2022 Symposium for Student Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity

Every three years, the SRU Bailey library participates in a national survey regarding different users' customer satisfaction. This study compares the expectations and satisfaction levels of the 2018 respondents and 2021 respondents. Preliminary results suggest decreasing expectations and satisfaction levels. Within specific years discrepancies between expectations of and experiences at the Bailey Library are elucidated. Accessibility to resources and information will also be a focus in this study.

Hinge pattern resistance training exercises prioritize hip flexion and extension, and are often paired with squat pattern exercises to develop the lower body musculature comprehensively. However, few studies have examined biomechanical differences between various exercises that fit within the hinge movement pattern to optimize their selection towards specific goals and considerations. Differences in the kinetic chain of an exercise may alter muscle activation, and therefore exercise-specific applicability. For example, a Romanian deadlift (RDL) is a closed-chain exercise, while a reverse hyperextension (RH) is open-chain. To develop our understanding further, the muscle activation of the RDL and RH was compared in apparently healthy males. To determine load for the study, participants completed repetition-maximum (RM) testing on the RDL and RH. On a follow-up visit, surface electromyography (EMG) of the longissimus, multifidus, gluteus maximus, semitendinosus, and biceps femoris (lumbar/hip extensors) was measured using standard procedures. After a standardized warm-up protocol, participants completed maximal voluntary isometric contractions (MVICs) in the five muscles mentioned above. Participants then completed five slow (2s concentric, 2s eccentric) repetitions of the RDL and RH at 50% of estimated 1RM. The testing order was randomized. A repeated-measures ANOVA was then used to compare muscle activation (%MVIC) between the RDL and RH. Changing from a closed- (RDL) to an open-chain (RH) increased muscle activation in the gluteus maximus (+19.5%), biceps femoris (+27.9%), and semitendinosus (+18.2%). Interestingly, the differences in gluteus maximus, biceps femoris, and semitendinosus activation in these exercises were found specifically in the eccentric phase of contraction. Simple alterations in the execution of hinge movement may therefore alter the activation of muscles that impact lumbar/hip extension.

The dance community struggles to address dancers' mental and physical wellbeing, causing negative effects that could lead to anxiety, depression, body image and self-esteem issues. Dancers' mental and physical health take a toll when they are taught to place their physical bodies above their mental and emotional health. Dance educators focus on bettering dancers' physical movement yet are not so attentive when it comes to supporting the rigor and intensity that comes with. How can we erase the stigma around dance and mental health by creating a nonjudgmental environment that honors dancers' emotional and physical wellbeing? To complete this research, I used many peer reviewed articles to analyze the positive benefits dance improvisation and Ruth Zaporah's, "Action Theater" has on dancers. Throughout my research I found that improvisation as well as the skills learned in "Action Theater" help dancers increase mindfulness, self-agency, self-awareness and emotional expression, all aspects that improve one's mental and physical health. I found that dance artists such as Ruth Zaporah effectively accomplish this with improvisation, Buddhist practices, and setting mental and physical limits. I argue that the dance community can address and better support mental health through improvisation and mind-body centering techniques. In my presentation, I will examine Ruth Zaporah's Physical Theater method called "Action Theater," and improvisational exercises used to support dancers' mental health as consideration for dance curricular at the collegiate level.

Attending the Alvin Ailey Summer Intensive in New York City, I was able to advance my dance education and artistic leadership that I am currently receiving at Slippery Rock University. The cultural diversity offered in the Ailey curriculum is difficult to find elsewhere. The scope and range of classes offered are unparalleled, which allowed me to become a more well-rounded and diverse dancer. After two weeks, I was enamored by the Horton technique, which helped me develop my research for my Senior Capstone I project. The Horton technique is one of the more obscure American modern techniques, and there has been an increase in its demand in schools and academies worldwide in the last 10 years. After extensive research and experience, I have determined the importance of including the Horton technique within university modern dance studies, arguing that a technique that is more inclusive of dance forms from numerous cultures is most likely to benefit dance students in the twenty-first century.

The goal of this project is to determine the potential cytotoxic effects of the pesticide imidacloprid. Imidacloprid is a widely used pesticide in the United States agricultural system despite being banned in Europe due to its damaging effects on non-target species. This compound is a neonicotinoid and has been consistently used for insect control on crops in the United States since the late 1980s. Previous studies indicate possible DNA damage of human cells and significant cellular absorption in the human gastrointestinal tract. This study will use human embryonic kidney cells to determine how imidacloprid may affect the metabolic activity of human cells. Cells will be treated with 0.1-100µM imidacloprid. The effects of imidacloprid will be determined using cellular proliferation and cytotoxicity assays that determine the number of viable cells after treatment. It is expected that results will show dose-dependent toxicity of imidacloprid on HEK 293T cells. This study will provide further insight into the toxicity of imidacloprid and develop a valuable model system to further analyze these effects.

