Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Synthesis And Characterization Of Double Cross-Linked Pvpms Aerogels, Olivia B. Zill

Research & Creative Achievement Day

Aerogels have been rising to the surface as a material of interest for many practical applications. Aerogels are classified as "dried gels with a very high relative pore volume".1 The practical applications of aerogels include thermal insulators, electrical conductors, sensors, as well as optical applications and more.2–5 Aerogels are typically created through supercritical drying, in which the liquid in a sol-gel is turned into gas without destroying the structure of the gel. However this process requires high pressures and temperatures and the solvents used are highly flammable and unsafe at these conditions.6 The purpose of this research experiment is to …

Using 3d Printing To Illustrate Protein Modularity And Dynamics, Joanna M. Dinesen

Research & Creative Achievement Day

Many important enzymes are part of multi-subunit complexes that involve complex movements and interactions that are difficult to visualize via traditional 2-dimensional diagrams or in visualization software. Physical, 3-dimensional models are an especially effective way to illustrate abstract concepts within the curriculum, including about protein dynamics, subunit functions, pathway architectures, and the nature of protein-protein interactions. The usage of physical models in the classroom has been successful when teaching concepts such as enzyme catalysis and protein refolding, quantized by increased exam scores and positive student feedback. Here, we present work done to 3D print publicly available protein structures of the …

Investigating The Comprehension Of Gpt's Interpretation Of Word Meanings, Longge Yuan

Research & Creative Achievement Day

ChatGPT is a large-scale language model developed by OpenAI. Its purpose is to start a conversation with people and provide them with information ranging from simple facts to more complex topics. Trained on a large amount of text data, ChatGPT has shown us that it can understand human language and respond in a meaningful way. In this paper, we show a way to judge whether ChatGPT can accurately understand the various meanings of words and use them based on the answers output by ChatGPT. The five dimensions, each scored up to 5 points, are word explanation, etymology, synonyms and antonyms, …

Student Laboratory For Synthesis And Characterization Of Proton Exchange Membranes, Christiana Hoyt

Research & Creative Achievement Day

The primary goal of this research was to improve the current Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) Synthesis and Characterization laboratory exercise for CHEM 411-Synthesis and Characterization of Materials. Intended improvements to this lab included measuring conductivity of the PEM by finding the best procedure for creating the conductivity cell through both research and experiments in order to add electrochemical impedance spectroscopy in the characterizations for the lab. Commercial membranes, such as Nafion, have multiple issues: high cost, high methanol permeability, poor function at elevated temperatures and at low humidity being some of them. Using PEEK to synthesize PEMs can be used …

Degradation Of Ovulation Inhibitor Estrogens Using Hplc Chromatography, Jenna Holst

Research & Creative Achievement Day

In recent years, there has been a rise in observed intersex aquatic species along with a rise of reproductive issues in humans. This has been linked to the endocrine disrupting properties of over 200 chemicals that have estrogenic activity and persist in aquatic environments. The focus of our research is the estrogens that are used in hormonal birth control as ovulation inhibitors. Between 2015-2017, 14% of US women aged 15-49 were using hormonal birth control. According to a study published in 2002, three estrogens that are used in hormonal birth controls as ovulation inhibitors, 17α-ethynyl estradiol, mestranol, and 19-norethisterone, occur …

Purification And Characterization Of Vrk2 For Further Research, Steven Richter

Research & Creative Achievement Day

Kinases represent a vast and varied group of proteins, having more than 500 members in human beings alone. They have been found to be involved in various signal transduction pathways, ranging from embryonic development to apoptosis. The vaccinia-related kinases (VRKs) are a small sub-group of kinases containing three members: VRK1, VRK2, and VRK3. These proteins are involved in the cell cycle, cellular proliferation, chromatin condensation and gene transcription. VRK1 has been extensively studied not only for its normal biological roles, but also for its link to cancer. VRK2 is not as well studied as VRK1. However, the two kinases are …

Synthesis And Characterization Of Cdse Nanoparticles For Use In Solar Cells, Benjamin A. Carvell

