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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Increasing The Efficacy Of Doxorubicin Against Breast Cancer, Jovana Hanna, Jung-Suk Choi Jan 2018

Increasing The Efficacy Of Doxorubicin Against Breast Cancer, Jovana Hanna, Jung-Suk Choi

Undergraduate Research Posters 2018

In the United States, breast cancer accounts for one in three cancer diagnoses in women, making it the most common type of cancer in women. One important chemotherapeutic agent used to treat breast cancer is doxorubicin, an anthracycline compound that causes cell death by damaging DNA in addition to producing reactive oxygen species. Previously, the Berdis lab developed an artificial nucleoside analog designated 5-NIdR that improves the efficacy of DNA damaging agents used against brain cancer. This nucleoside works by inhibiting the replication of damaged DNA created by certain chemotherapeutic agents. In this project, we tested the ability of 5-NIdR …


Synthesis Of Sialic Acid Derivative For Modifying Cell Surface Sialylation, Isaac Turan, Joseph Keil Jan 2018

Synthesis Of Sialic Acid Derivative For Modifying Cell Surface Sialylation, Isaac Turan, Joseph Keil

Undergraduate Research Posters 2018

The exterior of cell surfaces express a dense layer of glycans which are often terminated by sialic acid (SA). SA is an acidic monosaccharide whose presence is found on the terminal ends of glycans of either glycoproteins or glycolipids. Due to its hydrophilic and electronegative nature, SA is often involved in both physiological and pathological processes, such as in regulating cellular interactions with ligands, microbes and neighboring cells. In addition to these functions, SA is also implicated in controlling cellular activation, differentiation, transformation and migration. Cell surface glycometabolic engineering provides a useful tool to remodel cell surface SA. In this …


Tmco1 Is A Novel Target For Cancer Chemotherapy, Ashley Przybylowicz, Ruhan Wei, Qiaoyun Zheng Jan 2018

Tmco1 Is A Novel Target For Cancer Chemotherapy, Ashley Przybylowicz, Ruhan Wei, Qiaoyun Zheng

Undergraduate Research Posters 2018

Transmembrane and coiled-coil domains 1 (TMCO1) is a protein of 22 KDa highly conserved in amino acid sequence among mammalian species and functions as an endoplasmic reticulum (ER) Ca2+load-activated Ca2+channel. Homozygous frameshift mutation in TMCO1 causes distinctive craniofacial dysmorphism, skeletal anomalies, and mental retardation. However, its physiological functions are largely unknown. In this study, we found that TMCO1 was co-localized with microtubules as determined by immunohistostaining and a co-sedimentation assay. Interestingly, TMCO1 was highly expressed in the invasive front of high grade lung cancer and metastatic cancer cells of clinical specimens. To further investigate the biological role of TMCO1 in …


Anti-Thrombotic Coatings For Blood Contacting Medical Decives And Implants Based On Nitric Oxide Release, Celine El-Khoury, Shaimaa Maher, Haitham Kalil Jan 2018

Anti-Thrombotic Coatings For Blood Contacting Medical Decives And Implants Based On Nitric Oxide Release, Celine El-Khoury, Shaimaa Maher, Haitham Kalil

Undergraduate Research Posters 2018

Blood-contacting medical devices, are often used to treat cardiovascular diseases. These implantable medical devices, even if labeled as biocompatible, can cause serious complications in patients. Thrombus formation and infection are the main causes of failure of these devices. In contrast to the healthy endothelium, which actively resists thrombosis, artificial surfaces promote clotting through a complex series of interconnected processes that include protein adsorption, adhesion of platelet, leukocytes and red blood cells, ending with thrombosis. Using a layer-by-layer thin film building strategy to form layers of polyethyleneimine (PEI) and iNOSoxy as NO-releasing coatings allows for assembly of multi-component protein/PEI films. Here, …


Toward The Crystallization Of An Archaeal Dihydrorotase, Haley Newman, Ryan Godin Jan 2018

Toward The Crystallization Of An Archaeal Dihydrorotase, Haley Newman, Ryan Godin

