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Mikaela Millslagle
  • Biology
  • Class of 2016
  • Lamoni, IA

Mikaela Millslagle Participates in Buena Vista University's Twelfth Annual Scholars Day

2016 May 6

Buena Vista University's (BVU) twelfth annual Scholars Day was held Friday, April 22. The event provided students from all disciplines an opportunity to present their best presentations, original research, academic posters, artistic creations and performances to their peers, professors and the public.

This year's Scholars Day event featured 38 presentations from 66 students, exploring topics from literature and business to science and history.

Mikaela Millslagle, a senior biology major from Lamoni, was one of the students who participated. Millslagle's presentation was titled The Relationship between Depression and Hypothyroidism: Do SSRI's Impact Thyroid Function?, and the project's abstract is as follows:

Previous studies have found relationships between different SSRI medication and thyroid hormone levels, creating a controversy around the use of said medication. SSRI's are widely used, with nearly 340 million people worldwide suffering from depression so understanding the effects on thyroid function and hormone production is essential to prevent any complications. Previous studies have also presented controversial results. The present study looked into this relationship by studying the effects of fluoxetine on primary mouse thyroid cells. The primary thyroid culture was done using the PRIMA cell protocol after harvesting intact thyroids from sacrificed mice. The cultures were treated with doses of fluoxetine and a control. Media was collected over a period of time and stored to be analyzed upon completion of the cycle. The resulting samples are analyzed using an ELISA for T3 and T4hormones. Expected results are that higher doses of fluoxetine will result in a decrease of hormone production, having a negative impact on the thyroid function. If SSRI's result in a decrease of thyroid hormone production in humans, this could result in hypothyroidism. Further implications of these results will be discussed.

Recognition of Facial Affect: Do Training and Autism Matter? Individuals who struggle with facial affect recognition (FAR) often face more difficulty during social interactions (Downie et al., 2008). FAR testing methods have been developed to study individual differences in accuracy and ability to recognize emotion in faces, but few studies have experimented with methods of training to see if FAR accuracy can increase (Bekele et al., 2014). In this study, 206 participants completed an online survey measuring demographics and autism symptoms (Center for Disease Control, 2015). Participants completed a FAR test showing 20 faces (Chicago Face Database, 2015) and were asked to identify the emotion being displayed. While no correlation was found between prevalence of autism symptoms and FAR accuracy (p = 0.212), there was a significant difference between experimental (FAR training) and control (no training) conditions (p = 0.026). An ANOVA showed no interaction between these two variables. There was no sex difference for FAR ability (p = 0.903), or for the sex of target faces (p = 0.849). Finally, participant age was not significant (p = 0.472), but extraversion (Burger, 2015) presented a negative correlation [r(196) = -0.16, p = 0.028]. Implications for the use of FAR training are discussed.

The keynote speaker for the event was Grant Gerlock, BVU Class of 2004, who is a Harvest Public Media reporter at NET News. Gerlock is recognized as a great storyteller and has visited coal plants, dairy farms, horse tracks and hospitals to cover a variety of stories.

"The students put so much into their research-time, effort, resources-that it becomes a part of them," said Dr. Steven Mills, assistant professor of Spanish and chair of the events committee who organized the event. "As they give their presentations and share their knowledge with the audience, their countenance brightens, their confidence rises and their eyes light up. What has become a part of their identity flows out with energy and enthusiasm; they feel like they have truly succeeded, and this success can be valuable to others, as well. I have seen every student walk away with a firmer step and a deeper desire to turn his or her academic work into something more."

A photo gallery from the Scholars Day event is available at www.bvu.edu/scholarsday.