Posters - 2024

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  Spiking Frequency Dependence on Input Current in Relation with The Leaky Integrate-and-fire Neuron Model

  Maria Chiara Cossio

  Neurons are the most fundamental part of the nervous system and are diverse in structure and function containing a cell body, dendrites, and axons (Ludwig, et al., 2022). These electrically excitable cells receive and transmit electrical and chemical signals. These electrical impulses are known as action potentials in response to an input, and aids in the transmission of neurological information to neighboring neurons. An action potential (AP) is a rapid sequence of changes in the voltage across a membrane and it's an all-or-nothing event. It has three main stages: depolarization, repolarization, and hyperpolarization (Grider et al., 2023). Threshold depends on the shape of the sodium activation function near spike initiation (Platkiewicz & Brette, 2010). The value of that threshold sets the firing rate and determines the way neurons compute. The neuronal firing rate is defined as the number of spikes, divided by the duration of given spikes in a time interval (Tomar, 2019).

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  The Acute Effects of High-Intensity Functional Training on Inhibitory Control

  Julia Daniel, Katarina Carrizales, Amaryllis Rubalcaba, Katie White, and Amanda Galindo

  Based on findings from systematic reviews and metaanalyses, acute exercise (e.g., aerobic or resistance exercise) improves inhibitory control. However, a popular fitness trend, CrossFit®, has not been widely studied regarding its effect on inhibitory control. CrossFit® is a high-intensity functional training (HIFT) program that stresses the cardiorespiratory and muscular systems through complex, multi-joint movement patterns with minimal rests in-between sets. 1Wilke (2020) found that a 15-minute HIFT exercise bout improved working memory. However, the effect of HIFT on inhibitory control remains unclear. The purpose of the current study was to assess inhibitory control after a single bout of HIFT exercise

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  Mycoplasma Pneumoniae: Long-Term Effects on the Lungs

  Alyssa David

  Mycoplasma pneumoniae is a bacterium responsible for causing pneumonia in the lungs. M. pneumoniae is responsible for an average of 2 million cases of bacterial pneumonia in the United States each year (ASM Journal). When M. pneumonia infects the lungs, it releases community-acquired respiratory distress syndrome (CARDS toxin), which is capable of two enzymatic functions, vacuolization and ADP-ribosylation. ADPribosylation is found in the N-terminal domain of the protein, and the glutamic acid at amino acid residue 132 is critical for enzymatic function. There is evidence that the vacuolization function is encoded by the C-terminal of the protein. Preliminary findings in our lab have indicated that after intoxication, cells can release a fragment into the extracellular environment. The extracellular fragment is approximately 30-35 kDa in size, however its function and role in disease is still unknown. We hypothesize that during infection from M. pneumoniae, this fragment is being released in the environment from CARDSintoxicated cells and affecting the surrounding cells in the lung tissue. To test this, we used conditioned media from DB (control)- and CARDS toxin-treated A549 cells to treat human differentiated THP-1 macrophages. Macrophages were then challenged using a well established inflammasome activation protocol, and the inflammatory cytokine interleukin 1beta(IL-1β) was measured by ELISA. Throughout our study, our findings will help us determine if CARDS toxin can indirectly alter the immune response during M. pneumoniae infection, resulting in altered host defense and M. pneumoniae persistence and chronic infection

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  Assessing Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) Behavioral Responses to Discriminative Stimulus During Dolphin Interaction Programs (DIPs)

  Megan Davis and Hannelore Tampipi

  Dolphin-human interaction programs (DIP) References have become a popular experience offering humans an opportunity to interact or swim with cetaceans, most often bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus).

  ● Previous studies on dolphin-human interactions have been centered on therapeutic results for humans (Brensing et al., 2005), guests’ future conservation efforts, and educational efficacy (Miller et al., 2013) rather than welfare or outcomes for dolphins (Smith, 1981).

  ● Under human care, trainers request behaviors from dolphins typically via a hand signal as a discriminative stimulus (SD).

  ● Resulting behavioral responses to these SDs during interaction programs may suggest willingness to participate (WTP), and potentially indicate overall health and welfare (Clegg et al., 2019). The goal of the present study is to investigate potential relationships between behavioral repertoire variety included in a session, and directed attention of a trainer, with the number of incorrect responses from a dolphin in a DIP. We hypothesize that:

  H1: Increasing the variability of behaviors requested will be associated with fewer incorrect responses emitted by the dolphin in a DIP.

