SURF Posters 2025

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  Disentangling the Relationships Among Gender, Neighborhood Disadvantage, Depression, and Delinquency

  Brooklyn Giovinazzo

  The association between gender and crime or delinquency, with males committing more crime and delinquency than females, has been well-established in the criminological literature (e.g., Lauritsen et al. 2009; Kruttschnitt, 2013; Steffensmeier & Allen, 1996). This relationship has been consistently found across offenses, except for prostitution, across data sources, and over time. Despite this consistent association between gender and crime, or more broadly gender and deviance, this relationship is not fully understood. In part, this lack of understanding is a result, until relatively recently, of the paucity of research on girls’ deviance and delinquency. More recent research has demonstrated areas of similarity in factors associated with violent delinquency across gender (Giordano & Copp, 2019). Mack and colleagues (2015) used data from the Add Health study, to examine how gender, family structure and family processes were related to delinquency and depression. While the researchers found no gender differences, the relationships between family structure, family processes, depression, and delinquency were complex and warrant further study (Mack et al., 2015). Using data from the longitudinal Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCWS) we will examine the relationships among neighborhood disadvantage, family structure, and family processes and how these complex factors contribute to depression and delinquency across gender for adolescents.

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  On the Applicability of Generating Pathological Speech Data Using Large Language Models

  Caroline Hopkins

  Pathological speech data is scarce in Speech-Language Pathology (SLP). Synthetic data, thus, is an appealing alternative. It extends the amount of usable data without the risk for privacy concerns that naturally occurring data may bring. In this work, a collection of Large-Language-Model-based methods for generating synthetic pathological speech data are studied. Human experts in SLP as judges delivered negative opinions on the quality of the synthetic data generated by a variety of prompt engineering methods. From the judgements, the resulting data was found to be weak in reflecting the characteristics of the target disorders. Further research will involve fine-tuning the prompt with assistance from an expert. When this is completed, a random selection of this artificial data will be mixed with naturally occurring data and given to SLP experts to determine whether or not they can differentiate between the synthetic or natural examples. This will determine whether or not synthetically generated SLP data is viable.

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  Occupational Therapist's Role in Sensory Inclusive Space Design

  Colleen McGill

  The rise in individuals experiencing sensory processing difficulties has revealed the challenges they face in regard to engagement in different environments and social participation. Sensory processing difficulties can impact the individual's social connectedness to entertainment venues that confine larger crowds and overwhelming stimuli, causing a form of occupational deprivation. This form of occupational deprivation can not only affect the individual, but can also impact family interactions at social events. Occupational therapists have proven highly skilled when assessing and treating clients with sensory processing difficulties, as well as evaluating and adapting environments to promote successful participation. With that, there is a pressing need to identify occupational therapists' perceptions of academic preparedness to act as a consultant in creating sensory friendly spaces along with determining methods of assessment and design planning used. Through the use of a survey, researchers seek to accumulate information from practitioners to further their roles as advocates for inclusivity.

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  The Involvement of cAMP in the Secretion of IL-10

