2005 Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievements Forum (MU)
Permanent URI for this collection
Mizzou's annual Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievements Forum showcases student research and scholarly and creative achievements to the Mizzou community. Undergraduates from any major and all academic levels are eligible to present their work. Students presenting at the forum are eligible to compete for the Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievements.
Browse
Recent Submissions
Item Relationship between conversational language performance and stuttering over time [abstract](University of Missouri--Columbia. Office of Undergraduate Research, 2005) Wood, Mallory; University of Missouri-Columbia. Office of Undergraduate Research; Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievements Forum (2005 : University of Missouri--Columbia)There has been increased interest recently in the effects of young children's developing language skills on stuttering (e.g., see Ratner, 1997, for a discussion). Over time, as language develops, the types of disfluencies displayed by individual children sometimes change, with the frequency of stuttering increasing or decreasing. By looking at individual children's patterns of stuttering relative to their language performance, we can examine how aspects of language might influence changes in fluency characteristics. The purpose of this study is to examine longitudinally the relationship between language skills and various types of stuttering for individual preschool-age children. Method: Eleven children who stutter, ages 2 to 5, participated in the study. A subset of these was included in the analyses for this project. Each of the children was administered a series of speech and language tests and was determined to have typically developing language skills. In addition, the testing confirmed that each participant was, in fact, a child who stuttered. To examine the relationship between language and stuttering, we elicited monthly speech/language samples from each child, over a period of ten months. Each sample was transcribed, coded, and analyzed for the presence and frequency of three types of stuttering: blocks, part-word repetitions, and prolongations. Samples were also coded to analyze several aspects of language performance. The frequency of stuttering types and performance on the language sample measures across the ten sessions were then graphed for each child, to examine relational patterns of language and fluency for each child. Results and Implications: Preliminary results suggest that some children do show changes over time in the types of stuttering they produce. Individual children vary, however, in the types of stuttering produced and the frequencies of each type of stuttering. For some children, there appears to be a relationship between aspects of language performance and stuttering.Item Human hematocrit and gender: Is there an oscillatory pattern and do they differ? [abstract](University of Missouri--Columbia. Office of Undergraduate Research, 2005) Woldgeorgis, Hiwot; University of Missouri-Columbia. Office of Undergraduate Research; Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievements Forum (2005 : University of Missouri--Columbia)Preliminary data from two non-mammalian species suggest the existence of oscillations in hematocrit (the ratio of erythrocytes to plasma) throughout the year. It is not yet known if these oscillations translate to humans. We hypothesized that hematocrit would oscillate throughout the year in humans. Using a retrospective analysis of an existing dataset, we examined hematocrit values in a sample of healthy adults consisting of men (n=63) and women (n=123) with no history of diabetes, anemia, cardiovascular, pulmonary, autoimmune or renal disease. Hematocrit was measured in triplicate using heparinized micro-hematocrit capillary tubes, centrifuged (Thermo IEC MICRO-MB,13,460xG) for five minutes, and read using a microcapillary reader (IEC). Data were analyzed using ANOVA and are presented as mean ± SD. Data for men and women combined demonstrated no variation or pattern in hematocrit with respect to month (P=0.87). Differences in hematocrit were observed based on gender (P<0.0001); specifically, women (38.7 ± 2.3%) had a lower mean hematocrit than men (42.3 ± 2.7%). When examined visually, the data further suggest opposing oscillations between men and women throughout the year. Hematocrit oscillations can be associated with changes in O2 delivery, viscosity, and shear stress, all of which have implications in cardiovascular health. Since at this point in time the pattern can also be explained by random error, a prospective, repeated measures time series study needs to be performed to determine if these oscillations in hematocrit exist.Item Intraspecific interactions, resource selection, and movements of Eastern cottontail rabbits [abstract](University of Missouri--Columbia. Office of Undergraduate Research, 2005) Wisdom, Jered; University of Missouri-Columbia. Office of Undergraduate Research; Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievements Forum (2005 : University of Missouri--Columbia)Eastern cottontail rabbits (Sylvilagus floridanus) have severely hampered forest regeneration in the Lower Missouri River floodplains due to intense herbivory. Our objectives were to determine intraspecific interactions, resource selection, and movements of rabbits to aid reforestation efforts at Plowboy