Merocyanine 540 Fluorescence in Apoptotic Lymphocytes

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Kristen H. Parker and Dr. John D. Bell, Physiology and Developmental Biology Our research team in Dr. Bell’s laboratory has focused primarily on studying interactions between cell membranes and the enzyme secretory phospholipase A2 (sPLA2). This enzyme is able to distinguish between healthy cells and foreign or damaged cells, which it hydrolyzes. The purpose of […]

Study of an Archeological Site near Mount Vesuvius using Ground-Penetrating Radar Pollena Trocchia, Italy

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Robert Weight and Dr. John McBride, Geology Department Background A major archeological excavation is ongoing for a Roman site near Mt. Vesuvius in the modern town of Pollena Trocchia, Italy. The excavation is being pursued as collaboration between BYU and the University of Naples. The excavation is being done in a present day urban setting […]

Mechanism of Translation Termination

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Michael Pfeiffer and Dr. Allen Buskirk, Chemistry and Biochemistry Background Each cell within our body contains thousands of different kinds of proteins, each with a different function. Proteins provide cellular structure and perform catalysis of chemical reactions in the cell. Every protein is synthesized as ribosomes link together amino acids in the order encoded by […]

Thermodynamic Properties of Nanoalumina Synthesis and Analysis of Nanoalumina

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Rebecca Olsen and Dr. Juliana Boerio-Goates, Chemistry and Biochemistry Nanomaterials, possessing unique chemical, physical, and mechanical properties, can be used in a wide range of industrial, biomedical, and electronic applications. There are three general categories for producing nanomaterials: mechanical processing (milling), chemical processing (precipitation), or thermal processing (evaporation and condensation). Conventional methods often have drawbacks […]

Enantioselective Synthesis of Hasubanan Alkaloids

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Daniel and Laura Nielsen with Dr. Steven L. Castle, Chemistry and Biochemistry In nature, many molecules exist in two different forms, referred to as enantiomers. These forms are structurally identical, yet they are mirror images of each other. One simple example of this is our hands. While both hands are structurally identical, there is no […]

A Trojan horse approach to cancer treatment: A2DA and A2NOON as Potential Triggered and Targeting Chemotherapeutic Drugs

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Jeremy Koontz and Dr. Heidi Vollmer-Snarr, Chemistry and Biochemistry Despite the enormous amounts of time and money spent to research effective cures for cancer—the second leading cause of death in the United States —little is known today about how to kill cancer cells without harming normal cells. Current traditional forms of cancer treatment are chemotherapy, […]

Examining Photocatalysis in TiO2

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Daniel Jensen and Dr. Brett Hess, Physics and Astronomy Quantum mechanics is a branch of physics that is used to explain the physical properties of small molecules, nanoclusters, and other atomic systems. The principal equation used in quantum mechanics is the Schrödinger equation and its solution for a particular system tells us everything that can […]

Nanoscale Construction of a Novel Solar Cell Using Vertically-aligned Carbon Nanotubes

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David Hutchison and Dr. Robert Davis, Department of Physics and Astronomy We had planned on using the process outlined in the proposal for construction of a supercapacitor and solar cell, but decided to focus our energies on the solar cell idea since we thought we could make faster, more significant progress in that direction. We […]

Structure and Properties of Dynamical Structure Functions Reconstruction of Genetic Networks Using Gene Silencing and Overexpression Methods

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Russell Howes and Dr. Sean Warnick, Computer Science Department Network structure–the presence and absence of ‘connections’ among different variables in a dynamical system–is important in the identification and control of complex systems. Discovering structure from data can be difficult, and many current identification methods either concern themselves only with dynamic behavior (response of the system […]

Factorization of Tropical Polynomials

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Nathan Grigg and Dr. Tyler Jarvis, Mathematics Tropical algebra, also called “min-plus” or “max-plus” algebra, is a relatively new topic in mathematics that has recently caught the interest of algebraic geometers, computer scientists, combinatorists, and other mathematicians. According to Andreas Gathmann , tropical algebra was pioneered by mathematician and computer scientist Imre Simon in the […]