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Varying the Wavelength of Light to Increase Growth Rate and Paclitaxel Production in T. Chinensis Plant Cell Cultures
No full textIn vitro culturing with plants is an increasingly popular method for producing medicinal compounds, however, there is still room to improve product yield and efficiency. This experiment tested red, blue, green, white, and a combination of red and blue lights. Plates and flasks were tested by growth, metabolic activity, stress, and gene expression to determine health and paclitaxel yield. Darkness was shown to be the best method of growth; however longer exposure might be required for better results. Secondly, paclitaxel was not produced due to gene expression being suppressed by aged cells, therefore the effect of light treatment on production was inconclusive
FPGA Accelerated SAT Solver
No full textThe goal of this project was to solve the Multivariate-Quadratic Satisfiability Problem by implementing an exhaustive search method for a binary quadratic system of equations in Python and analyze how effective it would be for an FPGA asymptotically. Lookup Tables (LUTs) were computed to essentially precompute part of the algebra, in line with what the previous projects did. We used Python to create a solver based on the previous group's Frankenstein algorithm and then evaluated its effectiveness in search space reduction, as well as how its performance would translate to a hardware implementation on FPGAs in the style that the previous project used
Paclitaxel transporter characterization
No full textPaclitaxel is a valuable chemotherapeutic compound naturally produced by Taxus species, but its commercial production in plant cell culture systems remains limited by poor secretion efficiency. This project investigated whether paclitaxel transport in Taxus chinensis suspension cultures is ATP-dependent, a hypothesis supported by the suspected involvement of ABC transporters. On Day 0, all cultures were elicited with 150 µM methyl jasmonate to induce paclitaxel biosynthesis and treated with either 1% 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG) or 1 µg/mL oligomycin to inhibit ATP production. ATP levels were quantified using a CellTiter-Glo luminescence assay, and intra- and extracellular paclitaxel concentrations were measured via UPLC and normalized to biomass. Results showed that oligomycin treatment reduced ATP levels by over 90% by Day 3 and led to a 1.9-fold increase in intracellular paclitaxel accumulation by Day 10 compared to controls. 2-DG caused partial ATP depletion, resulting in a transient spike in extracellular paclitaxel on Day 7. These findings support the role of ATP-dependent transport in paclitaxel secretion and suggest that transporter-targeted metabolic engineering could enhance production yields in plant cell culture systems
Improving Community Engagement at the Charles Dickens Museum
No full textThis project focuses on enhancing community engagement with Charles Dickens’s legacy within London. We conducted 100 community surveys and interviews with 3 members of the Museum, 5 staff from local museums, and 2 community stakeholders. Our findings revealed that while most Londoners are somewhat interested in Dickens, particularly his writings and life, 53% were unaware of the Museum. Despite this, 87% expressed interest in visiting, with cost and awareness as the main barriers. We recommended strategies for the Museum, including flexible hours, discounts, new events, social media ads, community engagement, and showcasing manuscripts to overcome barriers and engage the local community. These recommendations aim to expand Dickens's legacy, fostering new connections across communities
Environmentally Friendly Recycling of E-wastes
No full textE-waste, which includes discarded electronics ranging from phones to refrigerators, has become the fastest growing waste stream globally. According to the World Health Organization, only 22.3% of the 62 million tons of e-waste generated in 2022 was properly recycled (2024). Printed circuit boards (PCBs) represent a valuable portion of e-waste because of the precious metals that they contain. Although the recycling methods for the boards themselves are well established in the industry, effective methods for recycling the attached integrated circuits (ICs) are less understood. This project focuses on designing a small-scale process to separate metallic from non-metallic components in ICs. Batches of ICs were baked in a furnace to break down the polymer coatings around the metallic components and optimize holding time and temperature. A mechanical separator was designed to break down the baked polymer ash. A scaled-down eddy current separator was designed and built to separate the smaller metallic components that pass through the mechanical separator. The final design is a continuous process that integrates all these steps, which provides an efficient recovery method for critical precious metals that can be scaled up depending on the needs at hand
Evaluating Bamboo as a Viable Feedstock for Hydrothermal Liquefaction: Product Analysis and TEA
