Undergraduate Research Posters 2017

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  Synthesis of Sialic Acid Derivatives and Their Immune Cells Modulation

  Joseph Keil, Lei Yuan, and Yu Zhao

  The exterior cell surfaces of macrophages express a dense layer of glycans which are often terminated by sialic acid. Sialic acid is an acidic monosaccharide whose presence on the terminal ends of glycans affects cellular function and properties. In particular, due to its hydrophilic and electronegative features, SAs play important roles in both physiological and pathological processes, such as in regulating cellular interactions with ligands, microbes and neighboring cells and in controlling cellular activation, differentiation, transformation and migration. In this study two sialic acid derivatives were synthesized and characterized, the 5 amine derivative and the 9 amine derivative. This study proposes that by treating cells with amine derivates of sialic acid it is possible to modify the native sialic acid expressed on the cell surface of macrophage, also known as sialylation status and its functionality accordingly. In the studies, the quantification of sialic acid were conducted by using both LC- MS/MS. We also hope to find information regarding the specific mechanisms that are involved in sialic acid binding events as well as possible cellular consequence due to sialic acid binding events. By modifying the sialylation status of macrophage cells it may eventually be possible to modify cellular functions and properties.

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  Going Green: Experimental Adaptation of Scenedesmus Dimorphus to Marine Conditions

  Mohammed Khalil

  Algae has gained some interest as the need for alternative fuels becomes more pressing. Reliance on fossil fuels is causing our environment and economy harm, and is not sustainable moving forward. Lipid rich algae strains can be used in the production of biofuels, and provide an alternative fuel source. One challenge facing the prospect of algae as a fuel source is that lipid rich algae grows exclusively in freshwater. Considering the scarcity and cost to use freshwater for algae growth, interest has grown in the possibility of adapting lipid rich, freshwater algae to a seawater environment. Seawater can have up to 35 grams of NaCl salt per liter more than freshwater. The Scenedesmus Dimorphus algae was chosen as the interest of this research due to its high lipid content. Also, it is very robust and well researched. Algae is grown in a controlled environment with varying salinity levels in either a bioreactor unit or 2-liter glass bottles. The objective of this research is to gradually adapt the S. dimorphus to increasing salt levels and reach a total specific gravity level of 1.010, which is about 16 grams NaCl per liter, compared to 1.025 TSG level that of seawater.

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  P1: Measuring Wind using a Hovering Drone Network: Met-Masts on the Go

  Mohamad Khattab and Hassan Jaroudi

  Renewable energy has grown considerably over the past years, with a projected growth of $460 billion per year by 2030. One of these renewable energies is deploying wind turbines to harvest wind energy. Knowledge of wind speed and direction is critical to determine the appropriate site to place wind turbines. The current method of collecting wind data primarily by installing stationary meteorological towers is expensive and limited, because met masts are fixed once built. This research aims at using a network of hovering drones as a platform to measure wind speed, direction, temperature and humidity at multiple elevations, which could potentially supplement the previous methods. The rapid development of drone technology is very promising due to its mobility and cost-effectiveness. The research scope includes: (1) install a contemporary wind measurement system on a drone; (2) hover the drone with the weather sensors and collect wind data in the field; and (3) compare the measurements with local meteorological data to test its accuracy.

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  Development of the Parenting Style and Practice Scale (PSPS) in examining parenting practices and children's academic performance

  Morgan Kubisch, Danieele Poissant, and Beth Friedman-Romell

  What roles do parents play in fostering children's academic success in school? There is a general consensus that confirms the importance of parenting styles and practices on children's academic performance (e.g., Pinquart, 2015). However, there is a lack of up-to-date systematic parenting scales with acceptable validity and reliability. For this reason, it limits our understanding of parenting related studies in the current context. Developing a questionnaire is critical to conduct cross diverse comparisons which would broaden the generalizability of the related research. Adopting the review of literature research approach, the purpose of this study was to develop a scale that contains essential elements of parenting styles and practices. Using this instrument tool, the goal would be to examine the relationship between parenting practices and children's academic performance. Through a thorough literature review, the Parenting Styles and Practices Scale (PSPS) was developed. The PSPS includes four factors: (a) parental expectations, (b) autonomy, (c) discipline, and (d) parental involvement in education. Each factor includes 10 variables. The next step would be to examine the psychometric properties of the PSPS on a sample. The ultimate goal is to implement the PSPS to a wider population and make the scale available for adoption in the parenting research community.

