Fall 2024 URC Panel Presentations : Honors College : Texas State University

Biochemistry and Cancer Research (Panel 11)

Room 310

9:00am - 10:30am

Panel Chair: Dr. Joel Bergh, Department of Biology

Ameris Israel-Simmons - CONTROLLED CELL GROWTH: ROOPEROL ANALOGUES AND THEIR EFFECTS ON INHIBITION OF P38

Kaitlyn Costilla - COMPARING IC50 OF TWO HETEROCYCLIC COMPOUNDS IN TARGETING MALIGNANT NEUROBLASTOMA CELL LINE -BE(2)-C

Jadyn Smith - DISCOVERING NOVEL DRUGGABLE TARGETS FOR NEUROBLASTOMA DIFFERENTIATION THERAPY FROM THE HUMAN KINOME

Biochemistry and Research in Genetics (Panel 12)

Room 310

10:30am - 12:00pm

Panel Chair: Dr. Xiaoyu Xue, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry

Eden Merritt - CHARACTERIZING THE STRUCTURE AND ACTIVITY OF THE LARP6 FROM THE SIMPLE FOUR-CELLED ALGA FOR CHAPERONE AND BINDING

Danielle Nagad - MAXIMIZING RNA YIELD: OPTIMAL PRESERVATION METHODS FOR BOVINE VAGINAL SWABS

Adamari Cabrera - P160A MUTATION OF CONSERVED PROLINES IN LARP6 LA MODULE LINKER HAVE CONSEQUENCES FOR THE RELATIVE ORIENTATION OF THE LA MOTIF AND RRM DOMAINS

Kirstin Boyd-Farmer

Boyd-FarmerKirstin

MITIGATING THE URBAN HEAT ISLAND EFFECT IN AUSTIN, TEXAS

Department of Geography and Environmental Studies

Panel Title: Designing Better Cities and Communities in Central Texas

Room 308 | 9:00am - 10:30am

The Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect significantly impacts human-made environments by exacerbating heat-related phenomena such as elevated ambient air temperatures, increased heat index, poor air quality, and mean radiant temperature. My research focuses on Austin, Texas, examining how the UHI effect intensifies these heat phenomena and exploring potential mitigation strategies tailored to the city's unique geography and evolving climate. Through a comprehensive analysis, I've identified the specific ways in which UHI exacerbates the aforementioned heat-related phenomena including the implications for public health and environmental quality. By increasing the amount of impermeable, human-made surfaces throughout Austin such as low-density housing developments, strip malls, and highway expansion coupled with the increased use of fossil fuels used for things like air conditioning and gas-powered vehicles, we are anthropogenically increasing the temperature of our microclimate. All whilst experiencing an increase in the number of triple-digit days since Austin's weather record-keeping began. Additionally, my research addresses environmental justice issues by considering the historical and socio-economic factors that contribute to the unequal distribution of heat impacts across different communities in Austin, specifically those in West Austin versus East Austin. My findings suggest that targeted interventions, such as urban greening, reflective material implementation, and equitable planning practices could enhance the city's resilience to heat and overall sustainability. Specifically, these planning practices could include an increase in shade awnings to reduce building energy consumption and policies that prohibit or severely limit development along our naturally cooling corridor, the Colorado River. Implementing these solutions could help to foster a more heat-resistant, environmentally conscious, and equitable urban environment, benefiting all residents of Austin, Texas.

Supervisor: Eric Sarmiento, Department of Geography and Environmental Studies

Aidan Brock

BrockAidan

YOGA PRACTICE AND ITS ASSOCIATION WITH HEALTH PROMOTION/HEALTH RISK BEHAVIORS

Department of Psychology

Panel Title: Health and Wellness: The Impacts of Yoga, Caffeine, and PC Gaming

Room 310 | 12:30pm - 2:00pm

Yoga is widely promoted in U.S. culture as an effective tool for reducing stress and minimizing unhealthy behaviors, such as substance use. This study aimed to explore the relationship between yoga practice and health-related behaviors—specifically substance use (alcohol, cannabis, and other substances) and mental health (e.g., generalized anxiety disorder, perceived stress, and peace of mind)—among U.S. young adults aged 18-30 (N = 276). We hypothesized that more frequent yoga practice would be associated with lower levels of substance use and improved mental well-being, including greater peace of mind and reduced anxiety and stress. However, initial analyses revealed an unexpected result: among yoga practitioners, there was a significant positive correlation between the amount of time spent practicing yoga and alcohol use, while no similar pattern was found for cannabis use. This counterintuitive finding highlights the need for further investigation into the complex relationship between yoga practice and substance use in the U.S. young adult population.

Supervisor: Jessica Perrotte, Department of Psychology

Adamari Cabrera

CabreraAdamari

P160/168A MUTATION OF CONSERVED PROLINES IN LARP6 LA MODULE LINKER HAVE CONSEQUENCES FOR THE RELATIVE ORIENTATION OF THE LA MOTIF AND RRM DOMAINS

Department of Biochemistry

Panel Title: Biochemistry and Research in Genetics

Room 310 | 10:30am - 12:00pm

La-related proteins better known as LaRP is a superfamily of proteins that are used for RNA recognition and RNA binding. This protein is known for its intricate structure domains that connect the protein to the RNA with flexible linkers that are known to have unique relative orientation changes. The subfamily of the LaRP, I will be basing my research project on is the LaRP 6 family which is the collagen-based protein. Specifically, I will be working on a mutant of the P160A which deals with zebrafish DNA to see if this mutation has any consequences for the orientation of the proline linker.

Supervisor: Karen Lewis, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry

Jessica Chitwood

ChitwoodJessica

HEGEMONIC MASCULINITY AND AGGRIEVED ENTITLEMENT: THE PATH TO RADICALIZATION AMONG VIOLENT INCEL EXTREMISTS

School of Criminal Justice and Criminology

Panel Title: Social Science for Social Justice: Addressing Incel Violence, Anti-LGBTQ+ Legislation, and Undignified Burials on the Border

Room 305 | 10:30am - 12:00pm

In the wake of the mass shooting epidemic and significant political unrest in the United States, an emerging group from the exigent online Manosphere has been tied to multiple extremist acts of lone-wolf domestic terrorism. Incels (involuntary celibates) blame their modern masculinity crisis on the inherent hypergamous nature of women that breeds disparity in the sexual marketplace. By examining the sociocultural narratives that underpin incel ideology, the research highlights how traditional notions of masculinity foster a sense of entitlement to relationships and sexual validation. It argues that the perceived failures to meet these expectations can lead to feelings of anger and alienation, ultimately driving individuals toward radicalization and violence. Through a qualitative ethnographic analysis of incel communities and case studies of incel perpetrated acts of violence, the thesis aims to illuminate the psychological and social mechanisms that contribute to the radicalization process, offering insights for prevention and intervention strategies.

Supervisor: Jeffrey Bumgarner, School of Criminal Justice and Criminology

Kaitlyn Costilla

CostillaKaitlyn

COMPARING IC50 OF TWO HETEROCYCLIC COMPOUNDS IN TARGETING MALIGNANT NEUROBLASTOMA CELL LINE -BE(2)-C

Department of Biology

Panel Title: Biochemistry and Cancer Research

Room 310 | 9:00am - 10:30am

Neuroblastoma is a rare cancer, which normally begins to appear in developing nerve cells that continue to grow and divide uncontrollably, predominantly affecting children. Even treatments, such as chemotherapy and radiation therapy, can lead to cancer cells becoming drug-resistant, systemic toxic, or ineffective. Heterocyclic compounds are a recently studied anticancer drug, intended to disrupt cancer cell growth. Several studies that have been conducted using heterocyclic compounds as an anti-cancer treatment, show great potential in treating neuroblastoma. Discovering the range of volume that is the most effective in heterocyclic compounds, is found when conducting an experiment comparing the efficiency of two different heterocyclic compounds, in neuroblastoma cells line BE(2)-C. The BE(2)-C cells will be cultured and allocated into two 96-well plates, the cells will then be treated with sterile concentrations of each heterocyclic compound. After 4 days, an MTT assay will be performed to measure the residual cell viability, and IC50, which shows the concentration of the drug required for 50% inhibition of the cells, computed by Prism GraphPad software. The importance of the study is to analyze if there is a significant difference in when neuroblastoma reaches IC50, treated with two different heterocyclic compounds given in different concentrations. The lower IC50 indicates that the compound is more potent in obstructing the growth of the malignant neuroblastoma than the other compound. Finding this could support the hypothesis that the heterocyclic compounds intersects with targets and disrupt the biological pathways associated with cancer progression, such as people with neuroblastoma.

