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Examining the Neuroprotective Effects of RS-127445 in a Glutamate Excitotoxicity Model of Caenorhabditis Elegans
No full textiv, 28 p.Neurodegenerative disorders impact millions of people worldwide, with a common underlying mechanism being glutamate excitotoxicity. Prior methods for treating glutamate excitotoxicity via glutamate receptors antagonists are only beneficial for a short period of time. Thus, exists a need for long-term treatment options. Work from the Williams lab has demonstrated that antagonism of serotonin receptor 2B (5-HT2B) may be a viable strategy. This study used a Caenorhabditis Elegans (C.elegans) glutamate excitotoxicity model, the neuroprotective activity of the known 5-HT2B antagonist RS-127445 was assessed. In this experiment, the number of necrotic head neurons in untreated C.elegans were compared to animals treated with RS-127445 and the 1% acetone drug delivery vehicle. The results of this study demonstrate that RS- 127445 is an effective neuroprotective agent in glutamate excitotoxicity model strains, showing a necrotic neuron decrease of 24.71% in glt-3 KO animals (p<0.0001) and a 30.11% decrease in glt-3 KO & bus-8 mutation animals (p<0.0001). Additionally, there was not an observed statistically significant difference in the decrease of necrotic neurons between glt-3 KO animals and cuticle modified animals. The locomotor assay did not show a statistically significant effect on the speed of glutamate excitotoxicity model strain with the administration of RS-127445
Exploring Opportunities for an Intensive Health Behavior and Lifestyle Treatment Class in Kalamazoo
No full textv, 11 p.Kalamazoo, Michigan, is seeking a transformative health and behavior education class to combat the crisis of childhood obesity. New guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatrics state that children with obesity should follow 26 hours of face-to-face multicomponent treatment over a 3 to 12-month period. Bronson Pediatrics and the YMCA of Greater Kalamazoo plan to establish an intensive health behavior and lifestyle treatment class where pediatric providers can refer their patients to seek out exercise, nutrition, and healthy lifestyle modification education. We used information and data from the American Academy of Pediatrics, an already established intensive health behavior and lifestyle treatment class, and surveys from Kalamazoo County to provide a clear and concise plan of action. Our goal is to develop a class that can be easily accessible for all by acknowledging the racial inequities in Kalamazoo. By promoting access to healthcare, healthy lifestyles, and facilitating educational programs, we hope to empower individuals and encourage them to take charge of their well-being. Collaboration among our local organizations and healthcare providers can enhance resources and create a strong network within Kalamazoo
Cartoons Are Actually Good for You
No full text16 p.I am interested in reimagining the mundane as tangible, fantastical beings. Using ceramic clay, underglaze and everyday materials, I can transform doodles into animated sculptures with individual personalities. Transferring the medium from drawings to sculptures allows people to observe and physically look at these characters, similar to having an interaction with an actual human; instead of gazing upon fantastical cartoons, audiences are directly faced with the otherworldly. I believe through integrating illustrations into sculptures, we can bring stories to life in a way that is ephemeral yet everlasting—animated sculptures stuck in a singular moment of time. Through different settings and contexts, there are different stories to be told through my world; the intricacies of young adulthood, relationships, and becoming an individual are common experiences being performed by uncommon beings. Ultimately, manifesting these creatures into existence provides comfort to myself going through life, and hopefully the viewer as well
Summary of Conetop Museum Internship
No full text66 p.This document entails a full summary of my internship with the Conetop Brewing Museum located in Vicksburg, Michigan. For the months of June-October 2024, I served the role of marketing research intern, logging more than 250 hours. The internship was primarily asynchronous, as I was working a full-time job during the summer in Seattle, Washington. The internship process, from its cultivation to the final project was original, creative, and dynamic in nature
Icosahedral Virus Transitions: Computational Techniques
No full text26 p.Icosahedral viruses have the symmetries of an icosahedron, which involves 2-fold, 3-fold, and 5-fold rotational symmetries. We can characterize these virus capsids with finite sets of points (called a point array) which we realize in 6D (not just 3D) for the purpose of crystallography: our 6D point arrays naturally fit inside 6D icosahedral lattices. There are 55 standard point arrays (called one-base) from which we build all the others. We model virus maturation by 6D linear transformations (transitions) of point arrays that preserve some or all of icosahedral symmetry. To find these transitions (preserving either the full icosahedral group symmetry or one of its maximal subgroups A4,D10, or D6) we solve matrix equations of the form TB0 = B1 for T, where T, the transition matrix, is a 6×6 matrix that depends on either 2, 4, 6, or 8 real variables and the matrices B0 and B1 are representations of the point arrays. We employ parallel computation techniques to efficiently find transitions between these point arrays. We are able to reproduce previously discovered transitions for the Cowpea Chlorotic Mottle Virus that preserve D6 symmetry, and we create a comprehensive list of what symmetries can be preserved between any possible combination of the 55 standard point arrays
(Mis)folding: a Fashion Exploration of Proteinopathies
No full text20 p.Science and art have always been two major interests of mine and as I have progressed through my educational journey, I have explored the many ways that these two disciplines intersect. As a reflection of these passions, I wanted to produce work that would incorporate both my background in biology and fascination with garment construction. I am interested in the visually compelling aspects of biology, specifically histology and protein structure. In my work, I explored changes that occur in various proteinopathies on both a structural and cellular level, representing normal and affected tissue.
