2020 Science Research Symposium

St. Francis Preparatory School 22nd Annual SCIENCE RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM

TUESDAY, June 4, 2020

Philosophy of the Science Research Program

The Saint Francis Preparatory School Science Research Program is a rigorous three-year course designed to give ambitious students the opportunity to search for truth within the natural world in a scientific manner. Science research is intended for our few highly motivated student possessing the talent, the vision, and the will necessary to make lasting contributions to advanced areas of original research. This program prepares its participants for the uncertainties, challenges, and pressures they will face in the course of their research and in the rest of their lives. By the end of the course, our students are able to understand and write professional level scientific papers, perform extensive college-level bibliographic searches, earn college credit, form useful connections with the scientific community, and effectively communicate their contributions to the scientific world.

--Authored by the Science Research Class of 2001

Goal of the Science Research Program The goal of the Saint Francis Preparatory School Science Research Program is to stimulate independent and original thought through research in the natural and social sciences.

Its success is due to the fine-working balance among the dedicated faculty advisors, talented young researchers, and supportive mentors.

St. Francis Preparatory School FOUNDED BY THE FRANCISCAN BROTHERS OF BROOKLYN

ADMINISTRATION Br. Leonard Conway, OSF President Patrick McLaughlin Principal Joseph Castellano Assistant Principal Gerilyn Coccia Assistant Principal Christopher Mendolia Assistant Principal Xenos Novoa Assistant Principal

SFP SCIENCE FACULTY Kimberly Istrico Chairperson, Science Department Sharon Bennett James Boylan Michael Caiafa Casey Clark Paul Cohen Paul Donnelly David Ganci Adrian Gonzalez Kimberly Gonzalez

James T. Boylan Director

Casey Clark

Assistant Director

Frances Jimenez James LaRocca Gregory Marchildon Nicole May Peter McNamara Carlos Perez Kevin Petry Ann Marie Rich Joan Sorriero

St. Francis Prep’s

Science Research Program Senior Class of 2020

Eli Arvelo-Reyes

Laura Bamishile

Tina Chang

Sabrina Chen

Nick Cordero

Fiorella Delgado

Kevin Edwin

Bryan Herrera

Celine Lukito

Josh Nierer

ST. FRANCIS PREPARATORY SCHOOL • 2020 SCIENCE RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM

Ivy Tang

Robert Walczuk

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Eli Arvelo-Reyes, Class of 2020 College Attending: Binghamton University Intended Major: Chemistry SFP Activities: Concert Band Awards: Principal’s List, Optimate List Hobbies/Interests: Piano, guitar, reading, and writing Long Term/Career Goals: Researcher

Analysis of the Efficacy of a Variant DNA Polymerase in PCR Performed with Humic Acid Inhibited DNA Substances Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is a complex method of replicating minute amounts of DNA into millions of copies, which allows for efficient forensic DNA analysis. One of the most common issues forensic DNA analysts run into is the presence of PCR inhibitors -substances that interrupt the process of PCR and ruin test results- in the DNA sample. There have been many studies that attempt to overcome many different types of PCR inhibition from different inhibitors, but inhibitors come in many different forms and a solution to overcome the most commonly encountered inhibitors has yet to be formed. Inhibitors can perform different mechanisms that inhibit certain aspects of PCR, such as binding to the polymerase enzyme, interaction with DNA, and presence in the primer extension phase. Because inhibitors can have different effects on PCR, manipulating the procedure of PCR is a logical step in overcoming the inhibition these substances bring to the reaction. This study aims to test the efficacy of varying concentrations of humic acid against PCR inhibition caused by the binding of humic acid to nucleic acids and enzymes. Several solutions will be prepared containing necessary components of PCR, either the Taq or ExTaq Hot Start DNA polymerases, and a varying concentration of humic acid. Gel electrophoresis will be performed to compare the results and prepare a qualitative analysis.

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ST. FRANCIS PREPARATORY SCHOOL • 2020 SCIENCE RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM

Laura Bamishile, Class of 2020 College Attending: Binghamton University Intended Major: Neuroscience SFP Activities: Peer Tutor, Vice President of Filipino Club, President of Plants and Paws, and Peer Counselor Awards: National Honor Society, Foreign Language Honor Society, and Math Honor Society Hobbies/Interests: Listening to music, reading, anime, and mindfulness Long Term/Career Goals: Mental Health Professional

A Qualitative Analysis of Lung Cancer Screening Opinions Held by Physicians Serving an Urban Minority Population Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death within the United States. African-American populations have been known to have higher smoking and high lung cancer mortality rates. Lowdose computed tomography (LDCT) is a leading form of detection for lung cancer. While LDCT is an optimal alternative to other forms of lung cancer screening, it has not been well implemented within hospitals especially when considering the amount of people who qualify for screening.

The reason for the low referral for LDCT screening may be due to providers lacking the correct knowledge on LDCT screening. In this study, provider knowledge was assessed using a survey that inquired about low- dose computed tomography guidelines. The study was conducted at an urban hospital in Brooklyn to assess healthcare providers of a population that is most benefited by lung cancer screening. It was found that the providers had a good awareness of whether they knew the guidelines for LDCT screening and all were aware that screening was important. This implies that more education of providers will allow for more providers to fill the gaps in the knowledge that they currently have.

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Tina Chang, Class of 2020 College Attending: The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art Intended Major: Architecture SFP Activities: Varsity Golf, Science Olympiad Team, and Peer Tutoring Awards: JSHS Semi Finalist, NYCSEF Semi Finalist, National Honor Society, Principal’s List, and Optimate List Hobbies/Interests: Traveling, photography, playing guitar, making models, and planning Long Term/Career Goals: Licensed Architect

Determining the Correlation Between Prosocial Orientation and the Luteal Phase and Impacts on Negative Emotional Appeal Advertisement Success Prosocial behavior is identified as an intent to benefit others and is demonstrated through different means such as helping, sharing, volunteering and donating. A recent discovery revealed that prosocial behavior that involves long-term caregiving and concern for the disadvantaged tend to be established more by women, suggesting that women can be an ideal target for nonprofit organizations when developing marketing programs. In 2018, it was found that progesterone and estradiol fluctuations throughout the menstrual cycle may enhance women’s prosocial orientation. Additionally, it was discovered that women are more responsive to negative emotion scenarios during the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle. However, it is unknown whether females would be more responsive toward emotional appeal advertisements devised by the nonprofit organization would be more appealing to females during the luteal phase. In the current study, it is proposed that women would be more prosocial during the luteal phase, and would be more responsive towards advertisements with negative emotional appeals than those with positive emotional appeals. In this study, 150 female participants were recruited through Prolific Academic. Each participant was asked to fill out a survey regarding each emotional appeal advertisement and the last onset of menstruation. The study shows that women were not more prosocial during the luteal phase. However, it was found that women would be more responsive towards advertisements with negative emotional appeals than those with positive emotional appeals during the luteal phase of the cycle. Therefore, when developing a new marketing strategy, market managers can consider incorporating negative appeal advertisements to maximize the potency of the marketing program. The current research sheds light on the interaction between the biological factor

and emotional factor that may influence the success of advertisements.

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Sabrina Chen,Class of 2020 College Attending: Babson College Intended Major: Entrepreneurship SFP Activities: Astronomy Club, Cryptography Club, Science Olympics Team, String Orchestra Honors, Peer Tutor Awards: NYCSEF Finalist, JSHS Semifinalist, National Honor Society, TRI M Music Honor Society, Principal’s List, Optimates List Hobbies/Interests: Traveling, music, business, stargazing Long Term/Career Goals: Entrepreneur

Analysis of Airbnb Titles in New York City as a Tool of Marketing Strategy to Increase Revenue and Reputation The popularity of the internet and consumer’s increasing intention to shop online has lead to the emergence of the sharing economy as evidenced by Airbnb. Users of Airbnb, or any intangible online service, consider factors such as the titles, product features or appearance, price, and product reputation and names to assess product quality in order to reduce the perceived risk of the purchase. However, the influence of titles on subratings, overview ratings, prices, and numbers of ratings is still unknown.

Therefore, the objective of the study was that a listing’s attributes, including its adjectives, location, size, features, and emojis, would affect the price and reputation of the listing. The code written in Python extracted the data of listings’ titles, prices, and ratings from Airbnb’s website. Then, ANOVA tests were used to examine the impacts of attributes in titles on prices and ratings. The results show that including the word “studio” in a title results in the highest price possible. The results of the overall rating and subratings confirm the previous research that ratings are overwhelmingly positive; for subratings, using adjectives to describe the cleanliness of the listings and the absence of mentioning the location in the title results have the most positive influences on subratings. The study indicated numerous ways to increase both the price and reputation of listings, so it is beneficial to Airbnb hosts who want to increase the revenue and reputation of their listings. The results enable them to reevaluate the importance of the title of the listing and make changes accordingly.

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Nick Cordero, Class of 2020 College Attending: Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Education/CUNY School of Medicine Intended Major: Biomedical Sciences SFP Activities: Campus Ministry, FIE Peru, FIE Camden, Fransiscan Volunteer Program, Eucharistic Minister, Liturgical Assistant, Retreat Leader, Healthcare Discovery Program Volunteer, President of Future Politicians of America, Spanish Club, Model United Nations, The Seraph Newspaper, Peer Tutor, Peer Counselor, PS4 Volunteer, Student Ambassador Awards: National Honor Society, New York State Science Honor Society, Mu Alpha Theta National Mathematics Honors Society, Rho Kappa National Social Studies Honor Society, World Languages Honor Society, Optimate’s List, Principal’s List, Published Project at Society of Toxicology (SOT) Convention Hobbies/Interests: Coaching Baseball, Playing Video Games, Volunteering, Learning Guitar Long Term/Career Goals: Physician

Morphine Sulfate Down-Regulates Gene Expression of Methyltransferases in Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells The opioid crisis plaguing the United States stems from the incredible addictive potential of these compounds, creating patterns of abuse in at-risk populations. Opioids have increased in use among pregnant women, which can impact the development of a fetus in utero. Neonatal exposure can lead to a variety of congenital birth defects, as shown by past research outlining hypomethylation as a mechanism for defects. Previous work has implicated that hypomethylation is caused by prolonged exposure to opioids; however, it is unknown what role opioid exposure has on DNA methyltransferases (DNMTs), enzymes that catalyze the methylation of genes. In this study, mouse embryonic stem (mES) cells were exposed to 10 μM of Morphine Sulfate (MS) for 1, 3, 5, and 7 day periods, where the expression of DNMT1, DNMT3a, and DNMT3b genes was quantified using real-time PCR. Continuous exposure to MS for periods beyond 24 hours initially resulted in the downregulation of DNMT1, DNMT3a, and DNMT3b, all of which returned to normal levels after long periods of continuous exposure. To confirm if these changes were reversible, cells were allowed to recover for 3 days free from exposure to MS. Genomic analysis found that hypomethylation and downregulation of gene expression were reversed post-recovery. The downregulation of the DNMT genes could provide evidence as to why global methylation levels decrease after exposure to opioids, and how certain defects in organogenesis occur.

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Fiorella Delgado, Class of 2020

College Attending: Long Island University Post Honors College Intended Major: Nursing SFP Activities: Campus Ministry, Eucharistic Minister, FIE Peru, FIE Camden, Fransiscan Volunteer Program, JV Cheerleading Captain, JV Soccer, Lector, Peer Tutor, PS 4 Volunteer, Student Ambassador, String Orchestra, String Orchestra Honors, Indoor and Outdoor Track & Field, Varsity Cheerleading Awards: Junior Science and Humanities Symposia (JSHS) Semi Finalist, JSHS Regional Finalist, NYCSEF Preliminary Contestant, Foreign Language Honor Society, Tri M Music Honor Society, Franciscan Service Award, President’s Volunteer Service Award, Optimate’s List, Principal’s List Hobbies/Interests: Baking, Volunteering, Writing To Kids in Peru, Young People’s Day Camp Counselor, Assistant at the Kumon Center of Bayside Long Term/Career Goals: Pediatric Nurse in New York City

Investigating the Effect of Screen Time on Immediate Food Choice In the United States, 1 in 5 adolescents is considered obese. If trends continue, it is expected that by 2030, almost 1 in 2 adolescents will be overweight or obese. Numerous studies have shown that screen time has played a key role in many physical problems such as weight gain. However, more must be done in order to determine the influence of screen time on immediate food choice and how this could contribute to physical health. In order to investigate this relationship, students were exposed to either healthy or unhealthy food images via Instagram and were shown a Powerpoint with pictures based on the instagram accounts. The students were then asked to choose which they’d prefer to eat between the two images on each slide. At the end of this study, it was found that screen time had no immediate effect on food choice. In the future, this data could allow researchers to further investigate the motivations behind food choices made by adolescents.

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Kevin Edwin, Class of 2020 College Attending: Hunter College Intended Major: Environmental Studies SFP Activities: Peer Tutoring, Kenya Club, Ping Pong Club, Ultimate Frisbee Club, Awards: JSHS Semifinalist, NYCSEF Contestant, Optimate’s List Hobbies/Interests: Drawing, Playing Cricket, Learning new things, Enjoying life, Seeing new places Long Term/Career Goals: Conservationist

Investigating Flight Feathers’ Density Portrays the Flight Style and Environmental Habitat of Birds Birds are warm-blooded vertebrates that are made up of a diverse membership, characterized by one of their most important features: feathers. The morphology of birds’ feathers varies by species. Flight Feathers can vary in color, growth rate, and density. Birds are able to fly by using their wings to create thrust, producing aerodynamic force. However, birds have various flight styles related to feather density.

This is because the feather structure has a major impact on the amount of aerodynamic force a bird can produce. Previous studies have compared flight style and habitat; however, there are broad implications as to the influence of feather density. Here, the study focused on the comparison between the feather density of birds with varied flight styles. The feathers were recorded where and when it was collected on an index card then placed in a small bag to contain it. The feather density was then identified then compared to the known flight style of the birds. There was a diverse distribution of various flight styles.

This will provide a better understanding of how flight density has an effect on the flight style of birds.

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ST. FRANCIS PREPARATORY SCHOOL • 2020 SCIENCE RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM

Bryan Herrera, Class of 2020 College Attending: Hofstra University Intended Major: Business Management SFP Activities: President of Cultural club, Vice-President of Spanish Dance Club SFP Soccer, Varsity Volleyball, chess club, Campus Ministry, Midnight runs, Interior Designer for the new chapel, Retreat Leader, stage coordinator of international night Open house tour guide, winter drama show audience service, internship at NYU Tandon school of engineering.

