csi undergraduate conference on research,...

CSI UNDERGRADUATE CONFERENCE ON RESEARCH, SCHOLARSHIP, AND PERFORMANCE

C O L L E G E O F S T A T E N I S L A N D / C U N Y

THURSDAY, APRIL 30, 2009

Tomás D. MoralesPresident

*Sponsored by the Division of Academic Affairs with funding from the CSI Student Government Academic andCurricular Affairs Commissions, and the CSI Foundation

COLLEGE OF STATEN ISLAND/CUNY

CSI UNDERGRADUATE CONFERENCE ONRESEARCH, SCHOLARSHIP, AND PERFORMANCE*

April 30, 2009Center for the Arts, 1P-Atrium

1:30pm – 4:00pm

Conference Schedule

Noon to 1:30pm Authors and Mentors Lunch1:25pm Opening Remarks by President Morales

1P –Atrium

12:30pm–1:25pm CSI Rock Music ClubWilliamsonTheatre

1:30pm–4:00pm Poster Presentations1P - Atrium

1:30pm–2:25pm CSI Dance ProgramTheTraining of a DancerDance Studio, 1P-220

1:30pm–2:25pm CSI Music Program RecitalRecital Hall, 1P-120

1:30pm–4:30pm The SpringArts Festival Group ExhibitionCSI Student Art Gallery, 1P-118B

2:00pm Reception - Student Art Gallery,1P-118B

2:30pm Drama ProductionLabTheatre, 1P-110

3:00pm Poetry andArt – Student Art Gallery,1P-118B

2:45pm–3:30pm CSI Small Jazz EnsemblesWilliamsonTheatre

3:30pm–4:30pm CSI Guitar EnsembleRecital Hall, 1P-120

8:00pm Drama ProductionLabTheatre, 1P-110

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Conference Schedule

Message from the President

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CSI Undergraduate Conference on Research,Scholarship, and Performance

Message from the President

It is my pleasure to welcome you to the 8thAnnual Undergraduate Conferenceon Research, Scholarship, and Performance.

The work presented by our students under the conference theme of“YourPassport to Knowledge,”certainly personifies the CSI tagline“World Class,Righthere!” These projects represent a depth and breadth of work rarely seen amongundergraduates.This conference highlights both the intellect and talent of CSIstudents, as well as the commitment of our faculty to provide a world-classeducation for our students. It is through the guidance of, and the collaborationwith,CSI faculty that our students are able to produce research, scholarship,and performance of the outstanding caliber that you will enjoy today.

This year we have a record number of participants in the conferencerepresenting an extensive range of disciplines within the College.Today, youwill enjoy complex musical and dance performances, gain exposure torigorous analyses of social scientific and literary ideas and theories, andobserve meticulous scientific investigations and inquiries. I would like toacknowledge our Library faculty and staff, and Dr.Alan Benimoff—all haveagain assisted our student participants by providing workshops and technicalassistance that enabled them to enhance the visual components oftheir presentations.

It is important to note that 17 of our students’ research projects weresupported through CSI Undergraduate ResearchAwards sponsored by the CSIFoundation. In addition,we are extremely grateful to the CSI StudentGovernment, Academic and Curricular Affairs Commission, for their financialsupport. I am indeed proud that this conference represents a truecollaboration of the College community and I appreciate the many rolesplayed by all in presenting this conference.

I welcome the students and faculty from the area high schools and encourageyou to meet our students and faculty, talk with them,make connections, andspend some time immersing yourselves in the critical research andexperimentation that define the college experience. And, know that you arealways welcome on the CSI campus.

Congratulations to each and every one of today’s participants!

Sincerely,

Tomás D.Morales, PhDPresident

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The Department of Performing and Creative Arts

Presents

An Art,Dance,Drama, and Music

Expositionat

The EighthAnnualCSI Undergraduate Conference

on Research, Scholarship,and Performance

Recital Hall,

WilliamsonTheatre,

Dance Studio, LabTheatre,

and Student Art Gallery

Center for theArts

Thursday, April 30, 2009

Dramatic and Musical Performances

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W I L L I A M S O N T H E A T R E

CSI ROCK MUSIC CLUB12:30pm–1:25pmAn eclectic assortment of Rock standards from the ‘60s to todayDominick Trancredi, Faculty Advisor

ALAN AURELIA, ELECTRIC BASS • JENNA CALDERON, GUITARMIGUEL COMMISSIONG, GUITAR • JOSEPH GIUNTO, DRUMSMARGARET HAMPTON, VOCALS • ERIC ROCES, DRUMS

CSI SMALL JAZZ ENSEMBLES2:45pm-3:30pmA set of Jazz standards featuring CSI’s most accomplished jazz soloistsMichael Morreale, Director

PROGRAM TO INCLUDE

LEMONCELLO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . BOBBY WATSON

GOOD BAIT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . TADD DAMERON

ALTER EGO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JAMES WILLIAMS

QUESTION AND ANSWER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PAT METHENY

THE BEST THING FOR YOU IS ME . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IRVING BERLIN

CHARLES BUTERA/BRIAN LEONARD - PIANO • ALAN AURELIA/PADRAIC LYNCH – BASSPAUL BUSCHMANN - DRUMS

D A N C E S T U D I O ( 1 P - 2 2 0 )

CSI DANCE PROGRAM1:30pm–2:25pmThe Training of a DancerA lecture/demonstration focusing on dance curriculum including excerptsfrom the upcoming Spring Dance Recital featuring students of the CSI DanceDepartment and members of the CSI Dance ClubNiambi Keyes, Lecturer

DANCE STUDENTSKEISHA BENNETT • SANIA BHATTI • KAITLYN CANTONI • EUGENIA CAFFREYANTHONY CASTELAO • KATRINA CIRILLO • SHANNON HOOD • DANA JAGUSIAKGLORIVEE LOPEZ • TIFFANY MCDANIEL • AUDRA MORALES • GABRIELA SANTIAGORENATAN SKVIRSK • JUAN SOLOMON • TAMARA ST. PRIX • NELIDA TOLENTINO

DANCE CLUBNEFERTITI AMEKER • RHAGINA CHISHOLM • DORIS JOHNSON

WANNIE JOHNSON• JUSTINA MCCHIE • JESSICA SILVA • MONDRY TORE •KEEDA WILLIAMS


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THE SPRING ARTS FESTIVAL GROUP EXHIBITION1:30pm–4:30pmThe Student Art Gallery of the Performing and Creative Arts Department willpresent an exhibition of work by art majors from all of the areas of study:drawing, painting, photography, printmaking, and sculpture. The exhibition iscurated by Iman-Ayeesha Platt, Meg Rowan, and Matt Scarpa whoseparticipation is representative of each of the three main branches of the artmajor: photography, studio art, and art history.Siona Wilson, Faculty AdvisorReception at 2:30pmPoetry and Art at 3:00pmKathryn Fazio will read original poetry of war, passion, and social significance that has influenced herpaintings and interaction with the world.

R E C I T A L H A L L ( 1 P - 1 2 0 )

CSI MUSIC PROGRAM RECITAL1:30pm–2:25pmA showcase of chamber music featuring faculty and students of the CSI MusicProgram.William Bauer, Performance Coordinator

PROGRAM

MIAMI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .GÉRARD MONTREUIL (1927-1991)GERRY GALLARDO, VIOLIN • DANIEL MUCCIO, GUITAR

PRELUDE IN A� MAJOR, OP. 28, NO. 17 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . FRÉDÉRIC CHOPIN (1810-1849)DIANA CREUTZ, PIANO

INTERMEZZO IN A MAJOR, OP. 118, NO. 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JOHANNES BRAHMS (1833-1897)DAVID GLORIOSO, PIANO

DOWN BY THE SALLIE GARDENS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IRISH TRADITIONALMASAFUMI TOYODA, COUNTERTENOR • EDWARD BROWN, GUITAR

LAGRIMA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . FRANCISCO TARREGA (1852-1909)ALEXANDER ADELMAN, ACOUSTIC GUITAR

PAVANE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .GABRIEL FAURE (1845-1924)AMANDA SIUZDAK, FLUTE • ALEXANDER ADELMAN, ACOUSTIC GUITAR

GRETCHEN AM SPINNRADE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . FRANZ SCHUBERT (1797 -1828)SARAH COHEN, SOPRANO • ELONA MIGIROV, PIANO


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T H E R E C I T A L H A L L

CSI GUITAR ENSEMBLE3:30pm–4:30pmA concert of diverse music for multiple guitars featuring works from theupcoming CSI Guitar Ensemble concert.Edward Brown, Director

CSI GUITAR ENSEMBLETIMOTHY ADORNO • JENNY BROWN • MATTHEW BURNS • JENNA CALDERONSARAH COHEN • ARIELLA CRISANO • ALBERT DEROSA • MAXIMILLIAN DOBSON

CHRISTOPHER GEORGE • ANTHONY GONZALEZ • MARGARET HAMPTONBRYAN KARUNDENG • MARYANNE KORDAZAKIS • DANNY MUCCIO

ANTHONY PARASCANDOLA • STEVEN RADCHENKO • ERIC ROCES • MUHAMMAD SHERWANIMICHAEL SIMANOVSKY • CHRIS SPINELLI • MASAFUMI TOYODA

MAX TSIRING • IGOR ZASLAVSKY

PROGRAMA LITTLE SPANISH WALTZ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . BOB POWER

NOW, O NOW, I NEEDS MUST PART (THE “FROG” GALLIARD) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JOHN DOWLANDMASAFUMI TOYODA, TENOR

NOTA BENE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . LUC LEVESQUE

MARCH (FROM MARCH OF THE GUITAR BRIGADE) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JOSEPH PARISISECRET AGENT MAN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . P.F. SLOAN/S.BARRI

ANTHONY GONZALEZ, MUHAMMAD SHERWANI, GUITARSMICHAEL SIMANOVSKY, SAXOPHONE

I HAD A LITTLE DREAM, BARNEY BOY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . J.C.MACEYMARGARET HAMPTON, JENNA CALDERON, SOPRANOS

SEVENTH HEAVEN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DEREK HASTED

ANDANTE (FROM CONCERTO IN G MAJOR) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ANTONIO VIVALDIANTHONY PARASCANDOLA, ARIELLA CRISANO, MANDOLINS

JULIA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . J. LENNON/P. MCCARTNEY

AY! AY! AY! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DEREK HASTED


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L A B T H E A T R E ( 1 P - 1 1 0 )

DRAMA PRODUCTION: The Well of HorninessBy Holly Hughes2:30pm (excerpts)8:00pm (full production)Robert Mahoney, DirectorHolly Hughes, WriterMaurya Wickstrom, Faculty MentorCAST

NARRATOR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JESSICA SOCOL

LOUISE/GARNET MCCLIT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DANIELLE HERNANDEZ

HAROLD/AL DENTE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .GREG MCGOVERN

GEORGETTE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . TAWANA DANIELS

VICKI. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ALISON LANGLEIBEN

ROD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ALI SATTAR

BABS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .MARISSA MURRAY

ENSEMBLENICOLE CATALANO • JERAMIAH JURKEWITZ • MATTHEW MARTUCCI

KRISTEN MONIORD • KATIE SELUGA

PRODUCTION STAFF

DIRECTOR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ROBERT MAHONEY

FACULTY SUPERVISOR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .MAURYA WICKSTROM

SET DESIGNER. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ROCCO LACAPRIA

COSTUME DESIGN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .NICOLE CATALANO

CARPENTER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . BOB ELIA

TECHNICAL DIRECTOR. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JENNIFER STRANIERE

SCENIC ARTISTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DAN JOHNSON, ROCCO LACAPRIA

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ResearchPoster

Presentations

Center for theArts

Atrium

1:30pm - 4:00pm

Research Poster Presentations

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Poster 1Morphologic Constructions and Analysis ofElectrocardiogram Using Synthetic and MITDatabasesChin Ming HuiFaculty Mentor:Dr.Natacha GueorguievaDepartment of Computer Science

Poster 2Design Issues in Building a Library InformationSystemLeo LeiFaculty Mentor:Dr.Natasha GueorguievaDepartment of Computer Science

Poster 3Pattern Classifiers Using KernelsSergey IvanushkinFaculty Mentor:Dr.Natasha GueorguievaDepartment of Computer Science

Poster 4Effect of Alzheimer-like Tau on MicrotubuleDynmaicsSherry J. Browne, Joseph Merola,ChristopherCorbo,William L’Amoreaux, andAlejandra AlonsoFaculty Mentor:Dr.Alejandra AlonsoDepartment of Biology

Poster 5Footedness in InfancyMarierose PolisFaculty Mentor:Dr. Sarah BergerDepartment of Psychology

Poster 6The Emergence of Social Coordination andCommunication among TwinsVanda Melendez,Naomi J.Aldrich, Patricia J. Brooks,and Sonia RagirFaculty Mentors:Dr. Patricia Brooks, and Dr. SoniaRagirDepartment of Psychology

Poster 7Individual Differences in Adult ForeignLanguage LearningAnnmarie Donachie,Rosemarie Marronaro,UroojSyed, Jessica Lee, Irosha Pathirage,Manuel Garcia,Nicola Brown,ChingYu,Kristina Cumberbatch, andDorothy CreightonFaculty Mentor:Dr. Patricia BrooksDepartment of Psychology

Poster 8Sweet Clicked CurrySaadyahAverickFaculty Mentor:Dr.Krishnaswami RajaDepartment of Chemistry

Poster 9Simulating Communication Processes betweenBrain NeuronsDevorahWalkerFaculty Mentor:Dr.Natasha GueorguievaDepartment of Computer Science

Poster 10Abnormal Length-Force Curves in SpasticMuscles after Spinal Cord InjuryJimmy DomdethFaculty Mentor:Dr. Zaghoul AhmedDepartment of Physical Therapy

Poster 11Simulating the Brain Information ProcessingVyacheslav GlukhFaculty Mentor:Dr.Natasha GueorguievaDepartment of Computer Science

Poster 12Effects of Exercise on Depression Symptomsafter Spinal Cord InjuryJimmy DomdethFaculty Mentor:Dr.Dan McCloskeyDepartment of Psychology

Poster 13CSI: Second LifeEdwin FongFaculty Mentor:Dr.Michael KressDepartment of Computer Science andVice President for Information Systems

Poster 14Efficacy of Curriculum in Eliminating CancerCellsAlexandra BerlinerFaculty Mentor:Dr. Probal BanerjeeDepartment of Chemistry

Poster 15Biosynthesis of Truncated Ste2p: A G-ProteinCoupled Receptor from Yeast that May BeSuitable for CrystallizationGrigoriy GelfandFaculty Mentor:Dr. Fred NaiderDepartment of Chemistry

Poster 16Phase Diagrams of Grafted Molecules underExternal Fields: A Mean Field ModelAkihisaYoshidaFaculty Mentor:Dr.Chwen –Yang ShewDepartment of Chemistry


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Poster 17Synthesis of Copolymer-templated 2DHexagonal Silicas and Organosilicas with VeryLarge MesoporesBenedette AdewaleFaculty Mentor:Dr.Michael KrukDepartment of Chemistry

Poster 18Synthesis of Click Discotic Liquid CrystalsEric Rios-DoriaFaculty Mentor:Dr.Krishnaswami RajaDepartment of Chemistry

Poster 19Religion in the Works of Miguel Angel AsturiasDorothy CaldoneFaculty Mentor:Dr. Sarah PollackDepartment of Modern Languages

Poster 20Effects of Prosody in Children Diagnosedwith AutismSeir NehorahFaculty Mentors:Dr. Patricia Brooks andDr.Bertram PloogDepartment of Psychology

Poster 21Inducible Expression of HyperphosphorylatedTau in PC-12 Cells: A Neurodegeneration ModelJoseph Merola, Sherry Brown, Lucille Cunsolo,Christopher Corbo,William L’Amoreaux, andAlejandra AlonsoFaculty Mentor: Dr. Alejandra AlonsoDepartment of Biology

Poster 22Tau-interactions with Nucleotides,Self-assembly and Impact inNeurodegenerationKalpita Abhyankar, Regina Miller,ChristopherCorbo, andAlejandra AlonsoFaculty Mentor:Dr.Alejandra AlonsoDepartment of Biology

