Stander Symposium Projects

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  Improving Health Resources on Snoring to Increase Intensive English Program Students’ Understanding

  Andrew J Deak, Adriana Beatrice Figueroa Santiago, Carrie Anne Siekierski

  Health literacy is defined as the wide range of skills that people develop over their lifetime to comprehend and use health information to make informed choices, reduce health risks, and increase quality of life. In an effort to address the problem of health literacy, we worked with students in level two of the University of Dayton’s Intensive English Program (IEP) to develop a helpful health resource about snoring. After learning from the students what they wanted to know about snoring, we were able to choose an existing health text that required a high level of literacy in order to achieve understanding. Using that text, we created a new fact sheet with important information about snoring and delivered that information in a way that made it understandable for the IEP students. After field testing our document with the IEP students, we were able to use their feedback to make improvements and ensure the material was easy to understand. As a result of this work, after performing several analysis tests, we determined original document had an average readability level of 9.7 and rewrote it to require an average reading level of 3.9, cutting the literacy level required down by more than half. This project worked to demonstrated how to reduce the readability challenges of a health document for people of lower literacy levels in order for them to understand important health information.

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  Improving Resources and Awareness for Sexual Assault at UD

  Bethany Joy Driggers, Danny Patrick Holtz, Sydney Michele Knobel, Jack H Lundy

  There is a growing epidemic of sexual assault on college campuses across the United States. In light of recent events in the media, it has become clear that time is up on ignoring the signs of sexual abuse. While this time is about empowering the victims, it is also about recognizing the detrimental effects that sexual assault can have on a college-age individual. Today, the University of Dayton has numerous campaigns in which they inform the community on sexual assault and the resources available. However, after further research and investigation, it has become clear that UD could offer more resources for students to utilize to get help. UD offers students numerous resources, both on and off campus for students to utilize. That being said, only two of these resources are available to students on a 24/7 basis. We then looked beyond UD and researched the various resources available on other college campuses. Some of the resources we found when looking in the area included student legal services, The Women's Place, The Student Advocacy Center, the Sexual Civility and Empowerment Program (SCE), and a 24 hour crisis hotline for students to call incase of an emergency. Due to a lack of information shared and posted across campus, and the lack of resources available to victims on weekends, our group has decided to recommend how UD can become a more proactive and safe place for victims to get help and share their stories.

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  Influence of positive illusions and stress on weight gain in college students

  Olivia Grace Grondalski

  With majority of overweight or obese children growing up to be overweight or obese adults, understanding different influences on eating and exercise at an integral transition period into adulthood is paramount. There are several different influences on physical health from genetics to environmental factors, however, the relationship between self-enhancement and weight gain is largely unstudied. The purpose of this proposed longitudinal study is to understand the influences of positive illusions, in the form of self-enhancement, on changes in weight of college students and the role stress plays in this relationship over time. At the beginning of the semester, students will participate in Time 1, and have their height and weight recorded. Body Mass Index will be calculated using the standard equation of weight in kilograms divided by height-squared in centimeters. Then participants will complete a series of questionnaires on the computer that are relevant to the current proposal. These questionnaires include the body dissatisfaction scale to assess perceived body mass index, and self-reported stress. The Body Dissatisfaction Scale (Mutale, Dumm, Stiller, & Larkin, 2016) will be used to assess how the participant perceives their body. Participants are presented with body size images that vary in size. For each body size presented, the weight and BMI have been calculated. The difference between the participant’s actual BMI and their perceived BMI will be calculated. Self-reported stress will be assessed using the Perceived Stress Scale (Cohen, Kamarck, and Mermelstein, 1983). Actual stress will be measured in the form of cortisol. Cortisol is a steroid hormone secreted by the adrenal glands. It is hypothesized that students with high self-enhancement, and physiological stress will influence weight gain throughout the semester.

