Puberty: Is Your Gingiva Having Mood Swings?

Objectives/aim: The purpose of this paper is to explore the effects on the different pathological changes in the oral cavity due to puberty, in both males and females. Hormonal changes caused by menstrual cycles, ovulation, the use contraceptives, and increased testosterone and estrogen levels. Methods: This topic will be analyzed by thoroughly reviewing research on articles that relate to the oral health of individuals specifically between the ages of 12-18 years old. Results: Research presents significant evidence that supports changes occurring in the oral cavity during an individual’s stage of puberty. These stages include ovulation, pre-menstruation, menstruation and males transitioning through puberty. During the puberty stage adolescents are more prone to have increased gingival crevicular fluid (GCF), gingival index, and bleeding on probing while research has shown no significant findings on plaque indexes or probing depths. Changes occurring during the menstrual cycle tend to influence the periodontium and induce inflammatory conditions as well. While the periodontium and inflammatory cytokines play a major role in the effects during puberty, changes in diet during this phase can increase the risk of developing caries as well. Conclusion: When adolescents are transitioning into adulthood, there are multiple changes their body goes through. During the literature review, many changes happen during puberty significantly affecting the oral cavity were discovered. These changes have both positive and negative effects. Variations in hormone levels and diet greatly influence the health of the oral cavity and can be a deciding factor on development or severity of oral disease.https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/denh_student/1008/thumbnail.jp

Youth’s Expressions of Personal Significance in an Informal Learning Setting That Bridged STEM and Experiential Learning

When youth relate to environmental science on a deep, personal level they are more likely to retain information, as they make neural connections to significant lived experiences, and are more likely to be environmentally aware and engage in actions that benefit marine and freshwater ecosystems. In order to promote and encourage personally significant connections to environmental science ideas, tools, and practices, it’s important to design a curriculum or program that provides opportunities for reflection, discussion, and application. This thesis includes one practitioner manuscript that describes the development of a new design process for informal learning programs that incorporates evidence-based STEM instruction through the 5E Instructional Model, and best-practices of informal teaching through the 4-H adapted Experiential Learning Model. The design overlaps the two models, highlighting the ways the learning models both supplement and complement each other, which was created during the development of a 4-H Science Toolkit about sustainable fishing. With an emphasis on reflection, 21st century life skills, and socio-emotional learning, the sustainable fishing curriculum made space for opportunities for youth to express personally significant experiences, and use them to connect with environmental science ideas, tools, and practices. The empirical manuscript shared in this thesis highlights the ways four youth participants expressed personal significance about their appreciation and fascination of nature experiences, experiences with family and around place, and about a change of perspective in an after-school program that presented the 4-H Toolkit sustainable fishing curriculum. By taking a sociolinguistics approach, the sharing of these personally significant experiences made salient how youth were connecting to scientific tools, ideas, and practices on a deeply, personal level in the moment-to-moment interactions in the discourse of the after-school program

\u27Keep that Same Energy Sis\u27: An Exploration of Black Women\u27s Use of Offline Resistance Strategies

In the West, Black Women’s bodies have historically been regarded as excessive, hyper-sexualized, and deviant for their curvaceous and often fuller appearance. While these black figures have been deemed socially unacceptable, popular culture depicts a conflicting narrative that welcomes these physical attributes when placed on the white body. A variety of studies exist that consider Black Women’s feelings and use of virtual coping strategies in response to these contradictions; however, few empirical studies exist that discuss how Black Women are employing strategies outside of the virtual to resist these inconsistencies. In response to this shortage of research, this study informed by a phenomenological and qualitative lens gives voice to 8 Black Women between the ages of 18 and 35, to answer the following question. (1) What strategies are Black Women utilizing other than social media to resist popular culture’s contradictions of the curvaceous aesthetic