Poster 23Changes to Inhibitory Innervation of theHippocampus in Two Models of EpilepsyEmanTabbara,Nicole Lukovsky, andAzar LatifFaculty Mentor:Dr.Dan McCloskeyDepartment of Psychology

Poster 24Use of Zebra Fish as a Model of NeurodenerationYelena Solovyeva, Lucille Cunsolo, and ChristopherCorboFaculty Mentor:Dr.Alejandra AlonsoDepartment of Biology

Poster 25The Expression and Purification of theCytosolic Tail of the Ste2p Î±- Factor ReceptorMohammed H.BhuiyanFaculty Mentor:Dr. Fred NaiderDepartment of Chemistry

Poster 26Histone Acetylation at the Yeast 1N01 Promoter,the Transcriptional Activator, and Gen5p andEsa1pMichelle Esposito and Paulina KonarzewskaFaculty Mentor:Dr.Chang-Hui ShenDepartment of Biology

Poster 27Art, Poetry, and Inspiration: One Woman’sPersonal JourneyKathryn FazioFaculty Mentor: Prof. Patricia PasslofDepartment of Performing and Creative Arts

Poster 28Why Physics Isn’t Appealing in our AmericanHigh SchoolsJonathan ColangeloFaculty Mentor:Dr.Charles LiuDepartment of Engineering Science and Physics

Poster 29Wireless Smart CarPhilip Ciaccio and Roy HopkinsFaculty Mentor:Dr.Xin JiangDepartment of Engineering Science and Physics

Poster 30Does Stress Mediate the Relationship betweenSES and Distress among College Students?Cory GianninaFaculty Mentor:Dr. John LawrenceDepartment of Psychology

Poster 31Mechanisms of Neural Injury during BrainEdemaBrian Iskra and Lorenz NeuwirthFaculty Mentors:Dr.Abdeslem El Idrissiand Dr. James Olson,Wright State UniversityDepartment of Biology

Poster 32Altered Paired Pulse Facilitation in the Fragile XMouse Brain: Implication for Learning MemoryBrian Iskra,Alexandra Marsillo, Luisa Otalora, andLorenz NeuwirthFaculty Mentor:Dr.Abdeslem El IdrissiDepartment of Biology


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Poster 33Sodium Hydrogen Exchanger-1 (NEH-1)Function Regulates Mammary Gland BranchingSurendar RavindranFaculty Mentor:Dr. Jimmie E. FataDepartment of Biology

Poster 34Female Teachers and Their Relationships withStudents: What Can the Media Tell Us?Samantha BalestriereFaculty Mentor:Dr.Darryl HillDepartment of Psychology

Poster 35Girl Scouting in Detention Centers:Empowering Girls in OCFS to Open DoorsSonia LevinFaculty Mentor:Dr.Kathleen CumiskeyDepartment of Psychology and theWomen’sStudies Program

Poster 36Language ShiftKristina NiesiFaculty Mentor:Dr. Sarah BeneschDepartment of English

Poster 37The Sexuality and Gender of NontraditionalMen: “He’s a Little Bit Effeminate, But He’s Cute”Peter BurattiFaculty Mentor:Dr.Darryl HillDepartment of Psychology

Poster 38Drama Production: The Well of HorninessBy Holly HughesRobert MahoneyFaculty Mentor:Dr.MauryaWickstromDepartment of Performing and Creative Arts

Poster 39Biofilm Formation in Candida AlbicansKathleenVan ManenFaculty Mentor:Dr. Elena McCoyDepartment of Biology

Poster 40Mammary Carcinogen Screening ModelAlexander PerelmanFaculty Mentor:Dr. Jimmie E. FataDepartment of Biology

Poster 41The Development of Breast Epithelial CultureAssay that Tests the Effects of Exposure to1-NitropyreneGoldie LazarusFaculty Mentor:Dr. Jimmie E. FataDepartment of Biology

Poster 42Development and Testing of CurciminDerivatives as Promising Drugs against BreastCancerAshley MathaiFaculty Mentor:Dr. Jimmie E. FataDepartment of Biology

Poster 43Does Cumulative Stress Mediate theRelationship Between SES and AcademicAchievement?Jason DeGenaroFaculty Mentor:Dr. John LawrenceDepartment of Psychology

Poster 44Multi-Purpose Tracking RobotTsui Siu Lun BenFaculty Mentor: Professor James HladekDepartment of Engineering Science and Physics

Poster 45Theoretical Studies of an Enneadic ParticleSystem Confined onto a Spherical Surface:Monte Carlo SimulationFatima Z.RafiqueFaculty Mentor:Dr.Chwen-Yang ShewDepartment of Chemistry

Poster 46Transition Metal-Catalyzed Addition Reactionsof Arylboronic Acids with Aromatic AlehydesMatthew Israel,Yuan-Xi Liao, and Qiao-Sheng HuFaculty Mentor:Dr.Qiao Sheng HuDepartment of Chemistry

Poster 47Effects of Urbanization of Locally BreedingLandbirds of the New York City Area:Estimating Demographic Parameters in UrbanWoodlotsAllison BaranskiFaculty Mentor:Dr. Shaibal MitraDepartment of Biology

Poster 48Development of Optically ActiveSpiroiindanediol-Containing Polymers forOrganic SynthesisJaclynn Ng,Alexandra Levashvile,Chun-Hui Xing,Tao-Ping Liu, and Qiao-Sheng HuFaculty Mentor:Dr.Qiao-Sheng HuDepartment of Chemistry


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Poster 49Effects of Butanol on Filamentation andPhosphatase Activity in Candida AlbicansNatalia GoziasFaculty Mentor:Dr. Elena McCoyDepartment of Biology

Poster 50Preterm Babies and Attention Regulation atSchool AgeSharmila MohammedFaculty Mentor:Dr.Comfort AsanbeDepartment of Psychology

Poster 51Characterization of Post Epileptic HilarNeurons Receiving Inhibitory InputAzar Latif, EmanTabbara, and Nicole LukovskyFaculty Mentor:Dr.Dan McCloskeyDepartment of Psychology

Poster 52Collaborating to Create Change SC3Elizabeth BelnavisFaculty Mentor:Dr. Judit KerekesDepartment of Education

Poster 53Studying Parallel Computation of 2DTurbulenceJonathan MaltzFaculty Mentor:Dr.Andrew PojeDepartment of Mathematics

Poster 54Classification of Brain Tissue from MagneticResonance ImagesTroy Johnson and EdWah ChenFaculty Mentor:Dr. Lihong (Connie) LiDepartment of Engineering Science and Physics

Poster 55A Plug-in for Visualizing MS LesionsPhilip Koshy and NiravThakkarFaculty Mentor:Dr.Deborah SturmDepartment of Computer Science

Poster 56Implementation and Performance Testing ofthe SQUASH RFID Authentication ProtocolPhilip Koshy and Justin ValentinFaculty Mentor:Dr.Xiaowen ZhangDepartment of Computer Science

Poster 57Optimization of Drifter’s Launch Location witha Genetic AlgorithmIsmaelYacoubou DjimaFaculty Mentor:Dr.Andrew PojeDepartment of Mathematics

Poster 58Estimation of Trade Impact on Wage Inequalityin the United StatesIsmaelYacoubou DjimaFaculty Mentor:Dr.AlexandruVoicuDepartment of Political Science, Economics andPhilosophy

Poster 59Uncovering the Magic behind Walt DisneyWorldLauren LoPrimoFaculty Mentor:Dr. Susan HolakDepartment of Business and the Office of AcademicAffairs

Poster 60The Music SILOH Project: Documenting MusicMaking Activities on Staten Island with DigitalMediaTimothy Mullen and Linda SoriaFaculty Mentor:Dr.William BauerDepartment of Performing and Creative Arts

Poster 61George Melies, A Cinematic RevolutionJeffery ManFaculty Mentor:Dr.Matthew SolomonDepartment of Media Culture

Poster 62ASME Mars Rocks TeamJohn P.BarricellaFaculty Mentor:Dr.Xin JiangDepartment of Engineering Science and Physics

Poster 63Neuro Imaging Supports Critical PeriodHypothesisBarbara FiumeFaculty Mentor:Dr. Sarah BeneschDepartment of English

Poster 64Pharmacogenetics and Pain ManagementSteven DecarloFaculty Mentor:Dr.Mary Ellen McMorrowDepartment of Nursing

Poster 65The Rise of Counterfeit DrugsSonia BairakFaculty Mentor:Dr.Alan ZimmermanDepartment of Business

Poster 66Physiology and Metabolism of the Single-CelledGreen Algae: Chlorella KessleriMichael JeanFaculty Mentor:Dr.Robert E.CorinDepartment of Biology


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Poster 67Exercise Mediated Effects of Hippocampal-dependent Spatial Memory Task Performancein the Rat Perinatal Hypoxia Model of EpilepsyNicole LukovskyFaculty Mentor:Dr.Dan McCloskeyDepartment of Psychology

Poster 68Stress and Coping Mechanisms among CollegeStudents: A Cross-Cultural StudyKrista SuprinoFaculty Mentor:Dr.Comfort AsanbeDepartment of Psychology

Poster 69Green Intelligent Parking Lot Control System(AKA GIP’s)Alexander NwanekahFaculty Mentor:Dr.Charles LiuDepartment of Engineering Science and Physics

Poster 70Synthesis of Novel Curcumin-derivedEnvironmentally Friendly PlasticizersJose SaltosFaculty Mentro:Dr.Krishnaswami RajaDepartment of Chemistry

Poster 71Globalization: Challenges in AfricaRachel AffiFaculty Mentor:Dr. Alan ZimmermanDepartment of Business

P O S T E R 1

Morphologic Constructions andAnalysis of ElectrocardiogramUsing Synthetic andMIT DatabasesChin Ming HuiFaculty Mentor: Dr. Natacha GueorguievaDepartment of Computer Science

The electrocardiogram (ECG) comprises arecording of the heart’s electrical activities thatoccur over time,where an atrial depolarizationwave (P wave), a ventricular depolarization wave(QRS complex) and a ventricular depolarizationwave (T wave) are recorded for each cardiac cycle.The electrocardiographic morphology deals withinterpretation of the shape (amplitude,width andcontour) of the electrocardiographic signals.

The origin of ECG morphology can be explained bythe dipole-vector theory,which states that the ECGis an expression of the electro-ionic changesgenerated during myocardial depolarization andrepolarization.A pair of electrical charges, termed adipole (expressed as a vector), is formed duringboth depolarization and repolarization processes.To ascertain the direction of a wavefront, the ECGis recorded from different sites, called leads.

In this research we mainly focus on peakseparation and identification based upon themorphologic constructions and analysis ofelectrocardiogram.Biologically, it is related to thefunctioning of the heart, and microscopically,related to contractions and relaxations of eachmuscle fiber or the polarization and depolarization.

QT interval as well as PR interval, ST segment, andRR interval are extremely important for diagnosisof cardiovascular problems, such as PVC but thedetermination of its different features with theneeded accuracy is still the most difficult challengefaced by the researchers. In order to analyzedifferent parameters,we propose an approachbased on deviation method and multipleintegration techniques.Here we use frequency(dependent variable) vs. time (independentvariable) and handle the data as a continuous case,because the discrete case is time consuming.

P O S T E R 2

Design Issues in Building aLibrary Information SystemLeo LeiFaculty Mentor: Dr. Natacha GueorguievaDepartment of Computer Science

The term information system refers to informationtechnology that is used by people to accomplish aspecified organizational or individual objective.The technology may be used in the gathering,processing, storing, and/or dissemination ofinformation, and the users are trained in the use ofthat technology, as well as in the procedures to befollowed in doing so. The specific technologies thatcollectively comprise information technology arecomputer technology and data communicationstechnology.Computers provide most of the storageand processing capabilities,while datacommunications, specifically networks, provide themeans for dissemination and remote access ofinformation.

The goal of this research is to design a LibraryInformation System that stores information aboutborrowers, books, the status of lending books, andthe location of each book in our two-story library.In order to reduce the bookkeeping,we impose anadditional requirement to the system as keepingtrack of borrower transactions (i.e., lending books,returning books, etc. and reporting information toborrowers and librarians).The proposed friendlygraphical user interface (GUI) written in C++facilitates the system implementation.We includedthe following BookAttributes: Title, Author (firstname, last name), Subject (a category that the bookfits under as computer networking, computerprogramming etc.),Call Number (a uniquenine-digit number assigned to each book wheredifferent copies of the same book will havedifferent call numbers ), Publisher, Publishing Date,Location, Status (Out, Available,Hold,Maintenance),Due Date, Fine Per Day Overdue,Circulation Period,and Cost of the Book.Borrower Attributes includeName,Phone Number, ID,Currently Borrowed, andBalance of Fees. All the information is stored intothe proposed structure of SQL database,whichprovides the necessary relationships betweendifferent tables and interaction between them andthe GUI.

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P O S T E R 3

Pattern Classifiers Using KernelsSergey IvanushkinFaculty Mentor: Dr. Natacha GueorguievaDepartment of Computer Science

Support Vector Machines (SVMs) are a set of relatedsupervised learning methods, for which solvingclassification and regression tasks is formulated asquadratic programming (QP) problems. Supervisedlearning is a machine learning technique forlearning a function from data consisting of pairs ofvectors and desired regression. Input data of nvectors in an n-dimensional space will construct aline separating hyper planes in that space, onewhich maximizes the margin between the two ormore vectors.A good separation line is the one thathas the largest distance to the neighboring vectorsof n classes.Therefore SVMs may be defined as aclassification method that determines thatmaximum-margin hyper plane.

The original optimal hyper plane algorithmproposed byVladimir Vapnik in 1963 was a linearclassifier.However, in 1992,Bernhard Boser, IsabelleGuyon andVapnik suggested a way to create non-linear classifiers by using the kernel trick inventedbyAizerman to maximize margin between vectors.The resulting algorithm, replaces every dot productby a non-linear kernel function.

The goal of this research is to extend the numberof kernels currently offered in the package LIBSVM(http://www.csie.ntu.edu.tw/~cjlin/libsvm/),which includes only Radial Basis Function (RBF)Gaussian kernel with the following: Linear,Polynomial, RBF exponential, Signmoid/MLP,Multiquadric, Inverse multiquadric, andThin platesplines.This application implements thosealgorithms and visually represents them.Machinetypes are C-SVC,nu-SVC,one class SVM,epsilonSVR,nu-SVR.The proposed GUI allows visualizationof five different two-dimensional classes wherepatterns can be loaded from a file or picked up bymouse with the registration of their coordinates.There is a visualization of the separationboundaries together with different statistics inorder to choose the most appropriate kernel fordifferent applications.

P O S T E R 4

Effect of Alzheimer-like Tau onMicrotubule DynamicsSherry J. Browne, Joseph Merolla,Christopher Corbo, William L’Amoreaux,and Alejandra AlonsoFaculty Mentor: Dr. Alejandra AlonsoDepartment of Biology

Accumulation of hyperphosphorylated tau and thedisruption of microtubules is correlated withsynaptic loss and pathology in neurodegenerativediseases, such as Alzheimer’s Disease (AD).Onehallmark lesion of AD is the initial appearance ofneurofibrillary tangles within the neurons.These tangles are composed mainly ofhyperphosphorylated tau, a microtubule-associatedprotein (MAP), polymerized into filaments.We havepreviously shown that the cytosolic Alzheimerhyperphosphorylated inhibition of microtubuleassembly and disruption of microtubules.We willstudy the effects of pseudophosphorylated tau(Ps-tau) atThr212,Thr 231, and Ser262, in porcrinekidney epithelial cells (LLCPK) stable lineexpressing EB1-GFP, the microtubule cap protein.By using live cell time-lapse fluorescentmicroscopy,we will analyze microtubule dynamics.We will be able to record the movement and thestability of the microtubules in the transfectedversus the non-transfected cells.These findings willlead to a better understanding of the role P-tauplays in microtubule dynamics.

