bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Role of FTL_1228 in Erythrocyte Invasion by Francisella tularensis
Authors: Macom Rhiannon Virginia , Horzempa Joseph
Published: May 2022

Francisella tularensis is a gram-negative bacterium and is the causative agent of tularemia – a disease commonly referred to as ‘rabbit fever’.  This microbe is extremely virulent as inhalation of fewer than ten bacteria can lead to a lethal infection.  During infection, F. tularensis replicates in cells of the immune system, such as macrophages, as well as other non-phagocytes such as epithelial cells and hepatocytes.  Moreover, this bacterium has been shown to invade erythrocytes – a process that enhances colonization of ticks (a major disease vector).  Our laboratory previously showed that a locus encoding a hypothetical gene, FTL_1228, was induced in the presence of erythrocytes.  Therefore, we hypothesized that this gene may be responsible for invasion of these host cells.  In this study, we mutated FTL_1228 of F. tularensis LVS. Studies are ongoing to determine the role of this gene in erythrocyte invasion.  Preliminary data shows that a strain containing a disruption mutation of FTL_1228 invades erythrocytes at a higher rate than the wild-type F. tularensis LVS.  This may suggest that FTL_1228 suppresses red blood cell invasion.
The Permian diapsid reptiles Acerosodontosaurus and Claudiosaurus are not stem-turtles: Morphological and fossil phylogenetic analyses must take a cautious, holistic approach toward turtle origins
Authors: Gardner Nicholas M. , Van Vranken Nathan E.
Published: May 2022

Turtle origins remains a debated topic in evolutionary biology. Molecular data uniformly supports a turtle-archosaur clade; morphological data has supported multiple hypotheses including a turtle-lepidosaur clade, turtles as the sister to a archosaur-lepidosaur clade (within or outside of Diapsida), and rarely, a turtle-archosaur clade as in molecular studies. Several recent analyses have revealed heterodox hypotheses concerning tetrapod relationships, chiefly regarding the arrangement of fossil taxa (paradoxically, some of these hypotheses may help resolve the molecular-morphological conflict). Examining different morphological data sets has revealed common problems that undermine confidence in the analytical results: 1) character construction (no character ordering, multiple homologies within a single character series, vaguely constructed characters), 2) insufficient character sampling, and 3) insufficient taxon sampling.A recent analysis addressing turtle origins provides a textbook example of these problems. The analysis recovered the following novel results: the diapsid reptile Acerosodontosaurus (Late Permian, Madagascar) as a sister to the contemporaneous and sympatric Claudiosaurus, recovered both species as early fossil relatives of turtles, and supported Testudines(Archosauria+Lepidosauria). Careful and detailed examination of that data set reveals all of the above issues are present. Further, re-running that data set, without correcting these issues, revealed that none of their findings were replicable. Additionally, results from a re-analysis of the data set correcting these issues revealed no support for their hypothesized relationships.Solving the origin of turtles using morphological data will require a cautious and thoughtful approach toward character construction and a more holistic sampling of characters and taxa throughout the tetrapod tree.
Investigation of the role of Band 3 in red blood cell invasion by Francisella tularensis.
Authors: Cunningham Carly , Horzempa Joseph , Malcom Rhiannon
Published: May 2022

Francisella tularensis is a pathogenic gram-negative bacterium and the causative agent of the disease tularemia. As an intracellular pathogen, F. tularensis can infect and replicate within cells of the immune system, such as macrophages as well as non-immune cells including hepatocytes and epithelial cells. In all of the aforementioned cases, uptake is facilitated by the endocytic machinery and cytoskeletal rearrangements of the host cell. F. tularensis is also capable of invading erythrocytes - cells that are incapable of endocytosis or phagocytosis. Therefore, it quite likely that red blood cell invasion occurs through a distinct mechanism. Unlike the cytoskeleton of the nucleated host cells, erythrocytes are supported through a meshwork of spectrin filaments that are tethered by small actin bundles. We previously showed that actin rearrangement is not required for invasion. However, treatment of red blood cells with a snake venom that inhibits the activity of spectrin abrogates erythrocyte invasion. This venom acts through binding and inactivating Band 3, an anion transporter that complexes with spectrin. We therefore hypothesized that interaction with Band 3 is required for erythrocyte invasion. To test this, we generated Fab fragments from monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies specific to Band 3. These fragments will be used to treat erythrocytes during in vitro assays to determine the role of Band 3 during red blood cell invasion by F. tularensis. (Supported by NIH Grant P20GM103434 to the West Virginia IDeA Network for Biomedical Research Excellence and 1R15HL147135).
A machine learning approach for predicting molecular energy
Authors: Barber John T. , Holsapple Raymond W.
Published: May 2022