  H2: Increased trainer attention will be associated with a decrease in number of incorrect dolphin responses in a DIP

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  Optimized Protein Purification of the Mutant 273 CARDS Toxin from Mycoplasma pneumoniae

  Jalyn De La Fuente

  Mycoplasma pneumoniae is an atypical bacterium that is known to cause respiratory distress and can lead to respiratory illnesses such as community-acquired pneumonia, pharyngitis, and tracheobronchitis. M.pneumoniae produces an ADPribosylation and vacuolating toxin called Community Acquired Respiratory Distress Syndrome (CARDS) toxin. Alone, the CARDS toxin is capable of reproducing many of the signs of an M.pneumoniae infection. The CARDS toxin often causes what is commonly referred to as “walking pneumonia”, a term used to characterize the mild symptoms associated with the infection. Patients with “walking pneumonia” can manage the condition without hospitalization, and often can continue with their normal day-to-day life. The full-length CARDS toxin, which is composed of Domains 1, 2, and 3, includes the amino acids 1 through 591. Domains 2 and 3 include amino acids 269 through 591. When the CARDS toxin reaches the endoplasmic reticulum, domain 1, the mART domain, separates from domains 2 and 3. The mART domain takes part in ADP-ribosylation, which contributes to the pathogenic effects of M. pneumoniae. Currently, researchers are investigating the functions of domains 2 and 3 after their separation from domain 1. To develop a better understanding of domains 2 and 3, it is imperative to purify the portion of the protein responsible for these domains. The mutant CARDS toxin, which includes domains 2 and 3, consists of amino acids 273 through 591. The 273 mutant CARDS toxin, which contains more basic amino acids, has a higher isoelectric point than the full-length CARDS, which contains more acidic amino acids. Understanding that the mutant CARDS toxin has a higher isoelectric point than the full-length toxin, aided in the pH selection for purification. Proteins typically have the least solubility near their isoelectric point. Therefore, during protein purification, selecting a pH higher than the protein’s isoelectric point can minimize protein precipitation, and can improve the purity and yield. The objective of this project was to optimize the protein purification of the mutant CARDS toxin by modifying the current protein purification protocol, particularly concerning the pH of the elution and binding buffers. To familiarize ourselves with protein purification, we began by purifying the full-length CARDS toxin on the AKTA Start HPLC equipped with a HisTrap. We then used column chromatography to determine the optimal pH for the mutant CARDS toxin. After evaluating which pH resulted in the highest protein concentration, we used the AKTA with the corresponding binding buffer and elution buffer for optimal purification. Through column chromatography, we determined, via Coomassie SDS-PAGE gel, that pH 11 elution buffer and binding buffer provided the highest yield of the 273 CARDS protein.

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  Rewilding the ”Wild West”: Restoring Bison Populations in the American Prairie

  Ana Christina Diaz

  Historically, North America was home to a biodiverse and environmentally rich land, from beavers, mountain lions, numerous bird and insect species, and North America’s largest land mammal, the bison (Figure 1). The American bison (Bison bison), also referred to as buffalo, are a keystone species in their environments, meaning their absence can have detrimental effects on other species. Bison are environmental engineers that create a “mosaic of habitats” with their behaviors including wallowing, grazing, and defecating (American Prairie Foundation 2024). Bison once roamed from Canada to Mexico with a population estimated around 50 million but were tragically almost wiped to extinction, with just a few hundreds remaining in Western rangelands (Schneider 2023). This genocide of buffalo was driven by American settler colonialism with the U.S. government endorsing buffalo hunting as a means to decimate Indigenous American populations, since bison are intertwined into Native American culture and hold a highly significant kinship to tribes (Schneider 2023). While an unsavory piece of American history, it is crucial to understand the importance of restoring bison populations (Figure 2). A more radical form of ecological restoration that is making its way to the forefront of environmental policy is “rewilding” – a term used to describe a more hands off approach to conservation by restoring the ecological functions of a habitat and then letting nature figuratively take the wheel. Although this term was coined in the 1990s, it is now becoming a subject of interest thanks to multiple rewilding projects occurring across Europe, including the restoration of European bison (Jepson and Blythe 2022). To restore bison to their habitats as ecological engineers, I believe rewilding principles should be incorporated into their conservation; this project focuses on current bison conservation efforts in North America, and how they can be improved.

