Acute Effects of High-Intensity Functional Training on Cognitive Function

CrossFit, a high-intensity functional training program, has gained widespread popularity for its physical fitness benefits, but its acute effects on cognitive function are not well understood. This study investigated the immediate impact of a CrossFit workout on cognitive performance, compared to a resting condition. Twenty experienced CrossFit athletes participated in two conditions: (1) a 12-minutes high-intensity CrossFit session and (2) a resting session involving 12 minutes of seated magazine reading. Cognitive performance was assessed using a flanker task, measuring reaction time and response accuracy as indicators of cognitive processing and inhibitory control. Results revealed significantly better performance in the flanker task following the CrossFit workout compared to the resting condition. These findings suggest that high-intensity exercise acutely enhances cognitive performance, particularly in tasks requiring quick decision-making and attention.https://commons.stmarytx.edu/rsc25pres/1002/thumbnail.jp

Mitigating Discrimination by Businesses: Adopting a Substantial Amount of Expression Test in the Wake of the Court\u27s 303 Creative Decision

The Supreme Court’s recent decision in 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis[1] balanced Colorado’s anti-discrimination public accommodations law and its burden on a website designer’s right to be free from compelled speech.[2] Choosing to hold for the website designer, the Court decided that Ms. Smith was free to refuse her wedding website service to same-sex couples.[3] Put another way, the Court’s decision granted businesses that are open to the public a license to discriminate through the Free Speech Clause. Not only is this the first time that a business’s First Amendment rights overrode a public accommodations law’s compelling interest in preventing discrimination, but to qualify for this license to discriminate, a business only has to engage in “pure speech[.]”[4] A plain reading of the opinion could lead to discrimination against members of the public by a wide array of “creative professionals,”[5] including traditional examples, such as artists and writers, and even extending to other professions, such as lawyers and healthcare professionals. The Court’s holding creates a license to discriminate that threatens to revive discriminatory practices not seen since before the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Therefore, to mitigate the effects of the 303 Creative opinion, the lower courts should interpret the opinion narrowly and adopt a “substantial amount of expression” test to determine if the business claiming this Free Speech Clause license to discriminate is actually engaged in pure speech. A test such as this will involve evaluating the nature of the goods or services to determine if they are sufficiently expressive to garner First Amendment protection and trump the government’s compelling interest behind a public accommodations law. This test draws upon scholarship on the concept of proportionality in constitutional claims, which places some of the burden associated with strict scrutiny on the claimant. Thus, the test will serve to confine the limits of the holding to bona fide claims by businesses actually engaged in expressive activities

How are emojis interpreted by different generations

Emojis have become a universal tool for expressing emotions, improving intelligibility, and expressing tone in text-based conversations as their use in digital communication has grown substantially. The purpose of this study is to investigate how emojis function in communication and how they affect the emotional tone and intelligibility of messages. In order to find out more, we will look at how various groups use emojis in different situations, such as formal versus informal communication. In order to present a thorough grasp of their impacts on communication dynamics, we will concentrate on quantitative elementshttps://commons.stmarytx.edu/rscpos25/1048/thumbnail.jp

Key factors in U.S. mass shootings: A statistical approach

Mass shootings in the U.S. have surged at an alarming rate. From 1976 to 2018, there were 155 mass public shootings, resulting in 1,078 deaths and 1,694 nonfatal injuries and the rate has only accelerated in recent years. In just eight years (2013–2021), over 200 more occurred. Understanding the factors behind these tragedies is critical for prevention. The 2022 Uvalde school shooting, where an 18-year-old legally purchased assault rifles before killing 21 people, exemplifies the consequences of easy firearm access. By identifying patterns, we can help shape policies to reduce these horrific events and protect communitieshttps://commons.stmarytx.edu/rscpos25/1043/thumbnail.jp

CD36 deletion hampers T-bet B cell-differentiation in R848 immunized mice and HFD models

In states of chronic inflammation, a subset of B cells exquisitely responsive to nucleic acid antigen and expressing the proinflammatory transcription factor T-bet have been found to accumulate1. Depending on the context, these T-bet+ B cells can play both protective and pathogenic roles, from enhancing antiviral defenses to contributing to autoreactive antibody production and exacerbating metabolic disease1,2. • Recently, our laboratory and others have found that T-bet+ B cells extracted from human or murine tissues exhibit unusually high expression of the class B scavenger receptor and fatty acid translocase CD36. • As CD36 expression in B cells is generally limited to specific subsets3,4, its presence on these T-bet+ B cells raises questions about its role in promoting pathogenic B cell responses. • Here, we used flow cytometry to investigate if deletion of CD36 from B cells hindered T-bet B cell formation in R848 and HFD models.https://commons.stmarytx.edu/rscpos25/1017/thumbnail.jp

Catholic church involvement across different cultures

There is a widespread religious deconversion in Western culture (Hardy & Taylor, 2024). • Data from The Unites States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) shows that 29.7 million US Hispanics identify as Catholic, which translates to approximately 59% of the Hispanic population in the Unites States (U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, n.d.). • This study examined the difference between Catholic church involvement in predominantly Hispanic cities versus predominantly Caucasian cities.https://commons.stmarytx.edu/rscpos25/1044/thumbnail.jp

Lawtina Network Summit, St. Mary\u27s University School of Law, 2024

https://commons.stmarytx.edu/lawtina2024/1014/thumbnail.jp

Lawtina Network Summit, St. Mary\u27s University School of Law, 2024

https://commons.stmarytx.edu/lawtina2024/1026/thumbnail.jp

What factors impact domestic violence across the 50 U.S States?

* 50% of women seen in emergency departments report a history of abuse * 5 million acts of Domestic Violence occur annually to woman aged 18 yrs and olderhttps://commons.stmarytx.edu/rscpos25/1006/thumbnail.jp

2025 Awardees

Every year, St. Mary\u27s honors their students and faculty at the showcase with awards to recognize their hard work and leadership in research on campus. These are the award winners for 2025.https://commons.stmarytx.edu/rscawards/1004/thumbnail.jp