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2017 - The Twenty-Second Annual Symposium Of Student Scholars

Symposium of Student Scholars Program Books

The full program book from the Twenty-second Annual Symposium of Student Scholars, held on April 20, 2017. Includes abstracts from the presentations and posters.

Molecular And Biochemical Technologies For Modifying Plant Cell Walls And Producing Functional Biobased Products, Ningning Zhang

Student Theses and Dissertations

There is a continuing need for new molecular and biochemical processing technologies to more sustainably utilize biomass such as sugar beet pulp for environmental and economic benefit. This research project addressed the overarching research hypothesis that innovative molecular and biochemical technologies can enable more efficient processing of plant biomass and generate renewable biobased products for food and industrial use. Specifically, this research investigated upstream processing technologies toward re-engineering the plant cell wall for improved biomass processability and downstream processing technologies for efficient cell wall-depolymerizing (CWD) enzyme production and biomass processing. There were two Specific Aims addressed in this project: 1.) …

Swosu Research And Scholarly Activity Fair 2017, Lisa Appeddu, Cj Smith

SWOSU Research and Scholarly Activity Fair Programs

Welcome to the Twenty-Fourth SWOSU Research and Scholarly Activity Fair! On display today are 158 poster presentations and 11 oral presentations, involving 314 student researchers, writers, presenters, and artists, and 47 faculty sponsors encompassing scholarly activity from the SWOSU Departments of Art, Communication, and Theatre; Biological Sciences; Business & Computer Science; Chemistry and Physics; Engineering Technology; Language & Literature; Music; Pharmaceutical Sciences; Psychology; and Social Sciences; and SWOSU School of Nursing and Allied Health Sciences. In addition, there are poster presentations from the Western Technology Center Biomedical Academy, Francis Tuttle Technology Center, El Reno Public Schools, and BlueSTEM AgriLearning …

Oxidation Of Substituted Catechols At The Air-Water Interface: Production Of Carboxylic Acids, Quinones, And Polyphenols, Elizabeth A. Pillar, Marcelo I. Guzman

Chemistry Faculty Publications

Anthropogenic activities contribute benzene, toluene, and anisole to the environment, which in the atmosphere are converted into the respective phenols, cresols, and methoxyphenols by fast gas-phase reaction with hydroxyl radicals (HO(•)). Further processing of the latter species by HO(•) decreases their vapor pressure as a second hydroxyl group is incorporated to accelerate their oxidative aging at interfaces and in aqueous particles. This work shows how catechol, pyrogallol, 3-methylcatechol, 4-methylcatechol, and 3-methoxycatechol (all proxies for oxygenated aromatics derived from benzene, toluene, and anisole) react at the air-water interface with increasing O3(g) during τc ≈ 1 μs contact time and contrasts their …

Testing Effectiveness Of Aqueous Phases From Struvite And Hydroxyapatite Mineral Precipitation As Algal Nutrient Sources, Aaron Lyons

Virginias Collegiate Honors Council Conference

As interest in algal biofuel grows, the need to explore diverse nutrient sources for growing algae becomes apparent. Struvite and Hydroxyapatite (HAP) were precipitated after flash hydrolysis. The leftover aqueous phase (AP) could serve as nutrients source for algae cultivation and the potential reuse of this waste stream is promising. To test this, 12 bottles of Scenedemus sp., four of Struvite, four of HAP, and four control AM-14 synthetic media were cultivated. 10% of the Phosphorus in the synthetic media was replaced with phosphorous from the struvite AP, and 10% of the nitrogen in the synthetic media was replaced …

Experimental Evaluation Of Cooling Effectiveness And Water Conservation In A Poultry House Using Flow Blurring® Atomizers, Rafael M. Rodriguez

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Increases in population as well as economic improvements in developing countries are generating a larger demand for animal protein products. Current animal growth processes inherently, require the use of water in many forms throughout the growth cycle. Water is the most important natural resource on earth to sustain life, and in many developing countries is a scarce resource that must be used wisely. Studies have revealed that poultry growth can take place with less water consumption, when compared with other sources of animal protein (e.g., cattle, pork). In this research, an evaporative Flow Blurring^® cooling system was considered as …

Exploring Therapeutic Approaches For Marfan Syndrome Associated Aortic Aneurysm, Mitra Esfandiarei

Science Seminar Series

Esfandiearei will be discussing her research on understanding the underlying mechanisms contributing to the progression of aortic aneurysm in Marfan syndrome and the protective effects that exercise may have on the disease process in both laboratory animal models and human patients. Her research has been supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), Rare Diseases Foundation, and the Marfan Foundation.