Awards: Silver Key winner of the Metropolitan museum’s art and writing competition, third place winner of JSHS 2020 Semifinal, National Honors Society, National Art Honors Society, National Foregine Language Honors Society, Principal’s List, Optimate’s List, SFP art department Photographer of the year.

Hobbies/Interests: Photography, painting, exploring, taking adventures, expanding my knowledge Long Term/Career Goals: Give back to those who’ve invested in my career

and success

The Implementation of a Wireless Power Transfer System Applicable To Flying Quadcopters With a Rechargeable Lithium Battery For the past 10 years, the implementation of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) has risen in commercial use. The utilization of motor vehicles for package delivery has proven to be useful, yet inefficient. Previous studies have compared vehicle and drone performance on short distance deliveries and concluded that drones were a more progressive and systematic substitution for commercial delivery because they eliminated road obstacles and arrived faster to their destination. However, UAVs have limited battery life. After about 60 minutes of flying, batteries drain out and must be changed or recharged. The best solution to fast drone charging is through the development of a wireless charging pad, which the flying drone can land on and begin to charge. The objective of this study was to engineer a flying drone capable of obtaining ample power from a cableless charging station. In this study, the propeller shape and rechargeable battery of the flying drones were manipulated to achieve the best structure. To obtain steady voltage from the power source, transmission from one source to another was tested for the longest distance with the most efficient frequency rates, to give the drone the capability of carrying a package greater than or equal to its weight. Receiving and transmitting coils were developed to create an electromagnetic field enabling alternating current to be absorbed by the drone. Afterward, an inverter was built to manipulate DC to AC current.

Lastly, an unmanned aerial vehicle was built and connected to the wireless charging system, to accommodate traditional cable connection charging. For future applications, an electromagnetic field sensor will be developed for automated landing on the charging pad, as a form of self-charging. Alongside energy sensors, cameras will be implemented so the drone can land with 100% accuracy and achieve strong wireless charging transmission. By implementing unmanned aerial vehicles as a new means of package distribution, cost efficiency and delivery time will decrease drastically.

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Celine Lukito, Class of 2020

College Attending: Molloy College Intended Major: Math and Computer Science SFP Activities: Science Olympiad, Varsity Tennis, Chamber Orchestra Honors, Peer Tutor and Counselor, National Honor Society, Mu Alpha Theta National Mathematics Honor Society, NYS Science Honor Society, and TRI M Music Honor Society Awards: Principal’s List (Four Years), Varsity Tennis Scholar Athlete, NYJTL Summer Tennis Jamboree Finalist Hobbies/Interests: Scuba diving, hiking, shopping, eating Long Term/Career Goals: To have a good and meaningful life :)

The Visualization of Artificial Intelligence ‘Brain’ Maturity in the Discrimination of Alzheimer’s Disease and Normal Controls Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease affecting about 5.6 million people in the United States alone, making it the most common form of dementia. The main neuropathological causes of AD are plaques and tangles in the brain. Amyloid Positron Emission Tomography (PET) can be used to depict amyloid plaque accumulation, a strong indicator of AD. Amyloid PET can be used to diagnose AD; however, it requires the interpretations of skilled radiologists. In the effort to reduce AD misdiagnosis, an Artificial Intelligence (AI) model was incorporated and trained using brain scans, to develop a machine that has the same, or better capabilities as humans, to discriminate AD scans. While there is a significant enthusiasm to incorporate AI in the diagnosis of AD, AI is often seen as a black box, hampering full integration in the clinical work. The purpose of this study was to demonstrate the learning process of the AI system to get a better understanding of how the system learns. The changes in how the AI ‘brain’ matures in the course of training was visualized. This allowed us to identify the percentage of the neurons required in the learning process. The trained AI was then tested to discriminate AD scans from normal controls, which produced promising results that compared favorably to human results (87%). Although the number of data that are currently available has limited our ability to further train AI, the trained AI may achieve very high degrees of accuracy by better understanding how the AI system learns. Eventually, it can be used to eliminate AD misdiagnosis by allowing doctors to analyze brain scans faster with higher accuracy. The brain regions that had the greatest influence on the discriminatory learning process could also be identified, which may lead to better understanding of the pathology itself.

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Josh Nierer, Class of 2020 College Attending: SUNY Polytechnic Institute Intended Major: Mechanical Engineering SFP Activities: Varsity Swim Team, Concert Band Awards: Hobbies/Interests: Swimming, Video Games, Sleeping Long Term/Career Goals: Be rich and happy

A Comparative Study of Teachers’ and Students’ Opinions on School Involvement in Bullying Bullying and cyberbullying are major issues for students and school administrators in society today. Bullying has not been eradicated from schools or communities. Previous research shows bullying during adolescence has many negative effects on developing children. This drives the need to evaluate the effectiveness of teachers and students in identifying and responding to bullying. By doing this, we can see if the opinions and responses of students align with teachers and vise versa. In this study I aimed to evaluate this and determine if students and teachers have the same opinions on bullying in their school. School staff, faculty, administration and students were given bullying surveys for general feedback. The frequency of response was measured for students. For teachers the frequencies were divided by their role in the school. Participants were then given vignettes of bullying situations and were asked to respond to those specific scenarios. Students and teachers disagreed on 4 of the questions asked of them after the scenarios. Students felt that other students should have gotten involved in bullying scenarios. They also felt that administration should know about the opinions of teachers more than the school staff. They felt the teacher should be more responsible for the maltreatment of the student being bullied. Students also felt that the student should be punished more in this scenario. All of this contributes to students believing that teachers should take more action and be more responsible. Due to limitations in this study, it is important moving forward that data be consistent between schools. Trust in the accountability of teachers should also be worked on in schools. This will combat the feelings students have that teachers should be more involved.

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Ivy Tang, Class of 2020

College Attending: Northeastern University Intended Major: Entrepreneurship SFP Activities: The Seraph Newspaper, The Little Portion, Key Club, Peer Tutoring, Digital Art Club Awards: National Honor Society, National English Honor Society, Principal’s List Hobbies/Interests: Art, psychology Long Term/Career Goals: Business owner

Prejudice and perception: The effect of racial priming on threat identification Inherent and implicit bias both give rise to stereotyping, the overgeneralized belief or assumption about a group of people, and discrimination, the unjust or prejudicial treatment of members of a particular outgroup. A specific type of discrimination is racial proiling. This prejudicial treatment against racial minorities is prevalent in law enforcement officials, most commonly in the police force and in the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). Past studies show inconclusive results for implicit racial bias. The inconclusivity can possibly be attributed to limited racial participation, location, or experimental error. This study used a wider range of races for its participant pool, added Latino and Asian facial primes, and included a survey questionnaire prime to gauge personal experience with racism. Participants underwent an Implicit Association Task (IAT) for weapon identification with the racial image primes. Results largely showed no significant correlation between races, reaction time, and error rates. GPA was a significant factor in the participants’ performance on the test. Future research will investigate more into environments’ effects on racial priming, notably in areas of low racial diversity, and will also deal more closely with law enforcement officials. This research can be used to advocate for requiring psychological sensitivity training for law enforcement officials to combat racial profiling.

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Robert Walczuk, Class of 2020

College Attending: Fordham University Intended Major: Finance SFP Activities: Wall Street Club Awards: National Honor Society Hobbies/Interests: Sports, music Long Term/Career Goals: Investment manager/bond trader

Using Viscosity to Investigate the Viability of Carbon Multiwall Nanotubes as a Fuel Additive to Combat Petroleum Depletion Fuel consumption rates have increased exponentially over the last 20 years due to the need for petroleumbased fuels in automobiles and engines. If the world maintains its current trend of fuel usage, oil, gas, and coal are set to run out by the year 2088, which would lead to an economic crash as a large part of the foundation of the economy involves energy use. A possible solution to this imminent threat is the use of nanoparticles as fuel additives to petroleum-based fuels as they decrease the amount of fuel consumed since the nanoparticles generate enough energy to replace a large amount of the fuel, therefore increasing the lifetime of our current reserves. However, in the past, the use of nanoparticles has led to complications such as engine overheating due to their fast atomization process. These nanoparticles have been tested along with different diesel-based fuels to find their viscosities and determine atomization rate of the fuel mixture to determine if these mixtures are capable of atomizing efficiently in an engine. After conducting the research, it showed that most of the time, the mixing procedure caused the mixture to become too thick to be viable in an engine. The Jet Fuel with 1 percent of Carbon Nanotube concentration produced the lowest viscosity, however, is still much higher than purely petroleum based fuels. Future research into new methods of mixing that regulate temperature needs to be conducted, as well as other nanoparticles that can be used in that procedure, in order to find an ideal mixture that can generate enough energy to reduce the petroleum fuel usage.

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JUNIOR CLASS OF 2021 ABSTRACTS

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Juniors

Class of 2021

Evan Cha Repairing Damaged Tissue in Osteoarthritis Using MSCs and Testing the Biomechanical Properties of Repaired Tissue Arthritis is a joint disease in which joints become inflamed, which can lead to pain and stiffness. Over 100 types of arthritis exist, most consisting of the deterioration of cartilage. Once cartilage deteriorates, the bones rub against each other, causing pain, swelling, and stiffness. Although no cures exist for any type of arthritis, mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) provide an alternate treatment method to greatly reduce the severity of arthritis through tissue regeneration and reduced inflammatory responses. This is done through their ability to differentiate into cells such as osteoblasts, chondrocytes, myocytes, and adipocytes. Many studies have shown that MSCs are successful in producing new cartilage and tissue and reducing lesions; few have shown results for the actual biomechanical properties of the actual tissue. This experiment will test whether or not MSCs can improve the properties of repaired tissue through a series of tests in which the tissue produced by MSCs will be put under strain, such as being bent in order to test the elastic modulus of the tissue. This will be compared to normal tissue in an OA mice model in order to determine whether MSCs improve properties of tissue such as stiffness, how much energy can be absorbed by the bone until failure, etc. Determining the effectiveness of using MSCs as a treatment method of OA could help in reducing the symptoms of OA as well as providing OA patients with healthy tissue again. In the future, testing on exposing MSCs to different proteins should be done in order to determine if there are any genes that further improve the capabilities of MSCs.

Dennis Do Comparison between electric propulsion systems and chemical propulsion systems Propulsion systems are machines that produce thrust to push an object forward. Currently, many rockets use chemical propulsion systems. However, chemical propulsion systems (CPS) are inefficient and costly. A new propulsion system would need to be developed and replace the current role of chemical propulsion systems.

Thus, comparisons between chemical and electrical propulsion systems (EPS) will determine whether electrical propulsion systems are qualified to replace chemical propulsion systems. Recent studies have shown that electrical propulsion systems have higher fuel efficiency and may be used more than once. These findings have solidified the importance of electrical propulsion systems and their potential to one day replace the chemical propulsion system. However, despite its advantages, the current electric propulsion system is complicated, expensive, and is only capable of creating thrust for small spacecraft. Inorder to determine which propulsion systems are superior, statistical analysis of on-orbit anomalies and comparative analysis of electrical and chemical propulsion failure rates will be conducted. The data for EPS and CPS anomalies will be gathered from databases ROTF (Rocket Motor Electronic Database), RMED (Rocket Motor Electronic Database), and SPD (Solid Propellant Database). The results of these comparisons will contribute to developing superior propulsion systems that could eventually replace chemical propulsion systems.

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Juniors

Class of 2021

Bridget Dwyer Determining the Genetic Difference Between Successful and Unsuccessful Egg Allergy Immunotherapy Allergies are a type of immunological disorder in which the immune system is overly functional because of an over-reactive response to a non-threatening substance. The prevalence of food allergies is gradually increasing, especially in westernized areas. In children under the age of 18, the prevalence of allergies in the United States has steadily increased about 6 to 8%, while rising about 2% in the adult population in recent years.

Immunotherapy can be used to lessen a patient’s sensitivity to an allergen and ultimately build up tolerance for a food allergen. The long term goal of allergy immunotherapy is sustained unresponsiveness, wherein the patient produces no reaction. On the other hand, desensitization is more commonly achieved, where the amount of a specific allergen that a patient can digest without reacting is increased over the phases of oral immunotherapy.

Even if a patient achieves sustained unresponsiveness or desensitization, the immunotherapy treatment must continue in order to maintain unresponsiveness or desensitization. Studies on immunotherapy have evaluated the relationship between the body’s immune system, including the antibodies produced to ward off allergenic proteins, and a patient’s allergy history. These findings have offered an option for allergy treatment but do not explain why someone may have allergies or how to fully eliminate a person’s allergies. The objective of this experiment is to determine the genetic difference between a patient that achieves sustained unresponsiveness to egg oral immunotherapy as opposed to a patient that does not. A sample of patients exhibiting a history of egg allergies will undergo immunotherapy for a period of a year. Throughout the duration, sera samples will be gathered from all patients and evaluated for genetic characterization through Sanger sequencing. Upon the conclusion of the trial, based on whether each patient achieved sustained unresponsiveness, desensitization, or showed no success, the patient’s will be placed into groups for comparison. Evaluation of the genetic differences between patients that respond to immunotherapy and those that do not will further researchers’ understanding of why certain people are born with or develop allergies. Furthermore, specific DNA sequences or genes could be characterized as predictors for allergy patients if genes have an impact on allergies.

Kiriaki Georgiou The Introduction of LHX2 in Mice The olfactory system is a part of the body with the ability to detect and distinguish a plethora of olfactory stimuli.

This vast receptive field is credited to the large collection of olfactory receptors (OR), which, in most mammals, encode for over 1,000 genes located in numerous genomic clusters throughout the genome. In mammalian olfactory systems, the ability to detect and discriminate between a tremendous number of odors relies on the “one-neuron-one-receptor” rule. This rule states that ORs are expressed in olfactory sensory neurons (OSNs) in a monogenic, monoallelic, and seemingly random fashion so that each neuron expresses only one out of approximately 2,800 available alleles through the maturing of an immature olfactory sensory neuron (1CAM) to a mature olfactory sensory neuron (mOSN) in a process called OR choice. This maturing process also leads to the implementation of the genomic sequence LHX2-ORF, which codes for a protein known as LHX2 that is essential for OR choice to come to completion. Although the vitality of this genomic code has already been proven, the reintroduction of this genome into a DNA sequence that previously did not have it has not been researched. The reintroduction of such an essential genome would contribute to both the understanding of the maturing process of 1CAMs to mOSNs and the understanding of the effects of a such a method as reintroduction to other hereditary diseases including Schizencephaly and Retinitis Pigmentosa, both of which LHX2 is the protein coding gene associated with these diseases, and Type 1 diabetes.