Research & Creative Achievement Day

Over the last several years, interest in thin-film, nanoparticle-based solar cells have increased due to their potential to be low cost, tunable, and highly efficient when compared to other current solar cell technologies. In this research, cadmium selenide nanoparticles capped by oleic acid (CdSe-OLA) were synthesized. After those nanoparticles were synthesized, the bulky oleic acid ligand was exchanged with much smaller, more tunable ligands such as vanillic acid, malic acid, and Sodium 2,3-Dimercaptopropane-1-sulfonate (DMPS). This allows for easier energy transfer when applied to a solar cell. The successful synthesis of these nanoparticles was confirmed using FTIR, UV-vis, and NMR spectroscopy. …

LxrTm White Clover: Development Of Transgenic White Clover (Trifolium Repens) With Delayed Leaf Senescence, Y. H. Lin, J. Chalmers, E. Ludlow, C. Pallaghy, G. E. Schrauf, Pablo Rush, A. M. García, A. Mouradov, G. C. Spangenberg

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Leaf senescence is a type of programmed cell death characterized by loss of chlorophyll, lipids, protein, and RNA. Cytokinins are a class of plant hormones that play roles in many aspects of plant growth and development, including leaf senescence, apical dominance, the formation and activity of shoot meristems, nutrient mobilization, seed germination, and pathogen responses. They also appear to mediate a number of light- regulated processes, such as de-etiolation and chloroplast differentiation. It is known that the concentrations of endogenous cytokinins decline in plant tissues as senescence progresses. This observation provides the opportunity to manipulate the senescence program in transgenic …

Production And Analysis Of Transgenic White Clover (Trifolium Repens) Plants Over-Expressing Organic Acid Biosynthetic Genes, C. M. Labandera, Stephen N. Panter, A. Winkworth, J. Simmonds, A. Mouradov, U. John, P. W. Sale, G. C. Spangenberg

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Aluminium (Al) toxicity is a major environmental limitation for plant production in acid soils, which represent more than one third of the world’s agricultural land. Al-induced secretion in roots of organic acids (OA), such as malate and citrate, chelates the toxic Al cation excluding it from the root. This mechanism of Al-tolerance appears also to be associated with enhanced P-use efficiency. The development of transgenic plants for enhanced synthesis and secretion of OA from roots is a promising approach to confer Al-tolerance and enhanced P-acquisition efficiency. In order to understand the association between OA biosynthesis and secretion from roots in …

Minimising Bloat Through Development Of White Clover (T. Repens) With High Levels Of Condensed Tannins, M. T. O’Donoghue, C. Spillane, E. Guiney

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

White clover constitutes a low percentage of the overall sward content in Irish pastureland despite EU directives limiting the use of nitrogenous fertilizers. This is mainly due to the tendency of large amounts of white clover to cause bloat. Bloat is a potentially fatal build up of proteinaceous foam in the guts of ruminants. Some lesser cultivated legumes such as Lotus species contain condensed tannins (CT) that decrease the incidence of bloated animals. The project’s objective is to reduce the risk of bloat by generating white clover cultivars with high CT content. We are investigating whether expression of the ANTHOCYANIN …

Polyphenolic Phenomena: Transgenic Analysis Of Some Of The Factors That Regulate The Cell-Specific Accumulation Of Condensed Tannins (Proanthocyanidins) In Forage Crops, Mark P. Robbins, G. Allison, D. Bryant, P. Morris

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Condensed tannins biosynthesised within crops are a well-established mechanism for protecting plant protein in the rumen of grazing livestock. Protein protection mediated by these polymeric flavonoid molecules has been characterised in Lotus spp. and offers an interesting contrast to the polyphenol oxidase (PPO) system that confers protein protection in red clover.

Molecular Breeding Of Transgenic Virus-Immune White Clover (Trifolium Repens) Cultivars, M. Emmerling, P. Chu, K. F. Smith, C. Binnion, M. Ponnampalam, P. Measham, Z. Y. Lin, N. R. Bannan, T. C. Wilkinson, G. C. Spangenberg

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

White clover (T. repens L.) is a major component of improved pastures throughout the temperate world. It is, however, highly susceptible to virus infection. Alfalfa mosaic virus (AMV), clover yellow vein virus (CYVV) and white clover mosaic virus (WCMV) all contribute to a significant reduction in dry matter yield and persistence of white clover. Sources of natural resistance to AMV in white clover or sexually compatible species are not available. Pathogen-derived resistance strategies, such as the expression of viral coat protein in transgenic plants, thus provides opportunities for the development of virus immune transgenic white clover.

