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The purpose of this paper is to support the notion that physical activity leads to improved psychosocial interactions, psychological well-being, and physiological health. The target population is adolescents and young adults who are seeking ways to improve their health. We will provide a compelling argument by using research studies to support the hypothesis and explaining the mechanisms behind results. 

kinesiology, exercise psychology, exercise cognition, exercise physiology, motor behavior

The relationship between physical activity, mental health, and physiological health

Social media is ever expanding and influences the ways in which we organize our lives and how we perceive ourselves and the world. It is commonly acknowledged that social media has great importance in our daily lives, but how does it influence people’s mental state and their decision-making  - particularly among adolescents, given that younger age is a significant predictor of blogging and social networking site participation (Chou et al., 2009)? One of its influences is on the perceptions of societal norms and on the extent to which we adhere to them. For example, even subconsciously, the way people present themselves on social media can create an unrealistic standard for others. This can include expectations of appearance, culture, and gender presentation. Even though the effects of social media and cognitive dissonance can vary by community, everyone experiences its influence to a certain extent (Asghar Ali & Najm ul sehr, 2013). Through the theory of cognitive dissonance, the psychological tension that arises when one’s thoughts and actions contradict, we may be able to better distance ourselves from these social media influences. As theorized by Festinger (1962), one can reduce cognitive dissonance by being open to different beliefs and to changing your own perceptions. Even just the knowledge that most people respond to the discomfort of cognitive dissonance by changing their own beliefs to accommodate their actions can help us recognize the negative influences of social media. Additionally, this understanding of cognitive dissonance can help inform the design of therapeutic procedures to help with eating disorders, depression, smoking, etc., including for specific identities and groups of people.


developmental psychology, early cognitive development, early language acquisition, gesture and communication, theater and performance studies

Among adolescents, how do we understand the media’s influence on perceptions of societal norms through cognitive dissonance theory? Can we use this knowledge to reduce cognitive dissonance or design new therapy methods?

How can we get the youth in Portland to be more politically engaged? In this project, I am going to design a website targeted towards the students of Portland. This website will push them to be more active in their political community by breaking down the usage of government resources and offering an easy way to display ongoing bills and political discussion. In general, young people are less politically engaged than older people. The youth of Portland follow this trend—they tend to be less engaged in their political community due to the struggles of not understanding how to use their resources and being disengaged with their city’s politics. My website will provide an easy to follow guide on how to use and access city resources, unbiased information, and ways to get involved in their community. For example, the website will explain what a council agenda is. It is an agenda used in city council meetings to organize and describe the contents which will be discussed during these meetings. The website will also explain terms like what a proclamation is. A proclamation is an official announcement that the government puts forward. It often solidifies someone or something’s contribution to the city. In my process of making this website I will curate the information from sources like the Portland government website, the Oregon legislature website, academic articles, other government resources, encyclopedias, and podcasts. After my website is complete, I will publicize it by marketing it to my school through email, posters, and social media.

Ethics and Public Policy; Political Theory; American Politics; Law

How can we get the youth in Portland to be more politically engaged?

Tropical diseases, culture-bound syndromes, and genetic disorders affect a majority of the world's population. These geographically-specific health phenomena are a cause of significant concern for distinct demographics and regions. This paper will cover nine medical phenomena that are prevalent in different human populations, yet the importance of some are undermined by the global medical community in spite of their severity to those affected. These medical phenomena have preventive or curative medical solutions to their respective issues. This paper offers a comparative analysis to these issues which will explain the biology of these phenomena, their cultural or geographic significance, and the relationship between them. Finally, this paper will propose geographically-specific environmental policy changes and medical advancements to address these issues.

Proteins, medicine, immunology, cancer

The Places You Won’t Go: A comparative analysis of Tropical diseases, culture-bound syndromes, and genetic disorders.

Artificial Wetlands:
Introduction/Overview: Currently, Pittsburgh’s river water is being treated entirely with a process that begins with Coagulation (use of chemicals: Ferric Chloride, Potassium Permanganate, Carbon, Catatonic Polymer), followed by sedimentation and filtration, then disinfection (Sodium Hypochlorite), followed by Corrosion control (orthophosphate to reduce lead levels), and finished with fluoride (Hydrofluosilicic acid). Ceratophyllum demersum (coontail, hornwort), Elodea canadensis (American elodea, Canadian pondweed), or Lemna minor (common duckweed) significantly reduced the concentration of Metolachlor (MET) that remained in treated water. All three of these plants are abundant in North America and native to Western Pennsylvania, and although they might be considered weeds, they can be used to further cleanse and purify water. 

Hypothesis: How might artificial wetlands promote the health of drinking water for Pittsburgh’s citizens? Water that is purified with plants will have lower nitrate levels than water that is not purified with plants. 

