Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Observing Reactive Events At The Aqueous Graphene Oxide Interface Using Deep Neural Network Potentials, Lukas Kim

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

Mathematica Assessment Of Spatial Reasoning Development After Virtual Reality Collaboration, Arthur Odenheimer

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

College Of Natural Sciences Newsletter, March & April 2022, College Of Natural Sciences

College of Natural Sciences Newsletters and Reports

Volume 3, Issue 3

Page 1 Dean's Message
Page 2-3 Awards and Recognition
Page 4 2022 URSCAD - CNS Snaps
Page 5 Geography Convention Recap
Page 6 Attention Students!
Page 7-8 Media Coverage of CNS
Page 9 Spring Break Outreach, Adopt the Pantry,
Page 10 Discovery on Tap Event
Page 11 CNS Students Visit State Capital
Page 12 Celebrating 50 Years of Sally
Page 13 Open PRAIRIE Data
Page 14 Grants Awarded and Bio-Micro Day of Scholars
Page 15 -17 2022 Geography Convention Snaps
Page 18 Sally Krueger's 50th Work Anniversary

The Analysis Of Microplastics Found In The Flowers Of Rhode Island, Hailey Hendricks, Matthew Kiesewetter

Senior Honors Projects

No abstract provided.

Analysis Of The Headspace Gases Formed From The Fermentation Of Barley, Ken Overway, Cassie Taylor

Chemistry Faculty Scholarship

Volatile compounds are compounds that can exist in a gaseous state at room temperature. These compounds contribute to the aromas that are associated with mixtures. The analysis of these gases can be completed using a gas chromatograph to provide a sort of fingerprint identification. The analysis of the volatile compounds for barley fermentation samples was completed by collecting the gas above the fermenting solution, the headspace gas, and injecting this gas into the gas chromatograph. These fermentation samples showed predominantly the formation of carbon dioxide for a significant length of time before finally ethanol was detected. A subsequent of the …

Identification And Quantification Of Atrazine In The North River Using Spe And Hplc, Kenneth Scott Overway, Youmna Moawad

Chemistry Faculty Scholarship

High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) is utilized for the separation, purification, and quantification of viscous and complex analyte mixtures. It is important in that it can analyze and detect low analyte concentrations, which can be useful in many industries, such as food and pharmaceutical industries, as well analyzing environmental samples. The purpose of this project was to identify and quantitate atrazine, an herbicide, in a water sample from the North River (Bridgewater, VA) using solid-phase extraction (SPE) and HPLC.

Extraction & Purification Of Ppix Using Hplc & Fplc, Ken Overway, Grace Rilee

Chemistry Faculty Scholarship

Porphyrins, an organic molecule, are a possible sensitizer for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC) because of their strong absorption in the visible spectrum. One naturally occurring porphyrin is protoporphyrin IX (PPIX), which can be found in brown eggshells. There are two reasons why PPIX is the ideal sensitizer. (1) The absorbance spectrum of PPIX can be modified by changing ring substituents, thus tuning the absorbance to the solar spectrum. (2) PPIX allows for direct attachment to the DSSC due to the carboxylic acid substituents on PPIX and the TiO₂ of the DSSC. The HPLC was used to develop a chromatographic …

Covid-19 Pandemic Effects On The Environment, Ken Overway, Phillips Lane

Chemistry Faculty Scholarship

The coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has been a constant in everyone’s lives for almost the past three years now and has embedded itself into basically every part of global society and norms. The main areas where this is evident are in the major disruptions in the economic, social, and public health sectors of the world. There is one other area that has been affected by this prolonged pandemic in a multitude of ways, the environment. Our environment, both globally and regionally, has seen both positive and negative effects throughout the COVID-19 pandemic in a variety of different areas. …

Comparing And Contrasting Therapeutic Drugs Vs. Lifestyle Changes That Combattype-Ii Diabetes, Alexander Cline Helmuth

Chemistry & Biochemistry Student Projects

In this thesis, I will be presenting various preventive approaches to combat type-II diabetes. The focus of this paper will be comparing and contrasting therapeutic drug targets such as Metformin and Sulfonylureas that are prescribed for type-II diabetic patients versus taking preventative steps such as making lifestyle changes including weight management, physical activity, and having a balanced diet that prevents onset of type-II diabetes or helps patients manage type-II diabetes. From this paper, one will gain insight on how there are multiple approaches to combat type-II diabetes that are not in the form of the pill.