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Juniors

Class of 2021

Jaskeerat Gujral Correlation between Ginkgo biloba and Parkinsonian Symptoms Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease characterized by the accumulation of alphasynuclein protein in Lewy bodies and low dopamine levels. Parkinson’s disease usually develops between the ages of 45-60. Unfortunately, there is no cure, but there are various treatments that can slow the progression of several of its symptoms. Ginkgo biloba is a popular herb that consists of chemical compounds that serve as antioxidants.

The presence of antioxidants is the reason Ginkgo has been widely utilized for several centuries to treat disorders such Alzheimer’s disease, Schizophrenia, and tardive dyskinesia. It is unknown whether Ginkgo has the ability to treat the motor symptoms and mood disorder of PD. A study was devised to determine whether Ginkgo biloba had potential to treat the mood and motor symptoms of Parkinson’s. Overall, female participants were chosen and divided into an experimental or control group. The experimental group was given the Ginkgo capsule for six weeks. The symptoms were then reevaluated to see the correlation between Ginkgo and the PD symptoms. It is hoped that there will be a positive correlation between Ginkgo intake and improvement in PD symptoms. This study is not only crucial to those who have Parkinson’s, but also to the scientific community. This study may be able to provide an alternate method of treating the symptoms of Parkinson’s. In addition, this study will allow the scientific community to further understand the disease.

Valentine Houri The Effects of Optogenetic Manipulation of Arginine Vasopressin on Anxiety Behavior in Rats Anxiety is a prevalent neuropsychiatric disorder associated with a variety of symptoms negatively affecting the lives of individuals with the disorder. A known cause of this disorder is the chemical imbalance in the brain of the individual. In previous studies it has been determined that Vasopressin is associated with the HPA axis, which ultimately plays roles in stress and anxiety. It was also concluded that vasopressin levels were altered in anxiety subjects. Lastly in other studies, optogenetics proved successful in modulating behavior through the manipulation of other neurotransmitters. The objective of this study is to use optogenetics to regulate the release of vasopressin through the HPA axis, and to then observe these effects on anxiety behavior in rats. Rats will be assigned to vasopressin release inhibition and activation groups. The difference in behavior in the two groups will be observed. This will then be applied to anxiety behavior. In the future, optogenetics can be applied to other neurotransmitters, and even tested in other neuropsychiatric diseases. The application of vasopressin could then be regulated in other parts of the brain, to determine whether the brain region will play a role in anxiety behavior. If more experiments are conducted using optogenetics, the technique should be applied to other species more similar to humans. Eventually it may become a possibility for optogenetics to be used in humans, and even provide a treatment for psychiatric disorders in the future.

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ST. FRANCIS PREPARATORY SCHOOL • 2020 SCIENCE RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM

Juniors

Class of 2021

Maya Keledjian The Effect of Parental Personality and Childhood Events on The Development of Psychopathy in Adolescents Psychopathy is a personality disorder that is characterized by affective, interpersonal, behavioral, and antisocial traits. As of now, psychopathic traits are usually diagnosed with either self-reported measures or therapistadministered assessments. As a result, more research is being done into observable correlates for possible diagnoses. Studies also have shown the possibilities of both biological and environmental correlates of psychopathy although specific causes are still unknown. This study will continue this research in a unique way by determining a correlation between psychopathic traits in parents and psychopathic traits in their adolescent children and question the heritability of psychopathy as a result. To further this research we will also observe the relationship certain life events and parent-child attachment have on these scores to potentially find a both environmental and biological correlate of psychopathy that hasn’t yet been discovered. This would strengthen the idea that there are ways to identify psychopathic traits before they can pose a danger, and would give the evidence needed to do so.

Isabel Leroy The Effects of Student-Teacher Relationships on the Academic Success of Students and the Social Success of Teachers Student teacher-relationships play a significant role in the academic success of students. When students are more comfortable with their teachers, they are more successful, academically and socially. However, when they get in trouble and have a poor relationship with their teachers, they are more likely to be incarcerated in the future.

Both students and teachers have expectations of each other which also influence their relationships. However, there isn’t any research on the effects of these relationships on teachers, which may be just as important as the effect of it on students. Further research on this topic would bring awareness to the importance of relationships in a professional learning environment and potentially improve teaching and learning methods. To assess the study, students from St. Francis Prep will answer a set of questions about their relationships with teachers based on a class they pick, and then provide their current average of their class. Teachers will answer a different set of questions to assess their relationships with students, based on a class they choose and provide the overall average grade in that class. They will also answer questions on their relationships with colleagues and their overall feelings at their workplace. This research would bring awareness to the importance of student-teacher relationships on both students and teachers. This would also cause further research on how teachers’ relationship can affect multiple things in their workplace because teachers are very underrepresented in the research field.

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Juniors

Class of 2021

Lyanna Remy The Connectivity of the Hippocampus and the Default Mode Network in Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is triggered by experiencing or witnessing a traumatic event. The symptoms of PTSD include reduced motivational approach, lack of pleasure in rewarding activities, and diminished task motivation. This disorder has also been associated with altered-resting state functional connectivity (rsFC) in the hippocampus and the default mode network (DMN). Rs-FC measures the correlation of blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) signals among different brain regions. The hippocampus is involved in fear processes and memory functions. Many studies have overlooked the fact that the hippocampus is what mediates the abnormalities that occur in the DMN. The DMN is important in PTSD because one of its functions is to internally support directed mental activity and is a counterpart in cognitive control. In this study, the hippocampus as a whole will be examined and then separated into the posterior and anterior to examine how this affects the DMN. The sections of the DMN that will be examined include the medial prefrontal cortex, posterior cingulate cortex, precuneus, and the ventromedial prefrontal cortex. Resting-state magnetic resonance images (rs-MRI) will be taken from previous studies and will be reanalyzed. The participants will include PTSD patients, trauma-exposed healthy participants (TEHC), and a controlled group. The MRI scans will be reanalyzed using a seed based approach; the connectivity will be analyzed based on the time it takes for one voxel to interact with other voxels of the brain. The results of this study will hopefully provide a better understanding of the abnormalities caused by the hippocampus and what occurs in other brain regions where the abnormalities are mediated.

Maria Poulos The Effect of Gene Polymorphisms & Hormonal Imbalances on Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is an anxiety disorder that affects more than 13 million people in the U.S. alone. 70 percent of adults experience at least one traumatic event in their lifetime and 20 percent of those people will develop PTSD (Hull, 2020). People with PTSD often have constant vivid recall of the experience.

The psychological cause of PTSD in different people is still unknown, however, research indicates that gene polymorphisms may be a potential cause. There are four of the main polymorphic genes that are typically associated with PTSD- Val158met, found on the Catechol-O-Methyltransferase gene, Taq1A, found on the DRD2 gene which codes for changes in the dopamine receptors, FKBP5 gene, and 5-HTTLPR, found on the SLC6A4 gene. All four of these genes play a role in hormonal regulation. These hormones regulate pain perception and happiness. Understanding whether or not people with chronic PTSD or war veterans have these polymorphisms present in their genetic sequence is crucial to understanding the science behind this disorder.

It is believed that people already have these polymorphisms and then they are exposed to trauma that triggers PTSD. Findings show that there is a significant relationship between the affected val158met allele and PTSD vs controls and similar results were found with the DRD2 gene. What is uncertain is if veterans with PTSD will exhibit more than one of these genetic abnormalities. By testing afflicted veterans we will be able to target and find genetic abnormalities found in their genetic codes that could show how trauma exposure will affect a person. This allows researchers to screen people enlisted in the military to see if they have these polymorphisms.

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ST. FRANCIS PREPARATORY SCHOOL • 2020 SCIENCE RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM

Juniors

Class of 2021

Darian Singh The Association Between Food Addiction and Depression Food addiction involves binge eating, a lack of control around food, and uncontrollable cravings. Previous studies have shown that food addiction is correlated with serious diseases including obesity and type 2 diabetes.

The development of several mental health disorders such as depression has been linked to the development of a food addiction as a method of coping. This study is designed to test whether depression is prevalent within a high school population, and if food addiction exists among this group. Results of this study should display that students with depression or depressive symptoms are more likely to display addictive like eating towards food. Using a sample of male and female high school students, participants will be given two questionnaires, the Yale Food Addiction Scale and the Beck Depression Inventory, to assess whether or not addictive-like eating is developed as a result of depression and depressive symptoms. This study will not only aid a better understanding of food addiction in a diverse population, but it will be able to show the major contributing depressive symptoms that lead to a food addiction.

Nayla Taniajura The Effect of Acculturation on Gender Stereotyping Among Adolescents Gender stereotyping is defined as having the belief that men and women should act according to their societally determined gender role. Past studies have shown that adolescents will endorse specific types of sexism throughout their developmental period between ages 13-18. Studies have also shown that among immigrants, more traditional gender role beliefs tend to prevail, compared to adoption of the more nontraditional beliefs of the host country, regardless of how long the immigrant has stayed in the new country. The current study looks to examine the effect of acculturation on gender role beliefs among adolescents of the first and second generation population. It is expected that first generation immigrants, with respect to views on gender roles, will be more traditional than the second generation, and that they will express lower levels of acculturation. This study aims to deepen our understanding of how culture affects gender beliefs among the adolescent population, which has been sparsely studied, and will also deepen the understanding of how upbringing and familial relations may contribute to the level of acculturation and attitudes toward gender roles a first or second generation immigrant may possess. Future research should then focus on examining the relationships of first and second generation immigrant couples, to observe any rifts caused by their beliefs. Another implication for research would be to examine acculturation as it applies to different cultural subgroups; acculturation in this study was treated as something that occurs the same way, regardless of cultural background.

ST. FRANCIS PREPARATORY SCHOOL • 2020 SCIENCE RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM

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Juniors

Class of 2021

Christopher Varghese IFN-γ Mediates Macrophage Phagocytosis Sepsis is defined as life-threatening organ dysfunction caused by a dysregulated host response to infection.

Accounting for nearly 300,000 deaths annually in the United States alone, a closer examination of this dysregulated host response is warranted. In regulating a host response to an infection, T-cell activation is important as their roles include killing infected cells, activating other immune bodies, and producing cytokines, commonly known as signaling cells within the immune system. Mice and humans tend to share biological and genetic characteristics as humans. In mice that have undergone cecal ligation and puncture (CLP), a way of inducing sepsis in mice, we found that pre-morbid generation of a robust repertoire of memory T cells (“immune educated mice”) altered several aspects of the immune response, in part via an increase in T cells that express IFNγ, a proinflammatory cytokine released by T cells and plays a role in inflammation. Sepsis tends to affect the inflammatory response and cause a sudden unbalanced release of cytokines creating a form of ‘immune disruption’ specifically within immune bodies such as macrophages, which are responsible for the clearance of unwanted cells and pathogens. Therefore, macrophage activity influences the phagocytosis (engulf and breakdown) of cell bodies and pathogens non-specifically at a magnified rate, modulated by acute levels of IFNγ, as implicated in CLP-associated pathobiology.

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ST. FRANCIS PREPARATORY SCHOOL • 2020 SCIENCE RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM

Juniors

Class of 2021

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ST. FRANCIS PREPARATORY SCHOOL • 2020 SCIENCE RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM

SOPHOMORES Class of 2022

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Arashdeep Aulakh

Winona Baidya

The Oral Supplementation of Vitamin D and Iron in Relation to Sun Exposure and Vitamin Status in Athletes

Improving life quality for both, surgical group and medical therapy group for patients with type 2 diabetes

Vitamin D and iron are two important vitamins that help in the functioning of the body and are considered very important for both physically active people and elite athletes. These nutrients help in the athletic performances of athletes as they help in the functioning of the body systems, however athletes can be a lack of these vitamins due to excessive sweat and temperature and this leads to increased risks of weakness and decreased functionality in the body. The lack of these nutrients is often ignored however, the intake of nutrients is very important to monitor as well, as nutrients play a large role in growth, development, and movement. The aim of the first experiment was to evaluate the seasonal vitamin D status in Polish elite athletes in relation to sport discipline in order to define the scale of vitamin D deficiency. This was done through testing the supplementation of vitamin D amongst different areas where athlete’s sun exposure varied in relation to the performance of each group. There were different vitamin D levels in the body when using the supplementations compared to receiving natural sunlight. The objective of the second experiment was to analyze if the iron level in the body and strength performance were maintained in elite female athletes after 11 weeks of iron supplementation. This was done by testing the amount of iron that was in the body after the supplementation during the competitive season.

This experiment noted that the iron concentration after the volleyball season stayed the same even after the 11 weeks of iron supplementation. Going forward scientists can observe the relation between having a lack of certain nutrients and the effect of each nutrient on different parts of the body.

Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (DM-II) is a very common chronic disease worldwide. One in every 10 Americans has DM-II. If left unchecked, lifethreatening complications invariably develop.

Traditionally lifestyle modification and medical therapy have been the main modes of treatment, but lately, surgical intervention (bariatric surgery and gastric bypass) and antidepressant therapy have also been recommended. Antidepressants are recommended because those with type 2 diabetes tend to have a major struggle of compliance with medications. The first study showed that bariatric surgery plus medical therapy was more effective than medical therapy alone in the overall treatment of DM-II. Patients in the surgical group developed fewer cardiovascular complications and other organ failures in comparison to those who don’t have diabetes. The second study showed that the treatment with antidepressant drugs helps to improve patient compliance with antidiabetic drugs and thus better glycemic control and decreased incidence of complications. Comparing and contrasting these two studies increases understanding of DM-II and that adjunct therapies like bariatric surgery and antidepressant therapy along with traditional medical therapy provide a better overall outcome in terms of morbidity and mortality associated with DM-II.

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Alexander Bok How HDAC helps long term memory formation and retention As people age, memory deteriorates. The removal of HDAC, a group of enzymes that remove acetyl groups from histones, prevents gene alterations which helps memory formation and retention because it allows the DNA to maintain its

ST. FRANCIS PREPARATORY SCHOOL • 2020 SCIENCE RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM

SOPHOMORES • Class of 2021 structure. When studying long-term memory, the specifics of how HDAC functions and what it does to help long-term memory is still unknown.

These two articles discuss how the deletion of HDAC affects how well people can retain memory and memory formation. For the first experiment, the objective of it was to show how the deletion of HDAC was essential for long-term memory.