Experiment to test Hypothesis: Over these next few weeks, the proposed experiment is to measure the nitrate levels in tap water (treated water from the Alleghney river) using water test strips, and the nitrate levels in tap water that is additionally treated with the following plants: Ceratophyllum demersum, Elodea canadensis, and Lemna minor. 

General Methods for Proposed Experiments: The general methods for the proposed experiment will include having separate testing cups for tap water, plant treated water, and river water. Using a water test, we can reveal the amount of nitrates that are in the water, and therefore determine how healthy the water will be. 

Details about the number of samples, replicates, or other considerations about experimental design: Each time there should be two samples collected from each cup, and there will be three replicates of each cup. The experiment will be conducted over a ___ week time period. 
Starting june 27, start trial experiment testing bin size, plants, growing location, and sampling methods
Might be useful to measure water volume over the trial period to see how it might affect the experiment

Anticipated Results: The anticipated results are that the water that is purified with the plants will have significantly less nitrates in the water than the water fresh from the tap.

Molecular biology, molecular genetics, biochemistry,

How does duckweed and other plants effect the levels of dissolved nitrates in tap water in Pittsburgh?

The topic of this project is Leonardo da Vinci: the Scientist, the Inventor, the Artist. Israel is studying da Vinci's legacy and interrogating the perspectives da Vinci represents today. The study is holistic meaning that Israel is reading academic articles and also following da Vinci's lead in keeping a notebook/sketchbook to think through the ideas presented in his research. The final project will be a conceptual drawing that intersects the different facets of da Vinci as interpreted by Israel. 

Art History, French and Francophone literature and poetry, English literature, Cultural Studies, Sensory Studies, Creative Writing

Learning from the Masters

This research project delves deeply into what the most efficient growth strategies are for different types of businesses. There are many different categories of business, and many different things that make businesses unique. When evaluating the disparity in growth between these different types of businesses, it is apparent that depending on what type of business one may be, the strategies that are used differ greatly. The category that a business falls under is very influential on how exactly it grows.

Behavioral Economics, Marketing, Decision Sciences, Behavioral Sciences, Judgment and Decision Making, Environmental Sustainability, Sustainable Consumption, Consumer Behavior, Prosocial Behavior

The Disparity of Business Growth Strategy

Throughout the course of this research project, I will interview no more than 4 demographically similar peers (living in Pleasanton, going to Foothill High School) about the relationship between social media usage and the dominant emotions that they experienced during the summer of 2020. I will be writing a research paper that discusses the findings of the interviews along with a review of existing literature. I will potentially submit it for publication in a high school journal.

School psychology, general psychology, creative writing

Case study: Social media usage and happiness in high school students during isolation period of summer 2020

Myocardial infarctions cause major death of cardiomyocytes, the main cardiac muscle cells responsible for controlling the beating of the heart and enabling the heart to pump blood. Due to the extremely low turnover rate or cardiomyocytes, after myocardial infarction the heart never fully repairs itself. Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR), a DNA detection and editing system found in prokaryotes, has been a major subject of cardiac research in recent years, along with practical usage of induced pluripotent stem cells. The regenerative potential of CRISPR and Cardiac Stem Cells (CSCs) to induce cardiac regeneration have been examined in numerous papers and has been seen to affect the heart in two main ways: reprogramming cardiac fibroblasts into cardiomyocytes, and inducing cardiac progenitor cells to proliferate into cardiomyocytes. These techniques have shown promising preliminary results, but have so far been through primarily basic and translational research. There are still many technical and ethical concerns that must be dealt with before proceeding to further clinical research for cardiac regeneration.

'projects that explore correlates in cancer cell line/clinical cancer databases', reviews of biotechnology, projects that explore treatments of neurological disorders, projects involving scientific outreach/public education, broad topics related to molecular biology, genetics, stem cells, neuroscience, immunology

Techniques to induce cardiac regeneration post myocardial infarction

My passions in reading, neuroscience, and psychiatry led me to spend my summer creating a research-informed reading program for children and adolescents with developmental disabilities. My hope was to provide an inclusive space where they can read, learn, socialize with others, and most importantly, have fun! This led me to create an online blog encompassing the topics of neuroscience, psychiatry, and reading.

In this blog, I share informational posts that focus on the brain mechanisms of reading, the value of organized social groups for individuals with developmental disabilities, neural implications in developmental disorders, and the impact of reading on children and adolescents with autism, along with my experience conducting the book club. Through the synthesis of my research, I hope to spark initiatives to enrich the intellectual and social lives of individuals with developmental disabilities to pave the way toward a more diverse and accessible society.

