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Angel Analyst Fellows Learn Investing, Thanks to Alumni Gift
Get PDFA new fellowship at Furman University unlocks the secrets of angel investing for students
Supporting STEM Success Through Prematriculation Undergraduate Research
No full textThe STEM Scholars program at Bucknell University was originally supported with a five-year National Science Foundation STEP grant to begin recruitment for a summer program in 2014. The grant, with a one-year no-cost extension, supported six cohorts of students. The recruitment of participants was specifically designed to attract typically underrepresented populations into STEM (Pell eligible, first generation, students of color, female identifying). As a result of successful implementation as measured by retention, persistence, and graduation rates, the university has secured private donations from generous alumni to endow the program. The tenth cohort of scholars participated in the summer of 2024
From the Classroom to the Concert
Get PDFStudents show what\u27s possible at Furman. Their work and other festivities continue to create excitement during Furman Engaged
Q&A: Community Health
Get PDFKerry Sease, M.D., who joined Furman in November 2023 as the executive director of the Institute for Advancement of Community Health (IACH), discusses how the institue, students and health workers are addressing critical issues in our communit
Room With a View
Get PDFNew South Housing welcomes first-year students, Center for Interpersonal Connection
Impact of Intracellular Proteins on μ-Opioid Receptor Structure and Ligand Binding
No full textChronic pain is a prevalent problem affecting approximately one out of every five adults in the U.S. The most effective way to treat chronic pain is with opioids, but they cause dangerous side effects such as tolerance, addiction, and respiratory depression, which makes them quite deadly. Opioids, such as fentanyl, target the μ-opioid receptor (MOR), which can then bind to the intracellular Gi protein or the β-arrestin protein. The Gi pathway is primarily responsible for pain relief and potential side effects, but the β-arrestin pathway is chiefly responsible for the unwanted side effects. Ideally, an effective pain medication without side effects would bind to MOR, which would bias signaling solely through the Gi pathway. We used the Bio3D library to conduct principal component analysis to compare the cryo-electron microscopy MOR structure in complex with the Gi versus an X-ray crystallography MOR structure with a nanobody acting as a Gi mimic. Our results agree with a previous study by Munro, which concluded that nanobody-bound MOR is structurally different than Gi-bound MOR. Furthermore, we investigated the structural diversity of opioids that can bind to MOR. Quantum mechanical calculations show that the low energy solution structures of fentanyl differ from the one bound to MOR in the experimental structure, and pKa calculations reveal that fentanyl is protonated in aqueous solution. Glide docking studies show that higher energy structures of fentanyl in solution form favorable docking complexes with MOR. Our calculations show the relative abundance of each fentanyl conformation in solution as well as the energetic barriers that need to be overcome to bind to MOR. Docking studies confirm that multiple fentanyl conformations can bind to the receptor. Perhaps a variety of conformations of fentanyl can stabilize multiple conformations of the MOR, which can explain why fentanyl can induce different intracellular signaling and multiple physiological effects
Exploring the Effects of Sedentary Behavior
No full textThis experiment is meant to focus on how mental fatigue, due to completing cognitive-inducing tasks, affects a teacher or member of school staff’s reaction time to a ruler dropping as a reaction time test. For the ruler drop reaction time test, three trials were conducted before and after participants sat for an extended period of time. They took a survey in which they were asked their age, how long they sat for, what tasks they completed while sitting for that time period, and where they caught the ruler when performing the reaction time test. A correlation analysis was conducted between the amount of time a participant sat for and how long it had taken for them to react to the ruler dropping. It was predicted that if a participant sits for a long period of time, then their reaction will be much later. This being said, the longer a person sits for, the longer their reaction time will be
The Effect of Carbonic Acid on the Nitrogen Fixation Rate of Rhizobium leguminosarum
No full textThe Earth\u27s climate is changing, and understanding the effects of climate change is critical to maintaining the global food supply. A component of the climate threat is the increasing prevalence of carbonic acid in all water sources. The rising prevalence of carbonic acid in the environment has negative impacts on many beneficial bacteria in oceans and bodies of freshwater, leading to the death of aquatic life and of crops that rely on these bacteria for important macronutrients. Rhizobium leguminosarum is a nitrogen-fixing bacterium that provides ammonia to legumes. The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of carbonic acid on R. leguminosarum, which may improve the ability to predict the future impacts of climate change on the global food supply. It was hypothesized that increased carbonic acid levels would be detrimental to nitrogen-fixing, resulting in less ammonia in the mixture, indicated by a lowered pH value. R. leguminosarum was placed in consistently volumed vials of yeast-extract-mannitol (YEM) broth, a nutrient broth commonly used to cultivate soil microorganisms, and 0 mL, 0.25 mL, 0.50 mL, and 1.00 mL of carbonic acid to incubate for 72 hours. After incubation, the pH of each vial was determined using a pH probe. The highest volume of carbonic acid showed a decrease in pH, possibly suggesting a decrease in the nitrogen-fixing capacities of R. leguminosarum. The data also may suggest that lower volumes of carbonic acid may be beneficial to the nitrogen-fixing capacities of R. leguminosarum
The Effect of Varying Concentrations of Armoracia Rusticana Extract on Staphlococcus epidermidis
No full textThe purpose of this study was to determine the antibacterial potential of Armoracia Rusticana (A. rusticana) in varying concentrations. It was hypothesized that A. rusticana would reduce the growth of the bacteria Staphylococcus epidermidis (S. epidermidis). This hypothesis was tested by streaking S. epidermidis onto 40 poured mannitol salt agar plates, with each plate accounting for three different trials. Then, four solutions were diluted; one solution contained 100% (20 mL) distilled water, one solution contained 25% (5 mL) A. rusticana and 75% (15 mL) distilled water, one contained 50% (10 mL) A. rusticana and 50% (10 mL) distilled water, and one solution contained 100% (20 mL) A. rusticana. 30 sterile blank antibiotic sensitivity discs were then thoroughly soaked in each solution and then placed in the center of each sample. The plates were incubated for 48 hours and were subsequently measured for the zone of inhibition in relation to the S. epidermidis. An ANOVA test was used to find that the zone of inhibition grew in size as the concentration of A. rusticana increased. Using this data, it was concluded that A. rusticana had strong antibacterial properties, leading to the null hypothesis being rejected