In the study, the researchers used mice that were genetically enhanced to delete HDAC and put the mice through object location and recognition tasks and saw if they improved or not. After the experiment, it was discovered that the deletion of HDAC-3, which is a subtype of HDAC, showed significant increase in the discrimination index. Experimental mice and showed increased memory retention after 24 hours. For the second experiment, the objective was to find the role of HDAC for object location memory. In the study, the mice were given objects; by examining their brain patterns and chemicals using fMRIs, researchers were able to determine that HDAC is critical to object recognition as the altered mice had improved object recognition memory.

Both of these studies showed that the deletion of HDAC3 helped improve memory retention and persistence. So by understanding how HDAC helps long term memory, we can create treatments and medicine which helps prolong long-term memory; and prevent loss of long-term memory.

Mirabel Bok Effects of Childhood Trauma on Schizophrenia Trauma and chronic stress can have long-term effects on psychological health especially when experienced during childhood. The hypothalamicpituitary-adrenal axis (HPA axis) controls stress hormone release. The HPA axis is the system connecting the hypothalamus, pituitary gland, and adrenal gland. Prolonged exposure to these hormones affects brain function and circuitry may lead to psychiatric disorders. Past studies have found that childhood trauma is associated

with schizophrenia; however the causes of different symptomology among different genders, ethnicities, and different types of abuse such as neglect, physical, and sexual abuse are still unknown. The first study examined different subtypes of childhood abuse, sexual abuse, physical abuse, emotional abuse, physical neglect and emotional neglect, and how it affects the symptoms of psychotic patients. It was found that victims of sexual abuse had a significantly higher amount of auditory hallucinations than any other types of abuse. This implies that the auditory system is vulnerable to change and damage to sexual abuse. The second study examined the differences between types of childhood trauma and their correlation to different demographics and symptoms. It was found that delusions were significantly associated with physical abuse compared to any other psychotic symptoms.

The onset of schizophrenia was more likely to be spontaneous in patients who experienced childhood physical abuse than patients who were not physically abused. It was also found that physical abuse was linked to elevated systolic blood pressure and female obesity. These findings will help determine how schizophrenic patients of different childhood abuse history and biological makeup can display different symptoms.

They can also create a deeper understanding of different types of schizophrenia and how different symptoms are caused as well as how to treat them.

Sophia Caporruso Sleep Deprivation Increases the Risk for Obesity Sleep deprivation, or an insufficient amount of sleep, is defined as less than seven hours of sleep.

Sleep deprivation, especially over a long period of time, has been associated with diabetes and lower glucose tolerance, increased risk for stroke or heart attacks, depressed mood, increased alcohol use, anxiety, and more health problems. There is evidence that long-term sleep deprivation may lead to obesity, as it impairs the ability to make

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the right decisions about food, increasing caloric intake. One study tested men’s eating behaviors and physical activity levels after a full eight hours of sleep in one group and after sleep deprivation in another. It found that physical activity level and food intake were increased in the sleep deprived group, suggesting that long-term sleep deprivation may increase caloric intake, and thus increase the risk for obesity. A second study tested sleep deprived and sleep-sufficient participants and their neural changes in regions responsible for making decisions about food while given a task ranking their food desirability choices. It found that brain activity was lowered in cortical appetitive evaluation regions of the brain (which help determine food preference) as food desire increased, but there was increased activity in the amygdala (which is involved in motivation to eat). Hunger levels were the same in both groups, but higher calorie foods were found to be more desirable to the sleep deprived group. Overall, in the two studies, sleep deprivation increased the risk for/promoted obesity by causing increased food intake and desire for higher-calorie foods, which would increase weight gain. In the future, these findings may be helpful in developing preventative or reversive measures by treating sleep deprivation in people at risk of becoming, or who are already, obese.

the same amount of alcohol they usually would within the time range of 10:00pm and 2:00am.

The second experiment’s objective was to assess how well the test subjects’ memory was in relation to the amount of alcohol consumed the night before. Memory was tested with a word learning test which included measured recognition and the extent of delayed recall to see if participants were able to recognize the words or if they saw it as a delay recall. A 45 minute test was done between two groups: the placebo group and alcohol group.

The first experiment’s results showed that the alcohol levels were zero the next morning after consuming alcohol. Men had a greater alcohol consumption count than women. The second experiment’s results showed that the alcohol and placebo group did not differ in the memory test, but in the morning session, there was a delayed recall between the two groups. Both articles show how the use of alcohol can disturb memory the next day. Looking forward, finding out how vigilance performance (response to recall back to the words) would affect memory functioning during alcohol hangover should be studied to understand how the recalled words are in line with those of alcohol hangover that failed to find significant impairment on recall tests.

Samuel Chen

Fibromyalgia and Stressful Stimuli: A Strong Correlation and Potential Causation

Alcohol Hangovers Affect Human Response To Memory Both short-term and long-term memory loss can be caused by excessive alcohol use. The pace of drinking alcohol can affect how fast memory dysfunction comes into play. The objective of the first experiment was to investigate social drinkers’ effects of a normal evening by drinking alcohol on cognitive performance. A target of 20 words were given for performance measures for the purpose of being able to see if participants were able to recall the number of words correctly, and the study required participants to consume PAGE 30

Leandro Couto

Fibromyalgia is a rheumatic chronic pain condition characterized by amplified tenderness or heightened painful sensations throughout the body. In recent years fibromyalgia research alludes to stress and trauma as risk factors for the disease. Stress and trauma have been studied extensively and are known to be causal to other neurological disorders such as depression and anxiety. Despite this link there has been little research conducted on the onset of fibromyalgia.

In the first study the goal was to determine how childhood trauma plays a role in the development of fibromyalgia. Fibromyalgia

ST. FRANCIS PREPARATORY SCHOOL • 2020 SCIENCE RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM

SOPHOMORES • Class of 2021 patients were surveyed and administered an adverse childhood experience questionnaire.

The results showed that fibromyalgia patients reported being hit, insulted or cursed at by their parents significantly more than the controls. The evidence they found supported their hypothesis that adverse childhood events can contribute to the development of fibromyalgia. Furthermore, the second study aimed to evaluate the effect of major life stressors and the risk of fibromyalgia. This was accomplished by comparing data received from the federally-funded, Biopsychosocial Religion and Health Study. It was found that those who experience physical assault/abuses as well as those who suffered sexual assault/abuses at some piont were also more likely to have fibromyalgia whereas emotional abuse/neglect sufferers were not as likely to. This supports that physical forms of abuse are more likely to result in fibromyalgia.

The correlation between stress and trauma and fibromyalgia is significant to the field because it will aid investigations into the development of appropriate screening approaches to the disease.

By monitoring stress after a significant traumatic event in these patients, the negative effects of trauma could be reduced and potentially eliminate a risk of fibromyalgia onset.

the morning cortisol levels and traumatic brain injuries with the loss of consciousness is significantly significantly associated with the current violent convictions. Overall, the higher the number of traumatic brain injuries, with more recent abuse, and low morning cortisol levels can be associated with violent criminal behavior.

In the next article, researchers use the general strain theory to develop a link between childhood abuse and delinquent behavior. It was found that childhood sexual abuse among males are more common than among females. Also, both females and males with childhood physical abuse have common symptoms of depression. For further implications, this proves that researchers should look into the link between childhood abuse and criminal behavior.

Valerie Franchitti Unconfined Quark States in Dense Astronomical Objects

Matter is made up of infinitesimally small particles called quarks, which have a charge (similar to electric charge) known as color charge. This charge forces them into certain configurations, called color confined states. However, it is theorized Neveah Cuebas that in neutron star cores, quarks can enter into unconfined states. Due to ambiguity in the How Childhood Trauma & Exploitation Can Lead nuclear equation of state, physicists have limited to Criminality knowledge about if these unconfined states are present and what they would look like if they do Childhood abuse is known to be correlated exist. Modeling and observation of binary systems with higher levels of depression and anxiety. containing neutron stars allows for inferences Researchers still have yet to find a true link to be made about the properties of their cores. between childhood abuse and criminal behavior.

Neutron stars are formed after some stars die, and The objective in the first article was to study are a collection of densely packed neutrons. The relationship between basan resting salivary cortisol objective of the first article was to model neutron levels, histories of having been a victim of physical stars with quark cores to determine the properties or sexual abuse, neurologic history and physical of these stars. It was concluded that neutron stars examination abnormalities, and violent crime. with quark cores are likely to exist and that such In this study, it was found that of all the inmates stars would need to have tremendous central studied, 95% had a neurologic history pertaining densities. A second study compared two neutron to the current crime or neurologic examination star binary system mergers and a black hole binary abnormalities. This study also revealed that system merger. The inspiral gravitational waves of ST. FRANCIS PREPARATORY SCHOOL • 2020 SCIENCE RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM

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each system are nearly identical at the start of the merger, suggesting neutron stars and black holes share properties. They are both incredibly dense.

The high density of a neutron star is the primary reason why unconfined quark states are theorized to exist within it. These conclusions suggest that unconfined quark states may exist in the ergosphere of a black hole. This would help explain the similarity in the behaviors of the binary systems. Determining if unconfined quark states exist in or near black holes can help physicists to understand their interactions with other objects and further detail the physics of a black hole.

Sydney Giron Using Eye Movements as a Potential Neurological Indicator for Anorexia Nervosa Anorexia nervosa (AN) is a psychological condition in which the person affected has a fear of gaining weight, significantly low body weight, and an overall negative perception of their body. People with anorexia nervosa attempt to heavily control their shape and weight by regulating their food intake. Among other mental illnesses, anorexia nervosa has the highest morbidity rate; therefore, implying how the lives of individuals with AN may improve if more neurological findings are found. Previous potential neurological findings have not been consistent.

As a result, a specific biological identification tool (biomarker) has yet to be implemented into aiding the diagnosis of AN. Analyzing eye movements, specifically saccadic eye movements (quick phases of gaze), could possibly be an aid in distinguishing people with and without AN. The first study used square wave jerks in order to identify a difference in rates between individuals with AN and healthy control individuals (HC).

The study found that individuals with AN have a significantly higher rate of SWJs than healthy participants. It was also found that by using both anxiety measures and SWJ rates, AN participants were able to be identified correctly. In the second study, various saccadic eye movement tasks PAGE 32

were used to potentially discover a difference in performance between individuals with AN and healthy individuals. The researchers found that AN individuals increased significantly in making prosaccades (looking at a target) at a shorter time span than healthy individuals. They also found that in the memory-guided task AN individuals made more inhibitory errors. Overall, these results imply a potential role of using saccadic eye movements as a useful tool to identify individuals with anorexia. Researchers may locate alternative factors such as GABA (neurotransmitter; significant role in anxiety) that may be the cause of the difference in performance between healthy and AN individuals.

Saree Griffin The Relationship Between Chronic Illness and Having Heightened Feelings of Depression A chronic illness is a disease that persists for more than three months; examples of chronic illness include cardiovascular disease or cancer. Prior studies have shown that the presence of chronic illness leads to depression; however it is not known exactly how significant the effect of chronic illnesses on depression is. The objective of the first study was to investigate the relationship between multimorbidity and depression. In the first experiment researchers conducted a systematic literature search using different scientific databases. Once all the data from the databases were collected and analyzed, it was found that the risk for depressive disorder was twice as great for people with multimorbidity compared to those without multimorbidity and three times greater for people with multimorbidity compared to those without any chronic physical condition. In the second study researchers aimed to compare depressive symptoms in depressed cancer patients and depressed patients without a chronic somatic disease to see if depressed oncology patients showed a specific depressive symptom profile.

In the second experiment 1,054 participants’ (all having depression, but not all having

ST. FRANCIS PREPARATORY SCHOOL • 2020 SCIENCE RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM

SOPHOMORES • Class of 2021 cancer) depression levels were measured using a questionnaire with non-depressed cancer patients serving as a comparison group. It was found that depressed cancer patients had significantly higher levels of depression than patients with non-cancer depression, and depression symptoms occurred more frequently in depressed cancer patients than in non-depressed cancer patients. Collectively this means that having a chronic illness can increase your chances of experiencing depression.

Looking forward, therapists or many other types of doctors can use these studies to create therapy that combats the negative feelings that come with having a chronic illness.

Article 1 found that at a roll angle of 65% the CAI groups showed greater change in the position of the ankle. Article 2 found higher activation in the gluteus maximus for the CAI group, and the tibialis anterior had a post fatigue activation higher than the pre fatigue activation. These experiments both observed that CAI affected the patients in many ways and achieving rehabilitation that affects specifically the proximal hip muscles and specific foot position can help these patients recover. Going forward scientists can look for more regions of the body CAI can affect and work on how to include them into rehabilitation programs for these patients.

Alex Grodzki

Stella Haralambou

The Effects of Chronic Ankle Instability on Muscle Activation and Roll Angle Variability

Role of Gut Microbiota in Parkinson’s Disease

Chronic Ankle Instability (CAI) is frequent in physically active individuals. It can occur as a result of a harsh landing from a jump or sideways motion, both particularly while fatigued. Frontal plate movement in the ankle while jumping in people with CAI is higher than people without CAI, meaning, more frontal plate movement in the ankle increases a person’s risk for more ankle sprains. Observing CAI is important because not many warm-ups or rehabilitation is made for athletes who suffer with CAI, so making connections like the ones in the article are important factors to assist these athletes. The aim of the first experiment was to investigate the amount of roll-angle variability at the foot during a fatigue exercise protocol in participants with CAI. This was done with kinematic data for foot position from participants which performed a functional fatigue protocol based on shuttle runs. The objective of the second experiment was to compare muscle activation during lateral hop pre-fatigue and post-fatigue in individuals with or without CAI. This was done through electromyography of the tibialis anterior, peroneus longus, gluteus medius, and gluteus maximus both before and after functional fatigue protocol.

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disease which is caused by a loss of brain cells in the substantia nigra and leads to movement and digestive issues. It is believed that Parkinson’s disease begins in the gut, and that toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) is involved with certain symptoms however, it is unknown what the role of TLR4 is. It is thought the TLR4 mediated intestinal dysfunction contributes to the inflammation in PD. The objective of the first article is to observe the role of TLR4 in the gut and see if and how it contributes to intestinal and central inflammation in PD related neurodegeneration. It was seen that patients with PD have an increased expression of the TLR4 along with intestinal barrier disruption and higher pro inflammatory gene profiles than the control. The use of Rotenone treatment was also used and was seen to decrease the overexpression of TLR4 causing less inflammation.

