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The Roleo F Selectionin Maintaining Mhc Variationi N Mammals: Heterozygotaed Vantage,R Area Llelea Dvantagea Nd Mate Choice, Carol Titterton Ms

Student Scholarship

The major histocompatibility complex (MHC) is the most polymorphic gene

region in jawed vertebrates. Its gene products play a critical role in determining

individual and population fitness by presenting foreign antigens to immune system

cells, thereby initiating immune response to pathogen and parasite infections and

cancer. I surveyed the literature to investigate how selection maintains such

important adaptive diversity in mammalian populations and how MHC diversity

affects individual and population fitness. Balancing selection in the form of either

heterozygote advantage or rare allele advantage has long been proposed as the key

mechanism for maintaining the extreme diversity in MHC gene …

Challenges Inherent To The Sequencing And Quantification Of Short Non-Coding Rnas And How To Address Them, Justin Gumas, Yohei Kirino

Computational Medicine Center Faculty Papers

No abstract provided.

The Incorporation Of And Engagement In Engineering Design In High School Biology, Margaret Elizabeth Parker

Theses and Dissertations

The Framework for K-12 Science Education and the Next Generation Science Standards propose that students learn concepts and practices related to engineering as well as science. Currently the research surrounding how engineering practices through engineering design are implemented in the life sciences such as high school biology is limited. To explore how engineering design is included in a biology class, a case study was conducted in two high school biology classrooms. This qualitative case study examined how high school biology teachers incorporated an engineering design project into a science curricular unit and how high school biology students engaged in an …

Midweek Memo, Georgia Southern University

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I'M Going Cycle Every Day, Lauren Nguyen

LSU Master's Theses

Many designers and scientists have been able to integrate design and science in their respective fields to create works that effectively inform their audiences of complicated subjects. Each of these individuals can express their creativity and viewpoint of the subject matter in a way that is interesting, visually appealing, and informative. Using the medium of graphic design, I created printed posters that represent the way I view the processes of the human body that are technical, yet also visually appealing.

My thesis exhibition walks my audience through the biological cycles that maintain the human body on an everyday basis from …

Asset Values Of Trees Vary Among Age And Condition, Aidan Castricone

Biology Student Scholarship

Trees are utilized everywhere for visual, physical or functional means with an example being on Providence College campus. We have 1,403 trees part of an inventory and management plan. As part of this plan that was updated this past December 2021 each tree has an asset value calculated with consideration of the size, species, condition, and location. What was not clear in the management plan was whether one factor held more weight in the calculated value compared to another factor. This research focuses on the influence that the age and condition of the tree have on the tree asset value. …

The Impacts Of Ph On Biodiversity In Marine Environments, Matthew Rock

Biology Student Scholarship

Climate change continues to impact each and every environment on Earth due to rising levels of greenhouse gasses. CO2 is the most pervasive of these gasses, and when mixed with seawater it creates carbonic acid increasing the pH of water. Ocean acidification has led to large-scale die-offs of more sensitive marine species like coral; therefore, this project serves to evaluate the interaction between pH and the biodiversity of coastal marine environments. BIO 340 final project

Bird Nesting Trends In Massachusetts, Dieter Rodriguez

Biology Student Scholarship

Bird nesting data has long been documented for various species across the United States. While trends between temperature changes or precipitation on bird nesting have been studied for particular species, studies done on the effects of temperature due to climate change on bird nesting on the broader state level are lacking. Using bird nesting data and average annual temperature data for Massachusetts collected over a ten year period, I assessed the effects of temperature changes over time on bird nesting attempts and total eggs laid for all documented species within the state. BIO 340 final project

Climate Effects On Butterfly Species Richness, Isabelle Heron

Biology Student Scholarship

The effects of climate change on the surrounding biodiversity lead scientists to argue an “insect apocalypse” is approaching. Butterflies, as poikilothermic animals, meaning their activity is closely controlled by weather, represent a useful indicator to studying climate change. Scientists can detect changes in butterfly abundance which result in changes in distribution and abundance over a short period of time. BIO 340 final project