Supervisor: Liqin Du, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry

Blaire Curley

CurleyBlaire

“THE POWER OF HIDDEN VOICES": UNCOVERING THE UNSEEN SOCIAL AND POLITICAL CHANGE BY YOUTH IN THE 20TH CENTURY

Department of Political Science

Panel Title: History, Culture, and Society: Youth Movements in the U.S., the Spanish Civil War, and Cultural Revolution in Kazakhstan

Room 305 | 2:00pm -3:30pm

During the 20th Century, the United States underwent unprecedented change to its social and political Institutions. The roles of many American citizens were being revisited as women were in the pursuit of the right to vote and be treated as first-class citizens, and newly freed enslaved people were being integrated into American society. In order to accommodate and address the evolving nature of the US at this time, many politicians and elected officials established political initiatives and passed legislation that would extend fundamental freedoms to women and dismantle the racial barriers that hindered the agency of African American people. While much of the change that occurred, is accredited to the leaders and elected officials who utilized the power they obtained to stride towards creating a more equal and sustainable America. How much of these initiatives and political actions that led to substantial change, were a result of the mobilization and public outcry for institutional change by Youth? This is the research question my paper will attempt to answer. My paper will focus on the role of young people during the 20th century, in igniting and achieving social and political change. I intend to chronicle and examine some of the most important movements in American History, and illuminate the part young people played within these movements. Displaying how the expansion of freedoms, extension of equality, and erosion of oppressive political systems was an outcome of the persistent efforts and resistance to unjust laws by the youth. The intent of this project is to shine a light on the impact of young people during this time period in contributing to the positive evolution of our country, and make the case that without their efforts during the 20th century, America would not have achieved the change that it endured during this time period.

Supervisor: Lauren Rowlands, Department of Political Science

Designing Better Cities and Communities in Central Texas (Panel 10)

Room 308

9:00am - 10:30am

Panel Chair: Claudia Röschmann, School of Art and Design

Ja'VousAime Varela - INSPIRATION FOR THE COMMUNITY: A HUMAN-CENTERED DESIGN APPROACH TO HISTORICAL DOWNTOWN SAN MARCOS, TX

Kirstin Boyd-Farmer - MITIGATING THE URBAN HEAT ISLAND EFFECT IN AUSTIN, TEXAS

Seth Morris - ATTRACTING CUSTOMERS TO IVAR'S RIVER PUB: USING THE THEORY OF PLANNED BEHAVIOR TO IDENTIFY CRUCIAL UNDERLYING FACTORS

Jacob Doney

DoneyJacob

SCALABLE INFLUENCE MAXIMIZATION IN SOCIAL NETWORKS

Department of Computer Science

Panel Title: Research in Computer Science: 2D Gaming, Data Compression, and Influence Maximization

Room 308 | 12:30 P.M. - 2:00 P.M.

Influence maximization focuses on identifying a set of k vertices in a network to maximize their combined influence spread under a given diffusion model. Since this problem is NP-hard, many studies have focused on developing efficient approximation algorithms. Among these, the current state-of-the-art algorithms leverage the reverse influence sampling (RIS) technique, which performs a reverse probabilistic breadth-first search and stores the results in reverse reachable sets. A vertex is considered highly influential if it appears in many reverse reachable sets that have not already been covered by more influential vertices. Despite the efforts, they still show limited running time performance and scalability with large real-world networks consisting of millions of vertices and billions of edges, motivating a few recent studies on leveraging graphics processing units (GPUs) to parallelize and accelerate the RIS-based algorithms. While such parallelization significantly reduces running time, it introduces a new challenge due to the limited memory space of GPUs, which must accommodate millions of reverse reachable sets along with the underlying large graph structure. In this work, we propose an efficient approach to reduce memory consumption of GPU-accelerated RIS-based
algorithms. Extensive experimental results show that our approach can save up to more than half of the original memory consumption without affecting the running time performance.

Supervisor: Chul-Ho Lee, Department of Computer Science

Education and the Arts: From Community Theatre to Climate Change (Panel 13)

Room 308

10:30am - 12:00pm

Panel Chair: Dr. Kevin Crawford Jenkins, School of Art and Design

Elisa Pedraza Sanchez and Sara Scheidt - ORANGE PEEL PLAYHOUSE

Danielle Pennington - CLASSROOM STRATEGIES FOR STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES

Alejandra Roman - ECHOES OF TOMORROW: ART AND SCIENCE CONVERGE IN CENTRAL TEXAS

Asia Estelle

EstelleAsia

LIMINAL INTIMACIES WITHIN POLITICS OF BLACKNESS

School of Art and Design

Panel Title: Topics in Black and Ethnic Studies: Latinx Construction Workers, Cultural Nepantla, Visualizations of Blackness, and College Students of Nigerian Descent

Room 305 | 12:30pm - 2:00pm

The creation of my photobook stems from a desire to question and understand the interminable experiences of Blackness. Through reading, conversation, and personal encounters, I have uncovered there is no monolithic description of what it means to be Black: yet this fact is not something that brings me defeat, but something I revere and has attributed in reassuring my identity as a Black woman. In turn, the work in my book discusses essentialist and nonessentialist visualizations of Blackness, the politics of hypervisibility and how the viewers misunderstanding holds value, and inconspicuously, is an investigation of how I function within Blackness. Encryption, then becomes essential to how my work is framed. The untelling allows for information to be withheld from others for oneself and sentient imagery that thrives from said fragmented illumination. My photobook entitled, liminal intimacies, reflects my different shooting styles as a photographer in a way that is expressive and illustrative and acts as a catalyst for continued exploration in the future. The contemplations I have about what Blackness is can never be entirely answered and can simultaneously be answered amorphously—all acknowledgements being equally valid and true. Because Blackness is infinite in its denotative properties, this book functions as a paragraph in an unfinished essay; it is a snapshot of my current practices as an artist and the many perspectives and ways Blackness currently presents in my life.

Supervisor: Anthony Francis, School of Art and Design

Global Feminisms from Puerto Rico to East Asia (Panel 6)

Room 305

9:00am - 10:30am

Panel Chair: Cathlin Noon, Research Coordinator, IDEA Center

Marienne Duran Henriquez - RECLAIMING HISTORY AND RESISTING GENTRIFICATION: COLECTIVO MORIVIVÍ’S REPRESENTATION OF THE BLACK FEMALE BODY IN PUERTO RICAN MURALS

Sabrina Vargas - REDISCOVERING FRANCES HARPER: A FORGOTTEN ADVOCATE FOR RACIAL UPLIFT

Miranda Hong - TALES OF WANDERING: EXISTENTIAL AESTHETICS IN HAYASHI FUMIKO’S FLOATING CLOUDS AND CHOI JEONG-HEE’S THE CRY OF THE HARP

Ethan Guinn

GuinnEthan

ABAI’S INFLUENCE ON THE MODERN KAZAKH CULTURAL REVOLUTION

Department of History

Panel Title: History, Culture, and Society: Youth Movements in the U.S., the Spanish Civil War, and Cultural Revolution in Kazakhstan

Room 305 | 2:00pm -3:30pm

Abai Qunanbaiuly was a Kazakh poet and philosopher who lived from 1845 to 1904. Abai is most famous for his collection of poems in the book called “Book of Words” or “Words of Edification”. This collection teaches Kazakhs and readers about different topics. This essay will analyze his works' influence on modern Kazakh culture which is going through a revolutionary period today. The essay will start by giving a background on Abai looking at Kazakh culture when he was alive. It will then move on to looking at Abai’s immediate influence on Kazakhstan by analyzing how the Alash political party that lasted from 1917 1920 was affected by Abai. Next, the essay will analyze different aspects of modern Kazakh culture including language, literature, and politics. This topic is important as it is commonly said in Kazakhstan that Abai had a large impact on modern Kazakh culture however there is not a lot of academic writing analyzing the impact. This essay will analyze his impact by seeing how his work managed to impact an entire country 100 years later. While many secondary sources are in Kazakh or Russian, I will look for translations and find English sources.

Supervisor: Louis Porter, Department of History

Health and Wellness: The Impacts of Yoga, Caffeine, and PC Gaming (Panel 1)

Room 310

12:30pm - 2:00pm

Panel Chair: Dr. Megan Haynes, Department of Health and Human Performance

Aidan Brock - YOGA PRACTICE AND ITS ASSOCIATION WITH HEALTH PROMOTION/HEALTH RISK BEHAVIORS

Natalie Houle - ENERGIZING AGENTS AND THE PERCEIVED EFFICACY AND SAFETY FOR FATIGUE MANAGEMENT AMONG NURSING STUDENTS: A CROSS-SECTIONAL EXPLORATORY STUDY

Madeline McJilton - THE MOST COMMON CHRONIC HAND AND WRIST INJURIES IMPLICATED BY PC GAMING

Marienne Duran Henriquez

HenriquezMarienne Duran

RECLAIMING HISTORY AND RESISTING GENTRIFICATION: COLECTIVO MORIVIVÍ’S REPRESENTATION OF THE BLACK FEMALE BODY IN PUERTO RICAN MURALS

School of Art and Design

Panel Title: Global Feminisms from the Puerto Rico to East Asia

Room 305 | 9:00am - 10:30am

This paper explores the visual work of Colectivo Moriviví, a women’s muralist collective based in Puerto Rico, that has been producing public art with an activist focus since 2013. With an emphasis in social change and community organizing, Colectivo Moriviví highlights erased Puerto Rican history and addresses relevant issues such as the rising culture of femicides and the representation of the Black female body. As a collective working within the male-dominated scene of public art and muralism, Colectivo Moriviví’s work is inherently political, shedding light on often ignored and concealed issues through collaborative and community-centered projects that reclaim and assert erased Puerto Rican history while resisting gentrification. Existing literature on Colectivo Moriviví is primarily centered around decolonial history, cultural studies, and gender studies. However, this paper aims to contribute a new art historical perspective by incorporating art criticism and examining the visual elements and style of Colectivo Moriviví. Using Colectivo Moriviví’s visual works as a guide, this paper delves into the history of muralism and how the collective’s work aligns with or defies this history. Additionally, it examines the controversy and censorship surrounding the Black female body in their mural “Paz a La Mujer,” exploring how this work and its public reactions assert the narratives of gender-based violence and challenge the visual acceptance of the Black female nude. This paper expands the discourse on Colectivo Moriviví by highlighting the significance of their visual contributions to art history and their role in addressing pressing social issues in Puerto Rico.