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P O S T E R 5

Footedness in InfancyMarierose PolisFaculty Mentor: Dr. Sarah BergerDepartment of Psychology

Handedness is the tendency to use one hand overthe other to perform activities. Similarly, footednessis the tendency to prefer one foot over the otherfor“leading out,” in first steps (Peters,1988).Handpreference for goal-directed reaching becomespredictable between seven and thirteen months(Michel et al.,2006), but infants shift their handpreference several times before acquiring a stable,preferred hand (Corbetta &Thelen,1996,1999;Fagard,1998). In adults, both preferences are morestrongly correlated than any other lateralizations(Peters,1988), however very little is known aboutthe development of footedness or its relationshipto handedness in infancy.The aims of this studywere to view footedness in an infant locomotortask and examine the relationship betweenfootedness and handedness in crawling or walkingand reaching.

Forty-four 13-month-old crawlers or walkerstraversed a path several times towards a goal. Eachtrial,we measured infants’ lead-out foot preferenceand hand preference as they reached for the goal.Crawlers and walkers showed side preferencessignificantly more often than chance at the start ofeach trial respectively, but did not differ from eachother.Walkers reached with both handssignificantly more often than crawlers did.Althoughfoot preferences were stable, they did not yet seemto be related to hand preference.This may bebecause 13-month-old walkers are at the early onsetof independent walking,when they tend to coupletheir arms (Corbetta,1996). Future research willexamine whether infants’ preferences weremomentary, fluctuating with the acquisition of newlocomotor milestones (Corbetta et al.,2006), orwhether infants’ side preferences were an earlysign of footedness.

P O S T E R 6

The Emergence of SocialCoordination and Communicationamong TwinsVanda Melendez, Naomi J. Aldrich,Patricia J. Brooks, and Sonia RagirFaculty Mentors: Dr. Patricia Brooks, andDr. Sonia RagirDepartment of Psychology

Research suggests that joint attention reflects vitalaspects of psychological development, such as theemergence of the mental and behavioral processesessential to cognitive development and languageacquisition. Integral to this relationship are theroles of non-verbal communication and an infant’sreadiness to imitate and reciprocate another’sactions.While researchers have shown that twinsuse more non-verbal communicative exchangesthan familiar same-age peers, they debate whetheror not there are delays in twins’ languagedevelopment. Early work comparing twins tosingletons indicates that twins are more likely toexhibit language deficits, but more recent studiessuggest that delays that occur may be attributed tobiological factors (e.g., low birth weight), ratherthan to being a twin.Moreover, some havesuggested that developmental delays may be worsefor at-risk singletons than for twins.The presentstudy explores the expression of socialcoordination, imitation, and reciprocity in twins.

Twin dyads were videotaped during a ten-minutefree play session at 7-months (n = 10) and 10-months (n = 10) (ages adjusted for prematurity).Each sibling’s behavior was coded for theexpression of joint attention, non-verbal socialcoordination,play patterns, communicativegestures, and early language.Results are discussedin relation to preliminary findings of the beneficialeffects of constant social stimulation, such that atwin at risk for developmental delay may have abetter prognosis than a comparable high-risksingleton.The confirmation of such benefits hasimportant implications for the design of earlyintervention programs encountering increasingnumbers of at-risk premature multiplegestation births.

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P O S T E R 7

Individual Differences in AdultForeign Language LearningAnnemarie Donachie, RosemarieMarronaro, Urooj Syed, Jessica Lee,Irosha Pathirage, Manuel Garcia, andNicola BrownFaculty Mentor: Dr. Patricia BrooksDepartment of Psychology

How individuals learn a language remains amystery.Our study investigates the psychologicalprocesses involved in adult foreign languageacquisition, using Russian as the language to belearned. Saffran (2003) has argued that languageacquisition depends on learning mechanisms thatextract statistical regularities (such as recurrentsequences or patterns) to determine the locationsof word boundaries and syntactic structures.Ourexperiment tests the hypothesis that measures ofstatistical learning (in particular the artificialgrammar learning task) will be predictive ofsuccess in adult foreign language learning.Participants were 76 CSI undergraduates, 51females and 25 males, ages 18-42,with no priorexperience learning Russian. Participants weregiven different tests and questionnaires thatassessed verbal working memory capacity,statistical learning of sequences, patternidentification, speech perception,prior exposure toforeign language and musical abilities. Participantsalso received six 35-minute language-learningsessions during which they listened to andrepeated Russian phrases and answeredcomprehension and production probes to assesslearning. In the final session,participantscompleted a generalization test examining theirability to generate Russian phrases different fromthe ones used in the training sessions (i.e., to saythings in Russian that they had never heard before).Our poster examines correlations among the verbalworking memory and statistical learning tasks, asthe language learning data has not yet beentabulated.

P O S T E R 8

Sweet Clicked CurrySaadyah AverickFaculty Mentor: Dr. Krishnaswami RajaDepartment of Chemistry

Curcumin is a powerful broad-spectrum anti-oxidant, anti-cancer, and anti-Alzheimer’s smallmolecule. In its unmodified state the usage ofcurcumin as a drug presents several importantissues.Curcumin's hydrophobicity greatly limits itsbioavailability.Another potential issue ofcurcumin’s applicability is that at relatively highconcentrations curcumin is cytotoxic.Therefore awater-soluble derivative of curcumin,whosedesired biological actions remain intact, is highlydesirable.Through the conjugation of a sugarmolecule via a phenolic moiety of curcumin, anasymmetric water-soluble derivative of curcuminwas created,with the proposed name sweet clickedcurry (SCC). SCC shows far superior capabilities,compared to the parent molecule, of dissolvingamyloid fibrils, has greater anti-oxidant potential,and has prevention of apoptosis capabilities.

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P O S T E R 9

Simulating CommunicationProcesses Between Brain NeuronsDevorah WalkerFaculty Mentor: Dr. Natacha GueorguievaDepartment of Computer Science

Understanding the functional model of the humanbrain could open up a large quantity of information.Not only we would be able to treat diseases such asdepression andAlzheimer’s much more efficiently,but we would also be able to make significantchanges to the field of computer science. It is clearthat computer simulations are an absolute necessityin understanding the functioning of the brain.Thevast majority of nerve cells generate a series ofbrief voltage pulses in response to vigorous inputs.These pulses also referred to as action potentials orspikes, originate at or close to the cell body andpropagate down the axon at constant velocity andamplitude.

The goal of this research is to study and simulatebiological neuron structure, the resting potentialsand how they are affected by things such aspotassium, sodium and ion concentrations.We usedthe package HHsim which is a simulationenvironment and includes graphical visualization ofcell membranes using the Hodgkin-Huxleyequations. It respectively provides full control overthe parameters of mathematical equations andadditional control on the membrane parameters,stimulus parameters, and ion concentrations.Weconducted the following experiments:

• Simulation of equilibrium potential of a cell witha single channel type and effect of cutting in halfthe external sodium concentration.

• Simulation of membrane potential with onlypassive channels (no voltage-gated sodium orpotassium channels) and manipulate the restingpotential Vr by changing the ion concentrations.

• Simulation of sodium channel,which consists ofan activation gate and an inactivation gate.

• Experiments using different Voltage-GatedChannel Parameters and how they affect the FastSodium channel.

P O S T E R 1 0

Abnormal Length-Force Curves inSpastic Muscles after Spinal CordInjuryJimmy DomdethFaculty Mentor: Dr. Zaghloul AhmedDepartment of Physical Therapy

The main objective of this project is to study thelength-force relationship in the spastic musclefollowing spinal cord injury (SCI).We hypothesizethat the average of the length-force relationship ofthe spastic muscle following SCI will be shifted tothe left (in the bell-shaped curve) in comparison tothe normal gastrocnemius muscle.This finding willsupport the idea that spastic muscle following SCIis intrinsically sensitive to stretch receptors.To testthis,we will compare spastic and normal musclesusing the following procedures: 1) inducing SCI toexpress spasticity in muscles of the hind limbs inmice and 2) recording of muscle twitch force usinga myograph.We expect the results to show that aswe increase the length (in millimeters) of thespastic muscle, the force (in grams) will increasequicker versus the normal muscle.

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P O S T E R 1 1

Simulating the Brain InformationProcessingVyacheslav GlukhFaculty Mentor: Dr. Natacha GueorguievaDepartment of Computer Science

Information processing in the brain results fromthe spread and interaction of electrical andchemical signals within and among neurons.The mathematical model involves nonlinearequations that describe brain mechanisms ingeneral and which do not have analyticalsolutions. The recent expansion in the use ofsimulation tools in the field of neuroscience hasbeen encouraged by the rapid growth ofquantitative observations that both stimulate andconstrain the formulation of new hypotheses ofneuronal function.

In our research,we use the NEURON simulationenvironment as it is capable of efficient discreteevent simulations of networks of “artificial”(integrate and fire) spiking neurons, as well ashybrid simulations of nets whose elements includeboth artificial neurons and neuron models withmembrane currents governed by voltage-gatedionic conductances.NEURON has special featuresthat accommodate the complex geometry andnonlinearities of biologically realistic models,without interfering with its ability to handle morespecific models that involve a high degree ofabstraction.Our goal is to study and simulatebiological neurons: structure, processinginformation,pyramidal neurons,membranepotential bistability.The performed simulationsinclude the following major steps:

• Establish model topology: We model thefollowing anatomical features with theirrespective existence and spatial relationship: acell body (soma), dendrites, and axons.

• Assign anatomical and biophysical properties:Next we set the anatomical and biophysicalproperties of each section as the basic buildingblock from which model cells are constructed.Each section has its own segmentation, length,and diameter parameters, so it is necessary toindicate which section is being referenced.

• Attach stimulating electrodes: This code emulatesthe use of an electrode to inject a stimulating currentinto the soma by placing a current pulse stimulus inthe middle of the soma section.

• Control simulation time course:At this pointall model parameters have been specified.All thatremains is to define the simulation parameters,which govern the time course of the simulations.

P O S T E R 1 2

Effects of Exercise on DepressionSymptoms after Spinal Cord InjuryJimmy DomdethFaculty Mentor: Dr. Dan McCloskeyDepartment of Psychology

Spinal cord injury (SCI) has been shown to becomorbid with anxiety and depression.The mainobjective of this study is to determine whethervoluntary exercise can reduce anxiety anddepression-like symptoms associated with SCI inmice.Male and female CD-1 mice receivedcompression of the spinal cord near thoracicvertebrae 9/10, an injury that does not causeparalysis.Animals in the exercise conditionreceived daily exposure to running wheels, alongwith motor skill activities requiring climbing andtraversing complex obstacles (e.g. ropes, ladders,and marbles) for approximately 30 days.Wehypothesize that physical activity will reduceanxiety and depression-like symptoms in SCI.Tomeasure anxiety and depression, the followingbattery of tests will be performed: 1. swim test, 2.sucrose preference test, 3. elevated plus maze, and4. a comparison of adrenal weight.We expect tofind support for the role exercise in thepsychological rehabilitation of mice with SCI.

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P O S T E R 1 3

CSI: Second LifeEdwin FongFaculty Mentor: Dr. Michael KressDepartment of Computer Science andVice President for Technology

CSI: Second Life is a resource available online toanyone interested in stimulating their ingenuity.

Second Life is a virtual environment which can bemolded and designed to represent the visions ofthe people who use it.This virtual space emulatesthe real world in real-time,here avatarscommunicate through voice or text chat, and aregiven all the characteristics and motions of real life,without any of its perceivable boundaries.CSI:Second Life makes use of this digital society,providing visitors with information about theCollege, areas in which to socialize and a buildingspace or sandbox for experiments. It provides alandmark of innovation and inspiration whichallows visitors to experience the sense of realitywhen limited only by imagination.

In this project we are developing and advancingthe CSI: Second Life beachfront.Through the use ofscripting and 3D modeling,we create constructsinspired by the accomplishments of our studentsand faculty which showcase CSI.Various objectswill be created on the CSI: Second Life beachfrontto interact with avatars.These interactions will betracked for statistical analysis of the visits.Additionally, visitors can develop and explore ontheir own and appreciate their ownresourcefulness.Through this project we are able tosee coding and modeling fuse together to instill lifewithin ideas and visions.

P O S T E R 1 4

Efficacy of Curcumin inEliminating Cancer CellsAlexandra BerlinerFaculty Mentor: Dr. Probal BanerjeeDepartment of Chemistry

The various types of cancer that invade humantissue have diverse etiologies of formation, but thecommon factor among all of them is the state ofuncontrolled cell division that yields the tumors.Traditional medicines have been used with somesuccess for some forms of cancer.Yet for manyother types of cancers, such as brain tumors, verylittle success has been obtained using suchtherapies.The most common therapeutic strategyuses antimetabolites,which target and blockuncontrolled division of cancer cells.However,such antimetabolites also have pronounced,detrimental side effects on normal cells.The otherstrategies, such as the use of agents that blockangiogenesis (blood vessel formation) in tumorshave not yet come to the therapeutic level.Thisemphasizes the need for investigations on theapplication of natural agents that have been usedearlier to treat tumors for many years with little orno side effects.Our preliminary data have shownthat the spice component, curcumin, results incaspase-3 induction in oligodendroglioma (HOG),neuroblastoma (N18),mixed glioma (GL261), andmelanoma (B16F10) cells.This is also concomitantwith decreased MTT activity,which demonstratesincreased cell death. Furthermore,we haveobserved that curcumin crosses the blood-brain-barrier in mice and prevents tumor formation inmice injected with the potent tumor cells B16F10but does not affect the normal brain cells. Furtherstudies focus on analyzing the mechanism bywhich curcumin causes selective elimination ofcancer cells from the brain.To this end, culturedbrain slices will be obtained from mice injected inthe front brain with B16F10 and GL261 cells.Curcumin treatment of such cultured slices undercarefully designed conditions will elucidate themechanistic details of its anti-tumor activity and laythe foundation for its efficacious use as a potentanti-tumor agent in in vivo studies.

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P O S T E R 1 5

Biosynthesis of Truncated Ste2p:A G - Protein Coupled Receptorfrom Yeast that May Be Suitablefor CrystallizationGrigoriy GelfandFaculty Mentor: Dr. Fred NaiderDepartment of Chemistry

G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) areheptahelical integral membrane proteins (IMPs)that induce an intracellular signaling cascade andare used as the targets for a wide range ofpharmaceuticals.GPCRs have been linked toregulation of behavior and mood and have beenassociated with inflammatory responses.

In order to design agonists or antagonists that bindto GPCRs and create drugs with better efficacies, itis essential to understand their three dimensionalstructures.At present, the three dimensionalstructures of only a handful of GPCRs are known.We are investigating Ste2p, a GPCR that is found inSaccharomyces cerevisiae.Crystallization of IMPs ishampered by their inherent flexibility.We areengineering Ste2p to limit its molecular movementsand increase its propensity to crystallize.We areconstructing plasmids that will code for expressionof analogs of Ste2p that 1) have a truncatedcytoplasmic tail (CT); 2) have a truncated CT andlack the first 10 residues at the N-terminus; and 3)have a truncated CT and lack the first 10 residuesat the N-terminus and are missing a portion of thefirst extracellular loop.The above constructs willalso be engineered with mutations that will favorthe ground and excited states of Ste2p and whichare constrained by a disulfide bond.The goal ofthese constructs is to express a shorter less flexiblemolecule that will form crystals for X-ray analysis.The STE2 gene has been amplified by PCR andligated into a pET vector,which is used in E.coliexpression systems.Clones coding for the desiredconstruct have been isolated and identified by DNAsequencing.We are in the early stages oftransforming the expression plasmids into E. colistrains BL21-AI and BL21(DE3)pLysS. Expressionwill be optimized and SDS-PAGE,Western Blot andmass spectroscopy will be used to identify thecorrect protein.

P O S T E R 1 6

Phase Diagrams of GraftedMolecules under External Fields:A Mean Field ModelAkihisa YoshidaFaculty Mentor: Dr. Chwen-Yang ShewDepartment of Chemistry

A mean field theory is extended to investigate thephase behavior of grafted molecules under externalfields. In the model, each grafted molecule containstwo states, similar to the Ising model, and theapplied field interacts with only one of the twostates.The free energy of this model is formulatedas a function of composition, field strength, and aparameter to account for the intermolecularinteractions of neighboring molecules.Ourcalculations show that uniform fields exhibit nosignificant effect on phase diagrams. In contrast,linear gradient fields affect critical temperature butshow no direct effect on critical composition.Under external fields with quadratic spatialgradient, both critical constants become sensitiveto field direction and strength.Moreover, an analysisof field dependent critical constants suggests thatquadratic fields affect miscibility and criticaltemperature.A brief comparison of the currentmodel and the Ising model is also given.