Undergraduate Research Posters 2018

Dihydroorotase catalyzes the conversion of N-carbamoyl-L-aspartate to Ldihydroorotate in the de novo biosynthesis of pyrimidines. M. jannaschii is an archaeon that thrives in extreme environments such as the hypothermal vents at the bottom of the oceans in which both temperature and pressure are extremely high. It can serve as a model organism for research purposes. This experiment is a first step toward elucidating the structure of this enzyme in M. jannaschii. Our summer research started using a partially purified enzyme preparation from previous experiments. We further purified the enzyme primarily using hydrophobic interaction and hydroxyapatite chromatographies. Twenty-four closely related conditions …


Dodecanedioic Acid Treatment In Vlcad Fibroblasts, Igor Radzikh Jan 2018

Dodecanedioic Acid Treatment In Vlcad Fibroblasts, Igor Radzikh

Undergraduate Research Posters 2018

Very-long-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase deficiency is the second most common disorder of fatty acid oxidation in the USA, with an incidence of 1:25,000-1:100,000 newborns (Tucci, Floegel, Beermann, Behringer, Spiekerkoetter, 2017, pg. 196). The current dietary therapeutic strategies are designed to avoid long chain fatty acids, instead providing carbohydrates and medium chain triglycerides as an energy source. Despite the controlled and biochemically balanced diet, it has a limited success in treatment of clinical symptoms and metabolic decompensations in VLCAD affected individuals. It has been proposed that defect in long chain fatty acids catabolic pathway leads to the severe energy deficiency, that primary …


Off Targets Toxicological Investigation Of Anti-Cancer Tubulin Inhibitors, Abbound Sabbagh, Yaxin Li Jan 2018

Off Targets Toxicological Investigation Of Anti-Cancer Tubulin Inhibitors, Abbound Sabbagh, Yaxin Li

Undergraduate Research Posters 2018

We have developed a class of novel tubulin inhibitors based on NSC751382 (Figure 1), Benzo[1,3]dioxole-5- carboxylic acid [3-(2,5-dimethyl- benzyloxy)-4- (methanesulfonyl-methyl-amino)-phenyl] -amide, as the lead compound. This compound showed potent tubulin polymerization inhibitory activity by binding at the colchicine’s binding domain, and suppressed cancer cell growth with an IC50 of 200nM. It has molecular weight of 482, logP of 4.1, only one hydrogen bond donor, and eight hydrogen bond acceptors. The compound meets the Lipinski's Rule of Five and is a highly drug-like molecule. In addition, NSC751382 significantly inhibited the growth of Taxol resistant cancer cells, suggesting it is not a …


Peer Quizzing: Are Two Heads Really Better Than One?, Leah Bunnell Jan 2018

Peer Quizzing: Are Two Heads Really Better Than One?, Leah Bunnell

Undergraduate Research Posters 2018

Instructors are often plagued with a difficult opened ended question; what measures can be implemented during class that will maximize students’ academic benefit? During this research project, the impact of frequent peer quizzing in introductory college level physics courses on subsequent learning assessments, such as midterms and percent gain, are examined. A peer quiz is initially administered to a student individually and graded but not returned to the students until they are given the opportunity to revisit the same quiz question with a partner. Two physics instructors’ student data is included in the data set, which is comprised of Introductory …


Characterization Of Microgels In Ionic Liquid, Dan Terrano Jan 2018

Characterization Of Microgels In Ionic Liquid, Dan Terrano

Undergraduate Research Posters 2018

Microgels are thermoresponsive polymeric nanoparticles whose size in aqueous solution is dependent on temperature. The microgels were studied using both dynamic light scattering (DLS) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to better understand the nanoparticles dynamics. The first part of the study focused on developing a controlled preparation procedure which would generate reproducible SEM images on a wet sample. The ionic liquid was mixed with a dilute solution of microgels and water was dried using nitrogen gas. This technique allowed a large volume of microgels to easily transition from their natural water solvent to a low vapor pressure ionic solvent. The …


Towards Understanding Microgel Volume Phase Transitions, Jacob Adamczyk, Samantha Tietjen Jan 2018

Towards Understanding Microgel Volume Phase Transitions, Jacob Adamczyk, Samantha Tietjen