No full textAs fossil fuels become increasingly scarce, and their consumption accelerates climate change, demand for an alternative fuel grows. Biofuel is a promising fossil fuel-substitute, as it is sustainable, environmentally friendly, and is similar in composition to fossil fuels. To synthesize biofuels, this study employs hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) – a popular biomass to biofuel process that can achieve high biocrude yields. What differentiates this report from other HTL research is the use of bamboo as a feedstock. Despite high lignin content which hinders HTL reactions, bamboo’s high growth rate, hardiness, and ability to remediate soils make it a strong candidate for biomass to biofuel processes. Exploring a range of temperatures and reaction times, optimal conditions for biocrude yields were determined to be 300oC for 10 minutes. Reaction types were also varied, showing promise for aqueous phase recycling (APR) HTL. After a thorough analysis of each phase, and a comprehensive techno-economic analysis, bamboo was determined to be not only viable, but a competitive feedstock for HTL. This report offers a foundation for future bamboo HTL research and ends with recommendations for future work
Free Flex: Cervical Spine Protection for Post-Traumatic Injuries
No full textCervical collars are critical for stabilizing the spine and preventing any further or iatrogenic injuries in trauma scenarios. However, the current cervical collars on the market are too restrictive, resulting in further discomfort and injury. The guidelines on cervical spine immobilization have changed over the years, but the same devices have been used in practice since the 1960’s. We have developed a novel cervical spine protection system, “Free Flex,” that is more comfortable and easier for emergency medical providers to use, while restricting the same degree of spinal motion as the gold standard
Scalable Solver for the Helmholtz Equation
No full textThe aim is to find a solution to the indefinite Helmholtz equation. When the mesh of the domain of the problem is too fine, a direct method uses too much memory to be feasible to use. Since the problem is indefinite, an iterative method is also difficult. The goal of this MQP is to find a corresponding periodic solution of a second order in time wave equation which can be written as a fixed point iteration. The fixed point iteration can be rewritten as a linear system and solved by using the GMRES method. Numerical results will be presented
Behavioral Investigation of Chronic and Acute Stress Exposure on Freshwater Crayfish, Faxonius virilis.
No full textChemical cues are a primary form of communication in aquatic animals, and the presence of alarm cues may have effects on foraging and mating behavior in Faxonius virilis. This paper examines how alarm cues—signals from damaged or killed conspecifics—affect these behaviors in F. virilis. In the foraging experiment, the effects of long-term (chronic) exposure to alarm cues over 12 weeks were examined while mating was assessed under acute exposure. Previous research suggests that the presence of alarm cues increases sheltering behaviors and may influence mating in comparison to an unexposed control group, though F. virilis mating behavior is not well documented in environmental or individual interactions. Assuming alarm cues influence these behaviors, we hypothesized that chronic exposure to alarm cues would negatively impact crayfish foraging behavior—even in the absence of acute alarm cue exposure—reducing the frequency of foraging attempts and increasing the latency to begin foraging. We also hypothesized that acute exposure to alarm cues would negatively impact crayfish mating behavior, discouraging mating attempts, increasing the latency to begin mating, and reducing the time spent mating. These hypotheses were tested through two controlled laboratory experiments, where behaviors were observed and recorded in the presence or absence of alarm cues, and scored accordingly. The collected data were analyzed using generalized linear modeling to determine significant factors affecting foraging and mating. The results from these experiments indicate that the effects of alarm cues on latency in the mating experiment were dependent on carapace length, and that smaller carapaces had increased latency in alarm-cue exposed populations. For the foraging experiment, alarm-cue exposed males were significantly less likely to attempt foraging behavior compared to unexposed males, and no such difference was demonstrated by females. These results indicate that sex-based differences also influence crayfish behavior in the presence of alarm cues. Studying the effects of alarm cues in species like F. virilis is crucial to better understanding the significance of altered behavior in individual organisms and species populations as a whole, including interspecific and environmental interactions
GaN-Based DC/DC Converter for Fuel Cell Applications
No full textOur team developed a lightweight DC/DC converter to interface with Honeywell’s 600 W, 51 hydrogen cell stack for unmanned autonomous vehicle applications. Using gallium nitride (GaN) FETs, the converter minimizes size while handling an input voltage of 20-60 V and providing an adjustable 18-65 V output. The project followed a timeline through research, simulation, schematic design, and PCB layout to achieve a prototype board for Honeywell.