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  Inhibition and Prevention of Biofilm Growth: The Effect of a Cationic and Novel Zinc Porphyrin on Pseudomonas aeruginosa Biofilm Formation on Different Substrata

  David Anthony Rivetti

  A biofilm is a group of microbes that are found in hydrated matrices of cells and contain polysaccharides, extracellular DNA, and proteins. Bacteria growing in biofilms are often resistant to antimicrobial treatments and are able to go undetected by the immune system of their host if located within a host organism. Microorganisms that form biofilms have the potential to colonize all higher organisms and contaminate biomedical implants, leading to further complications. As a result of their physical and chemical properties, biofilms are difficult to break down and separate from their surfaces. With the increasing problem of antibiotic resistance, there is a need to further consider different treatment options to combat biofilm growth. Cationic porphyrins have the capacity to cause DNA damage in a biofilm by intercalating between the base pairs of a DNA sequence, resulting in the breakage of the strand. Certain porphyrins can be used in the absence of light, while others require photoactivation in order to achieve their optimal effects. In order to further develop a comprehensive treatment method and identify other uses for the porphyrins, additional substrata must be tested in order to determine if porphyrins can be utilized as a viable treatment option. The substrata considered include metal (stainless steel, a biomedical implant material), polyethylene (kidney dialysis tubing material), oyster shell (an easily fouled environmental surface), and glass. TMP, or 5,10,15,20-tetrakis (1-methyl-pyridino)-21H,23H-porphine, tetra-p-tosylate salt, and a novel zinc porphyrin were introduced to the Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilms on the various substrata to test for efficacy in disruption of a formed biofilm as well as inhibition of biofilm growth on the substrata. In both cases, a reduction in biofilm growth was observed following viable plate counts and confocal image analysis.

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  Initial Study of Novel Flame Retardants For Epoxy Resin Systems

  Abdulhamid Ali Bin Sulayman

  This poster describes the initial investigation of the reaction between a novel flame retardant (FR) and epoxy resin. The novel chemical (synthesized and provided by UD Chemistry Department faculty) is a phosphorus-based flame retardant that also incorporates primary and/or secondary amine functional groups. These groups potentially could react with epoxy resins, which would then incorporate this FR chemical directly into the polymer network through covalent bonding. This would be a way of introducing flame retardants into epoxy resins to improve flammability of composites. Initial research was conducted using Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA), and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR). The results indicate that the flame retardant is indeed reacting with the epoxy resin to form a crosslinked network. Future work will involve characterization of the cured epoxy-FR network for physical properties, mechanical properties, and flammability.

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  Institutional Racism in Dayton

  Kenni Jean Graham

  Institutional racism refers to institutional beliefs or vocabulary that denigrates minority racial groups and that perpetuates systematic racial inequalities in society. This project examines forms and consequences of institutional racism in the history of Dayton. Drawing on Facing Project Narratives along with social inequality literature, this poster will identify historical forms of institutional racism that reflect and produce racial inequality in society today. In addition, this poster will discuss how social change has occurred around institutional racism and provide community-level recommendations to help ameliorate the persistent repercussions of these policies on the city of Dayton.

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  Interference of the Inflammasome Via Interferon-β

  Maddie Ann Sauer

  It is well established that macrophages, a classification of white blood cells, are the body’s first line of defense against stressors such as bacterial and viral infections. The inflammatory response is adaptive and is the body’s way of fighting anything that would be considered foreign, and therefore potentially dangerous to the human body. This project looks at metabolic diseases, such as obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), and the pro-inflammatory phenotype. The pro-inflammatory phenotype is a physical manifestation of the molecular changes that take place due to the high fat environment associated with metabolic diseases. This inflammatory response has been associated with not only metabolic disorder, but also Alzheimer’s Disease, atherosclerosis, autoinflammatory/ autoimmune diseases, gout, inhibited tissue repair and creation of tumors. This project aims to assess a specific protein called PPAR-γ that, when absent, has been shown to decrease this pro-inflammatory response. If the mechanism behind how this protein works to decrease the inflammatory response can be established, it could be used clinically to treat many of the inflammatory conditions. It is hypothesized that that in the absence of PPAR-γ a signaling molecule called IFN-β is increased, leading to the anti-inflammatory response. It is unknown how IFN-β and PPAR-γ are linked mechanistically. Through this research, we hope to establish the link between these two molecules. If this novel mechanism can be established, it can be used therapeutically to decrease the pro-inflammatory response.

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  Interpolation Methods

  Mohamed Khalifa I Aburakhis, Mohammed Mutlaq Almatrafi

  In this work, the interpolation methods, Polynomial interpolation, Cubic Splines interpolation, Akima cubic spline interpolation, Since function interpolation, and Radial Basis Function interpolation are implemented using MATLAB. The derivation and mathematical equations are presented. Finally, all methods are applied to one example for the sake of comparison. There is not enough literature on the comparison of interpolations methods, this work is an attempt to provide a survey of above methods.