Microfluidic Paper Analytical Devices, Madison Page

Chemistry & Biochemistry Student Projects

Microfluidic paper analytical devices (µPADs) are small, paper-based matrices similar to Lab-on-a-Chip (LOC). They are capable of semi-quantitative analysis, with applications ranging from medical to environmental to food and beverage testing. Important to improving point-of-care devices (POCs), various techniques have been integrated into µPADs to customize analysis and fit different clinical situations.

The Application Of Biological Processes To Increase Energy Potential In Landfills, Ashlyn Eisenhart

Chemistry & Biochemistry Student Projects

There has been a dramatic increase in the amount of waste that we humans have created. This has been due to population growth, an increase in industrial manufacturing, along with urbanization and modernization.⁸ The number of tons of municipal solid waste entering landfills has increased from 82.5 million tons in 1960 to 146.1 million tons in 2018.¹⁷ However, thanks to recycling, composting, and energy recovery from combustion, the percentage of solid waste going to landfills has dramatically decreased, from around 93.6 to about 65.4 percent.¹⁷

Chemistry Of Toothpaste, Kayla Blanche Kirtley

Chemistry & Biochemistry Student Projects

The chemistry of toothpaste is explained, with a description of the chemical components and their mode of action in the role of toothpaste.

Clostridioides Difficile Spore Production In Response To Antibiotic And Immune Stress, Adenrele Oludiran, Erin B. Purcell

College of Sciences Posters

Clostridioides (Clostridium) difficile, an anaerobic, spore-forming Gram-positive pathogenic bacterium, is a major cause of hospital-acquired infections and can persist as surface-attached biofilms for protection from antibiotic and immune stress. C. difficile can form biofilms as a single species or with other anaerobic intestinal bacteria. The environmental signals that cause individual cells to secrete toxins, form biofilms, or develop into spores that can spread the infection to new patients are unknown. In these studies, we investigate bacterial responses to different stress. Antimicrobial host-defense peptides (HDPs) produced by animal immune systems are promising candidates to develop novel therapies for bacterial infection …

In Situ Recording Of Mars Soundscape, S. Maurice, B. Chide, N. Murdoch, R. D. Lorenz, D. Mimoun, R. C. Wiens, A. Stott, X. Jacob, T. Bertrand, F. Montmessin, N. L. Lanza, C. Alvarez-Llamas, Stanley M. Angel, M. Aung, J. Balaram, O. Beyssac, A. Cousin, G. Delory, O. Forni, T. Fouchet, Et. Al.

Faculty Publications

Before the Perseverance rover landing, the acoustic environment of Mars was unknown. Models predicted that: (1) atmospheric turbulence changes at centimetre scales or smaller at the point where molecular viscosity converts kinetic energy into heat1, (2) the speed of sound varies at the surface with frequency^2,3 and (3) high-frequency waves are strongly attenuated with distance in CO₂ (refs.^2,3,4). However, theoretical models were uncertain because of a lack of experimental data at low pressure and the difficulty to characterize turbulence or attenuation in a closed environment. Here, using Perseverance …

Adsorption Of Microcystins To Sediment Affects Their Bioavailability And Remediation, Ashley Womer

Theses and Dissertations

The freshwater harmful algae Microcystis spp produces a family of toxins called microcystins1. These species of algae are known to release microcystins from their cells directly into the surrounding water2. This creates an array of human health risks depending on the fate and transport of the toxins in the water column3,4. Risk modelling and previous literature has shown that sediment is a sink for free microcystin, microcystin can be stably adsorbed to sediment for hundreds of years, and its adsorption to sediment is determined by the sediment adsorption partitioning coefficient (Kd)5,6,7. In this work it is hypothesized that the sediment …

Chemical And Physical Tailoring Of Guanidine-Based Covalent Adaptable Networks, Kate A. Mcconnell, Michael B. Larsen

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

We present the synthesis of two different guanidine-based CAN materials which, unlike traditional thermoset polymer networks, can undergo an exchange reaction called thermal guanidine metathesis (TGM) and be reprocessed. Thermosets, which are polymer networks characterized by permanent covalent crosslinks between chains, have a myriad of commercial applications. However, a major drawback to thermosets is their inability to be reprocessed. To develop a more sustainable thermoset-like material, CANs exhibit breaking and reforming of crosslinks under certain conditions that enable reprocessing. To elucidate the effects of varied guanidine structure on the rheological and mechanical properties of these dissociative CANs, we synthesized two …