The PubChem library houses data for more than 100 million molecules. The features for each molecule in this dataset include the molecular energy, shape multipole, and the constituent atoms’ 3-D coordinates. Simulations of molecular properties can be computationally expensive. In this project, we demonstrate how supervised learning may be used to predict a molecule’s molecular energy using its molecular structure alone. Training a regressor to make such predictions requires feature engineering. We use a molecule’s Coulomb matrix as our training feature. This matrix uses atomic numbers and distances between atoms to describe a molecule’s structure. Initial model evaluation considered six regression models: gradient descent, linear regression with ridge regularization, decision trees, bagging regression (BG), adaptive boosting, and random forests (RF). Each was evaluated using root mean squared error (RMSE) and the coefficient of determination (R2). The BG and RF regressors were separated by less than 0.6% in both metrics. Both BG and RF performed approximately 23% better in RMSE and 12% better in R2 compared to the next best performing regressor. The top three models were then put through an extensive hyperparameter tuning pipeline. RF and BG remained the top performing regressors, with RF execution time approximately 13% faster than BG. Finally, a sensitivity analysis was performed to ensure that model performance was not dependent upon random partitioning of data training sets. Our results showed that the random forest regressor outperforms the other models considered for predicting molecular energy.
The effect of the antibiotic Spectramast LC on the growth of E. coli in the rumen of dairy cattle.
Authors: Edgell Gunner
Published: May 2022

Many microorganisms call the gastrointestinal tract of a cow home. With the growing use of antibiotics in the field of agriculture, it is very important to understand the effects of antibiotics on the microorganisms in the rumen. In this study we examined the effect of the antibiotic Spectramast LC on the indicator bacteria species E. coli. Fresh fecal samples were obtained from Holstein cattle on and off Spectramast LC. Samples were then diluted and placed on Mueller Hinton plates. Blank antibiotic disks were in Spectramast LC and placed in quadrants on the plate, and after 24 and 48 hours the zones of inhibition were measured. Preliminary results indicate a significant effect of Spectramast LC on the growth of E. coli.  Implications for cattle health will be discussed.
Effects of forest fragmentation on terrestrial macro-snail populations
Authors: McClelland Emma , Loughman Zachary
Published: May 2022

Forest fragmentation is an increasing commonality with the continued rise in the extractive industries and various anthropogenic disturbances. While research has discovered negative effects of fragmentation such as ecotones, the impact on specific organisms is unknown. Sites were selected in a forest that has been fragmented for 25+ years, one fragmented within the past 10 years, and a primarily undisturbed forest (control) to assess macro-snail populations as well as additional environmental parameters. Preliminary data suggests differences in both snail abundance and diversity among the sites sampled. The newly fragmented site had the most snails present (n = 126) in comparison to both the control (n = 99) and the oldest fragmented site (n = 5). The older fragment had significantly less snails than both the recent fragment and control site. Even though the recent fragment had the highest snail abundance, only 31% were live specimens compared to 44% at the control site. Diversity at the control site was twice as high as the recent fragment in which 85% of specimens collected consisted of the same genera. While this is just a trial run, we can hypothesize from this preliminary data that diversity of terrestrial macro-snails declines with time since fragmentation and may ultimately lead to extirpation. Additional sites will be sampled in the near future to further investigate the impacts of fragmentation on snail abundance and diversity.
Assessment of ticks and tick-borne pathogens in the northern panhandle of West Virginia.
Authors: Prochaska Theresa Ann , Loughman Zachary J
Published: May 2022

Ticks are major vectors of zoonotic pathogens that impact humans. Tick species that parasitize humans in the eastern United States include Dermacentor variabilis, Ixodes scapularis, Rhipicephalus sanguineus, and Amblyomma americanum. Tularemia, Lyme disease, Anaplasmosis, and Rocky Mountain spotted fever are among the debilitating diseases humans can acquire from these tick species. Current data on ticks and the transmittable pathogens they carry are limited in the northern panhandle of West Virginia. With the changing climate in concurrence with migrating birds and accidental introductions, the tick fauna, their active seasons, and the pathogens they harbor could be radically changing. To ascertain the current tick fauna in the northern panhandle of West Virginia, an active surveillance study will be conducted in Marshall, Ohio, Brooke, and Hancock counties. Ticks will be collected via drag sampling, roadkill sampling, and domestic-nest sampling in the northern panhandle of West Virginia. Data will determine which species are present, in addition to their preferred habitat and active seasons. Bacterial DNA from collected ticks will be amplified to identify zoonotic bacterial pathogens via Next Generation Sequencing.
Determining the Concentration of Morphine and Codeine in Poppy Seeds for Drug Test Defense
Authors: Harding Travis Michael
Published: May 2022