A history of Morgan-Monroe State Forest

Morgan-Monroe State Forest was born from a time of economic distress and sudden realization of America's shrinking wooded landscape. The State Forests, not to be confused with the State Parks, were created as a site for responsible and sustainable timber management. Morgan-Monroe's close proximity to Indianapolis and Bloomington has greatly emphasized its focus on recreation and created a vibrant history for this forest. This emphasis on recreation on Morgan-Monroe has caused confusion with this State Forest's primary purpose of sustainable timber production. However, there are many claiming that the harvesting done in Morgan-Monroe's Backcountry Area is irresponsible. All opinions on the dilemma have been included and reveal the deep-seated issues. This is the first history is the first to be written on Morgan-Monroe State Forest and is part of a larger project on Indiana State Forests.Thesis (B.?)Honors Colleg

Nurturing Democracy? Mediating between Women Chief Executives and Voter Turnout

Does the presence of female candidates in executive elections increase voter turnout for that election? Does the presence of female chief executives in states increase voter turnout following their tenure? While there is little research surrounding female chief executives and candidates, past research on women in parliament has shown that the increased prevalence of female legislators increases voter turnout rates due to role modeling and socialization. Overall, a more diverse government will feel more democratic and thus more welcoming of participation by both men and women. I theorize that this phenomenon remains true with both female candidates in executive elections and female chief executives. I hypothesize that the presence of both will increase voter turnout for that election where female candidates run and following the tenure of female chief executives. To answer my first question, I conduct a case study on a semi-random sample of thirteen African states. For my second question, I run OLS Times-Series Regression tests on data from 1970 to 2016. With voter turnout being a keystone of democracy, my research could have strong implications for how women are involved in policies aimed at furthering political development and democratization

The Hoosiers Got It Wrong: The Need for States to Enact Stricter Prescribing Regulations Via Telemedicine Services

In 2016 and 2017, Indiana amended its state telemedicine regulations to allow Indiana physicians to prescribe controlled substances to patients without an in-person examination. Although there are many promising benefits of telemedicine, researchers have not yet conducted enough tests or studies to fully know the consequences of prescribing without an in-person examination as well as other concerns with telemedicine services. In light of the ongoing opioid epidemic, lawmakers should be even more hesitant to lower the standards for prescribing regulations. This Note will propose alternative solutions for legislators regarding telemedicine regulations and explain why other states should not mirror Indiana’s recently enacted amendments.

Cross-sectional Analysis of the Relationship Between Adherence to the Mediterranean Diet and Mental Wellness

The Mediterranean Diet (MD) is a well-known healthy dietary pattern that continues to be recommended by literature due to its benefits of preventing chronic diseases and enhancing the overall health of the general public. With an abundance of literature focusing on the physical health benefits of MD, this study aimed to assess whether there is an association between adherence to MD and mental wellness, specifically levels of depression and anxiety. A random sample of 100 participants consented to complete an online survey to assess their adherence to MD and levels of depression and anxiety through the validated questionnaires of 14-item Questionnaire of Mediterranean Diet Adherence, Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7), and Beck’s Depression Inventory (BDI) assessment. Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient analysis was used to identify the possible correlations between MD and depression as well as MD and anxiety. The results demonstrated a significant negative correlation for both indicating that adherence to MD is associated with lower levels of depression and anxiety

Marine plastic debris emits a keystone infochemical for olfactory foraging seabirds.

Plastic debris is ingested by hundreds of species of organisms, from zooplankton to baleen whales, but how such a diversity of consumers can mistake plastic for their natural prey is largely unknown. The sensory mechanisms underlying plastic detection and consumption have rarely been examined within the context of sensory signals driving marine food web dynamics. We demonstrate experimentally that marine-seasoned microplastics produce a dimethyl sulfide (DMS) signature that is also a keystone odorant for natural trophic interactions. We further demonstrate a positive relationship between DMS responsiveness and plastic ingestion frequency using procellariiform seabirds as a model taxonomic group. Together, these results suggest that plastic debris emits the scent of a marine infochemical, creating an olfactory trap for susceptible marine wildlife