2021 Symposium for Student Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity

Penn Dixie Fossil Quarry and Nature Reserve is an educational center located in Erie County, New York. It provides an opportunity for individuals to explore the geology and paleontology of Western New York. The Reserve allows visitors to collect fossils to study and to dig for simple fascination. The diverse fossil assemblage preserved in the rocks provide researchers with a unique opportunity to learn about life in the past. The fossil faunas collected at this location were used to reconstruct the Middle Devonian (393-382 million years ago) paleoenvironment. The Devonian was a pivotal period in the history of life on Earth as plants were beginning to populate land and early tetrapods were experimenting with life out of the water. Marine invertebrates were also thriving in newly formed tropical marine environments. Intense tectonism was occurring as island arcs began to accrete to the eastern margin of North America. This resulted in a mountain range along the east coast with extensive, deltaic river systems draining toward the west into an interior marine basin. Life thrived along the edge of the delta, and diverse organisms interacted forming unique ecosystems. The rocks deposited at this location belong to the Middle Devonian Hamilton Group, specifically the Windom Shale of the Moscow Formation. This soft, fissile, medium-grey shale contains abundant fossil brachiopods, corals, trilobites, echinoderms, and bryozoans. The bryozoan and solitary rugose corals formed thickets that provided habitats for the trilobites, echinoderms, and brachiopods to flourish. The faunal assemblage collected from Penn Dixie Fossil Quarry represents this unique ecosystem thriving along the edge of a well oxygenated marine basin during the Middle Devonian.

Machine Learning has high potential and can be applied to predict and optimize various processes. It has many applications for complex tasks and those that people do every day. Machine Learning is a subfield of Artificial Intelligence. Machine Learning can be used to find and analyze data, recognize patterns, and extract materials from internet. There are many forms of Machine Learning; supervised, unsupervised, semi-supervised, and reinforcement. The model is composed of a dataset and a model is set up to train the known data. Then the model trains and learns more in order to predict unknown outcomes. It is consistently tuned to reevaluate known outcomes to make predictions as accurate as possible.In the petroleum industry it can be applied in many forms such as geological studies, maintenance of petroleum equipment, and production engineering. This research is developed around modeling well-log data to optimize and make predictions for the future using stratigraphic correlation techniques. Common type of well-log data is resistivity versus depth. Normally, the higher the resistivity the less water saturation. Water at deeper depths contains a lot of salt so it is highly conductive, which means less hydrocarbons are present. However, higher resistivity generally correlates to more hydrocarbons being present. We are currently working on the model that should recognize the well-log patterns. It is intended to (1) be used to interpret well data, (2) being trained on added datasets, (3) make predictions for oil and gas production optimization from new or existing wells.

Veterans Courts aim to address the growing number of Veterans in the criminal justice system and prevent reoffending among this group by treating the combat-related traumas they have experienced. Previous research finds that these courts are effective; however, less attention has been devoted to how the court's team members perceive and experience the collaboration required of them to successfully implement these courts. This presentation will discuss findings from in-depth interviews that focused on the collaboration efforts among team members at one Veterans Court located in Western Pennsylvania. The interviews also focused on how well the court is implementing the 10 key points for effective specialty court practice.

Over time, dance has evolved choreographically and aesthetically to best fit the audience's expectations. Through close examination of my topic, I discovered that there are quite a few choreographers who are challenging themselves and their dancers by incorporating architectural structures into their choreographic works. In 1970, Trisha Brown was one of the first choreographers to test these waters with her piece, Man Walking Down the Side of a Building. In this controversial piece, she demonstrates that bodies and architectural structures create new and exciting meanings and trigger surprise and imagination in the spectators (Loos). Her work served as a strong foundation for contemporary choreographers such as, Elizabeth Streb and Jacque Heim, who further developed Brown's explorations of gravity defiance and the use of architectural structures. In the world today, some creators still fear the use of interactive structures and choreography that defies gravity, as it may take away from the essence and primary motive of the dance. After extensive research, I argue that the incorporation of gravity defiance and architectural structures should be considered by choreographers since these will add complexity and significant layers to a dance.