Supervisor: Erina Duganne, School of Art and Design

Ana Hernandez

HernandezAna

EMOTION PERCEPTION: DO DIVERSE INDIVIDUALS IDENTIFY EMOTIONS SIMILARLY?

Department of Communication Disorders

Panel Title: New Research in Psychology: Emotional Perception, Implicit Bias, and Depression

Room 310 | 2:00pm - 3:30pm

Individuals interact with the world within their own lens of diverse experiences, similarly when identifying the emotions of others, the emotion is perceived through a unique lens. Facets of identity such as neurostatus and gender may play a role in emotion identification. Available databases do not take these factors into account and use neurotypical and cisgender individuals as the gold standard, which can lead to biases in research. Literature suggests that individuals recognize emotions through a perspective unique to their experiences. Body language, tone, and facial expression are cues used by neurotypical individuals to identify emotions; literature suggests that neurodivergent individuals struggle reading these cues. However, recent evidence supports the idea that this difficulty in perceiving emotions lies in being a neuro minority. For example, autistic individuals may experience more difficulty identifying emotions when in predominantly neurotypical environments but feel more comfortable and understood when interacting within neurodiverse groups. Similarly, noncisgender individuals, who may face societal expectations around gendered emotional expression, may also perceive and express emotions differently. Because of the intersectionality between neurodivergent and transgender individuals, it is important to address both identities when researching emotion perception. The current study examines emotion identification across neurodiverse and non-cisgender individuals to answer the question: For which emotions do diverse individuals agree? To explore this, diverse research participants analyzed and labeled 208 previously collected videos of de-identified individuals demonstrating the 7 universal emotions (happy, sad, angry, fear, disgust, and surprise). Using Krippendorff’s alpha for statistical analysis to measure interrater reliability, participant responses were analyzed with attention to neurostatus. Participant labels were not categorized as “correct” or “incorrect”, rather agreement was recorded. This study explores the implications of neurostatus and gender in the identification of emotion.

Supervisor: Maria Resendiz, Department of Communication Disorders

Lucero Hernandez

HernandezLucero

EXPLORING THE CHRONIC DISEASE MANAGEMENT AND AWARENESS OF HISPANIC CONSTRUCTION WORKERS

Department of Health and Human Performance

Panel Title: Topics in Black and Ethnic Studies: Latinx Construction Workers, Cultural Nepantla, Visualizations of Blackness, and College Students of Nigerian Descent

Room 305 | 12:30pm - 2:00pm

Hispanic/Latinx construction workers face an increased number of occupational injuries compared to their non-Hispanic peers and express a decreased perception of safety in their workplace (Al-Bayati & York, 2018, Marin et al., 2015). In addition to facing increased occupational risk and decreased perception of safety in their worksites, Hispanic/Latinx construction workers exhibit a lower understanding and utilization of health services. In 2018, 48% of Latinx construction workers reported not having health insurance compared to 24% of the overall construction worker population (Brown et al., 2020, Meza et al., 2022). The proposed study will use a mixed research methodology to gather qualitative and quantitative data to assess HLCWs perceptions and knowledge of chronic diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure. The study will recruit participants in person from the Rio Grande Valley due to the predominantly Hispanic community in the region. The study will recruit a target number of 50 participants to coordinate telephone interviews with the participants. In the telephone interviews, participants will be asked questions that address their perception of management of chronic diseases prevalent in Hispanic/Latinx populations, their ability to seek out healthcare services, and their knowledge of affordable healthcare services in their community. The following research questions were developed: (1) How do occupational risk and cultural factors intersect to affect Hispanic/Latinx construction workers’ perception of chronic diseases prevalent in Hispanic/Latinx populations such as heart disease, diabetes, and high blood pressure? and (2) Does acculturation determine the degree to which occupational and cultural factors influence health behaviors? There remains a significant research gap regarding how these occupational conditions and cultural factors impact the personal health beliefs and behaviors of HLCWs. The findings from this research could reveal a complex, reciprocal relationship between cultural and occupational influences.

Supervisor: Brenda Berumen-Flucker, Department of Health and Human Performance

History, Culture, and Society: Youth Movements in the U.S., the Spanish Civil War, and Cultural Revolution in Kazakhstan (Panel 2)

Room 305

2:00pm -3:30pm

Panel Chair: Dr. Louie Dean Valencia, Department of History

Blair Curley - “THE POWER OF HIDDEN VOICES": UNCOVERING THE UNSEEN SOCIAL AND POLITICAL CHANGE BY YOUTH IN THE 20TH CENTURY

Ethan Guinn - ABAI’S INFLUENCE ON THE MODERN KAZAKH CULTURAL REVOLUTION

Simon Kinski - TWO BRITISH PERSPECTIVES ON THE SPANISH CIVIL WAR

Miranda Hong

HongMiranda

TALES OF WANDERING: EXISTENTIAL AESTHETICS IN HAYASHI FUMIKO’S FLOATING CLOUDS AND CHOI JEONG-HEE’S THE CRY OF THE HARP

Department of English

Panel Title: Global Feminisms from the Puerto Rico to East Asia

Room 305 | 9:00am - 10:30am

The works by Hayashi Fumiko and Choi Jeong-Hee are well known in both Japan and Korea and their importance to post-war literature is often discussed in terms of feminism and post-colonialism. While many scholars from Japan and Korea have compared Hayashi and Choi’s writings in these terms, very few have done so in English, and none have considered the importance of the existentialist elements that are present in both Hayashi’s Floating Clouds (1951) and Choi’s The Cry of the Harp (1955). There are many similarities between these two authors and their stories which make them appropriate for comparison. Firstly, the two authors are both women who wrote about the struggles of ordinary people trying to survive after the end of World War II and are considered representative literary voices of the time in their respective countries. Furthermore, both authors are frequently praised for their feminine ways of writing which focus specifically on the experiences and problems faced by women. Finally, Hayashi’s Floating Clouds and Choi’s The Cry of the Harp are strikingly similar in subject and theme; both stories, sharing a Dostoyevskian aesthetic of suffering, explore the contours of existential anxiety through tales of wandering and grasping for meaning in the face of crumbling ideals and absurdity. It could be argued further that these novels reflect in many ways how the existential ideas of Jean-Paul Sartre were interpreted, rejected, and reimagined by philosophers and writers in both Japan and Korea. In beginning this discussion on the existentialism of Hayashi and Choi, I intend to argue that they should be considered in relation to other existential writers, in both the western and eastern literary canon, and that understanding Hayashi and Choi through this existential lens has the potential to enrich both feminist and postcolonial readings of their works.

Supervisor: Seth Jakobowitz, Department of World Languages and Literatures

Honors Creative Showcase: A Queer Novella, an Immersive Southern Gothic Play, and a Video Game about Hope (Panel 7)

Room 310

3:30pm - 5:00pm

Panel Chair: Jordan Morille, Honors College

Victor Luna - STORYBOARD AND MECHANICS OF THE VIDEO GAME: HOPE: THE CHAPTERS OF INSANITY

Brynn Sumers - WHAT IS LOVE: A YA QUEER ROM COM

Kady Waldmann - CONFESSION: AN IMMERSIVE SOUTHERN GOTHIC THEATRICAL EXPERIENCE

Natalie Houle

HouleNatalie

ENERGIZING AGENTS AND THE PERCEIVED EFFICACY AND SAFETY FOR FATIGUE MANAGEMENT AMONG NURSING STUDENTS: A CROSS-SECTIONAL EXPLORATORY STUDY

St. David's School of Nursing

Panel Title: Health and Wellness: The Impacts of Yoga, Caffeine, and PC Gaming

Room 310 | 12:30pm - 2:00pm

Caffeine and other energizing agents, such as stimulants and supplements, are becoming more accessible and socially accepted in schools and the workplace. These energizing agents are commonly thought to improve alertness, awareness, and cognitive performance; however, many have been linked to reduced sleep quality and other toxic effects. Caffeine and stimulants taken to compensate for demanding academics and careers can reduce the hours and quality of sleep. Unfortunately, lack of adequate sleep is one of the leading causes of medication errors in nursing professions, making healthy sleep habits vital for ensuring patient safety. It has been found that nurses often develop caffeine and stimulant use habits in nursing school and then continue these habits into their careers. The aim of this cross-sectional exploratory study is to understand how senior nursing students at Texas State are using caffeine and other energizing agents to manage fatigue. Anonymous survey responses from 51 students will be used to show trends in current caffeine/energizing agent use, sleep quality, and student perceptions. The survey used consisted of 10 questions about energizing agents generated by the researcher, and a 16-question Sleep Related Impairment (SRI) tool developed by Yu et al. in 2011. Discussion will explore student’s perceptions on the safety and benefits of caffeine and other energizing agents such as alertness, energy, and attentiveness; reveal trends connecting energizing agent use to sleep quality and selfreported effects of fatigue; and ultimately examine the potential for risks in the nursing profession associated with current habits.