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  Evaluation of cetane values of glycerolipids extracted from algae Scenedesmus dimorphus grown in various salinity concentrations using gas chromatography and mass spectrometry (GC-MS)

  Paul Lin and Chandana Mannem

  Algae's ability to store lipids, renewability, and potentially safer for the environment has made it a promising alternative fuel source. An industry rating for a biofuel's potential is the cetane value, which is a measure of a fuel's quality related to various glycerolipid concentrations. Growing conditions will affect lipid profile in algae, thereby affecting the cetane value. This project will attempt to identify changes in the centane value of the algae Scenedesmus dimorphus grown in various salinity concentrations. Scenedesmus dimorphus is the algae chosen for this experiment because of its ability to rapidly grow under harsh conditions. In this experiment the growth conditions were controlled in bioreactors and shaker baths. Total lipids were extracted from dry mass algae with the Bligh-Dyer method, which allows for the extraction of the glycerolipids with the solid phase extraction method. Upon the final extraction, a transesterification reaction is carried out in order to convert the glycerolipids into FAME (fatty acid methyl esters), which allows the GC- MS (gas chromatography and mass spectrometry) instrument to better quantify the lipid concentration.

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  express recombinant Tb12990 protein from E. coli for DNA binding analysis

  Alex Lotozynski

  Trypanosoma brucei is a parasitic protozoan species, causing sleeping sickness in humans and nagana in livestock. Its vector, the tsetse fly, feeds on an infected host and passes the parasites into the bloodstream of other mammalian hosts. The unique challenge for elimination is its complex process of antigenic variation, where the parasite regularly switches its major surface antigen, VSG. When the parasite enters the mammalian host, the host responds by making a corresponding antibody against its major surface antigen, VSG. However, although most parasites are eliminated, a small population can escape due to their altered VSG coat. The expression sites for VSGs are near the telomeres of T. brucei. Our lab has found that telomere proteins, including TbRAP1, TbTRF, and TbTIF2, suppress this VSG switching. TbRAP1 also regulates the VSG silencing. Using TbRAP1 as bait in Yeast Two-Hybrid screens, we identified Tb12990 as a potential TbRAP1-interacting factor. Sequence analysis suggests that Tb12990 might be a homologue of the vertebrate telomere protein TbTPP1. In order to examine whether Tb12990 has any telomere DNA binding activities as its homologues, we intend to express its recombinant protein in E. coli. We have cloned Tb12990 in pGEX-4T- 2 and pET-15b. We will next purify the Tb12990 from E. coli.

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  Phosphorus variations in Lake Erie and its Major Tributaries

  Shiying Lu

  As a recurring symptom of eutrophication in Lake Erie, massive blooms of harmful algae pose a threat to safe drinking water supply and recreational water use. Causes of the recent re-eutrophication in the lake include changes in the tributary phosphorus loading and/or increases in the internal nutrient loading potentially mediated by the colonization of zebra and quagga mussels. This study is to investigate the phosphorus variations in different nearshore locations of the lake and its major tributaries for a better understanding of the lake's trophic conditions. A total of 21 water samples were collected from Lake Erie and its major tributaries from Detroit Michigan to Buffalo New York. These samples were filtered and measured on phosphorus before and after digestion to determine the concentrations of soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP) and total dissolved phosphorus (TDP), using an automated discrete analyzer. Our results showed that the average concentrations of SRP and TDP in its major tributaries were significantly greater than those in the lake. The concentrations of SRP and TDP in tributaries were 0.003-0.118 and 0.002-0.112 mg/L, respectively. The concentrations of SRP and TDP in the lake were 0.00-0.01 and 0.003-0.014 mg/L, respectively.