Neuroscience, Psychology, Psychiatry, Biology, Addiction, Substance Use, Anxiety, Depression, Mood Disorders, Trauma, EEG, MRI, Neural development, Maternal Development, Child Development, Developmental Disorders, Pregnancy, Postpartum

What are the neurocognitive and social benefits of an inclusive book club on children and adolescents with developmental disorders?

My student, Jonathan, and I are working on a project regarding Leptin and its influence on breast, endometrial and ovarian cancers. We will be studying leptin as a whole and as a possible target for new cancer therapies.  We believe this paper is unique and will be an asset to the medical community as it will summize multiple papers on the topic. 

Medicine, Cancer Screening and Prevention, Review Studies, Case Reports, Evidenced Based Learning

Leptin Levels in Obese Female Patients and its Correlation with Breast, Endometrial and Ovarian Cancers

Meredith is going to be conducting a psychology experiment to be published with the Journal of Emerging Investigators.  She aims to answer the question: How long does music take to change people’s emotions?  Her hypothesis is that 10 min of upbeat music is sufficient to improve emotions. She will modulate the length of time a person listens to music and will give a survey to determine emotions. She will then analyze the data and write up a manuscript on this project. 

We discovered that it doesn’t matter how long you listen to music because emotions change regardless of the length of listening. Negative emotions were decreased each session. Relaxation had a significant change only after 10 or 15 minutes but not 5 minutes, this means that the longer you listen the more relaxed you can become.  These data can influence decision-making in the medical and business field, as well as in our daily lives. We now know how much time is needed to change someone’s emotions by listening to upbeat music.

Neuroscience, gut-brain axis, mood disorders, autoimmunity, gut microbiome and the immune system

How long does it take music to change people’s emotions?

I am doing an op-ed on political polarization and the methods researchers use to measure it. Boxwell, Gentzkow, and Shapiro's 2020 paper examines cross country trends in affective polarization. The op-ed will also be situated in research and journalism on the growing trend of polarization worldwide. In addition, a secondary goal of the project is to break down the writing and equations to make academic research more accessible, while analyzing the methods, findings, and implications. Link to the complete article: https://genzenith.org/articles/f/opinion-why-political-polarisation-matters?blogcategory=Opinion

Education Policy, Political Psychology, Research Methods, Sociopolitical Theory

Political Polarization Op-Ed: Why Political Polarization Matters

Brand community–groups of people formed and centered around a brand’s consumption–is not a new concept to brands and researchers. For decades, companies have attempted to establish and strengthen brand communities to bring greater benefits for both brands and customers. This review paper will compile previous research on the relationship between brand communities and customer-brand relationships. I will also add to this literature the effects of social media and word of mouth on brand communities engagement. To support and illustrate my propositions, I will compare and contrast Amazon and Shopee–a leading e-commerce platform in Vietnam. My literature review will provide valuable resources for companies, especially in developing economies, on how to create brand loyalty, brand trust, and customer engagement. This paper will also serve as a foundation for future study on the overlap of brand community and word of mouth.

Marketing, Consumer Psychology, Social Psychology, Prosocial Behavior, Respect and Consumer Dignity, Emotions, Identity, Branding

The Overlap of Brand Community and Word of Mouth

Mackenzie is researching how inequalities in charter schools can affect students. As of now, she is interested in how funding and classroom-related inequalities (students per classroom, amount spent on education per student, teacher qualifications, etc.) affect the quality of education in charter schools. In turn, she would like to study how these inequalities affect students outside of school. How does classroom quality affect students' quality of life? What long-term effects do these inequalities have on students in college and beyond? Through her research, Mackenzie also expects to touch on issues related to economic inequality in districts. 

Inequality in Charter Schools

The problem is converting images of handwritten text to computer text. Existing handwriting transcription solutions are expensive and do not offer a method of uploading your own images to be translated. The aspect which makes my solution unique is to make it accessible to the general public and to upload images of handwriting to the website. I am using the library, Tesseract.js, as a foundation of my conversion of the text. Then, I modified the output to measure accuracy and plausibility with the help of an English words frequency and dictionary database. These two separate databases guided the output to be more structured compared to the initial outputs. Plausibility can be measured through finding the number of existing words or finding how many edits it takes to transform the projecting outcome into an existing word. The final deliverable will be a website and a GitHub repository. To create the website, I used the coding languages, HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. The website will allow for the user to upload images of handwritten text to be converted into computerized text and will output the text in consideration with user final adjustments. An example button is provided to see how the program functions. There are drop down menus for words that Tesseract translates which do not exists in the dictionary database for users to pick what should be the correct translation. The GitHub repository holds the code required to create the complexities of the website along with the various databases used in order to interpret the images provided by the user.

Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, Theoretical Computer Science, Mathematics, Game Design, and Procedurally-Generated Content.