Supervisor: Amelia Manning, St. David's School of Nursing

Ariel Ibuaka

IbuakaAriel

A NEW GENERATION: HOW YOUNG NIGERIANS VIEW MENTAL HEALTH

Department of Psychology

Panel Title: Topics in Black and Ethnic Studies: Latinx Construction Workers, Cultural Nepantla, Visualizations of Blackness, and College Students of Nigerian Descent

Room 305 | 12:30pm - 2:00pm

The overall purpose of this study was to speak to students of Nigerian descent and analyze their perspectives on negative stigmas associated with mental health within the Nigerian community. I interviewed six students of Nigerian descent over Zoom, and I asked them to share their general opinions on mental health and to describe what lessons they learned about mental health from their parents. The results suggested a divide between the attitudes of older Nigerian adults and college students of Nigerian descent. Many college students said that they believed that mental health should be discussed more often and mentioned that it is often overlooked or not talked about by their parents and older relatives. These results are in line with the review of literature on mental health attitudes held by Black immigrant populations. I conclude that this generational divide in how Nigerians think about mental health has many factors, including being raised in Nigeria or in the United States, age, and open-mindedness. In the future, I would like to do more research to explicitly ask what can be done to change the perspective of older Nigerians so this community can talk more openly about mental health and therefore get the help that is needed. We conclude that this generational divide in opinions has many factors, such as being raised in Nigeria or abroad, age, and open-mindedness.

Supervisor: Dwonna Goldstone, Department of History

Ameris Israel-Simmons

Israel-SimmonsAmeris

CONTROLLED CELL GROWTH: ROOPEROL ANALOGUES AND THEIR EFFECTS ON INHIBITION OF P38

Department of Biology

Panel Title: Biochemistry and Cancer Research

Room 310 | 9:00am - 10:30am

Cancer research is the study of uncontrolled cell growth, often of cells that produce undesired effects to an organism's function. The goal being to identify the molecular formation of protein interaction to alter or halt hazardous effects. P38α and P38β are simply by-products of the kinase cascade done by MAPK14. P38α has the ability to be inhibited when coincided with certain small molecules such as rooperol, a compound derived from a medicinal plant that holds the ability to inhibit the biological functions of P38α without affecting P38β even though they are extremely similar enzymes. Will variability in rooperol analogues successfully distinguish the specificity for the enzyme P38α over P38β regarding inhibition of biological function. Variants of the rooperol molecule will successfully inhibit p38alpha function without inhibiting p38beta function when coexpressed. Alternatively, there will be no reaction from either protein when expressed with rooperol. The experimental process will consist of four main steps that will be repeated as needed for analysis of each protein and its ability to express when engaged with rooperol. Both enzymes will need to be completely purified as well as mkk6 (the protein cascade), rooperol analogues (already completed by the Kerwin lab), and ATFK (the molecule that should be expressed by both p38s if activation occurs). Purification of a protein or molecule is simply deriving it from molecular compounds not needed to exhibit its function. Then, a luminescence kinase assay will be taken from each protein when naturally expressed in order to compare it to experimental expressions. After all components are purified and expressed, the protein cascade will be developed naturally and the various rooperol analogues will be inserted into the cascade alongside rooperol to determine whether inhibition or activation of ATFK takes place.

Supervisor: Karen Lewis, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry

Alaska Justice

JusticeAlaska

THE HUMANITARIAN BORDER CRISIS: BURIAL PRACTICES IN DIGNITY OF UNIDENTIFIED DECEASED MIGRANTS ON THE US-MEXICO BORDER AT TRES NORIAS CEMETERY

Department of Anthropology

Panel Title: Social Science for Social Justice: Addressing Incel Violence, Anti-LGBTQ+ Legislation, and Undignified Burials on the Border

Room 305 | 10:30am - 12:00pm

The aim of this research is to examine unidentified migrant burials at Tres Norias Cemetery in Willacy County,+F41:G41 Texas, to understand the dignity and conditions with which they are interred. Researchers have previously examined the need for identification effort as well as the malpractice behind improper burial by medical examiners and coroners, which refers to the burial of individuals which does not meet legal standards. I delve deeper into this issue by qualitatively examining the conditions of dignity of unidentified burials. For the purposes of this research, I characterize “dignity” through the burial contents, depth, position, grave markers, and identification attempts or autopsy prior to interment. At Tres Norias Cemetery, 37 forensically significant, or unidentified, individuals were exhumed by Texas State’s Operation Identification, which reflect a broad expanse of burial conditions for the unidentified, from unmarked and/or shallow graves, graves with medical waste or multiple individuals, to unconventional burial containers such as foam coolers. This research utilizes case study analysis of burial conditions documented through forensic exhumation reports and field observations. This study provides insight into the rights of the deceased as well as the standards of the current burial and identification conditions which are deemed acceptable. These findings highlight the need for more humane and organized burial procedures and informs future research and policy reform.

Supervisor: Kate Spradley, Department of Anthropology

Simon Kinski

KinskiSimon

TWO BRITISH PERSPECTIVES ON THE SPANISH CIVIL WAR

Department of History

Panel Title: History, Culture, and Society: Youth Movements in the U.S., the Spanish Civil War, and Cultural Revolution in Kazakhstan

Room 305 | 2:00pm -3:30pm

In 1936, the Spanish Civil War erupted between the Nationalists and the Republicans. This was a bloody three-year which saw heavy support for the Nationalists by Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany. The Republicans, however, were supported by the Soviet Union and volunteers from several countries known as the International Brigades. Many intellectuals were involved in the war effort, such as the writers who will be covered in this essay. Many of the writers who gained prominence during this time are still celebrated to this day, such as George Orwell and Ernest Hemingway. Orwell is the first subject which will be covered, especially (but not limited to) his 1938 memoir Homage to Catalonia, which he wrote after experiencing combat in the Spanish Civil War. On the other hand, is the contrasting viewpoint of this paper, Nancy Cunard. She was a prominent publicist during the Spanish Civil War, publishing many poems and stories in support of the Republicans. One of her most significant contributions, however, was the editorial Authors Take Sides on the Spanish War, which had quotes from over 140 authors on which side they took during on the Spanish Civil War. This paper seeks to analyze the backgrounds and works of Orwell and Cunard. Furthermore, special effort will be taken in seeing the ways that they portray the war. Finally, these portrayals will be taken in dialogue with each other, the war as a whole, and with the world around them.

Supervisor: Louis Porter, Department of History

Jennifer Leal

LealJennifer

OVIPOSITION BY ASTEROCAMPA BUTTERFLIES ON THEIR HOST PLANTS

Department of Biology

Panel Title: Wildlife Ecology: Butterfly Larvae, Bats, and Wetland Vegetation

Room 308 | 3:30pm - 5:00pm

Asterocampa is a butterfly species located in Central Texas. The two Asterocampa species that I will be focusing on are Asterocampa celtis and clyton. These species lay eggs on hackberry trees (Celtics laevigata and C. reticulata) and the larvae of both species consume hackberry leaves. Both species have different oviposition or laying techniques, Asterocampa celtics, which lay eggs singly, and Asterocampa clyton lay eggs in clusters. I will be researching the flight phenology which is the study of the timing of events in an organism’s life cycle by using traps. I will also be researching Asterocampa female oviposition presences will be measure by counting eggs laid on hackberry species in choice tests. The data will be compared to the data collected to previous work on this system (Garza, 2018).

Supervisor: Chris Nice, Department of Biology

Alyssa Lopez

LopezAlyssa

DEVELOPING AND VALIDATING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE MODELS TO PREDICT CATTLE BEHAVIOR, MOVEMENT, AND EMOTION

Department of Agricultural Sciences

Panel Title: New Applications in Artificial Intelligence and Data Analysis

Room 308 | 2:00pm - 3:30pm

Livestock producers are pressured to increase output while also employing practices that promote animal welfare. Therefore, livestock production systems may benefit from using digital technologies to increase production efficiency and minimize physical handling of animals, which may enhance consumer perceptions of welfare. Artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to monitor cattle are emerging, but research is limited. Accordingly, our objective was to develop three AI models that leverage Deep Convolutional Neural Networks (DCNN) to predict cattle behavior, movement, and emotion. Groups (n~2-7) of cattle were housed on pastured paddocks and continuously recorded with nine stationary cameras (IACUC #9298). Cattle were heterogenous and rotated to provide robust footage for model development via inter-animal variation. Captured raw rootage (~132 h) was curated, edited into clips of 5-30 seconds using VideoLAN, and labeled with vague descriptions of the activity the cattle displayed. Labeled clips were then annotated using Computer Vision Annotation Tool (CVAT) software by identifying cattle with bounding boxes and labeling them as “bovine”. Specific attributes of “behavior” (e.g., grazing, playing, dominance assertion), “movement” (e.g., walking, standing, lying), and “emotion” (e.g., calm, excitement, curiosity) were added to the bovine label. The computer vision model You Only Look Once (YOLO) was used to identify cattle and classify their behavior, movement, and emotion. Footage was split into segments: images used for training (11,187 frames; 80%), validation (949 frames; 10%), and testing (949 frames; 10%). Validation segments may be refined to improve processing while testing segments will indicate accuracy of predictions. This research is ongoing with an expectation of testing the three validated models in November 2024. Establishing an AI-enabled system to detect deviations from baseline conditions in cattle may enhance livestock production while also enhancing animal welfare through minimizing handling and providing early detections of disease or stress.

