Georgia Undergraduate Research Conference 2019

Research shows that Infant-Directed Speech (IDS) may facilitate positive language development in both typically developing and language delayed children. However, this is not as well documented in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by social and language difficulties (Northrup & Iverson, 2015). One form of IDS known as motherese, baby talk, or baby register (IDS/BR; Farran, Lee, Yoo, & Oller, 2016) is characterized by salient acoustic features and prosodic variations (Fernald & Mazzie, 1991; Saint Georges et. al. 2013) such as higher pitch, shorter utterances, and variable intonation; it is used by mothers when interacting with their infants and young children. Another form of IDS, known as adult register (IDS/AR), does not include such features and has also been found to be used by mothers at least 30% of the time when communicating with their young children, particularly with those who have higher language and volubility (amount of vocalizations) levels. Recent research suggests that both IDS/BR and IDS/AR may play an important role in early vocal and language development. In addition to register use, lexical diversity has been associated with communication and language development and may be representative of children and mothers’ everyday vocabulary richness (Owen & Leonard, 2002). This study explores the relationship between maternal differential use of registers (IDS/BR and IDS/AR), maternal lexical diversity, and volubility (amount of vocalizations) of young children with ASD. Using audio recordings collected in families’ homes during free play interactions, we segmented and coded maternal and child speech utterances in PRAAT and computed lexical diversity using D (Lai & Schwanenflugel, 2016). We hypothesize that a higher use of maternal lexical diversity and IDS/AR will be associated with increased child lexical diversity and volubility. The results of this study may inform early language intervention practices in children with ASD.
Keywords:
Lexical Diversity
Volubility
Infant Directed Speech
Autism Spectrum Disorder
Language Development
Mother/Child Interaction
Home Environment
Presentation Type: Poster
Field of Study: Communication Sciences and Disorders
Daylin Deyton is an undergraduate senior student of Communication Sciences and Disorders at the University of West Georgia.
Email: ddeyton1@my.westga.edu
Amanda Melville is an undergraduate senior student of Communication Sciences and Disorders at the University of West Georgia.
Email: amelvil1@my.westga.edu
Sydney Carroll is an undergraduate senior student of Communication Sciences and Disorders at the University of West Georgia.
Email: scarrol5@my.westga.edu
Savannah Tomberlin is an undergraduate senior student of Communication Sciences and Disorders at the University of West Georgia.
Email: stomber1@my.westga.edu
Madison Winstead is a graduate student of Communication Sciences and Disorders at the University of West Georgia.
Email: mwinste1@my.westga.edu
Brittany Sloan is a graduate student of Communication Sciences and Disorders at the University of West Georgia.
Email: bsloan1@my.westga.edu
Lama K. Farran, Ph.D., CCC-SLP is an associate professor of Communication Sciences and Disorders at the University of West Georgia.
Email: lfarran@westga.edu
Citations:
Farran, L.K., Lee, C-C, Yoo, H., & Oller, D.K. (2016) Cross-cultural register differences in infant-directed speech: An initial study. PLoS ONE 11(3): e0151518. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0151518
Fernald, A., & Mazzie, K. C. (1991). Prosody and focus in speech to infants and adults. Developmental Psychology, 27, 209–221.doi: 10.1037/0012-1649.27.2.209
Lai, S. A., & Schwanenflugel, P. J. (2016). Validating the Use of D for Measuring Lexical Diversity in Low-Income Kindergarten Children. Language, Speech & Hearing Services in Schools, 47(3), 225–235.
Northrup, J., & Iverson, J. (2015). Vocal coordination during early parent–infant interactions predicts language outcome in infant siblings of children with autism spectrum disorder. Infancy, 20(5), 523-547.
Owen, A. J., & Leonard, L. B. (2002). Lexical diversity in the spontaneous speech of children with specific language impairment: Application of D. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 45(5), 927–937. https://doi.org/10.1044/1092-4388(2002/075)
Saint-Georges, C., Chetouani, M., Cassel, R., Apicella, F., Mahdhaoui, A., Muratori, F., … Cohen, D. (2013). Motherese in interaction: At the cross-road of emotion and cognition? (a systematic review). PLoS ONE, 8(10), 1. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0078103