  Jyanna J. Mendola

  Schwann cells have been found to play a key role in inflammation and repair following nerve injury. During nerve injury, the myelin sheath becomes damaged, stimulating Schwann cells to secrete cytokines and initiate an inflammatory response. They begin the process of repair by stimulating macrophages to make pro-inflammatory cytokines, such as Tumor Necrosis Factor-Alpha (TNF-a), and anti-inflammatory cytokines, such as Interleukin 10 (IL-10) which promotes healing and injury. Although it is clear Schwann cells play a role in nerve repair, there is still yet to be known regarding the exact mechanisms by which they do so. In vitro, Lipopolysaccharide (LPS), can induce systematic inflammation and stimulate the production of inflammatory mediators, like tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) and Interleukin 10 (IL-10). Reports on LPS-stimulated microglial cells treated with forskolin at various time points revealed an increase in IL-10 mRNA levels. A similar study conducted on LPS-treated RT4-Schwann cell lines that were stimulated with forskolin for 3 hours resulted in the secretion of TNF- α. To further explore the effects of forskolin in LPS-stimulated Schwann cells, the role of IL-10 secretion was examined. It was hypothesized that IL-10 secretion will be increased in LPS-treated Schwann cells and IL-10 secretion will be higher in LPS-treated Schwann cells that are stimulated with forskolin. Cells from the RT4-D6P2T Schwann cell line were treated with 0.1,1, or 10 μg/mL of LPS, or 1, 2, 3 μM forskolin (F), or combinations of LPS and F treatments for 3 and 24 hours in N₂ media in a 24 well plate. Using the ELISA, IL-10 secretion, was higher in LPS + F treated cells than in LPS-stimulated or F treated cells only. IL-10 was increased at 1 μg/mL of LPS with all treatments of F at 24 hours (404⁺/_- 231.3%, 586⁺/_-226.2%, 474⁺/_-299.1%). Surprisingly, IL-10 was higher in LPS-stimulated cells at 3 hours with 10 μg/mL of LPS + 3 μM F(462⁺/_-60.35%) than at 24 hours (66⁺/_-66.3%). In summary, it appears as though all the combination treatments of LPS and F factors, may act in unity to upregulate IL-10, while being dependent on time. These findings suggest that, during nerve injury, the cAMP pathway may have the ability to counteract inflammation by secreting IL-10 in LPS-stimulated Schwann cells is dependent on the concentration of and duration. A better understanding of the balance between the pro and anti-inflammatory cytokines during nerve injury may provide more information.

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  Exploring Physicians/Physician Assistants Perspectives on the Challenges and Communication Approaches when Communicating with People with Aphasia

  Alexandra M. Rogers

  Aphasia is an acquired language disorder that results from damage to the language areas of the brain, typically located within the left hemisphere. Individuals with aphasia often experience significant challenges while communicating with other individuals, including physicians and healthcare professionals. These barriers can ultimately lead to negative impacts on the quality of care, patient experiences, and overall health outcomes. The lack of consistent use of communication strategies as well as a general misunderstanding of aphasia by medical staff, further contributes to communication breakdowns. As a result, medical assessments can be misinterpreted, treatments may be delayed, and patients may feel less involved in their own healthcare decisions. In turn, these barriers to communication may also compromise the patient’s adherence to medical advice, increase the risk of medical errors, and diminish overall satisfaction with care. This study seeks to explore and identify the specific barriers and facilitators that influence communication between patients with aphasia and physicians and physician assistants. Through the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF), literature review was conducted to contextualize existing research. One physician assistant provided consultation on interview design. A mock interview with a practicing physician assistant was then completed, transcribed, and coded using NVivo to establish preliminary themes and assess transcription reliability. Eighteen codes emerged from the analysis. Future phases of this study will expand interviews with practicing physicians and physician assistants to deepen understanding of these dynamics. The ultimate goal is to improving healthcare communication and outcomes for individuals living with aphasia.

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  Queer Life in Nineteenth-Century America: A Historical Literature Review

  Vivian Wright

  In recent political discourses, queerness has often been treated as a modern phenomenon, and many people tend to think of queerness as a twentieth-century invention. Historians, however, have shown this to be false; an extensive amount of historical work details the lives of those who did not conform to sexual or gender norms in nineteenth-century America. This review surveys such works, analyzing nearly twenty different works spanning the course of nearly fifty years. By examining these works chronologically, the development of the field of queer history can be understood in the context of social and political developments occurring in the greater United States. This analysis also revealed the exclusion of certain nonconforming people, such as people assigned male at birth who transed gender. Terminology has been a topic of contention among historians, but terms from recent historians, such as gender migrants, provide a more inclusive vocabulary for historians to use. Recent historians have also begun to examine previously excluded nonconforming individuals, however, more research is needed to include the full breadth of nonconforming individuals in the historical literature.