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Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons™
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Articles 1 - 11 of 11
Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Determination Of Atrazine In Glacier Creek Using Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry, Spencer Witte
Determination Of Atrazine In Glacier Creek Using Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry, Spencer Witte
UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair
Atrazine is a commonly used herbicide in agriculture that has been shown to cause adverse health-effects on biological organisms. Glacier Creek Preserve (GCP), a prairie preserve near Omaha, NE, contains restored prairie and agricultural land uses within a single watershed. Surface water samples were collected at various locations of GCP from May to July to quantify atrazine concentrations. Sample preparation included filtering with a 0.45 micron filter and solid-phase extraction (SPE) with a reversed-phase cartridge. The analyte was eluted off the cartridge with ethyl acetate and analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS). Quantitation was performed with an internal standard calibration …
Characterization Of Dimerization Domains On The Mannose-6-Phosphate/Insulin-Like Growth Factor 2 Receptor, Tyler Degener
Characterization Of Dimerization Domains On The Mannose-6-Phosphate/Insulin-Like Growth Factor 2 Receptor, Tyler Degener
UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair
The mannose-6-phosphate/insulin-like growth factor 2 (M6P/IGF2) receptor is a transmembrane protein with the ability to sequester growth factors from the extracellular matrix. This behavior links the receptor to tumor suppression. On a structural level, the extracellular portion of the protein is segmented into 15 homologous repeats, which can be divided further into 5 triplet domains, labelled 1-3, 4-6, 7-9, 10-12, and 13-15. Each triplet receptor displays its own unique ligand binding affinity, including the ability to form dimers with triplets on a second M6P/IGF2 receptor. In fact, previous studies indicate that this protein functions optimally when dimerized. Thus, the purpose …
Design, Construction, And Characterization Of A Low-Cost Spectrometer With Interchangeable Parts, Jack Godek
Design, Construction, And Characterization Of A Low-Cost Spectrometer With Interchangeable Parts, Jack Godek
UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair
A low-cost spectrometer was designed for the purpose of teaching spectroscopy. The spectrometer can be built by the student and contains interchangeable pieces such as slit width, grating, and lenses. This will allow the student to understand how changing these variables effects resolution. The spectrometer was constructed from PVC pipe, a plastic electrical box, and a USB webcam. The actual resolution of the spectrometer is close to the theoretical value, depending on which lens and grating is used. In addition, an extra piece can be added that allows absorption spectra to be collected. Having the student piece together the spectrometer …
Lake Sediment Analysis At Heron Haven Nature Center, Erik Lato
Lake Sediment Analysis At Heron Haven Nature Center, Erik Lato
UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair
Understanding the chemical composition of a wetland sanctuary lakebed can help us understand how recent developments may have changed the chemical composition. Due to recent dredging by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and previous research on water composition at Heron Haven, the goal of this project was to determine the chemical composition as a function of sediment depth. The concentration of seven different metals and nutrients were analyzed in terms of depth. The aluminum, iron, and phosphate concentrations had no real discernible concentration change as a function of depth. There is some hint of a steady increase of manganese …
Investigating Daily Variation In Lotic Prairie Ecosystems, Dominick Caniglia
Investigating Daily Variation In Lotic Prairie Ecosystems, Dominick Caniglia
UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair
The goal of this project is to investigate the hydrochemistry of the prairie stream system at Glacier Creek Preserve, namely to determine the chemical behavior as it varies over time. Past sampling revealed annual/seasonal trends, which prompted this study investigating possible changes over the course of a day. To accomplish this, water samples were taken hourly for a twelve hour period in September and November 2018, and were analyzed at the Durham Science Center. All samples were obtained at the furthest downstream site available. The main focus was to study alkalinity and dissolved mineral content. Preliminary data suggests that alkalinity …
Synthesis Of A Sulfur Variant For Treatment Of Trypanosomiasis, Carlos Vera-Esquivel
Synthesis Of A Sulfur Variant For Treatment Of Trypanosomiasis, Carlos Vera-Esquivel
UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair
Previous work in our lab has found diphenyl ether benzylamines showed a successful response with a micromolar concentration of our lead compound to treat the deadly Trypanosamiosis rhodesience. Furthermore, mammalian cell lines saw promising resistance towards damages. The goal of this study was to synthesize a diphenyl thio benzylamine variant. This variant was more active toward T. b. rhodesience but showed more toxicity to both rat 10 (IC50 mM) and human cell lines (HFF, HC-04, U-2 OS, and HEK293). The selectivity index (ratio of toxicity to activity in the same concentration units (SI)) …
Supercell Crystal Structure Of Na2ga2(Bo3)2, Grace Brown
Supercell Crystal Structure Of Na2ga2(Bo3)2, Grace Brown
UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair
Na2Ga2(BO3)2O is an oxyborate with a reported crystal structure in the trigonal space group P1c. The literature states that the three-dimensional structure is created from infinite stacking of parallel [NaGa2(BO3)2] ∞ sheets separated by sodium layers. Our single-crystal X-ray diffraction data requires some modification to this structure. We believe that Na2Ga2(BO3)2O actually possesses a supercell crystal structure with lower symmetry. The borate anions within the [NaGa2(BO3)2 ] sheets are not parallel to each …
Synthesis Of Small Molecule Anti-Trypanosomal Drugs, Samuel Anderson
Synthesis Of Small Molecule Anti-Trypanosomal Drugs, Samuel Anderson
UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair
Demand for novel chemotherapeutic agents that treat Human African Trypanosomaiasis (HAT) persists. A series of compounds sharing a 3,4’diphephyl ether skeleton were prepared for a structure activity relationship (SAR) study evaluating antitrypansomal drug candidates. Trypanocidal assays performed in vitro by the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute identified a lead with an IC50 of 1.35 μg/mL analogous to a compound previously made in our laboratory. A slight improvement in activity (10%) was observed when changing the molecular substitution pattern from 4,4’ to 3,3’; however, the result is equivocal. Furthermore, in vitro test results demonstrated the weakness of amides as side …
Could O-Aminoquinones Of Estrogen Metabolites Serve As Platforms For Redox Cycling?, Rachel Miller
Could O-Aminoquinones Of Estrogen Metabolites Serve As Platforms For Redox Cycling?, Rachel Miller
UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair
The metabolism of estrogen can lead to the formation of two isomeric o-quinones, estrogen-2,3-quinone (E-2,3-Q) and estrogen-3,4-Q (E-3,4-Q). The more reactive E-3,4-Q is genotoxic and can damage DNA by forming apurinic sites; whereas, E-2,3-Q does not form apurinic sites. Estrogen quinones may also be involved in redox cycling to produce reactive oxygen species (ROS), which is another genotoxic pathway. What is not yet clear, is why E-3,4-Q would undergo redox cycling while the non-carcinogenic E-2,3-Q would not. Nitrogen nucleophiles react with the E-3,4-Q at the 1-position. With DNA bases as the nitrogen (sp2) nucleophile, the adducts formed are catechols. We …
Characterization Of The Mannose-6-Phosphate/Insulin-Like Growth Factor Ii Receptor Using 1-3mh, Zechariah Craig
Characterization Of The Mannose-6-Phosphate/Insulin-Like Growth Factor Ii Receptor Using 1-3mh, Zechariah Craig
UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair
The mannose-6-phosphate/insulin-like growth factor 2 receptor (M6P/IGF2R), a recombinant triplet protein receptor for studies involving receptor dimerization, plays a pivotal role in mediating cellular growth. This receptor is comprised of fifteen similar units that fold into five triplet subunits. The goal of this experiment is to investigate how to make the 1-3MH protein more stable at the DNA level and generate a larger yield from DNA extractions for more effective transfections. This was accomplished by minorly changing the protocols for the DNA purification. Instead of using a standard column DNA purification kit, a crude DNA purification was done instead. This …
Docking Studies Of Isoform-Selectivity Of Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinase (Pi3k) Inhibitors, Kaitlin Goettsch
Docking Studies Of Isoform-Selectivity Of Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinase (Pi3k) Inhibitors, Kaitlin Goettsch
UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair
Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinases (PI3Ks) and their related pathways are reputed targets for drug-based anticancer therapies. Mutations in PI3K genes, expression, and pathways are frequent among multiple cancer types. Four isoforms of PI3Ks exist: α, β, γ, & δ and studies have identified several ligands for each isoform which are capable of serving as inhibitory therapeutic compounds. However, the biochemical efficacy of these molecules varies and the isoform selectivity is not well understood. In this study, we applied in silico docking methods and free energy calculation methods to estimate the binding of reported PI3K ligands against 5 PI3K structures: PI3Kα (PBD ID: …