URCAF Abstracts 2014

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https://hdl.handle.net/10057/10870

2014 URCAF Organizing Committee

Chair: Douglas Parham, Health Professions

Ramazan Asmatulu, Engineering

Masud Chand , Business

Dharam Chopra, Liberal arts & Sciences

Kimberly Engber, Liberal Arts and Sciences

Kay Gibson, Education

Kyoung Lee, Liberal Arts & Sciences

Steven Oare, Fine Arts

JJ Pionke, University Libraries

Sponsors :

Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs Office of Research Administration Fairmount College of Liberal Arts and Sciences College of Education College of Engineering College of Fine Arts College of Health Professions University Libraries Honors College

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Now showing 1 - 5 of 10

14th Annual Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity Forum
(Wichita State University, 2014-04-08) Wichita State University
A comparison of estimated heart rate and peak heart rate in firefighters and non firefighters
(Wichita State University, 2014-04-08) Carson, Lindsey L.
Firefighters have a mentally demanding job, which requires preparedness to perform important and difficult tasks instantly once called upon, causing sudden peaks in heart rate. PURPOSE: To determine whether Firefighters and non Firefighters are mentally synced with their heart rate during strenuous activities. METHODS: Six male professional Firefighters (aged 26.83 +/- 6.08 years) and five male non professional Firefighters (aged 25 +/- 4.64 years) participated in this pilot study. Each Firefighter and non Firefighter performed three and two progressive incline treadmill stress tests, respectively, using a further Modified Balke protocol. One test was performed while wearing regular exercise clothing only. During the second test, a vest weighted to 35.5 lbs was worn. The final test, performed by Firefighters only, was done while wearing fire gear, including boots, bunker pants, coat and helmet. For each test, heart rate was monitored via a Polar heart rate monitor, and rated perceived exertion (RPE) was collected as the subject reached a peak heart rate (PHR). RPE was used to determine the subject's estimated heart rate (EHR). RESULTS: Mean EHR and PHR for Firefighters was 141.67 +/- 34.17 and 165.94 +/- 5.50 bpm. Mean EHR and PHR for non Firefighters was 164.44 +/- 21.86 and 166 +/- 3.43 bpm. Paired sample t-tests show that there is not a significance difference between EHR and PHR for non Firefighters (p=0.828), whereas there is a significant difference between the two for Firefighters (p=0.005). CONCLUSION: As determined by this pilot study, non Firefighters are mentally synced with their heart rate, whereas Firefighters are not in regards to RPE during physical activity.
Tongue motion during speech in persons with Parkinson's disease: Effects of speech modifications
(Wichita State University, 2014-04-08) Nemeth, Chelsea
Purpose: Parkinson's disease (PD) affects the ability to produce intelligible speech. Although speech characteristics of persons with PD are well-described in the literature (i.e., a soft-spoken voice, reduced speech precision) and speech deterioration is known to have profound effects on the person's communicative abilities, the specific articulatory deficits that underlie these speech problems and how they can be improved in therapy remains relatively unclear. This study sought to 1) identify disease-related articulatory deficits and 2) determine if speech behavioral modifications (i.e., loud and clear speech) improves articulatory performance in persons with PD. Method: Six persons with PD and six controls repeated a sentence as they normally would speak, after which they were instructed to speak as clearly as possible, and to speak louder than their typical speech. The electromagnetic articulograph was used to measure the range of motion of the tongue during these sentence productions. Results: Data analysis is currently underway. Range of tongue motion will be compared across speech conditions as well as between groups. Results will be discussed with regards to their implications for speech treatment.
Color, relevance and eccentricity influence detection performance of changes in driving scenes
(Wichita State University, 2014-04-08) Usama, Khondoker
Background: The ability to detect sudden onset of events while driving is critical for driving safety. This study explored how factors such as color, relevance to driving and eccentricity of changes influence the detection performance of driving scenes. Method: A change detection paradigm using real-world driving scenes was used (McCarley, et al, 2004). Participants detected the only change in a pair of driving images. The changes varied in color (green, red or other colors), eccentricity (peripheral versus central), and relevance for driving (related versus unrelated). An eye-tracker monitored participants' eye scanning patterns. Results: Behavioral and eye movement data suggested that color, relevance to driving and eccentricity all influence change detection performance of driving scenes. Changes in red were detected quicker and with fewer fixations than changes in green or other colors. Changes relevant to driving (such as appearance of a stop sign or a car) was detected significantly quicker and with fewer fixations than changes not relevant to driving (such as grass color change or onset of an advertisement post); Participants detected changes appearing in the center quicker than changes appearing in the peripheral location of the scenes. The saccadic amplitude was smaller for changes in the center than changes in the peripheral location. In summary, change detection performance is better for red, relevant and central changes (McCarley et al., 2004; Zwahlen & Schnell, 1997). Applications: This study can potentially be used to guide the design of the road and advertisement.
Production of the red pigment prodigiosin in Serratia marcescens using fed-batch bioreactors
(Wichita State University, 2014-04-08) Gomes, Anosh
Prodigiosin is a red, linear tripyrrole compound that is produced as a secondary metabolite by several families of bacterial species including some strains of Serratia marcescens (S. Marcescens). Prodigiosin was first isolated as a pure form in 1929 and has since been show to have strong immunosuppressive, antibacterial antimycotic, anticancer and antimalarial activity. For this reason, prodigiosin has received much attention from researchers in the recent years. Numerous studies have shown to prove the above stated functions of prodigiosin. Although prodigiosin has numerous attractive qualities there is minimal knowledge in the extraction process of prodigiosin from bacterium. This research project aims to design and develop a bioprocess whereby prodigiosin could be produced and extracted in a fed-batch bioreactor. In this project, Serratia Marcescens is cultured on semi-solid media using standardized cell culture techniques and used to inoculate the bioreactor for production and extraction of prodigiosin. A fed-batch reactor was proposed for this due to past report on prodigiosin production and due to its overall simplicity. This reactor system allows optimum production using a simplistic design that could be produced easily at minimal cost and allows careful monitoring of the culture media. The results of this project will enhance our knowledge of prodigiosin production and may facility commercial scale production in the future.

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