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Persistence Of Trace Organic Contaminants From A Commercial Biosolids-Based Fertilizer In Aerobic Soils, Travis A. Banet, Jihyun R. Kim, Michael L. Mashtare Aug 2016

Persistence Of Trace Organic Contaminants From A Commercial Biosolids-Based Fertilizer In Aerobic Soils, Travis A. Banet, Jihyun R. Kim, Michael L. Mashtare

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Municipal biosolids are recycled as agricultural fertilizers. Recent studies have raised concerns due to the presence of emerging contaminants in municipal biosolids. Previous research suggests that these contaminants have the potential to reside in biosolids-based fertilizers that are commercially distributed. Use of these products in urban/suburban areas may provide a pathway for these contaminants to enter ecosystems and impact human and environmental health. Soils from Purdue University’s community garden and MiracleGro Potting Mix were chosen to represent commonly used urban/suburban growth media. Triclosan, triclocarban, and methyl parabens were selected as compounds of interest for this study. A heat treated commercial …


Increasing Maize Tolerance To Drought And Flood With Seed Coating Treatments, Jacob E. Bennett, Achint Sanghi, R. P. Kingsly Ambrose Aug 2016

Increasing Maize Tolerance To Drought And Flood With Seed Coating Treatments, Jacob E. Bennett, Achint Sanghi, R. P. Kingsly Ambrose

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

The lack of irrigation in regions prone to drought, and flooding due to high rainfall or lack of drainage affects seed viability and the subsequent germination and crop establishment. Seed treatment in the form of coatings shows promise as an effective method to preserve the viability of corn (Zea mays) seeds in drought and flood conditions. Chemical formulations may help improve the seed corn vigor under these stressed conditions. This study examined the efficacy of β-aminobutyric acid [BABA] and N-isopropylacrylamide [NIPA] in inducing drought resistance, as well as the ability of lanolin and linseed oil to provide flood …


Visualization And Analysis Of Sensory Data, Luke Neumann, Sung Yeon Choi, Brian Olsen, Sungahn Ko, David Ebert Dr. Aug 2015

Visualization And Analysis Of Sensory Data, Luke Neumann, Sung Yeon Choi, Brian Olsen, Sungahn Ko, David Ebert Dr.

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Recently, California has suffered a severe drought, making water a scarce resource to its population. Many viticulturists are based in this area who rely on heavy irrigation to produce a better grape and a better wine. Not just in California, but throughout the nation, irrigation must be applied intelligently for efficient use of water and funding. By taking measurements of physical characteristics of a vineyard over time, one may be able to visualize trends in the data which lend itself to describing preferred growing methods. Wireless sensors can be used to take measurements including moisture, temperature, sunlight, and more. Sensors …


Evaluation Of Two Non-Destructive Methods For Estimating Biomass In A Prairie, Arnoldas Pivorius, Laura Ploughe, Jeff Dukes Aug 2015

Evaluation Of Two Non-Destructive Methods For Estimating Biomass In A Prairie, Arnoldas Pivorius, Laura Ploughe, Jeff Dukes

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

The estimation of above ground biomass is important in managing natural resources, like assessing habitat conditions. Direct, destructive measurements by clipping, drying, and weighing plant matter is time consuming and labor intensive. It is of interest to develop non-invasive methods to complement or replace direct vegetation harvest. Two non-invasive methods were evaluated, light penetration and visual obstruction, in the Purdue Wildlife Area prairie. Light penetration in the grassland plots were measured using a Decagon light stick (LP-80), 5 cm from the ground and above the plants. Estimation of visual obstruction was done using a Robel pole, which focuses on the …


Visualization Of The Growth And Production Of Grapes Through Analysis Of Sensory Data, Sung Yeon Choi, Luke Neumann, Brian Olsen, Sungahn Ko, David Ebert Ph.D Aug 2015