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P O S T E R 1 7

Synthesis of Copolymer-templated2-D Hexagonal Silicas andOrganosilicas with veryLarge MesoporesBenedette AdewaleFaculty Mentor: Dr. Michal KrukDepartment of Chemistry

The low temperature (12°-15° C) synthesis ofordered nano-porous silicas with large diameter(10-22 nm) cylindrical pores was studied. Silicaframework was formed from silicon alcoxideprecursor using micelles of block copolymer astemplates.Hydrophobic swelling agents ( 1,3,5-triisopropylbenzene) (TIPB) and cyclohexane(C6H12) were used to swell the micelles of theblock copolymer, thus increasing their diameterand effectively enlarging the pores of the templatedsilica.While the characterization of the obtainedsilica materials is still in progress, the presentresults show that whenTIBP is used, the porediameter tends to increase with the increase in theamount of the silica precursor used.This behavior,which has not been observed earlier, suggests thatthe increase in the relative amount of the silicaprecursor promotes the expansion of micelles bythe swelling agent.The pore diameters of somesilicas with cylindrical pores obtained in thepresent study are beyond the pore size rangedocumented so far in the scientific literature byother research groups. It was also shown thatcyclohexane (C6H12) can promote the formationof silicas with large cylindrical pores even when itsmass ratio to the block copolymer surfactant isabout 1:10.

P O S T E R 1 8

Synthesis of Click Discotic LiquidCrystalsEric Rios-DoriaFaculty Mentor: Dr. Krishnaswami RajaDepartment of Chemistry

Liquid crystals are an intermediate phase betweensolid and liquid that is synthesized from rufigallolby the utilization of“Click Chemistry”conditions.This final product of discotic liquid crystals isachieved through synthesis by etherifying rufigallolusing excess propargyl bromide. Pure rufigallol isobtained by a series of reactions and purificationsstarting from gallic acid.The product of aromaticcores with multiple alkyne attachments will bepurified and reacted with certain azides to generatethe final discotic liquid crystals. By introducinghydrophilic groups into the lateral chains of thediscotic molecules, disc-shaped multipolaramphiphiles can be generated.

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P O S T E R 1 9

Religion in the Works of MiguelAngel AsturiasDorothy CaldoneFaculty Mentor: Dr. Sarah PollackDepartment of Modern Languages

In the works of Miguel Angel Asturias, the invasionof Guatemala by conquistadors from Spain isdepicted from the point of view of the indigenousMayan.Therefore, the Mayan religious beliefs areheavily present in the plot and as a result shown incontrast to the Christian beliefs of theconquistadors.The author utilized this contrast tohighlight the Mayan connection to the land andtheir use of justified violence,while the Christiansare destructive and violent without a just cause. Inthis independent study, I will analyze the contactbetween both the Mayan and the Christian religionpresent in the works of Miguel Angel Asturias andthe elements used by the author to depict thiscontrast.The invasion of the Spanish was in partmotivated by aggressive religious beliefs,whichcontrasted with the more nature derived religionsof the Mayan.

P O S T E R 2 0

The Effects of Prosody in ChildrenDiagnosed with AutismSeir NehorahFaculty Mentors: Dr. Patricia Brooks andDr. Bertram PloogDepartment of Psychology

Most children diagnosed with autism have deficitsin producing and comprehending speech.Ourstudy investigated speech perception in childrendiagnosed with autism in an effort to explore theirsensitivity towards emotional tone of voice, alsoknown as“affective prosody”. Five childrendiagnosed with autism were presented with acomputerized video game that presented themwith sentences that differed with respect to thecontent words (e.g.,“Jack saw a mouse”or“Samshut the door”) and emotional tone of voice (i.e.,grouchy vs. enthusiastic).Children learned to selecta particular sentence (S+) and then were tested onprobe sentences that varied from the S+ withrespect to the content words or the emotional toneof voice. Previous work in the lab showed thatchildren diagnosed with autism were able todifferentiate the prosodic contours of statementsand questions.The five children who were involvedin the present study varied in their ability to playthe game successfully.Ultimately our goal is toexplore differences as well as similarities in speechperception between children diagnosed withautism and children with typical development.

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P O S T E R 2 1

Inducible Expression ofHyperphosphorylated Tau inPC-12 Cells:A Neurodegeneration ModelJoseph Merola, Sherry Browne, LucilleCunsolo, Christopher Corbo, WilliamL’Amoreaux, and Alejandra AlonsoFaculty Mentor: Dr. Alejandra AlonsoDepartment of Biology

A collective group of neurodegenerative diseases,includingAlzheimer’s disease, are referred to astauopathies. These diseases are histopathologicallycharacterized by neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs)composed of hyperphosphorylated forms of theneuronal microtubule associated phosphoprotein(MAP) tau.Normally this phosphoprotein plays akey role in the stabilization of microtubulenetworks.When hyperphosphorylated, tau nolonger performs these functions and begins toaggregate. To study the effects ofhyperphosphorylated tau on the stability ofmicrotubule networks, transient and stabletransfection techniques utilizing the PC-12Tet-offinducible system will be performed.With thissystem, the production of hyperphosphorylated tauis controlled using tetracycline as an inducer.Cellsexpressing hyperphosphorylated tau typicallyresult in alterations in shape, and display tauattached to their microtubule networks. Live cellimaging and confocal microscopy will be alsoutilized to study microtubule dynamics, as well ascharacterizing abnormal cellular alterationsfollowing hyperphosphorylated tau expression.

P O S T E R 2 2

Tau-interactions with Nucleotides,Self-assembly and Impact inNeurodegenerationKalpita Abhyankar, Regina Miller, ChrisCorbo, and Alejandra AlonsoFaculty Mentor: Dr. Alejandra AlonsoDepartment of Biology

It is pivotal to understand the mechanistic functionof synaptic breakdown that precedes in cell deathin Alzheimer's disease (AD) and otherneurodegenerative diseases.One of the causes ofneurodegenerative diseases is a defunct tau protein.Accumulation of hyperphosphorylated tau causesthe disruption of microtubules,which are related tosynaptic loss and pathology of Alzheimer's disease.Impaired cognitive function and pathology of AD iscorrelated with this lesion.We have previouslyshown that the cytosolic Alzheimerhyperphosphorylated tau (AD P-tau) sequestersnormal tau,MAP1A,MAP1B and MAP2,whichresults in the inhibition of microtubule assemblyand disruption of microtubules and self assembleinto filaments.Tau promotes the assembly andstabilizes microtubules.Tau is a phospho-protein,and its phosphorylation is regulated throughoutdevelopment.Unraveling the mechanism of self-assembly of tau has generated considerable interest.In vitro assembly of tau has been achieved underdifferent conditions, such as urea treatment for 60hour or incubations with unsaturated free fattyacids, tRNA,heparin, polyglutamic acid or quinones;with a tau fragment; or with high proteinconcentration (12 mg/ml) and long incubationperiod (several days).We have shown that tau selfassemble upon phosphorylation.We have foundthat tau has possessed a consensus sequence forbindingATP.We studied the influence of ATP andGTP on tau self-assembly.Using photolabelling wefound that tau binds ATP and not GTP and there isno auto-phosphorylation.ATP induces self-assemblyof tau into filaments.The implications of taubinding to the nucleotides, its self-assembly andneurodegeneration are discussed.

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P O S T E R 2 3

Changes to Inhibitory Innervationof the Hippocampus in TwoModels of EpilepsyEman Tabbara, Nicole Lukovsky, andAzar LatifFaculty Mentor: Dr. Dan McCloskeyDepartment of Psychology

In a common form of epilepsy, seizures begin inone area of the brain (most commonly thehippocampus) and spread to neighboring regions.We are using two animal models of epilepsy (onedevelopmental, and one adult) to understand howthe hippocampus changes to begin producingseizures in epilepsy. Previous work from our labshows that two regions in the hippocampus havealtered physiology under epileptic conditions:CA3and CA1.We would predict based on ourrecordings that CA3 has fewer inhibitory fibers inepilepsy while CA1 has more.Here,we usedanatomical methods to determine the number ofinhibitory axon terminals to test these hypotheses.Sprague Dawley rats were subjected to seizuresinduced by pilocarpine and developmental hypoxiaseizure models. Epileptic and naive control animalswere perfused two weeks later, and brains wereprocessed for immunohistochemistry using anantibody to the vesicular GABA transporter (VGAT)Images were collected with a confocal microscopeand visualized using 3-D reconstruction software.Preliminary qualitative results suggest that brainsections from epileptic animals showed a reductionof VGAT staining in the CA3 area and more stainingin the CA1 area; however, in the control animals,observed sections showed constant staining alongthe CA3/ CA1 axis. Presently,we are quantifying thenumber of VGAT axon terminals in both the CA3and CA1 regions. Similar results will be obtained inboth seizure-induced models verifying that CA3area of the hippocampus shows a decrease in VGATaxon terminals and CA1 area demonstrates anincrease in VGAT immunoreactivity.

P O S T E R 2 4

Use of Zebra Fish as a Model ofNeurodegenerationYelena Solovyeva, Lucille Cunsolo, andChristopher CorboFaculty Mentor: Dr. Alejandra AlonsoDepartment of Biology

Tau, a neuronal microtubule associated protein, hasbeen shown to induce frontal temporal dementiawith Parkinsonism linked to chromosome 17because of point mutations in tau sequence. Inother neurodegenerative diseases such asAlzheimer’s disease, tau is foundhyperphosphorylated and polymerized into tanglesof filaments.Tau expression and phosphorylationpatterns change with development.To test tau'sinvolvement in the process of neurodegenerationin the brain,we will produce transgenic Zebra fishexpressing humanTau. Initially, our goal is toexplore naive fish brain cells to establish theorganism's actual conditions.We will study thepresence of tau in Zebra fish by SDS-PAGE gelelectrophoresis andWestern blots using a battery ofantibodies against tau and phosphorylated tau.As acontrol we use mouse brain tissue.We will alsoanalyze the cell distribution of the microtubuleprotein in zebra fish using confocal microscopy.The Zebra fish is a very useful model being cheapto maintain; therefore,we can study the effect oftau expression in normal development.Furthermore,we will also introduce the abnormalphosphorylated form of tau to induceneurodegeneration in the fish. Zebra fish provide agood model allowing us to test preventative drugsdealing with neurodegeneration in water.

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P O S T E R 2 5

The Expression and Purification ofthe Cytosolic Tail of the Ste2pÎ±-Factor ReceptorMohammed H. BhuiyanFaculty Mentor: Dr. Fred NaiderDepartment of Chemistry

One of the most important families of proteins innature are G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs)which are characterized by seven transmembranehelical domains that loop in and out of the plasmamembrane in a serpentine fashion.GPCRs play vitalroles in diverse biological processes, such ascellular development, cellular proliferation, andviral infection and therefore must be highlyregulated.The cytosolic tail (CT) is thought to playan important role in GPCR signal regulation.Herewe attempt to express and purify the CT of the Î±-factor receptor (Ste2p). BL21-DE3 Escherichia colicells containing a vector coding for the 131 residuetail, plus a histidine tag and linker to give a proteinof 17.5kDa,were used.Cells were grown in 15NM9 media, resulting in expression of a 15N labeledprotein.After expression cells were lysed using lysismix and the lysate was first subjected to affinitypurification through aTalon Co+2 resin, in whichthe CT was purified via its His tag.TheTalonpurified protein was passed through a RP-HPLCcolumn resulting in a 99% homogenous product inyield of ~16mg/L.The CT was characterized bymass spectrometry and 2D NMR analysis.The MSmolecular weight was 17426.38Da compared to anexpected weight of 17424.62Da.The NMR spectrasuggested that the CT is primarily disordered butmay have transient secondary structures.This wasconfirmed by CD analysis.The structure of the CT,it’s interactions with protein partners and themechanism of regulation of Ste2p is underinvestigation.

P O S T E R 2 6

Histone Acetylation at the YeastIN01 Promoter, the TranscriptionalActivator, and Gcn5p and Esa1pMichelle Esposito, and PaulinaKonarzewskaFaculty Mentor: Dr. Chang-Hui ShenDepartment of Biology

The de novo synthesis of phosphatidylinositol fromglucose-6-phosphate requires the structural geneINO1. INO1 encodes inositol-1-phosphate synthase,which catalyzes the rate-limiting step in thesynthesis of inositol. Previously,we demonstratedthat SWI/SNF and INO80 are present at the INO1promoter and both are activator-dependentremodelers.We also demonstrated that therecruitment of Snf2p is Ino80p-dependent. Fromour work and that of others,we propose a model todescribe how several factors act on INO1chromatin during gene activation.However, it hasyet to be shown how and when histonemodification plays a role in INO1 activation.Here,we showed,using chromatin immunoprecipitationcoupled with real-time PCR, that induction of INO1resulted in acetylation of both H3 and H4 at theINO1 promoter and open reading frame.Acetylation of H3 and H4 required thetranscriptional activator Ino2p, suggesting activator-dependent recruitment of histone acetylation.Furthermore, histone acetylation is accompaniedby the presence of histone acetylase Gcn5p andEsa1p at the INO1 promoter and open readingframe.The presence of both histone acetylases atINO1 promoter is activator-dependent. In light ofthese findings,we proposed a model whichdescribes the order of events in INO1 activation.

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P O S T E R 2 7

Art, Poetry, and Inspiration: OneWoman’s Personal JourneyKathryn FazioFaculty Mentor: Prof. Patricia PasslofDepartment of Performing and Creative Arts

I paint and write poetry because I have tometabolize pain.The best way to do this is to aspireto reach a higher point.Making a painting orattending to what is poetic in the physical world isthe best way for me to do this.The painting or thesuccess of the poem has little to do with me if it issuccessfully rendered or articulated. I bow to thebeauty outside of me and try to be honest to thething itself. Finding the painting is a surprise andthe space between strokes a necessary silence.Space gives a poem or painting a pumping heart sothat the work can breathe and be still at the sametime.

In the making of a painting, one must remain trueto the strokes.Once the first stroke is on the canvasone must find what the canvas is telling you.Thepainting itself trumps any preconceived notion of astory, idea, or image.One cannot paint withoutpaint. It must be lusciously present in the same waybaby food smears an infant’s face.The strokes andcomponents of the painting must relate to eachother not to you.

When articulating a poem, the images, reoccurringthemes/metaphors also come as a surprise. I’velearned to let the compelling poem speak throughme so the music and mathematics (silence andword) breathes from me a new soul, a crafted,skillful, expression.One can find the painting orpoem or ruin it like a narcissistic mother if you donot listen to what it is compelled to reveal.

P O S T E R 2 8

Why Physics Isn’t Appealing inOur American High SchoolsJonathan ColangeloFaculty Mentor: Dr. Charles LiuDepartment of Engineering Science and Physics

My presentation is going to revolve around some ofthe reasons why Physics isn’t a sought after subjectlike English or History at the secondary educationlevel. In addition to the academic journals I haveread, I have conducted 350 anonymous studentsurveys that I handed out to three NewYork CityPublic High Schools regarding differentmisconceptions surrounding Physics at thesecondary level of education.Upon receiving andanalyzing the surveys and in conjunction with theacademic journal articles, I have theorized somepossibilities that should be implemented to try tofurther promote the studying of physics at thesecondary level of education

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P O S T E R 2 9

Wireless Smart CarPhilip Ciaccio, and Roy HopkinsFaculty Mentor: Dr. (Jessica) Xin JiangDepartment of Engineering Science and Physics

TheWireless Smart Car Project is yet anotherattempt to design and implement a tool ofcommunication with neighboring vehicles travelingon the road at the same time.This wirelesscommunication would allow the transfer of specificinformation about each surrounding car.This opensmany fields of interest that can be developed forinter-vehicular communications. For instance, itcould provide real time traffic updates that wouldallow the driver to take immediate action and reactto dangerous situations as needed. Automobiles canbe provided a real time status of their surroundingson the road that they or the car can react upon.Emergency responders can fixate on an accidentand get to the scene quicker.Many automobilemakers today are researching current solutions thatutilize wireless communications amongst cars andexploring various uses for it. We are hoping todemonstrate a simple solution that can possiblyreduce the reaction time that it would take to avoidany head on collision.We plan to utilize anAd-Hocwireless 802.11 2.4GHz network using theCrossbow Mote wireless system.Wireless Ad-Hocsensing nodes are small and can be local to the carsthey are to measure.Once programmed, these unitswill be placed on top of each car used in ourexperiment and will keep track of the other Ad-HocMotes around it.Our objective is to run tests usingtoy cars and be able to have all preceding cars reactto an initial car’s sudden stop.All subsequent carswill receive the wireless signal from the first carupon stopping and in turn will stop, hopefullyavoiding any collision.Because of certainconstraints,we are restricting our experiment to aone-lane road and interactions among fourvehicles only.