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  Mitigating Supply Chain Disruptions with Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based Risk Management

  Emily Do, Aaron Flores, and Jason Sanchez

  Supply chain disruptions are unforeseen events that hinder smooth flow of goods, services, and information within the supply chain network. Examples of supply chain disruptions includes shortages from sought-after items like essential health products in 2020, natural disasters, and geopolitical conflicts that can lead to transportation delays, quality control issues, unexpected demand fluctuations, and impacting overall business performance (McKendrick, 2023). Effective management of supply chain disruptions include proactive risk assessments and quick response strategies to mitigate impact to ensure operation continuation. Traditional risk management approaches reduce disruptions by maintaining service levels while minimizing inventory and predicting future demand for effective resource allocation (McKendrick, 2023). Artificial intelligence (AI) improves supply chain by optimizing warehousing and inventory management through automating packing processes, optimizing warehouse layouts, and expediting order fulfillment while reducing storage requirements. Moreover, AI can leverage real-time data to propose alternative sourcing strategies and optimize delivery routes, enhancing efficiency across the supply chain (Remko 2023). Future advancements in AI may include predictive quality control systems and AI-powered Negotiations and Sourcing tools. This risk management solution would use supplier data and market trends to automate negotiation processes to secure materials at competitive prices (Bughin, et al., 2017). These advancements could simplify procurement practices and lead to substantial cost savings. This study aims to explore how AI-driven risk management solutions, particularly AI-powered Negotiations and Sourcing, effectively mitigate supply chain disruptions

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  Tripodal naphthalene mono imide chemosensor for detection of metal ions

  Joshua Do and Rosanna Jees

  1,8-Naphthalimide is an excellent fluorophore (fluorescent compound) with long emission wavelength band (400-600 nm), a large stokes shift, insensitive to pH and synthetic versatility. Triazole functional group has been used as binding sites for various metal ions in particular Zn(II), Cu(II) and Fe(III) metal ions. Based on naphthalimide as fluorophore and triazole as binding site, a new tripodal chemosensors has been designed and synthesized by copper catalyzed Huisgen Azide Alkyne cycloaddition reaction (known as click reaction). Its photophysical properties with various metal ions were investigated by fluorescence spectroscopy. Binding studies with various metal ions such as Zn(II), Cd(II) and Fe(III) by fluorescence and UV-Vis absorbance are under study in various solvent. Fluorescence is either enhanced or quenched on addition of these metal ions, which is attributed to PET (photo induced electron transfer) effect

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  Adhesive force of minerals and substrates

  Cynthia Domergue

  Traditional processing for the separation and concentration of minerals requires a large volume of water to process ores to produce metals and other mineral resources. Furthermore, most copper mines in the US are in the southwest, particularly Arizona and New Mexico, which both have arid climates (Fig. 1). Therefore, sustainable practices need to be developed to maintain the production of metals. Objectives:

  • Examine the contact angle of mica and silica at varying surface treatment • Determine the average adhesive forces for each sample

  • Compare the average adhesive forces for each sample based on the surface treatment and mineral type

  • Create a mineral tip to improve particle-substrate adhesion measurements

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  Synthesis and Characterization of Ugi Adducts of Isatin

  Cynthia Domergue and Kimberly Hernandez

  B-lactam fragments have gathered attention in the chemistry field in being a pharmacophore for medicinal chemistry

  - The Ugi reaction involves the reaction of an aldehyde, a primary amine, a carboxylic acid, and an isocyanide to generate α-acetoamido carboxamide derivates (Ugi adducts) -

  We focused on the synthesis of the β-lactam derivatives: 1-Benzyl-N-(tert-butyl)-2-oxo-3(2-oxoazetidin-1- yl)indoline-3-carboxamide (4a), N-(tert-Butyl)-2-oxo-3-(2- oxoazetidine-1-yl) indoline-3-carbpxamide (4d) , and N- (tert-Butyl)-1-methyl-2-oxo-3-(2-oxoazetidine-1- yl)indoline-3-carboxamide (4e)

  - The Ugi adducts of isatin were synthesized in TFE solvent by stirring the reactant mixture at room temperature and the conversion was monitored by TLC. The solvent was evaporated, and the crude product purified by flash chromatography.

