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It's Not You / It's Me
No full textLook, I’m not saying I didn’t enjoy myself. I did. I’m not saying that I don’t value the experience. I do. However, even after fitting this internship to my exact needs, or what I thought they were, I’ve discovered that I want to do something entirely different. I planned my summer with the thought that it would help me reach three goals; to combine my passion for horses with my need for a job, to build my own media marketing firm and to complete my degree one semester early. Two of those goals have changed, care to guess which? I’m not saying I didn’t learn anything. I learned plenty. I learned enough about myself to realize that I need something different. You can make your internship work for you, even in ways you would never imagine.We need to talk. It was a great summer, full of passion, excitement, and love. We’re just not right for each other. Each of the panelists found an internship for the summer that excited their passions and connected to their dreams for the future. From advocating for the rights of Indigenous Peoples, to working on constituent and legislative issues with a State Representative, from counseling teenagers in Korea to building a media presence for a local business, each panelist found a way to test the waters of pursuing our passions in our future careers. However, after working in these fields, each panelist discovered a different way of approaching their passion, a way that will make them feel less distant from the important issues and the people involved, and will fulfill and connect to their passions in new, more effective, ways. They enjoyed their internships, they learned a lot from them, but ultimately want to follow different paths in life
Perceived Discrimination Among Muslim Americans: Examining the Role of Religious Identity and Authenticity
No full textThis study examined whether religion provides an overall greater sense of well-being when the
religion being practiced is Islam. Over 400 Muslims in the US completed a survey assessing
perceived discrimination and a variety of well-being indicators. Results suggested that
discrimination was positively associated with anxiety, but not significantly associated with
religiosity. When examining the two subscales of the religiosity measure: God consciousness and
formal practices (going to mosque, praying), discrimination was negatively associated with God
consciousness, but positively associated with formal practices. There was no relationship
between overall religiosity and anxiety, but overt religious presentation (wearing a hijab, being
open about one’s faith) was positively associated with discrimination. These findings suggest
that for Muslims in the US, outwardly expressing one’s faith is more strongly tied to experiences
of discrimination than religious belief itself. Further analyses revealed that the relationship
between experiences of discrimination and well-being outcomes such as anxiety and self-esteem
was moderated by authenticity and religiosity. Overall, frequent experiences of discrimination
were associated with low levels of well-being regardless of one’s authenticity or religiosity. In
contrast, religiosity and authenticity were associated with higher well-being for people with less
frequent experiences of discrimination.In addition to these findings, differences were found in
both race and gender. Future studies would benefit by focusing on this segment of the population.Psychology & Educatio
Crash Course: Student to Biochemical Research Scientist
No full textLast summer, I interned as a research assistant at the Chromatin Biology Lab (CBL) in the Korean Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST). It was my first opportunity to work in a graduate school lab environment with PhD candidates and postdoctoral fellows. I was mentored by a PhD student who studies how the interaction between the protein complex Spt-Ada-Gcn5 acetyltransferase (SAGA) and the proteasome influences the transcriptional regulation of Saccharomyces cerevisiae in vivo. For the first few weeks, I worked along with my mentor, following the exact procedure she conducted and taking notes of the process. I also studied sections of Biochemistry and Epigenetics textbooks along with several papers related to SAGA, the proteasome and overall transcriptional regulation in S. cerevisiae, to familiarize myself with the topic and the purpose of our experiment. After I became familiar with the main procedures and the lab techniques, my mentor assigned me to duplicate her result in gene expression level comparison using wild type, rpt2-1 mutated, and sgf73 deleted samples of S.cerevisiae. I used qPCR to verify the quality of chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) process, which consisted of harvesting cells and isolating the DNA-protein complexes by sonication and DNA purification. The purified DNA samples were sequenced and analyzed using softwares such as Homer and deepTools. My research was successful as the final analysis supported that the mutation of SAGA and the proteasome interaction affects the rate of gene expression of S.cerevisiae cell in vivo. The four month experience at CBL gave me an insight in qualities required to be a successful research scientist, and also in what future academic and career paths I am expected to follow.Members of our panel explored various fields of Biochemical research outside the realm of Mount Holyoke College over the course of the summer. As undergraduate students of different backgrounds, we collaborated with PhD candidates and postdoctoral fellows on projects ranging from legume symbiosis and yeast epigenetics to Alzheimer’s disease and aging in hematopoietic stem cells. Our members were associated with graduate school labs at the University of Massachusetts, Yale School of Medicine and the Korean Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), as well as labs such as The Jackson Laboratory in Maine. Though the environments and the sizes of the labs varied, we all learned many essential lessons on conducting ethical research and succeeding as scientists. Some of these included habits such as maintaining a detailed lab notebook with appropriate procedures and modifications, reading a plethora of papers linked to our fields, and asking our mentors questions whenever necessary. Since the nature of our research projects was unique, we cultivated different lab techniques and skills that we will share through individual presentations. We will also share the processes involved in securing the internships, using the Lynk funding, and adjusting to new lab environments