TRAVIS HARDING, MARK FLOOD, ANDREAS BAUR, and KRISTY HENSON. Department of Natural Sciences, Fairmont State University, Fairmont, WV, 26554. Determining the Concentration of Morphine and Codeine in Poppy Seeds for Drug Test Defense.The purpose of this research was to determine the concentration of opiates, morphine and codeine, in poppy seeds in effort to combat the “poppy seed defense”. Morphine and codeine are naturally occurring substances belonging to a class of drugs labeled opioid analgesics, commonly known as narcotics. There has been an increase in concerns involving false-positive opiate drug test. Distinguishing between legitimate dietary poppy seed ingestion versus non-prescribed opiate or heroin abuse is important for individuals subject to routine drug testing. Poppy seeds were purchased from supermarkets and were mechanically ground up by either 1) a blender or 2) a mortar and pestle, which best simulates human mastication. The ground up seed products were placed in a solution matrix to simulate a human oral cavity (target concentration of 30 ng/mL). Morphine and codeine concentrations from the samples will be tested using Thin Layer Chromatography, immunoassay (Opiate ELISA), and a validated Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectroscopy (GC-MS) Selected Ion Monitoring (SIM) system. The screening cutoff concentration ranges from 0 ng/mL to 40 ng/mL. Preliminary results from previous constructed experiments showed a positive color change for the opiate assay from blue to yellow within one hour (National Institute on Drug Abuse Research). The average absorbance at a dual wavelength of 450 nm and 650 nm was 1.238 correlating to a morphine concentration of about 5.1 ng/mL. Initial GC-MS results showed morphine and internal standard morphine-D3 had mass to charge ratios of 432 m/z and 429 m/z with an average concentration of 7.5 ng/mL respectively. This research was made possible by NASA West Virginia Space Grant Consortium, Training Grant #NNX15AI01H.
An Overview of WebAssembly
Authors: Burkhart Nicholas , Liao Weidong , Guzide Osman
Published: May 2022

In this presentation, we will give an overview of the capabilities of WebAssembly and how it can be employed for further Web development. Traditionally, client side web development mainly makes use of HTML, CSS, JavaScript and JavaScript libraries such as Bootstrap. WebAssembly and Blazor makes it possible to take advantage of comprehension from high level programming languages, such as C#,  into the web development environment.   There are many benefits that come with using WebAssembly and therefore high level programming languages in client-side Web development, such as ease of development and high performance of web applications. WebAssembly takes advantage of current hardware capabilities to ensure the best speeds possible. Another benefit is that it provides client-side security. This is one of the weaknesses of JavaScript. WebAssembly provides better security than JavaScript by acting as both the backend and frontend.   Currently four of the major browsers are supporting WebAssembly: Chrome, Safari, FireFox, and Edge.  We envision WebAssembly will gain more popularity in client-side web development in the near future.
Target Training Juvenile False Water Cobras (Hydrodynastes gigas)
Authors: Williams Michelle , Loughman Zachary
Published: May 2022

Animal training has several purposes and benefits including mental stimulation, physical exercise, stress reduction, and increased safety. Among these benefits, the most important are reducing stress during veterinary procedures and routine husbandry practices. Training can improve the welfare of captive animals while reducing the risk of injury to keepers, especially when working with potentially dangerous animals. Animals are often trained to willingly participate in basic husbandry and veterinary procedures; some common goals of training include shifting from one place to another, targeting, as well as stationing. While nearly all animals have the capacity to be trained in some manner, the majority of studies have centered on mammals, especially nonhuman primates. The limited literature that utilizes reptiles as their subjects mainly focuses on tortoises and monitor lizards, despite the fact that many potentially dangerous reptiles, such as crocodilians, are often trained in zoos. However, there is an overall lack of documentation of training snakes, with less than a handful of zoos reporting any kind of training with their snakes. In this study, juvenile false water cobras (Hydrodynastes gigas), a rear-fanged venomous species, will first be trained to touch their faces to a target to receive a food reward. Next, they will be trained to follow the target into a bucket and remain in the bucket. This project aims to demonstrate a successful target training and stationing protocol to reduce physical handling of the snakes for weighing or transporting them out of their enclosure.
Preliminary Analysis of Mark-Recapture Data for an Ongoing Autecological Study of the Northern Watersnake, Nerodia sipedon sipedon, in a West Virginia stream.
Authors: Ringhiser Brian , Loughman Zachary
Published: May 2022

The northern watersnake, Nerodia sipedon, is a natricine ubiquitous across aquatic habitats of the eastern United States. Found as far north as Ontario, as south as Florida, and stretching as far west as Utah, this species is ever-present and often in high abundance. The prevalence of N. sipedon has garnered extensive research, much of which concerns its reproduction. However, thorough, long-term studies, especially within stream ecosystems, are lacking. The purpose of this study is to fill that void, serving as an analysis of data from the first two years of ongoing autecological research on a N. sipedon sipedon population within Short Creek, a rural stream in the northern panhandle of West Virginia.  Morphometric, dietary, thermal, habitat and movement data were recorded for each capture, however this analysis primarily focuses on mark-recapture data in an attempt to provide insight towards implementing radio telemetry during future activity seasons. Further research will investigate unanalyzed data, identify hibernacula, and build upon the established data set.
Selective Hydride Addition Reaction in Ester vs. Amide Chemical Functional Group
Authors: Hunt Alyssa Danielle
Published: May 2022