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  Comparing Activity Levels of Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) During Snorkels to a Swimming Researcher

  Sabrina Drouin, Erika Aguirre, and Charles Lares

  Bottlenose dolphins under professional care are provided with a range of enrichments that have a variety of features and levels of complexity at various frequencies (Lauderdale et al., 2022). In a previous study conducted by Brensing et al. (2015), they found that dolphins seemed to be attracted to adult swimmers, but only if they had ample space to swim. The purpose of this study is to examine dolphin activity level under two different conditions with humans in the water. We hypothesize that dolphin activity level will be higher during snorkel sessions than a single swimming researcher because there are more people in the water

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  Does field research modify academic development?

  Emily Eardley, Abigail Delarosa, and Desiree Martinez

  Undergraduate research experiences (URE) provide hands-on exposure to the research process but also aid in the development of self-efficacy and interest in research. In the study, students from distinct types of universities (two public and one private) were asked to take a survey before and after their URE. The results of the pre-and post were analyzed based on self-efficacy, interest in research, type of school, and gender. The results showed that there is no relationship between public and private school students and their research interests. The study's findings underscore the nuanced interplay between students' self-efficacy, gender, and engagement experiences, shedding light on the complex factors that influence students' academic confidence and motivation. Understanding these dynamics is crucial for educators and policymakers seeking to implement effective strategies to support diverse student populations and foster inclusive learning environments.

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  Delivered Mobile App

  Juni Ejere

  This platform is a mail delivery notification system to assist school mailrooms, specifically the St. Mary’s University mailroom, in notifying users of the mailroom when packages have arrived, creating one location where all mail information can be found and overall improving the efficiency of the mailroom. Students and faculty at St. Mary’s University have access to a mail room to receive packages. This is very useful, especially for those who stay on campus or who want an external location to receive mail. Now that recipients receive an email when a package is delivered, the main concern of picking up a package before it is disposed of has been reduced. However, it is still inconvenient for students who live in an on-campus dorm to repeatedly check their dorm room mailbox when expecting a letter, because no notification is sent when letters are delivered. If the student is not expecting to receive a letter (perhaps a bill, money sent from family, or other important and timesensitive notices) it can pose a massive inconvenience for them. Lastly, for newer students especially, students must scour the St. Mary’s website to determine where the mailroom is, mailroom hours, what their dorm address is, how to order packages to this address, how to send mail, etc., and all this information is found in different places. The approach is to create a mail delivery notification mobile application to solve this problem. The app will have two interfaces, one for the students and faculty who will receive their mail, and one for those operating in the mailroom center. The student will be able to see when their package has arrived and where it is located, view helpful information about sending and receiving mail, and even send in help tickets. The administrators will be able to scan in packages, send notifications, search for packages, search for students, resolve help tickets, and monitor storage space all from the mobile app.

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  Synthesis and Characterization of Ugi Adducts of Isatin

  Monabelle Elbayeh

  Known as the deadliest disease in the modern age, 1 in 3 people will have cancer in their lifetime (Chakraborty, Sajib & Rahman Taibur, 2012). However, despite this beyond-belief statistic and the significant and continuous amount of research done in hopes to cure cancer, cancer still remains. What makes cancer so difficult to cure comes from an arrangement of elements from the difficult targeting of cancer stem cells to the metastasis of cancer, but one that is especially touched on in this study is the lack of cancer epigenetic profiling lifetime (Chakraborty, Sajib & Rahman Taibur, 2012).

  Focusing on ES8 and JR1 cells from the aggressive bone and soft-tissue cancer of Ewing sarcoma, this study observes and analyzes the effects of SOX18 overexpression and how the gene’s expression could affect the growth of tumors. If left without systemic therapy, Ewing sarcoma causes over 90% of patients to die from disseminated disease. Hence, systemic tumor control poses the main therapeutic challenge that the study of specific gene expression could help overcome (Bauer, Sebastian, et al., 2021).

  Lastly, SOX genes have been shown to be essential for stem cell renewal, reprogramming, and homeostasis (Zhang, Shizhen, et al., 2020). Furthermore, overexpression of the gene has been associated with poor cancer patient survival rates, as it promotes proliferation, survival, invasion/metastasis, cancer stemness, and drug resistance (Zhang, Shizhen, et al., 2020). Nonetheless, greater research is still needed to further understand its involvement in human cancers. Thus, calling for our further research on the subject through cellular proliferation, colony formation, and cell invasion assays. Along with also Western Block experiments.