Undergraduate Research Posters 2018

Microgels are polymer-based particles which are able to change size and shape during volume phase transition in response to external stimuli. We have investigated microgels which respond to changes in temperature for eventual use in drug-delivery systems on the nano to micro scale. Light scattering data on Hydroxypropylcellulose (HPC) microgels has been analyzed to determine microgel parameters such as radii, molecular weight, and polydispersity at various temperatures. The classic Flory- Huggins (FH) approach to mixing polymer-solvent solution is used to model a temperature-size dependence for the microgels. Existing theory on the microgel size dependence on the amount of crosslinker is …


The Effects Of Chemical Crosslinker On Polymeric Microgels, Samantha Tietjen, Jacob Adamczyk Jan 2018

The Effects Of Chemical Crosslinker On Polymeric Microgels, Samantha Tietjen, Jacob Adamczyk

Undergraduate Research Posters 2018

Microgels are nanoparticles suspended in solution and comprised of crosslinked polymer chains. Due to the amphiphilic property of the parent polymer, microgels exhibit a reversible volume phase transition. The standard behavior of these microgels is to deswell from a large to small size with an increase in temperature. Microgels in this study were synthesized by crosslinking hydroxypropylcellulose (HPC) in a surfactant solution. The amount of crosslinker used for synthesis was varied by a factor of a hundred. Using dynamic light scattering, microgels were characterized at various temperatures and scattering angles to determine the particles’ hydrodynamic radius (Rh) and dynamics both …


Characterizing The Turbulent Structure Of The Cbl And The Entrainment, Wei Jia Jan 2018

Characterizing The Turbulent Structure Of The Cbl And The Entrainment, Wei Jia

Undergraduate Research Posters 2018

The convective boundary layer (CBL) is the lowest part of the atmosphere. The turbulent motions in the CBL are important for redistributing trace gases, particles, heat, and momentum between the surface and the free troposphere thus it is important that this process is properly represented in numerical models that attempts to simulate the atmosphere. This study is trying to characterize the water vapor structure in the quasi-stationary CBL, using statistical way to build the turbulent model and uses a high resolution model: Large Eddy Simulation (LES) to investigate the adequacy of the model. We found that the water vapor flux …


Construction And Applications Of An Inexpensive Muon Detector, Nicholas Knyszek Jan 2018

Construction And Applications Of An Inexpensive Muon Detector, Nicholas Knyszek

Undergraduate Research Posters 2018

Muons are important due to the abundance of them on earth. Muons that are on earth originate from the Sun and enter Earth’s atmosphere as decaying cosmic rays. Muons are somewhat unstable, with a lifespan of roughly 2.2 microseconds. Muons decay into electrons and two types of neutrinos. Since Muons travel near the speed of light they can still go thousands of meters into the Earth’s crust before stopping. Muons account for most of the cosmic radiation at sea level. Muons are harmless to humans. In this study, we built detectors and measured muon counts at different elevations. This research …


Determining Cloud Cover With Machine Learning, Sarah Sesek Jan 2018

Determining Cloud Cover With Machine Learning, Sarah Sesek

Undergraduate Research Posters 2018

The cloud cover provided by boundary layer cumulus clouds is one of the greatest uncertainties in climate and weather prediction models. It is difficult with current technology to cheaply and accurately collect cloud cover data. The TSI (Total Sky Imager) provides a hemispheric field of view in order to maximize the area it can see. The farther away from the center of the image, the more angled the view of the the cloud is. Therefore, more of the side of the cloud is captured in addition to the cloud base. Machine learning is well suited to seeing through this bias. …


Investigating The Influence Of Cloud Size On Cumulus Cloud Entrainment, Theresa Lincheck Jan 2018

Investigating The Influence Of Cloud Size On Cumulus Cloud Entrainment, Theresa Lincheck

Undergraduate Research Posters 2018

Clouds play a crucial role in determining the weather on local and global scales, yet their complexity accounts for some of the largest uncertainties in weather forecasts and climate models. Environmental air mixing or being drawn into a current, called entrainment, is one source to blame for this complexity. When air entrains into a cloud evaporation of in-cloud condensates increase and temperatures in the cloud drop, reducing buoyancy. The overall effect of entrainment inhibits a cloud’s development, and usually results in the dissipation of a cloud. With the use of data generated from a high-resolution computer model known as Large …


