Life Sciences Commons^™

Diversity And Inclusion In The Science Classroom, Sowmya Anjur

Faculty Publications & Research

A Diversity, Epidemiology and social justice unit was incorporated into the Physiology and Disease curriculum in Fall 2016. Students discussed topics such as social and cultural influences on diversity thinking, and selective treatment in hospitals based on race. It was very noteworthy that students were united in their thinking regarding diversity and inclusion, despite the fact that they were from different backgrounds and diverse cultures. In 2017, additional discussions were held on equity in education. Students who were otherwise reserved were encouraged enough to express their views, and everyone appreciated the fact that they had been included.

Environmental Impact- Using Digital Media To Focus Student Learning, Crystal Randall, Sowmya Anjur, Donald Dosch

Faculty Publications & Research

Environmental issues are global challenges that our students will have to address in their future. Addressing these issues through curriculum helps bring purpose to students’ learning. We have developed a capstone project in our introductory biology class that allows students to engage in these issues in a creative and personalized manner, and which asks students to not only address the biology at the core of these issues but also suggest possible solutions to the problem. In this session, we will share how we scaffold our curriculum to prepare students for this experience, as well as show examples of student work.

Engaging Students In Fundamental Biological Concepts Through Un Sustainability Goals, Sowmya Anjur, Donald Dosch

Faculty Publications & Research

Advanced Biological Systems is year-long introductory biology course for Juniors at IMSA. It is aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development goals, the use of which has been identified as an initiative for curriculum development. These goals help to bring purpose to students’ learning. We have identified three of the seventeen goals as guideposts for our curriculum. These are clean water and sanitation, sustainable cities and communities, and good health and well-being. In this presentation, we will share our curriculum development process and examples of instruction linked to these UN goals.

Modeling In The Physiology Classroom, Sowmya Anjur

Faculty Publications & Research

Physiology and Disease is a Biology elective at IMSA that has been developed to be mostly student-centered. Some examples of student projects include modeling heart structure to reflect function and creating LED arduino monitors to measure heart rate. Students also measure their lung capacity and blood pressure to demonstrate correlation of these values with heart rate, and trace the correlation back to neuronal controls. Projects such as these integrate other disciplines such as engineering and conform to NGSS Science and Engineering standards and NGSS Cross cutting Concepts standards. Students take responsibility for their own learning and articulate better on tests.

Cell Specific Control Of The Pallidostriatal Pathway, Shubha Verma '19

Student Publications & Research

Parkinson’s Disease is a neurodegenerative disorder of the basal ganglia. The main cause for Parkinson’s Disease is the depletion of dopamine, a neurotransmitter. The basal ganglia contains four major nuclei: the substantia nigra, the subthalamic nucleus, the external globus pallidus, and the striatum. These nuclei communicate with each other by the use of neurons.

Classification Of Intensity-Modulated Proton Therapy Plans, Louise Gabrielle Lima '19, Alice Liu '19

Student Publications & Research

Proton Radiotherapy

Proton radiotherapy is a form of radiation treatment that uses energized protons to break DNA, leading to cell death and killing cancers.

The Blue Baby, Lola Alao, Harsha Nalam '19, Dwanne Colobong '19, Trisha Sudhakar '19

Human Diseases Graphic Novels

No abstract provided.

Kidney Stones, Bopo Taiwo '20, Ishanpepe Jagusah '20

Human Diseases Graphic Novels

No abstract provided.

The Assassin Bug, Lola Alao '20, Harsha Nalam '19, Dwanne Colobong '19, Trisha Sudhakar '19

Human Diseases Graphic Novels

No abstract provided.

Diseases At Work, Alice Liu '19, Nicholas Opiola '19, Gunnar Bergmann '19, Femi Durodola '20, Suraj Sunkara '19

Human Diseases Graphic Novels

No abstract provided.

In The Office, Theo Heilman '19, Nathan Lee '19, Prachi Patil '19, Katie Si '19

Human Diseases Graphic Novels

No abstract provided.