#51 - Lexical Diversity Within Infant-Directed Speech and Its Association with Volubility and Language Outcomes in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Birth is marked by a dramatic transition from the sterile womb to a world full of microorganisms that colonize every body surface. We previously found that this colonization exerts rapid effects on brain development, as in mice born in the absence of microbes had increased cell death in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus (PVN), an effect not seen 12 h prior to expected delivery. The gut microbiota influences the development of many body systems, and communicates bi-directionally with the brain. We hypothesize that the microbiota exerts effects on neuronal cell death via the vagus nerve, which connects the gut to the PVN via two synapses. To test this, we plan to use capsaicin to perform chemical vagotomies, but we must first validate the approach. In preliminary studies, we confirmed that capsaicin injections to newborn mice caused marked increases in death of vagal afferents. To further validate our technique, in this experiment we evaluated whether capsaicin also induces cell death in the PVN (which could present a confound to our study) and whether it influences neural activity in this nucleus. Mice were injected with capsaicin or vehicle subcutaneously on postnatal day 0 and their brains were collected 0.5, 2, 4, 6, or 24 hours later, and processed for immunohistochemical detection of markers of cell death (activated caspase-3, AC3) or neural activation (Fos). We found that capsaicin did not alter cell death in the PVN at any time point. It did, however, cause increased Fos expression 2 and 4 hours after treatment, which may be due to the activation of the vagal-PVN pathway. The absence of capsaicin-induced cell death in the PVN suggests that chemical vagotomies may be a useful approach to test whether the microbiota affects cell death in the PVN via the vagus nerve.

#44 - Effects of chemical vagotomy on the neonatal mouse paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus

This project investigated ion uptake by fish endemic to Georgia, known as Lake Sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens), which were acquired from a hatchery and naturally found in the Coosa River. For this investigation, identical recirculating tank systems provided separated environments for the two types of water treatments. Equal test groups were placed into the different water chemistries, one into the Coosa River and the other into the regular dechlorinated tap water. All subjects consumed the same type of food: Rangen, which is a commercial chow mix, and blood worm. The Coosa River water differs in ionic composition compared to the hatchery environment, with lower environmental [Ca2+] and higher concentrations of Zn+ and Mg2+. The transporters of interest included Na+-K+-ATPase, epithelial Ca2+ channel, and Na+-Mg2+ cotransporter. Overall growth patterns, including weight, body length, and intestinal length and mass differed due to water chemistry. Similarly, gene expression was hypothesized to respond to environmental ion availability. Evidence of changes in gene expression will support the hypothesis that fish in the Coosa River regulate ion transport in conjunction with available nutritional and environmental factors. In order to obtain the necessary genetic information, sampling points were assigned over 21 days at 0, 1, 10, and 21 days post-transfer. During each sampling period, we euthanized five fish per treatment for dissection and collected specific tissue types: gill, liver, and intestine. All tissues were stored at -80°C. During the analysis stage of the project RNA was isolated from both the gill and intestine samples, reverse transcribed into cDNA, and then analyzed for gene expression using RT-qPCR to analyze the effect of water chemistry from the two different exposure treatments, particularly ion transport factors in both of these ion transport organs. This data can be utilized to assist the hatcheries in better understanding the responses of Lake Sturgeon to environmental changes and analyzing whether the differing ion content in the Coosa river water is a factor in whole-animal energy distribution.

#2 - Comparison of Ion Transport Expression in Lake Sturgeon Exposed to Differing Water Chemistries

This paper looks at the history of Americans’ changing attitudes toward the Ku Klux Klan. It contributes to the scholarships on Civil War history and domestic terrorism through the case of the KKK. In this paper I used primary and secondary sources such as news footage and articles. The journalist Edward Pollard’s book, The Lost Cause: a new Southern history of the War of the Confederates (1867), influenced generations of Americans both South and North by writing a revisionist history of the Civil War painting confederates as rebels who should still fight to maintain white supremacy. This belief in this “lost cause” led many Americans, in the South especially, to support and have positive attitudes toward the KKK. However even as the Klan claimed to support the ideals of the lost cause, their actions often undermined their claims of benevolence and of the upholding of Southern value. The Klan, especially after its revival post-WWI, terrorized through violent acts anyone they deemed not “pure American.” By the 1920s, they had taken over state governments and law enforcement institutions. Americans began to see through their web of lies and their violence. The public realized that the perfect life the Klan extolled did not exist and had never existed in the past. For many Americans, in part thanks to the work of African American civil rights activists, the crimes the leadership of the Klan committed and encouraged were too great to go unpunished. With positive perceptions of the Klan declining by the 1930s the ideals of the Klan would not resurface again for several decades. Today, it is unlikely the Klan will ever be regarded as positively as it once was even if similar hate groups still plague our society.