The second article hypothesized that gut microbial dysbiosis regulates inflammation through the TLR4 and to see the effects of fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) on PD patients. It was seen that TLR4 causes inflammation in both the gut and brain and that the use of FMT to suppress the symptoms of PD decreases inflammation levels. This shows how overexpression of TLR4

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could cause inflammation and other symptoms of PD and that using treatments such as FMT and Rotenone decreases the inflammation and symptoms. This shows that the study of the overproduction of TLR4 and its role in PD needs to be studied further as well as medication to suppress the production of PD should be studied.

of vegetables should be recommended during pregnancy to prevent preterm delivery and clarification of the role of glucose levels in maternal neonatal outcomes in pregnant women with twins and in general needs to be established.

Adriana Hendrickson-Slack

Comparing prevalence of dementia by location and race in the US

The Impact of Maternal Dietary Patterns on Pregnancy and Delivery Outcomes in China Adriana Slack Maternal diet with frequent consumption of vegetables might contribute to lower odds of preterm delivery. A sweet-based patterned diet is significantly associated with an increased risk of gestational diabetes mellitus, which is a medical condition that affects pregnant women by resulting in higher blood glucose (sugar) levels in non-overweight women. The objective of the first experiment was to find a correlation between maternal dietary patterns and preterm delivery in China. It was found that a maternal pregnancy diet with often consumption of milk and less consumption of vegetables is associated with increased odds of preterm delivery among Chinese women. The objective of the second experiment was to find maternal dietary patterns during pregnancy and discover whether maternal dietary patterns are correlated with the risk of gestational diabetes mellitus in Chinese women pregnant with twins. No dietary patterns were associated with gestational diabetes mellitus which was determined using a self-administered, nonquantitative food frequency questionnaire (FFQ).

A maternal diet with frequent consumption of vegetables might contribute to lower odds of preterm delivery, while vegetable-based patterns had no significant association to gestational diabetes mellitus in pregnant women with twins.

Collectively a high intake of milk based products or sweets can lead to preterm labor or gestational diabetes mellitus especially if you’re carrying twins. Going forward frequent consumption PAGE 34

Matthew Iriarte

Dementia is a neurological disease that results in a decline in cognitive function, which leads to memory loss and difficulty functioning on one’s own. Despite the prominence of dementia, scientists are still not clear what truly causes the disease. However, there are many factors that can increase the chances of an individual developing dementia, such as race and age. Researchers looked to find how dementia rates vary by each state. Scientists found that the South East had the highest percentage of dementia patients, while the North West had much lower amounts. When comparing this information to the percentages of African Americans living in each state, the data is similar. In an additional article, researchers focused more on how race affects dementia in the United States. It was concluded that African Americans had much higher percentages of dementia prevalence than any other ethnicity in the US. Using the information from these articles, along with examining the racial backgrounds of all these states, it can be concluded that race affects dementia prevalence in the US. This information is very important for researchers and the government to use as they fight the continued increase of dementia in the US. Seeing how race affects dementia numbers, state governments with higher percentages of African Americans can adjust their budgets accordingly to better incorporate dementia costs. The factors affecting African Americans increased amounts of dementia prevalence, could be environmental.

Diet, smoking, healthcare, and education are all environmental factors that are believed to increase the risk of dementia, and if these factors

ST. FRANCIS PREPARATORY SCHOOL • 2020 SCIENCE RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM

SOPHOMORES • Class of 2021 are prominent among African Americans, it could show how one’s environment can increase Dementia risk.

Helen Israelian

Sebastian Jeudy The Association Between Interventional Radiology And Cataract Formation Within The Eye Lens

Interventional Radiology (IR) is when doctors Social media is a contributing factor to type 2 use medical imaging to guide minimally invasive diabetes surgical procedures that diagnose, treat, and cure many kinds of conditions. Cardiologists Sleep is a necessity for everyone, especially use equipment such as fluoroscopy, CAT, CT, children and adolescents, but social media use can and x-rays. This equipment puts interventional impact sleep quality and duration. Lack of sleep, radiologists at risk of radiation exposure without if chronic, can lead to many issues such as poor the proper equipment used. The most common academic performances, depression, and can be a health problem interventional cardiologists contributor to Type 2 Diabetes. Type 2 Diabetes see is cataracts forming within their eyes. A is -for some- when the body is resistant to insulin. cataract is the clouding of the normally clear Unfortunately, there is not enough research on lens of the eye. Symptoms include blurry or the effects of social media use on adolescents’ dim vision. Lens opacities are indicative for health. In the first study, the researchers aimed to cataract risks. In 2010, researchers examined the investigate the effects of partial sleep deprivation prevalence of radiation associated lens opacities on markers of glucose metabolism. Twentyamong interventional cardiologist and nurses one healthy, normal-weight adolescent males which correlated with occupational exposure. participated. They had to have 3 consecutive Researchers screened the eyes of cardiologist nights of short sleep (4 hours/night) and long and nurse who’ve been interventional, as well sleep (9 hours/night) duration. The results showed as the eyes of those who’ve been unexposed. that short sleep induces signs of decreased insulin After analyzing the data, posterior lens opacities sensitivity. In the second study, the researchers for interventional cardiologist was 52%, 45% examined how social media use related to sleep for nurses, and 9% for the unexposed. These quality, self-esteem, anxiety and depression. In the percentages show the prevalence of Lens study, they used nighttime-specific social media opacities within the participants tested. In 2013, and examined it affected the adolescents’ sleep researchers then used the O’CLOCK study, quality. The researchers found that there was a also known as the Occupational Cataracts and very significant association between social media lens opacities in interventional cardiology, to use, low self-esteem, anxiety, depression and quantify the scale of cataracts formation within poor sleep quality. If social media use becomes interventional radiologist and staff in France. addictive, it can have a negative effect on sleep 106 exposed interventional cardiologists and 99 that can result in poor academic function, and unexposed were tested during the experiment. could potentially be a contributing factor to type 2 All participants had clinical eye examination to diabetes. In the future, there should be a new study classify the lens opacities of both groups. For the reviewing blood sugar levels in adolescents who exposed group, 17% were found to have posterior use social media and see if there is a difference sub-capsular lens opacities while only 5% of the after not using social media for a month. Teens unexposed were diagnosed. After conducting both should also start using the time limit provided in experiments researchers were able to conclude Apple products to decrease time spent on social that there is a strong dose response relationship media before going to bed to decrease sleep discovered within the working occupational deprivation in teens. exposure and the prevalence of radiation ST. FRANCIS PREPARATORY SCHOOL • 2020 SCIENCE RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM

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associated posterior lens changes. They were also able to conclude that the use of ocular radio protection should be used by personnel in order to avoid any damages within that area.

country, should take a serious look at the privacy violation while using big data and try to figure out a way that minimizes the privacy violation while using big data for making profit.

Daming Jiang

Eleni Kapsokavadis

Big Data: Cost and Benefit of Profit Growing

The Impact of Marine Plastic Contamination on Global Health and Biodiversity

Big Data Technology is a field that treats ways to analyze, systematically extract information from, or otherwise deal with data sets that are too large or complex to be dealt with by traditional dataprocessing application software. This means that this technology tries to grab personal information and to predict thoughts and next actions in the future in order to make both consumers and the firms’ lives easier. One simple example will be: if you were searching a lot of information about Chinese food, you may see a lot of advertisements about Chinese food when you visit some website.

There was a study that is trying to find if Big Data Technology will improve the overall profits of a firm. The researchers asked the CEOs from some Businesses to Businesses (B2B) firms to participate in this study. B2B is when one business sells a product to another business in order to make a profit for both of them. Researchers collected the total profits from each B2B firm without the Big Data Technology being used and compared those data with the total profits from each firm after they used Big Data Technology. The results showed that Big Data technology helped an increase in profits.

Increasing the profit and efficiency in the B2B market will increase the final GDP for a city or a country, which is really good for all the citizens.

However, there was another study that showed that Big Data has violated people’s privacy rights. In the study “Big Data Privacy Issues in Public Social Media”, surveys were sent to citizens by social media and more than 50% of people thought that Big Data has violated their personal privacy and think this technology should be banned. For the future, especially the US, a freedom-focused PAGE 36

Plastics form the majority of human borne contamination in the oceans, representing 6080% of the ocean debris and it possesses a great threat to the marine biodiversity. Thus, it becomes necessary to quantify plastic contamination, the toxins adsorbed onto plastics and their impact on the marine biodiversity. In one of the studies, filter feeding mussels Mytilus galloprovincialis were exposed to virgin or pyrene-contaminated plastics for 7 days, post which, their hemolymph, digestive glands and gills were removed. The amount of pyrene adsorbed onto the plastics, the relative histological distribution of the plastics and the immunological, neurotoxic and genotoxic impact due to plastic ingestion was determined.

It was found that the amount of pyrene adsorbed onto the plastics increased in a dose dependent manner and the gills were found to be the first site of plastic uptake. Similar immunological responses were observed in organisms exposed to virgin and contaminated MP, indicating that the immunological responses were mostly induced due to the physical ingestion of the particles, more than the chemical toxicity associated with adsorbed pyrene. In another study involving Delphinus delphis stranded on the Alboran sea coast showed the presence of organophosphorus flame retardant (OPFR) in different tissues. OPFRs are a class of flame retardants commonly used as plasticizers in plastic products and are notorious for their neurotoxicity and endocrine disruption.

Different organs of the dolphins were removed and analyzed for their OPFR content. High levels of OPFR was found in the fatty tissues like blubber,

ST. FRANCIS PREPARATORY SCHOOL • 2020 SCIENCE RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM

SOPHOMORES • Class of 2021

indicating their rapid metabolism. While relatively higher levels in the brain than in blubber reflected OPFR’s high potential to cross the blubber-brain barrier (BBB), indicative of their neurotoxicity.

These studies evaluated the effect of the dumped plastic itself and the toxins adsorbed onto it in two organisms: the small mussels and the large dolphins, thus giving a more holistic quantification of the overall impact of plastic contamination.

It provides the basis for future analysis of the biomagnification of plastic impact occurring through the food chain.

Zara Khan

Gender Stereotyping Among Preschool Children

stereotyping as early as three years old and it was more common among males. With the results of both of these studies combined, we can discern how not only adults penalize children for counter stereotypical behavior but how children practice it amongst themselves. It is important that in the future we explore the inflexibility of the masculine gender role as well as questioning why stereotypical beliefs are so popular.

Janiya Koger Brain Structure Differences and Abnormalities in Autism

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a serious Sexism and stereotyping have been significant developmental disorder that negatively impacts factors throughout history that have shaped the nervous system and causes different effects. the world we live in today. Even today it is still The disorder can cause differences in social the popular opinion that men are to be tough interactions and behavioral patterns. There is no and women the exact opposite. The majority of definite cure for it or a known physiological cause societies draw lines to make children feel things for exactly what happens. Numerous brain regions like they can only play with a certain toy based on are correlated with abnormalities in each case their gender. However, how old a person needs of ASD. A study was conducted by performing to be to draw these lines and how children are a meta-analysis on any brain structure changes punished for counter stereotypical behavior has yet that were found in people diagnosed with ASD. to be determined. In the article “Backlash against The results were collected from neuroimaging gender stereotype-violating preschool children” (MRI) to identify and analyze abnormalities and the objective was to determine the ‘content’ of to determine if there was a correlation among all descriptive, prescriptive, and proscriptive gender the subjects tested to attempt to find what part of stereotypes for preschoolers. They also wanted the brain was affected. The study suggested that to know if preschoolers who perform counter there was an inverse relationship between age and stereotypical actions get backlash from adults. changes in gray and white matter. As one ages They found that toddlers do receive backlash both the white and gray matter will decrease. The for conducting counter gender-stereotypical objective of the second study was to test if gender behaviors. They also learned that feminine boys plays a significant role in the severity of brain received the least amount of toleration and the abnormalities. This study was also conducted by most backlash. In the article “Boys Just Don’t! performing structural MR imaging to measure Gender Stereotyping and Sanctioning of Counter- overall gray and white matter volume in 15 males Stereotypical Behavior in Preschoolers” scientists and 13 females who were diagnosed with ASD. wanted to explore preschoolers adoption of Once the results of the research were gathered, it gender stereotypes and how early they start to was found that gender does play a role because discourage other children’s counter stereotypical males have a higher white matter volume. These actions. They found that children begin to practice can be used to help scientists find a way to cure ST. FRANCIS PREPARATORY SCHOOL • 2020 SCIENCE RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM

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ASD based on the region(s) affected, and to study the organization of gray and white matter as a child grows and develops.

of CAR T cell treatment.

Jonathon Lee

Optimized Incorporation of Up-Cycled CNTs into Concrete

Grace Lee

The optimized incorporation of carbon nanotubes The Relationship between chimeric antigen (CNTs) derived from carbon-rich waste receptors and human derived regions in hepatitis products into concretes and other cementitious B and B- cell malignancies compounds can be used to create inexpensive and lightweight concrete with greater tensile CAR T cell therapy is primarily a cancer treatment strength compared to conventional Portland method that utilizes a patient’s own T cells and concrete. Due to CNT’s high tensile strength, engineers them to destroy cancer cells. This is their incorporation into cement allows for the done through collecting the patient’s blood and cement to contain a lower volumetric percentage then engineering for tumor specific receptors of sand aggregates, therefore matching the onto the T cells. There are many side effects to strength of ordinary concrete while containing this treatment including severe cytokine release the same. The application of CNTs with concrete syndrome (CRS), neurotoxicity, and activation is inhibited by their tendency to aggregate into induced cell death (AICD). To find ways for side clumps after being added into the cement paste effects not to occur in patients, scientists are mixture. Adding CNTs to concrete acts as a way looking into different methods for the CAR to to preserve heavily used natural resources such as function in the patient’s immune system without sand, which has become one of the most copiously being attacked such as creating parts from human consumed natural resources in the world next origins. In the first study, the objective was to to fossil fuels, water, and air due to its essential determine the effects for treating hepatitis B in usage in construction and infrastructure. The mice with a healthy immune system using a CAR objective of the first experiment was to devise made with human parts. The result was that the S- a method of effectively dispersing CNTs into CAR, the target being the S protein which is found samples of concrete such clumps would not form. on the surface of the virus, did not elicit a response Ultimately, introducing ultrasonic vibrations into with a compromised immune system in the mouse CNT concrete samples was found to be far more models. When the S- CARs were transferred to efficient than the control group. The objective of the mice after their immune system was weak and the second experiment was to synthesize carbon then allowed to grow in the mice over a period nanomaterials, specifically activated carbon and of three months, the next injection of S- CAR carbon nanotubes, from Miscanthus x gigantus, did not elicit an immune response which was a a waste product unusable as an energy source in positive result. In the second study, the objective combustion. It was found that this biomass allows was to determine how the human CAR hinge and for a more efficient production of multi-walled transmembrane domains affect the biology of carbon nanotubes. Going forward, the optimized anti-CD19 CAR T cells. They did this by creating usage of waste products on frequently used or two CARs using the human CD28 molecule or resource-intensive cementitious materials along the human CD8 molecule. The result was that with the environmental impact of their usage the human hinge and transmembrane domains should be researched. did not cause AICD. Collectively, this means that a fully human CAR construct should be used to reduce probability of AICD and maintain efficacy PAGE 38

ST. FRANCIS PREPARATORY SCHOOL • 2020 SCIENCE RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM

SOPHOMORES • Class of 2021

Christian Liszewski

Josephine Lobosco

The benefits and drawbacks of the use of alternative fuels within in the cement industry

Detection of Lead-Based and Lead-Free Primers in Gunshot Residue

Cement and concrete production is one of the major industries that pollutes the atmosphere by using excessive amounts of fossil fuels. Researchers tested alternative fuels made from recycled wastes that could in theory help the environment but also keep up with the fuels used in cement industries today. The objective of the first article was to find a way to incorporate the use of alternative fuels to lower the dependency of the use of fossil fuels.

