be accessible and beneficial to members of both disciplines. For this reason, I strive to paint a picture of the realities of prehospital emergency medicine as well as provide a thorough explanation of philosophical concepts.Item Applying Legal Theory to Racism in American Society(Florida Southern College, 2020-04) Hill, RebeccaRacism has shown to be a trying part of American history. From slavery to mass incarceration, race relations has proved to be a dominant force in social, economic, and political aspects of society. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how the combination of the theories given by H.L.A. Hart, a British legal philosopher, and Derrick Bell, an American lawyer, professor, and civil rights activist, can be used to gain a more comprehensive view on the American legal system which can be used to show how there is room for reform under the current system. Racism has been prevalent throughout all of American history and so when thinking about the American legal system it is impossible to theorize about the system effectively without taking racism into account. While both Hart and Bell’s philosophical inquiries can be used separately, the combination of the two gives a more comprehensive view on how the American system operates. The value of this is that the combination of the two is more applicable to how the system operates in the real world.Item Are You My Mother: Redefining Christian Ethics of Adoption Through the Neo-Confucian Concept of Qi(Florida Southern College, 2022-05) Sill, Grace; Hamilton, Brian DavidAccording to Adoption Network, a U.S. adoption agency, nearly 1.5 million Americans are adopted, and 100 million Americans have an immediate family member who is adopted. Despite the prominent presence of adoption in society, Christian theology and jurisprudence has preserved the assumption that adoptive relationships are inherently inferior to biological relationships. Thomas Aquinas and Karl Barth, for example, legitimize adoption on the basis of economics or spiritual need, while suggesting that biological relationships are “natural” and need no justification. Contemporary research on Christian conceptions of adoption continues these trends. To redefine Western Christian perspectives of adoptive relationships, my research looks to the neo-Confucian philosopher Zhang Zai and his concept of qi, the vital energy or life force that permeates the universe. I argue that Zhang Zai’s philosophy of qi promotes a more holistic understanding of the relationships between things. Applied to adoptive relationships in particular, qi recognizes the economic and spiritual characteristics of adoptive relationships while also affirming their intrinsic value. Modern families have diverse compositions, and a Christian ethics grounded in God’s all-encompassing love must recognize the inherent value of adoptive relationships in theory and practice.Item Aspects of the Life Cycle of Apharyngostrigea Pipientis in Central Florida Wetlands(Florida Southern College, 2016-12) Farrow, AbigailApharyngostrigea pipientis (Trematoda: Strigeidae) is known to form metacercariae around the pericardium of anuran tadpoles in Michigan and other northern locations. Definitive hosts are thought to be wading birds, while the intermediate host is a freshwater snail. Apharyngostrigea pipientis is not commonly reported from Florida, yet we have found several populations of snails (Biopholaria havaensis) and tadpoles, primarily the Cuban treefrog (Osteopilus septentrionalis), to host this trematode. We used experimental infections to elucidate the transmission dynamics and development of A. pipientis inside the tadpole host. Surprisingly, we found two types (species?) of cercariae being shed from B. havaensis that enter Cuban treefrog tadpoles to form seemingly identical metacercariae. Further, both of these develop into metaceracariae inside the tadpoles over 5-7 days after wondering inside the host's body cavity as mesocercariae, and metacercariae are commonly concentrated around the pericardium cavity. However, they differ in entry mode, with one being ingested, whereas the other penetrates the skin. This project is ongoing.Item Assessing the public health concern of Angiostrongylus cantonensis and the biodiversity of parasitic nematodes in Central Florida(Florida Southern College, 2019-04) DeBoer, KylieThe rat lungworm, Angiostrongylus cantonensis, is native to southeast Asia, but has invaded many areas around the world with the spread of its intermediate (snail) and definitive (rat) hosts. Humans are incidental hosts for Angiostrongylus cantonensis. When people ingest an infected gastropod intermediate host, the larval stage of the parasitic nematode migrates to the central nervous system where it is unable to complete development, and eventually dies. Indeed, presence of the nematode in children and adults manifests itself as eosinophilic meningitis. Several cases of human infection in the United States have been reported in Texas and Louisiana, and a handful of small-scale studies have indicated A. cantonensis in snails of southern Florida. Our project provides the first intensive survey of terrestrial snails along the I-4 corridor in Central Florida. Through morphological and molecular techniques, the biodiversity of nematode species parasitizing terrestrial gastropods at thirteen heavily trafficked parks and green spaces was observed and the geographic distribution of native and non-native snail species infected with A. cantonensis was assessed. Our results suggest that the prevalence and intensity of nematodes infecting terrestrial snails are low, but morphological analysis does indicate the presence of rat lungworm. There is the potential risk of transmission to humans in these green spaces, as well as the potential need for monitoring intermediate host infections, especially as invasive snails become more common.Item Assessing the Vanishing Lesbian in Book-to-Film Adaptations: A Critical Study of Rebecca, Fried Green