Identification Of Quantitative Trait Loci For Flowering Time In A Field-Grown Lolium Perene X Lolium Multiflorum Mapping Population, R. N. Brown, R. E. Barker, S. E. Warnke, L. A. Brilman, M. A. R. Mian, S. C. Sim, G. Jung

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Perennial ryegrass (L. perenne) and annual, or Italian, ryegrass (L. multiflorum) are considered to be separate species by the seed trade, and are used and bred for distinct purposes. However, the two species are cross-fertile. Seed producers rely on the different flowering times of the two species to produce pure seed. Flowering times can overlap, leading to genetic mixing. Contamination of perennial ryegrass seed lots with annual types is an expensive problem for grass seed producers in western Oregon, USA.

Approaches For Associating Molecular Polymorphisms With Phenotypic Traits Based On Linkage Disequilibrium In Natural Populations Of Lolium Perenne, L. Skøt, J. Humphreys, I. P. Armstead, M. O. Humphreys, J. A. Gallagher, I. D. Thomas

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Association mapping relies on linkage disequilibrium (LD) between haplotypes and quantitative trait loci (QTL). The level of LD in a genome determines the resolution of this approach. In out-breeding species, LD is expected to decay rapidly, thus allowing for high-resolution mapping. It has been most extensively used in human genetics, but recent work with maize populations has demonstrated its potential in plants (Thornsberry et al., 2001; Wilson et al., 2004), and used in L. perenne to identify AFLP markers associated with a major QTL for heading date on linkage group 7 (Skøt et al., 2004). The objective …

Quantitative Trait Loci For Vegetative Traits In Perennial Ryegrass (Lolium Perenne L.), A. M. Sartie, H. S. Easton, Marty J. Faville, C. Matthew

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Physiological (EP) research in forage grasses relates traits such as leaf elongation rate (LER), leaf elongation duration (LED), and leaf appearance interval (ALf), to forage yield (Chapman & Lemaire, 1993). This paper reveals preliminary quantitative trait locus (QTL) discovery for eight EP traits in perennial ryegrass. It also investigates the potential role of multivariate analyses such as principal component analysis (PCA) in QTL analysis of EP data.

Mapping Water-Soluble Carbohydrate Content In Perennial Ryegrass, L. Turner, J. Gallagher, I. P. Armstead, A. Cairns, M. O. Humphreys

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) is the main species used in UK agriculture and shows considerable genetic variation for water-soluble carbohydrate (WSC) content (Humphreys, 1989, Turner et al., 2001, 2002). High-sugar grasses have already proved useful in UK livestock production (Miller et al., 2001), but can be unpredictable in the field. Increased understanding of carbon partitioning in ryegrass would benefit future breeding programmes.

Changes In Gene Expression During Acclimation To Cold Temperatures In White Clover (Trifolium Repens L.), M. Lowe, R. P. Collins, M. T. Abberton

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

White clover is an important component of many temperate pastures and improved winter hardiness is a major objective of breeding programmes in many countries. Exposure to cold and fluctuations in temperature are components of winter stress and although some studies have investigated the agronomic and physiological mechanisms of cold tolerance, little research has been carried out to identify the genes involved. We are complementing mapping of quantitative trait loci (QTL) responsible for cold tolerance with studies of variation in gene expression between plants growing at different temperatures. In particular we are initially focusing on the process of acclimation by analysing …

Estimation Of The Coefficient Of Double-Reduction In Autotetraploid Lucerne, R. Ayadi, P. Barre, Christian Huyghe, B. Julier

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Polyploidy plays an important role in the evolution of species and many cultivated species, particularly in angiosperms, are polyploids (Bever and Felber, 1992; Gallais, 2003). Autopolyploid species that show a tetrasomic inheritance have complex genetics. However, some theoretical models were built for: (1) genetic mapping (Hackett et al., 1998), (2) quantitative genetics (Gallais, 2003) and (3) population genetics (Ronfort et al., 1998). But in practice, most data analyses ignore one essential feature of tetrasomic inheritance that is double-reduction. Indeed, in an autotetraploid species, homologous chromosomes can form tetravalents at meiosis. In this case, a double-reduction is observed if …