The Effect Of Temperature On Algal Blooms In New York State, Kylie Taylor

Biology Student Scholarship

Water shapes all flora and fauna. Urbanization, industrialization, and other human activities have negatively affected this important source. For example, algal blooms arise due to a combination of sunlight, warm temperatures, and excessive nutrient runoff. The nutrients are a result of fertilizer runoff which enters aquatic systems and cause algal blooms. Increased air temperatures cause increased water temperatures which creates ideal conditions for cyanobacteria growth which are responsible for blooms. Algal blooms affect the entire ecosystem by decreasing sunlight availability in the water. Decreased sunlight contributes to low oxygen dead-zones which negatively affect drinking water reservoirs. I examined the relationship …

Recent Advances In Bone Research 2022 Edition, Jean-Philippe Berteau, Laurent Pujo-Menjouet

Publications and Research

More and more scientific and engineering applications in bone research make pivotal advances in treating patients with orthopedics issues. Hence, bone research in the 21st century combines, inter alia, biology, chemistry, mathematics, and mechanics with complementary characteristics that help a holistic approach to bone-related pathologies. Nowadays, it is hard to connect new evidence when jargoning and money remain two significant obstacles to sharing knowledge. “Recent Advances In Bone Research” is a free book – no money involved at any stage - that combines the most recent efforts in bone research from several experts with different backgrounds, every expert seeks to …

Environmental Toxins Disproportionately Affect Low Income And Minority Communities Along The Providence River, Jalynn Booker

Biology Student Scholarship

The effects of environmental toxins emitted from the various industrial businesses along the Providence River and Allen’s Ave have been reported by residents to cause an incline in respiratory diseases and other illnesses in children and adults in nearby neighborhoods. Operations along Allen’s Ave consist of heavy toxin emitting practices such as hot asphalt mixing, fuels emissions, toxic runoff, gas leaks and piles of scrap metal. Many local news articles and blog posts have reported on the fact that this industrial waterfront has adversely impacted neighboring communities. However, there is little research explicitly comparing the socioeconomic differences between the east …

Lyme Disease Cases Dependent On Annual Snowfall, Andrew Jordan

Biology Student Scholarship

Ticks are parasitic arachnids that inhabit every region of the United States. Ticks can spread diseases through feeding on the blood of mammals and birds. Lyme disease is a bacterial infection you can get from the bite of a Blacklegged tick (deer tick), which can lead to long term health effects and can ultimately lead to fatality. Depending on location, up to 50% of ticks in the given area can carry Lyme disease. Lyme disease is a problem and climate change could make it even worse. Whether or not a tick dies in the winter depends on how deep they …

Law School News: Adjunct Professor Of The Year 2022: Michelle M. Alves, Esq. '00, L'03 05/18/2022, Michael M. Bowden

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

Who's Hiding On The Savanna?, Amanda Morgan

Children's Book and Media Review

From sunset to sunrise, the savannah is full of interesting animals. In the morning, female lions can be found in the shade with two or three cubs. In the afternoon, hippos hold their breath for up to five minutes underwater. In the evening, vervet monkeys eat leaves and flowers as they lurk in branches. At night, superb starlings gather in large groups to sleep in trees.

Animal Atlas, Amanda Morgan

Children's Book and Media Review

There are animals from every continent and ocean. In North America, monarch butterflies migrate from Canada and the US to Mexico. The bee hummingbird lives in what little remains of the Cuba tropical forest. In Asia, the Baikal seal can be found in Lake Baikal, where two-thirds of the plants and animals are unique to the lake. In Australia, kiwis roam among the kauri trees, and saltwater crocodiles live in the brackish rivers leading to the Indian Ocean. Deep in the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, find mysterious animals like Murray’s abyssal anglerfish, and in the seagrass meadows of the Indian Ocean, leafy …

Student Engagement And Performance Assessment As Associated With Three Types Of Integument System Laboratory Activities, Sophie Deoliveira

Honors Theses

Students participating in anatomy education, specifically an Anatomy and Physiology classroom, have shown difficulty in learning and retaining information on the various systems of the body. This study sought to assess the benefits of different learning activities associated with student engagement and performance on subsequent examinations regarding the integumentary system. For this study, three different hands-on laboratory activities (i.e., treatments) were given during different laboratory sessions. These hands-on activities included labeling a three-dimensional model, illustrating a model, or building a model of the integumentary system using materials provided. Students then completed a post-laboratory questionnaire regarding their enjoyment of their particular …

Drafting An Assessment Plan For Your Instruction Program: Sustainably Assessing Information Literacy In An Undergraduate Stem Course, Kevin Moore, Clinton K. Baugess

All Musselman Library Staff Works

Assessing student learning across a library instruction program can be infeasible without being strategic, intentional, and realistic. Librarians at a small college will share how they developed a sustainable, 3-year assessment plan for the ACRL Framework and targeted a 100-level biology course-one of the two high-enrollment STEM courses that receive library instruction on their campus each year. The presenters will share their assessment plan, flipped instruction model, workflow-management strategies, and lessons learned for collaborating with STEM faculty to assess information literacy.