Catalyzed Synthesis Of Zinc Clays By Prebiotic Central Metabolites, Marcelo I. Guzman, Ruixin Zhou, Kaustuv Basu, Hyman Hartman, Christopher J. Matocha, S. Kelly Sears, Hajatollah Vali

Chemistry Faculty Publications

How primordial metabolic networks such as the reverse tricarboxylic acid (rTCA) cycle and clay mineral catalysts coevolved remains a mystery in the puzzle to understand the origin of life. While prebiotic reactions from the rTCA cycle were accomplished via photochemistry on semiconductor minerals, the synthesis of clays was demonstrated at low temperature and ambient pressure catalyzed by oxalate. Herein, the crystallization of clay minerals is catalyzed by succinate, an example of a photoproduced intermediate from central metabolism. The experiments connect the synthesis of sauconite, a model for clay minerals, to prebiotic photochemistry. We report the temperature, pH, and concentration dependence …

A Drosophila Model To Examine Collective Migration During Retinogenesis, Caroline Pena, Stephanie Zhang, Mildred Kamara, Tadmiri Venkatesh, Maribel Vazquez

Publications and Research

Retinal dysfunction is often caused by aberrant neural cell migration during development. In this study, we observed the migration of neural cells of the Drosophila melanogaster after marking cells of the 3rd instar larvae with the GAL4-UAS expression system when exposed to a concentration gradient of FGF-8 through the use of a microfluidic device. The glial and neuronal cell ratio in the developing brain was determined through immunofluorescent staining and observation. In future studies, a microfluidic device that mimics the developing Drosophila brain and retina will be designed in order to better understand the biological factors that affect the migration …

Santa Clara Magazine, Volume 58 Number 1, Spring 2017, Santa Clara University

Santa Clara Magazine

24 - BIG WIN FOR A TINY HOUSE Turning heads and changing the housing game. By Matt Morgan.

28 - $100 MILLION GIFT TO BUILD John A. ’60 and Susan Sobrato make the largest gift in SCU history. Now see the Sobrato Campus for Discovery and Innovation that will take shape—and redefine the University. Illustration by Tavis Coburn.

36 - CUT & PASTE CONSERVATION We can alter wild species to save them. So should we? By Emma Marris. Illustrations by Jason Holley.

44 - INFO OFFICER IN CHIEF From his office overlooking the White House, Tony Scott J.D. ’92 set …

Improvement Of Fluorescence-Based Microfluidic Dna Analyzers, Collin Tranter

Doctoral Dissertations

A tremendous effort continues in the development of micro-total-analysis-systems; in support of this, many chemical passivation methods have been developed to enhance the biocompatibility of such microfluidic systems. However, the suitability of these passivation techniques to many fluorescence-based assays still remains inconsistent. This part of this work is focused on the performance of a third generation intercalating DNA dye when used within microfluidic devices treated with a select variety of passivating coatings. The results of these tests indicate that passivation coatings which are intended to shed DNA based on electrostatic repulsion will in fact imbibe the fluorescent DNA intercalating dye …

Program And Proceedings: Nebraska Academy Of Sciences 1880–2017, 137th Anniversary Year, One Hundred-Twenty-Seventh Annual Meeting

Nebraska Academy of Sciences: Programs and Proceedings

Program

Aeronautics and Space Science

Chemistry and Physics

Collegiate Academy: Biology

Collegiate Academy: Chemistry and Physics

Biological and Medical Sciences

Aeronautics and Space Science: Poster Session

Applied Science and Technology

Maiben Memorial Lecture

Anthropology

Earth Science

Applied Science and Technology

Teaching of Science and Mathematics

Environmental Sciences

Friend of Science Award: Kacie Baum and Todd Young

Computing Spatiotemporal Heat Maps Of Lipid Electropore Formation: A Statistical Approach, Willy Wriggers, Frederica Castellani, Julio A. Kovacs, P. Thomas Vernier