Supervisor: Merritt Drewery, Department of Agricultural Sciences

Victor Luna

LunaVictor

STORYBOARD AND MECHANICS OF THE VIDEO GAME: HOPE: THE CHAPTERS OF INSANITY

Department of Computer Science

Panel Title: Honors Creative Showcase: A Queer Novella, an Immersive Southern Gothic Play, and a Video Game about Hope

Room 310 | 3:30pm - 5:00pm

Escapism, the act of avoiding reality through various forms of entertainment, is often linked to traumatic events or challenging environments. Unfortunately, escapism is a significant part of many people’s lives, and I was no exception. In this video game, you follow two brothers, Valere and Vesper, who live in a small household in an economically disadvantaged urban area. As they grow up, they use their imagination to cope with the worsening conditions of their lives. Valere, the younger of the two, is the focal point of their imaginary world, which is closely tied to his mental state. Depending on the events he experiences, this world can become tainted, with the setting and gameplay shifting to reflect his deteriorating mindset, whether through darkness or a more cartoonish light. Throughout the story, the player guides Valere’s actions through branching story arcs. Your choices determine what Valere experiences and where his story leads—or ends. The game draws inspiration from old-school JRPGs, incorporating roguelike mechanics and visual novel elements, inspired by the 2D turn-based games I played during my childhood. Combat, gaining experience, and managing items are all key aspects of the gameplay. The story explores a wide range of issues that children may face while growing up, highlighting the importance of mental health at any age. These heavy themes include domestic violence, poverty, bullying, death, suicide, and depression. Despite their weight, these themes are central to what makes the game unique, as it reflects my own experiences and the challenging childhood I had to endure. Ultimately, I hope to spark conversations around these topics and raise awareness of mental health through the medium of video games.

Supervisor: Timothy M Chase, Department of Mathematics

Madeline McJilton

McJiltonMadeline

THE MOST COMMON CHRONIC HAND AND WRIST INJURIES IMPLICATED BY PC GAMING

Department of Health and Human Performance

Panel Title: Health and Wellness: The Impacts of Yoga, Caffeine, and PC Gaming

Room 310 | 12:30pm - 2:00pm

The pandemic saw numerous changes to lifestyle and sport. While remote living decreased participation in in-person sports, Esports saw a rise in popularity. Revenue increases for gaming leagues and streaming platforms encouraged gamers to begin training for longer hours and at higher intensities. This in turn caused chronic injuries to become more prevalent in the gaming population and brought about the need for medical professionals to educate themselves on the nature of gaming. This study sought to identify the most common chronic hand and wrist injuries associated with PC gaming in order to better serve the growing population of Esports athletes. The two most common injuries found through a literature review were tendonitis and carpal tunnel syndrome. This field is new and data is primarily self-reported as compared to more thoroughly studied sports. Given the findings, medical professionals should continue to observe the injuries developed by long term gaming, as well as promote health practices in gaming culture.

Supervisor: Megan Haynes, Department of Health and Human Performance

Thomas Mendoza

MendozaThomas

DECODING ADHD: LEVERAGING FMRI AND MACHINE LEARNING TO UNDERSTAND NEURAL CONNECTIVITY

Department of Computer Science

Panel Title: New Applications in Artificial Intelligence and Data Analysis

Room 308 | 2:00pm - 3:30pm

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a complex neurodevelopmental condition characterized by inattention, impulsivity, and hyperactivity. Traditional diagnostic methods rely heavily on subjective measures, which can be influenced by biases and inconsistencies. This presentation explores a novel approach to understanding ADHD by employing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and machine learning with deep learning techniques to analyze the brain’s functional connectivity. Utilizing the ADHD-200 dataset, we conducted ROI-based analyses to compare neural activity patterns between individuals with ADHD and typically developing subjects. Through the application of Computer Vision techniques, we aim to identify distinct neural signatures associated with ADHD. The insights from this research could pave the way for more reliable diagnostic biomarkers and enhance our understanding of the underlying neural mechanisms of ADHD. By bridging neuroscience and artificial intelligence, this study contributes to the growing body of research striving to create objective and data-driven approaches to diagnosing ADHD.

Supervisor: Mylene Queiroz de Farias, Department of Computer Science

Eden Merritt

MerrittEden

CHARACTERIZING THE STRUCTURE AND ACTIVITY OF THE LARP6 FROM THE SIMPLE FOUR-CELLED ALGA FOR CHAPERONE AND BINDING

Department of Biology

Panel Title: Biochemistry and Research in Genetics

Room 310 | 10:30am - 12:00pm

LARP6 is a member of the La-related protein (LARPs) superfamily that binds to collagen type I mRNAs to control gene expression. To probe the evolution of LARP6 in eukaryotes, we have characterized the structure and activity of the LARP6 from the simple four-celled algae Tetrabaena socialis. Structural characterization using circular dichroism demonstrated that the Ts La Module was stably-folded. A Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) assay showed that Ts La Module exhibited no RNA chaperone activity, in contrast to the LARP6 La Modules of higher eukaryotes. Electromobility shift assays showed that the Ts La Module exhibited strong binding to the 5’ stem loop structure found in collagen type I mRNA, a known ligand structure for human La Module. Therefore, we conclude that TsLARP6 exerts weak RNA chaperone activity, and its cognate ligands and cellular function are distinct from those of the previously-characterized LARP6 proteins from animals and vascular plants.

Supervisor: Karen Lewis, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry

Seth Morris

MorrisSeth

ATTRACTING CUSTOMERS TO IVAR'S RIVER PUB: USING THE THEORY OF PLANNED BEHAVIOR TO IDENTIFY CRUCIAL UNDERLYING FACTORS

Department of Communication Studies

Panel Title: Designing Better Cities and Communities in Central Texas

Room 308 | 9:00am - 10:30am

Ivar’s River Pub, located in San Marcos Texas has been a staple for the town of San Marcos for nearly 30 years. But what exactly makes people want to visit Ivar’s? Is it the food? Atmosphere? Proximity to the river? Or are people’s intentions to visit Ivar’s based on what they already think, know, or believe about it? This study aims to uncover these factors. To that end, the study seeks to understand what determines people’s behavioral intention to visit Ivar’s River Pub based on the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). The study hypotheses; H1: Ivar's (a) Customer service, (b) affordability of menu items, and (c) proximity to the river are related to the intentions to visit Ivar. H2: Participants (a) attitudes, (b) beliefs, and © subjective norms about Ivar's are related to potential customer's attraction to Ivar's River Pub. The data will be collected via a Qualtrics survey. Our survey will be completed by ~50 participants, aiming for 25 who have and 25 who haven’t previously visited Ivar’s River Pub. The questionnaire will take about 20-30 minutes and will ask questions about demographics and various behavioral and beliefs related to the Theory of Planned Behavior. The goal is to uncover aspects of dining experience that potential new customers and previous patrons of Ivar’s find important.

Supervisor: Manu Pokharel, Department of Communication Studies

Danielle Nagad

NagadDanielle

MAXIMIZING RNA YIELD: OPTIMAL PRESERVATION METHODS FOR BOVINE VAGINAL SWABS

Department of Agricultural Sciences

Panel Title: Biochemistry and Research in Genetics

Room 310 | 10:30am - 12:00pm

The aim of the present study is to determine the best method to preserve and extract the most abundant RNA sample. We collected vaginal samples from different cows and stored them in different conditions. The first one being RNAlater, second was on ice, and lastly room temperature. After about 12-24 hours all the samples were moved to a freezer for continued storage. RNAlater is a reagent that is used to stabilize and therefore store RNA for a longer term. It essentially protects the cellular content. Once we were ready to test the content of the samples, we used a PCR machine, an instrument that amplifies DNA or RNA sequences by a reaction called polymerase chain reaction. It creates millions of copies of the targeted sequence, in our case, isolated RNA instead of DNA. The RNA isolated is mostly host RNA extracted from the mammalian cells (eukaryotic cells). We used an enzyme called reverse transcriptase which turns RNA to DNA (CDNA). We then used the PCR machine for the CDNA and we used specific primers to amplify the specific sequences. The amount of DNA we get in the end will be indicative of how much RNA we started out with.