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  A Descriptive Study of Baseline Activity Levels of Tursiops truncatus

  Brianna M. Erck

  Well-being of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) has been measured in many ways, including activity levels. Activity levels are composed of behaviors that vary with intensity and range from floats, breaches, perimeter swims, and aerials. Deviations from baseline behavior or activity level may be indicative of changes in state of well-being. The purpose of this study was to assess the activity level of a large social grouping of bottlenose dolphins in human care during baseline observations. A total of 215 5-min observation sessions were collected for a population of 15 to 18 bottlenose dolphins located in Roatán, Honduras between 2019-2024. The findings indicated the lowest and highest levels of activity changed across years, which may have been related to social composition. Future research should evaluate the impact of different social compositions (e.g., presences or absences of males) on activity levels.

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  Exploring Neural Networks for Developing a Chess Learning Platform with Integrated AI Agent

  Lauren Escobedo

  Chess is a highly strategic, complex, and long-form game that has been popular for many centuries. Due to the aforementioned complexities of this game, new players often have a hard time learning how to effectively and successfully play. With the recent developments in machine learning algorithms, new opportunities arise to create artificially intelligent tutors - not only for chess, but for all subjects. This project aims to develop a product which investigates the integration of an artificially intelligent “coach”, named Chesster, to train the player, which is trained on a neural network machine learning algorithm.

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  Water Contaminant Analysis Using IC and FAAS

  Malachi Farley and Susan Oxley

  Water in local areas contain contaminants that could be gathered from pollution, runoff, or even rain in public and private water systems. These water systems include potential aquifers, public water works, ponds, wells, lakes, etc. In this experiment, anion determination of 𝐶𝑙−, 𝐵𝑟𝑂3 − , 𝑆𝑂4 2−, 𝑃𝑂4 3−, 𝑁𝑂3 −, 𝑁𝑂2 −, and 𝐵𝑟𝑂3 − in local and drinking water was used to determine if the local or drinking water is suitable for consumption through Ion Chromatography. A common metal, Potassium, 𝐾 +, was also determined in local and drinking water to determine if the potassium levels were suitable for consumption through Flame Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy.

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  Characterization of Transmission Gratings in Photorefractive Materials

  Diego Figueroa, Austin Scott, and Partha Banerjee

  Measuring the transmitted and diffracted beam powers while writing and/or probing the grating with a writing or probe beam is a simple characterization method of transmission gratings. The transmission grating is written in a doped lithium niobate crystal using an argon laser beam of 514.5 nm wavelength. This transmission grating is probed using a helium-neon 632.6 nm laser beam at appropriate Bragg incidence. By scanning the probe beam across the grating, the transmission grating profile can be characterized. The two-beam coupling process is shown in Figure 1 and is due to the space charge field set up in a photorefractive material as shown in Figure 2

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  Beyond the Barrel: Understanding the Complexities of Gun Violence in the United States

  Jonathan Flores

  The phenomenon of gun violence is a highly politicized and contentious issue in the United States. With instances of gun violence, such as school shootings, on the rise in recent years, and the media coverage on them, I wanted to investigate the contemptible issue of gun violence between the states of the country. Namely, I aimed to investigate the influence of politics on gun violence, to see if the political nature of states has an effect on gun violence. Research Hypothesis: There is a relationship between the political affiliation of states such that the more Democratic a state is, the less gun violence they have.

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  Does Somone’s Sex Affect Abortion Beliefs in the United States

  Osondra J. Fournier-Colón

  Abortions is a medical procedure used to terminate pregnancy whether it be for medical issues or unwanted pregnancy. The procedure effects those who are female, not males. Therefore, since the female sex is the one being affected it may also affect the beliefs made on abortion based on one’s sex.

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  Nookipedia

  Shyann Francis

  Animal Crossing involves managing around 9000 items within a gameplay environment. This abundance of items makes it difficult for players to effectively track progress and navigate through their possessions. The primary motivation of Nookipedia is to enhance overall gameplay experience by streamlining achievement management, thereby reducing unnecessary interactions with non-playable characters (NPCs) and enabling players to focus more on core game activities. By improving inventory organization and reducing clutter, the aim is to create a smoother and more immersive gaming experience for players.

