North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University
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Economic and Environmental Factors Influencing Double Cropping Acreage in North Carolina
No full textDouble cropping—the practice of growing two crops sequentially on the same plot within a single growing season—can enhance land productivity, increase food supply, and improve economic returns for farmers. Understanding the key drivers of double cropping, such as crop prices and climate conditions, is essential for optimizing agricultural strategies. This study examines the economic and environmental factors influencing double cropping acreage in North Carolina, with a focus on soybean prices and dryness levels. Using the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) USDA Cropland Data Layer (CDL), statistical models were developed to assess the significance of soybean prices and dryness levels on double cropping acreage. The results indicate that, collectively, soybean prices and dryness levels significantly influence double cropping acreage. However, an overly dry summer and land dryness alone do not have a statistically significant effect. By analyzing statewide trends, this study enhances the understanding of how farmers respond to market conditions and climate variability. These findings provide valuable insights for policymakers and agricultural stakeholders to support decision-making that optimizes farm productivity and sustainability.https://digital.library.ncat.edu/honorscollegesymposium25/1012/thumbnail.jp
Reparative Impact in United States Municipalities
No full textAlthough national reparation programs have not gained significant traction in the United States, recent local reparation programs provide a promising opportunity for further research of the impact of reparative policy. The literature on reparation programs largely focuses on proving or disproving whether reparation programs have any historical significance, legality, or impact at all. A policy brief from the Urban Institute titled “Justice, Equity, and Repair: How Local Governments in the US Are Designing Reparations Programs” and research published by Duke University Scholar William Darity Jr. exemplify some studies on how the history of slavery, redlining, voter suppression, and mass incarceration have perpetuated racial disparities and calls for reparations for the black community. This research design aims to address the gap by examining whether local reparation initiatives in four United States municipalities contribute to closing the racial wealth gap and measuring what the impact is. This research will explore these reparation programs by using quantitative data and regression analysis to create synthetic control methods to model the impact. This research is essential to establish the stark differences in income and poverty between black and white Americans. Moreover, the results will uncover to what effect reparations effectively repair and address the black community needs.https://digital.library.ncat.edu/honorscollegesymposium25/1002/thumbnail.jp
Investigating The Cell Killing Mechanism During dGTP Starvation
No full textE.coli possess a unique enzyme, deoxyguanosine triphosphohydrolase (dGTPase) whichhydrolyzes dGTP into deoxyguanosine (dG) and triphosphate. This enzyme, a homologue of human SAMHD1, is thought to play a role in DNA fidelity because the deletion of its encoding gene, dgt, has a mutator effect. Interestingly, a mutant dGTPase enzyme (M9) was found to be more active than the wild-type enzyme and when M9 overexpression was induced in E. coli strain BL21-AI, a few hours post-induction severe cell death was observed. We hypothesize that overexpression of M9 results in dGTP starvation, which decreases the intracellular dGTP concentration. To investigate this toxic effect, cells were stained with DNA specific fluorescent dyes, DAPI and Hoechst, and visualized using confocal microscopy. Results indicate induced cells exhibited increased size and reduced DNA compaction. The nucleoid of the cell was compromised, and cells lost their DNA. TUNEL assays showed an increase of DNA breaks in induced cells. Overall, results suggest that induction of M9 leads to DNA degradation and loss of integrity potentially contributing to cell death. Understanding this mechanism could aid in advancing our knowledge on the impacts of mutations on genome fidelity and could also be exploited for an antibiotic alternative in the context of rising antibiotic resistance. Further investigation is required to understand how induced dGTP starvation results in cell death.https://digital.library.ncat.edu/honorscollegesymposium25/1001/thumbnail.jp
Hip Mobility in an African American Population in a Collegiate Setting