Supervisor: Brian Bruner, Department of Agricultural Sciences

New Applications in Artificial Intelligence and Data Analysis (Panel 4)

Room 308

2:00pm - 3:30pm

Panel Chair: Dr. Mylene Queiroz de Farias, Department of Computer Science

Alyssa Lopez - DEVELOPING AND VALIDATING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE MODELS TO PREDICT CATTLE BEHAVIOR, MOVEMENT, AND EMOTION

Thomas Mendoza - DECODING ADHD: LEVERAGING FMRI AND MACHINE

Mckelvey Valenti - FINANCIAL ANALYSIS: A COMPARATIVE STUDY ACROSS SECTORS

New Research in Psychology: Emotional Perception, Implicit Bias, and Depression (Panel 14)

Room 310

2:00pm - 3:30pm

Panel Chair:

Ana Hernandez - EMOTION PERCEPTION: DO DIVERSE INDIVIDUALS IDENTIFY EMOTIONS SIMILARLY?

Katie Webb - IMPLEMENTING AN EDUCATIONAL MODULE TO IMPROVE UNDERSTANDING AND EXPLORE ATTITUDE CHANGES REGARDING IMPLICIT BIAS IN A BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN NURSING COURSE

Sampada Niroula - THE INFLUENCE OF SLEEP ON EMOTIONAL MEMORY CONSOLIDATION IN INDIVIDUALS WITH VARYING LEVELS OF DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMS

Sampada Niroula

NiroulaSampada

THE INFLUENCE OF SLEEP ON EMOTIONAL MEMORY CONSOLIDATION IN INDIVIDUALS WITH VARYING LEVELS OF DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMS

Department of Computer Science

Panel Title: New Research in Psychology: Emotional Perception, Implicit Bias, and Depression

Room 310 | 2:00pm - 3:30pm

This study explores how sleep affects emotional memory consolidation in individuals with varying levels of depressive symptoms. Approximately 80 participants will listen to emotionally charged narratives before taking a nap and will recall the details afterward. By comparing memory recall between high and low depressive symptom groups, we aim to assess how depression influences negative memory bias during sleep. Anticipated findings may show that sleep enhances negative bias in those with depression, offering insights into the relationship between sleep, memory, and emotional well-being in depression. These results could help improve interventions targeting sleep and emotional health.

Supervisor: Carmen Westerberg, Department of Psychology

Elisa Pedraza Sanchez and Sara Scheidt

Pedraza Sanchez and Sara ScheidtElisa

ORANGE PEEL PLAYHOUSE

Department of Theatre and Dance

Panel Title: Education and the Arts: From Community Theatre to Climate Change

Room 308 | 10:30am - 12:00pm

As honors students in the Theater department at Texas State, we propose to start a non-profit theater company focused on serving the community, particularly in underserved areas with limited access to the arts. Our company, the Orange Peel Playhouse, features a flexible business model that prioritizes demographic outreach over fixed geographic constraints. The mission is to leverage theater as a catalyst for social impact, specifically targeting segments of the community that lack artistic resources. In addition to producing 3-4 shows every season, our company’s growth will unfold in three distinct phases. The developmental phase (phase one), is what will be presented as the capstone outcome and brief outline of phases two and three. By developing programs that involve education in school systems, outreach with women’s centers and incarcerated individuals, it will aim to apply the diverse expertise to effect meaningful change in the community. Elisa has multiple years of theatre leadership experience including directing, stage management and a recent internship as Arts Administration for Impact Arts’ Summer Stock Austin. Sara has several years of arts education experience working with students from elementary, middle, and high school, including a teaching internship at Columbia University. We will utilize these experiences and our knowledge as current and former Co-Managing Producers of a student run theater company at Texas State, as well as our time as interns for similar theater companies across the country. In conclusion, establishing the Orange Peel Playhouse is our approach to enriching the community through the arts. By prioritizing demographic outreach and developing educational and outreach programs, we aim to bridge the gap in access to theater for underserved populations. Our phased strategy will create a continually growing social impact as ultimately, the Orange Peel Playhouse aspires to harness the power of theater as a force for positive change.

Supervisor: Yesenia Garcia Herrington, Department of Theatre and Dance

Danielle Pennington

PenningtonDanielle

CLASSROOM STRATEGIES FOR STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES

Department of Curriculum and Instruction

Panel Title: Education and the Arts: From Community Theatre to Climate Change

Room 308 | 10:30am - 12:00pm

This article will highlight 28 classroom strategies for students with disabilities. These are implemented into the classroom by teachers from behavioral issues, making adaptations, modifying instruction, supporting general education, and implementing student-guided curriculum. Instructional strategies that teachers use to monitor progress, help students comprehend content, and assist with behavior, while also making adaptations, modifying instruction, supporting general education, and implementing student-guided curriculum. Specifically, Behavior strategies are used for students who exhibit challenging behaviors in the classroom and struggle socially and emotionally. Learning tools are used in instructional strategies which are used within the curriculum to enhance students' learning, by providing visual aid, and hands on opportunities for students. General and modified strategies are tailored approaches designed to meet the specific needs of individual learners while teachers modify the curriculum.

Supervisor: Tasia Brafford, Department of Curriculum and Instruction

Research in Computer Science: 2D Gaming, Data Compression, and Influence Maximization (Panel 3)

Room 308

12:30pm - 2:00pm

Panel Chair: Dr. Martin Burtscher, Department of Computer Science

Jacob Doney - SCALABLE INFLUENCE MAXIMIZATION IN SOCIAL NETWORKS

Mackenzie Toliver - DESIGNING EFFECTIVE DATA COMPRESSION ALGORITHMS FOR SMALL FILES

Xiaoming Wang - A 2D STRATEGY GAME DEVELOPED IN UNITY

Alejandra Roman

RomanAlejandra

ECHOES OF TOMORROW: ART AND SCIENCE CONVERGE IN CENTRAL TEXAS

School of Art and Design

Panel Title: Education and the Arts: From Community Theatre to Climate Change

Room 308 | 10:30am - 12:00pm

Art can act as an influential communication medium for the public to interact with scientific ideas, as shown in studies using artistic mechanisms to voice environmental crisis concerns. My study explores the intersection of art, science, and social research to gauge the potential of communicating climate change concepts in Central Texas through specific art techniques. My project is guided by the following research questions: “What artistic elements created the largest reported impact among viewers?” and “To what extent do participants recognize scientific ideas about climate change represented through art?” I aim to investigate how artistic representations resonate with viewers and convey scientific ideas. I am using scientific data on climate change as the basis for creating three artworks, (1) a tree made of plastic collected from my own consumption, (2) a graph representing projected plastic pollution, and (3) land art on canvas representing soil cracking behavior due to climate change. I will use a qualitative approach to survey viewers after interacting with my art exhibition via an online 11- item open-ended questionnaire about their interpretation of the art. This study has the potential to inform artists and scientists about defined artistic strategies that can be utilized to communicate scientific concepts more impactfully. As climate change affects the livelihood of every organism on this planet, finding methods to reach people should be of high priority for future research.

Supervisor: Kristy Daniel, Department of Biology

Chloe Sasser

SasserChloe

EXPRESSION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF METAL SCAVENGING PROTEINS IN PSEUDOGYMNOASCUS DESTRUCTANS

Department of Biology

Panel Title: Wildlife Ecology: Butterfly Larvae, Bats, and Wetland Vegetation

Room 308 | 3:30pm - 5:00pm

Metal scavenging is critical for maintaining basic metabolic processes in microbial pathogens, particularly at infection sites where microbes may encounter metal-restrictive conditions. To counteract metal-sequestering tactics by animal hosts, microbial pathogens often employ high-affinity transporters or small molecules that are encoded by enzymes for producing opine metallophores. Examples include Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus and their respective staphlopine and pseudopaline metallophores. Our lab has an interest in metal scavenging mechanisms used by microbial pathogens. Pseudogymnoascus destructans, a fungus that causes white-nose syndrome in bats, as it has been observed to have elevated transcripts of metal-binding proteins at infection sites, suggesting that it is starved for metals during infection of the bat host. We observed the P. destructans transcriptome under metal-restrictive conditions and identified a homologous gene cluster to systems in P. aeruginosa and S. aureus, which we named the Cu-responsive cluster (CRC). We hypothesize that the CRC cluster encodes proteins SAM Transferase (PdSAM) and Opine Dehydrogenase (PdOpDH) that are involved with the production of a fungal-derived opine metallophore similar to pseudopaline and staphlopine. The long-term goal is to understand how the CRC gene cluster participates in metal scavenging. This presentation overviews our efforts to express, purify, and characterize PdSAM and PdOpDH using the E. coli BL21 (DE3) expression system.

Supervisor: Ryan Peterson, Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry

Addison Smith

SmithAddison

BEYOND THE BILL: EXAMINING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN STUDENT AWARENESS OF ANTI-LGBTQ+ LEGISLATION AND MENTAL HEALTH

Department of Sociology

Panel Title: Social Science for Social Justice: Addressing Incel Violence, Anti-LGBTQ+ Legislation, and Undignified Burials on the Border

Room 305 | 10:30am - 12:00pm

This study looks at the correlation between student awareness of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation and mental health, and changes in mental health between January 2023 and Summer 2024. Texas’s last legislative session was Spring 2023, and Texas joined much of the country in passing anti-LGBTQ+ legislation. Texas passed six anti-LGBTQ+ bills, two of which (SB 12 and SB 17) specifically targeted universities. There is a large body of research exploring the mental health impacts of discriminatory policy, but this study aims to fill a gap in the literature on the indirect mental health impacts of such policies on LGBTQ+ college students. Data was collected via a questionnaire sent to LGBTQ+ students at Texas State University, a literature review, and a survey of relevant pieces of legislation.