An Alternative Means For Observation-Based Cloud Size Distributions, Adam Stead Jan 2018

An Alternative Means For Observation-Based Cloud Size Distributions, Adam Stead

Undergraduate Research Posters 2018

Clouds are a poorly understood phenomenon that have a significant impact on climate and day-to-day weather. This research aims to measure cloud size distributions for shallow cumulus clouds from observational data. Clouds are sampled via a ceilometer, which indicates both the presence of cloudy air and the base height of the respective cloud. When combining this data with the recorded horizontal wind velocity, we can infer a cloud transect size distribution. After sufficient sampling, we can use an algorithm to deduce an approximate cloud area distribution for the specified time range and cloud field. Once the cloud size distributions are …


Methodology Development For The Implementation Ofmicrofluidic Mixers, Tahir Butt, Gautam Mahajan Jan 2018

Methodology Development For The Implementation Ofmicrofluidic Mixers, Tahir Butt, Gautam Mahajan

Undergraduate Research Posters 2018

Microfluidic platforms have been widely regarded as defining technologies for the development of chemical and biological synthesis and analysis systems, due to benefits associated with reduced reactant consumption, increases by orders of magnitude of the surface-to-volume ratios, and greatly enhanced control over reactions variables such as temperature and pressure. However, one of the bottlenecks for their wide application is the difficulty in achieving mixing, given the typical laminar flows in these systems. In this work we implement experimentally, various strategies using geometrical features to control the fluid motion and induce stirring flows. The mixers are fabricated using soft-lithography in PDMS …


Implementation Of A Reverse Staggered-Herringbone Microfluidic Mixer For High-Throughput Polymeric Nanoparticles Synthesis, Alexa Roberts Jan 2018

Implementation Of A Reverse Staggered-Herringbone Microfluidic Mixer For High-Throughput Polymeric Nanoparticles Synthesis, Alexa Roberts

Undergraduate Research Posters 2018

The goal of this research is to implement and optimize the operating conditions of a microfluidic mixer to synthesize polymeric nanoparticles (NPs) in a high-throughput fashion. Using a reverse staggered-herringbone microfluidic mixer that we recently designed, the effects of experimental conditions such as flowrate and reactant composition on NP characteristics were investigated and optimized. The device design allowed for physical contact between two streams of fluids – one containing poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid; PLGA) in acetonitrile and the other deionized water, to allow for efficient mixing and NP precipitation to occur. The resulting NPs were characterized using dynamic light scattering (DLS) and …


Boundary Effects On The Locomotion Of Active Janus Particles, Marola W. Issa, Nicky R. Baumgartner Jan 2018

Boundary Effects On The Locomotion Of Active Janus Particles, Marola W. Issa, Nicky R. Baumgartner

Undergraduate Research Posters 2018

Self-propelled or “active” micrometer scale particles are capable of supplying local mechanical work, necessary for microscale cargo delivery and useful in other applications within bioimaging and sensing. Research in the last decade has focused on developing, measuring, and manipulating the locomotion mechanisms of active particles in simple environments. However, many applications will be in complex environments with nearby boundaries or variations in physiochemical cues. This poster reports the directed motion of platinum coated polystyrene particles at infinite dilution in the presence of H2O2, which acts as a fuel to drive motion. A transport mechanism called “diffusiophoresis” drives motion of the …


Rnase L Mediates The Insulin Signalling Pathway, Oroshay Kaiwan, Danting Liu Jan 2017

Rnase L Mediates The Insulin Signalling Pathway, Oroshay Kaiwan, Danting Liu

Undergraduate Research Posters 2017

Diabetes is characterized by hyperglycemia mainly due to defect in insulin secretion and/or action. Regulation of glucose transport and use by insulin is central to the maintenance of whole-body glucose homeostasis. One of the potential mechanisms associated with insulin sensitivity is the activation of insulin receptor (IR) and subsequently transduces the signal through phosphorylation of insulin receptor substrate1 (IRS1) and activation of the PI-3K/Akt pathway. RNase L, an interferon (IFN)-inducible enzyme, plays an important role in IFN functions against viral infection and cell proliferation. However, a direct link between RNase L and insulin sensitivity has yet to be clearly established. …


