NSF-EPSCoR Undergraduate Research Awards

Abstracts

2005—06 Academic Year Award Recipients

The proposed research is to find a cost effective method of water disinfection that would easily translate to developing countries.  Specifically, this experiment will analyze the effects of two organic acids, lemon juice and vinegar, in combination with solar heating to inactivate coliform bacteria (i.e. Escherichia coli) in water.  The variables to be tested will include the type of disinfectant, the solar disinfection time, and the disinfectant concentration.  Preliminary research demonstrated that lemon juice did not greatly inactivate E. coli in water at any disinfection time or disinfectant concentration tested.  Continuing research will combine the use of organic acids and solar disinfection to inactivate pathogens in water.

Camille Calimlim

Working with:

Dr. Jacimaria Batista

Civil Engineering

Examining the structure and function of DNA has become increasingly common in biological laboratories that focus on the relationships between populations and species of organisms.  Recent advances in molecular biology have allowed researchers to examine the properties of extinct populations and species by examining ancient DNA samples recovered from naturally and artificially preserved specimens.  The quality of this preserved DNA is directly influenced by the preservation and storage conditions of the specimens.  This study will examine the degradation and deformation of preserved DNA and the quality of intact DNA in relation to the preservation time of the specimens using modern molecular biology techniques, including PCR, agarose-gel elecrophoresis spectrophotometry, and DNA sequencing methods.  This study will examine the specific causes and effects of the degradation of DNA over time and the best source materials from which to extract quantifiable and amplifiable (via PCR) fragments of DNA as well as the effects of modified molecular protocols for increasing the success rate of extracting ancient DNA.  This information is especially important because tissue samples and extracted DNA are often preserved for many years, for biological, biomedical, and forensic based research.  Limited research has been done to determine the most effective source materials for both fresh and preserved molecules of DNA and methods of storing tissues and extracted DNA samples.

Marcin Chmiel

Working with:

Dr. Brett Riddle

Biology

Alcoholism is prevalent and adversely affects brain function, producing long-term neurocognitive deficits.  However, emotion processing has not been extensively investigated in alcoholism, although it is likely that the cognition, emotion processing is also disrupted in those with alcoholism.   This study examines emotion processing in individuals with alcoholism.  Participants will consist of 20 individuals with a diagnosis of lifetime alcohol abuse and 20 normal controls.  Participants will be administered a structured interview, personality inventory, and a variety of emotion and cognitive processing tasks.  Results will be analyzed using multivariate analysis of variance to test the hypothesis that differences will be present between groups.

Mallary Crowe

Working with:

Dr. Daniel Allen

Psychology

Shigella flexneri is a gram negative bacterial pathogen that causes severe dysentery in humans. Although Shigella is not strictly regarded as a water-borne pathogen, in the U.S. alone a significant number of documented shigellosis outbreaks are linked to exposure to contaminated  water. After Hurricane Katrina, an outbreak of shigellosis occurred in Biloxi, MI; 20 cases were reported after individuals drank contaminated water.  Shigellosis is also prevalent in developing countries that are prone to flooding, although poor personal health and sanitation  are said to be the main factors aiding the spread of the disease, the positive correlation between disease incidence and water levels is striking.   Shigella can be cultured from water for 2-3 days after inoculation; however our preliminary data show that Shigella can survive for significantly longer periods.  As yet it is unclear whether surviving bacteria remain virulent.   The overall goal of this proposal is to  determine the public health risks associated with Shigella in water. The work that I propose builds on research that I have started in Dr. Wing’s lab. Funding support will allow me to generate additional data that will strengthen my preliminary findings and prepare my findings  for publication. My research will address 2 specific aims. In my first line of research, I will determine whether Shigella strains that carry the Shigella virulence plasmid are better adapted to survive in water than  Shigella strains which have lost the virulence plasmid.  These studies will determine whether genes encoded on the virulence plasmid are important for  Shigella survival in water.  This will lead to a better understanding of the genetic requirements for Shigella survival in water.  In my second line of research, I will determine whether Shigella strains enter a dormant  state in water. To do this, I will compare the number of bacteria that remain culturable after a fixed period in water, to the number of bacteria that remain viable after the same period in water. Viable bacteria will be identified by the use of a bacterial dye that differentiates between  viable and non-viable bacteria. These studies will determine whether culturing techniques are accurate and satisfactory methods to determine the number of Shigella in water. Given that  Shigella species are genetically very similar to other enteric bacteria (including E. coli and Salmonella), it is possible that my findings will be applicable to other water-borne bacteria too.