Cancer is among the leading causes of death in the United States. In fact, according to the Center for Disease Control, there was 599,108 cancer-related deaths in the year 2017. In addition to having a high mortality rate, the cost of cancer care has also continued to climb over the years and is estimated to reach 173 billion in 2020, according to the National Institute of Health. With that being said, more research and studies are needed to be conducted to find a more effective and inexpensive alternative, to contribute to the treatment of cancer. Natural products (NPs) have proven to be promising in drug discovery, particularly in the development of anti-cancer therapy. Therefore, in our research lab, we are interested in contributing to the development of a tripeptide natural product that could be used in oncology therapy. In fact, the main objective of this study is to evaluate the selective hydride addition reaction on those two functional groups which is a part of on-going synthetic NP synthesis of bio-active tripeptide.  My senior project is involved with two chemical steps which is 1) Coupling reaction and 2) Hydride additional reaction. Thus far, we have successfully synthesized dipeptide and analytical data such as MS and NMR are presented in this poster with the most current update on this project on the hydride addition reaction. The outcome of this project provides us with the feasibility of possible NP peptide synthesis and a possible anti-cancer relevant analog development.
Trigger words in conversation and the classroom: the good, the bad, and the ugly
Authors: Hull John H. , Eggleston Quron , Smith Mershawn , Bryant-Hull Dajour , Chobany Mariah
Published: May 2022

Undergraduate participants read 44 trigger words and phrases, including several in categories involving gender, race, sexual orientation, other social justice issues, and political slogans, rating them on four dimensions: emotional response, comfort in hearing the words/phrases in a classroom, comfort hearing them in casual conversation, and comfort using them in casual conversation. There was general agreement about items producing significantly positive overall emotional response ratings, among them feminist, Black Lives Matter, #Me Too, and about items producing significantly negative overall ratings, among them liberal snowflake, retarded, “Go back to your own country!”, and slut. On the other hand, regarding feeling comfortable hearing trigger items in class, self-identified females and males gave significantly different ratings to many items such as slave master, compassion, and “Make America Greater Again!”, while self-identified African American participants and White participants gave significantly different ratings to items such as patriotic, slut, White History Month, and “Make America Great Again!” These and other findings to be presented emphasize the importance of knowing what may be differentially triggering words and phrases in diverse classroom settings, as well as more casual situations.
Age of the subjects alone does not determine the maximal heart rate or the heart rate recovery after exercise
Authors: Omelchenko-Comer Natalia , Kalb Heather , COHEN LOUELLA , DIGIACINTO CARLEY , GIORDANO EMILY , GREENE DEEANN , ROBINSON SIERRA , WALLACE DORA , HENDERSON BRYLEE , KNICELY PAYTON , TAYLOR AUDRIANNA
Published: May 2022

A decline in the heart muscle strength is a well-recognized aspect of normal aging. Nonetheless, the resting heart rate (HR) in developing adults appears to be unchanged. The aim of this study was to determine if HR recovery after exercise is influenced by age. Healthy male and female volunteers, aged 12-61 years, were divided into two groups. The first group included participants younger than 30 (18.8 +/- 4.15), and the second group included individuals that were older than 30 (50.0 +/- 8.56 years).  After resting HR in sitting position was recorded, the participants were asked to perform a basic step platform exercise for 3 minutes at a consistent pace of 14 lifts per minute. The HR was measured again right after the completion of the exercise and one more time 10 minutes post exercise. Resting HR recorded in the study was 77.7+/-10.22 beats/min. We observed 41% increase in HR immediately after the completion of the exercise (p=0.001). Only partial recovery was detected after 10 min of rest as HR remained 13% elevated compared to the resting baseline (p=0.005). Remarkably, there was no significant difference between two age groups in the resting HR, maximal HR, or HR change during recovery period (p>0.05). Our data suggest that the age alone does not define HR parameters measured here. Other contributors, like BMI and physical fitness are discussed. The findings of this study may be used for development of community-based strategies for improvement in health and life quality for increasingly aging population.
Skeletal Weathering on Remains Frozen for Different Time Intervals Update.
Authors: Prince Jonathan Ryan , Henson Kristy
Published: May 2022

When an individual is frozen after death post mortem interval data can be misleading. The decomposition process is affected and accurate time of death reading is unlikely. Many medical examiners rely on soft tissue temperatures or stage of decomposition to determine when someone died and this information can be altered when freezing a body. The objective of this study was to examine skeletal weathering patterns that result from being frozen allowing us to develop a time interval scale to determine how long a body was frozen. A sample of mammalian long bones (arms and legs) and flat bones (ribs) were placed in a -20°C standard deep freezer within four hours of death. The long and flat bones were frozen for two weeks, one month, two months, and three months. After freezing the bones were thawed, flensed, and placed in a demisted beetle tank to remove all soft tissue. When the soft tissue was removed bones were placed in a soapy ammonia bath to kill the beetles and allow for a detailed skeletal analysis. Preliminary results show no skeletal weathering on flat bones frozen up to 3 months and sufficient longitudinal fracturing on long bones frozen for three months. Unknown frozen long bones were examined for comparison to the found data.This research was made possible by NASA West Virginia Space Grant Consortium, Training Grant #NNX15AI01H
Validation of the antimicrobial activity of Nymphaea odorata extract.
Authors: Voellinger Jada Michelle , Horzempa Joseph
Published: May 2022