No full textHip mobility is physiologically defined as the hip joints’ ability to go through the various ranges of motion available at the joint. The objective of this study was to compare goniometric measurements of the dominant hip ranges of motion (ROM) in an African American collegiate setting. The total combined sample of the study was n = 78, which comprised 24 males and 54 females. The times of day were also taken to understand if that impacted the dominant-side hip range of motion. Active ROM were measured for the dominant hip using a manual goniometer. A Pearson r correlation was used to compare time of day and gender. This study showed a statistically significant moderate correlation between time of day and hip flexion in females and time of day and hip extension in males. The results present some evidence that gender and time of day can have some effect on the dominant hip ROM. Future studies can explore muscle performance in patients with balance deficits in the older populations. More studies can also be done to test if hip flexion and extension, along with abduction, adduction, internal rotation, and external rotation influence sports injuries. Sports injuries are the types of injuries that most commonly occur during sports or exercise, usually occurring in the athletic population.https://digital.library.ncat.edu/honorscollegesymposium25/1027/thumbnail.jp
Investigating Evolutionary Pressures: Uncovering Adaptive Trade-offs of Iron Stress and Phage Resistance in E. coli B
No full textWe subjected Escherichia coli B to 35 days of experimental evolution under elevated iron(III) sulfate and T4 phage stress, performing genomic, phenotypic, and cross-resistance analyses. Ten replicate populations were grown in LB broth with or without 1500 mg/L iron(III), with or without phage. All populations underwent daily transfers, ensuring consistent selective pressures. Whole genome sequencing revealed mutations that reached fixation or sweeping frequency. Iron(III)-selected strains showed enhanced tolerance at 1000–1750 mg/L iron but experienced reduced susceptibility thresholds to sulfanilamide, silver nitrate, and copper(II) sulfate, highlighting significant trade-offs. Conversely, iron(III) adaptation conferred cross- resistance to iron(II) and gallium(III) salts, likely reflecting overlapping uptake and detoxification pathways. Phage-mediated selection further shaped these trade-offs, occasionally increasing resistance to certain antibiotics while diminishing metal tolerance. Convergent mutations in hchA (C→A at position 144564) emerged across multiple regimes, implying a broad adaptive role in stress response and protein quality control. Large deletions in phage receptor-related genes appeared consistently under phage pressure, underscoring receptor modifications for phage resistance. These findings clarify how metals, phages, and antibiotics can jointly influence evolutionary trajectories, offering insights into effectively countering multidrug resistance.https://digital.library.ncat.edu/gradresearchsymposium25/1102/thumbnail.jp
Advancing Liver Models: Exploring Immortalized Hepatocytes for Improved Pharmacokinetic Studies
No full textThe liver serves as a primary role to the understanding of pharmacokinetics, driving the need for effective and reproducible liver models. While animal liver models and HepG2 cell lines offer accessibility and replicability, they lack functional accuracy in comparison to human livers. Primary human hepatocytes, often considered the “golden standard” for in vitro modeling due to high metabolic function and capabilities, face challenges in scalability and long-term function. These limitations hinder the scalability of successful primary hepatocyte models, impairing their use as a rapid response tool to chemical threats. Immortalized hepatocytes are liver cells that have been genetically modified to indefinitely divide while still maintaining normal liver cell characteristics and function. Cell modeling with immortalized hepatocytes has been relatively unexplored but shows promising potential to bridge the gap between reproducibility and quality cell function. Our study aims to provide an effective liver organoid model within a microfluidic system to build upon the underlying potential of these hepatocytes. Preliminary findings serve as characterization of the hepatocytes to be used in our model and further exploration of their capabilities for essential cell function.https://digital.library.ncat.edu/gradresearchsymposium25/1121/thumbnail.jp
Predicting the Sheet Resistance of Titanium Oxynitride Thin Films using AI Tools-Machine and Deep Learning
No full textThe objective of the project is to employ AI tools such as machine learning (ML) and deep learning (DL) to predict the sheet resistance of titanium oxynitride (TiON) thin films based on input features such as deposition parameters, film composition and thickness. Sheet resistance is a critical property for thin films in electronic applications. The complex relationships between material properties and deposition parameters calls for a shift from the traditional paradigm of experimental science to the modern paradigm of data exploration. The research focuses on the growth of high-quality titanium oxynitride thin films, using pulsed laser deposition (PLD) method, which allows control of growth parameters, leading to formation of high quality epitaxial thin films with precise control of its electrocatalytic properties. The films are used as catalysts to examine the electrochemical reactions during water splitting, with an aim of producing hydrogen, which is a source of renewable energy. MATLAB regression learner App together with experimental data has been used to train the models. The utilization of AI tools, along with the algorithmic processing of experimental data, has the potential to support data analysis and it can facilitate the systematic correlation of material structure and properties.https://digital.library.ncat.edu/gradresearchsymposium25/1129/thumbnail.jp
