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Phil Dixon, Trumpet
No full textPhoto of Phil Dixon playing the trumpet at the 2025 Gene DeGruson Lecture. He played Take Me Out to the Ball Game and the audience sang along.https://digitalcommons.pittstate.edu/sweatt_lecture/1078/thumbnail.jp
Food Tables
No full textAudience members dishing up food during the 2025 Gene DeGruson Lecture receptionhttps://digitalcommons.pittstate.edu/sweatt_lecture/1084/thumbnail.jp
The Pittsburg Micropolitan Area Economic Report, Quarter 2, 2025
Get PDFThe Pittsburg Micropolitan Area Economic Report is created by the Business and Economic Research Center (BERC) at Pittsburg State University
Exploring the gut microbiota of gray bats in Kansas following culturable and metagenomic approaches
No full textBats play essential roles in ecosystems, controlling insect populations but also acting as disease reservoirs, as highlighted by recent pandemics. This study examines bacterial diversity in the Gray Bat (Myotis grisescens) in Southeast Kansas. From guano samples, 32 bacterial isolates were obtained, majority was Gram-positive (65%). Sugar fermentation profiles showed 78% of isolates fermented all tested sugars, and a smaller proportion showed urea hydrolysis (21%) as well as indole production (3%). Sequencing with an Illumina miniSequencer yielded 2.9 million reads, with Serratia, Achromobacter, Lysinibacillus, and Bacillus as the most abundant genera. Ongoing research aims to characterize the gut microbiota of male and female bats. Beta diversity analysis showed 68% of variance, indicating greater intra-variability in females. Alpha diversity (Chao1 and Shannon indices) indicated comparable species richness, with slightly higher diversity in females. Identifying bacteria associated with bats supports disease prevention and bat conservation efforts
GENERATION OF A TRANSGENIC VECTOR FOR THE PURPOSE OF TRANSFORMING CHARCOAL ROT RESISTANCE INTO SOYBEANS (GLYCINE MAX)
Get PDFCharcoal rot, caused by Macrophomina phaseolina, is among the most devastating fungal pathogens affecting G. max, particularly in drought-susceptible regions such as the midwestern United States. Traditional agricultural practices have included crop rotation and irrigation, which have proved ineffective or economically unfeasible. Charcoal rot infects over 500 other species of plants and can overwinter as dormant sclerotia which can germinate once soybeans are re-planted and infect young plants. As a result, transgenic solutions have offered a promising alternative for the development of disease-resistant soybeans. This thesis documents the construction of a transgenic vector to express BOZO, a glucanase endogenous to Glycine max, which has previously been shown to exhibit antifungal properties. Previous attempts utilized a constitutive CAMV35S promoter, which may have led to soybean seedling lethality due to BOZO overexpression. This project used an ethanol-inducible ethanol promoter to regulate BOZO expression, minimize phytotoxicity, and maintain antifungal properties. An unorthodox recombinant PCR program was utilized to assemble BOZO with a Nos terminator to prevent read-through expression of downstream genes and precise expression of BOZO. The construct was cloned into the pTRAkt-alcR-alcR-AH-Cel5A vector, placing it just upstream of ethanol-inducible AlcA-min35S promoter. Clone JB5, confirmed via Sanger sequencing and bioinformatic analysis, was the highest fidelity BOZO-Nos construct, free from mutations and frameshifts. This thesis illustrates transgene assembly and provides a framework for future research on the development of inducible, disease resistant plants. For disease-endemic regions, the successful generation of the vector has implications for the use of inducible-expression systems in plants, as well as a clearer path toward sustainable agricultural practices
BIO-BASED COMPOSITES WITH ENHANCED MECHANICAL STRENGTH AND FLAME RETARDANCY
Get PDFComposites are versatile and useful in many fields, including aerospace, automotive, construction, and healthcare, due to their high mechanical strength. It is common practice to synthesize these materials using petroleum-based chemicals. Nonetheless, in the twenty-first century, scientists are more interested in using renewable resources to create composites. The greatest substitute for petroleum-based chemicals is vegetable oil. It has unsaturated double bonds that are modifiable chemically. In the present study, bio-polyol was synthesized using castor oil, an inedible vegetable oil. A ring-opening process was used to modify it and produce castor oil-based polyol. The synthesized castor oil-based polyol was characterized by spectroscopic and wet chemistry techniques. Composite materials were synthesized by using COP, TiO2 as an inorganic filler, and three different flame retardants. Melamine, Melamine Phytate and Melamine Phosphate were used as FRs. Here, MPht was synthesized by using bio-based phytic acid. The compression strength of composite containing 3 wt.% of MPht was 27.4 MPa which is the highest among all prepared composites. Moreover, tensile strength and hardness were observed to be 13 MPa and 70, respectively. The flammability data showed a weight loss of only 4% during the horizontal burning test for composite with 5 wt.% of MPht. These composites were thermally stable up to 350 OC. Our research suggests bio-based composites have the potential to provide a sustainable alternative to conventional products derived from petroleum. These composites offer several advantages, including renewable sourcing, reduced environmental impact, and excellent mechanical strength
A Graduate Recital in Voice
