Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons™

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Life Sciences

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

2013

Articles 1 - 5 of 5

Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Integrating Art And Science In Undergraduate Education, Daniel Gurnon Feb 2013

Integrating Art And Science In Undergraduate Education, Daniel Gurnon

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

The prevailing vision for undergraduate science education includes increased collaboration among teachers of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) and an overhaul of introductory courses [1]–[4]. But by staying within the borders of STEM, are we overlooking connections between the arts and innovative science? Likewise, are we missing an important opportunity to inspire and inform nonscientists? Here we explore how weaving the visual arts into a science curriculum can both help develop scientific imagination and engage nonscientists. As an example, we describe a recent collaboration between artists and scientists to create a series of science-inspired sculptures.

Go to article

A Preliminary Examination Of An In Situ Dual Dye Approach To Measuring Light Fluxes In Lotic Systems, Elizabeth C. Minor, Elizabeth James, Jay A. Austin, Veronica Nelson, Ryan Lusk, Kenneth Mopper Jan 2013

A Preliminary Examination Of An In Situ Dual Dye Approach To Measuring Light Fluxes In Lotic Systems, Elizabeth C. Minor, Elizabeth James, Jay A. Austin, Veronica Nelson, Ryan Lusk, Kenneth Mopper

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

Light is a critical parameter in aquatic ecosystems, affecting primary production and in situ photochemistry. However, measuring light exposure for suspended particles or dissolved components in a dynamic water column can be challenging with existing Eulerian approaches. Here, we assess the simultaneous deployment of two dyes differing in photolability (rhodamine WT and fluorescein) as a Lagrangian measure of sunlight exposure in a lotic system. Fluorescein is sensitive to light exposure; rhodamine WT is relatively photostable. We examined dye fluorescence at various pH, salinity, and temperature conditions. We also tested dye photolability as a function of pH and wavelength range. In …

Go to article

The Relative Contribution Of Methanotrophs To Microbial Communities And Carbon Cycling In Soil Overlying A Coal-Bed Methane Seep, Christopher T. Mills, Gregpry F. Slater, Robert F. Dias, Stephanie A. Carr, Christopher M. Reddy, Raleigh Schmidt, Kevin W. Mandernack Jan 2013

The Relative Contribution Of Methanotrophs To Microbial Communities And Carbon Cycling In Soil Overlying A Coal-Bed Methane Seep, Christopher T. Mills, Gregpry F. Slater, Robert F. Dias, Stephanie A. Carr, Christopher M. Reddy, Raleigh Schmidt, Kevin W. Mandernack

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

Seepage of coal-bed methane (CBM) through soils is a potential source of atmospheric CH4 and also a likely source of ancient (i.e. 14C-dead) carbon to soil microbial communities. Natural abundance 13C and 14C compositions of bacterial membrane phospholipid fatty acids (PLFAs) and soil gas CO2 and CH4 were used to assess the incorporation of CBM-derived carbon into methanotrophs and other members of the soil microbial community. Concentrations of type I and type II methanotroph PLFA biomarkers (16:1ω8c and 18:1ω8c, respectively) were elevated in CBM-impacted soils compared with a control site. Comparison …

Go to article

Study Of Charge-Dependent Transport And Toxicity Of Peptide-Functionalized Silver Nanoparticles Using Zebrafish Embryos And Single Nanoparticle Plasmonic Spectroscopy, Kerry J. Lee, Lauren M. Browning, Prakash D. Nallathamby, Xiao-Hong Nancy Xu Jan 2013

Study Of Charge-Dependent Transport And Toxicity Of Peptide-Functionalized Silver Nanoparticles Using Zebrafish Embryos And Single Nanoparticle Plasmonic Spectroscopy, Kerry J. Lee, Lauren M. Browning, Prakash D. Nallathamby, Xiao-Hong Nancy Xu

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

Nanomaterials possess unusually high surface area-to-volume ratios and surface-determined physicochemical properties. It is essential to understand their surface-dependent toxicity in order to rationally design biocompatible nanomaterials for a wide variety of applications. In this study, we have functionalized the surfaces of silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs, 11.7 ±+2.7 nm in diameter) with three biocompatible peptides (CALNNK, CALNNS, CALNNE) to prepare positively (Ag-CALNNK NPs+ζ), negatively (Ag-CALNNS NPs−2ζ), and more negatively charged NPs (Ag-CALNNE NPs−4ζ), respectively. Each peptide differs in a single amino acid at its C-terminus, which minimizes the effects of peptide sequences and serves as …

Go to article

Silver Nanoparticles Induce Developmental Stage-Specific Embryonic Phenotypes In Zebrafish, Kerry J. Lee, Lauren M. Browning, Prakash D. Nallathamby, Christopher J. Osgood, Xiao-Hong Nancy Xu Jan 2013

Silver Nanoparticles Induce Developmental Stage-Specific Embryonic Phenotypes In Zebrafish, Kerry J. Lee, Lauren M. Browning, Prakash D. Nallathamby, Christopher J. Osgood, Xiao-Hong Nancy Xu

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

Much is anticipated from the development and deployment of nanomaterials in biological organisms, but concerns remain regarding their biocompatibility and target specificity. Here we report our study of the transport, biocompatibility and toxicity of purified and stable silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs, 13.1 ± 2.5 nm in diameter) upon the specific developmental stages of zebrafish embryos using single NP plasmonic spectroscopy. We find that single Ag NPs passively diffuse into five different developmental stages of embryos (cleavage, early-gastrula, early-segmentation, late-segmentation, and hatching stages), showing stage-independent diffusion modes and diffusion coefficients. Notably, the Ag NPs induce distinctive stage and dose-dependent phenotypes and …

Go to article