The Arts and Research Showcase is an annual event that spotlights the research and creative activities of undergraduate students from all disciplines. Traditionally, students participate in-person but, in the face of the pandemic, this year we have moved the Showcase online. We partnered with ThinkIR, our institutional repository for scholarly works, to present student posters virtually. This will enhance the visibility of scholarly work and continue the tradition of showcasing the achievements of our undergraduate students.
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Diversity in Music Therapy: A Treatment Model for LGBTQ+ Affirming Care
Elaine O. Slusser
The aim of this paper was to synthesize available literature and research on music therapy services with LGBTQ+ individuals to propose a treatment model for LGBTQ+ affirming care. According to data collected by the Williams Institute in 2018, 4.5% of Americans identified as LGBTQ+, and the report reaffirmed the professional responsibility of music therapy professionals and students to provide ethically sound and identity-affirming services to this population (The Williams Institute UCLA School of Law, 2018). Further, the data supported the claim that providing quality services to this population was not a specialty concern and carried professional and educational considerations. As of the year 2020 there is no established standardized, evidence-based treatment model for LGBTQ+ affirming care that encompasses interventions, goal domains, and assessment criteria. However, researchers and authors on this subject have proposed interventions, models for radically inclusive practice, cultural assessment tools, best practices, and reactions to the topic from professionals. Several authors on this subject identified the need for an identity-affirming standard of care through standardized treatment models and assessment criteria. Recorded results of the application of proposed models and methods with LGTBQ+ are not generally available in the current body of research. The aim of this paper was to provide a summary of the available literature and research on LGBTQ+ affirming care in music therapy and to employ the literature as evidence to inform a proposed treatment model for LGBTQ+ affirming care.
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Validation of upgrade of the Geant4 Simulation Toolkit to Model the Responses from TOP and ARICH Detectors
Dominic M Smith, Mason A. Ross, Swagato Banerjee, and Davis N. Brown
Belle II is the next generation B-Factory experiment at the world's highest luminosity accelerator the SuperKEKB collider, which is designed to collect 50 times more data than the previous generation experiments. A hallmark feature of B-Factory experiments is to use novel characteristics of Cherenkov detectors for identification of the flavor of charged particles passing through the detector. The TOP and the ARICH detectors can identify charged pions and kaons with high precision. The response to the passage of high energetic particles in the detector is modeled with the Geant4 simulation toolkit. Here we compare the performances of these two detectors of particle identification at the Belle II experiment following an upgrade of the list of physical processes simulated by the Geant4 toolkit. The new list is found to give consistent results when compared to the default list while improving the CPU requirement of the Geant4 toolkit by as much as 25%.
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Phone a Friend or Ask Alexa? Children’s Trust in Voice-Activated Devices
Hailey M Streble, Laura K. Gregg, Evonie L. Daugherty, Lauren N. Girouard, and Judith H. Danovitch
Voice-activated devices such as Google Home, Siri, and Alexa are in many homes and children are interacting with these devices. It is unclear if they treat these devices the way they treat human informants. Children prefer human informants that are reliable and familiar. This study examined whether children believe voice-activated devices provide accurate information. Participants included 40 4- and 5-year-olds and 40 7- and 8-year-olds. Children were introduced to two informants: the experimenter’s good friend and the experimenter’s new device. Children heard questions about personal information (e.g., the experimenter’s favorite color), facts that do not change (e.g., the color of a kiwano fruit), and timely information (e.g., which state had the most rain yesterday). After the informant provided an answer, the child indicated whether the answer was correct. Older children were significantly more likely to trust the device’s stable fact responses and the human informant’s personal fact responses. Surprisingly, younger children did not show greater trust for either informant for stable facts, but were significantly more likely to trust personal facts given by the device. These findings suggest that younger children have greater difficulty than older children trusting the appropriate informant, and thus need more guidance from adults to understand and use voice-activated devices.
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Validation of Geant4 upgrade to model response from muons passing through the KLM detector at the Belle II experiment.
Stephen C Temple, Swagato Banerjee Ph.D, and David N. Brown Ph.D
The KLM detector or K0L- Muon Detector is equipped on the outermost layer of the Belle II detector structure. The detector is designed to detect the KL mesons and muons above 600 MeV/c with high efficiency. The barrel shaped region around the intersection point covers a polar angular range of 45° to 125° while the forward and backward end caps extend this range to 20° to 155°. With the upgraded Geant4 model we observe the effectiveness of the new PhysicsList.