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  Invasional meltdown on the Texas coast? Positive interactions between an invasive plant, an invasive ant, and a non-native moth on the endangered coastal tallgrass prairie

  Emily E Jones, Emma Quill Kaufman

  Positive interactions between invasive species may facilitate and amplify the invasive success of each interacting partner, leading to “invasional meltdowns.” Coastal tallgrass prairies, imperiled ecosystems along the Gulf Coast, are currently under threat by non-native species species from multiple trophic levels: the Chinese tallow tree (Triadica sebifera L.), the omnivorous tawny crazy ant (Nylanderia fulva Mayr), and most recently, an adventive, hypermetamorphic, herbivorous moth (Caloptilia triadicae Hodges). Previous research demonstrated that invasive Chinese tallow induces extrafloral nectar (EFN) in response to specific, chewing herbivores, and tawny crazy ants have been observed consuming tallow EFN on the prairie. However, the nature of interactions between these three species is currently unknown, and studies of tri-trophic interactions between spatially-associated, non-coevolved invasive species are underrepresented in the ecological literature. We hypothesize that invasive Chinese tallow, when attacked by the non-native moth, confers a nutritive resource to the ecologically dominant invasive ant. To determine the nature of the interactions between these species, we will experimentally manipulate EFN induction in potted Chinese tallow saplings using various levels of Caloptilia infestation, conduct complementary laboratory feeding trials with the ants, and measure the effect of ant exclusion on Caloptilia parasitism and predation on field-grown tallow trees.

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  Investigating Cell-Cell Interactions through Wg and Yki signaling in Drosophila Glioma

  Logan Joseph Roebke

  Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is a devastating form of primary brain cancer with poor prognosis. Capitalizing on the mutations found in GBM patients and the similarities between mammalian and Drosophila genes involved in glial cell biology, Drosophila glioblastoma models have been established that show similarities to anaplastic glia from high-grade human glioma. High grade glioma is known to be recurrent and therapy resistant. These aspects of GBM lead us to ask how different genetic signals (JNK, Wg and Yki) contribute to promoting glioma, and if interactions between glioma cells and the neighboring stromal cells play a role in the key aspects of disease presentation- the rapid growth, the therapy resistance, and the recurrent phenotype. So far, we have downregulated Wg and Yki to analyze their affects glioma growth. Here we present our progress from these studies.

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  Investigation of the Role of Mitochondrial Dysfunction as a Trigger for Neurodegeneration in Alzheimer’s disease

  Neha Gogia, Lydia Christine Payton, Ankita Sarkar

  Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder that affects the cognitive function and memory of those affected. It results from plaques formed by the abnormal cleavage of the Amyloid Precursor Protein (APP), which result in the formation of a 42 amino acid polypeptide, also known as amyloid beta 42 (Aβ42). Accumulation of these hydrophobic Aβ42 plaques triggers neuronal cell death in the central nervous system. However, the reason for this abnormal cell death still remains unknown. A possible explanation involves the role of mitochondrial dysfunction, as mitochondria carry out many vital cellular functions in a cell, including ATP production, reactive oxygen species production, and apoptosis. This study uses Drosophila melanogaster - the fruit fly – as the model organism, as 75% of the genetic machinery is conserved between flies and humans and much of the information generated using this model can be extrapolated to humans. This study uses an AD fly model in which human Aβ42 peptides can be misexpressed in the Drosophila eye using the GAL4/UAS system. In our study, we have identified (1) alpha-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase and (2) pyruvate dehydrogenase as potential enzymatic modifiers of the human Aβ42 neurodegeneration. To investigate their effect on Alzheimer’s, we used the GAL4/UAS system, and misexpressed the GOF/LOF forms of the genes coding these enzymes along with human Aβ42 in the fly eye and checked the resultant phenotypes in both larval eye antennal imaginal discs and in adults. Our results showed partial rescue in the LOF of alpha-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase, which clearly indicates that the enzyme plays a major role in AD progression. In the future, we will test the GOF of both enzymatic modifiers in further experiments. This study has significant bearings on understanding how certain enzymatic mitochondrial machinery and metabolism affects AD progression.

