Life Sciences Commons^™

Optimizing Course Offerings In A Science Department, Yu Kay Law

Academic Chairpersons Conference Proceedings

We will discuss how enrollment data and faculty/advisor input can be used to maximize schedule efficiency in course offerings and providing for student success. We will also discuss how best to monitor and rearrange course schedules in light of actual enrollment.

More: How To Do More With More In 2022, Harriet E. Watkins, Jacquelyn Cato

Academic Chairpersons Conference Proceedings

In 2022 we are dealing with new academic realities. This presentation will investigate current faculty concerns and explore the ways academic coaches assist faculty and put the personal touch in online courses necessary to support and enhance the student experience. Providing the ability to scale and save on instructional costs.

Peptide Conjugation Of Branched Amphiphilic Peptide Capsules, Baltazar Claro-Martinez

Kansas State University Undergraduate Research Conference

In recent years, nanocarrier cellular therapy has been a rapidly growing area for research in the treatment of malignant and infectious diseases – most notably cancer. Conventional cancer treatment has consisted of highly toxic, highly insoluble, untargeted delivery of drugs that kill both cancerous and healthy cells. Research in the Tomich lab consists of the synthesis of Branched Amphiphilic Peptide Capsules (BAPCs), which are self-assembling peptide nanospheres composed of one or both of these branched peptide sequences: h5 and h9. These peptides possess similar molecular characteristics of phosphoglycerides but are synthesized chemically within the lab. Previous publications by the Tomich …

Comparison Of Immunohistochemistry Methods For Visualization Of Middle Eastern Respiratory Viral Antigen, Elena Carlos

Kansas State University Undergraduate Research Conference

Middle Eastern respiratory syndrome (MERS), caused by MERS coronavirus (MERS-CoV) first appeared in Saudi Arabia in 2012. Although there have been less than 2,400 cases reported, the case fatality rate is 35%. Dromedary camels are the known host animal for the virus. However, they are difficult to manage experimental animals. In a recent study, alpacas proved to be a suitable experimental animal to further characterize MERS-CoV infection. Our work is part of a wider project focused on studying the efficacy of MERS-CoV antigen and RNA labeling in infected alpaca tissues, when these tissues are preserved in novel modular alcohol fixatives …

Therapeutic Peptide Sequences And Gatekeepers Loaded With Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles, Dursitu Hassen

Kansas State University Undergraduate Research Conference

The research community is developing and looking into new ways of effectively delivering anti-cancer treatment. According to National Cancer Institute over 1.5 million new cases of cancer are predicted in the United States, just alone in 2018. The major hurdles that have been identified by scientists are finding mechanisms that assist in decreasing the side effects of cancer treatment and to increase the effectiveness of the drug. In our lab, a highly toxic peptide sequence, SA-K₆L₉-AS is encapsulated in MSNs (mesoporous silica nanoparticles) and capped with a gatekeeper. The function of a gatekeeper is preventing the …

Establishment Of 3-D Human Colorectal Cancer Spheroids, India Barnett

Kansas State University Undergraduate Research Conference

Three-Dimensional (3D) cell culture plays an important role in cancer biology by providing a life-like microenvironment as a model for drug discovery and treatment. Hydrogels, like many other 3D scaffolds, demonstrate a unique property as matrices for 3D cell culture. The goal of this project is to establish a 3D cell culture for colorectal cancer and apply this 3D model to drug testing. Colorectal cancer is one of the most common cancers in the United States with an early detection rate of 39%. Previously, 2D cell culture of human colorectal cancer cells, SW480, was used to determine the efficacy of …

Assessment Of The Potential Use Of Recombinant Baculovirus-Expressed Lassa Virus Nucleoprotein As A Serodiagnostic Antigen, Sahiba Grover

Kansas State University Undergraduate Research Conference

Lassa virus is an arenavirus causing a disseminated systemic primary viral infection. This virus causes Lassa fever which is a viral hemorrhagic fever endemic in West Africa and is responsible for the deaths of thousands of people each year. There is a possibility for the Lassa virus to be introduced into the US and used as a biological weapon with the potential to harm a large-scale population. Because of increasing international travel, a sizeable burden from the disease, and its potential use for biological warfare, it is necessary to develop sensitive diagnostic assays to accurately detect virus infections and mitigate …

Determining The Role Of Cdr20291_0493 Sporulation Initiation In Clostridium Difficile, Carolina Bueno

Kansas State University Undergraduate Research Conference

Our lab focuses on the gene regulatory networks of Clostridium difficilesporulation and toxins virulence factors. Spores are the major reason of the disease transmission; this is why it is important to understand how this spores are formed so drugs can be targeted to formation. Our objective is to identify the gene regulatory networks that control sporulation. The candidate target gene we are studying is CDR20291_0493 in C. difficileR20291 strain. We want to understand the role of this gene in sporulation initiation of C.difficile. We first created a mutant of CDR20291_0493 mutant R20291Dto look for sporulation phenotype and …

Developing And Supporting The Diversity Of Chairperson Roles, Jean Pawl, Richard Griner, Deborah Richardson, Elizabeth Nesmith

Academic Chairpersons Conference Proceedings

A monthly Chair Professional Development program at Augusta University provides opportunity to mentor new chairpersons and foster collegiality amongst all chairpersons at a university with both liberal arts and health sciences programs. The merits and challenges of this program that addresses needs of such a diverse group will be highlighted

Improve Food Safety Of Chinese Restaurants In Kansas Through Multicultural Intervening Measures, Shijun Yan, Autumn Schuck

Institute for Student Learning Assessment

Chinese restaurants' food safety problems have attracted the attention of food safety regulators. According to the many feedback of the state food safety inspectors, there are more problems in the operations of Chinese restaurants than in those others. The probability of repeating the same mistakes is also high in the review of the violation items in the inspection reports. Due to the number of violating behaviors in Chinese restaurants, food safety inspectors have to do many follow-up inspections, and this causes much waste of human resources.

The purpose of this study was to enable Chinese restaurant practitioners to understand US …

Simulation Comparison Of Statistical Methods Used In Assessing Vaccine Efficacy In Veterinary Biologics, Kenny Wakeland, Brian Fergen

Conference on Applied Statistics in Agriculture

In veterinary biologics, clinical studies conducted to support the licensure of a vaccine generally include a demonstration of efficacy in the species of interest. Typically, these studies are designed to assess a vaccine’s ability to prevent or mitigate clinical disease. Study designs utilize two or more treatment groups, and often incorporate blocking structure restrictions to accommodate animal housing or litter-related effects. When assessing a vaccine’s ability to prevent clinical disease, the prevented fraction (PF), a function of the group proportions of affected animals, is often utilized. Typically the sample size per treatment group is limited, and each block is represented …