Get PDFThe thesis will consist of program notes for my graduate vocal performance recital. The recital included a variety of music from the composers Stanislaw Moniuszko, Wolfgang Mozart, Carl Loewe, Michael Costa, and John Philip Sousa. Each piece was accompanied by program notes that included a brief biography of the composer, information about the piece, text and translation, and a performance reflection. In this recital, I wanted to have a program of pieces that were rarely, if ever, performed. I’m personally part Polish from my moms’ side, which sparked a desire to include something in Polish. The Mozart aria was one of interest for several years. I had wanted to sing it in undergrad, but my voice teacher at the time rightfully said no due to the difficulty of the piece. With the Carl Loewe, I had previously sung Meeresleuchten as a graduate audition piece, and I was curious about the rest of the cycle. I admittedly have rarely enjoyed singing in French, and a lot of the reason is the general style of the music even more then the language itself. Vous qui faites l’endormie gave me a more German styled French piece. I found the oratorio by Costa in a collection on IMSLP and saw it went the lowest pitch-wise out of all of them (Eb 2). I found the Sousa operettas from looking for music for my community band that included soprano saxophone, and noticed some of them were based on operettas. From there I looked for every Sousa operetta score I could find
Geraniol-Derived Mechanically Robust, Self-Healable, and Reprocessable Epoxy Vitrimer Based on Dynamic Boronic Esters
No full textCovalent Adaptable Networks (CANs) are a pioneering family of polymers that have garnered significant attention in recent years and are characterized by covalent crosslinks that exhibit reversible dynamic alterations by external stimuli. Additionally, unlike traditional thermosets, CANs-particularly vitrimers-exhibit self-healing, reprocessability, shape-memory, and recycling capabilities due to the dynamic feature of covalent crosslinks. Recently, an increasing trend in the global production of thermosets involves rapid consumption of petroleum-based resources, which has become a growing environmental concern. From this perspective, the development of eco-friendly thermosets from bio-based feedstocks is a possible way to overcome these drawbacks. In this context, geraniol is one of the monoterpenoid alcohols, a primary component of several plant oils that become a valuable replacement for petroleum-based resources. In this study, for the first time, a geraniol-derived epoxy vitrimer has been developed by a thermally triggered thiol-epoxy click reaction between the geraniol-based epoxy resin and dynamic diboronic ester dithiol (DBDT) cross-linker. The resulting vitrimer exhibits excellent self-healing properties driven by the topology alteration through the dynamic transesterification of boronic ester bonds. The fabricated epoxy vitrimers possess superior thermal stability and significant mechanical properties with the absolute value of glass transition temperature (Tg) of 38.43 oC determined by DMA analysis. Incorporating dynamic boronic ester linkages imparts an enhanced tensile strength of ~19 MPa, enabling the vitrimer to recover its original shape after deformation (shape memory), solvent recycling ability, and excellent reprocessability with the maximum restoration of mechanical strength. Moreover, the vitrimer was further characterized by a remarkably short relaxation time of 9 s at 140 oC and an activation energy of 22.44 kJ/mol
Self-healable and Reprocessable Epoxy Vitrimer derived from Epoxidized Hemp Seed Oil and Dynamic Imine Bonds
No full textVitrimers are a class of covalently cross-linked polymers that undergo dynamic bond exchange, enabling self-healing, reprocessability, and recyclability while retaining the mechanical robustness of thermosets. This research focuses on the synthesis and characterization of a fully bio-based vitrimer derived from epoxidized hemp seed oil (EHSO) and vanillin-based imine cross-linkers. The synthesis involves the epoxidation of hemp seed oil followed by curing with dynamic Schiff-base (imine) cross-linkers synthesized from vanillin and aliphatic diamines. The imine bonds introduce network adaptability, allowing topological rearrangement under external stimuli such as heat, thereby facilitating material reconfiguration and repair. To optimize vitrimer properties, a systematic study is conducted on cross-linker structure, catalyst selection, and curing conditions. Characterization techniques such as Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy confirm the successful synthesis of precursors. Gel permeation chromatography (GPC) and epoxy oxygen content (%EOC) analysis validate network formation, while rheological studies, stress relaxation experiments, and mechanical testing evaluate viscoelastic behavior, self-healing efficiency, and mechanical strength. The developed vitrimer presents a sustainable alternative to conventional thermosets, exhibiting tunable mechanical and thermal properties suited for applications in coatings, adhesives, and composite materials, by integrating renewable feedstocks and dynamic covalent chemistry, this research advances the development of bio-based high-performance polymers, contributing to environmentally friendly material innovations. The findings demonstrate the potential of hemp-seed-oil-derived vitrimers in circular economy frameworks, emphasizing their role in reducing polymer waste and enhancing material sustainability
ZnMn2O4@ZnO Composite as an Anode for Lithium-lon Batteries
No full textAs the world moves toward a sustainable energy future, the demand for advanced materials with higher energy densities in storage systems is accelerating. Graphite is used as an anode in conventional lithium-ion batteries because it is inexpensive and environmentally benign. However, the low theoretical capacity of the graphite (372 mA h/g) hinders the fabrication of next-generation batteries. In this work, we report the synthesis of ZnMn2O4@ZnO composites using the microwave-assisted solvothermal method and further calcined at 500 oC. The sample prepared could be utilized as an anode for lithium-ion batteries. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) confirmed the prepared sample\u27s thermal stability. Phase analysis via X-ray diffraction (XRD) showed the formation of ZnMn2O4@ZnO composite phases. The electrochemical performance of the composite was evaluated using cyclic voltammetry (CV), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), and charge-discharge cycling tests. The ZnMn2O4@ZnO composites electrode exhibits a discharge capacity of 741 mA h/g over 100 cycles at a current density of 0.5 A/g, which is higher than the conventional used graphitic anode. The enhanced electrochemical performance is attributed to the synergistic interaction between ZnMn2O4 and ZnO, which improves both structural integrity and ion transport. These findings highlight the potential of ZnMn2O4@ZnO composites as high-performance and durable anode materials for next-generation lithium-ion batteries