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  Investing in S&P 500 Stocks: Do Size and Value Still Matter

  Margaret Eileen Schutter

  Empirical research by financial economists show that small cap stocks outperform large cap stocks and value stocks outperform growth stocks over long periods of time (20 years or more). In this study, I extend the previous research by examining returns to portfolios based on size and value but over a much shorter time period, 2009 – 2016, to determine if the traditional outperformance patterns still hold. The 2009 – 2016 period is important because it includes the market rebound from the 2008 recession and has all the appearances of a long run bull market. It is also impacted by one of the most aggressive monetary easing policies in U.S. history. The universe of stocks is the S&P 500. Portfolios are rebalanced yearly.

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  It's Time to Take a Second Look

  Megan McCarren, Karl L Rimelspach

  This presentation will examine the structure of the school day. Specifically, we will examine the effects of school start time on students, as well as the presence of having a lunch hour. The positives and negatives of both sides will be looked at in order to determine how to structure the best possible school day for students.

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  Job Searching for Higher Education Students in a Highly Digitized World: The Role Social Media Plays in Finding a Full-Time Position

  Brittany Ann Fishburn

  This project aims to explain the role that social media plays in college students finding a job upon graduation. It addresses whether or not recruiters and organizations use social media as a viable method to fill open positions. It also conveys whether or not LinkedIn in still a relevant social media platform and if other social media outlets, such as BeBee, can be used for the job search process. The research was conducted by synthesizing information from peer-reviewed scholarly articles for a graduate course at the University of Dayton titled EDC 540 Perspectives in Higher Education. In the end, it is clear that social networking should not be ignored during the job search. Recruiters are utilizing social media to conduct a pre-check on candidates, post jobs, and make connections with potential candidates. Despite the popularity and usefulness of social networking sites for student to find a full-time position, traditional internet job boards, such as careerbuilder.com and indeed.com are still a top priority (Nikolaou, 2014). Essentially, social networking sites are important to utilize, but should only be one of the many tools used when looking for job opportunities. Keywords: LinkedIn, Job Search, BeBee, Social Networks

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  Leadership and Diversity of Professionals Working in Healthcare

  Emily E Kloos

  This study relates to previous research done to find out why women engineers leave engineering. It is said that women make up more than 20% of engineering school graduates and yet only 11% of practicing engineers are women, despite various efforts to address the gender gap. Through research, it has been found that many women engineers move from manufacturing and other engineering facilities to service industries such as Healthcare. The purpose of this research is to take the past research done and find out if women engineers working in Healthcare face the same issues as the women engineers in manufacturing or similar environment. 58% of the Healthcare companies are non-profit, 22% are owned by government and 20% are investor owned. There are about 3100 hospitals in Health systems in the United States. Healthcare centers in the United States will be contacted through e-mail, LinkedIn or by appointment. The research topic will be discussed with the management/HR teams at each center to see if they are interested to participate in this study. A survey has been created to distribute to the participating centers. The target respondents for this study are women with an undergraduate degree in engineering but will also use other men and women currently working in Healthcare. We are expecting over 30 Healthcare centers to participate and will compare results of those who never entered engineering field to women who had worked in an engineering field in the past. The survey results will be collected through Google Forms and the results will be compared to the findings in previous research articles.

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  Listeriolysin O production is regulated by SCFAs and oxygen in Listeria monocytogenes

  Erica Marie Rinehart

  Listeria monocytogenes (LM) is foodborne pathogen that secretes listeriolysin O (LLO), a pore-forming toxin to establish its intracellular life cycle inside host cells. However, how the environment in the intestine that has both an oxygen gradient (low oxygen to no oxygen) and is enriched in short chain fatty acids (SCFAs) effects LM virulence regulation and pathogenesis has not been determined. To better understand LLO production in response to relevant environmental conditions found during LM transit through the intestinal lumen, a reporter strain and hemolytic assays were used to examine the effect of SCFAs on the transcription and the activity of LLO, respectively. We characterized the LM membrane fatty acid composition in response to SCFAs using FAME analysis. This allowed us to examine the role of membranes as an intermediate signal in LM response to SCFAs. In total, we found that that transcription and LLO production was significantly affected by SCFAs and that LM response to SCFAs was influenced by oxygen. Significant alterations in membrane fatty acids were also seen in SCFA-treated LM. Therefore, LM has the capability of responding to the SCFA-rich environment, in both virulence gene regulation and fatty acid metabolism, during intestinal transit and that individual variations in SCFA abundance may contribute to susceptibility to LM infections.