We previously screened a library of nearly 4000 extracts of plants, marine life, and fungi from the National Center for Natural Product Research to identify compounds that exhibited antimicrobial activity.  From this screen, Nymphaea odorata (Fragrant Water Lily) extract significantly inhibited the growth of Burkholderia cepacia (an opportunistic pathogen frequently associated with drug resistance).  The objective of this project is to validate the antimicrobial activity exhibited N. odorata, extract and to isolate and identify the compound(s) responsible for this activity.  For this project we conducted ethanol extractions on three different parts of the plant: the rhizome, roots, and stems. These antimicrobial properties of these extracts will be determined using drug resistant bacteria including B. cepacia, Acinetobacter baumannii, Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa.  Here, we will utilize the disk diffusion assays, time-to-kill assays, as well as a fluorescent live/dead staining to test for the presence of antimicrobial compounds.
Is Apple’s new M1 chip a gamechanger in computing?
Authors: Guzide Osman , Sloboda Samuel
Published: May 2022

SAMUEL SLOBODA, Department of Computer Sciences, Mathematics, and Engineering, Shepherd University, Shepherdstown, WV, 25443, and OSMAN GUZIDE, Department of Computer Sciences, Mathematics, and Engineering, Shepherd University, Shepherdstown, WV, 25443.I would like to do a research about the new M1 chip that Apple Silicon has produced and used in MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, and MacBook Mini. Main topics of this research would be how does the chip work, why is this chip such a low power, and also, how is it possible that it is so powerful in the comparisons with the Intel and other CPU manufacturers. I just want to know, if the RISC processors can become a “new” revolution in modern computing.
Transfer of Cryptosporidium oocysts from feeder rodents to neonate snakes and its impact on parasite identification methods used by zoological institutions
Authors: Ozersky Sydney A , Loughman Zachary
Published: May 2022

Parasites are found in a variety of species and can cause issues in animal health and welfare. One parasite in particular, Cryptosporidium, is a protozoan that impacts the gastrointestinal and respiratory tract of its hosts, which includes humans, rodents, cattle, birds, fish, and reptiles. In squamates, specifically snakes, Cryptosporidium serpentis has been reported to cause lethargy, weight loss, and mortality. Another species, Cryptosporidium parvum, causes infections in mice, humans, and cattle but is nonpathogenic in snakes. Common identification methods, such as ELISA antigen testing, Acid-fast (AF) staining, and Immunofluorescent antibody (IFA) testing, are frequently used because of their low cost and simplicity; however, these can appear positive for both C. parvum and C. serpentis. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is also used for Cryptosporidium identification and is one of the only methods that easily differentiates between Cryptosporidium species. Differentiating between these species is necessary as zoological protocols recommend euthanizing or permanently isolating squamates infected with C. serpentis. Rodents are a staple of snake diets in human care, so it is crucial to understand how their diet could impact infection identification. Additionally, immunocompetent mice infected by C. parvum are known to show no clinical signs of infection, so feeder rodent companies may be unaware that their rodents are infected. The purpose of this study is to show how consuming an infected prey item could cause a false positive using common Cryptosporidium identification methods, specifically IFA, and the importance of using species-specific identification methods such as PCR.
Effect of Oxygen Concentration on Neisseria gonorrhoeae Susceptibility to Resazomycins
Authors: Rice Justin Cole , Young Emily , Cunningham Kailee , Schmitt Deanna M
Published: May 2022

As pathogenic bacterial species are becoming more resistant to commonly used antibiotics, it is essential for new antibiotics to be developed. A family of resazurin (Rz)-based compounds, resazomycins, was discovered to be highly effective antimicrobials against Neisseria gonorrhoeae (Ng) in vitro.  However, when these compounds were tested in a mouse model of gonorrhea, only one resazomycin, resorufin pentyl ether (RPE), exhibited any therapeutic effect.  These differences between in vitro and in vivo therapeutic efficacy may be due to differences in oxygen concentration.  Most mammalian tissues exist at oxygen concentrations well below atmospheric levels, typically 2-5% instead of 20%. We hypothesized that decreased oxygen levels may confer resistance to resazomycins. To test this, we cultivated clinical isolates of Ng under different oxygen conditions and then determined the minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) of various resazomycins. The MIC of resazurin for the different Ng isolates were up to 4-fold higher under 2% oxygen than 20% oxygen suggesting oxygen levels affect susceptibility to resazomycins. No significant difference in the MIC of RPE was observed under the different oxygen concentrations consistent with RPE being the sole resazomycin having efficacy against N. gonorrhoeae. We also calculated the MIC of three non-resazomycin based antibiotics and saw that there was no significant difference in MIC at the two oxygen concentrations. Further investigation is needed to determine how Ng is becoming resistant to resazomycins under low oxygen conditions.
Microbiome associated with the Haustorium of Epifagus virginiana.
Authors: Lafferty Jasmine , Jimenez Esquilin Aida , Evans Desiree
Published: May 2022