P O S T E R 3 0

Does Stress Mediate theRelationship between SES andDistress among College StudentsCory GianninaFaculty Mentor: Dr. John LawrenceDepartment of Psychology

The purpose of this study is to examine therelationship between socioeconomic status (SES),cumulative stress, distress and academicperformance and retention among college studentsat the College of Staten Island.My topic in thestudy is does stress mediate the relationshipbetween SES and distress. It was hypothesized thathigh levels of stress will increase the correlationbetween SES and distress.Questionnaires wereadministered to incoming freshman designed tomeasure SES, cumulative stress, and distress.At firstwe had the students complete the survey on theirown at home by providing them with accounts tolog onto a website and view the survey.However,this method did not prove to be as effective asplanned, so an area on campus was set up wherethe students could come in and complete it at theirleisure. In return for their cooperation in the study,students were provided with CLUE credit, had theirnames entered into a raffle to win either one $100prize or two $50 prizes, and in some cases theywere given extra credit in the course from whichthey were recruited.

We met weekly as a research team, individuallyworking between 10-12 hours a week.During thefall semester, our primary job was to publicize thestudy and recruit participants.We were to convinceas many students as possible to participate in thestudy in an attempt to widen our subject pool. Inaddition to this, the introduction and methodssections of our honors thesis were written at thistime.The spring semester was more focused onanalyzing our results and writing the results anddiscussions sections of our papers.

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P O S T E R 3 1

Mechanisms of Neuronal Injuryduring Brain EdemaBrian Iskra and Lorenz NeuwirthFaculty Mentors: Dr. Abdeslem El Idrissiand Dr. James Olson, Wright StateUniversityDepartment of Biology

The presence of brain edema following brain injuryis associated with increased neurological sequelae;however, cause and effect relations between theprimary brain insult, altered brain water content,and cell damage are ill defined. The increasedintracellular water content that characterizescytotoxic brain edema alters ion and enzymesubstrate concentrations and modifies cytoskeletalinteractions with the plasma membrane andintracellular organelles, each of which can affectcell function.The studies described in thisapplication will examine mechanisms linkingchanges in cell volume with neuronal injury usingin vitro and in vivo models of brain edema.Ouroverall hypothesis states that neuronal cell injuryand death results from brain edema due to elevatedproduction of ROS activated during processes ofcellular volume regulation. In this study wemeasured cell death and injury following cellswelling using cytological measurements andchemical indices of cell damage.We also tested theassociation between swelling-induced ROSproduction and cell damage using antioxidants,genetically modified cells, and inhibitors of specificbiochemical ROS production pathways.We alsomeasured cell volume,ROS production rates,oxidative stress, and resulting cellular injury inswollen hippocampal neurons under conditions inwhich cellular volume regulation is inhibited bypharmacological treatments or by depleting cells ofintracellular osmolytes utilized for neuronal volumeregulation.To establish relationships between brainedema,oxidative stress, brain injury, and cognitiveimpairments,we utilized the model for hypo-osmotic brain injury by exposing mice to a hypo-osmotic shock thorough intraperitoneal waterinjection.We could demonstrate a relationshipbetween edema-induced damage to thehippocampus, decline in locomotor and cognitivefunctions.The results will provide new informationon signaling pathways activated by cell swellingwhich may be detrimental to neuronal survival andthus,will open new avenues for therapy designedto reduce morbidity.

P O S T E R 3 2

Altered Paired Pulse Facilitationin the Fragile X Mouse Brain:Implication for Learning MemoryBrian Iskra, Alexandra Marsillo, LuisaOtalora, and Lorenz NeuwirthFaculty Mentor: Dr. Abdeslem El IdrissiDepartment of Biology

Fragile X is a common mental retardation syndromethat results from the silencing of a single gene,FMR1,on the X chromosome.The loss of the FMR1gene product, FMRP, leads to mental retardation inmales and to generally milder effects inheterozygous females.The syndrome has an autistic-like behavioral profile with, hyperarousal, self-stimulation, tactile-defensiveness andhypersensitivity to sensory stimuli.There is also anincreased prevalence of childhood seizures thatmay extend into adulthood. Increased seizuresusceptibility is also seen in the fragile X knock outmouse model for this disorder.To investigate theincreased seizure susceptibility,we examinedGABAA receptor expression in the FVB/N fragile Xmouse.Western blot analysis indicated thatexpression of the GABAA receptor subunit(GABARB) was reduced in the cortex,hippocampus, diencephalon and brainstem in adultmale fragile X mice. Immunohistochemical analysisof brain sections suggested a reduction in GABARBimmunoreactivity apparent on the soma of neurons.Since GABARB is a key subunit for receptorassembly and function, these results imply thatthere is a widespread reduction in functionalGABAA receptors.We also found increasedexpression of glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD),the enzyme responsible for GABA synthesis, in thesame regions that showed GABARB reduction.Thisis particularly interesting because reduced GABARBand increased GAD expression are potentiallyrelated, compensatory changes. Additionally,wefound that short term plasticity is altered in thefragile X mouse brain as measured by pairedpulse stimulation.

These results imply that the absence of FMRP leadsto alterations of the GABAergic system that could atleast partially account for the increased seizuresusceptibility of the fragile X mouse and may berelevant to the increase in childhood seizures in thefragile X syndrome. Furthermore, the alteredsynaptic plasticity in the fragile X mouse brain mayexplain the altered cellular correlate of learning inthese mice. 33


P O S T E R 3 3

Sodium Hydrogen Exchanger – 1(NHE-1) Function RegulatesMammary Gland BranchingSurendar RavindranFaculty Mentor: Dr. Jimmie FataDepartment of Biology

Previously developed three-dimensional (3D)cultures have been used to accurately image themorphogenetic development of mammary glandbranches using isolated ducts from the mousemammary gland. I intend to use this model systemto study the effect of intracellular pH modificationon branching morphogenesis.This will be achievedby modifying the intracellular pH with a drug ofthe amiloride family, specifically, (N-Methyl,N-isobutyl) amiloride (MIA).This drug has beenshown to specifically abrogate the function of theNa+/H exchanger type-1 (NHE-1),which itself isresponsible for maintaining intracellular pH atabout 6.8. Previous work in Dr. Fata’s lab has shownNHE-1 to be expressed mammary epithelial cellswhile other NHE subtypes are not.We have alsofound that MIA inhibition of NHE-1 inhibitsmammary branching morphogenesis, indicating anovel pathway involved in mammary development.I intend to use a range of concentrations of MIAalong with a growth factor to further define thisabnormal developmental phenotype.

P O S T E R 3 4

Female Teachers and TheirRelationships with Students: WhatCan the Media Tell Us?Samantha BalestriereFaculty Mentor: Dr. Darryl HillDepartment of Psychology

Until recently, female sexual offenders have been ahighly understudied group.The purpose of thisstudy is to analyze the archival data on femaleteacher-student sexual relationships.Hypothesesabout the nature of these women’s behaviors werebased on theories of pedophilia and criminalprofiling. In total, 416 cases of teacher/studentsexual relationships documented on the Internet inarchival sites, news websites, and other sourceswere used for data analysis. Results indicated that amajority of these offenders were Caucasian, andtheir victims were typically male.The qualitativedata partially supported the hypotheses,with someof the pedophilic themes such as emotionalcongruence and entrapment significantlyillustrated. It was concluded that most of thesewomen would not be diagnosed pedophiles, nor dothey exhibit any outstanding mental health issues.There was not one unifying motivation for theirbehavior, but rather a variety of reasons,which mayonly be ascertained when only consideringprimary sources.

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P O S T E R 3 5

Girl Scouting in DetentionCenters: Empowering Girls inOCFS to Open DoorsSonia LevineFaculty Mentor: Dr. Kathleen CumiskeyDepartment of Psychology and the Women’sStudies Program

Girl Scouting goes beyond slogans and pledges. Itsfocus is on leadership development and building“girls of courage, confidence, and character whowill make the world a better place”. Scouting helpsgirls relate to one another in positive ways,increasing their self worth and positive communityinvolvement.While Girl Scouting is available to allgirls, for female juvenile delinquents it may meetcentral needs.

Girl Scouting in Detention Centers’ goal is to“reduce recidivism one Girl Scout at a time”.Thecurriculum’s focus is on trauma recovery,withlessons in violence prevention and building selfesteem/trust. In the spring of 2009, a Girl Scouttroop was established in a facility run by the NewYork State Office of Children and Family Services(OCFS).This limited/non-secure facility houses 25girls ages 12 – 17.Girls have been placed in thisfacility as the result of a family court case.Most oftheir crimes are status offenses,meaning that ifthey were of legal age, they would not be held.Troop meetings are held bi-weekly on Fridayafternoons.While in the facility, the girls aredeveloping skills, earning badges and participatingin community service. Since the aim of this projectis to reduce recidivism, special emphasis is beingplaced on making connections to troops in thegirls’ home communities. It is our hope that thegirls will become involved in Girl Scouting outsidethe facility.This will support their goals of aftercareand ease the transition to life at home

P O S T E R 3 6

Language ShiftKristina NiesiFaculty Mentor: Dr. Sarah Benesch

I decided to focus my research project around theLanguage Shift topic due to the immediate interestthat I have in teaching Linguistics, given that it ismy major study focus at CSI. Language Shift isdefined as "the progressive process whereby aspeech community of a language shifts to speakinganother language." Other keywords related toLanguage Shift are LanguageTransfer, LanguageReplacement or Assimilation.An example ofLanguage Shift is someone who is born into aculture that speaks one language but over time, theperson learns a second language which thenbecomes their fluent language and eventually theyforget all about their first native language.WithAmerica being the world's "Melting Pot" manynatives are bilingual and have ESL, English as aSecond Language.While Bilingualism orTrilingualism is encouraged throughout manyEuropean countries,Americans tend to frown upona native speaking something other than English.Instead of being encouraged to embrace their firstlanguage, students in American schools are taughtto push it aside and use English in everydayvernacular. Language Shift occurred in my family,being that my mother was born here in Americabut never learned English until the age of seven.She is now a speaker of only English, forgetting herfirst language all together,which was Norwegian.She can still read and understand verbal Norwegianwhen spoken to her but she cannot write or speakit fluently.

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P O S T E R 3 7

The Sexuality and Gender ofNontraditional Men: “He’s a LittleBit Effeminate, But He’s Cute”Peter BurattiFaculty Mentor: Dr. Darryl HillDepartment of Psychology

Men inAmerican society are held to restrictivestandards of masculinity.As a result “feminine”menoften experience difficulties in finding a romanticpartner.This study examines the traditional beliefsof feminine heterosexual men and theirrelationship dynamics.Male students at the Collegeof Staten Island were given a packet ofquestionnaires asking about demographics,traditional gender beliefs and the sexual self.Thequestionnaire results showed that age and level ofreligiousness correlated with traditional beliefs.Feminine men were found to endorse non-traditional beliefs more than stereotypicallymasculine men.Participants that were in a long-term relationship or dating were invited to theinterview portion of the study. Interviewsreferenced themes concerning power,psychological gender, sex and relationships.

P O S T E R 3 8

Drama Production:The Well of HorninessBy Holly HughesRobert MahoneyFaculty Mentor: Dr. Maurya WickstromDepartment of Performing and Creative Arts

Drama major Robert Mahoney directs a play byHolly Hughes, one of America’s foremost daringperformance artists and playwrights.The play isHughes’s hilarious film noir spoof, a wackymurder-mystery that follow the adventures ofheroineVicky as she attempts to escape a murderrap. She and her sisters in the“alleged”sorority,theTribads, are always on the edge of the wellof horniness.

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P O S T E R 3 9

Biofilm Formation in CandidaAlbicansKathleen Van ManenFaculty Mentor: Dr. Elena McCoyDepartment of Biology

Candida albicans is a significant human fungalpathogen in which the ability to form biofilms hasbeen associated with drug resistance and virulence.Biofilm formation is dependent on processesassociated with adherence to inert materials andfilament formation in C. albicans.When 2% glucoseand 2% galactose minimal media were compared,differences in growth and adherence wereobserved. Since previous studies demonstrated thatinorganic phosphate affects filamentation anddimorphic transition in this yeast, in this study theeffect of phosphate addition on biofilm formationin minimal medium was examined.Three strains ofC. albicans currently maintained in the laboratorywhich differ with respect to nutritionalrequirements for filament formation werecompared.When 2% glucose minimal media withand without 100mM phosphate were employed,adherence to polystyrene plates was observed at 48hours only in phosphate-containing medium.Whereas in 2% galactose minimal media adherencewas observed at 48hrs with and withoutphosphate. In addition, strain-dependent resistanceto the antifungal antibiotic,miconazole in biofilm-grown cells was also observed in 2% glucoseminimal media plus the addition of phosphate.

The estrogen metabolite, estradiol, has beenreported to enhance growth and filamentation in C.albicans in medium containing modified serum.Wehave previously demonstrated serum-induced germtube formation in our yeast strains. In the currentstudy, effects on biofilm formation and miconazoleresistance in strains grown in 2% glucose minimalmedium with and without phosphate addition,attributable to the addition of 10-9 M estradiol werenot observed.

P O S T E R 4 0

Mammary CarcinogenScreening ModelAlexander PerelmanFaculty Mentor: Dr. Jimmie E. FataDepartment of Biology

Animal models have been the predominant sourceof evidence that specific chemicals can causemammary tumors to form.Rudel et al., 2007,hasshown 216 chemicals that are associated with anincreased number of mammary gland tumors;however, little is known about how these chemicalsaffect mammary development.Therefore of the 216,we have selected 10 that are found relatively morewidespread than the others, to be screened fortheir effect on mammary tissue development.The10 selected chemicals for study were 1,2-propyleneoxide, benzene, ethylene oxide, nitromethane, o-toluidine, styrene, 1,2-dichloroethane,methylenechloride, carbon tetrachloride, and 1-Nitropyrene.All of the suspected carcinogens fall into 4 of 5particular categories,which are air pollutants,found within consumer products, found as foodadditives, associated with occupational exposures,and are highly produced.To test how exposure tothese chemicals will alter mammary cellmorphogenesis we have devised a screen based ona 3 dimensional ex vivo culture assay that modelsmammary development (Fata et al., 2000).Specifically,mammary ducts, here on referred to asorganoids,will be cultured using theaforementioned technique and exposed to one ofthe 10 selected carcinogens.This assay aims todetermine the effects of carcinogen exposure todeveloping mammary tissue.

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P O S T E R 4 1

The Development of a BreastEpithelial Culture Assay that Teststhe Effects of Exposure to1-NitropyreneGoldie LazarusFaculty Mentor: Dr. Jimmie E. FataDepartment of Biology

My research project is concentrated ondetermining the specific effects that 1-nitropyrene(1NP) has on normal breast epithelial cells.Theproject aims to discover how this widespreadenvironmental factor affects cell polarity, cellproliferation, and cell death,which are cellcharacteristics often deregulated during cancerinitiation and progression. In order to test theseeffects, the project transiently exposes“normal”human breast epithelial cells, in both 3-dimensionaland 2-dimensional culture assays, to varyingamounts of INP.Our preliminary results show that1NP has an adverse affect on the cells andeventually causes apoptosis at high concentrations(100 M 1NP). Furthermore, confocal microscopyhas revealed pathways of apoptosis and DNAdamage occurring in cells exposed to 100 M of1NP-treated cells but not control cells.To test howlower concentrations of 1NP affect proliferationand cell cycle regulation we will use flowcyotometric analysis.Overall an analysis of thisenvironmental factor and how it affects “normal”breast cells may provide a framework for futureprecautionary measures and may direct newpreventative approaches and life style interventionsgeared toward decreasing the exposure to 1-nitropyrene.