They have created and conducted 4 experiments ranging from 75%, 50%, 25%, and finally 0% of engineered fuel (EF). With these percentages, they burned the use of alternative fuels with coal as for the alternative fuels to be more dependent on producing energy then the coal used in the experiment. They’ve found out that the alternative fuels were beneficial when using the engineered fuels and the air pollution emissions were to be reduced from around 390 kg of carbon dioxide. The objective of the second article was to find a coal-equivalent alternative fuel in the cement industry that could be ecological to the environment and more economical to be used as.

What they did to test was that they used 2 material waste mixtures called PASi and PASr. They used these mixtures to remove the dependency of the fuels used in these industries that in theory would help reduce the amount of energy and that the costs of the fuels would lower as they could use fewer fossil fuels. With the link we can see that alternative fuels are a consideration to most of the industrial plants, as it has such a high potential if people were to invest in the idea and also that with the use of alternative fuels, it will help lower down fuel emissions into the atmosphere. Finally as we look forward, as wastes piles up, we will always know that there is a replenishable force of materials and resources industries could use.

Gunshot residue is an important factor in forensic investigations because the presence of residue can help identify a suspect or witness.

Traditionally, gunshot residue was detected by testing for lead, but lead-free primers are being used more frequently in ammunition because they don’t react with the environment like leadbased primers do. The detection of lead-free primers is difficult since lead-free primers contain components that analysts were not familiar with seeing in residue. The first study used cases of suicide by firearm to see the presence of gunshot residue without post-mortem movement. This study found lead-free primers used in a majority of the suicide cases, making it difficult to detect residue particles. The second study was looking for the different components of lead-free primers to better understand the difference between different primers. Researchers found that different manufacturers had different compositions in the lead-free primers, but five components were found in all lead-free primers. These were silicon, potassium, calcium, and tin. It was also found that copper, zinc, and nickel were in the leadfree primer residue due to the components of the cartridge casing. Collectively, the data showed that lead-free primers have different components than lead-based primers and can be distinguished by the presence or absence of these metals. Going forward scientists should look to create a database for differentiating lead-free and lead-based primers and try to classify which manufacturer the ammunition came from, leading to possible murder weapons and suspects to be found.

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Kaylee LoPiccolo Treating Undesirable Canine Behaviors with Behavioral Medications Behavioral disorders in canines are becoming a more widely acknowledged issue. Some of these disorders include anxiety, aggressiveness, and destructive behavior. Medications that lower the severity of these disorders are crucial to keeping dogs healthy and safe. All canines react differently to different medications for these disorders, and some medications may not work at all. Behavioral disorders in canines can also negatively impact the health of the dog. These negative impacts can be physical abuse from the owner, pain inflicted on other animals or humans, and even euthanasia. Many studies have been conducted to test different medications for these disorders.

The first experiment used a base of fluoxetine to try and calm these disorders. Different owners of 93 dogs with disorders identified as aggression or anxiety were given modifications to the fluoxetine prescription with a second type of medication. The study found that 59% of dogs responded positively to the fluoxetine. Trazodone was also the most effective when added on to fluoxetine, with 14 positive responses to this medication. The second study focused specifically on trazodone. 1,766 dogs were either grouped as ‘sick’ or ‘not sick’, depending on whether or not they had kennel cough. Any behavioral issues like anxiety or aggressiveness were noted, and doses of trazodone were altered accordingly. The study found that the trazodone worked best on dogs with behavioral disorders but not physical disorders. This is because more dogs were adopted when they were given trazodone to help them ease into the shelter. It can be concluded from these two studies that medications can help ease behavioral disorders like anxiety and aggression.

The dogs that were given medications were found to have less aggression or anxiety, depending on their disorder. The first study helped dogs become well behaved overall, and the second study helped dogs become well behaved in shelters. Over time, PAGE 40

dogs’ behavioral issues can be helped with these medications. Therefore, their chances of being adopted should be higher and hopefully fewer dogs will be euthanized.

Taylor Massias-Acosta The Manipulation and Reactivation of Negative Memory in People with Social Anxiety Disorder Social anxiety disorder is the fear and worrying that is associated with social situations and interactions with others. Part of what happens in the socially anxious is caused by negative memories from past communications and the reactivation of those thoughts after sleep which contributes to anxiety and sleep correlating.

There have not been consistent findings on memory manipulation with patients suffering from social anxiety disorder. Also, it is unknown if the emotional content of the stimuli changes the performance of individuals with and without social anxiety. One study wanted to see how the memory of patients with social anxiety would work when researchers manipulated the content that they saw. The participants were split into a social anxiety or control group and saw positive, neutral, and negative pictures which they would sort into groups and either remember the order in which they saw them or re-sort them. Individuals with social anxiety exhibited greater sorting costs for neutral vs. emotional information.The second study tested adolescents with social anxiety and how negative memory biases affect it. Before the participants slept, they would pair positive and negative words and pictures and remember them for the next day and week. This association was shown in the brain, and it was found that social anxiety patients remembered negatively connoted words and pictures rather than positive ones.

These two studies come together to show that people with social anxiety have prevalent negative thoughts and memories which makes it harder to deal with situations that bring on anxiety.

In the future, it is important to test attention

ST. FRANCIS PREPARATORY SCHOOL • 2020 SCIENCE RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM

SOPHOMORES • Class of 2021 and schemas in relation to working memory in patients with social anxiety in order to prevent or improve their disorder.

be a key component in detecting cancer. Earlier diagnosis enables more planning and effective treatment.

Tiffany Ng

Andrea O’Hara

The Role of Artificial Intelligence in Detecting Cancer

The Importance of Discovering and Analyzing New Treatments for Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma

Cancer is a disease in which abnormal cells divide uncontrollably and destroy healthy body tissue by robbing them of space and nutrients.

Common cancers include lung, breast, colon, and gastric cancers. Detecting cancer is a key problem since it often is detected in its later stages when it has already spread through the body. Treatment can be excessively expensive and can last a lifetime. Artificial Intelligence, a form of algorithm that is designed to perform tasks that normally require human intelligence, may detect cancer more rapidly than human physicians. The first experiment compared breast cancer detection performance of 14 radiologists reading mammographic examinations unaided and those 14 radiologists reading mammographic examinations with the help of an Artificial Intelligence system aided. The Artificial Intelligence system was compared to radiologists who had more than 10 years of experience. A total of 240 mammographic photos from 240 women were used in this study. As a result, the 14 radiologists with unaided support had an average accuracy of 87%. While with aided support it has an accuracy of 89%. The radiologists with unaided support had additional reading time. Aided support did not have any additional reading time.

Demonstrating that with the help of an Artificial Intelligence System it tends to be more precise and doesn’t take much time. The second experiment’s objective was to create a deep learning model, a type of artificial intelligence system to detect gastric cancer in endoscopic images. The model detected an accuracy of 98.8% of the 70 out of 71 lesions with a diameter of 6mm. Going forward, these findings suggest Artificial Intelligence will

Pancreatic adenocarcinoma is the fourth and fifth most common cause of cancer death in the United States. But when diagnosed, the patient is already in the furthest stage of their cancer, where treatment has no solution. In past studies, other chemotherapeutic agents have been used in combination with chemotherapy as treatments.

Gemcitabine has been the reference treatment for patients, and those treated with Gemcitabine had a significantly improved survival time when compared to other chemotherapeutic agents such as fluorouracil, and erlotinib.

The objective of the first experiment was to show improved survival time in patients with metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma using the treatments bevacizumab plus gemcitabineerlotinib compared with placebo plus gemcitabineerlotinib. The objective of this experiment was not met based on the number of people who showed improvement in their cancer. But progression-free survival was shown higher in the bevacizumab group than the placebo group.

In the second experiment, the objective was to determine the maximum dose tolerated, toxicity, and the efficiency of gemcitabine combined with fluorouracil as treatment for patients with pancreatic cancer. This combination was well tolerated and showed promising results of efficacy in patients with pancreatic cancer. To conclude, the first experiment’s treatment had not shown improved results in patients with pancreatic cancer, while the second experiment’s treatment had. Both experiments showed why it should be a primary focus to keep discovering and analyzing new treatments for pancreatic adenocarcinoma.

Going forward this means researchers should

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continue experimenting with gemcitabine and other combinations of chemotherapeutic agents to improve survival time in patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma.

500 ppm or corals will be extremely harmed. If temperatures underwater keep on increasing then 60% of the corals will be damaged.

Om Patel

Emma Pereira

Climate change impacts on coral reefs

Assessing and Responding to the Impacts of Climate Change on Crop Cultivation

Human activities have increased greenhouse gas levels around the globe. This is one of the greatest threats to coral reefs. As the ocean absorbs carbon dioxide, ocean acidification increases. In the first experiment their goal was to analyze the effects on coral reefs after severe bleaching events. They collected different bleaching responses of nine species of corals in Raiatea. Bleaching events happen when corals expel symbiotic algae living in their tissues due to temperatures increasing underwater. Coral reefs that have flourished over the past half-million years will be affected by future conditions including increased global average temperature and an increase in sea levels.

The results showed that reefs will change rather than going extinct. They came to this conclusion on the basis of some species having already shown tolerance to climate change and coral bleaching.

In the second experiment the objective was to predict short-term serious consequences for reefassociated fisheries, tourism, coastal protection, and people. Temperatures from the past 420,000 years were collected and compared to the last 100 year’s temperatures. They concluded that there will be an increase of 2℃ in global average temperatures by 2050- 2100. This will result in less diverse reef communities and carbonate reef structures that are failed to be maintained. This will negatively affect coastal protection, fisheries, and tourism. These two experiments link because both of them tell how coral reefs and other species such as humans will be affected by climate change. The first article tells the outcomes of bleaching underwater and the second article tells how other things will be affected if the population of corals decreases.

In the future we can’t let the CO2 level reach PAGE 42

Over the years, climate change has affected the agricultural industry negatively. Crops are sensitive to changes in climate; as a result, climate change has taken a toll on the agricultural industry. Farmers are producing lower yields, certain crops cannot be grown anymore, and soil fertility has decreased in value. Several types of global circulation models help to predict what areas of land will be affected by climate change and what factors can improve those conditions. The first experiment aimed to add the effects of soil organic carbon (SOC) on soil fertility in order to assess climate change impacts on crop cultivation. A model that displayed future land suitability for climate change was created and applied to the barley yield in Sweden. Soil management was found to be crucial in mitigating the impacts of climate change and caused a great increase in yields. The second experiment aimed to assess the impacts of climate change on 13 common protein rich crops in Europe. Climate change was found to have overall decreased land suitability in Europe, as the suitability of cooler weather crops declined in southern Europe and thrived in northern Europe. The three crops most susceptible to climate change are the faba bean, lentil, and chickpea. Additionally, the quinoa was the crop that was the most resistant to climate change. From these results, it can be concluded that the effects of climate change can be mitigated if farmers focus on growing/breeding crops that are tolerant to climate change, expanding cropland to more suitable farming areas, and managing soil fertility. The two experiments serve to encourage implementation of these changes and push for more research into mitigating climate change impacts.

ST. FRANCIS PREPARATORY SCHOOL • 2020 SCIENCE RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM

SOPHOMORES • Class of 2021

Sophia Ribarich

Krishna Shah

The Association Between Parental Overprotection and Social Anxiety in Peer Relations

The efficacy of long-acting reversible contraception

Long- acting reversible contraception (LARC) is Parental overprotection can lead to higher levels of a group of contraception methods that provide anxiety and worry. These high levels of anxiety and effective contraception and prevent pregnancy worry can cause problems in peer relationships. for a long period of time. LARC methods are Bi-directional links between social anxiety and proven to be about 20% more effective than an peer relations may exist, as well as parental average birth control pill. Many countries have overprotection during childhood. Adolescents an increasing number of unwanted pregnancies suffering from social anxiety have fewer positive that eventualy lead to an increasing number of experiences in the peer context. The objective unsafe abortions. This issue stems from cultural of the first study was to investigate the relative stigma and taboo around contraception. The first contribution of recalled parental overprotection experiment was a cohort study which included in childhood and metacognitions in predicting 9,256 participants from the ages of 14 to 45. The levels of worry. This study had 301 participants. objective of the study was to promote the use of They were administered 4 self reports, which long-acting reversible contraception methods assessed parental overprotection, metacognitions, to reduce the rate of unintended pregnancies. anxiety, and worry. Metacognitions, referring The rate of failure of the LARC methods was to information participants held about the then compared with other commonly prescribed significance of cognitive experience and how it contraceptive methods, such as oral contraceptive should be dealt with; predicted anxiety, worry, and pills. The study found that the effectiveness of parental overprotection. Parental overprotection, LARC is higher than other familiar contraceptive as well predicts levels of worry and anxiety. The methods. The second experiment was a crossobjective of the second study was to investigate sectional study exploring LARC use and future prospective bi-directional links between social contraception preferences in Sub-Saharan African anxiety and different facets of peer relations during adolescents due to the excess of undesired adolescence. 1,528 adolescents attending one of pregnancies. The study found that a majority of the 4 secondary schools in central Sweden were sexually active adolescents in Sub-Saharan Africa used in this study. Each year, questionnaires were are not using contraception but are keen to do administered measuring variables such as social so. Collectively, the data demonstrated that the phobias, peer acceptance, peer victimization, and use of LARC would lower the rate of undesired friendship quality. Lower levels of peer acceptance pregnancies, maternal and neonatal morbidity. predicted social anxiety, social anxiety predicted Although both studies demonstrated that LARC is decreases in relationship support form males and the most effective option of all contraceptives, it is increases in peer victimization for females. The still inconclusive as to why LARC isn’t suitable for results show that an overprotective parenting some women and will require further research. style can predict social anxiety, which can cause adolescents to fear peer relations, and cause adolescents to have fewer positive experiences.