Animal-Assisted Therapy (AAT) has been a recent focus in mental health research. AAT has been supported by several theoretical perspectives, such as attachment theory. The human animal relationship can have numerous therapeutic effects. Canines has been shown to reduceheart rate, blood pressure, and increase levels of oxytocin. AAT can assist in developing the therapeutic alliance, has been shown to increase motivation, socialization, and enhance quality of life (Fine, 2010). Previous research has identified specific demographic, disability, andpsychological risk factors in children who are victims of sexual abuse (Miller-Perrin, Perrin, Renzetti, 2021). Child sexual abuse has been shown to have both a physiological and psychological effect (Krause-Parello, Gulick, 2015). Research has supported the use of equine-facilitated therapy and canine-assisted therapy for children who have experienced sexual abuse. The results of the studies found that equine-facilitated therapy produced a therapeutic effect and reduced reported depressive symptoms (Signal, Taylor, Botros, Prentice, Lazarus, 2013; Kemp, Signal, Botros, Taylor, Prentice, 2014). Canine- assisted therapy was shown to produce a more calming environment for the children in a forensic interview. Physiological reactions were recorded in the forensic interviews and showed that the AAT group had lower blood pressure and heart rate (Krause-Parello, Gulick, 2015). AAT has also been shown to beeffective in treating children with a history of sexual abuse and have been diagnosed with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Avoidance, intrusion, arousal, and dissociation symptoms were reduced in the AAT intervention (Signal, Taylor, Prentice, McDade, Burke, 2017). There are several welfare considerations when using AAT (Fine, 2010). AAT is an upcoming approachto treating child sexual abuse that requires more research to promote and test the effectiveness of the intervention.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease that affects over 5 million Americans. The disease is characterized by the formation of senile plaques of the amyloid beta and neurofibrillary tangles within the brain that can impair the patient's memory and behavior. These symptoms of AD develop slowly and worsen over time. Currently there is no known cause or cure for AD, therefore treatment is restricted to alleviating symptoms. A new approach to AD focuses on mitochondrial dysfunction, which is when the mitochondria release reactive oxidative species that cause damage and changes to the expression of tissues, proteins, and genes. MitoNEET is a newly discovered mitochondrial protein that is thought to regulate bioenergetics in cells. The focus of our research is to help resolve the mechanism of AD by identifying potential targets for treatment. Fluorescence microscopy is used to evaluate changes in protein expression. This was used to assess changes in protein expression when exposed to current AD therapeutics. One treatment is isoproterenol, which is a bronchodilator that has been shown to upregulate mitoNEET. Our preliminary studies use fluorescence microscopy to verify that isoproterenol upregulated the expression of mitoNEET in N2a cells after a 24-hour exposure. The results showed a two-fold increase in the relative integrated density when exposed to 1, 10, 100 uM of isoproterenol. Further studies will investigate mitoNEET regulation n response AD therapeutics.

Amphibian populations are declining globally and one third of all amphibian species are threatened with extinction. Numerous studies suggest that chemical contaminants and disease present immediate threats to amphibian populations worldwide. In this study, African clawed frogs (Xenopus laevis) were exposed to four environmentally relevant concentrations of the commonly used neonicotinoid insecticide, imidacloprid, throughout their development from hatching through metamorphosis. Toxicity, length of time to complete metamorphosis, and morphology were measured at metamorphosis. A subset of the animals was maintained through maturity in the appropriate imidacloprid dose following metamorphosis. The purpose of our current study is to analyze the health of these animals as adults after developmental exposure. We will analyze endocrine stress physiology and nutrient metabolism in these animals. Specifically, we will examine the impact of developmental imidacloprid exposure on blood glucose regulation in adult African clawed frogs. Through this study, we may be able to protect amphibian health by generating awareness around the safety of certain noenicitinoid insecticides in the natural environment. 