How Are Changes In Temperature And Salinity Impacting Intertidal Mussels?, Casey A. Martin

Student Research Symposium

Marine organisms living within the intertidal zones, such as mussels, experience a wide range of environmental conditions every day. Due to Climate change, these environments are transforming in such a way that may impact a mussels ability to successfully reproduce, grow, and live. Previous studies have shown that successful gamete development in freshwater mussels has been linked to temperature and species behavior has been observed to be influenced by salinity levels. In order to test the impact of temperature and salinity on mussel physiology, mussels were exposed to several treatments with varying conditions. Those conditions included a combination of a …

Development And Analysis Of Next-Generation Polymeric And Bio-Ceramic Based Orthopedic Scaffolds By Advanced Manufacturing Techniques, Sudeep K. Gummadi

ETD Archive

Gliomas express mutant isocitrate dehydrogenases producing excessive amounts of D 2-hydroxyglutarate (D2HG) and releasing some of it into the environment. The immune surveillance is reduced as a result, however, the mechanisms behind lymphocyte suppression by the D2HG stereoisomer remain unknown. I incubated Jurkat T cells with D2HG at concentrations present within and surrounding gliomas, or its obverse L2HG stereoisomer, and quantified 2HG isomers within washed cells by TSPC derivatization with stable isotope-labeled D2HG and L2HG internal standards, HPLC separation, and mass spectrometry. D2HG was found in quiescent cells in double the amount of L2HG. External D2HG or L2HG increased the …

Simulating Polistes Dominulus Nest-Building Heuristics With Deterministic And Markovian Properties, Benjamin Pottinger

Undergraduate Honors Theses

European Paper Wasps (Polistes dominula) are social insects that build round, symmetrical nests. Current models indicate that these wasps develop colonies by following simple heuristics based on nest stimuli. Computer simulations can model wasp behavior to imitate natural nest building. This research investigated various building heuristics through a novel Markov-based simulation. The simulation used a hexagonal grid to build cells based on the building rule supplied to the agent. Nest data was compared with natural data and through visual inspection. Larger nests were found to be less compact for the rules simulated.

Anxiety And Immunity: Affecting The Body And The Mind, Katelynn Dobbs

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

Speculations have been made within the scientific community that there is a link between the underlying mechanisms that impact anxiety disorders and immune system disorders. While many correlations between these disorders have been observed through various immune system disorder studies, this subject is still severely under-explored. In order to examine the potential relationship between anxiety disorders and immune system disorders, a survey was conducted and distributed among the student population at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. This survey collected data by asking a variety of questions that pertained to anxiety and immune system disorders diagnoses within the student population …

Assessing The Role Of Biology Undergraduates' Metacognitive Calibration And Neural Activity During Model-Based Reasoning, Mei Grace Behrendt

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Metacognition refers to the critical awareness of or ability to monitor, regulate, control, and sequence of one's thoughts and performance. There is limited research that examines the relationship between metacognition and (a) academic performance and (b) general cognition among undergraduates. Moreover, there is an even greater paucity of literature that focuses more specifically on undergraduate biology students’ neural activity in relation to their metacognition.

This study aimed to examine the relationship between undergraduate life sciences students' metacognitive calibration, i.e., their capacity to self-evaluate their own performance, and their behavioral performance and brain activity during a biological error reasoning task. Thirty-four …

Computational Investigations Into Binding Dynamics Of Tau Protein Antibodies: Using Machine Learning And Biophysical Models To Build A Better Reality, Katherine Lee