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Faculty Publications

We extend the multiscale spatiotemporal heat map strategies originally developed for interpreting molecular dynamics simulations of well-structured proteins to liquids such as lipid bilayers and solvents. Our analysis informs the experimental and theoretical investigation of electroporation, that is, the externally imposed breaching of the cell membrane under the influence of an electric field of sufficient magnitude. To understand the nanoscale architecture of electroporation, we transform time domain data of the coarse-grained interaction networks of lipids and solvents into spatial heat maps of the most relevant constituent molecules. The application takes advantage of our earlier graph-based activity functions by accounting for …

A Balanced Approach To Adaptive Probability Density Estimation, Julio Kovacs, Cailee Helmick, Willy Wriggers

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Faculty Publications

Our development of a Fast (Mutual) Information Matching (FIM) of molecular dynamics time series data led us to the general problem of how to accurately estimate the probability density function of a random variable, especially in cases of very uneven samples. Here, we propose a novel Balanced Adaptive Density Estimation (BADE) method that effectively optimizes the amount of smoothing at each point. To do this, BADE relies on an efficient nearest-neighbor search which results in good scaling for large data sizes. Our tests on simulated data show that BADE exhibits equal or better accuracy than existing methods, and visual tests …

Clinical Applications Of Near-Infrared Diffuse Correlation Spectroscopy And Tomography For Tissue Blood Flow Monitoring And Imaging, Yu Shang, Ting Li, Guoqiang Yu

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Publications

Objective. Blood flow is one such available observable promoting a wealth of physiological insight both individually and in combination with other metrics.

Approach. Near-infrared diffuse correlation spectroscopy (DCS) and, to a lesser extent, diffuse correlation tomography (DCT), have increasingly received interest over the past decade as noninvasive methods for tissue blood flow measurements and imaging. DCS/DCT offers several attractive features for tissue blood flow measurements/imaging such as noninvasiveness, portability, high temporal resolution, and relatively large penetration depth (up to several centimeters).

Main results. This review first introduces the basic principle and instrumentation of DCS/DCT, followed by presenting …

High Throughput In Vivo Analysis Of Plant Leaf Chemical Properties Using Hyperspectral Imaging, Piyush Pandey, Yufeng Ge, Vincent Stoerger, James C. Schnable

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The possibility of predicting plant leaf chemical properties using hyperspectral images was studied. Sixty maize and 60 soybean plants were used, and two experiments were conducted: one with water limitation and the second with nutrient limitation, with the purpose of creating wide ranges of these chemical properties in plant leaf tissues. A hyperspectral imaging system with a spectral range from 550 to 1700 nm was used to acquire plant images in a high throughput fashion (plants placed on an automated conveyor belt). Leaf chemical properties were measured in the laboratory. Partial least squares regression was implemented on spectral data to …

Genetic Code Expansion In Biochemical Investigations And Biomedical Applications, Nanxi Wang

Department of Chemistry: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Genetic code expansion provides a powerful tool for site-specific incorporation of unnatural amino acids (unAAs) with novel biochemical and physiological properties into proteins in live cells and organisms. To achieve this, a nonsense codon suppression system, which consists of an orthogonal aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase (aaRS) and tRNA pair that specifically decodes a nonsense codon (e.g., amber codon and quadruplet codon) with an unAA but do not “cross talk” with their endogenous counterparts, was established. This Ph.D. thesis presents our efforts on evolution and application of nonsense codon suppression systems for biochemical and biomedical investigations.

In Chapter 1, a brief overview of …

Research: South Dakota State University, Spring 2017, Christie Delfanian, Emily Weber

State of Discovery South Dakota State University's Research Magazine

Pharmacy researcher investigates how aspirin kills cancer cells [page] 1
Problem-solving, cornerstone of SDSU research [page] 2
Fluid flow model evaluates clotting risk in new stent graft design [page] 2
Sanford research project inspires graduate student [page] 3
Experience key to nurses' comfort in communicating with terminally ill patients [page] 4
Nondigestible starch feeds gut microbes, reduces inflammation [page] 5
Researchers investigate workings if antibody therapeutics [page] 6
DNA, RNA sequencing available in campus to researchers statewide [page] 7
QUBIC-R software helps researchers model, visualize gene expression networks [page] 8
Scientists assess survival of swine viruses in imported feed ingredients …

Quantifying Cyanide Inhibition Of Nitrification And Developing Cost-Effective Treatment Processes, Germano M. Salazar-Benites

Civil & Environmental Engineering Theses & Dissertations

All wastewater treatment plants that operate multiple hearth furnaces (MHF) and are required to nitrify must manage the inhibitory effects of free cyanide (HCN, CN-) in the scrubber return flows due to inhibitory impacts on nitrifying bacteria.