Epifagus virginana is a holoparsitic plant whose only host is the American Beech tree, Fagus grandifolia. Currently, little is known about the specific mechanism used by Epifagus to colonize the tree. It is thought that lignin-like or lignin degradation by-products are needed to signal the colonization process for other members of Orobanchaceae. Knowing that microbial communities that inhabit eukaryotic hosts can influence their function and development,  we aimed to describe the microbial community structure of Epifagus, in particular the communities inhabiting the haustorium, (the organ used to parasitize). Using community-level physiological profiling, selective culture media, and metabarcoding we found that microbial communities in Epifagus haustorium were active and diverse and structurally similar to those from adjacent bulk soil in Fall (MRPP A= -0.004, p=0.509), but different in Summer (MRPP A= 0.169, p=0.003). Metabarcoding shows increase in the Rhizobiales, Betaproteobacteriales and Flavobacteriales in the haustorium associated soil compare to the beech tree bulk soil. We found that a larger number of endophytic isolates showed lignolytic activity compared to the haustorium associated microorganisms (HAMs). Finally, we were able to isolate bacterial isolates that use cellulose as their only carbon source. Altogether these findings lead us to further hypothesize that microbes associated with the haustorium could be involved in the production of the lignin-like haustorium inducing factors that are thought to facilitate the parasitism of other parasitic plants. These are, to our knowledge, the first published descriptions of the microorganisms inhabiting this holoparasite. Funding from the Appalachian College Association Ledford Scholars Program.
Resazomycins alter outer membrane protein expression in Francisella tularensis resulting in increased antibiotic susceptibility
Authors: Dodson Autumn Grace , Young Emily , Schmitt Deanna M
Published: May 2022

A growing number of human pathogens are becoming resistant to most common antibiotics.  Each year, antibiotic-resistant infections are responsible for 35,000 deaths in the United States and billions of dollars in health care costs. The development of new antibiotics is essential to combat this public health crisis. Our laboratory has identified a novel family of compounds based on the compound resazurin, known as resazomycins, that inhibit the growth of Neisseria gonorrhaeae and Francisella tularensis. The mechanism of action of these compounds remains unknown. We hypothesized that resazomycins disrupt the membrane integrity of N. gonorrhaeae and F. tularensis resulting in bacterial cell death. To test this hypothesis, we measured differences in inner and outer membrane protein expression of F. tularensis in the absence and presence of resazurin.  Treatment with resazurin altered protein expression in the outer membrane of F. tularensis suggesting enhanced membrane permeability.  Kirby Bauer assays were then performed to assess the susceptibility of F. tularensis to various detergents and antibiotics in the presence of sublethal concentrations of resazurin. Larger zones of inhibition were observed in the presence of resazurin suggesting increased antibiotic uptake due to perturbation of the outer membrane. Further investigation is needed to determine the exact target of resazomycins.
STEM resource database for WV
Authors: Harwell Sean , Harvey Erica , Richards-Babb Michelle , Moore Hunte , Pyron Jaimee , Klose Erika , McJilton Leah
Published: May 2022

First2 Network (https://first2network.org) has been working for the past 10 months with multiple stakeholders statewide (including WV Department of Education and the Higher Education Policy Commission) to develop a searchable online inventory of West Virginia STEM-related assets, resources and opportunities. In this session we will share the data collection form and process, demonstrate and gather input on the current output display and filtering capabilities, and invite participation and dissemination by additional stakeholders. We are seeking feedback to further streamline the input and maintenance of data, assess the ease of access through our output display, and build a broad contributor and user base for this new state resource.
The West Virginia Science Public Outreach Team: Impacts of an Undergraduate STEM Outreach Program
Authors: Heatherly Sue Ann
Published: May 2022

The WV Science Public Outreach Team is an undergraduate outreach program in WV. The primary goal of SPOT is to inspire K-12 students to consider STEM careers through engaging activities and presentations delivered by undergraduate students. All SPOT presentations feature research going on in the Mountain State. To ensure accessibility for rural, under-served, and underrepresented populations, SPOT offers all programming at little to no cost and provides materials for hands-on activities and AV equipment for presentations. By route of exposure to college role models, K-12 students begin to visualize themselves as future scientists and engineers while increasing their level of engagement in STEM education and new STEM topics.   An equally compelling outcome is the professional development of the SPOT Ambassadors themselves. Through training, practice and implementation in K-12 classrooms, SPOT ambassadors gain valuable experience communicating complex science concepts to diverse audiences and develop confidence in public speaking.  Through training and networking with STEM professionals, ambassadors gain access to STEM career opportunities. In this session we will explore the impact WV SPOT has on the professional development of STEM undergraduate students.
Pleistocene Vertebrates from West Virginia
Authors: Garton E. Ray , Grady Frederick
Published: May 2022

RAY GARTON, Curator, WV Geological & Economic Survey Museum, Morgantown, WV 26508 and FREDERICK GRADY, Prehistoric Planet, Barrackville, WV. Pleistocene Vertebrates from West Virginia.

