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Fighting Antibiotic Resistance: Antibiotic Activity from Local Californian Soil
No full textThe antimicrobial resistance (AMR) crisis is a prevailing problem in the healthcare industry; in 2019 alone, 1.27 million deaths were directly caused by AMR infections around the world. In our efforts to address this global issue, the Carlson laboratory has collaborated with local high school students during the Medical Microbiology program in Pacific’s Summer High School Institute (PSHSI). Using the Tiny Earth curriculum from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UWM), two cohorts of high schoolers have screened bacteria from soil samples collected across California. During spring break of 2023 and 2024, soil was collected and treated to grow a diversity of bacteria on “diversity plates.” The high school students learned about isolating bacteria and made some of their own diversity plates from soil collected on campus. In the fall, we (undergraduate researchers) plated and screened all 275 isolates identified during the summer institute. We confirmed their observations by retesting these isolates for inhibition of four human pathogens, Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus and Salmonella sp.. From these assays, pathogen-inhibiting isolates were uploaded to the global Tiny Earth Database (tinyearth.com), and agar slants of these cultures were sent to UWM for further genomic characterization and metabolic testing for their potential to produce new antibiotics. We are currently restarting the cycle with new soil samples for this summer\u27s institute. New diversity plates will be created in search of new antibiotic producing isolates to combat the AMR crisis
Above & Beyond Whales: Are High-Frequency Food Calls Successful?
No full textHumpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) in the eastern Pacific migrate annually to their feeding grounds in the Gulf of Alaska. Some engage in a cooperative foraging behavior called bubble-net feeding whereby a small group of whales work together to capture fish. Some group members dive below a school of herring and blow a curtain of bubbles to trap the fish, while other group members produce long sequences of loud, low frequency vocalizations known as ‘food’ calls (Hanser, 2009). Food calls are signals, and therefore shaped by natural selection for effective transmission, and for their effectiveness in altering the receiver’s behavior to the sender’s benefit (Wiley and Richards, 1978). Playback experiments (Sharpe, 2001) have shown that fish respond to food calls by moving closer together and crowding toward the surface, making food capture easier for the whales. Food calls may also be used by the whales to coordinate this group behavior (Hanser, 2009). Humpback whales typically produce food calls at a frequency of about 500 Hertz (Hz) (Cerchio & Dahlheim, 2001). While analyzing recordings of whales performing bubble-net feeding using the software program Audacity, we observed that some food calls were produced between 800 and 1000 Hz (what we’re calling high frequency food calls). While it’s not clear why these high frequency calls were produced, we wanted to know if their use had any effect on the success of the feeding event in which they occurred. Because signals are specific to their function, we expected that series with high frequency food calls would result in fewer successful feeding events compared to traditional 500 Hz food calls. We tested this by comparing the success of high frequency call series with the success of randomly selected traditional call series of the same length
Resisting Erasure: Polish Fairy Tales in the Partitions Era
No full textThis paper explores the role of Polish fairy tales during the Partitions Era (1795-1918) as a form of cultural resistance and a reflection of Polish nationalism. Amidst the oppressive rule of Russia, Polish identity was systematically suppressed. In 1862, Maude Ashurt Biggs translated A.J. Glinksi’s collection of Polish fairy tales, offering a rare glimpse of Polish folklore during a time when national sovereignty had been erased from the map. Through a gothic lens, the fairy tales in this collection, specifically Princess Miranda and Prince Hero and The Eagles, symbolize the struggle for autonomy and the Polish people\u27s enduring resistance against foreign domination.
The gothic elements embedded within Princess Miranda and Prince Hero and The Eagles reveal how these fairy tales function as allegories of Polish resistance. In both stories, the central characters are besieged by malevolent forces symbolizing foreign invaders, and their loved ones fall into perilous situations. These narratives echo the paralysis of Polish national spirit and the forced assimilation of Polish people, particularly through Russia\u27s Russification policies. These themes are mirrored through the gothic motifs of enforced dormancy, ensnared protagonists, larger-than-life entities, and the theme of the broken self.
By drawing parallels between the fairy tale characters and real-life uprisings in the 1860s, this paper demonstrates that these stories not only captured the cultural oppression experienced by the Polish people but also embodied their deep belief in eventual liberation. The analysis of the gothic motifs within these fairy tales reveals how folklore served as both a cultural refuge and a form of resistance, offering hope amidst the erasure of Polish sovereignty. These narratives provided a space for resilience and resistance, reflecting the Polish desire for freedom and the eventual triumph of national identity, even in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds
\u27Echale Ganas\u27: The Struggles of First-Generation Latinx Students
No full textThere is a variety of issues and struggles Latinx Immigrants go through every day; however, let us not forget about the struggle of first-generation Latinx Students of Immigrant parents. First-generation status influences college students\u27 experiences as they relate to social mobility and both educational inequality and assimilation. Looking into sociological perspectives, we’ll learn how class, race, and immigration status apply to the challenges that first-generation students face in their academic journey. Inadequate mentorship, implicit bias, and under-resourced schools create inequalities for minority students seeking academic success and opportunities regarding educational stratification. We focus on analyzing family support, support networks through siblings, and how community and institutional resources influence students and their academic pathways. Initial results indicate that although first-generation students face significant barriers, they build unique strategies and find the resources that will lead them to success, such as networking, guidance, and mentorship. Being able to understand the struggles first-generation students go through in the academic journey, will bring awareness to academic institutions to better assist their students. Understanding the struggles of first-generation students in the academic journey not only fosters empathy but also empowers us to create involvement and equal educational opportunities for everyone
Research Update - March 2025
No full texthttps://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/research-update/1033/thumbnail.jp
Discrete Math for Computer Science - Chapter 29: Tree traversals: Spanning trees
No full textSee this OER textbook full record by clicking here.https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/open-videos/1030/thumbnail.jp
Discrete Math for Computer Science - Chapter 3: Predicates and quantifiers: Quantified statements
No full textSee this OER textbook full record by clicking here.https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/open-videos/1005/thumbnail.jp
Discrete Math for Computer Science - Chapter 24: Unions and complements of events
No full textSee this OER textbook full record by clicking here.https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/open-videos/1025/thumbnail.jp
Discrete Math for Computer Science - Chapter 25: Conditional probability and independence
No full textSee this OER textbook full record by clicking here.https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/open-videos/1026/thumbnail.jp