P O S T E R 4 2

Development and Testing ofCurcumin Derivatives asPromising Drugs againstBreast CancerAshley MathaiFaculty Mentor: Dr. Jimmie E. FataDepartment of Biology

Curcumin is a phenolic compound derived fromthe rhizome Cucuma longa and it is commonlyused as a spice for food coloring and flavoring.Curcumin has proven to be an effective anti-inflammatory, anti-carcinogenic, and anti-infectiousdrug and has therefore received much scientificand medical attention.Unfortunately, curcumin isinsoluble in water and is biodegraded quickly whenadministered to patients.Therefore, a derivative ofcurcumin that overcomes these characteristics mayprove to be more effective than curcumin itself. Inanalyzing curcumin,we have found that at highconcentrations (100 M) it can negatively affect anumber of human breast cancer cell lines.We thenset out to evaluate the 4 novel derivatives ofcurcumin for their ability to affect several differentbreast cancer cell lines in a similar fashion as seenwith curcumin.Of these derivatives, one was foundto act negatively against the breast cancer cell linesas efficiently as curcumin.We show that thisderivative is also soluble in water,which may makeit a more effective drug than curcumin itself.Further analysis of this curcumin derivative is onthe horizon as it holds promise as a novel andeffective therapeutic against breast cancer.

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P O S T E R 4 3

Does Cumulative Stress Mediatethe Relationship between SES andAcademic Achievement?Jason DeGenaro

Faculty Mentor: Dr. John LawerenceDepartment of Psychology

This study examines the relationship betweensocioeconomic status (SES), cumulative stress, andacademic performance.The part of this experimentthat I will be closely examining is the relationshipbetween socioeconomic status and GPA infreshmen and sophomores,with stress as amediator.My hypothesis is that coming from alower SES standing will increase the amount ofstress on a student, and in turn negatively influenceacademic performance. Participants completed asurvey that measured stress levels in collegestudents. From the results, hopefully a relationshipwill be established that will provide insight intohow stress impacts the academic performance ofcollege students.

P O S T E R 4 4

Multi-Purpose Tracking RobotTsui Siu Lun BenFaculty Mentor: Professor James HladekDepartment of Engineering Scienceand PhysicsThe function of the Multi-PurposeTracking Robot isto have the ability to run autonomously byrecording and storing sensor data into the onboardmemory.The robot can also be manually controlledexternally with a cable directly connected. Infraredsensors were used to detect objects and ultrasonicsensors indicated the measurement of distance inthe surrounding area.This information was sent tothe microcontroller which used mapping softwareto the record displacement of the robot.Theproject design was broken into distinct parts:navigation algorithm, sensor control system,dataprocessing and storage system, and fabrication.

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P O S T E R 4 5

Theoretical Studies of anEnneadic Particle SystemConfined onto a SphericalSurface: Monte Carlo SimulationFatima Z. RafiqueFaculty Mentor: Prof. Chwen-Yang ShewDepartment of Chemistry

This project focuses on the high-symmetrymorphology of particles adsorbed onto sphericalsurfaces,motivated by those highly orderedmacroions through self-assembly.The recent findingof“Blueberry”macroions is known due to self-organization of small inorganic molybdenite ormolybdenum/iron charged clusters. Formolybdenite ions, the charged clusters aggregate toform charged wheels first, and these highly chargedwheels further assemble into a much larger andordered single layered spherical macroion. It is adaunting task to conduct atomistic simulations forsuch a large macroion.To this end,we intend toinvestigate an enneadic particle system with ninespheres confined to a spherical surface throughMonte Carlo simulations, prior to the future studyof more complex macroions.Our preliminaryresults indicate this model displays an orderedstructure analogy with many existing nonahydratedlanthoid ions (e.g. Eu3+(H2O)9) andnonahydridorhenate ion (ReH92-) with D3hsymmetry.Two typical interaction potentials,Coulombic repulsion and Lennard-Jones potential,will be considered to elucidate the role ofinteraction potentials on high-symmetrymorphologies. In addition, this work will beextended to understand the disorder-ordertransition involved in the formation of highlyordered structures.The kinetic pathways for theordered structure formation will also be addressedin our calculations.

P O S T E R 4 6

Transition Metal-CatalyzedAddition Reactions of ArylboronicAcids with Aromatic AldehydesMatthew Israel, Yuan-Xi Liao, andQiao-Sheng HuFaculty Mentor: Dr. Qiao-Sheng HuDepartment of Chemistry

The addition reactions of arylboronic acids withcarbonyl-containing compounds constitute some ofthe most attractive methods to access arylmethylalcohols, imines and ketones because arylboronicacids are readily available, air/moisture-stable. Rh(I),Ni and Pd(II)-catalyzed such addition reactions havebeen previously reported.However, reportedcatalyst systems suffer from low catalyst activityand/or selectivity. It is significant to develop moreefficient catalyst systems for such additionreactions, especially under mild conditions.

Type I metalacycles have been previously found tobe effective catalysts for the addition reaction ofarylboronic acids with aldehydes.1-3 To gain moreinsight information,we undertook the study of theinfluence of bases for this catalyst system.We foundthat the use of different amounts of base has greatimpact on the reaction rate,which could be veryuseful for the development of more efficientcatalysts for the addition of arylboronic acidswith aldehydes.

Acknowledgments:We thank the NSF for financialsupport.We also thank members of the Hu researchgroup for their help and support.

References:1. Liao,Y.-X. ;Xing,C.-H. ;He, P.;Hu,Q.-S.Org. Lett.2008, 10, 2509-2512.

2.He, P.; Lu,Y.;Dong,C.G.;Hu,Q.-S.Org. Lett. 2007,9, 343-346.

3.He, P.; Lu,Y.;Hu,Q.-S.Tetrahedron Lett. 2007, 48,5283-5288.

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P O S T E R 4 7

Effects of Urbanization on LocallyBreeding Landbirds of the NewYork City Area: EstimatingDemographic Parameters inUrban WoodlotsAllison BaranskiFaculty Mentor: Dr. Shaibal MitraDepartment of Biology

Since 1997 several field sites have been monitoredin Staten Island and Queens,NewYork, to assess theeffects of urbanization on three demographicparameters of locally breeding landbirds.Theprocedures for gathering data for the study followthat of MAPS (monitoring avian productivity andsurvivorship), a continent wide program thatgathers information from volunteer bird banders toestimate regional demographic parameters onlandbirds that breed throughout NorthAmerica.Utilizing the Pradel model for survivorship andrecruitment in program MARK,designed for usewith mark-recapture programs, I have estimateddemographic parameters for three locally breedingbird species,Gray Catbird (Dumatella Carolinensis),WoodThrush (Hylocichla mustelina), andAmericanRobin (Turdus migratorius). Ratios of Juvenile toAdult birds captured during the breeding seasonare used to estimate the reproductive index ofthese species in local woodlots.

Of the three species I focused on theAmericanRobin, a habitat generalist, had the highestreproductive index, 0.72,when pooling all sites.This is one and a half times higher than theregional reproductive index from the MAPSprogram.The Gray Catbird, a species that prefersscrub and early successional habitats, had areproductive index of 0.36,which is very similar tothe regional index,whereas theWoodThrush, aspecies that prefers mature woodlands, had analarmingly low reproductive index of 0.16,muchlower than the regional index of 0.24. Localsurvivorship estimates were all lower than regionalestimates,whereas recruitment of new adults intothe local breeding sites was higher than regionalestimates.

P O S T E R 4 8

Development of Optically ActiveSpirodiindanediol-ContainingPolymers for Organic SynthesisJaclynn Ng, Alexandra Levashvili, Chun-Hui Xing, Tao-Ping Liu, and Qiao-ShengHuFaculty Mentor: Dr. Qiao-Sheng Hu

The addition reactions of arylboronic acids withaldeydes/ketones constitute one of the mostattractive methods to access chiral alcoholsbecause arylboronic acids are readily available,air/moisture-stable.Transition metal-catalyzed suchaddition reactions have been previously reported.However, reported catalyst systems suffer fromrelative harsh reaction conditions and/or selectivity.We are interested in developing“green”catalystsystems such as polymeric catalysts for suchaddition reactions, especially under mild conditions.

1,1’-Spirodiindane-7,7’diol and its derivatives havebeen demonstrated to be highly efficientenantioselective ligands for a number of usefultransformations.However, the polymeric form ofsuch ligands,which could allow easy recovery andreuse, remains unexplored. In this presentation, thepreparation of 4,4’-dibromo-1,1’-spirodiindane-7,7’-diol and its resolution, two keys stages in thedevelopment of spirodiindanediol-containingpolymers,will be presented.

Acknowledgments:We thank the NSF for financial support.We alsothank members of the Hu research group for theirhelp and support.

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P O S T E R 4 9

Effects of Butanol onFilamentation and PhosphataseActivity in Candida AlbicansNatalia GoziasFaculty Mentor: Dr. Elena McCoyDepartment of Biology

Candida albicans is a dimorphic, opportunisticfungus that causes both superficial and systemicinfections in humans.The ability to switch to afilamentous growth pattern is a recognizedvirulence factor in this fungus, although the yeastphase appears to be important in the persistence ofinfections. In the model yeast Saccharomycescervesiae, Lorenz et al. (2000) demonstarted thatalcohols such as butanol, that are byproducts ofamino acid metabolism, stimulate haploid cells todefferentiate and that the observed filamentation ispartially dependent on the STE MAPK signalingpathway.

In strains of C.albicans grown in glucose minimalmedium, filamentation is repressed by farnesol, aquorum-sensing metabolite. In this study wedemostrate that in C.albicans strain CC504 exposedto butanol vapor in glucose minimal mediumfilamentation does not occur,whereas this alcoholinduces filamentation when cells are grown inminimal media with galactose and proline ascarbon sources. Enhanced alkaline phosphataseactivity in response to butanol was also observed inan isogenic strain (CC504-5E) containing cAMP-protein kinase A (PKA) pathway-specific fusiontransactivator plasmid.

P O S T E R 5 0

Preterm Babies and AttentionRegulation at School AgeSharmila MohammedFaculty Mentor: Dr. Comfort AsanbeDepartment of Psychology

This study focused on the progress anddevelopment in children who were born with verylow birth weight (ELBW<1500g), and who wereneurologically at risk as infants.These infants havebeen observed prior to this study.They have beenmonitored and studied by researchers from theInstitute of Basic Research (IBR) from birth up tothe age of five, in five general neurobehavioralcategories which include attention, sensoryasymmetry,motor asymmetry, head/neck controland extremity movements/tone.Our researchfocused on the attention regulation in thesechildren who were in the 3rd and 4th grades (meanage 9.68).We hypothesized that there would begender differences with regard to attentionregulation among our subjects.We further believethat differences exist between the rating scales ofself-assessment by the child and scores of child-assessment by parent.Data collected from ourstudy might provide answers as to whetherattention problems persist through school age inthis population.

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P O S T E R 5 1

Characterization of Post EpilepticHilar Neurons ReceivingInhibitory InputAzar Latif, Eman Tabbara, and NicoleLukovskyFaculty Mentor: Dr. Dan McCloskeyDepartment of Psychology

Epilepsy is a neurological disorder which inducesspontaneous seizures.These seizures arecharacterized by excessive and synchronousepileptic bursts in the brain, but it is unknownexactly how these bursts originate. In mostcommon forms of epilepsy, seizures are known tocommence in hippocampal regions and thenspread toward other regions of the brain. Previouswork has examined an area of the hippocampusknown as the hilus,which we have showndevelops an eight-fold increase in mismigratedneurons in an animal model of epilepsy.Weestimate that these granule cells that are in thewrong location comprise nearly half of theremaining neurons in the hilus in the epileptic ratbrain.This abnormality could lead to a change inthe hippocampal circuit and potentially lead to thedevelopment of seizures. Electrophysiologicalrecordings of these mismigrated granule cells showthat they have a higher level of spontaneousactivity than other cells in the hilus, suggesting theymay receive less inhibitory input from neighboringneurons.The purpose of this study is to useanatomical methods to test the hypothesis thatmismigrated granule cells receive less inhibitoryinput than other neurons in the hilus. SpragueDawley rats were induced with seizures viapilocarpine and developmental hypoxia seizuremodels. Epileptic rats and naive control animalswere perfused two weeks later,and brains wereprocessed for immunohistochemistry using thevesicular GABATransporter (VGAT) antibody. Prox-1 and Gad67 antibodies were used to double labelVGAT-stained tissue to identify mismigrated granulecells and inhibitory cells, respectively.Confocalmicroscopy was used to collect images which werequantified using IMARIS 3-D reconstructivesoftware. Preliminary analysis suggests thatinhibitory innervation of neurons in the hilus maybe selective for a specific cell type.Double-labeledtissue will help us to characterize which cellsreceive this selective inhibitory input.

P O S T E R 5 2

Collaborating to CreateChange SC3Elizabeth BelnavisFaculty Mentor: Dr. Judit KerekesDepartment of Education

This analysis indicates how collaboration,motivation, discussion, and reflection cancontribute to change in a child’s education.Thegoal of this study was to absolve studentmisconceptions about cloud formation, and indoing so,make connections between overlappingconcepts. I spent seven weeks in a middle schoolon Staten Island with a sixth grade science class.My time in the classroom exposed the children’slack of concrete understanding of abstractconcepts.The teacher and I collaborated onsuitable methods to achieve our goal.The best wayfor the children to grasp our concepts was to havethem discover it for themselves.We then needed tomotivate the children to actively participate in thelesson.With the use of smart board technologies, Iwas able to create an interactive hands-onassessment of the students’ prior knowledge. I thenhad the students’ full attention for my cloudformation demonstration. I created a cloud in a jarand the students were able to see the materialsneeded, and the matter of the cloud. Lower andhigher level children were grouped together tohelp one another.Components imperative to thesuccess of this lesson were to plan for enough timefor discussion, and create a nonjudgmental andcomfortable environment. I posed questions in anorder of increasing difficulty and the students wereeager to express their findings. Students were notdiscouraged for wrong answers; rather they wereencouraged to consider alternate theories bymyself and their classmates.Allowing the childrento share freely their understanding helpedstraggling children to grasp the concept.Childrenwho were normally daydreaming,misbehaving, oreven sleeping were eager to share their opinion.The teacher and I then reflected on how many ofthe students really understood, and how many mayneed more time.We concluded that it is possible tochange a student’s education and that with theright techniques and tools every child can learn.

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P O S T E R 5 3

Studying Parallel Computation of2D TurbulenceJonathan MaltzFaculty Mentor: Dr. Andrew PojeDepartment of Mathematics

We explore the use of shared-memory parallelcomputing to improve the efficiency of 2D Navier-Stokes flow calculations.We apply the symmetricmultiprocessing (SMP) technologies OpenMP andauto-parallelization performed by the Intel (r)Fortran Compiler to serial source code.We layoutmetrics used to compare the parallel versions ofthe computations.The metrics include requiredsource code modifications and timing studies.While the user-implemented OpenMP instructionsproduced the most efficient multi-threaded codefor small problem sizes and less efficient FFTalgorithms, auto-parallelization guided by theFortran compiler produced more efficient code formid- to large problem sets and optimized FFTsolvers.

P O S T E R 5 4

Classification of Brain Tissuesfrom Magnetic Resonance ImagesTroy Johnson, and Ed Wah ChenFaculty Mentor: Dr. Lihong (Connie) LiDepartment of Engineering, Science and Physics

Image classification is of paramount importance indigital imaging.With rapid growth and innovationsin technology, researchers and medical doctorshave been able to garner graphical representationsof regions which were previously deemedinaccessible or hidden behind barriers.An exampleof a region which was deemed inaccessible toimaging tools is the human brain.However,withthe advent of Magnetic Resonance Imaging, brainscans can be easily obtained today.

Despite these advancements, image classificationstill proves to be a complex task depending on theimage type. Segmentation techniques suitable forclassifying tissues or joints may not be applicable tobrain scans, due to the nature and composition ofimages. Subsequently, to achieve effectiveclassification, algorithms have to be tailored for theimage which is to be segmented.