West Virginia was not glaciated but change due to the states proximity to Pleistocene ice sheets and interglacial warming had a dramatic effect on the flora and fauna of the state.  Over 50 years of prospecting for and digging of sites resulted in the discovery of 130 species from 673 records in 104 localities, including 27 extinct species. Megafauna extinct genera include Mammuthus, mammoth, Mammut, mastodon, Megalonyx, sloth, Arctodus, bear, Platygonus, peccary, and Smilodon, saber tooth cat. Carbon-14 dating ranges from 11,350 to 51,650 YBP. NALMA dating of some fauna puts some sites at 400,000 to over 750,000 YBP..
Effects of Acid Mine Drainage on Diversity of Macroinvertebrates at Morris Creek Watershed
Authors: Hailey Cox  , Jessyka Moore
Published: May 2022

Coal mining has played an important role in the history of West Virginia’s economy, but it is also the cause of a major environmental issue called acid mine drainage (AMD). AMD is caused by heavy metals from abandoned mines running into waterways and soils. AMD is a concern because many of the areas affected by AMD flow into larger water sources that are used for drinking and recreation. This is a problem because individuals are unknowingly consuming greater amounts of heavy metals and this can cause kidney dysfunction, nervous system disorders, and vascular damage in humans. The purpose of our study was to determine if AMD affected the diversity and abundance of aquatic insects in the Morris Creek Watershed. Two locations were sampled, an AMD site and a limestone-treated site. Water samples and macroinvertebrates were collected at these locations. Species were identified in both areas, and we used DNA barcoding, to further identify the macroinvertebrates. Ultimately, the diversity and abundance of species was greater at the area treated with limestone. These results indicated that the AMD influences diversity and abundance of species. This is important because the diversity of the environment determines the health of the environment and because diversity boosts productivity. With the results of our study in mind, we propose further research be conducted to examine the best treatment options to combat AMD and to boost environmental diversity.
Production of CD4+ T Cell Subsets in a Beta2-Adrenergic Receptor Knockout Stress Mouse Model during Chlamydia muridarum Genital Infection
Authors: Cook Kaitlyn , Belay Tesfaye
Published: May 2022

Kaitlyn Cook*, Tesfaye Belay, Ph.D*., *Department of Applied Science and Mathematics, Bluefield State College, Bluefield WV 24701 Production of CD4+ T Cell Subsets in a Beta2-Adrenergic Receptor Knockout Stress Mouse Model during Chlamydia muridarum Genital Infection

Chlamydia is the most widely spread sexually transmitted disease, with more than one hundred million new cases occurring every year worldwide. Studies show the effect of stress promoting infection, but little is known about Chlamydia and the impact of stress. Cold-induced stress was used to simulate stress in mice to understand the relationship between the stress hormone norepinephrine (NE) and the immune system. This study aims to determine the role of beta2-adrenergic receptor (β2-AR) under stressful conditions during infection. We hypothesize the β2-AR suppresses T helper cell 1 (Th1) and promotes the production of Th2 cytokines. Following stressing, infection, sacrificing, and dissection of mice, the spleen, lymph node, and genital tract cells were proliferated for 72 hours. ELISA data for IL-13 concentration shows stressed knockout (KO) mice had 273.6pg/mL compared to stressed wildtype (WT) mice with 120.6pg/mL. Various treatment of CD4+ T cells resulted in production of TNF- α, ranging from 595pg/mL to 398.7pg/mL. Viability of CD4+ T cells treated with β2-AR agonist Fenoterol, and antagonist ICI 118,551 were analyzed. The viability of CD4+ T cells treated with NE was 70.7% in KO, compared to 69.1% and 70.2% for the agonist and antagonist, respectively. NE, Fenoterol, and ICI 118,551 treatment resulted in 72.2%, 83.6% and 84.4% respectively for WT. No significant difference is found between the agonist and antagonist. Chlamydia muridarum isolation from the genital tract of treatment groups is underway. The ELISA data implies that β2-AR mice restored increased production of protective cytokines more than their WT counterparts.
Emotion classification of human facial images by a neural network
Authors: Bevan Ethan , Miller Jason Rafe
Published: May 2022

Facial recognition using artificial neural networks is a biometric technology currently being used in fields such as cybersecurity and criminal investigation. We sought to automatically distinguish between an image of a happy human face and an image of a sad human face with predictions that are better than random guesses. We trained a machine learning model (VGG16, a type of convolutional neural network) on a public image dataset of 12,000 human faces. The resulting model predicted the emotion label 93% of time when shown a test set of 200 images that the model had never seen during training. The results show that the VGG16 convolutional neural network learned features from our data that produced an output which was sufficient to train the additional layers of the model to perform our task at 93% accuracy. We suspect this is because VGG16 was already familiar with features that it learned from ImageNet (a separate dataset of over 2 million images). It is currently unknown whether our model can predict labels for new images outside of the FER13 dataset, but preliminary tests show promising results. Our model was trained using a cloud computing service and a relatively small amount of data, indicating that these kinds of results are easily obtainable by all.
Thyroxine Metabolism in an Avian Model of Induced Thyrotoxicosis
Authors: Bogunovich Kirsten , Racine Holly , Gray Peri
Published: May 2022

