Digital Commons Network^™

The Quantitative Assessment Of Pond Scum: An Examination Of The Biogeochemistry Of Phosphorus Cycling In The Belgrade Lakes, Abbey M. Sykes

Honors Theses

The internal recycling phosphorus in freshwater lake bottom sediments represents a significant source of hypolimnetic phosphorus (P) release for many of Maine’s lakes. In summer months, Maine lakes often thermally stratify and the lake hypolimnion develops anoxia, leading to a reduction in redox potential at the sediment-water interface. These reducing conditions facilitate the reductive dissolution of ferric iron, and, since phosphorus is often present in freshwater lake sediments as solid FeOOH-PO₄ complexes, results in release of soluble phosphorus into the water column. Our current study presents field and laboratory data from sediment fractionation extractions designed to quantify concentrations of …

Impact Of The North American Monsoon On Molt Migrant Passerines, Liuqingqing Yang

Honors Theses

Breeding, molt, and migration place considerable yearly demands on migrating passerines in North America. Due to conflicts in energy allocation, many species have evolved migration strategies that prevent temporal overlap in these processes. However, there is recent evidence that some passerines which breed in western North America migrate to intermediate stopover sites to carry out molt, conflating molt and migration. Factors influencing the evolution of such a strategy are believed to include both aridity on breeding grounds and dependable flushes of late-summer productivity in the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico. This productivity occurs due to the brisk rainfall of …

Use Of Small Molecule Fanconi Anemia Pathway Inhibitors As Sensitizing Agents To Laromustine., Sam W. Marchant

Honors Theses

Laromustine is an experimental chemotherapeutic sulfonyl hydrazine prodrug shown in clinical trials to be effective against acute myeloid leukemia. The mechanism of action of laromustine involves interstrand crosslinking, via chloroethylation, and enzyme inhibition, caused by carbamoylation. The work described herein aims to investigate whether inhibition of the replication-dependent interstrand crosslink repair Fanconi Anemia pathway further sensitizes cells to laromustine. By measuring metabolic activity immediately after drug exposure, we find laromustine to be equally as cytotoxic towards Fanconi Anemia deficient and wild type cells. However, through clonogenic assays we show Fanconi Anemia mutations sensitize cells to laromustine’s anti-proliferative effect. Furthermore, we …

Artificial Reefs: A History, A Science, A Technology, Mairead D. Farrell

Honors Theses

Over the past 60 years, artificial reefs have expanded beyond the definition of a technology, and in turn have developed into a unique branch of marine science. To better emphasize this growth and separation, a brief history of artificial reef development and usage in chapter two shows some of the key shifts over time in this technology’s purpose and the materials used to achieve that goal. Likewise, to indicate the scientific development of artificial reefs as a branch of marine science, their usage for discovery and research is recorded in chapter three, along with the exponential increase in published scientific …

Protecting Privacy In Covid-19 Digital Contact Tracing, Nicolas M. Turner

Honors Theses

Digital contact tracing applications are a necessary and potentially dangerous tool used to combat the spread of COVID-19. Due to the potentially sensitive nature of personal information gathered by contact tracing applications, there is high potential for privacy issues to arise. This thesis explores the dangers of digital contact tracing or contact tracing via a mobile application. Focusing on the United States, this paper studies how contact tracing works and how a contact tracing application might collect different types of data. The paper then studies the effects of giving up location data and health data and what potential ramifications that …

Microbiome Community And Parasitic Infections In Wild Bees, Mark G. Young

Honors Theses

The microbiome is increasingly recognized for its complex relationship with host fitness. Akin to primates and other social animals, bumblebees harbor a specific microbiome derived from social contact. The bumblebee microbiome is characteristically species poor, with just a few “core” phylotypes accounting for the majority of total abundance. Genomic analyses reveal phylogenetic congruence and adaptation of the core endosymbionts to the bumblebee gut, indicating a shared evolutionary history. Prior investigations reveal that the relative abundance of core microbes is negatively associated with infection by a trypanosome, Crithidia bombi, and that the microbiome has a mechanistic role in immunity. As …