This project uses combination of segmentationmethods (thresholding and region growing) toclassify and give a vivid depiction of the humanbrain. From the created algorithm, individual pixelswere grouped based on their intensity and in sodoing brain matter which may be of concern tophysicians were classified.With the providedinformation an easier and more novel approach canbe taken towards observation or the diagnosis ofailments.

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P O S T E R 5 5

A Plug-in for Visualizing MSLesionsPhilip Koshy and Nirav ThakkarFaculty Mentor: Dr. Deborah SturmDepartment of Computer Science

The location, size and shape of Multiple Sclerosis(MS) lesions are often used to diagnose and to trackdisease progression.We have developed a lesion-browsing plug-in for ImageJ (a public domain Javaimage processing program) that allows users toautomatically locate successive significant lesionsin a MRI stack. Lesions of interest can then berendered and rotated.Multiple windows allow theviewer to compare the size and shape of lesionsfrom the MRI images of the same patient taken atdifferent time intervals.This may provide a valuabletool for computer-aided diagnosis and diseasemonitoring.

P O S T E R 5 6

Implementation and PerformanceTesting of the SQUASH RFIDAuthentication ProtocolPhilip Koshy and Justin ValentinFaculty Mentor: Dr. Xiaowen ZhangDepartment of Computer Science

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags allowlarge organizations in the public and private sectorto catalog, index and process a large volume of datawirelessly. In most cases, RFID reduces thenecessity for human supervision and, therefore,drastically increases the speed of transactions anddata collection.Because of a growing need forcheap RFID tags in private industry, cost limits thecomputational capability built into each tag; sinceindividual tags have only a small amount ofworking memory, security is often implemented byfirms as an afterthought. It is no less of a concern toconsumers however.Although several algorithmshave been proposed to deal with security,many ofthese algorithms fall short because they lack strongmathematical proofs.

Our project involves testing the viability of aspecific security algorithm that was recentlydesigned by world renowned computer scientistAdi Shamir. Shamir has developed a securityauthentication algorithm, called SQUASH (short forSSQU are-hASH),which allows for an RFID tagdesign that is simple enough to be implemented onlow-cost RFID tags. Shamir has provedmathematically that his SQUASH algorithm is atleast as secure as the Rabin encryption scheme,which is another algorithm that was beenextensively tested and studied for nearly 30 years.Although the algorithm is provably secure, theperformance of the algorithm has not beencarefully scrutinized and therefore, the viability ofthe algorithm for implementation into low-costRFID tags has yet to be determined.

Our research project will attempt to determine theeffectiveness of the SQUASH algorithm by creatinga software simulation. Shamir has made a particularclaim that his SQUASH algorithm’s performanceshould scale linearly as the word size of theprocessor is increased.We hope that bycomputationally testing the performance ofShamir’s RFID security algorithm,we will be able toreaffirm or refute the claim.

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P O S T E R 5 7

Optimization of Drifter’s LaunchLocation with a Genetic AlgorithmIsmael Yacoubou DjimaFaculty Mentor: Dr. Andrew PojeDepartment of Mathematics

Typically, observations of the ocean or theatmosphere are provided by drifting (Lagrangian)platforms.Given the increase in computationalpower over the last years, it has now becomepossible to attempt to predict the state of theocean using data assimilation techniques,whichcombine Lagrangian observations with numericalmodels of ocean or atmospheric dynamics.Datagathered from drifters are strongly dependent ontheir initial launch location.Here we find the drifterlaunch locations that provide optimal data forassimilation.We consider a very simple model ofthe ocean consisting of five point-vortices.Wedevelop an optimization scheme based on geneticalgorithms,which is capable of exploring the highdimensional search space of initial drifter locations.We make use of the highly parallelizable characterof the genetic algorithm to implement ournumerical simulations on the local cluster.Thegenetic algorithm appears to select configurationsin which drifters are initially located on each sideof outflowing manifolds.

P O S T E R 5 8

Estimation of Trade Impact onWage Inequality in the UnitedStatesIsmael Yacoubou DjimaFaculty Mentor: Dr. Alexandru VoicuDepartment of Political Science, Economics andPhilosophy

We use data from the Current Population Survey(CPS) to study the evolution of wage inequality inthe United States over the last 40 years.The datashow an increase in the real wage inequality (the10th to 90th percentile range increased by dollars).Several factors can be advanced to explain thisincrease.Here we focus on the role of internationaltrade. For the individuals in our dataset weconstruct a measure of trade penetration based ontheir regions and industries classification.Thenusing a Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition,we assessthe share of the increase in wage inequality that isexplained by the increase in trade openness.

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P O S T E R 5 9

Uncovering the Magic behind WaltDisney WorldLauren LoPrimoFaculty Mentor: Dr. Susan HolakDepartment of Business and the Office ofAcademic Affairs

TheWalt Disney Corporation is known worldwidefor its excellence in operations management andservices marketing.The purpose of my research,which took place during a semester-long internshipatWalt DisneyWorld Resort in Orlando, Florida,wasto discover the secrets behind Disney’s timemanagement practices and competitive guestservice.Using qualitative research approaches, Iwas able to gather data from two perspectives: castmember and tourist. I also used printed resourcesto research the concepts that were brought to lifethrough my observations.

My research relied on several techniques includingobservation,photography, and field notes.Usingthese methods, I was able to documentadministrative practices, service delivery, and themanagement of customer expectations. I observedDisney’s approach to manage queues and customerwaiting time. I was then able to reconcile myobservations with operations management andservices literature.

Throughout the course of my exploration, I haveachieved several things. I have familiarized myselfwith operations management and servicesmarketing and useful qualitative research methodsespecially observational research. I have gained aunique understanding of management practicesand innovation, qualitative data collection, andanalysis. I observed first-hand Disney’s ability tomaintain quality guest service, customersatisfaction, and effective time managementpractices.Most importantly, I have discovered partof the mystery behind DisneyWorld’s consistentsuccessful delivery of operations management andservices.Gaining insight into Disney’s success as aleader among service providers has benefited myacademic and occupational career and willcontinue to do so long after my internship iscompleted.My discoveries reveal the magic behindtheWalt DisneyWorld Resort.

P O S T E R 6 0

The Music SILOH Project:Documenting Music MakingActivities on Staten Island withDigital MediaTimothy Mullen, and Linda SoriaFaculty Mentor: Dr. William BauerDepartment of Performing and Creative Arts

Staten Island’s local music scene offers amicrocosm of the multi-faceted globalphenomenon that is American music. In fact,several local scenes are woven into the fabric ofStaten Islander’s musical lives, each scenecharacterized by a defining set of musical styles orgenres and expressive culture. Staten Island’s jazzscene, for example, has much in common with jazzscenes in communities elsewhere in the countryand, indeed, in the world.Yet due to various factors,for example its proximity to Harlem, a key site inthe development of bebop, it also displaysdistinctive features that set it apart from anywhereelse.The richness and distinctiveness of StatenIsland’s music culture notwithstanding, there hasbeen precious little documentation of StatenIslanders’musical activities and the beliefs that liebehind these activities.We therefore know littleabout their musical and cultural heritage.How areolder musicians and audience members passing onthis heritage on to younger members of thecommunity? And as these elders pass on to the lifebeyond,what traditions and memories are beinglost?What lessons can we learn from the peoplewho made and who are making music on StatenIsland?What impact are larger cultural forces suchas technological advancement having on thecreation,performance,marketing, and experienceof music on Staten Island?What understanding doStaten Islanders need, going forward, in order toforge more effective policies for sustaining localmusic traditions that do not offer substantialfinancial incentives to their participants?The MusicSILOH Project will give us answers to these andother questions.The project has some urgency:every moment, valuable data are slipping throughour fingers like sand in an hourglass.

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P O S T E R 6 1

George Melies, A CinematicRevolutionJeffrey ManFaculty Mentor: Dr. Matthew SolomonDepartment of Media Culture

A Trip to the Moon (1902) was one of the mostpopular films in cinema history. I have gonethrough an extensive list of archival materials thatrefer to this film, the making, and the reception ofit. Through articles from other filmmakers of theirtime,newspaper clippings, and magazines I wasable to help gather a good amount of material tohelp learn about this film and its importance.Theinfluence that this movie made among culture in itstime is substantial.The film started a wave of piracyaround the world. (This was before copyright lawswere applied to motion pictures)This film was amajor commercial success, one that would beconstantly studied throughout history for itstechnical and storytelling innovations. Foraudiences, it helped delve into their imaginations ofimpossible vacations. For other filmmakers, itshowed editing techniques that were stilluncommon then. In Coney Island,NY, there was aride named“ATrip to the Moon”and similar ridesthat were shown around the PanAmericanExposition, of which George Méliès, the director,might have been aware.The connections betweenthese two attractions aren’t clearly apparent but myresearch hopes to help with clarification.Thedirector,Méliès, is one of the pioneers offilmmaking and his vast library of filmsdemonstrates his abilities and contributes tothe industry.

P O S T E R 6 2

2009 ASME Student DesignCompetition: Mars RocksJohn Barricella, and Sujit PotluriFaculty Mentor: Dr. (Jessica) Xin JiangDepartment of Engineering Science and Physics

Given the spectacular success of Phoenix MarsLander’s space exploration,NASA would like toinclude on its next mission a radio controlledvehicle to retrieve small rock samples.The purposeof the vehicle is to collect rocks so that we canstudy them and discover if life ever existed on Mars,and if it ever did then we can use the informationgathered from them and relate the cycle of life onMars to the one here on Earth.

This project is part of a competition of theAmerican Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME),whose vision is to promote the art, science,engineering and practice throughout the world. Itis an international level competition whereengineering students throughout the US and othercountries come to exhibit their talent.Thiscompetition focuses on high level challenges everyyear that a new project is posted, and throughoutthe years it has become a prestigious competitionwhere high level schools enter to compete andattain a greater status in the engineering industry.

The CSI ASME competition teams have designedand built a light weight prototype vehicle which isremotely controlled and can go over obstacles, pickup rocks, and drop them off at a receiving area in alimited amount of time with high accuracy.Thepresentation will cover the design concept, anddiscussion with issues found in the design processand our solutions.The presentation will also showthe real prototype vehicle and demonstrate theoperation if permitted.

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P O S T E R 6 3

Neuro Imaging Supports CriticalPeriod HypothesisBarbara FiumeFaculty Mentor: Dr. Sarah BeneschDepartment of English

For several decades the critical period hypothesis(CPH) has been a lens for linguists andpsychologists studying the process of languageacquisition.According to Long (1990), the criticalperiod is the time in childhood when the innateability to grasp language is the greatest.The abilityto acquire language, according to the CPH,diminishes due to incremental losses of neuralplasticity as the brain matures.New technologyprovides useful information concerning thesetheories. Positron emission tomography (PET) andfunctional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)show images of the areas of the brain wherelanguage is processed. Event related potentials(ERP) and magnetic encephalography (MEG) showwhen various processes and changes take place.

This poster session will demonstrate how this newtechnology may challenge the critical period byshowing that synapse development can occur afterthe critical period. Images show that brain activitycontinues throughout life.

P O S T E R 6 4

Pharmacogentics and PainManagementSteven DecarloFaculty Mentor: Dr. Mary Ellen McMorrowDepartment of Nursing

Current research is revealing that there is acorrelation between the response to pain and one’sgenetic makeup. In addition, numerous studies haveshown that the metabolism of pain medication mayalso be influenced by genetics.The exciting field ofpharmacogenetics aims to investigate these claims.

Pain management is a vital aspect in the nursingprofession.Nurses should strive to gain as muchevidence-based knowledge as they can in regard tovariables that may impact on our client’s painstatus. By gaining insight into pharmacogenetics,we can play a crucial role in controlling andrelieving any pain that our client’s may experience.Hopefully, this knowledge will also lead to adecrease in the tremendous amount of moneyspent in this area of healthcare.

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P O S T E R 6 5

The Rise of Counterfeit DrugsSonia BairakFaculty Mentor: Dr. Alan ZimmermanDepartment of Business

There are extreme challenges in controllingimported counterfeit drugs coming into the U.S.There is a fear that these drugs may be harmful tounsuspecting people.According to the FDA/UScustoms investigation, 88% of the importedpharmaceuticals examined contained unapproveddrugs,many of which could be harmful. Each year200,000 kids die after taking bad malaria medicines;some 2,500 patients died after 60,000 fake vaccinedoses were distributed in Nigeria, as perWHO(World Health Organization) report.According toTRIPs (Trade-Related aspects of IntellectualProperty Rights) organizations review, thesemedicines are mostly sold directly to authorizedwholesalers.The wholesalers in turn distributethem to local pharmacies, doctors, or hospitals.Sometimes they are sold by secondary wholesalers,which open holes in the US safety net where drugsfrom other countries can enter without beingcaught.Major exporting countries are China,Mexico and India.This study will address how thiscounterfeiting of drugs is having an effect on USpharmaceutical companies, the damage it createdin worldwide scope, and what measurements arebeing taken to clamp down on the problem.

P O S T E R 6 6

Physiology and Metabolism of theSingle-celled Green Algae:Chlorella KessleriMichael JeanFaculty Mentor: Dr. Robert E. CorinDepartment of Biology

Growth of the green algae Chlorella kessleri wasexamined under various conditions to betterunderstand its physiology.Growth was examinedboth mixotrophically (with organic carbon sourceand light) as well as heterotrophically (with organiccarbon source and dark). In addition to measuringgrowth, chlorophyll content was determined byspectral methods and cells were examined by lightmicroscopy.Mixotrophic growth minusheterotrophic growth represents the autotrophiccomponent of mixotrophic behavior.Cells grew inTris-acetate-phosphate (TAP), determined bymicroscopic counts and turbidity A600nm, to highdensities (~108cells/ml) with generation times(t1/2) of ~20hours under mixotrophic conditions.The better the carbon source was at supportinggrowth, the less chlorophyll a and the more starchwas present (lugols staining).Methanol extractsexhibited absorption peaks (430nm,663nm) andshoulders (470nm,650nm) consistent with thepresence of chlorophyll a and b.Unsurprisingly,growth rates and yields were substantiallydiminished (>50%) under heterotrophic conditions.Cells grew well both mixotrohpically andheterotrophically with glucose and tween80,poorlyon xylose and not at all on the amino acids glycine,glutamic acid, serine and pyruvate.Cells whichwere grown mixotrophically had greaterchlorophyll a content than heterotrophicallygrown cells.


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P O S T E R 6 7

Exercise-mediated Effects ofHippocampal-dependant SpatialMemory Task Performance in theRat Perinatal Hypoxia Modelof EpilepsyNicole LukovskyFaculty Mentor: Dr. Dan McCloskeyDepartment of Psychology

Exercise delays age-related cognitive decline andreduces the risk of stroke.Recently,we havedemonstrated that exercise also reduces seizure-related brain damage and preserves memoryfunction in an adult rat model of epilepsy.Thecurrent study will measure the effect of exercise onmemory and brain circuitry changes in adevelopmental model of epilepsy,which provides awindow for therapeutic intervention.The rat modelof perinatal hypoxia is designed to mimic hypoxicepisodes at birth in humans,which can lead to laterdevelopment of seizures and learning difficulties.We will use this model to induce seizures and thenintroduce running wheels or allow the animals toremain sedentary.We hypothesize that theexercising group will perform better on the BarnesMaze memory test than the sedentary group,indicating that exercise could be a mediating factorin protecting the developing brain from seizuresconsequences.This will be confirmed withconfocal microscopy.

P O S T E R 6 8

Stress and Coping MechanismsAmong College Students: A Cross-Cultural StudyKrista SupinoFaculty Mentor: Dr. Comfort AsanbeDepartment of Psychology

There have been limited cross-cultural studies thathave succeeded in distinguishing the influence ofculture on stress and its anxiety component, andstress and coping have scarcely been exploredtogether from a cross-cultural perspective,especially between western and non-westerncultures.This study analyzed and compared thestate and trait levels of anxiety and the copingmechanisms experienced by collegeundergraduates from two culturally diverse nations,the United States and Nigeria. Students from theCollege of Staten Island (United States) and KogiState Polytechnic (Nigeria) were administered boththe State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and the CopingResponses Inventory.The first hypothesis,whichwas that Nigerian students would report a higherlevel of anxiety,was not supported in the findingsof this study.However, the findings were inaccordance with the second hypothesis,which wasthat students of the different cultural groups woulduse different coping mechanisms to alleviate thestress and anxiety they experienced.There weresignificant differences between the two groups inthe coping responses scales representing LogicalAnalysis (p=.006), Problem Solving (p=.038), andSeekingAlternative Rewards (p=.000).


