Example Abstract for Health and Life Sciences
1st Position, Eighteenth Annual Graduate Exhibition
RYAN FELLING
College: College of Medicine
Department: Neuroscience
Title: A Compensatory Response of Neural Stem Cells to
Stroke
Abstract:
Premature infants are extremely vulnerable to cardiorespiratory distress due their inadequately developed heart and lungs. As a result of this distress they are incapable of delivering sufficient oxygen and glucose to the brain, causing a form of brain damage termed perinatal hypoxia/ischemia (H/I). The goal of our research is to understand how brain development is altered by perinatal H/I so that normal development can be restored. During perinatal brain development, neural stem cells from the subventricular zone continue to supply cells that will ultimately populate the mature brain. These neural stem cells are resistant to perinatal H/I, and when cultured in specific growth factors they survive and proliferate to form cohesive colonies of cells called neurospheres. We have utilized this neurosphere assay to investigate the normal response of neural stem cells to perinatal H/I. Our results reveal approximately a 40% increase in the abundance of neural stem cells 3 days after the injury. Not only are there more neural stem cells, but those from H/I brains form larger colonies in culture, suggesting that the neural stem cells divide more rapidly after injury. We have observed similar responses from the neural stem cells in the non-damaged side of the brain, implicating a diffusible factor underlying this response. We interpret these data as evidence that neural stem cells initiate a compensatory response to H/I damage, and a greater understanding of this response could provide a new therapeutic target in the treatment of perinatal H/I. Supported by MH 59950 and HD 30705 awarded to S.W. Levison.
AMRIK SINGH
College: Health and Human Development
Department: Hotel, Restaurant, and Institutional Management
Title: Analysis of Relative Growth Rates between Domestic
and International Earnings of U.S. based Public Restaurant Firms
Abstract:
Although the last two decades has witnessed a significant number of restaurant firms expanding overseas in search of higher earnings and growth opportunities, research has been limited in explaining the relationship between internationalization and financial performance of restaurant firms. This study explores the relative growth rates in earnings of public restaurant firms for a 20-year period from 1981-2000. Using a sample of 2,078 observations from 266 public restaurant firms, tests of differences showed no significant differences in sales growth between multinational and domestic restaurant firms. However, multinational restaurant firms significantly outperformed domestic restaurant firms in the growth of operating income and pre-tax profitability. Multinational restaurant firms also had significantly lower negative growth in domestic earnings when compared to domestic firms. The results imply that multinational restaurant firms are more efficient than domestic firms in converting sales into profits.