Estimating Seasonal Onsets and Peaks of Bronchiolitis with Temporally Uncertain Data

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Sierra Pugh and Dr. Matthew Heaton, Department of Statistics Introduction Bronchiolitis (an acute lower respiratory tract viral infection in infants) is the most common cause of infant hospitalizations in the United States. The only preventative intervention currently available is monthly injections of immunoprophylaxis. However, this treatment is expensive and needs to be administered simultaneously with […]

Validating Remote Sensing Temperatures for Scientific Use

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Gavin Collins and Dr. Matthew Heaton, Department of Statistics Introduction Satellite remote-sensing is often used to collect atmospheric data, providing insight into climate variability over large regions of the earth. Common issues with such data include (i) missing information due to cloud cover at the time of a satellite passing, and (ii) large blocks of […]

Development of a Quasiclassical Direct Dynamics Program and Graphical Interface

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Nathan Wohlgemuth and Dr. Dan Ess, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry Introduction Organic and organometallic reactions are generally assumed to follow statistical mechanical models of reactivity and selectivity that correspond to transition state theory. However, in recent years there have been several organic reactions that have been shown to be controlled by post-transition state reaction […]

ONIOM(DFT:MM) Study of Yaku’amide A and Analogues

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David W. Kastner and Dr. Steven L. Castle Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry Introduction Yaku’amide A (YA) was isolated in late 2010 from the deep-sea sponge Ceratopsion sp. and exhibits potent inhibitory activity against 39 human cancer cell lines via a potentially novel mode of action. 1 However, due to its complex amino acid profile […]

Novel Methods of Creating Mesoporous Silica Films in Conjunction with Photoresist SU-8 for use in Thin Layer Chromatography Plates

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George Major and Faculty Mentor: Dr. Matthew Linford, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry Thin Layer Chromatography (TLC) is widely used for performing chemical separations and has been a staple in separation techniques. However, the functionality and effectivity of TLC plates has not changed over the past several decades. Standard TLC plates have a slow developing […]

Mentoring Undergraduates at the Intersection of Organic Synthesis and Peptide Science

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PI: Steven L. Castle Introduction This report summarizes the results that were generated under the auspices of the mentoring environment in my laboratory from January 2015 to the present. A total of ten undergraduates participated in the mentoring environment during this period. Their names and accomplishments are listed below. Evaluation of Academic Objectives Our academic […]

Alzheimer’s Disease: A New Model Defining the Mechanism of Iron- Catalyzed Radical Damage to Neurons

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PI: Richard Watt Co-PI: Jonathan Wisco The MEG proposal focused on understanding how elevated homocysteine levels cause the inability of cells to control iron levels as a cause for Alzheimer’s disease. Iron is associated with the amyloid plaques and tau tangles that are proposed to cause damage to neurons. Dr. Wisco and I previously submitted […]

A Novel Approach to a Big Simulation Problem: Creating Efficient Dry Granular Material Simulations with Accurate Visual Detail and Behavior

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PI: Seth Holladay We received a MEG grant for researching the simulation of granular materials for computer graphics and animation. Materials such as sand and snow simulation is very expensive but necessary for productions, as well as hard to control the look, so I have been mentoring undergraduate and graduate students researching how to make […]

Electronic Structure and Quassiclassical Dynamics of [2+2] Tetrafluoroethylene Cycloaddition Reactions

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Steven Jones and Daniel Ess, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry Introduction Cycloaddition reactions are key reactions used to construct complex cyclic scaffolds (large networks of carbon atoms that can be used in catalysis, synthesis, etc.). While classical reactions that form 6-membered rings are well-known and generally have a one-step reaction mechanism, 4-member ring-forming reactions are […]