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  P1: Dispersion and Characterization of Boron Nitride Nanotubes Stabilized by DNA

  Camerin McDonald

  Boron nitride nanotubes (BNNTs) are newly emerging nanomaterials with extraordinary mechanical properties as well as thermal and chemical stability. There have been growing interests in both fundamental studies and technological development of BNNTs such as protective coatings for high temperature and hazardous environments due to recent success in large scale synthesis of BNNTs. In this work, various DNA sequences were utilized to stabilize aqueous dispersions of BNNTs. First, we determined the optimum mass ratio of 1:1 for BNNTs:DNA using (GT)20 by UV-vis absorbance measurements. Second, the DNA length effect on the dispersion yield of BNNTs was investigated using sequences (GT)3, (GT)5, (GT)10, (GT)15, and (GT)20. Third, mononucleotide repeats of A8, C8, G8, T8 were used to examine the DNA sequence dependent behavior of BNNT dispersion yield and quality. In addition, various salt concentrations of 0, 50, and 100 mM NaCl was tested to evaluate the effect of salt on BNNT dispersion. We found that the BNNT absorbance remains relatively similar at the given salt concentrations.

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  BUDDY: A Virtual Reality Based Computer System for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

  Missy Montague and Gabriel Madison

  Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurological and developmental disorder, and it has two essential domains of symptoms: (1) restrictive and repetitive behaviors, such as having a lasting and intense interest in certain topics, and sensory challenges; (2) social impairment and communication difficulties. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 1 in 68 children has been identified with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) and the prevalence increased by 119.4% from 2000 to 2010. In the US alone, there are more than 3.5 million people who suffer from ASD and autism services cost $236-262 billion annually. In this project, we aim to develop an avatar-based computer program to help children with ASD to improve their social skills by presenting videos and questions designed to teach them what are the appropriate behaviors in different scenarios through modeling and coaching. We utilized the Vizard Virtual Reality Toolkit, the Blender software to perform 3D modeling of the scene, and the Python computer programming language to script the interactions of the avatar and the child with ASD. Several scenarios were designed with the corresponding video clips produced.

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  An Exploration of Cleveland After School and Summer Programs

  Alissa Mullen and Ashley Wilson

  Increasing rates of homicide and crimes in Cleveland in recent years among young adults suggests a need to improve efforts for early prevention and intervention. After school programming may provide one such opportunity. The first goal of this study was to compile information on community after-school programs available to Cleveland youth, particularly those with an aim to reduce risk behavior related to juvenile delinquency. The second goal was to document which programs focus on the four factors shown to most reduce juvenile delinquency: building positive peer relationships, emphasis on drug use reduction, development of social skills, and character development. First, student researchers collected data through networking and reviewing publicly available information on after-school programs in Cleveland, east Cleveland, and Cleveland Heights working with youth ages 10 or older. 77 programs were identified and included in a database along with information such as program location, hours, youth served, mission statements, and contact persons, to create a membership directory of available programming. Students then identified 31 programs to interview either face-to-face or over the telephone to gather more information. To date, 10 have agreed to complete interviews with 4 completed. Our poster will present preliminary information about these programs.