Conservation Area. We collected radiotelemetry locations on 41 rabbits (20 adult males, 10 adult females, 6 juvenile males, 5 juvenile females) during winter 2004-2005. We analyzed 50% and 95% adaptive kernel home ranges and assessed resource selection using a chi-square analysis. There was a significant difference in the number of interactions between males with other males versus females with other females (P<0.05). Additionally, females interacted more with males than with other females (P<0.001). Adult male core area (50%) averaged 1.77 ha (Range = 0.41 to 5.23 ha, SD = 1.33) and home range (95%) averaged 11.60 ha (Range = 4.87 to 18.17 ha, SD = 3.84). Adult female core area (50%) averaged 0.44 ha (Range = 0.19 to 0.76 ha, SD = 0.17) and home range (95%) averaged 3.75 ha (Range = 2.24 to 5.68, SD = 1.37), indicating that rabbits are using small areas rather intensely. Two large scale (control and no redtop) habitats were selected (P<0.001) while the other four habitats were avoided (P<0.001). Three fine scale habitats (johnsongrass, smartweed, and coarse weeds) were selected (P<0.001) while the other eight were avoided (P<0.001). Managers should remove preferred habitat that provides cover and food for rabbits within 1160 m of forest regeneration sites, due to the males' extensive average home range (11.60 ha) and plant a cover crop on site that does not provide suitable habitat. Alternatively, agricultural crops could be grown surrounding the site and mowing everything on the regeneration site could be considered to eliminate habitat.Item Small business awareness of the international market [abstract](University of Missouri--Columbia. Office of Undergraduate Research, 2005) Winton, Scott; University of Missouri-Columbia. Office of Undergraduate Research; Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievements Forum (2005 : University of Missouri--Columbia)Small business development plays an important role in the United State's economy through discovering new ideas, introducing new innovations, creating new jobs and increasing government revenue. Exporting can be a valuable strategy for any manufacturing company to increase sales, gain economies of scale, penetrate new markets, discover new ideas, to level out cyclical demand cycles, or to counter foreign competition entering the U.S. Previous exporting researchers have focused their attention on firms' capabilities, size, export planning, export knowledge, and proactive and reactive strategies. This research focuses on the export behavior of small businesses in the state of Missouri. There are research and planning stages in the small business export development process, which must be met before making the final decision to become an exporter or to refrain from exporting. Economic development officials who wish to promote exporting by small businesses need to better understand these research and planning stages and the types and resources of information being sought by the small business at each stage. My research examines stages in the export development process and those stages that lead to export readiness in Missouri small business manufacturers.Item Relationship between grammatical development and stuttering in young children [abstract](University of Missouri--Columbia. Office of Undergraduate Research, 2005) Wilt, Kimberly; University of Missouri-Columbia. Office of Undergraduate Research; Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievements Forum (2005 : University of Missouri--Columbia)Background: Over the past decade, there has been increased interest in the effects of developing language skills on stuttering in young children. There has been particular interest in the relationship between stuttering and aspects of syntactic development (e.g., see Ratner, 1997, for a discussion). The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship over time between stuttering and syntax in young children. Method: Eleven children, ages 2 to 5 years, were recruited for the study. Each received a series of speech and language tests, and each demonstrated language performance within normal limits. In addition, each of the children was classified as a child who stuttered at the beginning of the study. Children then returned to the clinic for 10 monthly sessions in which each child produced spontaneous speech/language in the course of play. Samples were then transcribed and analyzed, using the language sample analysis program SALT, for grammatical content and the presence of stuttering. Language analyses included the average length of utterances, the longest utterance produced, and the presence of certain grammatical markers. The main fluency analysis was percent stuttered syllables. Results and Implications: The severity of stuttering differed among children in the study. In addition, for individual children, stuttering and grammatical performance showed changes across sessions. The relationship between stuttering and grammatical skills varied across children; some children appeared to show correspondence between the frequency of their stuttering and grammatical performance over the course of the year. For some of the children, although their standardized language test performance was within normal limits, the length of their utterances appeared below average relative to same-age peers. These findings may suggest that for some children, stuttering impacts their expressive/grammatical language skills, even though language test performance is within the normal range.