Handwriting Transcription Website

In a phenomenon, local warming, people’s awareness of warmer daily temperatures increases their perception or belief that global warming is occurring (Druckman & Shafranek, 2017). Also, experiencing severe events, like flooding and air pollution, has been linked to affect one’s attitude towards climate change and their pro-environmental values (Farrokhi et al., 2020; Spence et al., 2011; Whitmarsh, 2008).  
Thus, as more consumers are willing to pay for environmentally friendly products (Nielson Global Corporate Sustainability Report, 2015; Eurobarometer 2011), we hope to see if this local warming effect could be applied to sustainable advertisements and the recent California wildfires. For this research, through an online survey, we attempt to observe differences in effectiveness of positive emotional and informational appeals of sustainable-related and filler neutral advertisements. One group is aware of the fires before evaluating the advertisements, while another group is not aware of the recent fires. We use a mixed experimental design to investigate causality amongst our control and treated groups, showing the same variety of advertisements to each subject. We then analyzed the data gathered from the survey to observe how the treatment impacted the students’ experience with the advertisements.

Judgement and Decision Making, Consumer Psychology, Prosocial Behavior, Product Development, User Experience, Human Centered Product Design, Mechanical Engineering

The Impact of Recent Fire Awareness on Sustainable Advertisements' Effectiveness

In third world countries such as the ones in Africa, systemic crises have historically devastated entire populations of people. Different factors have led to these systemic crises, including inflation, debt defaults, and other factors. The occurrence of these factors could be used with machine learning models in order to predict the occurrence of systemic crises. Predicting systemic crises is an important first step towards preventing them or minimizing their effects in these countries. In order to do this, we used a systemic crises dataset on Kaggle. We used a number of methods to clean up the data set in order to get it ready for machine learning algorithms. We dropped columns that would be unnecessary or detrimental to predictions, such as 'country' data. We then converted binary string data, which was labelled "crises" and "no_crises", to binary values to allow for numeric matrices. Next, we subtracted a minimum value from all data values in the 'year' column to minimize their weighting. Finally, we standardized two columns, 'exch_usd' and 'inflation_annual_cpi'. This was done by first capping their values at 500 and -500, then using the mean and standard deviations of the columns in order to calculate each element's z-score. Standardization was done in order to make sure their values would be weighted equally in a machine learning model. After cleaning up our data, we will train a number of machine learning models to see which one would best predict systemic crises. This included perceptron, decision trees, random forests, and other machine learning models.

Machine learning, web development, python, computer vision

What are the most effective ways to use machine learning to predict systemic crises in African countries?

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is an emerging threat that has become more apparent due to the overuse of modern antibiotics. An increase in mortality rates from such AMR microbes has been documented, and 1.27 million deaths were directly attributed to AMR worldwide in 2019 alone3. AMR microbes pose a huge public health threat currently, and if not treated correctly, could cause a huge loss of human life and put incredible pressure on the economy. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that in the US currently, AMR is causing the loss of $20 billion annually, with another $35 billion in lost productivity4. The EU estimates that by 2050, if current trends continue, 10 million deaths will occur from AMR5. Acinobacter Baumanii, Pseudomonas Aeruginosa, ESBL (extended spectrum B-lactamase) producing Enterobacteriaceae, and other members of the ESKAPE group line the top of the list of the WHO’s most worrisome AMR bacteria6. Especially in recent years, the prevalence of the AMR threat has risen, with a recent study finding that 40-50% of UTI cases presented in emergency departments of hospitals showed resistance to at least one antibiotic, and up to 18% showing resistance to multiple antibiotics7. The rise in antimicrobial activity can be associated with the stagnation in development of new antimicrobials, due to the lack of financial incentive from pharmaceutical companies, as older antibiotics are often preferred over newer ones. Overuse and misuse of antibiotics also cause AMR to emerge. Fortunately, other antimicrobial agents have been identified as viable alternatives to traditional antibiotics. 
Nanoparticles are miniscule particles, either organic or metallic, that exhibit diverse antibacterial properties, and show potential as a treatment for AMR. The particles range in size between 1 and 100 nanometers. Similar to nanoparticles, synthetic molecular motors, or molecular machines, are molecular structures that can drill into bacteria when exposed to certain stimuli, most often light. The drills effectively kill the bacteria when irradiated. The last treatment this paper will discuss is bacteriophages, viruses that have a specific bacterial host that they will hunt and kill the bacteria. 
The world is in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, and if not properly dealt with, AMR could unleash similar or worse pathogens. It is important to study alternative methods to treating drug-resistant pathogens, as hospitals are running thin on viable antimicrobial treatments. In this paper, I will discuss current and novel treatments for antimicrobial resistance, and outline future directions for these treatments. 


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