#38 - The Past is a Foreign Country They View Things Differently There: The Perception of “The Invisible Empire of The Ku Klux Klan” as a Benevolent Secret Society from 1915 to 1965

Future Home of the Living God by Louise Erdrich is a science fiction novel that presents a world in which evolution is collapsing in on itself. Cedar Songmaker, an Ojibwe woman adopted by white parents, documents these changes and her pregnancy, but Erdrich also explores the importance of Native identity. This paper analyzes Cedar’s specific experiences and psychological studies to explain her identity, which is a complex combination of white, Ojibwe, and Catholic. Her experiences are similar to those of many adopted Native children who are kept from knowing about their Native identities. The Indian Adoption Program, popular in the 1950s through the 1970s, forcibly removed Native children from their tribes and placed them in white households which erased their Native identities. Living into her mid-twenties without knowing anything about her birth mother or her Native heritage causes Cedar to feel alienated from those around her. Cedar struggles with her Native identity throughout the novel, especially combining it with the identity she already has. Cedar’s adult life is formed around her religion, which is an important source of solace. She takes the teachings of the Catholic Church, particularly its teachings about Mary and other female religious figures, and utilizes them to lift herself up and validate her own identity. Rather than feeling oppressed by the Church, Cedar uses it as a connection with her birth mother. Cedar’s time with her tribal nation also allows her to explore her Ojibwe heritage and identity. Cedar feels more self-determination when she knows all aspects of her identity and is able to combine them the way she wishes, not the way others tell her to.

Evolution of Native Identity in Future Home of the Living God

Understanding how many antibiotic resistant bacteria and coliforms are in each location is important for water quality. Coliforms are rod-shaped, gram-negative bacteria that are present in the environment and in feces of warm-blooded animals. Their presence in water indicates the presence of pathogens. Extended-spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBLs) are enzymes that are produced by gram-negative bacteria and increase antibiotic resistance within bacteria. Some antibiotics, such as ampicillin, contain beta-lactam rings, which ESBLs then cleave, making the antibiotics ineffective. Bacteria that secrete ESBLs have previously been identified in Flat Creek, a small stream in Northeast Georgia that feeds into Lake Sidney Lanier. Point sources of pollution majorly affecting Flat Creek include: a poultry plant, multiple parks, and industrialized areas. If a large number of antibiotic resistant bacteria and coliforms are found in Flat Creek, this may be indicative that antibiotic resistance and pathogens in tributaries may be more widespread. If other tributaries that feed into Lake Sidney Lanier show the presence of ESBLs and coliforms, antibiotic resistant bacteria and pathogens may be found in water sources for Metro Atlanta. The goal of this research is to quantify the amount of ESBLs, coliforms, and bacteria at different locations during all seasons along Flat Creek, using a Most Probable Number (MPN) analysis technique, the IDEXX system for coliform II, and repeated sampling to produce a model. This model will map data and the point sources around the locations collected. Our model will be able to estimate the number of bacteria, ESBLs, and coliforms in Flat Creek at a given time within a tolerance range.

#24 - Quantification of ESBLs & Coliforms in a Creek in Hall County, Georgia, USA.