Julius De Leon

Working with:

Dr. Helen Wing

Biotechnology

The occurrence of Shigella flexneri is often reported to cause bloody diarrhea in developing  countries prone to flooding or in areas affected by natural disasters, such as hurricanes.  In  water, Shigella may become quiescent and remain undetected by current methods.  Therefore,  understanding how Shigella adapts to water from natural sources may be significant in  diagnosis and treatment against this debilitating disease.  Support is requested for this proposal  to examine survival of Shigella in Lake Mead water, the main water source for Las Vegas in laboratory setting.  I will also examine quiescence in Shigella and its importance in survival.

Meredith Gibe            

Working with:

Dr. Eduardo Robleto

Biology

Superconductivity is the phenomenon of zero electrical resistance that is observed  in some materials below a critical temperature Tc. This state of zero resistance, besides  being an amazing realization of a quantum mechanical effect, has numerous applications  that are already used and many others that could be realized in the near future. Recently,  a new class of superconductors made of Li, Pd and B was reported [1]. I propose to  fabricate and study the ambient and high pressure properties of the Li-Pd-B system to  better understand and optimize the superconducting state. 

Marci Haddad 

Working with:

Dr. Andrew Cornelius

Physics

Heterozygote Advantage is an evolutionary selection in which heterozygotes present higher relative fitness over homozygotes.  We have discovered a spontaneous mutation in the fruit fly which might portray this selection mechanism.  Individuals homozygous for this mutation die as old larvae, whereas heterozygotes appear larger in body size and survive to adulthood.  In Drosophila larger body size indicates an increase in fecudity and higher survival in stressful conditions.  Our studies focus on the relative size and fecundity differences between heterozygous mutants and the progenitor stock.  We are also investigating the characteristics of the mutant gene by locating it on the chromosome.

Alia Jabali       

Working with:

Dr. Deborah Hoshizaki

Biology

Sea ice diatoms (unicellular algae) produce ice-binding proteins (IBPs) that help them survive freezing conditions. IBPs from two diatom species have been sequenced by Dr. Raymond and colleagues. IBP-like proteins have also been found in archaea, bacteria and fungi. It is possible that the diatom IBPs originated from one of these other organisms, but IBP sequence information from other diatom species is needed to test this hypothesis. In this study we will attempt to obtain the IBP sequences of two additional diatom species. A comparison of all sequences should help to identify the source of the diatom IBPs.

Jennifer McClanahan 

Working with:

Dr. James Raymond

Biology

Archana Nelliot          

Working with:

Dr. Deborah Hoshizaki

Biology

In Dipterans, metamorphosis is characterized by the loss and transformation of larval  tissues as the animal prepares for adult life. Of particular interest to us is the larval fat body or  adipose tissue, which escapes cell death and is transformed from an intact tissue into a loose  association of individual fat cells during metamorphosis. Having characterized this wild-type  process of fat-body dissociation, we are now interested in the regulation of this critical event.  Proposed here are experiments to elucidate the precise role of the steroid molting hormone,  ecdysone, in the regulation of processes occurring in the fat body, particularly, dissociation and  the release and consumption of nutrient stores in the whole animal during metamorphosis.

Sandra Saldana          

Working with:

Dr. Catherine Snelson

Geology

The River Mountains is part of the boundary between the cities of Las Vegas and  Henderson, Nevada.  The River Mountains Fault is part of a larger fault system that has  the potential for large magnitude earthquakes.  Previous seismic studies have located a  fault in the near-surface.  However, the resolution of these data was not sufficient to  determine if the fault cuts recently deposited material, which would classify it as being  active.  Therefore, a high-resolution seismic reflection experiment is proposed that will  define the subsurface geometry of the River Mountains Fault and determine if this fault is  active. 

Cyndi Tran      

Working with:

Dr. Deborah Hoshizaki

Biology

In Drosophila melanogaster, the fat body undergoes tissue dissociation. Upon dissociation  the fat body is transformed from sheets of cells to freely floating individual fat cells that populate  the pupae. These metabolically active fat cells are thought to fuel metamorphosis.   This phenomenon yields insight into processes such as cancer metastasis. We have identified  an Insulin/TOR signaling pathway that is necessary for the dissociation of the fat body. This  pathway is known to be involved in regulating growth, metabolism, reproduction, and longevity.  Here, I propose experiments to identify Insulin/TOR signaling pathway intermediates that are not  only involved in regulating fat-body dissociation, but also in pupal survivorship.

Carrie Wong   

Working with:

Dr. Deborah Hoshizaki

Biology

Metabolic rates of the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, dip dramatically during  pupation.  This occurrence may be crucial for the conservation of energy in preparation for the  demanding event of metamorphosis.  Temperature greatly affects metabolic rates of adults, but  the effects of temperature on developing pupae are not known.  Through my research this school  year, I will investigate the possible effects of temperature in relation to energy consumption, and  its effects on the ability for the fly to eclose from the pupal case.