Tomatoes, and Black Panther(Florida Southern College, 2021-05) Coursen, FeliciaPopular media consistently disregards lesbian voices and identities. The film industry, as a facet of popular media, often neglects to tell lesbian stories. When films do include lesbian characters, the depictions are often problematic and grounded in stereotypes. Literary critic and queer theorist Terry Castle argues the following in her book, The Apparitional Lesbian: Female Homosexuality and Modern Culture: “The lesbian remains a kind of ‘ghost effect’ in the cinema world of modern life: elusive, vaporous, difficult to spot – even when she is there, in plain view, mortal and magnificent, at the center of the screen. Some may even deny she exists at all”.Item Biomedical Applications of Antimicrobial Metal-Organic Frameworks(Florida Southern College, 2019-04) Marusko, RobIn recent years, the field of metal-organic frameworks has seen dramatic increases in exploration. Metal-organic frameworks, commonly referred to as MOFs, have been shown to be excellent candidates for the storage of fuels (e.g., methane and acetylene), capture of gasses (e.g., hydrogen or carbon dioxide), and catalyzing reactions. With more than 20,000 different MOFs being reported and studied within the past decade, the focus of their applications has been constantly broadening and shifting. One area that has burgeoned more recently is the biomedical applications of these frameworks (particularly as antimicrobial agents) which has direct correlations and implications to the fields of medicine and dentistry, the particular interest of this project. One purpose of this particular project was to study the design and synthesis of metal-organic frameworks, in general, and tailor them toward biomedical applications, specifically. Upon the design and synthesis of suitable materials (e.g., biocompatible or bioactive), state-of-the-art structural analysis techniques (e.g., powder and single-crystal x-ray diffraction) were utilized for structure and phase confirmation. The expected bioactive materials were then evaluated for their antimicrobial properties. These materials are well-known for their modularity, and the explored structures were tailored to access/include different moieties (e.g., metal/ligand substitution, functionalization, etc.) with hopes of contributing to increased antimicrobial effectiveness.Item Can the Functional Movement Screen be Used as an Assessment Tool for Improving Movement Patterns in Collegiate Dancers?(Florida Southern College, 2018-04) Barnes, Elise; Terrell, Sara LynnThe Functional Movement Screen is a common tool used to assess fundamental movement patterns. Results from the screening process can influence exercise program design. FMS screening is not as commonly used in dancers as other sports. Information regarding how dancers could benefit from a structured training program based upon FMS remains unclear.Item Characterization of Red Pigment Producing Bacteria: An Honors Project(Florida Southern College, 2020-04) Mauzy, IngaThis is a continuation of a project submitted as an Honors Proposal in April of 2019. The project focuses on five bacterial strains that are capable of producing both a red pigment and a green sheen on Marine Agar. The project was intended to further classify these organisms, through several experiments that originally included a carbohydrate utilization test, an Analytical Profile Index (API), determination of fatty acid composition, examining morphology, multi-locus sequence comparison, and/or comparing the absorption spectra. Since then, the project has switched gears and become more focused on genomic comparison. The five protein sequences studied were Filamenting temperature-sensitive mutant Z (FtsZ), Glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate A (GapA), RecA, RNA Polymerase A (RpoA), and Topoisomerase A (TopA). An attempt was made to isolate the sequences of each of the five genes in the following organisms: MI3, JD-17, JD-18, Renegade, and Little Penny. Unfortunately, the project was cut short due to lab closures in response to the COVID-19 Pandemic, and the only isolates sequenced were RecA, RpoA, TopA and 16s isolated from MI3. These sequences were compared to the known sequences of the genes from two strains of Zooshikella ganghwensis (15267 and JC2044) and one strain of Hahella chejuensis.Item Characterization of the Mutant ProP Protein in Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium(Florida Southern College, 2021-05) Hamcho, Faez Patrick; Gasper, Brittany J.Mechanisms invoked by organisms to combat osmotic stress are ubiquitous. The information gained from analyzing osmotic adaptations can be broadly applied, to creating drought-resistant crops, understanding disease pathologies, and fighting bacterial infections. Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium (Salmonella typhimurium, hereafter) has a transport protein called ProP that undergoes post-translational modifications that allow it to uptake osmoprotectants in the face of osmotic stress. The nature of these post-translational modifications is not well understood since the protein has not been crystallized. The aim of my study was to further characterize 6 Salmonella typhimurium strains that have a mutant ProP protein that has conformational changes that mimic post-translationally modified wild-type proteins. I did so by running a sequence alignment between Salmonella typhimurium and 22 related species to gain an understanding of the importance of the regions of ProP needed for function and I modeled the mutated amino acid sequences on a related protein to gain a better understanding of how the mutations affect the confirmation of the protein. The regions where the mutations occurred in the mutants were found to play a significant role in ProP’s function based on their conservation among 22 ProP orthologs, and the majority of the mutations could significantly affect ProP’s function in a way that likely mimics the wildtype.