Digital Commons Network^™

Molecular Data Confirm That All Modern Loons Are Part Of The Same Created Kind, Mary-Clark Matthews, Alexis Ramerth, Mckayla Guillory, Timothy R. Brophy

Liberty University Research Week

Undergraduate

Basic

New Morphological Data Reveal That Fossil Loons Are Included In The Loon Kind, Mckayla Guillory, Alexis Ramerth, Mary-Clark Matthews, Timothy R. Brophy

Liberty University Research Week

Undergraduate

Basic

Assessment Of Queensnakes And Northern Watersnakes Living In A Trashy Creek, Noah Kurtz

Liberty University Research Week

Undergraduate

Basic

An In-Vitro Examination Of The Effects Of Enterodiole On Glucose Disposal In Human Adipocytes, Abigail Mclaughlin

Liberty University Research Week

Undergraduate

Basic

The Effect Of Bisphenol C On Dania Rerio Immune Development, Asia Eskaros, David Kicinski, Daniel Leionard, Anna Osborn, Hannah Thomas

Liberty University Research Week

Undergraduate

Basic

The Role Of The Tail Domain Of The Yeast Cell Surface Receptors Rgt2 And Snf3 In Glucose Signaling, Haeun Tae, Jaqueline Padilla, Morgan Mcdowell

Liberty University Research Week

Undergraduate

Basic

Determining The Influence Of Diet And Ers On The Structure-Function Of Relationship In The Kidney, Efosa Osayamwen, Nathaniel Spears

Liberty University Research Week

Undergraduate

Basic

New Analyses Substantiate Previous Claims That All Horses Form A Unique Created Kind, Jack Gregory, Timothy R. Brophy

Liberty University Research Week

Undergraduate

Basic

Characterization Of A Sas3 Homolog In The Human Pathogenic Yeast Cryptococcus Neoformans, Lillianne Bartone

Liberty University Research Week

Undergraduate

Basic

Examination Of Putative Histone Acetyltransferases In Cryptococcus Neoformans, Felice Kho, Phoebe Bridy, Yuqi Wang

Liberty University Research Week

Undergraduate

Basic

Cort Level Comparisons Between Allopatric And Sympatric Habitats In Plethodon Hubrichti, Cheyenne Brooks

Liberty University Research Week

Undergraduate

Basic

Cafestol And Quinic Acid As Novel Agents For The Attenuation Of Type-2 Diabetes, Sierra Hall, Alexis Ramerth

Liberty University Research Week

Undergraduate

Basic

Lesson Plans In Astronomy, Ecology And Biology, Admin Stem For Success

STEM for Success Showcase

This document contains various lesson plan ideas for concepts within the fields of biology, ecology, astronomy, and geology.

Plant Maze, Admin Stem For Success

STEM for Success Showcase

Students plant bean sprouts to observe their growth.

Tomatosphere, Admin Stem For Success

STEM for Success Showcase

Students learn about plant growth and the scientific process

Biomechanics Locomotion And Predation Escape In Cricket Species, Kira M. Edens

Longwood Senior Thesis Proposal

No abstract provided.

Examining Whether And How Instructional Coordination Occurs Within Introductory Undergraduate Stem Courses, Brian A. Couch, Luanna B. Prevost, Marilyne Stains, Blake Whitt, Ariel E. Marcy, Naneh Apkarian, Melissa H. Dancy, Charles Henderson, Estrella Johnson, Jeffrey R. Raker, Brandon J. Yik, Brittnee Earl, Susan E. Shadle, John Skvoretz, John P. Ziker

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Instructors’ interactions can foster knowledge sharing around teaching and the use of research-based instructional strategies (RBIS). Coordinated teaching presents an impetus for instructors’ interactions and creates opportunities for instructional improvement but also potentially limits an instructor’s autonomy. In this study, we sought to characterize the extent of coordination present in introductory undergraduate courses and to understand how departments and instructors implement and experience course coordination. We examined survey data from 3,641 chemistry, mathematics, and physics instructors at three institution types and conducted follow-up interviews with a subset of 24 survey respondents to determine what types of coordination existed, what factors …

Transcriptional Silencing Of Cdk18 And Its Role In Lung Carcinogenesis Of Brg1-Mutant Lung Cancers, Loryn M. Phillips