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P O S T E R 6 9

Green Intelligent Parking LotControl System (aka GIPs)Alexander NwanekahFaculty Mentor: Dr. Charles LiuDepartment of Engineering Science and Physics

Green Intelligent Parking Lot Control System is anefficient, environmentally friendly intelligentsystem that would have the capability ofanticipating, predicting, and informing drivers in atimely manner as to which parking lot is or wouldbe available.This project is the second projectsubmitted to the engineering design project (ENS491) coordinators for spring 2009, after my initialproject was not accepted on the basis that it couldnot be completed at the allowed time frame.Theproject was embarked upon due to the difficultyexperienced by the College community in findingsuitable parking space in a timely fashion.Thissystem would be able to anticipate and informdrivers where to find a vacant parking space.

Our goal is to design a system:• That can give drivers an overall view of theparking lot occupancy

• Aid drivers during the peak hours to find vacantparking space (using data acquired earlier)

Combined electrical engineering and computerengineering skills would be essential for thisproject.We’ll build a miniature-sized parking lot fordemonstration and the project would involve bothsoftware and hardware skills learned previously.

Some of our major physical components:1. PIC18F4522. 7 digits display LED3. Infrared sensor4. Solar panel 3W 12V5.Weather-proof casing6.Rechargeable battery7. Parking lot model

Problems:• Sense which direction a car is moving• Predict when a car space will be available• Design a solution that would be easily adaptableto various parking lots (like the one at CSI)

• How to communicate between differentprocessors using a microprocessor designscheme

O S T E R 6 9

Green Intelligent Parking LotControl System (AKA GIP’s)Alexander NwanekahFaculty Mentor: Dr. Charles LiuDepartment of Engineering Science and Physics

The project is currently in the initial stages.This would be divided into various stages: 1. flowchart design, 2. parking lot design, 3. data collection,4. circuit design, 5.microcontroller programming,6.Hardware purchase, 7.miniature/prototypedesign. This project is an ongoing one-year projectrequired for a BS in Engineering Science at theCollege of Staten Island of The City University ofNewYork.

I believe this green, easily adaptable, replicable, andlow-cost (estimated cost is about excluding laborand transportation: $275) system will ease theproblem of finding parking space at the College.

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P O S T E R 7 0

Synthesis of Novel Curcumin-derived EnvironmentallyFriendly PlasticizersJose SaltosDr. Krishnaswami RajaDepartment of Chemistry

Plasticizers are widely used for their effectivenessin reducing the tensile strength, hardness, density,melt viscosity, glass transition temperature, andvolume resistivity of a polymer. They are employedin a wide range of industries such as the biomedicalfield, construction,plastics, and more. Phthalateesters are the most widely used plasticizers fortheir suitable applications and availability, andaccount for 92% of the plasticizers producedworldwide. Its limitation lies in that phthalateesters have been reported to migrate out of thepolymers,making them less flexible and lessefficient. It is also associated with endocrinedisruption, reproductive and developmentaltoxicity in humans, and with negativeenvironmental impact on plants and animals.Curcumin is the active ingredient in the curry spiceturmeric; it is generally regarded as safe by the FDA.The molecule is rigid in structure with twophenolic groups that can be modified covalently.We plan to synthesize green eco-friendlyplasticizers based on curcumin and tetrahydrocurcumin,which reacted with excess octanoic acid,will produce curcumin dioctanoate and tetrahydrocurcumin dioctanoate.These plasticizers will beblended to three different polymers: PMMA,PMM,and Polystyrene in various percentages: 5%, 10%,and 15%, to test their effectiveness in inducingdepression of the glass transition temperature inthe polymer/plasticizer system.

P O S T E R 7 1

Globalization: Challenges in AfricaRachel AffiFaculty Mentor: Dr. Alan ZimmermanDepartment of Business

The effects of globalization cannot be deniedaround the world, especially in developingcountries.This integration of markets has been acontroversial topic and debated from two differentpoints of view: a negative and a positive side. InAfrica for instance there are existing challenges; it isdifficult to take sides when globalization obviouslybenefits the host countries as a whole.At the sametime there is evidence that globalization createsdisadvantages in the home countries and hostcountries as well. For the purpose of this research, Ireviewed the economic system and development oftwoWest African countries, Ivory Coast and Nigeriawhich were previously colonies of France andEngland, respectively.My observation will showthat globalization has enabled the MultinationalEnterprise to control the most important sectors ofIvory Coast and Nigeria,while contributing to theireconomic growth and affecting negatively thepopulation’s welfare. I advise that African countriesinvest in human capital, adopt a different economicmodel, collaborate on new ways to subsidize theirprojects of development and implement strategiesto be more competitive globally.

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Faculty Mentors

Undergraduate Conference onResearch, Scholarship, and Performance—Faculty Mentors

F A C U L T Y M E N T O R D E P A R T M E N T P O S T E R

Dr. Alejandra Alonso Biology 4, 21, 22, 24

Dr. Zaghloul Ahmed Physical Therapy 10

Dr. Comfort Asanbe Psychology 50, 68

Dr. Probal Banerjee Chemistry 14

Dr. William Bauer Performing and Creative Arts 60

Dr. Sarah Berger Psychology 5

Dr. Patricia Brooks Psychology 6, 7, 20

Dr. Sarah Benesch English 36, 63

Dr. Robert Corin Biology 66

Dr. Kathleen Cumiskey Psychology 35

Dr. Abdeslem El Idrissi Biology 31, 32

Dr. Jimmie E. Fata Biology 33, 40, 41, 42

Dr. Natacha Gueorguieva Computer Science 1, 2, 3, 9, 11

Dr. Darryl Hill Psychology 34, 37

Prof. James Hladek Engineering Science 44

Dr. Susan Holak Business/Office of AcademicAffairs 59

Dr. Qiao-Sheng Hu Chemistry 46, 48

Dr. Xin Jiang Engineering Science and Physics 29, 62

Dr. Judit Kerekes Education 52

Dr. Michael Kress Computer Science/ 13VP forTechnology Systems

Dr. Michal Kruk Chemistry 17

Dr. John Lawerence Psychology 30, 43

Dr. Lihong (Connie) Li Engineering Science and Physics 54

Dr. Charles Liu Physics 28, 69

Dr. Dan McCloskey Psychology 12, 23, 51, 67

Dr. Elena McCoy Biology 39, 49

Dr. Mary Ellen McMorrow Nursing 64

Dr. Shaibal Mitra Biology 47

Dr. Fred Naider Chemistry 15, 25

Prof. Patricia Passlof Performing and Creative Arts 27

Dr. Bertram Ploog Psychology 20

Undergraduate Conference on ResearchScholarship and Performance Faculty Mentors54

55

Faculty Mentors

Undergraduate Conference onResearch, Scholarship, and Performance—Faculty Mentors

F A C U L T Y M E N T O R D E P A R T M E N T P O S T E R

Dr. Andrew Poje Mathematics 53, 57

Dr. Sarah Pollack Modern Languages 19

Dr. Sonia Ragir Psychology 6

Dr. Krishnaswami Raja Chemistry 8, 18, 70

Dr. Chang-Hui Shen Biology 26

Dr. Chwen-Yang Shew Chemistry 16, 45

Dr. Matthew Solomon Media Culture 61

Dr. Deborah Sturm Computer Science 55

Dr. Alexandru Voicu Political Science/Economics/Philosophy 58

Dr. Maurya Wickstrom Performing and Creative Arts 38

Dr. Xiowen Zhang Computer Science 56

Dr. Alan Zimmerman Business 65, 66, 71

Undergraduate Conference onResearch, Scholarship, and Performance—Student Scholars

S T U D E N T F A C U L T Y D E P A R T M E N T

Kalpita Abhyankar Dr.Alejandra Alonso Biology

Benedette Adewale Dr.Michael Kruk Chemistry

Rachel Affi Dr.Alan Zimmerman Business

Naomi J. Aldrich Dr. Patricia Brooks Psychology

Naomi J. Aldrich Dr. Sonia Ragir Psychology

Saadyah Averick Dr.Krishnaswami Raja Chemistry

Sonia Bairak Dr.Alan Zimmerman Business

Samantha Balestriere Dr.Darryl Hill Psychology

Allison Baranski Dr. Shaibal Mita Biology

John P. Barricella Dr.Xin Jiang Engineering Science and Physics

Elizabeth Belnavis Dr. Judit Kerekes Education

Alexandra Berliner Dr. Probal Banerjee Chemistry

Mohammed Bhuiyan Dr. Fred Naider Chemistry

Nicola Brown Dr. Patricia Brooks Psychology

Sherry J. Browne Dr.Alejandra Alonso Biology

Peter Buratti Dr.Darryl Hill Psychology

Dorothy Caldone Dr. Sarah Pollack Modern Languages

Ed Wah Chen Dr. Lihong (Connie) Li Engineering Science and Physics

Philip Ciaccio Dr.Xin Jiang Physics

Jonathan Colangelo Dr.Charles Liu Physics

Christopher Corbo Dr.Alejandra Alonso Biology

Dorothy Creighton Dr. Patricia Brooks Psychology

Kristina Cumberbatch Dr. Patricia Brooks Psychology

Lucille Cunsolo Dr.Alejandra Alonso Biology

Steven Decarlo Dr.Mary Ellen McMorrow Nursing

Jason DeGenaro Dr. John Lawerence Psychology

Ismael Yacoubou Djima Dr.Andrew Poje Mathematics

Ismael Yacoubou Djima Dr.AlexandruVoicu Political Science, Economics,and Philosophy

Jimmy Domdeth Dr.Dan McCloskey Psychology

Jimmy Domdeth Dr.Zaghoul Ahmed Physical Therapy

Annemarie Donachie Dr. Patricia Brooks Psychology

Michelle Esposito Dr.Chang-Hui Shen Biology

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Student Scholars

Undergraduate Conference on ResearchScholarship and Performance Student Scholars


Kathryn Fazio Prof. Patricia Passlof Performing and Creative Arts

Barbara Fiume Dr. Sarah Benesch English

Edwin Fong Dr.Michael Kress VP for Information Systems

Manuel Garcia Dr. Patricia Brooks Psychology

Grigoriy Gelfand Dr. Fred Naider Chemistry

Cory Giannina Dr. John Lawrence Psychology

Vyacheslav Glukh Dr.Natacha Gueorguieva Computer Science

Natalia Gozias Dr. Elena McCoy Biology

Roy Hopkins Dr.Xin Jiang Physics

Chin Ming Hui Dr.Natacha Gueorguieva Computer Science

Brian Iskra Dr.Abdeslem El Idrissi Biology

Matthew Israel Dr.Qiao-Sheng Hu Chemistry

Sergey Ivanushkin Dr.Natacha Gueorguieva Computer Science

Michael Jean Dr.Robert Corin Biology

Troy Johnson Dr. Lihong (Connie) Li Engineering Science and Physics

Paulina Konarzewska Dr.Chang-Hui Shen Biology

Philip Koshy Dr.Deborah Sturm Computer Science

Philip Koshy Dr.Xiaowen Zhang Computer Science

Azar Latif Dr.Dan McCloskey Psychology

Goldie Lazarus Dr. Jimmie E. Fata Biology

Jessica Lee Dr. Patricia Brooks Psychology

Leo Lei Dr.Natacha Gueorguieva Computer Science

Alexandra Levashvile Dr.Qiao-Sheng Hu Chemistry

Sonia Levin Dr.Kathleen Cumiskey Psychology andWomen’sStudy Program

Yuan-Xi Liao Dr.Qiao-Sheng Hu Chemistry

Tao-Ping Liu Dr.Qiao-Sheng Hu Chemistry

Lauren LoPrimo Dr. Susan Holak Business/Office ofAcademicAffairs

Nicole Lukovsky Dr.Dan McCloskey Psychology

Robert Mahoney Dr.MauryaWickstrom Performing and Creative Arts

Jonathan Maltz Dr.Andrew Poje Mathematics

Jeffrey Man Dr.Matthew Solomon Media Culture

Rosemarie Marronaro Dr. Patricia Brooks Psychology

Alexandra Marsillo Dr.Abdeslem El Idrissi Biology

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Student Scholars


Ashley Mathai Dr. Jimmie E. Fata Biology

Vanda Melendez Dr. Patricia Brooks Psychology

Vanda Melendez Dr. Sonia Ragir Psychology

Joseph Merola Dr.Alejandra Alonso Biology

Regina Miller Dr.Alejandra Alonso Biology

Sharmila Mohammed Dr.Comfort Asanbe Psychology

Timothy Mullen Dr.William Bauer Performing and Creative Arts

Seir Nehorah Dr. Patricia Brooks Psychology

Seir Nehorah Dr.Bertram Ploog Psychology

Lorenz Neuwirth Dr.Abdeslem El Idrissi Biology

Jaclynn Ng Dr.Qiao-Sheng Hu Chemistry

Kristina Niesi Dr. Sarah Benesch English

Alexander A. Nwanekah Dr.Charles Liu Engineering Science and Physics

Luisa Otalora Dr.Abdeslem El Idrissi Biology

Irosha Pathirage Dr. Patricia Brooks Psychology

Alexander Perelman Dr. Jimmie E. Fata Biology

Marierose Polis Dr. Sarah Berger Psychology

Fatima Z. Rafique Dr.Chwen-Yang Shew Chemistry

Surendar Ravindran Dr. Jimmie E. Fata Biology

Eric Rios-Doria Dr.Krishnaswami Raja Chemistry

Jose Saltos Dr.Krishaswami Raja Chemistry

Yelena Solovyeva Dr.Alejandra Alonso Biology

Linda Soria Dr.William Bauer Performing and Creative Arts

Krista Suprino Dr.Comfort Asanbe Psychology

Urooj Syed Dr. Patricia Brooks Psychology

Eman Tabbara Dr.Dan McCloskey Psychology

Nirav Thakkar Dr.Deborah Sturm Computer Science

Siu Lun Ben Tsui Professor James Hladek Engineering Science and Physics

Justin Valentin Dr.Xiaowen Zhang Computer Science

Kathleen Van Manen Dr. Elena McCoy Biology

Devorah Walker Dr.Natacha Gueorguieva Computer Science

Akihisa Yoshida Dr.Chwen-Yang Shew Chemistry

Chun-Hui Xing Dr.Qiao-Sheng Hu Chemistry

Ching Yu Dr. Patricia Brooks Psychology

58

Student Scholars

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Undergraduate Research Conference Committee

Ken Bach Interim Director of Marketing and CommunicationsMohammad Baddad Student – The Verrazano SchoolAlan Benimoff Chief CLT – Engineering Science and PhysicsPatricia Brooks Professor of PsychologyPeter Buratti Student – Macaulay Honors College at CSIValerie DeAngelo Student – Macaulay Honors College at CSIAbdeslem El Idrissi Associate Professor of BiologyTosin Falana Student – The Verrazano SchoolDennis Gaffin Student GovernmentSusan Holak Associate Provost for Institutional EffectivenessDavid Keberle Assistant Professor Performing and Creative ArtsKristen Lindtvedt Multimedia Specialist and Blackboard Administrator

Center for Excellence in Learning TechnologyCharles Liu Associate Professor of Engineering Science and PhysicsGiancarlo Lombardi Associate Professor of Modern LanguagesDebbie Mahoney Office of Academic AffairsRobert Mahoney Student – Performing and Creative ArtsJonathan Peters Associate Professor of Business

For comments and questions contact:

Susan HolakCollege of Staten IslandBuilding 1A, Room 305Staten Island, NY 10314Phone: 718.982.2464

The committee gratefully acknowledges the contributions of the manyindividuals who helped make this conference possible.

URC Committee

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Notes

Undergraduate Research Conference/Notes

www.csi.cuny.edu

csi undergraduate conference on research,...

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