Working Towards a Common Goal: Long Term Applications of Scientific Research
No full textComputational power drastically improved in the last decade which allowed many laboratories today to use molecular simulations and apply them to biological systems. This approach assists answering questions that are hard or nearly impossible to get by using “wet” laboratory techniques. Often, when the certain protein is studied, it is studied by itself without the environment. However, soluble proteins are floating in the cytoplasm is much denser than water and contains many different proteins and other agents such as ions. The presence of other crowding agents and proteins can influence protein stabilization, assist in denaturation or even alter protein secondary structure and create a new more stable conformational state with lower minimal energy. My job was to test a new model for the laboratory and find the good protein candidates for the future research work. It was satisfying to see a real-life application of the knowledge that I already had from my classes. Moreover, I had to pick up some programming skills which I had limited exposure before last summer. During my training I liked to see my own growth in amount of independent work that I was able to do. My presentation focuses on the multidisciplinary research, and my experience as an undergraduate student in an academic laboratory.What do rats, fruit flies, vaginal mucosa, and molecular simulations have in common? They are all important tools for unraveling the secrets of human biology. This panel brings together five scientists who spent their summers working in research laboratories in various areas of life sciences such as molecular biology, neurobiology, and biochemistry. Members worked in a variety of settings including academia and clinical laboratories, and on unique research projects. Some of the panel members work was directly related to health, while others’ were in the nascent stages of research and were more indirectly linked to future advances in human welfare. Knowledge acquired from coursework laid the foundation for learning practical skills including computer modeling, animal behavioral assays, tissue dissection, western blots, and fluorescent imaging. This panel aims to provide an overview of careers in the life sciences and how every aspect of research can contribute to the common goal of improving human health
Trails, Failures, and Optimizations: The Cycle to Visualize the Basic Building Blocks of Life
No full textThe Atlantic killifish inhabits both pristine and polluted environments. Interestingly, populations that inhabit areas contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) have developed a resistance to these toxicants that the populations of pristine environments do not have. My aim for this summer was to explain this difference at the protein level. One protein, the aryl hydrocarbon receptor, was central to my investigation. It mediates the toxic response by binding to toxicants like PCBs and then affecting the cell’s health by altering gene regulation as a transcription factor. Further, this protein exists in structurally unique variants between the resistant and non-resistant populations. To determine if this structural difference corresponded to a functional difference, I used a luciferase reporter assay to compare the levels of transcriptional activity between cells expressing each of the variants. Ultimately, the variants of the resistant population exhibited less activity in response to a given concentration of toxicant than the variants of the non-resistant population.New research paradigms rely on existing knowledge of protein structure, behavior, and genomic data. This panel brings together four scientists who visualized the basic building blocks of life from genetic code to protein structure in the quest to answer some of the most challenging questions in human health. Using big data, toxicant-resistant fish, and mechanisms of drug discovery, each utilized unique methods to visualize the basic components of life including computer modeling, genomic sequencing, luminescence, and bacterial growth. This panel hopes to show possible applications of knowledge and skills gained in class as well as to impress one of the main principles of research: significant achievements are made possible through interdisciplinary collaboration that involves trials, failures, and optimization
Bridging the Gap: Millenials Researching the Lies of Older Adults
No full textHave you ever stopped to think about what goes into the tiny pills that you take? How much time and money went into that pill? What was done to prove its safety for consumption? How was the writing on the label determined? Let’s take a closer look at process of how the drug model starts in the lab and gets to FDA approval. What departments are necessary and how is it all accomplished? This past summer Katie Poulin interned for a pharmaceutical company and got to see some of the processes that go into a drug’s FDA approval. Through this experience Katie learned what it takes to get a drug FDA approved, and careers that are available in this industry.The elderly population is a minority group often underrepresented in research. Despite limited research associated with this population, the population of older adults aged 65+ in the United States is expected to double in size to over 80 million people by 2050.(1) During the summer of 2015, four Mount Holyoke students with majors in africana studies, biology, neuroscience, and psychology engaged in research pertaining to the elderly. Their varied internships included a community health-based research setting, a hospital, a psychology lab, and a pharmaceutical company. In this presentation, these individuals come together to discuss their distinct internship experiences. They offer their unique academic backgrounds and career interests while providing insights to the range of issues that affect the health of older adult populations