Development and Characterization of Next-Generation Genetically Encodable Fluorescent Biosensors of RSK, S6K, and ROCK Activity
No full textHuman diseases like cancer can be attributed to the dysregulation of interrelated signaling pathways. Understanding these processes is crucial for predicting, diagnosing, and treating such diseases. Molecular imaging techniques, such as genetically encodable fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET)-based biosensors have been developed to visualize dynamic signaling processes in living cells and organoids. However, they have a low dynamic range, allowing subtle regulatory processes to be missed. Therefore, we developed a series of kinase activity reporters (KARs) (ExRai-RSKAR, ExRai-S6KAR, and ExRai-ROCKAR) with enhanced sensitivity for these kinases based on the recently developed excitation ratiometric indicator (ExRai) architecture, based on the cAMP-dependent protein kinase (PKA) activity reporter, ExRai- AKAR2. These ExRai-based KARs showed enhanced dynamic ranges compared to their FRET counterparts, and they represent valuable tools for monitoring real-time changes in the activity profiles of RSK, ROCK, and S6K with high spatiotemporal resolution in cells and organoids. This approach may help identify biomarkers for associated diseases and examine the responses of these kinases to various pathological, pharmacological, and toxicological agents, improving our understanding of disease mechanisms and facilitating the development of specific therapies.https://digital.library.ncat.edu/gradresearchsymposium25/1136/thumbnail.jp
Mouthing Behavior Patterns Among Young Children Aged 6 Months to 72 months: A Micro-Activity Analysis in Three States
No full textChildren\u27s mouthing behaviors with various indoor surfaces provide primary pathways for ingestion exposure to environmental contaminants. This microactivity study examined 67 children aged 6 months to 72 months across three U.S. states (North Carolina, Florida, and Arizona) using improved videotaping and video-translation methods to collect and process video data. Analysis of 3- 4 hours of indoor activity per child revealed distinct mouthing patterns across age groups. Mouth contacts were predominantly characterized by Nothing behaviors (71-83% duration, 40-54 contacts/hour across age groups), with Food-Cont most prevalent in 6-12 month infants (14% duration, 17 contacts/hour) declining to minimal levels in 36-72 months (1% duration, 2 contacts/hour). Hand-to-mouth contacts increased with age, peaking at 36-72 months (7% duration, 18 contacts/hour). Porous plastic toy mouthing decreased with age (from 4% to 1% duration). Location analysis showed shifts from living room-focused mouthing in younger children (52 contacts/hour for 6- 12 months) to bedroom environments in older groups (25 contacts/hour for 36- 72 months). These findings provide crucial quantitative data for understanding children\u27s mouthing exposure patterns in indoor environments and can inform risk assessment strategies for ingestion exposures to chemicals in children\u27s products and environmental contaminants.https://digital.library.ncat.edu/gradresearchsymposium25/1137/thumbnail.jp
Evaluating Food Accessibility: Analyzing the Impact of Fresh Mobile Markets Using the Enhanced Two-Step Floating Catchment Area Method
No full textFood insecurity persists as a pressing issue in low-income and low-access (LI/LA) communities, where physical and economic barriers limit access to nutritious food. This study evaluates the impact of Fresh Mobile Markets (FMMs) on food accessibility in Greensboro, NC, using the Enhanced TwoStep Floating Catchment Area (E2SFCA) method. Unlike traditional traveltime-based measures, the E2SFCA method accounts for both the supply of food assistance facilities—FMMs and food pantries and the demand from surrounding low-income households, offering a more robust spatial analysis. Accessibility was assessed at the U.S. Census block group level, mitigating the modifiable areal unit problem (MAUP) and ensuring more precise estimates. Comparative analysis between travel time to the nearest facility and E2SFCAderived accessibility scores reveals disparities, with travel-time measures often overestimating access in densely populated, high-need areas. Preliminary findings suggest that integrating FMMs into the food assistance network enhances spatial accessibility, but gaps remain in North and Southeast Guilford County due to scheduling and location constraints. This study underscores the value of advanced spatial models in optimizing food assistance strategies and highlights opportunities for improving the equitable distribution of mobile market services.https://digital.library.ncat.edu/gradresearchsymposium25/1140/thumbnail.jp