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  Living in the Slump: Second Year African American Undergraduate Students' Coping Mechanisms

  Cerelia Victoria Bizzell

  The sophomore experience has been characterized with not only academic difficulty, but also psychosocial challenges (Schaller, 2010). This study sought to describe and examine the many different experiences African American sophomore students encountered at a predominately White institution (PWI). Moreover, this study looked to understand the stress coping mechanisms they have adapted when balancing academics, social life, and extracurricular activities. The findings revealed that African American sophomore students have had difficulty learning to trust their institution’s resources, have had a hard time balancing their social life, and have felt the need to mature faster than others. Incorporating a narrative study approach allowed students to reflect on their interpersonal and intrapersonal development, and give detail to how they dealt with the obstacles they faced during their second year. Future studies could focus on a particular gender in order to analyze the different stress coping mechanisms utilized by students.

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  Mentoring Strategies for the Support of High School Students Experiencing Anxiety and Depression: A Case-Study of Two Catholic High Schools

  Karin Elaine Forsthoefel

  There is a high prevalence of anxiety and depressive related disorders among adolescents ages 13-18 in the United States, and these statistics do not include the undiagnosed experiences of anxiety and depression that are typical during adolescence. This case study examines the supports provided for students experiencing anxiety and depression in two Catholic high schools. The aims of the study were to collect a list of strategies and interventions being used in Catholic high schools to address the needs of high school students experiencing anxiety and depression, and to investigate the use of mentoring opportunities through which teacher-student relationships can be developed. Faculty and staff members were surveyed and interviewed to gather specific information about strategies and mentoring opportunities employed. Themes among the data include the teacher roles of seeking knowledge, collaborating with parents and staff, modeling healthy coping strategies, and creating supportive environments to foster student openness.

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  Methods of Blocking Efflux Pump Activity in Escherichia Coli

  Erich Nicholaus Auer

  Overuse of antibiotics throughout the developed world has contributed significantly to the emergence of antibiotic-resistance in bacteria. Although this helps bacteria it is extremely harmful to humans. As bacteria adapt to the antibiotics, current treatments become ineffective and bacterial infections can become life threatening. One of the mechanisms that bacteria, such as E. Coli, use are efflux pumps. Efflux pumps are capable of taking potentially harmful substances, like antibiotics, from inside the bacterial cell and moving them out. This allows the bacterium to escape from the killing effects of the antibiotics. My hypothesis was that a natural product, small molecule compound, or DNA aptamer would be able to bind to some part of the tri-part structure of the efflux pump and block its activity. The results showed that there are some promising compounds but none that were actually capable of blocking activity to a significant degree.

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  Minimal perimeters of triangles with fixed area and foot.

  Hang Luo

  Triangle with the same area can have different perimeters. In this project we are exploring the question of when those perimeters are as small as possible. With no further conditions, the answer to this question is known: the minimal perimeter is obtained by an equilateral triangle. We can explore the question under the condition that location of the height is fixed. In this case the minimal perimeter can be obtained by variety of different triangle types. We want to know which type of a triangle has minimal perimeter based on the location of the height.

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  Mobile Sensor Lab

  Brandon Mckenzie Hampshire

  The Vision Lab has many projects that involves data collection from various sensors. These sensors can vary by platform and programming language. In order to centralize data collection, the Robot Operating System (ROS) is applied to the Clearpath Husky robot. The Husky is made for multi-terrain transport and can be modified to carry multiple sensors. The Robot Operating System is not an operating system but is a network centralized library. ROS provides background services and different language libraries that allow sensors and languages to communicate to a common location. In addition, the libraries can let the user to receive data from the central network thus allowing multiple cross language platform communication. An application of these components can assist in data collection for environment 3D reconstruction. Environment 3D reconstruction requires depth imagery, RGB imagery, and orientation of the camera. The Husky provides estimated orientation to ROS and ROS supports the Microsoft Kinect. With open source coding, the Husky can be coded to collect the necessary data for 3D reconstruction.

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  Model Predictive Control Energy Dispatch to Optimize Renewable Penetration for a Microgrid with Battery and Thermal Storage

  Ibrahim Aldaouab

  As intermittent renewable energy becomes a larger fraction of the overall energy mix in the US, algorithms that efficiently utilize this energy are necessary. In this work, a model predictive control (MPC) method is developed to perform real-time optimization to maximize the power delivery from a renewable supply to a building. An isolated microgrid scenario is considered, consisting of a mixed-use residential and commercial building, renewable power supply, battery storage, hot water tank thermal storage, and a backup supply. The MPC strategy utilizes predictions of the building’s electrical and hot water loads, on an hourly basis, along with predictions of the output from the renewable supply. At each time step, these predictions are used to create an optimized power dispatching strategy between the microgrid elements, to maximize renewable energy use. For a fixed size microgrid, the performance of this MPC approach is compared to the performance of a simple non-predictive dispatching strategy.