Supervisor: Stacie McGee, School of Social Work

Jadyn Smith

SmithJadyn

DISCOVERING NOVEL DRUGGABLE TARGETS FOR NEUROBLASTOMA DIFFERENTIATION THERAPY FROM THE HUMAN KINOME

Department of Biology

Panel Title: Biochemistry and Cancer Research

Room 310 | 9:00am - 10:30am

Neuroblastoma is a highly aggressive pediatric cancer arising from immature nerve cells, characterized by complex signaling pathways. Key components of these pathways include genes coding for protein kinases, which play a significant role in tumor growth and survival through aberrant signaling. Differentiation therapy aims to promote the maturation of neuroblastoma cells, with cellular neurite outgrowth and cell growth arrest considered markers for this differentiation. This study investigates the hypothesis that targeting specific kinase coding genes could induce neuroblastoma cell differentiation. To explore this, a high-content screening (HCS) approach was used to evaluate the efficacy of small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) in inducing neuroblastoma cell differentiation by quantifying neurite outgrowth and cell growth arrest against a subset of druggable kinase genes. 352 kinase-targeting siRNAs were each transfected into neuroblastoma cells using Invitrogen™ RNAiMax as the delivery reagent and plated in 96- well plates. After a 4-day incubation period, cells were analyzed for neurite outgrowth using the IncuCyte Imaging System and assessed for cell growth via MTT cell viability assay. Among the 352 siRNAs, siRNAs against six genes exhibited significant changes in neurite outgrowth and cell growth arrest. Five of the six genes had not been previously reported in relation to neuroblastoma differentiation. To assess protein product inhibition, an FDA-approved smallmolecule inhibitor targeting AURKA, one of the identified genes, was tested. Importantly found, the AURKA inhibitor showed promising differentiation-inducing activity. These results highlight the promise of applying small-molecule protein inhibitors for the identified genes to neuroblastoma differentiation therapy.

Supervisor: Liqin Du, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry

Social Science for Social Justice: Addressing Incel Violence, Anti-LGBTQ+ Legislation, and Undignified Burials on the Border (Panel 8)

Room 305

10:30am - 12:00pm

Panel Chair: Dr. Kate Spradley, Department of Anthropology

Jessica Chitwood - HEGEMONIC MASCULINITY AND AGGRIEVED ENTITLEMENT: THE PATH TO RADICALIZATION AMONG VIOLENT INCEL EXTREMISTS

Addison Smith - BEYOND THE BILL: EXAMINING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN STUDENT AWARENESS OF ANTI-LGBTQ+ LEGISLATION AND MENTAL HEALTH

Alaska Justice - THE HUMANITARIAN BORDER CRISIS: BURIAL PRACTICES IN DIGNITY OF UNIDENTIFIED DECEASED MIGRANTS ON THE US-MEXICO BORDER AT TRES NORIAS CEMETERY

Brynn Sumers

SumersBrynn

WHAT IS LOVE: A YA QUEER ROM COM

Department of English

Panel Title: Honors Creative Showcase: A Queer Novella, an Immersive Southern Gothic Play, and a Video Game about Hope

Room 310 | 3:30pm - 5:00pm

This queer young adult novel aims to address issues regarding lgbtq+ youth and mental health. Most of the queer media that has become popular in recent years tends to focus primarily on male characters, so this project will specifically focus on centering young female and nonbinary voices. There are many stigmas surrounding mental health, especially with our young people. I want to help destigmatize these conversations specifically around anxiety and depression in lgbtq+ youth. The novel, titled What is Love, is inspired by Heartstopper and features a heartfelt coming-of-age story about two queer teens navigating friendships, mental health, and love. I want to explore multiple capacities of love in this work, whether that’s romantic love, familial love, platonic love, and, arguably the most important, self-love. The story is told in a dual- perspective in order to get a varied grasp of teenage issues as a whole. These characters include Lily Wright, an anxiety-driven and depressed teenager who’s trying to overcome her mental health issues by realizing she’s capable and worthy of love, and Julia Torres, the school’s “it-girl” who’s struggling with her sexuality and figuring out where she fits in society. Set in central Texas, this story presents as a love letter to fandom culture, queer youth, and platonic friendships, serving as a way to flip the classic narrative of early 2000s rom coms.

Supervisor: Anne Winchell, Department of English

Mackenzie Toliver

ToliverMackenzie

DESIGNING EFFECTIVE DATA COMPRESSION ALGORITHMS FOR SMALL FILES

Department of Computer Science

Panel Title: Research in Computer Science: 2D Gaming, Data Compression, and Influence Maximization

Room 308 | 12:30 P.M. - 2:00 P.M.

This study analyzes the effectiveness of various data compression algorithms, with a focus on their performance on small files. Compression of small files presents a
challenge for many standard compressors due to their “warming-up period”, which
initially limits the compressors’ effectiveness. The study’s goal is to find the minimum file size above which various compressors become effective. The LC compressor generator is utilized to evaluate a wide range of algorithms based on their performance across diverse datasets. The best-performing algorithms are then compared to modern compressors such as gzip, bzip2, and Zstandard. The results of the comparison provide insights into their relative strengths and weaknesses for small-file compression.

Supervisor: Martin Burtscher, Department of Computer Science

Topics in Black and Ethnic Studies: Latinx Construction Workers, Cultural Nepantla, Visualizations of Blackness, and College Students of Nigerian Descent (Panel 9)

Room 305

12:30pm - 2:00pm

Panel Chair: Dr. Adetty Ramos Perez de Miles, School of Art and Design

Ariel Ibuaka - A NEW GENERATION: HOW YOUNG NIGERIANS VIEW MENTAL HEALTH

Lucero Hernandez - EXPLORING THE CHRONIC DISEASE MANAGEMENT AND AWARENESS OF HISPANIC CONSTRUCTION WORKERS

Asia Estelle - LIMINAL INTIMACIES WITHIN POLITICS OF BLACKNESS

Karen Valdez - MI NIÑEZ NEPANTLERA: THE CULTURAL JOURNEY OF A YOUNG LATINA

Karen Valdez

ValdezKaren

MI NIÑEZ NEPANTLERA: THE CULTURAL JOURNEY OF A YOUNG LATINA

Department of Curriculum and Instruction

Panel Title: Topics in Black and Ethnic Studies: Latinx Construction Workers, Cultural Nepantla, Visualizations of Blackness, and College Students of Nigerian Descent

Room 305 | 12:30pm - 2:00pm

This project is an autoethnography centered around the topic of Childhood Cultural Nepantla. The word Nepantla comes from the Nahuatl Language (informally known as Aztec), which dates back at least 2,000 years. In English, Nepantla translates to “in-between.” For the purpose of this project, Nepantla is applied specifically to culture, which is why I refer to as Cultural Nepantla. The term Nepantla was introduced to the academic world by the work of Chicana scholar Gloria Anzaldúa. Along with Anzaldúa, other scholars have expanded and brought to light this concept to higher education. However, there is little exposure of Nepantla in children`s literature, which is what motivated my work. This project presents a children’s book that offers a look into the cultural “in-betweeness” that a young Mexican American girl named Raquel faces while trying to live and navigate between both of her cultures. It is important to note that each child lives through their own individual Cultural Nepantla, and this is just one story amongst many. The target audience of my developing book is Mexican American girls between the ages of 5-8 years old. However, it can also be read by parents, teachers, or anyone who desires to understand what Nepantla means to a young Mexican American girl.

Supervisor: Gloria Martinez, Department of Sociology

Mckelvey Valenti

ValentiMckelvey

FINANCIAL ANALYSIS: A COMPARATIVE STUDY ACROSS SECTORS

Department of Finance and Economics

Panel Title: New Applications in Artificial Intelligence and Data Analysis

Room 308 | 2:00pm - 3:30pm

This research paper examines the financial health of six companies—Walmart, Chewy, Affirm, JPMorgan Chase, Insight Enterprises, and Oracle—spanning the technology, financial, and retail sectors, chosen for their varying market capitalizations. Financial analysis is essential for evaluating company performance and in this project, I will be using 18 comprehensive key metrics. While existing studies offer insights into individual sectors, this paper aims to provide an additional updated comparative ratio analysis across companies of varying sizes within these industries. Using financial data from 2020 to 2023 sourced from FactSet and SEC filings. These findings will reveal patterns in profitability and leverage, offering valuable perspectives on financial stability and growth potential. This research will contribute to a deeper understanding of how sector dynamics influence strategic financial decisions and investment strategies.

