Life Sciences Commons^™

Density, Growth, And Reproduction Of The Cockle Laevicardium Mortoni In The Peconic Bays, Long Island, New York, Hailey Brosnan

Post & Beyond

Morton’s egg cockle, Laevicardium mortoni, is common in shallow subtidal

habitats from Nova Scotia to Brazil, but little is known of its biology and ecology.

Field studies were conducted in the Peconic Bays of Long Island, New

York to examine population and life history parameters such as density,

growth, and age at first reproduction. Suction dredging was conducted at

three sites to examine whether density varied with depth and sediment

type. Condition Indexes for a range of cockle sizes were quantified weekly

at two sites to estimate age and size at first reproduction. Growth rates and

temporal patterns of …

Beginning Experiment: Nanoparticle Uptake In Arpe-19 Cells, Nitya Nunna

Trick to the Treat of Internships and Research

No abstract provided.

Cleveland Clinic Summer Scholars Program, Chethani Chitraacharige

Trick to the Treat of Internships and Research

No abstract provided.

Practicum In Biology, Sarah Amaris

Trick to the Treat of Internships and Research

No abstract provided.

Cano Health Clinical Studies Internship Program, Stephanie Hernandez

Trick to the Treat of Internships and Research

No abstract provided.

The Austria Summer Biology Internship, Max Cedeno-Hahn, Laura Enzinna

Trick to the Treat of Internships and Research

No abstract provided.

Rumbaugh Goodwin Institute Of Cancer Research, Christopher Garcia

Trick to the Treat of Internships and Research

No abstract provided.

The International Human Cadaver Prosection Program, Wilford Miranda, Christopher Garcia

Trick to the Treat of Internships and Research

No abstract provided.

Science Alive, Allan Barraza, Ahjay Bhatia, Gwen Bui, Sophia Nguyen

Trick to the Treat of Internships and Research

No abstract provided.

Analysis Of Complex Vertebrate Genomes: Computational Challenges And Solutions, Jeramiah J. Smith

Commonwealth Computational Summit

No abstract provided.

Discovery Of Sex-Specific Regions In A Salamander Genome, Nataliya Y. Timoshevskaya, Melissa C. Keinath, Jeramiah J. Smith

Commonwealth Computational Summit

Biological Aspects:

Salamander (Ambystoma mexicanum) has a gigantic genome: ~32,000,000,000 bases (10X of size of human genome)

Sex is determined by a pair of morphologically identical chromosomes:

• ZZ in male
• ZW in female

Object:

• Find (if there are any) genomic differences between chromosomes W and Z

Workflow:

1. Sequencing and de novo assembly of the reference salamander genome
2. Alignment of short sequences from male and female genomes to the reference
3. Coverage analysis

The Lamprey Genome: Illuminating Genomic Change Across Eons And Embryogenesis, Jeramiah J. Smith, Courtney K. M. Waterbury, Melissa C. Keinath, Cody B. Saraceno, Vladimir A. Timoshevskiy, Nataliya Y. Timoshevskaya

Commonwealth Computational Summit

The lamprey genome provides unique insights into both the deep evolutionary history of vertebrate genomes and the maintenance of genome structure/integrity over development. The lamprey lineage diverged from all other vertebrates approximately 500 million years ago. As such, comparisons between lamprey and other vertebrates permit reconstruction of ancient duplication and rearrangement events that defined the fundamental architecture and gene content of all extant vertebrate genomes. Lamprey also undergoes programmatic changes genome structure that result in the physical elimination of ~20% of its genomic DNA (~0.5Gb from a ~2 Gb genome) from all somatic cell lineages during early embryonic development. Here, …

Use Of Hpc To Analyze Changes In Gene Expression During Fruit Fly Spermiogenesis, Sepideh Dadkhah, Douglas A. Harrison, Jeramiah J. Smith

Commonwealth Computational Summit

In the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, JAK/STAT signaling during spermiogenesis is known to play a crucial role in the maintenance of stem cells of the testis. Recent studies in our lab have shown that activation of the JAK/STAT pathway in somatic cyst cells is also required for the later stages of spermiogenesis like individualization.

The main goal of this project is to characterize the events downstream of JAK/STAT signaling in spermiogenesis and more specifically to determine the mechanism by which JAK/STAT activation regulates individualization, a later stage in spermiogenesis where 64 individual spermatids are formed from a 64-interconnected spermatid …

Qubes: A Collaboration And Professional Development Platform For Quantitative Biology Education, Gabriela Hamerlinck

Annual Symposium on Biomathematics and Ecology Education and Research

No abstract provided.