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  Achieving Atomically Smooth Surfaces and Ultra Sharp Platinum-Iridium Tips for Deposition of Organic Molecules

  William Myers

  Organic materials are used in traditional solar cells and in flexible electronics. Unfortunately, the conductivities of organic semiconductors are significantly lower than their inorganic counterparts. This project examines the crucial first steps to enhancing the conductivities of these organic materials by crystallization via surface reconstructions. For this, the surface must be not only atomically smooth, but also atomically clean because there must be both enough room for the molecule to lie on and no possible adsorbates for the deposited material to react with. In this work, we looked at two substrates, gold and silicon. For the gold, we examined two annealing methods: hot plate and flame annealing. The hot plate method is the more viable, producing terrace widths of ~150nm, which is 50nm wider than achieved by flame anneal. For the silicon, a simple cleaving method in a nitrogen environment produced step edges of width ~20nm. These surfaces are characterized with Scanning Tunneling Microscopy (STM), however, atomic resolution has yet to be achieved in either case, possibly due to other adsorbates obscuring the surface. For the best STM images, we also need an atomically sharp, conductive tip. To achieve this, we used a two-step procedure for electrochemically etching platinum-iridium wire. The final step is a micro-polishing etch which utilizes H2SO4 to finely etch the tip down to exhibit radii of curvature of 70-100 nanometers with completion determined visually. In order to improve on this process, we are currently developing a circuit that will electrically determine completion which will result in more reproducible tips.

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  Effects of Palatal Anesthesia on Timing of Muscle Contraction During Suckling Infant Pigs

  Nadet Najjar

  Abstract not provided

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  P1: Salt Concentration and pH Affect the Size of Elastin-Like Polypeptide Nanoparticles

  Bryce Noe, Ilona Tsuper, Daniel Terano, and Richard Schmitt

  The transport of therapeutic drugs to specific tissues in the body can be accomplished using nanoparticles that encapsulate the drugs. Elastin-like polypeptides (ELP) is a class of materials that can reversibly form such nanoparticles in response to environmental cues. FLPs transition from soluble compounds to a phase separated system under particular solution conditions and have been used to produce temperature responsive surfactants. When these ELP surfactants are above their transition temperature, they spontaneously form energetically stable spherical micelles. When the temperature drops below the transition temperature, the micelles break apart and the ELP goes into solution. The size of these micelles can change depending on the solution conditions, including pH and salt concentration. We studied how the size of the micelles are affected by these solution conditions by using dynamic light scattering to determine the diameter of the ELP micelles. When the salt concentration increased, we found that there was a region of constant size followed by a region of linear increase in diameter. Following the linear region, there is a jump in micelle size. As the pH of the solution increased from neutral pH, the diameter drastically increased. As pH decreased from neutral pH, the diameter slightly increased.

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  Identification of selective anti-trypanosome agents from compound library LOPAC

  Cody M. Orahoske and Myah S. Marbury

  Sleeping sickness disease (human African trypanosomiasis) is still a major health threat to a large number of people in 36 countries of sub-Saharan Africa. Currently, the estimated infection cases in these areas are between 300,000 and 500,000. Trypanosoma brucei gambiense and Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense are the pathogens of sleeping sickness in humans. These parasites live and proliferate mainly in the blood and tissue fluids of the infected mammals and are transmitted by tsetse flies (Glossina spp.). The disease starts from a bite by an infected tsetse fly and goes through an initial stage, where trypanosomes multiply in the bloodstream and the lymphatic system. The disease will progress quickly without effective treatment, and the trypanosomes will cross the blood-brain barrier and invade the central nervous system eventually. In the late stage, patients will show a variety of neurological symptoms and often exhibit characteristic signs such as an alteration of the circadian sleep/wake pattern, which is how the disease is named “sleeping sickness”. The disease will result in wasting of body tissue, coma, and ultimate death. There is an urgent need to develop better chemotherapeutic agents for the treatment of trypanosomiasis. Exploring the new application of existing medicines is a new trend in drug development field. There are multiple advantages of this strategy. First, the manufactory of these agents is mature already. Second, the toxicity profiles of the existing medicines are well established, which can be used to guide the new clinical testing if their anti-trypanosomiasis activity is identified. Third, multiple administration routes of the medicines are well-developed which may include the oral administration formulation. Oral administration route is very critical for the treatment due to the limited medical resource at sub-Saharan Africa area. Our group has developed and validated an easy operating high throughput screening (HTS) cell proliferation assay with T. brucei cells, and two mammalian cell lines. Sigma-Aldrich provides a LOPAC compound library (about 1300 chemicals), which consist of all the current clinical medicines and drug candidates in clinical trials, which are used for the high throughput screening process. The results from the screening are summarized.

