Tag: Poster 57

Mapping the Trends: Assessing Paid and Organic Search Behavior

Presenter: Kelly Rodgers

Mentor: Kim Sheehan, Journalism (Advertising)

Poster: 57

Major: Journalism (Public Relations)

Last December, Google Inc. reported a whopping $66 billion in total revenue for 2014 alone. Surprisingly, just one branch of the Google money tree accounted for approximately 90% of that revenue: online advertising. In 2014, Google AdWords generated over $59 billion in advertising sales—income that backs every innovative project, invention, acquisition, and investment Google undertakes. However, to someone using a search engine, the process of how the results on the page appear after the search is conducted is somewhat opaque: some ads are ‘organic’ and appear based on a Google algorithm, and others are paid, or ‘sponsored’ advertisements. Therefore, the search results presented on a page contain certain signals that may affect how users perceive the credibility of the results. Additionally, the manner in which results are presented: through text ads and through map placements, may also affect credibility. Through investigation of search query results presented in a graphic/visual way, we can measure potential impact on user actions, while contributing to existing studies on credibility and user bias.

Determining Ancestry of Unprovenienced Human Remains from the Grenadines, Southern Caribbean: Dental Morphology and Craniometric Analyses

Presenter: Taylor Dodrill

Co-Presenters: Greg Nelson, Jessica Stone, Scott Fitzpatrick

Faculty Mentor: Greg Nelson, Scott Fitzpatrick

Presentation Type: Poster 57

Primary Research Area: Science

Major: Anthropology, Biology

Funding Source: UROP Mini-Grant, UROP, $1000

The bioarchaeological record of the southern Caribbean reflects a diverse population history due to the replacement of founding indigenous groups by European and African populations. This is a result of colonial incursion and processes surrounding the Transatlantic Slave Trade that occurred over a period of centuries. This complex history can present problems for proper dispensation of archaeological material and human skeletal remains, particularly those recovered outside the strictures of controlled excavation. In this case study we examined a collection of unprovenienced skeletal material comprising four individuals of unknown ancestry. This collection derives from a private collection on the island of Mustique in the southern Grenadines that supposedly originated on the smaller nearby island of Petite Mustique. Ancestry has been estimated using a combination of craniometrics and dental morphology, the latter assessed by scoring a suite of 23 Arizona State University Dental Anthropology System (ASUDAS) traits for comparison against existing population data from Africa, Europe, and the Americas. Standard craniometric measurements were also assessed using the FORDISC database. We find that these data do not support an Amerindian ancestry for these individuals, and instead and/or African descent that date to the historic period. These and other ongoing analyses, including possible mtDNA extraction and stable isotope analyses, should help in efforts to repatriate the remains to the appropriate governing body and location.

Monitoring Lane Community College Coyote Population: Urban or Rural?

Presenter(s): Caroline Shea − Animal Sciences, Pre-vet

Faculty Mentor(s): Stacy Kiser

Poster 57

Research Area: Natural Science

There are so many people that are afraid of coyotes, since many people assume that they are going to go after their animals. Not all coyotes are hunters, however, and when they are they tend to eat small animals and insects. The coyote population on and around Lane Community College had gone undetected for a long time. In the spring of 2017 there was one coyote was spotted by a game camera, a mother coyote who had given birth that year. This coyote was found at a site which had red meat placed at the site, which the coyote did not touch, but there was a large amount of small rodent activity, leading to the question: Was the coyote population hunters, like rural coyotes, or were they scavengers like an urban coyote? This is being tested by using this five grain mixture to attract small rodents to see if the coyote would follow. The small animals so far includes rats, mice, birds, rabbits, and chipmunks. This research is useful to help determine if the coyotes pose a potential threat to the nearby neighborhoods or not. So far it is possible that the coyotes are not afraid of people, making them closer to the urban coyote than a rural one, however it is not yet confirmed.

Neuronal projections to the auditory striatum

Presenter(s): Cora Pyles

Faculty Mentor(s): Santiago Jaramillo & Nick Ponvert

Poster 57

Session: Sciences

The striatum, a brain area involved in decision making and learning, receives information from both the thalamus and the cortex. However, the precise cortical layers and thalamic nuclei that send auditory information to the striatum are unclear. To address this question, a retrograde viral approach was used in mice to label cells that project to the striatum, allowing quantification of striatal-projecting cells across thalamic nuclei and cortical layers. The study found that the projections from the thalamus come from non-lemniscal nuclei and projections from the auditory cortex come from layers 5 and 6. These results suggest that thalamostriatal neurons are located in nuclei that do not primarily project to the primary auditory cortex. Additionally, the results indicate that the striatum receives auditory information from multiple cortical layers, and each of these neuronal populations may convey different features about sounds to striatal cells. Understanding where striatal-projecting cells are located will allow for targeted extracellular recordings to characterize their neural responses evoked by different frequencies and amplitude modulations rates of sound.