Identification Of Selective Anti-Trypanosome Agents From Compound Library Lopac, Cody M. Orahoske, Myah S. Marbury Jan 2017

Identification Of Selective Anti-Trypanosome Agents From Compound Library Lopac, Cody M. Orahoske, Myah S. Marbury

Undergraduate Research Posters 2017

Sleeping sickness disease (human African trypanosomiasis) is still a major health threat to a large number of people in 36 countries of sub-Saharan Africa. Currently, the estimated infection cases in these areas are between 300,000 and 500,000. Trypanosoma brucei gambiense and Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense are the pathogens of sleeping sickness in humans. These parasites live and proliferate mainly in the blood and tissue fluids of the infected mammals and are transmitted by tsetse flies (Glossina spp.). The disease starts from a bite by an infected tsetse fly and goes through an initial stage, where trypanosomes multiply in the bloodstream and …


P1: Synthesis Optimization And Characterization Of Polymeric Microgels, Samantha Tietjen, Samantha Hudson Jan 2017

P1: Synthesis Optimization And Characterization Of Polymeric Microgels, Samantha Tietjen, Samantha Hudson

Undergraduate Research Posters 2017

Microgels are spherical particles suspended in solution, comprised of crosslinked polymer chains. Due to the amphiphilic property of the parent polymer, microgels display a temperature dependent de-swelling property, and therefore have the potential to be used for drug delivery. In this case, microgels were synthesized using hydroxypropyl cellulose (HPC) polymer and divinyl sulfone (DVS) cross-linker, as well as dodecyltrimethylammonium bromide (DTAB) surfactant to decrease particle size and promote microgel monodispersity. Synthesized particles were then characterized using dynamic light scattering (DLS) for both temperature and angle dependence to determine hydrodynamic radius, Rh, at a range of temperatures showing a transition from …


Synthesis Of Sialic Acid Derivatives And Their Immune Cells Modulation, Joseph Keil, Lei Yuan, Yu Zhao Jan 2017

Synthesis Of Sialic Acid Derivatives And Their Immune Cells Modulation, Joseph Keil, Lei Yuan, Yu Zhao

Undergraduate Research Posters 2017

The exterior cell surfaces of macrophages express a dense layer of glycans which are often terminated by sialic acid. Sialic acid is an acidic monosaccharide whose presence on the terminal ends of glycans affects cellular function and properties. In particular, due to its hydrophilic and electronegative features, SAs play important roles in both physiological and pathological processes, such as in regulating cellular interactions with ligands, microbes and neighboring cells and in controlling cellular activation, differentiation, transformation and migration. In this study two sialic acid derivatives were synthesized and characterized, the 5 amine derivative and the 9 amine derivative. This study …


Purification And Crystallization Trials Of The Dihydroorotase From Methanococcus Jannaschii, Amy K. Dadisman Jan 2017

Purification And Crystallization Trials Of The Dihydroorotase From Methanococcus Jannaschii, Amy K. Dadisman

Undergraduate Research Posters 2017

Dihydroorotase is the enzyme that catalyzes the third step of the de novo biosynthesis of pyrimidines. M. jannaschii is a hyperthermophillic archaeon that can serve as a model organism for research purposes. This experiment is a first step toward elucidating the structure of the dihydroorotase in M. jannaschii. The enzyme was purified by salting out and heating the solution and then putting the supernatant through cation exchange chromatography and hydrophobic interaction chromatography. Twenty-four conditions were tested to determine if a crystal of dihydroorotase could be formed. Two of these conditions led to preliminary crystal formation. These findings can be utilized …


Achieving Atomically Smooth Surfaces And Ultra Sharp Platinum-Iridium Tips For Deposition Of Organic Molecules, William Myers Jan 2017

Achieving Atomically Smooth Surfaces And Ultra Sharp Platinum-Iridium Tips For Deposition Of Organic Molecules, William Myers