Circadian Rhythms of Perineuronal Nets and Somatostatin: Relationship to Growth Hormone and Sleep Associated with Memory Consolidation
No full textABSTRACT
How memory is stored and processed during sleep, a phenomenon called memory consolidation, remains unclear. Perineuronal Nets (PNNs), which are structures that form around neurons and regulate synapses, and growth hormone, which also regulates synapses, may provide a critical clue into this process. Contrary to what was thought, new research suggests that PNNs are modified during sleep, allowing for memory consolidation. I investigated the circadian rhythm of PNN composition, and the effect of sleep deprivation on PNNs and growth hormone. Animals were sacrificed every 4 hours across the 24-hour cycle, or following sleep deprivation and their brains were sliced and stained. PNN composition was determined using a microscope. Results showed a rhythmic variation in PNN composition everywhere with a decrease in number during the night, supporting the idea that PNN decreases allow for memories to be consolidated. Sleep deprivation prevented this decrease and the normal increase in growth hormone. I investigated somatostatin, a neuropeptide involved in anxiety regulation and growth hormone inhibition and found it varied over the circadian rhythm. Increasing our knowledge of PNNs and their function can aid understanding and treatment of diseases including Schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s disease and PTSD. Future studies can look at human brains with this disease.Biological Science
Macrophage-Mediated Efferocytosis in Rat Uterine Remodeling
No full textMacrophages are professional phagocytes that survey the body for pathogens and secrete biomolecules relevant to many cellular processes. Our lab identified the presence of macrophages around the rat uterine lumen and within the metrial gland during mid-pregnancy and postpartum. We hypothesized that macrophages might be involved in the clearance of apoptotic cells, i.e., efferocytosis. The aim of this study was to test this further. Using quantitative real-time PCR during pregnancy and postpartum timepoints, we found that the pan-macrophage marker CD68, phosphatidylserine receptor MerTK, and anti-inflammatory marker TGFβ1 were expressed at higher levels compared to pro-inflammatory marker TNFα in the rat’s metrial gland and decidua. We hypothesized that if macrophages were efferocytosing, they must be expressing MerTK. Hence, we performed double immunofluorescence across pregnancy and postpartum in the rat using frozen tissue sections containing metrial gland and decidua. Macrophages (CD68-positive) appeared spatially proximal to apoptotic cells (Annexin V-positive) and scattered in the tissue amongst perforin-positive natural killer cells. Lastly, only a few macrophages were MerTK-positive and other unknown cell types also expressed MerTK. This suggests that macrophages involved in uterine remodeling may be functionally heterogeneous. Future studies will focus on understanding how macrophages affect pregnancy in rats and whether this may have relevant implications to humans.Biological Science
Ability of Orconectus rusticus to Recover from Exposure to the Pesticide Imidacloprid
No full textImidacloprid, the most widely used pesticide in the world, is known to affect invertebrates’ ability to move and feed. There is growing concern about the effects Imidacloprid may be having on non-target organisms. In my study I asked the question can organisms exposed to Imidacloprid recover mobility. I exposed crayfish to either 1 µg•L-1, 10 µg•L-1 or 100 µg•L-1 of Imidacloprid for seven days. After the week of exposure, crayfish were transferred to pesticide-free water and tested their mobility by timing how long it took each individual crayfish to right itself after being placed onto its back. This test was repeated every three days for a total of five cycles. The crayfish exposed to either 1 µg•L-1 or 10 µg•L-1 of Imidacloprid did not show differences in average flip times compared to the control crayfish at any point during the study. Crayfish exposed to 100 µg•L-1 of exhibited significantly different flip times from the 1 µg•L-1, 10 µg•L-1 and control crayfish until the thirteenth day. At that time, they were not significantly different from the 10 µg•L-1 exposed crayfish. The righting time of crayfish exposed to 100 µg•L-1 trended towards the control over the course of the recovery period.Biological Science
Blossoms of the Apricot: Representations of Confucianism and Confucian China in the Writings of Henry Thoreau, Ernest Fenollosa, and Ezra Pound
No full textSince the middle of the nineteenth century, Confucianism and Confucian China entered American literature through the efforts of three generations of leading writers. As a rich school of thought that had flourished for more than two thousand years in China, Confucianism presented itself as a philosophy, a political theory, and an aesthetics. Its extensive content and wide application appealed to American intellectuals, who turned it into an endorsement for their own revolutionary proposals in various fields.
A selective account of the discourse about Confucianism and Confucian China in American literature from the mid-nineteenth to the mid-twentieth century, this thesis explores contributions of Henry David Thoreau, Ernest Francisco Fenollosa, and Ezra Weston Loomis Pound. Playing out in a chronological sequence, it centers on a common theme in these writers’ works––the interpretation and adaptation of the Confucian conception of language. Grounding my analysis in close reading, I discuss both how an eagerness to connect the symbolic realm with the material world characterizes their approaches to Confucianism, and how the Confucian view on language is integrated into their literary practices. Furthermore, I propose an explanation for why these American writers, while consciously invested in the establishment of a new national literature, all turned to an ancient foreign culture in searching for inspiration.Englis