Study Of The Visual Adaptation Mechanism In Marine Species With The Change Of Habitation Depth., Demid Osipov, Daniil Moshnikov

The International Student Science Fair 2018

The goal of our work was to determine the principal mechanisms that provide the difference in visual perception of two marine species that live on different depths: T. Pacificus and O. Vulgaris. In nature, visual perception of species that live deeper is shifted towards the blue region. This is related to the fact that red, orange and yellow light is absorbed more strongly by water than the blue light. On the other hand, the visual perception spectrum of an animal is determined by the absorption spectrum of the "light sensor" located in rods and cones of its eye retina. These …

Smart Vertical Farm System (Svfs), Sarasit Sirawattanakul

The International Student Science Fair 2018

The unremitting trends of increasing population, urbanization, diminishing water supply, and continuing climate change have contributed to declining stocks of arable land per person. Land available for farming is shrinking, and the demand for food is growing. All of these lead to food insecurity. For the first version of Smart Vertical Farm System is designed to increase food productions by an automatic system. It built with shelves which support soil and hydroponic system, stacked vertically. The system first shovels the soil in the tray and sews the seeds. There is also additional watering system. The hydroponic parts are on the …

The Effect Of Kalanchoe Pinnata On The Cell Migration Of Astrocytomas, Jorge Rosa

The International Student Science Fair 2018

Astrocytomas, from cell line 1321N1,are cancerous astrocytes. These are a type of glial cell in the brain which is responsible for maintaining synaptic contact and the signaling capacities among neurons. They also represent a fundamental element in controlling blood flow and defining brain micro structure. Due to the fact that this variant is cancerous, a condition commonly described as an abnormal cell cycle and uncontrolled reproduction of cells, they have the ability to metastasize.

In the metastatic process of cancer cells the initial phase is know as tumor invasion. This stage consists mainly of the cells migrating away from the …

The Effect Of Sweeteners In Drosophila Melanogaster's Locomotion., Araceli Francisco

The International Student Science Fair 2018

This research aims to measure how much locomotion is affected in Drosophila melanogaster considering the alimentation. The experiment was divided in a control group, a group fed with natural sugar and another fed with artificial sugar. The diets were prepared based on standard laboratory food (SLF) by varying the sugar. Several generations were grown. The locomotion was measured through monitors with infrared lasers which calculated the number of times the fly passed through it. They were accustomed to a day and night cycle and were kept under observation for a period of 13 days. As a result, the group that …

How Do Different Levels Of Ph Affect The Growth Of Heritage And Regular Radish Plants?, Kathleen Bradie

The International Student Science Fair 2018

The purpose of this experiment was to discover how the pH levels in water affect heritage and regular radish mass. I predicted that if the pH levels are near neutral the plants mass will increase. PH solutions of 3, 5, 7, 9, and 11 were added to my regular and heritage plants over the course of several weeks. After using the pH solutions the radishes were pulled and massed to reveal the results. The results showed that the heritage pH 5 and regular pH 7 radishes grew best.

A Humanized Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Model To Elucidate Molecular Mechanism In Disease Pathology, Ragavi Vijayakumar, Maxine Hong

The International Student Science Fair 2018

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), that clinically manifests as an enlarged heart is a highly prevalent cardiac disorder with propensity towards arrhythmia-induced sudden cardiac death. The mechanism of HCM remains poorly defined, necessitating further understanding of the disease for improved therapeutic strategies. As it is challenging to obtain cardiac biopsies from human subjects, using induced pluripotent stem cells technology, we generated cardiomyocytes (CMs) in a dish from HCM patients. These HCM-CMs presented the clinical manifestation in that they were significantly larger in size in comparison to control (healthy)-CMs. Furthermore, gene expression profiling of cardiac ion channels revealed increased transcripts encoding for calcium …

Application Of Agricultural Waste Biochar For Canteen Wastewater Treatment In Chulalongkorn University, Norakamon Ariyakanon, Chalisa Vikrompanitkul