Craniosynostosis (CS) is the premature fusion of cranial sutures which leads to abnormal cranial structure and causes abnormal neurocognition and behavior. Maternal thyroid disorders are associated with incidence of CS in infants. However, the mechanism of TH-induced CS is still obscure. Thyroxine (T4) metabolism is regulated by the expression of deiodinases. Type I and type II deiodinases (DIO1 and DIO2) remove iodine from T4 producing active triiodothyronine (T3). Deiodinase III (DIO3) inactivates both T4 and T3. Our lab is establishing a model to study the effects of thyrotoxicosis induced CS using fertilized chicken eggs. Eggs were injected into the air cell with either saline or 25 ng T4 on days E11 and E15 of embryonic development. Heart rates were measured daily from EKG recordings and on E19, tissue samples were collected for qRT-PCR analysis. The main objective was to validate the induced state of thyrotoxicosis by evaluating negative feedback mechanisms of thyroid hormone regulation following exposure by measuring expression of DIO1 and DIO3 in embryonic livers. Since livers are the main site of metabolism, we hypothesize that levels of DIO3 will increase following thyroxine exposure. Results demonstrated a significant upregulation of DIO3 2 days after exposure and a significant downregulation 4 days following exposure. No significant differences were observed in DIO1 on any of the days after exposure. These results, along with correlating heart rates, support our model by of induced thyrotoxicosis by demonstrating the metabolism of thyroxine in response to our treatment regimen.

 

Acknowledgment of NASA West Virginia Space Grant Consortium (Grant #80NSSC20M0055) and the Genomics Core Facility and WV-INBRE (NIH grant P20GM103434).
Carbon Fiber Resin Composite Strength Relative to Orientation
Authors: Nasuti Michael , Junkins Levi , Miller Jason Rafe
Published: May 2022

Carbon fiber resin polymer (CFRP) is a laminate of multiple sheets of carbon fiber woven cloth infused with epoxy resin. The combination is hard, strong, and lightweight, making it ideal for aerospace applications. CFRP is not as well characterized as other construction materials such as metal, wood, and plastic, for which datasheets are easy to find in the public domain. To promote the wider use of CFRP, we used a universal testing machine to measure CFRP sample coupons obtained from manufacturers of experimental aerospace vehicles. The tensile strength and elongation of the CFRP coupons were measured with the weave oriented at an angle of 0, 45, and 90 degrees. Results show that CFRP sheets with a weave orientation of 45 degrees is 1.5 times stronger than the weave of 0 degrees, and 1.1 times stronger than the weave of 90 degrees. These results imply that the strongest part of CFRP sheets is diagonal relative to the weave. For future work, we propose to use larger sample sizes, incorporate different thicknesses of sample, and compare CFRP samples to metal samples of similar sizes.
Simulating Kessler Syndrome and the Space Debris Problem
Authors: Liao Weidong , JUNKINS LEVI
Published: May 2022

Space is essential to our modern way of life; but as the number of satellites in orbit increases, so does the chance of collisions and subsequent debris. This creation of debris increases the probability of new collisions in a positive feedback loop, potentially leading to runaway growth called Kessler Syndrome. To investigate this problem, a simulation of Low Earth Orbit has been created. Results show exponential growth initially but a decrease in carrying capacity as time increases. More research is needed to apply this result to the real world.
STEAM Trek – The West Virginia Virtual STEM and the Arts Festival
Authors: Deana White  , Josh White
Published: May 2022

West Virginia Alliance for STEM and the Arts (WV All STAR) has developed a free, web-based interactive game platform “STEAM Trek” which is now available to students, educators, parents, and the public.  STEAM Trek currently promotes and shares the educational resources and opportunities of over 22 different organizations, institutions, individuals, student/educator teams, etc. from WV and beyond, and includes over 250 unique links (with plans to include more) to material including but not limited to virtual tours, lectures, student support material (e.g. career exploration and college readiness resources), activities, films, etc.  Users are incentivized to explore and learn via free play and guided treks, earning virtual coins which can then be redeemed for virtual prizes to be used in fun ways in the game.  WV All STAR considers STEAM Trek a “build in public” platform as it is being released with incentives for feedback from educators and students such that it can be improved to serve the users in the best way possible. STEAM Trek has been beta tested and revised per feedback from the Marshall University HATS STEAM Camp and attendees of the National Youth Science Camp in 2021, and was demonstrated at NASA Day at the Clay Center in 2022.  Educators and learners can also contribute to the game by sharing their own created content as exemplified by the Poca High School coding classes’ contributions found in the Arcade portion of the game.
Effect of Dropout on RNA Classification by CNN
Authors: Corcoran Caitlin , Miller Jason Rafe
Published: May 2022

Long RNA sequences can be classified as long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) or protein-coding messenger RNA (mRNA). Automatic classification, based on sequence alone, could benefit biology and medical science. We trained and evaluated a convolutional neural network (CNN) to classify human RNA sequences. The CNN incorporated dropout, a technique that restricts the network to a random portion of its neurons during training. Dropout can reduce overfitting, which means relying on irrelevant aspects of the data to “memorize” the training set. We varied the dropout rate during training and measured the accuracy during testing for an RNA classification task. At dropout rates of 0.5, 0.6, 0.7, and 0.8, the CNN test accuracy was 93.15%, 90.50%, 89.95%, and 88.35%. We conclude that dropout rates above 50% did not improve learning. In the future, we hope to measure the effects of other hyperparameters and models for this classification task.