The study of bacteria has been an ongoing process for hundreds of years. While the field itself covers broad areas, one of the cornerstones is accurate and definitive classification of individual isolates. Through a polyphasic approach, including classical physiology and biochemical testing along with 16S rRNA gene analysis and genome sequencing, a vast number of bacteria have been officially identified, however, in spite of our best efforts, less than 1% of all bacteria have actually been properly taxonomically classified. Over the past several decades, the field of microbiology has made significant advances in the area of molecular analysis which have resulted in much more accurate classification methods. A polyphasic taxonomic study was carried out on strain TSed Te1T, isolated from sediment of a stream contaminated with acid mine drainage. Nearly complete 16S rRNA gene sequence homology related the strain to Gordonia, with 99.52 % and 99.36 % similarity to G. namibiensis and G. rubripertincta, respectively. Computation of average nucleotide identity (ANI) and digital DNA-DNA hybridization (dDDH) with the closest phylogenetic neighbor of TSed Te1T revealed genetic differences at the species level, further substantiated by differences in several physiological characteristics. The dominant fatty acids were C16:0, C18:1 w9c,, and 10 methyl C18:0, very characteristics of the genus Gordonia, as was the DNA G + C content of 67.6 mol %. This isolate was also resistant to very high levels of tellurite, selenite, and vanadate, a unique ability possessed by limited bacterial species. On the basis of results obtained, this bacterium was assigned to the genus Gordonia as a new species with the name Gordonia metalliredigo.

Viral infectious diseases have been proved to be a major threat to our public health, including the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Two pillars of fighting viral infectious diseases are vaccines and antiviral drugs. Despite the immense achievements of our COVID-19 vaccines, yet the pace of antiviral drug development is dreadfully slow. Besides Remdesivir, only two more compounds (currently under development by Pfizer and Merck respectively), are showing significant progress in treating COVID infections. The presented study is the first in the line of pursuing a series of chemically modified compounds, which are designed based on the antiviral drug Molnupiravir (EIDD-2801) developed by Merck. It has currently finished the phase II/III clinical trials with a promising positive result and was granted an emergency use authorization by U.S. FDA. The newly designed targets adopted the carbocyclic sugar framework to improve the antiviral activity by increasing the cyto-stability compared to the parent compound. Carbocyclic nucleosides are also known for their prominent board-spectrum antiviral activities with distinct drug action mechanisms. Their antiviral activity stems from inhibiting a host enzyme Adenosylhomocysteine (AdoHcy) hydrolase, then consequentially stop the capping progress, a major step in forming the mature viral mRNA. The designed compounds combine the features of Molnupiravir (nucleobase) with the carbocyclic rings to pursue a class of dual antiviral mechanism drug candidates. Potential pro-drug structures are also included to test the pharma kinetic properties. The proposed synthesis strategy successfully achieves the key intermediate via a Mitsunobu coupling reaction. Optimization of the reaction conditions for the critical synthesis steps is detailed in the following discussion.

The objective of this study was to determine how active transporters (pumps), located at the plasma membrane of a cell, are regulated. We use two species of yeast (Schizosaccharomyces pombe and Saccharomyces cerevisiae) as model Eukaryotes to study how such pumps are endocytosed. In eukaryotes, endocytosis is initiated once membrane proteins are ubiquitinated. This ubiquitination tag allows the cell to properly select membrane transporters and place them into endocytic vesicles. Ubiquitination is determined by a ubiquitin ligase/adaptor complex; featuring a core ubiquitin ligase enzyme bound to a variety of arrestin family adaptors which determine which pumps are targeted. Previous studies in cerevisiae have suggested that a positively charged basic groove on the arrestin Art1 interacts with a negatively charged acidic patch binding site on the methionine pump Mup1. Charge inversion experiments provide key evidence for this model: adding positive charges to the Mup1 acidic patch completely blocks endocytosis, and compensating negative charges added to the Art1 basic groove restore it. The exact position of the charge inversion pairs is highly specific, suggesting lock and key binding. We set out to test whether this mechanism of binding also occurs in S. pombe for the pump/adaptor pair Cat1/Any1 (which are structurally similar and closely related to Mup1/Art1). Here we test the acidic patch/basic groove binding model by systematically mutating the cytoplasmic surface of the Cat1 pump. Course grain mutation mapping identified a 5 amino acid, negatively charged acidic patch that is indeed critical for endocytosis. We are currently testing the effect of introducing positive charges in this region, and introducing corresponding negative charges into the hypothesized Any1 basic groove.

To determine the quality of community-engaged learning efforts on the SRU campus, the Office for Community-Engaged Learning (OCEL) has developed a set of sixteen civic-learning outcomes for faculty to incorporate into their lesson plans. To support faculty in that effort, the OCEL has developed a set of pre- and post-assessment tools aligned with each of the civic-learning outcomes. The civic-learning and engagement outcomes are also used to assess the Bonner Leader Program. This presentation will discuss the method by which the pre- and post- assessment tools were created and discuss the first set of results from their usage. For every course that used these tools, there was a statistically significant difference in student understanding of civic engagement and responsibility by the end of the course.

Plastic bottles are a major source of the kind of waste and pollution that is destroying our global ecosystem. Most plastic bottles are made out of PET plastic, a material that also works well as filament for Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) 3D printers. This project seeks to create a unified device to both collect plastic bottles and process the collected bottles into filament. This device is designed to be placed in locations like food courts and cafeterias where people can easily and conveniently dispose of their plastic bottles. Once a deposited bottle enters the processing chamber, a hollow needle pierces the cap, and heated pressurized air is pumped into the bottle. At the same time, air is pumped out of the processing chamber through pores on the inner walls, vacuum forming the bottle by sucking it to the inner walls of the chamber, which are specially shaped to mold the bottle into a tight helix of filament. The study is still ongoing, but the main hope is for the device to be low cost and low maintenance; simply plug in the device, allow bottles to be collected as people dispose of their drinks, and occasionally return to retrieve the new filament spools. Ultimately, this project has the potential to reduce SRU's carbon footprint and significantly lower the cost of operating the 3D printers on campus.