Morphological Variance In Mouthparts And Foraging Behavior In Bumblebees, Ye Jin Lee

Honors Theses

Bumblebees (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Bombus) show an incredible degree of size variation within and between species. Individuals from the same hive may vary up to 10-fold in mass. This variation allows individuals to specialize in foraging on different flowers suited to their morphology. However, as different species have different foraging behaviors, their variation in mouthparts and scaling of mouthparts to body size may have been under different kinds of stabilizing selection as they adapted to collect nectar from flowering plants over evolutionary time. Here, we examined the scaling relationships between body size and mouthpart structures, and the variation in mouthpart shape …

Contrasting Patterns Of Nutrient Limitation In The Littoral And Pelagic Zones Of Mesotrophic Maine Lakes, Grace C. Neumiller

Honors Theses

Intense nutrient loading of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) causes sudden regime shifts in freshwater ecosystems from clearwater to turbid conditions with frequent cyanobacterial blooms. Characterization of nutrient limitation patterns of primary productivity in these ecosystems is necessary for effective management of algal blooms. However, much of this research has focused on pelagic habitats. The influence of lake habitat (i.e. benthic littoral versus pelagic zones) on nutrient limitation of primary production in mesotrophic lakes is largely unknown, particularly in contrast to research on pelagic nutrient limitation in eutrophic systems. Using paired nutrient diffusing substrata and mesocosm experiments, we measured chlorophyll- …

Identity-Making And Spatialization Among Colby College's International Students, John G.G. Shamgochian

Honors Theses

This thesis presents the research that I have done for the award of Honors in Anthropology. The following text begins with a vignette that highlights identity-making and spatialization among international students in a moment of precarity and visibility. The “Introduction” records the development of my research from its initial topics to its current form, my methodology, my positionality, and the ethics of my research. Following this, in the chapter titled “Internationality,” I lay out the interwoven social, institutional, and political processes which shape the experiences of academic migrants. Because the purpose of this chapter is to fully contextualize my argument, …

Analyzing The Role Of Noncoding Rna-Derived Rnas In Human Cancer, Yulong Huang

Honors Theses

To date, there are no known cures or effective preventative measures for cancer. Research has been conducted on small noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs) and noncoding RNAderived RNAs (ndRNAs) as potential contributors to cancer suppression and/or proliferation. Tumorigenesis may be slowed by identifying and targeting some ndRNAs that are frequently presented in different cases of cancer, which may improve patient prognoses. To identify these ndRNAs, we utilized next-generation sequencing (NGS), a DNA/RNA sequencing technology, to sequence nucleotides in the human transcriptome. Then, we analyzed NGS data in accordance with information from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and Sequence Read Archive (SRA) to …

Integrative Genome Assembly Of Staphylococcus Epidermidis And Staphylococcus Hominis Strains, Cana L. Brown

Honors Theses

Due to rapid advances in sequencing technology, it is becoming increasingly easier to assemble unknown genomes from millions of short sequencing reads of nucleotides taken from the full genomic sequence (Hernandez, 2008). In this study, we used various computational programs to align reads from unsequenced strains of the bacteria Staphylococcus epidermidis and Staphylococcus hominis into a hitherto undefined, single contiguous genomic sequence. We used SPAdes to assist with template free assembly (Bankevich, 2012), BLAST to identify a suitable reference genome from closely related species (Madden, 2013), Bowtie2 to align our reads to the reference genome, SAMtools to sort and organize …

Factors Contributing To Diminished Long-Term Outcomes Of Secondary Infections, Alia Tayara

Honors Theses

It is widely known that patients suffer diminished long-term outcomes in the years following secondary infections, infectious diseases that occur during or after treatment of a primary infection such as influenza or COVID-19. One common secondary infection is pneumonia, which has become the most fatal hospital-acquired infection. The bacterium responsible for pneumonia is known as Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The cytotoxic supernatant in these studies was generated from a PA103 strain of Psuedomonas aeruginosa with a type III secretion system that maintains the ability to transfer exoenzymes ExoU and ExoT into target cells during infection. The focus of the following studies was …