The Use Of Course-Based Research In Computational Analysis Of Genomes To Enhance Student Learning, Christopher Shaffer

Annual Symposium on Biomathematics and Ecology Education and Research

No abstract provided.

Yeast Cell Cycle And Metabolism Can Be Coupled In Nontrivial Ways., Todd Young

Annual Symposium on Biomathematics and Ecology Education and Research

No abstract provided.

The Behavior Response Of Antlion Larvae To Alternating Magnetic Fields, Lindsey Wagner, Caleb L. Adams

Annual Symposium on Biomathematics and Ecology Education and Research

No abstract provided.

One Tick, Two Tick, Two Pathogens, Oh No! Am I Sick?, Caleb L. Adams

Annual Symposium on Biomathematics and Ecology Education and Research

No abstract provided.

Cnemidophorus Sexlineatus And The Impacts The Environment Has On Its Population At The Braidwood Dunes, Jeremiah Soto

Annual Symposium on Biomathematics and Ecology Education and Research

No abstract provided.

Food Addiction And The Effective Treatment Of Adult Food Addicts: An Integrative Review Of Literature, Sara Bourque

Grace Peterson Nursing Research Colloquium

Abstract

Background: In a survey conducted between the years of 2011 and 2014 it was suggested that 36% of adults in the U.S. were obese with over 40.2% being middle aged adults. Obesity is associated with a number of comorbid conditions including diabetes, heart attacks, and strokes. Due to this it is one of the major factors driving up our annual medical care costs. It is also one of the leading causes of death not only in the U.S. but worldwide. With one third of the adult population in the U.S. being obese food addiction may very well be a …

Performing A Genetic Screen To Identify Factors That Promote Lncrna-Dependent Gene Repression, Chrishan Fernando, Cecilia Yiu, Sara Cloutier, Siwen Wang, Elizabeth Tran

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) were once thought not to have useful functions in organisms but rather to be products of aberrant transcription. However, roles are being found for lncRNAs in beneficial processes such as controlling gene expression. In some of these cases, lncRNAs form R-loops in vivo. R-loops are nucleic acid structures consisting of hybridized strands of single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) and single-stranded RNA (ssRNA) as well as the displaced strand of ssDNA. Formation of these R-loops is important for gene regulation by the lncRNAs. However, factors that promote formation of lncRNA R-loops are not known. The gene PHO84 is being …

Assessing The Influence Of Socials Calls On Bat Mist-Netting Success In North America, Karly A. Rushmore, Laura E. D'Acunto, Cheyenne L. Gerdes, Patrick A. Zollner, Joy M. O'Keefe

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Since the introduction of the fungal disease White-Nose Syndrome in 2006, millions of North American bats have perished. For many species, the disease has caused over a 90 percent decline in abundance. With populations fluctuating as the pathogen spreads, biologists require improved methods of estimating bat demographics and abundance. Previous research indicates that mist netting success may be improved with the use of acoustic lures at mist-netting locations. Our research investigates which type of social calls improve the capture rates of North American bats, including the big brown bat (Eptesicus fuscus). Social call types used include antagonistic buzzes, distress calls, …

Norms Of Reaction For Pheromone Response In Saccharomyces Cerevisiae Isolates, Shelby Duffy

Scholars Week

Traits are commonly influenced by environmental and genetic factors, yet the contribution of each is often poorly understood. An important life history trait in baker’s yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) is the rate at which cells prepare for mating in response to environmentally released pheromones. Wild strains of yeast differ in mating pheromone response and alleles of the G-Protein alpha subunit of the pheromone receptor have been shown to affect both pheromone response and fitness. It is known that pheromone response depends on pheromone concentration, but the effects of environmental factors are largely unknown. In order to characterize the effects of environmental …

Deer Droppings As A Diverse Invertebrate Habitat, Allison Furr, Dr. Kevin Geedey

Celebration of Learning

This project was performed at Augustana's Green Wing Environmental Laboratory and studied the richness and diversity of soil invertebrates in two conditions, deer poop enriched and surrounding soil. Soil invertebrates play an important role in soil quality which greatly affects ecosystems. The hypothesis of this study was that the diversity and richness would be the higher in the poop enriched soil samples. Soil samples were collected, Burlese funnels were used to collect the invertebrates, the invertebrates were examined under the microscope, and were assigned to taxa. The number of taxa (richness) and the number of individuals in each taxa (Simpson's …

Dax-1 Gene Expression Regulation In Prostate Cancer Cells Through The Activation Of Androgen Receptors, Ryan Jann, Roxxana Beltran