HRSD Boat Harbor Treatment Plant (BHTP) a 25 MGD facility consisting of primary and secondary treatment, employs an anoxic selector process for nitrification and partial denitrification and operates a MHF. There is a desire to improve TN removal performance at BHTP due to an annual mass-based bubble permit limit on a combined discharge from seven HRSD plants, and there are no discharge limitations …

Undergraduate Research On General Aviation Hypoxia: A Student's Perspective, Timothy B. Holt, Jacqueline Luedtke, Claire G. Schindler

Publications

The problem this study addresses is the uncertainty of the common circumstances that general aviation pilots find themselves in that create a hypoxic state, as well as whether or not that pilot reported the occurrence to the proper establishments. The results of this study showed not only those that were impacted the greatest by hypoxia, but also a caring concern for reporting these events. The key elements for this research were:

• Level of flying experience that encountered hypoxia

• Reporting statistics

• Reasons for not reporting the event

• Suggestions for bettering flight physiology training

Oral History Conversation With Lydell Aaron (Beartha), Alexander Z. Bulkin, Kari Schattinger, Kate L. Gardner, Charbel Mouannes, Danielle Silvaggio

Philosophy: All Student Work

Oral History Interview conducted with Lydell Aaron. He founded Beartha Systems which builds scalable and smart systems that harness energy and resources for small communities.

Session 1c (Source Water Protection), Kentucky Water Resources Research Institute, University Of Kentucky

Kentucky Water Resources Annual Symposium

• The Pleasant Grove Spring Non-Point Source Pollution Study: An Underused Data Set, James Currens, Kentucky Geological Survey
• Kentucky’s Source Water Protection Program, Robert Blair, Kentucky Division of Water
• Assistance Program for Source Water Protection: Success in Kentucky, Laura Norris and Allan Shingleton, Kentucky Division of Water

Session 2c (Sediment And Nutrients), Kentucky Water Resources Research Institute, University Of Kentucky

Kentucky Water Resources Annual Symposium

• Real-Time Continuous Monitoring of Nutrients and Biological Parameters in Kentucky’s Rivers and Lakes, Mac Cherry, USGS Indiana-Kentucky Water Science Center
• Sediment Transport Modeling using Dynamic (Dis)connectivity to Assess Sediment Impacts on Water Quality, Tyler Mahoney and others, Dept. of Civil Engineering, University of Kentucky
• Sediment Nitrogen and Nitrate Dynamics of a Fluviokarst System in the Bluegrass Region: Isotopic and Numerical Modeling Investigation, Admin Husic and others, Dept. of Civil Engineering, University of Kentucky

Poster Session 2, Kentucky Water Resources Research Institute, University Of Kentucky

Kentucky Water Resources Annual Symposium

1. GIS as a Tool to Inform Field Studies and Reduce Human Health Exposure Risks, Evan Willett and others, Dept. of Civil Engineering, University of Kentucky
2. The Use of Environmental DNA to Detect Bacterial Molecular Markers in the Triplett Creek Watershed, Rowan County, Kentucky, Rachel Brown and others, Dept. Biology and Chemistry, Morehead State University
3. Detection of Percopsis ominsomaycus (TROUT-PERCH) using eDNA in Eastern Kentucky Streams, Ben Brammell and others, Dept. of Natural Sciences, Asbury University
4. Seasonal Fluctuations in Salamander eDNA in Central Kentucky Streams, Ronald Sams and others, Dept. Natural Sciences, Asbury University
5. Virtual 3D Septic …

Session 2b (Biology), Kentucky Water Resources Research Institute, University Of Kentucky