The International Student Science Fair 2018

The potential use of biochar in canteen wastewater remediation. Biochars were prepared from rice straw, bagasse or coir, produced by slow temperature pyrolysis at 300^oC for 1 h. This study characterized the physical and chemical properties of biochar products related to wastewater treatment. The physical and chemical parameters of wastewater were analyzed before and after treatment with the three different types of biochar. Measured parameters included, pH, biological oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD), total suspended solids (TSS), oil and grease, total phosphorus (TP) and total nitrogen (TKN). The biochar derived from rice straw contained the highest …

Assets Of Sheep's Dock, Tuguldur Turbaatar, Tuguldur Battulga, Khongorzul Turhuu

The International Student Science Fair 2018

Background: Traditionally, Mongolians used sheep tail fat for infants’ food and massage medication. Nowadays, the fat from sheep tail is industrially processed and added to the beauty and cosmetic products. But it remains widely unknown worldwide. This study aims to find out its chemical components and to identify its assets.

Procedure and results: We cut the sheep tail fat into three main pieces with 1mm in width and heated in a water bath to separate the liquid lipid. After this, we titrated the lipid with potassium hydroxide solution and measured the saturated and unsaturated fatty acid of sheep …

The Effectiveness Of Dayak Manyan Yogurt Made Of Kambe Onion And Peperomia Weeds Folium In Decreasing Uric Acid Level, Leo Mahendra, Rosa Nathalia, Chynara Leticia Harisinta

The International Student Science Fair 2018

Gout is a term which is used to name a group of metabolic syndromes due to elevated levels of uric acid in the blood. The plant species used in traditional treatment by the Dayak Maanyan tribe for gout therapy is kambe onion with peperomia weeds in the form of yoghurt. The purpose of this is to test the effectiveness of Dayak Maanyan yoghurt based on the combination of kambe onion and peperomia weeds in decreasing uric acid level on wistar rats (Rattus norvegicus) and male subjects

The type of the study used was pure experimental research, using Completely Randomized Design …

Study Of The Visual Adaptation Mechanism In Marine Species With The Change Of Habitation Depth., Demid Osipov, Daniil Moshnikov

The International Student Science Fair 2018

The goal of our work was to determine the principal mechanisms that provide the difference in visual perception of two marine species that live on different depths: T. Pacificus and O. Vulgaris. In nature, visual perception of species that live deeper is shifted towards the blue region. This is related to the fact that red, orange and yellow light is absorbed more strongly by water than the blue light. On the other hand, the visual perception spectrum of an animal is determined by the absorption spectrum of the "light sensor" located in rods and cones of its eye retina. These …

The Effect Of Kalanchoe Pinnata In Astrocitome Metastasis, Jorge Rosa

The International Student Science Fair 2018

Astrocytomas, from cell line 1321N1,are cancerous astrocytes. These are a type of glial cell in the brain which is responsible for maintaining synaptic contact and the signaling capacities among neurons. They also represent a fundamental element in controlling blood flow and defining brain micro structure. Due to the fact that this variant is cancerous, a condition commonly described as an abnormal cell cycle and uncontrolled reproduction of cells, they have the ability to metastasize.

In the metastatic process of cancer cells the initial phase is know as tumor invasion. This stage consists mainly of the cells migrating away from the …

The Effect Of Sweeteners In Drosophila Melanogaster's Locomotion., Araceli Francisco

The International Student Science Fair 2018

This research aims to measure how much locomotion is affected in Drosophila melanogaster considering the alimentation. The experiment was divided in a control group, a group fed with natural sugar and another fed with artificial sugar. The diets were prepared based on standard laboratory food (SLF) by varying the sugar. Several generations were grown. The locomotion was measured through monitors with infrared lasers which calculated the number of times the fly passed through it. They were accustomed to a day and night cycle and were kept under observation for a period of 13 days. As a result, the group that …

Investigation On The Effect Of Pasteurisation On The Bacteria Contamination Of Eggs, Alya Sufiyah Bte Mohamed Subhan

The International Student Science Fair 2018

This project is a research on bacteria contamination on pasteurised and non-pasteurised eggs. In Singapore, there has been an increase in salmonella cases since 2016. Recently in the US, more than 206 million eggs in supermarkets and grocery chains had to be recalled. This project will explain about the different in bacterial colonies found on seemingly similar eggs.