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  Fabricating non-close packed colloidal monolayers for ion irradiation templates

  Nandini Padaraju

  Due to their unique properties, anisotropic nanoparticles are desirable components for future applications yet there are few processes capable of fabricating nanoparticle impregnated coatings for the manufacturing environment. Our work seeks to develop new masking techniques for the production of the templated substrates that will induce ordered nanoparticle films. Specifically, we are fabricating non-close packed colloidal monolayers onto silicon substrates, which then serve as the template for ion irradiation. The first steps to creating this monolayer are obtaining a spin-coated poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) thin film of ~200 nm and a close-packed colloidal monolayer using a peltier heater. We achieved a thin film of PVA with the desired thickness by examining the effects of the RPM and viscosity, measured by a rheometer, on film thickness which was evaluated with atomic force microscopy. Results showed that as the RPM increases and the viscosity decreases, the thickness decreases. To form the colloidal monolayer, a drop of silica spheres suspended in ethanol was placed on a silicon wafer and mounted onto a peltier element inside a closed box with fixed tilt, temperature, and humidity. We show that we can reduce the number of defects in the monolayer by cleaning with a piranha etch.

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  Fungal colonization of the invasive plant, lesser celandine

  Allison Paoluccis and David Burke

  Lesser celandine (Ranunculus ficaria) is an invasive spring ephemeral in Northeast Ohio. This problematic invasive plant forms a dense vegetative mat on forest floors. As a result, R. ficaria prevents the establish of many native species of flora. Despite, the growing concerns about the impacts of this species, little is known about the mechanisms underlying its variable success. This study focuses on determining the presence of beneficial fungal associations as a possible explanation for enhanced plant performance. Samples were gathered from eight sites in the Rocky River Metroparks, Ohio along a disturbance gradient from the riverbank. Microscopy was used to determine the presence of fungal colonization within the roots of R. ficaria. Cloning and a TRFLP (terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism) analyses were conducted to determine the community composition and relative abundances of the root fungi. Site-based analyses were then conducted to determine if fungal associations could account for variances in establishment and success across test sites.

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  The Factor Structure of Time Beliefs and Perceptions: Predicting Punctuality, Procrastination, And The Use Of Time.

  Michelle M. Paul, Maria Rowlett, Steve Slane, Katrina Slivka, and Sierra Bonifant

  The purpose of this research on time and personality is to evaluate one's perception of time and how behavior plays a role with procrastination. In addition, time can also coincide with personality factors, such as vigilance, compulsiveness, avoidance, and the Big 5. Substantial evidence has concluded that time perception and behavior are important factors that play into, and give value to, personality. A principal factor analysis concerning the perception of time and measurement of behavior resulted in a six-factor solution: Negative View of the Past, Sluggishness, Goal Setting, Risk Taking, Timeliness, and Impatience. Justification was found through “factor scores” that were used to create a presumption of procrastination. Total procrastination was assessed for each participant through a series of time behavior surveys. It was recorded that those who tend to procrastinate scored higher on Negative View of Past, and Risk Taking, and lower on Goal Setting and Timliness. The following factor structure provides an alternative to the most widely used, but often, ineffective scales.

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  Bisexuals' Partnerships: The Link Between Binegativity and Relationship Satisfaction

  Emily Pohorence

  Bisexual individuals face a number of distinct forms of discrimination compared to heterosexual, lesbian, and gay individuals. Further, bisexual individuals face a double discrimination where not only do heterosexual individuals discriminate against bisexual people, but individuals identifying as a sexual minority also perpetuate this stigma. This can be seem even more so in partnerships. This form of discrimination is known as binegativity, or the view of bisexual people as a lesser value, more likely to be bad partners, and several other negative opinions. The purpose of this study was to understand how binegativity of both current partners predicts relationship satisfaction. Further, the differences between previous partners' sexual orientations are assessed for differences in levels of binegativity.