Biology ETDs

BRG1 is mutated in 10% of lung cancers, making this mutation clinically relevant. The downstream effects of BRG1 included significantly affecting the cell cycle control and chromosomal replication pathway. CDK18, a cyclin-dependent kinase, was determined to be the gene with significantly decreased expression (p < 0.0001) in the cell cycle control and chromosomal replication pathway. CDK18 is active during the S-phase of the cell cycle and required for genomic stability. Studies were conducted to determine the epigenetic mechanisms that contributed to the repression of CDK18. Histone methylation contributes to the repression of CDK18, and histone deacetylation globally regulates expression of CDK18, while cytosine methylation was found to not contribute to CDK18 expression. Studies were performed to elucidate CDK18 functional role lung carcinogenesis and the genome-wide impact of CDK18 repression. Repression of CDK18 affects cell migration, proliferation, cell-cell signaling, and anchorage-independent growth that contribute to cancer initiation and progression.

Development Of A Novel Method For Identifying Antibiotic Producing Microbes From The Soil, Sean Slayton

22nd Annual Celebration of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity (2023)

Multi-drug resistant (MDR) bacteria are strains of bacteria that are resistant to multiple types of antibiotics and pose a serious public health threat. Our research group has developed a novel way to rapidly screen soil bacteria isolates for antimicrobial chemical production in a clear and reproducible manner. We examined the effects of certain variables on our method including: 1) agar type on antimicrobial diffusion, 2) agar depth on antimicrobial diffusion, 3) age of the soil isolate on the amount of antimicrobial produced, and 4) soil isolate placement on the inhibition of bacterial growth. Our combined results led to the creation …

Modeling Olfactory Dysfunction In Parkinson’S Disease In Zebrafish, Nathaniel Vorhees, Samantha Groenwold

22nd Annual Celebration of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity (2023)

Parkinson's Disease (PD), a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by dopaminergic neuronal loss and motor impairment, affects roughly 1 in 500 people. Interestingly, olfaction loss is prevalent in over 95% of those with PD. However, the underlying mechanisms of PD and olfactory dysfunction are not well understood. Zebrafish provide an ideal model to study neurodegenerative diseases and regenerative processes as they present neurogenic capability (i.e., generation of new neurons) and a high degree of neuroplasticity. We developed a model to study the association between dopaminergic loss and olfactory dysfunction in zebrafish. To do this, we used adult zebrafish of both sexes and …

Degeneration And Neurogenesis Following An Excitotoxic Focal Lesion To The Olfactory Bulb Of Zebrafish, Solange Fingleton, Alina Ciesielski

22nd Annual Celebration of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity (2023)

Neurogenesis is the process of new neuron generation in the brain. Zebrafish have 16 different neurogenic sites, which allows for effective damage and lesion repair because of the ability to constitutively regenerate neurons. In zebrafish, the olfactory bulbs — part of the olfactory system – are highly regenerative and neurogenic. Our lab established a model of excitotoxic lesion (that targets glutamatergic neurons), and determined that the olfactory bulbs are structurally and functionally recovered. However, the processes of neurogenesis in the olfactory bulb following direct injury has not been studied. In this work, we use the same neurodegenerative model using an …

The Science Of Baking Bread, Admin Stem For Success

STEM for Success Showcase

Activity plan to teach biology and chemistry using a lesson on the baking of bread.

Influence Of Metabolic Interventions On Animal Aging And Lifespan, Bhaswati Ghosh

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Aging is associated with metabolic rewiring. Most lifespan-extending longevity interventions target metabolic pathways. Genetic or pharmacological metabolic approaches that mediate longer lifespan and healthspan, are often linked to detrimental effects on human health. Here, I show that supplementation of botanical extracts from Artemisia scoparia (SCO), dramatically increases animal lifespan. Mechanistically, this lifespan extension is dependent on AMPK-DAF-16 signaling via inhibition of the insulin pathway. In SCO-fed worms, longer lifespan was accompanied by higher fat storage and improved resiliency to age-related physiological stress. Notably, DAF-16, the master regulator of longevity, activated the fatty acid desaturation processes, which promoted the accumulation of …

The Human Superiority Complex, Peyton Kinavey

Undergraduate Research Competition

For decades humans have possessed a superiority complex regarding nonhuman beings, but this has not always been the case. Through analyzing prehistoric art, such as therianthropic figurines and nonhuman animal motifs in cave paintings, it appears that prehistoric humans practiced respect for fellow animals and even viewed them as equals. These results are comparable with ethnographic data from contemporary hunter-gatherer and small-scale agricultural societies all over the world. Thus, it is suggested that the rise of industrial agriculture and the meat and dairy industries, alongside the philosophical justifications for their continuance, may have contributed to the widespread idea of human …