Undergraduate Research Posters 2017

Organic materials are used in traditional solar cells and in flexible electronics. Unfortunately, the conductivities of organic semiconductors are significantly lower than their inorganic counterparts. This project examines the crucial first steps to enhancing the conductivities of these organic materials by crystallization via surface reconstructions. For this, the surface must be not only atomically smooth, but also atomically clean because there must be both enough room for the molecule to lie on and no possible adsorbates for the deposited material to react with. In this work, we looked at two substrates, gold and silicon. For the gold, we examined two …


Exploration Of Nanomaterials-Based Electrochemical Sensors For Peroxynitrite Detection, Ousama Al-Mahmoud, Haitham Kalil Jan 2017

Exploration Of Nanomaterials-Based Electrochemical Sensors For Peroxynitrite Detection, Ousama Al-Mahmoud, Haitham Kalil

Undergraduate Research Posters 2017

Peroxynitrite (PON, ONOO-) plays an essential role in several cardiovascular dysfunctions and other diseases triggered by oxidative stress. The precise detection of this analyte in biological systems is of paramount importance not only to understand the genesis and development of diseases, but also to design and assess efficient therapies. We fabricated highly sensitive and selective electrochemical sensors based on transition metal-decorated graphene nanocomposites as catalytic interfaces for peroxynitrite quantification. The interfaces of metal-decorated graphene nanostructures were immobilized on carbon electrodes by electro-grafting, electro- depositing, and drop-casting techniques. The morphology and surface chemistry of the nanostructured materials were characterized using Scanning …


P1: How High Does The Lower Atmosphere Go?, Vladimir Sworski, Justin Flaherty Jan 2017

P1: How High Does The Lower Atmosphere Go?, Vladimir Sworski, Justin Flaherty

Undergraduate Research Posters 2017

The Atmospheric Boundary Layer (ABL), consisting of the bottom few kilometers of the troposphere, is a region with strong mixing of moisture and winds. This region's activity has a large impact on weather and climate models. In this study, we use a high resolution computer model: Large Eddy Simulation (LES). Statistics produced require a strong understanding of the height of the ABL. The purpose of this study was to create a method for determining this height accurately and consistently, as previous models demonstrated significant error.


P2: Developing Methodologies For Wet-Sample Electron Microscopy Imaging, Daniel Terrano, Petru Fodor Jan 2017

P2: Developing Methodologies For Wet-Sample Electron Microscopy Imaging, Daniel Terrano, Petru Fodor

Undergraduate Research Posters 2017

Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) is widely used to analyze the size, shape, and composition of material systems. However, using this tool for analyzing systems such as particles suspended in solution requires drastic sample alterations, such as precipitation and fixation. Besides altering their environment, this exposes the particles to the harsh conditions within an electron microscope, such as high vacuum and electron beam exposure. To this end, the first goal of this study was to develop methodologies for imaging wet samples using electron microscopy. This is realized by creating a sandwich structure containing the solution of interest between a partially electron …


Improving The Development Of The I-Chart For Use In Biopharmaceutical Manufacturing Operation, Kimberly Schveder Jan 2017

Improving The Development Of The I-Chart For Use In Biopharmaceutical Manufacturing Operation, Kimberly Schveder

Undergraduate Research Posters 2017

The Shewhart control chart is a statistical tool used by pharmaceutical companies, as well as chemical and other batch manufacturers, to help detect errors in the manufacturing process and ensure control of product quality. One particular type of control chart is the I-chart. The average run length (ARL) statistic of the I-chart can easily be determined when output from the manufacturing process is normally distributed with known population parameters. This paper investigates the impact on the ARL statistic when the I-chart is based on mean and standard deviation estimates obtained from small sample sizes of less than 50 batches. The …


P2: Reconciling Linear Measurements Of Fractal Cloud Structures, Nicholas Barron Jan 2017

P2: Reconciling Linear Measurements Of Fractal Cloud Structures, Nicholas Barron

Undergraduate Research Posters 2017

Clouds are a large unknown in meteorological predictions. Most of the issue can be derived from the odd shape of clouds. So, in order to correct the measurements of clouds, a thorough investigation of fractal cloud structures must be performed. Using the results from this study, a reconciliation method can then be constructed and applied to linear measurements of clouds.