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  Identifying Potential Causes of Human Birth Defects through Genetic Studies of Worm Development

  Solomiya Pushchak and Kaveri Khanna

  We will use the roundworm Caenorhabditis elegans to study the process of meiosis, which is involved in the formation of gametes (sperm and eggs). Its small size, rapid life cycle, transparency and well-annotated genome allows researchers to track the effects of mutations that disrupt gametogenesis. Our preliminary data demonstrated that a genetic screen for mutations that increase the viability of embryos produced by worms lacking SPO-11, a critical factor regulating meiotic chromosomal inheritance, can identify genes required for the accurate transmission of the genome from one generation to the next. To further test this hypothesis, we will continue this screen to identify additional regulators of meiosis. Our results will be relevant to human genetics, since key regulators of gametogenesis are highly conserved in both worms and vertebrates. Thus, we can learn about the causes of human birth defects by examining worm development. Consequently, these mechanisms will be relevant to understanding gametogenesis in humans and may aide in preventing genetic instability.

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  Transcutaneous Electrical Stimulation for the Production of Functional Motion of a Human Arm

  Kyra Ruby

  Persons with tetraplegia experience little to no function in their arms and are therefore unable to perform reaching tasks without assistance. While functional electrical stimulation (FES) has shown promise for restoring motion to paralyzed limbs, it is limited by issues such as muscle fatigue and atrophy. A control strategy robust enough to overcome these issues has yet to be developed and some motions are not feasible even with the most sophisticated FES control strategy. In theory, a powered exoskeleton could be used in concert with an FES system to increase the accuracy of control and assist the arm when motions are unfeasible under FES alone. The results of using a powered exoskeleton in concert with transcutaneous electrical stimulation were investigated and compared to the results of using either the exoskeleton or FES alone.

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  P3: DOES LEXICALITY AFFECT CLASSIFICATION PERFORMANCE OF TWO-LETTER STRINGS?

  Nicole Russo and Lea Araya

  Some models of word identification hypotheses units responsive to bigrams—letter pairs—that may not be adjacent in a letter-string stimulus. Grainger, Mathot, and Vitu (2014) and Palinski (2016) found, for words, responding was more efficient when flanking bigrams contained target-string letters than when they did not. They also found that responding was more efficient when flanking bigrams contained letters ordered as in the target than switched but whether flanking bigrams were ordered as in the target did not affect performance. Palinski (2016) replicated the results of Grainger et al. (2014) and conducted a second experiment that included four additional conditions in which the flanking bigrams consist of letters separated by one letter in the target (ex. FO FROG RG; RG FROG FO; OF FROG GR; GR FROG OF). Although, for nonadjacent letter bigrams, the pattern of performance over conditions was like that in Grainger et al. (2014) and Palinski (2016) Experiment 1, for adjacent bigrams, the pattern was different. To investigate the stability of these results, we repeated Palinski's second experiment. We replicated her results. The effect of adjacent-letter flanking bigrams may depend on whether nonadjacent-letter flanking bigrams are encountered in the experiment.

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  P1: ADJACENT-LETTER FLANKING BIGRAMS AFFECT LEXICAL DECISION PERFORMANCE

  Nicole M. Russo and Lea G. Araya

  In a lexical decision task in which target strings were flanked by pairs of bigrams, Grainger, Mathot, and Vitu (Acta Psychologica, 2014) found, for words, better performance when flanking bigrams contained target-string letters (e.g., BI BIRD RD; RD BIRD BI; IB BIRD DR; DR BIRD IB) than when they did not (e.g., CE BIRD NT); better performance when flanking bigrams contained letters ordered as in the target (e.g., BI BIRD RD; RD BIRD BI) than switched (e.g., IB BIRD DR; DR BIRD IB); and that only letter order within bigrams—not bigram order relative to the respective target—affected performance. Palinski (CSU Master's thesis, 2016) replicated these findings. In each of those experiments, on 80% of trials, flanking bigrams were composed of letters from the target. We conducted a new experiment in which only 50% of trials involved flanking bigrams whose letters were in the target. We again found, for words, more efficient responding when flanking bigrams contained target letters than when they did not and when flanking-bigram letters were ordered as in the target than switched. These effects do not depend on the proportion of trials on which flanking bigrams are composed of target letters.