Visualization Of The Growth And Production Of Grapes Through Analysis Of Sensory Data, Sung Yeon Choi, Luke Neumann, Brian Olsen, Sungahn Ko, David Ebert Ph.D

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Grapes used in the wine industry have been one of the highest value crops in the United States. However, with unpredictable weather changes and recent drought in the Western United States, vineyard owners and grape growers have faced difficulties on producing good quality grapes suited for wine making. Therefore, a technology that would keep record of environmental data and incorporate the data to support agricultural decisions will help the growers to produce quality grapes even in extreme conditions. As such, this research focuses on developing an interactive system that uses sensory data and visual analytics to facilitate vineyard management and …


Detecting Genomic Regions Responsible For Resistance In Arabidopsis, Valeria Cancino, Anjali Iyer-Pascuzzi, Rucha Karve Aug 2015

Detecting Genomic Regions Responsible For Resistance In Arabidopsis, Valeria Cancino, Anjali Iyer-Pascuzzi, Rucha Karve

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Ralstonia solanacearum is a soil-borne plant root colonizing pathogen and the casual agent of bacterial wilt (BW) disease. BW leads to severe yield loss in a wide variety of agricultural commodity crops, such as tomato, banana, and pepper. In this study, we look at the plant-pathogen interaction between Ralstonia solanacearum and various ecotypes of Arabidopsis thaliana with the goal of finding resistant ecotypes. To identify resistant ecotypes, seeds are first sterilized and left to soak in the dark. Then the seeds are plated on agar media, transferred to a growth chamber, and allowed to grow for 5 days. On day …


A Novel Synthetic Yeast For Enzymatic Biodigester Pretreatment, Tianyu Tan, Mark S. Aronson, Arren Liu, Jill H. Osterhus, Melissa Robins, Suraj Mohan, Erich Leazer, Bowman Clark, Alexa Petrucciani, Katherine Lowery, James Welch, Casey Martin, Helena Lysandrou, Michael E. Scharf, Jenna Rickus Aug 2015

A Novel Synthetic Yeast For Enzymatic Biodigester Pretreatment, Tianyu Tan, Mark S. Aronson, Arren Liu, Jill H. Osterhus, Melissa Robins, Suraj Mohan, Erich Leazer, Bowman Clark, Alexa Petrucciani, Katherine Lowery, James Welch, Casey Martin, Helena Lysandrou, Michael E. Scharf, Jenna Rickus

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Lignin, a complex organic polymer, is a major roadblock to the efficiency of biofuel conversion as it both physically blocks carbohydrate substrates and poisons biomass degrading enzymes, even if broken down to monomer units. A pretreatment process is often applied to separate the lignin from biomass prior to biofuel conversion. However, contemporary methods of pretreatment require large amounts of energy, which may be economically uncompelling or unfeasible. Taking inspiration from several genes that have been isolated from termites and fungi which translate to enzymes that degrade lignin, we want to establish a novel “enzymatic pretreatment” system where microbes secrete these …


New Insight Into The Effects Of Small Heat Shock Proteins On Callipyge Lamb Meat Tenderness, Traci Cramer, Yuan H Brad Kim, Danyi Ma, Jolena N. Waddell, Moriah Penick Aug 2014

New Insight Into The Effects Of Small Heat Shock Proteins On Callipyge Lamb Meat Tenderness, Traci Cramer, Yuan H Brad Kim, Danyi Ma, Jolena N. Waddell, Moriah Penick

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Callipyge lambs are a type of sheep that are genetically known to produce tough meat. High expression of calpastatin, which inhibits proteolytic activity of µ-calpain, has been identified as the main factor behind the toughness of callipyge lamb meat. Another group of proteins called small heat shock proteins (sHSP) has recently been suggested for its possible involvement in tenderness development of meat, where up-regulation of sHSP may be associated with toughness. However, the role of sHSP in meat tenderization of callipyge lambs has never been investigated; therefore, the objective of this study is to determine possible involvement of sHSP in …