Development Of Est-Derived Simple Sequence Repeat (Ssr) Markers In Italian Ryegrass (Lolium Multiflorum Lam.), M. Hirata, Y. Miura, T. Takamizo, M. Fujimori

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Italian ryegrass (IRG, Lolium multiflorum Lam.) is an important grass species used for agricultural purposes in Japan. Linkage maps in IRG have been constructed using molecular markers including RFLPs, AFLPs (Inoue et al., 2003) and genomic SSRs. The SSR marker is a useful tool for genome analysis because it is PCR-based with a relatively high level of polymorphism, co-dominantly expressed. The EST-SSR markers are expected to be more conserved and have a higher rate of transferability than genomic SSR markers (Scott et al., 2000), and the gene functions of ESTs may be predicted. Ikeda et al. (2004) …

Investigations Of The Effects Of Mutations In Inscuteable Mediated Pins-Mud Complex And Par Complex Functions In Drosophila Neuroblast, Ryan Liu

Research & Creative Achievement Day

Drosophila melanogaster central brain neuroblasts asymmetrically segregate proteins along the cell's apical-basal axil. Divisions along abnormal orientations or the complete failure to divide asymmetrically may result in overgrowth phenotypes. Neuroblastoma, one of the deadliest solid tumor diseases with extremely poor survival rate for late stages, is an example of this dysregulation. The protein Inscuteable (Insc) was previously found to bind with the protein Partner of Inscuteable (Pins; mPins or LGN in mammals), a receptor-independent G-protein activator, which is a subunit of the Pins-Gαi complex. The combined complex recruits Dlg to ensure correct spindle attachment on the cortex of the cell, …

A Closer Look At The Death Penalty In The United States, Anna L. Cardell

Research & Creative Achievement Day

The death penalty has always been a source of contention towards most people in the United States – some agree with it, some do not. No matter one's opinion on whether it should be allowed, this poster presentation will give an in-depth analysis and present various visualizations of information regarding the convicted felons that have been sentenced to capital punishment in the United States from 1976-2016. Variables such as gender, age, and race will be explored to create some insight on some of the most infamous killers in United States history. Though looking at the demographics of these individuals and …

Validation Of Computational Methods For The Tautomerism Of Thiourea Dioxide, Mckenna Lund

Research & Creative Achievement Day

In solution, thiourea dioxide exists in an equilibrium between its dioxide and sulfinic acid forms. This tautomeric relationship, as they all are, is substantially influenced by the solvent's polarity and hydrogen bonding capabilities. More well-known systems, e.g., acetylacetone, have been extensively studied in this regard, while thiourea dioxide's equilibrium has not. We have initiated a hybrid computational-spectroscopic investigation of this system utilizing low-cost Hartree-Fock methods with the 3–21G, 3–21+G, 3–21G*, 3–21+G*, MINI, MIDI, SBKJC and HW basis sets. Beyond gas phase calculations, both tautomeric forms were modeled using the C-PCM implicit solvent model for water and toluene. Obtained modeling results …

Improvement Of Native Perennial Forage Plants For Sustainability Of Mediterranean Farming Systems, F. Lelièvre, Florence Volaire

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The amount of water available to agriculture in the Mediterranean is declining because of increasing population pressure and greater incidence of drought. Therefore, the efficiency of the use of water for agricultural production must be maximized and, in this context, perennial forage species have a number of advantages in comparison to the predominantly-used annuals. They can utilize water throughout the whole year besides being able to halt rangeland degradation, restore soil fertility and enhance forage production, thereby contributing to greater sustainability of rain-fed agricultural systems in the southern European Union and North Africa. Despite these advantages, the small size of …

The Potential For Summer-Dormant Perennial Grasses In Mediterranean And Semi-Arid Pastures, F. Lelièvre, Florence Volaire, P. Chapon, M. Norton

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

In rain-fed Mediterranean and semi-arid areas, herbage production of perennial grasses depends on their ability to grow efficiently during the rainy seasons and to persist over the dry summer. A key survival strategy in these harsh conditions is summer dormancy (Volaire, 2002). Within the species Dactylis glomerata L., two cultivars (cvs.), contrasting in this trait, were compared in order to analyse their suitability in terms of yield and survival in these environments.