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  The Effects of Cell Cycle Position on Skeletal Myoblast Differentiation or Apoptosis

  Asma Saleh and Briana Boslett

  Programmed cell death (apoptosis) is induced by the same culture conditions as differentiation in skeletal myoblasts, yet these processes result in mutually exclusive physiological endpoints. Dissecting this coordinate regulation could enable selective manipulation relevant to the alleviation of muscle degeneration, the effectiveness of regeneration, or treatment utilizing skeletal myoblast transfer. Analysis of asynchronous cultures of myoblasts in growth media (GM) were determined to have 50% of cells in G1 phase, 30% of cells in S phase and 20% of cells in G2/M phase. When skeletal myoblasts in GM are switched to differentiation media (DM), roughly 70% of cells undergo differentiation and 30% of cells undergo apoptosis. This led us to the hypothesis that the 30% of cells undergoing apoptosis in response to DM may also be the 30% of cells in S phase. To confirm the potential role of the cell cycle, we began by performing a mitotic shake-off to synchronize cells in M phase. Cells were then monitored for progression to S phase by BrDU incorporation into newly synthesized DNA. Results show that cells peak in S phase 7 hours after mitotic shake-off. Future studies will investigate the potential for myoblasts in different cell cycle phases to undergo apoptosis.

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  Experimental Analysis of Catalytic Gasification of Waste Polymers

  Samuel O. Sanya, UC Obiako, Aliandra Barbutti, Stephen Reeves, Eric M. Lange, and Jade Moten

  This research focuses on advancing the current knowledge of a catalytic gasification process as a potential in-situ resource utilization and waste management system. This research has significance in a variety of engineering applications, but is of particular relevance towards municipal waste management and advancing space exploration. In this technology, typically referred to as Trash to Supply Gas (TtSG), liquid phase oxidation reactions produce carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and water. The oxidation reactions are complemented by two gas-phase reactions: the Water Gas Shift (WGS) and the Sabatier (or methanation) reaction, the main stages in the pathway of producing hydrogen and methane in this technology. A research grade laboratory reactor is currently being used to study the catalytic gasification mechanism with two model substrates: cellulose and polyethylene. Cellulose and polyethylene exhibit marked differences under the conditions being studied. Cellulose remains solid during catalytic gasification experiments, while polyethylene melts prior to reaction conditions. Following the reaction phase, the reaction products are collected and analyzed with Gas Chromatography (GC), Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The current focus of this research is the formulation of the liquid phase oxidation kinetics. The study connects the gas phase kinetics with experimental results, aiming to elucidate the chemical pathway for the liquid phase oxidation. Efforts include the connection of transport phenomena with gas phase kinetics for the formulation of an overall model. The results clearly demonstrate the potential of catalytic gasification as a sustainable waste management alternative.

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  Connected FPGA Thermal Monitoring

  John Schultz

  Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGA) are configurable integrated circuits. One area that is very important in integrated circuits is temperature control. Improper heat control can lead to a decreased lifespan and possible failure of the device. Many different circuits can be created on the FPGA to suit a specific project or need. Due to FGPAs being configurable, it is hard to create efficient cooling methods. Our project seeks to monitor the FGPA's temperature with different configurations to eventually increase the efficiency of the thermal management system. To accomplish this, we programmed a system on the chip system onto the FPGA in order to be able to communicate with sensors. We connected the system to an internal and ambient temperature sensor. We then connected the system to a wireless module that uploads to Adafruit IO and can be monitored in real time.