Going forward, scientists should test parental overprotection connected to social anxiety in peer relations, and should also test to see those factors can cause long-term effects.

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Danial Sheraifi

Taylor Singramdoo

Orbitofrontal cortex in the role of risk assessment and decision making based on reward history

Benzodiazepine Dependence, Effects of Withdrawal, and Persisting Long Term Effects

In humans, the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) is part of the frontal lobe that is responsible for analyzing values, context specific responding, and analyzes value in context. OFC dysfunction is linked to OCD disorders and addictive behaviors. But the OFC is still one of the least known parts in the human brain. Two studies have been linked to the orbitofrontal cortex’s role in risk-reward gambling tasks in mice. The first study’s objective was to study the effects of OFC lesions on rats who complete a risky gambling task. Researchers trained adult Sprague-Dawley rats to complete a gambling task that involved assessment of risk and reward volume. Then they compared results between sham surgery rats and OFC lesion rats.

They concluded that IOFC lesions inhibited the ability for adult mice to make competent decisions based on a risk-reward gambling task.

The objective of the second study was to find how the IOFC promotes risk-reward biases.

Researchers trained 39 male adult rats to complete a similar gambling task, and studied activity in the rodent IOFC. They also tested how disruption of the IOFC affected risky win-stay biases. They concluded that the lateral orbitofrontal cortex played uses past experiences to predict how to complete the next gambling task. Also, rats with a disrupted IOFC had eliminated their risky win-stay bias. This shows us more on how the OFC processes reward history and uses it to make decisions based on those experiences. Both studies suggest the OFC’s overall role in applying past experiences regarding rewards and applying them to make better judgement of the task given.

These studies can help us understand how the OFC works with abstract concepts such as risk and safety, and how it promotes learning and influences choices through reward history.

Benzodiazepines (BZDs) are depressants that are frequently prescribed for short term use. They’re primarily prescribed for people suffering from anxiety, acute stress attacks, and sleep disorders.

BZDs can also be prescribed for people with PTSD, schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder. These are often co-prescribed with opioid analgesics to chronic pain patients. While they are medical drugs, there has been a spike in the amount of people using the drug for other purposes, with which can or has led them to addiction. In one article, it was found that in the United States young adults within the age range of 18-25 years old have the highest rates of benzodiazepine misuse. In their sample of BZD misusers, they found a 12.6% prevalence of BZD dependence, 21.1% BZD abuse, and 24.2% BZD abuse and/or dependence.

In another article, researchers examined areas of cognitive functioning in previous long-term benzodiazepine users who have withdrawn and were not taking other psychotropic medication.

They found that given the length of abstinence from BDZs was between 1 to 29 years, the persisting cognitive effects observed indicate that the impairments may also be long-term. When BZDs over a prolonged period of time, decisions about therapy and treatment should be made after considering these long term effects. Doctors should exhaust all options before prescribing one to people who are suffering these long term effects, and see whether if they misused, abused, or are dependent on BZD’s.

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ST. FRANCIS PREPARATORY SCHOOL • 2020 SCIENCE RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM

SOPHOMORES • Class of 2021

Gianna Tallini

Theoni Theofanopoulos

A need for more situation-specific guidelines for treating Type 2 Diabetes

Reducing Left Atrial Appendage Closure-Related Complications

Diabetes is a progressive disease that affects the way the body processes glucose. Studies have found that obesity is comorbid with type 2 diabetes and makes the disease progress faster.

Treatment involves an oral medication called metformin that is sometimes paired with other medications to lower HbA1C levels. In cases of patients with a BMI of over 35, bariatric surgery is used as treatment. Treatment guidelines can be limiting to a large number of patients who have different circumstances. The purpose of the first study was to see if patients that had a BMI of less than 35 could benefit from bariatric surgery as well as the patients that typically qualify for it. Patients with a BMI between 30-35 were split into a surgery group where they chose a form of bariatric surgery and were monitored, and a medical weight management group where participants had to diet and exercise and were monitored weekly. After six months it was found that the bariatric surgery group had more success with a 65% remission rate.

The purpose of the second article was to examine treatment patterns for newly diagnosed diabetics in China and see if they are consistent with the China Diabetes Society’s clinical treatment guideline. Researchers did this by using the SuValue database and divided patients into groups based on HbA1C levels at diagnosis. It was found that treatment was consistent with guidelines in only one fifth of the patients. These two articles collectively show that diabetes treatment is not consistent with pre-existing guidelines. They suggest that in the future more research should be done to alter the guidelines to make them more case specific.

The left atrial appendage (LAA) is a small sac in the muscle wall of the left atrium. Atrial fibrillation (AF) can cause excess blood to accumulate in the LAA which could possibly lead to a blood clot. A clip device can be implanted in the heart to help keep the LAA closed. This device has also been proven to reduce strokes with patients undergoing cardiac surgery. The objective of the first study was to explore the long-term safety of LAA closure and reduction of strokes in patients undergoing cardiac surgery. Forty patients with AF were used to test for post LAA closure mortality, stroke, pneumonia, heart failure, and others. It was found that the likelihood of stroke in patients after LAA closure had declined rapidly. The objective of the second study was to examine the reduction of stroke and mortality in patients undergoing cardiac surgery for LAA closure. There were 3653 patients that were in the study that showed a significant decline in mortality and stroke. Both of the studies show how LAA closure results in reduction in mortality, stroke and other related adverse events of patients undergoing heart surgery. Doctors believe that LAA closure has been more effective than the drug Warfarin that also helps with atrial fibrillation.

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Veronica Trotman

Evangeline Tsevis

The Effects of Dance Communication on Pollen Collection in Honey Bees

Loneliness and Depression as Risk Factors for Alzheimer’s Disease

Honey bees are social insects that must work together to complete different tasks such as collecting pollen. They work together by communicating with each other through dance language that signals information to the rest of the colony. It is unclear whether the quality and diversity of the pollen being collected can affect bee health or which neural mechanisms control their dance communication. One study showed that pollen diets can be affected by waggle dances.

There were twenty four different colonies that were spread out in groups of three amongst eight different landscapes. They separated them so that a group of colonies would have their waggle dance disrupted when trying to communicate the information of a possible foraging site while the other control group was interrupted. The pollen collected by colonies with an interrupted waggle dance had less genetic richness and had a lower pollen foraging success. Another study showed that the use of octopamine, which controls appetitive behavior, can modulate honey bee dance behavior. Different doses of oral treatment of octopamine affected different parts of the dance behavior. The higher doses affect the duration of the dance that tells their distance from the food source while the lower doses affect the likelihood of dances being performed. Both studies give insight on the importance of the waggle dance to honey bee colonies in terms of getting the greatest foraging rate success and collecting nutrient rich pollen. Looking forward, we should conduct a long term study on the effects of dance communication on the diversity of pollen and finding a neural mechanism in honey bees that will assist in them targeting pollen that is most beneficial to the colony.

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Loneliness is the feeling that our social relationships are not as strong as our desired social relationships. Many people suffer from persistent bad moods or loss of interest in activities, also known as depression. These horrible disorders that people struggle with daily have also been thought to lead to certain types of cognitive impairment.

For example, it is believed that depression and loneliness are risk factors for dementia, however the link between them has not been confirmed yet. The objective of the first study was to observe if loneliness was a risk factor for dementia. In this study it was hypothesized that a higher loneliness meant a higher risk of Alzheimer’s Disease. The participants of the study were assessed on loneliness using the Jong-Gierveld Scale. This testing lasted four years. Anyone who died underwent a post mortem examination.

It was concluded that the perception of being alone was associated with cognitive decline and development of dementia. The objective of the second study was to determine the association between depression and a risk of dementia. This study was completed using 325 patients from the Hospital of Santa Maria in Lisbon, who had a clinical diagnosis of depression. Each participant was tested for depression using a questionnaire that evaluated extroversion, neuroticism, and psychoticism. In the end out of the 133 remaining participants 76% developed Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia. Overall it has been shown that depression has been linked with dementia and loneliness has also been linked with Alzheimer’s Disease. These discoveries could lead to determining whether depression and loneliness cause dementia. Continuing to study this topic can be used to prevent dementia and to determine whether loneliness and depression are a cause or symptom of dementia.

ST. FRANCIS PREPARATORY SCHOOL • 2020 SCIENCE RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM

SOPHOMORES • Class of 2021

Milena Velez

Juliana Wicelinski

The Causes of Memory Conformity

The use of pulsar timing arrays in the detection of gravitational waves

Memory conformity is when one person alters his or her memory of an event due to someone else’s recollection of the same event. This is substantial as it can alter eyewitness credibility. In the first study the objective was to discover if the degree of memory conformity could be predicted from interrogative suggestibility. Interrogative suggestibility is the degree to which people are susceptible to altering their memory reports.

The first study showed that people with a higher tendency to succumb to the leading questions being asked had higher memory conformity rates.

The pressure put onto the participants had little to do with rate of memory conformity in the first study. Memory conformity was assessed by using stimuli of 60 words that participants studied, then were shown in a powerpoint with 60 more words they didn’t study. They had to recall the words they studied and the words they didn’t. A highly debated topic is if memory conformity affects all memory, accurate memories, or inaccurate memories. The difference between accurate and inaccurate memories being, what really happened and remembering the situation as such or what is thought to have happened and because it makes sense the brain alters the memory to corroborate with it. The second article explores this. It was found that inaccurate memories are much more malleable than accurate ones. This had to do with if the other participant suggesting the conflicting memory had high confidence. The high confidence could have affected the other participants by striking insecurity in the participant with intertwines with the first study. In order to fully understand the cause of memory conformity, both study’s results are needed. The link between the two articles is that they look into two different ways as to how memory conformity is formed.

Going forward future research should be done directly on different personalities and their direct effect on memory conformity.

Pulsars are highly magnetized, rapidly rotating neutron stars that emit a beam of electromagnetic (EM) radiation from each of their poles. The EM radiation that is detected by instruments is detected in pulses that occur at very regular, predictable intervals, making them great tools for detecting gravitational waves (GWs) as GWs create a disturbance in this regular pulse period.

This has been found to be useful, especially as GWs can be seen through the disturbed pulsar period even if they are out of the frequency range of ground-based GW detectors. Current groundbased GW detectors have detected the merging of binary stellar-mass black holes and binary neutron stars. However, they have not been able to detect GWs from intermediate-mass black holes, supermassive black holes (SMBH) or from the gravitational wave background (GWB). One article searched for evidence of the stochastic GWB using a pulsar timing array (PTA) created from pulsar data collected over 11 years by NANOGrav. While it did not find evidence of the GWB, it improved constraints on a SMBH population and a primordial GWB. Another article created detection schemes for 5 different PTAs. It found that the rate of binary black hole mergers is likely very overestimated. While PTAs have not yet detected GWs, the results of these studies suggest that they will be crucial in furthering the research of GWs. Since PTA’s have helped place more accurate constraints on black holes and found that the rate of GWs is overestimated, they will play a crucial role in the future discovery of GWs.

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Anthony Wu

Alex Yu

Socioeconomic Status and Healthcare Resources in Third World Countries

Food-Foraging and Food Transportation Behaviors of Red Imported Fire Ants

Socioeconomic status is the social class of an individual or group, and it is usually measured as a combination of education, income and occupation. Healthcare is the maintenance of health in people who are ill, diseased, or physically/mentally impaired. In third-world countries, there is a lack of healthcare resources because of the number of people who have a low socioeconomic status. The objective of the first study was to explore the health seeking behavior of Bangladeshi parents for their children who have been affected with burn injuries. Studies found that higher income groups chose and had access to better quality healthcare providers than those who are poor. In the second experiment, the objective was to analyze demographic and socioeconomic changes, and the availability of healthcare resources that were collected to examine the impacts on life expectancy in Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar. The results showed that providing more healthcare resources could reduce the risks associated with shortened life expectancy. Both experiments show a positive result when citizens of third world countries receive healthcare. One future implication is that the governments of these countries can take action and provide the citizens with information regarding qualified healthcare providers and how they can have access to them.

The red imported fire ant, Solenopsis invicta, is a highly invasive ant species originating from South America and now inhabiting North America, Australia, and Asian-Pacific regions. They pose a threat to the environment as they feed off small ground fauna and damage seeds. Baiting is one of the most effective methods in managing colonies by exploiting their foraging behaviors. Food transportation and burying behaviors are tested to see if foraging behaviors are uncoordinated, if they possess the cognitive processes present in other species, and if adaptations and factors are present to affect such behavior, in order to increase the efficiency and decrease the price of baiting. The objective of the first experiment was to investigate the hypothesis that S. invicta foraged for food when starved and bury food when satiated. 8 colonies were starved for 37 days and fed to satiation with sausages for 15 days to test behavior. In periods of starvation, more ants were present when foraging and ants on top of the sausage acted defensively; in periods of satiation, fewer ants were present and only small worker ants tended the bait. The objective of the second experiment was to investigate the hypothesis that colonies would transport more food located at the lower part of the tree than the upper. 12 trees, Ficus concinna, were used to plant grounded dog food of varying sizes, .45-1 or 2-3 mm, at varying heights, 20, 80, or 150 cm. Food shape, size, and placement height significantly impacted strategies, such as individual transport, collective transport, or cutting, used by S. invicta, thus increasing competition, decreasing efficiency, and prolonging deadlocks. Food burying and vertical food transporting behavior of S. invicta is vital towards their invasive nature allowing them to thrive in foreign environments. Going forward, this means scientists should research the capabilities of these foraging behaviors in order to develop effective methods to reduce costs, increase effectiveness,

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ST. FRANCIS PREPARATORY SCHOOL • 2020 SCIENCE RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM

SOPHOMORES • Class of 2021 and decrease the volume of released chemical toxicants by baits.

Ashley Zaromatidis Association Between Moral Sensitivity and Empathy Empathy is the ability for someone to understand and share feelings with another. People with neurological disorders, like PTSD and frontal lobe dysfunction, have a disadvantage in feeling empathy and can become more isolated from society. The orbital and medial prefrontal cortex (Medial OFC/MedFG) and superior temporal sulcus (STS) bring strong memories to a normal human who sees pictures with moral content.

