Preliminary data has shown Metformin, a widespread diabetes medication, has restorative neurological/neuromuscular effects through its involvement in the purine nucleotide de novo synthesis pathway. We want to investigate if Metformin has any further significant restorative phenotypic effects in our model organism, C. elegans, specially after separately knocking down the ADSS1 and ADSL1 genes.

A previous study done in the Osa Peninsula of Costa Rica found a correlation of the claw size of hermit crabs and their boldness in undisturbed and disturbed beaches. Our study replicates this at a similar location on the Osa Peninsula. We compared boldness of crabs from disturbed and undisturbed beaches as well as the size of the hermit crabs themselves. Our results found that rather than size, density was the main factor of boldness in crabs. This study is extremely relevant because it showcases the possible unexpected consequences of human disturbance to the ecosystem.

Ultra-high energy neutrinos can give us a unique view into high energy physics processes in our universe. The Beamforming Elevated Array for Cosmic Neutrinos (BEACON) aims to detect tau neutrinos with energies more than 100 PeV. BEACON is optimized to search for the radio signature induced by the decays of tau leptons in the 30-80 MHz range. I will discuss an ongoing study aimed at reconstructing the Xmax with BEACON and direction using interferometric techniques.

Pulmonary disease caused by Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) is increasing. Treatment plans include multidrug therapy that can last for up to 2 years, which causes negative side effects or drug-resistant strains. Trans-translation is a ribosome rescue pathway that rectifies nonstop translation to make ribosomes available for translation. To determine the effectiveness of trans-translation inhibitors against MAC, MIC and MBC assays were performed. Trans-translation inhibitors exhibit great promise for drug development and future use against MAC.

Industrial hemp, Cannabis sativa, is one of the first crops to be cultivated by humankind. Despite being largely banned from cultivation during the previous century, legalization under the Farm Bill of 2018 allowed for the cultivation, research, and usage of the crop and is leading to the actualization of its many uses ranging from fiber production to nutraceuticals. With this the economic/agronomic value of the crop is projected to be 11.3 billion USD by 2030.  

Why do individuals hold different ideological beliefs? Examining the determinants of political ideology has long been a topic of research within the field of political science, due to the nature of left-right ideological position influencing many of our political behaviors. I present a model that explains certain effects of individual-level determinants on political ideology, understood on an economic dimension. Using data from the pooled European Values Survey and World Values Survey, I find that individuals hold different ideological beliefs on the economic dimension due to factors such as religiosity, education, and gender.

Forest light environments are one of the most important considerations for tree regeneration. The goal of this project was to determine how a selective tree harvest in an eastern hardwood forest affects light regimes by performing a thinning, planting seedlings in sites across thinned and unaltered stands, and quantifying the light environment in each site and how it impacts the survival and growth of the seedlings.

Micrococcus luteus, a gram-positive bacteria, has shown characteristics of degradation via the histidine utilization (hut) pathway. However, the pathway location and corresponding genes and proteins are not known. The hut pathway in gram-positive Bacillus subtilis has been identified. Using BLAST and Ensembl Bacteria, the properties of the B. subtilis hut pathway were compared to the M. luteus genome to identify similarities to locate M. luteus hut pathway.

The chemical basis of songbird migration is not fully understood. Dopamine appears to play a role in stimulating migration, and bile acids are known to interact with the dopamine reward system, so we hypothesize that there may be bile acid receptors in the birds' brains. We will investigate this by using magnetic bead immunoprecipitation on songbird brain tissue using chenodioxycholic acid as the ligand.

The COVID-19 pandemic abruptly changed healthcare services, including breast cancer screening, in the United States. Using real-world electronic health records from over 1.8 million women since 2017, we observed a temporary decrease in screening utilization, followed by a rebound within 6 months of the pandemic. However, the rate of follow-up screening within 24 months of a previous screenings decreased from 77.88% in pre-COVID to 77.41% during COVID-period, with variations across demographic subpopulations. A logistic regression also showed an 6.15% decrease in probability that a woman receives a follow-up screening during COVID-19.

Host-affiliated microbiomes are abundant and diverse in nature, but how they initially assemble is widely unknown. The squid-vibrio model system, where marine bacterium Vibrio fischeri colonizes Hawaiian bobtail squid Euprymna scolopes’s light organ, is utilized to study host-microbe symbioses. Here we report that co-isolated strains of V. fischeri’s ability to establish symbiosis in a single squid are likely due to each strain’s swimming ability in conjunction with when they initially encountered the animal.

An alternative sigma-54 factor, encoded in V. fischeri, regulates the activation of dependent genes whose expression results in functional traits. Transcriptional regulation provides fitness advantages to the cell and symbiotic species must regulate phenotypic resistance to colonize with the host organism (Euprymna scolopes). Our focus is to determine the levels of rpoN in which regulation processes are altered. The study of s54-dependent regulation will reveal specific pathways and processes that acclimate to the host environment.