Blood Coagulation Factor Ix: Purification, Isolation, Activation, Alex Macneil

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

This paper attempts to provide an optimized strategy for the purification, activation, and isolation of blood coagulation Factor IX mutants. The goal of this work is to enable future biochemical and structural studies of Factor IX to a gain a better understanding of the structural-functional role this protein plays in the blood coagulation cascade. The orchestration and amplification of the blood coagulation cascade requires the binding of Factor VIII (FVIII) to an activated platelet surface, where it serves as a cofactor to a serine protease, Factor IX (FIX). Factor IX circulates the bloodstream as a catalytically silent multidomain protein1. Like …

Synthetic Development Of Carbodiimide-Containing Polymers As Precursors To Guanidine-Based Covalent Adaptable Networks, Hayden Houck

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

Covalent adaptable networks (CANs) are a newly emerging class of polymers that uniquely bridge the gap between traditional thermosets and thermoplastics. The distinguishing characteristic of these polymer networks is that they contain reversible crosslink bonds that allows these materials to be recycled. Two of the currently best-understood CAN systems include those based on Diels-Alder1 and transesterification2 reactions, both of which involve dissociative exchange mechanisms. Our group aimed to create a novel CAN system based on the thermal guanidine metathesis (TGM) reaction3 by using a guanidine functional group as a crosslinker. In order to create a guanidine-crosslinked network, our research took …

Synthesis Of Carborane Pincer Complexes And Exploration Of The Reactivity Of Metal-Boron Bonds, Hindurangalage Don Asela Chathumal Jayaweera

Theses and Dissertations

Exploration of transition metal complexes with metal-boron bonds for the cooperative bond activation of small molecules in catalysis is one of the recent developments in novel synthetic strategies. The use of boron clusters as a modular platform for the formation of metal-boron bond has been successfully utilized by our and other groups. Carboranes are icosahedral boron-carbon molecular clusters that have gained attraction as multifunctional ligands due to their unique geometry, electronic properties, and versatility of functionalization methods. Their 3-D structure exerts a steric bulk around the exohedral substituent, either metal or non-metal center. Furthermore, due to the cluster geometry, five …

Quantification Of Silver Nanoparticle Interactions With Yeast Saccharomyces Cerevisiae Studied Using Single-Cell Icp-Ms, Lindsey Rasmussen, Honglan Shi, Wenyan Liu, Katie Shannon

Chemistry Faculty Research & Creative Works

Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) have been used in many fields due to their anticancer, antimicrobial, and antiviral potential. Single-cell ICP-MS (SC-ICP-MS) is an emerging technology that allows for the rapid characterization and quantification of a metal analyte across a cell population in a single analysis. In this study, a new rapid and sensitive SC-ICP-MS method was developed to quantitatively study the interactions of AgNPs with yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The method can quantify the cell concentration, silver concentration per cell, and profile the nanoparticle distribution in a yeast cell population. AgNP dosing time, concentration, and AgNP size were quantitatively evaluated for their …

Unraveling Molecular Mechanisms Of Antibiotic Resistance Through Multiscale Simulations And Explainable Machine Learning, Zilin Song

Chemistry Theses and Dissertations

Pathogen resistance to β-lactam antibiotics compromises effective treatments of superbug infections. One major source of β-lactam resistance is the bacterial production of β-lactamases, which could effectively hydrolyze β-lactam drugs. In this thesis, the hydrolysis of various β-lactam antibiotics by class A serine-based β-lactamases (ASβLs) were investigated using hybrid Quantum Mechanical / Molecular Mechanical (QM/MM) minimum energy pathway (MEP) calculations and explainable machine learning (ML) approaches. The TEM-1/benzylpenicillin acylation reaction with QM/MM chain-of-states reaction pathways was firstly revisited. I proposed two decomposition methods for energy contribution analysis based on perturbing ML regression models. Both methods were shown to be model implementation …

Microwave-Assisted Synthesis Of Quinoxaline Derivatives, Eric Horsting

Honors Theses

Quinoxaline and its derivatives have been studied extensively for their relevant biological activity and transition metal selectivity. These compounds are commonly used for their antimicrobial, antifungal, antiparasitic activity, and relevance in the treatment of metabolic diseases [6]. More recently, quinoxaline’s ability to inhibit gram-positive bacterial growth has been found especially in oxygen- containing compounds, yielding promising candidates to prevent cancerous tumor growth [5]. The breadth of quinoxaline makes it a valuable tool within the research community However, its synthesis requires complex solvents, extended reaction times, and often produces a low yield. By using a microwave-assisted synthesis, this novel methodology offers …

Understanding The Hydrolytic Activity Of Papiliotrema Laurentii On Polyester Polyurethane Coatings, Ariana L. Santos

