College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University
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Bacillus cereus & Bacillus pumilus Harvested From Copper Roof Inhibit Growth of Other Organisms
Get PDFThe aim of this project was to isolate bacteria from unusual places, as these bacteria may have distinct adaptations to allow them to grow in challenging environments. Bacteria samples were obtained from the copper roof of Simons Hall in Collegeville, MN during November, 2018. These samples are of interest because bacterial growth is typically inhibited by copper. Once isolated and grown in culture, some of the collected bacterial samples displayed the ability to out-compete other bacterial samples. A polymerase chain reaction was used to identify bacteria samples 1 and 2 as Bacillus cereus and bacteria 4 as Bacillus pumilus. Growth curve experiments show that these isolates are capable of inhibiting other bacterial species. The results from our growth curve experiments depict similar inhibitory effects on unknown bacteria samples during all stages of the growth curve. Our results support previous studies which suggest Bacillus have the capability of inhibiting or killing other organisms within their environment
Foundations for Muslim-Christian Dialogue and Peacemaking: Ideas about God, Faith, and Prayer
Get PDFIn this essay, I discuss God, faith, and sacred texts (including the Bible, Quran, and Hadith), and some ways that they constitute foundations for peacemaking between Christians and Muslims. The essay presents my personal, ethnic, and religious background in order to contextualize the ideas which the essay analyzes, and then describes three Christian theological approaches to non-Christian religions. Those approaches are particularist (or exclusivist), inclusivist, and pluralist. The essay discusses the historical background and significance of Vatican II, which took place between 1962 and 1965, and Nostra Aetate, published in 1965. The essay then analyzes three theological principles which undergird Nostra Aetate, and that document’s description of Islam. The essay reflects on God, faith, and prayer in Christianity and Islam, concluding with some observations about the possibilities for peace between Christians and Muslims
Education for Peace-Building and Preventing Extremism
Get PDFIn this essay, I reflect on my life story as an Armenian-Lebanese, and analyze my experiences with war and peace in terms of the Armenian Genocide, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and Lebanon’s civil war. In light of these experiences, I concluded that the message and example of peace, which I had learned at home, church, and school, were in severe contrast with each other, and difficult to reconcile. During the earlier periods in my life, I knew that providentially my disappointment was with human nature, and that the frame of peace had to be larger, and its reach had to be deeper than what I had witnessed. Within a Christian framework, I began to believe that humans’ task was to reconstruct hope in life among one another. Rooted in these experiences and perspectives, I conclude my essay by offering practical advice for peacebuilding in educational institutions and beyond, while sharing a story from my childhood as an illustration for hope and bridgebuilding
Synthesis and Modification of Phenol-Containing Catalysts for Ring-Opening Polymerization of Cyclic Esters
Get PDFThe goal of this research is the synthesis of a phenol-containing transition metal complex with a carbene unit that can effectively catalyze the ring-opening polymerization (ROP) of cyclic esters such as caprolactone, lactide, and menthide. Although catalysts such as tin octoate and triethylaluminum are typically used for ROP of cyclic esters, they are toxic. Hence there is a demand for catalysts that are faster, more efficient, and less harmful. While carbene ligands have been documented as effective catalysts for ROP of cyclic esters, less is known about the catalytic abilities of these ligands when bound to a labile metal center such as aluminum. A previously developed catalyst with an aluminum center that works faster than tin octoate and triethylaluminum proved unreliable as it decomposes over a short period. This research focuses on increasing its reliability by replacing an ethyl ligand in the complex with a bifunctional alcohol initiator 1,4-butanediol to allow the formation of a telechelic polymer. In addition, the THF ligand was replaced with other solvents. The aluminum-based complex combined with the 1,4-butanediol initiator resulted in some of the highest degrees of polymerization reaching over 160 units in length and increased control over the polymer chain length. Replacement of THF with solvents such as toluene resulted in the growth of chains ranging from 16-35 in length by varying feed ratios. This work is important as there is a high demand for biodegradable polymers such as polycaprolactone, polylactide, and polymenthide by biomedical, pharmaceutical, and industrial fields
The Incurable
Get PDFThe purpose of this experiment was to analyze and determine the morphological differences and behavioral abnormalities that arise in third-instar Drosophila melanogaster larvae in response to bisphenol-A exposure. Drosophila melanogaster from genetic strains that induce motor neuron GFP expression were used: OK371-GAL4, W*;; UAS-GFP (1010T10), and cd8-GFP; D48 GAL4 GAL80. Drosophila were exposed to one of three conditions: control, .44 mM, and 4.4 mM concentrations of bisphenol-A (BPA) during embryonic and larval development. The larvae raised were dissected, fixed, stained using immunohistochemistry in order to observe the difference in their motor nerve morphology after BPA exposure. Speciments were viewed on an inverted fluorescent microscope in order to measure the qualitative appearance and surface area of the neuro muscular junction between muscles 6 and 7. Results are important for understanding effects of BPA exposure on patterning and development of nervous system
Marvel Comics\u27 Benedictine superhero?: on the unknowable X-Men
No full textIntroduction: Why does the letter “X” connote the mysterious and elicit fascination? The letter continues to be used in popular culture: Lil Nas X’s summer 2019 hit “Old Town Road,” the recent reboot of the series The X-Files, and Madonna’s current album and tour Madame X are just a few examples. It is surely not arbitrarily chosen: one could not imagine, say, The T-Files, Lil Nas Q, or a Madame W tour signifying in the same way.