Kentucky Water Resources Annual Symposium

• Microscale Electrokinetics for Phytoplankton Analysis, Stuart Williams, Mechanical Engineering Dept., University of Louisville and Susan Hendricks, Hancock Biological Station, Murray State University
• Selenium Reduction by a Co-Culture of Pantoea vagans strain EWB32213-2 and Shigella fergusonii strain TB42616, Yuxia Ji and Yi-tin Wang, Dept. of Civil Engineering, University of Kentucky
• Effects of Temperature and Macronutrient Ratios (N:P) on Microcystis aeruginosa Toxin Production and Growth, Brandon Yates and Brian Reeder, Dept. of Biology and Chemistry, Morehead State University

Session 1b (Agriculture And Water), Kentucky Water Resources Research Institute, University Of Kentucky

Kentucky Water Resources Annual Symposium

• Feathered or Four-Legged: Working Together to Manage Manure in Kentucky, Amanda Gumbert and others, College of Agriculture, Food, and Environment, University of Kentucky
• There’s a Purple Cow in My MS4, Steve Higgins, College of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Kentucky
• Field Scale Characterization of Soil Hydraulic Conductivity and its Implication for Irrigation Management, Xi Zhang and Ole Wendroth, Dept. Plant and Soil Sciences, University of Kentucky

Session 1a (Soils And Geology), Kentucky Water Resources Research Institute, University Of Kentucky

Kentucky Water Resources Annual Symposium

• Potential Mechanism Contributing to the Development of Cover Collapse in Kentucky, James Currens, Kentucky Geological Survey
• Preliminary Assessment of the Geothermal Potential of the Alluvial Aquifer Beneath Louisville, Kentucky Created by Rising Groundwater Levels and Temperatures, Mike and K.G. Unthank, USGS Indiana- Kentucky Water Science Center
• Influence of Land Use on Soil Bulk Density, Infiltration, and NRCS Runoff Curve Number, Samuel Austen and others, Dept. of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering, University of Kentucky

Session 2a (Climate Change/Data Platform), Kentucky Water Resources Research Institute, University Of Kentucky

Kentucky Water Resources Annual Symposium

• Assessing Climate Change and Impacts on Future Water Availability and Droughts in the Kentucky River Basin, Som Chattopadhyay and Dwayne Edwards, Dept. of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering, University of Kentucky
• Variance Decomposition of Maxima Extreme Streamflow Forecasted with Global Climate Models, Nabil Al Aamery and Jimmy Fox, Dept. of Civil Engineering, University of Kentucky
• Aquavit: A HUBzero-Based Collaboration Portal for the AFI and SENSE Projects, Jack Smith and Justin Chapman, Marshall University

Poster Session 1, Kentucky Water Resources Research Institute, University Of Kentucky

Kentucky Water Resources Annual Symposium

1. Sensing and Educating the Nexus to Sustain Ecosystems (SENSE): A Kentucky-West Virginia Partnership, Susan Hendricks and others, Hancock Biological Station, Murray State University
2. Using OpenNSPECT to Model Riparian Buffer Effectiveness for Mitigating Sediment Accumulation in Small Order Agricultural Streams, Lee Moser, College of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Kentucky
3. The Benefits of Staying Local – the Kentucky Section of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers, Carmen Agouridis and Michael Sama, Dept. of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering, University of Kentucky
4. Overview of Groundwater Sampling Conducted in an Unconventional Oil and Gas Play Area of eastern …

Plenary Session, Kentucky Water Resources Research Institute, University Of Kentucky

Kentucky Water Resources Annual Symposium

• Assessing Public Drinking Water Systems in Kentucky, Caroline Chan and Russell Neal, Kentucky Division of Water
• Bankfull Regional Curves and Hydraulic Geometry Curves for the Eastern Kentucky Coalfields, Ashlan Berry and Carmen Agrouridis, Dept. Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering, University of Kentucky
• Quasi-Three-Dimensional Hydrodynamic Model Development for Two-Phase Flow Applied to Geyser Phenomena in Urban Storm Sewers, Richard Shook and others, Dept. of Civil Engineering, University of Kentucky
• Curve Numbers for Urban Watersheds: A Problem and an Interim Solution, Robert Peterson and Lindell Ormsbee, Dept. of Civil Engineering, University of Kentucky