Assessment Of Hypothermia As A Correlate Of Pde4 Inhibitor-Induced Nausea In Mice, Marianna Susan Oditt

Honors Theses

Type-4-cAMP-phosphodiesterases (PDE4s) are a group of isoenzymes that hydrolyze the second messenger cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP). PDE4 inhibitors have many therapeutic uses including reducing inflammation, however, they also have side effects like nausea and emesis, which have diminished the clinical utility of PDE4 inhibitors. When administered to mice, PDE4 inhibitors have been shown to cause hypothermia. Given that nausea and emesis in humans are also associated hypothermia, this project served to determine whether PDE4 inhibitor-induced hypothermia may represent a correlate of nausea and/or emesis in mice. To this end, the current literature was screened for articles that explore nausea, emesis …

Functionalization Of Novel Pp5 Inhibitors, Hope P. Hill

Honors Theses

The overexpression of protein phosphatase 5 has been correlated to tumor cell reproduction making it a candidate for small molecule drug therapy. Selective and potent inhibition of protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) enzyme has been previously achieved through the development of the molecule fostriecin with key functionality being a lactone and unsaturated linear chain. The large synthetic overhead of fostriecin has led to exploration of other small molecule inhibitors that could mirror fostriecin’s interaction with the active site in the catalytic domain of PP5. The naturally occurring inhibitor, cantharidin, is functionalized with an epoxy containing eleven carbon chain to optimize binding …

Gq-Mediated Ca** Signals In Human Airway Smooth Muscle Cells, Hanna Viktoria Bobinger

Honors Theses

Current asthma therapies include corticosteroids, long acting β2-adrenergic receptor (β2-AR) agonists paired with corticosteroids, or short-acting β2-AR agonists used in rescue inhalers. Chronic use of β-agonists results in diminished effectiveness, and use of long-acting β-agonists can even exacerbate asthma symptoms; this is partly because anti-inflammatory therapy does not directly address the exaggerated airway narrowing due to excessive shortening of airway smooth muscle (ASM), which is the hallmark of asthma. These observations led our collaborators to investigate other potential asthma therapies – bitter taste agonists. 2 Bitter taste agonists, such as chloroquine, activate a subset of Gq-coupled receptors known as bitter …

A Foray Into The Interval Timing Capabilities Of Tufted Capuchin Monkeys (Cebus [Sapajus] Apella), Gryff Griffin

Honors Theses

Time is a critical part of life and timing on the range from milliseconds to minutes has proven to be critical for several behaviors such as foraging and movement. While the exact neurological structures of interval timing are currently undefined, several studies have been completed comparing the interval timing capabilities of humans and nonhuman primates. However, these studies have unanimously utilized members of Macaca, which limits the abilities for researchers to make apt comparisons between humans and all nonhuman primates. This study sought to investigate whether tufted capuchins (Cebus [Sapajus] apella) have the capability to measure time …

The Functionally Relevant Role Of Sdrna-19b And Sdrna-24 In Prostate Cancer, Addison A. Barchie

Honors Theses

In recent studies small nucleolar RNAs (snoRNA) have been shown to be processed into smaller microRNA-like fragments known as sno-derived RNA (sdRNA). We recently identified 9 snoRNAs that contribute to prostate malignancy using The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) patient prostate tumor next-generation sequencing datasets. These snoRNA were found to be processed into sdRNAs, heavily misexpressed in prostate cancer cell types 8140 and 8550, and shown to function by binding Ago proteins in order to impact mRNA translation. SdRNA-19b and sdRNA-24 in particular stood out as having significant differential expression in prostate cancer vs. control tissue. Interestingly, the targets for sdRNA-19b …

The Role Of Inflammasome In Vascular Remodeling Following Injury, Ted Amadi

Honors Theses

The purpose of the project presented in this thesis is to assess the contribution of inflammasome activation in mediating vascular wall remodeling that occurs following carotid artery injury due to decreased blood flow. To examine this, we used a mouse model of carotid artery ligation in mice lacking the expression of a key mediator of the inflammasome signaling pathway. Following ligation, we completed a histological assessment to compare the degree of the neointima formation and expression of inflammasome related proteins in both injured and the non-injured contralateral carotid artery in both wild-type (WT) and Caspase 1 knockout mice (Cas1 -/-).

