Schedule of Events

With the rise of independent news sources, the concept of “fake news” has always been an active threat. The goal of this project is to make an attempt at understanding how fake news works since, through directly checking a news story for misinformation. The hypothesis is that if multiple news stories on a central topic are accurate, they should share the same (or similar) information. Through a comparison of these news stories with one another, we can determine if a story is fake or not. To accomplish this task of running comparisons, the program will use the programming language Python. Using a library called “Newspaper3k,” the program will be able to extract any news story given its URL. With each story, the program then uses a library called “nltk” to acquire the article’s text and keywords. It then filters out the “facts” of each article using this information to be used in comparisons. These newly-filtered stories are then compared against one another using a method called “cos-similarity” which allows us to get percentages based on every single story compared against every other story we collected with the program. These percentages are then interpreted as follows: 50% and above = related, 30 - 40% = related, but on a different aspect of the story, 30% and below = unrelated. With the proper confirmation, the results of this study could provide us with a new understanding of how fake news is identified.

This study investigated the effects of ankle support systems on a dynamic, lateral cutting movement. 10 sports-affiliated participants (5 males, 5 females, 18-25 years old) volunteered in accordance with the local institutional review board. Participants completed 5 side shuffles from a distance of 3 meters while leading with both left (L) and right (R) under all three conditions: no tape (NT), taping (TP), and bracing (BC) for the ankle joint. The participants were randomly assigned the order in which condition they complete the task. Maximum ground reaction forces (Kistler, 1000 Hz) in the horizontal and vertical directions were recorded as a measure of performance for each trial. An ANOVA repeated measures test was conducted to determine differences across conditions (LTP, RTP, LNT, LBC, RBC, α = 0.05). The results of the study found a statistical difference between conditions across the group for the propulsion peak horizontal reaction force (F = 3.717, p = 0.007, mean = 1.017). There was no significance difference between conditions across the group for initial peak horizontal reaction force (F = 0.346, p = 0.882, mean = 1.218), initial peak vertical (F = 0.363, p = 0.871, mean = 1.875), or propulsion peak vertical (F = 1.106, p = 0.342, mean = 1.526). Therefore, neither taping nor bracing has an adverse effect on force production in relation to the group as a whole. Athletes will be able to perform a lateral cutting movement with similar force outputs with either the ankle tape or brace.

Conservation of native bee species is essential for our ecological health because these bees contribute to pollination of native plants and agricultural crops.  The more commonly studied honey bee is not native to the American continents, rather they were introduced by European immigrants.  As honey bees are threatened by colony collapse disorder, native bees are becoming more important to agriculture, yet native bee health is understudied. The health of all animals is linked to their gut microbial communities.  This study aims to characterize gut microorganisms cultured from green sweat bees, which are native to southern California.  Using aseptic technique, gut microbes will be cultured and isolated by diluting gut contents, spread-plating onto agar growth media, and incubating for 24-48 hours at 35 degrees Celsius. Isolated microbial colonies will be characterized by cell structure, metabolic properties, and 16S rRNA sequence analysis to determine species identity.

Tufted capuchins (Sapajus) are generally found in group living, a likely setting for aggression and competition to occur, and tend to form  hierarchies based on within-group interactions. Understanding the impact of aggressive competition on food intake can be used to provide indications of dominance.  The influences of both diet and dominance ranking may implicate the temporal distribution of activity patterns.The effect of the presence of food on social interactions and competition was analyzed for six individuals of a captive tufted capuchin troop living at America’s Teaching Zoo at Moorpark College. Trainers provided an assumed dominance hierarchy, a higher frequency for conflict behavior was expected among the higher-ranking individuals during food conditions. Data were systematically collected for each condition through instantaneous focal samples by utilizing a coding system from pre-selected behaviors recognized ad libitum. Analysis of condition comparisons for each behavior revealed ingestion and conflict behaviors occur significantly higher in food conditions, as opposed to self-rewarding behaviors that are significantly higher in non-food conditions. The assumed most dominant group member exhibited a statistically significant higher frequency of conflict behavior compared to the assumed least dominant group member (*p = 0.0205). Higher-ranking individuals exhibiting more frequently agonistic behavior may explain this significant value. These findings support the current framework which suggests the notion that within-group food competition serves as a measurement for social structure.

The main objective of this research is to understand the impact of show performances in trained captive Vietnamese Pot-Bellied Pigs. A total of 13 days of observations were made,which included 4 days of show performance observations, 4 days of training observations, and 5 days of general observations.The subjects examined were Eleanor and Bubbles whom are housed in separate enclosures at America’s Teaching Zoo (ATZ) in Moorpark, California. There were two goals: the first focused on comparing behaviors before and after show performances in both pigs. The second goal was to identify the relationship  between the success rate and behaviors after the show. We hypothesized that both pigs would exhibit more sleeping behavior before shows in order to conserve energy. Meanwhile, after shows, we expected that the frequency of the pigs’ sleeping and rooting behavior would be affected by their success rate during performances. An ethogram was developed to keep track of behaviors of interest. An instantaneous focal sampling method was used in order to record observations for a period of 30 minutes at 5 minute intervals before and after performances. During shows, the amount of successes and failures were recorded. For statistical analysis, Graph Pad Prism was the software program. As a result, multiple comparison analysis indicated significant differences between body language (p=0.00010) and locomotion behaviors (p=0.0003). During shows with a higher success rate, pigs slept more than root for food. Therefore, show performances affect potbellies positively and should be implemented for zoos worldwide.      

With the overuse of antibiotics, antibiotic resistant microbes have become more prevalent, making it more difficult to treat serious infections. A common antibiotic resistance method is the production of the enzyme, beta-lactamase. This enzyme targets beta-lactam antibiotics like amoxicillin and deactivates them. To view the effects of antibiotic treatment for extended periods of time on antibiotic resistance, 15 sea lions treated with amoxicillin were examined. The Channel Islands Marine and Wildlife Institute (CIMWI), a local rescue organization that rescues and treats marine mammals, rescued malnourished Zalophus californianus pups off the Californian coast. These sea lion pups received medical treatment, which included amoxicillin. Fecal samples from these sea lions were collected when they were admitted, during treatment, and before they were released back into the wild. The DNA of the microbiota in the fecal samples were extracted.  The most common beta-lactamase genes, blaTEM will be quantified relative to 16S rRNA genes in each sample using SYBR green quantitative PCR and compared between sea lion samples. The purpose of this research is to test for the presence and relative quantity of beta-lactamase genes from the gut microbiota of the sea lions upon admittance to CIMWI, during rehabilitation treatment, and prior to release back to the wild. It is expected that after extended treatment with amoxicillin, the sea lion gut microbiota will have an increase in blaTEM gene.