Glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, is the most commonly used herbicide in American agriculture. The biodegradation of glyphosate leads to aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA). Glyphosate and AMPA have been extensively characterized to be toxic to organ development– however, it remains unexplored in cardiac development. Using zebrafish as a model due to their tractability, we examine […]
A64: Living to Serve: Dimensions of Service in Low-Income Communities
Food banks are the primary form of addressing food insecurity in low socioeconomic communities across high-income countries. Because positive feedback of food banks is mostly associated with volunteers, this poses a question of what qualities are associated with high-quality volunteerism or service. The SERVQUAL model (1988) is used as the standard for food pantries, financial […]
A68: Adsorption Process Using Activated Biomass to Remove Manganese from Potable Water
The world has a pressing need for accessible and affordable water treatment solutions, particularly in underserved areas like Kabingo, Uganda, the community that Miami University’s Engineers Without Borders works with. The primary objective of our work was to create sustainable filtration systems capable of effectively removing manganese (Mn) from drinking water sources. This area of […]
A70: Shoulder Fatigue Prediction for a Simulated Occupational Task Using Wearable Sensor Data
The purpose of this research project is to determine whether it is possible for a person’s future fatigue to be predicted given their previous rate of fatigue, within one session of working. To answer this question, we collected data from subjects performing a task in a simulated working environment. This task is intended to simulate […]
B03: Optimizing Growth Conditions of Chlamydomonas Strains, Chlamydomonas malina and Chlamydomonas klinobasis
Understanding the growth characteristics and adaptive responses of psychrophilic organisms to varying environmental conditions is crucial for clarifying their ecological niche and potential applications in biotechnology. Psychrophilic organisms exhibit a preference for growth at 4ºC. Chlamydomonas malina originates from the Beaufort Sea and Chlamydomonas klinobasis originates from Svalbard, Norway. C. malina is a marine alga […]
B05: Mathematical Analysis of Disease Propagation in an Epidemiological Model
In the field of Dynamical Systems, the study of infectious disease spread serves a crucial role in understanding and mitigating epidemics. This project focuses on investigating the dynamics of disease propagation using the SIS (Susceptible-Infected-Susceptible) model. We enhance the SIS model by incorporating diffusion to explore how simple diseases spread spatially. Applied dynamical system methods, […]
B09: RNAi v. CRISPR: Comparing Efficiency of Loss-of-Function Analysis
RNA interference (RNAi) and CRISPR/Cas9-genome editing have revolutionized biology by enabling loss-of-function analyses with relatively simple procedures. Although both RNAi and CRISPR/Cas9 lead to functional loss of the targeted gene, these two methods are fundamentally different. RNAi targets mRNA at the post-transcriptional level, leading to the reduction (i.e. knockdown) of the target gene function. On […]
B10: Microplastic ingestion may prime rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) immune response
Preview in new tab As plastic waste is entering aquatic ecosystems and breaking down via chemical and physical processes, microplastic ingestion is an increasing threat to water-dwelling species. In this experiment, 180 rainbow trout consumed diets containing nylon fibers, nylon particles, or no plastic. Half of each treatment group was dosed with infectious hematopoietic necrosis […]
B11: Gaining Insights into the World of Freshwater Isopods
Isopod crustaceans of the family Asellidae are one of the most widespread freshwater crustacean groups. Members of the family occur throughout North America, and occupy a wide range of habitats (wetlands, streams, surface springs, caves). However, they are not well studied, with very little known about their evolutionary history and biogeography. Here we aim to […]
B12: Dual Activity and Synaptic Plasticity in Muscles
We study the nervous system, specifically communication between neurons and muscles at the neuromuscular junction (NMJ), in the Jonah crab (Cancer borealis). We asked whether p7, a pyloric (food filtering behavior) muscle, and gm3, a gastric mill (chewing behavior) muscle, can follow the dual-network activity pattern of the LPG neuron which innervates them. LPG switches […]