Future Directions In The Molecular Breeding Of Forage And Turf, G. C. Spangenberg, J. W. Forster, D. Edwards, U. John, A. Mouradov, M. Emmerling, J. Batley, S. Felitti, N. O. I. Cogan, K. F. Smith, M. P. Dobrowolski

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Key points

1. Molecular breeding of forage and turf plants and their endosymbionts has entered the post-genomic era with a large amount of structural genomics information and genomic resources available for key forage and turf species and relevant model systems.
2. A primary future challenge is the conversion of this information into useful functional knowledge for the development of molecular breeding technologies and products that address a range of high impact outcome scenarios in forage and turf.
3. High-throughput approaches for spatial and temporal analysis, from genome to phenome, and the respective data integration in a systems biology context will be critical for …

Crown Rust Resistance In Transgenic Italian Ryegrass (L. Multiflorum) Expressing A Rice Chitinase Gene And Crosses With Cytoplasmic Male Sterile Hybrid Ryegrass, W. Takahashi, M. Fujimori, Y. Miura, T. Komatsu, S. Sugita, A. Arakawa, Y. Nishizawa, H. Sato, Y. Mano, T. Hibi, T. Takamizo

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Italian ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum Lam.) is one of the most important forage grasses in the temperate region. In ryegrasses, crown rust (Puccinia coronata) is the most serious foliar fungal disease and brings about a reduction of herbage yield and loss of palatability to grass-eating domestic animals. In this study, we tried to increase tolerance to the pathogen by introducing a rice chitinase gene using particle bombardment.

Genetic And Molecular Characterization Of Temperate And Tropical Forage Maize Inbred Lines, B. Alarcón-Zúñiga, E. Valadez-Moctezuma, T. Cervantes-Martinez, T. Cervantes-Santana, M. Mendoza‐Rodriguez

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Livestock feeding in the Central highland of Mexico is based on harvest, grazing and annual forage conservation, with forage maize being the most important silage crop (Alarcón, 1995). Even though forage maize is extensively bred in Europe, USA and Asia since the 1900’s, this started in Mexico only in the 1960’s, and little is known about genetic diversity in both agronomic and nutritive value traits. Our breeding program goals are to analyze combining ability of biomass and quality predictors and to study the genetic relationship of inbred lines between lowland tropical and temperate races from Mesa Central, by genetic and …

The Use Of Molecular Markers In Genetic Variability Analysis Of A Collection Of Dactylis Glomerata L., R. Costa, G. Pereira, C. Vicente, M. M. Tavares De Sousa

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Dactylis glomerata L. is one of the three most used perennial grasses in Europe (jointly with Lolium perenne and Festuca arundinacea). The main qualities of Dactylis glomerata are high productivity in pure cultures, high level of proteins and tolerance to drought, cold and shade (Mousset & Chosson, 1986). In the last ten years, techniques that allow direct discrimination at the DNA level have encouraged the study of the genetic variability within cultivated populations as well as identification of the diversity available in germplasm banks. DNA polymorphisms have been shown to be efficient in the identification of genetic variability in …

Molecular Characterization And Tissue Culture Regeneration Ability Of The Usa Arachis Pintoi (Krap. And Greg.) Germplasm Collection, M. A. Carvalho, K. H. Quesenberry, M. Gallo-Meagher

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Arachis pintoi Krap. and Greg. is a herbaceous, perennial legume, exclusively native to Brazil. It is considered a multiple use legume, being grown for forage; ground cover in fruits orchards, forest, and low tillage systems; erosion control; and ornamental purposes. Although several cultivars have been released in different countries, little is known about the genetic diversity of the germplasm stored in world genebanks. Our objective was to characterize and evaluate the genetic diversity of the germplasm of 35 accessions of Arachis pintoi at molecular level using RAPD markers. Concurrently, two tissue culture protocols were evaluated for their organogenesis ability. Further, …

Genetic And Phenotypic Diversity Of Swiss Red Clover Landraces, D. Herrmann, B. Boller, F. Widmer, R. Kölliker

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Mattenklee landraces are persistent and locally adapted Swiss red clover populations. About 100 populations are preserved and may represent a significant yet poorly characterised genetic resource for temperate regions. Genetic characterisation is important in order to improve cultivars, manage genetic resources and to maintain or restore biodiversity. The objectives of this study were to analyse genetic diversity, investigate potential ancestry and to elucidate the congruence of phenotypic and genetic structure of Mattenklee landraces.