Determination Of Pollutant Load Reductions To Three Mile Creek As A Result Of The Implementation Of Storm Water Bio-Infiltration Basins On The Usa Campus, Jordan E. Blackmon

Honors Theses

Three Mile Creek has been identified as an impaired urban stream and is now a priority for cleanup for both the City of Mobile and the Alabama Department of Environmental Management. Methods to better manage storm water runoff on the USA campus have begun, with a goal to reduce sediment and nutrient inputs to Three Mile Creek. Both sediment and nutrient inputs to Three Mile Creek disrupt habitat and lower dissolved oxygen concentrations, which are detrimental to overall stream health. Low Impact Development strategies are an innovative way to use nature-like, green-infrastructures to minimize storm water runoff quantity and improve …

Comparative Analysis Of Computationally Accelerated Ngs Alignment, Ada Chaeli Van Der Zijp-Tan

Honors Theses

The Smith-Waterman algorithm is the basis of most current sequence alignment technology, which can be used to identify similarities between sequences for cancer detection and treatment because it provides researchers with potential targets for early diagnosis and personalized treatment. The growing number of DNA and RNA sequences available to analyze necessitates faster alignment processes than are possible with current iterations of the Smith-Waterman (S-W) algorithm. This project aimed to identify the most effective and efficient methods for accelerating the S-W algorithm by investigating recent advances in sequence alignment. Out of a total of 22 articles considered in this project, 17 …

Utilizing Acoustic Levitation To Determine Ionic Liquid Effects On Enthalpy Of Polymerization, Davina V. Ho

Honors Theses

Ionic liquids (ILs) are emerging as an eco-friendlier alternative to traditional organic compounds. The hope with ILs in this project is to incorporate them with resins used in 3D printing to act as plasticizers which will in turn help prolong the life of the printed object. A common issue with plasticizers like phthalate in particular is they can leach out of plastics due to their vapor pressure which leads to decreased performance and can also pose a health risk being released into its surroundings or atmosphere. A major benefit of incorporating ILs in with resins comes from their low volatility …

Ogt Glycosylation Of Histones In T Cells May Participate In Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, Jared Luke Ridgeway

Honors Theses

Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic autoimmune disease that primarily affects women. The etiology is not known yet, but genetics and environmental factors trigger the disease. These epigenetic changes modify gene expression and contribute to the development of the disease. It is known that T cells from patients with lupus overexpress genes that may contribute to the onset and progression of the disease. Dr. Gorelik has shown that OGT (O-linked N-acetyl-Glucosamine Transferase), which is an X-linked gene, is overexpressed in women with SLE. OGT adds b-N-acetylglucosamine (O-GlcNAc) to serine and threonine residues of proteins. …

Characterization Of Bpa Sensitive Strains In C. Elegans, Giulianna I. Escobar

Honors Theses

Bisphenol A (BPA) has been present in our environment since 1891 when it was first synthesized by Aleksandr Dianin. BPA has since been a topic of interest due to the possibility of diseases associated in human consumption of the chemical. Interestingly, Caenorhabditiselegans, commonly known as C.eleganshave shown to be able to tolerate the chemical. Thisorganism is an advantageous model organism for research since they are simple organisms to study, cheap, produce a large brood size, and have a short life cycle. Previously a forward genetic screen was done to isolate 2000 healthy strains in order to determine which strains showed …

Assessing Solvent Viscosity Impact On The Physical Characteristics Of Polymeric Organogels, Cameron Hong

Honors Theses

Traditionally, studies of polymeric organogels focus on the impact of polymer factors (e.g., molecular weight and polymer concentration) on the gels’ mechanical and transport properties. Alternatively, this study seeks to assess the impact of altering solvent viscosity, while holding polymer factors constant. The gels in this study were composed of different viscosity mineral oils, styrene-ethylene-butylene-styrene (SEBS) triblock copolymer as a gelator, and oleic acid (OA) as a model drug. Samples were formulated to have 6.5, 11.2, and 15.7 wt% SEBS copolymer for each mineral oil, varying in viscosity from ≈30 mPa*s to ≈500 mPa*s. Uniaxial mechanical testing was performed to …

