Evaluating Current Educational Qualities and Potential Impact on the Public Good in a Democracy

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Sarah Kunz and Dr. Randall Davies, Department of Educational Psychology and Technology Main Text Democracy is a political orientation that is struggling to survive in certain aspects of the current educational society. This project was developed to answer the question, “What are some current educational qualities that are either supporting or undermining the public good […]

Effectiveness of Post-surgery Speech Therapy for Cleft Palate Individuals in a Third-world Country

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Jennifer Halloran and Dr. David McPherson, Communication Disorders I traveled to Amman, Jordan to evaluate the effectiveness of speech therapy as a volunteer service for children undergoing cleft palate surgery through Operation Smile. Other studies have determined that speech therapy is necessary in cleft palate rehabilitation. This study examined whether therapy is or can be […]

Book in a Bag: An Integrated Approach to Social Skills Instruction

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Katrina Anderson and Dr. Michelle Marchant, Counseling Phychology and Special Education Main Text There is a much needed improvement in American school childrens’ behavior skills. Evidence of this concern comes from the increase in disciplinary referrals, suspensions, and expulsions (Sugai, G., Horner, R., Dunlap, G., Hieneman, M., Lewis, T., Nelson, C., et al 2000). With […]

Chemokine-Mediated Migration of B-1 B Cells

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Lauren Zagieboylo and Dr. Eric Wilson, Microbiology and Molecular Biology Main Text B-1 B cells are an understudied type of white blood cell that provide T cell-independent antibody production, allowing them to play an important role in the early immune response to many bacterial and viral pathogens. They are especially important for defense in mucosal […]

Inhibition of Notch Signaling Increases Neurogenesis in the Ophthalmic Trigeminal Placode without Expanding the Domain of Neurogenin2 Expression.

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Brian Wright and Dr. Michael Stark, Physiology & Developmental Biology The ever-increasing knowledge regarding cellular regulation and programming requires important insights into the biochemical pathways that determine a cell’s fate. For example, the ability to take a stem cell and grow it into a neuron will directly depend on our knowledge of the steps used […]

Isolating Mononucleosome Core DNAs To Be Used in the ENCODE Project

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Elliot Winters and Dr. Steven M. Johnson, MM Biology Main Text The purpose of this project has its roots in the nationwide mission named “ENCODE” for the “ENCyclopedia Of DNA Elements” the purpose of which is to map the functional elements of the human genome. The human genome was successfully sequenced in 2001, (Consortium T.I.H.G.S., […]

The Role of RAGE in Inflammatory Lung Disease Induced by Diesel Particulate Matter

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Karisa Wasley and Dr. Paul Reynolds, Physiology and Developmental Biology Main Text The causes of high morbidity and mortality associated with inflammatory respiratory diseases are not well understood. My research project helped to shed light on cellular signaling pathways associated with inflammatory disease, particularly those caused by or worsened by air pollutants. Asthmatics, in particular, […]

Function of Novel Nuclear-Variant Bone Morphogenic Protein (nBMP2) In Muscle Fiber Type Differentiation

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Nicholas Wallace and Dr. Laura Bridgewater, Microbiology & Molecular Biology Bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) are in the transforming growth factor B (TGF-) super family of proteins, which were originally identified by their ability to induce bone formation in animals.A novel nuclear variant of BMP2 (nBMP2) was recently discovered by Dr. Bridgewater and her graduate researchers. […]

Identification of Yersiniapseudotuberculosisgenes that affect Congo-red binding

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Ryan Stewart and Dr. David Erickson Abstract The plague bacterium Yersiniapestisrecently evolved from the enteric pathogen Yersiniapseudotuberculosis, during which time it has adopted a flea-borne lifestyle. Y. pestisforms a biofilmin the flea digestive tract to enhance transmission, whereas Y. pseudotuberculosisdoes not. Biofilmformation requires the hmsgenes, which direct the production of an N-acetylglucosamineextracellular matrix (ECM) that […]