Ontogeny Of Sleeping Behaviour In Four Solitary Species Of Anolis Lizards, Joseph C. Barnett, Steven Poe

Biology ETDs

Despite the nearly ubiquitous nature of sleep in the animal kingdom, behavioural research on sleep has focused on a few model organisms and widespread behaviours studied in artificial laboratory settings. In this study, we examine the ontogeny of sleeping perch selection in four closely related species of arboreal lizard in situ. The study species each occupy similar habitats and share "solitary" ecology wherein potential lizard competitors are absent, thus providing four partially independent replicates with which to test hypotheses. We find that structural niche, analysed as perch height, varies by age and sex. Males sleep higher than females and adults …

Decontamination And Annotation Of The Draft Genome Sequence Of The Oomycete Lagenidium Giganteum Arsef 373, William R. Morgan, Aurelien Tartar

Biology Faculty Articles

Scaffolds of a previously published Lagenidium giganteum ARSEF 373 genome assembly found at GenBank were filtered to remove contaminating sequences. Genome annotation of the 437 scaffolds (total length, 56.2 MB; GC content, 58.8%) with confirmed L. giganteum sequences identified 13,069 potential protein-coding genes, encoding at least 737 predicted secreted proteins and .100 putative translocated effectors

Inhibiting Effects Of Methyllycaconitine (Mla) On Pnu-282987 Induced Neurogenesis In Blast-Exposed Mouse Retinas, Nastia Zhiyew Chan

Honors Theses

Irreversible vision loss can be caused by retinal damage, disease, or aging. In recent years, the prevalence of ocular damage due to blast trauma has been increasing due to the modernization of warfare. Adult mammalian retinal neurons were previously thought to lack the capacity for regeneration to reverse vision loss, which deemed the effects of many ocular damages permanent. However, recent studies from this lab have shown that PNU-282987, an agonist to the alpha 7 subtype of neural nicotinic acetylcholine receptors, will result in neural regeneration in adult mammalian cells. For this research project, I will be using Methyllycaconitine (MLA), …

The Importance Of Processing And Understanding Bacteriophages, Alexandra Greco, Emily Bishop, Emma Hofseth, Kelsi Phelps

Undergraduate Research Competition

There are many bacteria that are increasingly becoming antibiotic resistant resulting in a new prevalent medical issue. Bacteriophages are evolutionary virus weapons that infect and fight against these infectious bacteria that give rise to Bacteriophages the most abundant biological entity found in nature, outnumbering all life combined, with a total estimated population of 1031. As part of BIOL 302L - Phage Discovery, we focused on identifying phages from individually collected soil samples found regionally in South Carolina. Through a series of experiments, we were able to identify and amplify two newly discovered phages that infect Mycobacterium Smegmatis following the protocols …

Utilizing 3d Printing As A Method Of Engaging Students And Assisting In The Learning Of Spatially Challenging Concepts, Gregory Thompson

Undergraduate Research Competition

Molecular structures, spatial arrangements, bond angles and stereochemistry are examples of topics that chemistry students struggle to grasp because it can be difficult to visualize how they work. 3D printing offers a way for instructors to provide students with molecular models to allow them to experience hands-on learning to better understand these concepts. The aim of this research is to design a method of remotely monitoring as well as controlling the 3D printer, and to explore what molecular editing programs could be useful in creating 3D models to print. To address the former, the software, Octoprint, will be used in …

Effect Of Lactate Dehydrogenase In Alzheimer's Disease Using Fruit Fly Model, Hannah Mccutcheon, Elizabeth Mccrea

Undergraduate Research Competition

The common fruit fly (Drosophila) was used as a model organism to investigate the function of lactate dehydrogenase gene (LDH) in Alzheimer’s disease. Human Alzheimer’s genes were implemented into fruit flies to examine the neurodegenerative properties of the disease since humans and fruit flies share a similar genetic makeup. When human Alzheimer’s gene is given to the fruit flies, they exhibit similar intellectual and physical defects as seen in humans. In previous experiments, it was found that down regulating certain genes allowed the transgenic flies to live longer and reduced their locomotor deficiencies. Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) is one of the …