Creative Activity and Research Day - CARD

The nuclear hormone receptor DAX-1 (dosage-sensitive sex reversal, adrenal hypoplasia critical region, on chromosome X, gene 1) is associated with the development and progression of prostate cancer within human males. Previous studies on DAX-1 have suggested a repression of steroidogenesis, indicating an inverse correlation between DAX-1 and steroidogenic gene expressions. To further understand the role of DAX-1 in tumor growth and development, experimentation was performed on Androgen Receptor (AR) sensitive and insensitive prostate cancer cell lines. Analysis of the different gene expression patterns of prostate cancer cell lines (including a CRISPR DAX-1 negative cell line) under separate treatment conditions, provides …

The Methods Used For Eradication Of Polio Versus The Defense Efforts That Are Being Conducted For Global Defense Against Ebola, Kalyn Johnson

Undergraduate Research Conference

Poliovirus eradication has been a long-lasting and difficult process that has become a global issue. The World Health Organization and the European Union have been trying to end the terrible reign of this abhorrent disease since the 1980s and are continually fighting the virus today. Poliomyelitis is an Old World disease, much like smallpox. It has been easily, through a twenty year process, eradicable through mass vaccination and circle vaccination.

However, as poliovirus is coming to the end of its reign, a more recent danger lurks nearby. Ebola virus is considered a non-traditional disease in that it requires more developed …

Removable Discontinuity: Crispr, Gene Drives, And Bioethics, Emily Dunnahoe

Undergraduate Research Conference

This paper questions whether bioethical scrutiny has been devoted to the ethical dilemmas that have arisen with advancements of CRISPR-Cas 9 gene editing techniques, particularly its use in conjunction with gene drive applications. Therefore, the trend of genetic research using both gene drives and CRISPR-Cas 9 systems must be established, while also simultaneously observing the trend of bioethical scholarly works. The tabulation of all articles from 2012 to 2015 from selected genetic journals yielded a significant increase in articles relating to CRISPR, while no articles were found in their selected bioethical counterparts for the same period. Similarly, no significant CRISPR/gene …

The Addition Of Arachidin 1 Or Arachidin 3 To Human Rotavirus-Infected Cells Inhibits Viral Replication And Alters The Apoptotic Cell Death Pathway, Macie N. Mattila, Caleb M. Witcher, Rebekah Napier-Jameson, Hannah N. Lockwood, Josephine Taylor, Beatrice A. Clack, Judith M. Ball, Fabricio Medina Bolivar, Rebecca D. Parr

Undergraduate Research Conference

Rotavirus (RV) infections are a leading cause of severe gastroenteritis in infants and children under the age of five. There are two vaccines available in the United States and one in India that can be administered early in childhood, however they only protect against specific strains1. From our previous work, both arachidin-1 (A1) and arachidin-3 (A3) from peanut (Arachis hypogaea) hairy root cultures significantly inhibit simian RV replication2,3,4. The purpose of this study was to determine if a human intestinal cell line, HT29.f8, infected with a human RV, Wa, was affected by A1 and A3. Cell viability assays were utilized …

The Bees Of A.L. Mangham Jr. Regional Airport, Nacogdoches, Texas, Ryan J. Pingedot, Daniel J. Bennett

Undergraduate Research Conference

The United States is home to about 4,000 species of native bees, and many are critically important due to the pollination services they provide (Buchman & Nabhan 1996). Most of these are inconspicuous, solitary bees that nest in the ground. In recent years, a number of bee species have been shown to be in decline (Burkle 2013). Due to these declines, it is important to study and provide habitat for local bee populations.

As a result of periodic mowing, the surroundings of the A.L. Mangham Jr. Regional Airport in Nacogdoches County, Texas provide a grassy, prairie-like habitat that results in …

Determination Of The Binding Site Of Adenovirus E4 11k On The Cellular Protein Ddx6, Clint E. Edmunds, Courtney F. Moon

Georgia College Student Research Events

Adenovirus is a double-stranded DNA virus that is responsible for localized infections, such as upper respiratory tract infections. The virus takes over the target cell through many mechanisms, in particular taking control of host cell gene expression mechanisms as well as controlling host cell protein synthesis machinery. One of the functions of the adenovirus E4 11k protein is in turning off host cell protein synthesis and regulating late viral gene expression. E4 11k from all adenovirus subclasses has been shown to disrupt cellular RNA processing bodies (P-bodies), and adenovirus serotype 5 has a direct interaction with a P-body protein, Ddx6. …