Jacob B. Hatch and Bradford Berges, Ph.D., Microbiology and Molecular Biology Introduction About 20% of humans are carriers of Staphylococcus aureus (SA). There were an estimated 11,000 deaths in the United States in 2005 attributed to SA, with the majority caused by MRSA (Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus) isolates [1]. Many MRSA isolates have developed resistance […]
Archives for May 2015
Transferring Hypothetical Deductive Reasoning
Jordan Hatch and Jamie L. Jensen, PhD, Department of Biology The purpose of our project was to understand if hypothetical deductive (HD) reasoning skills exist in each discipline and if so, whether they are transferable between disciplines. HD reasoning is the method of scientific investigation used most commonly by scientists. It includes formulating hypotheses, devising […]
Ventral tegmental area dopamine and GABA neurons: Physiological properties and expression of mRNA for endocannabinoid biosynthetic enzymes and type I metabotropic glutamate receptors
Zachary Hopkins and Jeffrey G. Edwards, Department of Physiology and Developmental Biology Introduction The ventral tegmental area or VTA is considered to be one of the foremost centers involved in motivation and reward processing in the brain [1]. This area is also heavily implicated in addiction. However, little is known in regards to the exact […]
Investigating the Effect of Ethanol on Exocytosis In Vitro
Brady Hunt and Dixon Woodbury, Physiology and Developmental Biology Introduction My research focus has been to investigate how ethanol’s pharmacological effects could be tied to it’s interactions with a key component of all cellular membranes, lipid bilayers. Methodology To investigate the effect of ethanol on fusion rate, we used the Nystatin/Ergosterol (NYS/ERG) fusion assay. We […]
Fire Blight Treatment with Lytic Bacteriophage
Todd Jarvis and Julianne Grose, Micro and Molecular Biology Fire Blight, caused by the bacteria Erwinia amylovora, is a highly contagious fruit tree disease that is difficult to treat. This disease causes a tree to whither away, as if it had been burned. It is estimated that Fire Blight causes more than a 100 million […]
Did Tardigrades Survive the Last Glacial Maximum in Antarctica?
Caj Johansson and Byron Adams, Biology Department Introduction The current belief of the majority of glaciologists is that during the last glacial maximum (LGM), 17,000-22000 years ago, the entire Antarctic continent was completely covered in ice (Convey, 2008). This would mean that all terrestrial organisms would have died out during this time, essentially leaving Antarctica […]
Biological control of Agrilus liragus through Entomopathogenic fungi
John Watkins Abstract This project was funded with the intent that possible biological controls could be found to control the population explosions of bark boring beetles. We hypothesized that due to the prevalence of beetle outbreaks in the West, we would find enough Agrilus liragus specimens to culture native entomopathogenic fungi. We hoped to sequence […]
3D Mapping of Cardiac Nerves for Improved Cardiac Ablation Procedures in the Treatment of Cardiac Arrhythmia
Adam Jorgensen and Jonathan J. Wisco, Department of Physiology and Developmental Biology Introduction Arrhythmia is a serious heart condition that affects 14 million people in the United Statesi, and is characterized by irregular frequency of atrial and ventricular beats.ii The most serious effects of arrhythmia include sudden cardiac arrest and stroke.iii About 383,000 cases of […]
Novel Comet Assay Identifies Preliminary DNA Damage Prior to Cell Apoptosis in Mouse Model of RAGE Over-expression
Steven Knapp and Paul Reynolds, PDBIO Introduction The goal of this project was to characterize the predisposing susceptibility of mice that overexpress receptors for advanced gylcation end products (RAGE) to apoptosis (cell death) and autophagy. Work has already been done to characterize this mouse model as pro-apoptotic; this new project will allow us to identify […]
Optimization of Selenium Chemoprevention in Prostate Cancer Cells
Xiuqi Li and Merrill Christensen, Nutrition, Dietetics, and Food Science Introduction Prostate cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer and the second-leading cause of cancer death in men in the United States (1). However, most men will die with prostate cancer rather then from it (2). Because prostate cancer exhibits a long latency period, high […]
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