Located beyond left field at Jack Critchfield Park, lies a rock outcrop of the Pennsylvanian-aged Vanport Limestone that provides evidence of a paleoenvironment that existed over 300 million years ago. The Vanport Limestone is an extensive geological unit that can be found regionally across western Pennsylvanian and into Ohio. It is commonly mined in the area and used as an aggregate for construction projects and as a component in cement. Investigation of this rock outcrop at Slippery Rock University has provided a detailed picture of the life that existed within a unique marine environment during this time. Detailed examination of the rock outcrop as a whole, hand samples, and thin sections has allowed us to understand the sedimentary processes that existed hundreds of millions of years ago. We began our research by examining the 2.5 meters tall outcrop and collecting hand samples from every 0.25 meters. The rock samples were cut with a rock saw into 30 x 20 mm rectangular blocks that were polished and cut further into thin sections. The thin sections were analyzed for their lithologic and fossil content. The results of our study indicate that the outcrop varies from packstones to wackestones, changing from rocks that contain a high percentage of carbonate mud to an abundance of fossil constituents. Carbonate rocks such as limestones are formed in tropical marine environments and commonly capture a snapshot of the life that existed during that time. A shark tooth, genus petalodus, that lays atop the outcrop as well as microscopic organisms present in the rock such as, echinoderms, brachiopods, and gastropods disclose the fact that the there was a shallow marine environment present in this area when the rock was formed. The most significant finding was the identification of the foraminifera, Fusilinida, allowing us to assign a date of deposition of 323-252 million years old. This study has allowed us to reconstruct the paleoenvironment and understand Slippery Rock's geological past.

The purpose of this study is to explore sources of health disparities within the United States healthcare system impacting the LGBTQ+ older adult community. Its primary focus is the role of Certified Nurse Assistants (CNAs) in mitigating these disparities. First, this study examines the ways in which LGBTQ+ persons experience health disparities in Long-Term Care settings. Next, the role of the CNA is clarified, particularly in terms of certification requirements and role in long term caregiving. A gap analysis is then performed, which examines training versus potential areas for improvement in knowledge and preparedness to care for LGBTQ+ residents in long term care. Finally, this study will outline areas for future the research, including a research study design to measure CNA perceptions and preparedness to adequately care for LGBTQ+ long term care residents.

The last three decades show successively warmer temperatures at Earth's surface while the Northern Hemisphere has experienced its warmest 30-year period in the past 1400 years. Air and ocean warming results in greater induced stress on Arctic sea ice which has continued to decrease in recent years. In this study we analyzed and interpreted Arctic region air and sea surface temperatures (SST) and ice data to see if we can verify and quantify a warming trend. We used the datasets COBE-SST2 and Sea-Ice as well as NCEP/NCAR Reanalysis 1 from 1948 to 2018, both provided by the NOAA/OAR/ESRL PSL. The COBE-SST2 and Sea Ice dataset was regridded to match the spatial resolution of NCEP/NCAR Reanalysis at 2.5°. In ArcMap, eight raster sea-ice concentration layers were created using North Pole orthographic projection to display changes over time. After widely observing changes, one cell experiencing significant change was chosen to further analyze the grid cell centered on 72.5° North and 22.5° West. For this grid cell, time series of air temperature, SST, and ice concentration were extracted and then analyzed in Excel. Average monthly air temperature and SST showed an increase throughout the timeframe with the strongest trend occurring in winter months between 1979 and 2018. During this period December air temperature has increased by 0.8°C/10 years and January SST has increased by 0.5°C/10 years. Sea-ice concentration decreased between 1948 and 1980 and since 1980 there has been no ice existent in this grid cell. As temperatures continue to rise, the consequences are countless. Melting sea-ice contributes to rising sea levels and alters ocean currents, acidity, ecosystems, among others with extensive effects on the environment and ourselves. By changing our behaviors contributing towards global warming we need to mitigate this situation.