Acropora palmata is a threatened, reef-building coral native to Florida, the Bahamas, and the Caribbean. Once prevalent throughout its range, A. palmata has suffered extreme losses (>90%) in the past decades attributed largely to bleaching, disease, and hurricanes. These corals thrive in shallow regions with high wave action and are extremely susceptible to storm damage; however, their ability to reproduce asexually when storm fragments attach themselves to a nearby substrate can provide resiliency when exposed to storms of low frequency and intensity. In September, 2017, catastrophic hurricanes Irma and Maria severely impacted the populations of A. palmata in St. John, USVI, with many mature colonies being severely damaged or destroyed. Teams of student-researchers have been surveying populations in Salt Pond Bay, St. John, USVI for the past three years as a part of a field course from Georgia State University. This provided us with a unique opportunity to investigate hurricane impacts on coral population health and recovery. Underwater images of A. palmata taken six and eighteen months after the 2017 storm events are being visually analyzed, placed into morphological stage classes, and evaluated for surface area using CPCe. Preliminary results indicate a twofold increase in surface area of the A. palmata colonies assessed. Many colonies and fragments have transitioned from the crust stage observed in 2018 to measurable early branching forms in 2019, a sign of transition into the colony (mature) stage. These results may indicate that A. palmata in this study are recovering at a faster rate than those predicted by existing models, particularly regarding a hurricane of Irma’s intensity. As storm intensity and frequency in the Caribbean are predicted to increase with increasing sea surface temperatures due to global climate change, understanding the recovery rate of these threatened corals is critical to developing comprehensive conservation and management plans.

#5 - Monitoring storm resilience of Acropora palmata in Salt Pond Bay, St. John, USVI

My project aims to re-analyze the film Rear Windowby director Alfred Hitchcock in relation to its historical period. Rear Windowis an illustration of a cinema by which, through the act of viewing, an audience is aroused and manipulated into eliciting an emotional response. The film negotiates an America in turmoil due to the paranoia caused by the Second Red Scare, the Cold War, and the emergence and popularization of Freud’s theories of psychoanalysis. The act of observation is Hitchcock’s means of navigating between the domesticated private and the omnipresent public. Many sources keep Hitchcock within the 1950s. But I will argue that the act of voyeurism, specifically the separation of object and subject, is essential to understanding the purest form of cinema and is not limited to postwar America. This logic can be applied to contemporary American society where an ever-advancing technological landscape increases voyeuristic surveillance practices. An increase in surveillance activity gives rise to ethical questions that Hitchcock explores through his characters that reflect the collective obsessional behaviors of the American people. Additionally, I will be analyzing certain “Hitchcockian” directorial techniques and contextualizing them as aesthetic choices that exemplify the divide in a post-event American society.

Hitchcock Meets Freud: Voyeurism in Postwar America

Synergistic Activity of Antifungals and Essential Oils against Candida auris
Candida auris is garnering significant attention as an emerging human pathogen. C. auris is responsible for an increasing number of nosocomial blood infections within immunocompromised individuals. This yeast is challenging to control because it can survive on fomites for weeks, is typically misdiagnosed for closely related species, and is commonly be multi-drug resistant. The Bioinnovation Lab of Kennesaw State University has been examining the use of several antifungals and essential oils to see if they display synergism in inhibiting and killing this emerging human pathogen. First, we tested the antifungal activity of multiple different essential oils. We then took the top three essential oils that proved to be the most inhibitory to the growth of C. auris and combined them with the four different antifungals in a checkerboard assay. Among the combinations that were tested, some showed additive inhibition in the growth of C. auris while Flucytosine with clove bud oil as well as Flucanazole with clove bud oil showed synergism in killing C. auris. These findings could potentially help with the development of surface disinfectants, dermal sanitizers, or even a treatment for infection caused by C. auris.

#23 - Synergistic Activity of Antifungals and Essential Oils against Candida auris

Research on biphobia is crucial, for it is difficult to fully understand the experiences of bisexuals due to most prior studies either excluding bisexuals completely or combining bisexuals with other sexual minorities. For this project, I conceptualized biphobia as the dislike of, discrimination, or prejudice against bisexuals. The goal of this study is to understand biphobia through the experiences of college students. This research utilized qualitative one-on-one interviews with six individuals, transcription of the interviews, and qualitative coding to substantiate the trends discovered through the interviews. Trends coded for include, but are not limited to, discrimination from the queer and straight communities, differences based on gender, and the invalidation of bisexuality. Through this research, descriptive data was compiled to better understand the manifestation of biphobia. The study found that the most common stereotypes were that bisexual is not a legitimate sexual orientation, that bisexuals have not chosen a side and eventually must choose, as well as that bisexuality may be considered an experimental or transitional phase. The most surprising stereotype found was that some consider bisexuals to be twice as likely to cheat; there was also notable differences in biphobic experiences based on the bisexual individual’s gender. There was also evidence that discrimination comes from both the straight and queer community.