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Lightning damage stimulates beetle activity in a tropical forest
Samantha C. Vaughn, Kane A. Lawhorn, Evan M. Gora, and Steve P. Yanoviak
Disturbance alters the structure of ecological communities. Localized disturbances in tropical rainforests often create canopy gaps - patches of forest where large trees have fallen or are defoliated. Lightning is a major cause of large-tree mortality, and consequently gaps, in tropical forests. Lightning-caused gaps consist of abundant dead standing wood which likely is a predictable resource for saproxylic arthropods, specifically wood-boring beetles (Coleoptera). The goal of this study was to provide a preliminary evaluation of the beetles that are attracted to lightning-damaged trees in a tropical forest. We placed flight intercept traps in the subcanopy of 8 trees (4 struck trees and 4 unaffected trees of the same size and species) on Barro Colorado Island, Panama in 2018. Collected beetles were counted and identified to subfamily. Abundance analyses focused on Platypodinae (pinhole borers) and Scolytinae (bark beetles), both of which were significantly more abundant near struck trees vs. unaffected trees. These results suggest that the dead wood of trees struck by lightning is an identifiable resource for saproxylic beetles. Ongoing research will examine differences in beetle communities associated with treefall gaps and lightning gaps. Ultimately, this research will clarify the relevance of lightning to the maintenance of beetle diversity in tropical forests.
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Stay and Play with Mickey Mouse: Familiar Characters Increase Children’s Exploratory Play
Haley A. Waite, Megan N. Norris, Allison J. Williams, and Judith H. Danovitch Ph.D
When children are introduced to a novel toy, they explore to discover how the toy works, but do not always discover all of the functions (Bonawitz et al., 2011). Research has shown that children prefer objects with a familiar character on them (Danovitch & Mills, 2014). This study investigates whether the presence of a familiar character’s image on a novel toy encourages exploratory play. Four- and 5-year-olds (n = 40) were presented with a novel toy, containing 5 different functions, that either displayed an image of their favorite familiar character or an image of that character’s color scheme. Children were given up to 5 minutes to play with the toy. Children’s play was coded for the number of functions they discovered and how long they played with the toy. Results showed no significant difference between conditions for number of functions discovered. However, children who were given a toy with their favorite character’s image on it spent significantly more time exploring the toy than children who had a toy with the character’s color scheme on it. These findings suggest that seeing a familiar character on an object promotes children’s exploration of that object.
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Biofilm Associated Staphylococcus Aureus Viability is Altered By Burkholderia Cenocepacia
Bridget Wall, Tiffany J. Brandt, and Dr. Deborah Yoder-Himes
Respiratory failure caused by chronic and recurrent microbial infections is the most common cause of death for people with cystic fibrosis (CF)1, a disease causing the formation of thick mucus in the lungs2. Most bacteria can form biofilms, collections of sessile cells adhered to a surface by a secreted substance. Biofilm-associated cells develop antibiotic resistance at higher rates3. The thicker mucus in CF lungs is extremely difficult to clear via action of the mucociliary escalator and its presence fosters the formation of bacterial biofilms. Staphylococcus aureus and Burkholderia cenocepacia are two pathogens commonly found in the CF lung. Previous work in the Yoder-Himes laboratory established an antagonistic relationship between members of the B. cepacia complex and S. aureus biofilms4. To understand this antagonism, it is crucial to identify the biofilm changes occurring when S. aureus and B. cenocepacia interact. This work provides insight into the changes that may be responsible for the reduced viability of S. aureus in biofilms. Using crystal violet to measure biofilm biomass, confocal laser scanning microscopy, and assessing differences in antibiotic susceptibility, S. aureus and B. cenocepacia were examined in both monoculture and co-culture conditions. The results of this experiment indicate S. aureus and B. cenocepacia biofilm formation increases over time and is greater in nutrient-rich media. Additionally, B. cenocepacia inhibits biofilm formation of S. aureus. These findings provide information that can be used for understanding the interactions between pathogenic bacteria in the lungs of CF patients, leading to the development of more effective therapeutics.
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Prevalence Of Mental Health History Intake By Medical Trainees
Raymond H. Wen, Laura A. Weingartner, and Emily J. Noonan
BACKGROUND:
In the US, 1 in 5 adults experiences a mental illness. Over 9.8 million adults and youths have serious suicidal thoughts, and LGBTQ+ communities experience an even greater burden of mental health disparities. Mental illness is often recognized late by providers, which prevents timely and effective treatment.
METHODS:
We estimated the frequency and response of healthcare trainees asking about mental health using video-recorded standardized patient interviews conducted by third-year medical students (M3s). Standardized patients are trained to give out specific health history information only when prompted by the student. Students had 30 minutes to complete new patient interviews in a primary care setting.
RESULTS:
Among a sample of 38 M3s, 60% discussed mental health for an average of 1.3 minutes. Only 26% of these students followed up about a mental health treatment plan. After the mental health disclosure by patients, students responded, "I am sorry to hear that" (30%), frowned (22%), or offered support and resources to the patient (17%). Not all trainees elicited whether a patient identified as LGBTQ+ or connected patient identity with mental health support.
DISCUSSION:
We document how mental health histories may not be identified in primary care settings. Many disclosures were also prompted by providers asking about previous hospitalizations rather than mental health specifically. We thus recommend routine mental health history intake for new patients establishing care. Trainees may benefit from comparing interpersonal skills, like empathetic responses between providers and patients, and connecting LGBTQ+ patient identity and terminology to support patients' mental health needs.