University Scholar Projects

Misregulation of post-translational modifications of microtubule-associated protein tau is implicated in several neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer’s disease. Hyperphosphorylation of tau promotes aggregation of tau monomers into filaments which are common in tau-associated pathologies. Therefore, tau is a promising target for therapeutics and diagnostics. Recently, high-affinity, high-specificity single-chain variable fragment (scFv) antibodies against pThr-231 tau were generated and the most promising variant (scFv 3.24) displayed 20-fold increased binding affinity to pThr-231 tau compared to the wild-type. The scFv 3.24 variant contained five point mutations, and intriguingly none were in the tau binding site. The increased affinity was hypothesized to occur due …

Topological Data Analysis And Ant Interaction Networks, Adam Banatwala, Esther Rønn

Mathematics & Computer Science Student Scholarship

Adam Banatwala ’22, Majors: Mathematics and Finance
Esther Rønn ’23, Majors: Physics and Mathematics
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Laura Murray, Mathematics and Computer Science

Our research group used topological data analysis (TDA) to quantify the movement and behavior of ants in a colony.

We extracted higher dimensional networks from point cloud data collected from Dr. James Waters’ lab. Varying the proximity parameter in this construction gives a sequence of networks. We analyzed the enduring topological features of these networks, and how these features evolve over time as the ants move in the colony. Both the experimental and null model simulation data …

Circadian Phase Shifts Effect Of Social Jetlag On Cellular Metabolism And Circadian Genes In Wildtype Flies, Olivia Kozub

Biology Student Scholarship

Olivia Kozub ’23
Major: Biology
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Pamela Snodgrass-Belt, Biology

Drosophila, like humans, have circadian clocks which regulate behavioral and physiological systems within the body. This “biological clock” is synchronized to the environment via temperature and/or light cycles. Small fluctuations in day-length trigger a reset of circadian clocks daily. However, large disruptions can cause health and stress issues such as social jetlag. Social jetlag occurs when an individual’s biological clock clashes with the timing of one’s sleep schedule determined by social factors and the demands of the day.

A Patient-Derived Ipsc Model To Study Glutamate Deficiency By Shank-3 Mutation In Autism Spectrum Disorder, Tiffany Berry, Courtney Caccia

Biology Student Scholarship

Tiffany Berry ’22, Majors: Biology and Psychology

Courtney Caccia ’22, Majors: Biology and Psychology

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Charles Toth, Biology

The use of human stem cell lines derived from persons with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) provides a unique opportunity to model brain growth and potential to regain brain activity for treatment. Our lab has previously used stem cells to derive 3D cardiomyocytes to examine cardiovascular disease as well as kidney organoids and macrophages to study kidney disease. Using techniques our lab has learned using these stem cell models have prepared us to examine cell communication in mutated neurons. We will …

Rare Elfin Abundance Correlates With Host Plant Density, Matthew Look

Biology Student Scholarship

Matthew Look ’22
Major: Environmental Biology
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Rachael Bonoan, Biology

The rare frosted elfin butterfly (Callophrys irus) is a host plant specialist; it lays eggs on only two plant species, including small yellow indigo (Baptisia tinctoria). This makes the butterfly especially vulnerable to habitat fragmentation. Using indigo samples and butterfly survey data, we examined the effect of indigo quantity and quality on elfin abundance at Gavins Pond (Sharon/Foxboro, MA). Indigo density significantly affected butterfly count—frosted elfins were more likely to be spotted in patches with high indigo density. While nutritional analysis is ongoing, current findings suggest that augmenting …

Validation Of Rotoscoping Method For Two-Marker Bones In The Alligator Forearm, Nina Pitre

Biology Student Scholarship

Nina Pitre ’22
Majors: Biology and Psychology
Faculty Mentor: Dr. David Baier, Biology

XROMM methods "re-animate" 3D skeletal motion of living animals by aligning digital bone models to X-ray videos. Surgically implanted markers permit automatic alignment of bone models if three or more markers are used. However, one of our specimens only had two markers implanted. These bones could be automatically positioned and partially oriented using the two markers, but then required manual alignment to the X-ray images to orient about the axis passing between the two markers. Here, we validated the method by digitally removing a marker from a …

Spring 2022: Pre-Veterinary Grad Moves On Toward The Career Of Her Dreams, St. Norbert College

St. Norbert College Magazine 2019-2023

Alicia Gehlhoff ’22, a biology major with a pre-veterinary focus at St. Norbert College, has achieved her lifelong dream of being accepted to veterinary school at UW-Madison, thanks to her dedication, research experience, and hands-on work with animals.