Honors Theses

Though plastic polymers such as polyester polyurethanes have many applications from electronics to aircraft coatings, their resistance to natural degradation presents an environmental concern. Therefore, elucidating the mechanism of degradation from microorganisms that were discovered breaking down the coating of a cargo aircraft may offer insights into a method of bioremediation. To explore this, the fungus Papiliotrema laurentii (one microorganism isolated from the consortium) was cultured in several different media types at different pH levels in order to understand how it adjusts its protein secretion patterns to environmental changes. 2D gel electrophoresis, isoelectric focusing (IEF) and a variety of gel …

1st Place Contest Entry: Designing Hollow Nanogels For Drug Delivery Applications, Mo Hijazi

Kevin and Tam Ross Undergraduate Research Prize

This is Mo Hijazi's submission for the 2022 Kevin and Tam Ross Undergraduate Research Prize, which won first place. It contains their essay on using library resources, their bibliography, and a summary of their research project on hollow-core nanogels.

Mo is a second-year student at Chapman University, majoring in Biological Sciences. Their faculty mentor is Dr. Molla Islam.

Studies Toward Provenance Determination For Indigo Dyes, Erin Kibby

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Projects

Species of indigo-producing plants have been used to color textiles for thousands of years all over the globe. Natural indigo-producing species have historically been harvested in regions of Asia, North Africa, and North and South America. This study is an exploration of methods that can be used to determine the provenance (origin) of the indigo dye in a textile through the extraction and isolation of indigoids, flavonoids, and other compounds from the natural dyestuff. There is no accepted method of extracting flavonoids from indigo-dyed textiles specifically, and there is little investigation of the regionally different species. If a method is …

Datadescription-Detection Of Sulfur Dioxide By Broadband Cavity-Enhanced Absorption Spectroscopy (Bbceas), Ryan Thalman, Nitish Bhardwaj, Callum Flowerday, Jaron C. Hansen

ScholarsArchive Data

Files archived include the following:

Figure1.txt This file contains all the data used to make Figure 1 in the paper.

Figure4.txt This file contains all the data used to make Figure 4 in the paper.

Figure5.txt This file contains all the data used to make Figure 5 in the paper.

Figure6.txt This file contains all the data used to make Figure 6 in the paper.

Figure7.txt This file contains the code, written in Igor, that was used to generate this figure.

Figure8.txt This file contains all the data used to make Figure 8 in the paper.

Figure9.txt This file contains …

Expression And Purification Of Tag-Free Chlamydia Trachomatis Scc4 For Improved Nmr Structural Studies, Peter Howard

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

Geologic Controls On 137cs Cycling By Terrestrial Vegetation In The Eastern U.S., Kathleen Chellman

Undergraduate Honors Theses

¹³⁷Cs is a radioactive trace metal (T_1/2 = 30 y) that was dispersed globally by nuclear weapons testing in the 1950s-1960s. Prevailing winds and precipitation systems caused some areas far from the test sites to receive significant fallout, which is still easily measured in soils, sediments and even some vegetation in the Eastern United States. Recent work near Chernobyl and Fukushima indicates that trace levels of ¹³⁷Cs can harm insects, pollination services, and other ecological functions. In areas with low soil potassium, ¹³⁷Cs is cycled in vegetation; however, soil potassium alone doesn't consistently predict the ^{137 …}

The Analysis And Remediation Of Excess Fluoride In Drinking Water In Isle Of Wight County, Va, Kaleigh Beale

Longwood Senior Theses

Excess fluoride in drinking water can cause fluorosis or brown and yellow staining of the enamel of teeth. In extreme cases, severe damage to teeth and bone structure can develop. In 1993, the World Health Organization set a limit of 1.5 ppm as acceptable for drinking water; however, in Isle of Wight County, Virginia, recent water quality reports detected levels of fluoride as high as 4 ppm. The purpose of this study was to investigate several detection and remediation methods of fluoride in drinking water. Detection methods included an ion selective electrode (ISE), dye-based colorimetric methods, and an at-home testing …

Synthesis And Evaluation Of Gallate Esters As Alternatives To Traditional Parabens, Marcia Reeves

Longwood Senior Theses

Parabens are esters of p-hydroxybenzoates that are commonly found in everyday consumer products as well as pharmaceuticals. They are often used in commercial products to prevent bacterial growth as well as to provide extended shelf life, but they have been shown to activate estrogen receptors in vivo, a contributing factor in human breast cancer proliferation. Our lab has previously generated a multitude of paraben derivatives that do not exhibit estrogenic activity. Many of these derivatives may have other safety concerns, but gallate esters appear to have the least hazardous properties. The estrogenic, antimicrobial, and antioxidant properties of the gallate ester …