Supervisor: Matthew Hood, Department of Finance and Economics

Emily Vanderworth

VanderworthEmily

MODELING SPECIES-SPECIFIC RESPONSES OF TYPHA TO WATER-LEVEL FLUCTUATIONS IN GREAT LAKES WETLANDS: IMPLICATIONS FOR VEGETATION DYNAMICS

Department of Biology

Wildlife Ecology: Butterfly Larvae, Bats, and Wetland Vegetation

Room 308 | 3:30pm - 5:00pm

One of the primary ecological processes influencing Great Lakes wetlands is the fluctuation of water levels. In this region, water levels vary across multiple time scales, including hourly, seasonally, and inter-annually due to a combination of seasonal cycles and long-term shifts in weather patterns and climate. Lake levels can fluctuate by a few centimeters in minutes, to more than a meter over decades. These variations are a critical driver of wetland vegetation dynamics, as even small changes can trigger substantial transitions between flooded and exposed wetland conditions, and vice versa. Extreme high-water events can reduce vegetation coverage, particularly in the lower vegetation zones near the shoreline. Understanding the complex hydrological vegetation interactions is challenging, but simulation modeling can significantly contribute in interpreting field observations and the mechanisms behind them. MONDRIAN is a processed-based computational model that simulates individual plants of multiple species and their interactions with various environmental factors. There are three Typha species in the Great Lakes region, Typha angustifolia, T. latifolia, and T. x glauca, but only one is parameterized in the model, which oversimplifies the ecological responses of the group. This research aims to modify MONDRIAN by incorporating species-specific parameterization to better capture the unique characteristics of each Typha species. Our in-silico experiment focused on the impact of water level on coastal wetlands, particularly the number of days a stem can survive being submerged in water. We simulated the effect that tolerance of submersion has on the growth and competitive behavior of Typha species under different water level scenarios. This research will help interpret field observations, through species-specific responses, where high and stable water levels have been seen to shift wetland communities toward cattail-dominated systems. However, once certain thresholds are surpassed, different Typha species may decline.

Supervisor: Jason Martina, Department of Biology

Ja'VousAime Varela

VarelaJa'VousAime

INSPIRATION FOR THE COMMUNITY: A HUMAN-CENTERED DESIGN APPROACH TO HISTORICAL DOWNTOWN, SAN MARCOS, TX

Department of Organization, Workforce, and Leadership Studies

Panel Title: Designing Better Cities and Communities in Central Texas

Room 308 | 9:00am - 10:30am

This paper explores a human-centered design strategy to develop a family-focused leisure business in downtown San Marcos, Texas. A combination of primary and secondary research was conducted, including surveys of participants over weekends and weekdays, both in the morning and evening, at high-traffic areas such as the river, park, mall, and downtown. The goal was to identify what types of businesses the local community desires and needs. Research revealed that while families enjoy visiting San Marcos' historic district, the community perceives downtown as being more dominated by bars and, therefore, younger generation students rather than family-friendly establishments. While some family-oriented businesses exist, research revealed that none offer outdoor spaces like playgrounds or dog parks, causing families to seek entertainment in nearby cities. Based on these findings, a proposal is developed to open a family-centric business within a .3-mile radius of downtown San Marcos’s Court House, incorporating feedback gathered through a continuously accessible website where community members can share their thoughts. This feedback loop is part of an ongoing research effort. Additionally, insights from interviews and secondary research conducted through the local San Marcos Main Street program inform future experiments to determine the specific types of activities and entertainment the community seeks for adults, children, and pets. This research aims to guide the creation of a business that will serve as a vital community asset moving forward, building an even stronger community within the growing city of San Marcos that includes families.

Supervisor: Claudia Roeschmann, School of Art and Design

Sabrina Vargas

VargasSabrina

REDISCOVERING FRANCES HARPER: A FORGOTTEN ADVOCATE FOR RACIAL UPLIFT

Department of Sociology

Panel Title: Global Feminisms from the Puerto Rico to East Asia

Room 305 | 9:00am - 10:30am

This thesis explores the intellectual contributions of Frances E. W. Harper, a 19th-century Black abolitionist, poet, and novelist whose legacy has generally been tied to Black feminist literary scholarship. Though Harper is often recognized for her work in abolitionism, women's rights, and temperance, the analysis of her literary work generally overshadows her intellectual commitment to racial uplift. Through a close analysis of Harpers letters, novels, poems, and speeches, this thesis aims to analyze Harper not just as a writer, but as a foundational thinker on racial uplift, whose vision paralleled the works of W.E.B. DuBois and Booker T. Washington later in the century. Throughout her works, Harper advocated for mass education, economic independence, and social assimilation, envisioning that each element would bring Black people closer to equality in post-slavery America. This analysis expands upon prior scholarly works on Harper’s literary efforts and connects them to her life-long commitment for racial uplift and equity.

Supervisor: James McWilliams, Department of Sociology

Kady Waldmann

WaldmannKady

CONFESSION: AN IMMERSIVE SOUTHERN GOTHIC THEATRICAL EXPERIENCE

Department of Theatre and Dance

Panel Title: Honors Creative Showcase: A Queer Novella, an Immersive Southern Gothic Play, and a Video Game about Hope

Room 310 | 3:30pm - 5:00pm

My name is Kady Waldmann and I am a director, a playwright, and an actor. My project will be a self written immersive and experiential play written in an unapologetic southern gothic style. Traditional theatre has become uninteresting to the public eye. I want to know the process in production and writing to better prepare myself for what I believe the future of Theatre will be. The project is called Confession, I want my audience to feel vulnerable. Taking place in a church abandoned in an overgrown bayou in the deep south where morality is questioned daily. The focus of this piece is organized christian religion. Eyes watching waiting to judge your every move, ears listening to every sin, etc. My target audience will include those who have been directly influenced by an organized religion. Whether it be a negative or positive experience. A place to either find relation to their own experiences or to discover something they had not noticed before. I also wanted to refrain from using the term “God” in this piece since this has less to do with belief and more to do with control. Being that the target audience is not intended for people who did not grow up with a religion will make it most interesting to them. The specificity is what makes this piece important. The script will take place in a society built by every rule written in the bible. Audiences will be an active part in the story. They will play a silent starring role in this piece as their ability to interact could make or break the show. The goal for my project specifically is to give a physical embodiment to the feeling of being alone in a crowd. If The X trilogy had a baby with Punchdrunk Theatre and it only read William Faulkner.

Supervisor: Caitlin Turnage, Department of Theatre and Dance

Katie Webb

WebbKatie

IMPLEMENTING AN EDUCATIONAL MODULE TO IMPROVE UNDERSTANDING AND EXPLORE ATTITUDE CHANGES REGARDING IMPLICIT BIAS IN A BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN NURSING COURSE

St. David's School of Nursing

Panel Title: New Research in Psychology: Emotional Perception, Implicit Bias, and Depression

Room 310 |2:00pm - 3:30pm

Implicit bias refers to subconscious attitudes or stereotypes that affect individuals’ understanding, actions, and decisions, often leading to healthcare disparities. Nurses are at the forefront of patient care and decision-making, thus making it crucial that nurses receive education and develop awareness of implicit bias. Implicit bias has been shown to negatively impact patient outcomes in healthcare, contributing to unequal care, delayed diagnoses, and mistrust, particularly among marginalized populations. This project focuses on implementing an educational module within a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) course to improve undergraduate students’ understanding and awareness of implicit bias. A pre-test survey assessed baseline knowledge and attitudes, followed by educational materials aimed to increase awareness of implicit bias. A post-test survey was administered to measure the changes in understanding and attitudes. By comparing pre and post-test results, this research aims to evaluate the effectiveness of these educational modules in an undergraduate course in increasing greater awareness of implicit bias and its impact on healthcare practice, with the goal of improving patient care and reducing healthcare disparities.

Supervisor: Barbara Covington, St. David's School of Nursing

Wildlife Ecology: Butterfly Larvae, Bats, and Wetland Vegetation (Panel 5)

Room 308

3:30pm - 5:00pm

Panel Chair: Dr. Leila Marie Siciliano-Martina, Department of Biology

Emily Vanderworth - MODELING SPECIES-SPECIFIC RESPONSES OF TYPHA TO WATER-LEVEL FLUCTUATIONS IN GREAT LAKES WETLANDS: IMPLICATIONS FOR VEGETATION DYNAMICS

Jennifer Leal - OVIPOSITION BY ASTEROCAMPA BUTTERFLIES ON THEIR HOST PLANTS

Chloe Sasser - EXPRESSION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF METAL SCAVENGING PROTEINS IN PSEUDOGYMNOASCUS DESTRUCTANS

Wang Xiaoming

XiaomingWang

A 2D STRATEGY GAME DEVELOPED IN UNITY

Department of Computer Science

Panel Title: Research in Computer Science: 2D Gaming, Data Compression, and Influence Maximization

Room 308 | 12:30pm - 2:00pm

This project is a 2D strategy game developed in Unity, a popular game engine for creating 2D and 3D games on multiple platforms. The game features a map with nodes representing forts, cities, or similar locations, each connected by a single direct path. Players can send troops to capture other cities, set ambushes along paths, and develop their forts or cities, introducing a dynamic layer of strategy to the gameplay.

Supervisor: Rodion Podorozhny, Department of Computer Science

Fall 2024 URC Panel Presentations

Filter Panel