Smart Vertical Farm System (Svfs), Sarasit Sirawattanakul

The International Student Science Fair 2018

The unremitting trends of increasing population, urbanization, diminishing water supply, and continuing climate change have contributed to declining stocks of arable land per person. Land available for farming is shrinking, and the demand for food is growing. All of these lead to food insecurity. For the first version of Smart Vertical Farm System is designed to increase food productions by an automatic system. It built with shelves which support soil and hydroponic system, stacked vertically. The system first shovels the soil in the tray and sews the seeds. There is also additional watering system. The hydroponic parts are on the …

Glucosamine From Hydrolysis Of 3d Printing Chitosan For Osteoarthritis Treatment, Ruj Dansriboon, Laphon Premcharoen

The International Student Science Fair 2018

This project aims to introduce a new way for osteoarthritis treatment which is expected to increase in the future. Glucosamine is the main subject for a treatment, which can be derived by hydrolyzing chitosan. This project also includes extraction of chitosan from shrimp waste to make a worthy use of food waste from industry. In this project, 3D printer is applied to print chitosan gel since 3D printing is adjustable to form various shapes of the gel.

The research process begins with the extraction of chitosan from shrimp shells. For the next step, the percent of deacetylation of chitosan was …

Identification And Folding Of Mirna Through Machine Learning, Xavier Pellow

The International Student Science Fair 2018

As of writing, there is currently no efficient way to accurately identify miRNA or predict the structure of miRNA without the usage of a lab. The purpose of this work is to provide a framework which allows for efficient identification of mature miRNA and folding of pre-miRNA using a feedforward neural network (FFNN) and probabilistic context-free grammar (PCFG) parsing, respectively. After training, the FFNN developed an accuracy of 98%. Out of all control cases using high confidence miRNA, the PCFG used returned folded structures that matched the canonical structures to an accuracy of 81%. The results of this work indicates …

Application Of Agricultural Waste Biochar For Canteen Wastewater Treatment In Chulalongkorn University, Norakamon Ariyakanon, Chalisa Vikrompanitkul

The International Student Science Fair 2018

The potential use of biochar in canteen wastewater remediation. Biochars were prepared from rice straw, bagasse or coir, produced by slow temperature pyrolysis at 300^oC for 1 h. This study characterized the physical and chemical properties of biochar products related to wastewater treatment. The physical and chemical parameters of wastewater were analyzed before and after treatment with the three different types of biochar. Measured parameters included, pH, biological oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD), total suspended solids (TSS), oil and grease, total phosphorus (TP) and total nitrogen (TKN). The biochar derived from rice straw contained the highest …

Utilization Of Papaya’S Sap (Carica Papaya L.) And Water Lettuce (Pistia Stratiotes) To Reduce Protein Amount On Liquid Tofu Waste, Muhammad Dzulfikar Farkhan, Naila Aliyahandra Anzani, Nabila Fikria Santoso

The International Student Science Fair 2018

ABSTRACT

Liquid waste from tofu production is one of the causes of environmental pollution. This condition happens because liquid tofu waste contain protein. Protein is metabolized by bacteria formed ammonia which emits foul odor. On this research, the protein amount in liquid tofu waste is reduced by the application of papaya’s sap and water lettuce. This research is divided into several steps. First, collecting the liquid tofu waste. second, tapping the papaya’s sap. Third, poured the papaya’s sap into the tofu waste. the next step is keep the mixture between tofu waste and papaya’s sap rest for 6, 18, and …

Assets Of Sheep's Dock, Tuguldur Turbaatar, Tuguldur Battulga, Khongorzul Turhuu

The International Student Science Fair 2018

Background: Traditionally, Mongolians used sheep tail fat for infants’ food and massage medication. Nowadays, the fat from sheep tail is industrially processed and added to the beauty and cosmetic products. But it remains widely unknown worldwide. This study aims to find out its chemical components and to identify its assets.

Procedure and results: We cut the sheep tail fat into three main pieces with 1mm in width and heated in a water bath to separate the liquid lipid. After this, we titrated the lipid with potassium hydroxide solution and measured the saturated and unsaturated fatty acid of sheep …