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  The quantification of essential oils and bixin in annatoo seeds

  Alycia C. Johnson and Susan Oxley

  Bixa orellana (also known as annatto or achiote) originates from South America but it can be found nearly everywhere in the world. The seeds of this species make for an excellent natural coloring. It is applied to makeup, food, and textiles; some of the biggest commercial industries.1 Of the 50+ phytochemicals identified, there are a large number of essential oils and other compounds that have been shown to have beneficial properties. Four of these compounds will be used to determine which traditional processing method results in the biggest loss of phytochemicals. Annatto is often either fried, left whole, or powdered and it is suspected that the latter will have the least amount of phytochemicals.

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  A deeper dive into literature published about pinnipeds and cetaceans using the five domain model

  Aqsa Khan and Pedro Beltran

  Research was conducted on cetaceans (whales and dolphins) (Figure 1) and pinnipeds (seals and sea lions) (Figure 2), focusing on five domains: nutrition, environment, health, behavior, and mental state. The goal was to identify the most discussed domain in existing literature. Specifically examining researchers' opinions on assessing the well-being of these marine mammals. After analyzing articles, hypotheses were formed suggesting that environmental factors are prominent for cetaceans, while behavior is the prominent domain for pinnipeds. To test these hypotheses, peer-reviewed articles were coded, providing both qualitative insights and quantitative representations of each domain's prevalence. The research uncovered the focal domains discussed in current literature concerning cetaceans and pinnipeds, enhancing comprehension of welfare evaluations for marine mammals. This knowledge is important for future research and conservation efforts, showing which areas need focus to keep these animals well.

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  Rewilding the Danube Delta; How Rewilding can revitalize ecosystems and restore biomes

  Antonio Martinez

  The Danube Delta and the surrounding area harbors a variety of ecosystems and biodiversity from Romania to Ukraine. The 580,000-hectare delta is particularly well known for its abundance of birdlife, with the presence of 312 important bird species, many of which use the Delta as an important stopover and breeding area such as the Dalmatian Pelican (UNESCO et al.,1998). Here, also lie some of Europe’s very few remaining grazed mosaic landscapes, the beautiful wetlands. The delta region includes extensive examples of unaltered rivers, lakes, reed beds, marshes, steppes, dunes, sandbars, coasts, lagoons, salt marshes and climax forests (Rewilding Europe n.d.).This degrading landscape use to harbor large grazers such as the water bison, the Kulan, and the Red deer which helped maintain the area and help keep stabilization across the ecosystem. However, these large grazers have faced population decline and extinction over the centuries resulting in the destabilization of the biome. Although, extinctions are naturally occurring events that drive evolution and allow the earth to adapt to change. Five mass extinction events have occurred throughout our planet’s history, and scientists now believe we are entering our sixth. What makes this time different, however, is the fact that extinctions are occurring hundreds of times faster than usual because of human activity (Jaxx et al., 2021). Thankfully, scientists have implemented a number of solutions to protect wildlife and restore ecological communities. One of these is called rewilding (Jaxx et al., 2021). Without continuous rewilding efforts, the Danube delta is set for drastic decline in the upcoming decades. To mitigate this environmental loss, it is vital for rewilding efforts to continue in the delta and to bring conservation to areas that are prone to suffer from anthropic activity.

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  Imaging in the fitness industry: a connection to Body Dysmorphic Disorder in women

  Joseliz Andujar Pimentel

  Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) is a psychiatric illness characterized by distress and excessive preoccupation with perceived defects in physical appearance that are not at all, or only slightly, observable to others (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). BDD can be found in many individuals; among these individuals are women in the fitness industry. This is due to the idea that there is an “ideal” body image portrayed by fitness industries that provoke women to compare themselves. This study examined a variety of fitness websites consisting of fitness apparel websites and fitness websites, where the models used in each website were examined for body characteristics such as petite, medium, and plus sized body types, as well as different muscle tones and clothing sizes. Results showed that fitness apparel websites use more petite models who wear smaller sizes, compared to plus size models who wear larger sizes. Fitness websites showed no significant difference between their muscular models and those used in fitness apparel websites. Overall, this study is important because it shows a possible connection of the negative effects that promoted body images in fitness websites have on women who suffer with BDD. Previous research states that engagement with the fitness industry is often considered appearance-related and can "induce self-objectification by creating an environment that promotes a focus on outward appearance and unrealistic physical body ideals" (Corazza et al. 2019). Further, this study highlights the standards in society of what the “perfect body” type is in women.