2010-2011 President's Faculty Grant Winners
Age and Events that Interrupt Contact Lens Wear in Youth
Background/Rationale: A number of controlled randomized prospective soft contact lens (SCL) clinical trials and observational studies have found that lens wearers younger than 25 years are at...
Alginate/Hydroxyapatite Nanocomposite Scaffolds for Bone Tissue Engineering
Cleft palate is the most common birth defect in the US affecting approximately 225,000 children every year. It is formed when the two skull palates fail to close. The problems associated with the...
A Prekindergarten Peer-Mediated Intervention for Children with Autism
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a pervasive developmental disorder which is characterized by difficulties with social interaction, impairments in communication, and a restricted repertoire of...
Can Types of TMD Be Distinguished By Surface Electromyography and Bite Force?
Three types of temporomandibular joint dysfunction (TMD) pain are recognized: arthrogenous, myogenous, and mixed. Their treatment is different, emphasizing the need for the proper differential...
Comprehensive Analysis of Military Offenders (CAMO)
The rate of military interpersonal violence (MIV) is increasing posing a threat to military infrastructure, service men and women, private citizens, and law enforcement officers. The Comprehensive...
Convergence in Children and Adolescents Diagnosed with Autism
Background Few studies have reported on eye care findings in individuals diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) since diagnostic criteria for the condition were revised in 1987. A recent...
Coping Styles in a Group of Diverse Families with a young Child with Autism
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a pervasive developmental disorder characterized by difficulties with social interaction, impairments in communication, and a restricted repertoire of interests...
Detection of Mosquito Pathogens in the Everglades Using Metagenomic Technologies
Located a few miles away from Nova Southeastern University, the Everglades National Park is notorious for its abundant mosquito populations. Potentially, these mosquito populations are impacted by...
Distribution and Abundance of Fungiid Corals in the Gulf of California
The southwest Gulf of California is the northern-most limit of fungiid (mushroom) corals in the tropical eastern Pacific, with two species present, Diaseris distorta and Cycloseris curvata. Fungiid...
Effectiveness of Faculty Autism Awareness Training in Higher Education
The proposed study is designed to evaluate the provision of a specialized training program for awareness of high functional autism (HFA) to faculty of undergraduate and graduate programs at Nova...
Electrophysical and Neurophysical Measures of Emotional Regulation in HIV-Infected Women
Our previous work measuring electroencephalographic (EEG) event-related potential (ERP) responses to emotionally negative images showed that compared to HIV- women, HIV+ women demonstrate very...
Exploring Biofeedback as an Assessment Tool in Sport-Related Concussion
The study proposed herein will be used primarily to examine the utility of biofeedback as an assessment tool in the clinical management of sport-related concussion. However, a number of secondary...
Finding a Better Substrate for P450 Enzyme
P450 enzyme metabolizes the oxidation of a variety of organic compounds in our body including drugs. The exact catalytic mechanism for mammalian P450 enzymes is not known because highly reactive...
Functional Assessment Using Telemetry Accelerometers and Mobile Device
Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore the feasibility of using a telemetry accelerometers (ACCs) system integrated with a mobile device to measure balance function and to examine the...
High Efficiency (454) DNA Sequencing of a Sponge Meta-Transcriptome for Symbiosis
A new animal model system for symbiosis is needed to help guide expanding biological and biomedical research and also provide a comparative framework for accelerating human-related symbioses...
Human Papilloma Virus and Autoimmune Disease: Is There a Relationship?
Autoimmune diseases in general affect approximately 5 to 10% of the world's developed population. The etiology and pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases entails a particular combination of...
Land-Based Culture for the Restoration of Threatened Staghorn Coral
The staghorn coral Acropora cervicornis was recently listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act due to a severe reduction over the last several decades throughout its range in Florida...
Latino Parental Acceptability towards the Human Papillomavirus Vaccine
Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) is associated with sexually transmitted diseases and is one of the leading causes of cervical cancer. Interestingly, Latina women have the highest rate of cervical...
Man and His Best Friend: Is One More Therapeutic Than The Other?
Pet-assisted therapy provides institutionalized individuals with visits from a dog and its handler. Reduction in stress, depression, anxiety and loneliness has all been documented as outcomes of...
Mechanisms of Antihypertensive Actions of Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme-2 (ACE2)
This study examines the mechanisms whereby overexpression of angiotensin-converting enzyme-2 (ACE2) in the brain lowers blood pressure in a mouse model of neurogenic hypertension. ACE2 is a...
Neural and Cognitive Inhibition in Bilinguals
Scientists believe that the benefits of bilingualism extend beyond language into areas of attention and cognitive flexibility. Studies suggest that compared to monolinguals, bilinguals have better...
NSUs Stem Cell Delivery Approaches for Regenerative Treatment
Regenerative medicine can make natural healing processes work faster and better, creating a situation in which missing or damaged tissues that would not have ordinarily re-grown, in fact regenerate...
Protective Factors Against STD/HIV Risks Among Hispanic/Latino Adolescents
Hispanic/Latino adolescents are disproportionately impacted by STDs and HIV. The literature suggests cultural variables may contribute to the STD/HIV epidemic within the Hispanic/Latino...
Reproduction and Spread of Cliona delitrix Excavating Sponge on Coral Reefs
Sponges are common and important residents of benthic habitats that compete for the same space as reef-building corals. The genus Cliona are known for "boring", or excavating into live...
Role of Ovarian Hormones on Development of Depression Using a Rat Model
The incidence of mood disorders and depression is doubled in women during the reproductive years as compared to men. Cyclic changes in ovarian steroids have been closely linked to the depressive...
Stain Modulation of Oncolytic Vesicular Stomatitis Virus
Background and Rationale: Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States. Current anticancer treatments have low specificity, affecting cancerous as well as normal cells. New...
Status of the Amazonian Manatee (Manatus inunguis) in Eastern, Ecuador
The Amazonian manatee (Manatus inunguis) is the smallest Sirenian and the only Sirenian found exclusively in freshwater. They inhabit rivers and floodplain lagoons in the Amazon basin in South...
Student Research in Coral Reef Taxonomy & Genomics: The Moorea Biocode Project
Despite increasing concerns of the effects of multiple global impacts and threats in marine environments, very little is actually known about the status and trends of marine biodiversity at all...
The Transport of Mangrove-Based Energy to Offshore Communities by Migrating Fish
Mangrove forests are low energy, intertidal habitats that provide a rich supply of food to diversity of infaunal, epifaunal, and juvenile species (Nagelkerken and van der Velde, 2004). Besides...
To Remove the Hook or Not: Degradation Rates of Fishing Hooks
The fate of fishing hooks in the marine environment is a persistent management question that remains scientifically unanswered, despite numerous anecdotal observations in popular recreational...
Treatment Patterns for Depression Among Elderly Medicare Population
Although the prevalence of major depression is about 1-4% among adults aged 65 or older, about 10% of elderly people have clinically significant depression symptoms in primary care settings. Only...
Uncovering Chemical Components of Atmospheric Aerosols in South Florida
The central objective of this project is to better understand the chemical components of atmospheric aerosols in South Florida, as well as their sources and evolution pathways. The findings can...