Ecstasy (MDMA) is a drug that makes a person feel better about themselves by releasing chemicals of serotonin and norepinephrine. The objective of the first article was to investigate the neural correlates of moral emotion in normal individuals using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Different photos containing moral and nonmoral content were to evaluate how subjects felt about certain situations in society (ex. war scenes, homeless children, animal abuse, etc.). The people in this study did not receive MDMA. This study concluded that the medial OFC/MedFG and STS are critical elements that enable humans to link emotional experience to moral appraisals. The objective of the second experiment was to investigate the effects of MDMA using Multifaceted Empathy Test (MET), Face Emotion Recognition Test (FERT) & Social Value Orientation (SVO) on PTSD patients. The outcome of this experiment was an increase in emotional empathy and prosocial behavior. Both articles tested the positive emotions of normal patients. Patients from both experiments both had an increase in positive emotions. For future studies, the scientists can change the amount of doses on different patients to see different outcomes.

Taylor Zaromatidis Comparing and Contrasting Liver Diseases Hepatocellular Carcinoma & Fibrolamellar Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cancer is a disease caused when cells divide uncontrollably and spread into surrounding tissues caused by changes in DNA. As the amount of cancer cells increase they will eventually form a tumor. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common type of primary liver cancer and occurs most often in those who have underlying liver diseases. Fibrolamellar hepatocellular carcinoma (FL-HCC) is a rare liver cancer that targets adolescents and young adults. Compared to other types of cancers, there are many unknown factors about FL-HCC including the risk factors, symptoms, effective treatments, biology, and tumorigenesis. These studies are critical in order to compare FL-HCC to HCC in hopes of finding a link that will solve these unknowns. The objective of the first experiment was to compare the demographics of FL-HCC and HCC patients by using the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program (SEER). It was discovered that FL-HCC patients are more likely to be younger and the relative survival rates were significantly longer in patients with FL-HCC than those with HCC. The objective of the second experiment was to examine the outcome of 41 patients with FLHCC who were referred to a tertiary-care cancer center over an 18-year period. They discovered that FL-HCC and HCC patients are best delineated by performing abdominal CT and MRI scans. Both types of cancers presented themselves with nonspecific abdominal pain/discomfort, or were asymptomatic. Both articles conclude that FL-HCC and HCC patients have a better chance of surviving the cancer by early diagnosis and a liver resection. In the future researchers should conduct more studies to help researchers better understand the histology of FL-HCC in patients below the age of 40.

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Ruth Zhang The Relationship Between Sleep Disturbance, Alzheimer’s Disease, and Anxiety: a Possible Early Detector for Anxiety Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is a mental illness that is characterized by persistent and excessive worry. Sleep disturbances are known to be correlated to psychiatric disorders such as GAD. However, there is no definite gauge to diagnose many psychiatric disorders besides mental state exams and even then, it is easy for patients to slip through the healthcare system undiagnosed. Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is a neurological, degenerative disorder characterized by cognitive deficits such as dementia and progressive memory loss. Patients with AD are frequently found to have mood disorders.

The objective of the first article was to find the relationship between GAD and AD. Using many tests to access the patients’ mental state, it was shown that patients with AD and GAD were more susceptible to other psychiatric disorders, mainly depression. The second article’s objective was to examine changes in sleep patterns in patients with AD and dementia. Using data from the follow-ups of patients, it was found that reduced sleep was associated with 75% of dementia risk and double the risk for AD. It was supported in the first article that patients with AD and GAD were more prone to other psychiatric disorders. In addition, since the development of AD can be correlated with the lack of sleep, it can be concluded that disturbances in sleep could increase the risk of developing psychiatric disorders. In the future, more mental exams should be distributed to test the patients’ mental health state and a relationship between psychiatric symptoms and any sleep—dementia link needs to be established.

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Eric Zhao Achieving solids state flight with electrohydrodynamic thrust Modern day aircraft utilize propeller blades to generate thrust, but a great amount of space is needed for them to function, and they also require a considerable amount of energy to generate thrust. Electrohydrodynamic thrust or ionic wind, offers a more promising thrust-to-power ratio while occupying much less space. Ions are created by subjecting neutral particles under high voltage electric field, then accelerated by the Coulomb’s Force. Although EHD thrust is favored, it is limited by how much thrust it can generate. Many characteristics of the different components of the device and environmental factors may affect the amount of thrust the device can produce. The first article aimed to increase the thrust and efficiency of electrohydrodynamic thrusters by decoupling the ionization stage with the acceleration stage by using Dielectric Barrier Discharge. It was found that by using this method, thrust was increased at high voltages, but it still did not provide enough thrust for transportation.

The second article determined how an ideal model will perform under different environmental factors, such as surrounding airflow, altitude, and atmospheric pressure, by theoretical equations. It was found that the model will perform best at low speed, low altitude and high current. Results from both articles suggest that electrohydrodynamic thrusters are efficient for small aircrafts such as drones, but it could not produce enough thrust for transportation. In order for EHD thrusters to become suitable for transportation, geometric features of the EHD thruster must be altered to contain passengers.

ST. FRANCIS PREPARATORY SCHOOL • 2020 SCIENCE RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM

SOPHOMORES • Class of 2021

ST. FRANCIS PREPARATORY SCHOOL • 2020 SCIENCE RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM

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Freshmen Class of 2022

Melany Abella

Luke Egan

Spyridon Kaloudis

Imani Adams

Matthew Etienne

Madison Keszthelyi

Nadia Ahmady

Gina Falzone

Jacqueline King

Jeremy Alleyne

Vincent Fazio

Wiktoria Konieczny

Katrina Belczynski

Kennedy Garcia

Briel Lester

Madaline Bishop

Xavier Gonzalez

Natalie Leung

Noel Bond

Gabriella Goris

Michelle Liu

Brandon Brown

Natalie Gosek

JP Macrigiane

Eliana Caba

Samantha Hodurski

Sebastian Manon

Shane Castillo

Daniel Horowitz

Madison Mauro

Dylan Chan

Van Hua Nha

Chloe McGovern

Connie Chen

Grace Hughes

Marqus McIntosh

Darel Danis

Marissa Jagdar

Arjun Mishra

Sophia Dimont

Owen Johnson

Karolina Molter

Oliver Dolega

Alexa Johnson

Marie Montalbano

Junchen Dong

Samantha Jose

Blair Mulholland

Annette Murray

Arianna Ramlall

Tyler Tom

Mikaella Mustac

Alyssa Ramnauth

Jaymie Uruchima

Valery Neira

Victoria Rios

Kai Wang

Lawan Ngosuwan

Olivia Rodriguez

Sienna Winslow

Gabriel Nieves

Hailey Sandoval

Katie Wu

Luke Nissen

Venise Sau

Kathy Yip

Kayla O’Connor

Isabella Schroeder

Jessica Yupa

Theresa O’Connor

Marvin Shehu

Nadia Zaika

Katie Anne O’Gallagher

Catherine Shen

Anthony Zambrano

Michelle Olhoviks

Taylar Simmons

Yuqi Zhang

Christopher Panama

Niovi Skarlatos

Hangling Zhao

Ariana Papadopoulos

Antoinette Slaughter

Sharon Zheng

Peter Power

Cristina Stanescu

Emily Zhou

Marlena Prevete

Jaylene Sunga

Ava Prevete

Samantha Surjoto

Ashley Ramlall

Patricia Tabor

ST. FRANCIS PREPARATORY SCHOOL • 2020 SCIENCE RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM

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St. Francis Preparatory School Founded by the Franciscan Brothers of Brooklyn in 1858

Our Philosophy

St. Francis Preparatory School is a community that affirms its Catholic identity by the four “Golden Links” of Franciscan education, which holds that Spiritual, Intellectual, Social, and Physical values can be drawn from learning. We direct our educational efforts through academic programs and activities to enable students to value all of God’s creation. In the words of Pope John Paul II, the mission of the Catholic school is “to communicate Christ.” At the Prep, this is uniquely interpreted through the spirit of Saint Francis of Assisi whose life is a shining example of peace, love, and respect for the individual, the community, and the environment.

At St. Francis Prep we create an atmosphere where all can experience, communicate, and live the Gospel message. We challenge every individual to value learning, thinking, and critical inquiry. The teachers strive to not only instruct students, but to inspire them.

We provide opportunities for students to develop their academic potential and make college and career choices in concert with their desires and talents.

We appreciate and respect the cultural diversity within the school and throughout the New York Metropolitan Area while embracing our shared humanity. We encourage active citizenship in our democracy by increasing students’ awareness of and involvement in local, national, and global issues. This is the vision we mutually define.

To work toward these ends is a joyful task which provides a sense of fulfillment for the entire Prep community.

St. Francis Prep is a proud community of learning and teaching committed to a standard of excellence that is at the heart of its existence. Recognized

by U.S. News and World Report® as an “Outstanding American High School”, each year over 99% of the Prep’s graduating seniors go on to the college of their choice.

St. Francis Prep is: • Accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges & Secondary Schools • Registered with the Board of Regents of the State of New York • A Member of the New York State Association of Independent Schools • A Recipient of the U. S. Department of Education’s “Excellence in Private Education” Award.

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ST. FRANCIS PREPARATORY SCHOOL • 2020 SCIENCE RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM

High school is four years; St. Francis Prep is forever!

Our Mission is to enable all students to develop

and broaden their spiritual, intellectual, creative, emotional, social, and physical abilities. We value the unique contribution each person makes to the Prep community. Together we create an environment filled with academic success, respect, integrity, and joy.

Our Beliefs

The community of St. Francis Prep values God’s life in each person. Therefore, we are compelled: • To be seekers of Truth.

• To develop a critical intellect.

• To treat all with respect and dignity.

• To lead lives of justice, integrity, compassion.

ST. FRANCIS PREPARATORY SCHOOL • 2020 SCIENCE RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM

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Excellence in Science Education The Campaign for St. Francis Prep The Next 150

The SFP Science Department offers a comprehensive, in-depth program of study in the physical, life, and environmental sciences as well as all four New York State Regents courses: Earth Science, Chemistry, Physics (Physical Setting) and Biology (the Living Environment). Additionally, it offers four Advanced Placement (AP) courses: Physics, Chemistry, Biology, and Environmental Science.

Students may also participate in authentic Science Research, a 3-year sequence of courses that emphasizes the research process and presentation of a final research report. All students must take three years of Science and must pass at least one Science Regents exam in order to graduate.

The Prep’s Science Research Program has grown significantly in recent years in both scope and prestige. The quality of the program has been demonstrated in ten consecutive years and 13 out of the past 19 years where students have been semi-finalists in the prestigious Science Talent Search, making the Prep the only Catholic High School in the nation to accomplishment this. Award winning students are deserving of award-winning facilities. All of the five science labs on the east and west wings underwent a complete “floor to ceiling” redesign. The result is a state-of-the-art Science Center with:

For more information on the campaign, please contact Robert T. Angeletti, Director at St. Francis Prep’s Office of Development at (718) 423-8810, ext. 269 or, via email at: rangeletti@sfponline.org

• New labs that are second-to-none in the metropolitan area with technology that meets the highest level of instructional efficacy; • Newly designed and modernized lab “prep” rooms with the latest safety equipment; • A new college level, stadium-style seating lecture room.

This work is all part of our “Capital Improvement and Modernization Program” designed to transform the Prep into a truly modern, twenty-first century educational facility.

The program includes improvements to the physical plant that will help satisfy future academic programming requirements, while also upgrading the school’s infrastructure to support new and existing academic spaces.

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ST. FRANCIS PREPARATORY SCHOOL • 2020 SCIENCE RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM

St. Francis Prep’s Newly Renovated Science Facilities

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ST. FRANCIS PREPARATORY SCHOOL • 2020 SCIENCE RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM

THANK YOU! The Science Research Program students would like to recognize and thank the following people for all their patience, help, and support: The SFP Board of Trustees Bro. Leonard Conway, O.S.F., President Mr. Patrick McLaughlin, Principal Joseph Castellano, Ph.D., Assistant Principal Chris Mendolia, Assistant Principal Gerilyn Coccia, Assistant Principal Xenos Novoa, Assistant Principal Mrs. Lisa Schaefer-Heuer, Director of Admissions Mr. Joseph DiSomma, Controller Ms. Elizabeth Prohaska, English Department Mr. Eric Hafker, English Department Mr. Joseph Sciame, Computer & Business Department Chairperson Mrs. Jean Truzzolino, Computer Lab Assistant Sr. Philip Kiely, C.S.J., Computer & Business Department Mrs. Robyn Armon, Guidance Department Chairperson Mr. Kenneth Frers, Plant Manager Mr. Michael Graziano, Associate Director of Development Nicole May, iPad Program Coordinator Ms. Mary Pappas, R.N., School Nurse Ms. Annette Pergamo, Pediatric Nurse Practitioner at Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital Mr. Sal Fischetti, Athletic Director and Phys Ed Dept. Chairperson Dr. Christian Shroer-Sullivan, Campus Ministry Ms. Maryann Spicijaric, Principal, Fontbonne Hall Academy Ms. Megan Correira, Campus Minster, Fontbonne Hall Academy Harvard Maintenance

And a very special thanks to…

All the wonderful scientists and professionals who have served as our mentors All of our supportive Science Research parents ST. FRANCIS PREPARATORY SCHOOL • 2020 SCIENCE RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM

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St. Francis Preparatory School

A Legacy of Achievement 1999

2005

2000

2006

2001

2007

Each year, SFP students participate in the Science Talent Search— the nation’s most prestigious precollege science competition. Its provided a national stage for the country’s best and brightest young scientists to present original research to nationally recognized professional scientists.

We’re honored to be a part of this competition’s 70-year history of inspiring scientific advancement.

Intel alumni have achieved some of the world’s most prestigious honors: Eleven have won MacArthur Foundation “Genius” grants, six have won the National Medal of Science and the National Medal of Technology, and seven have won the Nobel Prize.

2002

2008

2003

2010

2004

2013

semifinalists.) St. Francis Prep is the only Catholic high school in the nation to achieve this.

These achievements are a wonderful reflection on our students, our dedicated faculty and staff, as well as our outstanding Science Research Program. Moreover, its an indication of the supportive environment our students have at home, at school and with their mentors.

Many students recognize that its truly a privilege to participate in the Science Research Program.

However, our faculty and staff will also say that it is truly an honor and a privilege to be able to teach such dedicated students.

In 1999 St. Francis Prep embarked upon an impressive streak of achievement of its own. For 10 consecutive years and in 13 of the past 22 years a St. Francis Prep student has been selected as a Semi-finalist.

(In some years, we’ve even had two and even three St. Francis Preparatory School • 6100 Francis Lewis Boulevard • Fresh Meadows, NY • www.sfponline.org