Through reading the “X” in X-Men and focusing on the Catholic superhero on this team, this presentation aims to introduce the CSBSJU campuses to my research focus on German philosophical aesthetics and literature from around 1800 through a topic relevant to the cultural moment (the contemporary popularity of Marvel Comics) and to the Benedictine heritage of the campuses. NO SPOILERS: you’ll have to attend the talk to find out who the possible Benedictine superhero is!
The Current Popularity of Marvel Comics: Superheroes may currently be at an all-time high in popularity. The Walt Disney Company’s 71 billion purchase of 20th Century Fox in 2019, which includes the rights to the Marvel Comics franchises The Fantastic Four and X-Men, show that superheroes are big business. The current highest grossing film of all time to date is the 2019 Marvel Comics superhero film Avengers: Endgame. The massive worldwide viewership of these characters and how they define heroism by dealing with ethical dilemmas provides the stakes for reading these figures critically.
Research: This talk draws on my research focus on German philosophical aesthetics and literature from around 1800—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Immanuel Kant, and the Romantics—to demonstrate that this tradition strongly informs even popular forms of art today. For the philosophers Jean-Luc Nancy and Philippe Lacoue-Labarthe, our cultural epoch still is the Romantic period. Reading the history of “X” from Descartes’s mathematical usage through its famous articulations by Kant, Goethe, and Hoffmann lays the foundation for understanding why “X” fascinates us. For example, in Kant’s epistemology, the transcendental object is referred to as the “unknowable X,” Goethe’s famous drama Faust contains the “X” in the crossroads at which Faust meets the demon Mephistopheles, and E.T.A Hoffmann, the Romantic writer of the original Nutcracker story, first wrote of a “Professor X” in his 1818 collection Die Serapionsbrüder.
Prepare for senses-shattering thrills, sensational heroics, and German philosophy
Creating a molecular map of the pediatric lung
Get PDFThe newborn lung undergoes vast biochemical and physiological changes during adaptation from the intrauterine to the extrauterine environment. Lung morphogenesis continues from birth into early childhood, mediated by dynamic gene expression and a diversity of pulmonary cell types that exhibit remarkable heterogeneity. (Whitsett, JA. et al. Physiol. Rev, 2019). Surprisingly, few studies have solely focused on human lung development during this critical period, and many current studies of lung maturation rely on adult, murine, or diseased samples, limiting their insights and applicability to longitudinal pediatric lung development. Understanding the molecular and physiological nuances of pulmonary development has important clinical relevance, as incomplete lung maturation in premature infants can lead to bronchopulmonary dysplasia or other malignancies that impair lung function during infancy and beyond. Molecular profiles of heterogenous pulmonary cell populations, knowledge of three-dimensional cellular structures of airways and alveoli, and an open-access database to integrate multiplatform datasets are needed to provide the foundation for future research informing mechanisms and treatments of childhood lung diseases (Pryhuber, et. al. Am. J. Physiol. Lung Cell Mol. Physiol, 2017).
In this Thursday Forum, I introduce the groundbreaking work conducted by the Molecular Atlas of Lung Development Program (LungMAP), a consortium of pediatric research centers aiming to create a molecular “map” of the pediatric lung. Additionally, I explore the future of a systems biology approach to medical research, integrating my own experience during Summer 2019 at the University of Rochester Medical Center in Rochester, New York conducting genomics pediatric research