We combine data from the Hobby-Eberly Telescope Dark Energy Experiment (HETDEX) with sources detected in the Low Frequency Array (LOFAR) to construct the HETDEX-LOFAR Spectroscopic Redshift Catalog. Starting from the first data release of the LOFAR Two-metre Sky Survey, we extracted 18,267 spectra. Using an automatic  algorithm, we assigned a classification and distance measurement. We supplemented these classifications with the continuum and emission line catalogs of the internal, third data release from HETDEX (HDR3).

The purpose of this study is to analyze the utilization rates of mammograms and Pap smear tests among low income African American women, and to identify some barriers that lead to utilization rates such as education, income, and insurance status. This was done through a literature review and quantitative analysis using the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey Data. The results indicated that income and insurance status have an impact on the utilization of both tests. 

Previous studies have found a positive relationship between body size and perch height in Anolis lizards. We measured these variables in adjacent forested and anthropogenic habitats. Longer-legged anoles perched higher in the forest but lower in the anthropogenic habitat (cabins, lawn, and sparse vegetation). We propose that longer legs are better suited for maneuvering upward in the structurally complex forest habitat but less suitable for utilizing the highest perches on building walls in anthropogenic areas.

Additive manufacturing (AM) is a developing manufacturing process that provides unique capabilities compared to more traditional manufacturing, producing components not previously possible without assembly or additional processes. Metal AM specifically has a promise of huge impacts in automotive, aerospace, and other industries reliant on high-quality and complex metal components. A form of metal AM known as Directed Energy Deposition (DED) has additional unique strengths like metal alloy abilities, and sight-specific deposition and repair on existing parts, in addition to the typical advantages of AM over more conventional manufacturing methods. The main issue with DED and other metal additive manufacturing processes like it stems from the inability to maintain strict quality control of manufactured parts. Current manufacturing attempts to optimize process parameters of DED prior to manufacturing to ensure quality control, but can require iteration, and due to the nature of AM can depend on the geometry of the given part. Using real-time monitoring has the potential to monitor the effects of DED process parameters as a manufacturing process is actively being done. Based on this challenge, the authors proposed a methodology that monitors the geometry discrepancy of  DED additive manufacturing using the characteristics of process parameters. The parameters considered in this study are exposure time, a distance of scanner, reflection, and spread of powder. Real-time monitoring can effectively be done using laser line scanner technology.. The ability to actively record geometrical data of specimens produced during the DED process creates the ability to further investigate real-time control of DED process parameters for quality control of specimens

Cells need access to sulfur sources in their environment to survive, for example sulfate. To import sulfate, YfbS, a sulfate importer that contains two TrkA_C domains, is utilized. The function of these domains is unknown, but it is hypothesized that they serve as a plug to control sulfate import. This poster aims to show the TrkA_C domains are conserved across the Vibrionaceae family, while using V. fischeri to determine their function in future research. 

The data being presented is based on the thesis I am completing for honors in Biobehavioral Health. The first aim of my thesis was to understand the current infant and young child feeding practices in indigenous Guatemalan communities. The second aim of my thesis was to understand the current barriers to achieving optimal nutrition for infants and young children. Feeding practices and barriers were assessed through data from semi-structured interviews, household meal observations and participatory community workshops. 

The main research question was whether covariates could be a big factor on birds’ migration routes. This exploration was possible through an archetype analysis, which is a statistical nonparametric approach that represents each individual as a mixture of multiple estimated archetypes. We developed a new approach where covariates are considered, in order to be fitted using Bayesian methods and MCMC. This showcases a new proposal for such databases and optimizes processes in ecological research.

This project empirically tests the factors affecting democratization following a civil It includes 92 conflicts and studies each of the ten years following a civil war. I study four explanatory variables: length, casualties, war type, and outcome. The dependent variables are democracy scores and whether the country increased in democracy from the previous year. I test this using OLS and logit linear regression.

Eastern box turtles (Terrapene carolina carolina), a species of special concern in Pennsylvania, have declined across their range in recent decades. The objective of this research is to understand how thermal interactions affect habitat selection. The results from this research will quantify the micro-sites that turtles seek out based on their sex and help to determine what habitat management, especially in the understory, can be done to boost the population of this species of concern. 

The effects of health inequities on antimicrobial resistance are not well documented. Caenorhabditis elegans and Orsay virus presents an ideal model to study the effect of treatment access on antimicrobial resistance. Orsay virus was passaged through 10 sequential generations of worm populations combined in different ratios of “treatedâ€

Purseweb spiders are a family of cryptic arachnids closely related to tarantulas. Here, we explored radio telemetry as a means of locating the heretofore undescribed females of a newly discovered species of the genus Sphodros. Males were collected from pitfall traps and successfully outfitted with VHF transmitters. The spiders survived several days following application, and their locomotion was unimpeded. While the males ultimately died before reaching female webs, subsequent visual searches for webs were successful.

This study explores methodology for relating eastern bluebird cognition with metrics of reproductive success. Individual cognitive abilities of nesting birds were measured using a problem-solving task. Each box was equipped with a series of levers, allowing the bird to open the door to the box by perching on the correct lever. Cognitive assessments will be paired with metrics of nest success. Future research will examine the link between cognition and reproductive success using this methodology.