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  Modulation of Listeria monocytogenes carbon metabolism by short chain fatty acids

  Diksha Bedi

  Listeria monocytogenes, a bacterial pathogen, is associated with foodborne infections in humans. Listeria encounters short chain fatty acids (SCFAs) during its transit through the intestine but its metabolic responses to SCFAs are not fully understood. To determine how Listeria metabolism is affected by SCFAs, I performed basic microbiology assays, including monitoring optical density, determining acetoin production, and measuring culture pH levels, to assess Listeria growth in the presence of butyrate, propionate, and acetate. I also performed preliminary 13C-NMR assays to provide a more in-depth look into carbon metabolism in SCFA-treated Listeria. I found that propionate-supplemented, but not glucose-supplemented, Listeria produced significantly more acetoin compared to no supplemented controls. Because acetoin is a product of central carbon metabolism, my result suggests that Listeria is capable of changing its carbon metabolism in response to propionate. My preliminary 13C-NMR results have not revealed how carbon metabolism is altered by propionate and are under current investigation. Further investigation will provide more knowledge in the metabolic mechanism associated with Listeria responses to SCFAs during intestinal transit.

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  Molecular Modeling and Characterization of a Mussel Adhesive Protein (Mefp-5)

  Kathryn Rose Zimlich

  The blue mussel, Mytilus edulis, secretes adhesive proteins to facilitate adhesion to a variety of substrates. Several Mytilus edulis foot proteins (MeFP) have been isolated and characterized. MeFP-5 is said to be the most adhesive of these proteins, and has a comparatively large molecular percentage of L-Dopa when examined against MeFP proteins 1-4 at over 25% L-Dopa, if full conversion from tyrosine occurs. The catechol functional group of L-Dopa complexes with Fe3+ to form organometallic linkages, but how L-Dopa in MeFP-5 is interacting with an iron oxide surface, and if the lysine amino acids adjacent to L-Dopa help to facilitate formation of the epoxy-like barrier on iron oxides, is unknown. This project focuses on evaluating the orientation of the catechol groups in L-Dopa through molecular modeling, generating a 3D model of an iron oxide surface, characterizing regions of MeFP-5 which are most likely to complex with Fe3+, and altering the amino acid composition of MeFP-5 to attempt to maximize adhesive properties and explore possibilities for creating a synthetic analog. Modeling is done in the programs ChemDraw® and Chem3D® (PerkinElmer) to analyze protein structure and the catechol positioning of L-Dopa within the protein MeFP-5. To validate and refine the model, experimental data of MeFP-5 adsorbed onto HY80 steel using Raman infrared spectroscopy have been used to determine what interaction the lysine and L-Dopa functional groups in MeFP-5 have on the steel surface. These data have been incorporated into the 3-dimensional model of the protein-metal interface.

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  Molecular Modeling of Organic Matrix Proteins in Oysters

  Anna Kathleen Benton

  Three organic matrix proteins, Pearlin, Prismalin, and Shematrin, from the shell of the oyster Pinctada fucata have been isolated, characterized, and the sequences reported in the literature. These organic matrix proteins are known to interact with one another and with the mineral layers in assembly of the shell, but how the interaction occurs is unknown. This project focuses on molecular modeling of the proteins to discover how this interaction occurs by using the 3D modeling program Chem3D® (PerkinElmer). The molecular modeling program initially displays each protein in the least sterically-hindered conformation. Next, post-translational modifications were made to model the amino acid crosslinking that must occur between the proteins; the introduced post-translational modification is addition of a hydroxyl group to Tyrosine residues to form L-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (L-Dopa) residues. The modifications of changing the tyrosines to L-Dopa were made to the protein sequence at random to identify any combination of alterations that would be most beneficial for the interaction between the organic matrix proteins and the mineral. After an acceptable conformation was found, the protein was replicated in the modeling program. The proteins were then rearranged to determine the most favorable electrostatic arrangement, one with polar regions of the protein interacting with one another. This modeling approach will be used in the future for proteins isolated and characterized from our experimental organism, Crassostrea virginica, the eastern oyster.