Dissociating Socioeconomic Influences On Maternal Language Input And Child Language Outcomes, Klaudia Kulawska

Honors Theses

Early language development is associated with children’s socioeconomic status (SES). Specifically, children from lower SES backgrounds, on average, exhibit slower language development compared to their peers from higher-SES backgrounds. Even though SES is a multidimensional construct, research often relies on a single dimension or a composite measure when studying child language development. In this article, I investigate four dimensions of SES, including maternal education, income-to-needs ratio, financial security, and neighborhood SES. Specifically, I examine whether the quantity and quality of maternal linguistic input mediates the relationships between dimensions of SES and child receptive language skills. Mothers and their 36-40 months …

Assessing The Impact Of Block-Selective Homopolymers On The Diffusion Of Payload Through Polymeric Organogels, Ian Coates

Honors Theses

Styrenic polymer gels have received recent attention for their application in transdermal patches due to their unique properties. Previous research in the pharmaceutical industry has identified that polymeric gels, specifically styrenic gels, have the potential to encompass multiple functions of the transdermal delivery patch including controlling mechanical and delivery properties. To tailor styrenic gels either the gel nanostructure or the drug complex can be controlled. Specifically, this thesis investigated the effect of gel nanostructure in an attempt to control the gel diffusivity and mechanical properties. To control gel nanostructure a phase selective styrene homopolymer was used at varying concentrations. It …

Rights For The “Non-Conforming” Woman: The Intersectionality Of The Fight For Women’S Rights And Lgbtq+ Rights In Argentina, Talia C. Housman

Honors Theses

Argentina has faced many challenges throughout its history of activism as the people have pushed for an equal society. Different movements have sprung up over the years, but they have begun to twist together in recent times due to the need for support during repressive regimes. This brings into question the concept of intersectionality, which spans feminist, queer, and legal theory in its attempt to explain the need for overlap, modeling the natural development of personal identities and groups like family. The feminist movement and the LGBTQ+ movements have woven together in many rallies, especially during El Encuentro Nacional de …

Twelve Angry Men: A Twenty-First Century Reflection Of Race, Art, And Incarceration, Mackenzie A. Gross

Honors Theses

Twelve Angry Men: A Twenty-First Century Reflection of Race, Art and Incarceration is a Comparative and Digital Humanities Honors Thesis concentrating on Africana Studies, theatre, sociology and legal studies to demonstrate the importance of investing in incarcerated communities through theatre and education.

In Chapter I, I critique the loss of identity attached to incarceration, and introduce the foundation for Black bodies individuals being discriminated against in the prosecution system. I analyze the “Punishment vs Progress” mentality, and introduce current educational programs in place in prisons. I elaborate on the details of our production, as well as the makeup of actors. …

Synthesis, Gari Eberly

Honors Theses

Synthesis is a scientifically-aware collection of poetry that explores how gender relations and race amalgamate to impact the maturation of an individual. Employing both sonnet and computer code, I reflect on my experiences as a mixed-raced girl growing up in central Pennsylvania, my growth through several romantic relationships, and how I currently navigate male-dominated spaces as a woman.

For the past four years, I have sought to bridge the gap between my two academic commitments: poetry and science. Both poetry and science exist as a means to ask and answer questions about the messy interactions that shape personalities and relations …

Determination Of Hydrogel Degradation By Passive Mechanical Testing, Avery Rosh-Gorsky

Honors Theses

This paper details a new technique to measure the mechanical properties of ETTMP PEGDA hydrogels using Hertz Contact Theory and simultaneously analyze both the model drug release and gel erosion in situ. This method involves curing a drug loaded hydrogel in a standard cuvette and placing a glass bead and phosphate buffer solution (PBS). Over time, the cross-linked network of the hydrogel breaks down, and, as a result, the ball sinks into the hydrogel. This method provides a macroscopic and inexpensive way to continuously and passively measure properties of the hydrogel as the hydrogel degrades. By plotting both the …