Over a period of ten weeks, I created skirt and bodice pattern blocks that I then drafted clothing patterns from based on sketched designs. I constructed a total of three outfits, modifying recognizable garments for each as a means of transformation by adding elements or taking them away and often worked with transparent materials to either obscure or make visible interior structures.
In creating this project, I have developed my patternmaking and sewing skills and been able to think about biology from a new perspective. I have come to realize that the process of asking a question and seeking an answer are integral in both creative design and scientific research. In the future, I hope to continue to use fashion as a means to represent biology in a novel way through an interdisciplinary approach
Divided Lanes : a Social History of Swimming Pools in Two Midwestern Cities
No full text72 p.The Midwest is the focus of my study in part for the self-perception held by many in the region: that this has always been a place of tolerance, acceptance, and civil equality. In reality, this is not the case, and states such as Michigan and Minnesota have hid behind this construction as a way to excuse systemic racism. I argue that, although not all black Americans in the Midwest experienced segregation in the same way as black Southerners, they were impacted and restricted in their activities. This was not always a matter of lawful segregation as in the Jim Crow South. Rather, de facto segregation, or segregation that occurred simply because it followed the conventions which were a part of societal norms, formed a larger basis for segregation in the cities for which I am completing case studies. A multi-pronged approach will reveal de facto segregation in these cities. Redlining, housing covenants, and racial makeup of different neighborhoods in each city were connected to segregated pools. In addition, I will look at when, where, and the number of public pools that were built in each city. I will consider public pools along with private, semi-private, and natural bodies of water to holistically understand options that Saint Paulites and Kalamazooans had when they wished to go swimming in their respective cities. I will also consider how easy it was to get to a non-neighborhood pool using public transportation in the instances where a neighborhood did not have a community pool. Additionally, I will examine instances of outright racial discrimination at pools in both Saint Paul and Kalamazoo, where residents were unable to enter a pool or swimming area specifically because of their race. After examining de facto segregation and discrimination in these places, I will consider what pools meant to the broader Civil Rights Movement, and the role pools played in relation to other recreational and leisure activities
The Soccerbiome : How Individual Talent Influences Team Ecology
No full textv, 27 p.Disentangling how important player individual traits from that individual’s skill level in team sports has proven itself to be difficult. Due to the complex nature of teams, especially in sports, statistical analyses such as the Elo rating and plus/minus ratings have been modified to better fit the nuances of team sports. However, these models have shortcomings when identifying how players react and adapt to different scenarios, and do not show how well that player can perform, and only outputs a prediction of their performance versus recorded opposition. With the rise of statistical analyses in sports, novel models in different fields, namely economics with game theory and the Shapley values, have started to be utilized in giving value of contribution to each individual player, rather than the team as a whole. To differentiate an individual’s external factor from their innate factor, and to find how impactful they are in the game, I used Shapley values to contextualize and relate their performance in as game-like a situation as possible. In this study, I measured soccer players’ (n = 10) game-like skill levels through a battery of repeatable and consistent tests and related those values to those players’ Shapley values according to their performances in a small-sided game campaign. I found that the Shapley values and the score that a player received from the battery of tests was relatively positive (r = 0.78, n = 0.066), but did not display enough significance to definitively prove the connection between these two traits of a player. Nevertheless, new methods of statistical analyses have shown themselves to add a new dimension and useability for coaches, players, and analysts to find how any player reacts in an environment according to their skill level and previous environment
Imperfect Duties : Action and Reaction
No full text34 p.At its core, morality is about what we should do as rational agents living amongst each other. What we understand as "duty" is the embodiment of defining what the "should" looks like. One of the most popular ways that modem and contemporary philosophers observe this is through a distinction between "perfect" and "imperfect" duties. But like most issues in philosophy, things are not so easily black and white. The question is often raised of how these two categories of duty fundamentally differ from each other, which then becomes compounded with the question of how each category functions individually. In this paper, I will attempt to distinguish perfect and imperfect duties using various accounts from both modem and contemporary philosophers. In comparing their different interpretations of duty and how they function as roles for agents, I hope to rationalize a concrete understanding of the subject and shed new light on the topic
Online Skills Building Senior Integrated Project Supply Chain Management
No full text9 p.The choice of taking an online class for the Senior Integrated Project was an easy one. Having family in the field of supply chain management and listening to their experiences I had developed an interest in the topic. This interest primarily arises from the belief that I am well suited for the challenges logistics present. On top of my major in business at Kalamazoo College, I have also minored in mathematics. This interest in math has been a constant throughout my life and has had a profound impact in how I go about dealing with problems. On the surface, the problems of supply chain management function in a similar manner to a math problem. Variables such as cost, time, production, and inventory among others all go into finding the most effective and efficient way to manage the supply chain. Despite having this interest, Kalamazoo College at the time of the decision to write my SIP on supply chain management did not offer any courses on the topic. Having the option to take an online course on the subject proved to be a sensible course of action. Coursera, a website which offers online classes, had a Supply Chain Management Specialization course produced by Rutgers University and taught by Rudolf Leuschner, Ph.D. The course itself is made up of five separate courses: Supply Chain Logistics, Supply Chain Operations, Supply Chain Planning, Supply Chain Sourcing, and Supply Chain Management Strategy. The courses contained online lectures, readings, and assignments with the course culminating in a case study and presentation on solutions to the business’s supply chain problems